"As if I could allow it. We can't have him off harassing those in the castle." Li Jun crossed his arms.
"He doesn't have the Jumpies right now." Rai Lin said, patting the top of Wu Ji's head. Li Jun raised a brow, not understanding the terminology. However, Li Wei did, and he narrowed his eyes at Wu Ji.
Li Jun raised his brow. "I don't know what you mean, but if it's anything about him being in heat, then you wouldn't have an issue with Ji Ru from checking him, correct?"
Wu Ji quickly shook his head before Rai Lin could speak. "It's fine. He can check."
"Li Wei?" Li Jun glanced askance at his sibling. The said man pursed his lips. It seemed he was not too pleased with Ji Ru going near the dragon at all. "Put your hands behind your back."
Wu Ji nodded with a smug smile. He put his hands behind his back.
"Don't try to grope him, or I'll execute you." Li Jun said.
Tai Yang looked between the men. 'Li Jun is actually protective of Ji Ru?'
"...Ji Ru, do you mind checking him?" Even as Li Wei spoke, his voice was tense, as if he really didn't want Wu Ji there and was urging Ji Ru to say something to make Wu Ji leave.
Ji Ru looked at Li Wei then at Wu Ji who smiled at him in too fond of a way. 'Something is definitely up here.' Tai Yang thought.
"Gege, if I may." Ji Ru started. Wu Ji waved his hand then moved to scratch Ji Ru behind his ear. All the guards jerked forward, as well as Li Wei. Li Jun who was holding his sword between Ji Ru, Tai Yang, and Wu Ji swiftly moved it upward to knock the hand away, but Wu Ji had already completed the eerily affectionate gesture.
With a slight twitch of his nose, he raised a brow at everyone around. "Go right ahead, Wolfie." He said and looked back at Ji Ru with a smile. "We told you not to move." Li Wei said acidly.
Rai Lin grabbed Wu Ji's arm.
"Wu Ji, you know you shouldn't test them when Ji Ru is concerned. Be sensical. We're not here to cause trouble." She whispered discretely. Wu Ji continued to stare in irritation at Li Wei as she spoke. "Come on." Rai Lin urged. Exhaling through his nose, he put his arms around his back once again. "Fine."
If Ji Ru was uncomfortable during the encounter, he didn't voice it.
He simply unlinked his arm from Tai Yang's and moved underneath Li Jun's outstretched sword.
Tai Yang looked between Ji Ru, Li Wei, and Wu Ji.
'...What are they doing now? And why... is it like this?' He thought, bringing his hands together in front of his chest.
Ji stood directly in front of Wu Ji, and without further ado, he took a long sniff of the air.
'What in the world...' Tai Yang thought, blinking rapidly.
Ji Ru exhaled, stepped closer to Wu Ji, and took a few more short sniffs. Then he stepped back and looked at Li Wei.
"It's true that he doesn't have it, master..."
Tai Yang who was staring at Wu Ji's face noticed how his face blanched when Ji Ru called Li Wei 'master'.
"But he's got about two to three days before it gets him."
Wu Ji took a great sniff of the air too. Ji Ru's head shot towards Wu Ji's direction at the sound in alarm.
"Hmm. I see, by the way, Wolfie, you've got five days at most."
Li Wei looked like he wanted to say something, but Ji Ru beat him to it.
"I'm married though. So it's fine for me, isn't it?" Ji Ru laughed lightly. Wu Ji made a strange expression at the comment. "I know, Wolfie. How very lucky you are." When he said the last part, he looked at Li Wei almost emotionlessly. It was as if the person he wanted to know that was Li Wei.
"But something smells different." Wu Ji said. He turned his green-eyed gaze back to Ji Ru who suddenly laughed loudly and suspiciously.
"D-Different? What? Ah, yes! It must be the new lotion I've been using!"
"No. It smells like-"
Tai Yang was sure his brain would short circuit trying to understand what was going on, so he settled for staring dumbly at them. Ji Ru spoke again, clearing his throat, cutting Wu Ji off. "In any case, I think it would be fine for him to be here for a little bit." He said to Li Wei who stared at Wu Ji with pursed lips.
'They glare so much at each other, goodness gracious. Can one of you say something?' Tai Yang thought.
Wu Ji looked away from Li Wei almost arrogantly. "Yup! I won't do anything creepy!" He put his hands together and pouted.
"You said that the last time!" Li Jun snarled.
"What was I supposed to do? You we're in such close proximity!" Wu Ji put his hands on his hips.
"I was across the room! You're a perverted freak! Don't act innocent, you disgusting, vile beast!" Li Jun pointed at him accusingly.
"Hey, hey, Loverboy. Do you really want to be saying that when Xiao Xia is coming over here?" Rai Lin grinned. Everyone paused their glaring and turned simultaneously to look at the door into the courtyard. It had opened and Xiao Xia had emerged with her attendants and the palace guards.
Li Jun closed his eyes and exhaled to calm himself.
"I swear, if you do anything to mess up my weekend-"
"Yeah, yeah, we won't." Wu Ju grinned. "Thanks, Ji Ru! I can't believe it's been four years, it felt way too long!" Wu Ji said, grabbing Ji Ru's face and nuzzling it like Xiao Xia had done the night before. "Hey!" Li Jun hissed. Tai Yang noted that this time, Li Wei looked murderous. In fact, he reached forward and ripped Ji Ru away from Wu Ji who simply smirked at him. He then turned and tossed an arm around Rai Lin's shoulder, as if he'd done nothing at all.
"Yo! Xiao Xia!" The duo said simultaneously.
Xiao Xia smiled brightly. "Rai Lin! Wu Ji! What are you both doing here?" She asked, walking towards them.
"When we got your message, we couldn't help but be a bit curious. We wanted to take a look immediately." Rai Lin said as Xiao Xia approached them and engulfed them in welcoming hugs.
"Ah, I see! You'll see him when he awakens. I believe he wanted to sleep in. He looked quite exhausted from his day in his mortal realm." She spoke in a cheery voice as she clasped her hands.
The two raised their brows. "Oh, we've already seen him." Wu Ji said, pointing in Tai Yang's direction. Xiao Xia turned in confusion. When she caught sight of him, her eyes lit up.
"Tai Yang!" She said. "You're awake!" She said, practically sprinting over. Her attendants subtly scolded her as they tried to match her pace to no avail.
Li Wei and Ji Ru glanced at Li Jun who was smiling but was probably plotting murder internally as Xiao Xia didn't acknowledge him at all. Instead of greeting him, she grabbed Tai Yang's hands.
"How did you sleep? How was your evening? Did you rest enough? Are you hungry? You must be hungry! Where did you sleep? Oh, you have new glasses! They look-"
Tai Yang felt his blood run cold as he felt an icy gaze sending chills seeping into his back. He swallowed.
'If this keeps happening, he really will execute me.' Tai Yang blinked a few times. 'Okay. Think, you silly goat. For some reason, you feel this woman to be familiar, and she seems to be quite fond of you. Using that to your advantage for survival isn't wrong. She does seem like she'd help you if you needed help.'
He cleared his throat lightly and flicked his eyes twice to the right. Xiao Xia furrowed her brows in confusion, tilting her head.
"What?" She dropped her voice to a whisper.
"... Li Jun...You didn't greet him..." He said, barely audible.
"Huh?... OHHH!" She suddenly said in realization, letting go of Tai Yang's hands and looking at Li Jun.
Wu Ji and Rai Lin cackled to themselves. It was not new news that Xiao Xia's father was rather fond of Li Jun and his father. In fact, for centuries, he'd been trying to get his daughter to marry Li Jun. However, Li Jun's father had never acknowledged any proposal, and Xiao Xia had also never made a move to show any form of affection. As a result, as much as everyone was aware of Li Jun pining after the princess, they were also very aware that thus far, Xiao Xia was very much uninterested. The saddest part of all was that those that were aware included the princess herself.