42 The Sorcerer Sees Stars

Taking in a deep breath, LiangLin moved closer, the silence only filled with his soft steps and XueYa's steady breathing. He halted before XueYa and with quivering hands; he brushed the hair aside.

Cold sweat-slicked XueYa's grey features, his face was settled into a pained expression. But despite his sickly look and bloodied clothes, the sorcerer seemed just fine.

LiangLin realised he had been holding in his breath until now and let it out slowly, feeling the rush of adrenaline burst through his veins, making his entire body shiver gently.

XueYa was alive, and just unconscious... so LiangLin could torture this asshole without a worry!

He raised his hand, ready to strike, to give this one-eyed bastard a good wake up slap, but as his hand fell, reaching those hollowed-out cheeks, it slowed down, until he only softly cupped XueYa's face, tilting it up for him to see clearly.

It was uncanny, how XueYa and YaYun looked exactly like each other. And yet, until now, LiangLin had never seen the same streak of kindness that YaYun possessed in XueYa. But whenever his eyes fell over YaYun, he could only think about the sorcerer. What if XueYa was more like the Emperor? Maybe then, he could accept this weird feeling that he had, standing so close to the sorcerer.

This feeling wasn't love, LiangLin was sure of it. His heart didn't flutter, his palms didn't sweat, he didn't feel any different from usual. He only felt calmness, the utter serenity of the moment, like one had when they just woke up, that short moment before they were fully out of their dream. Peace.

This was that.

XueYa groaned weakly under LiangLin's touch and just like that, the peace broke and LiangLin let XueYa's face slip from his hand. Goddamnit, and just a moment ago, LiangLin was thinking this guy was pretty cute when unmoving and unconscious!

"Hey," LiangLin said, softly at first. Realising he was a tad too gentle, he cleared his throat. "Hey!"

XueYa was still hanging around unconscious, not responding to the white snake. Feeling annoyed that his little moment was so rudely ruined with the groan and now the damn bastard was hanging around all unmoving, LiangLin poked XueYa on the cheek with his finger.

"Wake up."

No reaction.

LiangLin hissed as he poked a little harder.

Nothing.

If he poked any more, there would be a hole in that pretty face, so LiangLin spared the man. He moved to slap the guy instead.

"Didn't you react just now? Wake up! I don't have all day!"

LiangLin had to admit, he felt a little bad for slapping the man, so he did it gently until his wrist got tired and XueYa still hadn't stirred. That's it! LiangLin went all out and smacked him across the face, so hard, his palm tingled pleasantly.

Damn, that felt good! LiangLin was already going for a second one when XueYa coughed, groaning before he blinked his eye open. LiangLin felt his cheeks heat up. His hand halted mid-air as he waited for the sorcerer to stir from his groggy state.

"I don't think I deserved that, YaYun. You-" XueYa's eye filled with surprise as he realised it was the white snake from Hei'ang that was standing before him. Out of habit, he smirked at the beauty, even though he felt like dying at the moment. He had long lost feeling in his hands and feet, and he was sure if he hung around this basement any longer, his limbs would fall off.

"Coming all the way down here. Did you miss me?"

The slap that fell over his already flaring cheek woke him up completely, nearly dislocating his jaw. For a second there, XueYa was sure he saw stars twinkling around the snake god.

"Ok, I guess I deserved that." XueYa wanted to massage his face but could only endure the blood rushing to his abused skin, making the area tingle and burn unpleasantly. His handsome face wouldn't be able to take it if this snake lost its temper. Pretty, but feisty. Ah, just his type.

LiangLin raised his hand, ready to strike again, and the sorcerer was eyeing the hand with worry.

"Did you come here to beat me up?" XueYa finally said after the snake god merely blinked at him, blushing hotly.

"No..." LiangLin's hand curled into a fist in the air as he tried to remember why he was here. Gah! This damn sorcerer! The moment he opened his mouth, LiangLin lost his trail of thought! He was here for QingYu. That's it!

"..." XueYa stared at the fist, waiting for a finishing punch. With the force the snake just used on him, this blow might just send his jaw flying to the wall, dislocating be damned. Admittedly, he deserved it for stealing the snake, but goddamn, it would still hurt.

When the hand slowly fell to the snake's side, XueYa let out a breath of relief. He would survive for another day.

"I'm here because of Zhang YaYun."

The name coming from the snake's lips somehow irritated XueYa, but he didn't show it. This was his brother's fated mate, the zodiac pair. He had no business stepping in between. Yet the thought alone made him see red. Why would the one that caught his eye after all these years be meant for YaYun? Was someone up there pulling a prank on him?

He was overthinking it. XueYa let out a deep breath to calm himself. LiangLin… Uncle WeiJie had said this snake was LiangLin. Yes, LiangLin was the white snake YaYun wanted to marry, but the fox spirit was coming in between. Now the white snake was here, so had the fox spirit arrived already?

"You… are going to marry him?" XueYa asked instead. Damn it! He should talk about the fox spirit! Why did he ask for confirmation? He was too tired to keep up the smug facade, so he just let his face fall. He just wanted to pass out and forget about everything.

"What? I d-" LiangLin halted, as he thought over the matter.

He was dealing with a sorcerer; it was better if he hid the fact Lan QingYu was here in the palace. There was no guarantee what this bastard would do to the poor green snake after what he had done to LiangLin. To play it safe, he would lie to the sorcerer. There should be no harm in that.

With a heavy heart, LiangLin mustered, "Yes, I- I want to marry… Zhang YaYun."

Ugh, it felt wrong, but he had to say it. A little shudder raked through him. Just the thought of kissing YaYun made LiangLin's skin crawl. The man was not bad; he was just meant for QingYu, no one else.

"Are you cold?"

LiangLin shot his eyes up to meet XueYa's steady gaze. Was the sorcerer... worried? LiangLin felt his ears warm-up at the thought. Ah, just now, he felt like butterflies were-

"If you feel cold, we can always share our body heat. I'm a little cold too-"

Another slap cut XueYa's sentence short. It was over the same abused area, too. XueYa was sure by the end of the day, he would be missing a couple of tooths from that side of his face. But he deserved it. This was not the time or place or even the person for him to exhaust his pickup lines on.

"YaYun has been acting strange ever since the fox spirit settled into the Plum Blossom Hall." Whatever butterflies that might have fluttered in LiangLin's heart died a quick and bloody death. This damn sorcerer was just a horny bastard! It was just LiangLin's wishful thinking that this one-eyed bastard could be caring or even considerate.

XueYa couldn't take another beating for the day, or his face would have permanent damage. So he cut to the chase. "There is no use for you to tell me anything. I'm tied up here with nowhere to go. I can't even access my notes. So I can't help you. Unless... Nevermind."