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

With the weight of Han Yu's lithe body over his, the last thing Xi Zirui wants to do is stay still.

Everywhere their bodies meet feels hypersensitive, even with several layers of robes between them.

Xi Zirui twists his face to side so he won't feel Han Yu's warm breath mixing with his on each inhale. 

Except now Han Yu is breathing over the sensitive shell of Xi Zirui's hear and that isn't any better.

One of Han Yu's hands slides up his bent knee to clutch at the dip of his waist and press him down harder against the rough ground.

"Don't move, Shizun, don't move," Han Yu says, his lips a hairsbreadth away from Xi Zirui's earlobe.

Xi Zirui closes his eyes and calls on to all his reserves of self-control not to squirm against the hard thigh Han Yu has shoved up between his legs.

Moments later, he understands the need to be quiet.

Dozens of feet, some of them bare, some of them wrapped in rags, all of them in a state of putrefaction, walk jerkily by Xi Zirui's face.

Their foul stench assaults his nostrils and it's all he can do not to gag. 

The group of hungry ghosts doesn't seem to have noticed them, continuing on their somber parade through the Woods of Grief in search of the sustenance they will never find.

Ready to drain the qi out of any living thing that crosses their path.

When Xi Zirui looks up at Han Yu's face he sees his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and the thin glimmer of a shimmering light surrounding both of them like a silkbug's cocoon. 

Once the hungry ghosts are gone Han Yu lets out a strained exhale and loosens his control on the barrier making it flicker once before dispersing completely.

The fingers clinging to Xi Zirui's waist shake from overexertion, and the dark sweep of Han Yu's eyelashes trembles over his pale cheeks.

It drained a lot of Han Yu's qi to hold up that barrier, either because the technique is too powerful or because he hasn't been properly trained.

Xi Zirui has no way to know which, and Ni Ni remains stubbornly silent.

What he does know is that he appreciates it.

He runs the tips of his fingers along Han Yu's sharp jawbone. "My disciple has grown a lot these past few years. He became a man while I wasn't here."

Han Yu's head snaps upwards with a jolt, his eyes wide with shock.

The furious blush across his cheeks is visible even in the gloom of the forest.

He peels himself up and off Xi Zirui with an embarrassed cough.

"This disciple apologizes for inconveniencing Shizun," he says extending Xi Zirui a arm to help him off the ground. 

Xi Zirui fans out Untold Sorrow in front of his face to hide his delighted grin. Han Yu might not like him very much, but he still has the hots for him.

"That's the power of the peerlessly beautiful Shizun, no disciple can resist him," Ni Ni says, choosing to make herself heard now when Xi Zirui absolutely doesn't need her.

And besides, she's wrong. No matter the world, Xi Zirui is convinced of his ability to make Han Yu horny.

"Han Yu was just doing his filial duty by protecting this master, he has nothing to apologize for," Xi Zirui says, catching the way Han Yu's nostrils flare slightly at the praise.

"Congratulations Host! Han Yu's admiration up by +2 points. Now at 18 of a possible 100 points." 

"Does Shizun think we should follow shijie's qi signature to see where she was headed?" Han Yu asks ducking his head.

That sounds like an excellent idea and Xi Zirui wonders why no one thought of that to find Su Xueyi.

"Answering Host: Qi signatures can be masked by talismans. Whoever took the sect leader was smart enough to do that, but if Host's disciple went willingly and didn't hide her own signature, she can be traced," Ni Ni says, sounding like a video game's flavor text.

At least she's saving Xi Zirui from saying something really stupid. He's really out of his depth with the xianxia setting.

"Mn, let's do that, we should hurry. Who knows how far they've gone by now?"

---

After a brief return to Heavenly Dragon's grounds to retrieve their equipment and changes of clothes, they set out on foot in pursuit of the trail of qi.

Thankfully for Xi Zirui this doesn't require an advanced technique that would make him embarrass himself in the same way as the journey down the river.

Instead, Han Yu crushes some powder into a portable incense burner and carries it on a stick balanced on his shoulder, as it lights a trail of silver particles, like dense dust motes, in front of them.

They walk quietly side-by-side at a steady pace until Han Yu apparently grows tired of it and with minimal impulse jumps up into the air, disappearing among the thick tree canopies and landing gracefully several zhang away

"Han Yu is using light-stepping to travel faster, Host should do the same. Light-stepping is the use of qi to-"

He knows what light-stepping is, he might not be a huge fan of wuxia and xianxia but he also didn't live under a rock and the genre is pretty inescapable.

Not to mention that half of the grueling wire-work he had to do in the first world was because of Hai Yaomei stupidly light-stepping away from his problems.

The problem is, how is he going to do it?

Han Yu is just standing there, waiting for Xi Zirui to join him, and despite the distance Xi Zirui can recognize the puzzled tilt of his neck.

"Answering Host: He should circle his qi through his limbs and envision himself landing where he wants to."

That's very vague as instructions go, but what other choice does Xi Zirui have?

He closes his eyes and tries to do as Ni Ni advised. 

He isn't as ambitious as Han Yu and only tries to jump a short distance forward, only marginally more than a regular human would be able to.

The fact that he succeeds that time and then the one after, makes him grow too daring.

He tries to cross the final distance between him and Han Yu all in one go and ends up losing control of the height, flinging himself much higher than he anticipated.

He closes his eyes against the fall that's sure to follow, but it never comes.

Instead a pair of arms wraps around his waist and pulls him against a smooth chest.

When Xi Zirui opens his eyes he's being lowered gently to the ground tucked safely into Han Yu's side.

"Thank you, my qi has been unstable ever since I left seclusion," he says, as soon as Han Yu lets go of him.

Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say because Han Yu's eyebrows almost disappear into his hairline. "Is Shizun experiencing any symptoms of qi deviation?"

Shit, that's the thing that either kills cultivators or makes them go insane. Abort. Abort.

"No, no, nothing of the sort," Xi Zirui says, hiding himself behind Untold Sorrow once again. "Freeing myself from the resentment of the false memories took its toll, that's all."

Han Yu nods but his keen gaze continues assessing Xi Zirui. "Does Shizun think his implanted resentment might be connected to sect leader's disappearance?"

'No', he thinks. "Who knows?" he says.

"If Shizun isn't feeling well he can rely on this disciple," Han Yu says, extending his elbow for Xi Zirui to hold on to.

Xi Zirui does, and next thing he knows he's being propelled into the air at a great speed. 

"Hold on tightly, Shizun," Han Yu says, meeting Xi Zirui's eyes among the leaves of the cypress trees. 

Xi Zirui does, and doesn't close his eyes when they fall together.

---

They continue following the trail of qi for a long time, shortening the distance with light-stepping in a way that Han Yu's shijie doesn't seem to have done.

"I think shijie sneaked into a carriage or cart, that's why her trail of qi is so even," Han Yu remarks when they're high enough to see a clear trail following the road bellow.

The trail leads them into a small mountainside village, which is where they lose it.

"She must have masked her qi," Xi Zirui says, walking the dirt roads of the small village, uncomfortably aware of the looks he and Han Yu are drawing in their pristine cultivation robes.

"Maybe she feared detection," Han Yu says, tipping his head to a street vendor who harrumphs in outrage and crosses her arms in front of her chest.

"Or maybe she was found out," Xi Zirui counters, less optimistic.

They have been getting odd looks every since they walked into this village, it couldn't have been any different for his other disciple.

If she has any sense she would have done her best to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.

Something he and Han Yu should do too.

He stops Han Yu with a hand over his arm. "We should find a inn, have something to eat and change into something more unassuming."

Han Yu's eyes drift across the villagers going about their lives but still giving them openly caustic looks. "I think Shizun is right."

---

There's only one inn in the entire village, plain and dilapidated with a wooden signboard hanging askew over a dusty shopfront.

"Lao Lao's Mountainside Haven," it reads.

Maybe once upon a time.

Inside, they find a pimple-faced servant sleeping with his arms crossed over the counter.

Xi Zirui clears his throat loudly. When that doesn't work he smacks his folded fan on the counter.

The boy jumps up with a start and blinks up at them, bleary eyed. "We-Welcome to Lao Lao's Mountainside Haven. We have rooms, meals and hot springs."

That perks Xi Zirui's interest. "We want two rooms, please," Xi Zirui says, already anticipating the relaxing soak he'll have in the springs.

The servant runs his eyes up and down the ledger in front of him and then smiles apologetically. "We only have one room available."

How many visitors can a village of this size possibly get?

"We'll take it," Xi Zirui says with a sigh, opening the pouch hanging at his waist and depositing three silver taels on the counter. "Have some food sent up as well."

---

If Han Yu is uncomfortable with the prospect of the two of them sharing a room he doesn't let it show.

He puts their things away calmly and takes out a change of robes, plainer and made of cotton instead of silk, before sticking a talisman to both their rucksacks and chanting something under his breath that makes the characters light up blue.

"We should try to ask around if there have been any unusual movements lately," Xi Zirui says, sitting down at the table and stretching his sore arms above his head with a sigh.

Han Yu sits down across from him. "Shizun was right to insist we rent rooms." When Xi Zirui doesn't say anything Han Yu elaborates, "This disciple was able to read the servant's ledger. We are the only guests here."

Why insist there was only one room available then? 

"Maybe the other rooms have been reserved," Han Yu says, reading the question in Xi Zirui's eyes.

"Then we definitely want to stay around and find out by whom," Xi Zirui says, meeting Han Yu's eyes above the arch of Untold Sorrow.