《What In The World》


 1 Chapter 1

    Wu Qiang Feng. Qiang meaning one who possesses strength. Feng meaning one who is like a Phoenix. You would think someone with a name as formidable as this would be someone who is up above everyone, suppressing everyone with just one look. However... imagination can''t be any further from the reality.


    Qiang Feng is someone who is so painfully average. He has also been in the mid ranks of his class. He always somehow manages to be exactly the 13th person to finish running in a long distance run in his class of 26 people. Basically, everything he does is exactly average. Not too good but not too bad either so no one can really pick on him on anything. His nickname is Pingjun Feng aka average Feng. Qiang Feng has one good friend named Zheng Ping Jun who ironically is one of the least average person you can meet. Ping Jun has high intellect, is immensely good at sports, can play multiple instruments, can sing, can dance and so many more. Also, he has many, many suitors.


    "Xiao Feng!!! Do you want to go hang out with me after school?" Ping Jun called out to Qiang Feng''s retreating back.


    Not wanting to bare the hateful gazes of Ping Jun''s many fans, Qiang Feng quickly dismisses the notion and continues his walk out of the school gate. Ping Jun also known as God Jun by his fans quickly ran up to his best friend. He stopped exactly in front of Qiang Feng and pouted. Qiang Feng, as a person who is already used to Ping Jun''s antics just simply maneuvered around this childish but perfect man and continued his journey back home. 9 out of 10 times, Ping Jun would continue following him and annoying him but today was the one time Ping Jun didn''t do it. Sighing in relief, Qiang Feng started to let his mind wonder.


    It wasn''t like he hated Ping Jun, it''s just that today, he felt especially tired and wanted to just go home and relax. He was honestly thankful that he had a friend like Ping Jun or else his life would get even more painfully average. Yes. Even he himself knows how average he is. To him, it was more of a curse rather than anything else. It would just mean that he is nothing special. He often has these kinds of thoughts but never voiced it out because well, they aren''t really that important and it''s not like anyone has done anything to offend him or make him feel left out because of how average he was.


    The unmistakable bittersweet smell of coffee invaded his senses. "Maybe I should get a cup of coffee before going home to do that never ending school project," Qiang Feng thought. Making up his mind, he walked up to the counter to get a Vanilla Latte to enjoy in the quaint cafe before making his way home. He chose an obscure seat near the back of the cafe with a good view of both the outside as well as inside of the cafe. Ding. Ding. Ding. It was the soft, melodious sound of the bells on the cafe door that indicated someone was coming in or going out.


    Looking up from his warm cup of coffee, he saw a couple walking in together. The man''s arms were grabbing onto the woman''s waist as the woman leaned into his chest- an obvious show of affection. Qiang Feng was about to turn green but masked it with indifference. "They''ll probably break up in another week," he thought with a huff. He quickly finished up his latte to avoid seeing more of such scenes anymore. The rest of the walk home was generally uneventful.


    As soon as he pushed open the door to his apartment, he could smell the aroma of a freshly cooked meal. His stomach grumbled. "Strange... Ma never said she was coming over today." Confused but hungry, he quickly made his way to the kitchen where he saw Ping Jun who was busy plating up the food from the pots.


    ????


    "Oh! Xiao Feng you''re back!" Ping Jun exclaimed with a huge grin on his perfectly sculpted face.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    How did Ping Jun even get the keys to his apartment?


    "Your mom told me where your spare keys were so I went ahead and used it because I wanted to cook for you today! I''m trying out a new recipe but I hope it tastes good!" Ping Jun said excitedly, his eyes sparkling like an excited puppy.


    Masking his confusion as to why Ping Jun even wanted to suddenly cook for him, Qiang Feng slowly nodded and went ahead to help Ping Jun in getting the cutlery and placing them on the dining table. Ping Jun gently placed the plate of the steaming hot food that was giving off a delicious savory smell. Qiang Feng started digging into the food after saying a word of thanks of to Ping Jun who was looking at him expectantly.


    There was only one word to describe this dish.


    Heavenly.


    Well now Ping Jun has another skill to add on to his never ending charms. Qiang Feng started to give an endless praise to the dishes that Ping Jun had set out. The whole time Ping Jun was grinning like a damn idiot and staring right at Qiang Feng. Badump. Badump. That was the sound of Ping jun''s heart. Since Qiang feng had long gotten accustomed to Ping Jun habitual staring, he simply ignored the other man''s persistent stare.


    After finishing up all the food and cleaning up all the dirty plates and such, the duo decided to watch a movie at the living room. After much debate, they finally settled on watching Harry Potter. They quickly gathered the snacks. A bowl of instant popcorn and gassy drinks. The movie started and they started munching away.


    Qiang Feng reached out his hand to the bowl of popcorn without looking and at the same time Ping Jun did the same thing. (Manu: yes its a cliche move. come at me bros) Grab. Ping Jun looked down towards the bowl of popcorn and saw his hand grabbing onto Qiang Feng. In a normal situation, this would result in spilled popcorn and yelling. However, the atmosphere was anything but normal, well, at least to Ping Jun. Qiang Feng was about to pull his hand away, sensing a somewhat danger but his hand was firmly grasped on by the other party.


    Qiang Feng started to observe Ping Jun. There was a strong emotion that he could detect from Ping Jun''s eyes but he couldn''t pinpoint what it was.


    "I... I... I... I like you a lot Xiao Feng," Ping Jun openly confessed.


    However, Qiang Feng''s dense ass replied "I like you too?"


    "I meant as more than just a friend," Ping Jun continued, inching his way closer to Qiang Feng.


    Before Qiang Feng could even react, soft, moist, full lips were suddenly attached to his. Qiang Feng''s eyes were wide open and one thought was running though his mind, "What in the world??"

 2 Chapter 2

    Qiang Feng was frozen. Who would have guessed these kinds of things would happen to him? It was the first down-slope (maybe up-slope) in his life. It was a huge difference from how his life has always been like and he had no idea how to deal with it.  He was out of it until he felt a tongue probing at him. He felt like he was shot and subconsciously pushed Ping Jun away and started wiping his lips. His first kiss was stolen by his best friend?


    Qiang Feng never really questioned himself. He just assumed he would get into an average marriage with an average girl. He had to admit, it didn''t feel bad or gross but it was just that he only ever saw Ping Jun as a friend and nothing more than that.  Ping Jun washed Qiang Feng''s hand that was wiping his own lips and felt a stabbing feeling in his heart. He knew the kiss was uncalled for but he really wanted to know what Qiang Feng tasted like at that moment. It was sweet but the reaction afterwards made him feel bitter.


    Qiang feng was the first person to break the tense silence,"Ping Jun... This isn''t right. I have only ever seen you as a brother. Nothing more. Nothing less. I''m not necessarily disgusted by it but the feeling just feels wrong to me."


    "That''s a start! We can always try and go further. Maybe you will discover your feelings for me!" Ping Jun replied hopefully after hearing the neutral Qiang Feng.


    "That''s not right. I know that I will never feel any romantic attraction to you. It''s the truth and you can''t deny it. There are so many other people who are wishing for your affection but I''m not one of them. I only hope that our relationship as brothers would always be unwavering. I don''t care whether you like men or women or whoever you want but that person should not be me. Next time if you have such a person, I would gladly accept your relationship," Qiang feng solemnly said.


    Ping Jun''s eyes started to water and his voice was unstable. "I''m God Jun. A perfect man. Why don''t you want me and insist to be brothers? I can''t accept that. Unlike you, if you have another person in your life, I won''t be able to smile and embrace the relationship unless the person beside you is me. The only reason why I even came up to you the first day of school and continued to persist beside you as a friend was because I thought that one day, you would feel the same way about me." As Ping Jun said this, his voice got more and more strained as if he was containing his anger.


    "If that''s so. Get out. I don''t want to be part of your love game. You came up to me with ulterior motives and that, I cannot accept. I don''t want to see you any longer. Since you''re such a selfish person who won''t accept the reality, I no longer want to be associated with you," Qiang feng said nonchalantly.


    "No one will ever befriend you. No one will ever love you like I do. No one will know you as well as me and no one will ever get close to you. That is my promise. If I can''t get you. No one else can." This was Ping jun''s closing statement before he got up from where he was seated at and left Qiang Feng''s apartment.


    Qiang Feng exhaled deeply. The first time he gets confessed to, it''s by his best friend who he has never had any form of romantic feelings towards. "This would probably be the most dramatic event of my life," Qiang Feng said with a snicker. He did feel bad about letting down Ping Jun so harshly but he knew it''s better to face it directly rather than leave any forms of false hopes. He assumed that after some time Ping Jun would get over him and they would probably go back to being best friends but little did he know how naive his thinking was.


    Now that it was quiet and he had time to himself, Qiang Feng started thinking deeper about what he felt when the incident happened. Now that he thinks of it, he wasn''t appalled by the idea of having sex with another man so does this make him gay? Hmm... not really because thinking about sex with a woman wasn''t appalling as well. So maybe bisexual? Not wanting to stress himself out by thinking too deeply, Qiang feng decided to stop at that conclusion. Bisexual. Well, if one good thing did come out from the whole incident, it was the fact that he finally has careful thought about his own sexuality that he had never questioned before.


    Weeks flew by and there was still no sign of Ping Jun warming up to him again. No one came up to him and suddenly now he was an outcast. Ping Jun really did keep that promise of his. Qiang Feng decided that since he was now a school outcast, there''s no point sticking around in class longer than needed so he decided that he would spend his free time in the library to get away from all the stares he had been receiving.


    His school library wasn''t big but neither was it small. The amount of books were considerable and amount seats were also quite a lot since not too many people came to the library during their free time. Qiang Feng picked out a fantasy book about cultivation and such because it seemed interesting and proceeded to make himself comfortable in the bean bag chairs that were provided by the school. After being engrossed in the book for a good half an hour, he noticed a figure sitting across him. It was a cute black haired girl. She had her hair tied up and glasses were propped up on her nose. She was staring intensely at the book she was reading. Suddenly, she glanced up and made eye contact with Qiang Feng.


    She definitely was pretty. That was the first thought that came to him. She grinned slightly and returned to her book. Since then, he had always made it a point to try and find the girl whenever he was in the library. Even though he would not admit it, Qiang Feng felt somewhat excited and giddy whenever he saw that girl. As the week progressed, he finally decided to come up to that girl and introduce himself and hope that this girl would do the same.


    Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the nameless girl and softly introduced himself," Hi! My name is Qiang Feng. I''ve seen you around a lot in the library so I was wondering if I could well.. make friends with you?" Qiang Feng scratched his neck awkwardly after saying those words.


    "Hello! My name is Shui Xian. It''s nice to meet you," the now not nameless girl said with a small grin and a light blush.


    After this point of introduction, they really did hit it off. (I''m sorry I''m too lazy to think up of fun topics to talk about lmao) Rather than reading books, the two started spending time in the library, getting to know one another. It was definitely the most blissful times Qiang Feng has ever had in his school life so far.


    Slowly but surely, the two were getting closer. However, someone saw these scenes and immediately went to report it to Ping Jun. His usually perfect face distorted in anger. How in the world did this happen?


    Qiang Feng is only his.

 3 Chapter 3

    WARNING: **** IS MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER. CHAPTER 4 WILL MOST LIKELY INCLUDE VIVID DESCRIPTIONS OF NON CONSENSUAL SEX SO PLEASE TAKE NOTE SHOULD YOU PROCEED TO READ THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER.


    It was just yet another average morning for Qiang Feng. However, is that even a surprise anymore? (Xiao Feng: Do you really have to call me out like that? Manu: Yes because everyone calls me out too. Xiao Feng: -_-||) Now, his routine has basically been set. Morning, get up, bathe, have breakfast then go to school. In school, whenever there is a break, visit the library to read and hope to see Shui Xian. Then go to class. After classes, go to the library again to do work and talk to Shui Xian. It was a simple routine but to him it was fulfilling to him. The issue about Ping Jun had completely been erased from his mind. He has accepted the loner life and since Ping Jun hasn''t messed with him anymore, he assumed that well Ping Jun didn''t want him in his life anymore. It wasn''t that big of a deal to him since he found a flower despite all the calamities he had been put through.


    However, life as a protagonist is never easy or smooth sailing. Thus, the note that Qiang Feng found on his desk after he had returned from the break, kind of depressed due to the fact that he didn''t see Shui Xian.


    "Find us at the west block, 5th floor last classroom. That is, if you want to see Shui Xian again."


    Qiang Feng was in a state of disbelief. This kind of drama scenario is actually happening to him?? (Manu: Xiao Feng ah, your priority should be wondering if Shui Xian is safe. Xiao Feng: If you didn''t make my character like this, I would have probably have had a normal life but now I''m being put into jeopardy no thanks to you. Manu: sorry not sorry) After swallowing down the fact that such a thing happened to him, he started to wonder who in the world would do such a thing. Looking around in the classroom, one very prominent persona was missing along with some of his cronies. Ping Jun. Qiang Feng quickly dashed out the classroom, worried that something would happen to the blameless Shui Xian. Just as he was running out, the teacher for the next class was about to walk in.


    "OI QIANG FENG WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!?!?!" The laoshi shouted out to the fast disappearing back of Qiang Feng.


    Qiang Feng simply just looked back for a short while with an apologetic smile and continued dashing across the hallway to get to the west block. The west block was basically an almost abandoned block. Only some clubs would function in this block and even then it''s only at the lower floors. It''s because this block''s classrooms were a lot smaller than the other classrooms and were unable to contain all the students so the school decided to just abandon it. It was said that the block would undergo renovations but no solid plans has been made yet so generally, no one ever goes to the west block for no good reason. Therefore, this made this block the perfect place to have such an encounter.


    As soon as he reached the designated floor, Qiang Feng was panting and was close to retching. "god why was I given such an average body. Fuck me" Before trying to enter the classroom, he ought to catch his breath and look cool as he knocked down the door with his kick. This scenario made him slightly giddy. (Manu: oh come on Xiao Feng. You haven''t even been transmigrated yet and you''re already becoming a narcissist and dreamer? This is what I call how far can I corrupt this average character without completely changing who he is fundamentally) After breathing in heavily for a few moments, he started walking to the classroom that they supposedly have Shui Xian in. He lifted his leg and kicked the door.


    The door went flying and he coolly flipped his hair with his nose up in the air. "Who are you to take my woman? What do you want from me?" This, was of course just his imagination. As soon as the kick landed on the door it just made a loud bang and a pained foot. In order to recover his pride, Qiang Feng opened the door and attempted to flip his hair. This just didn''t work because for one, he was really sweaty and the hair all just stuck to his sweat so he went ahead with the cool lines he wanted to say. As soon as all was said and done, he looked around and realised that the classroom was... empty???


    He looked around confused. Suddenly a voice appeared from behind him, "Erm... Qiang Feng the classroom is over here?" Qiang Feng turned around and saw the opposite classroom door was wide open and one of Ping Jun''s followers was standing at the entrance of the door. He looked into the classroom and realised that everyone saw his whole act, even Shui Xian. He immediately turned red as a tomato. Honestly, it wasn''t just him with the hopes to act out some kind of show, Ping Jun''s followers also wanted to make a show but seeing how Qiang Feng embarrassed himself, they would rather not go through with the plan. The only person who didn''t find the whole situation even the slightest bit amusing was Ping Jun.


    "If you''re done with your little performance, get over here and let me question you a bit," Ping Jun said with a threatening but nonchalant tone as he swung around a knife. That''s right. A knife. Slightly fearing for his life, Qiang Feng decided to do as he was told because one wrong move and he was afraid something would happen to him or Shui Xian. If it was in the past, he would not have been afraid but somehow the glint in Ping Jun''s eyes had changed. It seemed a lot more dangerous and threatening, as if he would really carry out what he had said he would do.


    Shui Xian was currently tied up on the floor with her mouth gagged. Her eyes were watery and there were bruises and cuts all over. Qiang feng''s heart ached. If only he was strong enough to get away immediately without having to go through whatever Ping Jun had in store for them.


    "First, what is your relationship with this... sl.. girl?"


    "She is just a friend"


    "hmm... are you sure? You guys are always meeting in secret," Ping Jun trailed on.


    "I am. Even if we are anything more, what does that even have to do with you?" Qiang feng retorted. (Manu: Qiang feng darling, you can barely run to this classroom, what makes you think you will beat 3 people that includes Ping Jun, an extraordinary sportsman? Tsk tsk tsk. Xiao Feng: Are you looking down on me? Manu: Yes. Xiao Feng -__-||)


    "Oh it does have a lot to do with me. Even though you... rejected me for some unknown reason, it doesn''t mean you aren''t mine. I won''t ever let anyone else steal something that belongs to me," Ping Jun said with a sinister smile. He inched his way closer to Qiang Feng who was standing by the desks that were next to Shui Xian. Qiang Feng wanted to back away but Ping Jun blocked his path.


    "I am not yours. I never will be. You''re a sick fuck who kidnapped someone I like just because you can''t take well to a rejection," Qiang Feng stated while staring right into Ping Jun''s onyx eyes.


    "How unfortunate for you," Ping Jun said and gave him a fake grin, " Today, you only have two choices. It''s your pick. Either Shui Xian leaves after she gets fucked by the guys a few or more times or you choose to listen to every single one of my demands and get fucked by me but Shui Xian will leave perfectly unscathed."


    Qiang Feng''s mind was working a thousand miles a second. "Fuck. I have to submit to such a guy but I can''t possibly have Shui Xian to suffer because of me" This was Qiang Feng''s train of thought.


    After taking a deep breath he stated his decision which was to let Shui Xian go unscathed. As soon as these words escaped Qiang Feng''s mouth, Ping Jun''s smile got even wider. "You two, make sure to escort the lady back well. I''ll take care of my beloved here myself."


    Fuck... What in the world have I gotten myself into?

 4 Chapter 4

    "I will be going back to class to pick up both our bags and stuff. Quietly wait for me by the school gate. Remember, if you try to run, Shui Xian will be the one to suffer and you wouldn''t want your precious flower to suffer now would you?" Ping Jun smugly said.


    Worried that should he break off the agreement, Shui Xian would suffer, Qiang Feng obediently followed his instructions. Although Shui Xian and him were merely friends at the moment, he would not be able to take it if she had to suffer because of him. It would eat away at his guilty conscience. He was holding on to the faith that Ping Jun would not make him suffer too much because of his feelings towards Qiang Feng.


    Maybe the teachers won''t let them go was one of the thoughts that ran through Qiang Feng''s mind and gave him a sense of hope that he could escape this but not long after Qiang Feng arrived at the school gate, Ping Jun appeared as well with both their bags. Considering the halo Ping jun has around him that was his perfect nature, the teachers didn''t really question him much. All of Qiang Feng''s hopes were mercilessly crushed. Ping Jun was walking with a skip in his step but his eyes were filled with malicious intent and desire..? Subconsciously, Qiang Feng gulped and cold sweat started to form.


    The closer Qiang feng got to Ping Jun''s apartment, the more it felt like his legs were lead. After what felt like a short moment, Qiang feng was already standing outside Ping Jun''s apartment. The door was wide open but all Qiang Feng could do was stand rooted outside that apartment. He wasn''t looking forward to what may happen inside. Impatient, Ping Jun pulled the smaller Qiang Feng in. The lock of the door seemed so loud at that moment.


    WARNING: NON-CONSENSUAL SEX AHEAD PLEASE STOP READING FROM HERE IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE.


    "Strip" That word echoed in Qiang Feng''s brain.


    "I''m not that patient of a guy you know~" Ping Jun said as he ran a cold finger across Qiang Feng''s face.


    Qiang Feng snapped back to reality and with shaky hands, he did as he was told. He took off his uniform top and slowly unbuttoned his pants. Now that the pants and top were pooling around him, his hand was stuck at the hem of his boxers. Seemingly impatient, Ping Jun pulled down the boxers with one quick motion. His eyes roamed around Qiang Feng''s body. Goosebumps rose and Qiang feng reined in his fear. Ping Jun came closer to him and his hands started roaming around. It started from the cheeks, to the lips, down to the neck and towards the nipples. Qiang Feng involuntarily shivered. With a smirk, Ping Jun flicked Qiang Feng''s left nipple, a suppressed moan came out. "Fuck fuck fuck. I''m supposed to be average in everything, why the fuck is my body sensitivity so fucking high," Qiang feng complained in his head. Ping Jun''s hands started roaming further, both hands went towards his back and down to his ass cheeks and he gripped hard, kneading the two soft buns together. A finger strayed towards Qiang Feng''s hole, rubbing gently against it. Another hand moved towards his dick, jerking it. Due to Qiang Feng''s high sensitivity, he could not help but gasp ever so slightly.


    Apparently very very impatient, Ping Jun dragged Qiang Feng into his room, pushing him onto the bed. Like a wild beast, he began his journey around the other boy''s body. Bruises were left behind by his harsh sucking. When he finally reached his destination, he stuck out a tongue and licked around the tight ring of muscle. Seemingly satisfied, he dug in. Tingles ran down Qiang Feng''s back. He wanted to be disgusted but he wasn''t able to because after all, Ping Jun was his one good friend. He wanted to fight back but he knew if he did Shui Xian would suffer. Thus, he simply resigned to fate and tried his best not to react. After all, even if he wasn''t disgusted, he still wasn''t very willing to let go of his virginity in such a way.


    Suddenly a cold liquid dripped down his crack and a finger pushed pass the tight ring of muscle and into his ass. Jolts of pain stabbed at him. After deeming that Qiang Feng was ready, Ping Jun added another finger, scissoring him. "Oh how much I want to punch this asshole," was a thought that kept replaying in Qiang Feng''s mind and another thought that kept appearing was "Why do people even find this enjoyable. It fucking hurts." Ping Jun added yet another finger and he finally noticed that Qiang Feng was flaccid. Unhappy, he decided to suck the other boy off. Feeling the sensation of his cock being stimulated, Qiang Feng''s closed eyes quickly opened. His cock was enveloped by Ping Jun''s hot mouth. The parts that Ping Jun wasn''t able to reach, he used his other free hand to stroke. His tongue flicked against the tip of Qiang Feng''s cock. Due to the fact that this was the first time he had ever felt such a thing, Qiang Feng gasped and lightly arched his back.


    When he was fully hard, Ping Jun let go and took off his own boxers. "Get up and suck me off. If you don''t do a good job, the person who would feel pain is you and also if I catch your cock going flaccid, you know what would happen," Ping Jun said with an evil smirk. Qiang Feng got up and hesitantly kneeled in front of Ping Jun. Ping Jun raised an eyebrow when Qiang feng didn''t get right to it. Not wanting to think too much, Qiang Feng put the cock in his mouth. The taste of urine, sweat and precum assaulted hid taste buds. He decided to do what Ping Jun did and hollowed out his cheeks and sucking whilst his tongue licked wherever it could reach. He felt Ping Jun''s hand grabbing onto his hair. Suddenly his head was grabbed and Ping Jun''s cock was rammed right into his mouth, hitting the back of his throat. Qiang feng started to gag and tears unwittingly rolled down his face. When Ping Jun finally ended his assault on his mouth, Qiang Feng was a drooling, crying mess and he was flaccid.


    Ping Jun''s eyes flared at the sight. For one, it was hot seeing Qiang Feng so defenseless against him but then again he wasn''t turned on in the slightest. He pulled the other boy onto the bed face down and without warning, he pushed into Qiang Feng. A scream of agony filled the room but Ping Jun couldn''t stop. He continued pounding into Qiang Feng''s hole, completely ignoring all the sounds of agony coming out from the boy he supposedly loved.


    Qiang Feng was tired- mentally and physically. His throat ached. Everything ached. Ping Jun was finally done. Blood and cum trickled out of his abused hole. Now, even if Qiang feng wanted to move, he wasn''t able to because of the sharp pains that was a result of Ping Jun. He wanted to cry. He wanted to run but everything seemed so distant. Qiang feng was flipped over and Ping Jun once again entered him. Qiang Feng couldn''t even muster enough energy to scream. He just let Ping Jun do whatever he wanted to do.


    END OF THE **** SCENE


    After multiple rounds, Ping Jun was sated and his mind wasn''t clouded with lust and anger anymore. Somewhere along the line, the other boy had passed out. "Did i go too far? ... No of course you didn''t. You''re just staking your claim on him and making him realize he belongs to only you. ... He''s so in pain though ... If it was that bitch Shui Xian, he would have probably been in ecstasy the whole time. Do you want to see him with that bitch and for him to forget about you? ... no. no i don''t... Look at what he went through just for her. If you don''t kill her now, he will never belong to you completely... okay. I will. I will do it and make sure he watches properly"

 5 Chapter 5

    Qiang Feng awoke to a dull throbbing on his lower half as well as his head. Memories of the previous day flashed in his mind. He recalled the vicious eyes of Ping Jun, the boy who was his best friend. After so long in friendship, he found it hard to even try to hate Ping Jun. When he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings, he realized that he wasn''t in the apartment anymore. His hands were tied behind his back and he was in some kind of wooden shed. The door creaked open. It was Ping Jun.


    Or at least it looked like him. This person looked so unfamiliar with his sadistic and unforgiving eyes along with a familiar yet unfamiliar grin. Long story short, he was plain creepy. "Darling... you''re awake ~ Do you know why we''re here?," he said in a sing song voice. Qiang Feng shook his head because he couldn''t trust that his voice won''t crack when he talked. "Darling... I did tell you that if I saw that you turn flaccid, I would do something didn''t I?," Ping Jun asked but it was more like a statement. The door opened again and this time the two guys from the day before came in with a gagged and tied Shui Xian. After which, they left.


    The beautiful girl looked so haggard. Her hair was haphazard and tear stains were visible. Her usually lively eyes were now lifeless as she stared blankly at Qiang Feng. Clang! Qiang Feng turned to the source of the sound. Ping Jun was picking up a ... knife? Realization dawned on Qiang Feng. Panic rose in him and he knew he had to stop Ping Jun. Ping Jun leisurely took his time to walk towards Shui Xian. The previously lifeless girl suddenly came alive and started screaming into the gag when Ping Jun dragged the knife across her face. Qiang Feng wanted to get up, he really did but due to the incident yesterday, he had difficulties even trying to move.


    "baby... this is why you should have listened to me... if you had done so, I wouldn''t have had to do such a thing... oops my bad. Even if you had done what I told you to do, I would still do the same thing because I can''t have you thinking about someone else while you''re with me," Ping Jun drawled while he continued to drag the knife along Shui Xian''s body.


    As he stared at Shui Xian''s crying and screaming form, he grinned with delight and raised his knife. After this, Qiang Feng will be all his. Qiang feng saw the knife moving down towards Shui Xian in slow motion. Pushing pass the pain he was feeling, with pure adrenaline, he rushed towards Ping Jun just as he was about to plunge the knife. He ended up above Ping Jun. He felt red, hot blood trickling out of his abdomen. All the pain causing him to be dizzy. Panicked, Ping Jun flipped them over. The knife meant for Shui Xian was plunged deep into Qiang Feng.


    "no. no. no! Qiang Feng. FUCK. FOR THAT BITCH YOU STABBED YOURSELF. FUCK FUCK FUCK" Ping Jun screamed maniacally.


    The world started getting darker and darker. Darker and darker. Darker and darker. "If this is my end, I could sure as hell say it was one hell of an end. Hopefully, Shui Xian will be okay." Qiang Feng thought. They say that when one is dying, past memories will start to zoom through but well for Qiang Feng at least, it wasn''t true. The world simply turned dark and despite all the pain, he fell into what felt like a deep sleep.


    When Qiang Feng consciousness came back to him, he heard the calming chirp of some kind of bird. A warm, spring breeze brushed over him. The fresh scent of grass and flowers enveloped him. "Is this heaven?" Qiang Feng thought out loud. A melodious, deep voice chuckled from beside him. "Unfortunately not stranger," this voice continued. Qiang feng quickly opened his eyes and turned towards the man beside him. This man was wearing some kind of traditional Chinese robes. It didn''t look very high quality. "If you keep looking at me like that, I''ll get shy stranger," he said when he noticed that Qiang Feng wasn''t responding but instead was staring at him.


    At this moment, Qiang Feng realised he was wearing a robe similar to the other man but his was tattered and bloody. "What... What happened?" he asked. "Well that''s what I would like to ask you! When I found you, you were gravely injured. Thankfully I just left my house and the mages had given me a lot of medicine on me and I was able to help you. I''m actually really surprised that you woke up so quickly with so much vigor! When I checked your qi movement before I helped you, it was really congested and it seemed like your soul got badly injured so don''t be surprised if your cultivation is affected," the other man replied with a slight frown.


    Mage? Qi movement? Cultivation? What??? What is even happening right now? Seeing that Qiang Feng was confused and worried, the stranger assumed that it was because he was worried about his cultivation. Thus, this stranger channeled some of his soul power into his hands and he held them over Qiang feng''s chest. Qiang Feng looked down at this seemingly crazy man. (manu: he won''t seem so crazy soon enough ;) QF: ... I''m still recovering mentally from the torture you put me through the last time manu: I''m sorry :( I had to do it to move things along :(( QF: *eye roll*) The stranger exclaimed in surprise. "you. you. oh my god. The last time i checked, it seemed like your soul was almost destroyed and your qi was blocked but how is it possible that now that I checked again, everything was in place and working fine?!"


    He was about to question the other man but a wave of dizziness suddenly hit him. His vision blackened.


    What in the world is happening?

 6 Chapter 6

    This was the second time he passed out. However, unlike the last time where his body felt groggy and plain tired, Qiang Feng felt refreshed. It kind of felt like when you exit a hot bath after a long day and you feel like you''re literally walking on clouds. Qiang Feng felt warm and comfortable. Not wanting to let this feeling simply get away, he decided to just continue lying down and simply not get up. He turned to his side and snuggled closer towards the warm pillow beside him. Wait... why is this pillow kind of, hmm how do you say it- tough. He felt something that felt like with the fur tickling his chin. But damn, this pillow smells good. It smells like midsummer night with the sage, musk and mahogany. The pillow somehow closer to him. Wait what? Qiang feng''s eyes burst open and what he thought was a pillow was actually a human.


    Qiang Feng once again woke up to the shock of his life. How many times has this been? Is it even possible for someone who had such an average life to suddenly wake up to so many surprises all the time? He carefully observed this man who was in his arms. It was the weird stranger he met when he woke up the last time. This stranger had long, luscious black hair that was flowing freely across the mattress. His eyes were almond shaped and his face had a beautiful angular shape. Qiang Feng''s eyes darted towards the place he was currently in. It was a simple wooden hut with minimal furniture. There was a window placed next to the door and a small mirror placed on a wooden desk that was located beneath the window. An opened medium sized chest was placed next to the mattress he was currently lying down on. This chest contained various clothes, shoes and accessories. The whole place design was fairly simple but it had all the necessities.


    A movement by his side caused him to turn back to look at the man laying by his side. He groaned slightly and stretched out like a cat. After approximately 2 minutes did this man finally acknowledge the existence of Qiang Feng. He gave Qiang Feng a sleepy smile and proceeded to roll out of the mattress and sat next to it. Following his example, Qiang Feng too sat up, facing the stranger who seemed to have helped him multiple times.


    "I know you have many questions but I do have questions too. For now, I''ll just update you on what happened since the last time I found you. Well, I was out hunting when I saw you, bloody and seemingly dead out in the woods. However, when I decided to check out if you were still alive, you surprisingly were still alive so I decided to give you a potion that a mage in my family had made for internal injuries and external injuries. Like a few minutes later, you suddenly woke up and boy did I have a shock of my life. Then suddenly, you fainted again which is why I dragged you all the way back to my hideout so that my dad won''t find out about this whole thing. To be honest with you, I wasn''t suppose to even help you or spare you a glance but it''s been so long since I''ve had company with someone other than my family which is why I helped you. Also, before you ask why I helped you even though I don''t know a thing about you, it''s because I feel like you''re a good person. But if you aren''t then I will just have to kill you but you are a good person right?" this other man started to ramble and explain. All Qiang Feng could do was stupidly nod.


    The other man nodded in satisfaction and continued, "So, what''s your name? Mine is Jiang Kai Xia and I''m 18. If you couldn''t tell I''m a martial artist. I''ve lived my whole life in these mountains and never have seen the city. Judging from the clothes you were wearing earlier, you''re probably a city person right? Is the city nice?" Kai Xia seemed so enthusiastic when asking all his questions. It almost made Qiang Feng feel bad for not having answers. At this point, Qiang Feng has already accepted that he was definitely not dead and he was currently in a world that he was unfamiliar with. Thus, what would a sane person do in this situation? Of course, that would be to say they lost their memories. Luckily for him, this world uses the same language.


    "erm... thank you Kai Xia ge for helping me. I would really like to answer all your questions but I can''t do that now because I can''t remember a thing about who I am apart from my name. My name is Qiang Feng and that is all that I know," Qiang Feng said sheepishly. His now long jet black hair covered his face as he looked down.


    Kai Xia was immediately convinced. This man was unbelievably trusting, it surprised Qiang Feng but he didn''t complain. Kai Xia however was slightly disappointed because he really had wanted to know what life was like in the city which he had never ventured to before. As we can all tell, this man was very, very child-like, trusting and curious. It was an odd combination with his tall stature, deep voice and perfectly elegant face. Although odd, it was quite endearing. It was quiet for a short while until Qiang Feng''s stomach started to growl. A slight blush covered his face after that sound. Kai Xia grinned cheekily and questioned if he was hungry. Qiang Feng could only awkwardly nod his head as he cursed his stomach. Kai Xia nodded and told Qiang Feng to stay put and wait for him to bring back the food.


    When Kai Xia walked out, Qiang Feng glanced at the mirror in the hut. He observed his new body''s features. It seemed like he was no longer an average height, he was at least 185 cm. His previously soft features had softened even more, making him look like a delicate flower and feminine. His eyes were a soft brown color and his hair fell down to his lower back. His face was shaped like a v. He now had a sharp nose that contrasted with his other soft features but somehow seemed to meld perfectly. It was weird to see that his face had changed this much. "Wait... even if Kai Xia ge helped me, why would he be lying down in my arms?" Qiang Feng wondered. (manu: well even if everything else got better, his IQ is still meh QF: -_-|| you made me like this. What did you expect??)


    However, he didn''t have time to dwell on that thought as Kai Xia burst into the hut carrying various food items such as fruits and some barbecued meat. Qiang Feng stomach once again grumbled in response. It all looked so damn good. "Can I have some?" Qiang Feng asked with wide eyes. Just as the other man nodded, Qiang Feng started to dig in with gusto. It all tasted so damn good. Kai Xia simply watched him eat as he crunched on a single apple. Only when the food was about to finish did Qiang Feng ask if Kai Xia wanted to have any which was pretty late if you think about it. "It''s okay, I got the food for you anyway," Kai Xia replied. With that, Qiang Feng continued to happily eat.


    "Oh yeah, I just wanted to ask, how did we end up erm... hugging on the bed just now?" Qiang Feng asked because the curiosity was about to eat him alive.


    "About that..." Kai Xia said as he smiled knowingly.

 7 Chapter 7

    "So about how we ended up in bed together... After you passed out, might I add, again, I carried you back to my little hideout here. I was just going to leave you on the mattress and leave but I wasn''t able to untangle myself from you because you were like a koala. It almost made me feel shy because of how tightly you were holding me," Kai Xia said in a teasing tone.


    Well, if you think ripe tomatoes are really red, you should see how red Qiang Feng is. He always has had this habit of grabbing something in his sleep and at this time, he really cursed this habit of his. However, now another question appeared. Why is this man being so kind to him? When he was discovered, he was apparently almost dead and he was quite sure that he had no valuables on him unless... it was taken before he woke up? Even if Kai Xia thought he was a good person, no one can possibly be that naive right? He suspiciously eyed Kai Xia.


    "I know you said that I was a good person which is why you decided to help me but how can you be so sure you will be able to kill me if I wasn''t? It honestly doesn''t make sense to me. Or did I have some kind of valuables on me which you took before I awoke?" Qiang Feng questioned.


    Kai Xia pouted slightly and said "Hey! I was genuinely being nice. I have no use for valuables because I catch my own food. I found you so deep in this forest, almost dying. I should have just left you for those high level spiritual beasts to eat up." He huffed after this short speech.


    "Spi... Spiritual beasts?? High level beasts?? Holy shit I would have died if I was alone. I can''t fight for shit," Qiang Feng muttered. He has accepted that even if Kai Xia had taken whatever he had, that shall be payment for saving him. Qiang Feng quickly apologized and thanked Kai Xia. He could almost swear that Kai Xia had some disorder that causes extreme mood swings. One moment Kai Xia was moody and pouty but at the next moment, he was jovial and bouncing around. He seemed almost... cute? Qiang feng mentally slapped himself. Kai Xia was a good 10 cm taller than him, at the staggering height of 195cm. (Manu: I swear I cant remember if I have written the height somewhere before. If i did and messed up here, please tell me. thanks loves <3<3<3) How can a man taller than him as well as more muscular than him be cute? (manu: okay just like imagine a puppy in human form, that''s Kai Xia, our adorable bb KX: I''m not cute :< QF: *gay panic*)


    Now that he had all the answers he had about Kai Xia, he started getting more curious about how this world worked. However, since he has probably asked way too many questions today already, Qiang Feng decided to ask when the opportunity arises again. Considering how his new body was left for dead at such a place with no form of identification, Qiang Feng decided that he would live this life as someone different from the previous owner- not that he knew how this man was like. He can probably just fake the whole memory loss thing to make it something permanent and hopefully, no one will catch on.


    The overcast sun made it''s descent and in came the moon. Today, it was the night of a full moon. The dark skies were littered with glowing stars. This night view was something so spectacular and he had never seen such a thing before in his time back in Earth. The place at which Qiang Feng stayed in had barely any stars and honestly, he never really had wanted to put in the effort to look at the skies. He was too busy wasting his life away in his room. It would be regretful if he had died without looking at this dazzling night scene. He made his way out of the hut and sat against the hut walls. The winds were blowing a gentle, cooling breeze. Crickets (well at least that''s what it sounded like to him) were chirping softly. All of this creating the perfect night scene. Qiang Feng took a deep breath to enjoy the fresh scent of the forest.


    Just as Qiang Feng was about to shut his eyes and take yet another nap, a loud roar bellowed throughout the forest. The roar was so powerful, Qiang Feng''s ears were ringing slightly. He jolted awake. At this moment, Kai Xia poked his head out and casually said, "Oh don''t let all the beasts noises alarm you. It''s really normal at this time of the day. They won''t come close here so you don''t have to worry!" Qiang Feng warily eyed Kai Xia. Even though he said it was safe, Qiang Feng didn''t want to take chances so he decided to go back inside the hut which was currently the safest option to him.


    When he entered the hut, he saw Kai Xia sitting at a corner of the bed seemingly meditating? Qiang Feng wanted to question him but seeing how concentrated the other man was, he decided against it. Rather than climbing onto the mattress again, Qiang Feng sat down on the hut''s floor at an empty corner and decided to take a nap. His reason being that no one was there to entertain him and there was honestly nothing to do. After some mind control, Qiang Feng was finally able to ignore the roars, growls, hisses of the spiritual beasts roaming around in the night. Without all these background noises jolting him out of his sleep, Qiang Feng slept really well.


    At approximately the Dragon hours (7-9am), Qiang Feng woke up from his restful sleep. At this point, Kai Xia was also done with his "meditation" as Qiang Feng said. "Wow you sure do sleep a lot for a martial artist. Hmm but then again, I stopped sleeping a lot after I broke though to Level 6 so maybe it''s the same for you!" Kai Xia chirped happily. Seeing all the question marks on Qiang feng''s face, Kai Xia continued, "You can''t possibly tell me that you don''t know a single thing that I just talked about right?" Qiang feng suddenly found the walls to be really interesting.


    Kai Xia was flabbergasted. Qiang feng has really lost his memories about everything!! Instead of trying to explain everything, Kai Xia decided on just letting Qiang feng read up using a manuscript that explained the details about cultivation and souls. Qiang Feng was once again in luck because the language was exactly the same as what he had learnt before so he did not have to try and learn another language which would have probably _finally_ frustrate Kai Xia.

 8 Basics of Cultivation and Souls

    Souls


    There are 2 distinctly different souls for mages and martial artists. In order to check which soul you have, you will have to use the soul stone. This soul stone can be found in the spiritual caves. Using this soul stone, you will be able to discover whether you are a mage or martial artist as well as the level of your soul.


    Mage Soul


    There are 10 different levels at which your soul can be. For mages, this can be seen via the colour of the soul. The following levels are in ascending order of strength: Yellow, orange, green, blue, red, indigo grade 1,indigo grade 2, purple grade 1, purple grade 2, rainbow. The rarity of each soul color is also of ascending order. As a mage, there are two routes. One being a healer and another being a warrior. This solely depends on your own ability as well as your aptitude. Very rarely will you find a mage with the ability to be a warrior and a healer at the same time.


    Martial Artist Soul


    Like the mage soul levels, there are also 10 different levels at which your soul can be for martial artists. However, unlike a mage, the levels can be seen by the appearance of the following: Man, Earth, water, fire, ice, sun, star, moon, spiritual, divine. The level of strength and rarity is also in ascending order.


    Cultivation


    Cultivating will improve your levels and which better levels, the better your attack strength will be. However, do not try to level up too fast, this may cause your foundations to be shaken and without a proper foundation, you may end up destroying your cultivation as it is. You may make use of medicinal pills for consolidation or an improvement in your levels.


    Cultivation Levels


    There are 10 levels of cultivation in total, each level has 5 stars.


    Below is a list of the highest cultivation possible for the different level souls.


    Yellow/Man : level 3, 5 stars


    Orange/Earth : Level 4, 5 stars


    Green/Water: Level 5, 1 star


    Blue/Fire: Level 6, 3 stars


    Red/Ice: Level 6, 5 stars


    Indigo G1/Sun: Level 7, 5 stars


    Indigo G2/Star: Level 8, 5 star


    Purple G1/Moon: Level 9, 3 stars (RARE)


    Purple G2/Spiritual: Level 10, 1 star (REALLY RARE)


    Rainbow/Divine: Level 10, 5 stars (ULTRA RARE)


    Warning: Although there are ways to forcefully increase your cultivation, this is highly discouraged. The side effects of such methods may lead to death, corrosion of your soul and many other things.


    Cultivation How-To


    Single Person Cultivation


    This is by far the easiest method of cultivation. In order to cultivate, one must clear the mind, open up the sea of consciousness and consolidate and receive spiritual energy. It is very important to note that in order to cultivate successfully, one must not be too impatient and most importantly, you must not be disturbed. By being disturbed, you may receive spiritual damage that may or may not permanently damage the soul.


    Dual Cultivation


    In order to do this cultivation method, there is a need for a partner as well as a dual cultivation method. The order is very specific and different manuals which reap different results. Once again, it is very dangerous to get disturbed.

 9 Chapter 8

    After the quick read of the manual, Qiang Feng decided that he would try out the methods stated in the manual later in the day. As for now, he decided, what was important was that he was hungry and desperately wanted some food to sate his screaming stomach. He didn''t use to eat so much but for some reason he was so extremely hungry. Rather than questioning it, he decided to just pin it on recovery. God knows how much energy or rather soul power (whichever they use in this world) he had to use to recover the once tattered and heavily injured body.


    "Do you want to go hunt with me? It will be quite fun and a plus is that I will be able to see your combat effectiveness! Then we can figure out how high you are in terms of level," Kai Xia excitedly invited Qiang Feng.


    Hunting didn''t particularly sound appealing to Qiang Feng but he agreed nonetheless. He had to get used to this whole new powers thing he had going on. He also needs to find out how this world works. How else would he live on if he had no idea what he had potential to do as well as what the world outside this forest is like? After reading the manuals, he knew that levels were something important in this world so what level was he exactly? He also wanted to know his soul power level but how to do all that? He can''t possibly ask Kai Xia because he had a feeling owing favors in this world will just cause him problems in the future. Although Kai Xia has helped him plenty and it didn''t seem like he wanted anything in return, Qiang Feng would never know if the other man would suddenly demand something in return.


    Kai Xia was already outside and nearing the protection barrier but Qiang Feng has yet to move even an inch from where he was sitting previously. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and debated for a moment if he should just leave Qiang Feng behind but decided against it before he even finished the thought. He called out to the other man. Qiang Feng was startled out of his thoughts. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. He then realized what he was supposed to be doing and he hurriedly got up. In the midst of all of his panic, he stepped on his robe and fell face first onto the ground.


    A melodious burst of laughter covered the hut''s area. Qiang Feng had to admit, Kai Xia had a wonderful laugh and to be honest, he was honestly beautiful. It took him a moment to realize his thoughts and when he did, his already red face got even redder. "I am not gay. God damn Ping Jun," he muttered softly. Ping Jun... Thinking of that name, his heart that was embedded by Ping Jun''s knife started throbbing painfully. He waved away all those thoughts. This was not the time to think about that matter. Qiang Feng finally got off the ground and on his feet without tripping. After dusting off the dirt that was on his robes after he fell, he awkwardly shuffled towards Kai Xia who had tears in his eyes from laughing too hard.


    Kai Xia was naive but that didn''t mean he was oblivious. He sensed the very subtle change in mood of Qiang Feng. Qiang Feng seemed somewhat pained. However, he wasn''t about to start prying. It was none of his business. He led Qiang Feng through the route he has taken at least a thousand times to hunt the beasts. Qiang Feng closely tailed Kai Xia, not wanting to get lost. He had an inkling that if they did somehow separate in this forest, within less than 5 minutes, he would be food for the beasts hiding in the dense greenery.


    The further they traveled, the more tense Qiang Feng got. He had a strong feeling like he was being suppressed and that feeling was definitely not a feeling he welcomed. Kai Xia suddenly halted his steps. He placed a finger on his lips, signalling Qiang feng to keep quiet and to halt all movements. Qiang Feng obediently followed his instructions.


    After a short while, Kai Xia leaped up a tree, wielding a sword that seemed to materialize out of nothing. Qiang Feng could here growls and sounds of fighting coming from where Kai Xia had leaped off the tree. He followed the sound into a clearing. A beast that was the size of a lion was lying dead on the ground. The beast looked like a cross between a snake and a bull. (body of a snake and the head of a bull- sounds weird but let''s just go with it) Kai Xia was smiling triumphantly, his sword glistening in the sunlight. Kai Xia looked almost like a model for some magazine cover but the blood covered sword gave off a dark and threatening glint to the whole picture. Qiang Feng knew that since he would be hunting, it would be bloody but he didn''t think it would be _this_ bloody.


    Qiang Feng was someone who had never fancied gore, action or anything of the sort. He enjoyed reading classical books, watching documentaries or cartoons, listening to music, basically he enjoyed peace a lot more than blood. Seeing the scene in front of him, the blood in his face drained and he looked even more pale. How was he ever going to survive this world?


    "Afraid of a little blood Qiang Feng?" Kai Xia teased upon seeing Qiang Feng frozen and pale as a sheet of paper.


    "Qiang Feng, you may not remember but where we live, power rules above anything else. If you aren''t strong enough to kill your enemies when you can, don''t expect to live any longer. Being nice doesn''t bring you anywhere in this world. Through cold blooded killing, you gain expertise and with that, you won''t die so easily," Kai Xia elaborated, "Come on! Let''s get this beast back to the hut and we can have a nice barbecue!"


    Once again, Qiang Feng could only dumbly nod his head and followed along with the other man''s commands. Qiang Feng thought that the task of carrying the beast back to the hut would be an arduous one but it was a lot more simple than he had anticipated. It seemed like his strength was at least fifty fold stronger than in his last life. He excitedly carried the dead beast back to the hut for two main reasons. One, he was really amazed by his newfound strength and two, he was still really hungry.


    Kai Xia smiled softly as he watched Qiang Feng being so enthusiastic. His original intention of checking out Qiang Feng''s combat effectiveness was forgotten as soon as he saw the other man''s pale face that seemed like he would faint at any time. He sauntered after Qiang Feng who was approximately 50m away from him. Now, he can''t have the innocent lamb disappearing now can he? (Manu: hehehe you won''t be saying that Xiao Feng is innocent after what happens in the future ;);) Kai Xia: what are you planning *suspiciously squints eyes* Manu: Who knows ;DD)

 10 Chapter 9

    The walk back to the hut felt strangely long. Qiang Feng was feeling slightly tired. Maybe it felt long because of the extra burden he is carrying? He glanced back at Kai Xia who was quietly following his steps. Since he hadn''t said anything, Qiang Feng continued taking the path they were on. After about 400m, Qiang Feng finally turned around to ask Kai Xia about the direction. He was sure that the walk from the hut to where they were at preciously was about a 5 minutes walk and now, he was quite sure it had been more than 5.


    "Kai Xia ge, are we walking in the right direction? We have been walking much longer than before and it seems like the sun might start to set soon," Qiang Feng asked.


    Kai Xia jerked and stopped walking. He looked around and was dumbfounded to find that they had walked the opposite direction of the hut. How could he have not noticed at all? A small voice in his head teased him saying that he was infatuated by Qiang Feng and didn''t even notice a single other thing except for that man. Kai Xia quickly shut out that voice deep within his mind and pretended it never happened. Now, what excuse can he give?


    "Erm yeah right direction because I wanted to err pick fruit. Yeah fruit!" He exclaimed with false enthusiasm and awkwardness.


    Qiang Feng nodded in understanding and asked him if the place to pick fruit was still far away because he was getting quite tired and hungry. Unsettled that Qiang Feng was feeling uncomfortable, Kai Xia took the lead and quickly brought them to a small clearing that had a crystal clear lake. It wasn''t very big but it wasn''t very small either.


    "Drink up. I''ll get the fruits close by here. Just take a rest here and have a drink. I will be back soon," Kai Xia said with an awkward but sweet smile and left in a rush. He could not stand another moment with Qiang Feng because he felt so ashamed about his thoughts. Qiang Feng had just recovered and he can''t possibly take advantage of that fact. Qiang Feng wasn''t bothered about the fact that he was attracted to a man because it seemed normal enough to him. What''s the difference with love between a man and a man and a man and a woman? To him there was no such difference. He very much wanted to try and make that man his but again, Qiang Feng just got well and also, he had no idea who that man really was and he was sure that Qiang Feng would want to leave the mountains. Unlike Kai Xia who was bound to the mountains, Qiang Feng would most definitely want to leave and explore. After making a firm decision that he would most definitely not act on his attraction, Kai Xia made a return to the lake, carrying a variety of fruits.


    Qiang Feng was greedily drinking up the lake water after he placed the beast Kai Xia had slayed down. He was a lot more thirsty than he had realized. After drinking his fill, Qiang Feng sat by the river, enjoying the slight spring breeze. The setting sun was shining a warm light on him. *crackle* A sudden crackle sounded from the woods surrounding the lake. Qiang feng was immediately on alert. He heard the sound again, it came from his left. He stared intensely at the spot where it came from. After a few short moments, the branches and leaves rustled as another person walked out from the greenery. He was a short, bald man. However, that did not mean he wasn''t menacing. One of his eyes was covered by a patch, he had a rough mustache growing and an evil smirk on his thin lips.


    A bad feeling washed over him.


    "Ah... I haven''t expected to see you here young master," he said with a twisted grin, "I was sure that I had killed you before. The resilience of the Qiang Family surely does flow in you."


    This strange man''s eyes held a glint of killing intent. He inched closer and closer to Qiang Feng. Qiang Feng was frozen. He, a modern peace loving man, has no idea how to fight!! Cold sweat started to form. The cogs in his brain were working at full speed. How oh how would he escape this situation? He doesn''t even know how strong his own self is but what he does know was that the man in front of him had a very very domineering aura. This man had on such a sick and twisted grin, it made Qiang Feng''s stomach to twist and turn. The man was so so close to him now, his hand reaching towards Qiang feng.


    Just as he was going to grab onto Qiang Feng, a strong force pushed the man away. Qiang Feng had his eyes shut tightly, anticipating the man''s strong grip. The man who had been blown away about 50m from where he was standing previously looked up to find the source of the blow. Hi eyes landed on a young boy. He looked sharp and domineering with his large build and onyx eyes. Despite the young age, he seemed strong and mature. This man was no other than Kai Xia.


    Upon seeing Qiang Feng was in danger, he dropped all the fruits he had collected and attacked the man who was so so close to grabbing Qiang Feng. His luscious black hair flew in the wind''s direction. He had on a small, confident smirk. He ran at full speed and stopped in front of Qiang Feng who was still cowering. Qiang Feng finally opened his eyes and he caught side of Kai Xia''s familiar robes but the person he was seeing was unfamiliar. Kai Xia seemed cold and murderous. His aura was sharp. Kai Xia''s intense gaze was on the short man who was not some distance away from him. Kai Xia ran up towards the man without hesitation, his sword in hand. He swung his sword strongly. The man narrowly made an escape but a line of blood was dripping from a cut on his face. His face turned ugly.


    He took out his own sword and charged towards Kai Xia. Unblinking, Kai Xia too charged towards him. The fight was intense, swords clanging against each other, no one willing to back down. However, after some time, it was obvious that the short man was beginning to fall behind Kai Xia''s pace. His moves were sharp and decisive. He looked ever so graceful. A moment of carelessness was all that was needed for Kai Xia to deliver the final blow. A clean strike on his neck. The short man fell down onto his knees and finally flat onto the grass. Blood dripping out in a smooth line out of his slit throat, staining the grass red where he lay. The life in his eyes slowly disappearing.


    Kai Xia calmly wiped off his sword and kept it away again. He turned to look at Qiang Feng. The boy eyes held wonder, fear, amazement and much more. He grinned slightly and walked toward Qiang Feng.


    "What would you ever do without me? A few minutes of me gone and you almost get yourself killed," Kai Xia said and ruffled his hair.


    Qiang feng''s face started to burn ever so slightly. He was slightly afraid seeing Kai Xia fight. His eyes were full of coldness and killing intent. However, despite that, it was attractive. He was so charismatic and strong. "Scratch that, it was only cool because I erm wanted to learn it too. Yeah that''s it!" Qiang Feng muttered to himself. Qiang Feng had also firmly decided that he would not act on any desire or attraction he may have found towards Kai Xia because he was sure that a man like that would most definitely have girls dropping their panties every step of the way. Qiang feng also wanted to fool himself into thinking that he was straight. After that experience with Ping Jun, he would have rather not to ever go through gay sex again because it was such an excruciating experience.


    Seeing Qiang Feng was so intently thinking, Kai Xia flicked the other''s forehead. "Ouch!" Qiang feng exclaimed. He glared at Kai Xia who was trying to hold in his laughter. He then proceeded to shrug and started walking away. He picked up the fruits he had dropped earlier and gestured for Qiang feng to follow him. The day was about to end and night was about to fall soon. Kai Xia really did not want to subject Qiang Feng to the horrors of the nights in this forest so he picked up his pace and had Qiang feng follow suit.


    This was the end of a rather eventful day. After seeing the outline of the hut, Qiang Feng sighed out of relief. He can finally take a rest after the hectic day.

 11 Chapter 10

    The dinner they had was plainly said awkward. Both had their own thoughts in their minds about the other and were trying hard to hide those thoughts. Neither had noticed the other awkward actions because both were busy trying to pretend those thoughts had never occurred. One was pretending because he didn''t want to get his heart broken and one pretending because he was somewhat doubtful and afraid of what the attraction would entail.


    After said awkward dinner, Qiang Feng had decided to try and cultivate. He decided to sit on the ground by the door because he did not want to take up space on the bed if Kai Xia wanted to sleep. After sitting down cross legged, he tried clearing his mind and search for the sea of consciousness that was supposed to appear. He was focusing so hard, he had not noticed Kai XIa who had entered the room and was now staring at him with longing.


    The sea of consciousness was a surreal place. It felt as if Qiang Feng was floating in the sea, like the name suggests, just that there was no sea. He saw specks of white floating around an orb. The orb seemed to contain a divine entity. Don''t ask how he knew it was divine, he just knew. "Wait. Divine entity? Is this my soul? My soul is divine?" As he thought of that, the was suddenly a fluctuation of energy. It seemed to be getting absorbed by the the orb. Qiang Feng finally figured out what was happening. This was cultivation, the absorption of energy to improve oneself. He decided to settle himself down in the weird floating place he was situated at. He focused hard on the collection and absorption of energy. While he did this, he felt a strong surge of power course through him. A sense of freedom and strength enveloped him. He felt refreshed. He kept going and going until he felt exhaustion from focusing too hard for so long. He finally let go of the concentration and allowed himself to drift away in the sea.


    Energy was swirling about in his body, it was not a ruckus of energy but it was calm river flowing within himself. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see that it was still dark outside. The cultivation felt a lot longer than just a couple of hours. He shrugged and decided that it was time to sleep. Kai Xia was sleeping as well so might as well do the same. But where was he going to sleep? His body was stiff from sitting so long so the bed was such a wonderful option. He could either sleep on the floor and increase his soreness or he could sleep with Kai Xia on the bed and wake up with awkwardness. After a few moments of debating, he decided to just sleep on the bed since they had done so previously before.


    Qiang Feng settled himself at the corner of the mattress and shut his eyes. His body relaxed and within no time at all, he was drifting off already. Kai Xia had been awake this whole time. He was pretending to be asleep because he had no idea what to say to Qiang Feng at that moment. "Hey congratulations on your first cultivation after waking up? How have you been doing?" All of these seemed so stupid so he decided to just remain quiet. He had felt the mattress dip next to him and he tried his best to calm his heart. After 3 days of cultivation for Qiang Feng, he had decided to sleep with Kai Xia on the same bed. Kai Xia had anticipated that Qiang Feng would sleep on the floor or something along those lines but this was beyond his imaginations.


    Kai Xia flipped around and looked at Qiang Feng. He was sleeping peacefully. Seems like that long of a cultivation for someone who had just recovered would definitely drain the person. He tentatively reached out to brush away the hair that was covering Qiang Feng''s eyes. He looked so angelic in the soft moonlight. He had soft features, almost like a girl but there was somehow a strong sense of masculinity to these features. He softly caressed Qiang Feng''s cheek, it was as soft as it looked. After a good few hours of observing Qiang Feng, Kai Xia finally fell asleep.


    By the time the two woke up, the sun was already high up in the air. Qiang Feng had once again woke up with the both of them tangled up with each other. Kai Xia was lying down on his chest, breathing steadily. Kai Xia''s warmth radiated onto him and it felt- comfortable. If Qiang Feng was being honest, he wouldn''t mind waking up like that everyday. It made him feel less lonely. Qiang Feng unwittingly started to smile and stroke the other man''s soft hair.. Kai Xia woke up moments later and in his sleepy haze, saw Qiang Feng''s smile and felt his hand caressing him. "A dream again?" Kai Xia thought. This situation has occurred multiple times in the days where Qiang Feng was cultivating. Following his dream sequence, Kai Xia smiled sleepily at Qiang Feng. He then stretched up and placed a kiss on Qiang feng''s full lips.


    Qiang Feng froze. Did Kai Xia just kiss him? What the fuck?? He tried his best to ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach and the warm feeling he had on his lips where Kai Xia had kissed him. Keyword, he tried but it didn''t work very well. "Hmm... Qiang Feng is reacting differently in this dream," Kai Xia thought. Shrugging mentally, he decided to place another kiss on the other man''s lips. " Baobei, what''s wrong with you today" Kai Xia said sleepily. This "dream" seems so much more real than the others. A realization hit Kai Xia. This was not a dream. Kai Xia got up so fast, his head was spinning. "I''m sorry oh my god I''m so sorry. I didn''t mean to that, I thought this was a dream. Not that I dream about you. Like it just happened subconsciously?" Kai Xia rambled when he got cut off by a chaste kiss on the lips by Qiang Feng.


    Qiang Feng decided to just let go of the first kiss and finally got a hold of his emotions but Kai Xia kissed him a second time. As soon as he heard baobei coming out from Kai Xia''s mouth, his sanity had left the chat. He didn''t hear any of Kai Xia''s rambling. He had one target now, it was Kai Xia''s lips. Kai Xia tasted sweet and his lips were so so soft. This time, it was Kai Xia who was frozen. When Qiang Feng felt Kai Xia not reacting, he pressed his lips harder against Kai Xia and this time he stuck a tongue out and licked Kai Xia''s lips. The feeling of Qiang Feng licking his lips was a jolt out of the blue sky. Kai Xia gasped and at that point of time Qiang Feng took the initiative to start to explore Kai Xia''s mouth. It didn''t take long for Kai Xia to join in the battle of tongues. It was intense but after some time of fighting for dominance, Kai Xia backed down.


    They didn''t stop until they were both gasping for breath. Their cheeks flushed and when they separated, a thin transparent line was connected to both of them. Their foreheads were pressed on each other, both panting. Qiang Feng was the first to open his eyes. the sight of a flushed Kai Xia didn''t help at all with his current case of morning wood.


    "Now what?" Qiang Feng thought when his sanity finally started to come back to him.

 12 Chapter 11

    Time was moving slowly for the pair. They continued to look into each other''s eyes for a long time, even after they have stopped panting. There was a heavy air surrounding them. It was not that they did not want to separate, both were afraid that any large movements will cause the moment to dissolve and the other would jump away in disgust and never return. Kai Xia was afraid Qiang Feng would leave the forest whereas Qiang Feng was worried that Kai Xia would leave him behind.


    Thump!


    Only when they heard this loud sound did they jolt away from each other. They peered towards the source of the sound. It was a young woman who had dropped a basket filled with food in her hands. She looked surprised, even more surprised that the duo who were caught in that moment. However, she seemed interested and excited at the same time. A light blush covered her face.


    "Erm, don''t mind me Kai Xia ha ha ha. I''ll be on my way now. You guys can continue on whatever you were doing just now. Bye bye !" The woman said and rushed off to god knows where.


    "Jie! Jie! Come back! I can explain!" Kai Xia exclaimed and hurriedly ran out the door but the woman was long gone.


    Eyebrow raised, Qiang Feng questioned, "You can explain to her? How about you explain to me first huh?"


    Kai Xia bowed his head, his whole face red up till his ears. He weakly shook his head in reply and awkwardly shuffled back in and back onto the bed. Suddenly eye contact seemed too intimate for Kai Xia. He lightly bit his pink lips until it turned red. Qiang Feng''s eyes could not help but follow those actions of Kai Xia. At this point, he knew there was no fooling himself or Kai Xia about this attraction he has been feeling but strictly ignoring till just a few moments ago. All he had in mind was "I really want this man to be mine." If Kai Xia had heard this, he would have probably just exploded immediately from where he was sitting.


    Words were at the tip of both their tongues but yet no one spoke. The only sounds for a long while were the chirping of the birds and an occasional rustle of the leaves. Qiang Feng finally pulled together enough courage to speak. "Ge, I think that that was a mistake. I hope that you won''t-" before Qiang Feng could finish speaking,this time, Kai Xia pressed his lips against the other man. However, this time it was a simple, romantic, deep and chaste kiss- one that was full of unsaid feelings. This time, it was Kai XIa who spoke up. "Xiao Feng-ah, does that feel like a mistake to you? I know we''ve only known each other for a very short period of time but that period of time had kick started a whole roller coaster of feelings I had for you. I''m afraid that you would walk away from me. Even if don''t reject me, I know you won''t ever be able to accept living in the forest like I am now."


    After he spoke, Kai Xia carefully looked into Qiang Feng''s eyes. "Kai Xia ge, I never expected that you would feel this way towards me. I mean I know I started the whole make out session but, I, I don''t know if I would be able to accept whatever it is that we are right now. I don''t even know who I am right now. For all you know, I could be holding on to heavy baggage that you can''t handle. I don''t want to live selfishly like that." As Qiang Feng said these words, memories of the last few days before he died previously came flooding back to him. Before those memories could hurt him and make him break apart in front of Kai Xia, he pushed them away as hard as he could and he got up to leave. However, before he managed to successfully leave, Kai Xia had grabbed his wrist tightly. He tried to pull away to no avail.


    The waterworks were coming, he could feel it. He did not want Kai Xia to see this side of him. He did not want anyone to see this side of him. With a burst of strength, he pulled away from Kai Xia''s grasp and started running full speed away from the hut. He just continued running. Wet, hot tears started running down his face at some point but he did not notice it. He just kept on running away. He had no idea where he was going but he could not stop himself.


    Kai Xia stared dumbly as he watched Qiang Feng''s shadow disappear into the dense forest. Only when the other man''s figure disappear did the panic set in. He had lost Qiang Feng! Kai Xia can''t possibly let him run around in this dangerous forest alone, especially not before they clear things up between them. Kai Xia started blindly searching for some kind of clue of where Qiang Feng could have possibly ran to but every time he thought he found a track, it fell short and disappeared. The sun was now almost setting.


    Kai Xia had spent the day trying to find Qiang Feng but he had somehow disappeared so cleanly. It scared him thinking of all the possibilities as to what could have possibly happened to Qiang Feng. What if he was mauled by a spirit beast? What if there were some more people that tries to kill Qiang Feng? What if he had gotten lost and somehow fell off a cliff? Kai Xia was extremely afraid and worried. Even if he was going to leave the forest, Kai Xia would have preferred it if he was the one who led the way.


    Qiang Feng had left with nothing on him. Kai Xia suddenlt had a wishful thought. Perhaps Qiang Feng had turned back? With this as his motivator, he sped up and ran towards his hut. He saw a figure in the hut from afar through his window. His heart started to pump vigorously, a bright smile overtook his features. Qiang Feng really came back? Kai Xia was so excited. He slammed open the door. The figure inside was sitting by the mattress, a huge smile on their face.

 13 Chapter 12

    Reality was cruel. The person Kai Xia had been hoping to see was not there but the person he had not wanted to see was there. The male silhouette he had seen through the window was not Qiang Feng but rather it was his brother, Kai Shu. (side note, is this name weird? man I''m terrible at making names up) This specific brother of his was a carbon copy of himself just that rather than being a martial artist, he was a mage. They were twins but they had never really gotten along well. There was no specific reason why, they just simply repelled each other.


    Kai Xia was repulsed at the sight of his twin but this was the first time Kai Shu had ever came down from the family home to his hut. There must be a reason why the other had come. "I know you wouldn''t come here for no go reason so spit it out and go. I don''t fancy seeing you around here in my personal space," Kai Xia spat, not bothering to mask the hatred in his expression and tone. Kai Shu rolled his eyes and replied flatly, "I honestly did not want to come here either to this little shit hole you call home but your Jie who was supposed to tell you this did not and was adamant about not going back down so here I am. Ye Ye (Father''s dad) wants everyone to be gathered at the family home because he has something to important to say so we have to go now without delay."


    If it was not Ye Ye who had wanted them to come, he would have long told Kai Shu to screw himself and fuck off but this time Kai Xia had to suck it up and go back. All he wanted to do was lay on his bed and lament about his heart break but instead he has to reluctantly climb the mountain further to listen to whatever his grandfather had to say. The whole way up, Kai Xia was grumbling about Kai Shu under his breath as the other ignored his childish twin.


    Qiang Feng could have been running for 5 minutes or maybe an hour, his sense of time had left him. His eyes were red and puffy from all the crying he had done while running. He finally started to observe his surroundings. Qiang Feng had no idea where he was but he was sure he was far away from the Kai Xia''s hut. Darkness had already started to set in but he wasn''t prepared for it in the slightest so he did the only rational thing he could think up of- climb the tree. At least this way, it would be harder to find him. Just as Qiang feng was about to doze off on the tall branch he was sitting on, a loud roar awoke him.


    He was startled out of his daze. "That''s right. I mustn''t fall asleep in case something sneaks up at me" Qiang Feng thought. With that, he vigilantly stared into the darkness below him. It wasn''t long before his eyes started to shut again. All that running and emotional turmoil had taken a good chunk of his energy. He was so so tired. The fight between consciousness and sleepiness was ongoing with consciousness beginning to lose. His eyes once again shut and he fell into a deep sleep.


    The cool morning breeze was sweeping across his face, tousling his already messy hair. The sunlight was softly shining on him, leaving a slight and comfortable warmth. The sleep he had gotten was so so good. Qiang Feng lazily opened his eyes. When he finally did, it was the shock of his life. There was another man sitting at the edge of the branch he was lying down on. This man stared intensely at him. Qiang Feng shrieked and fell off the branch. He landed with a dull thud onto the grassy floor of the forest. (Manu: lmao he keeps meeting his men immediately after he wakes up. Xiao Feng: You could have made it such that we met in normal circumstances??? If you bully me more, I will reach out of this damn book and choke you. Manu: *sweats and continues to make Qiang Feng end up in awkward situations*)


    Unlike Qiang Feng''s slapstick comedy, the other man gracefully jumped off the tree and landed next to Qiang Feng who was groaning in pain. "You know, if you''re a traveler, you should really know better than to sleep by yourself in such a dangerous forest? You''re lucky that I, Song Zhi Gang, was travelling through this area and spotted you. It''s not like I wanted to help you but you indeed looked too exhausted so I, being the kind person that I am, decided to lend a hand," Zhi Gang announced with an over the top proud smile. "damn this guy is obnoxious," Qiang feng muttered under his breath. Unfortunately for Qiang Feng, this guy had sharp ears and heard him. He raised an eyebrow at Qiang Feng who timely turned red. "Erm, thanks for helping me I guess? I''m Qiang Feng," Qiang Feng introduced himself and quickly stood up.


    After standing up, he realized that this Zhi Gang was shorter than him! This greatly amused Qiang Feng who in his past life usually had to look up to talk to others. As if sensing his ridicule and amusement, Zhi Gang stood up straighter and glared at Qiang Feng who was literally looking down on him. Seeing the other''s animosity towards him, Qiang Feng wiped off all the traces of humor from his face. Happy that Qiang Feng took his look seriously, Zhi Gang returned to being an arrogant young master. Honestly, that look would have been the most annoying thing in the world but Zhi Gang''s good looks made up for his pride.


    Zhi Gang had sword eyebrows, a smooth angular face and a prominent jawline. His skin was very fair as well. His eyes were shaped perfectly to suit his face. All in all, he was yet another wondrous beauty. After that episode, Qiang Feng decided to ask if Zhi Gang knew where the closest city was. Qiang Feng was not prepared to go back to Kai Xia''s hut so he made up his mind to go to the closest city and probably get a job or something along those lines.


    "Hmm, if I tell you, what would I get in return?" Zhi Gang teased.


    "I don''t have any treasures or money to my name but if you could direct me to the closest city, I will get a job and present you with a gift to repay your generosity," Qiang Feng replied.


    "How about this? Since you seem to be jobless, you can come with me and work together. I''ll take your first month''s pay as repayment? How about it?" Zhi Gang asked.


    This was the first time Zhi Gang had offered such a thing to anyone. He did not know why but he felt obligated to at least do that much for Qiang Feng, the man he barely knew. He seemed like a genuine man and Zhi Gang trusted his instincts a lot. As a successful businessman, he most definitely was very good at judging another''s character. What business does he run you may ask. Zhi Gang was a mage, a very good one at that. He was a successful man who was able to create high level pills to sell at very high prices. Why would a mage need a worker? Well, he''ll make something up along the way.