Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It - The Roadtrip Companion

I read Heaven Has a Road but No One Walks It. Finally somebody revealed the whole potential of MXTX's concept. If you wanted more of these three, go read it on AO3.

Chapter 50 - Lotus Threads of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

It was funny, in a way that actually really wasn’t, how much easier flirting up a willing stranger to burn off some excess energy had been before - younger, brighter, sporting ostentatious Jin gold…. Having two arms.

Xue Yang glared balefully down the street of willows and flowers, far away from the finer parts of town. These were decidedly murkier neighbourhoods, where the wet cobblestones were small and mismatched and the lanterns fewer and farther between – and gaudier, chosen to attract a certain clientele.

The walking had helped work some of the buzz out from under his skin, but the frustration boiling deeper inside – and further down, to be honest – had only grown worse. Rage, and something hollower, like hunger pangs.

He still had enough resentment stored away after the guai Night Hunt to wreak some proper havoc – maybe find the town’s coffin houses or graveyards, see if he could nudge a horde of the dead to life, send them tearing through the streets - then raise the people they killed, until the town had eaten itself whole. Could be fun!

Across the street, a sleazy rich-looking drunk had cornered a mousy young girl selling cheap painted fans from a little cart, looking like she’d rather be anywhere but here. Maybe he should just kill him.

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I’ve been looking forward to this chapter for a long time, guys. For maximum emotional impact, I’d advise you to backread the last bunch of chapters leading up to it… 👀

Also, (once you’ve finished reading) go look at Makaniart’s gorgeous commission done for this chapter!

Chapter 49 - Great Heat of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

Even in half-sleep Xue Yang could tell that the day would be unpleasantly hot and humid, and he was still a bit sore after last night’s Night Hunt, but Xiao Xingchen was a comfortable enough pillow and so everything was as it should be.

Just another sleepy morning, like hundreds of mornings – even if it felt a bit different for some reason, like he was still half dragged-down by some bad dream, a lingering memory of loneliness and hurt. Having no desire to dwell on it, Xue Yang burrowed his face in deeper.

“Daozhang,” he sighed, content.

“What,” Song Lan said, voice flat, slapping Xue Yang out of his comfortable doze so fast it almost left his head ringing.

Wrong fucking daozhang.

“It seems you slept well,” Song Lan said, all cold and dispassionate as if he wasn’t secretly laughing at him, and Xue Yang jerked away with a furious glare.

Xiao Xingchen was there. Of course. But curled up with Song Lan, not him. Here and alive and perfect and snoring like a sow - but not his. Still not his.

And nothing was the way it should be, after all.

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A chapter a very long time coming - this winter has not been kind to me, and I’ve only just recovered enough to try my hand at writing again.

A heartfelt thank you to all you who are still along on this journey with me - I hope you will like this chapter and its new developments!

Chapter 48 - As The Waters Flow of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

The rains caught up with them at last, and any hope that it might ease the sweltering heat was thoroughly dashed – the air was so thick with humidity, it was worse than the mists back in Yi City, thick and heavy and hot.

And yet, despite the discomfort of damp, clinging robes and the relentless heat... there was a comfortable familiarity, a sense of peace to simply walking.

“I have been thinking, lately, about the flow of water,” Xiao Xingchen mused out loud, unthinkingly letting a nudge from Xue Yang's elbow steer him around yet some other puddle or muddy patch. “And I've realized that by setting my heart so firmly on what we hoped to achieve in Jinlintai, making it the one goal above all others... I blinded myself to the greater truth of what it is I – we - actually hope to do.”

“Of course,” Xue Yang amiably agreed, and he really should have seen the bad joke coming, he should have, “you are blind, Daozhang.”

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Things are heating up, and it's not just the weather. 💚

I'm having a rough time with my creativity lately - please know that your comments and asks and fun tags are literally what keeps me going. If you enjoy this story and want more of it, please tell me so..? 🥺

Chapter 47 - Goose Feathers of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

After all the morning preparations and outdrawn farewells, it was near midday by the time they bid their final goodbyes to their hosts at the gates of Wangzhuang.

The young lord looked openly forlorn and disappointed to see them go – of course, kept mostly sheltered in a place like this, theirs must seem a life of adventure and higher purpose in comparison.

“Thank you again for your hospitality, and your generosity,” Song Lan said with a bow – the lady’s humble gifts had not been quite so humble after all, the money and provisions given bound to last them a good long while if spent with care.

As she handed them each a well-stocked qiankun pouch, a bracelet he hadn’t noticed before peeked out from under the hem of her sleeve - a simple thing, carved from mottled jade, but against her stark white mourning robes, the small splash of green brought to mind a first fragile sapling emerging after seemingly eternal winter.

“Yes, truly - thank you. May heaven let our paths cross again - in a kinder world,” Xingchen smiled with a bow of his own.

Xue Yang stood fidgeting at his side, clearly increasingly bored as the courteous farewells and well-wishes stretched on.

“You’ve got bones in your moat, did you know?”

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Chapter 46 - In The Shade Of Willow Trees of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

He woke to birdsong instead of thunder, sprawled decadently across a bed that seemed almost the size of the entire room they had shared in Aijian. Zichen was a steady presence stretched out beside him – breathing, which meant he was awake. Xiao Xingchen smiled.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“I did,” he assured, stretching - maybe, just maybe taking the chance to shamelessly nudge in just a little closer. Zichen didn’t flinch away, didn’t seem to mind, and Xiao Xingchen smiled a little wider.

“Is Xue Yang still asleep..?”

“Yes.”

“Mm… How deeply?”

“What?”

He grinned sweetly.

“I have enjoyed these last weeks on the road - it’s been pleasant, traveling together the way we have. But I have missed getting to have you all to myself for a little while…”

That earned him an odd little choked noise, followed by a cough, Zichen clearly aiming for a semblance for dignity and not quite getting there.

“I don’t think… He’s a light sleeper.”

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Sorry for not posting this to tumblr until now! IRL stress and health issues have been… bad, lately.

But better late than never! Chapter 46 is up! Time for the disaster trio to pick up the pieces of their shattered grand dream and… duct tape them back together. Think up some new plans. Have an awkward dinner.

As always, your comments and feedback mean the world to me! Now that I’m struggling with fatigue and motivation, more than ever. Thank you all so much for still coming along on this journey with me! We’re slooowly heading for the final two arcs now. 👍

Chapter 45 - Clouds And Rain of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D 

It kept raining throughout the night, and the thunder that had prowled so furtively along the horizon all day was all but crouching right on top of their roof now, roaring.

Song Lan sat cross-legged on the bed, Xingchen asleep beside him – no matter how luxuriously large the bed, it had only taken him moments to migrate closer in his sleep, until he was firmly nestled up against him, a possessive arm draped across his lap. Even over the thunder, he could hear him snoring softly into the bedding next to his thigh, uneven little puffs of warm breath felt even through his robes.

Always figured that’s why they named you Gentle Breeze! he could all but hear Xue Yang tease, and he closed his eyes, heart clenching.

If was a viper of a word, Song Lan knew, poison to a clear mind, to wuwei, to the acceptance of the flow of the great Dao. But if they had reached Lanling sooner… If any little thing had played out differently, if the Chief Cultivator had still been alive, if everything had gone according to plan…

They would have arrived at Jinlintai in time, eager and hopeful… and Xue Yang would have died.

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Sorry for the late chapter - the plague got me and my head’s been porridge for a few weeks. x.x

But better late than never - have some SongXue being surprisingly soft!

Also, super casual, incidental reminder that my birthday is coming up (July 19) so, you know… if you like my stuff and want to make me happy, any kind of Heaven fanart or commission slots or gif sets or meta posts or just… anything really, would make my day! ♥

Chapter 44 - A Bridge Of Magpies of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

“What?” Xue Yang said, at the same time that Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan did, just staring at the rabbit-faced boy. Wanted nothing but to reach out and throttle him, violently shake answers out of him, clarifications, only his arm was stuck holding half a dozen packages of sweets and he couldn’t move without dropping them.

The baby cultivator looked between them with wide eyes like he couldn’t decide whether to puff himself up with importance or make sure they weren’t joking.

“You really hadn’t heard..?”

“Please,” Xiao Xingchen managed, faintly, “No we hadn’t… Could you tell us what’s happened?”

Furiously, gracelessly tugging at his arm wrap with his teeth to put the candy away, freeing his hand for future potential throttling, Xue Yang shot the boy a knife-slash glare to get him talking. Swallowing, he was actually smart enough to hurry up and do so.

“We only heard for sure a while ago, there’s been so many rumours! No one knows what’s true or not! But the Chief Cultivator is dead, all the great sects confirmed it – he died in Yunping a while ago!”

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There was a bit of a roller-coaster of revelations at the end of last chapter - here comes the fallout. The characters weren’t ready. Are you?

As always, your comments, asks, fun tags and encouragement mean the world to me! It’s what keeps me motivated to keep going! Thank you so much. ♥♥♥

Chapter 43  - Descending Into The World of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

It felt good to walk, traverse the roads of the world again, and the sunlight and birdsong and rich smell of green living things made him want to smile.

As did, apparently, Xue Yang.

Xiao Xingchen found himself laughing yet again at another clever, perfectly inappropriate pun, shaking his head in scolding but unable to keep from smiling all the same.

It didn’t feel like talking to an enemy, or even like getting to know a stranger. It felt like laughing with a dear old friend, his heart thrumming with a profound fondness he had suspected might be there even in his moments of firmest denial, and could only helplessly admit to now.

“…-stabbed one of his precious potatoes! You should have seen the look on his face! Suddenly he was feeling very generous, wanted to donate a whole basketful of produce to the good Daozhang who was keeping Yi City so safe! And you were grinning - wider with each potato he put in. Never could figure out if you knew what I was doing, or if you were just happy with the grocer’s sudden spree of charity.”

“I’m sure I would never,” Xiao Xingchen primly stated, though his lips twitched unconsciously at the thought. “I do remember… Many people would take advantage of my blindness, during the long years that I wandered alone. They would sell me poor wares, or return the wrong change - I know that bitterness is a corrosive emotion, self-damaging and unbecoming, but sometimes… It was hard not to be saddened. It must have felt good, finally having someone at my side, ready to stand up for me when I couldn’t.”

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New chapter up - this one’s quite the roller-coaster, I’ve been told! By several different people. Crying people. ♥

Several twists and turns unraveling all at once as it goes, likely leaving both characters and readers with more questions they had going in! I do really hope you like it, and that I’ve set everything up carefully enough for this to have the impact I’ve aimed for!

Chapter 42  - Starting All Over Again of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

They spent a last day in Aijian village to make the last preparations for the journey ahead, getting ready to leave the misty mountains of Muaishan at last.

Xue Yang and Xingchen danced cautiously around each other from the moment they woke, tantalized and wary at once – there was a mix of hunger and guarded uncertainty Song Lan had rarely seen on Xingchen’s face, and a pained, shivering patience he had never expected from Xue Yang.

“More gifts for you, daozhang,” Old Hu called out as Song Lan descended the stairs after solemnly sweeping the little closet room floor clean of painful jagged shards, snapping him back to the present. Handing the speech talisman over, he inclined his head.

“Thank you. You can put them here, I will pack them away. Please give these generous people our sincerest thanks.”

The table near the door to the garden was already cluttered – as news had rippled through the village that they were finally leaving, it seemed like every single person in the nearby valleys were coming by the inn to see them off. He hadn’t fully realized the impact they had had on this remote place until now, helplessly wondering how to fit all the tokens of gratitude into their rather humble qiankun bags and pockets.

Ranging from little simple notes of thanks to small packages of well-prepared food, simple but well-made spare garments, strips of cloth for Xingchen’s eyes, medicines and home brewed fruit wine – humble gifts, given by poor people, but many of them.

Someone had seen fit to gift them an actual live chicken, which sat perching in birdly bewilderment upon its throne of tributes until he could pay the anonymous benefactor’s generosity forward to Madam Hu. He had attempted to settle their bill when he told old Hu that they were planning on moving on soon, but the innkeepers had absolutely refused to take any payment, assuring him that freeing the mountains from the tyranny of the mist spirits put the people of Muaishan forever in their debt, not the other way around.

In the end, he was only grudgingly allowed to recompense Madam Hu for the regrettably broken ceramic bowl in Xue Yang’s room. And, apparently, gifting her a chicken.

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Time for a breather, a little while of sweetness. ♥

As always, your comments and questions mean the world to me, it is literally what motivates me to keep writing this monster of a fic! Whether you drop some funny tags, send an ask, go comment on the fic itself, I read and treasure it all - or why not come hang out or lurk like a Xue Yang crocodile in my discord server! 💚

Chapter 41  - We’re Bound To Meet Again of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

He woke up slowly, a soft, languid stretch into wakefulness. Smiled when he felt a hand still loosely entwined with his own, Zichen a solid still presence still next to him on the bed. No sound of breathing, which meant he had allowed himself to fall asleep for once.

Xiao Xingchen smiled and stroked his thumb lightly over the hand in his, treasuring a moment of just being, loving, being love.

The warm breeze through the window carried the sounds of birdsong and people going busily about their day – it must be late morning by the sound of it. Later than he would usually sleep, but then, they had stayed awake most of the night talking.

Shifting slightly, absently stroking the hand in his, Xiao Xingchen allowed himself a small sting of disappointment, before letting the regrets go. He had hoped, perhaps foolishly, that hearing about the memories he had lost would make them burst back into full bloom in his mind, fully formed and restored. But listening to Zichen talk, it had been like hearing him tell a fairy tale, or detail the events of someone else’s life entirely.

He had felt his emotions flare and flicker, responding to what he was told, giving truth to the words. Had been given the objective facts, at least all that Zichen knew enough about to tell him… But he still didn’t remember.

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What’s this? Another chapter? Could it be that your local fic writer has been extra motivated lately because of all the nice people cheering her on in the Heaven has A Road discord server?! Now you, too can help your fave SXX fic update faster! Come say hi! 😁

Chapter 40  - The Rising Star Of Dawn of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

Caring, he thought, shivering out of restless sleep. For a moment feeling utterly unmoored, until he felt Zichen’s solid presence nearby, ever an anchor.

That was the most bewildering thing of all, how caring and warm the faceless lover in his dreams remained, even now, even after he had learned the impossible truth of his identity.

“Did you sleep well?” Zichen asked quietly, his weight shifting slightly at the foot of the bed, thankfully distracting him from those disconcerting thoughts. “It’s still early, if you want to go back to sleep.”

Xiao Xingchen managed a weak smile and sat up, pushing his hair back over his shoulder and straightening the blindfold.

“I don’t think I could. Too many thoughts in my head.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He smiled again and shook his head, even as he felt a sting in his heart. Wished, oh he wished he could, wished there was someone he could unburden his heavy heart to, turn to for guidance. But the fateful choices ahead, he needed to make for himself.

To ask for his memories back or not…

It wouldn’t be fair to ask Zichen to help shoulder the burden of that choice as well, no matter the fallout. Especially not after he had begged him to be cautious of what he asked for, to not let him cause hurt with his words, already bent so low under the weight of his worries and past pain.

No, whatever he chose to do, to move on from those cast-off memories once and for all, or attempt to embrace them yet again…

The choice had to be his own.

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Chapter XXXIX - Faded Ink Lasts Longer Than Memories of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

The sun had barely risen, morning dew still on the grass, and the air was so fresh Xue Yang wanted to draw in lungful after lungful like he could store up on it. Never had any walk to use the outhouse been quite so appreciated.

“Can you… handle things yourself,” Song Lan asked, and sounded like he was choking on the words. He grinned brightly at him.

“You want to come along inside and help hold things for me?”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the pained expression that earned him, would have given the dismayed daoshi a solid pat or two on the chest if he could have reached that high. Had to settle for a clumsy elbow jab, which jarred his shoulder enough to hurt, so maybe not doing that again.

“Relax! If you could just be a dear and untie my clothes, I can take care of the rest. Don’t run off, though – I’d hate to have to chase you down the market street with my pants around my ankles to get help tying them again.”

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So, this chapter has a scene I’ve been looking forward to write since I first started plotting this story, and I can’t wait to hear what you all think about it! Please tell me!

Chapter XXXVIII - One Can Be My Teacher of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

He had studied with many teachers throughout his life, knowing when to set pride aside to accept instruction from those more experienced than himself. Taught how to move his blade, perform the rituals of spiritual cleansing, seeking and understanding scholarly wisdom at first. Then the humbler everyday things it turned out you needed to know as a wandering cultivator on never ending roads – making shelter, telling the edible plants from the poisonous, cobbling together a broken shoe enough to keep walking to the nearest town to get new ones...

Enlightened masters and talented friends, young and old, gentry and vagrants - they had all been among his past teachers, and Song Lan had approached all his lessons with the same focused, solemn determination.

This should be no different.

Shouldn't.

Setting out to master any new craft was always a challenge, after all – intimidating, toilsome, even painful at times. You had to blister before you calloused, no skill grew out of nothing, mastery only won through tenacious dedication. He knew that. Wasn't afraid of the challenge, the work needed.

No, not of that.

I can learn, he had assured Xingchen, desperate to cleanse that look of forlorn horror off his face, and he had meant it. Could, would learn to do anything and everything that Xingchen needed - become what he needed.

He could learn.

Shivering, closing his eyes for a brief moment, Song Lan drew a slow quiet breath, cast one final look at his restlessly sleeping companion, and went to see Xue Yang.

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Happy New Year, wonderful people! Let's end/begin the year with a bang, as it were!

Working on this story, and the incredible encouragement and support you've given me along the way is the one thing that's kept me afloat during these clusterfucks of pandemic years. I'm so grateful to you all!

It's my hope that reading about these losers' miseries may have helped alleviate yours a bit too. 💚

Chapter XXXVII - Chasing Memories Without Direction of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

The night was very long and very dark and Song Lan spent all of it sitting on the farthest edge of Xingchen’s bed, staring emptily at nothing and endlessly berating and arguing with himself.

That… had happened.

It shouldn’t have, but it had. He couldn’t take it back, there was no point in brooding about it now - he was horrified. He really should stop thinking about it - he was deeply ashamed. More than a little angry - and he honestly couldn’t tell if it was more with himself or Xue Yang. Wanted to be angry with Xue Yang, but he could hardly deny that he had been the one to scruff the man by the neck, pushing him down on that narrow little bed and-…

He could have sworn he felt himself flush, angrily fought down all physical responses and firmly pushed those thoughts – memories - out of his mind.

Xingchen gave a quiet sigh beside him, and the panicked shame rolled through him all over again. How could he have been so stupid, touching anyone else - touching Xue Yang?

But it was for Xingchen’s sake, he argued feebly. It sounded like a flimsier and flimsier excuse as the night dragged on by, until the first merciless light of dawn almost evaporated it entirely.

How useless was he, not even able to touch the one he loved above all others? A practice run, wasn’t it, for him? Xue Yang had sneered at him, and of course he was right, which only hurt worse.

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Uh, so yeah. I’m on vacation and didn’t manage to draw a proper chapter illustration in time, so… Ta-dah? Scribbly-chibis! >.>