QT: Against My Will

249 4.71 – Reunion – Dangerous Angels

Thinking it through, only Xuan Mu was always on time to come to Bing Shi’s rescue. The only one who appeared by her side when she needed it the most.

He clasped her hand, another ring appeared on her ring finger, oddly similar to the one she found inside Xuan Mu’s wallet in the past. Xuan Mu, the one who connected them together. Despite there being hints of little monster being in love with Ru Quan, she didn’t deem him worthy enough for her to fight for, nor did she felt good enough for him.

“Did I hear right?” Bing Shi hid her face in his chest, squealing in joy as she started to bawl her eyes out, “You’re spoiling me too much.”

“Don’t celebrate yet. I’m still here.” He hugged her tightly; his hand went through his blond flocks in panic; her tears were worse than an army of gruesome soldiers. “It’s only because it suits our names the most.”

“Really?” Looking up at him, she flashed him a bright smile similar to a toothpaste commercial before hiding her face in his chest again, voicing out carefully, “Xuan Bing Shi, Xuan Mu, Xuan Ru Quan, and Xuan...ehh...bwahaha.”

“Ziek Black,” Ziek studied her ring finger, kissing it carefully. (Xuan=Black)

“Why do all of you like to kiss my hands so much?” she asked about her findings, “It’s covered in germs.”

These three men had many more similarities than they wanted to acknowledge. Blinking his eyes, he licked her tears, kissing her snot-stained lips, “Who am I now?”

“Do you really expect me to know?” Bing Shi scrunched her eyes at him, taking out a napkin, she blew her nose. “All of you are just as nasty.”

.....

He kissed her again, wiping her tears with his thumbs, his happiness emitted from his whole body as his magnetic chuckles sent her heart leaping, “My wife is it?”

Before Bing Shi could respond, he covered her mouth. If she started to call him that way, he would probably take her right now, right here, on the open, under the sky.

What about the most amazing wedding in the whole universe? Well, her darling wasn’t exactly the most romantic person in the world. It was against his nature to prepare a candlelit dinner. There were no fireworks illuminating the background, no beautiful scenery; he didn’t get on his knees to deliver a long speech about his unconditional love.

What couldn’t be denied was his thoughtfulness. Bing Shi looked down at her white pyjamas, her new ring, then up at him. Ru Quan fulfilled Xuan Mu’s dying wish. A little bit half-assedly, which might be due to little Ziek. Finding it hilarious, she didn’t mind. This could probably be counted as the most unromantic proposal and marriage ceremony in the history of mankind.

She liked him this way. He liked her this way. If they went the traditional way, they would probably think that the other got possessed and run away.

A few moments later...

Ru Quan stared dotingly at the sleeping beauty in his arms, whose body had been stuffed with rejuvenation pills, coffee, and energy drinks-they could restore her physical body, but not her mental health.

He ordered Kuro to notice him first if something happened, which Kuro obliged seriously. She refused to take sleeping pills as she was afraid that in case of an emergency, she wouldn’t be able to wake up from such potent drugs.

In the past, he lost so much along the way; the weight of remembering everything slowly wore him down. He learned to suffer silently, fighting a war every day that no one saw, keeping everything under his lock and key.

Without the forced pretense, the dark circles under his eyes gradually reduced over time; he slowly regained his lost vitality and power as his revived soul was set free. The link with his predestined soulmate finally broke...

· · — · ???· — · ·

A soulmate should be viewed from a spiritual point, far away from carnal desires. Your soulmate should make you grow as a person. There was a misconception that a soulmate would be also your long life partner, but as one could see here, it wasn’t always the case. Ru Quan wouldn’t develop as a person if he ended up with Bai Meili, but he did grow up because of her existence and the impact she had in his life.

Bing Shi and Xuan Mu were not drawn together because they were predestined to be together. Their souls were looking for each other by choice. Bing Shi would have met her soulmate sooner if it weren’t for the certain circumstances on her soulmate’s side. Her soul couldn’t depend on him, and it decided to seek help from Xuan Mu, who was closer. But because they were not soulmates, Xuan Mu was always late to her resque. She had to help herself on her own, which created a butterfly effect and she no longer ended up with her soulmate but with Xuan Mu, whose soul would always try to search for her and wait for her due to the promise he made himself after the rapist accident, albeit unconscious, like in the game during their childhood.

The bond wasn’t here to hurt a soul, it was actually a very nice thing to have. Xuan Mu was suffering because his soul had a rebellious nature and hated anything that was done against his will. He was trying to break from the bond for many lifetimes and it was only a matter of time before he succeeded. The first step was to redeem his past mistakes with Bai Meili, which he did by trying to help her through the lifetimes from the background.

Even though Xuan Mu forgot about her, he still carried an unexplainable avoidance and hatred towards her. Despite that, he still accepted her as his half-sister and never truly went against her even though she appeared in this world. But his last straw snapped when she tried destroy his relationship with Bing Shi.

· · — · ???· — · ·

[Mao An and Edan are coming.]

Hopping down the horse, Edan’s heart throbbed in discomfort when she saw the girl sleeping in Ru Quan’s arms. That girl’s presence was many times stronger than the first time Tian Shi appeared to her rescue.

“Shh...” Ru Quan lulled Bing Shi back to sleep as he lifted his eyes at Edan and Mao An, who decided to tag along on her horse. Why couldn’t everyone just mind their business and let him and Bing Shi be?

For people to see beyond Mao An’s outer appearance, she wasn’t gifted with earth-shattering beauty. Raven blue hair pinned with a simple hairpin was as common as the trees in the forest. The most striking part of her body was her striking hazel eyes, which switched between Ru Quan, the sleeping Tian Shi, and Edan. She covered her nose in case she had a nosebleed from seeing such attractive people.

Mao An had the biggest crush on this Edan, who looked very similar to the handsome idols from her previous life. But after seeing the famous Tian Shi waking up and opening her light grey eyes, she started to question her sexuality. It was the first time she wanted to cuddle someone because of their half-awake, dreamy eyes. ‘How did she make her bed hair look so effortlessly fabulous? The injustice! And those dimples!!! Oh my god, she smiled at me! It’s definite. I’m gay for Tian Shi.’

No matter how much Gu Min looked like Tian Shi, the way they carried themselves was utterly different. Mao An was not ‘religious’ per se, but the mood around Tian Shi made one could not help but drown themselves in her inner peace, beyond their understanding.

The years of being in contact with unstable ‘lunatics’ did its magic; Bing Shi built some resilience.

‘Oh no! He turned her away!’ On the other side, Mao An’s image of Ru Quan was the worst. Out of curiosity, she visited Zeku’s red-light district under a man’s cover before, and she almost threw up from the strong perfume, the caked up makeup on those courtesan’s faces, and their slutty conduct. She automatically deducted that the man she was offered to, Ru Quan, had no taste in women, a stud horse with HIV and STD.

Ru Quan watched Edan and Mao An in annoyance as he wrapped his Bing Shi into a matryoshka doll, placing her on the armchair, he turned towards Edan, “Crossing over my boundaries, are you?”

They arrived to deliver an invitation to the Royal banquet, but seeing his pretentious care towards Tian Shi, Edan clutched her fists, finding her courage, “You don’t deserve her.”

“Say it again.” He lifted his gaze, contrary to the sentence, his coarse voice sounded like a death threat.

“You heard me!” Anger seeped out of Edan as she turned towards Bing Shi, who groggily peeked her head from the blanket, “He’s been visiting other women behind your back-!!”

Edan blocked the kick coming at her face in time, the strong impact left her staggering for a second, giving enough time for him to deliver a right punch at her jaw, which she avoided by a margin, letting her nose get hit, she felt another kick coming at her abdomen.

Mao An, who found Ru Quan’s action unreasonable, hurriedly stood in between them, and she too received a punch at her face. Her worry about getting a nose bleed because of an attractive person became a reality. Do remind her to never get into a fight between two men, ever again as the only one leaving with the most injuries would be her!

“Still naive as ever.” Not wasting any more time, Ru Quan wandered back to Bing Shi, picking her up, he went inside the carriage and shut the door close, making the carriage shake. Did he have to explain his every action? He was viewed as a madman without boundaries in one way or another. He should as well fulfill their expectations.

?Your way of getting them close is very... Particular.?

“Fast and effective,” he answered with ease. After cleaning up his hands, he lulled her back to sleep.

Bing Shi asked him for a favor to get Mao An on their side to teach Gu Min and Edan some medicine. Wondering what he would do, that was his reply. Playing the bad guy, he bonded them together. More injuries = more real-life practice for learnig medicine. He could be meeker, yet choose otherwise.

In other words, he always found an excuse to beat anyone who eyed his woman like a wolf in heat. If they kept the pure respect in their eyes, he would keep his distance. But they began to look at his wife as if she was a steak; he didn’t like that.

Covering Bing Shi’s mouth with his, Ru Quan cupped her cheeks, “Didn’t you say you don’t mind my personality?”

“I never said that,” she closed her eyes, pecking his lips, she snuggled closer, “I’m just putting a blind eye to it because it’s in accordance with your outer image. But as you could see, I’m minding less and less. No wonder the past me fell for you too... I guess I have a thing for creative men... ”

Hugging her tightly with a low chuckle, Ru Quan kissed her forehead, “Sweet dreams.”