A Lover's Embrace

"Liu Jian… Liu Jian!" Xu Jiyu cries, desperately trying to shake his partner awake. However, there's no response as only silence answers his calls. Hands still trembling, he takes two fingers and presses them against the wrist of the limp body in his arms.

In the past, he also had to do this to check if someone was alive or not.

…When he feels a faint pulse, Xu Jiyu stifles back another sob of relief, and embraces Liu Jian, burying his face into the crook of the man's neck.

Liu Jian is alive.

That's all that matters to him.

Solace washes over the youth. Liu Jian didn't leave him after all. It appears the King kept his promise...

Meanwhile, the spirits nearby have long since stood up and are frantically conversing with each other, "The King has returned! We finally have a place to stay!"

Spirit number nine exclaims excitedly, "This is great news! Although in the past, I did find the Spirit Realm a bit stuffy… at least the King provided us with the necessities to be able to 'live' freely."

Spirit number ten chimes in, "And now we won't have to be worried about being vanquished by these damned cultivators! We'll be able to reside peacefully within the Spirit Realm!"

The remaining spirits all cheer in agreement. Constantly wandering the human realm and causing havoc… it's to be expected from evil spirits. But these particular spirits only possessed human bodies because it was the only way they could hide from the cultivators.

In fact, what the humans believed about people being possessed by spirits was completely false! Sure, there would be a few evil spirits that did stupidly go on a rampage and kill tons of other humans after possessing a body… but the truth is, the majority of evil spirits did not do this. Only evil spirits with bloodlust would possess bodies to kill.

The process was like this: bloodthirsty, evil spirits would take over a human's body. The human's personality slowly changes over time because that evil spirit is deliberately distorting their nature for their own entertainment. After taking full control of the human's body, the vicious spirit would then proceed to kill if they so pleased. Because of this recurring event, humans believed it applied to all spirits.

As for the rest of the spirits…

The rest did not kill, only simply acted out their roles as 'normal humans' after possessing a body in order to lay low and not be discovered by the cultivators. So really, could they even be considered 'evil' spirits?

There is a fine line between murderous, evil spirits and virtuous, normal spirits that hold no malice. But because of the increase of evil spirits due to the King's absence in the Spirit Realm, they broke free and traveled to the human realm instead.

Thus, the balance between evil and normal spirits in the human realm tipped, and the humans now believed that every spirit was 'evil', save for the ones that have recently become deceased. However, the cultivators came up with a ridiculous notion that "after seven days of death, those spirits will turn malicious!". As for the origin of this particular rule, no one was certain.

But any answer would be enough to satiate the humans—after all, nothing was more terrifying than the unknown. So they foolishly believed in those words as it spread throughout the region; first as a rumor, but it soon somehow became a fact among gossipers.

"Hey, let's—!" Spirit number ten begins, but suddenly, a bright light envelopes him! Before he can even finish his sentence, the body spirit number ten had been using falls onto the ground with a light 'thud!'

And spirit number ten… had left the body, completely disappearing.

Spirit number seven gazes at the motionless figure on the ground, unable to speak. "I-Is he…?"

But soon after he trails off, spirit number seven is also enveloped in an azure light before he is abruptly disconnected from the body he'd possessed. The body falls right next to the previous one.

Before the other spirits could react, the entire town is completely engulfed in an azure glow, with every spirit disappearing while the humans' bodies fall one by one.

Xu Jiyu could only gasp in shock as he lifts his head up, watching as many figures go limp and drop to the earth. He has to squint through the light to see—but even then, the sound of bodies dropping to the ground resounds within his ears.

When the light finally recedes, Xu Jiyu blinks, gazing blankly at the bodies around him. Right now, the beautiful blooming flowers of Huaxi Village are disturbingly serene underneath the soft glow of the moon.

---

After exerting all of his effort in dragging Liu Jian's body into the nearest inn, he finally manages to place the taller man into a bed. He wipes the sweat from his forehead and drops himself into a chair next to the bed.

Panting heavily, he has to take a moment to catch his breath after all of the strain on his body. With a heavy feeling in his heart, he stares at the patches of dirt decorating Liu Jian's exposed, toned chest after being dragged here. Remembering that Liu Jian abhorred to be dirty, the youth digs his hand into his robe and pulls out a handkerchief of his own.

Xu Jiyu works quickly and efficiently to wipe away all traces of uncleanliness upon the handsome man's body, feeling heat rising to his cheeks when his skin grazes the man's godly abs.

"S-Sorry!" He innocently squeaks out to the unconscious man, even when his partner couldn't hear his apology. This continues for several minutes.

After finishing his job, he pockets the handkerchief and sighs.

Now that he's finally come to terms with his feelings, when Liu Jian wakes up, he'll definitely tell him his true emotions! He's not afraid of being called a cut-sleeve as long as he has Liu Jian by his side. The two of them could face the world together.

That is, if Liu Jian… feels the same way as himself.

He quickly shakes his head—no, he has to be confident!

Liu Jian had only ever talked to him freely, while he scorned everyone else. There is a possibility… that his partner reciprocates his feelings!

Feeling extremely exhausted after the events of the night, Xu Jiyu hesitantly crawls into the bed next to his partner. The bed creaks underneath his added weight, and he curls himself comfortably within Liu Jian's arms.

It is the only bed in the room… so this is okay, right? He wants to indulge in his own selfish wishes, just this once.

Just this once… can't he sleep in his most beloved person's embrace?

Thinking this, Xu Jiyu's eyes begin to droop, and his breathing eventually evens out. He soon falls into a deep sleep…

---

When Xu Jiyu drowsily wakes up the next morning, blinking away the sleep from his eyes, he's met with a vexing gaze.

Although he's still within Liu Jian's arms, those familiar platinum eyes stare back at him with distrust.

But because Xu Jiyu is extremely happy to see his partner awake, he doesn't notice and gleefully exclaims, "Liu Jian, you're awake!"

The youth throws his arms over his partner and buries his face into the man's chest.

However, he's abruptly pushed away as Liu Jian sits up, looking as if he'd touched something absolutely disgusting. Shocked, Xu Jiyu scrambles out of the bed and sits on the chair from last night.

"Liu.... Liu Jian?" The youth's voice trembles, a pang of hurt crossing his expression. Liu Jian had never once looked at him like that before… could it be he had guessed incorrectly?

Could it be… Liu Jian didn't like him that way, after all?

The handsome man never once looks away from the youth. With furrowed brows, he opens his mouth and icily questions:

"Who are you?"