Thread by @manggaetteok96

thinking about enemies-to-lovers (kinda) wenzhou where zzs’s a highly respected cultivator while wkx’s known as one of the most prominent cultivators of the demonic arts

and they’re just perfect opposites, constantly at each other’s throat bc zzs’s the only one able to stop wkx

if zzs isn’t stopping wkx from doing something bad, then it’s probably because he’s on his way to stop wkx from doing something bad

it got to the point where it’s become a thing for them, where if one of them shows up, the other one’s probably not far behind

if zzs’s on a relatively easy mission to get rid of some pesky demonic beasts terrorizing a small village, wkx’s probably going to show up and make things a hundred times worse

and if wkx’s trying to terrorize a village, zzs’s probably going to appear to stop him

for wkx, it’s almost like a game, starting shit only for zzs to show up

he was super annoyed at first bc his plans kept getting interrupted by this man, until he realized that riling him up was much funner than anticipated (plus zzs made for a more-than-decent sparring partner)

so sometimes, he’d trick zzs into showing up just to spar with him and alleviate some boredom

until one day, zzs didn’t show up

wkx had unleashed a bunch of relatively harmless ghosts to a town (they were just ugly enough to scare, couldn’t actually harm a living being), expecting zzs to show up and fight him

however, it was nearing dawn and zzs was nowhere to be seen

mood ruined, wkx took his displeasure out on the ghosts and by the time he was done, not even a wisp remained

the next day, he tried again

still no sign of zzs

the day after, again

still nothing

by then, he was so thoroughly annoyed that although word was travelling around about some new demonic cultivator starting shit on his territory, he couldn’t find it in him to care, when he’d usually jump at the opportunity to teach the new fry some manners about messing with him

a few days later, while he was moping around deep in his territory, he heard the sound of fighting

annoyance skyrocketing, he made his way over, ready to teach the offenders a lesson (how dare they fight on his territory, don’t they know how pissed off he’d been lately??)

so imagine his surprise when he comes across a very familiar silhouette and even more familiar sword, deep in battle against some of wkx’s ghost minions

that’s when he realizes something’s wrong bc zzs barely breaks a sweat fighting him, these minions shouldn’t be a challenge

but there he is, looking like he’s struggling, barely able to block incoming attacks

one of the minions eventually sees wkx and just when it was about to celebrate bc their master’s here! they can finally take this long-time persistent headache of a cultivator down for good!

with a single wave of his hand, wkx destroyed every single ghost minion present before rushing over to zzs, catching him just before he collapsed

before he could say anything, zzs mumbled weakly “sorry for intruding, i didn’t know where else to go…”

instead of answering, wkx channeled some of his qi into zzs and that’s when he realized the extent of zzs’s internal injuries

no wonder he was having a hard time with the minions

in his probe, he noticed some malicious energy that was blocking zzs’s qi from healing himself

with a burst, wkx’s own qi consumed the malicious energy, causing an already barely conscious zzs to spit a mouthful of jet black blood before passing out

wkx quickly scooped the man up, all while channeling his own qi to zzs to help speed up the healing process

he brings zzs to his personal healing spring, gently lowering him to a seating position

wkx positions himself behind him to begin the process of a more complex but highly effective healing ritual

it required a large amount of his own qi and wkx wasn’t sure how that would affect zzs’s cultivation but he honestly couldn’t be bothered enough to care

time passed but neither were aware of it

eventually zzs stirs and wkx stops, satisfied that most of his injuries were healed

“…thank you”

wkx outwardly scoffed but inside, he was surprised by how pleased a simple show of gratitude made him

“next time, don’t go missing for a few days only to show up half-dead on my doorstep and ill count that as repayment”

that’s when he heard it

zzs’s laugh

it lasted 2 seconds and it was more of a dry laugh than out of genuine happiness, but wkx heard it and it was the 1st time zzs laughed in his presence, so the sound fucked him up mentally more than anything he’d ever experienced

that would explain why the next few moments passed in a blur as he helped zzs out of the springs and handed him a new set of clothes (seeing zzs in his dark robes was like a shot of clarity through the buzz and it triggered something dark in him, almost possessive)

eventually they sat down and wkx brought over some tea

“so what brought zhou-xiong over to my humble abode? you don’t usually visit”

zzs shot him an unimpressed glare

“it’s you, you dumbass”

huh? when did wkx ever—

zzs took a sip of his tea, wincing slightly as the move pulled his physical injuries

“rumours were going around about some new demonic cultivator and i noticed they were being active in your territory so i decided to take a look just in case”

ahhhh, wkx vaguely remembers hearing something—

wait

wkx raised an eyebrow, smile deceptively pleasant

“so if I’m not mistaken… you decided to take a look BECAUSE they were messing around in my territory?”

if wkx wasn’t staring at zzs, he would’ve missed the minute pause

but he was so he noticed the unnatural pause and he felt his mirth increase exponentially

zzs shifted his gaze to the side as he took another sip of his tea

“who cares if he was in your territory,” he responds abruptly, “i was just investigating”

“of course,” wkx agrees easily

just as zzs relaxed slightly, wkx continued

“kexing is just happy that a-shu apparently cares enough to want to take care of a pest for me… can i describe this as a beauty saving a hero?”

zzs almost threw his cup at him

“what nonsense are you—!”

wkx quickly put his hands up in mock surrender

“alright alright, i was wrong, i won’t do it again”

zzs huffed as he sat down

“if anything it’s hero saves beauty” he mutters under his breath

“oh, so a-shu finally admits that im good looking?”

“wen kexing. behave.”

“alright alright, im sorry, whatever zhou-xiong says~”

after that, wkx doesn’t say another word, quietly watching (and enjoying the view of) zzs sipping his tea

eventually, wkx stands up, stretching

zzs looks up as he notices wkx walking away

“where are you going?”

“oh, just going to take out some pesky trash”

zzs instantly knew what wkx was referring to and quickly got up to stop him

“wait, you can’t go alone”

wkx looked at him, eyebrow raised

“he’s mastered some kind of demonic art that attacks your qi and stops it from channeling, it’s too dangerous for you to go alone”

wkx sighed “zhou-xiong, you worry too much”

“lao wen, im telling you to wait, once my injuries heal, ill—“

before he can finish his sentence, in a surprising show of speed, wkx had already hit the meridian points to immobilize him

zzs felt his body crumble down, only to be caught by a pair of sturdy arms

“wen kexing, you—!”

“a-shu, you need to rest, your injuries were extensive enough that you will be needing a lot of time before they can heal properly,” wkx starts in a surprisingly soft voice

“the last thing you need is to worry about some vermin not even worth your time”

zzs’s eyes widened as he felt the arms holding him up tighten around him

what in the world—

“do you know how annoyed i’ve been the past few days? when you never showed up to our usual matches?” wkx breathed softly into zzs’s ear

zzs felt a shiver travel up his spine

“i was so” wkx paused as he sucked in a breath next to zzs’s ear

“incredibly…” his voice dropped even lower

“annoyed…” he finished, barely above a whisper

the temperature around them dropped by 20 degrees but for some reason, zzs felt like a fire was burning inside him

“now that i know who was responsible for my bad mood, paying them a small visit would only be the polite thing to do, don’t you think so?”

wkx finally pulled back to look at zzs who stared back, feeling as if wkx was staring into his soul, searching for something

wkx smiled but the smile didn’t reach his eyes

“what can i say, ive never been the most understanding type, i guess that’s on me” his smile finally dropped and zzs saw death in his eyes

“anyone who dares touch what is mine shall face the consequences, ill make sure of it”

wkx’s expression sent another chill down zzs’s spine

before zzs could react (honestly, he couldn’t even if he wanted to) wkx whisked him up and carried him to bed, laying him down gently and fussing around with the bedding to make sure he’d be comfortable

once wkx was satisfied, he stared down at zzs, same affectionate smile from before returning, erasing all trace of frost from his eyes

“anyways, a-shu should be a good boy and focus on getting better while i pay them a visit that’s long overdue, hmm?”

the last thing zzs remembered before pressure on another meridian point sent him to sleep was wkx’s gentle smile and even gentler hands as he brushed a stray hair away from zzs’s face

“goodnight and sweet dreams, a-shu… ill be back soon”

//end

jfc this was too long 😭 i swear it was supposed to be 3 posts long, i didn’t even plan for any of this to happen so i deadass just came up with stuff on the fly dhfsjhd I JUST WANTED AN INJURED A-XU TO GO TO WKX, HIS ENEMY, BC HE HAD NOWHERE ELSE TO GO, WHAT’S ALL THIS 😭