Liu Sumeng was silent in his thoughts and ordered a servant girl to bring them tea while Yuan Xuelan complained. He was never a fan of Peng Jipei in his past life and didn't know much about his plight. But the sight of the sobbing boy that desperately grasped at any hope for his dying mother was a little too familiar to ignore. He couldn't help but sympathize. "Xuelan," he said, interrupting the barrage of complaints, "if it were Anyue, what would you do?"

The question caught the blabbering Yuan Xuelan off guard. He sat up to glared at Liu Sumeng. "If it were s.h.i.+jie?" his voice rose, heckled, "I would do anything for her."

Liu Sumeng nodded and Yuan Xuelan stared until his expression faltered. "Yeah, ok fine. I guess it's less ridiculous if you put it like that. But it doesn't mean I have to accept his stupidity. Surely, I would have thought of a better solution than that." He huffed and glared at nothing in particular.

The servant girl returned, hot tea in hand, which Liu Sumeng accepted readily and pour them both a cup. He veered the conversation elsewhere, "What do you think about Peng Zhugen?"

Yuan Xuelan sighed and leaned back down on the bed. "Sect Leader Peng? Not a big fan of the guy. He's an a.s.shole that thinks he's better than everyone else around him. Had to deal with his temper and abuse when I was younger."

"I see."

A pause. "Why do you ask?"

"...Nothing really."

Yuan Xuelan glared but the Ivory Sword Saint ignored him. Resigning with a sigh, he pulled himself off the bed to join Liu Sumeng at the table, "Why are you so interested in that guy?" Boldness flickered through him, and Yuan Xuelan obviously wasn't thinking when he blurted out, "Don't tell me he's your type."

Instant regret! Because Liu Sumeng was staring at him with that unreadable icy glare! Never mind, please never mind, he didn't want to know after all!

"..."

Argh! Yuan Xuelan internally screamed, and suddenly wished that Liu Sumeng would say something. But instead, he was punished with silence, and then a change of topic, "The divine beast."

"What?" even Yuan Xuelan's own voice sounded stupid to him.

"You have a plan," Liu Sumeng said; not a question but a statement.

Yuan Xuelan blinked dumbly before forcing himself to focus on the new topic of conversation. "Yeah well, it's the only plan that might work," he sighed and rubbed at his temple, "there's a divine beast said to live in these forests. A phoenix. I suppose if we kill it we could get that stupid core that Zhao Fanyu wants so much."

Liu Sumeng nodded, "I see."

Silence again, ceramic clattered when Liu Sumeng set down the teapot and slide Yuan Xuelan a cup. "What, you're just going to nod and agree to that? Killing a phoenix is no easy task," he scowled at the Ivory Sword Saint, feeling like he had spent way too much time scolding and not enough time paying back what was owed.

If Liu Sumeng was bothered, he didn't let it show. "But it can be done."

Yuan Xuelan almost sneered, "You're awfully confident in your skills, Ivory Sword Saint."

"No, I only trust in your judgment."

Yuan Xuelan choked on his tea, curling forward from a coughing fit. Liu Sumeng reached over to rub comforting circles in his back. "Are you ok?" he asked, as though he was innocent! As though he had nothing to do with Yuan Xuelan's suffering!

"Can you- ugh!" he cried, frustration threatening to boil over with a reddening his face. "Never mind! You crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d." In the end, he could only grumble in complaint and glare at the tea as though it was some deadly poison. If he continued to drink tea with Liu Sumeng, Yuan Xuelan feared that one day he might actually die. At this rate, he really will!

"..." Liu Sumeng bit his lips, a sorry caught in his throat that he was barely able to hold onto. He tried to think of what to say, "Are you ok?"

"No! I'm not ok! Can't you tell?" Yuan Xuelan groaned, having lost all his patience, but felt bad when those words left his mouth, "Don't apologize. It's not your fault. Well, it kind of is but it's also not!"

Liu Sumeng felt extremely confused, but since he wasn't being pushed away, he continued to rub those circles into Yuan Xuelan's back. "It's late. We should sleep."

Yuan Xuelan didn't protest but he sat there and waited for Liu Sumeng to walk to the other side of the room first before moving. He couldn't help feel like he was becoming increasingly hopeless, with his heart racing like a frightened deer. Someone just end him now. This was his s.h.i.+jie's fiance for crying out loud! He nursed his head in his hands and wondered just want kind of remedy he could seek for his predicament?

On the other side of the room, Liu Sumeng was in equal parts wrought with confusion and frustration. He sat down in from of a mirror in the room's corner and began to undo his hair. Long black locks fell loose.

A dull, expressionless visage stared back at him, cold and aloof. Liu Sumeng didn't like his own appearance; it was stale, boring and unpleasant to look at. But he kept staring at it and imagined himself being Yuan Xuelan who had to see this silly-looking Ivory Sword Saint and endure his infuriating vacant stares. Even Liu Sumeng didn't want to deal with himself.

Cautiously, he peeked over his shoulder to make sure Yuan Xuelan was fully hidden behind the wall of panels and then turned his attention back his reflection. He tried to lift his lips into a smile. A terrifying visage grinned back.

Never mind. He should just give up on smiling.

With depression clouding over his thoughts, Liu Sumeng dragged himself into bed.

Night took over and another dream was chasing Yuan Xuelan. He was getting sick of them, because he already knew who it would feature. And he was also becoming annoyed at his imagination's lack of creativity. This time, Sumeng was sitting at a desk and reading a book. It was a rather boring scene, with Liu Sumeng bathed in the glow of daylight, his long hair loose had fallen over his shoulders. The white robe he was wearing was a little askew and Yuan Xuelan could see a dark mark on his neck, red and purple.

Oh. That was- well.

He cursed his imagination and regretted a.s.suming it was lacking in creativity. Liu Sumeng flipped the page, and upon closer inspection his wrist was circled with angry red marks as well. Rope burn. The him in his dreams reached out to grab that wrist, startling Liu Sumeng from his reading. The hand was bigger than he knew his own to be. "Hm," and his voice was deeper as well, older, "perhaps I had gone a little too far."

The skin was soft beneath his touch and he couldn't help but run his thumb over Liu Sumeng's pulse, pressing a little too hard. The arm beneath his hold trembled lightly even when Liu Sumeng's expression was unchanged, despite the subtle flush upon his cheeks, "It's fine."

Yuan Xuelan gasped, eyes flying open. No! He almost screamed. It wasn't fine! It wasn't fine at all! The room had long gone pitch black, without candle or spirit light to guide his vision. Against the darkness all he could imagine was Liu Sumeng's embarra.s.sed face and subtle smile! Someone save him. And with the night's deathly silence, he could even hear the Ivory Sword Saint's delicate breathing from the other end of the room.

He might have been dramatic but Yuan Xuelan still wanted to hurl himself out the window.

Yuan Xuelan kicked his legs out in frustration, only to stop, fearing that the noise might startle Liu Sumeng. But he was feeling restless. Upset and resigned he could do nothing but roll over. And then roll over to the other side. And then back the other. He then tossed his covers right off the side of the bed.

Liu Sumeng was an unhealthy addition to his life it seemed. And allowing him to come to the Hidden Mist Sect had all been a terrible mistake. He needed to stay as far away as possible! For his own sake! But wait, there was still that favor he had to pay back tenfold. He hadn't even had the chance to start on that yet.

Miffed and cold he sat up and reluctantly picked his bedsheets off the ground and draped it around his body. He curled back up on the bed like a depressed dog.

His mind drifted until a genius thought broke through. If they really succeed in killing that phoenix, perhaps he could figure something out. The spiritual core might be the most valuable part of a divine beast, but the other parts, from feathers to flesh and bone, were also useful. After all, he was a genius when it came to crafting and tinkering with magical tools and items.

"Shouldn't be…too difficult…" he grumbled, sleep slowly overtaking his mind again as fatigue set in. This time, his dream was one filled with enchanted robes, phoenix bone fans and hairpins. Bracelets, earrings and even things like boots and bows.