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The Grand General of Xianzhou Luofu has spread the news that he has found his 'significant other' or 'his other half', resulting in a wedding that was to take place the next day after the announcement and everyone was invited.
***
Glamorous bouquets of the most exotic flowers were placed all around the city, firework sets ready to take off and fly up to the moon, star skiffs with hundreds of goods were all set for the night.
The wedding was one of a kind, special, not just any wedding that you'd see on a random day. It was The General's wedding after all.
***
The news about the General finding and marrying the so-called love of his life has spread on all planets, and it has reached the Stellaron Hunter's quarters.
Blade, one of the most wanted criminals, dead or alive, with a bounty of billions of credits over his head now, felt like the world had ended. He was never much of a romantic person but he sure did wear a burning desire and love in his heart, one that he wished he would share with Jing Yuan and Jing Yuan only. What did the news just say?
"The General of the Luofu got married to his lover–" rage filled his veins, all he could see was red, blood, and murder. That's all he knew, all he wanted. He wanted to be Jing Yuan's lover. Whoever married The General was probably a nobody. At least to Blade.
***
It was probably midnight when Blade slowly and soundlessly opened the window that once led him into a loving place, with a loving and smiling man always there, alone. Now he sat in his luxurious bed with someone by his side.
The thought of Jing Yuan and someone else boiled his blood, but the sight almost made his veins pop. He stepped inside, leaving the window open. He took his sword out, circled around the bed slowly and carefully, now being just beside Jing Yuan's lover, observing the two people being deeply asleep, far away into the slumber of dreams, soon to be nightmares.
He looked at Jing Yuan's sleeping face, then at the person beside him as he drew his sword up and above, the sharp blade right above the General's lover's heart and chest.
All it took was one swipe, one strong hit right into their chest.
And that's exactly what happened. His eyes burned with thousands of emotions and feelings, his hands almost now trembling.
Blood splattered all around the bed, the mattress, the floor, everything and everywhere. Choked out gasps were heard, more and more violent and desperate ones, and shaky breaths that were to end in less than a minute most likely.
Blade backed up, now keeping his sword behind his back pointed upwards, blood dripping down with no mercy, heading to the balcony, from which he would take off and go back to the Stellaron Hunter's place.
As he took slow and careful steps behind, Jing Yuan woke up abruptly and saw his lover being all covered in blood, their chest ripped in half. Jing Yuan gasped, started to panic, tears made their appearance in his golden eyes, and he looked to the balcony as he screamed for help. He yelled, loudly. When he saw Blade, and his sword's tip covered in blood that was now dripping down he let out yet another gasp and stopped yelling. All he did was stare.
Blade looked straight into Jing Yuan's eyes, took one more step then he pushed the glass doors to the balcony opened and jumped out, right when cloud knights and Jing Yuan's assistants came running with fear and panic written all over their faces. They all saw the corpse that was now lying besides The General. No sign of life, no breath, no pulse, no nothing.
Death was written on a report.
It was terrible to love something that death could touch.
***
The next morning, a painful and heart wrenching (to most people) announcement was made and spread once again across multiple planets. Jing Yuan's lover was dead.
There was no reason given, no reason asked as to why or how the death had happened. Even though The General knew it all.
***
Jing Yuan could not sleep, so he sat outside, in his garden with a tea cup in front of him not being able to touch it nor doing anything else other than sitting still - even breathing was hard and tiring.
All he could do was replay over and over again that imagine, a soul covered in blood and having the last breaths. Painful last breaths.
His mind shifted to Blade, knowing that he was the one to do the murder, the crime. What was his reason? Why? Why why why why why? Jing Yuan always had rather a strong bond with Blade, one that wasn't just.. friendship. Even though they were two almost opposite people in every aspect and even role.
Jing Yuan did not have to think of Blade anymore, he jumped off of a roof, now being right in front of him.
The General was shocked. Completely. It looked like he was almost shivering as well.
Blade did not do any sudden moves, he moved right in front and sat down facing Jing Yuan, inches away. None spoke. None moved.
Until,
"Was there any certain reason?" Jing Yuan broke the ice, broke the silence, and got straight to the point. His voice sounded like it had been stabbed by hundreds of broken glass pieces yet he could not feel nor make his voice sound mad. Not in the littlest bit.
"Yes. There was. Need I explain?"
Jing Yuan looked unsurely, his eyes trembling, his heart racing. He did not know what to say.
"Enlighten me." Was Blade jealous?.. he could not blame the man in front of him, somehow. Somehow he never got mad at Blade.
The Stellaron Hunter knew exactly what and why he did and he spoke up with no hesitation at all, "I wish I was your lover. Not, somebody, probably a nobody." His eyes were burning, it looked like was fighting a war as he was speaking and looking directly into Jing Yuan's eyes which didn't even sparkle anymore.
He was right. He was jealous. Very. He wouldn't have guessed, this was the only possible answer unless Blade was given such a mission.
Silence fell heavily on them just as fate did and crushed the two men.
"I don't know what you want me to say. Not a single clue." Jing Yuan answered after a long time but his tone was still firm.
He knew Blade didn't come here for forgiveness and probably nor to create any more pain (if there could be any more damage done).
"I'd apologize but I'm not all that sorry. Unless a half true apology would help you."
"Is there anything you want.?." Jing Yuan's voice didn't ask but nor did it state anything, his head slowly looking down.
"You." The General would probably appreciate sincere answers, so that's what Blade did.
Even though his head went down just a few moments ago, he now looked directly at Blade once again. The exchanged views did not talk nor reveal too much except Blade noticing a missing sparkle in Jing Yuan's gaze. Soon, the silence was broken by the voices of the cloud knight's and some other familiar tones that were now heard from the distance, yelling for Jing Yuan.
Blade sat up, picked up his sword and in a fraction of a second he was gone, and everyone now was checking up on The General, helping him sit up and guide him to his room, to his bed in which he was now alone.
***
Jing Yuan put more and more pieces together and realized Blade was, after all, jealous because he always yearned and longed for him, even though he never said that. Another point was the fact that the two males used to bicker a lot in the past, being inseparable, everywhere they'd go they'd always be together. Yet he did not think Blade would do such a thing. He still didn't want to blame him. Was there anything he could do so he could probably fix everything between him and the Stellaron Hunter?
..Blade always wished for freedom. Something he did not have when he would go meet Jing Yuan late at night, and something Jing Yuan did not have either due to his rank as The General. Freedom.
****
"The General has died!" was announced, and the whole Xianzhou Loufu was agitated and didn't know what's next. It looked and felt as if the land was now on fire.
For what felt like thousands and thousands of days Jing Yuan has been endlessly looking into the deep cold sea where waves were violently hitting the shore and said no word. Was he phased? Was he thinking? Did he want to be a part of the sea? A shooting star? Did he throw himself in the cold water one night and leave absolutely no word for or to any person on the Luofu?
No, he wasn't dead. He did not throw himself in the sea. He ran away and faked his death. All he wanted to do was take a break. A long long break. Perhaps a break for an eternity.
And so, he fakes his own death, runs far, far away from the Xianzhou Luofu, the land that he basically owned and ruled over.
***
Probably the people of the Luofu thought Jing Yuan either took his own life (which would be believable but not really fitting) or got killed by the same criminal that had split his lover in half.
Blade always found it endearing and brave how the world could and would be nothing but painful and rough for Jing Yuan yet he was always a soft and loving person, and it did not change when he would be together with Blade. Even though it was hard for the two of them to be together, that wasn't the case anymore. Blade could cling onto Jing Yuan at any time now, there would be no more need for him to 'break' into his room anymore.
Perhaps love was blind, at least to Jing Yuan.
he was like shooting stars to Jing Yuan
from the barrel of his eyes
it drove him wild
it drove him crazy
they were no longer shadows in each other's hearts.
***
Jing Yuan used to wait and hope his soul would heal, if it didn't happen today, it would happen tomorrow. If it didn't happen tomorrow, it'd happen the day after tomorrow, and the day after, after, after tomorrow…
..all Jing Yuan's stories were about being left, all Blade's stories were about leaving. This time, things changed.
Jing Yuan was no longer left alone, Blade was no longer leaving.