[Bonus Chapter 1]
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"Jing’ge?" Long ZhenHai called out to him – out of the blue – as they sat side-by-side whilst facing the sea doing nothing, his voice held a contemplative cadence to it as he turned his head towards the nine-tailed fox spirit.
Hu Lijing let out an inquiring hum in return as he tore his gaze away from the rolling waves of the vast blue sea stretched infinitely in front of them.
"Hm?" He raised a quizzical eyebrow at the dragon of the infinite sea. "What is it?" Though he felt rather displeased about being knocked out of his thoughts, it was but a small matter when compared with the importance Long ZhenHai held in his heart.
"If one of these days into the future," the dragon began, his words filled with an exasperating drawl as he spoke. "I were to die, how would Jing’ge react?"
Huh?
Hu Lijing blinked once, then again. What? What did ZhenHai just say? Silently he couldn’t help but wonder if he misheard the dragon?
"I think I misheard you," he said slowly. "What did you just ask ? Would you say that again?"
Long ZhenHai huffed and shook his head slowly as he repeated the question word for word. "Jing’ge, I asked: If one day I were to die, how would you react? Would you grieve for ?"
Hu Lijing slowly canted his head to the side and blinked twice. "What goes inside your head, ZhenHai? What sort of question is that?"
"Just a simple question, that is all it is, Jing’ge."
The divine fox of flas let out an incredulous scoff at the nonchalant statent. "What do you an by a simple question? Why would you die? Forget why, how would you die, hm? You are an immortal dragon spirit, stupid." Saying so, the fox spirit reached out and lightly flicked Long ZhenHai’s forehead.
In return, the dragon pouted, reaching up to rub his forehead where Hu Lijing flicked him and replied, "I know I am an immortal dragon spirit, Jing’ge. I know that too. But both of us also know that being ’immortal’ spirits does not an we are apart from the cycle of life and death." He looked away.
At those words, Hu Lijing found himself going silent, not knowing how to counter that statent because ultimately, was it not the truth?
He turned his head away as he looked at the vast sky that seed to have changed its colour to a hue of grief and contemplation that he did not wish to ponder upon. The dragon’s rather uncanny question had him wondering about the concept of death that had once seed so far away, only to now be infinitely closer.
Once, Hu Lijing liked to think of himself to be a being untouched by the benevolent yet frightening arms of – natural – death but now.. He could not help but think–what if he was killed? What if Long ZhenHai was killed, his ZhenHai?
Hu Lijing shook his head slightly, attempting to dispel the procession of such thoughts as he let out a soft sigh. "Why must you think of such an ominous thing, have you nothing better to do?" He asked, his cadence sowhat pained as he turned his head to look at Long ZhenHai, only to find the dragon spirit gazing at him.
"To answer your question, yes, we are immune to natural death and yes, that does not an we shall not et our demise – for we are no gods – but ZhenHai there are hardly more than a handful of things that can kill us," he paused, as if to gather his thoughts and effectively articulate them into words. "Thus, the chances of your death are extrely low."
A long ti after the divine fox of flas finished speaking, silence continued to reign, the dragon having not answered his word yet.
At his silence, Hu Lijing found himself breathing out a quiet sigh of relief. Finally, Long ZhenHai was not going to continue dwelling upon this morbid topi—
–"But Jing’ge said it himself–" Long ZhenHai his beloved boon, his damning bane started in that familiar contemplative tone "–the things that can kill us are only a handful, only, yes; but not none. Which ans that the likes of us can still be slain. Hence, tell Jing’ge–if I were to et my end, would you grieve ?"
He spoke too soon, didn’t he? Hu Lijing let out a sigh that he could no longer forebear. Lightly slamming his hand onto the sand under the, the nine-tailed fox let out a strong breath through his nose, lips pulling down, seemingly at the end of his patience.
"Right," He said rather forcefully, feeling the vein on his temples twitch as his lips did. "Here is my question to you, ZhenHai–why are you so fixated on this question?" The fox spirit paused and drew in a deep breath in an attempt to push down the swirling maelstorm of emotions that was beginning to rise from the depths of his heart, cold as ice yet burning deep like a whirlpool of smouldering magma.
"I was rely wondering, Jing’ge. Speaking of, you have yet to answer my question..."
Hu Lijing bit the inside of his cheek and let out a quiet noise as he clicked his tongue. "No."
"Huh? No, what, Jing’ge?" Long ZhenHai asked, nonplussed as he tilted his head to the side.
"No, I will not grieve for you even if you die–"
"–What is that supposed to an–?"
"–Because I know for a fact that you will die because of so foolish reason. Why would I grieve a fool’s foolish death, you tell ?" Hu Lijing finished his statent as he cut the dragon’s betrayal-filled inquiry without so much as blinking or an inflection in his tone. Then, he looked away, his handso visage entirely too impassive.
Did he an anything he said through his teeth? No, not a single word. However, ssing with Long ZhenHai’s head would never not be amusing.
Was it a little cruel? Without a doubt. Hu Lijing snorted to himself.
Except, the utterly flabbergasted look painted over the dragon spirit’s face was worth every tasteless joke that left Hu Lijing’s lips, even though the nine-tailed fox could not help but feel a drop of pity for the dragon.
Unfortunately – or fortunately for Long ZhenHai the look on Hu Lijing’s face must have betrayed the amusent he felt, plump lips twitching minutely as he looked away, refusing to et the dragon’s eyes, causing the latter to catch on rather quickly and let out a long whine. "Jing’ge!"
That was it, that whine forced out a peal of laughter from the fox spirit. "Of– of course, I will grieve you, should it co to that!" He replied between laughter as he held his sides, the dragon making him laugh harder than he should be, considering the context.
"Hopefully though, it won’t co to that," he said, wiping a single drop of tear that clung to the corner of his eyes. "If anything–" he spoke in a low voice, amber eyes darting to drink the look on Long ZhenHai’s handso but sombre features from the corner of his eyes "–I pray that it is who will perish before yo–"
His words were interrupted by a calloused finger coming to rest on his lips as the dragon spirit shook his head, his expression none too pleased. "Shhh," he murmured, looking at the nine-tailed fox with turmoil in his eyes. "Don’t say that. I will not have you perish before , not as long as I still draw breath."
...
Looking at the pallid body that sat on his knees, clad in the tattered robes of bluish hue barely cling to his frail in death person, his head bowed and long raven hair curtaining his face, concealing his once alive features now reduced to the morbid rigidity of death while a still shining sword remained pierced through his still heart, the front of his threadbare robes was stained in the rusted red of dried blood that had long since flowed out of his corpse, having drenched the sand under him.
His hands were closed around the shining blade, calloused fingers curled around it as they stiffened in that position forevermore. The ti[s of his unravelled hair touched the sand coloured in his blood as the lifeless body remained forever frozen in that horrifying mont of his untily doom.
What a morbid sight it was.
Li Xinyuan sucked in a deep breath, unable to continue looking as an icy chill spread throughout his heart, a stinging pain stabbing through him as he closed his eyes.
Hu Lijing simply fell to his knees in front of the kneeing corpse as he bit his lips until they bled, a sharp sob dying in his throat as he reached out his trembling hands and cupped the bowed head, too scared to lift it up to et his eyes as a trail of warm river flowed down his eyes as he leaned down and pressed his forehead against the crown of the corpse’s head.
Then, in a choked, shaking whisper, he sobbed. "A’Hai, you won. You won..."
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