They had been traveling through the Guilin Forest for several days, and Lu Yong had become increasingly worried about Wu Chen.

Since they had left Rizhao, Wu Chen had been quiet and moody. Lu Yong didn't want to push him, but it only seemed to get worse each day. He avoided eye contact, always stayed at least an arm's length away, and only spoke to him when it was absolutely necessary. There was none of the closeness they had shared before. It was like there was a wall between them that Wu Chen had built with his own hands.

The only time he seemed more like himself was when Lu Yong was teaching him arrays. Each night when they made camp, Lu Yong would have him watch as he set up the three protection arrays he always used. Then, they would begin practicing the simple arrays.

Wu Chen showed an aptitude for them and an honest interest. He quickly picked up the basics and could already do several smaller arrays that were more for personal protection than for area protection. A few more nights of practice, and they could get into more complex formations.

It would seem that whatever was going on with him now had to do with Lu Yong in some way. He felt sure that Wu Chen was overthinking something. The problem was, unless he could get him to open up, things would only get worse. How to go about it, though?

His attention was pulled to a tree just to their right. There seemed to be something on the trunk, and he held his hand up to stop before dismounting. He approached the tree carefully, keeping his senses on high alert. The closer he got, the more certain he became. Those were claw marks.

Wu Chen had dismounted and joined him. He stared up at the marks. 'Devil Bear?' he asked.

Lu Yong nodded, placing his hand on the marks. There were four deeply gouged lines in the tree trunk, and those were a full arm's length above them. The size of the creature that made them had to be enormous. The claw marks were wider than he expected, and the strength to dig in so deeply had to be immense. This would be a formidable foe.

'We seem to have reached the edge of its territory.' Lu Yong mused. 'It's bigger than I expected and extremely powerful.'

'The horses are going to be a problem.' Wu Chen said, glancing at them. 'Not only will their scent draw it in, but they're likely to panic when we get close enough.' He shook his head. 'Dealing with the bear will be bad enough. Dealing with crazed horses while dealing with the bear will only make things harder.'

Lu Yong nodded and squinted up at the sun. They still had half a day ahead of them to reach their planned campsite, but that campsite was now inside the Devil Bear's territory. They would have to adapt.

'I think it's a good idea if we backtrack a little and set up camp further away from here.' He glanced at the marks once more and then headed for the horses. Wu Chen followed a few steps behind. 'We can settle the horses and hunt for the bear using that as our base. It's not ideal, but from the looks of these marks, there will be no way to get through its territory without being detected. Not with the horses.'

If it had just been him and Wu Chen, they might be able to sneak through. They were both high enough in cultivation to disguise their scents and auras. This bear, however, was also a type of cultivator. As a spirit beast, it had begun its own path of cultivation and had its own abilities. No simple prey animal was going to escape its notice for long. This also meant that if they wanted to keep the horses, they had no choice but to hunt the bear to prevent problems later.

Wu Chen silently followed Lu Yong through the trees, his senses stretched to their limit for signs of potential problems. There didn't seem to be many animals at all in the area that he could detect. A bird or a mouse wasn't big enough to draw the attention of the bear, so they were still in abundance. Anything bigger, though, was nowhere in sight. This was to be expected so close to its territory.

They stopped at a small stream and set up camp. Once that was done, Lu Yong set up an array that Wu Chen had never seen before. He watched closely, but with his limited knowledge, all he could tell was that it was some sort of location array. The array glowed softly when it was successfully completed, and then the glow dissipated.

Lu Yong approached Wu Chen and had him hold out his arm. He did, and Lu Yong drew an array on the inside of his arm near the wrist. His touch tingled both with the qi in the array and with his presence. Wu Chen shivered a little and tried to focus on the array rather than the man in front of him. A faint flush colored his cheeks.

'I'm guessing this is so we can locate our campsite later, right?' Wu Chen asked, trying his best to focus on something other than Lu Yong. He kept his gaze strictly on the array.

'Yes. You just have to inject a tiny bit of qi into it to activate it.' Lu Yong explained, not letting go of Wu Chen's arm. 'It will glow in the direction of the site once you do.'

His explanation over, Wu Chen tried to pull his arm back, but Lu Yong wouldn't release it. He tugged harder, but he still wouldn't let it go. Finally, Wu Chen looked up at Lu Yong, his frustration written all over his face. 'Let me go.' he demanded angrily.

Completely ignoring him, Lu Yong pulled him in and wrapped his arms around him firmly. 'Now, where are you going to run to?' he teased.

Wu Chen was in trouble. He twisted and turned in his arms, but Lu Yong wasn't having it. Knowing he couldn't get away, he stopped wasting the energy and simply stood there refusing to talk or look at Lu Yong. He was shaking with anger but more so with the close proximity to his Guardian. He was not making this easy on him at all.

'Please let me go.' Wu Chen demanded through gritted teeth.

'Not until I know what's going on with you.' Lu Yong was past all patience. This was getting solved...now.

'Nothing is going on. Just let me go.' Wu Chen was starting to panic a little. How could he explain what he was trying to do was for Lu Yong's own good? Lu Yong didn't like being indebted to anyone, not after everything he'd been through already. He might even get upset if he knew.

With a frustrated growl, Lu Yong grabbed the back of Wu Chen's head and crushed his lips in a demanding kiss.

Wu Chen froze, and then he started to really struggle against him. It was so hard to focus on fighting beneath the onslaught of that punishing mouth. Lu Yong's lips pressured Wu Chen's mouth open, and his tongue invaded...and conquered. Wu Chen had lost this battle, and he knew it. He had only been kidding himself that he could resist his Guardian. He had no defense against him whatsoever.

His struggles slowed, and he finally gave in to Lu Yong's demands. His body grew soft and yielding, his arms rose up of their own accord to wrap around his neck. He couldn't think about anything but the heat rushing through him and the desire for this to go on forever.

Lu Yong felt him soften against him, so he gentled the kiss. He caressed Wu Chen's lips with his own, reveling in the feeling of him being in his arms again. He stroked his hair tenderly while he indulged himself in the exploration of his willing mouth. His tongue dipped and teased, his breath becoming quicker with each muffled moan.

Lu Yong lifted his head slightly, letting his lips hover over Wu Chen's. 'Now,' he brushed his lips over Wu Chen's and asked, 'Why have you been avoiding me?'

'It's not that I want to.' Wu Chen hedged breathlessly. Not accepting that answer, Lu Yong crushed his mouth once again, his kiss fierce and demanding. Wu Chen went instantly weak. His soft groan was the only sound he could make with his scattered thoughts.

Lu Yong softened the kiss and then began a slow trail of nips and licks down the side of his throat. Wu Chen's legs were shaking. He was barely able to keep himself standing at this point. The feel of Lu Yong's mouth on his pulse made his blood boil. Pleasure shot through him and forced a gasp from his lips.

'Why have you been avoiding me?' Lu Yong asked between nips.

'Because you're in love with Wu Chen, and there's still a chance he could come back one day!' Wu Chen finally choked out. His eyes filled against his will, and he used what little strength he had left to push away from Lu Yong, who was too shocked to stop him.

Wu Chen drew in a shaky breath, trying to get his emotions back under control, 'I know you love him, and there's nothing wrong with that. I can hear it in your voice every time you speak of him.' He cast his tear-filled eyes on Lu Yong's stunned face and rushed on before he lost his courage. 'If you're still here after 300 years, then Wu Chen must be out there somewhere too. I don't want to stop you two from being together, I care about you too much to do that. I'll even help you find him if you need me to. But if all of that is true, then there's no point in continuing to pretend you and I could be anything to each other then, is there?'

Lu Yong gazed at the shattered look on Wu Chen's face, and his heart broke. What was he supposed to say to this? Wu Chen didn't know that there was only one Wu Chen...and he was it. They were the same person, and he did love him. That was true.

He had thought that not telling Wu Chen about his past would stop him from feeling any more pain, but one look at his face now, and he knew that he had been dead wrong about that. Why had he not realized that this could become a problem? He knew how Wu Chen was. He knew how his conscience and morals drove him. It was one of the things that most attracted Lu Yong to him. Why hadn't he seen this coming?

Wu Chen gruffly swiped a hand over his face, angry that he had actually cried, 'Don't worry about me. Right now, I think it's best if we just focus on getting to the temple and getting the sword. After that,' he shrugged fatalistically, 'where you go and what you do will be entirely up to you. I don't want to be the reason you feel you need to hold back.'

A deafening roar came from the depths of the forest. Both of them snapped their heads in the direction of the sound. The Devil Bear was closer than they had thought.

Lu Yong walked over and put his hand on his ward's shoulder. He leaned toward him, his eyes burning as they locked onto Wu Chen's, and he let his breath brush his cheek as he murmured, 'After we take care of this bear, you and I need to have a talk.'