Content warning: Sexual content.  

The aluminum poles and railings of the subway car were liveried in vibrant, bing tanghulu red. Advertisements covered the windows at eye-level; he couldn’t see the people lined up to enter the car. The overhead announcement, a comforting feminine voice, warned passengers to mind the gap. An older woman got on, her arms laden with shopping bags. Chen Jiajian slid off his seat, dragging his coat with him. He shuffled awkwardly out of the way, making brief eye contact with the auntie to indicate the seat next to his mother was for her. She settled in, bestowing an approving, if grudging smile at him. He wrapped his arm around the pole below his father’s hand and let his eyes wander. 

They pulled away from the station. The heavy diesel engine swelled to fill the silence, but it couldn’t dispel that tinny hum of electricity inside the car, or that artificial hush of sound vanishing into endless coats. Most people were reading, either small paperback books or newspapers. A few mothers murmured to their children, urging them to be quiet. Everyone turned inward, occupying the liminal space in the least way possible. 

It made the two men a few feet down the aisle obvious. 

They were wrapped up in each other, as if there was no one else on the train. They wore masks to cover the bottom halves of their faces, but their eyes said everything. Adoring, their lashes lowered demurely before they stole another glance at each other. They never looked to make sure they weren’t bothering anyone else. Without something to read, something to do, Chen Jiajian had nowhere else to look. He stared at them, at their fond glances, the twinkle in their eyes from some hidden understanding between them. He imagined their smiles behind the masks, their mouths telling sweet things softly to the other. 

Then, in the folds of their jackets, he saw their fingers interlocked, their hands pressed palm-to-palm. His heart cracked open, like a half-broken egg that won’t come out of the shell. He took a deep breath and held it, a strange excitement spreading slowly through his chest.

“Come here.” His father moved around the pole, interposing himself between Chen Jiajian and the two men. 

Chen Jiajian could tell by the sound in his father’s voice he’d been caught at something, but he didn’t know what. He looked up at his mother; her face was stony. The auntie next to her looked as if she’d smelled something rank. His mother looked into his face with her usual probing look, and then gave a cool not-smile to the auntie next to them. The auntie looked at Chen Jiajian, her watchfulness on his expression an admonition in itself. Chen Jiajian lowered his eyes to his mother’s hands on her lap. She slid her thumb around her wedding band, then curled her fingers in a fist.

“At least there’s none of those in our family.” His father’s voice was low enough that only his mother and the auntie could hear it. His father’s hand dropped on Chen Jiajian’s shoulder like a two-ton anchor, dragging him down into the deep. 

Lian Zhidiao’s eyes fluttered open, his body tensing against the sway of a subway car he’d ridden more than a decade and a universe ago.  What a strange… dream? He rubbed his face with his hands. No, a memory.  

The low roar of the rain from the day before was gone, replaced by the sounds of townspeople out on the street. He sat up in bed; as usual, Yue Fengjian was already gone, likely to find breakfast.  

Lian Zhidiao put his hair up, deep in thought. Their discussion the day before had not done much to ease his mind. So far they’d encountered demons in both the Lin and Yuan sect capitals, and the ones that had been killed were probably not working alone. Xuefeng City was covered in demon-repelling arrays, so maybe their defenses hadn’t been infiltrated yet. Lian Zhidiao’s fingers in his hair slowed; maybe this was why it had to be the Yue sect, and Yue Fengjian in particular, to defeat the demons. The other two sects on the border were already riddled with them. 

Downstairs, Yue Fengjian was waiting at a low table, a cup of tea and a half-empty dish of pillowy steamed buns in front of him. As Lian Zhidiao approached, he invited Lian Zhidiao to help himself to the buns that were left; the innkeeper, ever watchful, appeared out of nowhere to offer a matching cup.  

“According to the map, Jiuluwei City isn’t far,” Lian Zhidiao said, sitting down next to him, a bun in his hand. They were filled with spicy-numbing pork, or pork with scallions and cabbage, and they were still warm. “It shouldn’t take us long to get there.” 

“Mn.” Yue Fengjian watched Lian Zhidiao eat, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I have heard that Sect Leader Wa Zhuangzhou isn’t interested in meeting with members of other sects.” 

Lian Zhidiao strained his brain, trying to remember what, if anything, he knew about the Sect Leader. All he remembered was related to Supreme Warlord of the Beast World— that is to say, it related to romancing Wa Yingyue. The delicious bun turned to ash in his mouth as he thought about Yue Fengjian sailing in to take her hand in marriage. He stopped chewing for a moment and then managed to swallow.

“Sect Leader Wa Zhuangzhou is a private man,” he said. “It will be difficult to convince him to see you without urgent business.” 

Yue Fengjian’s scowl deepened. 

I can’t be selfish here. He will unite humanity to fight against the demons. That includes the Wa sect. Every sacrifice should be made for that goal. 

“There may be other, unconventional avenues to earning his favor,” Lian Zhidiao said slowly. “Any opportunities you find should be exploited, because the Wa sect will exploit you in return.” He met Yue Fengjian’s eyes, trying to project conviction. “You must be ruthless.” 

“You don’t think they’ll join this alliance.” 

Lian Zhidiao hesitated for a moment. Part of your success in the book was being a noble match for his lovelorn daughter, and earning his favor that way. Lian Zhidiao gave Yue Fengjian a doleful look, and then took another bite of his bun. Without that, it will indeed be hard to get an audience with him. “For various reasons, my presence will complicate matters. It’s best if you meet him on your own.” 

“Then we should hurry,” Yue Fengjian said, standing up. “The morning will be half-gone before we leave.” 

Lian Zhidiao wolfed down the rest of the buns, and they left shortly thereafter. 

Only a few kilometers past their inn, the Black Highway could go no further. The soggy earth of the marsh couldn’t support the weight of the white stones. Instead there was a series of broad plank roads winding from one clump of trees to the next. In some places, the trees were extensive, though many had lost their leaves, and there appeared to be solid ground for the Highway. In others, there was open water, broken by islets of cypress. In some places, fragments of the road existed as islands next to the road of planks, the rest of the stones swallowed up by the mud. 

A spit of land swooped down from the north, and the Black Highway became whole again, cutting through a dappled landscape of autumn color and evergreens. The white road burst out onto a wide floodplain of red reeds that stretched as far as they could see, dyeing the horizon the color of blood. In the distance, they spied the black-grey roofs of Jiuluwei City. 

The sprawling city was built mostly of timber. Some was young, pale pine. The older timber was stained dark by the black water that lapped at the piers. Here and there, stone buildings rose up out of the marsh on formidable footings, which smaller wooden structures clung to like barnacles. As they drew closer, they could see that the greatest stone structure at the center was actually a pond and canals filled with pure, clear water which flowed over the tops of the walls in a shining curtain. Near the center of this stone pond, a large, round timber-framed building stood proud of the others—the enclosure for the Great Jade Beast. 

The Wa family home was on the northern side of the city, easy to find because of the adjacent sect academy, one of the larger stone buildings. They landed a few streets away. Yue Fengjian left Lian Zhidiao with a hefty amount of coin to secure lodgings, and then went ahead by himself.  

Despite receiving a suspicious look from the innkeeper, their money spoke for itself, and the most luxurious rooms in the inn were theirs. The inn was just near the crystal-clear canals, and the sound of softly running water carried through the air. The rooms were dark, with heavy shutters, and painted lavishly with patterns and colors. Black and gold were given pride-of-place. The surfaces that weren’t slick ebony or covered in gilt were hung with silk or covered with brocades, even velvets. There was a brass brazier in every room, already heated with glowing coals. Lian Zhidiao cracked a shutter to watch the avenues below. Hours later, when he saw Yue Fengjian—in red, he could be no other—he waved to him. 

The frustrated look on Yue Fengjian’s face spoke volumes before he opened his mouth. “Sect Leader Wa is currently in an intensive training regiment with his students.” Yue Fengjian sat down in front of a low table, folding his legs under him. “He won’t be back for several days.” 

Lian Zhidiao bit back his own initial suspicions—that Wa Zhuangzhou simply didn’t want to be bothered—and closed the shutters. “Then there is nothing to do but wait.” 

“I get the feeling that is the point,” Yue Fengjian said irritably. 

“It will take patience and cunning to win him over,” Lian Zhidiao said, sitting down opposite him, his back against the edge of one of the low beds. “Get out the maps. We can still make plans in the meantime.”  

Yue Fengjian was clearly not interested in getting out the maps, but he did anyway, offering them to Lian Zhidiao and sitting down next to him. 

Acutely aware of his frustration, Lian Zhidiao slowly spread out and smoothed down the maps on the table. He kept his voice measured and calm. “Don’t lose sight of what you really want out of these negotiations. Nothing will stand in your way for long.” 

“You sound so sure.” 

Lian Zhidiao froze. “I mean only to encourage your aspirations.” 

“Do you?” The frustration was still there in Yue Fengjian’s voice, but now it was simply tension, as if he had run into a wall in one aspect of life and was redirecting his energy to something else that was frustrating him. 

“I do,” Lian Zhidiao replied. “As I said before, you have a vision of the world that I want to nurture and see to fruition.” 

Yue Fengjian reached out and turned Lian Zhidiao’s head toward him with one finger under his chin. “How?” 

“H-How…”

Yue Fengjian’s voice dropped to almost a whisper. “How do you want to nurture it?” 

Lian Zhidiao held his breath. Yue Fengjian pushed his hair back behind his ear; one of his fingers brushed against Lian Zhidiao’s neck. A broken sigh left him as a wave of longing swept through him. How could he protest when his body made such a liar out of him? The anticipation curdled his guts, making him crave more while also wanting  to melt into the floor in embarrassment. Yue Fengjian looked down at him; Lian Zhidiao glanced at his mouth and then his eyes flashed back up to meet Yue Fengjian’s searching gaze. 

Another small gasp left him when Yue Fengjian’s warm fingers slid up the sensitive skin behind his ear. He averted his eyes; he couldn’t bear to look at Yue Fengjian any more. He was trapped between the lies he needed to get out of this situation, and the truth that his body revealed in spite of him. 

And yet, Yue Fengjian’s eyes searched him. Their pressure—their judgment—was terrible to anticipate. Dark with emotion, heavy-lidded, those beautiful phoenix eyes didn’t look away. 

“Don’t,” Lian Zhidiao choked out, in a weak voice that would convince no one. The rest of the words were stuck in his throat.

Don’t look at me when I’m like this. 

Yue Fengjian didn’t listen. Instead, he leaned forward and claimed Lian Zhidiao’s mouth with his own.

Lian Zhidiao opened to him willingly, letting Yue Fengjian tilt his head back as he wished. The kiss was tentative; it nearly broke, strung along on their breaths mingling together. Lian Zhidiao placed his hands on Yue Fengjian’s shoulders, as if he might push him away, never quite doing it. And then Yue Fengjian joined their mouths again. With every caress of his lips, he stole all the will Lian Zhidiao had to protest. 

During their previous roll in the grass by the river, he’d already been mostly stripped naked. Because of the circumstances, Yue Fengjian had not needed to do anything to bare him before his eyes. But now, he tugged at the collar of Lian Zhidiao’s robes—not just the outer ones, but the inner ones too. 

Lian Zhidiao leaned back against the edge of the bed, and Yue Fengjian took advantage, unknotting Lian Zhidiao’s sash. His robes loosened around him, like a flower’s opening petals. It took only a light tap to the inside of Lian Zhidiao’s knees to part them. Yue Fengjian pulled him up into his lap, spreading Lian Zhidiao’s thighs wide and fitting himself between them. He pushed aside the black folds of Lian Zhidiao’s robes, exposing the skin below his neckline. 

Yue Fengjian’s hand pushed between his inner and outer robes, teasing him with a touch that was so close to his skin and so far away. One finger raked roughly across a silk-veiled nipple and a shocked noise burst from Lian Zhidiao’s lips at the bolt of pleasure that arced through him. What is this body doing, having that kind of reaction to the merest hint of a touch? On my nipple, no less? His head snapped up, he was going to tell Yue Fengjian not to do that, when he did it again. Lian Zhidiao moaned in spite of himself.  

A mischievous light glinted in Yue Fengjian’s eyes. With a sharp movement, he wrenched the front of Lian Zhidiao’s robes open, pulling them down off his shoulder, and revealing even more. He lazily lowered his mouth to catch briefly on Lian Zhidiao’s skin as it pebbled in the cool air. One of his hands pinched one nipple gently, while he bent his head down and teased the other with his mouth. 

A series of stammering gasps shuddered out of Lian Zhidiao. He curled up, cradling Yue Fengjian’s head against his chest, even as he continued. Every lick of his tongue made him writhe, drawing another soft moan from this mouth. In only a few minutes, Lian Zhidiao was wondering just what sort of sadist Yue Fengjian was in bed. No matter how Lian Zhidiao yelped and whimpered at the cut of his teeth against his over-sensitized nipples, the man never let up his assault. 

“Fengjian…” A plaintive note entered his voice. 

Yue Fengjian glanced up at him, the keen look in his eyes a warning not to interrupt, like a ravening beast that had finally gotten his jaws around something succulent. 

I don’t even know what I want from him. Lian Zhidiao’s weak protests withered under that fierce glare. Stop? Don’t stop? Be gentle? Don’t bully me?  

In answer, Yue Fengjian finally released his nipple from his mouth, and pushed him back onto the bed with his hips. He let the weight of his hands press Lian Zhidiao’s thighs apart. Slowly, with the side of his thumb, he stroked Lian Zhidiao’s stiff cock through the robes. For his gentleness, he was rewarded with a strong twitch up towards him. Lian Zhidiao was sure he felt a drop of precum dribble out of him. He wanted to beg—touch me properly!—but all he could do was lift his hips, rubbing himself against Yue Fengjian’s hand, his body saying what he dared not. Yue Fengjian leaned over him, pushing him further back onto the bed. Something stiff poked the flesh of his ass.

Oh! 

Yue Fengjian didn’t slow down, grinding his erection up against Lian Zhidiao. 

Oh... 

A heavy blush stained Lian Zhidiao’s cheeks. He’s really this excited. He hid his face with the back of one hand, but he couldn’t hide from the hum of excitement that coursed through his body at feeling how hard Yue Fengjian was. The wadded-up fabric of their robes blunted the sensation of sliding against each other. But it didn’t dull the hot drag of Yue Fengjian’s heavy desire between his legs. He was already closer than he thought; his inner clothes were sticking to the damp head of his cock as Yue Fengjian pushed up next to him. 

Yue Fengjian kissed him again, hungrily, still tormenting one of his nipples. Lian Zhidiao rocked his hips up into every slow movement, heat gathering in the pit of his stomach as his fingers slowly curled into a fist. 

If he doesn’t stop… 

Yue Fengjian released him from the kiss, panting. The scowl he normally wore was now an expression of intense concentration, all of it focused on Lian Zhidiao. He crushed an open kiss against Lian Zhidiao’s cheek, and then his neck. In his wake he left a string of kiss marks and a gnawing emptiness that longed to be filled.

Lian Zhidiao shuddered at every little nibble on his neck, flexing his hips up to match Yue Fengjian’s rhythm. The heat in his belly tightened. He was going to make a mess in his underwear if they continued. “Fengjian… stop...” 

Yue Fengjian’s teeth glanced off his ear, seeming not to hear him.  

“If you don’t, I’ll…!!” 

“Then come,” Yue Fengjian growled huskily into his ear. 

Yes... Lian Zhidiao shut his eyes tight and clung to his shoulders, entrusting his pleasure to him. The thrusting pressure of their bodies together was in time with the throb of his blood. He arched up off the bed, pursuing Yue Fengjian every time they parted. The tense heat low in his body tightened even more, like an arrow drawn full back, ready to be loosed. He turned Yue Fengjian’s head toward him, seizing him in a fevered kiss as he neared the edge. 

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. The voice of the innkeeper filtered through the door. “Lian-gongzi?” 

Yue Fengjian stilled. Lian Zhidiao’s eyes widened. 

NO! 

Yue Fengjian pulled away slowly, his fingers lingering over Lian Zhidiao’s skin. Though he looked ready to kill, his eyes never left Lian Zhidiao in his half-ravished state. “Yes?” 

“You have a visitor.” A pause. “I wouldn’t have disturbed you unless it was urgent.” 

A visitor? Who would even know I’m here? Lian Zhidiao sank back from the brink of orgasm, feeling near tears with how close he’d been. He composed himself quickly, but couldn’t keep the frustration out of his voice as he called out. “Did they give a name?” 

The innkeeper’s voice carried clearly through the wooden door. “Of course, gongzi. She gave her name as Lady Lian Chanrong.”  

“The Lady…” Lian Zhidiao’s voice trailed off as he fought through the haze of lust to figure out just who that was. A woman in his family, but not his mother. A faint memory of his conversation with Yuan Suwei swam up in his mind. His stomach sank. It has to be... 

“My sister.”