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Xie Lian had been walking for days in the remote wilderness of the southwest. Terrifyingly high mountains rose up before him, and even the foothills seemed higher than full mountains in the rest of the world he knew. Villages here were few and far between, and travellers even fewer. Those he had encountered in the last few days always spoke of the need to be home for harvest, and hurried off after only talking for a little while.
The sun was setting, low enough to get into his eyes, as he rounded a tall hill, following the road down into a deep green valley. Lo and behold, there was a village on the next hillside, not far from a rushing mountain river. Even this far away, he could hear laughter and cheers, and see bright banners and costumes. It seemed harvest time was here, a time for celebration.
Smiling, Xie Lian hurried down the road. People were always at their most generous during harvest, in the midst of plenty, and he could usually stay around for a few days gathering scraps, refurbishing them, and then sell them on, or take them elsewhere. The festival days always proved good ones for getting decent meals, too, and he was looking forward to eating something more than the dried meat and meagre rice he usually carried with him.
When he came through the gates, he was greeted by cheers and shouts of "Daozhong! Daozhong! Are you married?"
Confused, he shook his head, and then was promptly seized upon by several villagers, who tugged him along toward a small house in the village centre.
"Where are you taking me?" he asked, not resisting. He had learned through many years of hard experience that resisting in situations like this usually resulted in a very quick negative turn in his fortunes. Better to go along with whatever they wanted, and figure things out along the way.
"You must be brought before the Great Priestess," one of them, older than the others, said. "You are unwed and a stranger here at this festival of the harvest, and we need two people who will perform a ritual for us to guarantee a good harvest this year."
"Who is the other one?" Xie Lian asked. If it was simply a matter of chanting some words and maybe waving some farm implements around, he could do that. Had done it before, many times, though he always protested that he would not necessarily bring luck to the harvest.
"A man came to town earlier today," a young boy said. "I heard him asking for someone in white — someone who looks a lot like you, actually. He's with the Great Priestess now."
Moments later, he was ushered through the door of the small house into the presence of a wizened old lady. But he barely noticed her, for standing near her and talking animatedly, there was a tall man dressed in red with silver jewellery, black hair flowing like ink down his back. He was facing away from Xie Lian, but even without seeing his face, Xie Lian felt his knees go weak.
"If you haven't seen the man I seek, then I have no further business here," the man said, crisp and clear. His tone was not impatient, but Xie Lian got the sense that he was someone used to getting his way, and if not given his way, he would take it. On his belt, a long scimitar sat curved, sheathed in black and silver.
Just as he noticed the scimitar, it noticed him. An eye, red as rubies, opened, regarded him with what he could only call recognition, and immediately the blade began trembling violently, either in excitement or fear.
The man brought his hand down over the scimitar. "Stop tha—" he began, but then whirled around, quick as if he'd received some message of danger. He looked straight at Xie Lian, his mouth dropped open, his single eye wide. "Your Highness!" he gasped.
That drew all the attention in the room Xie Lian's way, and the old woman stood up from her carved wooden seat. "Are we truly in the presence of royalty?" she asked.
Xie Lian did not know whether to laugh or cry, or indeed, who to address first. He shook his head fiercely. "I have not been a prince in a very long time. I am simply a cultivator."
The man stepped forward, toward Xie Lian, and then fell gracefully to one knee. "His Highness will always be His Highness," he said, and his voice brought back the memory of the last time Xie Lian had heard those words. His breath caught in his throat, and he was unable to speak. Instead, he let his eyes try to talk, to whisper all the apologies he wanted to voice.
"Do you two know each other?" the Priestess asked. "Because if you do, that's even better, and even the more so if one of you has royal blood." She looked at them both long and hard. "I ask that you help us. Our village is under a curse, and the only way to break it is with this ritual, requiring the gift of two outsiders. We have suffered here all year, because last year this ritual was not completed. If the harvest fails again, we will be forced to leave, or to die."
"Give us a moment together," Xie Lian forced out over the lump in his throat. "Please." Wu Ming, in red, maskless, looked back at him with that single eye, not wavering for even a second.
"Of course." She gave a signal and the room cleared out. Slowly, her staff bearing her weight, she hobbled across the floor to the door and turned to slide it closed. "We will return once you let us know, but do not make it too long. The ritual must be complete by midnight." The door slid shut, and Xie Lian was alone with Wu Ming.
Breathless, he took two further steps closer to Wu Ming and then dropped to his knees, lowering his head down all the way to Wu Ming's foot. "I am so —" he began but was interrupted by Wu Ming still on one knee, bending further down and urging him upward.
"Don't kneel to me, please, don't," he begged, fire in his eye. "It should be the other way around, always."
"I must apologise to you, Wu Ming," Xie Lian said. "I treated you so cruelly."
"I am yours to be treated in any way you wish," Wu Ming said.
"Then tell me a better way." Xie Lian put out his hands, and together they rose to their feet, supporting each other. "First, some better name."
Wu Ming smiled. "Would His Highness call me San Lang? I was third in my family."
"Of course I will, San Lang," Xie Lian replied. "I would rather, too, that you call me something else."
A teasing smile dawned over San Lang's face. "Gege?"
Xie Lian could not help blushing. "Very well. San Lang, what is this ritual about? Why do they need two unmarried people?"
"The Great Priestess explained it to me just now," San Lang said. "And I think we should go. I can take you away from here."
"Why? What is it?"
"It's a virginity sacrifice ritual, Gege." San Lang shook his head. "You should not give up your cultivation for these people."
Xie Lian cocked his head. "You heard what she said. It's a worthy cause."
"But, Gege, your cultivation?"
San Lang looked concerned, but Xie Lian could only think that he was focusing on the wrong person. "But, San Lang, don't you have a beloved? Haven't you found her yet?"
"My beloved…" San Lang took a deep breath. "My beloved is right here."
Xie Lian glanced around. No one else was in the room. The conclusion was obvious.
"I'm your beloved?" He said the words before thinking them through, and then repeated them, slowly, with all the weight of what he was saying behind them. "I'm your beloved? Me?"
San Lang leaned forward, gathering Xie Lian into his arms. Xie Lian, thrilling at his touch, let himself be brought close, tucked his head under San Lang's chin. "You're my beloved."
"San Lang," Xie Lian breathed, and for a moment they just stood there together, wrapped in each other's arms. Then Xie Lian stirred, pulling back just far enough to look San Lang in the eye. "Then…I'm nervous, but I'll do it, if you're willing."
"Willing!" San Lang said, a laugh in his voice. "Gege, it's a dream I would not have believed would come true. But you shouldn't give up your cultivation."
"It's not doing me any good," Xie Lian said with a smile. "I live without spiritual energy now."
"That wasn't how I left you," San Lang said. "What happened?"
Xie Lian unwrapped part of the bandage at his throat. "This," he said, and then raised his foot to show the shackle on his ankle. "And this."
"Why?" San Lang trailed a finger along the edge of the shackle at his throat, and Xie Lian shivered at the touch.
"Regret and grief," Xie Lian answered, simply. "But now my grief has eased, and my regrets faded, seeing you."
"These were for me?" San Lang bent and kissed the shackle. "You live without spiritual energy, for me?" He shook his head. "Not anymore."
With that, he moved his mouth to press against Xie Lian's, their first kiss. Xie Lian, trembling with a delighted thrill, kissed back clumsily, and felt spiritual energy pouring into his body through his lips.
"Gege," San Lang whispered, moving away just a little, fingers tracing down Xie Lian's cheek.
"San Lang," Xie Lian answered. "You should know, if I'm your beloved, then you are mine."
San Lang laughed, soft, almost disbelieving. "Gege, you'll be the death of me," he said.
"No more dying," Xie Lian replied. "Not you, not these people. Yes?"
"Yes," San Lang said.
After a moment of looking into each other's eyes, San Lang moved to the door, and gestured outside. Dusk had given way to night, and outside there was a blazing bonfire in the village square. Not far from it, a temporary pavilion was set up, the cloth sides rolled out of the way, and inside a soft rug with many cushions and blankets. Nearby, there were two large wooden tubs, gently steaming with the hot water inside them.
The Great Priestess came back inside. "Are you willing?" she asked. "Are you ready?"
"We are," they answered her together.
They followed her out into the darkness, and immediately a great cheer went up. Xie Lian realised that the whole village was watching, some of them gathered on the other side of the pavilion, others leaning out the windows of their houses above the square. This ritual would be witnessed by dozens.
The Great Priestess raised both her hands in the air, silencing the crowd. "This year the harvest ritual will be completed!" she exclaimed, to renewed cheering. "These two strangers have agreed to aid us, and offer their virginity as a sacrifice to ensure we eat well for the winter. In return, we offer them the first fruits of our farms, and the hospitality of our home for as long as they wish it."
With that, two middle-aged men approached them both. "Come with us," one of them said. "It is our duty to make you ready."
"What, exactly, must we do?" San Lang asked, holding Xie Lian by the hand as they followed the men to the pavilion.
"First, bathe," the other man said. "You must be clean, inside and out, to ensure the purity of the ritual. Then you will lie down on this sacred ground, and one of you must spill inside the other's body, symbolising the seed becoming fertile within the land. Once is enough, but the more times it happens, the better the harvest will be."
Xie Lian's heart began to speed up as he pictured what would happen, partly with nerves and partly with anticipation. "We will do as you ask," he said. Then he turned to San Lang, who tilted his head toward Xie Lian so they could whisper to each other. "How do we do this?"
"How does Gege wish it?" San Lang answered. "I am willing to take either part."
Something occurred to Xie Lian. "San Lang is a ghost. It would be best, purely from a symbolic point of view, if the seed was San Lang's and the plowed ground mine."
San Lang bent his head. "As Your Highness wills," he said.
Heat swept over Xie Lian's face. To save his embarrassment, he let go of San Lang's hand and followed one of the men to a bath. Not looking at San Lang, he slowly removed his clothes. Ruoye followed with his garments, curling up on top of them. Xie Lian entered the bath; it was warm and the soaps smelt of fresh flowers.
"Inside and out," the man next to Xie Lian reminded him. "You must clean everywhere."
Red with shame, Xie Lian reached between his legs, hoping that the high walls of the tub would hide what he was doing from view. Here inside the pavilion, he was less on display than he thought he might be. As he finished bathing, the two men rolled down diaphanous veiled walls, until the people outside were merely silhouettes, cheering.
All too soon, the bath was over, and Xie Lian emerged, covering himself with a soft red robe as it was handed to him. On the cushions and blankets, San Lang was already waiting for him, clad in a similar robe.
Their two attendants vanished behind the curtains into the misty veil beyond, and all sound faded as San Lang held out a hand to Xie Lian and drew him down, pulling him close. Their bodies pressed together from chest to thigh, and then San Lang kissed Xie Lian, sweet and slow, passing him spiritual energy the whole time.
"Gege," San Lang breathed, eye closed, face upturned, silently asking for more. Xie Lian sank into another kiss, and San Lang's hands slowly drifted down his body, caressing gently. Xie Lian shivered, thrilling, as large hands passed down his back, lower and lower, until they were resting on his backside, holding him close. Xie Lian for his part held San Lang by the shoulders, and was quickly growing accustomed to the give-and-take of their kisses, how control passed between them, and spiritual energy too. This was certainly one method of cultivation that Xie Lian had never before tried!
San Lang, drawing back for a moment, took in a shuddery breath, eye closed. He was trembling like a fine racehorse at the starting gate, holding himself tightly wound. Xie Lian, arousal simmering low in his body at the sight of him, brushed a hand over his shoulder and arm, petting carefully. "Are you well, San Lang?"
"It's hard to hold back," San Lang whispered. "You have no idea, Gege, how much I've longed for this, in both life and death."
Xie Lian was still getting used to how it felt to be desired. "D-don't hold back then," he said, voice low.
San Lang's eye flew open, and all at once Xie Lian was swept even closer, the red robe on his body falling away. Vaguely, he heard a ripping sound and thought San Lang might have torn it.
Well, its sacrifice would not be in vain. Xie Lian closed his eyes and let himself be tumbled back into the soft cushions onto his back, San Lang over him, his robe gone too. At last their bodies were touching fully skin-to-skin and it was blissful beyond words.
Easing his eyes open, Xie Lian finally took a good look at his ghost, bare in the candlelight. He was pale as the moon, inky black hair swirling down loose over his body, and there was a fire in his dark eye. His face was beautiful, high cheekbones and delicate brow, a straight nose and thin lips, and over his forehead, a widow's peak in his hair that lent him gravitas. He was the perfect mixture of elegance and wildness, and his black eyepatch added to his air of mystery and beauty.
Xie Lian's eyes slid downward to the lean and powerful chest, the firm abdominal muscles, and below, to where his cock, thick and tall, rose from a patch of dark hair at his groin. It was red and wet, a clear liquid slowly seeping from the top. Some part of Xie Lian ached to taste it, and yet another part of him craved to have it inside himself. There was something so nerve-wracking and yet thrilling about the idea of San Lang pushing into Xie Lian's body, carving out a place where Xie Lian could hold him safe and secure, where he could be sure he would never lose his Wu Ming again.
San Lang's hands moved to caress Xie Lian's nipples, tweaking them with his fingers and then gently pinching them. Xie Lian cried out, unable to stop himself. Thrills and shivers wracked him, and he squirmed underneath San Lang, arching up for more of that delicious sensation.
"You're so beautiful, Gege," San Lang said, voice shaking with emotion. "You're going to make me come so fast, this San Lang cannot hold on long."
"Then, inside me," Xie Lian said.
Hands shaking, San Lang reached for a small dish that had been left nearby. "I must prepare you. This San Lang will not cause Your Highness pain." With very little ceremony, he pressed down between Xie Lian's legs where he had cleaned himself just moments ago. He was still damp and warm there. Instinctively, he wriggled a little. The sensation of being touched there was both overwhelmingly good and embarrassing, and Xie Lian was caught between the two feelings, spinning slowly out of control.
"Gege has such a pretty hole," San Lang's words were obscene but his tone was worshipful.
Xie Lian suppressed a wail of shame. "San Lang, don't…!" he exclaimed.
"But Gege is so beautiful, in every way," San Lang said, pressing inward with two fingers, slick with the substance from the bowl.
Without thinking about it, Xie Lian bore down, relaxing into the feeling. There was no pain at all, only heat and a sort of shivery goodness that quickly had him addicted. In the next moment, San Lang's fingers passed over a spot inside him which momentarily blinded him with sensation. He cried out, loudly, unaware. There might as well have been no one listening, even though Xie Lian knew there were, and flushed with embarrassment when he came back to himself.
"Gege liked that?" San Lang was smug, his fingers still moving, gently stretching Xie Lian.
"What was that? I've never… I didn't know I could feel like that!" Xie Lian spluttered. Dimly, he noticed that his own cock was standing up straight, and marvelled at it. He had never seen himself like this before, never felt this way before. He was flushed all the way down his chest, dark nipples upright, cock hard as a rock.
San Lang smiled. "Gege is ready for me?" he asked, and Xie Lian nodded frantically.
Withdrawing his fingers, San Lang reached into the bowl again, then slicked himself up, sighing as he did so as if he could hardly bear it. Xie Lian watched as San Lang slowly and carefully pressed inward, his cock breaching Xie Lian's hole. It did not hurt, but it felt so intense Xie Lian wondered if he could bear with it.
Just seconds into penetration, San Lang gasped sharply and looked up at him, eye wild. "Gege! I'm sorry, I can't…" He bent his head, shuddering and shivering all over, and without further ado, wet warmth shot into Xie Lian as San Lang moaned, long and loud.
Xie Lian's eyes went wide. This was beyond words. To be the reason that San Lang was feeling good, to feel the evidence of his pleasure, was a fulfilment Xie Lian did not know he needed. There was a deep satisfaction inside him, almost more intense than the pleasure and arousal in his body.
"I made you come," he whispered to San Lang, whose forehead was now resting on Xie Lian's chest. Xie Lian brought his hands up and stroked his fine black hair as San Lang shuddered, whimpering.
"Gege, you are beyond words," San Lang whispered after a moment. "I couldn't hold on, I'm sorry."
"Don't apologise for feeling good, San Lang," Xie Lian said, continuing to pet his head. "You can go again, right?"
"Of course," San Lang said. He was still inside Xie Lian, not even all the way in yet, and still hard. Experimentally, he gave a small thrust, and Xie Lian shivered all over. It felt so good to have San Lang inside him.
"Then come in me again," he said, too caught up in sensation to feel ashamed anymore, too aroused to feel nerves. He could hear faint cheers from outside, but the two of them were their own little world to themselves. "Come in me a few times."
"Gege," San Lang groaned. "Saying such shameless things to me, you'll get me there so fast. And I haven't even touched you yet."
Xie Lian tilted San Lang's face up to look him in the eye. "Kiss me," he breathed, and San Lang did so, obedient. For a few moments they traded lazy kisses again, San Lang slowly rocking further and further into Xie Lian with every one. Xie Lian's cock rubbed against the firm planes of San Lang's stomach, and every thrust brought Xie Lian to another height of arousal. It was as if he were climbing a mountain of pleasure, and soon he would reach the peak.
San Lang shifted slightly, still slowly thrusting into Xie Lian, and took Xie Lian's cock into his slippery hand, sliding up and down it at the same steady pace of his thrusts. "Gege, I want to see you come," he whispered, low and heated, his eye intently fixed on Xie Lian.
Xie Lian's whole body strained toward the crest, intent on nothing else but the rush of feeling that sped down his entire body. Shivers wracked him; he arched up into San Lang's hand and let go, vaguely aware that he was crying out loud and that San Lang, within him, was coming again, filling him up with spiritual energy so strongly that his own breaking cultivation was hardly noticeable. "San Lang!" he exclaimed, colours exploding behind his eyes, until all went dark and he lay exhausted on the bed, overcome and unable to move for a while.
He returned to himself several minutes later to find San Lang nuzzling and kissing his neck, murmuring softly to him. His cock was no longer inside Xie Lian, but he had instead pressed two fingers there, keeping his spend in him. Xie Lian was overwhelmingly, inexplicably grateful for it. He did not want to lose any of San Lang's seed, though he did not know why this was so important.
Xie Lian could hear the rush and crackle of fireworks exploding overhead, just outside, and the cheering of all those gathered around, though they were still undisturbed in their dark little pavilion, the candles around them shining with only just enough light to let them see each other. San Lang in the candlelight was utterly beautiful, pale skin glowing, and as he raised his head to meet Xie Lian's eyes, the smile on his face was radiant beyond words. "Gege," he whispered softly. "How are you feeling?"
Xie Lian gave a little wriggle, and San Lang's fingers slid just a bit deeper inside him. "Good," he said, and then, with a grin, "Again?"
San Lang lifted himself up on his knees for a moment. "As you wish." Slowly drawing his fingers out, he grabbed the bowl and added more of the slippery substance within to his hand, then slicked his cock back up again and without further ado, slid home inside Xie Lian.
Xie Lian sighed with relief. Already he could not bear the thought of not having this every day, but pushed away the possible future for the pleasure of living in the moment, of experiencing all that San Lang had to offer him. Reaching up with both legs and arms, he wrapped them around San Lang and drew him down, kissing him over and over while they rocked together. Let the morning bring what it would; for now there was only tonight and only each other.
Bathed again and dressed once more, Xie Lian and San Lang emerged from the pavilion as the sun rose to greet a still excited, if tired, crowd, the Great Priestess at the head of them.
"How many?" was her only question.
San Lang leaned forward and whispered a single syllable in her ear. No one else heard it, but Xie Lian blushed, knowing just how many times San Lang had come in him during the night. Eight times. It felt fitting.
The Great Priestess's eyes went wide. "You have indeed truly blessed us, strangers!" she said. "We are most grateful, and will be glad to give you anything you might desire."
San Lang took Xie Lian's hand into his own. "Then build a temple," he said, "for the Flower-Crowned Martial God of Xianle, Xie Lian."
The Great Priestess bowed her head. "As you ask, it shall be done."
San Lang turned to Xie Lian. "Where do you wish to go or to do? Name it and I will take you there."
Xie Lian tilted his head, smiling. "Wherever San Lang is, that is where I wish to be."
San Lang smiled back at him, more brilliant than the rising sun, and pulled two red dice from his sleeve, throwing them into the air and catching two sixes in his hand. "I built a city. Gege, would you like to see it?"
Seconds after Xie Lian's eager nod, there was nothing left where they stood save one silver butterfly, floating on the breeze, its wings glinting in the sunrise.