Work Text:
Mu Qing was running as fast as his feet would take him. The scent of blood was heavy in the air, it was sickening. Mu Qing was following the trail of blood, he knew who it belonged to. His stomach twisted in a harsh way.
He came upon the gruesome sight he was trying to find. He didn’t want to find this gruesome sight but he had to. Needed to. Before him lay a body, but not just any body. Feng Xin’s.
He fell to his knees into the pool of blood surrounding the body. The body that had been attacked and tore at by a ghost. A sob violently shook his body right before then he dry heaved. He dry heaved a few times before he got it together. When he finally was able to sit correctly, he reached for the body. He cradled Feng Xin’s head in his arms and sobbed. Sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. He was gone. Forever. To never return. Dead.
This was his best friend. His number one enemy. The one and only person who truly knows him. The love of his life.
A scream so painful sounding left his mouth. He screamed more and more. As long as he could before he ran out of breath. And sometimes even when he couldn’t breathe anymore he would silently scream.
Mu Qing sat up with a start. He could feel the water pooling in his eyes, the wetness on his cheeks. His throat hurt and felt dry. He was screaming in his sleep. Now, he sat in the darkness of the night and silently sobbed.
He knew it was irrational but his anxiety got the better of him. He threw his feet over the side of his bed and put on one of the robes neatly folded to the side of his bed. With a deep breath he headed out of his room and out of his palace.
It was quiet in the heavenly realm. All officials sound asleep. Mu Qing could hear the sounds of his footsteps and the sounds of his breathing. It was calming to his racing heart. But not enough.
He finally reached the palace of General Nan Yang. Feng Xin’s palace. He walked into the palace without hesitation.
The deputies on duty for the night started at him. He ignored them just as he did to his own. His mind only had one thing on his mind and that was finding Feng Xin.
He threw open the door to Feng Xin’s bed chambers and saw the bed empty. That gave him another flurry of panic and his breathing grew heavy once more. He looked around the room, as if he was hiding in a dark corner somewhere.
“Feng Xin?” Mu Qing called out, his voice heavy with panic. “Where are you?!”
His voice grew louder with every word out of his mouth. His panic only grew as he didn’t see Feng Xin. Where else would he be at this time of night?
“Feng X-” He broke down before he could finish calling for him once more. He backed into a wall and slid down it.
He has his head buried in his knees that are drawn up to his chest. He was so out of it that he didn’t hear a door open from somewhere on the other side of the room.
“What the fuck?” Feng Xin said as he came from the room he was in.
Mu Qing looked up at him with tear filled eyes and a tear streaked face.
“I’m sorry for not answering your calls. What’s wrong?” he asked quietly. Softly. He dropped to his knees in front of Mu Qing. “Please tell me what happened.”
Mu Qing felt bad for making him sound so concerned. It was a ridiculous reason he was here and was crying. He knew it was a nightmare but it still shook him.
“I-It’s stupid. I’m sorry for bothering you.” Mu Qing said with a gulp to hide the sob rising in his body.
“No, you’re trembling. Please tell me what happened.” Feng Xin pleaded. He was about to tear up himself with the sight of this upset man in front of him. If he came to him in the middle of the night crying, he knew something was wrong. Mu Qing was too proud and hid his emotions well.
“I just had a nightmare, it was nothing. It’s ridiculous. I’m ridiculous.”Feng Xin’s heart clenched at Mu Qing calling himself ridiculous.
“Do you want to tell me what it was about?”
“Um…you- you died. It felt too real. Like you actually died and I was terrified.”
Feng Xin tightly wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close to his body. He whispered “I'm here” in Mu Qing's ear. Mu Qing responded by burying his head into his shoulder and shaking.
After a few minutes they both calmed down. Mu Qing finally stopped shaking and was now silently crying.
Feng Xin pulled back with a soft smile on his face. “It’s sweet you care about me.”
“I hate you.”
“No you don’t. You love me.”
“Yeah, yeah I do.”
“What?” Mu Qing’s eyes widened at the realization at what he said. He took a moment to process this before continuing on.
“I love you. I really, really love you. I don’t know what I would do if you died.” Mu Qing looked into Feng Xin’s eyes with a soft smile of his own.
Feng Xin looked shocked. Mu Qing’s face heated up with embarrassment and looked away. His smile fell away at the silence.
Feng Xin grabbed Mu Qing’s chin and turned his head back towards him. He gently met his lips with his own. He kissed him so tenderly. It had much more emotion than any words he could have said. Mu Qing kissed back with a more passionate kiss. They shared a moment in each other’s arms, locking lips with one another.
“I love you too.” Feng Xin whispered when they pulled back from each other. Mu Qing would never admit it but tears welled back into his eyes at those words. He then threw his arms around the other.
They both slowly stood up.
“Come on, let’s go to sleep. I’m tired.” Feng Xin grabbed Mu Qing’s hand and dragged him towards his bed to lay with him.
They laid with their legs tangled together. Mu Qing laid on Feng Xin’s chest. It was the most perfect feeling for them. They were perfectly happy.
Mu Qing reached up one last time to place a small peck to Feng Xin’s lips before closing his eyes.
It wasn’t long before the both fell asleep into a peaceful slumber.
The next day, Feng Xin and Mu Qing were sitting on one side of a table in Puqi Shrine with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng on the other side. Mu Qing and Xie Lian were passionately talking with one another while the other two males sat quietly at their sides.
Feng Xin was watching Mu Qing while Hua Cheng was focused on Xie Lian. Mu Qing looked over at Feng Xin with a soft smile on his face. He was finally happy with life.
When they looked back over, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng wore a surprised look on their faces. They looked back and forth between the two before Hue Cheng smirked at them.
“Finally.” Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian looked at him before looking back at the other two. “Finally.” He agreed.
“You guys knew?” Mu Qing and Feng Xin asked at the same time.
“Obviously. You two dumbasses were the only oblivious ones to each other's feelings.” Hua Cheng responded with a bigger smirk.
“Now San Lang, let’s not call names.” Xie Lian spoke sweetly with a bright smile. He truly was the kindest human being in the three realms. Hua Cheng just let out a ‘humph’ before going back to lovingly looking at Xie Lian.
“How long have you guys known?” Mu Qing couldn’t let this go.
The other couple shared a look before turning back. “Eight hundred years.” They responded at the same time.
Mu Qing’s eyes widened. He looked towards Hua Cheng and yelled, “How the hell did you know!”
“You guys were so obvious, even to a small child.”
Xie Lian only smiled nervously at him.
“Have you really loved me for eight hundred years?” Feng Xin asked Mu Qing.
Mu Qing blushed. “Yeah. Have you loved me for that long also?”
“Obviously.”
“Sorry for not knowing sooner!” Mu Qing said with fake annoyance at his significant other. Then he softly smiled at him again. “I love you, idiot.”
“I love you too, dumbass.”