The birdcage.

Tai Yang took a few steps backward in shock.

"Your majesty, I wasn't trying to do anything strange. I definitely wasn't trying to take Xiao Xia from you." Tai Yang said.

"Yeah? Well, certainly seems like you were." Li Jun said, turning his handsome face away in a snooty manner.

Tai Yang inhaled to stay calm. "Your majesty. What did I do that made you think that?"

Li Jun blinked twice and then looked back at him.

"That's… not the point! You were too comfortable; you can't be that comfortable around someone you only just met; especially when the said person is someone that I have been admiring for CENTURIES! You haven't even lived a third of a century!" Li Jun said, pointing at him in a harsh, accusing manner.

He hmphed and crossed his arms again.

"And don't think I didn't notice that you and her look almost identical." Li Jn said snappishly. "It's unnerving enough wondering why she gravitates towards you without you doing anything. Why the hell do you have to look like each other? Is that related to why she's borderline obsessive over you? Who is she to you?"

"I have never met her in my-"Tai Yang said, then abruptly stopped when he remembered that he was supposed to meet her that day.

Li Jun raised a brow. "You seemed to have recalled something. TALK." Li Jun said, his voice stern.

Tai Yang started to wring his hands.

"O-On my Earth, you're there. And you're really rich-"

"Obviously."

"-and I'm a researcher in a University that needs quite a bit of funding for our research-"

"-because you are a peasant and poor, yes." Li Jun nodded nonchalantly.

"Urmm… Yes. So today, my Prof-Leader and I were actually going to a meet with you because your conglom- Let's call it an empire instead… Invests in a variety of Universities, smaller companies, restaurants and other ventures every year-"

"-charity and making allies is important." Li Jun waved his hand. Tai Yang nodded.

"Our University was invited to a meeting that you called… We traveled really far, but then you canceled."

Li Jun made a face and pointed to himself.

"I canceled?" He asked, disbelief dripping off his slow drawl.

Tai Yang nodded.

Li Jun scoffed. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know, your majesty… But the word was out that you hadn't even left your estate. You rescheduled the meeting, and we traveled again because you called the meeting back in our home city. That time too, you didn't show up, and everyone said you still hadn't left your estate, and that you hadn't even gotten out of bed despite the time."

Li Jun raised a brow at that. "Why would you believe something so stupid?"

Tai Yang blinked obliviously at him. "I… Well, I don't know you, so it seemed possible at the time."

"If I said I would be somewhere, the only reason I wouldn't be there would be if something serious happened that I couldn't get out of." Li Jun said.

"And judging by the direction of our conversation from the initial point, which was Xiao Xia, you're trying to tell me that Xiao Xia was going to be at the meeting, and you would have met her there if the meeting hadn't gotten canceled. Am I correct?"

Tai Yang gave him a tentative nod.

"Then if Xiao Xia was meant to be there, I definitely wouldn't have missed the meeting intentionally. And seeing as I'm wealthy on your Earth, I would most likely have a servant of some sort there to wake me up. Besides that, I am not the kind of person who lays around all day. You probably don't know, but I am a 4-type cultivator. My strongest cultivated ability, or type, is Trailblaze. That means I'm a leader. I'm someone who gets the job done, even before others think of it. I cannot and will not ever waste time on something as time-consuming as oversleeping."

'So trailblazers are cranky, mean, egotistical workaholics and slavedrivers. Got it.' Tai Yang thought ruefully to himself. If he was going to be stuck therefore a while, he might as well learn the culture. What he didn't expect was for his thoughts to form above his head in sparkling golden letters.

Li Jun narrowed his eyes to read it, and once he did, he growled.

"You little shit. Open!" He said and the cage gate few open.

Tai Yang's eyes expanded to the size of golf balls when he looked up and saw the writing. He let out a sound of horror and ran forward to slam the gate before Li Jun could enter.

"You! Open this before I execute you!" Li Jun said, trying to pull open the gate. He hadn't said Seal, so as much as Tai Yang tried to close it, it wouldn't lock.

"I can't because you plan on executing me anyway!" Tai Yang said, standing on the gate and winding his arm around the shining bars, such that Li Jun wouldn't be able to open it without wrenching off his arm.

"Ah! So he does have a brain!" Li Jun said in response to his comment. "But you realize that I can still strangle you through the bars, right?"

"But you need me for Xiao Xia so you can't kill me yet!" Tai Yang said, moving his neck out of Li Jun's reach as the prince grabbed around. His ribbon wasn't so lucky and was soon pulled out of Tai Yang's hair. Li Jun let out a huff of immense irritation.

"If you don't want to die, stop thinking stupid things!"

"How was I supposed to know you were invading my thoughts?!" Tai Yang said in a scared tone.

"I wasn't trying to!" Li Jun snapped. He sighed and regained his composure, stepping away from the cage. His eyes glossed over the shining bars and he pursed his lips.

"This cage was meant for a familiar. When they're transformed, they can't talk so I placed a mind-reading spell on the cage, because placing it directly on the familiar can make them delirious. That spell is the only way you can understand them… or know if they're trying to hurt themselves."

Tai Yang frowned and wearily glanced around. The structure was definitely a birdcage. While there were human-sized pieces of furniture, there was no way to disguise the bird's perch, swing, beautiful but nest-like bed, and random toys attached to the bars. The amount of biomimicry in the cage was astounding.

"Then… Where is the familiar?"

"That's none of your business." Li Jun said coldly.

'I mean, the possibility there may be bird that can poop on me while I'm in here sounds like my business… What if I sleep with my mouth open, and it poops in my mouth and there are seeds in it, or berries… But I mean, if you think about it in terms of research, that wouldn't be too bad, I've never tasted bird poop bef-'

At the look of utter disgust on Li Jun's face as he stared above Tai Yang's head, he realized the prince could still see his thoughts.

"Can't you remove it?" Tai Yang asked, mortified, fruitlessly reaching one arm up to cover his head.

"I don't know how… This was before Ji Ru. Some crappy Cognitive Cultivator created the spell and we couldn't get it off once he died."

"Ji Ru too?" Tai Yang asked, still holding the cage door.

"He didn't try. By the time he came here, nobody lived in there, so I didn't care about the spell anymore." Li Jun said. "I'll ask him to take a look tomorrow. Until then, stop thinking weird things."

'What does he consider weird?'

Li Jun rolled his eyes at Tai Yang's thoughts.

"That." He said, raising one of his crossed arms and pointing his finger at it. Normal people don't have to think about what's weird and what's not. They know what is and isn't."

'But the word weird means something that's odd, and oddness is relative to an individual. What's weird to him is most likely normal to me-' Tai Yang thought to himself, his head tilting as he did.

"Then whatever is normal to you, stop thinking it! Everything normal to you is weird! Think of something that you consider abnormal."

'You.' Tai Yang thought before he could stop himself. His eyes widened when a vein at Li Jun's temple started twitching.

"Wait! I didn't mean that!" Tai Yang squeaked, clinging to the gate as Li Jun tried to rip it open again.

"The nerve of you! I let you into my Universe, my castle, feed you and give you a lovely place to stay and you call ME abnormal-"

'What normal person calls a cage a "lovely place to stay" for a human?!' Tai Yang thought frantically.

Li Jun growled at the thought. "It IS a lovely place to stay!"

"It's not! It's meant for a bird! How can a human live in a birdcage?"

"It has four-ply toilet paper! What more could you want?!"

"Four-ply?" Tai Yang blinked, his fear diminishing slightly. He had to admit, 4-ply toilet paper was impressive.

"Yes, it's very soft, and it's scented but doesn't cause allergies." Li Jun said, momentarily pausing his incessant yanking of the gate.

"Fancy." Tai Yang admitted.

"Isn't it?"

There was a knock at the door of the bedroom and both Tai Yang and Li Jun looked at it. With a click of his tongue, Li Jun stepped away from the cage in a dignified way.

"Seal." He said, locking the gate. Quickly straightening his robes and brushing away the strands of hair that had fallen onto his face, he walked to the door.

Leaning forward, he peeked through a clear hole in the door that Tai Yang had only just noticed. Exhaling loudly, Li Jun threw the door open.

"WHAT?" He snapped.

"Don't WHAT me. Ji Ru is inconsolable because of you, asshole." Li Wei bit back.

'Li Wei cusses too. This means princes are more like average people than I've thought.' Tai Yang mused; then realizing his thoughts could be seen, he hurriedly ran behind one of the room dividers before Li Wei could take notice of him.

Li Jun rolled his eyes at Li Wei and leaned against the door frame in a leisurely way. "Well, he was the one who brought his friend here."

"Exactly, shouldn't he at least get to spend time with him? He even made Tai Yang's bed and changed the sheets in their room."

"Oh come on. Don't act like you aren't happy about Tai Yang not staying in their room. You've been trying to get Ji Ru to move into your room for almost three centuries now."

"I have not. Ji Ru needs his space sometimes, and I understand that. More often than not he's in my room anyway so it doesn't matter." Li Wei said, his eyes narrowing.

"As if it didn't matter. When Ji Ru doesn't come to you, you go to him. And if I remember correctly, that meant the three of you stayed in their room. Three's a crowd, you know. Must have been irritating having to keep it child safe every time." Li Jun said.

Li Wei scoffed. "Sounds like you were jealous that you never got invited to a sleepover before."

"What nonsense are you sprouting?" Li Jun snarled.

"Stop wasting my time. You can't keep Tai Yang here every day. At least let him stay with Ji Ru on the days Ji Ru decides to stay in their room."

"And how am I supposed to protect him when he's there? I gave the princess my word."

"You're being unfair to Ji Ru." Li Wei said.

"Why do I have to be fair to him? What's in it for me?"

"What's in it for you? He got you the greatest Cognitive Cultivator across multiple Universes back from the dead and you want more?"

"It doesn't help if he dies again. Need I remind you, the last time, Ji Ru couldn't help him at all. That's why he died in the first place." Li Jun said.

Li Wei was quiet. "At least let him stay with Ji Ru, three nights in a week."

"One."

"Two."

"One."

"Two."

"Fine, two. And during that time, you either stay there or seal them in the room. This guy is not the average idiot. He may try to escape."

"Done. I've also strengthened the security outside the castle and increased the number of guards patrolling inside. I've also stationed standby guards every 15 meters across all hallways and passages."

"Good. And at the border of the Kingdom?"

"Several troops of Defense Cultivators have been dispatched. They're flying there as we speak. It should take them three days of travel without Ji Ru but those already at the border are on high alert till the others arrive."

"Excellent. We're going to have to triple the security once Xiao Xia leaves. Once the other Kingdoms get wind that we have the last living Tai Yang, I'm sure there are going to be several assassination and kidnapping attempts. We can't ask Xiao Xia not to tell anyone. She's probably going to tell her father that Tai Yang is alive, hence the reason for her follow-up visits."

"We could ask her to keep her silence."

Li Jun shook his head.

"All the people with her have also seen him, and they've heard him say who he is. Even if we got them all to take a blood oath, no doubt one of them would risk death to share the information if given enough incentive."

Li Wei nodded. "I see."

Li Jun exhaled. "I'm going to bed. Let Ji Ru know that I'm going to need him to come and take a look at the cage. The damn Inner-thought spell is still on it."

Li Wei pursed his lips. "Are you sure it's okay to keep him in there? That was where-"

"It's fine. He's only staying there. And once he's an immortal, he can go."

"Yes, but it may be a bit… Mentally scarring." Li Wei said slowly.

"I have it under control. Besides, it's not like I have any more space in my room for another bed, and I'm not letting him bring his mortal germs into mine." I Jun said, making a disgusted face.

Li Wei raised his brows and glanced behind Li Jun into the massive room that could take at least twenty more king-sized beds.

He let out a sigh from his nostrils and looked back at the nonchalant form of his just barely older brother.

The bastard.

"I'll be here with Ji Ru in the morning. Ji Ru said to tell you to keep the room cooling to a minimum because… Never mind, he wrote you a list of things to do and not to do. Tai Yang is quite sickly, you see."

Li Jun raised a brow and glanced over his shoulder. Tai Yang was still hiding behind the room divider.

"Here. And these are his medications. Ji Ru said he'll find Tai Yang's old glasses because the one he's wearing is too loose for him." Li Wei said, handing him a scroll from his robes and a shrunken box of medications.

"Ji Ru is such a fusspot. It's not like I'm actually going to kill him." Li Jun rolled his eyes, snatching them.

"Shut up. He's fine. And I don't blame him. He told me you choked Tai Yang today. Don't forget, doing something like that to a mortal can damage them permanently, and you have at least twenty times their strength."

Li Jun clicked his tongue. "I barely used my strength at all on him. I'm not an imbecile, I can tell his body is weak. Now go away, I'm tired."

"Don't forget to give him his-"

"Yeah, yeah, medication. Got it. Now leave, your dog's ass is cold." Li Jun said, slamming the door in Li Wei's face before the man could punch him.

He turned to look at the cage. "You. I have a delivery from your fellow dog." Tai Yang swallowed and peaked around the divider. Li Jun went to a smaller hatch on the cage. "Open. Seal. Unshrink."

He said. The box he'd put in the cage became quite large suddenly.

'So they say their spells out loud…'

Li Jun started to untie Ji Ru's scroll and glanced at him. "Most Cultivation types use Verbal cultivation, but the Cognitive type is one that doesn't. You'll only use Non-verbal spells and whatnot. Now let's see what sort of ailments you've got that makes Ji Ru think you're gonna-" He said, finally getting the ribbon undone.

His eyes flew open as the parchment of the scroll rolled down and kept rolling and rolling until it had spread to the far side of the room. "Die…" He lifted his eyes to look at Tai Yang in a questioning way with both his brows high up.

Tai Yang rubbed the side of his neck in a sheepish, self-conscious manner.

"Yeah…" He said.