Learning To Live As A Cultivator

Chapter One Hundred And Seventy Five - Jin Li purchases a Cultivation method

It is not unusual for the night streets to be filled with toneless singing of men chanting with slurred words, however the voice that echoed this time was soft and the words sang were quite clear... even if the song made absolutely no sense. 

"One - don't pick up the phone..." the boy sang as he clung to the back of the man carrying him.  "You know...um... dah dah dah dah dah!" 

Ursam glanced over at the grimacing Jin Li and the drunk boy he held.  "How much did he drink exactly?"  He inquired.  They had already sent Pharmacist Clawse on his way and were heading back to Ursam's shop, where the man planned for the youths to stay the evening.

"Two bowls worth." Just to say, a bowl of wine was no more that a single glass in Leon's previous life. The wine had only been a floral wine, not high in alcohol content. However, unknown to others, this had been beyond his limit in that life as well!

"...so little?" Ursam commented with slight bewilderment. The singing tapered off as Leon drifted to sleep upon Jin Li's back.

Ursam's Wife was less than impressed by the state Leon was in, but not a word was said in blame of the small alchemist. No, instead it was all reserved for her husband. "How could you let him drink so much as to be in this condition?" She hissed at him, crossly.

"He's an adult, you know," Ursam pouted as the words fell like large hammers onto his head.

"He's an adult? You're the adult!" The woman retorted. "These boys are like mere bairn's compared to you! Just how much did he drink?"

"Two bowl's full," Jin Li repeated his earlier words, without chagrin.

"...so little?" Ursam's wife hesitated for a moment. Still, she felt that a man of her husband's age ought to have known better and to have stopped him after just the first. "Help Jin Li to the guest room and settle him in. We'll talk about this in the morning."

The guest room only had one bed, happened to be a double bed, with heavy curtains to protect sleepers from draft winds. Although Ursam guided Jin Li to the room, he didn't enter with him, saying he would refresh the jug of water upon the table beside the bed instead. Leon slipped from Jin Li's back and onto the mattress with a sigh, but otherwise did not seem to be disturbed from peaceful sleep.

"Look at you, so weak," Jin Li sneered as he carefully pulled Leon's boots from his feet, followed by his socks. "You dare to allow others to see you in this vulnerable state?" He removed Leon's glasses and the pin from Leon's hair, which spilled over the bed like a halo of black and white.

Leon did not answer as Jin Li maneovered him until he was beneath the covers and watched with raised brows as his small lover snuggled deeper into the blankets, until only the crown of his head could be seen.  Looking at him for a moment, Jin Li felt the rising of that soft sensation within his heart, that he still wasn't quite used to.  Protecting him was fine, sharing the sensations of the body were fine, blatantly declaring his sovereignty over him was fine, this was... this was fine as well, he supposed.

A muffled cough and knock upon the door shut down the tiny warmth and the coldness of seventeen years swiftly returned to its rightful place.  Jin Li turned around and saw Ursam waiting for him, jug of water in hand.  Without a word, Jin Li came over to take it from him, but hesitated to take it when he noticed the strange grin upon Ursam's face.  A sense of foreboding began to build and worsened when Ursam crooked a finger at him, indicating he should step out of the guest room and follow him.  They did not go far, however.  This was the older man's way of being considerate to the sleeping boy left behind.

That grin, though... "So you and Leon huh?"

Jin Li frowned.  "Leon and I what?" He asked coolly.