Chapter 252: Stay With Me (2)
"Is it not strange..." Ningyan frowned, taking a step back, hostility rising around him like dark smoke. "...to feel jealous of myself?"
His violet eyes narrowed. "And this is the second time you—"
His words never finished.
Lan Meishan moved so fast Ningyan barely saw it. And then, warm lips crashed against his, hard, deep and possessively.
Lan Meishan’s hand cupped the side of his face, fingers threading into his white hair as he kissed him like a man who had restrained himself for far too long.
Ningyan froze.
His mind went blank. His body stiffened.
But only for a breath.
Then instinct took over.
His fingers clenched Meishan’s robes, one hand gripping tightly at his waist, the other twisting in his sleeve.
And he kissed back without hesitation and thought as though his body remembered what his mind could not.
Heat exploded through him.
His chest tightened. His skin burned.
He pressed closer, almost desperately, touch-starved in ways he had never realized until now.
Lan Meishan abruptly pulled back. Not far. Just enough to look at him.
To truly... look.
Ningyan’s lips were parted, his breath uneven.
His face was flushed. His ears were burning. And Lan Meishan’s emerald eyes softened.
Heavens.
He was painfully beautiful.
And for a moment, Lan Meishan almost broke.
Ningyan stared at him, dazed.
His mind had stopped working entirely.
Lan Meishan’s lips curled into a small smile. The kind that made his eyes look strange beneath those cold spectacles.
"You do not have to be jealous, A-Yan."
That voice was soft... Ruinously gentle.
Ningyan’s breath caught.
Lan Meishan’s thumb brushed the corner of his mouth. "I do not want to stay because I do not want to hurt you."
His gaze darkened. "You can have everything you just asked for."
His voice lowered. "The past. Your memories. Me. If you come to me."
His fingers slid away from Ningyan’s face. "And I promise... I will not force you."
Ningyan blinked.
His lips still tingled. His mind still drowning.
"How..." His voice came out weak. "How would you hurt me if you stayed here?"
Lan Meishan’s expression turned cold. "Your kin."
His voice sharpened. "I do not wish to be near them."
Before Ningyan could reply, emerald light wrapped around Meishan’s body.
And in the next breath, he was gone. Just like that.
Ningyan stood there, stunned. Then his face twisted.
"What the hell—" He cursed under his breath, deeply offended.
How could Lan Meishan kiss him like that and then leave as though Ningyan was not standing there, half-burning alive.
His fingers brushed his own lips. They were still warm and tingling.
He wanted more.
That realization nearly made him... furious.
But instead, his mind replayed it. Again and again and again
Lan Meishan’s mouth.
Yan Wuhen’s eyes.
His brows furrowed deeply.
"...is my heart truly that large?"
Four husbands.
Four.
What kind of absurd existence had he lived?
^°^
By the time he returned to the palace, sleep never came. Not once.
He lay awake, staring at the ceiling while every word, every touch, every look replayed endlessly.
The kiss. The longing. The pain in Meishan’s eyes.
And the fox’s.
By morning, his thoughts were in ruins.
He was already dressed when breakfast was served. Seated by the table, untouched tea cooling beside him.
One of the servants entered nervously.
She bowed low. "Your Greatness..."
Her voice trembled. "Lord Xie Zhenting has arrived."
Ningyan raised a brow.
Of course.
Somewhere deep down, he had expected it.
He just had not expected it this soon.
He set down his cup. "Let him in."
The servant bowed and hurried away.
Ningyan rose and walked toward the open window.
He pushed it wider. Cold winter wind rushed in, carrying the scent of snow and distant mountain frost.
He leaned against the frame, looking out over the endless white forests and frozen rivers of the Hidden Phoenix Clan.
The chamber doors opened.
Xie Zhenting stepped inside looking so bright and smiling. A smile warm enough to fool anyone.
But Ningyan noticed it immediately, the way it reached his purple eyes too perfectly.
"Your Greatness." Xie Zhenting bowed. "It is a blessing to see you."
Ningyan nearly laughed at those words, but he swallowed it down, his expression turning cold as frost. "What is this about the Leopards?"
Xie Zhenting stiffened. "Your Greatness—"
"I know you were the one who ordered it." Ningyan’s voice cut through the chamber. "Do not waste my patience by denying it. If you were innocent, you would not have rushed here after me."
For a fleeting moment, something dark flashed across Xie Zhenting’s face before he buried it.
"I would do no such thing," he said, lowering his head. "Shi Zekai and Guo Manyu acted on their own. Out of loyalty. Out of rage for what those beasts did to us."
His jaw tightened, as though forcing down emotions too sharp to reveal. "Everything we do, we do for our clan. For you. But I understand, they were wrong to act without informing you. I was left in the dark as well."
Ningyan stared at him, unimpressed.
"You speak too carefully," he murmured. "Too defensively."
He rose from the windowsill, white robes trailing across the polished floor like drifting snow. "I do not believe a single word you say anymore, Xie Zhenting."
Xie Zhenting’s eyes widened, his breath catching. "Your Greatness..."
Ningyan stopped before him, his gaze sharp. "There is something else I want to know."
His tone softened but only slightly. "Divine Beast king Lan Meishan of the Abyss Serpent Clan."
At the name, Xie Zhenting’s shoulders tensed.
"And Yan Wuhen... brother to Divine Beast Queen Yan Qinghe." Ningyan watched him carefully, every flicker of expression, every shift of breath. "I should have asked sooner. I have been too occupied with my own thoughts."
His eyes narrowed. "But tell me... who are they to me?"
Xie Zhenting’s lips pressed into a thin line. His hands clenched so tightly at his sides that his knuckles whitened.
Ningyan smiled faintly. "And Rong Yue."
That name shattered the last of Xie Zhenting’s composure.
His purple eyes darkened.
Ningyan caught it.
There. That reaction. Interesting....
"I was told," he said lightly, almost amused, "that they are my husbands."
The chamber seemed to freeze.
"How fascinating, isn’t it?" His smile sharpened. "I am surprised no one thought to mention it. Especially you."
His gaze bore into Xie Zhenting. "You knew, didn’t you? Even when we journeyed to the Vermilion Fox Clan."
"Your Greatness!" Xie Zhenting snapped, the words almost torn from him. "They are lies."
Ningyan hummed.
Xie Zhenting stepped forward, desperation cracking through his calm.
"Your previous life was a disaster. Filled with suffering, blood, betrayal. That is what we are protecting you from." His voice lowered. "There is no life where you would have been married to beasts like them and we would hide it from you."
His eyes burned. "I would never hide something like that from you."
Ningyan tilted his head. "That is precisely the problem."
He stepped closer, so close their breaths nearly touched. "I no longer believe that."
Xie Zhenting went still.
Ningyan’s eyes darkened. "I have been remembering."
The words came low. "Fragments. Flashes."
His fingers curled at his sides. "I see pieces of my past. Faces. Voices. Moments."
His gaze turned distant. "But never you."
That struck.
Xie Zhenting’s face paled.
"Not you. Not Shi Zekai. Not Guo Manyu. Not He Yuting." His eyes snapped back to him. "None of you. Why?"
Xie Zhenting swallowed. His throat moved visibly.
"You met one of them," he said at last.
Ningyan smiled. "Two."
The smile made Xie Zhenting’s blood run cold.
"Lan Meishan and Yan Wuhen." He watched him carefully. "You should have known we would cross paths in the Vermilion Fox Clan."
His voice turned quieter. "I wonder why you didn’t stop me."
Xie Zhenting’s fists trembled. "Your distrust wounds me, Your Greatness."
His voice was strained now. "We should be focused on destroying them. Not listening to their poison."
"Who is Rong Yue?" Ningyan cut through him like thunder.
Xie Zhenting froze.
"Do you know who the fourth husband is too?" Ningyan’s lips curved. "You do, don’t you?"
His gaze sharpened. "Is that why you look so angry?"
Xie Zhenting’s breathing turned ragged. "They are corrupting you," he whispered.
"Perhaps." Ningyan’s voice was calm.
He turned away, returning to the open window where cold wind poured into the chamber, lifting strands of his white hair.
Beyond the mountains, snow fell in endless silence. "But I still want to know."
Behind him, Xie Zhenting stood rigid, his face dark and unreadable.
At last, Ningyan spoke again without looking back. "Return to the Beast Realm, Xie Zhenting."