The next day, in the late morning after the children were placed under the care of the kitchen staff—as they had no school—Sun Fuyu and Wen Zhihao went to Sword Crafter Lin Jixuan to retrieve Sun Fuyu’s upgraded sword.

“Your maintenance of the sword was not bad, but remember to upgrade in time,” Lin Jixuan said shortly. She waved away Sun Fuyu’s thankfulness and headed back into her forge. The door of her abode closing with a solid thud.

Sun Fuyu suddenly had mixed feelings. Yes, he was glad to have his friendly, familiar sword back by his side. But it also meant that it was time for him to return back to his sword cultivation training.

“...Wen-ge, keep your sword again.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to develop a two-sword style?” Wen Zhihao asked with a slight teasing tone. Wouldn’t Sun Fuyu look so handsome using two swords?

Sun Fuyu pouted slightly. “Gege,” he chided. “You must keep your sword with you when I’m not around.”

“Okay, okay, listen to you.”

Wen Zhihao accepted his sword back and placed it into his spatial ring. His gaze turning fond. He pressed a hand on the small on Sun Fuyu’s back, directing him away from Sword Crafter Lin Jixuan’s house. “Why are you sad, Xiao Yu?”

“I’m not…” Sun Fuyu’s protest died as his shoulders deflated. “I will miss spending time with you.” This last week, he and Wen-ge had been sticky together, dual cultivating at night, staying together at day.

Wen Zhihao felt like an arrow had gone through his chest. He immediately wrapped Xiao Yuyu up in a hug. “I can accompany you.”

“But Wen-ge is busy too,” Sun Fuyu mumbled, hugging Wen-ge back.

“Never too busy for you,” Wen Zhihao said firmly. In fact, he wasn’t busy at all. “And today is the Mid-Autumn moon festival, it can be counted as your holiday.”

“Hmm….” Sun Fuyu snuggled in Wen-ge’s arms, acting coquettish.

Wen Zhihao ruffled Xiao Yu’s hair. “Our lives are long, what is another few days spent together, really? You can help me decorate the cats’ gardens for tonight.”

“Hmmm, okay…” It wasn’t that Sun Fuyu didn’t understand: but he really liked this feeling of being coaxed. “Wen-ge listens to me, and I’ll listen to Wen-ge.”

Wen Zhihao gave a short laugh and kissed Xiao Yu on the nose. “Come on, let’s go.”

 

---

 

Soon, the sky grew dark and the bright full moon rose. The demonic cats’ garden was lit with dozens of hanging colourful paper lanterns that Wen Zhihao had bought from the local market vendors. Many of them had the shaky drawings made by little kids and big kids, who had decorated them in the afternoon.

The tables that were usually at the kitchens had been taken over, and were now laden with food, including boxes with delicious mooncakes inside.

In the evening, Huang Jialing brought her girlfriend, Qian Jiarui over to enjoy the festivities. She tactfully looked away from the cats who were more than happy to roll on their backs and show their bellies to be petted instead of ripping out throats.

They weren’t the only couple: aside from Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu, Elder Liu Ru and Senior Liu Zhongmin also came by. Liu Zhongmin tried to show her wife how cute the kids were, and really, wouldn’t you like one? Or two? She dodged when Elder Liu Ru looked like she wanted to whack her on the head.

Liu Zhongmin’s disciples also came with their friends and Zhang Wu, Wang Li Wei and his friends also came. The mortal staff of the Golden Sun Sect sat around the tables and ate and chatted, while children held paper lanterns—safely lit with light talismans rather than candles—and ran around singing Mid-Autumn songs.

---

Zhou Sheng arrived at the outskirts of the Golden Sun Sect at nightfall. His lips tightened when he saw Lin Yijun waiting for him at a tree outside the Sect’s walls.

“Not letting me inside?” Zhou Sheng asked coolly. “Are you going to give me whatever it is and tell me to leave?”

Lin Yijun quickly shook his head. “No, Zhou Sheng, that is not my intention. I was...free of my duties, so I had time to meet you here.”

“Oh.” Zhou Sheng’s eyes lowered for a moment. It was a lie—he knew that Lin Yijun was never clear of his administrative duties around the Sect. “So, what is it?”

Lin Yijun pulled out a small, delicate-looking crystal vial and held it out to Zhou Sheng with two hands. “This is a rare container vessel made from special high-grade clear spiritual stone. It has the ability to hold any items inside of it in its original condition, with no loss of qi over time.”

Zhou Sheng plucked the vial, his fingers lightly brushing Lin Yijun’s palms. He held it casually by the neck. “I’m not a herbalist nor a pill cultivator.”

“Yes, I know.” Lin Yijun’s hands dropped back down by his side. His voice dropped slightly. “I imagined that….you could store some of your blood in that vial.”

Zhou Sheng raised an eyebrow.

“In this way, you can take this vial out when you need it, and reduce your blood loss at crucial moments.”

There was an ache in Zhou Sheng’s chest. His hand closed over the vial and it disappeared into his spatial storage. “That is useful. Now, I’ll—”

“Do you want to see Wen Zhihao?” Lin Yijun blurted out, unable to hide an undercurrent of sourness.

“Am I not allowed to?” Zhou Sheng retorted.

Lin Yijun’s lips tightened. “Disciple Wen and the others have set up a small dinner event for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.”

“Then, lead the way.”

Lin Yijun inwardly scolded himself. Why did he mention Disciple Wen? But he had dug his pit and jumped into it.

And so, Lin Yijun led Zhou Sheng to where the demonic cats stayed. The area was like an island of liveliness, of colourful lights, music and singing, surrounded by the relative darkness of the rest of the sect.

Zhou Sheng immediately noticed Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu sitting down together on a blanket. Despite the distance, he saw how Wen Zhihao placed a piece of food part-way in his mouth, before leaning over and ‘feeding’ half of it to Sun Fuyu, their lips meeting in a kiss.

In turn, a redness spread across Sun Fuyu’s cheeks. He chewed, swallowed, and kissed Wen Zhihao back. All throughout, the two of them were holding hands.

Zhou Sheng unconsciously licked his lips and glanced at Lin Yijun. At the exact same time, Lin Yijun had seen the scene and glanced at Zhou Sheng. Their eyes met.

Zhou Sheng’s lips parted slightly. Lin Yijun’s eyes appeared to flickered down to them.

Realising that he was staring at Zhou Sheng’s lips, Lin Yijun ripped his gaze away, looking back to where Disciple Wen and Disciple Sun had their heads tilted together. “As you can see, Disciple Wen and Disciple Sun are Dao Companions now.”

Zhou Sheng followed Lin Yijun’s gaze. “You spend so much time around them that you can tell that their qi has changed?” He snorted slightly. “You’re right.”

And you’ve spent that much time around them that you can also tell? Lin Yijun thought sourly. “I’m merely informing you not to entertain thoughts about Wen Zhihao.”

Zhou Sheng rolled his eyes. “Hearing how you say it, doesn’t it sound like you covet Wen Zhihao?”

“I don’t. Isn’t that you?”

Zhou Sheng snorted. “You’re imagining ghosts where there are none. You seem overly concerned about this.”

Frustrated, Lin Yijun opened his mouth. “That’s because I—”

At that exact moment, a large cat padded over, drawing Zhou Sheng’s attention.

Lin Yijun’s eyes widened. He scrambled for some cat-allergy medicine and swallowed it quickly before approaching the cat too.

The cat shifted so that its behind faced Lin Yijun.

Zhou Sheng snickered. “Without Wen Zhihao to coax them, they still don’t like you.”

“Well, I can do things that Disciple Wen cannot.”

“Like waving a sword, I know,” Zhou Sheng smirked.

Lin Yijun pouted slightly as he huffed. He couldn’t deny that fact because it was true. Seeing how Zhou Sheng was spoiling the cat, Lin Yijun stepped up and grabbed Zhou Sheng’s arm and dragged him to the food tables.

“You pet cats all the time. Today is the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, you should try the delicacies of this event,” he grumbled. He pointed at the mooncakes. “Have one, isn’t sugar good for you?”

Letting go of Zhou Sheng’s arm, Lin Yijun took a plate and placed multiple slices of different coloured mooncakes on it. He shoved the plate into Zhou Sheng’s chest. “Eat.”

Zhou Sheng was momentarily taken aback. He took the plate piled with little delicacies. “If you want me to eat…” He took one piece that smelled like durian and stuffed it right into Lin Yijun’s mouth. “Then you better eat too!”

A tingling sensation followed where Zhou Sheng’s fingers grazed Lin Yijun’s lips. Lin Yijun’s heart skipped a beat. Sweetness flooded his mouth, followed by the taste of durian.

Zhou Sheng covered Lin Yijun’s mouth with his hand. “Chew and swallow, don’t waste food,” he chided.

Lin Yijun narrowed his eyes. He swallowed without chewing and boldly kissed Zhou Sheng’s palm.

Zhou Sheng’s eyes widened. He pulled his hand away, wiping his palm on Lin Yijun’s firm chest. “Go get me some tea,” he said, not meeting Lin Yijun’s eyes.

“That should be my line, after you made me eat that,” Lin Yijun grumbled.

“Eh, isn’t this your sect? Aren’t you the host—”

Wen Zhihao heard their bickering and smiled exasperatedly. “It seems that is simply how they get along.”

Sun Fuyu rested his head against Wen-ge, watching as the golden-robed senior chased the black-robed senior. “As long as the seniors don’t bother Wen-ge, they can do whatever they want.”

Wen Zhihao turned his exasperated smile to Sun Fuyu. “I’m sure they don’t need my help anymore.” He rose to his feet and held his hand out to Sun Fuyu. “Let’s go for a walk?”

“Mn,” Sun Fuyu agreed.

Sun Fuyu held Wen-ge’s warm hand firmly, the sweetness in his heart lasting long after the sweetness of the mooncakes had faded away.

 

 

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