Bruised (A Fengqing Fanfic)

Chapter 9

A/N...

There is smut in this chapter so if you don't like it then you can skip it I guess.

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It wasn't until after Mu Qing's powers were sweetly humming in him that he remembered He Xuan, Xie Lian, and Hua Cheng existed a few steps away.

He saw the others over Feng Xin's bicep and his face flushed. Xie Lian and Hua Cheng were looking directly at him but at least Black Water wasn't. Where He Xuan stood, adjusting his sleeves and licking at his teeth, Cangshui was gone, not even a shell left.

Feng Xin stood, taking Mu Qing with him, carrying him in his arms. Something like this would have normally made Mu Qing react like a grievously wronged cat but his brain kept fixating on how pleasant it was, like a traitor.

Xie Lian came and touched the side of his face. "How a—" His voice cut out at a tiny electric shock. It couldn't hurt Xie Lian, but it startled them both.

Mu Qing looked at his hand, flexing his fingers. There was something strange about the air pressure. He looked over to where the Wutong Shen lay bound, encased in scrolls. Frowning, he closed his fist experimentally and lightning exploded from the sky, setting it alight.

That probably wouldn't kill it and it didn't take off the seals so whatever.

"Is that permanent?" asked Feng Xin, wide-eyed.

Xie Lian grasped Mu Qing's wrist, ignoring the little shock this time. "...I think...San Lang?"

Hua Cheng came and after a moment of staring Mu Qing held his wrist out to him. His remaining eye went minutely wider for a moment. "I thought they picked you randomly."

"Cangshui said they did," said Feng Xin. "But he was also trying to piss me off."

"What are you saying?" asked Mu Qing. "What's with my qi?"

"I think maybe...mine was the wrong path for you. I don't think you needed it," said Xie Lian. "Feng Xin ascended without needing to cultivate at all."

"You did way more stuff than I ever did," said Feng Xin, which Mu Qing had always thought and never verbalized because he thought it reflected badly on himself that he'd had to do more to get the same result.

"Your cultivation path," said Hua Cheng, "Which I think we can say now has quite a history of being absolute bullshit—" It hadn't been right for Jun Wu, who was a monster, or for Xie Lian, who was infinitely more powerful without it, after all. "--was just holding you back. You're the one that was supposed to be the Lightning Master. You would have usurped the previous one when I killed him if you hadn't been bound up in that shit-guoshi's path."

Mu Qing felt that his knees would have given out if Feng Xin hadn't actively carried him. He didn't know why, but he looked at Feng Xin now, as if that idiot would know something.

"I guess it's not too surprising," Feng Xin hummed, lifting his stupid brows at him. "You always did overthink things and second guess yourself." Instead of punching him, Mu Qing stared at Feng Xin, feeling too warm.

"I'm going to take him back to my place," Feng Xin announced to the others and Mu Qing didn't say anything. "Tell his deputies he's with me."

"I can walk," Mu Qing said eventually, dazed. He felt like he could do anything, stronger than ever.

"I know," said Feng Xin. "The streets are empty over here, though, so no one is gonna see."

That wasn't a response that made sense unless they were agreeing that Mu Qing would prefer to be carried by him and he was only speaking out of concern for how it would look. This implication just rolled itself in his head over and over again until he realized they were suddenly in Feng Xin's palace, in the section of rooms that were his living quarters, and Feng Xin was setting him on a couch.