“I do not want that Huo Cheng guy anywhere near Tiankong or Xie Yi! He took Tiankong to a brothel the last time, who knows where Xie Yi will end up with!”

Shi Yue wanted to say that it was unlikely but considering that Xie Yi was almost an adult, there actually was a chance of that being repeated.

He still frowned. “Tiankong is an adult and Xie Yi is almost one. Don’t you think it’s their decision to follow him to wherever Huo Cheng invites them or not? ...If they will even meet.”

“Not if they don’t have a fucking clue on what those places are”, Wu cursed. “Fuck! They’re way too easy to cheat into things that shouldn’t be done!”

Xie Yi blinked, not participating in the conversation.

Shi Yue was busy trying to figure out the meaning of Wu’s words. It was completely eluding him.

“What do you mean by that?”

Wu flared up again. “Tiankong only just got out of captivity! I’m busy trying to get him into a normal state, other things fall a bit flat! That beast dragged someone without any knowledge on those things into a brothel!”

Shi Yue did not correct him that, in fact, it had been him doing that.

Xie Yi raised an arm up to pat Wu’s head.

Shi Yue still wasn’t fully following.

Tiankong being in captivity somewhere was quite in line with his thoughts, especially if that place was the Demonic Sect. Ultimately though, he was a Grandmaster and couldn’t be too young.

...So, what, he was supposed to have gotten all those years without knowing…?

Nonsense.

“Even if he has never heard of a brothel before, he is not an idiot.”

“He. Did. Not. Know! Nothing! I’m saying this because I want to avoid this happening again but if you’re not taught, you can’t understand! Please don’t assume that thi… these two people have your level of knowledge!” 

Wu was snarling but Shi Yue heard the heavy worry in his voice.

“Whether it be drugs, sex, gambling… A person that does not understand does not have any self-control! I won’t let someone like Huo Cheng, who spends all day enjoying himself like that, close to either of them!”

The information was slowly simmering in.

Panic began to well up.

He did not know what was making him feel worse right now.

The fact that he had dragged someone with the understanding of a little child into a room full of women who wanted to do things with him that he didn’t understand-

- or that Xie Yi apparently never even had the knowledge to notice how he was seducing everyone!

Who exactly had messed that up! One was a Grandmaster, the other pretty much an adult! Isn’t that knowledge you should be teaching pretty early, ah?!

“Haven’t you been resisting people who were making advances on you?”, Shi Yue asked a bit too loudly in his confusion, looking at Xie Yi with wide eyes.

His disciple blinked innocently. “That’s because Xu Yan said I should knock anyone who randomly hugs me out.”

“What about those that didn’t hug you but made other moves?!” Shi Yue felt like crying.

“Uh, there was one guy who tore my robe apart so I knocked him out for doing that. There was also one who just came close but his breath was stinky so I also knocked him out. ...Uhmmm, a few girls who went into my room at night when Xu Yan wasn’t there but I have safety measures and they ran out crying.”

Xie Yi was telling everything obediently and with a deadpan face.

Wu said nothing. He merely pointed his hands at Xie Yi with a ‘You see what I mean?!’-face.

“There was this one girl in the medical ward who kept on rubbing my chest and stomach during an examination but Li Mei threw her out. Not sure if that’s the same intent?”

Hearing Xie Yi’s confused tone, Shi Yue sat down heavily and leaned on his folded hands.

After five seconds of awkward silence, he opened a drawer and pulled out a jade seal.

“Please take care of him”, he said gravely.

“I’ll make sure to only be around for those cases”, Wu responded gravely.

“Huh?”, Xie Yi asked in confusion.

Shi Yue held the beast's eyes.

...Like hell!

Okay!

He was mad at Wu for breaking in but, like hell!

Enough is enough!

This was not something that Xu Yan alone could manage, especially not if he was up against people stronger than him!

It was better to have a guard!

At least he could be certain that Xie Yi was safe from Yao Ming, social blunders, and further attacks now!

...Also, he’d write Huo Cheng a letter that if the prince even dared to think of inviting Xie Yi literally anywhere, he’d cut his balls off without any mercy!

The seal changed owners. Shi Yue looked exhausted. Wu satisfied but exhausted. Xie Yi was not exactly following the conversation.

With everything going on, the images of Tiankong and Xie Yi were mixing inside his mind, amplifying his desire to protect his disciple.

Honestly, if it wasn’t plainly impossible due to Tiankong being a Grandmaster, Shi Yue might have almost suspected them being the same person by now.

Either way, they were too similar. It was giving him a stomachache.

That little beast Mingtian had to grow up soon! He was very intelligent and surely could protect Xie Yi from stumbling into bad situations like Wu was doing it with Tiankong!

Ugh, the brothel situation had been his fault. It certainly explained why Tiankong had been so nonchalant - he probably had not understood half of what was happening - and why Wu had freaked out so much at hearing it.

And that was after the beast had handed Tiankong to him while he was out for killing…

What if Tiankong had followed those girls into a room... Maybe even both of them...

He really felt guilty.

He hadn’t expected ‘does not have much common sense’ to mean really only this much.

The adults in the room looked considerably weary, so Xie Yi spoke up carefully. “So Wu will be around when we’re in the other sect?”

“I’ll be close by but out of your view unless stuff happens”, Wu confirmed.

“Xie Yi, listen to whatever Wu says, okay?”, Shi Yue worriedly added.

Xie Yi chuckled. “Of course. He’s my older brother.”

Wu lovingly cuddled the smaller young man.

Shi Yue tilted his head in contemplation. Wu was obviously very close to Xie Yi, so was the strained relationship only between Tiankong and Xie Yi? 

He imagined the three of them plus the furry Mingtian together. It was a nice picture, although the level of good looks was a bit abnormal.

Shi Yue sighed.

“Wu. I may be agreeing to handing my disciple to you in good faith, but I’m not handing my son over just yet.”

Wu smirked broadly. “Oh? Sounds like there’s a condition.”

“Bellflower fruit as dowry or you don’t even need to come knocking”, Shi Yue humpfed with an evil grin. “A real one, of course.”

Wu glared back with an equally haughty grin. “Easy enough. Prepare some wedding clothes.”

“Since when do beasts need wedding clothes?”, Xie Yi interjected with a confused look.

Wu gave a light, sweet laugh. “We don’t, but a human ceremony would be nicer. I want you to be able to participate, after all.”

Shi Yue’s face fell.

Goddamnit. Why did he have to have the same thought as that guy.

“Enough of that”, he grumpily declared at noticing that Wu and him shared the same desire to protect and spoil their loved ones. “You’ve got what you want. Leave and stop distracting my disciple from preparing for the trip.”

“Yes, yes.” Maybe it was because he had gotten what he wanted, Wu left peacefully.

Xie Yi looked after him with a blank face before turning the same expression towards Shi Yue. “To tell the truth, I’m not sure what all of this was about.”

“Yeah. I feared that to be the case.”

“Uh. I’ll be going then.”

“Hm.”

Xie Yi shuffled out slowly. The door closed with a click.

Shi Yue, feeling terribly weary, lowered his forehead to lay on the table.