Walking to Zhang Wei's chambers that evening was a personal struggle for Xie Ling. He had never felt a greater sense of dread, but he knew he had to go. Zhang Wei was obviously an insufferable being. An insufferable being Xie Ling just had to suffer. He had no choice, not if he wanted to keep his soul threads intact.
Damn system and it's damn complicated plot points. Who came up with this steaming pile of shit anyway? If Xie Ling could go back, he'd beat the author to death with his own book!
As he walked through the courtyard and passed cultivators, several omegas like him and a few betas and alphas, loitering in corners and talking in hushed whispers, he wondered if any of them knew yet that Zhang Wei had chosen him. What would they think? What would they say? Would that mean that they would fear him like they feared Zhang Wei? He did not want to be feared.
When he arrived at Zhang Wei's chambers, the door was opened so he walked in but stopped just a step from the doorframe. Zhang Wei was inside with his back turned to the door and facing what appeared to be a shelf of scrolls. He was dressed in a blue-black silk robe that swayed with the slow rhythms of his movements. Even just looking at his behind alone, he looked relaxed, calm, and in control.
"Are you just going to stand there and keep staring or will you come in?" Zhang Wei asked without turning around.
"I suppose I will come in," Xie Ling replied. He was not going to let Zhang Wei scare him, especially not this early.
Xie Ling could not help but admire Zhang Wei's chambers. While the omegas only got a barely livable bedroom, the alphas got large chambers of their own. Compared to Zhang Wei's spacious and well-decorated chambers, Xie Ling's bedroom seemed like a hole.
A dirt hole. In the mud...
"That is a lovely amulet," Xie Ling said as his eyes caught the shiny bronze amulet hanging on the wall to his right.
At this, Zhang Wei finally turned around to face Xie Ling. His face at that moment was fresh and brand new. Gone was the scowl that seemed to permanently adorn his face in the courtyard and in the hallways. Here, he seemed like a person who had stripped off a mask. He seemed real. Xie Ling felt a flutter deep within his chest. Xie Ling's heart began beating so fast that he could feel it in his fingertips and toes.
What's happening to me? Hey! Stop it! Xie Ling thought wanting to slap himself.
"I won it," Zhang Wei declared proudly as he walked away from the shelf and across the room toward the amulet so that he was standing next to Xie Ling, shoulder to shoulder. "At the last cultivation competition. It was for bravery. I did not make it officially into the sect then because I was still a young and inexperienced omega like you, but at least I won this and I am proud of it."
"Like me?" Xie Ling said, only slightly offended. "You have no reason to be careful of the things you say, do you?"
Zhang Wei turned his head slightly to look at Xie Ling as their eyes met, and a smile spread across his lips. "I do not," he said with a shrug. "Who would question me? I am beloved by all those who are more powerful than I am, and those who do not like me do not stand a chance against me. Even if they gathered and formed a group."
"I see why you are full of yourself," Xie Ling said, unable to pull his gaze from Zhang Wei's smile.
"I believe I have earned it," Zhang Wei said, returning his stare to the amulet. Suddenly, Xie Ling missed that smile.
"What about the emperor?" Xie Ling asked.
"The emperor? He adores me. He knows that I am exceptional."
"I do not mean Emperor Han Jian. I mean Han Jianyu," Xie Ling said.
Zhang Wei turned slowly and dramatically on his heels until he was facing Xie Ling directly. He maintained a blank expression on his face for a few seconds and then without warning, he burst into laughter, leaving Xie Ling confused and mildly embarrassed.
"What is so funny?" Xie Ling asked. "Did I say something incorrect?"
"Very incorrect," Zhang Wei said. "Han Jianyu is not the emperor and he will never be the emperor."
"You do not know that."
"If he does, he will be the weakest emperor ever known."
"Don't say that."
"Han Jianyu," Zhang Wei said with a chuckle. "That loser."
Xie Ling could already feel himself getting annoyed again. How was it so easy for Zhang Wei to flip from one side of his feelings to the next in mere seconds? How could he go from admiring him to instantly disliking every word that came out of his mouth? The heartless dao of his that he cultivated was why he had no filter and Xie Ling could not for the life of him imagine himself putting up with this any longer than he had to.
"I know you did not ask me here just so you could batter Han Jianyu with your words like you already did with your fist," Xie Ling said, his tone direct and emotionless.
"No, you brought him up," Zhang Wei deadpanned.
Xie Ling wanted to say something else, something short and witty, but the tingle in Zhang Wei's eyes told him that he desired an argument, and Xie Ling just did not want to take that bait. "Fine," he said. "Why am I here?"
"Xie Ling," Zhang Wei began with a deep breath. "I must admit that I never truly noticed you before. You aren't very memorable nor are your looks particularly outstanding. I do not make a habit of fraternizing with omegas and betas because doing so would be such a waste of my time but when Jiang Min put us together on that temple mission, I truly saw you for the first time. Even after that, I thought it was nothing but later, when you confronted me in the courtyard, I knew that you were special. I am not just fascinated by you as you believe. I do not see you as merely a riddle. I believe that you and I have potential together and that is all I wish to develop. The cultivation competition is coming up. No alpha in history has been able to train an omega to the final stage of the competition. I want to make you that omega because I see that fire in you. I want you to let me make you powerful. Be my partner."
Excuse me? Are you suffering from brain damage? We just met!
That Xie Ling was stunned was an understatement. First of all, he did not ever think that Zhang Wei was capable of saying so many words in one breath. Second of all, while he was talking, Xie Ling had been completely transfixed, staring at Zhang Wei's lips and drinking every slight twitch of his facial muscles as though there was a test he needed to memorize them for. What was this connection and why did it feel so strong?
"What do you say?" Zhang Wei asked.
Xie Ling looked into Zhang Wei's eyes and he believed him. Perhaps Zhang Wei saw potential in him that he did not see in himself. Perhaps he should take this leap of faith and allow Zhang Wei to train him and make him powerful.
Zhang Wei's physique was a sight to behold, his muscles rippling like coiled springs beneath his taut skin. His windswept black hair added to his ruggedly handsome appearance, framing his sharp features and smoldering black eyes that were like the deepest pits, both alluring and intimidating. Xie Ling felt conflicted, his heart racing at the thought of training with such an impressive figure, yet also trembling with fear at the intensity of the gaze that Zhang Wei fixed upon him. In the end, Xie Ling knew he couldn't keep up, his body feeling like a rag doll in comparison to Zhang Wei's prowess, and he reluctantly thought it would be best to decline his offer to train together. Zhang Wei's gaze bore into his and Xie Ling knew he had to make a decision.
Yet, deep within those eyes were Jiang Han's words and the knowledge that Zhang Wei cultivated the heartless dao that made him lack empathy. Xie Ling just could not afford to become connected to a person like this or be trained on what was power by them.
He just could not!
"I'm afraid I cannot," Xie Ling said hurriedly, turning away from Zhang Wei and making for the exit. Before leaving the chambers entirely, he turned around to face Zhang Wei who was still standing in one spot, obviously surprised that he had been so rejected and he said: "Sorry."
And then, he was gone.