Xiao Xunrui knew. He knew that the pain in Wuma Huan’s body grew day by day, but whenever he asked the other person, all he received was a bright smile.
All the concoctions he tried had failed, but at least they didn’t worsen the situation. There were still a few more on his list, but spring was nearing its end. He wasn’t sure if he could find one that worked in that time period. Of course, it wasn’t as if Wuma Huan had said anything about leaving, but whenever Xiao Xunrui saw him by himself, he always felt that the younger man would disappear without telling him.
He didn’t like the feeling.
He was supposed to be the one who disappeared without a word—not the other way around. There had never been a person who left Xiao Xunrui by himself before. He didn’t want to be the one left behind, to think about all the places they could have gone, and all the memories they had in this place.
“Gege?”
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
Xiao Xunrui met Wuma Huan’s eyes and pursed his lips.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to feel frustrated,” Wuma Huan’s smile widened. “If this one doesn’t work, we can just try the next one. I’m sure one of these lists you have will work in expelling the parasite.”
Xiao Xunrui clenched his jaw. His grip tightened on the piece of paper in his hand. “Why are you comforting me? I don’t need your comfort.”
“Mn, you don’t need it. You were just thinking,” Wuma Huan said.
They met at the beginning of spring, and it had already been two months. The two had gotten along well. If any bystander were to see them, maybe they would even believe that they had known each other for a lifetime.
Xiao Xunrui balled up the piece of paper in his hand and threw it at Wuma Huan.
The piece of paper bounced off of Wuma Huan’s head and landed between his feet. He bent down and picked it up, only to put it back on the desk.
“Gege, there’s no need to be so frustrated. Good solutions only come by when you’re calm.”
“This is your—” Xiao Xunrui stopped himself mid-sentence. He sighed irritably and rubbed at his face. “I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
Wuma Huan’s eyes widened. The look of hurt on his face was more than when Xiao Xunrui had confessed that the previous prescriptions hadn’t been working. Seeing this, Xiao Xunrui’s chest clenched.
“I-I was just saying that. Don’t look so surprised,” Xiao Xunrui quickly mumbled. He sighed and placed his head on the desk. “Gosh, what am I going to do?”
Wuma Huan chuckled. He shifted his chair closer. “Gege is so smart, there’s no way he can’t think of a solution.”
“I can think of many solutions, but one that will fit you just won’t come up,” Xiao Xunrui said.
“You can take your time,” Wuma Huan said.
Xiao Xunrui turned his head slightly and looked up at Wuma Huan.
“Take it slow. I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Wuma Huan said.
Xiao Xunrui pouted. “How can I take my time when it’s…”
Wuma Huan reached over and lightly rubbed Xiao Xunrui’s head. “At any rate, I won’t die.”
Xiao Xunrui’s brows furrowed.
“The Heavens have never let me die, so something like this won’t kill me either,” Wuma Huan said. “I doubt I’ve suffered enough.”
Xiao Xunrui enjoyed the cold hand against his head and slowly closed his eyes. “It’s not suffering. The Heavens are thinking you haven’t gotten to enjoy your life yet. That’s why you can’t…die yet.”
Wuma Huan’s lips quirked upwards. “Is that so?”
“En,” Xiao Xunrui unconsciously rubbed his head against the younger man’s hand. “I still have to show you the red maple leaves.”
“You do,” Wuma Huan agreed. “So, you see? There’s a lot of reasons for keeping me alive. Even if you don’t find a solution this year, I’ll still find a way to survive.”
Xiao Xunrui opened his eyes. “But I want you to live. I don’t want you to just survive.”
“Well, that would depend on whether or not you want to remain by my side.”
Xiao Xunrui sat up. Wuma Huan’s hand felt from his head. “I say, you’re still talking like this after so many months?”
“I could even talk like this for a lifetime,” Wuma Huan said.
“Lifetimes vary,” Xiao Xunrui said. “What kind of lifetime are you talking?”
“Well, you’d have to remain by my side to find out how long my lifetime is, wouldn’t you?”
Xiao Xunrui stared at Wuma Huan. A smile was twitching at the edge of his lips. Sometimes, he had to admit this youngster had quite the way with words.
Seeing Xiao Xunrui’s silence, Wuma Huan shifted closer again. “Or it could just be your lifetime. Rather than use mine as a way of measure, I can just accompany you for as long as you’re alive.”
“What if I died tomorrow?”
“Then, I’d follow you to your next life so we can continue,” Wuma Huan said.
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.
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“Gege, have you noticed?”
“N-noticed what?”
“It’s been two months, yet you still haven’t called my name once.”
Xiao Xunrui’s eyes widened.
“Could you call my name? Just this once,” Wuma Huan said.
“…Wuma…Huan,” Xiao Xunrui mumbled.
The purplish eyes lit up happily. The smile that Xiao Xunrui thought looked quite good, grew even wider.
“Gege…”
“What? Now what?” Xiao Xunrui snapped impatiently. He glared at the young man who wasn’t far from him. “It’s been two months but you’re still calling me that? Didn’t I tell you to stop already? You should call me Xiao-xiong or Xunru—”
“Xun…Xun what?”
Xiao Xunrui’s face reddened. He slapped his forehead a few times. He’s gone crazy. He’s really gone crazy. What was he thinking, suddenly giving up his given name?! To a stranger, at that! To a stranger who was associated with the demonic sects. To a stranger who…he had been living with for two months…
“Xunrui?”
Xiao Xunrui stiffened.
“It’s Xunrui, right?” Wuma Huan’s smile widened.
Xiao Xunrui looked away. “You can think whatever you want.”
Wuma Huan’s hands rested against the arm rests. He leaned even closer. “A-Rui.”
Xiao Xunrui adamantly looked away. “How is this better than ‘gege’?”
“A-Rui-gege.”
Wuma Huan grinned. “A-Rui, can I hug you?”
Xiao Xunrui met Wuma Huan’s gaze. “…Hug?”
Wuma Huan nodded. “Please?”
Xiao Xunrui hesitated for a moment before lifting his arms. He felt a pair of arms snake around his waist and pulled him against a sturdy chest. He settled his arms against the other man’s shoulder blades and rested his cheek against his shoulder.
“No one’s ever done so much for me before,” Wuma Huan mumbled. “Even if this is all because you’re my doctor, I’m grateful.”
“It’s not.”
Wuma Huan stiffened slightly.
The words had been blurted out of Xiao Xunrui’s mouth. In that split second, he felt a frantic desperation. If he didn’t say anything now, he was afraid he really would never be able to say it. If he woke up the next morning to an empty home, Xiao Xunrui knew that he would regret not saying anything now.
“It’s not because I’m a doctor,” Xiao Xunrui said. “It’s because it’s you.”
Wuma Huan tightened his grip. A light laugh escaped his lips, but it wasn’t filled with happiness like it usually was. Instead, there was a hint of sadness. “You can’t say that.”
Xiao Xunrui pulled back. “I mean it. I’m trying this hard because it’s you. Because I…Because I want to see more seasons with you.”
Wuma Huan’s eyes reddened. He lowered his head to avoid Xiao Xunrui’s gaze, but a pair of slender hands cupped his cheeks and forced him to look up.
“And there are other reasons,” Xiao Xunrui said quickly. “Like, you’re the first person who stood out in the crowd for me. And your laugh is really nice. You’re also the first person I don’t mind getting close to. I don’t mind touching you and I don’t mind it when you get close to me. I usually like traveling by myself, but when I think about leaving you alone at home, I start getting antsy. I don’t want to leave you behind by yourself. I want to take you with me when I travel. I want to see a lot of things with you and I’m scared that you’ll disappear one day without telling me. I—”
“A-Rui.”
“What?”
“Can I kiss you?”
Xiao Xunrui’s eyes widened. He felt the cold skin against his fingertips and his hesitation shifted to stronger resolve. After a moment, he nodded.
The kiss wasn’t the startling kind one might expect in the spur of the moment. Wuma Huan approached slowly and kissed even more carefully. Gentleness seeped through his movements, making Xiao Xunrui’s heart beat even faster. His hands left his face and ended up gripping the lapels of his robes. He pulled Wuma Huan closer and clumsily deepened the kiss. He felt Wuma Huan’s lips quirk into a smile and wanted nothing more than to bite it from his lips.
When they parted, Xiao Xunrui was breathing heavily. He still gripped Wuma Huan tightly. He felt that if he let go, the man would truly just run off.
Wuma Huan shifted so that he could pepper light kisses all over Xiao Xunrui’s face. When he finished, he ended with a light one against his red lips.
“Even if I leave, I’ll always find a way back to you,” Wuma Huan said.
“So, you are leaving?” Xiao Xunrui gripped Wuma Huan tighter. “Where do you think you’re going? You’re not even healed yet. You—”
“I have my ways,” Wuma Huan gently tugged Xiao Xunrui’s hand from his clothes. He pressed a kiss to the inside of his wrist. “I just hope you won’t hate me after it.”
“…What are you planning on doing? You…you’re not planning on extracting your core yourself, right?” Xiao Xunrui turned his hand to grip Wuma Huan’s.
Wuma Huan smiled. “You deserve the title of prodigy doctor.”
Xiao Xunrui bit the inside of his cheek. “And…and you still want revenge?”
Wuma Huan smiled wordlessly. He interlocked their fingers. “Would you hate me?”
If Wuma Huan removed his golden core, yet was still seeking revenge, there was only one path he could go down.
The thought made Xiao Xunrui’s heart clench.
“There are many safe ways,” Wuma Huan said. “I’ll choose the safest way, so I can come back to you in one piece.”
“…Is it really safe?”
The response was not one Wuma Huan was expecting. He had already started loosening his grip, but Xiao Xunrui tightened his.
“It’s safe. I promise.”
“…It better be safe,” Xiao Xunrui said. “If you come back half-dead, I won’t care about you anymore.”
Wuma Huan laughed. “What a thing to say as a doctor.”
“I’m being serious!” Xiao Xunrui threatened. “If you go off and do…that. And then you come back half-dead, I’ll ignore you.”
“For how long?” Wuma Huan asked in amusement.
“For a lifetime,” Xiao Xunrui said.
Wuma Huan grinned. “What kind of lifetime?”
“…I’ll think about it then,” Xiao Xunrui huffed. “Or, otherwise, I’ll run away from you. I won’t let you talk to me or see me.”
Wuma Huan’s smile faded slightly.
Xiao Xunrui tilted his chin triumphantly. “You don’t want that, right? So, you better act accordingly.”
“A-Rui really knows how to toy with my heart,” Wuma Huan buried his head against Xiao Xunrui’s chest.
Xiao Xunrui used his free hand to pet the back of Wuma Huan’s head. “You’re the one toying with my heart. If I didn’t say anything today, would you really have just…”
“It would be safer for you that way.”
Xiao Xunrui gritted his teeth. “I don’t care about that. I’m still mad at you.”
“But I’m leaving soon. Are you really going to continue to be mad at me?” Wuma Huan lifted his head pitifully.
Xiao Xunrui hesitated. “Fine. I’ll let you off for now. I’ll deal with you when we see each other again.”
Wuma Huan grinned. He hugged Xiao Xunrui tightly. “Thank you, A-Rui.”
“Crazy,” Xiao Xunrui grumbled. He fiddled with the strands of hair between his fingers and then leaned down. A light kiss landed on the crown of Wuma Huan’s head. He felt the younger man shift even closer, as if he wanted to melt into his body.
“There’s one more thing, A-Rui.”
“What is it?”
“My given name is Qiongling,” Wuma Huan said.
“…Qiongling…”
“Mn,” Wuma Huan sat up and looked at Xiao Xunrui seriously. “In the future, when you hear the name ‘Wuma Qiongling’ spread through the entire continent, that’s when I’ll return to your side.”
Xiao Xunrui smiled in amusement. “That powerful, hm?”
“Mn. I promise you,” Wuma Huan said.
“Alright. Then, I’ll wait for you,” Xiao Xunrui said. “But don’t think I’ll let you find me so easily.”
Wuma Huan grinned. “I know. No matter how long it takes, I’ll find you. Just trust me.”
The promise had lasted more than a mortal’s lifetime and had been collecting dust in the recesses of his memories. As he stared at the broken arrays in front of him, and turned to the near unfamiliar man who was playing with his daughter, he felt a rush of anger mixed with contradictory joy.
“You.”
The man froze. He looked up at Xiao Xunrui, who was standing over him with crossed arms. The man slowly stood and smiled.
“Yes?”
“Didn’t I kick you out? Why are you back?”
Wuma Qiongling glanced at the child beside him. “You kicked me out, but you didn’t immediately run away, and you didn’t even change the arrays.”
Xiao Xunrui’s brows furrowed. “Are you talking back to me?”
“I wouldn’t dare,” Wuma Qiongling said. “I was just saying, if A-Rui really didn’t want to see me, he would have at least changed the arrays.”
Xiao Guo pursed her lips to keep herself from giggling. She didn’t know this uncle very well, but she could tell that he and her father had a very, very close relationship.
“Xiao Guo. Don’t stand next to this strange man,” Xiao Xunrui waved his daughter back next to him.
Xiao Guo glanced between the two men. “Then, Xiao Guo will go prepare some tea for Uncle and Father.”
“Un—who are you calling your uncle? Since when did he become your uncle?” Xiao Xunrui shouted after his daughter.
Wuma Qiongling laughed. “Xiao Guo is very clever.”
“Of course, she is. Have you thought about who raised her?” Xiao Xunrui glared at Wuma Qiongling.
Wuma Qiongling showed a helpless smile. “It must have been hard. If I had been by your side—”
“You would have only gotten in the way. Look at you—full of clumsiness. Back then, you at least knew how to change your own clothes, but now you’re a bigshot. You probably have a billion servants looking after you every day,” Xiao Xunrui turned and started back up the mountain.
Wuma Qiongling watched the retreating figure. A sense of happiness took hold of him. His A-Rui didn’t tell him to scram. He didn’t kick him out this time.
The revered and feared demon lord hurriedly followed Xiao Xunrui up the mountain’s stairs.
“I don’t. You know me—I don’t like others touching me.”
“What about that servant that’s supposed to always be by your side?”
“Bai Qiu?” Wuma Qiongling asked. “He went back to Screeching Sparrow Sect. Besides, even before, he just helped me tie my hair and prepare my meals. Everything else was done by myself.”
“So, you can’t cook?”
“I can cook,” Wuma Qiongling quickly amended.
“I bet it tastes bad,” Xiao Xunrui scoffed.
Wuma Qiongling’s eyes widened. Soon, a soft smile took over his face again. “If A-Rui wants, I can try cooking tonight.”
“I don’t want the kitchen to burn down.”
“Then, you can just help me,” Wuma Qiongling said.
Xiao Xunrui stopped walking. He turned around and looked down at Wuma Qiongling. “What’s wrong with your legs? Are they broken? Why are you walking even slower than you used to?”
The demon lord stared up at Xiao Xunrui. He could feel his heart hammering against his chest again. The spot where his golden core used to be no longer felt so empty and the iciness in his fingertips seemed to have thawed.
“A-Huan?”
Wuma Qiongling snapped back to reality.
“If you don’t hurry up, I’m leaving you,” Xiao Xunrui warned.
A-Huan…?
The smile on Wuma Qiongling’s face couldn’t possibly grow any wider. He quickened his steps to catch up to Xiao Xunrui and slowed down again to walk beside him.
“A-Rui.”
“What?”
A large hand reached over and encompassed his own. The hand he had touched last time had been icy cold but, now the cold wasn’t so apparent. There was still a hint of frost, but more than that, there was human warmth. Xiao Xunrui’s cheeks warmed slightly, but he still refused to put on a good look.
“A-Rui, look at me.”
Xiao Xunrui complied. He met Wuma Qiongling purplish eyes and only waited silently for the other man to speak again.
“I love you. Thank you for waiting for me.”
Xiao Xunrui’s mouth opened and closed several times before he huffed. He squeezed the hand in his. “Who waited for you? It was obviously you who found me.”
No matter how the seasons have changed and how the world has shifted, they both knew the other would always be there—waiting until he caught up again.
Aha…now I’m wondering if Bai Qiu got released so somebody wouldn’t feel threatened 😏
That moment when Xiao Xunrui gave in to the hug reminded me of a half-feral kitten we tamed a few years ago lol.
omg feral kitten that sounds so cute ;v; xxr is definitely something in line with that LMAO thanks for reading!!
i knew they end up living and together but my nose still burned with unshed tears at their parting;;