The rest of Fang Li's words were stuffed back down.
Xie Huai's kiss was tender yet blazing hot, like someone reuniting with a long-lost lover, pouring out their heart with no misgivings.
Fang Li's astonishment disappeared bit by bit, and then he threw his arms around Xie Huai and kissed back without any hesitation!
At this moment, he didn't want to think about anything else, didn't want to worry about any "shouldn'ts." He only wanted to follow the feelings deep inside his heart, and to do what he wanted to and should do.
What man or woman, none of it was important anymore...
He also wanted Xie Huai.
Not because of guilt, not because of indebtedness, simply because he cared about this person.
At this moment, Fang Li had finally thought it through.
If he really couldn't accept a man at all, then in the countless times they'd been intimate before, during Xie Huai's closeness and kisses, had he felt any hatred or revulsion? He hadn't.
If he really didn't like Xie Huai even a little and couldn't accept his feelings at all, with his personality, wouldn't he have immediately drawn a line between them, even if it meant death? But he hadn't done that, either.
He clearly also cared about this person, no matter what that kind of feeling was. Perhaps at the beginning it had only been as friends, as companions of the same mind, but later, he gradually began to place Xie Huai in his heart.
He would face endless indecision out of fear of harming Xie Huai, and he would feel uneasy and nervous because of Xie Huai's unhappiness.
He would worry his heart out for him, and find it hard to sleep because of him. As soon as he thought about how he might die or get hurt, he would feel unceasing heartache, wishing only that he could suffer it in Xie Huai's place. He wanted to protect this person, he didn't want him to feel hurt or unwell.
Because he cared for someone, he would be full of hesitation, unable to act decisively.
If this wasn't liking, what was it?
Fang Li didn't want to lie to himself anymore.
He also liked Xie Huai.
Perhaps it had happened without his realizing.
Or perhaps it had been during Xie Huai's neverending closeness...
Perhaps you were the one who first walked toward me, but this time, I also want to go to you, so that you won't be the only one trying hard anymore.
Xie Huai's arms slowly tightened around Fang Li.
Seeing Fang Li worry about him like that, just as he was worried for Fang Li, as if they were truly in love with each other, he had kissed Fang Li in the heat of the moment.
Originally, he'd thought it would be like the countless times before, and he would face evasion and resistance... But he hadn't. This person that occupied his heart and mind was earnestly responding to him.
This was the first time Xie Huai had received a response.
His heart skipped a beat, and in a daze, he couldn't discern whether the scene before his eyes was fantasy or reality.
Had he fallen into some kind of illusion?
But was there really such a masterful technique in this world? Able to trap him in an illusion without him sensing it at all?
If all of this wasn't fake.
What did it mean?
Could it be, that Fang Li actually also liked him...?
Fang Li gazed at the cool, flawless, celestial face before him. In the instant that he'd understood his feelings, all of the tangles and unease that had been stifling his chest finally disappeared.
These days, he had been staying on Hollow Ridge, looking at how Xie Huai had carefully preserved everything between them. Xie Huai's feelings were written on every surface of this place. These feelings were so precious, Fang Li wanted to treat them properly.
He would never hesitate again.
Since he understood his own feelings now, then he should speak them right away and let Xie Huai know that he also liked him!
He didn't want Xie Huai to be in pain or misunderstand.
Fang Li looked up, his eyes clear and focused as they gazed at him as Fang Li said word by word, "I like you too."
Xie Huai looked at Fang Li with disbelief, his fingertips trembling faintly. This was the scene he'd fantasized about for so long, and now it had finally become real, but it instead gave him a powerful sense of unreality.
Fang Li hadn't had time to consider too much in his anxiety earlier, and now he had finally calmed down. He had heard that Xie Huai had been heavily injured, and he rushed to grip Xie Huai's wrist to check his pulse, furrowing his brow. "If you were going to leave, then just leave. Why did you have to injure yourself, too? Don't ever do something like this again!"
Xie Huai was just that kind of person, rather willing to break than to bend. With his personality, he definitely wouldn't be willing to suffer Fu Junling's coercion and say something that went against his heart.
But Fang Li still felt pain for how Xie Huai had been forced to this step. It was all because of him...
Xie Huai allowed Fang Li to pull his hand, looking down to watch Fang Li, the depths of his eyes tender. He had been the one who couldn't think things through before. This person had never been heartless. If he had really been so heartless and cruel, how could Xie Huai have fallen for him?
It had been precisely during day after day of getting to know this person, seeing through this person's unchanging gentleness and kindness no matter where or under what circumstances, that he'd gradually been moved by this person's true interior.
Fang Li hadn't changed.
He was the one who'd let pain and jealousy cloud his eyes.
Perhaps your goodness toward me was because of someone else at first, and I have no way to deny your actions in the past, but since the day I met you, you've never done a single thing that you shouldn't have, nor did you kill a single person you shouldn't have.
You've done everything with fairness, with compassion in your heart. You have the free-spiritedness and unrestrainedness that comes from seeing through everything, as well as a tender heart that treats people with forgiveness.
The one I like is only the you that I know.
Not the you in the rumors, and even less so the you of the past.
Xie Huai was pulled by Fang Li to the bedside to sit down. Fang Li came to tug at his clothes again to look at his injury. Xie Huai caught Fang Li's hand, looking at him calmly and gently as he said slowly, "It's not serious."
Fang Li stared at him, his voice low and hoarse. "Do you know how worried I was about you? You shouldn't have..."
The corners of Xie Huai's lips hooked up faintly as he gazed at Fang Li's eyes. "When you used the love parasite to control me and have me kill you with my own hands, did you ask my opinion back then, ask me if I was willing?"
"The wound I suffered back then was much heavier than now." Xie Huai's voice was bland.
Fang Li's hands trembled. That's right, he'd done so many outrageous things.
Back then, Xie Huai would have been in hundreds and thousands of times more pain than Fang Li was right now.
They had both been doing things for the other's sake all on their own, yet ignoring the other's wishes…..
Fang Li took a deep breath and fixed his eyes on Xie Huai, saying word by word, "I'll never do something like that again, so you also have to promise me not to do something like this. No matter what it is, let's discuss it and solve it together, alright?"
He'd already made up his mind.
Anyways, this world's script had concluded. No matter what he did, it wouldn't disappear. What did he have to be afraid of, all on his own? No matter what happened, he would be together with Xie Huai.
Whatever happened, they would face it together.
Xie Huai gazed at Fang Li, the depths of his eyes rippling with gentleness. After a long time, he laughed softly and said, "Alright."
.........
Wu Yimei reported the circumstances outside to Fang Li.
Fu Junling was now the alliance leader of the Thousand Immortals' Alliance, and it obeyed his command. The people of the Thousand Immortals' Alliance thought Fang Li had been the one who'd ordered what had happened during the Ascension Conference and were clamoring to have him pay for it with his blood. They might attack at any time.
But Fang Li's expression was unperturbed.
Because Xie Huai was by his side the whole time, Fu Junling had found it difficult to find a chance to strike at him. That was why he'd resorted to such base means, placing Fang Li and Xie Huai in an unfavorable situation and attempting to pressure them with force. But the more noise Fu Junling made, the more it proved that he actually had no confidence.
Fang Li was the only one who knew the black jade talisman's whereabouts. Before Fu Junling obtained the black jade talisman, he wouldn't dare press Fang Li too hard. This kind of pressure was only a bluff, nothing more.
As long as Fang Li refused to speak, Fu Junling would be wary of accidentally ruining the prize and wouldn't dare act rashly.
If he pressed too hard and it came down to it, he might as well try to take them all to the grave together, and in the end, Fu Junling wouldn't be able to obtain anything at all.
Fang Li said mildly, "The Thousand Immortals' Alliance is just making a lot of noise. If you really had them attack, those people wouldn't be willing to come running to their deaths. Bring all your people back to Hollow Ridge. This lord would like to see whether they really dare come."
These people just liked to pick on the weak. If his power had really waned, then these people would be restless to move, but if Hollow Ridge's influence was great, they would instead waver and hesitate, too scared to rashly start a fight.
Right now, his identity had already been exposed. There was no need to lie low and hide anymore.
He would simply deal with whatever they threw at him.
As for Fu Junling...
What Great Sage, in the original story, he had been no more than a backstory decoration worth ten words. He was just a lingering soul that hadn't died cleanly. Harming Yan Sui back then hadn't been enough, now he even wanted to harm Xie Huai and isolate him. Sooner or later, they would teach him a lesson.
Wu Yimei said respectfully, "Understood."
After he was done arranging things on this side, Fang Li immediately fixed his expression and went to the residential palace to see Xie Huai.
At the time, for the sake of drawing a line between him and Cloudbank Keep, and to avoid troubling his master, Elder Ming Yin, Xie Huai hadn't gone easy on himself with that strike. The injury was very deep, and these days, he had been recuperating the whole time.
Fang Li was personally taking care of Xie Huai.
When he returned to the sleeping quarters, Xie Huai was meditating in the room, his complexion a little pale. Fang Li didn't disturb him and sat quietly to one side.
Not too long after, Xie Huai opened his eyes.
Fang Li immediately smiled and said, "Do you want to go out for a stroll? Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? How about I pour a cup of water for you?"
This was his first time dating someone, too. He really didn't have any experience, and he didn't know how to coax his girl… no, boyfriend. He couldn't avoid being a little nervous and clumsy.
Xie Huai looked at the person before him.
The young man's eyes were curved as he looked at him, and they were full of smiles and concern, an unconcealed desire to please, wanting nothing more than to let Xie Huai know how much he liked him...
Even though it had already been a few days like this, Xie Huai was still dazed for a moment.
That unreal, suspenseful feeling had never subsided. Even if it was only drinking poison to assuage the thirst, he drank it in gladly.
It turned out that as long as this person was a little bit good toward him, he would immediately throw down his weapons and armor. Since that was the case, what was he still conflicted about?
He wasn't a match for this person at all.
Xie Huai shook his head and laughed softly. "I've already been practicing inedia for many years."
He wasn't actually someone with much desire for food, it was only that Fang Li liked it, so he'd accompanied him to eat. As for himself, these had never been necessary.
Fang Li stared blankly for a bit. He had also realized this, and he immediately felt a bit embarrassed. Xie Huai really had done a lot to accommodate him...
But it seemed like Xie Huai didn't need anything at all. What could he do for him? Xie Huai had been injured for his sake, yet there was nothing he could do. This sort of feeling really was terrible...
Xie Huai saw through Fang Li's dejection, and his expression was gentle as he said, "Can you come over and keep me company for a while?"
Fang Li immediately walked over.
Xie Huai suddenly pulled Fang Li down and gently touched the corners of his lips, then looked down and smiled faintly. "Now it doesn't hurt anymore."
Fang Li was stupefied.
He looked dazedly at the person before him. Xie Huai's originally cool face now had a gentle smile on it. Not the ice-cold sense of distance from when they'd first met, nor the dark gloominess from after they'd reunited. Such gentle calmness, and the tenderness hidden under his indifferent look. This was how Xie Huai most originally appearance...
Even when loving someone, he was gentle and restrained.
Fang Li suddenly raised his head and kissed Xie Huai's lips once more, with much more strength. This was his first time liking someone, and he wasn't really proficient at these things, but he thought, it turned out that when you liked someone, you would want to be intimate with them, to do the things that lovers did.
Wishing nothing more than to be with them every minute and second.
And so he followed his heart. Never again would there be the need for conflictedness or pain or evasion. After thinking things through, it turned out that this was such a carefree thing.
Fang Li grabbed hold of Xie Huai's hands, his fingertips gliding past his palm as he laughed softly. "You have to get better soon."
Xie Huai slowly and solemnly nodded his head.
Although both of them could practice inedia.
Fang Li still personally prepared a tableful of dishes, and the two began to eat. He very much liked the feeling of sitting together with Xie Huai and eating dinner together in the glow of sunset.
Comforting and warm.
After finishing their meal, the two of them burrowed into the blankets together.
Taking into consideration that Xie Huai was injured, Fang Li was very careful for fear of touching his wound, so they simply laid down side by side.
They didn't do anything at all.
Fang Li's eyes were closed as he listened to the even breathing of the person beside him. He didn't know whether Xie Huai was asleep or not, but there was a question that had been eating away at him for a long time.
Fang Li suddenly opened his mouth. "When you left back then, where did you go?"
Although he hadn't said when, as soon as Xie Huai heard this, he understood. He fell silent for a moment, then said, "I went to retrieve the Nine-Petaled Lotus."
Sure enough, Xie Huao hadn't gone to sleep, either.
Fang Li opened his eyes.
The Nine-Petaled Lotus.
The legends said that it was a secret treasure that grew in red lotus hellfire. It could resurrect the dead and restore flesh to white bone. Fang Li didn't know where Xie Huai had gone to find it, but it definitely wouldn't be easy to retrieve something so precious. So, when Xie Huai had left back then, it had been for the sake of saving him.
Xie Huai hadn't spared anything at all for the sake of letting him live on... Yet he hadn't known anything and had made Xie Huai, who had just come back from the brink of death, kill him with his own hands.
Fang Li's chest suddenly felt like it was weighed down by a mountain. Just imagining it a little was enough to make him nearly unable to breath.
It turned out that he had done such a cruel thing.
A hundred, thousand times more cruel than what he'd thought before.
These nine years, how had Xie Huai spent them...
Xie Huai said softly, "I didn't tell you. It wasn't your fault."
Even at a time like this, Xie Huai was still thinking about not making him uncomfortable.
The corners of Fang Li's eyes reddened and began to feel hot. He suddenly turned around and wrapped an arm around Xie Huai's waist, leaning his face into Xie Huai's neck as he said in a hoarse voice, "I was the one who didn't give you a chance to tell me."
He was full of regret.
Regret that he hadn't understood Xie Huai's feelings earlier, and that he hadn't understood his own feelings earlier.
What man or woman, what was so important about it?
He just liked this person.
He should have realized it much earlier.
That way, Xie Huai wouldn't have gone through so much pain.
Xie Huai could feel that Fang Li's hand around him was faintly trembling, but even at a time like this, Fang Li had still remembered to avoid his wound. He truly cared about him and was worried for him very much...
But at this moment, Xie Huai suddenly wanted to ask him, why do you like me?
Is it because of your Shixiong?
You were clearly still avoiding me before, so why are you like this now? If you're like this, you'll make me think that I'm the one who is actually most important to you...
Xie Huai closed his eyes fiercely.
The question hovered at the tip of his tongue for a long time, but in the end, he didn't have the courage to ask it aloud. He was afraid that once he asked, even this last tender illusion would be gone.
He had waited far, far too long... He couldn't withstand the possibility of losing this once more.
It turned out that he would also fear loss like this.
This was fine.
This was fine.
That was what he told himself.
Xie Huai clasped Fang Li's hand softly and said hoarsely, "Go to sleep, it's all in the past."
............…
When Fang Li woke up the next day, he was still holding onto Xie Huai.
He rubbed his face against Xie Huai stickily for a bit before finally, reluctantly getting out of bed. He finally understood a little bit why couples were always stuck together like glue.
Xie Huai looked at Fang Li helplessly.
After taking a pill, he started to meditate and treat his injuries again, while Fang Li went to discuss with Wu Yimei.
There were a few days of peace.
Wu Yimei could also get along harmoniously with Xie Huai now. He had also seen Xie Huai's sincerity these days. To be willing to go to such lengths for His Excellency, even he had nothing he could say. Besides, His Excellency's wish had been achieved, and as long as His Excellency was happy, what reason did he have to stop it?
Although the two of them still didn't have very pleasant looks on their faces when they met, at least they wouldn't start fighting. At this point, everyone was on the same boat, and there was no need to be at such odds.
Today, Fang Li was eating with Xie Huai in the residential palace when Wu Yimei suddenly came over. His face was grave as he said, "Your Excellency, Fu Junling has come to see you."
Fang Li's movements paused slightly, and the smile on his face disappeared. He said, "Where is he?"
Wu Yimei said, "At the foot of the mountain."
Fang Li's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he slowly opened his mouth. "He came alone?"
Wu Yimei said, "Yes."
Since he had come alone, it looked like he didn't intend to start a fight. So he was planning to use soft tactics? Fang Li fell silent for a moment. He wanted to see just what Fu Junling intended to do.
Fang Li stood up and smiled blandly. "This lord will go meet him."
Xie Huai had originally been silent, but seeing Fang Li prepare to go out, he suddenly opened his mouth. "It might be a trap, don't go."
His eyes were fixed on Fang Li's, his breathing very slow.
But Fang Li only smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'll be right back."
.........…
The Author Has Something to Say:
Isn't Mr. Wingman here now, hehe.
***
Fang Li: My girl... boyfriend is sick, should I have him drink more hot water?
Xie Huai: Mn.
Author: ...???