The Nine-tailed Fox learns something new

"Do you know how to use it?" Lan Tian asks, handing over the whip.

"No," Wu Yun says.

He hates admitting his ignorance in front of Jiang Tanmei who will only berate him for it. But Lan Tian is different, as much as he complains, he has never made Wu Yun feel inferior for not knowing something. They're both learning how to navigate the human world together.

Lan Tian moves behind Wu Yun, and curls his hand around Wu Yun's on top of the whip.

He raises their joined arms over their heads, and says, lips close to Wu Yun's ear. "Swing it, in the air a few times."

Wu Yun does, but is immediately stopped by Lan Tian's hand at his waist. "Don't move your hips. Focus your strength in your core muscles."

He tries to concentrate on following his directions, but he finds it hard to focus with Lan Tian pressed so close. He can almost feel the heat coming off his bare skin through his own robes. He blinks away the confusing thoughts swirling around in his mind and swings the whip in the air until it's nothing but a circular blurry shape, cutting through the wind like a blade.

"Good, now aim for that post, try to wrap it around the top," Lan Tian says, moving away from Wu Yun to give him some aiming space.

Wu Yun swings the whip around a few more times, and then cracks it at the post. It leaves a deep slash in a flurry of wood chips, but it doesn't wrap around it.

"I couldn't do it," Wu Yun says, with a defeated look in his eyes. He hasn't managed to do anything right lately, but failing in front of Lan Tian is much worse than doing it in front of that haughty Jiang Tanmei.

Lan Tian takes hold of his hand again, and moves it around in a sweeping motion. "You have to do it like this, try to it from the side, to send the whip around the post."

They try again, this time with Lan Tian holding on to Wu Yun's hand, as they crack the whip at the post.

It zooms through the hair and manages to wrap around the top of the post with a sliding sound.

"We did it," Wu Yun says, smiling up at Lan Tian.

Lan Tian smiles too, his tiny, barely there, smile that still manages to light up his golden eyes like twin suns.

"Now let's try something that Lu Meng has been trying to teach me, but I haven't been able to do."

Lan Tian holds on to Wu Yun's waist, again, and pulls him against his bare chest, he grips over Wu Yun's hand on the whip's handle with his other hand, and says, "Now pull until the post breaks."

Wu Yun nods, and leans back against Lan Tian, pulling on the whip with all his might. They pull together until the wood starts to crack. Faintly at first, like the sound of steps over a wooden floor, then more loudly, like an old bridge swaying in the wind. Finally the top of the post snaps with a loud crack, and a piece of jagged wood comes flying over their heads.

"You did very well, I wouldn't have been able to do it without you," Lan Tian says, releasing the whip to pat Wu Yun's shoulder.

Wu Yun lets go of the whip and turns around to hug Lan Tian. It's a spur of the moment thing, and he feels weird with Lan Tian's warm neck pressed against his cheek, but he's filled with such an overwhelming sense of accomplishment that he doesn't know what to do with himself.

"Thanks for teaching me," he whispers, hiding the words in the crook of Lan Tian's shoulder.

A sharp voice cuts through the silence in the clearing, making Wu Yun jump away from Lan Tian's warm chest.

"So it is possible to teach you new things," Jiang Tanmei says, approaching them with hands clasped behind his back. Lu Meng walking beside him.

"Maybe it's because you are a terrible teacher," Wu Yun says, crossing his arms.

"Well you won't have to suffer my teachings much longer, we just got a missive from the Prince of Qi's estate," Jiang Tanmei says, pulling a piece of paper from the inside of his wide sleeve and handing it over to Wu Yun. "They're going to come for the young master of the Jiang family tomorrow."

"We need to go over some things before tomorrow," Lu Meng says. "Let's go back to A-Tan's rooms to lay down a plan."

Lu Meng's plan consists of "don't get killed". At least that's the conclusion Wu Yun arrives at after having listened to him drone on for the past half-hour while drawing complicated shapes in a sheet of paper.

They're all seated at the table in Jiang Tanmei's room, where Wu Yun has spent countless hours of relentless suffering and boredom. He is reliving them all, while listening to Lu Meng's monotone drawl.

At least until Jiang Tanmei slaps his fist on the tabletop, almost sending the inkstone flying against Lan Tian's face.

"Will you pay attention?" he asks, turning his raging eyes on Wu Yun. "We're trying to keep you from dying the moment you get there!"

"What makes you so sure we'll die, anyway?" asks Wu Yun.

"The Prince of Qi has wiped out all the families who opposed him, and none of the young masters he took have ever been seen again, so it's not a stretch of the imagination to think they have met a grisly end, instead of enjoying life in the mansion." Jiang Tanmei says, a worried look clouding over his clear eyes.

"I don't think you understand how unusual the Prince's actions are to begin with," says Lu Meng, holding on to Jiang Tanmei's hand under the table. "While it's not unheard of for noblemen to have male harems they would never ask for the first sons of noble families, no family would accept that. Usually, it could be considered advantageous for a second or a third son to enter into such an arrangement especially if he had scholarly ambitions. But a first son would never marry into another family, unless his family was extremely impoverished. Which isn't the case for any of the families the Prince of Qi approached."

"So why do you think the Prince is doing this?" asks Lan Tian.

"Who knows? A bid for power at the Emperor's court maybe? Now he has something to hold over the heads of several important families," says Jiang Tanmei.

"You talk a lot for someone who knows so little," Wu Yun cuts in, unable to resist goading Jiang Tanmei.

Jiang Tanmei raises his hand as if he is about to strike Wu Yun, but thinks better of it at the last moment. He cuts him a chilling glare instead, before saying, "There is another possibility. The Prince of Qi has always had the reputation of being a bit of an eccentric. Before this whole thing, he had been researching immortality and trying to get into several cultivation sects, with no success."

That perks up Wu Yun's attention like no words out of Jiang Tanmei's mouth have managed to do before.

"We want you to release everyone the Prince is holding captive," says Lu Meng suddenly. "We've talked about it, and A-Tan isn't comfortable avoiding death while others can't escape it. Whether you kill the Prince of Qi or not, the important thing is to release all survivors. We'll think of what to do about the Prince's actions later."

"That wasn't our agreement, we were just supposed to save your head from the chopping block!" says Wu Yun pointing an accusing finger in Jiang Tanmei's direction.

"Now it changed," says Jiang Tanmei. "You'll get half of the money before leaving tomorrow, and the rest when you arrive here with the survivors."

"We probably won't be able to communicate while you are in the mansion, but the Prince of Qi's estate isn't very far from Yangli, you won't have much trouble getting back here," says Lu Meng, cool as ever.

"If you are so worried why don't you go and rescue them yourself?" Wu Yun isn't surprised that someone as overbearing as Jiang Tanmei would demand of others the things he isn't strong enough to do himself.

"That's rich coming from someone who's only going in the first place because he wants money! Don't think I believe for a second that you're doing this because you're concerned for my well-being!"

Both Wu Yun and Jiang Tanmei jump up from their pillows at the same time. The tension in the room coils around them like a miasma, sucking all the oxygen out of the air. Wu Yun has had enough of Jiang Tanmei and his superior attitude, the scrapes on his cheek are almost healed, he can't help thinking he should open up fresh ones as a parting gift.

"I think we've talked enough about this," Lan Tian says, stepping in between Wu Yun and Jiang Tanmei. "We'll do our best to rescue whatever captives we find, but we won't put ourselves in danger. That will have to be good enough."

Lan Tian doesn't wait to hear Jiang Tanmei's answer. Wu Yun leaves the room after him, sparing one last glare at Jiang Tanmei.

Back in their room, Lan Tian asks one of the servants to prepare him a bath. Wu Yun asks for mantous with sweet bean paste filling, which he has grown addicted to.

Lan Tian gets into his bath, tying up all of his long hair on top of his head to prevent it from getting wet. Wu Yun, now dressed down to his inner robe sits on the edge of the tub nibbling on his mantou.

"You were bluffing, right? There's no way we're going to save the other brats." Wu Yun says, between mouthfuls.

Wu Yun shrugs, and splashes water on his face. "I don't see why we shouldn't at least try."

"Have you forgotten why we started all this? We want to return to our original shapes, and I want to kill the Jade Emperor. Saving humans wasn't included in the plans."

"Maybe we can do both."

"Have you grown soft in just a few days living as a human? Are you no longer a mighty river dragon?" Wu Yun asks, dipping his fingers in the cold water Lan Tian prefers and flicking them against his eyes.

Lan Tian groans and tries to evade the water droplets. "Of course I haven't! There's nothing I want more than to return to my original shape."

"Then why did you say you wanted to save the other captives?"

"Would they shut up about it otherwise?" Lan Tian asks, frowning. His golden eyes seem to shimmer whenever he's happy or angry, Wu Yun notices. "Besides, I've been speaking with Lu Meng. He's told me some things that have made me feel sorry for him, and Jiang Tanmei, and humans in general."

Wu Yun can't believe anyone would feel sorry for Jiang Tanmei. "You have grown soft! Are you even a dragon anymore?"

Lan Tian groans and pulls Wu Yun into the bath by his sleeve. He falls halfway into Lan Tian's lap and shudders at the coldness of the water.

"I can wait to be a dragon again so I won't have do deal with you anymore." Lan Tian grumbles under his breath.

Wu Yun makes himself comfortable against Lan Tian's solid chest, and raises one leg up onto the tub's edge. "I don't believe you. You like me."

"You think very highly of yourself," Lan Tian says staring at the patch of skin on Wu Yun's nape that his ponytail doesn't cover.

Wu Yun smiles softly, and raises his other foot, only to watch the water trickle through his toes. "So do you."