After the interrogation of the Black Fang member Jian Huan, Qinghe left everything to the Sentinels and aimlessly strode through the various corridors of the underground prison with Wei Xiang by his side.
Though Wei Xiang felt confused at first, he finally understood the reason for his little lover's wandering.
"Qinghe, if you want to get out of here, then we need to use the transportation array we came through," Wei Xiang kindly reminded.
For security reasons, this prison was one of the few places that couldn't be accessed through the shadows. Exiting this underground prison required being accompanied by a Sentinel holding an authority token to activate the transportation array.
Hearing his lover's reminder, Qinghe halted abruptly and nodded. His face remained expressionless as he used his memory to find the way back to that platform with the formation drawn on it. Without waiting, Qinghe and Wei Xiang used the transportation array and quickly made it back to the Sentinel headquarters.
Knowing that his beloved was out of it, Wei Xiang gently steered him in the direction of a secluded porch at the back of a seldom used building in the Sentinel compound.
A waist-high marble railing bordered the small space and several layers of slender vines hung from above to cover the porch from the outside, casting the interior in comfortable and cool shadows. The scent of moist earth and crushed leaves permeated the space, lending it a soothing ambiance.
"Qinghe, are you alright?" Wei Xiang immediately asked once they'd made it inside.
Lifting his head dazedly, Qinghe just looked at his lover. "Me? Yes. Yes, of course I'm alright."
Wei Xiang sighed and patted his lover's head comfortingly.
With an uncertain smile pulling up the corners of his mouth, Qinghe asked, "What was that for?"
In a solemn tone, Wei Xiang stated, "To use the techniques you used, it must be necessary for you to precisely know how much pain you are causing the subject and modulate it according to what is required."
Qinghe turned his head away and shifted uncomfortably. "So what?"
Wei Xiang spoke in a soft voice, "Qinghe, I don't think you experimented on someone else to understand all this. You would never use it on anyone else that way."
"I just tortured someone by precisely using it that way, you know?" Qinghe retorted with a hint of bitterness.
He did not deserve to be spoken to with that understanding tone his lover was using. Someone who just did the things he did to another human being…how can he deserve such kindness?
"For a moment, let's just put aside what happened," Wei Xiang said gently. "Qinghe, tell the truth. Did you experiment on yourself to perfect the use of these techniques?"
Qinghe flinched and lowered his head, curving his shoulders as if expecting to be scolded. In a low voice, he admitted hesitantly, "…Yes. But that was a long time ago. I don't indulge in that sort of self-harming behavior now, I promise!"
Wei Xiang felt his heart ache. He carefully gathered his pensive little lover into his arms and held him tightly. "I know. I just wish I had found you sooner. I could have spared us both a lot of pain. I could have taken better care of you and made sure you knew how much you're worth."
Stiffening at those words, Qinghe refuted in an angry and self-reproaching tone, "I don't deserve it. I don't deserve your understanding or kindness. Xiang, my biggest contribution today was only causing pain. I hurt someone so badly that they broke. I…I'm not a good person and I don't deserve good things."
But Wei Xiang wasn't having it. "I've hurt and broken far more people than you—hundreds of them in fact. Does it mean that I don't deserve good things either?"
Qinghe's head shot up. "No! You– You deserve all the nice things in the world! Xiang, if you hurt people, it's only because you had a reason to!"
With a raised eyebrow, Wei Xiang returned, "Then didn't you also have a reason for doing what you did?"
Qinghe blinked confusedly as if such simple logic escaped him.
In a bemused tone, Wei Xiang said, "Qinghe, what you did was out of necessity. If you didn't help us extract information from that man so that we can more quickly eradicate Black Fang, then who knows how many more people would die in the future? And even though he hurt you before, you still didn't seek revenge. You only interrogated him because there was a need for it and you didn't take any pleasure in it. Moreover, you even feel guilty for doing what you had to. If that's not being a good person, then I don't know what is."
A small frown tightened his forehead even as a blush crept up his cheeks. Being praised by his beloved was something Qinghe didn't think he could ever get used to. "I do realize that it was necessary, but I…I just…"
"But it still bothers you that you hurt him," Wei Xiang finished the sentence in his lover's stead.
Letting out a deep breath, Qinghe nodded. "Yes. Yes, it does."
Even now, the feeling of guiding his wind and purposefully hurting a vulnerable human being still stayed with him. It felt like his ears were still vibrating with those hoarse screams and desperate pleading. The sight of that wretchedly writhing and twisting body was still burned into his eyes. How could something like that not bother him?
But what his lover told him next shocked him out of these thoughts.
"Then let me tell you something that might make you feel better about what you had to do," Wei Xiang began with a sharp smile. "A few weeks before, I traced along the connections of the smugglers you gave us to apprehend long ago—the same ones who tried to forcefully take away your junior brothers a while before they were rescued by your senior brother and joined your sect. I found out that the biggest buyer and backer of that smuggling group was the Black Fang organization. They were the ones who wanted to procure your juniors and guided the smugglers towards them."
The soft hesitation and guilt in Qinghe's eyes were instantly replaced with cold, hard anger.
All of his junior brothers' suffering from back then was Black Fang's doing?!
Thinking back to when they had met each other for the first time, Qinghe still remembered the emaciated and unkempt forms of the twins clutching tightly onto each other while looking at him with fear and distrust reflected in their wide eyes.
He remembered all the times Fei Jin had cried because of the torment his brother had had to go through right in front of him, thinking how his twin would never speak again because of his injury. He remembered the cold ruthlessness growing deeper in Fei Yin's eyes as he learned to wield his spiritual artifact, determined to never be helpless enough to cause his brother distress ever again.
He keenly recalled those countless days when their thin bodies snuggled under his blankets, shuddering as if in inexpressible terror as they clutched at him desperately like he was their last line of defense. Even knowing that those men who had relentlessly chased after them wouldn't be able to hurt them anymore, they still feared those smugglers' illusive shadows that had stayed behind in their young minds.
If all that was Black Fang's fault…
Qinghe might be able to ignore anyone wronging him, but he would absolutely not tolerate it if it was his loved ones who suffered!
"So, you see," Wei Xiang said with his eyes glinting. "By getting us information that brings us a few steps closer to annihilating Black Fang, you are also avenging those juniors."
Qinghe gave a short nod. "You're right, knowing that does lessen my guilt. In fact, I think I could go for another fun round of interrogation in the prison."
Seeing him shedding his defeated and guilty look and growing spirited again, Wei Xiang chuckled happily. "I don't think you can get anything else out of that prisoner, love."
"I can still try," Qinghe sneered.
Wei Xiang hugged him closer and buried his face in his beloved's hair as he laughed. He really did like it the most when his little lover was his usual self.
"Alright, alright. I think it's time we convened with the others and go through the information they found from that prisoner. We should be able to put together a feasible plan to deal with Black Fang from that," Wei Xiang diverted Qinghe's attention to the more important matter at hand.
Hearing that he'd have to meet the other Sentinels again, Qinghe fidgeted uneasily. "Xiang…I-I don't think your brothers will like me anymore."
After the interrogation, he had clearly seen the horrified expressions they had looked at him with.
Listening to his beloved's dejected tone, Wei Xiang's lips twitched with anger at his fellow officers. Those damned bastards! Did they have to so openly show their reaction like that? Now look at how they've made his little lover sad!
With narrowed eyes, Wei Xiang plotted about all the ways he could make his fellow Sentinels' life difficult in retaliation.
"X-Xiang? Will they be really disgusted with me? And the G-Grandmaster, too…will he h-hate me very much?"
For obvious reasons, he didn't want his father to dislike him, but as for the Sentinels, Qinghe only wanted their approval because they were Wei Xiang's chosen family. Qinghe really wanted to get along with them and make them feel that he was someone they could gladly entrust their fellow brother to.
And having known his lover for so long, Wei Xiang also understood the reasoning behind his words clearly.
Shaking out of his thoughts with a sigh, Wei Xiang coaxed, "Love, they've done far worse things than what you did today. They were only a little shocked since you didn't seem like someone who could be so ruthless. But I can assure you that my brothers are not so shallow that they'd fear you or dislike you just because of your competence in interrogation. And as for Master, he has already dedicated so many millennia searching for you. I doubt he'd throw aside his beloved son just like that after finding him, and for such an irrational reason at that. Master is a very sensible and open-hearted person. And towards his son, he is bound to be especially soft. You have nothing to worry about on either account."
Reluctantly, Qinghe let himself hope.
"Okay, we've been gone long enough. They should've had enough time to process the information they got from that prisoner. Let's go meet up with the others and you can ascertain their attitude towards you for yourself, alright?" Wei Xiang cajoled.
Taking a deep breath, Qinghe nodded. "Okay, let's go then."
And so, after Wei Xiang used his telepathic connection to find out where the rest were gathered, the couple left the secluded porch and began making their way back to the front building where the Order's offices were located.
As they were walking back, Wei Xiang suddenly asked with a worried frown, "Qinghe, is something wrong with your stomach?"
Qinghe blinked, his wandering mind snapping back to awareness. He realized that he had unconsciously begun to rub the area under his bellybutton, and when he concentrated, he understood why.
"It seems…that my core is aching," Qinghe finally explained to his anxious lover.
Wei Xiang abruptly halted, his concern growing into franticness.
Seeing this, Qinghe also stopped and hurriedly explained, "It's nothing serious. It's just that…I might have strained myself a bit during the interrogation, that's all. It isn't like this is the first time this has ever happened and I already know how to deal with this. I just need to stabilize my state a bit and it'll be fine. So, Xiang, you really don't have to worry."
Reluctantly letting himself be reassured, Wei Xiang bent down to peck his little lover on the head. "Alright then, but tell me if it ever gets to be too much. I don't want you to get hurt or damage your core just because you didn't want to ask for help."
Qinghe rolled his eyes. "It's not that severe, it just aches a little bit. All I need to do is stabilize my cultivation, so stop worrying so much."
Wei Xiang smiled at how disgruntled his beloved sounded. With a mischievous smirk, he teased, "Didn't that manual before say that that particular dual cultivation method can help stabilize cultivation? So should we dual cultivate then?"
Qinghe's face immediately lit up. "Okay! But where should we do it? Ah, Xiang, do you have a private office or something? Maybe we should go there and dual cultivate."
Chuckling at his lover's enthusiasm, Wei Xiang sadly shook his head, "Unfortunately, the others are still waiting for us. Maybe we can visit my office after we finish meeting with them."
His face falling, Qinghe pouted. How could his Xiang be so heartless as to drive up his expectations, only to act so unnecessarily reasonable now? This was unfair!
Wei Xiang's eyes warmed as he saw his little lover's sullen face. Bending down, he lightly nipped at the curve of a pale ear, leaving behind a little pink mark. "We can take as much time as we want for ourselves later, alright?"
Qinghe felt his face heating as the mild sting from his ear spread soft waves of warmth across his skin.
Deciding to retaliate, Qinghe turned and held Wei Xiang's jaw firmly with his fingers, and before Wei Xiang could do any more than widen his eyes, Qinghe tilted his head up and gently bit his lover's jaw before sucking on it.
Leaning back, Qinghe admired the small red mark with a proud and satisfied smile.
Then acting casual again, Qinghe replied, "Okay, I guess I can wait a bit longer."
Saying so, Qinghe began walking again with cheer.
However, seeing the little smug glint in his beloved's eyes, Wei Xiang refused to let it go so easily. "Come here, you naughty imp. Do you think you can get away just like that?"
And so, tugging his mischievous little lover close, Wei Xiang bent towards his throat to leave even more love marks…
As they kept fooling around along the way like this, it took quite a while for the couple to finally make it to the Sentinel headquarters' conference room.
The conference room was wide, simple, and spacious, with a long and low table set in the middle with several traditional floor cushions placed around it. The table was plain and without any ornamentation, the heavy wood so dark that it almost looked black while it's structure seemed sturdy enough to weather a hurricane.
Presiding from the head of the table, Feng Huixin sat with his back straight and his bearing stately. On either side of the table were the other Sentinels, sitting with an equally prim posture even as they laughed and chatted freely amongst themselves.
To Feng Huixin's right, Kong Min sat with a listless expression, while to the left, two consecutive seats were left free for Wei Xiang and Qinghe.
As the couple finally entered the room, the merry chatter momentarily ceased as all heads immediately turned in their direction.
Qinghe carefully and unobtrusively studied the Sentinels' reactions and saw that though their expressions bore hints of sheepishness and chagrin, they also seemed very welcoming in general.
As for his father…Qinghe only sensed warmth, affection, and worry from him. It seemed that his sudden exit before had caused Feng Huixin to be concerned.
Feeling guilty about making his father anxious, Qinghe sent him a quick smile as an apology. But before he could open his mouth to speak, Kong Min let out a loud and dramatic gasp.
With an undercurrent of glee, he exclaimed, "Junior Brother, how could you! You were gone for less than an hour and you already… Tsk, you're such a ravenous beast!"
Sure enough, he had noticed the bright little bite marks scattered over Qinghe's pale ear and neck, the trail seeming to lead further below into the collar of his clothes suggestively. Meanwhile, the marks Qinghe had left on Wei Xiang, other than the one on his jaw, were all cleverly hidden and unobvious, thus not drawing any attention.
Now with Kong Min deliberately pointing it out, the others also began to notice the love bites on Qinghe, their expressions growing strange as they shot mock-disapproving looks at their senior officer.
Seeing this farce, Wei Xiang's eyebrow twitched. Turning to the instigator, he spoke in a cutting tone, "We did not do the things your filthy mind is imagining, Senior Brother. Please retrieve your mind from the gutter where it seems to have comfortably made its home. Airing it out might do wonders for your lacking intelligence."
Kong Min grinned, not at all minding his junior brother's vicious tongue as he began in an even more dramatic air than before, "You want me to believe you didn't eat up your beloved 'little lover' the first chance you got? Ha! Who knows what all depraved things you did to our innocent Little Bro after taking him away from our eyes." Shaking his head, he muttered disconsolately, "Wei Xiang, you're truly a beast ah!"
"We really did not do anything. Nothing happened, so stop dramatizing it," Wei Xiang got out through gritted teeth. This was really becoming ridiculous.
Having been witnessing this exchange all this time, Feng Huixin coughed awkwardly from the side to hide his skepticism while the other Sentinels all narrowed their eyes to show their disbelief more openly.
Looking at those hickeys and the way Qinghe's eyes looked slightly dazed while his cheeks were flushed pink, they could hardly believe that nothing had truly happened!
Wei Xiang felt really wronged as those accusatory gazes shot his way with merriment barely hidden beneath them.
Seeing all this from beside Wei Xiang, Qinghe suppressed a smile.
Then lowering his eyelids demurely to hide the playful glint in his eyes, he accused in a soft voice, "Xiang, what do you mean nothing happened? After doing all that, and making me do all those things…are you shirking responsibility now?"
"…"
Wei Xiang was rendered both flabbergasted and speechless.
Qinghe covered his face and turned away from his lover as if unable to bear the injustice while his shoulders shook in pretend sobs, but in truth, he was only hiding his laughter.
Because his lover's surprised face was really too funny!
As Qinghe took amusement from teasing his lover, the Sentinels also felt much the same.
Seeing their usually bad-natured senior officer's rare bewildered expression, the Sentinels all wanted to cheer on their new little brother. They even felt their feelings of camaraderie towards Qinghe strengthen as they saw him happily messing with this person who had bullied his own fellow officers so much till now!
After the passing of the initial shock brought on by his lover's sudden words, Wei Xiang could only shake his head with equal parts amusement and helplessness.
Then in an unreadable tone, he asked his beloved, "Oh? You want me to take responsibility, is that it?"
Hearing the strange tone, Qinghe shifted the palms covering his face to take a sneaky peek from the corner of his eyes, only to see two hands quickly extending towards him. Before Qinghe could react, Wei Xiang wrapped his fingers around his little lover's wrists and pulled away those hands to reveal the smiling face underneath.
"Since it is the wish of my dear lover, I'll take responsibility in front of everyone immediately," Wei Xiang declared in a solemn voice that belied the wicked smirk curling his lips.
Just as Qinghe registered the words, Wei Xiang pulled him forward by his wrists and pressed his lips against his beloved's still smiling ones. Qinghe reflexively parted his lips and felt his lover's breath filling up his mouth just before a warm and flexible tongue thrust inside.
The couple quickly forgot about teasing and being teased, wholeheartedly sinking into the intimacy of the kiss as they licked and lapped enthusiastically at the soft and moist inside of each other's mouths.
Easily retrieving his wrists from Wei Xiang's hands, Qinghe immediately reached out, one hand curling behind his beloved's nape to pull him closer while the other arm wrapped around Wei Xiang's shoulders to keep his lover's body pressed against him firmly.
Qinghe felt Wei Xiang's warm palms settling on his waist and squeezing slightly, his lover's thumbs tracing small circles over the sides of his stomach and sending a light shudder rippling through him. Even through the fabric of his robe, Qinghe could feel Wei Xiang's touch burning into his skin, turning it sensitive as it thirsted for those familiar hands to thoroughly explore his body once again.
Feng Huixin turned his head away, too embarrassed to witness the scene of his two sons so openly making out. Several of the Sentinels also showed uncomfortable expressions as their poor single hearts were ruthlessly abused by this passionate display.
Why did it feel like their Senior Officer Wei had now found another effective method of bullying them?! And Little Bro, how could you betray us like this and join the enemy's side?!
But the couple, as usual, paid no attention to their unwilling audience's grievances, their world only consisting of the two of them.