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--- 1 ---
Quan Yizhen was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and his brows tightened, staring directly at Hua Cheng. He seemed incredibly focused on the taller man. In his hands he held a small, blue fire which was flickering gently.
Hua Cheng, in turn, was standing with his arms crossed, staring down at the other with a small smile on his face.
“Well, general Qi Ying...” He began, leaning back against a table. “To help strengthen a ghost fire you need to nurture it properly. Once he’s strong enough, he willbe able to turn into a resentful ghost.”
Quan Yizhen nodded with a serious face.
“How do I do that?” He asked.
“With lots of physical contact of course.” Hua Cheng replied mischieviously. “Hugs, kisses and cuddling.”
The fire suddenly grew bigger and lightly shook over Quan Yizhen’s hands. It bobbed up and down, slightly growing and shrinking.
“While we can’t hear what the Waning Moon Officer is saying I’d say he seems quite happy.” Hua Cheng added.
--- 2 ---
He was seriously considering quitting as soon as he could properly communicate. Yin Yu was trapped between Quan Yizhen’s hands and his chest, as the other male quietly slept in Yin Yu’s bed in Paradise Manor. He knew for a fact, that getting him to regain his physical form did not involve physical contact with the person he disliked.
Being in a ghost fire form left him feeling strangely vulnerable. Without a physical shell to shield his soul he felt like he was walking around naked. While physical weapons weren’t a threat to him anymore, dissipating his soul was fairly easy for anyone with a basic cultivation foundation.
As far as Yin Yu knew, Hua Cheng was the one that hid his ashes somewhere and that, at least, left him feeling a bit more hopeful for the future.
He was suddenly squished.
Yin Yu cursed, as he was pressed flush against Quan Yizhen’s chest with even less wiggle room, heat from Yizhen’s body gently warming him up. He couldn’t really sleep in this form either so all that he had left to do was to be fully aware of the closeness and the quiet sounds Quan Yizhen made whenever he encountered something in his dreams.
--- 3 ---
“Good morning, shixiong.” Quan Yizhen murmured, slowly stretching out.
‘Morning? The sun had risen hours ago.’ Yin Yu scoffed internally, finally wiggling out of his hands.
“Ah, where are you going, wait.” He was caught again and given a kiss. The lack of a material body was somewhat of an issue, but Quan Yizhen didn’t seem to mind the awkwardness.
Yin Yu, on the other hand, did.
‘Stop it.’ He tried wiggling out again and was finally let go. ‘I am going to void all of He Xuan’s debt as soon as I get my body back.’ He grumbled, flying to the mirror and inspecting himself.
Yin Yu was slightly worried about getting back his body. It was clear to him that Hua Cheng was mostly playing around with him, at a time when he couldn’t stand up for himself. That meant that he either had to wait until the ghost king got bored of his play, or find a way to regain a body himself.
The first option was rather hopeless, so he decided to start with looking through the scroll collection in Hua Cheng’s library. He floated towards the door and squeezed through the crack.
“Ah, shixiong, where are you going, wait!”
Yin Yu slowed down and then abruptly stopped, realizing Quan Yizhen ran out of his room only in his inner robe.
‘You really can’t walk around dressed like this.’ He floated closer to him and gently nudged him back towards the room.
“You want to go back now?” Quan Yizhen cupped him in his hands and tilted his head.
‘No, fool. Clothes.” Yin Yu tried to bump against Quan Yizhen’s sleeve, trying to convey his message.
“Shixiong wants to hide inside?” Quan Yizhen helpfully stretched out his sleeve at that.
‘NO.’ Yin Yu tried again, brushing against other parts of his clothes.
“My clothes?”
‘Yes’
“I don’t need them.”
‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T NEED THEM.’ Yin Yu began moving rapidly again, bouncing up and down.
“Shixiong is happy. Is it because I don’t have the outer robes?”
‘WHO WOULD BE HAPPY BECAUSE OF THAT?!’
--- 4 ---
Yin Yu moved over and hovered on top of Quan Yizhen’s hand. When he wasn’t noticed for a while, he gently bumped against it.
“Ah, sorry, I think I fell asleep.” Quan Yizhen shot him a lazy smile and unrolled the next part of the scroll Yin Yu was reading. “Have you found anything yet, shixiong?”
‘No.’
“You know we could set up a system of basic signals? To communicate? Maybe if you bump me once it means yes and if you bump me twice it means no?”
Yin Yu decided to ignore that request.
He was pretty deep in thought, when once again fingers settled around him. He jumped lightly, berating himself for not being cautious enough in his current state.
Quan Yizhen was sitting behind him, holding him in his hands. He had his eyes closed and after a short while Yin Yu felt a small trickle of qi feed into him.
He knew that the other was being very cautious with how much energy he was giving him. He still could remember how much energy Quan Yizhen used during their sparring. Even if the bruises faded away quickly, he’d be lying if he said it didn’t hurt his pride.
It was hard to focus on the script. While passing qi to someone wasn’t usually intimate, in this form, where it was essentially the only thing sustaining him, it felt much more personal. Less like someone lending you a brush and more like someone feeding you a berry directly to your mouth.
It wasn’t entirely uncomfortable though.
--- 5 ---
“Shixiong, don’t be like that! I am supposed to keep you safe. How will I keep you safe if you’re not with me.” Quan Yizhen huffed, trying again to capture Yin Yu, who was, in turn, trying to fly out of his reach.
‘I am not watching you bathe naked!’ Yin Yu retorted, just before he was caught in a pair of hands again.
“Aha!” Quan Yizhen lightly separated his fingers to glance at the fire. “It will be fine, shixiong. We’ve taken baths together before.” He said, moving behind a privacy screen. He squished Yin Yu against his bare chest, to take off his clothes and keep him from running away again.
‘I can very much wait in the other part of the room!’ Yin Yu wiggled, while trying to ignore the sight and feeling of Quan Yizhen’s chest in front of him. Only when the martial god settled in water, did he relax his hold.
Quan Yizhen stared at the small, blue flame in his hands for a long while, still keeping him between his fingers in a way that made him unable to run away.
“I don’t want to lose you out of my sight” He murmured quietly, his smile fading. “I hated it, when I thought you died.”
Yin Yu stilled, a bit shocked. He watched one of the hands that were holding him raise and gently pat him.
“So I need to keep you safe, until you can protect yourself again, shixiong.” Quan Yizhen smiled again.
Yin Yu stayed on his open hand.
“Should I wash you, shixiong? Do ghost fires need washing?”
‘Don’t you dare.’
--- 6 ---
“Hmm… It seems that the progress is quite slow.” Yin Yu tried to look as offended as a little ball of fire could. Hua Cheng poked him again. “He is certainly stronger than before, but at that pace it could take him years to turn into a resentful ghost.”
Quan Yizhen furrowed his brows.
“What can I do though. I’m following your instruction. Are they not working?”
‘Of course not, they are bullshit.’ Yin Yu sighed, resting at Quan Yizhen’s hand again. The last week was very lively. Too lively even, he forgot how tiring it could be to be around someone as energetic as Quan Yizhen.
“There is one more thing you could try to strengthen him.” Hua Cheng mentioned, looking as if he was deep in thoughts. Yin Yu found out that it’s possible to have a cold shiver run down your spine even without a body. “To quickly raise his power… Ah, but how would that work…” Hua Cheng shook his head.
‘Yizhen don’t ask, he’s baiting you.’
“How would what work?” Quan Yizhen asked and Hua Cheng smiled devilishly.
“Well a very reliable method would be dual cultivation, of course.”
A small rumble run through Paradise Manor, as immense amounts of energy coursed through the air.
“I think that is quite enough, Hua Chengzou.” Yin Yu growled, standing up.