Freezing in place at the feel of arms around him, Gu Changshou gradually peeled his eyes open with a conflicted gaze. He wasn’t fully surprised to find himself being held by the beast-man yet again, but he couldn't fully accustom himself to the feeling.

The first morning he woke up and screamed, frightening them both awake. The rest of the day was spent on pins and needles, wondering when he would be finished. But the beast-man merely kept a cautious distance unless it wanted something.

After waking up and finding himself in the same situation over and over again, he realized it was because of his constitution. His true yang body repelled the cold, and the beast-man being covered by yin qi, must have felt being next to him very comfortable as it dispelled the yin cold.

Gu Changshou was conflicted upon the realization. Heavy relief there were no sexual intentions or overtones, and he was treated as hot water bag. But there was also concern over its desire for the yang qi in his body…

Watching the ruby red liquid trickle into a bowl, he sighed, wrapping his wrist in a practiced movement. It was a small price to pay as he watched as the yin aura vanish. It continued sticking to him at night, but it was better than the alternative: being stared at like a slab of meat, waiting to be eaten.

He was crazy to offer his own flesh – something others longed for – to a savage being in the mountains. But it was better than being on the receiving end of constant hungry stares. Every day it brought those herbs, squatting by as he stripped and dressed his wounds, eyes burning with fervor. Had it been anyone else, he would have mistaken it for lust. Thankfully, that burning ardor vanished with the yin qi cloaking its skin.

Circulating qi through his meridians, Gu Changshou exhaled slowly, glad that there was some improvement. The loss of blood was easily remedied with the abundance of roast meat and odd grasses he was fed. Even better was that most of his external injuries were recovering. Still, the bones in his leg would need more time and his meridians also needed to be slowly nurtured.

Luckily, among the wild grasses the beast-man picked were ones that did exactly that. He didn’t know much about recognizing herbs and medicines, only their effects, but anything that could heal injured meridians was extremely valuable. When he left, he would bring some with him for Elder Chen to study.

Observing his ‘host’ in silence, he watched as it ambled about the cave, moving things around. It was most likely human but stayed so long in the mountains that it was more beast than man. Gu Changshou wasn’t sure how to address it, but at the very least, he thought it was male.

It stunned him two days ago when he realized it was shorter than him, barely reaching up to his shoulders when they stood straight side by side. But was most shocking were the youthful features that were revealed after the shadowy yin qi was removed.

…he couldn’t be younger than him, could he? If he knew that he once addressed him as ‘big brother’…

“Give me your hand.”

It shot him a confused glance, but padded over. After a few gestures - it understood some basic words, but not enough to have conversation – it held out his hand. He was glad it was patient and simply looked at him in confusion when it didn’t understand..

Channeling a thread of qi, Gu Changshou studied his meridians and skeleton. Bone age was a crude way to measure age as one’s lifespan increased with their cultivation. But, as far as he could tell, the beast-man was twenty to thirty years old, which matched the approximate timeline to when yin qi began spreading over Qingshui mountain.

He also confirmed it was male, and human. The beast-man was most likely an abandoned or lost baby that miraculously survived being corroded by the dense yin qi, and instead adapted to it. But it also left other traces on the body. Like the ones on his face or his white hair.

“Hmm, do you have a name?”

“…name?”

“It’s something people call each other by.” Thinking that reasoning was a bit too complex, he pointed at himself. “Gu Changshou. Changshou for longevity since my parents wished for me to live a long time.”

There was a larger story around his brother’s, Gu Pingan, and his name he neglected to share. As a child, they were often teased for being named after virtues and well-wishes. His parents meant well, but to this day, he would get strange looks when someone knew the characters for his name.

“That’s my name. Gu Changshou.”

The beast-man studied him for a minute, before opening its mouth to utter, “Gu… Ch, chang… Sh, shou… Gu Chang… shou…”

After a long minute, it finally pointed at itself.

“…no… name…”

It shook its head, looking downward. Would the human be upset it had no name?

It wanted to be closer, curious to learn more about the beings that looked like it more than the creatures on the mountain, but was also fearful of them. Most often, humans attacked and chased after it. And the others who didn’t attack, fled in terror.

A long time ago, there was once someone who seemed nice, sharing food and teaching some things like how to light a fire and basic words, but later attacked, trying to capture it with rope when it was sleeping. Luckily, it managed to kill the person instead. Since then, it avoided others who gave off a similar, nasty feeling.

“Then how about I give you one?”

“…give?”

“Yes, give.” Gu Changshou paused for moment, imitating the action of giving something, and then pointing at himself and then at the beast-man.

“I give you a name.”

Squinting at the thought, it nodded furiously. “…en.”

This was the first human who didn’t run away and tried to act friendly. That could change in the future, but its instinct felt this human was good. It felt no bad intent coming from it.

This person gave it warmth at night and helped calm the cold each day – receiving a name must be a good thing.

“Name… want.”

“Let me think for a while… how about Hanqing? 'Han’ for cold and ‘Qing’ for clear, like this Qingshui mountain. As for a last name… let’s just use mine.” He was too lazy to come up with another one. Besides, there were dozens of distant cousins who also shared the same last name.

“Hanqing.” He pointed at the beast-man. “Your name is Hanqing.”

“…Han …qing?” The words came out slowly as it tested how it felt on its mouth.

“Yes, Gu Hanqing.”

Gu Chanshou nodded at his naming efforts. His shifu would complain it’s not very poetic or deep in meaning, but it reflected what he had seen about his temperament. Outwardly cold, wary and cautious, but also transparent in his emotions and did not know how to lie.

“…Gu …Hanqing…” It muttered it again, rolling the sounds on his tongue, marveling at its new name. No one had ever given it one before.

“And your small name¹In Chinese this is called a "small name," same meaning as nickname, but sounded more appropriate here. can be Xiao Han.”

It wasn’t sure what those last words meant, but it bobbed its head in agreement anyways. Excited to finally have a name, it stopped when it remembered the sounds the human made frequently each time it gave it things before.

“Th, thank… Gu Chang… shou.” It stumbled over the sounds, trying to imitate them properly. It wasn’t sure what “thank you” meant, but the human used it many times before. Like when giving it food or water.

“Well, my name might be a bit difficult for you.” And being addressed by his full name all the time would feel weird. “Why don’t you call me…”

They weren’t in the same sect, so ‘senior brother’ was weird. And hearing ‘Gu-dage’ reminded him of his older brother; not a pleasant thought. ‘Ge’ was okay, but it was what his female cousins called him when they wanted something. And the other appellations, he didn’t even want to think about.

“Chang-ge.” Gu Changshou finished by pointing at himself, and then the beast-man. “Xiao Han.”

“…Ch, Chang-ge? …Xiao …Han?”

“Yes, Chang-ge.” He pointed at himself, paused and then at Xiao Han, “Xiao Han. Nickname.”

“…Nickname?”

“Well you can just think of it as our names, Xiao Han. Call me Chang-ge.”

“…Chang-ge? …name?”

“Yes.” He smiled in encouragement when it repeated the action, pointing at him.

“Chang-ge…” The new sounds felt weird to make, as it struggled to move its mouth correctly. But doing so gave it a sense of achievement from the nod and smile on the human’s face. “Chang-ge, thank you…”

It looked at him, grinning cheerfully.

This was the first time Gu Changshou saw him smiling. Xiao Han was very cautious and frightened the last few days, saying little and freezing whenever he got too close.

“…en.” Stunned from the sudden smile, he stared for a long moment, before shaking his head mentally. He hated it when other people addressed so intimately, but that bright smile that lit up his face at the end of Xiao Han’s call, almost sounding cute, made his heart skip a beat.

Gu Changshou rarely saw someone with such pure intentions. His fellow disciples, who welcomed him with wide smiles, often had hidden intentions – whether it was envy, cultivation resources, or even taking advantage of his name – for engaging with him. Even his shifu placed expectations on him. He could pretend not to see those invisible shackles, but at the same time, he knew they were there, just waiting for him.

But Xiao Han… Xiao Han wasn’t like that. Even if they couldn’t communicate properly, and theirs wasn’t a fully pure exchange, every feeling he had was conveyed in his eyes, his face, his body movements, and his actions.

And that naïve, childish smile just now was the first time he ever saw such joy grace Xiao Han’s face.

Pity for seeing a fellow human being have to act more beast than man filled his heart.

Yes, pity… Gu Changshou firmly reminded himself, dismissing that one heartbeat he skipped over before. He reached out to rub Xiao Han’s head, feeling him freeze, but smoothed the messy locks anyways.

“Shall I teach you?”

“…teach?”

“Yes. Teach you how to speak.” And everything else about being a man…

The language barrier was only the first thing he wanted to fix. There were many other things like basic hygiene, posture, and human habits he planned to instill slowly.

His body would take a couple more months to fully heal, and there wasn’t much else to do in the meantime. While he managed to muddle through the last few days, it would be more bearable to live with someone who he could communicate with.

The last few days were spent either lying or sitting down, aside from the small bathroom respites. He couldn’t walk outside, let alone run, with his broken leg. There was nothing to read, and cultivation was slow with his damaged meridians.

Tian Zifu’s explosion destroyed all his belongings, except for his sect’s identity pendant. But it was fractured, and had no purpose apart from being ornamental now. At a bare minimum his sect knew he was alive from his soul jade, but where he was or what state he was in was hard to determine.

Plus, if he taught Xiao Han how to speak, there might be some way of sending a letter out.

“…speak?”

“Yes, what we’re doing now.” He pointed at his mouth, and then the two of them. “Speaking.”

komorebi

Note about "en" - its used in place of 'yes' to indicated agreement throughout. I used it over 'yes' as the characters, particularly XH, are making a sound in agreement instead of saying 'yes'.