บท 15: Easier said than done

Breaking their contract was much easier said than done.

Zhang Wang spent the entire night rolling around on the ground thinking about it.

The next day, he sleepily went up to Beast Master Wei and asked if she had any more information about that shifty Dao partners bullshit practice thingy she had mentioned the previous day.

This resulted in getting chicken feed thrown in his face.

"As if I know about that kind of thing!" She sneered at him, "Get out of my sight, you waste of a pretty face. You'll have better luck finding more information in your Virtuous Phoenix Sect's grand library!"

"I don't want to go to that place!" He hadn't been back to his sect in months and he wouldn't be surprised if most of them thought him dead. For the better! Zhang Wang didn't want to think about the punishment that was surely awaiting for his return.

And there was no way he was just going to bring Yu Yanlin to that place. What did Beast Master Wei take him for? A person with a death wish?

But that assumption wouldn't be too unfair, especially when he single-handedly infiltrated into the Palace of Sins.

Ah, that had been fun.

"What are you even daydreaming about? Wipe that drool off your worthless face," Beast Master Wei scoffed. "Did you forget what I said earlier about overstaying your welcome? Don't be useless and go clean the barn!"

And thus he'd been delegated to a day of work racking up horse shit. And only an hour in his back of complaining with strain and Zhang Wang decided to take a break on the fluffy, clean hay.

Only it wasn't that fluffy and stray stalks of hay were poking him in the back.

Despite the discomfort, Zhang Wang was lazy and didn't want to move. He blamed it on the nonexistent heat and the stifling humidity.

Meanwhile, little Juhua was diligently sweeping out old hay from the barn stalls and refilling water with pails almost as tall as she.

"Ah, Hua'er, you're so hardworking. It's okay to take a break, you know?" He tried to wave the young girl over.

But she only blinked at him and then continued on her way.

Why did that hurt him more than he expected? Zhang Wang whined and remained lying on the pile of hay that was due to go inside the horse's stall anytime soon.

Anytime soon…

It sure smelled bad…all this manure…

Zhang Wang just wanted to close his eyes and stop thinking.

He still had to deal with this contract…

If he only closed his eyes for a little bit. Honestly, didn't he deserve a break? Yeah, Zhang Wang had sure been working hard. It was so hot and his body felt so stuffy. The air was so thick…

…

Zhang Wang woke up from sleep slowly.

The world was swaying and there was something annoyingly hot pressed against him. He groaned in complaint, flailing his arm and smacking it against solid.

He was chided with a rumbling hum, strong arms adjusted his position and Zhang Wang couldn't help but wonder...

Why was his bed moving?

No, no he was no longer lying down on his pile of hay. Instead there was a thick arm under his knees and another holding up his back. Zhang Wang jolted, his eyes flew open but the arms only held him closer.

He was horrified to realize that he was being princess carried! He squirmed and shouted, "Put me down! Where are you taking me!? What the heck?"

"Hm, oh did you wake?"

Zhang Wang looked up and gave Yu Yanlin a deadpan look, only to realize belatedly that the demon could not see him.

Daylight was receding with evening and Zhang Wang noticed they were on a familiar forest trail, with Beast Master's ranch far behind them. He'd come by this place before but could no longer recall the exact details of the memory.

Yu Yanlin put him down. "Juhua told me you smelled dirty and Miss Wei told me to take you to the springs. Sorry, my sense of balance and direction are not perfect, I'm still getting used to this…" He touched the blindfold on his face. It was quite a big leather piece that not only covered his eyes but almost half the face, conveniently masking some of the more telltale facial features that might strike people's memory.

"I…see." But to be able to go this far on the mountain trail while carrying another person and being newly blind… That felt kind of bullshit even under Zhang Wang's books. Then again, he supposed he'd seen Sikong Ren pull off equally as ridiculous feats.

He sighed, "Whatever. I guess since we're almost there let's just go to the damn springs. Where's Juhua?"

The demon king nodded, "She's with Miss Wei. Miss Wei said that a young girl should not be exposed to dirty perverts. Was she perhaps talking about us?"

"Don't take what she says so literally. She calls all men dirty perverts," Zhang Wang lied casually.

"Is that so? I see."

The trail led them around the winding edge of the steep side of the mountain but soon there was the sign of rising steam that blew off the side of the mountain with the wind. A small pocket of hot spring sat right upon the side of the mountain, allowing view of treetops and a little winding creek below.

There were a set of wooden steps that led them toward the spring that creaked precariously under their footfalls.

Zhang Wang absently wondered how it was to travel this path without the luxury of sight but when he looked over his shoulder he saw that Yu Yanlin was infuriatingly calm and elegant, unimpeded by his new handicap.

The Immortal of a Thousand Blossoms rolled his eyes. He really needed to stop worrying about this ridiculous Gary Stue-type villain character.

They folded their clothes and hung them up on a nearby tree branch.

A pleased, satisfied sigh escaped Zhang Wang's lips as he lowered himself in the warm, heated water. The tension in his muscles unwound and his lashes instantly fluttered close as the soothing feeling of relaxation slowly seeped in from his skin all the way down to his marrows.

Next to him he heard the soft splashing and rippling of water and was painfully aware of when Yu Yanlin stepped into the spring.

He felt almost awkward to open his eyes but Zhang Wang refused to be flustered by some nice man-to-man, brotherly bonding so he peeled his eyes open and instantly regretted his actions.

The orange light of dusk kissed that long slender neck and ivory shoulders. The spring was as clear as crystal and hid nothing from sight. Zhang Wang could hardly stop himself from glancing over the fine, firm chest and abs that formed about every girl's wet dream and his own aspirations that he could never quite totally reach.

If Zhang Wang was a sleek, beautiful male athlete, then Yu Yanlin was a chiseled god that deserved to have statues erected to commemorate his physic alone. Admiration and envy melted together and it took all of Zhang Wang's pride and self-control as to not dip his vision too low.

He noticed instead that Yu Yanlin was still wearing the blindfold.

The spring was too large and even if Zhang Wang wished to keep his distance, he couldn't. And at this proximity of only being an arm's width apart, he scooted closer without really thinking, "Hey, why are you still wearing that? There's no one here so just take it off already."

And his fingers touched the side of Yu Yanlin's face, tracing the seams of the blindfold. Larger, pale hands eclipsed his own but it was too late now for Zhang Wang to pull back and have regrets over their closeness. He swallowed down any anxiety and reached back to loosen the clasp.

Yu Yanlin was oddly silent and still.