Zhu Yan had planned to show his gratitude to Yi Chen in a very pleasant way, but in reality, once Yi Chen finished his cultivation two hours after midnight, he was so exhausted that Zhu Yan had to carry him to bed to rest after such an impossible feat, lying beside him while looking at him again as if he were the most intriguing work of art in the world.
"I'm not that interesting..." Yi Chen whispered as he hugged the great demon tighter. He was lying on Zhu Yan's chest, with one arm around his waist and one leg between his. Apparently, this was his favorite position, much to Zhu Yan's despair, as each time he did this, it meant a long night of suffering and temptation for the great demon.
"Are you still awake? Xiao Zhuo, get some rest. You need it, even though you're a demon now. Cultivating two cores at once was insane and dangerous, not to mention draining you to the point of nearly fainting."
"But I managed to strengthen your core and reduce its damage, which was worth the exhaustion it caused. We're facing something powerful and evil, and we can't afford to face it with less than we have. It was because of me that you damaged your core, and what I just did is just a small way of making up for it." At that, Zhu Yan turned in bed to be face to face with his lover.
"Xiao Zhuo... you don't have to repay me anything, because I'm the one who owes you too much, and not even offering my life could make it up to you..."
"Zhu Yan, that's over now..."
"Yes, I have the blessing of your kind heart, but I still owe you, Yi Chen, more than I can ever give you back..."
"You think too much..." Yi Chen said before closing the distance between their faces and kissing him to shut him up as he savored the sensation of their lips melting into one, awakening their deep mutual desire and spiritual bond. Each kiss was a spark of an inextinguishable fire, deep and ancient, blessed and cursed at the same time.
"Zhu Yan... If you are so set in giving something back, then this is the way... I only want your love... not your sacrifices, not your guilt, not your need to repay me back, because having you close, like this is all I need." Yi Chen said as they kissed in bed for a long time before things got heated and at the end, Zhu Yan did end up using that barrier as he gave Yi Chen exactly what he had asked of him.
"Yi Chen, I love you..." Zhu Yan whisper as he felt Yi Chen's tongue run down his neck, warm and wet, his hands busy undressing him, trowing away all that keep him from touching him, from taste him, from giving his great demon pleasure and be pleasured back. Then in a tangle of skin against skin they make love, they shared their energy and give in to spell bonding their souls, their bodies and their feelings, intensifying the sensations ten fold. Zhu Yan moaned unto his deep pleasure and so did Yi Chen, until they were both fully satisfy and spent in bed while holding each other, whispering their love and eternal commitment.
The next morning, there was so much to do that they finally decided to split up after they spend a few hours of the morning distributing the cure to the citizens. Bai Jiu had already prepared the plague cure in massive quantities, which only needed his blood, and since one drop was enough, the serum he had already prepared covered almost everything that was already prepared.
They had also prepare dried plums to give with the medicine, to keep the appearance that they were giving away their demon cores. To help him with the distribution, Ying Lei, Wen Xiao, and Qing Geng stayed behind, while Zhu Yan, Zhuo Yi Chen, and Pei Si Jing went to Chongwu Camp to try to find the cause of the problem, whether it was the authentic Fei or a fake.
Pei Si Jing had already made the necessary preparations for their infiltration, and so, their plan was set in motion on two fronts. Yi Chen felt the tension building inside him, though most of it was released through lovemaking, the tender touches, the care, love and the pleasure they found in each other had make wonders, but what was coming wasn't anything simple, and he was aware of the many risks they could run into.
"I wonder what kind of devious method they used to hide the evil of this place. It oozes dark, restrained demonic energy." Yi Chen said as they descended some stairs into a dungeon-like chamber. The perfect place to hide their demons and the evil experiments that both demons and humans had suffered through.
"Demon blood, of course. They seem to love that very much." Zhu Yan replied, making sure to stay close to his lover.
"But this farce ends today, one way or another, the Chongwu Camp will cause no more harm to either demons or humans." Pei Si Jing assured them as she followed them.
"How did they manage to fool the King so badly? They killed so indiscriminately that it should have raised suspicions left and right." Yi Chen asked as his sword began to glow a faint blue.
"There are many corrupt officials supporting Wen Zongyu. Whatever they have been deceived or have done for their own twisted self-interest, will be for others to find out, and they will be punished if they deserve it. Our mission is to find Fei, whether he's a fake or not." Zhu Yan said as they went deeper into the dungeon, eventually reaching some cells at the end of the dark dungeon. Upon entering, they found someone tied to the wall.
The man's face was hidden by the hood of his cloak, but a few strands of curly white hair could be seen, like Fei's, though Zhu Yan felt something was different about his demonic energy.
"Is that him? The real Fei?" Asked Pei Si Jing, looking at him.
"It's not quite him... his energy feels strange, as if what they wanted to preserve was the disease he can spread, a body without a soul, a puppet they could use to their advantage. And judging by his injured wrist, they used his blood to provoke this plague and spread it through the air to maximize its effect." Zhu Yan replied.
"So he doesn't have a consciousness?" Asked Yi Chen.
"I don't think so. I'm guessing they used something created from the real Fei, probably when Wen Zongyu went to Qing Geng Village under the guise of being one of the doctors trying to cure the plague. This man isn't dead, but he's not really alive either."
"What do we do with him?" Pei Si Jing asked.
"Let's leave him here for now and see what else they have..." Zhu Yan suggested, and Yi Chen headed to another cell where a man was also chained to the wall, but sitting on the straw-covered floor.
"There's someone else here, and I think he's human." Yi Chen said, but as he approached and knelt beside him to check his vital signs, his sword glowed brighter, indicating that the man was no longer human. Zhu Yan, also knelt beside the man and placed his hand on his stomach and sure enough, what he felt was the core of a demon, the same type they had found in Bai Jiu's ingredients.
"A demon core..." Zhu Yan whispered.
"How come he had a demon core? How could Chongwu Camp do things like that?" Yi Chen asked.
"Because I finally created a way to truly demonize humans." Said a voice from the other side of the cell, and everyone turned to look at Wen Zongyu and by his side was Zhen Mei. They went out to confront the man who was supposed to be dead, but they were sure he was better than ever and his presence there confirmed their suspicions.
"I have a feeling you were still around, since you like playing with demons so much. Don't tell me you turned yourself into a cat demon with nine lives?" Zhu Yan mocked, but he just chuckled, indifferent to the joke.
"I assure you, I'm much more than a simple cat demon." Wen Zongyu said, looking at them with a pride that seemed misplaced.
"You seem to be proud of becoming the very thing you abhor so much. How ironic..." Yi Chen said.
"I'm truly proud of my true rebirth. I no longer suffer the limitations of a human life."
"What a hypocrite..."
"Aren't you the same Zhuo Yi Chen? You turned into the very demon you hunt and then fell in love with another one who even killed your family. You can't speak of hypocrisy."
"I didn't become a demon by choice, I was turned into one by force. Although I already had a deep blood relationship with the one who made me a demon. And about me loving a great demon, well, his death won't bring them back to life, but his life is now mine. It's better than losing everything at once, at least I gain something from it. What do you gain by becoming a demon? A phoenix demon, right? Because if you rise from the ashes, there's only one explanation." Yi Chen asked as he gave Zhu Yan's arm a light squeeze to let him know that he wasn't serious, he was just get back to that wicked man.
"Oh? At least you're a clever man. What do I gain, you ask? Well, I gain freedom, I gain the power to wreak revenge on all those who should be exterminated from the mortal lands, I gain new life, and most of all, I gain the power to create demon cores. With my phoenix power and my Ever-Burning fire, I can do whatever I want, and then I'll have the perfect team of demonized humans at my service."
"Dream on, monster." Pei Si Jing nearly spat the words out.
"Today is the last day you play with the lives of others, demons or not." Yi Chen added subtly, but the man simply laughed at them, as if he had everything to gain, as they knew he would believe, so none of them took his laughter seriously.
"It's too late for you to try to stop me from playing with the lives of others. In fact, thanks to your help, my demonic cores have spread throughout Tiandu City, gradually transforming into demonized humans starting tomorrow."
"What do you mean?" Zhu Yan asked the part.
"The fruit you distributed in the cure Bai Jiu created. It wasn't fruit he gave them, but the demonic cores I made, lying dormant and waiting for the right opportunity."
"You evil spawn. You use Bai Jiu for that too?" Zhu Yan was the best actor among them, as Yi Chen wasn't a good liar and Pei Si Jing was uncomfortable with it, so they let him be as dramatic as he wanted.
"Of course. The boy was always a means to an end."
"You're taking advantage of a child's innocence!" Yi Chen shouted with true anger at such words.
"There was no innocence in his thirst for revenge!"
"The boy had a misunderstanding with his father, and you knew about it. Yet, you use him to go against his own father, then his friends, and now you use him to kill the people of Tiandu!" Yi Chen's Cloud Light Sword glowed brightly, as if ignited by his fury.
"He also had demon blood in his veins! He deserves his own damnation. Soon, there will be no demon hunters or anyone else to stop me from killing all the demons in this world, full or half. I will send them all back to hell, where they belong!"
"Then let's start with you, monster!" Yi Chen grabbed his sword to unsheathe it, but Zhu Yan stopped him when Pei Si Jing took out the Shanhai Portal and handed it to Zhuo Yi Chen. Then she drew her bow, ready to act at any time.
"So much for your bravado! You are only cowards who only know how to run away." Wen Zongyu laughed and Pei Si Jing shot her arrow between Zongyu and Zhen Mei. They move away to avoid the arrow with Zhen Mei taking cover behind a wide stone column and Wen Zongyu throw a fireball at them, which Yi Chen easily reflected and moved to restrain him along with Zhu Yan and according to their previous plan, they use the portal to be transported to Mount Kunlun where everything was going to meet an end one way or another.
When Yi Chen opened his eyes again, he found himself standing with Zhu Yuan in the cold of the snowy mountain, which was his strong suit. Ice and water were his strength, while for the phoenix fire it was its weakness. Furthermore, Mount Kunlun was the birthplace of all gods, the location of the star constellation that sustained the existence of the Wilderness, balancing the two realms with the energy of creation. This was the place where he was most dominant, and if Ying Long had been right the last time he cultivated alongside Bing Yi, this was the place where he was closest to be a god and hopefully invincible.
"Yi Chen..." Zhu Yan whispered beside him as they looked at Wen Zongyu, hovering above the entrance to the Kunlun Mountain Temple, and Zhu Yan lightly hold his shoulder reassuringly.
"I've got this, Zhu Yan... if the gods favor us today, this monster will die without a trace of its soul, you will be freed from your malicious energy, and the curse will be broken." He said, and upon hearing that, Zhu Yan looked at him with several alarm bells ringing in his mind.
"Xiao Zhu, what are you planning to do? What kind of power did Bing Yi and Ying Long offer you to end this? Powerful spells always come at a price and will put your life in danger... Yi Chen..."
"Don't worry, Xiao Zhu, the last thing I want today is to die on an icy mountain with you. Our bond is still strong, so I'm not going to give up my life and drag you down with me."
"Then..."
"Trust me... that's all I ask. No matter what happens, no matter what you witness, no matter the odds, trust in me and the love that binds us together forever." Yi Chen said with such conviction that Zhu Yan had no choice but to trust him completely. Even if all else failed, at least they would die together.
"I said we won't die today... how little faith you have..." Yi Chen sighed, and Zhu Yan smiled apologetically. Because they were so linked, that if you didn't deliberately block your mind, their thoughts would be connected and open to each other like a book.
"My mistake, Xiao Zhuo... do what you must, and I'll do my best to help you achieve it. I do trust you." He said, and was very tempted to kiss him right there, if it weren't for the patient presence of the man who looked at them without haste or concern, as if giving them the time to say their goodbyes before dying.
"Good, now let's take care of this hot bird and roast it once and for all." Wen Zongyu laughed just before launching a series of fireballs in their way.
AN: Because the fight may be quite long, I will leave it here, but don't worry it will continue soon. Thanks for reading and see you next time, take care.