Chasing You (Arcs 1-7)

My Dear Emperor (XVIII)

In lavish and spacious bedroom, a man dressed in pure black robes sat on the wooden bed. There was a little boy inside of the room, he wore a plain light blue robe and was sitting obediently next to the tall man.

The man looked down to the boy, "Do you miss him?"

The boy pursed his lips and nodded, "I miss mommy."

The man lifted the boy into his arms, "En. I miss him too."

The boy encircled his arms around the man's neck, "Will mommy be here this time, daddy?"

The man smiled and rubbed the boy's back, "Mmn. He's already here."

The boy pulled back and his eyes flashed with shock, "Mommy is... here?"

His heart was jumping in joy at the words, he was very eager to see his mother. Since the day he woke up, he could not see his mother and his head felt funny. His father had told him that they would have to go search for his mother in different places as he was 'lost'. Because his mind was still coming out from the deep slumber, he only had fragments of his past memories but then, gradually they all fell into place. He was saddened to the point of tears falling down his face uncontrollably when he was finally able to remember everything. He could only recall the faint traces of that person that was no longer holding his hand and singing lullabies to him. They were no longer by his side anymore.

He felt very lonely at first, but his father had kept him accompanied and didn't neglect his love to him. His father would tell him stories of the time that he had spent with his mother and how they had first met with each other. As he listened, little by little the loneliness was chipped away but it could never fully remove it. There would always be that longing inside of him and the self blame for that incident would forever be branded into his heart. His father had always assured him that his mother had loved him dearly and he was never to be blamed for what he had done.

They went through countless of worlds and lived through to the end of hundreds of lives in case he ever showed up some time in the story... But he didn't. Even when his father and him were about to depart from any world, he would always look back and hope to see them walk up to them with that smile on his face. In the end, it would always be a feeble dream and would result in them leaving the world with just the two of them.

It made him feel hopeless in their conquest to reunite with his mother. He really missed those warm arms that would enveloped him or that smile that would never fail to capture his attention. Whenever his yearning became too much he would touch and open the only thing he had left from his mother. Inside was a silver long haired man and a man with long black hair. He would often hum the songs that his mother would sing and touch the necklace that was given as a gift to him.

Now maybe the heavens were finally watching over them as they were given a chance to be together. Finally he would be able to feel something that he had yearned to for eons.

A smile formed on his adorable face and he hummed happily, "I get to see mommy~!"

The man couldn't help but smile at his son's reaction, "Mmn."

The boy fell asleep in the man's embrace and was carefully laid down on the wooden bed. His eyes that were filled with tenderness and love was replaced with a dim and exhausted light. He had searched high and low for his lover but could not find him anywhere. If not that he could very faintly feel his soul essence he would've thought that he wasn't in this world. His lover had returned a portion of his soul essence when he had engraved the Mark of Cain onto his soul. He touched the area over his chest with a hand.

Because of the vessel's role in this world, he could not freely search for him as it would disrupt the balance in this world. There would be no one to reign over and keep the peace if he left suddenly, he didn't need things to become chaotic or it would be even harder for him to find his lover.

He wasn't able to recover much and couldn't be restored to his original strength, as he would give majority of his earned energy to his son and use it to hop from world to world. He did not want his son to inherit a body from this or any other world and had crafted him a body. He would then forced their way into the worlds. It took a toll on his body, mentally and physically as he continued to do so. He had not found rest in a very long time... He could not afford to. He did not know where Si Wang had gone to and had to be vigilant. In the outside world, he could not trust anyone besides Yu Yan. He rubbed his eyes and sighed heavily.

He was very irritated and frustrated that he hadn't been able to find him, he wracked and toussed his mind for a possible way but there was none. Through the myriad of worlds and lives that he had lived, his temper had been melded and became 'tamed'. It was no longer explosive and erratic as it had been before, as the first couple hundreds of worlds had suffered his wrath and some ceased to exist anymore. He held his head in his hands, his long silky black hair fell down at his sides. He closed his eyes and a tired smile formed on his lips, "Finally, maybe we can be together..."

---

The night was still young, and Xu XiuLan was busy with attending to his rowdy customers after the end of the plum blossom banquet. He was currently attending to a large group full of bachelors who were seeking to have a good night in the flower house. One of them roped their arms around his waist and pulled him closer to them. A lustful smile was plastered on their face as they stared at him, "Biyue, I've come for you like I said. Please be mine. I wanted to show you off to my friends and family and tell them that you're mine."

Xu XiuLan's lips quirked into a smile as honeyed words flowed out of his mouth, "This gentleman is quite handsome and compelling with your words. You make butterflies flutter in Biyue's heart. Biyue will always remember and have a place for this gentleman in the future."

They leaned in to kiss Xu XiuLan, but he turned his head on time and their lips landed on his cheek. He leaned back from their embrace, "This gentleman, Biyue is unable to accept your patronage tonight. Perhaps on another night Biyue will company you then."

Their hands clenched onto his body tighter and their breathing was raspy, "Biyue... I can't wait anymore... I want you tonight."

They pressed their body against his, "And nothing will stop me tonight..."

Just as they were rubbing his lower back, the door to their room opened.

---

A/N: ... Don't you just love cliff hangers? It seems that I like courting death. I can feel how many are going to kill me because of this ending.