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There was only one last bed left at the inn, and Shen Jiu hadn't even realized the lack of an issue he had with that until Cheong Myeong had decided to open his mouth long after he should have been asleep.
"How exactly did it work in your world, the dual cultivation stuff?"
Shen Jiu scrunched his eyes a bit more closed as he took in a deep breath.
Gathering his strength, he rolled around to face Cheong Myeong, rising up on one elbow to glare at the man. Cheong Myeong, entirely immune to any such intimidation tactics, merely laid there with his hands folded behind his head, blinking innocently.
"What exactly made sahyung feel like this was the right time to ask about this?"
He got a shrug in response, followed by an exhaustive explanation. "I figured we would get teased if anyone heard we slept in the same bed, because they would assume we slept together. And then I remembered what you had said about aphrodisiacs and sex being the panacea to all ills, but you didn't really elaborate on it back then. So. Why did everyone in your world think dual cultivation was so amazing? Horny reasons?"
Well. Shen Jiu hadn't really been feeling sleepy, so he might as well indulge Cheong Myeong's curiosity. Otherwise, the question would reappear again at the most inopportune time.
"As much as I'd like to dismiss it as nonsense, the benefits were not made up," he said, lying back down on the pillow and staring at the ceiling. "It wasn't really about the intercourse itself, that was just a convenient vessel for- well. Dual cultivation. Connecting with one another so close to one's lower dantian made the channelling of qi more efficient. But it worked with any skin-to-skin contact; The point was to exchange energies and mutually build them up."
Of course there was also the practice of 'cauldrons' where one person would take all of the gathered energy for themselves, leaving the other bled dry, but that wasn't really a topic Shen Jiu wanted to touch upon that night.
Cheong Myeong made a thoughtful noise as he digested the information.
"So it was never about sex."
"No. Though with the amount of aphrodisiacs one could be exposed to, and the fact that doing such a pleasurable act under the guise of developing one's cultivation was a convenient excuse..."
"Hm..."
Shen Jiu waited patiently for the follow-up questions. There was no way Cheong Myeong could be satisfied with this short of a conversation.
Instead of a question, he got a hand hovering in front of his face.
"Gimme your hand," Cheong Myeong urged when Shen Jiu dared to not move fast enough, making a grabby motions with his appendage.
"Why?" He asked cautiously.
"Because I wanna hold your hand. Come on, A-Jiu, have some sense of adventure!"
"I'm not sure I trust the way you refer to holding hands as an adventure."
He did raise his hand to grasp Cheong Myeong's, though. It might end up in a mishap of some sort, but Shen Jiu trusted his sahyung enough to know it would be fine by the end.
There was the unmistakeable feeling of a qi transfer, Cheong Myeong's hot energy entering his body. Shen Jiu rolled his eyes at the dramaticism of the request, beginning to circulate his own energy towards Cheong Myeong.
His sahyung made a surprised noise when the flow was reciprocated.
"Have you not gotten a qi transfer before?" Shen Jiu questioned, mildly incredulous. It was a method of healing used in this world, he was certain of it!
"No, I have," Cheong Myeong assured. "It's just usually a one-way process. Either I give or I receive; I've never really done both simultaneously. It feels like..."
The thoughtful pause was making Shen Jiu slightly nervous the longer it went on. What brilliant comparison would Cheong Myeong come up with?
"...like I'm sitting in a pot of soup someone's stirring. while adding in some cold water."
Shen Jiu snorted. Perhaps it was getting a bit late, if something this stupid felt amusing.
"Perhaps they're pouring in some alcohol," he suggested.
Cheong Myeong's head snapped to face him, a starry look in his eyes.
"You think that would be possible? An alcoholic soup? Maybe I'd stop getting nagged about the drinks if it looked like they're soup..."
"You may experiment with advancing the culinary arts if you wish, sahyung," Shen Jiu informed him primly. "Just do so far, far away from me."
"Hm. Perhaps you should consider spiking your tea with some spirits-"
"Touch my tea and not only will I empty all the bottles in your stashes, I'll soak your clothes in the alcohol so the smell of what you lost will torment you forever."
Now it was Cheong Myeong's turn to laugh, entirely unconcerned by the threat. Likely because he knew Shen Jiu would never actually do that... Not unless the situation really warranted it.
...when had Shen Jiu grown so soft?
"Let's go to sleep before you get any other bright ideas," he said, trying to get his hand back.
He failed. If anything, Cheong Myeong had gripped him even tighter.
"I wanna see if we can keep going even while asleep."
Shen Jiu could see between the lines there. "...You just want to give our sahyoungs an aneurysm when you tell them we've dual cultivated all night long."
The answering grin felt brighter than any night pearl. "Wanna bet Jo Gul's going to faint?"
"I don't take bets I know I would lose."
Cheong Myeong barked out another laugh, loud and unrestrained. It earned them a pounding against the wall from the next room.
"People are trying to sleep here, dickhead!" Someone's muffled voice reached them.
Shen Jiu slapped a hand over Cheong Myeong's mouth before he could come up with a retort that would be likely to get them thrown out.
He removed the hand slowly. "If you go to sleep now, I'll play along with the pretense once we're back."
Cheong Myeong's pout disappeared in a heartbeat, turning into a fake snoring.
Faintly amused, Shen Jiu settled into the bedding, closing his eyes as well.
The rush of qi remained steady between their bodies. Instead of a distraction, though, it seemed to erode the roots insomnia had taken in Shen Jiu's mind, lulling him to sleep at a record short time.
When they woke up in the morning, they were still holding hands. The dual cultivation, while slowed to a sluggish trickle, was still continuing.
And Shen Jiu had never felt more rejuvenated.
