Wu Xie
The next morning Wu Xie wake up a bit tired, but his vigilance on Xiaoge was something he will do gladly and Xiaoge had manage to fall asleep after his nightmare shortly after, thus he was sure he was ready to move on that day, as he would on any other day.
"Xiaoge... are you awake?" Wu Xie asked in a whisper and his lover assented over his chest.
"Are you okay?" Wu Xie asked again and Xiaoge moved his head up to kiss his chin.
"Yes..." Xiaoge whisper and Wu Xie smiled.
"Good, we had a long day ahead of us." Wu Xie said and Qiling removed his weight from Wu Xie's chest to redirect it over his elbows, to have space to kiss Wu Xie slightly.
"I'm ready." Xiaoge said, then moved away from Wu Xie.
"Alright, then let's prepare for the journey." Wu Xie said and after some watching and changing, they went out with their backpacks ready to part. They gather outside, in where Pangzi already had the rest of the bags ready for them to carry out into their new adventure.
"Uncle Gui, where is the guide?" Wu Xie asked as he saw no one else there but them and the old man.
"I will take you there myself. I will call Yun Cai now..."
"Wait, why are you going to guide us? Weren't you going to talk with someone else?" Wu Xie asked suspiciously of the apparently greedy man.
"Ah, I talked to the entire village, but the few hunters out there still haven't come back yet from the mountain, but don't worry. I also know my way there, so we will be in the lake in no time." Uncle Gui said quite happy and Pangzi and Wu Xie exchanged looks.
"Uncle Gui, could it be that you want the extra money for yourself?" Pangzi asked and Mr. Gui look at them a bit nervously, but then, he laughed.
"Well, it doesn't really matter who is the guide, right? We have become good friends by now, so why not take you three there myself? It will be safer that way, right?" The old man said and Wu Xie internally sighed at the old fox.
"True..." Wu Xie said.
"Wait, why Yun Cai too? As you said before, the mountains are dangerous and she is such a delicate girl... what if something dangerous happen and she gets hurt?" Pangzi protested immediately.
"Ah, you don't have to worry about that. She had been trekking with her grandfather since she was a child. She knows her way even better than me." Mr. Gui said discarding the issue instantly.
"Even so, aren't you worry she may get hurt? You are her father..." Pangzi insisted.
"Hey Mr. Fatty... are you looking down on me? I can handle a trip to the mountains just fine, I had done countless of them before and I am still in one piece, or not?" Yun Cai said from the top of the stair and Wu Xie try to hold a laugh at Pangzi expression as she walked down with a defiance gaze pasted on her young face.
"Ah... no, no, no... I don't mean any disrespect... don't take it the wrong way. I'm just worry about your health... but you are perfectly fine, so the job is yours, of course." Pangzi try to defend himself and Yun Cai smiled in triumph.
"Good, I'm glad you see it that way." She said to Pangzi, who sallow hard and laughed nervously and Wu Xie see the chance for some payback from all the teasing he suffer in Tamutuo.
"Oh, Pangzi... you changed your tune so fast... it seems that the old cow wants some tender grass after all." Wu Xie teased merrily, as he put one of his arms over Pangzi's shoulder. Behind them, Qiling smirked.
"Who are you calling an old cow? So you know, I am at my prime. Even if I were to be a cow, I will be a very strong one..." Pangzi retorted with pride, which make Yun Cai laugh shyly.
"Enough... we should go while the day is still young and less hot." Yun Cai said after her momentary fun and Pangzi was glad to follow her like a lovesick boy... on his prime.
"Let's go, Xiaoge..." Wu Xie said to his boy and Qiling also follow Wu Xie the same way Pangzi did with Yun Cai.
They walked into the mountains for long hours after that, only taking some rest when necessary. They wanted to reach the lake before nightfall, so they make haste, sometimes eating some snacks while they walked. Pangzi took one bag of potato chips from his and offered to Yun Cai, which was walking by his side, while Qiling behind them, by Wu Xie's side. He had the task of making sure Wu Xie will not slip on the humid ground, only grabbing his arms or waist, when he needed it, which flustered Wu Xie every time he slipped.
"Yun Cai... have some of this potato chips. They are so delicious... that I wouldn't share them with those two behind us even if they beg me." Pangzi whisper to her.
"Really? Then I should taste them." She said.
"Yes... I can mail them to you too, if you happen to like them as well." Pangzi offer and Wu Xie smirked.
"Hey, are you trying to make Yun Cai fat, like you?" Wu Xie teased in delight.
"Shut up Tianzhen, who ask your opinion? We are having a private conversation here. Don't be such a third wheel, you had your own car to run." Pangzi counteracted and Wu Xie laughed wholeheartedly, while Yun Cai looked behind her, more seriously.
"Hum... Pangzi... what do you guys do for a living? I can tell, from the past days that you really are not tourist's investors." Yun Cai asked curiously.
"Ah, that... to tell you the truth, we are not that kind of investors, although we do make deals in other ways. I even have my own shop and so does Wu Xie... but we came here on a very important secret mission... but, if you want to know... I can give you more details... if you spare me a kiss on the cheek..." Pangzi whisper and Wu Xie was tempted to slap himself, after hearing such a stupid cheesy line.
"Close your eyes then..." Wu Xie hear the girl respond and he really wanted to get away now and as he glanced at Xiaoge, so does he.
"Huh? Will you really kiss me?" Pangzi asked as he stopped suddenly quite embarrass, yet he offer his cheek without a problem.
"I'm off ahead... you guys have fun..." Wu Xie said as he hasted his walk, closely follow by Xiaoge and after a few seconds, he hear Pangzi yell at Yun Cai for teasing him as well.
After that, they walked in silence for quite a long time, until they reached the lake riverbank, which was quite wide and ideal for a campsite. The lake extended far and wide as well, so perhaps they will have a hard time to find what they were there to check.
They make camp, erecting the tents and Pangzi make a campfire, so they could cook something more sustainable than dry food to eat after such a long walk. Wu Xie was sure he only wanted to impress her with his cooking skills more than feed them all.
After the hard work was done, Qiling walked to the border of the lake, as the air was filled with the smell of delicious food. Wu Xie follow him as Xiaoge gazed into the distance, perhaps trying to remember what was there that had caused so much death and deception in the past... his past.
"There is not a single trace of a tragedy happen here." Qiling said to Wu Xie, who put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.
"It was a long time ago, time and rain would had watch all the blood spilled here. Fret not, we will search more closely tomorrow, after some deserve rest. What we are looking for most be at the bottom of the lake anyways, so don't worry... we are not out of clues just yet. No matter how deep your past had been bury... we will help you recover it one step at the time." Wu Xie said softly and Qiling turned his gaze to look at him.
If they had been alone, he would had kiss him senseless right there... he loved Wu Xie so badly, at times he had the impulse to try devour him with kisses, to make his previous nightmare dissipate completely and let go of his fear of losing him.
"Xiaoge... you are staring at me so deeply... it's going to make me blush again..." Wu Xie whisper as he turned his head to look into the distance, while Xiaoge smiled faintly.
"When this is all over... it will be your turn to take me." Xiaoge blunted and Wu Xie coughed badly as his brain registered the words and their meaning, making him flush in record time.
"Hey, spare me the heart attack... don't tease me like that..." Wu Xie said as he fan his red face with his hand.
"I'm not teasing." Qiling said seriously.
"Please... don't said things like that out of the blue... we are not alone."
"I know."
"Then..."
"No one is close."
"Xiaoge!"
"I love you."
"Xiaoge!!" Wu Xie shouted as his face heated more, which caught the attention of Yun Cai, that was helping Pangzi. Making an excuse, she left the man cooking and approached the pair, guided by her own need to find more about the man in black.
"Tianzhen... Pangzi is calling you..." She said as she reach them and Wu Xie turned to look at Fatty.
"Si Pangzi... what does he keep calling me like that? Stupid nickname of his." Wu Xie fumed to himself as he walked toward said man, cutting vegies, leaving Xiaoge at the edge of the river with the girl that had also dared to call him like that.
"Si Pangzi, did you call me just now?" Wu Xie asked.
"No. I was having a nice chat about hotpot with Yun Cai just now." Pangzi said as he looked up to him.
"Then why did she told me that..." Wu Xie turned to see the girl who had told him that Pangzi was looking for him and stop at the sight of her gazing at Xiaoge intensely.
"Ahhhh... no way girl..." Wu Xie exclaimed as it hit him.
"What? What did Yun Cai do?" Pangzi asked as he stood.
"Just look at that... it seems that Yun Cai is not interested in you, but in Xiaoge..." Wu Xie laughed and Pangzi gasped in surprise, also seen how the woman looked at the almost mute man.
Poor, girl... Wu Xie thought, she would had been far better if she had put her eyes on Pangzi... with Xiaoge it was such a waste of time in every way you look at it.
"Why women are attracted to gay men? I am handsome too and I am quite straight!" Pangzi whined and Wu Xie laughed again.
"Hey, you take her away from my man as she took me from him before. She had no chance with Xiaoge, not in a million years and you know it." Wu Xie said as he had his fun.
"Yeah, yeah... he is completely whipped by you, no need to say it so bluntly. Pingxie priorities, while my heart breaks... so heartless, Tianzhen."
"You were the one who throw himself into the deep without the safety net and it took me years to have Xiaoge loving me back, so don't complain. It was not easy to keep him by my side either. After we eat, Uncle Gui and Yun Cai should leave, we are tasked with taking bones from the lake and that is something they should not see until Panma decides to turn himself in." Wu Xie said and Pangzi sighed.
"Yeah... if we end up finding the bones, that is... alright, I will call her back, go retrieve Xiaoge... he look depressing looking at the lake like that."
"He is trying to remember..."
"Not all memories are good ones, Tianzhen and his past is affecting him to a point of having nightmares. He is my brother now and I don't want to see him like that one more time." Pangzi said as he slightly tapped Wu Xie's shoulder, before he called Yun Cai to help him with dinner.
Shortly after they finish the hotpot, Yun Cai insisted on staying, but Wu Xie told her it wasn't proper for a young woman to stay in a camp of three men that came to work in and out of the lake all day. They were three young gentleman's from the big city, but people always liked to talk and they had been spotted in town for a few days now. Mr. Gui had also agree with Wu Xie and despite her protest, he took her with him and promise to come back in a few days if they had no go down themselves.
That night, they sat close to the campfire and told old stories of their adventures together to give Xiaoge a sense of security and Pangzi had brought a camera to capture any findings on the film and took photos of them around the fire, while the Iron Triangle forged stronger bonds of brotherhood.
Later, Wu Xie and Xiaoge retire to their tent and slipped into one open sleeping bag, then used the other one as a blanket and held each other during the cold night in the lake. No nightmare returned that night and for that Wu Xie was glad as he rested by his peacefully sleeping boyfriend that had declared it will be his turn when everything was over...
Despite himself, Wu Xie blushed as he gently rubbed Xiaoge's back, until he too, was blissfully asleep, grabbing the back of his man, as a shield from all harm.
AN: Ah, so cute when cuddling!!! Thanks for reading and happy Halloween! Until next time, please take care.