Thread by @mariella_star

Yibo and XZ out there in the freezing cold with snowflakes swirling around them makes the perfect YiZhan AU Winter Love Story! 🥰

So, get yourself a cuppa, snuggle into a soft blanket and get comfy. Here comes a thread fic! 😃

#YiZhan #ZSWW #LSFY #BJYX

XZ was a young but already accomplished court official. The king and queen trusted him as one of their most capable and knowledgeable advisors. Another young court official became so jealous of him that he found a way to curse XZ.

The curse was meant to kill XZ, but because of his high level of cultivation and spiritual power, he withstood the curse. Instead of dying a terrible death, he turned into a hairy monster.

XZ was forced to flee from the palace.

He knew that after the curse, he looked like the fabled yeti that was rumored to eat human flesh. He couldn’t speak anymore and couldn’t explain easily who he really was.

Therefore, he knew if people would see him, he’d be killed before he had any chance to explain who he was without using words.

XZ swore that he’d find out who had put the curse on him and take revenge.

For many years, XZ lived hidden in the woods all by himself, scared to get discovered and hunted down. People started to tell each other stories about a huge, furry creature that roamed alone in the forest and hunted humans to eat them.

They thought that the legends about a human-eating monster were true after all.

During all this time, XZ made himself a home in the deep forest as much as he could and worked hard on his cultivation to break the curse and take revenge one day.

Twenty years had gone by since XZ was cursed.

One day, Prince Yibo was on his way back to the capital after a diplomatic mission to a neighboring country. When the soldiers accompanying him led him onto an unknown path, he became suspicious.

But before he could ask any questions, he and his company got ambushed. Suddenly, some of the soldiers who accompanied him turned against him and the other soldiers. That was when Yibo realized that there were traitors in their midst. This had been set up as a trap all along.

Yibo and his loyal guards fought bravely against the treacherous soldiers and the men who ambushed them but they were outnumbered. The prince’s loyal guards were killed and Yibo got captured.

“Who are you?” Yibo asked the man who seemed to be their leader. “How dare you lay hands on the prince?”
The man’s face was covered by a mask which made it impossible for Yibo to see the man’s reaction. But Yibo refused to show any of these men even the slightest bit of fear.

His right leg throbbed painfully from a deep gash, but he stood upright and held his chin high.

“You are in no position to made demands, little prince,” the man said. Yibo could hear the sneer in his voice.

“If you yield, little prince, I can make things easier for you. If not…” The man’s hand reached out and roughly grabbed Yibo’s chin. Yibo instinctively tried to slap the man’s dirty hand away, but his arms were held tightly by two of the traitors.

Suddenly, there was a mighty roar and a loud crash. A big, hairy creature appeared from the shadows of the deep forest. The soldiers drew back in shock and fear. Even their leader seemed to lose his composure.

The creature pulled off one of its hairs and blew it up into the air. It magically transformed into the words ‘release the boy’.

“Kill it!” The leader had recovered from his initial shock. “This is the legendary man-eating monster. Whoever gets me its head shall receive his own weight in gold!”

Driven by greed, the soldiers attacked the creature.

But the creature swung its arms around and easily tossed the men away like they were nothing but toy dolls. Their weapons did not seem to be able to injure it. When more soldiers came charging, the creature flung them aside without even touching them.

Yibo watched in awe. He realized that the furry creature did not only have enormous body strength, but also great spiritual powers. If it were human, it would be a mighty cultivator.

When only the leader was left standing, the creature looked at him. A short growl was enough to send the man scrambling away for his life.

Then the creature turned slowly and looked at Yibo. Yibo swallowed. There was no way he stood a chance against the creature in a fight.

And running away was also out of the question because of his wounded leg. Not that he was delusional enough to think that he could outrun the creature even with healthy legs.

The young prince braced himself for the worst. If his time had come, he would meet his fate with his head held high. He would not cower in fear.

He just hoped that his parents were all right. If someone was capable of attacking him, then they would also pose a great threat to the king and queen.

The creature came closer.

Cliffhanger! What will the hairy beast do to the poor winter prince? 😳

I really have to go to bed now. I'll probably post more tomorrow. 😁

When it was standing just an arm’s length away from Yibo, it went down on one knee in front of the prince, bowed briefly and looked him in the eyes. Yibo was shocked by the show of respect from the creature.

He was even more surprised to look into eyes that looked hauntingly human and expressive.
Yibo felt his knees go weak at the sudden relief flooding his body. If the creature treated him with so much respect, then it would certainly not harm him.

It seemed to be much more intelligent than its appearance suggested. Besides, it did save him from the traitors and Yibo owed it his life.

The young prince remembered his manners and bowed back. “Thank you for saving me, mighty one.”

The creature nodded curtly and rose up. It then bent its knees and put its arms behind Yibo, one around his upper back and one around his knees. The prince gasped with surprise and felt a short spike of fear at the creature’s closeness.

But when he realized that the creature had picked him up in a princess carry and he was lying safely in its arms, his fear turned quickly into embarrassment. He was embarrassed to be carried like that by a stranger.

Yet, his injured leg would make it impossible to walk by himself. Nothing to be done about that.

Then Yibo’s eyes fell on one of his fallen guards. “Please, my guards, are they all…?”

The creature looked at him sadly and shook its head. They were all dead.

“But I can’t leave them here like this,” the prince pleaded. Tears started to well in his eyes at the loss of these precious lives.

The creature quickly pulled out one of its hairs from its right shoulder with its teeth and blew it up in to the air.

It formed the words, ‘We will come back and bury them tomorrow.’

With this, the creature took off with Yibo safely cradled in its arms. The young prince fell asleep quickly from sheer exhaustion and the gentle rocking of the creature’s movements.

When Yibo woke up, he was disoriented and wondered where he was. This place didn’t look like his rooms at home nor did it look like his guest room in the neighboring country’s royal palace.

The thought of his diplomatic mission suddenly brought back the memories of what had happened on his way home.
He quickly sat up and winced at the pain in multiple parts of his body. He heard steps approaching him.

It was the mysterious creature that had saved him and brought him to what appeared to be its lair. It was holding a tray with numerous small bottles that looked like medicine. The creature gently put the tray on a nightstand next to the small bed Yibo was lying on.

Yibo saw that a large bowl with steaming water was already set on another low table next to his bed. Clearly the creature wanted to take care of Yibo’s wounds.

The young prince decided that he should not think of him as “the creature” anymore.

His lifesaver was obviously a sentient and intelligent being who was even quite sophisticated. Perhaps he was even a human who had been born with strange looks? Yibo had heard of people who didn’t look like most humans. It didn’t make them less human.

Yibo decided that communication was the best step forward. “Thank you again for saving me.”
His expression of gratitude was answered with a grunt and a curt nod.

“My name is Yibo. May I inquire as to how to address you?” Yibo asked while his lifesaver was preparing to treat his wounds.
The man – at least Yibo believed him to be male – performed his hair trick again.

This time, the characters in the air formed the words, ‘My name is Xiao Zhan.’

That name sounded familiar to Yibo. He said it aloud but couldn’t quite remember when he had heard it.

Before he could dwell on this thought any longer, XZ started to pull on his clothes to remove them.

“What are you doing?” Yibo exclaimed with wide eyes.

XZ just raised a thick eyebrow and looked at him like he was an imbecile. That look made the young prince feel foolish.

Of course, XZ had to remove his clothes in order to treat his injuries.

Yibo felt his cheeks heat up while XZ removed his clothes and treated his wounds with surprisingly gentle and nimble fingers.

Yibo was more certain than ever that except for his thick coat of fur and the fact that he was considerably taller and bigger than most humans, XZ was probably a human himself.

It must be because of his looks that he was living all by himself in what looked like a cave deep in the mountains.

Even though Yibo was still very young, he knew enough about the world and human nature to understand that society wouldn’t easily accept someone who looked like XZ in their midst.

After Yibo's injuries had been taken care of, XZ prepared a simple but filling meal for the two of them. Only then did Yibo realize that he was starving. He wolfed down the food, thanked his savior again and fell asleep quickly.

But his sleep was restless. He dreamed of his parents being surrounded by vicious monsters. Somehow, they didn’t seem to notice that they were in danger. Yibo tried to warn them. He screamed and tried to run to them, but they couldn’t see or hear him.

The next day, Yibo woke up feeling still tired, but more clear-headed than before. He realized that the first thing he had to do was to inform his parents about what had happened to him and that he was all right.

He also had to warn them that they were probably in grave danger too.

The ambush had been planned by someone with great power and resources, there was no doubt about that. Yibo wondered who would have the means to plan and carry out such an outrageous deed.

How had they bribed half of the soldiers who had accompanied him into betraying him? And what was their motive? Had they planned to demand ransom for Yibo? Could it be that this wasn’t just about something as simple as greed for money?

He silently apologized to his loyal guards that they had to wait for their funeral rites, but he knew they’d understand.

When XZ appeared to bring him breakfast, Yibo thanked him and explained that he needed to go back to the capital first because his parents were probably in danger.

XZ nodded in agreement.

“Xiao qianbei, would it be possible to send a message to my parents by some spiritual means, so it would reach them quickly? I could attach some personal item of mine to make it recognizable.” Yibo’s hand touched his necklace.

‘I could send it, but it would never reach your parents. It wouldn’t be able to breach the wards at the palace,’ XZ’s words formed from his hair told him.

“The palace… how did you know?” stammered Yibo. He hadn’t told XZ who he was, had he?

‘I can recognize a royal delegation when I see one,’ was XZ’s simple reply. ‘And the man who threatened you called you little prince.’

Yibo smiled sheepishly. XZ was indeed a smart man.

XZ then offered to take Yibo to the outskirts of the capital. Yibo didn’t want to impose on XZ generosity. The man had already done more than Yibo could ever expect of a stranger. But Yibo also knew that it would be a journey that would take several days all by himself.

Besides, his leg was badly injured and he couldn’t possibly wait until it had healed.

“Thank you, Xiao qianbei. I am forever in your debt.” Yibo bowed deeply. He vowed to himself that one day, he’d pay back his debt to XZ.

XZ gave a huff. Was he embarrassed? He told Yibo to eat his breakfast and went to make preparations for their journey. They would depart as soon as possible.

When they were ready to leave, XZ took Yibo into his arms again to carry him. Yibo felt his face heat up and hoped that XZ wouldn’t notice the blush on his face. He reminded himself that he was injured and that this would be the most efficient way to travel.

XZ took off and Yibo was surprised to see that after running lightly with long strides, XZ’s feet were touching the ground less and less until they were as good as floating above ground. Thick strands of dark fur started to swirl around XZ’s feet.

Yibo realized that he and XZ were being carried by what looked like a carpet made of thick, dark fur!

Yibo was more in awe than ever. And XZ was more than ever a mystery to him. Who was he? The man was clearly a very powerful cultivator and highly intelligent and educated.

How came he ended up like this? Was he already born looking like that and being unable to speak? If yes, then how did he end up learning his skills? And if no, then how did he become like this? Perhaps he dabbled with risky spells and something went wrong?

Yibo had heard of cultivators who practiced dangerous spiritual martial arts techniques – or simply overexerted themselves – and ended up suffering from qi deviation. The results were very dire. Some ended up losing their cultivation, their health or their mind. Some even died.

Had this kind of thing happened to XZ?

Also, why did he save Yibo? XZ was a kindhearted man, without a doubt. But that only explained why he had saved Yibo from the men who had wanted to kill him.

But what about everything else he was doing for Yibo? XZ didn’t have to take Yibo to the capital and risk being discovered. He had already done more than enough for a random stranger.

If he should get the chance, Yibo will try to find out the answers to all his questions. But only if XZ was willing to share his tale, of course. Yibo owed XZ his life and that was a fact, not matter who XZ was, what past he had or what motive he had to help Yibo again and again.

Yibo decided to focus on the task at hand. He hoped that he would find his parents well and healthy, especially his mother who had only recently recovered from serious illness. They had probably already started to worry about him, as he was due to come home the night before.

They reached the outskirts of the capital before the sun set.

XZ stopped and gently put Yibo down on the ground. He told the prince that he couldn’t venture farther than the edge of the forest. He mustn’t risk being seen by other people.

Yibo could understand XZ’s predicament. Of course he couldn’t risk being discovered by people.

Yibo thanked XZ again for his help. He hoped that one day he would be able to pay him back.

To Yibo’s surprise, XZ took one of Yibo’s hands into his own, faced it upwards and put something small and cool inside his palm.

XZ had given him a parting gift. It was a plain but elegant silver colored necklace with a small charm in the shape of a bone.

“Please, this is too much, qianbei. You’ve already done so much for me. I can’t possibly accept another gift from you.” Yibo felt his face flush from embarrassment again.

‘Take it. It will protect you. If you’re in danger, take the bone into your mouth and bite it,’ the words formed by XZ’s hair told him.

The intense look XZ gave Yibo left no room for argument. With a deep bow Yibo took XZ’s gift and put it around his neck.

XZ acknowledged Yibo’s thanks with a nod and a grunt. Then he turned around and disappeared into the woods.

Yibo watched XZ leave and started to make his way into the capital.

He could still barely walk with his injured leg, but he knew his way around the capital city and its surroundings very well. He knew that one of the smaller entries into the city was nearby.

If he was lucky, he might meet one of the patrols on duty who could give him a horse to ride on and accompany him back to the royal palace.

Just after he had finished thinking that, he saw a group of armored men in the distance.

Yibo called to the soldiers. They didn’t recognize him and drew their weapons in suspicion. The prince grew suspicious himself. How come soldiers patrolling the gates of the capital didn’t recognize him? And why did none of their faces look familiar to him?

“How dare you draw your weapons in front of His Highness?” a commanding female voice chastised the soldiers.

“This lowly one is Captain Chen, Your Highness,” she addressed Yibo while going down on her knees. The other soldiers followed her lead.

“We were not expecting you to return at this time. Please allow us to accompany you back into the royal palace,” Captain Chen offered.

Yibo thanked her and accepted her offer.

He was given a horse to ride on and went on his way accompanied by the captain and a large group of her soldiers. He was grateful that he didn’t have to walk on his still hurting leg anymore.

“I don’t think I have ever seen you in the capital, Captain Chen,” Yibo said to the woman leading the way. “And I don’t recognize any of your soldiers either.”

“I used to serve under Her Highness Princess Longhua at the Northern borders. But I have been deployed here recently. As for these soldiers, they have been under my command for years and have been deployed with me,” Captain Chen explained.

Yibo nodded in understanding to her. He found it strange why troops serving under Princess Longhua at the Northern borders would be deployed to the capital all of a sudden. He was sure that this must have happened while he was on his diplomatic mission the last couple of weeks.

He decided to ask his parents later what had happened.

On their way to the palace, Yibo felt a strange sense of unease. The lively capital seemed to be eerily quiet. It was already evening, but it felt more subdued than most evenings.

Yibo also started to notice a larger number of patrols in the streets than usual. Even stranger, many of the patrolling soldiers didn’t wear the uniforms of the royal capital troops but those of the Northern border troops, Princess Longhua’s troops.

Princess Longhua was the cousin of the king. Many years ago, she had become governor of the Northern border regions and contributed a great deal to the security of their country. Yibo could only remember her vaguely, as he had only met her when he was still little.

When they arrived at the royal palace, Yibo went straight to his parents’ quarters as quickly as his injured leg would allow him. But he was stopped by the door by multiple guards. Yibo’s feeling of unease grew even more.

Before he had the chance to question the guards how dare they get in his way, the chancellor appeared.

Bowing deeply to the prince, he explained that both the king and queen were ill and required to rest. Yibo didn’t believe any of what was obviously a made-up excuse.

“If my parents are indeed ill, then I as their only child have the duty to see them and take care of them. Besides, I have been away for weeks, my parents certainly miss me, especially since I was already due to arrive yesterday. My parents must be very worried."

"Now get out of my way and open the doors!” Yibo ordered.

“Your Highness, as I can see, you look to be severely injured yourself,” the chancellor said with a dishonest smile.

“Guards, take the prince to his quarters and have his injuries taken care of. He needs to rest,” he said without looking away from Yibo.

“How dare you?” Yibo felt panic rising in his chest. He had only been away for a couple of weeks.

What had happened to the kingdom during that short time? What had happened to his parents?

Multiple guards closed in on him. Yibo knew with a single look that these were elite fighters who had great physical as well as spiritual powers.

Even though he himself was proficient at both martial and spiritual arts, he knew he wasn’t a match for these experienced fighters.

Besides, he was injured and wasn’t even close to having his full powers at hand. He knew it would be foolish to attempt to fight his way out.

He would only end up getting injured or even killed as a result. It was better to surrender and wait to see what would happen. He could think about a solution later.

The prince let himself be escorted to his own quarters.

Later, a physician and several servants came to take care of his injuries and bring him food and hot water for his bath. At least he was being treated well and wouldn’t starve to death, he thought with a bitter huff.

With the guards still present, he didn’t dare to ask the physician or servants any questions. Neither of them looked familiar to Yibo.
What had happened to all the old servants? The prince only hoped that they were still alive. Too many innocent people had already been killed.

Yibo tried to calm his racing mind and focus on the task at hand. He let his injuries be tended, ate his food and took his bath.
There was no need to let himself go hungry or dirty or let his wounds go untreated. It wouldn’t help him in his present situation.

It would certainly not help his parents.

The fact that he was still alive and even being treated well showed him that his captors certainly still had use for him. It also gave him hope that his parents were in a similar situation, imprisoned but at least alive and healthy.

As the only child of the king and queen, he had been trained to be composed and rational since early childhood. A future sovereign could not afford to act rashly and make decisions based on impulses, especially under emotional duress.

As a child, he had sometimes acted recklessly and without afterthought for the consequences of his actions. That might be normal behavior for a child, but Yibo was no normal child. He had already had to carry a great responsibility from earliest childhood on.

He sometimes wondered what it would be like to have been born into a common family. He was aware that he could live a life of luxury that common people could only dream of, but didn’t common people have more freedom?

His life had been an endless string of tight schedules, strict rules, precise protocols and meticulous planning for as long as he could remember.

Every day of his life was planned from morning to evening. He had never known any other life.

Bump to the top! 🙌

This is getting long. 😅

https://twitter.com/mariella_star/status/1452031010401574915

When Yibo was sitting in his huge bathtub and lathering his skin with fragrant soap, his fingers suddenly caught on something. Oh, yes, he had forgotten to take off his necklace.

When he put his hands behind his neck to remove his necklace, he noticed that he was wearing two necklaces. Of course, XZ gift! He had completely forgotten that.
XZ had told Yibo to take the bone charm into his mouth and bite it when Yibo was in danger.

The prince contemplated whether or not he should bite the charm. What would happen? Was a spell weaved inside that would fight off his enemies? Or would it alert XZ that Yibo was in danger?

Yibo regretted that he didn’t take the time to ask XZ what would happen if he would bite the bone charm. He had been too preoccupied by his return home.

The prince wasn’t in a life-threatening situation. He was a prisoner, but at the moment, at least his life seemed to be safe.

If the charm really contained a spell that would fight off his enemies, then he would definitely waste it if he used it now.

And if it was some means to alert XZ, would XZ even be able to receive a message?

As Yibo recalled, XZ had said himself that his magic couldn’t penetrate the palace’s wards. So, would it work the other way around? Would XZ’s magic held in the bone charm be able to get out of the palace to alert its owner?

And if that would be possible, then what would happen if Yibo would use it? Would XZ come and try to save him? The mysterious man certainly couldn’t just come inside the palace to save Yibo himself?

Yibo already owed XZ his life. He couldn’t recklessly make XZ risk his own safety or even his life just to save Yibo’s life again.

The prince decided to first let the bone charm be. His life didn’t look to be in imminent danger.

Besides, he first needed to find out more about what was going on, especially, whether his parents were still alive or not. Even if he could find a way to escape with the help of XZ, he couldn’t just leave his parents behind.

Yibo left his bath and allowed the servants to dry him off and dress his wounds with fresh bandages. He sent the servants away for the night and went to bed. At least there were no guards standing at his very bedside.

After a long time tossing around, exhaustion took over and he finally managed to fall into a restless sleep. Again, he dreamed about his parents’ lives being threatened by monsters surrounding them.

But somehow, they seemed to be ignorant of the danger they were in and couldn’t hear Yibo’s warnings.

Then something soft and warm enveloped him from behind. Yibo saw two strong arms hugging him, protecting him. Two very hairy arms.

He looked ahead again and the monsters were gone. His parents were safe. He was safe. Yibo finally relaxed.

The next morning dawned with heavy clouds and cold winds. The weather was fitting for the visitor who came into Yibo’s quarters after he had finished his breakfast.

“Your Highness!” Chancellor Wu greeted the prince with an exaggerated bow. He looked minuscule framed by his tall and muscular guards. “I hope you have rested well now that you are back home. Your mission in foreign lands must’ve been very tiring.”

“Yes, it was tiring indeed. But that was nothing in comparison to being attacked and almost killed by assassins and traitors in our own ranks on our way home. You must be disappointed that I survived,” Yibo said looking straight into the chancellor’s eyes.

“Well, I must say it was indeed disappointing at first that things did not go according to plan. But after some consideration, this change of plan might work in my favor."

"I have to thank you for making things easy for me by delivering yourself straight into my hands,” Chancellor Wu said gleefully.

The chancellor was widely admired for his accomplishments that had enabled him to rise in the ranks from a simple advisor to the most powerful man after the king and queen themselves. But despite the man’s obvious skills and knowledge, Yibo had never fully trusted him.

He had always felt an air of insincerity about the chancellor. His instincts had always told him to stay away from the man as much as possible. Now he knew that his instincts had been right.

But how had the chancellor managed to plan and carry out a coup all by himself? No matter how powerful and capable the man might be, an undertaking of such a scale could not possibly be of his doing alone. Someone more powerful must be behind this.

“How did you do it?” Yibo asked. “And who helped you? You cannot tell me that a pitiful sycophant like you managed to take over an entire kingdom all by yourself. Was it Longhua?”

The chancellor seemed to be taken aback for a moment. In that moment Yibo knew for sure that it must have something to do with Princess Longhua. The deployment of her troops to the capital couldn’t be a coincidence.

“Is she the one behind it all?” Yibo started to move toward the chancellor. “What have you done to my parents? Let me see them at once!”

“My, my, is the little prince throwing a tantrum again?” a woman’s voice chided.

Yibo turned around and saw an elegant woman entering his quarters. Despite her petite stature, she was an imposing figure and exuded the authoritative air of someone who held great power. Yibo held no memory of her face, but he knew that this could only be Princess Longhua.

“So it was really you,” said Yibo.

“Where are your manners?” Longhua tutted and shook her head. “You were always a spoiled brat, but who knew that you’d still be like this after so many years.”

The prince paid Longhua’s mockery no heed. “What do you want? What did you do to my parents?”

Longhua laughed with her head thrown back. “Blunt as your mother. I shouldn’t have expected anything else from her son.”

“The original plan was for Prince Yibo to suffer a terrible death by the hands of bandits. At the tragic loss of their only child, the king and queen would fall into deep despair and eventually step back."

"They would eventually allow the king’s closest living relative to take over the throne,” Longhua said to Yibo like she was telling him a fairy tale.

“But somehow, you lucky little brat managed to escape. But then you were stupid enough to show up here and deliver yourself on a silver platter.” The smirk she gave Yibo reminded him eerily of the chancellor.

“I could’ve easily had you killed then. But I realized that it would probably not be a bad idea to keep someone with the king’s bloodline alive. You are truly one lucky man, little prince.” With these words, Longhua turned around and left.

“Bring him along!” she ordered her guards.

The strong guards came to either side of Yibo. He knew he had no chance but to follow along.

Princess Longhua led the way to the quarters of the king and queen. Hope bloomed in Yibo’s chest. Would he finally see his parents again?

But just as quickly, fear crept into his heart. Surely Longhua wouldn’t allow him to see his parents just out of kindness? What was her plan?

This thread fic was getting too long, so I decided to write the story in full and post it on AO3. The first chapter is already out! 😃

archiveofourown.org/works/35149909…

This is now a full fic on AO3! 😃

https://twitter.com/mariella_star/status/1464024112767152131