No Need for Jealousy

It was nighttime again, and Sun Yin laid on the bed with her back against Lu Bang's. The soles of her feet flattened against the man's calves while her hands gripped the blanket that was pulled to her chest. Her hair was behind her, probably tickling his nape with its softness. She stared at the empty side of the room, away from the drawn curtains to hide the moon.

"Lu Bang? Are you still awake?"

"Mn." He grunted an answer.

"Aren't you getting jealous of your brother or Ren Junjie?"

"Are you really saying 'jealous', or do you mean 'envious'?"

The returned question piqued her interest, especially the word 'envious'. She started rolling in place to cling against his back. "Earlier, you were doing something to Huaban. What was that?"

Lu Bang kept his silence, but he was breathing too loud to fake sleeping. He moved a little, letting Sun Yin give him the necessary space before lying on his back. "Nothing important. Just left-over techniques I can still execute even without a golden core."

"That's so fancy!" Sun Yin clung onto his arm and traced its shape. "Then why would you hide that from me, hm? Why didn't you use it after Ren Junjie appeared?"

"Can you stop asking questions?"

"Were you trained against interrogations? Why can't I read most of your thoughts?" She whined, not being able to get anything exciting from his head. She then giggled after, rubbing her nose against his shoulder. "No matter, you're honest most of the time after all."

The male slid his eyes to the corners to look at her. He only took a deep breath. "With the length of time after my golden core was melted, I could have regained it if I train in secret, you know."

Sun Yin moved her face to take a look at that handsome serious face.

He smirked at himself. "But I didn't because it would spark another difficult situation for both of us. If I grew too weak, it would give Lin Kun all the rights to be the master. Like I mentioned, he wasn't that good when Father died.

"If I pushed to get back what I lost, the elders of the sect would ignore Lin Kun again. He already went through a lot of neglect since he was a child. He deserved to be recognized fully."

"No offense, but if you say it that way, it sounds like you're just pitying your little brother."

"Maybe I am or maybe not. It doesn't matter. No one else should know I can still do such things." He grunted a little. "Besides, I can only do that because someone else is supplying energy to Huaban. I doubt I can control Huaban on my own."

Sun Yin hummed as if half-convinced of what he said. Left-over techniques? Seemed pretty much like a disturbing kind to the maiden; techniques that required blood were often deadly. To execute them without a core would be asking for death.

This took her back to what happened before. It seemed like the Society recognized Lu Bang for his skills and cultivation before the incident. The master of the Reqi Ren sect even knew him by face. The masters of the other two sects did not say anything, but they returned Lu Bang's greetings. Perhaps his sacrifice sounded too pathetic compared to losing Lin Kun.

'A man who is important to the Society at best...'

"Why were you asking me if I was jealous?"

Sun Yin twitched and lifted half of her torso to take a look at Lu Bang. He cast his gaze at her eyes, and they remained locked for a while. For some reasons, Sun Yin forgot to answer; she even forgot that he asked her a question in the first place.

Nothing much was different with Lu Bang since they first met, but she seemed to be more and more distracted ever since they were on this ship. Probably, it started back at the brothel. No matter where or when, she could not help but to always press herself against him when it's convenient.

Looking at his face from a higher perspective when he's lying down like that made her heart skip a beat. The closet matriarch seemed to imagine pouncing on him, and yet she kept herself in check. Then again, at most, Lu Bang would only push her off.

She never experienced anything like this before. Perhaps, she was living a rather healthier life without the pretense of revenge inside her heart. Then again, she was back because someone stole her army. It was not like she came back to have fun.

"...Yin. Sun Yin!"

Ah, Lu Bang had been calling her. He reached out to cup his hand on her head. "Sun Yin? What's wrong?"

His eyes began to mellow as he got worried. Sun Yin decided to crawl to get on top of him, breaking more into the limits of his personal space. Lu Bang only frowned at her actions, lifting his torso and leaning on his elbows behind him.

He flicked her forehead. "Hey."

The maiden broke out of the trance. Her eyes only slithered to the side to avoid his gaze. She was stuck in a position she wanted to get out of but also wanted to pursue.

"Hey, say something. You're making me worried."

"Do you see me as a woman, Lu Bang?" Her pretty eyes went to be captured by his gaze again. "You're getting too familiar with me, and yet I feel that there's this wall between us." She moved closer to put her face nearer against his. "Haven't you considered—even once—that I'm more than a companion to you?"

"That, huh." Instead of giving in or making her stop, Lu Bang only moved his head up, as if looking away from her, but their gazes were still locked. He was giving her what was more of a ridiculing look. "With the kind woman you are, I'll probably wonder which one of us will be the bed warmer if ever..."

Sun Yin froze.

She then sat on him and flicked her hair behind her. "With the kind of woman I am, you say. Tell me what kind am I. Please enlighten me, Young Master Lu."

The corner of the man's eye twitched. He looked away from her. "I don't mean anything derogative. I'm just saying you're getting a little too pushy. We're in the middle of a mess; I have no time to think about any of my interests."

"I gave two simple questions, Lu Bang. Just give me two simple answers."

He frowned at her and sighed. "I see you as a woman, Sun Yin, but I have no intention of doing anything about it. So what if we're together a lot?" He continued to speak, but something else was firing up the dying light in Sun Yin's eyes.

She could see the Bride in his mind. The dream that she had in the body of a small child; it was Lu Bang's dream. It was the first time they saw each other. Her body suddenly felt like warmth crawled inside her chest. The budding admiration surged from his thoughts as he continued to lie at her face.

A finger got lifted to stop him from talking. Sun Yin gave him her familiar skyward smile. A faint blush had also drawn across her face. Instead of making more advances, she only dove to squish Lu Bang against the bed. A groan came from him as he was forced to slam his back against the bed. She cared not if her legs had to straddle him.

"You sneaky woman." The man only held her shoulders and pushed her off of him. "Don't do that again."

Lu Bang thought she would roll back to clung onto him, but Sun Yin just gathered the blankets to her chest and giggled against them. She cuddled the soft roll and left nothing for their bodies. The man went to his side and lifted his torso to pull on the blanket. It was not much of a fight, but he was able to spread the fabric on both of them.

Unlike normal, Lu Bang did move close to Sun Yin this time and even placed his arm around her waist. His other arm was on their pillows, making itself comfortable.

The woman leaned back against his chest, letting her bare back feel the warmth radiating through his inner robes. She pulled what remained of the blanket roll against her chest.

"I wished you would act jealous at least, but this is a bit better than what I imagined." She giggled again. However, Lu Bang's hand on her waist flew to her head to flick her forehead. She only chuckled as he placed it back around her waist. "You should be more honest when it comes to things like this."

"And watch you get all mushy to the point I get worried? No thanks."

"So unfair." She giggled, ironic to her words.

"What's the point of getting jealous when he had someone else in his mind?"

"So what if someone comes along and gets taken by me? And he tries to take me away from you?"

"...Goodnight."

"Lu Bang!"