Brother Gong was sitting on the bed next to Brother Mo, taking a pill to heal his sore muscles. He quietly stared at Brother Mo's face, trying to sort through all the thoughts in his head. He thought back to his confession of guilt to Zhou. He ran his hand through his long locks, hating the feeling of his finger running past his neck. His urge to cut it off intensifying.
"You're such an idiot Mo Chang. You already knew that Brother Ye is a genius, yet you still tried to provoke him into a fight," Brother Gong said. He watched as Brother Mo's pupils flicked over to him, defeat in his eyes.
"You know my reasons," Brother Mo croaked out. Brother Gong walked over to him, ignoring the protesting groan of his muscles.
"Did your parents send word again?" he asked gingerly. Brother Mo looked away, fingers gripping the sheets.
"We could always run away, you know. Live somewhere else and build our own life," Brother Gong said, scratching the sheets. Brother Mo sighed and looked back at Brother Gong.
"I'm the eldest child. My younger siblings are barely of age to start cultivating. They look up to me and my parents expect a lot from me. Yet all they talk about is how they wish I was more like Brother Ye," Brother Mo vented. Brother Gong interlocked his fingers with Brother Mo. Brother Mo glanced at their hands and interlocked his fingers with Brother Gong's.
"Why don't we run away then? My older brother and sister can take care of my parents, and you can leave the toxic behavior of your parents," Brother Gong said hopefully. Brother Mo sat up, ignoring the feeling of his skin tightening in objection. He cupped Brother Gong's cheek, staring at him with adoring eyes.
"You always act so apathetically, yet here you are, so lovingly caring about me," Brother Mo said. Brother Gong crinkled his nose.
"Do you want me to leave? Because I can always go hang out with Zhou and Brother Ye and leave you here," Brother Mo clutched his heart and fell back onto the bed, faking groans of pain.
"Here I am, suffering and burnt, and my dear boyfriend is threatening to leave me all alone," Brother Mo said dramatically. Brother Gong huffed, holding himself back from hitting Brother Mo.
"Do Brother Zhou and Brother Ye know about us?" Brother Mo asked. Brother Gong shook his head.
"I lied to them that I didn't like being your friend," Brother Mo nodded and sighed, caressing the back of Brother Gong's hand with his thumb.
"It's been hundreds of thousands of years since homophobia and transphobia has been punishable and eradicated from the higher realm. The middle realm has homophobia and transphobia, but they're a minority, and there are laws protecting us. So why is it that only the lower realm is so behind?" Brother Mo complained.
"So let's run away," Brother Gong said.
"I'll kill Brother Feng first," Brother Mo insisted. Brother Gong sighed.
"You're still on that? It's been a year," Brother Mo crossed his arms, lowering his eyes.
"He shunned you when you came out, and he calls you slurs when you're not around. I won't feel better until I kill him," Before Brother Gong could answer, Brother Feng, walked in. Brother Gong quickly let go of Brother Mo's hand and faced Brother Feng. Disgust flashed in Brother Feng's eyes before he walked over to Brother Mo.
"Brother Ye and trashy-xian are in the room across the hall. I also heard that the trash is cultivating now," Brother Feng said with a poisonous tone, carefully watching Brother Mo's face. Brother Mo stared at the ceiling blankly.
"Don't mess with Brother Zhou or Brother Ye anymore," Brother Mo said. Brother Feng stared in shock at Brother Mo.
"But Brother Mo, it was your idea that we try to threaten trashy-xian so he would leave and know his place!" Brother Feng protested. Brother Mo squeezed his eyes shut and sighed.
"Don't call him trash anymore. I couldn't hit him when we fought. He might be a genius like Brother Ye. The best we can do is apologize and try to not argue with them," Brother Mo said tiredly. Brother Feng tightened his fists and looked down at the ground.
"So you're just going to give up? You're just going to bow down to him?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"Feng Hui, there's no reason for us to continue bullying Brother Zhou, so drop it,"
"Dammit!" Brother Feng shouted, punching the wall, the wall collapsing into a hole at the impact.
"You're gonna have to pay the-"
"I don't care! My family is the richest out of you two! You're just gonna give up? What about all the resources that my parents gave you to take out Zhou?" Brother Feng shouted. Brother Gong stepped in front of Brother Feng, glaring at him.
"Leave," Brother Gong said coldly. Brother Feng scoffed and sneered at Brother Gong.
"Protecting your little boyfriend there? What can you do if I decide to attack him right now? You're not strong," Brother Feng ridiculed. Brother Gong's blood ran cold as he frowned inwardly, knowing that they both might die if Brother Feng attacks him.
"How did you know?" Brother Gong asked icily. Brother Feng laughed, glaring at him in disbelief.
"It's pretty obvious how you two are so chummy around each other. You, gays, are disgusting," Brother Fend jeered.
"Feng, leave," Brother Mo ordered. Brother Feng rolled his eyes.
"You're so dead if your parents find out," Brother Feng said, walking out. Brother Gong sighed and looked over at Brother Mo worriedly.
"He's right, you know. Your parents are gonna kill you if they find out about us," Brother Gong said. Brother Mo, dragged his arm to cover his eyes.
"I guess we have to run," Brother Mo muttered. Brother Gong walked over and placed a kiss on Brother Mo's lips.
"We can run away during the Monster Hunt Competition," Brother Gong suggested. Brother Mo uncovered his eyes and reached up, pulling Brother Gong into another kiss.
"Not a bad idea. A lot of people leave during the competition and since it's a public place, we can run under the disguise of outsiders. You're so smart," Brother Mo complimented. Brother Gong shook his head as a small smile wormed its way onto his face.
"I have to go grab something and talk to Brother Ye and Zhou. Chances are that Feng is going to target them both," Brother Gong said. He gave a quick peck to Brother Mo before swiftly leaving. Brother Mo watched him leave before looking back up at the empty ceiling.
'I hate this life,' that thought echoed in his head, the unwelcome thinking quickly filling his head. He gripped his chest as he felt his heart ache for Brother Gong.
'I really... love him,'
'How can I ask him to come with me and make him leave everything he's known?'
'Unlike mine, his parents wouldn't mind. He has older siblings and he's kind,'
'I'm not strong enough to protect both of us, and I have no idea if I can support us both,'
Brother Mo reached up and touched his face. He looked at his fingers that were wet with his tears. He quickly wiped his face and shakily took a deep breath in. Even after a year of being with Brother Gong, it was still difficult to make out what he was thinking or feeling. It was frustrating to him.
No matter how much he tried to pry, or tried to understand, or tried to find any tells, it always ended up with Brother Mo feeling even more confused than before. He hit the mattress in anger.
'Dammit! Why does it have to be like this?'
~~
Brother Gong heard Brother Mo hitting the mattress from his position outside the door. He gritted his teeth and walked away, determined to get himself and Brother Mo out of this place. Although he usually hid it, Brother Mo was one of the only people that he truly cared about. Next to his mother and older sister, he'd give his life for Brother Mo.
Brother Gong felt smothered by his situation.
Brother Feng was never the strongest. Within the 20 or so inner disciples out of the total 200 disciples, Brother Feng was one of the weakest in terms of cultivation. But although Brother Feng wasn't the strongest, he had so much influence on the sect.
Brother Feng's family was strong in the city that held their sect. They were the ones who helped create it- from the economy to the marketplace, to the sect. If they were to order an assassination on anyone, it would be considered done.
Brother Gong sighed and turned around, walking towards a certain building. He arrived in front of the sect's main building. The huge library of manuals and spirit farm was contained in this building. He eyed through the windows and saw that there were a couple of sect elders and teachers inside, talking, socializing, and reading.
"Unseen God of Deception, conceal my presence," he muttered. He became transparent, his spirit being concealed as well. Brother Gong looked at his arms in satisfaction before pushing the door open, slipping inside. A sect elder who was a couple of feet away reading a book noticed the sound of wind and looked up, closing the door.
"It seems to be quite windy today," the sect elder muttered to himself before walking away. Brother Gong calmed his racing heartbeat and quickly ran toward the door, looking around before opening it. He quickly shut the door behind him and saw the heavy wooden door that protected the room he was looking for- the treasury.
Inside of the treasury were countless treasures. Spirit weapons, mid-level spirit plants, mid-level spirit stones- anything you could imagine. Even though this was the lower realm, the treasure was still quite good. Nothing compared to the middle realm or the high realm, but it was good enough for the people of the lower realm.
He touched the door lightly, examining it. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed the grain of the wood.
'I've seen this in a formation book before. It's a low-level lock formation. You need to be at least a Rank 2 Formation Expert to make this,'
'How in the world did they get a Formation Expert here in the lower realm?' Brother Gong wondered suspiciously. He stared at the door, trying to remember how to undo this formation. Nothing popped up in his head as he cursed himself for not paying more attention when reading it.
As he examined the door more closely, he noticed that there was a shingle that could be picked off and disrupt the formation.
'This is gonna set off some warnings,' Brother Gong realized as he couldn't find any other way to open the door.
He picked off the shingle, pushing the door open as the formation fell.
"Warning! Warning! Treasure room breach! Warning! Warning!" Brother Gong cursed in his head and quickly looked around the treasure room, trying to find anything useful. He grabbed a staff and a sword with dense spirit, the weapons quickly becoming transparent as well.
'I'd grab something for Zhou and Brother Ye, but they can't explain if they get caught and the sect elders ask how they got it,' Brother Gong thought regretfully. He looked around, grabbing some low-level spirit stones and putting them into his robe pockets.
A box with dense spirit caught his eye. He stopped in front of it as he examined the box. He cursed as he heard footsteps approaching the room. He quickly grabbed it and ran out just as a bunch of sect elders came running inside. He held back a gasp and pressed up against a wall, letting the hoard of adults run past him. He let out a breath as the treasury door closed, quickly running out.
'I can only do so much to help you, Zhou and Brother Ye. You both will have a target on your heads, so I can only prepare you for the worse,'
~~
Ye looked inside the wardrobe, trying to find where Zhou had put his night robes. He found them in one of the lower drawers. He eyed a dark space in the back and reached into it, bringing out some bloody robes. His eyes darkened as he remembered that night. It was a night where he became a genius, but also got an ice pick pointed at his heart.
He opened up the folded robes and examined the small symbols drawn in blood- a reminder and a warning.
He was bound to power and potential with death looming behind him. The only thing he wished for was to stay by Zhou's side, although he didn't quite know what drew him to Zhou.
Ironically enough, Zhou's parents didn't trust him with their son's life. When they were on the verge of death, or, their fake death, Ye was the only one that ran to them.
"Ye Zhong, take care of my Zhou, promise?" Chen Xieren begged him, desperation in her voice. Ye Zhong nodded, gripping her chilly hands. Chen Xieren slashed her finger and drew on Ye's robes, right over his heart.
"There is a shard of ice pointed right at your heart. Until a certain condition is met, it will not go away. If you leave Zhou or he dies, you will die. Do not tell him anything about this until he is ready," Chen Xieren said.
"How do I know if he's ready?" Ye asked, confused. Chen Xieren smiled at him.
"You'll know. Now go, my son must be terrified," Ye felt an uncomfortable coldness spreading from his chest to his fingertips, the burning buildings around doing nothing to warm him up.
"Remember your promise," Chen said, before closing her eyes. Ye placed his fingers on her neck, feeling stifled as he felt no pulse. He stood up shakily and backed away, breaking into a sprint as he got farther.
'Zhou, who are you? What are you?' Ye rubbed his blood-covered hands against his robes, trying to warm up his fingertips that were turning blue.
'Where are you?' Ye wondered. He felt pulled by a connection, forcing him to move his freezing limbs towards that pull. His eyes fell onto a cellar door, expertly hidden away and blended into the ground. Ye struggled to wrap his fingers around the metal bars, pulling it open, his own pull intensifying as some semblance of warmth returned to his fingers.
He peered inside and his eyes lit up as he saw the small, scrawny figure's silhouette.
"Zhou," he called out. The figure that was shaking froze, unwilling to look at him. Ye smiled softly and hopped down, quietly walking towards the figure. He kneeled down and placed his hands against the head, forcing his head to look up.
"Zhou, it's me. It's me, Ye Zhong," Ye said softly. His heart trembled as Zhou's eye's lit up, widening in disbelief.
"Er gege," Ye felt the air knocked out of him as Zhou hugged him, gripping onto his robes like his life depended on it. Ye felt his fingertips become warmer and easier to move. He gently pushed Zhou away and reached into his robe pocket, taking out a handkerchief and cleaning Zhou's face.
"Er gege, where's uncle and auntie?" Zhou asked, sniffling every now and then. Ye stiffened as the scenes flashed through his head- seeing his mother's and father's bodies on fire, smelling the sickening scent of their flesh sizzling, toes curling as he tried to block out the sound of their bloodcurdling screams. Ye gripped his fists, looked down, and shook his head, refusing to let Zhou see the tears that were prickling the corners of his eyes.
He glanced at his hands as Zhou took his fist, unfurling it, and interlocking his hands in. He struggled to not throw Zhou's hand away. It felt like a million ants were crawling on his skin, making him feel suffocated.
"Er gege, we will get revenge for our parents, okay? So don't leave me, okay?" Zhou asked softly. Ye tried to stop the blood roaring through his ears as his heart ached. The ice shard pressed against his heart, his blood running cold.
'Calm down. Zhou is not the one who hurt you,' Ye reminded himself. He felt his mental dam slowly bend and groan against the strength of his tears and trauma.
"Of course, I won't ever leave you, Liuxian," Ye replied softly, covering up the strained tone that pained him. He felt bittersweet as Zhou grinned at him, settling back down on the grainy dirt ground.
Ye pulled at his robes, suddenly feeling like he would burn up from the strong heat that penetrated every nerve in his body.