“Greetings. You’re Youjin Chao?” Yung said.
The man nodded. He was a boy, really. Yung knew he was barely a year older from all the gossip about him.
According to the whispers that echoed through the clan, Youjin Chao was nothing but a mediocre youth, lacking any remarkable skill or talent. But the rumour held no weight when faced with the intensity of his gaze as Yung did now, which shone with a ferocity reminiscent of a hawk. His deep-set almond-shaped eyes were framed by crimson irises and pupils that seemed to swallow the light around them.
But his physique was equally impressive, with powerful muscles that rippled in his arms and shoulders. A strong jawline and perfectly toned deltoids completed his imposing form. And yet, despite his masculine features, he possessed an androgynous, almost ethereal beauty. High cheekbones and an angular jaw paired with a smooth complexion to create a stunning face. His long, raven-like hair flowed loosely, framing his face in a wild cascade.
Draped in a full-length robe of black and brown with red accents, his clothing was rugged and practical, but also tasteful in its simplicity, and despite how worn it looked, they suited the boy almost too well.
Youjin Chao radiated confidence and authority, moving with a graceful audacity that demanded attention. It was a stark contrast to his rumoured lack of talent, but it only added to the enigmatic aura that surrounded him.
What does he want? Yung was on guard instantly. His acquaintance with this pretty boy was less than friends of a friend, as Yung had no friends. Yet today and yesterday, Youjin Chao clearly came for Yung with an agenda.
So he asked such.
“I came to apologise.” Youjin Chao said.
My, how polite.
“Don’t just stand there. Come sit!” Yung called over the waitstaff girl that had eagerly served his meal earlier and ordered juice. They were both minors, so he decided that booze was off-limits.
“I regret getting you involved with Youjin Hong yesterday.” Youjin Chao looked at the lime juice in confusion, then shrugged and took a sip. It was a casual gesture, but his good looks and physique made it seem strangely picturesque.
“Aha, haha. Don’t mention it. It was that bully’s fault, not yours.” Yung scratched his head, awkwardly avoiding Youjin Chao’s eyes.
“Kii!” Silky chirped.
I know it was my fault, but he doesn’t need to know that I used isolated emphatic fixation. Eat your fruit.
“Still—”
"Enough on that," Yung changed the topic. "Come eat. Today's the first time we talked like this, right?" It was, and small talk followed their self-introductions.
The waitmaiden stood patiently by the table, Su Xiya casting wary glances at her. Yung ordered more fish, lamb, and, this time, a brown braised pork belly, and the girl walked away shyly. His stomach was still half empty, and all this would go into either Su Nanya or Youjin clan’s tab. It was a win-win situation. The waitmaiden returned in record quickness, and this time Yung asked for a name despite Su Xiya’s growls. Xiu Jiujiu, she stammered, then scurried away with a red face.
Youjin Chao picked up a piece of pork and took a bite.
The morning went by, and the boys talked about anything and everything: the Youjin clan, madlanders, foxmoths, and the coming sect recruitment.
“Listen, man.” Yung slammed the table, “Look at me. Look at my arms and legs. Do you think I can fight my way into the forest during phase two? I’m going to get eaten and shat out.”
“Fairy Su pardoned you in phase one of the sect recruitments, no?” Youjin Chao said. “That still shows huge favour. I heard the Youjin heiress requested something similar but got thrown out of the room.” There was a strange vindication in Youjin Chao’s voice. It piqued Yung’s gossipy soul.
"Come to think of it, what's with you and her?" Yung knew they were engaged once, and Youjin Chun broke it off. Seeing Youjin Chao freeze up, he added, "You don't have to tell me if it's uncomfortable."
“It is nothing. I’m just a cripple, Brother Yung. I cannot cultivate. The only way I can use qi is by using these pills.” Youjin Chao brought out a bunch of little green tablets. Yung knew them. They were called lingqi boosting pills, or lingqi pills for short. They were like fuel packets for spirit cultivators.
“These let a crippled trash like me use this houtian 1st grade defensive artefact.” Youjin Chao raised his right hand; it donned a matte silver vambrace with worn-out inscriptions. Probably the base form of the ghostly gauntlets he wore yesterday. Definitely uncommon class, maybe even rare?
Yung asked.
“It’s actually of the highest epic Class. I still have the Youjin name, even if my blood ties are thin, so folks don’t dare rob me. Most of them, anyway.” Youjin Chao smiled mirthfully. “Do you honestly think someone like me deserves to have the Youjin patriarch’s only daughter as a wife?”
Damn, brother. I feel you. I thought you were nuzzling your cousin for a minute there.
It was a poignant feeling. Youjin Chao was damn handsome. But even he couldn’t keep a girl because the class divide in this world was too huge. Those that were talented in cultivation, those that were not, and for Youjin Chao, those that could not.
“Sorry for bringing it up,” Yung said.
“It is not some sort of secret.” Youjin Chao brushed his hand. “Tell me about you. How did you catch the fox yao princess’s eyes?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Yung blushed.
“Come now, brother. That is not fair. I told you about my situation. Share yours.”
“… Okay, I admit. She’s hella pretty.” Yung slumped his head on the table. He felt strangely refreshed to open up about his teenage crush.
Su Xiya woofed. She pushed a chair beside the table and jumped up on it, listening attentively. Silky joined her.
“Hella pretty indeed.” There was a strange glint in Youjin Chao’s eyes. “So, was what that fat bastard Hong said true? Are you her, that is…”
“I am not a boy toy!” Yung denied. Maybe a kept man….with my severed yang… Oh, Grandpa!
“There are stories of heroes and monarchs in the Warring twilight region going crazy over Su Nanya’s allure, The second legacy disciple of Twilight blood palace and a direct-line princess of the Su fox clan. Men far stronger and greater than us would sell their parents to be in your position.”
“It’s such a big deal?”
Youjin Chao’s jaws moved, but no sound came out except shock. He half-shouted, “Of course it is, Brother Yung! It’s the Su fox clan, for heaven’s sake—the one true master of the Void connecting land bridge. If I were you, I would pursue her without hesitation. To give up is to lose!”
For a split moment, Yung read jealousy in Youjin Chao’s emphatic link.
“Pursue?” It was Yung’s turn to gape. He burst out in laughter the next second. Seeing this, Youjin Chao was flabbergasted. And for some reason, Su Xiya looked profoundly offended.
“Brother Yung, I do not see what is so funny,” Youjin Chao said. “Even if you can’t make her yours, the mere fact that she favours you will take you places I can barely imagine reaching. No one in the Youjin clan, Dim gold city, or the whole Westmoon kingdom can imagine it. She’s a Su fox clan princess, so it is not like you have no chance.
“It is completely different from mine and Youjin Chun’s situation! Su foxes are known to romance talented, commoner cultivators. I think it is their tradition to keep their bloodline polished. They find gifted, unaffiliated people to marry into their clan. Honestly, Brother Yung, I am extremely envious.”
At least this dude’s honest! Holy shit! Yung couldn’t stop cackling. “Talented, me?”
Youjin Chao pointed at Silky. “You have a soul contract with the Dim gold foxmoth yaoguai. If that isn’t talent, I don’t know what is.”
Yung laughed harder, but Su Xiya suddenly barked and dove at him. She bit his hand. “Ouch, ouch, hey! Floofy, stop that.”
"Kiiii! Kuu Kyu!~"
Silky mediated, and Su Xiya let go.
“Brother Chao. I am not shameless enough to take Lord Yaoguai’s talent as my own. But,” Yung wiped Su Xiya’s saliva off with a napkin. “Let’s assume I was talented. That I could cultivate at neck-breaking speed was my achievement alone, not Silky’s. Ah, Silky is Lord Yaoguai. And let’s assume that Fairy Nanya would marry me for heaven knows why. There are three huge problems with that.”
Youjin Chao gestured for him to go on.
“First,” Yung raised a finger. “Geographical availability. I may be able to follow her to her sect if I can get through the recruitment process. But how many servants do you think she has? If I do end up going with her, I highly doubt I can see her as frequently as I do now. Her interest in me should wane if and when I find her missing artefact and hand it over. You know she’s looking for a foxball, right?”
Youjin Chao nodded. “The clan has scores of people searching for it to no avail.”
Yung snickered, then continued with his premise. “If we don’t get to meet as much as we do now, at the least, even if I fall in love—or lust—with her now, I won’t be able to sustain it. It’ll fade with time like winter snow. Nope, long-distance relationships aren’t for me.”
“…. I would say long distance is a bit of a stretch, Brother Yung. You will be in the same sect.”
“If two people live next door and never meet, that’s a long distance! Tell me honestly. What are the realistic chances of me, a weak madlander kid, getting to meet her every day of the month with our huge difference in power and status? She’d probably live in some palace in the clouds while I’d sleep in a straw hut with all the other newly admitted disciples.”
“When you say it like that…”
“Secondly,” Yung raised his index finger next. “Physical availability.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sex.”
“I didn’t know Brother Yung was so indecent.”
“Say what you want. I don’t believe love can be sustainable without physical intimacy, especially for us men.”
“I cannot see where you come from, Brother Yung, and I believe most would disagree. There are stories of love lasting millennia, where the couple was separated by time and tragedy. They were apart both geographically and physically, yet their love prevailed.”
“Maybe. But I’m not one of them. It is a true man indeed who has the self-control to stay loyal to one woman even without a prolonged period of physical intimacy. I am not saying they don’t exist. Maybe this crush I have on her can last a few years apart? But more than that, as I am right now? Definitely not. I would probably fall in love with some other girl, dearer and nearer. I expect my future marriage to be exciting and sexy, not dry with a dead bedroom where I worship some long lost crush on an alter.”
Yung indeed expected that. Being a bona fide super virgin archwizard nearing forty in his previous life, he had unrealistically high expectations of marriage. Reading hundreds of books on relationship science by authors like Gottman, Perel, and Dodson didn’t help either.
“This is assuming you will be separated geographically. And that you won’t be physically intimate after falling in love. Looking at how she dresses in harem clothes, I would say she might suck you dry. Care to guess for what else vixen brides have a rather infamous reputation? Again, your reasoning is a bit of a stretch.”
It is not! I am a thirty-nine-year-old uncle inside, and Nyanya probably isn’t legal!
“Which brings us to the third point. Emotional availability.” Yung raised another finger, then clenched his hand. “I… Keep this a secret, but Fairy Nanya, she isn’t; how do I say this...”
Youjin Chao waited for Yung to figure out his words.
“She isn’t my type if you know what I mean. There's a, shall we say, generation gap." Yung said with a conspiratory tone but didn't know if Youjin Chao understood. The previous two points all led up to this. Yung could not see himself pursuing a girl so much younger than him. Even if it wasn't 'unethical' to marry a girl as far as two or three decades younger in many countries, even on Earth; as a person of cherry-picked ethics, Yung felt disgusted at the very notion.
“Yes, for cultivators, looks can be deceiving. Maybe she is a few centuries older, and you would not know.”
That’s not what I meant, but let’s go with that! Yung nodded along. “Perhaps she is. There’s also upbringing to consider.”
“Upbringing?”
“Have you ever heard the phrase, Opposites attract, but similarities keep?”
“I have not.”
“Basically, people with vastly different personalities may feel attracted to each other for a while, but the similarities they share are what ultimately make the relationship last. Fairy Nanya and I are too different from a status, emotional, and ambition standpoint. I don’t see a future with her.”
“So, in essence.” Youjin Chao smiled, finishing the last cut of the pork belly. “What you are saying is, Fairy Su’s beauty is not enough for you to take a geographical, physical, and emotional risk to pursue her?”
“Close. Just her beauty isn’t enough. I need more than a pretty face—”
Su Xiya wailed as though someone had stepped on her tail. The fox jumped with tears flying from her eyes, bashed past all the other patrons, and ran up the stairs with sorrowful yelps.
“…. What was that about?”
“No idea. Floofy’s a fox yao. So she may have been offended hearing us talk about Fairy Nanya.”
“What?!” Youjin Chao shouted. He paled as though he saw the reaper.
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