Fanfiction: Mo Yuan and Shao Wan - Chapter 82 (Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms 三生三世十里桃花)

Chapter 82

written by kakashi
edited by Panda

The moon was just a faint sickle in the cloudless sky, but she had excellent night vision and welcomed the darkness that was like a heavy cloak, hiding her presence. She was dressed entirely in tight black clothing - just like an assassin on a deadly mission, her hair in a tight bun and her face half-covered by a mask. Knowing how sneaky Celestials were, Shao Wan walked very slowly and carefully through the little forest in the vicinity of the Celestial Camp. Indeed, she found wards, as expected, but the Celestial shield had been taken down two days ago, probably to taunt her. The wards were clearly the God of War’s doing, brimming with a type of energy only he could command. She made a wide berth around them to make sure she wouldn’t set them off by accident, and being unusually patient tonight, walked on for a very long time around the perimeter, until she found two that were easily broken. Being altogether too arrogant, the Celestials had not bothered to place human guards.

Once inside the defensive circle, she dropped low and continued on her hands and feet. Before long, the large encampment came into view. There were hundreds of tents, but she immediately recognized the Command Tent, for it was the biggest and stood elevated, on a ledge above the others. It was where she would start her search, since it was likely he would keep his new trophy near. After surveying the situation carefully, she chose to tiptoe through the edge of the camp. Most of the soldiers were not inside their tents. Most likely, they had gone to the middle of the encampment, where a large fire was blazing and from which she could hear the sound of voices, songs and laughter drifting towards her.

Unseen, she got to the bottom of the steep rock wall after a while and started climbing upwards until she reached that ledge. Once that was accomplished, she caught her breath and then listened. Was he inside? There was no light, no movement. Could he be asleep? She scanned the tent for any sign of his life force, but it seemed to be empty. She was lucky, he was likely mingling with his disciples and soldiers, shamelessly celebrating his victory over her - together with the Purple Queen, whom he had snatched from her grip that night too.

In her mind, she tortured both of them in her dungeons until they screamed for mercy with hoarse, breaking voices. Eventually, she would let Purple go free because she had just been a puppet in his game. Him on the other hand…she would keep him and hurt him until he broke down completely. She thought about scratching his body all over - but these kind of thoughts were counterproductive, because they led to other kind of thoughts.

The distracting kind.

It seemed her mind didn’t know better than to return to one particular thing she wanted to do to him, however much she told herself she hated him. Grudgingly, she had had to admit to herself that besides feeling humiliated by his more recent stunt and angry at herself for being so careless, she was also rather impressed with him.

A particular type of impressed.

Slowly, carefully, she lifted the outer tarpaulin of Mo Yuan’s command tent, just high enough to be able to crawl in. Quickly, she tried her luck with the inner sheet. It was stretched too tight, not unexpectedly. She looked for and found a brailing peg, which she started to wiggle free. Once done, she tried the sheet again, but it still wasn’t loose enough. Attempting to stay as low as possible, she crawled along the side wall until she found the next peg. When that was unearthed, she was able to lift up the wall and drag her body inside, inch by inch.

Once she was in, she came to her knees and pulled down the mask so she could breath more easily. Where was her feather? She could sense it, but not well: He was hiding it somewhere, of course, but she had been right, it seemed to be here.

She was about to light a small flame on her hand to start her search when all of a sudden, the tent was bathed in brightness. Her flight instinct had her gasp and jump, but the very same moment, the opening behind her was tightly shut and the entire tent transformed into a humming cage of Celestial magic.

The source of that magic was Mo Yuan, sitting on a wooden stool in his armor, elbows on his knees, hands folded in front of him, a grim expression on his face.

“You…,” she stammered. It seemed she had underestimated him again.

“I remember telling you before that I can sense your aura anywhere, Demon Queen, even when you try dimming it.”

It must have been the confined space of the tent, but his energy was so strong, it instantly made her head spin. It seemed she was much more weakened without her feather than she had realized. She took a step backwards, but it was no use - the Celestial energy behind her hummed dangerously when she stepped too close, so she quickly took two steps forward.

“Plus, you were as loud as a treecat in heat,” he added contemptibly. “I heard you half an incense ago. It took you so long to get here, I began to doubt you were actually coming to see me. How did you get past my wards?”

He looked splendid, her enemy, in his full armor. She felt quite bereft of words, actually, at seeing him like this, shimmering golden and radiating power. And the smell! How could a man emit such an alluring scent? She had not allowed herself to be too much distracted when he had appeared in front of her on the battlefield and she had been too busy hating his guts in her tent when he had stolen her most valuable possession. Tonight, however, she had no defenses against him at all.

Her lack of reaction or maybe her blatant staring brought a slightly puzzled and increasingly annoyed expression to his face. He scowled. But that just magnified his handsomeness and her mouth watered in reaction. She swallowed compulsively.

She had never been one to deny herself the fulfillment of her urges. She had never seen much point in it, because if one had an itch, why not scratch it? And yet, self-control could be learned and she had gotten so much better at it, ironically with his help. Only, self-control required a reason. Once there was no reason, there was absolutely no point in control. In short: she could always get her feather afterwards and it was quite likely he would let his guard down once they got started.

Slowly, she wet her lips. His eyes shifted to her mouth - and then away.

“You never took my feather,” Shao Wan said. “Not the first time, not the second time. I was a fool to let myself be manipulated twice.”

Mo Yuan snorted and slightly shifted in his seat. “Does it make a difference? I have it now.”

“Yes, it makes a difference,” she said. “And you know it.”

“I might just let you go,” he said, “consider me in a magnanimous mood today. Without your Feather, but that goes without saying.”

Oh? Now here was someone a bit too eager to get rid of her.

“Why did you not say anything?” she asked and took a step towards him. “Why did you not defend yourself in the elixir room? Why did you let me hurt you? Why do you have to be so stubborn about everything?”

“At second thought,” he said and straightened his back, “I might just take you prisoner, seeing how brazenly you invaded my tent.”

“Are you even listening? I am trying to apologize. I am sorry I hurt you.“

He pressed his lips together and then smiled a cold, arrogant smile. “I do not want to hear your sweet words, Demon. What are you hoping to achieve? Mollify me so that I will be lenient towards you and your kind? Have you forgotten who wanted this war? Have you forgotten who I am?”

“Not for a moment,” she answered. “In fact, I have been thinking about you a lot.”

His eyebrows shot up. The expression in his eyes became heartless and cruel, but not before she saw something else there, something that strengthened her resolve. “Stop, Demon Queen, and keep your dignity,” he said. “Do you think me that easy? There are so many females throwing themselves at me, I can simply snap my fingers and pick from the most virtuous, most accomplished women the Heaven Clan has to offer. What would I need a Demon for?”

She took another step towards him, searching his face.

“Stop where you are,” he said sharply and stood up.

“You are lying,” she whispered, “I know you are. I cannot read you well, Mo Yuan, because you are a master at hiding your feelings, but you are not that cruel, you never were.”

“I told you to stay where you are or I will bind you and throw you into the prisoner tent after sealing your powers,” he barked.

She took another step towards him. He raised his hand and strong Celestial chains wrapped themselves tightly around her, completely immobilizing her.

“I was a fool,” she said, “but do you not realize how much you affected me? I thought it was because you took away my powers, I thought you wanted to dominate me.”

“Another word and I will gag you.”

“But you never wanted that. You only gave me your respect. I am sorry it took me so long to realize this. Can we not-”

He lifted his hand again and a cloth wrapped itself tightly around her face and shut her mouth. He looked quite content and a bit relieved at seeing her in this helpless state.

“I am going to sleep now,” he said. “You can stand there until the morning when I will consult with my commanders what to do with you.”

The chains hurt her. Their celestial energy was cutting into her flesh like knives, but it was in no comparison to the other pain she felt. Was she wrong, had she lost him for good? His words echoed in her head: You are mistaken if you think I give away my heart lightly and am swayed easily from what I have set my mind to. A stubborn man, a steadfast man, who never wavered. And she had trampled on his heart repeatedly because she was such a fool.

Mo Yuan dimmed the light in the tent until it was almost completely dark and started to take off his armor, with his back to her, like she did not exist. She had very good night vision though. It took him a long time to loosen all the parts and discard them. When he was just in his shirt and pants, he placed all the pieces neatly on the armor stand in the corner…and then, he took off his shirt. Shao Wan would have gasped had she had the ability to make a sound: his skin was completely smooth. He had erased all his scars.

She was truly shocked. Why had he wanted to erase his past like this? She had an awful, sad feeling it was because of her. Sudden pain in her belly made her whimper without a sound. The chains were cutting deep now.

Alerted by her sudden movement, he turned around and lit the candles again - and his expression of annoyance quickly turned into an impenetrable mask as he looked at her in her discomfort. He focused his eyes on a lonely tear that was trickling down her face and stepped towards her. Now she saw that just one scar was still visible, above his heart; where she had recently cut him when he had been in Dragon form.

“Are you inconvenienced, Demon Queen?” he asked, his voice polite and detached.

Remembering he had gagged her when no answer came, he removed the cloth from her mouth with a move of his hand. She shook her head, but more tears threatened to flow. She turned her head away because she was embarrassed. More piercing pain in her abdomen made her whimper, and this time a small, pitiful sound escaped her mouth that she would have taken back if such a thing were possible.

He looked her up and down and furrowed his brow. “No tricks, Demon Woman. You cannot escape from this tent anyway.”

He came right up to her then to put his hand on the bonds. Blinding lightning and searing pain followed. Shao Wan cried out and Mo Yuan jumped back, shaking his smoking hand. “Heavens,” he said alarmed, “my apologies.”

Instantly, he dissolved the chains. As soon they were gone, she fell to her knees, holding her belly. The God of War grabbed her wrist to feel for her pulse, but his touch was like fire and she pulled her hand back with force. “No matter,” she said, “just let me go.”

He laughed mirthlessly. “You were right, I am a fool, but not to this extent.”

He conjured another type of rope, made from leather, and magically bound her again with it. Carefully as to not touch her, he checked the knots afterwards, the ones on her hands, bound behind her, the ones on her legs and torso.

“If you keep quiet, I will not gag you again,” he said, walking toward the bed, “but as soon as you are noisy…or try to free yourself...”

She shut her mouth tightly, glad her tears had stopped. She would not give him the satisfaction of gagging her a second time. He extinguished most of the candles again. She watched him remove his headpiece, wash his face with some cold water, and lie down with his back to her. Despite the cold outside, it was very warm in the tent and he only covered his legs with a blanket. She watched his unscarred back underneath his beautiful hair.

That time after they had spared for so long with a whip at Kunlun, when he had been quite badly hurt, when she had demanded he heal himself, he had left one tiny scar at his back, probably thinking she would not notice. She had said nothing, because she had been flustered and oddly shy about it.

By erasing them all, he had wiped clean the Weiqi board, like he had told her he would.

That time at the orchard, she had not liked him saying it. Now, she understood why: She wanted to be a part of his life. She wanted him to carry scars she had made. She wanted to trace them with her fingers when lying with him. They made her feel proud.

Time passed. She kept staring at his back and she kept watching his breathing - and she became absolutely certain Mo Yuan was not asleep either. Feeling her own heart speed up, she tried to move forward…and succeeded. The bonds around her legs allowed her to take tiny steps towards him, tiny, agonizing steps. But she managed to get close enough to hear his breathing, which was speeding up just like hers, and then, in her excitement, she stumbled and fell with a yelp - right into his arms and lap, because he had whirled around on his bed in time to catch her.

He stared down on her with eyes like the midnight sky during a storm.

“Mo Yuan,” she breathed, her innards turning to lava. Quickly, she firmly closed her eyes, afraid to see the expression in his change into something she didn’t want to see. She had always thought she could live with his contempt, but she could not, she knew this now.

Suddenly, she felt his lips on hers and his arms tightening as he pulled her close.

A thrill like a thunderbolt raced through her entire body, from her head to her toes. Her mouth longed so much for this kiss, it opened wide, like a flower thirsting for the rain, seeking and finding his willing tongue, sucking it in and twirling her own around it in a dance of increasing ecstasy. A fire was ignited in her body, a hot and demanding fire.

He pulled back. “My apologies,” he panted.

She opened her eyes, but he had turned his face away and was obviously trying to get back his damn composure.

“So you do lie,” she managed to say, her heart beating so fast she could barely hear her own voice through the blood pounding in her ears. “And you’ve lied to me at least twice, once about never lying and once just now.”

He pressed his lips together angrily and then said, avoiding her eyes: “Don’t you know battles get the blood of men boiling? Having a woman so close made me forget myself for a moment.”

“Maybe you don't do it often enough, but you're a very bad liar. Unbind me.”

His head whipped back around and he looked at her with those stormy eyes, ready to say something contrary, but she simply laughed at him, making him shut his mouth and scowl. “I see right through you now, God of War. Your words can fool me, but not your actions. Not your kiss.”

He just pressed his lips together even harder and looked away again. But he was still holding her across his knees, sitting on the bed, only in his pants, his grip on her body very tight.

“Unbind me! I promise you I will not attempt to flee. I have something entirely different in mind.”

“I will give you your feather and you can leave,” he said slowly. “Just...go.”

“I do not want my feather.”

“That...that I find hard to believe,” he said, frowning, but his face turned around.

“Alright, it’s a lie, I want it very much, but first I want something else.”

He looked at her, only his eyes did not stay on her face this time but wandered slowly over her bound body in the tight black fabric. Her breathing quickened. When his eyes returned from their expedition, they were burning with desire. Her body responded immediately with an upsurge of its own. A low moan escaped her throat as her back arched in his hands, wanting, no, needing them elsewhere. The fire in her belly burned painfully and there was only one thing that could extinguish it.

Mo Yuan wet his lips and looked at her squirming in his arms. A faint rose color began to spread over his face and his breathing grew heavier.

“What are you waiting for,” she groaned, “take me, you damn fool!”

“I will regret it,” he answered softly, his breast heaving.

“Yes, because I am going to kill you if you only keep looking!”

He kept supporting her with his left arm, but pulled the right arm free. It hovered closely over her body, so close she could feel the heat emanating from his palm, through her clothes.

“You have the nerve to tease me?” she pressed out. “You are cruel after all.”

“I am not teasing, I am trying to resist,” he whispered, “but I...I cannot.”

He lifted her halfway up so that she was sitting on his lap, her bound legs to the side, and pulled her face down for another breathtaking kiss. Pressing himself against her, his hands started to roam over her body, searching for their most favorite places, but the bonds restricted his access and he cursed under his breath, making her giggle. Hastily, he touched the knots and the bonds fell to the floor. Her arms came forward immediately and encircled his broad shoulders, her left leg flipped over to his right side so that her legs could encircle him as well. She ripped her gloves off - she wanted to feel his skin against her fingers. She started to rub her burning desire against his hardness, she pulled on his hair to tilt his head back and she bit his throat, growling like a tiger. She pressed against his shoulders with force until he yielded and lay back on the bed, his head almost touching the tent wall.

She paused for a moment to look down at her beautiful enemy, wanting him so much it hurt.

“Don’t give me time to think about it,” he said hoarsely, “I might change my mind.”

She started moving her hips, grinding herself against his hard shaft, faster and faster, watching his eyelids flutter from the pleasure he must be feeling, matching her own. How had she been able to exist without him? Ah, but she wanted more. Pain from opposing energies or not, she needed him inside of her.

Lifting herself slightly off him, she kicked off her boots, pulled down her black trousers and threw them onto the floor. Then, she started to slowly undo her black tunic. He looked mesmerized, dazed, slightly worried. Was he thinking too much again? But as soon as she bared her breasts, his hands came up to caress and lightly pinch the nipples, a look of admiration wiping away the worry on his face.

“You really like my body,” she happily smiled.

“Is it that obvious,” he responded breathlessly. He grabbed her and flipped her on her back so that he was on top and could use his mouth on her breasts. His tongue sent fiery ripples into her and his hands were burning hot on her skin. Gently, he loosened her hair from its tight bun, running his fingers through the strands, smoothing them out before he put his mouth to work again.

“It’s different,” she whispered.

“What is?” he asked, sucking demandingly on her right nipple, then her left.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“Was I not always gentle?”

“No, I mean the…”, she moaned, “energies. Ahhh.”

His mouth had moved lower, kissing, licking, nibbling her flesh, circling her belly button and travelling lower.

“Where is Golden Dragon?” she panted, “tell him to mount me. Now! I don’t want to wait.”

“Right here,” Mo Yuan growled and put his tongue inside of her.

“Mo Yuan,” she moaned.

But before Shao Wan could get what she wanted most, a high, clear voice outside said: “Shifu, may I speak with you?”

Mo Yuan froze. Shao Wan froze. He lifted his head from her lap. They looked at each other. Then he looked away.

“A moment,” he said calmly and sat up.

“Oh, did I wake you? I am sorry,” said the female outside, “but it is urgent. I have gone over my tactical plans again and I’ve discovered a grave mistake! We have to correct it!”

Mo Yuan heaved a sigh. He pulled Shao Wan up and before she could react, he had lifted her over his shoulder and carried her over to the large wooden trunk that was standing at the wall of the tent opposite the bed. He opened the lid and placed her inside, gently. She was simply too stunned to even think about protesting, not even when he closed to lid after her. Not even when he opened it again briefly, to throw her clothes, gloves, boots and the leather bonds in with her and bent down to give her another, inflaming kiss.

Mere moments later, she heard from the sudden lack of humming energy that he had pulled down the shield around the tent and bid that other woman in. Shao Wan tried in vain to find a knothole or some other gap in the wall of her sudden prison to see something. Of course, Mo Yuan’s trunk was without fault. She settled down on what seemed to be his clothes and strained her ears.

“Shifu,” the female said. Then, there was a small gasp. “Your hair! I had no idea it was that long…”

Has he not brought his appearance in order? Shao Wan thought, scandalized. Had he at least put on clothes? Most likely, otherwise that woman would not only have commented on his hair. Hmm, that muscular chest…she imagined digging her nails into it as she rode him. That had to happen. Now.

“Eighteenth, it is really late.”

“Oh,” she said in a small voice, “I had not realized. I apologize for the intrusion, but…”

Shao Wan could not believe her ears. A new female disciple that came to his tent at this hour? Did she not know about Celestial rules? Or did she? Then, it was very clear what that woman wanted. She would have to prevent it! She tried to open the trunk, but Mo Yuan had obviously shut it close with magic. She tried to rattle it…to no avail, the trunk did not budge. He was much more sly than she had ever thought possible.

“I really would not have come at this late hour had my heart not nearly stopped with worry upon my realization that I miscalculated the impact of the spell that…”

“Show me the plans?”

“Oh. Yes. Here.”

There was silence for a while and it made Shao Wan very nervous. What were they doing? Again, she tried to open the lid of the trunk, but it was just as futile the second time. Blasting a hole into the trunk didn’t work either!

“You are right,” Mo Yuan’s quiet voice said, “you have indeed made a grave mistake. Rather than telling you where it is, I expect you to think about it some more and correct it on your own.”

“Yes, Shifu!” she said, sounding eager to prove herself.

“You are dismissed,” he said after a bit, a tinge of impatience in his voice.

“Shifu,” the woman said, “it’s…”

“Yes, Eighteenth?”

“The Shaman sends her regards and this...this powder. She says to keep drinking the concoction since you must have run out.”

“I see.”

“She also made me promise to…,” her voice trailed off. “I am very sorry.”

“Please speak freely, Eighteenth.”

“She made me promise to remind you about the 100-year curse,” the female said more resolutely. “She insists you have to go see her.”

Shao Wan felt a type of cold spread in her body, a numbing feeling, threatening the fire that was still burning inside of her with extinction. She remembered the story of the Phoenix and the Dragon immediately. She barely paid attention to how Mo Yuan dismissed that woman for good next, nor how his footsteps came towards the trunk and then paused. That curse…it was real? But why... was Mo Yuan interested in it? Was he just...playing with her?

She looked up when he opened the lid of the trunk with a deep frown on her face.

Chapter 83