"What if Heimao wants to marry your Master too?" Yao Shen asks, smirking at the angry little caterpillar.
Clearly Jincan hasn't considered that option, he waves his tiny legs in the air for a moment, but eventually says, "By the time Heimao has cultivated a human form, Jincan will have already married Master."
Yao Shen chuckles. "You've really thought this through, uh?"
He has an idea, then. "What about Yan Shuyi? Isn't he who your Master loves?"
Jincan gives him a puzzled look. "Master's Shizun is dead. He has even less of a chance than Heimao."
Yao Shen goes very still. He isn't necessarily surprised by the revelation. If even a fraction of 'Shizun, this disciple will have to kill you' is true, then Xin Hulei would never voluntarily be away from Yan Shuyi. It just wouldn't happen, after all the hardship they went through to stay together.
Of course, it's obvious the novel isn't completely faithful to the real events either, because it has a happy ending, and Xie Xuan and Yan Shuyi live happily ever after.
Unless, Yan Shuyi's death happened after the events of the novel?
With each new piece of information Yao Shen uncovers, the tangle of Xin Hulei's mysterious past just grows denser.
A sudden voice nearly startles Yao Shen into tripping over his own feet. "Are you bullying Jincan?"
Yao Shen turns around and finds Xin Hulei looking at him, a small bath towel wrapped around his hips, this chest and abdomen glittering with water drops.
The sight brings a flush to Yao Shen's skin. He's seen far too much of Xin Hulei's skin in the past few hours alone.
"Uh, I'm going to shower now," Yao Shen says, lowering his head and marching into the bathroom Xin Hulei has just vacated.
---
Showering ends up not being as relaxing as Yao Shen hoped, because he can't stop thinking about Xin Hulei doing the exact same thing in the cramped shower box moments before.
His mind drifts while he towels himself dry, he wonders if he smells like Xin Hulei now, after using his shower gel.
He shakes his head, in a futile attempt to clear his head off these muddled thoughts, and changes into the shorts and oversized tshirt Xin Hulei left out for him.
It's only when he slips the tshirt on that he realizes he's seen Xin Hulei wear it, and that it doesn't look oversized on him at all.
He makes his way out of the bathroom red-faced, and blames it on the heat and humidity.
Xin Hulei is standing by the closet, wearing only a pair of shorts and holding a blanket and pillow under his arm when Yao Shen comes out.
"You can take the bed, I'll sleep on the couch."
"No, it's your house, I can't do that. I'll take the couch, you sleep on the bed."
"You're the guest," Xin Hulei insists, blank faced.
"It's your house," Yao Shen retorts.
Xin Hulei's eyebrows knot in confusion, as if he's reassessing everything he knows about courtesy and hospitality. "But you're my guest."
Annoyed, Yao Shen blurts out, "What about we both sleep on the bed?" before fully realizing what it is that he's saying.
Xin Hulei drops the other pillow on the bed and nods to Yao Shen. "Okay."
From the terrarium by the window comes a tiny screech. "Master, he's trying to seduce you! Please don't fall for his schemes."
Yao Shen's face must change colors at least twice before he can muster an awkward "uh," gurgling sound,
Xin Hulei slips into the bed and turns his back to him. "No one is trying to seduce anyone, go to sleep, Jincan."
---
Yao Shen is lying on his back trying to fall asleep and failing miserably. He's too aware of Heimao's soft weight at the end of the bed, and Xin Hulei's presence at his side, irradiating heat like a furnace.
He shifts around trying to find a better position, but Xin Hulei turns on his side and stops him with a hand on his hip. "Stop fidgeting."
Yao Shen goes deathly still, feeling the imprint of Xin Hulei's fingers through the thin material of his shorts like a brand. He doesn't understand why he's having these reactions? Is it because his body remembers what happened the last time he was in a bed with Xin Hulei?
Or is it because of that odd dream?
"What are you thinking about?" Xin Hulei asks, his cool gaze boring into Yao Shen.
"I'm just wondering, how come you've changed so much, from the person you used to be when you were Yan Shuyi's disciple to who you are now."
The words rush out of Yao Shen even as he realizes with a shocked kind of horror how inappropriate he's being.
Xin Hulei's expression remains unchanged. "I haven't."
Yao Shen gives him a confused look. It can't have escaped his notice that he currently bears very little resemblance to the fiery and tempestuous Xie Huan.
If Xie Huan is a hurricane, Xin Hulei is some fine drizzle.
They couldn't be more different if they were two different people.
It isn't any of Yao Shen's business, so he changes the subject. "Why did you want to play a role in the drama of your own life, it makes no sense."
"Doesn't it?"
Yao Shen shakes his head. He would never want to play himself in a drama, the thought alone is bizarre.
"Think about it this way: there's three sides to every story. Yours, mine and the truth. When it comes to my past, I only know my side."
It's another of his half-answers, but Yao Shen thinks he understands what he means. "And what are you looking for? The other side, or the truth?"
Xin Hulei's fingers tighten on Yao Shen's hip. "So many questions. Are you trying to distract me?"
The feeling of those slender finger on his hipbone robs Yao Shen of any coherent thought, he can only feel his breath clogging up his throat.
Xin Hulei inches closer across the bed, so close their noses almost touch. "Why don't you ask me what's really on your mind?"
"Like what?" Yao Shen asks, his throat clicking loudly.
"You tell me."
Xin Hulei's voice sounds like some intoxicating wine, and it makes Yao Shen's feel woozy.
The words tumble out of him, drunken and unbidden, "What happened that night we slept together?"