ShuFang lightly smacked his head multiple times. "Stupid...why am I so stupid?" ShuFang berated himself. He blamed himself for injuring Jun WeiXiang, and wanted to tend to Jun WeiXiang's injuries himself, but he just couldn't push his wariness away. He was afraid. He was afraid that history would repeat itself, and that Jun WeiXiang was just another version of Jun Yiwang. He didn't want to be used and discarded again.

ShuFang let out a deep sigh as he tested out his zither strings. He gently caressed it as his turbulent emotions calmed down. The air regained its tranquility.

He lifted his sleeves up and stretched out his pale hands. The sun shone its rays on the ivory hand, lighting the hand up with brilliance as the fingers skillfully plucked the strings.

A melancholy and heartbroken tone flowed into the distance, echoing softly into every town citizen's ears. They felt their eyes water and their hearts clench at the zither music. At that moment, they all realized that the Sightless Fairy was yet again playing his zither. They all stopped in their tracks, abandoning what they were doing before just to get a clear sound of the music playing.

[Start video at 0:11.]

It wasn't only the citizen's hearts that were crying from the soulful music. Jun WeiXiang's heart also tightened from the sight of the fragile ShuFang. Shufang, who was enshrouded in the sun's embrace, kept playing, ignoring the tears that were slipping out of the corner of his closed eyes.

Every time ShuFang plucked his zither strings, it would feel as if someone had also tugged at Jun WeiXiang's heartstrings. ShuFang's fingers kept plucking away, ignoring the blood that started to seep through the skin. The fingers, bloody and lacerated, kept moving.

Much like those mangled fingers, Jun WeiXiang's insides were also churning in chaos. Something was bothering him. Something was hurting him. Something ached inside him. Something felt so wrong, so invalid but Jun WeiXiang couldn't tell what. He only knows that ShuFang should not be hurting like this, that ShuFang should be the world's happiest person instead.

Whatever inner dilemma he had about his sexual orientation, he didn't care anymore. He wanted to protect this man, protect him from all the pain and sins of this world. He could vaguely deduct the amount of pain ShuFang had gone through to be able to produce such music. Afterall, the most beautiful hearts are the ones that have been molded through suffering and torment.

He limped hurriedly towards ShuFang and hugged him from behind tightly. "Don't play anymore...stop playing ShuFang, stop hurting yourself.." He begged.

ShuFang's pain was like a wolf eating at his chest, tearing it's way to his trembling heart. It threatened to devour him, eat him whole and leave nothing but scraps behind. He sensed JunWeiXiang's arms reaching out for him and didn't evade it. He felt the robust arms circling around him, wrapping him close to Jun WeiXiang's chest. He could hear and feel every heartbeat of Jun WeiXiang's clearly. It thumped loudly, reminding ShuFang that he wasn't alone--he didn't need to bear this pain alone, and that someone would be there to accompany him and to comfort him. Strangely, the wolf inside ShuFang's chest retreated into the air, and ShuFang's heart was once again at ease.

A wave of warmth bubbled up ShuFang's chest and swept through his mind, erasing all of his worries. He lifted his fingers and stopped playing, letting the melancholic music dissipate through the air.

His fingers floating up, and just as ShuFang was about to touch Jun WeiXiang's hand, a frenzy of images forcefully penetrated his mind, replaying the scenes of his family's gruesome deaths.

ShuFang's mind twisted in pain, and so did his heart, as all he could 'see' at the moment was blood, and all he could hear at the moment were the anguished screams of his parents.

'BenWang doesn't need your disgusting love! Guards! Cut off his limbs and toss him into the mountains.'

The same repulsive and loathsome voice drifted into ShuFang's mind, making his heart wrench once again.

ShuFang immediately shoved Jun WeiXiang away. He gazed down tearfully at the wounded Jun WeiXiang with a trace of hatefulness and apology, and ran away once again, stumbling and tripping a couple of times due to his murky heart.

"ShuFang..." Jun WeiXiang whispered weakly. The blood from his reopened wounds was already forming a small puddle underneath his fallen body, however, he didn't blame ShuFang for any of it. He knew that ShuFang's heart was barbed with wires. The barbed wires were not meant to hurt anyone who dared to approach it, but it was meant to protect ShuFang himself. It was there to protect the already battered shattered heart; it was there in a desperate attempt to hold the shattered heart together.

Jun WeiXiang's sight grew hazy; his mind slipped out of consciousness with ShuFang being the last thing he thought of.

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I just love angst so much haha, sorry for the readers who wanted a warm scene with ShuFang hugging Jun WeiXiang back *kowtows*