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Qing Jing peak was calm. 

It wasn’t an utter surprise per se. 

The peak of the four arts, bustling with emerging scholars and poets, should have been one of the quietest place on the whole Cang Qion Mountain. Silence and composure were indeed important virtues for practising music, poetry and calligraphy. 

However…
Maybe it was a bit too calm. 

Shen Qingqiu fanned himself slowly, absentmindedly watching the colourful koi carps swimming leisurely in the pond. 

He had quite the hectic day. He personally demonstrated some graceful swords techniques to all his disciples, not only to the advanced class, and he secretly reveled in their silly, awed expressions. Later, he held guqin lessons and also helped some disciples improve their calligraphy styles. While his methods were still strict, he had even managed to reduce to a bare minimum the times he itched to hit those whose hands were utterly incompetents. 
Considering his usual standards, he was a living Buddha. 

Nevertheless, something was still amiss. 

The cool breeze of the late afternoon fluttered Shen Qingqiu’s inky hair and swayed his long, dazzling jade earrings in an hypnotic movement.   
The little portion of pale skin uncovered by his high robe, held slight signs of goosebumps. 
He raised his head, looking at the dusky sky which painted the clouds a beautiful shade of pink. 

Beautiful, yes. A tad lonely, perhaps. 

He released a feeble sigh, closing the white bamboo fan decorated with little red peonies. 

Another day had passed. Another uneventful day…

“You should come back, Shen-shixiong. It’s pretty chilly this evening”  

Snapping the fan open once more, Shen Jiu turned stiffly to face up the newcomer. 

“What are you doing on Qing Jing peak this late, shidi?” 

“I’ve just happened to pass by” 

Seeing Shen Qingqiu’s raised eyebrows, the Bai Zhan peak lord cleared his throat and looked elsewhere. 

“I have come back from a mission. It did not involve a beast nor ghost but a very mortal man who seemed to fancy human flesh” 

Shen Jiu imperceptibly scrunched his nose. 

He had heard of this unsettling case from his jejes, who did not omit even the slightest gory details about that cannibal’s murders. They had told him that his favourite victims were women with withe, supple white skin and that he took delight in eviscerating them in a horrific sight. 
He would have gladly taken the man for himself to skin him alive. 

“I’ve caught him in the middle of one of his atrocious crimes. The girl has been injured, but she’s alive. Her name is Wu Li and… she told me she works at the Warm Red Pavilion” 

Shen Jiu widened his eyes in alarm. 

“I entrusted her to the care of a doctor whose services I have already paid for” Liu Qingge  quickly explained. 
“Then…” he lowered his eyes, showing his annoyingly long lashes. 
“I went to the Warm Red Pavilion to check if everything was alright” 

A snort threatened to slip from Shen Jiu’s sealed lips.

“You went willingly to the Warm Red Pavilion?” 

Liu Qingge scrunched his brow and, with cheek faintly red, blurted out “I wanted to make sure that… the women who worked there were safe!” 

Despite his mocking tone, Shen Qingqiu hid a small smile under his fan. 
Who would have thought that the pristine and pure Bai Zhan peak lord would have referred to the prostitutes of a brothel as actual workers? 

“I’m glad they are fine, shidi. Thanks for your concern” 

If possible, Liu Qingge's skin became even redder and Shen Qingqiu scoffed, unfazed. 

He was honestly getting tired of all the grovelling he received from the man. Or, more in general, the attitude of the people who had slandered him in the past. It was nice to receive some genuine appreciation, but it was kind of annoying to being treated like a piece of glass. 
He had experienced hell for more than three decades after all, he was not that fragile. 

“They… have asked about you. I think they… emh, missed you. They wanted to know when you would… return” Liu Qingge muttered with a furrow so prominent that he seemed to fight with himself to pronounce those words. 

Well, despite everything, he was still the almost surely virginal Bai Zhan peak lord who was speaking. Pleasure and swords hardly clashed together. 
It was quite endearing to witness to this complicated expression on that undoubtedly  pretty face. 
Albeit not pretty as…

Hastily straightening his back, Shen Qingqiu lowered his lashes. 

“It’s been a while since the last time I’ve met with the jejes” he casually spoke, even if his sharp green eyes stared with intent at his shidi to catch any signs of displeasure. 
He was almost disappointed to see none on his face. 

“They appeared to be very fond of you” Liu Qingge blatantly stated and Shen Jiu rolled his eyes. 

“I’ve known them for years, it’s a normal reaction to care, shidi. Perhaps, though, an antisocial like you could not understand” he sneered and Liu Qingge shoot him a glare. 

“I care, you snappy snake. I care deeply” he grunted and his dark eyes held a vigour that forced Shen Jiu to divert his gaze. 

Fuck that man and his bluntness. 

“Do you plan to go there soon?” The Bai Zhan peak lord asked after some minutes of quietness, in which they just gazed silently at the pond. 

“Quite, yes. The peak has been busy the last few days, so I could benefit from some rest”
“I could benefit from some company” was left unsaid. 

“I could… accompany you” 

Shen Jiu widened his eyes and gaped at the man next to him, who rushed to add “If you want, of course. To… you know…” 

“To what?” Shen Jiu wondered aloud and Liu Qingge sputtered, embarrassed. 

“Not to let you walk all the way down there alone, of course”

Shen Jiu chuckled with amusement under the protection of his fan. 

“I’m a cultivator, shidi. The Qing Jing peak lord, the Xiu Ya sword. What could possibly happen to me along the path?” 

Liu Qingge seemed close to imploding.

“Of course you are, shixiong… I just wanted to… to…”

“I’m perfectly able to walk on my own, shidi. Thanks, anyway” Shen Qingqiu decided to spare his shidi from any further humiliations, even though Liu Qingge’s expression immediately grew sullen. 

He sighed feebly. He was honestly fed up with that behaviour. 

He got it, obviously. 
Shen Jiu had been even cruelly delighted at the beginning, when Liu Qingge’s usually pompous and stoic face had crumbled to pieces to leave only a blank, shocked pair of eyes. He would have never, even in his wildest dreams, guessed to witness such a spectacle. 

Liu Qingge, the mighty and heedless warrior, gaping in horror in front of the nasty face of reality. 

If it weren’t for Qi-ge and his stupid happy smile upon seeing him again in his adult body soon after the night when he had finally had the guts to spit out all the truth, Shen Jiu would have snarked sarcastically at Liu Qingge and left him there, bowing like a fool on the ground of the bamboo house. 
But he had been a tad too overwhelmed by the previous still shattering events, so he just accepted the Bai Zhan lord’s oath to atonement for his unforgivable mistakes more casually than he would have done in different circumstances. 
He had felt definitely baffled, though. Liu Qingge… really looked like a corpse, in that occasion. 

Despite the age regression, he could recall almost everything of his time as a child, but the ominous afternoon on Qian Cao peak remained mostly blurry. Mu Qingfang had explained to him what had happened, but the gravity of his qi-deviation still eluded his comprehension. 
He just… remembered blood, darkness and a sense of anguish so strong he wanted to die. And finally…
A warm, soft touch on his cold skin. A warm feeling in his frozen heart. 
Then, nothing else. 
Hence, he did not see what his shidi had actually witnessed to, and he could only accept whatever heartfelt apologies that brainless brute addressed to him. 

It had been nice, yes…
Now, though, it was just exhausting. 

Shen Jiu understood that Liu Qingge’s purpose was to show his repentance for all his past prejudices… but he was honestly done with all that bullshit. 
That idiot really seemed to confuse repentance with… with… 
What on earth was that?!
Some kind of awkward and clumsy attempts at courting??! 

Liu Qingge clearly didn't even know what he was doing. Otherwise, he would have already died of shame. 

“I asked the Madam if everything was okay” 

Liu Qingge’s voice made Shen Jiu snap out of his trance. 

“I gave her a talisman. If anything occurs to her place, she will activate it and I would immediately be alerted. After the case of that cannibal scum, it would be better to increase the security of sites full of women… so I took this liberty” 

Shen Qingqiu’s surprise should have been evident on his face because Liu Qingge sported a crooked smile. 

“I thought that it would be too slow to just wait for a call the way normal messages are delivered, so I sped up the process” 
He was strangely smug about it, and that innocence made Shen Jiu raise his lips upwards. 

That brute was tiring, yes… but, if what had happened to him could change Liu Qingge’s attitude toward the world and those who weren’t so lucky to be born in a wealthy and loving family… if something good could really come from having his past exposed and his most degrading suffering revealed… maybe, it wasn’t too bad. 
If Liu Qingge started to treat respectfully his jejes, all the women who had to turn into whores to feed their families, to escape cruelty, to pay off their contracts…
Then, even a little bit, it was worth it.

“You’re being very… thoughtful, shidi. I’m glad your brain works sometimes” he noted with raised eyebrows, but no actual bite could be found in his tone. Rather, a pleased expression glimpsed above the fan, that was a bit lowered from his face, revealing his high cheekbones and thin, rosy lips. 

Liu Qingge stared at him for a while, as something had suddenly caught his focus. Then, he nonchalantly extended his arm toward Shen Qingqiu’s jaw. 

“They’re very pretty” 

Shen Jiu instinctively flinched, but glued his wide eyes to what Liu Qingge was actually grazing. 

“They are… the same color of your eyes” the man mumbled, as if was mesmerised by those long, emerald earrings. 
“They suit you well” he added, brushing the jade, and his fingers nearly touched Shen Qingqiu’s fair skin, making him shudder lightly at the soft contact.

“I’m glad Liu-shishu appreciates my present for Shizun” 

Shen Jiu violently winced, stepping away from Liu Qingge. 

“But I’m definitely more pleased to see that Shizun wears my gifts” 

Turning abruptly toward the newly arrived melodious voice, Shen Jiu’s composed exterior cracked. 

“Even if it pains me to agree with him…” the man remarked with a malicious snicker that made Liu Qingge clench tightly his fists. He approached leisurely Shen Jiu, who had inadvertently lowered his hand to his waist, baring his face to the view. 
He stopped just a few inches away from Shen Qingqiu’s long nose. 

“They really enhance your beautiful, sharp eyes” 

It was difficult to explain, but Shen Jiu’s heart somehow tumbled bizarrely against his rib cage.

Scrunching his brow, he snapped his fan shut and whacked it harshly against the newcomer’s firm chest. 
“Such an undignified beast” Shen Qingqiu hissed venomously, backing away to a safe distance. 

Luo Binghe grinned widely.

“Shizun always grants his favourite disciple the most lovely words” 

“I did not recall your name was Ning Yingying” Shen Qingqiu nonchalantly commented with a pointed raised eyebrow. 

Binghe made a show of being deeply wounded, crossing his hands over his heart.

“Such an unfair treatment, Shizun. Didn’t you miss this disciple after so many days?” 

Shen Jiu’s eyes narrowed noticeably. 
He stared at the inflamed red sign on his stupid disciple’s forehead and huffed, irked. 

“Why would I have. This disciple didn’t seem to miss this master at all” 

Luo Binghe immediately dropped his facade. 

“Shizun?”

Shen Jiu only covered his face with his fan, averting his eyes and, despite himself, his warm cheeks. 

“He seemed to be perfectly fine without sending any messages. He disappeared completely from the cultivation world for many days” he spitted emphatically. 

Binghe’s dark eyes widened comically.  

“This disciple did not think that…”

“This disciple doesn’t think at all” Shen Jiu retorted with a petty tone.  

Binghe recovered his cheerful expression and a glimpse of malice could be spotted in his brown eyes. 

“Oh, this disciple is really the worst, Shizun, he deserves punishment” he hummed mellifluous, coming close once again to his master. 
“But, I beg your pardon, maybe Shizun has actually counted the many days this disciple had been missing? After all, he seemed so riled up for this disciple’s absence. Maybe Shizun…” 
He paused, his amused tone changing and his eyes filling with intent. His fingers gently grazed Shen Qingqiu’s hand.
“Has felt alone, when this disciple wasn’t here?” 

Shen Jiu’s heart beat wildly as his breath became laboured. 
“You insolent…!” 

“Yes, I’m insolent, Shizun. An insolent beast, indeed. Your little beast” Binghe smiled an affectionate grin so cute that Shen Jiu wanted to slap him.
And he did just so, whacking his fan directly on Luo Binghe’s forehead. More violently than he predicted. 

Binghe only laughed, gently grasping the wrist which still held the offending object and looking at it carefully. 
“I was right, Shizun, my colours suits you so well” he remarked glancing at the red decors on the fan, the only vivid color on the otherwise pastel tone of the Qing Jing lord's outfit. 
“I’m looking forward to seeing you in the red nightgown I’ve gifted you…” 

“Enough!” finally busted the Bai Zhan lord, having been neglected until that moment like some sort of bush on the background.
“Luo Binghe, have you no shame!” 

The smile on Binghe’s face was all teeth. 

“Oh Liu-shishu, I completely forgot about you. Why don’t you go catch some monster so you can gracefully leave it in front of Shizun’s door?” 

“You little…!”

Shen Jiu took advantage of the fight between the two idiotic roosters to slip away, undisturbed.

Strolling toward his peaceful bamboo house, following the fireflies illuminating the darkness that had already covered the peak, he brushed the hand that Luo Binghe had touched before. 

He was not stupid, of course. 

If Liu Qingge’s attempts were just confusing signs whose nature even the man himself  could not distinguish, Luo Binghe’s behaviour was… clear. 
In hindsight, it always had been. 

Biting down on his lower lip, Shen Jiu entered his house, lightening a few lamps. 
He had left a stack of assignments on his desk and some paintings his disciples had given him to look at. Usually, he would have worked until late to finish his duties… but that night, he was feeling restless. 

Laying down his fan on the dressing table, he started to undo his outer robe, folding it carefully and placing it in the wardrobe. He scanned along the green and white clothes until he spotted a veiled, silky red garment half-hidden between the others.

The little beast wasn’t kidding. He really had gifted him such lavish clothes, risking his life as soon as Shen Jiu had opened the refined box. He had pondered about destroying the sinful thing, but in an afterthought, he had decided to keep it on a whim. 

Now, he stroked mindlessly the delicate fabric, enjoying the smooth sensation left on his fingertips. Binghe must have paid it handsomely, considering the silk and the black lace embroidery. 

A nasty sneer viciously twisted his face. 

Such a waste, for a wretched thing like him. 

A soft knock on the door stilled his movement. 

“Shizun? May I enter?” 

Sighing loudly, Shen Jiu carelessly dropped the garment on the wardrobe and began to undo his complicated hairstyle. 

“You may” 

Luo Binghe swiftly popped into the house and, seeing his master arranging his hair, he beamed with shiny eyes. 

“Shizun, let this one help you” 

In response, Shen Jiu only cast a glance at the newcomer. 
Binghe innocently shrugged his shoulders. 

“I’ve helped Shizun fix his hair for years. It’s only natural to give him assistance”

Shen Qingqiu hummed, letting his hands down. He sat stiffly in front of the mirror. 

“Very well, then”

Taking hold of a comb and a bottle of oil already displayed in the dressing table, Binghe began to smoothen his master’s inky hair. 
Some minutes of quietness passed, in which only the rhythmical sound of brushes could be heard. 
Shen Jiu closed his eyes. 

“What have you done in these weeks, Binghe? How is the situation in the demon realm?” 

It had been two years since Binghe had returned from the Endless Abyss and had conquered the Huan Hua Palace. 
Finding a balance between the volatile state of the demonic factions wasn’t easy. His mission to become the emperor was still obstructed by some stubborn demon lords who were giving Binghe a hard time. 

“More stable. I’ve fought alongside Mobei-jun to suppress the attempts of the Eastern countries to take control over our territory. Futile, if I must say, but annoying” 

He stopped the relaxing brushing to put the oil on directly with his hands, caressing Shen Qingqiu’s hair with reverence. 

“Those demons are stupid but particularly brutal. They even slaughtered a bunch of children in a village close to the border to prove a point”
His voice took on a vicious tone. 
“I made sure to personally dismember them alive, one by one” 

Shen Jiu’s mouth quirked upwards. 

“You have become quite merciless, little beast” 

Binghe reflected his Shizun’s naughty smirk. 

“I’ve learnt from the best” 

Chuckling faintly, Shen Jiu watched the man behind him through the mirror. 
Binghe was threading his hair carefully and gently, as if it were a golden mantle. His dark eyes were glued to it, steady and attentive. 

His chest… began to quiver.

“Enough” Shen Jiu said sternly and Binghe’s eyes immediately locked onto the figure reflected in the mirror. 
His big hands gradually shifted from Shen Qingqiu’s nape to his neck, grazing the long earring. Then, he lifted his finger to lightly caress his rosy cheek.

“You’re such a sight with your hair down, Shizun” 

Skin suddenly aflame, Shen Jiu averted his eyes and abruptly stood from his seat, turning around. 

“You can go rest, Binghe. It must have been a long journey” 

Binghe only hummed, while Shen Jiu tried to calm his shivering. The place Binghe had touched was still scorching hot. 

“Did you wear the red gown I’ve gifted you?”

Digging his teeth into his lips, Shen Qingqiu retorted snappily “I don’t know what you are talking about”

Binghe laughed merrily.

“You were gazing at it before, Shizun, and with such intent”

Asshole. 

“And since when is it acceptable to spy on your master, little beast?!” he howled enraged, turning around to slap the fucker on the face. However, he unexpectedly halted. 

“Why don’t you try it now, Shizun?” 

Luo Binghe was holding the accusing gown right in font of his face. The vivid red of the cloth stood out beautifully against his black robes. Shen Jiu could only stare. 

“Come on, Shizun. Consider it a present for the disciple you did not see for so many days”

How the fuck did you grow up to be an annoying untamed brat, you little-

“Here, Shizun” 

Unbelievably, Shen Jiu let himself be manoeuvred by Luo Binghe until he stood in front of the full-length mirror on the wall. The half-demon pulled the fabric over Shen Jiu’s torso, but then he seemed to think otherwise. 

“The fabric of the gown is very thin, Shizun. I believe it’s best if you see it with… with a lesser robe” he left the phrase hanging, likely waiting for his Shizun to snap out of that trance and slap him senseless. Surprisingly, though, Shen Jiu made no move to stop him. 

Gulping down, Binghe started to untie Shen Qingqiu’s second robe. His hands, previously firm, began to tremble. 
He kept watching attentively the reflection of his Shizun, but nothing happened, even when the garment was discarded on the floor. 

It was just a second outer robe and really nothing much could be seen, but it served to significantly reduce the imperious figure of the Qing Jing peak lord. Now, his shoulders appeared thinner and his waist incredibly slimmer. 
Luo Binghe himself wasn’t surely the buffer of the men, but with his upper height and broad shoulders, he seemed to tower a bit over his master. 

A surge of heat began to make his blood boil. 

Gritting his teeth, Binghe took the gown again and placed it in front of Shen Jiu’s chest, overlapping it with his white robe and pants. Despite the clothes still present, Shen Jiu’s neck was now bare from the usual high collars, and the red of the gown shone beautifully against his pale skin. 

“Shizun…”

Binghe’s nose brushed against Shen Jiu’s temple, gently stroking the warm skin. 

“The green of your earrings matches perfectly with the red. And your fair skin…”

His voice lowered considerably, reduced to just a rough whisper. His lips cast a soft kiss on Shen Jiu’s forehead. 

“Makes the gown look like a blossom of a rose”

He lowered his face and, slowly, planted a gentle kiss on Shen Jiu’s neck. 

 “You’re… truly beautiful, A-Jiu” 

Something wet dropped on his cheek, but before Binghe could realised what had happened, he had been already kicked in his ribs strongly enough to leave him breathless. 

“Enough with all your bullshits, brat! I said to get out!” 
 
Shen Jiu was trembling uncontrollably. His mind was spinning and…

“NOW!” 

And he was burning, he was burning from the inside. 

His voice had cracked and he simply couldn’t turn his back to look at the face Binghe was making. He wouldn’t have been able to stand it. 
He couldn’t bear the thought of the sad, lonely expression that used to twist Binghe’s features far too often in the past, and that he, only he, was the one to blame for…  

“I’m sorry if I overstepped, Shizun” 

Shen Jiu froze.

“I… I will behave. I give you my word” 

Shen Jiu’s eyes filled up with unshed tears. 

“Just…”

Binghe sighed, opening the door that led to the side room where he used to sleep when he was still a kid. 

“Just believe my words, A-Jiu” 

When he heard the soft thud of the door being closed, Shen Jiu finally crouched down and suppressed his tears, sticking his palm into his eyes.

He was not blind. 
He had noticed the way Binghe had started to gaze at him for a long while.  
Like…

He wanted to throw up.

Like Shen Jiu was the most precious thing in the entire world. 

How??
How could he gaze at him like that??

He had seen. He knew. 
He knew what…

He stood up and hastily reached for a bucket, vomiting everything that was in his stomach. 

Binghe knew what had been done to him.
Binghe knew he had been raped over and over again. 

How could he bear to touch him, now? 
How could he bear to soil his hands with something so disgusting like him?!

Covering his entire face with his hands to muffle his sniffles, he lay on the floor until the first sunlights leaked through the curtains. 

*  *  * 

Pretending nothing had happened was Shen Jiu’s forte. 

Ignoring the problem until it backed off powerfully on his face was almost a sadistic hobby of his. 

And after all, nothing really had occurred, because when the following day Binghe came to his room holding a tray full of delicious food, he forgot entirely the mental breakdown he had just had the night before.  

Everything was fine. Totally. 

In the end, between Binghe and him… nothing really happened. Never had. 

Ever since the boy had decided on his own to jump into the endless Abyss after the attack at the Immortal Alliance Conference, giving him the scare of his fucking life, and since he had actually returned, startling all the cultivation world, Binghe has done… nothing too extraordinary to him. 

Yes, he gave Shen Qingqiu lots of gifts. He sweet-talked him in an obnoxious way with his syrupy voice. He made appreciations more often then not…

But, aside from glances and some brief touches, nothing really had happened. 
Aside from…

Shen Qingqiu entered his calligraphy class in a rush to shut down his mind.

When he came back to the bamboo house, he found a tray of still-fuming food served on his desk, smelling heavenly. 

*  *  * 
 

“You seem distracted, Xiao Jiu. Something’s on your mind?” the Sect leader asked with concern dripping from his voice. 

Shen Jiu almost rolled his eyes. 

“Nothing is wrong, Qi-ge. You should focus on your moves before I claim my victory” he hissed, not once averting his stare from the Weiqi board. 

Yue Qingyuan hummed pensively but complied obediently with his shidi’s snappy reprimand, watching adoringly his sharp eyes focused on the game and his long fingers tapping nervously on the wooden table. 

Like always, if he could say. 

*  *  * 

Luo Binghe was annoyingly calm. 

It was odd as the sun raising from the west. 

Gripping his white fan embroidered with black vines and rosy cherry blossoms, he realised something utterly unpleasant. 

The little brat was avoiding him. 
More so, he could not even be spotted within the peak! Like that wasn't an absurdity per se!
Why the hell did he even come back to Cang Qion Mountain, with half the demon empire to stabilise and the other to take control of?!

He eased the deep furrow between his eyebrows, walking on the path for the cool spring located at the highest point of the peak. 

After the whole past ordeal with his age regression, Mu Qingfang had highly recommended him bathing in waters with healing properties several times a week and, contrary to most of the doctor’s advices regarding his health, he had zealously followed that suggestion, far from being really unpleasant. At least, it gave him an excuse to slip away from boring meeting or bothersome classes. 

The only reason why Luo Binghe always came back to the sect was because of him. 
It was undeniable, plain to the view. 
People could believe he was just some extremely loyal disciple moved by filial affection…

Shen Jiu knew better, though. 

There was a time when he had mercilessly whipped a kid barely in his age of puberty, degraded him in front of the older disciples and even encouraged bullying toward him. 
All in the name of a hate so deep and visceral that made Shen Jiu rot from within. 
All because of petty, miserable self-deprecation. 

Shen Jiu must have known better now, he thought bitterly while carefully undressing and leaving his robe on the stone next to the entrance of the spring. 

After his frosty heart had been partially soothed by a warm balm that smelled indistinctly like hope, he had been able to let many things go, freeing himself from the thorny shackles of his painful past. 

He had began to feel again. He had allowed himself… to forgive. 
Qi-ge. Luo Binghe. The people of the Sect. But most of all…

Himself.  

He had learnt what warmth was, thanks to that little boy. 
Feeling safe. Cared for.

It must have been humiliating. 
He should have whipped that brat to death after his return into his adult self for his impudence in calling him names when he had fucking known Shen Jiu was his shizun trapped in a scrawny and battered body…!

And still… 

Still, he could not forget those confident, soft hands embracing him when everything had seemed lost, when everything had been just too much for him to be able to breathe again. 
The fucking boy had literally bulldozed a spot in his heart, and now there was nothing that could be done to redo the process. 

That thought made an unwitting smile pop up on Shen Jiu’s face. 

Rubbing lightly his pale skin with the cool water, gazing at the little drops slide from his body to once again return to the crystal-clear lake, a faint blush coloured his cheeks. 

There was one time, only one time after that turning up event, in which he had returned to his brutal, punitive methods. It was when a sixteen years old Luo Binghe had sneaked into the spring to ogle at him while he bathed. 

His rage had been so bursting that, after grabbing some clothes to cover his modesty, he had gripped the boy by his curly hair and slammed his face down on the ground, forcing him to kneel right there while he produced some sturdy cane to whip mercilessly his back for so many times he had lost count. After that, he compelled the boy to remain in a kneeling position in the exact spot for three day straight. 

After the fury had dissipated and he was able to collet himself once more, Shen Jiu had led the injured boy from the spring to his house, ordered him to strip from his upper uniform and had applied a soothing balm to his bloody wounds. 

What had struck him the most, though, was that Luo Binghe didn’t look at him with any kind of resentment or hatred. He had just… taken in the punishment as what it was. 
A punishment. A well deserved punishment, probably. 
More so, soon after he had been caught, he did not try to run away nor to justify himself. The boy knew what he had purposefully done. 

When, some days later, Shen Jiu had asked him in a neutral tone “Why did you do it? Have you a death wish?” Luo Binghe had just stared at him with his stupid earnest and mischievous puppy eyes and declared, “I wanted to see Shizun” 

That knowledge had hunted him for a while before slowly dissipating after the more pressing events at the Immortal Alliance Conference. 

Now, though, it came back in full force. 

Hurriedly pulling himself out of the spring, he wore his inner robe in a sort of frenzy and put on just one layer of clothing before taking the inner path to return to his home. 

Once back, he discarded his first layer of clothes and remained in his wet inner garment. His hair was dripping and little droplets glided from his hairline to his nose before falling to the floor. 
He looked at himself in the mirror, the same mirror Luo Binghe had stood in front of a few days ago, pulling the red gown against Shen Jiu’s chest to show how he would have looked with it.
The way Binghe’s eyes had shone gazing at him… it was incomprehensible for Shen Jiu. 
Whereas Luo Binghe saw strength and beauty, Shen Jiu just…

He slowly untied his white transparent robe, letting it drop gracefully from his lean shoulders. 

Shen Jiu just saw a tainted, abhorrent body.

He stared impassibly at his naked form for endless minutes. 

His skin was pale, albeit more rosy than the deathly pallor of his young age. His rib cage protruded a bit from his chest and two lines of abs slightly made their way to his groin. His legs were long and skinny and bore some slight traces of scars.

Then, very slowly, he turned around. 

Marring his skin in a vicious, permanent reminder, there was the symbol that had labelled his life. 
A red, angry brand, screaming savagely the hideous Number 9 at the top of its lungs. 

Despite his advanced cultivation, Shen Jiu had never been able to erase that cursed mark. And, to make it worse, his back bore the weight of countless thin white stripes, not so evident to appear troublesome… yet still present. 
The sign of Qiu Jianluo’s whip. 

Shen Jiu wanted to rip his body apart. 

Stabbing his nails onto his arms, he scratched his skin until blood seeped out, gradually dripping from his fingertips.

He should have overcome his trauma. It had been so long…

“Shen-shixiong, your past-self has resurfaced memories that had lay dormant, almost forgotten for years, to your conscious state. Now, they are alive in your mind once again” 

Fuck that. Fuck himself. 
It had always been his fucking fault. 

“It’s like your mind has experienced anew all the hardships of the past”

Mu Qingfang’s attentive words echoed in Shen Jiu’s brain over and over again. 

Shen Jiu had managed to live with himself after the years spent with the Qiu’s, followed by the nightmare that had been Wu Yanzi. He had succeeded in bearing his appalling self for a while. 
Yes, he used to avoid staring at himself in transparent surfaces and had to constantly go to his jejes at the Warm Red Pavilion to seek comfort from his demons, but he had been generally alright. 
No more frequent mental breakdowns, no more qi-deviations. 

Now, however…

He was so repelled by his own body that he wanted to cut himself to pieces. 

“I wanted to see you, Shizun”

“You’re… truly beautiful, A-Jiu”

Shen Jiu shut his eyes, shaking his head nonstop, scratching his arms repeatedly until his palms and skin were a mush of vermilion flesh. 

He was disgusting. 
He was a gross old man who had been enchanted by the words of his naive little disciple. 

He did not have any right to feel even the slightest pleasure. 

Without sparing another glance at the mirror, Shen Jiu’s eyes threw daggers at the wall that divided his own home from the room where Luo Binghe was supposedly staying.  

Infuriatingly enough, since the little beast had started to rest next to his room, his sleep had grown more regular. 
Yes, he still happened to have episodes and relapses, but his visits to the brothel became fewer and fewer. 

Even though he had not shared any kind of intimacy or closeness with the boy, just being aware that he was nearby made his feel safe. Secure. 

It was completely idiotic, he did know that. The boy was just a brat, way younger than him. 

Yet…

Coming close to the partition between the two facilities, he put his bloody hands on the wooden tiles, disregarding the ugly stains that he would leave.
Taking a deep breath, he brushed his forehead against the material. 

“It’s hard to believe you, little beast” 

Shen Jiu’s whispers hardly left his mouth, getting lost in the noise of the outside wind that rattled the leaves. 

“And…” he paused, frowning slightly. The blood still steadily dripped from his arms to the floor.

He was a foul, tainted old man, yet…

“I didn’t really want you to behave” 

Unknown to Shen Qingqiu, the spot on the other side of the wall was occupied by another pair of hands and a cascade of curly black hair. 

*  *  * 

“I wanted to inform Shizun that this disciple will leave tomorrow” 

Blinking a couple of time, Shen Qingqiu abruptly interrupted his walking. 

“About time” scoffed Liu Qingge, who stood next to the Qing Jing peak lord with a scornful expression.

Luo Binghe threw him a vicious glare. 

“Following like a loyal dog, Liu-shishu? How uncanny” 

“Who are you calling a dog, demon bastard…!” 

“You look like two snotty brats” 

The two arguing men immediately shut their mouths, continuing to furiously glare at each other. 

Letting out a resigned sigh, Shen Jiu closed his fan with a snap. 

It had been a long day. 
First he supervised his youngest disciples sparring with one another, then he joined a meeting to discuss once again the matter of Huan Hua Palace and the boards of the demon realm with his fellow peak lords, and, as if that wasn't enough, he had to deal with Liu Qingge and his persisting proposals to fight…

“This master is returning to the bamboo house. His disciple could follow, if he doesn’t mind”

Liu Qingge’s features contorted into a pitiful, betrayed expression, and Luo Binghe shot him a shit-eating grin. 

“Of course, Shizun, this disciple is glad to accompany you” 

Schooling his expression and muttering only a neutral “Mmh”, Shen Qingqiu resumed walking leisurely.
“Have a good night, shidi” he briefly took his leave, sort of ignoring the pout resting on Liu Qingge’s face. 

He was a grown-up adult, for fuck’s sake. 

Strolling cheerfully behind him, Binghe snickered with malice.

“Shizun should have left that brainless dog to me. You shouldn’t waste your precious time with him”

Shen Jiu couldn’t help but snort. 

“You should be more respectful to your shishu”

“My bad, Shizun. You shouldn’t waste your time with your brainless shidi”

“Do you think you are better than him?” Shen Jiu smirked deviously with a twist of his mouth. 

“I do not think. I am better, Shizun” 

The audacity of that child. 

They finally arrived in front of the bamboo house, the sky already a dark shade of blue. 
Shen Jiu cleared his throat, caressing lightly the knob of the door. 

“So… you’re leaving” 

It was just a mere statement. Nothing more, nothing less. It did not carry any kind of implied meaning. 

Luo Binghe’s voice lost his mischievous humor. 

“Yes. I have to take care of some matters. I will join Mobei-jun and his army in the morning”

Shen Jiu hummed non-concomitantly. 

“Is it that urgent?”

Luo Binghe tilted his head. 

“Kind of. Better be safe that sorry” 

Shen Jiu snorted ironically. 

“Since when did you start to be so cautious, you reckless boy?”

A malicious glint appeared in Luo Binghe’s dark eyes.

“Patience is the virtue of the strong. It is one of the teachings Shizun personally imparted  to us disciples. How could I forget?” 

Opening the door, Shen Qingqiu stepped inside, declaring airily “And is this really the time to start making use of those old sayings?” 

Cautiously following him inside, Binghe hummed “I’m afraid I don’t understand” 

“It’s nothing, forget it” Shen Jiu immediately barked, approaching the tea set only to be surpassed by Binghe, who placidly singsonged “Let me brew your tea, Shizun”

“Be careful not to make it too sweet or I’ll drop it onto your head”

Binghe chuckled darkly.

“I wouldn’t dare to, Shizun. Even though it would be a wonderful rendezvous of our first encounter” 

Despite the pang of guilt throbbing in his chest, Shen Jiu sneered sharply.

“You’re really a lunatic, Luo Binghe. Finding pleasure even admits humiliation and pain” 

The smile plastered on Luo Binghe’s face was probably a bit unhinged. 

“For Shizun, I would bear everything” 

It was true. 

Luo Binghe really would bear anything, for a scum like him. 
Even throwing himself into the Endless Abyss. 

Shen Jiu had had his share of suspicions, but he couldn’t have envisioned that the boy was a half-demon, or rather, a heavenly demon among all. 

It had been absolutely shocking to witness to the red mark on his forehead as soon as the Abyss opened right in the middle of the Immortal Alliance Conference’s ground, causing disasters and gory deaths all over the place. 
He didn’t have the time to properly think of a solution. He didn’t have the time to ponder about his feelings. Shen Jiu only knew that had felt a pang of betrayal for that brat’s lack of sincerity, but also a huge wave of worry. 
Worry for what would have happened to that boy. Concern for his future safety. 

Splashes of a life lived in misery, full of anguish and hate had flashed quickly in his blurred mind. 

He didn't want his little beast to live like that. He didn’t want Binghe to experience the suffering himself had been forced to endure. 
His little beast wasn’t a mere reflection of his past self. The boy harboured… hope. Shen Jiu’s hope. 
And he wouldn’t have let his light to be extinguished like that. 

However, before Shen Jiu could do literally anything, Binghe had smiled. 
Yes, that damned brat had switched from a terrified, lost expression to a fucking tearful smile within mere seconds. 

“I don’t want Shizun to be unjustly accused to hide a demon within his peak. I will take responsibility for my heritage” 

“What are you saying, you idiot?!”

“I’m a monster, Shizun. In the end, I couldn’t show myself worthy of you. I wanted to be strong, like I told you in the past, to protect the one I care for… but I failed before reaching my goal” 

Shen Jiu’s mind had gone spinning. 
What was the boy saying?! Why did he look so devastated?!

“The Abyss is the place where all kind of monsters live. You taught us during a class before, didn’t you?”

Shen Jiu had stared vacuously at the boy and had only nodded. 

“Then, it’s the right place for someone like me” 

Walking backwards, Luo Binghe had come close to the edge of the Abyss. Shen Jiu’s eyes had finally widened to the point of pain. 

“What are you…!”

“I’ll come back, Shizun. I’ll come back stronger, so I will be able to make you proud”

After that, with a final little smile and tears wetting his pale cheeks, Luo Binghe had just…

Fallen. 

Shen Jiu reacted a second too late. 
Yelling was useless. 

The boy… had been gone. 

And gone was the tiny hope that had started to nurture again in Shen Jiu’s chest, alongside the constant and persistent attention that the little beast bestowed upon him. 
Gone was… the feeling of a newfound safety. 

He didn’t tell anyone about what had really happened that night. 
Luo Binghe had been mourned as dead by anyone… with the sole exception of Qi-ge. He was the one Shen Jiu had sought when his heart shattered. And it was thanks to Qi-ge that Shen Jiu could piece together the details about the real history behind the siege of the last of the heavenly demons, Tianlang-jun. 
Shen Jiu had a tragic background, despite being somewhat blande, but he had to acknowledge that Luo Binghe’s family history was on another level. 
He had suspected from the very beginning that the involvement of the Master of Huan Hua Palace was fishy, but he could not have guessed to what extent. 

He had investigated and secretly questioned more people than he had ever talked to in all his life, but in the end, it was worth it. The truth had finally come to light and the culprits had been severely punished for their heinous crimes. Or, at least, they had been imprisoned until the real executioner could seek revenge. As soon as Luo Binghe resurfaced from the hellish Abyss, in fact, it had been a piece of cake to assert his dominance over the Palace as the sole and rightful successor, following the revelation of his mother’s ruthless murder at the hands of the Old Palace Master. 

Shen Qingqiu had searched and red every existing book or source about the Endless Abyss and what kinds of demonic creatures it harboured. 
Luo Binghe would have had zero chance to survive if he had been just a human cultivator, no matter how strong or gifted. However… being a demon, a half-heavenly demon no less, his chances would increase significantly. 

Of course, he would have experienced a living hell. 
But… 

Shen Jiu had felt his heart constrict in a painful grip while madly absorbing all the precious information and hints regarding the place Binghe had been trapped. 
But…

His little beast was strong. He himself had personally ensured of Binghe’s strength of character. 
If the little beast said he would come back stronger, then he would. 

Or else, I will beat him up so hard that he will regret not staying forever in that hellhole. 

Lowering his eyes, Shen Jiu stared at the carpet.

“Despite that, you’re intending on leaving so soon” 

A beat of silence passed. Then, soft thuds on the floor approached the upright and stiff Shen Jiu. 

“Does Shizun not wish for my departure?”

Shen Jiu curled his mouth in a defensive nasty sneer. 

“Binghe can do as he pleases” 

“What would please my Shizun, though?” 

Luo Binghe spoke slowly, in a voice that caused a shiver all over Shen Jiu’s body. 
He remained silent, refusing to cross his disciple’s gaze. The closeness of the other was overwhelming, his warm aura almost suffocating. 
He couldn’t breath properly. 

“Answer me, Shizun” 

What a lack of respect! 
How could that beast dared to address his master in such disrespectful manner!

Luo Binghe came even closer, brushing his plump lips to Shen Jiu’s sensitive ear. That time, his voice was reduced to a mere whisper.

“Answer me, A-Jiu”

Snapping his head furiously, Shen Jiu spitted in a voice worse than venom, “What do you think, you idiotic beast?!” 

Luo Binghe stared silently at Shen Qingqiu’s red, angry cheeks, his shivering hands grasping his fan so tightly he could break it in half, his green eyes so fierce and cutting… and yet…

“I told you, A-Jiu, that I loathe to see you crying”

“I’m not crying, you stupid!” Shen Jiu shouted with dangerously wet lids and a face scarlet with fury. 
“I’m just proving a point!” 

He breathed shallowly and tried to loosen the grip on his beloved fan. 

“You have no right to speak to me like that. If you want to leave, then vanish from my sight!”

He began to retreat, but Binghe was faster. 

He blocked the only exit of the house, and Shen Jiu suddenly remembered the helplessness he had felt when he came back to be a pathetic twelve years old brat trapped in his own home, feeling completely endangered. 
The feeling of old anguish must have shown plainly on his face, because Luo Binghe eased his posture, despite not budging. 

“Look at me in the eyes when you say so, Shizun, and I will leave” 

Shen Jiu bit his lips forcefully. Luo Binghe’s fingers rushed to stop that nervous habit, holding the jaw gently. 

“Why are you doing this to me…”

Shen Jiu voice was unstable, his whole body convulsing with repulsion, but also…

“I just want you to see what I see, Shizun. I want you to understand how incredibly beautiful you are”

Unexpectedly, Shen Jiu fist collided with Binghe’s chest. Hard. 

“Stop fucking saying crap! I’m fucking disgusting! I’m…”

He started to repeatedly bash his disciple, not even noticing where his hits were landing.

He was no good, he was a wretched thing, he was tainted…!

Carefully but firmly, Luo Binghe’s warm hands embraced his fists, pushing them away. 

Shen Jiu hated to be coaxed like if were a little child, fuck! 

“Stop treating me as… as…” Shen Jiu fought against Luo Binghe’s restrains, scratching roughly his palms. 

“As what, A-Jiu?” Binghe’s tone subtly stiffened.  

“As you really care for me! As you really want…!” 

Binghe’s eyes took a dangerous red glow as his hold onto Shen Jiu’s wrist hardened considerably. 

“Do not I care for you, Shizun? Is this what are you really implying?” 

Shen Jiu had to close his eyes against Binghe’s dismayed disbelief. 

Of course the little beast cared for him. Even though difficult to accept, he had grown to withstand it. 
However…

“As you really want… me”

Shen Jiu slumped against the nearby wall, defeated. 

“How could you ever want me, Binghe?” 

The touch of the wooden tiles was cool against his back, contrary to Binghe’s grip on his wrist that was practically burning. 
He felt caged. He felt smothered. 
That time, though, his captor… was only himself.  

Binghe took a deep, albeit strained, breath. His eyes were still glaring red but he cautiously released his Shizun’s quivering limbs. 
Then, without taking his eyes off the unsettled Shen Jiu, he knelt down. 
Like the fourteen years old kid who had bowed in front of his returned Shizun, like the boy who had found a terrified, naked lost child crouched down in the middle of Qing Jing peak so many years ago. 

“I want you because you are my one and only love, A-Jiu” 

Shen Jiu’s blood froze in his veins. 

He knew that Binghe desired him someway. He knew that Binghe flirted with him, but…

“I wanted you since the first time our eyes met”

Shen Jiu furrowed his brow, plainly displeased. However, Luo Binghe merely turned his lips bittersweetly upward. 

“The first thing I wanted from you, it was an answer. Why Shizun hates me so much?, it was what I constantly kept asking myself”

Shen Jiu’s lips trembled and his nails found solace in his already torn skin. 

“At some point, I began to shift my perspective. I wanted to better understand Shizun. His personality, his skills. The reasons behind his apparently horrible moods”

Coming close to Shen Jiu’s mid-section, Binghe gently unclasped the deadly hold he had on his own arms. 

“Then, I wanted Shizun to look at me. To look at my prowesses and to recognise me”

He stood on his knees, bringing Shen Jiu’s bruised palms on his mouth, kissing them softly, perceiving the full shiver on his Shizun’s body. 

“Some time later, something unpredictable happened. Something apparently impossibile. My untouchable Shizun turned into a little, scared kid. From that moment on… I wanted to be worth of Shizun, every single day of my life”

“After that, my body changed, along with my craving. I wanted Shizun only for me. Only for me to gaze at, only for me… to touch”

A tiny gasp escaped from Shen Jiu’s closed mouth, shutting his eyes from the offending, ridiculous man below him. 

“Yes, Shizun. How many times I craved to, you have no idea. How many times I woke up in the middle of the night from a dream where I could…”

“Shameless bastard” Shen Jiu murmured, but did not pull his hands away from Luo Bighe’s lips, which began to wander furtively on his wrists.

“Yeah, I’m shameless, Shizun. At the beginning, I despised myself for my outrageous yearning, but then…”

He gradually rose to his feet, pulling Shen Jiu away from the wall. 

“But then, the Conference came. Everything happened so fast… and I just wanted to protect you. My desire for you had changed once again”

At that point, Shen Jiu’s reactions were totally out of his control. 
The cage of self deprecation that had constrained for years his entire being, was forcefully melted in a searing mush of blood and pain. 
It burned his entire core. 

“As I returned from the Endless Abyss, my want had reached a peak so blinding and vulgar, I was even ashamed of myself. Of course, I did not know what to expect. I did not know what I would have found, after all that time…” his hands stroked Shen Jiu’s arms until he reached the base of his neck. 

“Until I realised Shizun had prepared everything for my return. He had uncovered an unthinkable, ugly truth that had disrupted the entire cultivation word. All of that… for this disciple”

Binghe’s rich voice took a tearful tune. 

“It was the most significant thing that anyone had ever done for me, A-Jiu. Can you understand?”

Shen Jiu opened his green eyes, reflecting into the red, wet irises in front of him. 

“I should have become stronger to protect you… and yet, in the end, it was you who protected me. You shielded my return… believing that I would come back. You put your faith in me”

He quickly clenched his eyes to get rid of the lingering tears as his hands reached for Shen Jiu’s hot cheeks. 

“In that exact moment, I wanted to cherish you forever, A-Jiu”

Shen Jiu breathed sloppily while forcing himself to hold the gaze of the boy he used to brutally whip to the point of blood. 
The boy who had become his little, bright hope…

“So yes, Shizun. I want you. I want all of you” 

He lowered his head, his fingers caressing delicately Shen Jiu’s high cheekbones. With his right thumb, he brushed a stray tear away. 

“Let me show you”

Shen Jiu whimpered faintly as Binghe’s soft mouth kissed his lids. 

“Let me show you how much I want you”

Shen Jiu’s quivering form almost crumpled against Binghe’s chest.

“Let me show you how much I love you, A-Jiu” 

Gasping an unrestrained sob, Shen Jiu cupped Luo Binghe’s cheeks and, finally, allowed  himself to kiss his little beast. 

*  *  *

“Would you like a helping hand, Shizun?” 

Binghe’s saccharine tone made Shen Jiu yearn to slap him senseless. 

He did not deign him of an answer and the boy only laughed merrily from his duvet, where he was currently leisurely splayed. 
The audacity of that brat.

Coming back to his own personal misery, Shen Jiu kept digging a hole into the long mirror leaning against the wall.   

He was dying of nervousness. 

Just a mere couple of minute before, he had kissed Binghe until all air had run out from his lungs. Then, after partially recovering from the shock, he had let the boy kiss him passionately several times, until a trail of red blotches could be spotted on his long neck. 

Now, though… there was something else the devious beast was craving. 

“Are you alright, A-Jiu?”

There it was. 
If half the boy was full of mischief, the other half was just so fucking annoyingly and perfectly caring. 

He tried to take a steady, deep breath. 

I’m not hideous, I’m not ridiculous. I’m not hideous, I’m not ridiculous.  

Quietly, he emerged from behind the hand-painted folding screen which divided the bedroom from the wardrobe area, providing a sense of modesty. 
He was instantly hit by a wave of cool air that caused goosebump on his practically naked body, forcing his hairs to stand up and nipples to harden. 
The temperature of his skin, though, was that of an erupting volcano. 

Sitting up with a thud, Binghe raised his head toward him, and… 

Oh god, he wanted to die. 
He really wished that the earth could open up right in that fucking moment and swallow him up in one gulp. 
Why had he agreed to that madness??!

“A-Jiu, you’re…”

“Ridiculous, of course. I’m going to immediately change and…”

“You are breathtaking” 

Shen Jiu froze mid-step, his back still turned to Luo Binghe who, after a brief pause of motionlessness on Shen Jiu’s bed, hastily stood up. 
Trembling slightly, Shen Jiu could only shortly glimpse through the mirror at the intricate red garment that defiled his skin. 

“I knew it”

Binghe had reached him, the boy’s body warmth lingering on his exposed skin. 

“This nightgown is made for you”

Shen Jiu’s long hair, having been let down completely from the silver crow, covered most of his backside, nonetheless…

“Let me see you, A-Jiu”

Shen Jiu was unable to restrain the urge to recoil. 
“Why would you want to see a body so…”

“Let me see how beautiful you are”

Dear god, why was he fucking shaking so much. 

Shen Jiu whimpered pathetically but let himself be gradually turned until he found himself in front of a red gaze quite difficult to interpret.  
There was hunger, of course. But aside that… wonder. Awe. Happiness. 
He really wanted to slap that silly boy. 

“Stop staring, you beast…”

“How could I stop, A-Jiu?” 

Luo Binghe circled Shen Jiu’s slim waist with his hands and, again, placed him in front of the long mirror. This time, though, only the thin red silk garment was on him.
The half-demon began to reverently caress the pale skin of his arms. 

“Look, A-Jiu. Look”

Despite himself, Shen Jiu followed the quiet order. Binghe’s lips brushed his ear. 

“Look at you emerald eyes, so narrow and sharp like those of a cunning feline”

“How dare you stare at me with those impudent eyes, you filthy slave!” 

“Such a waste that the eyes of a tiger are within a tiny, helpless kitten”

Shen Jiu bit his lower lip, mentally shaking his head to forget the appalling memories of his past in order to rewrite them… with what was actually happening right at that moment. 

“Look at your skin, so delicate and plump”

Shen Jiu rapturously watched as Luo Binghe’s deft fingers traveled from his belly to his thighs, flippantly groping his tender meat. 

“Look at your graceful limbs, so long and elegant”

A petite, feeble whimper could be heard from Shen Jiu’s throat. Against all odds… his penis… his penis was getting erect.
How was that possible?! He had always thought he would be completely incapacitated to get turned on after what he had experienced. 
To be able to feel… to feel pleasure from the hands of another…!  

“Oh, and look, A-Jiu”

Delicately, Luo Binghe slid the soft red texture over Shen Jiu’s shoulders, baring his prominent collarbone.

“Your nipples are already so hard. Look at how cute they are”

Cheeks turning scarlet and dick mortifyingly twitching, Shen Jiu wailed in shame. 

“You’re irresistible, Shen Jiu, your body begs me to fuck you in every way” 

He shook his head furiously. 
Fuck him, fuck Qiu Jianluo, fuck everyone..! 

“Stop it…”

“How could I? You have no idea of the things I’d love to do to you, A-Jiu. No idea”

The husky quiver of Luo Binghe’s voice was sufficient for Shen Jiu’s inside to boil. 

How could the boy have that kind of effect on him?! 
How could he breech so easily in his impervious, thorny walls?
How could…

The touch of Binghe’s palm became more confident, tracing the lines of Shen Jiu’s body until he reached his ribcage, right over his raging heart. 

“It’s me, Shizun. It’s Binghe who is caressing you. It’s Binghe who is adoring you…”

“You’re a disgrace, little slave. Untamed and stubborn, you’ll die in no time”

“The only reasons why I’m letting you stay in this house to be a plaything for Haitang are your pretty face and body, Shen Jiu. Remember that. Remember to be always grateful for me lusting over you” 

“It’s Binghe who is going to make love to the stunning man that you are” 

Haggardly taking a deep breath, Shen Jiu struggled the primal urge to run, scared to death and completely alone.

“Do you trust me, Shizun?” 

Yes, I trust you, little beast. I’ve trusted you for awhile now. 

“Do you feel me?”

Gasping quietly, Shen Jiu perceived Binghe’s caress on his chest. 

“Do you feel that is Binghe who is touching you?”

“You do not deserve the barest courtesy, whore” 

“Focus on my eyes, Shizun. Focus on me”  

The misty haze that had captured Shen Jiu’s senses started to roughly dissipate. 
Shen Jiu’s green eyes locked with his disciple’s red one… and Binghe smiled a beautiful, familiar cheeky grin. 

“There you are, A-Jiu. I’ve finally caught you”

Yes. You have found me.
You have found me once again.

“Binghe…” 

The boy raised Shen Jiu’s chin and kissed him, slowly.

I finally feel… at ease. 

Cracking his neck, Shen Jiu turned around to properly reciprocate meanwhile he was led backwards, until he bumped his knees to the bed.

Binghe was holding his cheek with one hand and his hip with the other and then, with a gentle pressure, he pushed him on the soft mattress. Then, he knelt on the floor. 

Shen Jiu panted breathily, his lungs too overworked for the lack of oxygen. 
He felt… hot all over, despite being dressed in only a silky layer of fabric. His clothed groin… was starting to be bothersome. 

“You’re such a sight, Shizun, but this disciple wish to admire every part of you. Would it be alright if I undressed you completely?”

Cunning little demon!

His hands were wandering along Shen Jiu’s hips and over his already naked shoulders, grasping the garment. 

“You were the one insisting I should put this sinful thing on” Shen Jiu hissed stubbornly, avoiding suitably eye contact with the boy. 

Chuckling cleverly, Binghe easily lowered the loose night-gown until it descended on his Shizun’s pale, smooth legs.
Shen Jiu blushed furiously and tried to cover his nakedness, but Binghe’s palms steadily held his wrists. His breath, though, was clearly laboured. 

“A-Jiu, you’re…”

“You’re so scrawny and bony, little slave”

“I’m addicted to your battered body, Shen Jiu”

“Look at your whip marks, still so fresh” 

Shen Jiu violently shut his eyes, yowling brokenly. 
“Shut up, shut up!!”

“You’re a piece of art” 

He opened his eyes wide open, frozen from the shock. 

He wanted… to cry. 
He really wanted to cry. 
From shame. From pain. From joy. 
From all the turbulence within his wild heart. 

“Want me to say it again for you, Shizun?”

“Don’t you dare…”

His words were broken, shattered to the core to reveal their true vulnerability. 

“A-Jiu, look at me”

Shivering, Shen Jiu forced himself to respond to his disciple’s call. 
He fixed his glazed eyes on Luo Binghe’s face…

And gasped loudly when he saw the expression reflected on his pretty features. 

Awe. 
Pure adoration filled Binghe’s dark, reddish eyes. 

A little sob escaped from his throat. 

There was not just lust. 
There was not just hunger. 

His little beast… 

A tender smile lit Binghe up. 

“You’re with me, A-Jiu. Only me”

His little beast really wanted him. 
No eyes had ever looked at him like that before. 

A single tear stroke his ruby cheek and Binghe’s mouth was fast to catch it. 

“No one will ever, ever hurt you again”

Closing his wet eyes, Shen Jiu released the cry he had restrained from the very start and, wrapping his arms around his disciple’s neck, buried his face against his curly hair. Warms hands caressed his back, steadily, securely. 

“Am I not disgusting?” Shen Jiu whimpered in a small, hideously weak voice. 

“You’re the most beautiful creature I have ever had the blessing to see, A-Jiu” 

He tightened his hold, too embarrassed to do otherwise. 

Luo Binghe indulged him, continuing to stroke his skin and to leave little kisses on his nape.
Until his hand reached a certain point on his lower back. 

“You shameless beast!” immediately reacted Shen Jiu, who jumped away from Luo Binghe’s touch like he had been burnt. 

“You’re just too cute not to annoy you, A-Jiu” Binghe teased him playfully, crawling on the bed and reaching the man who was sitting upright with his back against the headboard.
“Also, I thought your body was craving to be touched”

Like a damn magnetic reaction, that bastard’s alluring voice provoked an implacable surge of heat in Shen Jiu’s body. He hastily crossed his legs, shooting him a murderous glare. 
Binghe laughed merrily and his openly sharp teeth made Shen Jiu only wanted to sink more into a ditch because of the effect that caused on him. 

“Have fun toying with me?” Shen Jiu muttered sullenly. 

“I would not dare, Shizun. This disciple…” 

He came closer, towering over him without, though, being suffocating. His gaze took a more malicious shade. 

“This disciple has not yet started to toy with A-Jiu” 

Oh god. 
Shen Jiu should have been so embarrassed and furious right at that moment. 
And yet…
Yet, his dick spurted an obscene amount of substance that wetted his thighs completely.

Binghe smiled happily. 

“Why are you smiling like that, idiot???” it was Shen Jiu’s hysteric thought before the little beast caressed his face once again, pressing a kiss on his lips and then descending toward his neck. He shifted his body until his shoulder and chest were behind Shen Jiu’s back while they were still both leaning on the soft pillow, side to side. 
His arm slipped over Shen Jiu’s shoulder while the other remained on the opposite hip. 

“I dreamed of Shizun in my arms so many times during my youth, A-Jiu”

Shen Jiu breathed heavily. He felt so safe, so perfectly, horribly safe. 

“And… oh, how many times I dreamed to do this”

His hands, which were caressing Shen Jiu's arms while his lips were occupied with his neck, reached Shen Jiu’s perky nipples. 

It was impossible to suppress his voice any longer. 
A moan finally fled free and Shen Jiu did not even recognised it as something that could have come out from his own mouth. 

“Since the day I have spied on you while you bathed in the cold spring”

Shen Jiu’s brain produced some images of the time when he had found out Luo Binghe's petty misdeed and, after covering his body, had proceed to whip him mercilessly. 

“You had no idea how bad I wanted to touch you that day” 

Shen Jiu moaned helplessly while Luo Binghe played with his nipples, a pleasure so unknown he could not even think straight. 

“I loved every part of you, but they… they immediate caught my attention” he went on, pinching them until they became swollen. 
“You know, Shizun, they are really beautiful” he casually hummed while tracing his long fingers around the sensitive buds. 

“What are you saying, you beast…” Shen Jiu tried to protest, so embarrassed from those ministrations he wanted to die from shame, but a pinch made him whimper. 

“Two beautiful rose petals against your pale complexion, so delicate yet erect, proudly standing up in the cold air” his voice was roughed up as well as his touches, but he seemed too embedded into his memory to notice it.   
“They are just so big and rosy. It’s like…”

He suddenly lowered his head, circling one with his mouth. 

“They beg to be sucked” he growled and effectively closed his lips around one of them.

As he moaned so loudly he startled even Binghe, Shen Jiu also silently thanked his house to be soundproofed. 

Binghe’s startled eyes shined immediately of a dark glint. 

“Oh my, A-Jiu, I hoped your nipples would be so sensitive” and then he continued his job to slowly lick the bud, playing with the other in the meantime. 

Shen Jiu could not think. He was overwhelmed by something he had never felt before. 
It was… pleasure.
A huge surge of pleasure that bloomed from his chest until it reached his groin, and he could not resist the impulse to spread his legs, letting his boner be visible. 

No one had ever really touched his chest. 

He… he was a child, the first time Qiu Jianluo had fucked him. 
A child with a chest so flat and nipples so small that they had been completely ignored. 

He did not even imagine that… that such place could be so responsive if stimulated, feeling so…

“Binghe” he cried out, threading his fingers through Binghe’s hair. 
“Binghe, it’s so…”

“You feel good, A-Jiu? Is this one doing a good job?” Binghe muttered without leaving the red nipple, tracing his tongue on the bud.

“So good” Shen Jiu cried out, and he arched his back, exposing his little tits to Binghe who greedily switched places, catching the other one. 

“Why… why I…”

“Because you’re made for pleasure, A-Jiu” Binghe growled, his eyes progressively losing focus as he tighten his hold on his master’s pecs. 

Maybe it was said during the heat of the moment, but Shen Jiu was visibly shaken by that statement. 

“I… was made… to…?” 

He tried to regulate his breathing, his hands bringing Binghe’s face to view, freeing his abused pecs. 
Binghe seemed to come to his senses, looking into Shen Jiu’s lost eyes and feeling a pang of anguish.  

He had sworn to himself to never let his Shizun wear a discontented expression ever again. He promised to himself to erase any sorrow, any insecurity. To never again be the witness to his A-Jiu’s despair. 

Nuzzling Shen Jiu’s jaw up to his temple, he left a peck to his forehead before gazing deeply into his eyes.

“Yes. You are made to be loved”

No words followed that claim for a while. 

A quiet stillness had embraced the two of them, letting Shen Jiu focus on the rhythmic raising of Luo Binghe’s chest. The clarity of his pretty eyes. The red that adorned his cheeks. The plumpness of his lips. 

He was made to be loved. 
Was he made to be loved? 
He was made to be loved…!

Such foolishness should have been only an attempt to console his broken, hurt and worn out soul. 
The reality had always proved to be otherwise. 
But maybe…

That particular reality, was in the past. 
The knowledge that no one would ever care for him, his body only a tool to other’s gratification and enjoyment…
It was in the past. 
Perhaps, perhaps now…

Perhaps now he could start anew. 

“You don’t deserve to sleep on a bed, scum. You don’t even deserve to exist aside when you’re sucking my cock” 

Qiu Jianluo was dead. Shen Jiu had made sure of that. 
He was the one who had taken his life in his hands! He was the one who had saved himself! 

And now…

Now, there was a boy, a man, gazing at him as if his own life depended on him. 
And it did. 
Luo Binghe had entrusted him with his life the moment he arrived to Cang Qiong Mountain. When he had been whipped to shreds by no one but his own Shizun. When he had slept on a miserable and cold woodshed. When he had protected little Shen Jiu from  his demons. When he had jumped straight on the Abyss to not shame his master’s reputation. When he had finally returned from that hell, showing a charming, mischievous but honest smile while stating “My life is yours, Shizun. It’s up to you to take it or not as you please” 

He was made to be loved.
He was made to be loved by Luo Binghe. 

It was as if time had stood still. Endless minutes passed in a blink of an eye.

Taking his disciple’s large hands into his, he kissed his palms twice before placing them on his thighs. 

“Love me, then”

Luo Binghe’s eyes widened in two shimmering moons. 

“Shizun” he whined pathetically.

Why was that kid so endearing even with that puppy’s pitiful expression!!

He immediately kissed Shen Jiu and that time his technique failed a little to leave space to a genuine eagerness.

“Why is this master the only one who is naked?” Shen Jiu spluttered sourly once Binghe magnanimously let go of him. 

After a moment of honest confusion, which was not at all overly cute on his pretty face, Binghe grinned at him. 

“A-Jiu wants to relish this disciple’s body?”

“A-Jiu wants to be sure his disciple is in good health after many years spent away from the peak” he immediately bristled, wishing his dear fan was still within reach. 

Binghe only chuckled in amusement. 

“As A-Jiu says” 

Then, after standing on his knees above the mattress, he started unhurriedly to strip from his dark clothes. 
His movements were slow, deliberate, making a show of taking off first his belt, followed by his silver ornaments and then outer robe. 

Shen Jiu’s forehead twitched dangerously. 

“This master is going to fall asleep at this rate” he seethed, crossing his legs once again to cover the mess sticked on his groin. 

Binghe cast him a look that sent a shiver down his spine, and he tacitly thanked the gods that he had closed his legs just a second earlier. 

“Is the performance not to Shizun’s liking? If so, I will provide some more entertainment”.
Said that, he swiftly pulled his inner robe wide open.

Shen Jiu’s eyes were immediately glued to his bare chest. 
A pair of perfectly toned pecs peeped from the fabric, and his abdomen featured beautifully chiseled abs. 

Leisurely, like he was caressing himself in a fucking sluttish move, Binghe freed his arms from the long shirt and slid it over his back. 
Now, only the pants remained in place. 

Shen Jiu had to physically prevent himself to grope the body in front of him. 
He was… unfairly fucking perfect. 
His built was not too massive. His shoulders were large and his abs prominent, his biceps exquisitely mighty, but he was still quite slender. Shen Jiu did not feel suffocated from his form, but rather… sheltered.

Luo Binghe was looking at him with a smug expression. He began to toy with his trousers, tracing the rim several time while his hand went down to caress his hard crotch. 

Shen Jiu’s throat dried up completely. 

Unbelievable. 
Where the fuck did that beast learn those technique from??! 

Luo Binghe seemed to be pretty content with the result of his little show, because he finally lowered his pants to mid-thigh. 

Oh, those thighs. 
Shen Jiu openly gawked at them, temporally ignoring the pulsing area of the groin that should have been the first to stare at. 
But he could not help himself. They were perfect! 
Smooth, strong, defined. One of them was as big as both of Shen Jiu’s own!

“Is A-Jiu seeing something he likes?”

Shen Jiu breathed heavily and reluctantly averted his eyes from those sublime limbs… only to almost pop out of his sockets once he spotted… that thing. 
He immediately jumped on the opposite side of the bed, sitting upright with his legs tightly crossed. 

“What the hell is that”

“A-Jiu…”

“Oh no, Luo Binghe. No, no, no. That’s a monster. You are not coming close to me with that weapon without leash” 

Despite the situation, Binghe had the gall to fucking laugh.
He got rid of his clothes from the ankles, letting them fall to the floor, and crawled once again on the mattress, cornering his master to the headboard. Despite his dominant presence, his expression was gentle as he stooped to kiss Shen Jiu’s neck. 

“A-Jiu, don’t worry. We don’t have to… go all the way. Not now. Not ever, if you do not wish to. I won’t hurt you” he whispered directly on his skin, letting his hands roam freely on his master’s back and, for the first time, descending low enough to cup his ass. 

Shen Jiu whined unwillingly. 

“I can spend the rest of our lives pleasuring you with my hands, A-Jiu. Or even better, with my mouth” he went on, palming the tender meat and kneading it until the cheeks were slightly spread.

Shen Jiu nails found Binghe’s strong biceps and dug into them. His body was scorching  hot and his cock could not stand to be constricted any longer. 

“And you’ll lose the chance to pleasure yourself, little beast?” he muttered unsurely, pressing a little peck on Binghe’s cheek as his legs started to unveil under him. 

The half-demon exhaled deeply and, without warning, brushed Shen Jiu’s perineum up to his furled hole, making Shen Jiu deliciously gasp.

“A-Jiu. Can’t you see how much I’m pleasuring myself right now?” 

Shen Jiu was left momentarily speechless by Luo Binghe’s husky groan. He slowly lowered his gaze toward the boy’s abs until…

“Oh, god” he gasped faintly, looking at the huge, red erect cock which was leaking copiously. 

Binghe cast him a smug grin. 
“See, A-Jiu?”

Shen Jiu could only faintly nod.

Such an absurdity. No men would ever pleasure themselves without getting their dicks into some hole.  
His little beast seemed to be quite different though, he realised with an amazed expression. 

“What do you want to do to me, then?” Shen Jiu decided to play along a little too, regaining some of the snarky loftiness that had been lost on the long way until that point. 

Binghe smirked, slapping his ass and earning an outraged gasp as well as a hard tug of his hair. He drew his mouth close to his Shizun’s ear and…
“Spread your legs for me and you’ll find out” he whispered slyly. 

Shen Jiu’s entire body combusted on the spot. 

Such vulgarity!!!

He did not restrain himself to powerfully kick Luo Binghe in his belly and he deeply enjoyed the groan of pain the boy released. 

“Always so scathing yet so haughty, Shizun” he hissed through clenched teeth. Nonetheless, a cunning smile was already forming on his winking face. 
“Don’t need to worry, though. If my A-Jiu is too shy to do it…” he leaned over the Qing Jing lord’s body, lowering him onto the mattress.
“This one will spread his legs for him”

Then, cupping the back of both Shen Jiu’s knees with his hands, he opened them wide open. 
Shen Jiu was too shocked to react. He tried to splutter something in outrage but Binghe kissed him first. 

“Trust me, A-Jiu. Will you?” 

Taking a breath and closing his eyes, he feebly nodded, attempting to calm himself. 

It was not the first time someone had seen him naked. It was pretty common during his childhood. He had been already…

No, no, no! 
He was not trapped in the past anymore. It was different now. 
Binghe was different. 
He had never…

Oh. Right. 
Binghe could see everything now. 
He was seeing everything!!

Fleeing from his mental turmoil, he turned crimson as soon as he became aware of Binghe’s gaze… fixed on his most hidden place. 

And what a look…

“A-Jiu…” Luo Binghe’s exhale was laboured. His hands lowered until brushed Shen Jiu’s inner thighs, groping them tenderly. 
He bent over and began to leave a trail of kisses on the soft meat, stopping every now and then to suck the skin until it bruised deliciously.

Shen Jiu’s eyes closed in pleasure as his mouth unfolded in little sighs. 

Luo Binghe smiled happily and, after a good while worshipping those stunning legs, he treacherously engulfed the weeping tip of his Shizun’s cock with his lips. 

Shen Jiu screamed from the shock.
He trashed on the bed, trying to sit hastily to reach for that… for that unexpected something but Binghe held him firmly down. 

“Binghe… what are you… ahh-!”

He could not finish the sentence that he collapsed again onto the mattress as soon as Binghe took him entirely into his mouth and started to vigorously suck him.

It was like his brain had temporarily short-circuited. He could not think. He could not move. 
He only vaguely realised to have shouted something as a boiling feeling surged in his groin and made him come directly down Binghe’s expectant throat. 

It was so sudden he could not even see properly. 

It was… different from anything he had ever experienced in his whole life. 
A feeling so overwhelmingly devastating that it scared him. 
It was…? 

“Told you I would have pleasured you, A-Jiu” Binghe grinned as he wickedly licked his red lips.

Pleasure. 
Oh. 
So that was pleasure. 

“But this is just the beginning, Shizun. And from what I’m seeing…” he stopped to brush Shen Jiu’s still surprisingly erect dick, making him wail from the abrupt stimulation.
“Your body agrees with me” 

Perverted asshole!

Bending down again, Binghe licked gently Shen Jiu’s balls, sucking them one by one. 

“Oh my god, Binghe… Binghe, pl-”

“It feels good, A-Jiu?” 

“Yes, yes…”

“Really good? More than your nipples?” he went on with abandon, spreading Shen Jiu’s perky cheeks.

Shen Jiu could only groan a faint “Yes” as his hands found solace in Binghe’s hair, digging  into his scalp, causing an aroused groan from the boy whose cock was pulsing maddeningly, completely neglected. 

“Mmh… I’m wondering, though” Binghe breathlessly hummed, caressing Shen Jiu’s perineum. 
“Which could be the most sensitive part of your body” 

Shen Jiu’s stingy answer was just a tug of the boy’s curly hair.

Chuckling briefly, Binghe kissed his tip before sucking it again while his hand wandered lower and lower until… 

“Because… you know, A-Jiu, your hole is twitching beautifully” 

Shen Jiu’s frantic movements stilled sharply. Binghe’s thumb… was circling his rim.

“So I wonder…” he interrupted himself, looking attentively at his Shizun’s expression. He feared to find something akin to distrust or fear… yet he was welcomed by a pair of yearning, dumbfounded eyes that looked at him as he was mesmerised. 

He could not help a dreamy sigh at such marvelous sight. 

“I wonder what will happen if I do this…” he whispered as he hunched over and licked a stripe all over Shen Jiu’s quivering hole.  

If that of before was pleasure, Shen Jiu did not know what that could ever be.  

“Binghe…!”

The boy began to circle his thick tongue around Shen Jiu’s rim, pushing lightly at the muscle that continued to twitch expectantly. 

It was heavenly. 
Shen Jiu’s hole was so pink and soft and, despite the natural resistance, it was like it looked forward to embrace him inside. Binghe’s mind was spinning wildly as he sucked vigorously and his tongue worked his way among the tight walls. 
He was eating his Shizun out. 
He was really eating his A-Jiu out. 
Binghe was the fucking happiest man alive, he still could hardly believe that his beautiful Shizun had granted him such blessing…

Said A-Jiu was instead currently a shivering and blabbering mess. 
He shamelessly spread his legs as wide as he could, his mouth an open flow of loud moans.
In that exact moment, he no longer felt like a peak lord. He was not even Shen Qingqiu anymore. 

He was just…

“More, Binghe, more….!”

He did not even realise to have started to blindly thrust his hips against Binghe’s mouth, trying to let the boy’s tongue enter him more. 

“What do you love more, A-Jiu?” Binghe frantically rambled, grasping those impatient hips and raising them toward his face. 
“Where do you like my mouth more, A-Jiu? On your dick?” and he switched place, starting to suck again Shen Jiu’s cock, but the man wailed in displeasure, grasping Binghe’s hair and trying to lower his head once more.

“No… Binghe, t-there again..!”

“Where, A-Jiu, just tell me” the boy demanded, teasing his rim with a fingertip. 

“You know where, you asshole…!” Shen Jiu yelped, feeling his hole clenching desperately around nothing. 
He felt completely inebriated, drunk from sheer pleasure. 

After an amused snort, Binghe’s hot mouth returned at full force and Shen Jiu cried loudly. 

How could he feel so good? 
Why did he feel so good…!

At a certain point, something harder than the boy’s tongue seemed to carefully poke at his entrance. 

“A-Jiu… is it alright if I touch you more here…?” Binghe’s voice was roughened, heavy with long-suppressed lust. His attentive plan to delight his beloved Shizun with his mastered skills was threatening to crack down. 

Shen Jiu was not in better condition. He only wanted the little beast to continue what the hell he was doing…!

“Do anything, just… just don’t stop…” he whined, and he was far too gone to be mortified  by his shameless, needy behaviour.
  
From his part, Binghe was far too happy to oblige. Producing a vial of oil from who knows where, he poured a generous amount on his fingers before stroking his Shizun’s rim. He kissed Shen Jiu’s quivering belly and, locking eyes with the man below him, he slowly breached him with his index.  

Shen Jiu’s reaction was quite complex. On one hand, his mouth opened in a silent groan, and his back arched beautifully; on the other, his forehead furrowed in a discontent frown. 

Binghe’s wrist halted immediately. 

“A-Jiu? Look at me. Is it too much?”

Green irises stared at him with an expression difficult to comprehend. 
Concern grew upon Luo Binghe’s features and readily caught Shen Jiu’s face, cupping his cheeks. 

“A-Jiu?”

“It…” Shen Jiu whispered, closing his eyes for a second. 

That, was a familiar feeling. Infrequent, yet undeniably recognisable. Memories of the times when Qiu Jianluo felt unusually good-hearted to prepare him before… 

However, all of that was in the past. And the past was over. 

“It feels good” Shen Jiu faintly said, reopening his eyes and straightening his back against the pillow, as Binghe immediately helped him sit up. 
“Just… I’d like to look at you, while…” he paused mid-sentence, shooting him a gaze that spoke thousands of words.  

Binghe did not need anything else. 
Brushing his nose against his beloved’s cheek, he kissed Shizun’s lips and, manhandling him onto his lap, caressed again his hole until his finger slipped in again. 

That time, Shen Jiu’s reaction was undoubtedly clear. 

“Binghe” he cried, curling his arms against the boy’s neck as he dug his nails into his shoulders. 
He could perceive something moving inside him, his walls opening slightly to the pressure until…

He grasped Binghe’s hair and moaned shyly…
“M-more”

A heartfelt groan echoed among the house as it was Binghe’s turn to blabber up “Oh, Shizun, of course Shizun” as another sticky finger was readily pushed inside, stretching the muscle alongside its companion. 
“You take my fingers so well, A-Jiu… you’re so soft… yes, oh yes, move your hips like that…” 

The boy’s enchanted words only served to worsen Shen Jiu’s euphoria. 
His mouth was attached to the boy’s neck, biting every time Binghe’s wrist thrusted against his walls, losing its ground only when the little beast began to abruptly scissor his fingers, mercilessly hitting a spot that made him froze from the shock.

“What…what…”

“Have I found your sweet spot, A-Jiu?” Binghe gasped with a delighted expression as he tried to calm his frenzied breath. 
While his right hand was busied inside his Shizun, the other did not stop for a moment from caressing his back, occasionally extending his thumb to tease at Shen Jiu’s nipple. 

The man’s eyes has never been so round, completely losing their characteristic narrow shape.  

“H-how… how do you…” he stopped to moan brazenly as Binghe’s finger poke again at that devilish spot. 
“How do you know all this things…” Shen Jiu demanded with a glare that was more similar to a pout. 

Luo Binghe shoot him an insufferable cocky grin. 

“I have searched far and wide and practised relentlessly to be worth of my A-Jiu” he confidently revealed, kissing his jaw and pinching his nipple as his right hand never ceased to prod at his hole, starting even to push a third finger.

Despite the overbearing pleasure, Shen Jiu had the clarity to threw him a murderous glare. 

“What the fuck..ah… means you practised… ah, ah yes… with who??!”

“No need to worry, Shizun. It’s all in the past now, yes? The most important thing is that my A-Jiu is pleased, isn’t it?” Binghe hummed in a captivating voice, distracting his master by finally adding the third finger into his hole. 

“That’s not… ah!” Shen Jiu was unable to finish as the bastard kept hitting him where he was the weakest. 
“You’re… doing it… ah, ah… on purpose…!”

Binghe only laughed breathlessly, resting his forehead and his red mark onto Shen Jiu’s one. 

“Maybe, A-Jiu, but I believe it’s working” 

Yes, it was working. Wonderfully, even. 

Shen Jiu felt on the clouds.  
His brain was blissfully empty of anything useless. The only thing worth mentioning was one name, that he kept repeating like a mantra… and Luo Binghe responded just as he craved, holding him tight and touching him non-stop, fondling his cheeks, his back, his ass, his chest, his arms, his shoulders blades…

Until a startled gasp leaked between the multitude of moans. 
Binghe’s hand was…

“Is it alright?”

Shen Jiu’s wet irises crossed Binghe’s dark one. Despite the haziness of his senses, he could discern a veil of sorrow reflected in those pretty eyes. Remorse, even. Helplessness, for not being able to change the natural course of event.

Silly little beast. 

Pushing forwards, he captured Binghe’s lips with his own. 

“Touch all you want” he muttered allusively.

The boy’s fingers traced carefully the crude edges of the slave brand, infusing onto the eternal scorching mark a soft and pleasant warmth. 
For the first time in all Shen Jiu’s life, touching the cursed skin under the burden of his sin… did not repulse him. 

“You’re beautiful, A-Jiu” 

Oh my god, why this brat has to repeat it so many times…!

“Do you understand?” Binghe’s fingers resumed their previous rhythm, while his lips left messy kisses all over his Shizun’s face.
“You’re stunning, ethereal, and I love you so much…”

Perhaps it was then that Shen Jiu’s remaining resolve shattered into pieces. 

He grasped Binghe’s face, entwining his fingers in the boy’s curly hair. 

The maddeningly pleasure, the fingers that made him feel so full, so wanted, so warm, so alive, had provoked an unthinkable wave of tears that stroked his ruby cheeks, making them shiny. 
He looked at the boy, the annoying, marvelous boy who had brought light where a gloomy darkness had always reigned, embodying his own personal sparkle of hope… 

The boy who said he loved him.  
The boy who loved him. 

Cracking a little smile among the tears, Shen Jiu sighed in mock defeat.  

“Love me, Binghe” 

He moved his hips backwards, sensing the hard and wet skin of the cock that had been ignored for the whole night. 

Binghe blinked, confused. He tried to brush away the tears, but Shen Jiu glared at him. He leaned again toward the boy’s chest, moaning softly when the fingers inside him curled suavely. 

“Make love to me” 

He kissed Binghe’s lips, moaning in plain need as the tamed cock behind his ass spurted an obscene amount of sticky substance. 

“For real” 

Luo Binghe was absolutely dumbfounded. 
Despite probably never having been more turned on in all his life, and the previous hours would beg to differ, his eyes looked exactly the same as when he was a fourteen-year-old, staring at his older Shizun with a lost expression. 

For once, he truly looked like the boy Shen Jiu had always seen. 
Sincere and eager, yet still unsure. 

“Are… Shizun, are you certain…?”

“Yes, I am” Shen Jiu replied firmly, conveying the fire he felt on his body, that his little beast was to blame for setting it, through his eyes alone. 
Thus, slowly, Binghe retreated his sticky fingers and Shen Jiu whined loudly from the sudden and shocking loss, after so long feeling so beautifully full. But then, he remained still, staring at Shen Jiu with uncertainty. 

The boy seemed to have unexpectedly lost all his confidence. 

Shen Jiu impatiently raised an eyebrow, pretty annoyed. 

“What, little beast? Have you lost your touch?” he sneered mockingly, grinding his ass against Binghe’s crotch, making him groan. 
“The cat got your tongue?”

A deep blush adorned Binghe’s cheeks, and a frown so adorable that had no fucking right being so pretty, made his face appears defeated. 

“If Shizun is absolutely sure, and he feels no pressured at all… this disciple will be immensely happy to… to make love to him” he mumbled, focusing his eyes on Shen Jiu’s chest instead of his face. 

“I asked for it myself. What, you do not believe this master?” Shen Jiu snarked in a scoff, but then he sobered sharply, lowering his eyebrows.
“If Binghe do not wish to lie with this master, of course it is fine to-”

“Of course I want to lie with you!” Binghe immediately shouted and Shen Jiu flinched, startled. 
“I told A-Jiu many times that I want to love him” he muttered sullenly and Shen Jiu did not resist the impulse to peck his pretty pout. 
“It’s just that…”

Luo Binghe exhaled, clearly in distress. Shen Jiu’s patience was running thin and he was almost at the point of pulling his hair out to make him spit it out.

“This disciple has not… experience”

Shen Jiu blinked several times. 

Restless, Binghe began to mess up his hair. 
“I wanted to be perfect for Shizun, so I practised on making others feel good. That way,  Shizun could have the time of his life, thanks to this disciple…” he paused, noticing the scowl directed at him from said Shizun, still on his lap with cock standing out and legs around his waist. 
“But…”

His voice grew thin, his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure and mouth downward. 

“This disciple has not… has never fucked before. This would be… Binghe’s first time”

There was moment of silence so laden with anticipation that it could be cut with a knife.

“And of course A-Jiu deserves only the best so I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to be the man he’d love to stay with, but I did not think that Shizun would deign this disciple this priceless honour so soon and I’m so happy A-Jiu, I want to be forever with you and buried inside you until the end of the time yet-”

A thump of something quite soft was whacked against Binghe’s face. 

“You’re really a ridiculous brat” Shen Jiu scoffed, holding the pillow in his hand. 
“But I’m at fault too, considering I’m your Shizun” he mumbled, shaking his head.

“A-Jiu?” Binghe whined pitifully with those big puppy eyes and Shen Jiu really was the worst scum of the planet because why on earth that face should have been even remotely tantalising to him…!

“Listen carefully, you little beast, because I won’t repeat it a second time. You have already proved to be… emh, enough. You don’t need to be perfect and, especially, you don’t need to go fucking around or I’ll chop your head in a heartbeat. Now, put this weapon” and he paused, grinding his butt against Binghe’s weeping cock, “to work, before I lose my patience”. 

In a blink of an eye Binghe’s sulkily expression immediately turned into a shining smile and bright eyes. 

“A-Jiu, are you jealous?” 

Oh my god, I’m going to beat the shit out of this brat. 

“Stop spurting nonsense” Shen Jiu hissed dangerously and Binghe giggled happily, even though a shade of insecurity still remained in his eyes. 
His hands caressed Shen Jiu’s asscheeks and, slowly, pressed his cock against the soft meat, letting out an unrestrained moan. 
He hid his face against his Shizun’s neck, kissing him tenderly. 

“I just… don’t want to hurt A-Jiu” he whispered softly. 

A fond smile appeared on Shen Jiu’s face, who patted Binghe’s curly hair as he kissed his temple. 

Sweet, silly boy. His sweet boy. 

“You won’t hurt me” 

Binghe raised his head a little and peeked at Shen Jiu’s expression. Clear green eyes looked at him with steadiness. 

“You swore to protect me, don’t you?”

He traced the red mark on the boy’s forehead with his fingertip, tapping it twice. 

“And I’m sure you will, like you’ve already done before” 

After a moment of hesitation, any remaining doubts quickly dissipated from Binghe’s eyes. He straightened his back, kissing Shen Jiu deeply. 

“Thanking Shizun for his guidance” he half-joked between a kiss and another while his hands wandered lower, pinching Shen Jiu’s nipples a few times and descending back to his ass, fondling his hole, making the Qing Jing lord moan once again. 

“I hope you’ve been enlightened” Shen Jiu hissed between his teeth, feeling Binghe’s absurdly large cock stroking his perineum, teasing lightly his gaping hole. He also glanced at the boy handling the same little vial he used before, probably pouring the whole substance onto his dick. After stroking it a few times, releasing a guttural groan that caused Shen Jiu’s own erection to twitch, Binghe began to rub it against his rim. 

“A-Jiu” Binghe exhaled, cupping his Shizun’s ruby face as he continued to circle his hole with the tip, attempting a little push to breech the tightness. Shen Jiu audibly gasped, clinging to his strong shoulders as he could feel his hole meekly unfolding, effortlessly. 

He closed his eyes for a moment, temporary overwhelmed by that old, acquainted sensation. 
He wanted to erase it forever, replacing it with the image of the only person who had both the right and duty to please him, to make him feel whole.

“A-Jiu, can I..?” 

“Please, Binghe” 

Shen Jiu’s forehead was sweaty, his hair in disarray, not to mention his swollen eyes… yet, he felt confident. For once in his life, thanks to no other than his little beast. 

“Love me, please” 

Binghe’s eyes glistened dangerously, nonetheless he wore a grin too tender to be considered cheeky. 

“As my A-Jiu wishes” 

So, he pushed inside the tip of his dick, without finding any particular resistance due to all the previous stretching. 
Shen Jiu moaned openly, lowering his hips to meet Binghe’s girth and, plunging his nails into his biceps, he sunk even lower, taking half the cock in one go. 

“Oh gods” 

He was so, so full. So marvellously full, Binghe stretching him in a way he couldn’t do before with just his fingers…

“Binghe… ahh…”

He tried to move, taking control of the thrusting, but the boy stopped him hastily,  gripping his waist so tight that he left a dark bruise. 

“Shizun… don't move, please” 

Binghe’s face was so red that looked like it was about to implode. His eyes were a vivid red, so similar to his forehead’s mark, and his sharp canine were prominent. His chest lowered and raised at an irregular, frenetic pace. 

Shen Jiu should have been frightened of himself, because that vision caused him an excitement that made his eyes roll back in his head. 
The way Binghe was looking at him, as Shen Jiu was the only star on the sky, like he could devour him wholly, like he was the center of his world…

“I don’t think I would… be able to stop otherwise…” Binghe’s voice was reduced to a painful whine, his cock probably burning after being neglected for hours and now, trapped in a blissful but tight space, unable to move…

Holding the boy’s hands still carved in his waist and dragging them to his ass, Shen Jiu kissed him gently on the nose before lowering himself onto the pillow, bringing Binghe with him. 

“Binghe…” he cried, feeling the half cock inside him grew even larger. He spread his legs on the mattress to accomodate Luo Binghe’s body. 
“Silly boy. Who told you to stop?”

Binghe’s groan was probably heard even outside the bamboo house. 

Crashing his mouth against Shen Jiu, he pushed into his Shizun’s hole once, twice, trying with all his might to not hurt him, until all his cock was buried deep inside his walls. 

“A-Jiu… A-Jiu, A-Jiu…” he cried brokenly, thrusting his hips almost blindly, drinking in the sight of his Shizun, his perfect, stunning Shizun, spread open under him, yelping and sobbing, eyes filled with lust and gazing at him like he was the only light of his world…

“I… I can’t… any longer… ah, ah, ah”

Shen Jiu embraced him tightly, dragging him against his chest and kissing him madly, pulling at his hair. 

“I-I-I…”

“Yes, little beast, come on” Shen Jiu urged him, feeling the boy’s cock pulsing and pulsing until…
“Show me your love, Binghe” 

Luo Binghe came with a shout, burying his face in the crook of Shen Jiu’s neck as his semen spurted between his swollen walls.

Shen Jiu’s eyes widened as he felt a warmth sensation inside him, but he did not have the time to wrap his mind around it that Binghe pushed his still hard dick against his cursed little spot, making him released un undignified squeak. 

“A-Jiu had to show me his love too” Binghe whispered cunningly, emerging again from his Shizun’s bosom. 
Eyes more focused and mind cleared from the lusty haze, he started to piston his master’s prostate, raising his legs in the air and bending to mouth at his nipples. 

“Binghe…!!! Too… too much…”

Shen Jiu was crying real tears now, sobbing openly as Binghe made him his, invading every little piece of his skin and mind, marking him up as he pleased. 

And he let him. 
Shen Jiu let him do whatever he wanted, too enamoured to do otherwise. 

Binghe had taught him how to live with himself again. 
He had taught him how to feel. How to let go.
How to love. 

Emerald eyes met stark red one, and Shen Jiu could only let himself go, violently  releasing all over his chest, abdomen and even neck. 
Mere seconds later, he was followed by another spurt of semen from Binghe’s cock, who finally ceased to be a titanic threat, returning to just a normal one. 

“My beautiful A-Jiu” Binghe breathed heavily, stroking Shen Jiu’s dampened bangs. 
“Do you believe me now?”

Sighing contently, letting his lips turned genuinely upwards, Shen Jiu only nod once. 

“You’d better make up for lost time, little beast”

Binghe’s bright smile would be able to blind the entire sect. 

*  *  *  

“Hence, this is the reason why I’m parting from Cang Qiong Mountain for a while” 

Shen Jiu fanned himself slowly, savouring the sweet treats Binghe had brought him before as he inspected the lavish pendant, which hung around his waist, Qi-ge had gifted him before meeting began. 

His fellow peak lords stared at him with a range of expressions: stupor, irritation, bewilderment, curiosity, a mixture of everything… 

“You cannot leave the sect for… for that demon” Liu Qingge was fast to retort, deep frown already in full view. 

 “I thought I have told shidi, as well as everyone else, that this is not the reason”

“The only one, at least” muttered Shang Qinghua before receiving a glare so murderous that it made him shudder and immediately fall silent. 

“It is quite odd, though” Qi Qingqi stated with folded arms and, next to her, Wei Qingwei nodded in agreement. 

“I believe a change of scenery would do nothing but good for our Shixiong” Mu Qingfang intervened with an indulgent smile and, of course, Yue Qingyuan didn’t miss the chance to take his Xiao Jiu’s side. 

“As Shen-shidi’s physician, I consider Mu-shidi’s suggestion as the most valuable” he placidly stated, shooting a warm smile to Shen Jiu, who scoffed in amusement behind his fan.

If before his mysterious age-regression all the peak lords would have accused the sect leader of leniency toward the hateful Qing Jing lord, now everyone seemed to have mutually adjusted to that fact. 
How laughable. 

“If no one has anything more to add, this master will bid goodbye” Shen Jiu leisurely said. He took a step forward to exit the hall, intending to meet his disciples and inform them of their duties. Among them was obviously Ming Fang, who had been pouty and gloomy since learning about his Shizun’s travel. 
However, a rough voice unexpectedly close to his face stopped him. 

“You’re the Qing Jing peak lord, Shen Qingqiu. You belong to this sect. What are you thinking, walking away to the demons' realm? Have you lost your mind?” 

The Bai Zhan peak lord was angry, which wasn’t something particularly remarkable. His dark eyes were narrowed with fury, but something else could be spotted. Shen Jiu could see it plainly, even though the brute wasn’t able to ponder his own emotions. 

Sadness. Betrayal. Hurt. 

If Liu Qingge was even a tad less stubborn and short-tempered, Shen Jiu might have attempted to talk with him privately, perhaps to even clarify their ambiguous relationship.
However, he was tired of dense men who couldn’t sense the subtlest hint. 
He longed for freedom, the chance to expresses his true self without judgment, without everyone knowing his tragic history. 

He wanted to start over. 
While he had no intention of abandoning the status and the peak he had fought tooth and nail for, he desired to explore. To see the world his circumstances had prevented him from experiencing. To lend a helping hand to whose in need, and to discover new species. 
But above all…

“I think Liu-shishu is the one to have forgotten his place. Is that how you talk to your Shixiong?” 

Without being able to contain himself, Shen Jiu snorted behind his fan. 

Speak of the devil. 

“You shameless demon, how the hell did you enter here…!”

“Maybe you should be preoccupied with your lack of defense, Liu-shishu. What kind of war god should you be?"

“I’ll kill you little bastard, come here!”

“Liu-shidi, Luo-shizhi, please calm down…”

“You’re terrible, Xiao Jiu, letting your disciple free to bully his shishu”

Shen Jiu scoffed nonchalantly, following with his eyes those idiots while they chased each other like two overgrown babies. 

“He’s perfectly able to defend his honour on his own, Qi-ge” Shen Qingqiu stated flatly as the Sect leader chuckled. 

They remained silent next to each other for a while, until Yue Qingyuan tuned to gaze softly at the serene face of the Qing Jing lord. 

“Are you happy, Xiao Jiu?” 

A bit starlet by that question, Shen Jiu briefly looked at him before humming noncommittally. 

He had let go of his haunting past. 
He had discovered what it was to be wanted and loved. He had realised his capacity to love as well.

He desired to live. 
He desired to be happy with…

A small smile lit Shen Jiu’s face up as he looked at the man so big and menacing, yet so childish and silly. 
Strong enough to protect him, to make him feel safe. 
Young enough to allow his master to still guide him. 
Hence…

“Yes, Qi-ge. I am”

Yue Qingyuan observed contentedly as Luo Binghe caught his Shizun’s gaze and enthusiastically shouted a shrill “A-Jiu!” causing many to wrinkle their nose, and one person in particular to fume from rage, but he only smiled indulgently. 
Because, as Shen Jiu took Binghe’s offered hand and began to walk away from the hall, toward the path that led to the last peak of the Mountain, the Sect leader could only silently wish him, his heart swollen with heartfelt joy…

“Live happily, dear Xiao Jiu. Your past remains behind you. It’s time now to craft your future… entwined with the love of your choosing”