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The gate to the dungeons was exactly like how he remembered; damp walls covered by ivies, the old paint falling off from it… That’s what they get for building it outside of the city. The river bank near the dungeon always made the area humid, but it increased the safety. After all, that’s where dragons thrived; why would they not build it next to one of their source of power.
“Are you here alone my commandor?” The voice of the guard snapped him out of his deep thoughts. He hadn’t noticed he had been standing there, just looking at the bottom of the gate with unreadable eyes. He was nervous, unsure how to feel, while also not letting anyone else to see it.
“I had to see for myself.” He replied, still half looking at the ground. He paid no attention to the guard. That man was the only one who worked there. They didn’t need anyone else, just someone to watch the gate. And to confirm if someone inside had passed away. The dungeon was shielded with a strong spell anyways, no one could use their magic inside, nor any prisoner had a way of escape. The dragons’ power here, was really strong close to the river.
“I must warn you. He is a dangerous one.” The guard said as he opened the gate. His hands were calloused, the commander wondered if the man was even able to actually check for a pulse.
He made no comments to the guard's words as he stepped inside. After all, he knew the danger better than anyone else.
◇🐉◇
“I have full trust in you Liang Long.” The king said to the dragon bowing in front of him. He had summoned the young commander a while ago. “It has really strong magic, and has been posing a real threat to our kingdom for centuries."
Liang Long looked at the papers that lay in front of him. A picture of a young nine tailed fox, and some descriptions of what he had done. The officials in the kingdom had thought of him to be leading the resistance for years now. He looked way too young for it. But he was a HuliJing, and their looks were made to fool you.
“Capture that HuliJing.” The commander glanced at the picture again. The fox had soft looks, yet a piercing and an angry gaze. It was understandable why the king chose Liang. He was one of the strongest, and the only one who could potentially be able to defeat the fox spirit. “And take the resistance down.”
◇🐉◇
He walked down the empty corridors alone, paying no attention to the few cells that had anyone inside. He was deep in thought as he tried to reach the end of the hall. The place was not so big, just consisting of two floors with the basement. The not that risky ones were kept on the ground floor, while those they found fit to death; those were kept in the basement, away from any sunlight. The dragon did not need any help to find the thing he was looking for, he could already guess where it would be.
He made his way down the stairs.
The basement was basically empty. It was never supposed to have many anyways. The people that got sent to it, meant they were to be dead, or get tortured before they did. The smell from their blood and disposed corpses still lingered in the air. The place reeked of nothing but death.
He finally stopped at the deep end of the dungeon. There was no soul there but him, and the other man sitting on the scattered golden hay.
He turned towards the cell the man was kept in. The orange haired captive was sitting on the ground, each hand chained above his head to the wall, his head hanging low. It was easy to mistake him to be dead if not for the faint sounds of his harsh breaths.
◇🐉◇
Liang Long was sitting alone at a table. The tavern was filled to the brim, it would fool a traveller to think this was not actually a small town. It had been a few weeks since he was told to capture the HuliJing. But for that he first needed to figure out where the fox was. He knew the fox lived somewhere in the woods, nevertheless he had to narrow the search area. So he had been wandering to small towns that had the fox’s sighting. He would go out to search the wilderness during the day, and sleep at the tavern during the night.
He had been staying in this tavern for three days, and everyday was the same. Young girls gushing about some handsome man from a corner, noble men getting drunk, cheating on their wives with the workers… Some of those workers would also try their luck with Liang Long, but he would dismiss them the second they would approach. Today they seemed to have gotten the message, and he had been left alone to drink his baijiu.
The dragon was playing with his glass until he noticed something with the corner of his eye, someone coming in through the door. The guy was dressed in silky red robes. He seemed to not care about showing skin, his clothing was dropping off his shoulders, and revealing the oh so prominent collarbones of his. His hair had to be the fluffiest he had ever seen. But his eyes, his green eyes complimented the whole look in the wheel of red and orange. The red lines he painted under them was just adding onto their beauty.
Liang Long watched as the man strolled his way towards him. He was not the only one, it seemed everyone was captivated by the man’s beauty.
It felt like forever until the man sat right in front of him. He leaned in a graceful way and just smiled snarkly at the dragon. “So, you are the new guy.” he spoke in his soft voice.
The dragon just grinned at the guy. “Ah Qiang. What do I deserve this honor for?”
Ah Qiang, the hulijing he was tasked to capture, just continued smiling at him. “I had to see for myself.” He replied leaning over the table holding his chin. “It’s not everyday where they send a dragon after you.”
The fox was right, you don’t just send a deity after anyone. They were the symbol of power, them working for the kingdom as commanders came from a deal they had for millennia. It was what they were known for now, and how they became the symbol.
“You would think they would give up after centuries.” The spirit continued. “I wonder how long it will take you to break apart like the others did.” Suddenly he reached with his free hand and started playing with the hem of Liang Long’s robes. “Too bad my powers don’t work on you.” He signed and his hand let go off the robes to instead caress the dragon's naked torso. So much for judging the fox’s immodestry, while he himself never covered the front of his dark purple robes properly. And now Ah Qiang was getting handsy with it, and he was… letting him?
The hulijing had the power to seduce, however this did not work on deities, like dragons. Yet Liang Long was starting to doubt that. Because his eyes were unable to leave the man in front of him as he traced the white lines decorating his body. Qiang just looked… so soft and his hands were oh so gentle. He would have snapped at anyone who would dare to touch him, a dragon, like this. But here he was, letting the man he is supposed to kill, explore his body.
The dragon scoffed at the nine tailed fox in front of him. “Do you flirt with everyone trying to capture you?”
Ah Qiang’s hand froze. He looked puzzled for a second, as if he was not aware of what he was doing just now. He was confused, eyes focused on his hand over the dragon’s bare chest. He was slightly blushing. The fox quickly tried to recover, putting on a smug expression.
But Liang had seen it, seen him break character.
The HuliJing brought his hand to the dragon’s face, and brushed a strand covering his eye behind his ear. The dragon never cared much for his hair. It reached slightly below his chin, and looked like a complete mess. He didn’t find it that interesting. Yet Ah Qiang kept playing with the purple mess.
The spirit eventually stopped being handsy with the dragon and leaned back. “Only with the ones that feel interesting.” He finally replied to the question. Liang Long knew the fox had thought way too much for an answer, but did not comment on it.
He was about to ask another question to the sly fox, but he was stopped by the other’s sudden actions. Qiang had reached for his drink and gulped it in go, slamming it onto the table.
“See you around,” The fox had gotten up, his back to the dragon. “Liang Long.” And disappeared into thin air.
The commander smirked to himself. This was going to be interesting.
◇🐉◇
Must have noticed a presence, Ah Qiang lifted his head up. He stared at Liang Long behind the bars for a while. Just blankly, as if trying to determine the dragon was actually there or not. He looked nothing like when they first met. His eyes were covered with dark circles, and he could barely keep them open. His hair was covered with all types of dirt. His golden and white robes had lost their colour. Everything, everything was covered in dried blood. He looked one step away from death.
Liang Long hated seeing that. It did not suit a divine being like Ah Qiang.
The dragon finally opened the cell door with the keys he got on his way down. They kept their keys in a room on the ground floor – not like anyone inside could get them, so it was just kept hanging on the wall by the stairs.
The fox had seemed to determine that Liang was actually there, as his eyes shot open. However, the next thing he did was unexpected. He threw his head back and started laughing hysterically. He sounded like a madman.
He continued his laughs as Liang made his way to him and sat in front of the barely alive man. At the end, he finally looked back at the dragon; his face engulfed with a different emotion now. He looked broken, sad. Yet slowly, a genuine smile appeared on his lips as the other in front of him reached for his cheek. A mixture of pain, sadness and relief…
“You came.”
◇🐉◇
“IS THAT ALL YOU CAN DO?” Ah Qiang shouted at the man chasing him. He was dodging the attacks of Liang Long as they fought. His powers may be useless on the other, but he could still use them for defense.
“How did you even become the head of the army?” It had been a few months since they first met. And ever since then, they had been caught up in this routine. Qiang would cause some mischief, Liang would show up later, and they would fight it out. The thing different from their first meet thought, was that never once Ah Qiang hid his ears or tails when it was only them.
“SHUT YOUR STUPID MOUTH UP!” Liang Long was getting angrier the more he had to listen to him, and swinging his sword harsher each time.
Ah Qiang let out a gentle but teasing giggle. “For someone whose main method of fighting being provocating, you get angry quite easily.”
He did.
So they continued like that; the fox teasing, the other shouting at him for it… just fighting alone in the forest. Ah Qiang was about to make another comment but he stopped abruptly. He had noticed something. Something that crawled out of the bushes. The creature looked angry and ready to pounce.
“DA QIANG!!! What are you doing here?” The nine tailed fox suddenly jumped away from the fight, and threw himself onto the creature. “Calm down alright, I’m fine. Nothing bad is happening.” He continued whispering other soothings to it.
After a while, the creature calmed down. And Liang Long could finally get to have a look at it when Qiang lifted it in his arms. It was a Nian, the creature that terrorized the towns. But the creature looked nothing like a big lion. No. It was white and small. It was acting like a kitten in Ah Qiang’s arms. He was sure it was even purring. But weren’t Nians supposed to be afraid of the color red? Why did it look so in peace in the arms of the man who was covered in it?
“Whe- Where did you get that?” Liang Long stuttered, speechless.
“Oh.” He turned his attention back to the dragon. “This is my son, Da Qiang. He must have run away from home and chased me.”
“Cut the bullshit.” Yeah, like there was even a chance.
Ah Qiang exhaled. “We have been together since I was a kid. I used to call him my son back then, and now I don’t see why I should be calling him anything else.”
Liang could not have argued with that. If they had been together for centuries, no wonder they would have bonded. It is also not uncommon for people to see their pets as their kid either.
“And you named him after yourself?” He seemed to still be speechless.
Qiang continued petting his so-called son while answering. “Well, he kind of got obsessed with me. And would react whenever somebody said my name in the house. So the name just got stuck.”
He continued his talk about his childhood home and his son. And Liang Long stood there listening to it all throughout, still speechless.
◇🐉◇
“I’m sorry.” It had taken him too long to show up.
Liang Long reached for the shackles around Qiang's wrists, and released them with the keys he had. With the only thing keeping Qiang up now gone, he collapsed into the dragon’s arms, and snuggled to his chest. “I thought you, I thought you” He hiccuped. Liang Long did not need him to finish the sentence to know what he wanted to say: ‘I thought you tricked me.’
He could not blame him, that’s how he felt too. Unintentionally tricking him. And from what he heard, Ah Qiang had been here for more than a month. He felt so weak in his arms. Nothing like the man he knew.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He started crying into the man’s hair. It had taken him too long to arrive.
◇🐉◇
This was a new place. He had never been here before. But following the traces of the fox had let him here.
The place appeared to be a broken down shrine. Probably destroyed centuries ago. The motifs were mostly gone, but he could still hardly make them out to be nine tailed fox figures.
Ah Qiang was sitting in the middle, his back to the dragon. “I was worshipped as a deity once too you know.” His voice was broken from all the crying he had done before Liang arrived.
Liang Long slowly approached the fox as he went on with his rant.
“They prayed to us for fertility or wealth. We were the messengers of a goddess.” His tears started to fall again, his voice breaking as he started to cry again. “Then a new regime came. They started spreading rumors. Said we were evil. Ate human souls or liver to survive, that it’s the way we became gods in the first place.”
Liang Long sat next to him. He already knew this. He may not be as old as Ah Qiang, but he was still around for the end of that era.
The fox raised his voice now, screaming at no one in particular in between his cries. “They destroyed everything! They kicked us out and they- they” He tried speaking between his uncontrollable sobs. “They killed him! They killed him in front of me and I couldn’t do anything!”
“He told me to hide. They killed my dad and I just watched as the life left his eyes.” Ah Qiang had mentioned his father in between their fights, and how he lost him when he was still young. But never mentioned how. “I can’t remember what he looked like” He whispered the last part.
He didn’t know why he did it. Maybe because he felt guilty. But he hugged the fox, and stoked his back. They stood like that for a while, until Ah Qiang had calmed down.
“But you knew all of that, didn’t you?” He had finally looked at the dragon. “That’s why you haven’t been actually trying to catch me, haven’t you?”
Ah Qiang was right, in the two years of their dual, he never once was actually serious. He never had intentions to catch him. Not even the day he was given the orders to. He knew why his fox caused trouble, Liang Long just felt sorry for him. And his fox was smart, the hulijing were literally known for their wisdom, ofcourse he would have figured it out. Probably did even before they met.
They just stood there like that for the rest of the day, in each other’s arms. Liang Long did not have to confirm the other’s questions. They both already knew the answer.
◇🐉◇
Ah Qiang was lying in his arms now, head supported on the purple man’s shoulder. Liang Long just kept petting the other’s hair, sometimes playing with the red ears. Qiang liked it when he did that. Had told him it was soothing.
To have remembered something, the fox’s eyes shot open, and he asked with slight panic. “Do you know where Da Qiang is?”
Liang continued to pet his hair, and gave a slight smile. “I found him circling around your house on my way. He seemed confused and worried, but wasn’t causing any trouble.”
Qiang visibly relaxed upon hearing it. “That’s great to hear.” He closed his eyes again. “I don’t think I could have handled it if something happened to him too.”
◇🐉◇
“QIANG STOP!!!” Liang Long screamed as he chased after Ah Qiang. “You can’t keep doing this!” They were battling again as always. It had been more than half a decade, yet they were still stuck in their roles.
“You know I have to do this!” Qiang screamed back, dodging Liang’s attacks. “I have to send them a message!”
He swung his sword at him. “By killing people? You are only proving their point that way!”
“You don’t get it! That man was going around killing us! I had to do something! I can’t let those people think we would just sit around and not fight back as they try to exterminate our kind!” Ah Qiang must have been still tired from the brawl he had with the man he killed, as he opted to try to run away from Liang Long, instead of actually teasingly fighting him as he always did.
“I DO GET IT!” The other one screamed back. “However if you keep doing this, you will just become what they want you to be! What they tell in those stories you hate so much!”
“THEN LET ME!!! I have to protect them! All of us that were outcast and left to die!” They both knew the other was right, and they both knew that they were wrong. That was sadly the situation they were in; in the world filled with corruption, there was never going to be a right answer. They were the pawns of this imperial chess game, never being able to have their own moves.
They had never been this angry in their fights before. It was way over the top, they were desperate. Angry at each other, the system that put them in their roles. Desperate to break the other free. And when you are angry, desperate, you don’t think twice about what is actually leaving your mouth.
“But I don’t want to lose YOU!”
‘What?’ Ah Qiang was caught off guard, unable to process what he just heard. And in his confusion, he stumbled on some branch, falling to the ground. Dragging the other man with him.
Liang Long was laying on top of the fox. He was chasing him so close that, when Qiang had tripped, he tried to use the dragon for balance. It had not worked. And now they were on top of each other, faces only inches apart.
He could see every little detail of Qiang’s face from here. He looked even prettier up close. And their bodies were a tangled mess, he could feel the heat radiating from the man under him. They were so close. It felt so right.
Ah Qiang was trying so hard not to look the other in the eyes. He still wasn’t over the shock of the other's words, and now the situation they were in was even worse.
He was a blushing mess.
Liang Long on the other hand, continued observing his face. There was a small scratch on his cheek. The dragon did not like it. Something as vile as that, did not deserve a place someone as beautiful and gentle like Qiang. So he started caressing the other’s cheek, and watched as the wound healed under his touch. He was a dragon after all, healing was one thing he was known for.
Satisfied, he went back to observing the fox’s face. He was even redder than before now. His eyes were closed, and his mouth slightly agape. He seemed to be waiting for something, something inevitable.
Liang did not remember doing it. It was as if his head had moved on its own. Their lips locked. And the next thing he knew, he was kissing Ah Qiang.
It was not sloppy like how you would expect a first kiss to be. It was perfect, as if they were always meant to be. Qiang had the softest lips. But that wasn’t enough for Liang Long, he needed more.
His fox gasped when he felt a tongue enter his mouth. He kissed Liang back just as hungrily, his hands tangled in the dragon’s long strands.
The kiss was more than just heated. It was all the feelings they had been running away from for years, pouring out. All the stuff they were afraid to voice out loud. At that moment, something changed. And they had finally broken their roles that they had been playing, no longer stuck in them. They could be something new.
◇🐉◇
Liang Long held one of Qiang’s hands. It felt nothing like the gentle hands he used to love. It felt so weak. He was scared it would break under his hold.
The rest of Ah Qiang’s body was not any better. He had bruises all over. Some of his ribs were broken, making him wince whenever he slightly moved, yet he tried not to show it to the dragon. His body and clothes were covered with red patches of blood. His robes were ripped apart in some places, Liang could see some wounds were still open. It looked disgusting.
The dragon could see and feel every bone on the fox’s body. He had become so skinny. How could he not? They barely gave food to keep the prisoners alive. Just barely enough to not get them killed by hunger, however much needed to keep them getting tortured for longer.
He felt sick to his stomach. Ah Qiang deserved the world, not whatever this was.
The hand Liang was holding reached for his cheek. “Stop that. You know I don’t like seeing you cry.”
He hadn’t noticed he started crying again. How could he not? The man he cherished as his treasure, was dying in front of his eyes.
“It’s fine.” Qiang rubbed away his tears. “You will be fine.”
You, not I.
◇🐉◇
Liang woke up to a tingling feeling on his face. Somehow his nose had ended up in Qiang’s ear as they were sleeping. He smiled at how the ear flinched whenever he exhaled. His fox was a cutie like that.
He stayed in the bed, tangled with his captive for a bit more. He knew he needed to leave, but he wanted to stay like that, just a bit more. Ah Qiang looked so peaceful when he slept in between his arms. They fit together perfectly.
The dragon reluctantly left the bed. Liang didn’t want to disturb the fox, but he really had to leave. He reached for the discarded clothes. They didn’t care about where they tossed them last night, and the floor was a whole mess.
Ah Qiang’s house was located in the middle of the woods. A small two floor house inside a giant ancient tree. The ground floor consisted of the living room with the kitchen space, while the top floor was a spacious bedroom. Liang never understood how the other managed to make such a cozy house inside a tree. The hut was bigger than some of the homes that existed in the town.
“Why are you leaving so early?” Ah Qiang asked, rubbing his eyes. The lack of the man sleeping next to him must have woken him up.
“You know why. I have to get back before someone gets suspicious.” He replied while trying to put on his clothes. They had this thing going on for five years. Every time Liang Long went on to capture Qiang, instead of staying at inns or taverns like he used to, he would spend time with his fox. Yet Qiang still acted the same every time he had to go back.
He stretched sexily on the bed, the early morning lights illuminating his golden skin. “I think we still have some time. Don’t you agree?” He gave Liang Long one of his sultry expressions.
The dragon just looked at him completely done. “No.” He would pull out this move, every time the other had to leave.
Qiang plumpered onto the bed with a defeated groan. “You are so boring. Anyone else would die to have a hulijing naked in their bed.”
Liang Long, unfortunately, knew that. Qiang would get stares whenever they went out, woman and man all trying to shoot their chances with him. It boiled his blood. He did not like it whenever someone looked at his fox as something out of their fantasies. Qiang was not an object, and he deserved far better than those who only wanted to use him. Liang secretly wanted to break the necks of all of them.
He snapped out of his thoughts, something had caught his eye. He was picking up his sword from where it was sitting in a corner, but something was different. The chest he would usually balance it to, was open for once. There was a robe inside, completely different from what Qiang would usually wear. “What’s this?” He asked, nudging to it.
The fox leaned in from where he was laying, trying to see what Liang was talking about. “Oh. That used to be my mom’s.” He was acting real shy suddenly. “She said that- uuuh- wear it only for… a special occasion.”
He seemed not wanting to answer the question. The dragon did not want to push him. If Qiang wanted to share it, he would when he felt comfortable.
“Do you really have to go?” He stopped in his tracks to the stairs. Ah Qiang was pouting this time. He really did not like it whenever they had to separate.
The dragon instead went back to his side. “Why do you have to do this every time?” He smiled as he played with the fox’s ears. “I will be back.”
“So you would rather leave your pregnant husband alone?” Now that was a new one.
He narrowed his eyes at him. “Qiang, you are literally a man.” He was neither his husband, or anything actually. They never labeled whatever they had going on, nor how they felt about the other. They never spoke of those words.
“They pray to me for fertility. How can I be prayed for something I do not possess?" He was acting as if he was offended. “Maybe you are not trying hard enough.”
The dragon signed at his attempts. The fox was really desperate for Liang to not leave. He leaned in to give a peck to his pouting lips. “I will be back in five days, ok? I promise.”
Qiang snuggled into his touch, still pouting. “Will you take me out for a flight this time?”
Ever since they met, the fox had never seen Liang Long in his dragon form, and kept pestering him to take him flying. He was such a curious fox.
The dragon giggled at his answer. “Sure.”
◇🐉◇
Looks like he won't be going on that flight anymore.
“I don’t get it. How did this even happen?” Liang spoke between his silent tears. “You’re not- You’re not- You are not that easy to out deceive. You would have never-” He stuttered, unable to form his words.
Qiang just gave him a small smile. Somehow his eyes were still shining even when all life had nearly been drained from them. He genuinely looked content when he was with the dragon.
“I guess love makes you stupid.”
◇🐉◇
“Sir!” A messenger greeted him when he reached his office. He seemed to be in a hurry. “The king has orders.”
The king? Why would he give him a new order when the same guy had made it Liang’s lifetime job to catch the hulijing?
“They need help with the war in the west. You need to leave immediately.” The messenger bowed to him. “I have to ask you to come with me.”
War? Him? He was the person responsible for the capital city. Why would they need him on a battlefield? What was he even supposed to do in a human’s war? He wasn’t even allowed to help in a war as a dragon, unless some other powerful being was involved. And as far as he knew, there wasn’t anything going on like that. The word would have caused a stir in the capital already. Something was odd.
He still ended up following the messenger to where the coups were. They were waiting for him so they could leave together. But he had promised Qiang that he would be there in five days. It didn’t look like he would be making it in time, nor enough time to tell him he would be away for a while.
He didn’t like how that made him feel. Something was off.
But he knew his Ah Qiang. He could handle anything that came his way. He would be more than ok.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Ah Qiang ran. It had been more than five days, but Liang Long still had not shown up, until today. He had heard someone on the path Liang usually took to his house, where they would meet.
He was dressed entirely different today. He was wearing the white-golden robes his mother had given him. It was what she wore on the day his dad had asked to marry her. He wanted the same. ‘Qiang, only wear this with the person you are sure to spend your eternity with.’ She had told him. And Qiang was sure.
He was sure Liang Long was his eternity.
He didn’t want to wait anymore. He didn’t want to hide it. He wanted to scream he was in love with him. To ask him to spend their eternity together. He loved him to death.
He was way too excited, too immersed in what he wanted to do. Maybe that’s why he didn’t notice something was off.
He didn’t notice the magical trap. Did not notice something was wrong until he couldn’t feel his powers, did not notice it until he fell to the floor, unable to move.
“I can’t believe this.” A voice he did not recognize came out between the trees. “It actually worked.”
The owner of the voice approached the hulijing. “What?” He had never seen the man before, but he was wearing the royal armor. Qiang assumed he was a commander like Liang Long. “Who are you?”
“Shut your filthy mouth!” The man kicked him in the stomach, hard. He kept kicking him all around, once, twice. He couldn't count. “I hate your disgusting kind.” The man stepped on Qiang’s wrist, drawing a painful scream out of the fox. He wanted to writher in pain, but he was unable to move a single muscle. “I am just here to capture you and let the head commander be finally free of this plan.”
What? What did he mean by Liang getting free from this plan? Was he… Was he tricked? Were all the years, were they all a lie? Did Liang lie to him all those years? Played with his heart, just to get him to let down his guard. Qiang was the one who seduced people, made them let their guard down. It was literally his whole being as a hulijing. Was he beaten in his own game?
“Better get you to the dungeons before the spell wears off.” The man said, lifting the fox over his shoulders.
Qiang let out a hysterical laugh as he was being carried away. His head was a painful mess. He was unsure what to believe.
No. Liang would never trick him. He probably did not know this was going to happen. He was probably tricked too. He would come save him. He would come for him, before it was too late.
He would, right?
◇🐉◇
“I thought you had tricked me for a while.” Qiang began speaking. “I didn’t think like that at the start.”
Liang wasn’t sure how long they had been sitting on the cold cell floor, it had to be at least a few hours. But Qiang’s voice was getting weaker and weaker each time he spoke. “I hoped you would come save me.”
But he didn’t. He was not even aware the fox was trapped down here. He was not even in the city, but instead so far away. “But you never came.”
“It got into my head. Thought you were part of it.” The dragon regretted it. He regretted not showing up. Blaming himself for everything his Qiang had to go through. Even if it wasn’t his fault. “Played with my heart all these years just so you can finally take me down.”
Liang Long kept shaking his head. “No no no. You know I would never. You know I-” He wanted to spill it out. Spill out everything they held themselves back from all these years. Spill out his love he never got to word it out. “You know I l-”
“Shhh.” His love didn't let him continue. “I know already.” He didn’t want him to finish that sentence. Because he was leaving.
He still smiled as he spoke. “You know I am dying right?” Liang knew. Not sure if it was going to be today or tomorrow, but he knew the fox wasn’t going to be able to see the next sunset. He was already too late. He had been too scared to confess his heart, and now it was getting ripped apart.
“I knew you would be the death of me one day.” Thought he would be the one to kill him. “Didn’t think it would be like this.”
Both of their hearts were dying out.
◇🐉◇
Liang Long had finally returned to the capital. He had been stuck in the west for nearly two months for a stupid reason: to help with a hundun infestation. In a small town close to the battlefield, some enclosure had been damaged, leaving the locals in a dire situation. And because he had been only occupied with one thing for years, the king thought he could just send him instead, since he was not busy. And that he could use something different after all these years. But the dragon found it stupid. Why summon him for something as basic as capturing hunduns while any other magical being could have done that? It felt like a joke.
The purple dragon was greeted by one of his fellow commanders at the gates to the palace. He was a few centuries younger than him, probably started his job not that long ago. He was young, and therefore naive, not aware of the corruption and the lies in the system.
“Sir! I have amazing news! You can finally get to rest now.” Liang Long was just planning on ignoring him at the start. But, he felt his blood freeze over the next sentence the man spoke. “The king’s plan on capturing the HuliJing worked!”
“What?” He felt every hair on his skin rise, felt his heart drop to the ground. It couldn’t be Ah Qiang, could it? The newbie must have been confused. There were other HuliJings around. Whatever the king had planned, it must be for some other nine tailed fox. “What do you mean by the king’s plan?”
The other commander looked at him in confusion. “You know, the backup plan where we let Ah Qiang get used to one specific person so we can catch him off guard later? The plan in case you weren’t able to capture him.” Liang Long was having a hard time breathing. He had to grab onto the man’s collar from the lack of air. The name confirmation had made the last sparkle of hope in his heart go out. “Were you not aware?”
No he was not aware. No wonder something had felt odd. They needed an excuse to keep him away so they could get to Ah Qiang.
He gritted his teeth, forcing the word out between his harsh breaths. “Where?”
The other man seemed perplexed over his actions. “Down in the dunge-”
Liang Long didn’t wait for him to finish. He sprinted. He had to see for himself. Qiang would be at home, right? He would check there first. There was no way they actually got him. There was still a chance the young commander was mistaken. He had to see it for himself.
He didn’t know what he would do if everything turned out to be true. If something bad had happened to Ah Qiang, his Ah Qiang, he would never be able to forgive himself.
◇🐉◇
“Liang Long,” His full name slipped out of the fox’s lips. “Could you do one last thing for me?”
Ah Qiang’s hand left his cheek for where it had been for the past few minutes, and reached for something on Liang Long’s belt. It was something he had never used in his life, had forgotten he even had it.
Qiang put the dagger inside the dragon’s hand and lifted it up to his chest, right over his heart with tears in his eyes. “Could you be the one to kill me?”
Liang Long kept shaking his head, sobbing, muttering no’s to his request. “Please. Don’t. We still have time. We can still get you out.”
“You know you can’t.” His love still kept smiling at him after everything. Still smiling while crying. “You know the guard won’t let me out of here alive.” He was still keeping Liang’s hand over his heart, but his hold was getting weaker.
“Please don’t make me do this.” He whispered.
“Please Liang.” His voice was getting weaker and weaker each time. He was barely able to stay awake anymore. “I refuse to go out like this. I refuse to die by their hands.” He had spent centuries fighting the dynasty. He refused to let them win.
“I would rather be dead by my love instead.”
His love… His love that made him blind. His love that made him get outplayed. His love that made him naive with the enemy in his home.
His love that would put a dagger right through his heart and rip it out.
He understood why Qiang was asking for it. Could see why he wanted it to be him. If he was already dying, why not let him go in peace? Let him be happy in his final moments.
The dragon froze. Maybe more than he should have. Because Ah Qiang had started to slip away, losing consciousness.
“No.”
“Please.”
“Stay with me.”
“QIANG!”
But he didn’t. Ah Qiang’s hand fell to the ground.
A painful screech was heard down in the dungeons, as the dagger had sunked in. Liang Long wheezed on the cold floor, now alone.
For his lover’s final words that he will never get to reply back.
“I love you.”
♡♡♡
An official had come into his office to review his report, and to later take it away. The man was someone in a high position in the palace, but Liang Long didn’t know exactly for what. He didn't care about it.
The dragon wasn’t in his best mood for the last twelve days. He had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t properly slept for a week. He looked out of shape, tired. He didn’t want to be in this suffocating office.
The official kept examining the report, somehow looking unsatisfied.
“Is there something wrong?” He asked, sounding done.
The man finally raised his head off the papers. “Oh no, they seem fine.” He put the forms back in the envelope, and gave his full attention to the dragon. “However there is some stuff that I don’t quite understand.”
“You were the only one present when Ah Qiang passed away, and the only one to see his dead body. Other than the guard before it was burned down by you.” Liang Long urged him to continue. “Usually the prisoners are burned in front of a crowd. I am just wondering why you were the only one present.”
“The body was in a bad shape. It had to be disposed of immediately.” The dragon replied. "There was no time to schedule an event."
“But why wait four days to do so? If it was that decayed, why did you wait that long?” The official pointed out. Liang Long had never liked the guy. He was known for digging his nose into everything. “It’s also weird that the soldier who captured him in the first place, disappeared the day before.” He paused before continuing. “It’s also weird that around the same time, you had been asking around, trying to figure out who was the one that managed to capture Ah Qiang.”
The commander raised his eyebrow at the official. “What are you trying to imply? That I killed and burned the man instead?” He leaned in on his chair. “Don’t you know HuliJing can curse people? He probably got something for capturing him.”
Liang Long took out another set of papers, and started working on them. He really did not want to deal with this official. But his luck was not on his side, as the man had more stuff to say, completely ignoring the dragon’s disinterest.
“Unfortunately, you will have to compensate for the damage done to the cell.” The man sneered. “No one was able to take out that dagger from the ground where it was sunk. We can not put a new prisoner there anymore.”
“Sure.” Liang did not even lift his head from the papers. “I’ll pay however much is needed.”
He thought that was going to be all of it, but the official was really trying to get on his nerves today. “I don’t get it. It is an unused dagger. Why would you just stab it into the ground? It was one of its kind.” The dagger was made from really expensive material, and was custom made for the commanders. “It still has no blood on it. Do you know how much it would be worth? It’s chipped off in some places now.”
Ah. There it was. The man was behind the money. So he had tried to steal the dagger from the prison. What an asshole.
Liang Long put the papers he was working on in a new envelope and got off from his desk. “Are you done now?” He slammed the envelope to the official's chest. “I have places to be.”
The official was not content with the dragon’s attitude. “Be careful sir.” He spoke condescendingly. “By the way you look and act, someone might think you have a wife and a kid to take care of back home.”
Yeah. Something like that.
Liang Long did not acknowledge his remarks. He stormed out of the office, leaving the corrupt official to deal with the dragon’s resignation papers.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Liang Long entered Ah Qiang’s house. He was greeted by the afternoon sun sneaking through the open windows. There were some herbs scattered on the small kitchen counter, probably forgotten from last night, giving the place its usual smell. Not much had changed. The house still felt cozy as always. It was good to be back.
The dragon left his bags next to the stairs. Da Qiang’s cute happy chirps could be heard more clearly from down here. He smiled to himself.
Maybe it was time he took somebody out for a flight.