Hearing the words 'heavenly wyvern', Qinghe was shocked.
Putting aside for now her blatant shamelessness towards his lover, did she just mention that they were heavenly wyverns?! Weren't they that legendary beast clan that was said to have declined and faded away long ago? It was said that they were the descendants of true heavenly dragons and powerful serpents that roamed the world during the time of ancients. But since they had devolved too much from their original ancestral lineage, they had lost their former grandeur and had become common serpent beasts.
Wei Xiang's cold voice cut through the female wyvern's hopes. "I have no intention of rejuvenating that vile bloodline, and I definitely have no intention of lying together with something as disgusting as you."
The female wyvern recoiled. "H-How could you―! You can't be serious. That's a mighty, ancient bloodline that you're scorning. Rejuvenating it is vital! You are the most powerful heavenly wyvern born since the first generation. How can you not want to bring back the glory of our clan? I don't believe you!"
"And I don't care," Wei Xiang was indifferent.
At the side, Qinghe had finally recovered and remembered. This sly snake had just propositioned his man right in front of him! His eyes narrowed for a second in schadenfreude before he changed his facial expression.
Blinking his eyes in curiosity, Qinghe smiled his most innocent smile as he asked, "Wei Xiang, why is your cousin so stupid?"
The attention of the two beasts snapped to Qinghe. His expression was as pure as untrodden snow despite his harsh words.
"You-You measly human! How dare you―!"
Smoothly interjecting, Qinghe said, "Let's say you really do manage to steal my lover, however unlikely that may sound, and birth his children. What then? How will you 'repopulate', as you put it? By letting your children mate with other beasts or humans?"
"Impossible! No filth is allowed to contaminate our bloodline―!"
Expecting this answer, Qinghe once again interrupted her sanctimonious tirade. "Then what, you'll force your children to mate with each other?" He revealed a shocked expression, the words 'how could you?' clearly written on his face.
"…" The female wyvern didn't know how to refute this.
"I didn't expect you to be this sort of a person, for the sake of your bloodline, even forcing your children to…" Qinghe trailed off as if he couldn't bear to say anymore.
"…I-I wouldn't…" the wyvern stuttered, finally finding the snag in her plans.
Turning to the stupefied Wei Xiang, Qinghe patted his shoulder and said with a righteous expression, "See? She really is stupid. You should be glad I'm allowing you to be with me, or else you'd be complicit in something so distasteful."
"…" The Wei Xiang who had just seen his lover wield his sharp tongue for the first time felt conflicted.
And so, with a few sentences, Feng Qinghe rendered two heavenly wyverns completely speechless.
Finally forced to admit that there was no way she could get out of this, the female wyvern's expression hardened. She had suffered under that man's hands once, she couldn't do it again!
Not caring about the pain, she lunged forward using every bit of her strength. The sharp wires holding her in place cut through her scales and tissue as she ruthlessly strained forward. As she finally managed to squeeze out, a bloody layer of hide and flesh was left behind within the empty strings.
All this had taken not even a second.
The skinned wyvern single-mindedly charged towards Wei Xiang, attempting to take him by surprise.
Reacting to the danger to his beloved before he could think, Qinghe formed a massive spear of wind and slammed it down with force. The spear easily pierced through the side of the wyvern's neck and into the ground, pinning her in place.
Thwarted, the female wyvern screamed in rage and opened her mouth to shoot acid at Qinghe once again.
Wei Xiang quickly sent out his golden wire to firmly wrap around her muzzle, effectively blocking her attempt.
The two of them, Feng Qinghe and Wei Xiang, stood there with an arm extended as they reacted to save the other. They looked at each other, and a new understanding was born between them.
When their safety was threatened, their lover would step up to protect them. This had now been proven.
The thrashing of the wyvern who was once again bound broke the atmosphere.
Straining, she managed to open her mouth the tiniest bit to laboriously grunt out, "Xiang…how could you…kill them…all! Not…sparing…even one! You…betrayed…the entire...clan…" Unable to continue forcing her trussed jaws apart, the wyvern trailed off.
Wait, Wei Xiang, he…killed the entire heavenly wyvern clan? Was that what she was trying to say? Qinghe was stunned.
"They deserved it. You all did." Wei Xiang's voice was steady, his face grim. But Qinghe could detect the smallest trace of pain.
He might have wiped out his clan, but he clearly had a reason to bear that excruciating burden. He must have loved his family too. It must have hurt him terribly to have to do it.
Qinghe turned to the female wyvern. He was fundamentally a kind person, but only until someone caused his dear ones pain.
This female was Wei Xiang's cousin, but also an enemy that had not only tried to harm him, but also unrepentantly killed many people, both cultivators and defenseless mortals alike. And now her words were causing Qinghe's loved one pain that he was trying hard to hide.
For that, she would die. It was that simple.
Raising his hand, Qinghe commanded, and the compressed wind and spiritual force comprising the spear responded. The female wyvern felt a sudden sense of danger from the spear that was pinning her down by the neck. Horrified, she managed to cast one last look at Qinghe before the spear exploded.
Flesh burst and splattered the cavern. Crimson splashed extravagantly as the last female wyvern's life ended.
Surprised, Wei Xiang looked at Qinghe.
He had thought that once it was known that he had cold-bloodedly wiped out his own clan, Qinghe would hate him. Qinghe was kind and considerate in his own way, there was no way he would condone something like that. He would probably even take his cousin's side on this.
Wei Xiang had endlessly worried about it on the way over, finally deciding to just let fate take its course. Hiding it would only delay the inevitable.
And when the time finally came, he had prepared himself to face his accusations and revulsion.
But Qinghe had instead killed his cousin without hesitation.
Why?
Qinghe turned to his befuddled lover and admonished, "Why would you just stand there and let her berate you?"
Hesitating, Wei Xiang finally managed to say, "But what she said was true. I did murder everyone in my clan…"
Rolling his eyes, Qinghe spoke, "I know, you must have had your reasons. But that doesn't mean she can stab you with those words." His face turned cold and vicious. "I won't let anyone hurt you, mentally or physically."
"…" That was why you killed her? Because what she said hurt me?
But Wei Xiang's heart was touched. He had been worried for nothing.
Suddenly remembering something, Qinghe fetched a few bottles from his storage space and went to squat beside the blown off head of the wyvern. He tipped her head so that the acid from her mouth would drip into the bottles. He didn't forget Lei Zihua's request to fill a few bottles with the beast's 'venom' that turned out to be acid. Thankfully, the bottles were of good quality and could handle the corrosiveness.
Seeing Qinghe nonchalantly exploiting his cousin even in death, Wei Xiang didn't know how he should feel.
Once he was done, Qinghe put away the completely filled bottles, stood up, and said, "Let's go outside and get some fresh air. You can also tell me all about your past."
Wei Xiang gave a tight nod.
The two made their way out of the cave system using the same path they had used while entering.
Qinghe looked around as if searching for something before asking Wei Xiang, "Your cousin seemed pretty wounded. Shouldn't there be a trail of bloodstains or something along the path?"
"She isn't a complete idiot. She must have removed any traces of her presence just in case, since she would be at a disadvantage if someone stumbled upon her when she was weakened. She might win, but it would only aggravate her injuries."
"Hmph, too bad she met us then," Qinghe said arrogantly.
"Yes."
The rest of the way out was spent in contemplative silence and quiet companionship.
Once they exited the cave, Qinghe tried to find a place nearby where they could sit and talk for a bit. He spied a small pond surrounded by a short wall and happily strode towards it.
Wei Xiang smiled and shook his head affectionately as he followed. It seemed his lover was fond of dipping in water no matter the situation.
Sure enough, Qinghe hurried to remove his shoes and plopped down on the short wall, his feet and ankles submerged in the refreshingly cool water. Warm sunlight caressed his skin as he sighed and closed his eyes in pleasure. His pink lips rose up in a slight smile, his dark eyelashes brushing his cheek.
After removing his shoes and cumbersome equipment, Wei Xiang sat down beside Qinghe and stared enraptured at his lover's graceful form. He wanted to hold and kiss him, but also didn't want to disturb the quiet tranquility Qinghe seemed to be enjoying.
Sensing his lover's gaze, Qinghe opened his eyes and looked at Wei Xiang's dazed expression. He was used to being looked at like that when he removed his appearance changing talisman, but not when he still had it on like now. Which part of his current self evoked such a reaction, he wondered.
Qinghe felt his heart grow inexplicably itchy.
He wanted to hold Wei Xiang's hand, but felt that it was not enough. So he moved closer and hugged his waist and rested his head on Wei Xiang's shoulder. He looked up at his lover's beautiful face through his lashes.
Qinghe's pleasant voice was relaxed as he spoke, "Are you ready to tell me now?"
Wei Xiang was nervous but also glad that he had a chance to explain himself. His lover was so sensible and understanding rather than impatient, he had really lucked out!
"How much do you want to know?" he asked.
"As much as you can tell me," came the prompt reply.
Taking in a deep breath, Wei Xiang began, "Let me tell you a story then of how the heavenly wyverns came to be."
Qinghe snuggled into his lover's side and got comfortable as he prepared to listen intently, not wanting to miss a word.
"The heavens are said to be ruled by the four divine beast clans and the deities overseen by the Heavenly Emperor. Of the four divine beasts, the True Dragon Clan is said to be the most prominent.
"One day, the absolute ruler of the dragon clan descended to this realm. Over the course of her travels, the dragon queen met and fell in love with the king of a small but extremely powerful serpent clan. These serpents excelled at manipulating the metal element, and along with the dragons who had mastery over the fire element, they both made a good match, their offspring expected to be more powerful than either on their own.
"But the dragon queen's court of royals did not approve of mixing foreign blood into the divine dragon's lineage. They strongly opposed, going as far as trying to assassinate the dragon queen and serpent king's little children. Frightened for their safety, the dragon queen and the serpent king chose to make the world believe that they had separated, the serpent king going into hiding with his children in a hidden dimension made by the dragon queen."
Wei Xiang spread his hands as he announced, "This is that dimension and the heavenly wyverns were the descendants of those children."
Qinghe was thoughtful. Obviously all hadn't gone as planned, since the heavenly wyverns had all but gone extinct. He asked, "Then what happened? How did it end up like this?"
Shrugging, Wei Xiang said, "Everything that rises, falls. They got too conceited. They named themselves heavenly wyverns and thought they were high and mighty.
"They were restrained at first, but then found that the dragon clan no longer bothered with them, so they started spreading out. At first, they truly were a great and benevolent clan. But as their bloodline diluted and their powers decreased over succeeding generations, they grew wretched. The loss of prestige hit them hard and they resorted to despicable means to increase their own strength and regain their former glory.
"Their methods were similar to that of demons. They harvested spiritual energy by killing and torturing both people and beasts. They cruelly extracted and ate cultivation cores and beast cores like they were common pills. They might have declined compared to before, but they were still powerful. It was a chaotic time for cultivators, humans, and beasts alike, and they were unable to gather enough strength to face the heavenly wyverns.
"And then Master descended. He created the Order of Sentinels to maintain the law and punish criminals. And since the heavenly wyverns were powerful criminals, he wanted to deal with them himself."
Wei Xiang paused, gathering his thoughts.
Curious about something, Qinghe asked, "But then where do you come in?"
Wei Xiang smiled bitterly, "Then let me start again from there.
"Due to the heavenly wyverns' debauched ways, the Heavens had cursed them to have no offspring. It had been nearly seven thousand years since the last child was born and they were frantic. Of the many eggs the dragon queen had laid at the beginning, there were a few that had never hatched. This is a relatively normal occurrence for high-level reptilian beasts. The wyvern clan worshipped these eggs in a temple. Spurred on by desperation, the clan leader extracted the life essences of several powerful beasts and imbued the strongest unhatched egg with them in an effort to stimulate its hatching."
Qinghe's eyes widened.
"And so I was born," Wei Xiang confirmed his suspicions while smiling humorlessly.