A/N: Surprise extra chapter! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
Langxia had not spoken again after they returned to their residence.
Gui Yin glanced up from his book at the man who silently read through reports sent over by his subordinates. It had been a few hours and no matter how Gui Yin thought about it, he couldn’t make heads or tails of the question he had.
Finally, he closed his book, walked over, and sat on Langxia’s desk.
Langxia looked up and smiled. He set down his paperwork. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t figure out the answer.”
“Then, are you here to ask me?”
Gui Yin nodded. “Your clan was a descendant of the exiled dragon, right?”
“Yes.”
“But when it comes down to your generation, shouldn’t you all be human?”
“Yes.”
“Then, your mother was human and your father human.”
“Yes.”
“Then, how come you were able to exhibit such strong spirit energy back there?” Gui Yin asked.
He knew that Langxia’s lineage meant he had his gift, but he should be a regular cultivator, right? And if Gui Yin thought about it a bit more, didn’t that obnoxious dragon back in Kunlun acknowledge Langxia to be “half”? Where did this “half” come from? Before, Langxia’s background had been in plain view for Gui Yin to see, but now that he thought about it a little more, everything was actually completely unclear.
Langxia smiled. “I have my ancestor’s blessing.”
“His blessing? What does that mean?”
“When I left your side, I was just a monster. I was clearly human—I had no cultivation—yet I had this odd power,” Langxia said. “Then, something changed in Qi Du Tower. When I woke up after Lord Xun saved me, I felt that something was different. According to Lord Xun, Qi Du Tower was considered a Heavenly Trial. Because of that, my bloodline was partially awoken. That’s why I have the identity of someone who is half-human, half-spirit.”
Langxia thought about it for a moment longer before adding: “Apparently, I’ve inherited more of my bloodline than the previous people in my clan. So, I always had the potential. It’s just a matter of whether I could force it out or not.”
He met Gui Yin’s gaze with a soft smile. “Does that answer satisfy you?”
Gui Yin hummed. He slipped from the table onto Langxia’s lap. “Satisfied. You even gave me more information than usual. Is this the perk of being your boyfriend?”
“Maybe,” Langxia said. He naturally held Gui Yin by the waist. “I don’t know, but I just want to tell you everything about me.”
Gui Yin pursed his lips. He wasn’t sure how long this innocence was going to last, but it was truly going to be the death of him. He both looked forward to the day when Langxia’s emotional root had healed, so he didn’t have to be attacked in the heart so suddenly, and hated for that day to come.
Langxia felt the throb in his chest and was about to ask what that was about when his lips were suddenly captured by Gui Yin. He smiled against the gentle kiss and brought Gui Yin in closer. The two men indulged in the sensation until they couldn’t handle it and broke apart.
Gui Yin’s breathing had become heavy. He shifted closer to Langxia again. “Say…do you want to…”
Langxia brushed a thumb over Gui Yin’s flushed face. “Do I want to do what?”
Gui Yin hesitated. A moment later, he quickly shook his head. “Nothing. Do you want to kiss again?”
Langxia held back his laughter. He pretended to think about it seriously before nodding.
While they kissed, Langxia’s smile couldn’t be contained. While Gui Yin thought it was out of happiness, it was actually because Langxia was laughing at him.
There had been instances like these the past few weeks they had been together that led Langxia to realize that Gui Yin was treating him as a complete novice. Of course, it would be easy to just step out and cleanly say that he wasn’t, but it was interesting watching Gui Yin struggle with himself despite how desperate he appeared sometimes.
And Langxia was curious.
How long would it take before Gui Yin broke and jumped him on his own? It was definitely something to look forward to.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Dea abcluta kjrc’a atf cluta.
Pc atf vfjv bo cluta, ktlif Xel Tlc rifqa vffqis, Ojcuzlj’r fsfr ribkis bqfcfv. Lf uijcmfv ja atf wjc ijslcu bc tlr mtfra jcv rwlifv. Lf qgfrrfv j iluta xlrr ab Xel Tlc’r obgftfjv jcv mjgfoeiis aglfv ab vfajmt tlw ogbw tlwrfio. Coafg olcvlcu atja la kbeivc’a kbgx, Ojcuzlj ribkis kbgwfv tlr kjs bea bo tlr rtlga jcv wjcjufv ab frmjqf Xel Tlc’r mieamtfr.
He changed into a different set of clothes and headed down to Midnight Pearl.
When morning came, Gui Yin was greeted with the smell of a mouthwatering breakfast. He sat up immediately, rubbed his eyes, and stumbled out of bed.
It was rare for Langxia to get up before him, but in a territory that had far fewer people to do his bidding, he most likely got up early to do all the work that was thrown his way.
Gui Yin blurrily made it to the table after he had gotten ready and was given a bowl and chopsticks. After taking a few bites, his mind began to clear. He glanced at Langxia, who was diligently piling food into his bowl. He clicked his tongue and started dividing up the food.
“Eat,” Gui Yin said.
Langxia smiled. “Awake?”
“I’ve been awake,” Gui Yin grumbled as he shoved his mouth full of food. “But what’s up with you? Why did you wake up so early?”
“I didn’t.”
“…What?”
“I didn’t sleep last night,” Langxia said.
“Huh? Didn’t sleep?” Gui Yin exclaimed. He frowned. “Why not? Was I crushing you?”
“Of course, not,” Langxia said. “I had some work to do. I didn’t want to keep you up, so I made sure you were asleep first before I left.”
Gui Yin felt a bit guilty. He glanced out the window. Luckily, it was at least a similar time to when he normally woke up. If he really had slept in while Langxia was doing all the work, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.
As he was glancing about, his face was gently cupped. Gui Yin glanced over quizzically and placed his own hand over Langxia’s.
“What’s wrong?” Gui Yin asked.
“Why do you feel uncomfortable?” Langxia asked.
Gui Yin’s eyes widened a fraction before he let his hand fall to his side. He uncomfortably averted his gaze. “Can’t you just pretend you didn’t notice?”
“But I’m the only one here, so I’m the one who made you feel this way,” Langxia said. “Did I do something wrong?”
Gui Yin glanced at Langxia. He felt even guiltier. He sighed and took Langxia’s hand before shaking his head. “I’m not uncomfortable. I feel…guilty.”
“Guilty? About what?”
“Because you’re doing everything. I feel like I’m just along for the ride. I’m not helpful at all,” Gui Yin said. He glanced at Langxia. “You even stayed up all night.”
“But I—”
“I know, we don’t need such frequent sleep, but it’s just…if you had nothing to do, you would sleep, right?” Gui Yin said. He fiddled with Langxia’s fingers. He pursed his lips and was unable to find any more words. He wasn’t used to doing this sort of thing. “Um, anyway…it’s not your fault.”
Langxia looked at Gui Yin and turned his hand around to grab Gui Yin’s fingers. “I’m doing everything?”
Gui Yin nodded.
Langxia let out a short laugh. “Hardly. I haven’t done much.”
Gui Yin glanced at Langxia unsurely. “Of course, you have. Mobilizing your people to investigate these things is also your doing. What have I done? I just waited to follow you along. And now that I think about it, you’re always saving me. If anything, I’m probably more of a…”
Gui Yin sighed. He shook his head. “Forget it. I don’t need you to comfort me.”
Not only was he useless, he was also complaining too much now.
“Qinle.”
Gui Yin glanced at Langxia and his hands were tightly grasped again. “…What?”
“Isn’t it nice though?”
“…Huh?”
“To be useless for once,” Langxia said. He stacked Gui Yin’s hands on top of each other and carefully cupped them. Gui Yin’s hands were immediately warmed. “It’s tiring being useful all the time, isn’t it? But I should apologize. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel that way.”
“Why would you—”
“Let me finish.”
Gui Yin pursed his lips, but eventually nodded.
“It didn’t matter who I spoke to; they all said it was rare for you to let someone help you like I do,” Langxia said, his voice soft. “I didn’t realize why that was such a big deal until recently.”
He gently massaged Gui Yin’s hands. “You need to tell me if you feel uncomfortable with the things I do, even if it’s kind acts. If not, I’m afraid I’ll step out of line. I don’t want you to feel useless and I don’t want you to feel trapped. I want you to be able to be yourself. So, tell me—how can I stop making you feel this way?”
Gui Yin glanced at Langxia, whose head was lowered until Gui Yin could only see the crown of it. He really didn’t know what to do with this man. Clearly, it was his own negative feelings, but Langxia somehow spun it in a way to make Gui Yin fall even more in love with him. He wanted to pinch and scold Langxia, but those soft words made him absolutely defenseless.
“It’s not that I let you help me,” Gui Yin mumbled. He pinched the back of Langxia’s hand. “It’s that you kept helping me even when I told you to leave.”
Langxia met his eyes.
“Then…I got used to it…” Gui Yin said. “And you stayed for some reason…You’re so annoying. Most people would have left me alone, but you…No. What I mean is…”
Gui Yin hesitated for a long time. He finally sighed and threw Langxia’s hands back towards him. He glared at Langxia. “To put it simply, I’m independent. Everything you do and have done is weird to me, but I don’t dislike it. However, I hate when I only receive things. So, you need to let me do things on my own too. Or for you.”
Gui Yin straightened. “That’s the kind of person I am. You can’t tell me things like ‘thank you’ and ‘repayment’ aren’t needed in our relationship. It’ll make me feel uncomfortable.”
And then, he might run away.
Gui Yin averted his gaze and slowly glanced at Langxia again. “If you don’t like it, then we can just stop now. We can still be friends, so—”
“I understand.”
“…Okay.”
Gui Yin felt like something heavy was pressing against his chest. He slowly turned back to the breakfast, but found it a bit difficult to swallow.
“Qinle.”
“What?”
“Are you done saying your piece?”
“…Yes.”
“Then, listen to me closely.”
Gui Yin poked at his food and nodded silently. He found it a bit difficult to look at the face that he was usually so mesmerized with.
“Today, we’re going to visit the northeast part of the forest where the resentment had built up the most. The people I sent to visit the area said that there seems to be an illusory array set up. It’s unclear whether or not it was caused by the environment, or if it was set there purposely,” Langxia said. “I think it would be best if you didn’t enter.”
Gui Yin’s brows furrowed. He immediately turned to Langxia. “What—”
“We found traces of Nightmare Blooms around the area. I think that is what they are using to get their sacrifices this time,” Langxia said. “You’ve been through a lot. I’m afraid that the Nightmare Blooms would find you to be an easy target. Not to mention, since returning from the other dimension, you’ve been slowly regaining your memories—it wouldn’t be good if the Nightmare Blooms triggered the seal to completely fall apart. Along with your emotional state today, I think it would be best if you didn’t go in with me.”
Gui Yin sneered. “So, what? Are you saying I just let you go into such a dangerous place alone? What if you get hurt?”
“Let me finish,” Langxia gently said.
Gui Yin clenched his jaw.
“My emotional root is recovering, so I’m also in a precarious situation, but my emotions have always been more numb than the average person so I won’t be in danger. However, it can still easily draw me into a nightmare. Although I might have as much resentment as they might want, I still have a high cultivation so I’m still their target.”
“Then—”
“Which is why I need you to be outside of the array with the others to keep guard,” Langxia said. “If we speak through a voice transmission while I’m inside, I’ll be able to keep a clear mind.”
Gui Yin’s mouth open and closed uselessly.
“If you’re not there, I’ll have to struggle for a long time before I can get back out,” Langxia said. “You’ll help me, right?”
Gui Yin stared at Langxia for a long time before letting out a relieved sigh. He clicked his tongue and grabbed his sword. The sword transformed back into Fenghua and smacked Langxia on the side of his head.
Gui Yin became even more frustrated. “Why didn’t you dodge?”
“Should I have?”
“Always! You’re—absolutely insufferable,” Gui Yin hissed. He abruptly stood. “I’m full. Finish this yourself.”
Langxia rubbed the little red mark on the side of his head. He stood and followed Gui Yin into the other room.
The man sat with his back to the door. Langxia didn’t need to feel his emotions to know that he was agitated right now. He slowly walked over and sat down beside Gui Yin.
“Qinle—”
“Always dodge.”
“Alright.”
“Who in their right mind would let themselves get smacked? Good thing I pulled back last second,” Gui Yin grumbled. He glanced behind him at Langxia and gently rubbed the red mark he had created. “You usually just get to the point with this type of thing, so why did you talk in such a large circle this time? You got me all worried.”
Langxia chuckled. He leaned into Gui Yin’s touch and kissed his wrist. “You suggested breaking up with me, so I wanted to get back at you a little.”
Gui Yin rolled his eyes. “Are you five?”
“You can break my arm or pull out my tongue, but threatening to break up with me is too much,” Langxia said. “I’ll be sad.”
Gui Yin scoffed. He really had nothing else to say. He hugged Langxia tightly and kissed the red spot several times. “Alright, I’m sorry.”
Langxia slowly smiled. He watched as Gui Yin pulled back and worriedly touched the side of his head.
“Did it hurt?” Gui Yin asked. He clicked his tongue. “I think it might bruise…”
“I’m fine,” Langxia said.
“Dodge next time,” Gui Yin said. He sighed and shook his head. “Never mind, what am I saying? There won’t be a next time. I’ll just smack the air.”
Langxia chuckled and hugged Gui Yin around his waist. “Did I scare you?”
“Mm,” Gui Yin mumbled. He glanced at Langxia. “I thought you were mad at me, so you were going to do something stupid…forget it. I’m sorry.”
Langxia’s smile grew. “I’m also sorry for startling you.”
Gui Yin hummed. “It’s fine. When were you thinking about leaving?”
“In an hour or two. Ruo Yan has a bar to run at night,” Langxia said.
Gui Yin smiled a little twistedly. “You really work your people to the bone.”
“Hardly. Many say that I’m a great boss,” Langxia said. He settled against Gui Yin and closed his eyes. “Let me take a nap, alright?”
“Mn…you sleep,” Gui Yin said. He readjusted himself to be a better pillow and started pulling his fingers through Langxia’s hair.
“I’m tired after our first fight,” Langxia murmured.
Gui Yin’s brows furrowed slightly. Was that a fight? That couldn’t have been considered a fight, right? At most, they were just fooling around. Gui Yin glanced down at Langxia and gave him a few more kisses.
Well, if one person considered it a fight, then it was a fight. Gui Yin should work hard to make it up to Langxia.
sickeningly sweet and achingly angsty, im love Langxia and Gui Yin ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ
wait there we go, one of those quote lines for books for a dream within water: “sickingly sweet and achingly angsty – a reader” (however order… it’s important to be in lowercase)
it’ll be on the back of the book with the other reviews LOL thanks for reading!!
I like how you put in this mini fight into their relationship. I’ve read many stories where the couple is together and everything is perfect. This makes your story look much more realistic and somewhat relatable.
Thanks so much for the extra chapter and Happy Moon Festival!
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa thank you so much ;v; thanks for reading!!
Yesss i agree i love perfect couples, but this touch of reality makes it so much better
Noooo what a great development 🤧
Thanks for this chapter!
thanks for reading!!
If that was a fight, it was an awfully cute one.
This is too cuteeee communication makes me super happy
I swear, most of the healthiest relationships I’ve read on CG were in original novels. There can be angst AND communication! 😊🙏💜