Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was a cat on the peak, or so he had been told by one starry eyed Ning Yingying. 

It was a ridiculous statement, really. A cat on the peak meant it had snuck in through a supply cart (in which case, a certain An Ding Peak Lord would be getting a strongly worded letter) or a disciple had brought it in (in which case, the offending disciple would be whipped for breaking the rules). 

There was no way a regular cat could climb onto the peak, and if a disciple had let it in, heads would roll, Ning Yingying.

Ning Yingying had visibly deflated that.

However, if there was a hypothetical cat on the peak he wouldn't mind seeing it.

That had gotten Ning Yingying going. 

"Oh, Shizun. It's the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life! It's so soft and fluffy—just like the Summer Snow Cotton we saw that one time! And you should have seen how it climbed all over Ming-shixiong! Like a fish in water! And! And!"

"Ning Yingying, your descriptions have improved. I will be looking forward to your next poetry assignment," he had interjected, musing about the hypothetical cat.

Said hypothetical cat was currently staring at him on the steps to the Bamboo House. Its pristine fur almost offended him. So it did have an owner.

People accused him of being a cold-hearted, heavy-handed monster, but this did not apply to animals. Perhaps a long time ago, when they were pests that stole his food, he would have felt hatred toward them, but those days were behind him. Just like the noble lords and ladies, he had come to recognize the 'cuteness' of these animals. 

Ning Yingying had exaggerated the cat's features, but it was as cute as she had made it out to be. 

Now the question was, who brought it onto the peak. 

Shen Qingqiu tilted his head in thought, and the cat mimicked his movement, blepping its tongue out.

A smile tugged at the edge of his mouth. It had been a while since his heart warmed like this. Perhaps the last time he felt like this was when one of his disciples had made a scathing sleight toward the Old Palace Master, toeing the line of impudence but just shy of warranting punishment. Somehow, he'd become immune to Shen Qingqiu's remarks, but he had not been expecting the Qing Jing disciple to pull a remark out of their pocket, and it had left the Old Palace Master visibly shaken.

Shen Qingqiu reserved his compliments for truly commendable situations, and this disciple had earned not one but two approving remarks from him for their brilliant mind. 

Ah, satisfaction at the proof that his disciples had something of substance between their ears. Though the way this cat was staring at him, he doubted it had anything going on up there.

He sighed, reaching down to pet the thing. Why did he bother to drill things into his disciples when a dumb cat could rival their peak brilliance?

The cat stretched its neck out for his hand. He was in the middle of a smile when he heard ragged breaths and scuffed footsteps come up from behind him.

Just like that his mood soured.

The cat mewled in protest and acted cute as he straightened up, but the opportunity had passed. He took out his fan and gathered himself before resuming his steps up to his house. 

When he turned around, he could see the yearning look of the cat as it mewled for attention in his periphery, but he focused ahead. 

Where was Ming Fan? Oh right, he had requested a leave for his free day, leaving him to suffer this blithering fool of a child.

"Careful, beast. Any louder and you'll be waking the entire peak up."

Luo Binghe ground to a halt at that. He mumbled an apology and avoided his gaze, picking at his hands. He might have been trying to act cute and pitiful, but it was only making him look insecure and pathetic. The maneuver might have worked if he had been a better actor, or if Shen Qingqiu had not been an expert himself, but to the misfortune of all of them, Luo Binghe was not wise to this and continued to be unsightly.

He felt a headache forming, and he hadn't even started with the classes of the day. It had been one of those rare days where he hadn't felt awful in the morning too. It was too bad it had to be wasted by Luo Binghe. 

And also by the threat of rain in the sky, but Luo Binghe was more tangible.

He let out a sigh and turned, slamming the door open harder than he had to. "Do not let the little beast inside," he said over his shoulder. 

The cat acted like it had an owner. It would run back in due time, and Shen Qingqiu would chew them out.

He rolled his eyes as he heard Luo Binghe manhandle the poor cat.

As he walked into his study, he flicked his wrist, turning on the spirit pearl to give the room better lighting. He sat down in front of his desk, taking his time to smooth out his robes and draw his sleeves out of the way. Then finally, with great displeasure, he peered over the An Ding missive regarding his peak's finances.

As expected, Shang Qinghua was once again trying to cut down on the peak's expenses. It was truly a strange thing; the man acted like one sharp look in his direction would kill him instantly, but on the subject of finances, he dug his heels in even as he was groveling for mercy. Shang Qinghua, himself, and one Yue Qingyuan in between—a scenario Shen Qingqiu was all too familiar with.

At the very least, the An Ding Peak Lord's request wasn't fuelled with spite unlike a number of others who would not be named. It was something that elevated Shang Qinghua in his eyes only for the man to be knocked down every time he debased himself. It was unsightly.

Yes, just like that, Luo Binghe. 

The boy fidgeted in his doorway. He was carrying a tray with his tea, but instead of announcing his presence, he was hovering, letting the tea go cold.

Catching Shen Qingqiu's gaze, Luo Binghe finally spoke. "Shizun, your tea is here."

"I can see that." Shen Qingqiu gestured for him to come in. When Luo Binghe didn't come in, he raised an eyebrow. 

Luo Binghe started at that and almost stumbled over himself to come in. He let out a sigh as Luo Binghe put down the tray a touch too hard. 

When Luo Binghe grabbed the teapot and almost spilled tea all over the tray, he finally snapped. "What are you doing?"

The boy flinched. He let go of the teapot quickly, but the tea had already been spilt.

Shen Qingqiu felt his headache grow. "Have you ever used the tea set that was given to you?" He scoffed. "Do not answer that. It is clear to me that you have not. The set was given to you so you could practice making tea. Something as rudimentary as pouring tea should be something all scholars can do in their sleep." He snapped when he saw Luo Binghe act more mopey than usual, "What is it?"

"...Please forgive me, Shizun! I-I broke the tea set. That's why I haven't been able to use it…"

Shen Qingqiu frowned. "How did you break it?"

"I fell…" Luo Binghe averted his eyes, giving away the obvious lie.

Shen Qingqiu massaged his eyes. It didn't really matter how Luo Binghe had broken his tea set. "And you haven't sent a request to have it replaced yet? Or were you waiting for someone to do it for you?"

Luo Binghe looked down. "I didn't want to bother anyone."

"So you chose to sit on your hands and do nothing? Someone will be bothered eventually. You are bothering me."

"Forgive this disciple…"

"Go run five laps around the peak," Shen Qingqiu said, taking the wet teacup for a sip. Atrocious. It was burnt to hell and back. "Before that, take this away and put water on the stove."

"...Yes, Shizun," Luo Binghe replied in a whine like some dog.

He had half the mind to upend the teacup on Luo Binghe. Instead, he placed the teacup on the table with measured strength and looked back down at the missive. Ruffling through the pile of documents on his desk, he found the peak's finance book to reference. He had just started to open it when he saw a figure hovering in the doorway again.

Shen Qingqiu frowned. He looked up to say something mean to Luo Binghe but saw Yue Qingyuan instead.

He almost said something meaner. "Have I not told you time and time again to knock on my door before entering? Do you not care about what I say?"

Yue Qingyuan seemed a bit taken back by his hostility. "Apologies, Qingqiu." 

Shen Qingqiu's scowl deepened. It was always apologies with this man.

"Do you need anything?" Shen Qingqiu asked.

Yue Qingyuan had better come for something important.

"I just wanted to ask if the preparations for Shuang Hu City were coming along nicely." When Shen Qingqiu gave him a poisonous stare, he added, "Did I come at a bad time?"

"Quite."

Shen Qingqiu continued to stare at Yue Qingyuan, imploring him to say something else.

"I'm worried for your health. You've just recovered from a major qi deviation."

That was the wrong thing to say. He took a deep breath. "You think a qi deviation would render me so useless that I could not direct a group of children on a mission? If that was the case, we should start worrying about the state of the sect. What, with the head strategist being so incompetent. I suppose the weak can only ever stay weak, Hm?"

Yue Qingyuan stuttered. "No, anyone would have weak health after a qi deviation."

"So I should stop having qi deviations. Is that it?"

"No, that was not my intention. I should have been more careful with my words. I'm sorry—.”

Shen Qingqiu hurled the teacup sitting by his hand. 

Oh, that silly boy had forgotten to take the tea cup with him, he thought, as the tea cup left his hand. So this is what the morning had been building up to. A couple of poisonous remarks ending with his favorite tea cup in pieces.

The tea cup made impact with the doorframe next to Yue Qingyuan.

For a moment, the two of them looked at each other in equal amounts of shock. Shen Qingqiu was quick to look down and cover his face, so he wouldn't have to face Yue Qingyuan.

Yue QIngyuan started. "...Xiao J—"

"Do not call me that," Shen Qingqiu cut him off, voice barely above a whisper.

"Sorry."

Shen Qingqiu didn't answer. Instead, he took a couple breaths before opening his mouth. "Beast, I know you are there."

Luo Binghe stepped out of the shadows behind Yue QIngyuan, no doubt eavesdropping on them.

"Shizun...I just wanted to tell you that the water was on the stove before I excused myself."

After a pregnant pause, Shen Qingqiu spoke. "Forget about running laps. Escort the Sect Leader back to his peak."

"...Understood. Sect Leader?"

Shen Qingqiu could feel Yue Qingyuan's eyes on him, but he couldn't bear to look up now. 

"Qingqiu-shidi?" Yue QIngyuan said. 

"Leave."

"...If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask." Yue Qingyuan turned to Luo Binghe. "What is your name?"

As their voices faded from his house, Shen Qingqiu was left alone. Despite the warming talismans that made the house impervious to the cold, the bamboo house felt frigid.

He stared at the door, allowing himself to slouch ever so slightly. He looked down at the missives. Shang Qinghua would not need these before the peak lord meeting tomorrow, and none of the others were urgent.

When he came to, he stood in front of his bed, outer robes tossed onto the floor and his hair crown flung off to oblivion.

He didn't realize he was so tired, Shen Qingqiu thought. He would rest.

He stared at the ceiling.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan let out a yowl as he felt hands wrap around his torso. 

Apologetic coos came from the boy who had picked him up, but Shen Yuan flailed hard, offended by being barred from the home and offended by the slightly too harsh squeeze on his ribs.

The boy placed Shen Yuan on the steps and gave him a quick pat before closing the door behind him.

['Daily Missions: Receive Pets' Complete! 1 more mission(s) to complete 'Daily Missions'!]

[New Quest Started! 'This is your house? This is my house.' Claim your new home!]

[Reward: +200 B-Points]

Shen Yuan stared at the bright, blue notification screen. 

He would find a way into the house if it was the last thing he'd do!

But first, his daily missions.

He hopped down the steps of his new home and made his way through the side road. In the few days he'd been here, he'd already streamlined his daily missions and had mapped out the optimal route to fulfill it. 

Usually, the one he would get his pets from was a short tempered boy. He was always too busy to bother him for long, so he'd pet him and leave him alone. So imagine his surprise when the most stunning man walked up the steps instead! And some stinky boy.

Shen Yuan scrunched his nose at the thought and quickened his paws.

He made it to the kitchens in record time. With an artful leap, he landed on the windowsill and meowed. One of the kitchen hands caught sight of him and said something Shen Yuan couldn't understand before picking him up and bringing him to the mess hall. They had already prepared a juicy-looking chicken leg for him.

As Shen Yuan dug in, he heard the system notifications go off.

['Daily Missions: Acquire Food' Complete!]

[Congratulations! You have completed 'Daily Missions!' +1 B-Points!]

[Current B-Points: 150.]

Shen Yuan made quick work of the chicken leg. It wasn't much, but as a cat barely out of kittenhood, he was at a size where one fat chicken leg could last him the whole day.

From the entrance of the mess hall, he heard a couple of children approach. He recognized the sweet voice of one as the short girl with cute hair that had treats for him sometimes. Upon seeing him, the children quickened their paces while trying to maintain a quiet step.

The first time they had done this, they had spooked him so bad that he puffed up and bolted away, but he still appreciated their efforts. Normally, he didn't like the attention of these children, especially the short girl. She had treats, but she would put her grubby, little hands all over him.

However, Shen Yuan was basking in his food coma and allowed them to pet him.

Being a cat is okay , Shen Yuan thought. It beats being a fish or an insect.

When he first came into this world, Shen Yuan thought it would be a nightmare, but it turned out his current life wasn't all that different from his previous one. It was kind of a waste of a cultivation setting, but all he had to do was eat, sleep, and lounge around. Now all he needed was a shitty book!

[Reminder: User can purchase the 'Human Language Comprehension Pack' for 500 B-Points!]

Shen Yuan stretched out, leaning into the touches of the children until the fifth child was reaching for him. Alright that was enough. 

He nipped at their fingers and squirmed out of the short girl's grasp before darting away. The mess hall was built on a slightly elevated platform, so he left the hall and slipped into the space between the floor and the foundation. The children called at him from the opening, but Shen Yuan simply kept padding away from them until he came out on the other side.

Sorry not sorry, kids. 200 B-points awaited him!

Shen Yuan retraced his steps toward the stairs that lead up to his rightful home. Dark clouds had given way to a sprinkle, but it was okay since he would soon be cozying up on a bed or something.

It was just his luck, then, that he saw that stinky boy that manhandled him walking down the stairs. He would not be barred from the house a second time! 

Shen Yuan darted up to the boy, and before he could react, weaved himself between the boy's legs, making him stumble. Then, as a final blow, he dug his claws into his shirt, crawled up his back, and launched himself off.

The boy yelped and pitched forward, only saved from tumbling down the stairs by the man walking next to him. 

Shen Yuan spared one glance behind him before bounding up the stairs. He wasn't going to stick around for the boy to try to manhandle him again.

The rain was coming down pretty hard now, and what had previously been a pretty short set of stairs felt like it was stretching on forever. Shen Yuan arrived at the foot of the door, drenched and shivering.

He pawed at the door, realizing belatedly that he couldn't open the door without someone's help. He meowed as pitifully as he could to catch the attention of that handsome man he had seen go into the house earlier, but to no avail.

Shen Yuan shook some of the rain off his body and began to follow the outer wall to see if there was any way to get in.

In webnovels, there always would be a conveniently open window for characters to sneak into places, so maybe Shen Yuan would have some luck examining them. Just as he had hoped, Shen Yuan saw a conveniently open window. At the perfect height too!

Shen Yuan lept up to the window and clawed his way over the sill. As he passed the threshold, comfort washed over him. The walls blocked out the winds and whatever heating mechanism was built in the room enveloped him like a blanket.

Strangely enough, none of the lights or candles were on, and a strange metallic tang permeated the room. Looking around, Shen Yuan saw that he was in a bedroom and that the handsome man was already in bed.

What a silly man , Shen Yuan thought. It's barely breakfast time, and he's already asleep.

He supposed that was an okay trait in a housemate. Shen Yuan was familiar with getting up and going to sleep at odd hours of the day too.

But when Shen Yuan got closer, his good humor disappeared.

Uh, System?

[System is online 24/7 to answer inquiries and concerns.]

Is this okay?

The man curled up tightly into his sheets, face pallid and bleeding from all seven of his orifices. If it weren't for the furrow of the man's brow and the slight groans coming from him, Shen Yuan would think he was dead.

[Plot is proceeding as usual. Would User like to make a more specific query?]

Is he having a deviation or something?

[Bleeding from the seven orifices is a common symptom of a qi deviation.]

Shen Yuan took a paw and placed it on the man's forehead. He was burning up.

Is he going to be okay? 

[Due to the unstable nature of a qi deviation, one cannot determine the survival of someone experiencing it with certainty. However, as Character has the 'Villain' status, Character will not die before the plot dictates.]

Shen Yuan did not comprehend half the words in that sentence. His housemate was a villain? To whom?

[Would User like to purchase a hint for 10 B-points?]

Shen Yuan looked down uneasily at the handsome man sweating and bleeding his life out beneath his paw. He really wanted that language pack, but his new housemate was really going through it.

Heck, what was two more days worth of daily quests.

I would like to purchase the hint.

[Thank you for purchasing! -10 B-points. Current B-points: 140.]

[Character's qi deviation is brought on by stress. System recommends cuddling or kneading to relieve Character's stress!]

…Is this a scam?

[System has provided the most useful hint possible. Would User like to buy a Small Scenario Pusher for 50 B-points?]

No! Cancel transaction! Cancel transaction!

[Canceled.]

Shen Yuan sighed. As stupid as the idea was, it was honestly better than anything he could think of. He nudged closer to the man to look for a good place to knead. If the man had been lying on his back, he could knead his chest or stomach, but it was all obstructed by a tangle of limbs and blankets.

If he couldn't find one, he would have to make one. Shen Yuan shoved his face between the man's arms and pushed his body as far as he could. Just when he thought he wouldn't be able to go any further, the man shifted and brought Shen Yuan into his arms.

For a moment, Shen Yuan panicked, thinking the man had woken up from the wet rag burrowing into his chest, but the man simply held him close, whispering words that sounded like sweet nothings to Shen Yuan. The sound of it tugged at his heartstrings.

Bringing his paws in front of the man's chest, Shen Yuan began to push down rhythmically. From this distance, he could hear the flutter of the man's heartbeat; combined with the warmth and pressure from the man's arms, Shen Yuan felt like he could melt into sleep. He felt a low rumble come from his own chest as his eyelids began to droop. Distantly, he felt the ragged breathing and distress of the man next to him die down.

[Congratulations! You have completed 'This is your house? This is my house'! +200 B-points!]

[Current B-points: 340]

Being a cat's pretty good, actually , Shen Yuan thought, drifting off.

Chapter Text

Shen Qingqiu wakes up and instantly realizes that he's experienced a qi deviation. Once again.

The sun was already well in the sky, and his senses were coated with something artificial. The room, his body, the air—nothing would ever feel quite right after he had a deviation. That is to assume that he ever felt 'right,' which he could say with a certain degree of certainty that there must be a more 'right.' He just hadn't figured it out yet. But without arguing semantics, he had to say he felt a little more off than usual.

He bolted upright suddenly, his heart lurching. Shit, the peak lord meeting had been this morning. A migraine was coming on again. How could he be so stupid? Yet when he opened his mouth to curse, he felt his heart drop even further.

"Meow."

He froze, turning his gaze down to the bed that he now noticed was all too close to his face. Beneath him was a ball of white fluff, two little paws tucked against it. With budding dread, he willed his hand to move. The longer he waved his hand, and the longer the dainty paw went back and forth, the more blood drained from his head.

There was not too much that could truly dumbfound Shen Qingqiu. He had seen it all. Humans? Predictable. Demons? Demonic Beasts? Spirits? Ghosts? Plants? With enough knowledge, it was easy to guess their actions. Artifacts? A little harder to predict, but that's why they were handled with care.

Waking up after a qi deviation as a cat?

Shen Qingqiu laughed, though in this form, it came out as a weird trill.

Finally! After all the deviations he's braved, he was losing it! He should have seen it coming. His Shizun had always warned him about the side effects of repeated deviations, but to finally see the day he lost his mind!

His laughter was interrupted by a low purr that came from beside him. Shen Qingqiu shot to his feet, wary of the presence he had been too shocked to notice.

Beside him was another white cat—the cat he had seen the day before. It yawned and blinked sluggishly, not registering Shen Qingqiu. Instead the cat brought a paw to his ear, brushing it back and forth to groom itself.

With no other explanation for this curse, Shen Qingqiu, well known for his soft touch, brought his paw down on the drowsy cat’s head. Twice. Thrice. By the fourth, the other cat was staring at him with wide, round eyes still clouded by sleep.

Shen QIngqiu bared his teeth at the other cat, who blinked owlishly back at him. It looked around the room before popping off the floor and padding closer, stopping when Shen Qingqiu growled at him. The shine in its eyes seemed nonetheless prominent.

You’re just like me! The cat mewled.

Even though it had not spoken aloud, Shen Qingqiu could figure out what the other cat was saying to him.

Shen Qingqiu growled with the intent to ask What are you?

The cat seemed to understand his question. It tilted its head and mewled again. Don’t you know what a cat is?

Shen Qingqiu hissed. This cat with air for brains dare treat him like a fool! What kind of cat can turn a human into a cat?

The cat stared into the air for a moment, and just when Shen Qingqiu began to suspect that he had hit it too hard and jostled something in its brain, the cat’s eyes regained focus. 

A soul bond! The cat chirped.

Shen Qingqiu paused. Soul bonds weren’t that uncommon of a thing. In fact, he himself had forged one with Xiu Ya after years of fighting with it. Obviously, Shen Qingqiu had not turned into a sword, but he had heard of cultivators being able to take on the form of an animal they had a soul bond with.

But how did a cat know what a soul bond was? 

Moreover, soul bonds weren't randomly formed between two individuals. They were supposed to be formed with great beasts like phoenixes or tigers, not a common cat! Formed between two beings that had gone through life altering moments together! The Beast Peak Peak Lord had formed one with a Spirit Tiger after years of camaraderie. It had been so impressive that it had been the reason he'd become a Peak Lord.

Though at this point, Shen Qingqiu could not be surprised. What was another joke in the neverending spectacle of his life?

As he came down from his shock, Shen Qingqiu noticed that his pillow had been stained with an odd color. An odd, brown-red color. It had been a while since he'd experienced a qi deviation so strong that he bled. Last time, he had only survived because Ming Fan had dropped by to deliver something to him and had run straight to Mu Qingfang.

A soul bond between two random beings didn't make sense, but what if one had saved the other's life?

Lost in his thoughts, Shen Qingqiu didn’t realize how close the other cat had gotten until it was practically nosing at him. 

Hmmm, can you turn back into a human? You were warmer.

Shen Qingqiu sputtered then bristled. Get away from me!

The other cat whined at the distance and flopped on its back, exposing its stomach without an ounce of shame or fear.

Shen Qingqiu looked down at it with ambivalence. Was this really the other end of his soul bond?

How can you debase yourself like this? Shen Qingqiu said with the most disdain a cat could project.

But you were so nice last night.

Shen Qingqiu frowned. He felt like he too could faintly make out something nice. Like a warm blanket tucked against his chest. Like when he visited the Warm Red Pavilion for the night. Like a grounding he seldom felt in the confines of his Bamboo House.

Do not touch me! Shen Qingqiu backed away when the other cat rolled closer. I'll kill you!

The cat rolled onto its side and blinked sleepily at him. Okay… Then, the cat brought its paw up to its face and resumed its grooming.

When it seemed like the other cat wasn't going to move, Shen Qingqiu finally settled down, sitting at the edge of his bed. From the few accounts of animal soul bonds he could recall, it seemed that the cultivators were able to turn back into their original form.

He looked down at his paws—small, cotton ball-like things, so unlike his calloused hands. He could feel his meridians, strange but familiar, like a paper folded in one way and then folded into another. As a consequence of having a smaller body, it was easier to circulate his qi, the damages done to his meridians acting as small blips in the stream rather than long stretches of scars.

For a brief moment, the thought that he would cultivate better as a cat crossed his mind. It was a ridiculous idea, but one that left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. He would need his human body to keep up his Peak Lord duties anyway. A quick glance at the decorative scrolls in the room let him know that he could still read in this form, but he would need his hands to practice any of the four arts.

Finished with its grooming, the other cat stood up and approached him again. Are you hungry? I'm hungry.

Shen Qingqiu regarded his supposed soulmate, who had once again ignored his warning to stay away from him. It was the sort of stupidity that could get you killed. His paw itched to hit the other cat again, but he restrained himself.

What's your name? Shen Qingqiu asked.

The other cat's ears perked up. I'm Shen Yuan!

Shen Qingqiu frowned at the strangely human name. Shen?

Yeah. What's your name?

Considering he was his soulmate for the time being, it wouldn't hurt to give his birth name. You may call me Shen Jiu.

Shen Jiu? A Shen just like me! Let's get food. We can go to the mess hall.

Shen Qingqiu scrunched his nose. The mess hall? Where's your owner?

But before Shen Yuan could reply, his ears twitched toward the front of the house as the two heard the loud slam of the door opening.

"Shen Qingqiu!" a booming voice rang through the house.

Shen Yuan and Shen Qingqiu jumped up, looking at each other. As harsh stomps started down the hallway, the two of them dove under the bed. Shen Qingqiu belatedly realized that jumping out the window would have been the better option, but it was already too late as the brute slammed the door to his bedroom open.

Truly, associating with Shen Yuan had already knocked his intellect down a peg. Shen Yuan may have thought that they could hide from Liu Qingge by hiding under the bed, but Shen Qingqiu knew that if Liu Qingge was so dense that he couldn't sense their presence, he would have been killed by some beast long ago.

"Shen Qingqiu! Where are you!" Liu Qingge said, stomping around the room.

Shen Qingqiu bristled. How many times had he told the brute not to come into his bedroom?

As expected, Liu Qingge came to a stop at the side of the bed. Muttering something confused under his breath, he crouched down and looked under. Two glowing sets of eyes looked back at him.

Then, with his characteristic grace, Liu Qingge reached under the bed. Shen Qingqiu evaded the hand fast enough, used to the brutes movements, but Shen Yuan could not move out of the way. Liu Qingge dragged the struggling cat from out of the bed and held Shen Yuan up by the arms like an idiot.

Shen Yuan, predictably, did not take it well. He yowled and flipped in the man's grip, his needle-point claws kicking at the man. Liu Qingge seemed startled, but as someone used to handling beasts, he didn't let go of Shen Yuan as the cat wanted. Instead, Liu Qingge held Shen Yuan far away from his face and readjusted his grip, holding Shen Yuan's torso and letting his legs dangle.

It didn't take long for Shen Yuan to realize the futility of blind struggle and go limp.

"You shouldn't be here. The man who lives here is a clean freak. You'd be lucky to get away alive," Liu Qingge told Shen Yuan gravely.

Said by the freak that broke into his home! Shen Qingqiu seethed. If he knew how much it bothered him, he shouldn't have entered in the first place!

Shen Yuan meowed back at Liu Qingge. Bastard. See if I don't wake you up in the middle of the night.

Liu Qingge stared at Shen Yuan.

I will knock your dinner off the table, and rip up all of your clothes . Shen Yuan meowed again, nuzzling into the man's hands.

If Shen Qingqiu didn't understand Shen Yuan's words, he would have thought that Shen Yuan was cozying up to Liu Qingge against all circumstances. At Shen Yuan's affectionate nuzzles, the brute let his guard down, loosening his grip on the cat. 

Shen Qingqiu could not fault the man. Shen Yuan looked like he was barely a threat to Liu Qingge in his sleep. 

The instant Liu Qingge's grip loosened enough, Shen Yuan twisted his head, biting Liu Qingge's hand hard enough to draw blood. Liu Qingge let go in surprise, but instead of falling to the ground, Shen Yuan held onto Liu QIngge's sleeve with his claws.

Liu Qingge waved his arm to try to throw Shen Yuan off, but Shen Yuan quickly climbed up the limb and attached himself across Liu Qingge's shoulders, his claws no doubt digging into the soft skin around the man's neck.

Liu Qingge was startled, stumbling around to get Shen Yuan off without hurting him. However, the harder he struggled the harder Shen Yuan tried to stay on. It all culminated in Liu Qingge tripping, Shen Yuan jumping off his shoulders to avoid getting crushed by the fall, and the harsh snap of a wood.

Shen Qingqiu's jaw dropped as he watched his low table get split in two. With slow steps, he came out from under the bed to examine the damage. 

He couldn't believe the brute would be so stupid to break his table! It was a cheaply made table that Yue Qingyuan had gotten scammed for, but he had spent more than a month's worth of allowance on it back when they were disciples! One of the only useful and not tacky things that he gifted him!

He hissed at the brute, who was simply sitting there in shock. Normally, Shen Qingqiu had appearances to keep up, but now that he was a cat, he pounced on Liu Qingge, digging his teeth into the brute's leg.

How ridiculous it was, that a stupid, incompetent cur dared to call himself a war god! What kind or war god let a cat get the upper hand over him? All the training Liu Qingge had done to hone his body was useless seeing as a cat could trip him over his own legs.

Liu Qingge's muscles flinched from beneath his mouth, but Liu Qingge seemed more preoccupied by the table. He cursed, running his hand over the giant crack in the middle.

Liu Qingge turned to Shen Qingqiu on his leg. "Look at what you made me do!"

Shen Qingqiu hissed at him. Of course he would try to shift the blame. He couldn't even tell him and Shen Yuan apart. 

When Liu Qingge tried to touch the table again, Shen Qingqiu bit his fingers and growled until Liu Qingge drew away. 

Liu Qingge got up and let out a suffering sigh. A suffering sigh that was undeserved!

The brute looked down at Shen Qingqiu, who was ready to jump him if he took any steps that weren't to exit the house. With one more cursory glance around the room and a confused stare at Shen Yuan, Liu Qingge turned and left.

With the brute gone, Shen Qingqiu turned to the broken table and pawed at it, with an inexplicably sad feeling in his chest. 

Baseless sentimentality over a stupid table. He couldn't throw it in a box and into the compartment under his floorboards with the rest of Yue Qingyuan's gifts, so he had been forced to leave it out. It had taken a while to get rid of the discomfort he felt with the gift, but it came back sometimes when he was having a bad day. 

This was for the better. 

He huffed and turned toward Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan mewled. Sorry about the table.

You're just a cat. It's not your fault.

Shen Yuan flicked his tail in disagreement but didn't say anything. Food? I need to get food and pets. If we go to the mess hall now, we can get two for the price of one.

Shen Yuan ran to the base of the window and looked at him expectantly. 

Shen Qingqiu looked back unamused. I am not leaving this house as a cat.

Shen Yuan's ear's seemed to droop a bit at that. For a moment, his eyes turned glassy, looking at nothing. Then, just as it became a cause for concern, Shen Yuan perked up again. Maybe you can imagine being a human really hard! That's how you do it!

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes. "That's how you do it?"

Yeah! Shen Yuan chirped.

Shen Qingqiu regarded the excited kit in front of him with mounting suspicion. Do you understand what a soul bond is?

He was met with a tilt of the head. Umm— Shen Yuan's gaze flickered between him and the air. We’re bound in life and death. Together forever?

Shen Qingqiu wanted to bash his own head against the table. It means that if I die, you will too.

Shen Yuan blinked at him with innocent eyes.

You better not do anything that will harm me . Shen Qingqiu continued.

Sure. Anyway, I sure am hungry.

However Shen Yuan chanced upon information about soul bonds could be examined later. Trying to converse with a cat was ridiculous. His head and the table was looking like a more appealing option by the moment, but instead he turned pointedly away from the other cat.

Imagine being a human really hard rattled in his head like an offkey bell, but he pushed the thought aside and closed his eyes. Though Shen Qingqiu did not have experience in transformation, he had read the theory behind it before. 

Taking a deep breath, he slowly brought his awareness to his body like when he would meditate. Out of everything, there was nothing more different between a cat and a human than their paws and hands. He recalled the way his fingers felt against a qin's strings. The hardened but plush pads of his fingers plucking the strings. 

He recalled the way he gripped a brush. A sensation that had become second nature to him, yet when he focused on his memories, he could remember how the brush pressed against each part of his hand. Different brushes had different fits in his hand, and he stubbornly worked with the same, perfect brushes until they started wearing away. 

He recalled the feeling of a warm bath against his skin, his hands working devotedly through each knot in his hair, lathering soap on his body, massaging his head. He could almost feel the steam filling his human lungs—

Are you believing hard enough? Came the muted voice of the cat.

"I'm not some incompetent idiot!" Shen Qingqiu retorted, slamming his hand down on the ground. 

He blinked as the familiar weight of his body came back to him. Looking down at his hand, he carefully moved his fingers to ensure that nothing was wrong with his body. Then, he looked at the broken table and the white cat sitting in front of him to confirm that he hadn't been dreaming.

"Meow," Shen Yuan mewled. Mockingly.

"Fuck you," Shen Qingqiu replied. It had been a long time since the scholar had resorted to such a trite insult, but he said it with his whole heart.

Shen Yuan stared back with no recognition of Shen Qingqiu's words in his eyes.

Chapter Text

Shen Qingqiu stormed into the peak library with Shen Yuan in his arms. When his disciples saw him approach, they ducked out of the way as quickly as they could. He would have killed one of them for bringing an animal into the library, but there was no way he was going to leave a walking threat to his life unattended. 

Hopefully, he would be able to break the soul bond and be rid of the worry entirely soon. Who would want to link their lives with a creature that had a quarter of the lifespan of a mortal human anyway?

Shen Qingqiu had committed most of the public section of the library to memory, so if he was going to find anything it would be deeper in. He stomped straight to the restricted section of the library and began to pull books from the shelves as quickly as he could without looking like a man possessed.

Unfortunately for him, soul bonds weren't a hot topic to write about. He pulled the few and moved on to other sections. Most references to soul bonds would be contained within books about spirit beasts, soul-related artifacts, or other broader topics. Upon running out of arm space, he summoned Xiu Ya and balanced additional books on it. 

With a satisfactory number of books, Shen Qingqiu sat down and began to ruffle through his stack of selected books. 

Most of the books focused on how to form soul bonds. When it came to dissolving them, accounts were mostly vague or warnings on how to prevent them. Of course, who would want to break such an intimate connection with another? Soul bonds were granted between a person and a lifelong companion. Between two beings deeply indebted to each other. Romantic epics were written about cultivators so deeply in love that they would pledge their entire immortal lives together!

Shen Qingqiu soured at that last notion. Truly, there was nothing more fickle than human feelings. He had to wonder which reckless pair had believed it was a good idea.

He had barely gotten through sorting half the handful of books when Shen Yuan padded over and sat on the unfinished pile. His tail thumped from one side to the other like what felines typically did when they were angry. Shen Qingqiu glared at the cat. 

When he had set him and the books down, Shen Yuan had shown mild interest in them but otherwise stayed silent. Fortunately, the cat seemed to realize that they were in a quiet area and didn't try to run or wail like other common animals, but it was too much to ask it to have the attention span of a human.

"What is it?" Shen Qingqiu stated.

Shen Yuan meowed back, giving him a stink eye.

Shen Qingqiu huffed, nudging the cat firmly off the stack with his fan. "If you know what's good for you, you'll behave."

Shen Yuan tried to stay on his spot but stood no chance of beating a cultivator's strength. Instead, he stepped off, raised his paw, and promptly shoved the books off the table. 

Shen Qingqiu stood from his seat at that. "Hey, you beast!" he reprimanded. 

He grabbed Shen Yuan when the cat made for the other stack of books on the table and cast a light paralysis spell that would prevent him from pulling the stunt he had on Liu Qingge.

"What's wrong with you?" Shen Qingqiu asked.

Shen Yuan mewled like he was betrayed by the world. He looked up at Shen Qingqiu with wide, sad eyes, conveying a message that was lost to him.

Just then, he heard two sets of footsteps and murmuring come down the corridor. Shen Qingqiu cleaned up the books off the floor and sat back down, tucking Shen Yuan into his inner elbow.

"Shijie…This is the restricted section…" came Luo Binghe's voice.

"It's okay as long as we don't touch any of the books. Besides—Shizun!" Ning Yingying called out. She glowed, waving her hand excitedly.

From her side, Luo Binghe averted Shen Qingqiu's gaze, withdrawing on himself. They were polar opposites in demeanor, yet on the sides of the same, unscholarly coin.

"Ning Yingying, how many times have I told you to keep your voice down in the library," Shen QIngqiu said, ignoring the fact that he had raised his voice at Shen Yuan earlier.

"Sorry, Shizun…Yingying forgot…" she replied.

Shen Qingqiu glanced over Luo Binghe, not bothering to correct his attitude. Given his extra degree of mopiness, Luo Binghe seemed to know what was next. "What are you two doing in the restricted area of the library?" he asked.

"I swear we didn't touch any of the books, Shizun!" Ning Yingying answered. "I was looking for a book and heard you and wanted to see what you were doing!"

The sentiment was touching, but in the end, she had broken the rules. He turned to Luo Binghe. "And you just followed your shijie in here?"

Luo Binghe looked at the floor. "Sorry, Shizun…"

"I convinced A-Luo to come with me, Shizun. I'm sorry," Ning Yingying said.

Shen Qingqiu's eye twitched ever so slightly. This was exactly why he didn't want Ning Yingying to go around with Luo Binghe. At least Ming Fan had enough respect for the rules to hold her back from breaking them. Luo Binghe, being the yes-man he was, only succeeded in feeding into her impulses. If that wasn't bad enough Ning Yingying seemed to fall for the pathetic little act Luo Binghe put on, only further encouraging him to continue, and nothing made his skin crawl more than seeing Luo Binghe cozy up to Ning Yingying. And that blasted nickname—

Shen Qingqiu felt a nudge on his forearm, prompting him to look down at Shen Yuan who was shoving his face, or more accurately his mouth, into Shen Qingqiu's sleeve.

Shen Qingqiu felt his jaw slacken. Was…was he chewing?

His sudden shift in attention brought the two children's attention to Shen Yuan as well.

Ning Yingying cooed. "That was the cat I was telling you about, Shizun. Was it yours?"

Shen Qingqiu pried Shen Yuan's mouth from his sleeve and wiped off the saliva. "For the time being, yes," he said.

"Oh, no wonder we didn't see him in the mess hall today. We were so worried that he didn't come for lunch! I'm so happy for you little kitty. What's his name?" Ning Yingying asked.

At her words, the reason for Shen Yuan's acting out clicked in his head. "His name is A-Yuan," he answered, petting Shen Yuan's head. 

The cat's incessant pleas for food that morning had momentarily slipped his mind in favor of the soul bond. He looked to the books, the two disciples, and Shen Yuan. Considering their soul bond, he couldn't let Shen Yuan grow sickly and weak from something as stupid as forgetting to feed the cat. He held Shen Yuan's head so that he would stop trying to suckle on his sleeve.

Standing up, he looked at his two disciples, who had lucked out of receiving punishment. "That reminds me that it is about time to feed A-Yuan. You two, bring these books to my study before you hurry along to your afternoon classes."

Ning Yingying seemed like she wanted to complain, but Luo Binghe cut in. "Yes, of course, Shizun."

Perhaps the beast wasn't hopeless.

Shen Qingqiu left the library, and when he was out of prying eyes, he held Shen Yuan up. "This would be much more convenient if you could speak."

Shen Yuan mewled, considerably more placated than before. He was oblivious to Shen Qingqiu's words but seemed to understand that leaving the library would grant him greater access to food.

Shen Qingqiu huffed, feeling a bit stupid for talking to a cat, and hurried toward the mess hall.

A rumor was going around that the infamously callous Qing Jing Peak Lord had taken in a pet, its cuteness so great that it had found its way into Shen Qingqiu’s heart, inseparable from him. Qing Jing disciples claimed that he brought it with him to every class and occasion, the cat loafing politely on his desk as their shizun went around to correct their work. The librarians of the peak spoke about how he had borrowed several books on the rearing of cats, and the kitchen helpers described how specific he was with the cat’s diet.

They would too if the cat was tied to their lives, Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes. He should take the cat to the Beast Peak to get him checked for diseases soon. It would be ridiculous if he went through all of this effort just for Shen Yuan to roll over and die because of a curable illness.

He stared at Shen Yuan, who was lazing around having eaten his lunch, and then at his disciples’ poetry. Shen Yuan didn’t know how good he had it as a cat. How Shen Qingqiu longed to eat and lounge around like that creature. If given the choice, he would never read children's poetry ever again.

He told Shen Yuan so. In the couple weeks he had acquired Shen Yuan, Shen Qingqiu had picked up the unsightly habit of talking to him or on one occasion even meowing at him. Of course, he would be caught dead doing this, but in the privacy of his own home and no one around, it slipped out of him.

As if to respond to him, Shen Yuan gave a mewl before getting up and padding over to the door. Shen Qingqiu ignored him and looked down at the poems again.

Normally, Shen Yuan would give up and keep put until Shen Qingqiu determined it was time for a walk, but today, he was insistent. Pawing at the door, then when there was no reaction, unsheathing his claws and drawing marks on the frame of the door. 

Shen Qingqiu bolted up. "You little beast!" he hissed, walking over to the door and snapping it open. 

Shen Yuan flinched at the noise and looked up with round eyes. When it was clear that Shen Qingqiu wasn't going to punish him for it, he turned and made a languid amble out the door. Truly, the sight of the cat so confidently leaving the house made it look like he owned the place.

Shen Qingqiu sighed, looking back at the unfinished work he had been working on since the morning and decided that it was time for a break after all.

Their walks usually went like this: Shen Yuan walking in whatever direction and his ears flicking backwards every once in a while to make sure Shen Qingqiu was still following him.

Suddenly, Shen Yuan's ears flicked in a direction and changed his course toward the forest, Shen Qingqiu following without giving it much thought. However, it didn't take long for Shen QIngqiu to pick up on what had attracted Shen Yuan.

Shen Qingqiu let out a suffering sigh as he watched a couple disciples gang up on another with Ning Yingying standing to the side. 

He suddenly really wanted to go back to grading poetry. 

Shen Qingqiu hated interfering in his disciples' personal matters. He wasn't his disciples’ parents and had no obligation to coddle them. They were soon-to-be cultivators that would be put in more dire situations. If they didn't learn to kill their ego or fight back on their own, they would never survive being a cultivator.

They hadn't noticed him yet, so he would not intervene, Shen Qingqiu thought while moving to pick up Shen Yuan. Except when the Peak Lord looked down, Shen Yuan wasn’t there. Instead, the cat was bolting off toward the fight.

With his nimble paws, it took moments to cover the distance. The closest disciple to Luo Binghe, Ming Fan, raised his leg to kick him, and Shen Yuan zeroed in on it, pouncing with the full force of his small body. However, the cat mistimed the jump and instead of grabbing onto the leg, Shen Yuan met it midkick and went tumbling into Luo Binghe.

Shen Qingqiu should have known that the kick didn’t have nearly enough force to injure the cat, but he felt his heart lurch nevertheless.

In an instant, he was next to Shen Yuan. Ming Fan paled as he realized what he had kicked, and Luo Binghe was struggling to raise his head as Shen Yuan flailed, claws stuck in his hair. Shen Qingqiu quickly extracted him from Luo Binghe’s hair and gave him a once over before tucking Shen Yuan harshly into the crook of his arm. The cat didn’t seem injured, so Shen Qingqiu let out a silent sigh of relief before turning on his disciples.

He snapped his fan open and leveled a glare at them. “What is happening here? Ming Fan?”

The disciples snapped out of their shock and quickly bowed.

“Shizun…we were just disciplining disciple Luo,” Ming Fan replied, lowering his head further.

“That’s a lie, Shizun!” Ning Yingying spoke out of turn. “Ming Fan and A-Luo got into a fight because Ming Fan stole Luo Binghe’s jade pendant!”

”It wasn’t even real!” Ming Fan argued as if that made a difference.

”Who cares! His mother gave it to him!” Ning Yingying snapped back. “And look at what you’ve done! You kicked poor Yuanyuan!”

“Enough,” Shen Qingqiu cut in. “Ming Fan, when did I give you permission to give out physical punishments? And Disciple Luo, this is hardly the way to take back something that was taken from you. Ming Fan give me the pendant.”

Ming Fan pursed his lips. “Shizun, this disciple does not have it.”

”Ming Fan threw it somewhere, Shizun! It’s gone!” Ning Yingying said.

Shen Qingqiu was going to have a headache, hand itching to slap Ming Fan across the back of his head. Instead, he pet Shen Yuan, frowning as he scrubbed dirt off the cat's white pelt.

”Yingying do not speak out of turn. Ming Fan is your shixiong. You should address him correctly," Shen Qingqiu said. "Ming Fan, Mei Yinhuan, Jin Yang. Go to the Discipline Hall for an hour and then thirty laps around the peak. Beast, Yingying. Ten laps,” 

”Shizun!” Ming Fan started, surprised by the punishment, but quickly shut his mouth and bowed because he knew what was good for him. “Understood, Shizun.

Shen Qingqiu never before punished Ming Fan more harshly than Luo Binghe, but he was being more lenient toward him than Ming Fan knew. If he had injured Shen Yuan, he would have earned himself five lashes at the discipline hall and a hefty demotion. Perhaps next time he would be more conscious about what he was doing. “Dismissed.”

Ming Fan's Head Disciple position was hanging onto a thread that was his astuteness. If he didn't learn how to get over stroking his ego and chasing the attention of Ning Yingying soon, Shen Qingqiu would have to reconsider. It was a pity really. If he spent the time sabotaging actual threats to his position, Shen Qingqiu would consider him for the next Peak Lord. 

Or perhaps it spoke to how threatened Ming Fan felt about Luo Binghe's natural talent.

Shen Qingqiu scrubbed Shen Yuan harder.

“Is Yuanyuan okay?” Ning Yingying asked as the others scrambled off.

”He is fine. Move along now, Yingying. If you are too slow, you will miss lunch.”

Ning Yingying pouted. “A-Luo and I didn’t do anything wrong.”

”Ning Yingying, fighting is against sect rules," he said in a warning tone. "And I thought I told you to stay away from Luo Binghe.”

Ning Yingying pouted again but left without saying anything.

Once alone in the clearing, Shen Qingqiu lifted Shen Yuan up, pressing at where he had seen the boot connect with the cat. There wasn’t so much as a bruise on him, luckily for Ming Fan.

”Stupid cat,” he hissed, shaking the cat. “Do not do that again.”

Shen Yuan meowed, staring at him with bright eyes, ignorant and his conscience clear of the trouble he had caused him.

”You’re being put on a leash,” Shen Qingqiu muttered, carrying Shen Yuan back to the Bamboo House.

Chapter Text

[New Quest Started! ‘It’s Not Like I Like You or Anything’ Deliver a special present!!]

Shen Yuan blinked up, eyes weighed down by sleep. Don't you have a do not disturb feature? Can't you save it for later? 

[Answering User: System's 'Do Not Disturb' feature must be turned on manually. User may complete this quest at any time, but difficulty may change.]

So basically, it was only going to get harder. If there was one thing Shen Yuan came to learn in the past couple weeks, it was that you could always expect the System to try its worst.

Shen Yuan nuzzled into the warm lap he had been napping on. At first, he had been too embarrassed to sit on Shen Jiu's lap, but after he realized how comfortable it was, he quickly changed his mind. Who cared? He was a cat.

Shen Jiu, feeling him wake up, started giving him pets without looking down. His poor roommate always worked late into the night and then into the morning and afternoon and almost never slept. The System had explained that a golden core cultivator like Shen Jiu could go without sleep for long periods of time, so Shen Yuan wasn't really worried. He did feel a bit guilty for lazing around when Shen Jiu was working though. 

Just a little.

Shen Yuan had tried to communicate that Shen Jiu should turn into a cat so they could laze around together. His efforts were fruitless. 

After a sufficient amount of pets, he slid off Shen Jiu's lap and padded over to the door, meowing at Shen Jiu to open it. 

But Shen Jiu didn't acknowledge him at all. Even when he unsheathed his claws! 

This silent treatment had been going on since yesterday when he had tried to leash Shen Yuan for jumping into the fight between his disciples. Admittedly, it had been a bit reckless to run off without indication, but he wasn't going to just stand by and watch some kid get ganged up on. Even if said kid was a stinky boy.

Shen Jiu seemed insistent on ignoring him, so Shen Yuan decided it was time to show him something he had learned to do recently. Shen Yuan used his paw to bat at the door until it opened a crack, wedged his claw in, and then his entire paw when it opened far enough.

Leaving a sputtering Shen Jiu behind him, he trotted toward the main entrance. However, before he could reach it, hands went around him, picking him up mid step. Shen Jiu stared at him and said something in a stern tone that Shen Yuan had come to learn was an inquisitive one.

Let me outside, Shen Yuan meowed at him.

Shen Jiu seemed to understand what he wanted and gave him a stern stare, but Shen Yuan wasn't cowed. The System's dubious work was ten times scarier than Shen Jiu!

After a couple moments where neither relented, Shen Jiu sighed, reaching into his sleeve with a free hand and produced the leash from yesterday again. 

Shen Yuan tensed. He thought Shen Jiu had given up on that after Shen Yuan had (accidentally) toppled a vase and three paintings and then tried to escape the repercussions by bolting halfway across the mountain.

Noticing his reluctance, Shen Jiu made a point to throw the leash part on the floor and held up the collar, murmuring something in a softer tone.

Shen Yuan sniffed. He supposed that if this was the only way Shen Jiu would let him out, he was willing to compromise. Shen Yuan relaxed and let Shen Jiu tie the ribbon around his neck. When he was done, Shen Jiu went and unlocked the front entrance for him. 

The sun was beginning to brighten the sky, and the sky was filled with a couple picturesque clouds as usual. Shen Yuan hopped down the first couple steps in a great mood. However, he soon realized that the footsteps he had come to expect were not behind him.

He turned his head back to Shen Jiu, who was still standing in the house, watching him with his scowl. Instead of following as usual, Shen Jiu sighed, waved him off, and shut the door.

Shen Yuan stood with his cat jaw dropped open.

Shen Jiu was letting him go out by himself? Ever since they had met each other, Shen Jiu hadn't let him out of his vicinity. They had accompanied each other through walks, food, and paperwork. Shen Yuan had been present at every single class that his roommate taught—even the ones where his students stumbled through guqin classes with blood pressure-raising performances.

Shen Yuan was touched. Finally, his roommate had trusted him to go out by himself! Was it Shen Yuan's bout of bravery in saving the stinky boy that convinced Shen Jiu? Granted, Shen Yuan was actually a twenty something year old perfectly capable of going out by himself, but his roommate didn't know that. In his current body, he was a baby, and Shen Jiu had babied him accordingly.

He had to commemorate this.

System, that special present better be a good one. 

[DIstance to Quest Location: 100m]

Shen Yuan followed the System's direction into the forest surrounding Shen Jiu's house. 

What's the present anyway? 

Shen Yuan recalled that cats usually liked to bring dead animals back to their owner, but he doubted Shen Jiu would be impressed if he brought in a bird carcass.

[User will know when he sees it.]

What's that supposed to mean?? Shen Yuan sighed. There was no reasoning with the System anyway.

When he reached the quest location, he realized it was the clearing where the altercation from the day before had happened. Thanks to his cat body's enhanced night vision, it was just as visible as it had been in the morning.

Man, this place is kinda big, System. Can't I have a hint or something?

[Would User like to purchase a hint for 10 B-points?]

Nevermind. Somehow, I knew you would say that.

Shen Yuan got to searching. The sooner he finished, the quicker he could get back to the warm, cozy house and to his warm, cuddly roommate. His smaller body made it easier to comb through the bushes and search the leafy floor, but no matter how much he looked, he couldn't find the 'special present' that the System had him searching for.

After two more passes over the area in which Shen Yuan found nothing, he plopped down on the ground and glared up at the system.

There's nothing here! I feel like I've been searching for hours!

[Answering User: User has been searching for 'special present' for 34 minutes.]

Oh, shut up. The clearing isn't that big. I should have found it by now. Are you sure I'll know what it is when I see it? Shen Yuan huffed, tail thumping angrily behind him

[Answering User: User will know the 'special present' when he sees it.] 

[As User has spent over the expected amount of time for the quest, a small hint has been unlocked. Would User like to view it?]

Shen Yuan's eye twitched. As a seasoned gamer, he hated that he was getting a pity hint, but he sure as hell wasn't going to waste time on this stupid fetch quest.

You should have told me earlier. What is it?

[Unlocked Hint! User's current form is small, so it is easy to find objects on the ground, but User should keep in mind that what he is looking for may not necessarily be on the floor.]

Am I looking for a bird???

Shen Yuan reluctantly turned his gaze upward at the towering bamboo. He didn't even know if birds could build houses on the flimsy branches of the trees. Shen Yuan was pretty sure he read somewhere that bamboos weren't even trees.

Regardless, he looked up at each tree until a glint caught his eye. Upon closer inspection, he saw something shiny tied to a red cord caught on one of branches quite a ways off the ground.

Can I even get up that high? 

[Answering User: Adult cats can typically jump up 5 times its body length from rest, and some cats have been recorded to climb up to 50 meters (Wow!)]

Well, that definitely looked like more than five times his body, but it couldn't hurt to try.

Shen Yuan unsheathed his claws and backed up a bit to get a running start. Then, he went for it, bounding up the tree once, twice, thrice. His claws and the bend of the bamboo gave him more traction than he thought, the red cord getting closer and closer until he reached the lowest branches of the tree. From there, it was easy to grip onto each branch, bringing him to his 'special present.' 

The 'special present' seemed to be some sort of necklace with a jade pendant. The System hadn't been lying when it said that Shen Yuan would know it when he saw it. 

[Answering User: While System may withhold information from User, it will never lie.]

Thaaanks . Shen Yuan rolled his cat eyes.

[You're welcome.]

…

Shen Yuan pulled the necklace off the branch. What was this thing even doing in the middle of the forest? 

At least it would make a good present, Shen Yuan thought as he shoved his face into the loop and threaded the necklace around his neck.

[You have obtained 'special present.']

With his prize acquired, Shen Yuan looked down. He looked up at the blue, fluorescent screen in front of him. He looked back down.

Um, System. How do I get down?

[Answering User: Due to the shape of a cat's claws, it is a common occurrence for cats to climb higher heights than they are comfortable climbing down from.]

You led me here! Are you trying to kill me?!

[User climbed the bamboo of his own volition.]

Shen Yuan hissed at the screen, cursing the System with every curse word and language he could think of. Suddenly, he felt much higher up than he thought he had been. He hadn't been afraid of heights in his previous life, but that was when he was in his apartment, and not five meters off the floor on a flimsy piece of grass. 

A gust of wind blew through the forest, cutting off his cursing. Shen Yuan yelped and clung to the bamboo, hanging on for dear life. The wind didn't seem like it was going to let up any time soon.

Shen Yuan took a deep breath. Panicking wouldn't get him anywhere. The System might have it out for him, but Shen Yuan was nothing if not a problem solver.

[System is incapable of having malicious intent toward User.]

The trees of the bamboo forest grew at different heights. Shen Yuan could theoretically jump to lower branches to get to a safe enough height to jump down.

He waited until the wind stopped and with a leap, jumped toward a lower branch. However, Shen Yuan, still relatively new to his cat body and inexperienced in maneuvering on various terrain, didn't account for the bend of the bamboo.

The same thing that helped him get up sabotaged him. The bamboo stalk gave as Shen Yuan pushed off it, giving him much less momentum than he anticipated. He missed the branch and landed on the smooth part of the stalk with no branches to hold onto. He howled and tried to climb back up the stalk with his claws, but without the composure and upward momentum like before, all it did was push him away.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck you, System!

Shen Yuan shut his eyes and felt the wind rush past him as he entered free fall. He said his prayers and braced for impact and…

His feet connected with the forest floor.

Shen Yuan cracked an eye open. He had landed on the floor much faster than his paws preferred, but he was basically unscathed, the only sign of his fall being a strained shoulder muscle.

…Am I okay?

[Answering User: It is common sense that cats can land on their feet, even when falling from high places. Some cats even can survive a 30 floor drop.]

Shen Yuan felt his cat ears flatten in shame. It was perfectly normal to panic and forget things in a situation like that, but the System sure was laying it on thick.

He checked that the necklace was still safely around his neck and double checked that nobody had seen him embarrass himself.

Except Shen Yuan could never catch a break. 

His ears flicked left, alert at the suspicious rustling coming from the bush right next to him. Suddenly, a mound of black fur popped out of the bush, and Shen Yuan jumped a foot into the air, startled by whatever monster had shown itself.

He was under the impression that the mountain was free of his predators and demons!

Shen Yuan's eyes went back to process what he was looking at.

It was…a human?

What he had thought was black fur was actually a boy's curly hair tied up into a messy ponytail. The boy poked his head all the way out of the bush and stared at him with round eyes. The stinky boy!

His fear turned into indignation. What sort of human was crawling around the forest like some beast at the crack of dawn! Shen Yuan didn't lower his guard, but he gave the boy in the bush a glare.

It took Shen Yuan a moment to realize the boy wasn't looking at him. He was looking at the pendant around his neck. Shen Yuan's glare faltered. This necklace was his to give to Shen Jiu, stinky boy!

Shen Yuan could tell the boy wasn't trying to scare him off by how slow he was moving, but that didn't change the fact that he was still getting closer to him. The only reason he hadn't bolted already is because the look in the boy's eyes was more desperate than predatory. 

A low growl made the boy stop and sit back on his knees.

The boy tried to coo at him, but it came out too reedy and shaky. He started to pull out things from his pockets like he was looking for something while giving Shen Yuan frantic glances in between.

Shen Yuan was getting kind of uncomfortable by how uncomfortable the boy was.

The boy arrived at a weird mass and held it out as something like an offering. Shen Yuan was too far to sniff at it, but whatever it was, it was amorphous, beige, and Shen Yuan wanted nothing to do with it. He slapped it away before the boy could bring it closer, and it bounced pathetically, crumbling a bit each time it bounced.

Oh, what a strange looking piece of bread.

With his offering in shambles, the boy was staring between Shen Yuan and the necklace with rising anxiety. The boy started forward, and Shen Yuan jumped back, surprised by the sudden movement.

The boy sat back quickly and took several deep breaths to calm himself down.

Then, he burst into tears. He wasn't crying out, but fat drops were spilling out of his eyes and down his face.

What?! System, why is he suddenly crying?

[Answering User: Humans cry when they feel strong emotion.]

That was the most useless thing Shen Yuan had heard today. He had to stop asking the System things.

The boy didn't show signs of stopping any time soon. 

Even though he hadn't done Shen Yuan any favors since coming to the mountain, Shen Yuan felt a bit bad for the boy. He was technically the adult here after all, and this was a child in distress. A child that had even attempted to make a peace offering to him.

He had thought it was strange for a necklace to be out in the middle of nowhere, but maybe the boy had accidentally lost it.

If the necklace was so important that he would burst into tears over it, maybe he shouldn't have been so careless to lose it ten meters into the treeline! 

Shen Yuan sighed internally, lamenting the failure of his mission, but what kind of adult would he be, stealing from a child? Also, the child knew where he lived.

With reluctant steps, Shen Yuan went to the boy. At first, the boy was so busy crying that he hadn't even noticed Shen Yuan come over. Shen Yuan put his front paws on the boy's legs, feeling the skin and muscle squish beneath.

Hm, it wasn't as good as Shen Jiu's, but this was pretty nice too.

The boy sat stiffly. His tears dried out, leaving shiny eyes staring down at Shen Yuan. When the boy seemed calm enough, Shen Yuan ducked out of the necklace and pushed it toward the boy. He took it with shaky hands, holding it close to his chest.

Then, the boy burst into tears again. He wrapped his arms around Shen Yuan and tugged him into a hug.

This is how you repay me?! Shen Yuan struggled.

The boy loosened his grip to be just acceptable, and Shen Yuan gave up. Since he made the boy cry, he supposed it was only fair.

He tilted his head back, looking up at a new notification from the System.

[Congratulations! You have completed 'It’s Not Like I Like You or Anything' +25 B-Points! +100 S-Points!]

I thought I was supposed to get a present for Shen Jiu?

[Though the intended recipient was 'Shen Jiu,' other recipients are also acceptable.]

So you made me make a kid cry for nothing??

['make a kid cry' was not a part of the mission description.]

Again, talking to the System was a waste of time. Shen Yuan couldn't move out of the hug, his shoulder was acting up, and the boy didn't seem like he was going to let go any time soon, so Shen Yuan did the only thing that could stop his blood pressure from skyrocketing and started licking vigorously at the boy's forehead. The boy snuggled closer to him, whispering what he was going to assume was thanks to him.

That's right kid , Shen Yuan thought. If you're thankful to me, you should grow up to be compassionate, understanding, and not sarcastic. Unlike a certain someone!!!

Shen Yuan turned on do not disturb.

Chapter Text

[When the cultivator discovers that the spirit fox with whom he had formed a soul bond with killed his brother, the cultivator successfully breaks their soul bond with the demonic sword Xin Mo and kills the spirit fox. Despite surviving the act, the sword drives the cultivator insane, and he dies from a qi deviation the following year.]

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes. The author of this drivel deserved to be flogged and then thrown in a lake. Successfully breaking a soul bond? This was more like a murder suicide. The cultivator should have spared himself the suffering and just committed suicide.

He tossed the book to the useless pile.

[...encounters a grim reaper and pleads to sever the bond…]

Grim reapers only appeared when you died. Seeking one out would be too difficult.

He tossed the book to the useless pile.

[...left one dead and the other's cultivation crippled…]

This was hardly a matter to further cripple his cultivation. Not to mention, Shen Qingqiu was not so much of a dog that he would kill something that saved his life.

He tossed the book to the useless pile.

[...the 'Bond-severing Dagger,’ when plunged into the heart willingly, will sever the bond without repercussion to the other party…]

Shen Qingqiu scoffed. How romantic.

He tossed the book to the useless pile.

[...so much dual cultivation that the old bond was severed and a new one was forged…]

…

He flipped back to the cover of the book. Peerless Love of Two Souls by Flying Contraption? Shen Qingqiu’s hands shook, threatening to rip the book in two. Flying Contraption? How fortunate the author was that Shen Qingqiu was not familiar with the name. If he ever got his hands on the man behind the pen name, he would make him wish he never learned how to write!

Shen Qingqiu had gotten desperate enough to pick out some fictional material on soul bonds, but he had clearly given too much faith in the vetting of library materials. 

Fooled by the title and the first few pages, he had picked out the book and added it to his pile. He should have known that anyone willing to name themselves something horrid like Flying Contraption would be worth less than trash. He had half the mind to set it on fire, but he had to make sure it was scrubbed from the library's records before he did.

He set it aside and organized the books in the useless pile to take back to the library. Over the course of his research, he had amassed a pitiful stack of relevant notes and two solutions: the 'Soul Bond Reversing Jade' and 'Soul Splitting Pill'. Both impossible to find, difficult to buy, and with no known location in the Human Realm.

Back when he was Head Disciple, if he brought this sort of scholarly performance before his Shizun, she would have smote him for it.

Bringing his fingers up to his eyes, he gave them a well deserved massage. From the direction of his bedroom, there was a sudden yowl and a thump. Shen Qingqiu sighed and looked out the window to the sun high in the sky. He used to lose track of long stretches of time when he was researching, but these days, Shen Yuan would become a cranky pest if he missed his feeding time by more than half a shichen.

Shen Qingqiu got up and went toward the kitchen, Shen Yuan greeting him in the hallway. He squinted at the creature, who looked just as he did in the morning albeit a bit ruffled.

He had been reluctant to let Shen Yuan out lest he got himself killed, but after chasing him halfway across the peak, leash in hand, Shen Qingqiu realized that unless he devoted his undivided attention to Shen Yuan, the cat would find a way to sneak out eventually. It seemed like Shen Qingqiu had been worried for nothing.

Except when Shen QIngqiu started down the hallway, he could immediately tell there was something off with Shen Yuan's gait.

He paused and looked back down at Shen Yuan, who stopped and sat back, looking up at him with round eyes.

"You think you're so cute, don't you?" Shen Qingqiu cooed. "So sneaky but too stupid to pull through with it, don't you?"

Shen Yuan meowed back at him.

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes, continuing down the hallway. Out of the corner of his eye, he could confirm that Shen Yuan was walking with a limp. It was almost laughable that Shen Yuan had gotten injured the first time he was let out. 

Shen Yuan was lucky that Mo Qinghu, the Beast Peak Lord, had informed him that cats could get sick when they were cramped and stressed. If Shen Qingqiu had it his way, Shen Yuan would never leave the house again.

Seeing as he could walk, the wound could wait until Shen Yuan had his food. If he was insistent on suffering alone, he could suffer a bit longer. The food coma would placate him for examination.

Shen Qingqiu grabbed Shen Yuan's cubed chicken from the stasis array and put them in a bowl for Shen Yuan, who shoved his face into the bowl as soon as it landed. 

"If you eat too quickly and throw up, You will regret it," Shen Qingqiu said. 

He stared at the creature half drool, half scarf down the food for a while before turning to take out the medicine kit from the cabinet and grabbing a meat bun for himself. 

It didn't take long for Shen Yuan to finish the chicken and come sniffing at his meat bun.

"Oh no, you don't," he said, holding the meat bun out of reach. "You've done nothing to deserve a treat."

Shen Qingqiu stuffed the rest of the bun into his mouth and scooped Shen Yuan up. Carefully, he prodded at the side Shen Yuan had been compensating for earlier until Shen Yuan flinched. Shen Yuan yelped and struggled, but Shen Qingqiu shushed him.

"Settle down, I won't do it again."

He carefully lifted the fur around the affected area. It didn’t seem like there was any swelling, so it probably wasn’t a broken bone. With a little bit of spiritual energy, he confirmed that there wasn’t anything broken or ripped.

”Stupid little beast,” Shen Qingqiu said, placing Shen Yuan belly up on the table.

He took the salve from the medicine box and spread it on the strained shoulder.

Shen Yuan seemed to think it was some game and bat at the hand that would come to rub medicine into his wounds.

When Shen Qingqiu was done, he stepped back and watched Shen Yuan sniff curiously at the salve, give it a lick, and then dry heave onto the floor.

Shen Jiu let out a small huff of a laugh. He was not aware how comical cats could be. However, he dropped the smile as soon as it came. "You're grounded."

At that, Shen Yuan stared into Shen Qingqiu's face until Shen Qingqiu felt a bit self conscious, though that was ridiculous because Shen Yuan was just a cat.

”What are you looking at, hm?” Shen Qingqiu said, poking Shen Yuan's belly.

Shen Yuan nuzzled into his hand, a purr rising out of his body. The stupid beast was so easily pleased.

Shen Qingqiu was petting at the soft fur of Shen Yuan's underbelly when he heard a loud shuffling at the front of his house.

"Good morning, Sect Leader! Are you here to meet Shizun!" A muffled Ming Fan shouted at the top of his lungs. 

Ming Fan, as with most of his disciples, were ever attentive to Shen Qingqiu's needs and mood and especially attentive to how he would react to Yue Qingyuan. At some point, the bright ones had gotten into the habit of making a big racket whenever Yue Qingyuan set foot onto the peak.

It did not help much, but at the very least, Shen QIngqiu would have a moment to prepare himself to talk to Yue Qingyuan.

Shen Qingqiu clicked his tongue and pulled back from Shen Yuan. "Stay here," he told Shen Yuan as he went to the door. 

Shen Qingqiu snapped the door open hard, making Ming Fan jump.

"Good Afternoon, Shizun," Ming Fan said, turning his bow from Yue Qingyuan to him.

Shen Qingqiu opened his fan. "Ming Fan," he acknowledged before turning to Yue Qingyuan. "Zhangmen Shixiong, what brings you here today?"

"Good Afternoon, Shidi. I have a couple things to discuss," Yue Qingyuan said.

Which meant that Yue QIngyuan wanted to be let in. Shen Qingqiu pressed his lips into a flat line behind the fan. Yue Qingyuan rarely asked for permission to come into his house because he knew he would be denied, so there was a chance he actually had business.

"I see. Then, why don't we take the conversation inside?" Shen Qingqiu turned to the side to invite him in. "Ming Fan, were you in charge of the general classes for the younger disciples today?"

Ming Fan was not due to teach for another week, but Ming Fan nodded. "Yes, Shizun. Calligraphy and painting, right?"

"And basic sword forms. Ensure that there's no trouble," Shen Qingqiu said, dismissing him.

"Of course, Shizun," Ming Fan bowed to him and Yue Qingyuan before leaving.

"Your head disciple is diligent," Yue Qingyuan said.

"Of course he is," Shen Qingqiu sneered. "I would not have picked him otherwise." He snapped his fan shut. "I thought I told you to send a notice when you were visiting. I would not be able to entertain you if I were busy."

"I was just passing by and wanted to see if you were free. Are you busy? If so, I will not impose on you," Yue Qingyuan replied.

Shen Qingqiu turned to walk into the Bamboo House. "What did you want to discuss?"

"There were a couple forms and missives from the previous Peak Lord meeting you missed." Yue Qingyuan said, following behind him. "It seems that Shang-shidi forgot to send them to you along with the meeting notes." 

Upon reaching Shen Qingqiu's study, Yue Qingyuan produced a bundle of papers and handed it to Shen Qingqiu.

So for once it seemed like Yue Qingyuan had a good reason to come by. Usually, he'd bring things that he could assign a disciple to do to make an excuse to visit him, but papers from the Peak Lord meetings had a little bit more confidentiality.

Shen Qingqiu flipped through the papers.

[Delay in Qin purchases]

[Zhao Hua Monastery's request for Qing Jing masters skilled in plant identification and painting]

[Request for Qing Jing Peak art works for auction to acquire sect funds]

Shen Qingqiu skimmed the rest of the papers and snapped the leaflet shut. "Have you read what's in here?"

Despite the sect leader's fame for his unmovable, placid smile, it always crumbled into that look of wariness he always had when Shen Qingqiu was annoyed or mad. "When I asked, Shang-shidi said that they were important documents for Qing Jing, and I did not want to pry. "

Shen Qingqiu massaged the bridge of his nose. Shang Qinghua that rat! Only a couple of the papers at the back were barely confidential and the rest were ones Shang QInghua had known that he would have been chewed out for. And what a better way to shield himself from a chew out than Yue Qingyuan! Speaking of chewing out, he still had to lambaste him for letting a cat smuggle into his cargo and onto Qing Jing.

Shen Qingqiu looked through the papers again. 

The delay in qin purchases? He had put in the request to An Ding three whole months ago. The only fault of Shen Qingqiu was missing the Peak Lord meeting and that he could not get the additional forms completed in time because of it.

The Zhao Hua request? Admittedly, Shang Qinghua was not at fault for that one. The only masters that fit the description were two hallmasters who were active teachers, researchers, AND artists. Losing them for any time was not an option. 

The Qing Jing Peak art works? There were a lot of people on QIng Jing that specialized in art and calligraphy, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be a whole ordeal to put art works together for an auction. For money that Qing Jing would never see! This was probably for the recent damage Bai Zhan inflicted on Qiong Ding, but as much as Shen Qingqiu sneered at Shang Qinghua to ask Bai Zhan for the funds, they both knew that Shang Qinghua could grovel and beg and cry at Liu Qingge, and Bai Zhan would still generate negative revenue.

Shang Qinghua also knew that Shen Qingqi actually had a concept of finances and begrudgingly cave. He swore that the instant Shang Qinghua tripped up and wrote him an unreasonable request, Shen QIngqiu would make him wish he never learned how to write.

Noticing Yue Qingyuan's straying eyes landing on his desk, he put the papers on top of his soul bond research. Yue Qingyuan raised his eyebrows, looking oddly embarrassed at being caught.

Yue Qingyuan coughed his embarrassment away and pulled a scroll out from his sleeve this time. "The finalized details for the Shuang Hu city mission. Once you have everything in order, you are welcome to leave."

Shen Qingqiu looked over it, confirming there was nothing wrong before looking at Yue Qingyuan, who gave him an awkward smile. It was the face he always made when he ran out of things to say to him and wanted to ask him frivolous questions. Why did he always ask if he knew Shen Qingqiu would not respond nicely?

Shen Qingqiu turned so he could roll his eyes in peace. "We'll be ready to depart in two days," he said, putting the scroll down on the desk.

"I see. How are you…" There was an odd pause. "faring after your deviation?"

Shen Qingqiu's eye twitched. Had the idiot forgotten that he'd asked that already? And that it had sparked their last argument? Shen Qingqiu turned around to make a sarcastic remark, but he realized that Yue Qingyuan's attention wasn't on him.

His gaze was pointed down at Shen Yuan who padded in from the kitchen, looking for attention, or perhaps noticing the impending argument. The presence of a stranger in the room had Shen Yuan's ears pointed in attention, but he didn't seem too wary otherwise. 

"Qingqiu-shidi has taken in a cat?" Yue Qingyuan asked.

"It's a common pastime for the wealthy, no? I acquired one to see what the fuss was about," Shen Qingqiu replied. 

Shen Yuan leapt onto the desk and pawed at his arms until Shen Qingqiu picked him up. Shen Qingqiu rubbed his back, but Shen Yuan's gaze seemed more focused on Yue Qingyuan. Shen Qingqiu scritched his head until Shen Yuan turned away.

"He seems taken to you."

"Of course he is. Do you doubt my ability to take care of something?" Shen Qingqiu replied, regretting it instantly.

Yue Qingyuan didn't say it, but his unspoken apology hung over the room. 

Shen Qingqiu rubbed harder at Shen Yuan to relieve him of his irrational irritation until Shen Yuan's rumbling purr filled the entire room, overtaking the awkwardness and cooling his head. It occurred to him that the annoyance, not anger, with Yue Qingyuan he felt was more borne from awkwardness than anything else.

But why should he ever feel awkward with Yue Qingyuan?

Shen Yuan nipped at his fingers, and Shen Qingqiu snapped out his thoughts. Shen Yuan chased his fingers as he pulled away, tail bouncing from side to side. Shen Qingqiu had pet him too hard and the beast had turned from wanting attention to waiting to play.

"If you'll excuse me, I have matters to sort out before we depart," Shen QIngqiu said, releasing Shen Yuan onto the floor.

"Of course, Qingqiu-shidi. I do not want to take away from your time," Yue Qingyuan made a smile. 

He probably thought he was getting kicked out for asking stupid questions, but as much as he despised it, the misunderstanding was not Shen Qingqiu's concern. Without further comment, Yue Qingyuan left the bamboo house.

Shen QIngiu sighed, staring at the closed door for a couple moments too long.

He looked down at Shen Yuan, who was staring at his sword tassel like it was a cat toy. Shen Qingqiu moved before Shen Yuan could think of pouncing on it. He picked up a round marble he had confiscated from a disciple and threw it to the hallway.

Shen Yuan dashed after it. The medicine must have worked fast on the strained muscle because he wasn't limping as he went.

Shen Qingqiu heard a rapid sliding of nails on wood in a futile attempt to stop his momentum before slamming into the wall. After a couple moments, Shen Yuan trotted into the room with the marble as if he hadn't forgotten to sheathe his claws and run into the wall like an idiot.

"You are so stupid. How would you live without me?" Shen Qingqiu cooed.

Shen Yuan meowed back sweetly, taking his words as a compliment.

Shen Qingqiu couldn't suppress his smirk. He despised a lot of things, but as irritating as he could be, Shen Yuan had made it into his good graces. Perhaps, it was because of the soul bond, but having something so simple minded and dependent on him was more of a balm to his soul than he had imagined. Perhaps when the soul bond was taken care of one way or another, he could keep Shen Yuan around.

He took the marble and flung it into the bedroom, sending Shen Yuan after it. Then, he made his way to his desk. As much as he wished to slack off like Shen Yuan, he had business to attend to.

Chapter Text

They leave for Shuang Hu city early in the morning when the sun had barely begun to brighten the sky. Holding a sleeping Shen Yuan to his chest, Shen Qingqiu walked to his carriage.

Upon catching sight of him, Ming Fan came over as quickly as he could without running.. "Shizun! Everything has been prepared. We should be ready to go."

Shen Qingiqu's eyes flicked over the horses. All nine of them. He fixed Ming Fan with a stare, pondering whether to say something.

In the end, he chose to be vague. "Ensure there are no complications, Ming Fan," he said, entering the carriage. "It will take some time to get to Shuang Hu City. Give the order to leave."

"Yes, Shizun!" Ming Fan said, but Shen Qingqiu had already closed the curtain behind him.

He set Shen Yuan down on the pile of pillows in front of him and began to meditate. As the carriage began to move, Shen Yuan was jostled awake, his ears twitching twice before opening his bleary eyes. Waking up at a new location made him wary, his tiny head swiveling left and right.

Shen Yuan got up and started padding around, sniffing the bags. Packing for a cat had doubled his luggage, and gave Shen Yuan an ample amount of things to examine. Eventually, he moved onto the other parts of the carriage, and upon finding interest in one of the walls, he sat unblinking, facing it. 

He was doing that weird staring thing again.

Staring at paintings or windows wasn't concerning, but Shen Yuan had a strange habit of staring at nothing. Prior to leaving the peak, Shen Qingqiu had finally gotten around to checking Shen Yuan for diseases and any other problems. One of them being that.

Peak Lord Mo Qinghu had mentioned that there was nothing wrong with Shen Yuan's cognitive function. In fact, he was far above the average cat's intelligence. So high that it was surprising that Shen Yuan wasn't a spiritual beast with a human form. Perhaps with the proper nutrition and pills, he would be able to become a spirit beast despite being a common cat, he had said before handing over more pill pouches than Shen Qingqiu could hold with one hand.

Shen Qingqiu had figured that much, given the brief conversation that he had with Shen Yuan when they had first met. Cultivation meant that Shen Yuan would be at a lower risk of catching a disease or dying, so the revelation had been music to his ears. Though, for something that was so smart, he had his moments.

Shen Qingqiu squinted at him. This particular staring spell was going a bit longer than he liked.

"Shen Yuan," he called, but Shen Yuan was far too distracted with the wall and didn't react at all. "Shen Yuan!" Shen Qingqiu said more sharply, this time accompanied by tapping his fan against the floor.

That finally broke Shen Yuan out of his spell. Shen Yuan turned and tilted his head like he was asking a question.

Shen Qingqiu offered one of the pills Mo Qinghu had given him. At first, he came over with perked ears thinking it was food, but upon sniffing at it, he grew disinterested. He only gave it one lick before turning away, finding more interest in a pouch of treats.

Shen Qingqiu scoffed. Clearly, he hadn't been strict enough with Shen Yuan, seeing how spoiled he was becoming. He'd have to mix the pills in with his food.

The cat's meandering moved onto the window where he poked his head out of the curtains, much to the delight of his disciples. Murmurs and noises of admiration rained upon Shen Yuan, and he reveled in it.

Shen Qingqiu scoffed again. With Shen Yuan up at risk of jumping out the window at any moment, Shen Qingqiu couldn't go back to meditating. Instead, he took out a book and began to read.

Luckily for Ming Fan, the group arrived at Shuang Hu city without incident.

The city was small, but booming, most famous for its night market and the various cosmetics that could be found in its stalls. Despite the string of murders happening in the city, the economy and ambiance were robust enough that it had not been too affected. If the murders hadn't reached the nobles' concubines, he doubted they would have been called at all.

It was a pity that the potential and wealth of the city was wasted on such a disgusting owner.

Sitting in the gaudy room rivaling that of Huan Hua palace, choked by the smell of perfume, and ears assaulted by moaning and groaning, Shen Qingqiu was beginning to ponder whether he should just wrap up the case and go home. 

"Immortal masters, you must help us! Nowadays I dare not let Die-er leave my side for a second, for fear that the moment she's careless, she'll be killed by that wretched monster!" Old Master Chen was worse at moping than Luo Binghe, and what was more unsightly was that he was using his distress as an excuse to put his filthy hands all over his young concubine.

Cultivators weren't allowed to hurt mortals, but if not for the stain it would be on his night hunt record, he would definitely let the demon kill Old Man Chen. He would even let it go for the service it had done for humanity.

His hand and face desperately wished for a fan, but Shen Yuan had gotten it into his head that it was a toy, so he couldn't use it with him in his lap. Instead, he turned his peripheral vision to include Shen Yuan, whose tail was flicking apprehensively from side to side. 

It was truly a wonder that the man didn't realize how appalling it was to take advantage of something that looked a third his age. Even the cat had enough common sense to pass judgment on Old Master Chen. A testament to the fact that he was lower than a beast and deserved everything coming to him.

Shen Qingqiu loosened his grip on Shen Yuan and scratched his head. Go forth, Shen Yuan. Assault this man, Shen Qingqiu thought through the rest of Old Man Chen's drivel to entertain himself.

Of course, Shen Yuan was not telepathic, and he simply sat there, giving Old Man Chen a stink eye. When it was apparent that the man wasn't going to give him any more information, Shen Qingqiu made his escape. "Very well. My disciples will take care of this demon. Ming Fan, get the details and begin the investigation."

"Your disciples? What of you, Immortal Master?" Old Man Chen said.

"Rest be assured, my disciples are the best of the best. I am here in case things go awry, which it will not. Ming Fan, I will be awaiting your report in my quarters when you've finished investigating." With that, Shen Qingqiu left Ming Fan to deal with that disaster.

As soon as Shen Qingqiu got to his room, he took off his heavy outermost robe to rid himself of the bad energy and looked at Shen Yuan. "There are truly too many despicable men in the world. Don't you agree?"

Shen Yuan meowed. 

"Indeed. Truly horrific. We should bury all of them alive in a mass grave. Especially the rich, perverted ones," Shen Qingqiu said, going to his bag.

Shen Yuan meowed again as he followed, rubbing his body against Shen Qingqiu's legs. As much as Shen Qingqiu wanted to believe that Shen Yuan sympathized, the creature only wanted to be fed.

"And selfish ones like you too," Shen Qingqiu sneered, putting Shen Yuan's food out for him.

He dug in without a care in the world.

Shen Qingqiu was about to settle in when he heard a knock on the door.

Ning Yingying entered. "Shizun, Yingying wants to go and walk around the market. Would Shizun like to keep me company?" she asked, looking up at him with wide, pleading eyes.

Shen Qingqiu sometimes indulged Ning Yingying on missions, but there was no telling how Shen Yuan would react to a crowd. "Unfortunately, this master must take care of A-Yuan."

Ning Yingying wilted. "Oh, that makes sense."

"Take Jin Yang and Jin Xue with you. Those two have nothing but time."

"Jin Yang-shixiong is following Ming Fan around today. I want to bring A…Luo-shidi!" Ning Yingying gave him a shit-eating grin.

"Ning Yingying." Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes at her, but Ning Yingying had never been cowed by him in these kinds of situations and was more than willing to go behind his back. "Bring Jin Xue with you."

"Yes Shizun!" Ning Yingying beamed. She skipped out, braids bouncing up and down.

For the rest of the afternoon, none of his disciples bothered him, so Shen Yuan decided to. He ungratefully grew disinterested in the bell toy Shen Qingqiu had brought just for him and made it a game to play with Shen Qingqiu's fan, Shen Qingqiu's hair ribbon, Shen Qingqiu's sword tassel…

Shen Qingqiu was in the middle of wrangling Shen Yuan's face out of his treat bag when Ming Fan came to report on his findings.

Shen Qingqiu took Shen Yuan's brief distraction to pull the bag from Shen Yuan and into his sleeves. He dropped Shen Yuan, who immediately went to cling to his sleeves with his claws, and tidied the couple things that Shen Yuan had strewn across the floor. "Come in."

Ming Fan came in. His eyes widened at the sight of Shen Yuan climbing his sleeves but quickly turned and bowed. "Reporting to Shizun. This disciple has examined the corpse." He pulled out two detecting talismans charred black.

Shen Qingqiu glanced down at them and up again. "And?"

"This disciple used a talisman at the soil where one of the victims was buried and another at the unburied corpse at the coroner's. Seeing as the corpses are laden with demonic energy, this must be the work of a demon," Ming Fan said.

Shen Qingqiu continued to stare at him. Even Luo Binghe, their newest disciple, would be able to figure out that much. If Ming Fan couldn't make any more observations or even conjectures, Qing Jing peak was in dire straits.

Ming Fan fidgeted. "Since the bodies were not consumed, the demon is not killing for sustenance. The skinnings could be done for sport, but this disciple is more inclined to believe that the demon benefits somehow off the skinnings…? Perhaps a demon that subsists off of negative energy… or a skin stealer…?”

Why was the child phrasing that as a question ? Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes internally. He didn't know who had infected Ming Fan with this timidness, but if it was Luo Binghe, Luo Binghe was going to sleep in the woodshed for the foreseeable future, far away from his disciples.

At least Ming Fan’s ability to form hypotheses hadn’t been robbed.

"As I said earlier, this master will not step into the investigation unless strictly needed, Ming Fan. Do not think that you know the demon until you've dispatched them, and see to it that you take proper precautions lest I have to step in."

Ming Fan straightened his back, ridding himself of that awful mopiness. "Of course, Shizun. I've come up with—"

"Shizun!" Jin Xue burst through his door without knocking.

Shen Qingqiu grabbed a startled Shen Yuan before he could start bolting around the room. "Jin Xue, what's happened?"

"Ning Yingying, Shizun! We were walking around, and we looked away for one second, and she disappeared!" Jin Xue said without taking a breath.

"You—!" Ming Fan jumped up.

Shen Qingqiu cut him off. "What do you mean? Where's Luo Binghe?"

"We weren't even distracted. We were having a conversation. She replied one second and was gone the next!" Jin Xue rambled. "Luo-shidi ran off to find her!"

"Luo Binghe ran off?" Shen Qingqiu raised his voice. "Your youngest martial brother? You let him run off without you?"

Jin Xue paled further, unable to say anything else.

"Nevermind that." Shen Qingqiu spat. He whipped out the tracking talisman for Luo Binghe and handed it to Ming Fan. "Bring Jin Xue, and find Luo Binghe. Remind any disciple you see that no one should be left alone," Shen Qingqiu said, glaring at Jin Xue. "This master will go find Ning Yingying."

While they scrambled out of the room, Shen Qingqiu grabbed Xiu Ya and his outermost robe. Seeing him get ready to leave, Shen Yuan was on his heels.

"No, you will be staying in here," Shen Qingqiu said, nudging Shen Yuan back into the room with his foot and snapping the door shut in front of Shen's Yuan's affronted face. He put a sealing talisman on the door and set out to find Ning Yingying. 

With a tracking talisman, it took no time to find Ning Yingying, or rather her stuff. 

Shen Qingqiu arrived at an empty alleyway where Ning Yingying's green brocade pouch was left abandoned on the floor. Cursing, he picked it up and wrung it in his hands. How many times had he told her to put the talisman somewhere that couldn't be lost? He was going to drown her in remedial lessons when they got back.

His eyes scanned the alleyway. There was no presence or sign of altercation, but Ning Yingying wasn't so careless that she would drop her bag on accident. Even though she was a young girl, she was a cultivator, so no mortal would have been able to make her disappear so easily.

Shen Qingqiu took a deep breath before pulling out another tracking talisman and got onto Xiu Ya. This sort of demon usually took some time to kill their prey, so Ning Yingying was probably safe, but if it had so much as touched her, he was going to make sure it was so dead it couldn't hope to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

The talisman led him to an abandoned house behind the mansion. Along the perimeter was Ming Fan and Jin Xue, their light cultivator robes making them visible from far away.

"Where is Luo Binghe?" Shen Qingqiu said, touching down.

Jin Xue looked relieved. "Shizun! Luo Binghe said he wanted to investigate the house," he said, pointing.

Ming Fan couldn't hold himself back from shooting him a panicked glare.

“Said?” Shen Qingqiu felt his anger reach a boiling point. "Ming Fan?" he said in a low voice.

Ming Fan lowered his head. "Answering Shizun. We met Luo-shidi, but I could not stop him from running off again."

In a smooth stroke, Shen Qingqiu raised his fan and brought it down on Ming Fan's head with a harsh snap. Jin Xue flinched but made himself small when he realized he could be next. He was really starting to get on his nerves, but Shen Qingqiu didn't have time for this.

"We will discuss this later. Go get a headcount of the rest of the disciples."

Ming Fan turned his head toward the mansion, hiding his face. "Yes, Shizun. Come on, Jin Xue." 

Shen Qingqiu didn't wait to see them scamper off. His swift, silent steps brought him up the road to the house. The house was dilapidated, roof tiles and walls coming apart, and the path leading to it overgrown with plants.

Such an unused and closeby structure was the last thing you wanted in a demon problem and the first place to clear out and ward. It appeared that Ming Fan was going to join Ning Yingying in remedial lessons.

Approaching the doors, he could see Luo Binghe creeping along ahead of him. Make that three. "Beast! Get back here!"

Luo Binghe looked back to him with wide eyes, but he was already too close to the door.

"Get away from there!"

But it was too late. The doors flew open, and a thick, black fog billowed out. He grabbed Luo Binghe by the back of the collar and threw him backward, covering his face with his sleeve. 

He attempted to pull out his fan to blow the smoke away, but it fell from his weak hands. As his knees buckled, he turned to see Luo Binghe unconscious on the floor.

Why couldn't any of his disciples follow simple instructions? Shen Qingqiu thought bitterly.

His vision went black.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan screeched, clawing at the door that had been slammed shut right in front of his face.

This was an utter betrayal! First, Shen Jiu forced him to sit through a meeting with a pervert. Then, he forced him through this stuffy room, and finally, when there was some excitement, he was leaving him to rot alone!

He brought his sharp nails down in long streaks to no avail. The doors were not budging, and his nails didn't even make a dent. Leave it up to Shen Jiu to make an unbreakable door.

Shen Jiu and his disciples had seemed anxious. What if something bad had happened?

Shen Yuan clawed at the door a couple more times before looking to the window, but kicked himself when he remembered Shen Jiu had locked the window with a talisman earlier in the day after he had tried to jump out.

The System chimed.

[New Quest Started! 'Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's…Me!' Swoop in to save the day!]

[Reward: +500 B Points]

Shen Yuan's eyes bugged out of his cat head. 500?? I could get the language pack with that! But he caught himself before he could get too excited. Why is the reward so high? Is this quest difficult?

[Answering User: Quests part of the Main Story Quest generally have higher rewards. It is not necessarily, but may be, a reflection of difficulty.]

Shen Yuan tilted his head. A main story quest? That was the first he'd heard of it.

Well, I'm stuck here. Shen Jiu locked everything when he left.

[Would User like a 'Small Scenario Pusher' for 100 B-points?] 

100? That's highway robbery!!

Shen Yuan huffed. He didn't need the System's stupid cheats. He was a 21st century man with advanced problem solving capabilities. He could overcome anything. A locked room? That was nothing. Any obstacle or problem that came his way was surely nothing compared to the gaokao!

Like that, Shen Yuan wasted ten minutes of his time running circles around the room.

Shen Yuan banged his head against the door. So what if he passed the gaokao? He was up against Shen Jiu! A scholar in a xianxia world! Shen Jiu could probably take the test tomorrow and walk away with a full score! 

Through his wounded pride, he clicked the shiny yes button on the System's interface. The reward was 500 points, so in the end, it was a 400 point gain, he told himself.

[Thank you for purchasing! -100 B-points. Remaining B-points: 310]

Just as the System finished its merry little jingle, there was a knock at the door. "Immortal Master, would you like some refreshments?" The soft voice of a servant asked. Then, with a mumble, there was a sound of paper ripping. "Who put this on the door?"

When there was no answer, the servant walked away, and Shen Yuan rushed up, swiping at the door until it opened.

Freedom! Shen Yuan thought with glee, racing out. System, show me to the mission location.

[Distance to Quest Location: 300m]

Shen Yuan spun in a quick circle to see which way the quest location was and darted off, bounding past startled disciples. With all the energy he'd built being cooped up all day, he could dodge their grabby hands with ease.

As Shen Yuan came upon the door leading outside, he saw the short tempered boy standing in the hallway, looking over the heads of the children mingling in front of him. Shen Yuan was too low to the ground to be seen in his peripheral vision, and he easily zipped right between his legs.

Shouts sounded as they chased after him, but they could not out-navigate a cat through the forest, and he soon left them in his dust.

The System led him toward a dilapidated house, making a dinging noise as he approached its doors.

[Quest Area Reached!] 

This was a suspicious house if he'd ever seen one. He looked back at the panicked calls of the disciples to confirm that they were too far to bother him and examined the doors. A big, heavy, set of suspicious doors for a suspicious house. 

Something about this house stunk.

He wasn't stupid, so he walked away from the main entrance to look for other avenues of entry. On the side, high up on the wall, was a window that seemed to be meant for ventilation. It was a bit small for a human, but for Shen Yuan it was more than sufficient.

He crouched low, wiggling to get better footing and made two jumps, one onto a ledge and into the window.

The inside of the house was musty and dark, though there was a little moonlight shining through holes in the roof.

He saw the concubine of that pervert standing in the middle of the room, her boastful, sing-song voice making her the first thing he noticed. The second thing he noticed were the two children that Shen Jiu taught—the stinky boy and the girl with braids—tied against a post. Then, turning his gaze further into the house he saw Shen Jiu, murder in his eyes and milky jade chest bared to the world!

Why was he half naked?! Shen Jiu hated being disheveled. Shen Yuan knew this because he counted seven layers every morning when Shen Jiu got ready for the day.

Shen Jiu started talking to the concubine…demon? He reexamined the concubine, realizing that she was the source of the bad vibes of this place. She looked a bit too off to be human with elongated nails like claws and a strange gait.

Shen Jiu hissed and strained against the red rope bound against his chest, ready to strangle the demon as soon as they snapped.

He was upset, but whatever Shen Jiu was saying to her was upsetting her even more. Shen Yuan couldn't even blame her. He couldn't understand what Shen Jiu was saying, but that tone alone would have made him want to cover his ears and curl up into a ball.

It wasn't helping Shen Yuan though. What if the demon cracked and attacked him?

Shen Yuan scanned the room, trying to think up a plan before that could happen. He had learned a long time ago when he had attacked the angry but pretty man that broke into Shen Jiu's house that he couldn't bet on being able to beat humans. 

Or in this situation, a human-sized demon.

His eyes landed on the two disciples tied to the post. The demon was so focused on Shen Jiu that she wouldn't notice anything happening to the disciples. If Shen Yuan could untie them, they'd be able to overpower her in a 3v1!

He metaphorically patted himself on the back as he slunk across the rafters behind the demon. She was so immersed in her speech that she didn't notice him, but he caught the attention of Shen Jiu.

Shen Yuan blinked at Shen Jiu in greeting while the man's face paled a shade. 

Understandable. Shen Jiu was probably aghast by the fact that the only one that was coming to save him was a cat. Too bad he didn't possess telepathy because if he did, he could ease Shen Jiu's worries with his brilliant plan.

The art of soft landing was one of many that he had perfected while living with Shen Jiu. He landed behind the post, startling the two disciples, who had been too focused on Shen Jiu's conversation to see him.

Unlike Shen Jiu, the two looked back at him with shiny eyes like their savior had arrived, which he had. He looked in between the two realizing he could only free one at a time.

He didn't have to choose because upon seeing his indecisiveness, the stinky boy held out his wrists, mouthing something at him.

Shen Yuan got to gnawing, using his tiny canines to cut through the rope. Every time he bit down. He could feel a coil or two snapping, but it was going much slower than he thought. His fangs weren't meant to cut rope and kept slipping through the threads without any traction.

After a while, he pulled back to assess the progress he had made and saw that he was a quarter of the way through. The stinky boy started jerking his wrists to test the rope, but he was only rubbing them raw.

Shen Yuan huffed. It was only a thin rope, he could get it this time, he thought as he leaned down to chew at the rope again.

He was a couple chews in when he suddenly heard the girl beside them scream, followed by a wet slice. Shen Yuan froze, peeking out to see what had happened.

Shen Jiu looked up at the demon with a tightly clenched jaw while she taunted him. Her hand was raised, claws dripping with blood, as bright, red streaks began to bloom on Shen Jiu's chest.

Shen Yuan's brain short circuited, his eyes tracking the blood slide down.

He literally saw red, darting out and pouncing on the demon. 

He sunk one set of claws into her arm and swiped at her face with the other. The demon screeched and staggered from the sudden assault and shook her arm to get him off, but if that one pretty guy couldn't get him off, there was no way this demon was going to.

Before she could recover from her surprise and grab him, he leapt off and faced her, lips drawing back for a proper hiss.

She pointed and screeched something at him, but it was trivial because Shen Yuan could not understand it! He swiped at her hand for the offense of pointing.

She drew her hand back, and Shen Yuan darted forward, aiming his claws at her vulnerable stomach. When the demon twisted off balance to dodge, Shen Yuan jumped for her head, but this time, the demon was ready and grabbed him as he landed on her shoulder.

As a cat, there was little chance that he could get out of the grip, but the demon should have considered the fact that she hadn't trapped him. He had trapped her! He swiped at her eyes as hard as he could, ignoring her point blank scream.

There was a searing pain as the demon's elongated claws sunk into his flank as she tried to pull him away.

He swiped even harder, bracing for the claws slicing through his soft belly—

There was a loud snapping noise like a gunshot. With it, the demon was flung one way, and Shen Yuan the other. Shen Yuan landed on the ground with his feet and skidded to a halt, but the demon crashed into a post, rattling the beams above her. The beams looked sturdy enough before, but with the shock, several came loose and crashed down upon her body.

Shen Yuan flinched, sticking out his neck to see if the demon was incapacitated. Then, he gave a satisfied look to Shen Jiu. Did Shen Jiu see the good work that he did?

The man in question stared at him, looking a bit faint. 

He looked down at his body to assess the damage, but to his surprise, his fur was pristine as if the demon hadn't just tried to turn him into a cat filet.

His head jerked back up as the demon swayed back out of the rubble. Long gashes had magically appeared on her side, placed suspiciously close to where she had tried to claw him. 

…Did he do that?

The demon looked angry like a ghost that had clawed its way out of hell, highlighted by the fact that the portions of skin that Shen Yuan had sliced had started to detach from the body in an odd way. The demon screamed as she lunged, but she was still dazed and couldn't outspeed Shen Yuan. 

He leapt to the side and heard something snap next to him. He had no time to look at what it was as he dodged the next lunge, but to his shock, the skin on the demon's arm ripped as it extended beyond what seemed possible.

Shen Yuan yelped as the demon grabbed him and slammed him against the ground. She kneeled over him, blood starting to trickle out of her eyes. 

It was creepy as hell, and armed with the possibility that he could have wound transferring powers, he thrashed and scratched with abandon. Yet, he was a cat and could neither damage the demon nor squirm hard enough to break free.

He watched as the demon raised her claws

You're stupid! My wounds just transferred onto you! Zero IQ! You have a two year-old's concept of cause and effect! Shen Yuan screeched and cursed her.  

Suddenly, a figure was behind her. 

Free from his bindings, the stinky boy reached toward a sword on the demon's side. Shen Jiu's sword, Shen Yuan realized. As he drew it, bright light spilled forth from its blade, blinding Shen Yuan. 

He heard a slice and thump as the demon's grip went slack, and Shen Yuan took the chance to twist his way out of the pin. He scrambled back and blinked a couple times to restore his vision.

The demon was laying on her side, head sliced off her neck.

The boy stood above them with a bloodied sword in hand breathing heavily.

For a moment, the entire shed was filled only with the sound of panting. Then, the boy put the sword back in the sheathe and approached Shen Yuan trying to pick him up.

Shen Yuan was in no mood to entertain him, so he resisted until the boy gave up. He satisfied himself with whatever he wanted to do by running his grubby hands over Shen Yuan a couple times. 

The boy went to untie Shen Jiu, but Shen Yuan's eyes kept going to the headless body.

He had never seen a dead body in real life before, let alone one that had been alive until moments before. Sure, the demon had tried to kill him, and he knew that with the kill-or-be-killed world that the xianxia genres adored, he would encounter a dead body soon enough, but…

Uhhhh….

[Congratulations! You have completed 'Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's…Me!' +500 B Points! +500 S Points!]

[Current B Points: 810 B Points]

Shen Yuan's eyes snapped up. Haha, wow System, you have impeccable timing.

[System strives to provide the best support for its users.]

[User has enough points to purchase something on User's wishlist. Would User like to view?]

The language comprehension pack, right? I want to buy it as soon as possible.

[Would User like to purchase the 'Human Language Comprehension Pack'?]

Yes! Yes! Yes!

[Thank you for purchasing! -500 B points. Current B points: 310.]

As the System's happy jingle sounded, Shen Yuan felt like there was a veil in his mind that had suddenly lifted. Gradually, the garbled murmurs of the humans in the room grew clearer until they became intelligible, articulated words.

This was great. Amazing even. He could finally understand the strange noises disciples and the older ones would say to him! He could read! 

He could understand Shen Jiu!

"Ning Yingying!"

Shen Yuan's head whipped around.

"Where is your tracking talisman?"

What?

"And Disciple Luo, let me ask you, do you think that you are better than me?"

Huh?

"Apologies, Shizun. This—"

What?

"Lower your eyes."

Disciple Luo quickly did as he was told, standing knees locked and hands folded in front of him.

Disciple Luo…

Disciple Luo…

Luo…

…System, are you sure this language pack is working?

[Answering User: Yes, 'Human Language Comprehension Pack' has been successfully downloaded.]

[Multiple Character Profiles Have Been Updated! Would User like to view them?]

No.

No, no. Disciple Luo, that was a pretty basic name. Anyone could be surnamed Luo in a xianxia universe, running around with a girl named Ning Yingying…with a strict shizun surnamed Shen…who likes to wear green…

System, does Shen Jiu have another name? Maybe of the clear blue variety?

[Answering User: User has not unlocked any other names for 'Shen Jiu'. However, it is not uncommon for an accomplished cultivator to have a courtesy name.]

Shen Yuan stared at Shen Jiu who was towering over the two children, arms crossed in front of his chest.

Oh, he was in the world of the hit webnovel "Proud Immortal Demon Way" where the protagonist Luo Binghe is antagonized by his scum teacher Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Jiu was Shen Qingqiu.

Chapter Text

This was not the worst day of Shen Qingqiu's life by far, but ire bubbled up from his chest nevertheless.

He could not believe the audacity of the skinner demon, stripping him while he was unconscious! What a pity that it was granted a quick death. For all the suffering it had caused him, it deserved to receive the same suffering back tenfold.

"Ning Yingying." He took a deep breath, bringing his anger to a level that wouldn't affect his speech. "It is not your fault that the demon targeted and abducted you. However, on a night hunt, it does not matter if it is your fault or not. Your failure to maintain vigilance and your failure to maintain your failsafe could have cost you your life. You are lucky this master tagged the demon beforehand, or I would not have found you."

"Yes, Shizun," Ning Yingying said.

Shen Qingqiu then, with great distaste, turned his attention to the thorn in his side. There were one million and two things that he wanted to criticize Luo Binghe for, but he could not bother bringing up even ten of them. 

"Beast, how old do you turn this year?"

"Fourteen, Shizun," Luo Binghe said meekly.

Shen Qingqiu scoffed. "Then you are old enough to remember things. Tell me, Luo Binghe. Does the rules of a beginner night hunt say that disciples can operate alone?"

"No, Shizun. They must be in pairs or more."

"And how many people were with you when you left to find your shijie?"

"None, Shizun."

"The only person who can operate alone on a beginner night hunt is the cultivator with the highest seniority. Who has the highest seniority here?"

"It is you, Shizun."

"Why, is that not a logical fallacy? If the authority is only granted to the one with the highest seniority, would that not make you the one with the highest seniority?"

Luo Binghe trembled. He dropped to his knees and put his forehead to the ground. "This disciple was wrong, Shizun. This disciple could never hope to be as esteemed as Shizun."

Those were honeyed words that Shen Qingqiu did not believe. 

"Get up."

He watched the beast scramble up with mounting disgust. Where had all the bravado he had when he killed the demon gone?

Shen Qingqiu rubbed his hands over Xiu Ya, pushing any trace of the boy's disgusting qi out. Xiu Ya hummed under his hand, happy having saved its owner, but it didn't serve as any consolation.

"Never put your qi in another cultivator's sword."

"Yes, Shizun."

Shen Qingqiu's ire sparked again. "You two will be punished for this, and that will be the least of your worries. You'll be taking remedial lessons for the rest of the year, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Shizun," the two said back to him, heads lowered.

Clearly, he had been negligent to his disciples' education, seeing how they could only repeat the same thing over and over again. Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe were lucky he was indisposed, or he would have hit them upside the head tens times over for slacking and another fifty for the mistakes leading up to this mess.

Luo Binghe was about to lose his eyes regardless! "Beast! I said lower your eyes!"

Luo Binghe flinched, quickly turning his head down to pretend like he wasn't about to leer at Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu tightened his grip around his chest, nails digging into his skin. He hadn't been awake when the skinner had stripped him, but he could still feel his skin crawling from the act.

Disgust was an emotion that perpetually hovered over Shen Qingqiu, but he seldom felt it so vividly. It choked him and threatened to burst forth from his chest.

At this rate, he was going to hurt something. Ning Yingying wouldn't be spared, let alone the Beast.

He turned his back to them and walked away. "Get out."

"Shizun?" Came NIng Yingying's voice.

"Do you need your hearing checked? I said get out!"

The disciples didn't need to be told twice. Eager to escape the situation, the two scrambled toward the door, exiting hand-in-hand, no doubt to whisper how their shizun had lost his mind.

The irritating thought was pushed aside just as fast as it came as Shen Qingqiu's eyes landed on Shen Yuan, who hadn't moved since Luo Binghe had tried to pick him up.

He descended upon him like a hawk. "Wretched creature," he sneered, grabbing Shen Yuan off the ground. "Did it not get through your worthless brain that our lives are tied together?" He shook him. "How dare you endanger my life?"

Watching the demon sink her claws into Shen Yuan had felt like she had clawed his own flank instead.

In hindsight, he should have anticipated Shen Yuan's disregard for their lives. The creature was so eager to pick a fight with Liu Qingge and taunt his disciples, but he had not discouraged the behavior, convincing himself that Shen Yuan knew none of them would try to inflict grave injuries on him.

It had been hubris—the thought that he could find a method to break a soul bond without killing Shen Yuan. Most cultivators would have done it without a second thought, or they would have trapped him in a room at the very least. Shen Qingqiu had wanted to think he was above them, that he could manage to keep one free-roaming cat safe while researching a way to break a soul bond.

Since when did Shen Qingqiu put repaying debts or others' decency over his life? Hadn't Shen Jiu learned not to stick his neck out for someone else?

"I should stuff you in a box and make sure you can never hurt yourself again," Shen Qingqiu said, shaking Shen Yuan harder.

Fed up with the shaking, Shen Yuan twisted out of the grip and slunk away out of reach. However, instead of the usual indignance Shen Yuan displayed for being treated as such, he looked up with wary eyes.

Shen Qingqiu reached down to pick him up, but Shen Yuan backed even faster out of reach as a low rumble started in the cat's body. Brushing off the strange behavior, Shen QIngqiu tried to close the gap again, but before he could take two steps, Shen Yuan bared his fangs and hissed.

Shen Qingqiu felt like he had been struck in the head. All his rage going with it,

Shen Yuan had never hissed before. Not when his disciples had bothered him far past reason or when Liu Qingge had manhandled him. He looked down at the small thing, ears pressed flat against his head, eyes narrowed to slits, and body low to the ground so that he could bolt at any moment.

Shen Yuan looked at him like he was going to hurt him.

Could Shen Qingqiu deny it? Had he not vocalized such thoughts moments before?

In the next moment, he wiped the shock off his face and stared at Shen Yuan until Shen Yuan's growl petered out to silent agitation.

"A-Yuan," he said with measured calmness. He raised his hand slowly, beckoning. "This master is not in the mood for this."

Instead of complying, Shen Yuan's growl returned, inching back as his eyes tracked Shen Qingqiu's hand. He would have inched back all the way to the wall if he hadn't stepped in the puddle of blood seeping out from the demon's corpse. The cat glanced back to see what he had stepped in and came face to face with the demon's severed head.

Shen Yuan jumped straight into the air.

"Shen Yuan!" Shen Qingqiu called as the cat bolted.

Shen Qingqiu tried to chase after Shen Yuan, but given the confined space, Shen Yuan could weave under and around spaces too tight for Shen Qingqiu to follow.

Soon, Shen Yuan set his sights on the rafters he had entered from. Unaware of his limitations, he leapt up, flailed, and missed the beam by a couple chi.

The cat yowled, tumbling into a stack of wood piled in the corner. Realizing he had run himself into a dead end, Shen Yuan took one wide eyed stare back at Shen Qingqiu and shoved his body into a gap between the wood, pushing in until only the tip of his tail peeked out.

Shen Qingqiu stood before the pile.

He could not comprehend why Shen Yuan was acting like this. He wanted to say that the cat had been spooked by the demon's corpse, but Shen Qingqiu had eyes, and he was the one that Shen Yuan had looked at in fear.

Perhaps the shaking had been too violent. Shen QIngqiu had not been paying much attention to how hard he had been shaking Shen Yuan, but considering that Shen Yuan could free himself, why hadn't he escaped the grip before he'd gotten scared?

Or perhaps it had been his temper. He had made disciples cry before when he was angry, and Shen Yuan had never seen him get so angry before. Shen Yuan must have gotten frightened by his tone even if he didn't know what Shen Qingqiu was saying.

"Stop having a fit. Come out," he snapped, letting his anxiety get the better of him. He cursed himself for it. Hostility would only drive the terrified cat deeper into the pile of wood.

It would be easy to capture Shen Yuan. He had him cornered, under a pile of wood that a mortal man could clear with ease, but Shen Qingqiu could not stomach being spurned by Shen Yuan. 

He cursed himself for letting a cat sway him to such an extent. Just a month ago, he would have only had a little remorse in ending the creature's life to save his. Just a month ago, he would have set the creature into the wild after breaking the soul bond.

Just a month ago, he had a qi deviation that would have killed him, and he hadn't even gotten close to one since.

"A-Yuan, won't you come back out? I will not yell at you, or put you in a box." When there was no response, Shen Qingqiu reached into his sleeve and took out a bag of treats. "You like these, don't you? Come on," Shen Qingqiu said in such a saccharine tone that it felt foreign coming from him.

He wasn't like Shen Yuan. He'd overheard his disciples compare Shen Yuan to him sometimes. Shen Yuan could be vindictive, aloof, and cunning like him, but Shen Yuan could also choose to be sweet or silly without it being jarring.

Shen Yuan was greedy yet good, but Shen Qingqiu was just plain greedy, and he had already decided that he would keep Shen Yuan around after breaking the soul bond. 

He scoffed at the him of a few minutes ago, who was worried about hubris. What hubris? Shen Qingqiu was the strategist and peak lord of the most powerful sect in the world. If it was a known fact that cultivators could not keep a common cat safe from death, Shen Qingqiu would be the one that could.

First, he would have to get that protection collar back onto Shen Yuan. That attack from the demon had burned through its arrays and snapped it straight off, creating a rebound. Served her right, Shen Qingqiu thought with malice. He should have designed it to kill her on the spot for trying to hurt them. Then, that beast wouldn't have gotten his grubby hands all over Shen Yuan. 

Speaking of which, they wouldn't be in this situation at all if Luo Binghe had waited for Shen Qingqiu to save him. The one time it would serve Shen Qingqiu wrong, the child had decided to shed his passivity and revealed the beast underneath it all. No matter how powerful Xiu Ya was, it was only as powerful as its wielder, and Shen Qingqiu had seen with his very eyes how easily the demon's head had come off. Luo Binghe was too stupid to realize his talents but that strange glint in his eyes always put him—

"MEOW!" 

Shen Qingqiu snapped back into focus, staring at the wood pile. He hadn't realized it, but Shen Yuan was wailing like he had been wounded.

His hands flew to the wood, shoving them aside. Had Shen Yuan somehow injured himself while running around the room? With the collar gone, Shen Yuan could have injured himself on a nail or broken wood.

As he removed the final piece of wood above Shen Yuan, he saw a squirming white ball of fur with no visible sign of injury. Shen Qingqiu waited for him to reveal his injury or get up of his own volition, but after a couple moments had passed, he realized that the creature was struggling to free itself from the pile.

Shen Qingqiu scoffed. The creature had merely gotten stuck. At the noise, the cat stopped and turned his head to give him a side eye.

Shen Yuan didn't flounder when Shen Qingqiu put his hands close to him or when he gently extracted him and held him against his chest. Even so, Shen Yuan refused to press his body against his chest and make himself comfortable like he usually did when he was held.

The fear had passed, but there was something lingering. As for Shen Qingqiu, his bone-deep anger had been swept away, leaving behind the trepidation of something left unfinished.

He looked down at Shen Yuan, who was still refusing to look him straight in the face. When the creature's eyes landed on the bag of treats still in his hand, Shen Yuan placed a paw upon it, tilting his head back slightly without looking at him directly.

"Cold-hearted wretch," Shen Qingqiu said.

Chapter Text

Upon arriving back at the sect, the first thing Shen Qingqiu did was send Ming Fan to Qiong Ding with the mission report he had penned in the carriage. The second thing he did was try to coax Shen Yuan out of the carriage.

Ever since they left the dilapidated house, the cat had refused to look him straight in the face, and as soon as they entered the carriage, Shen Yuan had promptly squeezed his way into one of the travel bags and refused to come out.

"A-Yuan," he tried one more time under the watchful gaze of his disciples.

No longer wanting to make a fool out of himself, Shen Qingqiu took the bag in one hand and left for the bamboo house.

Returning to the bamboo house from a long trip was always a comfort, even now when uncertainty hung over his shoulders. It looked just as he'd left it, the meticulous cleaning from his disciples keeping dust off the tables and floors. 

Entering his study, Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes at the missives on his desk. His disciples knew to direct any incoming missives to the hallmasters while he was out, so it was apparent at some point during his absence, a certain rat had let himself into Shen Qingqiu's study.

Strangely enough, he didn't feel angry. He simply looked down at the travel bag, poking it with his fan to see if Shen Yuan would be bothered enough to come out.

"Shen Yuan, food?" Shen Qingqiu called.

He set the bag down, opening it to reveal Shen Yuan asleep. 

But he could not fool Shen Qingqiu. Shen Yuan was an active sleeper, always fidgeting in his sleep and far from how still he was now.

The cat continued to feign sleep even after Shen Qingqiu went to the kitchen to prepare his chicken and returned.

Sighing, Shen Qingqiu set the plate down on his study table and started to sort his missives.

As the Qing Jing Peak Lord, Shen Qingqiu was a master of words, but they always failed him when it came to apologies. Granted, this wasn't the case with all apologies. Apologizing to strangers was easy. A shallow explanation and a gift or show of good favor was adequate and not overbearing.

Apologizing to people like Shang Qinghua or Yue Qingyuan was easy too. They were the type that was already ready to accept an apology before you made the mistake. They just needed a reason.

The hurdle came when an explanation didn't suffice. As was the case with a certain Bai Zhan Peak Lord. Shen Qingqiu would argue with him even if he knew he was in the wrong just to spite him. How was he supposed to apologize when the other party wouldn't listen? 

No, in the first place, how was he supposed to apologize to Shen Yuan? Putting aside the communication barrier, he wasn't even sure what had gone wrong. Even after replaying the scenes in his head over and over, Shen Qingqiu felt he was no closer to figuring it out.

"Shizun! May this disciple enter?" came Ming Fan's voice from the entrance of the bamboo house.

Shen Qingqiu caught himself in the middle of staring at the travel bag. He straightened out the missives on his desk and sent his qi to open the door a crack.

"Shizun," Ming Fan entered, head lowered in a bow. "This disciple has delivered the report to the Sect Leader. All the supplies have been unloaded, and the horses have been properly returned to the stables. I notified An Ding to come pick up the carriage, but they said that it would take them until the afternoon to pick them up."

Shen Qingqiu hummed. "Perhaps An Ding will be prompt this time. Is there anything else?"

"The Qian Cao disciples checked on our disciples and found nothing wrong…" Ming Fan started doing the goddamned fidgeting again, though he straightened up after noticing the look Shen Qingqiu gave him. Clearing his throat, he spoke, "Shizun, this disciple doesn't to be presumptuous, but I have gathered the disciples that went on the night hunt at the discipline hall."

Shen Qingqiu almost blinked in confusion but stopped himself, remembering that he said he would punish the disciples once he got back to the sect. Normally, he would have told Ming Fan to gather them promptly as he left the carriage, but…

Shen Qingqiu's eyes went to the travel bag again. At some point, the cat had stopped faking its sleep and poked his head out of the bag, staring. Almost judgmentally.

"Of course, this master will be there shortly."

"Yes, Shizun." Ming Fan bowed and excused himself.

When Ming Fan was out of sight, Shen Qingqiu fixed Shen Yuan with a stare of his own, but instead of meeting his gaze with dopey eyes, the cat retreated back into the bag until only a sliver of his eyes could be seen.

Shen Qingqiu turned the plate of chicken on his desk hoping a more aesthetically pleasing angle would draw the cat out before standing to leave.

To his surprise, as Shen Qingqiu walked to exit the Bamboo House, Shen Yuan slunk out of his bag to follow him. The cat yowled, weaving around his legs like he was trying to trip him.

Shen Qingqiu paused his steps, looking down at the creature for a long time. "If you are hungry, I've left you food right there," he said, pointing at the bowl of chicken next to his desk.

But Shen Yuan didn't seem interested, opting to sink his claws into his leg, clinging like his life depended on it. Shen Qingqiu extracted the cat and held him up, staring at the fickle creature.

"You will stay," Shen Qingqiu said, turning and dropping Shen Yuan to the floor.

But as Shen Qingqiu opened the door, Shen Yuan darted out, continuing his attempts to trip him. After one too many near kicks, Shen Qingqiu picked him up, though that didn't stop Shen Yuan from screaming into his face.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Shen Qingqiu asked.

As Shen Yuan opened his mouth, Shen Qingqiu took the opportunity to stick the handle of his fan into his mouth. That stopped the yowling, but Shen Yuan looked at him dumbstruck.

Having wasted too much time with Shen Yuan already, Shen Qingqiu decided against trying to return Shen Yuan to the house. He made his way to the discipline hall, savoring the warm body pressed into his chest.

Shen Yuan was still agitated, heart rate thrumming faster than normal, but he didn't try to break free or run. 

Though, when he ran his hand over the raised fur on Shen Yuan's back, he noticed it came away with dust and sand. Apparently, the stupid thing hadn't groomed himself in a while, which meant that everything in the travel bag was sullied.

By the time they arrived at the discipline hall, Shen Qingqiu had managed to dust most of the sand off with a handkerchief. Satisfied, he moved to step into the hall, but paused, looking at Shen Yuan. Punishments were not the prettiest of sights, and the encounter with the demon was probably still fresh in Shen Yuan's mind.

Shen Qingqiu turned to one of the disciples guarding the hall. "This master trusts you will watch A-Yuan while I attend to my business."

Without a glance back, Shen Qingiu entered.

Shen Qingqiu heard his disciples before he saw them. Some of them spoke in hushed voices, and some were even joking around. All of them stopped as he came into view, staring at him like they were looking at their executioner.

It was truly concerning that the sect's future strategists were so transparent.

"This master trusts Ming Fan has already gone over the mistakes made on the mission as I will not waste my breath on ones so undeserving of it," he said, making sure to glare at Luo Binghe and Jin Xue for longer than the others." He motioned to Ming Fan to give him the discipline whip. "Everyone will receive one strike from a regular whip, and a certain few of you will see me afterward."

But before he could take a step forward, he felt something block his steps.

A lesser man would have staggered, but as a cultivator, Shen Qingqiu merely stilled, turning his gaze down. 

Shen Yuan stood, hair raised and tail thumping angrily.

It was almost a comedic picture. Before Shen Qingqiu was a herd of disciples hiding behind Ming Fan hiding behind Shen Yuan.

Shen Qingqiu was not laughing.

"A-Yuan. This is not a place for you," he warned, trying to nudge him toward the entrance with his foot, but the cat refused to budge.

It had been a lapse in judgment, bringing Shen Yuan with him. When Shen Yuan had gone from avoiding him entirely to approaching him once again, Shen Qingqiu could not find it in himself to turn him away, and now he was paying for it.

The cat flattened himself against the ground to stop himself from being moved, swiping at the whip in Shen Qingqiu's hand.

"A-Yuan. Do not be difficult. This master will not ask again."

Shen Yuan yowled at him.

“Shen Yuan!” he yelled, the loudest he thought he ever allowed himself in public.

He burned with humiliation. How dare Shen Yuan go against him in front of a crowd? In front of his disciples?

But through the humiliation was another, heavier discomfort that settled in his stomach.

Shen Qingqiu wanted to throw his fan at him to get rid of the anxiety buzzing in his fingers. He would have if it weren’t for the fear of driving Shen Yuan away and the watchful eyes of his disciples. 

Shen Qingqiu couldn't fathom why Shen Yuan was souring their relationship over some disciples—disciples who were being punished for performing so horrifically that they would have been dead if they had been unsupervised.

Shen Yuan arched his back as an intimidation tactic, but as a being at least five times his size, Shen Qingqiu was less than cowed.

When this became apparent to Shen Yuan, his ears flattened in shame. For a moment, Shen Qingqiu felt satisfaction having imparted a fraction of his own humiliation, but it fell away as Shen Yuan darted, too abruptly for Shen Qingqiu to follow. 

He watched as the white figure slipped over a wall.

He never got the opportunity to get a collar back onto Shen Yuan, Shen Qingqiu realized.

The silence must have stretched too long because Ming Fan called out to him.“…Shizun?” 

Shen Yuan had humiliated him, but what would be more humiliating is if he allowed himself to be swayed by a pet. Yet he could not stop staring at where Shen Yuan had disappeared.

Sensing something, his treacherous disciples subtly shifted as if to huddle behind Ming Fan standing in front.

Shen Qingqiu finally turned his eyes away and looked at Ming Fan with a face void of emotion. “This master seems to have forgotten to feed A-Yuan today, and this master sees no reason why he should suffer for my disciples’ incompetence. This master trusts that Ming Fan at least has enough to administer proper punishments. After all, this master cannot afford to have a head disciple that cannot even do that.”

Ming Fan bowed, ”This disciple will not disappoint, Shizun.”

Shen Qingqiu raised his hand, dropping the whip into Ming Fan's waiting hands, and left the discipline hall.

The anxiety in his fingers had made its way to the rest of the body, having failed to find an outlet, but he had bigger concerns than that and some disciples.

Even though Shen Qingqiu had not yet put the collar on Shen Yuan, the peak was not that big. If he extended his senses, a mere cat would be easy to find.

And then they would repeat the fiasco they had the day before.

Shen Qingqiu stilled, his fan splintering in his grip. As sharp thorns dug into his skin, the pain brought with it some clarity.

The ways that Shen Yuan could leave the peak were extremely limited. The high cliff sides and barriers to prevent fools from plummeting to their death meant that he could only leave through regulated paths. As for dangerous beasts, the only ones around were his disciples.

Shen Qingqiu began down the path in a more collected stride.

The cat had never suffered life-threatening injuries on the peak and could not leave, so why was he overreacting now?

Letting someone else own your life? He ignored the traitorous whisper from the back of his head.

Shen Yuan had run off in a fit, but he was also very food-motivated. He would show up for the meal he had skipped sooner or later, and Shen Qingqiu would be able to assuage whatever had set Shen Yuan off again.

So, when Shen Qingqiu returned to his bamboo house, he confirmed Shen Yuan was not in the house and moved to open all the windows.

Taking a couple missives from his desk, Shen Qingqiu made his way to his kitchen. The first place that a hungry Shen Yuan would visit, no doubt.

Laying the missives on the kitchen, Shen Qingqiu brewed himself his favorite tea, sat down, and began to read.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan sulked, then panicked, then sulked again, walking aimless circles around the bamboo forest.

In truth, he had thought about whether he had transmigrated into one of the many webnovels he had read, but Proud Immortal Demon Way? As the scum villain's cat?

Now that his eyes had been opened, he could see clearly— a male disciple regularly bullied by the peak, a cute female disciple who followed him around, and an elegant, cold teacher…

To be fair, like most of everything Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky wrote, the setting was uninspired, but Shen Yuan was PIDW's number one anti! Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying even resemble their fanart pretty closely!

He'd been having so much fun as a cat that he had ignored everything that inconvenienced him.

Stupid System! Stupid Airplane! Stupid Shen Jiu! I want to go home! Shen Yuan screamed into the sky.

[Would User like to start navigation to 'Bamboo House'?]

No!

Up ahead, Shen Yuan saw he was approaching a path in the forest that led to said Bamboo House. He turned around and chose a direction that looked less trodden.

System, is Shen Jiu really Shen Qingqiu?

[Answering User: User has not acquired the name 'Shen Qingqiu'. Currently available names for the character 'Shen Jiu' are 'Shizun', 'Master Shen', 'Peak Lord Shen.']

[Names may take up to an hour to update. Please refrain from making repeat inquiries.]

Shen Yuan butt his head against a tree. Shen Jiu was nothing like Shen Qingqiu! Sure, he had a temper and was apathetic otherwise…and maybe believed in corporal punishment…but…but it was period typical!

Shen Jiu never got mad at Shen Yuan when he bugged him for treats or to play. The most he ever got was getting kicked out of a room.

But what if that was only because Shen Yuan was his pet? Right-hand cat wasn't an uncommon trope, and those cats always seemed decently cared for. What if Shen Qingqiu was still antagonizing Luo Binghe? What if Luo Binghe was lying in wait and in x years, he would come back with vengeance on his mind?

No! Shen Yuan screeched. If he was a human, he would have tugged on his hair, but the grass under his paws took the abuse instead. Luo Binghe was going to kill Shen Qingqiu, and Shen Yuan was going to die because of his soul bond with Shen Jiu!

At least Luo Binghe wasn't in the Endless Abyss yet. And he hadn't seen Shen Jiu abuse any of his disciples yet…other than whippings and maybe some over-the-top yelling, but that was manageable!

[Warning! Failure to complete the critical quest 'The Endless Abyss' will result in account termination, and User will be sent back to his home world.]

What! But I'm dead in my home world!

[Answering User: Affirmative]

A curse! A curse on your entire bloodline!  

[Answering User: The System is an inorganic being and does not have a bloodline.]

Shen Yuan let out a weary sigh, ignoring the System. Maybe if he could get Shen Jiu to be nice to Luo Binghe, he wouldn't turn him into a human stick when he comes back from the Abyss?

…

Like hell he wouldn't!

And the scum villain would probably sooner die than be nice to Luo Binghe!

Shen Yuan looked into the late summer sky as he contemplated his life. Maybe this was karma for wasting his life away despite having been a rich young master. Maybe it was punishment for basically harassing the author of PIDW every chapter. 

Though if it was the latter, Shen Yuan was not sorry.

The sun was beginning to dip, which meant it was dinner time soon.

Or at least it would be if Shen Yuan had the face to go back to Shen Jiu. Shen Jiu would probably be mad. Maybe this time Shen Jiu would kick him out of the house forever.

Shen Yuan kind of regretted running away from Shen Jiu. In his defense, most people would have run from Shen Jiu in that situation. The man looked like he was about to kill someone! 

Next time, though, he would stand his ground for sure. He couldn't get Shen Jiu to like Luo Binghe, but maybe he could trick Luo Binghe into thinking so. 

Purging corporal punishment from the peak would be the first step to saving Shen Jiu! And also Luo Binghe! And the other disciples!

"Pspsps," came a sudden sound from behind him.

Shen Yuan turned to see the one and only stink—Luo Binghe holding out a hand toward him a couple of feet away.

Speak of the devil! Shen Yuan thought as he approached Luo Binghe, sniffing his hand. Whatever Luo Binghe had been holding before had made his hands smell awfully tasty.

Now that Shen Yuan looked at him, it was undeniable that Luo Binghe was Luo Binghe. He definitely had the cutest features of the disciples, which would no doubt bloom into handsome ones befitting that of the protagonist.

Shen Yuan licked his hand to see if there were any remnants of the food left on his hand, but Luo Binghe pulled it away to pet him.

"This disciple would like to thank you for saving his life twice," Luo Binghe said before catching himself. "I mean once!" Luo Binghe floundered. "You did not have to interfere with our punishment. It was us disciples who were in the wrong."

Shen Yuan was a cat, so he could only stare at him.

Luo Binghe stared at him back, face flushing red. He sat down and started petting him again. 

"And thank you for helping me find the jade pendant. It means a lot to me. I would like to show my appreciation," Luo Binghe said, reaching into his sleeve and bringing out a tasty-smelling parcel packed in leaves.

Shen Yuan's mouth watered, watching as Luo Binghe unraveled the parcel and revealed a portion of succulent, pink salmon, glistening with fat. It was cooked so perfectly that Shen Yuan could almost see it framed in sparkles like in a video game.

"It's not much, but I hope you will accept my thanks," Luo Binghe said, holding out the salmon.

But Shen Yuan could barely process his words as he pounced on the salmon. From the first bite, Shen Yuan felt like he was in heaven. The salmon was so delicious that his tongue struggled to comprehend what it was tasting. The fattiness of the salmon burst forth across his tongue, complemented by just the right amount of salt. 

No wonder Luo Binghe's wives swooned at his cooking. When Luo Binghe was burning Cang Qiong to the ground, all he would have to do was put a dish in a burning building, and Shen Yuan would trot right in!

Luo Binghe giggled as Shen Yuan reached the bottom of the leaves and moved on to whatever oils he could get Luo Binghe's hands. It was truly regrettable that good things had to come to an end, Shen Yuan lamented as he stared at the empty leaves.

"I don't have any more today, but I'll make you more next time," Luo Binghe said standing up.

Shen Yuan perked up looking up at him the cutest look he could muster. That was the best thing he'd heard in a while.

Luo Binghe made a bashful smile. "I have to finish cutting wood before dinner. It'll be a bit loud. I don't know if you'd want to come with me…"

To Luo Binghe's delight, Shen Yuan followed right behind him as he walked toward the woodshed. However loud it was, it couldn't be worse than the earful he'd get when he went back to the bamboo house. Besides, the protagonist's house? He had to see it!

Considering that Luo Binghe was going to become the Emperor of the Three Realms one day, his current house was truly too humble. It was a small shed at the edge of the bamboo forest, barely half the size of Shen Yuan's room in his previous life. 

The door opened with a groan, the flimsy thing hanging onto its hinges for dear life. 

"I'll be there right there, chopping wood." Luo Binghe said, pointing at the stump near the entrance.

Once again, Shen Yuan was only a cat, little Protagonist! He could only stare at him.

Sparing Luo Binghe some face, Shen Yuan turned, giving a quick glance around the shed before walking up to the pile of blankets Luo Binghe used as a bed. It was quite fluffy and clean for a rag in a woodshed. 

Not too bad if he'd say so himself, Shen Yuan thought as he kneaded it under his paws.

Luo Binghe patted him on the head before taking his ax to the chopping block. He moved with practiced ease, grabbing a piece of wood and aligning it on the stump.

Looking around the woodshed, Shen Yuan saw various things that had been brought up in the novel. The leaking teapot that could hold water just long enough to brew two cups of tea to share with Ning Yingying! The paint and calligraphy brushes that were frayed to hell and back! The inkstone that was so shitty that the ink stick was the one grinding the inkstone! The faulty cultivation manual…

The cultivation manual! This was the source of many of Luo Binghe's sufferings. A trick Ming Fan pulled that set Luo Binghe behind in his early days at the sect. That is until one day while training with Ning Yingying, Luo Binghe figures out that he had the wrong one just by analyzing her moves. Truly, a genius.

Shen Yuan was about to speed up that process!

With one look at Luo Binghe to make sure he was distracted, Shen Yuan slunk up to the vulnerable manual and unsheathed his claws. As slowly and silently as he could, he drew his claws over the pages over and over again.

A part of Shen Yuan cringed at the waste of a book, but some books were worth less than waste.

"A-Yuan!" Luo Binghe yelled after a minute, finally noticing what Shen Yuan was up to.

At that, Shen Yuan took the tatters in his mouth and ran into a tight space of the woodshed so that he could continue to mangle it.

"That isn't a toy!" Luo Binghe said, attempting to move wood and belongings out of the way to reach him.

Hmm, this paper and ink tasted kinda bad, but it sure felt interesting on his tongue.

"Give it!" Luo Binghe said, shoving the rest of his stuff out of the way, letting the wood topple over his bed.

Shen Yuan dug his claws into the manual as Luo Binghe reached for it. He grabbed Shen Yuan's legs to try to remove them from the book as delicately as he could, but Shen Yuan clung harder, batting at his grip with a free paw. In his panic, Luo Binghe tugged a bit too hard, and with a sharp rip, the manual exploded confetti, taking one of Shen Yuan's claw sheaths with it.

Shen Yuan examined the new, sharp nail that it had left behind. No wonder the claw had been itching for a while. 

Luo Binghe paled, picking up the shed claw. "Are you okay?" He said, grabbing Shen Yuan's paws, looking over them with unusual intensity,

Shen Yuan tugged his paws free and started licking them to get the taste of ink out of his mouth, then looked toward the manual, half mutilated with bite marks and the other half ripped beyond comprehension. A job well done if he did say so himself.

After moving onto Shen Yuan's back paws, Luo Binghe seemed satisfied with whatever he wanted to see and breathed out a sigh of relief. He looked toward the manual as well, shoulders slumped.

Shen Yuan felt a little bad for the crestfallen protagonist, but it was all for the better! Luo Binghe would see soon. Maybe he could use it as an excuse to use Ning Yingying's manual, and they could become closer to each other!

Shen Yuan nosed at Luo Binghe's hand, turning his attention away from the tattered manual.

Luo Binghe gave a sad chuckle. "I'm sorry for yelling at you," he said, running his palm over Shen Yuan's head. "I'm sure I'll be able to get a new one. Just…don't do that to the new one okay?"

Luo Binghe was so nice that he didn't even get mad at him, unlike a certain someone. Shen Yuan had been prepared to run away and not see Luo Binghe for a week.

Shen Yuan meowed, shoving his head harder against the hand.

"You're so cute," A soft smile formed on Luo Binghe's face, blinding Shen Yuan.

Look at how cute this little sheep was! Luo Binghe had not blackened yet, there was still hope that everything would turn out okay!

Hope filled Shen Yuan's heart. He could do it! First things first was making up with Shen Jiu.

Shen Yuan got up and started padding out of the woodshed.

"Are you leaving?" Luo Binghe called.

Shen Yuan gave him a look before racing off.

When Shen Yuan reached the Bamboo House, the sun had just set, leaving a wash of purples and oranges in the sky. Finding the study window open, Shen Yuan jumped in. Despite the fact that it had become quite dark in the house, none of the night pearls or candles were on.

This was a little strange. Shen Jiu at this time of the day was always seen slaving away at paperwork while eating dinner.

Shen Yuan walked around, batting doors open to see if any of them had lights on. He skimmed over them, not detecting any movement from inside the house.

Had Shen Jiu gone out? In PIDW, Shen Qingqiu was infamous for visiting brothels. Maybe he'd left Shen Yuan behind and left the peak for one! Shen Yuan wiped the sweat from his brow. At least, that meant that he didn't have to confront Shen Jiu yet. 

Of course, Shen Jiu not being home had its drawbacks too. Even if the salmon from before meant that Shen Yuan wasn't too hungry, it would still have been nice to come home to more food. 

Shen Yuan trotted into the dark kitchen without a care in his mind. Shen Jiu had cat-proofed all access to food, but that didn't mean he couldn't try. It was his favorite pastime. 

He leapt onto the counter, took one look at the kitchen table, and yelped. He scrambled right off, flailing limbs narrowly missing plates and teacups. As he landed, he cradled his poor cat heart with his metaphorical hands and did a double take.

Sitting in the dark was Shen Jiu, staring at a scroll in his hands.

Shen Yuan didn't know cultivators had night vision.

The kitchen was east-facing and got darker much sooner than most of the other rooms, and Shen Qingqiu was sitting so still reading his scroll. In fact, Shen Jiu was so focused that he didn't even react to Shen Yuan jumping around the kitchen.

Shen Yuan stared at Shen Jiu stare at the scroll.

Well, Shen Yuan didn't know if night vision eye strain was a thing, but he was going to say it was.

Shen Yuan leapt onto the table.

Food! He meowed as he swatted the scroll out of the way.

Shen Jiu sat up with a jolt.

Shen Yuan braced himself in case Shen Jiu was about to give him the dressing down of his life, but Shen Jiu simply stared at him.

Shen Yuan tilted his head.

"A-Yuan," Shen Jiu whispered.

Shen Yuan cringed. If Shen Jiu was going to yell at him he'd prefer it be sooner rather than later! The trepidation was killing him.

But instead of transitioning into a familiar look of anger, Shen Jiu looked around the room with a strangely blank look.

This was bad, Shen Yuan thought. If Shen Jiu was so mad that he was deviating so far from his usual mannerisms, it was so over for him. 

Suddenly, Shen Jiu cursed, making Shen Yuan jolt, but the angry cursing that Shen Yuan steeled himself for still never came. Shen Qingqiu leaned over the table, with his head in his hands.

Shen Yuan eyed the exits of the room. If he jumped off the table and out the door…no the window was closer, so it would be the better option.

That was if he could even make it off the table!

If he couldn't fight or flight, he would fawn. Shen Yuan meowed, making the widest, most pitiful look he could and putting both paws politely on the arm lying on the table. He was only a stupid, cute cat. Surely, Shen Jiu couldn't get mad at a cat. They had limited brain capacities! They were stupid! He was stupid!

"You've cursed me," Shen Jiu whispered.

Yes, yes, he meowed back. It took Shen Yuan a couple moments to understand what Shen Jiu said.

Question marks popped up in Shen Yuan's head. Shen Yuan didn't know the first thing about curses, and he knew how to curse people even less. Shen Yuan did the only thing he could and started making biscuits on Shen Jiu's arm, praying that Shen Jiu would continue the trend of being not angry at him.

Slowly, the light seemed to come back in Shen Jiu's eyes. It was the sharp, witty one and not the angry one.

Shen Jiu scoffed, poking Shen Yuan's head. "You just want food, don't you?"

Shen Yuan retracted his face to escape the finger.

"You look ugly when you do that," Shen Jiu said.

Shen Yuan's jaw dropped, but before he could react, Shen Jiu got up, walking over to the counter to fill his bowl with food.

Shen Yuan walked up to the bowl, giving Shen Jiu a couple looks before digging in. Shen Jiu didn't seem mad, so he supposed it was all fine?

…Did he really look ugly when he did that?

When Shen Yuan was done with his food, Shen Jiu took out a ribbon from his sleeve and kneeled down, and for a second, Shen Yuan tensed, not sure what the man was going to do.

However, he slowly calmed down as Shen Jiu gave him a treat and let him sniff the ribbon before tying it around his neck. Shen Yuan hadn't even realized the old one had come off.

Satisfied with his work, Shen Jiu scooped Shen Yuan up and walked out of the kitchen.

"Let's go to sleep, A-Yuan," he said.

With all the food Shen Yuan had eaten through the day, he felt almost uncomfortable. Laying down and going to sleep seemed like a great idea. He sat back into the crook of his elbow, blinking sleepily.

"We share a soul bond, do we not? Why do you go against me?"

The sleepiness left his eyes instantly. He gave Shen Jiu a look, but the man was not looking back.

"It was the violence, wasn't it? Are you displeased by my violence?"

Indeed, that sort of anger couldn't benefit anyone, least of all Shen Jiu. Every angry outburst was probably raising his blood pressure and shortening his life.  Shen Yuan would have to work on that extra hard precisely because he had a soul bond with him.

Shen Yuan rubbed his head against Shen QIngqiu's chest.

Shen Qingqiu hummed. "Unfortunately, I was born this way."

Fortunately, Shen Yuan was always more of a nurture than nature guy. Shen Jiu wasn't going to get turned into a human stick on his watch!

Shen Jiu set him down on the bed before shedding his outer layers and getting into bed with him. Shen Yuan was appalled. What happened to his aversion to outside clothes in his bed? His five-step skin and hair care routine?

But his concerns left as Shen Jiu began to pet him.

"Goodnight, A-Yuan."