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It was almost three in the morning when the house quieted down. Everyone had already left, even Hei Xiazi and Xiao Hua, who usually stayed there, had gone to Xiaoge's house this time.
Shen Wei had stared at the empty painting on the studio wall for a while, wondering how he had not noticed the movement before and the disappearance of the little dragon.
Back in the bedroom, Wu Xie still hadn't gone to bed. Clean and in his pajamas, he sat on the edge of the bed, under the light of the bedside lamp, and stroked the little creature that rested curled up on his forearm. At that size, the dragon didn't have the usual somewhat grumpy expression that most dragons seemed to bear in paintings and statues. Instead, he looked cute and lazy, with his soft mane framing his head.
Shen Wei went to sit next to Wu Xie, reaching out to stroke the dragon's small head. He missed the little dragons and the black kitten. He had met Da Qing many times before that lifetime, but he had never had the opportunity to pet him. He didn't know how the poor cat would have reacted to being petted by the Ghost Slayer.
"He's slept all the time since you left, but he's still lazy?"
"He wasn't sleeping," Wu Xie chuckled softly, leaning down to rest his head on his husband's shoulder. "He was cultivating. Dragons are inert when they cultivate for a long time, but they are not disconnected from what is happening around them. They are excellent at hiding their energies and going completely unnoticed."
"Cultivating... Did you summon him?"
"No. He realized what I was going to do and followed me. He hid in my jacket before we got to the hall of the Ten Kings. He said my plan was crap and would fail because the Ten Kings know I should always be accompanied by my dragons."
The little dragon raised his head, staring at Wu Xie for a while, and then turned to Shen Wei, "Maybe I got over worried, people are still very afraid of him, even when all he knows how to do is talk."
"I don't remember meeting many people who weren't afraid of him." And so I grew up not to remember meeting many people who weren’t afraid of me either...
“In the past, you and Kunlun-jun only. Every other being there was afraid of him to some extent.” Even though the little dragon spoke in his own language, Shen Wei still understood him as if they spoke the same language.
"Erhuang, did you show yourself at Hell's Court? What did you tell them?"
"When they got a little bold with Zhurong-jun, I came out of his robes and became big. The columns shook and I knocked over two by accident. But they thought it was on purpose. It's been a long time since I changed shape, so it was a bit catastrophic, but only Zhurong-jun can notice that I'm not in my best shape. I said some mean things to them, but soon I realized they couldn't understand me, so it just sounded like I was roaring.”
"So... there's still no one who understands you dragons in at least two of the three worlds?"
“No one else but you.”
Shen Wei wondered if it didn't feel lonely. But Erhuang hadn't always been alone. He was a twin, the second brother. Shen Wei still wanted to know if another had survived the battle, but he wasn't sure if it was a good time to ask. "Zhurong-jun..."
"Hm?" Wu Xie had started to doze off on his husband's shoulder.
"Dahuang... you took him into battle with you. What happened to him?"
Wu Xie mumbled something, so incoherent that Shen Wei looked at Erhuang, trying to confirm that he wasn't the only one who didn't understand a single word.
The little dragon slowly uncoiled himself from his master's arm and snaked through the air to speak face to face with Shen Wei, "Gege is fine. Zhurong-jun sent him back to us on the mountain before the battle ended, instructed him to take care of Kunlun-jun. He's been in the same place ever since."
"What place is this?"
"Kunlun-jun's left shoulder. Dahuang supports the lack of soulfire, so that Kunlun-jun's soul will not detach from the body easily. Otherwise, Kunlun-jun's incarnations would not last long."
Shen Wei did not hide his surprise upon hearing that. Could it mean that the lack of soulfire maybe… just maybe… wouldn't have made Kunlun die faster? If so, then what had done it? "How come I never noticed such a thing?"
"We are not very powerful, so hiding well is the best skill we have."
“Not very powerful,” Shen Wei chuckled softly, “I think you compare yourself to Zhurong-jun to believe that.”
"Oh no, it would be like comparing a tiger and an ant. We are not very powerful compared to what Kunlun-jun and Shennong once were," the dragon casually commented, going to curl up on Shen Wei's lap, making himself comfortable with his little arms under his fluffy head.
"So... Dahuang has been with Zhao Yunlan all this time..."
"How should I address you these days? You're not the little Ghost King anymore."
"Shen Wei. Or Professor Shen, which is only formal if it's my students addressing me. It's become informal when it's coming from my friends.”
"So, Professor Shen, because we have always been friends. I think Zhao Yunlan must have been influenced by my gege's grumpy personality."
"I can't, in any way, disagree with that," Wu Xie's giggle was so low and sleepy that Shen Wei realized that he had had enough for one night. He should have already let his husband rest properly.
"Come on, a-Xie, let's go lie down, and you can sleep much more comfortably."
"It's always comfortable to sleep on you.” Wu Xie didn't even try to move as Shen Wei pulled him onto the bed to lay him down properly, with the fluffy pillow under his head, and tucked him under the blankets.
Erhuang ended up rolling off Shen Wei's lap onto the bed and between the blankets, getting lost there for a while.
Shen Wei got ready on the bed too, looking for the shoulder where he usually slept, feeling his husband's arms around his body, bringing him closer, where he belonged. The pendant hung from Shen Wei's pajama collar, brushing the curve of Wu Xie's neck. It shone beautifully, unparalleled. It was like carrying a tiny sun with him. He touched the pendant again, getting used to its presence again, rolling the shiny dot over Wu Xie's skin.
"One day, I'll have to give this back to him,” he breathed softly against his husband's neck.
“One day, when what he wanted in giving you this is completed,” Wu Xie said quietly and fell asleep, unable to stay awake any longer.
Shen Wei wanted to know what that was, but he had to keep his doubts to himself.
Erhuang emerged from between the blankets, shaking his mane and smoothing his scales with his little hands before climbing up to reach Wu Xie's pillow. "It is inappropriate to remain in lovers' private space."
"All these lovers will do today is sleep. You are welcome with us."
The little dragon snuggled into the pillow, easily falling asleep.
Shen Wei wanted to ask about ancient dragons, about shooting stars and whether Erhuang remembered where he and Dahuang had come from and how they had come to accompany Zhurong. Because if they were aware of anything before Zhurong fell to the newly formed earth, they had never said a word about it.
Shen Wei looked at the sleeping Wu Xie, and the little dragon there as well. And in another place in that city, not far away, were Kunlun, and the other little dragon and the kitten. All that happiness existed around him when he was still a little Ghost King.
Everything seemed to be coming back. As much as it could.
I’m here now, leading this life I never thought I could have. Despite the way I once lived with Shen San, that wasn’t a life where I could be really unguilty of leading. I was aware of all the harm I was causing to the person I loved, and still… I look at myself now, capable of not hiding my appearance... capable of feeling happy, of letting myself have tears of joy that I would know little about. I've been treated as if I was something special. Something worth risking life just to be pleased. It's as if everything were contrary to what I always believed to be the correct order of things. Does someone like me deserve a peaceful and loving life, when I myself am this creature who still has the impulse to tear the flesh and bones of others? Because if anything had happened to my a-Xie, that's what I would have done. And, knowing that I am capable of wanting to bring the world down and cause immense destruction when I feel deeply hurt, he still recovered what makes me even more powerful. Why trust me like that? Does he believe that I wouldn't ruin the world he sacrificed himself to protect if that world took him and Kunlun away from me again? If so, then I think he is correct... How could I do even one harm to what he and Kunlun gave their lives to protect? I would rather ruin myself than soil their legacy. But I still remember his words very well. Kill him but don't leave him. At that time I believed in my loves, even though I didn't feel worthy of such an honor to be so loved by them. I still don't feel it. But they made me promise that I wouldn't leave them again. If I accept the fate of vanishing when the pillars break, I will be abandoning them. I thought I had accepted this fate a long time ago. But that was before having them back so close to me, with me. Zhurong-jun has always hated this fate thing. He always said we could make our own way. I have to find a way. To make the pillars stand firm. To stay alive. I can no longer simply accept dying. I can't accept leaving them.
I won't leave.
…