At Last, Beyond the Heavens

[Blurb]

The emperor's heart is an unfathomable abyss.

Fang Shixu suffered the massacre of his entire family, losing his home and loved ones.

That day, it was as if his eyes had opened to the heavens. He watched his dead relatives turn into ghosts and run headlong into...

A wall?

He had thought he was already dead, merely abandoned by the Heavenly Dao. Why not take matters into his own hands and go "looking for death"? He could try running into the wall again. If he was lucky, he might break through to the road to the underworld; if not, he would simply die once more.

Unexpectedly, he really did stumble through, and met someone as ethereal as an immortal.

The man called himself Chi Rang, a divine lord from the Nine Heavens. His duty was to guide souls and lead spirits, resolving the obsessions of those who had died with grievances unresolved.

Fang Shixu could neither live nor die.

He had grievances too. He was one of those wronged souls.

Faced with this aloof, cold-faced, cold-hearted beauty on a high peak, all he could do was appeal to his emotions and reason, making up all sorts of excuses to beg him to...

Take him in!

After all, if he really kicked the bucket one day, at least a divine lord could collect his body.

And if he didn't kick the bucket, getting on good terms with the divine lord might even give him a chance to avenge himself someday. (Of course, that was just wishful thinking.)

Fine.

Chi Rang agreed readily, without changing his expression. He had his own reasons, too.

First, he was afraid that this half-ghost, Fang Shixu, whom he had picked up along the way, would be exploited by demons and monsters with malicious intentions.

Second, this half-ghost might be connected to an old acquaintance he had been searching for for three hundred years.

Each harboring their own motives, the two began traveling from place to place, handling cases involving lost souls and unresolved grievances.

Gradually, things between them began to feel strange.

Chi Rang's cold hand was inexplicably covered...

The bleeding wound on Chi Rang's lower abdomen was inexplicably covered...

Even when Chi Rang was weakly meditating, he was inexplicably covered...

[Fang Shixu's confession]

1. I believe in reincarnation because I once saw my relatives' souls go to their next lives with my own eyes.

The world of men is vast. Abandoned, I lingered at the entrance to the underworld, lost and helpless, never expecting to meet the tribulation written in my fate.

Chi Rang serves the heavens, overseeing the guidance of souls and spirits and unraveling the mysteries of those who died with grievances.

He said my life was not meant to end, and that an accident had turned me into a half-ghost.

That day, he rescued me from my own mystery.

I asked him sincerely: If I am going to die sooner or later, why not follow him all the way? At least if I die, a deity will come collect my body.

He said nothing, but held out his hand.

2. I was not quite dead yet, and should not have touched this gloomy netherworld. But he taught me the ways of cultivation, rebuilt my meridians, and helped me solve the mystery.

He said he was a divine lord, but also a low-ranking one. The gods were divided into nine ranks, and he was the lowest of them all.

He said he had seen every form of greed, anger, and delusion, and had long since grown cold and heartless. Yet he feared my obsession would lead me astray.

He said he feared the world was too turbulent, and that one day he might be unable to protect me. Only by breaking through the formation alone could I escape the deadlock.

What was the deadlock? My obsession.

One thought fills me with worldly troubles, another turns them to ash. Though the past is gone, I still want to fight for what I desire.

3. But as we journeyed together, I dragged him into the scheme as well.

I drifted through the depths of a dream of Liang, then suddenly awoke. It turned out everything had long been fated.

It was time to set out. I knew the road to the underworld by heart. I looked back and saw a pair of lifeless eyes.

They held the repression he had buried for three hundred years.

All things are empty, but karma is not. Every tribulation in my fate began because of me.

[Setting]

* An alternate world; all worldbuilding serves the plot.

* A devoted, aloof top x a bottom who grows stronger while carrying the weight of a blood feud.

* Mutual salvation, a Mobius strip.

Theme: All things are empty, but karma is not.