Hot As Hell

15

1 week and a bit later

"Whatever it is I will do it."

Zheng Xi raises his eyebrows but Jian Yi simply sips his coffee, expecting nothing less from the redhead.

"Guan Shan first sit down," Zheng Xi commands, put out by the way the other is practically shaking.

Guan Shan sits down, but he doesn't stop shaking.

"So this cafe is new, nice isn't it?"

"Zheng Xi," Guan Shan groans, "You can't just text me, 'we have found a way for you to meet He Tian, meet us at the new cafe' and then proceed to talk about decor."

Zheng Xi smirks, "Why not?"

Guan Shan glares at the other, "Very funny."

"Jian Yi your turn."

Jian Yi puts his coffee down, "You're looking better, you've gained some weight plus lost the smelly jacket."

Guan Shan puts his face in his hands, "I fucking hate the both of you. And the sweater is just in the washer. "

"Guan Shan, how badly do you want to see him?"

Guan Shan looks up at stares at Jian Yi for a long time, "What do you think?"

"You might die."

"I might die walking across a street."

"It might not work."

"Still worth a shot."

"You might not be able to come back."

That makes Guan Shan pause. His life may be comparable to a train wreck but that didn't mean he completely hates his life. Besides who would want to be stuck in hell, He Tian or not, Guan Shan is still a living, breathing man and being stuck in hell before having the life knocked out of him left a sour taste in his mouth.

"He Tian will find a way to make sure I come back," He will because He Tian would make anything that causes Guan Shan distress to go away. He Tian's ability and his willingness to make sure Guan Shan doesn't shed a single tear is both astounding and terrifying.

Jian Yi tilts his head and smiles softly, "Yeah I guess he will," because growing up with He Tian taught him that the other had amazing capabilities in magic (which was a sure cause of jealousy for him in his childhood), and he has seen He Tian's affection for the other; if Guan Shan had asked for He Tian to make the universe flip upside down, He Tian would find a way to make that happen.

"Okay, so what's the plan?"

Jian Yi takes in a deep breath, ready to pour out the plan he had been working on for the past week, "The problem with you is that you are a human who is still alive, which means that technically you can not enter Hell. However, every realm has its weak days, and that day for Hell is the night of the blood moon on Earth. The boundary between the two worlds becomes weak so that day would be the easiest for us to transport you there."

"When's the next blood moon?"

"In three days."

"Great."

"So in order to get to Hell we need a pentagram. It's the vehicle for all creatures to go from Earth to Hell or the other way around."

"He's been working on that pentagram for the past week," Zheng Xi interrupts.

"Yeah well," Jian Yi continues, "My enormous caffeine intake is happening for a reason. Let's just hope I fooled the magic that controls our borders. So on the day of the blood moon, we have to make a sacrifice for the pentagram to work. Now that's the part I haven't figured out yet."

"Won't some of my blood do?"

"The sacrifice isn't big enough. We're fooling the pentagram to think that you are a creature of Hell, even though I carefully made my pentagram to mask it so, a huge sacrifice would be the push for it to work."

"Why don't we sacrifice your bat?" Zheng Xi proposes.

Jian Yi rolls his eyes, "Lee is a very loyal servant of mine."

"Can it be an inanimate being?" Guan Shan asks.

Jian Yi frowns in thought, "Well yeah I guess if the object means a lot to the conjuror. Emperors used to summon demons with heaps and heaps of gold. But where can I find that?"

"I can wish for it," Zheng Xi offers.

Guan Shan shakes his head, "No I don't want you to make a wish for my sake."

"It's not that big of a de-"

"No."

"It wouldn't work anyway," Jian Yi adds, "If the sacrifice is something inanimate, it has to mean something, as giving it up would be a huge loss, the gold you wished for wouldn't mean anything to us since you just conjured it for the purpose of sacrificing it. Therefore it wouldn't work."

Zheng Xi sighs, "Okay so what do we do?"

"How about the black jacket He Tian left me?"

Jian Yi thinks about how Guan Shan had hung unto to that jacket as if his life depended on it for the past couple of weeks. Surely giving that up would be enough.

"Yeah, I think that will work. Also, I'm not completely sure how time converts between Earth and Hell, so make sure to think of an excuse to your mom."

"How long do you think I will be gone?"

"A week at most, hopefully,"

Guan Shan's mind scrambles for an excuse to present to his mom for not being home for a whole week.

"We will meet up at Zheng Xi's place in three days."

"Thank god my mom has a late shift," Zheng Xi mumbles softly.

"Imagine her walking in on us with a pentagram drawn on the floor and Guan Shan lying in the middle of it."

Zheng Xi couldn't help but grin at the image, "I would be grounded for weeks and you would be kicked out of the house."

Guan Shan bites his lips, masking his smile as he listened to their conversation, "Thanks for all of... well everything," he says softly.

Jian Yi grins, "Well what are friends for?"