Things don’t go wrong all at once. Onset is gradual, then things rapidly escalate.
“My king, there’s another issue.”
Another issue? “What is it now?”
Perhaps Hongyan is a bit snappish. But honestly, he does have a lot on his plate at the moment.
Damn it all, why couldn’t new problems just sit there quietly and wait for their turn while the previous ones were getting dealt with?
“My king,” Xunyun says. “The Hua clan compound is under siege.”
Hoh? Again?
Granted, it has been a while since last. Also, Hongyan feels immensely tempted to just watch the spectacle unfold from a distance and offer up absolutely no help whatsoever. Because honestly, no matter who is behind this latest siege, the Hua clan had probably done something to deserve it at some point.
But⸺ “A massive blizzard, you say?”
Well, that leaves exactly two likely culprits, and the first doesn’t really count – because Hongyan knows for a fact that Bai Mingyue is still over at the Green Jade Peaks, which only leaves one other possibility.
Already excited, he immediately rises to his feet, recognising that time is of the essence.
“Xunyun,” he says. “Put together a group of two or three squads and have them put on winter gear. I’ll be right back.”
Predictably, Mingyue is not thrilled when Hongyan turns up unannounced in his territory.
Once informed about the situation though, the current Peak Lord Bai proves quite eager to assist him.
“This’ll only work once though,” the other says, holding the needle – no, stinger – in-between his fingertips. “I’ll get Master, and then you’ll get him out and keep him out of the way. I’ll handle the rest.”
Well, Hongyan has a great deal of faith in Mingyue’s abilities.
Then again, alone, one can only really do so much. Still, that is a matter that can be addressed afterwards.
First, Hongyan has a wayward bird to catch.
Predictably, Jixue is not exactly thrilled to see him either. But that’s fine, honestly. Hongyan’s thrilled enough for the both of them, especially so when he gets a proper look.
Beautiful, he thinks. Mine, his instincts insist.
“Don’t waste time,” Mingyue tells him. “This won’t keep him down for long.”
And indeed, it won’t.
Fortunately, Hongyan knows what he’s doing.
Just moments thereafter, he steps out into his private bedchambers with Jixue cradled in his arms. He’s obviously delighted by how smoothly things had gone. This doesn’t stop him from frowning however.
Because now that Jixue’s body is no longer small, his weight – or rather lack thereof – becomes all the more alarming. Because he is light – much too light. It makes Hongyan wonder if the other’s bones might indeed be hollow like those of other birds, but he doesn’t dwell on it.
Instead, he puts Jixue down, then rolls him over onto his front while the other mumbles something that’s definitely a curse.
“Sorry,” Hongyan tells him, sparing a moment to stroke his hair. “It was Mingyue’s idea, you know – the poison.”
“You⸺” Jixue gasps, clearly quite affected. His disciple had chosen well – maybe even a bit too well, given the other’s current state.
“Sorry,” Hongyan says again, tugging at Jixue’s lapels to lay bare the nape; the area that Mingyue had struck. It had clearly been chosen for a reason as well – a blind spot that Jixue himself couldn’t easily reach. Hongyan finds it needlessly vicious though, because there are far better ways. As such⸺ “I’m going to suck out the venom.”
The body beneath him shudders, but Hongyan still presses onward, pressing his lips against the puncture wound where it remains unhealed. Then he covers it entirely, and Jixue makes a noise in the back of his throat that stirs up Hongyan’s instincts. Now is not the time to act upon such things though – maybe later, once other matters have been dealt with, or never. It depends. Still⸺
“I just wanted to talk,” Hongyan tells him.
“Ah, yes, talk,” Jixue scoffs, glaring at him as much as his current position would allow. “By poisoning and abducting me. Really friendly conversation.”
Well⸺ “Technically, Mingyue was the one doing the poisoning. Besides, if we hadn’t done this, you would’ve either just killed me or left, no?”
Well, he would’ve tried, at any rate.
“Being put through this kind of humiliation isn’t going to make me any less keen on murdering you,” Jixue bluntly informs him. “And you clearly didn’t have the guts to try and take me without resorting to such tricks. Coward.”
“I don’t have the guts, you say?” Hongyan smiles. “I’d call it learning from experience. Last time was a close call.”
“You call this learning from experience?” Jixue hisses. “To me, you don’t seem to have learned anything at all!”
Oh, but Hongyan has. Hongyan had learned so, so much in the meantime – both about Jixue and about himself.
So, when Jixue manages to sit up, Hongyan doesn’t hesitate to reach out. He brings his hand into Jixue’s hair, marvelling at both the colour and the smooth texture of it – and certainly not for the first time at that.
Jixue swatting at him comes as no surprise, but Hongyan doesn’t back down.
Instead, he catches both wrists, gathering them in one hand and holding them as he reaches out once more, simply relishing in it – in this stolen moment in time.
“What are you doing?” Jixue asks, decidedly annoyed.
And indeed, what is Hongyan doing? He’s savouring this moment, knowing it won’t last.
“Little Xue, I’ve missed you so. Did you miss me as well?”
Jixue stares at him, then at Hongyan’s hand as it strays closer to his mouth. He seems to consider biting it, before apparently deciding it wouldn’t be⸺ “Like an enduring toothache.”
“Hoh?” Hongyan hums, deliberately obtuse. “Did missing me feel like having an enduring toothache or did you miss me as much as you would an enduring toothache?”
Jixue actually bares his teeth at that. “Take a fucking guess, dipshit,” he snarls.
Good. This is the person who’d left – this is the person his heart had longed for.
“Call me Àiyǎn, just like old times.”
Because Hongyan had missed that old nickname, missed that tone, missed that look.
“Sure thing, Àiyǎn,” Jixue spits. “You damned eyesore.”
Well⸺ “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes yourself, Little Xue? Though, to be honest, you’re not all that small anymore, are you?”
The look sent Hongyan’s way proves particularly venomous. It doesn’t deter him though. No, it makes him smile.
“You know,” he says, finally releasing his hold. “For a supposed human and a supposed male, you always did have an abnormal amount of Yin energy... How others failed to notice is beyond me.”
Jixue, in the midst of straightening out his attire, abruptly stills, apparently only then noticing the iridescent patches of something other than skin. “Oh.”
Honestly⸺ “You’re running dangerously low on Yang energy. If nothing gets done about it, then that body of yours won’t⸺”
“I’m aware!” Jixue hisses. “That’s why I was trying to finish things quickly.”
Ah yes, finish things. Finish things and probably disappear right thereafter, this time permanently. Well, Hongyan obviously couldn’t have that, could he? He’d waited this long for a reunion. He’d been very patient. And if he couldn’t have what he wanted, then at the very least⸺
He bites down on the inside of his cheek, and as he tastes the blood, he quickly jerks Jixue's head back and kisses him, using every bit of the other's momentary stupefaction to his own advantage.
It doesn’t take much time or blood or qi to make the other yield; a testament to Jixue's state of exhaustion, no doubt.
Hongyan wastes little time though. Laying bare his shoulder, he pulls Jixue in and holds him close.
“If you think... this in any way absolves you... you’re sorely mistaken,” Jixue mumbles, clearly struggling to form words. But that’s fine, honestly. They can talk later. Besides⸺
“I’m not looking for absolution, only for a solution,” Hongyan murmurs, adjusting his grip as Jixue lifts his head, clearly reacting to something he’d just said. Hongyan can feel it too; feel the force of the other’s determination to break out of Hongyan’s hold.
Unfortunately for him though, Hongyan knows exactly what he’s doing.
A flare of hostile qi is enough to trick Jixue’s body into attacking, and as the other's teeth sink into his shoulder, Hongyan smiles. He’s bleeding, sure, but that blood and the life energy it contains is being put to good use. As such, he reins himself in, allowing Jixue to have his fill.
Then⸺
“You actually fainted, huh?” Hongyan murmurs, wiping away the blood. “You poor thing. They clearly didn’t feed you enough, and clearly, you were too stubborn to feed yourself. Honestly...”
Well, fortunately for him, Hongyan is more than ready to take on the responsibility. But first⸺
Cradling the back of Jixue’s head, he gently presses their foreheads together and closes his eyes.
Hongyan hadn’t really wanted to pry. However, with the situation at hand and time being of the essence, he needs more information – to confirm to what degree Mingyue’s suspicions hold true – because he needs to know in order to determine the best course of action.
Mingyue had previously alluded to the presence of some ‘spiritual parasite’, emphasising the need to avoid the other potentially using Jixue’s body to interfere.
However, as Hongyan looks, he finds that the thing previously tainting Jixue's presence is now muted, lending credence to Mingyue's other, more recent theory that these ‘spiritual parasites’ could be separated from their hosts. It’s not completely gone though, and thus, there’s a need to look deeper.
Delving into Jixue's mind to take a closer look, Hongyan finds no other obvious presences there besides his own though.
No, there’s one, very faint; a bond of some sort, and although tempted to interfere with it, he doesn’t. He doesn’t, because when it comes to things like these, outside interference could potentially do more damage than good.
Perhaps this was what had happened to Yue – to Jun’s mate. Someone – or something – had severed the bond improperly, which had left the other spiralling as a result.
But that’s just one theory. It’s plausible though, considering what Hongyan had heard, both before and more recently.
Hua Hongzhu had been acting strange; Hongyan had gotten word of this even prior to this whole debacle. All in all, he should’ve probably investigated this a whole lot earlier, or even joined forces with his stubborn nephew who still refuses to ask for his help.
Then again, if he had done that, then perhaps Jixue would never have shown himself out in the open, appearing next to Jun and Jiao Ziyu.
And then, Jun had set off on his own – No, not on his own; accompanied by some manner of⸺ No, with a contracted being inhabiting the shape of a white ferret that responded to the name System 225.
“System 225, huh?” Hongyan murmurs, and Jixue frowns and begins to stir. Hongyan quickly sends him back under though, because while that piece of information is undoubtedly useful, it’s still not enough. “And what does System 225 want?”
Hongyan hears a faint response, something about a Mission.
What’s the ‘Mission’? he asks.
There’s no response.
What’s the ‘Mission’? Hongyan presses, and this time, he gets one. He doesn’t catch all of it, but what he picks up seems to be the essentials – Jixue and System 225 are here to hunt down the System previously bonded with Yue – to capture or dispose of it.
Hongyan approves. Hongyan finds that he approves of it very much and doesn’t really want to stand in the way of that. Still⸺
He shifts his grip, manoeuvring Jixue’s limp form to gain easier access the other’s legs. He then quickly slides a bangle onto one of Jixue’s ankles, using a bit of qi to shrink it and seal it, making it unobstructive but also extremely difficult to remove.
It’s an insurance of sorts; a nifty little thing that would allow Hongyan to keep track of the other’s whereabouts. There are still things to address after all.
Satisfied, he then moves Jixue back into his original position, resting the other’s head against his shoulder. Hongyan turns his own head though, pressing his lips to the crown of Jixue’s head as he simply relishes in the moment.
Then, suddenly remembering that time is of the essence, Hongyan looks back down to find Jixue firmly asleep. Hongyan is tempted to leave him like that. He doesn’t though. Because he’s already made up his mind, and instead, he gives the other a slight mental nudge.
Jixue immediately startles awake and puts additional distance between them, glaring. Hongyan doesn’t really care though. Instead, he smiles.
“I’m not going to thank you,” Jixue eventually says, and quite bluntly at that, wiping some of the remaining blood from his mouth.
“Then don’t,” Hongyan says, still smiling. “Go take care of things and then come back. I’ll be waiting.”
And if Jixue won’t come, well, then Hongyan would simply have to hunt him down, wouldn’t he?
“So?” He leans forward. “Where should I send you? The Spider Caves?”
Jixue looks as though he’s contemplating whether to kill him or to accept his help.
Predictably, he ultimately opts for the latter though. “Send me to the Lake of Bones.”
The Lake of Bones, huh? Hongyan has actually been there before. It’s been a while though. “At the entrance or inside of the cavern itself?”
Jixue considers it. Then he gives his answer.
