Pearl of Gusu

Chapter 1.3.

Lan Zhan— like snow, he is made up of many unique details. He is white and cold, blocks you like a wall of ice, shines and sparkles when he is in the light...there is something magical when he appears, so much so that when he melts you find the elixir of life.

Lan Zhan had been silent all the way back to Cloud Recesses, fortunately for him that was perfectly normal. All the while Nie Huaisang was chattering away excitedly with Wei Ying. He let it become background noise and concentrated on what had happened in the village. Those puppets or undead... he just couldn't make sense of it. His brother, however, seemed to know more and Wei Ying had noticed that too. Maybe he should talk to Wei Ying and his brother together. There were so many pieces of the puzzle, and he just couldn't get them in order.

Wei Ying laughed, and Lan Zhan looked up at him. Nie Huaisang shook his head and waved his fan nervously. Wei Ying's laughter grew louder, and he seemed to reassure Nie Huaisang, for he put his arm around his shoulder.

Lan Zhan's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. Did everyone have to have physical contact with Wei Ying in some way today? Why was it so natural for others to go up to him and touch him? And why did it bother Lan Zhan so much?!

Lan Zhan knew very well that he was a very stubborn and protective person. The safety of the people who are important to him was his top priority. And that had not changed... only the priority had shifted and the circle of those who he protected had expanded and Wei Ying suddenly came first for him.

Wei Ying suddenly came first in his mind.

When he had examined Wei Ying's wound, he had to suppress his anger. Completely irrational was his desire to once again cut the puppets who had dared to injure him. Even when Wei Ying had come to him in the stable, he had almost jumped out of his skin in fright because Wei Ying was putting himself in danger. But the far stronger feeling was relief because he was finally with him.

Everything was completely irrational. Wei Ying was an excellent cultivator, skilled fighter and had not needed Lan Zhan's help, just like himself... but he had wanted Wei Ying with him in battle.

And then, suddenly, there he was.

This worry and need to protect him was strong and totally misplaced.... But still it was like that.

Yes, he found Wei Ying very attractive, and he liked him. He was straightforward, brave, smart, loyal and had a seemingly endless wild and playful mind that just let him charge at it.

And then... there was this confusing need to be close to Wei Ying.

Normally, he could keep his distance with anything. That was how it had been with Wei Ying and yet, in a short time, something had changed. Very changed. The difference between the first time he doctored him and this time....

He had tried to concentrate only on the wound and yet he had silently admired Wei Ying's naked upper body. His good but not too pronounced muscles. A smooth chest, a wonderfully drawn belly and a narrow waist that contrasted sharply with his relatively broad shoulders. While feeling Wei Ying's wound for diseased or cursed skin, he had been on the verge of groping further over Wei Ying's skin. Just running his fingers forward over his stomach, tracing his soft skin and tracing the fine contours of his muscles. Touching Wei Ying was so different from others and today he really had to fight with himself for the first time; however, instead of escaping touch as usual, he had absolutely wanted it.

He didn't like it at all when someone touched him. He tolerated it with his family but did not accept it at all when strangers did it and enemies never managed to get that close to him.

But Wei Ying... and then, as if Wei Ying had known Lan Zhan was receptive to him, he had kissed him again and not only that, his sensual tongue had caressed Lan Zhan's lips so delicately.