"ALL THE MORE REASON for you to take them off."
Xiao Chiye removed his arm guards and set them on a wooden stand placed under the eaves along with his overcoat and outer robe. The soldiers in the inner hall of the compound approached in greeting, but he raised a hand to forestall them. He turned and gave Shen Zechuan a slow once-over. "I'd like to see with my own eyes how a body trained in the Ji mental cultivation techniques differs from mine."
"Seeing as we hail from the same martial lineage," Shen Zechuan said as he set Wolfsfang down, "our stances and moves will naturally be the same."
"Not necessarily," Xiao Chiye replied. "My shifu incorporated boxing techniques from other schools, so his style had already deviated greatly from Ji-Style Boxing by the time it was imparted to me. If our training were identical, you wouldn't have been totally oblivious when we fought before."
"If you want some pointers, say so." Shen Zechuan drew an arc on the ground with his foot. "All this about taking your clothes off just makes you sound like a beast."
For an instant, Xiao Chiye felt as though Shen Zechuan had turned into an entirely different person. The falling rain overlapped with the mist from the mountain, washing out Shen Zechuan's features and emphasizing his tall and slender figure.
"My wish is to be a beast in human clothing." Xiao Chiye strode down the steps and into the curtain of rain. "I almost killed you five years ago with that kick. Do you hate me for it?"
"If I say yes, would it not sound like I've been tossing and turning at night thinking of you?" Shen Zechuan said. "Nope. I don't hate you at all."
Xiao Chiye struck a starting stance. "Pity. If you did, today would be the chance for you to take your revenge." Facing into the biting cold wind, Xiao Chiye slowly added: "That is, if you can."
The raindrops drummed down; Meng hopped a few steps before spreading his wings on the veranda. Xiao Chiye sprang up in the rain to make his move.
His punch struck empty air as Shen Zechuan avoided his fist, but the unyielding strength of his blow sent water droplets spattering across Shen Zechuan's cheek. Xiao Chiye swept his fist to the left. Shen Zechuan reached up to block his blow, then frowned in pain and took a few steps back.
Ji-Style Boxing!
Shen Zechuan pressed his lips into a tight line, but in the next moment he laughed out loud. His shifu's boxing style was steady and robust. It was clear Xiao Er lacked somewhat in steadiness, but his ferociousness more than made up for it. His strength was astonishing—one impact had numbed Shen Zechuan's arm from the shoulder down.
Ji-Style Boxing was meant to be imparted to a man like Xiao Chiye; both his internal and external constitution were uniquely suited for it. He was privileged with a powerful physique that allowed him to hold all others in contempt—but was a mere advantage of birth, bestowed by the heavens, the true key to victory?
The last thing Shen Zechuan believed in was heaven's plans.
With one kick, he sent raindrops splashing toward Xiao Chiye. The sweep of his leg was quick and brutal. Any ordinary person would have weighed their chances and done whatever they could to avoid it, but Xiao Chiye met the challenge head-on. He raised his arm to block Shen Zechuan's leg with a heavy thud, then took one steady step forward.
It was too late for Shen Zechuan to retract his leg. Facing Xiao Chiye was like facing a tiger; this man was waiting for an opportunity. If his opponent showed any sign of weakness—a wavering heart, an evasive gaze, an avoidant stance—he would pounce. Forcing Xiao Chiye on the defensive was vastly preferable to letting him go on the offensive.
Leg still raised, Shen Zechuan bore down on Xiao Chiye's arm; the force slowed Xiao Chiye's forward motion slightly. In a fraction of a second, Xiao Chiye threw his arm up, flinging Shen Zechuan into the air. Shen Zechuan arced his body back, pushed off with both hands on the ground, then sprang up like a willow after a gust of wind. The moment he regained his balance, he swept his leg toward Xiao Chiye's head again.
Xiao Chiye once again brought his arm up to block the blow. His eyes were calm. "An ant trying to shake a tree. Should I scold you for not knowing what you're up against, or commend you for your courage?"
He reached around and grabbed Shen Zechuan's calf, dropping his shoulder as he attempted to slam Shen Zechuan to the ground. But having already been swung up, Shen Zechuan took advantage of his momentum to plant his foot on Xiao Chiye's shoulder. His astonishing waist strength came into play again as he got both legs around Xiao Chiye's neck and twisted with all his might, taking them to the ground together.
Xiao Chiye's hand slid up Shen Zechuan's leg and wrapped around his waist. The flesh under his palm was unbelievably supple and smooth.
It was true that he'd been trying to touch Shen Zechuan's body. He couldn't figure it out, as much as he tried. Whether it was Ji-Style Boxing or the Ji-Style Blade, any individual who trained in them year-round should have the muscle to show for it. But Shen Zechuan had not only concealed his strength so well he looked as if he'd never trained a day in martial arts, he'd also deceived both Chen Yang and Qiao Tianya into believing he was morbidly weak from a deficiency in qi and blood.
Shen Zechuan surged up and threw an elbow at Xiao Chiye's head. Bending his neck to dodge, Xiao Chiye held tight to Shen Zechuan's waist and pulled his back flush with his own body, feeling his way up from Shen Zechuan's waist to his chest.
The eastern pearl was still hidden in his lapels. Shen Zechuan slammed his back into Xiao Chiye, grabbed hold of his arm, and flung him over his shoulder into the rain.
The spray of water instantly drenched Shen Zechuan's hair.
Shen Zechuan made to retreat, but Xiao Chiye hooked one long leg out and sent Shen Zechuan tripping toward himself. Shen Zechuan was already starting to pitch over; at the last second, he trod upon the water and steadied himself, body swaying like the reverberations of the strings on a guqin.
Xiao Chiye leapt to his feet and threw himself forward. His next punch struck at empty air, but as Shen Zechuan spun to evade the blow, Xiao Chiye's hand brushed against a lock of inky hair that had fluttered up in the rain.
The rain-soaked lock slipped reluctantly past Xiao Chiye's fingertips, leaving them damp and tingling, as if wanting more.
"We're done here." Xiao Chiye suddenly clenched his fist and looked at Shen Zechuan. "The rain is getting heavier."
Shen Zechuan glanced back. "Are you done feeling me up?"
"Not soft, but not hard either," Xiao Chiye answered without batting an eyelash.
"I thought you were going to start tearing my clothes off." Shen Zechuan's tone was mocking.
"If that's what I was after," Xiao Chiye said, "we would certainly be baring more than our hearts to each other right now." He raised his other hand and waved a thin blade between his fingers—the same ones Shen Zechuan always carried. "The Ji mental cultivation techniques need to be paired with a proper saber. If you use these things every day, you'll never beat me in this lifetime. And if you can't beat me, how will you get your revenge?"
Shen Zechuan carried his thin blades strapped to the outside of his thighs. He glanced down, then looked back up at Xiao Chiye. "Fighting and killing will only cause strife. Wouldn't it be more fun to play the fool together?"
"I fear you're hiding a blade behind that smile, waiting to stab me when I'm least aware," Xiao Chiye said.
"The only blade is the one painted as a warning above the word lust."23 Shen Zechuan spread his hands and shrugged. "Er-gongzi is a righteous man. What's there to fear?"
Xiao Chiye placed the thin blade in Shen Zechuan's palm and said lightly, "I've just said your Er-gongzi is a beast in human clothes. What makes you think I'm a righteous man?" Shen Zechuan was about to pull his hand away when Xiao Chiye caught him by the wrist. "Since you've been so good today, Er-gongzi will take you somewhere to relax."
"Your Excellency," said Shen Zechuan, suddenly stern, "please, I'm not into men. Let's part on good terms with no hard feelings. Why are you pestering me?"
Xiao Chiye was momentarily dumbfounded. He glanced to the side and saw a crowd of soldiers from the Imperial Army clustered around the doors and windows of the inner hall, watching the show.
The vice commander of the Imperial Army, Tantai Hu, was the scar-faced man who had led his men to slaughter the Eight Great Battalions the other night. Leaning out the window, he took the lead to jeer, "You're fighting like a lecher taking liberties. What the hell, Your Excellency?! You never smile when you lecture us!"
"Pestering!" More soldiers winked meaningfully at each other and heckled, "How can we compete with someone he wants to pester?! The supreme commander is twenty-three now. He has no wife to dote on at home, so his energy must be spent on someone else. We can't compare!"
Sensing Shen Zechuan about to run, Xiao Chiye yanked him closer and flashed a shallow smile. "That's right. I love to pester. What are you running for, Lanzhou? I'm not done with you! You aren't into men because you've yet to taste the sweetness of a good one. Er-gongzi will teach you."
When it came to shamelessness, Xiao Chiye would only concede defeat to Li Jianheng. Did Shen Zechuan think to scare him with this act of being forced against his will? The man was belittling him with a cheap trick like this.
Xiao Chiye dragged Shen Zechuan off before he could make any more trouble.
Behind them, Tantai Hu stroked his scar and asked the soldier at his side, "Who is that man? I've never seen him in the Imperial Army before."
"His surname is Shen." The man beside him winked. "The one from Zhongbo."
Tantai Hu's smile instantly cooled. He braced himself on the windowsill to stick his head out again, then looked back. "The same fucking Shen Clan who brought Zhongbo to ruin? What's His Excellency doing with him?! Shen Wei caused the deaths of thousands. Eight of his heads aren't enough for us to cut off! The Prince of Jianxing's manor has been ransacked, yet this remnant eats and sleeps in comfort in Qudu. Orphans along the Chashi River are still gnawing on mud! Fuck this! Why didn't you say so earlier?!"
Xiao Chiye led Shen Zechuan up Mount Feng.
A narrow flight of stone steps had been carved into the mountainside. Water seeped through the soles of their shoes, chilling them to the bone, but Xiao Chiye did not look back. He parted branches of maple leaves dripping with rain and left the staircase for an out-of-the-way path. Their shoes sank into mud as they trekked through the trees on uneven steps.
Almost an hour later, Xiao Chiye finally stopped. The thatched cottage sitting in the mist was small and finely constructed, but it did not look like a place where people lived. He turned to Shen Zechuan. "You saved me once in the Nanlin Hunting Grounds. As a reward, I'll share half this place with you."
"The reward I seek is gold and silver," Shen Zechuan said. "Not a bath together."
"Money and fame are but worldly things." Xiao Chiye lifted the curtain to step inside. He stood near the entrance and began to strip, shouting back, "Not even the emperor has enjoyed this place."
Shen Zechuan lifted the curtain and saw Xiao Chiye's bare upper torso. The lines of his back and shoulders were sharp and sleek, as if carved out with a chisel. Other than a small clothing rack, the only thing in the cottage was a stretch of bare floor ending in a hot spring that was open to the mountain air. Xiao Chiye's clothes hung on one side of the rack. The other had clearly been reserved for him.
Xiao Chiye kicked off his boots and looked back at Shen Zechuan. "Do you want to turn your back to me and strip, or do you intend to strip while watching me?"
Pulling at his belt, Shen Zechuan turned around. The eastern pearl rolled into his palm, and he slipped it into the pocket of his sleeve. The eyes on his back never wavered. Shen Zechuan paused, then pulled off his outer robe.
As Xiao Chiye watched that garment slip to the floor, he finally saw how the fairness of Shen Zechuan's neck extended downward, like pear-blossom rice paper under moonlight. His back looked surpassingly fine and smooth.
Xiao Chiye thought: Of course.
It was as if he had been staring at Shen Zechuan's nape all this time, waiting for this moment. How could the back of a man's neck possess such breathtaking beauty? It was beyond anything Xiao Chiye had experienced in the past; it amazed and baffled him.
The fangs of the Libei wolf pup were sharp, but they had never bitten such a neck before; never such a man. His gaze slid down from the nape of Shen Zechuan's neck with an intensity that felt like a caress, moving farther and farther down the smooth curve of it, down his back.
Smooth.
Xiao Chiye's mouth was dry. With a jolt, he snapped back to his senses and averted his gaze.
I must be mad! he thought. All those ladies on Donglong Street, every one of them more beautiful than the last—so why was he looking at a man's back as though burning with thirst?
Xiao Chiye had always turned up his nose at men who were seduced by beautiful women; those he admired were men of resolute will. Every one of them was a righteous gentleman, untempted by lust even if it were to sit in his lap. Like his father, his brother, and his shifu.
Famous generals of the land came and went, but among them, he had never admired Qi Shiyu, precisely because of this man's lascivious habits. And after the battle in Zhongbo, the one he loathed most was Shen Wei. Not only was the man guilty of monstrous crimes, he was also lustful enough to sire a horde of sons.
But at this moment, he felt dizzy. That instinct, captivated by beauty and stirred by desire, once again reared its head.
Xiao Chiye struggled to rein in his fevered gaze. He felt vividly the contradiction between his reason and his desire: He had no love for this man. But because of his beauty, the desire to embrace him, to ravage him, to tear at him with tooth and claw sprang up within him for the second time.
"Aren't you getting in?" Shen Zechuan was oblivious as he turned back around and approached, unperturbed.
Xiao Chiye responded fiercely, "Yes."