Yao Shen recoils in shock at Tan Liansi\'s words, but she keeps smiling at him as if it\'s nothing.

"Don\'t look so surprised, I\'m just looking out for my ge" she says, through gritted teeth, her smile never once faltering.

She leaves Yao Shen\'s side and bounds over towards Xin Hulei, hooking her arm into his and leaning her face into his shoulder.

Xin Hulei barely notices her presence and continues talking with his assistant, as if he\'s so used to Tan Liansi invading his personal space that it doesn\'t even register.

Yao Shen watches them from a distance, feeling a mix of ambiguous feelings.

"Sucks, doesn\'t it?" a voice says from his right, making Yao Shen nearly jump out of his skin.

He finds Jia Hao beside him, with his arms crossed behind his head and a smirk on his pretty face. "Did you get me what I wanted?"

Scowling, Yao Shen fishes inside the convenient pockets of his costume and gives Jia Hao the chip card, using his sleeve to hide it from view.

"I can\'t talk with you here, there\'s people watching," Yao Shen says, chancing furtive glances around.

"Afraid someone will see and think you\'re crazy?" Jia Hao smirks widely, his terrible windbreaker almost blinding in the bright morning sun. "Too late," he says, and then vanishes.

Yao Shen doesn\'t understand what he means until he sees Xin Hulei walking towards him. Tan Liansi stays behind, a pleased grin curling on her lips.

"Who was that just now?" he asks, looking at the spot Jia Hao just vacated.

Yao Shen tilts his chin towards Tan Liansi. "What did she want?"

"To warn me about you," Xin Hulei says, not mincing words. "Who was that?" he repeats.

"That ghost I told you about," Yao Shen says, leaning closer to Xin Hulei and grinning at Tan Liansi from across the set.

"Oh," Xin Hulei says, his hackles no longer raised. "If he gives you trouble I can send him back to the underworld."

Yao Shen goes very still. "I didn\'t know you could do that...you didn\'t mention that when we met Sun Yi."

He shrugs. "It\'s not pleasant for the ghost, I felt sorry for her."

What would Xin Hulei be able to do to him then? Yao Shen is a human now, because he reincarnated, but...is he still a Ghost King at heart? Does that mean Xin Hulei can just make him disappear into the underworld too?

He tries to reassure himself with the existence of the contract they signed.

He can\'t do anything to Xin Hulei, and Xin Hulei can\'t do anything to him.

"You\'re oddly quiet," Xin Hulei says, his opaque eyes gazing deeply into Yao Shen\'s own -- as if he\'s considering some of Tan Liansi\'s warnings.

The worst part is that Yao Shen can\'t even feel insulted about it because he really is keeping things from Xin Hulei.

"I feel sorry about him too," he says, as a belated excuse to Xin Hulei\'s comment. "He likes Gao Wu but has no means of getting in touch with him. Have you figured out yet why is it that Gao Wu attracts ghosts?"

Xin Hulei shakes his head. "Not yet, but he truly doesn\'t seem to be aware of it."

Before they can talk more, a production assistance comes split them up none too subtly, using some thin excuse about costuming needing Xin Hulei somewhere else and Yao Shen being needed on the next scene\'s location.

Xin Hulei hangs back a second later to run his index finger over the inside of Yao Shen\'s wrist; their hands hidden from view by their costume\'s billowy sleeves.

Just that little bit of contact sends a thrill through Yao Shen\'s spine.

His eyes meet Xin Hulei\'s over his shoulder as they walk in separate directions. He doesn\'t think he\'s misreading the heat in their dark depths.

---

To Yao Shen\'s great misfortune, he spends the rest of his day filming scenes with Tan Liansi.

Scenes in which Chao Yue tries to ingratiate herself to Yan Shuyi and learn more about the inner workings of Frozen Peak as well as figure out which exactly is the nature of his relationship with Xie Huan.

Seeing as Yan Shuyi is still very much operating under the basis that relationships between masters and disciples are extremely taboo and Xie Huan hasn\'t yet launched his charm offensive -- she doesn\'t find anything useful.

In an annoying parallel, Tan Liansi takes to interrogating him every chance she gets during the breaks between takes.

"Ge told me you have yin yang eyes, that\'s curious, and have you always had them?"

"So your grandfather was a Daoist priest?"

"I\'m just curious as to why you have yin yang eyes, and yet so many things about the supernatural world seem new to you. You\'d think your grandfather would have told you more before his tragic passing?"

"Ah, an unfortunate...and convenient...family feud made it so you and your grandfather weren\'t that close. I see, I see..."

Yao Shen fields all her questions the best way he can, but it\'s exhausting. By the time he returns to his hotel he isn\'t sure if he\'s made any progress in convincing her that he\'s just a regular human being and doesn\'t pose any threat to Xin Hulei.

He orders room service and then complains to Xin Hulei about it:

[Little Ghost: Why is Tan Liansi so worried about you anyway? Aren\'t you a demon king? What the hell does she think I can do to you?]

[Xin Hulei: she\'s overprotective]

Yao Shen rolls his eyes at how vague of an answer that is.

Xin Hulei might be willing to indulge whatever attraction is simmering between the two of them, but it\'s clear he doesn\'t trust Yao Shen any more than Tan Liansi does.

In fact, it\'s likely that all the information he has revealed thus far, he did so as a deliberate way to test Yao Shen.

That kind of thinking puts him in a bad mood.

He tries to distract himself by thinking of something else.

[Little Ghost: Keep an eye on Heimao, I think he has a weibo account]

[Xin Hulei: ???]

[Little Ghost: shut up, it could happen]

[Little Ghost: maybe he already cultivated a human form and you don\'t know about it]

[Xin Hulei: why would he keep that from me?]

[Little Ghost: he\'s your cat, you figure it out]

They\'re silent for a while, and then Xin Hulei texts him again.

[Xin Hulei: do you want to come over? We can question Heimao together?]

[Little Ghost: I just ordered room service]

[Xin Hulei: tell me when it gets there and I\'ll come pick you up]

Yao Shen smirks down at his mobile, amused by Xin Hulei\'s insistence. He must be annoyed by the enforced distance between the two of them too.

The minutes trickle by as Yao Shen waits. When someone finally knocks on his door he practically runs to open it.

[Little Ghost: The food is here. I hope you like Thai food]

[Xin Hulei: I\'m coming to get you, not the food]

Yao Shen flushes darkly reading that message. He doesn\'t think Xin Hulei realizes how suggestive his words are.

Moments later a flurry of flames materializes in the middle of the living room. Xin Hulei steps out of the fire and wraps one arm around Yao Shen\'s waist and holds the tray of room service with the other.

Yao Shen wraps his arms around his neck with a chuckle, amused by his penchant for dramatic entrances and equally dramatic exits.

---

They reaper in Xin Hulei\'s tiny Hengdian living room, which looks no different than the last time Yao Shen was there. Still resembling an eclectic travel bag explosion site.

Xin Hulei deposits the room service food on the kitchen counter. Yao Shen takes a seat on one the tall benches, his bare thighs sticking to the plastic seats. He realizes he came along while wearing only his pajamas, but isn\'t too bothered by this, considering the usual states of undress he ends up walking around Xin Hulei\'s apartment.

Xin Hulei gets bowls and chopsticks for the two of them and divides the pad woon sen between them.

"You\'re even eating my food," Yao Shen grumbles, accepting a bowl from Xin Hulei. "What kind of host are you?"

"You\'re the one who had already ordered food." He eats a mouthful and then adds, "this saves me the trouble of having to cook."

"I thought you liked cooking."

"Only when I\'m cooking for someone else."

Yao Shen remembers all the times Xin Hulei has cooked for him already and feels his scalp tingling. Sometimes he doesn\'t know if he does it on purpose or if being seductive just comes naturally to him.

Suddenly, a shrill voice disturbs the quiet of their meal. "Master, whose voice is that?" Jincan asks, from the bedroom.

"The nation\'s number 1 homewrecker is here to ruin your day," Yao Shen says, smiling into his food.

He should not feel this amused by antagonizing a caterpillar but life is all about the small things.

Just then a black shadow comes slinking out from the bedroom. Heimao meows and jumps into the couch, staring head on at Yao Shen.

Yao Shen gives his sapphire eyes an appraising look.

"You wouldn\'t happen to have grown an opposable thumb or two, would you?"