Xi Zirui sits up straighter in bed as Han Yu makes his way towards him, his long legs carrying him in easy strides across the room.

Two years have changed him a lot. He has grown much taller, broader too. His face has lost all of its softness, the last remnants of childhood now replaced with sharp, chiseled features.

He kneels down by the bedside, and Xi Zirui finds that he can't wrest his eyes away from him. Mentally filing away all the changes in him -- the visual confirmation that he really spent two years asleep.

"You're taller," he says, his voice raspy from disuse.

"Shixiong looks the same," Han Yu says, taking Xi Zirui's hand between his two larger ones.

Xi Zirui still can't wrap his mind around why Han Yu is now calling him shixiong all of a sudden.

As if noting his confusion, Su Xueyi intervenes, "Han Yu has become my disciple."

"Why?" Xi Zirui asks, wondering why Han Yu would want to do something like that.

"Shixiong saved my life, I wanted to pay him back and look after him every day afterwards," Han Yu says, his eyes running over Xi Zirui's body avidly, drinking in the sight of him awake and talking.

It still feels unreal to Xi Zirui that he spent two years unconscious. The last thing he remembers is being in She Yong's cave, and then nothing after that.

"What happened? How did you get out?"

Su Xueyi clears his throat and makes his way towards the door. "I'll let the two of you talk."

Han Yu takes a deep breath, his hand tightening around Xi Zirui's. "I don't want to upset shixiong, but it's better if he hears what happened that day as soon as possible." He sighs. "Now that you're awake, there will be some questions."

---

Han Yu tells him everything.

Tells him how he used the last of his strength to go through a bottleneck in his cultivation and advance to the next level, allowing him to light-step out of the cave through the opening above them while carrying an unconscious Xi Zirui.

By then, his qi was fading fast, and while Xi Zirui managed to help him stave off the poison running through his system he was still badly injured.

It took Han Yu hours to reach Peiya with an unconscious Xi Zirui on his back. Luckily for them everyone was already out searching for them and they were found fast.

Master Ouyang was furious, but seeing as the two of them were in no condition to be punished, all he could do was wait for the two of them to recover.

Han Yu came to sometime later, now back in their previous room in the inn, while two other disciples tended to them. Since he had no way of knowing how Xi Zirui usually hid his appearance, he made a talisman and hid it on him, and thankfully no one had stripped Xi Zirui and found it.

Master Ouyang sent word to Frozen Peak that Han Yu had been poisoned by a snake spirit and that they needed the antidote delivered as fast as possible, because he was too weak to be moved.

It was Su Xueyi who arrived with it.

It was also Su Xueyi who managed to nurse Xi Zirui back to health, by transferring some of his qi to him. Something everyone else had been trying to do with little success.

That was also the day She Yong attacked Peiya village.

Han Yu doesn't know why he did it, and he didn't offer an explanation. He just cut through the villagers and absorbed their qi, instead of doing it through his bargain with the fake doctor.

There weren't enough Heavenly Dragon disciples to contain him, and even Master Ouyang and Su Xueyi weren't strong enough to hold him back.

Xi Zirui eventually woke up in the middle of the commotion, and made his way into the fray.

Xi Zirui himself has no memory of this, and even less of the events that followed.

As Han Yu describes it, he tried to stop She Yong even though he was still weakened.

To everyone's surprise, She Yong stopped, and said something about doing it out of courtesy for his brother. After which he disappeared and Xi Zirui fell unconscious. This time not even Su Xueyi managed to awake him.

"Shizun said shixiong's meridians had almost been severed by the effort it took to confront She Yong," Han Yu says.

Xi Zirui hears the whole account almost in a fugue state.

It's not like he doubts what Han Yu is saying, it's just that none of it makes sense.

If he was so weakened, why would he risk himself to save Heavenly Dragon disciples? The very same people he's determined to get revenge on for Tuya's death.

He looks into Han Yu's earnest face, and knows there's no way he can tell him, 'I would have let everyone die, you're the only exception'. Han Yu might have a soft spot for him, but Xi Zirui is sure he won't tolerate his plan to eradicate his entire sect.

"Very odd," is all he ends up saying, after Han Yu is done telling him what happened that day. "And I've been unconscious ever since?"

"Yes, Shizun has been working tirelessly these past two years to rebuild shixiong's meridians," he says, and then, lowering his gaze. "I begged father to become Shizun's disciple as well, so that I could repay shixiong for debt of saving my life."

Xi Zirui chuckles. "Didn't I tell you there weren't any debts between us?"

Something shifts in Han Yu's eyes, and while there's a lot of the boy Xi Zirui remembers in his mischievous smirk, the intensity of his gaze makes something electric run down his spine.

"I had ulterior motives too," Han Yu says, lowering his head to whisper the words into Xi Zirui's ear. "Very selfish motives that I hope shixiong can forgive me for."

Now that the brat is all grown up, Xi Zirui finds that he isn't so immune to his blatant flirting.

"Let me hear them, and I'll tell you."

Han Yu smirks, a sharp canine biting into his lower lip. "I needed to keep refreshing the talismans hiding shixiong's true appearance." He places one hand over Xi Zirui's chest, making paper rustle underneath his palm. "I couldn't help taking a peek from time to time."

Xi Zirui clicks his tongue. "Just a peek? Should have taken advantage I was unconscious and gone all the way."

It's clear Han Yu doesn't expect to hear that, because he almost falls back on his ass, stammering out an incoherent string of words.

"Brat, you have a lot to learn," Xi Zirui says, pushing Han Yu's hand away.

Han Yu catches his wrist at the last moment, gazing into Xi Zirui's eyes. "As long as shixiong is the one teaching me, I'll be a dedicated student."

This time around, the heat in Han Yu's eyes renders Xi Zirui silent.