“Are you here to watch or to help, you damned bastard?”

Somehow, Yi Yeguang managed to keep his voice perfectly steady as he addressed the newest arrival.

“Hoh?” said Demon Prince Youming Jun, no longer shielding his presence. “You’re the one who told me not to meddle though.”

Honestly, how long had the half-demon brat just been standing there? Well, in any case⸺ “I told you... not to pick fights, and that Peak Lord Cheng’s poetry collection is private and not to be recited to the masses.”

“Well⸺” said the other, evidently smug, moving just as the Peak Lord in question finally shifted his focus towards him, the hazy look in his eyes sharpening considerably.

Then, Cheng Kong slowly pulled himself up, apparently to deal with this new threat.

This was his chance. Yi Yeguang realised this, but he still didn’t move – not until Zhènglíng was suddenly back in the other’s grasp and readily brandished in direction of a certain Demon Prince. Because yes, on one hand, Yi Yeguang figured that Youming Jun wouldn’t try to seriously injure Peak Lord Cheng even if he was attacked. However, as for Peak Lord Cheng in his current state⸺

It wasn’t a strictly logical decision. It wasn’t, but Yi Yeguang still sat up and reached out, grasping the other by his sleeve. Then he tugged – not hard, but hard enough to effectively draw the other’s attention back towards him.

And once they had locked eyes again, it was as though Peak Lord Cheng had forgotten all about the interloper, because he immediately sheathed his blade and turned back to Yi Yeguang and went down on one knee before him. Then, taking both of Yi Yeguang’s hands in his, he said: “Ah-Guang, I...”

Trailing off, he then pressed Yi Yeguang’s hands against his chest, holding them there with one hand while the other moved towards Yi Yeguang’s face, hot fingertips stroking his cheek before moving underneath his chin to tilt his head slightly upwards.

“Ah-Guang, I’m...”

The other’s robes were still damp from the dip in the pond, providing a stark contrast to the heat radiating from his skin – significantly hotter than the one radiating from Yi Yeguang at this moment in time. Because although he kept his eyes right where they were, he remained incredibly aware of that damned Demon Prince watching this unfold like some sort of voyeur.

Damn it all! Yi Yeguang shouldn’t have interfered! He shouldn’t have⸺

He opened his mouth, and was at once incredibly aware of how Cheng Kong’s gaze shifted towards his lips. Honestly, had Yi Yeguang’s meridians not been royally fucked up at the moment, then he would’ve just used a blast of qi to knock the other out. Now however, Yi Yeguang couldn’t risk it, because if Cheng Kong qi-deviated and sustained any lasting injuries here, then Yi Yeguang would be the one unable to forgive himself, and⸺

“Okay,” Youming Jun said at last. “I’ve seen enough.”

And with those words, the Demon Prince promptly delivered a strike, and in short order, Yi Yeguang had a lapful of unconscious Peak Lord Cheng – something that would’ve normally been pretty alarming but now came as an incredible relief.

“Are you okay, Sect Leader?”

Hah. “Your concern for my well-being warms my heart immensely, your highness.”

It didn’t, but even so, Yi Yeguang appreciated the intervention, no matter how delayed. He wasn’t about to voice this appreciation out loud however.

“You know,” Youming Jun said. “If that guy had truly wanted to keep his collection of love poems private, then he shouldn’t have left it out in the open like that – it was right next to the bed; not even a shred of effort to hide it or anything!”

Really. “And you were in Peak Lord Cheng’s private quarters because...?”

“I was bored. Also curious, but mostly bored.”

Well⸺

“You are your father’s son, truly,” Yi Yeguang said, looking down at Cheng Kong, whose head was still resting on his lap, wet hair adding to the already existing wet spots on Yi Yeguang’s clothes.

There was also the state of Yi Yeguang’s wrists; aching, bruises already forming. He didn’t try to hide the fact however, even as he found himself under obvious scrutiny. Because Demon Prince Youming Jun was definitely looking, even if he averted his eyes when Yi Yeguang lifted his own gaze.

Instead, that gaze moved elsewhere, landing upon a certain wooden chest, and the Demon Prince’s eyebrows furrowed in such distinctly Mingyue-like fashion that the sight sent a ripple of amusement through Yi Yeguang. And the demon brat undoubtedly sensed this, because Youming Jun immediately tore his eyes away from there to him, who suddenly couldn’t hold it in anymore.

He burst into a fit of quiet laughter that absolutely jarred his insides, but even then, he couldn’t stop – not until he was breathless and feeling a bit faint. Black blotches obstructed his vision, and Yi Yeguang screwed his eyes shut, folding himself over Cheng Kong’s head and shoulders while trying to get some air back into his lungs.

It wasn’t a particularly comfortable position, but nothing in him was particularly comfortable at the moment. It was a sheer miracle that he hadn’t started coughing up blood yet, honestly.

“Are you okay?”

‘Are you okay?’ Hah.

“I’m fine.” Yi Yeguang said this while still doubled over. “Now be of use or go away.”

Normally, he would’ve probably thought twice about being so brusque with a prince of the Demon Realm, and even more so with one who had proven himself capable of bringing the world to its knees.

However, as things were, Yi Yeguang didn’t really find it in himself to care right now. Besides, he’d already admonished the demon brat for his disruptive behaviour and witnessed Jiao Ziyu pushing the other off of a bloody roof without suffering any ill consequences whatsoever. As such, Yi Yeguang really didn’t find it in himself to care – right now or latr, probably. Still⸺ “Definitely your father’s son.”

“Truly?” Youming Jun said, as Yi Yeguang finally managed to muster up the energy to straighten back up.

“Yes,” he said. “I’m honestly amazed that Venerable Master Bai didn’t toss you off of a bloody cliff because of the sheer family resemblance.”

“He did let me fall into a river though,” said the other. “And Jiao Ziyu along with me.”

Huh. Well, that incident certainly hadn’t made it into Jiao Ziyu’s final report. That said however⸺ “How is he these days?”

The demon bastard blinked, momentarily confused. “How is who these days? Jiao Zilei isn’t⸺”

Really. “I honestly don’t give a flying fuck about what that bastard is up to these days. I wasn’t asking about him.”

And frankly, the less Yi Yeguang knew, the better – especially at this point.

“Oh,” the Demon Prince said, with seeming realisation. “They didn’t tell you?”

Huh. “Tell me about what?”

“Uh...” The Demon Prince seemed somewhat caught off guard. “That thing about how Jiao Zilei was killed by my late mother and spent years trapped in my sword, which got destroyed some months ago? And that now he’s in some other place?”

“Oh.”

Well, that was certainly one way of meeting one’s end. It felt strangely appropriate as well, for this particular individual. Also, it assuaged any lingering fears as to what trouble former Peak Lord Jiao might be causing elsewhere – because him being dead and him having been dead for quite some time meant that there probably wasn’t much need to worry anymore. Huh.

“As for Bai Jixue, well...” The Demon Prince shrugged. “I guess he’s doing fine? He hasn’t left since Uncle brought him back either, so...”

He trailed off, clearly having more to say but refraining. That was fine though – he’d given Yi Yeguang the closure he needed.

“So,” Youming Jun said at last. “Got any convenient antidotes lying around or should I go raid Master Bai’s stash?”

Honestly⸺ “I’d rather you just asked, and rather have him come here by himself.”

Because stealing from Mingyue’s stash wasn’t a great idea, and with the situation as it was, Yi Yeguang would rather have an expert come and take a look, even if it greatly heightened the risk of Mingyue finding out about recent developments in regards to certain accursed swords.

“Yeah...” the Demon Prince finally said, averting his eyes once more while shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Now is not a great time for that.”

Huh. “Then would your better half be available to come and have a look?”

“Yeah...” Youming Jun said, eyes still averted. “Now is not a great time for that either.”

Honestly⸺

Yi Yeguang pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d already had a headache before this, and recent events had by no means improved things.

Ah, this sect clearly needed to increase the number of medicinal cultivators, because while the one they had was very skilled, he wasn’t always available.

“You know,” the Demon Prince said. “I was also a disciple of Bai Mingyue at one point...”

Well⸺ “Given what I’ve seen of Peak Lord Bai’s attitude towards you, you couldn’t have been a very good student.”

“Well...” Youming Jun bared his teeth in a smile. “I can admit that I wasn’t the best, but I certainly wasn’t the worst. Besides, what Master Bai doesn’t like about me isn’t that I wasn’t his best student, but rather that I took his best student away from him. It was his own damned fault though, honestly. He didn’t look hard enough or act fast enough, so... I saw my chance, and I took it, and Yue along with it.”

Riiiiight⸺ “An interesting story, no doubt. But could you go raid Mingyue’s stash and then come back and help me deal with...this?”

Saying this, Yi Yeguang gestured vaguely towards Peak Lord Cheng, still out of it but that wouldn’t last forever now, would it?

“If that’s what you want,” the Demon Prince said, offering up a mild shrug. “Deal with it how though? The antidote should be easy enough to fix, but if you’re looking for potions to induce forgetfulness, then you might be out of luck. Master Bai might have a small stash of them lying around somewhere, but if so, then I don’t know where.”

And the latter was probably for the better, if the former was indeed the case.

Yi Yeguang sighed. “Just get the antidote. And help me get him back to his own quarters afterwards.”

With any luck, then Peak Lord Cheng would end up dismissing it all as a strange dream. He did seem rather drunk after all, on top of everything else. Still⸺

Once Youming Jun had left, Yi Yeguang gave Cheng Kong’s still damp hair a few tentative strokes before fixating his gaze upon the wooden chest containing that accursed sword.

It had been awfully quiet up until this point. But now it once again seemed to be ready to be a massive nuisance. More likely than not, it was reacting to the additional presences nearby, and now, with one of said presences completely unguarded, it seemed to want Yi Yeguang to do something about it – which he would, but probably not the thing that accursed blade wanted.

Because, honestly, given the display of morals of both past and current Peak Lords, what was there to say that Founder Yi hadn’t also been some sort of sexual deviant? Maybe the other’s reason for recruiting the first generation of Peak Lords hadn’t just been to lay the foundation for a new sect but rather to add them to his personal harem? It was an absolutely outrageous thought for sure, but no longer an unthinkable one. Honestly⸺ “I don’t know what to believe anymore...”

Saying this, Yi Yeguang tentatively stroked those ink-black tresses. They’d undoubtedly be a hassle to untangle in the morning, but that wouldn’t be Yi Yeguang’s problem. He did feel slightly bad about it though – it, and a number of other things.

“Cheng Kong,” he uttered quietly, resting two fingers against the other’s burning skin to once again confirm that the other had suffered no injuries. “What am I going to do with you?”

Well, tossing him into a pond to cool off didn’t seem to have worked, so maybe Yi Yeguang ought to take a page out of Bai Jixue’s book and try a cliff next?

He wouldn’t do that though. He wouldn’t. Instead, Yi Yeguang would take himself out of the equation. He would take Founder Yi’s legacy and enter seclusion, and remain in seclusion for an indefinite amount of time.

And in the meantime, Peak Lord Cheng would hopefully come to realise just what sort of person Yi Yeguang really was and redirect his affections towards a more suitable target, and the rest of the Windward Sect would finally have to face the whole succession issue.

As for Mingyue, well, the other would undoubtedly have certain opinions about all of this, and potentially also very strong opinions – and if Yi Yeguang did make it back, then he would take whichever non-lethal concoction the other offered him with no complaints.

It’s time, he thought, gingerly moving Cheng Kong aside before rising to his feet.