Chapter Text
It was a pleasure to return to the Hunters' Citadel after a few days of walking through the Forest of Convergence, watching his brother progress, but now back to the familiarity of his own unit, its dynamics, its jokes, and its warm welcome. The Citadel was on high alert, as the fight between the two great demons had activated the barriers' emergency protocol, so his unit awaited his instructions in their shared room, where he teleported after leaving the barrier tower of the central ring. As soon as he arrived, as expected, he was swarmed by questions from his unit members, as well as a warm embrace from the only woman on his team, Mei Lin.
Yixuan had to admit that Mei Lin was as resilient as the beautiful jade flower her name suggests. She was strong, fearless, reliable, caring, and hard to beat, not to mention too stubborn to be defeated or give up on anything she set her mind to. So, of course, being in love with him, even though he hadn't shown any interest in a romantic relationship for a moment, was yet another obstacle for her to overcome with no real reason to give up when there was no one else to catch her Commander interest, from either female or male.
"Xiao Xuan... I'm glad you're back. We were very worried about those patrolling the forest just when all that demonic energy hit it and spread throughout the Citadel. Are you okay? Where's High Commander Fan Ying? And your little brother and...?"
"Oh, come on, Xiao Mei, give the man a break and let him recover. He must be exhausted after his trip to Tiandu in horseback, then to the forest to take care of his little brother, and now with the unexpected arrival of a second great demon, all in such a short time without any rest, while we're left here on free time for weeks." The one who had intervened was his second-hand and best friend, Huang Yiming, and Yixuan smiled at him, while Yiming gently pulled Mei Lin away from Yixuan, releasing him from her tight embrace, from which he was quite grateful.
Yiming and he had been friends since childhood, as he was trained in the Zhuo Demon Hunting School, so the man knew Yixuan like the back of his hand and knew that Yixuan had no real interest in a romantic relationship with Mei Lin, or anyone else for that matter. So, to keep things in order, Yiming took it upon himself to control Mei Lin's advances, as he knew Yixuan was too kind to do it himself. That soft idiot... it was thanks to that that Mei Lin didn't give up on him, even when she knew Yixuan wasn't interested in her that way.
He had always suspected that Yixuan had a thing for men, but since he never spoke to him about it, Yiming never brought it up, even when they were alone, since his sexual preference did not change in any way the brotherhood between them or their respect for him as their commander and his exceptional humanity of which all of them in their unit were proud to be part of.
"Commander, can you explain the situation at a time like this? What are our orders?" The one who asked that question was Ren Jiang, the ever-serious man, their ever-vigilant vanguard, weapon expert, the one they all trusted with their lives. Yixuan smiled at him before beginning to tell them in detail everything that had happened while he was away from his unit.
"So, from the very beginning, we were mistaken about this great demon Zhu Yan, and now he wants to teach us? Teach us what exactly, because I believe our unit is already quite adept at hunting demons." That was Cao Wei, their team's demon expert and spell master, a trickster and a mischief-maker.
"Idiot! Didn't you hear him? He said he was going to awaken their divine blood through training and cultivation, and that the latter could be beneficial to all of us, plus training with him will be very interesting. Or are you going to tell me to my face that you can take on Zhu Yan just as you are right now?" Mei Lin asked, and of course, everyone knew the answer, a resounding no.
"This is a good opportunity for everyone. We can learn not only how to awaken our heritage, but also about demons, their past, and better ways to deal with them. We know now that demons don't come from the demon world, so the ones we have here are our problem, and since we know nothing about them beyond how to kill them, this is a good opportunity to learn from our lack of knowledge. Yes, we've gathered a lot of information about their types of demons and developed many tools and skills to hunt them, but we don't know how they cultivated or where they can do so. That because even with all the precautions we take here, at the gate of their world, cities, towns, and villages still suffer from demonic attacks. We used to believe they were escaping from the Forest of Convergence, because they were too weak to be detected or something like that, but in fact, it's very likely that the demons we had in our cities had cultivated on their own near human civilizations, which means we've been approaching this demon hunt all wrong." Yixuan explained.
"It makes sense, now that you mention it. We had focused on hunting demons in the forest, where they are the most numerous, believing they came from the gate there, but if they can cultivate elsewhere, the problem will never be solved if we focus on the forest and ignore those who can cultivate and become demons at our houses doors." Yiming said.
"But Zhu Yan is still a great demon. Can we trust his words? What if he's just deceiving us for something we don't know about? Demons have their own nature and one as powerful as he is most have his own agenda." Cao Wei asked in turn.
"That's a valid point. Can we trust the strongest demon in human history?" Ren Jiang also asked, and everyone looked at Yixuan, because they all trusted his judgment.
"If you ask me, the answer will be yes. My instinct tells me that he has been honest so far, that he has protected us for centuries, that he did it to keep the promise he made to his father, that he meant us no harm, and that his offer to make us stronger is sincere, but I can't guarantee he has our best interest at heart. It's one thing how I feel, and another how he truly is. The worst thing is that he had been there, near that gate, without straying too far for the vast majority of our existence, but no one thought of approaching him for any other purpose than to kill him, because mankind feared him for centuries and only tried its worst, not to talk to him or reason with him, so we lose the opportunity to check if he was really true to his words. We have proof that he did not hunt us directly, he only acted against us when we tried something with him first, that is a fact, but about the rest of the demons... he had no control over them or at least he does not seem inclined to command them, but If he is willing to share the knowledge on how to hunt them, even I cannot be sure that he would act against his own race, but there is a possibility now that the door is open for us to cross it."
"I'm in, Xiao Xuan, you can count on me for everything." Mei Lin said, and Yiming almost rolled his eyes. Of course she was going to said something like that.
"I'll follow your lead to the death." It was Ren Jing's choice, a fairly predictable one in Yiming's mind. He was always death serious.
"Of course, as your second-in-command and best friend, your decisions are also mine. My support will always be unconditional." Yiming said with a soft smile.
"Well... if I can't defeat a great demon with strength, perhaps I'll have a better chance if I outsmart him. How about I give it a try? I could win, right?" Cao Wei laughed, and everyone else did too, with the same humor his unit usually had after a serious discussion and they joked around how Cao Wei was planning to outsmart Zhu Yan, all which Yixuan was sure will fail if he ever try them, not that he was serious anyways.
"Okay, then pack your things, just something light, because Zhu Yan...well let's just say he's a bit on the grandiose side and has prepared a three-story mansion for us, and from the looks of it, you can expect the finest accommodations you've ever seen." At that whistle from Cao Wei.
"That's my kind of things, I like him already, and I haven't even met him face to face yet. I'm sick of hard beds, even if they look luxurious on the outside and cheap on the inside." Cao Wei joked.
"Oh... I haven't been inside a mansion in a while, apart from Xiao Xuan's, of course. It was a very special moment for me." She said with a faint blush and a dreamy smile.
"It was just a one-time thing, with all of us present, and we didn't stay long, so don't start fantasizing about something that will never happen." Yiming broke her romantic bubble.
"You're always a pain. Want a fight? I'm willing if you feel like it." She challenged him.
"Oh? Are you still dreaming of defeating me too? Wow, what a brave woman you are!"
"You stupid idiot, come at me and I'll make you eat your words!"
"It's your challenge, you move first. I don't like abusing women."
"I'm a demon slayer, not a little rose!"
"I'm glad you see yourself the way you are, you have very few feminine qualities."
"Now you've done it! Come on, you prick!"
"Bring it on, you foolish woman!" Yiming shouted, though he didn't really mean it, but Mei Lin was furious and about to lunge at him. Yixuan sighed.
"Please, not now. Pack up your things, we'll leave as soon as you're done. No fighting allowed. We need to make a good impression on Zhu Yan. So you two, please restrain yourselves. It's fine to challenge and argue one another from time to time and I can see you have been quite bore the past weeks. However, always remember that we're not just a demon-hunting unit, we're a caring family willing to sacrifice their lives to save others." Yixuan said as he turned to walk into his room, feeling a headache coming on. His unit, he loved them all and cared for them like family and although he enjoy their bickering as a part of who they are, sometimes it was too much.
Those two certainly were an incredible pair. Mei Lin would hit on him at every chance she got, without a hint of shame on her pretty face, even when he turned her down, and Yiming... that fool was so in love with her that he only infuriated her to show it to her in the strangest ways. Yes, she enjoyed a challenge, she had a fiery spirit, but sometimes Yiming just got too carried away.
It was hard to believe that when he was barely nine he had a crush on him, but he was glad he moved on from that disaster before it could explode on his face. He just hoped Yichen would have a better time with his unit and that he would stay away from Zhu Yan's grasp before the great demon tried to seduce him with the same boldness as Mei Lin use on him.
AN: Thanks for reading, it take me a bit of time to get Yixuan's team and their dynamics, (I hope you like them) and I write a few versions but stick with this one at the end.