It was night at the Chan home. A night like one before, years ago, when two young men had swept in and flipped the place on its head.
Like last time, most of the household was awake, lying in bed unable to sleep. Chan Bik and her mother lay together, Wai-Wai stroking her daughter's hair. The young woman had finally drifted off to sleep.
Gaam Yuk Ying and Yuen Muk sat together on the roof of the building they had stayed in last time, looking up at the sky.
The sky was vast and sprinkled with stars, the great misty curve of the River of Heaven arcing above them.
"Should I tell you to come with me?" Gaam Yuk Ying asked, voice low.
"Should I ask you to stay?" Yuen Muk replied, with forced cheeriness.
Their hands gripped each other's as they looked to the sky.
"Look after yourself."
"You too."
"It'll be over before you know it. I'll find them and get them settled and come to find you."
"Good."
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"I don't know."
"I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"... You're right. I've chosen to do this. I just wish... I could have it both ways."

Slowly, Gaam Yuk Ying leaned his weight against Yuen Muk, who closed his eyes.
"You’re my most precious person," Gaam Yuk Ying said softly.

A startled chuckle slipped from Yuen Muk’s lips. “You only become honest at times like this, huh?”

“… Could you not tell, before?”

“No. I knew.” He let his head drop onto Gaam Yuk Ying’s, and sighed deeply. “Your most precious person, huh? That’s a great honour.”

The chill in the air told them winter was well on its way. The trees in the courtyard were shaking free the last of their leaves.

“Are you sure you don’t want to see your family before you leave? Even to just call them all dogs?”

“That’s an insult to dogs.”

“What did they do to you, Yuk Ying?”

A shrug.

Yuen Muk jabbed his fingers into Gaam Yuk Ying’s ribs. With a yelp, the latter rolled away and almost off the roof, pursued mercilessly by Yuen Muk and tickles. After messing around for several minutes, they collapsed flat on the roof, bodies overlapped, panting, the stars reflected in their eyes.

“… Well?”

Gaam Yuk Ying rolled over and buried his face into Yuen Muk’s broad chest, breathing deep. “They never… made me bleed.”

“But they hit you.”

“Sometimes.”

“For what?”

“Being in the way. Looking at them. Existing, I guess.”

“Did they really blame you for your older sibling’s death?”

“I think so. My… my mother would go into his room, they kept it just as it was the day he died, and hold his clothes and cry and then she would come out and hit me or just stare like she was going to break my head open, or-”

“Shh… Shh… Okay, breathe.”

“My… my father… always… disappointment. He always looked… If he ever looked at me… Always…”

“Okay, I understand. Let’s not go.”

“I had a … I had a delusion.”

“You? Delusions?”

“That maybe… once the fighting was over I would go home and show them I wasn’t a disappointment and… and I know… they would still be the same.”

“You’re not a disappointment, Yuk Ying.”

Gaam Yuk Ying lifted his lazy silver eyes. “I know. So I won’t go back.”

“You’re right. Let’s just enjoy this time together.”

The Gou Family had sent an awkward message to Yuen Muk before they left for Maau-dan-si. He had read it silently, and with a small smile, asked Chan Bik to burn it.

“I’m glad one of us had a place to say goodbye before we all part ways,” Yuen Muk said, automatically stroking Gaam Yuk Ying’s head. He toyed with the silky black strands of hair. “How are you feeling? Are you still unwell? Do you have enough medicine? I can make more.”

“I won’t need it soon.”

“That’s good. That’s good.”

“Dzing.”

“… yes?”

“I’ll wait for you, so… please come and find me.”

Yuen Muk sat up, wrapping his arms around Gaam Yuk Ying, breathing in the cool, clean smell of him. “I won’t abandon you. I swear I’ll come and find you when I’m done.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry to ask this of you.”

“I know.”

“I’m going to miss you. I… You’re right here and I already miss you.” Yuen Muk pressed his ear to Gaam Yuk Ying’s chest as if to memorise his heartbeat. Fingers tangling in Yuen Muk’s loose hair, Gaam Yuk Ying murmured. “Come to bed. Let me hold you.”

---

The time spent at the Chan household was both fast and slow. Simple days spent preparing for winter, playing with the children, roasting sweet potatoes over the fire pit, jumping in piles of leaves. Gaam Yuk Ying and Yuen Muk meditated, helping Chan Bik circulate her shen, keeping her energy flowing smoothly as she wobbled her way to normalcy. At least she was eating by herself and sleeping better, although nightmares still burned behind her eyelids at night. She did not say what she saw in them.

They did not go to the funeral held at Mount Faa for the dead disciples, for Cheng Baak-hap. There was no body, after all. There had been nothing left to bury.

Isolated from the world, they only heard trickles of news: that the tale of the Sage Star and her work was spreading, that the Five Kingdoms were preparing for peace talks, and quietly, almost ashamedly, tidying up the mess that had been caused by all the fighting. That fascinating new minerals had been found in the Demon Realm, that agreements were being brokered between the two realms to provide resources and assistance to the demons as they tried to rehabilitate their damaged world, while minerals and labour would be given in exchange. That the Two Jades and remaining Star had defeated the evil Disaster Star, who had been the mastermind behind all of the chaos across the Five Kingdoms. That in the Sage Star’s memory, the official trading language between the Five Kingdoms would be changed from Dzue to Xiang.

“Amazing what people come up with,” Yuen Muk mused, as he and Gaam Yuk Ying strolled through Maau-dan-si, leaving behind the streetside storyteller who was regaling his audience with stories of the Two Jades and Two Stars. “It just makes sense to use a common language that isn’t the main language of one of the kingdoms. The other kingdoms have always been wary of Dzue’s prosperity and power.”

Gaam Yuk Ying chewed on a flat sheet of marinated beef, eyes flickering towards the various food stalls.

“Still hungry?”

“I… want to try everything.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

They farewelled the Chan family that evening. Chan Taam and Yan Wai-Wai held their daughter for a long time. To their surprise, Gaam Yuk Ying and Yuen Muk were hugged too.

“Come here whenever you need,” Yan Wai-Wai said, patting Yuen Muk’s back. She was too short to reach more than mid-way. “We’ll have dinner ready for you, okay?”

Yuen Muk thought he might start crying, but was saved when Gaam Yuk Ying bowed solemnly and said, “Thank you in advance for looking after my husband.” Everyone burst into laughter.

Chan Bik’s family plied her with gifts and stood watching as the trio disappeared over the southern horizon, watching long after they were gone.

---

The wedding of Regent Dzue Dziu Ming and Cheon Maan Ging was as spectacular as expected. In bright red robes, the bridal pair left the ceremony to greet their visitors and wave to the crowds outside from one of the balconies of the palace.

A group of people stood behind them, within the palace itself, watching on.

“Bold colours really don’t suit Dziu Ming,” Gong Ming Dzue sighed, regal in deep blue. She adjusted her heavy, pearl-adorned crown to a more comfortable position on between her antlers. “The black and gold of Dzue is bad enough, but bright red?”

“Lady Maan Ging looks like her neck is going to snap with all those jewels,” Gong Lau Yan remarked, dressed in similar flowing robes to her sister, but in tones of deep green and rich brown. “I hope she’s able to get through the whole day.”

“Listen to these oldies gossiping,” Yuen Muk laughed, at ease in the earth yellows and browns of the ceremonial Way of the Mountain robes. Lovely in dusty reddish-pink, blush-coloured azaleas in her hair, Chan Bik smiled faintly. Yawning, Gaam Yuk Ying rubbed an eye with the soft grey sleeve of his robe, the silver embroidered tigers on the fabric shimmering.

“We’re not old,” Gong Lau Yan challenged them playfully.

“You’re older than us.”

“You’re just embryos.”

“That’s what all old people say.”

“What are you looking for, Your Majesty?”

“Oh!” Gong Ming Dzue was a little startled. “Just… Have any of you seen Mun Gong?”

“You’re worried about her?”

“How can I not?” She eyed the pair in red, waving to the people below.

“I’ll look for her, Dze-dze.”

The group dispersed. Gong Ming Dzue remained, while Gong Lau Yan went to look for Mun Gong, and the trio of disciples slowly made their way out from the city towards the Dzak Hau range, specifically, the highest of the peaks.

“Where are you going?” A small orange shape fell from a nearby tree onto Gaam Yuk Ying’s shoulder. Tsaam Lei clung on, looking excited. “Are you doing something interesting?”

“We’re just going to the spot where Little Bik and Yuk Ying are going to attempt their Ascension,” Yuen Muk explained. “Why are you here and not at the palace?”

Tsaam Lei pulled a face, which looked very odd on a fox. “I’ve already said hello and goodbye. It’s too noisy there. Besides, I didn’t feel like wearing clothes today, but if I stayed there I have to be in human form.”

“Tsaam Lei Si-hing…” Gaam Yuk Ying began, and everyone almost tripped over at this unexpected show of politeness.

“Ooh, you must have something important to ask me. Yes, yes, what is it?”

“You said before... I could take on any form if I Ascend?”

“Absolutely! The physical body falls away, so your appearance is based on the will of your consciousness. If you want to become a handsome man, you can become a handsome man!”

Gaam Yuk Ying shook his head. “I just want to be me.”

“He’s already handsome,” Yuen Muk said.

Tsaam Lei rolled his eyes. “Look, this is what a handsome man looks li- Ack!”

“If you’re going to transform, wear some clothes,” Chan Bik admonished, retrieving the fist that had just smacked Tsaam Lei on the head. He huffed, transforming back into a small fox, and trotted beside them as they climbed Dzak Hau.

Velvet forest rolled into glittering city rolled into shimmering sea. This far south, the winter had less bite, but at the top of the peak a strong wind blew, casting their hair and clothes about. After standing and looking out across the landscape in silence for a few moments, they all sat.

“I want to go now,” Chan Bik said.

“Right this moment?”

“Yes… I can’t stay here any longer. I feel like my patience has been stretched so thin already.”

“Little Bik… Leaving won’t necessarily make things easier.”

“I know… but I’m reminded of too many things here. I’m ready.”

They all turned to Tsaam Lei. “Could you find Lady Ling Gwong and Lord Gaam Bing?”

The small fox saluted, making them chuckle. “Sure can. Ying Ying, Bik Bik, come back and play tag with me some time, okay?”

He turned and vanished down the mountainside.

Suddenly, without dignity, Chan Bik lunged forwards and grabbed the hands of her companions. “The two of you… It’s not fair! You should go together!”

“Bik-”

“Gou Si-hing, listen to me!” She was in tears. “You understand… You understand how terrifyingly quickly the ones you love can vanish. Don’t let go like this! You’re both here, alive! Don’t do this!”

“And we chose this,” Gaam Yuk Ying said.

“We thought carefully, Litle Bik.” Yuen Muk squeezed her trembling, clammy hand. “We understand the risks. And we’ve accepted them. One of us will stay here and find the others, and one will go with you and stay by your side.”

Tears streaming down her face, Chan Bik bit her lip and closed her eyes, shutting away the shining pinpricks of pink light that perpetually shone from them now. Her chest hitched. “Can I… Can I call you both Goh-goh instead of Si-hing?”

“Of course you can.”

Gaam Yuk Ying blinked. "I can call you Mui-mui?"

"Yes. Yes!"

When Wong Tang, Ling Gwong, and Gaam Bing summited the mountain, they found their disciples dozing, leaning against each other with peaceful expressions.