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Taking up random night hunts always had a tendency to take Lan Zhan out on unexpected journeys- something he normally didn’t mind until now, coming upon his second week tracking down a mystery of a particularly elusive... Yao? Or perhaps a spirit or demon? He hasn’t quite worked it out yet. While men went missing, they re-appeared the day after being spirited no worse for wear and unable to recall what had happened. Not to mention those stories followed by reports of a half-man, half-snake creature lurking about and terrorizing people.
A naga, by the sounds of it; but it would be extremely unlikely for that to be the case. Nagas hadn’t been seen in a few centuries at the very least- much with many other fantastical creatures. If the stories are to be believed, then the Phoenixes of Qishan Wen had wiped them clean off the face of the earth as an example of their power to the heavens and had attempted much the same with the dragons rumored to be the forefathers of Gusu Lan.
No one here seemed to believe the entirety of the tale, the supposed sighting of the creature who is said to come out and cause mischief every half century fueling a narrative that the sudden disappearance of the Qishan Wen must have been the doing of a lone surviving naga who had gone mad with grief and set his sights on terrorizing the local population when his madness grew uncontrollable, not sated by his massacre of the Wens.
As for the cultivator himself, Lan Zhan had no reason to believe these preposterous stories. There had been no record of a draconian lineage in the Library Pavillion, not even the forbidden section. Nor had his elders seemed to have much belief in such a notion either, his uncle saying sagely “Whether true or false, these stories teach a good lesson on hubris; Arrogance is blinding and can be deadly,” and he was much inclined to agree.
But no one shared that opinion here, spotting the cultivator of a major sect and begging him to tame the naga that eluded even the most talented of cultivators that passed through couldn’t seem to hunt down. “Surely Hanguang-Jun will be the one to settle the beast’s madness! To play such scary tricks on innocent people, you’ll defend the weak, won’t you?” An old man implored as Lan Zhan paid for his lodging at a humble inn after his previous hunts, ready to depart for Gusu in the morning.
The man cites his worry that the creature might grow bored of simple tricks and begin to do more drastic things- “My brother was stolen away by that thing in our youth and was lost for months, I beg that my sons and daughters do not share that fate!” Long extinct celestial beings or not, that sort of plea was impossible to ignore, even after the bone deep tiredness of consistent travel and unwanted socialization set in.
So began a desperate bid to put an end to the chaos as he departed from the inn at the center of Moling.
Days of traditional night hunting, playing inquiry for a spirit who simply was not there and trying to track resentful energy that just simply wasn’t there has brought him to the pique of frustration. If he had to speak to another whining aunt or sobbing mother he may truly be bested by this seemingly non-existent creature.
As he departs for what he promises is the last attempt he shall make before admitting defeat and bringing this matter to other Lan cultivators with infinitely more patience for people, he affirms to himself he’ll be throwing away all pretenses of a normal night hunt; There is nothing for it but to treat it like a man-hunt of a criminal and search the forest rumored to be the creature’s home from top to bottom and he will find the culprit if only to reassure his own trust in his abilities.
He knows distantly he should speak to the last few victims who turned up safely at home, one of which an unremarkable young man who blustered he’d find and kill the creature before “The Great Hanguang-Jun,” but with the evidence gathered so far it seemed simpler to avoid unnecessary interaction, especially with his new course of action. Not to mention the distinct feeling that someone so arrogant was not qualified for his time or attention.
He knows that these sorts of things took him away from the familiar routines back in Gusu Lan, being such a renowned and revered cultivator. Still, with mixed reports of kidnappings from victims who actually came back and worried wives and mothers, this increasingly complex mission had him missing the monotone voices of Lan instructors and his admittedly boring routine.
“Surely you don’t plan on going in there. Haven’t you heard? There’s an angry spirit lurking about the forest, taking handsome young men like yourself and spiriting them away! You best be heading back the way you came, I’m sure whatever you’re here for isn’t worth gambling your life on,” A kind granny calls out from her porch as she spots him walking past the house settled on the edge of a dense thicket, leading to the last known sighting of the creature. A shocking pair of golden eyes turn to regard her, albeit indifferently, and he nods.
“I am here for the spirit. I will put it at rest, and be on my way,” he says curtly before his eyes dart back to the road. “But sir!” She tries again, and years of discipline are the only thing keeping him from ignoring her, despite knowing she’d say much the same things he’d already heard from idle chatter and gossip.
“You should know, my young nephew was whisked away recently! He's come back but seems as pale as a ghost and won't speak a word of what happened to him," She says mournfully, her words seeming to summon a lithe young man with gentle eyes and a kind face.
"Popo, please stop bothering the young master. Haven’t you heard that Hanguang-Jun has come to help? He'll handle it, and I told you there is nothing to tell!" He scolds before shooing the elderly woman back into her home and bowing to Lan Zhan.
"My apologies young master, she's simply put out by the thought of there no longer being eligible bachelors for my sister," he says with an exasperated sigh. Shaking his head, Lan Zhan steels himself for another unwanted encounter. When did his night hunts involve talking to so many people?
“It is no matter. I shall be on my way, unless there is something vital you remember that may assist me outside of the known rumors,” he says, grateful his lack of expressiveness hides his irritation at having to spend a second longer on what seemed like an impossible task.
The young man hums thoughtfully for a moment, but shakes his head regretfully.
"I know you're a cultivator and all, but I'm not sure anything I tell you will be much help. I don't really remember much other than waking up in front of a strange cave and the feeling that it was dangerous for me to stay there. Like something was weighing on my spirit and demanding I leave," he says with a resigned shrug of his shoulders.
That... was new. No one reported remembering where they went or who took them, so this inconvenient conversation may actually be to Lan Zhan's benefit. The Lan cultivator nods in understanding before speaking. "What was so strange about the cave?"
"There was this... scent that drew me in at first before I passed out. It was like the scent of ripe peaches and lotus blossoms- with something spicy underneath I think? And the cave smelled just like it! And I think... Someone lived there? I thought I saw scrolls... and maybe some old tapestries? I apologize, I’m afraid I can’t really confirm much for certain other than the unwelcoming atmosphere,”
Scrolls and tapestries... didn’t sound like a demon or ghost; And an oppressive aura can easily be drawn up by any two bit cultivator who knew how to make talismans or draw up a sufficient array. Such an array or talisman would also mean that there could be one to hide wherever this cave was.
It was looking more and more now that perhaps someone took advantage of the local rumors of the Naga and began pranking the worried townsfolk. In such a troublesome way too!
Lan Zhan’s expression becomes stony before he nods his thanks and storms off into the forest- with a slight change of tactics.
He had been searching so long for resentful energy and even traces of malicious intent and coming up short. But a normal person could pull such a prank- no, a cultivator could and they would not be giving off such a thing, not without something being terribly wrong.
To think that an esteemed person such as himself could have missed the signs that this was little more than idle pranking by some- some- hooligan! His anger grows more volatile as he begins picking up on traces of spiritual energy, something he had completely disregarded as unimportant! What had his uncle said about hubris?
Following the weak trail of spiritual energy, he works himself up into something of a headache as he stomps (not stomps, steps with intent- Lan Zhan does not stomp) through the forest and almost misses the scent the young man described earlier. For a brief moment the scent of peaches flooding his senses makes a low heat coil tightly in his gut, twisting uncomfortably for a moment as it becomes a mess of something spicy and sweet, hard to identify and distracting until he sees it.
Where the traces of spiritual energy become the strongest is concentrated by what would look to be nothing more than a canopy of branches by the side of a large plateau. Anger flaring over the heat in his veins, he steps forward and begins to pull at the branches that reveal a gaping entrance to the cave that was described to him, a few hastily scrawled talismans for subversion stuck to it, only found by Lan Zhan because he had an idea of what to look for.
With an irritated sigh, he rips the talismans off their places stuck by the cave and sees that the mouth of it is actually wide and nearly welcoming, unlit braziers flanking either side of it.
The scent intensifies as the talismans come off and as Lan Zhan ventures into the cave and lights a talisman to illuminate the way, its sweet aroma tempts him further in and even seems to be soothing the building anger and headache, only years of discipline saving him from completely dropping his guard.
Instead of looking like the headquarters of a troublesome prankster who had no care or regard for what his little tricks did to people, it more rather looked like a home. Surprisingly the little cave was well kept, with no rocks to litter the ground or stumble over and even items like books and scrolls scattered about the ground, all piled together by what could only be described as a giant nest.
Suddenly the tale of the long extinct Nagas comes to mind, but Lan Zhan shakes his head. Surely this must be an incredibly elaborate prank by some truly brilliant and aggravating person who would definitely come jumping out at any second to laugh at the fruit of his labor. Nodding to himself silently, Lan Zhan peers over into the nest to apprehend the culprit of his weeks-long ordeal.
There's dried branches woven with scraps of fabrics and blankets and nestled on top of a makeshift mattress was a-
"Naga," he mumbles to himself as he takes in the sight of charcoal hair splayed against a milky white back. Wide hips extended into a shimmering black tail, the scales glinting red in the low light provided by his talisman.
The creature was whimpering pitifully, eyes squeezed shut and slender arms wrapped around a lithe torso as it squirmed and wriggled in discomfort.
"Please, just go away! I'm sorry you all keep wandering towards me but it's not on purpose, just leave me to go through my heat in peace!" It- no, he- exclaims with his eyes still shut, and lips set into a petulant grimace. A cultivator such as himself should be able to exercise self-restraint in the face of such an immense temptation, but then storm gray eyes blink up at him and it's as if his breath was stolen away.
This was definitely not some malevolent low-level cultivator- it was a naga, the last of his kind if the stories were to be believed, looking like a portrait of Lan Zhan’s most debauched dreams. A thought he tries to banish as the intoxicating scent muddles his brain further, a Naga is a heavenly creature- not meant to be debased by such vulgar thoughts.
But he loses track of the thought when the Naga keens with a whine, his liothe torso flushed with a thin sheen of sweat and his serpentine tail flicking agitatedly.
No wonder hordes of men were disappearing, with such a scent belonging to an incomparable beauty it would be impossible to stay away. Even his tail was exquisite, the end of it tapered elegantly even while swishing in irritation.
Without a word, Lan Zhan notes the scant few candles set about the shallow cave and lifts a hand to light them, extinguishing the talisman in his grasp and taking in the gorgeous creature under the warm candlelight.
"So rude! Y-You barge into a stranger's home and just use all his candles? Those were so hard to find!" He complains, but the breathiness of it only serves to shoot directly to Lan Zhan's cock, something that would be an extremely mortifying development had it not been for the absurdity of the situation- and maybe something to do with the smell that seemed to settle like a fog over his senses.
The cultivator hums indifferently, the night hunt temporarily abandoned as he approaches the nest slowly- mindful of the creature's wariness as it curls more into itself. "I apologize," he starts slowly, enjoying the way doe-like eyes regard him.
"I will replace them. But you have been causing trouble," he states bluntly, brain running on autopilot as he continues to take in the scent that drew him here. "Me?! I've just been trying to get through my heat!" He snaps indignantly.
"It's always the same! I can't control my scent because I’ve never been tangled, and there's no sires around here to help me deal with my heat! I just want to suffer in peace but all those stupid men keep coming thinking that they're what I'm looking for! Every fifty years it's such a huge nuisance, I just want to be left alone!" He whines, his body still tense as if he were waiting for some kind of attack. Lan Zhan is still entranced by the naga and finds his tongue unwilling to form any words until the creature speaks again.
"At least give me your name, you rude cultivator. Surely I can just ask you to leave me alone and you'll be on your way?" He says, purposefully showing his fangs as he licks his lips with surprisingly human tongue, probably meant to intimidate.
That isn't enough to keep Lan Zhan from leaning into the nest and keeping his steady gaze on him. "Lan Zhan, courtesy Wangji. I haven't heard any reports of nagas until you, hence my being here," he doesn’t elaborate further as he keeps his gaze intent on him.
“Please stop looking at me like you want to- to-! I-I’m sure you have some wife or mother at home, so get lost, jeez!” He continues to complain, pushing himself against the wall of the nest as Lan Zhan continues to draw nearer, bold enough to climb in with him.
"Don't want to get lost," he says with a husky rasp of his voice, noting with perverted delight how the naga does a full body shiver as he reaches a hand out to gather a few locks of his hair and brings it to his face to sniff. "Your smell is good. Your hair is soft. I do not feel inclined to leave," he says, placing a soft kiss to the ends of the naga's hair.
The naga for his part gasps, and tenses up before shooting forward with his powerful tail and tackling Lan Zhan to the floor of his nest. "Don't say stuff like that, I'm a stranger! If you go around treating random people like this then I can't imagine what kind of reputation you must have," he hisses, but Lan Zhan notes how the tail loosely curls around his leg and sees a slit pulsing with need and dripping with slick as he looks down the body of the Naga.
"You are the only one," he says matter of factly as he drags a guqin calloused finger gently down the sides of the naga before pushing around the mess in between the puffy folds, earning a sharp cry when he cruelly flicks the engorged clit.
That earns him an indignant gasp and the tail gripping his leg more firmly, and slender hands weakly batting at his arms in a token resistance of his firm stroking of wet folds. “Y-You’re so-! I never even said I’d let you tangle me! And you’re rubbing my pussy like I’m just letting you,” the naga keens, his pale face flushing deep red as he begins to pant, head lolling forward into Lan Zhan’s chest as the cultivator pulls him into an embrace, abandoning his curious exploration of the other’s body and tilts the sweet and pliant Naga’s face into a kiss.
“You are letting me. You did not let others get this far, but you are letting me touch you and kiss you. I am to this sweet naga’s liking,” he says seriously, like an emperor declaring his divine rule. The naga can only whine more, his tail holding a grip strong enough on the cultivator to tug him away weakly, only succeeding in forcing Lan Zhan’s face into his abdomen and cries when he feels the fabric of pristine robes against his swollen and drooling cunt.
Lan Zhan readjusts himself, pulling off the now limp tail that had wound itself around his leg and takes in the sight of the smooth stomach and wide hips. The fog settled over his brain clears enough to reorient himself into undoing his robes and freeing his erection from its confines and then straddling the shimmering black tail. The naga’s eyes look up at him with hunger as he waits for his next move.
“What’s your name?” he rasps as he regards the plush cunt, scales scattered just at the outside of where scales give way to flesh, and pushes his own length up against it. The naga whimpers as his folds spread apart to embrace the cock above it, letting out a cry when the head bumps the swollen clit. “W-Wei Ying,” he whispers as his eyes shoot down to where Lan Zhan has straddled him.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan says just to taste the name in his mouth, before he pulls his cock back and then pushes in, slick guiding Lan Zhan’s length deep into Wei Ying’s tight heat. “O-Oh!” the naga shrieks and muscular legs clamp down hard on his tail as the man above him begins with a punishing rhythm, keeping him from being able to writhe as he feels the blunt head of the cock push around slick walls and mix up his insides.
“I’m being fucked! I’m being fucked for the first time, you’re taking my virginity!” Wei Ying shouts, eyes rolling back as his tears fall down flushed cheeks, and with that sight and those words, Lan Zhan can only drive in further and pound the red cunt harder. “Be quiet,” he commands with a deep rasp, his breathing labored as he feels the frustration of his seemingly endless hunt come out on the poor naga’s pussy. “I can’t! I can’t! I can’t!” Wei Ying chants as his gaze loses focus and his tongue becomes lead in his mouth.
“You’re going to spill on my eggs, and I’ll have babies! I’m getting fucked by a sire I just met and he’s going to leave me with his babies!” the naga rambles and the tail convulses, almost knocking Lan Zhan from his spot atop him.
The statement, while not entirely untrue, does something to Lan Zhan and he pivots forward, hips still bucking bruisingly into the tight heat as he latches his teeth on to the Naga’s neck, and clamps down hard. “Ah! My mate! My mate, my sire! Only you, only you!” Wei Ying begins to chant nonsensically while Lan Zhan pulls away, surprised to see not just a bruise but a trail of blood sluggishly oozing out.
But there was something more important than that his muddied thoughts managed to hang onto. “Not leaving you,” he says between harsh pants as he feels his cock kiss another layer to the naga’s pussy, maybe what might have been the cervix on a human as he pushes harder, desperate to leave all of his seed right there. “Will bring Wei Ying to Gusu, will marry Wei Ying,” he says passionately.
Slick gushes around the stiff rod as Wei Ying writhes, tail almost swinging around wildly enough to knock Lan Zhan off yet again until the spastic rhythm drives him to his own climax, pushing down his hips with incredible force as he kisses into Wei Ying’s open mouth, stuck in a “Oh,” shape as he cums on the cock spilling inside of him.
The share a few moments of kissing each other, Wei Ying finally able to reciprocate as he comes down from his orgasm and sighs contently as he feels the cum warming his insides and settling surely on top of his eggs. Then, like a candle being blown out, the sweet scent that seemed to permeate everything disappears, now only a gentle undercurrent beneath the fresh scent of nature brought in by a breeze through the cave mixed with the heady smell of sweat and sex.
As Lan Zhan makes to pull out, Wei Ying cries out and pulls him down by the front of the robes. “No, my husband needs to keep me plugged up to make sure he gets all of my eggs!" He whines as his strength is regained to a point where he could pull the cultivator back to his chest and keep him there, the end of his tail winding around Lan Zhan to keep him in place.
"You'd better not be thinking about backing out after all this. If you do, I'll never forgive you!" Wei Ying hisses, and Lan Zhan feels the same heat and compulsion he felt with the naga's pheromones (at least, that's all he can assume the scent to be, now that it's gone after succeeding in the purpose of enticing a mate) at the little pout on petulant lips and the way silver eyes try to pin him down beyond his flushed face.
"I do not lie; It is forbidden. Wei Ying will return to Cloud Recesses with me for marriage and for our children," he says seriously, heart skipping a few beats when the doe eyes of his newly beloved shine with satisfaction.
"Good! Although I haven't interacted with the outside world in so long. I wonder what it's like out there since those plucky Wens got all full of themselves? My husband will dutifully tend to his wife beyond our babies, yes? It won't do if you look like you just spirited away a little helpless naga maiden away from his nest only to treat him like some broodmare you know," the naga rambles as he adjusts their bodies more snugly in the nest, laid upon their sides as Lan Zhan begins to gently run his fingers through the hair of his new partner.
He nods along his assent as his eyes grow heavy along with Wei Ying's, even now still mumbling as they drift off to a fitful sleep. "Good... my Lan Zhan will... teach this wife..."
There were a great many questions that now were running through Lan Zhan’s head after the fog and lust had fully cleared, but for now at least, that could wait.