As Xu Zeng, Xu Hu Zhe, and Bai Mo made their way back to town together, the silence between them gradually morphed into sothing more.
Xu Zeng, still mostly silent, couldn’t help but feel genuine happiness as he watched Bai Mo and Xu Hu Zhe banter back and forth about the most common tree they’d seen so far and whether Bai Mo had gotten any better at walking after such a long distance.
Their playful bickering brought a smile to his face, a warmth he hadn’t known he needed as a constant. This feeling had surfaced more than once that day, and he continued to revel in the comfort it brought him.
The two with more "energy" even started to playfully argue about why they were the perfect match for Xu Zeng. Each presented their case with a different level of flair.
Bai Mo had beco so sort of energetic fox, bouncing around—at least with his words, his body was clearly tired—exaggeratedly gesturing with a slightly dramatic flair.
Energizer Bunny? We don’t need that here. We have the Hyperactive Fox to brighten any room!
Bai Mo was putting in his all to make his case as the perfect match. The veneer of the scholarly and overly serious ger seed to fade away. What was left was an excitable fox, cheering up their partner. Love could change a person in the most unconventional ways.
Xu Hu Zhe on the other hand remained stoic till the end, but this didn’t an he wasn’t one to pamper his loved ones. His banter with Momo was pampering in itself.
"Yes, the fox with hundreds of admirers coveting a place in his harem is a better match than this lowly one."
The jab from Hu Zhe to Bai Mo was light and ineffective, like a rubber knife thrust against one’s chest. Still, it struck the cord it ant to strike, and the dramatic eye roll from Xu Hu Zhe had the two gers laughing.
Xu Hu Zhe was playing along in his own way.
"Yes, this fox has many admirers," Bai Mo’s face glowed red, but the fox was becoming more outrageous as ti went by, "But, this regal fox has eyes for his immortal lover."
Lover. Lover. LOVER.
The word seed to echo in the silence for a mont before Xu Zeng found the strength to reply. Bai Mo’s face looked like it would soon rge with his hair "This demon beast is honored. My fox and snake lovers chose over all their admirers."
One sentence, then the next, and the two "lovers" seed to go silent in embarrassnt. They could bicker with each other, but as soon as he claid them as his, they suddenly felt the weight of their play.
It was a lighthearted exchange that elicited a genuine laugh from Xu Zeng, a sound that continuously felt foreign and yet sohow right. He needed more practice, but there was ti.
As they walked, the companionship between them began to solidify, like a puzzle finally finding its missing pieces. It was a feeling Xu Zeng had never really known, and yet now, with these two people by his side, he felt like he belonged.
More than belonging, it was like they had been carved to fit each other. Even with all their differences, their scars, and their backgrounds, the three seed to morph to accommodate the wear and tear in their partners.
It wasn’t about perfection and finding the perfect ho, it was about finding ho.
But all good things must co to an end, and the walk passed by too quickly. Before they knew it, they had retrieved the rented carriage and their baggage and were making plans.
The ti seed to slip through their fingers like grains of sand, each mont blending into the next until it was nothing more than a blur.
By the ti they reached town and were prepared to set out, it was already late afternoon, even skipping any stops to restock, it wasn’t the best ti for travel.
They realized that if they were to make it to the next town over, they would have to ride through the night. It was a dangerous decision, one that Xu Hu Zhe wasn’t entirely comfortable with, but he didn’t want to risk staying anywhere near the Sun Villagers.
What if Xu Zeng’s Stepmother ca to their inn to make a scene? Or any mber of the Xu Clan of Sun Village? Even the village chief didn’t seem to be above making trouble unnecessarily.
The entire village was filled with people with loose screws in the head.
The reference to "loose screws," was one Xu Feng had said a few tis, and Bai Mo even had that one written in his notes. After asking Xu Hu Zhe to explain it—he did a better job at explaining all the "intellectual sayings" Xu Feng had used—Bai Mo had broken into a fit of laughter.
Xu Hu Zhe couldn’t help but grin at the tickled fox. Even with a lighthearted mood, it was hard to ignore the silver-haired ger who seed to be swaying in the wind, like a leaf ready to fly away.
The thought of Xu Zeng being confronted by anyone from Sun Village wasn’t sothing he or Bai Mo wanted. Xu Zeng had been smiling on the way, but he clearly wasn’t okay.
They decided they had to press on, no matter the risks. They would travel overnight.
Xu Zeng, although wearing a smile on his face, was exhausted. After their long walk, he looked frail and fragile, like a ek little kitten. It was clear that he needed rest, but there was no ti to waste. Staying in town would be worse in the long run.
As soon as he entered the carriage, his bottom touched the carriage bench and his loved ones seed to be securely at his side, the demon beast among them, fell asleep.
In Xu Hu Zhe’s opinion, it wasn’t worth it to stay overnight in a place that brought such uncertainty and danger. And Bai Mo seed to agree, staying up all night to keep watch over their sleeping companion and to chat with Xu Hu Zhe.
As they traveled through the night, there were still so many unanswered questions between them, so many hesitancies and uncertainties. But they knew that they would deal with them slowly, one step at a ti.
Right now, their focus was on getting ho safely, on ensuring Xu Feng’s children’s safe hatching and transferring Xu Zeng’s father’s resting place— legally— and then, finally, on prioritizing their union and the future that lay ahead.
There was ti.
.
.
.
As the night slowly gave way to the light of dawn, their group pressed on, determined to reach the next town over before daylight. The transition from darkness to daylight was like a dance of shadows and sunlight, a fleeting mont of beauty in the passage of ti.
Xu Hu Zhe, driven by his eagerness to reach Nanshan Estate, urged the group onward, but Bai Mo, beca the voice of reason, reminding him of the need to rest.
The only one who knew how to drive a carriage was Xu Hu Zhe, he couldn’t overwork himself. Xu Zeng was still lethargic and drowsy, resting in an actual bed would be a nice change of pace.
Reluctantly, they stopped at an inn for a few hours of sleep. Bai Mo wanted to stay longer, but Xu Hu Zhe was determined to reach the next major town on their journey by nightfall. They replenished their supplies with so food to go, and Bai Mo couldn’t resist purchasing a few strange local delicacies and so natural honey, despite Xu Hu Zhe’s skepticism about the cost.
Throughout it all, Xu Zeng remained quiet, his energy drained from the journey. The honey water Bai Mo served him was like a lifeline, rejuvenating him slightly. Even Xu Hu Zhe, the penny pincher, couldn’t deny the importance of the honey water for Xu Zeng’s well-being— it was expensive but worth it.
With sowhat renewed energy, they set out once more, making it to the next town before sunset. Everything seed to be going according to plan, but the pathway ahead felt eerily quiet, too quiet for comfort. Xu Hu Zhe’s instincts were on high alert, and he hurried to get them into the town.
Bai Mo had fallen asleep, and Xu Zeng’s ti awake was fleeting at best. Determined to ensure their safety, Xu Hu Zhe quickly secured a room at the largest inn, intending to wake them up for a al or a bath once they were settled.
But as he entered the inn, a sense of unease washed over him. Everything seed normal, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that sothing was wrong.
The attendant was friendly enough, the inn was clean and well taken care of. They had previously stayed here on the first half of their journey, but it didn’t feel like this before.
The feeling of unease only grew as the check-in process dragged on and on. This wasn’t a complicated process. It hadn’t been a complicated process on their last stay...
Without warning, Xu Hu Zhe abruptly turned and sprinted back outside, the attendant’s voice fading behind him as he rushed to the carriage.
There was no carriage.
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