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Truly, Selenga only had to listen for Kaifeng's silly humming to know he was approaching. Didn't really need the aura. He chuckled a bit and turned to see him, grinning and reaching out for him.

He still felt nervous about visiting his Wonder, but with Kaifeng by his side, he felt as though he could handle it. He wished he could bring Qiye, but he didn't want to risk taking his civilian wifesband out to space.

"Hey," he said. "Are you ready?"

Selenga gripped Kaifeng's shoulder at that. "Thank you," he said. "Hold on tight, cousin."

A blink.

And they were there. A large, beautiful home braced itself against the riverbank, with a walkway that went high up and over across the river to a second half of the home on the other riverbank, and Selenga peered at the spot they were in—it seemed like they were right up against the headwater. It made sense, for the protector of this land to live right at the very source of the river. Other homes dotted the banks as he glanced down—on either side of the river. Bridges, both just above the river itself, seemed to be every hundred yards down the river that he could see. There was certainly more to explore further down, but...

Well, what interested him at the moment was what was clearly the home of the previous Selenga. Even if he disliked the extreme flaunt of wealth it seemed to be.

"It's beautiful here," he said as he made his way to the front door (one of the front doors?) of the home.

And there, in the foyer, stood a ghost.

Selenga shrieked.

"Don't go making all that racket," the ghost snapped, glaring at him. "And—oh, dear gods, what is he doing here?" The ghost pointed accusingly at Kaifeng, lips curled in a sneer.

Selenga winced when Kaifeng jumped to his defense so immediately—but in fairness, it wasn't as though he had a useful weapon yet, and...

The ghost responded before he could say anything. "My name is Qí Yáolán Kaifeng. I know exactly who you are," he said snootily. "You might only be the reincarnation of Xingyi, but you still have his rotten soul."

"Excuse me," Selenga gasped, flabbergasted and offended.

"You're excused," Qí Yáolán scowled. "Why have you invited that trash to our Wonder?"

"Uh, because he's my friend, a*****e," Selenga snarked.

"Friends? With Kaifeng? Do you have any idea who he—"

"He is one of my friends, and cousin to the lovely person I married," Selenga said with a scowl that matched Yáolán 's.

Qí Yáolán rolled his eyes as Kaifeng went on some mini-rant he could not possibly care less about. "Did I say anything about his parents?" he asked sarcastically, huffing. "Same as ever, assuming words are being said when they damn well weren't. Try opening your ears and hear what's there and not what you imagine!"

Selenga did not comment on that, because.... Well, there was a point to be made there, even if it was being said by a jackass. Still.

"Yes, do tell, who are you?" he echoed Kaifeng, giving Kaifeng a shrug in response—if it never happened to Kaifeng, he was fine with that. He'd figure out this new thing.

"I was the Selenga that came before you," Qí Yáolán said, nodding to Selenga. "You are my many-times great grandson."

Selenga went completely speechless, except for a small squeak of shock.

"Unfortunate that we've lost the ears and tail of our kind," Qí Yáolán mused, looking Selenga over. "And you're rather small of a Knight—are you eating enough?"

Selenga's blood ran cold.

"And," the ghost continued, blithely ignoring that Selenga hadn't said anything, "What do you mean you've married Kaifeng's cousin?"

Qí Yáolán scowled at Kaifeng.

Before his ancestor could go onto another tirade, Selenga jumped in, hands on his hips. "Say something about my spouse and you'll wish you'd died fully a thousand years ago," he said threateningly. "Xie's the best person I've ever met in this entire universe and I will not stand for whatever bullshit is about to come out of your mouth just because xie's related to Kaifeng."

Qí Yáolán stared at Selenga for a moment, then smiled a bit, bowing his head. "Good," he said, suddenly much more pleasant. "You do have some measure of integrity. Despite keeping unsavory company."

"Call Kaifeng unsavory company one more time and I'll follow through on my threat," Selenga said coldly. "I'll do whatever it takes to erase you. I'm the one with Selenga's starseed now. This place is my responsibility. Not yours, you long dead old fart."

Qí Yáolán huffed a little at that, tilting his head. "Well, I never."

Ugh, this guy reminded Selenga of when he was younger and a much bigger a*****e, except this guy hardly seemed like he'd grown up despite clearly having gotten to an older age before Chaos killed him.

"What are you hanging around for, anyway?" he finally asked, trying to calm down.

"I'm meant to give you advice. Help you with your struggles, that sort of thing. For some reason... I never moved on," he explained, ears twitching downward with sadness. "I stayed here. I had hoped to be reincarnated with my love, yet..."

And, despite all of Qí Yáolán's hostility, Selenga... understood. He felt bad for the previous Knight of Selenga—what must it be like, trapped here for seemingly eternity, with no hope of ever seeing your lover again? No wonder he went a bit mad with grief and wanting to protect this place perhaps even more deeply than he had in life.

"I'm sorry," Selenga said quietly. "Maybe I can help you move on... Once I become a Knight."

"Well, you'll need your signet ring," Qí Yáolán said. "We'll think about that sort of thing once you stay alive long enough to make it there, hm?"

Aaaand good feelings gone, Selenga really disliked this guy.

One of Qí Yáolán's ears flicked a bit at hearing the aww, but he made no further comment, not wanting to piss either of them off again. He suppressed anything else in favor of answering the actual important question.

"You'll find it in the family side of the home, across the river," he said, gesturing upstairs in the direction the overpass was. "I tried to keep my Knight duties and my family duties separate, but I died with it on over there, holding..." He trailed off, clearing his throat and clearly ignoring the way his ears dropped and tail curled gently between his legs. "Don't be shocked if you see a skeleton. Or maybe we've crumbled to dust by now."

Goosebumps rose across Selenga's flesh at the ominous warning, but he nodded, thanking Qí Yáolán and hurrying up to the overpass and through it.

Indeed, what he found was a skeleton, laying in what was clearly a living area, with children's toys scattered about. And... in that skeleton's arms laid a much smaller ********," Selenga whispered, dropping to his knees and tearing up. How many children had Qí Yáolán had? This was probably the youngest one, or else he wouldn't exist... But... this was overwhelming. The proof of a war.

Selenga reached up to grip Kaifeng's hand when it came over his shoulder, letting him slip away when Kaifeng moved forward to get the ring for him. He took it without really looking at it, focused on the figures before him. Wrapped up in multiple layers of clothing and blankets, it seemed, and a little fox-like doll tucked between the two of his ancestors who laid here. His heart squeezed painfully.

"Thanks, Kaifeng. You... have my permission. Do what you need. I'm sure he'll appreciate it, even if it is from you," Selenga said with a choked sounding little laugh. "I think I need to just sit here for a minute..."