When Guozhao Zhiqiang passed by his room, he found that the light was still on, a soft glow spilling into the corridor. He knew, with a weary sigh, that Lim Junjie was waiting for him, likely sprawled on his bed. He walked instead to the room opposite his own, the one he was sharing with Deming, and it was already dark inside. He slowly opened the door, stepping quietly, and saw that Deming was already asleep on the bed, curled towards the wall. He walked to the bathtub, took off his clothes, putting them neatly on the wooden board beside the tub, and soaked in the warm water, letting the day's tension ease from his muscles. It took about fifteen minutes before he stood up, putting only his pants on. He walked to the bed and lay down carefully beside Deming. He saw Deming's body instinctively move closer and closer to the wall, shrinking away from his presence.
Guozhao Zhiqiang sighed, a deep, heavy sound. "How is your wound, Deming?" he asked softly, his voice filled with concern.
Deming refused to answer, his body stiff, feigning sleep.
"Good night, Deming," Guozhao Zhiqiang said, his voice gentle, accepting the silence for now.
After a moment of tense silence, Deming finally spoke, his voice muffled by the pillow. "You should be in your room, not here."
Guozhao Zhiqiang sighed deeply, a profound weariness in his tone. "You don't want me here, Deming?"
Deming didn't know why, but a sudden, inexplicable surge of anger flared within him. He knew, with an instinctive certainty, that Guozhao Zhiqiang should not be in the same room with him, not after what he'd seen. "You should be in the same room with Hu Dingxiang," he said, his voice sharp with resentment.
Guozhao Zhiqiang turned to the left, shifting closer to Deming. He leaned close to Deming's face, his voice a low, probing whisper. "Why, Deming? Why do you say that?"
Deming hesitated, his body tensing. "I… I don't want you here with me," he finally admitted, his voice trembling with a raw honesty. "Every time I see you with Hu Dingxiang, the feeling of the two of you working together, of being accomplices, becomes clearer. It terrifies me."
"Are you sleepy, Deming?" Guozhao Zhiqiang asked, sensing his distress.
"I can't sleep knowing you are here," Deming replied, his voice flat, filled with a deep unease.
"Well, do you want to hear a story?" Guozhao Zhiqiang offered, his voice gentle, hoping to bridge the chasm between them.
"What kind of story?" Deming asked, a flicker of reluctant curiosity.
"The story of how I met Hu Dingxiang," Guozhao Zhiqiang began, his voice soft, preparing to reveal a painful truth.
Deming suddenly cut him off, his voice sharp with anger. "I don't want to know! You don't need to tell me! You can leave the story of Hu Dingxiang and you to yourself, or you can share it with him. He is not far from this room, go tell him!"
"I want to tell you, Deming," Guozhao Zhiqiang insisted, his voice firm, "I hope to clear up some misunderstandings between us, to make you understand."
"I believe I did not misunderstand anything," Deming said firmly, his voice laced with bitter conviction. "The picture is very clear to me."
"When I was seventeen, I helped my masters save Ocean City from a great calamity," Guozhao Zhiqiang began, ignoring Deming's protests, his voice taking on a narrative tone. "At that time, Uncle Lim entrusted a newborn, Junjie, and the ashes of Junjie's mother to me to take to Waterfall City for safekeeping, while he instructed me to monitor his captains. He believed that one of them would commit treason. We sailed at sea for nearly a month before reaching Waterfall City. After three weeks in Waterfall City, Uncle Lim and Aunt Huang came back, their mission complete, so I decided to leave a note and left, seeking new adventures. After two days of walking, I met a group of people; Hu Dingxiang was one of them. He was seriously injured at the time, bleeding, and his classmates treated him very badly, abandoning him, so I decided to send him back to Mountain Village, to ensure his safety."
Deming was not impressed, his face impassive. He said indifferently, "So... what does that have to do with me? Why are you telling me this?"
"Once we were in Mountain Village," Guozhao Zhiqiang continued, his voice steady, "I found out that every five years there would be a fighting competition between the brothers and sisters of Snow Sector, a brutal contest for power. If they were in the competition, a distinguished disciple could choose any hunter as their partner. If they win, the hunter will be accepted as a disciple, and the noble disciple can ask for one wish, anything they desire."
"He chose you as his hunter?" Deming asked, a bitter edge to his voice.
Guozhao Zhiqiang chuckled, a self-deprecating sound. "I volunteered to be his hunter. I saw his vulnerability."
Deming gnashed his teeth, his body trembling with anger. "I guess you volunteered to be his hunter because you fell in love with him. Love at first sight, how romantic!" he spat, sarcasm dripping from his words.
"I have feelings for him, yes, so I volunteered to help him," Guozhao Zhiqiang said, his voice soft, a painful admission. "I wanted to take him back to Cloud City, to protect him. I didn't want anyone to treat him badly, not like I saw his classmates treat him. Then his eyes were injured because of a failed assassination attempt, a cruel act of his siblings. He ran away but eventually I found him and brought him back to the guest house I stayed at that time. When I held him, when I felt his vulnerability, I realized I wanted to be with him, to truly protect him."
Deming angrily retorted, his voice rising, raw with years of pain and misunderstanding, "You kissed him and promised to take him away! Living in a faraway city above the clouds, where there is a goddess who always welcomes him with open arms! Everything is a lie! All of it!" He felt his chest fill with a burning, suffocating anger. "No matter how much a bad man twisted his words, at the end of the day, he is still a bad man, and you are his accomplice!"
"My intention was to take him away from Snow Sector, to free him from that toxic environment," Guozhao Zhiqiang explained, his voice patient, trying to cut through the anger, "but after we won the competition, he asked Leader Hu to help him propose to Lady Zhou instead of leaving Snow Sector as we promised. He chose power over me. I wanted to know why he lied. If he has no feelings for me, why does he allow me to sleep with him, to share such intimacy? I was angry with myself for being so foolish, and angry with him for his betrayal, so I left Mountain Village with a broken heart and went home. I decided to never leave Cloud City again, to shield myself from such pain. In those years, I stayed in Cloud City to teach the new disciples, to find purpose."
Deming still remembered what Yang Bao told him: that after Guozhao Zhiqiang returned home, his heart was broken, and it took several months for him to heal, a profound, lingering pain.
Guozhao Zhiqiang continued, his voice growing softer, filled with a deep weariness, "Then I met him in Tam Village again, and I asked him to leave with me, but he had no idea what I was talking about. He broke my heart again, completely. During the sectors meeting, I did not participate because I knew that Hu Dingxiang would be there, and I couldn't bear to see him. I asked Shimu to bring him a silver bell for protection, because at that time we were heading to Immortal Valley and death was inevitable, a suicide mission for me. To be honest, I planned to die there. Being named as a fallen hunter was better than dying of a broken heart, a pain I couldn't bear, but my Shimu sacrificed herself and we won the war. Later, I decided not to look for Hu Dingxiang anymore, to concentrate on teaching new juniors, and to stop doing any work in that area, so that Hu Dingxiang and I would not be on each other's path, to avoid further pain." He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, the weight of years in his sigh. "You know the rest of the story, Deming. You know what happened in the cave." He turned his head slowly and saw Deming looking at him, his face a mixture of shock and dawning understanding. He reached out and gently put his left arm under Deming's head, pulling him into his arms, a tender embrace. "I'm glad you are not him, Deming. I'm so glad." He kissed Deming softly on the forehead, a profound relief in his touch.
Deming, his mind reeling from the torrent of truth, asked, "Since you are happy, I am not him, why did you kiss him in front of everyone, then? Why did you touch his dirty lips?"
Guozhao Zhiqiang said with a clear conscience, his voice firm, "Kiss him or let him die. I choose to kiss him, to save a life, even if it was his." Deming was mad, a fresh surge of anger, and his breathing accelerated, ragged and furious. Deming quickly turned to face the wall, unable to look at him. He held Deming tightly with his arms, refusing to let go. He kissed the back of Deming's head, a silent apology and promise. "Angry or jealous, Deming?" he whispered, a knowing question.
Deming gritted his teeth, his voice raw with fury. "Angry… I would rather you let him die to mend for all these years he locked me up, for all the pain he caused!"
"He said it wasn't him, Deming," Guozhao Zhiqiang stated, his voice calm, remembering Hu Dingxiang's denial.
"Do you believe him?" Deming asked, his voice filled with bitter disbelief.
"He must have his reason," Guozhao Zhiqiang replied, his voice thoughtful, still trying to understand the complex web of lies.
Deming, unable to bear the perceived defense of his tormentor, pulled himself away from Guozhao Zhiqiang's arms, his body stiff with rejection. "Then we have nothing to talk about," he said angrily, his voice cold.
Guozhao Zhiqiang held Deming tightly again, refusing to let him go, his grip firm. "Have you ever heard of catching a thief, first you must deliberately let him go?" he asked, a subtle hint at his plan.
"No, I was locked inside a cave my entire life," Deming replied, his voice flat, the truth a stark contrast. "By the way, how do you use the teleport talisman? Brother Yang said, since I'm not a Guozhao Hunter, he can't teach me."
Guozhao Zhiqiang smiled, a rare, genuine smile. "You promise me that if there is a conflict between us, you will not leave without saying a word, you will talk to me, and I will teach you."
"Fine," Deming said, a reluctant agreement, "I will not leave quietly without saying goodbye."
Guozhao Zhiqiang chuckled softly. "It's useless for you, Deming. You won't be able to use it, not yet. Good night." He kissed the back of Deming's head, deliberately holding him tighter, a possessive, protective embrace.
Deming struggled to free himself, his body stiffening. "Let go of me! I don't like sleeping too close to anyone!"
Guozhao Zhiqiang scoffed softly, a teasing note in his voice. "One day when I am not sleeping beside you, you will miss me. You will crave my presence."
Deming struggled harder, his voice filled with defiance. "It will never happen!"
"If you struggle again, I will kiss you again," Guozhao Zhiqiang warned, his voice low and firm, "but this time it will be on your lips, and I won't stop."
Deming stopped struggling instantly, his body freezing. "Don't touch my lips with the dirty lips you just kissed Hu Dingxiang," he snarled, the image of the kiss still burning in his mind.
"Okay, then you should go to sleep, Deming," Guozhao Zhiqiang said, his voice soft, a triumphant note hidden beneath the calm. He held Deming close, knowing the truth had finally been revealed, and that, despite the pain, a new chapter had begun.