[fic] Wanderer Wu Catches A Ghost
Title: Wanderer Wu Catches a Ghost(1)
Prompt: Mythology
Pairing: Tao/Kris
Sumary: Yifan is a wanderer. Nothing has ever stopped him from traveling from place to place, even at night, not even silly ghost folktales. But on the full moon night of Zhong Yuan Jie(2), Yifan learns that not all tales are false.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Scary spirits, mentions of blood, a bit of non-con roughness
Word count: 3,499
Old Lady Wien rises to her feet and dusts her robe. Yifan moves closer to her, but does not interrupt her ceremony. They watch in silence as two paper lotus float serenely on the dark pond water. The candlelight inside each flower wavers with the soft breezes coming down the mountains, but does not go out.
“You should not travel on this night, wanderer.” Her voice rasps the words, like a quill over old paper. It’s a warning that comes out of motherly concern. Yifan has only been in the village for a full moon cycle, but the old lady took him in like he was a son. It makes sense now that he knows she lost her own two progeny.
“Apologies, grandmother,” Yifan says, inclining his head. “But it is time for me to wander on.” Her semi-toothless smile at his play on words makes him feel less bad about leaving. He kisses the top of her head, her snow-white hair tickling his lips, before he turns away.
“Wanderer,” she calls back. “The spirits will arise this night for their yearly visit, but not all of them have the best intentions. Take care in the woods.”
Yifan frowns at the specific warning. “The woods?”
“My boys…loved to play there.” The old woman takes a deep breath. Her eyes darken with pain. “Those they wronged still walk the world in agony over the horrors done to them. I have appeased many of them over the years, helped them find their way. But others remain. Heed my warning. Stay.” The last word is a plea.
Yifan smiles at Old Wien and kneels before her. “I have traveled many lands, seen beauty and horror, love and hate, good and evil, and I still live. Do not worry, grandmother. We will meet again one day.”
Old Wien pats his cheek and gives him a sad smile. She knows as well as he does that this will not happen.
*****
Yifan walks along the road breathing in the sounds of the night-owls on the hunt, foxes scurrying through the underbrush, bats flying overhead, insects shrilling. The woods are as alive at night as they are during day. It’s for moments like this that he lives for; the peace and serenity that come from wandering alone.
Though it does get a bit too lonely sometimes.
A strong gust sneaks the cold in through the open folds of his robes. Yifan shivers and pulls his outer layers closer about himself. That’s odd. It’s not supposed to get this cold for a few moons yet.
The wind picks up again, swirling dead leaves and dust all around. He raises his arms and covers his face. When it all dies down, the woods have gone silent.
The hairs on Yifan’s arms and neck stand on end. Old Wien’s words come back to him and while he is not afraid of spirits, he is wary of those who would make use of ghost stories to attack a lone traveler. It has happened before.
He waits a beat and then calls out. “Who is there?”
The wind plays with the leaves and branches up above, scratching them together. Pieces of moonlight touch the forest floor, but not enough to reveal what’s hiding in the woods.
It’s getting colder and colder.
Doubt starts to surface in Yifan’s rational mind.
But then a soft scrape.
Yifan twirls, pulling his walking stick up into a defensive position.
A young man stands alone on the road. Hair black as night itself and skin the color of the shadows on the moon. Almost as tall as Yifan, but lithe and delicate. “I did not mean to startle you,” he says, and moves forward with all the grace of a mountain cat.
“What are you doing alone in these woods, boy?” Yifan asks, his tone unyielding.
A smile. “I could ask the same.”
Yifan doesn’t lower his stick, senses still alert to any trap, as he tries to figure out why he still isn’t at ease. “What is your name?”
“I am Zitao,” the young man says. “You may call me Tao.”
“Tao.” Yifan tries out the name, letting it tap out of his mouth and into the air. The young man smiles wider. “I am Yifan. What are you doing in these woods, Tao?”
“Wandering. It seems we travel in the same direction though,” Tao says. “I thought a little company would be better on this lonely night.”
Yifan would beg to differ, but then Tao is looking around at the wood like it’s a live and scary thing about to eat him. He can’t just leave the young man alone and afraid. His conscience would haunt him. He can sacrifice his alone time for one night.
Lowering his walking stick, Yifan grants the kid a soft smile hoping to put him at ease. “Very well.”
Tao’s answering grin makes his lips curl up even more and his eyes disappear into crescents. The young man’s canine teeth are oddly pointed, the smile a bit too wide. A feeling of wrongness tightens around Yifan’s chest the more he looks at Tao, but it quickly goes away when the younger talks.
“Should we get going then, Yifan?” Tao looks as innocent as before, rocking on the balls of his feet and waiting for him to take the lead.
They set out through the barely-there path amid the woods. Tao saunters easily beside him, sometimes running up ahead, other times walking backwards. Usually, the silence isn’t uncomfortable to Yifan, but not talking to his odd traveling companion seems…rude.
“Where are you headed?” he asks.
Tao drops the night bloom in his hands and moves back near him. “To the coast. I’m hoping to find work on one of the ships.”
“Hard work. And far away. There are farms around here that need young able hands,” Yifan says, remembering Old Wien’s complains about her village’s crops going to waste for lack of hands.
“The farms do not interest me,” Tao snaps.
Yifan doesn’t say anything more.
“I’m sorry. I did not mean to lash out.” Tao bites his lower lip. “I come from one such farm you see….”
“Ah. Trying to get away from home?” Yifan asks. He’d done the same thing, choosing to leave his family behind in the hopes of carving his own path in life. A lot of people still resented him for it-parents, friends-which is why he didn’t visit home often. “I hope you have a plan. It’s hard to start out a new life without a plan.”
Tao smiles. “I have a plan. Get work on a ship.”
“I meant after that.” Yifan spreads his hands wide. “What is your ultimate wish? What do you want to be? A ship captain? A pirate?”
“I…I do not know yet,” Tao says, and Yifan doesn’t miss the frown that settles over the young man’s face.
“You’re still young,” Yifan says, ruffling the young man’s hair, hoping to lift Tao’s spirit. “You have time to figure things out.”
Tao nods, a tiny smile curling at the edges of his lips. “What about you, oh wise wanderer? Was your dream to roam the lands alone?”
Now it’s Yifan’s turn to frown. “Actually…no.”
Tao quirks an eyebrow at him a clear accusation. As if to say, who is Yifan to be giving advice on life choices when his own haven’t been that great.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he says quickly. “Even though it is not what I set out to do, I love being a wanderer. Gathering languages, gathering knowledge, seeing the world. It fulfills me more than anything else I’ve experienced.”
“Have you experienced love?” Tao asks.
Taken aback, Yifan mumbles a quick no.
“It is all consuming,” Tao says dreamily. “All fulfilling. It’s what I want.” The young man’s eyes stare ahead, as if seeing a different scene from the reality in front of them. There’s a desperate gleam in them that makes Yifan shiver.
“I thought you didn’t know what you wanted-” Yifan stops when he notices the sudden land drop. He grips Tao’s arm to stop him and then moves ahead to inspect.
The ravine isn’t that deep. They could slide down easily during daylight, but at night they would only risk a broken limb or neck. “We’ll have to go around and find another place to cross.”
“Yifan.”
The strain in Tao’s voice makes Yifan turn back to where the young man is. A sharp breath gets lodged in his throat when he sees the hulking creature blocking their path. Snow-white fur, amber eyes, dark gums with sharp, protruding teeth as the mighty wolf snarls.
Yifan would not be afraid, except this is no common wolf. The beast’s tails are white plumes of flame, and its eyes are full of hellish light the closer it gets. This is a spirit wolf and for some reason it’s pissed at them. It makes no sense. Animal spirits are usually curious or mischievous. Only when their grounds are desecrated by man or invaded by other spirits do they rise up in anger.
The spirit wolf herds them to the edge of the ravine. Tao trembles at his side. Yifan is trying to think of a way out of this, but there’s nowhere else to go.
Then the wolf snaps it’s jaws.
Tao gasps. He steps back and over-balances. The young man’s eyes are wide, as if he can’t believe what’s about to happen.
Yifan makes a grab for Tao’s hand.
But his fingers grasp air.
Tao falls with a short-lived scream. Then Yifan hears the grunts and impact sounds as Tao’s body rolls down the incline. A muted splash and then silence.
“Tao!”
Yifan turns back, ready to defend himself against the wolf, but the creature is no longer there. He puts the oddity out of his head and focuses on what’s important.
Tightening his grip on the walking stick, he approaches the ledge. Yifan takes a deep breath, steps, and slides down the ravine. His descent is controlled, but hitting trees and rocks in his path is unavoidable. He stumbles. Rolls once. His knees hit rocks at the bottom with a loud crack and he grunts.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Yifan stands. “Tao? Tao!”
A weak moan.
Yifan squints and sees the young man lying in the middle of the small creek. Tao is struggling to get up and move. He keeps a hand gripped around one of his legs.
Yifan goes to him.
“My ankle….”
Tao whimpers when Yifan slides the boot off and checks it. The skin looks darker in the faint light, a bruise is already forming, but the bone inside seems intact when he touches it. “It’s only hurt, not broken.”
Yifan hauls Tao up by the armpits, eliciting a squeak from the younger. Tao trembles in his arms and Yifan tightens his hold. He was sure he had aimed right, yet when he reached, his hand hadn’t connected with Tao’s at all. It was almost as if his fingers had gone through the young man’s hand, which was completely ridiculous because Tao was very solid in his arms.
Tao’s fingers on his arm are cold, a result of the cool water they’re standing in. The young man’s clothes cling to his lithe frame outlining the wiry muscles underneath. He grabs Tao’s waist when the other sways. Tao’s abdomen tightens, forming perfect little squares that suddenly Yifan wants to touch to see if they’re as hard as they look.
“I’m not hurt,” Tao says. “Only a bit bruised.”
“That’s good,” Yifan says, still inspecting Tao all over.
The young man clears his throat.
Right. Yifan takes off his outer robe and wraps Tao in it. It way too big for Tao’s smaller frame, but it’ll cover him well.
“I don’t think I can go on,” Tao says, burying into the plentiful robe. “I’ll stay here until my ankle heals. Maybe I’ll catch up to you-”
Yifan shakes his head and kneels. “Get on.”
When Tao does nothing, Yifan looks over his shoulder. “I’m not leaving you here. Now get on.”
Tao wraps his arms around Yifan’s neck. Yifan’s arms go back and link under Tao’s legs as they close around his hips. Tao’s breath fans across his cheek. There’s a moment when Yifan stands when it feels like he’s carrying nothing. Weightless. But then Tao moves and the weight is there on his back.
Yifan decides to follow the creek upstream, the same direction they were traveling in before the spirit wolf appeared. The creek grows wider and deeper, and so he follows over the rocks along the banks.
Tao chatters on endlessly, his voice whispering close to Yifan’s ear. He talks about his plans, his dreams, everything he wants to do once he acquires a job with a ship. His innocent hopefulness makes Yifan smile. He, too, was once like that, before he saw the darker shades of the world.
Yifan slips on a mossy rock, but manages to keep his balance. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” Tao says, but the extra whine in his voice betrays him.
They need to stop and rest. Yifan continues on, searching for a suitable place to stay the night when the sound of rushing water increases. Up ahead, they encounter a small waterfall. There’s a rock platform to the side and a clearing that no doubt other travelers have used before as a camping place.
Yifan sets Tao down on the rock at the edge of the waterfall pool. “Put your ankle in. The cold will help with the pain.”
Tao takes his other boot off before dipping both feet into the water. The young man drops his head back and sighs in relief. “So good.”
Yifan chuckles and settles down beside him, keeping his feet out of the water. “Dawn is a few hours away. We should rest for now and get up early tomorrow. There has to be a village nearby with a doctor that can check your ankle.”
Tao hums.
Yifan stares at his companion’s profile. The vague light makes it blur around the edges, but he can still admire the prominent nose, the delicate lips turned up into a smile, the elegant curve of his neck. What would it feel to run his tongue up that column of tanned flesh?
“It is not polite to stare?”
Yifan coughs and looks away. “I did not mean to make you uncomfortable.”
Tao looks at him and grins. “I assure you, you weren’t.” When Yifan fails to respond in any way, Tao laughs. “Let’s swim.”
“It’s too cold. I don’t-” But it’s too late, because Tao is already stripping off his clothes and dropping into the dark pool. He barely makes any ripples as his body submerges fully.
Yifan lies back on his hands and stares in awe at the stars above him. It’s been way too long since he’s been with someone. That is the only explanation as to why he can’t keep his desire under control around Tao. But there’s something about the young man that makes his blood run hotter, his heart beat faster.
Naked and wet Tao splashing about in the water is not helping at all. Though, now that he thinks about it, Tao is making no sound in the water. Not even a splash. A shiver runs through Yifan’s body and he sit up quickly. “Tao.”
And Tao is there. Water sprinkles over Yifan’s leg as the young man pulls himself out of the water. Tao crawls to him and settles over his waist, getting his robes wet. Yifan can’t even utter a word to reprimand him.
Tao’s cat-like eyes are intense and steady as he begins working on the knots of Yifan’s robes.
When Tao’s cold fingers touch his chest, Yifan grips the young man’s wrist. “Stop.”
“Why?”
“You’re hurt.”
“I won’t need my ankle for what we’re going to do,” Tao says before insistently pressing his lips against Yifan’s, making him gasp.
Tao’s tongue tangles up with his, and Yifan moans into the kiss. It feels so good. It’s been too long. Tao tastes like wild berries, and mint leaf, and something coppery. It almost tastes like…. “Did you bite your tongue when you fell?”
Tao mouths at Yifan’s neck. “No. Why?”
“I thought I tasted-”
But Tao doesn’t let him finish. He kisses with renewed fervor, making Yifan forget everything else by pressing a hand against the awakening erection inside his pants.
Yifan pants, trying to get control, but it’s useless. It’s been too long since anyone but himself has touched his dick. “Tao, if you continue-ah, like that-I’m gonna-”
Tao removes his hand and takes one of Yifan’s, pulling at it and wrapping the fingers against his naked, hard cock. “Make me come,” he says, making Yifan’s hips jerk up, seeking friction.
Yifan wastes no time, opening his pants more and grabbing their erections together, eliciting moans from both of them. Tao is arched back on his lap, his torso wet and heaving with each breath. Yifan pumps them slow, wanting to prolong the beautiful sight as long as he can. He latches onto a dusky nipple and bites, making the young man keen.
Tao lowers his head and stares back at Yifan. Sinful moans spill from his parted lips. His right cheek is dark, too dark. A bruise spreads underneath the skin as Yifan watches.
“Tao!” Yifan lets go and grips the young man closer. But when he inspects the cheek, there are no bruises, no blood on Tao’s face.
Tao smiles at him and cards his fingers through Yifan’s hair. “What’s wrong?”
“I…I thought I saw.” Yifan glances up. A hot flash runs through him when he sees Tao’s heated gaze so up close. “Nothing.”
They kiss again, open mouthed and messy. Yifan wastes no time and grips their cocks once again, pumping harder, chasing release.
Tao cradles Yifan’s face and keeps on kissing him, harder and harder. His fingers dig into Yifan’s jaw until it aches.
Yifan tries to move away, but the young man grasps his hair and pulls him closer. He can’t breathe under Tao’s assault. His heart pumps too fast. Yifan feels faint. “Ah…Tao…not so hard.”
But Tao doesn’t listen. He ruts faster, harder; holds Yifan in bruising grips that have the wanderer crying out in pain.
Yifan lets go of their cocks, and grips Tao’s waist, trying to pry him off. “Tao, stop!”
Tao comes all over Yifan’s front and only then does he pull back.
Yifan’s orgasm wilts and dies.
Tao’s eyes are whitened out, glowing with eerie light. The teasing grin Tao delivers is full of sharp, pointy teeth.
Yifan screams and buckles him off. He rolls away and scrambles up, pulling his pants back into place as best as he can. When he turns around, Tao is no longer there. A full body shiver runs through his limbs, and his stomach drops as he realizes what he just did. Yifan doesn’t think about it, just runs into the woods.
Black threatens at the edges of his vision, but Yifan pushes on. He doesn’t know which way he’s going. He doesn’t care, as long as it is far away from that…that creature. He knew there had been something wrong with Tao. The blurriness at the edges of his figure, the weightlessness, soundless splashes. If only he hadn’t been so charmed by the kid, so distracted.
The sky is brightening in the horizon by the time Yifan finds a road. A sob escapes his lips, because between one blink and another, the creature appears.
Tao stands in the middle of the road, completely naked except for Yifan’s open robe billowing in an unnatural wind. His eyes are alight with hellfire as he looks down at Yifan, who lies trembling on the forest floor.
“What are you?” Yifan asks.
The smile is a bit too wide, a bit too sharp. “I am yuan gui.”
Yifan knows the words, the meaning to them. A ghost with a grievance. This is not good. “I do not know what wrong was done to you,” Yifan says. “But taking it out on me will not solve-”
Tao throws his head back and laughs openly, cutting him off. “I’m not taking my revenge out on you. I wanted to thank you. That release will keep me alive for many moons.” Tao snorts. “Well…not alive, but in this world.”
Yifan’s hands start to tremble. He wants to run again, but his feet seem to have gotten stuck. His pulse is loud in his ears. When Tao moves forward, Yifan’s feet get tangled up in his retreat and he stumbles back.
Tao stops smiling. His figure blurs into a wind and then he’s in front of Yifan. The spirit’s hand is a cold breeze against Yifan’s skin. “We’ll meet again, wanderer.”
Yifan runs then.
Tao’s cruel laugh chases him all the way out of the woods.
Notes:
(1 )The original tale is called Zong Dingbo Catches a Ghost. In it, Dingbo essentially tricks the poor ghost and ends up selling him. For my story, I kept some similarities-like they both saying they are headed the same way, the ghost weightlessness issue, and the soundlessness in the water-but plot-wise, I wanted the story to be scarier. SO I got creative! But I think I failed??? OTL
(2) Zhong Yuan Jie is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival held in Asian countries in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm to visit the living. The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival in modern day, is celebrated the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and the month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month.
Prompt: Mythology
Pairing: Tao/Kris
Sumary: Yifan is a wanderer. Nothing has ever stopped him from traveling from place to place, even at night, not even silly ghost folktales. But on the full moon night of Zhong Yuan Jie(2), Yifan learns that not all tales are false.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Scary spirits, mentions of blood, a bit of non-con roughness
Word count: 3,499
Old Lady Wien rises to her feet and dusts her robe. Yifan moves closer to her, but does not interrupt her ceremony. They watch in silence as two paper lotus float serenely on the dark pond water. The candlelight inside each flower wavers with the soft breezes coming down the mountains, but does not go out.
“You should not travel on this night, wanderer.” Her voice rasps the words, like a quill over old paper. It’s a warning that comes out of motherly concern. Yifan has only been in the village for a full moon cycle, but the old lady took him in like he was a son. It makes sense now that he knows she lost her own two progeny.
“Apologies, grandmother,” Yifan says, inclining his head. “But it is time for me to wander on.” Her semi-toothless smile at his play on words makes him feel less bad about leaving. He kisses the top of her head, her snow-white hair tickling his lips, before he turns away.
“Wanderer,” she calls back. “The spirits will arise this night for their yearly visit, but not all of them have the best intentions. Take care in the woods.”
Yifan frowns at the specific warning. “The woods?”
“My boys…loved to play there.” The old woman takes a deep breath. Her eyes darken with pain. “Those they wronged still walk the world in agony over the horrors done to them. I have appeased many of them over the years, helped them find their way. But others remain. Heed my warning. Stay.” The last word is a plea.
Yifan smiles at Old Wien and kneels before her. “I have traveled many lands, seen beauty and horror, love and hate, good and evil, and I still live. Do not worry, grandmother. We will meet again one day.”
Old Wien pats his cheek and gives him a sad smile. She knows as well as he does that this will not happen.
*****
Yifan walks along the road breathing in the sounds of the night-owls on the hunt, foxes scurrying through the underbrush, bats flying overhead, insects shrilling. The woods are as alive at night as they are during day. It’s for moments like this that he lives for; the peace and serenity that come from wandering alone.
Though it does get a bit too lonely sometimes.
A strong gust sneaks the cold in through the open folds of his robes. Yifan shivers and pulls his outer layers closer about himself. That’s odd. It’s not supposed to get this cold for a few moons yet.
The wind picks up again, swirling dead leaves and dust all around. He raises his arms and covers his face. When it all dies down, the woods have gone silent.
The hairs on Yifan’s arms and neck stand on end. Old Wien’s words come back to him and while he is not afraid of spirits, he is wary of those who would make use of ghost stories to attack a lone traveler. It has happened before.
He waits a beat and then calls out. “Who is there?”
The wind plays with the leaves and branches up above, scratching them together. Pieces of moonlight touch the forest floor, but not enough to reveal what’s hiding in the woods.
It’s getting colder and colder.
Doubt starts to surface in Yifan’s rational mind.
But then a soft scrape.
Yifan twirls, pulling his walking stick up into a defensive position.
A young man stands alone on the road. Hair black as night itself and skin the color of the shadows on the moon. Almost as tall as Yifan, but lithe and delicate. “I did not mean to startle you,” he says, and moves forward with all the grace of a mountain cat.
“What are you doing alone in these woods, boy?” Yifan asks, his tone unyielding.
A smile. “I could ask the same.”
Yifan doesn’t lower his stick, senses still alert to any trap, as he tries to figure out why he still isn’t at ease. “What is your name?”
“I am Zitao,” the young man says. “You may call me Tao.”
“Tao.” Yifan tries out the name, letting it tap out of his mouth and into the air. The young man smiles wider. “I am Yifan. What are you doing in these woods, Tao?”
“Wandering. It seems we travel in the same direction though,” Tao says. “I thought a little company would be better on this lonely night.”
Yifan would beg to differ, but then Tao is looking around at the wood like it’s a live and scary thing about to eat him. He can’t just leave the young man alone and afraid. His conscience would haunt him. He can sacrifice his alone time for one night.
Lowering his walking stick, Yifan grants the kid a soft smile hoping to put him at ease. “Very well.”
Tao’s answering grin makes his lips curl up even more and his eyes disappear into crescents. The young man’s canine teeth are oddly pointed, the smile a bit too wide. A feeling of wrongness tightens around Yifan’s chest the more he looks at Tao, but it quickly goes away when the younger talks.
“Should we get going then, Yifan?” Tao looks as innocent as before, rocking on the balls of his feet and waiting for him to take the lead.
They set out through the barely-there path amid the woods. Tao saunters easily beside him, sometimes running up ahead, other times walking backwards. Usually, the silence isn’t uncomfortable to Yifan, but not talking to his odd traveling companion seems…rude.
“Where are you headed?” he asks.
Tao drops the night bloom in his hands and moves back near him. “To the coast. I’m hoping to find work on one of the ships.”
“Hard work. And far away. There are farms around here that need young able hands,” Yifan says, remembering Old Wien’s complains about her village’s crops going to waste for lack of hands.
“The farms do not interest me,” Tao snaps.
Yifan doesn’t say anything more.
“I’m sorry. I did not mean to lash out.” Tao bites his lower lip. “I come from one such farm you see….”
“Ah. Trying to get away from home?” Yifan asks. He’d done the same thing, choosing to leave his family behind in the hopes of carving his own path in life. A lot of people still resented him for it-parents, friends-which is why he didn’t visit home often. “I hope you have a plan. It’s hard to start out a new life without a plan.”
Tao smiles. “I have a plan. Get work on a ship.”
“I meant after that.” Yifan spreads his hands wide. “What is your ultimate wish? What do you want to be? A ship captain? A pirate?”
“I…I do not know yet,” Tao says, and Yifan doesn’t miss the frown that settles over the young man’s face.
“You’re still young,” Yifan says, ruffling the young man’s hair, hoping to lift Tao’s spirit. “You have time to figure things out.”
Tao nods, a tiny smile curling at the edges of his lips. “What about you, oh wise wanderer? Was your dream to roam the lands alone?”
Now it’s Yifan’s turn to frown. “Actually…no.”
Tao quirks an eyebrow at him a clear accusation. As if to say, who is Yifan to be giving advice on life choices when his own haven’t been that great.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he says quickly. “Even though it is not what I set out to do, I love being a wanderer. Gathering languages, gathering knowledge, seeing the world. It fulfills me more than anything else I’ve experienced.”
“Have you experienced love?” Tao asks.
Taken aback, Yifan mumbles a quick no.
“It is all consuming,” Tao says dreamily. “All fulfilling. It’s what I want.” The young man’s eyes stare ahead, as if seeing a different scene from the reality in front of them. There’s a desperate gleam in them that makes Yifan shiver.
“I thought you didn’t know what you wanted-” Yifan stops when he notices the sudden land drop. He grips Tao’s arm to stop him and then moves ahead to inspect.
The ravine isn’t that deep. They could slide down easily during daylight, but at night they would only risk a broken limb or neck. “We’ll have to go around and find another place to cross.”
“Yifan.”
The strain in Tao’s voice makes Yifan turn back to where the young man is. A sharp breath gets lodged in his throat when he sees the hulking creature blocking their path. Snow-white fur, amber eyes, dark gums with sharp, protruding teeth as the mighty wolf snarls.
Yifan would not be afraid, except this is no common wolf. The beast’s tails are white plumes of flame, and its eyes are full of hellish light the closer it gets. This is a spirit wolf and for some reason it’s pissed at them. It makes no sense. Animal spirits are usually curious or mischievous. Only when their grounds are desecrated by man or invaded by other spirits do they rise up in anger.
The spirit wolf herds them to the edge of the ravine. Tao trembles at his side. Yifan is trying to think of a way out of this, but there’s nowhere else to go.
Then the wolf snaps it’s jaws.
Tao gasps. He steps back and over-balances. The young man’s eyes are wide, as if he can’t believe what’s about to happen.
Yifan makes a grab for Tao’s hand.
But his fingers grasp air.
Tao falls with a short-lived scream. Then Yifan hears the grunts and impact sounds as Tao’s body rolls down the incline. A muted splash and then silence.
“Tao!”
Yifan turns back, ready to defend himself against the wolf, but the creature is no longer there. He puts the oddity out of his head and focuses on what’s important.
Tightening his grip on the walking stick, he approaches the ledge. Yifan takes a deep breath, steps, and slides down the ravine. His descent is controlled, but hitting trees and rocks in his path is unavoidable. He stumbles. Rolls once. His knees hit rocks at the bottom with a loud crack and he grunts.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Yifan stands. “Tao? Tao!”
A weak moan.
Yifan squints and sees the young man lying in the middle of the small creek. Tao is struggling to get up and move. He keeps a hand gripped around one of his legs.
Yifan goes to him.
“My ankle….”
Tao whimpers when Yifan slides the boot off and checks it. The skin looks darker in the faint light, a bruise is already forming, but the bone inside seems intact when he touches it. “It’s only hurt, not broken.”
Yifan hauls Tao up by the armpits, eliciting a squeak from the younger. Tao trembles in his arms and Yifan tightens his hold. He was sure he had aimed right, yet when he reached, his hand hadn’t connected with Tao’s at all. It was almost as if his fingers had gone through the young man’s hand, which was completely ridiculous because Tao was very solid in his arms.
Tao’s fingers on his arm are cold, a result of the cool water they’re standing in. The young man’s clothes cling to his lithe frame outlining the wiry muscles underneath. He grabs Tao’s waist when the other sways. Tao’s abdomen tightens, forming perfect little squares that suddenly Yifan wants to touch to see if they’re as hard as they look.
“I’m not hurt,” Tao says. “Only a bit bruised.”
“That’s good,” Yifan says, still inspecting Tao all over.
The young man clears his throat.
Right. Yifan takes off his outer robe and wraps Tao in it. It way too big for Tao’s smaller frame, but it’ll cover him well.
“I don’t think I can go on,” Tao says, burying into the plentiful robe. “I’ll stay here until my ankle heals. Maybe I’ll catch up to you-”
Yifan shakes his head and kneels. “Get on.”
When Tao does nothing, Yifan looks over his shoulder. “I’m not leaving you here. Now get on.”
Tao wraps his arms around Yifan’s neck. Yifan’s arms go back and link under Tao’s legs as they close around his hips. Tao’s breath fans across his cheek. There’s a moment when Yifan stands when it feels like he’s carrying nothing. Weightless. But then Tao moves and the weight is there on his back.
Yifan decides to follow the creek upstream, the same direction they were traveling in before the spirit wolf appeared. The creek grows wider and deeper, and so he follows over the rocks along the banks.
Tao chatters on endlessly, his voice whispering close to Yifan’s ear. He talks about his plans, his dreams, everything he wants to do once he acquires a job with a ship. His innocent hopefulness makes Yifan smile. He, too, was once like that, before he saw the darker shades of the world.
Yifan slips on a mossy rock, but manages to keep his balance. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” Tao says, but the extra whine in his voice betrays him.
They need to stop and rest. Yifan continues on, searching for a suitable place to stay the night when the sound of rushing water increases. Up ahead, they encounter a small waterfall. There’s a rock platform to the side and a clearing that no doubt other travelers have used before as a camping place.
Yifan sets Tao down on the rock at the edge of the waterfall pool. “Put your ankle in. The cold will help with the pain.”
Tao takes his other boot off before dipping both feet into the water. The young man drops his head back and sighs in relief. “So good.”
Yifan chuckles and settles down beside him, keeping his feet out of the water. “Dawn is a few hours away. We should rest for now and get up early tomorrow. There has to be a village nearby with a doctor that can check your ankle.”
Tao hums.
Yifan stares at his companion’s profile. The vague light makes it blur around the edges, but he can still admire the prominent nose, the delicate lips turned up into a smile, the elegant curve of his neck. What would it feel to run his tongue up that column of tanned flesh?
“It is not polite to stare?”
Yifan coughs and looks away. “I did not mean to make you uncomfortable.”
Tao looks at him and grins. “I assure you, you weren’t.” When Yifan fails to respond in any way, Tao laughs. “Let’s swim.”
“It’s too cold. I don’t-” But it’s too late, because Tao is already stripping off his clothes and dropping into the dark pool. He barely makes any ripples as his body submerges fully.
Yifan lies back on his hands and stares in awe at the stars above him. It’s been way too long since he’s been with someone. That is the only explanation as to why he can’t keep his desire under control around Tao. But there’s something about the young man that makes his blood run hotter, his heart beat faster.
Naked and wet Tao splashing about in the water is not helping at all. Though, now that he thinks about it, Tao is making no sound in the water. Not even a splash. A shiver runs through Yifan’s body and he sit up quickly. “Tao.”
And Tao is there. Water sprinkles over Yifan’s leg as the young man pulls himself out of the water. Tao crawls to him and settles over his waist, getting his robes wet. Yifan can’t even utter a word to reprimand him.
Tao’s cat-like eyes are intense and steady as he begins working on the knots of Yifan’s robes.
When Tao’s cold fingers touch his chest, Yifan grips the young man’s wrist. “Stop.”
“Why?”
“You’re hurt.”
“I won’t need my ankle for what we’re going to do,” Tao says before insistently pressing his lips against Yifan’s, making him gasp.
Tao’s tongue tangles up with his, and Yifan moans into the kiss. It feels so good. It’s been too long. Tao tastes like wild berries, and mint leaf, and something coppery. It almost tastes like…. “Did you bite your tongue when you fell?”
Tao mouths at Yifan’s neck. “No. Why?”
“I thought I tasted-”
But Tao doesn’t let him finish. He kisses with renewed fervor, making Yifan forget everything else by pressing a hand against the awakening erection inside his pants.
Yifan pants, trying to get control, but it’s useless. It’s been too long since anyone but himself has touched his dick. “Tao, if you continue-ah, like that-I’m gonna-”
Tao removes his hand and takes one of Yifan’s, pulling at it and wrapping the fingers against his naked, hard cock. “Make me come,” he says, making Yifan’s hips jerk up, seeking friction.
Yifan wastes no time, opening his pants more and grabbing their erections together, eliciting moans from both of them. Tao is arched back on his lap, his torso wet and heaving with each breath. Yifan pumps them slow, wanting to prolong the beautiful sight as long as he can. He latches onto a dusky nipple and bites, making the young man keen.
Tao lowers his head and stares back at Yifan. Sinful moans spill from his parted lips. His right cheek is dark, too dark. A bruise spreads underneath the skin as Yifan watches.
“Tao!” Yifan lets go and grips the young man closer. But when he inspects the cheek, there are no bruises, no blood on Tao’s face.
Tao smiles at him and cards his fingers through Yifan’s hair. “What’s wrong?”
“I…I thought I saw.” Yifan glances up. A hot flash runs through him when he sees Tao’s heated gaze so up close. “Nothing.”
They kiss again, open mouthed and messy. Yifan wastes no time and grips their cocks once again, pumping harder, chasing release.
Tao cradles Yifan’s face and keeps on kissing him, harder and harder. His fingers dig into Yifan’s jaw until it aches.
Yifan tries to move away, but the young man grasps his hair and pulls him closer. He can’t breathe under Tao’s assault. His heart pumps too fast. Yifan feels faint. “Ah…Tao…not so hard.”
But Tao doesn’t listen. He ruts faster, harder; holds Yifan in bruising grips that have the wanderer crying out in pain.
Yifan lets go of their cocks, and grips Tao’s waist, trying to pry him off. “Tao, stop!”
Tao comes all over Yifan’s front and only then does he pull back.
Yifan’s orgasm wilts and dies.
Tao’s eyes are whitened out, glowing with eerie light. The teasing grin Tao delivers is full of sharp, pointy teeth.
Yifan screams and buckles him off. He rolls away and scrambles up, pulling his pants back into place as best as he can. When he turns around, Tao is no longer there. A full body shiver runs through his limbs, and his stomach drops as he realizes what he just did. Yifan doesn’t think about it, just runs into the woods.
Black threatens at the edges of his vision, but Yifan pushes on. He doesn’t know which way he’s going. He doesn’t care, as long as it is far away from that…that creature. He knew there had been something wrong with Tao. The blurriness at the edges of his figure, the weightlessness, soundless splashes. If only he hadn’t been so charmed by the kid, so distracted.
The sky is brightening in the horizon by the time Yifan finds a road. A sob escapes his lips, because between one blink and another, the creature appears.
Tao stands in the middle of the road, completely naked except for Yifan’s open robe billowing in an unnatural wind. His eyes are alight with hellfire as he looks down at Yifan, who lies trembling on the forest floor.
“What are you?” Yifan asks.
The smile is a bit too wide, a bit too sharp. “I am yuan gui.”
Yifan knows the words, the meaning to them. A ghost with a grievance. This is not good. “I do not know what wrong was done to you,” Yifan says. “But taking it out on me will not solve-”
Tao throws his head back and laughs openly, cutting him off. “I’m not taking my revenge out on you. I wanted to thank you. That release will keep me alive for many moons.” Tao snorts. “Well…not alive, but in this world.”
Yifan’s hands start to tremble. He wants to run again, but his feet seem to have gotten stuck. His pulse is loud in his ears. When Tao moves forward, Yifan’s feet get tangled up in his retreat and he stumbles back.
Tao stops smiling. His figure blurs into a wind and then he’s in front of Yifan. The spirit’s hand is a cold breeze against Yifan’s skin. “We’ll meet again, wanderer.”
Yifan runs then.
Tao’s cruel laugh chases him all the way out of the woods.
Notes:
(1 )The original tale is called Zong Dingbo Catches a Ghost. In it, Dingbo essentially tricks the poor ghost and ends up selling him. For my story, I kept some similarities-like they both saying they are headed the same way, the ghost weightlessness issue, and the soundlessness in the water-but plot-wise, I wanted the story to be scarier. SO I got creative! But I think I failed??? OTL
(2) Zhong Yuan Jie is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival held in Asian countries in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm to visit the living. The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival in modern day, is celebrated the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and the month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month.