HOYSE CHAPTER 93

Chapter 93 — Dancing on Death’s Chest

Morning light filtered through a thin mist and spilled into the quiet room. Birds trilled outside. Although the hotel sat in a bustling district, the suite held a pocket of calm inside the clamor.

Rong Jing opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. As always, there were a few minutes of haze before his mind clicked into place. Only then did he realize he was wrapped in something soft.

The current scene might as well have been a blueprint labeled “double occupancy.” He, Rong Jing, was lying on the soft bedding next to the large bed. Curled on his shoulder, sleeping soundly, was his newly official boyfriend, the one he was still learning how to date.

He could barely move because the Omega on top of him had pinned down half his body. His own body, for its part, had already formed an opinion before he was fully awake.

After the director’s dinner had been interrupted the previous night, they had gone their separate ways. But once Rong Jing learned the whole story and heard that an Alpha had been hiding in the hotel with Gu Xi as the target, he could not rest easy leaving Gu Xi alone.

So, in a move none of them expected, including Gu Xi, Rong Jing doubled back and knocked on Gu Xi’s door again.

It was late. They sat shoulder to shoulder and put on a movie. Rong Jing could not remember what it was about, because Gu Xi had fallen asleep against him within minutes. Come to think of it, Gu Xi had seemed unusually sleepy lately. Frowning, Rong Jing picked him up and set him on the bed, then made a nest for himself on the floor.

He woke to a sight like a painting of a sleeping spring flower, only to discover that at some point the flower had climbed into his arms.

Rong Jing pressed a kiss to Gu Xi’s forehead, then gently eased him onto the duvet. He glanced down at the heroic problem under the covers and covered his face with one hand.

In an interview, Gu Xi had once said the thing he loathed most was sex. If he saw this, would he think Rong Jing was a shameless horndog?

Rong Jing fled the scene, trying to save face.

Gu Xi’s lashes fluttered as he woke. He touched the spot that had been kissed and watched the Alpha retreat in a fluster. He licked the corner of his lips.

Rong Jing’s reactions were ridiculously cute.

With that thought, Gu Xi burrowed under the blanket and dozed again. Because his heats had become so frequent, he tired easily these days.

Back in his own room, Rong Jing felt a twinge of self-reproach.

He was convinced he was boring and truly did not know how to be in a relationship. He worried Gu Xi still carried shadows from past incidents, so he overthought everything.

He pulled open a drawer and took out a small notebook with a lock. Inside were lists pieced together from netizens’ advice and a few relationship guides. Since he did not know what he was doing, he could only lean on other people’s experience and his own best guesses. He had already mapped out a series of slow, steady steps.

Hold hands: done.

Hug: done.

Kiss… Wait. Had that not happened yet?

Now that he thought about it, after they confessed, aside from scenes for the film, he had not actually kissed Gu Xi at all.

Rong Jing circled “kiss” in red ink until it was unmistakable. The next step would be this one. He would find an opportunity outside the script and let it happen naturally.

Would Gu Xi think that was too fast?

By midday, after a run of smaller scenes wrapped, it was finally time for the heavy hitter: the two leads’ bed scene. It was also one of the climactic sequences near the end of the film. Once they finished it, Rong Jing’s work on this production would be complete.

As for Fu Qianming’s fate, they had already shot those scenes at the previous studio in Shangjing. The emotional swings there were so intense that both leads had taken a day off afterward.

This time the crew was fully geared up. After the last on-set kissing scene triggered an AO stir, the director had cleared the stage, leaving only essential staff. Gu Xi and Rong Jing stood with scripts in hand while Liu Yu underlined the key beats.

In the story, everything had reached a final turning point. The seventh prince, Shao Hua, led his troops to a city ravaged by plague. Officials came to greet him and lavished him with treasures, begging him not to get involved. If he escorted those officials back to the capital, they would tell the emperor the city was already dead.

They painted the situation as utterly hopeless. Even Shao Hua’s closest advisors urged him to treat this as a resume line: report that they had done their best, bribe the inspectors who would follow, and let the matter be closed. That, too, would count as a good deed.

Shao Hua had grown up in the palace and suffered bitterly, a prince so fallen that even eunuchs once humiliated him. Yet he was still a prince shaped by court life. He struggled to stomach what he saw here and hesitated.

Fu Qianming was different. He took the initiative to enter a large compound called Fusheng Infirmary, where the city lord had thrown all the infected. There were no doctors, no caretakers. There was only the sound of people clinging to life and an ocean of silent despair.

Fu Qianming quietly gathered his trusted people and began working.

When Shao Hua saw this man, who could have stood apart, saving one life after another, something hot and bright began to burn in him. His worldview started to shift.

He went out into the streets and felt the city’s deathly air. The faces of those coming and going were numb and hopeless.

He asked a magistrate what would happen to the remaining citizens if they returned to the capital in a few days.

The magistrate replied without a flicker of conscience that since there was a risk of infection, it would be better to burn them all.

Shao Hua shuddered at such contempt for life. He shook off the sycophants and rolled up his sleeves like any common commander, joining Fu Qianming’s effort.

Just when conditions began to improve, a medical officer, crushed by guilt at losing so many patients in a row, hanged himself.

Everyone thought Shao Hua would cut and run. Instead, he bore the pressure and issued orders: all entering or leaving must cover their faces, all infected must be quarantined, filthy houses and tents must be scrubbed clean, everyone’s clothing must be washed thoroughly, and the search for remedies must continue.

In this span of time, Fu Qianming realized Shao Hua was not the scheming, capricious, heartless prince he had imagined. And Shao Hua discovered the warm, sunlike heart beneath Fu Qianming’s eunuch facade. No matter how exhausted they were, they always made time to speak.

Just as things finally leaned toward hope, Shao Hua fell ill. He felt weak and developed a dry cough, symptoms suggestive of infection.

He placed himself in isolation. Staring at the bodies carried out one after another, he turned back to the window and quietly wrote a will.

He refused to see Fu Qianming until the man knelt outside the door without moving. Only then did he allow him in, but insisted they stay separated by a screen.

They had exchanged only a few lines when fear seized Shao Hua that he would infect Fu Qianming. He ordered him to leave.

This was the moment when both men must speak through tears while not letting a single tear fall. As Fu Qianming turned to go, he saw a will laid out on the desk. Beyond military orders, a hidden letter leaped out and shook him: Shao Hua had decided to leave all his personal estate to Fu Qianming.

Grief ripped through him. He strode forward and flipped the screen aside.

“The explosion between these two matters most in this scene,” Liu Yu said. “After so much give and take, just as the plot eases upward, disaster strikes. Emotion bursts its banks. This bed scene must hold love, desire, and heat. It needs to be moving and beautiful. Try it once.”

They ran a rehearsal and Liu Yu nodded. “Good. Chew it a bit more.”

Gu Xi reclined half upright on the bed and murmured, “Why did you run off so fast this morning?”

Rong Jing flushed, which was awkward since he was currently braced over Gu Xi and could not go anywhere. “I… had to pee.”

Gu Xi nearly shook from holding back his laughter. He could hardly withstand this Alpha. He must have been sent by heaven specifically to deal with him.

When Liu Yu called for the official take, Gu Xi leaned to Rong Jing’s ear.

“Do you want to try kissing me for real. Not Shao Hua and Fu Qianming. You and me.”

Gu Xi started to pull away, but Rong Jing caught his wrist in a snap. “All right. After this scene… do not regret it.”

People around them pretended to watch the rehearsal, but the air between the two men was so thick and hot that cheeks flushed and hearts sped up.

Seeing it was ripe, Liu Yu called action.

At the door, Wu Fuyu arrived for his usual visit. Since he had chased the production this far, he would not waste the chance to check in. The seafood congee last night had restored him to full strength. Staff remembered the director’s warnings and tried to block him, but a single raised brow from Wu Fuyu turned them into cowards. They respectfully let him in.

The beta standing beside him carried an air of unearthly refinement that demanded respect. You saw him once and could not forget.

Two men with three points of resemblance slipped into the set, keeping a low profile and watching off camera.

The producer spotted Wu Hanqi and nearly lost his composure. He hurried to Liu Yu and whispered. This one was on an entirely different tier. Liu Yu was a man focused on craft. After listening, he simply nodded to the Wus and signaled the slate.

“Dad, what are you doing on a tiny set like this? We did not invest in this one, did we?” Wu Fuyu asked softly.

“I came to see Rong Jing,” Wu Hanqi replied, reaching for a cigar before remembering where he was and dropping his hand. His eyes fixed calmly and intently in Rong Jing’s direction, as if he watched Rong Jing, or perhaps the bug behind him.

The night before, he had received a message from Rong Jing asking for an urgent meeting. Ten-alarm urgent. He had assumed it was business. Since he planned to see his son anyway, he agreed.

Rong Jing did not notice the father and son from the Wu family. All of his attention, in every sense, was on one person.

The board clapped and Rong Jing entered the role in a heartbeat. He saw Shao Hua’s will and the worry that had been mounting finally broke through the crust of his self-control. A man who could face a mountain’s collapse without batting an eye surged forward and ripped the screen aside. Shao Hua’s stunned, pale face was revealed.

Startled, Shao Hua stumbled back. The hem of his robe flared wildly, the sharp lines turning languid and sensual. His voice was all bluster over a soft center. “How dare you barge in! Get out or I will call the guards.”

Fu Qianming advanced in steady steps and unfastened his collar with one hand. His gaze burned with want. “Is ‘get out’ the only thing Your Highness knows how to say to a slave. You have said those same two lines every time. Let us try something new. The truth is, what I would rather hear is my name on your lips. In bed.”

He pounced like a leopard, toppling the frightened, sickly prince onto the mattress and pinning him in place.

Fabric tore from a shoulder. Pale skin glowed soft under the pearly light. Fu Qianming bent down.

He was furious, desperate for Shao Hua’s heat, and he did something he would not ordinarily do.

Only when he felt the body beneath him trembling did he halt. Tears spilled from the eyes that were always so resolute. In candlelight they looked heartbreakingly beautiful.

Shao Hua covered his face with both hands. Tears slid over his cheeks.

“You will be infected. You will get sick. You might die. Qianming, do not come close.”

The hard line in Fu Qianming’s gaze softened. He drew Shao Hua’s hands away and stroked his lips.

“If it spreads, then we die together.”

“Live and die as one?”

“Mm.”

Shao Hua cried harder. It was silent weeping, without the fight from before. His body slowly loosened and yielded.

“Camera, now,” Liu Yu whispered.

Gentleness tangled with ferocity. The two men clung to each other as if it were the last time in their lives, spending every scrap of strength, touching as if to press the other into bone so they could never be pried apart.

Shao Hua’s hands traced Fu Qianming’s features with painstaking care, as if he wished to engrave the man into his heart.

Cloth rustled. A low, breathless sound threaded through.

Together they made a melody that seized the soul.

By the time Liu Yu finally called cut, hearts all around the room were pounding out of control. He was delighted. He would never have guessed that two actors who stumbled through kisses could turn a bed scene into something so scorching.

A fair number of people sprinted for the bathrooms at once. Pheromones were running far too hot. Even Wu Fuyu swiped at the blood that had trickled from his nose and cursed. He had gotten excited watching them.

Only Wu Hanqi remained calm from beginning to end, his eyes on Rong Jing, thoughtful.

As soon as the scene ended, Rong Jing covered Gu Xi’s bare shoulder. Gu Xi’s face was flushed, his eyes glistening. Rong Jing took a cautious sniff. Nothing yet had spilled into the air, but still…

“Are you…”

“Yeah.” Gu Xi felt awkward. He had hidden the doctor’s guidance from earlier, the one that said once a week.

Heats this frequent were a burden on both of them.

His body felt hot and cold at once. He sensed a pair of warm hands close around his and squeeze, as if to say something without words.

Catching on, Gu Xi allowed his assistant to take him to his private lounge with an inhibitor in hand. He did not open it. He sent Mo Dian away. As expected, within minutes Rong Jing arrived.

Rong Jing came in and pressed him gently to the wall.

The force was tender, and the Omega’s body melted.

“Are you hiding something from me?” For a typical Omega, this frequency was not normal.

“I do not want to say. Can I… not say it?”

“Then tell me when you want to.”

“Okay.”

Gu Xi’s heart pounded. This man’s thoughtfulness turned his insides to water.

He felt Rong Jing lean close. Fingers brushed across his face. It echoed the scene in the film, where Shao Hua stroked Fu Qianming’s features. Only here the roles had switched. Script and reality folded into each other until the world blurred.

Gu Xi went still under that delicate care that was tender enough to draw tears. He did not dare move.

Then the heat hit. The intoxicating floral scent of an Omega in season flooded the air and seeped into bone.

Rong Jing held back the wildness with everything he had and turned him with a careful hand. “Sorry. The last two times were too rough.”

“Mm.” The man was so gentle it made Gu Xi want to cry.

He ripped a patch free and bent his head.

Gu Xi could not stop the soft sound in his throat.

The third mark.

Outside, the crew’s laughter and chatter floated past the door.

Inside, spring unfurled.

The long marking left the Omega limp, as if he had been scooped out of a pool of warm water.

Next would be what they both wanted, the step forward.

As if hearing a cue, Gu Xi let his eyes drift closed when Rong Jing turned him back.

A sharp stab of dread jolted through Rong Jing. He looked toward the window. Was it coming already?

“If… you…” The words stuck in his throat. Something still blocked him.

Gu Xi opened his eyes and met his gaze.

After a moment he lifted his hand and stroked the short, bristling hair at the back of Rong Jing’s head.

“No matter when it is, no matter where you are, as long as you come back, I will be here.”

Rong Jing could not hold back any longer. He pressed his mouth to Gu Xi’s.

A gale seemed to sweep Gu Xi up. The sudden, overwhelming force made him shiver. He accepted the kiss with trembling lips.

“Tongue,” Rong Jing murmured in the brief space between breaths.

Gu Xi felt that breath-stealing conquering pressure and, at the same time, the embrace that was so tender it made him ache. He wrapped his arms around the Alpha who was always so restrained and held on with everything he had.

Do not be afraid, Rong Jing.

---

By evening the sun was sinking.

It was Rong Jing’s wrap day. Only a few solo scenes remained, most of them for Gu Xi and secondary characters.

Fans gathered outside the set to cheer him on. To celebrate the wrap, the crew had arranged a group meal. One of the investors showed up as well, along with a rumored heavyweight from the electronic information sector. The VIP was friendly enough, but few dared approach with a toast.

The big shot chatted with the two leads from time to time, and with Rong Jing he was downright warm. Staff who did not know that Xie Ling had once stopped by were stunned. The gossip said Rong Jing was an executive at Xietian Entertainment, but even so, what kind of exec rubbed shoulders with someone like this?

After dinner, they made sure all the Omegas were escorted back. Slightly tipsy, Rong Jing asked Wu Hanqi, “Uncle Qi, could you drive me home?”

Wu Hanqi hefted a dead-drunk Wu Feiyu. The kid had been drinking himself into stupors lately. With a helpless look, he dumped his son on the backseat.

He gestured for Rong Jing to get in. Rong Jing slid into the passenger seat without hesitation. That surprised Wu Hanqi. The boy was seldom this forward.

Despite the show of closeness, Wu Hanqi could feel that deep down the boy was afraid of him.

Rong Jing uncurled his fingers and looked at the word Gu Xi had written on his palm: stay.

His hand slowly clenched.

Wu Hanqi drove steady as a metronome.

In the back, Wu Fuyu mumbled “Rong Jing,” “bastard,” and “the temptress can go to hell,” which became the only sounds in the car.

After a while, the background noise shifted to snores.

“Uncle Qi,” Rong Jing said.

“Mm.”

“When is the next one?”

“What next?”

“The soul confinement.”

Screech.

Wu Hanqi slammed the brakes. His expression, usually smooth as still water, cracked with something like shock.

He hadn’t expected that this child, relentlessly pursued by Heaven, would one day approach him of his own accord. Calm, composed, and with everything finally pieced together. Instead of struggling futilely, he presents himself openly. Any resistance would only have disappointed him and hastened the erasure.

The child had turned the board on its head. He was standing here in front of him and saying it out loud.

When had he figured it out?

That did not matter. What mattered was that this surprising move stirred Wu Hanqi’s excitement for the first time in a long while.

The kid was clever in a way that stunned him, and as calm as someone twice his age. It made Wu Hanqi admire him even more.

The sudden stop nearly caused a crash, but Rong Jing knew nothing would happen. If the man at the wheel was what he suspected, then he would not let anything happen to himself, not before he finished with Rong Jing.

Rong Jing watched the deepening sky through the windshield. Wu Hanqi started the car again.

Would he admit it?

Or would he pretend not to understand and deny everything? A denial would not erase Rong Jing’s suspicion. It would only mean he would have to test and counter in other ways.

“You surprise me, little friend,” Wu Hanqi said with a soft laugh, neither confirming nor denying.

“Uncle Qi, confinement is dull. Let us play a game. If I win, you take mercy and let me scrape by.”

Rong Jing had considered probing more delicately, but with someone like Wu Hanqi there was no need. He felt certain that in the original story Wu Hanqi had not been Heaven. More likely, once the world was novelized, something in it had changed, possibly because of Rong Jing’s arrival. He meant to wedge himself into those changes and fight for a sliver of life.

Right now, he was dancing on Death’s chest.

“Do you know what price you'll pay to make me back off?” Wu Hanqi asked. “But I do like a challenge. What if you lose?”

“If I lose, I'm at your disposal.”

“No, you're already at my disposal anyway.”

“Voluntary is not the same as forced. Being beaten by outside power is not the same as winning or losing under rules you set. With a man as proud as you, what flavor does coercion have? Making your own rules is much more interesting, is it not?”

In the novel, this man, always neutral, was world-weary and unmoved by most things. In the parts Rong Jing had seen, he had already begun to retreat behind the scenes and handed the Wu family to Wu Fuyu.

So that was where Rong Jing would strike. He would hitch himself to Wu Hanqi’s curiosity until the man could not bear to remove him.

He knew he needed to choose a moment no one expected and drop a bomb big enough to hook Wu Hanqi. Only then could he hope for the thinnest thread of survival.

“Little one, you truly make me see you in a new light.”

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