Warning: Mild dubcon (overstepping boundaries).

Xi Huai had never had such a good night’s sleep before. What greeted him when he woke up peacefully for the first time was that familiar, all-encompassing darkness.

A moment of confusion washed over him, like he wasn’t sure if this was just another dream.

He looked around, trying to spot Chi Muyao. The steady, rhythmic breathing nearby confirmed that Chi Muyao was meditating by the stone bed.

A familiar quietness fell over the cave.

It’d been over a year since the two of them were locked in here.

Strangely enough, come to think of it, Xi Huai had gradually gotten used to his life now.

At first, he didn’t mind Elder Yao Weng giving him a quick death so he didn’t have to waste away in this cave. However, Elder Yao Weng had brought back Chi Muyao, who was a pretty good companion overall.

Xi Huai discovered that, especially recently, his interest in Chi Muyao only grew. His life trapped in this cave wasn’t as boring anymore.

The memory of Chi Muyao sobbing against his chest made Xi Huai smile for some reason. His good humour lasted for quite a while.

At the moment, Xi Huai had no spiritual energy with which to examine his own body. However, he was able to sense that the berserk Hui Dragon Flames in his body were almost completely purified.

This came as an unexpected, but pleasant surprise. 

Although a current of dry heat still ran through his veins, it wasn’t as hard to endure as before. If he continued to cultivate like this, there was a chance that he could one day live like a normal person. At the very least, he wouldn’t lose control without warning then.

Xi Huai began to wait again.

There were no other sounds in this quiet cave, and no pictures to look at either. Only Chi Muyao was by his side.

Xi Huai needed to wait, wait, and wait again. Only when Chi Muyao finished absorbing his spiritual energy could he experience the joy of dual cultivation once more.

When Chi Muyao finished and opened his eyes, he noticed how Xi Huai was swinging his shackled wrist around listlessly. Seeming to notice the change in his breathing, Xi Huai quickly stopped his idle motions and pretended to be calm.

He opened his mouth to ask, “I thought you said you’d take less time to absorb energy as the dual cultivation progressed. Why’d you take so long this time? It’s been at least around ten days.”

Chi Muyao pursed his lips for a long while before purposely replying in a sharp manner, “It’s all thanks to you messing things up earlier.”

“Blaming me, huh?”

"Of course I blame you! Your actions can and will influence my energy circulation.”

“So you didn’t…come before because you were too focused on circulating energy?”

"Yes!" Chi Muyao nodded seriously. He didn’t care if Xi Huai could see it or not.

Xi Huai chuckled again. “Okay then.”

“It was supposed to be…”

“Mm-hmm. Yep. A-Jiu is the most dedicated person I know.”

“I don’t need you to console me.”

“You seemed so afraid of me when you first arrived in this cave. What changed?”

"..." The question took Chi Muyao aback. He quickly realised that he was no longer self-conscious and restrained like he was at the beginning.

Maybe it was because he found out that the young Xi Huai wasn’t as scary as he thought after spending more time together.

Xi Huai was just a bit sleazy, that was all.

Chi Muyao didn’t elaborate further. He made hand signs and used the Simple Washing Technique to cleanse them both. Then he leaned in Xi Huai’s direction and reminded him, “Don’t make trouble this time, or it’ll take me longer to absorb the energy.”

Xi Huai didn’t answer. He continued to lie on the stone bed like a corpse.

Yet when Chi Muyao got on top of him, Xi Huai made trouble again. And he went even more overboard than the first time too.

Chi Muyao could barely move. He lay on top of Xi Huai and cried into his chest for a long time. While sobbing, he demanded, “Why did you go so far? Didn’t I tell you it’ll take longer for me to absorb later if you do?”

"So what if it does? I can’t be the only one…coming, I'll just wait for you."

"I don't need your help! I don't need it!"

"But I want to help." Xi Huai smiled wryly. "It just occurred to me how pleasant your voice is.”

Huffing and puffing with discontent, Chi Muyao got up and shifted to the side. Upon discovering that he couldn’t really sit down, he paused a moment before deciding to lie down. He said as he wiped his tears, “No more dual cultivating.”

Xi Huai didn't give in either, as demonstrated by his silence.

Chi Muyao eventually fell asleep where he lay.

For some reason, maybe due to a dream, Chi Muyao rolled over, so that he was now face to face with Xi Huai. Then he reached out and tugged on Xi Huai’s lapels.

Xi Huai didn’t disturb him due to Chi Muyao’s even breaths. The corners of his mouth turned up. He was in an especially good mood right now.

In this darkness, there was no way to discern the time of day, much less the seasons. A cultivator’s intuition towards time was the only way to keep track of the days.

As dual-cultivation became a part of their daily routine, the wait no longer seemed as mind-numbing as before.

***

It had now been three years since their imprisonment began.

Chi Muyao sat alone on the edge of the stone bed with one leg parallel to the edge and the other curled up to his chest. He was currently rubbing his knee.

Cultivating for so long had its aftereffects. As Chi Muyao rubbed his knee, he could feel how some areas had been worn extremely smooth. There weren’t any calluses present, but the texture of skin there was obviously different from normal.

He wasn’t surprised either. Always doing it in the cowgirl position on this stone bed meant his knees took a real beating.

"Does it hurt?" Xi Huai asked upon noticing his movements.

"Not anymore. Still, my knees feel different than before.”

“I don’t have a bed in my Qing Ze Sect residence. If you like it soft, I’ll hire someone to make some softer bedding for you.”

“Why would you make bedding for me?”

“Do you have a bed in your He Huan Sect residence?”

“Yeah?”

“Is it soft?”

“En.”

“Then I’ll go look for you at the He Huan Sect.”

Chi Muyao turned back to look at Xi Huai. “Why would you come looking for me?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

"..." Chi Muyao continued to rub his knee as he muttered under his breath, “You said we would go our separate ways when we got out. That we’ll pretend we never met.”

Xi Huai couldn’t help but feel stifled by those words.

You don’t listen to anything else I say, but you remember stuff like this so clearly?

“A-Jiu, take a look at my wrist for me. It always feels uncomfortable there. My flesh hasn’t fused with the shackle, has it?” Xi Huai said as he shook the chains.

Chi Muyao did notice that Xi Huai had a habit of shaking out his wrist and ankles. Being chained up all the time was obviously uncomfortable.

The question made a news story he saw before transmigrating pop into his head—a turtle’s shell would become deformed if it had a plastic bag wrapped around it for too long. He couldn’t help but worry.

Chi Muyao leapt off the stone bed.

With bare feet, he lightly and almost soundlessly approached Xi Huai. The fabric of his He Huan Sect uniform fluttered and danced in his wake, occasionally revealing a sliver of his porcelain-coloured legs.

What a pity that Xi Huai couldn’t see any of this.

He went to examine Xi Huai’s shackle before holding his wrist and moving it and the chain about. They didn’t seem to be stuck together.

"Everything seems fine…” Before the words were out of his mouth, Chi Muyao’s world turned on its head.

Xi Huai had taken advantage of his distraction to suddenly grab him and pull him forward.

In the end, he was a gifted cultivator adept at martial arts. Even his mortal techniques were enough to cause the unguarded Chi Muyao to fall forward beside Xi Huai.

Xi Huai seized this chance to blindly kiss whichever part of Chi Muyao was nearest to him.

His actions were savage, with the force of a whale devouring a tiger.

Xi Huai was going insane from suppressing himself.

Ever since he realised his dissatisfaction, the thought of touching Chi Muyao, kissing Chi Muyao, and embracing Chi Muyao was never far from his mind. Like a savage beast, he hungered for more.

Xi Huai never knew until now how agonising it was to repress your feelings for someone.

He had an insatiable need for more. The kiss just now was far from enough.

How could it be?

In fact, he still wanted to touch Chi Muyao. Every part of him.

Chi Muyao was in a fluster after the frenzied kiss. Xi Huai still held onto the hem of his clothes with a death grip.

Chi Muyao struggled to get away and free his clothes, but it wasn’t until the sound of ripping fabric could be heard that he stumbled back several steps.

He didn’t stop until his back was pressed against the cave wall.

It was at that moment he realised that Xi Huai had been planning this since long ago. Ever since he expressed that he didn’t want to do this anymore, Xi Huai had been repeating the same gesture, lulling Chi Muyao into complacency so that he could get his way.

Xi Huai lay back down properly again and gloated, “Told you I’d get a kiss. Was it the side of your face?”

Chi Muyao scrubbed viciously at the area with a sleeve. Still, the skin there seemed to be boiling hot.

It wasn’t just the side of his face, but his ear as well.

Even though they had separated long ago, the sensation of scalding lips touching his face was still oh-so-vivid in Chi Muyao’s mind. He was burning up to the point of panicking.

“Why aren’t you scolding me?” The arrogant playboy Xi Huai was waiting for Chi Muyao to admonish him.

But there was no response from Chi Muyao.

Xi Huai asked, “Are you asleep?”

Still nothing.

Xi Huai asked again, “Are you angry?”

Chi Muyao didn’t say a word as he lay down while still holding one half of his face. His cheeks were flushed and his ears felt like they were on fire. His heart beat in a madly erratic rhythm, reminiscent of the hooves of a rampaging group of horses striking the ground.

Yes, they had dual-cultivated before. But this was the first time they made any contact outside of that.

To Chi Muyao, the art of dual-cultivation was what he practiced after entering the He Huan Sect. All the times before had felt like he was just completing a task.

However, this form of contact was very different.

“A-Jiu.” Xi Huai called out to him again.

Chi Muyao sincerely asked Xi Huai, “Do your words from before still count?”

“What?”

“What you said before we started dual-cultivating.”

“Do you not want to be involved with me this badly?”

Chi Muyao wanted nothing more than to stand his ground with a firm ‘yes’.

But he thought that answer would be way too harsh. What if it caused Xi Huai to go berserk again? Thus he remained silent.

Xi Huai could only mention, “The Hui Dragon Flames in my body have been mostly resolved, so I might have to find you again in the future. I won’t mistreat you, I can give you lots of…”

“No need.”

"What?"

"I only dual-cultivated because I had no choice. I wouldn’t want to do this otherwise.”

The cave fell into silence.

Xi Huai didn’t explicitly express his overwhelming desire to leave this cave right this instant and take Chi Muyao back to the Qing Ze Sect with him. He could have a soft bed made so that Chi Muyao could sleep comfortably.

There would be no shackles binding his hands and feet, so he would be free to touch Chi Muyao, to hold him and…

Well, he would be able to do many things.

But Chi Muyao didn’t want that.

It seemed like the only reason Chi Muyao dual-cultivated with him in this cave was just to fulfill the agreement they had set in the very beginning.

Chi Muyao had not fallen. He was the only one who had.

Xi Huai asked once more, “Then what if—”

“I’m at the peak stage of Qi Refining.” Chi Muyao suddenly interjected. “By my calculations, I’ll be able to build my Foundation after two more times. I’ll definitely focus on cultivating in the meantime. You must not disturb me, got it?”

Chi Muyao had brought up this matter very early on.

He had no hope of building his Foundation before. Not only were the precious Foundation Building Pills in his Sect’s possession left to others, he also had no senior by his side to guide him. Moreover, he and Xi Huai practised different cultivation paths.

Thus, Chi Muyao could only rely on his own efforts when building a Foundation. There was a real possibility of something going wrong. Even a moment’s distraction could send him into the throes of qi deviation.

Xi Huai quickly clammed up. He didn’t bring up the previous matter.

All he could say at this point was, “En. Got it.”

“I really need to concentrate right now, so don’t try to mess with me anymore. We can talk about the other things later.”

“Okay.”

Actually, Xi Huai was near bursting with questions. 

Would you like to be permanent cultivation partners?

Are you willing to be the Qing Ze Young Sect Master’s wife?