Destinies : Connected by Fate✔️

Chapter 17

It had been two hours since Zhang had passed out after calling YiHuang's name and almost the same time since the second prince had run out of options on what to do with the unconscious human in his arms. He had thought about seeking his brother's help, but since he wanted to keep the reason for Zhang's current situation a secret, he had decided against it. The Yuanjian had ruled out using the pond water again as well. Though he didn't know how to proceed, once he had calmed down, he had checked the latter's vitals and found them to be stable. Something told him that Zhang was going to be alright.

As he waited for the human to wake up, YiHuang immersed himself in reading up on the anomalies, if any, found in both Yuanjian and human races by connecting his H_Link to his personal server.

The land air hadn't always been toxic to the Yuanjians. A few hundred years ago, a meteor shower had released a chemical in Earth's atmosphere. Since it did not affect humans, they ignored it. However, when the Yuanjians arrived to for their routine survey, they learned the hard way that the land air had turned toxic.

YiHuang decided to check the records of Yuanjians who could filter out the toxins from the air, making them capable of breathing on land. Unfortunately, he was able to find only two such cases.

Out of the two, the present Emperor was one. The other one the resources had mentioned had died seven decades ago. Not believing them to be the only cases, he dug deeper. He found a file hidden behind a firewall. The case mentioned a lady from the royal family. This woman possessed extraordinary gifts, gifts that no one could imagine in their wildest dreams. They were, however, not documented. The only thing that YiHuang could get out of it was that the woman's eyes glowed a brilliant blue on occasions, and since then, it was considered a bad omen. Mysteriously, she had disappeared all of a sudden, about two hundred years ago. Even her name was struck from the royal registry. It was like she never existed.

'Brother has seen my eyes glow. And now Zhang...' He sighs and reaches for the man's hand. "How long are you going to be like this, hum? It's been hours." He looks for signs of movement but finds none. He rakes his fingers through the latter's messy hair, combing it back. "Who are you?" He asks, pulling the man in his lap yet again and holding him to his chest.

The day's exertion catches up with him, and he falls asleep with his back propped against the cave's wall.

Soon after, Zhang opens his eyes to the steady thumps of YiHuang's heart. The prince's face swims in front of him. Zhang looks at the Yuanjian with eyes full of affection, pulls himself up, kisses the sleeping man's lips, and closes his eyes again.

*****

After calling in every favor he was ever owed, YiYang returns to the groves. He finds the mouth of the cave open, just as he had left it, and once again enters it only to be scandalized. Unlike the last time, however,  he doesn't overreact. 'So what if they are snuggling?' He asks himself. After all, he hadn't he cuddled with Ah-Kun in a similar way?

Instead of feeling embarrassed, he tries to come up with plausible excuses:

They might be feeling cold; not plausible, it's the middle of summer.

The cave is too small; not likely, it can fit ten grown men.

They fell on each other and lost consciousness; that's just stupid.

After many failed attempts at coming up with an excuse that would explain their intimate position, YiYang decides to ignore it. Instead, he clears his throat to announce his arrival.

Zhang is the first to notice the guest, who had his eyes glued to the floor. It takes him a few seconds to take note of the way his limbs are entangled with YiHuang. However, it doesn't make him uncomfortable in the least.