"Xiao Jiu... come on... I know you were very scared, but you see, your Ge needs to rest now, let go of him, okay?" Ying Lei whispered to his young boyfriend and Bai Jiu raised his head to look at Yichen and Zhu Yan, in embarrassment. He was so overwhelmed by the fear of losing him that he let it all out, hugging Yichen and forgetting everything else.
"I'm sorry... you're still hurt..." Bai Jiu apologized as he gently let Ying Lei pull him away toward him, but Yichen smiled at him.
"I didn't mind... I really scared the hell out of him, so it's alright..." Yichen said hoarsely, and felt Zhu Yan tense up.
"Just him? And what about me? What about your brother? The rest of your unit? I was scared to death too." Zhu Yan whined, eliciting smiles from the others, or giggles in Wen Xiao's case. Seen him so upset, Yichen placed a hand on his lover's face, gently caressing it, looking at him adoringly.
"Haven't you kissed me before already? Have you become a greedy great demon in such a short period of time? Will one more kiss be enough to make up for the scare I gave you?" Yichen asked, blushing, aware that all eyes, including his brother's, were on them.
"Just one to compensate a heartbreak?" Zhu Yan whined a little more.
"Then how many do you want?" Yichen obliged, smiling slightly at him.
"There's a kid right there. So, I can't tell you out loud how much I want in return for scaring me, or he'll be scandalized, not to mention driven mad with embarrassment, just like you use too." This time, Zhu Yan teased him, feeling more relaxed at the sight of his lover blushing.
"Zhu Yan! You shameless monkey!" Yichen protested, but Zhu Yan simply kissed him, making him forget everything else.
He closed his eyes and let Zhu Yan kiss him however he wanted, he owed that to him. He had already witnessed how much Zhu Yan loved him, how afraid he was of losing him, of how much it broke his heart, how much fear his gaze harbored, so he wanted to give him whatever he asked for, to erase that terrible moment from his mind. He would feel deeply embarrassed in the end, but he was sure the others would understand. Thus, Yichen felt like they had been kissing forever, when in reality it had only been a few minutes. When Zhu Yan finally broke the kiss and opened his eyes, he discovered that Zhu Yan had enveloped them in a barrier of crimson smoke, which had hidden them from the rest of the world as they kissed without restraint. Yichen smiled quite relieved for not having cause such an intimate scene in front of the others, specially his brother.
"Is that enough?" He asked, and Zhu Yan kissed him again, but this time for a shorter time.
"It'll never be enough, Xiao Zhuo... but that's enough for now. There are things to do, and you need to rest. But first... let me take care of this..." Zhu Yan said, looking at Yichen's bare chest, still covered in Bai Jiu's blood. Yichen blushed even more, suddenly conscious of his bare chest and trying to cover himself, which made Zhu Yan laugh.
"Xiao Zhuo, I've already seen you, so there's no need to be shy now. As a demon hunter, you've trained hard for most of your life, so it's normal for you to have such a toned body, very attractive, very tempting to a demon madly in love with his young wife..." Yichen moved away, in both embarrassment and annoyance. Why did he had to ruin their moment with such an unnecessary comment.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Even if I fell in love with a male monkey demon, I'm still a man, not a wife, do you understand, stupid monkey?" But Zhu Yan was stunned, unable to say anything, just staring at Yichen with his mouth half-open.
"What's with you, with that expression? Is it so shocking that I refuse to be called or be treated as a wife? Get used to it because if you ever call me that again, I will..."
"Say it again..."
"Huh? Say what?"
"That you love me..." Ah, so that's why he was so surprised, Yichen blushed again.
"Isn't it obvious by now? If I didn't love you, would I allow you to kiss and touch me like this?" But Zhu Yan kissed him again, this time passionately, with heat and fire burning through his every being.
He pulled Yichen closer, their chests brushing, pressed into one another, his arms around his slender waist, his young lover's arms encircling his neck, bringing them even closer, and as the heat grew, Yichen moaned into the kiss, feeling the pleasure course through his sensitive skin. At some point, Zhu Yan's hand moves to explore Yichen's exposed chest, tracing fiery lines on the young man's skin, making him moan louder, which only makes Zhu Yan want him more. His hands moved down with a kind of anticipation that threatened to consume him, all the way down to the hem of Yichen's pants, stopping there, feeling Yichen tremble for a second as his breathing hitched, his pulse out of control, the heat reaching dangerous levels.
If that kind of kiss continued, Yichen wouldn't be able to control himself. He was new to pleasure, new to carnal desires, new to being kissed or touched like that, and therefore, with that burning sensation in his stomach and the way his body naturally wanted to react to such intimacy, the heat that was building up just a bit lower from Zhu Yan's hand, he was going to fall prey to his own human weakness. However, Zhu Yan ended the kiss still panting, his eyes closed, trying as hard to control himself as the inexperienced Yichen.
"Clean." Zhu Yan murmured as he cast the spell that cleansed all the blood from Yichen's chest and returned his robes to their original place, belt and all.
"Zhu Yan..."
"Sorry, I got carried away for a moment after hearing you say you love me... this isn't the place or time to give way to passion. Like I said, there's a lot to do, can you hold on for a little longer? I promise I'll let you rest after we find out more about why your core was damaged, the flower, and this Crystal Valley..."
"Of course I can, but..."
"Then let's go back..."
"Zhu Yan, before that... let me say it clearly... I... I love you and I'm very grateful for saving me, for..."
"Xiao Zhuo... my beloved Yichen, there is no force on this world or any world that will make me give up on you, either we live together or die together..."
"Zhu Yan! Don't say that!"
"It's the truth..." He said as he quickly kissed Yichen neck, right over his pulsing main vein and then stood up, while helping his flustered young lover up as well and hold him close, to keep him steady. He had not forgot about his previous ordeal, his pain, suffering and how tired he must feel.
Then, he undid the barrier and found Bai Jiu and Yixuan resting on the huge bed, with Ying Lei sitting next to his healer lover, cleaning his bloody hand with a towel, and Li Lun sitting on the edge of the bed, next to Yixuan, looking at the flower in his hand, completely lost in thoughts.
The others were actually surrounding a youth dressed in exquisite white, turquoise, and silver robes, with soft blue hair half tied with a simple silver ribbon, his eyes a deep sky blue, and once the youth saw them, he walked the short distance between them and the emerged couple and in one swift motion, knelt in front of Zhuo Yichen and bowed deeply.
"Master Zhuo Yichen, I apologize for not having met you in my human form before. You were doing so well on your own, that I thought there was no need for me to introduce myself yet. I am your sword spirit, Yun Guang, at your command." He said, but Yichen was too stunned to see his human form, let alone bow to him so deeply, as if he were someone worthy of worship, to do something other than stand there staring at him in disbelief.
"Xiao Zhuo, your sword is truly awesome and beautiful too." Wen Xiao said in praise, but Yichen was still too stunned to react.
"It's about time you appeared, Yun Guang. You've been sleeping for too long. Get up. There's much to discuss." Zhu Yan said, and the young sword spirit complied, still looking apologetically at his Master.
"Zhu Yan, I swear I didn't know anything about this flower, beyond what it looks like..." Li Lun began as he stood up and approached his old friend.
"Don't worry, I know you didn't mean to hurt anyone. Just tell me how you picked the flower from the Crystal Valley. How far from the edge of the valley did you find it?" Zhu Yan asked as he lifted Yichen off his feet bridal style, catching him off guard with a gasp, and effortlessly carried him to the bed next to his brother, who greeted him with a gentle smile, even if he too was tired.
"Xiao Chen... are you okay? You scared me too..." Yixuan aked as he took his brother's hand on his and squeezed it, and Yichen leaned on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Ge... I didn't mean to. I never expected to have such a strong reaction to a demonic flower. Zhu Yan had already placed so many of them everywhere, so..."
"That's not a demonic flower." It was Yun Guang who said that, and everyone turned their attention to him.
"How can it not be a demonic flower? Didn't Li Lun pick it up in his demon world?" Asked Ying Lei, confused, since they had been told about the flower when Zhu Yan and Zhuo Yichen disappeared into the red smoke barrier he had created.
"Even though it was in the demon world, that flower is still untainted by demonic energy and full of divine power, a heavenly spell to be exact, although my memories of that time are all but gone. Still, I can recognize the divine energy of my former Master and maybe someone else as well." Yun Guang said and Zhu Yan looked at Yixuan. This fact only confirmed his suspicions, that at one point Bing Yi and Nuwa had made their own plans and the brothers, had been trapped in their pre-arrange web, with Yixuan inheriting some of Nuwa's power too, awakening it from childhood unlike Yichen who either didn't inherited it or is it still latent.
"It's Nuwa, right? The flower is indeed full of divine power and not even my Truth Eye can see through it. Only a god spell can escape it, no wonder Li Lun couldn't see it either." Zhu Yan said and Li Lun chuckled.
"I didn't see it because that damn god of fate Siming played with me! Thinking back, I was compelled to pick it up, it was so out of place, yet, so beautiful, shining like stars in his colors, and oddly unaffected by the Valley's freezing power. In other words, it was practically screaming at me to pick it up! Damn gods! How the hell did they have a grip on me?" Li Lun was furious, but deep down he couldn't regret taking it, seeing how happy Yixuan looked when he offered it to him.
Thus he turned to look at the man, expecting him to feel at least a little hurt by what he had just said, but when their gazes met, Yixuan was far from looking either hurt or offended, but rather.... amused? Li Lun shuddered unconsciously, because Zhuo Yixuan was indeed a very formidable foe, too difficult to take down or get the upper hand on him at all.
"I'm sorry, Li Lun, the answer to your question should be my fault. By befriending me, you became entangled with my fate, even though being a great demon you should have avoided it. Of course, it's not like I was aware of it when we first met, so it's not entirely my fault either." Zhu Yan said and Li Lun sighed.
Their friendship had meant so much to him in the past, his happiest years had been spent by his side and he had missed them terribly when they part ways, he still missed them even at that very moment, so what was there to complain about? If he had not met Zhu Yan, perhaps his destiny would be free, entirely his own doing by his own choices, but his life would be the loneliest, as it had been in all those centuries.
He never harbored true romantic feelings for the ape demon, as he never understood love, nor desired it, but he did starve for companionship, he was jealous of Zhu Yan for having two gods by his side most of the time, caring for him, protecting him, guiding him to become the strongest, something he desired for himself just as intensely.
"I think looking for blame or feeling angry, while it has its merit, is beside the point at this time. By choice or forced, we are all now tied to these threads and caught in the same web. Either we surrender and let both worlds be destroyed by what is destined to happen or we fight for it and save what is dear to us. If I was meant to become a big brother, I have no regrets, because it had given me great joy to raise him, to see him grow up just as happy and pride to see how well he turned out to be, but if I were to throw all that away because it was meant to be, then it is my loss and nothing can change that fact." Yixuan said as he squeezed his brother's hand tighter and Yichen fought back the tears that threatened to came out, for he could only thank heaven for giving him such an amazing and loving brother. Whatever happened he would never feel less blessed, because if he was the hero of Bai Jiu for saving his life once, Yixuan was his idol, his pillar, his admiration impersonate.
"I completely agree. Even if things go wrong for us, I don't regret becoming a big sister. It's made me who I am today, for him, for my family, I tried my best, trained hard, fought harder, just to ensure their safety and happiness. I almost lost my little brother completely in a fierce battle, but heaven was merciful enough to keep him by my side, even if not full-time. I will fight for him, for our units, and for this world by my own choice, because, whether it's true or not, it's what I believe in. I don't need anything else." Pei Sijing added, and Wen Xiao took her hand, feeling Pei Siheng manifest behind them both.
"So now, if you ask me, there's only one thing to discuss after all that heartwarming family talk. How do we accomplish this? It's obvious that Bing Yi is hiding in this Crystal Valley, within the demon world. That alone should be worrisome, as it's a world filled with demons who have little love for us humans hunters. But even if we fight our way in and somehow survive, the Valley itself can kill us effortlessly. That's not demon territory, but a divine domain whose purpose was to keep Cheng Huang locked up and all demons, from the weakest to the strongest, out, not to mention humans. That thing almost killed Xiao Chen, and we're still far from achieving anything other than training." Cao Wei said, and all eyes fell on the two great demons inside Zhuo Yixuan's room.
"There is a way, but not all of you will be able to go into the demon world and that is inevitable, only those with divine blood can pull it off." Yun Guang said, taking the attention back to himself.
"So we will indeed end up splitting up, huh?" Yiming said sadly.
"As I said, it's inevitable." Yun Guang assured him. However, neither Yiming nor the rest of his unit were relieved by the news, for it meant that their Commander and friends were going to risk their lives for the sake of humanity on their own, the youngest protecting two worlds, while they waited again, praying for their success and safe return, which in reality could be from one to none.
AN: Alright, be brave guys! Thanks for reading, I hope you like and see you soon. Take care. 💖