Chapter 120: Song of the Twin Gods pt. 1

Ming Zhuo patrolled the Imperial Heavenly Sea Palace and little Luo Xu followed behind. Little Luo Xu, feeling hungry, picked up a piece of fruit from an altar as they passed. While polishing the fruit, he asked, "Who are the four people you just mentioned? Besides you and me, is there anyone else here? And what is this 'Situation'?"

Just as little Luo Xu was about to put the cleaned fruit into his mouth, Ming Zhuo snatched it away and took a bite. The taste was sour and bitter, causing him to wrinkle his nose. He said, "You and I make four people."

"I've learned a bit of counting, I can tell one from two and three..." Little Luo Xu looked down at the fruit that was returned to him, now with a bite taken out of it, right in the centre, "You're not eating it?"

Ming Zhuo replied, "I bite simply to bite, not because I wanted to eat this."

Without a knife in his hand, little Luo Xu became more sensible and nodded, "I understand, you think everything in this 'situation' is unusual and you were worried I'd get sick from eating it, so you wanted to test it first. So, Senior—Gēgē—Good Man—can I eat this fruit now?"

He was quick-witted and adaptable, able to bend and stretch, a very clever little rascal. Even without his knife, having been disarmed, he followed Ming Zhuo without a trace of urgency. Despite only spending half a day together, he already knew how to "smooth" Ming Zhuo’s hair.

"What did you call me?" Ming Zhuo clasped his hands behind his back, pinching his own index finger, where there the ring was. Without turning around, his expression was both mischievous and satisfied, "Call me that again, louder."

"I called you three names," little Luo Xu weighed the implications of each, testing one by one, "Do you want to hear me call you Senior, or do you want to hear me call you Gēgē?"

"Of course, call me Gēgē," Ming Zhuo lifted the curtain at the end of the corridor, returning to a hall full of corpses, "What's so special about being called Senior? Anyone older than you from outside the palace can be your Senior. I don't want to be like others."

Little Luo Xu said, "There are only so many titles in the world, there will always be duplicates. How about you tell me your name, and I'll call you something unique."

He didn't immediately agree because he didn't yet know Ming Zhuo's intentions. Something was off in the Heavenly Sea Palace today. As they went without concealing their movements, they didn’t encounter a single Imperial Heavenly Sea guard. This possibly confirmed Ming Zhuo's claim that they were in a strange "situation."

Little Luo Xu followed Ming Zhuo, partly because Ming Zhuo's abilities were beyond his expectations, and partly because Ming Zhuo had saved him from Ya Fu's ambush, carrying him back indoors without harm. He remembered this favour but also remembered to be cautious. If Ming Zhuo's actions were just a whim, he had to keep Ming Zhuo interested by being "interesting," thus not being too compliant or too obedient.

"Does knowing a name make it unique?" Ming Zhuo stepped over Ya Fu's body, finding that the curtains and passage he came through had vanished, "Even if you knew, you'd still call me the most common thing."

Little Luo Xu asked, "What's the most common thing?"

Ming Zhuo replied, "Figure it out yourself."

"At least give me a hint," little Luo Xu also stepped over Ya Fu's body, "How else am I supposed to guess? Even if I am me, I might not understand another me."

Ming Zhuo turned around, intrigued, "How do you know there's another you?"

"There are only you and me here. To make four people, it would have to be two of you and two of me, right?" Little Luo Xu took a big bite of the fruit, his expression innocent but his tone subtly revealing a cunning Ming Zhuo recognised, "You wear my ring, know my disarming spell, sometimes say I bite when grown, and sometimes say I'm too domineering when small. After thinking it over, there's only one possibility: you know another me."

He ate the fruit and casually stuffed the core into little Luo You's mouth. "As for the most common title, let me guess, do I usually call you 'Crown Prince' or 'Lord'?"

The little Imperial Lord’s silver hair was messy, and his robe was askew. Though he wasn't as tall as Ming Zhuo yet, his aura was already formidable. It was said that a child's future could be seen at three; Ming Zhuo slightly lifted his chin, his amber eyes almost smiling, a faint hum escaping his nose, "So it seems the world wasn't wrong. A bandit is a bandit, even as a child. How did you know that I'm Ming Zhuo?"

The Author Has Something to Say

(Passing through, eating watermelon)

Thanks for reading.