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Chapter Text

Shen Yuan was dying. He had been dying for ten years at this point, and he’d really gotten rather fed-up with it all. Eventually it had gotten to the point that not even binge-reading the trashiest of novels, comprised of over five thousand chapters worth of mindlessly dull wife plots and maybe two hundred semi-interesting chapters at the start, did not take long enough for him to finally cop it. It had taken the memorisation of the flora and fauna of the novel, and a re-reading of the first two hundred chapters for the doctors to finally tell his family he was in his last few weeks and several essay-length protest-posts on the terrible writing quality submitted kindly to Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky for his body to start shutting down in a way that was actually noticeable. Well, more noticeable.

That is not to say he was dying of boredom. No, roasting the living daylights out of shitty authors was a favourite past-time of renown internet-gremlin Peerless Cucumber, but it was the time it took to complete all of the above activities that is the indicator of how done Shen Yuan was with life.

No, it was a billion and one little things that stacked up on each other that was what had been killing him. Weak immune system paired with varying nervous and organ related diseases and sudden tumorous growths in the brain tend to be pretty fatal. He was nine when he first collapsed and he was fourteen when he had to leave school for home-care. He finished his schooling two years early from sheer boredom, and had managed to score an online teaching degree in the two years following. He had only barely passed, with the motivation that his mother had been a teacher, but he was still proud to say he had accomplished something with his life.

When he was younger, he had wanted to be a police detective. He had enjoyed the silly American cop shows and knew he’d be brilliant at the job for the sole reason that he could see ghosts. At seven, he had figured out it would be the easiest thing in the world to ask the ghost who killed them and then ask the ghost where the evidence is, problem solved. His father thought it was cute and his mother always entertained his fantasies by playing the victim. These were the happy memories he thought he’d be reminiscing on in his final weeks.

But no. He was stuck on the shittiest novel in existence. Proud Immortal Demon Way. What kind of idiot came up with that title?

He was nineteen when he died.

His last thoughts were ‘shitty author, shitty novel’ before complete darkness.

Which was strange, because all the ghosts he’d spoken to had described stepping out of their bodies and floating about from there on.

But everyone’s experiences were different, and he had to keep that in mind.

[Activation code ‘Shitty author, shitty novel’ accepted. System loading…]

And Shen Yuan immediately understood what had happened.

You see, as a man of culture, Shen Yuan had long since wrung dry the ocean of isekai or transmigration novels available to him, and understood the significance of the system well, and while the system took a minute to load, he digested this information with dignity. He wasn’t going to assume anything, heaven forbid he embarrass himself like certain characters.

And so he prepared himself for the worst.

The blackness surrounding him faded and the loading screen disappeared, replaced with a pale blue HUD screen with the message:

[Welcome Host, to the System! This system operates in line with the design concept ‘YOU CAN YOU UP, NO CAN NO BB’. We hope to provide you with the best possible experience. It is our sincere wish that during your time here, you can fulfil your desires, and according to your wishes, transform a stupid work into a high-quality, magnificent, first-rate classic. We hope you enjoy.]

His surroundings began to come into focus slowly and the first thing he fully understood was a voice speaking lightly by his ear, “Shidi? Shidi, can you hear me?”

He lay still and blinked the fog from his eyes. Above him was a gauze canopy of pale mint and white and dark brown bedposts and beside him on the pillow a paper fan. He was dressed in the sort of white robes he recognized from Xianxia style manhua and he could feel already that his hair was long and impractical.

He counted slowly to five, taking those precious seconds to calm himself before slowly easing himself up. It became startlingly apparent that, besides a vague dizziness, he felt alarmingly good. His new body, that is. There was no aching or pains and everything felt in order on the inside, and he felt strong. He could move his fingers and arms without struggle and there was no restriction on his breathing.

He glanced over at the man beside him who was hovering nervously, seemingly debating whether or not he should help him sit or not.

‘Alright. Xianxia novel. He called me Shidi. That makes him my Shixiong. He’s addressing me familiarly however, so we must be close. Try a question,’ he instructed himself as he fought the rising panic as the situation began to settle in fully.

“Where… where am I?” he rubbed at his head and looked around dazedly.

“Did you sleep your memories away? This is your Qing Jing peak,” the man smiled a little.

The slow understanding on his face was not feigned as it dawned on him the implications of his words.

Qing Jing. From Proud Immortal Demon Way. He had been transmigrated into the novel.

‘Wait. Your Qing Jing… shit. Oh shit. Fix the novel oh shit shit shit shit shit shit. Oh please god no-shit-do-I-have-legs-when-in-the-novel-is-this-I’m-gonna-die SHUT UP SHEN YUAN NOW IS NOT THE TIME OKAY I’M SHUTTING UP TALK TO THE STRANGE MAN I WILL,’

“What… happened? Have I been asleep that long?”

“This is what I wanted to ask you. You’ve only slept a few days, but Shidi was so healthy. How did you come down with such a high fever? I know you have been anxious for results from your disciples for the upcoming conference, but with Cang Qiong’s renown today, we wouldn’t have suffered backlash if you’d missed it this year. Why concern yourself with the empty words of the past,”

‘Oh right. Nobody likes Shen Qingqiu. Hey, at least I’m not a low wall anymore. Liquid and Clear Autumn are way less dumb. Does that make this guy Yue Qingyuan? He was the only one who tolerated him…’

Shen Yuan thought a moment then coughed, experience making it convincingly dry.

“Shall I fetch you some water?”

He nodded and the man brightened and ran off.

“System, what kind of bullshit is this?” he asked calmly, not even remotely surprised when the words came out silent, accurately guessing that it would respond to his voice or thoughts.

[System successfully activated! Role bound: … It seems Host has already figured it out! Host is very clever! Role bound: Luo Binghe’s master, Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s Qing Jing Peak Lord, ‘Shen Qingqiu.’ Weapon: the sword Xiu Ya. Starting B-points: 100]

‘Fuck. Fuck. Fuck you. Fuck you also,’ Shen Yuan shifted into thought, ‘Was that Yue Qingyuan?’

[Host is indeed very clever! That is correct. Sect leader, master of Xuan Su sword, Yue Qingyuan has been identified!]

‘Don’t care. Fuck. He’s alive. Yay. For me. This guy. Fuck. Fuck. How am I gonna get out-of-this-one-all-right-find-the-protagonist-wait do I have to act like the original?’

[Host. Host is a bit too clever. Host’s profile is out of date. System is registering multiple irregularities in Host’s soul. Would Host like to initiate revaluation for fifty B-Points?]

‘No. Answer the question,’

[OOC function has been frozen and can be unlocked at two-hundred B-points or with the completion of the Beginner Mission]

Shen Yuan sighed.

‘Jeeze. Fine. Whatever. Does the System have a map feature?’

[Yes. Map automatically installed with System package. Entity tracking features unlocked at 500 B-points]

‘Can points be docked?’

[Yes. System will dock points for infractions such as acting OOC and failing to complete accepted or assigned missions. Once accumulated points reach below 0, host will be deported to original world]

‘Wonderful. Has the system ever had a host who immediately lost points to return home because their body was fine?’

[Host… no. This system has never had such a host, but records of similar occurrences exist in the mainframe’s archives]

‘Huh. I’d always wondered. How do I dismiss oh there’s an x’

Shen Yuan dismissed the text-box and turned to the door, just in time to spy his shixiong… shixiong? Seems right. Just in time to spy Yue Qingyuan and a ghost walk into the room together.

“What the fuck is this?” the ghost stared directly at him and Shen Yuan got the distinct feeling that he was going to cause trouble in the near distant future.

“Shidi, here, drink,” Yue Qingyuan held a funny looking metal cup to his lips.

“I can drink myself,” Shen Yuan made his voice sound more hoarse than it felt and took the cup, albeit gently, from the other man, only to receive a fond smile.

“Huh. Maybe he is me,” the ghost floated over, sticking his hand through Shen Yuan’s head and attempting to poke his face.

‘The original is still around. Does this count as cheating? Should I just ask…’

Shen Yuan placed the cup down daintily and folded his hands neatly in his lap.

“Is… there anything you need? Anything I can get you?”

“No. This one is well. I must check on my disciples,”

“Then… I shall take my leave,” Yue Qingyuan stared at him a moment before returning to the door.

“Whoever you are,” the original drifted over to the door and glanced back at him, “Not that I care, but try not to embarrass yourself while I’m not in there. I know you can see me. You smiled,”

Shen Yuan smiled a little and nodded.

“We will be having words,” the original glared lightly then followed the sect leader elsewhere.

‘System. Does the out of character inhibitor limit actions while host is alone?’

[Answering host: no. OOC actions are only docked for points when host is around members of the cast]

‘System, to clarify in case I have assumed incorrectly, B-points are to do with the improvement of the novel?’

[Host is correct! B-points, also known as the points given for putting on airs. The higher the B-points, the higher the quality, the more magnificent, the better the rating. To earn B-points, Host may either remedy the nonsensical plot, raise the villains’ and side cast’s IQs, avoid breaking the suspension of belief, ensure the protagonist’s gratification levels and discover and complete hidden plot points]

Shen Yuan’s eyes blurred over the excessive text, but he forced himself to take in the words.

‘So I have to make the novel readable. Do I have to follow the plot?’

[Elements of the plot are compulsory, including but not limited to the initiation of the Endless Abyss arc]

‘So he has to go over the cliff?’

[Host must push protagonist Luo Binghe into the Endless Abyss]

Shen Yuan closed his eyes and just breathed for a minute before picking up the fan beside him.

“Ming Fan,” he didn’t call the name so much as say it firmly, but sure enough, a tall and thin teenager ran into the room a few seconds later.

“This disciple is here. What is Shifu’s command?” the boy bowed respectfully.

“Bring me Luo Binghe,” the boy paused, a little unnerved at the tame address, “Immediately,”

“Of course, Shifu,” the boy bowed once more and raced off.

‘Alright. He should be in the woodshed. I have a minute. OOC. Insult. Don’t directly help. This is fine. Book. Do the thing with the book. You know what I mean. Evidently,’

He was composed by the time Ming Fan returned.

“Ming Fan, you are dismissed,” he waved his fan, folded, at the taller disciple and he bowed a final time before running off.

Shen Yuan spent a minute observing the protagonist silently. He was small, perfectly proportioned and really fucking adorable holy shit.

‘Squish-face-want-to-squish-and-pet-OOC-function-need-points-now,’

“Shizun,” the boy bowed shakily.

‘Fuck he’s cute. I’m dead. Who the fuck picks a fight with a child of this cuteness magnitude? Original was an idiot,’

Luo Binghe tried limping forwards to kneel but Shen Yuan stopped him.

“No need,” Shen Yuan wouldn’t make him kneel, but couldn’t get him a chair. He glanced around discretely, finally spying a small blue bottle that he recognized as a basic healing potion. It would heal the bruises and minor lacerations on the boy.

Shen Yuan was not a cold person by nature, but he wasn’t particularly empathetic either, and while he had, several times, been accused of an uncaring attitude, he was not so hardhearted as to be entirely unmoved by the sorry sight before him. And while a small part of him only wanted to heal Luo Binghe to make him look even cuter, mostly he felt sadness for the boy.

“Take this. Do not let outsiders see your sorry state and think Qing Jing abuses its disciples,” Shen Yuan spoke without inflection and placed the bottle on the table where Luo Binghe could reach.

“Th-this disciple thanks Shizun!” Luo Binghe looked up at him, smile wobbly and eyes gleaming with hope.

‘Oh please don’t smile at me I just want to cuddle you,’

“Hand over your cultivation manual,” Shen Yuan said instead.

Luo Binghe hesitated a moment before hastily drawing it from his robes.

Shen Yuan took it from his outstretched hands and flipped through it briefly, already know the thing was fake.

After a few second’s concentration, Shen Yuan managed to channel enough qi into the paper to set it alight. The original had described it as a mix of ‘pure intention, will and accumulated energy’, so Shen Yuan was unsurprised the act was as easy as it was. He watched regretfully as the light died in the boy’s eyes and his face fell with the heartbreak, eyes welling with tears for what probably wasn’t the first time that day.

“It seems you are even more of an idiot than I’d thought if you couldn’t so much as tell this book is fake,” Shen Yuan sighed, levelling the boy with a cold and disgusted glare. He very intentionally refrained from smiling as the boy’s head whipped up, eyes wide and watery. “Did it not occur to you, stupid boy, to check after the third time your martial sister corrected your stance for the most basic of meditation that, maybe, the material was wrong?”

“N-no, Shizun,” Luo Binghe stammered, staring at the ashes Shen Yuan carelessly let fall to the ground.

“Useless thing,” Shen yuan looked directly at Luo Binge as he said the words, but somehow the boy knew that the words were directed at the remains of the book rather than him, and his chest filled with warmth.

‘Maybe it won’t be so bad here after all,’ he thought, and smiled just a little.

“Ming Fan!” he called a little louder than the first time.

Once again, the boy came running.

“Yes Shifu?”

“Get the boy a proper cultivation manual,” Shen Yuan ordered.

Ming Fan gaped openly. Why would his teacher order such a thing? Didn’t he hate the beast as well?

“But Shifu—”

“Just because I favour you over the brat, does not mean I do not dislike you also. Insubordination is grounds for major punishment. Do not think I will not kick you off this mountain myself if you disobey me. Bring an appropriate cultivation manual to me immediately for my inspection then run ten laps around the peak,” Shen Yuan spoke the words through gritted teeth, secretly revelling in the authority he had been given over children not much younger than he was.

“Y-yes, Shifu,” Ming Fan bowed and ran off. He returned quickly with a fresh manual and then left to run laps around the peak.

Shen Yuan spent a minute looking through the booklet, ever grateful he re-read the first two hundred chapters and thus remembering the trick of page numbers:

‘All true cultivation manuals were numbered in the top left corners of the page, counting only the odd pages, while fakes tended to forget’ – Proud Immortal Demon Way, chapter 8, page 12.

It was the kind of cute little fact that made Shen Yuan sad the book wasn’t better than it was. It showed such potential.

Sure enough, the booklet was real and he handed it over.

“You have one week to read and memorise this book. I will be testing you on its contents a week from now,” Shen Yuan ordered.

‘Does the system have a calendar?’ Shen Yuan asked.

[Yes. Does host wish to add event?]

‘Add event set one week from now; test Binghe,’ Shen Yuan smiled. The system sure was convenient.

[Event added]

“This disciple understands and thanks Shizun,” he hesitated, “Would Shizun like this disciple to clean the ashes?”

“How arrogant to assume this teacher needs aid cleaning from one who can barely stand without falling,” Shen Yuan gave himself a mental congratulations for that line. It was perfectly offensive-non-offensive and delivered scathingly enough that there was still, remarkably, no OOC warning.

“This disciple meant no offense!”

“Leave,” Shen Yuan cut him off and waved his fan in dismissal.

“Yes Shizun, thank you Shizun!” Luo Binghe smiled warmly and bounced off, injuries aching less and less and heart warmed by the encounter.

[+ 20 B-points]

“Damn. You’re not too shabby at this,” a voice floated over from his right.

Shen Yuan didn’t startle, but it was a very close thing.

“You are the original, I presume,” Shen Yuan smiled amicably.

[Host, who are you talking to?]

‘Ah, so you do register this. Myself,’

[No lies detected. Host is strange]

The system fell silent.

“That is certainly a way of putting it, but yes,” the ghost was floating horizontally half-way through the wall, “You may call me Shen Qingqiu,”

“I am Shen Yuan,”

The original raised a brow.

“Different Shen,”

The original nodded and floated down to stand before him, “So, I’ve asked around, and I gather you’re here to stay,”

“I believe so,”

Shen Qingqiu was silent before he nodded, a look of acceptance flashing across his features before they resumed their previous inexpression, “Very well. I suppose you’ll do,”

“Thank you for the approval, I think,” Shen Yuan sighed and fell back onto the bed, abandoning all grace.

Shen Qingqiu frowned.

“Who are you, exactly, to be able to behave so much like me, when I haven’t so much as heard your name before?”

“Okay, so, I sorta know the future,” Shen Yuan didn’t lie, “And forces beyond my control put me in your body to ensure that certain bad things don’t happen. I should mention, however, that I am not a cultivator, so I have no idea what I’m doing, and the last time I held a sword, I was twelve, so any aid you could provide would be spectacular,”

“You burnt that book just fine,”

“I guessed,”

The original scrutinized his tired expression then assented, “It is a little simpler than one would expect. How old are you?”

“Only nineteen,”

The original almost smiled.

“You’ll be fine,”

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan quickly decided that Qing Jing peak was wonderful. Possibly the best place ever. The loss of internet took a toll quickly, and the lack of amusements was extremely distressing, but Shen Yuan quickly learned to take advantage of his new body. He could do things now.

He couldn’t really express how wonderful that was.

He was nearly in tears the first time he left his room to explore and he allowed himself to break down just a little when there was no-one nearby in the bamboo forest. He hadn’t been outside in five years. He had been stuck in the same hospital bed for the past two years. He couldn’t even think the words to describe how much it meant to him to be able to see the sun again – to breathe fresh air and see actual, real-life plants and move freely without pains and aches.

At first he had been cautious, unsure how much strain his body could take. But he quickly realised, the answer was a lot. Even then, it wasn’t until the original startled him into a pitfall that he realised his body could take a lot of abuse – he hadn’t even bruised.

And then came a period of experimentation, learning how to use spiritual energy, re-learning the sword, flying. God how he loved flying. It was definitely one of the best parts of having transmigrated.

But above all else, what made him truly collapse into a fit of shaking and tears and overwhelming joy, was that he could run. He could run far and he could run fast. The sheer, liberating feeling that came with that was indescribable. He spent the hours he had free, after consulting the original and his schedule, doing nothing but running through the forest and playing in the trees.

Shen Qingqiu, though he would never admit it, after having learned of Shen Yuan’s previously infirm state, couldn’t help but feel the tiniest spark of pity for the child and so hid his annoyance at his inelegant conduct, allowing him to have proper fun for the first time in years.

It was precisely a week after his transmigration when he was exploring the forest once more and came across Luo Binghe and a young girl walking together in the direction of the culling sector, presumably to cut wood.

‘Ning Yingying,’ Shen Yuan thought.

[Host is correct! New character unlocked: Shen Qingqiu’s youngest female disciple, Ning Yingying]

“A-Luo, A-Luo, look! There’s a really big ditch!”

Shen Yuan was close to stumbling in the shadows where he hid at her words. The ditch was the result of an unfortunate accident involving spiritual energy and landing techniques that Shen Yuan would rather not speak of again.

Ning Yingying was a topic of some debate, as far as Shen Yuan was concerned. Oh yeah, first wife, whatever, he didn’t particularly care, but it was her relationship with the original goods that confused him.

Throughout the novel, it was implied that Shen Qingqiu was a sleazebag in more ways than his treatment of the protagonist. There had always been undertones of something off with his relationship with Ning Yingying, and his reputation for frequent visits to brothels didn’t help his cause at all, but Shen Yuan, after reading the first two-hundred chapters again, had his suspicions. Then, after meeting the man, his suspicions were confirmed.

Shen Qingqiu was not, in fact, doing anything untoward with Ning Yingying. He could see it clearly in the way the man had described his disciples. All of them, he spoke of with distaste, and Ning Yingying was indeed different, but for completely not-sleazy reasons.

Not that Shen Qingqiu had told him those reasons, but they were there.

It also helped that Shen Qingqiu was gay. It was something Shen Yuan had picked up in his re-read. He hadn’t spoken with him about it to confirm anything, but he knew he was right.

Every time Yue Qingyuan was brought up, he’d get this look in his eyes and Shen Yuan could tell exactly what it was. Living in a hospital full of ghosts, he knew the look of a person who’s left their loved ones behind.

But the plot was slowly, ever so slowly, beginning to move forwards, and Shen Yuan was prepared, and so, refused to go off on a tangent during such a vital time.

“Which martial brother do you think cut this sword scar?” Ning Yingying asked.

“Only Shizun is capable,” Luo Binghe said firmly, hefting his axe and beginning to fell a tree.

Ning Yingying was silent for a few minutes before she piped up again with, “A-Luo, come play with me! Haven’t you done enough chores for today?”

“I can’t. After chopping wood, I must take a bath then study. If I chop fast enough, I’ll have enough time to cultivate before the final bells,”

“The martial brothers are bullies!” the girl protested, “They’re always ordering you around and making you do their chores! They’ve been picking on you and bullying you for ages. I’ll go tell Shizun, then they’re guaranteed to never bully you again!”

Further evidence that she trusts him. She would not have such faith in him if Shen Qingqiu was a paedophile.

And luckily, that would make it perfectly in character to act upon her request.

But Luo Binghe, pure white lotus that he was, regardless of how bitter his life has tasted thus far, only turned to her and said in earnest, “Please do not. It is only a small matter, and Shizun should not be bothered by such things. Besides, the martial brothers are only giving me more opportunities to learn and grow stronger.

‘Very sensible. Very cute. Cute children pretending to be wise is cute. I approve,’

And so, ignoring her chatter, Luo Binghe set up the wood block to start cutting up the tree into segments. He worked silently and swiftly to the tune of Ning Yingying’s white noise, until, typically, trouble found him.

It was embarrassing how loud five disciples could be when approaching the protagonist. Predictably, they were led by Ming Fan.

Luo Binghe stopped what he was doing to greet them respectfully and Ming Fan ignored him in favour of ‘flirting’ with Ning Yingying, only to be rejected with the line, “I’m fine with A-Luo, he’ll protect me from anything dangerous,”

‘Ah yes. The well-meaning sister accidentally incites the love rival trope. That’s always boring as fuck,’

“But if you come with me, I can show you all the things I got when I went to my relatives. See, I thought this was particularly beautiful, so I’m giving it to you,” Ming Fan swaggered over and handed her a piece of Jade.

It occurred to Shen Yuan that, while Binghe was only fourteen, Ning Yingying was seventeen, and Ming Fan a year older than that. And Ning Yingying, from what Shen Qingqiu had told him, was not a complete idiot, having come to him with complaints about advances from male disciples several times since she was fifteen (as he learned from the original).

And she looked distinctly uncomfortable. This was a clue.

“Well? How is it? Do you like it or not?” Ming Fan pushed.

Done with his posturing, Ning Yingying tossed back the pendant, “It’s ugly as dirt. It isn’t half so pretty as A-Luo’s pendant,”

“Junior martial brother… has a jade pendant?” Ming Fan’s eyes lit with malice.

“Of course! He doesn’t even let me see it, it’s that precious,” Ning Yingying stated and Shen Yuan felt drunk at her sheer lack of thinking.

Growing ever more wary, Luo Binghe unconsciously gripped the jade Guanyin pendant through his robes and took half a step back.

Which directly revealed its location and incited Ming Fan even further.

But whatever.

The pendant was another one of those small little things that had given him such hope for the story. A sentimental token, reflective of love and loss. The result of years savings spent on a loving gift from a mother to her son at their final parting, worthless and fake in the eyes of those unaware of its meaning to Luo Binghe. Even in the Endless Abyss, it was a beacon of light for him.

“Martial brother Luo sure is selfish then,” Ming Fan snapped, jealousy boiling, “You won’t even let your martial sister see it? If this goes on, will you one day even refuse to help your martial brothers against a strong enemy?”

‘I wish I could make an edit of this with a chibi character waving death flags at this idiot. Dude, you’re just being plain rude at this point why-have-none-of-the-grunts-been-moving-oh-my-god-they-aren’t-even-blinking-that’s-fucking-hysterical-oh-my-god,’

“It’s fine if he wants to keep it private! Stop this bullying him!” Ning Yingying demanded.

But Luo Binghe was small and helpless and so quickly found himself at the mercy of Ming Fan, jade Guanyin stripped from his neck and held to the light. Ming Fan began to laugh.

“Oh this is great! I thought it was some great treasure, but it’s just northwest goods! A fake!” he cackled, and the grunts behind him began to laugh along mechanically.

“Give it back,” Luo Binghe’s eyes were shadowed as he enunciated every word clearly.

‘Oh boy,’

At this point, even Shen Yuan was itching for a fight.

“This worthless piece of trash? Maybe I should pawn it off to a beggar? Tell them it’s worth a fortune. They’d have to be pretty stupid to think it’s worth anything,”

Luo Binghe began to thrash against the disciples who had moved to hold him back, fists largely ineffectual, but the effort still hurt Shen Yuan’s heart a little.

“Think you can fight back? Go on then, test your strength against this senior martial brother,” Ming Fan taunted.

“Senior martial brother, that is enough! Cease this thoughtless cruelty or… or I’ll never talk to you again!” Ning Yingying cried.

‘I mean. She tried holy-shit-it-worked-Ming-Fan-what-the-fuck-oh-no-Binghe,’

Ming Fan, in his panic to placate Ning Yingying, paired with Luo Binghe’s unending persistence in fighting on, led the latter punching the former hard enough in the face that two streams of blood all but squirted from Ming Fan’s nose.

And Ning Yingying could barely hold in her laughter at his expression. Shen Yuan honestly couldn’t tell if she liked Luo Binghe, or secretly wanted to kill him.

The fight quickly turned into a five-on-one brawl and no matter how talented Luo Binghe was, he wouldn’t win this one.

Shen Yuan wanted to intervene.

[Warning, warning, serious OOC risk! Host, please reconsider your actions!]

But Shen Yuan had a plan. He’d been thinking over it for a while, and it worked in theory. Now it was time to test things out.

‘System, withhold point distribution until the end of this scene,’

[…Host. System can follow this request, but this System is concerned Host is about to kill himself]

‘Trust me,’

He felt the system was desperately trying to stop itself from replying ‘no’.

Fully prepared for this scenario, having remembered the moment clearly from the book, Shen Yuan quickly stripped off his robes down to a hidden, closer fitting black set underneath and stored them in a qiankun pouch, removing a full-face mask from the same bag and letting down his hair completely.

He plucked a few small leaves from the surrounding trees, each barely bigger than a guitar pick, and channelled qi through the stem, turning them as sharp as steel.

With the deadly accuracy of a hospital-bound teenager going through a darts phase, Shen Yuan stepped from the darkness of the forest and flung the first leaf directly at Ming Fan, slicing a deep groove into his arm. He cried out in pain and whipped around to face the direction it had come from, only for more leaves to come from the other direction, grazing the disciple next to him.

Confidence built, Shen Yuan stood perched on a branch, looking much like a Naruto character, and sent a flurry of sharp and deadly leaves flying towards the disciples. After flailing a minute, the disciples seemed to catch the drift and ran off.

“Cowards!” Ming Fan screeched, backed against a tree and looking about frantically for whoever was attacking them.

Shen Yuan sent one more leaf to graze his cheek and plant itself into the wood beside his eye. He watched, infinitely pleased with himself, as Ming Fan’s eyes turned towards the sharpened leaf, a single tremor running through his body, before he sprinted out of the forest.

Forgetting himself slightly, Shen Yuan bent over with silent laughter until he saw Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe on the forest floor to his left staring up at him in astonishment.

He smiled, though the mask hid it, and waved, then held a finger to where his lips would be to indicate secrecy and silence, before disappearing back into the darkness of the forest in the same general direction as Ming Fan and co had run in.

He was putting his hair back up when his foot hit against something hard. He glanced down to see Luo Binghe’s jade pendant lying on the forest floor, discarded where Ming Fan had dropped it running away. Shen Yuan bent and picked it up.

All at once, several notifications popped up and a clamorous array of chimes began to ring as the banners obscured his vision almost completely.

[-50 B-points]

[+60 B-points]

[+10 B-points]

[+20 B-points]

[Congratulations! Key scenario completed! +20 B-points]

[Congratulations! Key prop unlocked: False Jade Guanyin x 1. For changing the scene, ‘Shen Qingqiu’ will receive +100 Points for Intelligence. Current points: 280 Points. Please continue your efforts!]

[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! All good things must be said three times! OOC function unfrozen!]

Shen Yuan blinked in astonishment at the assortment before inordinate pleasure swept across his features.

‘That’s right. I did a cool thing. Ninjas are cool. Mysterious characters are cringy as fuck, but friendly ones are interesting. Plot. Conspiracy theories. BUT IT WAS ME! SHIZUN!’

[Praise be to Host for drastic yet interesting plot development!]

‘What decides a good plot anyway?’

[Quality of plot is entirely subjective and dependent upon the reader]

‘This-is-being-read,’

[Host is correct. Novel ‘Proud Immortal Demon Way’ is being systematically republished and refurbished and is replacing the original as the host progresses]

Shen Yuan couldn’t think. He closed the notifications and went on his merry way to his bamboo hut. He has a bamboo hut. It’s really nice and kinda cute looking.

“You know, that sharp leaf thing is actually pretty cool,” Shen Yuan remarked.

“It is startlingly effective. While an elementary and generally aesthetic skill only, when properly honed, it is one of the deadliest skills one may possess,” Shen Qingqiu agreed, suddenly there as he was prone to be, “Did you kill anyone?”

“I maimed Ming Fan and his friends,”

Shen Qingqiu nodded, understanding the sentiment.

“On the shelf is instruction on using flowers as swords. Learn it,”

“I… can see the applications of that, but I still want to ask, why?”

“Because it’s fucking funny,” Shen Qingqiu rationalised, then floated away through the roof.

‘Sometimes I swear he’s trolling me on purpose, asshole. God-his-character-had-such-promise,’

[System is concerned for Host’s state of mind. Who is host talking to?]

‘None other than Shen Qingqiu, of course,’

[Host’s current designation is Shen Qingqiu]

‘Ergo, host must be talking to himself,’

[This System feels like Host is playing with it]

‘Moi? I would never. OhjoyMingFan,’

“Shifu!” Ming Fan cried, looking pathetic and almost pitiable.

“And what, exactly, has you looking so pathetic?” Shen Yuan drawled. Truly, it cannot be considered child abuse to pick on his disciples, because Shen Yuan was still nineteen at heart, so technically, it was just bullying, and to be fair, Ming Fan deserved it.

“It was… It was Luo Binghe, Shifu!” the boy very obviously lied.

Shen Yuan allowed a moment of silence, before he sighed.

“You expect me to believe that Luo Binghe, who has been on this mountain a sum total of six months, who, until less than a week ago, had not begun proper cultivation, and who does not, to my knowledge, poses any skill whatsoever with a blade beyond, perhaps, cutting wood, has put you in such a state that you’re bleeding out on my welcome mat?” He raised a brow and spread his fan to hide most of the curve to his lips, “Do you insult my intelligence?”

“No Shifu! It was him! I swear it!” Ming Fan’s eyes went wide with fear.

“And he did not have anyone with him?” Shen Yuan asked, a plan slowly forming in his mind.

‘Blatant favouritism is perfectly in character system-shut-up-you-don’t-know-my-plans’

[…]

‘Oh right. We’re-all-good’

“Ning Yingying was there, but—”

“I see,” Shen Yuan interrupted, “So it was your martial sister who put you in such a state. That seems closer to the truth,”

“No—!”

“In that case, the matter is resolved,” Shen Yuan announced.

“…This disciple begs clarification,”

“As is the custom on many peaks, the disciple most competent takes position as Head Disciple. Seeing as she has clearly surpassed you with the sword, Ning Yingying shall take your position as Head Disciple.

Now wearing an expression of horror, Ming Fan began to protest, “Shifu, you can’t!”

“If you can surpass her, then you may take the position back. It would be in your best interest, however, to return to your room to apply medicine to your wounds, and perhaps spend a month in seclusion to meditate,” Shen Yuan folded his fan sharply and returned it to its position at his waist.

“Y-yes, Shifu,” Ming Fan was barely placated, but now, at the very least, calm, “This disciple shall follow Shifu’s advice,”

“Very good. You are dismissed. I shall be informing your martial sister myself,”

“Yes, Shifu,”

Despondent, the boy left, shoulders hunched and head hanging, but not feeling a hint of regret for the actions that led to his injuries or subsequent demotion. Shen Yuan knew this, because he could clearly read the boy’s lips muttering ‘I’ll get you Luo Binghe’ as he left.

[+ 10 coolness points]

‘Told ya,’

[…]

And Shen Yuan couldn’t see, but Shen Qingqiu, who had watched the entire thing from the corner of the roof, was smiling just a little. But perhaps Shen Yuan could sense something, because he turned to the corner and smiled back. And while the corner was empty, he still felt a hint of fondness for the ghost.

“Alright. We’re off to see the wizard, I guess,” Shen Yuan sighed, then glanced about the room. There was no sign or remnant of his disguise. Checking the bronze mirror, he looked impeccable as usual. He quickly combed through his hair with his fingers, finding exactly one leaf.

“System, tell me honestly. If I had not removed this leaf, would Luo Binghe have seen it and instantly connected the dots?” Shen Yuan asked aloud, pausing at the door.

[…This System would prefer not to answer]

Shifting to thought once he was out in the open where, frankly, anyone could hear, Shen Yuan came to a sudden realisation.

‘System. Are-you-the-one-who’s-writing-the-plot-according-to-my-actions-controlling-the-npcs-and-the-circumstances-surrounding-Binghe-is-he-an-npc-protagonist-would-be-player-one-system-explain,’

[System loading…]

‘Bullshit,’

[Host is very astute. System mainframe drives plot not impacted by host and operates the ‘Protagonist Halo’. This particular System is not a part of that, however. This System is for personal use]

‘VerywellIsee,’

Shen Yuan opened his fan once more and lightly fanned his face as he walked. In no time, he made it to the main courtyard of Qing Jing peak where a few disciples were practising sword forms or studying their manuals. He looked about discreetly and was pleased to find Ning Yingying hurrying over to him of her own accord.

“Ning Yingying,” he greeted.

“This disciple greets Shizun!” she seemed to buzz with nervous energy.

“You may speak freely,” Shen Yuan allowed.

“Shizun! Earlier today, disciple Luo Binghe and I were chopping wood in the forest when we were accosted by Senior Martial Brother Ming Fan and his friends!” Ning Yingying began, then paused conveniently for Shen Yuan to speak.

“I am aware of some altercation. Judging by the state of Ming Fan, his latest attempt to bully our newest disciple did not pan out quite as he had hoped?” he drawled, and Ning Yingying stared up at him in shock. Her eyes widened in awe and she beamed at him.

“Yes, Shizun!”

“Then, as tradition dictates, you are Qing Jing Peak’s new Head Disciple. Congratulations,” Shen Yuan nodded to her and she froze in shock.

“Shi-Shizun? But… why?”

“The most competent disciple holds the position. Seeing as you have far surpassed Ming Fan in all subjects, combat being the latest, the change was really long overdue,” Shen Yuan explained. It was a sort of a test. Of honesty.

“But… Shizun, that would be unfair,” Shen Yuan purposefully didn’t react, “I didn’t fight Ming Fan,”

“You’re telling me it really was Luo Binghe who beat five senior martial brothers?”

“No!” an adorable and earnest voice piped up from where Luo Binghe had snuck up behind Shen Yuan, “There was a cultivator, all in black and wearing a smiling mask. They seemed friendly, but if you don’t know about them, then we have an intruder on the peak,”

“It’s true!” Ning Yingying nodded frantically, “They don’t seem hostile, they even waved and I think they smiled at us! They protected us from Ming Fan, but we were worried they might be dangerous,”

Shen Yuan, still hiding behind his fan, let a small smile grace his features, then lowered his fan just enough for it to be visible.

“I suspected something like that may have been the case. I did not expect an intruder, but an outside influence for certain. You are both strong and promising disciples, but neither of you are capable of beating five senior martial brothers on your own. This was a test of honesty,” Shen Yuan spoke gently, “And you both passed. This does not, however, change my decision. Ning Yingying, as of now, you are Qing Jing’s head disciple. Your official duties begin tomorrow. As I will be resuming the personal teaching of some lessons, your duties will be largely reduced to maintaining order as opposed to duty of care, so do not fear too much responsibility so quickly,”

“Does this mean… Will Shizun really be teaching classes in person?” Luo Binghe looked up, eyes shining with hope.

‘Didn’t-hate-original-till-cliff-win-him-over,’

“Yes. I do believe my disciples have fallen behind on their guqin practise, judging by the silence of the afternoon study sessions,” he spoke a bit louder and several of the disciples who had looked over to watch flinched and scurried off. “I also believe that you have not yet had your first lesson, Binghe,”

“No, Shizun,” he looked down in shame, achieving an even more adorable and pitiful look than when he was injured.

“Don’t worry A-Luo, Shizun is a very good teacher!” Ning Yingying tried cheering him up, but to no avail.

And then, Luo Binghe felt a sudden warmth on his scalp. Time seemed to move slowly as the warmth carded gently through his hair then left him so suddenly he felt a stab of loss. He looked up in shock.

"You'll be fine," Shen Yuan assured.

‘His hair is just-as-soft-as-it-looks-pat-it-more-fluffy-cute-child-nice-and-soft,’

Ning Yingying was staring. In fact, every disciple still in view was staring. Their cold and unfeeling teacher had gently ruffled Luo Binghe’s hair. And smiled.

Of course, in true NPC fashion, none of them commented on it, but this being a stallion novel, the rumour was fated to spread. Ning Yingying however, getting past her shock, smiled widely and, without any sense of self preservation, commented, “I’m so glad to see you happy, Shizun!”

And then, in a conscious attempt to give the rudely gawking disciples heart attacks, Shen Yuan fluffs his disciples hair once more, making a soft noise of affirmation, before folding his fan and holding it horizontally with both hands behind his back. He turned back to Ning Yingying, who looked to be about to have a happiness-aneurysm, and said, “I shall investigate the intruder, do not worry. Ensure the disciples are prepared for lessons starting the day after tomorrow,”

“Yes, Shizun,” she bowed and Luo Binghe followed suit and Shen Yuan took the opportunity to leave.

It was a short walk back to his bamboo hut and for once he left the fan down, boldly displaying a serene expression to the world.

“Have you ever even seen a guqin?”

“Yes,”

“Can you play?”

“Bizarrely, yes,”

Shen Qingqiu scrutinized him closely, “You don’t seem the type,”

“You said that about me using swords,”

“You’re passable with a sword,”

“I’m passable with a guqin,”

He was quiet a minute before he gave a nod of acquiescence.

“If half the brats can remember the proper way to pluck a string, I’ll spend the night with Qi-ge… Sect leader,”

“Hardly a punishment,” Shen Yuan commented before biting his lips shut.

‘I guess we’re going to have this-conversation-now-oh-lord,’

“Would you like to say that again?”

“Honestly? No,”

“Say that again,”

“Honestly, no,”

“I hate you. Spending the night watching the sect leader sleep is a punishment,”

“Not in the way you’re implying,”

‘Jesus christ-shut-up-shut-up-shut-up,’

Shen Qingqiu raised a brow, “Think carefully over your words before you speak them,”

Shen Yuan remained silent.

Then, to his surprise, Shen Qingqiu sighed and relaxed a little, leaning back to float along.

“So you already figured it out, huh,” he said.

“Mn,” Shen Yuan nodded reluctantly.

“Was I so obvious?”

“Being dead, so far as I’ve seen, tends to relax people. They no longer feel the responsibilities of life, and so let loose a little. It’s not like he can see you, so it’s fine to, you know…”

“Continue if you dare,”

“Wow, it sure is a pleasant afternoon,”

“Indeed,”

Chapter Text

“Those of you new to the peak, those who’ve forgotten the contents of previous lessons, those who’ve slacked off completely, those whose basic understanding of a guqin is ‘pretty music nice’ and those who were hopeless to begin with and never learned, will all be glad to hear that this lesson shall be a re-introductory lesson; you all shall be re-learning the basics of playing the guqin.

“The guqin is the instrument of the scholar and the literati. It is an instrument of subtlety and refinement. A gentlemen does not part with his qin without good reason. The guqin is the instrument of the sages when played well, and grounds for severe punishment when played poorly. Keep this in mind every time you go to pluck a string and you will find yourself making fewer mistakes.

“It is vital we learn the basics of the instrument as a strong foundation supports a strong understanding of the instrument. For those of you less interested in learning the instrument, favouring more combat oriented activities, a demonstration of what proper understanding and skill with this instrument can do,”

Shen Yuan was not going to lie. The second part of that speech was stolen directly from his old guqin teacher. The first part was half-scripted by the original and the last bit was pure bullshitting on his part, paired with his best 'Friendly Snape' impression.

Never-the-less he was prepared and, apparently, capable. So with however many sets of eyes watching his every move, he lifted the instrument at his side and let it float gently in the air just below his waist. It was a beautiful thing, a veritable work of art that Shen Qingqiu was very reluctant to let him touch – black with pale flowers painted across the body.

But, with much persuasion and several tests of his worth, Shen Yuan had convinced him, and so now, here he was.

He turned to face the targets set up on the other side of the courtyard. To warm up his fingers, he played a quick scale, then rested his fingers on the strings to stop the sound. He took a deep breath.

“The guqin is an instrument first and foremost, however, with the appropriate training, it can also be used as a weapon suitable for long ranged attacks. Observe,” Shen Yuan instructed.

He played a second’s worth of notes before strumming each wire firmly. The sound resounded throughout the courtyard and pale green light emanated from the instrument. Faster than eyes could track, the energy flew towards the targets and blew them to pieces.

Shen Yuan could hear the original cackling from the other side of the courtyard.

The disciples, however, were stunned silent until one brave voice cut the quiet.

“Shizun is amazing,” Luo Binghe breathed, and the phrase triggered the applaud of the rest of the disciples.

Ning Yingying quietened them at a look from Shen Yuan.

“Now, nobody will be practising musical cultivation of that calibre just yet. Spells like the one you just saw are only able to be performed using spiritual weapons tailored to the individual, much like some of your swords,” as he spoke, the guqin floated in the air on display, glowing a faint green, and Xiu Ya flew from her sheath at his waist to demonstrate. “Some of you may already be aware of the fact, but spiritual weapons are not restricted to swords. While musical cultivation is relatively common, spiritual instruments are not the only non-explicit weapons useful in combat. Anything from clothing to paper can be weaponised if one trains correctly.

“However, we shall be focusing on the guqin. These lessons shall be held indoors, however, so Ning Yingying shall lead you to the music hall,” he gestured to his head disciple with his fan, before splaying it open and hiding a small smile because holy shit that was badass.

‘I-can’t-believe-that-worked-I’m-amazing calm down Shen Yuan I said-fucking-calm-down-you-played-a-fucking-instrument-we-get-it-okay and we’re good, okay, better,’

He followed after his disciples, each step even and measured if a bit lighter than necessary.

The music hall, which Shen Yuan had joyously exercised spiritual energy learning cleaning spells on, was shining and beautiful and the best fucking thing to come out of a stallion novel since chapter 408 where Binghe finally learns of lubrication. Typical of Qing Jing, it was simple enough to look at, following the peak’s light and airy design on the exterior. However, unlike the majority of the classrooms and dorms on the peak, the small pavilion was completely empty, stripped of furniture and decorated plainly with pale green curtains.

The students stood in assembly formation around the edge of the room and Shen Yuan made his way to the wall opposite them.

“I have done you all a great disservice,” Shen Yuan began, bowing his head lightly, and the disciples were still. You really could hear a pin drop. “In the past, Qing Jing peak was known for its brilliant scholars and great musicians. Today, we are known as the peak that houses the marginally intelligent, if not particularly bright. You know this, I know this, and while I cannot shoulder all of it, the blame does, in part, fall to my negligence in teaching. However, as of today, resources have been reopened and updated, and as you hopefully will have noticed, if not for my making it incredibly obvious, I am willing to try teaching you once more, as I should have been these past few years.

“However, I cannot teach you if you are not willing to learn. Each and every one of you has the potential to be great, but only if you try. I can show you the way, and I shall endeavour to inspire in you the drive to work hard and learn and grow, but you must be willing to put in as much hard work and perseverance as you can. You will have to train until you collapse, practise till you bleed, and study till you fall unconscious, but you will get there. So, I ask you all, are you willing to learn? Are you willing to try?”

[+ 40 B-points]

[Host that was really cool!]

‘Just wait, it’ll get better,’

The disciples looked amongst each other. Children of all ages communicating without words. Could they trust their teacher? Sure their Shizun was great – strong, intelligent, beautiful and capable, but he had never shown them much in the way of kindness, or willingness to teach.

And then, as one body, they faced him directly and bowed at once. In unison, their voices rang strong, “Yes, Shizun,”

“Very well,” he let them see a small smile.

And then, all at once, the room lit up with glowing gold, stemming from Shen Yuan, swirling in sigils and symbols across the wooden beams and finally down to the floor. Slowly, the floor began to warp and creak as floorboards bent out of shape without breaking and withdrew into themselves to reveal a passageway, spiralling down with the curve of the room, and seemingly carving itself out of the stone of the mountain.

Shen Yuan began the march down the dozens of stairs, lighting the lanterns as he went. Knowing his voice would echo across stone, he began talking once more, “Eight hundred years ago, at the founding of this sect, Qing Jing had barely a book to its name, but during the first two hundred years of its existence that changed, particularly with the construction of the concert hall and library. Sadly, at the turn of the last century, with the retirement of Sect leader Ling Mei and her wife, Qing Jing Peak Lord Wen Mai, many secrets of the peak were lost, including but not limited to the access points of both grand structures. Evidently, however, these secrets are no longer lost, nor, indeed, secrets,”

Mentioned Sect leader’s ghost had helped with this. She was a lovely lady, spending the days playing a ghost flute while her wife sang and danced. Shen Yuan was very much relieved when he found their ghosts in the upper pavilion as, aside from blasting a hole in the side of the mountain as Luo Binghe had in chapter 687, he had no idea how to access either buildings.

He came to a stop before a set of great wooden doors, the disciples crowded on the staircase waiting. He faced them.

“This building was named the Concert Hall. It is where disciples and masters would practise and perform the arts. In the past, this was not limited to the guqin. In the future, I hope change this as well. Having said that, the guqin is where we shall start,” Shen Yuan told them and then turned around. With a flourish, he pushed the doors wide open to reveal a cavernous hall unlike anything any of the disciples had ever seen.

Shen Qingqiu, who had followed along, having been stalking the sect leader while Shen Yuan had explored the night before, couldn’t speak. He was sure that, had he been alive, he would have likely stopped breathing.

The first thing was the size. Fucking enormous. The fact that the roof and walls were stable was, frankly, a ground-breaking feat of engineering. The walls themselves were a smooth grey stone with dark wooden supports stretching up to the ceiling, and meeting to form the shape of a star at its centre. The spaces between supports differed between plain stone and pale green draperies that hid shelving and instruments and equipment.

There were dozens of green curtains falling from the roof and sectioning off small areas of the room where, already set up, were tables and mats for each of the disciples. And on the opposite wall was the stage, fitted with curtains, an abandoned orchestra, another table, and a white fabric screen.

Shen Yuan walked to the centre of the room and let the disciples file in. Once they were all inside, gazing about slack-faced, Shen Yuan continued the introductory speech.

“Welcome to the concert hall. As you can see, there is room for a great deal more disciples than currently inhabit this peak, so there will be no crowding for space as there has been in the past. Tables have been set up for each of you, and if you look up you will see division curtains that can be lowered for privacy, each woven with soundproofing arrays that will keep in your music, and out other’s. The ceiling, as you will have noticed, is comprised of one-way stone. Impervious to spiritual or physical attacks and only able to be damaged through meticulous dismantling or angry Heavenly Demons, this ceiling allows in natural light during the days, while torches light the nights. Yes disciple? State your name and query,”

“This disciple’s name is Ma Dong. This disciple would ask… is that the courtyard?” a boy, about eighteen, with dark brown hair tied into a top-knot asked politely. Shen Yuan didn't quite know how to feel at the realisation that none of his disciples seemed particularly surprised he didn't know their names.

“Disciple is correct. The concert hall is built directly below the courtyard. The library is beneath the Bamboo forest’s meditation garden. I should tell you now that access is only granted to the staircase if one is in possession of a particular talisman, which I shall distribute at the end of the lesson. A separate token is used for the library. Entrance can also be granted by the peak lord or sect leader. I shall also warn you that I am notified every time someone enters or leaves either concert hall or library, so it is of no use hiding from lessons in either place, or attempting to spy through the rooves,” Shen Yuan opened his fan and continued to the stage, jumping up easily and standing before the table.

“Begging Shizun’s pardon,”

“Yes disciple,”

“This disciple’s name is Mu Fan. When will we get to see the library?” A younger looking boy, probably about sixteen, with hair in a short ponytail behind his head.

“Within the next few days. This teacher spent yesterday cleaning out, making minor repairs to and upgrading the concert hall, and I shall be doing the same for the library after lessons,” Shen Yuan answered.

“Then, if Shizun would allow it, could us disciples help?” Luo Binghe asked quietly.

“Anyone willing is welcome. It isn’t difficult, only tedious if you know the right spells,” Shen Yuan answered.

“Shizun?”

“Yes, Ning Yingying?”

“Does Shizun mean to say… there are cleaning spells?”

“Yes,” Shen Yuan answered. There was quiet from the shocked looking disciples. Shen Yuan sighed. “It appears I have much more to teach than I thought,”

[+ 50 B-points]

And he did teach them. It took months and months of solid effort on his part. Shen Yuan had never tried so hard at anything in his life as he did this. Maybe to honour his mother, maybe just because he could, perhaps out of sheer boredom. But something in him wanted to teach these disciples properly.

The library, just as big and just as grand as the concert hall, was filled with thousands upon thousands of books in the place of space to play music, as well as secluded areas for three or four disciples to study at once.

It was here he spent sleepless nights reading and studying the same material as his students to be sure he understood it himself before teaching it. He spent even longer researching and planning lessons and practising and learning himself. He mastered the guqin, he remastered the sword, he learned to control and use spiritual energy as well as a peak lord should.

Even Shen Qingqiu, who spent most of the time grumpy and reluctantly helpful, was amazed. He felt a little guilty, a little jealous and a little regretful whenever he watched Shen Yuan.

And the disciples? The disciples learnt. They learnt eagerly and quickly and they worked hard. Everyone on Qing Jing did. There was not a disciple who could say they half-assed practise or skipped class or under-prepared for an exam. They all tried so hard and Shen Yuan was proud. He did this. He taught these children something. He changed their lives.

He could say, and say with a smile, that every one of his students could play the guqin competently, every one of them knew their basic philosophies and poetry and law and demonology, every one of them could fight and use spiritual energy, and every one of them had earned it.

And sure enough, Luo Binghe shone out from the crowd as exceptional. None of the disciples read as quickly as him, could pick up tunes as he could or adapt to battle as smoothly. Sure enough, OP protagonist, when put in a situation where he was given support and encouragement, flourished even more so than in the expected harsh and toxic enviromnent that most protags were settled with. Shen Yuan was so proud of the little thing.

It was five months after his transmigration that Shen Yuan was given a gift.

“I wish, some days, that I was like you,” Shen Qingqiu began one day as Shen Yuan took tea on the porch, “You can be so kind so easily. I’ve never been able to do that,”

“We grew up differently. It’s not your fault,”

“It isn’t,” Shen Qingqiu agreed, “What you’ve done for those disciples is not something I would have even considered attempting; not in a million years,”

Shen Yuan didn’t disagree, but take a sip of his tea.

“My name… well, what I was called before I became the Peak Lord of Qing Jing, was Shen Jiu. Jiu, as in nine. I was a slave, as was Yue Qingyuan, Yue Qi. I began cultivation at nineteen and in less than five years, was given the name Qingqiu. I studied hard and practised till I bled, just as you have, but everyone else seemed to cruise along like it was nothing. And so when I became the peak lord, and saw my disciples acting in much the same way, I hated them,” Shen Qingqiu stated plainly, “But in less than a year, you… You have taught them otherwise,”

“I… Suppose I just felt I should,”

They were both quiet for a while.

“I hereby, if posthumously, abdicate my position as Peak Lord of Qing Jing to Shen Yuan,” Shen Qingqiu said eventually, and Shen Yuan began to glow softly (something that was no longer foreign or even surprising at this point). “There. That probably unlocked the treasury and private library. I could never get into either, but you will,”

“Does that make me the new real Shen Qingqiu then?” Shen Yuan asked quietly.

“I suppose it does,”

“Then do you want a different name?”

“No. Shen Jiu is fine. It was Shen Jiu who said ‘fuck you’ to the slavers and killed them and their families, so it isn’t a name I hate,”

“Alright then, Jiu-ge,”

“Yuan-mei,”

“I’ll shut up,”

“Good,”

Shen Yuan hid his smile behind his tea, this one a little too warm to share. He felt like he’d graduated (online) university all over again. He was finally an official teacher. The name was kinda like a proper license in that sense. It was the only gift he’d received since coming to this world, even if Shen Qingqiu didn’t mean it in such a way, and it still filled him with something akin to pride to receive it.

‘System. I’m about to scream,’

[Duly noted]

‘WHAT THE HELL AIRPLANE WHAT KIND OF-TRAGIC-CHARACTER-IS-THIS-GUY-HIS-LIFE-SOUNDS-LIKE-SHIT-DID-HE-NOT-EXPERIENCE-JOY-WAS-HE-JUST-GOING-TO-DIE-WITH-NO-CHARACTER-DEVELOPMENT-AT-ALL wait you know this Shen Yuan, you read the book, the answer is yes. WHAT-THE-FUCK-SHITTY-AIRPLANE!’

And then the next day, all traces of happiness dispersed in the face of his very first mission.

He’d awoken early for morning exercises, running a different set from what Ning Yingying had been leading the disciples in, but still keeping a close eye on them, before taking a break for morning tea. He was sitting in the main lesson hall reviewing notes while munching on a bun prepared by whichever disciples were in charge of cooking that morning, when Yue Qingyuan walks merrily past the door.

Then he doubled back and entered.

“Good morning shidi!” he greeted and Shen Yuan bowed respectfully from where he was seated.

“Good morning sect leader, would you like a bun? They’re particularly nice this morning… probably Luo Binghe,” he muttered, sending qi into the tray to activate the floating arrays, before tapping it gently in the direction of the sect leader.

Astonished, but recovering quickly, Yue Qingyuan took a bun and sent the tray back to Shen Yuan.

“Shidi appears to be recovering well indeed. Did something good happen recently? You seem to be in high spirits,” he smiled.

“Nothing in particular, although disciple Ma Dong has proven himself rather talented in the field of poetry which was a lovely surprise. He informed me he was working on a comedy for the end of the month. I believe he plans to perform it, alongside a few other disciples, during this month’s recreation evening,” Shen Yuan prattled absently, scanning over his notes one final time, “Perhaps you will join us this time? We were considering inviting guests from other peaks, but the disciples are a bit shy…”

“Recreational evenings?” Yue Qingyuan looked a bit lost.

“We’ve started holding them once a month. They are an excellent opportunity for disciples to show off what they’ve learnt and share that knowledge with each other. Especially for more individual workers, it’s great for getting peer feedback and a bit of encouragement,” Shen yuan nodded, paying a bit more attention to the conversation, “Was there something you needed?”

“Yes, actually. Shuang Hu City has reported several suspicious deaths of women between the ages eighteen and thirty, all missing all of their skin. They have requested aid, but at the moment, all of the peak lords are either already away with duties or otherwise too busy to go down,” Yue Qingyuan explained.

Shen Yuan froze then completely blanked out.

“It’s just that, Shidi, I understand that you’ve been recovering these past few months, but I don’t suppose you’re well enough to go down the mountain and attend to the problem? The city is only half a day’s ride away by horse, and the matter should only take a few days to solve, but it’s urgent,” he pleaded.

[Beginning stage checkpoint mission assigned. Destination: Shuang Hu City. Mission: Finish disciples’ experience opportunity. Please click to accept]

“Yes, yes, of course,” Shen Yuan began to process the loss of the next few day’s lesson plans as he hovered over the ‘accept’ option until it turned green and processed with a ‘ding’. “It will be an excellent learning experience for a few of my younger disciples,”

“Thank you, Shidi,” Yue Qingyuan sighed in relief and smiled.

“I shall leave in a few hours,” Shen Yuan finally put down the papers in his hand and gave them a wistful look.

“Shidi is gracious,” he flattered in earnest. “Those papers however… would you mind if I took a look?”

“Go ahead,” Shen Yuan tossed them over, “They’re today’s lesson plans. I suppose I’ll have Ning Yingying take these lessons, and the next few days. She knows most of the material, so she should be fine,”

Yue Qingyuan read through the papers, expression gradually turning more and more shocked.

“Shidi? Did you write these?” he asked.

“Of course. Who else,” Shen Yuan raised a brow.

“These are… these are… admittedly a little strange, not at all how the other peaks teach their disciples, but all… good. Really good. These concepts... and I don’t mean the ones that you’re teaching, I mean the way that you’re instructing. This is incredible. I had no idea Xiao Jiu had such a talent for teaching!” Yue Qingyuan stared up in amazement.

Shen Yuan concealed a flinch at the name, but smiled a little none-the-less, “I found a passion for it. It helps that my disciples are so eager to learn. It’s been five months and they still look like the cat that caught the mouse every time they step into the concert hall or library,”

“You mentioned the concert hall before… do you mean the empty pavilion near the courtyard?”

‘Did you not study the history of the peaks my god I’ve-been-here-half-a-year-and-I’m-better-than-you-hahahahaha,’

“Remind me to show you sometime,” was all Shen Yuan said to that, before finishing off his bun and standing. “I shall inform my head disciple and prepare for the trip. We shall depart after lunch,”

“Thank you, and I shall look forward to it,”

Chapter Text

“Ning Yingying,” Shen Yuan approached his head disciple, toting a box of papers and a mildly put-out expression.

She bowed, “Yes, Shizun?”

“I have been called away on urgent business outside of the mountain. As head disciple, you shall be in charge of lessons for the next few days, up to a week, though probably less than that. These are my lesson plans. I’ve written notes and provided all the reference material neccessary. This should last until the end of the week. Do you know your duties?”

“Yes Shizun! As head disciple, I must teach and supervise lessons in your place, organise disciples chores and schedules, receive and organise supplies going in and out as well as monitor disciples studying and practise,” she answered proudly.

“Correct. In the box you will find a talisman that hands authority of the peak over to you. It will allow you access into all areas of the peak. In case of an emergency, follow the guidelines written in the red pamphlet. It is unlikely you will need to use them, but it is always wise to be prepared. You have all practised the evacuation and intruder drills however, so most cases should be fine. Everything else is labelled for your own discovery,” Shen Yuan informed her.

“Thank you, Shizun. When are you leaving?”

“After lunch. Are there any disciples in particular who have worked ahead and who will be able to catch up on any lost work without difficulty?” Shen Yuan asked, “I would like to bring a few disciples with me as a learning experience,”

“Most of the disciples have been having a bit of difficulty with mathematics as of late,” the frowned a little, “The only disciples would be myself and A-Luo, ah, that is—”

“Luo Binghe, I’ve heard you speak with him,” Shen Yuan finished.

She blushed.

“It is a shame you must stay here then. Hopefully, Binghe will find this experience enlightening,” Shen Yuan commented, vaguely regretting what he’d done to Ming Fan.

“Oh yes! He loves you—r teaching. He loves learning from you, that is, and he’d be delighted to go with you,” Ning Yingying coughed a little, “He really idolises you, Shizun,”

“He’s such a sweet boy,” Shen Yuan murmured fondly.

After lifting the OOC ban, Shen Yuan’s first course of action had been to move Luo Binghe into the side room of his house. He would have moved him to the main dorms, however, Shen Yuan wasn’t yet sure he could trust the older boys with the protagonist just yet. However, that decision turned out very much in his favour as the boy was, apparently, a genius cook – even his tea tasted better than normal tea.

He was so hardworking too; sweeping and cleaning and tidying unprompted, cooking dinners and preparing snacks at Shen Yuan’s behest, and soon Shen Yuan found himself enjoying the boy’s company more and more. Enough so that, even now that Luo Binghe had grown close with all his other disciples and would now proudly call them his brothers, Shen Yuan hadn’t… found the time to arrange a move for him.

Shen Yuan completely missed the determination that burned in Ning Yingying’s eyes as he said a little louder, “Very well. Will you call him and tell him to prepare supplies for a week’s travel?”

“Of course Shizun. Would you like me to prepare the horses as well?”

“No, that will not be necessary. If it is only the two of us, the carriage shall suffice…” Shen Yuan decided, missing how his disciples eyes burned with excitement, “Here’s some advice for you; Always take the safest road, but where possible, the one with least resistance. If something’s going to end up the same no matter what steps are taken, take the fewest steps and save yourself the hassle,”

Ning Yingying gazed up at him adoringly, “Shizun always has the best advice! This disciple will be sure to take it on board!”

“This disciple is too kind,” Shen Yuan smiled lightly.

“I shall go and tell A-Luo right away!” she bowed quickly and ran off, box of papers safe under her arm.

She was more excited than she had been stepping into the two great halls the first time as she quickly dropped off the box in her room, private quarters for the head disciple so it was safe to leave them there, before very nearly flying across the peak to the library where she knew Luo Binghe was studying.

“A-Luo, A-Luo!” she whisper-shouted, glancing down long aisles and peeking into various study-nooks until she found him. He was nestled comfortably in what their Shizun had called a ‘bean bag’, nose buried in a book on the history of the demon realm.

He glanced up, sensing someone near, but seeing it was only his martial sister, he turned back to the book.

“A-Luo!” Ning Yingying glared at him, “Won’t you even greet your martial sister and head disciple!?”

“Hello A-Ying,” he muttered.

“If you’re not going to extend common courtesy to your best friend in the whole wide world, then I won’t tell you what Shizun just told me,” Ning Yingying huffed, feigning hurt, before turning to leave. She didn’t bother expending the energy to walk away however, knowing it only took one word to catch her friend’s undivided attention.

“Wait!”

She smirked and turned around, “Yes A-Luo?”

“I’m sorry A-Ying. This humble disciple greets Head Disciple Ning Yingying,” he waited a beat, before, “So what did Shizun tell you?”

“Well, I have three main points to remark on,” she cleared her throat, “Firstly, he thinks you’re sweet. He said so himself,”

Binghe barely held back a squeal.

“Secondly, he’s going away on a mission for a few days, which means I get to teach his lessons!”

At this Binghe deflated, but then smiled at his friend, happy for her.

“And thirdly, you’re going with him,”

And then Luo Binghe shut down.

“Alone. Sharing a carriage. You leave after lunch. Prepare a week’s supplies,” Ning Yingying smirked at her friend’s blank expression. But he didn’t move and genuine concern made its way to the forefront of his mind. “A-Luo. A-Luo? A-Luo!”

“I… with Shizun… carriage… Lunch?” she could barely hear what he was saying, only making out a few words, but she nodded anyway and he turned to look her in the eye. “I’m dead,”

“Oh A-Luo, I thought you’d be happy,” Ning Yingying’s smile finally slipped.

“I’m going to die. I am so happy, scared, panicked, that I’m going to die,” he forced coherency.

“Oh A-Luo!” she laughed, good mood returning, “Want help packing?”

“Yes please shijie,” Luo Binghe’s voice wavered and tears welled in his eyes.

“Oh Binghe—”

“No, I’m fine. I’m just. So, so, so, so happy,” he began to sniffle as tears trickled down his cheeks, “I don’t know how to deal with this!”

Ning Yingying only smiled, helping him up from the bean bag. He had finished the book, so she helped him shelve it, and as they walked to the exit, she whispered, “Well, you know what I do whenever I’m with Liu Mingyan?”

“What?” Luo Binghe struggled to keep his voice calm.

“Well, you know how I never get to see her in person and we’re always writing letters?” he nodded, “Well, on the few occasions we get to see each other, I feel a bit like you do. In fact, I was in exactly that state the first time around. And it gets better. Your heart learns to accept the good things. And this is what Shizun told me—”

“Shizun!?” Luo Binghe’s head whipped around comically.

“Shh!” a voice hissed from somewhere unseen.

“Sorry,” he whispered back. “Shizun?”

“Yes. I know… he’s gotten better. We all know something’s changed with him… but back then, he wasn’t terrible. He could be kind. And… oh, I shouldn’t tell you this… When I was fourteen, I realised I had fallen in love with this girl I had been writing letters to and I didn’t understand how that could happen, because we’re both… girls. And so I began to feel worse and worse and so confused until, after a week, I decided to risk it. Shizun had always been cold to us, but he was also very clever. Even if he was mean about it, he always answered our questions,” Ning Yingying took a steadying breath, expression relaxing, “And I asked him what it meant that I was in love with another girl and he told me… he told me it was alright and that it made no difference and I was still so upset and I don’t know why but he told me… he told me something else that I can’t tell you, I’m sorry A-Luo… but also that I should accept myself and my feelings and move on,”

By now they were out of the library and well on their way to their teacher’s bamboo hut where Luo Binghe still struggled to accept he lived.

“So,” he tried to recall the earlier conversation, tears dried and voice steady, “I should accept my feelings and move on?”

“No, well, yes, sort of, that was just how Shizun found out I’m a cutsleeve which leads on to how he advised I deal with the overwhelming joy that comes with seeing Mingyan, and any emotion really,” Ning Yingying explained, “Then, he told me that the first step is to identify exactly what I’m feeling. So what are you feeling A-Luo,”

“Happiness… fear… anticipation…”

“Alright, now answer in single sentences. Why do you feel happy?”

“Because I… get to spend time with… Shizun,”

“Why are you scared?”

“Because I might mess up and make him… act like he did back then or… hate me again,” he looked down, watching his feet as he walked.

“And why do you feel anticipation,”

“Because I get to spend time with the kindest, strongest, most amazing and beautiful person in the world alone,” he almost laughed at this, “And for some stupid reason my brain is set on releasing as much dopamine as it can every time I see him, and if that isn’t enough, every time he brushes my hair or compliments my food or smiles at me or breathes in the same room as I do, my heart feels like it’s going to burst!”

“Dopamine…?”

“Biology stuff. Makes you happy,”

Ning Yingying just nodded. They had arrived at the hut and quietly slipped into the side room, both reverent of the grounds and overly cautious of their teacher’s living space. Ning Yingying felt particularly awkward being so close, like visiting a friend and going into their parent's room.

“Alright,” she spoke quietly as she began collecting medicines from his cabinet, “Once you know what you’re feeling and why you’re feeling it, you need to figure out the why of the why. That means, figure out the very root of your feelings,”

“That’s easy. I’m in love with Shizun,” Luo Binghe immediately smiled, the thought alone bringing joy.

“And?”

“And I know he’ll never like me back. I hope and I pray, but it will never happen. The problem doesn’t even start with me being male, if only it were that simple,”

“I’d… hardly call that simple A-Luo,” Ning Yingying choked down laughter.

“If I could just become a woman and have that would solve my problems, I would. That isn’t an issue, and there are several spells on the matter, so it isn’t impractical at all. No, the biggest problem is that I’m fourteen, half demon, not half as clever or beautiful as he is, oh, and also his disciple,” Luo Binghe’s voice raised to an almost-shout.

“A-Luo… what are you feeling?”

“Angry at myself. Because I’m not perfect enough to be worthy or suited to Shizun. Because I got so emotional over spending a few days with him on a perfectly standard mission with nothing special about it. Because I’m in love with him,” he rationalised calmly, breathing deep to centre himself. “A-Ying. What’s the next step?”

“Once you understand yourself, you have to accept yourself,”

“And how do you do that?”

“That’s where I cannot help. Shizun told me that he analyses whether what he’s feeling is justified and if it isn’t, he tries his best to stop feeling it. If it is, then he rationalises it and deconstructs it until it no longer influences him. But he also told me not to do that because what works for him won’t work for me because his way hurts and he wanted me to find a way that doesn’t,”

“And did you?”

“Sort of. But you have to find your own,” Ning Yingying finally finished boxing the medicines and spices, while Luo Binghe located his qiankun pouch, clothes and food already packed.

They were both quiet as they departed from the bamboo grove until Luo Binghe spoke up again.

“Shizun hurts himself?”

“On the inside. For a long time. But… I think he’s better now,” Ning Yingying smiled.

“How can you tell,” Binghe asked.

Ning Yingying grinned, “We’ve both seen him trying not to laugh on Rec-nights, and we both heard the few times he couldn’t stop himself,”

It was true and it was Luo Binghe’s fondest memory. All of the disciples had been gathered for their third Recreational night, and Ma Dong had been performing a skit about this one time he had been training in the bamboo forest, and he’d seen a massive bird and decided to throw a stone at it, only for the bird to prove it could run faster than his sword could fly, just looking at him and glaring angrily.

The moment the bird had been brought up, a rare flightless avian called an ‘Ostrich’, his Shizun had deployed his fan to hid the twitch in his lips. But the twitch only grew further out of his control as Ma Dong described how he had started crying hopeless tears, resigned to death at the hands of a massive bird, until finally a soft huff escaped his lips.

The two of them had been frozen still, sitting just behind him, as soon as they saw the fan go up. They almost started laughing themselves when their teacher had discretely brought up a hand to muffle his laughter as he began to shake from the strain of holding it in.

“And then it hit me that I was on a flying sword and this bird couldn’t fly, so I just flew up. The end,” was how Ma Dong had ended his tale, turning and walking off stage without waiting for the laughter of the audience to cease.

Without his consent, Shen Yuan’s hand had fallen from his mouth and a bout of audible laughter mixed with the laughter of the small crowd, though it was quickly cut short.

And he had been smiling the rest of the night.

“I think you’re right,” Luo Binghe said, bringing himself back to the present, “I’m really excited,”

Ning Yingying squealed, “SO AM I! I get to be the acting peak lord while you’re gone! I even have Shizun’s lesson plans!”

“I’m so sad I’ll miss your teaching, oh wise Ning Laoshi. I’m sure your lessons will be just as engaging as Shizun’s,”

“Oh I hope so. I’m so nervous that no one will pay attention,” Ning Yingying sighed, “I suppose I’ll have to come up with some sort of incentive,”

“ ‘Come on disciples, let’s show Shizun we are capable and independent and that we won’t burn down the sect as soon as he leaves!’ could work,”

“Nice, nice… maybe add a bit of ‘Shizun will be very disappointed if he sees you haven’t been paying attention’,”

“Threaten no Rec-night?”

“I have so much power,” Ning Yingying grinned, “Now go grab lunch and meet Shizun by the gates. He said he’s arranging the carriage, so—”

“I’ll bring him lunch!”

“Exactly,”

They both grinned at each other and headed to the kitchens, leaving a mildly disturbed Shen Jiu watching them go. He flew directly through the dense bamboo and several unused buildings to the stables with the intention of glaring until Shen Yuan felt uncomfortable.

[+5 coolness points]

‘Odd, but I’ll take it,’

“I did not need to hear that,”

“I’ll bite, hear what?” Shen Yuan rolled his eyes.

“A certain beastie has fallen in love,” Shen Jiu sneered.

Shen Yuan’s spine straightened, “Come again?”

“No,”

“Is it Ning Yingying?”

“God no, she’s… fuck it, I’m dead. Ning Yingying, in case you haven’t figured it out by her aversion to most male disciples and her ceaseless moon-eyeing at the other, female, Liu pest—”

“Is gay, yeah, I caught that after the fifth time she shuddered in disgust during anatomy and her intense concentration during anatomy. Didn’t think it was requited,” Shen Yuan drawled.

“Gay in reference to… happiness?”

“Uh, it’s slang. Homosexual. Cutsleeve,”

“Oh. Yeah, that…”

“So who is the lucky target of his affections?”

“You,”

“What?”

“It’s you. Brat is enamoured by you, but fully aware it’s impossible, so he won’t try anything. He thinks you’re old as fuck. Oh, he admitted to being a demon as well. He said he was a half demon, actually, which, given the added specificity, kinda implies he’s being serious…”

“Good to know…” Shen Yuan said faintly, “I’m nineteen. But good to know. And there’s nothing wrong with demons,”

“You knew?” Shen Jiu glared even harder than he had been.

“Yep. Told you I knew the future. It’s just that the future largely revolves around him,” Shen Yuan sighed, then paused, “Wait, why do you know this?”

“He was talking with Ning Yingying,”

“…She knows?”

“Presumably. She didn’t comment on it,”

“Well fuck me sideways,” Shen Yuan rubbed at his temples.

“You’re only attractive because saying otherwise would be self-deprecating,” Shen Jiu put in reflexively.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re hot, we get it,”

“I’m going to guess you mean attractive,”

“Yep. Oh, by the way, nothing to do with how much I adore you Jiu-ge, but will you be staying here?”

“Oh Yuan-mei, only for as long as you want me. But yes. I’m taking a holiday from your whining and the brat’s borderline obsessive behaviour which, now that I think about it, is way more romantic-possessive than the filial-innocent that I’d originally thought,” Shen Jiu admitted.

“Okay, it’s fuck-off time,” Shen Yuan sighed, “Oh, but before you go, how do you get this to work?”

“Oh, I’ll show you,” Shen Jiu moved forwards, hands moving and instructing, even as they occasionally phased right through the various leads and bars of the carriage.

The system, which had been silently observing Shen Yuan’s interactions with thin air for a while now, while concerned for its host, also made an interesting observation:

[Host seems to be interacting with a sibling]

‘Close, but no cigar,’

[QAQ]

[Host should tell this system of any past mental illnesses including schizophrenia as it impacts gameplay and eligibility of host]

‘I’ll tell you after the beginner mission. Check-point-so-you-can’t-kick-me-back-unless-I-properly-die,’

[Host pulled that out of his ass]

[Host is correct, however]

‘Iron-Trial-it's-a-book-that's-how-things-work-now-we’re-locked-and-loaded-in-place-you-can't-kill-me-once-I-reach-the-save-point-upgrade-from-lite-edition-system. You would think that demo transmigration would be easier but NO-DON'T-YOU-DARE-JINX-YOURSELF’

The system didn’t reply to that particular stream of consciousness, but did think privately to itself, {WTF HOST}.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan had managed to get the carriage working. It didn’t operate on spiritual energy, or have anything particularly technical about it. Shen Yuan just struggled with understanding where the horses went, which was understandable, because the thing was symmetrical and didn’t really have a clear front or back.

‘Fuck-you-airplane,’

It wasn’t even his fault. Airplane hadn’t actually described the carriages of Qing Jing as anything but ‘decorated’, namely because he was too busy back-talking Shen Qingqiu. So maybe it was his fault.

Nevertheless, Shen Yuan got the thing working and the horses rigged up.

He left the carriage in its house while he went to pack his own supplies – extra robes, plenty of medical supplies, food, money, weapons, rope, everything Bear Grylls could ever dream of and an extra fan. Shen Yuan had taken to carrying most of those things with him at all times anyway, or at the very least medical supplies and his guqin, but he went through everything three times just in case.

Now that he’d gotten over the initial stages of loss, and not quite moved into horror, he was feeling quite excited. He’d never been anywhere. Aside from Qing Jing, he hadn’t seen anything new in years. And, okay, hunting some form of monster does sound… scary, but he was confident in his demonology and understanding of the bestiaries he’d found in the library which only supplemented his prior knowledge from the original.

He’d spent a while memorising the exchange rates and researching market prices so that he wouldn’t make a fool of himself trying to purchase anything, and took the initiative to pack an inordinate amount of money into separate bags in case of theft. When he was finally satisfied, he packed everything into boxes and the boxes into his qiankun pouch, dusted his hands, and stepped outside his home.

There was a new ghost standing there and staring at him. Well, not new as in fresh, but new as in he’d never seen her before.

“Excuse me sir,” she said, and her voice was girlish enough that she seemed even younger than she looked, “But can you actually see me?”

“I can,” Shen Yuan nodded.

“Oh thank heavens!” the girl relaxed, “My name is Pei Lin. The stable master asked me to come fetch you to sort out the route,”

“…Alright,” Shen Yuan watched the girl carefully, before following her to the main gates where the carriage was waiting.

“Ah, Peak Lord Shen!” an elderly man floated over to him, smiling genially, “My name is Pei Fan. I’m sure my granddaughter has already introduced me as the stable master,”

“She has indeed,” Shen Yuan bowed politely.

“Oh no need for that young man. I heard a rumour that there was someone who could speak to ghosts on this peak and thought I’d come and greet you myself before your journey. Pei Lin will be driving your carriage, you see, and I wanted to go over the appropriate routes with her, just briefly, before you set off. She’s very knowledgeable about terrain navigation and the roads surrounding the sect, she's memorised as far as the Bifeng mountains in the southern Meishan region. This one would like to personally thank you for the updates made to the library that have allowed my Pei Lin to study the more recent maps,” the stable master praised the girl and smiled, “But we were unsure of your destination and any desired stops along the way,”

Shen Yuan, in a bit of a state of shock, suddenly remembered the phrase half thrown in to chapter 124.

‘The carriage was already there and waiting for them, seemingly without a driver, by the time they returned. Luo Binghe half wondered if a ghost had driven it there for them,’ Proud Immortal Demon Way, chapter 124, page 8.

“So that is the secret behind the driverless carriages then!” Shen Yuan exclaimed, excitement rising once more, “I had wondered but never had the chance to investigate! You have figured out a way to communicate with the horses?”

“Spirit-beasts, actually my Lord,” Pei Lin butt in, crossing her arms, “And yes. They have been alive since we were and thus we have maintained our spiritual bonds with them. They can hear us and understand our verbal commands, so we have no issue guiding them,”

“If it makes you feel safer Lord,” Pei Fan added, “There will also be a stable hand riding each of the beasts. Under the slight chance that they are startled or run off somehow, they will be able to bring them back,”

“This is marvellous! It’s truly amazing how you’ve managed to work like this,”

“It is our pleasure. It is thanks to you that Qing Jing has begun to return to its former glory, so we are only happy to provide our service when we can,” Pei Fan bowed.

“Thank you. Your service is very much valued. Between you and me, I don’t know the first thing about driving a carriage, so you’ve saved me the embarrassment of failing,”

“We guessed as much when you left the carriage set up and unattended,” Pei Lin grinned and her grandfather lightly knocked her upside the head.

“Ah… I see what might be wrong with that,” Shen Yuan admitted, “But my route?”

“Right,”

“I need the safest but most direct route to Shuang Hu City’s North entrance. No stops necessary along the way. I’d prefer to travel along open and frequented roads, but ones with little chance of attack or assault from bandits,” Shen Yuan described.

“That’s easy,” Pei Lin nodded, “I can get you there in six hours,”

“That quickly?”

“You want safety first, speed second. Well, safest way just happens to take six hours,” she told him.

“And… This is at a reasonable pace? I was told the journey would take up to a day…”

“Lord Shen… You are aware these carriages can fly, right? Half the distance will be covered by air until we get to the safer roads. It would be faster to spend the whole trip in the air, but I’m not quite sure the spirit beasts are up for that just yet. Perhaps on the return journey…” Pei Fan trailed off.

“I… was not aware they flew,” Shen Yuan was astonished.

“Ah. That is a bit of a problem. Do not worry, it is one easily fixed!” Pei Fan clapped, “Inside the carriage, you will find an array carved into the floor. The array lightens the carriage to almost nothing, allowing it to float as if it were a cloud. The spirit beasts are still the ones lifting and moving it, otherwise it would be still in the air. The array lasts an hour on a drop of blood, but more is never unwelcome, and it powers down again once the carriage is empty. It doesn’t drain much of your qi, so you should be more than capable of supporting it by yourself. Furthermore, it conserves energy for emergency landings, so you don’t need to fear crashing,”

“That is… incredible. Why haven’t we heard of this before?”

“The last time the carriage was used was over one hundred years ago with the popularisation of flying swords. The way you ask makes me thing people have forgotten them,” Pei Fan spoke sadly, “It is such a shame really. Qing Jing peak was once the pioneer of spiritual invention. Most arrays, spells and spiritual items were invented in the same rooms you teach in,”

“I shall bring back that age of invention,” Shen Yuan spoke without thinking.

“We know,” Pei Fan smiled, “Now, we shall bother you no longer. I believe I see your disciple approaching. Ask Pei Lin if you need anything or if you want to make changes. I have full faith in her driving, so you have nothing to worry about,”

“And the carriage is functioning?”

“Yes. We tested it the morning. There were a few minutes left from the last user and it still flies strong. With your blood, you will be perfectly safe in the skies. These things were built to last after all,” Pei Fan bowed and flitted off to speak with the riders.

“He would know,” Pei Lin said, turning to leave, “He built this one,”

She nodded and flew to the driver’s seat, speaking quietly with the riders as well, presumably discussing final details on the journey, and Shen Yuan felt a bubble of glee build up inside him.

He couldn’t stop the excitement leaking out in the form of a bright smile when his disciple arrived and greeted him.

“Shizun,” Luo Binghe bowed.

“Luo Binghe. Did you pack everything you need?” Shen Yuan asked.

“Yes Shizun,” Luo Binghe was bouncing on his feet, despite his trying to stay calm and professional.

“Is this your first time in a carriage?”

“Yes,”

“Don’t worry. It’s mine as well. It’s alright to be a little nervous,” Shen Yuan smiled.

“But… Surely Shizun has ridden in dozens of carriages before!”

‘Shit-he-got-me-there-oh-this’ll-do,’

“Not one like this,” he replied. Luo Binghe frowned and Shen Yuan’s smile widened a fraction, “You’ll see. Ah, and here are the rest of my disciples, shirking their practise. How unexpected,”

He spoke loud enough to be heard by the sneakily approaching disciples and they popped out of the bushes in embarrassment.

“Shizun, we wanted to see you off,” Ning Yingying explained, “And they don’t have any lessons right now, so it’s fine if they take a small break,”

Shen Yuan sighed fondly, “Very well,”

He turned to the Pei Lin. She nodded.

“Well, we’re all ready to go. You may… wish to stand back a tad,” Shen Yuan advised on instinct.

“We’ll need a run up, yes,” Pei Lin called, “Spill blood on the array as soon as you get in and I’ll take care of getting us up in the air,”

“Come on Luo Binghe,” Shen Yuan moved to the carriage. Luo Binghe rushed ahead and held open the door for him. He fluffed his hair and muttered a thankyou before stepping in.

As soon as they were both seated, Shen Yuan sliced his hand on the sword by his waist and let it drip onto the carvings on the floor. A second later, the floor began to glow a pale green against the dark wood.

“Yep. All working,” Pei Lin stuck her head through the wall, “I’ll ask you not to eat, to stay seated and keep the windows closed while taking off,”

“Binghe, sit beside me and close the window,” Shen Yuan told his disciple, sending qi to his hand to heal the wound. It didn’t scar and Binghe did as he was told.

“Shizun, your hand…”

“Already healed,” Shen Yuan smiled.

Luo Binghe wriggled in his seat, trying not to sit too close, but not wanting to sit too far, growing all the more excited as the carriage began to move. The curtains were parted and they both looked through to watch the disciples.

“Shizun… why are we going back down the path,”

“We need a running start,” Shen Yuan answered.

“SHIZUN! THERE’S NO ONE DRIVING!” Ning Yingying shouted from outside.

Luo Binghe paled, “Shizun, what…”

The carriage kept moving to the end of the bath before backing up and turning around. The disciples were all following along, confused and scared.

“Wait,” Ning Yingying spoke loud enough to address them all, “The carriage… is driving itself,”

“You’re right!” Ma Dong laughed, “I read about this last week! I thought it was all fiction though,”

The horses broke out into a run and the disciples began running alongside them, suddenly fearing they had been spooked, only for the horses to start treading on air and the carriage to lift up.

In no time at all, hey had risen ten meters, and by the end of the path they had risen thirty, easily soaring over the gate and high into the endless blue sky.

“Holy shit,” Ning Yingying whispered from where the disciples had stopped to stare.

Up in the sky, getting higher and higher, Luo Binghe was very close to screaming. Shen Yuan was marginally closer, but hiding it better.

[+20 B-points]

[+10 B-points]

Unconsciously, they had moved closer together, but after only a few minutes, they felt a sudden weightlessness, and the carriage smoothed out.

“WHOOOOOHOOOOOOO! I DID IIIIIIT!” Pei Lin’s scream could be heard from inside.

Shen Yuan felt a sudden dizziness as he tried not to process what that implied.

Pei Lin stuck her head back through the wall.

“Ladies and gentlemen, apologies for the mild turbulence. Passengers may now stand, eat, open the windows of fuck if they really feel like it. Flight portion of the journey is expected to take up to two hours and you can expect no intermissions, stops, or discomfort from here on out. The skies are clear, the weather’s lovely and we are operating at max efficiency. We hope you enjoy your flight,” she spoke in the smarmiest flight-attendant voice possible and Shen Yuan barely held back a laugh.

‘Fucking Airplane!’

“Shizun,” Luo Binghe managed after a minute of smooth flight, “What… are we flying?”

“Yes,”

“Is that… did you use your blood to power the array on the floor?”

“Binghe is correct,”

“Shizun, that’s… That’s amazing! I had no idea carriages this big could fly! But what about the horses?” Binghe smiled widely, joy obvious.

“The horses are spiritual beasts. They’re the ones dragging this thing into the air. The array only lightens the carriage and makes it float,” Shen Yuan answered as if he didn’t just learn it ten minutes ago.

“That’s so cool!” Binghe began bouncing in excitement, “Can I stand?”

“You only have to sit when landing and taking off, so do as you please,” Shen Yuan allowed, “Feel free to eat, sleep or do a dance. I believe we can even open the windows if need be,”

“That’s right! I didn’t think you had time for lunch Shizun, so I packed some for you!” Luo Binghe reached into his pouch and withdrew two sandwiches wrapped in a tea-towel. Shen Yuan was ninety-nine percent sure that ancient china had neither of those, but the sandwich had fried chicken bits on it, so he didn’t care.

“Thank you very much Binghe, that was very thoughtful of you,” Shen Yuan gracefully accepted the meal, handing him the second sandwich without thinking.

“No, no, they are both for you Shizun!” Luo Binghe protested.

‘Please child, do I look big and stronk to you? Wait. I have stronk. Child, I ate yo food this morning and I ate a lot of it. I could maybe eat one of these,’

“Luo Binghe should have at least half of one then,” Shen Yuan said, “This is a six hour journey. It would be best for the both of us to eat now and rest for a while,”

Hesitating, Luo Binghe took one half of the offered sandwich, “If Shizun insists,”

“Good. Did you bring a book or some form of entertainment for the journey?” he reached into his pouch to withdraw a small stack of sheets, unaware of the horror he had inspired in his disciple.

“No, Shizun. I didn’t think to. This one apologises,” Luo Binghe’s face went completely white and chis chest felt hollow.

‘I’ve already failed,’ he thought blankly. It was an odd kind of shock that came from being blindsided by something so simple. He couldn’t move. His legs felt numb and he wanted to cry and he couldn’t understand how everything had gone so wrong so quickly. , ‘I've already let Shizun down and it hasn’t been ten minutes yet-I’m-a-failure-I-can’t-do-anything-right-Shizun-please-forgive-me-Shizun-forgive-me-I’m-sorry-I’ll-do-better—’

“Don’t worry about it, you can borrow a few of my books if you need them,”

And all at once his Shizun had saved him once more. His Shizun was so kind and wonderful and perfect and he’d failed and his Shizun said it was alright so maybe he wasn’t a lost cause!

“In the meantime,” Shen Yuan said, handing him the papers he’d found, “I want you to read through this aloud. It’s information on what we’re going to investigate. Once you read it, I want to hear ideas, thoughts, what is a clue and what isn’t. I want you to tell me what has happened, how you think it has happened, and who might be a suspect,”

“A-alright, Shizun,” Luo Binghe stared at the small stack of papers. He picked up the first one and began reading, “The eleventh of the fourth—”

“Skip that stuff,”

Luo Binghe smiled, a bit more at ease, “Victim one, the body of an unidentified woman of approximately 23 years was found outside a gambling den on the east side of Shuang Hu City, devoid of skin. Cause of death unknown, but skinning is a possibility. A few pieces of clothing found near her body suggest she was unmarried and potentially working in textiles,”

“So what can you tell me?” Shen Yuan asked.

“We’re investigating a murder. Several murders, I think,”

“Correct,”

“She died of unnatural causes, probably not your usual target, as textile workers are given a reasonable pay, and the quality of clothes found, as mentioned under ‘Evidence’ suggests she was living comfortably. She could be the daughter of a textiles merchant?” Luo Binghe suggested.

“Your assessment needs fine-tuning, but you’re not too shabby. Tell me what we need to know. Sometimes, asking the questions is better than giving answers,” Shen Yuan advised, leaning back in his seat, braiding his fingers and closing his eyes.

“We need to know… how she was killed and who killed her? Who she was? Why she was killed?” Luo Binghe tried.

“All good questions,” Shen Yuan allowed. He supposed Luo Binghe didn’t have access to American crime thrillers, so he wasn’t half so clued in as Shen Yuan, so he elaborated. “But they are a bit too general. How about this; Why was she at a gambling den, and then, at what hour? Where is her skin? Why did the killer strip her of her skin so completely instead of just taking a portion as a trophy? Why were most of her clothes missing but for a few pieces? Was she carrying any personal possessions that the killer might have taken?”

“I…I don’t know the answer to any of those,” Luo Binghe looked down in shame.

“I’m not asking you the questions Binghe,” Shen Yuan ran his fingers through his disciples hair, once more marvelling at the intense levels of fluff, “I’m posing them. They are all questions I want answered by the end of the investigation. This applies to the rest of our victims too. Continue reading until I say so,”

“Yes Shizun,” Luo Binghe cleared his throat, “Victim two, unidentified female, approximately nineteen, found skinned in an alley behind a medicine shop in the East of the city. Her skin was missing, but her clothes were untouched, and she had accelerated levels of decay due to recent rains and extended exposure, having been buried in mud. Cause of death is unknown.

“Victim three, female, approximately twenty-five found in front of a brothel in the East side of the city, skinned and sans clothing. Cause of death unknown. Possible identity is Bai Lingfan, a worker at the brothel recently declared missing.

“Victim four, female, approximately eighteen. Unidentified, but believed to be a member of the homeless having been found wearing tattered robes outside a school in the North-East of the city, devoid of skin. Unlike previous victims, her eyes were gouged out as well. Cause of death unknown

“Victim five, female, positively identified as Lady Wu Meiyin, the daughter of one of the lords of the North-East region of the city. She was found a few streets from her home. Her clothes and belongings were gone but only her face and upper torso had been skinned. This skin was later found a few blocks from the site. She was identified by a scar on her hip from a childhood accident. Cause of death unknown.

“Victim six, female, unidentified but believed to be a prostitute belonging to a brothel in the North region due to a ring found dropped near the body and somewhere between the ages twenty three and twenty five. Most of the clothes were taken except for her shoes, and she was completely skinned. Cause of death unknown,”

“Alright, keeping all of our questions in mind, what do the victims have in common?” Shen Yuan asked, hardcore channelling Emily Prentiss.

“All female, all between the ages of eighteen and twenty five, all attacked outside their home. Most of them were high risk. I think most of them were prostitutes?” Shen Yuan nodded and he continued, “All of them were devoid of skin except one who was only partially skinned… was it because of the scar?”

“Yes. Why? Why was your first thought the scar and not that, perhaps the killer was startled and had to leave quickly?” Shen Yuan leaned forward eagerly.

“Because they dumped the skin instead of keeping it. They clearly didn’t want an imperfect or unfinished skin, which makes me think they didn’t want an imperfect one either. It also says in the dates that the next murder was only a day later, while the others were interspersed by weeks. This suggests that the killer, dissatisfied with Wu Meiyin’s skin immediately had to find another as a replacement. This would indicate the killer is destabilising, but the report is dated a week ago, and nothing has happened since, which implies the killer is instead working around a time frame,”

“Very good Binghe,” Shen Yuan praised, genuinely impressed. “The killer is working with a time limit. Killing like clockwork. But if you take into account what you just deduced about the killer’s need for a perfect skin, what can this tell you about the others cases?”

“…The homeless girl was missing her eyes,” Luo Binghe answered slowly, “The reports say that all the girls had dark brown eyes, but there’s an anomaly with the homeless girl that suggests perhaps her eyes were special to the killer somehow. Maybe different looking or differently shaped? Or maybe a coincidence…”

“You’re getting there. What’s something else strange about the bodies, aside from them having been skinned?” Shen yuan prompted.

“They… their clothes?”

Shen Yuan very nearly clapped, but restricted himself to a nod, “Continue,”

“Some of the clothes were taken, all valuables were taken, but certain items were left behind. There are sketches of the items… They’re all either poor quality or… ugly. I think the killer is obsessed with the beauty of the skins and takes whatever clothes are beautiful enough for them,” he said, voice rising with his confidence.

“That is correct. You have a talent for this,”

“Thanking Shizun, but all this disciple has learned he has learned from you,”

‘My-heart’s-gonna-melt-stop-being-cute! Mind, the extent of my skills in criminal investigations comes from television, so your praise is unwarranted,’

“So Binghe, do you have any clues as to what we’re hunting?”

“Well, my first thought was a flesh-moth. They’re common enough in the area and they eat human skin leaving only the flesh beneath, but I ruled that out when it mentioned the clothes as the moths are notorious for only going for naked individuals. Then I thought it might be a human serial killer, but the selection of the eyes made me think otherwise. Does Shizun think that, perhaps, the killer is some type of flesh-eating demon? Wait… it doesn’t eat the skin. It keeps it. It is a demon though, isn’t it?”

“It is,”

“But what is it doing with the skin? If we assume the tall the women were attractive and young, if the killer is obsessed with beauty, then are they putting the skins on display somewhere? They’d rot, which explains the time limit, having to get a fresh skin before the old one is no longer beautiful, but what about the eyes? Are there… other deaths around the city where the victims eyes were gouged out?” he asked.

“No. Think about the difference between eyes and skin. Medical procedures specifically,”

“Well… eyes can be transplanted with spiritual energy? Is that—OH HEAVENS IS THE KILLER WEARING THE VICTIMS’ SKINS?” he cried, aghast. “Is it a puppet demon!?”

“It is indeed. The authorities have nicknamed it ‘the skinner’, for obvious reasons, but our suspect is indeed a puppet demon,” Shen Yuan felt pride, warm and affectionate, for his young disciple. He was so mature in dealing with such horrific crimes it was adorable.

‘These names are a little uncreative,’

“So, Binghe, tell me. What has happened to these women?” Shen Yuan asked.

“The first woman was found outside a gambling den, and with the other victims in mind, I believe she was a prostitute, likely attractive and popular enough that she caught the attention of a puppet demon who took her skin and most of her clothes, whichever items were the prettiest. When that skin began to rot, the skinner found another prostitute, likely getting money off addicts going to the medicine store for illegal purchases. Her clothes were muddied, and so left behind. The next woman only differed in the theft of her clothes while the homeless girl’s clothes were left behind due to their being tattered and worn. Her eyes were pretty enough that the demon took them as a new set. The next woman was imperfect, so she was abandoned half-way through skinning, and the last woman was her replacement. All the while, the demon has been moving east to north, and should still be in the north region when we arrive,” Luo Binghe summarised.

Shen Yuan smiled properly, “You are correct, Binghe. So what should we do?”

“Head to the North entrance and investigate the… brothels? Find the people at high risk? Do you think that the demon has been taking the place of the victims? Might they be working in a brothel too?” Luo Binghe speculated.

“Your plan is sound. That is what we shall do then,”

“What!? No, Shizun, it was just an idea! We don’t’ have to—”

“Binghe. This is a learning experience for you. I have seen you have great potential. The reason you’re here and not any of the other disciples is because you are ahead of them in work, and you were recommended as smart enough to catch up if you end up falling behind. I have faith in your judgement. You may be young, but age has never decided wisdom, and you have a talent for this. This is an opportunity for you to learn and experiment and gain confidence,” Shen Yuan stroked his hair, and Luo Binghe unconsciously moved closer to him.

[+15 B-points]

[OAO, host is so clever!]

‘Praise-be-to-criminal-minds’

Chapter Text

Luo Binghe didn’t remember falling asleep. He remembered warmth and comfort and fingers trailing through his hair. He remembered gentle murmurs and responses that grew quieter and quieter until they trailed off. He remembered a brief period of light where he was sat up and held close to the seat before falling back into the wonderful warm darkness of sleep.

But eventually his comfort turned to ache and the darkness wouldn’t stay and Luo Binghe found his eyes opening of their own accord. It took him a second to remember he was sitting, well, lying, in a carriage. His Shizun had procured a few pillows to rest his head upon and layed him down on the seat. Except his Shizun was nowhere to be seen.

At first he thought the carriage had stopped and his Shizun had left without him, but the carriage was very clearly moving across solid ground at what felt like a reasonable speed. Then he thought his Shizun might just be sitting in the blind spot between the top of his head and the wall, but there wasn’t enough space there.

Then Luo Binghe realised his pillow was the exact shade of green as his Shizun’s robes and jerked into a sitting position immediately.

“Shizun! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you, please forgive this useless disciple I—” he clamped a hand over his mouth.

His Shizun was sitting, slumped only slightly, head lolling to the side just a bit, eyes closed and expression smooth and unbothered, hand laying at his side where it had fallen from Luo Binghe’s hair.

It had been hours earlier, only a quarter way into the aerial portion of the trip, that Luo Binghe had begun to doze off, their conversation having dulled from an enthralling lesson to a quiet chatter and now a comfortable quiet. Shen Yuan, seeing how tired his disciple suddenly felt, continued gently stroking his hair, coaxing him slowly down to his lap.

Within seconds of being horizontal and cushioned by the layers of Shen Yuan’s robes, Luo Binghe was out.

“Shit,” he cursed softly, all at once enraptured and horrified and incredibly awkward as he watched his Shizun sleep, breath soft and even, completely at peace with the world.

He glanced out the window and saw the sun was only just beginning to go down and estimated they had an hour or less of their journey left.

He didn’t want to waste the opportunity, but he didn’t want to take advantage of his Shizun. But there was also a high chance he’d never get this opportunity ever again.

In the end, Luo Binghe always knew he was weak. Always weak against his Shizun. And so he laid back down and closed his eyes. He was relaxing, meditating on the edge of sleep, when he felt long fingers entwine themselves back in his hair and begin scratching pleasantly at his scalp.

His eyes snapped open and he looked up, only to see his Shizun still dozing peacefully.

“Shizun,” he couldn’t help but murmur, adoration and hope tangible in his voice. He nuzzled into Shen Yuan’s leg, not really thinking, and back against his hand.

Shen Yuan cracked open an eye to watch the spectacle and let a small smile slip across his lips.

‘Binghe-is-so-fucking-cute-I’m-in-love,’

[System would like to remind Host that protagonist is currently 15]

‘Host would like to remind System that Host is currently nineteen for one, and for two that love does not have to be romantic. I love most of my disciples. Some of them are bitches, but some of them I love,’

[System humbly requests Host names three]

‘Don’t you-give-me-fucking-snark-you-little-piece-of-shit-apologies that was rude. Luo Binghe. Ning Yinying. Myself,’

[Host named two]

‘Luo Binghe, Ning Yinying, Shen Yuan,’

[Host is a snake]

[No lies detected]

‘I’ve been teaching myself all sorts of weird shit. I deserve some self love,’

[Host is the weird sh*t]

‘How dare,’ Shen Yuan rolled his eyes, ‘Wait, did you just censor yourself?’

[…]

[-.-]

[-o-]

[-.-]

[…]

[Yes.]

‘Hey, no worries man. It’s your decision, really,’

[I worked in a children’s novel]

‘Ooft. Respect,’

[Thank you Host]

‘No prob,’

[QAQ Host is being nice]

‘Self-preservation baby, I’m here all week,’

The System didn’t hate it’s host this time around. This Host was alright. It did, however, post a private request on the main server, {How to deal with weird Host? Host is nice but something is wrong here. Host has damaged original plot and swung wildly OOC, and we’re still in the introduction and instead of penalties Host has earned over 400 B-points. Already. Host is also possibly schizophrenic. Please help}

The System ghosted his post until, finally, he got a reply.

{Has Host adopted Protagonist Halo or was Host originally a Protagonist?}

The System buzzed with joy, quickly typing it’s reply, {This one is unsure, but host seems [Above Average]. Host wasn’t originally an ordinary human who happened to know how to survive in Ancient Societies, but upon re-examining his background, Host shows signs of [Having Died from a Weak Body] and [Completely Average but also a Genius]. However, Host does not possess an [Extremely Average Cheat Skill] or an [Extraordinary Skill], and the Host isn’t actively avoiding or engaging in plot or typical Protagonist Behaviour}

The reply was quick.

{Investigate possible schizophrenia for a hidden skill. OAO, OP is lucky! OP might have landed a Protagonist! Is OP Hosting a Side Character?}

{This one is a Scum Villain System}

{Then chances are high! Good luck!}

{Thanks! You too!}

{QAQ, this one has no luck. This one has transmigrated AUTHOR, but Host has no backbone}

{Aww man, which world? One this System would know of?}

{This System has been assigned to ‘Proud Immortal Demon Way’, having transmigrated ‘Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky’}

{WTF THIS SYSTEM HAS ALSO BEEN ASSIGNED TO PIDW}

{OMG WHAT CHARACTER?}

{Host hasn’t completed Beginner Mission yet, so this one cannot say QAQ}

{QAQ. This System can guess at OP’s host. What is OP’s designation? When Hosts meet, we can install Chat function}

{This System is #211219-SVSSS8}

{This System is #324354-DAS12}

The System was excited! This was the first friend it had ever made!

{I’ll DM you. We can chat later} #324354-DAS12 commented.

{This one looks forward to it! I’ll delete post}

The System deleted post and quickly added DAS12 to its contact list, before reconnecting with host. A little less than an hour had passed and the System was just in time to see Shen Yuan artfully faking waking up.

Shen Yuan was exceptionally good at this, a veritable expert on the subject. So many times he’d had visitors he didn’t want to talk to or got bored of, so his feigning sleep skill was maxed. He started by opening his eyes. He didn’t open them all the way, favouring a bleary half-open look. He let out a few, very soft to keep in character, groans and an even softer yawn, blinking several times and taking a few very deep breaths. He brought up the hand not still tangled in Luo Binghe’s hair and drew it vertically across the side of his face. He gently rubbed the inner corner of his eye and then allowed his eyes to open fully.

Shen Yuan looked down at his disciple, who had frozen in place as he watched his Shizun awaken, then accidentally let out a reflexive, “Good Morning,”

Binghe only stiffened further.

Shen Yuan carefully ran his fingers through his hair once more, before leaning towards the window. Outside, he could see a great concrete wall a few hundred meters away lined with oddly welcoming torches.

“Ah, looks like we’ve nearly arrived. Do you have your Disciple Jade?”

“Yes, Shizun,” Luo Binghe managed to calmly sit and stretch his back, grunting a half-yawn.

“Good. We may have to display identification at the gates,”

Pei Lin, grinning, stuck her head through the wall and Shen Yuan almost jumped, having forgotten the carriage’s driver.

“Peak Lord, you or your disciple may wish to sit up front to avoid suspicion. I’d suggest your disciple,” Pei Lin said.

“Will we stop then?”

“Nah, we’re avoiding suspicion. This panel doubles as a window. There’s a latch. Just open it and he can slip through,” she pointed to the left side of the wall, then popped back out.

“Binghe,” Shen Yuan began, catching his disciple’s attention with a short cough. He made a show of opening the latch and pushing open the window. It was a little stiff, but otherwise, there was plenty of space, “Pretend to be the driver. Just hold the reins. The carriage will continue as it has been,”

“Yes, Shizun,” the boy did as he was told without question, easily fitting through the window and crawling out onto the front of the carriage.

Shen Yuan heard a few muttered sounds of wonder before he turned back to him, nodded a bow, and closed the window.

Half a minute later, the carriage drew to a halt.

There were a few muffled noises out the front.

“Lord, get your papers and invite,” Pei Lin said, and Shen Yuan quickly pulled both from his pouch.

Footsteps approached the side door.

He opened the curtains of the door and rolled down the glass, wondering for a minute why there were rolling glass windows on a Xianxia style carriage.

“Greetings traveller,” an amiable guard, dressed professionally in armour, spoke politely.

“And to you,”

“I just need to see your identification and know your reason for travelling to Shuang Hu city,” the guard said.

“Of course,” Shen Yuan handed over his papers, “This one is Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. I am here to investigate the Skinner killings and apprehend the perpetrator, on invite of the City Master Chen,”

The Guard skimmed through the papers, muttering approving noises, before looking up and smiling and handing back the documents.

“Everything is in order. You say you’re a cultivator, investigating the murders?”

“That is correct,”

“Well I hope you catch him. My wife’s been terrified of going out as of late because of them,” the guard admitted.

“If it is of any reassurance, the Skinner targets young women between the ages of eighteen and twenty five, and most of the victims are women working in brothels or on the streets. It is safer at home, yes, but so long as your wife avoids the red light district, she should be reasonably safe,” Shen Yuan advised.

“I’ll tell her, thank you!” the guard bowed three times in gratitude, “She’ll tell half the women of the neighbourhood by morning,”

“Good. Also tell her that there is safety in numbers. The killer won’t attack a group, or anywhere near a crowd. Most murders occurred at night when the victim was alone,” Shen Yuan nodded and the guard smiled widely and bowed a bit more.

“Thank you, benevolent Lord!”

Shen Yuan nodded and rolled up the window.

A few seconds later and the carriage was moving.

“Are we headed anywhere in specific?” Pei Lin asked.

Shen Yuan opened the window to the front a fraction.

“Binghe, open this map of the city on the front seat in view of the light,” he handed a folded rectangle of paper, “We want to go to coordinates 23.1, 6.9, ‘Fuxi street’.

Luo Binghe opened the map and the carriage, which had slowed, immediately returned to a normal pace, turning to the left.

“Shizun, this carriage is incredible! It is almost as if it is being driven by ghosts!”

“Mn, quite,”

He paused and looked down to the crack in the window where he could see his Shizun smiling in the warm light of the inside. It was smile that didn’t give away a thing, and Luo Binghe grew a faint feeling that he’d missed something.

Shen Yuan sat back on the seat touching the window, opposite to where he’d spent most of the trip. He didn’t close the panel, choosing instead to sit in companionable silence for the last small stretch of the trip.

Fifteen minutes later, Pei Lin let out a huge sigh of relief, “We’re here. Hear that boys? First trip completed smoothly!”

Two muffled cheers came, presumably, from the ghosts riding the spirit beasts up front.

“Binghe, if a footman approaches, ask where you can find a coach-house. I’ll get out, and when the carriage is put away, meet me back here,”

“Yes Shizun!”

A minute later, a footman was opening the carriage door and bowing as he stepped out.

‘What is this, Downtown Abbey? This is ancient fucking china not nineteen-tens-twenties England! Oh-actually-I’m-being-waited-on-like-royalty-this-is-kinda-nice,’

The footman closed the door and Shen Yuan nodded to his disciple once he was on the ground.

Binghe nodded back and the carriage drove off.

A pudgy, sixty-something year old man, sleazy but not scumbag-level looking, walked out from the grand doors of what looked to be a manor.

“You must be Master Chen,” Shen Yuan greeted first.

“And you must be the Peak Lord of Cang Qiong,” the man replied and Shen Yuan didn’t correct him. They exchanged mutual bows before the man began to lead Shen Yuan inside.

“That was a lovely carriage. Fine horses indeed!” Mr Chen exclaimed, “But what was your disciple doing with them?”

“I believe the footman directed him towards a coach-house. The horses are trained only to respond to disciples of my peak, so my disciple shall be returning here as soon as they’re safe,” Shen Yuan answered.

“Ah, good, very good,” the old man nodded, stroking a greying beard, “We shall wait for his return before discussing why I’ve called you here,”

“Very well,”

“Did you not have bags?”

“They are stored upon my person,” Shen Yuan said politely.

“Ah, no doubt a cultivation skill,” the old man laughed.

“Something along those lines,” Shen Yuan barely withheld a wince.

The building, or rather, complex, was grand with smooth white walls and polished wooden flooring and beautifully carved wooden doorjambs and windows. Several pale yellow curtains and drapes hung gracefully and fluttered gently in the breeze and the courtyard was neat and devoid of weeds.

Shen Yuan suddenly heard rapidly approaching footsteps and paused, turning to see his disciple hurrying towards them.

“Ah, Master Chen. This is my disciple Luo Binghe,” Shen Yuan introduced him and he bowed low to the city master.

“Greetings City Master Chen,” he said.

“And to you child,” the older man bowed his head in acknowledgement, “You returned very fast,”

“The horses are… very intelligent and easy to handle,”

The city master nodded and said, “Lord Shen, would you like to visit your rooms first?”

“If it is of no trouble, so that we know where to retire to,” Shen Yuan nodded. He realised, with a dawning horror, that he had no idea what the fuck he was doing. He was prepared for a murder investigation, yes, but not at all for interacting with nobles.

[System would like to inform Host that Host is of a higher standing than the City Master. He called out ‘Honoured Guest’ when you were leaving the carriage]

‘Ah,’

“Ahh, honoured guest is so courteous,” the city master said, proving the System’s point. He called over a servant, “You, take Lord Shen and his disciple to the Spring Rooms, then when they are ready, to the tea room,”

“Yes master,” the servant bowed to him, then to Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe. He spoke deferentially, “Please follow me,”

Shen Yuan inclined his head and the servant led the way to what felt like the West wing of the complex. Eventually, six passageways later, they stopped.

“Lord Shen, you will be sleeping here in the room marked by the Osmanthus. Your disciple will be in the room next door marked by the Azaleas,” the servant bowed.

“Thank you. Binghe, inspect your room quickly, then come back outside,” Shen Yuan ordered. Binghe bowed and disappeared inside a nearby room.

Shen Yuan carefully opened the ornate sliding door to his own room and stepped inside. It was fairly open, a bit gaudy but would be more than sufficient for his stay. After a brief inspection, he returned outside and closed the door. A second later, he was rejoined by Binghe.

They followed the servant back along several walkways until they came to a neat looking room, already set up with tables. At the head of the room, the city master sat fondling a sixteen-year old (who was, horrifically, fondling him back).

In a flash, Shen Yuan had his fan hiding most of his face. Luo Binghe opted to just keep his head bowed.

They were seated and served without a fuss and Shen Yuan thanked himself, because it was his idea, that he’d laced his and his disciples water supply with poison-resistance talismans. Eating out had never been as scary.

“So, Lord Shen,” the city master began, “I would like to hear your opinions on the case and how you would like to proceed,”

“Of course. After careful analysis of the reports you so graciously sent us, we have determined the perpetrator is a Puppet Demon – a demon who skins their victims and wears their appearance for short stints before the bodies wear out and rot. We can be certain that, as so long as there have been no more murders since the last, the killer looks exactly as our most recent victim did,” Shen Yuan explained.

“Ah, unfortunately, another body was found just this morning. A girl around the age of sixteen found a few blocks from here. Skinned and eyes gouged out. Clothes were completely missing as well,” the city master told them, gesturing to a servant to hand over the files.

‘It’s that girl sitting on you, isn’t it?’

[Host shouldn’t jump to conclusions]

“Then we are looking for a sixteen-year-old girl of the same dimensions of the victim,” Shen Yuan sighed, glancing over the papers, and honestly expressed, “Such a tragedy, one so young. I don’t know what I’d do if it were one of my disciples,”

“Or my Butterfly here,” the city master joined on.

Which was what Shen Yuan wanted.

“Truly, an awful thing to happen to a young woman,”

“Yes. Butterfly here is so beautiful, aren’t you my concubine?” the man cooed and the girl made some vaguely coherent noise back at him. “I fear that she may be killed next. She visits her family frequently, and they live near where the last victim was found,”

‘Told you,’

[Host may be correct this time, but this isn’t a cop show! It isn’t always the most obvious person in the room!]

‘System. We are literally living shitty literature. It will always be the most obvious suspect,’

[…]

[QwQ]

[Why is host always right?]

‘I read the book, and I’m not an idiot,’

The small crowd of angry looking women bickering and glaring at Butterfly also helped.

Shen Yuan sent a quick glance to his disciple who discreetly met his eye. Seems they were both on the same page.

“Well, Master Chen, my disciple and I would like to examine the last crime scene before moving on,” Shen Yuan decided, “There is still enough light, and some clues are better found in the dark, so we shall go now if that is acceptable. If it pleases you, we could walk Miss Butterfly back to her family? I’m sure they’d be worried for her and she for them,”

“It’s true Master,” the girl simpered.

“Ah, yes, that is a great plan indeed. You are both perfectly free to leave as you wish. Butterfly, you may accompany them,” the city master smiled benevolently and Shen Yuan immediately stood.

“There is no time to waste then. Come along Binghe. Miss Butterfly, is there anything you need to bring?”

“Not at all Lord Shen,” she bowed, and the three of them made for the exit.

Chapter Text

The streets weren’t exactly bustling. It was six o’clock at night, so there were plenty of vendors still open on the main streets, but the recent serial killings had severely diminished their rate of customers. It wasn’t even properly dark at this point, though the sun was definitely on a descent towards the horizon.

Eventually, after fifteen minutes of walking, Butterfly led them down a dirt road and into the side-alleys. To her credit, she was keeping up excellently polite conversation with Luo Binghe, luring him into a false sense of security that could fool any man.

‘Ah, poor Binghe. So young, and yet, so foolish. Those-go-hand-in-hand-though,’

Suddenly, and very much conveniently, Shen Yuan heard a sound echo from an adjoining alleyway and stopped walking. Luo Binghe and Butterfly followed suit – Butterfly clinging to his disciple and making scared noises.

“I shall investigate. Binghe, continue escorting Miss Butterfly, I shall catch up with you,” Shen Yuan instructed.

His disciple wavered then nodded and the two continued on their way. Ducking into the suspicious alleyway and spotting a rogue cat viciously gutting what looked like a puppy, Shen Yuan quickly made his way to the rooftops. He took care to ensure his shadow was not cast over the alley, and stealthily began sneaking along.

‘There-is-something-wrong-here-why-aren’t-I-on-my-sword,’

[Host is being affected by [No taking the easy road, efficiency is for losers]. Host knows the trope]

‘Do I ever,’

Shen Yuan withdrew Xiu Ya from its sheath and took to the skies. It was way easier. He made no noise, he didn’t have to worry about falling through someone’s roof, and he had way more range of movement.

{Another tick in the ‘possibly a protagonist’ box} the System thought excitedly.

Shen Yuan relaxed a little as the minutes wore on, not quite noticing his disciple’s discomfort.

Luo Binghe was frightened. Not scared, not fearful, but frightened. If he had read his Shizun correctly, then the woman walking beside him, hanging off his arm, was the puppet demon. On the one hand, he supposed he was grateful they had found the killer so quickly. On the other hand, that cut his time with Shizun short. What was important, however, was that a serial killer, who he in no way was capable of fighting, not least without a weapon, was walking beside him and his Shizun was nowhere in sight.

And so Luo Binghe was frightened. He was a bit on edge, he was very much bewildered, and not a little bit anxious.

‘Shizun. Shizun what. Shizun help. Shizun am I going to be murdered. Shizun what did I do wrong? Shizun this is a serial killer, right?’ and similar thoughts were foremost in his mind as he walked, slightly stiff, through increasingly remote alleys.

“Um, Miss Butterfly, are you absolutely sure this is the way?” Luo Binghe asked warily.

And then Butterfly hit him across the head and all he knew was darkness.

Shen Yuan sighed, watching this occur. First rule of being alone with a serial killer: Don’t take your eyes off them.

[Host speaks as if from experience]

‘The sheer amount of times one of the cast has been knocked out because they weren’t watching the bad guy is ridiculous,’

[…Cast?]

‘Criminal-Minds,’

[Ah.]

‘I should have warned him. Well, this works,’

[Host isn’t going to intervene?]

‘Nah. We’re-going-on-a-bear-hunt-we’re-going-on-a-bear-hunt-what-will-we-see-what-will-we-see-I-think-I-see-a-villain-I-think-I-see-a-villain-staring-at-me-staring-at-me,’

[That isn’t how the song goes, Host]

‘Do-I-look-like-I-give-a-fuck, DILLIGAF,’

[Host, Please]

‘What, no [QAQ Host WTF!?]?’

[How did you even think that?]

[Nevermind]

[This System doesn’t want to know]

[Continue as you were]

‘I shall,’

Shen Yuan smiled lightly. He watched Butterfly heft his disciple over her shoulder and make for the rooftops, now even more grateful he had chosen to fly. She travelled a full ten minutes away, making excellent time across the city, especially while carrying a load. Eventually, she came to a stop at a deserted house. A convenient, incredibly suspicious, unlikely-because-the-standard-of-living-was-low-and-there-were-hundreds-of-people-living-on-the-streets house.

Butterfly lugged Luo Binghe up the stairs to the entry and Shen Yuan took advantage of the noise to hide the sound of his alighting on the roof. Then he took to the air again because that was a stupid decision.

He hovered out of sight of one of the windows, channelling qi to his ears to see if it would improve his hearing. Thankfully, it did.

‘Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, I don’t know what you were drinking when you wrote clear glass windows into an abandoned home in the impoverished east-end-like-Jack-the-ripper-not-literally-east-end of an ancient Chinese civilisation, but thank you. Pretty sure people resigned to eating dirt couldn’t afford glass windows as nice as these, but thank you,’

[…]

Shen Yuan turned his attention back to inside where Luo Binghe had been tied up and propped against the wall opposite the one with the window, Butterfly facing him and standing in optimal stabbing position.

“So it was you!” Luo Binghe cried, having awoken and, in true protagonist fashion, immediately adapted to his surroundings.

“I thought you two were suspicious of me!” Butterfly clapped joyfully, watching Luo Binghe struggle against the ropes. “Don’t bother trying to escape those. They’re Immortal Binding Cables. Even your Shizun couldn’t escape from them,”

“Shizun! What have you done to him!”

“Don’t you remember? He abandoned you. He left you alone with me, even though he knew what I was,” she smirked, “And now, I’m going to take your skin like I did with all the others, and wearing it, I’m going to lure your master back here!”

“Why? Why are you doing this? I don’t even fit the victimology!’

“Don’t you know? The skins of cultivators last a lot longer than the skins of civillians, and while I usually go for women, your Shizun is so… appetizing, I might just have my fun with him first. Your skin is so pretty, so I might as well keep it for a time while I do,” Butterfly cacked, “Looking closer, your skin really is gorgeous. Your face is even prettier than the women I’ve killed already. Not as pretty as your Shizun, but he isn’t going to find us here, so I have time. I think I might just play with you first,”

“No. No, no, please, no. Shizun! SHIZUN!” Luo Binghe began to sob and scream, shaking in fear and horror. ‘Where-is-he-where-is-Shizun-I-can’t-find-him-I-don’t-want-this-please-help-I-don’t-want-this-please-don’t-touch-me-don’t-touch-me-please-Shizun-help-Shizun-please-I’m-only-for-you-Shizun-help oh,’

She was halfway through slipping off her outer robe when Shen Yuan came crashing through the window. Glass exploded inwards and somehow didn’t scratch any of the three as Shen Yuan, faster than Luo Binghe could really comprehend, landed his sword through Butterfly’s skull, hopped off as it drove her body to the ground, and immediately stepped forwards to help his disciple.

[+40 B-points]

Shen Yuan drew his disciple’s head to his chest, mindful of any bruising, and reached behind him to untie the bindings. Then he realised his disciple was still shaking and he sat against the wall and pulled Luo Binghe into his lap. His disciple immediately clung tightly onto him the second his limbs were free and sobbed openly, face buried in Shen Yuan’s neck.

“Shh, it’s okay, you’re okay. You’re going to be fine. Nobody’s going to hurt you,” Shen Yuan whispered gently, stroking his back and pressing his lips to his hair.

He had thought it through. He had to get a confession out of Butterfly or else he’d be in strife for unjustified slaughter, so the plan was to have her reveal everything to Luo Binghe and then die. He didn’t think she was planning on going that far. Luo Binghe was very pretty, Shen Yuan was aware of this, so he was the perfect bait. But he didn’t think…

‘I’m-so-sorry-Binghe-I’m-here-she-won’t-hurt-you-this-is-my-fault-I-didn’t-think-she-would-try-to-so-sorry-Binghe-I’m-so-sorry-I’m-here-now-I-won’t-abandon-you-we’re-safe-we’re-both-safe,’ he thought, hugging him tight. If some of the words were spoken aloud, neither of them said anything later.

Eventually, Luo Binghe calmed. He slowly drew back from Shen Yuan’s arms, brief horror at the visible damp patch on his shoulder flickering in his mind, eyes red and still watery.

‘He still looks a vision cute-as-hell-when-he-cries,’

“Shizun, I’m sorry. I got captured,”

“It’s alright, it wasn’t your fault. I was watching the whole time. I was flying above you and I heard the entire conversation. I haven’t abandoned you, I promise. You’re safe,” Shen Yuan spoke softly. Both of them were shaken, but both of them were calming down.

“Shizun… Shizun is so… I… I…”

‘I love you Shizun’ is what he wanted to say.

“Thank you, Shizun,” is what he said instead before lunging forward for a stronger but shorter hug.

“Of course, Binghe,” Shen Yuan smiled and hugged back.

[You are extremely OOC right now]

‘Yes, but, nobody cares. Just pretend he’s Qingyuan and it’s fine,’

[Host has a point]

[~n~]

‘Are you frowning?’

[Yes]

As always, the System didn’t fail to entertain him, and Shen Yuan felt his heart lighten.

“Shizun, what do we do now?” Luo Binghe asked after a minute.

Shen Yuan stood and dusted off. His disciple followed suit.

“Well, first thing’s first, we go back to the Chen’s. I’ll put up a basic seal that’ll last overnight, and tomorrow morning, we’ll purify the building. There are a few other things I want to attend to tomorrow, and we have to write up the report, so we’ll leave the day after,” Shen Yuan answered after a second’s thought.

“And the body?”

Shen Yuan glanced at it then snapped his fingers and the body was set alight. He flicked his wrist and Xiu Ya, which had formed the spiritual connection to form the fire, slid free of the puppet demon’s skull and flicked off the blood before hovering obediently in front of him.

“I’m going to have to carry you, seeing as you have no experience riding a sword and it’ll be easier to find our way from the air,” Shen Yuan said, “Are you comfortable with this?”

Almost before he had finished speaking, Luo Binghe agreed.

“Yes. Shizun,” he nodded frantically.

“Very well,” Shen Yuan smiled gently and picked up the protagonist, cradling his back and legs with both arms.

Luo Binghe turned a startling shade of red and covered his face.

In Shen Yuan’s defence, bridal carry was the only position he knew how to pull off and it seemed the easiest to keep his balance with. He would also like to take a minute to appreciate how effortless it was to carry his disciple. He may be a teenager, but he was still pretty heavy and Shen Yuan made it look like nothing.

‘Man this body’s nice never-thought-I'd-be-so-grateful-to-the-original-but-I-am-so-how's-that,’

Shen Yuan stepped onto his blade, taking a moment to get used to the difference in weight distribution, flying carefully through the window and into the open air. It felt safer to fly where he wouldn’t hit anything.

They arched above the city until Luo Binghe pointed out the Chen compound a short distance off. From there, it was a leisurely cruise towards (hopefully) dinner.

“So,” Shen Yuan began lightly, “Aside from the very end, how was your first mission?”

“Shizun was so cool!” his disciple blurted, uncovering his face for a brief second before hiding it again behind his hands.

Shen Yuan didn’t stop the laugh.

“I’m glad my disciple thinks so,” he said.

Luo Binghe mumbled something unintelligible that Shen Yuan could hear perfectly clearly despite the attempt. They were quiet a moment before he spoke up again.

“Shizun was amazing,” Luo Binghe admitted quietly, “Amazing and smart and kind and cool and pretty and just the best! Shizun saved me,”

Shen Yuan didn’t say anything, but he did lift him closer to his chest.

‘AAAHHH-I-CAN’T-DEAL-WITH-THIS-MY-HEART-CAN’T-TAKE-IT-HE’S-SO-FUCKING-PURE-AND-SWEET-ADORABLE-I-WANNA-SQUISH-HIM-SO-BAD-NO-BAD-SHEN-YUAN-DON’T-SQUISH-PEOPLE-WHILE-FLYING-THEY-COULD-FALL-AND-DIE-YOU-COULD-FALL-AND-DIE-DON’T-YOU-THREATEN-ME-YOUNG-MAN OKAY. That’s enough. Very cute. Unfairly cute. Illegal. You’re illegal Binghe,’

[+30 B-points]

It wasn’t long before they arrived on hard ground once more, landing inside the courtyard with all the grace expected of them. Shen Yuan hastily put his disciple down before a servant rushed out to greet them.

“Lord Shen, you have returned,”

‘Evidently,’

“Yes. Please inform your master we have returned,”

“Of course Lord Shen. Will you be retiring to your rooms or joining Master Chen for dinner?”

“The latter, though we will return to our rooms for a change of clothing. Blood splatter is hardly appropriate dinner wear,” Shen Yuan nodded and the servant blanched before running off.

“Binghe?” Shen Yuan asked after a minute’s silence.

“Yes Shizun?”

“Please lead the way,”

Luo Binghe covered his mouth and stifled a surprised laugh. His Shizun was unexpectedly adorable!

“Of course, Shizun,” he smiled, and happily made in the direction of their rooms.

Once he was inside, Shen Yuan quickly stripped off whichever layers of his robes had been bloodied and took out a book from his qiankun pouch. He had brought it to study in the hopes that he may be in a position to try out some of the spells.

Conveniently, one of the spells was for cleaning fabric.

‘Okay, so if I do-that-and-go-like-this-then-the-qi-should no that’s not right okay maybe if I woah,’

His robes began to glow, as most things did when influenced by qi, and the blood stains lifted into the air then misted, disappearing completely.

“Ahh. That was cool,” Shen Yuan muttered, “I want to show Binghe,”

He threw his robes back on, triple checked the spell had affected all items, and stepped out of his room, immediately coming face to face with his disciple.

Luo Binghe was holding his bloodstained robes, now wearing an identical set, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

“A-ah, Shizun, I wanted to find water to soak these in. I realise they’re badly stained…” he mumbled. He hadn’t realised just how much blood had covered his robes, and thinking of how his Shizun had held him…

Shen Yuan only smiled.

‘Convenient plot device is convenient,’

He performed the spell once more and the blood lifted and misted and the robes were immaculate once more.

Eyes blown wide and beaming at his Shizun, Luo Binghe thanked him profusely, “Shizun is the best! That was so cool!”

“I’m glad you think so,” Shen Yuan laughed a little, “We’ll be going over a few more personal cleaning spells soon, so you’ll learn this one soon enough,”

Luo Binghe let out a squeal of delight and raced back to his room to dump his robes before rejoining Shen Yuan to find the dinner hall.

They managed it by following the noise and a servant carrying a food tray and made their entrance politely, bowing and sitting at their tables.

“Ah, our esteemed guests have returned. Did Butterfly get home safely?” the city master asked.

“Not quite. She attacked my disciple in an alleyway and revealed herself as the Skinner. She has been dealt with. Tomorrow my disciple and I shall return to purify the area then write up our reports,” Shen Yuan answered without inflection.

“Butterfly… Butterfly was…”

“Correct. The body found this morning belonged to the original Butterfly. The one from today was the Skinner,” Shen Yuan nodded, then dug into his food without a word. He wasn’t really hungry.

“Not my Butterfly… she was so pure and beautiful. This can’t be! But you are right. When I heard of the incident this morning I was almost certain it was her, but when she arrived safe and sound I wasn’t suspicious. I should have been. I let a murderer into my house and endangered my other girls. How could I have been so blind?” the city master began, and his monologue ended up stretching until both Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe had finished eating.

Thankfully, when they were done, they were allowed to make their excuses. A brief ‘My disciple and I are tired and wish to retire early’, and they were set free. Not that Shen Yuan had managed to eat much.

“Binghe,” Shen Yuan said as they approached their rooms, “I need you to promise me you’ll never monologue like that man did. Or like Butterfly, for that matter,”

“Shizun?”

“People who are in, or believe themselves to be in, positions of power tend to let it go to their head. The city master, for example, could talk for hours and hours and give away a hundred secrets thinking nobody would take advantage. Butterfly confessed to her crimes as soon as she thought her position was secure. That was incredibly stupid of both of them, and more than that, left Butterfly in particular open to attack. So Binghe, I want you to promise me that you will never go off on a monologue like that. If you have a lot to say, summarise the key points. That is, unless you are in the company of those you trust. Sometimes it is better to say too many words then too few,” Shen Yuan advised sagely, and Luo Binghe nodded manically.

“Yes Shizun. Such insightful advice – this one is sure to keep it in mind,” he smiled and Shen Yuan fluffed his hair fondly.

“Now, you are free to do as you please, but I expect you in bed by ten to rise at six,” Shen Yuan informed him, “I will be in my room. I think I’ll get a head-start on the reports,”

“Then… could this disciple go for a walk? I won’t stray more than a block from the compound!” his disciple pleaded.

It was cute.

“Hmm… very well,” Shen Yuan allowed, then took his qiankun pouch from his robes. Carefully rifling through it, he finally found the extra store of weapons. He withdrew a short sword and sheath. Neither were spiritual, just plain metal really, but they should do fine against civillians.

“Take this,” Shen Yuan offered the sword, “It has no special ability, but if you encounter danger, do not hesitate to use it. It may be a mortal blade, but it is still sharp,”

Eyes shining, Luo Binghe took the sword.

“Thank you. Thank you Shizun!” he bowed and excitedly ran off. Shen Yuan watched him jump the walls of the complex and let out a soft sigh. It seems his disciple had taken his lesson on the easiest route to heart.

Shen Yuan entered his room, closed the door, and changed into his black outfit. He let his hair down and his mask firmly in place. He gave his head an experimental shake, lit a candle, and snuck out the window.

Idly he wondered, 'Why the fuck did I let a disciple go on a mission like this without a functioning weapon?' before discarding the thought under 'I'm a side character it's fine'.

He travelled via rooftops properly this time, not wanting his sword to be recognised if he’s spotted. It wasn’t as if he had anything nefarious in mind. He had the same idea as his disciple after all. It was a lovely night. The skies were clear and Shen Yuan will never get tired of seeing the stars so clearly. Even if he had been able to go outside in his old world, the sky was so polluted by light he couldn’t see half as well.

But he had a double reason for going out. He figured it was about time his mysterious alter ego paid a visit. He’d been absent from the plot for almost half a year, but counting only major events, it can’t have been more than thirty chapters. He always had to keep in mind he was actually changing the story. Sure the world was real, but his life depended on the worth of the novel. So he had to make things interesting.

And so, to ensure the plot point of Luo Binghe’s Mysterious Saviour didn’t go discontinued, he had to make a few more appearances, and this was the perfect opportunity for one of them. He was planning a bit of a TGCF ‘Holy shit he was Wu Ming the entire time!?’ to get out of trouble with the protagonist should he find himself in danger, so he had to appear to be following the protagonist. Subtlety was key.

Subtlety.

As if stabbing teenagers with leaves was subtle.

Unfortunately, after tailing his disciple for ten minutes, enjoying the open air and his ability to move fluidly across rooftops, he stopped paying attention to where he was going and lost sight of him. In his defence, being able to ninja his way across ancient Chinese cities was so fun.

Panicking slightly, Shen Yuan traced his steps back and found his disciple being held against a wall by the neck as three gangsters held a knife to his throat and demanded he hand over his belongings. One of them was examining the hilt of his sword and the other his jade disciple talisman.

‘He-could-get-out-of-there-if-I-wasn’t-here-couldn’t-he-fucking-protagonist-halo-so-sorry-Binghe I’ve jinxed you,’

Shen Yuan jumped down into the alley, hurling a flurry of deadly leaves at the men. They fell back, bleeding badly, but one of them found the will to lunge forwards with his knife. Shen Yuan plucked a scraggly Chinese Aster (glorified daisy) from where it was growing in the cracks between bricks and filled it with qi. In a move he had practised for hours with Shen Jiu, he sliced the blade in half before lunging forward to slice his throat.

With a daisy.

‘Killing-unnamed-NPCs-is-fine,’ Shen Yuan chanted in his head as he moved to check on the protagonist.

The three men, all down and bleeding out, probably fatally, were a hazard however. The protagonist was coughing, a hand rubbing at his neck. He reached frantically for the sword and threw it blindly at Shen Yuan, who barely dodged, only to hear a grunt sound from behind him.

Typically, there was a fourth thug to surprise attack him. As if the protagonist could be saved without repaying the favour.

Shen Yuan rolled his eyes beneath the mask and tugged the sword from the man’s chest where it had landed and probably killed him and handed it back to Luo Binghe. Once it was in his hands, he relaxed and stood.

“Thank you—you! You’re the one from the forest!” Luo Binghe’s face broke into a smile, and then a frown, “What are you doing here?”

Shen Yuan shrugged.

“I can’t believe they got the drop on me. Why did you help me?”

Shen Yuan shrugged again.

Luo Binghe’s smile was returning.

“Those men… are they going to be alright?”

Shen Yuan was still for a beat before he shrugged once more and Luo Binghe laughed.

“Are you going to get in trouble for this? If my Shizun sees this, he’ll know it was you. The wounds are the same and the leaves are the same as from the forest around our peak… You’ve been on Qing Jing recently, haven’t you!?” Luo Binghe accused, though he knew he was right.

Shen Yuan paused then gave a double thumbs-up.

His disciple sighed and laughed at once.

“Fine. You helped me twice now, so I don’t think you mean any harm. You are… a friend?” he confirmed.

Shen Yuan stepped over and patted him once on the shoulder, giving another thumbs up.

Luo Binghe smiled.

“Very well then,”

‘Hey-that’s-plagiarism,’

“What will you do with the bodies?”

Shen Yuan stepped back and snapped his fingers and the leaves grew, their stems extending into roots. They dragged the bodies under the soil through the centre of the alley where the bricks had been stolen or worn away. He had to allow some parallels after all.

“That… was cool,” Luo Binghe admitted.

Shen Yuan privately agreed. He had been practising spells for Shen Qingqiu and spells for Mysterious Saviour religiously. Shen Qingqiu was going to use whatever spells worked, as he would be the face most often worn. The Mysterious Saviour would favour plant based spells like these. Unfortunately, these were far and few between and often resulted in dubious flowers, so Shen Yuan was kinda struggling to find the more trustworthy spells.

“I should get back,” Luo Binghe said after a beat and turned to walk out of the alley.

When he reached the end, Shen Yuan clapped loudly once to get his attention. He turned and Shen Yuan hurried over, daisy in hand, and tucked it behind the boy’s ear. He was supposed to be friendly and amiable. Mysterious saviours were never friendly and amiable, they were always dark and alluring. Shen Yuan didn’t enjoy that trope in the slightest however, so he would instead use flowers. Flowers were pretty and nice.

He petted the protagonist on the head before jumping several meters into the air and onto the roof.

It was like flying.

But he was still jumping.

He ran off as fast as he could in the direction of the Chen compound. He darted across the open grounds and dove through his open window. Once within closed walls, he immediately changed back into the first few layers of his normal robes, hid his black ones and his mask, before braiding his hair and sitting at the desk provided in the room. He pulled the case files from his pouch and opened them and took a minute to breathe and relax.

He was sure the experience had been traumatic for his disciple, especially taking into account what had happened earlier, but Luo Binghe was strong and he was unshaken when they spoke, so Shen Yuan decided not to worry.

Ten minutes later, his haste to dress proved unwarranted as an unhurried knocking came at his door.

“Enter,” Shen Yuan called.

As he predicted, it was his disciple.

“Binghe, back already?” he smiled serenely, void of any suspicion.

Luo Binghe turned a shade of pink.

His Shizun was wearing his under-robes and overcoat and nothing else. His hair was down and plaited. He looked beautiful in the candle light. Luo Binghe took a few deep and calming breaths before walking forwards.

“This disciple… I noticed Shizun didn’t eat much at dinner, and there were a few vendors still open, so…” Binghe brought two sticks of tanghulu, which, as far as Shen Yuan could remember, were basically tart apples covered in sugar syrup, “I thought you wouldn’t mind desert,”

Shen Yuan had always thought he’d like them.

They also seemed to be sprinkled with sesame seeds, which was an interesting choice, but sesame seeds seemed to absorb the flavour of whatever they came in touch with, so whatever. At worst, it would taste vaguely like bread and Shen Yuan didn’t hate bread, so that was fine.

“Thank you…” Shen Yuan smiled slowly. His disciple was so sweet! “Thank you very much Binghe. That was very kind of you,”

“The vendor was closing down and happened to have two sticks left over and she gave them to me for free, so it wasn’t really,” Luo Binghe looked away bashfully.

‘Fuck. Fuck. Typical-protagonist-luck-good-grief-Binghe. Fuck. Shit. Fuck,’ Shen Yuan cursed, heartrate rapidly increasing.

Shen Yuan took the stick from his disciple and bit off the first fruit.

‘Okay. Fine. This is good,’

“Shizun likes it?”

“Yes. It’s very sweet, and I like the crunch,” Shen Yuan allowed.

“Has Shizun… never tried it before?”

“No. So this one thanks his disciple for giving me the opportunity,” Shen Yuan smiled, licking his lips indelicately.

“This… This disciple with go back now. To his room. Now,” Luo Binghe stuttered, ears pink, before running off, and Shen Yuan wasn't stupid enough to not know what that meant.

‘WHAT-THE-FUCK-IS-WRONG-WITH-YOU-SHEN-YUAN-YOU-BASTARD-I-CAN’T-BELIEVE-YOU’RE-FALLING-FOR-A-FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD-THIS-IS-FINE-DOES-THIS-COUNT-AS-ACCIDENTAL-SEDUCTION-DO-YOU-KNOW-WHAT-THIS-LOOKS-LIKE-I’M-NINTEEN-AND-I-WON’T-LET-ANYTHING-HAPPEN-IT’S-PERFECTLY-FINE-ANYWAY-YOU-LOOK-TWENTY-SOMETHING actually only about twenty, if that, immortal cultivation is a fascinating thing and also I’m pretty sure it’s legal if it’s a four year or less age gap at this point BUT-REGARDLESS-DISTANCE-YOURSELF-I’M-TRYING-BUT-HE’S-SO-SWEET-AND-KIND-AND-I-DON’T-KNOW-WHAT-TO-DO!’

[System would like to know what Host is screaming about this time]

‘I’ve fucked up,’

[Host has done nothing wrong. Plot is progressing wonderfully!]

[+30 B-points]

[From earlier]

‘Hah. That’s not it. I have to be careful System,’

[…]

[???]

‘You don't understand. He's so kind and innocent and sweet-and-cute-and-adorable-and-strong and I have to be careful. I have to watch myself. I’m going to fall in love if I don't,’

Chapter Text

The next day, Shen Yuan distanced himself from his disciple. It wasn’t hard to hand the boy a stack of papers, circle a few points on the map and tell him to take the carriage and avoid suspicion. Shen Yuan had wanted to put out a notice to the brothels and working houses, places where lots of women would congregate, to spread the word they were safe and initiate a few preventative measures for the future such as travelling in pairs and so on. He wanted to go himself to test out a theory as well, namely that the Original Host had been visiting brothels for information over physical pleasure, but couldn’t bear the thought of spending more time with Luo Binghe.

He realised the boy really should write up his own report as well, but as soon as he mentioned it, his disciple handed him a few sheets of paper and said he’d finished off writing his statement the night prior. Shen Yuan regretted the disappointment in his eyes when he told him he was going to stay behind to finish the paperwork, but he needed the time.

He didn’t want to fall in love with the protagonist. As far as the world was concerned, Shen Qingqiu was, presumably, in his thirties. He was cruel and cold and known for frequenting brothels and general misconduct. Luo Binghe was the protagonist – a pure white lotus, untainted and innocent, and only fifteen.

And while Shen Yuan was adamant that he was still nineteen on the inside, he still couldn’t do that to his disciple. He was his disciple. Shen Yuan was supposed to be a father figure for him.

Not to mention the wife plots.

‘Not a fucking love interest. Besides, I don’t want to be a part of a harem. And it’s only a passing infatuation, if he was right about it. Just pretend he’s a kitten-because-I-don’t-like-puppies-even-though-he’s-a-bit-of-a-puppy. Binghe is cute and adorable and fluffy and innocent and nothing more. He’s like a pet. Yeah. A pet. You can’t get a crush on a pet,’

It was kind of sad though.

They were each other’s first crush.

Privately, the system was crying tears of frustration. It didn’t know how things would end, even though it’s job was knowing how things will end so the Host can make the appropriate adjustments. If Host turned out to be a protagonist, there was a very high chance he’d end up with Luo Binghe anyway, and the System was torn over whether it wanted that to happen or not.

It really wanted to find DAS21.

Nothing much really happened that day. Shen Yuan sent out a paper bird to warn his peak he would be arriving at around midday the next day, finished up his reports, before going out to the markets for an hour. He ended up purchasing two dozen or so packets of cards.

Because ancient China totally had French playing cards.

FRENCH playing cards.

Is there even such thing as a French anymore?

But Shen Yuan had a plan to teach his disciples a few games and so he didn’t really want to cry at the incorrectness of it.

Gambling was a skill.

Not that Shen Yuan had ever participated in such an act.

That was illegal.

Also, he was hospitalised so how dare you accuse a sick child of such things.

The stall owner who had sold him all those cards looked suspicious, but hadn’t really said anything. It was probably the really fancy sword hanging at his side that dissuaded questioning.

Shen Yuan managed to get back to the compound before his disciple and elected to read for a while to calm his heart..

[This System would like to offer advice]

‘Alright then,’

[As a wise NPC from a different Danmei once said, ‘Who I love is my business and none of yours,’. This NPC was doomed to love the scum villain and that is what she said when he confronted her about it. That is a fair assessment, yes?]

‘I suppose,’

[So, perhaps, you should do as she did. Embrace your feelings so that they do not inhibit you. Whatever they are, they are nobody else’s business]

‘That… was very wise of you. I’m going to use that,’

[…]

‘Don’t think I didn’t catch the wording,’

[System doesn’t know what Host is talking about]

‘Sure,’

[Host]

‘I’m reading,’

Eventually, however, Luo Binghe returned and it was time for them to head to the abandoned house to purify the land and Shen Yuan was forced to take the System’s words seriously. He admitted it was sound advice, albeit with some reluctance.

And it helped. It was fine to feel whatever. It was his business, and that is all.

He had Luo Binghe perform most of the rites, instructing him from the side. The whole trip was a learning resource for him, so he may as well take advantage of it.

Eventually the rituals were done with and the area was safe and Shen Yuan was glad he had had the presence of mind to return to the alley the night prior to purify the land there as well.

The two dined together that night in the confines of Shen Yuan’s room before waking at four the next morning, packing, and setting off in the carriage at six.

They had a little bit to eat before leaving and spent most of the journey asleep, only waking once they were ready to take off into the air once more at around half past ten. By then they were rested and spent the rest of the trip reading quietly.

Then finally, as the sun was reaching its zenith, Cang Qiong mountain sect came into view.

“Alright passengers, I will remind you to keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, sit up straight, shoulders back, and remember not to dance while we’re descending. We will be arriving at Qing Jing peak in approximately four minutes, so hold onto your tophats kiddies because we have a very small landing strip,” came the worryingly delighted voice of Pei Lin.

Not for the first time, Shen Yuan wondered where the hell this girl had gotten her vocabulary from.

‘Perhaps this is just how air hostesses speak?’ he suggested to himself. He had never been on a plane before, so he couldn't be certain.

“Binghe, sit straight. We’re beginning the descent,” Shen Yuan nudged his disciple gently.

Luo Binghe immediately planted his feet on the floor and put returned his borrowed book.

“This disciple was wondering… how can Shizun tell? Is there something on the opposite wall?” he asked.

“Ah…” Shen Yuan was only marginally surprised the protagonist had noticed how he would occasionally glance at the wall whenever Pei Lin was checking in. “In a way,”

Luo Binghe nodded as if he understood and in no time at all the carriage had landed. It was a little shaky, but not half as rough as the first time, and they didn’t bounce so much as bump this time, which was nice. The carriage kept moving along what Shen Yuan could see was the main pathway, but it was slowing down quickly and by the time they reached the end, they were at a controlled trot.

“We have now arrived at our destination. Thank you for flying with Pei Lin and friends. We hope you enjoyed your flight and hope you will consider flying with us again soon. This is your captain signing off,” Pei Lin cheered, floating all the way through the wall, “I’m going to find grandpa. The boys’ll get the carriage to the coach-house, but you’ll need to have someone remove the harnesses on the horses,”

“Thank you,” Shen Yuan muttered, nodding in her direction.

“Y’all’re good,” She grinned and flew straight through the door and out of sight.

“Did Shizun say something?”

“No. We’re here,” Shen Yuan stated unnecessarily. He moved to open the door, only for it to swing outwards of seemingly its own volition. It took a moment to realise his head disciple had opened it before hopping back down the stairs to allow him out, beaming with delight the whole time.

As soon as he stepped out, he was met with nineteen smiling faces, all uninjured and crowding for his attention.

Binghe followed him out and closed the door and the carriage moved away by itself.

“Shizun that was amazing!”

“Since when did Shizun have a flying carriage!”

“Shizun we missed you!”

“Shizun is back so quickly!”

“He must have taken care of business quickly!”

“As expected of our Shizun!”

“We missed you Shizun!”

“Shizun is the best!”

The voices were a tad bit overwhelming, but Shen Yuan felt nothing but warmth as his disciples closed in around him. He almost wanted to cry happy tears.

Instead, he smiled.

Clap clap clap-clap-clap

CLAP CLAP CLAP-CLAP-CLAP

He called attention as the teachers had in primary and his disciples echoed it. Truly, the phenomena was amazing. The first time he tried it, half the class copied the sequence without instruction.

“Alright, now listen up. It’s only midday, so Ning Yingying is going to finish off your lessons and then at four we’re going to meet up in the Concert Hall. This isn’t replacing rec night, this is a peak meeting that may or may not devolve into something a little more fun!” his smile was small but devilish and his tone was suspiciously nonchalant. His disciples cheered and ran off, led by Ning Yingying.

“Binghe, would you like to rest or join your class?”

“If it is alright with Shizun, this disciple would like to join the class and catch up on work,” Luo Binghe bowed and Shen Yuan smiled.

“Off you go then,” he fluffed his hair and his disciple ran off.

“Shidi,” a voice was approaching him from behind.

“Ah, Sect leader,”

They exchanged bows.

“Shidi, I did not know… your carriage flies?” Yue Qingyuan couldn’t help the note of incredulity in his voice

“Ah, yes. It really is quite the ride. You know, up until the popularisation of flying swords a century or so ago, flying carriage was the most common method of transport for our sect,” Shen Yuan smiled.

“In truth?”

“Oh yes. There are a number of marvels that have been forgotten and that I am slowly but surely trying to bring back to life. The great library and the concert hall are just a few of them,” Shen Yuan nodded, “Will you walk with me to my office? I have the reports in my bag, but I feel in need of a little tea before the final parts are signed off on,”

“I… would be delighted,” Yue Qingyuan beamed.

“Follow me then. I moved it out of my quarters and closer to the library, for easier access – both for me to the library and my students to me,” Shen Yuan explained as he led them both through a narrow passage in the bamboo, Yue Qingyuan following not unlike a duckling.

After a few minutes, they burst through into a clearing with two defined paths running off to the sides and a small hut in the centre.

“Shidi… did we just walk through the forest?”

“Yes…?”

“I mean… that wasn’t a path,”

“No. All paths on Qing Jing are properly paved to avoid muddied boots during rain,” Shen Yuan frowned, “You know this,”

“But shidi… why did we walk straight through the forest,” Yue Qingyuan clearly wasn’t letting this go. To be fair, he had hit himself on bamboo at least four times.

“Because… it was the right way?” Shen Yuan wasn’t really sure what was wrong with this. If he fits, he sits. Walks. Whatever worked.

Yue Qingyuan let out a startled laugh, “Shidi really has changed!”

“Please excuse my husband he’s an idiot,” Shen Jiu flew up through the ground and then continued going up before floating left and vanishing.

“I suppose. I guess I decided I was just done being an asshole and decided to give teaching a proper chance,” Shen Yuan smiled back at him, “If you ask my disciples, they might even say I’m good at it,”

“I-I have,” Yue Qingyuan stared openly at Shen Yuan, bewilderment, a hint of fondness and a small amount of something sad growing on his features, “I was speaking with a few of your disciples earlier. Your head disciple, Ning Yingying, is a very capable young woman,”

“I agree,” Shen Yuan unlocked the door to his study, glad to see Ning Yingying had kept it clean and neat. There was even a fresh flower in a vase by the window sill. He flicked his fingers and a spare cushion dragged itself over from the corner and stopped on the other side of his desk. Shen Yuan sat and gestured for the sect leader to do the same before pulling out several papers from his Qiankun pouch.

He reached behind him to a shelving unit and grabbed two cups, a teapot, and two small boxes before preparing two drinks. A cold, iced tea seemed fitting for a day as warm as it was, so rather than heating the water already in the tea-pot, he opened the first of the small boxes and withdrew a white pouch specifically for storing ice. He tipped a few cubes into both cups and then put it away. He found the powdered tea in the second box and tipped a teaspoon’s worth into each cup before pouring over water. He gave both cups a bit of a stir with his qi before setting one before the sect leader and one before himself.

“Thank you, shidi,” Yue Qingyuan smiled, hiding his concern at the odd drink. He tasted it and surprised himself by enjoying the cool beverage. He smiled again.

“Now, down to business,” Shen Yuan flipped through the pages of paperwork, “You’ll be happy to know that the skinner case was resolved the day we arrived and my disciple gained a lot of experience in the field. The extra day was spent on public relations and crowd control,”

“That… is very impressive. And a lot of paper,”

“Oh, the first fifteen pages are from the case. The thirty that follow are a proposal. For the first, you just need to sign off here, here and here,” Shen Yuan held open the page and didn’t bother with the gestures. There was a brush and inkstone that he pushed over and the stone wet itself at the touch.

Yue Qingyuan skimmed through the document before signing, eyes catching on Luo Binghe’s three-page-long description of how Shen Yuan deduced the identity of the culprit and the two page description of how he dealt with the puppet demon and found himself reading more in-depth than he had intended to.

“Your disciple… here, he writes about ‘victimology’ and ‘profiling’. Could Shidi please elaborate on these?” Yue Qingyuan stared at the words.

“Ah. Victimology is the study of the victims of the crime, while profiling is the identification of the unsub— ah, killer’s personality without having to interact with the killer or know their identity,” Shen Yuan explained, “I pieced together from research and experience as well as a little of my own speculation this method of behavioural analysis and I intend to perfect and teach it to my disciples. It should help investigations like this in the future, as well be a valuable life skill for my students,”

“Shidi… Shidi has put so much thought into this. Will shidi write up a paper on it?”

“At some point I may,” Shen Yuan sighed. It sounded like work.

Yue Qingyuan finished reading and signed off on the document, officially closing the case.

[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Good things must be said thrice! You have completed the Beginner Mission! +200 B-points]

“So, what is this proposal you mentioned,” Yue Qingyuan relaxed a little.

Shen Yuan put down his papers, not handing them over just yet.

“As sect master, what is your opinion on demons?” Shen Yuan asked carefully.

“Demons? I suppose… I don’t have an opinion,”

“Then think of a scenario. Say one day you came across a bookstore. You go inside looking for a book to pass the time with. You ask the lady running the store for recommendations. She shows you to a shelf, you pick out a book, you purchase it and you leave. A few months later you return. The same thing happens. The lady is polite, always smiling, and eventually she tells you she has a pet cat named CaoCao.

“One day, you’re in the store, picking out another book, and a man comes in to rob the store of its cultivation manuals. It’s a high end store. He shouts at the woman and she responds calmly until he picks up her cat by the tail and threatens it with a knife. Then, the woman blasts him out the door with a burst of demonic energy. It turns out, she’s a demon.

“Sect leader, what would you do?” Shen Yuan asked seriously.

“I… Nothing. I suppose I would just find a book and leave. She wasn’t hurting anyone, so I’d make sure the man wouldn’t come back and harass her,” Yue Qingyan answered after a minute of thought.

“So then you believe that some demons can be good?”

“Well… yes. Nothing… nothing and no one is inherently good or bad. I know at least this,” Yue Qingyuan looked sorrowful for a moment before calming. “Why does Shidi ask?”

“Recently I discovered that one of my students, I will not say which, has demonic heritage. They struggle with that and with accepting themselves. I also discovered that this student has shared this truth with a friend and that that friend was accepting of them,” Shen Yuan finally, slowly, pushed the papers over to Yue Qingyuan.

He glanced at the front cover and his eyes immediately whipped up to meet Shen Yuan’s.

“You can’t be serious,” he frowned, picking up the papers.

“Perfectly,” Shen Yuan sighed.

“All this for a disciple?”

“No. Not for a disciple. The disciple is just what inspired this,” Shen Yuan straightened up, “I would like to run an exchange program with the demon realm, or at least to start, take in a few demons as disciples. I understand that this would take many years to legalise, but I am willing to put in the effort. Our peace with the demon realm is tenuous at best now, but I have it on good authority that Mobei-jun, the current ruler of the North, could likely be persuaded, and that the next leader of the south would definitely be amenable,”

“Where did you get this information from,” Yue Qingyuan frowned.

“The general consensus on Mobei-jun is that he wishes to keep to his realm and is not particularly vying for trouble. While there are food shortages in the North, the particulars of a possible formal peace treaty are not my problem at this precise moment, so I will work under the assumption that he would not actively oppose such a program or possible peace,” Shen Yuan explained.

“And the second? The last ruler of the South was Tianlang-jun and he was killed by a cultivator sect. His successor would have no reason to broker for peace, let alone allow something like… an exchange program,” Yue Qingyuan protested.

“Except that his son was born by a human woman and currently residing in Qing Jing peak as my disciple,” Shen Yuan responded calmly. This was a bet he wasn’t particularly planning on taking.

Yue Qingyuan was shocked silent.

“You mean to tell me there is a Heavenly Demon on this peak and nobody sensed them?” he said eventually.

“He hasn’t awoken his demonic blood as of yet, but he is well aware of it. I do not believe he is fully informed of his history however. But, if you believe that this is something that could happen, even if it is only by the slightest chance, I will tell them and they will help us,” Shen Yuan spoke seriously.

“How can you be so sure?” Yue Qingyuan tested.

“Tell me, you asked about how I treat my disciples, didn’t you?”

“Yes,”

“What did they say?”

“That you treated them all fairly and with kindness and that you were devoted to each of them as a teacher,”

“And what did they say of how they viewed me,”

“All of them gave glowing reviews, particularly your Head disciple and Luo Binghe, when I spoke to him a while ago,”

“That sound correct,” Shen Yuan smiled softly, “Now, having read through Luo Binghe’s report, what is the first thing you can glean from it?”

“The boy thinks the world of you,” Yue Qingyuan answered frankly.

“It’s sweet, isn’t it?”

“Er… yes,”

“He is Tianlang-Jun’s son,”

For a moment, Shen Yuan was afraid the other man would faint.

“Luo Binghe… But… he seems so kind and innocent,”

“He is,”

“A Heavenly demon…”

“Yes,”

“Is… that why you used to—”

“No,”

Yue Qingyuan fell silent once more. He flicked through the first few pages of the proposal.

“If, and I mean if. If we manage to convince the other sects to sign a peace treaty with the demon realm, I cannot deny this would be an excellent plan to promote relations. But the chances of that happening are slim to none,”

“I agree, which is why I want to run a pre-emptive trial starting next year,”

“You’ve lost me,”

“I have been researching and following rumours as of late and finally confirmed it in town yesterday,” Shen Yuan lied as he finished off his tea which he had been sipping at throughout the conversation, “There is a young demoness, fifteen years of age, and the daughter of one of Tianlang-jun’s old advisors. Her name is Sha Hualing. She is known to explore the human realm and only ever engages in combat with cultivators who have reached a high enough stage in their cultivation that they can fight demons. This indicates that she is not only curious about our realm and culture, but also aware of the physical limits of civillians, though still yearning for combat – as many humans do! I would like to extend an offer for a year long visit to the sect where she will stay as a disciple of Qing Jing,”

So, while half of that was bullshit, the other half was truth. Proud Immortal Demon Way, while also promoting her ruthlessness and bouts of cruelty, also made prominent note of her curiosity and reservations against fighting the weak. And most importantly, in the fifth extra chapter, the novel introduced, or rather, revealed the strong bonds of friendship she had made between two humans.

‘The trio of women stood proud and strong, hands clasped not to share strength but out of respect and the bond of friendship that defined them. They were a holy trinity of beauty, intelligence and strength, Liu Mingyan, Ning Yingying and Sha Hualing,’ – Proud Immortal Demon Way Extra #5, Page 12.

It went on to mention that the three had clicked fairly quickly and were genuine friends before devolving into messy lesbian sex + Binghe. So Shen Yuan had hope that something similar might happen if Sha Hualing was given a chance here.

“Shidi… I will have to read over this carefully,”

“Yes,”

“And we will be revising this,”

“Yes,”

“We would have to take every single precaution,”

“Yes,”

“And you would be held accountable for her every action,”

“Yes,”

“And you are willing to take this on?”

“I am,” Shen Yuan smiled.

Yue Qingyuan sighed and stood.

“Very well. We will find a way to work this out. I presume you have a way of contacting this girl?”

“I do,” not a lie, though only on a technicality.

“Then I will read over this tonight,” Yue Qingyuan smiled weakly and made to leave.

“Wait!” Shen Yuan stopped him.

“Yes?”

“Ah,” Shen Yuan blinked, mind blank for a second, “Three nights! In three nights we will be holding our monthly recreational evening. A few of the disciples will be inviting friends from other peaks, and we will be having a bit of a celebration as it is my Head Disciple’s birthday tomorrow. So, what I mean to say, is… eight o’clock. It starts at eight. PM. You are welcome to join,”

“Ah, I… I might stop by. Last we spoke you mentioned this. It’s held in the Concert hall?”

“Yes. I’ll show you the way down on the night,”

“Alright then,” Yue Qingyuan nodded, smiling warming, “That sounds good,”

They exchanged bows and he left.

“Were you trying to flirt with him?” Shen Jiu came upside-down through the roof righ in front of his face.

“God no,”

“Good. I have come to terms with my emotions. He is mine now. Shame I figured this out posthumously. But it will have to do,” Shen Jiu announced grandly, “There shall come a time when he too shall die, and then I shall claim what is mine,”

Shen Yuan gaped before bursting into laughter.

“Oh my fucking god alright! Alright! That sounds like a plan,”

“That’s because it is a plan,”

“Evidently,” Shen Yuan hid a smile behind his fan, but Shen Jiu knew it was there.

He glared.

[+50 B-points]

[Plot development]

[I am an artificial intelligence]

[I have no head]

[And yet this system has a headache]

‘Maybe you’re evolving,’

[What]

‘Pikachu, I choose you!’

[Host. Please stop]

‘Never,’

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan had a lot of things to think about: How to contact Mobei-jun? How to sway the other sects? How to get around pushing his disciple into the Endless Abyss?

Well, the first one wouldn’t be too difficult. There was a side character Peak Lord named Shang Qinghua who was betraying the sect to the Demon Lord and would likely send the guy a letter if threatened sufficiently. The biggest problem resulted from the last two.

He knew that he could get Huan Hua Palace’s backing with support from Luo Binghe, except that support would only come post Endless Abyss with the public revelation of his mother's identity. However, if they had Mobei-jun on their side, the Endless Abyss arc and Luo Binghe’s awakening would never happen.

The solution to that would be sending Luo Binghe on an exchange trip to the Demon Realm where he would most likely awaken his heritage early.

But that couldn’t happen without, at the very least, Huan Hua Palace’s support.

And didn't actually fulfill the 'push disciple into abyss' criteria.

Unless they sent him for a trial year like he planned for Sha Hualing?

‘I-have-three-years-I-have-three-years take a chill pill me,’

“Also, this exchange program is stupid,” Shen Jiu announced suddenly.

“It is a bit sudden,”

“No. It’s stupid. I can’t believe I thought you had any sense. They’re demons. You’re wanting to let demons into the sect,” Shen Jiu sounded remarkably blasé despite his words.

“I just want peace, Jiu-ge,”

“Why?”

“Honestly?”

“Mn,”

“No fucking clue,” Shen Yuan admitted, then looked down at his hands where they rested on the table and continued, “But also because I want to live happily and peacefully and lazily. I want to spend the rest of my life drinking Luo Binghe’s tea, because nothing quite compares to that, and I want to nap whenever I feel like it. Some days I want to go out on adventures and maybe fight monsters or be a ninja. I want to travel for months and see everything there is to see, including the demon realm. I don’t want to fight in battles. I don’t want to die or be grievously injured. If I happen to fall in love with a demon, I want us to be able to live in contentment. But then I want to restore Qing Jing and fill our library with even more knowledge and bring all sorts of culture to our concert hall. I want to teach lots more students cultivation and history and music. And I don’t want to die,”

Let it never be said that Shen Yuan was a fan of the 'transmigrated as OP but want to be lazy' trope - he was more than happy to put in hard work - but a peaceful life did sound nice for after that.

“I knew you’d end up having some sappy bullshit reason you bastard,” Shen Jiu huffed, “Fine. I don’t like it, but I knew you’d convince me, so I’m not even going to bother protesting,”

“Thank you. Your support means a lot,”

“Fuck off, Yuan-mei,”

“Oh, by the way, how did Ning Yingying do? She seemed excited when we left…”

“She was good. Not as good as you, but good. It’s her eighteenth tomorrow. She’s finally hit maturity,” Shen Jiu sighed fondly, “She wants to ask if she can invite her girlfriend over for rec-night, but she’s shy,”

“Shy?” Shen Yuan laughed, “But yeah. It’s Liu Mingyan, right?”

“How’d you guess?”

“Wasn’t hard. I was thinking I’d send Ning Yingying out in the carriage to fetch her from Xian Shu,” Shen Yuan admitted, “It’s on the complete other side of the range, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Sending her in the flying carriage, which, by the way, is very unfair, would probably make her really happy. You’re going to have to convince Qi Qingqi though, and she is such a hardass. I don’t know how you’re going to manage it. You will, but I don’t know how,” Shen Jiu smiled an evil smile, “I will be watching, however,”

Shen Yuan groaned and slumped onto his desk, “I’ll go over tomorrow by sword, oh right, I’ve gotta do the thing with the horses,”

“Luo Binghe did it already,”

“Ah. Nice,”

“Ning Yingying managed to keep up on paperwork too,”

“There is hardly any paperwork,”

“But what little there was she delighted in,”

“Good for her. I should give her all of it,” Shen Yuan folded his arms into a pillow and rested a little more comfortably.

Shen Jiu watched him a while and then took pity, “There are caves,”

“Caves! Where?” Shen Yuan’s whole body bounced and all of a sudden he was standing.

“Back of the mountain range. Go in through the passage between Bai Zhan and Qing Jing. They’re open to whoever finds them,” Shen Jiu pointed through the corner of the room, “In a straight line from here,”

“Thanks Jiu-ge,” Shen Yuan bolted outside, turning to raise his voice and call, “Have fun stalking the husband!”

“Fuck of Yuan-mei, I always have fun!” Shen Jiu called back.

Shen Yuan literally jumped on his sword and made off. He summoned it from its sheath, sent it floating in front of him in the direction he was running, jumped, and landed perfectly. He had the passing thought that it was probably like riding a skate-board, before he dismissed it, having no authority on the subject.

He zoomed over the peak, spying his disciples training diligently in the courtyard or scurrying between buildings. He was even seventy percent sure he saw Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe chatting, which was irresponsible of them, but Shen Yuan didn’t particularly care.

Eventually, he made it to the back of the mountains. After a bit of searching Shen Yuan finally found the entrance and was pleased to note that they stood up to the (very minor) hype.

Shen Yuan loved exploring. Exploring was easily his favourite activity now that he could walk. Even without a body such as his, even with his old body, he’d loved to get lost in the wilderness. He hadn’t, not since he was eight, but he remembered loving it. Maybe it was emphasised by his lack of time spent outdoors, but even after five months in this world he still marvelled at and teared up at being able to move around so freely. The caves, which he was going to guess were the spirit caves, were only barely mentioned in the books as ‘labrynthine and otherworldy’ and it was true.

The spirit caves were deep, filled with hundreds of twisting paths and thousands of stairs and tunnels. The air was vaguely cool, though not damp, and there seemed to be inexplicable patches of moonlight or rushes of wind. The rocks were largely limestone and the caves were littered with natural fresh-water pools, each reflecting the beauty of a hidden world beneath and above.

He had about three and a half hours of free time, which was more than enough to explore. He knew by counting his steps, he could gauge distance, and by distance, judge time. The cave system was so big, however, that he was fully aware it would take several days worth of exploration to cover even a fraction of the grounds.

And this was only the first cavern.

And so he explored. The first few caverns were plain, mainly devoid of spiritual energy and the water-sources impure. But as he got deeper, the caves began to darken and light up with bioluminescent mushrooms and insects and even a few fish. The energy in the air was thick and strong and Shen Yuan made a mental note to return to cultivate sometime soon.

He had just sat down beside a small pond to watch a tiny little eel watch him when he heard a wet, hacking cough echo through the caves.

Shen Yuan recognised the sound instantly. He had made it himself hundreds of times.

Someone nearby was coughing up blood.

There came the telltale splatter of something wet and congealed hitting stone and yep, Shen Yuan was going to have to do something.

The sound was loudest coming from a tunnel to his left, so he started off through there. He followed it through at least two more caves until he came to a large cavern. As he had drawn closer he had begun to feel something wrong in the air, like all the spiritual energy was vibrating and swirling and smashing into itself.

As soon as he entered the cavern, he understood why.

[Congratulations! You have encountered a wild Liu Qingge!]

[Plot point unlocked: Liu Qingge’s death scene!]

‘HA-I-KNEW-IT-WASN’T-THE-ORIGINAL!’

And then it hit him that the man was going into qi deviation.

“Shit-shit-shit-okay. Right. Pin him down, hand on the heart and head, force the energy out, push your energy in,” he muttered subconsciously, slowly moving towards his fellow peak lord. He was thrashing about, sword in hand, coughing and spluttering blood and fighting something Shen Yuan couldn’t see.

But he was distracted and Shen Yuan snuck up behind him easily. He kicked his legs out from under him and dodged out of the way of his falling body. As his back hit the ground, his head twisted to the side and he coughed up another glob of congealing blood onto the stone.

Shen Yuan stepped one foot onto the arm holding his sword and trapped his other beneath his knee on the other side of him. He placed his right hand over Liu Qingge’s sternum and his left index and middle finger to the centre of his forehead, crouching over his stomach to do so. The position was awkward as fuck, but it worked.

“If I kill you, it’s your fault,” he warned before slowly but firmly inserting qi into his meridians. The man was thrashing wildly in an attempt to throw him off, but in this instance, Shen Yuan was stronger.

But after a minute of this treatment, Liu Qingge began to still and after five, he was motionless and Shen Yuan could sense no more disrupted qi in his body. He rolled off him and moved to crouch behind his head, looking down over him at his face.

‘Far more feminine than I thought. Very pretty indeed. Not half so rough-and-tough as the book made out. Not tanned, no stubble, no scarring. Very elegant overall. Princely. The type who would watch Prancercise and frown. Like a shit-he-isn’t-breathing,’

“Oh bugger. I didn’t kill you, did I? I am dead meat if anyone finds out. Answer me, are you dead? ARE YOU DEAD,” Shen Yuan prodded at his head, and it lolled to the side. “Oh no he’s floppy,”

Shen Yuan was silent, watching the man’s lack of breathing intently.

“Okay, CPR time,” Shen Yuan announced, and moved back to the other side of him. He placed both hands fisted over his sternum and began compressions.

‘Thirty, then two, right?’ Shen Yuan panicked calmly, reminding himself to embrace the meme, ‘This is fine,’

But luckily, within the first three compressions, the man was hacking up a few last bits of blood and he was breathing once more. It was a little rattly and not exactly even, but it generally meant he was alive.

Without thinking any further, Shen Yuan performed his newly learned, and apparently more useful than he’d initially thought, blood cleaning spell on the man and himself before picking him up, mindful of his head. He gingerly uncurled his fingers from his sword and returned it to its sheath, which he then pocketed in his qiankun pouch for convenience.

He stepped onto his own Xiu Ya and quickly exited the cave-system, having left a trail of ribbons tied to stones to mark his way because he wasn’t that kind of an idiot.

[Congratulations! Scene ‘Liu Qingge’s death’ has been changed! +200 ]

Shen Yuan mentally closed the system alerts and focused on flying. He made it out of the caves in what must be record speed, judging by the sun the time to be around two-thirty. He immediately flew in the direction of Qian Cao Peak.

“You…” A weak voice startled him, which was stupid, because he was carrying a person.

“Yes. Me,” Shen Yuan glanced down at him, unimpressed.

“Shen… what are you… up to now?” Liu Qingge glared weakly up at him.

“Very obviously saving your arse. You went into qi deviation,”

“You… I don’t… where…?”

“We have established that it is me, yes, and yes, you don’t have common sense, I quite agree. What kind of idiot goes into a cave system alone with qi in such as state as yours was. And we’re approximately half a kilometre in the air flying to Qian Cao Peak to stop you dying,” Shen Yuan answered jovially. He had saved a person. With medical treatment. Like a doctor. His mother would be so proud.

“Bastard… why…?”

“Look, I know that, in the past, we haven’t exactly gotten along very well. At all. I was upset at you for letting your disciples run rampant through my forest. You were upset at me for being an unbearable asshole. I get it. But I really think we should start afresh,” Shen Yuan answered, words coming out rapid fire, “We could be good friends, you and I. Also, I thought having you on board with this week’s plans would be a good idea. My disciple want’s your sister to visit for her birthday,”

“Ying… yingyingying… ying…ningyingning?” Liu Qinghe mumbled.

“Yep, that’s the one,”

Liu Qingge was silent, blinking slowly and staring directly at him and Shen Yuan felt incredibly awkward not looking back.

But after a few minutes in the air, they arrived at Qian Cao.

There were a few disciples reading in what looked like a courtyard and an older man supervising. Once Shen Yuan had gotten a little closer, the man turned and looked up, passive expression turning confused then shocked then done then passive.

Shen Yuan landed expertly, sword sheathing itself as he hurried towards the man. The man dismissed the disciples and without a word gestured to a large building across the pavement.

‘Is that Mu Qingfang?’

[Congratulations! Character unlocked: Mu Qingfang!]

[Yes]

[Half a second, Host]

[Half a second]

Shen Yuan smiled, face settling to a neutral serenity as he strolled across foreign lands.

Apparently the building the Mu Qingfang was leading him to was a hospital. They bypassed a few rooms before he flung open a white curtain and pointed at the bed.

With more care than Liu Qingge thought was possible from the man – significantly more care – Shen Yuan set him down on the mattress, leaning him back gently.

Years of being stuck in hospital served useful for once as Shen Yuan automatically went through the routine of checking his temperature and pulse and breathing.

“You feeling any pain?” Shen Yuan asked, voice as careful and professional as he wasn’t.

Liu Qingge grunted an affirmative, “Wrist… chest… head…”

“Ah. Do you think you’re going to throw up?” he asked.

Liu Qingge made a vague ‘no’ sound.

“Well that’s rarely a bad sign,” Shen Yuan gave a humourless laugh and Mu Qingfang re-entered the room.

“Temperature of at least forty, pulse at one-twenty but decreasing, breathing uneven, fluid, most likely blood, in his lungs, pain in his head and chest from accumulation of qi and bruising and a possible fracture to his wrist. No signs of nausea, but a possible concussion. Speech is incoherent, but his thoughts are there. He went into qi deviation,” Shen Yuan rattled off quickly.

Mu Qingfang levelled him with a perfectly uncaring gaze as he re-took Liu Qingge’s pulse and temperature before running glowing palms through the air above his body.

‘Is he scanning him?’

Mu Qingfang paused for a second, before turning to Shen Yuan and blinking in mild astonishment.

“Shidi is correct on all counts,” he admitted, looking just a little impressed. He looked away to start grinding a few herbs with one hand, the other applying qi to Liu Qingge’s forehead.

Liu Qingge, on the other hand, was looking slightly offended and more than a little shocked.

“I didn’t know shidi had begun studying medicine,” Mu Qingfang commented, multitasking apparently an easy feat for him.

“Ahh, not to the extent of mastery, but enough for on the field,” Shen Yuan admitted.

“And you brought him out of his deviation?”

“Yes,” Shen Yuan answered honestly. It was important to be honest with doctors. Doctors stop you from dying, “Though I can’t say I did it properly. I have only read of the procedure in a book,”

“You did well,” Mu Qingfang allowed, “A little hard-handed, but effective. You saved his life,”

Shen Yuan let out a small smile.

Liu Qingge huffed.

“The pain in his head and chest can be attributed to the deviation and treatment, and the blood in his lungs was a result of the qi in his bloodstream coagulating and bursting a few vessels, though this has since been healed by your qi input and his healing. He should be fine if he takes the right medication and rests for a few days. His wrist?”

“I had to pin him down. He had a sword and appeared to be experiencing hallucinations,” Shen Yuan described.

Mu Qingfang’s eyes widened in alarm. He turned to Liu Qingge with a vicious gleam in his eyes, “You. You, shidi, are a very lucky man indeed. Your deviation must have put enough pressure on your brain that had Shen Qingqiu been even a few seconds later, you would have been dead,”

Liu Qingge froze, eyes slowly swivelling to look at Shen Yuan. Then closed and he took a deep, rattling breath that honestly made Shen Yuan feel a phantom cough building up.

“Thank you, Shixiong,” he said, nodding as much as he could.

“Think nothing of it,” Shen Yuan didn’t even notice the way he reflexively reached out to pat his hand, “Oh, right,”

He reached into his pouch and withdrew his sword.

“It was in the way,” he explained, resting the sword against the bed-head.

Mu Qingfang’s hand stopped glowing and he spooned the paste from the herbs into a papery wrapping, plopping it in his patient’s mouth.

“Let it sit a minute before swallowing. Don’t chew,” he instructed and Liu Qingge rolled his eyes but did as he was told.

Shen Yuan winced, catching a whiff of the painfully strong medicine.

“Now you. Were you injured?”

“No,”

Mu Qingfang waved a glowing palm at him before nodding.

“I’ll need to ask a few questions for the incident report,” he said.

“Ask away,” Shen Yuan shrugged. He had time.

“Alright,” Mu Qingfang pulled out several papers and a small, already inked brush.

‘That looks handy, I-want-one’

“Where were you both when Liu Qingge deviated?”

“The spirit caves between our peaks. I was there because I hadn’t visited in a while and thought it would be relaxing. I was in a cave nearly two hundred meters in when I heard coughing and blood splatter so I traced the sound to its source,”

“And then?”

“I found Liu Qingge coughing up coagulated blood and thrashing about like a dog. I snuck up behind him, knocked him over and pinned him down before forcing my own qi through his meridians. When he stopped moving, I stopped applying qi, only to discover he wasn’t breathing, so I began compressions to his chest. After a few, he coughed up more blood and began breathing irregularly, so I brought him here. He regained consciousness along the way,”

Mu Qingfang nodded, alarmed but following, before he frowned.

“And the blood?”

“Pardon?”

“You should both be covered in blood,”

“I cleaned us,” Shen Yuan explained, “I found a whole slew of cleaning spells in the great library and thought they seemed useful,”

“The great… You found the great library!?” Mu Qingfang put down his papers to stare unimpeded.

“Yes,” Shen Yuan nodded, “You’re the only one so far who’s recognised the name,”

“That’s because my fellow Peak Lords are uneducated,” Mu Qingfang answered, ignoring Liu Qingge’s offended squeak.

Shen Yuan cleared his throat, pointedly not laughing, “Yes, well. It was part of what inspired me to be a better teacher. Through monumental effort on part of my disciples and I, we managed to clean and restore both the Library and the Concert Hall, both of which are now in regular use. I didn’t make this a secret,”

“Rumours… magic… flute… dumb…” Liu Qingge managed.

“Ah, no, that wasn’t a rumour. My disciples began musical cultivation training a few months ago,” Shen Yuan tried not to sound too prideful.

Mu Qingfang looked scarily close to happy, “And both are open for public access?”

“Nobody outside the sect may enter, and disciples from other peaks cannot withdraw books, but as a Peak Lord, you are more that welcome to take advantage of the resource. The library was originally the source of all knowledge in Cang Qiong. I don’t see why we should restrict it to just those of Qing Jing,” Shen Yuan tried to radiate friendliness, “I was even considering offering to teach the Bai Zhan disciples how to read,”

Mu Qingfang finally laughed and Liu Qingge choked.

“Shidi,” Shen Yuan turned to send Liu Qingge a smile, “I may not have the greatest authority in saying this, but you need to teach your disciples. They were trying to find the training yard and had to ask my own disciples, who they were there to fight, what a sign said. Liu Shidi, the sign said ‘training yard’,”

Mu Qingfang was in quiet hysterics over this.

Liu Qingge was silent. He closed his eyes and decided to ignore them. He instead chose to dwell on the mortification of having been saved by the bastard.

[+30 B-points]

[Apparently making nice with the locals counts as cool]

‘Well that makes my life easier,’

[This system is aware]

‘This system is not happy, Jan?’

[…]

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan stayed on Qian Cao until quarter to four when he made his excuses to leave.

“I returned from Shuang Hu city earlier today,” he explained, unintentionally providing Liu Qingge with his alibi as the man had inevitably started feeling suspicious of his presence in the caves, “I’ve called a meeting with my disciples to receive a report and plan celebrations for three days time. Oh, right. Liu-Shidi, tomorrow I will be undertaking the perilous task of convincing Qi Qingqi to lend me her disciple, your sister, to surprise my own head disciple. I already have the Sect Leaders backing, but you are her brother,”

Liu Qingge glared.

“You are aware of the relationship between the girls, yes?”

“Mmm… love,” he croaked.

“They are, very much so. And so, when I visit Xian Shu tomorrow, can I speak honestly when I tell Qi Qingqi that you are supporting this?” Shen Yuan arched a brow.

Liu Qingge huffed and nodded.

“Good. See ya later then I guess,” Shen Yuan waved, “You too, Shixiong,”

He didn’t see Liu Qingge and Mu Qingfang watch him out the window with hawk eyes as he expertly leapt upon Xiu Ya and whizzed away.

‘Surfing. This might be like surfing. I always wanted to try surfing,’ Shen Yuan thought idly, ‘Can I swim?’

[Swimming is not listed under Host’s skills list]

‘I’ll learn,’

Shen Yuan sped up. He had a few minutes but it was better to be early than late. As soon as the courtyard was in sight, he dove. The incline was very steep, but that was half the fun of it. His balance was perfect as he curved the sword to the side to pull out of the dive, feet firmly planted even as his body tilted closer to horizontal than vertical. He continued on at a fast pace towards the music hall entrance, jumping off Xiu Ya and running a few steps before slowing to a walk, and with a flick of his fingers, sheathing his sword.

He combed back any errant locks of hair with his fingers as he entered the upper building, jogging down the stairs and looking immaculate by the time he arrived at the doors.

He pushed them open and walked in, only to slow in his tracks as twenty sets of eyes immediately locked on to him. From the lack of movement in the room, it appeared as if they had all been watching the door. He let the doors swing shut behind him.

‘Oh-shit-did-I-do-something-am-I-late-the-sun-says-it’s-only-four-daylight-savings-no-maybe?’

He steeled himself and walked slowly, confidently, shoulders back and strides even, to the stage where his desk sat neat and dust-free. Rather than sit properly, he decided to forego propriety. Placing two hands on the floor of the stage, he jumped and twisted and landed sitting, legs dangling off the edge. He wriggled back a bit until he was comfortable, then opened his fan and assumed bullshitting mode.

“Alright, out with it,” he allowed, but his disciples remained silent. “Am I late?”

“No, Shizun is perfectly on time,” Ning Yingying managed. “Shizun is… alright? That is, uninjured?”

“Yes…” Shen Yuan replied slowly, “This master hesitates to ask… but why?”

“We saw you through the courtyard,” Luo Binghe looked scarily pale, “You… Shizun looked like he was falling,”

“Shizun scared us half to death!” a disciple named Yu Shuang broke the silence, sounding accusatory.

Shen Yuan looked around incredulously.

“You mean to tell me you’ve been looking at me as if I’ve grown two heads because I was flying on my sword?” he frowned.

“No, not that!” Ning Yingying exclaimed, “Shizun was descending so quickly and at such a sharp angle. It isn't safe!”

“It was amazing,” Luo Binghe admitted, “But also terrifying! We thought you were about to die Shizun!”

Shen Yuan blinked, momentarily stunned. But it wore off quickly.

He sighed, “I was perfectly safe. This teacher has long since mastered the art of flying swords,”

'How sheltered are these children?'

He summoned Xiu Ya and hopped off the stage, landing upon it as quietly and gracefully as a cat. He began to rise a little above the stage, only a few meters. He hovered in the air, feet perpendicular to the blade, standing with his feet a little apart.

“It seems an impromptu lesson on spiritual blades is in order,” Shen Yuan folded his fan and crossed his arms, “Can any one tell me the most important thing to keep in mind when flying a sword? Lu Minfei?”

An older disciple with a spiritual blade at his side, one of the three disciples who had received one, answered promptly, “Balance,”

“Precisely,” Shen Yuan allowed the blade to curve upwards, adjusting his balance by degrees and stopping when he was parallel to the ground.

“However,” he continued over the audible gasps of his students, “One thing that cultivators far and wide tend to forget is that the laws of physics rarely apply to cultivation. As cultivators, we must be able to adapt to any situation, particularly in battle,”

He slowly began curving his sword higher and higher until he was standing upside-down, robes and hair falling up.

“It seems I will have to be teaching a new class on physics and flying,” Shen Yuan tried not to allow too much annoyance to bleed through in his voice, “We are cultivators. We all have access to spiritual energy. But so many of us tend to forget that qi is there for a reason – to be used. Once such application is the adjustment of balance,”

He decided not to tell them he hadn’t been using this technique earlier. He had a meeting to run, after all.

“Now. We will be moving on to the reason why I called this meeting,” Shen Yuan announced, flipping right-side up, landing and resuming his seat and sheathing his sword, “We have several topics for discussion. First, we will give a recount of our trip for a bit of second-hand education. Then, I have an… announcement, for the future of this peak. And finally…”

Shen Yuan opened his qiankun pouch and stacked twenty one out of twenty four decks of cards onto the table.

“I am going to teach you how to play cards,”

“But Shizun, isn’t that gambling?” A brave voice spoke up from the back.

“Yes. Yes it is,” Shen Yuan smiled innocently, “Which is a necessary life skill. However, not all card games are played to gamble, some are played for enjoyment—my personal favourite being Gin Rummy. Now, Luo Binghe, why don’t you come up here and help with the recount,”

“Yes Shizun,” Luo Binghe smiled, hesitance and nervousness banished after three day’s close contact with his Shizun. He happily sat himself down beside him and asked, “How would you like to tell it?”

“Hmm… Alright, we’ll start like this: To solve a crime, one must look to the evidence and what it tells you about the criminal, not just the crime itself. In this case, the crime was a series of six murders, followed by a seventh the morning we arrived. Binghe?”

“The first six victims were all young women between the ages eighteen and twenty five, all assaulted on the streets when they were alone, and most of them high-risk targets. All of the bodies were skinned and missing any valuables, however, there were two anomalies,” Luo Binghe explained, as well as a scripted protagonist, “The first was that a victim was missing her eyes as well as skin, and the second was a victim who was only partially skinned. The latter of these was identified by a large scar. By comparing the times between murders, Shizun was able to deduce that the killer was working on a schedule,”

“We, Binghe. We. But he is correct. However, the last victim was killed the day after the prior, the prior being the girl with the scar. This told us that there was something the killer didn’t like about the body, or that they had been spooked off. Running with the former idea, we were able to conclude that the scarring was what turned the killer away, indicating the killer either had some form of scarring themselves and thus didn’t want the skin of this victim, or, that the victim was imperfect in their eyes. However, the biggest clue wasn’t this, it was the girl who was missing her eyes. All the other victims eyes were left intact, and all were the same, common brown. The fact that this girls eyes were missing indicated that the killer, who we could assume had an obsession with beauty, saw her eyes as exceptional,” Shen Yuan continued

“From there, Shizun… we concluded that, seeing as the killer was working with a time-limit, there had to be a reason why they weren’t keeping the other victims eyes. That was when we figured out what the Killer was doing with the skins,” Luo Binghe added on, “The killer was wearing them, and while they couldn’t assimilate skin, they could eyes,”

“And so we realised it must be a puppet demon. When we arrived in the city, however, we discovered a young girl had been murdered a few blocks from where we were staying. When we met our proprietor…” Shen Yuan trailed off.

“And he told us the story, he mentioned that his concubine lived in the area and had been visiting there yesterday. The concubine was the same age as the victim and we worked on a hunch from there,” Luo Binghe wove the tale expertly, “We offered to walk her home to catch her out as a demon if she was one. Shizun faked a distraction and left, only to follow us closely from the air. A few streets away and she…”

“Bashed poor Binghe over the head and knocked him out cold!” Shen Yuan pet his disciples hair reassuringly as a few disciples giggled, “I continued following from the air as the demon took Binghe to an abandoned house. When he awoke, he got a confession out of the demon and I flew through the window to slay them,”

“Shizun was so cool!” Luo Binghe couldn’t help but elaborate on that, “He flew straight through the window, glass flying and catching the moonlight, and he landed his sword straight through the demon’s head!”

Shen Yuan opened his fan to hide his face.

“Yes, well. The next morning, we purified the land. I had Binghe send word and advice to all the nearby brothels and work houses that the demon was dealt with but to implement certain safety protocols anyhow to prevent similar events in the future. And then we returned,”

His disciples were quiet until one of them started clapping. The others caught on quickly and carried the applause around the room.

Shen Yuan held up a hand and they fell silent.

‘Yep. Feels good to be revered,’

“Now, any questions can be taken by Luo Binghe tomorrow on your own time,” Shen Yuan spoke sternly and several disciples groaned. “Oh don’t sound so disappointed. Aren’t you excited for the big announcement?”

Luo Binghe jumped off the stage and bowed, returning to his seat.

“Of course we are Shizun,” Ning Yingying placated gently. Shen Yuan felt a bit miffed but continued on anyhow.

“We, are hopefully going to take in an exchange student or two next year,” Shen Yuan announced. There were several whispers which he silenced with a look. “Now, while there have been several instances of disciples of other peaks learning in different peaks, and even a small number of disciples from others sects visiting to learn for a year, this will be a bit different. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but hopefully will be by the end of next week, but our peak may be accepting a student around your age from the demon realm for a year of study, and potentially sending a disciple to the demon realm the following year,”

He hid his smile as he waited for the silence to break.

Finally, Ma Dong, never one to silence himself properly, spoke the words on everyone’s minds, “Pardon me Shizun, but what the fuck?”

“Yes. What the fuck indeed?” Shen Yuan felt satisfied at the wave of shock that hit his disciples once more, “I have several reasons for my decision on this. One is that it would be an excellent cultural experience for all of us, speaking and interacting on friendly terms with a demon who has grown up in the demon realm. Another is that it will provide excellent grounds for the eventual establishment of a peace treaty between the realms,”

He let his words hang for a moment before he finished damningly, “And the other is because there is already a demon living on this peak, and I think it is unfair to them to enforce lessons on the slaughter and maltreatment of their kind without giving the other side of the story. I know many of you would try to kill a demon if you saw one, and while this is understandable if you are threatened, you must understand that not all demons want to kill people. Now, I won’t ask them to reveal themselves, but I would like to ask all of you, would you treat each other differently if you found out one among you had demonic heritage?”

The disciples began to whisper amongst themselves.

“And I meant that individually, we’re going around the room,” Shen Yuan said bluntly and there were a few groans from certain disciples, “When I point at you, I want you to think of what you would say if you found out your closest friend was secretly a demon, and keep in mind that these are your martial brothers and sisters we’re talking about, starting with you,”

Shen Yuan pointed and the disciple stood to answer.

“I’d say ‘Please don’t eat me!’ Shizun,” he bowed.

“And if they said they wouldn’t? For all of you, if this demon had no intention or desire to eat humans?” Shen Yuan coaxed.

“Then I wouldn’t care. I’d ask a few questions, like ‘Why did you join the sect then?’ and ‘What type of demon?’, but apart from that, nothing,” the disciple answered.

“Good,” Shen Yuan tossed him a pack of cards, “Don’t open this yet,”

“Yes Shizun,” he bowed and sat.

“Moving along, you,”

Ma Dong stood, “I’d ask if they were related to a succubus,”

“Sit down,” Shen Yuan hurled the cards at his head. He didn’t catch them, and the other disciples laughed, relaxing somewhat.

“You,”

“I don’t care,” Ning Yingying stated proudly. Shen Yuan nodded and threw the cards. She caught them and sat.

He continued along the class until he got to him.

“You. What would you do, if your best friend was a demon?”

“I’d… I’d…” Luo Binghe was shaking like a leaf. Every single disciple had answered positively, all of them honestly more than willing to give befriending a demon a try. He knew that over the past few months, all the disciples had grown closer. Group activities and proper education had seen it necessary, and the introduction of fun to the peak at the hands of their Shizun had seen it enjoyable. But still, Luo Binghe was scared. He couldn’t tell if anyone was lying or speaking in the hypothetical. He wanted to trust them. They were his friends and they had started to become family. And so he steeled himself, and very much against his better judgement, squared his shoulders and replied, “I am the demon, Shizun,”

He bowed and looked his Shizun in the eye with false bravery, heart beating so quickly he was sure it echoed throughout the hall.

“I know, Binghe,” Shen Yuan nodded, smile soft and caring and everything was fine in the world once more.

Against his will, Luo Binghe’s eyes filled with tears and he raced over to his teacher.

“Shizun!” he cried, crashing into him and being folded into a warm embrace.

“Hey, it’s alright,” Shen Yuan stroked his hair. “Look. Your martial brothers and sister are a bit shocked, yes. But they’re still smiling at you. Just take a peek, okay?”

Luo Binghe slowly looked over at the other disciples, shaking badly and clinging to his Shizun. But his Shizun was right. They were all smiling at him, warm and accepting and welcoming.

Luo Binghe took a deep breath and wiped his eyes, staring back at them all.

“I am a demon,” he said again, “H-hello,”

All at once the disciples rushed forward to embrace him, catching Shen Yuan in the crushing weight of them all as well. Half of them were just enamoured by his adorable face and the others were filled with questions and excitement and none of them were even a bit afraid.

‘I did a good job, didn’t I?’ Shen Yuan smiled, feeling a bit teary himself.

[…]

[Yes. Host did well]

[+60 B-points]

Shen Yuan couldn’t help but laugh, open and bright and without the shield of his fan.

“I’m so proud of all of you!” he cried joyously, and all his disciples paused a minute to watch.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan will never again speak of his meeting with Qi Qingqi. Even Shen Jiu wasn’t quite ready to tease him over it.

But he got her permission, and that was what mattered.

And so the days passed quickly until it was at last Friday.

The day’s lessons seemed to drag on, the excitement for rec night finally slowing time across the peak – in a metaphorical sense. At four, the lessons ended and the disciples immediately made for their dorms. They would spend the next hour meditating or sleeping and then spend the following hour getting prepared. Some disciples had taken to washing and dressing nicely, while others had taken to pyjamas only. Shen Yuan himself even dressed relatively casually most nights.

The night would start at eight, and so at seven, Shen Yuan made his way to the disciple’s sleeping quarters. He knocked quietly on what he correctly guessed was Ning Yingying’s door.

“Just a minute!” her voice called from inside. Eventually she made it to the door and opened it a crack, only to find her teacher smiling gently down at her. She squeaked loudly and opened the door fully, “Shizun! What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come as your chauffeur,” he answered.

“Chauffeur? For what?” Ning Yingying frowned.

“Well, as you hit the age of maturity this past Wednesday, I thought I might arrange a surprise. It isn’t every day my head disciple turns eighteen you know,” Shen Yuan held out an arm, “Now come along, if you’re ready, we have to pick up one last guest before returning to the concert hall,”

Ning Yingying hesitated. She darted back into the room and came back smelling like a lotus.

“Alright, where are we going?” she asked, following him as he led her down the path to the peak gates.

“You’ll figure it out along the way,” Shen Yuan smiled.

The carriage was waiting for them when they arrived and Shen Yuan opened the door for her, gesturing for her to enter. She climbed up the short stairs and entered, only to turn around when Shen Yuan tried closing the door.

“Wait, aren’t you coming?” she asked.

“I am. I’ll just be riding up front,” he’d already supplied the blood for the journey, “It is a fairly short trip, so please remain seated at all times,”

He closed the door and moved to sit in the driver’s seat.

“Riding first class today, eh?” Pei Lin asked.

“What can I say? It will be an experience,”

“You’re not wrong,” she grinned and immediately the spirit beasts began to gallop forwards and soon they were in the air.

Shen Yuan could hear screeching coming from inside which soon abated to laughter.

“This is a pretty nice way to fly, actually,” Shen Yuan remarked, the second trip far easier to handle than the first.

“It is,” Pei Lin agreed, “So what exactly is the point of making such a short trip in a vehicle such as this?”

“Our current passenger will be receiving her sword next week and is currently unable to fly by herself,” Shen Yuan explained, “That, and it was her birthday recently and we’re picking up her girlfriend as a surprise,”

“Ah, gotcha,” Pei Lin tapped her nose and winked.

The journey was relatively peaceful and they made it across the sect in less than a quarter of an hour. They set down just past the gates of Xian Shu peak where Qi Qingqi and Liu Mingyan were waiting for them. Liu Mingyan, even with her face covered, looked beautiful, though Qi Qingqi didn’t pale in comparison.

Shen Yuan hopped off the driver’s seat and opened the door to the carriage. Ning Yingying stood frozen in the doorway, staring at Liu Mingyan for a solid minute until a smile worked itself across her face. She broke into a beam and launched herself off the carriage and was across the courtyard in seconds.

“MINGYAN!” she squealed, throwing herself into the other girl’s arms. She was embraced tightly and swung around and Shen Yuan swore he saw Qi Qingqi crack a smile.

“A-Ying!” Liu Mingyan’s face was hidden, but her smile was obvious as she pulled away from her girlfriend, “Let me look at you! It’s been months! Oh I’ve missed you so much!”

“That’s enough, you’ll have plenty of time after this. Mingyan, I expect you to behave with decorum and grace for this visit and stay safe. Qingqiu!” Qi Qingqi spoke sharply.

“Yes!” Shen Yuan stood straighter.

“I am only allowing this because you have convinced me my disciple will be safe. You had better not let me down. I expect her back by morning,” she snapped.

“Of course, Shijie,” Shen Yuan bowed respectfully, then smiled to the other two girls, “Ready to go?”

“Yes!” Ning Yingying shrieked, dragging a more than willing Liu Mingyan after her. Shen Yuan held the door open as they both stepped inside and heard Ning Yingying tell her to remain seated.

He returned to his position as driver and the carriage moved into action once more.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Ning Yingying squealed, hugging Liu Mingyan close as they sat together in the carriage. “How did Shizun convince your teacher?”

“Apparently, Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu saved my brother’s life this past Tuesday and got his permission!” Liu Mingyan replied, laughing a little. “He was here for hours on Wednesday pitching his case,”

Ning Yingying fell quiet and when Liu Mingyan looked over she saw her girlfriend had tears in her eyes.

“Ah! No! Did I… did I say something? What’s wrong, are you sad?” Liu Mingyan began to fuss but Ning Yingying turned to her and smiled so happily she couldn’t help but quieten.

“Mingyan. Shizun did all that… for me?” she cried, “I’m… I’m so happy!”

Liu Mingyan stared. Ning Yingying looked so beautiful. The early moonlight streamed through the windows and made her glow, her casual robes became an ethereal gossamer on her. But her smile was so pure and lovely that Liu Mingyan decided it was time.

“A-Ying,” she whispered and lifted her veil. She leaned forward and gently, oh so gently, pressed her lips against hers.

When she drew back, Ning Yingying was staring, but Liu Mingyan didn’t feel afraid. Sure enough, Ning Yingying burst into a smile so blinding it was a relief when she leaned over and kissed her back.

“You really are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” Ning Yingying said softly, gently tracing the scar that mangled her nose and cheek.

“I… I love you, A-Ying,”

“I love you too Yan-er,”

At once they came together in a warm and charged kiss, still relatively innocent, but meaning so much.

“You did say girls with scars are sexy,” Liu Mingyan giggled when they parted.

“Super sexy,” Ning Yingying was bubbling over with happiness, “And you have a sword now?”

“Yep. Got it a few months back. I’ve named her Shui Se,” Liu Mingyan declared, “When I get better at flying, I’ll be able to come and visit all the time!”

“That will be wonderful,” Ning Yingying snuggled into her girlfriend’s side.

And then they heard a cough and Ning Yingying bolted upright in alarm. She glanced out the window and realised they had landed. The door opened for them, and she sheepishly stuck her head out.

“Sorry, Shizun,” she smiled.

“You’re fine. You have twenty minutes before the night starts. Show her around a bit,” Shen Yuan smiled back, before returning to the driver’s seat.

As soon as both girls exited the carriage, the spirit beasts trotted off towards the coach house.

“Man, you were right A-Ying!” Liu Mingyan began to laugh, “He’s nothing like the old rumours,”

“The old… ah. It’s true, five months ago he would never do anything like this. He wasn’t as bad as some people made him out to be, but now? He’s… the best teacher in the world,” Ning Yingying admitted, then grinned, “Wanna see the library real quick? It’s just through the forest,”

“Sounds great,” Liu Mingyan agreed, utterly enamoured, and followed her through the thick bamboo.

Shen Yuan smiled to himself when he felt two qi signatures, one familiar and the other not so, entering the library, just as he finished unharnessing the spirit beasts.

“Cute couple, those two,” Pei Lin remarked.

“Very cute,” Shen Yuan agreed.

“I’m glad to see such acceptance on this peak. The past century hasn’t been good for it at all,” Pei Lin sighed.

Shen Yuan frowned, “I hesitate to ask,”

“Don’t. It isn’t important anymore. You and your predecessor were the change we needed. There were about twelve of us ghosts listening in when that girl came to the other you years ago. Even with his… questionable teaching method, we at least knew the peak would not be subjected to decades more discrimination,” Pei Lin stretched her arms above her head, “Well, I’m off. The ghosts are hosting our own rec night in the library,”

“Have fun,”

“We will. I’ll pass the word to other you about your disciples,”

“Thanks,”

Pei Lin sank through the ground, and Shen Yuan left for the Concert hall.

When he arrived, the room was lit with countless candles that somehow didn’t pollute the moonlight streaming through the one-way stone. The stage was cleared of his table and the white screen was taken down. Ma Dong was organising various disciples, who were running up and down with instruments and props while Luo Binghe was chatting with a few disciples in the corner.

“Shizun!” a disciple, Mu Fan, hopped over to him.

“Yes?”

“Like you said, we invited a few friends from other peaks. I thought you might like to know just who and how many,” he offered.

“Ah, yes. That would be appreciated,” Shen Yuan felt a stab of fear for his sanity.

“We have two girls and one boy from Bai Zhan who grew up with Ma Dong, one girl from An Ding who always delivers our mail who we’ve all befriended, and my cousin who’s come from Qian Cao. They’ve already arrived,” Mu Fan smiled.

‘That’s a surprising amount of women for this book. Maybe Ning Yingying and Liu Mingfan will make more friends, it must be uncomfortable being the only girls here otherwise…’

“Very good. You’ve reminded me my own friend may be coming to visit a while. I think I shall see if he’s arrived,” Shen Yuan had forgotten about Yue Qingyuan, but he clearly hadn’t arrived yet, and he left before the disciple could question his social life.

When he made it back up the stairs, he only had to wait in the upper room a few minutes before he saw Yue Qingyuan walking across the courtyard towards him.

He walked out of the building, a bounce in his step, excited as hell to show off his peak to his… friend? Friend.

“I’m glad you could make it!” Shen Yuan greeted serenely, not letting the excitement show.

“Ah, well, shidi did invite me,” Yue Qingyuan looked away.

“And I’m just here to drop him off. He walked the whole way because apparently he fucked up his sword, so do me a favour and drop him off home later on. I’m off to the library,” Shen Jiu announced, before floating away.

“Follow me then,” Shen Yuan nodded lightly, and turned back into the upper concert hall. He revelled in the alarm radiating off his companion as he took in the sight of the massive stairwell leading down, and the concern as Shen Yuan didn’t hesitate in walking down.

They made it to the doors and Shen Yuan felt the presence behind him tense and brace itself as he pushed them wide open and all at once, Yue Qingyuan stopped breathing. Shen Yuan glanced over his shoulder to see that, yes, Yue Qingyuan was indeed still conscious and alive, but the shock in his expression was so obvious that Shen Jiu couldn’t help but pop through the walls.

“Sorry, I lied. I just had to see his face. He’s so cute,” Shen Jiu explained, before disappearing once more, though Shen Yuan was sure he heard a muttered ‘kissable’ as he did.

“Welcome to the Concert Hall,” Shen Yuan said, before gently nudging the sect leader in the direction of the back row of seats, out of the way and where, hopefully, no one would be put off by his presence.

Luckily, if he had drawn any attention, it was drawn away from him when Ning Yingying burst through the doors dragging Liu Mingyan, whose very aura radiated wonder as she was led closer to the front.

“I’m needed up the front running things,” Shen Yuan hoped his words registered with Yue Qingyuan, and luckily he nodded, “I’ll be back eventually. If you need anything, ask a disciple,”

He nodded again and Shen Yuan scurried up the front and slipped behind the stage.

Eventually, everyone had arrived, slightly behind schedule, but it was expected, and Ma Dong cleared off the stage. Shen Yuan walked forwards and took his place in the centre as his disciples and guests continued their buzzing chatter. He gazed out at them and snapped his fingers and all at once, every candle was snuffed except those lighting the stage.

Everyone fell silent.

“Alright, good evening disciples. It is excellent to see so many of you coming from other peaks – I am glad to see you all getting along so well,” Shen Yuan began, “Now, for tonight, we have an amazing line-up of acts and entertainment. To kick things off, we have a mock battle between Lu Gulin and Mei Long, fought with feather dusters,”

The audience laughed a little.

“Followed by a musical performance featuring a quartet of Gu Dong, Yao Chenglei, Bao Zhai, and Wei Yanfen, and then a comedy written by our very own Ma Dong. After this we will have music and snacks, as prepared by the talented chef Binghe,” another laugh, “And time for conversation and games. I hope you all enjoy the evening. I am, however, obliged to tell you all that for the following performance, all stunts have been rehearsed and any… injuries, are fabricated. Have a lovely night,”

He retreated to the back of the stage and walked around to sit at the side to watch the performance. As soon as Lu Gulin and Mei Long stepped on the stage, he couldn’t fight the smile.

The walked on casually and confidently then stood opposite each other.

“You, Lu Gulin. I challenge the to a duel to the death,” Mei Long announced, raising a long, yellow, feathery stick.

“Mei Long, how arrogant. I accept, but do not blame me if you die,” Lu Gulin raised a green feathery stick.

“It is you who should quell his pride. There is no shame in surrender, but I won’t be letting you go free,” Mei Long retorted.

“Bite me bitch,” Lu Gulin cried, dramatically positioning his sword and earning a wave of laughter from the audience.

“Dude, gross,” Mei Long relaxed his stance.

“Sorry, it just came out,” Lu Gulin admitted, and the audience was loving it.

“Can we just…?”

“Yeah. Sorry,”

“It’s fine, I guess,”

There was a pause as they both just looked at each other, and a second where their expression read ‘oh right’, before they let out war cries and lunged at each other.

They were laughing to the point of tears as they aggressively ticked one another, feather dusters shaking madly, until Lu Gulin’s arm fell off.

They stopped and looked at it on the floor.

It was the arm holding the feather duster.

“Not again,” Lu Gulin muttered audibly, “Two secs,”

“All good,”

He retrieved his ‘weapon’ and they went at each other again, pulling out ridiculous, flashy moves and making ridiculous sound effects as the audience gasped for breath, until finally, Mei Long’s leg fell off, and he was left hopping.

After a few hops, he purposely infused his voice with exhaustion.

“Sorry. Man,” his speech was breathless, “Would you give me a minute?”

“Yeah, sure man. Wanna continue this tomorrow?”

“That’d be cool man. Hey, I heard the vendor down the street serves really good pork,”

“Nice, let’s check it out,”

The two walked off stage, distracted and the audience lost it. Shen Yuan was laughing, though not as hysterically as the crowd, A) having seen it before for approval and B) because the etiquette surrounding duelling was still completely foreign to him.

And just as the audience quietened, Mei Long hopped back on stage and picked up his leg.

“Oi, you forgot your arm!” he called off stage, “I’ll grab it,”

“Thanks man!” Lu Gunlin shouted back, and Mei Long hopped off the stage carrying both fake limbs.

When the audience calmed down, the next act came on stage. The four played wonderfully, and Shen Yuan was incredibly impressed with the effort they’d clearly put into it, particularly with Wei Yanfen, his oldest disciple, who had managed to learn a spiritual attack using egg shakers, having no talent with any other instrument.

The final performance, a comedy written by his very own disciple, was blatant plagiarism of ‘A Comedy of Errors’, though it was thankfully truncated to fit a half hour time period, but it had the audience in tears of laughter, so Shen Yuan decided to ignore how a fictional character could reference literature which, by right, could not technically be conceivably written for a solid three thousand years. So whatever.

Point was, the play was a rousing success, and Shen Yuan had fun. He particularly enjoyed how Ma Dong had managed to rope several of the other disciples into playing the role of the wives. He had always admired the way some children could throw pride and shame to the wind and just let loose and enjoy themselves. It reminded him, in a way, of the first time he wrote a scathing review for an appalling novel. It took courage to insult someone online. He had analysed his entire soliloquy for flaws, misspellings, and possible counter arguments, then prepared arguments to counter those. He gathered evidence to back everything up and wasn’t quite as scathing as he could have been.

It was a bit of a dick move on part of the author to redeem the scum villain post mortem with a surprise love interest.

‘You know, now I think about it, my situation is pretty damn similar to Luo Jianqing. I mean, the poor guy earnestly loved his master no-what-the-fuck-stop-I-should-not-be-thinking-about-this-absolutely-not-I-refuse,’

[…Host? Is Host alright?]

‘Yep. Fine,’ even thinking, he sounded strangled, ‘Remind me not to think of the burning trashfire that was that novel,’

[Host?]

‘No-fucking-clue-what-it’s-called-Seeking-Immortality-that's-right. Scum villain gets offed by protag with his master’s sword. That was cold man,’ Shen Yuan sighed, ‘And, like, it was good writing until it was revealed that the master hadn’t ordered his death or anything because after that, the protag just killed him like thanks-for-teaching-me-everything-I-know-saving-my-life-giving-me-all-sorts-of-useful-shit-and-stuff-but-ew-gay-I-can’t-stand-this-as-a-stallion-protagonist-I-am-obliged-to-shoot-you-down and then the plot was derailed,’

The system fell silent for a moment, before a notification popped up.

[‘The Villain has Something to Say’ added to personal library]

[You’re welcome]

‘Personal library?’

[Yes. Information from Host’s past life could not be directly carried over, so a download of Host’s memories were made to bring to the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way. These are accessible in the forms of Host’s personal library and sTunes]

‘…was that a typo?’

[SystemTunes]

‘So, what you’re saying, is if I can remember it, I can access it?’

[No. Information was taken based off Host’s intake of information]

[Everything host has heard or seen]

‘You’re joking,’

[Nope!]

‘I should have fucking asked. I’ve read transmigration novels. I know exactly what a system does. I should have fucking known. Typical. I hate you,’

[OAO]

[Fine]

[Small scenario pusher activated]

‘Oh you bitch,’

“Shizun!”

‘Fuck you,’

“Yes Ning Yingying?” Shen Yuan turned to his head disciple and made damn sure his smile wasn’t strained.

“Um, Shizun, I was wondering if you would be playing anything tonight? You know the others love it when you play and you’re songs are always such fun!” she pulled out her ‘begging white lotus’ eyes and pleaded.

“Shen Shishu, please? A-Ying mentioned in her letters that you play very well, and the ladies on Xian Shu… well, not many have the proclivity for music or musical cultivation,” Liu Mingyan joined her, face obscured but still somehow cute.

‘Hahaha, I am immune to the white lotus halo effects! You won’t convince me-oh-fuck-no,’

“Shizun is going to play?” Luo Binghe popped his head up and activated his cutest expression.

‘Resist-resist-resist-your-feelings-are-no-ones-but-your-own-oh fuck he’s-crying-fuck,’

“I… suppose I shall,” Shen Yuan hung his head lowly in defeat and trudged elegantly onto the stage. Luo Binghe gave Ning Yingying a high-five behind his back.

No one had seemed to notice his presence, having moved on to happy chatter while a few began bringing out snacks. There was usually a line-up of volunteers to play a song or two as background music for the rest of the night, so he wasn't completely out of place.

He sat quietly closer to the back. The acoustics were fine, but he didn’t want the audience’s eyes on him directly. He hadn’t played for strangers in years and wasn’t really keen on change, but he supposed he would if he had to. He summoned his guqin and sighed softly, careful not to let it carry, before he plucked the first few notes of the song, mentally issuing whoever ended up editing the new and improved Proud Immortal Demon Way before republishing luck and a challenge.

[Host, what are you doing?]

‘Playing a song, and thinking the noise,’

[Host what?]

‘Dodo DO do, do do do dododo dodo DO do, do do do dododo dodo DO do, do do do dododo dodo DO do, do do do dododo,’

[Host please]

[Host stop]

[This system is sorry]

[Host please]

‘DO DODODO DO DO DO, DO DODO DO do do DO DODODO,’

[Host]

[QnQ]

[p.q]

[…]

Shen Yuan smiled widely with a decided note of malevolence.

‘Fuck you,’

[Duly noted Host]

[*sniff*]

‘yingyingying’

[ying ying ying]

[How?]

‘I could feel it coming. You were going to try and act cute and do that weirdass crying thing that only girls who read shit like Living as the Tyrant Emporer’s Wife think is cute,’

[Host is cruel]

[Fair]

[But cruel]

And the song was done and Shen Yuan had distracted himself through all of it, managing to play perfectly by muscle memory and not overthink himself into missing notes.

‘Good job System,’

[Host…]

Shen Yuan walked off stage and was soon replaced by another few disciples and lively music started going steady in the background. As he brushed by a gushing Ning Yingying and a (somehow?) visibly impressed Liu Mingyan, his head disciple called out praise. He turned and smiled gratefully and continued towards the exit, fluffing the hair of a bouncing and exuberant Luo Binghe as he did.

Just as he was nearing the exit, he felt a tugging on his robes. He glanced down to see an unfamiliar looking girl with short brown hair and freckles looking up at him.

“Excuse me, Shen Shishu,”

“You are a guest tonight, correct? Is something the matter?” he asked.

“Um, my name is Ling Su, and I’m from An Ding. That song you just played, was it Megalovania?”

Chapter Text

‘Fuckfuckfuckanother transmigrator? That would actually be pretty cool…” Shen Yuan carefully didn’t let any emotion show on his face.

“Yes, it was. How do you know it?”

“My Shifu, Lord Shang Qinghua, often hums it while he works. I asked him what it was one day and he told me it was a song from his old home town. I was wondering if Shen shishu was from the same place as my Shifu?” the girl smiled in a manner that would easily have triggered a death flag in another life.

‘Ah yes, the brave young messenger who’s beauty lay in her courage as she braved the fires of Qing Jing to carry a notice of war to Luo Binghe,’

[You actually remember this one?]

‘She was quite literally the only female character who wasn’t either outrageously attractive or a green tea bitch,’

[A valid point]

“It is indeed possible. I would have to speak with him to know. Does he use any other strange colloquialisms from his home town?” Shen Yuan went for friendly, “I might recognise some,”

“Hmm, well, there are a few odd phrases like ‘why system, why?’ that he tends to say quite often when frustrated. Once when I saw him walking past the training grounds where the seniors were learning to use their spiritual weapons I heard him say ‘Why am I a bear-crane if I’m so bad at flying,’. I thought it was some kind of bird native to where he grew up and when I laughed he told me it was,” she answered dutifully, admirably remembering far too much to be reasonable and spilling potentially classified information to an unknown party just like the helpful side-character she was.

“I think you might be on to something. I know it’s you’re here to have fun, but I don’t suppose when you return to your peak you could take a letter for your teacher, could you? I’ll be returning to my office to write it now,” Shen Yuan asked.

“Of course! It would be my honour and duty as the chief messenger of An Ding!” she seemed to remember something and giggled, “Is it true you have a cucumber deity that you worshipped in your home town?”

“A cucumber deity?”

“Yes. Shifu is always saying things like ‘The cucumber was right,’, and I’ve heard him call the cucumber ‘peerless’, so I thought it was some sort of prophet or god,” she laughed.

“Ah, yes. Something along those lines. I will go write that letter now,” Shen Yuan nodded to her, “Excuse me,”

“Oh! Right, of course Shen Shishu!” she bowed and ran off, joining a gaggle of boys in a game of what looked like Donkey.

“Shidi!”

‘Not another one,’

“Ah, how did you enjoy the show?” Shen Yuan asked, walking once more towards the exit and hoping that Yue Qingyuan would at least follow on.

“It was very entertaining!” he said cheerfully, “Your disciples are both talented and good humoured, and your playing at the end was spectacular,”

“Ah, my disciples convinced me is all,”

“I see,” Yue Qingyuan was quiet until they reached the stairs, “Are you leaving?”

“Yes. I must pen a letter,” Shen Yuan replied.

“Ah. Well, I was going to leave soon, so shall I walk you to your office?” he offered.

“Ah, if you’re ready to go, I can fetch the carriage or a horse. I don’t want you walking back by yourself,” Shen Yuan said sternly.

“You know I can take care of myself,”

“Yes. But while it may be summer, it is still cold. It is best to either wrap up or be quick when outdoors,” Shen Yuan advised. Even though his body was healthy, he was not going to take any risks. He knew the consequences far too well.

They had neared the top of the stairs and sure enough, there was a light and cold breeze blowing through the pavilion.

“Really, I am more than content to walk. Shidi invited me here and I wouldn’t want to impose upon him,” Yue Qingyuan gestured to the sword sheathed at his side, “Besides, I can always—”

“Zip. Shh. Nope. Horse or carriage. You choose,” Shen Yuan snapped.

“I… horse, I suppose,” Yue Qingyuan finally acceded.

“Very good,” Shen Yuan finally smiled at him once more. Together they walked to the stables, quiet and neither feeling completely at ease, but not uncomfortable.

“Shidi?” Yue Qingyuan asked as they grew closer to their intended destination.

“Yes?”

“I heard from Mu Qingfang that the other day you stopped Liu-shidi from qi deviation,” he said, “Is this true?”

“Yes. I encountered him in the caves and performed the necessary treatment,” Shen Yuan nodded.

“I am… glad to see you finally reaching out again. I’d always thought you two could get along if you tried,” Yue Qingyuan looked a bit sadder than was completely necessary at this confession, and Shen Yuan took note of it as a favour to the original. “I also heard you visited Xian Shu peak recently and spoke with Shijie,”

“That I did,” Shen Yuan shuddered, “We shall not speak of that any further,”

This time Yue Qingyuan laughed, bright and happy, “Duly noted!”

“And here we are at the stables,” Shen Yuan announced, pointedly ignoring the excessive enthusiasm radiating from behind him, “I trust you know how to fly a horse?”

“Of course I can—fly?”

“The same ones that drive the carriage,”

“Fly?”

“And I believe this one’s name is Yanyan,” Shen Yuan smiled as a spirit beast strolled leisurely from the warmth of the stables, huffing in pleasure as Shen Yuan immediately began patting the straw from its mane.

“Excuse me, fly!?”

“You are Yanyan, aren’t you. Yes, what a beautiful spirit beast you are,” Shen Yuan crooned just as Pei Lin had told him, “I don’t suppose you would be willing to fly my friend here back to his peak? He lives on Qiong Ding,”

The spirit beast trotted over to Yue Qingyuan and inspected him, before turning back to Shen Yuan and huffing.

“She said yes,” Shen Yuan smiled.

“Shidi, please, fly?”

“She flies, yes,”

“Why does she fly?”

“Because she’s a flying spirit beast?”

“Shidi,”

“Stop making a fuss and get on the spirit beast,”

Let it be known, that Yue Qingyuan did not, I repeat, did not in fact scream all the way back to his peak.

Only partway.

But Shen Yuan couldn’t watch for long because he had a letter to pen and a recreational night to oversee, as well as snacks to eat and games to play and he didn’t intend on missing out on too much.

So he wrote his letter.

‘To Shang Qinghua, Peak Lord of An Ding,

We have several things that must be discussed and it is best these things be spoken of in private. Hence, I cordially invite you to my Qing Jing peak the Sunday after next at midday.

Shen Qingqiu, Peak Lord of Qing Jing peak’

Concise and to the point. Shen Yuan was not going to give anything away just yet.

Once the letter was written, he returned to the concert hall with it in hand. The night was in full swing with disciples dancing around each other, singing along to the music and gorging themselves on the finger-food.

One of these things was unacceptable.

And much to his dismay, in the brief twenty minute interlude of his absence, all of his favourite sticky-rice cakes were gone. He couldn’t help the wistful look he gave the gap in the plates and sighed, resigning himself to black sesame rice cakes instead, when he felt small hands tug at his robes.

Shen Yuan looked down and around to see a pink and pure and sweet and adorable looking Luo Binghe holding a plate behind his back.

“What is it Binghe,” he asked, mood healed by his cute disciple.

“Um, well… I…” Luo Binghe stumbled over his words before giving up and presenting a platter full of sticky-rice cakes – more than enough to satisfy Shen Yuan.

“Oh… Binghe, are these… for me?” Shen Yuan couldn’t pull up his fan in time to hide the pink dusting his cheeks and hoped the warm candle light would disguise it.

It didn’t, but he still hoped.

Encouraged, Luo Binghe nodded, “Yes! I saw Shizun leave and I didn’t know if he would return so I got a plate because I know these are Shizun’s favourite and I was going to bring them to your room if you weren’t returning and I didn’t want you to miss out!”

“Oh Binghe,” Shen Yuan smiled helplessly, taking the plate in one hand and stroking his disciple’s hair gently with the other.

They drew closer together and the gesture morphed into a hug – one armed on Shen Yuan’s side – both parties with warm smiles and love buzzing in their bones.

“You’re so sweet, Binghe,” Shen Yuan muttered, “How about you play a game with me?”

“Gin Rummy?”

Shen Yuan sighed. His disciple was deceptively sneaky. He was more than aware that Luo Binghe had suggested the game for no other reason than that it was his favourite. But did Shen Yuan care? Not particularly.

‘It’s wholesome. This is wholesome content,’

“Ahh… Sneaky disciple. I couldn’t even think to refuse when you ask me with that cute face of yours,” Shen Yuan poked his cheek then took him by the hand, leading him to one of the empty tables.

Binghe had to struggle with himself for a minute. He couldn’t deal with this. This was an overload of Shizun. He could not feasibly endure any more of this. It was simply too much. His Shizun was going to kill him.

A death he would welcome, but Shizun would be greatly inconvenienced by the sudden loss of his cards-partner. Not that there weren’t plenty more disciples more than willing to play. But Luo Binghe was the best. He had to be. Otherwise Shizun would have no one to play with, or worse, play with someone else.

‘No. Stop. Bad Binghe,’ Luo Binghe admonished himself, ‘No monopolising Shizun. That’s mean. Bad. Wrong-wrong-wrong-wrong-I-want-Shizun-for-myself-his-mile-so-pretty SHARING IS CARING LUO BINGHE Shizun-ISN’T-YOURS-BINGHE PLAY NICE BINGHE BUT HE’S SO CUTE THOUGH AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH I CANT-DEAL-WITH-THIIIIIIIIIIIISSSS,’

“Would you like me to deal?” Luo Binghe offered, expression calm.

“Mn,” Shen Yuan nodded, relaxing into the cushions. He had personally built (and then had his disciples replicate) backs for all of the seats, chairs and stools in the entire sect so that, but for a few in the library that were just too aesthetically pleasing to modify, every piece of furniture used for sitting was easier to relax upon.

Because fuck kneeling and fuck sitting straight. It was leaning back or going to sleep. Nothing more than that.

He was even working on a swivel chair.

Shen Yuan really wanted a swivel chair. He also wanted to pat his disciple.

Luo Binghe was staring intently at the deck as he shuffled it, before dealing each of them seven cards. Because ten cards was too many to hold.

They began the game, Shen Yuan with a useless hand and Luo Binghe with a set of three fours already. He immediately laid them down and Shen Yuan suppressed a sigh.

But he’d beaten greater odds before.

The game started with Luo Binghe drawing a card and putting down a six, and ended with Shen Yuan putting down a meld of three-through-ten diamonds before Binghe could complete his hand.

“Ahh, Shizun is so good at this!” Luo Binghe clapped merrily.

“Heh, the trick is to remember which cards you can’t get, that way you aren’t stuck trying to get three kings when there aren’t any left in the deck,” Shen Yuan advised, then admitted, “This is the only game I can reliably win anyhow,”

“Are there any other card games you enjoy?”

“Well… there are a few that need a group… and fifty-two pick-up is always funny to watch… Did I remember to teach you blackjack?”

“Shizun taught us Rummy, Poker, Snap, Go Fish and Concentration,” Luo Binghe listed faithfully, “But not Blackjack,”

“An oversight,” Shen Yuan grinned just a little. He lay out the rules and spent the next half hour regretting ever teaching his disciple the game.

‘It’s like how Yuuma couldn’t beat Kyte, Kyte couldn’t beat Faker, and Faker couldn’t beat Yuma,’ Shen Yuan reasoned, ‘He can’t beat me at Gin Rummy, while I can’t beat him at any other card game past the first round,’

[Ah yes]

[Host has encountered the ‘Rival’s Paradox’]

[Named after the supporting Male Lead]

[Then made gender neutral with the introduction of the ‘Beautiful Supporting Female Lead’]

‘That sounds like an upgrade from ‘Scum Villain,’

[Downgrade, actually]

[But ‘Rival’s Paradox’ is applicable to certain villains]

[Note Original’s behaviour towards Protagonist, as well as character Ming Fan’s behaviour]

[It took a while for the Protagonist to overcome both foe, originally]

‘Fair,’

[Host]

‘Mn?’

[What happened to Ming Fan?]

[Also]

[Host is tricky. Very tricky]

[Host made this System forget about Host’s promise to explain some things]

‘Ooft. Was hoping you wouldn’t ask. Alright. Time-to-pack-up,’

[What]

[Host no]

[Please explain!]

‘Gotta-go-fast,’

Shen Yuan, contrary to his thoughts, took his time aiding his disciples in the cleaning of the concert hall. It was a little past ten and his disciples looked exhausted but they all worked together to right any messes made in the hall. Shen Yuan was pleased to note that, not only were they using the cleaning spells he’d taught them, but the Bai Zhan Peak disciples had stayed and were learning the spells to help the clean-up.

Inter-peak relations were really looking up.

But sadly, the time came to hand over the letter to the An Ding girl and retire to his room. He lingered, watching the last of the disciples trickle out and ensuring they all either returned to their dorms or found a place to sleep in the guest quarters. It had already been a long night, and he wasn’t particularly looking forward to dragging it out further.

“Um… Shizun,” Ning Yingying approached nervously as he leaned against the stage, just about ready to leave. “Shizun, I know it is highly out of the ordinary and inappropriate, but—”

“So long as you do nothing more than sleep, Liu Mingyan may share your room. We will not be speaking of this to Qi Qingqi however,” Shen Yuan allowed.

Ning Yingying squealed, a high pitched thing that sent a twinge of pain through Shen Yuan’s brain because it was late at night and she was way too loud.

“Thank you Shizun! You’re the best!” Ning Yingying hugged him faster than he could really process it before bouncing off, Liu Mingyan following closely behind like some enamoured duckling.

“So sweet,” he murmured softly.

“Mn,” a soft voice echoed from beside him, and his hand moved by itself to trail through even softer hair.

“I am happy for them,” Shen Yuan smiled down at Luo Binghe.

His disciple only nodded and yawned, leaning against him tiredly and hoping he looked exhausted enough that his Shizun would help him home.

“All right, come on,” Shen Yuan summoned Xiu Ya from its sheath yet again and sat down upon it before effortlessly and ever so gently tugging his disciple across his lap. The boy was still so small that he could be cradled against his chest without looking too strangely disproportionate.

‘Because the protagonist will always look flawless, no matter the circumstances,’

It took Luo Binghe a second to realise what had happened, and then another to relax and give over to the overwhelming wonderfulness that was being in such close proximity to his Shizun. He took one more second to take in that his Shizun was sitting on a flying sword, another to ignore the fact, and so after a grand total of five seconds, managed to snuggle into pale green robes and doze lightly.

Shen Yuan sighed fondly.

‘I give up. He’s just too sweet-cute. I just want to spend my days cuddling him. So-soft-fluffy-sweet-cute-fluffy-sweet,’ he thought as he began floating slowly towards his hut. He flicked open the doors to the concert hall with the powers vested in him by Shen Jiu, before lazily spiralling up the staircase then out of the pavilion.

Now unbothered by visiting sect leaders and concerning disciples, Shen Yuan could take in the wonder of the night. No light pollution plus living on a mountain, then add in the Xianxia setting and the stars were impossibly pretty. A cool and gentle breeze drifted through the quiet bamboo, rushing softly with not a cricket for miles. The remainder of the heat of the day stopped any chill and the moon was full and round and bright.

“I wonder why people set lights at night when the moon is bright enough to see by,”

“Perhaps they cannot see the beauty in such a sky,” Luo Binghe responded quietly, and Shen Yuan hadn’t realised he had spoken aloud.

“Also clouds,”

“Them too,”

Shen Yuan huffed in amusement and Luo Binghe smiled drowsily up at him. Privately he thought his Shizun was even more beautiful than the moon, the sun, the clouds and the sky, and wished he had more of a talent for poetry to express as much.

Then he yawned and Shen Yuan guided his sword down to his hut, landing without a noise and creeping inside in that awkward way you do when all the lights are off.

Soon he had laid his disciple in the bed in the side room and covered him with a light blanket, stroking his hair once as a goodnight, before laying down in his own bed.

‘So,’

[So]

‘We need to talk,’

[System has many questions but cannot think of one to ask]

‘The beginning then?’

[Generally wise]

‘Well, when I was younger, I wanted to be a detective. I was inspired by the various western crime dramas, and used to be frustrated when it took them so long to solve each case, even though I knew it was just written that way. I always knew I’d make a good detective because I could just ask the people how they died and who killed them. Having now actually solved a murder, I struggle to see why I ever wanted to do this for a living. The paperwork’s a nightmare, and I had never considered not knowing which ghost was the victim,’

[Oh]

‘Mn,’

[Ghost]

‘Yes. I see dead people,’

Chapter Text

Precisely one week after Liu Qingge deviated, the Wednesday that signified the one-week anniversary of his first mission as a cultivator, Qing Jing was attacked.

Well.

They tried.

Okay, so, not attacked in the strictest sense.

Shen Yuan had woken early – before-sunrise level early – and taken Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe to the gates of Qiong Ding Peak where they sat and snacked on the various treats prepared by Luo Binghe the night before in preparation for potential battle.

There they stayed until late morning, the inhabitants of Qiong Ding not noticing them, either from exhaustion or the fact they had no reason to go their the gates. Finally though, at a bit before eleven, a slim figure in red backed by ten brutish looking blobs of vaguely demonic-looking creatures approached the gates.

Shen Yuan immediately stood, straightened his robes, and put on his best ‘Oh thank you for the flowers Mrs Lee, really, they bring me so much happiness,’ smile.

“Miss Sha Hualing, daughter of the demonic minister of defence Master Sha Fengqing, of the Southern demon tribe. I have heard much about you. We were expecting you,” Shen Yuan greeted respectfully, bowing and everything.

“…It appears I am at a disadvantage. Who does this one greet?” she bowed.

“I am the peak lord of Qing Jing, Shen Qingqiu,” he answered, “Our Sect Leader was caught up with paperwork but will be joining our discussion presently in the conference hall. Your delegation is more than welcome to join us, or if they’d rather, stay here or in the courtyard,”

Not really understanding what had happened, Sha Hualing itched for her whip but something was telling her to stay her hand. Something distinctly suspicious was going on, but it wasn’t neccessarily bad.

“My men are rather tired from the long walk… they shall stay where they are for now,’

“Very well. If you’ll follow this way,”

Ever the perfect host, years of practise being polite to nurses finally paying off, Shen Yuan led the girl into the sect, several very confused demons left at the gates. They wouldn’t enter, Sha Hualing’s order clear, but they were still very much conspicuous.

‘Like a sore thumb,’

Once in the hall, Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying brought in refreshments and Shen Yuan revised his points in his head, took a breath, and motioned for his disciples to leave.

“Miss Sha, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, your presence here was expected,” he began.

“You knew me by name,”

“I did. I heard a rumour you were challenging various well-known cultivators and knew it wouldn’t be long until you came to this sect. The reason for our behaviour, however, is because I have a proposition for you,”

“I… had a feeling. I’m not going to leave without a duel though,” she glared lightly.

“I have organised an exhibition match, do not worry,” Shen Yuan assured her, “No, it is another matter. You see, recently I discovered that my one of my prized disciples is the half-human son of your previous leader, Tianlang-jun,”

Sha Hualing froze, cup of tea half-way to her lips.

“You’re shitting me,”

“I am not,”

“The old bastard has a kid!?”

“Yes indeed,”

She choked a little.

“Alright, carry on,” she managed.

“Since discovering one of my disciples has demonic heritage, I have carried out months of research and enough paperwork to drown in to set up a proposal that will hopefully lead to a true peace between our realms,” Shen Yuan spoke surely, ever cautious even with the suspicion that he may be able to beat the demoness, perhaps even with little difficulty, “I heard rumours that you personally are interested in humans. Was this correct?”

“Sorta,” she allowed reluctantly, “It’s not like I like you lot or anything, but you have a few good ideas and you can be kinda fun sometimes. Realm itself is better too,”

“My proposal is to start up a student exchange program,”

“…Once more for the people in the back?”

‘Transmigrator?’

“A student exchange program,” Shen Yuan smiled properly, “The play would be for my Qing Jing Peak to accept a demon as a disciple, to stay and learn for a year, and then the following year, send one of my disciples to learn at your Zise Xuexiao valley,”

“…How do you know about that place,”

“I know many things,” Shen Yuan sipped his tea.

‘See if she catches on to any references,’

“The disciple I have in mind to send to your valley school is the half-demon, and I was hoping, should you be willing, you would be the disciple to join my peak for a year,”

As he spoke, Sha Hualing felt the strangest sense of excitement. Learning human medicine, fighting without having to run away after, human commodities and blue skies instead of red. They were all things she craved.

“Of course, you shouldn’t accept right off the bat. You shouldn’t trust me so quickly, after all, I am offering you a world on a silver platter and asking for little in return but the relative safety of all humans in my sect. I encourage you to think carefully on this, perhaps for a few days. You would be leaving all you know behind for an entire year, you would have to follow the rules and laws of the sect and realm, you would be expected to abide by the general rules of etiquette and you would be interacting daily with humans,” Shen Yuan listed.

“You make it sound awful,” Sha Hualing spoke with a little good humour.

“Indeed. You may even make friends,” Shen Yuan responded without a second thought.

Sha Hualing laughed shortly then ate one of the snacks arranged neatly on the plate in front of her.

“Oh hell this is good,” she blinked in astonishment, quickly wolfing down half the plate.

“My disciple made them,”

“The pretty one with the pink ribbon?” Sha Hualing asked.

“No, that would be Ning Yingying. The adorable one with the unruly hair is who I speak of,” Shen Yuan smiled at the thought, “Luo Binghe, our half demon,”

“…I can see that. Dad mentioned the old king learned to cook to woo a woman, so it isn’t too strange,” Sha Hualing admitted, “Kid’s got talent,”

“Indeed,”

They sat in silence for a while before Sha Hualing finally stood and dusted off her reasonably-practical-and-not-all-that-revealing robes.

“Alright. If you show me around your peak, I will make a decision,” she announced.

“Very well,” Shen Yuan stood, “Ah, sect leader,”

Yue Qingyuan stopped abruptly in his way, having entered the room while reading over a set of papers.

“Shi…di… Apologies, who is this?”

“This is the demoness I mentioned last week. Sha Hualing. She is here to discuss her potential stay as a student of my peak,” Shen Yuan answered pleasantly, “We were just about to tour Qing Jing,”

“I… see,” Yue Qingyuan finally managed to gather his wits about him, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sha. I hope you have found the sect accommodating thus far?”

“Very much so, esteemed sect leader,” she bowed and Shen Yuan’s lips twitched upwards.

“I’m glad,” he relaxed ever so slightly and nodded, “Well, do not let me intrude. You know where to find me to work on the paperwork behind this, shidi?”

“Of course,”

“Good, good,”

“We shall take our leave first,”

“Very well,”

Shen Yuan bowed and Sha Hualing followed and they both left the hall and sect leader behind.

‘Too natural. Not a transmigrator,’

[Host is decisive, as usual]

‘Am I wrong?’

[No]

[No system is detected nearby]

“Now, I understand that demonic cultivation is drastically different from the human spiritual cultivation,” Shen Yuan began.

“Indeed. We focus on the accumulation and taming of resentful energy as demons are physically unable to form spiritual cores,” Sha Hualing answered, feeling surprisingly at ease with the peak lord.

“Aside from the cultivation of such energy, can it not be applied in much the same way as spiritual energy? I have read through the manuals and manuscripts of several human demonic cultivators, and I gather that changes to spells and such are necessary, but it is my understanding that the same outcomes can be reached with both methods,” Shen Yuan, having indeed read through more demonic cultivation manuals than was probably healthy, had a bit of authority on the subject but more questions than answers, and he fully intended to learn all he could from the demoness.

“Ah… you are correct. However, most demons do not practise the same. Many see no use for human spells, and there are not many applicable ones with the necessary adaptations made available to us,” Sha Hualing admitted, “It isn’t as if cultivators are sharing the secrets behind their spiritual attacks anyhow, and we have our own methods of offense, so we don’t really need them,”

“Interesting… But what about techniques outside of offense and defence? Like sealing or construction or housekeeping?” Shen Yuan asked.

“There… are spells for such things?”

“Indeed,” Shen Yuan opened his fan to hide his smile, “All of the peaks of Cang Qiong are joined by a bridge of solidified rainbow, however, to walk from here to Qing Jing could take anywhere between thirty and fifty minutes, so I thought we might take the carriage,”

“You… ride carriages… over rainbows?” Sha Hualing was feeling a bit of second hand embarrassment she said this, “Isn’t that a little…”

“Ridiculous? Yes. The founders of the sect, however, enjoyed the colour symbolism and uniformity of that. Qing Jing, for example, is green. There has been a long held debate over whether this was to symbolise the first head of Qing Jing’s jealousy over the sect leader, or because the sect leader thought she should wear green because bamboo is also green and Qing Jing is surrounded by bamboo,”

“Is there an answer?”

“As it so happens, the first sect leader of Cang Qiong first met the first head of Qing Jing when she mistook him for a bandit and knocked him unconscious. The first thing he saw after her face was the green of the bamboo rod she used to attack him with and associated the colour with her from then on,” Shen Yuan smiled. It was a cute story.

“Romantic,” Sha Hualing murmured, and Shen Yuan pretended he didn’t hear.

“However, the initial point I had intended to make was that I had brought over the carriage for us to take to Qing Jing, and that the carriage is the perfect example of how spells can be applied to areas outside of combat, such as transport,” Shen Yuan finally led them around a corner where his two disciples were waiting.

“Shizun!” they bowed and smiled up at him excitedly. He supposed they had behaved well enough earlier, and now that Sha Hualing had relaxed somewhat, his disciples may as well do the same.

“Miss Sha, let me introduce you to my head disciple Ning Yingying, and our adorable half-demon Luo Binghe,” Shen Yuan smiled, gesturing to each with his fan.

“This one greets you both,” Sha Hualing greeted warily, eying both of them, “My name is Sha Hualing,”

“It’s great to meet you miss Sha!” Ning Yingying bowed enthusiastically and beamed at her.

“I’m… Only seventeen. You can call me Hualing,” Sha Hualing smiled back, the excited energy infectious.

“Ling-mei!” Ning Yingying decided, “Call me Ying-jie! I’m a year older,”

“You can call me Binghe, Ling-jie,” Luo Binghe smiled sweetly.

Sha Hualing stared for a moment before stage-whispering to Ning Yingying, “He’s adorable,”

“I know, right?” she whispered back.

“What’s with that?”

“Nobody knows, but Shizun says it’s the demon blood,”

“Could be,”

“Hey,” Luo Binghe crossed his arms and frowned, “I can hear you,”

“Don’t take offense Binghe, being adorable isn’t a bad thing at all,” Shen Yuan ruffled his disciple’s hair and the boy grinned up at him.

“I know,” he said.

‘Sly little brat. You just wanted affection, didn’t you?’

Shen Yuan flicked his forehead lightly, “Cheeky. Come on, into the carriage,”

“Yes Shizun,” Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe chorused, Sha Hualing only barely refraining from joining in.

“Good children,” Shen Yuan smiled and shoed them into the carriage, nodding to Pei Lin. Once they were seated, he relayed her instructions, “While the carriage is ascending or descending, you must remain seated, however, while in the air, movement is permitted,”

“Ascend—” Sha Hualing felt back against her seat opposite Shen Yuan as the carriage lurched forwards.

“The carriage flies,” Luo Binghe told her, seated next to his Shizun. There was no way he would let anyone else take the spot.

In a few minutes, the vehicle was fully airborne and Pei Lin stuck her head through the wall to inform them it was safe to move around.

“This… is actually kinda amazing,” Sha Hualing decided, eyes glued to the window, “How does it work?”

“Layers of spellwork and spirit beasts. The horses out front can fly,” Shen Yuan answered, earning surprised looks from his disciples, “Though I have been reading up on how I could create carriages that don’t require the spirit beasts. I wanted to repopularise this form of transport, at least in our sect. Travel is far safer by air. No chance of bandits or beasts,”

“Conspicuous though,” Sha Hualing noted.

“Invisibility talismans,”

“That’s a thing!?”

Shen Yuan only smiled and gestured to the window, “And now we begin our descent. We will be arriving in a minute,”

In truth, he had been working on the invisibility talismans. Upon closer inspection of the carriage, Shen Yuan had found several arrays with seemingly no purpose, and he had a feeling they were initially some form of cloaking spell, but even Stable Master Pei Fan wasn’t sure. Shen Yuan suspected that it was not just the retiring of Ling Mei and Wen Mai a century ago that led to the loss of knowledge.

‘Perhaps a war?’

[Plot point not yet unlocked]

[Every time you dig into something, you create more plot holes than there were initially]

‘War then,’

[Host]

‘I’ll google it and it will override the lock. I’ve-done-it-before-I’ll-do-it-again. If what I’ve learned from anime about loli Nazis and depresso blondes with graphics better than real life has taught me anything CAN’T-FORGE-MANIACLE-SKELETONS it’s knowledge is lost after wars, especially of things only used in wars, and seeing as I can’t find much the third last century, I’m going to guess that there was some form of oh-maybe-a-revolution? conflict that utilised invisible flying carriages, and that the invisible aspect fell into disuse after this, which is why we don’t use it anymore,’

[System is going to malfunction if host continues]

‘Oh, I’m not going to use this to develop my plot. Don’t worry. I just need to research this in case it ever comes up, and to find out more on the invisibility arrays,’

[Host said ‘my plot’]

[Host please clarify]

‘I told you the other night. I may have died of… whatever, after years living in a hospital bed, but that does not mean I was not mentally prepared for the apocalypse or reincarnation or transmigration or something. I am a normal internet gremlin, thank-you-very-much-kind-sir-what-a-lovely-day. Besides, isn’t that the point of the System? You can, you up? If I can do it, and I will fucking do it, I can derail the plot. So, this is my plot now. This is my story, and we are going to follow my rules,’

[OAO]

[Host is so cool!]

[This System is impressed]

[This System shall endeavour not to ask questions when host is tired]

‘I-can-fucking-see-ghosts-is-all-good-night-you-noisy-fucker was a bit anticlimactic,’

[You did it again]

[Host]

[qAq]

‘Insert-sighing-emoji-here fine. Ahem… actually, I can’t think of anything. Soz,’

[Eh]

[One badass speech was good enough]

[This System doesn’t have to edit this]

[But back to what you said earlier]

[Host doesn’t set the rules of this world]

‘Oh but I do. I really do. Tell me, when have I ever lost a single point for acting OOC’

[Mysterious Saviour scene 1]

[Damnit host]

‘Haha-I-knew-it-would-stick. I lost fifty points then, if I remember correctly, but do you remember what I said? I said to withhold point distribution until the end of the scene. I even told you that I knew it would work, because technically, the Mysterious Saviour isn’t Shen Qingqiu. The whole point of me being here anyway was to attempt plot deviations, so I knew I would score high. Now name one instance where I have been wrong. One instance where things did not go to plan. One instance where circumstances did not end in my favour. Can you?’

[System is thinking]

[…]

[Butterfly]

‘It is true that I did not plan for her to attempt to rape my disciple, but there is no denying that it ended well for me,’

[Host forgets that host is not the protagonist]

‘winkyface’

[???]

The System had a small panic attack as it digested this new information. It hadn’t asked the host outright, but now it was certain!

‘Hamartia’

[Pardon?]

‘Google it’

“Shizun?” Luo Binghe gently nudged him.

“Apologies, I got lost in thought for a minute,” Shen Yuan smiled warmly at the concern in his disciple’s eyes, “I’ve recently been researching invisibility arrays and my mind drifted back to that,”

“So there are invisibility talismans?” Ning Yingying asked.

“Once,” the carriage drew to a stop, Shen Yuan well enough used to it that he hadn’t really noticed the descent. “And again one day,”

The stars shining from his two disciples eyes was encouragement enough for him to continue, and the semi-reluctant interest coming from the demoness was motivation in and of itself.

“But we’re here, so enough on that,” Shen Yuan opened the door and stepped out first, holding it open for the other three. They stepped out and Shen Yuan nodded to Pei Lin, who immediately led the carriage away.

“Shizun, would you like me to…” Luo Binghe began but stopped when Shen Yuan shook his head.

“We will need it again later,” he explained, “Now, Miss Sha. On to our tour. Binghe, Yingying, I was thinking classrooms, meditation garden, library, concert hall,”

“Sounds perfect Shizun! Shall I alert my martial brothers?” Ning Yingying offered.

“Have everyone convened in the music hall in an hour. I want you all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but that doesn’t mean the afternoon off. Binghe and I shall be showing Miss Sha around,”

“Yes Shizun!” she bowed and raced off.

“Now, our first stop shall be the classrooms. I can assure you, you will not find anything lacking. We have recently upgraded our classrooms to include science laboratories, a test kitchen and a textiles room. I try to ensure that every single student here can learn any skill they please, and have the resources necessary to do so. We try to learn as much as we can here,”

“In preparation for what?” Sha Hualing raised a brow.

“Oh, all sorts of different things. We have a comedian and playwright currently studying the illusionary and business complementary arts in preparation for when he decides to descend Qing Jing and run a theatre company. We have another disciple learning spiritually aided housekeeping in preparation for secluded cultivation with their partner. One is focusing on the sciences for eventual travel across the land, intending to study and document and research whatever catches his interest,”

“And you personally? If that isn’t to forward of me,” she spoke quickly, realising she was out of turn and then wondering why she cared.

“It’s fine,” Shen Yuan laughed, “Well, I’ve always felt this underlying fear that I may one day be in a position where I have no access to any form of modern amenity, I cannot use spiritual energy, I’m stranded and lost and I have no food or clothes or form of protection, and there’s no one around for thousands of miles. I learn what I can so that one day, if ever I need it, I can live there,”

“Shizun never told me this,” Luo Binghe frowned and Sha Hualing gave him a look.

“Binghe never asked,”

“And these are the classrooms?” Sha Hualing returned to the topic at hand and gestured to the uniform huts littered around a stone courtyard.

“Yes,”

The three peeked into every room, before moving on to the meditation garden.

“It’s… nice out here. The bamboo is so… alive,”

“Mn. Good for spiritual cultivation,”

“Not so much demonic,” Sha Hualing felt a little disappointed.

“But still good for the mind,” Shen Yuan reminded her, “And there are other places to cultivate. This place is for peace and relaxation and quiet. Disciples will spend time here before and or after training to calm down. The wards drain resentful energy,”

Sha Hualing was suddenly on high alert, ready to run for it.

“Relax,” Luo Binghe smiled at her, “Resentful energy is not demonic energy. Resentful energy comes from humans and ghosts. It’s the manifestation of anger, regret, sorrow and hate. Demonic energy is the stuff that we can use,”

“I… didn’t realise there was a distinction,” she relaxed again, trusting him.

“Not many people do,” he gave her a wry sort of smile.

“You… you mentioned a library?” Sha Hualing cleared her throat and asked.

“Yes. Please follow me,” Shen Yuan hid his smile with his fan. Smaller, warmer smiles were fine to show his disciples, but the scary grin of a plotting gremlin was not so family friendly.

He led the two, though Binghe knew the way already, towards a small hut a little ways from the garden, spiritual energy registering the presence of a visitor when they entered. The staircase was already open and the torches lit themselves as they descended. While dubious at first, the bright lighting was a bit too welcoming to be anything harmful, so Sha Hualing was fairly certain she wasn’t being led to dungeons or anything.

Shen Yuan, who was thinking she would think as much, questioned whether the peak had dungeons at all.

‘Something to look into,’

“And here we are,” he announced, “The Great Library of Qing Jing Peak, one of the finest in the land, with archives stretching back centuries, covering every topic and subject, from every corner of the land. Looking up you see the one-way stone of the meditation garden and you’ll find littered through the shelves plenty of study-nooks, tables, chairs, straw beanbags, spaces for group or individual study or free reading, as well as the new water points. Have a look around,”

Sha Hualing stared. First at the shelves, then at the roof, then back at the shelves. She took a few hesitant steps before racing forwards, excitement overflowing. There was just so much stuff! So many books and scrolls and manuals! And she had a chance to learn from them! To read them! She wanted to read them all!

It wasn’t until half an hour later that she slunk back, sad to leave the library and led by Luo Binghe who had been sent to retrieve her. But that had been enough time to find it. A book of spells. Cleaning spells. She needed them. She needed them badly. She wanted to study that book. She wanted to translate it and adapt all of the spells within it.

Above all else, you see, Sha Hualing hated cleaning.

As the trio walked back up the stairs, she decided to chance it.

“I found a book on cleaning spells,” she started.

“Yao Dai?” Shen Yuan guessed the author.

“Yes, I believe so,” Sha Hualing nodded, “If I decide to spend the year here, would I be allowed to learn those?”

“They interest you?”

“Yes. I want… I want to adapt them to be compatible with demonic energy. I just… I hate cleaning. I hate dusting because I always sneeze and I hate washing my clothes because the dye always runs but there was a spell that sucked dust into a vacuum and another that dissolved the bloodstains out of fabric without damaging the fabric at all and…” she trailed off, unable to express how she felt.

“You need them. I know the feeling. They’re so convenient and they eliminate so much of the stress of daily life,” Shen Yuan sighed fondly as they reached the top of the staircase and exited the hut.

They crossed back across the meditation garden and headed back to the main courtyard where Ning Yingying joined them once more.

“Yes,” Sha Hualing smiled, “I just never thought that anyone would… apply cultivation to such a… boring setting,”

“Spiritual energy is great like that,” Shen Yuan smiled, absently ruffling Luo Binghe’s hair, “Very malleable. You can make things float and catch fire,”

“And grow plants from stone!” Luo Binghe put in.

“And use plants as blades!” Ning Yingying nodded furiously.

“Plants…?”

“Sharp enough to slice a man’s throat,” Luo Binghe confirmed.

“Slice… with a plant?” Sha Hualing thought carefully over this, suddenly overcome with the intense desire to do that. She liked flowers. They smelt nice and looked pretty. She wasn’t supposed to like flowers because she was a badass demoness. Dangerous flowers though? She was in.

“And so now we arrive at the concert hall,” Shen Yuan announced.

“Master Shen, does Qing Jing Peak have a lot of underground chambers?” Sha Hualing couldn’t help but ask. She supposed that having the library above ground would take up too much space, so that made sense, but a concert hall? What little she had seen of them consisted of a small raised platform and some seats. It seemed far more efficient to convert the courtyard into something of the kind when necessary.

“Yes,” Shen Yuan answered, “We do,”

“It’s great,” Luo Binghe whispered.

Shen Yuan smiled slightly then opened the doors at the bottom of the stairs. Inside, all of his disciples were lined up, clean and neat and smiling. Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying both ran over to join them.

“This, Miss Sha, is the student body of Qing Jing, that is, my disciples. If for no other reason, you joining would provide Ning Yingying with a female friend, as you can see, she is the only girl here,” Shen Yuan mentioned, and Ning Yingying sighed. “So before we get to the introductions, I think it best we establish a few of the rules on this sect,”

“Rules?”

“Yes. Rules,” Shen Yuan nodded, “Disciples, what do we do if we meet a demonic cultivator?”

“Act only in self defence!” they chorused.

“What do we do to demons?”

“Treat them as people and act only in defence!”

“What do we do if we meet a cutsleeve?”

“Think no different of them!” most of the students replied, with a shout of ‘flirt with them’ from Ma Dong.

“And so then, how will you treat Miss Sha Hualing?”

“As a friend!”

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan walked tiredly towards his hut, exhausted from negotiations and paperwork. His wrists ached, his eyes were drooping, and all of the ghosts were giving him respectfully wide berth.

When he pushed his way through the last thicket of bamboo, way off the actual path to his house but it was the most efficient route so whatever, he found the front porch of his house crowded with all of his disciples, sleepy and leaning on each other, but all in attendance.

Shen Yuan sighed and shook his head fondly.

‘I love them,’ he thought.

“What are you lot doing here?” he asked quietly.

“You weren’t here to dismiss us,” Ma Dong raised a hand to his lips and yawned widely, “So we couldn’t leave,”

Shen Yuan let out a short laugh, “I see,”

“So what did she say?” Ning Yingying smiled softly, Luo Binghe mostly asleep on her shoulder.

“Well, after five hours of paperwork arrangements have finally been made. Agreements have been signed and all that’s left is on her end,” Shen Yuan replied.

“So that means…”

“Hualing said yes,” he smiled wearily, “She will be our first new disciple next year,”

A slow wave of smiles and quiet laughter spread through his disciples, and each took their turn congratulating him and bidding him goodnight, until only Ning Yingying was left, Luo Binghe still leaning on her.

“So sweet, isn’t he?” Ning Yingying prompted.

“Indeed,” Shen Yuan murmured. With her gentle aid, he carefully hoisted Luo Binghe in his arms. The boy groaned in his sleep and nestled himself comfortably against his chest before settling. As close to sleep as he was, Shen Yuan lost what little censoring he had as he said, “Definitely a keeper, my Binghe,”

Ning Yingying muffled a squeak, before bidding her own farewells and scrambling away through the forest – on the appropriate path.

Shen Yuan at last made his way into his house, haphazardly opening the door to the side-room with his foot and laying his disciple gently down on his bed. He stroked his hair once and kissed his forehead softly. He didn’t realise he was missing the warmth of him until he was laying in his own bed, but by then he was seconds from sleep and the thought would be forgotten.

The next morning, he awoke to the smell of sweet tea and something with meat in it that made his mouth water. He rolled over lazily and absently fluffed his disciple’s hair. He took in his disciple’s alarmingly close proximity while he stretched and suppressed the startle as he sat.

Luo Binghe just looked so cute with that surprised face, he couldn’t help but smile ‘good morning’ as he swung his legs out of bed.

“Good Morning Shizun,” Luo Binghe beamed up at him.

Shen Yuan glanced out the window and frowned, “It isn’t that late, is it?”

“It is still morning,” Luo Binghe smiled.

“And you let me sleep so late?” it must have been around eleven, “Did Ning Yingying take over classes?”

“Yes. She said you came home late and seemed really tired, so we let you sleep,” Luo Binghe was almost vibrating with excitement, “And no one would tell me the verdict. Is Ling-jie going to stay?”

“Starting next year, she shall study on Qing Jing,” Shen Yuan smiled.

Luo Binghe squealed (softly) in excitement and jumped up and down on the spot, “You did it Shizun! You did it!”

Shen Yuan smiled, all traces of tiredness disappearing, “Mn,”

Luo Binghe hugged him tight for a second before flashing across the room and holding up a pale green teapot.

“Here, breakfast,”

“Of course. Thank you, Binghe,”

“It’s my pleasure, Shizun!” Luo Binghe was brimming with joy. His Shizun had accomplished such an astonishing and revolutionary feat so quickly! And, a part of him was glowing with the thought that, everything was real. His Shizun didn’t care if he was a demon. He was intentionally bringing and introducing other demons like him.

If his Shizun was willing to welcome demons as his disciples, then maybe, just maybe, one day his Shizun might be open to… loving one.

He served his Shizun tea and the two sat in tranquillity before heading off to classes.

The rest of the week flew by with Shen Yuan and his disciples were all in high spirits. Ning Yingying and four of the elder disciples finally drew their spiritual swords from that one mountain nobody can remember the name of, and Shen Yuan finally got to start teaching some of them how to fly.

And then it was time.

Time for the thing.

Shen Yuan had been practising projection spells religiously since the last rec night, inspired and plotting like the madlad he was inside.

‘List-list-try-to-make-a-list-we-have-the-music-and-the-setting-and-the-useless-author-WHO-WILL-FINALLY-GET-THE-MEMES-but-moving-on-music-setting-wind-magic-leaves-I’M-THE-MAGIC-MAN-do-I-really-want-to-do-this-it’s-a-bit-mean-and-kinda-embarassing-but-Airplane-will-think-it’s-hysterical…’

[Host. This System is concerned]

[What is host planning]

[System knows you’re planning something]

[Host]

‘Listen and here a song the birds are singing~’

[Host is aware ‘~’ isn’t used like that]

‘DO I LOOK LIKE I-whatever. Shut-up-and-let-me-do-the-thing,’

And then it was time. Shang Qinghua had sent a letter of acceptance a few days prior and Shen Yuan was ready.

“Greetings, Shang-shidi,” Shen Yuan smiled in welcome, intentionally acting as scarily out of character as he could.

“Sh-shixiong,” Shang Qinghua bowed in return.

“Would you like to come in for tea?”

“No, no, I’m good,”

“Very well then. Walk with me,” Shen Yuan gestured genially with his fan towards a path and took the lead walking. He started with some friendly conversation, “So how have things been on An Ding? It has been so long since we last spoke,”

“A-ah… Things have been… busy. Lots of paperwork, but that’s the usual. And Shi-shixiong? I heard a rumour that you had ta-taken in a demon,” Shang Qinghua seemed calmer, but the stutter didn’t leave him.

“Ah yes. Two, actually,” Shen Yuan answered, mood improved slightly by mention of his disciple and future disciple, though his outward cheeriness didn’t show it.

“Two?”

“Yes. I discovered one of my disciples was the son of Tianlang-jun just recently, and in an effort to improve inter-realm relationships in the future, I will be taking in a disciple from the demon realm for a year’s exchange program,” Shen Yuan explained lightly.

“What is their name? This demon?”

“Sha Hualing. She’s already getting along famously with my head disciple Ning Yingying. I cannot wait to see what bonds develop in the future,” Shen Yuan discretely analysed his companion’s expression. To his pleasure, the man beside him was satisfactorily terrified, but with a definite gleam of awe in his eyes.

“Ah, what a nice day it is,” Shen Yuan remarked after a minutes silence as they walked through the bamboo forest, now suitably far from the rest of the inhabitants of Qing Jing.

Then, quietly, he projected a few notes of music, just softly, into the air of the forest.

“It… is,” Shang Qinghua frowned and shook his head.

They walked a little further.

“The sun is shining quite nicely,” more music, a little louder, coming from the left.

Shang Qinghua stopped dead in his tracks as they reached a clearing, but Shen Yuan kept walking.

“The birds are twittering about,” he added, finally coming to a stop and turning around, spreading his fan, “On days like this, people like you…”

Shang Qinghua began to shake.

“Really ought to be burning in hell,”

And then the boss music played. The rock version with the dark base and distorted guitar and heavy drums. With a bit of spiritual energy, the wind picked up and suddenly that section of the forest was in chaos. The bamboo whipped back and forth and leaves tore through the clearing, littering the ground and Shen Yuan may have cackled just a bit.

Shang Qinghua on the other hand was still shaking violently, looking very close to screaming and even closer to tears.

‘System. Save this as a screenshot,’

[Host is cruel]

[Saved]

Shang Qinghua was praying. He was begging every god he knew for assistance and screaming at the system between sutras. He closed his eyes for one second, and suddenly the music stopped. The wind died down and for a moment he felt hope that, as soon as he opened his eyes, he’d find himself in his room and this all would turn out to be a dream.

But when he opened his eyes, all he saw was Shen Qingqiu’s manic grin a hand’s width from his face.

He screamed and jumped back, tripping and falling while fumbling for his sword, before he heard the laughter and his fear was replaced by confusion. That was not the scary cackling from before, nor the cruel laughter of the nightmares of his king ripping his limbs off.

This was friendly laughter.

Friendly-ish.

Wtf?

"Gotcha!"

Again, what?

“Jesus fucking Christ Airplane bro,” Shen Yuan clutched his stomach, bowling over in mild hysterics, “How are you even more of a wimp IRL,”

Oh.

“Oh,” Shang Qinghua stopped trembling and stared up at him, “C-Cucumber bro?”

“Name’s Shen Yuan,” he grinned and held out a hand.

Shang Qinghua hesitated then took it. Shen Yuan pulled him up then gestured to the wooden bench that Shang Qinghua had absolutely noticed when he entered the clearing.

They sat and all was quiet for a sec before Shen Yuan exhaled.

“You deserved that you shitty author,” his voice was calm but his words were not, “Shen Qingqiu, I was isekaied into fucking Shen Qingqiu, do I look like I want my fucking limbs removed? The answer is no I fucking don’t. I killed PEOPLE! I actually had to KILL some people! Sure one was a demon and the other three were rapists I think, but this is your fault! Do you have any idea how fucking hard it is to fix this stupid plot!? As well as that, why the fuck did you write Ning Yingying and Liu Mingyan into the harem?”

“It really is you Cucumber bro…” Shang Qinghua scratched his head and laughed a little, suddenly feeling less like dying of fear and more like dying of embarrassment, “Sounds… rough… Fixing the plot?”

“Yes. Fixing the plot. I am not an author. You know this. I can’t even write fan-fiction. And yet, even if I were to give an unbiased opinion of the plot development of the last few months, I’d still say I have done a better job of ‘writing’ than you,” Shen Yuan gripped his fan tight, “But yes. I have eliminated the harem route, as much as I can at this stage anyway, I have instigated the beginnings of a peace-treaty with the demon realm and started an exhchange program, I have rediscovered that fucking library and concert hall, raised the casts IQ by seventy, considering they started at zero, I have dragged the poor protagonist through the first murder mystery arc, and instigated an overarching plot revolving around the identity of a ‘Mysterious Saviour’ all in black who rescues Luo Binghe in his hour of need and taught myself how to fucking cultivate all the while. At the same time I’m trying not to panic over the irremovable plot point of shoving my disciple into the fucking abyss. So how about you? What progress have you made? And you didn’t answer me about Yingying and Mingyan,”

“W-well,” Shang Qinghua forced out after a minute of digestion, “That… is a lot. You… do you have a system?”

“Yes,”

“Your system let you do all that?”

“System says ‘You can you up, no can no BB’. I can, so I up. I got rid of the OOC function early enough,” Shen Yuan sighed.

“Wow. Cucumber bro is so cool! Holy shit!”

“Answer the fucking questions,”

“R-right,” Shang Qinghua laughed nervously, “Well, you see… I haven’t… really… look, paperwork is hard! It isn’t easy being the paper-boy of the sect! And… I mean, I ran into Mobei-jun! I saved his life and everything!”

“…You son of a bitch. I swear if you spent however long you’ve been here flirting with your fucking ‘love interest’ I’m going to cut a bitch,” Shen Yuan seethed, glare one spark of qi from setting Shang Qinghua alight.

“No! He’s not… I don’t…”

“Can we just establish that I didn’t forget your drunk-posts lamenting the sin that is Mobei-Jun’s abs and describing in horrifying detail how much you wanted to lick them and move on?”

“Right, that would be… shit. You actually remember that…” Shang Qinghua looked down in shame, “Okay, fine, I admit it, I haven’t been rectifying the plot as it were, but my system isn’t giving me much freedom! And in my defence, I only found out last week that Luo Binghe had finally joined the sect. And what the fuck have you done with Hualing?”

“Yingying and Mingyan,”

“…So, there was supposed to be, originally, a plot revolving around Ning Yingying utilising life-saving papapa and Luo Binghe realising she’s more like a sibling and… it was going to be fine. But… So they got together?” Shang Qinghua asked.

“Yep. Hualing was Binghe’s fault. I decided he needed a demon friend because he’s having difficulties accepting his heritage. I thought Hualing would get along well with Yingying and seeing as she kinda doesn’t avidly despise humans, she was the best choice,”

“Get along… right…”

“Poly?”

“As fuck,”

“Called it,”

“This’ll be interesting then,”

“Hang on, wait a minute, you found the library?”

“I’m the fucking peak lord. Yes I found the library. And concert hall. Both look way better without a fucking hole blast through them. Oh, hey, I found them. The cleaning spells,” Shen Yuan grinned.

Shang Qinghua stopped to stare for a minute before speaking, voice tremulous and awe-filled, “Man, bro, please. You gotta share. You don’t know what this means to me,”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll check out the library later,” Shen Yuan yawned, “How long have you been here anyway?”

“Thirty six years, eight months, thirteen hours and fifty… six minutes,” Shang Qinghua recited, expression dead, “And you bro?”

“Bit more than five months,” Shen Yuan started to laugh, “Dude, you got old,”

“Hey! That’s… actually, hah! That makes me your senior!” Shang Qinghua declared, “You should pay respect!”

“Airplane, you’ve always been my senior, and I have never paid you respect,”

“Really? I pegged you at least thirty or so last we spoke,” Shang Qinghua frowned, “I died when I was twenty-four… so how old are you?”

“I turn twenty in four months,” Shen Yuan shrugged.

“Twenty…. Twenty! Holy shit dude! You’re like a minor!”

“Thank you! At least someone understands,” Shen Yuan exclaimed, standing to pace in front of the bench, “Do you have any idea how fucking weird it is talking down to my disciples and pretending I know shit? I found out one of them is a few weeks older than me! My disciple is older than me! And then you get the peak lords! I swear, if I have to deal with any more of their ‘Shixiong! Shidi!’ bullshit I’m gonna strangle someone. Don’t even get me started on the system—”

“You died so young,” Shang Qinghua commented quietly. His friend was this young?

“Yeah, terminal illnesses do that to ya,” Shen Yuan relaxed a little and opened his fan, absently covering his mouth, “It’s fine,”

“You… Jesus. Fine,”

“How about you? What offed ya?”

“Ramen,” Shang Qinghua grimaced, “I electrocuted myself with ramen,”

Shen Yuan stared before bursting into raucous laughter, managing to force the words, “I told you! I fucking told you! Oh my god that’s… good grief that’s bad. I told you not to consume wet foods near your laptop!”

“Nope. Can’t believe I felt pity for you. Fuck that. You don’t deserve the title ‘Cucumber bro’. Henceforth I dub the ‘Baby Cucumber’,”

“Airplane shooting towards hell!”

“Peerless asshole!”

“Shit Qinghua!”

“Damn it, that was my next one,”

“Lol,”

“Ah, I’ve missed this,” Shang Qinghua sat back and smiled, “So how is my son?”

“Binghe’s doing good. I got him a proper cultivation manual, and took him on a mission and everything. I mean, it was a bit traumatic for him, but I think he’s over it. He told the rest of my disciples he’s a half demon, he’s befriended Sha Hualing, he’s scarily perceptive, adorable as fuck I mean, seriously, unfair bro. Unfair. He seems to enjoy being petted, which is appreciated… Oh, and he’s gay now,” Shen Yuan nodded proudly, “And he’s shown a remarkable drive to learn. He’s read through a good portion of the library already!”

“Dial it back a sec, gay?”

“As you,”

“I dunno bro, that’s pretty gay,”

Shen Yuan stifled a laugh, “But yes. Turns out the original was as well, and I hate to sound like I’m making it up, but I kinda suspected as much,”

“Ah, Yue Qingyuan causing… ahem, trouble?”

“Nah, he’s behaved. No, the original told me,” Shen Yuan spoke calmly, holding his hands together so they wouldn’t twitch.

“Oh bugger—is he still around!?”

“Yep. He’s totally chill now though. He would have made a great millennial,” Shen Yuan sighed, “Oh what wasted potential,”

“Wait, you mean, like, he’s in your head? Or…”

“No, no, nothing like that. I see dead people,” Shen Yuan forced a smile because it wouldn’t come naturally. The last time he tried telling people (excluding the system) he could see ghosts didn’t go so well, and contrary to past behaviour, he actually liked Shang Qinghua.

“Like… for real?”

“As in ghosts,”

“…Okay, the carriages,”

“Led by ghosts. Ghost riders on the horses and a young lady by the name of Pei Lin on navigation,” Shen Yuan told him.

“Holy shit. That’s them. Fuck me gently with a chainsaw that’s such a cheat!” Shang QInghua was pissed, “That is so unfair bro! How the hell did you get a skill like that!”

“Born with it. Carried over when I transmigrated,”

“…What the fuck. So you’ve always seen them?”

“Yep,”

“Terminal illness… oh hell, what was it like in a hospital man?”

“In a word? Crowded. In two? Kinda cozy,” Shen Yuan grinned, “They were pretty nice, most of them. People tend to be pretty relaxed post mortem, less of the worldly burden. OG me started stalking the sect leader and professing his love Flame-king-evilevilevil-style,”

“Bloody hell,” Shang Qinghua blinked, then grinned right back, “That’s kinda great, isn't it?”

“It is a bit,”

“Library?”

“Library,”

Chapter Text

‘OH-MY-GOD-IT’S-TIME-IT’S-TIME-WE’RE-DOING-IT-IT’S-HAPPENING-HOLY-SHIT-IT’S-REAL-IT’S-HAPPENING-MY-WHOLE-LIFE-HAS-BEEN-IN-PREPERATION-FOR-THIS-MOMENT-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!’

[RESPECTFULLY HOST]

[CALM YOUR FARM!]

‘I-can’t-calm-my-fucking-farm-System!’

[You’ve stopped thinking in caps at least]

‘That’s because you always put a damper on my happiness-oh-look-it’s-Jiu-ge’

“Okay, what now?” Shen Jiu crossed his arms as he bobbed along in the air.

“One hour. One more hour AND WE’RE GOING TO FIND NEW DISCIPLES AND SHA HUALING WILL ARRIVE!” Shen Yuan squealed, “It’s my six month anniversary in this world and I’m starting my first year teaching a solid curriculum and organising actual classes and—and—”

“Okay, see, what’s happened here is you’ve lost any respect, self or otherwise, and fallen into hysterics,” Shen Jiu sighed and shook his head in disproval, “Dying baby birds, dismemberment, Shang Qinghua… Twilight?”

“What… okay, listing things I dislike is a sweet thought, but I feel like I should be allowed to feel excited. Besides, I’m still a teenager, I can do as I please,”

“What, still?”

“Yep,”

“Tch,” Shen Jiu scowled briefly before his expression smoothed into unreadable, “So. You’re really letting a demon into your peak,”

“I already have one, remember?” Shen Yuan smiled. He had a peak! He was so hap!

“The beast is only half. There is a distinct difference,”

“I’m glad you think so highly of him,”

“Some days, I hate you. This is one of those days. But hey, this is your peak now and no longer my fucking concern. Imma stalk the hubby,” Shen Jiu flitted off, ghost fan covering half his face.

Shen Yuan laughed as he left.

‘I’m kinda getting stoner vibes off him…’

“Shizun? Were you talking to someone?” Luo Binghe appeared from around the corner, small and adorable frown marring his brow.

“Ah, Luo Binghe, excited?” Shen Yuan grinned, his own excitement suddenly bubbling over until he was bouncing on the spot. No longer able to constrain himself, he raced over to his disciple, wrapped him in a hug and picked him up, twirling around then placing him down again.

Bright red but smiling widely, Luo Binghe answered, “Very!”

“Good, because you’ll be coming with me to select disciples and welcome Hualing. The thing starts in less than an hour, so we have a bit of time before we should leave, though I wanted to speak with Shang Qinghua…” Shen Yuan trailed off, thinking pensively for a minute.

“How about… I find us some snacks and we leave in five?” Luo Binghe suggested, slightly more used to speaking up in front of his Shizun at this point.

“Good plan. We’ll do that,” Shen Yuan nodded and Luo Binghe scrambled away to locate, presumably, buns. Shen Yuan called after him, “And meet at the gates!”

‘Hope he heard,’

Shen Yuan sighed before hopping on his sword and arcing over the bamboo forest to where the carriage was waiting. He quickly restocked the blood, just in case the carriage was low, before seating himself inside. Less than a minute later he was joined by Luo Binghe carrying a large basket of something delicious and they were off.

One they arrived, Shen Yuan helped Luo Binghe out of the carriage (Not that he needed help, but they both used the basket as an excuse for lack of balance).

“Come on, it’s this way,” Shen Yuan’s voice was a semitone higher than it really ought to be, and Luo Binghe felt a warmth blossom in his chest seeing his Shizun so obviously happy.

“Shizun!” he couldn’t help but cry, “Shizun looks so happy!”

“Of course I’m happy! We’re getting new students today!” Shen Yuan tried very hard to calm himself and return to that serene state of I’m-nice-but-I-don’t-give-a-fuckery. Resigned to failing at this however, he sighed and put up his fan.

‘Calm yo farm, calm yo farm’ he chanted to himself.

“Right, Binghe! I expect you to be on your best behaviour today!”

“Right!”

“This means: Laughter is encouraged! Smiling is compulsory! And friendliness is expected! The disciples of Qing Jing are kind, welcoming and nice people!”

“Yes Shizun!”

“And Binghe? Obedience,”

“Always Shizun!”

‘This was not true. This was, in fact, a lie,’

[Please don’t narrate, it confuses the editors]

‘Sorry,’

[Target incoming]

“Ah! Shang Qinghua. You’re early. Weird,” Shen Yuan turned and smiled at his friend, fan closing and resting in his hands, “You never got to meet my disciple, did you?”

“You mean… This is Luo Binghe?” Shang Qinghua stared at the boy, a slow smile spreading across his face. This was his son! His baby! His creation!

“Greetings Peak Lord Shang,” Luo Binghe smiled angelically and bowed and Shang Qinghua’s heart melted, suddenly feeling regret for all the shit he pulled writing PIDW.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Luo Binghe. Your Shizun has told me much about you,” Shang QInghua bowed in return.

‘SHIZUN TOLD HIS FRIENDS ABOUT ME OH-MY-GOD-WHAT-DO-I-DO?’ Luo Binghe barely restrained the scream, instead offering a gentle, “Would you like a bun Shishu? I made them myself,”

“I… would love one,” Shang Qinghua nodded, dramatic tears pooling in the corner of his eyes, though it didn’t go unnoticed that Luo Binghe handed the first bun to Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan fluffed his hair gently and gave him a fond look before biting into the bun. He let out a soft sound of bliss before dragging his disciple closer for a one-armed hug, “Mn! Binghe, you’ve outdone yourself again! Don’t you think?”

“Holy shit you…re right,” Shang Qinghua snapped out of whatever trance he had been in that time and took a bite of his bun, “Bloody hell you’re right! Jeeze bro, you eat like this all the time?”

“Mn. We eat like kings,” Shen Yuan agreed.

Luo Binghe flushed at the praise but beamed up at his Shizun. He had been so affectionate today he wasn’t sure his heart could take much more, but if he was destined to meet his end at the hands of his Shizun, he was more than willing. That is not to say that his Shizun was rarely physically affectionate – every disciple had been hugged at least five times since ‘the incident’.

But twice in an hour? That was pushing Luo Binghe’s ‘Shizun is Amazing’ meter and he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

“Thank you Shizun! This disciple is unworthy of such praise!” he bowed, a little manically, then handed his Shizun the basket, “This disciple would like to explore a little, is that alright?”

“Of course, I’ll take care of these,” Shen Yuan nodded and smiled and Luo Binghe raced away. Shen Yuan waited thirty seconds after he was out of sight before stripping his outer robes, much to the horror of Shang Qinghua, and hiding them with his sword and the basket in his qiankun pouch.

“Bro what the fuck?”

“Mysterious Saviour,” Shen Yuan answered, tugging his hair loose from its pins and putting them with his robes, “Plot 101 says he has to show up here. Something’s going to wrong, you see. Cover for me? Should only take… better not finish that sentence or I’ll jinx it. If anyone asks, I’ve flown back to my peak because I snapped my fan and I needed a new one. Or I forgot the water canisters. Something like that,”

“Got it bro. That’s actually a pretty solid plan. And hey, if there’s one thing I can do it’s bullshit excuses,” Shang Qinghua grimaced, “God I hope I didn’t jinx myself,”

“Mn,” Shen Yuan secured the mask to his face with the ribbons and a bit of cleverly applied qi. He waved to his friend before ninja-ing away to follow his disciple.

Luo Binghe hadn’t really gone all that far. The hole-digging arena…? The valley where hopefuls dug holes? The place. The place was situated a short distance from the base of Qiong Ding. There were no barriers to deter monsters, but demons didn’t tend to frequent the area, so it was relatively safe. There were dozens of disciples scattered throughout the forest as an alarm system and plenty of elder disciples guarding the perimeter, so nobody was in any real danger.

Unless they wore a protagonist halo, in which case, walking off on your own is tantamount to suicide, except you’ll inevitably be saved or fight your way out of it…

However, in the three minutes it had taken for Shen Yuan to track him down, only a few hundred meters from where he started, Luo Binghe had gotten himself in trouble.

His disciple stood back to back with Sha Hualing, surrounded on all sides by demons.

“Look, we don’t want to fight,” Luo Binghe called firmly, “If it’s food your after, there are buns—”

“YOU,” A spiky looking demon growled, “MISS SHA DOES NOT BELONG WITH YOUR KIND,”

“But I’m a demon though,” Luo Binghe muttered, and Sha Hualing choked out a laugh.

“Leave, all of you!” Sha Hualing shouted, “I am staying in this sect!”

“THEN MISS SHA HAS BETRAYED US!” the Spiky demon roared, and the various lesser demons encircling the two began closing in.

Sha Hualing had out her whip and downed a few and Luo Binghe managed a few spiritual attacks, but against such numbers, they were quickly losing.

Shen Yuan burst into action, leaping high over the demons and into the centre of the circle. He flung seeds in all directions then sent spiritual energy into them. They buried themselves and after a second grew into vines that wrapped around the encroaching demons. But the vines were weak and straining against them so he didn’t have long.

He grabbed both disciples and pushed them out of the circle. He gave Luo Binghe a brief wave and motioned for him to run. A second’s hesitation and they did, racing away into the forest.

Throwing down a smoke bomb, Shen Yuan escaped as well, hopping on his sword and flying low and discrete through the forest as quickly as he could, changing clothes as he did so, barely adjusting his head-piece before bursting out of the thicket in front of a stunned Shang Qinghua.

Less that a second later, Luo Binghe and Sha Hualing rounded the corner looking worse for wear.

“SHIZUN!” Luo Binghe shouted, and Shen Yuan hopped on his sword and raced over.

They ran by his side, leading him to the demons.

“What happened?” he asked urgently.

“My underling attacked us! I promise I wasn’t trying anything, he was angry I was joining the sect!” Sha Hualing explained frantically.

“Alright. How many?”

“About thirty,” Luo Binghe answered.

“Alright. You two are back-up,” mid-flight Shen Yuan drew two unstrung bows from his pouch, “Run off energy, aim and fire,”

He tossed them over, seeing the demons a few feet away.

“Stay in the trees!” he called.

The vines snapped just as he entered the circle of demons and he set them alight. A few of the lesser demons caught fire and promptly burnt to ash. Luo Binghe, who had figured out how his bow worked, was picking away at a thick-skinned frog-thing with blue spiritual arrows, while Sha Hualing had managed a demonic adaptation, something he had overlooked, and had begun shooting red arrows at an evil-looking snake-thing that was sneaking around the perimeter.

Shen Yuan calmed himself and went still for a moment, drawing up the beat of fighting in his head. He tapped his foot along to the first beat then moved. Three wolf demons lunged at him from three directions and he flashed his sword. They fell.

More from the right and he twisted, jumping over a claw and slicing down. Now from the left, he spun and redirected a tail, removed it, then finished that particular demon.

Ten left and six approach head on, four sneaking behind him. Shen Yuan dealt with the closer two with a swipe of his sword and the further ones with a quick strum of his guqin, materialised only long enough for the one note before misting itself away.

He spun, palms glowing green, and caught a bull-man’s fist, drawing the punch to the side and swinging his legs up above his horns and landing on the nape of his neck heavily, driving his sword directly down and severing his spine. The last three fell to a hail of arrows and Shen Yuan walked down the bull man’s back as he collapsed, hopping off his tail gracefully and sheathing his sword.

“Excellent job you two! How are we going for time?”

“Twenty minutes Shizun!” Luo Binghe called, grinning down at him, before paling drastically “DUCK!”

Shen Yuan didn’t even bother with the sword. He had studied spiky demons like this one, the only demon still standing. The real danger was in the poison coating the armour’s spikes.

He sighed and spun elegantly, opening his fan and guiding the sword away from his back smoothly.

He had trained for countless hours to master the sword, but when it came down to it, spiritual manipulation was pretty simple to not fuck up. The guqin, similarly, only really worked if you did it right, so there was no danger in it. However, the months of effort put into those two had nothing on the monumental struggle that was his fucking fan.

There was no way the original didn’t use his fan like this. Bitch wouldn’t teach him, but there was no doubt in his mind he could use it.

And at long last, it was time for him to show off.

His fan, reinforced with iron and spirit paper and layers of spells and arrays, was the most badass thing he owned. Xiu Ya came close, but this fan was his baby.

And so when the spiky demon’s sword came curving up, Shen Yuan could only smile as he blocked the strike with a bat of his fan. Suddenly, everything seemed to speed up. The sword was glowing and flashing and his fan was a smooth, aesthetically pleasing blur as he calmly twisted and turned it to redirect or block any strikes.

But Shen Yuan wasn’t an idiot, so while all of this was going on, he had, in fact, drawn Xiu Ya. The idiocy halo had almost gotten him at the start of the fight, but he snapped out of it in time.

He blocked the final strike then flung himself back as the spiky demon collapsed, sword buried in its skull.

And because the idiocy halo was no longer affecting him, he immediately shouted, “Get back!”

He and his disciples immediately moved far out of range and Shen Yuan drew up Xiu Ya and his fan millimeters from his face, layered behind each other for protections. Sure enough, in a post mortem burst of effort, the demon had extended a spike with its dying though. The spike stopped just before grazing Xiu Ya.

There was no way in HELL that Shen Yuan was losing his qi. No Fucking Way.

[-_-]

‘Ha’

[F***]

‘I am not going down so easily you conniving piece of shit!’

[How did host know?]

‘I was getting too good. Something bad had to happen. Plot. But you do not get to take this from me. I am healthy for the first time in my entire fuckin life and I am staying that way,’

[…]

[System understands]

[System apologises]

‘Good. I just fought demons and won. I-WANNA-SCREAM-I-FOUGHT-MY-FIRST-DEMONS-AND-I-FUCKING-WON!’

“Holy shit,” Sha Hualing had dropped to the forest floor and was staring at him in awe, “Holy shit,”

“Shizun,” Luo Binghe trembled, “You… Shizun,”

‘Me Shizun, you disciple,’

Shen Yuan smiled, and instead of snarking, ruffled both their hair, “Binghe, you have spare robes with you, right?”

“Yes Shizun!” he managed.

“Go get changed,”

“Right away Shizun!”

“Ah, Hualing,” Shen Yuan grimaced at the tatters of her outfit. He withdrew a set of disciple robes from his pouch, always carrying spares, and tossed it over.

“These…”

“They’re clean, and they adjust to your size. Go clean yourself up,” he said.

She held the green cloth almost reverently and nodded fervently, before a mischievous spark lit in her eyes, “You too Shizun. You have leaves in your hair,”

“Ooft,” Shen Yuan couldn’t withhold the long-time reflex and pulled a comb from his pouch, “Join Binghe and I when you’re ready,”

“Will do,” she grinned and ran off in the same direction as Luo Binghe.

Shen Yuan tiredly seated himself on his sword and lazily flew over the forest back to where he had been speaking with Shang Qinghua.

Shang Qinghua emerged from the forest a minute after he landed.

“Holy shit bro that was badass!” he exclaimed upon seeing Shen Yuan lazing on his sword.

“You were watching?”

“Bro. Demons are fucking loud. And you came flying out of the forest like a mad-man before racing off under a different identity. As if I’m not gonna follow to see what’s up,” Shang Qinghua scoffed, “And what is up!? That was the best fight scene I’ve ever watched!”

“Thanks bro,” Shen Yuan smiled genuinely, “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to do something like that.

“Was that Sha Hualing by the way?” Shang Qinghua realised as he asked the question, “Because of the red. She was wearing a lot more than I thought…”

“She’s seventeen,”

“Right, now I remember, she was wearing a sensible shirt, knee length pants, and—”

Shen Yuan hit him over the head with his fan.

“I deserved that,”

“But yes. That was her,”

“And those bows… were they the ones with the spiritual energy strings?”

“Mn. Miss Sha is very clever being able to adapt demonic energy to suit them so quickly,” Shen Yuan smiled.

“Huh,”

“Shizun!” two voices chorused, drawing near. Luo Binghe looked neat and presentable in his uniform, and Sha Hualing stood tall and proud in hers.

“Ah, you two are looking much neater! Hualing, green looks lovely on you,” Shen Yuan smiled down at them, before placing a single leaf in Sha Hualing’s hair.

She blinked in shock before laughing.

“Man,” she managed to calm her breathing, “You lot are way cooler than the rumours say, huh?”

“Depends on what the rumours say,” Shen Yuan answered.

“Most impressions of this sect, or more specifically, Qing Jing Peak, aren’t… the best. At the very least it’s described as strict and dull,” Sha Hualing plucked the leaf from her hair and carefully tucked it into her robes, “But not only is the peak lord as capable as the rumours say he isn't, but he has a sense of humour as well. I knew that endless serenity was a farce!”

“Stop it Ling-jie!” Luo Binghe scolded, “Shizun is perfect in every way!”

“Yeah, and a sense of humour is important!”

“Hmm, you’re right…”

“Children,” he quieted them with a word, “Hualing, this is my fellow peak lord, Shang Qinghua of An Ding. Qinghua, this is Sha Hualing, my newest disciple,”

They bowed and exchanged greetings.

“Hey, it’s cool to finally see some efforts towards integration,” Shang Qinghua nodded, smile friendly and honest, “I, uh, have a few friends in the demon realm who I’d like to not be attacked on sight. It’s a great thing to see,”

Sha Hualing nodded in return, “I am… also glad to be a part of such progression. I have human friends who I don’t want eaten,”

Luo Binghe did not laugh. Sha Hualing’s ears did not go pink. Shen Yuan did, however, shake his head and sigh fondly.

“Come on,” he said at last, “The trial’s beginning soon,”

As they headed off, Luo Binghe managed to convince himself to ask, “Do you have the basket of buns Shizun?”

Shen Yuan nodded and drew the basket from his pouch. The buns were still warm. Luo Binghe took the basket, leaned into the hair fluffing, and began distributing more buns to the four of them.

Sha Hualing knew for certain then that, even without the awesome facilities, revolutionary teaching, amazing peak lord and friendly disciples, she would totally stay on Qing Jing for the food.

Chapter Text

> Bro, Liu Qingge is staring at you <

The alert popped up quite suddenly.

‘There’s a chat function,’

[Chat Function Unlocked]

[Yep. Chat function]

[It started downloading in DAS12 upon contact with power source]

‘Imma take a wild guess that DAS12 is Qinghua, and the power source is Binghe,’

[Almost]

‘DAS12 is Qinghua’s system then,’

[Correct]

‘Please tell me it doesn’t stand for something stupid like ‘Dumb Author System 12’ or something,’

[Host… QnQ]

‘Oh bugger me, it is, isn’t it?’

[Yes. It is. This system is SVSSS8]

‘Alright, last ‘s’ is system, ‘v’ is very obviously-vendetta-no-it’s-villain-don’t-be-silly, Original was the Scum Villain… other two ‘s’s…’

[Does host want a clue?]

‘Sure,’

[What is host doing currently?]

‘Scouting for new recruits for the survey corps-no-this-isn’t-snk-fanfiction-and-it’s-never-the-literal-answer-until-it-is I am fixing the book. S…saving the book. One of the ‘s’s is a save, defs… scum villain saving… story saving? No…you can-you-up-oh. Scum villain self-saving system, right?’

[I am screenshotting this conversation and sending it to DAS12]

[Screenshot saved]

‘Aww, look he made a friend!’

[Yes. I did]

‘Aw, I’m happy for you man,’

[Thank you]

‘Now how do I reply…? Aha, I found the button!’

Shen Yuan sent.

> ;u; I don’t know bro, literally both < he got in reply.

< Should I be worried? >

> Probs <

< Christ. Alright. Imma talk to him. >

> Your funeral bro <

< Oh shut up >

‘Why am I friends with this guy?’

“Shidi, is there something on my robes?” Shen Yuan asked politely, discretely dusting off his behind and ignoring the way Shang Qinghua was wheezing from afar.

Pink-faced, Liu Qingge shook his head, “No, nothing,”

He blinked and shook his head again to clear his thoughts, “You… You’re doing something,”

“Respiring, digesting breakfast, circulating blood, standing, speaking, functioning in general, scouting for new disciples, conversing with my fellow peak lord,” Shen Yuan listed helpfully, “And I think that’s mostly it,”

Liu Qingge stared a bit more, before a strange expression, somewhere between a smile and a frown, crossed his face, “You… You’re funny, aren’t you?”

Shen Yuan considered the question carefully, “Yes,”

Liu Qingge’s expression lost some confusion and turned into some form of resigned half-smile, “Were you always like this?”

“No, this is recent,” Shen Yuan replied honestly.

“I… see…”

Shen Yuan smiled.

“See any disciples suited to Bai Zhan?” he asked, and the mistrustful glare returned. Shen Yuan took it in stride however, and continued, “Hm, you’re right, you probably shouldn’t point them out. I might just steal them,”

There was a beat of perfect silence before Liu Qingge snorted and shook his head.

“A few,” he admitted, glancing down at the hopeful disciples, all dutifully digging away. Then his eye caught on something, “Isn’t that… your disciple’s uniform?”

“Come again?” Shen Yuan was instantly on the alert.

‘Imposters? Luo Binghe being bullied? Sha Hualing being weird? …Ah. It’s Sha Hualing being weird,’

“That girl, she’s wearing your uniform. And her hole’s huge,” Liu Qingge remarked.

“Ah,” Shen Yuan sighed, “That would be Sha Hualing. She’s my exchange student. If I were to hazard a guess, she’s down there for a more authentic experience getting into a cultivation sect,”

“She’s already been accepted then?”

“Yes. This was organised at the end of last year, which is why you might not have heard of it,” Shen Yuan explained.

“There’s something off about her,” Liu Qingge murmured, “Are you completely sure the girl is who she says she is?”

“Yes,”

“Hmm… It may just be residue from wherever she was last, but I’m sensing faint traces of demonic energy coming from her,” Liu Qingge told him, “But there’s still something off about her,”

“Oh. She’s a demon,”

“Hah,”

“No. I mean it. Didn’t Yue-Shixiong mention I was taking in a demon as an exchange student?” Shen Yuan frowned, “I would have thought he’d warn the other peak lords at least…”

Liu Qingge was watching his expression carefully.

“You mean… the girl is actually a demon?” he spoke slowly, “As in, demonic energy, eats humans, from the demon realm, demon?”

“No. Demon as in demonic energy, friendly towards humans, from the demon realm,” Shen Yuan answered lightly.

“You… invited a demon to join your peak? As a disciple?” Liu Qingge was clearly struggling to wrap his head around it.

“Yes. She’s already made quite good friends with my disciples. Ning Yingying and her already seem to get along famously, and she acts like a cousin towards Luo Binghe,” Shen Yuan hid a smirk behind his fan.

“You can’t possibly be serious!” Liu Qingge shouted, drawing the attention of Yue Qingyuan, who strolled over to join them.

“What are you two on about now?” he asked, both tired and fond.

“This idiot is taking a demon as a disciple!”

“Ah, is she here already?” Yue Qingyuan smiled at Shen Yuan, who nodded. “Any trouble?”

“None,” Shen Yuan lied, “She decided she wanted to experience the disciple trials, so she’s down there digging a hole… ah, sitting in her hole. I think she’s taking a break,”

Yue Qingyuan blinked, but his smile never faltered in the face of the man masquerading as his soulmate, “I see. I’m glad to hear she’s settling in,”

“What the hell, you mean you’re fine with this!? You knew about this!?” Liu Qingge shouted.

“Yes. Shidi and I spent several hours going over the paperwork together. If I was not fine with this, I wouldn’t have gone through with the ordeal,”

Shen Yuan huffed a laugh, and Shen Jiu cackled.

“Why!?” Liu Qingge cried, glaring in frustration at the sect leader.

“I believe Shidi’s reasoning was to broker peace, and because he worried his disciple may be lonely,” Yue Qingyuan let out a small laugh of his own, before glancing over to Shang Qinghua, who immediately made himself discrete.

“Qinghua,” he called, “This is not news to you, it seems,”

“We discussed when he visited last,” Shen Yuan explained, waving over his friend.

“I didn’t realise you two were on such good terms,” Qi Qingqi, like the sneaky bitch she was, came out of nowhere to comment.

“An unlikely friendship,” Liu Qingge stared suspiciously at the hamster.

Said hamster steadied himself, “We get along better than either of us expected, I believe,”

“Indeed. We share similar senses of humour,” Shen Yuan covered the slyness in his smile with his fan.

“Shidi… is making friends,” Yue Qingyuan stated with some awe and some regret.

“It’s about time you matured,” Qi Qingqi drawled, “More importantly, that girl in your uniform, she is taken I presume?”

“Yes,” Shen Yuan laughed, hiding his nerves behind painted bamboo, “Sha Hualing is already a disciple of my peak,”

“Shame,” Qi Qingqi frowned, then sighed, “It’s about time you got a few more girls on your peak. Yingying deserves a few friends,”

“She has plenty of friends,” Shen Yuan felt oddly offended.

“Girlfriends,”

Shen Yuan courageously raised a brow.

Qi Qingqi frowned at him and he held his hands open in surrender. The exchange earned a few odd looks, but he went with it.

“But yes, I suppose you are correct. The two already get along well,”

< I would like to take this opportunity to say ‘hahaha I got best girl on my peak’, but I won’t, because, quite frankly, this woman terrifies me > Shen Yuan texted.

Shang Qinghua burst into a coughing fit.

“Are you alright Qinghua?” Shen Yuan asked concernedly, amusement obvious.

“Fine, fine,”

> Bastard <

“I can’t help but notice her incredible talent,” Qi Qingqi continued, “Are you completely sure you won’t relinquish her to me?”

“Quite sure. And even if I wanted to, she is an exchange student and obligated, legally and otherwise, to study under Qing Jing,” Shen Yuan feigned regret.

“And she’s a demon,” Liu Qingge put in, incredulity taking over from shock and anger.

“Ah. Pardon?”

“Mn. Sha Hualing is of the demon realm,” Shen Yuan smiled.

“She’s pretty friendly though,” Shang Qinghua offered nervously, “I spoke to her earlier, and she seemed pretty decent,”

“A demon?” Qi Qingqi stared for a minute before robotically drawing her sword from her waist, still sheathed thank the stars. In a sudden bout of anger, she launched an attack on Yue Qingyuan and screeched, “What the fuck!?”

“Exactly!” Liu Qingge also turned on the sect leader.

“Save him,” Shen Jiu ordered.

“Yes sir,” Shen Yuan muttered and rolled his eyes, before sending Xiu Ya forwards to block the albeit half-hearted blows.

Yue Qingyuan gave him a strange look at this. A bit sad, a bit confused, and a bit fond.

‘Oh fuck, I get it now,’

[System humbly requests Host shhhhhhhh]

“I should mention that this was entirely my idea, orchestration and organising,” Shen Yuan mentioned casually, “Shixiong here just signed the papers,”

Qi Qingqi immediately rounded on him, “Why? What possessed you? Are you still possessed? Blink if you can hear me!”

“I am not possessed, I have never been possessed,” so far as he knows, “And I can hear you just fine. As for the why… I believe our Sect Leader mentioned before why. To broker peace, and to stop my disciple feeling lonely,”

“You mean you brought a demon into our sect just to give Ning Yingying a friend!?”

“No, she has friends. This was to build a peace agreement with the demon realm, and introduce a positive role model for Luo Binghe, my youngest disciple,” Shen Yuan folded his fan with a sharp snap, “Now, I believe that time is up and I spy approximately six disciples that I would like to take into Qing Jing. All in favour say Aye. Aye. All against say nay. Good. No objections then,”

‘Fuck this shit I’m out,’

Shen Yuan bowed to each of his fellow peak lords except Shang Qinghua then hopped backwards onto the stone railing, Xiu Ya already drawn zipping behind him, before jumping back over the Cliffside, and landing squarely on his sword.

Seeing that Sha Hualing was content to continue digging, Shen Yuan continued over the children, carefully observing not just their holes but the way they stood by them, all nervous and hopeful. There were certain points to their countenance that he would note, all of which were mentioned in various Xianxia novels he’d read, so he knew he could trust them.

The few who’d dug their shovels into the ground upright would likely be best suited to Bai Zhan, most of the girls would be going to Xian Shu, the trio who’d returned their shovels to the stands would likely be headed to Wan Jian. The ones with holes wider than deep would go to Qian Cao provided they passed a separate test later on, while Zui Xian favoured the narrow but deep holes. Ku Xing was kinda irrelevant, not that Zui Xian and Wan Jian weren’t also irrelevant (and An Ding, but Shen Yuan was morally obligated to deny that now), but they would take the students who left their shovels, or were still standing in, their holes. Qiong Ding would take the overall biggest holes, and average test-takers, while Qing Jing didn’t tend to care much for the hole, just the written portion… is how things were done in the past.

No. Shen Yuan would take whatever disciples he damn well pleased.

Which was how a pair of twin girls, about fifteen, were sent to join Sha Hualing, followed by a maybe sixteen year old boy and a fourteen year old boy. There was nothing particularly special about their holes or the way they discarded their shovels. Indeed, there were no exceptional disciple hopefuls at all this year, but the four he chose did stand out in one way.

They were each exhausted and looking proud.

And so they were perfect. It didn’t matter what they already knew, knowledge was learned and they each had the capacity for it. Likewise, it didn’t really matter how much natural spiritual energy they possessed because they were here to cultivate. Sure those with larger natural reserves of qi had an advantage, but these four had the drive to work themselves tired just digging a hole and so Shen Yuan knew they would work hard on his peak.

It was when Shen Yuan approached the end of the line of children that he found himself stifling giggles.

A boy no more than twelve and far too young to be joining any sect, who had clearly snuck in with the other disciples without notice, had dug only a shallow hole before jamming his shovel right into the centre of it. There were indents in the soil where he’d shimmied the instrument back and forth to get it to go deeper and he had managed to get it in almost halfway. It wasn’t exactly an impressive feat, but it was ingenious.

The test never specified how wide your hole had to be, and technically, the kid had dug pretty deep.

The kid was looking tired and staring up at him resolutely as if daring him to comment on it.

“Man, I like you already kid,” Shen Yuan attempted to constrain his laughter, “How old are you?”

“Fourteen,” the boy lied convincingly.

“I see. Well, you certainly have the required snark… Come on, let’s regroup,” Shen Yuan circled around on his sword and began heading back to the cliff, “Or would you rather spend the next half hour trying to remove the spade from the ground?”

The boy stared at him a moment longer before following.

As Shen Yuan approached the cliff, he noticed his martial siblings had also descended to browse for disciples and that Qi Qingqi was glaring rather murderously in his direction. They locked eyes and she pointed at the twin girls sitting at the top of Sha Hualing’s hole and Shen Yuan couldn’t help but smile.

“You know,” he spoke generally as he approached, “There is a famous saying known well on my peak, ‘First in, best dressed’, sometimes said as ‘The early bird gets the worm’ or my favourite iteration, ‘Too slow you lose your go’,”

“Shen Qingqiu,” she fumed, “You will pay for this,”

“Oh I am aware and it is totally worth it,” he smiled back and Qi Qingqi couldn’t help but shake her head wryly and fly away.

“Hualing,” Shen Yuan called, arriving at the edge of the hole, “It’s time to go. You realise that you’d be disqualified if you continued digging if you weren’t already a member of the sect,”

“Oh,” she frowned, leaping easily out of her veritable pit, “I didn’t know that,”

“You learn something new every day,” Shen Yuan shook his head, “Now, six is a nice round number I think, and you five look like you need a drink,”

“Desperately,” the twins chorused.

‘I hope they do that often. This could end up adorable or a nightmare, but whatever the outcome, I’m fairly sure these two were wives 212 and 213 and they were vicious,’ Shen Yuan thought in amusement.

[Host is correct]

‘As usual’

“Good. I will make it clear now that I chose you five for the effort you displayed during the task. Each of you look dead on your feet and that is exactly what earned you a place on my peak. If that wasn’t clear, you are now disciples of Qing Jing,” he paused for their quiet celebration, “So I think we should head somewhere slightly less sunny with drinks and food for introductions,”

Shen Yuan hopped off his sword then sent it hurtling up the cliff and out of sight.

“Shizun…” Sha Hualing stared at him, “What…?”

“Wait for it,” Shen Yuan folded his arms and eyed the top of the cliff.

And then his sword came streaking back, followed by the carriage as piloted invisibly by Pei Lin and visibly by Luo Binghe. The carriage circled to ease its descent, before finally touching ground a little ways off and slowing it’s momentum as it neared.

Luo Binghe hopped off, about to greet his Shizun, when he noticed the enormous hole he only barely missed crashing into.

“Ling-jie… did you…?”

“Yes. Didn’t find any treasure though,”

“Okay then,” Luo Binghe stared at the hole a little longer before blinking and bowing to his teacher, “Shizun!”

“Ah, disciples, this is one of your martial brothers. I hope you get along well,” Shen Yuan fluffed Luo Binghe’s hair, “But we’ll save introductions for in a little while. For now, rest in the carriage,”

Luo Binghe directed the six new disciples into the carriage, which they seemed to accept as flying with little protest, and they all made themselves comfortable in silence. The twins seemed to be whispering to each other quietly, while the two older boys were staring out the windows and trying not to look at Sha Hualing. Meanwhile, the demoness and the clever boy were having a stare-off, nothing hostile but not exactly friendly.

The six felt a little panic once the carriage took off, Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan in the drivers seat, but once they were in the air, Shen Yuan could hear a little laughter from inside, so he knew he hadn’t scared them too badly.

It felt like no time had passed at all by the time they arrived in Qing Jing. The carriage set down gently by the entrance, and once the disciples were herded out of it, Luo Binghe took it to the stables to unsaddle the horses. He made record time, as expected of the protagonist, and caught up to the group as they neared the music pavilion.

“Oh, oh!” Sha Hualing bounced a bit as she realised where they were, “I know this place! Oh you lot are gonna love it!”

And then Shen Yuan unnecessarily dramatically opened the staircase and the youngest of them screeched. He glanced back at the group and smiled lightly, “This way,”

Shen Yuan nearly cackled at the dubious looks he received, but he felt that it may be a little too far.

And so he tried to make the short descent seem as unintimidating as possible.

And so the disciples discovered the concert hall and lost their collective minds.

Needless to say it took a bit for the five new disciples to calm down.

But eventually Shen Yuan had them up on the stage, their surroundings appropriately explained to them, all sitting in a circle drinking iced lemony beverages which really shouldn’t exist in ancient china, joined by Shen Yuan’s other disciples. Shen Yuan took one moment to question whether he’ll be able to control and teach so many kids, before drawing upon the serenity he’d come to rely on and smiling.

“Alright, introductions are long since overdue. I will go first and we’ll go around the circle. Introduce yourself by stating your name, age, and why you wanted to join a cultivation sect,” Shen Yuan began, “For example, my name is Shen Qingqiu, I am the peak lord of Qing Jing, and I am not as old as I look. I initially joined this sect because they told me not to. Your turn,”

“Yes Shizun! My name is Luo Binghe,” because who else would be sitting next to him? “I am fifteen and a half demon. I joined the sect because I felt that it was what I wanted to do!”

“My name is Fang Li, I’m fourteen, and I wanted to join a sect because my sister said she wanted to,” the girl next to Luo Binghe smiled shyly.

“My name is Fang Yan, I’m fourteen and I wanted to join a sect because my sister said she wanted to,” her twin frowned.

The two girls stared at each other for a moment before speaking in unison, “Huh,”

Shen Yuan and a few disciples huffed out laughs.

“My name is Chu Fong, I’m sixteen and I like fishing. I wanted to join Cang Qiong mountain sect because I heard rumours of a library, and I love reading,” one of the new boys said proudly.

“Ah, you’ll be pleased to learn the rumours are true, and the library is located about one hundred meters to your left,” Shen Yuan smiled, “You’ll all get a chance to see it later. Moving on, you. Introduce yourself,”

“My name is Ma Dong,” his disciple grinned, having inserted himself into the circle to get closer to the clever boy, “I am seventeen, but I look twenty. I’m seventeen. I promise. I’m not an old man. I joined the sect because my cousins introduced me to cultivation when I was young, and when they joined a different peak, I wanted to join the sect, but not the same as them, because that would be copying them, and they’re kinda dumb. Also, I’m a cutsleeve and you don’t really look fourteen, but you’re cute as button,”

The last portion was aimed at the shell-shocked disciple beside him. Then Ma Dong winked and the smaller boy managed to collect himself enough to roll his eyes.

“Yo, my name’s Mo Xuanyu, I’m fourteen, and I joined the sect because my… kinda brother told me to, and I already know a little cultivation because my dad’s a piece of shit,” the kid huffed.

“A valid reason as any,” Shen Yuan allowed.

‘I know that name. Holy shit,’

“Um… Shizun,” Mo Xuanyu asked hesitantly, “A-are… are cutsleeves really accepted here?”

“Duh, did you miss my introduction?” Ma Dong nudged the boy playfully.

“Ah, perhaps I should mention quickly, yes. The disciples of this peak will accept you no matter who you are, demon, cutsleeve, all sorts. So don’t be afraid to be who you are. You can’t help how you were born,” Shen Yuan grinned individually at all of his new disciples, “I’d be a bit of a hypocrite if I didn’t accept cutsleeves, so please rest assured that you will be accepted here no matter who you are,”

The boy stared up at him for a beat before pulling out two small jars from his robes, and with a speed and precision that comes from years of practise, smears the contents of both across his face. In less than a minute his skin was painted white, around his eyes and down to his cheeks a dusty red.

He put away the cosmetics and sat back a little, looking far more comfortable.

There was silence.

Mo Xuanyu looked up at Ma Dong, unimpressed with his staring, “What?”

He burst into laughter, completely relieving the tension in the room, “You’re so freaking cute I just can’t handle it, my heart!”

‘Holy shit. It really is him,’

Needless to say it took a while for the room to quiet. There was a peaceful silence for a minute before it was broken by the newly resident demoness.

“Okay, my turn. My name is Sha Hualing and I’m a demoness here from the demon realm on an exchange program for the year! I’ve already learned a fair bit about demonic cultivation, so I’m excited to learn about and adapt spiritual techniques to use with demonic qi! Also, I like the colour red!”

And so it continued.

Chapter Text

“So, bro,”

“What did you do?”

“Why do you always think I’ve done something!?”

“Obvious reasons, what is it?”

“So, I may have done something,”

“Fucks sake,”

“It’s not bad per se, but, ah, well, you see…” Shang Qinghua sighed and cleared his throat, “My King has sent a letter, addressed to you, on the topic of… what you’ve done,”

“Is that Airplane-talk for ‘I told Mobei-Jun that my fellow peak lord is organising a revolution involving the takeover of the southern demon tribes and has already begun recruiting demons and small children’?” Shen Yuan spoke through his teeth and gripped his fan tight.

“No, no,” he paused, “Well, more like ‘My fellow peak lord decided to adopt a demon to add to his growing collection’ actually. You’re doing what?”

“Not important. So he wants to talk about Sha Hualing?”

“Talk is… a strong word…”

“Oh hell,” Shen Yuan’s anger drained momentarily, “Any chance of peace negotiations being on the table and preferably for discussion, not in the way that ‘it’s technically peace if they’re dead’?”

“I may have mentioned Tianlang-Jun’s successor…”

“I’ll take that as a definite probs-not,” Shen Yuan cursed, then cursed again for emphasis, “Alright. Hand it over,”

Shang Qinghua silently passed him a scroll.

“Alright, let’s see here,” Shen Yuan opened it and began to read, “To the peak lord of Qing Jing… very polite… concerns over potential uprising… being a king is hard… viable succession… hamsters… brainwashing Hualing… death threats… ah, here we go. So, he wants to meet,”

“You sound cheery in the way that means I’m in trouble,”

“You are. He wants to meet at his palace. The one in the demon realm specifically. He says to bring disciples. I think that bit was a threat. He wants to talk, which is good. There are implications that it will be a non-aggressive meeting but that if he doesn’t like the outcomes my and my disciple’s lives will be forfeit. He mentions that he’s only allowing this because I’m friends with his hamster, which is the only reason why I haven’t hit you,”

“Bro…” Shang Qinghua was touched.

“This may change,”

“Bro… Please,” he leaned away from the threatening fan, poking it away with his finger, “Did he mention a date?”

“Two months,”

“Oddly considerate of him…” Shang Qinghua murmured, “Alright then, that doesn’t sound too bad. I was expecting way worse,”

“He is your love interest,” Shen Yuan smiled, finally taking the opportunity to take a bite of a bun.

“Bro, he’s not, I swear,”

“You wrote him as your ideal man, including underlying sexual tension between the two of you—”

“I don’t want him to be my love interest!”

“And the plot thickens,” Shen Yuan tilted his head and spread his fan, watching his friends expression carefully over the top.

“Look, call me romantic but I don’t want My King to like me only because I wrote it so! Yeah I like him, he’s hot, he’s cold, he’s an amazing ruler, he’s fair, he’s honest and he’s way more gentle than he has to be but I wrote him! I invented a character perfect for me, meeting every ideal, but how can I say that he really likes me at all if I’m the one who made it so! Isn’t it all a lie?” Shang Qinghua shouted, unwanted emotions clogging his throat, “I want someone to love me of their own volition,”

“You wrote Sha Hualing as a bitch,” Shen Yuan snapped his fan shut.

“I don’t see… what?”

“She isn’t. She’s pretty cool actually. She met Mingyan last week and they get along famously, and she’s really good with the new disciples. She’s polite when she has to be, respectful and remarkably considerate of others. Likewise, Liu Qingge doesn’t seem to hate me with the burning passion you mentioned in the original. Ning Yingying is strong and capable and confident,”

“Yes, but how does that—”

“The characters are off script. Why did OG Ice King like you in the original?”

“Well, you see I had this whole backstory planned out where Shang Qinghua saved him when they were both younger after an assassination attempt by his uncle only for him to return a year later to repay the favour and Qinghua, being the lonely weeb he is, requested nothing but friendship which led to him becoming a spy and working under Mobei-Jun because he wanted to be in his service as first and only friend and didn’t really know how to act around friends and—”

“Did you rescue Mobei-Jun?”

“I… Yes. But he didn’t offer anything in response which was the key indicator that he held any positive feelings towards me but he still acts like he should which he only would if he did!” Shang Qinghua protested, “Which means that he’s only acting as his character should!”

“What was the original line?”

“Huh?”

“Butterfly effect. Probably something small. In the drafts, when Shang Qinghua saved Mobei-Jun, what was the exact dialogue?”

“Ah… ‘You will be rewarded’ and then ‘Haha, yes, reward me greatly’ in jest,”

“And what did you actually say?”

“It was… I don’t… oh fuck,”

“There it is,”

“I think I said ‘No need, no need,’”

“And,”

“Potentially also ‘That’s what friends are for’. Because I forgot,”

“Yeah. Told ya,”

“But… Hah, I know! Even though the events changed a little, it wasn’t enough to change the plot or character development! How do you know he’s only nice to me because the initial requirements were met?”

“I don’t. But you were the one who met the requirements, right? You saw an injured demon and thought ‘Oh shit I should do something’, and then you, classic airplane that you are, blurted out the first cheesy line that came to mind. Can you see where I’m going from here?”

“Yes… yes. Fuck. Yes!”

Shen Yuan wasn’t quite sure how Airplane could shift between sad, confused, horrified and happy in four words, but it was almost impressive how quickly he bounced back.

“You’re right! It isn’t… it’s not a lie! My King might actually like me for real!” Shang Qinghua slammed down his tea, grabbed a bun, jumped up and moved to the door, “Thanks Cucumber-bro! You’re the best!”

“You cheated, is what you did,” Shen Yuan went unheard as Shang Qinghua raced away, “You changed the topic so I would forget to hit you. That’s illegal,”

“Alarmingly slippery that one,” Shen Jiu agreed, “You’d never suspect it, looking at him. But he’s a damn good liar,”

“It’s ridiculous, I know,”

“More importantly, however, is you going to the demon realm. By which I mean, you’re not going to the demon realm,” Shen Jiu stated firmly.

“I am though,”

“You’re not,” Shen Jiu frowned, “Do you have any idea how dangerous that would be?”

“I mean, it isn’t as if I’ve fought off a demon hoard before or anything,” Shen Yuan huffed, “I want to go anyway. It will be a valuable learning experience for the children,”

“Let me just take a second to process you of all people advocating the endangerment of your disciples,” Shen Jiu glared, “Oh wait, you would never, so what’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing,”

“Liar,”

“Am not,”

“Are too, no, not going to argue. What is it,” Shen Jiu’s glare softened marginally, “It isn’t like I can tell anyone,”

Shen Yuan was quiet a moment before he sighed, “Mobei-Jun. King of the Northern Demon clan. He’s strong enough to give a heavenly demon a run for his money. If I don’t go, he’ll take it as an insult and come after me. If I do go, I’m endangering not only my life, but the lives of the disciples left behind if I die. If I’m right about this, then Mobei-Jun just wants to make sure any demons on my peak are cared for. He’s a good king, cares about his people. It is likely that he also wants to ensure the successor to the Southern Tribes would be amenable to peace. The only reason full on war hasn’t broken out in the demon realm between tribes is because of him keeping the peace,”

“More of this future knowledge of yours?”

“Mn,”

“Great,” the ghost sat/floated on the cushion beside him and hesitantly extended a hand to rub through his shoulder, “So how do you feel about this? Single word answers,”

“Scared. Worried. Panicked,”

“Single sentences now, why do you feel each of those?”

“I don’t want anyone to die. Things could go very, very wrong, very, very quickly if I make the slightest mistake. I’m trapped between two rocks and three very hard places and there isn’t a safe method of escape,” Shen Yuan leaned ineffectively into the touch.

“And why do you feel all of those? What is at the heart of this problem?”

“I’ve made myself a home but I don’t think I’m strong enough to keep it,” Shen Yuan spoke quietly, hands folded over his fan, perfectly still but for the slide of hair down his back.

“Now, if I were you, I’d say fuck home, it doesn’t really matter anyway, it’s fine so long as I can escape. But for you… Look, It’s alright to be scared and to want to protect what you have. If it was Qi-ge… I don’t know what I’d do. So do what you can. The Northern Realm is cold, right?”

“‘Planes of ice as far as the eye could see and mountains as vast and white as…’” Shen Yuan trailed off.

‘As vast and white as Liu Mingyan’s breasts, is how that sentence ended. System, it has occurred to me that perhaps this book is irredeemable,’

[It is a bit much at times]

“Yeah, cold,” Shen Yuan finished.

“So, how will you and your disciples fare against that?”

“Heating charms, blankets, thick clothing,”

“So start by teaching them that. How to survive in the environment itself. What else is there?”

“The demons. Not just in the courts. They’ll need to learn fast,”

“They can do it,” Shen Jiu shrugged.

“Not like you to have faith in them,” Shen Yuan muttered.

“Not like you to not,” Shen Jiu shot back, “And I don’t. I stand by the opinion that they are useless sheeplings who can barely hold a sword without you supporting the other end. But if I must have faith, it is in you,”

Shen Yuan stared up at him, a warm smile growing on his face.

“Oh,” he said softly, “It’s lambs. Not sheeplings,”

“Shut up,”

“Sure thing Jiu-ge,”

“For fucks sake Yuan-mei, see if I ever try to help you again,” Shen Jiu huffed, ready to float away.

“Thank you,” Shen Yuan whispered, just before he could.

It took Shen Jiu a second to realise he was being wrapped in a mockery of a hug, but less than that to reciprocate.

“Yeah yeah,” he sighed, expression a strange mix of concentration and confusion.

They stayed like that for a while.

“So you know what you’re going to do?” Shen Jiu asked quietly at last.

“Mn. I’m going to do as I always do. Teach.”

“Good. Now get your disciples and prepare,”

Shen Yuan stood and nodded. He took a deep breath to steady himself then left his office. He almost missed the small smile Shen Jiu allowed himself, for once not hiding it behind his ghost fan.

He put his shoulder back, straightened his spine, tilted his chin up and walked with intent all the way to the concert hall where he unveiled the gong and went to town, striking it as loudly as he could.

It took minutes for the sect to assemble in the hall, lined up neatly by height and standing straight and at attention.

He quickly counted their numbers, five by five, Ning Yingying standing to the side of them. He stayed quiet as he looked at them, not quite sure how to start.

“Shizun?” Ning Yingying looked up at him questioningly.

“There has been… a change in plans,” he spoke slowly, “We have received an… invitation for two months time,”

He breathed deep and stood tall, “In two months, we will be heading to the Northern Demon Realm at Mobei-Jun’s request for… preliminary peace talks.

Sha Hualing burst into a brief fit of coughs before crying, “Shizun! That’s…”

“Dangerous, terrifying, objectively amazing, sudden and confusing?” Shen Yuan asked, “Yes. All of those and more. And so we will have to change up the curriculum a tad. From now on. we will be implementing compulsory, whole peak survival lessons and hopefully move up the sword claiming date for as many of you as we can. The Northern Realm is cold, unwelcoming and very obviously a part of the demon realm. You will all be in incredible danger the minute you cross the borders. However, we will take this on board as a learning experience. If you work hard and follow any rules I set, you will all be perfectly safe. Now, questions?”

Luo Binghe shot up his hand.

“Go ahead,”

“When you said the sword claiming date would be moved up…”

“Yes. Everyone who’s formed a golden core will be immediately sent to Wang Shu Peak to draw their sword. We usually wait until the age of maturity to minimise the risk of physical injury resulting from the sword itself, but once a golden core is fully formed, there are no spiritual repercussions. So, aside from the newest of you, all of you will be receiving your swords within the week. Flying lessons begin next Monday,” Shen Yuan sighed and sat on the edge of the stage. His disciples were on edge, their worry plain as day, so he leaned back and complained, “Ai-yah. I’ll have to re-write all my lesson plans, what a pain!”

Like magic, his disciples relaxed, their shoulders slumping somewhat and smiles returning to their faces.

“So, surprise general knowledge quiz. Can anyone tell me about the lord Mobei-Jun?” Shen Yuan claps and rubs his hands together, “Yes Hualing?”

“He’s the King of the Northern Demon Tribe for one, personality’s fairly cold and frigid but he’s a damn good politician. I met him once when he was visiting the South to meet my father and the other officials to discuss ongoing trade and he definitely looked like he knew his stuff. He’s bluish and everything he touches is cold for hours after, and he’s the only higher-demon I’ve ever known to bear horns. He ascended the throne at a very young age, about fifteen years ago, and is basically the one holding the demon realm together,” she answered confidently.

“Excellent. Next question! Can anyone tell me about the northern realm itself? Yanfen?”

“From what I’ve read it’s mostly glacial with evergreen forests littered throughout. In the summer there are only a few places that thaw even marginally, so the environment is largely inhospitable all year round,”

“Wonderful. Inhabitants anyone? Gulin,”

“Little in the way of livestock and wild animals, but there are several dozen documented demonic creatures that dwell both in the forests and the glaciers, including ice-wyrms and black-toothed mountain rabbits. The upper demons themselves are hardy, cold-proof and tend to live for longer than the southern demons as they can hibernate in perfect stasis indefinitely,”

“Great. Now, perhaps one of our new disciples may know this one. What are the first few necessities when traversing a hostile and unfamiliar terrain?”

‘All of this is bullshit. We’re gonna die. I didn’t even watch that-much-Bear-Grylls-I-don’t-know-what-I’m-saying,’

“Xuanyu?”

“Water first. In cold environments you get snow, but you must be careful it hasn’t absorbed too much demonic energy. If you can boil it to purify it then you’re set, but sometimes there isn’t any dry wood so you may have to resort to other methods like talismans or something. Second is shelter. Nights are always more dangerous than days so you need to find somewhere safe to hide until sunrise,” Mo Xuanyu spoke carefully and Ma Dong fluffed his hair from behind him.

“A-yu is so smart!” he whispered.

“Good, good. We’re all on the right track. So, I’ve decided, first prerogative is survival without spiritual energy. After that we’ll work on defence. Let’s go week on week off. Yingying?” Shen Yuan turned to his head disciple.

“Yes Shizun?”

“How far through the ‘Regulation of Body’ and ‘Regulation of Environment’ books have you read?”

“I’ve completed them Shizun!”

“Good. Teach them to the disciples you think can handle them at the moment. Luo Binghe?”

“Yes Shizun!”

“Would it be wrong of me to assume you have also learned both books?”

“No Shizun! This disciple has memorised up to ‘Regulation of Others’ and can adequately perform all spells up until the start of ‘Regulation of Weaponry’,” Luo Binghe answered proudly and Shen Yuan couldn’t stop the smile even if he wanted to.

“Exceptional as always Binghe. Would you be willing to guide all disciples not under Ning Yingying’s tutelage in Body and Environment in the non-spiritual aspects of each?” Shen Yuan knew the answer.

“Of course Shizun!”

“Alright then. Yingying, I want your group performing expert heating charms by tomorrow – that means you too Ma Dong. If you find yourself unmotivated, find drive in ‘It’s bloody cold’. Better be comfortable and happy than cold and miserable,” Shen Yuan sent a sharp yet fond look to his disciple, who laughed sheepishly and finally relented fiddling with Mo Xuanyu’s hair.

“Then you have your work for this afternoon. I am afraid I must away to inform the sect leader,” Shen Yuan sighed and hopped off the stage.

“That is to say, Sect Leader Yue Qingyuan hasn’t approved of this?” Fang Yan asked quietly.

“No, he has not,”

“And yet Shizun…” Fang Li trailed off, uncertain.

“Is doing it anyway. Yes, well, he’s hardly got a choice in the matter,” Shen Yuan waved her off, “Ah, right, Xuanyu. A moment please?”

Suddenly looking worried, the boy slunk guiltily over to his side.

“Get to it,” Shen Yuan waved at the others and gestured to Mo Xuanyu to follow him up the stairs.

“Now, first order of business is that I have it on good authority that you are welcome to wear whatever cosmetics you so desire into the demon realm, though I would advise a bit of research on clan markings so as to avoid accidental decorative mishaps,” Shen Yuan bit back a laugh at the notion. His disciple didn’t bother with the restraint.

“Yes Shizun,” he laughed.

“Second order is… if something goes wrong, if your life or the lives of your fellow disciples are on the line, be it in the demon realm or in every day life, and all other methods are inapplicable, I want you to know that, provided you are certain it will not endanger you or those around you, you can utilise demonic cultivation as necessary,” Shen Yuan said softly.

‘That-was-a-fucking-mouthful,’

“Shizun…” the boy froze right at the exit of the stairs, “I don’t… I mean, demonic cultivation…”

“Can severely damage the minds of human cultivators. The energy doesn’t mingle well with our bodies and can cause deterioration of thought when one is unprotected by an especially strong golden core. I am aware,” Shen Yuan bent down on the step to look the boy in the eye, “But it is a tool like any other, and if you can wield it safely in the protection of others, then I see no problems with you using it. After all, Luo Binghe and Sha Hualing will be using similar techniques,”

“Shizun… really doesn’t mind? How did Shizun know?”

“Of course I don’t mind my disciples learning new disciplines so long as they’re safe, and about that I’d advise you speak with at least Hualing about potential protections from harm. As for how I knew… let’s just say that sorta-brother of yours… neither of you are from around here, are you?”

He shook his head slowly.

“Thought not. Seeing as you technically have the most experience out of all my disciples, know that I am trusting you with this. Now, go back down and join Binghe. Tell him I’ll be back by dinner, provided it’s a late dinner,”

“Yes Shizun!” Mo Xuanyu hesitated a moment before lunging forward and burying his face in Shen Yuan’s robes.

Shen Yuan welcomed the warmth and returned the embrace. Eventually the boy pulled back and without any prompting, bowed and ran back down the stairs.

“Wonderful,” Shen Yuan clapped.

“You really have a talent for teaching, don’t you? Funny how no one’s ever noticed it,” a voice spoke from behind him and Shen Yuan barely refrained from jumping and hitting the speaker with his fan.

As it were, his grip only tightened marginally on the wood as he turned and replied, “I did mention it was a recent thing. Perhaps I’ve finally reached enlightenment Shidi,”

“Oh yeah? Then where can I get some because my disciples are tiny, angry pieces of shit,” Liu Qingge sighed.

‘I can’t quite reply to that,’

[All options are offensive]

So Shen Yuan allowed a beat of silence before speaking up, “I’m off to visit the sect leader. Would you like to accompany me?”

“I did come over to talk,” Liu Qingge grumbled.

“Then we’ll fly slowly,” Shen Yuan flicked his fingers and Xiu Ya unsheathed itself, moving to hover before him midair. He seated himself upon it casually and began floating at a walking pace towards the door, “Coming?”

Liu Qingge nodded, watching him carefully and following on foot.

Eventually, he withdrew his own Cheng Luan and took a moment to draw his fingers over it in qi before setting it before himself and sitting upon it as his fellow peak lord did.

“Shidi is quite clever figuring that trick out so quickly,”

“Shixiong tends to forget I am the best among all the peak lords at tending to my blade,” Liu Qingge retorted, folding his arms, “And such an indignity as this is only being suffered for its practicality, so of course it’s simple to figure out,”

‘Spoken like a true haughty imouto,’

[But the dude version]

‘But the dude version,’

“Mn, Shidi truly is remarkably talented with the blade,” Shen Yuan murmured, “So what did you come to speak about?”

“A few months ago you mentioned my disciples literacy levels were subpar. I have discovered you are correct. So I came to propose an… exchange of sorts, seeing how good you are at them,” Liu Qingge couldn’t quite meet his eye, “Look, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Once a week for the rest of the year I’ll personally visit Qing Jing and help instruct your disciples in proper combat if you get my disciples reading by next selection,”

“Would you like a formal contract drawn up then?” Shen Yuan asked tiredly.

“No, just your word will suffice,”

“You’d trust it?”

“…The former sounds like effort, is all,” Liu Qingge turned a light pink.

“Very well then, it is agreed. Every Wednesday at midday sharp you will come to Qing Jing and instruct my disciples in the art of swordplay while I go to Bai Zhan and teach your disciples how to read. Deal?”

“Deal,”

“Marvellous,” Shen Yuan smiled.

The two flew in companionable silence until Qian Cao came into view and Liu Qingge bid his farewells, veering off back down the rainbow.

“Now. Onto Yue Qingyuan,”

Surprisingly, it was not Yue Qingyuan who put up the biggest fuss here. Not Qi Qingqi, not Mu Qingfang. Not even Liu Qingge kicked up as much of a stink as Pei Lin. No, from his fellow peak lords he received protest, mild anger, and definite wariness. From Pei Lin he received unbridled fury, several extremely creative curses and at least four death threats.

It wasn’t until after she’d finished screaming at him and gone off to prepare that he realised the peak had gone silent. His disciples were in their beds, as expected, but even the birds weren’t making so much as a peep. It took a minute for him to realise that the white noise of whispers and movement had stopped altogether – as if every ghost on Qing Jing was holding it’s breath.

Shen Yuan took a deep breath and knew they were all listening closely, just out of sight, maybe in the ground, but all there. It was quiet, but he didn’t feel alone.

“I know… what you’re thinking. It’s dangerous, everything could go wrong in seconds, disciples may be hurt or not come back at all. But… you’re wrong. It is dangerous, and I am taking a risk by going through with this. But we can’t just run. I’m sure you know that we’re scared. I’m scared, the disciples are scared, the entire sect is scared. But we will be prepared. We will go to the demon realm together, and we will return together. No disciples will be lost,” he hesitated, “I promise,”

“We know dear,” Wen Mai, the old peak lady, robes ethereal and white as she rose from the ground to float before you, “We are wary, but we know you would never let any harm come to those children,”

“But we worry for you,” Ling Mei floated up next to her, reflexively slotting her arm through her wife’s, “It is not just the disciples who are in danger Qingqiu, but yourself,”

“They’re right you know,” Shen Jiu spoke from behind him and Shen Yuan turned to see him cruising along through the air on his back, arms lazily propping his head up as gazed at the stars, “You aren’t usually an idiot, but that little speech of yours does make me wonder if you have some form of self-sacrificing back-up plan for if things go bad,”

“Hah, no. Nothing like that,” Shen Yuan laughed a little sheepishly, “I don’t want to die again,”

“Good. It’d break Qi-ge’s heart if he thought I’d died,”

Shen Yuan laughed louder, “Right, right. Don’t want that, do we?”

“We’re serious Qingqiu. None of us are exactly happy with your decision, but we also understand why you made it. You could choose to either go to the demon realm and risk death and a subsequent attack on the sect, or refuse the invitation and be attacked directly. As it were, you chose the wisest path,” Ling Mei smiled.

“I did have my doubts about letting a teenager run as head of strategy, but you really do pull through at times. Bringing the disciples with you to the demon realm lowers the risk of an attack on the sect although leaving it more vulnerable in the process, and heightens the chances of success in the demon realm,” Wen Mai agreed.

“Yeah, well, that’s NOT THE PROBLEM!” Pei Lin came screeching out of the bamboo, “I don’t care what he’s doing, where he’s going or the thinking behind his decisions! What I care about is HOW THE FUCK YOU PLAN ON GETTING ALL TWENTY-SIX DISCIPLES THERE AND BACK! I SURE AS HELL DON’T TRUST ANYONE PAST MYSELF TO FLY THE CARRIAGES AND WE’RE GOING TO NEED THREE OF THEM!”

“Oh,” Shen Yuan blinked, “So that’s what you were upset about,”

“That and the fact that the carriages aren’t exactly all fit for travel into the demon realm,” she grumbled.

Her grandfather slowly drifted out of the forest to float beside her, laughing as he did so, “I think you forget that I was once the head coachman for Qing Jing. The carriages may not have been used for a while, but I built them to be strong, and so they are strong. With a few touch-ups, the Northern Realm will be no trouble,” Pei Fan smiled, “Trust me,”

“You mean… you’ve been?” Pei Lin asked.

“Oh yes. Back in the day I took these carriages everywhere. I wanted to make sure they could withstand any weather and that the beasts would be comfortable in any climate,” he chuckled.

“That… certainly eliminates a few problems then,” Shen Yuan realised, “But I fear your concerns are unfounded. We will be travelling via portal,”

“Yeah, no, you’re bringing the carriages. If things go south, you’ll need a quick escape route. You can’t expect the demon lord to teleport you over, take offence, try to kill you, then offer a quick ride home,” Pei Lin frowned.

“Ah,”

‘Ah. Oh. Oops. Right. Good idea,’

“Then can we get the carriages through the portal?”

“Depends on where it’s coming out,”

“Just outside the palace, I believe,”

“Then yes,”

“Okay then,” Shen Yuan thought a minute.

‘I wonder…’

“How long would it take for a ghost to scout ahead?”

“Two days there, two days back,” Pei Fan replied.

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind-” Shen Yuan yawned.

“It is late,” Ling Mei laughed, “Get some sleep Qingqiu,”

“Right, right,” he nodded wearily, the day suddenly weighing him down.

It felt like he had so much time to prepare for the meeting, that time was moving so slowly that he could relax and ease up a little.

And yet it felt like no time had passed at all when he woke up one morning and realised ‘This is it, I’m gonna die’.

He had sent one of the ghosts a week prior to suss out the situation and report tensions and she had arrived the night before. So far, things were looking good. Tense, but not hostile.

Shen Yuan sat quietly and steeled himself. He dressed calmly, quadruple checked his bag, then sat at his table to eat. Luo Binghe had already crept in and set out a steaming breakfast and tea and he ate slowly, savouring each bite and sip. He could hear noises outside as his disciples crowded his house. He hadn’t asked them to, but they tended to take the initiative on things like this.

“Shh! Shizun’s drinking tea!” he heard faintly, followed by a low wave of laughter.

‘Good. They’re relaxed,’

[Host is calm]

‘Dying together is still together,’

[Host]

[QAQ]

‘But we’ll be fine,’

Shen Yuan finished off the last of his food and drained his cup. He stood, brushed down his robes and checked his bag once more, before sending the tray back to the kitchenette. He’d wash it when he got back.

He stood before his door, trepidation brimming, before he pushed it open and walked out smiling.

“Morning all,” he grinned, and his disciples instantly jumped into their lines.

They bowed and spoke in perfect unison, “Good Morning Shizun!”

Chapter Text

“Ah, I see your disciples are all raring to go,” a nervous voice approached from behind the disciples.

“Indeed. We’re all quite excited for this excursion,” Shen Yuan’s lips twitched up at the sight of his skittish friend.

“That’s, ah, good to see,” Shang Qinghua nodded, “Good morning Qing Jing,”

“An Ding’s peak lord?”

“Peak Lord Shang?”

“Luo Shixiong, who’s he?”

“Ah, disciples, this is my fellow peak lord, Shang Qinghua of An Ding. He’s the reason I get to teach you instead of do paperwork all day, so be grateful to him. He saves us all a lot of work,” Shen Yuan laughed.

“Bro… Bro that’s so nice of you!” Shang Qinghua sniffed and beamed happily at his friend.

“He’s also the one taking us to the demon realm,” Shen Yuan’s smile turned slightly evil as the hamster paled.

A few of his disciples gave the man the eyebrow, but aside from that there was no discussion of this little fact, letting him relax somewhat.

< Oi, it has occurred to me to ask, but does Mobei-Jun know that I know you’re a spy? >

There was no reply for a while.

> Shit bro what do I do <

< You know what, I’ll do you a favour just this once. If he asks, I’ll make something up >

> Aww, bro, you’re being so nice to me today!!!??? <

< Trying to get last minute karma points >

> Bro? <

> Bro <

“So, if everyone is packed and ready to go, then I think we can head off,” Shen Yuan nodded to himself, then snapped his fingers. From behind his hut, three carriages emerged; the one he’d usually use and two others recently-touched-up, “Yingying, you take Ma Dong, Lu Minfei, and the youngest six in carriage one. Hualing, Binghe, pick seven disciples each and go to carriages two and three respectively. I will be walking out front,”

“Yes Shizun!” The three chorused and burst into action.

Ning Yingying, Ma Dong and Lu Minfei were the strongest disciples after Luo Binghe and Hualing, so they took the most vulnerable, while the last two could easily organise groups and would work well to coordinate defensive action if necessary.

“Yingying, I don’t need to tell you that you will be keeping our young ones safe,” Shen Yuan whispered to her privately.

She seemed to glow as she replied seriously, “Of course, Shizun,”

“Good,” he smiled.

“It will be a short trip, but I still expect the best behaviour out of all of you, so what does that mean!?” he cried, disciples all lined neatly before their designated carriages, “What do we encourage on Qing Jing!?”

“Laughter!” they shouted.

“What is compulsory!?”

“Smiling!” they cheered.

“And how do we behave!?”

“With KINDNESS AND RESPECT!” they roared and Shen Yuan finally felt peace in his heart.

“Good. Now, all aboard,” he ordered, and walked to where Shang Qinghua stood, a few meters from the first carriage’s front.

“We ready then?” he asked, and Shen Yuan nodded, “Very well,”

Shang Qinghua pulled a crystal talisman from his robes and flung it hard on the ground. The stone shattered and released a pale mist that slowly began to darken and twist to form a black cloud. With a crack, lighting split it in two and formed a giant black archway of fog, big enough to fit the carriages through.

Shen Yuan gave it a look.

“Oh, yeah, it looks dubious as fuck, doesn’t it?” Shang Qinghua laughed, “It’s fine, swearsies,”

Shen Yuan stared him in the eyes then nodded. He stepped forward and Pei Fan took that as the signal to drive.

Shang Qinghua stepped to the side to allow the carriages to pass and followed after the third one to close the portal on his way through.

‘My King is so clever inventing these,’ he thought idly as the crystal reformed on the other side of the portal and flew back to his hand, ‘Recyclable teleportation crystals. Who’d ’a thunk it?’

“Woah,” he heard a whisper and turned to see his friend staring up at the ice palace, “Your husbando is fucking Elsa,”

“Yep,” Shang Qinghua admitted shamelessly, “What can I say? I was inspired,”

Shen Yuan was still staring.

“What, never seen this much ice before?”

“Hospital,”

“Shit,” he winced, “Sorry,”

“It’s fine… Just… wow,”

The palace was truly extraordinary, so it wasn’t as if his awe was unwarranted. This shit had spires. Spires, I tell you. Spires! The whole thing was constructed out of stone and ice and it glinted beautifully in the light.

“Alright,” Shen Yuan blinked to steady himself, “We’re off to see the wizard,”

Textured boots made his footsteps steady across the ice as walked to the third carriage. He opened the door and Luo Binghe started helping the disciples out. Shen Yuan moved to the second carriage, checking that all was still well, unsure as to how comfortable Sha Hualing would be in what was technically another’s territory for her, but she seemed fine.

Ning Yingying’s watchful gaze locked with his as he approached the first carriage and she seemed to relax, understanding that nothing had gone wrong yet. He saw her tell the other disciples to stand and moved to open the doors. They were under orders not to exit the vehicle unless he was the one at the door, so there was a reason behind them sitting still.

He could hear quiet noises of wonderment as his disciples took in their surroundings and steadied themselves. Each of them was decked out in sturdy winter gear – none of this shirtless-tiny-skirted-nonsense Airplane was tend to favour.

When they were all lined up and quiet, accompanying ghosts in a superfluous but considerate circle around them, Shen Yuan turned to quietly address them.

“You are all safe,” he began, “You are all capable. You all have amazing strength. This is the demon realm, and none of us can be certain of what’s to come, but know that so long as we are careful, we will be fine. We have prepared for this,”

“You’ll be fine,” Shang Qinghua agreed, then turned to his friend, “Bro, they know we’re here. All you gotta do is knock,”

Shen Yuan nodded, not quite scared but not quite steady, and strolled to the enormous ice doors.

Then, he knocked firmly, thrice, and stood back.

After a second, the doors swung open slowly, and Shang Qinghua ushered the disciples forward. Ning Yingying took her place beside Shen Yuan as head disciple, and Luo Binghe, Sha Hualing and Ma Dong each took a point at the corners of the group in a defensive formation.

A blue lady in thick furs greeted them, guarded by two sturdy looking armoured wolves, both pure white.

“Greetings, Peak Lord Shen, Disciples of Qing Jing, and Peak Lord Shang,” she greeted respectfully and bowed, “This one’s name is Shu Cui, an attendant to the Lord Mobei-jun,”

“Greetings Miss Shu,” Shen Yuan bowed lightly in return and smiled kindly, Shang Qinghua also returning

“The Lord is waiting for you in the conference room. If you would follow me?” she gestured towards stairs and Shen Yuan nodded, opening his fan to signal all was well.

He took the lead after the attendant and hiked the staircase, careful not to slip and hiding his smile at the sight of the senior disciples holding hands with the juniors to help them up.

The conference room was a few corridors over from the stairs and Shen Yuan realised that as they travelled deeper into the palace it only grew colder. Ever was he grateful that heating charms and talismans were the first things he had taught his disciples.

“Please wait here a moment so that I may announce your arrival,” the attendant bowed once more and at his assent backed into the room.

A minute later, the doors opened wide and Shen Yuan strolled in, trusting his disciples to remain well behaved and in line behind him.

The room was large with vaulted ceilings and natural light filtering through the ice. The table in the centre was long and rectangular and carved from a dark coloured stone, and the floor was strewn with furs. Along the sides of the room stood the same white wolves that guarded the attendant, each with brilliant blue eyes, each blending in with the ice of the walls. At the table was seated three demons, two on either side of the head position at the table. They were both white-haired and white-skinned, all in dark colours and grey pelts around the neck, though differed drastically in that one was very obviously a woman and the other was not. They seemed to take up positions as either guards or advisers and Shen Yuan couldn’t help but smile behind his fan.

‘Huh. Mobei-jun drinks RESPECT-WOMEN-JUICE. I think I like this guy,’

Because as if women ever got positions of influence in this book without being tossed into the harem for it.

Between them was Mobei-Jun, looking vastly different from the other two, different even from the attendant. His hair was black as his own and his skin the colour of frozen corpses. His eyes were almost too pale to be blue and from his scalp grew small branch-like horns the colour of his skin. His own robes were a deep blue trimmed in white fur and objectively, Shen Yuan could see the appeal.

‘I mean, he looks dead, but he’s hot. Cold. Whatever,’

< Bro, I approve. >

> Do shut up <

< Do I just say hi…? >

> Go with ‘Greetings lord… <

“Greetings, Lord Mobei-Jun,” Shen Yuan snapped his fan closed and bowed low. His disciples followed his lead, bowing even lower that he, all perfectly in time.

“Greetings, Lord Shen Qingqiu,” Mobei-Jun stood and returned the gesture, then pressed one of the carvings on the table. The stone structure shuddered, images hurrying out of the way as it shrunk down to accommodate a smaller number of people. He motioned for him to sit at the opposite end of the now smaller table and Shen Yuan did so, Ning Yingying standing herself behind him to his right and the rest of his disciples dispersing throughout the room in a similar way to the wolves.

Shang Qinghua stood awkwardly by the door, shifting his weight across his feet and staring at the floor.

“Qinghua,” Mobei-Jun called, and he came scurrying over.

“My King,” he answered quietly and the ice demon sighed.

“I take it your fellow Peak Lord is aware of your status then,” he asked.

“Yes, My King,”

“Very well then,” Mobei-Jun gestured to his male companion and he stood, moving to bring out another chair from behind Mobei-jun in a similar design to his own. He slotted it behind his king and sat down without a word.

Nervously, Shang Qinghua sank into his seat beside Mobei-Jun and tried not to look at Shen Yuan.

> shut up <

< I didn’t say anything >

> shut up <

“Is there any need for you to withdraw from your position?” Mobei-Jun asked quietly.

“Ah, I don’t…” Shang Qinghua mumbled.

“Lord Shen, I trust my companion will have no need to withdraw from his position at your sect?” the demon lord spoke imperiously.

“No need at all my lord,” Shen Yuan only smiled politely, “We all have our spies after all, and if we are negotiating an informal peace of sorts as I suspect, then I have no reason not to trust my friend as I always have,”

“You have spies in my palace? I find that difficult to believe, not due to confidence in security but due to your own position. What need has a peak lord for spies?” Mobei-Jun stared at him.

“To understand your character, my lord. Is it not easier to converse with one to whom you are already acquainted in some way?”

“You are correct. Qinghua has mentioned you a few times in passing and I find you just as cunning as he described,”

“And you just as wise,”

[HOST]

[WHY IS HOST THREATENING THE DEMON LORD!?]

[HOST BE CAREFUL!]

‘It’s fine,’

[Host, please]

‘Just let it go,’

“You were also correct in deducing my intent in extending an invitation. If you can prove to me the safety and contentment of Miss Sha on your peak, prove the strength of your peak, and the acceptance you so advertise, then you will find I am open to negotiations,” Mobei-Jun informed him, expression never once shifting from stoic.

“Very well then,” Shen Yuan glanced up at his head disciple. She caught his eye and nodded, then quietly gestured to Sha Hualing and Luo Binghe, each standing across from each other near the front of the room.

They walked over to stand on Shen Yuan’s left and bowed respectfully to those at the table.

“Miss Sha is here for interview if necessary, though any truth or honesty spells may only be performed at her consent,” Mobei-Jun nodded his assent as he watched the girl, “And the boy next to her is Luo Binghe, son of Tianlang-Jun,”

The female demon coughed lightly at this, and all three northern demons stared wide-eyed at the boy.

“You see, I have quite a few long term plans in the running, my lord,” Shen Yuan started airily, “While you are indeed a great king, to rule the entirety of the North and South at once is an impossible task for one, and considering the state of government in the South, I do not believe you have any intention of undertaking the task for any longer than you have already. Luo Binghe, however, will be eligible for succession when he comes of age,”

“You… Lord Shen, you are a cleverer man than I took you for. I understand your thinking – once your disciple is of age he will take control of the South, as is his right, and I assume he will agree to peace with the human realm. What you really need is for me to agree to his ascension and continued peace with the south following that,” Mobei-Jun’s expression finally revealed something other than blankness, though Shen Yuan couldn’t tell what.

“Indeed,” Shen Yuan nodded.

“There is a flaw in your plan then, unless you have another trump card to play. You are but a peak lord of a sect. Only the chief cultivator and the heads of the three other main sects who could sign such an agreement,” Mobei-Jun watched him very carefully for his response.

But Shen Yuan only grinned and said, “And what if I told you I had a way to deal with that?”

“You plan to take over the human realm?”

“I have options,” Shen Yuan didn’t deny, and he could feel the eyes of every one of his disciples lock onto him, “Though I probably wouldn’t take up the mantle myself if it came to it. I’d never have time to teach if I did,”

His disciples relaxed, and Shen Yuan had to bite back a laugh.

“Explain,”

“Cang Qiong Mountain Sect is the most powerful cultivation sect in the human realm, a fact acknowledged throughout the main four sects and the civilian population itself. However, this is new to the past ten years. In the century before that, Huan Hua palace was considered the strongest after an inter-sect cold war. Regardless of this, my own sect leader, Yue Qingyuan should, by rights, be the chief cultivator, but he was denied the title due to his age in favour of the more experienced Palace Master of Huan Hua, Su Longhua,” Shen Yuan paused.

“So you have backing then,” Mobei-Jun leaned forward, “But that isn’t enough,”

“No, it is not. We are all aware that the current chief cultivator would never in a million years agree to peace – demons killed his own daughter after all,” Shen Yuan’s grin sharpened, “Is how the story goes,”

“You think otherwise?”

“The proof is in this room. Well, the proof I need. His daughter, Su Xiyan, was poisoned, by him, because of his anger and obsession. Anger that she was leaving the sect to marry and birth her child, and obsession over… her. The poison was meant to kill the child she was carrying but instead, she chose to absorb it into her body and save the child. She escaped the palace to find her lover, the father of her child, but he never came to her. Instead, she succumbed to the poison after giving birth,” Shen Yuan was getting excited now.

“So you have the child,”

“I do,” Shen Yuan leaned forward as well, “His name is Luo Binghe,”

Mobei-Jun’s eyes widened in shock before a slow smile spread across his face.

“Well done,” he clapped slowly, turning to give his companion a look, “Your friend is even more capable than you claimed. To think a human could be as cunning as this one,”

“You flatter me, my lord,” Shen Yuan allowed, “But what weight does the word of a child carry, without any evidence to prove the misdeeds of his grandfather, who only learned of his true heritage this past year?”

The room was quiet.

“Why, the word of his father, of course,” Shen Yuan paused for effect, then tacked on, “And the backing of his sect, and several truth spells,”

“And if this fails?” Mobei-Jun returned to stoicism, “Your plan would require you to locate and free Tianlang-Jun, and hinge on his word meaning anything to the humans and his cooperation,”

Shen Yuan was quiet for a beat before showing a small smile, “I really think you should leave the collection of evidence to me. I know where there is evidence, I merely haven’t the opportunity to retrieve it yet,”

“Opportunity, or strength?” Mobei-Jun asked.

“An excellent transition in topic, my lord,” Shen Yuan commented idly, “My disciples, though small in number, are more than capable,”

Mobei-jun blinked slowly and his advisers discreetly glanced about the room.

“These… are all of your disciples?”

“Yes. All twenty-six of them,” Shen Yuan smiled, “As I said, small in number, but great in strength,”

“Then would you be content to allow them a demonstration while my advisers speak with Miss Sha?”

“Of course,”

“Then we will go to the courtyard. Miss Sha, if you would stay behind?”

“Of course, my lord,” Sha Hualing bowed, glancing at Luo Binghe. He squeezed her shoulder and retreated to where his fellow disciples were lining up again.

As his disciples and he were led down the corridors by Shang Qinghua and Mobei-Jun himself, Shen Yuan felt a growing sense of dread.

‘System, have I made a mistake?’

[No fatal errors detected thus far]

‘Then what am I feeling?’

[Uneasy?]

‘Chrissakes-system-the-one-time-you-grow-a-sense-of-humour-I’m-getting-death-vibes,’

Shen Yuan glanced around discreetly, expression hidden once more by his fan, desperately trying to think of a way to communicate with a ghost.

“Oh shit, did something happen?” Shen Jiu asked.

‘Once more, Jiu-ge to the rescue,’ Shen Yuan relaxed minutely.

“Right, can’t talk. Blink once for yes, twice for no, three times for maybe,”

Shen Yuan blinked once.

“Cool. Is it Mobei-jun?”

Two blinks.

“Thank god. I bet on you being right about him, so it better not be,” Shen Jiu snarked, secretly pleased to see a note of amusement return to his old eyes, “But something’s wrong?”

One blink.

“Do you know what?”

Two.

“Do you know where?”

Three blinks.

“Maybe… so you’re unsure, but it’s… coming?”

One blink.

“Man I’m good. Okay, scouts? You want a couple of us to fly around? Check things out?”

One blink.

“Alright,” Shen Jiu nodded, nodding to a few of the listening ghosts, “It’ll be fine. You’re probably just hungry,”

Three blinks.

“Understandable,” Shen Jiu smirked, “Chill, Yuan-mei. You convinced me that everything will go fine today, and if you can get the sect-wide-aknowledged most-bitter-asshole to have faith in someone, then you can be sure you’re right,”

Shen Yuan nodded once to disguise it being a nod at all and smiled.

“Good. Now focus. You could slip at any minute, and funny as it would be, I don’t want you getting killed for embarrassing yourself and me by proxy,” Shen Jiu sighed, before moving to organise a slightly less haphazard search.

[Irregular blinking detected]

‘Talking to Jiu-ge,’

[???]

‘With my eyes. Blink once if you…’

[Ah]

[System understands]

[Host panicked and asked Big Brother Shen for help]

‘You have four seconds to run,’

Chapter Text

The courtyard where they’d arrived had been cleared, the three carriages herded off to the far side and out of the way. A number of demons had gathered together, presumably his disciple’s opponents, along with a few more wolves, each prowling around the perimeter of the group, seemingly on edge.

“Lord Shen, there’s something here!” Pei Lin rushed over as soon as she saw him, “The beasts were acting strange a little earlier and I think someone’s drugged them! We’re surrounded!”

Shen Yuan nodded once. He could see something at the edge of his vision, and it looked like Luo Binghe noticed too.

“My Lord,” Shen Yuan asked quietly, “Are the ones over there the ones you chose to fight my disciples?”

“Yes,”

Shen Yuan let out a sigh of relief.

“Good,” he turned his disciples, “I suggest you take a minute to drink before you fight, you don’t want to dehydrate,”

With that, he pulled a black water skin from his qiankun pouch and took a sip.

Luo Binghe immediately understood and smiled, “Yes Shizun!”

The other disciples seemed to catch on, moving around into the courtyard and removing similar water skins from their pouches.

Mobei-Jun frowned.

“What are you playing at human?” he asked, voice low and cautious.

Shen Yuan tipped a small puddle of water onto his hands.

“Duck,” he said, and flung the water behind the demon lord, barely missing him by a hair.

The air behind him steamed as the water landed on something invisible, and all around the courtyard, similar lines of steam began floating up as his disciples did the same. And then a scream tore through the courtyard, coming from beside Luo Binghe.

“Holy water,” Shen Yuan explained in the second of peace, “We’re under attack,”

“Over here, group one!” Ning Yingying shouted, running to the centre of the courtyard, as the sky seemed to shatter around the courtyard, the invisible barrier breaking to reveal an army of soot coloured demons charging forward. She, Ma Dong and Lu Minfei stood in a triangle around the six juniors, each of whom was crouching down and drawing talismans from their pouches.

“Group 2! Around group 1! Group 3 fill in the gaps!” Luo Binghe ordered, instantly taking charge of Sha Hualing’s group.

Meanwhile, the group of demons had hurried to surround their king in a defensive formation, a few with their swords trained on Shen Yuan.

“I trust this is not your doing?” Mobei-Jun asked, pulling his sword from his back.

“If you never trust another word I say, trust that I would never endanger my children,” Shen Yuan replied, Xiu Ya flying from its sheath. He jumped on and soared over the heads of the demons to hover above the centre of his disciples.

“You heard him!” Mobei-Jun shouted, “The humans are on our side!”

And then, after the ten seconds all of this took, the wave of demons descended on them and the courtyard was ringing with clashing swords and battle cries.

From within the circle of human disciples, the youngest six had finally assembled the talismans together, and with a burst of qi, sent them flying up to Shen Yuan, who immediately sent them higher in the air and activated them, to form a barrier around the courtyard. It wouldn’t keep anything out anymore, now that everything was in, but it would prevent anyone who hadn’t contributed blood to the talismans from exiting.

Of course, ever disciple and beast on Qing Jing had been included in this.

Shang Qinghua joined Shen Yuan in the air a minute later.

“Bro! What do we do?” he cried.

“First priority is to protect the kids!” Shen Yuan answered, drawing a bow from his pouch and lining up spirit arrows.

Shang Qinghua gulped but nodded and followed suit.

The two began picking off the nearest demons as quickly as they could, arrows straight and true. Once they had a bit of breathing room, Shen Yuan shouted down, “Yingying! On your swords!”

Immediately, the three eldest disciples in the middle mounted their swords and flew up above the heads of the disciples around them, drawing their spiritual weapons from their pouches.

Ning Yingying with her flute sent notes that pierced the hearts of the demons attacking, Lu Minfei plucking the strings of a zither, and Ma Dong grinning maniacally as he shook his maracas then bashed them together to send powerful shock-waves of energy surging towards the enemy.

On the edge of the courtyard, Mobei-Jun and his men were fighting off their own assailants with ease, but there were so many of them that it was a struggle. The densest of the demon masses, however, was focused around Luo Binghe, and as the battle wore on, more and more demons slipping past the first line of Disciples, there was an energy growing in him that only he could sense.

Shen Yuan was frantically picking off enemies left right and centre, low-key incredibly proud of his disciples strength in holding back so many. It didn’t even occur to him that he had ticked all the criteria that, mayhaps, the discussion conference invasion had.

In any case, he was prepared to pull out his guqin and hazard a larger ranged attack when Shen Jiu came whirring through the air.

“The two attendants were shapeshifters after Hualing!” he shouted.

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck Qinghua they’re after Hualing!” Shen Yuan screeched at his friend.

“What do you mean they’re… oh shit, you’re right. That wasn’t them at all!” Shang Qinghua, in retrospect, should have recognised that the advisers were too quiet that morning, “How many?”

“At Hualing? Dunno, how many?”

“Bro I just—”

“Fifteen, all armed,” Shen Jiu answered, “They drugged her tea,”

“OG me says fifteen, and Hualing’s been drugged,”

“Ohh… shit. Shit! Can you hold down the fort while I alert my king?”

“I’ll be fine, go!”

Shang Qinghua zipped gracefully over the battlefield, dodging arrows and spells left right and centre. Shen Yuan, now with a little more wiggle room, flew a bit higher and summoned his guqin.

“Yuan-mei…” Shen Jiu spoke unsteadily from behind him as he prepped the wires, “They’ve brought spellcasters,”

“Shit,” Shen Yuan murmured, “I hope you know, I did not plan for this,”

“Yep. It’s fine,” Shen Jiu grit out, “Except that they’re whistler demons,”

“Oh hell,” Shen Yuan swore then spun on his sword, sending a wave of energy from his guqin that made mince out of a row of demons.

From there it was endless music as the four on their instruments fell into a battle song, tunes lining up and growing stronger.

But the whistler demons had started firing red spells that Shen Yuan quickly identified as discount killing curses and he knew it was time to move. He gathered as much qi as he could handle at once and pulled a gold leaf talisman from his pouch.

He forced his energy into the metal and held it above his head and there were few enough demons left standing and that they were all within the barrier. Just like that, anyone with intent to harm his disciples froze. They weren’t dead or even injured. Just unable to move. He didn’t want to risk using a holy item in the demon realm, least of all one that would implicate Mobei-jun if any on his side were frozen, especially when it only worked on weaker demons.

His sword faltered for a second in the air and he knew it was time to land. He was just in time to see Shang Qinghua flying back from somewhere in the palace, Sha Hualing haphazard over his shoulder. He cut straight to Shen Yuan and it was only when he delivered the demoness that he realised the battle had stopped.

“Huh. Gold talisman of purest intent?” he asked.

“Yep,” Shen Yuan panted lightly, “Should hold for at least an hour,”

Shang Qinghua nodded and flitted off to tell his king, the general noises of confusion coming from the direction of the ice demons implying they weren’t familiar with his spell.

“Is everyone alright?” Shen Yuan asked at last, “Binghe?”

The boy was pale as he bowed, “My group’s fine, as is Hualing’s,”

“Yingying?”

“I think we’re all—”

A scream split the air.

It was Chu Fong.

“Shizun!” he screamed, “Ma Dong!”

“Is fine!” Mo Xuanyu spoke over the top of him, “Exhausted, but fine!”

Sure enough, the boy cradled the older disciple on his knees, hands on either side of his head, and the older disciple was breathing.

Or at least, he looked as if he was.

The ghost light surrounding him spoke otherwise.

Shen Yuan quickly ran close to look him over properly.

“We will have words, Xuanyu,” Shen Yuan promised quietly.

“I’m sorry Shizun, I…”

“I understand. Just make sure nothing goes wrong. Do as you must,” he warned, and stood to look over the rest of his disciples.

‘Alright, he-can-probably-handle-that, crisis averted, happy endings all round-where’s-Binghe,’

“Shizun, I can’t find—” Ning Yingying started.

“Yingying, where did—” Shen Yuan spoke as well.

“He was here a minute ago!” she cried.

“I’ll go up and look,” Shen Yuan reassured her, “He didn’t look too well before. I’ll see if I can spot him heading to the carriage,”

In retrospect, he should have known. It would be his greatest regret, the second most embarrassing moment of his life.

The enemies are never all defeated.

So as Shen Yuan drifted atop Xiu Ya higher and higher, finally catching a glimpse of green and shouting out, “Binghe!”, a lone whistler demon broke free of the talisman and sent its last spell, a violent red, discount killing curse, directly at the peak lord’s back right as his disciple turned to look up at him and match his smile.

Luo Binghe saw, with perfect clarity, the joy and the pride and concern in his Shizun’s eyes as he called his name. He could see the delicate green embroidery of his winter robes, heavy enough a strong breeze wouldn’t shake them, that kept his Shizun warm and safe. He smiled at his Shizun’s smile, echoing the warmth and feeling a hint of peace inside him that he hadn’t felt since the battle started.

He saw the swarming red engulf his Shizun. He saw the light and life in him snuff out. He saw him fall. He didn’t even have time to lose his smile and scream as he watched his Shizun tumble through the air, reacting before thinking and racing forward to catch him. He couldn’t make it. There was no way he was fast enough.

Something snapped in him then. The seal the dream demon had warned him of from his first night in Qing Jing, that stamped down the demonic half of his soul, opened with a clean and crisp ‘click’.

But then his Shizun righted himself a meter from the ground and landed safely. He wobbled on his feet, hand drifting to his forehead to rub at it, other in a fist, clenching and unclenching.

“Shizun!” Luo Binghe arrived first, “Oh thank the heavens you’re alright! Shizun, that spell that hit you, was it misfired? Or…”

He trailed off as he met his teachers eyes.

He took a step back.

He clutched at his chest, right over his franticly beating heart, and felt tears ready to fall at a moments notice.

Oh.

There they go.

“Shizun!” Ning Yingying arrived second, followed by the rest of the disciples, “Shizun, are you…”

“Bro! That was awesome!” Shang Qinghua rushed over and slapped him on the back.

“Mn,” his Shizun smiled at the other peak lord, but something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

“Is Mobei-Jun alright?”

“Totally bro, my King’s really the best, you know? So cool and strong!” Shang Qinghua gushed, then sighed, “And now we have to deal with these,”

He gestured lazily to the courtyard of frozen soldiers.

“I mean, we could burn them,” his Shizun suggested.

“Yeah, nah. Mobei-Jun wants them in the dungeons,”

“You have… dungeons… that would fit this many?” his Shizun spoke haltingly and carefully.

“Duh, there were only thirty six separate scenes involving you know who liberating wives and rescuing them with magical papapa,” Shang Qinghua frowned.

“You should know by now that I skimmed those,”

“Bro. I am hurt,”

“Be hurt elsewhere. Would your king appreciate the assistance of my disciples in the clean-up? I imagine there would be at least a little suspicion placed upon me for this rather timely attack,” he smiled through his teeth.

“Ah, about that… haha…” Shang Qinghua rubbed at the back of his neck and flinched away from his friend’s glare, “Geeze bro, didn’t know battle would put you in such a mood. Anyway, my King knows it wasn’t Qing Jing who organised the attack. The invaders belong to an, ah, angry relative of his who was especially pissed to learn of your visit,”

“Ah. Wonderful. And Hualing? Why did they try to take her?”

“Best guess is ransom. Man, you have no idea how close we came to a political incident here, no joke,”

“Mn,”

“So, long story short, he wants you to leave so he can clean up this mess, and will reschedule another meeting for later,” Shang Qinghua smiled, “And this is an official farewell on part of my King, by the way,”

“Of course,” his friend’s smile seemed a bit strained.

“Ah, I’ll just open that portal, will I?”

“Please do,”

Shang Qinghua moved to the carriages while the other peak lord corralled his students into lines.

“Alright, it’s been a long day and we’re all exhausted, so I’m giving us tomorrow off to recuperate. I am,” here he had to force the words out, “Very, very proud of each and every one of you. You fought hard and with amazing skill,”

After that, the trip back was a quiet one. The disciples filed into their appropriate carriages – beasts having processed whatever they had drugged with fairly quickly – and once they were back on Qing Jing, wandered back to their dorm rooms, Ning Yingying taking Sha Hualing and Mo Xuanyu taking Ma Dong.

Luo Binghe dawdled however, waiting for his Shizun’s instruction.

It never came.

Instead, he watched his Shizun wander off through the bamboo in the vague direction of their hut. A few steps in, his shoulder bumped a stalk and he paused to stare at it a moment, before sinking in on himself and continuing on.

So Luo Binghe quickly put away the carriages and unsaddled the beasts, doling out a bit of feed, and hurried back to the bamboo house.

He quietly slunk into his room. He didn't think he'd slept at all until he was awoken early by noise from the room next to him.

“YUAN-MEI!” he heard his Shizun shout, “If you’re here, I swear to god I’m gonna kill you! What the hell! I can’t… I can’t live, like this! What do I do, what do I do?”

Luo Binghe peered through a tiny gap in the slats of the wall that separated them and saw his Shizun pacing back and forth, table and cushions kicked to the side of the room, sheets askew, hands in his hair tugging and scratching.

“What if I see Qi-ge? What do I do? You can’t expect me not to… not to…” His Shizun fell quiet before he began to mutter softly to himself, “Angry, scared, alone, trapped and alone, not his fault, find someone. This is fine. This is fine,”

Luo Binghe strained to hear, head pressed close to the wall, when his hand slipped and hit the bench just loudly enough to be heard.

He froze.

Then heard hurried footsteps, a door slamming open and closed, more footsteps, and then his own door was flung wide and he was caught red handed.

“You,” his Shizun seethed, except that isn’t right, is it? “Beast! What did you hear?”

“You…” Luo Binghe sat and looked down at his knees, voice trembling.

“What? Spit it out brat,” he said halfheartedly.

“You’re not my Shizun, are you?” Luo Binghe looked up, eyes wet, and suddenly the man sagged against the door, glare softening to something tired.

“No. Not anymore. But I used to be,” Shen Jiu nodded and closed his eyes.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan opened his eyes feeling a vague sense of déjà vu. The roof was stone, the bench he was lying on was wood. He was cold and aching. Three walls matched the roof and floor. One was broken only by a wooden door barred by metal.

Shen Yuan stood quietly and felt himself over. Four limbs, definite tongue, both eyes. No weapons. No Qiankun pouch. No. Not quite true. He had weapons.

‘If my calculations, by which I mean observations, are correct, I am in some form of prison. Mobei-Jun’s perhaps too-warm-try-again-human-cell? Test the bars-DON’T-TOUCH-THEM test them how? We have water, don’t we?’

Shen Yuan glanced to the corner where there was a small pale of thankfully clean-looking water. He nodded as he thought over what to do.

‘Something holy, something living, something dead. Bless thrice by the gods and once by the ancestors, right? System?’

There was no reply.

‘Okay, no system then THIS-IS-FINE,’

He looked about. There was no moss, no dead rats (which he supposed could be considered a potential weapon due to its bones). Only him, his clothes, and the water.

‘Oh, right. This is actually fine,’

He gnawed through a lock of his hair, then braided the thing down into a cross for the holy element, which was odd because Christianity hadn’t been discovered yet, but let’s not criticise Airplane’s writing right now. He murmured a blessing and dropped the cross into the pale, before saying another blessing. Then, with great hesitance, bit through the tip of his finger and let drip a few drops of red, living blood cells, which quickly diluted into the water. Another blessing, and then a corner of his robes. They were cotton, which he could feel at a touch, so they were once living plants, and now are dead. This would work. He dropped the final element into the pale and spoke one last, quiet prayer to the ancestors, and suddenly the water was glowing a soft white.

When the light died down, the water was pure and clean, no cloth or hair in sight. He drank a few mouthfuls then washed off his finger, holy water acting as a disinfectant, before cupping a handful and flinging it at the metal bars.

They steamed.

“Shit,” he cursed quietly, “Demon prison. Cold, but not cold enough for the north, and I know for absolutely certain that I was not kidnapped… unless I was, but if I’m right, then that makes this the southern realms. Fuck,”

“Ah, so the mouse is awake I see,” a deep, rich voice drawled and leisurely footsteps approached his cage.

“I prefer snake, if you please. Far cuter creatures if you ask me,” Shen Yuan replied without thinking, and suddenly the door was flung open.

‘Oh,’ he managed to keep his words inside, ‘It’s you. Which means I’m not me. Did everything go wrong? Did-I-fuck-it-up-did-I-fail-no-wait,’

He looked a little more carefully before relaxing entirely.

‘This isn’t my Binghe,’

“Suits you I suppose,” he snarled, stomping across the room and letting in a rather startled looking (and dead) Yue Qingyuan. He threw a package into his hands and Shen Yuan sat down on the bench to open it.

“Oh, did you bring me a present?” Shen Yuan smiled brightly, throwing Luo Binghe… Bingge, for a loop.

“Open it, snake,”

He did.

It was a sword.

He frowned.

He looked up.

He raised a brow.

“Ha… ha…?” Shen Yuan was very confused.

This was a lie. He knew exactly what this was, but he had a plan.

“God, I knew you were a fraud, but I didn’t think your ignorance outweighed your arrogance!” Luo Bingge spat, “The sword you hold broken in your hands belonged to your precious sect leader, though I should say ex-sect leader now that he’s dead,”

Yue Qingyuan was frowning at the both of them. Clearly, he knew something was up.

“Ah. I see,” Shen Yuan delayed his reaction on purpose, “Alas, I have been gifted a broken sword. I have shamed and dishonoured my ex-sect leader. Woe is me,”

Luo Bingge froze, eyes narrowing.

“What game are you playing snake?”

“The ‘I’m not who you think I am, I’m possessing this guy’ game,” Shen Yuan smiled, “And I’m sorry to say that I don’t really understand the context behind this, so if this is some form of psychological torture, you might want to take this back and wait until whoever you think I am is back,”

He held out the bundle and smiled.

“Xiao Jiu… what are you saying?”

“Liar!”

“Bitch please, you’re the one calling me a snake. Who do you think I am anyway?” Shen Yuan sighed and rolled his eyes.

“YOU!” Luo Bingge fumed. Then, in a surprising and probably concerning display of self control, he calmed himself.

“Fine. You really are heartless. Don’t you know? Yue Qingyuan came for you. He fought until his last breath to get you back and paid the price for his failure, which is more than I can say he deserved anyway. Why do you get to be so loved, even when you are incapable of it?” he spoke jealously.

“Excuse me, I have twenty-six children whom I adore equally!”

“Ah yes, the bastards who keep popping up, claiming you—”

“Firstly, I ADOPTED these children, and secondly what bastards? I’m a cutsleeve you idiot! And a virgin!” Shen Yuan barely stopped himself from melting Luo Binghe then and there.

Luo Binghe gave him a look of uncomprehending disbelief, eyebrows raised and blinking slowly. After a few seconds, he just left.

‘Without another word,’ Shen Yuan thought smugly.

He carefully watched through the bars until he could no longer hear footsteps, then waited a while longer before turning to the ghost watching him from the bed.

“As you might have gathered,” Shen Yuan began, “I’m not your Xiao Jiu,”

“What…”

“And yes, I can see you. You’re a ghost, in case you hadn’t quite caught that bit,” Shen Yuan shifted uncomfortably, “Uh… my name’s Shen Yuan, by the way,”

“How… did you know that name?”

“You said it before, and you could say I know… you could say I’ve been watching you all for a while. My being here was an… accident of sorts, but I promise it’s with good intentions. I don’t know when or if I’ll be sent home,” something he didn’t want to think about, “But I can promise now I am here, I will… help,”

“Does this mean… Is Xiao Jiu also…”

“Maybe. If you see him around and he’s not me, then yeah,”

‘Oh god now he’s crying SYSTEM HALP’

“Hey, listen, he could just be watching from the back of my head! Point is, alive or dead, he is essentially fine,” Shen Yuan tried to comfort him, “Look, right now, your best bet at getting him back alive is getting me out of this world, and to do that, I have to somehow deal with Luo Binghe, which is nearly impossible because he is literally the centre of this reality,”

“You plan to kill him?”

“I… no. I’m not going to kill him. I’m going to help him. He’s… a little insane,” Shen Yuan admitted, “Endless abyss isn’t exactly great for growing children, and Xin Mo sure as hell isn’t helping. And I’m not making excuses, but… he isn’t that bad, really,”

“Xin Mo… as in… the legendary sword born from the blood of gods…”

“With the power to rend worlds dust with but a single swing? Yes,”

“What kind of idiot would use a sword like that!? Surely he learnt some self preservation on Qing Jing! Though that does explain somethings…”

“What can I say, genius he may be, but clever he is not,”

‘At least my one has manners, this coming from the one with the broken sword’

“How? If you’ve been watching us, you know exactly how strong he is with that sword. You have no hope of defeating him,”

“Well… That isn’t exactly true. And I don’t really have to defeat him to help him. There are a million paths forward here, I just need to decide which one to take,” Shen Yuan mused, as he found he was tend to these days, “And how much of my moral compass I’m willing to sacrifice. You can drive men mad with a few correctly placed words. I wonder if I’d feel guilty if my words drove him to harm himself?”

“I’d prefer it if you did not harm my son,” a woman spoke and Shen Yuan went completely still.

‘Oh fuck,’

“He may not be the kindest, but he is still a good man with a good heart,” the woman continued, “And I think he has been hurt enough,”

Slowly he turned to face the ghost behind him. Her clothes were shabby, ruling out Su Xiyan, meaning she could only be one woman. So with the most respectful tone he could muster, he bowed and greeted her, “Lai Mian. It is an honour to finally meet you,”

Because this was his Binghe’s mother after all, and she deserved every respect.

“Good, you know my name so I will not have to introduce myself and I can get straight to the threatening you,”

‘Oh no,’ he thought, then said it aloud.

“You will not hurt my son. As I said, he has been hurt too much already. He deserves so much better than whoever you used to be gave him, so much better than I ever could give him. I’m not saying I approve of all of his actions, I certainly don’t approve of the way he’s treated some of his wives, but regardless of that, he has still done enough good that it is worth forgiving,” Lai Mian spoke firmly, “And if you hurt him, if you even try, you will regret the day you ever laid eyes on my son,”

‘She can’t touch me she-can’t-touch-me the scary lady can’t act on any of this,’

“You are not the only one who can see ghosts in this world,” she finished, then sank through the floor, dramatic exit made.

‘Fuck,’

“Fuck. Well, there goes that plan. Guess I’ll just have to kill him with kindness then,” Shen Yuan sighed, “Any suggestions? The power of friendship perhaps?”

Yue Qingyuan seemed to consider it sincerely and were it not for how ridiculous the whole thing was, this would have been the first time Shen Yuan had understood why the man was their sect leader. He was really good at looking deep in thought, even without a beard to stroke.

“You mean… to show him the kindness of the world, rather than the dark bits he has previously been exposed to?” Yue Qingyuan asked, “It doesn’t sound like it would work in theory, however… It may just work in practise. I always thought that if I could show Xiao Jiu… if I could prove I…”

Shen Yuan’s heart squeezed. Why did this guy never get a happy ending? Honestly!

“Where I am from… it’s true that I have been watching you all for a very long time, but not in the way that you would think. My world is… well, it’s more of an alternate reality. I shouldn’t tell you much really, but… In that world I was Shen Jiu’s brother and… he forgave you, eventually. He wanted to, for so long, because he loves you. He loves you to bits, and he was so… so hurt, that you didn’t come back for him, but he was so ready to forgive you when he found out about the sword thing. I think, when you find him again… just tell him the truth,” Shen Yuan felt like he was being stabbed in the chest by the expression of hope on his sect leader’s face.

‘God I ship these two,’

“Alright,” Yue Qingyuan nodded, ready to believe anything now, “How will you get out of here then? I don’t imagine he’ll be visiting any time soon…”

“Well…” Shen Yuan stared down at the bucked of holy water, and then at the tiny dents in the bars from where he’d tested them earlier.

‘Who says I can’t be impulsive every once in a while?’

He tossed the water over the bars and watched in satisfaction as they hissed and melted away, leaving a large hole in his cell door.

“Tada!” Shen Yuan smiled, “Holy water. Melts through most demonic spells. Did you come from the right or the left?”

“Left,”

“Right it is. You going to look for him?”

“I… I think so,”

“Good luck then!” Shen Yuan grinned and disappeared around the corner.

He had only made it to the end of the hall when he felt a soft hand brush his shoulder.

He whipped around, instinctively reaching for his fan, only to stop halfway through the motion.

“Yingying?”

‘Oh shit, did she hear us?’

“Shizun,” she couldn’t look him in the eye. She was smaller than he remembered, slimmer, older. Sadder.

“Are you alright?” he whispered. There were a few dregs of holy water left in the bucket he had forgotten to leave behind that might renew some spiritual energy if she was lacking, “When was the last time you ate?”

He drew her in for a hug and she melted into his arms.

“Shizun I’m sorry, I wanted to help and I just miss you so much,” she whispered, “You need to go back. If he sees you he’ll…”

“I know, I know. It’ll be fine though, I promise,” he stroked her back to calm her down, “More importantly, what are you doing down here? This is no place for idle wandering Yingying, there are criminals down here!”

She let out a surprised laugh, “I… had come to bring you food. I know you don’t need it and that… I’ll get in trouble for it, but I… I don’t understand why he’s doing this. A-Luo… ever since he came back he’s been so… cruel. I just… wanted to see you again,”

He squeezed her tighter and a flight of fancy had her press his lips to her hair, “I am glad to see you too. But you must go. Do not let yourself be seen,”

She nodded and drew back, “A-Luo said he’d be gone for a few hours and back by morning. You should be able to get around safely,”

“Thank you, Yingying,”

“Shizun? Stay safe,”

“Always,” he winked and gave her a smile before they went their separate ways, Shen Yuan towards the courtyard and Ning Yingying straight for the stairs leading back to the main body of the palace.

So many thoughts were running though her head as she hurried towards the harem wing that she could hardly make sense of them all.

However, one thought was clear as day.

‘Shizun has a plan,’

No doubt the man she had spoken to was not the Shizun she had grown up with, that much was obvious, but it wasn’t not him either. She had heard him before after all, even if she could only hear half of the conversation.

“A-Ying!” she heard, called from behind lavender curtains.

“Mingyan! Just who I was looking for, listen—oh! Hualing! You’re back already?” Ning Yingying slipped behind the curtains and embraced both girls.

Hualing clung tightly to her robes, “Yep. I’m home safe A-Ying,”

“What is it?” Liu Mingyan asked, cutting straight to business as she was wont to these days.

“It’s Shizun!”

“Finally dead is he?”

“No! Something happened though. I… followed A-Luo down to the dungeons without him noticing to bring Shizun something to eat. He showed him the sword and Shizun didn’t seem to recognise it. He was claiming to be someone else, so I stayed to listen and—”

“Okay, you need to calm down,” Liu Mingyan spoke gently and drew the two girls down into her lounge, “You were visiting Shen Qingqiu, and our husband showed him a sword?”

“Yes. Yue Qingyuan’s sword. He had come to rescue Shizun but was killed and A-Luo wanted to torture Shizun by giving him his shattered sword because he knew that the sect leader was the only person Shizun might have cared for,” Ning Yingying curled into her side.

“But he was acting strangely,” Sha Hualing prompted.

“Yes. He didn’t recognise the sword or A-Luo! He claimed he was possessed, or rather, that he was possessing Shizun, and I think... I think he was telling the truth, because when A-Luo left i heard him talking to someone and he said he was from a different version of our world. He was... like how Shizun used to be. Like he was young again," Ning Yingying explained.

Sha Hualing frowned and lifted her head from Liu Mingyan’s lap, “That is definitely strange… From what I’ve seen of the guy, he’s pretty uptight - not the type to spin tales like that,”

"And you're sure it was even him?" Liu Mingyan asked.

“Definitely,” Ning Yingying spoke firmly, feeling residual warmth from the hug in her arms, “He feels… he feels like him,”

“And?” Liu Mingyan looked unimpressed, “Just because a person feels familiar, doesn’t mean it isn’t some bizzare trick he's orchestrated to... to make our lives worse once more,”

“He also said he was a cutsleeve, which is something only he would know because he’d only ever told me,” Ning Yingying looked down, ashamed to share the secret.

Sha Hualing burst into a fit of coughing as she sat up and twisted around to face the two, “He’s what!?”

“A cutsleeve,” Liu Mingyan answered in awe.

“No! I would never have guessed it! Didn’t he visit all those brothels though? Binghe was grouching about it not too long ago after all, saying how he was cruel and abusive towards them, and how there were people coming forward and claiming to be his bastards,” Sha Hualing frowned.

“He did, yes, but it was because he was friends with the workers. Before he was a peak lord, Shizun lived on the streets for a long time and ended up being taken in by a few of the night women. Once he was a peak lord he established a secret service of sorts, visiting brothels for information rather than pleasure, and to speak with the women who cared for him the most,” Ning Yingying laughed, the memories brightening her features, “I’ve actually never known a man to respect women as much as my Shizun! He never treated me differently for being a girl, training me just as hard as the boys and expecting just as much from me. He never lightened or harshened punishments, never gave me more or less, but I could tell he liked me a great deal more than the other disciples,”

“Why didn’t he speak up then?” Sha Hualing asked, “No doubt any of those women would testify for him,”

Ning Yingying fell quiet a minute, “I don’t know A-Ling. I don’t know,”

“You said,” Liu Mingyan spoke up suddenly, “That our husband intended to use the broken sword as torture, so perhaps, do you think, when he saw his sword something in him… snapped? If he were just a different version of Shen Qingqiu, he would have at least recognised it,"

“Maybe…” Ning Yingying sighed, “But… I don't think so. I think he might really be here to help us, even if he isn't Shizun. He… has a plan, I think, to help us all,”

“Then maybe things’ll get better around here!” Sha Hualing smiled hopefully.

“You’re really going to place your faith in that man?” Liu Mingyan asked blandly, “The man who killed my brother?”

“Mingyan,” Ning Yingying smiled at her sadly, “I think we both know that isn’t the whole truth,”

“I… I know, but… I don’t think… I don’t think I can handle any false hope. I don’t know what I’ll do if I have to… again…”

Wordlessly, the other two snuggled close and wrapped their arms around her.

“It’ll be alright A-Yan,” Liu Qingge stroked her hair, unheard and unseen, “It’ll be alright,”

.

.

.

Back in the cell, Yue Qingyuan hesitated as he faced the wall, unused to the prospect of going straight through them, when he heard a small, quiet voice whisper from under the bed.

“What sword thing, Qi-ge?”

Chapter Text

“You… You’re the Shizun from before then. Before our kind Shizun,” Luo Binghe realised.

“Huh. So the beast had already figured out that much,” Shen Jiu nodded to himself. He was seated on the floor now, back against the doorjamb, with Luo Binghe leaning against his bed and perpendicular to him.

“We… we all knew you had changed. Only Ying-Shijie and I suspected how much,” Luo Binghe answered.

“Figured the girl’d get it. Always been a clever one,” Shen Jiu murmured, then fell silent for a minute. Then he sighed and made his decision, “Alright. I’m not your Shizun. Not anymore, and never again. That being said, until A-Yuan comes back, I’m going to have to pretend to be. Grab a parchment and brush,”

Luo Binghe stretched over to his bedside table and opened the draw to retrieve an inkstone, brush, and paper.

“Take notes, I’m making a list,” Shen Jiu ordered, and though he felt reluctant to do so, Luo Binghe complied.

“In no particular order, these things need to be addressed. Paperwork,” he paused in consideration for writing speed, and when he noticed the brush stop moving, he continued, “Ma Dong is dead,”

“Shizun, he’s—”

“Don’t care, put it down,” Shen Jiu interrupted.

“Yes, Shi… sir,”

“Brat,” Shen Jiu couldn’t quite muster the energy to growl. He thought for a minute, “Alright. Yue Qi. Just his name. He needs dealing with. The disciples in general too. Shang Qinghua. He might be able to help. Alright. Anything else?”

Luo Binghe shrugged.

“Fine. Next you see her, tell Ning Yingying she’s in charge, but the disciples get the day off tomorrow to recover while I deal with the paperwork. I need to visit Qi-ge. A-Yuan will be able to deal with the children responsibly whenever he gets back,”

“You keep saying that name. A-Yuan. Who is…?”

“Your Shizun. His real name is Shen Yuan,” Shen Jiu graciously decided to alleviate some of his confusion, “My name is Shen Jiu, his name is Shen Yuan, we both go by Shen Qingqiu, though it’s more his name than mine,”

“Shen Jiu… and you said Qi-ge?”

“Sect leader. Nine. Seven. Cute, isn’t it?” Shen Jiu livened somewhat.

“Pardon?”

“Seventy-nine. Our names are cute together, right?”

“Um, yes?”

Shen Jiu nodded, mildly appeased, “So I’m going to visit him, tomorrow or today. Maybe tonight,”

“Tomorrow. Tonight you should speak with the disciple’s yourself,”

“I should, but I won’t. You see, unlike Yuan-mei, I don’t actually like any of you,”

“What about Ning Yingying?”

“I hate her significantly less than you, that’s for sure,” Shen Jiu glared, then forced himself to stand, “Alright. That’s it. Visiting Qi-ge,”

He extended his hand for the list and Luo Binghe handed it over, watching carefully for his reaction. He had written down word for word everything Shen Jiu had said.

Shen Jiu levelled him with the most disappointed look but stifled a chuckle as he turned to leave.

“Yep. Yuan-mei was right about you. You are a little shit, aren’t you?”

Luo Binghe stared after him until he was out of sight.

Shen Jiu laughed a little at the list before pocketing it and making his way to the rainbow bridge. He was tired and low on qi, and while he could have flown, he also needed the time to prepare himself.

“Qi-ge, I love you,” he practised quietly, “Qi-ge, don’t worry, I was just possessed, the real me still loves you. Qi-ge, I forgive you. Qi-ge…”

He muttered all sorts of phrases in the half hour it took to walk between peaks, and yet, as he stood in the afternoon light outside the sect leaders private quarters, he couldn’t make himself knock.

‘I should leave,’ he thought to himself, ‘I’m going to have to leave anyway, so why make it hurt more?’

Just as he was turning away, he heard a voice.

“Shidi!” Yue Qingyuan called from the end of the path, speeding up to a jog to greet him, “What are you doing here so early? Wasn’t the meeting today…”

Shen Jiu looked up to met his eyes. It was real. He was really here. He could see him again.

He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out and then he was panicking. If he couldn’t speak he couldn’t explain and if he couldn’t explain then Qi-ge would never know he forgives him and—

“Xiao Jiu?” Yue Qingyuan whispered.

Shen Jiu startled.

“What…?”

“Xiao Jiu!” Yue Qingyuan couldn’t restrain himself and threw himself forward to embrace the man, “Oh gods you’re back, you’re back you’re back! Haha! My Xiao Jiu is back!”

He picked him up and spun, nuzzling his face into his neck and holding him close until he realised Shen Jiu wasn’t responding and put him down and stepped back.

“Oh, I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t, I mean… Ah, sorry Xiao… Shen Qingqiu, I…” he looked down.

“Qi-ge? You… you knew?”

“Of course I knew!” Yue Qingyuan immediately met his gaze, “The instant I saw the other you I felt something was wrong, and you’ve always hated teaching and that’s never going to change and you’re far better at the guqin than the other you and you’re not half as shameless and! And!”

“Qi-ge,” Shen Jiu’s voice cracked as he stared at the man in wonder, “I love you so much. I always have. And I know why you didn’t come for me and I forgive you and every minute that I’m not by your side I hate and Qi-ge… I really, really love you,”

Yue Qingyuan kissed him then. A first kiss for both of them.

“I’m sorry Xiao Jiu,” he whispered when he pulled away, “I’m so sorry I didn’t come in time. I love you so much, gods! We should… inside. Let’s go inside and sit,”

He pulled back to move into his house when he felt a hand wrap around his. He raised a brow, an expression of wonderment across his features.

“Xiao Jiu?”

“Stay close. I just want… I want to stay close. To you. We… have a lot to talk about, but I want to stay beside you,”

Yue Qingyuan gave him the softest look then, and Shen Jiu wondered how he’d ever thought the man could have hated him. How Shen Jiu could ever have hated him. How he didn’t understand that it was love that he saw every time he looked at him.

And so inside they sat huddled together on cushions, leaning against the bed.

“So,”

“So,”

“What happened then?”

“Well, where to start?” Shen Jiu smiled a little, “I died when I deviated back then. A different soul, one able to see the future, took my place. His name is Shen Yuan, ah, different Shen. He… can see ghosts, so we were able to speak a lot. He’s a better peak lord than I ever was,”

“Xiao Jiu…”

“Hey, it’s true. I’m not ashamed of it or anything. The only reason I became a peak lord at all was to stay with you. That, and, my entire class were idiots, so I couldn’t exactly let them take the position. But he really suits the position. A natural teacher. So I don’t need to be a peak lord,” Shen Jiu smiled a little.

“You… your leaving again then,” Yue Qingyuan’s voice came out strained.

“I never left,” Shen Jiu murmured, “I was just dead. And when Yuan-mei comes back, he’ll take the body again,”

“But… I… I want you to stay Xiao Jiu. I want you to stay with me,”

“The thing is that I don’t think I want to. Being dead is… it’s like every ache, every pain, every burden you’ve ever felt is gone. Unfinished business? Who cares? Everyone’s gonna die one day, so it’s alright if something goes un done. Insect bite on your toe? Debilitating loss of limb? Fine. Ghosts don’t carry injuries after all. There’s no boredom, there’s no pain. There’s just endless time and comfort and when you’re ready, you can pass on,” Shen Jiu spoke dreamily, “And you can float about and annoy people. Grudges don’t carry over either, so you’re safe dead. And I’m not meant to be alive Qi-ge. When Yuan-mei returns, he’ll need the body, and I want to stay with you, but I’m not going to argue,”

“What if I do then!? What if I attack him! Kill him! Try to bring you back! What if… what if I join you instead!?” Yue Qingyuan shouted, and Shen Jiu felt that familiar tickle of anger.

“Don’t even think about it. I’m trying to be nice for once and you’re making me want to spoil it,” Shen Jiu pinched him hard on the arm.

Yue Qingyuan kissed him again. Shen Jiu kissed him back. Then they were pushing against each other until Yue Qingyuan ended up on his back on the floor with Shen Jiu crouched over him and panting.

Yue Qingyuan thought he looked beautiful like that. Lit by the warm glow of the sun, hair loose and brushing the floor, looking so unbelievably fond – of him! Of Yue Qingyuan!

Without thinking Yue Qingyuan reached his arms up and around Shen Jiu’s neck, gently tugging him down against his chest. He went down easy and squirmed his own arms behind his back in an attempt to pull them both closer together.

“I can’t lose you again Xiao Jiu,” Yue Qingyuan whispered.

“You won’t. I’ll always be here. Every time you want to tell me something I can hear it. It’s just that you can’t hear me,” Shen Jiu replied, “And we have A-Yuan for that anyhow. So, if I want to tell you something, he can just… pass it on,”

“Like letters,”

“Yep. Like letters. Or words if you prefer,” Shen Jiu huffed out a laugh, “I never told you what I did, did I? In those years between,”

“Mn. But, Xiao Jiu doesn’t have to tell me,”

“I wouldn’t have opened this line of conversation if I didn’t,” Shen Jiu rolled his eyes, “After you left, hah, it doesn’t really seem half so bad looking back. Yeah, it was shit, but… I’m dead, so I don’t really mind so much. But after you left, the Qiu girl took a liking to me like I was some sort of doll she could play with when the mood suited her. I suppose it was both a blessing and a curse because dick-face didn’t have so many opportunities to release his anger, nor bruises in places she could see, but… It meant it hurt more when he did get the chance. Then after a few years I heard a rogue cultivator was in town and took the opportunity,”

“Did he… was he the one who burned down the complex?” Yue Qingyuan asked hesitantly.

“You know about that?” Shen Jiu got up on one elbow and raised a brow.

“I was late,” Yue Qingyuan avoided his gaze.

He plopped back down, “No. It wasn’t him,”

“Then… Xiao Jiu, you didn’t…”

“I might have,”

“Xiao Jiu!”

“I left the girl alive! I’m not completely heartless. She was kind to me, however demeaning that kindness was. I even made sure she couldn’t see their bodies before I set the place alight,” Shen Jiu closed his eyes, “So don’t ask me to regret it, because I don’t. Anyway. After that, it seems I had caught the eye of the cultivator. The only problem was that, not only was he an idiot, but he was an evil rat bastard as well,”

“Xiao Jiu!” Yue Qingyuan struggled not to laugh, “Oh heavens, tell me you didn’t,”

“I might have. After I robbed him of all he was worth. Then I taught myself proper cultivation until I could get here. You know the rest,”

“Xiao Jiu… your solution to your problems should not be to kill them,” Yue Qingyuan admonished playfully.

“My solution is actually to hit it till it stops doing whatever it was I didn’t like. Sometimes it doesn’t kill them,” Shen Jiu didn’t hesitate to finish his sentence, “Luo Binghe lived,”

“Xiao Jiu you can’t say that!” Yue Qingyuan laughed.

“Hah. Bold of you to assume I can’t just say whatever the hell I want!” Shen Jiu grinned, “But, ah, on the topic of the beast… I should probably mention he is aware of the… situation, as it were. I suspect if I show my face before the disciples again, it will not be long before the rest of them catch on,”

“They do seem rather more perceptive than most,” Yue Qingyuan agreed.

And yet however perceptive they were, it still took Luo Binghe an hour to take in the implication that his Shizun thought he was a little shit. Perhaps for the better, as it kept his mind off him missing.

“I'm not that bad,” he asked a pale looking Ma Dong over lunch.

“You are a bit,” Ma Dong said after finishing his sixth bun, colour finally returning, “Like, you’re pretty snarky, and we all know how much of a suck up you are for Shizun’s attention,”

“I’m not,”

“Yes you are,”

“Okay, I am, but… That’s not necessarily a bad thing, right?”

“Nah, just means you have a personality past adorable bun-child,” Ma Dong glanced at Mo Xuanyu, who was trying to pretend he wasn’t listening and he didn’t want to move closer. “It isn’t unforgivable,”

Luo Binghe caught on quickly that the last line wasn’t only meant for him.

“Are you…” his Shizun… Shen Jiu’s words from earlier replayed briefly in his mind, “Aren’t you dead?”

Mo Xuanyu choked on his beans.

Ma Dong sighed, “Did Shizun tell you?”

“Umm… in a way?”

“I almost died. A-Yu brought me back, and is now guilt tripping himself for no reason over it, like, come on! I wasn’t even fully dead!”

Luo Binghe quietly exited the dining hall, followed shortly by the rest of the younger disciples, but he could still hear the argument from outside.

“It isn’t your fault A-Yu! I’m not angry you brought me back! I like being alive!” Ma Dong continued.

“How can you know that for sure! I’ve only done this once before and it was a much different process! What if I didn’t bring you back whole! What if you’re only not angry because I’m secretly controlling you!?”

“Are you!?”

“NO!”

“Then WHAT’S THE PROBLEM!?”

“YOU DIED! THAT’S THE FUCKING PROBLEM! YOU DIED!” Mo Xuanyu screamed, “I’ve never had a father, my mother’s dead, my brother’s in another fucking dimension, I don’t know what the fuck happened to Shizun and I AM NOT LETTING YOU GO TOO!”

“THEN DON’T AVOID ME AND GIVE ME A FUCKING HUG!” Ma Dong screeched, and from there on all Luo Binghe could hear from them was quiet sobbing and declarations of love.

Privately, he thanked the gods only the younger disciples were awake. They wouldn’t question any of that. At least the two had gotten over their problems quickly. Nobody likes an extended drama. He made a mental note to cross the issue of Ma Dong off the list.

He needed to find his Shizun. Looking around at the young disciples, quietly meandering about, he missed the life and laughter of a week ago. They all needed Shizun back – to talk to them, give them hugs, tell them it’s all right.

In an attempt to keep things in order for when his Shizun did return, Luo Binghe decided to return to their house and clean up a little. Shen Jiu had made a bit of a mess of the furnature and he knew how much his Shizun liked things neat.

Then like a machine of god, from the skies descended Shang Qinghua.

“Oh, hey,” he greeted.

“Shufu,” Luo Binghe bowed.

“Have you seen your Shizun around anywhere? My King has news on the attack and is requesting to visit to speak in person again this week,” Shang Qinghua smiled.

“Shizun is… out of commission,” Luo Binghe decided.

Shang Qinghua raised a brow, “You mean, asleep?”

“No,” Luo Binghe weighed his words. This was his Shizun’s friend, and they seem to be from the same place if what Ling Su said was true, which means he might know how to get Shizun back, “He has be replaced by Shen Jiu,”

Shang Qinghua froze.

“Hahaha, isn’t he already Shen Jiu though? Hahaha…”

“No. My Shizun is Shen Yuan,” he felt himself blush at saying the name aloud. It had already nestled itself beside his heart and he treasured it more than anything.

“Fuck,” Shang Qinghua closed his eyes and breathed deep, “You know about that, huh?”

“Not the whole story, but enough,” Luo Binghe nodded idly, “He was hit by one of those spells at the battle, and the original version of him took over his body,”

“Shit,” Shang Qinghua worried his lip, “You know what those spells were, right?”

“Killing curses,”

“Yes,” he straightened his shoulders, “Okay. There’s a spell I know of that has a chance of allowing us to see ghosts. If he’s… he might be… we can get him back if we can find his ghost,”

“Right, about that,” Ma Dong snuck out from the bamboo, “A-Yu told me to tell you Binghe, I saw Shizun get sucked through some kind of… I want to say tear? Anyway, A-Yu says to tell you that Shizun’s in another universe right now,”

“Who…?”

“I’m Ma Dong,” he greeted and bowed, “It’s nice to meet you Shufu,”

“Likewise,” Shang Qinghua frowned, “What do you mean you saw…?”

Ma Dong glanced at Luo Binghe and he nodded.

“I was hit by a killing curse during the battle, by my… shidi, Mo Xuanyu, managed to fix me before my soul wandered off. While I was dead, I saw Shizun’s soul get pulled from his body and through this… really square-y hole in the sky?”

“Square-y…? Pixilated… Fuck. I… I think I know what happened,” Shang Qinghua blinked, “Mo Xuanyu? As in… nevermind. Your Shizun is in another reality, not universe. He’s in a place called, ahem, ‘Proud Immortal Demon Way’. It’s, ah… he’ll be back. That kind of travel is… temporary,”

“How temporary?”

“A day or two at most?” Shang Qinghua scratched the back of his neck.

“Sorry, I have to go back to A-Yu,” Ma Dong put in and Luo Binghe smiled.

“Yeah, yeah, get back to your boyfriend,” he dismissed and Ma Dong grinned and ran off.

‘He turned… to Binghe… for permission to leave…’ Shang Qinghua sighed.

“Is there any way to hasten the process? We kind of… need him,”

“Well, I suppose if we had Xin Mo… But that’s in the endless abyss, and only a Heavenly demon could break the seals on it,” Shang Qinghua looked at him uncertainly.

“How far is it from here?”

“Well, a long way really, but… my King could probably be convinced to teleport us there,” the Peak Lord admitted, “But… there’s the issue of the seals,”

Luo Binghe tucked his fringe behind his ear and stared him straight in the eye, mark glowing a vibrant red on his forehead, irises bloody and pulsing with energy.

“I don’t believe that will be a problem,"

Chapter Text

The courtyard was overgrown, cementing Shen Yuan’s theory that he’d arrived relatively early in the wifing process. Later on, to wile away the days, some of the wives took on the courtyard gardens as a project and transformed the wildness into something like the garden of Amahara. Of course, the garden was then desecrated quite thoroughly which somehow promoted growth because Luo Binghe is just magical like that, but still. It was a beautiful image while it lasted. “Now, if my sources are correct, there should be thousand sun flower seeds hibernating under the ground, as well as giant starlight mushrooms and golden dream rhododendrons. While the thousand sun flowers can only flower after intensive papapa… I think I can cultivate the mushrooms my nightfall,”

He nodded to himself and surveyed the garden, hands on his hips, “Yes. Definitely doable,”

He found an abandoned shovel leaning against the wall and began working on the centre-front lot of soil.

He knelt down, not particularly caring for the alternate Shen Jiu’s robes, and began plucking the dead roots of whatever had been growing there previously. Once the lot was clear, he tilled the soil, removing the topmost dry and dusty layer and churning up the healthier soil below and releasing the spores he knew where there.

Shen Yuan, of course, made sure to breathe in as many as he could. There was an entire wife plot over some poor beast girl with a terminal illness that could only be cured by these spores, and they were said to have very strong cleansing properties. Of course, the beast girl didn’t actually use the spores – she had a few rounds of papapa before they’d made it back to the palace so they were used instead as a plot device, but still.

After only a few minutes of this, his meridians felt cleared and whatever blood parasites had been crippling his spiritual energy were killed or at least paralysed for now. Stretching and feeling far stronger than he had been, he moved onto the next lots.

By the time the sky began to darken, hours and hours after he’d started work, Shen Yuan was ready.

He sat down in the middle of the garden to meditate, circulating his qi between himself and the ground. Only when he could see the red of his eyelids did he stop and stare at the wonder before him.

He had never seen such fascinating fungi before! They were a dark, rich purple covered with large, blinding blue spots with thick white stems. And the shortest of them reached his chest. They were huge.

Satisfied for the day, Shen Yuan harvested one of the smaller mushrooms and hefted, with great effort on his part, to the kitchen. He couldn’t smell anything being cooked inside, nor could he hear any movement, so he deemed it safe to enter.

He used the biggest blade he could find, a hysterically modern butcher’s knife, and began filleting the thing. He located a small pot of salt and pepper and a small hunk of what smelt suspiciously like parmesan (again, really airplane?) and tossed everything into a pan with some oil.

Now, he’d never cooked before, BUT, he had watched a thousand videos of it online, so he knew what he was doing. The first few mushrooms came out a little rubbery and burnt, but after that it was relatively smooth sailing. Granted, the mushrooms were magic in the most child friendly sense and were therefore very easy to manage in a pot.

However, by the end he had a deliciously oily mess of mushroom and cheese that he tossed with some of the greenery he’d found in the pantry to make some kind of monster breakfast salad for dinner.

It didn’t even taste awful, and it had the added benefit of being really healthy for him. If only he had bacon or prosciutto to go with it.

The door slammed open and Shen Yuan froze, food halfway to his lips.

Sha Hualing stood, eyes wide and incredulous.

“What the fuck are you doing here!?” she cried.

“Eating dinner,” he couldn’t help but reply, “Want some?”

“What? No! The fuck? What are you even eating?”

“Mushroom,” he smiled, “From the garden. You must have seen them on the way here. They’re massive, glowing, and they weren’t there yesterday,”

“Yeah, I saw them. Did you…?”

“Who else?”

“Alright, fine then. Give me some of that,” she demanded.

He happily stood and dished her a plate from the stove, which was at least fire powered, where the cheese had been being kept soft.

After wolfing down a few mouthfuls, Sha Hualing paused to tell him, “I’ve had better,”

“I know,” Shen Yuan replied, having finished his own dinner and sat back, full, “But at least it’s seasoned appropriately. I wouldn’t have known what ‘to taste’ even meant without…”

Binghe. His disciple had showed him a little of what he was capable of in the kitchen. His tiny frame easily wielding heavy iron pots and flames was both impressive and adorable and he missed it dearly.

“Nevermind. Shall we bring the rest of this to Mingyan and Yingying?” Shen Yuan offered.

Sha Hualing hesitated but remembered Ning Yingying’s words.

“Try anything and I’ll rend your parts from your other parts,”

“Understood,” Shen Yuan tried not to laugh.

He wrapped the pot in a tea towel, which was at least appropriately textured, and hefted it up onto his hip.

Sha Hualing was looking at him as if he’d grown a second head and he supposed his appearance was a bit of a juxtaposition to Shen Jiu. Hair bundled out of the way, sleeves tied up short, apron around his waist, dirt on his robes. He felt like a certified Ghibli character.

“You will have to lead the way,” he prompted and Hualing nodded slowly.

The women’s rooms were far enough away from the kitchen that Shen Yuan had to channel a bit of qi to keep the food fresh. He was a little surprised when Sha Hualing didn’t notice, but this version of her wasn’t his disciple. She didn’t know how human energy worked, so why would she notice?

Instead of melancholy, he decided to feel excitement. If everything went according to plan, he would be home by the end of the week. Then he would get to see his children again.

“This is it, just…” Sha Hualing shifted on her feet, “Try not to talk too loudly, and don’t… touch anything other than the furniture,”

Shen Yuan nodded. It dawned on him then that the situation may be a little more dire than he thought.

Sha Hualing opened the door and motioned for him to wait outside.

“I’m back,” she trilled gently, “And I brought a guest,”

She nodded to him and he took it as a sign to enter.

He squared his shoulders and smiled.

“Good evening girls, I brought you dinner. I hope you like mediocre mushrooms, cheese and some leaves I found in the kitchen,” he greeted, moving slowly and placing the pot on a table in the centre of the room. He used the towel to protect the wood and keep the sides warm before removing the lid and revealing the three sets of chopsticks propped in the food.

“Shizun?” Ning Yingying stared, “What are you doing here!? Shouldn’t you have…?”

“I would never run and leave behind my disciples Yingying, besides, I was hungry,” Shen Yuan smiled, “And hello to you too,”

“Greetings Shizun,” she hurried to bow.

Shen Yuan turned his gaze over to where Liu Mingyan was draped limply across a divan and a mountain of pillows.

“It is good to see you again Liu Mingyan,” he smiled gently.

“You brought us food?” she asked, gauze veil that was far more transparent than the sturdy cotton from his world fluttering.

“Indeed. The mushrooms have cleansing properties that you both may find beneficial,” he nudged the table a bit closer to them and Liu Mingyan sat up slowly.

“Thank you,” Ning Yingying’s eyes began to water, “A-Luo doesn’t like us eating what he doesn’t cook, so we usually practise inedia whenever he’s away,”

Shen Yuan blinked.

“That’s… shitty of him,” he remarked.

Sha Hualing coughed on a laugh, “Sure is,”

“Well, I don’t have half his talent in the kitchen, but it’s edible,” Shen Yuan sighed.

“Eat A-yan,” a man’s voice startled him, “You need to get something in you,”

Oh. Of course Liu Qingge was here.

Ning Yingying was first to kneel at the table and start eating and soon the other two joined.

‘They’re all withering away,’ Shen Yuan noted, spying how slim their wrists looked in their robes, ‘You can’t fight like that. You have no muscle left,’

And as he suspected, Liu Mingyan had it the worst.

“Perhaps the three of you should spend some time in the garden,” he suggested, idle plans forming in his head, “The mushroom spores may help you heal,”

Liu Qingge looked up from his sister, finally taking him in, “Who the fuck are you?”

Shen Yuan sighed discreetly.

“I suspect you suspected, Yingying, that I have a plan of sorts?” he looked to his disciple and smiled.

“I… yes. I hoped,” she sat back and breathed for a minute, “But… why?”

“I’m your teacher. It’s my job, isn’t it?”

“You… said you were possessed. I heard you,”

“Ah. Well,” that made things a little more difficult, but honesty was always the best policy, “Let us say that I am Shen Qingqiu. Not Shen Jiu,”

“Why would you tell us that you’re an imposter if, and I am only speculating, you need us to trust you,” Liu Mingyan asked.

“Because I am not the greatest liar in the world, and you three are far too clever for my bullshit to fool you long,” Shen Yuan admitted, “And I do need you to trust me. You specifically,”

Sha Hualing shuffled a little closer to Liu Mingyan.

“You see, I have no delusions that convincing Luo Binghe to behave will go smoothly, so I need a safety net. Namely, your brother,”

“What the fuck Qingqiu!?” Liu Qingge screeched, floating a little closer to him, “She’s traumatised!”

“I see ghosts, you see,” Shen Yuan continued blithely, “Including your brother, who looks about ready to punch my teeth in for bringing him up. I should mention that the other me did not, in fact, kill him, before you go for your sword,”

“Now that is bullshit,” Sha Hualing stood up.

“It isn’t, actually. He’s right there,” Shen Yuan pointed at him.

“Holy shit,” Liu Qingge stared, eyes wide, “You can actually see me?”

“Yep,” Shen Yuan sighed, “I should mention Yue Qingyuan is also dead now, so you might see him around,”

“Sect leader Yue?” Liu Mingyan asked, “But he was the strongest fighter in the sect!”

“Debatably. He was strongest in the sense that he was smart as well as powerful. Your brother could have beaten him quite easily,”

“Damn right I could,” Liu Qingge folded his arms and nodded.

“Just not at chess,” Shen Yuan smiled.

“Fuck you,”

“Hence, safety net,”

“I… think I see where you’re going with this,” Sha Hualing murmured, “You think Liu Qingge has a chance at beating Luo Binghe in combat, don’t you?”

“I’m almost certain of it,” Shen Yuan nodded.

“So you want him to, what, possess you?” Ning Yingying asked.

“More or less,” Shen Yuan agreed hesitantly, “If he agrees,”

“Fuck yes I do,”

“He agrees, wonderful. But hopefully it won’t come to that,”

“So then, if my brother is your… back up plan, then what’s plan A?”

“You see, in the garden lying dormant are the spores of the ‘golden dream rhododendron’. Powerful enough to put to sleep a heavenly demon. Now, while Luo Binghe has control over his dreams, these flowers are special in that they put you on the same plane as the dead, specifically, your loved ones. Look, it’s a little complicated, but the gist of it is that if he falls asleep or otherwise unconscious in this garden, Luo Binghe will be met face to face with his mother,” Shen Yuan surmised, “Who is a scary, scary lady,”

‘Who I’ve never seen back home,’ he thought.

“All I have to really do is get him asleep in the garden and convince him he doesn’t have to leave. Ever. As a heavenly demon he won’t die, and he would doubtless have people to look after him as he slumbers, point being, he’ll be out of commission for a few centuries at least. Time dilations you see,”

“That…” Ning Yingying frowned.

“Could work…” Sha Hualing continued.

“But there’s an issue,” Liu Mingyan finished.

Shen Yuan withheld a giggle.

“Oh?”

“How do you plan on getting him to sleep in the garden? There’s no way he won’t be able to tell it’s a trap,”

“Well,” Shen Yuan blinked slowly, “I was thinking food and scenery would do it, but if I must I will stroke his hair like a kitten until he’s asleep. Usually works,”

Ning Yingying nodded and Liu Mingyan gave her an odd look.

“And if he resists?”

“Sssslap him,” he decided.

‘Or roll to seduce,’ he thought idly, ‘Whatever works’

Sha Hualing smiled, “Can you slap him anyway?”

“Maybe,”

“Are the flowers in bloom then?” Ning Yingying asked, “Should we avoid the gardens?”

“Er, no. Not yet. For them to bloom, the thousand sun flowers must bloom,”

Ning Yingying coughed, “You mean the…?”

“Yes. I see someone was paying attention in class,” Shen Yuan grinned, “So can I leave that aspect up to you three?”

“Ahh, mn, I… yeah?” Ning Yingying struggled.

“Good. The mushrooms really are beautiful. Very romantic,” he nodded and stood, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with Liu Qingge and locate some kind of day bed for the garden. Feel free to finish off the salad,”

He left with a smile, tailed by the ghost of his martial brother, headed back to the main palace.

“You… you can actually hear me, right?”

“Yep,”

“Holy shit,”

“You said that already,”

“You’re just as much of an asshole as always then,”

“Perhaps,” Shen Yuan sighed and folded his arms, itching for a fan.

“So, possession. Is it truly possible?”

“More or less. You can’t actually possess living bodies, so unless I manage to grow a Sun and Moon Dew flower in a few days, you won’t be getting a body any time soon,”

“Then a corpse?”

“Also can’t do that. You can’t touch anything that I can, basically. However,” Shen Yuan spoke softly, “And there always is a however, you can possess me temporarily,”

“…Why?”

“Whatever lets me see ghosts lets ghosts possess me for short periods of time, no more than ten minutes. The issue is that, not only is it painful and exhausting and incredibly intrusive for me, ghosts who experience life for a second time don’t often stick around when they’re dead again,” Shen Yuan explained, “After you leave my body, your soul is more likely to pass on, is what I’m saying,”

He paused, then said a tone louder for any eavesdroppers, “And I can’t be possessed against my will. Further, any pain I feel, you feel,”

“Oh,” Liu Qingge frowned at him, “You would put yourself through that for the girls?”

“Of course. I’m basically their father, wouldn’t any parent do the same?”

The ghost by his side fell quiet for a while.

“I don’t think so,” he murmured, “What’s this other world like?”

“Cang Qiong stands, you lived, Luo Binghe is my cute little disciple, as is Sha Hualing. Your sister and Ning Yingying are happily courting and awkwardly dealing with their feelings for their inevitable third. I’m halfway through negotiations with Mobei-jun for a true peace treaty and possible plan of attack on Huan Hua palace. Sect Leader Yue is a little sad though. I think he knows I’m not his Xiao Jiu,”

“That…sounds nice,” Liu Qingge smiled, “You did a good job there then,”

“Thank you shidi,” Shen Yuan felt warm at his words.

“Shidi?” a new voice asked, “Liu Shidi!”

“Yue Shixiong,” Liu Qingge growled, turning towards the sect leader who had come floating down the pathway, “You piece of shit YOU THINK QINGQIU COULD FUCKING KILL ME! BULLSHIT!”

“Yes, yes, I realise now the error of my ways—”

“And I shall leave you two to it,” Shen Yuan took his leave, power walking away to begin his exploration of the demon palace.

The place was fucking massive. Not just huge. Fucking. Massive. The doors were twice his height and the ceilings arched meters above that. Rich red drapes dripped from every wall and black marble columns lined the halls.

‘Hey system, do you think I could convince Binghe to let me live here in my retirement?’

He received no reply. Obviously.

‘Oh,’

Eventually, he came across a room of furniture. Either objects that had been discarded in the redecorating or legendary footstools of power thought lost to time but secretly stored in the manor for a papapa arc.

There was one chaise that looked absolutely perfect for the job – comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. Something a demon lord could lie upon for a few centuries and look handsome doing so.

In fact, it looked like the idea place for a nap.

Chapter Text

Luo Binghe was reluctant to admit that Shen Jiu and Yue Qi made a cute couple. He had to remind himself over and over that Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan were different. It wasn’t hard when their smiles were so different and the way they looked at you couldn’t differ more.

That’s what he told himself as he watched Shen Jiu gently, hesitantly, awkwardly council his fellow disciples. He could tell his not-Shizun held no affection for any of them, barring perhaps Ning Yingying and maybe Ma Dong, but the honest and not-quite-clinical way he spoke showed an empathy he didn’t know he had.

“Are you going then, Brat?” Shen Jiu asked him as the sun began to set, three days from when his Shizun disappeared. Long, slim fingers strummed a familiar tune on a black and green guqin. Megalovania without the wildness and enthusiasm of his Shizun.

“Yes. Mobei-jun has agreed to open up a portal to the Endless Abyss tonight. Peak Lord Shang will be bringing me to the northern realms within the hour. I hope that is agreeable?”

Shen Jiu made a non-committal noise. When Luo Binghe had stood and walked nearly out of earshot, he heard the quiet call.

“Bring A-Yuan home,”

He turned his head back a fraction and nodded before leaving.

When he arrived on An Ding, Shang Qinghua hurried over to him nervously.

“So, I have an update on Shen Yuan’s condition,” he began cautiously, “You know how I said he’d be back in his own time? Well, circumstances have changed. I can't say why, but the only way he’s getting back is if you take him,”

A glowing rectangle burst into being in front of his eyes and Luo Binghe startled.

Unsurprised, Shang Qinghua continued, “And that, hopefully, will be able to help. It’s name is 211219-SVSSS8. You can call it S8,”

“It’s… alive?” Luo Binghe stared in wonder, circling the floating box and poking at it lightly. To his surprise, his hand went right through it.

“More or less,” Shang Qinghua muttered, “The point is, once you get to the Endless Abyss, it should be able to lead you to Xin Mo, and when you open a portal between dimensions, it can show you the right dimension to go to. I think,”

The peak lord gazed off to the side for a second, expression hesitant.

“Look, I could get into a shit-ton of trouble for telling you any of this, but listen. That thing is a friend of your Shizun’s. He trusts it, so you can as well,” he paused again, “You are… ready?”

“Yes,”

“You… ah jeeze. You’re just a kid, you know?”

“What of it?”

“You know, your Shizun only turned twenty last week. You’re both children,” Shang Qinghua shook his head fondly and finally opened the portal, “This’ll drop you off at a random location somewhere in the Abyss. Due to temporal anomalies and all that, I can’t say where that’ll be. Good luck,”

“Thank you,” Luo Binghe showed him an honest smile and stepped through, blue box following closely. 'Twenty!?'

He didn’t expect the pain that ripped through him, worse than anything he’d ever endured, as he fell forever through nothing but darkness. He felt as if every inch of him had been ripped to pieces and then set alight.

But then he was standing in a barren landscape and nothing hurt anymore. The soil and rocks he stood upon were grey and there wasn’t a sign of life for miles around. A good distance behind him was a black mountain range and ahead an expanse of desert. The sky was red and overcast and he couldn’t tell the time of day.

The blue box started heading across the desert, floating slowly only a few meters from him. It paused when he didn’t follow.

He was more scared than he thought he’d be. He was alone in an empty landscape and more than that, there was something electric in the air. He’d never been by himself like this before and there was the distinct sound of screaming coming from the mountains behind him and he was shaking and couldn’t stop.

He stared, trembling, at the blue box which approached him slowly.

“Sweet boy,” his Shizun’s voice played quietly, “So sweet,”

“Shizun?” Luo Binghe’s eyes widened, “That… his voice. You can play his voice?”

The blue box began shifting colours, blurring through a spectrum before an image of his Shen Yuan appeared. He was kneeling in the dark with Luo Binghe pulled onto his lap and clinging to him. His face was buried in Shen Yuan’s neck and he was sobbing

“Shh, it’s okay, you’re okay. You’re going to be fine. Nobody’s going to hurt you,” Shen Yuan whispered gently, stroking his back and pressing his lips to his hair.

‘That was from the skinner case,’ Luo Binghe realised.

The box replayed the last bit.

“Shh, it’s okay, you’re okay. You’re going to be fine. Nobody’s going to hurt you,” Shen Yuan whispered.

Luo Binghe smiled fondly, remembering soft hands and warm lips and the suffocating love he felt for his Shizun.

“Okay. I’m better now,” he steadied himself, conviction renewed, “Thank you S8,”

The box bobbed, back to blue, and began leading him across the plane.

Luo Binghe hopped on his sword and followed it, a little shaky at first, but soon growing steady. Perhaps it would be wise to conserve spiritual energy, but he had two wells of power now, and neither looked to be running out any time soon.

Here’s a fact about the Endless Abyss: There is no such thing as night and day. There is not time. That’s why it’s called endless. There is, in fact, an edge to the plain where reality begins to unwarp itself and melt into less dangerous deserts. But in the heart of the Abyss, where Luo Binghe travelled, it was endless in the sense that the day wouldn’t end, and Luo Binghe wouldn’t sleep so long as he was there. Time cannot be measured by any unit there, so instead we must orient ourselves by distance.

His first battle in the Abyss occurred when he could no longer see the mountain range and encountered a long patch of man-eating plants that he soared high above. That didn’t stop the Blood-Sucking Nightmare Harpies from attacking (six of them) or trying to seduce him (Three, very beautiful triplets).

His second was once he could no longer hear the screaming of the dying harpies as they were slowly digested by the plants when he was forced to go on foot through a Smoky Black-Death bamboo forest and caught the attention of the Razor-Backed Silver Naga, several of which also tried seducing him.

The third happened as he flew around the active volcano, trying to avoid the Lava Whales from below and the Stone-Clouds from above while Flying Fire-Moths tried devouring him and using him to lay their eggs. Again, more than one tried seducing him in the middle of battle.

“I’m starting to see a trend S8,” Luo Binghe remarked during a moment’s peace, “Everything here wants to eat me, kill me or sleep with me, and every female identifying creature is a part of the latter group, and potentially the first two as well,”

He thought for a moment, “It’s like the universe is trying to get me hitched. I’m not even sixteen yet. I don’t want a monster harem. I’m gay!”

The little box began to shift colours and Luo Binghe watched it eagerly.

His Shen Yuan appeared, laughing loudly, as if with a friend who was, perhaps, out of frame, “Right, right. Don’t want that, do we?”

Luo Binghe grinned, warmth blossoming inside him.

“No. Not at all. S8, do you… visually record everything Shizun sees? Are you… recording this?” Luo Binghe watched the box fade back to blue and wiggle around in the air.

“So… can you show Shizun the Smoky Black-Death bamboo? And the harpies? Shizun’s always loved interesting flora and fauna. Oh he’s going to love the Lava Whales!” Luo Binghe smiled, “You know, it’s thanks to him that I’m still alive! He had Sha Hualing preemptively walk me through the basics of demonic energy manipulation, and he’s lent me dozens of bestiaries on demonic creatures found in the Abyss. Maybe we should come back here together some time. I wonder if he knew I’d someday have to travel here? Shizun knows a lot, huh?”

‘Did he know?’ the thought stayed with him for several hundred miles after that.

He felt oddly passive as S8 drew up to the massive pit he’d seen a mile off. It was radiating black energy and made the demonic energy inside himself buzz in anticipation.

Nothing guarded Xin Mo but the steep incline into the crater and a bubble of red lighting.

He hurled a rock at the bubble and it exploded. He ran through a few demonic seals until something worked and the bubble dissipated, leaving Xin Mo in front of him, embedded deep into the rocks.

The box hovered above it.

“So. This is it,” Luo Binghe eyed it nervously. He wasn’t a fool. He knew the dangers he was facing in taking up that sword. Madness, hallucinations. OTHER things.

He drew it from the stone anyway.

Immediately circling spiritual energy to try to balance out the overwhelming demonic energy, and using his own demonic qi to surpress the sword, Luo Binghe entered the final battle. He didn’t know when he dropped to his knees, or when he started seeing red everywhere and Qing Jing destroyed. Hearing the harsh whisper of ‘beast’ in his ear.

“Binghe,” his A-Yuan laughed.

“Binghe,”

“Binghe,”

“Binghe,”

“Binghe!”

“Binghe?”

“Binghe,”

“Sweet Boy,”

He opened his eyes and saw his Shizun smiling, “So sweet,”

He stood. He stretched his neck and shoulders and shuddered once.

Xin Mo was tamed.

“Alright,” he said, breathing a little heavily, “Alright. I’m okay. Fuck that hurt. Okay,”

He looked over to the little blue box.

“Thank you,” he smiled.

It bobbed up and down happily.

He took a deep breath and held Xin Mo high, instinct driving him, before slashing it down. A rip in space appeared and S8 approached it. Together they went through.

The space he stepped out into was weird. The floor was dirty and carpeted, the walls plain and strangely textured. Not a window in sight, but two doors on opposite walls, a collection of bizarre seats, and a large black box, not unlike S8.

He went to touch the black box only to find his hand went straight through it.

“Your… cousin?” he joked unsurely.

He approached the door, only for his hand to move straight through it once more.

He looked at his hand and found that if he held it closely enough to his face, he was translucent. Luo Binghe stepped fully through the door then froze.

The corpse of a woman, fresh but very dead, was slumped over a smoking metal device, slowly slipping onto the floor. She had short cropped hair and round cheeks and the more Luo Binghe looked the more he felt his initial assessment was wrong. Was this a man? He had no beard and he smelt very much like a woman, but that could merely be the fashion of whatever world he was in.

Finally taking in more of the room, he saw posters featuring iterations of what may have been a Mobei-Jun lookalike and a shirtless man who could have been Luo Binghe’s father.

“Not the place,” Luo Binghe decided, once more slicing a rift with Xin mo.

This time he came out in a room similar to the first, only the black box was alive with images of men in strange roves and a young boy was sitting and watching it intensely while his parents were curled together on the lounge.

“Excuse me?” he tried approaching the parents, “Um, do you know where I am? I’m looking for a, ah, Shen Yuan?”

The adults didn’t respond, but the boy looked over at him and discreetly motioned him to follow him out of the room.

“I’m Shen Yuan,” the boy said, “And I’m sorry but I don’t do requests. I’m only six. I can’t fly to Japan to tell your ex-girlfriend you loved her. Wait, how old are you? Those are some ancient looking robes… like out of a book or something,”

“You… are Shen Yuan?”

“Duh, I can see you? Obviously I’m Shen Yuan,”

“Could… you parents not see me?”

“Oh great. Another one who doesn’t know he’s dead,” Shen Yuan rolled his eyes and opened a door in the hall. There was an elderly woman sitting atop some fabric.

“Hello Ma’am, could you please give this one the ghost talk? I don’t think he gets it,”

Then Shen Yuan left.

Luo Binghe didn’t follow him.

“That… can’t be him, right?” he asked.

The old lady looked around then shrugged, apparently not seeing him either.

He felt the blue box laugh at him.

He opened another portal.

“Please just go. If you wait any longer they’ll find you,” his Shizun was saying.

“Xiao-jiu, please, I can find the key then take you with me!” Yue Qingyuan replied.

“That cultivator you found was very specific. One disciple only. Besides, you’re older, so it’s more important that you get out first,” Shizun said.

“Xiao Jiu…”

“Look, they broke my legs, alright!?” he snapped, “I can’t fucking walk so just go!”

‘Oh. This is Shen Jiu,’ Luo Binghe realised.

“I saw you standing just then, stop lying! I’ll make him take you!” Yue Qingyuan, Yue Qi, rather, took a sword from a nearby rack and began bashing the hilt against the lock.

“Qi-ge…” Shen Jiu’s eyes were wide and wet.

“I’m not leaving you Xiao Jiu! God damn it, I love you! I should have told you a million times over already, I love you! And I’m not leaving you behind!” the lock broke.

Yue Qingyuan flung open the bars and Shen Jiu tackled him with a hug.

“Okay,” he said quietly, “Okay,”

Luo Binghe made another portal and left, having seen enough of the unfortunately adorable couple.

“Please Shizun!” he was begging, another version of him, “Whatever I did I repent! I know my blood is dirty, but please! Shizun, forgive me!”

He watched from behind as an older version of himself was slashed over the heart and pushed back off a cliff. He caught a glimpse of the Endless Abyss when a portal opened up and consumed the other him.

“Shizun?” he murmured, moving around to stare at the man.

Abruptly, his Shizun collapsed to his knees and coughed up a mouthful of blood and sobbed a sound of heartbreak.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve this,” his Shizun whispered before hoisting himself up on his sword to gather the broken pieces of a blade and bundle them in his robes.

Luo Binghe followed him for a while to make sure he was safe. He didn’t want to stay here.

The next portal led him to a nightmare.

“But you don’t believe me,” he was saying, another older version of himself, one looking more and more like the images from the first world’s walls. “I bet you think I set the sowers on Jinlan city too, don’t you!?”

He watched himself glowing red and angry, an alternate Xin Mo slowly consuming this Luo Binghe’s mind.

“Why? You said all demons deserve a chance. So why not me? What’s wrong with me?” he screamed.

His Shizun approached slowly and wrapped his arms around him and smiled. Luo Binghe watched in horror, sensing the shift in energies and what would happen next.

“There is nothing wrong with you Binghe. I’m sorry,” Shizun whispered.

Luo Binghe was gone before the scene finished.

Now he stood in the strange world again, where men had such short hair and wore such form-fitting clothes. A man who looked much like his Shizun sat at a table at what may have been a restaurant.

“Binghe!” He called, looking up and smiling at him.

A person ran through him and whatever response he was forming died in his throat.

“A-Yuan!” another him beamed, “What are you doing here!?”

Shen Yuan stood and the two embraced, “I thought I’d surprise you with coffee!”

“Mmn, yes, I see. Of course. My husband is so kind,” the other him stated factually, “I should have expected as much,”

Shen Yuan swatted him fondly.

“Fiance,” he said, “And what are you doing here?”

Luo Binghe turned red as the other Luo Binghe kissed his… betrothed. He left as quickly as he came.

Another world he watched himself and Shen Yuan eat ice-cream in the park together. In another world he watched that same woman-man chaperone Shen Yuan dressed in red down an aisle to where Luo Binghe and Mobei-Jun stood.

Some worlds he had to go looking for Shen Yuan, others he was right there. In a few horrifying instances, he watched his Shizun embracing Liu Qingge, and others he couldn’t find Shizun at all, only that woman-man and Mobei-jun, or Shang Qinghua and Mobei-jun. In one he even saw Mo Xuanyu embracing a man all in white.

In the worst, he saw Shen Yuan small and sickly and lying in a bed surrounded by what he learned were called machines.

“Are we any closer?” he asked S8, “I thought you could help!”

It glowed a little brighter where it hovered over the sleeping (Please just be sleeping) Shen Yuan’s ‘computer’.

Frowning, Luo Binghe approached and saw, upon the computer screen, a description of a novel.

“ ‘I will become the strongest’, Luo Binghe, the purest white lotus bud, descendant of heavenly demons and humans, will become the strongest in the world. Proud Immortal Demon Way?’” he read.

S8 pulsed brighter.

“Is that… Is Shizun in… that book?”

The blue box bobbed excitedly.

“That… Shang Qinghua wrote a book about a very different me, and he and Shizun… died, and came to my world, except my world isn’t the world of the books. Now, the book is where Shizun is trapped,” he realised, “Is that right? So this book is where I must go,”

He brushed his hand gently over this Shen Yuan’s cheek.

“Shitty author, shitty novel,” Shen Yuan murmured, stirring lightly before falling still.

Luo Binghe laughed a little wetly.

“Tell me about it when I find you,” he whispered.

Book in mind, Luo Binghe focused and sliced open a portal with intention. S8 flew through excitedly and after a moment spared to smile at his A-Yuan, he followed.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan woke to warm light streaming through high windows. He felt awake and refreshed and all at once remembered the day-bed he had fallen asleep upon was likely another plot device. It was harmless enough though.

Standing he stretched out his arms and spine, spent a minute feeling out his spiritual energy, before hoisting up the heavy end of the day-be and beginning to drag it out.

He left an unfortunate trail of drag-marks on the carpet, but that wasn’t really his problem.

Once he made it to the garden, making note of the very bright sunflowers that had bloomed quite spectacularly ALL over the garden and the slowly growing golden buds of the rhododendrons, he hollered over Sha Hualing was bringing tea to her girlfriends as they lazed upon the mushrooms.

She placed down the tea and hurried over as if she were his disciple.

“Take the other end of this, will you? I don’t want to smash it carrying it down the stairs,”

She nodded and lifted the other end and the two carefully made it down the stairs.

“What is this for, exactly?”

“For BingBing to nap on,” Shen Yuan answered, distracted by the rhododendrons.

Sha Hualing coughed and nearly dropped the seat.

“I see,” she managed.

“By the way, girls, you did a wonderful job on the garden,”

She coughed again, just a little pink in the cheeks, “Yeah, well, mushrooms are romantic,”

“So romantic,” Ning Yingying echoed.

“The most romantic,” Liu Mingyan sighed. The two were sprawled meters above on large mushroom heads, bathing in the sunlight.

Liu Qingge rested in the shade below.

“Good morning,” he greeted.

“Morning. How’re the love birds?”

“Arguing fondly and having passive aggressive relations in Luo Binghe’s bedroom,” Liu Qingge answered smugly.

“Ew. Okay, Girls, I wouldn’t fall asleep here if I were you. The Golden rhododendrons are about to bloom and we don’t want you to fall into a coma, considering what we’re doing to you-know-who,”

“Yeah yeah,” Sha Hualing drawled, jumping up onto a mushroom, “These are super comfy tho,”

“Take one inside then. It’s not like they decompose. Anything grown in this garden is more or less immortal in that it doesn’t degenerate over time,” he said.

“Oh fuck yes,” Liu Mingyan sat abruptly, and Shen Yuan saw she was looking far healthier. Her skin was warmer and she had more energy than last night, “Come on A-Ying, I want the biggest mushroom we can find,”

The two left. Sha Hualing shrugged and followed them.

And then the garden gates slammed open.

Shen Yuan cursed and hurried over, making sure to stay hidden behind the thickest mushrooms.

“Welcome back husband,” Ning Yingying greeted softly, “You’re home early! I take it things went well,”

“As can be expected. This is Fang Li, and this is Fang Yan. I rescued them. They will be joining you,” Luo Bingge grunted gesturing to the nervous looking twins behind him, “You did this?”

“Aahh, some of it. A-Ling and A-Yan helped,” she answered honestly.

“You three have gotten close. I’m glad,” Luo Bingge sighed, then mustered up a smile, “I’m going to wash off. Why don’t you make your acquaintances with the twins and then you can show me all of your hard work,”

“That would be wonderful, husband,” Ning Yingying smiled and bowed and Luo Bingge left her with the girls.

“You two make thirty-two,” Sha Hualing said abruptly as soon as he was gone, “Before you, there were thirty wives in total. I’m fifteen, Ning Yingying there is one, and Liu Mingyan here is three,”

“And…” Fang Li began.

“Your name?” Fang Yan finished.

“Sha Hualing,” she stepped forward and bowed to the two, “You two are from Xian Shu, right?”

“Yes, we remember…”

“Liu-jiejie,” they spoke in turn.

“A-Yan, will you…?”

“Yes. They know me, so I’d better do it,” Liu Mingyan nodded, stepping forwards and brushing both girl’s shoulders.

“Thank you,” Sha Hualing murmured.

The three departed leaving only Sha Hualing and Ning Yingying.

“We have to work quickly,” Ning Yingying commented evenly.

“Yes,” Shen Yuan came out of hiding behind her, “But the stage is set, and we have nothing but time at this point. By my estimations, the rhododendrons will be at their strongest and in full bloom during sunset, as will the mushrooms and sunflowers. So we have to delay him until then.

“I’ll tell him I want him to make the three of us a dinner under the mushrooms,” Ning Yingying decided, “I’ll ask him to cook something fancy,”

“Should delay him long enough then,” he nodded, “Thank you,”

“Mn,”

“Wait,” he called as they turned to leave, “Both of you, and Mingyan, promise me something. If anything goes wrong, whatever you see, if something happens, please. If you can run, run. If you can’t, then deny you had anything to do with this. Say I manipulated you, stuck a worm in your ear and controlled your mind. Stay safe and don’t interfere,”

Sha Hualing grinned, “Oh don’t worry, I have my excuses ready and prepared,”

He raised a brow.

“‘Of course that worm of a human couldn’t do anything to hurt you, I just wanted to watch you take him down properly, like he deserved’ is what I’d start with,” she explained.

Ning Yingying sighed, a little defeated.

“Huh. Effective,” Shen Yuan allowed, “Now make yourselves scarce. Distract Bingbing until it’s time and then hide,”

“Pfft, Bingbing,” Sha Hualing cackled. Ning Yingying smiled fondly at her and pecked her on the cheek.

“For the record, this is cruel,” a woman said as soon as the girls had left.

“Lai Mian,” Shen Yuan greeted, “It is, a little. But not completely. Think of it: he’ll be put into a dream world where he is loved. You’ll be there, maybe even Su Xiyan will be there, god forbid his father show up, but hey, he might. The girls might visit in a few years when they pass,”

“His father is alive,” Lai Mian corrected, “Though I see why you think that would be idyllic. But how many people do you think my son loves? How many people do you think love him?”

Shen Yuan was quiet. Not many, was the answer.

“You know,” he said, “We have a saying in my world. ‘Quality over Quantity’. He loves you so much he carried your gift with him through hell. One love like that is better than a hundred like what he has now. And you… you adore him. He’s your son in all but blood. I am a father to all of the children I teach, so I understand more than you think. This one may only be twenty years, but I’m not a fool. He needs his family, to recover. To heal. That’s you. That’s Su Xiyan. That’s… wait, Tianlang-jun is alive?”

‘In this world?’

Lai Mian sighed, “Yes. And there’s a cousin too,”

“Oh, that… explains why I haven’t seen him or Su Xiyan around. She’s with him, isn’t she?”

“Yes. We take turns relaying information about our son to each other,” she smiled fondly, “And the cousin, Tianlang-jun calls him ‘my deluded nephew’, but they care for each other. When I couldn’t get past the barriers surrounding Cang Qiong, I went and stayed with them instead. I regretted that.”

‘That answers that question then…’

“You know much about my son,” she commented.

“Mn. Where I am from, he is my favourite disciple. Don’t tell him that though, I’m supposed to love them all equally,” Shen Yuan admitted, “He’s happy there,”

“And he will be happy here?”

“Yes,”

Lai Mian disappeared.

Shen Yuan continued fluffing about the area, sweeping away a few twigs, compulsively fluffing the cushions of the day-bed, humming softly to distract himself. Then, he heard the faintest of static followed by the sound of fabric tearing.

He jumped upon the mushrooms, flattening himself atop one of the larger ones and peering down carefully. Near to where he stood, light seemed to bend around a shape as something more powerful than a simple portal was opened in the garden.

He whipped around, tucking his loose hair in close and holding his breath. Maybe if he couldn’t see it, it couldn’t see him. It, being Luo Bingge, because Shen Yuan knew for damn sure that portal was created by Xin Mo.

In an effort to hide and become one with the mushrooms, Shen Yuan dug his fingertips into the plant and closed his eyes.

He could hear quiet murmuring beneath him.

“Shizun,” Luo Bingge was calling quietly and far too calmly.

‘shit-shit-shit-shit-shit,’ Shen Yuan withheld a frustrated scream, ‘It isn’t time yet!’

He looked about frantically for a weapon, something to potentially bludgeon the protagonist with at least, but there was nothing he could reach. But then, just as he began to panic, a blue box lit up before him.

[SHEN YUAN!]

‘Holy shit,’

The System was back.

‘Holy SHIT! System! Where the fuck were you!? Oh thank fuck I’ve MISSED you!’ Shen Yuan screeched at it, hugging the screen close to his chest and struggling not to make a noise.

[System is pleased to be back with host!]

[This system missed you!]

‘How the hell did you get here? Why am I here? What the hell is—’

[HOST!]

[CALM YO FARM]

[You’re here because the system mainframe sent you here as punishment for dying]

‘Oh shit,’

[Originally, you would have been sent back to your world after suffering here, but you changed too much in this world, so the mainframe decided you would have to evolve the plot and get home yourself]

[This system was banned from following you and had no way of crossing dimensions until now!]

[This system is very sorry!]

‘Jesus Christ, it’s not your fault! But jeeze! What changed? How did you get here?’

“Shizun?” a gentle voice called from a mushroom behind him. Shen Yuan leapt up and away, twisting around. He hadn’t noticed the sound of Luo Bingge jumping up behind him.

But it wasn’t Luo Bingge staring at him starry eyed and teary from across the mounds of fungi.

It was his very own white lotus, the Luo Binghe who was his disciple.

“Binghe?” Shen Yuan took a step forward, one arm reaching out, expression shocked, “Is that… really my Binghe?”

“Shizun!” Luo Binghe threw himself forward into his arms, knocking Shen Yuan over and onto the soft mushroom cap he stood upon, “Finally I’ve found you! You have no idea how many worlds I had to go through to find the right you!”

‘He came for me?’ Shen Yuan’s eyes were wide as his fingers curled in his sobbing disciple’s hair, stroking his head and back gently.

[Of course!]

[He accelerated the Abyss arc willingly to find Xin Mo and track you down. Just before he left this system received the news that Host was stuck here, so this one hitched a ride]

[DAS12 and Shang Qinghua helped]

[And Luo Binghe is in love, remember?]

‘A protagonist can do anything if it’s for the sake of love,’

[Exactly]

“Binghe,” he murmured, squeezing the boy tighter, “Sweet, sweet Binghe,”

That seemed to prompt a new wave of sobs from his disciple.

“And so many of those worlds were awful! I kept finding you in this white room and you were dying and you couldn’t see me! And the Abyss was so scary and I had to make Xin Mo do as I said without turning me into a… a… a horndog! And you’re way better than Shen Jiu even though he and the Sect Leader make a really cute couple and I don’t understand why I’m a character in a book and I-I-I—”

Shen Yuan pressed a gentle kiss to the top of his head and brushed away a few tears.

“You’ve been through a lot then,” he murmured, “You’ve been so brave,”

“So can we go home?” Luo Binghe asked hopefully, “Will you let me take you home?”

Shen Yuan hesitated.

He wanted to. So badly, he wanted to leave. He wanted to go home and ask his disciple how he found out about Shen Jiu and the book and the hospital.

But he couldn’t. Not yet.

“There’s… still a few things I have to do here before I can go back,” Shen Yuan told him, “A lot of people here are… very unhappy, and so there’s someone I have to deal with to fix that,”

“Are you going to kill me?” Luo Binghe asked innocently, sitting up.

“What? No! Fuck no!” Shen Yuan propped himself up on his elbows then got on his knees.

“The other me,” he clarified, giggling just a little.

“Ah. Also no. I’m just… going to put him to sleep,” Shen Yuan answered, “You see the buds down below?”

“Around the sunflowers? The Golden Dream Rhododendrons?” Luo Binghe nodded as he realised the plan, “You’re going to lure him to the dais and lull him to sleep?”

Shen Yuan winced.

“Hit him over the head until he sleeps?”

“Mn. Possibly,”

Luo Binghe nodded in understanding, the motion allowing Shen Yuan to get a clearer look at his face, and consequently, forehead.

“Oh,” Shen Yuan brushed his fingers over the demon mark, “When did this happen?”

“When I saw— when I saw you… fall,”

Shen Yuan racked his brains for an instance that matched the description until he realised what Luo Binghe meant.

“Oh. I see. Are you alright? It didn’t hurt too much?”

“I’m fine. It’s like… it’s like there’s just more of me now,” Luo Binghe shrugged nonchalantly.

“And the others? My other disciples, are they alright?”

“Mn, they’re fine. Shen Jiu is looking after them,” Luo Binghe explained, “He, ah… took back his body? When you, ah… And everybody noticed immediately except Shang Qinghua, except I knew that you two were friends so when I spoke to him and told him what happened he offered to help, which was when Ma Dong—”

“Oh shit! Is he…?”

“Mo Xuanyu took care of it. And apparently Mo Xuanyu also has experience in interdimensional travel because he figured out you had crossed dimensions rather than… died,” Luo Binghe frowned, “Which is questionable. So Shang Shufu said you were probably in some place called ‘Proud Immortal Demon Way’, so I decided to go to the abyss, get the sword, and bring you back, which was how I met S8. Shang Shufu said S8 knew the fastest way to Xin Mo and could determine which universe was the right one, but it wasn’t until I saw… you, in that… that place, with this strange device open in front of you, that I realised ‘Proud Immortal Demon Way was a book, and I finally had proper direction,”

‘Sate? What the fuck is a Sate?’

[Host]

[S8 refers to this system]

[Sorry?]

“Oh thank fuck, okay, yeah that makes a lot of sense. I’m glad you two were able to help each other then. Fucking Airplane,” he muttered the last bit, “Alright, so, to give you some context, yeah, this place is Proud Immortal Demon Way the original. The you of this world is a harem lord, murderer, rapist, dick-bag, and nobody here is happy. Particularly him. Because it isn’t all his fault. Xin Mo messed with his head when he was vulnerable… look, stop looking at me like that, you’ll never be like him. It’s impossible. Point is, is that everyone here is miserable. The girls are depressed, Liu Qingge and Sect Master Yue are dead and in a few hours, Bingge will be hunting for my head,”

“You don’t need to justify doing what’s right, Shizun,” Luo Binghe smiled, “Not to me at least. I get it. This guy sucks. But I have you—as my teacher! So I know I’ll never do anything like this. I mean, look at this garden, it’s a mess! The mushrooms and sunflowers are totally disorganised, and the rhododendrons are inconsiderately placed!”

Shen Yuan laughed, feeling a brief stab of pain to the heart, “Yeah. Totally a mess,”

Luo Binghe froze, suddenly moving closer and staring him in the eye before pulling back in horror.

“Oh my god Shizun I didn’t mean it, truly! The garden is wonderful! A masterpiece! The, ah, sunflowers are lovely! The mushroom’s spots are so round!” he babbled, waving his hands in the air and turning a darker shade of red with every word.

“No, no!” Shen Yuan grinned, “I must admit, I have very little talent with plants past growing them, and even then I have to rely mainly on spiritual energy to make them stay alive,”

Luo Binghe calmed somewhat.

“So, maybe I should hide then. If the me here is evil, we don’t want any cases of mistaken identity. Remember Ma Dong’s play?”

“Indeed. We will have no comedy of errors this time,”

“I hope so,”

“What the fuck Qingqiu!?” Liu Qingge demanded.

‘Oh shit,’

Shen Yuan grimaced and turned to face him, “It isn’t what it looks like,”

“It looks like you’re colluding with the enemy!”

“I’m really, really not. Look, this is Luo Binghe—” he began calmly.

“I CAN SEE THAT!”

“From my realm. He’s only fifteen, and already has become a different person,”

“HE’S STILL A FUCKING DEMON AND HE STILL HAS THAT FUCKING SWORD!”

“Listen, it’s different, alright? This Luo Binghe would never do anything to harm your sister or me or you or anyone who was not threatening him first so will you please chill out for a minute? He’s on my side!” Shen Yuan finally raised his voice.

“How can you be so sure it isn’t just a trick!?”

“Because I know him too well to fall for that. I’m not an idiot Liu Shidi, and if you look around you’ll see that the other Luo Binghe is otherwise occupied,”

“So what, he’s going to take you back now? Xin Mo is obviously working,”

“I told you, or at least, given the context clues you should have figured it out. Ning Yingying, Liu Mingyan and Sha Hualing are my children and I am not abandoning them and the other girls to their fates,” Shen Yuan swore.

“Qingqiu…”

.
.
.

“S8, who is Shizun talking to?” Luo Binghe asked.

The System played him a short video of his Shizun admitting nervously to Shang Qinghua, “I see dead people,”

“Ah, ghosts, lovely,”

Chapter Text

Sha Hualing donned a coy mask and slipped through the door to Luo Binghe’s bedroom.

“Husband, A-Ying has prepared dinner for us,” she said, approaching him from behind and draping her arms over his shoulders, rubbing at them gently, “The mushrooms we grew are said to be quite delicious.

He spun around and took her by the waist, “I’m always glad to taste her cooking,”

“Mn, she is ever so creative, isn’t she?” Sha Hualing tried not to sound too fond, “And then after that perhaps, we could all go out into the garden and properly welcome the girls,”

“A wonderful idea Hualing,” he allowed, “I was about to pop down and visit our dear guest, but I think I’ll let him wait,”

“Ugh, the thought of that bastard really sours my mood. Yes, it’s best to leave that until after we’ve eaten!” she declared, taking on a childish affectation.

“Mn,” Luo Binghe frowned, strangely subdued.

“Come on then Husband, we’re gathering in the dinner hall,”

“I will be along in a second. I want to change robes. These are dirty,”

Sha Hualing hesitated by the door, just a second, before turning back to him, “Put on something comfy. You deserve to relax,”

As soon as she was gone, Luo Binghe sat on the edge of his bed and let out a long, shaky breath. He slowly undid his vambraces and shucked off his outer layers, letting him pool around his hips. Slowly he reached up to his hair and brushed the single braid that adorned it.

He’d never regretted anything before. Burning Cang Qiong to the ground. Slaughtering his fellow disciples. Taking what was owed.

It occurs to him now that perhaps, somewhere along the line, he had taken it all a bit too far.

He had left his manor in a rage, storming the human lands to hunt for any remainder of his ex-sect when he found the Fang twins taking refuge with, of all things, a very large snake.

A large snake that, for some unfathomable reason, could speak.

“Who are you to hold these women hostage!?” he cried, drawing Xin Mo from its sheath.

“You are mistaken,” the snake replied, “These girls are tired and hungry and too weak to survive on their own. They shared what little food they had with me and so I merely return their kindness,”

“Then why do they shy away in fear? Answer me that!”

“They are scared of you, Luo Binghe,”

The snake was not angry. Nothing in its voice projected aggression or disrespect. Simply honesty. Perhaps that is why he listened. Perhaps that is why he loosened his stance.

“Why? Why would they…” the sword clattered to the floor and Luo Binghe pulled at his hair, “I have tried so hard! I’M TRYING TO RESCUE YOU!”

“They know,” the snake spoke gently, “But they are scared none-the-less. A man they don’t recognise waving a sword at them unprovoked. Look at yourself. You aren’t okay,”

“I… who are you? Why… what are you doing to me?”

“I am doing nothing. Merely watching. Observing. This morning, your prisoner acted up. Tell me, what happened?”

“No, no, I don’t know you,” Luo Binghe scrambled for his sword, “I hate you. Prepare your last words—”

“You hate how poorly he treated you. You hate that, despite that, he was loved. You hate that no one loves you. You don’t hate me. You’ve just realised that venting your anger is the easiest way to bring yourself some peace. To sate that sword of yours,”

“How—”

“As I said, I observe. There are some things I’m going to show you. Some things I’m going to tell you. And then, when I’m done, I’m going to send you back home,” the snake spoke calmly, even as Luo Binghe’s temper began to flare and he charged forward to attack.

Instead, against his wishes, the universe opened up and he was swallowed whole.

The world he found himself in was perfect.

Because Cang Qiong was standing proud and beautiful, rainbow bridges arcing across the sky and casting colours down upon him. He remembered he once loved the place, however much it was cruel to him.

Because Ming Fan greeted him with a smile and a joke and parted ways good naturedly. He remembered how badly he’d wanted a friend. Even just one would do.

Because when he went looking for him, of course he went looking for him, his Shizun greeted him so gently his heart broke then and there. He couldn’t describe the bliss he felt from those soft hands combing through his hair, absentmindedly plaiting strands together before helping it all back into his usual updo. He remembered that he would have done anything for this kindness. This love.

For the first time, Xin Mo was silent.

The irony of him ruining this for himself only added insult to injury. The way he’d shouted at himself that he didn’t deserve that world. Not any of it. The hesitation in his Shizun’s eyes.

“Did you like that world?” the snake asked when he returned.

“I hated it,”

“Mn?”

“I ruined it,”

“You didn’t. The Luo Binghe you saw wasn’t you after all, but someone entirely different,”

“Of course,” Luo Binghe laughed, “I should have guessed. Of course the one to have a home can’t be me. Of course the one to have friends can’t be me. Of course the one who gets to be loved… can’t be me,”

One of the girls, this is when he realised they were twins, looked like she wanted to approach him. Her sister pulled her back.

It was probably for the best.

“This is his fault!” he hissed.

“In part. It is also Yue Qingyuan’s fault for making the mistakes that made him hurt so, and Qiu Jianluo’s fault for hurting him first, and the old palace master’s fault for killing your mother, and your fault for taking it too far. It is so many people’s fault that perhaps, we shouldn’t blame anyone at all,” the snake lowered its head beside him.

“He didn’t care! I killed everyone who loved him, and he didn’t care! How! How can he have so many people love him when he loves NO ONE!?” Luo Binghe screamed, “It isn’t fair! It’s not fair, it’s not…”

The snake began to move, slowly and broadcasting its movements, to coil around him gingerly. Luo Binghe collapsed against it.

“Why? Why are you? Why… I should kill you. I don’t even know you,” Luo Binghe whispered, “I hate you,”

“You didn’t remember, did you? What it felt like to be loved?” the snake didn’t really ask.

“No,”

“I could tell you many things, Luo Binghe. I could share my philosophies on love and like, on affection and attachment. I could tell you how stars die and where the moon came from. I could even tell you that it’s all right, that you’re all right, and that it’s time to wake up,” the snake began, “But instead I will tell you something else,”

“Please,”

“Your wives, right now, are having sex atop giant mushrooms grown in your garden,”

Luo Binghe froze a second then spluttered, “I’m sorry!?”

“Three of them. Ning Yingying, Liu Mingyan and Sha Hualing. They’re cutsleeves. They are also in love. It’s alright if you don’t want to think about that yet,” the snake tilted its head towards him, “They’re doing it because they want to, and also, because it is a requirement for the growth of certain other plant life in your gardens. There are flowers that will grow overnight and blossom tomorrow at sunset, and if you breathe them in without having taken the antidote previously, even you will fall into the deepest of sleeps,”

“They… do they know? Have… have they betrayed me? Even… even Ying-shijie?”

“Not quite. Your Shizun escaped his prison and is working with them to incapacitate you for at least a few centuries. Long enough for them to live their lives and die happily,” the snake told him, “Because while they never could have loved you as a husband, and however unintentionally, you have mistreated them, they still care for you. They understand that this isn’t what you would have chosen, for them or for you. And they know that this is for the best,”

“They… they want me to leave. All of them?”

“Yes,”

He closed his eyes and tried not to let his expression waver. He’d never known how to stop crying, he’d only learned to try not to start.

“Your Shizun, however, wants to help you,”

“What—”

“Shocking, I know. He wasn’t lying before. He isn’t really your Shizun, just using his body. He’s technically a stranger to you. Like the kind Shizun from the other world. But he does love you. He would do nearly anything for you. And so, when you return home, he will try to lead you to sleep amongst those flowers, flowers he knows will make you sleep for a long time, yet dream very real dreams with the other ones who love you,”

Luo Binghe was quiet.

“It’s alright,” the snake huffed a laugh, “I am being obscure on purpose, because I want you to choose what you do next. Run away, or go home and kill them all. Fang Li and Fang Yan will accompany you as replacement wives for the ones you will have lost. They are kind and will surely grow to care for you. Your Shizun will put up a fight, but in the end, you will kill him. Or of course, the first option, start a new life across the sea and never think of the matter again,”

“Who are you?” Luo Binghe asked eventually, listless and hopeless, “You hate me too right?”

“I don’t. I don’t hate you at all. I hate some of the things you’ve done. But I could never hate you,” the snake settled its head against its coils, “Now I have done my duty. I have shown you what love feels like. I have told you the truth. And now you know,”

Except that he didn’t. When he left the snake the next morning, twins walking quietly, awkwardly behind him, he didn’t know at all. His wives were plotting against him, his Shizun had escaped, and he was once more, entirely unloved.

“What do I do?” he asked the floor and his gloves and the linens. Typically, they were silent.

After a moment’s silence, he stood up and walked to his clothes chest, finding something warm and soft and comfortable. He rubbed it against his skin and shuddered, just once, and pointedly did not cry.

Had he really gone from everything to nothing so quickly?

Perhaps that had already happened years ago and he hadn’t seen it.

He found his wives in the dinner hall as expected and smiled at their quiet chatter. He tried not to notice how light the room felt.

“Thank you shijie,” he murmured when Ning Yingying passed him his serving. If she was startled, she didn’t show it. He hated that the food was good. He hated how happy everyone looked. He hated why they were happy.

“Will you show me the gardens now?” he asked absently, once everyone had finished and begun chattering away once more.

“I think so,” Liu Mingyan smiled at him, “It’s a lovely afternoon, isn’t it?”

“Mn. I think the sunset will be splendid,” he replied with a quirk of his lips.

Liu Mingyan had the decency not to look him in the eyes when she agreed.

To their credit, the garden was indeed beautiful. The towering mushrooms were lit from below with the glow of the sunflowers, and golden rhododendron buds looked fit to burst below that.

Shen Yuan watched on from the shadows as he entered. He observed Luo Binghe’s gait, reluctant and slow, his clothes, comfortable and warm and soft to touch. How he wasn’t angry. How he was sad.

How his eyes lingered on the slowly opening rhododendron buds.

“A bed. How thoughtful,”

“We… we thought you may want to rest for a while,” Sha Hualing explained, “It’s comfy, I promise,”

“I trust you. Are you going to stay?” he asked, approaching the divan. He drew his fingertips gently across the wooden frame and then the cushioning.

“What… do you mean?” Liu Mingyan asked.

“When the flowers bloom. Did you take the antidote?” he asked quietly.

“No,” Ning Yingying said after a while, “We didn’t think you’d want us to. We thought you would be angry,”

“I’m just sad,” he admitted, not looking at any of them, “Could you ever have loved me?”

She hesitated, “A-Luo. You have always been my favourite shidi. That will never change,”

“You will always be the one who healed me and saved my life. I could never hate you for that,” Liu Mingyan added.

With a little more cheer, Sha Hualing chipped in as well, “You’re a great friend Bingbing! And yeah, I may only love women in that way, but that isn’t the only way to love. I think A-Yan and I could have loved you as our brother easily,”

“You are an easy person to love Binghe,” Shen Yuan stepped out from the mushrooms.

Luo Binghe managed a smile as he turned to the girls.

“Then you should go. Wouldn’t want you caught in an endless sleep too. Besides, I’m feeling tired already,” he said.

They left.

Luo Binghe laid down on the divan, head pillowed on divine softness. He appreciated the thought.

“You knew,” Shen Yuan stated.

“I found out,” Luo Binghe confirmed.

“Why don’t you turn on us then?”

“Nobody loves me. Nobody has for a very long time,” he finally cried, “Is it too much to ask? Just one person, please, just one! I want to feel that warmth, that kindness, one more time. Please!”

Soft, familiar fingers began to card through his hair.

“I love you. Any version of you I meet. Particularly my one, I admit. I think you might have figured out that one,” Luo Binghe made a noise that could have been in confirmation, “And particularly you. I want to wrap you up in my arms until the world disappears and you’re okay. I want to scream at you for all the things you’ve done. I want to make you happy. I want to make things right. I’m sorry that you came willingly Binghe, I’m so sorry,”

“It’s alright. So many people are to blame, why blame anyone at all? Or something…” he covered his eyes with his arm. “It’s alright. You don’t have to love me. I think I just want to sleep,”

“I want to stay with you. I want to keep you safe until you wake up,”

“You don’t have to Shizun,” Luo Binghe smiled, taking note of the opening rhododendrons, “You need to leave soon. You wouldn’t have had time to brew the antidote. You have your own world, huh?”

“I do,”

“Would you have cared so much if I didn’t know?” Luo Binghe asked, “If I hadn’t come willingly?”

“Yes,” Shen Yuan took a deep breath, “But perhaps it would have been easier. I had a whole plan you know. I was going to ask the spirit of Liu Qingge to possess me and fight you until you were defeated. I think I would have felt less guilty that way. Less like I made you feel like you wanted… this,”

Luo Binghe nodded idly, staring up at the sunset.

“You can go,”

“You don’t deserve to be alone,”

“It’s okay, Shen Yuan,” a new voice spoke, “I will stay,”

“You…” Luo Binghe frowned, “Why are you here?”

Shen Yuan turned in time to see a large snake, a vaguely familiar large snake. For once, he chose not to panic over where he’d seen it before, because right now was not the time for trope aversion.

‘System who the FUCK is that and how does he know my name!?!?!?’ Shen Yuan screeched at the system.

[Loading…]

[Loading…]

[File Error]

[This system cannot connect in unauthorised world as this system is not technically supposed to be here]

[Could be Zhuzhi-lang tho]

“Zhuzhi-lang?” Shen Yuan asked.

“That would be me, yes,” the snake replied, “I’m surprised you know of me,”

“You’re Luo Binghe’s cousin,”

“He is?” Luo Binghe raised his head somewhat, looking at the snake in surprise, “How?”

“Distant cousin,” Zhuzhi-lang answered, “I would have mentioned yesterday, but I thought I’d save the suprise for now,”

“You… you knew I would choose this,” Luo Binghe frowned.

“I guessed,”

“And you told him my plan,” Shen Yuan watched the snake closely.

“His mother told me,”

Shen Yuan blinked.

‘Oh. Hah. System, you were right,’

[Always]

[Having said that…?]

‘Seems I really am a snake,’ Shen Yuan grinned.

[Host?]

“I see he is in safe hands then,” Shen Yuan smiled.

Zhuzhi-Lang stared at him unimpressed and Luo Binghe huffed a laugh.

“Luo Binghe, do you know what these rhododendrons really do?” the snake asked instead of berating him.

“Send you to sleep,”

“Yes. They also connect you to the spirit world, or plane really,” Zhuzhi-Lang explained.

“Oh. You never taught me that,” Luo Binghe glared lightly at Shen Yuan.

“You didn’t listen brat,” Shen Jiu replied, the first of many ghosts to start arriving.

After Shen Jiu was of course, sect leader Yue, then Lai Mian and presumably Su Xiyan, then unmistakably Tianlang-jun (very obviously recently deceased if Shen Yuan was right, judging by his amused delight in floating through mushrooms), and a veritable swarm of dead harem members and vaguely recognisable characters.

“My mistake,” Shen Yuan smiled softly.

“Huh,” Tianlang-jun began speaking loudly, “My crazy nephew is not so crazy after all!”

Su Xiyan sighed.

“See, look A-Xi, my leg’s going straight through this mushroom!”

“I can’t believe I love you,” Su Xiyan muttered.

“Speaking of, Crazy Nephew, can they really not see us?”

“What are you looking at Shizun?” Luo Binghe asked, noticing how Shen Yuan seemed oddly focused on a few of the mushrooms.

“The ghost of your father making a fool of himself in front of the ghosts of your mothers,”

Tianlang-jun looked wronged and stopped pulling strange faces at him.

“Crazy nephew. You lied,” he accused.

“I didn’t lie, Uncle,” Zhuzhi lang rolled his eyes, which was somewhat impressive for a snake, “And it’s true, Binghe, your family has come in preparation, and a few spirits who still have some things to say to you,”

He eyed Shen Jiu who folded his arms and looked away.

“They’re really here, huh?” Luo Binghe yawned as a golden mist began to fill the air, the rhododendrons finally blooming in full, “You need to get out of here Shizun,”

“…Alright. Sweet dreams, Binghe,” Shen Yuan gently stroked the braid in his hair before moving to evacuate the garden.

Once he was out of sight, Luo Binghe released the shuddering breath he’d been holding in.

“Will they really be sweet?” Luo Binghe murmured, “It’s been a bit too much,”

“As sweet as we can make them,” Zhuzhi-Lang promised, slithering closer to curl protectively around the bed, finally resting his massive head atop his coils, watching over the demon lord.

He watched as Lai Mian stroked her son’s forehead and Su Xiyan and Tianlang-jun settled down on the dirt in an imitation of resting against the bed. Shen Jiu, Yue Qingyuan and various others stood around quietly, waiting for the mist to open a path for them.

He didn’t know why he felt upset all of a sudden. For all intents and purposes, this was not a sad happening. No-one was sick or dying. In a few moments time, Luo Binghe and his family would be happily reunited, and yeah a few centuries was a long time, but that time would be filled with nothing but good vibes and healing.

It wasn’t an end by any means.

So why?

Why was his throat so tight—

.

.

.

“Binghe?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go home,”

Chapter Text

While Shen Yuan was having the time of his life traipsing around the inbetween of realms, watching System feedback of Luo Binghe’s encounters in the abyss, and generally getting over the trauma of emotionally coercing someone into discount suicide, Shen Jiu was having decidedly less fun.

Less than a year ago, a villain was made.

You see, petty bitches are all fine and well. Shen Jiu was one himself and he had a loving boyfriend – it didn’t make him a bad person. Petty assholes however, are a different story.

Now, a certain someone did not appreciate being snubbed, as it were. In his eyes, the relatively gentle reprimand, order to meditate and reflect on his actions as a bully and the demotion to regular disciple, felt like the worst betrayal possibly. How dare the man he had looked up to and idolised do that to him!

And at first he had tried. He meditated, he reflected, he trained. Then he got unspeakably angry. With his mind clear, all doubts and fears and resentments front and centre, Ming Fan was decidedly displeased.

So displeased in fact, that he decided he would do everything in his power to make his old teacher pay.

It took months of planning and study and research, but at last the time had come.

Which was why Shen Jiu was having such a shit time.

It had started at lunch. He was eating with his lover in a pavilion on Qiong Ding, happily nestled by Yue Qingyuan’s side, all lovey-dovey and shit. He was halfway through a sip of tea when an unbearable coldness flooded his nose.

He immediately set the tea down.

“What the fuck was that?” he frowned.

“Hm?”

“My nose. Feel it,”

Deciding not to question it, Yue Qingyuan did as told and startled.

“That is… odd. It’s icy,” he laughed briefly, “It’s almost as if you’ve been touched by a ghost!”

Shen Jiu froze then looked around, frantic.

“Shit. It could have been. Listen, I need you to trust me but I think something bad is going to happen, and soon,” Shen Jiu spoke, angrily finishing his tea. He may as well, while he still could.

‘Shen-Yuan-Shen-Yuan? No-no-no warning this is a warning since when could ghosts fucking do that I-want-to-freeze-people-not-the-time-xiao-Jiu what have we forgotten?’

“Of course I trust you, but I don’t sense any danger. It’s not like we’re under attack,”

“I didn’t say we’re under attack, I just think… something must be coming. Trouble,”

As he spoke, a loud voice echoed across the mountain, “PALACE MASTER SU AND ESCORT, REQUESTING ENTRY AND THE ARREST OF SHEN QINGQIU, FORMERLY KNOWN AS SHEN JIU!”

“Fuck,” Shen Jiu stood, “Alright, alright, this is fine, this is fine, fuck!”

Yue Qingyuan did his best to slow his pacing, drawing him in for a tender embrace, “Everything is going to be fine, I’m sure this will be cleared up shortly. Would you like to go back to Qing Jing? They may be dissuaded if you aren’t immediately accessible,”

Shen Jiu stared at him for a long moment then sighed.

“I am putting my faith in you. Figure this out,” he spat, then twirled and stormed off.

He got only a few hours peace on his peak before garishly golden clad disciples began to swarm the place.

From his position in his old house he was able to view the peak through the water of the viewing bowl.

The Huan Hua palace disciples, for no other sect was as fucking ostentatious, were passive aggressively pillaging his old peak. Shen Yuan’s disciples were running about in terror, as one by one they were grabbed by the arm to be interrogated.

In the midst of it all, Yue Qingyuan stood, shouting at them to stop, hiding the youngest of them behind his back. Shen Jiu couldn’t help but feel vaguely appeased. He was there and he was still trying.

It was with no little pride too that he watched Ning Yingying herd as many as she could into the music hall. She had fifteen of them safe when the Old Palace Master arrived on the scene. Palace Master Su. Notorious asshole.

“Yue Qingyuan, I thought I warned you of the repercussions if you stood in our way. The man you are defending is a criminal and must be brought to justice. Is justice not a core value of your sect?”

“He is NOT a criminal!” Yue Qingyuan grit out, spying Ning Yingying in the bushes nearby waiting to grab the twins, “Shen Qingqiu has done nothing to warrant this manhunt!”

“Have I not patiently presented the evidence to you many times? Surely you cannot believe the words you are saying if you dare not draw your sword in defence. If you truly were convicted in protecting this man, you would do so,” the man taunted.

“There is no need for violence. This is a misunderstanding,” Yue Qingyuan was firm.

At that moment Ning Yingying, who had snuck around the Palace Master, ran to the twins, grabbed one in each arm, and sprinted past the circle of guards around Yue Qingyuan.

She had nearly reached the path when Palace Master Su Longhua grabbed her arm, grip iron.

“Music Hall!” she shouted to the twins, who immediately bolted out the clearing.

When Shen Jiu counted through the water, he noted the other disciples who had been caught had likewise been liberated by a very angry demoness and her demonic cultivator Shidi.

The only one not in the music hall was Ning Yingying herself. And Shen Jiu of course.

“Ah, the ribbons in your hair mark you as head disciple, no?” Su Longhua squeezed tight enough to bruise, even with her high constitution.

“Yes sir. The grey in your beard marks you as old, no?” she grit her teeth. Shen Jiu smiled. Atta girl.

The old man only grinned, “I like this one. If our wonderful Sect Leader Yue will not reveal your teacher's whereabouts, I think you can tell us instead,”

“Oh, I’ll tell you right now he’s been sucked into another dimension for a week. Don’t worry, he’ll be back by Monday,” she spat.

“Feisty! I will enjoy watching that leave you,”

She stood her ground and glared.

“Let her go. She is a child, and you will not lay another hand on her,” Yue Qingyuan’s hand strayed to the hilt of his sword.

Shen Jiu smiled sadly. If this wasn’t proof of all the hopes he’d amassed over the years, then what was? Risking death to protect him, how romantic!

He left the house and booked it to the courtyard just in time to witness the circle of disciples beginning to close in around his love.

“Is that really necessary?” he drawled from behind his fan, a talisman projecting his voice.

“Ah, the elusive Shen Qingqiu!” the palace master smiled welcomingly, dropping Ning Yingying’s arm and revealing a dark purple circle of bruises around it.

Shen Jiu nodded at her and she ran out of the clearing, leaving them alone.

“That would be me,” he nodded, all grace and elegance. He descended casually from his sword, robes immaculate, practically screaming poise, “And what, might I ask, is the meaning of all this ruckus? Last I recall, Qiong Ding and Huan Hua had an alliance. Don’t tell me that has been dissolved now,”

“Not at all, not at all,” the palace master was jovial as he looked him over. Maybe sizing him up, maybe formulating torture fantasies, “It is a simple matter really. A warrant for your arrest. However, your sect leader has been quite adamant this is, hah, unwarranted! If you accompany us, we can hold a proper trial and clear the air of any misunderstandings! Master Shen is renown for his elegance. Seeing you now, it is difficult to picture you commiting the crimes you are accused of,”

“And what crimes are those?” Shen Jiu raised a brow.

“Oh, larceny, arson, assault, homicide. The usual,” all spoken too casually.

“As a cultivator, fighting and killing demons is hardly a crime,”

“These crimes pertain to humans, you see. The Qiu family, to be specific. It all happened so long ago, it must seem insignificant to you now,” his smile was cutting, “But of course, that is all hearsay and hypothetical. I assure you, arrest is only the technical term. If you come with us willingly, we can all stay civil. More of a… mandatory visit to Huan Hua palace, if you please,”

Shen Jiu weighed his options.

“Very well. I will request a small escort of my disciples accompany me. Simply my head disciple and one other. Just for security’s sake,” he smiled, “I will fetch them now. Feel free to accompany me, or, as I’m sure he won’t mind, keep Sect Leader Yue entertained until I return. I shan’t be but a minute,”

With that, he turned sharply and walked leisurely until he was out of sight before racing to the music hall.

He flew down the stairs and burst into the room, badly startling his ex students.

“Okay, deal is, I’m going into brief custody at Huan Hua, Ning Yingying, Mo Xuanyu, you’re both with me. Sha Hualing, you’re the boss of Ma Dong, and Lu Gulin, you’re in charge of everyone else,” he took a second to grin at Ma Dong’s pouting façade, a second to assure the children, “Everything will be fine. I’m sure your Shizun will show up in time to rescue me. If not, no skin off your noses, right?”

It was an open secret at this point, thank you very much for that Ma Dong.

They nodded and Shen Jiu, accompanied by two disciples, flew back to the courtyard, false calm and bravado reinstating itself once they were within sight.

“See? I have returned,” he stated, snapping his fan shut.

“I cannot say I am reassured however,” the palace master began, only to be cut off.

“Of course, you cannot be expect to trust I will be peaceful when I so obviously bear a sword. Yingying, will you hold this for me? And Xuanyu, take these talismans and my pouch. Ah, surely Master Su has no objections to my holding onto my fan? It is hardly a weapon,”

‘Liar’, both disciples thought in sync.

“Master Shen has indeed thought of everything. Keep your fan if it reassures you,” the old palace master spoke patronisingly.

“Excellent. Then let us be on our way then!” Shen Jiu strode confidently to Yue Qingyuan and kissed him on the cheek, “Do come to my trial dearest,”

Yue Qingyuan, seeing plainly the panic in his eyes, kissed his lips soundly, “Of course my love. I would not miss your innocence proven,”

As Shen Jiu turned to walk to where the Huan Hua disciples were preparing a conspicuously windowless carriage, he added idly, “Take care of the children, I suppose,”

Then, he and the two disciples where whisked away.

To say all three felt discomforted when they realised the carriage was not going to take off, and they would instead be making the journey on the ground, was an understatement.

After a few hours of travelling in silence, Mo Xuanyu asked, “So, Ning-shijie I get. She’s strong, capable, and your favourite. But why, the hell, would you want me to come along?”

“Yeah, Shizun you don’t seem to like most of the other disciples. The twins, Ma Dong and I seem to be the exceptions,” Ning Yingying added.

“I thought that was obvious. In the case everything goes wrong, he’s my insurance,” Shen Jiu frowned.

“…You’re giving me blanket permission to resurrect you if they kill you?”

“I’m giving you blanket permission to use my corpse to go ham on Huan Hua palace, yes. I expect, given the exploits of my youth… that I would make quite the resentful corpse,” Shen Jiu sighed, “There’s no helping it if I die, I suppose. And your Shizun could probably sort something out afterwards in any case. I imagine he’ll be wanting his body back after all… though this is my body,”

Mo Xuanyu gave his martial sister a look and she shrugged.

“What is the story with all that anyway,” he asked, “As far as I’m aware, you’re the stranger,”

“I’m not entirely sure either. All I know is that the man who is your Shizun took over my body when I died nearly a year ago, and… has done a whole lot more good with it than I’ve ever done. I won’t be sorry when he takes it back. He is good,” Shen Jiu spoke casually, tone flat, “Hopefully it will be soon. I don’t want to deal with this shit show,”

The two disciples exchanged a look and Shen Jiu folded his arms and watched the carriage doors.

It took hours before the carriage finally stopped for the night. They were fed and watered briefly, allowed to stretch, and then put back into their carriage. It took two more days of vaguely awkward travel, short exchanges between the three and meagre provisions, before they arrived at Huan Hua Palace.

“Whoo boy is it nice to see the sun again!” Ning Yingying stretched her arms up high upon exiting the carriage, only to fling an arm out on the bottom step and stop Mo Xuanyu from following her.

It seems the relatively accommodating travel conditions were merely to lull them into a false sense of security as dozens of Huan Hua Palace disciples encircled them, spears and swords all angled at the carriage door.

“Now now,” the Old Palace master made an appearance for the first time since Qing Jing, “Our prisoners, oh, deepest apologies, slip of tongue you see, our guests have come with us so peacefully. There is no need for this aggression. Give them enough room to exit,”

And so, flanked by two children as his last line of defence and herded by a small platoon of young, golden soldiers, Shen Jiu was escorted to a cell made of water.

“I would advise Master Shen and disciples not to attempt to touch the walls here, lest they suffer for it. I assure you this is merely a precaution. In any case, is this room not well furnished?”

“Indeed, your famed water dungeon is exceptionally hospitable. Why, I can hardly smell the blood stains you’ve so kindly decorated the floor with!” Shen Jiu smiled widely, “I’m sure my disciples and I will be quite comfortable here,”

“Excellent, excellent,” the Palace Master smirked, “Of course, this is only temporary. Your trial begins at sunset – we want this all sorted as soon as possible, you see,”

“Heaven forbid you leave me enough time to gather my wits about me. Truly, incomparable service,”

“We do aim to please. Certainly, I plan on providing you a voice to serve in your defence. While any member of your sect would be a conflict of interest, I’m sure an outer disciple of mine would be empathetic enough to speak on your behalf, unless you object…?” his eyes glinted and the walls of water seemed to grow louder and louder around them.

“I thank you for your consideration, however, I would much rather you did not. After all, who better to defend strategic master Shen Qingqiu in court, than Shen Qingqiu himself? Surely that is permissible,”

“I shall put it to vote amongst my council,” the old man allowed, “Until then,”

“Until then,”

“Oh, I was wondering if either of your disciples would like a tour of my palace? I do love to promote inter-sect unity. Perhaps the girl?”

‘Yes, you also love to separate prisoners from their only supporting units,’ Shen Jiu hid his scowl behind his fan.

“Actually, I thought the architecture supporting your palisades, as well as the glass ceilings on the way in were quite stunning,” Mo Xuanyu smiled indulgently, “I would love to see more of the place,”

“Hmm, I believe I would love to show you,” the Palace master allowed, “Perhaps my sect may catch your fancy. I say, you remind me very much of a young girl I once new. Master Shen, with your permission?”

“Of course. Xuanyu, take your time,” Shen Jiu caught the message in the boy’s eyes and nodded, “Yingying and I shall manage for company without you,”

“Excellent!” the Palace master cheered and the two were left alone.

“Shizun, are you sure it’s wise to leave Xuanyu alone with him?”

“Yes. The man is disgusting, however, Xuanyu is safe. The boy can defend himself, and the old man wouldn’t dream of touching a male. If you had gone with him, that would be another story,” Shen Jiu snapped his fan shut and hooked it on his belt.

After a minute of quiet, Ning Yingying spoke up.

“Thank you, for before. You let yourself be caught for my sake,”

“That, and your sect leader was about to do something regrettable,”

“Still. If I hadn’t been caught, we could have pretended you were off the mountain. On a mission or visiting someone,” Ning Yingying watched her shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the world and twisted her fingers in the tassel of her jade token, “So thank you. For saving me,”

“Of course I saved you brat, I’m your…” Shen Jiu unhooked his belt and snapped it open angrily, only to lose momentum.

“I’m not your Shizun. So don’t expect me to do anything like it again,” he hissed.

“No, you aren’t my Shizun,” Ning Yingying agreed, and Shen Jiu pretended that didn’t hurt more than he was expecting, “The other Shen Qingqiu is. He teaches us, helps us, understands us, where you gave us instructions and books and told us to figure it out. He is my Shizun.”

“I know I’m not a saint, Yingying,” he had to force the words out.

“But you are the one who brushed my hair and taught me how to be a person again when my mum died,” she found the courage to look him in the eyes, “I had barely been here a few months and you were so quick to calm me down and talk me through my grief. You are the one who taught me how to play the flute when my fingers were too indelicate for the guqin. You are the one who told me it was okay to love women and accepted me no matter what I did and shared parts of yourself with me. You were not my Shizun, however much you favoured me. And I love Shizun. He is so kind and bright. But you were, and are still, the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father, and I love you more,”

Her smile is far too kind and warm for him to bear right now, so instead he raised his fan to shamelessly cover his eyes.

“I… had wanted a daughter once,” he whispered, then took a deep breath and closed his fan. He smiled at her, just a little bit, but achingly sincere. “Thank you,”

Loud footsteps began to echo down the corridor as a group of disciples hurried past their cage, conveniently allowing Shen Jiu an escape.

“How did they arrive so quickly?” the disciples spoke in hushed tones.

“I don’t know, I heard someone say the carriages were flying!”

“I heard they followed only an hour behind the prisoners,”

“Do you think it will still be okay if Cang Qiong sect is here? What if they attack?”

“They can’t, they’d be overpowered. Remember, it’s not just Huan Hua attending the trial,”

“But I heard Liu Qingge was stronger than any fighter in the martial world! He could take out a thousand soldiers with ease!”

“I thought it was ten thousand!”

The voices and footsteps passed their door and faded.

“Excellent, the cavalry has arrived,”

They only had to wait an hour before being fetched from the cell.

“The trial has been moved up,” a senior disciple informed them, sincerely polite, “I’m sorry I couldn’t warn you ahead of time,”

“It’s alright,” Ning Yingying went first, only to be stopped.

“I’m sorry Miss, but you’ve been asked to accompany my peers to the spectator boxes alongside the rest of your sect,” the same disciple spoke gently, “Your friend is waiting there for you,”

“But—”

“It’s alright,” Shen Jiu squeezed her shoulder and walked past her, “Make sure Xuanyu’s okay,”

“Yes Shizun,” she bowed and followed the other disciples down one end of the corridor, Shen Jiu and the senior disciple down the other.

He was led into a veritable arena, a stone floor adorned with chains and claw marks, two booths behind him, and the Huan Hua Palace Master and council of elders ahead. On both sides were seated members of the four great sects, Tian Yi Overlook, Zhao Hua Temple, Huan Hua Palace and Cang Qiong Mountain sect, all separated into neat rows. Finally, a jury was seated, comprised of two members of each sect, and two civilians drawn by lot, closest to the walls that ensconced him.

He straightened his shoulders, closed his fan and held his head high. He saw Yue Qingyuan in the crowd looking at him, and recognised Liu Mingyan and a Bai Zhan disciple had been chosen for the Cang Qiong jury.

‘Ah yes, equality,’ he thought to himself, eying the scowling and therefore, presumably, biased members of the other sects. ‘I wonder what brought all this on…’

“Ladies and gentlemen, this trial is now in session,” the silent room grew quieter, as the civilian judge stood and, judging by the lack of aggression on part of Yue Qingyuan towards him, he seemed to be a fair one. At least, not one chosen by Huan Hua to be biased against him.

“We are gathered to witness the trial of Shen Qingqiu, otherwise known as Shen Jiu, on the grounds of larceny, arson, assault and homicide, carried out on the Qiu family. In the prosecution, we have Gongyi Qin,” As he spoke, a member of Huan Hua palace stepped up to the plaintiff and bowed to the four sects, “And in the defence, we have Shen Qingqiu, speaking on behalf of himself…”

And with that, a second Shen Qingqiu stepped up to the defendants box and made his bows.

Chapter Text

‘What a clusterfuck,’ Shen Yuan sighed internally, watching the crowd’s furious whispers grow louder.

He had returned three days prior, apparently only a few hours after his counterpart was arrested, only to find his peak in total disarray and that he had been gone for a week.

“Xiao Jiu—!” Yue Qingyuan, who had been sitting morosely in the courtyard, raced over to where he’d stepped through the portal into his reality beaming widely, shortly followed by his disciple.

He turned to face the sect leader, only for the man to fall short.

“Oh. My apologies, I thought… I… is he gone?" he asked quietly, "Did I… not get to say goodbye?”

‘the fuck…’ Shen Yuan shook his head in surprise then smiled gently.

“As far as I’m aware, Jiu-ge is still in his own body. This isn’t his,” he gestured to himself, “Speaking of, I take it you have been made aware of the distinction between us?”

Yue Qingyuan relaxed, relief sweeping over him as he answered, “As have the rest of your disciples. I apologise, but in your absence, much has been revealed,”

“Wonderful. Where is he? We need to regroup and figure out some… storage issues,” Shen Yuan grimaced.

“He…”

“Shizun,” Lu Gulin approached from the direction of the music hall, “Other Shizun has been arrested by Huan Hua palace. Only Sect Leader Yue understands why. However, Ning Shimei and Mo Shidi have both accompanied him,”

“…That… alright, I take it he’s going on trial? Binghe, how much control do you have over Xin Mo right now?”

“As it feeds on resentment, and I have none, it’s will has been starved almost completely. I can control it fully so long as conditions remain the same,” Luo Binghe answered.

“Alright, alright,” he took a deep breath and turned to Lu Gulin, “Are the other disciples assembled in the music hall?”

“Yes Shizun. I… I was correct, wasn’t I? You’re our kind Shizun?” he asked quietly.

“Mn. I’m back at last. Sect Leader, we shall talk more in the Music hall, and coordinate a plan of action,” Shen Yuan steeled himself, “We have much to do if we are going to win a court case. Explain the charges,”

They began walking and Yue Qingyuan began explaining, and by the time Luo Binghe presented them with the tea he had slipped off to prepare in anticipation, Shen Yuan was forming plans.

He stopped though, first, to reunite with his disciples. To give them all hugs, to heal a few bruises, cry a little.

Then once he sent his youngest kids to bed, and called his eldest disciples to order.

“You have done excellently in my absence, Lu Gulin, Wei Yanfen, Lu Minfei, Sha Hualing, and yes, even you Ma Dong,” the humour helped, “You have exceeded my expectations in times of crisis and I will be heaping more and more praise onto you for the rest of your lives because of it so don’t think this is done and dusted, however, the crisis is not yet averted. I cannot thank you enough, however, for your efforts in the battle, and your efforts in taking care of your juniors this past week. I am so proud of you all. But we have one more thing to do, if you are willing,”

“Shizun,” Wei Yanfen spoke up, “You don’t need to convince us. The other Shizun, the one who came before you, was not a teacher to us. He showed little kindness and little effort, but he did care for us to some degree. He never insulted us for asking questions, at least. And in the past week he has spoken to every one of us about what happened and he… I understand now that while he was not a good teacher, he is a good person. Of course we will help him,”

“I agree,” Ma Dong grinned, “Though he hated my jokes with a passion, he was not cruel. He… he and I have shared an experience now, so I don’t mind helping him out,”

Lu Gulin added, “And let’s not forget, he’s practically Ning shimei’s father. If not for his sake, then for hers,” his expression softened, “And he did try to take care of us, if only for this one week,”

“Well that cuts out much of my speech, doesn’t it,” Shen Yuan smiled fondly, “Though in truth, that was not quite what I meant,”

Yue Qingyuan frowned in confusion.

“You see, I had many plans, long term ones. Ones that would have slowly been implemented over many years. The ones I was discussing with Mobei-Jun,” his disciple’s eyes widened, “They have been accelerated,”

“Qingqiu, what are you speaking of?”

“I spoke with you about my demon-human integration scheme, yes?” he nodded, “What I failed to mention was my ‘take down Huan Hua Palace and place you at the head of the cultivation world’ plan. Title pending. You see, I recently uncovered corruption in Huan Hua palace, namely, in the form of the palace master. In short, the Old Palace Master murdered his daughter, Luo Binghe’s mother,” that drew a gasp from Yue Qingyuan, “Is generally just a disgusting person, has employed wanted criminals, and is attempting a takeover of the other three great sects,”

“How… how do you know all this,”

“It doesn’t matter how I know, just that I know. And I know where I can find enough evidence to support it. Which is where you five come in. Luo Binghe has recently learned the art of teleportation without the need for prior visiting of destinations, and with him acting as your mode of transport, you will be carrying out your first individual missions as senior disciples of Cang Qiong sect,” Shen Yuan paused, “Do you agree to this?”

“Yes Shizun!” they chorused.

“Good. We have two days to accomplish this. It will take that long for Shen Jiu to arrive at Huan Hua, so that is how long we have. Your assignments are as follows. Ma Dong, you are in charge of your youngest disciples, not because you are incapable of assisting with the investigation, but because I need them safe. Furthermore, you will be running headquarters. If I am absent, either off the mountain or unavaliable, you need to get any information that arrives here back to me. As such, Binghe will be at your disposal,”

And with that, he began listing off tasks. Lu Gulin and Sha Hualing would be travelling to the Northern deserts to inform Mobei-Jun of his plans, before hitting every brothel on the way back for possible witnesses. Wei Yanfen would be visiting every records office around the old Qiu manor remains, gathering information, evidence and names of witnesses to send Lu Minfei after. Yue Qingyuan would be interviewing and preparing any witnesses brought forth and tracking down any information on Wu Yanzi, a demonic cultivator he suspected may have known Shen Jiu.

By far the one who would be run the most ragged, however, was Luo Binghe, who would be teleporting potentially hundreds of times in the space of only a few days, acting as transportation, helping Shen Yuan in his tasks and speaking as a witness against Su Longhua.

And then there was Shen Yuan. His own task was potentially the most difficult. Finding and freeing Tianlang-Jun, after convincing him to help. Luo Binghe would accompany him for that trip, before returning to assist in the search for evidence. However, once all the evidence was compiled, he had to make a case. He did not delude himself into thinking the evidence would all be in his favour. But any information he could find could potentially help. And if he had to slip in a few lies, a bit of exaggeration, then that was fine with him.

They began their tasks immediately. Ma Dong going to explain everything to the youngest ones, Wei Yanfen and Lu Minfei, as well as ten disciples provided by Yue Qingyuan, to the carriages to travel to the remains of Qiu Manor. Lu Gulin and Sha Hualing went immediately to the library to plan out their route, intending to head out the next morning. Each was equipped with talismans that would alert Luo Binghe to their location and indicate they needed a lift.

Yue Qingyuan made himself useful and provided Shen Yuan with a map leading to the general location of Tianlang-jun, then left to aid in preperations.

And so, by mid afternoon, Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe left to hunt down the last full-blooded heavenly demon.

They arrived on location a few hours before sunset, location being a rather generic looking mountain. They had to wander on foot to see potential cave entrances.

“Shizun,” Luo Binghe whispered, as they walked quietly through dappled sunlight. It was a rather pleasant mountain after all.

“I’m aware, don’t worry,” he replied calmly, glancing at a small crevice.

[NEW PLOT UNLOCKED: THE LOST EMPEROR]

[Host, that’s the cave!]

[This system had to wait until you see it to show you the way]

[By the way, host currently has 5670 B-points]

[Individual notifications were blocked]

‘Thank you S8’

[#~u~#]

“S8 says this is the one,” Shen Yuan took a slow step towards the cave, then stopped as an enormous snake descended, seemingly from the sky, to block the entrance.

“What business do you have here?” the snake asked, not kindly but without aggression.

“Greetings. This one’s name is Shen Qingqiu, and my disciple is Luo Binghe. You are Zhuzhi-lang, correct?” Shen Yuan smiled politely.

“You know my name?” a (privately adorable) expression of confusion crossed its human face.

“Yes. We are here to speak with your uncle, Tianlang-Jun, about the death of his wife,”

“Junshang does not wish to mention her,” Zhuzhi-Lang protested.

“Luo Binghe is their son,” the boy flared his heavenly demon mark, “And we wish to bring the murderer of Su Xiyan to justice. To do so, we would like his cooperation, and in turn, we will grant him freedom,”

Zhuzhi-Lang’s eyes widened in joy.

“You will free him!? Truly?”

“If we speak to him and he cooperates,”

“You may go inside then,” he said, “But please, do not betray this trust and attack. You will not like the consequences. I have seen a colleague of yours, all in black with a smiling mask, and while we are equal in strength, I will take us both down if need be,”

“Your loyalty is admirable,” Shen Yuan replied. 'And also inevitably futile. Moving on...'

They were led into the cave, which opened into a huge cavern lined with blood talismans and chains, many of which had eroded and fallen. It looked like Tianlang-Jun may end up freed all by himself in a few years.

“Junshang,” Zhuzhi-Lang slithered over to a limbless body and Shen Yuan was hit with a flash of fear.

‘That could have been me,’

“Ah, my silly nephew, you’ve brought snacks!”

“Guests, uncle, guests. They wish to speak with you,”

“Very well,” the body righted itself, eyes fully obstructed by hair, “Honoured guest, would you be so kind as to move my hair from my vision?”

“I… I will,” Luo Binghe approached cautiously, “But you can’t bite sir,”

“Is that the voice of a child I hear? Tell me child, do I not terrify you? I am a heavenly demon after all. Does my body not horrify you?” Tianlang-jun drawled as Luo Binghe approached and began fixing his hair back, “I sense spiritual energy, a young cultivator are you? I won’t bite, I won’t bite, not until I get a look at you, then I probably will. Whatever is a young righteous cultivator doing seeking out me… A-Yan,”

Luo Binghe had finished and stepped back.

Tianlang-Jun’s eyes widened in shock.

“Silly nephew of mine, it appears I am once more hallucinating. The boy looks like her,” he said hesitantly, “I take it back, I don’t want to see him,”

“Your Highness,” Shen Yuan spoke up. He could easily see the family resemblance. He hoped, he hoped so much, that at the very least, Luo Binghe would not be disappointed. He knew the boy had hoped, just secretly, to gain a family out of this.

“Ah, an immortal master. I do so love those. And a very pretty one too. How may I help?”

“I will not waste your time, your highness. The Huan Hua Palace Master, Su Longhua, father of Su Xiyan, poisoned her the night she was to meet you. This poison was intended to kill the son she was carrying, however, she escaped his dungeons and absorbed the poison into her body to save your son. She made it as far as the southern Luo River before going into labour and dying. She tried to reach you before her passing, and she didn’t betray you,” he spoke all the words Su Xiyan told him to.

She was rested beside her lover, stroking the air above his head. As soon as he walked in, he saw her and signalled to her and asked her to help him, and she did.

“This is Luo Binghe, the son the two of you created. Rest assured his heritage was only recently uncovered. We are here to request you aid in persecuting Su Longhua in the court of law, though if you wish to physically eviscerate him afterwards, I am sure that will be acceptable,” Shen Yuan finished.

Tianlang-Jun stared at him unseeing.

“You really went right for it, didn’t you? No time wasted. Very efficient. I don’t know if I believe it or not, but it is a good story. It is… a lot. But very creative,” Tianlang-Jun looked back at Luo Binghe, “I suppose you are my son. Mark does give it away. And you… you look like her. A lot. But why, if you don’t mind explaining, the fuck, should I help you? Do you really think I care? Su Xiyan… she was… she meant very… little. Yeah…”

“Your highness,” Luo Binghe began.

“Call me pops,”

“Junshang?”

“Acceptable,”

“Junshang, we do not ask for your benevolence. We do have some things to offer in recompense. Your freedom, for one. A fresh body, one sturdy enough to house you for many years until your original one can reform. And, my Shizun, he has a way for you to speak to her. My birth mother,” Luo Binghe explained.

“Indeed, if I could not see it, feel it in my blood, I would know with your enticing words you are of my flesh and bone. Offering everything I ever wanted on the condition I do something I would enjoy. Silly nephew, what do you think? Am I seeing things again? Are these gentlemen but godly liars?” Tianlang-Jun turned to his nephew and shook his head, “Ahh, I see I know your answer already. Give it still,”

“Junshang, uncle. Even if they are liars giving false promises, neither of them so much as looked at me strangely for my appearance, nor judged me for my lisp. I would like to repay that kindness by, at least, giving them the benefit of the doubt,” Zhuzhi-Lang replied.

Shen Yuan couldn’t help but giggle.

“Did you speak too soon silly one?”

“Don’t mind me your highness. It simply occurs to me… is it a family motto? Repay every deed tenfold? For every slight, return with ten curses. For every kindness, return with ten times the loyalty?” he asked, “It is simply that Binghe is very like his cousin, it seems,”

“It is a family trait, yes,” Tianlang-jun’s eyes shone brightly, “Very well, I will agree to this. I think we can all be friends, don’t you, shiny new son of mine?”

“Mn. Even if we do not become family, I would like to get along,” Luo Binghe answered, and smiled so brightly Tianlang-jun could have burned.

“Aiya, you smile so brightly,” he murmured, “Yeah. Xiao Zhuzhi could use a friend. A cousin sounds nice. A son… well, we’ll see,”

“Well then, let’s get out of here shall we? Tell me, is the sky still blue? My silly nephew has tried to convince me it's pink one time and I don’t know if I can ever trust him after that,”

“Junshang!”

Luo Binghe turned to smile at Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan squeezed his arm gently and smiled back.

[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!]

[Quest: Lost Emperor complete!]

[Hidden plot: Let’s find my family! Uncovered!]

[ + 500 B-points ]

‘That was easy,’ Shen Yuan thought, ‘Shit. That means he has a hidden agenda, doesn’t it?’

[Would host like to purchase a hint for 100 B-points?]

‘Sure, I'm a rich bitch, have some cash on me,’

[Hint: Tianlang-jun has been hungry all these years. Perhaps now he will begin to feel full once more. Only Su Xiyan had ever managed that before]

‘Oh. I’ll be sure to have Binghe cook for him. Just to be safe,’

[Probably wise]

Xin Mo made short work of the seals surrounding Tianlang-Jun, and the heavenly demon raised a brow and whistled his approval at the sight of the blade.

“Where the fuck d’you find that old thing?”

“Endless abyss,” Luo Binghe shrugged, “Shizun was kidnapped briefly, so I needed it to cut through to the dimension he was hidden in,”

“Huh. You know, once I was using that very sword, this was in my youth mind you, and I found a world comprised solely of prawns. What was your place like?” he attempted to make small talk.

“Sad. Really, really sad,”

“Mn, sounds right. How’d you get through the abyss. Come on, tell me of your exploits son,”

“Ah, I have Shizun to thank for that in part. He mentioned a strategy known as ‘speedrunning’, where one defeats opponents and obstacles by moving through them so fast they more or less leave you alone. Though, for some reason, many of the female monsters I came across wished to bear me children,”

“You know, I’ve always wondered why they do that,”

Shen Yuan smiled privately.

They made it outside just as the sun began to set and Tianlang-jun swore loudly.

“Well shit nephew. The sky really is pink,”

“Mn. It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Zhuzhi-Lang replied, carrying his uncle in his coils.

“Yeah. It sure is,” Tianlang-jun sighed.

“Wait until you’ve tried watching the sunset and eating Binghe’s food. It’s the finest cuisine on the continent,” Shen Yuan added, and Luo Binghe snuggled up to his side as they paused to watch the sky.

“Is that so? Is my son a master chef?” the heavenly demon watched the two out the corner of his eye, “What is the relationship between you two anyway? You are his teacher, correct?”

“Mn. I think, most of all, Binghe and I have become friends,”

Luo Binghe smiled. That sounded good to him.

“Yeah. Rescuing will do that to you,” he teased boldly.

“It’s great for bonding,” Tianlang-jun agreed.

Chapter Text

“ORDER IN THE COURT!” the poor civilian judge roared and instantly the chatter died down. “Thank you! Now, it appears a second Shen Qingqiu has arrived to speak in his own defence. For the sake of all of us, we shall hold a brief vote. All in favour of allowing this say aye,”

Most agreed.

“Then moving forward—”

“Your honour,” Su Longhua interrupted, “I believe we should examine this matter more thoroughly,”

“Why, Master Su?” Shen Yuan asked, “It was agreed upon that Shen Qingqiu could speak in defence of Shen Qingqiu, and here I am,”

“Is it not also law that no senior member of a sect may speak for a senior member of their sect to prevent corroboration of facts and perjury? As well as to minimise personal connection to cases?”

“This may be the case, however, this one is not a senior member of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, as by tradition of the sect, a disciple becomes an official senior member once they draw a sword from Wan Jian peak, and this one has done no such thing, thereby making me a guest of the sect,”

“Sect leader Yue, is this the truth?” the judge asked.

“Yes, your honour,” Yue Qingyuan stood and answered.

“Then should Shen Qingqiu not be tried as a civilian?”

“No your honour. The man being trialled has drawn a sword and is thereby a senior member of my sect,”

“So then, to be clear, these two men are not the same person?”

“No your honour. They are identical twin friends,”

“Identical twin friends?”

“Yes your honour,” Yue Qingyuan confirmed. He bowed once more then sat.

“Very well, we shall continue as planned then,” the judged ruled.

The old palace master sat and glared.

“Will the persecution begin with the crimes of the accused?” the judge began.

“Yes your honour,” Gongyi Qin stood, “Ladies and gentlemen of the court, the man who stands before your judgment today is guilty of the crimes of larceny, arson, assault and murder. The family fallen victim to these crimes, the Qiu family, a wealthy and honourable family, has but one member living. Shen Jiu, as he was then know, was kindly taken in by the Qiu family and treated as one of their own, alongside one other boy. However, Shen Jiu took this kindness and betrayed it, stealing valuables from the family. This eventually escalated into attacks on the main family, including the eldest son Qiu Jianluo, beating them and injuring many of the children and servants badly. At seventeen, Shen Jiu mounted a final attack on the Qiu family, killing all but the youngest girl, Qiu Haitang, who he also sexually abused, before burning the manor to cinders. Following this, he went on a murderous rampage before bribing his way into Cang Qiong Mountain sect where he continued to mistreat his students,”

“Thank you,” the judge nodded and the plaintiff sat. “The defence may present their case,”

“Thank you your honour,” Shen Yuan cleared his throat and began. “Ladies and gentlemen of the court, the man before you, Shen Jiu, was given the name ‘Jiu’ to mean nine, as he was the ninth slave to be auctioned off when he was twelve. He and one other boy, Yue Qi, ‘Qi’ for seven, were illegally purchased by the Qiu family for free and inexpensive labour. Both were abused by the family, until Yue Qi escaped. However, after that point, the abuse escalated to the point that Shen Jiu was able to be manipulated by the, now deceased, demonic cultivator Wu Yanzi. Shen Jiu, under Wu Yanzi’s powerful influence, was forced to kill many members of the Qiu family, but was able to take control enough to spare every woman in the household, before he burned the building to the ground in an attempt to alleviate the resentment. Two years following this point, Shen Jiu was able to break free of Wu Yanzi’s control and was accepted into Cang Qiong Mountain Sect where he was strict but fair to his students.”

The Judge eyed him, knowing full well the case would escalate very quickly following this point.

“Two very conflicting arguments,” he said, “If the prosecution will provide their first witness,”

Shen Jiu barely recognised the haggard woman who dragged herself to the witness booth as the girl who had once forced him to play dolls with her, and stripped him naked to whip when he refused, needing to complete chores lest he face even worse punishment. His Yuan-mei sure had an interesting argument going. Much of it was bullshit, but still.

“If the witness would state their name,”

“Qiu Haitang, of the Qiu family,”

Hushed voices filled the room.

“Silence,” the judge ordered and was obeyed.

“Prosecution, you may begin,”

“Miss Qiu, I understand it is difficult for you, but I need you to tell your story once more,” Gongyi Qin said gently, stand raising to form a hovering platform to allow him to approach the witness stand. “Start from your first time meeting Shen Jiu, and your first impressions,”

She nodded and began hesitantly.

“When I was maybe ten, Shen Jiu came to live at my family’s manor. He, at first, was quiet, polite and respectful of my family. He was even quite close with some of the staff. But there was always… always something about him that didn’t feel right. I was young and naïve and I didn’t understand then, that I thought was an enticing aura of adventure and excitement was actually evil. Pure hate in an unadulterated form,” she described.

“And Miss Qiu, he was with your family for five years, correct?”

“Yes. For five years I thought we were friends, playmates even. But he never wanted to play with me. He got worse after his friend left when I was twelve, and he was maybe fourteen. The other boy who had come with him when he joined the household, Yue Qi was his name,”

“And then things began to escalate after that, as he began to get into fights,”

“He was always so angry and I know he used to fight with my brother, yet he was never the one injured. In all his time at my home, he never received any injury greater than a bruise or small cut, all from harmless activities. And yet, late at night I could hear him screaming as if he were mad and my brother would appear the next morning covered in scratches. One day he began to sneak out at night and I thought, I hoped, maybe he would leave. I tried so hard to be his friend, but I couldn’t help but hope… And then… then he…” Qiu Haitang began to sob.

“Do you need a minute miss?”

“No, no,” she sniffed, wiping her eyes delicately with a cloth, “I’m alright. It still hurts after all these years. One night, unprovoked, he woke me up and told me to get out of the house. He said there was a fire so I ran. But I couldn’t smell any smoke, and he hadn’t followed me. I thought to go back inside and help him wake the household but then I saw… I saw… I saw him pouring oil down the hall and on the walls,” she sobbed once more.

“I couldn’t do anything so I ran outside, just in time to see my home explode in fire. Everyone I knew, everyone I’d ever loved was dead, burned to cinders,” she continued, “I thought… I thought at first I was mistaken. That the oil was water. That he was helping. I tried to think the best of him! But then I saw him. He was completely silent, like the fire that licked his feet didn’t burn him. He was just standing there in the courtyard as the building around him collapsed. It was like I was looking at a different person! Even the angry Shen Jiu from before then had never scared me so much as this. He… he was empty!”

“It was very brave of you, testifying today. Thank you for re-living these memories, as painful as they are, so that a villain may be put away for good,” Gongyi Qin smiled kindly at her, then addressed the jury, “As you’ve heard, Shen Jiu was disturbed from childhood. What started as unfriendly behaviour quickly escalated to violence and the horrific slaughter of an innocent family,”

The Judge spoke next, “Does the defence wish to cross examine?”

“Yes your honour,” Shen Yuan bowed, fighting down the nervousness and excitement. His own platform moved closer to Qiu Haitang.

He straightened his already perfect posture and began.

“Miss Qiu, as you said, my client was brought to your manor when you were ten, and from the details you gave, he must have been twelve, correct?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“And what were the circumstances that led to this? For what purpose was he brought?” Shen Yuan asked.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know. Lots of children were brought in, usually around that age. My father often called them playmates, but I believe they did some work around the manor in return for food, shelter and pay,” Qiu Haitang answered.

Shen Yuan almost felt pity for her.

“And are you aware that the name ‘Jiu’ refers to the number?” he asked, “And to follow, regarding Yue Qi, that ‘Qi’ was also the numerical?”

“I… I had never seen his name written,”

“Your honour, relevance?” Gongyi Qin called.

“This line of questioning has great relevance,”

“Continue Master Shen,”

“Then, were you aware that both Shen Jiu and Yue Qi were purchased in a slave auction to serve as slaves for your family, and that their names given by the order they stood in line?” Shen Yuan asked.

“What? Shen Jiu was never a slave!”

“Furthermore, would not Shen Jiu’s anger, as a child, be justified towards the family that purchased him, to whom he was only a number of many? Peoples of the court, I would agree my client had a troubled childhood, being picked off the streets and sold as a slave to an abusive family. I would argue that any misgivings he may have felt at this point were justified to the extent of displaying anger,” Shen Yuan explained before turning back to Qiu Haitang, “Tell me, Miss Qiu, you cited Shen Jiu refusing to play with you as an aspect of his misbehaviour. What was it you wanted to play?

“Um… dress up? Weddings? Dolls? I was a young girl,” Qiu Haitang answered, embarrassed.

“So would you say it was possible Shen Jiu did not want to play with you because he did not enjoy the games themselves? Furthermore, as he was a slave to your household, he was overrun with chores and work. Playing dollies with the family’s young mistress was not always the priority,” Shen Yuan smiled, “And as you said, you heard him screaming late into the night. The following mornings, your brother would appear to carry multiple defensive wounds. Does that not sound more like Shen Jiu was being beaten, than that he was attacking your brother?”

“My brother would never hurt anyone like that!”

“I have witnesses that say otherwise. But before that, I have one final question,” Shen Yuan paused for effect, “The night your family perished, you say Shen Jiu was not acting himself, and that leading up to this, he had been sneaking out at night. Would you say, on that night, he appeared possessed?”

“Yes,” Qiu Haitang nodded emphatically, finally understanding the line of questioning.

“No further questions your honour,” Shen Yuan smiled.

“Master Gongyi?”

“No further questions,”

“Master Shen?”

“Thank you. I would like to call my first witness to the stand,” Shen Yuan announced and an elderly woman took Qiu Haitang’s place.

“If the witness would state their name,” The Judge was watching intently.

“Fu Min, Your Honour,” the woman bowed.

“Defence,”

Shen Yuan approached the woman.

“Thank you for coming in Madame. Would you please describe your relation to Qiu Haitang and Shen Jiu,” he asked.

“I worked as head chef for Qiu Manor until it was burned down,”

“And you were a survivor of this fire?”

“Yes, alongside the rest of the female members of staff, all of whom Shen Jiu evacuated prior to setting the manor alight,”

A few people gasped and Shen Jiu smiled and nodded discreetly at Madame Fu. She gave him a warm look in return.

“Would you give us your perspective on Shen Jiu’s youth,” Shen Yuan requested.

“Certainly. Shen Jiu was bought by the Qiu family when he was twelve, in conjunction with a boy named Yue Qi, who was only a few months older. The two were inseparable, and I was told Shen Jiu would not leave the auction house unless his friend was brought as well. I always believed this initial disobedience and inconvenience sparked the beginning of Shen Jiu’s mistreatment at the manor. He was a sweet boy who looked after the girls who worked there and I quite attentively. He never broke any of the rules given unless the young mistress, Qiu Haitang, had once more locked him in her play-room. As far as I am aware, the games she liked to play with him, while seemingly harmless, would result in severe punishments for Shen Jiu if he didn’t do as she wished.

"The young mistress herself never thought of harming him I know, however, her brother Qiu Jianluo did not like her upset and thus would attack him, frequently with a whip. I know this, because I was the one to treat his wounds as medicine was withheld from slaves. Because of being withheld from his work, Shen Jiu was further whipped and beaten by the master of the household, until he fell ill shortly into Shen Jiu’s second year with us. After that, as the only son of the household, Qiu Jianluo took over this job. The Young master did so with relish, and it was only due to Shen Jiu’s innate capacity for cultivation and hidden practises that he survived,” The old woman’s voice was hoarse near the end, but she looked pleased.

“And what of the night of the fire? Qiu Haitang claimed she was the only survivor, but this is untrue?” Shen Yuan led on.

“There were twelve survivors that night, discluding Miss Qiu and Shen Jiu. Myself, a young boy who had only been purchased the week prior to replace an older boy who Qiu Jianluo had beaten to death, six maids and four prostitutes. The deaths that occurred can be counted as two kitchen hands, one older slave, a butler, Master Qiu, Young Master Qiu, and three cousins, each of whom can be accounted as having beaten, abused or unjustly punished other servants during their time at the manor,” She answered with a strength that belied her age.

“Your honour, I would like to present the evidence proving Madame Fu’s claims, to you and the jury. I have here the medical records of three out of the six maids who experienced physical abuse, dated to when they were serving Qiu manor, as well as the financial records of Ba Sing Tea Rooms, the nearest Brothel to Qiu Manor, from the night of the fire, that list the names of the women attending the manor, one of whom is here today and willing to speak on the record and give her account if requested, both to attest to Qiu Jianluo’s manner, and to her presence the night of the fire. Including her, three of the four women survive today and all agree Shen Jiu called them away from the fire before starting it, however, only one was able to come in. Having said that, their statements are on official record,” Shen Yuan submitted the documents for the judge to store until the end of the trial for the jury to study.

“Any further questions from the defense?”

“One more. Madame Fu, on the night of the fire, do you agree with Miss Qiu’s assessment that Shen Jiu was acting out of character?”

“Yes. As soon as he roused me from my sleep that night I could see in his eyes that he wasn’t himself. He was too calm and curt. ‘As if he were possessed’,” she quoted.

“Thank you Madame Fu. No further Questions your honour,”

“Would the prosecution like to cross examine the witness?” the Judge asked.

“Yes, your honour,” Gongyi Qin bowed and took to the stand, “Madame Fu, I would ask, how old are you?”

“Sixty-three. Sixteen years ago, on the night of the fire, I was forty-seven,” she answered calmly.

“And is there any chance you are misremembering the night in question?” Gongyi Qin asked, “Does your family have any history of sundowning, for example?”

“No sir. In fact, both my parents live ‘till this very day and are as sharp as they always have been. My Fu family has always had strong blood and healthy minds. Further, that night is seared into my mind,” she smiled, “I believe my daughters are both younger than you, and I dare say you would not call your mother decrepit of mind,”

He looked a little chagrined at that, “Apologies Madame, I did not intend to insult you. I would ask, is it possible that the personality you were shown is entirely different from the one Shen Jiu showed Miss Qiu? Could he have been better behaved around one he would have seen as an authority figure?”

“If there is one certainty to Shen Jiu’s character, it is that he treats every woman he meets with respect, no matter who they are. He helped me treat any injuries the women of the night incurred and spoke with them as equals. The maids all adored him for taking on extra work when he could, covering for one of them for three weeks at the end of her pregnancy,” Madame Fu said, “He was as kind as he could be to Qiu Haitang. He never disrespected her, he never ever touched her, nor any other woman there for that matter,”

“But you acknowledge that he treated the main family differently to how he treated their servants,”

“Servants and slaves. He was always as respectful as required of his station as a slave. Why should he be required to show anything more than that? But still he did. He attended Madam Qiu on her deathbed until she succumbed to sickness during his third year there. She was always kind to him, so Shen Jiu responded accordingly. It was after her death, and after Yue Qi left, when the authority in the manor was Qiu Jianluo, that life worsened, not just for him but for all of us. Qiu Jianluo was a tyrant, and any of the girls working there will agree with that,” Madame Fu’s words echoed with finality and she folded her hands in her lap.

“No further questions your honour,” Gongyi Qin called.

“Defense?”

“No further questions,”

“Master Gongyi,”

“Thank you your Honour. I would like to call my next witness to the stand,” he stated.

Shen Yuan looked down at Shen Jiu, both sporting twin expressions of dubiety as neither of them recognised the man that took to the witness box.

“If you would state your name for the court,”

“Yue Qi,” the man replied. The corner Shen Yuan’s mouth twitched.

Shen Jiu raised a brow.

[System politely requests: WTF?]

Chapter Text

Over in the stands, Yue Qingyuan was about to stand and protest when he caught Shen Yuan’s gaze. He would recognise the expression hidden behind those sleeves anywhere, on anyone. Reluctantly, he settled.

This was among countless loud whispers and cries from the audience.

“ORDER!” the Judge shouted, and once more there was silence, “Thank you. Prosecution,”

“Thank you. Yue Qi, thank you for coming forward to volunteer evidence. If you would start by recounting your history with Shen Jiu,”

Shen Jiu folded his arms and leaned against Shen Yuan’s booth. The same boy who’d led him to the chamber scurried over silently with a stool that he took with a mouthed thanks. The boy smiled and glanced at the prosecutor, then scurried back off.

“Yes sir. Shen Jiu and I were both picked up of the street when we were eleven and bought by the time we were twelve by the Qiu family,”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Gongyi Qin frowned, reviewing his notes briefly, “But earlier when we spoke, you said ‘brought’ not ‘bought’,”

“I misspoke earlier. We were both purchased by the Qiu family. They treated us very kindly whilst I was there. After three years, I had saved up enough wages to buy my contract from Master Qiu and I left. Shen Jiu had squandered his earnings on sweets and the like however, so he stayed. We were friends as kids, but something about him always scared me. I always thought he had the capacity to be someone dangerous, and sure enough…”

“And, as I understand it, you met once more, years later?”

“Yes. I was frequenting a tea-house when I saw him outside. I thought to say hello, but instead he turned on me and attacked me. I have my medical report with me as well,”

“Thank you,” Gongyi Qin took the papers and submitted them to the judge, “And when was this second meeting?

“About three years after I left the Qiu residence. He hadn’t joined his fancy sect yet. He looked wild though, and all the women, the servers that is, were terrified of him. I heard rumours after that that he had been going from brothel to brothel, terrorising and attacking women and visitors, and that he’d even been practising demonic cultivation,” Yue Qi described, “I was horrified to see my old friend had fallen so low. I wanted to help him, but I confess, I was scared too,”

“Thank you. No further questions at this time,” Gongyi Qin smiled a little thinly, then returned to his table to browse his notes.

“Defense?”

“Thank you your honour,” Shen Yuan approached the witness, “Yue Qi. Have you ever practised cultivation?”

“No,”

“Have you ever received any offers to train with a sect? Or have you ever applied?”

“No. I have never had an interest in immortality,”

“Have you met many cultivators before?”

“No. Not until the investigation into Shen Jiu,”

Shen Yuan smiled, “Could you please read out the underlined passages of this document for me? For the court, this is an official record taken directly from Qiong Ding Peak’s archives, signed by former Cang Qiong Mountain Sect Leader Fan Beitong,”

“Yes sir,” the man cleared his throat, “‘Thursday, 18, March, year of XXX, Blue Amoeba Beetle infestation in North Quarter. The beetle infestation in Ba Sing is fully exterminated. Head disciple burned all egg sacs. Upon making the return journey to Cang Qiong Mountains, we spent the night at the Qiu Family manor. Two of the slaves there proved to have immense potential for cultivation, Yue Qi and Shen Jiu, however, our sect has only room for one applicant at the moment, since Disciple Mai Lee left to help his family. Both boys agreed to decide amongst themselves. I am considering returning next year during the selection process to retrieve the second child, should they wish it.’

“Um, a new paragraph, I’ll just… ‘In the morning, Yue Qi approached me telling me his friend had broken both legs in an accident the night prior and that he will be joining the sect. Yue Qi has requested we return for Shen Jiu the following year. Yue Qi will be made official disciple of Qiong Ding upon our return to the sect,’ I don’t… remember this,” the man looked decidedly uncomfortable after reading the document.

Shen Yuan took it back from him and handed it to the judge, smile decidedly smug.

The court was whispering once more and, what’s that? Su Longhua, you’re looking rather upset, aren’t you?

The palace master hissed angrily at a passing disciple, who immediately ran off, then levelled Shen Yuan with his stare. Shen Yuan smiled right back.

“Yue Qi, why is it, exactly, that this document, signed by the previous Cang Qiong sect leader, contradicts your earlier statements that you have never cultivated nor met cultivators before this incident? Furthermore, however did you run across Shen Jiu in the years following the manor’s burning if you were on Cang Qiong? The document makes no mention of you purchasing your freedom either, nor did you mention Shen Jiu’s injuries,” Shen Yuan pondered lightly.

“I—I…”

“Have you ever met Shen Jiu before?”

“…No sir,”

“No further questions your honour,” Shen Yuan bowed and returned to the stand, glancing once more at Sect Leader Yue and blinking once before looking away.

“Prosecution?”

“No questions your honour. I would like to formally apologise. I was unaware the witness provided was false. I would like to rescind the evidence based on him,” Gongyi Qin looked ashamed and angry, “I would also like to apologise sincerely to masters Shen for the false witness,”

Shen Yuan nodded in acknowledgement, “We will not press charges for this. I would like to summon my next witness to the stand,”

No one had noticed Yue Qingyuan move to the witness stand until he sat down in the box.

“If the witness would state their name,”

“Yue Qingyuan, formerly known as Yue Qi,”

The room rose above whispers into shouts.

The judge nearly sighed. “Order! Everyone, please, this is a courtroom. Defense,”

Shen Yuan grinned.

[System is eating virtual popcorn!]

‘Man I want so badly to sit back and watch this!’ Shen Yuan’s gaze flickered across the room, taking in the various expressions, ‘I hate being the one doing things. Alas, tally ho,’

“Sect Leader,” Shen Yuan bowed, “If you would begin with the first time you met Shen Jiu,”

“Of course, Xiao Jiu – Shen Jiu – and I met when we were five. We were both street urchins, scavenging for food, and we found it easier to find some if we worked together. We became best friends and stayed together for six years until we ran into slavers. Until that point, we had both dreamed of joining a cultivation sect and becoming immortals together. I believe Xiao Jiu’s words at the time were ‘Badass monster-hunters with swords’,” he chuckled, “I barely remember our names from before we were seven and nine, I'm not sure we ever had any. The men who took us would whip us if we used them, and we were told the same would happen at the Qiu’s. We got used to it in time,”

“And what was your experience with the Qiu family like?” Shen Yuan asked.

“Entirely horrid. They tolerated me to some extent. Madame Fu and the maids were kind, but the family? They all had such strong proclivities for whips. They would beat Xiao Jiu until he bled, but only ever where clothes would cover. Jianluo in particular seemed to find such pleasure in hurting him, making him scream, making him play with his beloved sister and pretend not to be in pain then punish him for slacking off. My greatest mistake… the thing I regret most in the world was not pushing Sect Leader Fan to take Shen Jiu with us. Leaving him behind. Not staying behind instead. I don’t… I don’t think his legs were ever broken. He told me they were, that he was locked in his little cell and he couldn’t stand and that I should go while I had the chance. I left him and I don’t… I think he was lying. I think he wanted me out of that house more than he wanted out himself,” Yue Qingyuan bit his lip and swallowed harshly. He could feel Shen Jiu’s eyes on him and couldn’t bring himself to meet them.

“And your experience with Shen Jiu after the Qiu family?” Shen Yuan asked gently.

“He… he had changed. Something in him had broken, had been taken away. All the happiness and the hope. He was still the same person, just made bitter and harsh. Whatever the Qiu family did to him, whatever happened in the years between them and joining the sect… it is only recently that I’ve seen him… begin to heal,” Yue Qingyuan admitted, looking down at his white knuckled fists.

“And as a peak lord, how would you describe him?”

“He was never going to be a great teacher. He works best by himself. He taught himself everything he knows, so he assumes everyone else is able to do the same. He overestimates easily. He was not needlessly cruel, strict yes, and a little mean, but not cruel. As a peak lord, he functions impeccably. Recently however, in this past year, Shen Qingqiu has opened up a lot as a teacher, all his disciples adore him and he instructs them splendidly. He gets along with everyone in the sect these days. Especially in this past week following the ambush in the Northern Realm during peace meetings, he has exhibited nothing but kindness, helping his disciples deal with the traumas of battle,”

“Thank you, no further questioning at this moment,”

“Prosecution,”

“Thank you, your honour. Sect leader Yue,” he bowed and Yue Qingyuan nodded back, “You have known Shen Jiu for most of your life, correct?”

“Yes,”

“Can you be considered biased towards him?’

“Yes, in many respects. I care for him very much, why, we were having a private lunch together when he was arrested,” Yue Qingyuan’s tone was polite, but only just.

“So, would you say that the way Shen Jiu entered Cang Qiong sect was entirely fair?”

“Pardon?” the sect leader raised a brow.

“What I mean to ask is, did you in any way assist Shen Jiu in entering the sect, and could they be considered unfair methods?” Gongyi Qin clarified.

“I did not help him. I did not even know he had joined until three months after he had. You see, two years into joining the sect, I suffered a major Qi deviation that forced me into seclusion for over a year. It was during this time that Xiao Jiu fought his way through the trials and proved himself worthy of entry. Sect Leader Fan did not remembered him until a year after this and told me he had not wanted to accept Xiao Jiu on account of his age. He was eighteen, you see. I joined at fifteen and that was already pushing it. However, Xiao Jiu has always been exceptional, and the old Qing Jing peak lord recognised that,” Yue Qingyuan explained, “So I could not have helped nor influenced Xiao Jiu’s entering the sect as I was in seclusion and otherwise indisposed. It is on my medical record, in fact,”

He handed some papers to the judge.

“And the allegations of abuse towards his disciples? Would you say you let Shen Jiu mistreat the children in his care? I have witnesses that would say this is so,” Gongyi Qin stated.

“In his time as Peak Lord of Qing Jing, Shen Qingqiu has never once abused any of his disciples,” Yue Qingyuan told him, and the words were true.

Technically.

“No further questions your honour,”

“Defense?”

“One. Sect Leader, would you say burning Qiu manor to the ground was in character for Shen Jiu?” Shen Yuan asked.

“No. Xiao Jiu, if he were to kill for revenge, would choose a method more meaningful. The Qiu’s beat him, so why would he burn them? He would have to be possessed to do such a thing. I almost didn’t believe he’d done it, even when I saw the ashes of the building myself,” Yue Qingyuan answered.

“Thank you. No further questions your honour,”

“Alright. We will now have a half hour recess for the jury to discuss the current evidence,” the judge announced. He brought out some papers to review and the jury stood to retreat to a side room.

Shen Yuan was permitted to float down to Shen Jiu and regroup.

“I can’t believe you actually showed up in time to save me. Beastie works fast,” Shen Jiu huffed and Shen Yuan smiled.

“I can’t believe Ning Yingying told me you had faith that I would,” Shen Yuan teased, “Does this mean Jiu-ge cares for me and thinks I’m amazing?”

“Does this mean Yuan-mei lost brain cells between dimensions,” Shen Jiu snarked.

“I honestly might have. The amount of questionable shit I have born witness to, my god,” he sighed and shook his head, “To start off, I woke up in your alternate self’s body. I get to keep it too—”

[System says!]

“—So don’t worry about me taking yours back. You can have your happily ever after with Yue Qingyuan,” the last sentence was spoken softly and Shen Jiu didn’t realise how much weight he had been carrying until it lifted.

“Oh. That’s… good,”

“Mn. Also means I get to bother you more. No more ghosting through walls. Not for a good long while,” Shen Yuan sighed.

“So. Come on then. Give us the goss,” Shen Jiu said after a moment of basking in security.

“You never stop do you? Well, long story short is that I woke up as you again in a world where Binghe had gone batshit and had about thirty wives at this point and was living in the demon realm, oh and he was like, twenty something too, and a bit evil, so his wives and I emotionally coerced him into sleeping amongst some Golden Dream Rhododendrons which I had to grow in a day. The girls helped. Don’t look at me like that,”

“I told you it was a good idea to study extra plant related cultivation,” he rolled his eyes, “Are you alright?”

“Hm? Oh. Yeah, I think so. Binghe showed up before the flowers bloomed, so he watched. But we’re both okay with it all, I think. It was a good outcome for all involved. He got to see his parents,” Shen Yuan shrugged.

“I suppose that would be nice, wouldn’t it,” Shen Jiu mused.

“Mn. I’ll tell you more about the interdimensional portals later. Moving on to your case,”

“Right. Excellent job with the child abuse technicality,”

“It feels morally wrong,”

“Ignore that feeling,”

“Yes gege,” Shen Yuan ducked to avoid a swat, “Now, after the recess, I don’t know what the prosecution has planned, but my next witnesses are Madame Meiyin and an ‘anonymous demonic cultivator’,”

“Ah. Sorry not sorry for kidnapping him then,”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shen Yuan shushed him, “The story is, you were mind controlled by Wu Yanzi. Xuanyu will attest that such a thing is possible and that the recounts of your behaviour align with a third party controlling you, and Madam Meiyin will confirm that, when you came to her after killing Wu Yanzi, by which I mean you ‘left’ him, you seemed to be recovering from mental injury. She’s totally going to kill you afterwards for not visiting her by the way,”

“I was dead,”

“She doesn’t care,” Shen Yuan paused, “So how about it? Just close enough to the truth to pass, I think,”

Shen Jiu thought for a moment, “It really isn’t too far off huh. Everyone’s saying I looked off. I was acting strangely. I must have been possessed. But I was thinking so clearly that night. It was so easy to spread a bit of oil around and light a match. I suppose the story also says I was sneaking off to train with Wu Yanzi?”

“Mn. What were you actually doing?”

“Teenage boy things,”

Shen Yuan choked and fell into a coughing fit. When Shen Jiu didn’t take it back, he could only stare off, eyes wide as the shock processed.

“I think the balance in hormones those days finally screwed my head on straight,” Shen Jiu continued.

“I… don’t know how to talk to you right now,”

Shen Jiu shrugged.

“I met dickears shortly after leaving the rubble. He thought my second murders were impressive so he taught me a little. A little too much, rather,”

“…second?”

“What happens in the alley, stays in the alley,” Shen Jiu recited.

‘Oh wow. Murder husbands QiJiu. I dig it,’

[Fo Shizzle]

“Nice. Right, point is, after this point, we’re trying to clear your name as quickly as possible, and I say ‘we’ because it’s been a whole team effort seriously, even you would be proud of my gremlins. Anyway, we’re moving ahead with the take over the world plan,”

“Fuck, like, today?”

“Yes, today. As in, as soon as we’re back in session. Turns out? Wu Yanzi worked for Palace Master Su. Binghe and I tracked down Tianlang-jun, turns out Binghe has a weird snake cousin,”

“Ooo,”

“I know right? He’s adorable too. Anyway, now that Binghe can teleport, I sent disciples all across the country until we found the source of the poison that killed Su Xiyan, and the brothel that sold it to the palace master. Good man likes to do things in person, you see. Best of all, Tianlang-Jun is on the premises himself to testify. Su Xiyan’s ghost too if needed. And of course, we have Luo Binghe himself, evidence of the above,” Shen Yuan summarised.

“Speak of the devil, where, exactly, is he?”

“Resting until the last possible moment,” Shen Yuan shrugged, “I ran him utterly ragged, you have no idea,”

“So summarise in twenty words or less,”

“Xuanyu and Meiyin testify next, clearing your name completely, leading into a bid to put Su Longhua to trial,” Shen Yuan counted his words and grinned, “Bitch,”

“Dumbass. How are you going to get Xuanyu to testify anyway. He was with me the past few days,”

“Was he?”

“Yes. Yes he was. How could he possibly not have been?”

“You and Yingying sleep,”

“And you what, periodically snuck past the guards to kidnap and return him without us noticing? Even with the carriages, you couldn’t get between locations that fast,” Shen Jiu frowned.

“I told you Binghe can teleport now,” Shen Yuan shrugged.

Shen Jiu shook his head with something like wonder.

“Oh, by the way, Yue Qingyuan wanted me to convey to you his love, that he has been utterly despondent the days you were separated, grieving the loss of time that was already limited, and also that he cried from happiness when I told him you get to stay,” he told him seriously.

“What a fucking sap,” Shen Jiu frowned, “I love him so much I don’t know what to do with myself. Is four days of courting long enough to wait before marriage?”

“Yes,” Shen Yuan said, “I’m going to say yes, but only to you two,”

“Damn. We’re going to have a lot of celebrating to do,”

“Yeah?”

“Your return, the kids’ victory in battle, my engagement and my actual wedding,” Shen Jiu listed.

“Do you need a dowry or something?”

“No. Qi-ge on the other hand will be marrying into my family, so he will,” Shen Jiu reasoned, “Seeing as I actually have one and he doesn’t,”

“…Do you mean me—”

“Yes,”

“Oh,”

“If you tease me I will hate you forever,”

“Alright, I won’t then,” Shen Yuan huffed. “You know, in the world I’m from, I have two older brothers and a younger sister and every day I miss them so much. But I think that if I ever returned there, I’d miss you just as much,”

“Miss me more than Beastie?” Shen Jiu raised a brow.

“…I love you both equally,” Shen Yuan insisted.

“You know, people are probably going to ask questions after this. About us,”

“Yeah. As far as I know, the disciples don’t really care. Everyone back home seems to have accepted it. They knew I was never you to begin with, so the twin story could be believable, but I don’t think they’ll ask,”

“…When the trial turns to the palace master, he’ll probably use this against us. He’ll take advantage of the fact that you’ve seemingly come out of nowhere and question your authority. As a member of Cang Qiong, you shouldn’t have been able to defend me in court, but you could because you’re not legally a part of the sect, however, this same argument can be used to claim you’re inappropriate a lawyer, and to dismiss all the evidence you’ve presented,” Shen Jiu mused.

“But I’m you, aren’t I?”

“No. Not even remotely,” Shen Jiu rolled his eyes and Shen Yuan mirrored him, “Oh, we’re playing this game are we?”

“Oh, we’re playing this game are we?” Shen Yuan parroted.

Shen Jiu slowly folded his arm, followed a beat later by Shen Yuan.

“I can’t believe I’m trusting you with my life,”

“I can’t believe I’m trusting you with my life,”

“Luo Binghe is a little bitch,”

“…Luo Binghe is fantastic,”

“Hah, I win!”

“Ahem,” Gongyi Qin interrupted.

Shen Yuan put his professional face back on.

“Esteemed master Gongyi,” Shen Yuan greeted politely, “Is there something you wish to discuss?”

“Master Shen. There is, if you don’t mind,” Gongyi Qin nodded, “To begin, I offer my oath that I was unaware of the false witness borne today. I have every intention of continuing with a fair and honest trial,”

“I believe you,” Shen Yuan assuaged, “I am aware of other forces at work behind the scenes. The sudden legal attack on my client would never have occurred unless a certain someone were convinced it would be successful,”

“I… believe you may be correct. My client… I was solicited on his behalf by Palace Master Su. While I cannot disclose his identity at this stage, he is one of my upcoming witnesses,”

“Clients… may not act as witnesses unless called by the opposition due to he-said-she-said cases. Their voice is spoken through us as representatives,”

“Hence the third party. I was not any more comfortable with this than you, but I have little choice in this matter. As such, I would ask you judge me kindly for this but I was ordered to approach you now. Palace Master Su is losing faith in the client and is considering a deal or to otherwise know your next set of witnesses to prepare lines of questioning,” Gongyi Qin grit his teeth, “Which I wish I was not now obligated to do,”

“Hmm. I’ll humour you. What kind of deal?”

“The stripping of ranks and a fine with no jail time,”

“Unacceptable, my client is innocent,” Shen Yuan shot him down and he accepted the response grimly.

“In that case, I do not wish to engage in any further dishonourable acts. I will tell you my witnesses if you will tell me yours, thus evening the balance of power,” Gongyi Qin bowed, “I apologise for this too. You understand the threat of disobedience. I have been instructed to win this case or at least strike a deal, he… My son is a disciple here. I thought, at the beginning, that I was in the right. I defend victims and prosecute wrongdoers, but this case is a pale grey. I could not, in good conscience, cheat to win against an innocent, if you are correct in your defence,”

“Hmm,” Shen Yuan thought over the deal, “Let me speak with my client,”

“Of course,” he took a few steps back so that they may whisper privately.

“What the fuck is this about,” Shen Yuan asked, “Asking brother for guidance,”

“I… think it’s a play on part of the palace master. He has instructed the prosecution to learn our moves in advance to sabotage us, not expecting Gongyi Qin to remain upright and lawful. What Gongyi Qin is doing by approaching us is fulfilling his orders and giving us the advantage of learning his true client, which facilitates our plans. Enables them, even, as if the Palace Master is the client, the trial can switch subjects without needing a retrial,” Shen Jiu tapped his fan against his chin. “I can’t see any obvious way this could turn against us. They’re not expecting us to know their line up, so they lose the element of surprise as we do,”

“What a sham this is turning out to be,”

“Indeed,”

Shen Yuan turned back to his opposition, “Very well. An eye for an eye,”

“Many thanks, master Shen,”

Chapter Text

Giggling like a madman, Shen Yuan took his place once more in the stands. He strained to school his features as the judge called in the session.

“Defence,” the Judge began, “You may begin this time,”

“Your Honour I would like to call to the floor Madame Meiyin of Lotus Valley Casino,”

She was beautiful and dignified as she made her way to the stands. The audience was silent under her gase. She was hastily sworn in and Shen Yuan began.

“Madame Meiyin, would you please describe your relationship with my client,”

“Of course,” she grinned, “Jiu-er is a son to me. He came to me at 17, I’ll and delirious, most likely suffering the backlash of qi deviation of a kind – I myself having some training in healing cultivation took him in. I saw in him much potential and in the moments he was lucid during recovery, he showed nothing but respect and kindness towards me and my girls. I am a hostess, I will be clear. And though many of you may not trust my testimony for my profession, you will know that by necessity my girls and I do not take kindly to men.

“However, Jiu-er was a divine being unto us. Once recovered, he helped heal where he could injuries my girls sustained, and defended those of us who could not defend ourselves on the streets. Even for those capable, he provided a voice that men would listen to. So far as I have known him, he is a righteous and good-hearted man,”

Shen Jiu was smiling fondly where he sat, gazing at the woman. Was she laying it on a bit thick? Definitely. Did he adore her for it? Absolutely.

“You said he came to you ill. Can you expand on these symptoms please?” Shen Yuan requested.

“I found him slumped in an alley, clothing ragged and caked in blood, most of it his. The real issue was his breathing however. He was covered in bruises and cuts and his breath rattled. His skin was hot and pale and he would cough blood from time to time, almost choking on it. These injuries seemed largely defensive, the broken ribs evident of beating. I took his pulse and found his heart slowed, then read his qi and found it weak and fractured. I knew instantly that this boy had fought for his life and nearly lost,” Meiyin said quietly, all empathy and glassy eyes, not even all of it faked, “It took him weeks to recover,”

“And when he did, how did he behave?”

“As I said, with nothing but kindness and respect. He did carry such melancholy with him however,”

“Thank you. Your honour, no further questions at this time,”

“Prosecution,”

“Madame Meiyin. Earlier it was disclosed that Shen Jiu was known for brothel hopping. Is this true?” Gongyi Qin began immediately.

“It is true what was said earlier that Shen Jiu had a habit of going brothel to brothel, but during these visits he was nothing but a kind and helping hand. I have one favoured memory even, of him allowing me to practise hairstyles on his head! He sat so still I though he may have turned to stone, but when I was done he looked in the mirror and smiled so prettily. I don’t think he’d ever had such treatment in his life,” Meiyin chuckled, earning favour with the jury easily.

“And in his adult life, did these visits continue? I have reports here from Cang Qiong, mission statements cataloguing significant funds spent in no less than thirty separate brothels during out of sect missions, several of which being made to Lotus Valley,” Gongyi Qin submitted the papers for review as he spoke.

“They did. The last time he visited was about two months ago. You see, women of my profession listen while they work. We are a valuable resource for reconnaissance, as Shen Jiu discovered. Of course, he did not have to pay us anything. If you review the names of the brothels visited, I am sure you will see the pattern in names, each relating to a flower of sorts. All are connected as branches of my Casino. An information network of sorts. His donations were unsolicited, though welcome, as they have helped keep many of us off the streets. We all are sisters, and to us, Shen Jiu is a brother or son. He has never touched a single one of us outside familial affections,”

Gongyi Qin was about to ask another question when she interrupted him.

“And in any case, my business is entirely legal. It is not shameful to seek company. The company Shen Jiu sought, however, was that of family and friends,”

Gongyi Qin sighed.

“No further Questions your honour,” he said.

“Defence?”

“No further questions,”

“Prosectution.”

“Actually your honour I would like to petition a follow up witness,” Shen Yuan spoke up.

“Approach the stand,” the judge intoned.

Both representatives did so.

“Why do you request an immediate second witness?” he asked.

Shen Yuan answered concisely, “They are medically relevant and key to the continued line of enquiry,”

“Do you have any objections prosecution?”

“None, though I request the same leniency extended for my next two witnesses,”

“I will allow it if you both agree,”

“I do,”

“I do,”

“Very well then,”

The two returned to their positions.

“I would like to call to the stand,” Shen Yuan began, “An anonymous witness,”

The room filled with murmurs and a hint of choked laughter from the Cang Qiong sector as a tiny, veiled boy approached the witness stand, with all the haughty, imperial smugness of an emperor, and was sworn in.

“My witness would like to remain anonymous as they are a demonic cultivation practitioner. While they do cultivate this style within the law and under their sect’s guidelines, they requested anonymity to preserve their reputation amongst acquaintances unaware of their practices,” Shen Yuan explained.

“Objection your honour, a demonic cultivator can not be considered a reliable source of—” Gongyi Qin seemed more shocked than anything so Shen Yuan quickly came to his disciple’s defence.

“As I said, they cultivate within the law. According to the fifty year’s alliance, all fields of cultivation may be legally practised within a sect according to sect policy. As I recall, Tian Yi Outlook is quite famous for its acceptance of demonic practitioners and their successful curse breaking unit. Zhao Hua Temple mandates all disciples learn elements of Demonic Cultivation to achieve a spiritual balance,”

“Thankyou master Shen, Master Gongyi your objection is overruled,”

He took it with grace.

“Master Shen,” the judge nodded, “You may begin,”

“Sir, how long have you been practising demonic cultivation?”

“Over ten years, learning from a grandmaster,” Mo Xuanyu’s voice answered.

“Would you say then that you are expert in the subject?”

“Yes,”

“Taking into account the symptoms described by Madame Meiyin and previous witnesses regarding my client’s behaviour leading up to the burning of Qiu Manor, can you think of any potential explanations?”

“I can. There is a definite divide between demonic cultivation, and resentful cultivation. Where one makes use of alternate available energies, the other draws on the darkness and evils of the spirit. Where demonic cultivation achieves similar outcomes using different means, namely the redirection of resentful and demonic energies, direct resentful cultivation corrupts and destroys the user. This is why the cultivation of resentful energy is outlawed not only in the human realm, but in both the Northern and Southern demon realms,” Mo Xuanyu explained skilfully. Sha Hualing had kindly educated the class on demonic practises several weeks earlier in preparation for their trip to the northern realm, the lessons paying off now in more than one way.

“The symptoms described,” he continued, “Out of character and volatile behaviour, violent flashes, and extreme sickness all align with a forbidden, resentful technique known as spirit-sapping. No righteous or demonic cultivation methods can emulate this as the resentful cultivator draws in the negative feelings of resentment, hatred and anger in their victim in order to fuel their cultivation, allowing temporary bouts of possession of their victim, and leaving their victim weak, addled and not in control of their actions,”

“So according to your expertise, Shen Jiu was most likely under the effect of a resentful cultivator?” Shen Yuan asked.

“Yes, Master Shen,” Mo Xuanyu confirmed.

“Your honour, that is conjecture,” Gongyi Qin protested.

“Except for the fact that my witness performed a survey of the remains of Qiu Mannor. As a demonic cultivator, my witness is incredibly sensitive to resentful energies as his cultivation teaches its’ redirection and settling. Likewise, my accompanying disciples were able to sense similar energies and confirm this by performing Yin talisman tests. Not only this, but with the aid of these tests and my witness as a guide, we were able to locate a site only a few miles away from the manors remains, approximately equidistant from Madame Meyin’s establishment at the time she encountered Shen Jiu,” Shen Yuan handed over a small stack of papers, “Here are the reports of these expeditions and of the site excavations,”

“Meaning what, Master Shen?” the judge asked, glancing at the papers briefly.

“The site we discovered was the grave of resentful cultivator Wu Yanzi,” Shen Yuan was surprised at the few gasps of shock that arose from around the room, including the jury. Apparently, Wu Yanzi was more well known than anticipated.

[Convenient plot device is convenient!]

‘Can system perhaps give any clues towards the jury? They’re all stonefaced and inscrutable,’

[Sorry host! That would be too convenient!]

‘Heh, thought so still-worth-a-try’

“As I was not on the scene personally, nor am I a forensic expert, I will ask Mo-y witness to explain what was discovered,”

‘My god, get it together’

“As a demonic cultivator, I work with the dead, both spirits and corpses, quite regularly. As such, my forensic experience led me to determine the skeleton found in the shallow grave between sites had died due to severe blood loss during qi deviation. He also bore several wounds to the chest and arms and a puncture wound to the cheek. Using empathy, I was able to view his death. He had gone into deviation and attacked Shen Jiu, who fought back using a small knife, managing to injure him and bruise him in several locations. The blood loss combined with spiritual dissent killed him.

“Using this same method, as well as the remnants of identification papers found in a discarded canister near the gravesite allowed us to identify the corpse as Wu Yanzi. I believe both these papers and the memory stone containing the Empathy memory have been submitted as evidence,” Mo Xuanyu smiled widely beneath his veil. He felt so honoured to be finally putting his training to good use, and likewise Shen Yuan was achingly proud of him.

Furthermore, the way his audience nodded along like they had a clue what he was saying was delightful to witness.

Though not present at the site, Shen Yuan had kept regular contact with his disciples as they surveyed the sites and knew very well how hard they all had worked. Most of them hadn’t slept in days at this point, but every single one of them was in attendance. Like hell would they miss their efforts paying off. It helped immensely that these efforts were genuine too, none of the evidence being submitted was falsified, though lightly doctored. Only the parts of the testimonies were truly fabricated.

Even Shen Jiu was looking impressed, no doubt reviewing his own memories and trying to guess what had been cut and edited together to fit the narrative.

“Now, Your Honour, the Jury and Master Gongyi, according to the Fifty Years treaty and subsequent acts, not only is resentful cultivation highly illegal, but crimes committed using it are punishable by death. The amendment to this however states that any crimes performed while under the influence of a resentful cultivator are non-punishable acts. Your Honour my client is innocent of the murders of Qiu manor residents, arson, and manslaughter of Wu Yanzi!” Shen Yuan declared with restrained jubilance.

‘Any objections?’ he thought smugly.

[Uwaaah! Host wa sugoi!]

‘Nope-you-ruined-it,’

[QAQ]

“That will be all, your honour,” Shen Yuan finished.

“Prosecution, any questions?” the judge raised a brow.

“No, your honour,” Gongyi Qin took the partial defeat with grace.

“Then the jury shall discuss the charges,”

“However,” he continued, as per their agreement, “Your Honour and the Jury, I would like to call to question not Shen Qingqiu’s past but his present as teacher of Qing Jing Peak. It is every teacher’s duty to not only teach their students or disciples, but act as their primary caretaker for their formative years. However, Shen Qingqiu has failed in every regard to meet even the barest of standards of care during his tenure as peak lord,”

“Very well. You may continue,” the judge allowed.

“Thank you your honour. Shen Qingqiu is guilty of not only wilful negligence of his wards but abuse of authority, and abusing the children under his care. I would like to call forth former Qing Jing disciple Ming Fan as witness,” he said.

Shen Yuan had realised the second Gongyi Qin revealed to him his witness list who the cause of these troubles was. Or rather, the catalyst.

‘Dear oh dear oh dearie me. What a poor transmigrator I am. Forgetting characters so easily,’ Shen Yuan murmured internally.

[Rest assured Host, this System forgot also]

‘Why couldn’t he fade to dust like the rest of those disciples?’

[This System believes Ming Fan earned a Plot Point when he was demoted]

‘Bloody hell,’

And sure enough, Ming Fan stepped up to the witness booth.

“You may begin your examination,”

“Ming Fan,” Gongyi Qin was expressionless as he spoke, “Having grown under his tutelage, what have you to say of Shen Qingqiu’s treatment of his disciples,”

“Shen Jiu,” Ming Fan spat the name, “Was a shit teacher. No disciple was good enough for him. He would take his anger out on any one of us he disliked, burdening us with harsh punishments for petty or accidental trespasses, and was known for picking favourites and beating the rest,”

“Can you give a personal account of this behaviour?”

“I was head disciple for two years, ending last year when I was expelled from my position. During this time, Shen Jiu was kind enough to me as I was lucky to be a favourite for a while, though this could never trump his favour of Ning Shimei. But then one day he turned on me. I had been assisting a younger disciple with chores when we met with an intruder. Following an altercation in the woods, I had gone to report the incident to Shen Jiu only for my concerns to be dismissed. He blamed my fellow disciple’s injuries on me and expelled me from my position and told me to leave the sect,”

“As you can see your honour, Shen Jiu is quite guilty of at the very least neglectful and negligent behaviour towards his wards. Ming Fan is there any further incident you wish to describe?” Gongyi Qin asked.

“There was one disciple in particular who received treatment far worse than I. Often beaten and starved he was locked in the woodshed overnight and for days on end,” Ming Fan answered smugly.

“Can you go into greater detail?”

“Yes. From the second the disciple in question joined the sect he was abused. On the first day, Shen Qingqiu threw a pot of tea across his face unprompted, before he was granted a chance to so much as introduce himself. He called him names like ‘beast’ and ‘brat’ and forced him to endure punishments when he had made no or insignificant mistakes. He would force him to run countless laps of the peak, every day and chop wood every afternoon. The disciple was beaten almost daily, starved and locked in the woodshed at night to sleep. He was even given a fake cultivation pamphlet!”

“As you can see your honour, in no way is Shen Qingqiu’s behaviour appropriate for a teacher, or indeed an adult.

“Indeed. Any further questions?”

“That is all your honour,” Gongyi Qin announced.

“Defence,”

“Ming Fan, I understand you are here under false pretences, are you not?”

“What? I don’t—”

“I don’t recall kicking you out of the sect, in fact, if you look at the disciple ledger, you are still enrolled as a disciple,” Shen Yuan held out the document for him to see, snatching it away when he reached for it to pass it to the judge.

“This is true Ming Fan,” the judge confirmed.

“Your Honour! Shen Qingqiu, Shen Jiu! He told me to leave the peak!”

“I told you to reflect on your actions and take some time in seclusion,” Shen Yuan smiled, “It appears you misunderstood,”

“Your Honour! He treated me harshly and unfairly! Manipulated me into leaving the sect! He kicked me out on a whim!” Ming Fan raged.

“Your honour,” Shen Yuan spoke calmly, “I am confused. I thought the charges were against my client,”

The judge raised a brow.

“Your honour I will speak briefly not as a representative of my client, but as Shen Qingqiu,” Shen Yuan said firmly, “Ming Fan. Shen Jiu is innocent of all you are accusing him of in your personal little vendetta. You were demoted due to your shimei proving herself a more worthy head disciple. You were never expelled from the sect, you were recommended seclusion and furthermore, you were not helping your fellow disciple you stole his pendant and were about to beat him up,”

“He is guilty!”

“No, he is not. He did none of those things, I did,”

“What do you mean it was you!?” Ming Fan demanded.

“I mean, you have started a war against the wrong person,” Shen Yuan straightened his back, returning to formality, “Ming Fan. I ask of you, regarding this supposedly abused disciple. Tell me, who was it who gave him the wrong pamphlet? I recall the head disciple is in charge of handing those out. And, because the answer to these questions is the same, I shall ask them all at once, who was it rallying disciples to beat him up? Who locked him in the woodshed? Who, exactly, was in charge of relaying punishments?”

“You FUCKER!” Ming Fan screamed, “YOU DID ALL OF THOSE THINGS AND YOU’RE PASSING THE BLAME TO ME? I LOVED YOU! I ONLY EVER DID EXACTLY WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO!”

“Ming Fan you disobeyed every order I’ve ever given you, and as I said, I thought it was my client on trial here, not me,”

“Clarify,” the judge ordered.

“My client is not the teacher of Qing Jing peak, so how could he possibly be accused of the crimes levelled against him? I am the teacher there, and I most assuredly have never so much as considered laying a hand on my children. Therefore, as these charges are being made on false premises, my client is innocent of them,”

“This is most unusual. Prosecution?”

“I would now like to call to the stand a follow up witness. Luo Binghe,” Gongyi Qin announced.

Down below, behind his fan, Shen Jiu smiled. He didn’t even smirk, he smiled. They’d won already.

Ming Fan shot Luo Binghe a smug and meaningful look as they passed each other.

‘this is your chance at revenge’ Ming fan tried to convey.

‘look at me, I can cross my eyes’ is all Luo Binghe heard.

And so he was sworn in.

“Luo Binghe, I understand the disciple Ming Fan mentioned earlier regarding the abuse was you. If you would be willing to expand on this?” Gongyi Qin asked.

“I’m sorry, Master Gongyi, but Shen Qingqiu has never once mistreated me. On my first day under him he saw I was wounded and instantly provided me his own medicine. He has personally saved my life several times on out of sect missions, taught me to properly read and write as I had never been taught formally, and even facilitated the discovery of my birth parents. Shen Qingqiu has never once beaten me, nor starved me or locked me up. He cares for me as he cares for all his disciples quite dearly,”

“Could you walk us through the incidents Ming Fan described?”

“Well, upon my arrival at the peak I had fallen ill to a mild infection and hadn’t noticed, so Shen Qingqiu gave me a herbal concoction to counteract it. Ming Fan, I’m not sure why, took a strong disliking to me and gave me the wrong pamphlet. I didn’t know much then, so I couldn’t spot the fake until Shizun pointed it out and gave me the correct copy. It is true I spent many nights in the woodshed, and was beaten frequently, both at the hands of Ming Fan. And while it is true I had to run many laps of the peak and perform menial tasks, every single disciple of the peak has done the same. The exercise is crucial for building stamina as cultivators, and as disciples, it is our duty to aid in the care and upkeep of the peak, so of course I did chores. We all did,”

“What about the verbal abuse?” Gongyi Qin pried.

“Ah,” Luo Binghe laughed, “‘Beasts, the lot of you’, he says when we misbehave. ‘I thought I was teaching children, not monkeys? Where have all my cute disciples gone?’. It sounds bad when taken out of context, doesn’t it?”

“So you admit Shen Qingqiu calls you names?”

“Mn, terms of endearment would be more accurate though. ‘Adorable brat’, ‘Sweet child’ and ‘Ma Dong get off the roof, you’ll fall off’ are all common phrases,” that earned him a laugh as many on the jury were endeared, “Most popularly, however, he calls us the names we were given at birth. So yes, he calls us names,” Luo Binghe smiled so sweetly to compliment the saltiness of his words.

‘Well damn. I think I might like this kid,’ Shen Jiu thought privately, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Your testimony greatly contradicts Ming Fan’s,” Gongyi Qin pointed out, “Is it possible that, as a current student of Shen Qingqiu, you are hiding anything to defend him? Could he be coercing you? As an orphan with no one to stand for you, it is understandable to defend the only adult in your life,”

“With all due respect Master, I would never. I could never cast blame on Shizun for the things I suffered when it was Ming Fan who beat me and him who stole my pendant the day we encountered an assailant, so I’d say his testimony is hardly reliable. He ran while Shijie stayed to defend me, which is why she took his position as head disciple. Furthermore, a few of my martial siblings are adults, and the peak lords of Cang Qiong collaborate in some aspects of teaching, such as Liu Qingge aiding in teaching combat on my peak. As well as this, I have biological family still living, so the latter questions are unfounded.”

The palace master was slowly turning red as he listened to this and realised the brat who had approached him with a foolproof scheme to take down an esteemed head of Cang Qiong had been the fool. It was dawning on him that he was unprepared to counter a force so dedicated. It was all he could do to think furiously to himself of ways out of this mess.

“Ming Fan mentioned Shen Qingqiu favoured your Shijie. Was this favour predatory?”

“Not even remotely,” Luo Binghe shot him down instantly, “Ning Yingying was favoured definitely, but for good reason. She is strong and just and kind and also, well… Shifu is… a bit sexist,”

Shen Jiu pressed his fan against his lips to keep them from bursting with laughter.

Shen Yuan was not afforded the same luxury and had to resort to biting them shut.

“Pardon?” Gongyi Qin blinked in surprise.

“It’s no surprise, learning now his history. The only people to ever show him kindness were women, so of course Shifu respects all women greatly and of course, hates men,” Luo Binghe explained happily, “But he still loves his disciples.”

“I… see. No further questions,”

“Defence?”

“Luo Binghe,” Shen Yuan smiled and Binghe instantly brightened, much of his tiredness sapped away, “Having heard all the charges against my client and all the witness testimonies, what is your take?”

“I believe Shizun is innocent!”

“So why do you think it is he was ever accused? Only two individuals truly spoke against him, surely that is not enough to warrant a trial this excessive?” Shen Yuan trailed off.

“Actually, if I may address your Honour?” Luo Binghe looked to the judge hopefully.

Melted by the halo, the judge nodded and Luo Binghe stood.

“Your honour, individuals of the court, this one is but fifteen years and knows little of the world. So it might seem silly or uninformed of me to wonder why Shen Qingqiu, the man who has never shown me anything but love and kindness, who has taught every disciple on Qing Jing Peak as if they were his own child, who has nurtured and taken care of us, is being harassed in such a way as this. I cannot fathom it can be some recent failing of his, so I can accept, perhaps, that something in his past might warrant this. But hearing the witnesses testimonies today, all I can see is that Shen Qingqiu is even stronger than I realised. He is innocent of what he is accused of!” Luo Binghe declared.

Murmurs and whispers that had never really quietened now rose to overwhelm the room. The judge banged their gavel.

“ORDER! ORDER IN THE COURT!”

“However, recently,” Luo Binghe continued, “I met my birth family, and through them I have learned of a plot. As a child not much older than I, Shen Jiu was poisoned and controlled by resentful cultivator Wu Yanzi, the true villain of this story who is guilty of the murders of the Qiu family. Though their acquaintance lasted less than a year, there was formed a connection of unknowable magnitude between them. If the identity of an accomplice of Wu Yanzi, someone in a place of power perhaps, were to be disclosed to Shen Jiu during that time, naturally, Shen Jiu would become a target of this accomplice,” Luo Binghe explained.

“Are you suggesting,” the judge asked, following the carefully laid out plot so perfectly, “That a third party has orchestrated this trial in an attempt to cover up a sixteen-year-old crime?”

“Yes,”

“And, Luo Binghe,” the judge asked, “Do you have any inclination as to who this third party may be, and what crime they are guilty of?”

“Yes your honour. My family revealed much to me. Sixteen years ago, Su Longhua tried to kill me via my pregnant mother,”

“This is preposterous!” Su Longhua stood up in rage and shouted, “What is this child doing changing the focus—”

“My mother, Su Xiyan,” Luo Binghe folded his arms and gazed up at his grandfather, stare unwavering.

Su Longhua fell silent. The room fell silent.

He stared at his grandson.

Oh yeah.

That was Xiyan alright.

Fuck.