“I turned my attention away from you for one moment, and now you’ve gone and kidnapped a child,” Renwu remarked in amusement. 

“I did not kidnap her,” Lanyun protested. “She came up to me herself.” Bending down to be closer to eye level with the little girl, he looked at her apprehensively. “Are you lost? Where are your parents?” 

The young girl stared at Lanyun silently. 

“Have you forgotten where we are?” Renwu sighed. 

“Is she a ghost?” Lanyun unconsciously took a step back from the girl, but she simply took a step forward. 

“Not yet,” Renwu said, observing the young girl. “She is still a human, just like you.”

“Then is it because of her curse mark?” Lanyun gasped in realization. “Are Cursed Ones able to enter the spirit domain? Is that how they bring disaster?” 

“You humans and your unfounded superstitions.” Renwu shook his head in disappointment. “There’s no such thing as a curse mark or a Cursed One. Her only curse is that she was born in a society that believed in the idea of an ‘Evil Star’ and marked her face with a crude design. She was most likely abandoned in this forest by her parents due to this ill-founded belief and accidentally stumbled into the spirit domain.”

Lanyun nodded thoughtfully in acknowledgement. “I was too hasty in my judgement.”

 It made sense to him that Renwu, being a celestial, would have a better understanding of what constituted a genuine curse. Lanyun’s grandmother would always tell him that the celestials had a better understanding of the mystic arts and natural world than any other being of the eight realms. 

Deciding to try a warm and welcoming approach instead, Lanyun turned towards the little girl again. “Hi, my name is Ren Lanyun. Can you tell me what yours is?”

“I’m Cai Ning,” the little girl said with a shy smile. “But nice people call me Ningning.”

“That’s a beautiful name,” Lanyun exclaimed, humoring the little girl. “So, Ningning, why are you holding my hand?”

Ningning looked at her feet with a bashful expression. “Because gege is handsome”

Lanyun thought about the celestial standing next to him and pointed at Renwu. “What about him?” 

“Even more handsome,” Ningning answered honestly. She squeezed Lanyun’s hand. “But also scary. Ningning will only hold this nice gege’s hand.”

“She still said that I was more handsome,” Renwu reminded, noticing Lanyun’s smug expression.

“What’s the point in being handsome if you’re too scary to touch?” Lanyun said happily.

“Well I certainly do not care for that as I’m not vying for the attention of a human child,” Renwu said in disgust. He glanced at Ningning. “Why are you here?”

Hiding behind Lanyun, she trembled slightly at Renwu’s harsh tone. “I-I was hungry and I got lost, and then I came here.”

“Is your home in Guwang City?” Lanyun asked gently. “Do you want us to take you back to your parents?”

Ningning shook her head. “No more parents. Mama told Ningning that the forest is home and family now.”

“Where do you live in the forest then?” Lanyun continued to ask.

“Secret,” Ningning said. “Ningning promised not to tell anyone.”

“Who did you promise?” Lanyun asked.

Though she still held his hand, Ningning remained silent. 

“Just leave her here, and let’s go,” Renwu said, visibly annoyed by the entire situation. “We’re wasting time. There’s still a few more flower vendors as well as the rest of the forest we need to search for the ghost flower.” 

“Flower?” Ningning said, her interest piqued. “Is gege looking for a flower? Ningning likes flowers too. Dandelions are Ningning’s favorite. The leaves are tasty.”

“Yes, we’re looking for a specific flower,” Lanyun said, choosing to ignore Renwu’s instructions. “Would you like to see a drawing of it? I can only show you if you let go of my hand though.”

Ningning obediently let go, and Lanyun pulled the illustration of the ghost flower out for her to see. 

“What do you think?” Lanyun said. “Have you seen such a pretty flower before?”

The little girl nodded, her braids bobbing along with her head. “Ningning has seen it. The drawing isn’t as pretty as real life.”

“What!?” Lanyun exclaimed. He was only trying to humor Ningning and hadn’t expected her to have actually seen it. “Are you certain that you saw this flower and not something similar like a spider lily? Can you describe it to me?” 

“Ningning knows this flower,” Ningning said confidently. “Spider lilies have six petals, but this drawing has eight. It’s just like glowy flower. Glowy flower is super yellow and orange and glows in the dark. It’s very pretty.”

“Can you take us to this flower?” Renwu demanded, bending down as well to address the little girl more closely.

“I can,” Ningning agreed, appearing shy from the new attention. “But we need Niao jiejie for it.”

“Who is that?” Renwu frowned at the strange name. 

“Niao jiejie takes care of me,” Ningning said. “She cooks me yummy food and water and is also very pretty. But I haven’t seen her for many days now. She told me to wait for her and not go out alone, but I’m just so hungry.” As if on cue, her stomach grumbled loudly. 

“Here.” Lanyun brought out the last shenguo bun in his bag and gave it to Ningning. 

“Thank you, gege.” Ningning gratefully accepted the bun and began eating furiously. It was obvious that she hadn’t eaten any proper food in a while.

“So you won’t take us to the ghost flower without this ‘Niao jiejie’?” Renwu asked, rubbing his temple. 

“I can’t show you the flower without Niao jiejie,” Ningning said, licking the purple shenguo filling off of her fingers. 

“If we help you find Niao jiejie, then you’ll show us the flower?” Lanyun clarified. He held out his pinky. “Do you promise?”

Ningning curled her pinky around his. “Promise or strike me by Tiandi’s tribulations.”  

Lanyun smiled at the familiar line. The children in his village would often recite it to each other when making promises. If it wasn’t for the curse mark on her face, Ningning would’ve been able to grow up under normal circumstances just like those children. Feeling sentimental, he patted the top of her head. “Are you still hungry?”

“No.” Ningning shyly fidgeted with her braids.  

“So how do we find this person?” Renwu asked, bringing the conversation back on topic. 

“Niao jiejie isn’t a person,” Ningning said, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

 “She’s not?” Lanyun’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What is she then?” Renwu asked.

“She’s a phoenix,” Ningning said matter-of-factly.

Lanyun and Renwu exchanged a glance. The legend of the ghost flower had mentioned that they had sprouted after a phoenix flew overhead, watering the land with its tears. Now, the appearance of a phoenix in Guwang forest greatly suggests that Ningning might’ve truly seen the ghost flower. 

“Well it certainly explains the strange name,” Renwu muttered. 

“Do you know where Niao jiejie might be?” Lanyun asked. 

“She went into the city for some mooncakes for the Harvest Moon Festival and said Ningning should wait for her,” Ningning said, recalling carefully. “Ningning never had mooncakes before.”

With the possible locations narrowed down, Lanyun was beginning to feel more hopeful about the probability of finding a ghost flower soon. “Can you describe what Niao jiejie looks like so we can find her?” 

“She’s very pretty,” Ningning said. 

“Anything more specific?” Lanyun asked. “Hair color? Eye color? Any significant traits” 

“Red hair, light brown eyes, and a golden teardrop in the middle of her forehead,” Ningning answered confidently.

Red hair was not a common trait amongst the Yuanhai Empire citizens. Even amongst the other red-headed foreigners visiting Guwang City, Lanyun felt fairly confident that he would be able to find the phoenix. 

“What are your thoughts on this?” Lanyun asked, looking at the celestial beside him. However, Renwu appeared distracted by something behind them. 

“Fengyan’s rotten luck,” Renwu cursed under his breath. 

Lanyun followed Renwu’s gaze, wanting to know what caused the celestial’s mood to suddenly shift. Nothing seemed particularly amiss in the stalls around them. The strangest sight was a sheep-headed spirit perusing the wares of the stall beside Lanyun. It sniffed through the wool coats with great care. 

“Let’s go.” Without waiting for a reply, Renwu pulled Lanyun along deeper into the crowds of vendor stalls as if they were being chased. 

Satin, silk, and cotton flurried across Lanyun’s vision. When Renwu suddenly stopped and stood still, Lanyun accidentally ran face first into the celestial’s back. Rubbing his sore nose, injured by Renwu’s shoulder, Lanyun glared at the celestial. 

“What happened?” Lanyun asked. Moving an indigo satin fabric out of his face, Lanyun observed their new surroundings. 

They were standing in a corner of a fabric vendor’s stall. The colorful textiles helped conceal them from other patrons outside, while Lanyun still had a clear view of the dirt road. A spirit with six arms played a bamboo flute, erhu, and zither while riding on the back of a water buffalo. The upbeat melody added a pleasant element to the bizarre festivities, and Lanyun felt himself inadvertently drawn to the lively tune. 

Renwu raised a finger to his lips, signaling Lanyun to not make a sound. After waiting for a few more seconds in silence, Renwu let out a sigh of relief. “I think we lost him.”

Lanyun glanced uneasily at the musical spirit that had now ridden past them. “Is that spirit dangerous?” 

“What?” Renwu gave Lanyun a quizzical look before noticing the spirit on the road. “No, that spirit is mostly harmless. I was referring to someone el—.”

 “What a pleasant surprise!” a cheerful voice exclaimed, approaching them from the right. “I did not expect to have the fortuitous chance of meeting you here, Renwu.”

A man emerged from amongst the hanging textiles to stand before Lanyun and Renwu. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties. His long, umber brown hair was neatly tied up into a topknot with a small golden crown around it, revealing a face of genial countenance. Amber eyes shone in delight as he flashed them a bright smile. 

Sensing something familiar about the man’s appearance, Lanyun realized with a start where he had seen him before. He was one of the celestials that had been present at Heavenly Court for Lanyun’s trial, and Granny Tao’s words flashed through Lanyun’s mind. 

Xialing, the Fire Prince, celestial of summer.