Fanfiction: Mo Yuan and Shao Wan - Chapter 86 (Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms 三生三世十里桃花)
Chapter 86
written by kakashiedited by Panda
“Good morning,” somebody whispered into his ear.
Mo Yuan had slept so soundly and deeply, it took him a few moments to remember where he was. It was still dark outside, but a first faint light heralded the imminent rise of the sun. The warmth of Shao Wan’s body next to him underneath the softness of the furs gave him a deep feeling of contentment and wholesomeness.
That feeling was quickly replaced by something else as Shao Wan moved her nails over his chest - and stopped at the scar over his heart. The skin there was still very sensitive and tingled madly from the merest touch. Whatever had changed - be it the presence of her feather or maybe because they were so much more in harmony with each other now than before - their energies did not longer clash violently when they touched. The reaction, now, was energizing and exciting, not painful.
Her nails scraped over his nipples, back and forth, and his heartbeat increased. She stopped again, pressing her palms against his chest, then her ear. He smiled and slowed down his heart.
“Hmmm,” she said and turned her head to lightly tease his nipples with her teeth and lips. Instantly, his heart sped up again.
“Is this where I activate it,” she said and bit more forcefully. At that, he grew hard, which brought a pleased look to her face. Her hand travelled down, to play with his shaft and balls. Soon, her mouth followed, but her movements were sluggish, her touch light, meant to tease, not please him.
Mo Yuan growled. Ever since he had removed the inner wards that had kept Golden Dragon at bay when fighting her, he had been too busy to reset them - or maybe that was just an excuse and he simply no longer wanted to suppress that part of himself. Dragon energy was a raw, occasionally very dangerous source of power, but he had also found that the dragon seemed more peaceful than he had been in his youth.
Though not when Shao Wan touched him like this.
His Dragon energy surged and he grabbed her forcefully, turning her on her back and pinning her underneath him on the soft bed. There was surprise in her face, then defiance. She struggled. And she was strong. She bit him in his shoulder and then managed to throw him off her when the sudden pain made him flinch for a moment. “You keep entirely still,” she ordered.
“No,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “You do not tell me what to do.”
Her eyes narrowed too. She looked feral, dangerous, extremely beautiful. The pendant with her feather was not visible in the mortal realm, though he saw a shimmer, almost like a ghostly afterthought, at her neck. To have someone so powerful next to him brought out his competitive streak - he had always striven, and most often succeeded to be the best at everything. Knowing that beating her in a fair fight was no longer a certainty made him very eager to fight her.
Suddenly, she slammed him with immortal power. That took him completely by surprise and she was on top of him instantly, her elbow pressing down on his larynx. She was obviously quite serious about things, risking magical bite back just for this. Very well.
“Do you want to discuss rules,” she hissed at him, “or is that too early.”
He couldn’t speak but he cared nothing for it. She was lighter than him by quite a bit, which would always give him an advantage in a brute show of force. He managed to throw her off and roll on top of her again, biting her throat this time, careful enough not to truly hurt her, but still showing his resolve. “I only follow my own rules,” he growled into her ear.
“Is that so,” she replied sweetly and opened her legs a bit so that his arousal came to rest at the entrance to her warm, wet core. “So, if I order you to take me fast and forcefully right now, you won’t comply?”
The problem with the Dragon power was that he had much bigger trouble maintaining his iron self-control when he let it dominate. Though, apart from a short moment of regret about losing this fight so quickly, taking her fast and forcefully made him very content - and her too. As they climaxed together long and hard, he bit her again, this time in her cheek.
“My apologies,” he said when he had caught his breath and was quite shocked about the red mark he had left on the perfection of her face.
Her hand came up and briefly covered the bite mark. “Just you wait. I will pay you back,” she said with a laugh. She likely did not know it, but she looked even more beautiful to him like this: with tousled hair, dilated pupils, flushed skin - and marked by him.
“You want to swim with me?” he asked, eying her glorious body with sustained interest.
“Swim?” she echoed, sounding mystified, “isn’t it freezing cold?”
“Mhm,” he said, “it’s so cold it will make you warm all over.”
She laughed at him, making a sign to say he was crazy, but he jumped at her and grabbed her by the waist, throwing her over his shoulder. She just laughed more, feebly trying to free herself. The air in the room was cold and it was even colder in the courtyard. Shao Wan struggled against his grip, but she was laughing too much to put enough effort in.
“Let me down immediately,” she hiccuped, but he had no intention of complying. He lengthened his strides and was at the lake shore, on the little boating platform, in no time.
“You won’t dare!” she warned, but of course he did. With one swift move, he threw her in. She made a huge splash, surfacing quickly, gasping and spluttering, looking furious and absolutely lovable.
He jumped in after her more elegantly, treasuring the breath stopping cold as a means to become completely awake and alert. “You bastard,” she hissed at him as soon as he surfaced as well and attacked him by pressing him under water again. He just grabbed her and pulled her with him, seeking and finding her mouth. It was like time stopped as they drifted weightlessly in the deep dark quiet infinity of the water in a tight embrace.
I want this to last forever, he thought. But with the thought came the realization that it would not.
She said nothing after they surfaced, both gasping for air. The first rays of the sun made the water around them glitter like gemstones. The forest came alive with golden colors and as by command of an unseen master, birds enjoying the last days of feeble warmth before the winter burst into song. She held onto him, shivering a little.
They climbed out, shook themselves and ran to the house, teeth chattering, straight back to bed and underneath the still warm covers. After using a bit of magic to dry her and his hair, he held her tightly until their shivers stopped and the cozy warmth returned.
She sneezed.
“I told you that would happen,” he said with a frown.
“You threw me into ice water!” she complained, rubbing her nose.
“You used magic against me.”
“I did?”
“Yes, you did. Because you always want to win. Now, you’re paying for it.”
She sniffled indignantly. “As soon as I can muster the will to leave this warm nest of yours, I will fight you with no magic until you beg for mercy. Maybe I will have some. Maybe not.”
“Save your energy. We need to go to town.”
“I remember. I will just fight you in town then. We can maybe get money for it.”
Mo Yuan laughed. “I’ve got money. Plenty.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “Did you steal it?”
“No, I worked for it.”
“Ha!”
“Well, I…,” he felt a bit uneasy, but there was no use in keeping this from her, since she was bound to find out anyway. “I did something that deserved punishment when I was much younger. I vowed to teach mortals the Way of the Tao for...a while.” A long while. Thousands upon thousands of years.
She looked at him strangely. “Do you also own a bookshop?”
He forgot to breathe for a moment. “Why...why would you say that?”
She looked very guilty all of a sudden. “I heard there was an issue…but I swear, I didn’t do anything. Well, not much.“
“So you really did come to the world of my trial…“
“Yes,“ she said defiantly and moved away from him a little, sneezing again, “but not by design. Somebody told me about a book I had been looking for, alright? And later, those damn Celestials claimed I was trying to sabotage your trial! Why would I do something like that? Plus, you…” she looked at him with a soft expression, “...you were incredibly sweet, all clueless and naive. I could never have hurt you in that state.”
“Shao Wan...what did you do?“
“I drank tea with you. We talked. Nothing else.“
“And then you deleted my memories,“ he shook his head in disbelief. “Do you even know…”
No, of course she could not know.
“Am I to blame for the troubles you had after all?” she asked quietly. “If so, I want to apologize. It was not my intention to hurt you. But everything felt so strange. You were able to see through my illusion spell. You...you asked me to stay with you. I...ran.”
“Even back then,” Mo Yuan said in wonderment.
She scoffed. “I only ran because you scared me with being too nice. It was like a nightmare, very eerie. I wasn’t really afraid of you!”
“No, Shao Wan,” Mo Yuan said, and reached over his hand to her, “even back then...I must have been in love with you. My mortal form almost died of heartbreak after meeting you. It is likely you prevented me from failing my trial altogether.”
“Oh?” she said and moved closer. “I didn’t make things difficult for you?”
“Yes. You made them very difficult, but since making me suffer was the point…”
“You Celestials are so strange,” she exclaimed, snuggling up to him again, planting a soft, wet kiss on his cheek.
So it is fate? Mo Yuan wondered with a horrible, sinking feeling. If she had not been there to change the outcome of his mortal trial, he would have failed and he would have lost his powers. He would not have been there to fight in the First Demon War. She would not have burned to death. She would not have suffered so much.
But these kind of thoughts were forbidden. Fate was not to be questioned. Trying to understand the Will of the Heavens was not possible. Fears that he was bad for her were not what he wanted to overshadow their time together.
“I don’t like it when you brood like this,” she said, her beautiful, shining eyes peering into his from up close. “When you do, your eyes look like bottomless pits, very scary. I like them best when they...” her hand travelled over his chest down his body and she nibbled on his earlobe, “...go stormy. Sometimes, they look like Celestial thunderbolts will come shooting out. Dangerous. They make me want to eat you.”
With a sigh he removed her hand from his body and sat up, leaning against the headboard. “The way to town is quite far. If we do not want to starve, we should leave now.”
“They’re not stormy enough,” she observed and pounced on his lap, rubbing herself against him. “It is very bad luck not to satisfy a Demon Woman sitting on your lap,” she professed, “there’s even a proverb: Always lap against a Demon Woman in your lap.”
He was certain there was no such proverb. But she was very wet, the little liar. It was enough to make his own desires rise. Going to town could be postponed for a bit.
“You do know I’m an old God,” he said, squinting at her in mock outrage. “It’s possible that your 190,000 years of rest mean you have the body of a 170,000 year old Goddess. Me on the other hand…”
“You are not serious, are you?” she said, looking horrified. “I will make sure to buy the necessary ingredients for a potency potion in town.”
“It is very hurtful that you seem only interested in satisfying your bodily urges with me,” he said and put his hands on her perfectly rounded, firm butt cheeks, slightly pulling them apart and positioning his throbbing tip at her entrance. “I have many other talents.”
“Then stop being so...ahhhh,” she moaned when he pushed into her, slowly, but going deep. “Stop being so alluring,” she panted, her eyelids fluttering. “You make it hard for me to think of anything else around you. I want you all the time. As soon as we’re done, I want more.”
“Ah?” he said, moving her slowly up and down, “then we will starve here, but at least you will be satisfied.”
“I will never be satisfied,” she pressed out, beginning to move faster.
“I could get used to that, little Demon,” he purred into her ear.
“Oi! Careful...Shifu,” she replied and laughed happily when his eyes went stormy like the Celestial skies before a lightning trial.
***
They did make it to town eventually, though it was quite dark already and too late to buy supplies when they arrived. They had walked the entire distance hand-in-hand but when they entered the town, Mo Yuan pulled his hand away.
“We cannot shock them,” he sternly told her.
“This is shocking? I wonder what they would say if they knew what we were doing a few hours ago in the forest.” It had involved removing twigs from his hair in the end, like she had fantasized the day before.
“Shush,” he scolded, “please do not scandalize anyone. My face is known and respected here.”
That made her angry. “Like I don’t know how to behave myself,” she hissed and walked ahead of him, lengthening her stride. Damn Celestial. Trust? He was the one who never had any.
“It’s this way,” he softly called behind her after a while. He gestured to the right when she turned, glowering. He didn’t pay her any attention but just walked in the indicated direction. Fuming, she followed him to the town’s guest house, a few steps behind him like a good wife. At least, he looked good from behind: A man who surely caught women’s eyes, tall, strong, walking with the confidence of someone with power. She shot challenging looks in all directions, but not many people were afoot and those that were looked away as soon as her eyes met theirs.
The inn was a friendly looking, wooden building with colorful pennants fluttering outside, illuminated by the soft light of many lanterns. The innkeeper’s face lit up when he recognized Mo Yuan after they’d entered. “Oh, Mr. He! We haven’t seen you in years! I was just saying to my wife yesterday how…,” he abruptly turned silent when his eyes fell on Shao Wan.
“This is my wife, Xian Mo (仙魔)”, Mo Yuan told the man.
The man’s eyes grew very round. “Is she…”, he whispered.
Mo Yuan nodded and dropped his voice down to a whisper. “Yes. It’s best not to anger her. Please, we need a room for two nights.”
The man hurried up the stairs, leading them to a fairly spacious room on the first floor. “I will serve you dinner,” he said demurely, trying to keep his eyes away from Shao Wan, but failing. They darted to her constantly, especially the bite mark on her cheek. “What does the...lady like, Sir?”
“She eats meat, the bloodier the better,” Mo Yuan said. “The usual for me. I particularly liked a soup…”
“Yes,” the innkeeper bowed, “the dumpling soup. I will tell my wife you are back, she will be delighted to cook it for you. Also to hear that you…” he eyed Shao Wan again, but ended up blinking his eyes rapidly as if trying to keep them away from the dangerous temptation. “My best wishes for a happy marriage,” he blurted out, bowed, and quickly left.
“He thinks I’m a demon, doesn’t he,” Shao Wan said to Mo Yuan icily.
“Yes,” he agreed, “and since you are…”
“Do you think you’re funny?” she hissed at him. “He is terrified!”
“Why are you angry?” Mo Yuan asked with a scowl, “it simply ensures you can walk around any way you want, unbothered, without having to change your behavior or your looks.”
“What’s wrong with my looks?”
“Wrong? Nothing is wrong. You could have changed your appearance, but since you chose not to, you are an unusually tall, stunning beauty. You look like a powerful, otherworldly being. I don’t want any complications.”
Hm, so he was not insulting her? The truth was, she had forgotten to change her looks. He was at fault, distracting her with his presence. “So pray tell, how did you capture me, oh valiant husband?”
Mo Yuan smiled. “You were trying to seduce me. I resisted. Then I bound you with a spell.”
“You resisted? You wish!” she snorted. “I was always under the impression that Taoist monks are celibate, but I guess I was wrong.”
“Will it please you to hear that I was celibate for 280,000 years before I met you again?”
That pleased her indeed. It pleased her so much she forgot she was angry with him and she was on her best behavior when the innkeeper and his wife appeared in their room to serve them food - and to have a look at her. She smiled at them, showing her teeth a little, and wolved down the raw, thinly cut meat that was served with a red, pleasantly spice sauce, rice, and a selection of vegetables. She was famished, it was delicious and her mood improved further when they brought warm sweet plum wine to drink. There also was a selection of pastries, some filled with bean paste, some with poppy seeds, some with a sweet, yellow sauce and soon, she felt a pleasant kind of warmth radiating from her belly all through her body. After they were done - Shao Wan had resisted the impulse to lick clean all the bowls - the innkeeper couple tidied up everything and wished them a good night.
“I seem to eat well when I am with you,” she observed and licked her lips. She had never known she liked sweets so much.
“I worry about you,” Mo Yuan said, with a scowl, “you have become much thinner than you were at Kunlun.”
He got up and stepped behind her to massage her shoulders. She hadn’t even realized she was tense, but his fingers skillfully found knotted up muscles everywhere. She sighed.
“I will tell you,” she whispered, “but not now. A bit more time like this. I want to pretend…”
“I understand,” he said and smoothed down her hair, planting a kiss on the top of her head.
Afterwards, he carried her to the bed and undressed her slowly, moving his hands over every inch of her skin. Their energies swirled around them lazily, engulfing them like a protective cocoon. Mortals would not be able to see these powers, but they might feel the energies around them change. The innkeeper and his wife would sleep very well tonight.
“Shao Wan,” Mo Yuan said, kissing her gently on the lips, “you should get the ingredients for...that other potion tomorrow. We’re going to stay in this world for a while.”
She yawned, then nodded. She had not paid a lot of attention to her cycle since her return, but one thing was certain, she had not bled yet - which would solve all problems for months - and so it was better to be careful.
“No need to get that other potion, right?” she asked and yawned again. “You were just teasing me.”
“Are you admitting I am older than you?” he asked, stroking her hair.
“What a load of…,” she started to say, her anger flaring, but then, she caught the mischievous glint in his eyes. “Ah, I am too easy to tease,” she chuckled and closed her eyes. He embraced her, her face nestled against his neck and continued to stroke her hair until she fell asleep.
***
The innkeeper couple served them a tasty breakfast and Shao Wan got very excited to see what this town had to offer. Mo Yuan watched her intently when she started arranging her hair with the comb he had packed for them. When her eyes met his in the mirror, her heart started to beat very fast. He lifted his eyebrows a little. Expectantly.
“You…,” she stammered. “You want to...comb my hair?”
“Yes I do,” he whispered and stepped behind her, holding out his hand.
Slowly, haltingly, she placed the comb into it. Very carefully, he began to move it through her hair, strand by strand. He would separate a bit of hair with the comb, then take it into his hand, then move the comb carefully down to the very end. He would repeat this until there was absolutely no resistance anymore and her hair shone and crackled. He did not look up once, but was focused on his task, a look of blissful concentration on his handsome face.
How much deeper can I fall? Shao Wan asked herself, feeling her heart contract painfully. Nobody ever told me how dangerous love is. It’s a bottomless pit. What if he doesn’t catch me? I will shatter.
“I want you to teach me how to braid it,” he demanded when he was done combing and looked up. “Yi Mei Niang taught me about a few patterns.”
“She did what?” Shao Wan squealed. “Did you touch her hair?”
He looked at her with a scowl. “No. Why would I touch her hair? She just pointed out some of the meanings when we rode through the Demon camp. “Third Son of the River Tribe”. Or: “Married with four children”. I didn’t know…,” he paused, gazing questioningly at her shocked expression. “Do you think me a man who randomly touches women’s hair?”
“N….no, of course not,” Shao Wan said.
“Good. But I want you to teach me how to braid yours.”
“Mhm,” she said, “yes. Later? It’s very complicated.”
He looked unconvinced, but nodded, seeing her discomfort. “Is there a book about Demon customs?” he wondered.
“How should I know!” she exclaimed. “You’re the book person.”
“If there isn’t, I want to write one,” he said. “Will you tell me?”
“Yes, I can - but my knowledge is outdated,” she said, “I was away for so long.”
“I’m interested in the customs you believe in,” he said, “nothing else. Please share your knowledge with me.”
It was amazing, Shao Wan thought, as they walked out of the inn and into the busy streets, that the prospect of telling this man about Demon customs excited her more than the prospect of returning to her armies and beating Cheng Yin.
He showed her the various shops in town and they bought enough rice to last for several weeks, fresh and dried vegetables, flour, pastes, spices and some sweets that he caught her eying with appetite. He also bought her hair ornaments again, and she realized that the ones he had gotten her at Kunlun had come from this place as well. That made her want to ask him when he had started to build the house at the lakeshore, but she could not find the right words.
To be loved by this man still felt unreal to her, like a fleeting, beautiful phase of bliss that she knew could not last. Hating him had been so much easier, so much safer.
She stole furtive glances at him as they walked side by side, until he turned his head and asked: “Is something on your mind, Shao Wan?”
“Ah, no….yes. Is there a bookshop in town? I want to buy something to read at night.”
“And by something you don’t mean philosophical texts, I wonder?” he inquired.
“That is correct,” she confirmed. “I am guessing you have those at the lakehouse already.”
He beckoned her to follow him and led her to a different part of town, where by the looks of it, the less honest business transactions took place.
“Look,” he said, pointing at a house entrance barely recognizable as a shop, “you should find what you are looking for here.”
“You’re not coming in?”
“Do you think I will let you ask for these kind of books from a stranger?”
Adorable. He stepped in, trying hard to keep the disdain off his face. Once the bookshop owner had closed his mouth after blatantly staring at her, a fact that Mo Yuan registered with a deep scowl, he asked for “the kinds of books one would not want to read in front of one’s parents” and was led to a shelf to make his choice.
Shao Wan waited impatiently for the bookshop owner to return and he did, staring at her anew. “Do you take manuscripts too?” she whispered to him.
“Manu…?”
“Yes, I have some,” she whispered urgently, drawing scrolls from her sleeve pocket. “How does this work?”
“I….,” he gulped, turning his head to look for Mo Yuan, who was still standing in front of the shelf, unmoving, looking like he was intently studying the scrolls - without opening any.
“I am sure people will love them,” Shao Wan urged the bookseller on. “They are very detailed, very racy. Have a look - I will be back tomorrow to discuss the details of our business.”
She pressed the scrolls into the man’s hands and quickly stepped over to help the stick-in-the-mud Celestial make the right selection; or any selection at all. Maybe, she thought, with time, she would be able to get him to read from them to her.
Chapter 87