20 You cannot run or hide from me

Fu Hua could not help but let the soft laugh escape his lips. How long had it been since he had felt happy like this? The resistance had been a gloomy and depressing place, even if it had allowed him the freedom to do as he had wished.

Nothing after that had been any better at all.

Maybe it had been the times when he had been with Xiao Lan when they had been smaller and had no responsibilities. Had he laughed like this back then? It was not that Fu Hua found Xiao Lan's anger unjustified, he just found it cute.

The curse that was placed on the other was relatively harmless in nature but Fu Hua would like to know who did it. His once-lover had been adorable at that age too and he was such a pretty child.

"Alright, but what if I ran away before that? I'm sure I can outrun your smaller form and you will never see me again" Fu Hua could not help but tease the other who seemed to be getting angrier by the second.

The angry expression that that small face was adorable, to say the least, and then the sting came and the small body was too close and it hurt.

"D-Did you bite me? XIAO LAN WHAT THE HELL?" Fu Hua screamed at the small form who had a dark and satisfied smile on his face. That face was so familiar and there was blood at the corner of those young lips.

And Xiao Lan's eyes were glowing a soft emerald which meant he had lost control of his powers and was Fu Hua in danger. The place where the other had bitten him was likely bleeding and what had that been about.

"Marked you so that you cannot escape my hold. You are not getting away that easily" the kid was sadistic and he was a tyrant and he was just... Xiao Lan. How could Fu Hua forget that the other had always been like this?

"Alright, alright you win. Now can you give me space? It's a little uncomfortable with you on top of me like that. I'm not into kids at all" Xiao Lan's gaze said that Fu Hua should not really open his mouth unless he wanted something worse to happen to him but really.

He should not be in that position at all because if someone walked in right now then the consequences would be so bad and -

"Your highness, we should hurry up now. Fu Hua is awake and we can take him along as well" the kid gave a scroll of disapproval and Fu Hua had never wanted to become one with the bed any more than now.

The captain commander had been the one to enter and only raised a brow in question at their current position. Fu Hua was more than red now, he was scarlet and his face was about to burst from embarrassment.

Not to mention, this was not even the worst situation they had ever been caught in which was saying something. Maybe it was Xiao Lan's current age that made it awkward for him or maybe it was the separation.

Or maybe it was the fact that Fu Fua had betrayed Xiao Lan and the kingdom, even if it had been for the betterment of everyone. Not that he could ever admit it even in his dying moments or what he had done would be undone just like that.

"Fine, we will hurry up now. Fu Hua, go take a bath and then change into a new cloak. We modelled it after the one you had been wearing till now" the kid really had become bossy and Fu Hua saw no choice but to comply.

Really, Xiao Lan was too bossy when he got into these moods and Fu Hua had no energy to deal with it all right now.

The captain commander saw this all happen with slightly widened eyes. What had Fu Hua done to make Xiao Lan react like this? As far as the captain commander knew, Xiao Lan had always been a level headed individual.

That had not changed when he had been cursed and things had gone the same way they always had. The kid had still taken the responsibility to run the country and he actually did an incredible job of it as well.

But maybe the curse had affected him at a more fundamental level than anyone could have actually believed. Right now, Xiao Lan was acting like a kid who just got his way. The satisfied smile on his face was a little disturbing to the captain commander.

But Xiao Lan himself was pretty content with his actions. Trying to escape? Fu Hua should try now when Xiao Lan has marked him good.

The prince had made sure to push his magic directly inside the other when he bit him on the side of his neck but that had been the best way to do it. The element of surprise would make sure Xiao Lan's magic integrated inside Fu Hua's body without any problem.

There was no way the other would be able to rid himself of Xiao Lan's influence now and Xiao Lan could track him all the way to hell. Even death would not be able to separate them now, which was exactly what Xiao Lan wanted.

He would not allow the other to escape his clutches that easily after all.

It was a waiting game from there, Fu Hua in the bath while Xiao Lan felt around the other and tested his limits. Fu Hua came out faster than Xiao Lan had expected him to and his face did look a little flushed but that was alright.

As long as the other was not sick it was alright and the other definitely did not seem sick.

"Good. Now that you are here we can finally leave. The preservation spells would only last for so long" which was not a shame since the faster Noble Lee's corpse rotted, the faster they would get rid of filth from the society.

The town seemed deadly silent and the native people had yet to return after the happenings of yesterday. The only people who occupied the space were the people in charge of pickup and the detective from the ministry Song Xu.

"Your highness, captain commander, welcome to the crime scene" the greeting was almost dry in nature and came off as sarcastic but it was in character for detective Song. it was clear to anyone that Song Xu would rather be anywhere but here at this moment.

Xiao Lan ignored that the others did not acknowledge Fu Hua behind them. The other had, no doubt recognised the other but he chose to keep quiet till he had more information - a really smart move on his part which Xiao Lan approved.

"I read your report. Have you found anything else yet?" Detective Song shook his head in a negative manner. It was to be given since detective Song did not really do well with energies and thus, had to be partnered up with someone else usually.

That role had usually fallen to the captain commander or Fu Hua (when he had been available) but Xiao Lan did not know who did it when they were both not available.

"Can I?" Fu Hua asked as he extended his arms toward the body. Xiao Lan gave a small nod of agreement and Fu Hua kneeled down in front of the body. He seemed to be observing the dead boys, his face looking impassibly at the dead face of his 'master.'

"His body did have demonic miasma but it likely did not die of that. The damage inside the body is too extensive for it to be miasma poisoning and then also it takes years to fall to it. It is likely someone tried to spread misinformation about it"

The party tensed at the conclusion. This had been a deliberate attempt on the noble's life and with full intent behind it. The one who did it had to know that people would know that demonic miasma was not really poisonous?

Or had they relied on the generic misconception of the topic to make their story official? There was no ground to establish this for now.

"Nothing else can be determined?" Fu Hua hesitated to answer, his eyes looking at the body in a thoughtful manner but then he shook his head as a negative.

"I cannot determine anything else myself but maybe the central shrine could help. F-Xi family has some techniques for these kinds of things" there was a slight hitch which everyone understood the reason.

"Are you sure they can help? There has been no record of such a thing after all" if such a technique really existed then it should have been widespread news by now.

"There are techniques like those but they could not really be used. It required the blood of the caster" ah, so only a Fu could use those techniques.

Only Fu Hua could use those techniques then? How lucky for them.

"Let's pay the Xi shrine a visit shall we? They had an explanation to give us" no one asked unnecessary questions because this was a group who knew the truth being the Xi family and Fu Hua.

They might not know everything but even a small slip was enough to draw conclusions from.