QT: Don't fall in love with the Male Lead

Han Yu looks as if he's going to qi-deviate any second, but just as Xi Zirui is about to backtrack and tell him he can do it himself, he feels trembling hands on his shoulders, and then his outer robe being slid down his arms.

Han Yu gathers it in his elbow and folds it carefully before setting it down over a dry rock.

He doesn't meet Xi Zirui's eyes as he starts working on the ties at the side of his inner robes.

Xi Zirui is beginning to regret the whole thing, because while he hoped it might be vaguely sensual for Han Yu, he didn't consider the effects that feeling Han Yu's whisper-soft touch over his heated skin would have on him.

"Thank you," he says, more high-pitched than usual, and gets his inner robe the rest of the way off, before slipping into the pool in his underwear.

He has the good sense to pin his hair in a high queue on top of his head before sinking into the warm water in mortification.

He hears the rustle of clothing behind him, and not long after a soft splash as Han Yu joins him in the pool.

The awkwardness is palpable, even though, on the surface there is nothing weird about what they're doing.

Ni Ni chimes. "Host was a little forward, if Ni Ni is being honest. A little on the slutty side as far as 'cold beauty' Shizuns go."

Well, Xi Zirui didn't ask her to be honest, but now he's worried that Han Yu might be thinking he was openly trying to seduce him, which would be awfully improper.

He is trying to seduce him, but in a subtle way that will merely plant the seeds of desire in Han Yu's mind.

"This Master should apologize for making an unusual request of his disciple," Xi Zirui says, keeping his voice down so the people in the other pool won't hear them. 

Han Yu doesn't let him finish. "It's this disciple who should apologize, he didn't mean for his eyes to linger on Shizun's body."

That quiet admission makes Xi Zirui's heart thump furiously inside his chest.

Ah, he got it all wrong. That makes him unduly pleased. 

Good to know that Han Yu isn't unaffected either.

He wants to reassure Han Yu that his actions weren't disrespectful in the least, but a loud and familiar silver bell laugh from the furthest pool draws his attention.

Xi Zirui would recognize Bai Mi's laughter anywhere, tinged with arrogance as it is.

But he doesn't recognize the melodic voice that follows it, "Shizun, is always so mean to me," a young woman says, whinging sweetly.

"Ji Limei should know better than to take what her Shizun says seriously," Bai Mi says, and Xi Zirui can almost hear the smirk in her voice.

Han Yu gives him a meaningful look, his jaw drawn tight. 

The serious expression melts off his face when the next moment they hear a loud splash of water and Ji Limei's scandalized giggle.

"Shizun, not here...," she says, a little breathless. "What if someone sees?"

"If my disciple is so worried, maybe her hands should stop what they're doing," Bai Mi says in a drawn out purr that leaves nothing to the imagination.

Xi Zirui slinks further into the water, hiding his red face below the surface. Not only is Bai Mi clearly one of the masters of Blood Crane sect, but she is already in a highly inappropriate relationship with one of her disciples.

Xi Zirui feels a little inadequate, and no small amount of jealous.

He chances a longing look at Han Yu's sculpted profile, but finds him deep in what seems to be meditation.

Curse the righteous immortal cultivation sects and all their filial duties, and observance of chivalry and propriety.

He and Han Yu spend the next ten minutes actively trying to ignore the sounds coming from the last pool, until an annoyed cough puts an abrupt end to all the smothered groaning.

"Shizun, the servant manning the desk warned this disciple that two people who looked like they could be immortal cultivators rented rooms in the inn," a no-nonsense voice says, ignoring the last of Ji Limei's ragged breathing. 

Bai Mi sighs despondently. "Liao Min should take some time off and relax. Whoever they are, they're likely still in the village, we'll find them sooner or later."

If everyone else is part of Blood Crane, that doesn't bode well for Han Yu and Xi Zirui, or his erstwhile disciple, who by exclusion can only be Li Siqi. 

"Shizun knows that Heavenly Dragon wouldn't simply let us disappear with their sect leader," Liao Min says, clearly annoyed with Bai Mi. "To say nothing of the little stowaway."

That makes Han Yu tense at Xi Zirui's side, his posture alert.

He might not care about Su Xueyi, but he clearly worries about his shijie.

"Speaking of which, I trust that Liao Min has been treating our guest well?" Bai Mi says, her voice worryingly mellow.

Liao Min sighs. "I wouldn't describe her as agreeable."

"Have some empathy, think about the miserable life she has led surrounded by those ascetic bores," Bai Mi says, her voice barely carrying over the gurgle of the steaming water. "Share a meal and drink with her, and see if you can persuade her."

Persuade her of what? 

A furtive look at Han Yu's face doesn't reveal anything besides a furrow of concern between his sword-sharp eyebrows.

"Shizun, shimei, we're not alone," Ji Limei says suddenly, and even through the thick vapor Xi Zirui can see her slim arm hover above the water and point straight at him and Han Yu.

Do they know what they look like? Can they recognize them by their faces alone?

He hears the displacement of water as Bai Mi raises from the pool and wraps a discarded robe around herself.

She and Liao Min are making their way towards them and Xi Zirui doesn't know what to do.

"Forgive this disciple, Shizun," Han Yu says in a quiet voice, before picking up Xi Zirui by the waist as if he weights nothing and depositing over his lap.

He cradles Xi Zirui's face into the crook of his neck and grips him in place with a strong hand on his hip.

Everything is so sudden that Xi Zirui can barely bite down on his yelp when his skin comes in contact with Han Yu's. 

This position and Han Yu's iron grip on his hip reminds him too vividly of all the times he rode Han Yu like this, until both of them were sticky with it, their muscles spasming from the strain.

He stays as still as possible, hoping his body won't react to the heady closeness, to Han Yu's wet skin beneath his cheek.

When Bai Mi and Liao Min reach them, this is what they see:

A young man with another man on his lap, apparently in the throes of passion but trying to be furtive about it.

One of Bai Mi's eyebrows raises in interest towards her hairline and her full lips curl up in an amused smirk. "I'm sorry, are we interrupting the young masters?" she asks, her voice dripping with coyness.

Han Yu's left hand tightens over Xi Zirui's nape, pressing his face further into the crook of his neck. "Yes, leave."

His clean, minty scent is doing things to Xi Zirui. He's glad Han Yu is taking control of the situation, because he isn't sure he would be able to string two sentences together.

Bai Mi wraps her robes tighter around herself and chuckles. "Little gege can hardly take it personally when he engages in such lewd behaviour in public."

"Young miss doesn't have much room to talk," he retorts, his breath tickling Xi Zirui's ear.

Bai Mi props one leg over the edge of their pool, uncaring of how her robes fall open around her pert tits. "But unlike little gege I don't mind being interrupted, I welcome company."

Han Yu scowls furiously. "I don't, so please leave."

Bai Mi tilts her head to the side, eyeing Xi Zirui's pale back with interest. "What about your companion, we haven't heard from him?"

Xi Zirui can feel the intensity of Han Yu's glare even with his face hidden. "I don't like sharing," he says in a low grumble that makes Xi Zirui's breath run short.

He can't believe Han Yu is showing him such a sexy side, perfect for teasing and deliberate bullying, and Xi Zirui can't do anything besides hide his face and stay quiet, in the hope Bai Mi will grow tired of her little power play and leave.

Perhaps not surprisingly, it's Liao Min who saves the situation, "Let's go Shizun," she says, pulling on Bai Mi's elbow with propriety. 

Bai Mi clearly affords her disciples many liberties, and judging by the earlier display, her teaching methods are unorthodox to say the least.

Then again, what does Xi Zirui know? Maybe constant dual cultivation is something demonic cultivators need to engage in constantly in order to strengthen their cores.

Bai Mi isn't ready to leave just yet, and dithers by the pool. "Have the esteemed gentlemen seen any immortal cultivators around, per chance?"

"Only young miss, and her disciples," Han Yu says, with a dismissive smile. "I heard the little lady call her 'Shizun' so I assume it's a very unusual lesson I heard, instead of something that would bring shame to her sect."

Xi Zirui closes his eyes against Han Yu's skin. It shouldn't surprise him that an obedient disciple from a righteous cultivation sect would see it that way, but it's still makes his stomach do an unpleasant flip.

Just how uphill will this battle be?

Bai Mi for her part is wholly unconcerned by Han Yu's veiled threats and throws her head back in a loud laugh. "Little gege don't worry himself with our sect," she chuckles darkly and turns around, pulling the two ends of the robe tighter around her body.

Almost as an after-thought, she looks over her shoulder to say, "Oh, and if one of the little geges sees those immortal cultivators around, please warn them they should leave before things become unpleasant for them."

---

Xi Zirui and Han Yu make their way out the pool as soon as Bai Mi and her disciples leave.

They get dressed in silence, the mood between them still charged with the intimacy of their ruse in the pool.

A ruse that wasn't even successful, if Bai Mi's partying words are any indication.

Xi Zirui lets himself fall on the low bed with an exasperated huff. He has no idea how they're going to find Li Siqi, let alone rescue her, and to make matters worse Han Yu is giving him hanged dog looks that Xi Zirui is too tired to understand.

They arrived late last night, and instead of sleeping only meditated in silence to replenish their energy. Something that Xi Zirui clearly doesn't know how to do properly, judging by the bone-deep weariness settling over his muscles like a shroud. 

That's why he thinks his mind is playing tricks on him when Han Yu drops to his knees at his feet, his arms stretched in deep prostration.

"Shizun, please punish this disciple for his inappropriate behaviour and lewd conduct," Han Yu says, his eyes trained on the wooden floor. "This disciple disrespected and embarrassed Shizun in public and deserves to pay penance for his actions."