Dai Yang pulled Yuen closer to him, caressing his cheek and brushing away the remaining mud with his hand. For a moment, Dai Yang froze in place as he looked into Yuen's golden eyes, which were truly beautiful in the sunlight. He held Yuen's hand and kissed his cheek, which made Yuen widen his eyes in surprise, not expecting that to happen.
"Brother Yang!"
Dai Yang smiled. He had longed to do that for a while. Yuen's chubby white cheeks were so tempting, like a ripe peach: reddish and sweet-looking. How could he resist?
"Hey, it smells so good."
Yuen pursed his lips.
"What smells good, I haven't bathed yet"
Dai Yang held Yuen's hand and pulled his body towards him, making the young man sit on his lap. That was what Dai Yang wanted from the start. He put his arm around the young man's waist so he couldn't escape.
"Brother Yang" Yuen looked around, fortunately, none of the guards and servants saw them. If they saw what happened there, Brother Yang's reputation would be tainted, and everyone would think strangely of him.
Dai Yang hugged Yuen tightly.
"Em, so, would my dear stay with me here? This palace is so cold without the presence of my Yen Yen, I will give you whatever you want. You also have the best medicine in the world, it can give your body enough power until one day I find a way to deal with the poison in your body. Do you want to stay here?"
Yuen was silent. He didn't expect to hear those words from Dai Yang, even though he already knew how the man felt towards him. Yuen tried to get out of Dai Yang's arms. The Valley King finally let go and let Yuen sit in his chair. He waited for the answer.
"You know that I can't do that. I have lived with my teacher since I was little. All this time, it was he who looked after me, making every life that was almost gone connected again. I haven't done anything to repay him, how can I just leave? Besides, there is no cure for this poison, you knew that, didn't you?"
Dai Yang watches Yuen sitting back with a sluggish face. His previously enthusiastic face became gloomy, it was because of him. Huang Bai says that freeing the Iron Elder could be the only way to save Yuen's life, he might know where the antidote is. Elder Iron was indirectly related to Priest GuHui, the person who made this terrible poison. No one knows for sure what happened sixteen years ago, how the Emperor, who was a descendant of the pillar of heaven, died.
There must be a reason for everything. And, it was likely related to Yuen Er. However, he had to find out. And the only way now is to ask the Iron Elder himself.
The man was locked in a cave, four levels deep below the cold palace in the valley of ghosts in the thorn cave. No one could ever enter there because each level of the prison was locked by a celestial chain that could only be cut by the Heaven sword, his sword, which was passed down from generation to generation from his predecessor, namely, his father. The heavenly sword, or as it is called, the Dragon sword is forged from dragon blood to reduce the heat level when it is forged. Every sword vein contained the essence of a dragon. And perhaps, the celestial chains were like that too, they had more or less the same relationship. That was also something Dai Yang wanted to know now.
Dai Yang smiled, he took Yuen's hand, holding them both tightly.
"I swear, I will find an antidote for your poison, trust me, my Yen Yen, you'll be alright"
Yuen Er smiled at Dai Yang who looked at him with pitying eyes. It's strange, even though they just met, every time he sees that man, his chest feels warm. His heart was beating quite fast than usual. A very comfortable feeling as if I had known him for a long time.
"Brother Yang, don't worry about me, just being able to live to this age makes me very grateful. Master said he didn't even think that I could survive this long. When I was six years old, I was no longer able to live because by then the poison had damaged my heart. But, somehow, after feeling so much pain that I thought I was going to die, I was able to live until now. It's more than I can ever ask, I won't ask for more."
Dai Yang saw Yuen's face, which despite his condition, was still smiling. He took Yuen's hand, hugged his waist, and put his ear to the young man's left chest. Yuen stuttered, unable to push away Dai Yang who was already hugging him tightly.
"Brother Yang"
Dai Yang put his ear to hear Yuen's heartbeat. The heart he gave him, half of his heart, was in the child's body.
After giving him this extremely rare plant to survive, the little dragon Dai Yang managed to heal his wounds, make his fins shine again, and gain cultivation strength equivalent to a thousand years. That's what enabled him to obtain a perfect human body. Even if whatever happens, he will not lose his body. That was also because the little dragon Dai Yang had given half of his heart to the little boy who suddenly fell unconscious dying. That kind-hearted child knew how powerful the Moon Lotus flower was, instead of using it to save himself, he instead gave it to the little dragon. He is indeed a very good kid. Dai Yang would never let go of his grip, and would not let the kid fight alone, he would always be by his side, for the rest of his life.
"My YenYen"
Yuen smiled, he stroked Dai Yang's hair who hugged him tightly. He didn't mind the big man giant hugging him like that. He thinks he has gotten used to it and feels comfortable with it
"Hey, Brother Yang, I'm fine, no need to worried about me"
….
By late afternoon. Dai Yang had just finished a short meeting with the advisors and generals of Golden Cloud Valley. Unusually, the daily meeting ended quite briefly. That's because he couldn't wait to meet Yuen.
Pai glanced at Huang Bai who was still sitting in his place while his King had already walked out of the hall.
"Advisor, will the King get worse than this, now, he is no longer enthusiastic about looking for forest bandits. Don't even care about the gold seekers at the other end of the river. Usually, he would chase them away. Do we need to worry about it?" Pai whispered. He has to keep a low voice and wait until the King is out or he will hear it. Huang Bai pursed his lips, tidying up his text after he recorded the contents of the meeting.
"Don't worry about that, Pai, the King is just filling his heart with other things, soon it will be back to normal again."
Pai just frowned. Seeing the old advisor who looked very calm, maybe he was just overreacting, he thought.
….
The atmosphere in the Valley King's private room was very calm. There was only a faint sound like rubbing between a jade comb and Yuen's long golden hair, and the sound of an object being placed on the table slowly. Yuen smiled when he saw his hair which had been styled so beautifully. Two young maids helped him get dressed and style his hair. The new clothes are so pretty, the slightest movement made the soft fabric float smoothly in the air. Light red and gold tones, high-quality satin fabric covered in shimmering silk. It was new clothes that Dai Yang had given him, which surprisingly fit his body well. Of course, Dai Yang had prepared these beautiful clothes from the first time he met him. When he was walking around in the center of Clear Water City, he saw a busy clothing shop with beautiful clothes which immediately made him imagine the beauty of Yuen Er. Without much thought, he ordered it, especially for Yuen, not just one, but some of them. The clothes were so beautiful, they blended so well with his radiant face. Yuen pulled the strap of his belt because he was too thin, the strap seemed a bit loose and almost fell off.
"Um, sister, this is a bit loose, can you help me" he untied the tie and pulled it to tighten it. As he was about to tie it, two hands reached through his back waist and grabbed the golden rope. Did one of those servers do it? But strangely, they wouldn't dare to touch him, let alone touch his hand.
Yuen turned his head, finding Dai Yang already standing behind him, very tall. His head just came up to the top of the big man's chest.
"Brother Yang"
Dai Yang smiled, after chasing the two maids out, now he would serve his little prince. Dai Yang grabbed Yuen's hand which was holding the rope of cloth wrapped around his waist.