Chapter 1: Curse and Choice
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The day was pleasant and sunny with cotton-like clouds floating in the bright blue sky, the very definition of cheerful. Yet, in the Ming residence, gloom hung heavy and thick in the air.

In the residence’s stately and well-appointed study, two people faced each other. One was a middle-aged man sitting in an exquisitely made armchair, tapping his fingers restlessly. As he stared into the distance, his amber eyes revealed a hint of the anxiety he felt within. Ming Yan, the head of the Ming household, loathed himself for what he was about to ask the man in front of him to do. But needs must, and his son’s life naturally came first.

In front of Ming Yan knelt a striking man with long, silver hair that stretched out behind him, falling over his back like a waterfall of pure moonlight. His skin was clear and as pale as snow, resembling fine, flawless jade. His crystalline eyes were a swirl of light and icy colors; blues, purples, and grays mixing in them to make them look distant and frosty. Not a hint of expression could be seen on that face that could only be described as unbearably beautiful. His slender, white-clad body exuded frigid aloofness as if there was nothing in the world that could shake him.

He was Yin Xue, a powerful spiritual beast of the Silver Serpent Clan.

Millennia ago, he made a pact with the Ming household―his life in exchange for eternal servitude. He had approached them with fatal injuries, needing a place to recuperate. In return, the Ming household asked him to bind himself to the Ming bloodline. As per the contract, Yin Xue would serve the masters of the Ming household faithfully until the main bloodline ended.

And now, that end seemed nearer than ever before.

“Yin Xue, you are clear about what I wish to ask?” Ming Yan’s steady voice belied a hint of exhaustion and sorrow, the past day seeming to have aged his handsome face by a decade.

But Yin Xue cared not for his master’s distress. His soft and melodious voice was without ripples as he replied, “Yes, Master.”

Ming Yan breathed a sigh of relief and his shoulders sagged. Though he knew that Yin Xue was bound to follow every one of his commands, Ming Yan had still been apprehensive. After all, what he was asking of Yin Xue was beyond unjust. “Then you know what to do.”

“Yes,” Yin Xue said tonelessly.

“Then go,” Ming Yan sighed. “Go and save my son.”

With a final “Yes,” Yin Xue bowed deeper and left.

His face was still expressionless as he traversed the long hallways decorated richly, dripping luxury and wealth. Stopping in front of a room that was second in magnificence only to the patriarch’s, Yin Xue lightly tapped on the expensive wood. “Young Master, may I enter?”

A calm voice drifted over from the other side of the door, “Come in.”

Ming Quan was the young master of the Ming household and the only son the patriarch Ming Yan had had with his late legitimate wife. Though his father had taken in a concubine after the first wife’s death, her children could never match the status and favor bestowed upon Ming Quan.

But it was the tall tree that attracted winds.

Just the day before, Ming Quan had been put under an extremely malicious curse called Suixin by someone with a grudge against the Ming household. The perpetrator who’d facilitated this was caught, punished, and executed immediately, but it did little good to Ming Quan, because there was no known cure for Suixin.

Suixin was usually used to cruelly extract vengeance against someone. The victim would die a most gruesome death after suffering increasingly torturous pain for seven days. The pain would briefly halt on the seventh day, giving the victim a few hours’ reprieve to repent and regret offending the caster before the torment returned stronger than before. The cursed one’s flesh would blacken and peel off, their muscles and bones corrode away until not even a single tooth or hair was left intact. They would end their seven days of suffering by dissolving into a puddle of black liquid in a long and excruciatingly painful process.

Using the Ming household’s underground connections, Ming Yan and his people were able to follow the traces of the curse. The caster was quickly identified as operating under an opposing organization. But before the operatives of the Ming household could reach him, the spell caster had already died, and there was no one else who could undo the curse.

In his fury, the Ming Yan who usually preferred to use aboveground methods furiously ordered Yin Xue to completely destroy the opposing organization for hurting his son. Within the day, the organization had disappeared.

But none of that would be able to save the dying Ming Quan.

Needless to say, now, all of Ming household was heartbroken about the disastrous fate of their promising young master who would meet such a miserable end at the young age of nineteen. But all hope was not lost. Ming Yan knew of a way to save his son, and that way was related to their family’s contracted beast, Yin Xue.

Every beast from the famed and rare Silver Serpent Clan was extremely poisonous. The scratch of their fangs, a graze of their claws, a brush of their tail, a single scale from their bodies, their blood, saliva, and even tears―they were all extremely poisonous. On the other hand, if a silver serpent chose a mate and bound their life with theirs, all the toxins in that serpent’s body would be rendered ineffective against their chosen one, and their coupling would instead result in the cleansing and purifying of the serpent’s partner. Not only would it mean curing any curses, poisons, injuries, or diseases their partner might have, it would also tie their lifespan to their mate’s so that they would both live equally long and die together when their time came.

Though the common people considered this aspect romantic, the powerhouses and heavyweights who were plagued with curses, poisons, diseases, or old age wanted to seek out these serpent beasts and force a bonding on them to fulfill their own selfish goals. This caused the Silver Serpent Clan to go into hiding long ago. When Yin Xue had stumbled into the Ming family asking for shelter all those years ago, he had in fact been running from exactly those sorts of hunters who had been trying to capture him to force a bonding.

And now, after all these years, he was asked by the master he was contracted with to take the young master as his mate to eradicate the curse and save his life. He had tried to escape a forced bonding only to be faced with it once again. This irony was as if fate was laughing at him.

But despite it all, the Yin Xue who had grown apathetic to the world was perfectly unruffled as he entered Ming Quan’s room and bowed. “Master has sent me.”

Ming Quan nodded, his handsome face smiling calmly despite his sickly appearance. He had once been a well-muscled young man who exuded a steady vitality, yet he now looked weak and whittled down by a third. He sat stiffly at the edge of his bed, his feet hanging over the side. His hands were tucked inside his sleeves as if due to cold despite the warm weather. His complexion was wan. His amber eyes were squinted in distress and his voice when he spoke was thick with repressed pain. But his smile was steady and composed as befitting the heir of the Ming household.

“What does Father want?” he asked.

“For me to bond with you,” Yin Xue answered simply.

Ming Quan’s smile froze for a second before he spoke lightly, “I am in no condition to take over the family. Why would Father want to transfer your contract to me now?”

Yin Xue didn’t answer.

After a long while, Ming Quan’s smile faded as he sighed. “No, he wouldn’t… Did he ask you to…mate with me?”

Yin Xue nodded without expression.

Ming Quan felt something akin to panic flutter in his chest. Just imagining being in bed with this visibly cold and seemingly ungentle man was enough to make him shudder. He didn’t hate Yin Xue, he even…liked him, and he also pitied him a little for his lack of freedom. But he was also somewhat intimidated by his chilly gaze that spoke of a perpetual lack of sympathy. If he had to sleep with someone, he at least wanted them to have some affection towards him. Yin Xue or not, his mind fiercely rebelled against being so intimate and vulnerable with someone whose only expression seemed to be apathy.

“And…you agreed?” Ming Quan asked hesitantly despite already knowing the answer.

Yin Xue replied tonelessly, “I cannot override Master’s orders.”

Frowning, Ming Quan questioned, “But if you could, you wouldn’t choose to do this, would you?”

Straightening from his bow, Yin Xue glided soundlessly over to the bedside and stood before the young man. Ming Quan stiffened. Yin Xue’s silhouette towered over the sitting young man, casting his shadow over him. Yin Xue’s eyes glinted with their usual icy light as an undeniable pressure seemed to press down on Ming Quan. He knew that this wasn’t done on purpose. Yin Xue was just too strong a being to understand just how delicate humans were, so he seldom remembered to rein in his power.

“I am not allowed an opinion. Young Master knows this, so please stop wasting time.” So saying, Yin Xue bent down, his hand briskly extending towards Ming Quan’s belt.

Shaking off the pressure of a high-ranking beast with difficulty, Ming Quan hurriedly spoke to interrupt him, “Yin Xue, answer me. If you had an option, what would you choose?”

The hand reaching towards the belt froze. Coldly raising an eyebrow, Yin Xue replied, “I would, of course, choose to let your bloodline die and regain my freedom.” There was no regret or guilt, nor anticipation or excitement in his voice. His gaze never fluctuated, maintaining its distance and aloofness.

As the last descendant of the main bloodline, if Ming Quan were to die of the curse, then Yin Xue would be set free. This realization pressed on both of their minds, unable to be ignored.

Ming Quan smiled wryly. “See? I am the one without a choice then. I can only choose to let you go.”

Yin Xue narrowed his eyes. “You will die then,” he said conversationally.

“Yes,” Ming Quan nodded.

Long white fingers that seemed to be carved out of ice suddenly shot up and gripped Ming Quan’s jaw in a painful hold. Ming Quan tried not to wince. He couldn’t show weakness now and had to let Yin Xue know that he would stand firm by his decision.

Lifting his face up, Yin Xue peered at him as he enunciated with precision, “You will die if you don’t let me mate with you. Human, how foolish are you?”

Ming Quan’s heart fluttered frantically in his chest, both nervous at their proximity and in instinctive fear for his life. The grip on his jaw seemed to convey the vast difference in their strengths. If Yin Xue were not bound by the contract, nothing could stop him from squishing his skull like an overripe grape right now and start slaughtering the whole of Ming household, maybe even the entire capital.

But no matter how powerful a beast he might be, he was still a person.

“I know you think it as foolish, but you deserve to be able to choose,” Ming Quan remained unbending.

Tilting his head, Yin Xue asked, “Then what about your family? Without you to succeed your father, would it not fall to ruin? Or do you not care?”

“I might be the only legitimate heir, but I am not the only descendant. The second branch of the family can continue the family line. I am not necessary,” Ming Quan said simply.

Yin Xue seemed to be pondering something before he let go of Ming Quan’s jaw, leaving behind finger-shaped bruises where he’d gripped him. Yin Xue’s cold gaze landed on the marks. “So fragile…” he observed in his soft voice, like the gentle shushing of falling snow.

Ming Quan simply smiled. What could he say? Compared to Yin Xue, he really was fragile, especially now under the curse.

Lifting his gaze from the bruised jaw, Yin Xue refocused his attention on Ming Quan as he said, “Master has ordered me to mate with you, and only Master can rescind the order.”

Ming Quan winced. “I would love to go and argue this with Father but…” he hesitated before gritting his teeth and continuing, “But I cannot walk.”

Yin Xue’s slitted pupils constricted, the only sign of his surprise. He bent down and swiftly lifted the hem of Ming Quan’s loose pants, revealing dark smoky designs patterned on the skin of his leg. The marks at the bottom of his foot were pitch-black, and as they moved up, they lightened to brown, then red, before paling to pink and peach then fading out at the knee. The higher it went, the lighter it became until it blended into the skin. Even the slightest of pressures caused intense stabbing pain along the mark for Ming Quan. Even Yin Xue’s light touches made him sweat with the effort of keeping in his cries.

Uncaring of the obvious pain he was causing his young master, Yin Xue let go of his leg and forcibly pulled out Ming Quan’s hands that were hidden in his sleeves before he pushed the fabric up. The hands bore similar marks, reaching up to the elbow. The fingertips had already gone ink black. As one of the most sensitive areas on the body, the pain Ming Quan felt when his fingertips touched anything was far sharper and intense than the pain in any other area.

“It has already progressed so much despite only a day having passed. The curse is strong,” Yin Xue observed dispassionately.

Ming Quan panted lightly due to pain as he said, “Yes, it is. So if you could, please bring Father here for a talk. I will convince him to take back his command.”

But could a father really agree to quietly sit by and watch his son die?

As Ming Yan entered Ming Quan’s bedroom a while later while shouting at him to not act like a suicidal fool, the answer was proven to be a decisive no.

Hello, and welcome to my new short story! (๑⁀ ᗜ ⁀๑) I will be releasing a chapter a day until completion. I hope you'll enjoy it~

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