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“Master Xingqiu? Where are you going?”
Xu had just entered Xingqiu’s room, his face puzzled as he saw his young master at the window, half of his body out. This was not a rare occurrence for Xu, who often would catch Xingqiu in the midst of doing something against the rules of the Feiyun Commerce Guild. To others it may be a surprise, but Xingqiu was not as responsible and obedient as he made himself to be.
At first Xingqiu couldn’t respond. He didn’t know what to say, no lie would save him in the moment, so silence was the best option. When Xu realised that he would not get a response, he sighed and stated with a calm voice, “depending on what you tell me, especially if it’s related to that lover of yours, I won’t tell your father or brother.”
That seemed to work on Xingqiu as a few minutes later, he confessed, “I am going with my dearest Chongyun to Lingju Pass for he heard that there has been ghostly activity around there. Please do not reveal me to my father or brother, Xu. I will make it up to you, I promise.”
“Go. I’ll make up an excuse for you if either of them need you,” Xu grunted before exiting the room and closing the door. Xingqiu’s eyes widened with happiness. He would definitely make it up to his loyal servant (who he actually viewed as a father more than he viewed his own father). Xingqiu composed himself again, looked outside his window for one last time and then jumped out.
The sun was burning bright at a low point, signalling that it was a beautiful summer’s morning. Sweat trickled down Xingqiu’s forehead from the heat, yet that didn’t stop him from running the whole way to Lingju Pass. The run was exhilarating although extremely tiring. His heart pumped hard against his chest and his legs ached brutally. Perhaps running for 10 minutes nonstop was in the summer heat was not the smartest move. He bent down, hands on his knees as he huffed out.
Yet the slight pains he felt dissipated when he heard a familiar voice call out to him. Xingqiu looked up, and in front of him was Chongyun jogging towards him, carrying a pink parasol to block out the sun’s harsh rays. Worry was written all over his face as he stopped in front of Xingqiu and put his hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“Are you okay?” he asked. Xingqiu nodded and then answered after taking some more harsh breaths, “I am fine. I just sprinted the complete way here from Liyue Harbour. Nice parasol, by the way.”
“Thank you. My old one broke yesterday because some children stole it from me and played with it. Thankfully, my mum had another parasol in the storage. Wait, why did you run the whole way here? It’s 33 degrees, Xingqiu! Are you trying to kill yourself?!”
“I am fine, my liege, do not fret over me. I only sought to see you again as rapidly as possible. I missed you dearly.”
A blush painted both of their faces, but peaceful silence overtook them. After Xingqiu rested for a bit, the two started to wander around the area. They shared the parasol, taking turns as to who would hold it. They looked like they were just walking around, but in reality, both had their eyes peeled open. Especially Chongyun who was hoping that he could get to perform his first exorcism. Throughout their search, they beat any hilichurls that they came across by. Other the fact that they were a danger to anyone who would pass by in the future, the hilichurls also increased the chance of there being any paranormal activity. The more time passed, however, the less hopeful Chongyun became.
After an hour of uninterrupted walking, the two stopped. They sat down in an area that the sun’s light did not touch and got out some food from their backpack. Both boys solemnly ate; Chongyun because he didn’t get to exorcise anything and Xingqiu because his food contained carrots in it. Whoever packed his lunch did a bad job for they had forgotten of Xingqiu’s hatred when it came to carrots (in truth, Xingqiu had prepared his own meal the night prior, in the darkness. He accidentally added carrots because he could not see.)
As they ate, both boys realised the other was slightly sad. First it was Chongyun who realised that Xingqiu’s lunch had carrots in it, so he decided to share his own lunch with Xingqiu. The boy appreciated it. Then when they both finished, Xingqiu dragged Chongyun to the lake found at Lingju Pass. He forced them both to enter and then started to splash him.
“Xingqiu stop! Our clothes!”
“It’s alright, my liege. We will dry off later. For now, have some fun with me in the water! The water is moderately cold! It is impeccable for us cool ourselves off from the summer heat!”
Reluctantly, the man agreed and joined in with the fun. After 30 minutes, they went back to the dry land, and started to make their way to Liyue harbour. They hoped that the summer heat would be enough to dry their clothes off, for they did not have any extra clothes and, they were not going to hang around Lingju Pass naked, while their clothes were sprawled on random stones for them to be dried off. Unsurprisingly enough however, the heat was not as powerful as they hoped it would be. Most of the water did evaporate, but the clothes were still slightly damp.
When they arrived to Liyue Harbour, they walked to Xingqiu’s house. Since Xingqiu was not meant to be outside, they had to sneak through the streets to not be seen. When they arrived at his house, they shared a quick kiss before the sword user climbed up through his window and disappeared into his room. Then, Chongyun went back to his house.
The next day, both boys woke up with a slight fever.
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Shenhe’s eyes burst open, short breaths escaped her mouths as she sat up from her bed.
She dreamt about them again. Their dreams were not scary, but they always left her a bit shaken up. She smiled slightly and looked out of the window after calming herself down. It was a beautiful summer morning. Maybe she could take a trip to Lingju Pass.