Shudu's hand closed around Xue Tuzi's throat like a vice, fingers pressing deep into the fragile column of his neck. The pressure was immediate, unforgiving—crushing his windpipe with methodical precision. Xue Tuzi jerked beneath him, arms flailing, nails scraping uselessly at Shudu's wrists as his breath turned to ragged, wet gasps.
Their eyes met—Xue Tuzi's wide with panic, lips parted around silent pleas—but Shudu's gaze was hollow. Empty. Not a flicker of recognition, not a spark of mercy. Only the cold, detached stare of a predator watching prey suffocate.
Xue Tuzi's gasp strangled into silence as Shudu's fingers tightened around his throat—but the man wasn't seeing him at all.
In his trance, Shudu was small again, naked body laying on cold stone, surrounded by shapes that slithered just beyond the torchlight.
Eyes. So many glistening eyes.
Shining like wet coins in the dark, unblinking, hungry.
Saliva splattered his bare shoulders as the demons' jaws unhinged—
not to feast, not yet, but to let him hear the lustful drip of their anticipation.
A child's whimper died in his throat. Fingers clawed at his neck and for a heartbeat, the past and present fused. Xue Tuzi's choking breaths became his own, the laughter and moans of satisfaction rang on his ears. Shudu couldn't tell whose hands had attempted to defile him again.
Shudu's grip tightened around Xue Tuzi's throat—just like he had done to those demons before—his fingers pressing into the delicate flesh with terrifying familiarity. Xue Tuzi's vision blurred, tears spilling freely as his body convulsed, desperate for air. His flailing hands caught on something—a needle, glinting on the quilt beside them. It must have slipped from his hair during the struggle.
Gasping, his lungs burning, he stretched his fingers—just a little farther—until the cool metal brushed his fingertips. Shudu's grip crushed his windpipe, the world dimming at the edges.
Then, with the last of his strength, Xue Tuzi rammed the needle into Shudu's neck. A sharp hiss. Blood welled, dark and slick, as the demon's grip faltered. Those clouded eyes—empty, monstrous—suddenly cleared, blinking as if waking from a nightmare.
Xue Tuzi collapsed forward, choking, his own hands flying to his bruised throat. Each breath was agony, his throat swollen and raw.
Shudu staggered back, staring at his trembling hands as if they were foreign things. Horror twisted his features. Then—shame. He buried his face in his palms, his entire body shaking.
"Don't touch me—please, don't touch me there" Shudu's voice cracked as he folded into himself on the bed, arms wrapping tight around his knees like a child bracing against invisible blows. His nails dug crescent moons into his own flesh, scraping as if he could peel away the memory of violating hands. His breath came in fractured gasps—still trapped in the nightmare, still there.
Xue Tuzi watched, his own throat throbbing with bruises, before moving forward. Without a word, he enveloped Shudu in his arms, pulling the demon's shuddering body flush against his chest. "Who hurt you?" he murmured into matted hair, lips grazing the shell of Shudu's ear. "Hmm? Who dared hurt my Shushu?"
His kisses were a balm—soft presses against tear-salted skin, each one tracing the tracks of anguish down Shudu's face. Blood smeared where Xue Tuzi's fingers cradled his jaw, but neither cared. When their lips met, it wasn't hunger; it was an anchor.
Shudu tried to speak, but the words dissolved into a choked sob against Xue Tuzi's mouth. "I-I couldn't—they—" His stomach lurched, and he twisted away, retching violently. Xue Tuzi held him through it, one hand steady on his back, the other gripping his shoulder.
"It's not your fault," Xue Tuzi whispered, lips migrating to the bridge of Shudu's nose, then the damp corners of his eyes. His thumbs brushed away fresh tears.
Then, softer, foreheads pressed together: "I'm sorry for hurting you too." His eyes shimmered "But I want to make love to you. The true you." he murmured bringing his lips to kiss Shudu tenderly. The demon melted into his touch, a low hum of pleasure vibrating between them—until suddenly, his body stiffened. Every muscle locked mid-caress, as if an invisible chain had yanked him back from the brink of surrender.
Shudu's brows furrowed. "I'm hideous," he pouted, leaning his face against Xue Tuzi's gentle hands despite their bloodstained warmth. "I'm a monster."
Xue Tuzi's thumb brushed Shudu's cheek, his voice a murmur. "I want you." He paused, then he whispered softer—"I want to see all of you. Even this." His fingers trailed to Shudu's chest down to his heart. "Trust me, just this once."
Shudu swallowed hard his throat convulsed—the first warning before his face split apart. His jaw unhinged with a wet crack, stretching impossibly wide to reveal rows of needle-like teeth dripping with viscous saliva. A grotesque tongue lolled from the widening maw, twitching like a living creature.
His spine arched violently, vertebrae popping like gunshots as new limbs erupted from his shoulders in a spray of dark ichor. The emerging arms thrashed wildly, claws unsheathing from swollen knuckles as tendons snapped into place with audible twangs. Every movement seemed to cause him agony—his human skin tearing like wet parchment to accommodate the monstrous expansion.
The flesh above Shudu's brow split with a wet tear, sinew stretching like frayed thread before surrendering. A glossy third eye pushed through, its lidless surface quivering as it swiveled in frantic arcs—pupil dilating, contracting, as if drunk on panic. Then, all at once, it jerked to a halt.
It fixed on Xue Tuzi.
The pupil slithered into a thin crescent, the eye's curve deepening until it grinned—a lurid, knowing smile etched in glossy black. The surrounding skin twitched, veins darkening like roots spreading from a poisoned seed, as if the eye itself were digging in.
Xue Tuzi's breath hitched—not in fear, but fascination. His hand hovered near Shudu's pulsing body, as if tempted to touch the thing that looked so eager to devour him.
"Do I disgust you?"
One of Shudu's arms banded around Xue Tuzi's waist like an iron chain, yanking him flush against the his chest. Before he could gasp, Shudu's grotesquely long tongue plunged deep into his mouth—claiming, devouring—the heat of it searing enough to make Xue Tuzi yield. The kiss was less affection than consumption; air became a distant memory, his lungs burned by the time the demon finally pulled back. A string of saliva connected their lips as Xue Tuzi sagged against him, panting, his mouth still slack with shock.
He gathered his hair with deliberate slowness, baring his scarred flesh like an offering. The knotted ridges caught the light, surrendering himself to the demon. Shudu did not hesitate, his arms firmly grasped Xue Tuzi's behind, thrusting him with force, groaning loudly his tongue dangled dripping saliva onto Xue Tuzi's back.
Shudu's third eye secreted a thick substance, the luminous droplets tracing the sharp contours of Xue Tuzi's back as the demon tilted his chin. His grip was iron—inescapable, as he crushed their lips together in a kiss that burned like swallowed lightning.
Shudu's voice was a low, furious growl, but beneath the anger was something raw and desperate. Before Xue Tuzi could protest, Shudu's hands gripped his face, fingers digging into his jaw as he crushed their lips together once more. The kiss was fierce, unyielding, a clash of heat and urgency.
Xue Tuzi gasped against his mouth, he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, their tongues tangling. His saliva, cool and sweet, flowed into Shudu's throat like an antidote, a soothing nectar that quelled the inferno raging inside him. The burning in his chest dulled to an ember, then faded entirely, leaving only the lingering taste of Xue Tuzi on his lips—and the pounding of his own heart.
Shudu touched every inch of Xue Tuzi's body his many hands indulging in delight. One hand stroke Xue Tuzi's member softly enticing the beauty to spill seed, while the other played with his tender nipples, pulling and tugging at the gems forcing him into a fit of ecstasy.
Every crevice was being aroused, every sensitive area was being stimulated and played with Xue Tuzi could no longer control himself. His skin burned feverish and flushed—a wildfire of crimson spreading across his chest, his throat, the delicate shells of his ears. The usual frost of his gaze had melted, pupils blown wide and drowning in something desperate and hungry. Rosy heat stained his cheeks like the first brush of dawn, betraying the rapid pulse hammering beneath his jaw. Every breath came ragged, every tremor of his body a silent plea.
Pleasurable tears carved tracks down his fevered skin, each ragged gasp tearing from his lips. Thick strands of saliva spilled past his trembling mouth, catching on the delicate mole at the corner—that tiny, cursed mark now trembling with every choked scream. His voice shattered the air, raw and guttural, "I LOVE YOU. SHUSHU I LOVE YOU." He screamed his voice raw and trembling. He repeated them, again and again, as he continued to get penetrated until his body collapsed.
The first rays of dawn spilled across Xue Tuzi's face, painting his skin in gold. The light forced his lashes to flutter—a delicate, drowsy protest—as his brows knitted together. With a soft, sleep-heavy sigh, he nuzzled deeper into Shudu's side, his palm sliding over the hard planes of Shudu's bare chest, fingers curling possessively. He burrowed into the crook of Shudu's arm, as if he could dissolve into his heat.
Shudu was already awake, his calloused fingers idly tracing the silken strands of Xue Tuzi's earthy brown hair. But then his hand stilled. A weighted pause.
"Let go," he murmured, voice rough with something unresolved. He shifted, withdrawing his arm, peeling Xue Tuzi's clinging hand away with deliberate gentleness.
"Do you hate me?" Xue Tuzi mumbled into the hollow of his shoulder, his grip tightening reflexively.
Shudu exhaled sharply, his chest rising and falling in a quick, agitated rhythm—then stilled. His gaze, sharp as a blade's edge, flicked to the side. There, sprawled in a pool of long-cold blood, lay Lord Chanchu. The man's glassy eyes were fixed on them, wide with the eternal hunger of a ghost denied. His lips, forever parted in a rigor-mortis sneer, seemed to whisper: You stole what I could never have.
The irony was thick enough to choke on.
Lord Chanchu—human in form, monstrous in soul—had spent his life chasing beauties. Yet here he rotted, forgotten mid-snarl, while Shudu, a demon with blood-blackened hands and a heart just as fractured, lay tangled in the very warmth Lord Chanchu had died coveting. Unlike Lord Chanchu, Shudu never had to forcefully take, Xue Tuzi had given himself freely.
Xue Tuzi's fingers tightened on Shudu's chest, as if sensing his distraction. "Shushu, do you hate me?" He asked again his eyes pleading.
"No," he said, the word firm but frayed at the edges. "But I'm still mad at you. Don't confuse that with hatred."
Xue Tuzi's breath hitched. The demon tilted his chin up, forcing their eyes to meet—his gaze a storm of tempered fury and reluctant devotion. "You make me so mad," he admitted, thumb brushing the curve of Xue Tuzi's jaw. "But I can't hate you."
Xue Tuzi's large eyes shimmered with something unbearably tender. Slowly, deliberately, he dipped his head and pressed a featherlight kiss to the center of Shudu's chest, right over his pounding heart.
"Aren't you going to ask me?" he murmured against Shudu's skin.
"Hmm?"
Xue Tuzi lifted his gaze, mischief and vulnerability warring in his expression. "Aren't you going to ask me if I hate you?"
Shudu's brows furrowed—then, despite himself, a scoff escaped him, the ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. "Did you hit your head, or did you forget?" He dragged a thumb over Xue Tuzi's lower lip, his touch lingering. "I already have my answer."
Blah Blah Blah:
I had to split this into two or the chapter would have become too long. I like where the last chapter ended and I'm quite satisfied with ending this chapter here so it's rather short.
To clarify Lord Chanchu did not lay a single finger on Xue Tuzi. I truly hope I made that clear. I would never allow my Shou to be victimized (now the incident with his Gege it is honestly up to interpretation). But Lord Chanchu? His slay was as easy as boiling tea.