Chapter 24 Zizi
Zizi
Fuck.
Fuckfuckfuck . . . Fuck.
Everything hurt.
Zizi hadn’t realized this level of pain could exist. His mind had been trapped in an echo chamber of darkness and memories
until a voice broke through.
Stay alive—for me.
That voice . . . it was Rui’s. The actual Rui. Even though it didn’t make any sense, he was absolutely certain of it. The mere thought of her was a charge lighting
him up. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her that fateful night when she was bleeding out on the road, he knew there was
no turning back.
It felt as if his soul had whispered to his heart, I’ve found her.
At first he’d thought he was being silly, but time showed it wasn’t just a random crush or a passing infatuation. It was much,
much more. And when Ten hauled him to the underworld, Zizi still believed his feelings for her had begun when he’d saved her.
But the memories that had returned to him in this dark cavern proved otherwise. He knew his true identity now. He knew that
he and Rui had been entangled for centuries: their souls had known each other from past lives, when he was Four and she was
Lei Ying.
Madam Meng had spoken of yuanfen. How it bound some people together, the connection never breaking even in a new lifetime.
It seemed overly poetic, like something you only read about in sad romance stories or saw in tearjerker TV dramas. While Zizi
acknowledged he was a romantic, he’d never believed in meant-to-bes. Never believed there were people or souls who would always find each other no matter the circumstances, no matter the cost.
It sucked to be proven wrong under these circumstances, and he didn’t fully understand it. How could he be both the mortal
boy who had given his heart to Rui and Four, the immortal who had done the same with Lei Ying? How could he have fallen in love with the same soul in different lifetimes?
But maybe there was nothing to understand. The heart wanted what the heart wanted. No logic or reason could explain that.
Your story will not end well. The girl must be left alone.
Funny how Madam Meng had tried to warn him, but he’d ignored her in the end. She often said that fate repeated itself, and
that sometimes, two souls were destined to meet but fated never to be together. Youyuan wufen.
It was clear to Zizi now that Rui’s and his stories were entwined, the same way Four’s and Lei Ying’s were.
Star-crossed. Doomed.
Rui’s face appeared in his mind, the corners of her lips downturned.
The end?
That’s all the story there was.
I thought there’d be a happy ending.
Not all stories have happy endings.
Four had inevitably caused Lei Ying’s death by doing the impossible. He had fallen in love with her, and that immortal love,
so pure and true, had turned into a twisted curse. But Zizi had avoided that fate for Rui in this lifetime, hadn’t he? His decision to leave the mortal realm for the unknown, to leave Rui, no matter how much it hurt—it
had saved her, right?
The debilitating tug-of-war in his mind had finally stopped, and he felt perfectly clear-headed. He would not repeat the mistakes
of his past self. His desire could not come at the expense of the realms, or at the expense of her.
He would not show himself again in Rui’s presence.
He would remain here in the underworld, filling the role he’d willfully abandoned, bringing stability to all the realms. And Rui would live the life she deserved, free from the curse that was his love.
This time, things would be different. He would make sure of it. He had changed the ending; this was the conclusion of their
story.
Gingerly, Zizi wiggled his fingers and toes, rotating his wrists and ankles. His muscles loosened. He straightened his back.
There was a satisfying crack as the tension in his spine released.
He glanced around. There was little light except from the soft sheen of the rock itself. This had to be the legendary Obsidian
Cavern. It was said to be the darkest place in the underworld. Not literally, but in all other ways. The cavern took your
mind and twisted it. If it could, it would take your soul.
Zizi didn’t blame his siblings for what they had done. The other Kings had to have been desperate when they decided to throw
him in here. And he could only think of one thing they feared enough to make them act.
The Nothing.
The ravenous dark between the human realm and the edges of the underworld was a liminal space that sucked out all hope from
the souls that were sent there by the Mirror of Retribution. Those souls were doomed for eternity. But they were meant to be there as punishment for their mortal sins. Without the power of all ten Kings keeping everything in balance, the Nothing
would consume all in its wake, regardless of innocence or guilt. And when the Fourth King went missing, it did just that.
But he had returned. The underworld and his siblings were safe now.
A draft from above ruffled Zizi’s hair. He stretched his stiff neck upward. There was a fracture in the ceiling. Which was . . .
impossible. He was in a place where ancient forces resided. Even now, he could feel the immense spiritual essence permeating
the air, derived from the Divine and unknown universe. It seemed impossible that he could’ve broken part of the cavern just
by waking up.
But maybe he’d underestimated the power of a King.
Or maybe the scary tales about the cavern were wrong.
The Kingly power had surged inside him when he was trapped in his dream state, threatening to overwhelm him.
But now that he had embraced it, it was calm and comforting, like the soft purr of a cat.
Mao. He missed his silly little feline.
Sighing, he decided to fix himself first. A snap of his fingers dissipated the ache in his neck. The abrasions around his
wrist and ankles vanished, revealing smooth, unblemished skin. But he could feel some residual aches here and there.
The same kind of aches mortal bodies had.
Something wasn’t adding up. There was only one soul inside him—there always had been. Zizi was the Fourth King; the Fourth
King was Zizi. But why had his body remained human even after his return? Like Rui, his mortal form had been born a vessel
capable of holding immense power. But since his power had fused with his soul, he’d assumed the vessel should have transformed
into his immortal form.
Yet here he was, aching as if he’d run a marathon at top speed. He was also craving a nice cup of organic single-origin coffee.
Which was absurd. Was he something in between human and god, like a demigod, perhaps? Zizi didn’t like the sound of that. It felt as if he’d been demoted. Maybe it was because he was still missing
a few memories. He could sense gaps in his mind. Would they fill up eventually, or was there something he had to do to regain
those memories?
Zizi’s stomach growled, and he sighed again. He would figure things out sooner or later like he always did. First he needed
to nourish this body, which meant he had to get out of his prison. He could try to blast his way out. It would be a spectacle,
and like some of his siblings, he was fond of theatrics. But it was likely that his cage was reinforced with a layer of extra
security that would make it hard to leave without a lot of effort. Given how weak he felt, it was probably unwise to test
the limits of his strength.
The second, more efficient option required less energy, and Zizi was inherently lazy. He took a deep breath and bellowed, “Hellooooooo? I’m awake!”
Footsteps came running.
Two guards appeared by the entrance of the cavern, one with a half-finished cigarette in hand. They stared at Zizi in shock.
“Ah, Fool One and Fool Two,” Zizi greeted them pleasantly.
Fool One gasped, “We were only gone for a few minutes. When did you wake?”
“When did you wake, Your Majesty,” Zizi corrected him, glaring for fun. To his delight, the fools started trembling. “Get me down from here,” he commanded.
“I—w-we don’t know how to, uh, Your Majesty.”
“Then bring me someone who does.”
When they didn’t move, Zizi threatened with a stern finger. That got them in motion. Fool Two scrambled for the exit, tripping over himself and falling on his butt, and Fool One had to help
him up. With fearful glances over their shoulders, they dashed off.
Zizi snickered. If he was stuck in Hell forever, he would have to find ways to amuse himself. And until he knew why his mortal
form remained, he’d just have to convince the other Kings that he truly was one of them.
It wasn’t long before he felt their presence.
A little girl entered the cavern. Her eyes gleamed like jewels in the dark, but she looked worn. Guilt pinched his chest.
The Nothing must’ve ravaged the Seventh Court in his absence, and his little sister suffered for it. Thankfully, he could
see some color slowly seeping back into her cheeks and clothing.
“You’re finally awake!” Seven exclaimed, skipping to him.
She was clapping excitedly. To Zizi’s dismay, he saw that her left hand still bore signs of stubborn decay, and her pretty brown curls remained a dull gray.
His return should have nullified the effects of the Nothing on the Kings, returning them to their full powers and allowing them to rebuild their Courts.
But maybe it wasn’t something that happened instantaneously.
Maybe it took time to restore the balance and Zizi was still too weak.
And too mortal. He shivered at that thought.
Seven nodded once. The shackles around Zizi’s wrists and ankles vanished. The drop to the ground was quicker than he expected,
and the hard landing rattled him. He struggled to stand. It was so undignified for a god to feel like an aged human with bad
knees.
“Careful, Seven,” he said as she hugged him tightly. “I’m a little fragile.”
“Oopsie. I missed you.”
She stepped aside, then quirked her head, assessing him. He could sense her power crawling all over him, like a many-legged