A/N: I write this chapter exceptionally from the author's point of view. So as a third person. Time for some jealousy, drama and... just read for yourself hahaha.

Zhan

Zhan strained to think about how long it had been since he and Yibo left the city and fled to the sea. Was it 6 months, 7 months, or even more than 8 months? And how long had he, Yibo and He Peng been with the Amores now? Was it 4 or 5 weeks? Maybe even more? He completely lost track and just couldn't remember.

Since He Peng had woken up after almost a week of unconsciousness, the three of them had had to participate in the Amores' hard training every day. And this had been 4 weeks now, if Zhan was not mistaken. So were they with them for 5 or 6 weeks now? In the end, Zhan didn't care, because he was actually just trying to distract himself and think about something other than the close male friendship that exists between Yibo and He Peng, which, even though he knows how stupid and nonsensical it is, kept him boiling inside with jealousy.

Of course, Zhan knows that He Peng is not into Yibo and that Yibo loves only him and no one else. And he also knows that He Peng only gets so much attention from Yibo because he repeatedly falls into deep stages of grief when he thought about his wife and her death. And Zhan also knows that even after weeks, He Peng still feels uncomfortable with these beings who are so strange. Which was probably only because they are indeed strange and not at all malicious.

Still, it bothered Zhan more and more how much time Yibo spent with He Peng and how often the two of them preferred to train alone instead of with everyone else, and only because He Peng felt so uncomfortable in the presence of the other beings. And it bothered him how often the two of them went into the forest alone to talk.

His jealousy even drove Zhan so far that he once secretly followed the two to see what they were doing or talking about when they were alone in the forest. In the process, he was shocked to find out that He Peng not only lost his wife, but also his unborn child. The young doctor's wife had been 6 months pregnant when she was killed. But as shocked as Zhan was and as sorry as he was for He Peng, he was also as angry and jealous because he had been excluded and not even Yibo had told him about this horror.

In the beginning, in the first two weeks after He Peng had also woken up again, Zhan had often tried to point out to Yibo how he didn't like the fact that Yibo and He Peng withdrew so often and obviously excluded him. He even brought it up directly a few times, but was always reassured by Yibo, and with following passionate sex, Zhan was appeased again, at least for the time being.

But when Zhan realized that it was always the same pattern and nothing changed, he stopped talking and began to distance himself more and more from Yibo, hoping that Yibo would notice and approach him. But this happened too rarely, Zhan found. And if it happened, it was usually only when Yibo wanted to be near Zhan and wanted the two of them to have some fun in their private little cave, which Zhan was allowing less and less. As he was far too annoyed with Yibo.

More and more, in Zhan's eyes, their relationship consisted only of Zhan's passionate jealousy, although suffering from jealousy would probably be more accurate. And he believed that Yibo was completely unaware of how much he was suffering from all of this. And just as Zhan was about to walk away from the stream and try to talk to Yibo again, because he didn't want to lose him because of his stupid jealousy and his stupid behavior in the past few days, he suddenly fell into a deep sleep.

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Yibo

Nevertheless, Yibo did not miss Zhan's jealousy and tried to the best of his knowledge and belief to work against this jealousy of Zhan, to show him that he loves him and he does not have to worry. But he had to realize himself that he failed miserably. Especially when he wanted to focus his full attention on Zhan, but then had to be there for He Peng again when he seemed to lose himself in his depression. His guilty conscience towards Zhan, even though he was doing nothing but being there for a friend who was in a bad way, grew immeasurably. But he did not know what to do.

He didn't want to leave He Peng alone with all his sorrow and fear. He wanted to help him to overcome his grief and his fear, to become stronger, so that he could soon help him and also Zhan together with the Amores in the fight against the other creatures. But he began to have more and more doubts about whether He Peng could and would really be ready to do that someday. And while he did his best to build up He Peng, he had to watch almost helplessly as Zhan became more and more distant from him.

Torn between the man he loves and the friend who needs him so much, he didn't know what to do anymore. No matter what he said to Zhan, no matter how many affections he wanted to give him, Zhan kept rejecting him and even preferred to move even further away from him by setting up his sleeping place away from him and on the other side of the cave.

And when Zhan did this, Yibo was not only horrified, but also terribly angry. Hadn't he assured Zhan hundreds of times that he belonged only to him? Hadn't he told him over and over again how important it was to help He Peng? Hadn't he told Zhan over and over again how much he yearned and longed only for him? Couldn't Zhan give him some time and trust him? He only realized how stupid and naive this behavior and these thoughts were when King Bac and the old Puria wanted to talk to him.

Puria: "King Bac is worried about you and Zhan and asked me to talk to you."

Bac: "Yes, concerrrrned."

Yibo: "Okay and what is it about?"

Puria: "I think you can already guess. Every day we see you guys getting further and further apart."

Yibo: "I know. I'm trying to help He Peng right now and..." He stammered.

Bac: "You'rrrre making Zhan sad." Scolded the king with his arms folded in front of his chest.

Puria: "You are a good man and you want to help a friend. We understand that. But you can't just be there for that friend and neglect your boyfriend."

Yibo: "I try to give Zhan my attention too and show him that he doesn't need to be jealous."

Puria: "And how do you do that? By putting your hand on He Peng's hand, smiling at him, talking to him quietly so no one can understand you, and then you walk off arm in arm without saying anything to Zhan and then you disappear into the forest alone for hours?"

Yibo: "I..."

Puria: "Even I would be furious with jealousy. You can't do something like that. Try to put yourself in Zhan's shoes, what it must be like for him to see that."

Bac: "You don't see what Zhan sees. You don't feel what Zhan feels. He sad and crrrries when you'rrrre in the forrrrest with He Peng."

Yibo: "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." Yibo had a thick lump in his throat. He had never wanted to hurt Zhan, and he certainly hadn't wanted to make him cry. He was only doing what he thought was right.

Puria: "How could you miss how bad Zhan really feels? He even moved away from you and He Peng, didn't he?"

Yibo: "I was angry about that because I thought Zhan was trying to tease me with that."

Puria: "No. He didn't mean to. He suffers from the jealousy, which he must have when he sees you and He Peng. And Zhan is really desperate. So desperate that he doesn't want to see you two anymore."

Yibo: "What do you mean?" He was shocked and alarmed.

Bac: "Zhan wants to leave. He wants to fight. Without you!"

Yibo: "But that's..."

Puria: "This is your fault Yibo. Zhan tried to talk to you many times, but you never really listened to him. And now he's desperate enough that he can't bear to see you together. He wants to join the fighting group."

Yibo: "He can't do that. He needs more training and I would never let him go without me."

Puria: "How do you know if Zhan needs more training? You haven't trained with him for weeks, and you've been training with He Peng alone. Zhan has learned a lot. He's gotten stronger and faster, he can control his skills better, and he can even keep up with a Amore in a duel. You didn't even realize that he was already out there fighting once! He killed 9 creatures and wasn't injured!"

Bac: "If you don't want Zhan anymorrrre, I'll take Zhan. I'll keep him and trrrreat him well. Better than you!" Said the king angrily, stood up and put his huge hand on Yibo's shoulder. He was squeezing so hard with his hand that Yibo was in great pain and even heard something crack, "Zhan needs a man who will make him happy. Not a man who makes him crrrry!" And with that, Bac left, leaving Yibo and Puria alone.

Puria: "If you don't want to lose Zhan, take care of him. He has the blood of an Amore in him, and believe me, once he's done with you, he's done with you forever. There will be no going back!" Said Puria, looking at Yibo's shoulder, which still hurt a lot.

Yibo: "I don't want to lose Zhan. I'll talk to him immediately. But I can't drop He Peng either. He's afraid of the Amores and he's still grieving for his wife."

Puria: "Why don't you leave him to me and the Amores? He is afraid of them. Well, then he should spend more time with them to see that his fear is unfounded. Whereas I don't think he is afraid of them. Maybe he thinks he is afraid because they are strange. He is grieving, okay, then let us help him. We have ways to ease his grief. Leave him to us and take care of your relationship with Zhan before it's too late."

Yibo: "I will talk to Zhan in a moment." That was all Yibo could say, because he simply didn't have the words. He was far too shocked and confused.

Puria: "Then go Yibo. And leave He Peng to us. He'll be fine, trust me." Yibo nodded and hastily left the cave he had followed Puria and Bac into. Which is also Puria's private area.

Yibo went back into the large cave and looked around for Zhan, but did not find him. Slight panic set in when none of the others he asked about him knew where Zhan was either. He looked all around the cave and the other smaller caves, but Zhan was nowhere to be found. It was only one of the soldiers who had just returned from his walk around outside who was then able to help him. "Zhan is at the strrrream." He said in a scratchy but easily understandable voice when Yibo asked him about Zhan.

Hastily he ran to his sleeping place, grabbed his jacket and was about to run outside and to the stream to Zhan when He Peng stopped him and asked, "Where are you going?"

Yibo could see he was about to cry again, but this time, with the fear he might really lose Zhan, it left him cold and he said, "I have to save my relationship! Please turn to Puria, she can help you. Please don't stop me any further. Because if I don't do anything now, I will lose Zhan. And I can't let that happen. I can't lose Zhan because he means my life to me. Unfortunately, I've said and shown him that far too little in the last few weeks."

"Run to him Yibo. I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time. Run to Zhan quickly." Replied He Peng, who likes Zhan a lot and also doesn't want Zhan and Yibo to break up.

Yibo nodded, put on his jacket in a run, hurried out of the cave and in the direction of the stream. It was raining hard and the ground was wet and slippery, but that couldn't slow Yibo down or stop him. He kept running and running until he came near the stream and saw Zhan. Abruptly he stopped and looked at Zhan with his eyes wide open.

Zhan was training with his silver spear in the rain. Swinging the spear around, he spun, jumped and ducked. He didn't even seem to notice the rain. But what Yibo, besides realizing what Puria and Bac meant by Zhan becoming much better, there was something else that made Yibo look speechlessly at Zhan.

Because it looked like Zhan's aura was glowing. His whole body was enveloped in a bright warm light. Very slowly, Yibo continued walking towards Zhan, who suddenly turned around to face him and held his spear in his direction. "It's me Zhan, put the spear down." Said Yibo.

But Zhan didn't put the spear down, instead he now pointed it directly at Yibo and asked, "Who are you?"

"Who am I? Zhan? Is this a joke? If so, it's not funny!" Yibo replied, frowning.

"Who are you stranger?" Zhan asked again, and in a tone Yibo was unfamiliar with.

And before Yibo could say anything back, King Bac came running, pushed Yibo aside and stopped in front of Zhan. He spoke to Zhan in his own language, and Zhan answered him in the same foreign language, of which Yibo understood very little. Now completely confused, he could only watch as King Bac very slowly approached Zhan and spoke to him in a calm tone.

As Bac approached Zhan and the two spoke, Yibo also approached cautiously. He heard Bac ask, "What is your name?" Yibo had already learned the words in Bac's language.

And Zhan answered in a low voice, "Anfar!" And now Puria and some other amores also came, carrying Puria on a kind of palanquin.

"Anfar! Stop!" Shouted Puria, and then looked at Yibo. "Don't worry. I'll handle it." She said and slowly walked towards Zhan.

Yibo watched anxiously as Bac and one of his soldiers grabbed Zhan and held him. Zhan tried desperately to fight back but couldn't and then two more soldiers came grabbing Zhan's legs and another one holding his head. Yibo was almost going crazy with worry.

Puria now stepped all the way up to Zhan and with a green paste she painted a sign on his forehead, spoke several words in the unintelligible language, painted more signs on Zhan's cheeks, chin and neck, spoke more unintelligible words and suddenly Zhan slumped down, would have fallen if 5 amores hadn't held him and the glow of his aura was gone.

Bac lifted Zhan on his arms and carried him past Yibo towards the cave. Yibo immediately wanted to go with him, but Puria held him back and said, "Zhan will sleep now. Don't worry, when he wakes up he'll be back to his old self."

"What was wrong with him? Why didn't he recognize me? What did you do to him?" Yibo asked a little more sharply than intended.

"Zhan's blood! I guess he has more Amore's blood in him than I thought after all."

"And that means?" Yibo asked impatiently.

"Zhan's is descended from the bloodline of King Anfar. This spear, his spear once belonged to Anfar and it was said that after his death, his spirit was drawn into the spear. And apparently this spirit took over the body of Zhan. They are blood relatives and so it is possible. At least for the Amores and according to their beliefs."

"That means Zhan was possessed by this King Anfar?"

"It looks like it yes."

"But how? And what do you know about this King Anfar?"

"Anfar was a wise and good king, gifted fighter, loved and revered by all among his people. He was the father of almost 200 children! So he was really very popular. He married only when he was already 40 years old. And at the latest then it proved that he had not only admirers, but also enemies. His wife was an enemy! She cheated on Anfar with his brother, who had always been jealous of Anfar, on their wedding night and murdered Anfar together with his brother when he caught them in bed. His wife thrust the spear into his back and his brother rammed the spear you have into his heart."

"Oh my God... that's..."

"When Anfar died, he banished his soul into the spear and swore revenge on his brother and his wife. Earlier when you left my private area, Bac and I felt this incredible power. We were looking for this power and luckily we got here in time. Because I'm not sure Anfar would have let you alive."

"Can something like that happen again?"

"Maybe. I should teach Zhan how to control Anfar's spirit if it happens again."

"Can he control the spirit, then?"

"He can. Zhan is strong. So are you, even if you haven't realized it yet. But I'll tell you more about that in the coming days."

"Why not now? Zhan sleeps for hours, you just said so yourself."

"Mhhh, but then let's at least go back to the cave. It's raining too much here." Said Puria with a smile.

They went back to the cave and after Yibo checked on Zhan again and looked after him, quickly putting on dry clothes, he joined Puria in her cave. He sat down next to the old one and waited for her to tell him what she had found out about him.