Xi Zirui turns around with a sigh. "You can come out now."
With a sheepish smile, Han Yu comes out from behind a rocky outcropping. "Sorry gege, I saw you leave the room and came after you."
The snake gives Xi Zirui a pointed look. "Should I kill the human or will you?"
Xi Zirui goes tense. He doesn't want to do anything of the sort.
Why did Han Yu have to follow him here? Now he's just making everything more complicated. Xi Zirui doesn't want to be forced to choose between him and another spirit beast.
"Gege, wait, I know, I've always known you were fox, don't worry I won't tell anyone."
Xi Zirui could infer as much from Han Yu's blas reaction to being caught snooping, but he worries that won't mean anything to the snake.
"He won't give you any problems," he tells the man, lifting his chin.
"You were the one who said I was in danger..." he smirks, revealing two sharp fangs.
"He's not a threat to you," Xi Zirui says, keeping his eye on Han Yu as he walks slowly towards them.
"If you say so," the man says, sounding all the while as if one wrong move could result in Xi Zirui and Han Yu meeting the same fate, for all he cares. "My name is She Yong, and now that you have delivered your warning I invite you both to leave."
"What are you doing with the people of Peiya?" Han Yu asks, flanking Xi Zirui and facing She Yong head on.
She Yong stands taller on the coils of his tail. "Nothing they didn't deserve."
"Are they still alive?" Xi Zirui asks, already sure of the answer.
"They have moved on to another plane of existence," She Yong says, amused.
At Xi Zirui's side, Han Yu tenses. This is not the time for him to get emotional over the loss of human life.
"There is a group of cultivators investigating this matter," Xi Zirui says, holding back Han Yu by the back of his robes. "Sooner or later they'll find the same thing as us, and you won't be able to hide any longer."
"Is that a threat, little fox?" She Yong asks, his fangs flashing in the silver moonlight coming into the cave from the opening above their heads.
Xi Zirui ignores him. "I think you should leave, as soon as possible."
Han Yu's spine grows rigid and he turns around to face Xi Zirui, his eyebrows drawn. "Gege, you can't really think that. He's a murderer."
Xi Zirui ignores him too.
"Brother, please go," he pleads, his eyes never leaving She Yong.
She Yong slithers towards them, his upper body raising several zheng in the air, supported by the twisting coils of his iridescent tail. "Why should I? This village is ripe for the picking, I have so much fresh qi at my disposal? I think I'll stay."
Xi Zirui is about to launch into another explanation of why he should leave as soon as possible, when She Yong raises one arm in front of his face.
"It's the two of you who have overstayed your welcome."
It takes only a fraction of a second for Xi Zirui to understand what She Yong's intent is, but before he can do anything to block the strike of his sharp tail, Han Yu is already throwing himself in front of him.
He falls backwards with the momentum of Han Yu's body slamming into his. With a groan, Han Yu unsheathes his sword and holds it in front of his body, protecting the diagonal gash She Yong's tail left in his chest.
The wound is deep, crossing his chest almost from flank to shoulder and bleeding profusely.
"Now there's a sight you don't see everyday," She Yong guffaws, his forked tongue licking up his lips. "A human dying for one of us."
To Xi Zirui he says, "Brother, you'll spend your last moments in good company at least."
He sends a burst of energy towards Xi Zirui, who expects pain but it doesn't come. Instead, the ground crumbles underneath his feet.
The last thing Xi Zirui sees before losing consciousness is an injured Han Yu jumping in after him. She Yong's laughter reverberates through the cave walls, growing more bestial as Xi Zirui falls.
---
Xi Zirui comes to with the sound of running water, and the feeling of something soft and warm beneath his head.
"Gege, does anything hurt?"
Xi Zirui's straining eyelids struggle to stay open and his eyes to focus on Han Yu's blurry, sallow face.
"I'm fine," Xi Zirui says, his voice rough. "What about you?"
A strong scent of blood invades Xi Zirui's nostrils. He turns around on Han Yu's lap and sees that the front of his robes is completely saturated in blood.
He sucks on a harsh breath at the grisly sight. "How-" He can't finish the sentence, too shocked by the view of the wound on Han Yu's chest, and the amount of blood still seeping from it.
Han Yu chuckles feebly. "I'm using all of my qi to stay conscious. I wanted to still be awake when gege woke up."
Gingerly, Xi Zirui sits up. His ribs feel bruised -- from the fall most likely -- but other than that he's fine, unlike Han Yu.
He rips a lengthwise strip of his robes and wraps it around Han Yu's chest, in an effort to staunch the bleeding.
"There's poison, gege," Han Yu says, his voice growing faint. "That's why it doesn't stop bleeding."
"Sit down," Xi Zirui says, helping Han Yu into a comfortable position, and taking a seat behind him. "You're not allowed to die after saving me. I won't let you."
Xi Zirui holds both palms against Han Yu's shoulder blades and begins the qi transfer.
Han Yu closes his eyes and lets his head fall backwards with a sigh. "Don't worry gege, you won't be indebted to me even if I die. I'll find you in my next life and trouble you again."
Xi Zirui speaks through the tightness around his throat. "Shut up and stay alive. Having the misfortune of meeting you in one lifetime is enough for me."