#li lianhua is like hey bestie xiaobao body buddy we need to leave now immediately For Reasons

[where-the-water-flows]

thinking about a world where Li xiangyi does actually get murked in the donghai battle / of poison, but through a series of events, ends up kind of... wandering the world as a ghost for a while, which isn't great and gives him so much time to think about everything he fucked up, and then, because his life is a farce, ends up eventually accidentally possessing this brat.

this very familiar brat. this brat who has spent the last several years training and all but breaking himself to get strong enough, healthy enough, based on a dead man's words, this brat who just got his ass kicked out of the baichun court (again) and is already making plans for how he can conceal his identity to get through the exam next time.

this very familiar brat he would fucking like to unposess as fast as possible, actually, only it appears they are fucking stuck with each other, and ok, maybe finishing unfinished business will let him, y'know, move on to his well deserved punishment of the afterlife, and thus: it's time for a weird ghost road trip.

(fang doubing has doubts about the literal fucking ghost in his head, who is very clearly lying about, uh, a lot of things, but on the other hand he is learning like, so much about investigating and also just every topic under the sun it feels like, and it's not exactly being a proper detective, but... he's got a year, anyway, and maybe showing up with a solved case or twelve under his belt will convince them to give him a chance)