92 6.16 (1/2)
As soon as the group that had left to deal with the demonic beast stampede was spotted approaching Heavenly Saber Sect's territory, news rapidly spread throughout the disciples, so that a crowd was gathered in Sun and Moon Hall to welcome the travelers back by the time they landed. Of course, many of the onlookers' main purpose was instead to live vicariously through their peers by listening to the details of their adventures and, more practically, to perhaps receive some souvenirs from any outstandingly generous friends.
And their wait was quickly rewarded—based solely on the way that both of the Moqi brothers had concernedly wrapped their arms around that notorious Ning He to ensure that he didn't stumble when he stepped off his sword, it was certain that there would be an intriguing story to be heard. Thus, most of the teenagers who'd just returned were promptly dragged off to explain those indifferent peak masters' bizarre treatment of Jade Sword Mountain's bully, and the rest flew back to recuperate in their own halls, leaving behind barely a handful of stragglers around Chen Yu and his guardians.
While Chen Yu facepalmed inside at how the twins had so blatantly staked their claim, he didn't shrug off their hold since he knew that they were quite likely to simply abduct him to one of their peaks if he did so. Usually, such disruptions to his schedule might not have mattered, but for the moment, he wished to stay close to Ning Taio until his curiosity was satisfied, which meant that the Moqi brothers' remote halls weren't an option. Besides, Chen Yu knew that the men had already fortified the monitoring functions in his necklace during their trip back, which meant that there was no point in trying to evade a public demonstration of their relationship; if he pushed them off now, they would just pursue him later to show off their feelings, so he had to acknowledge that it would be easier to simply allow them to believe that he was completely theirs.
As a result, in order to pacify their anxiety and ensure that they wouldn't interfere with his plans, Chen Yu pulled out two engraved wooden bead bracelets that he'd collected from the secret dimension at the bottom of Shadow Abyss and passed one to each of them, clearing his throat to mutter, ”These are for you, shishu, master. Because I've marked them, you just have to crush one of the beads to speak to me.” As a beat passed without the glowing brothers claiming the presents due to being dazed by happiness, Chen Yu inwardly rolled his eyes at these fools, on the surface embarrassedly stuttering, ”If-if you don't want it, you don't have to take it!”
This shout woke the twins from the delight that had consumed them at this proof that their shizhi loved them and, panicking upon noticing that he was about to hide their gifts, they promptly snatched them back, grinning at the faint blush on the child's cheeks. When they eagerly rolled them onto their wrists, however, they widened their eyes in surprise and stared at the boy.
Notwithstanding their regularly ridiculous behavior, both of them were peak masters after all, so they immediately realized from the spiritual energy that buzzed in the beads that these bracelets should be powerful enough to link the wearers no matter how far apart they were, making them extremely rare treasures. Yet what soon caught their attention more than where Ning He could have obtained these bracelets was that generally, for such paired artifacts, each party had to bear the item to communicate, meaning that...somewhere on the youth was a mark of the bond he'd created between them?
It was Moqi Lirong who collapsed to his desires first, he intently ran his hands along the startled boy's body while Moqi Baihui gently restrained his attempts to struggle away, until they finally located the matching beaded artifacts encircling each of Ning He's delicate ankles. It seemed that the bracelets were too large for his slim wrists, so that their brand had to be hidden under his gowns, visible only to them...At that thought, the brothers both reacted, with the white twin tenderly nuzzling his shizhi's soft neck and the crouching black twin nipping and sucking on the distinct ankle bone in his grip to further seal it as his.
At the same time, in a magnetically deep tone, Moqi Baihui murmured, ”Shizhi, let us repay you for your gift, come stay with me for a while,” and, as if to clarify how they would show their gratitude, Moqi Lirong suggestively stroked his hand up the leg he was bracing, caressing the trembling inner thigh. En, it appeared that the boy was still sensitive, he might really agree...
Indeed, despite his awareness of how tiring such 'repayment' would be, Chen Yu briefly wavered at that arousing touch and the hoarse voice whispering in his ear, but thankfully, he regained his senses in time by catching sight of a figure that looked like Ning Taio's in the distance. Damn it, when had he weakened so much as to fall for these perverts' advances? Pushing aside that irritating issue, he rushed to carry out the rest of his ploy, huffing, ”Don't, there's something I have to say.”
Gazing at him indulgently, the two attentively assured him that they were listening even as they tenaciously continued teasing him, so Chen Yu just gave up on discouraging them and dropped his command out of the blue. ”Don't do or say anything to my father about the Golden Honey Flower extract.”
At that demand, the twins' faces simultaneously stiffened, their expressions clearly distressed. If Ning Taio could feed his son such a drug, what else might he dare to do? They couldn't leave Ning He in such a precarious situation, even if their shizhi was willing to endure it for the sake of keeping the peace.
Reading the brothers' refusal from their silence, Chen Yu rubbed his temples. This was the entertainment he'd set aside for himself, all right? What would he occupy himself with if they took his fun away? Therefore, resisting his honest chagrin at what he'd been reduced to, he leaned his weight on Moqi Baihui's chest and tugged on Moqi Lirong's sleeves, putting on a crestfallen look to mumble, ”You won't promise? But he's my father...”
Moqi Baihui embraced the poor child worriedly, distraught at his troubled tone. Nonetheless, he insisted, ”Ning He, what if something happens to you because of our tolerance of Ning Taio? At least let us investigate why he's been giving you that kind of medicine.” Soothingly shifting his hand to intertwine with the youth's, Moqi Lirong also peered up at the small, frowning face, unable to compromise even if the boy became angry. So many people had already attacked their shizhi, they couldn't afford to take such a risk again.
For a few seconds, Chen Yu considered what to do, but he swiftly decided that, taking into consideration how persistent his lover could be, he didn't have time to drag this out. Thus, drooping his head further, he blinked to force out some tears, then wetly sniffled, ”En, shizhi understands.”