Bab 69: The Nine-tailed Fox gets married
tw: threats of rape (but no actual rape)
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When Wu Yun realizes where he is, he wants to scream. He doesn't want to be here, especially not in a grand jade hall, on top of a golden dais, sitting on an ornate throne, next to Shu Ai, while crowds of vapid Gods prostate themselves at their feet and offer them their well wishes and gifts.
He doesn't even remember falling asleep.
His only respite is not having had to witness the entire wedding ceremony.
Shu Ai nods beatifically as god after god washes him in platitudes, exhorting all his qualities, and congratulating him on the wedding.
Very few of them bother addressing Ling Yan.
"This humble servant, wishes His Majesty a thousand years of bliss with his spouse, and may his reign as the new Emperor be as prosperous as his Great Father's." The god, a man with a sleek smile, and sleeker hair, kowtows at Shu Ai's feet.
Shu Ai bids him to rise. "Beloved subject, as much as this orphaned one appreciates your well wishes, it isn't proper to address this one as the Emperor before the coronation."
The man bows his head in apology, before continuing, "Beg His Majesty's forgiveness, for uncouth words. May this lowly subject ask, when does His Majesty plan to hold the Coronation ceremony?"
Shu Ai looks at Ling Yan and smiles, taking the hand resting on the throne's armrest in his, and bringing it to his lips.
Ling Yan continues to look resolutely ahead, ignoring the brush of Shu Ai's lips across his knuckles.
Wu Yun is sure Shu Ai must have done something to make Ling Yan sit passively during the wedding ceremony, otherwise he wouldn't continue to remain quiet while Shu Ai touched him with such propriety.
He doesn't give any sign of discomfort, but Wu Yun can feel the rage inside him, battling with the sorrow threatening to overwhelm him.
"An auspicious date hasn't been chosen yet, however, this humble orphan is glad to be crowned with his consort by his side."
Ling Yan's lips tighten minutely, under Shu Ai's probing gaze.
He has to withstand hours of this, and by the time the line finally dwindles down to the last gods, Wu Yun thinks death would be a mercy. He isn't entirely sure if the thought is his own or Ling Yan's.
The goddess with the curling hair approaches them, and congratulates Shu Ai in the usual sycophantic way. She places a beautiful lacquered box on the gift table, but before leaving approaches Ling Yan.
She takes both his hands in hers, and smiles openly into his face, "I wish the Heavenly Consort a thousand years of blessings."
Shu Ai loses interest in her, as soon as he confirms she isn't saying anything outside of the ordinary platitudes to Ling Yan, and turns to the other gods gathered around him.
Ling Yan stiffens when he feels the cool edge of a blade between the goddess's hands. He looks into her eyes, but she continues smiling as she slips the blade out of his hands and into his wide sleeve, hiding it from view.
"It's a shame we haven't had much time to talk, I'd be happy to keep the Consort company as he adjusts to life in the Jade Palace. I'm often in the peach gardens, if the Consort is ever looking for some company."
Ling Yan remains speechless, but Shu Ai answer for him. "It would be good for Ling Yan to have the company of one so talented and refined as Xie Xiu."
The name means nothing to Ling Yan, but Wu Yun startles. This is Xie Xiu? The goddess with the poised smile and tranquil eyes, her hands demurely folded over her stomach? He supposes the hair is the same as the Xie Xiu he remembers, but that's where the similarities end. Nothing in the way this Xie Xie carries herself reminds him of the manic goddess who struck down Madam Ou.
"Thank you, for your gift, and your offer of company," Ling Yan says finally, nodding to Xie Xiue.
"If the Consort ever finds himself in need of a friend, he knows where to find me." Her words are laden with meaning, as she bows to both Ling Yan and Shu Ai.
Eventually Shu Ai grows tired of all the fawning, and announces to those still present that he and his Consort will be retiring to their rooms.
His words fill Ling Yan with a cold panic, even the blade's reassuring weight against his wrist isn't enough to dispel his nerves.
Shu Ai walks him through the long jade hallways with a possessive hand around his waist.
Wu Yun fears he knows where he's taking him.
Once Shu Ai stops in front of the half-open doors leading into a room decorated in cheerful tones of red, his fears are confirmed.
The last room Ling Yan and Shu Luan were together, the nuptial chamber.
Of course Shu Ai would see a twisted poetry in it.
Ling Yan wavers at the open door, but Shu Ai pushes him inside, closing the doors behind him.
"I expect you to put on the same show you did for my brother," Shu Ai says, sitting down on the bed and patting the space next to him.
An icy resolve descends over Ling Yan, steeling his steps as he walks towards Shu Ai.
Shu Ai's smug smirk as Ling Yan walks towards him make his gold eyes shine with greed.
"I have a gift for you," Shu Ai says, and takes a dainty chain out of his sleeve.
The chain holds two translucent golden pendants shaped like teardrops. Wu Yun realizes with a start that he has seen it before, it's the same as the token in Xiao Niao's memories.
Ling Yan takes the chain from Shu Ai's hand, and runs his fingers over the pendants, an uneasy frown between his eyebrows.
"I like his eyes much better this way."
Shu Ai savors the horror in Ling Yan's face with an expression of pure bliss.
Before he has any time to react, Shu Ai pulls Ling Yan down on the bed, and climbs on top of him, already ripping at his own wedding robes.
"I want you on your front, so I can see my name on your back."
He tears at Ling Yan's robes with vicious cruelty, but before he can get them completely off, Ling Yan reverses their position.
Shu Ai doesn't seem to notice the emptiness behind Ling Yan's eyes, and his cruel mouth splits in a satisfied smirk, as he looks up at Ling Yan.
"We can start this way too, I did say I wanted you to put on the same show."
"I have a gift for you, too," Ling Yan says evenly, and reaches within his sleeve.
Shu Ai is still smiling when Ling Yan stabs him in the heart.
He looks down in shock at the gem encrusted handle sticking out of his chest, and the silver pool of blood seeping through his robes, before going eerily still, as if frozen in place.
Ling Yan doesn't feel any sense of relief or satisfaction while watching Shu Ai's still form, only a bone-deep exhaustion.
The necklace with the two teardrop pendants shimmers on the red bedding. Ling Yan looks at it for a moment, before picking the thin chain up and wrapping it around his wrist.
Wu Yun didn't think he would want to keep such a gruesome memento, but it is the only thing he has left of Shu Luan, so he understands his impulse.
Ling Yan leaves the nuptial chamber with measured steps and closes the door behind him without a second look back.
He doesn't run through the Jade Palace, as Wu Yun expected, instead he lingers through the jade halls, overcome with the memories of being chased by a laughing Shu Luan.
The peach orchard is in bloom, Ling Yan can see the pink blossoms even at a distance.
Xie Xiu doesn't hear him approach. She's waiting for him under a peach tree with her shoulders drawn and her arms crossed.
"Thank you, for your wedding gift," Ling Yan says, making her turn away with a start.
"I feared something might have gone wrong, you don't have much time. The poison won't keep him immobile for long."
She takes Ling Yan by the arm and walks him further into the peach orchard. The heavy sweetness of the peach blossoms, wraps around them like a cloak.
"Why are you helping me?" Ling Yan asks, when they are almost at the edge of the orchard.
"Shu Luan helped me once too, a long time ago," she sighs. "I couldn't save him, but I can still help you."
Ling Yan stops her with a hand on her harm. "Is there a way to bring him back?"
"I...Shu Ai used a smiting weapon, there's no coming back from that, even for a god," Xie Xiu says, her eyes filled with pity.
Some part of Ling Yan bristles at it. "I have to try."
"Maybe they'll be able to help you in the Underworld, Death is their dominion after all" She looks over her shoulder worriedly. "But now we have to hurry, I'll take you to my pocket dimension in the mortal world, you'll be safe there."
"No," Ling Yan says, remaining still when she tries to pull him with her. "Take me to Immortal Mountain, my Shizun can help me."
---
Wu Yun wakes up short of breath, as if a great weight has been lying on his chest.
His panicked gasps wake up Lan Tian who rubs his backs, trying to soothe his breathing back to its normal rate. "Dreams again?"
Wu Yun nods. "Ling Yan stabbed the Jade Emperor."
Lan Tian chuckles softly. "I wager he had it coming?"
Wu Yun's own answering chuckle his mirthless. "You have no idea."
He has no interest in elaborating. He wants to forget the memories as soon as he wakes up. He can only hope that the Jade Emperor has no idea who he is, and doesn't seek him out the get the revenge he couldn't from Ling Yan.
The idea of his past life putting Lan Tian in danger twists his stomach up in knots.
Sighing, he leans into Lan Tian's chest and hides his face against his warm skin. He's running his fingers through Lan Tian's soft smooth hair, when his hand bumps against something hard and smooth.
There are two jade-like horns sprouting from Lan Tian's forehead, a deep blue at the base and fading into almost white at the tip of the multiple smaller prongs.
"You have horns!" he says, running a reverent finger over the horn's smooth surface.
"And you have ears, and tails," Lan Tian says, closing his fingers around one of the tails winding around Wu Yun's legs.
He looks down at himself and sees all nine of his black tails, coiling excitedly around him. It seems unbelievable that he didn't notice before, but now that he has, he can feel them like an extension of his limbs.
Focusing on the one Lan Tian is petting, he bids it to wrap around his wrist, as he would one of his fingers.
The tail's fluffy tip raises through Lan Tian's spread fingers and twists itself around his wrist like a rope.
"I didn't know you could do that. Interesting," Lan Tian says, a mischievous smile playing at the corner of his lips.
Faint morning light comes through from the stairs leading to the second level, and Wu Yun notices, for the first time, the smattering of shimmering scales running down Lan Tian's temple towards his sharp cheekbone.
"You look beautiful like this," Wu Yun says, overwhelmed by the play of light on Lan Tian's skin.
Lan Tian touches Wu Yun's pointed ear tenderly, tangling his fingers in the soft fur at the base. "So do you."
As much as Wu Yun would like to fall back into bed and not leave for the next hours, he knows they don't have that luxury. "We should go talk with Cang Chuxi, he'll want to see if our powers have been completely restored."
They're leaving the room when Wu Yun notices a folded piece of paper pushed under the door.
Frowning, he picks up the note and reads it:
"Yun-ge, thanks for keeping me company yesterday, I appreciate your friendship. I've thought about what you said. I'm going to make it right. Zou Qiao."
Cold dread seeps through Wu Yun's skin like rain during a storm. He thinks he knows what Zou Qiao is going to do.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
ThirtyTyrants
ThirtyTyrants Xie Xiu wasn't always a crazy goddess...interesting. Did any of you suspect the goddess with the curling hair was her? I know it's a small crumb as far as foreshadowing goes.
There's something else about her that's also a big clue regarding an important plot point, but it's very subtle ;)
Shu Ai got stabbed yay, too bad Ling Yan was too overwhelmed with grief to properly enjoy it.
Also... Wu Yun might have made things worse, again, while trying to help.
Hadiah
-- Hadiah diterima Status Power Mingguan
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Power 
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