Gui Yin stared blankly up at the ceiling as the morning light streamed in through the battered windows. He felt a soft touch graze against his ear. His head was cushioned against something warm and when he glanced to his left, he found himself face to face with a semi-bare chest. He stared silently for a moment before he rolled to his side and let his arm fall around Langxia’s waist. He heard the man’s soft chuckle and closed his eyes as a gentle kiss was pressed against his forehead.
“Awake?”
“Why are you awake already? I’m normally up first,” Gui Yin murmured.
“I was guarding you, remember?” Langxia whispered. His smile widened as Gui Yin looked up at him in blurry confusion. He stroked Gui Yin’s eye with his thumb before he let his hand fall slightly to pinch Gui Yin’s chin. “Qinle.”
“Mm?”
“When were you going to tell me?”
Gui Yin silently stared into Langxia’s eyes. “Tell you what?”
“About your nightmares.”
Gui Yin fell silent for a moment. He averted his gaze and shimmied closer to Langxia. He pressed himself against the other man’s chest and snuggled against him. “I always have nightmares. Wouldn’t it be bothersome to tell you every time I have one?”
“I wouldn’t have minded,” Langxia said. His fingers gently brushed through Gui Yin’s hair. “And…haven’t you noticed something off about those nightmares?”
Gui Yin’s brows furrowed. His nightmares always varied in intensity. Ever since his shizun had passed, he had never had a night of peaceful sleep. He would always wake up in the middle of the night and stare at the ceiling for a while. It wasn’t until Langxia had wormed his way into his bed that his nightmares began to subside. Having them start up again wasn’t odd for Gui Yin either. He just took it as his body and mind telling him that he was overly stressed.
Hearing Gui Yin’s silence, Langxia sighed. He pressed another kiss to Gui Yin’s forehead.
“My Qinle,” Langxia sighed again. “What do I do with you?”
“You’re being too dramatic,” Gui Yin mumbled.
“After meeting that thing, haven’t your nightmares gotten worse?” Langxia asked.
Gui Yin shifted awkwardly. “I just thought I was stressed. Or maybe I was reliving trauma again.”
Langxia’s expression pinched. He rolled them over and laid on top of Gui Yin. Gui Yin grunted slightly, but still held Langxia without any complaints. He glanced down.
“What are you doing?” Gui Yin asked. When he received no response, he chuckled. “A-Xia?”
“Sometimes,” Langxia murmured against Gui Yin’s collarbone, “I want to lock you away, so I can protect you from everything.”
Gui Yin stared up at the ceiling as one hand toyed with Langxia’s silky hair. “What an interesting thought.”
“Would you want to?”
Gui Yin rolled his eyes. “Stupid snake, I’m a Peak Lord. I can’t abandon my sect.”
“Then, I can lock you up in your sect,” Langxia said as he nuzzled closer. “That would work, right?”
“I appreciate the sentiment,” Gui Yin said. “But there’s a limit to how clingy I can let you be before I get annoyed.”
“Liar.”
Right, Gui Yin thought. He really was a liar.
After rolling around for another hour, Langxia and Gui Yin vacated the temple. After riding some miles, Gui Yin could no longer feel the presence watching him from the shadows. He frowned slightly and glanced up to find Langxia watching him. Gui Yin slowly offered an awkward smile. His fingers twitched on the reins of his steed as he scrambled for something to say.
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.
“What? Are you once again enamored by my beauty?” Gui Yin asked with a flutter of his fan.
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“Rbk, cbk, P vlvc’a rjs sbe kfgf kgbcu,” Ojcuzlj rjlv.
Ojcuzlj ijeutfv jr tf vbvufv Xel Tlc’r vfjvis rklcu. Lf ibbxfv ja Xel Tlc rfglberis klat jc jwerfwfca atja Xel Tlc gfmbuclhfv jii abb kfii.
“You’re very handsome,” Langxia said with a sincere nod. His gaze softened slightly at the edges. “I mean it.”
Gui Yin scoffed. He turned to face the front again. “You’re sweet talking tactics don’t work on me.”
“Tactics,” Langxia echoed in amusement. “Qinle, you make it sound so vulgar. This is called ‘flirting’. I’m sure you’ve done it many times before. How can you not recognize it?”
“Save your flirting for someone else. It gives me the creeps to see you so sincere,” Gui Yin said.
Langxia chuckled. “Why would I flirt with anyone else?”
Gui Yin acted as if he thought about it before nodding. “On second thought, you’re right. Why would you flirt with anyone else when I’m here? I’m obviously the continent’s most good-looking lord immortal.”
Langxia’s smile widened even further. “Childish.”
“Me? No way,” Gui Yin gasped. “The great and elegant Lord Immortal Ninglan couldn’t possibly be childish.”
Gui Yin’s serious expression melted when he heard Langxia’s laugh. He smiled to himself and breathed an internal sigh of relief. A tense, worried expression didn’t suit Langxia. It was this kind of careless laugh and languid appearance that matched him best.
With the steadiness of the demonic beasts, Gui Yin and Langxia reached the watchtowers of Winding Python Ridge within another day.
As night fell and the torches lit up the brilliant night sky, Langxia and Gui Yin passed through the entrance gates undisturbed.
Gui Yin fixed his hood so he could get a better look of his surroundings and was awed by the difference in atmosphere. Langxia’s domain was lively and cheerful, full of families and elderly. Winding Python Ridge, however, was a mixed bag. At one end of the street, Gui Yin could feel a dastardly energy. On another end, there were merchants and businessmen, haggling loudly over the price of the products. There were few decent looking people and the few that looked decent were obviously hiding something under their belts.
Gui Yin and Langxia left their steeds to a stable hand to look after once they checked into an inn. Because of the odd presence at the temple, Langxia’s vigilance had been heightened. He refused to rent a second room and half-dragged Gui Yin to the only one he rented. He unlocked the room and glanced at Gui Yin.
“I just want to be with you,” Langxia said, interlocking his fingers with Gui Yin as he pushed the door open.
Gui Yin groaned as he allowed himself to be dragged into the room, as if it were a tedious chore. “You’re being disgusting again, Er’lang.”
“How could you say that and still call me Er’lang in the same breath?” Langxia chuckled.
Gui Yin flopped over Langxia’s shoulders as the man began to pull out the documents they needed to go over before they searched for Half Moon Cult. He dragged his feet and allowed Langxia to walk him to the divan.
“You’re the one who told me to call you Er’lang,” Gui Yin said. He wrapped his arms tightly around Langxia’s neck. “Should I start just calling you ‘A-Xia’?”
Langxia’s eyes narrowed as Gui Yin shifted even closer to him. When their lips were just a breath away from each other, he chuckled and turned away. He gently nudged Gui Yin off.
“You can call me whatever you like.”
Gui Yin clicked his tongue slightly and draped himself over Langxia again. “A-Xia, can’t you pay attention to me?”
Langxia stilled as Gui Yin’s lips touched the back of his neck. He ignored the tingling sensation and gently nudged Gui Yin’s head away from him again. “Who was the one who said we’d have to work faster to make up for the time lost in the rainstorm?”
Gui Yin nuzzled closer. “We can do that and still do this at the same time.”
Langxia glanced at the other man. He smiled unconsciously as Gui Yin stole a quick kiss.
“I’m just a little worried about you,” Langxia admitted.
“Mn. I know.”
“…Alright. I won’t worry then,” Langxia said.
Gui Yin scoffed. He pressed his cheek against Langxia’s shoulder and looked over at the documents that were sprawled on the small table. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Langxia laughed. His gaze lingered on Gui Yin’s face for as long as possible. He listened to the way his heart beat irregularly in his chest before he averted his gaze back to the materials in front of him. Still, even if he didn’t pay attention to it, his heart fluttered and bounced in ways he had no longer believed to be possible.
It was always Gui Yin. Gui Yin was always the one who showed him new and fascinating things.
“What’s this map?” Gui Yin asked.
“Miss Ao gave it to me,” Langxia said, shifting so that Gui Yin could lean against him more comfortably. “We made a loose alliance of sorts, so we agreed to exchange information on our territory. She gave me a map of some questionable people. She said that if I’m ever looking for someone who ran into her territory, these are the spots I should look for first.”
Gui Yin hummed in understanding. “But how are you so sure she’s trustworthy?”
“Miss Ao is a woman of her word. She may be crafty, but she hates breaking contracts. She has her own set of morals,” Langxia said. “She’s straightforward. I like that about her.”
Gui Yin let out a low whistle. “What high praise! But it’s ironic that you enjoy people who are straightforward.”
Langxia looked at Gui Yin’s cheeky expression and finally bought into the urge of nipping the other man’s lip. He only pulled back when he drew out a surprised gasp. He let out a small huff and turned back to the map.
“This place is wide enough to hide people and contain a cauldron,” Langxia said, pointing at a section further from the city and deeper in the forest.
“Should we check there first?” Gui Yin asked.
Langxia hummed. He thought about it for a moment and stood. “Let me ask A-Qi about the situation back there first, then we’ll decide when to move.”
Gui Yin nodded. He sprawled out on the divan and watched as Langxia stepped out. He thought about it for a moment and closed his eyes. The sound of Langxia’s voice drifted to his ears, as easily as one might catch the voice of someone sitting across from them at a table. He smiled in satisfaction and pulled back his senses.
Langxia’s worry had riled Gui Yin up a little too. But if it was to this degree, then it was really fine. Still, Gui Yin couldn’t help the bubbling amusement. He had never pegged Langxia to be the type to overly worry like this.
When Langxia returned, he was immediately tugged over by Gui Yin. The man rested helplessly against Gui Yin. He relaxed for a moment before gently nudging him.
“A-Qi and Wu Feng took care of everyone under Patriarch Wei,” Langxia said as he scooped Gui Yin onto his lap.
“Everyone?” Gui Yin asked.
Langxia nodded. “Before doing so, A-Qi managed to find out that Patriarch Wei delivers people over once a month. He just so happened to finish his task not too long ago, so they won’t be looking for him for a while.”
Gui Yin fell silent for a moment as Langxia pinched at his fingers. “We’ll head out tomorrow then.”
“Alright,” Langxia agreed.
After a restful night, Langxia and Gui Yin left the inn in search of Half Moon Cult’s base.
Although Langxia believed the hideout in the forest would be the most likely place for Half Moon Cult to be, they made the decision to explore the city first. After discreetly asking around, the two men came up empty handed.
“If we keep asking around like this, someone’s sure to catch on,” Gui Yin said as the two men settled on a street corner to think.
Langxia fell silent. He turned to Gui Yin and paused for a moment. The mask Gui Yin usually wore was lent to him today. Although Gui Yin wasn’t wearing his vibrant robes, he was back in a set of wide-sleeve clothes. They were made from a black brocade, which was a color that he rarely wore. It oddly suited him. When paired with the black veiled straw hat, Gui Yin seemed to have lost the air of immortality that usually clung around him. He blended in well with the demonic crowd. Even his gaze seemed to be harder around the edges as he schemed.
“Er’lang?”
Langxia snapped out of his thoughts. He smiled and let out a soft hum. Gui Yin raised a brow quizzically.
“I was just thinking about how you’re right,” Langxia said, avoiding Gui Yin’s questioning look. “If we continue like this, we’ll stand out in the crowd. Perhaps we should change our way of asking.”
“Such as?”
“Transporting so many people so often should not have been missed by the people around here. There should be one or two people who have seen it and if one or two people have seen it, then at least twenty or thirty people have heard about it,” Langxia said. He turned to Gui Yin. “What other reason is there for people to be moving so many people at once?”
“…Slaves?”
Langxia hummed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a black market set up around here as well. We could try asking that way. The two of us…well, we don’t look like upstanding people either. People who have nothing to hide won’t be hiding their faces.”
“That’s true,” Gui Yin said. He nodded. “Then, we’ll try that route.”
As Langxia predicted, there were more answers that came out just by changing the question. Rumors of various groups of people moving in and out in the dead of night began to pile up one by one. Some say they are regular people while others say that they’re spirit cultivators. Another group even said they were demon spirits, who are too weak and were defeated in a fight, only to be sold off to be someone’s pet. Other people even claimed that they saw regular humans being carted off too. However, when asked who took them or where they were taken to, Langxia and Gui Yin received differing answers.
Gui Yin thanked the waiter for their tea as Langxia examined the map with furrowed brows.
“They can’t be in the middle of the city. There’s not enough room,” Gui Yin said.
“That’s true,” Langxia muttered. His finger traced one of the locations that had been mentioned more than twice. “Or maybe there’s an underground facility.”
“This place could contain the same arrays and contraptions that we saw last time,” Gui Yin said, pointing to a spot that was more at the edge of the city. “People also said they weren’t selling any slaves either. Most people think these people are gathering them for regulars or one person.”
“I suppose,” Langxia said.
Gui Yin glanced at him. “What is it? Just spit it out.”
“The last woman we talked to,” Langxia muttered, “I saw something.”
Gui Yin raised a brow. “What’d you see?”
“I just touched her sleeve while we were parting ways,” Langxia explained, “But I saw her tonight. She gets taken away.”
Gui Yin’s eyes widened. “You—why didn’t you say anything earlier!?”
“I already told you my powers have gotten weaker, haven’t they? It’s like when you take an out of focus picture,” Langxia said. “It took me a bit to decipher it.”
“We have to find that woman,” Gui Yin said.
“We don’t have to find her. I know where she was when she was taken. We just have to make sure we’re there earlier so we can follow those people,” Langxia said.
Gui Yin hesitated for a moment. “You think those people are Half Moon Cult? Are they so stupid to eat where they shit?”
Langxia cringed at the vulgarity of Gui Yin’s metaphor, but he shrugged. “Why not? People go missing all the time around these parts and that woman was clearly without a family. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be working so hard and dressed so shabbily. If she does have family, they’re either elderly, too young, or don’t care too much about her. Those types of targets are the easiest to pick up.”
“I suppose,” Gui Yin reluctantly agreed. He glanced at Langxia again. “When should we set out?”
“The earlier the better,” Langxia said. He glanced at the food. “Let’s finish this first and get ready.”
AAAAAAAAAA SAVE THE PEOPLE
also AAAAAAAAAA “It was always Gui Yin. Gui Yin was always the one who showed him new and fascinating things.” (๑˃ᴗ˂) 🧡🧡🧡
thanks for reading!
Pft Langxia cringing because of the metaphor is so funny
Haha ‘eat where they shit’ was hilarious for some reason