The sharp clang of a bell dragged Su Ningyan out of darkness.
Pain throbbed behind his eyes. For several long breaths, he couldn't move. When his violet eyes finally fluttered open, he stared at a ceiling of carved red-gold wood, inlaid with glowing gold runes.
"…What?"
He sat up abruptly and froze.
This wasn't the tavern.
The chamber was vast and richly furnished, silk curtains falling in heavy folds, incense faint in the air. It felt lived-in, territorial. Royal.
His gaze snapped to the wall. A crest.
A massive nine-tailed fox carved in glowing gold, its eyes lit with a faint radiance, nine tails spread in a perfect arc, spiritual pressure rolling off it in slow waves.
Cold dread settled in his chest.
"I'm in the Celestial Beast Academy…?" Su Ningyan dragged a hand through his hair, breathing unevenly. "What the hell happened to running away?"
"You're still thinking about running?"
Yan Wuhen's voice came from the doorway.
Su Ningyan spun around.
Yan Wuhen stood there in elegant robes, fox ears twitching lazily, a single red tail swaying behind him. He looked entirely too relaxed. Entirely too pleased.
"Aren't you exhausted yet, Yan'er?" he asked lightly.
Su Ningyan's eyes burned. "You kidnapped me." Twice!
Yan Wuhen stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "I saved your life."
"I was running away from you."
Yan Wuhen tilted his head, amused. "Do you know where you are?"
"I don't care," Su Ningyan snapped. "Let me leave."
A smile tugged at Yan Wuhen's lips. "But I'm being nice to you."
That made Su Ningyan's stomach twist.
In the book, Yan Wuhen was obsessed with control, pleasure, dominance. But book-Su Ningyan had been just as monstrous, overflowing with demonic qi, capable of biting back.
This Ningyan wasn't.
"…What do you want from me?" Su Ningyan asked quietly.
Yan Wuhen's eyes lit up.
"I'm glad you're finally asking the right question," he said, closing the distance between them. "Because I'm not letting you go."
He reached out, his fingers curling around Su Ningyan's hair.
Smack.
Su Ningyan slapped his hand away and stepped back, his eyes sharp, spine straight.
Yan Wuhen's smile vanished.
In a blink, his hand was at Su Ningyan's throat. Not squeezing, just resting there.
Fear shot through Su Ningyan's veins anyway.
"You need to submit, Yan'er," Yan Wuhen murmured, his red-gold eyes gleaming. "That's all I want."
Su Ningyan swallowed, but his gaze didn't drop. "And if I don't?"
Yan Wuhen smiled slowly. "You don't get that choice."
He released Su Ningyan's neck and clenched his fist.
A flash of red-gold light erupted between them.
A glowing chain materialized around Su Ningyan's throat, cool and humming with spiritual energy. The other end snapped tight around Yan Wuhen's wrist.
Su Ningyan froze. "…No."
Yan Wuhen lifted his bound hand, admiring the chain. "Spirit mate chain," he said pleasantly. "You can't be more than six hours away from me."
His smile deepened.
"Your existence is mine, Yan'er, all mine."
Su Ningyan's eyes twitched.
How… How did it come to this?
He was supposed to be far away from all of this.. hidden in some nameless village, picking herbs. Living quietly. Living freely.
Instead, he was bound to a crazy beast prince.
The spirit mate chain pulsed faintly against his throat, its presence heavy and suffocating. It was unbreakable.
And the only one who had formed it could remove it.
If Su Ningyan strayed too far from Yan Wuhen, if he left the Academy grounds entirely.....
He would die.
Panic clawed up his spine.
This was his second life. A life he had sworn to live differently.
And yet, he was still trapped in the same plot. Still entangled with one of his beast husbands.
Something inside him snapped.
Su Ningyan screamed and lunged forward, slamming Yan Wuhen to the floor. The impact knocked the breath from them both.
In the next instant, Ningyan straddled him, his hands closing around Yan Wuhen's neck, fingers trembling with fury.
"I will not accept this," he hissed. "Break the chain. Now. Or I swear I will make your life a living hell!"
Yan Wuhen's eyes widened for a second.
Then he smiled.
Sharp canines flashed, his expression bright with something dangerously pleased.
Su Ningyan clenched his jaw. Truly. Good looks were wasted on maniacs. Why did he have to be gay?
"You have nowhere else to go," Yan Wuhen said calmly, as if he wasn't being strangled. "You're a cripple. A nobody. But by my side... inside the Celestial Beast Academy... you can be someone."
His voice lowered. "You might even repair your beast core."
"I don't need your help!" Su Ningyan shouted, striking his chest again and again.
Yan Wuhen coughed and laughed.
It felt like arguing with a mockingbird.
"Are you sure?" he asked hoarsely.
Su Ningyan froze. His brows drew together.
Was there… really a way?
A way to repair a broken beast core without demon qi?
His heart sank.
If he stayed in the Academy, bound to Yan Wuhen, there was no avoiding it. The demon qi. The fate he had tried so desperately to escape.
This world was cruel. It wasn't built for mercy, and certainly not for cripples. He might not be strong enough to...
"…Are you alright?" Yan Wuhen suddenly asked.
Before Su Ningyan could react, a warm palm pressed against his abdomen.
He jolted to his feet.
"Don't go, Yan'er,"
The spirit mate chain flared violently into existence. With a sharp tug, Yan Wuhen pulled Ningyan down onto him. Arms wrapped tightly around his body. The chain vanished.
Su Ningyan stiffened, pinned flush against him, heat rushing to his face.
"Let me go," he croaked.
Yan Wuhen buried his face into the crook of Ningyan's neck, inhaling slowly.
"Never," he whispered.
Su Ningyan sagged, exhaustion crashing over him. "….I need alcohol."