Archive of Our Own

The sun had yet to set and Sisheng Peak, colored in reds and yellows, looked like a place just out of a dream. Only a few disciples were found wandering around as evening classes hadn't finished yet.

Xue Meng looked away from the window and down at his young disciple, who was trying hard to suppress a yawn. "Are you tired, Yuan'er?" he asked with a kind smile.

The kid jumped at the question, spilling some ink on the paper he was using to practice his writing, and his cheeks turned red in embarrassment. "N-no, Shizun."

Xue Meng walked towards the kid slowly, examining his brush technique. “We can stop for today,” he said calmly, reaching a hand out for his disciple. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

Sun Yuan looked up, surprised, but he didn’t move, blinking instead at his master with his brows furrowed. “But… but it’s so early!”

Xue Meng’s smile softened. “Do you not want to?”

The kid shook his head and smiled. "I want to!" he exclaimed happily. "I'll just," he looked down at the scroll he was copying from, then at the ink and paper and finally at the brush in his own hand. He wanted to put everything down and leave for dinner, but he seemed to remember something, then he frowned a little. "I'll just finish this line, then."

Surprised, the master just stared as the kid started the next character, frowning a little in concentration while drawing a particularly hard stroke. Then, he let out a small chuckle and ruffled his hair with the already extended hand. "When did you get so diligent?"

The disciple smiled as he finished the character and moved on to the next one, while Xue Meng turned once again towards the window, his gaze distant.

The first time he saw Sun Yuan, right after the adoption, he couldn't help but think about the past. It had only been a few years since his parents died and his friends left, and despite having the Mei twins to keep him company whenever they could, sometimes he still couldn't stop himself from feeling alone.

Mo Ran and Chu Wanning still tried their best to visit him at least once a year but, every time, they left almost as fast as they came, leaving Xue Meng even lonelier than before.

But when he took the three years old child into his arms, he felt like something finally came back into place. I will never make him go through what I went through , he thought. And for the first time, he understood his parents' actions back on that day, when they gave their own lives to save his. 

As he lulled the toddler back to sleep he thought I would do anything for him, I would die for him and, suddenly, he felt he wasn't so lonely anymore.

Of course, things weren't always as easy as that. He was sure he loved the kid as if he were his own, but the memories of the past, even the sad ones, made his heart ache as he wished to go back to when he was just a kid.

Still, seeing Sun Yuan running around Sisheng Peak, asking questions about everything that came to mind like the curious child he was and calling him "Shizun", helped ease his aching heart.

A few years after taking him as his disciple, during a break in one of their daily lessons, he'd found the young boy looking at him resolutely. Seeing him so serious, he smiled gently.

“A-Yuan, do you want to ask me anything?”

Sun Yuan had pressed his lips together in thought, then nodded vigorously. “Shizun, when can I meet Shizu and Shishu?”

Xue Meng was caught by surprise. Sun Yuan was young and very curious, there was hardly any question Xue Meng, or any other disciple at Sisheng Peak, avoided to answer. Despite having mentioned Chu Wanning and Mo Ran to him multiple times he had never shown interest in meeting them before. Xue Meng raised his hand to caress his hair. “You want to meet them?”

Sun Yuan had nodded again. “You always look happy when you talk about them,” he explained, letting out a smile. “Every time they’re coming over, you always leave even in the middle of a class, and let me finish early, so it must be important. And everyone else seems to know about them more than me! I want to know them too! Can I?”

Xue Meng had smiled softly at him. “Of course you can. The next time they visit I’ll introduce them to you.”

But there was never a chance, as the other two visited without notice and late at night more often than not. Luckily Sun Yuan was still very young and easily distracted but Xue Meng knew it wouldn’t last much longer.

When Sun Yuan drew the last stroke, he let out a happy giggle. He placed down the brush carelessly, almost knocking over the ink stick, then he raised the paper to blow lightly on it , to make the ink dry faster. Once he saw that all the characters were dry, he laid the paper on top of a small stack of written pages and got up with a jump. “All done! Shizun, let’s go eat.”

After some consideration, thinking Mengpo Hall would be too chaotic and full of disciples, they chose to go to a quiet inn in the near Wuchang town, in a private room where they could easily eat and talk without being interrupted by loud noises.

Xue Meng ordered a few dishes more than usual, including Sun Yuan’s favourite rice cakes. As soon as the plate was placed on the table, his little hand reached out to grab one; he took a bite. 

He looked happily as the dishes they ordered arrived in quick succession. Once everything was on the table, he stuffed the last piece of cake in his mouth. "Shizun, it's your birthday, right?" Sun Yuan asked with his mouth full.

Xue Meng looked at him surprised, then simply nodded, taking another sip of his soup. "How do you know?"

"A shixiong told me!" Sun Yean laughed happily as he grabbed another rice cake and took a bite. After he swallowed, he quickly said, "You should make a wish!"

“Is that why you wanted to finish your paper first?” Sun Yuan lowered his gaze and started fidgeting with the chopsticks in embarrassment, which made Xue Meng smile gently. "Then, I wish for you to always behave like you did earlier today, to become a good student."

"Shizuuun! I’m already a very good student," he whined. He pointed his chopsticks at his master. "This wish doesn't count! It has to be something you reeeeally want!" Xue Meng reprimanded him, telling him to lower his chopsticks, so he placed them messily on the table. Unperturbed, he continued. "And… and you can't say it out loud! If you do it won't come true."

Xue Meng sighed, not completely convinced despite his disciple enthusiasm. Something I really want, huh? 

He did not make a wish, but three faces appeared in his mind, the taste of long gone memories both sweet and sour in his mouth.

"So? Did you make a wish?"

Sun Yuan looked at him expectantly, his big brown eyes shining. "Mh," Xue Meng simply replied.

The disciple applauded, then grabbed back up his chopsticks, picking a dumpling and putting it on Xue Meng's plate. "I hope it comes true," he said as he tried to grab yet another rice cake but the plate was moved away just a second before he could.

“You should eat something else first,” Xue Meng said, keeping the small plate next to him.

The kid pouted. “Shizuuuuun!”

The Shizun in question only laughed.

The next morning, Xue Meng was sitting behind a messy table, book in hand, trying to focus on what he was reading. In front of him, sitting on top of a pile of books, were a few pieces of folded paper, the characters in the back faintly visible.

Xue Meng sighed and put down the book on the floor, turning his head to look at the papers, then, reluctantly, he raised his hand to pick them up.

He took his time to read it again and again, mouthing the words as he read them one by one, as if to memorize by heart the entire contents of what appeared to be a letter. As time went on, his hand started trembling, either because of the tiredness or the content of the letter, so with a sigh he put it back on the table, facing down.

He brought his hands up to cover his face and sighed again a few times, before whispering, “What am I doing?,” with a hint of desperation in his voice.

As he was eyeing the letter, contemplating whether to pick it up or leave it there, he heard a commotion outside his room. He tried to get up but suddenly the door flew open as a few disciples ran inside. All three of them spoke frantically together and Xue Meng could only understand “Sect Leader Xue” and that something bad must have happened considering how anxious they sounded.

“Everyone, calm down,” he said, raising his voice a little, and immediately the disciples stopped talking. “Tell me what happened, just one of you.”

The three disciples looked at each other, then one of them took a step forward and said, "Young Master Sun he- he won't wake up!"

“What do you mean ‘he won’t wake up’?” Xue Meng said, suddenly startled. 

“We didn’t see him for breakfast so we went to check on him and he was-”

“He was just sleeping,” one of the other disciples interrupted. “Or so we thought. But when we tried to wake him up he just kept on sleeping.”

The first disciple nodded. “And as we kept trying to wake him up it seemed like he was in pain. Like he was trying to wake up but couldn’t. Sect Leader, what-”

Preoccupied, Xue Meng raised his hand to stop them and started walking out of the room with large, fast steps. “I’ll go see him.”

Ever since Tanlang Elder died, Shishen Peak's medicinal abilities had dropped drastically. Xue Meng could only regret that he'd never learned anything from his late mother.

The current healer in the sect was definitely above average when it came to healing but he was still young and inexperienced, so the most he could do while examining Sun Yuan's health was to declare it a strong cold that brought the young boy into a comatose-like state.

Xue Meng thanked him as he watched him leave but still wasn't convinced. He closed his eyes and concentrated his spiritual powers in his hands, then he held them above the child's unmoving body.

At first, he didn't find anything out of the ordinary; the qi flow in Sun Yuan's body was stable, his meridians weren't obstructed and his vital energy was strong. He barely had time to relax when he felt something that wasn't supposed to be there; a foreign body near his spiritual core. It didn't seem to be anything vicious, per se, but as he focused on it, he realized that whatever it was, was slowly, incredibly slowly, sucking Sun Yuan's spiritual power.

He snapped up immediately, causing the stool he was sitting on to fall on the ground noisily. He furrowed his brows and pursed his lips, an expression of both fear and anger gradually appearing on his face.

He moved his hands above him again, concentrating on the child's spiritual core. It took longer this time to visualize his qi flow and only then did Xue Meng realize how much he was trembling. 

After taking a deep breath to steady himself, he used a little bit of his power to try and detach the thing that was feeding itself on Sun Yuan's lifeblood, but Xue Meng was not a healer nor did he know what that "bug'' actually was. He kept trying for the entire morning, until he felt that he had no more spiritual power left in his body. Still, the bug stayed unperturbed.

He stayed with the child for a while, checking his condition at regular intervals. Two hours later, he left two senior disciples to guard Sun Yuan's room and told the doctor to check on him once every few hours, then he went back to his study to read through every book and scroll he owned. He spent half the day and an entire night to look for anything that could help, but Sisheng Peak was a relatively new sect and its books weren't much dated.

He put down the last book, then he pushed a hand through his hair, messing it up a little. He let out a big sigh and blinked fast; his eyes were starting to water. As he tried to focus on something that wasn't his disciples current condition, his eyes dropped to his table. 

Next to the book he had just put down laid a few pages of a letter filled with characters written in two very neat but very different handwriting.

Xue Meng smiled with a happy sigh, sitting down on the cushion and picking up new paper and fresh ink. He wrote down each character almost in one single stroke and barely let the ink dry long enough before giving it to be sent right away.

Whenever Xue Meng found himself helpless, or the pressure of being a sect leader at his young age was becoming too much, or if he simply needed someone by his side, the Mei brothers were always ready to help him out.

When the person he could consider his biggest rival turned out to be two different people, he thought that many things finally made sense but at the same time a confusing, heavy feeling appeared in his heart.

As time passed, Xue Meng slowly grew more and more fond of them, until that fondness turned into something more. Now, every letter he received, every time they came to visit, every smile dedicated to him, made his brain shut down and his heart race.

But the feeling in his heart only seemed to get heavier, even after he understood its meaning. Because, how can he be in love with two people? Despite looking exactly the same, they had completely different personalities. 

So Xue Meng tried his best to ignore these weird feelings of his. Maybe this wasn't even love at all, maybe it was just affection. Did he just like the attention?

Still, when he looked at them, just standing in front of him, breathing, existing , made him feel all the nice ways, like he hadn't felt since he was an oblivious, pampered child. Every time he looked at them he wondered, not without shame, what it would be like to be held in their arms, to be kissed by those lips, to be loved by the most wanted person in the cultivation realm.

He didn't know when the innocent, soft dreams of pining and yearning turned into heated dreams of wanting, wanting, wanting .

Sometimes, he'd become scared, of what he might do, of what he wanted to do and of what he felt. He became afraid of ruining a friendship, ruining one of the few nice things he had left.

So he stayed quiet, he stayed put, and only let himself give in when he was alone in the safety of his room, either asleep, dreaming of them, or awake, rereading their letters time and time again.

He wondered what the other's would say if they knew he might be in love with two people. He wondered if his Shizun would look at him with disgust or his ge would make fun of him and tell him to stop joking. He wondered how he himself felt about it but he never found a real answer. 

Despite all the complicated feelings that the twins brought him every time they were together, he still craved their company like a drowning man craves air and trusted them more than he trusted himself.

And his trust in them wasn't misplaced.

“Xue Meng.”

The man turned around when he heard his name. Since he became the sect leader of Sisheng Peak, only one person would dare call him that in front of his disciples.

Two men looking exactly the same were standing at the door of the hall, both with a serious face, yet one of them had a light in his eyes that gave him a carefree look even when his brows were furrowed.

“Hanxue, this is official business,” the other whispered, still loud enough for everyone to hear. “Sect leader Xue, we came as soon as we could.”

Xue Meng sighed in relief. He didn’t know what he’d do without their help.

He tried to smile as he walked towards them. "Thank you," he whispered. "I don't know what I would do without you two."

Mei Hanxue smirked as he threw an arm around his shoulders, tugging him close. "I know you can't leave without us, Sect Leader Xue," he said with a wink.

His older brother coughed loudly to get their attention, then simply scowled at Mei Hanxue in silence and Xue Meng noticed something more than annoyance for his extravagant brother in his eyes. But as there were more important matters, he didn't press the subject. "Shouldn't we go see your disciple?"

Xue Meng nodded and led the way.

As it was really early in the morning, most of the disciples at Sisheng Peak were still sleeping, so the quarters were very quiet. They walked into the room, startling the disciple that was on guard for the night. Mei Hanxue chuckled.

With a sigh, Xue Meng exused the disciple, letting him go get some rest. He took the stool the disciple was sitting on and placed it next to the bed, then sat down. He reached for Sun Yuan's motionless hand and held it tightly.

The twins walked closer to the bed too, examining the kid that was laying on it. His eyes were gently closed, his expression relaxed. His chest moved up and down at an almost even pace.

"It really looks like he's sleeping," whispered the younger Mei Hanxue.

Xue Meng nodded. "At times like this, it does. But sometimes he turns and moans in pain, as if he's haunted with nightmares but can't manage to wake up. Luckily, that happens just once or twice a day and simply lasts a few minutes."

The older twin pursed his lips and after measuring his words for a while he finally said, "From what we gathered before coming here, it looks like it's an old curse."

"Like old old . Not even our Sect Leader knew about it," the younger brother exclaimed. He reached to his chest and took out a small book from the folds of his outer robes. "We had to search every book we could find and that's how we found this one."

The book was called History of Linyi . Xue Meng flipped through the pages until he found the one marked with a little paper bookmark. He read it quietly for a few minutes, turned the next page over, then, disappointed, closed it abruptly.

"This doesn't explain anything," he said, a little annoyed.

Mei Hanxue reached out to take the book from his hands and reopened it on the exact page. He read: " After half a century of peace and prosperity, a disease broke out. It wasn't immediately reported as a disease. A few dozen citizens failed to wake up after a night's sleep and remained in a comatose state, only sometimes turning and shaking in pain, but it wasn’t considered a serious issue. Only after the few dozen people became hundreds and hundreds became thousands, and some of the people affected, especially the children and the elderly, started dying, was it finally treated as such. The world was in tumult as mortal medicine was found ineffectual. That's when the people finally decided to ask the cultivators for help. It was established that the weird disease was in fact a curse and the medicine of mortals could do nothing against it. It took two years, but finally the cultivators could find a cure. Hundreds of lives were lost meanwhile, but thousands were saved at last."

Xue Meng rubbed the bridge of his nose worriedly. "I still don't get how this can help."

"We know it happened once already, over a century ago," Mei Hanxue explained calmly.

"And that there is a cure," his younger brother added, smiling at Xue Meng.

Xue Meng looked up at the two of them. "Then, where is it?"

"A little impatient, aren't we?" He mocked, but Xue Meng shot him a tired glare and he shut up.

"Our sect's elders are currently looking for it, we even asked the other sects to lend us books from the last century. We have made up an excuse for now as we are unsure if we should reveal this matter to other sects or keep it secret for a while. What do you say, Sect Leader Xue?" 

"If it doesn't stop us from getting as much information as we can, it's better to keep it secret, lest it throws the cultivation world into chaos."

"My thoughts exactly," he smiled. 

The older brother cleared his voice. "I still think we should at least explain the situation to Guyue'ye," he said. "I know how you feel towards the sect leader, but they might know something."

Xue Meng pressed his lips together, frowning slightly. "Can you contact him? I don't feel like asking him for help," he whispered. He turned to look at his young disciple, reaching out a hand to move away a stray strand of hair. 

"Of course," he smiled gently. "Meanwhile, the three of us can look for someone. "

Xue Meng looked back up at him. "What do you mean?"

"There have been voices these past few years," he explained, "of a miraculous healer."

"Nothing much is known about him except that he never settles anywhere and he never shows his face. Considering his reputation, we are almost sure it must be some old immortal, so he might know something," concluded the younger twin.

"Are you guys sure we can find him?"

The two brothers looked at each other, then the younger shrugged. "No, but we don't have many options now, do we?"

Back at Xue Meng's study, they started planning their trip to the north.

"We're gonna need three horses and three bamboo hats," Mei Hanxue said. A few disciples moved to have them ready, but they were stopped by Xue Meng.

"Why horses? Can't we just use swords?” he asked, the worry clear in his voice. “It'd be faster."

"We don't know who did this nor why. While flying gives us a slight time advantage, we can be easily spotted. What if that person's real intention is getting Sect Leader Xue away from Sisheng Peak and attack him? We have to stay unsuspicious."

"Sure, as unsuspicious as three famous cultivators could get,” the younger twin replied.

The older brother rolled his eyes. "We won’t let the word out that we’re leaving Sisheng Peak, so the perpetuator won’t take advantage of his absence. That’s why we need the bamboo hats.” He explained. “We also need to know the healer's precise location, as of now we only know he was recently seen up north. The best solution is to travel by horse."

Xue Meng was not entirely convinced yet he still nodded, with a preoccupied expression on his face.

Mei Hanxue placed a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed it. "Don't worry. As we’ve observed, whoever threw the curse isn't too powerful. It'll take long before his spiritual power is completely drained. Even then, it’ll take a while more for his spiritual core to disperse. We have plenty of time."

Xue Meng looked up at him. As he saw his small smile and confident gaze, he relaxed a little. “We’re leaving at dawn tomorrow, have the horses ready to depart,” he exclaimed.

The disciples all bowed. “Yes, Sect Leader.”

The three of them talked for a while more, then the twins left to rest for the night.

As Xue Meng was about to blow off the candle in his study to go back to his room, a disciple walked inside the room, bowing slightly before speaking. “Sect Leader Xue, there’s someone asking for you.”

“Who is it right now?” Xue Meng mumbled, then sighed. “Tell them I can’t go meet them, I need to have everything ready before I leave tomorrow.”

“Sect Leader,” the disciple whispered apologetically, looking behind his shoulder to where a figure was approaching slowly. “He’s already here.”

The other man didn’t even raise his eyes before letting out a sigh and a defeated, half-whispered, “Why does no one ever listen to me?”

“Because you lack confidence,” the third person replied, stopping in front of Xue Meng’s table. The latter immediately got up, as if stung. “You haven’t changed much in these eight years.”

“Jiang Xi!” Xue Meng exclaimed, pointing a finger at him accusingly. “What are you doing here?!”

Jiang Xi just rolled his eyes and started pacing around the room, with his arms behind his back. He waited for the disciple to leave before speaking. “I heard you’re in need of help.”

“I don’t need your help.”

Jiang Xi turned around and smiled at him, mostly mockingly but there was a softness in his eyes. “You really haven’t changed.” He slowly walked towards Xue Meng, his calm gaze opposed to the fiery one the younger had. He moved his arm carefully, as if Xue Meng was an animal and if he moved too fast he would startle him, and gently placed it on his arm, squeezing a little to show comfort. “Sect Leader Xue, you can’t do this alone.”

Xue Meng blinked and the moment broke. He moved away fast, turning his back to him and trying to compose himself. “I’m not alone. I have my sect, I have Mei Hanxue and-”

“Xue Meng,” Jiang Xi raised his voice, not shouting but loud enough to interrupt the other. “It’s okay to need help. Or more help than you already have, whatever. This isn’t easy to solve.” He paused and took a deep breath, as if he couldn’t throw out the words he wanted to say. “I… I want to help you.” 

Xue Meng stayed queit, not knowing how to reply. “You’re heading out with the Mei twins tomorrow, right?” Jiang Xi continued, surprising Xue Meng. Sensing his uneasiness, the older explained. “Mei Hanxue told me in his letter. Nobody else except for me and a few trusted confidants at Guyue’ye knows, so don’t worry,” he said, waving his hand around. “Then, if you don’t have anything to say about it, I’ll stay here to make sure nothing happens. I’ll keep guard on your disciple, too. So you can go without worries.”

Xue Meng turned, ready to dispute, but Jiang Xi raised his hand to stop him and walked towards the door. “Save it, it’s been decided.” He turned around and, before completely closing the door he said, voice low, “And go get some sleep, you have to be well rested.”

He left. Xue Meng brought a hand to his face and massaged his forehead then rubbed his eyes, sighing. He wanted to scream at the man that he hadn’t changed either and that he’d die before accepting his help. But it wasn’t his life that was at stake and, right now, he need all the help he could get.

He called a disciple over with yet another sigh. “Prepare a room for Sect Leader Jiang and make sure he has everything he needs.”

The next day, he summoned all the disciples and elders in the main hall.

“I’ll be away for a while. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but this is for the sake of this sect, for the sake of one of your shidi, so I’m asking you all to behave and to follow Sect Leader Jiang when I’m away. His word is my own.”

Everyone in the hall, with the exception of Jiang Xi, the few sect members he had brought along and the Mei brothers, clasped their hands together and bowed slightly. “Yes, Sect Leader!”

Xue Meng stood, his chin high. “You’re all dismissed.”

After the hall emptied, he picked up his sword and signaled the two brothers to follow him. Before leaving, he looked at Jiang Xi, a warning in his voice. “Take care of them.”

Jiang Xi vaguely bowed his head in assent.

Xue Meng and the twins walked down the long staircase to the feet of the mountain. There were waiting for them a few disciples and three horses who had been loaded with a few bags with clothes and food for the journey.

As he was about to get on his horse he found one extra package he was sure he hadn’t put there. It was wrapped in silk cloth and, by the shape of it, it seemed to be a small brocade box. He turned to his disciple with a confused look. “What’s this?”

The disciple bowed and explained, “Sect Leader Jiang said to give it to you, Sect Leader. In case of danger.”

Xue Meng rolled his eyes and got on the horse. After checking once again his belongings, he put on the bamboo hat his disciple was handing him and gripped the reins steadily. He spared one last look at Sisheng Peak, hoping for nothing major to happen while he was away, then looked up ahead. “Let’s go.”

He tightened his thighs on the horse’s back and it started galloping at a fast pace. The two brothers were right behind him. 

They traveled continuously for two days, only stopping for the night. If Mei Hanxue hadn't reminded him that the horses needed rest as much as them, Xue Meng would've continued galloping north without stopping once. 

On the third day, they started to feel the soreness of traveling with horses and the weight of not sleeping enough. They arrived at a small town a little before sunset and, after talking it out with Xue Meng, the three of them decided to rent a room for the night to get a proper rest.

They walked around town with their horses in tow and looked around for an inn with a stall to stay in for the night. They found one near the center of the town and left the horses to be handled by an errand boy.

Once they walked in, before even getting the keys to their rooms, Xue Meng cleared his throat and asked, "Good Sir, have you ever heard about a certain 'miraculous healer'?"

The innkeeper was taken aback by the question and he blinked at Xue Meng for a minute before smiling courteously. "Sure I did!" He replied. "And I'll tell you more, kid, I have met him before."

Xue Meng gasped then smiled at the man. "Really? How?"

"He stayed in this city for a few months or so, around two years ago," he explained. "The daughter of a merchant had a rare illness and he was the only one able to cure her, he stayed until he was sure she was fully healthy. And he asked for nothing in return!"

Xue Meng looked at the twins, who shared the same thoughts as him; so this person really was extremely talented in medicine! 

Mei Hanxue turned towards the innkeeper and asked, "Do you know where he could be now?"

"You're looking for him?" The man brought a hand to his chin in thought then he shook his head a little. "I'm not entirely sure about it, he headed up north after he left this town. I did hear he had helped in some other villages in the north, in Beiguang village especially from what other clients told me, but that was months ago, I'm not certain he hasn't left by now."

The other three nodded in understanding, then the younger twin asked once more, "Can you describe him? It'd be easier to search for him if we know how he looks."

The man looked at them a little dejected and he sighed as he replied, "I've never seen his face, unfortunately. He always wore a bamboo hat with white veils that covered his entire face. I can only tell you that he was very skinny and slightly taller than this young master right here," he finished, pointing at Xue Meng.

"Thank you," they said as they picked up the keys to their room, then walked away after slightly bowing to the innkeeper in salutation.

Xue Meng sighed in frustration and Mei Hanxue nudged at him. "Hey, at least we know where he could be!"

His older brother nodded silently. "And the fact that he wears a bamboo hat that completely hides his face all the time could actually make finding him faster."

"Exactly!" The younger exclaimed, jumping in front of the other two, making them stop on their tracks. "So stop frowning now, would you, Xue Meng?" As he said so, he raised his hand to point at Xue Meng's forehead, then jabbed at it with his finger, trying to make the frown disappear. "Why don't we all freshen up and go eat a nice dinner? After two days of rations I'm at my limit."

Xue Meng looked right at him for a second without changing his expression, then he relaxed and smiled a little. "Your treat?"

Mei Hanxue opened his mouth in faked indignation then exploded into a laugh that infected the other two as well. He grabbed both of them by the arms as he pulled them upstairs with him. "You're lucky I like you, Xue Meng! My treat, just for tonight. Not for you, though, gege."

"What? I'm your older brother, you should respect me."

Xue Meng looked at them while they bickered up to their rooms, a fond smile on his face and a faint blush that luckily went unnoticed.

“Look who’s there.”

A husky yet gentle voice said. Two figures stood not too far away from the table, but still far enough as to not be spotted.

The second figure showed surprise in his face for just a second before it went back to a natural disinterested expression. The other smiled.

He moved his face closer to the other's, until his lips were just an inch from his ear. “We can go greet them, if you want.”

The shorter figure jumped a little when he felt the voice right next to his ear. He pushed the other away as he turned his head to glare at him. When he saw him laughing, his first instinct was to yell at him to stop, but after many years he had simply gotten used to the other's personality. He sighed and looked back at the three men eating at the small table. “I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

The taller one pouted. Despite being physically tall and strong, with that expression on his face, he looked just like a kicked puppy. “But we haven’t seen him in so long, c’motion,” he whined.

“But what if-”

“I know you want to," the taller interrupted, the pleading eyes now changed into a serious yet gentle expression. His smile grew bigger and bigger as he watched the other consider the option.

After half a minute of thinking, he simply nodded. “Let’s go," he said, and as he walked towards the table, a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"Sect Leader Xue."

Xue Meng's hand stopped in midair and started shaking so much Mei Hanxue was afraid he might hurt himself with the chopsticks, so he reached over to hold it still.

He gazed concerned at Xue Meng who looked shaken and had paled a few shades and seemed to have stopped breathing. "A-Meng, is everything okay?"

Preoccupied with Xue Meng, he hadn't even noticed the two people approaching their table until his older brother got up and saluted them. "Chu-zongshi, Mo-zongshi. It's good to see you."

Only then did Mei Hanxue look away from Xue Meng, finding both Mo Ran and Chu Wanning observing him with a knowing smile. He h arrumph ed and got up, bowing slightly at them.

"Hanxue, greet them properly," his older brother scolded him.

"It's okay, there's no need to be so formal." Mo Ran smiled as he looked at them. Then he raised his hand and pat Xue Meng on the shoulder twice. "How's my little cousin doing?"

Xue Meng didn't reply and stayed quiet as everyone looked at him. Then, unexpectedly, he let out a small sob.

"Mengmeng?"

The youngest man finally raised his head, revealing a face full of tears. Mo Ran took half a step back surprised and even Chu Wanning's perpetual poker face couldn't hide his bewilderment. The other four looked at each other, unsure on what to say, then Xue Meng got up and all but jumped on Mo Ran, hugging him tightly.

It took the other a full minute to realize what was happening but then he moved his arm around the other's back. "Are you a kid?" He chuckled lightly. 

They stayed like this for a long time, until Chu Wanning placed a gentle hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Xue Ziming, you’ve grown a lot since we last saw you.”

Xue Meng raised his head to look at him and sniffled twice as he let go of Mo Ran just to hug the other man instead, burying his face in his shoulder. “Shizun,” he cried, his voice muffled. “I missed you so much.”

Chu Wanning was even more startled but, as he felt his old disciple tremble in his arms, he let out a small smile and put a hand on his back, pulling him slightly closer. “Mh,” Chu Wanning looked at Mo Ran who was smiling at him brightly. “We missed you too.”

Mei Hanxue coughed and got up from his seat, moving closer to the other three with a smile. As he stopped in front of them he let out a sigh, immediately turning serious. “Well, it’s good you’re here, because we could use your help.” 

They finished dinner together, talking about what had happened. Without a doubt, Chu Wanning and Mo Ran immediately offered their help and Xue Meng cried a little again.

The next morning, Xue Meng woke up early as he couldn't help but feel anxious.

He  paced back and forth in his room, trying to find a way to calm himself down. It had already been four days since they left Sisheng Peak and still hadn’t found the healer the Mei brothers talked about. Today was their last chance.

He was afraid that, by the time they got back to his sect, his disciple would have already died. He tried to remind himself, he’s strong, the person who threw the curse isn’t powerful enough, he’ll survive , repeating these words like a mantra, like they would become true if he said them enough times.

Someone knocked on his door, shaking him out of his thoughts. “Come in.”

As the door opened, he saw the two brothers together as always. This time though, they were both extremely serious, so he knew this wasn't going to be good news. “What happened?”

“We just got a letter from our sect leader. Some disciples in our sect have shown the same symptoms,” the younger one said.

“And it’s been happening in other sects too. Even in the bordering villages. People have already died.”

“But it's only been a few days, how are they already dying? Xue Meng asked.

"Common people are not like cultivators, they don't have a strong qi running through them nor do they have spiritual cores protecting them. If a cultivator could survive for a month, a common person would be dead in a day," he explained. 

Xue Meng's face contorted into a pained expression. He curled his hand in a fist, his nails digging into the skin as he tried to stay calm and focused. "We need to do something soon. We can't let all those people die."

The brothers could only nod in assent. 

Xue Meng took advantage of that urgent problem to insist. "What if we leave the horses here and just go there by sword? It'll take us half a day and we could find him today." 

"I still don't think it's safe to move by swords, we don't know if whoever is behind this is following us and flying would easily show our position." The older twin said.

"If we were noticed that'd mean that we were followed anyway, so what's the problem?" The younger one replied.

"I still think we should be car-" As he was finishing his sentence, someone knocked on the door.

"Xue Meng? Are you awake?"

Xue Meng got up to open the door to find Chu Wanning staring down at him. When Chu Wanning noticed the other two men in the room his eyes widened almost imperceptibly but immediately turned back to a gentle frow.

"Sorry to disturb you so early," he said, not looking at his eyes. Xue Meng was surprised to see his Shizun like this. Had he really changed that much in all these years? "I know we can’t waste time but could we stop here just for one more day? Mo Ran… isn't feeling well."

"What?" Xue Meng, despite not liking the idea of staying here one more day, immediately forgot about the task at hand and straightened himself up, looking alarmed. He sped out the door, pushing aside Chu Wanning, and crossed the corridor in three big steps. "Was he affected too?" 

"No!" At those words Chu Wanning woke up from the stupor of being pushed by his former disciple and ran to stop him, grabbing him by his wrist. "It's probably just a cold, I already gave him some medicine but it's better if he rests for today."

"A cold? I'll go check on him!" As Xue Meng moved towards the door, Chu Wanning positioned himself in front of it to prevent him from opening it.

"You don't have to! You might catch his cold and then we'll have to stay here even longer. I'll- I'll take care of him. So you three can go around the city and see if they know anything about the curse or the healer." "Maybe the three of you can go meet the healer, and we'll just wait here for a few days, so that he can fully rest."

Anyone could tell he was lying. But for Xue Meng, Chu Wanning's words were absolute truths, so he nodded, simply accepted it. "We already know where he is, we'll go there by sword today. We'll probably get back here in the morning.  Make sure he rests well."

Chu Wanning nodded and ran into the room as fast as could, not leaving Xue Meng the chance to even slightly see Mo Ran. Even with the door closed, a faint "You're finally back, this Venerable One was waiting for you." could be heard but Xue Meng didn't seem to notice.

The two brothers were stunned for a moment, then the younger burst out laughing as the other shook his head.

"A-Meng," the younger brother said, circling his shoulder with his arm and starting to move towards the stairs. "Why don't we go get something to eat so we can leave as soon as there's light outside?"

Xue Meng turned to stare at the door, clearly worried about his cousin, then he nodded as if he had just heard Mei Hanxue’s question and followed them downstairs silently.

As they ate, the twins chatted over what to do next while Xue Meng picked at his rice with his chopsticks and barely ate any food.

“-what do you think, Xue Meng?” Mei Hanxue asked, turning towards him.

Xue Meng, having heard his name, raised his head and blinked at him. “Huh?”

The other two looked at each other and then back at him, concern clear in their eyes. They sighed at the same time. “We were thinking that we could use our swords to go there like you suggested, but to keep low so as to not catch too much attention. We could move around the villages, it’ll take a little longer but it’s faster than horses, we’ll probably be there a few hours before sunset.”

“Are you okay?” The younger asked, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Xue Meng nodded, but his expression showed something else entirely. “Are you worried about Mo Ran?”

The other scoffed. “I’m worried about everything,” he said exasperated, then he covered his face with his hands. “I’m worried about my ge, I’m worried about my disciple and I’m worried that anyone could get this disease and die just like that!” His words were muffled by his hands but he spoke loud enough that a few people turned to look at them, worried. Mei Hanxue respectfully waved them off.

“Hey, I know it’s been stressful lately, but we’re so close. We’re gonna make this right, okay?” The younger said, rubbing his shoulder to calm him down. When Xue Meng didn’t reply and kept his face buried in his hands, he turned around to look at his older brother, signaling with his head to urge him to say something.

He cleared his throat. “We… we promise. We’ll do anything it takes.”

“You’re not alone, Xue Meng.”

After this conversation, they continued to have breakfast in silence and Xue Meng actually managed to eat a little. When they finished, they brought some food back at the inn for Chu Wanning and Mo Ran to eat too, then they immediately walked towards the city walls, where they set off with their swords.

Swords were definitely faster than horses, but it still took them hours to get to Beiguang village.

It was a pretty big village for being this far north and was protected by a forest on the front and a mountain on the back. As soon as they landed, Xue Meng ran to what seemed to be the main street. 

Despite it being only mid autumn, the air was already kind of chilly and there weren't many people around. 

Xue Meng asked any person he could find if they knew anything about a cultivator who wore a bamboo hat but, while some of them would at least shake their heads, most straight up ignored him, or rather seemed scared of him. 

As two older women holding baskets full of fruits all but Ran away from him, he heard some have footsteps behind him. "May I ask who you are, young sir?"

He turned around to meet a middle-aged man, full of muscles and at least half a foot taller than him, surrounded by three men not much shorter than him wielding a polearm each. Xue Meng was speechless. 

Finally, the Mei brother caught up to him. "Is there a problem?" The older asked, getting in front of Xue Meng to shield him.

"Are you three together?" Mei Hanxue nodded. "What are you doing here?" Every question sounded more and more accusatory.

"We're looking for a cultivator. A healer, to be more precise. We were told that he might be here."

The man scoffed at them, then made a gesture for the three men to put down their weapons. "We'll, you just missed him, he left two days ago."

The three young men deflated, but they didn't completely lose hope. "Do you happen to know where he went?"

"Who cares? It's good that he's gone." 

They were shocked, that was the first time they heard someone talk like this about the healer.

"What do you mean?" Xue Meng asked.

"He arrived around half a year ago and it was good at first, many were sick for the winter cold and he helped them get better, he taught our doctors how some of the poisonous herbs in the forest could be used to brew medicine if used in small quantity, he even healed my own wife and my son was born without any problems because of him," he admitted. "But around a week ago some of the elders were struck by a rare illness and died after two days of coma. He couldn't figure out the reason."

"So you sent him away just like that? Because he wasn't useful to you anymore?" Mei Hanxue asked, his voice uncharacteristically angry.

"He decided to leave all by himself and that was not the reason," the man replied. He passed a hand through his hair and sighed. "We were attacked," he continued. "Three days ago, a man arrived here at the village. It might not look so right now, but we’re really hospitable here. He was served dinner at a restaurant down this street and then he locked himself there with a few other villagers, holding them and the owner hostage."

Xue Meng and the twins could only stare in shock as he continued. "He wanted to see the healer or he'll kill all the people inside. He got there not even ten minutes later but everyone was already dead. So they fought. But we knew the healer wasn't strong and only had some basic fighting skills, so we helped him and that only got more men killed. After an hour or so we finally managed to hurt him but he ran away."

Everyone was quiet for a long moment, one of the three guards was even silently crying. They had lost a dozen villagers, friends and family, just a few days ago. That's why Xue Meng was being avoided earlier. 

"Is that why the healer left?" Xue Meng asked after a while.

"Yes and no, he said he needed to be somewhere but that he'll come back with a cure for the strange illness."

"I have two questions," the older brother said with his brows slightly furrowed.

"You can ask," the man replied.

"First, what is your name, sir?"

"I'm named Wen, Wen Chen. I'm the chief of this village."

Mei Hanxue nodded. "Wen-xiangzhang, my name is Mei Hanxue, I'm the young master of Kunlun Taxue Palace. This is my younger brother Hanxue and that is the sect leader of Sisheng Peak, Xue Meng. We aren't here to cause you any problems and if we somehow did, feel free to complain back to our sect leader," he said respectfully. "My second question, could you let us visit the sick villagers?"

The steps leading up to Sisheng Peak certainly hadn't changed, but somehow Xue Meng felt that they seemed much fewer than usual, as if mocking him.

I failed. He thought, both sad and terrified. I can't save him. I can't save anyone, again.

When they reached the small village in the north and asked if they knew about the healer, the chief had told them sadly that he had left but a few days prior to "help an old friend".

On the way back home, Mo Ran had fallen ill again, so they had to waste one more day doing nothing but wallow in self pity, while the rest of the juorney went by quietly.

Behind him, the two brothers were looking at each other thoughtfully, trying to find the right words but not managing to do so. They all were discouraged.

Mo Ran, seeing everyone so quiet and tense, decided to speak up. "We'll find another way. There has to be another way, right?"

The younger Mei Hanxue sighed. "There is no way. The chief of that village told us that he had left to look for a cure."

"Then what are we so down for? There is a possibility that he won’t find one."

Xue Meng stopped in his tracks and everyone stopped with him. Without turning back, he whispered, voice almost choked, "But there is also a possibility that he could!" 

“Not even Guyue'ye has found a cure yet, how could a nameless cultivator find it? Isn't it better if we try something ourselves?" As he was speaking, Mo Ran moved closer to him, raising his hand to pat him in the shoulder but, as if sensing him, Xue Meng moved away.

"But what can we do?" he asked, finally turning around to face him. "We've tried everything. If she was here, maybe-" His voice broke, his eyes red with unshed tears.

"Mengmeng..." Mo Ran moved his hand on his cousin's shoulder and this time he didn't dodge. 

Chu Wanning, having stayed silent the whole time, finally decided to speak. "We'll find a way, I promise." Everyone turned his eyes on him, all five of them surprised. "We went through worse than this."

Somehow, they all managed a little smile.

"Let's go up, we all deserve some rest." Chu Wanning said.

They entered Loyalty Hall to find a cultivator dressed in white and blue clothes standing in the middle of the hall, face covered by a bamboo hat with a veil.

As he heard them, he turned around and bowed slightly, putting his hands together in a greeting. "Sect Leader Xue," he said, voice soft and kind.

Xue Meng returned his greeting. He turned towards the disciples and asked, "Where is sect leader Jiang?"

One disciple walked out from the group and bowed slightly. "Sect leader heard you were coming back so he left early this morning. It seems Guyue'ye is into chaos because of this disease too. He asked us to inform you and to apologize for his discourteous behavior."

Xue Meng clicked his tongue. "I doubt he said that," he said as he shook his head, then turned back to the mysterious cultivator. "I'm sorry, you are?" 

"I'm just a... wandering cultivator, no one too important. I heard about your disciple's condition and thought that I might help."

Xue Meng's heart started beating so fast and he was so tired from the days of travel, that he felt he could faint at any moment but as he staggered back, two pairs of arms came to steady him. He looked up to see the twins looking down at him with worry.

He got back to his feet and straightened up his clothing. "I'm fine, thanks," he whispered to them, then he cleared his throat. "Are you perhaps... the notorious healer everyone is talking about?"

"So you've heard about me, that's good," despite being unable to see his face, everyone could hear from his words that he was smiling.

"We did more than just hear about you," Mei Hanxue whispered.

Mo Ran, though, was a little skeptical so he walked closer to him. "Why are you here?"

The question wasn't harsh, per se, but it wasn’t asked nicely either. The doubt in his mind was clear to all the people in the room.

The healer let out a short chuckle, as if he expected this reaction. "I already said why I'm here, I just want to help."

Mo Ran narrowed his eyes. "I meant, why are you here when other more unfortunate people are dying already."

"Mo Ran," exclaimed exasperated Chu Wanning just as Xue Meng let out an affronted "Ge!"

"I just want to know."

There was silence in the hall for a moment. Having his face covered, no one could guess what the healer was feeling or thinking, they could only wait for him to answer. After a while, he turned around to pace peacefully through the hall, keeping his hands behind his back.

"Sisheng Peak has helped many people in the past, with the two heavenly rifts and even before then. I was one of those people, I just want to pay it back somehow." He stopped walking around as he finished his sentence. He stayed quiet for a moment then turned around to face Mo Ran once again. "Is that bad?"

Mo Ran was still unconvinced but with one look at Xue Meng's pleading eyes he decided to let it go. He walked back towards Chu Wanning and whispered to him, "I still don't trust him, I will keep an eye on him."

Seeing Mo Ran so defensive of his cousin and his sect, he smiled as he patted the other on the chest. "That won't be needed," he whispered back, then turned to step closer to the healer. "I'm happy to see you think that," he said, raising his voice for everyone to hear. "It's good to have you back here, Shi Mingjing."

The room was suddenly filled with shocked gasps from the disciples, even Xue Meng couldn't help himself and started muttering something incoherently.

The healer let out another small chuckle then he raised his hand to take off the bamboo hat.

Shi Mei looked the same as they all remembered, possibly even more beautiful than he was eight years prior. He was smiling gently, his cheeks a little pink, probably from being caught so early. His eyes though were covered by a white silk cloth so it was hard to decipher what he was really thinking.

"You've always been like this, Shizun. Ruining the fun every time."

With the exception of Chu Wanning, no one had seen him since he was “kidnapped” by Hua Binan almost nine years prior. Everyone in the room turned quiet, staring in disbelief at the man in front of them, except Mo Ran, whose frown hadn’t disappeared.

After a long while, Xue Meng regained himself and he ran towards Shi Mei, trying to hold back the tears but failing miserably. "Shi Mei? Are you really Shi Mei?" He said, grabbing him by the shoulders. He didn't need an answer though, he and Shi Mei had been close friends and fellow students for over a decade, he could recognize him with his eyes closed, even eight years later. "How have you been? I-I thought you were dead!"

Suddenly, he fell down on his knees, still grabbing onto Shi Mei's clothes and started weeping loudly. All the disciples in the hall turned their heads away, pretending not to see.

Shi Mei gently crouched down in front of him and patted him on the head. "You really haven’t changed, huh?"

Xue Meng chuckled between sobs. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

They helped each other up then Shi Mei cleaned away Xue Meng's tears with a handkerchief. "You're the sect leader now, you shouldn't cry for something like this," he reprimanded, but his tone was fond.

Xue Meng pushed him jokingly on the shoulder. "I literally thought you were dead! Plus, you are just who we were looking for."

Shi Mei turned his head slightly to the side. "You were looking for me?"

Xue Meng grabbed his hand to guide him, then gestured at everyone to follow. "I'll explain on the way."

As they walked towards the disciples quarters, Xue Meng explained how they tracked him down until Beiguang village and were heartbroken to find that they had barely missed him. Little did they know that the healer was waiting for the at Sisheng Peak and that it was none other than Shi Mei, a former fellow disciple.

"So this disciple of yours has the same disease as the elders of the village?" Shi Mei asked after the other finished explaining.

"That's what we think. It seems to manifest differently in the common people since they don't have a spiritual core, but the symptoms are very similar, it's just that common people die way faster than cultivators," Xue Meng explained. 

Shi Mei simply nodded. He turned his head slightly towards the Mei twins and asked, "Have you found anything in your sect's library about this disease?"

Both brothers shook their heads then they remembered Shi Mei couldn’t see them, so the older replied as the younger covered his face in embarrassment. "We found a book that mentioned that a similar outbreak happened over a century ago but that was all. Guyue'ye found nothing as well. If Rufeng sect hadn't been burnt down-" he stopped himself abruptly. Shi Mei gave him a pitiful smile. "I'm sorry about that, I overstepped."

"No," Shi Mei shook his head and let go of Xue Meng's hand, turning to give a deep bow to everyone. "I should be the one to say sorry. Actually, I should've apologized to all of you sooner, and yet here you are treating me like I'm an old friend."

Xue Meng grabbed him rapidly to raise him up again. "Shi Mei-"

"There's no need for this right now," Mo Ran said with his deep, loud voice. "You'll explain once everything is settled. We have other things to be worried about now, don't we?"

Shi Mei was speechless for a moment, then smiled at Mo Ran. "You're right."

Once they arrived at the disciples quarters, Xue Meng led Shi Mei to Sun Yuan's room, while the others waited outside. Mo Ran was still not convinced and tried to enter the room to keep an eye on Shi Mei, but Xue Meng, offended by his unreasonable suspicion, closed the door on his face.

So, instead, he stood by the door, his face turned to the side to hear what was happening inside.

Shi Mei took his time to check on Sun Yuan, while Xue Meng stayed to the side, observing every one of his facial expressions, worriedly biting his nails. But Shi Mei’s concentrated face didn’t waver, showing not a single thought.

When he finished the examination, he put his hands on his lap and pushed his lips together. “It does seem to be the same curse.”

Xue Meng sighed. He paced around the room for a moment, then said, “Do you have a way to cure it?”

Shi Mei smiled sadly at him. “As they’ve told you at Beiguang village, I left to come back here and find a cure. I haven’t had much time to look for it, but I did some research and I haven’t found anything yet, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said, but, despite his words, he deflated and went back to pacing.

“But,” Shi Mei continued, “I might know someone who can help.”

Xue Meng stopped abruptly and snapped his head towards him. “Really?”

Shi Mei nodded with a small smile. “If someone in this world knows a cure for this ancient disease, it has to be him. After helping you here, I would’ve gone to him to ask for a cure anyway. He taught me a lot of what I know.”

Xue Meng’s eyes gleamed. “Why didn’t you say so at the beginning? Let’s go find him!” He dashed towards the doors, opening it so suddenly Mo Ran almost fell on top of him. “What are you doing?”

Mo Ran had the face to look embarrassed, then looked up at his cousin with a fake innocent smile. “I just thought-” he paused, side eyeing Shi Mei, “that it was better to be safe than sorry.”

Xue Meng frowned, shaking his head. “Stop with this nonsense. We’re leaving tomorrow, Shi Mei knows a healer that could help us!” He exclaimed as he walked past them and out of the disciples quarters.

Mei Hanxue sighed. “Another one?!”

The next day, they left Sisheng Peak once more, this time heading east. Shi Mei had explained to them that this Master had taken him in for a few months after everything that happened with Hua Binan and, taking pity on him, he had taught him some secrets. It was thanks to him that he was now able to wander freely and to help people in need all around the cultivation world.

The person Shi Mei talked about, seemed to be an elder and he had stayed on this Earth longer than any mortal ever, despite not quite being an immortal. He lived in seclusion in a few guards and only took in a few disciples a year, mostly young women.

Luckily, the destination this time was much closer and it’ll only take three days for them to get there.

That night, they decided to stop at a small town and rent a room in an inn to have a proper rest, even renting a private room to eat quietly.

As they were softly chatting over dinner, Mo Ran stopped talking mid-sentence and his head fell limp. Shocked, everyone turned to look at him with a confused look, noticing he had closed his eyes and seemed to be sleeping, while Chu Wanning paled considerably.

"Oh no," he whispered, concerned.

When Mo Ran raised his head and opened his eyes again, they were a shade darker than usual, the typical gleam now absent. He looked at the bowls and plates on the table and furrowed his brows, looking offended.

"What is this travesty of a dinner?" he exclaimed, sounding almost disgusted. "Wanning!"

Chu Wanning got up immediately and walked up to him, grabbing him by the arm and trying to take him away. "I think we should go to sleep. C'mon, Mo Ran."

Mo Ran chuckled darkly. "This Venerable One isn't tired yet, unless you mean something else..." he left the words unsaid but almost everyone in the table understood. Xue Meng blinked. "You really did miss me, huh?"

Despite the situation being embarrassing, Chu Wanning couldn't help but soften a little, seeing Taxian-Jun like this. Looking away, he nodded slightly, then he tried again to pull him up. "Let's go to bed."

But just as Taxian-Jun was about to get up, his eyes fell on Xue Meng, who was sitting in front of him. His smile grew bigger but despite that Xue Meng shivered. "Well, well. If that isn't this Venerable One's cousin." He placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand, looking at him in amusement with his head slightly turned. "How have you been?"

Xue Meng looked at Chu Wanning, who was next to Mo Ran - no, Taxian-Jun, and looking at the table to avoid eye contact, then back to his cousin and then to the twins sitting next to him, as if he could find the answer to a question on their faces. After a while, he asked, "What the hell does this mean?" springing up a big laugh from Taxian-Jun.

"You're as dense as ever, cousin," he replied when he stopped laughing, still keeping an annoying grin on his face. "What can this possibly mean, if not what you see?"

"I'll explain tomorrow," Chu Wanning said hurriedly, finally managing to pull Taxian-Jun to a standing position. "We're going to bed, now ." He turned back to look at Xue Meng and mouthed a Sorry .

Before doing as he said, Taxian-Jun turned back to Xue Meng and let his smile grow wider in mockery, keeping his gaze on him as he replied to Chu Wanning. "Fine, we're going to bed. But we aren't sleeping tonight." And with a fluttery of robes, they left the room.

Sitting quietly in his corner, Shi Mei had brought a hand to his mouth in shock, unsure whether to laugh or be concerned.

Xue Meng stared at their seats for a long time, his mouth ajar. As his younger twin exploded in a noisy laugh, Mei Hanxue squeezed Xue Meng’s shoulder reassuringly. “Are you okay?”

Xue Meng didn’t respond right away. After a while, he slowly shook his head, still unable to look away from where Chu Wanning and Mo Ran stood a few minutes before. “That-” he eventually managed to say. “That was Taxian-Jun?”

Shi Mei let out a shaking breath. “I’m afraid so.”

“H-how is that possible?!” Xue Meng asked, his voice pitching a little at the end. The more time passed, the more shocked he was.

“I have no idea,” Shi Mei admitted.

The younger twin, who had finally stopped laughing, rested his elbow on the table and, supporting it with his hand, he tilted his head to the side, openly displaying his grin. “He had his spiritual core taken out in front of the entire cultivation world and that is what shocks you?” The other stayed quiet. “I’m sorry, Xue Meng, but I do find it quite fun.”

Xue Meng suddenly got up from his seat. “I- I’m gonna go to sleep,” he said with a trembling voice, eyes unfocused.

Mei Hanxue turned serious all at once, getting to his feet too almost at the same time as his older brother. “Do you feel sick? Should we take you to your room?”

Xue Meng shook his head. “No, I just-” he stuttered. “I just need to rest.” And without saying anything more, he circled the table and left the room.

He spent the night thinking about the new discovery. After some hours of thinking, he remembered how Mo Ran had “gotten sick” the day after their reunion and how Chu Wanning would let him meet his ge, and how a similar thing had happened on their way back to Sisheng Peak. It didn’t take much longer to connect the dots.

So his Shizun had known about it for a long time and was now much used to it.

But weren’t Taxian-Jun and Mo Ran two completely different people? How could Chu Wanning be okay with that?

The next day, despite being tired, he tried to pay attention to how the feared Emperor of the cultivation world and his Shizun behaved together. He especially kept a close eye on Chu Wanning, observing every one of his reactions.

He hadn’t exactly paid attention on how Chu Wanning acted around Mo Ran, as he mostly felt embarrassed to think about his Shizun and his cousin in that kind of relationship, but for what he remembered, Chu Wanning didn’t seem one to display his feelings for everyone to see.

But now, as Taxian-Jun talked and talked about who knows what, sometimes screaming out orders that didn’t make much sense to Xue Meng, he noticed how Chu Wanning’s face turned gentle, almost fond, when he looked at Taxian-Jun and realized that he always had that expression while looking at Mo Ran.

At that realization, Xue Meng’s heart began to beat fast. Was Chu Wanning like him? Was it not weird to like two people who looked so much alike, but were nothing similar in the end?

Despite having been awake for almost two days, it still took him a long time to fall asleep that night too.

That evening, they arrived at a village a few miles from the Master healer’s estate. As it was already late, they stopped once again at an inn and decided to wake up early the next day and as they were too tired from the continuous travel, they decided to skip dinner.

As everyone turned to go up to their rooms, Xue Meng reached a hand to stop Chu Wanning from leaving. Chu Wanning looked back at him, eyebrows arched in question.

Xue Meng looked down at his feet, trying to find the right words, then he looked back at him and said shyly, “Can I talk to you? Alone.”

Chu Wanning noticed him staring behind him and turned his head to find Mo Ran a few feet away, waiting for him. He felt the hand in his arm tighten, as if afraid he might leave, and then release him completely.

Xue Meng straightened his back and looked away, adjusting his clothes nervously. “Nevermind, you must be ti-”

“I’ll come up soon,” he heard Chu Wanning say, not to him but to Mo Ran. The other just nodded and walked away, leaving the former master and disciple alone. “Want to go for a walk?”

Xue Meng stared at him without saying anything and after a while he just nodded, moving towards the door.

The two walked in silence for a while, one confused on how to voice his thoughts, the other relaxed as he stared at the moon. In the quiet of the late night, only their footsteps could be heard.

“If this is about your disciple,” said Chu Wanning, breaking the silence. Xue Meng startled a little at the sudden noise, breaking out of his thoughts. “You don’t have to worry about that, we’ll find a way to save him. We always have.”

The younger man suddenly stopped walking. “It’s not about him.”

Chu Wanning stopped a few steps ahead, not turning around to face Xue Meng but instead still staring at the moon ahead of him.

As he was getting even more nervous Xue Meng started playing with his hands. “I know I should be worried about him right now, I am! But-… I should make him my priority and not worry about such a stupid thing yet I keep thinking about it and- and it bothers me!”

Chu Wanning still didn’t turn around. Xue Meng let out a frustrated sigh and whispered, “Do you love both of them?”

Chu Wanning finally turned around, looking at his former disciple with a confused expression. “What do you mean?”

“My ge and-” he paused, searching for the right words to use. Not finding any suitable words, he finished, “and that ‘Emperor’.”

Chu Wanning choked on air, muttering some nonsensical sentences. Under the moonlight, both Shizun and disciple were bright red in embarrassment. After a while, Xue Meng spoke again. “So, do you?”

The other turned away again, still embarrassed, but took a deep breath and answered. “Yes. I do love him. All sides of him.”

"But aren't they two completely different people? How can you love both of them"

Chu Wanning shook his head, a faint smile appearing on his face. "They might act and speak differently, they may seem like two different people but, in the end, they're both him . And he's the person I love." 

Xue Meng was speechless. Despite already knowing the feelings between his Shizun and his cousin were anything but platonic, the strength of this love caught him by surprise. And made him even more confused. Mo Ran and Taxian-Jun were the same person, so Chu Wanning had no problem loving them - him . But for Xue Meng, it was different. Chu Wanning couldn't help him.

He was about to end the conversation, say goodnight and go back inside, when another voice interrupted them, "This is not what you wanted to talk about, though, right?"

Chu Wanning and Xue Meng looked in the direction the voice came from and noticed a shadow moving closer to them. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it was getting late and I was worried," the shadow said with a not-so-apologetic smile.

"Ge?"

"Mo Ran!" Chu Wanning exclaimed with a bright red face. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough," he said, moving close enough to put an arm around his shoulder, keeping him close. " Baobei ."

Chu Wanning tried to free himself to no avail and stopped only when he noticed Mo Ran wasn't looking at him, but at Xue Meng.

 "Personally, I think your situations are different." Xue Meng's heart was beating fast, both scared and excited that Mo Ran heard their conversation and understood, so that he didn't have to say it out loud himself.

"And what- what do you think about it?" He whispered. "Isn't it- Isn't it weird? And wrong?"

"That you love two people?" Xue Meng slowly nodded and Mo Ran shrugged in response. "With time, I came to learn that love is always weird, always unpredictable but never wrong. Who says you can't love both of them?"

The other stayed quiet, considering his words for a little while. Mo Ran continued, "Besides, they pretended to be one person for years, it's easy to be confused."

"So you think I'm only confused because I thought they were one person?" Xue Meng asked. 

It made sense, he thought. They’ve pretended to be the same person for years, despite having completely different personalities. Nevertheless, Xue Meng’s doubt wasn’t solved; they’ve been in contact for the last eight years and he prided himself on how he could differentiate one from the other with just one look. Sure, maybe in the past he thought Mei Hanxue was just an annoying rival, the da-shixiong from Kunlun Taxue Palace that every girl fawned over and yet the outstanding, number one disciple of his sect; but that person was now two different people and Xue Meng’s only close friends.

Mo Ran could see his cousin’s brain working. "I think," he let go of Chu Wanning to put his hands on his cousin's shoulders. "That love doesn't always make sense and I can tell that you love them. Both of them. And you aren't exactly subtle."

Xue Meng was startled. "What?!" He screamed, then remembered it was already late and rapidly closed his mouth, his face red. “It can’t be that obvious!” He turned to look at Chu Wanning for confirmation but the other wouldn’t meet his eyes, looking at the ground instead. “Fuck,” he whispered.

Before Chu Wanning could scold him, Mo Ran let out a big, hearty laugh and gave his cousin a gentle shoulder slap. “Don’t worry, Mengmeng. It’s going to be fine.”

The other groaned. “I think I need some sleep.”

Chu Wanning touched his arm gently as he smiled at him. “Let’s go to sleep then,” he whispered. 

The three of them walked upstairs together and bid Xue Meng goodnight in front of his room, then continued down the corridor to theirs. Xue Meng looked at them in the dark, seeing Mo Ran swiftly putting his arm around the other’s waist, tugging him closer as they walked. For a moment he thought Chu Wanning would push him away and scold him but instead he gently bent his head to the right, laying it on Mo Ran’s left shoulder. 

Xue Meng was hit by waves of mixed feelings, embarrassment, disgust and even envy.

As he saw the two figures disappear in the dark, he imagined to be held like that by either of the Mei brothers, then by both of them, keeping him safe in an embrace that looked suffocating yet was anything but. Before he could wander farther in these thoughts, he heard a door shut and immediately realized what he was thinking about.

He opened the door to his room frenetically, locking it immediately behind him as he slid against it, his heart beating loud and fast, his face red. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself, then he took out his outer robe and laid down on the bed, trying not to think at all.

Yet, every time he closed his eyes, those images kept flashing back, more and more vivid, as if haunting him.

He didn’t get much sleep.

It took them one more day of travel, but finally they found themselves standing in front of a big estate, surrounded by tall reeds and protected by strong walls. 

Despite being early in the morning, the sky was darker than expected, even with no clouds in sight.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Mo Ran said, eyes cautious as he looked at Shi Mei.

"No need to be so on edge," Shi Mei replied calmly. "If I wanted to harm you, I would've used easier methods."

Mo Ran took a step forward. "What does that mean?" 

Chu Wanning raised a hand in front of him to stop him. "Mo Ran," he whispered.

"It's okay, I know he doesn't trust me. I don't blame him," Shi Mei continued with a sad smile. "And that was just a joke. As I've said, I'm only here to help you."

Mo Ran narrowed his eyes but let the subject drop.

Shi Mei walked up to knock on the black wood of the main door, who was at least twice as tall as him. Not a second later, the door opened and a guard stepped outside. "How may I help you?"

Shi Mei bowed his head, then, with a smile, he introduced himself. "I am Shi Mei, I've been under the guidance of the Master of this estate years ago. I've come to ask Wang-xiangsheng for help."

The guard looked him up and down, then stepped aside. "Come in, I'll inform the Master of your visit."

The group walked in, a little perplexed on how easily they were let inside. Shi Mei, instead, was calm and smiling to himself. "He has helped many people," he explained. "But due to his seclusion, he is not well known. But once a year, he sends a guard outside to bring some orphans back here, then teaches them all he can before sending them back to the outside world, so he's also helped people indirectly. Who I am today is also because of his teachings."

As he finished, they heard a few guards walk towards them, so they all straightened themselves up and looked ahead. Behind the four guards, a man dressed in pale yellow was walking calmly with his chin high, followed by five young girls in pink dresses that looked to be between the ages of ten and eighteen.

Once in front of the group, the guards split in two sides, leaving the middle open for the man to walk.

As he walked closer, Xue Meng noticed that he looked quite old, maybe even older than Master Huaizui but his attitude made him look much younger than that.

The man stopped in front of Shi Mei then clapped his hands together with a smile. "Shi Mei!" he exclaimed. "I'm happy to see you're well."

"Wang-xiangsheng, it's good to meet you again," Shi Mei replied.

The Master looked behind Shi Mei at the rest of the group. "Are these your friends?" he asked with a smile.

Shi Mei's smile faltered, unsure on what to say, but, before he could reply, Chu Wanning took a step forward and bowed lightly. "We are," he said simply. "My name is Chu Wanning. We're here today in the name of Sisheng Peak and the entire cultivation world. We need your help."

The man bowed back with a smile. "Chu-zongshi, I have heard of you. I'm honoured to have you here," he said. "I am Wang Bao'an, the Master of this modest estate. Why don't you all come in and explain what the problem is?"

It was already clear from outside, but once they walked inside they all understood that "modest estate" was definitely an understatement.

The main hall, although not as big as the one at Sisheng Peak, was still wide enough to host at least a hundred people, which was unusual even for the lower cultivation sects who still had no less than a few hundred disciples. The floor was in black wood and the walls were painted black and decorated in gold. Around the room could be found some small shelves, full of books and scrolls, and a few ornamentary weapons and armor.

Right at the center, elevated from the rest of the room, stood the master seat, also made in black wood with gold garnishment.

As Wang Bao'an sat on his master seat, he gestured for two of the young disciples. She disappeared behind a folding screen in a corner of the room and reappeared a moment later with a few cushions. With the help of the other girls, she positioned them in front of her Master, inviting everyone to sit.

Shi Mei decided to stay standing as he explained their situation.

“I’ve heard of this curse,” Wang Bao’an said, nodding. “It’s a very old one, I’m surprised there’s anyone except me who has even heard of it, much less mastered it.”

Xue Meng sat up, a little on edge. "Is there a cure?"

Wang Bao'an smiled. "Of course there is, it's a curse not an illness, so it's easier to break," he explained. "And it already broke out a century ago, so I'm familiar with it."

The group looked at each other: how old was he to be familiar with a century old curse?

Xue Meng couldn't wait anymore. "How can the curse be broken?"

“It’s not hard to do it," he said calmly. "A powder that can be mixed with incense, put in the room with the cursed person, can do the trick.” He said, walking around the room with his hands behind his back. “But,” he stopped, looking at the group, “the ingredients are not easy to find. Not all of them at least.”

Xue Meng waited once more for the man to continue, he seemed to love pausing every other sentence just to keep him on edge.

“We need a fruit that only grows on a specific mountain and a plant that grows in a lake nearby,” he continued. “Unfortunately, I can’t leave this place, so I’ll entrust you with this mission, if you’re willing.”

“Of course we are!” Xue Meng said immediately. 

Mei Hanxue let out a rare smile. “That’s why we’re here, anyway.”

"Good," he continued. "I'll show you on the map where these places are."

They went to look for the fruit first, as the mountain it grew on was closer. By horse, it took them a little over a day of travel to get to its foot.

An hour after sunset, they arrived at a small village at the outskirts of the mortal realm. Most of the houses were smaller than the main hall at Sishen Peak and only a few stood out, but were still more plain than a farmer's house in any other city. The streets weren't even wide enough for a small carriage to pass through, so they decided to get down from  their horses and continue on foot.

As they walked down what seemed to be the main street, the few people who were still outside looked at them suspiciously. A young child yelped as Xue Meng met his eyes and ran down the street as fast as he could, looking behind him from time to time, until he disappeared from his view.

When they were a few feet ahead of the biggest house, the only one big enough to have a semblance of fence all the way around it, they noticed the kid from earlier talking panicked to another person.

Chu Wanning stopped in his tracks. He examined the taller figure as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Then, uncertain, he asked, "Miss Ye?"

The person turned around, surprised, and everyone stared at her for a long time without saying a word. After a while, Mei Hanxue let out a laugh.

"Nice meeting you here, Ye Wangxi! How long has it been?"

Ye Wangxi slightly bowed her head in courtesy. "Young Master Mei." She turned to give everyone a bow but was stopped by Mo Ran.

"There's no need, we're all old friends, right?" He smiled at her brightly and she couldn't help but do the same.

"Jiejie?" The little kid asked, tugging gently at her sleeve to gain her attention. "You know them?"

She smiled gently at him as she patted him on the head. "En, they're old friends of mine. You don't need to worry."

He peeked at them from his hiding post behind Ye Wangxi,  unsure on what to do. Mo Ran moved a little closer, causing him to hide again completely. Mo Ran crouched down, smiling gently. 

"Do you want to see a magic trick?"

The kid's head appeared from behind Ye Wangxi’s thighs. He nodded slowly.

Mo Ran held out his empty palm then closed it. After a short moment he opened it again. On his previously empty palm was now a small shining crimson paper crane. "Hold your palm out," he instructed. As the kid did so, the little paper crane started flipping its crooked wings and, slowly, it flew from Mo Ran's palm to the kid's.

The kid's eyes gleamed and he gave Mo Ran a big smile. "Thank you, gege!"

Mo Ran ruffled his hair a little. "It's getting late kid, I think you should go home."

The younger one nodded vigorously, he waved his hand at Ye Wangxi, "Goodnight, jiejie!" He turned and waved to everyone else, "Bye bye," then he left half-running, half-skipping, still holding the crane gently in his hand.

Xue Meng couldn't help but smile. "You're still so good with kids."

"He is indeed," a rusty voice said. 

Everyone turned around towards it and saw an older man coming from the house, a crane on his right hand to support his walking while his left hand was kept behind his back.

"Lu-xiangzhang," Ye Wangxi greeted him with a smile.

"Xiao Xi, want to introduce us?" asked the old man, who they now knew was the village chief, with a gentle smile.

Chu Wanning walked forward and bowed. “Xiangzhang, I’m Chu Wanning, a free cultivator. These here are…” he looked back at the five younger boys, who were now over thirty but still looked ten years younger. “My disciples.” 

They all held their hands together in front of them as they bowed slightly. The village chief laughed gently. “There is no need to be so courteous, Chu-xianjun. This is but a small village and you’re also Xiao Xi’s friends, so, tell me, what can I do for you?” 

“Thanks to the xiangzhang. We’re looking for a mountain not too far from here but as it is getting late, I was wondering if there is any room for us to stay?”

The old man nodded in understanding. “Come with me,” he said as he turned around towards his house.

Ye Wangxi walked over to him, and as he was going really slow, it only took her three long strides to get by his side. “Lu-xiangzhang, there is no need, they can stay at my house.”

He waived his free hand at her and continued walking. “Do you even have enough room for all of them?” Ye Wangxi hesitated and he chuckled a little. “Besides, my house has been empty for a long time, it’d be nice to have a little company, if just for a night.”

The village chief gave them some bedding and brought them to the biggest room in the house, which was still fairly small for six people to sleep in. He apologized for the humble accommodations and promised them a nice breakfast in the morning.

Tired from the long day of travel, everyone quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, Ye Wangxi was the one to call for them. "Breakfast is ready," she said loud enough to be heard from the other side of the door.

They all sat down at the table just as soon as Ye Wangxi placed down the last plate. She turned around to leave but Mei Hanxue stopped her. 

"You're not gonna eat with us?" He asked.

She smiled at him. "I already ate, thank you."She tried to leave but was stopped once again.

"So, do you work for that old man now?" 

Ye Wangxi's smile grew bigger as she shook her head. "This is a very small village, nobody works for anyone, we just help each other," she explained. 

Mei Hanxue nodded as he smiled, "That's good, that's good…" Ye Wangxi turned to go one more time and Xue Meng noticed, with a strike to his heart, that Mei Hanxue was about to stop her again.

"Miss Ye, wouldn’t you like to come with us?" But it wasn’t the younger twin's voice this time. Everyone turned to look at Chu Wanning, who was innocently smiling at the woman. "We could use a guide, plus you're a talented cultivator too."

Xue Meng frowned as a weird sensation turned his stomach. Despite always having felt admiration towards Ye Wangxi, for some unknown reason he didn't want her to come along. 

On her part, Ye Wangxi felt grateful for it but still she smiled apologetically, slightly shaking her head. "I'd rather not leave the village, these people truly rely on me."

"It would only be for a few days," continued Chu Wanning. "Only to get to the mountain as safely and as fast as possible."

Everyone, except Xue Meng, who was unusually quiet, tried to convince her. Mei Hanxue even tugged her sleeve a few times like a kid and said jokingly, "C'mon, Miss Ye, come with da-shixiong ," elongating the 'o' with a whiny tone.

His brother covered his face with his hand, but couldn't help the smile forming on his lips as everyone at the table laughed. 

All except Xue Meng, who simply stared at the food in front of him. Suddenly, he was reminded of the time, many, many years ago, that they spent at Peach Blossom Springs, of how Mei Hanxue had flirted with Ye Wangxi in front of everyone and how she had fought with him for being shameless.

His frown deepened and he closed his hands into tight fists, his fingernails digging into his skin. He looked up a little to see Mei Hanxue still holding Ye Wangxi's sleeve as he tried to convince her to go with them. His throat closed up.

Was Mei Hanxue interested in Ye Wangxi? Or was it all just to make her say yes? 

But especially, he asked himself, was this the time to be preoccupied on whom Mei Hanxue was after?

Xue Meng let out a deep sigh. For the first time in his life, he got a taste of what jealousy was.

After a long time of pleading, even more of pestering, especially from Mei Hanxue, and a short explanation of what had happened, Ye Wangxi finally agreed to accompany them. She explained to the village chief that she wouldn't be gone for long but he waved his hand with a kind smile to signal that it didn't need an explanation, she could do as she pleased and come back whenever she wanted, the village would always welcome her back.

He even had some rations prepared for them in a sack and had their horses fed for the journey ahead. He watched them go until they were pretty far away and with his eyesight he couldn't tell them all apart anymore. "Good luck," he whispered to the wind.

It took them around four hours to get to the base of the mountain and, as it was already lunch time, they stopped at a nice, shadowed spot in which they could rest and eat.

A little over an hour later they started searching for the designated path up the mountain; the closer they got to the mountain, more and more trees there were, making it difficult to move through with horses, so they left them in a slightly more open area where they could easily be found when they came back. Then, they went ahead through the trees, Mo Ran on the front guiding the group.

Ye Wangxi insisted on staying at the end of the line and the younger twin decided to keep her company. Sometimes, Xue Meng would turn his head back a little and catch them talking as they walked together. He sighed everytime he looked back ahead, trying to focus back on their mission. 

Suddenly, he heard a laugh from behind and he immediately turned to catch Ye Wangxi chuckling as Mei Hanxue looked at the ground. Even with his head lowered, he was clearly blushing. Xue Meng felt his chest hurt and tried to look away from them, when he noticed the older brother looking at him with a confused glance. 

Xue Meng panicked as he turned and tripped, almost falling on top of Shi Mei. Luckily, Mei Hanxue had grabbed him in time, holding him by his arm with one hand, while the other held onto his waist. They stared at each other for a moment, until Ye Wangxi and the younger twin caught up to them and Mei Hanxue let out an annoyed cough.

Xue Meng scrolled himself off just as Mei Hanxue let go of him, then stormed off ahead, leaving the three behind to move closer to Shi Mei. As he walked farther away, he still managed to hear the two brothers talk.

"You had fun, huh?" The question sounded teasing but also accusatory in a way.

"Was I supposed to let him fall?" The older brother replied, annoyed.

Xue Meng frowned and he sped up ahead, not wanting to hear anymore. 

When she saw that he was too far away to hear them, Ye Wangxi sighed as the two brothers kept arguing. "How old are you two, to fight over a guy like this?" They both immediately shut up, embarrassed. She smiled, softened by their feelings, then remembered how Xue Meng all but stormed off and turned serious. "But, I think he might have misunderstood."

The other two looked up to where Xue Meng had disappeared; through the dense forest, he could still be seen, many meters ahead. "We should go too before we get separated," the older brother said, already moving. The others followed.

Finding the path was harder than they thought, but after an hour they found it. It wasn't a big path, it was large enough for a person to walk but not enough for two walking next to each other. For what they could see, it stretched straight for a hundred or so meters, then turned right as it actually circled around the mountain, disappearing behind the many trees.

Once they arrived at the turn, they all stopped, as they had all sensed something in front of them.

"A barrier?!" Xue Meng exclaimed, exasperated. "The elder didn't say anything about a barrier!"

Shi Mei turned around to reassure him with a smile. "Don't worry, it's not difficult to pass through," Xue Meng looked at him surprised as he explained. "But I'll have to stay down here and hold it open while you're inside."

Chu Wanning opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again and nodded. "It's probably best if you stay here, but it's not safe to stay alone, especially since we'll be trapped inside if anything happened to you." He paused and turned to look at Mo Ran. The two of them seemed to have a silent conversation for a minute, Mo Ran's frown turning deeper and deeper as Chu Wanning's gaze turned more intense. Eventually, Mo Ran sighed deeply. "Mo Ran will protect you," he concluded.

Shi Mei looked at Mo Ran with a sad smile but accepted the help. He kneeled at the center of the path in front of the barrier, and drew a complicated array on the earth. He mumbled an incantation, then touched the ground with his right index finger, right in the center of the array. "It's open," he said, his eyes open but unfocused.

"How long can you keep it open?" Chu Wanning asked.

"A few hours, if nothing happens of course," he replied calmly.

Chu Wanning nodded, "That's enough time." He waved a hand at the other four to make them follow him, then he entered the barrier first.

Xue Meng stopped next to Shi Mei and whispered a thank you before walking inside too.

Once they were all inside, they noticed that the environment had changed. While they were still definitely on a mountain path, the trees were actually scarce on this side. Despite clearly seeing Shi Mei through the opening, from their perspective it appeared from a dense forest, no path to be seen.

Ye Wangxi observed in awe, "So it was just an illusion."

"Mn, to keep intruders away," replied Chu Wanning. "We should get moving, we don't know how long it's gonna take us to get to the peak."

Mei Hanxue frowned in confusion as he followed behind him. "Couldn't Shi Mei just close the barrier and open it again later?" 

Chu Wanning shook his head as he kept walking. "This barrier doesn't exactly work as a door. It confuses those who make contact with it as much as it keeps them outside. If Shi Mei were to close the barrier, we might find ourselves in a completely different place and get lost. Even if we didn't get lost, he might not hear us once we're back or the barrier could open somewhere else entirely. You could see this as a maze, until the barrier is open, there's only one path, if it closes…" he trailed off.

"And you and Shi Mei realized that so fast, you both truly deserve your fame," Mei Hanxue exclaimed.

Chu Wanning simply continued walking, putting his hands behind his back. 

The illusion seemed to hide the real height of the mountain too, because they got to the top in just a little over thirty minutes. Right at the peak, the path opened to what looked like a garden, rich of plants and flowers of any kind, some none of them had even ever seen before. 

At the center of this garden stood a tree, taller than Loyalty Hall and covered almost the same length. Its trunk was very thick and it reminded Xue Meng of the armory at Jincheng lake, except there weren’t any openings in this one. Its  leaves were small and bright green, placed almost perfectly on each branch. 

The five people at its feet were awestruck, as they had never seen anything like it. They all stared at it for a long moment, then Chu Wanning reminded himself what they were there for. “We should get the fruit and go, we don’t know how much longer Shi Mingjing can last.”

The others nodded and looked up to the tree to find its fruits. Everyone immediately noticed a problem: despite being quite big, it didn’t seem to have many and the few that could be seen were all near the top. 

Out of habit, Xue Meng turned to look at the twins, who looked just as helpless as him but before he could even talk a golden light appeared in his line of sight. 

It had been many years since Xue Meng had last seen it, but still Tianwen looked as bright and beautiful as it did back then. As he turned to completely look at Chu Wanning, Xue Meng suddenly felt sixteen again, looking up to his Shizun with his weapon in hand and thinking he definitely was like a god. 

This time though, Tianwen disappeared as fast as it came. With a blink, Xue Meng realized he had been staring without fully focusing and that Chu Wanning was now holding one of those weird shaped fruits.

,

“I should get myself one of those,” Mei Hanxue laughed as he clapped at Chu Wanning.

Chu Wanning gave Xue Meng an almost concerned gaze, then he simply said, “Let’s go down.” 

The walk down was even faster. Close to the end of the path, the younger twin asked out loud, “Wasn’t this a little too easy?”

No one replied, but they all felt the same way.

They turned one last time and finally the opening in the barrier could be seen a few hundred meters ahead. Despite it still being quite far, they could all see Shi Mei was starting to feel the weight of keeping it open the whole time. 

Once they all passed the barrier, Shi Mei let himself fall to the side, tired. Mo Ran was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Mo Ran?” Chu Wanning and Xue Meng asked at the same time, worried. 

Shi Mei sighed. “Around two hours after you left, we heard a loud noise coming from the forest, so he went for a look. He hasn’t come back yet, but I couldn’t go find him, so I’ve been here alone for a while now.”

“If he’s been gone for that long he might’ve found trouble, we should go look for-” Chu Wanning stopped abruptly then turned to look down at Shi Mei, who was still on the ground, looking exhausted. “How long have we been inside?”

Shi Mei seemed to think it over for a moment, then he answered, “The forest is too dense here, most of the sunlight is filtered but I think it has been four, maybe five hours.”

The others gasped and mumbled something to themselves. At Shi Mei’s confused expression, Xue Meng walked closer to him and simply explained, “It wasn’t that long for us. Can you get up?” He held out his hand for Shi Mei to grab onto, then he helped him stand up. “Can you walk?”

Shi Mei smiled gently at him, then nodded, so Xue Meng let him go.

They were about to start walking towards the open space where they had left the horses when they saw someone turn on the path with four of them in tow, held together by Jiangui.

“Ge!” Xue Meng exclaimed as he ran towards him. “What happened?”

Mo Ran sighed, obviously tired and drenched in sweat. “Someone scared away the horses, so I had to run around looking for them. I’m still missing three, but as they couldn’t get too deep into the forest, they might be too far away now.” He looked behind Xue Meng at the others, then said, “Everyone okay with sharing horses?”

The next stop was the lake but as they got out of the forest they realized that it was actually already dark, so they stopped at the clearing where they had originally left the horses, lit a fire and decided to settle for the night. They had prepared some bedding just in case, so they took turns to guard the camp.

The next morning, once they all got ready, they gathered near the four horses.

Mo Ran petted the one next to him as he looked at everyone else around him. “As the other three horses are nowhere to be found, we’re gonna have to share,” he said, then turned to look at Chu Wanning. “You’re with me.”

To Xue Meng’s shock, he heard Chu Wanning whisper ‘ obviously ’, before jumping on the horse. Behind him, he heard Mei Hanxue laugh.

“Miss Ye, how about-” he tried to say, but he was shot down immediately by a gentle slap from his brother.

“Hanxue, stop it.”

The younger twin pointed at Ye Wangxi, still smiling, ready to say that she didn’t mind his jokes, when he noticed the concerned look she was sending him. When she turned her head, he followed her gaze and his eyes met Xue Meng’s. With a deep frown in his face, he certainly didn’t look very pleased. 

Mei Hanxue’s smile fell. Before he could say anything, Xue Meng turned away, walking towards a horse. With his back straight and chin high, he said loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Shi Mei, you don’t have a problem riding with me, right?”

Shi Mei hesitated for a moment, then he agreed, shooting an apologetic smile at the twins.

The brothers ended up sharing a horse while Ye Wangxi rode alone. 

As they passed near the village, Xue Meng expected her to say goodbye and just leave, but was surprised when she didn’t even turn its way, instead focusing ahead.

The lake wasn’t far from the mountain, so it only took them a couple hours to get there. Despite being quite a big lake with clear waters, with the surrounding area open and protected by the mountains, the nearest village was still a dozen miles from it.

They looked around for the plant described by the immortal and surprisingly it didn’t take them long to find it near the shore as it was actually in plain sight.

“Now, this is definitely too easy,” Mei Hanxue said, trying to lighten up the mood as everyone looked concerned.

Behind them, on the other side of the lake, appeared a red light, making them turn around immediately, but when they looked in that direction, they just saw it disappear into the lake.

Suddenly, the water surface started shaking and, as dark clouds started setting above the lake, a whirlpool started forming in the center of the lake.

The air was getting thicker every second and the area around the lake was turning darker as more and more clouds covered the sun. A golden light illuminated the space around the group, as Chu Wanning promptly created a barrier to protect them all.

After a long moment, the whirlpool slowly disappeared and the waters turned calm once again. Yet the dark clouds were still above the lake, undeterred. All of a sudden, a thunder struck down, hitting the surface of the lake, and right after something surged up out of the lake. Water rose with it, creating a giant wave that would’ve pushed the group miles away, possibly drowning them, if not for Chu Wanning’s barrier.

It was hard to see at first, but after a while it became apparent that the figure that emerged from the lake was tall and it had a big serpent-like head with two tiny, shining silver eyes and a long neck that disappeared underwater. 

The already shaken group became even more concerned as, in the dark, the shining eyes became four, then six, until there were nine pairs of eyes looking directly at them.

“A hydra?!” Mo Ran exclaimed, shocked.

As more and more thunder struck down, they could finally see clearly what they had in front of them. Nine necks and nine heads moving through the air but never once looking away from the group.

Mo Ran and Chu Wanning immediately summoned their weapons. “Hold the barrier up,” the older said to the other five. The twins immediately casted a charm to keep the barrier steady and made it bigger to protect Mo Ran and Chu Wanning as they attacked.  

The two leaped up in the air, using Jiangui and Tianwen to strike down at the monster, supported by Ye Wangxi who shot flaming arrows towards the heads.

All the while, Shi Mei could only guess what was going on around him, being unable to help both for his condition and for his inability in combat. Xue Meng was petrified. He looked at everyone fighting in front of him and suddenly he felt sixteen again, helpless as he stared at his ge and his Shizun fighting for their lives to close the heavenly rift.

He thought back to Jiang Xi’s words back at Sisheng peak, before he left to look for the healer. “You really haven’t changed,” he had said. And, as Xue Meng could only stare at Chu Wanning trapping all nine heads with ten thousand coffins , he felt rage and shame rise inside him. 

He really hadn’t changed. 

When his eyes focused again, the sky had cleared once again and the twins were looking at him concerned.

“Are you okay?” they asked at the same time.

Behind them, he noticed Shi Mei checking a wound in Ye Wangxi’s arm.

All his suppressed feelings that still hadn’t gone away made him feel overwhelmed. He took a step away from them, then said, “Why don’t you go ask her?” It wasn’t yelled, but it wasn’t said quietly either. As the others all turned to look at him, he didn’t notice the twins' expressions turning from confusion to guilt.

He turned around and stormed off.

That night they settled in a improvised camp near the lake, but still quite far from the shore, just to be safe.

After the scene at the lake, when he wasn’t able to do anything as he watched the others fight the water hydra, Xue Meng spent the evening contemplating whether or not he was capable of protecting his disciple and everyone he loved. 

Despite not being too scared of the monster, he was still unable to help as he was mostly skilled with his sword and nothing else. He had even embarrassed himself in front of everyone.

As he sat near the fire they had made to keep themselves warm, he stared and picked at it with a small stick of wood, sighing from time to time. 

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

Xue Meng startled a little, moving his eyes away from the fire. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dark but eventually he made out the two identical figures standing behind him. "I’ll guard the place first, you can go to sleep.”

The two brothers looked at each other with regret in their eyes, then the younger one walked a little closer. “Xue Meng, about Ye Wangxi, you know I just like to joke around, it’s nothing serious.”

Xue Meng clicked his tongue as he picked at the fire again. “Who cares about that,” he mumbled.

But he did care, even when his only concern should be his disciple on the verge of death. Filled with shame, he covered his face with his free hand and sighed once again.

Slowly, the other two moved to sit in front of the fire too, one on each side of him, as if to protect him but still a certain distance away.

“I’m really sorry, okay? It was just to fool around at first, but I noticed your reaction back at the village and I just wanted to play with you a little. I know I’m an idiot,” Mei Hanxue sighed.

Xue Meng didn’t respond but he let out a deep breath.

“Xue Meng?” The older brother asked tentatively.

Xue Meng dropped the stick and raised his other hand to his face, resting his elbows on his thighs. “I’m just- I’m so useless,” he whispered, his voice muffled by his hands. 

In response, the two brothers moved closer, completely caging him. “What? Why are you saying that?” 

Surprisingly, Xue Meng didn’t feel like crying, he just felt like letting everything out might help him feel better. “When have I helped in this mission? If it weren’t for everyone else I couldn’t save anyone, just like back then.”

The two brothers looked at each other, understanding Xue Meng was just overthinking and needed a distraction.

Mei Hanxue reached out his hands to hold his wrists, moving them away from his face. When he was certain that Xue Meng was looking at him, he smiled as he said softly, "You underestimate yourself, A-Meng. You are strong."

Despite feeling down just a moment before, hearing Mei Hanxue calling him with a pet name, Xue Meng felt a shiver down his spine and straightened up in response. Immediately, he felt a hand on his shoulder and as he heard the older brother whisper "Meng'er, it’s going to be okay,” then he moved his hand up and down his arm in a soothing way. “Relax." Despite his advice, he tensed even more.

"Don't panic," he felt the younger brother's voice close to his ear and noticed that now both of them were kind of caging him. 

"W-what are you doing?" He tried to shield himself with his arms but each of them caught one by the wrist.

The older one, always a man of few words, only repeated "Relax," this time only an inch away from his ear, the warmth of his breath sending a shiver down his spine. “Just for a while, stop thinking.”

The other brought Xue Meng's right hand to his mouth and kissed its back.  "We know you like it," he said as he left another kiss. "That you like us ."

It wasn't a question. Xue Meng's heart trembled, both in fear and expectation, and he let out a shaky breath.

"Just in case you hadn’t noticed, we like you too, Meng'er," whispered Mei Hanxue as he moved his hand to cup his cheek, the other still holding his left wrist.

Xue Meng's heart started beating so fast he thought he was gonna die soon. He felt the hand on his face push gently and he let himself turn his head in the direction, unable to fight back.

As he stared at the older brother, their faces a mere few inches apart, he felt the younger's arm slowly circling him from behind, pulling him closer. He had no way to escape now and, thinking about it honestly, he didn't even want to.

"Can I kiss you?" The one in front of him asked and Xue Meng, unable to even speak, just nodded. Before he knew it, two gentle lips were pressed against his own.

The kiss lasted only a few seconds, soft and tentative, as Mei Hanxue didn’t want to push it too far. When they separated once again, Xue Meng felt some quick kisses behind his ear.

He turned to look at younger brother, who smiled brightly at him. “You’re blushing,” he whispered. “It’s adorable.”

Xue Meng was about to retort, telling him it was just the fire , but he was quieted with one more kiss, this time straight to his lips. Unlike his brother, the younger one didn't stop at just a peck. Raising a hand to Xue Meng’s nape, he tilted his head and licked his lips.

Surprised, Xue Meng opened his eyes, noticing that Mei Hanxue had never closed his and was looking right at him from not even an inch away. He tried to move back a little but the hand behind his neck kept him in place.

“I told you already,” the other whispered, their lips touching with every word. “Relax, A-Meng.”

He moved for another kiss but they suddenly startled by a deep laugh.

“I see you’re having fun, little cousin.”

Xue Meng looked towards the voice: barely illuminated by the fire, Mo Ran stood a few meters away from them, loosely wearing his inner robes only, his chest bare. Still a bit disorientated by the kisses, it took Xue Meng a moment to understand that the one in front of him was Taxian-Jun.

Taxian-Jun looked down at them with dark eyes, his mouth curved in an amused grin. “I can’t say I wasn’t expecting this, you were close in the other world too,” he chuckled, then his eyes fixated on Xue Meng only. “Even if you were much more confident back then, I still knew it would’ve ended up like this,” he continued, gesturing vaguely at how the two brother pressed Xue Meng between them.

“Mo Ran!” Chu Wanning screamed as he stormed towards them. With one hand he was pointing accusingly at Taxian-Jun, while the other was clutched at his chest, trying to hold his inner robes closed. He looked disheveled, his hair untied and messy, his cheeks red out of breathlessness and anger, and maybe something more. Despite the light of the fire it was still quite dark, but as he finally came next to Taxian-Jun it was impossible not to notice darker spots on the skin of pale neck. “Didn’t I tell you not to move?”

“And why would I listen to your orders?” 

Chu Wanning rolled his eyes then turned to look at the other three, who were still embarrassingly still in the same position. The older man blushed, looking away from them, and stumbled on his words for a moment. “I- I’m sorry. I c-couldn’t stop him.” Taxian-Jun clicked his tongue as Chu Wanning turned to look at him, taking a deep breath. “You three can go to sleep, we’ll keep watch for the rest of the night.”

The brothers got up first, helping Xue Meng to his feet, then walked away in a trance-like state, each holding one of Xue Meng’s arms, and only turned back once to see how Taxian-Jun brought Chu Wanning closer to him, holding him by the waist. After they were a good distance away, Mei Hanxue couldn’t help but let out a relieved laugh.

“That was insane, I was so embarrassed,” he said, still laughing. 

“Well, that’s a first,” his brother replied. 

Xue Meng was still shaken by the encounter, unused to Taxian-Jun's direct and unashamed speech. After staying quiet for so long, he asked, “Do you guys think I need to be more confident?”

The younger brother looked at him in disbelief. “Is that all you got from that conversation?” he asked, half laughing.

Xue Meng made a pained expression, rubbing his forehead with his hand. “I’d rather not think about all the other implications.”

The older brother raised a hand to Xue Meng’s cheek, making him look up at him. “A little confidence doesn’t hurt,” he said gently. “But you’re fine like this, too.”

Feeling left out, Mei Hanxue pouted. He moved closer to the other two, circling them both with his arms and hugging them tightly. “Yeah, we’d like you no matter what, A-Meng.”

Xue Meng let out a happy chuckle. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Should we go to sleep?”

“Mm,” the older brother agreed. “Let’s go.”

Once they got back to the estate, they walked into the main hall to find that some kind of ceremony had just ended. In the center of the room, kneeling in front of the master seat and dressed in a pale red dress, was the oldest of Wang Bao'an's disciples.

When the Master noticed them, he got down from the master seat and walked slowly towards them, a smile on his face. "Welcome back, you were faster than I expected."

They all bowed in a greeting, then Xue Meng said, "We brought what you asked for."

"Good, good," he cheered happily. He stopped when he noticed Ye Wangxi with the rest of the group. "Who is she?"

Ye Wangxi stepped forward and bowed with her hands held together. "I am Ye Wangxi, pleased to meet the Master," she said. "I'm an old acquaintance of Sect Leader Xue."

Wang Bao'an smiled. "An old acquaintance, huh? That's good, that's good," he said with a smile, keeping his eyes on her. 

"Wang-xiangsheng," Mo Ran spoke up, gaining the Master's attention. "May I ask what is happening here?"

"Huh?" he mumbled. He turned around to look at the room, his eyes fell on the girl kneeling on the other side of the room. "Oh," his smile came back on his face, this time looking a little forced. "It was a sort of graduation ceremony, Qing'er is ready to leave the estate. She needs to meditate there for a few hours before she can go."

The group smiled and congratulated the master for his disciple's success. 

Then, a little impatient, Xue Meng asked, "So, when can we have the completed antidote?"

"Oh, you still need one more thing," said Wang Bao'an.

"What?!" Xue Meng exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" 

"Xue Ziming," Chu Wanning reprimanded. "Attitude."

"Because this is the hardest part," Wang Bao’an said, unoffended. He turned around and paced towards the main seat, then back to the group. "You will need to go to the underworld for this."

"The underworld?" Ye Wangxi asked, shocked.

"To be completed, the antidote needs a flower that only grows there. The flower of death."

"But how can we possibly reach the underworld?" asked Mo Ran. He had already been there once and it hadn't been an easy journey.

"I have my ways," he said, smiling, then he gestured towards a door. "Wait for me in the courtyard."

After they left, he walked towards his disciple who was still kneeling on the floor. "Qing'er, you can go back to your quarter."

The young woman opened her eyes and looked up, confused. "Master?"

He smiled as he caressed her head gently. "They won't need you tomorrow."

A few minutes later, he walked outside with two guards. "Follow me," he said to the group.

He walked them to a secluded courtyard in the back of the estate, where there was another building, slightly smaller than the main one.

The door, though, opened to a half-dark hallway instead of a room. On the other side of it was a staircase, illuminated by torches on both sides of the wall. They walked down a few hundred steps, then the staircase opened to a big room.

Unlike the other rooms in the estate, this one looked to be dug directly from the ground, as the walls, floor and ceiling were plain rock, with only enough torches hung around to faintly light the room. At the very center stood a small pillar made of a purple crystal that reached their torsos. 

"This is a Channeling Crystal, if used in a certain way, it can open a temporary portal to the underworld," Wang Bao'an explained. "You only need the correct array."

"So then we can just… go into the underworld?" Mei Hanxue asked.

"Not all of you. At least half of you have to stay here, as a link back to the human world for those who go and to constantly power the array," he continued. "I'm warning you though, if the portal were to be closed before all of you are back or the link was severed, it would be impossible for you to come back here and you'll be stuck in the underworld. And you don't want to find out what happens to living people who are found down there. So be careful."

"We know what happens," whispered Mo Ran.

Chu Wanning shot him a glance, then turned back to Wang Bao'an. "May I ask how you know all this?"

"Some things I heard," he said nonchalantly. "Some things I experienced personally."

Mo Ran and Chu Wanning looked at each other with narrowed eyes, but didn't say anything.

"So," Wang Bao'an said, clapping his hands together. "Who's gonna go? Who's gonna stay?"

Xue Meng was scared. He remembered back when Mo Ran had gone to the underworld to bring Chu Wanning back and what he had told them afterwards. It wasn't exactly a bad place, unless you fell into the wrong hands. 

But then he thought about Sun Yuan, about how a young, usually happy kid was now lying motionless in a bed, only waiting to die, and about the many people that had already died. He remembered how Jiang Xi had told him he lacked confidence, how Taxian-Jun had made fun of him for that too. 

"I will go," Xue Meng said resolutely. "You all are doing this for me, I can't stay here while you risk your lives down there."

"Then me and Wanning are coming with you. We are familiar with the underworld," Mo Ran said.

"Familiar is a bit of a stretch," Chu Wanning sighed.

"No," Wang Bao’an interrupted. "The girl needs to go too."

"The girl?" Xue Meng asked, then turned to look at Ye Wangxi, who seemed to be surprised too.

"Me?" She said as she straightened her back. "It's not that I'm unwilling, but why me?"

The man smiled, like he had been expecting the question and immediately replied, "Your Yin energy will conceal the other two’s strong Yang energy and it’ll help disguise yourselves as souls. It's better if she goes with you."

Chu Wanning and Mo Ran looked at each other, as if communicating with their eyes, then after a while they both said, "Then, I'll go with them."

They started arguing.

"I'm sorry but I don't want to risk losing you again ."

"Me neither!" Chu Wanning whispered, still embarrassed to show this side of himself to others. "But one of us has to go anyway and as Xue Meng's Shizun, that person should be me."

" Former Shizun, and I'm his cousin!"

"One of us can go," said Mei Hanxue but was shut immediately by the fierce looks both Chu Wanning and Mo Ran gave him.

"Listen, baobei ," Mo Ran said, getting an offended don't call me that in front of everyone! from Chu Wanning. "We are all risking our lives, but I already went to the underworld, how much could it have changed in ten years? I can navigate through it easily, at least easier than everyone else in this room. And before you say anything, you might have been there a little longer than me but you were locked in the Fourth King's palace the whole time so it doesn't matter."

Chu Wanning shut up definitely and at the end he consented. "Fine. But be extra careful, please. All of you."

All three of them nodded. 

As it was already dinner time, they decided to rest for the night and proceed with the plan the next day. Walking up the stairs, Xue Meng suddenly asked, "Wait, you were captured by the Fourth King of Hell? Why?"

"Have you seen him?" Mo Ran chuckled. "Who can resist him?"

Chu Wanning hit him hard on the back.

Mei Hanxue lit up the last candle in the room. Now they could clearly see each other in the faint light but it wasn’t strong enough to hurt the eyes.

“Are you nervous for tomorrow?” He asked, taking off his outer robe and placing it on a nearby chair.

“Of course I am, who wouldn’t be nervous,” he replied, moving around the room. “I was nervous when we were trying to bring Shizun back and I wasn’t even sure I would find him. Now I know I’m going into the underworld so, yeah, of course I’m fucking nervous.”

“Okay,” the older brother said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Now, calm down.”

Xue Meng moved aside and turned away from him. “How can I calm down?! In less than ten hours I’ll be down into the damn underworld.”

“We can help you relax,” he continued, moving behind him.

As if on cue, the younger brother moved in front of Xue Meng, blocking any exit. “You know, we are worried too.” With each word he said, he moved his face closer to Xue Meng’s. Once they were finally not an inch apart, he raised his head, taking delight as Xue Meng unconsciously followed his lips. “I hate that we can’t go there with you,” he whispered, leaving a kiss on his forehead.

“Mmh.” Behind him, the older one agreed. Slowly, as if not to scare Xue Meng, he moved his arms around him and placed them on his abdomen, still keeping a little distance but making Xue Meng shiver nevertheless. “But at least we can protect you from up here.”

Mei Hanxue smiled against Xue Meng’s hair. “Of course, we wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” He moved slightly, kissing his eyebrow. Kiss after kiss, he came back to face Xue Meng, their lips basically touching. “Do you trust us, A-Meng?”

Xue Meng trembled once again. He gulped, trying to find the words but failed.

Behind him, Mei Hanxue moved his lips close to his ear, leaving a soft kiss on his lobe and whispering, “Do you?”

The Sect Leader of Sisheng Peak, finding himself tongue tied, could only nod in response.

Mei Hanxue smiled. “Good boy,” he said as he finally closed the distance between them. This kiss was nothing like their first ones, tentative and gentle. As soon as their lips touched, Mei Hanxue started kissing him like a starved man and Xue Meng replied with as much fervor, as if he might die tomorrow (and he might).

Not long after, he felt Mei Hanxue’s tongue against his lips and his brain finally short circuited. He lost the rhythm of the kiss and felt, more than heard, Mei Haxue’s laugh against his lips. He broke the kiss, trying to look indignant, but looking more like a pouting little kid, which made Mei Hanxue laugh more.

To shut him up, he kissed him again and this time, when Mei Hanxue tried to deepen the kiss, he opened his mouth obediently.

Meanwhile the other brother has been doing his best to untie Xue Meng’s outer robe, but with the others’ shenanigans it was rather difficult. When he finally managed to undo the knot he slowly took the robe off, leaving a kiss on his nape. Being so close, he felt Xue Meng tremble.

“You’re so good, Meng’er,” he whispered against his neck. He kept trailing kisses from his jaw to his shoulder, moving away the inner robe without even trying to untie it. Once his shoulder was completely revealed he tentatively bit down, not too gentle but not too harsh either.

To their surprise, Xue Meng let out a soft moan. The younger brother broke the kiss to stare at him, his eyes dark. “A-Meng.”

Xue Meng, bright red from embarrassment, frowned at him. “What?”

“You’re incredible,” he said and, without warning, he moved to kiss and suck on his neck.

Xue Meng bit his lips to suppress all the sounds his throat threatened to make. The older Mei Hanxue grabbed his chin and turned him towards himself. He shared the same exact look as his brother but still, even as their lips are almost touching, he whispers, “Can I kiss you?”

Xue Meng moaned in response. 

Someone knocked on the door just as Mei Hanxue was about to completely remove Xue Meng’s inner robes. While the older one immediately let go of him, the younger brother decided to leave a hickey just above his collarbone.

“Young Master Xue? Are you awake?”

Xue Meng pushed Mei Hanxue away when he heard Shi Mei’s voice. He tried his best to straighten his inner robes and then he bent down to pick up his outer robes, robes that were now completely wrinkled. He put them on as fast as he could anyway.

“Did you forget to turn off the candles? That’s a bad habit you always had,” his voice sounded almost sad. “If you’re sleeping already, then I’ll-”

As Shi Mei was about to finish his sentence, Xue Meng opened the door. He looked disheveled, to be nice. His hair was a mess, with his hair crown all crooked, and his clothes looked like he had put them on in the dark. In the faint light of the corridor, he could faintly see what could’ve easily been mistaken as a small wound. Shi Mei was not an idiot, but still he pretended not to notice anything.

“Can we talk?”

Xue Meng swallowed, trying to calm his heartbeat down. "S-sure." Carefully, he closed the door behind him. "L-let's go on a walk."

They walked outside quietly. The courtyard was brightened by a few lanterns, so they could easily walk through it. After they stayed quiet for a while, Xue Meng cleared his throat. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Shi Mei stopped walking. "How much do you know about what happened eight years ago?"

Xue Meng stopped too, surprised by the question. "What do you mean?"

Shi Mei sighed, crossing his arms on his chest. "About me and Hua Binan, what do you know?"

"Oh," Xue Meng whispered. "I guess I know something."

Shi Mei bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

Xue Meng immediately turned around and walked up to him, holding him by the shoulders, trying to make him raise his head. "What are you sorry for?"

"It was all my fault," he said. "I shouldn't have listened to him, I should've-"

"But what else could you do? You were a child!"

Shi Mei finally raised his head. "But that doesn't excuse me," he exclaimed. "I've caused everyone harm, I've caused you harm and that's the last thing I wanted," he admitted. "You were my best friend and I betrayed you. For all that, I'm really sorry."

He freed himself from Xue Meng's hold, then turned his face. "That's all I wanted to say." He reached inside the front crease of his clothes and took out a small sachet. "A little charm for tomorrow."

Xue Meng grabbed it and held it to his chest. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Mm," the other mumbled. Shi Mei turned away from the building their rooms were in and towards the courtyard and started walking away. "Goodnight, Sect Leader Xue."

Xue Meng looked at him as he walked towards the main building of the estate, confused. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

Shi Mei shook his head. "I have one more thing to do."

When Xue Meng arrived back to his room, the twins were still there,

“You’re back finally,” the younger brother said as he lay in Xue Meng’s bed. “It only took you forever.” He sat up and pouted at him. “I was having fun.”

“Hanxue, don’t act like a child,” his brother scolded him.

Xue Meng sighed, dropping down onto his bed, almost crushing Mei Hanxue. “I couldn’t say no to him.”

The younger brother “But you can say no to us?”

Xue Meng sighed, and turned around to face him. “It’s not what I meant.” Then, before even speaking, he blushed, his face completely red. “We can keep going, if you want.”

“I’m not in the mood anymore,” he said, turning his back to Xue Meng.

“Oh,” Xue Meng simply said.

The older brother walked to the bed and helped Xue Meng out of his outer robe, placing it on a chair next to theirs. Xue Meng looked at him confused but he just smiled. “Why don’t we sleep together?”

“I said I’m not in the mood,” mumbled the younger brother once again.

“And I actually meant to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day, so we ought to rest up. What do you say, Meng’er?”

Xue Meng smiled softly at him and nodded, moving closer to the younger brother.

Despite acting offended until the moment before, Mei Hanxue turned around and moved to make space for them, Xue Meng in the middle. 

“Isn’t the bed a little too small to fit three adult men?” he asked.

“Who cares,” replied Mei Hanxue, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him down almost completely on top of him. “We can sleep like this.”

“Leave a little for me too,” the older brother said, hugging Xue Meng from behind. He felt a soft kiss on his clothed shoulder. “Rest well.”

He smiled against Mei Hanxue’s chest, feeling the other smiling against his hair.

“Goodnight,” they both said at the same time.

"Goodnight," he whispered back.

The next day, no one was really hungry for breakfast, so they went to the crystal room as soon as they were ready.

Wang Bao'an handed a piece of paper to Chu Wanning. "This is the array, make sure it's exactly the same. We'll wait for you outside," he said, then gestured at the guards to follow him upstairs.

The two brothers looked at Xue Meng and patted him gently on the back. "Be careful," they both said.

Xue Meng nodded and turned to look at Mo Ran and Chu Wanning, who were talking in a corner.

Finally, Chu Wanning drew the array on the earth making Xue Meng, Mo Ran and Ye Wangxi step inside first, then he, the twins and Shi Mei sat at four corners around them, channeling their spiritual powers. Not so long later, the crystal started shining, the purple light turning more and more bright until it was hard to see anything else.

When they started seeing again, the room and its rock walls had disappeared. The three of them were now in a broad, tidy garden. There were a few people around that looked like guards and even a few that looked like normal humans, except they didn't have a shadow.

Xue Meng smiled, looking around the garden. "This isn't half as bad as I imagined it," he said, walking forward. Suddenly, he stopped. "Oh, I had almost forgotten." He reached inside his sleeve and took out a few candy looking items. "Jiang Xi gave me these, in case we're in danger. I'll give you some."

Ye Wangxi picked a few and studied them closely. "What are the for?"

Xue Meng shrugged. "No idea," he admitted. "He didn't tell me, but inside the brocade there was a note that only said 'throw'."

They all hid some inside their sleeves.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A strong, loud voice came from behind them. They turned to look at the person who spoke and Mo Ran was fast enough to cover Xue Meng's mouth before he could comment on his appearance. He turned back to look at Mo Ran but found him with wide eyes, looking almost scared . When that person recognized Mo Ran, his smile froze. "You again? How dare come in front of me again?"

Mo Ran sighed and passed a hand through his hair. "Wang Bao’an told us to come here."

The Fourth King of Hell looked at the three of them. "Why did that idiot send you three instead of coming himself," he whined.

Xue Meng pushed Mo Ran's hand away. "You are the one who owns these flowers, right?"

"Yes, why?" he asked.

"We need a flower of death," Xue Meng continued innocently.

The fourth king laughed. "You need the flower of death?" He asked, mockingly. "I can do that. But tell him this compensation is not enough, to bring more next time."

"Compensation?" Mo Ran asked. Before he could even finish, a group of guards approached them, trying to seize Ye Wangxi.

"What are you doing?!" Xue Meng screamed. "Let her go!" 

"Why are you screaming like this? Didn't that Wang Bao’an explain it to you?" He said with a grin. "You didn't think you'll get the flower for free, did you?" The Fourth King laughed wholeheartedly, mimicking the action of rubbing a tear away. “Humans are so funny.” He held his stomach as he kept laughing. After a while, he abruptly stopped as he waved a hand in Ye Wangxi’s direction. “Take her.”

Xue Meng immediately stepped in front of him defensively, managing to hide her entirely despite not being much taller. "Of course we weren't expecting it for free!" he exclaimed. "But why are you taking Ye Wangxi?!"

"Such is the contract between me and that human. He brings me beautiful women for my harem and in return I give him what he needs," he explained.

Mo Ran's brows furrowed in anger. "So it's been like this for years? He brings you beauties and he gets - what, in return?"

The fourth king laughed once again. "What else can a stupid human ask for? Immortality. Or something close to it"

Mo Ran and Xue Meng finally understood how Wang Bao'an had managed to live that long without ascending.

"Well, he's gonna die sooner or later anyways," the king of hell continued. "And when he does, I'll be the one to eat his soul." He gestured to the guards absentmindedly. "Bring her to me."

Mo Ran rapidly grabbed Ye Wangxi and he whispered, “Wait for my signal, remember your sleeve,” and tossed her towards one of the soldiers. “You can have her,” he said then, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Mo Ran! What are you doing?” Xue Meng yelled angrily.

Mo Ran shrugged. “We need the flower.” He went towards the bush under the still cautious gaze of the Fourth King. He knelt down and reached for one flower, picking it up gently. As the Master had described, the flower was entirely black, with the exception of the stamen that glowed bright gold. “One life to save many more.”

Xue Meng almost growled as he watched Mo Ran nonchalantly put the flower inside his robes. “Let’s go, Mengmeng.” 

The other was ready to spit one his best insults at him when he heard an explosion a few feet from them. A scarlet light as fast as lightning moved from where they stood towards the explosion and when it retreated Xue Meng could finally make out Ye Wangxi being pulled towards them by Jiangui. Everything happened so suddenly that no one was able to react until Ye Wangxi was beside the two men.

The Fourth King laughed angrily. “He thinks he’s so smart. You’ve escaped from my grasp once, but I won’t let it happen again. Catch them!”

The three of them fought together the first rush of ghost soldiers. But as time passed, more and more started to come and if they were surrounded, escaping would become much more difficult.

Xue Meng pushed Mo Ran away as he jumped at the center of the battlefield, protecting Mo Ran and Ye Wangxi from the soldiers.

“Mengmeng?” Mo Ran asked when he realized what was happening.

Xue Meng didn’t turn around, instead looking in front of him as more ghost soldiers moved towards them, staying alert. “Take her away, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

“But-”

“GO!” Xue Meng yelled as he moved forward and he slashed his sword, pushing back the soldiers with his spiritual power.

Mo Ran, still a bit shocked at how much his little cousin had improved, grabbed Ye Wangxi’s arm and led her away, looking back just once to make sure Xue Meng was still okay.

For once, he thought, luck must’ve been on their side as they managed to leave the palace pretty quickly.

But as soon as he thought that he saw some of the guards outside the palace were running after them and, as his power was weakened by the extreme Yin energy, were catching up to them fast.

As they ran among the buildings, he felt Ye Wangxi being pulled and himself with her. With Jiangui on the ready, he turned around to strike, the whip making a whistling sound as it slashed the air. Before it could hit, though, Mo Ran pulled it back.

In front of him stood a familiar figure, one he hadn’t seen in a long time. 

“A-Si?” He heard Ye Wangxi say, half-choked. His heart clenched as he suddenly reminished what had happened eight years prior, how Nangong Si had died to save everyone. 

“Xiao Yezi,” he smiled at her. She all but jumped at him, hugging him tightly. “Ouch, you’ve gotten stronger,” he laughed as he hugged her back. Then, he turned towards Mo Ran and smiled apologetically. “Mo-zongshi.”

“Young Master Nangong, it’s good to meet you again,” Mo Ran nodded in his direction, still feeling a little regretful. If it had been me, they wouldn’t...  

Before finishing that thought, Nangong Si broke the hug and asked them, “How did you two die so young? After everything I did.”

Mo Ran and Ye Wangxi looked at each other, then Ye Wangxi chuckled lightly as she said, “We didn’t!” Seeing Nangong Si’s confused look, she continued, “It’s a long story. Xue Meng’s disciple-”

“Young Master Xue has a disciple? Wait, is he here with you?” 

Despite the number of ghost soldiers increasing by the second, Xue Meng had to hold them back until he was sure Mo Ran and Ye Wangxi were safe and far from there. 

“Don’t let them get away!” The Fourth King yelled. In a moment of panic, Xue Meng used too much spiritual power on the soldiers he was fighting with, dispersing their souls. He stalled for a second, surprised, then jumped towards the soldiers that were going after Mo Ran.

He fought for a long while, his power diminishing hit after hit, but he held his ground, sometimes shattering the souls of too persistent soldiers.

Then, remembering what Ye Wangxi had done earlier, with a fast move, picked something out of his sleeve and threw it at those still standing. Suddenly, smoke surrounded everyone and, between the shouting of the guards and the Fourth King of Hell, Xue Meng silently jumped away.

Xue Meng looked around the buildings near the palace hoping to find Ye Wangxi and his cousin. After running for a while, he saw two familiar figures moving towards him, but there was a third person with them. Or, well, not exactly a person .

“Nangong Si?!” He yelled in disbelief.

"Young Master Xue," he said with a bow. "Or, well, Sect Leader I guess."

Xue Meng let out a surprised smile. 

Ye Wangxi checked behind Xue Meng. "We should go before they catch up to us."

Nangong Si nodded. “I’ll take you to a safe place. Follow me.”

He brought them to a small house, which looked abandoned despite the furniture inside. "They shouldn't be able to find us here."

Xue Meng sat down to catch his breath but suddenly gasped loudly. "How do we get back now?"

Mo Ran gave him a pat on his back. "Don't worry, Wanning explained it to me," he said. "He told me that, based on what he knew, their side of the array is only half of it, and while it keeps us connected to the mortal world it can't get us back there."

The other three widened their eyes. "What do you mean?" Xue Meng asked.

"That we have to 'open' it from our side. So we need to draw the array too," finished Mo Ran.

Xue Meng was baffled. "B-but… Wang Bao'an didn't say anything about this!"

"I thought we were already convinced that he couldn't be trusted anymore."

Xue Meng sighed. "Can you draw it?"

Mo Ran laughed. He found a piece of chalk on the ground and started drawing the array by memory. "This should do it," he said, with his hands on waist.

"That was fast," laughed Nangong Si. "As expected of Mo-zongshi."

They stared at the array for an awkward moment, unsure on what to do, then Xue Meng moved in front of Nangong Si.

“Nangong Si, it was good to see you again.” Xue Meng clasped his hands together and bowed to him.

"I feel the same, Xue Meng," replied the other with a bow. "Mo Ran."

"Goodbye, Nangong Si," he only said. Both Xue Meng and Mo Ran moved inside the array, far from the other two.

“I wish you could come back with us,” Ye Wangxi admitted, smiling sadly.

“It’s impossible, you silly child, you know that.” Nangong Si smiled back and raised a hand to lightly ruffle her hair.

“I’m glad I could say goodbye,” she said, the words choked by the tears that threatened to fall. She took a shaking deep breath. “We’ll see each other again.”

Nangong Si only nodded, his smile softening. “Now go.”

“Goodbye,” she said as she walked inside the array too.

Despite already being in the deepest part of the Earth, once they entered the portal, they felt themselves fall for some time. When they opened their eyes again, they were back in the room, the shining crystal slowly losing its glow. Around them the Mei brothers, Chu Wanning and Shi Mei were still focused on keeping up the array.

Slowly, they all opened their eyes, breaking the array. 

Chu Wanning was the first to react. "Are you all okay?"

Mo Ran helped him up from the ground. "Yeah, and we got the flower. But Wang-xianjun has some explaining to do."

"What is the problem?" Mei Hanxue asked, getting up.

"He wanted us to trade Miss Ye in exchange for the flower." Xue Meng explained.

"And it wasn't the first time it happened, apparently." Mo Ran added.

"What?" Shi Mei asked, surprised.

"That's what the crystal's for. He goes to the underworld and trades young lives for a few more years of life. He might be an immortal, but he cheated to get there. I'm surprised this wasn't all a fluke," Mo Ran explained. He looked at Shi Mei. "Did you know this?"

Shi Mei shook his head frantically. "No, I didn't. I swear, I-"

Mo Ran interrupted him. "I believe you." 

The younger Mei brother gave Xue Meng a concerned look, then furrowed his brows. "Maybe we should have a talk with this 'immortal'."

The group walked up the stairs, passing through the long corridor towards the side courtyard. Once outside, they were surprised to notice it was still daytime, but there was no trace of Wang Bao’an nor of any of his disciples. 

Sensing that something was clearly wrong, they walked cautiously towards the main courtyard, all ready to take out their weapons if necessary.

“There doesn’t seem to be any noise,” whispered Xue Meng, stopping to listen better.

Ye Wangxi, who was walking with her back to the group in case of a rear attack, bumped into him. As she steadied herself, she whispered back, “That’s not necessarily a good thing.”

Then, as the main courtyard came to view, their suspicion was confirmed. Lying on the ground near the doors of the main hall were all four guards, unmoving and bloody, clearly dead. 

Xue Meng started moving forward, sword already drawn but Mo Ran stopped him. He turned back to look at his cousin with a frown but Mo Ran simply shook his head. “We don’t know if the killer is still here, we have to be careful.”

Xue Meng looked at the bodies of the ground with worry, but after some thinking he nodded once and stepped back. Still, he kept his sword out.

He and Mo Ran decided to quietly walk towards the main hall, leaving the others hidden but close enough in case of attack.

The doors to the main hall were spread open, the ground covered in blood and corpses of young disciples. As he walked over the corpses, Xue Meng grimaced at the thick scent of fresh blood. 

Eventually, he stopped at the end of the hall, next to Mo Ran. Sitting motionless on the master seat, as if sleeping, was Wang Bao’an, a deep sword wound on chest.

“How- How is this possible?!” Xue Meng gaped as Mo Ran stared at the scene in front of him with a frown.

“I guess he wasn’t as great as we thought he was,” the other simply said.

After they made sure no threat was around, they called the others over. No one was surprised when they saw the mess inside.

They decided to bury the corpses. Shi Mei insisted that he could help, as his lack of sight had never stopped him from living normally, but was instead given the task to make talismans for the bodies, to avoid any soul turning into a resentful spirit, considered the gruesome death.

At the end of the day, they finally managed to bury the last corpse, that of Wang Bao’an. They lit an incense stick in front of his grave but they didn’t pray.

Shi Mei stood in front of the group, head slightly bowed. “He’s always helped the people in need, he even helped me back then but now- I don’t really know what to feel.”

“He raised his disciples only to send them to the underworld, in exchange for immortality. I guess he got what he deserved,” Mo Ran said honestly. He turned towards Chu Wanning, ready to be scolded for his words, but he saw that the other was simply frowning at the grave. He didn’t say anything.

Without saying anything more, they all went back to their rooms to pick up their stuff, then met back at the main courtyard. Suddenly, shocked he had even forgotten, Xue Meng fell on his knees, then he shakingly said, “We don’t know the prescription for the antidote.” 

As everyone was starting to panic, Shi Mei let out a cough, gaining the other’s attention. “I, hmm, kind of stole the book, yesterday,” he said, as his voice pitched at the end, making it sound almost like a question.

Xue Meng looked up at him with a confused frown, tears half-formed in his eyes. Mo Ran opened and closed his mouth a few times, then said, “I thought you trusted him.”

Shi Mei smiled. “Better safe than sorry.”

Mo Ran’s eyes widened as he let out an embarrassed smile. "Sorry about that," he whispered.

Xue Meng got up and jumped at him, pulling him into a tight hug. “Thank you,” he whispered to his neck. Shi Mei smiled again, but didn’t hug him back, only gently patting him on the back twice.

Even if they were tired, they decided to leave the estate immediately and finally go back to Sisheng Peak to prepare the antidote that would save countless lives.

For the next two days, they traveled continuously, only stopping to rest for the night in whatever place they found themselves in at the moment.

On the third day, realizing it would take them a little less than a day to get home, they started to feel more relaxed and decided to stay at an inn for the night and even treat themselves to something nice to eat.

As they were having dinner and their faces started to show the tiredness they felt, they happened to hear the conversation of the three men sitting not too far from them.

“Did you hear?” one of the men said, as he picked some rice with his chopsticks. “A cultivator went crazy and abducted a few people in Wuchang town.”

The other men gasped and one leaned over the table to ask, “Isn’t that town near Sisheng Peak? What are the cultivators doing?”

The first man waved his chopsticks in the air while he swallowed his food. “They have some internal troubles, it seems.”

Everyone stopped listening. They looked at each other with worry in their eyes then, without saying anything more, they got up, paid for their food and went back to the inn to take their things to leave.

For the entire night, despite being tired, they traveled as fast as they could, to get to Wuchang town as soon as possible.

Just before noon, they finally saw the town in the distance. Right behind it, though many more miles away, stood Sisheng Peak, half hidden by the clouds. 

They entered Wuchang town by foot. Xue Meng remembered going there the month before with Sun Yuan. The streets were full of people, chatting and laughing and living their lives without worries, food stalls every few meters with their incredibly distracting smells and shops open until late. During the day, kids would run around among the crowd, obtaining smiles and eye rolls in equal parts from adults. At night, lanterns would illuminate the town like a second sun.

But now the streets were deserted. Not a single person could be seen outside. As the group moved through the main street, they sometimes caught people spying from the windows in the surrounding houses, then hiding from sight once they noticed they had been seen. Despite it being suspicious, they only looked frightened, so they all guessed they might just be trying to protect themselves.

“How are we going to find the hostages like this?” Xue Meng asked rethorically.

They kept walking through the streets, checking every alley for someone who could explain the situation. Walking towards the centre of the town, they started hearing voices of men, frantically discussing something, so they rushed towards the sounds until they stumbled upon what looked to be a few dozen guards, standing in front of an estate. They all stood in a circle not far from the main door, talking about plans and strategies.

“I don’t think this is going to work,” one of the guards said. “We’ve seen what he can do, we won’t stand a chance.”

“We don’t have any other option. If we don’t go inside soon, we don’t know what might happen to the hostages,” another replied.

Xue Meng immediately got a glimpse of what was happening. He took a deep breath and, remembering what the twins had told him before, he took a few steps in front of the group.

“We’re going to help.”

The guards all turned around to see Xue Meng standing a few meters from them, back straight and chin high, looking determined. 

One guard moved in his direction, eyeing him attentively. “You’re… Sect Leader Xue, from Sisheng Peak?!” his eyes widened as the other guards behind him started mumbling to themselves. “Where have you been?”

“It doesn’t matter, we’re here now,” he said with a stern voice. “What’s the situation?”

The guard was surprised by his tone, but explained what was happening immediately. “A few days ago, we were attacked by this man, a cultivator and out of the blue he started attacking the villagers. Even if he was alone, he was too strong for us alone to fight, so he ended up taking a few people hostage, mostly women and children, and locked himself up in the mayor’s estate.”

Xue Meng nodded. “How are the people who were attacked?”

“Unfortunately, some have perished. Some others are still.. in a coma-like state.”

Xue Meng’s eyes widened slightly, then he frowned as he repeated, “A coma-like state?” He turned to the others behind him, who looked as concerned as him, then looked back at the guard. “Did he ask for any kind ransom?” The guard pursed his lips together, looking at the ground and stayed quiet. Xue Meng tried to make his voice sound more authoritative, “Answer!”

The guard joined his hands together as he bowed his head and, with a trembling voice, he said, “He wanted us to bring you to him, Sir!”

Xue Meng was taken aback by this, but he suddenly realized one thing: all this time there had been someone trying to stop him from finding a cure and now, in Wuchang town, less than a hour away from Sisheng Peak, hostages had been taken only to have himself as a ransom. He sighed, then he told the guard, with the same, decisive tone as before, “Then take me to him.”

The two brothers immediately run towards him, observing him in confusion, but when they saw his confident gaze, they looked at each other then at the guard, and the younger simply said, “Take us to him.”

The guard looked worried as he said, “Sir, we don’t know if he’ll accept it.”

Mei Hanxue smiled, but his eyes turned scary. “He’s gonna have to, we’re not leaving him alone.”

The guard nodded and walked away, talking with the other guards to find a way to inform the kidnapper that Xue Meng was willing to meet him.

Xue Meng finally relaxed, letting out a breath he had been holding the whole time. The older brother squeezed Xue Meng’s shoulder and smiled down at him. Xue Meng’s heart barely had time to skip a beat, when he felt the younger brother’s hand fall around his waist in some sort of caress and, as he moved closer to his ear, whisper, “That was kinda hot.” 

Xue Meng’s face turned completely red and almost missed the older brother coughing in annoyance next to him. Taken by his arm, he was pushed forward, but the younger followed, keeping his hand around Xue Meng’s waist.

Behind them, Mo Ran was trying his best not to laugh, both for the incredible situation with his cousin and the twins and for Chu Wanning’s face, who was red in embarrassment and probably also anger, considering the deep frown and his pursed lips, as he watched the three be so shameless in the open. Standing a little more to the side, Ye Wangxi smiled gently as she looked at them, while Shi Mei stood still, his lips curved a little, as he could only guess what was happening around him.

Around two hours later, as the sun had already set, a messenger was sent inside the estate to announce that Sect Leader Xue was willing to meet with the cultivator. As expected, he didn’t come back out.

Instead, a few minutes later, the doors of the estate opened. The guards prepared their weapons but Xue Meng raised his hand as a signal to put them down.

Xue Meng and the Mei brothers slowly walked inside and the doors closed behind them. On the other side of a big and well illuminated courtyard, in front of the main building, stood a man dressed in simple silver clothes, a wide black belt holding his outer robes closed. He started walking towards them, then stopped a little farther away from the center of the courtyard.

He was a few inches taller than Xue Meng but looked way older than him, with wrinkles around his black eyes and a mustache above his lips. “Sect Leader Xue, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” the cultivator said with a laugh.

Xue Meng stopped ten meters away from him. He went straight to the point instead, “What do you want?”

The man laughed once again. With his hands on his back, he started pacing. “Oh, nothing much,” he said with a smile. “Just the flower you brought back from the underworld.”

Xue Meng flinched, straightening up even more as he frowned angrily. “Why would I give it to you?”

The cultivator stopped and looked at Xue Meng with a terrifying grin on his face. “Because if you don’t, I will kill everyone in this estate.”

Xue Meng and the brothers gasped slightly. The twins looked at each other, then at Xue Meng who was still staring at the man. His fists were tightly shut at his sides as he tried to find a solution.

“I know what you’re thinking,” the cultivator continued. “‘ But if I give you the flower other people are going to die ’,” he mocked. “When have you big sect’s cultivators ever bothered about a few people dying?” When the others stayed quiet he continued, still smiling through it. “When hundreds of people died eight years ago, where were you? What did you do if not make things worse?”

Xue Meng opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted. “My Shizun! My fellow disciples! My entire sect was wiped down eight years ago, but what did you do? When we were unable to protect ourselves, where were you?” His voice rose more and more with every sentence. “And after it was over, you went back to your happy lives but what did we do? What could people like me do, alone in the world?” 

He laughed once more as he turned away from the three, pacing towards the main building, then turning around once more, raising a hand to his chest. “I spent the past eight years studying and researching, just for this day. The day in which you will come to me and ask for help, to beg for mercy. So now it’s your turn to see what it feels like to have no power, to be helpless before the death of your loved ones” 

Seeing Xue Meng trembling next to him, the older Mei Hanxue decided to speak up. “Sir, I-”

The cultivator interrupted him angrily. “My name is Zhu Heng, I want you to remember that.”

Mei Hanxue pressed his lips together, then bowed his head a little as he joined his hands together in front of him. “Zhu-xianjun, can’t we find another way?”

The man laughed once more, and Mei Hanxue felt Xue Meng tense up next to him. “There is no other way.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, Xue Meng rapidly took out a candy looking item from his sleeve, and threw it at the ground. A thick smoke rose as the small candy exploded and Xue Meng jumped forward, sword drawn.

But the cultivator was prepared and, taking out his own sword, stopped every one of his blows. As Xue Meng was focused on attacking only, he didn’t prepare for the other to strike. He barely avoided being hit, but was still sent down by the spiritual force infused in the blow. 

Suddenly, Chu Wanning and the others fell down from the sky. Having heard the sounds of swords, they took advantage of their distraction to jump over the estate walls. 

Chu Wanning and Mo Ran took on the fight as the twins helped Xue Meng up. Two against one, it didn’t take them long to disarm him.

The man looked up at them from the ground, breathing heavily. Chu Wanning didn’t even spare him a glance, looking at the main building instead. He turned to Mo Ran, about to say something, when the latter suddenly collapsed.

“Ge?!” Xue Meng screamed as he ran towards him, kneeling to hold his head up. “What happened?”

Chu Wanning pressed his lips together and looked up at the sky, where only the moon could be seen in such a lit courtyard. “It’s midnight,” he simply said.

Barely a beat later, Mo Ran opened his eyes, who looked a shade darker than usual. Xue Meng paled in understanding, crouching away as soon as his ge raised to a sitting position.

“Wanning,” he said, assertively. “Why is this Venerable One on the ground? Help me up!”

Chu Wanning turned his head away, but held out his hand anyway. Taxian-Jun held it with a grin and got up on his feet. Xue Meng just blinked at them, still confused by their dynamic: despite his words, Taxian-Jun had gotten up with no help from Chu Wanning, but he had still happily taken his hand. 

Unexpectedly, Xue Meng smiled. Taxian-Jun noticed him. "Look at that, this Venerable One's cousin!" He said, still holding Chu Wanning's hand. "What are you smiling for, sprawled on the ground like that?"

Xue Meng stood up, a little embarrassed. He raised his head to look at his cousin but as he did so, he noticed that the man was nowhere to be found. "Where has that Zhu Heng gone to?" he screamed.

Chu Wanning finally let go of Taxian-Jun's hand as he looked on the ground next to him, where the man had fallen not long ago. Shi Mei, Ye Wangxi and the twins, who had stayed away since Taxian-Jun's awakening, moved closer to them. Ye Wangxi pointed at the main building, noticing the door was wide open.

Xue Meng was the first to run inside, followed by Chu Wanning and a confused and annoyed Taxian-Jun. 

As soon as they got in, they saw Zhu Heng holding the hostage close, his sword pointed at them and, even with the anger in his eyes being so obvious, he still kept a smile on his face. Floating in front of him was a book, its yellow pages indicating it was a very old one.

Xue Meng tried to take a step forward but he was sent back once again with a spell, hitting his back on the wall.

Before Chu Wanning could do anything, Taxian-Jun summoned Jiangui and, with only a few moves, managed to capture Zhu Heng, who let the book and sword fall to the ground.

“It’s incredible that a person as weak as you managed to cause such havoc.” Taxian-Jun said with a mocking laugh. “It drives me mad that you , who could barely be called a cultivator, were able to harm my cousin so much, while every time I tried I barely hurt him.”

He moved closer to the man, holding him still with Jiangui and looking like a man ready to kill. “Anyways, only I can harm him. I can’t stand when other people meddle with my plans.” He let go of him only to raise the whip, ready to strike, but he was forcefully pushed back by a golden light.

“Okay, that’s enough,” said Chu Wanning. “Now, I’ll deal with him.”

“You can’t tell me what to do, Wanning. I am your Emperor.”

Chu Wanning elected to ignore him completely as there were more important tasks at hand.  A light appeared around his arm, bathing him in gold; he used Tianwen to hold Zhu Heng down.

The man screamed as he struggled to get free. "Why? Why is he walking free while you're attacking me? Eight years ago, you big sects let the weak get killed by that evil Emperor, you watched us get slaughtered, unable to defend ourselves, and you did nothing to stop it. And yet, here he still stands, Taxian-Jun, was it?”

Taxian-Jun looked at him indifferently. The man clicked his tongue. "Why did I lose everything, while you didn't lose anything?"

Behind them, they heard the sound of metal hitting the ground. Near the doors, Xue Meng stood with his brows furrowed, the fists at his sides held tightly, his sword left aside. He walked to Zhu Heng in three big strides, holding him up by his collar.

"“Only you lost everything?” He screamed, shaking him as he talked. “Do you even know what I lost back then? First my father, then my mother and it was all before everything went completely to shit. And even after that, I lost my Shizun, my ge, my only friend. I was alone . For years I was alone, as I had to rebuild my family’s sect, I was completely alone as I walked mountain paths and entered rooms that used to be full of people I knew, but they weren’t anymore. You’re the only one who suffered? The only one who lost a loved one? How dare you.”

The man looked at him, speechless, as Xue Meng took a deep breath before continuing. "Who said we did nothing? Who said that we didn't fight with everything we got, even if it meant risking our lives?" Still holding him with one hand, he turned his head and pointed at Taxian-Jun. "Do you know who saved you? He did. We all did. But what did you do?"

He finally let go of him, pushing him away. "You think this is revenge? That you're doing this for them?" He clicked his tongue. "No. You're doing this for yourself. Because it's easier to blame others than to blame yourself." He turned to Chu Wanning and Taxian-Jun, who were looking at him speechless. "Let's go to Sisheng Peak, we'll think what to do with him once we're there."

Chu Wanning and Taxian-Jun looked at each other, then the latter let out a loud and deep laugh. “That kid has grown up, I see.” 

He turned to look in the direction he had stormed off; everyone else would only see madness in his gaze, but Chu Wanning smiled as he noticed a hint of pride in it. Then, he turned back to Zhu Heng, his face back to his usual cold and severe expression. “With your power and perseverance, you could have done so much good,” Chu Wanning said with disdain. “Still, I don’t understand. How did you manage to do all this?”

Zhu Heng held his mouth closed but his eyes betrayed him, falling onto the book spread open on the ground in front of him. Chu Wanning reach down to pick it up. It was so old the cover was illegible, so he scrolled through the pages and, to his surprise, he found himself unable to understand anything but a few characters. “You can read this?” He said, his scorn turning into involuntary appreciation. “You could’ve done so much good,” he said as he shook his head, mostly to himself.

They brought him back to Sisheng Peak. As the sect didn’t have prisons, they kept him in the main hall, until the other sect leaders eventually arrived at sunrise. After a detailed report of what had happened and a brief discussion on what to do, Taxue Palace’s sect leader, Ming Yue Lou offered to take the prisoner back to Kunlun Mountains, while Jiang Xi held onto the old book.

They waited for the antidote to be ready, then every sect took a small sachet with the powder to bring back to their territories. In the following days, they would distribute it around the towns and villages for those who had fallen sick.

Right after noon, all the other sects left Sisheng Peak, including the twins who promised to be back in a few days, once everything’s set back at Taxue Palace. Even Ye Wangxi, despite his insistence, gave her salutations and left, saying that the people at the village were definitely waiting for her. 

Xue Meng found himself in the main hall, alone with his former Shizun and fellow disciples. “So, huh-” he half-whispered, refusing to look at them all, staring instead at the big door on the other end of the hall. “I won’t force you, if you don’t want to. But-” He gulped, took a deep breath and moved his eyes on them. “But if you want, you’re always welcome to come back to Sisheng Peak.”

Both Mo Ran and Chu Wanning stayed silent and turned slightly to look at each other for a long moment. Xue Meng stared at them the whole time, his face rigid and apparently emotionless, until he took a deep breath and bit his lower lip so hard he started bleeding. Before his cousin and shizun could even give him an answer, a sob escaped his mouth. Everyone turned to look at him; his cheeks were wet as tears started flowing abundantly from his eyes. Still, his brows were furrowed as if he was extremely concentrated. “Actually, please-” he said between sobs, “can you stay?”

While Mo Ran could only stare at his cousin with no expression on his face, Chu Wanning’s face clearly changed a few times, from stupor, to tenderness and finally to sadness. But they changed so fast, everyone could only see his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. “Is that what you want?”

Xue Meng tried to get a few words out but only managed to sob some more, so he nodded. 

Mo Ran finally composed himself. “You’re still a huge crybaby, huh?” He exclaimed with a chuckle, but his voice was slightly broken too. He nudged at Chu Wanning with his shoulder then raised his hand to softly rub between his brows, which made the other stop frowning.

Then, placing a hand at the small of his back, he gently pushed Chu Wanning towards Xue Meng. The former turned around to look at him and, when he saw that Mo Ran was moving closer too, he understood. He looked at Xue Meng, who was still sobbing even if the tears had stopped flowing, grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into a hug. Immediately after he felt Mo Ran’s arms around them both. “Of course we’ll stay,” he whispered to his ears as Xue Meng started fully crying again.

Suddenly, they heard the doors open. The group of Shizun and disciples broke the hug to look at the entrance, the other three turned to look too. Shi Mei was standing as if frozen near the doors, holding them open.

Xue Meng rubbed his eyes clear from the tears. “Shi Mei? Where are you going?”

Shi Mei lowered his head slowly, a little ashamed of having been found out. “I just- I thought I’ll just go, since everything’s been solved.”

Xue Meng looked a bit hurt, losing his smile. “You… don’t want to stay?”

Shi Mei was taken off guard. “W-what?” he stuttered, turning towards the others. “You want me to stay?”

Xue Meng looked at him with confusion, not understanding why Shi Mei would think he wasn’t included in his invitation. Chu Wanning, instead, started walking towards him with a gentle smile. “Shi Mingjing,” he said softly. “Are you feeling guilty?” He stopped in front of him. Shi Mei, despite not being able to see, had his head bowed down, trying to hide his face. “Are you ashamed of something you did?”

Not able to stand on his trembling legs anymore, Shi Mei, who had tried to hold back his tears, fell down on his knees, now fully sobbing. “I’m sorry,” he cried, covering his face with his hands. “I’m really sorry for what I did to you. All of you. Everything’s my fault.” 

Chu Wanning let out a soft chuckle out of fondness and kneeled down in front of him, moving his hands to hold the other’s shoulders. “Your fault? Is that what you think?” Shi Mei didn’t answer, continuing to sob into his hands. “Is that the reason why you didn’t heal your eyes?”

Shi Mei didn’t reply. He knew it was too much to ask for forgiveness, for understanding. Even the fact that he got to see his friends again and spend time with them, despite the circumstances, felt too much of a blessing, one he didn’t deserve.

Seeing he wasn’t about to respond, Chu Wanning shook his head fondly. “You stupid child. You were just a kid, you were scared, alone and angry, how could any of that be your fault. You made a bad choice, but wasn’t that actually your only choice?” he asked, smacking him gently in the side of the head. “And when you actually had a choice, didn’t you make the right one? You saved me, saved Mo Ran. With that, you saved the whole cultivation world. And you kept doing it with your healing all these years.”

Shi Mei’s sobbing subsided but he still didn’t answer. “Do you really think you’re a bad person? That you don’t deserve to be forgiven?” Chu Wanning sighed, placing his hand on his head and stroking his hair gently. “You’re a grown man now, you should understand what I’m saying.”

Xue Meng walked towards them, stooping down to grab Shi Mei’s hand. “Stay with us?” he asked tentatively. 

Shi Mei turned on Mo Ran’s general direction, trying to understand the man’s feeling. Mo Ran let out a chuckle. “Hey, I’m not in charge here,” he shrugged. He moved near Chu Wanning, helping him up, then continued, “But I’d love for you to stay.”

Finally, Shi Mei held Xue Meng’s hand back. He tried standing up, but his legs were trembling once again. Mo Ran grabbed his other arm, keeping him up as he cried once again.

With his hands on his back, Chu Wanning stared at the three younger men in front of him, crying and laughing all the same, and a big yet soft smile appeared on his face, as he remembered simpler times.

They stayed together for a while more, discussing living arrangements and whether or not the other three were willing to teach disciples. Chu Wanning and Mo Ran declined but promised to still be active in the sect; Shi Mei instead bowed toward him, saying that he’d think about it. Then they all left.

When he left the main hall too, Xue Meng found Jiang Xi waiting for him outside, looking somewhat anxious.

He invited him to his study  and for a long moment no one spoke, as they looked everywhere but at the other. As he was still holding it, Jiang Xi even flipped through some of the pages of the book but closed it with a frown not long after, as he couldn’t understand its contents.

After a deep breath, Xue Meng broke the silence. “T-thank you, I guess.” Jiang Xi raised an eyebrow at him. “For those smokey pearls, they definitely came in handy.”

“You’re welcome, I suppose.” Despite being older, Jiang Xi sounded and looked as awkward as his son. “I’m glad,” he whispered. Xue Meng looked at him skeptically. “Listen, Xue Meng,” he said, walking towards him in quick strides. “I don’t want to pretend to be a good father to you, or a father at all and I know you don’t like me that much but still-” he paused, looking for the right words. “I want you to trust me. But for that to happen, I understand I have to trust you first.”

He held out the book with a hand, offering it to Xue Meng. “Keep it safe here at Sisheng Peak,” he said, not looking at him. “Make sure it doesn’t fall on the wrong hands.” 

Xue Meng was baffled for a second, blinking rapidly at Jiang Xi, who was still avoiding eye contact. Then, he smiled and took the book. “Thank you.” 

“Whatever,” he replied with fake nonchalance, gesturing with his hand as he turned towards the exit. “That was all I wanted to say.” He opened the doors to leave, then stopped to say, “Make sure to let me know if anything like this happens again in the future.”

Xue Meng let out a small laugh. “Let’s hope not.”

Without turning around, Jiang Xi left.

It took an entire day and two nights, but finally, with Xue Meng always by his side, Sun Yuan woke up. Shi Mei had come every few hours to check on his condition, every time assuring Xue Meng he was only getting better.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Xue Meng, his cheeks covered in tears. 

"Shizun?" He asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

Xue Meng laughed softly, then hugged him tightly, leaving the kid confused. "Yeah, I'm more than okay. How are you feeling?"

"Mmh," he mumbled, stretching his arms. "A little sluggish."

Xue Meng held him by his tiny shoulders and looked at him up and down. "Nothing else?"

Sun Yuan shook his head. "Why? What happened?"

The older one just shed a few more tears, smiling at him without saying anything. "I'm glad you're okay," he whispered, finally.

The child raised his hands and, with his little sleeves, dried his Shizun's wet cheeks. "Shizun," he said, worried. "Why are you crying?"

Xue Meng laughed as a last tear crossed his cheek. He gently pat Sun Yuan on the head. "You're a good kid," he said. He straightened up in his seat and said, "Hey, do you remember your Shizu and Shishu?"

"Of course, Shizun!" the child said with a smile.

"Mm," Xue Meng mumbled. "Would you like to meet them?"

"Really?!" Sun Yuan beamed as his Shizun nodded.

Mo Ran sat down on the bed. He took his time to observe the over familiar room, not really surprised to find out he hadn't forgotten how it looked even after all those years. He watched intently as Chu Wanning walked around it, as if reliving every moment that took place here in their two lifetimes.

"You know," he whispers, walking towards the window to look at the lotus pond. "I didn't think I would've come back to live here. And yet, here we are."

Mo Ran got up and slowly moved close to him. "This place brings back so many memories."

Chu Wanning turned towards him, a soft look showing on his face, a look only reserved for moments like this, he and Mo Ran, alone. "Bad memories?"

"Also. I used to watch your dead body every day as it lay in this same pond, wondering why you wouldn't wake up," he whispered and reached out his hand to caress Chu Wanning's face. "But here I also promised you to protect you forever, here we watched the fireworks together. This place was always yours, it had your smell, I could always feel your presence even when you weren't really here. And I loved it."

The older man smiled, stepping closer to the other. "I love it too," he said, putting a hand on his chest. "I really wouldn't mind staying here forever."

Mo Ran smiled back, his grin turning a little devilish. "Alone?"

Chu Wanning hit him gently on the chest. "Oh, you know it!"

"Do I?"

Instead of answering him, Chu Wanning brought a hand to the back of his neck and, standing on his tiptoes, he shut the other up with his own lips.

They heard knocking at the door, but Mo Ran just held Chu Wanning by the waist and kept him close. 

The knocking continued.

Chu Wanning gently hit Mo Ran a few times in the chest to be released and, after fighting for a minute, he gave up and let him go.

They went together to open the door and found a slightly embarrassed Xue Meng and an excited Sun Yuan, who was holding a small tray.

"Shizu, Shishu, hello!" he exclaimed. "My name is Sun Yuan."

Mo Ran laughed as he looked at the small child who barely reached his stomach. He crouched down in front of him. "Hello, I am Mo Ran," he said with a smile. "Do you want to come inside?"

The kid nodded vigorously and followed Mo Ran inside. Chu Wanning looked at Xue Meng, who was still red on the cheeks. "You're staying too?" he asked.

Xue Meng shook his head, then he looked down at the floor. "The Mei twins have arrived," he whispered. "I have business to attend to with them so, huh, could you check on Sun Yuan until dinner?"

Chu Wanning stared at him for a long moment, then, surprisingly, he let out a smile. "Sure," he said. "We'll take care of him."

Once he got to his study, he found the two were already inside. The older brother sat down near the table, book in hand, while the younger was rummaging around the bookshelves. When they heard the door open, they turned to look at Xue Meng.

For a moment, the three only looked at each other, then they let out a relaxed laugh as they fell back to their old habits. Xue Meng sat in front of Mei Hanxue and picked up a document, pretending to read it through. "To what do I owe this visit?"

"Mengmeng," the younger Mei Hanxue whined, moving towards him. "We're hurt, you know?"

"Why hurt?" Xue Meng asked, raising his eyes to look at him.

"What you said to Zhu Heng the other day," he said, crossing his hands on his chest. "'I was all alone', what were me and Hanxue then?"

Xue Mengs widened his eyes, surprised he had heard that. "I-" he stuttered. "That's not what I meant, back then-"

"Don't take what he says so seriously, he doesn't really mean it," said the older Mei Hanxue as he kept reading the book. 

"Of course I mean it, I am deeply hurt," he exclaimed, holding his chest like he was in pain.

Mei Hanxue rolled his eyes and as much as Xue Meng tried to look annoyed, he ended up letting out a soft chuckle. In the end, all three of them started laughing.

Xue Meng stood up and walked towards the younger twin, trying to look sad but failing miserably as a smile kept creeping on his face. “Then, tell me, Hanxue, what can I do to make it up to you?”

Mei Hanxue stopped whining and raised an eyebrow at Xue Meng, his interest piqued. “You calling me ‘Hanxue’ is a good enough start,” he replied, smiling.

“I am reading a book,” the older brother said, matter of factly.

“Do whatever you want, my dear brother,” he mocked. “So, where were we?”

“Me calling you ‘Hanxue’,” Xue Meng replied smiling. 

Mei Hanxue moved closer to him, placing his hands on the other's shoulders. He moved his hands up to his neck then back down a few times. “Right, so, that’s nice, really nice actually. But - not enough. Not even close.”

Xue Meng stepped closer, barely a foot between them. “Is this enough?”

“Not at all, Mengmeng,” the younger Mei Hanxue said, pouting. “I can call you that right?”

Xue Meng grunted. “I’d rather you not. I don’t exactly like it.”

“Oh, but I do,” he said with a malicious smile. “I think it fits you so well.”

“I can’t believe I like you,” Xue Meng sighed. Mei Hanxue closed the final distance between them, standing face to face with him, so close Xue Meng could feel his breath on his lips.

“I can’t believe you like him either,” the older one replied from where he was sitting, still not raising his eyes from the book he was reading.

“Shut up,” exclaimed his brother. “So… you like me?”

Despite being the one who said it first, Xue Meng blushed. “I thought we already made that clear.”

Mei Hanxue smiled and Xue Meng felt it, more than saw it, as their lips were basically touching with every word the other said. “You’re so cute when you blush.”

Xue Meng rolled his eyes, but he smiled anyway. “Can you just shut up and kiss me already?” 

“Why don’t you kiss me , sweeth- mhpf”

Without even letting him finish, Xue Meng closed the final distance between them. He wasn’t exactly sure what to do but after the initial shock, Mei Hanxue cupped his face and tilted his head just enough for the kiss to be comfortable.

On the other side of the room, the older Mei Hanxue finally put down his book calmly and slowly got up, keeping his eyes on the other two. As he walked towards them, a small grin, too similar to his brother’s usual annoying smile, appeared on his face. “Hey, don’t have fun without me.”