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“Tell me again, why did I accept to come with you and help you?”
“Because of your good heart, naturally.”
Mu Qing raised his gaze to the sky at that answer, and Xie Lian couldn’t help but think for the nth time how funny that expression was. So unbecoming for a god.
The issue didn’t actually require two people, but Xie Lian didn’t mention this fact to his friend. It was for the most part an excuse to have Mu Qing with him without other heavenly officials' or people’s presence around to make him even more guarded than usual.
What they started to build during the last year was delicate and fragile. Xie Lin was aware of that, too much so. He saw the way Mu Qing wringed his hands when they were talking, how his limbs were tense and rigid on the occasions there were other people with them.
He had hoped it wouldn’t be like this, at least not in such a visible manner, when things started to get better in the Heavenly Capital. The exact opposite happened. Mu Qing never kept from saying what was going on in his mind, and he never used half words, but he could read the nervous curve of his lips and the way he insistently avoided staring at him for too long or letting himself melt when Xie Lian tried to hug him. The god didn’t seem to know what to do with himself now that he didn’t have to shield himself from a possible aggression. Xie Lian preferred to not think too long about the fact that Mu Qing ever felt the need to shield himself from him. The man was already too complicated without dwelling on bygones.
“Do you even have an idea of where this cursed area should be, or are you planning to mindlessly wander the woods until we fall in it?” and with a swing of his saber he cut the branches on his path.
“I do,” answered Xie Lian, ignoring his ironic tone. “Five more minutes, and a bit on the left. We should find an area with lower vegetation and with leaves of a much lighter and brighter colour.”
When he heard the prayers, initially, it didn’t seem like a particularly dangerous thing. Some people from the village said that they found an area in the woods that they couldn’t recall ever being there. A small paradise, they said, with smaller and luxuriant plants, their leaves bright and fleshy. And flowers, the most beautiful they had ever seen. An indescribable scent. It was bizarre and suspicious, but if the rumours had stopped there, it wouldn’t have required a god’s intervention.
It seemed the majority of the people who had been in that little paradise came back in a confused state, almost feverish, and they had to be locked into their rooms for some days before they went back to normal. A man seemed to have died from the heat, in spite of that not being the hottest season. The inhabitants timidly refused to explicitly explain why some recovered much quicker or why those who went in groups almost always came back without showing symptoms other than flushed faces and a certain embarrassment when telling their adventure. Xie Lian didn’t manage to get a full picture of what happened, so he decided to go in person to look for that place. And to bring somebody, more precisely Mu Qing, with him.
After more minutes of walking than predicted (which Mu Qing didn’t fail to loudly underline), he began to see an unusually coloured light coming through the foliage, on their left side. He strengthened his gait, pervaded by a weird euphoria. That wouldn't have made a good impression on his believers if they knew, but to investigate, fight, and find out about bizarre things was what he loved the most about being a heavenly official. Even if what he found out was usually creatures extremely lethal for mortals.
“Where the hell are you running? You don’t even know what’s on the other side!” yelled Mu Qing, and he furrowed his eyebrows as he rushed behind him with a disgruntled and just a bit apprehensive air.
Xie Lian pushed some branches out of his way, and he found himself in a wide clearing bathed in an intense light that didn’t seem like it had a precise origin. He stopped in marvel, and he slowly walked between the short plants that were growing on that land, observing in wonderment.
Looking around, he saw many plants with large and thick leaves in the most unusual shapes. They had a bright and vivid green colour. He lightly touched one with curiosity, and it was cool and smooth under his fingers. Some light steps behind him announced when Mu Qing entered that oasis as well.
Everything was extremely lush, as if in that limited area of land something magically made the ground fertile.
And, of course, there were flowers. Just like the villagers said, they were some of the most beautiful he had ever seen. Most of them were twice the size of his hand, and they came in every colour. They weren’t similar to anything he had seen before. Their complex shapes, the fleshy and thick petals, weren't a common thing.
“This is…”
“Beautiful,” completed Xie Lian, feeling a sweet tightening in his chest as he heard marvel in the other’s voice. It was such a rare thing.
A couple of steps ahead was a wide corolla of a pleasant magenta that turned orange in the centre. Pushed by curiosity and stupor, Xie Lian walked closer to study that mysterious inflorescence. The stamen was bright red, large and turgid, covered with a thick layer of pollen that had the same colour. It exuded an intense scent, strong enough that he could smell it from where he was.
“Do you feel anything strange? I perceive a vague demonic presence, but nothing out of the ordinary for a forest. I would dare to say that it doesn’t seem like a common spirit, whatever it is.”
“It might be one. Maybe what you feel doesn’t depend on this oasis, and is instead a common ghost,” said Xie Lian, inhaling the flower’s scent. Sweet, sugary. Inebriating.
“This is not a normal thing, Your Highness.”
Xie Lian tightened his lips for a moment. Sometimes it still happened that that title slipped out of Mu Qing’s lips. Habits are hard to kill, especially those that were enforced. He said nothing, choosing to remind him later.
He heard his steps and the rustling of his clothes behind him as he explored that little heaven. If only there was a beast to slay or a ghost to pacify, Xuan Zhen would have solved the situation in less than an hour. That thing, whatever it was, didn’t manifest itself, or didn’t have a shape that they could recognize.
“Mu Qing, come see this flower.”
“How is it different from the other?”
“I don’t know.”
He heard him huffing, but eventually he reached him in front of that lush red and orange corolla.
Looking at the folds of its petals, Xie Lian felt his face flushing. It looked somewhat obscene.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Do you want to take it away as a souvenir?”
“I just want to study it. The flowers here are quite unusual.”
That red pollen seemed to be the origin of the scent, and not the petals. He had to look more closely. Xie Lian reached for the stem, thinking that if he decided to sever it either nothing would happen or he would wake the thing that was upsetting those mortals, giving the two of them something to work with.
As soon as he tightened his fingers around the stem, he felt a sharp pull that dragged him away from there. He stumbled back.
“What the hell do you think you are doing, touching things that you don’t know like that?”
Mu Qing pushed him away from the flower with a powerful tug, but he had just done it when a crimson cloud came out of the corolla and ended on his face. Mu Qing widened his eyes in surprise, and then he squeezed them and started to cough.
“Mu Qing?!” Xie Lian ran to him, but the other kept him away, shaking his hand.
He started to rub his nose ferociously, and when he seemed able to stop his cough, he cut the flower’s head with a swing of his saber.
“What the hell was that?” he mumbled, visibly irritated.
“I have no idea. Are you alright?”
Mu Qing frowned and seemed to think about it. His eyes got unusually watery.
“Yes, I think so. But you!” and as he said it, he pointed his finger against him, even if his red nose, teary eyes and face smeared with red powder didn’t make him look very convincing. “Don’t go around touching things randomly! What kind of behaviour is that, do you want to get yourself killed?”
“Ah, I’m sorry!” answered Xie Lian, not meaning it at all. “But that flower’s scent was too inviting, don’t you think?”
Mu Qing hesitated and his nostrils twitched. Eventually he nodded, even if reluctantly.
As they kept examining the surrounding vegetation, Xie Lian noticed that in spite of what he said, Mu Qing’s movements were slow. He kept squeezing his eyes shut and biting his lips, his gaze seemingly wandering around instead of focusing. He knew that if he pointed that out, the other would have taken it as mockery, so he kept it for himself.
After two incense times of exploration, during which he never tried to recklessly touch the flowers, he found himself at the same time with no visible result and a growing doubt.
“Mu Qing, are you sure that pollen wasn’t toxic, or had some unknown effect?”
The martial god turned in his direction, and as he did that, he wobbled on his feet a bit. There was definitely something wrong.
“I…,” he started to say, but he stopped, frowning. “Nothing.”
His red face, though, told a different story. With a hint of worry, Xie Lian walked to him, ignoring how he jumped and tried to retreat, and pressed a hand on his forehead.
“You’re burning up,” he murmured. As he talked, he saw the flush getting more intense. His eyes didn’t seem to focus on him very clearly, but in spite of this, the god rolled them and huffed, pushing his hand away.
“The sooner we’re done, the better,” he said unsteadily. “I can take care of whatever this is. I don’t need you to act so worried.”
Xie Lian felt a sting of disappointment. There was an implication in what Mu Qing was said, there always was. And lately he was starting to learn how to read it. This, however, was quite blatant: don’t make me feel pathetic, let me save face. And he knew how far he could go to not let any weak spot be exposed. That uncertain voice, though, that flush and that sluggishness were worrying, and not at all normal.
He looked again where the flower Mu Qing severed was lying, and he widened his eyes when he saw that it started to emit a soft glow.
“Mu Qing, listen to me,” he said quietly. “I think I know what it is, but I need you to stay calm. That flower intoxicated you. It tainted you with its pollen. In a few minutes you might find it difficult to understand my words.”
Meanwhile, Mu Qing’s breath became short, and he was leaning on his sword so as not to lose his balance. Nevertheless, he nodded and gestured him to go on.
“I think these flowers are a variety of Land of the Tender.”
He saw with painful clarity how his friend’s eyes got so wide and his face contracted into a disbelieving grimace. Mu Qing cursed out loud, and he withdrew from his touch. Xie Lian saw him looking around with a feverish gaze. He also saw how his fingers started to twitch around the gilt of the saber, as if he was testing its firmness. Recalling his own experience with the demonic flowers and aware of the fact that Mu Qing’s vows were still intact, he immediately understood what he was thinking about.
Before he could injure himself with the blade to fight the growing heat, Xie Lian reached for him and grabbed his arm.
“Mu Qing…,” he began, but he froze when the other’s mouth fell open in a sudden moan.
The martial god himself was astonished, hearing his own voice, and with the most mortified expression Xie Lian had ever seen, he tried to free himself.
“Mu Qing, don’t panic,” he said, looking around. The flowers were starting to move in an unnatural way. Were they going to take a human shape, even if they were a different variety? He hoped not, but from the way they glowed and fluttered he was afraid that his hopes were in vain. If he happened to see what form they would take to try and seduce Mu Qing, then, that would have been the day the god would have locked himself in his palace unable to face him ever again.
“I know what you want to do, and I beg you to not act so recklessly. Let’s stop for a moment and think of another solution. Don’t just think of hurting yourself on the spot!”
“Another solution?” yelled Mu Qing, and he gritted his teeth. “There’s only one other solution, you know this very well! An impracticable solution! I can’t afford to… risk my cultivation so easily!”
“I just wanted to prevent you from being so impulsive!”
“Isn’t it the same thing you did when you were attacked by those… things? You can hurt yourself to protect your… purity, and I am not allowed?”
Xie Lian flinched. That word, purity, put a bad taste in his mouth. And yet, that was the same word that he heard so many times when he was young. He could almost hear the Guoshi's stern voice as he stressed how essential it was for that type of cultivation to keep one’s body pure. Now that after eight centuries he stopped thinking about such things, and very happily, for the first time he felt a nauseous feeling thinking about those times.
Mu Qing, obviously, had absorbed every word, repeating it endlessly, paying maniacal attention to every dot of what was expected from him. He recalled the flawless dedication he had then, as inflexible as General Xuan Zhen must still be.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t want you to get hurt, if I can avoid it,” he said with a low voice.
Whatever Mu Qing was about to answer, it was stopped by some excited whispers.
Oh, damn it. A drop of cold sweat dripped down the prince’s back.
The flowers bloomed as they were speaking, and they had taken human shape. A small group of naked figures was walking in their direction, their movements slow and alluring.
“Listen to your partner, nobody wants your blood to be spilled,” said one of them with a melodic voice. It had the appearance of a quite tall and muscular woman.
Mu Qing cursed under his breath and closed his eyes to keep that sight away from him. A useless effort, unfortunately, as his body had already been contaminated by the pollen and was getting weaker and weaker. He was shaken by powerful tremors, and Xie Lian wondered how he managed to still stand on his feet from how dishevelled and feverish his face was, and from how he tightened his fists to keep from touching his own body.
The flowers turned into a heterogeneous group of men and women, their features sufficiently differentiated and precise that Xie Lian was quite sure they were people Mu Qing actually met. After all, him never yielding to his impulse didn’t mean that he had never felt desire in all those years. Somehow, Xie Lian had never taken that idea into consideration, and he was taken by surprise.
“Don’t even think about it!” gasped Mu Qing, pointing the saber against the creatures. As he did so, though, his knees gave out, and had to let himself fall on his knees on the grass, bright and luxuriant as any plant in that oasis. The creatures seemed to have no desire to rush, and they just laughed suavely and walked closer one step at a time.
“Mu Qing, what…?”
“Maybe Qing’er needs some encouragement?”
Xie Lian froze and looked back at the flowers. One of the figures stepped forward, in front of the others. It was a man, not very tall and terribly beautiful. A man with Xie Lian’s features.
As he saw the creatures coming closer, wearing his face and nothing else, the prince felt paralysed on the spot. He didn’t even want to know how that thing managed to copy even the proportions of his body, busy as he was at accepting the fact that they were using him to seduce Mu Qing.
He flushed in shame as he saw that being exhibiting his body, but then he went back to looking at his partner, and he was overcome by a stronger emotion that he couldn’t name.
The martial god was kneeling, his saber forgotten on his side, and he was staring at the Xie Lian-flower, open-mouthed, completely enraptured, and his expression could only be described as sinful. A bright purple blush on his cheeks softened his traits, his eyes were shiny and watery. Xie Lian’s gaze fell on his lips, red and soft-looking. He gasped and looked elsewhere as soon as he saw his arms tightly held between his legs, his fists closed, as he struggled not to touch himself.
“Mu Qing…”
“No, stay away!” gasped the god, and he recoiled when Xie Lian tried to feel his spiritual power. “Those creatures… you have to kill them, I…”
He convulsively gripped the saber, but didn’t seem able to lift it. Horribly frustrated, he dragged it on his knees and pressed the sharp side in the flesh of his arm.
Blood soaked his robes, and that sight made Xie Lian’s stomach turn. He barely kept himself from running to him and try to stop the blood and soothe the partner’s jolts and tremors, knowing that it wouldn't be a welcomed effort.
He looked back at the flower, who met his gaze with eyes identical to his. The demon smiled maliciously, with complicity, as if there was a shared secret between the two of them. And there was, of course there was, and it was one that Xie Lian struggled to believe in.
“Qing’er…,” sighed the flower, and he raised his hands on his chest, teasing his nipples. “Come closer, Qing’er. Let me take care of you. You want it, right? I know you do.”
What came out of Mu Qing’s lips this time wasn’t a pained moan, on the contrary. It was a soft whine, almost melodic, and even though he couldn’t see his face, Xie Lian felt a shiver running down his back.
He must not look. He must not, or he would have run to him instead of taking care of the demons that had him intoxicated.
“Ruoye,” he murmured, and he felt the band of silk wriggling under his robes. “Wrap them up, immediately.”
At his order, Ruoye flew out of his sleeve as fast as lightning, stretching out until it slipped behind the demon’s shoulders. They must not have been used to people fighting back, used as they were at dealing only with harmless mortals, and most of them barely managed to let out a surprised shout before they were tightly enveloped in silk.
Xie Lian’s doppelganger ducked and avoided Ruoye, hissing like a cat. With his teeth exposed in a ferocious expression, he leapt against the cultivator, a small cloud of crimson pollen already floating out of his lips.
Xie Lian ran to Mu Qing and grabbed Zhanmadao, which the god was about to press into his leg. The prince tore it from his hands and jumped toward the demon, cutting him from top to bottom. His body was cut like butter under the blade, quickly coming undone as he touched the ground.
The prince’s attention went back to the other demons, who were screaming and wriggling around as Ruoye kept them tightly.
Before he could walk toward them and get rid of them, he heard their screams get louder, and a few seconds after that their limbs were on fire.
“Ruoye, come back!” he called, and the stripe of fabric came back to him before the flames could reach it. The demons fell down, shrieking, but it didn’t take much before they burnt down to ash.
When Xie Lian’s attention returned to his friend, he saw him with a hand stretched out toward the demons, the last sparkles of spiritual power still cooling down. He must have fought against his dazed mind to set the demon on fire himself. So predictable, thought Xie Lian, that even with aphrodisiac pollen in his body he wouldn’t let Xie Lian save him.
He ran to him and knelt at his side, trying to evaluate the severity of the wounds he inflicted to himself to resist the growing heat.
“Mu Qing, can you hear me? Are you still lucid?” Xie Lian took his face in his hands and looked for his gaze.
Mu Qing made a low whine and opened his lids. The stare he gave him was, to the prince’s relief, affected but still with that annoyed air.
“Yes, I can hear you very well.”
Relieved, Xie Lian pulled him closer and took his wrist to feel his spiritual power. When he touched the wrist’s naked skin, a sudden moan almost made him recoil.
“Mu Qing…”
“You must not touch me…,” gasped the god, and he tried to flee from his hands. “Please, you’re making everything harder.”
The god forcefully pressed two fingers on the cut he did to himself on his arm, and as he tightened his lips from the pain, Xie Lian felt sick to his stomach.
“Mu Qing, I know it’s hard to resist and that your cultivation is very important to you, but you should at least let me take you to your palace.”
Mu Qing burst out laughing strangely, and looked at him as if he was mad.
“You know? What do you know? When they attacked you, did they take the form of someone you knew?” he raved, holding his arms tight around his body. He seemed, however, unable to keep his thighs from squeezing and rubbing, looking for relief. “It’s already humiliating enough that you saw that thing. You’re not dumb, you know what it means. Please, don’t rub it in more than needed.”
“I don’t know what you think it means, but if you want to overcome it the same way I did, at least you should do it in a safer place.”
“What I think it… fuck! You want to force me to say it? That bloody flower took your appearance because it knew what could make me yield! Because he took a glimpse at what is in my head and saw that, for the nth time, what I crave is something I cannot have! My cultivation isn’t even the most important thing! Now, please, go away and let me have some dignity!”
The way his voice broke made him feel a sharp jab in his chest. Breathing slowly, trying to look as calm and reassuring as he could, Xie Lian took his arms and untangled them. Made docile and trembling by the pollen, Mu Qing didn’t resist even if his face had a hint of bitterness under the flush.
“Who said it’s something you can’t have? As usual, you’re assuming the worst,” murmured Xie Lian, and taken by a sudden spirit of initiative, he put his hands on Mu Qing’s knees and made him spread them. He sat between them, observing the incredulity and mistrust growing on Mu Qing’s face. Unacceptable, he thought. “If the issue is that you don’t want to taint your cultivation, I’ll help you as you try to overcome it as you like it. But if you think that I wouldn’t want to help you, that I couldn’t want you as well, or that there’s something unbecoming in your desire, then you’re wrong. I’d rather convince you of this than let you bring harm to yourself.”
Mu Qing didn’t answer, staring at him with eyes wide from stupor. Lowering his gaze, he covered the other’s hands with his own, and he slowly spread his legs wider in blatant invitation.
“If you’re lying…,” he whispered with an uncertain and breathless voice. “I… I won’t forgive you. If you’re only saying so because I’m pitiful…”
Xie Lian bent down and kissed his knuckles, pulling a surprised gasp out of him.
“I would never. Not in a thing such as this.”
Not looking at him, Mu Qing nodded. He took some deep breaths, as if to ground himself, and finally let him meet his gaze. Xie Lian saw need in those eyes. Desperation. Everything on his face and body screamed of a need that had to be satisfied, from his teary eyes and dilated pupils to his legs twitching and trembling from the instinct of spreading more, leaving space for him to come and take.
Mu Qing had no experience in that, and he was not in his right mind. The prince had to take the situation into his hands and do the best he could for him.
He cradled his face in his hands, giving him time to retreat if he wanted to, and bent down to leave a soft kiss on his lips. Mu Qing exhaled a broken breath on his mouth, incredulous, and then a small whine when the prince licked the corner of his lips in an invitation to disclose them for him.
The sounds he made were sweet, and if he kept meowing and shuddering like that, Xie Lian was sure it would have gone to his head. He pushed his tongue into his mouth and felt with pleasure that the other man started to answer to his touch and began to explore as well. Mu Qing tried to meet his tongue with his own, clumsily, as he put his hands on Xie Lian’s shoulders.
When they parted Mu Qing looked overcome with lust. The pollen must have had a very powerful effect, thought Xie Lian looking at how he struggled to focus on him and unconsciously moved his hips in search of friction.
“Mu Qing, I need you to collaborate. I know you’re scared, but I promise I’ll take care of you. Do you trust me to do that?”
Mu Qing stared at him with semi-closed eyelids, and nodded.
“Then listen to me. Now I’ll make you lie down and I’ll help you take your clothes off. I would have preferred for us to be in a more comfortable place, but I don’t want to risk you getting worse.”
At least, he thought, that place truly looked wonderful, even if it was made by demons. And the ground was covered with soft and fresh grass, it wouldn’t be unpleasant to lie on.
Mu Qing nodded again and let Xie Lian lower him on the ground. Xie Lian couldn’t recall ever seeing him so willingly obedient, not even when his life was at stake. He didn’t know what to make of it, but if his expression was sincere, he didn’t seem to find any of this unpleasant. On the contrary, desire was almost palpable in his eyes.
He bent down and kissed him again, and then left a trail of soft kisses on the rest of his face. Mu Qing closed his eyes, and when the prince took his face to move him as he liked, he leaned on his palm with a sigh. Xie Lian's heart leapt.
Stripping him wasn’t as easy as lying him down. He jolted and shuddered at every string Xie Lian untied, as if he didn’t know whether he wanted to raise toward him or flee. “Mu Qing, look at me.”
He did, and he hugged his arms around his body. Xie Lian gently took his wrists and encouraged him to let himself be seen.
“Now I’ll take off the rest. Alright?”
“Y-yes,” he said with an uncertain voice, and with a sudden spirit of initiative he raised his hips to help take off the last garment left.
When he got rid of his pants and boots too, Xie Lian stared at him, breathless. So much naked skin, of a colour soft and inviting like cream, was displayed in front of him, and just for him. The red shade on his face was found again between his thighs, where his fully erected virility was wet and flushed on the tip. Gods, he was beautiful.
Xie Lian had seen glimpses of his body when they were young. It was unavoidable when they spent almost every moment of the day together, both as disciples of the Pavilion and as servant and master. During the war and after its end, many barriers tumbled down for practical reasons, and washing themselves or changing their clothes together was the norm. However, he never let his gaze linger, either out of respect or to not test his resistance to temptations. He could never admire and devour with his gaze like he got permission to do in the present time. Sprawled in front of him, his legs spread open to leave space for him, Mu Qing looked like an offering to his temple, a gift given to a god to gain his favour. Something possessive inside him started to purr and whisper to take what belonged to him, to never forget that Mu Qing, somehow, was his. The thought scared him and made him hot at the same time.
Another whiny sound made him look at the god’s face. Mu Qing’s breath was short, his body arching towards the prince’s like he was unconsciously seeking relief.
“Xie Lian…,” he said with a small voice, stretching his arms toward him but unable to meet his gaze.
How could Xie Lian reject such a sweet call? He lowered on his former attendant, covering his body with his own, and went back to kissing his face and lips, one hand holding his nape and the other stroking his chest.
“Qing’er…,” he murmured on his lips, and when he broke the kiss, Mu Qing instinctively followed his mouth. “Qing’er, what would you like to do?”
“I don’t know, I don’t… anything, whatever you want!” hastily came Mu Qing’s answer, and even if it wasn’t satisfying for the prince, he had to accept the fact that Mu Qing knew very little of what they were about to do, and he had to guide him carefully.
The hand that was exploring his body stopped on his chest, and he started to stroke a pinkish nipple with the tip of his fingers. When this earned him some louder sighs, he pinched it and heard Mu Qing’s breath shake
“Your Highness…”
Xie Lian shook his head and squeezed the other nipple between his teeth. “I would rather have you not call me like that when I’m about to make love to you,” he whispered, and pressed a kiss on both the now red nubs. Mu Qing shuddered and turned his head to one side, even more red than he already was. His words more than his touch seemed to turn him on.
Xie Lian squeezed both his hands and trailed a path down his body with his lips. He stopped at his belly, pressing his face on the soft skin and inhaling deeply. His skin smelled good. Flowery because of the oils he used to bathe, salty from the sweat, and with a sweet note that was only him. With the tip of his tongue, he tried to taste. Salty and sugary at the same time. He drove away the sudden picture of his body covered with honey, and of how he could spend an entire day licking it off his skin. Gods, smelling that flower must have gotten him intoxicated as well, somehow.
Between his legs his dick was dripping copiously. Xie Lian had no idea when the last time Mu Qing touched himself was, or if he ever did it in the first place. After all, they were very young when they started to cultivate. He looked like he was about to come already, and had yet to touch him. He must have been so sensitive.
The first touch was soft, and Xie Lian could see his body shivering when he closed his fingers around his length. He bent down on him, and pushed by curiosity and an exhilarating feeling he gave the tip a little lick.
The sound that came out of Mu Qing’s throat made him feel a harsh tightening in the gut. Melodic, a trembling moan that he knew would stay carved in his memory.
Encouraged by the other’s reaction, Xie Lian started to kiss the delicate skin of his member, from the root to the tip, listening to the partner’s gasps. He was pretty. And, as strange as it may sound, that part of his body was too. Nothing that made one think of an eight-hundred-year-old martial god. Immortality crystallised him in the image of a delicate and elegant young man, a flower that would never wilt. Unsullied.
He opened his mouth and let it slide between his lips. The warmth and weight were a pleasant feeling, but the litany of whimpers made him feel the dull throbbing between his legs violently. Xie Lian was still entirely clothed, the slightly rough fabric sending a burst of pleasure down his back.
He barely managed to fix his robes when he heard Mu Qing screaming and arching his back below him, and then he felt his taste on his tongue. He squeezed his hips and held him there as he patiently waited for the last shudders to quieten.
Eventually, his limbs relaxed a little, but his erection gave no sign of softening. The effect of the pollen needed more to dissolve.
Mu Qing raised his head, his eyes wet and unfocused, but he widened them in a dumbfounded expression when he saw Xie Lian raising a hand in front of his mouth and swallowing quietly.
“What… you have…,” he stuttered in disbelief, and he couldn’t be more embarrassed when the prince gave him a peaceful smile and gave a soft kiss to the tip of his cock.
“Mu Qing,” he murmured. “I think the pollen needs more to get out of your system.”
Mu Qing nodded quietly, and stared at him with a disarming gaze.
“I don’t have anything with me to…,” even he was embarrassed to say it out loud. It seemed that was the limit of his shamelessness.
Fortunately, Mu Qing seemed to understand what he meant, because he blinked a few times and seemed to not know where to look as his legs twitched nervously.
“I have… it was not made for this purpose, obviously, but it should work too. I think,” he said in hushed tones, not looking at him, and fumbled with his robes until he found a vial full of a thick and scented substance. It must have been one of the scented oils he used to meditate.
“It’s more than fine,” said Xie Lian with relief.
Mu Qing was docile; he couldn’t recall ever seeing him like that before. He didn’t put up resistance when he flipped him on his belly and encouraged him to raise his hips, even if he was shivering out of shame and arousal. He told him that that position made it easier, otherwise he would have let him lie however he preferred.
Mu Qing didn’t seem to have anything against that position, anyways. As soon as he pressed oiled fingers on his hole, stroking to help him relax, he held his breath loudly and started to emit small whines that were going straight to his gut. He relaxed as soon as he heard some whispered words of approval from the other god, and soon Xie Lian could press one, two, and then three fingers inside easily. And how he reacted to his touch! He moved with him, desperate for contact, and gave him some of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard.
“Do you think you’re ready?”
“I… think so,” said Mu Qing, his face pressed on his forearms. He was dripping again.
Xie Lian made a sound of approval and stroked his back. He had still to take his clothes off, busy as he was to soothe and please his companion, and at that point he had no wish to lose more time. He unfastened just enough of his robes to take his erection out of his pants and press on Mu Qing’s entrance.
Mu Qing unconsciously spread his legs more, and Xie Lian finally, holding his erection with one hand and Mu Qing’s hip with the other, pushed inside him, slowly, attentive to any sign of discomfort or pain.
No sound came out of Mu Qing’s mouth as Xie Lian entered him an inch at a time. Disclosing again his eyes, which he had shut close as he kept himself from going all in in one thrust, he saw that Mu Qing was biting his lip so forcefully that he almost tore his skin.
“Mu Qing,” he said, breathless. “Are you alright? Does it hurt?”
Mu Qing shook his head and hid his face in his arms, but his body was tense like a bowstring. That wasn’t fine at all. Xie Lian knew, though, that hardly could he convince him to openly say whether he was in pain or upset.
He started to massage his lower back, in hope that this would help him release some tension. It seemed to help, because after a while he heard him sigh and his limbs lose some rigidity. He tried to sink further in him, and as he did so he fondled his member. Soon he found out that it was easier to move inside if he was stimulating some other part of him. Leisurely stroking with his fingers, he managed to distract him from the discomfort, and finally bottomed out.
Mu Qing turned his head over his shoulder. He was breathing deeply, and he had an amazed and lost expression.
“Mu Qing, I need to know whether you’re fine or not,” said Xie Lian.
Mu Qing furrowed his eyebrows and tried to move, but stopped after a bit.
“I think so.”
“Mu Qing…”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
So, it did hurt. Xie Lian took a long breath. He had been the idiot, thinking that he would have said it of his own accord.
He let his hands roam on his partner’s back, and stopped on his waist. It was tiny. It was so tiny. Had his hands been just a little bigger maybe he could have wrapped them around it entirely.
Mu Qing panted and his body shivered.
Xie Lian froze. What did he do to cause such a reaction? His eyes went back on his hands around his waist, and he tried to tighten his hold and give a small thrust. Mu Qing panted again, and this time he clearly saw his back arching.
A sense of exaltation started to grow in him, adding to the heath and the tight feeling in his gut. He grabbed Mu Qing’s waist more firmly, and started to move inside him languidly.
“Xie Lian!” Mu Qing’s voice came out as a sob when he finally said his name. There were tears in his eyes, but his face showed no discomfort or pain. On the contrary, he seemed lost in ecstasy. His mouth was open in a silent scream, his lips trembling, and soon after that he started to answer to Xie Lian’s thrusts. Timidly, initially, and Xie Lian felt his heart tighten. He was so sensitive; he didn’t think he’d be so hesitating.
He pressed a kiss on his nape and brought his hands below him to continue fondling his dripping erection. He could have spent hours listening to his voice finally softly coming out in an honest manifestation of pleasure.
Xie Lian wringed his eyes close and bit his lip. He was so tight. He didn’t want to finish so soon, he needed to be so close to him for some more time.
“Xie Lian…,” moaned Mu Qing.
Xie Lian jolted, and stared at his face. There was something unpleasant, now. A sign of distress. He couldn’t understand what it was, but he felt worry grow in him. What was wrong? He was sure he was not in pain, but Mu Qing had always been tormented more by his mind than his body.
He bent down to leave a trail of kisses along his back, in hope that that would reassure him, but when he looked at him again, he saw uncertainty darken his face.
“Tell me,” he murmured. “Tell me everything.”
Mu Qing looked away and didn’t say anything, but he grabbed the hand he had around his hip and brought it to his chest, forcing him to bend down until his chest was pressed against Mu Qing’s back.
For a moment he was about to ask him what he wanted, but then he felt the furious beating of his heart, and he thought about his eyes full of tears and the distress on his face.
Wrapping both his arms around him, Xie Lian held him close and laid down on his side, keeping the other god in his arms. Mu Qing made a surprised sound when he felt himself being grabbed and moved, but he didn’t resist. When they were both lying on the grass on their side, Xie Lian pressed his face in Mu Qing’s hair and inhaled deeply.
“Qing’er, stay close to me,” he begged in a whisper, and felt the other melt into his arms as if he had been waiting for nothing but that.
Mu Qing grabbed the arms that were encircling him, and as Xie Lian started to move again, he turned his head back, trying to reach him. Gods, how could Xie Lian deny him? He pressed his lips on his again and again, drinking whimpers and sighs from his lips.
Holding his body like that he felt his warmth over all his body, and realised that was something he had craved: contact, closeness. Being apart from him had been excruciating like few things had been, and maybe at the time he wasn’t aware of how much he actually wanted something like this. Moving together and exchanging body heat. He wouldn’t be able to stay without the warmth of his skin when they would finish.
He fondled his leg and raised it, making more space for himself to move. The new angle got a high whine out of the other as he brushed a sensitive spot in him. Xie Lian held him closer and leaned over to look for his lips. Just like that, more of it, he thought as he tasted him. More of this. He had to have him closer, pressed tight against him, and he needed to feel him seek refuge into his arms instead of running away. He inhaled the floral scent of his hair.
“Don’t slow down…,” sobbed Mu Qing, meeting his thrusts and struggling to be in contact with as much skin as he could.
“Are you close?” asked the prince, panting.
“Y-yes, but… please…”
Xie Lian wasn’t sure if he didn’t know what to ask for because he was really that innocent, or if couldn't bring himself to do it, but it was lovely. He put a hand between his legs, and he barely managed to wrap him in his fingers when he felt him tensing against him and spill on his hand and his own chest with a strangled moan.
Xie Lian followed him two thrusts later, his face pressed deeply on his shoulder and sighing.
Lying down on that soft grass and breathing that sweet air, it was easy to let themselves go and fall asleep serenely, their bodies tired and their minds filled with a sweet torpor. Mu Qing seemed to come in and out of sleep every few minutes, murmuring some incomprehensible word. It was the first time he had an orgasm in eight-hundred years, it must have been intense for him. And not one, but two, on top of having that pollen in his body. Xie Lian would have passed out on the spot, had he been in his place. He recalled very clearly and with a lot of satisfaction what breaking his cultivation had been like. Mu Qing, however, had always been the one denying himself any crumb of comfort, had that been even just falling asleep.
Xie Lian started to get up, thinking about what he could use to clean the two of them from the bodily fluids, but as soon as he was sitting, he felt Mu Qing tensing and moving his arms as if he wanted to keep him there before he came to his senses and hugged his knees in his arms.
“I’ll be back to you immediately. I just wanted to wipe us down,” explained the cultivator.
Mu Qing didn’t say anything, and Xie Lian knew with extreme precision that he was about to slip into his convoluted and always more pessimistic spiralling thoughts. It must have been awful to live with a mind so determined to hurt itself, he thought.
Eventually, he grabbed his sash and used it to wipe seed away from Mu Qing’s body before he woke up completely.
“You don’t need to do all of this.”
Xie Lian raised his head and saw that Mu Qing’s face had lost the softness and redness that arousal and the pollen had given him, and he turned harsh and inexpressive.
“I really don’t know what you mean.”
“You helped me get rid of the pollen. Thank you. But you don’t need to force yourself so much just to not hurt me after what you have seen and heard.”
And there it was, the Mu Qing who didn’t believe him when he tried to show how much he cared about him, who was so easily convinced that even Xie Lian would look at him with pity.
Xie Lian walked closer and the other seemed to close up even more. He gathered his clothes that had been thrown aside and despite the other’s complains he helped him get dressed.
Xie Lian searched his face, and found only some traces of the emotions showed so openly just a few minutes before. He sighed and pressed his lips on his forehead. Mu Qing initially froze, but then he started to relax when Xie Lian took him in his arms.
“Is it so hard for you to believe that I might want all of this, even without those flowers’ intervention?”
Mu Qing didn’t answer, but the “yes” was still very evident.
"What do I have to do for you to believe me?” murmured Xie Lian. “What do I have to do for you to accept the fact that I care about you?”
“I… don’t know.”
He said so, but his arms tentatively encircled the prince. Xie Lian brought a hand behind his head and started to gently stroke his scalp.
“Qing’er…”
“Mh?” apparently stroking his head made him melt on the spot.
“Come home with me after we’ll have delivered the mission report.”
For a moment Xie Lian thought he would refuse. He saw the hesitation, the fear, in his eyes during those seconds of silence.
“Alright. I’ll come with you,” he answered in the end.