Darkness quickly loomed over the land, the skies darkened to a grey hue as nighttime arrived, the clouds reverberated with a thunderous roar as lightning struck into the cloud, warning the beings below of the heavy downpour about to commence.
Phoenix strode down the dimly lit halls, a smile tearing across her lips and hazel eyes gleaming with excitement the closer she got to her destination.
She finally halted in front of the double doors, she hovered her clenched fist above it to knock but she withdrew it and rather untied her ponytail first, letting her red locks fall loosely across her shoulders and back.
Satisfied with the result, she proceeded to knocking. The double doors gradually stretched out to reveal Xuanming standing behind it dressed in a night robe.
His icy silver eyes scrutinized her body from head to toe with a lazy look on his face before moving aside to let her in. He shut the door closed as soon as she walked in.
Her hands furled around his strong neck as she pressed her body into his but he unlocked it and moved a few meters away from her.
"Azure is here, be mindful. We don't want her finding out." He said casually and Phoenix's face twisted with bitterness.
"You don't want her finding out, I on the other hand do not care." She emancipated bitterly on every word she spoke.
Xuanming's silver eyes hardened when he stared into her hazel ones with a menacing look.
"If you ever make a sound to her, I'll make sure you never use your voice again, don't test me." He hissed darkly beneath his breath and Phoenix swallowed aware of his threats that weren't empty.
"I won't, I would never do anything to anger you." She said with a small voice as she moved closer to him and clutching onto the sleeve of his robe.
"Good, keep your mouth shut and I might just stick with you longer." Xuanming said coldly, his silver icy eyes retaining no warmth in it when he looked at her.
She abhorred the cold look he gave her dissimilar to the one he gave Azure whenever his eyes met hers, it was completely different and warm, genuine desires swirled in his eyes but with her, it was distant and cold.
She was aware he was only with her for her looks, like every man, he only wanted to fuck her but he was different from every man in her eyes, she doted on him even though she knew he couldn't reciprocate her feeling.
"You do know Azure doesn't possess any feelings for you, she doesn't love you the way she loves Zhulong, but I do and we could be satisfied together if you offer me a chance to prove my love."
Xuanming's jaws ticked in anger when he heard her speak.
"You didn't come here to spout nonsense to me, did you? If you're not here to fuck then get the hell out!" He growled in a low menacing tone underneath his breath, his silver eyes glowering coldly at her.
"I..I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend..." Her words were abruptly interrupted when he started ripping her clothes off ferociously and he shoved her onto the bed roughly before pulling his robe off to reveal his naked masculine gloriousness as he hovered above her on the bed and a yelp escaped her lips.
"Don't scream or I'll stop." He warned and she bit her bottom lip to prevent the moan from evading out of her lips.
He pressed his hard body into her naked one and she stifled the moan from escaping her lips until his full length thrust into her wet chambers and a soft moan resounded from her lips.
"I..I'm sorry.." She whispered with a shaky breath.
"The heavy rain makes every sound muffled, you can moan." He remarked with heavy huffs of breath as he pummeled her walls, the bed vibrating with every movement they made.
A soft moan freely escaped her lips as she arched her back for more.
A wicked grin tore through Zhulong's lips as he stood on the other side of the hall listening to the unholy sounds emitting from Xuanming's chambers.
"They're having a tryst, yet the fucker believes he's better than me. I wonder what Azure would think of this." Zhulong muttered beneath his breath in a devious tone before turning to leave.
He halted in his footsteps a few rooms away from Azure's. He figured it was nighttime and going to her room during that time to inform her of her friend's betrayal was cringe, he was sure she'd take it the wrong way, after all he was a womanizer. He could wait till morning.
He was about to proceed into his chamber when he heard a vaguely familiar voice behind him.
"Zhulong!"
He turned around to catch a glimpse of Ying accompanied with a familiar male walking beside him. He had a serene atmosphere hovering around him, his tranquil smile on his face never faltered and it only extended to a grin when his grey eyes locked with Zhulong's golden eyes.
"Gai." Zhulong blurted out when the familiar figure accompanied by Ying proceeded closer to him.
He could vaguely reflect on who he was, although the memories still clashed in a haze, a significant amount of memories fleeted through his eyes and he could remember he was the white tiger of the west, Gai and also that they were quite close companions.
His loose hair was black but with a strip of white running down from the top of his hair, every inch of him was sculpted perfectly, from his grey scintillating eyes to every feature he possessed.
"It's been a fairly good amount of time since our last encounter." Gai remarked with a plastered smile on his face.
"I'll be leaving now, you didn't cause any trouble for Wenglei, did you?" Ying queried sternly.
"No, did he report anything to you?" Zhulong asked in confusion.
"I'll get maids to prepare your room Gai." Ying said nonchalantly as he ignored Zhulong before moving beyond the dark hall and they watched his retreating figure in silence before he faded from their sights.
"Still troublesome I see and Ying is still so stiff." Gai broke the unnerving silence.
"Ahh yes, but I don't cause as much trouble as I used to, I grew up." Zhulong said in a low voice.
"I hope you're nonetheless fun then, growing up comes with maturity and commitments, there's no time for frivolity." Gai remarked in a rather serious tone and he saw hiss grey eyes glint with mischievousness.
"I wouldn't want you to be as stiff as Ying." Gai added in a whisper.
"Right, I wouldn't want that either."
"Speaking of, now that we're complete, I presume the real hunt for the creatures will begin and possibly an adventure too, I sense it won't be an easy feat to locate the portal." Gai remarked, his mischievous look switching into a serious one as he spoke.
"You're right, we have no lead or information on the creatures, they attack out of nowhere. We recently hunted one of them but it vanished into thin air, not logically but we lost it, my brothers did to be specific." Zhulong said and a short chuckle erupted from Gai's lips.
"I see, why didn't you join in the hunt then? I'm sure you would have been competent enough to capture it after all, you've always been the fastest." Gai remarked and he nodded in affirmation.
"I was helping Azure, she was hurt but she's doing well now." Zhulong explained and he saw a cheesy grin tear through Gai's lips.
"Ahh I see, such a pity you two didn't end up together in the past but this might be a way of fate bringing the both of you back. It might be a second chance, use it wisely if you still want her or don't use it at all." Gai stated and his fists clenched tightly, he couldn't digest the fact that he had given up on her but there was no use crying over spilt milk, he'd get her back.
"You're right, fate brought me to her." He muttered lowly and he felt Gai's grip squeezing his shoulders comfortingly.
"I'll be off to bed now, you on the other hand should commence initiating theories to help you win her heart for the second time, to ace it all, you have a rival, Xuanming." Gai stated warily but he scoffed in disagreement.
"Xuanming isn't a good rival enough, I can handle him." Zhulong said beneath his breath as his golden eyes glinted darkly.
"Such confidence, Good luck then my friend but keep your attention firm, we have another war brewing and it is only the beginning or should I say we haven't even begun yet, goodnight." Gai said and with those words, he walked out of his sight while Zhulong merely watched his retreating figure till it faded.
He pondered on what he had said about Azure and the brewing war but what caught his attention was the warnings from Gai ringing in his head.
A brewing war that hadn't begun could become quite destructive and hectic once it had commenced.