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🌘
The first month of Zhou Zishu's ordeal starts with Wu Xi setting up a whole apothecary and a sick room in the deserted settlement they found with Ye Baiyi’s help. He told them that Changming Mountain wasn’t always so desolate, that it used to be inhabited by a few old families until living there wasn’t profitable anymore. The people who owned this house couldn’t have been rich, but they must have been great craftsmen because the house is spacious and strong, sturdily defying the cold and the passage of time. Jing Beiyuan still winces at the sight of the dark and dusty wood and Zhou Zishu can’t help but laugh when he sees his distraught face.
In order to make the place more inhabitable, Wu Xi has them all clean up everywhere and orders them to deck out one of the bedrooms with blankets and pillows and bundles of the medicinal herbs that he had spent the last six months collecting. In the adjacent room he neatly arranges all the things that will be needed for the following months. There’s all sorts of elixirs and concoctions, dried and fresh herbs, books and scrolls, some of them written in a language that time has almost forgotten.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jing Beiyuan sees Wen Kexing wringing his hands anxiously as he watches Wu Xi unpack. He feels bad for the man. When Zhou Zishu enters the room Wen Kexing immediately pulls him against his chest and buries his head in the crook of his neck. Jing Beiyuan swears he can hear him sob. He leaves the room quietly.
*
Later that night, after they’ve settled in and are enjoying some mulled wine that Jing Beiyuan has been preparing over the fire, Wu Xi turns to Zhou Zishu with a serious expression on his face.
“Lord Zhou. Are you sure you want to go through with this? Once I start pulling out the nails there’s no turning back.”
Jing Beiyuan watches as Zhou Zishu’s jaw clenches and unclenches. His face is so thin, his cheeks so sunken in, he thinks. Seeing his friend like that hurts. He wants to ask him about everything that has happened in the past few years that has led him to this point. But there has never been much time. Jing Beiyuan tells himself that he’ll be able to chat with Zhou Zishu as much as he wants soon, pushes all the worries to the back of his mind and convinces himself that he’s definitely going to talk to Zhou Zishu again before long.
“I’m sure, Wu Xi. I’ve made up my mind and I am ready for whatever is going to happen,” Zhou Zishu answers quietly.
“Good,” Wu Xi nods, “you know I will try my hardest for you. Drink this now, then go and rest. It will help you sleep, will calm down your body and neutralize the rest of the poison in the nails. At dawn, I will start extracting the nails.”
He hands Zhou Zishu a large bottle full of a dark liquid and Zhou Zishu takes it without hesitation. He sets it on his lips and pours it down his throat, not stopping until it’s empty and his stomach is full. His face contorts at the taste, but he quickly schools his expression again.
“Thank you, Wu Xi.”
He sets the bottle down and turns to Jing Beiyuan.
“My friend. Let’s have a drink when this is all over.”
He looks calm and composed on the surface, but Jing Beiyuan can see the fear in his eyes. It squeezes his chest and makes his throat feel tight and dry and suddenly his vision is blurry with tears as he jumps up and rushes over to wrap Zhou Zishu in his arms as tightly as he can.
“Promise me, Zhou Zishu? Promise me you’ll drink with me again, please?”
“I promise.”
Jing Beiyuan only lets Zhou Zishu go when he feels Wu Xi’s warm hand on his shoulder.
“Time for us to go, Beiyuan,” he says, “let the Valley Master stay with him for the night.”
Reluctantly Jing Beiyuan lets go of his friend.
“See you soon,” he says and his voice sounds awfully strained with the effort not to cry.
Zhou Zishu nods. Then he grabs Wen Kexing’s hand and slowly walks out of the kitchen into his room and shuts the door behind them.
*
The next morning, Wu Xi starts taking out the nails. He’s sent Jing Beiyuan and Wen Kexing out, he was adamant about this despite Wen Kexing’s constant begging and cursing and threatening him.
Jing Beiyuan feels sick to his stomach. He can hear Zhou Zishu groan behind the door, trying so hard not to scream but eventually he can’t hold back anymore. Next to him, Wen Kexing’s face is ashen. He looks like he’s about to burst through the door any moment to throw himself at Zhou Zishu. Jing Beiyuan takes pity on him. He hasn’t talked much to the strange man Zhou Zishu loves yet. Wen Kexing has seemed quite mysterious and suspicious to him at first and he still has questions, still wants to find out more about the Ghost Valley Master and why he’s the one by Zhou Zishu’s side.
But he’s not blind. The love Wen Kexing has for Zhou Zishu is so radiant and powerful, so all-encompassing and unconditional that Jing Beiyuan doesn’t doubt him so much anymore. The sincerity with which he speaks to Zhou Zishu, the worry in his eyes every time they talk about the nails, the constant clinging to Zhou Zishu. The soft sobbing Jing Beiyuan heard last night when he was tossing and turning and couldn’t sleep. Standing here, unable to do anything, must be killing Wen Kexing on the inside. Jing Beiyuan has half a mind to go and hug Wen Kexing in his arms to comfort him, and maybe to comfort himself, but he doesn’t go through with it.
And so they are standing outside the old door, worrying, biting their lips and listening to Zhou Zishu’s screams as Wu Xi is working on the nails and Zhou Zishu is stabilizing himself under great pain. It feels like days have past when finally, the sounds die down and soon after, Wu Xi steps out of the room.
He looks exhausted, his skin is pale and there’s a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. Jing Beiyuan pulls him into his chest to support him before anxiously propping him up again and wrapping his hands up in his.
“Great Shaman, please-” Wen Kexing chokes and stumbles over to grab Wu Xi’s other arm, “how did it go?”
Wu Xi sighs and he sounds tired, but relieved.
“It went well,” he says calmly, carefully untangling Wen Kexing’s hands from around his arm, “I removed the nails and Lord Zhou used his strength to hold up his meridians and stabilize himself. He’s alive. His martial abilities are intact. However, he’s weak, his body and core strength are entirely depleted. We need to give him time to rest and recover.”
Wen Kexing’s eyes that have been shining wet for the entire time are finally overflowing and Jing Beiyuan can see the relief that he can feel flooding through his whole body mirrored on his face.
“Can- can I go see him?” Wen Kexing asks with a shaking voice.
“You can. But to allow him to heal fully, I had to put him in a deep slumber. He won’t wake again before his body is ready.”
Wen Kexing looks confused, shocked, but eventually he lowers his head and nods.
“Yes, of course. Whatever it takes to restore his health. Great Shaman, I will forever be indebted to you. Thank you for saving his life.”
And then the Valley Master bows down deep to Wu Xi before drying his tears and rushing into the room where Zhou Zishu will be resting for an unknown time.
Wu Xi turns back to Jing Beiyuan, falls into his body and closes his eyes. Somehow his strong, muscular body feels feather light and small in this moment and Jing Beiyuan wraps his arms around his beloved husband and holds him close.
“Thank you for saving our friend, my love,” he mutters into Wu Xi’s hair as he strokes his hands up and down his husband’s back.
Wu Xi holds onto his waist, still leaning on him and presses a small kiss into Jing Beiyuan’s neck.
“I had to do it. He did the same for us.” He untangles himself and finally looks up. “If it weren’t for him, I don’t know where I could have hidden you after the battle. I don’t know if I could have healed you. And without him, I could not have faked your death and brought you out of the city and back to Nanjiang with me. There was blood and chaos in the city, and I didn’t belong there anymore, but he came and helped me without hesitation, risking his own life several times just to keep you safe. I want to do the same for him, and for Wen Kexing as well. I didn’t want him to lose the love of his life.”
Tears are rising in his eyes, and he stops talking to quickly bury his head in the crook of Jing Beiyuan’s neck again. Jing Beiyuan’s throat feels tight and his chest aches. Wu Xi doesn’t cry often. He also doesn’t talk about the time of the battle a lot. Jing Beiyuan knows the trauma of almost losing him still sits deep in Wu Xi’s heart. He hasn’t forgiven himself yet for the things he’s done to his husband before that.
“My love, let’s rest. You’ve exerted yourself today.” He says after a while and untangles himself from his husband to lead him to their room. He’s fussing over Wu Xi there, taking his heavy coat off him, bringing him water and soap to wash and a bowl of soup he hastily reheats over the kitchen fire. When he finally takes the bowl from Wu Xi’s hands and slips into bed with him, Wu Xi immediately curls around him and presses a kiss against his husband’s chest.
“Thank you for taking care of me”, he murmurs, voice heavy with exhaustion.
“I’ve learned from the best”, Jing Beiyuan replies with a soft smile before wrapping his arms around Wu Xi and closing his eyes.
🌘 🌘
During the second month on the mountain, Wu Xi starts teaching Wen Kexing more and more about his trade. Jing Beiyuan looks on curiously as his beloved husband calmly explains how to make medicinal soups and potions and teaches the valley master which plants are suitable for which ailment. It’s obvious that Wu Xi loves teaching an attentive listener, he can see it daily when he observes him lecturing Lu Ta and he seems to enjoy teaching Wen Kexing a lot as well.
The Ghost Valley Master has been doing his utmost to be a diligent student and follow Wu Xi’s every word. Jing Beiyuan is amazed. From his first meeting he would never have expected the man to be so eager to learn that he even endures Wu Xi’s scolding without complaints.
For the past weeks, Wen Kexing has spent every hour of the day taking care of Zhou Zishu.
Every night he kisses him gently on the cheek and goes to sleep next to him, every morning he wakes up curled around him, arms and legs entangled.
According to Wu Xi’s instructions, Wen Kexing prepares light soup for him three times a day, then feeds it to the sleeping man with the utmost care and patience. After the soup, he makes sure that his beloved has some tea and following that, he breaks apart pieces of candy and lays them onto Zhou Zishu’s tongue to melt there, hoping the taste would permeate the foggy lands of deep slumber. All afternoon long he’s reading to him and it doesn’t matter if it’s poetry or novels or one of Wu Xi’s medical books, Wen Kexing always makes sure to entertain the sleeping Zhou Zishu.
At night, he fetches a bowl with hot water and scatters dried flowers over it and closes the door to the bedroom behind him. Using fragrant soaps and the softest cloth he has, he carefully washes Zhou Zishu’s body. He takes his time, cleaning every inch of skin carefully, worshiping it in the process. When he’s done, he dresses his beloved in fresh under robes, then holds him up carefully and gently brushes out his hair and brings it to shine with a gold-shimmering oil.
Wen Kexing takes the old robes out with him, then washes them in the kitchen and hangs them over a chair near the fireplace, pulling it straight so it dries without wrinkles. It’s touching and Jing Beiyuan has to smile softly everytime he sees it.
He always asks Wen Kexing about the scars on Zhou Zishu’s chest. At first, there were angry red holes, a stark contrast to the pale skin around them. But they are healing quickly, and soon the ugly wounds close up, fade to a lighter pink and then to faint white scars. It’s just a small portion of the healing process but it’s good to see any progress with his condition, and it gives Jing Beiyuan and Wen Kexing something tangible to talk about.
They’ve been dancing around each other for quite a while. One is wary about the strange, powerful man that’s now by his best friend’s side, the other is protective of his lover and distrusts this stranger that Zhou Zishu was so happy to see.
But eventually, over conversations about Zhou Zishu’s health, they grow a little closer. Jing Beiyuan learns more about what happened during those months that Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu have been traveling together and how they fell in love. In turn, he tells him about his friend’s youth and all the adventures they’ve been through together. He tries to keep things light hearted and spares Wen Kexing the details of their scheming at court in favour of fun anecdotes of a young and carefree Zhou Zishu. But between the tales of endless drinking, gambling and causing trouble, the true depth of their friendship can not stay hidden.
“I’ve never had a friend like that,” Wen Kexing admits quietly, after Jing Beiyuan finishes another story from their past. His eyes are cast down as he’s awkwardly stirring around in a pot, trying to heat up the leftovers of the soup that he’s made for Zhou Zishu before.
The room is awfully quiet for a moment.
Then Jing Beiyuan gets up to stand behind Wen Kexing and lays a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look up.
“You will learn what it feels like. Zhou Zishu will be your most trusted friend, not just your lover. Believe me.”
He clears his throat softly to buy himself a few seconds, unsure if he should be saying what’s on his mind.
“Besides…since Zhou Zishu is a friend of Wu Xi and me, you could be our friend, too? Wu Xi really enjoys teaching you anyway.”
He adds that last part quickly, afraid he’s sounding a little too much like he’s pitying the other man.
Wen Kexing looks at him with a puzzled expression on his handsome face before a small, happy smile pulls at the corners of his lips.
“I think I’d like that.”
🌘 🌘 🌘
During the third month of their seclusion, Wu Xi is starting to notice little changes on Zhou Zishu. One night, when Jing Beiyuan and him have already retired to their room, Wu Xi turns to his side after a long stretch of silence.
“I think he’ll wake up soon.”
Jing Beiyuan flips over. His eyes are huge and hopeful in the light of the single candle next to Wu Xi’s side of the bed.
“I’m not entirely sure, I’ve been keeping close attention the past few days and I can feel he’s coming back to the surface,” Wu Xi continues.
Jing Beiyuan is speechless for a moment. Then a huge smile spreads out over his face.
“Oh Wu Xi, that is wonderful! You truly are the best. No one else could have done that!”
“So, you’ve doubted me?” Wu Xi asks and his voice only sounds half joking.
Jing Beiyuan sighs.
“It’s not that. I just- it hurts to see him like this. Pierced by those awful nails. Then sleeping there for months like he’s on his deathbed. It gave me grim thoughts and I’m grateful that it will be over soon. But I’ve never doubted you, my love.”
He leans over and presses a sneaky kiss onto Wu Xi’s nose, then pecks it again when Wu Xi scrunches it up adorably.
“You really miss Lord Zhou, don’t you?” Wu Xi asks him quietly.
“Hm. I do. It didn’t feel like that so often in Nanjiang. At first I was just glad to be out of the capital and then I was starting a new life, with you, with Lu Ta, with the little monster here,” he gently wiggles his foot where the sable is curled up around over the blanket, “and with new friends. But I do think back to the days I’ve spent with Zhou Zishu often. We had a lot of fun, there are many good memories I have with him. And he’s the person I trust the most apart from you. As soon as we got the news from Ping An that he left Tian Chuang and was wandering around I was so overwhelmed, I really wanted to see him again. I just didn’t expect him to be in such a state.” Jing Beiyuan’s voice drifts off and he lowers his eyes.
Wu Xi has never been too good with comforting words, so he just wraps his arms around his husband and pulls him in. Jing Beiyuan buries his head in his chest and Wu Xi peppers small kisses into his hair.
“You’ll get to spend time with him again, soon. We can stay here for as long as you want.”
Jing Beiyuan looks at him with big eyes.
“Really?”
Wu Xi nods slowly, an unreadable expression on his face.
“If you want to stay we can stay. I will have to go back home eventually and perform my duty and teach Lu Ta, but I can do so and reunite here with you after a while if that is what you want.”
He’d really do that for me, Jing Beiyuan thinks and his heart swells in his chest. He vehemently shakes his head.
“ I don’t want you to leave on your own, I’d miss you far too much.”
He tries to lift the mood before he gets too emotional.
“No, Wu Xi, you are not getting rid of me. Besides, I really hope my dear friend won’t take too long with his recovery or starts to take a liking to this awful mountain, I’d really hope he’ll leave here as well.”
Wu Xi grins at him, a soft and indulgent thing.
“So you said you’d miss me?” he asks playfully, “Would you really miss me or would you be missing reminders to eat well and compliments on your poetry and daily backrubs?”
Jing Beiyuan gasps dramatically.
“How dare you accuse me of that! Am I not a faithful, loving husband to you? I am outraged!”
Grabbing his pillow, he rolls on top of Wu Xi and starts hitting him playfully before smothering him in heaps of little kisses that tickle Wu Xi enough to make him giggle, unable to fight his husband off.
And suddenly, with the hope of having his friend back soon and having another evidence for Wu Xi’s deep deep love, everything feels a little lighter than it has before.
🌘 🌘 🌘 🌘
On the first day of the fourth month, Zhou Zishu wakes up. And the person who is with him at that time is not Wen Kexing, but Jing Beiyuan.
Jing Beiyuan is reading some poetry out loud, commenting on every line and thus leading a very one-sided conversation with Zhou Zishu when he hears a soft groan come from the bed.
His head snaps up and he catches the exact moment when Zhou Zishu slowly blinks open his eyes. Time seems to stand still for a moment as a shell-shocked Jing Beiyuan and a slightly dazed Zhou Zishu stare at each other silently.
“Beiyuan, you-” Zhou Zishu says and his voice sounds dry and brittle and breaks off.
Jing Beiyuan drops the book and throws himself at his friend.
*
He doesn’t get to talk to his friend in private for a whole day. After he’s alerted Wu Xi and Wen Kexing with a big fat smile on his face, after Wu Xi has checked and double checked Zhou Zishu’s condition and approved, Wen Kexing occupies his lover completely. He’s smiling and sobbing and fussing over Zhou Zishu incessantly. With their arms linked he takes him around the house, then out into the yard and into the forest to show him around. After that he plants him in a chair near the fire in the kitchen and cooks half a banquet for him before heating up buckets and buckets of water to run him a bath. By the time he gets out, Zhou Zishu is already looking quite tired again and he quickly falls asleep on Wen Kexing’s shoulder while his friends are telling him about the past three months.
In the morning, Jing Beiyuan finally gets his chance to talk when he sneaks into Zhou Zishu’s room with Wu Xi while Wen Kexing is busy preparing a breakfast that could possibly feed an entire village.
Wu Xi is checking the much more energized Zhou Zishu over again, nodding happily at everything he finds and then proceeds to gather up the bundles of herbs he’s placed around the room three months ago that won’t be needed anymore now.
Jing Beiyuan pulls up a chair next to Zhou Zishu’s bed. There was so much he wanted to say to Zhou Zishu but in this moment, his mind is completely blank.
“You didn’t come to visit us in Nanjiang,” he says lamely.
“Uhm. I know. I’m sorry. Things were-”
“You know, I was looking for a girl for you! I painted you and told all the young women in Nanjiang that you’d come and chose a wife among them. Do you know how many hearts you broke by not showing up?”
“You really did that?” Zhou Zishu asks incredulously.
“Why are you surprised about that, he’s utterly shameless” Wu Xi mumbles in the background. Jing Beiyuan throws him a pouty look that Wu Xi chooses to ignore as he makes his way out of the door.
“Of course! But maybe I should have been looking for guys instead? You just didn’t seem as excited about going to the Yellow Flower with me as to other establishments. Have you always secretly been more interested in men? You should have told me, I-
“Jing Beiyuan. Stop talking or I’ll go right back into another three month long slumber.” Zhou Zishu sounds exasperated, but there’s a sparkle in his eyes and a slight smile playing on his lips.
“Alright, alright. I guess it doesn’t matter anymore anyway. You seem to have found a wife alright.” Jing Beiyuan nods to the door.
“The lord of the Ghost Valley…such a powerful, dangerous man, so intense.” Jing Beiyuan feigns a shiver.
Zhou Zishu slaps at him.
“He’s intense, I’m not denying that. But he is-” Zhou Zishu’s awkwardly breaks off.
“He loves you very much,” Jing Beiyuan provides helpfully, “do you love him, too?”
Zhou Zishu lowers his eyes and smiles, soft and indulgent.
“I do. I never saw it coming, but he just showed up in my life one day and wouldn’t leave me alone. It was really annoying at first,” he chuckles, “but he was always there for me. We’ve been through so much. I couldn’t help it.”
Jing Beiyuan grins.
“Well look at you and your stupid little smile. I’ve never seen you this infatuated with someone. It’s cute. I like this look on you.”
Zhou Zishu rolls his eyes at him but his grin spreads even wider.
“It’s good to see you haven’t changed, old friend, you’re still a pain in the ass. And here I was hoping that Wu Xi would have a good influence on you.”
He pauses.
“Anyway, thank you for coming, Beiyuan. I was ready to leave this world before Wen Kexing and Zhang Chengling showed up and then I suddenly wasn’t anymore. But it seemed like there was no turning back. You and Wu Xi gave me a second chance at this life and I’m so grateful for that. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
Zhou Zishu’s thin, worn face has filled out nicely under Wen Kexing’s constant care, but the heaviness of what he’s lived through are still evident enough.
Jing Beiyuan sighs heavily.
“We were the ones who owed you. Don’t you remember? You gave me a second chance at life first. Without you, I wouldn’t have made it after the battle. Without you I’d still be stuck in the capital.”
“You’re my best friend. It’s only natural that I did that.” Zhou Zishu answers a little awkwardly.
“And you are my best friend, so it’s only natural that I couldn’t let you die just like this as well. I mean, technically, I didn’t even do anything, it was mostly just Wu Xi. So no need to thank me.”
He tries to lighten the mood a little and succeeds. Zhou Zishu gets up off the bed, stretches his body like a big cat and throws an outer robe on.
“Walk with me for a while Beiyuan, I need to regain some strength. Ah, I missed having you around! Despite everything we had a good old time together didn’t we?”
“Oh we did. I still remember every time you were chased around the city by an angry mob because you stole someone's girl or cheated on a card game.”
“Hey, I never cheated! I was being framed!”
“Still, you always got in trouble and I had to host you when you were on the run and then you were just lazing around drinking all of my wine!”
Zhou Zishu laughs and puffs his cheeks.
“You better watch what you are saying, Prince! I have more than enough to hold against you as well, don’t underestimate me!”
He picks up a large wooden spoon in the kitchen and starts smacking his friend with it, chasing him out the house and around the yard. Their yelling and laughing is echoing loudly through the icy forest.
“What are they doing?” Wen Kexing asks incredulously when he looks up from the bundles of herbs and dried fruit he’s been tying with Wu Xi. He can’t stop staring at Zhou Zishu who is yelling something about ‘you hired ALL of the ladies in the brothel and sent them to his father’s house to ask for him’ and is beating his friend up with a spoon.
“Just what they always used to do,” Wu Xi sighs and shakes his head, “You’ll get used to it.”
He gently shoves at the sable lying in his lap peacefully.
“Come on, stop being lazy. Go and wreak some havoc with these two, let the valley master and me have a good laugh as well.”
The sable looks at him indignantly at first, but then it blinks it’s beady little eyes obediently and goes on its mission.
🌘 🌘 🌘 🌘 🌘
Sometime during the fifth month, Wu Xi and Jing Beiyuan finally leave the mountain. Wen Kexing promises to prepare a feast for them on the day before their departure and busies himself in the kitchen for hours and hours, even getting Zhou Zishu to help him with the preparations. Their bickering is clearly audible in the next room where Wu Xi is carefully packing up his supplies as Jing Beiyuan is sitting by his side, looking a little gloomy.
“I’m so glad to finally be leaving this dreadful mountain,” he says quietly, pushing a little crate around on the floor with his feet, “but I will miss them a lot.”
Wu Xi looks up from the bottles and sachets he’s been labeling to leave for their friends. His heart aches when he sees how sad his husband looks.
“I don’t know when we can see them again,” Jing Beiyuan continues, “Maybe we will never get to see them again?”
“Oh Beiyuan, don’t be dramatic, of course you will see them again.”
Wu Xi sighs at his husband's adorable pouty expression.
“I know…I just really want them to come to Nanjiang with us, I want to show them everything there. I promised Zhou Zishu all those years ago to take him out to taste all the food and all the best wine and to show him the greatest performances and most stunning sights.”
“Oh, Beiyuan.” Wu Xi says and puts his brush down to hold his beloved’s hand, bringing it up to press a soft kiss against it. He knows how much Jing Beiyuan enjoys living in Nanjiang, but he also knows how lonely he sometimes gets. There’s been no friend like Zhou Zishu in his life ever since they fled the capital. Seeing them play around here and how much their banter makes Jing Beiyuan smile breaks Wu Xi’s heart. He knew that ultimately, they would have to separate again after all. Now that the time has come, he can barely stand the thought of it. He takes a deep breath and finds his lover’s eyes.
“I know how much you want to just take them with you. But we can’t…not now. Zhou Zishu needs more time. But Beiyuan, once he’s recovered, both he and Wen Kexing are always welcome at our home and they know that. They will come, I’m sure of this. Zhou Zishu misses you just as much as you miss him and Wen Kexing will gladly follow him everywhere. He’s actually quite excited about seeing Nanjiang and learning more about the art of healing.”
Wu Xi looks quite proud when he says this and it’s so adorable that Jing Beiyuan can’t help but smile.
“Besides,” Wu Xi adds on, “you’ve said it yourself, who would want to stay on this dreadful mountain for longer than absolutely necessary?”
The small smile pulling at the corners of Jing Beiyuan’s mouth grows wider.
“Yes, yes, you are right. And I know, I shouldn’t be so impatient with Zhou Zishu’s recovery. Thank you for putting up with my sad mood, even after all these years. I love you, Wu Xi.”
Wu Xi kisses his knuckles again, then carefully untangles their hands.
“I love you, too, Beiyuan.”
*
That night, they feast and drink and gamble to their heart’s content. No one talks about Jing Beiyuan and Wu Xi leaving, and when they all finally head to bed, the sky is already starting to turn grey again.
A few hours later it is time to say their goodbyes. None of them is good with these and they don’t know when they will be able to see each other again and so, few words are spoken when Jing Beiyuan and Wu Xi turn to leave. Wen Kexing thanks them again and again and hands them little boxes full of treats he made himself. Zhou Zishu and Jing Beiyuan hug each other tightly, unwilling to let go. Jing Beiyuan’s throat feels tight when he whispers, “Let’s have a drink together soon, hm?” into Zhou Zishu’s hair. “This time, you really have to come and visit us.”
“We won’t be disappointing you, my friend”, Zhou Zishu answers and squeezes Jing Beiyuan in his arms once more.
When Wu Xi and Jing Beiyuan leave, Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu stand and watch them until they become tiny specs and finally disappear into the distance. Only then do they turn around, hand in hand, and go back inside where it’s warm, into their home.
About one year later
It’s the first of the warmer days of the year and greenery is already starting to reappear next to the mountain path Zhou Zishu is walking along. He’s whistling on his way into town, laughing at himself for being such a grandpa and delights in the rays of sunshine that filter through the trees. Everyone in the small sleepy town greets him with a smile and he has little chats with passersby and shopkeepers as he collects everything he needs to get for Wen Kexing and himself. Normally, socializing like this is more his husband's job but Wen Kexing sent Zhou Zishu on his way alone today, busy with working on the little garden of medicinal herbs that he’s been growing. After he’s bought meat and vegetables, ink, thread, and other miscellaneous things he stops by the little branch shop Ping An has opened and collects the letters sent to the new immortals of Changming Mountain.
They often receive letters. From old friends, from cultivation sects in need of advice and at least once a month one from Zhang Chengling, who’s diligently improving his martial arts and is reporting every bit of progress to them proudly. This, however, isn’t one of those letters. Zhou Zishu immediately recognizes the handwriting. He unfolds the letter hastily and his eyes run across the thin, pretty lines unmistakably written by his friend, Jing Beiyuan.
My dearest friends,
I must say, I do not miss that awfully cold mountain of yours. It’s a boring place, although I was under the impression that you didn’t mind so much and found ways to keep yourselves entertained there. But I think you must miss us and you must miss the taste of delicacies and the beauty of the land and the warm rays of the sun.
The Great Shaman of Nanjiang, a true genius and coincidentally my dearest husband, is suspecting that you, Zhou Zishu must have recovered your strength and stability fully by now.
I, however, disagree. If you have recovered already, then why aren’t you here with us yet?
So when you are feeling well enough, I’d like to invite you once again to visit us as soon as you can. Wu Xi and I have a lot to show you, you wouldn’t want to miss out on that.
With hopes to drink with you soon,
Your most beautiful friend Beiyuan
Zhou Zishu can’t stop smiling all the way back up to the mountain. He finds Wen Kexing lounging on a bench outside their house, munching on a pear, a book resting in his lap.
When he sees Zhou Zishu, he practically falls off the bench and rushes over to him to throw himself around his husband’s neck.
“I missed you so much, my love,” he sighs dramatically, then pecks his lover’s lips playfully.
“I was only gone half a day,” Zhou Zishu chuckles and kisses Wen Kexing back.
“Hm, I know. But still. Why were you smiling so much just now? Only because of me?”
Still hanging off Zhou Zishu’s neck, Wen Kexing does his best impression of puppy eyes.
Zhou Zishu untangles himself and fishes the letter out of his robes to wave it in Wen Kexing’s face.
“Mostly because of you. But also because of this. What would you like to go on a trip to Nanjiang to visit our friends?”
A big smile spreads out over Wen Kexing’s face.
“Yes. Yes, I’d love that very much.”
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