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literaryobsession · 2 years

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sunsets || xiao x reader

summary: You spend your final moments with your Yaksha.

warning: implied death

word count: 1217

He knew the risks when he acknowledged his emotions for you.

Falling in love with you was the easiest thing he has ever done. Maybe because you brought his tortured soul peace. Maybe because you gave his painful nights the gentleness he will only find in your arms. Or maybe the way your entire being made his karmic debt easier to bear.

Or maybe it was you. Just you.

Yes, he nodded as he kissed your fragile mortal knuckles, it was you.

You spent your fleeting mortal years with the adeptus, who ages far slower than you. Even though you constantly complained and whined to Xiao about the wrinkles forming on your skin, which he would often touch with his scarred and calloused fingers with so much fondness that he had for no one else.

Not even his loyalty for Morax would go beyond the love that Xiao had for you.

It wasn’t easy for Xiao to admit that he was feeling something so different about you than the hostility he usually feels around other fragile beings. He always thought bad of them for humans were too easy to come and go and he never gave anyone the time of day after the Archon War. Human beings caused so many problems for him too - they were all so destructive over the years. Mortals never mattered to him. The only thing important to this young adeptus was his duty to protect Liyue, which he did out of his gratitude towards Morax.

But you crept through the walls guarding his heart.

You created a home with him and he left the Wangshu inn. Your beautiful cottage was built in the beautiful Guili Plains, which remained undisturbed by passing treasure hoarders and monsters because honestly, who would want to trespass the infamous Yaksha’s home?

You were pure. You had no qualms, no secrets, and this made Xiao curious. How can someone so beautiful like you co-exist with someone so dangerous like him in the same universe? He was drawn to you, which Zhongli was happy to witness. The Geo archon always thought that Xiao needed companionship, the Yaksha has been alone for a long time.

You were the sun of his dark pitiful world, the hope in every waking hour, and the love in his emptiness.

With you, Xiao’s innate desire for a quiet life came to fruition.

In time, you slowly learned how to make the medicine that Zhongli brews for Xiao's painful karmic debts. The Geo archon would often come by, teach you his ways, show you which herbs to use, and prepare the most effective medicines for Xiao's incredible pain.

Using Zhongli's teachings, you and Xiao busied yourself over a small farm, slowly rebuilding the Guili Plains along with it.

Whenever you go out to buy seeds, Ganyu takes delight in coming across you and the distant Yaksha. She and the adepti were perfectly content that the lonesome Xiao finally met someone who would draw him out of his darkness. The adepti often watches you and Xiao, albeit from afar.

Little Yu Yan was born on a cold spring night, the exact time the Glaze Lilies are on their fullest blooms. Xiao, who initially thought his karmic debt would ruin your little baby, seemed really relieved at how beautiful Yu Yan was. Your little Yu Yan, who his father fondly calls his beautiful spring bud, brightened up your once quiet household.

Your half-adeptus Yu Yan seemed perfectly human when she was an infant but you and Xiao noticed two bumps on her back, which later grew to be wings with a beautiful fiery color. As soon as Yu Yan learned how to walk, she was fluttering over your heads as well.

"She has your wings, young adeptus." Zhongli chuckled as Yu Yan flew into his open arms. The tips of Xiao's ears burned. Of course, you knew about his adeptus form so it wasn't much of a surprise. It didn't change the love you and Xiao had for your little Yu Yan.

"Mama?" Yu Yan, now in her late twenties but still a small child, filling in for Herbalist Gui's role in Bubu Pharmacy. She walked over to you, toddling with your teacup in her hand. "You shouldn't be outside. It's much too cold." She was always a thoughtful child, always looking after her mother.

Xiao was walking behind her, smiling at you and Yu Yan. "She wanted to see the flowers today, my child." He sat beside you, his much younger form contrasting with your older and much more fragile body. "Look what I brought you today, my love." He whispered, putting the Qingxin behind your ear.

"Thank you, darling." You reached up to touch the petals of the flower that Xiao brings you every single day. As much as you want to have Qingxins along with the Glaze Lilies you planted around Guili Plains.

Xiao watched you as your eyes wandered over the trees and flowers you once danced around in. He took your hand, the hand which always chased away his own personal demons. You have reached the prime of your mortal life, and Archons, Xiao was afraid to let you go.

But you have talked about it over and over. Life and death come together hand in hand.

He remembered what you always tell him, "Don't be afraid of my passing, Xiao. It is simply my physical body withering away like the flowers and the herbs we kept. But I will always be here, in your heart and in your memories. After all, the people we love always leave a mark on us."

"You've made the biggest mark of all." Xiao kissed your fingers, one by one, and you glanced at him with your beautiful smile. "Shall we head on inside, my love? The air is growing colder."

You shook your head. You feel like your time is near and you didn't want to make it a pitiful moment for you and Xiao. You didn't want to lay in bed, with him crying over you.

No.

You wanted to leave the memory of your final moments amidst the life you and Xiao built together.

He felt it too, which is why his hand held on to yours much tighter. His heart wrenching, anticipating your goodbye. Xiao has never felt more pain in his life as you laid your head on his shoulder.

He wished to the heavens that you be given more time, that you have to stay because he wanted more years to treasure you and love you. But your body is simply bound by time and Xiao felt powerless to stop it.

Was this how it ends?

"I will always love you, Xiao." These were the last words you let out before closing your eyes and letting go.

Xiao's eyes pooled in tears, feeling your weightless vessel lean unto him. He closed his eyes as well, keeping you beside him until the sun rose.

He'll remember this moment like the way your first meeting burned into his memory. As peaceful as you entered his life, you left him in the quietest way.

No. You didn't leave him.

Your body may pass but your love will never leave him and he will take this with him forever.

"Thank you, my love."

#adeptus xiao #genshin fic #genshin impact #genshin xiao #xiao x reader

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everywishway · 2 years

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Genshin Impact College/Uni AU Headcanons

Genshin Impact College / University AU Headcanons (part one?)

Characters included: Childe/Tartaglia, Zhongli, Diluc, Kaeya, & Albedo

I'll also take asks if y'all want more of this AU or similar AUs? Was thinking of writing a fic in this AU

Childe

You can not tell me this boy did not come from a well off family who is paying for his college

His family probably had less money when he was little but now they are well off (maybe a crime family but who knows)

He's probably still undecided as a sophomore, or he's taking SEVERAL different majors

He’s also a frat boy.

Probably in a bunch of different clubs and a couple of different sports, he drops them a couple of weeks later.

He just follows the dopamine (aka this boy has ADHD)

The activities that stayed were Archery and Fencing

IDK why but I see him in a knitting club or smth, making plushies for Teucer and shipping them home

He’s at every music event too, he loves the energy and atmosphere

Xinyan is teaching him guitar

IDK why but he also streams in his spare time???

Zhongli

Teacher’s assistant and studying to be a Archeology or Law professor

This boy is always in the library, reading everything he can, also due to the fact it’s not overstimulating

He has autism, change my damn mind.

This boy is in one extracurricular: Quiz Bowl

As captain of my school’s Quiz Bowl team, I say he would be perfect

It requires a lot of random and obscure trivia, a lot of ancient knowledge and this boy is well versed in everything. He would get all the questions right.

He used to do wrestling in High School

People seriously don’t believe that this lanky boy used to be built

He lives with his cousin, Xiao, in an apartment not far from Childe’s Frat House.

Childe is actually one of his few friends

He takes Zhongli out of the house (to not very stimming places, respecting his boundaries like nice restaurants or shops)

Zhongli helps Childe with schoolwork, a quiet place to study, and home cooked meals

Diluc

USED to be a member of Childe's frat but something happened and he left

Now moved in with his sibling, Kaeya, and his best friend/crush, Jean, and the kid Jean babysits often, Klee, in a nice apartment

Culinary Major, Business Minor

He wants to eventually take on the family business of owning a winery and several pubs back home

Also used to be a member of the fencing team with Kaeya, but he dropped it for track (specifically the throwing stuff part of track)

He is an ass to everyone but makes meals for starving kids in his classes

Completely judges Kaeya for going out and drinking, especially when they go to Childe's frat house parties

Always picks them up and makes hangover cures for them the next morning tho

Kaeya

Came out as both bisexual and nonbinary (they/them) their Freshman year

A year younger than Diluc so a sophomore

Dance Major, Dance Major

They’re a campus flirt, everyone has a crush

They are also apart of the Fencing Team with Childe

Casually hangs out at other’s apartments, no one really knows how they get in but they do.

Works at a local restaurant owned by their family with Diluc

Lives with Diluc but is looking for their own apartment

Helps babysit Klee whenever Jean or Albedo is busy (which is often)

Somehow ending up adopting several local kids? Bennet, Amber, Klee, they can’t keep track anymore

Teaches Bennett fencing in their spare time

Also sneaks the kids sweets when they come into the restaurant they work at

They used to do track in high school but got diagnosed with asthma and had a terrible asthma attack one day in the middle of a competition, making them drop the sport

Childe also got them into streaming :)

Albedo

Junior (got into college a year early) for Biomedical Engineering

Was adopted by Alice (Klee’s mom) when he was a teenager

She’s president of the college so really busy, Albedo takes care of Klee when he can

Best friend is Sucrose, who he helps tutors because she has a habit of overworking himself

Trans, Pan, & Ace, Autistic with depression

Overworks himself every goddamn day

Kaeya and Klee often have to pick his sleeping body up from the library and bring him home

Also forgets to eat so Diluc and Kaeya make sure he has easy meals

Fantastic big brother tho, will do anything for his baby sister

Taught her how to make a project volcano with the biggest explosion... Teacher didn't like that one...

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person-behind-books · 2 years

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so like here’s a 3.6k drabble of trans!wwx, yunmeng bros, and wangxian. little warning though because this has some dark and angsty parts

(also I’ll probaly add it to Ao3 in case i’ll edit it but for now this is the only place you’ll see it so have fun with my horrible english grammar and spelling)

when wei wei ying was a child her parent's always called her yingying or a-ying or ying'er or sometimes xiao-ying but never "little girl" or something like that because her mother only has a title not a name and never want's wei ying to be like that. And because they were not the most wealthy she was dressed in the cheapest clothes they could buy, always a size or two to big because of her steady growing and always androgenous because gender differention is expensive for childrens clothing.

So that is why when wei ying is waiting for them to return and sleeping on the steets she is often assumed to be a boy and because she has seen what happens to girls on the steets she agrees with them and becomes him.

when jiang fengmian finds him on the streets and chases away the dogs he thinks she's a girl but when he tells her that he is a boy and no his parents really are cangse sanren and wei chanze he agrees there must have been a misunderstanding somewhere and leaves it at that.

wei ying bathes alone bause he took care of himself for four years on the street and because he doesn't trust jiang fengmian just because he safed him from dogs and gave him food and a bath. he knows what happens when wealthy people take a liking to you and give you a home.

and when the doctor treats the bites on her shoulder and the one on her calf he is wrapped in a soft robe and only the bare minimum undressed.

the modesty standarts in lotus peir are looser that in the other sects, especially in summer, but pants are always a must even if robes can be taken off for swimming so no one ever notices something about him is different from the other boys and if he is too tall for his age amd his chest muscles are a bit more pronunced that the other boys no one questiones it because he excells in cultivation and what is a quirk in genetics about his built if the boy obviously is a prodigie. and he still takes his bath alone but now because he doesn't want questions about his scars from the other deciples, it would be scandalous if he were to bathe with shijie and weird with a doctor or uncle jiang and because a-cheng also prefers to bathe alone.

That is no one notices until he wakes a few weeks after his twelfth birthday and there is blood everywhere.

he doesn't scream only because he has seen enough blood to know the quantity he sees isn't enough to be truly dangerous and because he feels no injury on his body. still he is fightened and he wakes jiang cheng on the other side of the room.

he also doesn't know what is going on and after some minutes of debate they decide against going to uncle jiang or madam yu but instead to question shijie if she might know whats going on.

shijie is startled at being awoken in the middle of the night but when she sees chengcheng and him scared, he had changed and washed to blood of before they came as he didn't want to statle her, she softens as if out of reflex and followes the to their room.

(this is both mdzs and cql with their shared rooms. my hc is that jc and wwx shared a room until maybe they got their courtesy names because we had that childhood scene about sharing rooms in both versions but in mdzs wwx is shown to have his own room after the xuanwu.)

after they explain to her what happened and show her his blood stained robe and sheets there is a confused and faintly flustered air about her but she pulls herself together.

she tells him that he is a girl not a boy but he refutes that so she changes it to he's physically a girl and in spirit a boy - jiang-didi finds it a bit weird and is very cunfused at first but accepts it with little more that a shrug.

they keep secret what happened that night and they explain the sheets and robe away as if he had been injured on his thigh while he had been cleaning his sword on the bed and add a cut on the robe as prof because what if the adults won't accept him being a boy?.

then comes the time where his breasts grow a little too big to be mistaken as muscles and his beloved and treasured shidi helps im by drawing suspicion away and also leaving his robe on when they go swimming. they make in a gradual change and no one really notices or questions it because wei ying is still thriwing and ever growing in his potential and jiang cheng is right behind him in their race to strenghten their golden core and the sect heir.

his robes still cling to his to curvy waist and too big chest but his breasts are small and he can easily hide his form in the fall of his robes and years go by and no one thinks to question him.

lan zhan is the first time he questions if he really is a guy because he should like girls if that's the case not guys. and he likes girls they are beautiful and soft and curvy and sometimes make a heat in his lover belly ignite and make him feel empty in the fold of his legs.

but lan zhan is hard muscle and an icy handsome face and a deep voice and his good friend and that time he saw him naked in the cold springs is burned behind his eyelids and he makes his stomach flutter and sometimes the emptines in the fold of his legs throb.

he doesn't tell chengcheng about it becaue he would make fun of him and shijie because she is still at home and even thinking of writing his feelings down in a letter makes his face burn but nie huaisang seems to see something in his face when lan zhan walks by and gives him a different sort of books. instead of a man with a woman it's to men and wei wuxian understands that he is a cutsleeve and not a cutsleeve and really gratefull to nie huaisang. he helps him the next test as payment and this time they manage not to get caught.

then jin zixuan insults his shijie and while he understands his feelings of being an unwilling participant in a marriage his shijie is perfect and flawless and how dare he insult her and the insult jiang cheng and uncle fengmian and he's is so mad.

there are screams.

there is a sting on his fist where his knuckles collide with the peacock's face.

he sees lan zhan in the corner of his eyes and jiang cheng in the other.

he will be send home and when he sees jiang fengmians dissapointed face he feels himself crumble inside.

still he stands by his choice. unlike what most people assumed he wasn't a total dumbass and had a rather good grasp a politics he mostly just choses to ignore all unspoken, and written down, rules.

he had chosen to punch the peacock with the full knowledge there would be a punishment for him and a small backlash against the jiang sect but he was aware it would'nt be enough to truly hurt or even harm them.

when jin zixuan stands infront of pretty and witty mianmian he is almost impressed with him but most of his attention is on lan zhan and the wens.

there are calculations running through his head.

the wens had been bold enough to attack the lan and were now taking all the sect heirs hostage. they were planing further attacks but where would they strike first? the jin were if not allied closets with the wens, the lans had been attacked already and the nie had for years made no secret of their antagonising of the wen sect. that would lead one to assume their next target were the nie but the wen hadn't attacked them yet, the unclean relam was too well fortified and defended, and if they wanted they would need to siege. for that siege they would need securety in the knowlede it would'nt be a fight on two fronts and yunmeng was more known for trade instead of their war so the choice on who to attack first was fairly clear.

if he were to antagonise the wens now their coise would undoubtedly attack yunmeng soon but the chances were height enough that they would do so either way that wei wuxian took the gamble.

the first time he tells someone he is born with the body of a woman is after he begged wen qing to give his core to jiang cheng and he needs to know if that would be okay or if it would harm jiang cheng to have a female core replace his male one.

wen qing tells him it doesn't matter and the two days a week after that are spend in pure agony.

the monsters he controls know of it as they do eveything about him, just as he knows everything abough those he controlls the most often each time he controlls them the is information about their life about their death about their hate about her husband who strandled her about his father who was killed in front of him because of a stupid dept of the solder who had her comrades turned against her by a monster in filthy wen robes and raven black hair and glowing red eyes-

they don't care for his body and only obey his command they want vengace but are to far gone to know who the target is so he lets it enter him and entwins their spirits with his and contolls them, feeds them the souls and bodies of wens as offerings, loves them as an indulget master loves his pets and they love him, hurts them because he is a cruel master when they get to loud in their want for the blood of his allies of their want in a different way for lan zhan who is always there protectiong him on the battlefield arguing with him when they leave it and always so gorgeous and radiant with his spiritual energy and wei wuxian and his ghosts are drawn to him like moth's to a flame and appaled by him as he is appaled by them.

living in the burial mounds is easier that in had been in lotus peir both when it had been lifely and when in had been filled with ghosts and also harder.

the wens he has here with him are cultivator who survived the war and elders and wen qing's family and had he met them in the war he would have killed them but now they are his to protect so he will. they are scared of him so they don't question his darker days when he claws at his hair and hsi stomach and the resentful energy of the burial mounds comes closer that their wards should allow but they are also greatful and through enough that they don't really care anymore not truly not about anything so they were accepting of him and they had little feasts with uncle four's wine and aunt six's special radish recipe and they enjoyed life as much as they still could.

the only light in their life are those small meals and a-yuan, who hasn't been though a war and who slowly forgets those golden robes that sometimes bring him to tears of wake him drenched from a nightmare, and a body in a cave full of resentment that gives them all hope if only for their leader who misses her brother so much it brings her some days closer to breaking that wei wuxian had ever been.

each day he admires wen qing anew as she pulls herself together, as she breaks apart in his arms, as he breaks apart in her arms, as she stand's over wen nings body and repairs in so it won't have to be done when he's consious again.

he tells lan zhan he bore a-yuan from his own body and ignores the jolt of disguts that flits thought him with the realisation that he could actually give birth and focuses instead on the adorably confused look of lan zhan's face.

he laughs and they share a meal.

his talisman goes of and lan zhan flies the three of them up to their settlement and wei wuxian focuses on lan zhan and a-yuan's warmth instead of the last time he had flown over the burial mounds.

the resentul energy in him, holding him together, it will never be alble to leave him he won't ever be alone, he won't ever be able to leave them, he promised them vengance why isn't there more blood kill him he's a threat, he makes you weak, he'll kill you, no keep him, have him stay forever, you're stronger than him, never let him leave, just confine him in the cave-

he ruthlesly squashes it down and revels in the hurt, betrayal, fear he gets in return before lan zhan lands the sword and he comes back to himself and doesn't have time to wallow in what he had been thinking about but instead forces him to focus on wen nings body.

and together with lan zhan's help in confining wen ning he finally has the stroke of genious which he needed.

and wen ning is conscious once again.

and wen qing is sobbing on him.

and they have another little feast.

and lan zhan leaves.

shije is dead. she can come back. she will wan't a good body mine won't be good enough for her. wen ning. wen qing. they will also need good bodies. this old thing won't work it'll destroy their chances at reincarnation. now this would work. but no nobody should be forced to be in a body as destroyed as mine. oh jiang cheng i'm sorry. a-yuan will be safe he. no he won't he'll die. i have to destroy it. what if it also kills lan zhan. or jiang cheng. or a-yuan. or there is jiang cheng again. i wonder where lan zhan is. everyone is here. you killed shijie. i killed shijie. you did you have to die all of you. no one shuld life. the whole world should die. yes. yes. vengance. kill them all. no not jiang cheng. it wan't jiang cheng. but should he not die. no he can't. yes yes yes kill kim. no. of he's so close. doesn't he know that's dangerous. what an idiot. lan zhan lan zhan where are you you have to die. to life. to die. where are you. i will destroy you all. wen qing where are you my arm hurts. wen ning where are you. will you also leave me now you don't need me aymore. you should also die. don't leave me. die. die . die. i should just die. yeah thats right. this is my fault. it killed. you. i killed the peacock. a bird. i didn't kill a bird. i killed shijie. i should die for that. yes i should. no no no. i should kill everyone else. no. let's kill everyone. die.

the next thing wei wuxian remembers is a nothingness and it goes on. and shijie is dead. but that is so long ago. but she's dead. but so is wen qing. and wen ning. and they're all dead. a-yuan.

when wei wuxian wakes up he feels weird. he doesn't know where he is. how he got here or how much time passed since the last fuzzy memories he has of a battlefield only that a lot of time passed.

that he is kicked in the face and screamed at and he recognizes the array under him as the one he created in his madness of trying to ressurect shijie.

he understands and when the annoying guy has left he tries to figure out the situation.

his body feels wierd and when he lockes at it he realizes why.

he has locked at enough porn in his life to recognize it but it doesn't make it anyway less wierd. he had always thought his female body felt a bit wrong but now that he is in a male body doesn't feel any better. it's still wierd but it's also nice. he doesn't have breasts and while he had lost all his hardwon strengh his own body had been in worse contidtion even before he died so he doesn't dislike it. it would be comforable in this body if you forgot the bruises and the cut's on his arm and got used to the change between his legs he decides so he ignores any lingering wierdness he feels and leave the room he woke up in to start with his problem of the cuts on his arm. at first he would try the humiliation and if that didn't work maybe he could just burn the manor down? he really didn't have to find three people in the, if you locked at only the size of the estate and who even knew mo xuanyu would want revenge on the people in this estate and not maybe someone who wronged him in the past?

but then he sees the an juniors and his plan of burning everything to the ground is promptly out of the question.

lan zhan is even more beautiful that he had been the last time wei wuxian had seen him but there is an air of something tragic about him and wei wuxian want's nothing more that to hug him, comfort him, tell him it'll be okay.

but lan zhan hates him and if he didn't have a chance with him in a womans body who could give heirs, not that lan zhan knew that of course, there is even less of one for him now.

he leaves and ignores the way his heart aches for him to go back.

he knows jiang cheng knows it's him and a part of him want's to fall to his knees and beg jiang cheng for forgiveness and accept whatever judgement he has for wei wuxian but there is lan zhan and lan zhan is protecting him and he doesn't know who he is and maybe he can bask in his presence some more before there is inevitebaly the disgust and the hate.

he sleeps in lan zhan's bed and sometimes he wakes up hard which is something that never happened to him before and really wierd but lan zhan is never there so he can easily take care of it and doesn't have to face the embaressment of having woken up in such a state.

jiang cheng threatens him with a dog into complience, hurls verbal abuse at his head, throws a teacup at him, but never calls him her.

jin ling lies to jiang cheng about a sighting of wen ning and wei wuxian want's to break out in tears. in their time they never would have dared lie to uncle jiang not to speak of the horrors had they ever even thought of doing so to madam yu. that jin ling can lie makes wei wuxian so happy and so sad.

even though he had clearly known who he was he had never publicly said anything against him after what happened on dafan mountain and told nobody who he truly was.

it jiang cheng needs time he will give him that but this gives him the hope that one day they will be able to talk again, maybe they won't ever be as close as before but they will have a relationship again.

then jiang cheng finds out about the core and wei wuxian is hoping his injury will act up and force him to pass out but it doesn't so he has to see every agonized shift in jiang chengs face and when he looks at him broken and "how dare you keep this to yourself" spills from his mouth "how dare you not tell me" but now wei wuxian also become angry "well why would you be so stupid and go pack for your parents bodies. i love you chengcheng but you're a stupid idiot sometimes".

it's then that the truth about his capture spill out and there is screaming the is the clash of zidian and bichen and in the end he leaves with lan zhan and wen ning but he knows they will be okay.

later when he is still a bit fuzzy from the wine and so happy with lan zhan on top of him he feels hope. maybe lan zhan feels the same and they have a chance after all?

but then lan zhan flinches back and he was drunk and what has wei ying done. how coul he be so cruel to the one person he never wanted to hurt.

it's then that the owner comes and safes him from the situation.

zewu-jun clearly hates him for what he has done to his brother but wei wuxian doesn't really care that particular moment. not that zewu-jun hates him, not that they're in a hostage situation, not that there are a lot of people and that some things should not be said in front of strangers and especially not family.

all that matters is lan zhan.

he likes him so much. fancie's him. loves him. want's him. can't leave him. whatever's him.

and lan zhan feels the same.

#trans wei wuxian #trans male wwx #wangxian #yunmeng reconsiliation #but not really #yunmeng bros #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #lan wangji #mdzs #cql #mo dao zu shi #drabble #more like #ficlet #or #oneshot #the untamed

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lady-of-the-lotus · 3 years

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Drink, No Drink

xuexiao - M for violence - 4.9k - AO3!

In which Xiao Xingchen drunkely flirts with an oblivious Xue Yang ____________________________

They come by once a month on average, sometimes twice. Once, about eleven months after Xue Yang came to Yi City, three come at once, but that's a group and Xue Yang, always fair, counts them as one.

Still three times the fun to kill, of course.

The men step into the Coffin House courtyard at noon, just ten minutes after Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing had left to buy groceries.

Xue Yang is busy dumping fresh dirt into a raised bed. He and Xiao Xingchen have built raised beds throughout the courtyard to plant vegetables in. Xiao Xingchen had wanted flowers, but Xue Yang had vetoed the idea, flowers being useless, and the daozhang isn’t one to argue.

He looks up as the men step into the courtyard. “Who are you?”

The leader of the group, a tall, brutish-looking man with a cauliflower ear and broken nose, seems almost angry at the question. “Where is he?”

Xue Yang dusts his hands off. And here he thought he’d be bored until the daozhang returned. “Who is this ‘he’?”

“The blind cultivator in white! Xiao Xingchen! We know he lives here!”

Xue Yang taps his chin. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

The musclebound man on the right steps forward, seconds away from grabbing Xue Yang by the collar and losing a hand. “We were told there’s a blind cultivator living here!”

“Ohhh, I thought you meant the other blind cultivator in white. I lose track. What do you want from him?”

“To take a strip out of his hide!”

Xue Yang rolls his eyes. “Let me guess, you committed some crime once upon a time, and he got you in trouble for it, and now that he’s blind you want your revenge.”

“How did—”

“It’s all very original.” Xue Yang’s knife is in his hand. He tosses in the air, catching it deftly. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

The skinny little man on the left shrugs. “Not reall—”

He never finishes his sentence. A flash of silver blade, and Xue Yang’s knife is sprouting from his eye. Shrieking, he falls backwards into a vegetable bed, yanking the knife out of his face.

Xue Yang shakes his head. “Don’t you know not to pull a knife out of a wound? Trust me on that one, I should know. Look, now you’re bleeding all over the place.” He produces a second knife and turns to face the other two men, who stand gaping at him in slack-jawed shock. “How about you two? Up for some first aid practice?”

“You—you—”

“Got any weapons? Get them out. It’s more fun that way.”

Still looking confused, the leader draws his own knife out and stands there, blinking, while the other man drops to his knees beside his companion, who’s writhing in the dirt and shrieking like a wounded fox.

Xue Yang makes a face. “Can you shut him up? He’s going to give me a headache at this rate.”

“He—he—”

Xue Yang floats over and slices the man’s tongue out with a practiced twist of his blade, but the man continues to emit bone-chilling scream from deep inside his throat.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake—” Another twist of the blade, and the man falls silent. Permanently. “You’d think he’d never been stabbed in the eyeball before.”

“You killed him—”

“Like you were going to do to the daozhang?” Xue Yang flies back over near the leader. “And for what, arresting you? You clearly escaped whatever the charges are. Grow up and let it go.”

The leader’s hand tightens on his knife. “The magistrate beat me so badly I couldn’t get honest work again as a porter—”

“Your back, your arms, your legs, what was the problem?”

“My left leg was broken so badly it—”

Xue Yang jams his heel into the man’s left kneecap, shattering it. Howling, the man collapses, knife falling from his spasming fingers. “Like I want your life’s story?” He hauls the man up by his collar and flies him over to one of the raised beds, dumping him in the dirt. Dislocates the man’s shoulder, just to be safe, and nicks the side of the man’s throat so that he bleed out into the soil.

Best kind of fertilizer, or so he’d been given to believe.

Then he turns to the third man, who’s cowering on his knees, forehead pressed to the dirt. “How about you? Going to put up more of a fight, I hope? I mean, what were you three arrested for, anyway? Couldn’t have been anything requiring actual fighting skills. Tax fraud?”

“Forgive me—forgive me—I won’t harm Xiao Xingchen! I swear I’ll leave here, I’ll never speak of this—”

“A bit late for that, I’d think.” Xue Yang tilts his head down at him. He likes seeing the man grovel. Kowtow, really. A trembling heap of peasant clothes and greasy hair, not half as good as if it had been the daozhang or one of the self-righteous cultivators who’d dogged him half his life, but it still fills him with heady tingling pleasure. “You should never have come here.”

“It wasn’t my idea—I swear it wasn’t!”

“Great, a spineless lackey. Even better. Now, the question is how to kill you.” He crouches before the man, patting his trembling cheek with his knife while he thinks. “I usually go for something more creative, but we need to wrap this up before the daozhang gets home, and more than two beds needs fertilizing, so here we go.”

The man makes a feeble effort to resist, taking an easily-dodged swing at Xue Yang's jaw. A flick of his hand, and Xue Yang’s knife is suddenly plunged deep into the man’s throat. Grabbing him by the hair, he hauls the man into the neighboring vegetable bed and gives the knife an experimental jiggle, then wiggles it a bit farther up his throat. A delicate balance, this—he needs the man alive to pump out as much blood as possible, but can't resist playing with him a bit. Of course Xue Yang could always rip out his intestines and bury them in the dirt, but that would be messy, and Xue Yang hasn't time to clean up.

A sigh, and the man bleeding out from his eye socket expires.

Xue Yang hesitates, then removes his outer robes and flies the man over the back wall of the courtyard, dumping him in the forest outside the city.

The second man has died by the time he returns. Xue Yang flies him out, then the third man when he too dies.

He stands beneath the trees, eying his handiwork.

Not a bad day’s work.

If only the daozhang knew that Xue Yang, his worst enemy, had been saving his life for the past eleven months. Knew how deeply indebted he is to the delinquent from Kuizhou.

But the daozhang can’t know.

Not just yet.

He’d probably make me stop, Xue Yang thinks, no matter what the personal risk. He’d insist on arresting all these opportunistic degenerates and bringing them to justice, as if such a thing exists.

The idiot. Xue Yang finds himself smiling at the thought. The sanctimonious idiot, blind in more ways than one. For all Xue Yang knows, he might even hear the men out—“Oh, your leg was broken? The scoundrels!” and embark on a journey to track down the magistrate who’d wronged the criminal degenerates—

A vulture approaches, drawn by the scent of blood, startling Xue Yang out of his thoughts.

“Wait your turn,” he tells the bird. “It’s first come, first serve around here.” Chuckles to himself—too bad the daozhang is completely unsuited for the day’s activities. He knows Xiao Xingchen would have appreciated the afternoon’s humor—maybe even relished the irony of watching Xue Yang, the man who was going to one day kill the daozhang, protect him—

Well, perhaps not that. But he could have gotten a few laughs, at least.

Xue Yang cuts a lock of hair from each of the men, just as he has for the last thirteen criminals who’d come after Xiao Xingchen, removes their tongues, and flies back over the wall.

He can take care of the bodies later, if the vultures don’t handle them for him.

He places the tongues in jars he sets inside a coffin painted with preservation sigils. Then, grabbing a rake, he begins mixing the blood-soaked earth, evenly dividing it among the dozen raised beds that take up half the courtyard and patting the soil down in preparation for tomorrow’s sowing. He’s just finishing up when Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing return.

The first thing out of the daozhang’s mouth is, “What’s that smell?”

“What smell?”

“Smells like blood,” says A-Qing, who can always be counted on to say the wrong thing.

Xue Yang fights the urge to tell the daozhang the truth, see the look on his face. “I got bored without you, and went for a walk in the woods, and found a fierce corpse.”

Xiao Xingchen’s face softens at the words without you. Xue Yang is still at a loss to explain how readily Xiao Xingchen displays his feelings. Surely letting another person know that you value their companionship is a dangerous show of weakness?

Xue Yang has learned to reveal nothing that can be used against him in the future.

What Chengmei says to the daozhang is different. His esteem for the blind white fool is all an act, and there is no way a lie might harm him.

“I have the beds all ready for planting,” he tells Xiao Xingchen.

Xiao Xingchen moves towards him as A-Qing runs inside with the groceries. “Were you wounded?”

“By what, tripping and falling on the rake?”

“The blood smells fresh. Did the fierce corpse manage to hurt you? That’s unlike you, Chengmei.” He lays a hand on Xue Yang’s chest, eyebrows rising slightly at the feel of Xue Yang’s thin, silky inner robe beneath his hand instead of his textured outer robes. “I know you, Chengmei. You wouldn’t tell me you were hurt, even if you were.” Slowly, he runs his hands over Xue Yang’s chest, pats his arms, feels his waist.

Xue Yang swallows hard, freezing.

From the touching, he tells himself. Not from the display of concern. It’s hard not to tense up when touched, given how often past touch has been something bad.

Truly it means nothing, the daozhang’s concern. Xue Yang knows this. Has always known it.

What good is the compassion of a man who only cares because he doesn’t know the truth?

Xiao Xingchen rests his hand briefly on his hip, but seems unwilling to go any lower and check Xue Yang’s legs. “You’d tell me if you were hurt, right?”

Xue Yang’s heart is pounding. “….I wouldn’t lie to you…”

“I know you wouldn’t.” Seeming to realize how close they're standing, Xiao Xingchen moves away. “I’ll go help A-Qing make dinner. We'll keep the seeds from tonight’s vegetables, we can plant tomorrow…”

Xue Yang slips his outer robes back on but doesn’t head back into the house. He’s cursing himself for having lost his composure for even a second, especially in front of Xiao Xingchen, of all people.

It’s not like he noticed. You sounded normal, and he’s blind, for fuck’s sake.

The reddish gold sun has sunk beneath the courtyard walls when Xiao Xingchen comes out onto the porch. He looks blue in the twilight, slender and beautiful and somehow soft despite the boniness of his long slim body.

“Chengmei? Dinner’s ready.”

Hesitating, though he’s not sure why, Xue Yang heads inside. Xiao Xingchen hands out the bowls and chopsticks while A-Qing serves.

Xue Yang is silent during dinner, mechanically shoveling rice into his mouth.

Xiao Xingchen does most of the talking, as if sensing Xue Yang is in a strange mood. He talks about the past, places he’s seen, people he’s met. He’s a poor storyteller, with a laughable memory of details, but his tendency to ramble from one story to the next without finishing any of them is amusing in its own way, and A-Qing's interjections of her own more colorful experiences keep any heavy silence at bay.

After the meal, Xue Yang removes Xiao Xingchen’s horsetail whisk from where he keeps it on a shelf in the corner.

“Just combing it,” he says when A-Qing, who has even better hearing than the daozhang and an uncanny knack for getting in his way, asks him what the hell he thinks he’s doing. “It’s getting tangled.”

“Tangled. Right.”

Normally Xue Yang would bicker back, but he doesn’t have the energy tonight. He sits on the steps, the horsetail whisk in his lap, while A-Qing lies on a blanket, staring up at the dazzling carpet of stars as if she can see, and Xiao Xingchen polishes his sword beside him.

Xue Yang knots the locks of hair he’d taken from the three convicts into the flowing mane of the whisk, streaks of black staining the pure white.

A little ritual he’d developed after the first would-be murderer had come to Yi City. Watching the daozhang parade around with a murder trophy tucked under thin white arm was endlessly entertaining.

Now…

It’s still a good joke, Xue Yang tells himself. Still good fun to see the streaks of black against the white. But it’s become a symbol of something else, now, too.

Of what, Xue Yang isn’t entirely sure.

But of something.

The eggplant is starting to sprout when, five weeks later, another convict comes to the Coffin House searching for Xiao Xingchen.

Xiao Xingchen is inside the house making dinner with A-Qing. Xue Yang had just stepped outside to fetch more water when he sees a shadow detach itself from behind a coffin and slither across the courtyard, a flash of silver in its hand.

Jiangzai is out before Xue Yang can even think.

Footsteps.

Xue Yang flies across the courtyard and grabs the shadow by the throat. “Who are you and what do you want?”

“Xiao Xing—”

Xue Yang cuts his throat before the man can finish, flying him over the wall before so much as a drop of blood can splash onto the stones of the courtyard.

A shame to waste the fertilizer on the trees of the forest, but Xiao Xingchen is expecting him back any second now.

He’ll fetch the tongue later.

“Thank you, Chengmei,” Xiao Xingchen says when he returns, accepting the bucket of water. “Do you mind chopping the potatoes? The oil should be hot enough any minute now.”

“Fried potato? Not boiled? Do my ears deceive me?” His pulse is reverberating through his skull, so that’s very possible. The quickness of the kill had done nothing to diminish the euphoria that always accompanies it. If anything, it had heightened it, a half-hour’s torture compressed into an intense dose of power and pleasure and blood.

“I figured I would fry it, as a treat. It’s been a year since…well, it’s been a year since we all came to the Coffin House.” Xiao Xingchen turns to the stove, blushing slightly, as if almost ashamed to have kept track of the anniversary, as if he doesn’t think it's as important to Xue Yang as it is to him.

Xue Yang doesn’t speak. A-Qing is glancing at the floor, looking uncharacteristically solemn.

“I know it’s foolish—” Xiao Xingchen begins again, but Xue Yang shakes his head, forgetting for a moment that he can’t see him.

“It’s never foolish to fry potatoes,” he says emphatically. “That boiled stuff is for the dogs. Anything else?”

Xiao Xingchen smiles. “I bought nian gao at the market today.”

“Now you have my attention.” He slices the potatoes swiftly, hand shaking slightly. Lingering euphoria from his recent kill, most likely. “The sweet cake kind, right? Not that vegetable stuff.”

Xiao Xingchen affects chagrin. “Do you take me for an amateur?”

Xue Yang discovers that he’s grinning.

Still from the murder, no doubt. It’s been a while since he’d killed anything larger than the rats that sneak into the Coffin House.

It’s not that he needs to kill. Enjoys it, yes. Who wouldn’t enjoy holding complete and utter power over another human being? Being the most important thing in their world, if only for those final moments? The pleasant exercise of the fight, the witty banter, the desperation in the victim’s eyes as they bleed out?

But, if he’s being entirely honest, he hasn’t thought about it much these past few weeks.

A-Qing turns in early that night, having eaten too much fried food and nian gao, leaving Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang alone on the porch. Xue Yang plays with the dead man’s hair in the horsetail whisk while Xiao Xingchen sits beside him, just a little too close, knee almost touching his, having misjudged the distance. It’s odd, how the daozhang can spin through the forest to sever a fierce corpse’s throat without disturbing a single leaf or blade of grass, but he’s rather clumsy around Xue Yang, stumbling into him at times, brushing his hand with his while handing him something, mistakenly letting his shoulder touch his as he passes.

“I have a surprise,” says Xiao Xingchen.

“We’re getting a puppy.”

“We can, if you want."

“Just joking.” Briefly, Xue Yang wonders what a dog would make of the corpses popping up around the Coffin House.

Well, it would be one way to dispose of the bodies, and save on buying dog food.

He grins to himself at the idea. It's a real shame he can’t share some of his best thoughts with Xiao Xingchen.

Who’s tilting his head at him expectantly. “Chengmei?”

“You’re buying us a new house. A-Qing found a husband. We have an invitation to Jinlintai.”

Xiao Xingchen smiles. “I feel quite inadequate, now. I bought some of this.” He draws two wine jars from his sleeve. “Or rather, traded some protection talismans for it with the local weaver.”

“Is the daozhang a secret wino?” Xue Yang accepts the small white jar. He’s not one for drinking, but he can’t turn Xiao Xingchen down. “Is that what you’re really doing during your private meditation sessions?”

Instead of being offended, Xiao Xingchen smiles. “Given how many great poets were drunks—going by their poetry—I could do well to follow their example.

‘Life in the world is but a big dream;

I will not spoil it by any labor or care.

So saying, I was drunk all the day,

Lying helpless at the porch in front of my door—’ ”

“A tripping hazard for A-Qing.”

“ ‘When I awoke, I blinked at the garden-lawn;

A lonely bird was singing amid the flowers.

I asked myself,

Had the day been wet or fine? ’ ”

Xue Yang struggles to keep a straight face despite the fact that Xaio Xingcheng can’t see him. “Baoshan Sanren teaches cultivating by way of winemaking? No wonder she has to hide on her mountain. Every cultivator for miles around would be trying to sign on with her.”

Xiao Xingchen laughs. “Given how many classic poems are about drinking wine, I wouldn’t be surprised if such a thing existed...at least the poems in Shifu’s collection. She didn’t focus much on classical poetry.” He pulls the stopper from his jar, sniffing it. “So…I just…drink it? Is there some kind of…I don’t know…”

“A wine-drinking ritual? Like you walk in a circle three times, flapping your arms—”

“…do you think we can forgo it, just this once?”

Xue Yang is the one to laugh this time, though he’s not sure if Xiao Xingchen is joking. “You just drink, from what I’ve seen.”

“From what you’ve seen?”

“I don’t drink.” He instantly regrets his words at the look on Xiao Xingchen’s face. “I mean…”

“It’s fine. I wouldn’t want to make—”

“I mean—” And suddenly he hears himself saying, “I could never afford to be…impaired in any way. For…my own safety, I mean. I was just never…look, it’s…” And then, just as suddenly, he’s uncorking his jar and taking a deep draft.

It burns unpleasantly in his throat, but it’s worth it for the smile on Xiao Xingchen’s face at the silent admission that he feels safe here.

That Chengemi does, at any rate.

“How does it taste?”

“Good, I think,”Xue Yang lies.

Xiao Xingchen sips delicately at his jar, then wrinkles his nose. “The poems made me think it would be a lot more like drinking moonbeams and lotus blossoms.”

“More poems about passing out on the lawn?” Xue Yang asks. Poetry is just as useless as he’s always imagined it to be, but it sounds nice coming from Xiao Xingchen. Melodic. Kind of like singing...

...Must be the wine, that idiotic thought.

" 'A cup of wine, under the flowering trees;

I drink alone, for no friend is near.

Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon,

For he, with my shadow, will make three men.’ ”

Xue Yang frowns slightly. “I’m sitting right here, daozhang.”

Xiao Xingchen smiles. “So you are.”

Xue Yang shakes his momentary pique away. “Four men, then. Five, counting my shadow. You know, I don’t think those poets knew what the hell they were talking about, like with anything.”

“That’s not true…well, not entirely…there are some very pretty poems about nature…”

“How about a drinking game: I say something untrue, and if you correctly guess that it’s a lie, then I have to drink.”

“Alright.” By Xiao Xingchen’s amused smile, it’s clear he doesn’t think Xue Yang can successfully lie to him.

“I’m ugly. Hideous. Ladies pull their skirts away from me in the street and I frighten children and old people.”

Xiao Xingchen laughs, misjudging the distance between them again and touching his arm by mistake. “Not going by what I’ve heard.”

Smirking, Xue Yang takes a drink. “Your turn.”

“I…I have two heads.”

Xue Yang rolls his eyes. “That the best you can do?”

“I’m not accustomed to falsehoods!”

The pretentious way he put that should have made Xue Yang roll his eyes again, but the strong wine has mellowed him. “Drink. I hate candy.”

“Drink!”

“See, it’s not fun if it’s something too obvious.”

“Fine. I want that puppy you mentioned.”

“…drink?”

Xiao Xingchen raises his jar. “No drink! I wouldn't mind a puppy."

“You seem more like a cat person.”

“I like all animals. Would you rather a cat? You seem like a cat person. Like…” Xiao Xingchen hesitates. “Takes a while to warm up, independent, but loyal once you know you can tru…” He trails off, as if sensing he’s gone too far.

Biting his lip, Xue Yang looks out over the beds of budding vegetables, silver in the starlight. He’s never imagined anyone examining him in any way other than to evaluate him as a threat. Certainly not to comment on any traits in a tone Xue Yang tells himself is definitely not one of fondness, no matter how much it sounds that way. “Well, I have always liked cats better.”

“My favorite food is congee.”

“No drink, for reasons I’ll never understand.”

“You can add anything to it, and you have a nice warm meal!”

Xue Yang shakes his head. “I killed a man today for trespassing.”

“Oh, that’s terrible, Chengmei! Drink….”

It’s late when Xiao Xingchen's wine jars are empty. He'd had another two tucked away in his long white sleeve, and grown melancholy as the night wore on.

“I did everything I could to ruin my friend’s life,” he says, raising the last of his wine to the moon.

Xue Yang glances at him sharply. He’s kept his head better than Xiao Xingchen, only pretending to drink most of the time. “You what?”

“Song Lan. Zichen. The destruction of his temple was all my fault…” Head drooping, he slides sideways, cheek resting on Xue Yang’s shoulder. “All my fault, his eyes, all me…”

Xue Yang sits very still. Xiao Xingchen is warm against him, his breath soft on his neck. Then, very delicately, he pries Xiao Xingchen’s fingers from the wine jar and sets it beside them on the step.

“That was not your fault,” he says, and feels a thrill at his own words, because of course it was Xiao Xingchen’s fault, it was all his fault, and one day Xue Yang will get to throw it all in his face—

But not tonight.

“You did more than most would,” he says instead. “You gave him your eyes.” And he took them, the fucker! he wants to add. You do-gooding moron, mutilating yourself in service of that plodding lump of self-righteousness—

“My fault, my fault…”

“For what, doing your duty?” Xue Yang’s throat is beginning to tighten. He’s not sure why Xiao Xingchen would be telling him something so personal. For all his friendly, open nature, Xiao Xingchen is guarded when it comes to anything too revealing, to the point that Xue Yang sometimes feels as if he only half knows him. “You’re not responsible for that madman’s actions.”

Xiao Xingchen moves slightly, eyelashes brushing Xue Yang’s throat. “You really think so?”

“I know so,” says Xue Yang, and then, mentally, Drink!

And suddenly Xiao Xingchen is all smiles again, straightening up. “You always know just what to say to cheer me up. You—you wouldn’t leave me like Zichen did, would you? Not even if…I…” He hiccups. “I’d…I’d miss you too much…”

“Drink,” Xue Yang says automatically.

“No drink.”

Xue Yang glances away. Xiao Xingchen chooses this moment to pitch forward, to be caught by Xue Yang moments before he sprawls forward onto the stairs.

“I might be a little tipsy,” he mumbles into the hollow of Xue Yang’s throat.

Xue Yang tightens his grip. It feels…it feels wrong to be holding a person that isn’t a corpse.

A warm, living person, who seems to want to be in his arms.

Not hate being there, at least.

Or so he thinks. Xue Yang has never embraced another person before and isn’t quite sure how people are supposed to behave. Surely Xiao Xingchen would have pushed him away if he found his touch detestable—?

“You really can’t hold your liquor, can you,” he says before he can think into it too much. Gently, he scoops up Xiao Xingchen and half-carries him into the house. He weighs almost nothing, and Xue Yang thinks, I should get him to eat more, then chases the ridiculous thought away and bleaches the spot it had rested.

Xiao Xingchen grips the front of his robe as Xue Yang lays him down on the Coffin House's single bed. “Stay with me. Talk to me.”

Xue Yang hesitates, glancing over at his coffin in the corner of the room. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Xiao Xingchen almost pouts. Drunk daozhang is a petulant daozhang, it seems. “Just for a little while.”

The feeling of wrongness increases as Xue Yang crawls into bed beside Xiao Xingchen, keeping on top of the covers.

It shouldn’t be like this.

It’s not as if he hasn’t pictured sharing a bed with the daozhang. Who wouldn’t, if they had only a claustrophobic coffin to sleep in? But he’s never imagined an inebriated Xiao Xingchen curling into him, picking up his good hand, playing with it. Tracing the scars, running his fingertip between his fingers, brushing the palm with his thumb.

Soft, harmless touch that makes Xue Yang freeze, every nerve in his body screaming at him to snatch up Jiangzai.

“You have nice hands,” says Xiao Xingchen, voice thick with alcohol, almost giddy, and Xue Yang, focusing on the familiar voice, feels himself relaxing.

He’s safe, here. Safe with the daozhang.

The daozhang would never hurt Chengmei. And Xue Yang is Chengmei, for now.

The daozhang cares about Chengmei.

And in turn—

And in turn, the daozhang belongs to him.

Xiao Xingchen, the man who despises Xue Yang more than anyone else, now owes him more than he can ever repay in a single lifetime. He has saved Xiao Xingchen’s life a dozen times over without him having so much as suspected his life was ever in danger.

True, Chengmei could have killed the unsuspecting daozhang hundreds of times over the past year.

But this is different somehow.

Better.

Xue Yang is the guardian of the man he hates most in this world. Has held his life in the palm of his hand and chosen not only to let him live, but to actively destroy his enemies.

A delicious perversion of what he knows will come on the day he tears off his mask and reveals everything to Xiao Xingchen.

Finally takes his life, after preserving it for so long.

Xiao Xingchen rolls over, soft black hair in Xue Yang’s face, still holding Xue Yang’s hand in his.

Xue Yang wonders what Xiao Xingchen will say in the morning. If he’ll be embarrassed or realize that this was all simply the wine. If Xue Yang should pretend to have been too drunk to remember, or if he should say something, maybe crawl under the covers tomorrow night before Xiao Xingchen gets into bed, see what happens…

The bed is far more comfortable than the coffin, after all.

Will be warmer in winter, too…

He winces at the thought. He should go back to his coffin, stop whatever this is.

"You don't really want me here," he says.

“Drink,” Xiao Xingchen mumbles, and drops off into slumber.

Xue Yang takes a deep breath. He wants to free his hand but is afraid of waking the daozhang. As if sensing this even in sleep, Xiao Xingchen tightens his grip on his hand.

Xue Yang stares up at the ceiling, mind settling, the last of his tension fading.

He thinks he’ll go into town tomorrow and buy some flower seeds.

_______________________

thanks for reading! Spare a reblog? AO3

#mdzsnet #theuntameddaily #fytheuntamed #drink no drink #xuexiao #xue yang #xiao xingchen #a-qing #yi city #lotus writes #aside for the violence this is basically G rated

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yandere-sins · 3 years

Text

Unwillingly

Both a continuation to Circumstances and a request made by @xiao-yu-tan , have some Atsumu fuckery with his darling! The request wasn’t specific and since I was working on this already I thought I’d combine it! Please enjoy ♥

Characters: Yandere!Atsumu Miya x (afab)Darling, Yandere Osamu Miya Rating/Warning: Mature, Yandere, Lemon, Non-Con Words: 3587

»»———————— ♡ ————————««

Shaken, you eyed the clock mounted to the wall above the entrance to your room. It was still too early. Too damn early. You tried to twist out of Atsumu's arms, but to no avail; his muscles only tensed up more, holding you down with him on the floor. His chest was snuck against your back, enveloping every curve you had, properly with his body. In his grip, it was unbearably hot, the smell of sweat mixed with deodorant surrounding you, while you wished the time would pass faster.

"He's not coming, ya know?" Atsumu chimed, knowing exactly why you were so frigid despite his best attempts to warm you up to the idea of being alone with him for a while. Usually, it was Osamu who'd come home first and keep his brother - who was filled to the brim with dopamine and every other hormone after his training - at bay. But without you being aware, they seemed to have come to an agreement that it would be Atsumu's turn to be early that day.

"'Samu's too busy to look after you all the time," he mused, a stinging tease on his brother, but he knew you wouldn't go snitching on him for the sake of not upsetting either of the two. "And I so looked forward to spending some time with only you."

You sighed inwardly as you listened to his words. Even if they were suave to the ear of the ignorant and unaware, they weren't fooling you even a little bit. Still, you bit your lip, felt his hand travel, and tried to keep your breathing steady and not panicky. All you could think of was how thankful you were for your winter clothes, thick in material and guarding you longer than the flimsy summer negligees the brother's preferred on you. Perhaps, if they could keep him at bay long enough, you'd be saved by one miracle or another.

Of course, that was very naive thinking. Suppose Atsumu was aware his brother was going to open the door any second now. In that case, he might have resorted to playing a video game with you instead, enjoying that he was able to have you in his lap for the time being. But he knew better, and at 25, Atsumu had different games in mind than the ones the twins bought and let you play on occasion.

Holding your breath, his hand found it's way under the pullover that you tugged into your pajama pants. Having to dig for something wasn't uncommon for him considering his career, and he didn't mind those minor conditions he had to evade if they concerned you. With undivided attention, his fingers touched what they could reach, driving a chilling sensation up your sides and down to your stomach before the pullover ended up dissatisfying to him.

Pulling at the freed end of the fabric, he brought his second hand in for assistance, pulling it over your head despite your whiny protest. An "It's cold!" from you was not enough to make him reconsider undressing you. To avoid having your brand new pullover ripped by him if you didn't work with him on getting it over your head and off your arms, you complied reluctantly. Maybe, so you hoped, if you gave him that much, he'd be satisfied after all. In favor of your hopes, you went so far as to disregard the fact that Atsumu was insatiable when it came to two things: Volleyball and you.

"Don't worry, I'll warm you," was his brief response, before a long, blissful sigh left his mouth, face sinking into the nape of your neck. Atsumu let his nose and lips run down your skin, all the way to the end of your shoulder, planting the softest kisses he could muster, despite his desire for you growing the longer he had the chance to feel you.

There wasn't much you could do to resist him. Had you known he'd come home early, you'd have hidden in the bathroom from him until Osamu showed up, but there was no time for it now. Denying his invitation to sit in his lap and cuddle would only have brought another temper tantrum over you, guilt being thrown at you as Atsumu took the place of the victim, never intending anything bad, but you still avoided him as if he was out there to hurt you.

"Atsumu," you grumbled protestingly, twisting your torso and shoving away the ever-curious hands of his. One perk of being a volleyball player was how well-maintained his hands were, but that didn't change the fact that they were big and eager as they made their way towards your breasts, your bra being a minor inconvenience on the path. With the fabric still coating your skin, he gave them a good squeeze, a small effort for a man who knew how to use his hands in just the right way, but it was enough to cause a gasp to erupt from you. With your arms pushed on top of his, you tried to pry him off you, but he merely fiddled with your bra, the unusual clasp on the front now making a lot of sense as to why this specific one was chosen for you.

The bra coming undone, Atsumu didn't let you beg him to touch you, especially not with your mouth being busy uttering mixtures of disapproving utters and the occasional unholdable sigh of arousal. Having him feel you up wasn't a new experience, but at no time had you been exactly happy about what he did. There simply were boundaries you wished you had never crossed with either of the two of them, but in your defense, being held captive by the brothers wasn't the way you assumed your life would take someday.

Fondling your breast at his own enjoyable pace, his free, right hand began to wander south, dipping into the area between your legs, which you were quick to close as you felt him approach. Undeterred, he pressed one finger in the gap between them, and you felt one after the other following as he spread out his presence. The sensation of his fingertips tapping against your private parts made your back arch away from him, hands shooting forward to pull his off, but like a warning, the sensation of his warm lips and prominent teeth nibbling at your earlobe made you hesitant.

There still were two layers of fabric between his fingers and your pussy, but that didn't spare you from the wince as his pointer found your clit. Music to his ears, it made him eager to hear more, another finger joining in as he dragged them along your slit, pushing and releasing at the sensitive knob. All for his confidence and your pleasure, yet, discomfort.

Pulling you back against his chest, Atsumu was a fast worker, stirring you and your emotions up quickly. It wasn't even until he slipped his hand beneath your shorts and panties that you even noticed you were biting back moans from his touches. His fingers were rolling your nipple between them, while he - despite your legs clamped together in protest - managed to plunge one finger into your depths, coating it in the juices collecting and spilling onto your panties. You muffled your cry by biting your lip but gave him one last fight if he wanted to touch you so desperately. However, like a fox biting down the goose's neck, you were no match to his built anymore, the time spent in this room having worn down most of your capabilities when it came to strength.

Securing you by throwing you forward, Atsumu had a great time hearing your gasp as your warmed up breast hit the cold ground, sensitivity spiking. At the same time, with your ass in the air, you had to open up your legs now, Atsumu taking great pleasure in dipping two fingers into you, exploring your walls, and opening up your hole. Atsumu took great pride in feeling you clenching around his fingers while he curled them inside you, and you merely held back the noises your body wanted to make.

There was something so entirely unfair in the fact he got to do what he wanted with you, and you still hoped that for some magical reason, you'd be saved from anything else he could have put into his head. But when he was finally done testing your waters, you could barely breathe a sigh of relief. Only for a matter of second did your gaze cross his, and then went to the wet fingers he pulled from your pussy, smacking them together right next to your head and pulling strings from them before having a taste himself.

His tongue licked up the fluids in a way you could best describe as having chocolate drip from his fingers and indulging in it. Atsumu didn't break eye contact with you, no matter how disgusted you were about the way he shamelessly and deliciously pushed and wrapped his tongue around his very own fingers. Just for a split second, it made you wonder what else he could do with this tongue of his before you caught a grip on yourself and tore your eyes away.

This way, you didn't have to look at the smirk on his face, knowing exactly what those frantic movements meant. Eating you out would have been a pleasure for him, but he too gave the clock a glance, overthrowing the minutes in his head before his brother would be standing in the door. Osamu was an unpleasant onlooker, in Atsumu's opinion, for what he actually wanted to do with you.

The next few movements happened so quickly, you were shocked awake as his palm crossed your bare asscheek, making you yelp in surprise after he had pulled down your pants in one swift motion. By now, you didn't believe someone was going to come to magically save you anymore. In one last attempt, you crawled forward, almost succeeding in getting away a few inches from him if not for his hands grabbing around your hips, pulling you back, and snuck into his hips.

You didn't need to look back to know what was situated against your butt, the shaft dragging all the way down to your cunt. Thanks to the work on you, his cock had already started to harden, enjoying the free lubricant that Atsumu had spread over your sex with his fingers before. He dragged his length down and up again, have his tip poke at your entrance under your mewls, before he finally sunk it in, spreading you wide open to accommodate him.

It was an almost reverent silence between you two while he pushed inside, a sharp breath flitting through his teeth. At least, it didn't hurt anymore, you had to admit, despite the tears collecting in your eyes, dripping onto your forearms and the floor. Still, the shame, unwillingness, and humiliation remained, even if it wasn't the first or the last time you two would be doing this.

»»———————— ♡ ————————««

"Fuck, that's it, Babe," he mumbled, pulling you up into a knee stand. One arm supporting your discouraged body, he let the other sink down to your thigh, gripping and kneading it as he began to pump into you. Slow at first, Atsumu enjoyed the feeling of your warmth around him, not because you were his glorified cockwarmer, no, rather because it had been so long he had you all to himself.

There were perks and disadvantages when it came to sharing you with his brother. One of those disadvantages was that he rarely had you to himself, and Osamu wasn't fond of giving him the alone time that Atsumu wished he had with you. Doing these kinds of things in front of his brother not only would cause him trouble, but also an overprotective Osamu since you couldn't do wrong in his eyes. If you behaved, Osamu was more than willing to protect every dignity you had.

The truth was that both brothers knew that their doings weren't the best, but Atsumu had long given up breaking his pretty head over the fact. You three being together was the optimal arrangement, and he could live very well, knowing he only had to share you with his brother.

A brother who didn't even know how good your pussy felt.

Wrapping around his cock, your walls were so damn tight, trying to keep him out but only arousing him more. Since he was the only one for you, Atsumu liked to imagine that you were shaped to his form. The wet, slapping sound that his balls made every time they collided with your clit was only prove that he loved you well, even if you were always so reluctant to admit it. Atsumu didn't have much patience; he'd have done anything to make your lovely voice ring out. However, judging by how your face contorted between the denial of pleasure and spurts of delight crossing over it, he knew that even your pride and reluctance would break in no-time.

"Come on," he taunted you, his free hand wandering to your clit again, as your breath hitched, hands grabbing his arm around you. You weren't even trying to break free anymore; you just were adamant about not admitting it felt good to you too. With his lips caressing your shoulder, Atsumu was tempted to leave another mark on you, despite knowing Osamu would disapprove once he found it. He was still trying to decide if he wanted to risk it, as your voice finally broke free, moans sliding off your lips temptingly.

"Aah… Atsumu--"

"That's right!" Picking up the pace, he pressed you closer, leaning forward so his cock could reach new depths while you gasped and huffed, shaking your head desperately. "N-No, slow down! You're to fa- fast!" you gasped forth between his pushes, the pace never changing despite your pleas.

"It's alright, I know you like it!"

Who could deny him the warm, fuzzy feeling collecting in his stomach as he listened to the sounds you two made while making love? Even now, you probably didn't understand what he was feeling for you. The way Atsumu only thought about you all the time. Even when playing volleyball did he think about you, every time he set the ball for a point for his team, he was devoting it to you, and every game he played, he played so he could watch it together with you later, showing you how great your boyfriend was.

There was no one else besides his brother that he'd want to share the feeling of holding you in his arms. The way he could bury his head in your hair, give you his hoodie to wear, and share his favorite onigiri with you. No one else would ever bring out the same joy he felt when he did those things with you. Even now, as he fucked you senseless, Atsumu knew that you were the only one he wanted to share his life with in every aspect.

Sex was just another way of proving to you how capable he was. He wouldn't let you go dissatisfied, and he would be the one to make you scream and shout in pleasure, his dick stirring you up to the point where you'd forget all the bad memories you harbored. Atsumu would make new, beautiful memories in your mind. The ones you'd like looking back on if only you gave him the time to create those.

Pumping into you, he let you down again, finally turning you over and helping to arrange your legs. There was a mix of tears and sobs in your voice, but undeniably, some part of you must have enjoyed it too. You avoided his eyes, shielding your face with one of your arms, but he could see the trembling in your lips, showing him your excitement. At least that's what he wanted to believe. By the way you felt, wrapping tightly around him, Atsumu couldn't hold back the pride he felt, knowing you were about to climax, nonetheless from his efforts.

"It's fine, I'll cum too," he assured you, lovestruck by how wonderful it made him feel. You stirred, panicked, as you heard his words, reaching out to push him away. But he only caught your hand as you tried to bang it into his chest, bringing it up to his face and kissing your knuckles over and over, eyes closing in anticipation of his own orgasm.

»»———————— ♡ ————————««

"Not inside--" were your last words when he suddenly tugged at your arm hard. Suddenly, it was as if nothing was holding him back anymore, and you could only wring and beg as he kept pumping his cock into you. You didn't want to cum; you didn't want any of this! You wished he'd simply pull out and be done with this. But you knew it wouldn't be that easy, would it?

Bodies colliding without another warning, your toes curled as you let out an echoing gasp, ending up in a sob. Hot spurts of semen collected inside of you as Atsumu groaned, muffling himself in your shoulder as he fell on top of you. The words got caught in your throat as you felt him tremble above you, letting out meek confessions of love while all you could think about was the panic of a pregnancy unfolding in your mind. He seemed unbothered as could be, kissing on top of your collarbone.

Even though he sighed in satisfaction, you felt his hips pick up a rolling motion, widening your insides and distributing his semen evenly everywhere, while you felt the tears return to your eyes, your body shuddering from the recent orgasm. You couldn't hold back your shaking shoulders, which he kissed so lovingly, and much more so, you could not understand how he could lift himself up to look you into your eyes so innocently.

"That was amazing, Sweetie," he mused, kissing away the tears from your eyes as they rolled down your temples. "It felt good, right?"

His voice was sickenly ecstatic like a child that just won a prize, bringing it home to their mother to show it off. But the moment a sudden click reached his ear, followed by a rustling, the pleased smile disappeared from his face, a frown appearing instead. Instantly, he stopped all he was doing, cock still buried deep into you, and your eyes opened wide too. There weren't exactly many people with keys to your home. Even fewer people with access to your room.

"I'm back," the two of you heard, and Atsumu sighed a quiet, "Fuck. That bastard," before the door opened, Osamu stepping in. There was no time to break away from each other, much less clean yourself up and pretend nothing happened.

Osamu's eyes widened as he saw you two lay on the floor, disheveled and you in tears. However, he was speechless about what he encountered, and you exchanged an apologizing glance with him before throwing a panicked one at Atsumu. Grinning, Atsumu winked stuck out his tongue as to say, "Oopsie, we got caught!" and it was right then and there that you realized that no matter what you did, this probably wouldn't end well for you.

"It was fun as long as it lasted," he laughed loudly, innocent of all charges. "Sorry, 'Samu. They seduced me."

You weren't sure if the two even perceived the shocked huff you let out as they stared at each other. "Unbelievable," Osamu hissed through gritted teeth, and Atsumu finally got up, pulling his cock, and with it the collected fluids, out of you. He held out his free hand, using the other to hold his flaccid member, while he asked for tissues.

The look on Osamu's face spoke more than a thousand words before the younger twin took the tissue box from the table, throwing it right at his brother's head. "Wow, okay, rude ass!" Atsumu complained, getting to his feet before taking his cleaning business out of the room, absolutely unfazed by the wrath you felt emitting from Osamu, who went after his brother.

However, before he banged the door shut, he turned back halfway towards you, his expression grim and with the most effort not to look at you entirely. "This is not over," he warned, his pointer coming up reprimandingly. "Get in the bath. Now."

So you did. You didn't even wait for him to be out of the door before you were up and running, feeling the disgusting fluids run down your thighs. For a moment, you considered locking the entrance to the bath behind you, but you were struck with the fear of what Osamu would do if you'd lock yourself in now.

Even now, you could hear their screams and shouts, despite it being almost three rooms away. It was hard to understand their furious words, at least Osamu getting louder with every accusation. You were curious what exactly angered him the most, but knowing you'd probably find out soon enough, you sat down inside the bathtub, turning on the water to tune out their voices.

But even the warm stream of water could not save you from Osamu as he finally marched through the door, locking it behind him. You acknowledged him getting undressed with a brief glance, sinking deeper into the tub filling with water, secretly hoping it would drown you before he could.

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rayofsunas · 3 years

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baby daddy | kaeya [2]

A/n: so already, in the first five minutes of me beginning to write tumblr decided to delete stuff again, so that’s pretty swag ;-; but nonetheless, I’m alright lmao, I’ve been super happy this week ever since I pulled xiao AND mona after wanting to give up plsss. also, I can’t exactly remember if I gave Klara a age in the last part, so I would just like to clarify that she’s one lol. anyways, here’s part two and I hope you guys enjoy!! it took me four hours to write this

Summary: kaeya wants to set a good example for his children, naturally. so he’s given up a lot of things, one being his excessive drinking. but being a knight is hard, despite how nonchalant he seems and he finds himself slipping sometimes… when you find out about it, you’re less than happy and decide spending time with the children would be a good idea for him. he’s more than happy to spend time with the three little monsters, but, he never realized what a normal day was for you when taking care of them.

Parings: Kaeya/Fem! Reader

Warnings: children, fluff, reader and kaeya are mid 20s, alcohol, Klara and Katheryne are friends because I said so, stan Katheryne she helps us so much-

Word count: 2.3k

The sun was slowly but surely rising, leaving beautiful orange and yellow hues to paint the usually bright blue sky, and Kaeya couldn’t be happier. Unlike the last couple of days, he’d been able to wake up, eat a quiet breakfast with you before the kids woke up though he tried and successfully tried to flirt his way into your already claimed heart, and then when Klara woke up, he got the chance to contently feed the wailing little girl; something he shockingly missed.

Even if at that moment, the tears and cries were a lot more than he could handle, he was more than happy to do something too trivial, just because he was spending more time with her. And unlike the other days, he’d been able to take her for her morning walk, before he’d have to report to headquarters.

Most citizens were still asleep, though very few could be seen preparing for the days work, a few stall owners he noted, as he held Klara’s tiny chubby hand and helped her walk through the town, though she greatly seemed to like speed, already worlds ahead with her mobility.

“Slow down, my little Mist Flower.” She was moving as fast as her little legs could take her, straight towards Katheryne who sometimes gave the little girl trinkets, saying adventurers had brought back things they didn’t wish to keep or had no use for. Even if Klara couldn’t really speak, she knew little things, “Thank you” was one of them, so she was always grateful despite not knowing exactly what they were. And although Katheryne seemed to not be human, some sort of machine with a very robot-like tone, she also made sure to let little Klara know how happy she was to give the youngest Alberich little trinkets.

“Good morning, Katheryne.” Kaeya called, grinning when his daughter’s eyes widened at the mention of the kind receptionist. As the pair approached the young woman, Klara yanked on her father's white cloak, instructing him to lift her into his arms, so she could get a better look, and Katheryne, usually behind the tall wooden counter.

“Oh- good morning, Captain Kaeya!” The woman exclaimed, eyes lighting up when she saw the little girl she adored very much. “And little Klara, good morning.” She was happy to see the pair well, seeing as though she hadn’t seen Klara in days.

“Hi, Kat...” Klara whispered with a shy smile, Katheryne smiled even more because of the use of the nickname she’d been given.

She was just the most adorable little girl ever, Katheryne couldn’t help but think.

All three Alberich children were the sweetest, though obviously, Klara had a sweet place in her heart especially. Adrien was an identical copy of you, sarcastic, very stubborn, but very respectable for such a young age. And Elena was a smart cookie, a young girl who enjoyed questioning and correct everyone and everything that she came across. Lastly, little Klara, who had much growing to do was the pride and joy of the large Alberich family. Everyone adored her and she continuously swayed hearts wherever she went, just her cute curiosity alone was enough to bring a smile to even Wagner’s face, who typically seemed grumpy.

Katheryne felt very lucky to have met them in this lifetime, they were a gift from the Archons, truly. Everyone knew Katheryne as the Adventurer Guild's Receptionist but to Klara? She was Kat, a generous friend who gave her gifts.

Though a sad frown graced the young woman's lips, Kaeya ever so observantly caught on, something was wrong.

“I’m very saddened to say this, but I’m afraid there aren’t any new trinkets suitable enough for little Klara today...” Yes indeed was the receptionist saddened, evident by every feature on her face. “There’s been a shortage it seems of adventurers and travelers willing to take the commissions.” The brunette stated.

“Why is this?” The Cavalry Captain questioned, silently huffing when the one-year-old attached to his hip kept chewing on his white fur cloak, closest to his neck. Great, another issue added to the mix. Maybe she had begun teething again? Archons, Kaeya really felt as though he’d missed so much, seeing as though he couldn’t remember the last time his youngest daughter had teethed or even if she'd stopped entirely together. In short, he probably hadn’t been there for that either, courtesy of his position and job.

“From my understanding, there have been more hoards of monsters, and something about a mutation as well,” Noted Katheryne, watching as the curiosity built upon the man's features. “Would you like to take a few of the commissions? To show Acting Grand Master Jean?”

The part bout there being an abundance of monsters did sound familiar, he’d been hearing about that a lot recently, but mutated forms as well? That was new... He’d have to bring that up today at the briefing, maybe Jean would know more than he currently did.

“None of that will be necessary. I’m heading there now, after I drop Klara off back home, I’ll just forward the information to her personally.” Katheryne nodded, seemingly getting sidetracked and entranced by the bright violet-eyed toddler staring at her, with her father's white fur cloak still in her mouth.

Adorable.

She still couldn’t help but feel bad though. The only trinkets that had been brought back from any scarce, but recent missions were partially damaged swords waiting for Wagner to fix or scrap into new materials.

Such a thing did not belong in the hands of a child, nonetheless the ever so gentle Klara Alberich, she was too sweet for this world to be handed a complimentary sword, even if she had heard Kaeya say the countless amount of times that he wanted to eventually teach each of the children how to use a sword, preferring to start earlier, rather than later. And from Katheryne’s overheard? She now knew it had been somewhat of a topic of discussion between you and Kaeya, causing mini spouts of anger and frustration.

Archons, how she wishes she had something suitable to give the little girl...

Katheryne nervously fidgeted. “Oh and about the trinkets-”

The usual daily gifts Kaetheryne would give to Klara, were absent today. Due to one big factor; adventurers and travelers weren’t taking commissions, therefore, they weren’t bringing back what Katheryne saw as unique finds, but they claimed to have no use for.

“No worries,” He was more worried about the fact that adventurers weren’t taking commissions instead of the usual trinkets Katheryne would give his daughter, nonetheless he offered reassurance. It really was no big deal.

Kaeya indeed was something else entirely, Katheryne concluded. A mind reader, some sort of witch- just different. How had he known without her even saying anything?

She was stunned for quite some time, though still feeling guilty despite his supposed reassurance. The guilt partially stemmed from the fact that Klara was staring so intently at her, with big blue-purple-hued eyes, unknowingly being one of the main stressors of Katheryne’s guilt...

“Klara has too many nicknacks anyways,” You and Kaeya were sure she’d be some kind of trinket collector when she was older, seeing as though she had so many already. “Y/n says you spoil her.” Kaeya’s statement almost sounded like he was scolding her, but if not for the grin and chuckle he offered that immediately followed, she wouldn’t have known he was being entirely playful.

“That is not my intention. She’s just so adorable, I cannot stop myself,” Kaeya laughed, glancing down at the toddler. She was adorable, his little Mist Flower.

“If it bother you or Miss Y/n, I’ll-”

“It’s quite alright, Katheryne, no need to worry,” Kaeya announced smoothly, dramatically waving his hand to show he was dismissing her statements of protest and concern.

“Alright...”

Eventually, Kaeya did take his leave, much to Katheryne’s dismay. She’d probably see Klara tomorrow, if he stayed true to his schedule, so she remained hopeful and excited for tomorrow.

Before he knew it, Kaeya was bringing Klara home, giving you and Elena - who was now awake - hugs and kisses, telling you both to let Adrien know he loved him and that he’d return soon - he was still asleep. And then just like that Kaeya was out the door again and off to headquarters.

No one expected him to be at the Cat’s Tail this late at night, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected nor rare by any means, he was a familiar face after all.

It was unexpected because Kaeya claimed he had given up the incessant and excessive drinking years ago when his firstborn, Adrien graced Teyvat. Sadly, it was expected, because it seemed he’d been in here more in the last week than in the last few years... Though, patrons who often visited the tavern were all betting on the fact that you were entirely clueless to how much he’d been drinking; they were right. You were too busy taking care of the children and training to hopefully join the Knights again, to even keep up with your husband's drinking habits. So, it went unnoticed.

Diluc though, who was often at the tavern, noticed it unlike you. Kaeya had been a great pretender, a great spy; good at keeping secrets, but when he had secrets, somehow Diluc always found himself finding out first, if not second, closely behind you. And unfortunately - Diluc thought - he was on the more personal spectrum concerning the certain Knight... He was his brother, your brother in law, an uncle... He disliked what Kaeya was doing, greatly. Especially since it felt as though his idiotic brother was going behind his family's back. No, he hadn’t promised to quit entirely, but he’d made it seem that way to you. Probably a fabrication so you wouldn’t worry...

Diluc should’ve known he'd find himself back here again, trying to get his once again, idiotic brother, to leave and go home. The pyro user couldn’t understand. His brother had everything he didn’t. A beautifully devoted wife, three amazingly easy children, a status many simple Knights and Guards would kill for; Captain. And he’d rather risk it all for a drink or two, maybe three.

You thought nothing of it. Kaeya was out late a lot, more often than not patrol and paperwork held him from returning home, but on the rare occasions that he had a sliver of free time that wasn’t spent with you and the kids, he was drinking.

You always knew when he wouldn’t be returning, in the form of a letter from Kaeya, stating he was alright but would be staying to do paperwork, etc. It would be brought by one of his underlings, Knights or Guards in training. But when that letter never came, you panicked.

Was he alright? He never forgot to write... Maybe he was held up?

Thankfully, Lisa had decided to come over for tea earlier and had still been here trying her best to reassure you, after seeing how worried you’d been after not receiving any letter.

“You should probably return home, I’ll be alright.” You kept reassuring the librarian, though she wasn’t falling for it. She could practically feel the stress and anxiety oozing off of you, it was concerning.

You could only be thankful Amber had been busy and couldn’t come over for tea or else she would’ve ripped Kaeya a new one when she got ahold of him. He’d never be able to leave for missions again, without getting a reminder from Amber to reach out or else...

“Darling, I’m not leaving until he returns.” She took your hands in hers, hoping to offer you comfort. Lisa had always been there for you, which you were very thankful

She had no prior experience with children, though she was incredible with your own. You figured because she was one of the older members of the Knights of Favonius, she had taken more of a big sister role and the youngers looked up to her wisdom. Though she wasn’t much older than you, only by five or six years, so she was really like an older sister towards you as well. Lisa was a very kind woman, you appreciated her tons.

“Maybe I should go find him? I could ask around...”

“Please don’t stress, Y/n,” Lisa said. “You’re too beautiful to stress. I trust that he’ll be here soon.”

Lisa was in fact right. Kaeya returned soon after she had said he would. Master Diluc knocked on the door close to midnight, hanging off his arm was your drunk husband. When you saw him slumped on his brother's shoulder, you immediately assumed the worst. Maybe he’d been physically harmed. You were under the impression he had stopped drinking.

But then, when you allowed Diluc to step further into the house, you got a huge waft of what you quickly recognized as alcohol. Surprisingly enough for Diluc, you didn’t yell, instead, you just stared at Kaeya with disappointment, gravitating towards him to try and take him from his brother's arms.

“Thank you Diluc, I’m sorry you had to deal with this so late.”

The Ragnivndr wanted to scold his brother, for making a fool of himself and you, leaving you worried and disappointed. But, using better judgment, Diluc just nodded and offered an understanding and apology, on behalf of his out of it brother.

“It’s quite alright, I-”

“I’m sorry he had to come home this way,” Diluc stated, glaring at the taller man.

You hummed, helping Kaeya stumble into your living room, both Lisa and Diluc watching with worried gazes from the door. “Don’t worry, I’m just glad he’s safe.”

Diluc once again, realized his idiotic brother did not deserve you or your kindness and understanding. He was one lucky man, that was for sure.

[🏷] TAGLIST (if you want to be removed from/added to this specific taglist let me know!)

@gladly-olus , @kyquu , @craptainlou , @mintydump , @chscklvr , @irisxiel , @minh0ree

2.10.21, rayofsunas

#rayofsunas #genshin impact #genshin #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact scenarios #genshin impact imagines #kaeya #kaeya alberich #kaeya x reader #kaeya alberich x reader #i simp for kaeya so much #this took me 4 hours so pls i hope you enjoy

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anime-alyssa · 3 years

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purple scars. (d ragnvindr x reader)

i posted this on ao3 and forgot to move it here - so you get it super long and not 2 in parts. i’m thinking of continuing this, maybe?

thanks for reading and the support! i’m working on a xiao rn hopefully i can get my shit together

warning: contains some emotional trauma, implied r*pe but nothing is overly graphic. the second half is smut, separated by stars if thats what you want to skip to.

The bitter cold of Dragonspire finally started to fade away as you crossed over the bridge back into Mondstat for the first time in 10 years. You were bundled up to the extreme, having prepared for the cold, your sword on your back and jacket heavy on your shoulders. Your sword and your jacket were all you managed to steal away before you were able to escape your homeland, Inazuma. You were still dressed in the encampment clothes, your ID number splayed across the chest of the shirt and the boots too big for your feet.

You hadn’t wanted to be gone for 10 years - you wanted to only be gone for a few, to get your Electro under control. But when Baal placed borders around the country and started hunting down anyone with a Vision, life had become a living hell. You were placed in a prison camp and locked away from society shortly after, tortured beyond anything imaginable just for being born with a Vision. The only thing that kept you alive was the hope that one day, if you had gotten strong enough, you would be able to escape Inazuma to head back to Diluc, and Mondstat - were you really felt at home.

Diluc Ragnvindr was a mystery to everybody, except for you. You found yourself more often than not sneaking onto Dawn Winery’s premises when his father was not around and exploring each other’s bodies, like the horny teens that you had been. Sometimes you thought you could still feel the ghost of his fingertips on your skin at night - and tried to imagine that it was him when the Bakufu would do unspeakable things to you and the other prisoners. It was painful, and left you scarred - would Diluc even want you?

It had been 10 years - you had last seen him when you were merely 16 and he was entering the Knights of Favonius. The two of you fell in love as teenagers - no one expected it to be anything beyond that, but the two of you were convinced otherwise at the time. For you, it was still the same - you thought of Diluc every single day while you were in Inazuma. You could remember the day like it was yesterday - his heartbroken eyes, the cries you let out as you told him that you would be leaving, the way he held onto you.

“I’ll be back - I promise - I just - I need help that I can’t get here.” you sobbed into his chest. The Pyro users warmth was all around you as he held you in his room at Dawn Winery, his father out for the night, leaving the two of you bare in his bed.

“You better come back, or else I’ll go to Inazuma myself to get you.” his eyes looked down at you and your heart broke at the sight of him - Diluc was never a vulnerable person, but right now he was. One of his thumbs stroked your tears away on your cheeks as his lips peppered kisses up your neck. “I will never forget you. Ever.”

“Neither will I.” you said with a gasp, as Diluc had given you a night to never forget.

You had officially reached the other side of the bridge - the cold gone away and the warmth coming back to you. You thought about taking the jacket off, now way too hot with it on, but you didn’t want people to know where you had come from. You didn’t want their pity. There was a small camp with other adventurers and travelers around, the chef offering you food for free before you went on your way. It didn’t do much for you to quell the aching hunger you had and the shaky legs - you weren’t really the best fed and had been surviving off of fruit from trees. In short, you were in no condition to be traveling, clearly sickly and unwell. But you were not stopping now - you couldn’t. Not after all that you had overcome. You hadn’t forgotten about him.

A series of snarls from the side of you caused you to jump as you saw about four hilichurls coming right for you. You shrugged the jacket off and grabbed your sword, standing your guard as the monsters attacked. You fought them tooth and nail until your vision all but blacked out - you had hit the ground and heard someone calling for you.

“Hello? Wake up - Lumine - she needs help! Hey, wait - that’s an Inazuma camp uniform!” a high-pitched voice said to you. Your vision slowly came back as you saw a floating - fairy? You didn’t know what she was - but she was floating above you looking concerned next to a young blonde teenager. “Are you okay?”

“I - I don’t know. Need food - water - Di -” you managed to weakly say, feeling your world spin around you. The blonde teenager ran to the water source across from you - a lake? - to get you a drink of water as the fairy thing fished out something for you to eat. You felt like you were going to die - you were starving, dehydrated, but Diluc, you needed to get to Diluc.

“Here’s some water! Drink this, please.” she said to you kindly. You took the cup and quickly chugged the water, then taking the offered food. “My name is Lumine, and this is Paimon.” You gave them your name back, as they seemed trustworthy, as they sat down next to you and watched you. Paimon looked at you with sad eyes, seeing your uniform.

“Thank you very much. It’s been…. a while since I ate anything. All I have is this.” you said to them, continuing to eat. You were already feeling better, but by the way they were looking at you, you could tell that you were still quite a sight.

“You’re welcome - did you escape Inazuma? Paimon and Lumine were actually trying to find a way to sneak in.” Paimon had announced to you. You froze on the spot and looked up to them.

“What - no. Don’t go there. It’s dangerous - the camps - ” You felt panic start to bubble in your chest, your heart-rate increasing and breathing becoming staggered at the flashes of memories that flooded your mind. Paimon started calling out to you again, trying to calm you. She and Lumine had started to talk amongst themselves, looking at you trying to calm yourself as they made attempts to as well. You tried to remember Diluc - what you could of him, and slowly you were able to calm down. “I’m sorry - it’s just - it’s awful. I was there for 10 years, I was a prisoner.” You sat in an awkward silence before Paimon spoke up again.

“Hey - Paimon remembers that when you were talking earlier, you almost sounded like you were saying someone’s name.” she said to you.

“I’m - I’m looking for Diluc Ragnvindr of Mondstat - the Knights - or Dawn Winery - I don’t know where he is, actually. When I left, he was joining the Knights.” you said to them with a sudden hope that you hadn’t felt in years. Even in your journey, you hadn’t felt hopeful. There was always the chance of the Bakufu finding you and bringing you back or dying. But suddenly, you felt some hope.

“Oh - Master Diluc! Paimon didn’t know he used to be with the Knights of Favonius - that explains why he dislikes them so much now - but he does run Dawn Winery now!” Paimon said, floating happily. She paused for a moment - then looked like some gears had clicked in her head. “Wait a minute - you’re Master Diluc’s lost love!!”

“His what?” You asked. Lost love? Was that what the rumor was? But wait - if there was even a rumor, that meant there was potential that he still cared about you - still thought of you.

“What Paimon means to say is that Kaeya told us stories about when Diluc was… not like he is now. That he used to be much happier - and it was because of you.” the blonde traveler said to you.

“What - what do you mean? He’s changed?” You wanted to slap yourself - obviously he changed, it’s been years. But they made it seem like he was completely different - and he left the Knights? When Diluc was younger it was all he wanted to do, so he could protect people and help them. What had changed? You assumed you would find out.

“Paimon thinks we should take you to him to find out - Kaeya made it seem like you knew him better than anyone, so you would know more. Let’s go check Dawn Winery to see if he is there!” she said happily. You gave her a nod as you shakily stood up, feeling like you had a little bit more energy and walked with the traveler and her companion.

You learned about her on the way there. She woke up on the beach with no memory, but knew she was not from Tevyat. Her twin brother was missing and she was in search of The Seven to see if maybe that would be a way for her to find him, which explained why she wanted to go to Inazuma despite your warnings. But, she was Vision-less - a fact that shocked you as you could have sworn you vaguely remember her using Anemo during the fight. That little factoid made you feel a little better.

As you approached Dawn Winery, your stomach started twisting into knots. All of your anxieties came flooding back - would Diluc even want you still? Would he be appalled at the state of you? Would he be able to handle the extra baggage you came with now? Your mind reeled at Paimon babbled on about how maybe you would be good for Diluc to be happy, and how she was looking forward to the food the winery always had for them. You felt yourself fidgeting with the jacket, having put it back on to cover your uniform.

You saw his red hair from a mile away and froze in your steps. He had gotten taller, but god he looked the same. He pulled his hair back like he always had, muscles built out over the years. He couldn’t see you yet, talking to someone else across from him at the entrance of the winery. Lumine stayed by your side, the teenager having a big heart and concerned. However, Paimon floated on over to him.

“Master Diluc! Master Diluc! Paimon and Lumine have someone who was looking for you!” she said excitedly. You couldn’t help but admire the creature’s happiness, despite your nerves. You and Lumine walked forward as Diluc turned around - eyes going wide seeing you. Your breath hitched in your throat as you two made eye contact. It felt like all air in your lungs had just disappeared and you were unable to breathe.

Diluc slowly stepped towards you at first, not being able to believe his eyes. You could tell he was taking you in, observing your features and you to make sure that it really was you. You didn’t blame him for taking his time - you were unrecognizable from before. Your features had thinned out due to the years of neglect from the Bakufu, eyes sunken slightly inward and skin paled. You saw a flash of doubt flash in his eyes - or at least that’s what your brain wanted you to think - and you let out a sob. That seemed to do it for him as Diluc ran over to you in a flash, pushing anybody out of his way to wrap his arms around you.

It finally felt like you were home, in Diluc’s arms as he held you. More sobs wrecked your now trembling body, overcome with emotion as tears spilled onto his clothing. His grip on you was snug, but not too tight, treating you like you were glass and frail. He was warm, as he always was, while he held onto you like you’d disappear into thin air if he let go. You felt your knees give out, exhaustion starting to hit you, Diluc picking you up to support you. You tried to say something - to say anything to him, but the shaking and the exhaustion was becoming to much and eventually, you blacked out in his arms.

——

You woke up on a comfortable bed - so comfortable it almost didn’t feel right. You were sunk into one side with the blankets over you, body bare underneath. Had Diluc been the one to take your clothes off - did he see your scars? Your body suddenly felt good - there was no aching, you suddenly felt healthy? If that was the word for it. You shuffled in the bed, making an attempt to sit up, before you were promptly pushed back down.

“Lay down - please.” Diluc spoke to you. You turned your gaze over to him, laying next to you, half asleep and half dressed. You covered yourself underneath the blankets as he threw an arm over you, pulling you close to him despite trying to hide. “Don’t do that. Stop trying to hide from me.”

“Diluc - I’m - I’m not the same.” you stammered out. You felt his fingers dance over your bare skin and you gasped, instinctively jumping back. He retreated his touch upon seeing this, examining you again. “I’m sorry.”

“What did they do to you?” he asked. Panic bubbled inside of you once more as you tried to find the words to speak. You wanted to tell him everything. He deserved to know everything if he was still going to be with you. But for some reason, you couldn’t find the words. “Did the Bafuku do this - give you these?” His fingers grazed over the discolored scars on your body, purple marks from Electro attacks embedded into your skin forever.

“Yes - they would - they punished us when we fought back. All of us - but the females - they would - they’d come at night - ” Diluc let out a low snarl, understanding what you were implying without actually having to say it. “I tried to imagine it was you. Thinking of you is the only thing that kept me alive most days. It was awful - once Baal placed the orders to capture everyone with Visions, they found me in days. The painful part was that I was right at Liyue’s border - I was so close to getting out. That’s when I got this one.” You lifted your left arm, pointing to a series of purple numbers on your wrist.

“I don’t want to hear where they came from. It only makes me angrier that the damn Knights of Favonius didn’t even try to do anything to help.” Diluc said, cautiously wrapping a bare arm around you, testing the waters. You allowed him the contact - knowing that you were safe. You were safe with Diluc. You just needed to convince your brain the same thing, which would take time that he didn’t seem to mind. “It’s the middle of the night, let’s go back to bed. You need rest.” he said to you.

You gave Diluc a quick nod as you found yourself inching closer to his chest, resting your head on him. He was warm, as always, wrapping his arms completely around you and pulling you onto him. He never used to be one who liked someone on top of him, even you, and you had respected that - but now it seems like he wasn’t going to ever let you go again.

You didn’t mind as you attempted to fall into a dreamless sleep - but you were unlucky. Diluc was out in five minutes flat, but every time you tried to close your eyes flashes of the past would come back to haunt you. You weren’t sure if you got a wink of rest at all, until you found Diluc looking down at you, the sun out behind him. Your throat was dry and your face was wet. Had you had a nightmare? You weren’t sure if you had, since you weren’t even sure if you had fallen asleep at all.

“It’s just me - you’re okay. You were having a nightmare, I think.” he said, trying to say it in his calmest voice he could possibly muster. You blinked up at him confused.

“I - I don’t remember.” you said sadly, racking your brain to see if you could remotely remember, but having no such luck. Your brain was telling you that it didn't want you to remember, you think.

“You were screaming in your sleep. Almost shocked me, actually.” he said, throwing a light-hearted chuckle in at the end. You were not amused though, staring at him with wide eyes as you sat up slowly.

“I did? Are you okay?” you asked him. He looked at you like you had ten heads, confusing you until he spoke next.

“What - are you okay?”

“I think that answer is obvious enough.” You replied plainly. Diluc’s hand went to your chin, bringing your gaze to match his. His thumb lovingly and gently ran across your jawline, and you instinctively leaned into his touch. Slowly, you climbed up onto his lap, and he allowed you the comfort. “I think - I think I’ll be okay now, though. It’s just going to take some time.” You nuzzled yourself back into his chest as he hugged you snuggly, a hum leaving his lips.

“I’ll be here with you until it is, I swear it.” Diluc pressed a soft kiss on your forehead and you knew then that he meant it just like he did 10 years before.

*********************************************************************************

Slowly but surely, you started to heal, and it was all thanks to Diluc. The nightmares started to slowly fade away and with time, you were feeling happy again. You lived with him at Dawn Winery and took on some responsibilities to earn your keep (though Diluc always insisted that you didn’t need to do so), like helping the staff keep the place running and making sure that Diluc was on time to everything he needed to be. Which was a challenge, especially once you started to feel like your old self again (or what you could of your old self).

“One of these days, Charles is going to quit and then you’ll be stuck!” you said to him from on top of his desk, his lips on your neck as you let out a sigh. You weren’t quite mentally ready for much more intimacy, and he was okay with that, but you slowly had become re-accustomed to more touches. Diluc was letting you take the reins for what you were ready for and what you weren’t.

“He threatens to quit every day. He never does.” Diluc spoke against your skin, grunting as you finally pushed him away - and just in time, as Charles walked in to look for him. You hopped off and ran to find Adeline to see if she needed any help. Later on that day, you saw Charles again and he said that Diluc had been in a particularly angry mood for the past few hours. With a sigh, you had hunted him down, finding him in your bedroom.

“What’s wrong? Charles is going around saying you’re angry.” you said to him. Your partner let out a scoff as he turned back around to you, your eyes immediately going to his middle. You bit back a laugh.

“Don’t.” he hissed through gritted teeth, face burning as you stepped closer to him.

“It’s like you’re sixteen again.” you said with a small giggle. Before he could protest, you had him backed against the wall and his pants shoved down, solving the problem yourself. Charles saw you before he left for the night and had said Diluc was in a much better mood the rest of the day.

You had found out about Diluc’s night-time hero work as The Darknight Hero a week or two after you had returned. Originally, you fought him tooth and nail against it, for selfish reasons - but once he explained what had happened to him over the past 10 years, you gave it a rest and let him go on. With the death of his father and everything that had happened with the Knights and his brother afterward, you almost couldn’t blame him.

He had put a pause on it when you came back, but people started to talk and worry, and the Abyss Order picked up on it. He had to begin it again, and you worried every single night. Tonight in particular, he had been gone almost all night, and you were starting to worry. It was an hour or two more than what he was usually out, and you were alone in the Winery with your thoughts. To make things worse, it was storming outside so you couldn’t go out to look for him even if you wanted to.

A crack of thunder caused panic to rush through your chest - it sounded too much like Bakufu punishment for your comfort. You were snuggled under blankets, bringing your knees to your chest as you tried to push the memories away - another crack making an involuntary whimper leave your lips as the shakes came on. You hadn’t panicked like this in months - but the conditions of the storm and Diluc being gone for longer than he said brought it on, and you were nearly unable to control it.

The door opened and you jumped, not paying any mind to whoever it was that walked through the door as you fought to keep the memories at bay - flashes of them coming through in segments. You heard a curse and then running as you steadied some of your breathing, a hand coming to your face and forcing you to look at your lover. He wrapped his arm around you and brought you close to him, letting you soak up his warmth.

“You’re okay - you’re okay.” Diluc chanted to you softly. You nodded against his chest as you wrapped yourself around him back, his hand gently rubbing your back. He was right - you were okay. “I tried to get back as soon as I could after the weather rolled in, I’m sorry it took so long.” he apologized from above you.

“It’s okay.” you mumbled into him.

“No it’s not. I know how it gets - I should have known better.” he pressed a kiss to your hair after he spoke, guilt starting to rise up. Diluc had been overly cautious when it came to you since your return - within days he had memorized anything that sent you into a panic and was there to prevent it from happening. Until today, that is, hence the guilt. You let out a sigh as you relaxed into him.

“I know you want to protect me, but you can’t always do it, on top of everything else. I’ll be okay.” you said to him, taking your head out of his chest and bringing your lips to his.

He slowly reciprocated once his mind caught up to his body - realizing that you were initiating, something that hadn’t happened yet since you came back. His arms around you tightened as the kiss became deeper and more passionate, from a tiny little peck to open mouthed pants. Diluc was almost struggling to keep up with you, mind telling him to slow down for you but body betraying him, his need for you coming to the surface.

Diluc almost lost his mind when he had dragged you closer to him and heard a soft moan leave your lips as you landed on top of the tent in his pants. The moan seemed to be the signal that flipped the switch in Diluc’s head, as he flipped the two of you over, placing your back on the mattress as he towered above you.

“Are - are you sure?” Diluc asked, needing your complete consent before he went any further. A selfish part of him was hoping you’d say yes, but if you were to say no, he’d have no problem getting off you right now and going on with his night. It was all about if you were ready.

“Yes. Please Diluc.” you said back quietly. It was his turn to let out a moan at your begging for him as his lips went to your neck, softly leaving pecks up and down both sides.

“You tell me if anything - anything - is too much.” he spoke against your skin, coming back up to make sure that you understood. Diluc felt his cock twitch in his pants seeing your blissed out face, lust clouded over you from him. You let out a weak nod before he went back down with more vigor, sucking marks into your neck for all to see.

Fighting back wasn’t a thought in your mind as your body grew hot, clothes suddenly feeling restricting and your core in need of some friction. You hadn’t needed anybody in years, but right now, you needed him. Everything felt so right as his gloved fingertips pushed your shirt off your body, exposing your chest to him. The cool air made you shiver, but was soon replaced with the warmth of Diluc’s mouth pressing open-mouthed kisses to all the skin he could reach.

You managed to get Diluc to shrug his jacket off once you started to push it over his shoulders, pulling at his gloves next and discarding those. His mouth went back to its attack on your chest, finding one of your breasts and gently beginning to tug. A moan left your mouth as you tried to remember that your next mission was to get his shirt off. Your body was giving into him more and more as sparks of pleasure started to zoom through your veins and down to your core, slick starting to pool.

“Diluc…” you moaned out his name lustfully, spurring him on more. He pulled away from your nipple with a pop, panting as he almost ripped the rest of his shirt off his arms before going back down to pay attention to the other nipple. You continued to cry out, twisting underneath him as you filled with more and more need.

You felt his hands moving down your stomach, one resting on your hip while the other tucked under the waistband of your pants. For a moment, your mind started to reel and your heart raced - flashes of the past coming in. You were able to remember that you were with Diluc - you were safe, and you wanted him. Diluc noticed, immediately popping off you and gazing up at you.

“Should I - ”

“Don’t you dare stop.” you said, cutting him off. Throwing your arms around his neck, you brought his lips down to meet yours as he quickly continued what he was doing. Fingers dipped between your folds slowly, toying with your sensitive bud and making you moan against his mouth. With a small grunt back, Diluc slid two of his fingers into you slowly, beginning to pump. You sighed out his name as your hips ground into him, his lips moving back towards your neck as he panted against you.

“You’re so fucking perfect, baby.” he breathed against you, hips rutting against your thigh. You used your free hands to push your pants off, kicking them down your legs and leaving you completely exposed. The purple scars on your body reflected with the lightning outside the window and the candle light on the bedside while your body twitched with desire. Another moan left your lips as his fingers curled up into you, his thumb circling your bud making your walls tremble. “I need you. I need you.” he chanted into your neck, trying to use his freehand to fumble with his pants to push them down.

“Diluc…” you moaned as you started to meet his pumps, fucking yourself on his fingers trying to chase a high that you felt coming.

“I need to be inside you. Let me - I need it.” he stammered, continuing to finger fuck you until you said yes. You let out a cry as you felt yourself nearing the edge, body hot and sweat collecting on your skin. “Please baby - let me - ”

“Diluc, yes - fuck - ” As soon as the words left your mouth, he pulled his fingers out of you and finished pulling his pants down, kicking them off and letting them fall to the floor. You let out a whine at the loss before Diluc leaned down to kiss you again, gently using his knees to spread your legs wider and his hand that was in you to line his cock up with you. Nerves started to kick in ever so slightly, surpassing the need as you spoke out. “Be - slow - please.” you managed to say.

“Of course.” he said back, putting his lips back on yours as Diluc pushed the head of his cock into your hole. He let out a moan into your mouth, checking your face for any signs of discomfort before pushing in more. A whine left your lips at the feeling of being split open - it had been so long since you had someone inside of you that it almost felt like the first time again. Diluc pressed kisses to you, as some form of a distraction, as he continued to seethe himself inside until eventually, he was all the way in. “Okay?” he asked, bringing his gaze back up to yours. Diluc looked like he was absolutely holding back, restraining himself because you had asked. His face was red and he was panting above you already, heart racing with desire.

“Ye - yeah.” you said back to him. He let out a groan before he kissed you again, not moving inside just yet. His lips were warm against yours, swollen from all of the other kisses he had given you so far. Diluc wrapped his arms around you and brought you close to him, pressing your bodies together as you felt your need re-awaken. Your body was on edge, having him inside you but not moving - and you needed him yet again. “Diluc - you can move - please.” you begged.

“Fuck, yes.” he groaned into your mouth as slowly he started to rock his hips into yours, cock sliding in and out of you with ease. When he started moving, everything from before fully woke up again and you felt your muscles start to tense up, gripping onto his shoulders desperately as your moans started to fill the air. He took that as signal to start going faster and eventually, he started thrusting harder, with more purpose. A cry left your lips at the change of pace, feeling your body react by trying to move your hips to meet his.

“Faster Diluc - please faster.” you cried out. Your lover let out a loud moan at your plea, hiking your legs over his shoulders as he fucked into you harder, cock curving up inside you and hitting the spot that had you crying out his name. You started to shake under him, a warmth pooling in you that felt like it was about to bubble over. Diluc took your lips in his again, drinking up your moans as he pounded himself into you, the bed creaking and the sound of his hips meeting yours filling the room. You felt his cock growing harder inside of you with every thrust, your resolve close to breaking. “D - Diluc - Diluc!” you cried, tears streaming down your cheeks as pleasure started to overcome you.

“So good - you’re so good to me - so - perfect - fuck!” he said to you in a haze, a wanton moan leaving his lips as he felt your walls start to flutter around his cock. You let out a cry as you felt yourself nearly there - the pressure was bubbling and you were about to snap as the length of Diluc’s cock hit you right every time, his moans music to your ears and making your insides shutter. “Ah - ah - come for me, baby - come for me!” Diluc begged, now chasing a release by making you get to yours. You let out a whine - feeling yourself getting towards that edge - then a scream, feeling Diluc bring his hand down between your bodies to start rubbing at your clit. “Fuck you’re gonna - come - come!” he moaned.

“Diluc - Diluc - I’m - fuck!” you screamed out his name as white hot pleasure took over your body, feeling your walls finally clench down on him inside of you. Your eyes rolled into the back of your heard as you kept moaning, body arching against his and core still convulsing as Dilic continued to fuck you, now with a pace near brutal that had your orgasm being wrung out, overstimulation nearing. “Di - Diluc - ” you stammered as his fingers rubbed harder on your spent nub.

“Fuck - I’m - I’m gonna cum - so hard - inside - baby - ” Diluc let out one last loud moan as his hips slapped against yours, his cock twitching inside of you as his seed buried itself deep. He let out moans as he bucked his hips up into you, your twitching core milking his cock as he all but collapsed on top of you. “Fuck -” he breathed out into your neck, dragging your hips close again so he could keep pumping his high in your body.

You felt spent - exhausted. Eventually, you felt his cock stop twitching inside of you and Diluc pulled out, collapsing next to you. He brought the blankets over your bodies and pulled you close to him, pressing kisses to your temple.

“Are you okay?” he asked you. You turned to look at him, eyes wide with concern. You gave him a smile and pressed a kiss to his lips. Even after all that, he was still worried about you. You could argue that's what you loved most about him - that under the facade of not caring, he cared a lot - he was an emotional guy.

“More than okay.” you said back to him. He let out a hum as his hand trailed down to your abdomen - the area where you had the most scars from the Bakufu. Suddenly, you got what he was saying.

“I - well - I came inside. Are you sure?” he asked again. You didn’t really think about that in the moment, honestly. You weren’t sure how you felt about that one hundred percent - but you knew that you didn’t entirely mind it. You had gone through hell to get back with him because you wanted to be with him - you wanted to be with him completely.

“Yeah. I’m sure - I want to be with you, Diluc. That means… everything.” you said back. He nodded back down to you as he kissed you again, keeping his hand on you down below. When he stopped, he pressed your forehead to his lovingly.

“To everything.”

#diluc ragnvindr x reader #diluc x reader

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shinyglaceonice · 2 years

Text

Genshin headcanons time with my respective teams because they've been on my mind for a while.

Noelle and Xiao have been working together for a long while now, seeing new members come and go, but they always remained a duo. Xiao would never admit it, but he finds her dedication to her training commendable, and the strength of her shield is proof of that. Likewise, Noelle has learnt the little tells of the adeptus, the little signs that indicate when he wants to be alone, when he's curious about something he doesn't know. They share a quiet friendship built on mutual respect, and there have been some evenings where the two have just sat in silence watching the stars in the teapot.

Fischl and Yoimiya get along like a house on fire. Yoimiya adores Fischls character, always addressing her as the Prinzessin, and loves speaking with Oz, who has thanked Yoimiya for accepting Fischl for who she is. In turn, Fischl loves hearing Yoimiyas stories, whether it's about fireworks, the history of the Naganohara family or even about pet goldfish. The two can talk for hours, and have even had conversations whilst doing their daily commissions, much to the amusement and bewilderment of the other team members. (Xiao has had to remind them to focus a couple of times)

Diluc was reluctant to get close to the others at first, but overtime came to genuinely care for everyone that resided in the teapot. So much so, he started making non alcoholic drinks that he thought best suited a person, but was stumped as to what to make for Xiao, until he found out from Xiangling that the only dish he would eat was Almond Tofu. The two worked together to make a drink that had the flavour of Almond Tofu, and when it was done, served it to Xiao along with drinks for everyone else. The soft smile that briefly graced the adeptus face was reward enough for the both of them.

Venti loves playing the Lyre inside the teapot, and sometimes Ayaka will just stand and listen to his performances. It surprised her that he knew Inazuman songs, and could play them on request, but overtime they build a friendship over music and poetry, with Venti telling her poetry and playing her songs from ages long since passed. When asked where the song was from, Venti just ehe's before starting his next performance.

As the group begin to get to know each other and as time passes, they all help each other out in small ways.

Noelle, whilst still taking on lots of work, doesn't mind if the others help lessen her workload.

Xiangling takes the opportunity to learn cuisine from Inazuma to help Ayaka and Yoimiya feel more at home.

Fischl is the happiest she's ever been, finding people that accept her for who she is, and value her inputs and capabilities.

Yoimiya is over the moon hearing so many stories from so many different people, and loves making fireworks she thinks best represent her new friends.

Diluc learns that it's okay to trust others again, and that there are people that will have his back no matter what. He also learns a lot about drink ingredients thanks to experiments with Xiangling.

Venti is content to live in the moment, to make friends with these people that he knows will one day have to leave him. But that's okay, he thinks, he'll write songs to remember them by, and to inspire others with.

Ayaka allows her image of a perfect princess to relax, just a little, in the company of her new friends. No longer having to be 100% all the time, she laughs a little more often, and let's herself try new experiences that she missed out on previously.

Xiao gets used to having companions again, and although, like Venti, knows that they will one day have to leave him, he will protect them until that day. The pain of his karmic debt has been decreasing as of late, he no longer feels the pain as much as he used too, and he ponders, is it because of the Traveller and these new companions?

#genshin impact #genshin impact headcanons #diluc ragnvindr #xiangling #noelle #xiao #fischl #Yoimiya #kamisato ayaka #venti #i love them all okay

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silvysartfulness · 3 years

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xiao xingchen's mental state is So Terrible

Request: Can we see Xiao Xingchen’s thoughts on near suicide? Abandonment? Betrayal? He’s defined himself by other people for most of his life - his master, his totally-not-soulmate Song Lan, and his murder-soulmate Xue Yang. To be left by one person and then to be betrayed by another must be … a lot. Does Xingchen think he betrayed Song Lan because Xue Yang killed Song Lan’s people? He hasn’t had any time to deal with it, because he’s been playing babysitter… and then saving his pet murderer, too. Because I’ve put a lot of thought into this, but my writing skills are about 0, and you are so good at angst.

Okay! I’ll just… stream of consciousness on this. Because there is a lot to say about Xiao Xingchen’s mental state, his sacrifices, his losses and his choices.

There’s definitely a lot of touching on these issues currently in Heaven Has A Road. The callback to Xiao Xingchen’s suicide, and the way both Xue Yang and Song Lan fear the worst when he takes off on his own.

The kicker is that Xiao Xingchen himself doesn’t realize. Doesn’t realize that they worry about that, or why they would. He may still be very much prone to self-sacrificial and reckless decisions for the sake of others, but he’s not actively suicidal or seeking to self-harm now, at least not in such a direct and physical way.

But of course it’s a theme very much hanging in the air.

To look back at canon; Xiao Xingchen is, I think, naive even by Celestial Mountain standards. The previous two of Baoshan Sanren’s disciples who left the mountain either went dark (it’s just vaguely hinted at, but clearly it Was Not Pretty) or was a rather mischievous trickster (shaving off Lan Qiren’s beard for being a rule-obsessed square).

There is a spiritual concept of “going into the world” or “leaving the world” respectively - leaving is what Baoshan Sanren did, letting go of attachment to worldly matters to retreat to her unnamed mountain and cultivate immortality. What Xiao Xingchen does is the opposite - he chooses to “enter the world”, to leave that detached existence behind to get involved in earthly matters - beautifully alluded to by the “chen” in his name, meaning (worldly) dust. (That choice is what Xue Yang curses him for during their confrontation that last day - “If you don’t understand the world, you shouldn’t have come! Why didn’t you stay on your mountain?!” )

But he makes that choice. He wants to help people, make a difference, and so he leaves his family behind, makes that sacrifice even knowing that it means he won’t ever see his home again, and descends into the world.

Xiao Xingchen is described as gentle but determined, not only physically fighting and vanquishing evil, but helping people with any ”difficult matter” they bring before him, never refusing anyone. He wants to do good; what’s good for any humble person, not just the mighty few. And for all that he is naive, Xiao Xingchen is also self-assured and uncompromising. He knows what he is striving for, and he doesn’t hesitate when it comes to putting thought into action.

And down in the world, he finds someone else who puts those ideals over the blood ties of the mighty clans - Song Lan. Zichen. They grow close, they talk about starting a sect together – between the lines that means spending the rest of their lives together, living for those shared ideals. They grow so close, people always mention them together.

And then Xue Yang happens. Something so corrupted and grisly, it shakes even this extremely powerful young cultivator.

Whether you go by novel or series canon, the way the rest of the world handles the aftermath of the Chang massacre, it clearly dents Xiao Xingchen’s trust in the sects, in society and its concept of ”justice” quite badly.

And then Baixue happens, as a direct consequence of them capturing and making enemies with Xue Yang. Xue Yang specifically tells Song Lan, ”Tell Xiao Xingchen this is a gift for him!”

So yes, I think Xiao Xingchen takes the full blame of the Baixue massacre upon himself, because Xue Yang was out to hurt him. But because he and his immortal master were out of reach, Baixue paid the price. Song Lan paid the price.

So he broke his vow never to return home, and he gave up his eyes, in a hopeless bid to repair some modicum of the damage he’d caused, to at least give Song Lan his sight back, if not his home, his family, his ideals and beliefs and and hope.

At some point in that aftermath, Song Lan did blame Xiao Xingchen and told him they should never meet again, and he took that to heart, too. Of course Song Lan wouldn’t want to see him again – what is he now, but a reminder of those losses? The losses his own hubris caused?

So he wrapped up Shuanghua and went nameless into the world, avoiding attachments, described as wandering aimlessly from place to place to offer help and then move on, to make sure no one else would be hurt because of him. (That Xue Yang wouldn’t hurt anyone else because of him.)

I wrote a passage about him thinking back on this in an upcoming chapter;

I tried being no one, he thought, unbecomingly bitter and hurting. To make sure people wouldn’t get hurt because of me again. I thought I succeeded, but I ended up hurting people, killing people with my own hands instead.

He studiously tried tuning out the somewhat uneven footfalls behind them, focused wholly on the hand in his.

I tried being nothing, after that, after learning the truth.

But people had died because of him all the same, even then, even with him gone. The last survivors of the Chang, the people of Yi City, all those nameless victims whose blood had paid for the spells to drag him back into the world of the living… A-Qing.

I won’t hide away again, he thought, setting his jaw. I have to try… Try to be something. To do something. To leave a legacy better than this. To make it all worth it, make sure all this suffering wasn’t for nothing.

It was a bitterness that his hopes of doing that, the chance to realize the purpose he so desperately clung to… came at the hands of the man whose shadow had haunted him into nameless exile and caused all that grief and death in the first place.

How much time Xiao Xingchen had to think about all this varies wildly between CQL-canon and MDZS-canon – in the novel, not a whole lot of time passes between the Baixue massacre and Xiao Xingchen meeting a-Qing and eventually Xue Yang. But in CQL, the Baixue massacre takes place before Sunshot, before Yiling Laozu claims the Burial Mounds, before Nightless City and Wei Wuxian’s death… it’s been years of wandering alone before Xiao Xingchen meets a-Qing, and then Xue Yang. I’m not sure if it’s stated how long the Sunshot war is in CQL-canon, but even only going by the things we do know – Yanli having a child, Wei Wuxian having been dead for 16 years at the end of the Yi City arc where the main events took place 10 years ago, it’s anywhere between seven to some ten years.

So I think he has had a lot of time to reflect on all that grief from the past, but that it’s really just been spirals of hopelessness, never really processing or moving on from it. Shuanghua is still wrapped up when he meets a-Qing. He doesn’t introduce himself by name. It’s her shameless happiness, her choice to seek out his company – oh, how he’s ached for connection! - that finally gets him smiling again.

And once he makes friends with the odd stranger whose life he saves… He smiles. He laughs. They all build a home together. Shuanghua is no longer hidden. At the market, the stranger casually calls him by his name.

I think it’s only once they settle down in Yi City that he really begins healing from the horrors of the past. Dares start to build something new, in a tiny little backwater at the very edge of the map. Surely Xue Yang’s shadow won’t reach him, and this humble little existence he’s building here?

So of course it utterly breaks him when the truth comes out. Not just one, but awful truth after awful truth, tearing apart everything he’s built, everything he thought he had – everything he’s done.

A-Qing lied to him about being blind. His ”friend” was Xue Yang all along. He’s been tricked into killing people. He was tricked into killing Song Lan.

The character songs of the Yi City arc lean very heavily into Buddhist rather than Daoist themes – which is super interesting! - but especially the concept of karmic justice. No matter how unaware Xiao Xingchen was of it, he has killed. Not only did he turn away from cultivating immortality a long time ago – his soul is tainted forever. Gu Cheng speaks of ”debts” that can’t be repaid, falling into karmic sin. This isn’t just about tricking him into doing nasty things which leaves him horrified – he has been spiritually destroyed, and he didn’t even know.

The line of Gu Cheng that cuts the deepest is perhaps ”it was not your fault”/ ”The guilt doesn’t lie with you.”

Because that, I think, is at the core of things when Xiao Xingchen reaches for Shuanghua that day in Yi City - that he feels that it does. That it’s all his fault.

He has lost everything. He let down and/or was betrayed by everyone he knew. Killed his beloved soulmate. He himself is tainted and ruined beyond all salvation, because of what he’s done. And so he doesn’t just kill himself, he destroys himself, kills his body and shatters his soul, beyond all hope for reincarnation and rebirth. He utterly and completely ends himself, ends everything that is and was Xiao Xingchen.

Which is heartbreaking beyond words, and also why Heaven Has A Road clearly needed to happen. D:

…

I hope this was at least in the ballpark of the kind of rambling you were hoping for. XD

#untamed artfulness #meta #xiao xingchen #the happy songxuexiao roadtrip story #asksilvy #submission #cw:suicide

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translations-by-aiimee · 3 years

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Dig a Grave to Dig Out a Ghost - Chapter 26

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 26 - Photograph

From the South Third Ring Road overpass, turn right and cross a small road covered by empress trees to reach Shenjiayuan.

The fragments of low-rise buildings and the chaotic street stalls on both sides of the street were standoffish in such a modern city. However, this was one of the country's famous antique marketplaces, and tens of thousands of people came here every day with lots of money to spend, risking being baked by the sun and getting heatstroke by lingering around each of the stalls, hoping to find one or two hidden treasures stashed away in a corner somewhere. It was an industry gaining some traction. There were many speculators, collectors, tourists, calligraphers, painters, and even gamblers among them. They firmly believe that a city thousands of years old hid unknown wealth somewhere. It was this mentality that gave them a similar look; intoxicated and wild-eyed with a long outstretched tongue, drooling over the crude high antique imitations on the stalls.

This was the place where Lin Yan made countless memories when he was a teenager. The middle school he went to was nearby. After school, he often came here alone with his schoolbag on his back. Back then, there weren't as many people. There was a very polluted river nearby that hadn't been turned into a landfill yet. The air was always filled with the smell of stinky salted fish. The vendors who set up stalls hadn't yet learned to casually laze about while sneaking glances at the faces of customers to judge how much money they could cheat out of them.

The old days were like rolls of yellowed newspapers. A young man in a light blue school uniform walked through it, exchanging his pocket money for a piece of colored glaze from the late Qing Dynasty. He squatted in front of a stall to sift through the options. The old man at the stall was smoking a cigarette while telling the story of Liulichang in the late Qing Dynasty. Lin Yan didn't know why he was only interested in street stalls when kids his age were saving up to buy posters of celebrities. Just like when they were gushing over the Belgian chocolates their relatives brought home, he was still obsessed for years with the pot full of honey hard candy the old lady in front of the school had.

The wood, rice paper, and the dusty rusticity of the old objects held a taste of time, and teenage Lin Yan couldn't help but be immersed in it. Like a lone fish in the stream.

The sun was shining on the ground at 3 o'clock that afternoon. Lin Yan carried a bulging bag in his left hand and a cup of roasted sencha milk tea in his right. He paced slowly in the crowd, the grass green V-neck T-shirt and cotton calf-length pants standing out. He didn't know why antique hunters liked to wear black, the dust on their clothes making them look like they had just crawled out of the ground.

"Here, it's weirdly hot. Do you want a sip?" Lin Yan shook the milk tea, the ice cube hitting the wall of the cup with a soft thud. Onlookers thought he was talking to the air when actually there was an invisible person next to him helping take off some of the weight of the bag. That mean, even though Lin Yan was carrying a lot of things, it didn't take much effort.

Xiao Yu lowered his head and took a sip where Lin Yan had touched. He bit on the straw a few times and turned his head.

Lin Yan wanted to laugh a little, and brought the cup back to the corner of his mouth.

A-Yan said that Xiao Yu might remember more following him around, so Lin Yan took him to the antique market after breakfast, hoping that something from his own time period might bring something back. Who would've guessed that, after going through all these stalls, lots of purchases were made but there was no progress with the ghost's memory. Lin Yan glanced at the bag in his hand. It was stuffed with clothes bought from a well-known Hanfu store in Shenjiayuan. They were well-made and expensive. Most people only bought them to complete a Hanfu set for their collection. For Lin Yan to buy these kinds of clothes on a daily errand, that was really a rare sight. Even the clerk couldn't help but do a double take.

Xiao Yu didn't understand the time they were currently living in, so he stood his ground and refused to adapt his style to the times. Lin Yan rolled his eyes and glared at him bitterly. He thought, you're the boss here making me throw away my money while I'm just your servant who follows behind you and pays.

Right after they left one store, before he could recover from the purchase, Xiao Yu suddenly stopped when he passed a woodworking shop. Lin Yan looked at the store’s gorgeous decorations and pieces of pearwood and red sandalwood furniture, whining that he really couldn't afford this stuff. Xiao Yu ignored him and dragged him inside. Thirty minutes later, Lin Yan swiped his card to check out under the watchful eye of the clerk and bought a beautiful Tongzhi wood guqin.

"Oh great ancestor, what more do you want?" Lin Yan tucked the order slip from the woodworking shop into his pocket and glared daggers at Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu shook his head nonchalantly.

There were more people on the street. Some of them didn't know the treasures that they had found, and they couldn't hide their excitement, sneaking a peek at what they have just bought. Some of them had grim faces, looking like they had been ripped off. There were also groups of foreign tourists wearing Lei Feng hats gathered at the roadside to buy shadow puppets. Occasionally, they turned around and curiously look at the antique city, which was built in the traditional Chinese-style.

In the market area to the south, there were large ancient buildings imitating Ming and Qing style architecture. The bustling narrow street seemed like scene straight out of the Water Margin. The wooden window on the second floor were pushed up, supported by a short stick. Looking up, he could see customers sipping tea. The shopkeeper was a short man, busily carrying a large teapot back and forth.

The narrow street lead to a large emerald-green stall covered with plastic tarps to offer shade from the sun. Lin Yan and Xiao Yu walked under the shadow of the tarps when they heard a familiar voice yelling loudly.

"Look at how green the colour is and how good the water head* is! You won't be able to find another one at this price anywhere in Shenjiayuan!" The peddler selling jade pieces had a round belly, one foot on the stool, holding up a transparent fortune bracelet, spittle flying everywhere. The plainly dressed middle-aged woman in front of the stall looked hesitant. She took the bracelet and took another look at it.

*(T/N: Water head [水头] refers to how light shines through jade. Kind of like how the light would look if it were shining through water. There's a list of transparencies if you want to look at how jade is graded, but basically the best jade has a vivid colour with even transparency across the whole piece.)

"It's too expensive, lower the price a bit." The woman said sincerely.

"It's so green, so transparent, I can't go any lower. Miss, if you want a lower price, it'll affect my livelihood. Don't waste my time." The peddler grabbed the bracelet, his eyes bulging.

"I wanted to buy it for my daughter as a birthday gift. It's too expensive. It'd be a pity if she dropped it. Give me the lowest you can go."

"Here." The peddler rolled his eyes. He took out his calculator, punched in a few numbers, and showed it to the woman in front of him, "Is this all right? I can't go any lower!"

Lin Yan couldn't help but lean over and glance at the numbers on the screen. He let out a laugh.

The peddler squinted at him.

Lin Yan shook his head. He took the bracelet and said to the woman: "Don't buy this, he's fooling you."

"Hey, hey, what are you trying to say? I'm running an honest business here. If you don't believe me, go around and ask. . ."

Lin Yan smirked. He put the roasted sencha tea cup on the stall and held the bracelet at a different angle. The curved surface reflected the light from the plastic roof. He said to the woman buying the bracelet: "Look at the blurred edges of the reflection. If you look closely, you can see that there are very fine meshes on the surface." Lin Yan raised the bracelet to let the light through. "There is purple fluorescence inside, indicating that the reason this bracelet is so transparent because of acid washing and a glue filling."

"Also, notice how the green is only sitting on the surface and doesn't reach the middle. That means it was dyed after the fact. This thing is worth one or two hundred yuan. Don't buy it."

The peddler's nose and eyes scrunched up. At first glance, they looked like a dried walnut.

"Oh." The middle-aged woman hurriedly stuffed an envelope containing the money back into her bag, repeatedly thanking Lin Yan.

When she left, the peddler huffed. Pissed, he turned his head away, not looking at Lin Yan. Even his swollen belly seemed to be flatter than before.

"What else should I do when I notice that someone with money on the street?"

Lin Yan roughly flicked the peddler's forehead: "Everyone here has money. It's embarrassing to lie like this, there's no skill in it."

Several surrounding stalls burst out laughing. The peddler rolled his eyes back to normal. He grabbed Lin Yan’s milk tea and poured a few mouthfuls out of the plastic lid. He muttered while he crunched on the ice cubes: “I don't fool people in this business. It's not my fault their eyesight is poor. No refunds is the standard."

This much was true. Antique jade sales rely on good eyesight. Figuring out which store has more genuine products than fake depends on the customer. They can't return them either so the shop doesn't have to admit they were fakes. Lin Yan clicked his tongue: "These people don't know what to look for. You're just trying to make your father think you're good at this job."

The peddler rolled his eyes, knowing that he was in a bad position and couldn't say anything.

Lin Yan had been a frequent visitor to this antique market since he was a child. Since choosing his major in university, he preferred to come to the small stalls to practice his appraisal skills when he had nothing else to do. See what was selling for a high price but was bought for a low price. He was also kind and helped others pick out the best items, so many peddlers knew him. For example, Lin Yan first met this guy's father, a very honest old man. He even took out the receipt with the price he paid for it when he bargained with customers. Unfortunately, when Lin Yan graduated from high school, the old man fell ill and his son took over the business. and this was the leeching peddler in from of him.

Lin Yan wasn't polite with him. When he walked around the stall, he took out a copper box from under the table. Inside were piles of Ming and Qing paperweights. These objects were all family heirlooms that the original stall owner received from nearby residents’ homes when he was young. Lin Yan had just remembered this box of objects then dragged Xiao Yu over to look at them. Brass mirrors, jade bracelets, thumb rings, snuff boxes, tobacco pipes; Xiao Yu looked over them all and just shook his head. Lin Yan threw the last piece back into the box and patted the dust on his clothes, a little frustrated.

"That box has been there for ages and no one's ever touched it. What are you looking at it for?" The peddler kept squinting at him and was too curious not to ask about it.

"Looking for Ming Dynasty artifacts for my classes." Lin Yan actually didn't know what he was looking for. He moved on and put the box back.

"Ming Dynasty?" The peddler didn't care about the bracelet anymore. "Old man Liu has lots stashed away."

"No, no, no. . ." Lin Yan hurriedly refused, but he thought about it and sighed, "Forget it. I've been shopping all day and haven't gone there. I'll give it a try."

"Don't say the wrong thing. Good luck." The peddler made a face.

The shop run by old man Liu was quite famous in Shenjiayuan. Not just because he was the only antique peddler to sell only sell antique pictures, but also because he was notoriously grumpy. Every day, he'd leave the shop and hang up his old camera in the park to make money. Whenever he went to the shop to buy something, the owner was never there. Walking down the street, he ran into him wearing an old Mao suit, cursing and waving around. His thin mantis-like face was slanted and a pair of glasses rested on his nose at an angle. Sometimes the lens' were shattered like cobwebs, and sometimes the lens' weren't there at all.

His shop sells old photographs of the old city, hung densely from the floor to the ceiling. Because old photographs were difficult to reprint, they were also very expensive. The sub districts of Qianmen, Dashilan, old gardens in the setting sun in 1872, passers-by in long gowns with thin faces and numb eyes. The TV station came to interview him, but only half the program was filmed. From photographers to reporters, old man Liu chewed them all out without exception. The interview never went anywhere, and the shop still didn't have any business. The old man still walked around outside with his camera everyday.

The shop was in the northwest corner of Shenjiayuan and its location was considered unlucky. There was a symbol meant to ward off evil spirits designed by a famous Feng Shui master hung on the door. Xiao Yu couldn't enter and stood at the door waiting for Lin Yan.

Lin Yan looked at the ominous storefront. For the first time, he felt reluctant to part with Xiao Yu.

Unsurprisingly, Old Man Liu wasn't in the shop. A seven or eight-year-old girl in a red jacket was facing away from him. She was pointing at a photo on the wall and muttering something. When she heard someone enter the door, she turned back and grinned at Lin Yan.

Lin Yan was a little surprised. This little girl was his neighbor. Although he didn’t know where she lived, he often saw her running around in the yard downstairs in a dirty red dress. Sometimes when Lin Yan went out to buy dinner at night, he saw her playing with cats in the yard, no one coming to bring her home. He hadn't seen her often in the past month and he didn't expect to see her here.

Was it possible she was related to that strange old man? No wonder no one cared about her playing outside everyday, Lin Yan thought.

"Why are you here by yourself?" Lin Yan knelt down and asked her in a soft voice.

The little girl was lean, her eyes staring straight at Lin Yan, grinning silently. Lin Yan suddenly felt that the little girl’s smile probably made people feel uncomfortable. It didn’t seem right to call it a smile, but just a casual grin. The corners of her mouth were upturned but her eyes were dull. Wearing such an old jacket in summer, she seemed to be left behind by the times, like the rest of the photos in the room.

Lin Yan hesitated on whether he leave and wait outside for the strange old man.

"What the hell you XX, I XXXX. . ." Lin Yan was distracted, and suddenly there was a thud. Old man Liu hugging his broken camera fell through the front door. He fell on all fours in an extremely embarrassed posture, landing on the only part of the floor that had sunlight hitting it.

"A-Are you okay?" Lin Yan rushed over to help. Unexpectedly, the old man gave him a sour look. He rolled over and sat on the ground, patting the dirt on his knees, and continued his tirade of curses towards the door relentlessly. Lin Yan stood awkwardly off to the side, neither leaving nor staying.

The old man felt he had cursed enough. He grunted and got to his feet. When he turned his head and saw Lin Yan, his eyes widened like he had discovered a whole new world, and said with a quacking voice: "What are you doing here?"

"I came to buy something." Lin Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Shouldn't that be the first thing the shop owner thinks of when he sees a customer in the store?

"Leave. What is there to buy? Young people are clueless." The old man held his stern gaze and walked around behind the counter, irritated: "Why are you still standing there? You have no business being here!"

Lin Yan didn't want to talk nonsense with the old man, so he pat his back and turned to leave.

"Hey! Wait!" The old man yelled. Lin Yan had just reached the door and was so frightened by the voice that he came to a halt.

"You look good, I'll take a picture of you." The old man suddenly walked out from behind the counter with his camera in hand. He grabbed Lin Yan by the collar and pulled him into the room. After couple of pushes, he stood beside the little girl. He squatted down involuntarily, and the shutter sounded with a few clicks. The old man's furrowed face appeared from behind the camera and he smacked his lips with satisfaction.

After the shutter, several photos appeared from the top of the camera. The old man took one in his hand and glanced at it. He pulled one out and shoved it at Lin Yan: "You take it."

Lin Yan was shown the strength of this old man. He turned his face angrily, trying to walk out, rubbing his shoulder: "I don't want to."

"Take it!" The old man yelled in Lin Yan's ear, making his ears ring.

Lin Yan took it and glanced speechlessly. He saw that in the black-and-white picture he stood like a wooden pole, staring expressionlessly at the wall. The background was dimmed, and the entire thing looked like a horror picture people would share online.

What's wrong with. . .

Lin Yan eyes widened and a nerve in his head popped. He couldn't help taking a step back, looking at himself in the photo. When he looked at the spot where he was standing when the picture was taken, it felt like a bucket of ice water was poured over his head.

The little girl who took the picture with him just now wasn't in the photo. He was the only person in the black and white background straight out of a horror movie.

Lin Yan hesitantly looked up. The girl in red was standing where he stood, wearing an out-of-date ragged jacket, grinning at him biting her fingernail.

"Hehe, hehe." The old man held up the camera to his crooked eyes and a piece of the lens fell to the ground. "Perfect, great picture."

Lin Yan crawled out of the house.

The sun was bitterly hot and the bustling street was swarming with people. Xiao Yu was standing casually by the doorway. Lin Yan couldn't say a word, swallowing hard. He rushed over and wrapped him up in a fierce hug.

#dig a grave to dig out a ghost translation #dig a grave to dig out a ghost #english translation #chinese bl #chinese novel #yaoi novel #yaoi #bl novel #danmei novel #danmei

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mdzsgildedfate · 3 years

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Gilded Fate - Chapter 6

Reincarnation AU [Chapter 6/?] Characters: Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling, Original Characters. Pairings: Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen, Lan Sizhui/Lan Jingyi

It was a bitterly restless night in the house. The kind where, no matter what they did, no one could warm up, no one could get comfortable, and no one could sleep. For all their efforts, the house had still not been repaired enough to fare them through the winter. A-Qing hadn’t been shy at all about crawling into bed next to Xiao Xingchen as soon as it got too cold to bear, and if he was being completely honest, Xingchen was actually relieved when she started doing it. The shared body heat made it possible to sleep, even if only for a few hours.

It seemed, however, that their newest addition to the household was used to staying awake at night. Xingchen could hear him getting up all throughout the night, sleeping perhaps only three or four hours every night. Tonight was no different, except that his restlessness involved disappearing from the house for probably close to two hours before returning to fuss with the fireplace. Since the snow had come early this season, their ability to collect firewood had ended early, so Xingchen could only assume he’d gone out to scrounge out of desperation.

Anything the man could have found outside would have been too wet to work with, but that hadn’t stopped him from trying. At one point, he actually did get a small fire going, but the few sticks he’d managed to pull out of the snow weren’t enough to even warm the hearth, let alone the room they slept in. Once the last of the sticks were used up, he let out a string of swears Xingchen had never even heard before, seeming to reach a point of desperation with his battle against the cold. Finally, the man yanked his blanket off his bed, laid it over Xingchen and A-Qing, and crawled in next to them.

Now having the warmth of a body on either side of him, the ache in Xingchen’s joints finally ebbed away. Despite the man being a stranger, he felt at ease sleeping next to him. Something about him was familiar, reminding him of all of the times he’d shared a room with Song Lan and yearned to share a bed as well. Intimacy wasn’t something Xiao Xingchen had ever cared about, but meeting Song Lan had made him realize it was just that he didn’t care about intimacy with women. Having this man beside him was another bitter reminder of that.

When morning came, the house guest had already vacated the bed. He always rose earlier than Xingchen or A-Qing and had taken over the responsibility of cooking breakfast as soon as he’d regained the ability to walk. It was a welcome comfort. Taking up a seat beside him as he prepared their breakfast, Xingchen could feel warmth rolling off of him. With everything the man did around the house to take care of them, he couldn’t understand A-Qing’s determined hatred of the man.

“Did you sleep?”

Xingchen smiled. “A little. Did you?”

“Of course not. You’re very grabby in your sleep, I had to defend myself against you all night.”

Xingchen’s smile dropped, his heart dropping. “O-oh- I’m sorry, I-”

The man burst out laughing. “I didn’t expect you to take that so seriously! I never imagined I’d see such a fearless cultivator look so terrified!”

His muscles softened, a wave of relief coming over him. “I had no reason not to believe you. I’d never slept beside anyone until this winter.”

“What, never? Not even for… Nevermind, I guess you probably haven’t.”

“For what?”

The man burst out laughing again. “You’re really too innocent! Forget I said anything.”

“You’re both too noisy.” A-Qing grumbled, crawling across the floor to sit beside Xingchen, dragging all three blankets along with her.

After the utter failure that was bringing Xue Yang to justice, Xiao Xingchen had stopped chasing over-ambitious targets. With his new friend, he stuck to dealing with ghosts and yao and walking corpses in the area. With A-Qing, they built a family in the coffin house. He felt content with the small amount of good they were able to do for the townspeople nearby and never strayed far from Yi City.

Even moreso, he felt content with this new friend and never strayed far from him. As well as Xiao Xingchen managed with his blindness, there was a degree of fear that came with losing a major sense and the man's presence brought a sense of comfort. After a year of living with him and sharing in night-hunts together, he trusted him. And unlike Song Lan, this new confidant never shied away from physical touch.

In stark contrast, the man was extremely tactile. He never shied from Xingchen walking close to him. He grabbed at Xingchen's arms and dragged him around. When they went up to the roof for repairs or climbed trees during night-hunts, there was always a stabilizing hand on his back. When the second winter came, he once again joined Xingchen and A-Qing in their bed at night. Every touch made the question burning in Xingchen’s mind grow brighter. He’d vowed not to ask, knowing if the man wanted him to know he’d tell him, but his curiosity was becoming unbearable.

“The sky is so pretty this time of year.” The man said, his presence beside Xingchen warm against the winter’s biting breeze.

“Tell me.”

“The sun is low. Everything’s all pink and orange. The moon is already out, in a crescent shape. There’s no clouds, so you can see everything clearly.”

Xingchen smiled, imagining the scene in his mind. “I used to hate this time of year. You make it sound so nice.”

The man laughed, bright and cheerfully. “I can’t imagine you hating anything.”

“Maybe hate is a strong word. I do like the snow, it’s just that there’s no songbirds out during the winter.”

“That’s true.” The man paused, tapping his finger atop the log they were sitting on. “I like it. The silence. The snow muffles everything and makes it extra quiet.”

Xingchen raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? I wouldn’t have taken you for someone that likes silence.”

“Silence is like water. When you’re content, you’d rather have tea or wine, but when you need it, nothing comes close.”

Xingchen’s heart skipped in his chest. For someone whose words were usually playful and crude, the sentiment was surprisingly philosophical. He nodded, smiling softly, letting the words ruminate in his mind.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Why not? We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“I know I initially said I wouldn’t, but it seems strange that we’ve lived together for so long, and we’re- well, we are friends, and…”

The man chuckled. “We still don’t know each other's names?”

Xingchen smiled. “Right.”

The man moved closer to him on the log, their hands brushing together. “Tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.”

His heart skipped. “Xiao Xingchen.”

He could feel the man’s face lean in closer. “Chengmei.”

He turned his face towards Chengmei, as though momentarily forgetting he couldn’t look at him.

“It’s nice to officially meet you.”

Chengmei burst into laughter again and put his hand on top of Xingchen’s, his index finger tapping a slow, rhythmic pattern. The touch sent a shiver down Xingchen’s spine, feeling the other man press closer to him. He turned his hand up and laced their fingers together, searching his muddled brain for something to say.

“Can I ask you another question?”

“Ask away.”

“A-Qing and I were strangers to you and we live in a coffin house with a caved-in roof. Why did you stay with us after you healed from your injuries?”

Chengmei fell quiet, rubbing circles over Xingchen’s hand with his thumb. “...I guess… I was bored, at first. I had nowhere else to go, no one waiting for me to come home... “

“At first… Did something change then?”

The other man laughed softly and gave Xingchen’s hand a small squeeze. “Perhaps. It’s no matter though.”

“No matter?”

“Xiao Xingchen. Some things are best left unsaid.” Chengmei released his hand and stood.

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Xingchen followed, having to take a few steps to catch up to the other man. He grabbed the sleeve of his robe and held on firmly, not letting him move any further away.

“Aren’t we familiar enough? Why should things be left unsaid between us?”

Chengmei turned back to face Xingchen, grabbing his wrist and pulling his sleeve free. After a moment, he pulled him close enough from Xingchen to feel his breath on his face. His heart thudded in his chest.

“What should I do then? What if I tell you and you hate me?”

Xingchen gripped the man’s lapel, his face practically burning from how close they stood. Still trying to determine if the man was truly implying romantic feelings or just playing at some elaborate prank, his attention snapped back as Chengmei closed the gap between them and pressed his lips hard against Xingchen’s. The kiss sent a painful spark shooting through his stomach and drained his mind of all prior thoughts of doubt. All that existed for him now was the soft lips and warm breath against his face.

A soft moan escaped his throat at the feeling of tongue brushing against his bottom lip. Xingchen brought his arms up and wrapped them around Chengmei’s shoulders to brace him against the man’s body. With no space left between them, Chengmei breathed out a raspy moan, slipping his tongue into Xingchen’s mouth, lingering for an aching moment. After several slow, deep kisses he pulled away, sucking Xingchen’s bottom lip with a light bite.

Xingchen was speechless. And breathless. With no way of knowing what expression Chengmei wore, a knot of nerves found its way into his stomach, waiting for the other man to end the silence first.

“I’m so glad you pulled me out of that ditch.”

Xingchen melted into laughter and pulled Chengmei into a tight hug. “I’m glad too.”

When the sun set on the coffin house that night, sharing the bed with Chengmei had a different feeling. The man pressed closer to Xingchen than he ever had in the past, his fingers fidgeting with the hems of his clothes, tracing circles over his skin, and tangling in his hair. It was the first time Chengmei didn’t wake up at least six times throughout the night, and in the morning, he didn’t wake up earlier than the other two. Without breakfast already prepared, A-Qing impatiently set out to head into town for the day.

Xingchen and Chengmei used a fire sigil to heat a pot of tea and then set to cleaning the house. Once their few belongings were tidied, the dust was swept out, and the tea was brewed, the two sat down side-by-side, simply enjoying the other’s presence in silence for a while. After their cups were emptied, Xingchen was the first to speak.

“Chengmei?”

“Hm?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you… what is that tapping thing you do?”

Chengmei chuckled and tapped his finger to the top of Xingchen’s hand. “It’s a code.”

“Oh?”

“I made it up when I was a kid.” Chengmei tapped a different pattern. “I thought it’d be useful to have a way to communicate in front of other people without them knowing what I was saying. I practiced it so much it became a habit.”

“That’s clever!” Xingchen thought back to the times something like that would have been useful for him and Song Lan, quickly feeling a twinge of pain at the thought of the other man.

“Mm. It didn’t really wind up being that useful.” He said, shrugging. “A secret language is pretty pointless if you’re the only one that knows it.”

Xingchen laughed. “That’s true… Teach me, then.”

“...Teach you?”

“Seems a shame to let it go to waste.”

“Hm.” Chengmei flattened his hand over Xingchen’s, letting his fingers trace over the ridges for a moment before tapping a few times. “I agree.”

Two slow taps. “Yes.”

Three quick taps. “No.”

Two quick taps. Pause. Two quick taps. “Danger.”

Two slow taps. Three quick taps. Two slow taps.

Xingchen waited, but no translation for that one came. He turned his hand over to lace his fingers with Chengmei’s and tapped it back. “What’s that one mean?”

Chengmei pressed his face against Xingchen’s cheek, kissing him softly. “I just made that one up.”

Xingchen turned his face towards Chengmei and tapped the pattern again.

“I love you.”

He paused, not sure that he heard the man right. His finger stayed frozen, hovering hesitantly over Chengmei’s hand. In his silence, he could feel Chengmei grow rigid and pull his hand away. He quickly reached out and pulled it back.

“I’m sorry, you just caught me off guard.” With his free hand, he cupped Chengmei’s face and kissed him. “I love you too.”

~X~

If the world was always this bright, he couldn’t fathom how he was ever alive to begin with. No wonder every fiber of his being told him he wanted to be dead. Daylight hurt his eyes, this Song Lan person’s voice hurt his ears, his body ached whenever he tried to move- it was unbearable.

“Xiao Xingchen. I made tea.”

He frowned. Fuck your tea.

“I… don’t know how much you remember right now…”

So far, nothing had really resurfaced. All he knew was that existence was a prison and he really wanted the eyes in Song Lan’s head.

“I’m sorry… For how things ended between us. Before Yi City, I mean.”

He looked at Song Lan, tapping his teacup against the table irritably.

“I never should have blamed you for what happened to Baixue temple. I never should have abandoned you.”

He poured the contents of his cup out onto the table and stared down at the mess, as though it was incredibly thought-provoking.

Song Lan sighed. “I’m sorry. This was a mistake.”

The man stood and left the room, leaving Xingchen alone at last. Once the door closed between them, he looked back down at the tea streaming across the top of his table. After thousands of years in an unconscious void, days could pass without his notice. He sat motionless for nearly a week after Song Lan’s last attempt to talk to him, unresponsive to the change in light in his room as the sun rose and fell in the sky outside.

On the seventh day, Xingchen tried out standing on his own for the first time. His limbs felt shaky, but continuing to sit in front of a sticky table wasn’t going to improve his situation at all. After a few days of practicing intermittently, he finally felt confident in walking around. By the time he finally decided to leave the room, he’d recovered a few vague memories of growing up in BaoShan SanRen’s care. Passing Song Lan in the hall, he didn’t bother to even glance at him, still finding the man utterly unfamiliar.

Unfortunately, the man was overjoyed at the sight of Xingchen up and about and immediately turned to follow him. They carried down the hall in silence, following Xingchen’s aimless lead through the temple. Finally arriving in the courtyard, he felt a small sense of contentment. It was spring, the valley was full of the chatter of birds, and a crop of white clouds filled the sky just enough to keep the sun from hurting his eyes too much. Too bad Song Lan was creeping into his line of sight, ruining the otherwise beautiful view. Before the man had a chance to say anything, Yin energy exploded in his gut and Xingchen lunged at Song Lan.

They hit the ground with a heavy thud, instantly grappling against each other. Black veins shot up Xingchen’s neck, snaking out over half his face. The pupils in his eyes vanished and all that remained was a mindless urge to spear his fingers into Song Lan’s skull.

“Xiao Xingchen- Please-!” Song Lan had Xingchen by the wrists, using all his strength to keep the man’s hands at bay. “You need to control your yin energy, don’t let it turn you into a-”

Xingchen let out a snarl.

“Xingchen…”

Song Lan shifted their weight briskly to the side and rolled on top of the other man, quickly drawing a sigil over his chest and pouring qi into it. The yin energy suddenly dissipated and Xingchen slumped back, all strength leaving his body again. His fingers still twitched, but he stayed where he lay on his back. Song Lan knelt beside him, his head hung lower, shaking slowly from side to side. He let out a heavy, stuttered sigh.

“I’m such a fool.” A tear dropped from his face. “It’s my fault you’re like this.”

Months passed and memories slowly returned to Xingchen’s mind. Finally recalling that he gave his eyes to Song Lan, he was able to reconcile with the resentful urge to reclaim them. He felt no less resentful towards Song Lan though.

Why couldn’t you let me stay dead?

Why couldn’t you let me reincarnate and forget this dreadful existence?

How could you condemn me to life as a Fierce Corpse?

He couldn’t stand staying at the temple for long. Even if it was just to wander the mountainside for a few days, he had to leave every so often and get away from Song Lan. Knowing now how he died, he couldn’t stand being around the man’s guilty doting. It was impossible to process his feelings about Chengmei with Song Lan around as a reminder- that Chengmei had never existed and those three years were spent with Xue Yang. He needed to come to terms with that on his own, but Song Lan’s presence complicated the process.

How could Xue Yang act in love with me so… seamlessly?

What was the point in pretending for so long?

What was he trying to gain in feigning a relationship with me?

If Song Lan hadn’t come, how long would he have continued?

“Are you ok?”

Xingchen looked up from his tea to see Song Lan staring at him, wearing the same worried look he always had. He tapped two slow clacks against his teacup.

Song Lan paused, his eyes lowering to Xingchen’s fingers. “It’s getting late… Do you want to lay down for the night?”

Two slow taps.

The faintest smile appeared on Song Lan’s face. He stood up and waited, his smile widening when Xingchen stood to follow him. They put away the rest of the tea and retreated to a shared bedroom. Extinguishing the flame of the lamp, they shed the outer layers of their robes and laid down side by side. Song Lan’s arm laid across Xingchen’s chest and pulled him close, burying his face into Xingchen’s neck.

“Xiao Xingchen. I know I’ve put you through so much pain with my selfishness. I don’t know what I can do to make it up to you, but I…” Song Lan paused, fussing with Xingchen’s hair. “Xingchen, I love you.”

Xingchen’s heart fell. His younger self had ached to hear those words- would’ve begged Song Lan to say them to him, but now they just made things so much worse. Song Lan’s lips against his cheek just reminded him of Chengmei, which just reminded him of how alone he felt without his presence. Song Lan’s lips found his and he tried to push those thoughts from his mind. He didn’t want to consider what the future entailed if he kissed him back, or if he was doing it for Song Lan’s benefit or out of a growing sense of loneliness.

Rather than dwelling on the past or what the future would bring, Xingchen tried to summon the part of him that was still in love with Song Lan and kissed him back. Song Lan’s whole body relaxed against him, as though he was holding his breath in anticipation, and leaned hard into the kiss. He disentangled his fingers from Xingchen’s hair and brought his hand down to grip the man’s hip. Xingchen wrapped his arms around Song Lan’s shoulders and opened his mouth to swipe his tongue across the man’s lips.

Song Lan let out a moan and put his hips flush against Xingchen’s, grinding against him with a tightening grip. Every kiss and touch and heavy breath from Xingchen was taken as further permission to continue, urging Song Lan to respond to every one with doubled enthusiasm, seeming desperate for his touch. Releasing his grip on Xingchen’s hip, he repositioned himself on his knees over the man, freeing up both hands to run freely under his shirt. After a few more needy kisses, Song Lan pulled back, pausing just long enough to pull Xingchen’s shirt off completely. His own shirt followed soon after.

Without the fabric creating a barrier between them, Song Lan pressed their bare chests together as he put his lips back against Xingchen’s. One of Song Lan’s hands came up to grip Xingchen’s shoulder while the other snaked past his waistband to grasp at his hip again. One of Xingchen’s knees drew up, pushing his thigh up against the growing warmth between Song Lan’s legs. He rolled his hips down, pressing his hard cock into Xingchen’s hip with another heavy-breathed sigh. Another moment later, Song Lan sat up again and repositioned himself between Xingchen’s legs.

Their pants were discarded along the side of the bed, and, in the dark, Xingchen could feel the man’s erection press against him, sliding across his inner thigh. Fingers trailed down his stomach and his mind told him they were Chengmei’s. As the first finger pushed into him, he almost forgot it was Song Lan positioned between his legs. Even as Song Lan bent over him, trailing his tongue up Xingchen’s neck with his cock pushing into him, thoughts of Chengmei drifted in and out of his mind.

As soon as morning came, Xingchen got up from the bed, pulled his robes back on, and disappeared from the room without another glance at Song Lan. The encounter stayed in Xingchen’s mind for nearly a week, making his fixation on the events in Yi City grow even stronger. He couldn’t bear it anymore. Determined to find out what happened to Xue Yang after he killed himself, he left the temple, but even after a dozen hunts, he still came back empty handed. Nearly a year passed before he finally managed to track down Wei Wuxian, who was able to fill in some gaps, but had really only created more questions in Xingchen’s mind.

According to the demonic cultivator, Xue Yang had kept his corpse, and shattered soul, in Yi City for several years before he fell to HanGuang-Jun’s blade. After that, his body was taken by an accomplice of Jin Guangyao, but Wuxian had no idea what became of it from there. After years of chasing leads in the brief windows of time he could escape the temple without suspicion, all Xingchen had to show for it was Xue Yang’s hair ornament. Ultimately, he couldn’t keep limiting his hunts to week-long segments.

Leaving Song Lan in Yi City without explanation, Xingchen scoured the world for five years before finding JiangZai in an antique sword shop. The owner sold it to Xingchen, along with the name of who she’d bought it from, but didn’t seem to know anything else about the sword. Another five years passed as Xingchen tracked down every living person the sword had been passed to, with his search finally coming to an end at the remnants of an old cultivator family.

“Xue Yang? That’s a bone-chilling name…”

“Do you know him?”

The man shook his head. “Know of him. I thought he was a myth, something you tell your kids about to make them cautious of strangers.”

“Do you know how he died? Supposedly?”

The man was quiet for a long time, trying to recall if he’d heard anything. “I think that Lan Cultivator killed him.”

“And his body?”

“His body?” The man looked at him, shocked by the inquiry. “I suppose he was probably burned. That was pretty standard for the Jin clan back then.”

“You don’t recall anything about a special burial to keep him from coming back as a fierce corpse or vengeful spirit?”

The man shrugged again. “Not that I ever heard. The stories of him focused more on the crimes he committed than on his death, though, you know.”

“What of his feud with the Cultivators Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen?”

“Every story’s a little different, but from the one I know, he killed them both.”

Hm. So that’s the legacy I left behind. I suppose it’s better than the truth that I killed myself. “Do you know any other variations of the story?”

“I know one… but it’s pretty crude. If the people from the story are real, I’m sure they’d return from the grave if they heard it.”

“Tell me.”

“The story was that Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan were cut-sleeve lovers. Xue Yang had fallen in love with one of them, killed them in a jealous rage, and kept their corpses as trophies.”

Xingchen frowned, crinkling his nose slightly. It was crude, but it was right about the presence of a romance and about Xue Yang keeping their bodies, it wasn’t a jealous rage that became their demise. Clearing the mess of thoughts from his mind, he thanked the man and left. Having exhausted every last lead, there was nothing left but to be content with having found JiangZai and to return to the temple. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Based on what he’d gathered from Song Lan, Xingchen had been dead for about 5,000 years. Even if Xue Yang had been buried in a proper grave, it’d be impossible to find after all this time.

Despite the heartache he’d suffered at his hand and in spite of how much hatred he still harboured for Xue Yang, the thought of his corpse being burned and forgotten darkened Xingchen’s heart. Still several dozen kilometers away from the temple, he settled down at the base of a tree and set up two shrines; one for Xue Yang and one for Chengmei. Sitting in front of the shrines, he burned paper money late into the night, giving himself space to properly mourn the loss of who he thought he knew in Yi City. Dawn broke and Xingchen finally pulled himself to his feet and finished his journey back to the temple.

~X~

“Xiao Xingchen. Do you want to go with me to town?”

Two slow taps.

“There’s a new tea shop, I think you’ll like it.”

Two slow taps.

Over time, Song Lan caught on to the tap language Xue Yang had taught Xingchen so many years ago. It really had been a useful technique, but he was sure Xue Yang was rolling in his grave somewhere at the knowledge of Xingchen using it to communicate with Song Lan of all people. He didn’t mean for Song Lan to learn it- he hadn’t even realized he was still doing it until the man had already figured out a few words from it.

It made things easier though. It gave him a way to maintain the peace with Song Lan. With no communication at all, the man would've grown restless, but if Xingchen revealed that he'd regained his voice, he'd be expected to give an explanation for bringing back JiangZai. It would have led to conversations about Xue Yang he couldn't have with Song Lan.

And he'd have to explain why he couldn't say 'I love you' when Song Lan said it.

"Do you want to eat?”

Three quick taps.

Tea was one thing, but Xingchen still couldn’t bring himself to eat. Fierce Corpses didn’t need to and, for some reason, food upset his stomach. Food in tea shops was even worse. The softs pastries, sugar-dusted cakes, jelly fillings and chocolate crusts, every sweet treat brought back memories of Chengmei and A-Qing. They’d been too poor to afford more than a few pieces of cheap candy at a time, so he felt guilty at the idea of indulging in something as rich as the pastries served in the tea shops.

“If you’re tired, you should go rest. I’ll stay to check the talismans.”

Two taps, pause, two taps. Danger.

“I’ll be fine. There’s nothing dangerous out here.”

Be quick.

“I will.”

Although Xingchen had taken a room separate from Song Lan, and preferred to meditate there alone, there were still nights that they shared a bed. When Song Lan was seeming especially restless about Xingchen’s distant demeanor or when Xingchen himself was feeling the need for physical contact, he’d follow Song Lan back to his room and lay on the bed beside him. After a thousand years or so, he’d stopped imaging Chengmei’s hands on him when Song Lan held him. After two thousand years or so, he remembered what it felt like to crave Song Lan’s touch.

People. Following. Danger.

“I know, I saw them.”

Danger. Caution.

“I don’t think they’re dangerous. The man seemed familiar.”

Explain.

Jin Ling’s appearance at their temple had ignited a flame of excitement in Xingchen’s gut. For three thousand years, he’d had only Song Lan for company, but now another cultivator was here, living and breathing and here. Even though he’d never met the Jin cultivator, knowing there were other immortals in the world, more than just himself, Song Lan, and Wei Wuxian- he felt freer somehow.

“By the way, two others from the Lan clan are still around.”

“Is that so?”

“Actually, you would have met them too, in Yi-”

“Right, of course.”

Explain.

“I’m sure they’d love the opportunity to come here as well.”

Stop. Repeat. Explain.

Song Lan put a hand on Xingchen’s, obstructing the erratic tapping. “Of course, they’re more than welcome.”

Xingchen could tell his companion was apprehensive of the idea of the Lan immortals bringing regular people to their temple, but they could only live in solitude for so long. He did his best to reassure Song Lan and as the time drew nearer, he could tell the man was just as excited as he was. Watching from a window, he could see Song Lan stand straighter at the arrival of young students. All dressed in white robes, it felt like receiving a group of their own clan disciples, feeling reminiscent of when the two Daozhang had dreamt of building a sect together.

On top of that, it was a beautiful day. The temperature was perfect and birdsong could be heard on the gentle breeze. It was the first time in 3,000 years that Xingchen felt that spark of happiness in his chest, but it quickly diminished when his eyes fell on Wang Xinyi. He could already see Song Lan tensing up, quickly pulling the immortals aside and out of the students’, and his, line of sight. Looking back at this boy, he was thrown into a turmoil of emotions.

This boy, who had shoulder-length black hair, big eyes, and a bright smile that showed off a pair of sharp canines- he looked almost exactly the same, the only major difference being an overall smaller stature. That, and the complete absence of Xue Yang’s overwhelmingly dangerous aura. It was safe to say he hadn’t awakened yet and, without those memories of murderous intent, was probably Xingchen’s only chance to feel close to Chengmei one last time.

#mdzs #mdzs fic #the untamed #the untamed fic #xue yang #xiao xingchen #song lan #junior disciples #xuexiao #songxiao

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aki-draws-things · 3 years

Text

NaNoWriMo #03

That was supposed to be angstier, and yet... Oh, well... there’s a whole month for me to write some real good angst. (Any comment or idea for future parts is so very welcome, that goes without saying. I may be really slow, and stray from prompts, But you’re gonna have my endless love. Even Though most this month prompts are on Mingjue and Zonghui.... and I’m not sure many people ship them...) aaaaahhh anyway! Day: 03/11/2020

Prompt: Ritual Sacrifice

Ship: None

Word Count: 2234

Qinghe was a cursed realm, every other sect always said that and despite loving it even the Nie sect living there had to agree.

Every region had their own legends made to scare misbehaving children. “If you don't go to bed, the wood spirit will take you.” “Eat everything or the howling demon will come for you at night.”, for some reason it always worked up until a certain, varying age. Then one day those children would learn that the spirits and the demons didn't go after misbehaving children, but after everyone they crossed their path with. “be careful when walking at night.”, their parents' words turned into, instead of the little stories to scare them. The Qinghe children never fell for any of those stories, not even the scariest, most gruesome, other children would tell. But they had some stories of their own.

“there are demons living in the mountain.” Nie HuaiSang said one night in Gusu, his two friends listening close to his story. “Sometimes they get hungry, other times they get angry at the heaven's for having been banished there and they walk down into the woods and into villages.”

“And they take the first born!” Wei WuXian ended, like he knew the story already, well, that was how most legends went after all, but Nie HuaiSang scoffed.

“No. They roam and roam. They destroy and, yes, they kill. So the Elders choose someone pure and just, and this person gets sacrificed to the demons. It is said, - He lowered his voice just a bit. - that this will grant that person's soul immortality because of their selfless sacrifice. I don't really believe that, but the demons leave after the sacrifice, their thirst for blood satisfied.”

Jiang Cheng frowned.

“It doesn't sound like a story…”

“Because it's not.” Nie HuaiSang said. “Qinghe is guarded by demons.”

In truth Qinghe wasn't cursed, not in the proper meaning of the term. The unclean realm was a fortress built as a last defense, circled by mountains and distant from the rivers, the first place most demons would encounter when they descended, and the Nie sect had, for many years, perhaps even centuries, protected the region, all the little villages and the civilians. It was an honor, the elders said, to be born in that family.

“Honor?” HuaiSang asked. “If there's something cursed in Qinghe that's our blood.” And in truth his older brother couldn't help but agree. It was almost like they were personally connected to those demons. Nie members never lived long. But they've never been sacrificed either, bad luck, Elders said, to rob them all of their best protection. At least they were safe from that fate.

Or so they thought.

The demons were led by a woman. Everyone knew that but not many had ever seen her, she left the mountains less times than the rest, older and more used to surviving the blood lust the others experienced.

She was scary, hideous even. Like any demon. She walked among men many more times than people thought, able to change and look like them, she even let some of them try to court her for a day before disappearing. She didn't like to deceive them and, much to the other demons' surprise, she even grew fond of the people of Qinghe.

That didn't stop the call for blood, she still was a demon, a beast. Human souls was what kept them alive, and she liked that life.

“Xiao Nie.” A voice greeted Nie MingJue, coming from the air around him, he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of his chamber, busy in meditation.

“Mysterious voice.” He greeted back, the tiniest smile appearing on his face. “Coming to haunt my meditation hour again?”

The voice laughed and didn't answer him.

“Well, since you're here, - MingJue said again. - you could be helpful. That song you sang last time. It was really calming for my mind, would you mind if I asked you to sing it again?”

And she sang.

It wasn't a language Nie MingJue was familiar with, foreign and yet calming, he couldn't make out the words, nor try to learn them, but the voice was now a constant in his evening meditation, and for some reason he couldn't explain, Nie MingJue trusted that stranger's voice, he had for years by then. Every night she talked to him, she sang and she taught him, she guided him through meditation.

“We'll meet soon, Xiao Nie.” She whispered that night when he finally fell asleep.

Nie MingJue never talked to anyone about that voice, part of him was convinced it was a trick of his mind, the sickness getting hold of his family's mind, maybe that was the beginning. He was still too young to die of qi deviation, despite having had some before, but maybe he was starting to grow sick too.

One night the demons came down. From the mountains, converged silently as ever in the streets of the unclean realm, people shut the doors and windows, they hid in the safety of their homes and prayed.

A demon walked forward in the courtyard and everyone bowed more or less gracefully.

“In one week from now I will return. - Her voice was like melted metal. - bring your sacrifice to the altar and you all will be safe.” Then she turned and the crowd of demons opened to let her pass before following.

No one noticed how Nie MingJue's eyes went wide as she spoke. The familiarity of the sound merging with the voice singing to him. She was a demon, he reminded himself, she can use any voice she wishes, maybe everyone hears a different voice, someone they like or find comforting… Maybe--

“You will have to meditate without me for this week, Xiao Nie.”

He gasped and attracted the attention of the elders and his younger brother.

“Da-ge?”

“Sect Leader is everything…”

“Yes.” He cut them short. “Do what you need to do.” He turned and retreated to his chamber.

Despite the warning he waited for the now familiar company but she didn’t come. Nor she did the following day, or the one after, just like the demon said.

It was strange. Him, Nie MingJue, born and raised in the Unclean Realm, in a Sect that gave sweat and blood to keep the world safe from demons, he who now was leading said sect, he was wishing to hear that voice in his head. A demon’s voice!

“She had been kind to me.” He would try to justify himself. “She never harmed me in any way. She even guided me through meditation.” He said aloud once more, just to himself. “Even Baxia is quiet with her.” So she can’t be too evil, or his Saber would make sure he knows.

Meditation was leading nowhere during that silent week Nie MingJue realized, he got so used to her presence and her voice that the silence was even more distracting, there was no point in trying.

“After this week everything will be back to normal.”

He wondered for a moment if it would actually be, or if knowing would make meditation different. “She’s not evil. I feel it.”

He would ask for her name, next time, so that he could properly greet her. One leader to another.

“It’s the obvious decision.”

“But… He’s a Nie.”

“He’s useless. The Sect will be much better without him.”

“The Sect Leader will oppose.”

“Ah! Let him talk, that child. He acts all big and strong and what he is in truth? An overgrown boy.”

“He still has the final word.”

“Oh, but don’t worry about that, he will understand our reasons. More and quicker than you.”

“But…”

“Sect Leader Nie. It’s time.”

The Elders gathered in the council room, before them Nie MingJue sat behind a desk, Nie HuaiSang stood by his side, anxiously shifting from one foot to the other. Everything would end in a couple of hours and for at least six months Qinghe would be able to forget the demons and their blood sacrifices, families will sigh in relief and him and His brother would pay a visit to the family of the chose sacrifice. Then everything back to normal. Why did he feel so anxious then? What was that fear crawling in his chest and wrapping cold fingers around his heart? He swallowed.

“So? - Nie MingJue asked. - Who is the one?”

The Elders spokesman lifted a hand without speaking, his finger pointed straight at Nie HuaiSang.

“Wh— What?” He managed to whisper, mouth suddenly dry. Nie MingJue looked back and forth between his paling little brother and the Elders wondering when they all went insane.

“I thought the rules forbid a Member of the family to be given in sacrifice.”

“There are certain… reasons that would make the rules bend. - The man explained and he almost sounded valid, except he was too mechanic not to have studied beforehand those very words. - The Queen herself came here, we can’t simply offerer a farm girl or a young boy. We need something more.”

“Then find something more.” Nie MingJue growled, two soldiers moved to grab HuaiSang but immediately stilled as Baxia flew from her sheath in front of them, trembling in rage.

“Sect leader, you must understand.”

“Find your more. And I’ll find a way to stop this blood madness.” “I will talk to her, she will listen, I can find a way that will suit both, I… I’m turning my back to the rules of my family…”

“There is no more time. He’s the best candidate, whether you like it or not, Young Master. He’s no use to the Sect anyway.”

“Da-ge!” Hands grabbed Nie Huaisang’s arms and dragged him out of the room to get ready. Soon Nie MingJue was left alone. His brother, his only little brother sentenced to death and he could do nothing to avoid it.

Or… No, maybe he could.

He didn’t have much time before the sacrifice ceremony start, but he had enough.

Dismissing the usual robes to the ceremony ones was fast, finding the golden jewels he had laying around a little slower, he never wore them much. Making the braids, that took him way longer than expected, but in the end the result wasn't as bad as he feared, white and gold beads shone under the lights of the candle, barely a shadow of golden make up over his eyes. HuaiSang would complain that his style was too plain, that he needed more colors and details, something red perhaps. But HuaiSang wasn’t there. He threw a cape and covered his head with a hood before leaving the room without turning back. Baxia rattled for a moment in her sheath then went still, he trained her well, Nie MingJue thought, she understood. He asked for her forgiveness, but her voice was silent.

The demon’s Queen was clothed in gold and red, standing above the silvery white altar and waiting, far more patient and calm than all the other demons and spirits.

“Bring him forth.” Nie HuaiSang almost tripped as strong arms dragged him toward the altar, tears streaming down his face; that shouldn’t happen, he was a Nie, He should have been safe, he—

“Stop!” Nie MingJue’s voice ringed through the crowd, he walked ahead, he tried to look fearless, glad that they couldn’t hear his heart hammer fast against his ribcage. “I will go. I will do it.” He turned to look at the Elders, daring them to stop him, they wouldn’t, he knew it, they couldn’t risk of being accused to go against their Sect leader, no matter how young he was.

“You can’t! Da-ge, you ca—” HuaiSang ran to him grabbed his robes and pulled at them weakly. “You can’t. I… I don’t know what to do…”

“Oh, but you know, HuaiSang. - He said smiling. - You’re far better than what they all think, you’re strong and capable. And you’re going to be a great leader for Qinghe. Listened to them, and then ignore their words because you know better.” He pushed him back lightly. “You have it in your blood as a Nie, you will know what to do. When it’s time, it will be clear.”

He kneel on the altar and let the outer robe fall on the ground, looking up and meeting the demon’s eyes, she looked almost surprised, definitely intrigued by that change. Maybe a little saddened too, or perhaps it was the candle light giving MingJue that idea. Why should she look sad?

“Would you mind if I ask you something?” She unsheathed the silver dagger and teared open the robe in a swift movement, the blade briefly tangling with a golden necklace. “Your name. - Nie MingJue continued, unfazed by the weapon and by his fate. - I was going to ask the next time but there won’t be a next, so…”

She leaned closer, pure white hair falling to cover her face, she hummed a song Nie MingJue heard many times over the years during meditation, but for the first time he understood a couple of words. “Oh, Sweet soul of mine.” The dagger went through his heart and he gasped , blood trickling down from his lips on the altar, he felt himself fading, his brother’s voice broken as he called him, and then… then he heard her, and it was like he had always known.

“Baxia.”

#nie mingjue #nie huaisang #baxia #demon baxia #tw main character death #ritual sacrifice #the untamed #cql #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #mdzs fic #fanfic #nanowrimo 2020 #angst collection in cultivation #aki writes

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yuexuan · 4 years

Text

Fiction recommendation 19

Halloween’s here! As per past tradition, here’s another round of fic recs! The theme is still horror/supernatural/apocalyptic-oriented (because that’s my jam~).

My previous Halloween fic recs can be found here and here

1. 小蘑菇 (Little mushroom)

Author: 一十四洲 (Xiao Shi Si Zhou)

Future, apocalypse, sci-fi

Summary:

He who brings Judgement is judged...by none other than a small mushroom.

An Zhe was a simple mushroom and his only goal in life was to ensure the survival of his spore. One day, he lost his spore. He searched high and far, even risking his life to infiltrate a human base where he suspected the spore was taken to. The problem was that the human base was guarded by the Judge, a human with an inexplicably acute sense of distinguishing infected mutants from normal human.

Too bad that he could only distinguish animal and plant-based mutants, and An Zhe was a fungi, eh?

Comments:

Set in the future where Earth had finally lost its magnetic fields, inducing changes far beyond what anyone might anticipate. I particularly liked the world-building, from creating mannequins to commemorate the dead as a job, to the different ways they detect mutants, or the facilities that humans built to counter incoming attacks. Definitely worth a read!

Novel | Novel [Eng] Translation | Audio drama

2. 不死者 (Undead)

Author: 淮上 (Huai Shang)

Future, apocalypse, sci-fi, ABO, zombie

Summary:

2019, the year when the Pandora Virus raged across the globe. Infrastructures were destroyed, basic services halted, nuclear plants experienced meltdown, and cities were sunken into despair. In a place without God, humanity's hope rests in the hands of a few.

Unit 118 was responsible for bringing back the antidote, in the form of an omega who had developed resistance to the Pandora Virus. The problem was that the omega wasn’t entirely cooperative. Also, he was more-than-capable of taking down zombies and alphas alike.

Comments:

This is an ABO x zombie fic, so if you like both settings and appreciate a power couple, you’re gonna enjoy this!

Novel | Novel [Eng] Translation | Audio drama

3. 民调局异闻录 (Bureau of paranormal investigation)

Author: 耳东水寿 (Er Dong Shui Shou)

Supernatural, mystery, modern

Summary:

During a stakeout, Shen La and crew were tricked into a cave filled with the Undead. In the course of escaping, he reopened his Heaven’s Eye that enabled him to see ghosts and other paranormal beings. As a result, he was approached and recruited by the ‘census bureau’, a secret government agency tasked with dealing with paranormal activities.

**Note that this is not a danmei

Comment:

If you like Daomu, you’re going to enjoy this novel because the writing style, characterization etc. are heavily inspired from Daomu. The entire novel consisted of short stories where the main cast deals with different paranormal events. It is situated within a larger universe, including prequels and sequels such as 勉传、暗夜将至、绝处逢生、民调局异闻录后传. I’m currently reading 勉传 , but it’s nowhere as exciting and entertaining as the main book lol.

Novel | Novel [Eng] Translation | Donghua

4. 寒武再临 (The return of Cambrian Period)

Author: 水千丞 (Shui Qian Cheng)

Sci-fi, future, apocalypse, special abilities

Summary:

A sudden earthquake caused the rapid evolution of all living things on earth. Suddenly humankind found itself no longer at the top of the food chain and their hope rests in the hands of those who evolved special features to protect them.

Chong Xia came by an old jade holding the secrets to advancing others’ evolution, possibly giving humankind a second chance at survival.

Comments:

Another apocalypse fic with very expansive world-building. I really enjoyed the first part of the story - it’s refreshing to see a smart characters that make wise use of scientific knowledge. Somehow this dwindled later in the story, and Chong Xia became just any typical nice-hero, which was kinda disappointing but hey, the world-building more than makes up for it! Also, I heard that there is a new donghua coming out based on this.

Novel | Novel [Eng] Translation | Audio drama

5. 图灵测试 (Turing test)

Author: 唇亡齒寒0 (Chun Wang Chi Han 0)

Sci-fi

Summary:

The 28th test: failure. Once again Yu ShaoQing correctly identified the AI in the virtual reality test, much to the frustrations of the AI’s creators. But what if...the AI was losing on purpose?

"Is this reality?" Yu ShaoQing awoke again from the virtual world, but he was supposed to be dead.

Comments:

Interesting take on the Turing Test, which is a method of testing whether an AI is capable of thinking like a human. It’s a relatively short fic for a good read :)

Novel

6. 复生门徒 (Revived disciples)

Author: 四十九盞燈 (Si Shi Jiu Zhan Deng)

Apocalypse, sci-fi, mutants/special abilities

Summary:

‘A species is never extinct. Instead, their DNA is just sleeping. When the conditions are right, these DNA will reawaken.” - <Summary of the Solar Plan>

2017, the Solar Plan went askew, resulting in the reawakening of ancient species and the destruction of society. Majority of humankind fell into the bottom rung of the food chain. At the same time, the ancient DNAs resting within some humans were slowly coming back to life......

The killer ‘Red Eye’ and mercenary ‘Ghost Wolf’ were accidentally embroiled into part of the Solar Plan. Amidst the chaos, they paved a bloody pathway for humankind.

Comments:

If you like a power couple, this fic will be to your liking. It is fast-paced, with a lot of plot twists and interesting takes on power mutation/evolution.

Novel

7. 灵笼: Incarnation

Apocalypse, sci-fi

Summary (taken from myanimelist)

In the not-too-distant future, the human world has long been overpopulated. Humanity marched to the stars in search of a new home, and just as this was going on, the moon's alignment caused massive earthquakes to ripple across the world, lasting several decades. Humanity was demolished. When the land finally recovered, humanity reemerged to face this strange yet familiar world. Will we, who once lorded over this domain, still remain the masters of this world?

Comments:

This is not a fiction but a 3D donghua that really deserves more views due to its engaging plot and high-quality production. Honestly I felt like people didn’t talk about it just because it’s not BL/GL, but I strongly recommend the donghua. It is available for free on Bilibili’s official youtube site.

#recommendation #fic rec

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