Chapter Text
Mu Qingfang took a step forward, humming to himself, hands full of medicinal and botanical scrolls. He smiled and lifted his head up to feel the late afternoon sunshine and light breeze caress his face, just right.
Weather on Cang Qiong Mountain has always been the best one could imagine; neither too hot or too warm, the air always fresh. The vegetation was beautiful, and because of the arrays, one could plant whatever they wanted, it would probably survive. Therefore, the only problem was creating the right environment. Without the proper knowledge, he could only experiment.
And Mu Qingfang's experiments would have been fine, they would have been fine , if it weren't for his junior disciple brothers and sisters. As a newly appointed head disciple, he had expected the others to treat him the same way - hierarchy was not an important practice at Qian Cao Peak, and he would not have demanded respect if it was not rightfully given. Who would have thought that instead of everything staying the same, they would turn immensely mischievous?
They played pranks on him, sometimes including their Shizun as well, pretending to be dumb and forgetful while deliberately cultivating mutant plants that had no actual use, mixing up laughing powder into the grinded tea leaves, and so on. Yesterday, he had to send them to run ten laps around the peak after an incident with mysterious vines growing out of every bed in the disciple quarters.
Anyways, he had been cultivating those Teal Chrysanthemums for weeks only for those troublemakers to ruin it; their Shizun brought back few seeds, and now he only had half of them left. The tea brewed from the special flowers was said to make any new or old scar disappear. As a healer, he would have loved to test it's limits, to see if it could only heal skin, or..
The next moment, Mu Qingfang tripped on something, falling face first into the white flowers lining the elegant trail, the green of the surrounding bamboo grove flashing before his eyes.
He sat up, coughing a bit, trying to conceal the need to laugh out loud at himself, lest should he disturb the peace. Half of the scrolls he was holding were scattered all around. He could only pray that none of them got lost before he could get back to his own peak. It would really be a shame; the library of Qing Jing Peak was renowned in the whole cultivation world. As his eyes followed the documents, one, two, three.. he also saw a pair of white boots, standing there motionlessly.
"Is shidi done lying in the flowerbed? He might not know, but the parchments stored at the library should be handled with care, not unlike fragile plants or porcelain." even if he'd had any doubts about who those boots belonged to, he was sure after hearing the sharp, quipped words of his sect brother, the head disciple of Qing Jing Peak, Shen Qingqiu.
Plenty of people had trouble getting on with this shixiong: his words were blunt, often stabbing at the worst places possible. They rendered the noble, confident Yue Qingyuan speechless, angered the normally righteous Liu Qingge and Qi Qingqi to act out of character in especially malicious ways. For Mu Qingfang, that was all about it. Words, rarely ever followed up by real actions, meant nothing to him. It wasn't even that anyone got a special treatment; Shen Qingqiu was distant and aloof most of the time, respectful to the Peak Lords, and overall kept to himself.
"Forgive this shidi for his carelessness. I had tripped over accidentally." Mu Qingfang averted his eyes and concentrated on quickly collecting the scrolls and standing up.
"This shixiong suggests to look at the ground from time to time, and not to walk with eyes closed on a narrow path." The snarky reply followed, and Mu Qingfang smiled. It looks like Shen shixiong was energetic today, which could probably mean that the monthly meeting of the twelve head disciples had been cancelled.
"I'll keep that in mind. Many thanks for the advice" he hummed noncommittally, then turned away to continue his way to the Rainbow bridge.
After two steps, a hand on his shoulder, it's weight barely there, as if a butterfly had just perched on his clothes, stopped him. Mu Qingfang looked back, and the hand hastily retreated, like it had been burnt. He knew not to take offence- again it was no surprise, given that Shen shixiong absolutely despised touching people, even if his face stayed impassive.
"Here. You've forgotten this one." He took the missing scroll, but freezed when his eyes wandered to the slender fingers on the other side. It was a well-known fact how vain Qing Jing Peak disciples were.
Shen Qingqiu's looks were always carefully arranged, from the elaborate set of robes, several layers adjusted perfectly even after a thunderstorm, to the intricate hairstyles he wore every day, he was the perfect image of a refined scholar and a lofty immortal, even those who held a grudge with him could not deny his beauty. At best, his fingers were usually only stained with ink.
Although his long, dark green outer robes hid everything well, they also looked somewhat crooked -be it anyone else, it would have been quite normal in the afternoon, but not for this person- his hands were different, as Mu Qingfang was able to see them. The pale skin was bruised and marred with cuts, knuckles bloody, blood under his nails. When he looked up at Shen Qingqiu's indifferent face, he could also see how one of his braids was out of place.
Silver eyes narrowed, and the other quickly let go of the scroll, hiding his hands in the wide expanse of sleeves. Mu Qingfang almost dropped the item from the surprise, then straightened his back. He had work to do. No wonder he saw Bai Zhan Peak disciples on Qian Cao, badly injured: there must have been another scuffle.
"Thank you, but shixiong, forgive this one for his impudence, your hands should be treated immediately. Shen shixiong may follow this shidi to Qian Cao Peak." It was easy to see how the phoenix eyes darkened in an instant, like the sky before a summer thunderstorm.
A few moments and the thunder and lightning will strike. Such a troublesome patient. Who would be silly enough to want to suffer just because of pride? Of course, Shen shixiong .
"Shidi should not concern himself with it." Unexpectedly, it was only faint thunder in the distance. Be it someone Shen shixiong really didn't like, he would have simply told them no and left in a flurry of black, green and porcelain white. The knowledge made something in Mu Qingfang curl up in satisfaction, like a cat when it finds the perfect napping spot in the sun.
"But shidi concerns himself already. Humbly asking shixiong to follow him to Qian Cao Peak! If he does not trust Qingfang's knowledge, he can be treated by anyone else!" The neutral expression on the other's face turned grim.
"Shixiong does not need treatment. Save up medicine for someone who needs it. Do they teach you to waste resources?" His voice was colder now, northern winds blowing and bringing frost from faraway lands.
"We treat everyone equally, be it a small papercut or a leg broken by a jade flute." At that verbal stab, the other boy's lip twitched up into an unexpected, bitter smile.
"I sincerely hope I have not caused much trouble for Qian Cao Peak. Those brutes came here first to wreak havoc. I was practicing music with my junior brothers and sisters, the only weapons we had were our instruments. Qing Jing Peak's pride could not have taken the fact that they have come here to interrupt an afternoon lesson." Although his voice was not sincere at all, matter-of-factly at best, Mu Qingfang felt his eyes widen. It was the most he has ever heard Shen Qingqiu talk in one go.
"How about the younger disciples then? Shixiong should accompany them to Qian Cao." Even he had his limits. Bai Zhan had practically been in war with Qing Jing for the last few years, just because the head disciples couldn't stand each other, and it was getting more and more dangerous nowadays as they neared their ascensions.
"None of them are injured. Only I fought with the barbarians. My disciple siblings are not to be included in personal grudges." To say Mu Qingfang was shocked would be an understatement.
There were at least ten or so heavily injured Bai Zhan disciples on his peak with broken or fractured bones and small cuts. Looks like only Liu Qingge was able to defeat Shen Qingqiu occasionally, the others did not stand a chance. The head disciple of Bai Zhan Peak had done a great favour for Shen Qingqiu unknowingly: all those spars had led to the significant increase of the other's fighting instincts.
Eyes straying to the other's waist, he could also see the white jade dizi that looked new and spotless. There was no way Shen Qingqiu wasn't more injured than he looked; that group of disciples had swords , and he was alone, with a simple flute. Mu Qingfang should examine him carefully.
"If that is all, this shixiong will go and resume his music practice." Shen Qingqiu turned away quickly, most likely to disappear into the bamboo forest.
Mu Qingfang knew what he will do is unethical, especially as a healer, but he still followed him and grabbed his shoulder.
As expected, Shen Qingqiu flinched violently, his sudden inhale signaling the pain he must have felt. A healer like Mu Qingfang had to be perceptive; shixiong has always been proud, seeing him with shoulders relaxed was unnatural, unless he had az injury that made him unable to keep his usual posture.
"And how does shixiong intend to practice music when he can barely lift his arm?" He was no stranger to sarcasm either, but only intended to keep him talking as he injected his qi.
What he found however, made him too shocked to let go. There was something really wrong with Shen shixiong's qi. It was disrupted; he had expected a steady flow, maybe a few minor leaks at more serious injuries, but it was more like reaching into an anthill, or a den of snakes unprepared.
"Mu shidi.." the other whispered sternly, teeth clenched, and only then did Mu Qingfang realize he must have tightened his grip on the injury. He didn't let go, but grabbed the fabric of the outer robe instead.
"Please allow this shidi to practice his cultivation! The injuries shixiong have sustained are not severe, but shall be treated. If shixiong intends to stay, I will go and find shibo." After he added the last sentence, Shen Qingqiu went rigid.
"Fine. Just be quick." he stepped away again, arranging his appearance and went ahead, like he was the one that decided to visit Qian Cao Peak for the treatment instead of being the one that was begged and almost blackmailed until he yielded. Mu Qingfang shaked his head in fondness and let his petty shixiong go.
As they neared the peak on the rainbow bridge, two facts became alarmingly obvious to Mu Qingfang.
The first was, that whoever saw them stood out of the way of Shen Qingqiu quickly. Some out of admiration and respect, like the young girls of Xuan Shu hiding behind their own fans and whispering with red faces, others with disdain, like he was carrying a horrible plague. Shen Qingqiu seemed not to notice any of that, fanning himself leisurely with his silk fan, but the movements halted from time to time, as if he couldn't control his wrist anymore.
It should have been weird, or even sad, but it reduced the normally one incense time of walk to only a few minutes.
The second thing was more alarming. Although careful, Shen Qingqiu could not hide everything from the experienced eye. He could barely put any weight on his left leg, and swayed from time to time, as if he lost his balance, only to regain it not a second later.
When they arrived, he just grabbed his surprisingly docile shixiong, and used his disorientation to drag him to his private abode. He should have been living there as the head disciple, but he opted to use it as a study instead, and slept at his usual place with the other disciples. He could keep an eye on his unruly shidis, and could relax: whenever he saw work, he just simply had to finish it immediately. He would not have slept in his new place at all that way.
"Please sit down and take your robes off, shixiong." He closed the door gently, thanking his instincts that he had the foresight to clean the place last evening. He did not want to look unreliable in front of his strictest shixiong and used a confident, neutral tone.
When he turned back with the proper supplies in his hand, Shen Qingqiu was sitting at the table, still fully clothed. Mu Qingfang felt the urge to sigh rather loudly, but he just put the water and salves on the table and smiled.
"Surely shixiong does not expect me to take those robes down?" He asked with a small amount of teasing, and only realized after how rude it must have been. Shen Qingqiu was so unlike himself, he almost forgot what kind of person he was. Luckily, the other did not seem to realize the implications, or just chose to ignore it.
"The injuries are here. I need not to remove anything." As he mumbled, Shen Qingqiu swallowed - his adam's apple moving up and down, attracting Mu Qingfang's gaze like the bright flame moths - and quickly slid the sleeves down to his elbows, placing his injured hands on the table. It was a ridiculous thought, but Shen Qingqiu seemed almost shy for a moment, like a noble maiden.
He got to work quietly, cleaning the cuts, especially the long ones crossing his palms, looking like he has grabbed a sword by its blade. Afterwards, he used a salve with disinfecting features: not once did Shen Qingqiu flinch from the sting, sitting as still as a statue with half-lidded phoenix eyes following the movement of the healer's hands. The silence blended into the sound of nature, and it was comfortable, not tense as Mu Qingfang has expected it to be.
He thought about injecting his own qi to make the healing process faster, but shook his head after some thought; that kind of condition was dangerous, and required greater care than he could provide at the moment. After having his arms bandaged up till his elbows, Shen Qingqiu looked disgruntled, but still stood up and bowed quickly.
"Many thanks for shidi's treatment. Is there.. anything shidi would wish for in return?" While the first sentence warmed his heart up - even though it did not sound the least bit sincere, again - the second was immensely confusing. Wish for in return? What did he mean like that, and why did he have to phrase it that way?
"I could treat the injuries on shixiong's leg and shoulder." Judging from the way Shen Qingqiu's eyes turned almost black, hands tightened into fists, it must not have been a good wish, however sincere. Just what did this shixiong think of him, that he would take advantage of him after doing his only job? Not only that, but what kind of advantage could Mu Qingfang take of him at all?
"There is no such injury. This shixiong just loathes physical contact, and did not mean offence." He straightened up, shoulders and face stiff. Mu Qingfang almost sighed loudly - again- and stood up after him.
"Shixiong should meditate until the cuts heal properly and should not use them. About the wish.." Shen Qingqiu tensed up even more at Mu Qingfang's reassuring smile "I would like to spend some time with shixiong to rest from time to time. He is an expert at scholarly arts, is he not? Qingfang would like to learn to play the guqin as well, so he could play healing melodies."
"Is that all?" Shen Qingqiu's voice sounded weird, and the healer looked up innocently.
"Yes, is that alright?"