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"This script is nonsensical," Wenren E said, resting his chin on Yin Hanjiang's head as he turned the page. "Why would this righteous cultivator offer himself up to a demonic cultivator to be used as a cauldron? They don't seem to have known each other before, so it can't be for love, can it? No one seems to have been struck by lightning at first sight, and even if they had, giving up everything for a stranger is beyond what mere love could convince someone to do."
"Attraction, then," Yin Hanjiang said lazily, toying with a lock of Wenren E's hair. "Although it makes little sense to me either. Even if he is attracted to this demonic cultivator, who would just give up their foundation for a few fleeting moments of pleasure?"
Wenren E thought about it. "Someone who didn't want their foundation in the first place, I suppose. If you had decided you wanted to live and die as a mortal, giving up your foundation to the first attractive person who came along might seem reasonable."
Yin Hanjiang nodded, his head bumping against Wenren E's nose. "But still, pretending to be these characters while dual cultivating... Shu Yanyan's manuals have some strange ideas. It's said to increase one's power significantly if done correctly. Something about pretending to be a cauldron and almost letting go all the way, but not allowing the other person to touch their foundation in reality...? It seems like more trouble than it's worth, Ah-Wu..."
"Hm, but taken without context, some of these lines do seem a little bit fun, don't they? Look: I'm powerless to stop you, so I might as well give in." He swooned dramatically, flopping onto his back like a dead fish and dragging a laughing Yin Hanjiang with him.
"That's right," Yin Hanjiang read solemnly. "This Lord will show you, little righteous cultivator, the meaning of true earthly pleasures, so just give up and—Ah-Wu, you don't seem to be giving up, even though you already said you would."
In fact, Wenren E's hands were wandering, having snuck in through the gap in Yin Hanjiang's loose robes, and were now resting firmly on his slim waist. "Hm? Did I?" he said innocently, withdrawing his hands like a child who had been caught stealing treats from the kitchen. "I'm sorry, Sir Demonic Cultivator. This lowly one will keep his hands to himself from now on."
"You don't sound very sorry," Yin Hanjiang improvised, a little stiffly. "Perhaps I'll need to... to punish..." He couldn't finish the line, though, his face flushing deep red as he covered it with a sleeve.
Wenren E's laugh was beautiful, hearty and rich. It warmed Yin Hanjiang's heart every time he heard it. "You can if you want to," he coaxed.
"No. I'll just take all your spiritual energy and leave you an empty shell." Yin Hanjiang's face hardened, his eyes going cold, before he frowned. "Er. The demonic cultivator in the book said this, too, but I get the feeling that it was supposed to be less menacing...?"
Wenren E didn't understand it, either. "That's how I would have said the line," he agreed. He picked up the book where it had fallen to the floor and rifled through it. "Right after this, the righteous cultivator is meant to present himself...? And the excitement is supposed to rise... Present himself how? Kneeling?"
Yin Hanjiang's face flushed. This, he knew from his lessons with Shu Yanyan. "Present as in." He mumbled the rest.
"Hmm? As in what? Can you show me?" Wenren E's lips pressed against Yin Hanjiang's hand in a soft kiss, then his wrist, then his forearm. "Hanjiang, this Venerable truly doesn't know."
I know you don't, that's why I don't want to tell you! Yin Hanjiang cried out in his heart. Showing him would be too embarrassing, but manipulating Wenren E's body into the correct pose would be equally embarrassing...
In the end, Yin Hanjiang simply pointed.
"Ohhh." Wenren E nodded sagely. "Present that. I see. What way would be best, I wonder? Like this?" He took hold of his own legs, easily bracing them up by his ears as Yin Hanjiang's face burst into flames. "And then I say... Take me now, be rough with me, please ruin me for anyone else... there's a little pictogram here, is this supposed to be a heart? I have seen such things in the comments on Abusive Romance... anyway, that's silly, I don't need to be ruined for anyone else. As if I would look at anyone else in the first place!"
With a declaration like that, what else could Yin Hanjiang do except kiss him? Or, well, try to kiss him. Wenren E hadn't taken off his robe, and it was currently tangled hopelessly around his legs. When Yin Hanjiang leaned down to kiss him, Wenren E had just tried to disentangle himself, and his foot ended up lightly kicking Yin Hanjiang in the nose.
They stared at each other for a moment, then both burst into laughter. Yin Hanjiang tugged at Wenren E's sash and divested him of his robe, still giggling.
"Is this a new secret technique?" he asked, half in character, but mostly just wanting to tease his lover.
Wenren E was still laughing, too, his eyes crinkled up in joy. "I'm sure it's in a book somewhere."
Yin Hanjiang shook off his own robe, letting it pool on the floor behind him, and offered his most coquettish smile. "Then won't you show me another? Preferably one with less flailing this time."
"The flailing is very important to the immersion," Wenren E said very seriously. "There are hundreds of these scenarios in this manual, each more absurd than the last. Shall we be a mortal who can't pay his rent and the landlord who accepts his body in exchange? What awful business sense these people must have. Or perhaps…" He flipped through the manual with one hand while lovingly stroking Yin Hanjiang's side with the other. "Oh, this one seems somewhat blasphemous. A god and worshipper!"
"No," Yin Hanjiang said flatly, shuddering as he thought of Baili Qingmiao.
"A… oh, here we are, we've finally gotten past these roleplay scenarios to something interesting. Hanjiang, what do you think about…" Wenren E drew him in and whispered some enticing words in his ear.
In answer, Yin Hanjiang kissed his lover soundly, and they spent quite an eventful night after all.