Chapter 1: Breath of Wrath
Breath of Wrath (1/2)
Chapter One
Part One
Smut Warning
The sex is a bit rough, but not at all unwilling.
Read at your own discretion.
Xie Lian's nails dug into the thrashing daruma doll in his arms as time ticked on and his patience dwindled. Ling Wen's eyes drifted from Hua Cheng, who was giving an account on Xie Lian's behalf, to Xie Lian as he bore a hole in the ground with an uncharacteristically icy glare cool enough to snap Ling Wen out of her exhausted daze.
What had only been the day before, Xie Lian's temperament had been at its average level when Ling Wen had asked him to look into a serial murder case in a small village. Because the massacre was in his territory, Quan Yizhen had tagged along. Hua Cheng, of course, followed as well, as he never left his lover alone for long, especially when dealing with unresolved massacres.
What had ended with a total of thirty-three total deaths ranging across the backroads in the West had been the result of a careless cultivator getting the Breath of Wrath stuck on him.
Breath of Wrath was a kind of evil spirit that resided in the soil, and when aroused, it would use the plants around it to spread spores imbued with resentful energy. When one breathes it in, one can't help but feel rage swell inside them, hence its name.
The cultivator breathed it in and felt the unbridled anger that Breath of Wrath accentuated. He wasn't doing too bad for himself in terms of his strength in cultivation, and when he inevitably lost control, many lives were lost.
At first, when the group was still investigating, they hadn't realized that Breath of Wrath had been the cause of the sudden rampages. However, they quickly became aware of the situation as soon as they smelt the clothes on the cultivator's body. While Breath of Wrath seemed relatively hard to detect, the prominent smell of spice would be the determining factor when deciding the cause of things like that.
Unfortunately, the smell of spice originates from the spores clinging to the fabric of their clothes, which meant that Xie Lian and Quan Yizhen had inhaled Breath of Wrath. Hua Cheng, who didn't breathe, had been spared.
Besides giving in, there was little one could do when afflicted. Some wouldn't resist, others would kill animals, but most would attempt to isolate and eventually kill themselves to satisfy their bloodlust.
The cultivator, in this case, had attempted the latter on an obscure road. When some hapless, lost travelers happened upon him, he couldn't restrain himself and killed them. And when one is under the influence of Breath of Wrath, once their blade tastes blood, they can't stop killing until they're satisfied. It seems that the cultivator was of the shier type, which only meant that more agitation had built up, and he would need to relieve himself more through the death of others.
Truly, the stars had aligned to make some of the conceivably worst conditions to result in the deaths of as many innocent people as possible.
Xie Lian couldn't help the sigh that passed his lips as Hua Cheng recounted how they deemed it necessary to keep Quan Yizhen as a daruma doll (while he had already been harassing Hua Cheng about Yin Yu's whereabouts, he got more violent after inhaling Breath of Wrath).
"His highness is still agitated, so we will be leaving soon to take care of it," Hua Cheng concluded.
Ling Wen raised an eyebrow at this statement, knowing full well that Hua Cheng would be the last person to stand in Xie Lian's way should he go on a massacre. "If you don't mind, what do you mean by that? There is no known cure for Breath of Wrath."
"There was once a man that resisted Land of the Tender by spilling his own blood and lessening bloodlust. The opposite should also apply here as well, no?" Hua Cheng seriously brought that up? That was almost nine hundred years ago. How come he seems to remember everything about Xie Lian? Not to mention, Hua Cheng outright told Ling Wen that he would help Xie Lian quench his rage by sleeping with him. If Hua Cheng hadn't taken Quan Yizhen out of his hands, Xie Lian would have crushed him by now.
"I see." Ling Wen immediately began documenting this information, wondering how Hua Cheng could keep something like that to himself. "If I may, where did you hear this?" Xie Lian couldn't help but silently scoff and turn his head as the conversation continued. "Is his highness alright?" Ling Wen inquired, seeing Xie Lian's flushed face.
Who knew whether it was made that way by his agitation or embarrassment? Either way, Ling Wen pointing it out only made his blush grow. And when his blush grew, Xie Lian noticed his own tight fists. The only thing keeping him from bluntly walking away and hiding in a hole would be potentially being seen walking out and having more people notice his red face. This, in turn, only made him more frustrated.
He didn't dare answer her.
"Is your highness alright?" Hua Cheng asked in her stead.
"I don't know, San Lang, I've only been afflicted by Breath of Wrath, what could possibly be wrong?" Xie Lian pushed the words through a clenched jaw with a taut voice.
"It seems his highness' condition is worsening. You two should leave, I can deal with his highness Qi Ying." Ling Wen held her arms out to take Quan Yizhen. She wanted them out. Of course, she did! Xie Lian was a martial god known for his thick face and forgiving nature (alongside many, many other things). If someone with his temperament were to explode there, the very foundation of her palace would be devastated!
"Then we'll be on our way." Hua Cheng handed over Quan Yizhen, who was vibrating with fury, and rolled his dice. "Your highness." Hua Cheng allowed Xie Lian to step through first.
Xie Lian went through and found himself in the bustling Ghost City. "San Lang," he got the other to look over at him as soon as he was beside him. The pair was immediately recognized even on the busy streets of Ghost City, but, at that moment, Xie Lian didn't have the mind for such trivialities. Breath of Wrath's similarities to Land of the Tender didn't end with the same cures. Suppressing either of them could easily lead to mania, causing one to lose rationality and the ability to think clearly.
Before anyone could scream their names or coo over them standing shoulder to shoulder, Xie Lian grabbed Hua Cheng and pulled him down by the neck to press his lips to his lover's.
For the first time since its founding, Ghost City was quiet...
...before erupting in cheers and frenzied hollering. Xie Lian and Hua Cheng weren't doing anything out of the norm. If one went exploring too deep into the back allies of Ghost City, they could easily find another couple doing much more. But Ghost City loved to fawn over their relationship. It wouldn't even be much of a stretch to say that the citizens were just as zealous as the actual pair was. But due to Xie Lian's bashful nature, they had never seen the couple kiss. Until now. And one can only imagine how loud the crowd became when Xie Lian pulled Hua Cheng's belt loose.
Hua Cheng, on the other hand, was at crossroads. He didn't mind touching at all and would even encourage it if it weren't in front of dozens of voyeurs. Not to mention how Xie Lian's reputation could be affected, considering how rumors spread like wildfire in Ghost City.
But despite all of the reasons to adjourn, Hua Cheng couldn't. Not because he didn't want to or couldn't bring himself to do so. Xie Lian was holding his head in place. It would be hard enough to resist his strength alone, but Hua Cheng also had to overcome the psychological challenge of pushing Xie Lian off of him.
"Gege!" Hua Cheng whisper-yelled as he finally managed to turn his head away so he couldn't be kissed anymore. "Let's go to Paradise Manor first."
Xie Lian dismissed the thought. "No." Hua Cheng was glad he didn't need to breathe. With how flustered he was, no doubt his breaths would be erratic by now. When Hua Cheng put his lips out of reach, Xie Lian had resorted to kissing the skin of his jaw and neck, something he could never do in front of people if he were sober.
"It would be more comfortable," Hua Cheng argued.
"I don't care."
"I can't allow you to sully your reputation like this!"
"I don't care."
"Gege!" Hua Cheng murmured almost silently, "please, gege, I... I don't want..." Hua Cheng's sentence fell flat. There were a thousand things that could arise from this situation that he didn't want to happen, but what he purposefully left off was the end, knowing his sudden aposiopesis would make Xie Lian hesitate.
He might have felt ashamed about manipulating Xie Lian, but this was for his own good.
And, sure enough, Xie Lian glanced up and saw his lover's face, conflicted and concerned, and when combined with his ambiguous words, Xie Lian realized how forceful he was being. "Fine."
Even under the influence of Breath of Wrath, Xie Lian could find it in him to be selfless for his husband's sake.
Hua Cheng sighed with relief when Xie Lian's hold on him let up. "Thank you, gege." Truthfully, reeling back was, in fact, praiseworthy. Anyone would be reluctant to hold themself back during an intense moment with their partner. Xie Lian could do it while his only concern was throwing himself on his husband (as well as the underlying thought of grabbing E-ming and seeing how many ghosts he could dissipate before Hua Cheng stopped him).
With another swift roll of the dice, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng were in their chambers in Paradise Manor. Once again, Xie Lian came on strong, but this time, nothing was hindering Hua Cheng from reciprocating, so he returned the gestures as passionately as he could.
Usually, Xie Lian would bite back his sounds of pleasure for as long as he could stand to. However, under the influence of Breath of Wrath, he shamelessly moaned at any of Hua Cheng's touches. But as much as he enjoyed his lover's thorough hands groping around his body, Xie Lian needed immediate relief. Hua Cheng's typical slow and sensual approach, which usually drove him nuts, was driving him crazy in another way.
"Down." That was all Xie Lian said with his hands on his husband's shoulders, pressing him to his knees as gently as he could. Hua Cheng, who was highly adaptable, did so without protest and swiftly parted his lover's robes to meet with Xie Lian's member. Without hesitation, he popped it whole in his mouth and began to service his husband to the highest degree.
It was no secret that Hua Cheng was a tease. Even more so in the bedroom. He'd had plenty of practice with the god's member in his mouth, bringing his worship to a whole new level. And, of course, he excelled.
Even though Hua Cheng had had no previous experience with a man—or anyone for that matter—he was always uncannily good at everything involving lovemaking (as well as just about every other talent one could have in all of China, save for calligraphy), especially blowjobs.
And, at this time, Xie Lian expressed his agreeance with this entirely.
Hua Cheng pulled Xie Lian out, up to the head, and worked the flesh with his skillful lips and tongue while his hands stroked the rest. Xie Lian was in ecstasy, and Hua Cheng was equally delighted to hear how much he pleased his husband. Rather than being bashful and biting back moans or shrinking back from the opia of the intense gaze Hua Cheng maintained while they were intimate, Xie Lian fully expressed all of how he felt with erotic moaning and a clenched hand on the back of Hua Cheng's head.
Feeling his climax approaching, Xie Lian used the hand on the back of his husband's head to push his length into the latter's mouth and bucked his hips at an exceptional pace.
Hua Cheng might have gagged had he not effaced the reflex himself by performing the same thing on the god dozens of times before.
When his orgasm finally came, if not for Hua Cheng's sturdy hands gripping his thighs and the hand clamped down on the back of his head, Xie Lian might have been at risk of stumbling.
Hua Cheng swallowed the creamy seed down his throat, pulled away from Xie Lian's member by strands of wet saliva, and stood to place a chaste kiss on the side of his lover's mouth. "Is gege alright?" Hua Cheng inquired innocently as though he hadn't been ruthlessly throat-fucked ten seconds prior.
"San Lang..." Xie Lian whined and placed his face into his husband's disheveled robes pausing for a long moment before he spoke again, "why did you let me do that?"
Hua Cheng only smiled and pecked his cheek. "Gege acts as though he's done something wrong, but this one does not mind gege being assertive about what he wants."
Xie Lian decided to ignore that comment.
"What if you got hurt?" Xie Lian grumbled into his lover's shoulder.
"This one is fine, gege. Really." Hua Cheng stated as he raised his husband's flushed face from himself. "Gege will never trouble me."
"A—alright." Xie Lian turned away and coughed into his fist at his husband's words. "But why would you let me into the Heavenly Capital like that?" Honestly, if Hua Cheng could accompany him while he was too perturbed to speak with anyone without a tone of disdain and malignancy, it shouldn't be that much different than sending Hua Cheng to relay the information alone.
"It was entertaining."
"San Lang!"
"That and I couldn't leave you alone," Hua Cheng added reluctantly.
Xie Lian frowned at that. It was probably true that he shouldn't have been left alone then. Remembering what he did to the Yong'an soldiers while he was sober even, that probably wouldn't have been a good idea... Thousands had been felled by his hands like ants just because they were on the opposing side of a war. Xie Lian hadn't even been aggravated at that time.
Seeing his lover's displeased expression, Hua Cheng decided to exhibit his husband material. "How about you take a bath? You've had a long day."
Xie Lian couldn't help but smile at his attentive lover and gave a small nod. Seeing this, Hua Cheng couldn't hold back from giving him a peck on the lips once more, prompting a small, content giggle from Xie Lian.
Word Count 2382
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
SilentViridity
SilentViridity What? I told you there would be smut. The second part is coming out next, and it's smut too. If I'm being honest, I wrote both parts to this at the same time, but it was, like, 5600 words, so I decided to break it up.
I need to write something that isn't smut next, but that's also, like, half of the ideas in my head...
But off the topic of gay sex, world-building! I came up with Breath of Wrath all on my own totally not just because I like sassy Xie Lian. Anyway, I don't really know the cultivation guidelines or whatever it is, so I was a bit vague, but it's fanfiction, so who cares.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone