{Note:- The Past arc starts where 'Part 3:- Lost and Found' left off}

Past

 "Nooooooooooo! Please come back! Please stay. Please....." YiJun screams, holding Xian's body close and rocks them gently.

When he finally lets Xian go, his eyes fall on Xian's wrists. 'They have healed.' YiJun notices and turns to Shen, who is standing just behind YiJun. "His wrists healed. Do you think he is healing slowly? He said we would meet again. He never lies. I merely have to wait." YiJun says more to himself than to Shen before continuing, "Tomorrow morning, I will take him to Aunty Xi Xi. She will know a spell to wake him up." YiJun says, smiling at Xian's unmoving body.

'Xi Xi?... Xiao Xi Xi! She is Xian's mother! Xian. Xiao Xian! No. No. That can't be; shouldn't be!' Shen panics, "YiJun, what was Xian's family name?" He asks, fearing the worse.

"What do you mean WAS? Xian's family name is Xiao." YiJun strokes Xian's face, "Don't worry, Jun is right here. You must be missing your mother and father right, don't worry, I will take you to them."

Shen buries his face in his hands, and fresh tears make their way down his cheeks, 'First Xi Xi's brother and now, her son... How will I face her now!?' He thinks woefully. He is pulled out of his reprieve when he hears slurping noises. He watches YiJun lick dried blood on Xian's wrists, "Look at how dirty your wrists are... I will clean you." 

 YiJun's eyes move to Xian's blood-stained robes next. He tries to dust them; the stains don't come off, "Xian, you have messed your dress up badly...I am afraid they won't come off." He smiles and kisses Xian's hand, "I will get new robes, red robes. Xian, I killed her. You know what that means, right? I don't have to marry her. We can be with each other forever." YiJun says before once again kissing Xian's lips. 

Shen gulps, "YiJun." He doesn't understand what his nephew is doing. When Wangji doesn't reply, he puts a hand on YiJun's shoulder, squeezing it gently. 

YiJun looks up and smiles, "It's over, I killed her. We can be together now."

Shen leaves YiJun and goes to check the palace for survivors. He searches every room, but all he sees are lifeless bodies of maids, palace guards, and some unfortunate wedding guests. At last, he decides to check on the Princess, who they had left in the grainary.

On arriving there, however, he notices that the body had vanished. 'Where is Shin's body?' Shen wonders, looking around the room. 

He finds that except for the body of that one man who YiJun had killed, there is no one there. Deciding that he should let YiJun know of his predicament, he exits the room and almost bumps into YiJun, who is carrying Xiao Xian's body in his arms. 

"She is not here," Shen informs, but YiJun doesn't pay any attention to Shen's words. He turns around and walks out of the palace; Shen follows YiJun in the dark. None needing flames to light their way.

"Where are you going, YiJun?" Shen asks the Prince, who had not spoken a single word after Shen had left him to look for survivors. 

"Home." YiJun answer.

"Whose home?" Shen asks, for the path YiJun had chosen did not lead to Xian's village. 

YiJun doesn't answer. He keeps walking and muttering something under his breath.

After walking for a few minutes, Shen realizes that his nephew was walking towards the small cottage Shen had seen YiJun leave that morning. He moves closer to his nephew, trying to understand what YiJun is muttering. Then he hears it, "It's ok, Xian, you are fine. See, all the wounds have healed. I will wait. All I have to do is wait; I am good at waiting. You will wake up soon; I will stay with you always. We are going home now. I know you hate it when I am busy. I am not busy anymore, Xian. I am yours; all yours. We will spend the night together just like we always do. I will be with you. Just hold on. We are almost home. You need a bath." YiJun pauses and looks at himself; he chuckles, "I know you hate it when I am messy. We will bathe..."

Shen stops dead in his tracks; tears flow unrestrained. It breaks his heart to look at YiJun so broken. 'He is talking to a dead man as if he is sleeping...I need to bring him back to reality.'

"YiJun..." Shen calls, but the Prince doesn't respond. She tries again, "Jun.." 

YiJun stops and turns. His eyes glow red, "Don't call me that! Only Xian has that right. He doesn't like it if others call me Jun. What if he hears you? What if it makes him sad?" YiJun growls, before turning and walking away, continuing to mutter. Shen doesn't try again. 

When they reach the cottage, Wangji gently puts Xian down on the bed and starts removing his clothing. Just before he is about to expose Xian's chest, he turns around. "Uncle, I am sorry, but we need privacy. He doesn't like it when...." YiJun smiles affectionately at Xian and caresses his cheek, "Let's just say, he likes privacy, and so do I. My dusk and dawn belong to him, only him."

He turns back to Shen, "It's ok, uncle. Xian will take care of me. He always takes care of me." He once again turns to Xian, "Don't you Xian..." He bends and leans his ear close to Xian; he chuckles again, "I know what you want. I will give you whatever you want. You know that your Jun can never refuse you anything, right?" YiJun places a kiss on Xian's lips, "Yes, I love you too."

Shen can't take it anymore. He runs out of the cottage. He knows where he needs to go.

Present 

*Lan Mansion*

Wangji enters the main hall to find Shen and Zhau sitting next to each other. He clears his throat, "Uncle, you said that there is something you wanted to tell me."

Shen doesn't beat around the bush, "Officer Zhau knows everything."

Wangji's eyes widen. He stares at Zhau and then at Shen.

Zhau smiles and gets off the couch, "YiJun, you don't need to worry. I will never let anything happen to Shen." The Officer reassures, walking towards Wangji.

The familiar scent, once again confuses the immortal creature. "Wait, don't come any closer."

Shen leaves the couch as well and goes to stand in front of Wangji, blocking Zhau from his view. "YiJun, he is my... I trust him. We are together." Shen blurts out.

"Mn?"

"We have bonded. Zhau's blood calls to me, just like Xian's used to call to you. And I know that we can never harm each other."

Wangji is too shocked to speak. He doesn't understand how something like this could have happened so suddenly.

Zhau comes out from behind Shen, "Mr. Lan, I know what you are and what you can do to me. Yet, I am standing in front of you. I am on your side. Shen has told me everything. But there are things you don't know."

It gets Wangji's attention, "Like what?"

"The victims I mentioned earlier are not the only ones that have the same cause of death. These deaths have been happening for almost the past eighteen years. At First, the killer was sloppy and left the bodies lying around. But the way the victims were left, puzzled the law, and they thought it was an animal attack. But in recent years, the killings have become cleaner, more precise. It's like they have more control over what they are doing."

"How do you know it's the same method of killing?"

"Simple, " Zhau says, unwrapping a lollipop and putting it in his mouth.

Wangji side-eyes Shen and smirks, "Officer, I really wouldn't do that in front of my uncle if I were you. I am afraid that if you don't stop that, " Wangji points to the lollipop, "Uncle will not let you continue this conversation."

Zhau chuckles and takes the lollipop out of his mouth, "The cause of death in each case was an extreme loss of blood. It looked like the blood was sucked out."

Wangji's eyes widened, and brows knit together, "Who could be doing that? If the bodies were not disposed of properly, then it means that the killer is either too confident or too stupid."

Zhau rubs his chin with his thumb, "Or, unaware of what they are doing."

Wangji looks at Zhau with admiration, "Not bad."

"Not only am I not bad, Mr. Lan, I am excellent. The evidence against you was substantial, but I made sure you got a chance. I just had a gut feeling that you can't be behind those crimes."

Wangji turns to Shen, "Uncle, you know there is a simple way to know if he and you have bonded, right?"

Shen smiles confidently, "Go ahead."

Wangji stands close to Shen and looks into his eyes, "Punch officer Zhau right now."

Shen looks at Wangji disapprovingly, "Really, you are going to go with that?"

Wangji's smile widens; he hugs his uncle, "I am so happy for you, uncle. You finally found your protector."

Zhau breaks them apart, "Mine!" he bites out, standing in between Shen and Wangji.

Wangji takes a few steps back, "Sorry. All these years, we have only had each other. Uncle Shen is not only my uncle, but my father and my brother as well."

Shen squeezes Zhau's shoulder, "Think of him as my son, and it won't bother you." Then he looks at Wangji, "Today I met Xian, YiJun, I too think this time it is Xian. His blood, it smelled familiar, I didn't understand at first, but then I realized that it smelled a little like Zhau's."

"That is what I felt too. Yesterday, when I visited you, I could smell his blood, now that you mention it, I think that it's similar."

"I think Zhau is a descendant of Bai bloodline. Your mother was supposed to marry Xian's uncle, but before that could happen, your father kidnapped her, and he eventually died to protect me." Shen remembers with a sad smile on his face, "He was my best friend... Xian's uncle."

Zhau returns to the couch and puts the lollipop back in his mouth. Shen's eyes get drawn to Zhau, who is in deep thought, 'Damn it!'

"Uncle, the only things that are making me unsure is that my power of persuasion works on him. I have persuaded him twice, and it has worked both times. Plus, he doesn't remember me. Maybe Wei Xian is a descendant of the Bai line too. Maybe that is why his blood calls to me. If that is the case, then I need to protect him. I owe it to Xian."

Shen directs a small smile at his nephew, "You don't have to lie to me anymore. I can see that you are in love with him."

"No! Never. I have only ever loved Xian. And I will only ever love him!"

Wangji's eyes turn red; he turns away from Shen, "Please excuse me, Uncle, Xian is waiting for me."

With that, Wangji walks towards his room. 

When he is finally inside, he looks at Xian's body covered in a red sheet. He freshens up and dons his white robes. He walks over and sits on their bed. 'Our Bed... The bed we have shared for hundreds of years.' Wangji thinks, pulling the sheets away from Xian's body to reveal red robes, "Red was always your color," Wangji hands cup Xian's face, and tears start rolling down his face, "I am sorry that I touched him... I kissed him. Do you hate me now? Xian?" Wangji questions. 

"I am sorry," Wangji says, getting in next to Xian and kissing his cheek.

"I am sorry that we have not spent time together for these past few days... I don't know why I keep getting drawn to him. Xian, he looks exactly like you. He tastes... " Wangji trails off when he remembers how he had touched the boy; how he had wanted the boy to touch him. He looks at his Xian's unmoving form, "I will stay with you tonight, Xian." Wangji promises.

{Note:- Word Count 2030

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