The Mountain where the Fox Lives

Written for Ansay.
It was an absolute delight working with this prompt. Thank you so much. <3

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Candlelights flickered in the darkness; the myriads of tiny lights stood dauntlessly against the pitch black shadows crawling all over the confining rock walls. A gentle blow of the night breeze caused the little flames to dance. As though to light the way, the small candles clung to the edge of the stone floor—half on the left, half on the right—leading deep into the heart of the nameless cave concealed from the rest of the world.

Zhou Zishu laid atop a stone bed. Layers after layers of exquisite silks were piled on the cold, hard surface, cushioning his back as the ends of the soft fabrics spilled all over the floor in disorder. Glistening bullets of sweat dripped down his pale complexion. His chest rose and fall heavily; the disheveled robes that had been stripped of his body were dampened under his arching back.

There was an inexplicable scent in the air. It was sometimes sweet, sometimes warm; it was strong and intoxicating, far more potent than any wine and aphrodisiac. It ignited a fire to burn and churn within him, throwing his mind into disarray that his limbs seemed to have weakened. Zhou Zishu was delirious. Both hands clutching onto the wrinkled silks beneath him, feeble moans escaped his lips as he writhed under the spell of an uncontainable pleasure.

A feral heat was stirring a storm in his body, endlessly assaulting the tender walls of his most delicate place.

Zhou Zishu gasped when a cold palm wrapped around his front member. Just a few strokes, and that part was already spilling the essence of lust onto the quivering muscles of his abdomen. His insides tensed up at once. He had lost count of how many times he had succumbed to desire; though his body should've long been deprived of vigor, at this moment there was no sign that this scorching fire in him could be quelled anytime soon.

Amidst the relentless torment of this inescapable snare, a single thought materialized in his dazed mind.

"I'm going to be eaten alive..."

But the stroke of cold fingers on his cheek instantly jolted Zhou Zishu back from his fleeting consciousness. This touch was so kind, so gentle as the tips of those cold fingers traced the lines of his pale cheek before cupping his face in a large palm. Zhou Zishu's eyesight was already failing. He could only see that snow-white figure leaning down to approach him; his nine large velvety tails wrapped themselves around the two of them like pillows. That person placed a soft kiss at the center of his brows. This kiss seemed to contain a million words left unsaid, filled to the brim with sincere adoration as much as it was laced with sorrow.

Then, he was embraced tight. Almost immediately, Zhou Zishu heard whispers trickling into his ears.

"Don't leave me..." the deep voice said, on the verge of breaking, "If I lose you again this time, I..."

"A-Xu."

Zhou Zishu's mind was suddenly pricked by a brief flash of memory. It went by so fast; he couldn't even have a glimpse of what it was or how it looked like. Even so, the obscured image of a person abruptly emerged in the turbulent sea of his heart. He had known him from a time long, long ago.

That person was......

***

The Window of Heaven was the Prince of Jin's notorious hunting dog. They had eyes and ears everywhere; once a certain subject caught the Prince's interest, all individuals and matters related to said subject would have no way to escape the Window of Heaven's watch. They would follow those who needed to be followed, they would eliminate those who needed to be eliminated. Espionage and execution, as long as the Prince wished for it, they would carry out even the most grotesque task flawlessly, leaving no stones unturned.