Disclaimer: I don't own Genshin Impact or its characters.


CHAPTER ONE
"Overwhelming Hunger"


She was standing on ice, her bare feet submerged in the freezing snow up to her ankles. The vast field before her was drowning in white, seemingly smothered by winter. Her face felt hard. Scarlet eyes roved over the area; her thoughts muddled with confusion.

Where is this place?

As she idly wondered, a wave of pressure hits her. Hu Tao paused for a second—confused about what just happened when she suddenly choke, suffocating on nothing. Panic inevitably clenched her heart, missing a couple of beats.

"Calm down, Hu Tao." A silvery voice whispered inside her mind. "I'm here. . . Breathe slowly. You have to wake up; you have to see it through your eyes."

Her body trembled with fear, but she forced her eyes closed, trying to focus on the sound of his voice. It was calm and quiet, but intimidating like the sea. His voice was reassuring. His presence itself felt comforting. "Concentrate on breathing, Hu Tao. I have something to show you." He murmured, and like a spell, she heard herself inhaling deeply—almost greedily, and exhaling with great relief.

When she regained her breath, everything else dawns. The sound of flapping wings; the cries of crows. The smell of drying blood and rotten flesh. The pain . . . so much of it, pain so vicious, it resonated with her whole being, and the grief. Her heart felt the severe urge to mourn, but the anguish had her eyes dry of tears. Wretched sadness gnawed at her heart; the blinding anger had her hands shaking. Sorrow penetrated every part of her, devouring her, becoming her. It was all too much, so, so, so much she could only cry a voiceless scream.

Her eyes flew open; her vision blurred as another heavier pressure hit. Her head throbbed, and she wailed as another set of memories collided with hers. There was warmth, of a family; from dozens of people who she knew from birth, who had tended to her needs, and of people who looked at her the way they looked at the stars, with wonder and respect. There was cold and pain when conflict arises, the war between two realms, and a need for someone to lead. There was lamentation, of a young heart seeing her people dying; of hearing her soldiers die; of the knowledge that she was defeated and that she led her army and comrades to their deaths. The crows flew away at the sound of her shrieks.

...


She woke up with a sharp gasp.

A sudden weight had fallen on her stomach. Somebody jumped on her. Hu Tao sat up awake so fast, it was disorienting, her room a temporary blur.

"You're finally awake!" Fai exclaimed, and because he was an exasperating spirit, he didn't know how to whisper. He was lying listlessly across her stomach and destroying her morning with a mischievous wide grin painted on his face. "I have something to show you!"

She stares at him, her gaze distant. It took a minute for his words to sink in. He had something to show her. This early in the freaking morning. What a load of bull crap. She dragged a hand over her face and back into her hair. And when she finally escaped Zhongli's polite invitation in the morning to chat and drink tea, too. She may respect her consultant and adore him but she needed a while to contemplate her existence in the morning, damn it.

Hu Tao was not a morning person, but it wasn't even dawn yet, her eyes were heavy and unfocused. She studied the young ghost with unmasked disdain. Faded black kimono rests on his lean shoulders; old white haori frayed at the sleeves and geta that had seen better days against the pale skin of his feet. But Fai was pretty, more than that, in fact, with his dark hair, green eyes, and dimples along the cheeks when he smiles, but he wasn't frivolous, and Hu Tao liked that about him. The same cannot be said, however, of his enthusiasm at the early break of dawn.

"What ish it?" She mutters in a slur, fighting off an incoming yawn.

The ghost overlooked her lethargic interest and sat on her bed, ignoring the strewn undergarments on her bed. In fact, he was sitting in one of her bras. Fai is at its finest.

"Today is the day that the 'way' will open!" He said, grabbing her wrists to her up. "A day of an exact red full moon. Stop being lazy. I have a wish this time!"

His touch brought an instinctual shiver running down her spine. She looked down at his hand, then back to his face. This unexplainable fear of him both alarmed and amused her. She wasn't one to be afraid of the supernatural, to begin with, so being afraid of his proximity was weird. Hu Tao blamed it all on his cold hands.

"Everyone has wishes," she told him, keeping her thoughts to herself and sliding her hand free of his gently. "But wishes, especially of your kind, were not meant to be granted."

Begrudgingly, Hu Tao slowly stood up from her bed. Might as well start her day early. She walked towards her dresser, yawning on her way. Unperturbed by her words, Fai kept pestering her, but he kept his hands to himself this time. He must have noticed that she was still unnerved by his touch. The funeral director was quietly impressed. Even after she took a bath and ate her breakfast, he was still following her without touching her, and she was able to ignore his voice with little effort.

Spirits with unfinished businesses can be a nuisance, but Hu Tao was used to the voices and their expressions wracked with misery. The dead will not live again, and the living should not interact with the dead. The trouble is, persuading them to ascend gets infinitely harder when they learn that Hu Tao—a human, can see and interact with ghosts and spirits.

As far as the Funeral Director can remember, every spirit had acted the same afterward: with sickening pleading, disturbing sobs of desperation, persuasive pulling on her clothes, and accusing words on her ears. Other spirits were not as spiteful, yet they would hesitate to ascend. Leaving family behind was never easy after all.

Some would even haunt her everyday life until they recognized that Hu Tao's role was not to grant their last wishes but to keep the balance between their realm and the living. Eventually, the spirits would leave her alone, but their remorse remained like a wound drying on its own to heal, and it never withered away. Their wishes were left in her mercurial poems, and she worked day and night, sometimes even when she didn't have to—like today—because she must distract her thoughts or else, Hu Tao would be tempted to help each of them.

'That'll be a foolish move to take,' her predecessor had said when Hu Tao shared her thoughts about the matter once when she was a child, 'Our task is to keep the balance, not to sate their desire to overcome regrets.'

'But Fai is different,' As she fixes her hair in front of her vanity mirror, Hu Tao studied him through the reflection. Fai looked vividly alive with his flushed skin and his body wasn't see-through. But then again, it wasn't his physical traits that bothered her.

'What could have been his wish?', she idly wondered, suppressing a shiver when she remembered his touch. Even the thought that he had something he wanted after all these years of having none disturbed her.

He was definitely strange for a spirit. For starters, Fai appeared before her at the age of 14. He has been visiting her for a specific week every year since, but even after all this time, Hu Tao couldn't get over the fact that he was a ghost who could physically touch her.

Zhongli introduced her to Xiao after learning of her predicament over dinner one Saturday evening. She was too drunk then to keep her secret from the man she trusted the most. Her consultant told the Yaksha about Fai, probably because the young man's appearance on every red moon is far too suspicious for a coincidence. He thought the spirit might be a demon or something like that, but Fai was not visible to Xiao, which surprises them both. The adepti could see spirits and demons like her. Why this specific ghost was an exemption was beyond them.

Hu Tao can still remember how vigilant the Yaksha had been. He went as far as dining with her, accompanying her during her working hours, and watching over her as she slept. This, of course, was done with her consent. The ghost's case was peculiar but Xiao was fun to get to know (and to tease) and she became too distracted to be afraid of Fai.

Fai disappeared after a week of observation and the adepti stayed by her side even after the spirit vanished. Fai appeared again the year after that, and the year next to that, and so on; but he didn't harm Hu Tao nor did he cause any kind of commotion. Finally, after three years of non-violence, they both concluded that Fai was harmless. For now, anyway.

However, it had been ridiculously hard to assure Xiao that she was going to be fine last year. He had to hunt for ancient demons on every red moon, so he should rest instead of guarding her.

And so, when Fai appeared again this year, she didn't inform him.

...


Later that night, somebody knocked on her window. 'It must be Xiao,' Hu Tao thought as she opened her window eagerly. It was indeed Xiao, with a trademark scowl on his face. She knew this was coming and was prepared for him.

"Oya? Good evening, Mr. Adepti." Her eyes were shining as she uttered his title in a teasing drawl. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I'm displeased." He said, ignoring her quip, his lips in a thin line.

"I can see that."

The night was as dark as his complexion. There were heavy bags under Xiao's eyes, but under her bedroom light, he looked young, but in the harsher brightness of the day, he's closer to his mid-'20s to 30s, boyish but intimidating.

She asked Xiao to come in, but he declined with a brief shook of his head. He never entered her room at night and would always stubbornly remain at her window. Hu Tao didn't think of it too much— there were already so many rumors about her, and she wasn't one to stop and stew on what was the latest news, but she found it uncharacteristically adorable of him to care about her maiden reputation nonetheless.

The Adepti took a minute to study her grin. For some reason, he was more cautious when she was smiling at him compared to when she wasn't. "You promised me you'd let me know when the spirit appears." He finally inquired, his tone managing to sound soft and menacing at the same time.

Hu Tao shrugged. "I'm busy."

"An excuse, and a poor one at that."

"I'm a businesswoman, oh mighty Adeptus. I have no time for dates." She gave him a long, meaningful look before her playful smirk grew wide. "Even the great Yaksha had to wait."

"That's unfortunate." He replied, his gaze painfully indifferent.

"Yes, it is." Hu Tao sighs dramatically. She reached for the windows. "I'll be on my way then. To the bed with my lonesome self. Excuse me, Adeptus Xiao."

"You didn't inform me on purpose." He interrupted her before she could close the windows on him.

She paused, then gave him a doe-eyed look.

"What makes you say that?"

"He didn't do anything to you, did he?" His eyes did a quick study of her physical state.

"Is this a concern, I hear?" She says, playing coy, cocking a teasing eyebrow. "My adorable charm is finally working on you?"

His eyes narrowed. "Is there something I should be concerned about?"

"Fine, I won't keep secrets from you." She pretends to think it through, placing a finger against her chin for emphasis. "This morning, my consultant and I distributed flyers at Wanghu Inn, but it was done without the establishment's consent. They threatened to kick us out. I begged for them to let me place an advertisement instead, but they didn't budge; thus, I had to buy a huge set meal in return. Then there's Fai; he said he wanted his wish to be granted; of course, I told him I couldn't grant his wish. Then after that, I learned that the Inn posted my advertisement; but. . . it was at the back entrance. At the back entrance of all places! Do you even pass there, Xiao?"

The Yaksha seems to be hesitating between confusion and impatience, but confusion is winning for now. "I don't. What does that have to do with anything?"

"It does have to do with anything! Who even passes there? Why even bother to post it then!"

"Hold on," Xiao swiftly caught her hand as he leaned closer. "You said something about a wish. Fai told you he had a wish?"

"He uh. . . yes." She nervously glanced at the hand he was holding. Such a tight grip. A clear silent message. Don't lie to me. "he said he had a wish, but he didn't tell me what it was . . . and I didn't ask him. What do you think of wishes, Xiao?"

"You should've called me the moment he appeared." Xiao hissed, ignoring her attempts at diversion.

Something wickedly amusing flashed in Hu Tao's eyes. "Are you sulking because we're hanging out without you?"

He frowns, equally bothered by her shameless teasing and deliberate act of ignorance.

"I'm horrified by your carelessness." Xiao corrected, indignant. He released a harsh, exhausted sigh. "You should be more careful with that spirit."

"Definitely sulking." Her free hand playfully reaches out to poke his cheek.

"Crossing the border underneath the red moon was never a small feat." Xiao reminded her with a voice so soft, so controlled that she was fooled into thinking he was still calm. "And ignoring a spirit that can physically harm you is foolish. Beyond foolish even for you."

"I got it, Xiao. You worry too much. Look, there's a permanent frown line on your forehead." She teased, and she would have gestured if her hand hadn't been clamped in his. "I've been doing this for several years. I'll be fine."

Xiao held her stare. She saw then that she had misjudged him. His eyes were depthless shards of prithiva topaz; they weren't lit with anger or exasperation. Instead, they assessed Hu Tao with penetrating intensity.

"It's fine to ask for my help," he said. "Being afraid of Fai is not a sign of cowardice."

"What . . . what do you mean?" Hu Tao stammered, pulling her hand away from his grasp. "I . . . I wasn't." Her act began to crumble, "that's not the problem." she bit her lip, and began twisting her rings, one finger at a time. It has always been hard for her to lie to Xiao; that's why she resorts to distraction, which he didn't buy apparently.

"I just . . ." she looked down, avoiding his gaze, "I wanted you to rest instead of guarding me. I can take care of myself."

What she said was partly the truth. Hu Tao wanted Xiao to rest; she didn't need his protection, not when he was already busy protecting everyone.

But the whole truth is that Hu Tao didn't want Xiao to know that Fai frightens her. She was the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Being afraid of ghosts wouldn't make sense, and she wasn't until now. It's just. . . there's something about Fai that has made fresh terror rear up within her. The ghost was friendly enough, but something about him was disturbingly odd. She can't explain it with mere words.

"I know you can take care of yourself." Xiao quickly amended. "I didn't say you couldn't. But you have to be cautious. It never hurts to be wary of evil."

"I am cautious." She dragged a hand over her face, wishing he didn't know her so well, thus making her emotions so apparent. "I just don't want to bother you."

He hesitated, but only for a fraction of a second; he knew there was still something else that she hadn't said; then his eyes darkened with resolve. The young woman blinked in confusion, 'what's with the resolve?' Then it hit her.

"You're not going to leave." She muttered. It was a statement, not a question.

"Perhaps I will not." Xiao tossed back; his face impassive. She gave him the same deadpanned expression.

"I can't believe you."

"What I can't believe is you're lacking concern in terms of your health." He said, not even bothering to deny her presumption.

"You're talking as if I'm smoking Naku Weed or something."

". . . Were you?"

The smile was quick and unexpected on her face. She closed the window on his face. "Good night, Xiao."

Xiao didn't stop her this time. Hu Tao waited by the window until he left, and if he didn't, she was going to annoy him until he does.

A beat of silence, then, with a resigned tone, he said, "Tomorrow I'll be here at 12."

"I'll leave my quarter's door open for you then." She replied, not even pretending she wasn't waiting for him to leave.

He heaved a weary sigh and turns to leave without replying. A gust of wind was left in his wake.

...


The red moon was menacing above their heads. The air is chilly, and it always is before it rains.

Heading straight from Wuwang Hill, one may arrive at the 'border.' It is the line that separates life and death, the secrets of which have been managed by Wangsheng Funeral Parlor for generations. Every red moon—which happens twice a year, the border was lenient with its rules, but she had to come with Xiao to secure his exit after his mission. Hu Tao should not follow him further inside the realm as much as she would like to, since, according to Xiao, on every red moon the oldest demons of Liyue gather to attack Tevyat.

'It'll produce less collateral damage to exterminate them inside the spirit realm before they set foot on land,', or so he claims, but the funeral director knew better.

This strategy would be safer for humans but a lot more dangerous for the Yaksha.

Hu Tao could still remember the results of his messy fight last year. He was against Sloth, one of the oldest demons. Xiao was sprawled on the ground when she found him, covered with his blood, his chest heaving only just slightly as if he wouldn't take his next breath. The Yaksha told her later that he was fortunate he found the demon by himself—that his enemy embodied its name well since his allies were nowhere to be found, or else there is no way the Yaksha could've won that fight.

But what if he wasn't as lucky today? Her worry came back like a tidal wave.

It didn't help that Xiao was uncharacteristically early today. He said they would meet at 12, but he was already knocking at her window at 9. When they arrived at the entrance to the border, Hu Tao asked Xiao why they were early today, but he gestured with his finger on his lips.

She nodded, not understanding the secrecy, but following him nonetheless. Perhaps he was hiding a secret from her, but if he deemed it wise not to tell her about it, maybe it was something that would freak her out. Hu Tao needs to be calm for the ceremony after all.

The young woman started the activation rites with quaint grace; her concentration should be at its peak to be able to bring Xiao with her. Dressed in her finest black kimono with red silk flowers embroidered at its hems, Hu Tao placed her hand against the mouth of the cave and started uttering an old language underneath her breath. The cave was dark inside, but its color changed to cerulean, deep green, and alternated to mauve flowers' hue. It's reacting to Hu Tao's voice and her familiar words.

The changing colors have a pattern. Her heart began to beat to the same rhythm; she could feel it in her chest and at the base of her throat. She could feel it in her ears and at her fingertips.

Xiao was standing beside her; his fair skin appeared to have been drenched in blood, then to moss green and back to drowning waters. She had been trying to start a conversation with him on the way to the border to lighten his mood; but his replies were short at most, only a click of his tongue or a stern nod. Hu Tao knew he didn't relish the act of slaughter. Dreaded it, to be honest. But he had no choice. She began to wonder then. Did he have to exterminate them all?

The young director thought of such foolish musings as she continued opening the border of life and death for the adepti. It's just . . . perhaps, like Fai she interacted with this morning, they also have their wishes and . . . maybe if she grants their requests or something, they would be at peace afterward and will ascend towards their destination on their own. No violence, no gathering of karmic energy, and both sides will win. Xiao doesn't have to suffer, and spirits can leave this realm peacefully.

Hu Tao stumbled forward and landed on her knees in front of the border. But it was only her.

She turns to look up at him, her eyes wide and meeting his green eyes. It wasn't Xiao's. It never has been.

An eerie smile curves his lips. "I did tell you I had something to show you, didn't I?"

...


It's dark.

Silence reigns over the numbing emptiness. Hu Tao bit her lower lip as the pit of dismay set; not only was she deceived to be the only one transported to the other realm, she didn't have a weapon as well.

The young woman glances around, scarlet eyes roving over the abyss of darkness. It was never as dark as this when she was with Xiao. His whole being always glows green, and bright, but now, Hu Tao is as good as a blind woman. Her hand reached out and felt nothing.

She fought a rising panic. Hu Tao didn't like fear, the way it lives inside her soul and makes her hands tremble, her palms sweaty. She took a deep, shuddering breath to clear her mind, but before the young woman could even gather herself, a set of voices began to scream, and the noise swallowed her whole being. She covered her ears with her hands to block out the sound, but it was futile.

Her heart beats rapidly against her chest, resonating like a deafening alarm, telling her to move, to get away, to leave. But then they all appeared in a single blink. Glacial glares with different colors; hands in different sizes and all drenched in blood, reaching out to strangle her neck.

In less than a second, she was overwhelmed by five dark entities.

The 77th funeral director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor fought with all she had. Rotten flesh clawed at her legs, clutching on to her slender arms, pulling at her hair; sharp nails digging at her skin—they pulled and pulled and pulled, and to Hu Tao's dismay, with the intention of tearing whatever they grasped. She took two shallow breaths before head-slamming the demon holding her arms. It staggered away, caught off-guard by her puny attack. It's all she can do at the moment without a weapon. Hu Tao took the opportunity of its surprise. She grabbed the demon's head and slammed it down hard to the ground. Its fangs shattered, and Hu Tao picked up a shard of fang, stabbing the nearest demon to her left on its shoulder with it.

The demon backed away, screaming in anguish. Hu Tao scoffed a weak laugh, high kicking the monster away on her left despite her rising fatigue. An enormous demon with massive arms landed in her right, and before she could defend herself, it punched Hu Tao hard across the face. The sheer force of the attack threw her to the ground to her left, shattering the floor.

The pain renders her deaf for a few seconds, her vision turning black, then glacial. She could taste the metallic tang of blood in her mouth; the impact had broken her nose and several teeth. It messed her face up badly.

To her surprise, a sultry voice honeyed with flair registered inside her mind.

"Oh my, it wasn't the Yaksha that came to kill us? What a shame."

"We should kill this bitch. She's here to kill us." A voice akin to a girl gasped and spouted several profanities underneath her breath. "Shit! It still fucking hurt. She stabbed my shoulder with your fucking, ugly fang! Why do you even have fangs, you fucking Greed?"

"Give me back my fang; no one told you to keep it, Wrath." A timid voice of a man snapped back. "Ugh. I hate it when others touch my stuff. Now your stupid blood was on it."

"It's not like I have a fucking choice, asshole!"

Hu Tao couldn't let herself be distracted by their conversation. She tried to haul herself up, but the ground was wet with her blood, and her fingers slipped off.

"Ooh, look at her! She's trying to stand, how cute." Someone laughed a boyish giggle that makes anyone think of strawberries and nauseatingly sweet candies. "Look at all that blood, so red against her plump thighs. Can I eat her, Lust? Pretty please, please, please, can I eat her? The Yaksha probably sends her to die. Might as well, right?

"Such a coward, sending his lover in his stead." An exasperated sigh was released. The tone was harsh with frustration. "And here I was, looking oh so forward to killing the Yaksha for what he did to Sloth. I'm oh so envious! How can he dare to have an oh-so-pretty lover when he has killed mine?"

"He killed Pride as well, or have you forgotten, you envious bastard? He was our leader, and now we must follow this stupid slut. And I fucking hate every moment of it! Why can't we just kill this woman and infuriate that Yaksha, huh?"

"What do you think, Lust? Should we kill her? You know, I loathe losing a potential asset the most."

"Hmmm. . ." A demon leaned toward Hu tao and studied her expression, "well, this one's different. Unlike the Yaksha, she can hear our inner screams. Perhaps, this one can grant our wishes."

"Where will she find the karmic energy to maintain our consciousness, though?"

"That doesn't matter! Let's eat her being in this realm and find out!"

They were planning on eating her. Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths. Hu Tao musters all her strength to kick the stomach of the demon hovering over her and make an attempt to run for it.

"I will not . . . die here . . ." she panted, disoriented, her head still spinning. Even standing and walking away was difficult but she still tried to do so, regardless of how foolish it was. It didn't take a second breath before they all clung back to her. They pulled her hair, dragging her ruthlessly back to the ground.

The demons trembled, seeing her pain, groaning with nauseating desperation. 'Grant our wishes! Take our lives! Repay our debts! Grant us our wishes!'

Huge claws grabbed and ripped her limbs apart, and her screams were swallowed by the sound of fangs gnawing on flesh and finally on bones. Several hands went for her chest, ripped through her ribs, and consumed her mortal heart, ravaging her very being.

...


Hu Tao felt nothing.

Everything just . . . went away. Did she die? Feelings, emotions, pain; all of it has vanished. She was nowhere, yet she was existing. It was on hold; every movement—she couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't feel, couldn't even breathe. The wind caressed her skin, but it didn't feel cold. The funeral director lost everything she was, a tranquil feeling she was unfamiliar with, but the young woman felt strangely calm.

'Is this dying?' Hu Tao thought with genuine curiosity. She could feel her existence fading, but a disturbance had ceased the transition. A new presence inside the realm halted the process.

The gentle, refreshing smell of Qingxin flowers mixed with an aura so scrumptious tickled the tip of her nose just seconds before her mouth began to water. Overwhelming hunger hits her out of the blue. It was a pang of hunger so sickening; her limbs began to tremble.

The new feeling caught her off guard. Something smelled nice, and it was oh so delectable that her unquenchable appetite grew. Her new heart started to beat then, her blood once again flowing in her veins. As she clutched her protesting stomach, lips pressed into a thin line, a tidal wave of emotions came. Surprise. Fear. Scorching desire. Insatiable hunger. A gnawing need to bite, gnaw, lick, suck, devour, taste, swallow, and conquer rose within her to a searing, blinding degree.

She felt delirious, her body engulfed in tremors, quivering with need.

"Hu Tao."

Someone was calling her name. The voice was familiar. Everything felt heavy, and she was nauseatingly wanting. Hu Tao managed to open her eyes to a blur, so she closed them again.

"No, you don't." Someone tapped on her cheek with slightly trembling fingers.

Her eyes opened now, struggling to focus on his face. The very first thing she saw was his golden eyes. They're crystal core lapis, a shade that shouldn't exist on the human body. Her response to his attention was inhumane. She could feel her breath backing up in her lungs, clogging there. Insatiable hunger returned tenfold, vicious and sudden, that it physically pained her not to reach out and touch him.

'It was Xiao.' Hu Tao thought, deliriously enthralled. Her gaze dropped from his eyes to his lips, and her mouth went dry. 'It came from him. His core, his karmic aura, his. . .'

'It wasn't his',' she could hear a voice similar to the harmony of five voices saying to her, 'It was yours, devour your own heart, regain what you had lost. Grant us our wishes!'

"This is not a safe dwelling for a human to rest." The adepti was unaware of her struggle, his brows knotted, forming a long, shallow line of annoyance between them, but the relief was written on his eyes.

His voice alone makes her stomach churn. It took her a while to understand what he had said.

"Xiao . . ." Her eyes squeezed shut in desperation. Holding eye contact was too much. She perceived his presence as a feast: a warm, delightful meal, served only to her and ready to be devoured. It's dangerous for the Yaksha to be anywhere near her. He must get away and fast.

"You have to l-leave." Hu Tao began, her voice low and raw, as shaky as her hands. "It's. . . not safe here."

Xiao ignored her words and yanked her arm, dragging her with him against her will. Zhongli can only give them an hour at best. They must leave this realm before his shield breaks. The warmth of his hand permeates from his glove, and Hu Tao feels an exhilarating shiver run through her.

"No, please," helpless, she began to weep as she tried to pull her arm away from his grasp. Maintaining contact isn't good either. Her breath falters, her lips trembling with blinding lust and hunger. "Just . . . just leave me . . ."

"Stop playing around." He bit the words out, glancing back at her harshly. The tears did what fists and threats could never have done. They stopped him cold.

His hold on her loosen, but Xiao didn't let her go.

"Hu Tao, it's fine now." He reassured her; his voice far gentler than before. "The demons were gone."

She shook her head and pushed him away weakly. 'No! He didn't understand! He has to get away!'

"Don't bring me," Hu Tao was careful not to touch his skin as she pushed Xiao away with feeble strength, "please. . . I beg of you. . ."

The Yaksha misunderstood her agitated behavior and assumed she was in pain. There were no apparent physical harm or wounds on her, but it was reflected in her eyes, the palpable anguish a mirror on his. Hu Tao was lucky she even managed to survive. He could only imagine how frightening the experience was for a mere human. Exterminating all those demons was hard when they appeared on the grassy plains of Liyue; no doubt they would be much harder to deal with inside their realm. How could she carry out such an impossible feat? They can talk about that once he brings her to a much safer place, now was simply not the time.

"Look at me. Hu Tao, look at me." He released her arm and took her face to his hands despite her resisting hands. She was still shuddering, and her face was flushed and sheen with sweat. "I'll keep you safe," Xiao said quietly. He wiped her tears away with his thumb. "They can't hurt you anymore, but we have to get out of here."

The adepti was telling the truth. Even now, Hu Tao can sense that this realm is draining her energy. A burning flame of resolution filled her, will she really gives in to this kind of hunger and die here? That doesn't sound like her. Giving up is not an option. She wouldn't die here. Not a freaking chance.

Braving herself, she opened her eyes only to immediately stiffen.

Xiao was so close; they were almost breathing the same air. Her heart did a sudden leap, and it was foolish. It was ridiculous. But she couldn't stop it. She gapes at him, completely captivated. 'What does he taste like?' Hu tao found herself wondering. The young woman was ravenous and entranced, and her sensible thoughts had scattered like ants.

The change was drastic.

Before Xiao could even react, her arms snaked up and lanced around his neck, pulling him impossibly closer. His breath hitched when her chest pressed to his. Hu Tao fisted a hand in his hair, seeking his lips.

"I'm starving." Hu Tao leaned forward, crossed the distance between them, and devoured his mouth.


...

A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it (This is a lie. I DESPERATELY wanted this to be over. My perfectionist heart won't let me. HuXiao only deserved the best after all) (:

Reviews are definitely appreciated!