Extra 3

The rumours around the Virtuous Sect were countless.

Not only were the leaders two married men, one of them wasn’t even human.

Then there were stories of a little, snow-white creature appearing once in a while - some said it was harmless, some said it played pranks.

People said the Virtuous Sect hid people who had belonged to the Demonic Sect once and converted them to spiritual followers.

Some even said a deity lived hidden inside the sect, and very rarely you’d see them wandering around.

The rumours truly were unrestrained, going in all directions. But the full truth was something not many people knew.

Shi Yue had his hands full leading the sect. Often he’d glare at his master, who leisurely enjoyed teaching Xiang Zhe or other youths in his free time. Shi Yue often chided his master for not helping out at all, but they both knew he didn’t mean it.

In truth, Shi Yue was overjoyed.

Once in a while he’d go out to hunt. If he wanted to train or spar, he had several excellent partners. Other than that he’d sit in his office, dealing with the peaceful matters that had to be settled. He’d be visited by his sword spirit, his partner or his husband sometimes, interrupting his work and then leaving again.

In the evening he sat and ate together with his whole family, then enjoyed the rest of the time with his spouse. If he wanted to sleep, he would, and Xie Yi would keep watch. If Xie Yi wanted to sleep, he’d spend his time stroking his most beloved’s hair and dozing away.

Also, now that they had time, they had started with dual cultivation.

His first impression was that dual cultivating was a spiritual mess. Neither he nor Xie Yi managed to adjust to the changes slowly, but it still took a week to deal with it. Afterwards, they both praised the positive effect: The impurities in their bodies lessened considerably.

It was a very nice explanation for doing dual cultivation. Really.

But honestly, the main reason was that letting their spiritual energy flow while they did it enhanced their senses. Obvious positive side effect there.

Even greater positive side effect: Xie Yi got hooked on the feeling of connection. Was Shi Yue gonna complain? No.

“A warning would have been great”, Shi Yue complained, ending his sentence in a hiss when Xie Yi nibbles on his neck sent shivers down his spine.

God, he was so tired! He had spent hours seriously sparring with Mingtian because Xie Yi had originally said he was going to drink with Xu Yan and not come back for the night.

“Spontaneous change of plans”, Xie Yi muttered softly. He licked his lips, his eyes shining brightly like that of a beast’s. “Because Zhi Ci asked him out to drink.”

“Still, this ti-mi-” Shi Yue’s breathing hitched. Xie Yi was rubbing his whole body against him, clothes already discarded. If Shi Yue had any energy left to even lift a finger, he’d have buried himself inside Xie Yi a good while ago.

“You don’t need to move”, Xie Yi teased, sitting down on Shi Yue’s waist. The moonlight shining in made his skin look like porcelain, soft and tender, inviting one to bite into it. His fingernails softly scratched over Shi Yue’s abdomen, almost ticklish and teasing.

The cultivator groaned as the nimble fingers moved over his waist. He lifted his arms, wanting to move Xie Yi who had sat in a way that the hard member was merely rubbing against his bottom but wasn’t inside it. It was torture.

A wide smirk revealed Xie Yi’s canines. He quickly pushed Shi Yue’s arms back down, fixing them on the mattress.

“Not allowed to move”, he breathed out seductively, hovering right over Shi Yue’s face. The other man tilted his head, wanting to connect their lips, but Xie Yi moved back with an evil giggle.

The black-haired cultivator sucked on the bobbing Adam’s apple of his husband, nibbling lightly and weaving his fingers into Shi Yue’s hair. 

The soft moans of the one he was sitting on were the greatest aphrodisiac; he shuddered at the sound and Shi Yue indulged him, not holding back. Xie Yi’s grin faltered, changing into an expression of restrained lust. His back was twitching, demanding the familiar contact and pleasure.

“I really can’t hold back at all”, he whispered in complaint and sat up straight again. His own member was leaking, the milkish fluid dripping down onto Shi Yue’s stomach.

“Well, I love that about you”, Shi Yue laughed hoarsely, his fingers clawing onto the bedsheets to keep himself from wanting to take the lead again.

Xie Yi had long adapted to their plays, basically eradicating the need for any further preparation considering his anyway abnormal pain tolerance.

The arrays in the room whirred softly, cutting off the moans and lewd wet sounds that echoed everywhere.

By the time the kids knocked at the door, things were quiet.

They carefully stuck their faces inside after being called, nervously tensing at the smell of blood. They were almost used to it, but it still triggered a habitual reaction. When their parents “played”, they weren’t allowed to interrupt.

Ah, when Mingtian and Xua Hua played, there never was a smell of blood, but they weren’t allowed to interrupt there either.

And they knew that Xie Yi was a very…

…

Whatever you would call it. They had seen him fighting, they weren’t surprised about blood.

“Can we come in?”, Xiao Zai whispered softly, holding her foster brother’s hand.

Shi Yue smiled dotingly. He lightly pushed against the tall figure splayed over himself and waved at the kids. “Leave for a minute, we will air out. Then you can come in.”

And also dress and clean up any other stuff.

But that was a detail the kids didn’t need to know.

Once they reached the level of Transcendents, Xie Yi and Shi Yue decided to meet the other Transcendent they had contact with.

Jiao Yin was a very ethereal man.

… Like a scent that might be gone at any second.

He had a little merchant guild that he used to interact with people, but frankly speaking, he didn’t go out much.

When Xie Yi And Shi Yue came knocking, they saw him wistfully look back at his books every few minutes. He was clearly torn about his desire to talk to them… or return to reading.

Well, he was a very easy-going man.

And by the time they were Transcendents, they had a vague understanding of a timeline that was destroyed by the Demonic Sect - a timeline in which all three of them were good friends.

Which also explained why Jiao Yin had been so nice when talking to a child-Xie-Yi.

Shi Yue stirred the tea and happily took a sip as Xie Yi finished telling their story.

“So what are you going to do?”, Jiao Yin asked. They all knew what exactly they meant.

Xie Yi stared out of the window, his face a bit overcast. Shi Yue reached out to interlock their hands. “Nothing is forever.” 

Burying Feng Yan had been a bad time for Xie Yi, just as bad as burying the old sect leader. They had both passed away in peace after staying in the sect, but it had still choked Xie Yi up.

At the same time, far away, there was a prince who had given up his life when his beloved’s time ended as well.

The children and their partners would live longer. Xu Yan and Li Mei, too, but they could not be compared to Transcendents.

There was a deep-rooted fear within Xie Yi whenever he thought about losing his precious people.

But he knew it couldn’t be changed.

Jiao Yin folded his hands and showed a soft smile. “But our souls are. I would not disregard how the bonds we forge in our lives can sometimes do miraculous things. How something we thought we had lost, suddenly returns to us in other ways.”

Xie Yi loosened the tight grip he had on Shi Yue’s hand. They both looked at the man before them, the one who was closer to being an Immortal than they were.

“If the bonds you forged are truly what you think they are”, Jiao Yin said as he leaned back in his chair, “then all time becomes is one large masquerade ball where the roles switch once in a while.”

He closed his eyes peacefully.

“If I was you, I’d simply go my own way and keep my eyes open.”

“Well.” Shi Yue’s eyes were wide in surprise. “How do you know all this?”

Jiao Yin didn’t respond - he had been shameless when clinging to a passerby Immortals about hearing stories, but he wasn’t shameless enough to admit him acting like that to anyone else.

Only stories were more important than his shame.

… Not that he had expected the information he knew to be convenient at this point of time.

“So?”

Xie Yi sighed slowly, the sides of his lips tugging up. “I can be very patient. I’ll trust your words - I’ll keep an eye out when that time comes.”

“I’ll watch with you”, Shi Yue promised.

Their partners would follow them into the upper plane, which meant their children would be left to roam the world. Well, that was part of the circle of life, too.

“I’m looking forward to the havoc they’ll create”, Xie Yi laughed at the thought. Xiao Zai wasn’t betrothed yet, so she had a lot of fun playing a third wheel to Su Liang and an oblivious Qiang Ren.

Their combination would surely have quite some adventures.

“I look forward to their stories”, Jiao Yin said with satisfaction.

Shi Yue looked at the ceiling.

He… was just hoping the kids wouldn’t blow up the sect one day.

Owl