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It wasn’t going to be a good day for Shen Yuan. Or Shen Qingqiu, the name he goes by now. Everything had gone pretty smoothly ever since his unfortunate transmigration into the role of the scum villain designed to die the cruelest of deaths in the hands of the blackened stallion protagonist, until today. It had been easy enough, riding on the coattails of the original Shen Qingqiu’s already-high level of cultivation, and reaping the rewards, like being immortal and unaffected by hunger, standard staples from cultivation novels, stuff like that. Shen Qingqiu finds that the bit about inedia especially, was a real catch, had it not been for Luo Binghe’s divine culinary skills rendering it useless.
Oh, yes. Luo Binghe. The reason of his headache today. It was Shen Qingqiu’s emotional doomsday, the day everything was destined to go to hell. He knows. Oh, he knows. He’s over-analyzed the main plotline of Proud Immortal Demon Way more in a more detailed manner than he’d ever admit to anyone - including himself, and he had been dreading this particular day ever since he woke up as Shen Qingqiu.
The Immortal Alliance Conference. Which, in the fan community, AKA the day all had gone to shit, and the day the phoenix of the blackened protagonist started rising from the ashes. Shen Yuan had actually been a huge fan of Luo Binghe’s path into depravity and his subsequent demonic conquest. The problem now is that Shen Qingqiu, the despicable teacher and master, was supposed to be the one to push Luo Binghe off the cliff and into the Endless Abyss, where he awakens the demonic blood inside himself.
Okay, okay. Deep breaths.
This Shen Qingqiu, however, doesn’t want to push Luo Binghe into the Endless Abyss. He doesn’t want to push Luo Binghe off any cliff. In fact, he would like to wrap his cute little disciple up in the softest blankets and fight all his battles for him. Alas, as much as he has come to like Luo Binghe in a way different from his admiration for the novel’s protagonist, in a “this disciple is like a cute puppy” way, he just can’t express it. Physically.
The original Shen Qingqiu had used to treat Luo Binghe really badly – a public secret. When he had tried to turn things around, his own disciples (Ming Fan) had repeatedly asked if Shizun was okay. Shizun was very okay, which is why he can’t stand looking at the protagonist being mistreated, knowing that someday all that accumulated hatred will come back to bite him in the ass (and probably a lot more places), thank you. It had taken years of hard work as Shen Qingqiu to mostly undo the mental aversion Luo Binghe had towards his master.
Moreover, this annoying built-in System… had been threatening to take away his B-points for even thinking about not behaving like Shen Qingqiu. Come on! Even cosplayers had times they could be out-of-character, wasn’t this a little too strict?!
He sighs. Beside him, Luo Binghe perks up at the tiny sound.
“Shizun, do you need anything? Water, maybe?”
Binghe, he almost wants to say, you’re going to end up regretting treating me so well, but bites it back with some effort. “This master is fine. Binghe, go share the water with the other disciples.”
With a little nod, Luo Binghe scuttles away from Shen Qingqiu. They were now on the way to the Conference, and Shen Qingqiu’s thoughts are scattered all over the place. Firstly, he had to follow the plot – which means it’s inescapable that he has to be the one to force Luo Binghe into the demonic awakening trigger, which weighs heavily on his heart and conscience in a way that he doesn’t want to analyze. Secondly, Luo Binghe hadn’t been making much progress with Ning Yingying, the protagonist’s first love. They’re on friendly terms, sure, but when Shen Qingqiu snoops, they virtually haven’t spent any time alone, which they should have been doing by now! After all, after Luo Binghe acquires his demonic powers, the sweet Ning-shijie was supposed to be the pure flower to bring him back to his senses from a life-threatening nightmare!
Patting himself on the back, Shen Qingqiu thinks that he’s done something good for Luo Binghe for making him send water to the other disciples, which should give him some time alone with Ning Yingying.
But, he comes back running way too fast. “Shizun, this disciple is back. Please let me know if I can do anything else!”
…
“It’s alright, Binghe. Conserve your energy for when the Conference starts.”
This was going to be a terrible, terrible day. Can he get a refund?
The System was not up for negotiations for that proposition. Instead, Shen Qingqiu sits, his inner turmoil unknown to everyone else around him. With the ultimate poker face perfected over the span of the past few years, he even slightly looks like he’s enjoying the festivities with the rest of the Peak Lords. Luo Binghe approaches him with a broad smile, then cups his raised hands together, slightly bowing. “Shizun, this disciple will head off now. I’ll make sure to bring honor to Shizun and Qing Jing Peak!”
Ah, Shen Qingqiu wants to cry. Is this how filial piety felt like? Because it feels kind of good. Behind his exquisite fan, he collects his expressions and manages a slight nod, before Luo Binghe darts off to join the rest of the participating disciples.
As a last resort on behalf of his faltering conscience, he makes the grand gesture of betting an exorbitant amount of spirit stones in Luo Binghe’s name, as if offering some sort of prayer for the future protagonist to let him off easier. It had been even more than what Shen Qingqiu had in his possessions, but Yue Qingyuan had allowed him to proceed with it, so whatever. Besides, how could Luo Binghe not win? He had the almighty protagonist halo!
Binghe, Binghe, if you still remember this in the future… maybe don’t hate this master too much for the choices he can’t make… you have to understand… I don’t want to be turned into a human stick!!!
Then, with bated breath, Shen Qingqiu starts counting down.
Just like what happened in the novel, trouble starts breaking out when demons start entering the competition grounds through a rift, signifying the opening of the Endless Abyss. Through the mess of people scrambling towards safety, Shen Qingqiu walks with a purposeful gait towards the source of the chaos, like he was resigned to submitting his life to fate. Which, in this case, would be quite literal – and amusing, if it didn’t feel so suffocating having to accept that this plot point had come too fast for his liking.
Amidst the scramble of youth around him, Shen Qingqiu rushes against the flow of crowd and approaches Luo Binghe, who was still trying to save the other girls who had to stuck behind him throughout the hunt.
“Shizun!” Luo Binghe calls, his face lightening up at the sight of Shen Qingqiu walking up to himself. “Shizun, are you alright?” To Shen Qingqiu’s silent admonishment, Luo Binghe quickly shrugs off the female cultivators crowding around him, and rushes over to Shen Qingqiu. Binghe! Was this how this teacher raised you? How can you be ignoring all the potential future wives?!
“This master is fine. Binghe, how is the situation now?”
“This… this disciple isn’t sure, Shizun!” Luo Binghe fumbles, pulling Zheng Yang out from its sheath. “But with Shizun here, nothing will go wrong!”
Shen Qingqiu frowns. “Binghe, did this master raise you to be so dependent on him? What would you be doing if I hadn’t come here in time?”
Luo Binghe frantically realizes his mistake, and bows profusely. “Shizun, this disciple hadn’t meant it like that…” he mutters in apology, “this disciple had been overly confident earlier seeing Shizun place such a huge bet on him…”
Huh, so it was still Shen Qingqiu’s fault, after all? Never mind. He shakes his head slightly behind his fan, and proceeds to move even closer to the Abyss, the ground shaking under his feet. Luo Binghe follows behind him wordlessly, and for a quick moment, Shen Qingqiu wonders if really, if Shen Qingqiu was to command him to jump down – would he?
He turns around. Luo Binghe’s brows are knitted together in half worry, half anticipation for what could be happening. His dark eyes glint slightly in the gloom of the cave, his hands clutched tightly on the hilt of his sword. He looks fully like a nervous and unprepared disciple, and Shen Qingqiu wasn’t sure how much of it was simply because Shen Qingqiu was here, since it’s pretty much a solid rule now that Luo Binghe will never lose. Hmm. Maybe this Luo Binghe might really jump if he asked. Blah.
Shen Qingqiu wipes his mind clear of these unprompted thoughts, and leads Luo Binghe to the edge of the cliff.
“Shizun, this…”
[WARNING: You have reached the plot branching point. Objective: Fulfill the required actions to ensure the continuity of the original plot. Objective: Ensure that Luo Binghe enters the Endless Abyss. Failure to complete key objectives will remove all of host’s B-points, -10,000 Protagonist Satisfaction Points, and result in account termination.]
Shen Qingqiu takes a deep breath, and then takes a slow look at Luo Binghe. His cute little disciple, his pure fluffy bunny that he had painstakingly raised over the past few years… it had really been too soon, huh? That reminds him, Luo Binghe isn’t even the same little scruffy boy that he’d seen when they first met. He’s grown up into a decent young teen with an air of maturity in the way he conducts himself, and was starting to carve out a name for himself with his higher-than-average cultivation level. The protagonist was already starting to shape up! It almost drives Shen Qingqiu to tears.
Sigh. Soon, Luo Binghe would have to face the beginning of his many trials, and would undoubtedly suffer quite a bit. Shen Qingqiu should’ve cherished their peaceful time together some more… maybe spoiled Luo Binghe a little more… but oh well. It was too late for this sappy retrospective spiel right now. He clenches his fists in resolution as Luo Binghe looks back at him with expectation.
“Binghe, be careful,” Shen Qingqiu says, despite himself. “This master has heard stories about this place, and Binghe should take note of the danger. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Shizun.” Luo Binghe nods determinedly, his grip tightening even more.
System? I… I really can’t do this. Come on, help a bro out. Can’t I find another way to turn Luo Binghe into a demon? Must I really push him… down? He’s going to hate me so much!
[Please fulfill the objectives and facilitate the plotline as per the role of the original Shen Qingqiu.]
You must have something you can do about this, right?… I… Wait, didn’t we have the jade Guanyin pendant that I picked up about when I first met Luo Binghe? Wasn’t it an important quest item? Take it out! Use it now! I don’t care!
It’s about taking every fibre in Shen Qingqiu to not freak out and try to grasp at air right now, since the System didn’t have a physical body, and he’s in the mood to strangle someone out of frustration right now. Helpless, he can only clear his throat to mask his obvious discomfort with the weight of the decisions he has to make.
[Host does not have enough B-points to unlock the access to the high-class quest item to be used for this plot juncture. Forcing the use of the item might lead to file corruption and user account may be terminated.]
Stop testing my patience! I said, this is too cruel, so use it! If there’s any chance at all that I can let Binghe awaken in another way…
The System doesn’t respond, but out of nowhere, claps of thunder resound in the distance, and a peal of lightning strikes the ground in between where Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe were standing, making the both of them stumble a step back in shock. From Shen Qingqiu’s robes, the jade Guanyin pendant slips out of his sleeves, and clatters on the ground, shattering upon impact. Luo Binghe gasps in surprise at the recognition of his own lost pendant, but is too late to do anything to prevent it.
Ahhh, shitty System! I get that the quest item is now ‘consumed’, but did you really have to make it break like that? It’s an important keepsake of Binghe’s! He’s going to heap that onto the rest of his future grudges towards me again!
In the next moment, the ground underneath their feet starts rumbling, and in a moment of surprise, Luo Binghe tries to move closer to Shen Qingqiu, but is stopped by Shen Qingqiu’s fan. “Binghe, didn’t I say to be careful? Stay back.”
“But Shizun, you shouldn’t stay so close to the edge! What if—”
And before Luo Binghe can finish airing his worries, Shen Qingqiu’s body leans backwards involuntarily, and he realizes, along with a massive lurch of his heart, that the cliff was breaking apart, and he was falling off in mid-air, along with the broken edge.
Shen Qingqiu blinks. Along with the whistling sound of wind beside his ears as he’s falling, he thinks he vaguely also hears Luo Binghe calling out for him. Ah, even on the way to death (or whatever awaits him below), filial piety is really something, huh? Truth be told, when he’d decided to try to alter Luo Binghe’s fate, he’d envisioned this being one of the possible outcomes, and although it had been scary, it didn’t feel all that bad now. Besides, if his sacrifice could stop the blackening of his little white lotus disciple, then maybe it’d be worth it. Actually, maybe he would even survive this fall, right? Who knows, right?
As it turns out, Shen Qingqiu truly had no idea.
“SHIZUN!!” Luo Binghe screams as he comes jumping right after, tears streaming down his pale face as he stretches out an arm, trying to grab Shen Qingqiu.
Oh, shit, now they’re both falling. Binghe, what did you do!!!! What are you doing!! Why didn’t you stay up there like a good disciple and go look for help!!!!
As Luo Binghe falls, Shen Qingqiu pulls the shorter teen to his chest as much as he can, fan long tossed aside, arms wrapped around Luo Binghe’s sides. While the fall into the Endless Abyss stretches on, Shen Qingqiu braces for the impact.
And then, everything blacks out.
The next time Shen Qingqiu opens his eyes, he doesn’t really manage to. His eyelids are heavy, like they haven’t been mobile for a long while, and actually, every part of him feels the same way. Heavy, awkward, stiff. What happened…?
The last thing he remembers before passing out was falling off the cliff along with Luo Binghe. If he’s still alive enough to feel every single one of his joints aching, does it mean he survived it? They both survived it? Where was Luo Binghe now?! Is he alright?
Unpleasant silence. Did the System die at the bottom of the Abyss?
Good riddance. Shen Qingqiu tries to move to look around his surroundings, but it’s proving to be a difficult task. Already, the consolation and relief that he’s not dead seep into his veins, and he’s already slipping back into unconsciousness before he realizes it.
And then, the same pattern keeps repeating. He isn’t sure why he isn’t able to wake up fully, but his body feels weak and terrible, and all he remembers is vaguely drifting in and out of sleep, like the bouts of persistent fever he had back when he had first transmigrated into Shen Qingqiu’s body. Had he ended up in such a sorry state just falling off a cliff…? What kind of shitty condition was Shen Qingqiu actually in?
In the end, Shen Qingqiu doesn’t really get to mull over and hypothesize what exactly happened to him, barely conscious whenever he gets the chance to wake up.
Sometimes, Shen Qingqiu can vaguely register the sensation of someone’s large, warm hands massaging his temples; other times, he hears a soft voice humming quietly to a tune he doesn’t know, and sometimes, there would be gentle hands replacing the towels on his forehead. And sometimes – Shen Qingqiu doesn’t know if he’s hallucinating this one or not – he could faintly hear someone’s crying voice as well.
Shen Qingqiu hopes that last bit wasn’t real. Making someone cry over himself wasn’t the greatest achievement, considering his status as an immortal Peak Lord or whatever. Subconsciously, he also silently prays it’s not Ning Yingying especially, not when her affections should be channeled towards Luo Binghe.
One night, Shen Qingqiu stirs awake from a fever, his eyes are a bit more focused now, and he feels less out of it than usual. Maybe it’s his brain finally burning up into activity after being virtually in a vegetative state for… god knows how long. Before he can try to move, however, he’s suddenly aware that there’s someone tightly clutching onto him beside the bed, hot tears dripping down onto the back of his hand. “Shizun,” the person softly calls, voice slightly trembling from crying. “Shizun, it’s already been five years.”
Shen Qingqiu tries not to flinch in his state of pretend-sleep. Five years?! Five years? He’d been asleep for that long? No wonder his entire body felt like wood and jelly at the same time! It must’ve taken all of their sect’s cultivation magic to be able to keep him alive for that long, a feat nothing short of a modern medicine miracle. Also, this person is…
“Shizun, do you not miss this disciple?” He continues. Fortunately, his face is still pressed against the back of Shen Qingqiu’s hand, so even if Shen Qingqiu’s whole face was twitching by now, he probably wouldn’t be able to notice it. “Do you really not want to see me? I… It’s all my fault…”
It’s Luo Binghe! Although his voice now is a little deeper than what Shen Qingqiu remembers, this warmth and the grip of his hand… Shen Qingqiu had been really familiar and accustomed to them every time he slipped in and out of his intermittent coma! Does this mean… that Luo Binghe had been the one taking care of him all this time over the years…? What became of his demonic awakening…? Did he have enough time to go on his protagonist dates with pretty ladies? What was he doing here, wasting time and crying over this old man of a teacher?
Speechless, Shen Qingqiu evens out his breath and lets Luo Binghe cry his fill, waiting until he leaves. Luo Binghe sniffs slightly, then clutches Shen Qingqiu’s other hand, clasping them together in his bigger hands. Slowly, Shen Qingqiu can feel the flow of spiritual energy from Luo Binghe’s hands over to his own, pulsing into his sluggish body.
After a while in silence, he feels fully in control of his body, feeling the spiritual energy starting to flow through his meridians and veins as he regulates his breathing. This fever should go away by the morning, then. Luo Binghe finally releases Shen Qingqiu’s hands and takes a step away from the bed with a low sigh. “Good night, Shizun.”
…Alright. All of this could be mentally unpacked tomorrow. Shen Qingqiu throws his many questions and unease to the back of his head, and falls back asleep.
The following morning, Shen Qingqiu was feeling slightly suffocated, and very uncomfortable with the attention that’s on him. He was finally able to sit up, and do very normal human things, and Mu Qingfang had almost dropped his medicinal box along with his jaw, hurrying a Qian Cao disciple to call the other Peak Lords over.
He must’ve really miraculously stayed alive and woken up against all expectations, huh? From the other end of the bed, Yue Qingyuan was looking at him with a warm look in his eyes. “We’re lucky that you came back alive to us, Shen-shidi.”
“Your disciple, that unruly one that’s always sticking with you, he brought you back and cried for days.” Liu Qingge supplies, a frown on his face, “How did you raise him like that?”
I would like to know, as well…
“Alright, now everyone get out.” Mu Qingfang says stoically, waving the other Peak Lords away from the bed. “He needs rest.”
The group of Peak Lords shuffle out of the room, leaving Shen Qingqiu to sigh alone on his bed. Mu Qingfang had given him another round of acupuncture before he left, instructing him to take some pills at different timings of the day and to have plenty of rest.
Now we’re talking. Rest would be number one on Shen Qingqiu’s list of favorite activities, especially since he’s been busy as Shen Qingqiu ever since he transmigrated, barely having any time to himself. But his entire body is stiff from inactivity, and he feels like if he laid back down, his bones might shatter for real.
The bamboo door slides open with a slight creak. It’s Luo Binghe, carrying a bronze basin of water and some towels clutched in his hands. Talk about opportune timing…
“Shizun!” He calls before he reaches the bed, a huge smile plastered across his face. “This disciple heard Shizun finally woke up, and got permission from Mu-shishu to visit.”
Technically, this isn’t Shen Qingqiu’s first meeting with Luo Binghe ever since The Abyss Episode. But he couldn’t really see Luo Binghe during those feverish nights, only retaining blurred memories of his voice slightly lower than what he remembered, and a pair of hands that are now slightly bigger than his own. Now, under the bright morning sunlight in Shen Qingqiu’s room, he finally takes a good look at Luo Binghe – although he’s still dressed in the clean white robes of Qing Jing Peak, he’s gotten a lot taller, his long, curly hair cascading down to his waist, thick strands of black softly framing his handsome face and dark eyes.
This… he kind of looks like Bing-ge from the original novel, and Shen Qingqiu had to do a second take. His little Binghe was still safe, right?! His eyes aren’t red, he doesn’t have the demonic mark on his forehead yet, and… well, he doesn’t look like he’s out to kill Shen Qingqiu. Yet. He can take relief in that, right? Besides, as expected of the protagonist, even though Shen Yuan had been very used to looking at demon Bing-ge, his Binghe still looks gorgeous in white. That’s good. Makes his sacrifices worthwhile. Or something. He should probably reply now, or Luo Binghe would think he’s still sick.
“Come here, Binghe.”
Luo Binghe scuttles closer happily, setting the basin down on the floor and begins wetting a towel. “How are you feeling, Shizun? Can this disciple help you to change and get dressed?”
Seriously, did he raise a baby demon lord, or a handmaiden?! Shen Qingqiu, what have you done to the protagonist!!
Shen Qingqiu can’t find anything proper to say, so he just nods, shifting around to remove his sweat-drenched robes and lets Luo Binghe fuss about, wiping his arms and torso down. Soon, Shen Qingqiu is properly dressed, his hands fumbling to pin his hair crown in place.
Luo Binghe takes the hair crown in his hands, and secures it in Shen Qingqiu’s hair.
“Thank you, Binghe,” he croaks, a little embarrassed at the undignified image he’s showing his disciple, but earns a brilliant smile from the younger man instead.
“It’s the least this disciple can do for Shizun, considering…” Luo Binghe pauses, the smile suddenly disappearing from his face, “…considering Shizun only became unconscious so long because he was protecting me.”
Was that how he interpreted the whole cliff thing? Shen Qingqiu thinks. If he had to be technical, it’s not wrong, since Shen Qingqiu had forced the plot to change, and instead of Luo Binghe having to survive alone down there for five years, the both of them fell down together. Which reminds him…
“Binghe, how did you get us back here? This master was sure we both fell off the cliff.”
Luo Binghe stills a little, his hands fumbling in his lap. “Shizun, I… this disciple doesn’t know if Shizun will believe him, but…”
“Go on.”
“After we fell, I couldn’t find a way back up, so we were stuck there for a while. Thanks to Shizun, I was unscathed, and when I got desperate, for a moment, I felt a surge of energy.” Luo Binghe says, his voice colored with a tone of slight awe, “I don’t really know how it happened, but I channeled all my qi to Zheng Yang, and it took us back out.”
He’s probably lying. There’s a bunch of lies in there. Shen Qingqiu tries to manage his expression as he sighs internally. He read the book!! It’s not that simple to escape the Abyss, that’s why it’s a thing, that’s why Bing-ge fell and ended up so tortured and so crazy! Luo Binghe, how dare you lie to your teacher!!
But he doesn’t expose Luo Binghe’s lies, understanding that something must’ve happened for him that he can’t be honest with himself at this point. That’s fine. Shen Qingqiu can probably grill him about it some other time eventually.
“Now you know the importance of training and raising your cultivation level, Binghe?” Shen Qingqiu says instead, waving the issue away. Luo Binghe nods. “This master has you to thank that he’s still alive now.”
“No, Shizun!” Luo Binghe’s expression darkens instantly. “It’s the other way around, Shizun. This Binghe is only here because Shizun saved me. And if it were reversed, I’m sure Shizun would’ve had a better way of taking us back to the sect…”
“Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu cuts him off, an annoying itch in his heart as he watches Luo Binghe get into his self-deprecating habit. “Be more confident in your abilities. This master heard you’re starting to make a name for yourself in the sect?”
Light pink flushes across Luo Binghe’s cheeks. “It—It’s nothing worthy of mention, Shizun,” he explains, “while Shizun was unconscious, this disciple tried his best to train the way Shizun had taught him, and… and wanted to become stronger so that he can protect Shizun in the future.”
“…”
Shen Qingqiu clears his throat. Dealing with this white lotus flower was taking a huge toll on him! He’s too good to this old master! Really, what happened to the start of his harem conquest?! He’s old enough, right? Why isn’t the plot branching out?
Trying to gauge the current route progress for his protagonist’s conquest – more specifically – Luo Binghe’s relationship with Ning Yingying, Shen Qingqiu changes the topic. “Are the other disciples doing well?”
Luo Binghe’s eyes flicker with something indiscernible, but his smile remains in place. “Ning-shijie and Ming-shixiong have both been taking care of the younger disciples while Shizun was unconscious. This disciple is working with them too, but decided to pay a visit to Shizun first.”
“Good work. Tell them that, too. Binghe, you should go back to them.”
“Yes, Shizun.” Luo Binghe collects his things and proceeds to take his leave.
When his room is finally empty again, Shen Qingqiu sighs, and wonders how to deal with this big, sticky, pure lotus of a disciple. Will Zhangmen-shixiong understand, if Shen Qingqiu has to take Luo Binghe with him everywhere now?
Apparently (thankfully), Yue Qingyuan understands.
Being not only the Sect Leader but also a Peak Lord himself, he’s naturally empathetic towards Luo Binghe’s affection and attachment towards Shen Qingqiu, and had allowed Luo Binghe to act as Shen Qingqiu’s assistant during conferences and important meetings, even though Luo Binghe hasn’t met the age required for the position.
Usually, the Peak Lords have the habit of taking apprentices in preparation to take over themselves when the time comes, and the selected disciple should ideally have a decently high level of cultivation to be able to remain fully or partially immortal, which came around an average of 25 or so.
Luo Binghe was just only 20, but earned himself a spot beside his Shizun, and adding on to his recently growing fame in the Sect, quickly found himself the topic of gossip and discussion within the younger, less disciplined disciples. They would say that Luo Binghe curried favor with the stoic Qing Jing Peak Lord, that Master Shen only gave him special treatment out of pity, since they met with that accident together back then. That Luo Binghe must’ve gotten some sort of blackmail material over his Shizun, that the pair of teacher and student must have some shady, unspeakable relationship between them when nobody was watching. Or why else would the lofty Peak Lord give him the spot, when he hadn’t treated any disciple this well before?
Shen Qingqiu, of course, was aware of the rumors floating around, even if Luo Binghe seemed to be peacefully unaware, content with the fact that he was allowed to stick to his Shizun all the time. Sitting alone in his room, he sighed, leaning his body against the low wooden table. Rumors are still rumors, after all, and probably won’t affect the two of them much, but…
But what if because of these baseless rumors, it ended up reducing Luo Binghe’s chances of progress with his Ning-shijie, and every other potential candidate? What if the pure lotus future wife #1 Liu Mingyan hears, and gets a twisted impression of Luo Binghe?! Shen Qingqiu sits up now, clutching his fan in his hand tightly. What can he do to dispel these rumors…?
Except… maybe… be nicer to Luo Binghe in public, so that everyone can accept that the ‘promotion’ was organic?
Shen Qingqiu can do that.
Besides, he kind of owed Luo Binghe it. Whatever his reasons were for lying about what happened after they fell, he still owed it to his disciple that he was still alive and kicking now. As a bonus, if he could be nicer to Luo Binghe now, no matter how the plotline was going to progress, he might end up avoiding death entirely. That sounds just like a bonus now.
So, Luo Binghe is now at his side almost around-the-clock – the first face he sees in the morning as Luo Binghe serves up breakfast – very delicious, by the way, praise his blessed protagonist hands, following him around Qing Jing Peak to check up on training sessions and to inspect on the elder disciples, to a quick tea break (snacks also served by Luo Binghe, handmade, of course), and other miscellaneous routine activities until the sun sets. Shen Qingqiu has his ‘alone time’ only after Luo Binghe finishes preparing Shen Qingqiu’s clothes for his private quarters and returns to his side room.
This was… new, and tiring, but Shen Qingqiu can’t really complain when he asked for it. He’s committed to it, and he’ll prove it.
Today, Shen Qingqiu was headed to Qiong Ding Peak for a meeting with Yue Qingyuan, and Shang Qinghua from An Ding Peak. Shen Qingqiu hadn’t met a lot with the latter, mostly knowing him from the original novel as the betraying rat of a man who latches onto Mobei-jun and sells his sect out to the demons for his own chance at survival. Well. It isn’t any of his business now (yet), and their previous meetings had been amicable and brief, so he hopes it’ll be the same this time.
From beside him, Luo Binghe keeps up with his Shizun’s pace, beginning to imitate the way Shen Qingqiu carries himself when he walks, looking a little elegant and more grown up than usual. Shen Qingqiu has to hide a little proud smile behind his fan.
“Shen-shidi, Shang-shidi, thanks for coming,” Yue Qingyuan address them when they’re all seated in the huge guest hall, “actually, An Ding Peak had been busy managing a particular case – when your disciple brought you back, we sent a group to check the area for any irregularities, and discovered something like a treasure chest abandoned near the Endless Abyss.”
He gestures, and Shang Qinghua brings out a small box, opening it to a bunch of sparkly jewelry. Shen Qingqiu frowns in question.
“The other items have been catalogued in our storage and libraries, but these few items specifically are imbued with some spiritual energy, and…” Yue Qingyuan trails off thoughtfully, “according to Mu-shidi, they seem to be of demonic origin.”
Shen Qingqiu gulps. “Well, most of this box, anyway,” Yue Qingyuan quickly switches to a smile seeing Shen Qingqiu’s expression, and picks up a jade bracelet. “This one is normal, but it still has faint spiritual energy, so Mu-shidi suggested that you keep it on your person to help you regulate your inner qi for now.”
“Zhangmen-shixiong, you know I don’t need something like that,” Shen Qingqiu refuses, “I have been recovering well.”
“I’m aware,” Yue Qingyuan nods. “In that case, just take it with you, and deal with it as you please. The rest of the items, I’m afraid we’ll have to trouble you to look over them for now, since you’re the most skilled with items like these.”
Since when?! Shen Qingqiu wants to ask, but then he thinks about the other Peak Lords, and can’t find it in himself to push items with demonic energy to them. If anyone could deal with them, then it would have to be Proud Immortal Demon Way reader, Shen Qingqiu, for sure. The jade bracelet… ah well. Maybe he could give it to Luo Binghe for him to give it to Ning Yingying, or something.
It’ll be fine.
Bad news. It was not fine.
Luo Binghe had refused the gift (which is, well, expected), and Shen Qingqiu couldn’t really tell him that he should be gifting it to Ning Yingying, of course, but since there were already weird rumors around, Shen Qingqiu stopped himself from stuffing it into Luo Binghe’s hands.
But he had no use for the bracelet, and it would be a waste to keep it stashed somewhere, so he planned to give it to Ning Yingying directly. A gift wouldn’t hurt, right? He vaguely gets reminded of what the original goods ended up doing to the poor girl, and shudders, but reminds himself that he wasn’t going to be like that.
“Shizun, are you headed out? Should this disciple accompany you?” Luo Binghe pops into his room at the worst timing maybe, eyeing Shen Qingqiu on the way out.
Crap. Logically, Shen Qingqiu shouldn’t be letting Luo Binghe witnessing him giving something to Ning Yingying like an old pervert. “It’s fine, Binghe.” He tries to sound calm, “This master will be visiting the disciples’ quarters and will be back soon.”
Luo Binghe’s eyes widen a little, and his smile falters for a moment. “Does Shizun have to go personally? Is it something this disciple can do for you?”
You didn’t take the hint earlier, so no, Binghe!!!
“It’s getting late, Binghe should rest. This master won’t take long.”
“This disciple is still fine! Please let me follow you, Shizun.”
Now, if Shen Qingqiu had a weakness, it would probably be that he’s pretty weak against the pair of huge, bright, sparkly eyes of Luo Binghe’s. That means that if Luo Binghe looked at him even half-pleadingly, he’d probably give in within three counts.
This time was no different.
Ning Yingying had been surprised to see their Shizun at her room door at late evening, when Shen Qingqiu has always made a clear rule to not have any unnecessary contact with any disciples after dinner.
“Shizun…?” She stammers, surprised, then spots Luo Binghe standing behind Shen Qingqiu, “And A-Luo? Would Shizun like to come in…?”
“No need,” Shen Qingqiu quickly interjects, before weird thoughts can start forming in her poor little mind. “This master is just here to pass something to you.”
Luo Binghe steps in front of Shen Qingqiu, holding out the little brocade box in his palm, and stretches it out to Ning Yingying wordlessly.
Luo Binghe, you nut! Say something, this is your last chance!
Of course, he doesn’t.
“Today, Zhangmen-shixiong passed me some items as keepsake, but this master has no use for this one, so I’d like you to keep it,” Shen Qingqiu explains, then continues, “don’t worry, this master isn't playing favorites, he still has others to give the other disciples.”
Shen Qingqiu has to go and dig up the original goods’ safe (hopefully he has one), or something like that later to compensate for the promised “items”. Luckily, Ning Yingying couldn't really say no, since Shizun was visiting personally and all, and had accepted the bracelet..
“Then, this disciple thanks Shizun!” Ning Yingying bows her head, pressing her voice low despite her visible excitement.
“Mn, it’s no big deal. Rest up.”
Luo Binghe had been uncharacteristically quiet on the way back to Shen Qingqiu’s room, even though he was all bright and beaming on the way out earlier. Shen Qingqiu has half the heart to ask what’s wrong with him, but he assumes it’s because he had to personally, and voluntarily witness the old pervert Shen Qingqiu giving his Ning-Shijie something like a jade bracelet.
It’s your fault for not being the one gifting, so don’t be jealous of this old man, alright!
“Good night, Shizun. This disciple isn’t feeling too well, so he’ll be resting earlier.”
Without giving Shen Qingqiu enough time to respond, Luo Binghe quickly shuffles into his room with a quiet slam of the wooden door.
If he wasn’t being uncharacteristic before, he was now.
Shen Qingqiu leaves him be, thinking he needed some alone to nurse his weird heartache, and changes into clean inner robes for bed.
Shen Qingqiu sits up with a fluid jerk. He doesn’t really rouse from sleep, but he was sensitive to light sounds, probably a leftover trait from the original Shen Qingqiu. He blinks and looks around, trying to identify the source of the sound.
Then, he hears it again.
It’s a low groan, slightly muffled by the cloth, coming from Luo Binghe’s room. Luo Binghe groans again, sounding like he was in pain. Shen Qingqiu quickly drapes a thin robe over himself, and makes his way to the wooden door.
“Binghe? Are you alright? Can this master come in?”
Luo Binghe doesn’t answer, so Shen Qingqiu worriedly heads in.
The tall youth was bundled up in his blankets on his bed, his whole body slightly trembling from where Shen Qingqiu can see him. Shen Qingqiu walks to the bed slowly, and sees that Luo Binghe was still deep in sleep, although his brows were furrowed together, and sweat had started beading on his forehead and his neck. “Sh… Shizun…”
“Binghe?” Shen Qingqiu moves closer, sitting on the side of the bed as he places the back of his hand on Luo Binghe’s forehead. He’s burning up! He didn’t look sick earlier in the day, what could’ve caused this? “Binghe, wake up!”
Shen Qingqiu grabs Luo Binghe’s shoulders (slightly distracted, Shen Qingqiu notes, inappropriately, that his shoulders have gotten really broad without him noticing), and shakes him, trying to rouse him from sleep. All Luo Binghe does is let out a little whimper, but his eyes are slightly opened, pupils dilated from sleep.
“Binghe!” Shen Qingqiu fumbles, holding Luo Binghe up and letting him lean onto himself. “Look at me!”
In his hurry, he had forgotten his own honorific, but Luo Binghe looks too out of it to notice, anyway. Luo Binghe shifts in Shen Qingqiu’s lap, then lifts his head up. His eyes were still glazed over, and his lips were slightly trembling. Before Shen Qingqiu can voice out his concern, Luo Binghe leans up and presses his lips to Shen Qingqiu’s, ripping out a half-cry from Shen Qingqiu’s throat.
What was this little brat doing! To his old man Shizun, of all people!
Luo Binghe, half conscious, licks unashamedly at Shen Qingqiu’s lips, forcing them open with his tongue. Shen Qingqiu struggles, but Luo Binghe already somehow has his hands around Shen Qingqiu’s wrists, and his tongue was so hot, Shen Qingqiu feels like the inside of his mouth was going to be burnt off. “Shizun,” Luo Binghe gasps when he pulls apart for the shortest of moments for a breath, and leans back in again to press another harsh kiss into Shen Qingqiu’s opened mouth, teeth biting down on Shen Qingqiu’s tongue and lower lip before he pulls away at last, sinking back down into Shen Qingqiu’s lap.
He’s unconscious again.
What the fuck was that! What the FUCK was that!
Shen Qingqiu stands up in shock, but finds that his legs are slightly wobbly. He isn’t sure if it’s because of the sheer shock of getting force-kissed (it felt more like being gnawed all over by a huge dog) by your very cute and very innocent disciple, or that he just unashamedly went back to sleep after doing something like that.
Either way, Shen Qingqiu quickly flees the scene.
After a long, long time, Shen Qingqiu finds that sleep doesn’t claim him. His heart is still slightly shaken from what happened earlier, and despite his perfected poker face, he’s glad that he’s alone right now, because he probably can’t mask the shock of it still. What had Luo Binghe been dreaming about…?
It’s alright, Shen Qingqiu chants to himself, trying to persuade himself more than anyone else. Luo Binghe might’ve avoided the blackening directly, but he’d have to face his demonic blood someday, right? Could this be part of it? Was the seal trying to break free on its own? From what he remembers from the novel, Luo Binghe would frequently meet the Dream Demon as well, training his skills in illusions and dream manipulating while he was asleep. Maybe it had been that. Maybe it just had to be anyone near him for him to vent some of his frustrations.
But he had also called out for Shizun… like that…
Ah. Bad brain! Bad brain. Shut the hell up. That never happened.
After some internal turmoil, Shen Qingqiu finally drifts off to sleep, but it felt like the dream demon was tormenting him as well, for he also dreamt of nothing but the kiss earlier.
When he wakes up, it is in shame.
Nobody has to find out that this Shen Qingqiu… this Shen Yuan, noted fan of the protagonist of Proud Immortal Demon Way, had ended up enjoying the kiss so much that he dreamt of it.
Nobody will.
To Shen Qingqiu’s utter discomfort, Luo Binghe actually brings up the issue between them, early in the morning as he was bringing breakfast over as usual. “Shizun, this disciple…” Luo Binghe fidgets, averting his eyes to stare at the corner of the room, “last night, this disciple was having a nightmare, and cannot remember much, but he remembers seeing Shizun there… and he’s afraid he’s done something wrong…”
Come on, Bing-ge, don’t you have enough tact to leave some face for this poor teacher? He doesn’t want to talk about it! Shen Qingqiu silently screams inside, but schools his expression quickly. “It’s nothing, Binghe. You were thrashing about in your dream, so this master only held you down until you fell back asleep.” Shen Qingqiu lies on the spot, then adds, for finality, “Don’t overthink it.”
Luo Binghe frowns, like he wasn’t convinced in the slightest, but he knows better than to challenge the words of his Shizun. “If Shizun says so…”
Shen Qingqiu has to remind himself repeatedly that it was an irregularity, a one-off event that was probably unfortunately triggered because Luo Binghe had been stuck to Shen Qingqiu so much lately. It’s probably meant to be some sort of event for one of the known harem members, but poor Luo Binghe didn’t have the time to socialize. That has to be why Shen Qingqiu was mistakenly used as a substitute at that time.
Yeah.
Luo Binghe hadn’t bothered him again with that incident after that, so Shen Qingqiu was slightly relieved. He isn’t sure how long he can hold out with the consistent lying, if Luo Binghe had really decided to pull his poor puppy-eyed look at him. He wouldn’t hold out for long.
Things were going pretty smoothly. Luo Binghe was conscientious in his work, and took really good care of Shen Qingqiu as his assistant, and was also able to keep a steady schedule to maintain and raise his level of cultivation.
The only thing is…
Lately, Shen Qingqiu has discovered that Luo Binghe has been sneaking out at night, when he thinks Shen Qingqiu is asleep. That sneaky protagonist! He must’ve felt so restricted in the day being stuck with Shen Qingqiu all the time, that he has to wait for nighttime to indulge in his rightful rendezvous with one or two of his future wives. Right? It makes sense. Was it Ning Yingying, finally? Or would it be Liu Mingyan? Shen Qingqiu nods in pride. He was more supportive of Bing-ge’s more virtuous wives, and them being from the same sect only helped to concrete the faith he had in them. Good taste, Binghe! Good going!
Well, if that was the case, Shen Qingqiu wasn’t going to get in his way like an idiot. He’s already selfishly taken up all of Luo Binghe’s time in the day, why would he want to impede on the protagonist’s birthright to his harem? No way. But… was he curious?
He was insanely curious.
Curse Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, curse everything he’s ever written with his cursed hands, but he was so curious! Shen Yuan hadn’t been writing all of his hate reviews in vain – this would be extra blackmail material if things didn’t go perfect for the protagonist! Airplane hadn’t really described in detail the blooming romance between Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe, only that they were somewhat codependent and had always taken good care of each other. Shen Qingqiu has to see this for himself, out of morbid curiosity. It’s definitely not like he enjoys this sub-plotline, no way. Over his dead body. Stupid novel, stupid author!
Although, if there was something off about all of these midnight meetings, Shen Qingqiu has also noted that Luo Binghe often returns too fast, too short for a nice date, and he would always be sighing on his way back to his room, footsteps heavy. Shen Qingqiu can’t see his face because he’s pretending to be asleep, but he’s accustomed to Luo Binghe’s habits, and thus became endlessly puzzled by what exactly is going on out there. It couldn’t be that the almighty Luo Binghe sucked at dating, could it?? Is it within the education syllabus here to teach his disciple how to romance girls? Did his role as a Shizun also come with responsibilities like acting as a dating sim guidebook?!
A little rustling sound breaks Shen Qingqiu out from his own thoughts. The wooden door slides open, like routine now – it must be sometime past 3AM. Shen Qingqiu can barely stifle his curiosity, determined to tail Luo Binghe out just to get an answer. Shortly after Luo Binghe quietly slips out of the bamboo house, Shen Qingqiu tiptoes unceremoniously to the edge of the door, slides the door open silently, and peeks out. Luo Binghe is looking around guiltily, a small bundle of cloth in his hands as he quickly dips them into a low bucket of water.
Wait. Where is the date? Where was the shy Shijie? Why was Luo Binghe doing laundry in the middle of the night? Did someone bully him into this? Had Shen Qingqiu’s protection not been enough, was Luo Binghe still being bullied by other disciples despite his current standing? What is he looking at, even – what is this, Cinderella?
Many questions fly by Shen Qingqiu’s mind concurrently, turning his sleepy brain into a mush. So… there were no dates…? But why laundry…?
But it would be too awkward to ask Luo Binghe directly, since his sneaky behavior means that he probably didn’t want Shen Qingqiu to find out about what he was doing.
Shen Qingqiu plans to scope around the next day, maybe talk to Liu Qingge, to see if anyone had really been bullying his cute, poor disciple into this.
For now, he should go back to bed and pretend he wasn’t full-out spying on Luo Binghe, before he’s done with his chores.
Poor, poor boy.
Luo Binghe has noticed that his respected Shizun has been acting a little different from usual. Although Shizun doesn’t think he’s being obvious, Luo Binghe has observed Shizun for long enough to note every minuscule change in his teacher. Shen Qingqiu had been sending him on errand runs more frequently these days, from delivering his own medical update reports to Qian Cao Peak, to picking up supplies at An Ding Peak, to even arranging meetings with Xian Shu Peak. Sometimes, Shizun also asks him to supervise training sessions at Qing Jing Peak with Ning-shijie.
That’s… fine and all, but Luo Binghe can feel the hidden intention behind all of this. Shizun was starting to get sick of Binghe, wasn’t he? He’s intentionally sending Luo Binghe away from him, probably was tired of his disciple stuck to him all the time, every day. Come to think of it, Shizun only really has time for himself at night, after Luo Binghe retires to his own room.
Not to mention, Shizun had visited Ning-shijie’s room the other day to pass him the expensive-looking jade bracelet he received from Yue-shishu and Shang-shishu. To top it off, Shizun hadn’t wanted him to follow along…
A small, gnawing feeling sprouts deep inside his guts. It almost tastes bitter when he lets it settle in the pit of his belly.
Luo Binghe has realized that he isn’t too happy about these arrangements, especially with how Shizun had gifted a special present to Ning-shijie. Back then, if he had accepted the bracelet when Shizun had offered, would Shizun looked for another gift for Ning-shijie? Or would he be able to prevent Shizun from gifting entirely? DId Shizun ever had a soft spot for Ning-shijie…? Luo Binghe had spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to think if Shizun had shown particular fancy towards her, but nothing came to mind.
If he had to be honest with himself, Luo Binghe knows that there’s more to it. He isn’t happy about Shizun having to run around the sect and the vast compounds, despite understanding that it’s his due diligence as a Peak Lord. He also doesn’t like Shizun spending too much time with the other Peak Lords, when Shizun lingers at the meetings for a moment too long, doesn’t like Shizun spending extra care on the other Qing Jing Peak disciples. It had been well-repressed initially, Luo Binghe hadn’t thought of it as an issue. But it had kept growing, kept expanding within him to grip at his heart like a vice.
It makes his heart itch, a growing urge stirring inside him to want to remove all of these obstacles to make sure that Shizun only spends time with him, to give all of Shizun’s attention to him alone.
Luo Binghe isn’t sure what exactly had exacerbated this growing need to keep Shizun by his side, but it’s been so bad that he’s frequently haunted by dreams of Shizun, and of really indecent content. If Shizun found out, Luo Binghe would no doubt be stripped of his title and chased out of the sect, off the mountains. He couldn’t risk that, so he had been coping with his little physical problem as quietly as he can, but he can’t help but think about the recent disgraceful episode with Shizun.
Shizun had pretended that nothing happened while Luo Binghe tried to test the waters, so naturally, Luo Binghe had followed up with the act, so nothing was ever brought up between them again. But Luo Binghe was very, very aware of what happened – although he was affected by his dreams, he vividly remembers the feeling of Shizun’s body pulled flush against his own, the warm feeling of enveloping Shizun’s soft lips with his own, the way Shizun had gasped and breathed into his mouth.
It had made the following nights extremely hard to handle, and Luo Binghe had to resort to sneaking out in the middle of the night to shamefully wash his pants to get rid of any evidence that would expose his indecent behavior, especially where Shizun can see.
After that accident, though, was when Shizun had started to distance himself from Luo Binghe, he thinks.
That can’t do. Shizun has to stay with Binghe, always.
Always.
But Shizun was always needed somewhere, always lending strength to people in need. Luo Binghe doesn’t hate it – he’s also been saved by the same kindness and protection offered by his Shizun. Isn’t it about time Binghe returned the favor, showing that he was also capable of protecting Shizun this time round?
Luo Binghe nods to himself. Lately, he’s been spending some time learning medicinal concoctions at Qian Cao Peak when he has the opportunity to drop by for his errand runs, and while nobody was looking, he also took some time to learn about poisons. Not for harmful purposes, of course, but he’s been thinking up some sort of a plan lately.
In the huge library of the sect, there were almost endless records of rare monsters and beasts. Through a simple strike of inspiration, Luo Binghe had decided on the spot that the best way to show Shizun that he’s grown up now would be to protect Shizun in the presence of a strong beast. That was it.
So, he had read up on the strengths and weaknesses of a particular beast that dwelled in a cave, in an isolated part of a forest not too far away from Cang Qiong Mountain. The records had stated a specific kind of poison that can be used against it, and Luo Binghe had then finally found one good point of having to visit Qian Cao Peak so much.
Here he was. The poison isn’t perfect, but the lethality should be enough. In the worst-case scenario, Binghe would probably still be able to defend himself and protect Shizun at the same time, which wouldn’t be a total failure.
Unbeknownst to Shizun, Luo Binghe has actually been keeping a little secret. When Shizun had asked about how they managed to escape the Endless Abyss, Luo Binghe had said that they were saved by Zheng Yang, but that wasn’t true. Shizun had quite easily accepted the explanation, even though Luo Binghe had prepared a full supporting story for it.
In reality, after they fell, Shizun had lost consciousness, absorbing most of the shock from their impact. Luo Binghe had panicked, deathly afraid that his almighty Shizun was going to die like that, and tried using his spiritual energy and even tried to ride his sword to find a way up to no avail. It was like the Abyss itself had some sort of seal against spiritual energy, or an illusory barrier to keep anyone from going back the way they came.
Luo Binghe had descended from panicking to almost giving up, clutching Shizun’s cold body close against his own, tears spilling down his cheeks against his own volition. Shizun would be disappointed if he had woken up to Luo Binghe’s face over his own, covered in tears and snot.
But Shizun didn’t wake up.
Luo Binghe wasn’t sure how much time had passed since his failed attempts, the scenery almost a blur in his eyes as he began running out of energy. Shizun had been unmoving, and so cold, that Luo Binghe was starting to take comfort in the fact that he was at least able to die with Shizun in his arms. With Shizun next to him. Normally, this would be impossible. Maybe this was a fortunate situation instead? Was fate taking pity on Luo Binghe, and decided that he deserved to go in such a manner? Was this Shizun even real, or was he also an illusion, part of a long hallucination – had Luo Binghe actually fallen down the cliff alone? He—
“Are you Luo Binghe?”
Luo Binghe turns his head so fast his neck almost breaks, pulling Shizun even closer to himself protectively. “Who are you?”
A tall figure emerges from the mild fog, and Luo Binghe feels chills down his spine, the surrounding temperature dropping by notable degrees. Luo Binghe squints to focus his blurred vision. It’s a demon – he thinks immediately, looking at the man’s long hair, his pointed ears, cold icy blue eyes, and the telling demonic mark on his forehead. His eyes widen in surprise. Were they here to kill the both of them…?
“Hmm.” The tall demon murmurs, eyebrow raised in mild amusement as he stares at Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu. “So weak,” He continues, “you should come back with us.”
“What?” Luo Binghe blurts, not following the one-sided conversation. “Who are you? Why should I go with you?”
“Luo Binghe, you have the blood of demons in you.” He replies, tone even. “It’s not fitting for you to stay with the humans.”
Luo Binghe flinches. He’s had his own hunches, ever since someone who claimed to be the Dream Demon had appeared in his dream once and demanded Luo Binghe to learn the ways of dreamscape manipulation. Luo Binghe had waved them off as very uncharacteristic delusions of grandeur, but in this instant, the dots were connected in his head.
Unwilling to further negotiate with the demon, Luo Binghe frowns. “I’m not going with you over an unbacked fact.” He answers, gritting his teeth. “Besides, no matter what origins I may have, I’m still a disciple of Qing Jing Peak and my Shizun here. I won’t leave.”
The demon looks annoyed now. “I don’t care if you believe me or not. I’m just supposed to take you back.” He takes large strides towards Luo Binghe, and the teen curls up reflexively, suddenly instinctively aware of the power radiating off the other. Luo Binghe is about to bite back again, but the demon only raises a finger to send a thin stream of energy into Luo Binghe’s temple without a word. “If you won’t go back now, you will eventually.” He says drily. “Maybe you’ll learn that you can’t co-exist with them.”
“No, never!” Luo Binghe manages to shout, “I belong there, I belong to Shizun! Nothing can change that, not—”
The demonic energy trails into Luo Binghe’s bloodstream, making his skin break out in shivers in the next second. He feels nauseous, his blood reacting to the new surge of energy circulating in his body, eating into his organs and his brain. Luo Binghe holds back a scream, subconsciously burying his face into Shen Qingqiu’s neck, still desperately seeking support from his master as his blood sings, clawing at his lungs and throat. “Shizun, I…” Luo Binghe chokes, fresh tears brimming against his eyelashes. “Shizun, please don’t abandon me…”
An unknown amount of time passes as Luo Binghe struggles with the reactions in his body, the pain slowly subsiding into a dull hum in his veins. Then, it starts feeling like a faint thrum of energy. Luo Binghe shudders at the sensation.
The demon was gone by the time Luo Binghe regains his consciousness enough to look around.
Then, it was almost too easy for Luo Binghe to break out of the Abyss that it scared himself. That demon was right, he was… really… a demon… What would Shizun think of him after this? He couldn’t risk it. Shizun can’t find out. Luo Binghe knew that while Shizun was a kind teacher, he also was an exceptional cultivator, and would not hesitate to take down a demon, even if it was one of his disciples. And, truth be told, Luo Binghe would rather be killed by Shizun than to live with the thought of Shizun detesting him, but this has to be the worst-case scenario.
Luo Binghe just has to make sure that Shizun never finds out.
After taking Shizun back to Qing Jing Peak, Luo Binghe had received plenty of gratitude and acknowledgement from the other Peak Lords. While it meant that he had more freedom with helping out at Qing Jing Peak without Shizun, it had meant nothing to Luo Binghe. How was he supposed to keep going on without Shizun beside him, in front of him?
Without Shizun’s guidance, without Shizun’s restrictions. Luo Binghe immediately gained access to the entirety of the library and its archives, plunging through ancient records and manuals written in tattered beast hide. Ming Fan and Ning Yingying, although of the same generation of disciples, probably sensed that Luo Binghe had been driven to despair after Shizun had been unconscious, and left him to his devices. They’d been considerate otherwise, taking care of matters in the Peak and training the younger disciples while leaving Luo Binghe alone.
Now that was convenient, because his mind was occupied with thoughts to explore and disguise his demonic origin, as well as ways to speed up Shizun’s recovery and awakening. He’d spend full days in cooped up in mountains of books, only taking breaks when Ning Yingying had visited with meals and gentle reminders to not overwork himself.
Eventually, maybe because of the strict filtering and cataloguing of books, Luo Binghe couldn’t find anything that was satisfactory related to his questions, and gave up. There was barely any information on how to invoke demonic energy, how to use it, how to control it, and Luo Binghe had hoped that there would be some hidden secrets to how to accurately channel his new demonic power to help his Shizun open his eyes again.
Foolish thinking.
Instead of a convenient method like that, Luo Binghe learns the hard way that he wouldn’t be mastering his demonic powers as easily as he thought he could. Unlike an inherent dormant power that could be simply awakened with a switch, it had to be trained, refined, and polished over time, slowly within himself.
With this new discovery, he also starts meeting the new visitor in his dreams. The dream demon, Meng Mo, had called himself the master of dreams, and had wanted to take Luo Binghe as his disciple to impart his skills of dreamscape manipulation. That it would be an honor to mentor a future demon lord, that he had great potential to inherit the title as the next generation. Luo Binghe had physically recoiled in horror at the thought of calling someone else other than Shen Qingqiu “Shizun”, and vehemently drove Meng Mo out of his dreams for several days straight, until the demon had gotten so annoyed by him and had decided not to press on the whole mentoring issue.
Since then, Meng Mo had agreed to still teach Luo Binghe without the formalities of the relationship, and Luo Binghe had in turn agreed to take up his offer and started training under the eccentric elder in his dreams once every few nights.
Thankfully, also as a bonus from his demonic blood, Luo Binghe was less prone to physical exhaustion, and it felt like his stamina had been boosted by notch. Juggling between his daily duties and his nightly trainings, Luo Binghe was caught in a cycle of desperation, clinging on to the only hope that he would be soon strong enough to awaken Shizun, to protect Shizun, to be by Shizun’s side forever this time.
But time still passed without as much of a peep from Shizun, with three years in between the fall and now, like fate cruelly laughing at his fruitless efforts. While training with Meng Mo, and having to deal with the backlashes of his struggle to control his new demonic powers, he’d often have nightmares, and many sleepless nights. It’d been pain and suffocation, blood running hot through his lungs and veins, breaking his skin out in feverish chills. At these moments, he could only desperately think about Shizun, Shizun, Shizun, the way Shizun had comforted him before, the way Shizun had called out his name, how Shizun would calm him down, holding him in his arms, if he were here.
But he wasn’t.
Eventually, he had grown strong enough to fabricate and control his dreams, and although he hadn’t had the chance to experiment, Meng Mo had also given him the pass that he would stand a good chance in others’ as well.
Would he finally be able to see Shizun now? Would Shizun be awake in his own dreams? Would Luo Binghe be able to talk to him, to touch him, to finally hear his voice?
Driven by this single desire, Luo Binghe patiently waits for night to fall.
As it turns out, Shizun was really in his dreams, only vaguely. The dream was filled with thick fog, and even though Luo Binghe had some difficulties navigating through it, he could sense Shizun’s presence here. The dream wouldn’t have manifested if Shizun didn’t have minimal control over his own consciousness, although Luo Binghe still has to locate Shizun first. The problem here wasn’t that Luo Binghe was unskilled – Shizun’s dreamscape was simply too confusing, in the way that it wasn’t exactly modelled after any place, but a confounding combination of different sceneries that can’t quite be pieced together logically in Luo Binghe’s mind.
“Shizun…?” He tentatively calls out, to no avail. His timid voice carries through the vast space with a slight echo, but no answer comes back.
Wading through a thick forest that had a creepy mixture of familiar bamboo and other foreign trees with thicker tree trunks that Luo Binghe has ever seen, Luo Binghe looks on, confused, with architecture of grey and white reaching high into the sky, covered by wide panes of transparent material reflecting whimsical colored light from the twisted skyline. He’s unsure what they are, and why they were in Shizun’s dreams, but fortunately he stumbles upon a little corner tucked away in the deepest recesses of the dream, which, he realizes with a little gasp, is the bamboo house and the familiar pond in front of it.
“Shizun!” He repeats, in a louder voice this time, and takes hurried steps towards the house. Not even asking for permission, Luo Binghe barges into the room, and Shizun… Shen Qingqiu was lying in his bed, looking just like he did in real life, but with slightly more color in his lips, and life in his skin.
“Shizun…” Luo Binghe’s voice drops to a low murmur now, approaching the bed with furtive steps until he sits quietly next to Shen Qingqiu’s body, immediately taking the cold hand into his own.
Shen Qingqiu doesn’t wake up yet, but he does rouse slightly, his fingers twitching in Luo Binghe’s hold.
Luo Binghe raises the hand and presses it against his cheek, words not forming quick enough. Shizun… Shizun was moving, finally – after three years, the sheer sight of this made Luo Binghe freeze, like his training – all his suffering had paid off. “Shizun, please wake up…”
Slowly, Shen Qingqiu opens his eyes. He blinks a few times, then takes in the familiar scenery, but also quickly senses that something was off. Luo Binghe’s heart clenches involuntarily in awe when he notices – his Shizun was still so sharp after three years of being unconscious!
“Shizun, we’re fine here,” Luo Binghe finally gathers his wits enough to whisper, as Shen Qingqiu finally looks at him. “Shizun… you’re awake.” He breathes out the last bit like he was still trying to convince himself – sweet, slightly bitter relief spreading across his chest.
“Binghe…” Shizun finally says, frowning. His throat must be dry, even if this is a dream, since Shizun isn’t fully aware yet. “Where…”
“This is your dream, Shizun.”
Shen Qingqiu’s eyes widen, like he understood the whole situation immediately, then looks at Luo Binghe, before finally dropping his gaze onto his hands, where Luo Binghe was still clutching them tightly. At that, Luo Binghe releases Shen Qingqiu’s hands immediately, folding them in his own lap like a wounded puppy.
Shen Qingqiu clears his throat. “Binghe, you… learnt how to enter dreams?”
“Yes, Shizun,” Luo Binghe nods, trying to explain. “Shizun, you… you’ve been unconscious for three years now… this disciple had worked very hard to find every way to try to wake you up faster, but…”
“Three years?” Shizun interjects, his tone pitched high in shock. Luo Binghe had expected his reaction, no matter how composed and elegant Shizun was.
Before Shizun can continue voicing his surprise, Luo Binghe speaks up again. “This disciple has scoured through a fair bit of texts in Qing Jing Peak’s library while you were asleep, Shizun, and found a method that might help. Can this disciple offer a solution?”
Luo Binghe’s question had ended sweetly, and the hidden question of ‘do you trust me?’ was embedded faintly within the upturn of his lips, and the way his eyes had brightened.
Shen Qingqiu takes a moment before he nods.
Before he can regret his decision, Luo Binghe swiftly slits his finger pad with a dagger and pushes the blood-stained finger to Shen Qingqiu’s lips, pressing the digit into his Shizun’s mouth without warning. Body still sluggish from sleep, Shen Qingqiu gasps, and Luo Binghe takes the moment to let more blood flow out of the wound, something deep inside of him stirring at the thought of Shizun’s lips around his fingers, the warmth of Shizun’s mouth…
Then Luo Binghe pulls away. Shen Qingqiu looks at him, aghast. “Luo Binghe!” Shizun hisses, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. “What did you do?!”
“Shizun, please trust me,” Luo Binghe begs, the wound on his finger already healing. He hopes it didn’t look too suspicious to Shizun, but Shizun still looks scandalized from whatever happened earlier. “My… this.. this blood has healing properties, Shizun. This disciple would never try to harm Shizun.”
“…I know that, Binghe.” Shizun replies, his shoulders sagging slightly in defeat. Had it been in real life, Shizun would probably never show his reactions this obviously, but it might also be the fact that Shizun had just first ‘woken up’ from his three-year coma, and was still unable to control most of his bodily functions. “Thank you.”
Luo Binghe knows that it’s about time to go. It wasn’t good to stay in a manipulated dreamscape for too long, and Meng Mo has repeatedly warned him about it before. But Luo Binghe’s heart was aching at the sight of Shizun breathing, moving, looking at himself, that he almost couldn’t bear to leave.
He clenches his fists so hard that his nails almost draw blood from his palms. “Shizun, this disciple is still unskilled, and has to go now. This… this Binghe prays that I can see Shizun even a day sooner…”
Before he gets to hear Shizun’s answer, Luo Binghe exits from the dream.
Demon blood, as Luo Binghe has learnt from Meng Mo, had the ability to bind itself around the blood of another body, if ingested, and that would allow the demon to manipulate the receiver to a certain extent. To inflict torturous pain, mind-breaking hallucinations, or even the throes of pleasure would be very simple, but Luo Binghe uses his blood to make sure that Shizun was free from internal injuries, and committed to regulating Shizun’s spiritual energy all the time, until the day that Shizun’s blood will stir in awakening.
Luo Binghe doesn’t attempt to enter Shen Qingqiu’s dream again – for fear of rejection, fear of Shizun’s repulsion at what he did before, or for fear that Shizun will connect the dots and figure out his identity and bloodline, he doesn’t know, but he just didn’t have the courage for it.
That was alright. After Shizun woke up, he also hadn’t mentioned the incident to Luo Binghe again. Luo Binghe isn’t sure if Shizun has forgotten about it through his many fever-induced delirious nights, or if he was just being his usual tactful and generous self and didn’t want to expose Luo Binghe, but it was alright. If Shizun didn’t want to ask about the blood, or to clarify Luo Binghe’s fake escape story from the Abyss, Luo Binghe will simply never tell him, that was all there was to it.
But right now, something else was clawing in his blood, demanding that Shizun needs to know everything, needs to understand the amount of effort and pain that Luo Binghe has went through, all for Shizun. Shizun needs to know how much Luo Binghe cares, needs to know how much Luo Binghe wants—
His eyes glaze over, and the chirping sound of a passing bird outside the window forces him out of his reverie. Luo Binghe clears his throat, continues packing his things and prepares to leave Qian Cao Peak with his refined poison and a hundred careful plans for Shizun to realize, finally, that Luo Binghe would be all he ever needed.
Now, all he needs to do is to make up some reason about why they have to depart for the cave. That would be easy, since Shizun trusts Binghe.
He quickly makes his way back to Qing Jing Peak.
“Shizun,” Luo Binghe says, carrying a letter in his hands as he waits outside the bamboo house respectfully. “This disciple has just received an order from the Sect Leader.”
Shen Qingqiu walks over and slides the wooden door to see the tall young man outside. It’s been a while since Shen Qingqiu has regained consciousness, but it was still rather refreshing to look at Luo Binghe – the Luo Binghe that hasn’t fallen victim to his sick, inevitable fate of being trapped in the Endless Abyss, forcibly awakening to his demonic bloodline. His still-cute, still-innocent disciple – even though he was now already slightly taller than Shen Qingqiu.
From this new angle, Shen Qingqiu takes a good look at Luo Binghe’s face. He was already very good looking even when he was younger, but now… he’s visibly grown up, the sharp angles and structure of his face distinctly balancing his perfect features, thick black hair encasing the portrait-like face like an impossible freeze-frame. Shen Qingqiu silently sends praises to the universe for granting him a look at this sight of the protagonist, and clears his throat to force his thoughts out of his mind. “What is it?”
Luo Binghe hurriedly takes a look at the contents of the letters, dutifully summarizing the task to Shen Qingqiu. “There’s a beast causing disruptions in the spiritual energy flow near the Jade Ravine Forest. It’s apparently been spotted in one of the caves nearby, so they’ve sent a request for Shizun to help with the extermination.”
Shen Qingqiu hums. Beast extermination requests were common enough, and if Liu Qingge was occupied, they often fell to Shen Qingqiu. “Did they provide a map?” He asks, then pauses, “Binghe, you come with me.”
“Yes, Shizun!” Luo Binghe checks the other piece of paper, “the map is here, but this disciple will go make preparations for departing now!”
It was good that Luo Binghe had trained himself enough that his cultivation level was now sufficient to ride a sword on his own. Although it’s been five years, Shen Qingqiu’s spiritual energy hasn’t really been affected, he realizes, and it hadn’t felt any bit stiff when he tried to ride his sword. Eh. Well, that’s still good news.
He’s been vaguely feeling like he’s forgetting something important, but ever since recovering, he’s been busy with running around and catching up with things he’s missed that the feeling has slowly faded. Even looking over the growing disciples had taken up most of his time lately, and Qing Jing Peak hadn’t even taken in anyone new since Shen Qingqiu was out of commission. For the first time, even though he’s currently occupying an immortal body, Shen Qingqiu felt just how much he had missed out on.
Then, Shen Qingqiu turns his gaze back to Luo Binghe on his own sword in front of him. The mystifying feeling of his disciple’s growth was only just starting to settle inside him, but he probably can’t let too much of it show to Luo Binghe. Although the System had mysteriously never appeared again after Shen Qingqiu had woken up, there… probably wouldn’t be a good ending if Shen Qingqiu tweaked his own character too much, right?
Luo Binghe lands them somewhere accurately near to the spot marked out on the map in the letter (Shen Qingqiu attributes it to his inner protagonist GPS), and he keeps Zheng Yang unsheathed, wary of danger in the vicinity. He looks fully prepared for his mission!
Shen Qingqiu almost wants to sniff in pride.
He doesn’t.
They manage to locate the cave – or, the cave had basically called out to them – as they followed the trail provided by a low, rumbling growl of a beast echoing in the air. Was this also part of the perks for the protagonist, that he didn’t have to work hard for every single one of his side quests? Shen Qingqiu inwardly cheers, thankful that he decided to bring Luo Binghe along. If this went on, it would probably be an easy quest, too.
The beast, a magnificent two-headed snake with more fangs than Shen Qingqiu can visibly count, had taken up most of the space of the cave, heads towering over the both of them. In a moment, Shen Qingqiu stills, and recognizes it. It was the Ravine Black Widow, a demonic snake, despite the name, that fed on both unsuspecting humans, and spiritual energy in the air. To boot, it also had fire breath, which somehow was also toxic. What was the point of having two dangerous qualities, Shen Qingqiu will never understand, but he clearly remembers this random throwaway wife plot. Bitten by the snake beast and somehow also poisoned, the beauty of the day had to be saved by Luo Binghe, where he proceeded to suck out the poisoned blood, and went on to also suck plenty of other things.
Shen Qingqiu shudders.
Either way, Luo Binghe doesn’t look too fazed, Zheng Yang steady in his hands as he stands in front of Shen Qingqiu instinctively. “Shizun, please stay back! This disciple can handle this beast by himself.”
What was he supposed to say here? “Okay, this master believes in you”? Or, “what kind of master would I be, if I needed my disciple to protect me”? The original Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t have ever met with a situation like this, so it was hard for this Shen Qingqiu to formulate a non-OOC response right off the bat. He’s about to ask Luo Binghe to fall back, but Luo Binghe looks at him with a steely gaze. “Shizun, you’ve just recovered. Please trust this disciple!”
And yeah, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t say no to that.
Spectating on the side has its own benefits, for sure – Shen Qingqiu almost wishes he had his phone, his notebook, a camera, anything – to capture the way the beast bared its hideous fangs, the impossible mixture of deadly fire breaths threatening to reach Luo Binghe in futile. The world of Proud Immortal Demon Way may be a hot mess, but Shen Qingqiu admittedly had enjoyed reading about the very specific beasts and monsters described in the novel. So, this was fine.
While he mulls over this turn in events of his life, the snake had already fallen to the ground with a loud hiss, then a dull thud, final spurts of blackened blood leaking out of its gaping mouth as Luo Binghe pulls his sword out from its body. What did he miss? Did the snake really die from one stab, had Luo Binghe’s protagonist level increase even more despite escaping his blackening?
“Shizun, please wait here,” Luo Binghe says calmly, kicking the body of the snake once more to confirm its death, “this disciple will look around to see if there are any others.”
Soon, he wouldn’t need me anymore. Shen Qingqiu swallows the unbidden thought down his throat. A feeling akin to loneliness rapidly runs through his heart, confusing himself. He shakes himself out of his thoughts forcefully. A strong, obedient disciple was a good disciple! Escaping his fate of being turned into a human stick was his end goal, why was he feeling all sniffy about Luo Binghe growing up!
“Shizun!”
Amidst his internal struggle, some time had passed without him noticing. Shen Qingqiu’s ears perk up at Luo Binghe’s voice – he sounded a little panicked, and it had sounded like he was… falling…?
“Binghe!” Shen Qingqiu chases after the voice. “Where are you, Binghe?”
Shen Qingqiu didn’t see Luo Binghe anywhere, so he proceeds further into the cave, finally spotting a dark pitfall covered by fallen leaves and compost, with a freshly made hole through it where Luo Binghe had fallen through.
“Binghe, are you down there?”
“S…Shizun, this… I…” Luo Binghe’s voice is weak now, almost shaky, “please don’t come down, Shizun, Shizun, I… I’ll be back up…”
Why was he trying to put up a strong front in this situation? “This master isn’t so weak that I can’t save my own disciple. If there’s nothing dangerous inside, I’m coming down.”
“Shizun!” Luo Binghe protests again, but Shen Qingqiu quickly descends into the dark cavern. He pulls out an amulet from his sleeve and sets it ablaze, quickly analyzing the situation.
Luo Binghe was leaning against a huge slab of rock, his chest heaving as he pants, neck spotted with sweat. His eyes were glossed over, and his head was tilted backwards, mouth hanging open with harsh breaths. “Shizun,” Luo Binghe says again, not daring to meet eyes with Shen Qingqiu, “this disciple is fine, so…”
“Is this what you consider ‘fine’, Luo Binghe?” Shen Qingqiu cuts him off, walking towards the youth. “Is this how you take care of yourself, Luo Binghe? How has this master raised you? Are you going to let this master help you, or not?”
Luo Binghe flinches, finally looking at Shen Qingqiu. With a clearer look at his face, Shen Qingqiu realizes that the demonic mark was visible on his forehead, his pupils almost burning with a soft scarlet. Shen Qingqiu tries not to let his surprise show. Was this why Luo Binghe hadn’t wanted him to come down, for fear that he would expose his own identity?
“Shizun,” Luo Binghe begs again, when Shen Qingqiu was close enough to him, “please… don’t come here…”
It seemed like Luo Binghe wasn’t aware that his mark was visible. “Explain.”
“There… there were some strange flowers in this cavern when I fell in,” Luo Binghe slowly explains, voice quivering, “I don’t know what I inhaled, but… my body has been… feeling strange, although I managed to burn all of the flowers with some amulets…”
Oh gods, was this another wife plot?! Those sound like they were aphrodisiac flowers, that much was obvious to any avid reader! How were they so unlucky to stumble into two wife plots in the same day? In the same cave, to boot! Except, why was the protagonist the one who ended up as the victim of the sex pollen trope here?! Who’s supposed to save you now, Bing-ge?
Immediately, after that thought, Shen Qingqiu felt a chill run down his spine. Wait…
Shen Qingqiu leaned forward to press the back of his hand against Luo Binghe’s forehead. “Binghe, you’re burning up.” He tries his best to sound composed, “where do you feel strange?”
Luo Binghe’s body curls up, pressing up even closer to the rock, like he didn’t want to be near Shen Qingqiu. “P—Please, Shizun, don’t come any nearer, I… I can’t control… I… I need…” His voice almost ends in a gasp as his draws his legs closer to himself.
Ah, fine. Shen Qingqiu looks down, and there it was, Luo Binghe’s strained erection was extremely visible even through his pants. Shen Qingqiu almost looks away in embarrassment. He had known about this… from the shameless Bing-ge from Proud Immortal Demon Way, that he could deal, but he doesn’t really have the face to look at his…! His pure white lotus disciple, in that way!
Luo Binghe whimpers, tears starting to gather in his eyes as he looks at Shen Qingqiu, his forehead mark glinting with a furious red now. “Shizun,” he moans, “I…”
“Don’t say anything more, Binghe. This master will help.” Shen Qingqiu musters all the composure he can physically muster, although his blood pressure was probably at an all-time high internally. He sends an apology to all of Luo Binghe’s future wives, and tucks his fan in his sleeves as he reaches down to Luo Binghe’s clothed erection.
“S—Shizun!” Luo Binghe cries at the contact, although under Shen Qingqiu’s fingertips, he can feel the cock twitch. Shen Qingqiu gulps. “Shizun, you really don’t have to—!”
Tsk, must he make so much of a fuss over something like this?! It’s making Shen Qingqiu feel more self-conscious! Bing-ge, be more cooperative for delicate matters like this, please!
Ignoring his pleas, Shen Qingqiu pulls Luo Binghe’s pants down until his cock springs free from the restraints, already hard enough that it’s pressing against his taut stomach. Shen Qingqiu gulps. This is something that had been described once and again in extreme detail in the novel – the infamous weapon of destruction that might even be more impossibly outpowered than Xin Mo – Luo Binghe’s penis. Except, the real thing was beyond his imaginations, the length and girth of it… it… it’s just not possible, but here it was.
Shen Qingqiu, yet again, sends a prayer to every god he hopes exists in this rotten hack of a world, and another apology to the future wives. Then, he furtively wraps his hand around the thick shaft, the head already dripping with clear precum. Luo Binghe jumps, letting out a whine at the touch, and his cock throbs in Shen Qingqiu’s hold.
Oh God.
When Shen Qingqiu finally starts moving his hand up and down the length, Luo Binghe has his hands over his mouth, trying to hold back his voice, but Shen Qingqiu hears them clearer than ever, his high-pitched whines and his low moans, and the way Shizun sounds so broken coming from his throat. If, hypothetically, at this moment, Shen Qingqiu was aroused by the undone state of his disciple, it would have to be a secret between him and the gods above.
“Shizun, I want…” Luo Binghe cries, his hand starting to bleed where he’s been biting down on it, “I need it, Shizun…”
The constant calls of ‘Shizun’ was starting to burn Shen Qingqiu’s ears. The shame! What kind of teacher was he now, doing such indecent things with— to his disciple?
“Binghe, stop biting on your hand, it’s fine.”
Oh, but Shen Qingqiu regrets it immediately. When Luo Binghe lowers his hands, he starts moaning unabashedly, and Shen Qingqiu quickens his pace in between the breathy ‘ah’s and ‘Shizun’s. Shen Qingqiu has both his hands wrapped around Luo Binghe’s cock now, fingers unskilled but struggling to stroke the length from base to head. Luo Binghe looks down at the unbelievably sinful sight of his Shizun with his slender fingers wrapped around his own cock. His own hips stutter, thrusting up into Shen Qingqiu’s hands before he can stop himself. Taking another look at Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe finally climaxes with a long groan.
Luckily, Shen Qingqiu moves away with quick reflexes (he can’t imagine getting Protagonist Cum on his face), and turns away to give Luo Binghe some privacy.
Luo Binghe stops thrashing after that, resting limply against the rock as his breathing slowly evens out. Keeping his head down, he quietly tidies up his clothes, and stands up shakily.
“Shizun, this disciple…” Luo Binghe starts, voice small.
Shen Qingqiu swallows thickly and sighs. Turning around, he also notes that the demonic mark has disappeared again, thankfully. He’d have no way of explaining it if they returned to the sect with Luo Binghe looking like that. “It’s no matter, Binghe. If you’re feeling better, let’s return for now.”
“…Yes, Shizun.”
On their way back, they don’t fly on their swords. Luo Binghe was still drained of spiritual energy, probably a side effect of the flowers (was the original intended purpose so that he would have more time to indulge in papapa and not leave…? Shen Qingqiu tries not to think too hard about it), and Shen Qingqiu had decided to return on foot. However, they were about two towns away from Cang Qiong Mountain, so it was probably better to find some place to stay the night before returning the next day.
“Shizun, this disciple apologizes,” Luo Binghe’s small voice comes from behind, “for causing so much trouble and delay…”
“Luo Binghe, if you have the energy to spout nonsense, use it to regulate your qi,” Shen Qingqiu replies. “Besides, how important do you think we are? There’s no need to rush back.”
“Yes, Shizun.”
Don’t sound so dejected, Bing-ge! This isn’t your fault, but I can’t explain it to you!!!
“Shizun,” Luo Binghe starts again, after some silence. “What does Shizun think about the demon race?”
…
Was he trying to confide in Shen Qingqiu? Couldn’t he wait until they were settled in an inn or something? Were protagonists just keen on having heart-to-heart talks in forests?
“This master doesn’t think anything particularly. As long as they don’t cause trouble in the human realm,” Shen Qingqiu replies, but also remembers the original Shen Qingqiu’s stance, and adds, “Heavenly Demons are a little different, I’m sure you remember this master’s teachings.”
“…this disciple does.”
“But, Binghe, remember that we cannot judge someone just based on whether they are human or demon, on things that they have no control over.” Shen Qingqiu continues, somehow managing to asspull this. “It will depend on their actions and behaviors. Understand?”
Luo Binghe doesn’t reply immediately, and Shen Qingqiu turns around with a frown.
“Hypothetically… just for example, Shizun, if… if this disciple… had been a d—demon all along, how would Shizun feel about it?”
Shen Qingqiu’s heart skips a beat. He was really going to confess? It’s not like Shen Qingqiu doesn’t know – heck, he probably knows Luo Binghe better than Luo Binghe knows himself, so he isn’t sure what sort of reaction to show here. But, the fact that Luo Binghe had trusted him enough to even try to bring this up makes Shen Qingqiu’s heart squeeze.
Just a little.
“Binghe is strong for sure, and has grown up well.” Shen Qingqiu raises a brow, using his fan to hide his face. “But don’t joke around.”
“Shizun!” Luo Binghe takes a step closer to Shen Qingqiu, boldly reaching out for Shen Qingqiu’s free hand and clutching it tightly in his own, “Shizun, this disciple is sorry! While Shizun was unconscious, I… I have kept matters hidden from Shizun… if… if Shizun promises he won’t hate me, I’ll tell you...”
Shen Qingqiu looks at Luo Binghe, half a head taller than himself but his head kept so low Shen Qingqiu was almost reminded of his younger days, and sighs. What could surprise a PIDW reader like himself at this point? “Go on.”
“Shizun, this disciple… has actually found out that he was actually… I’m half-demon, Shizun…” Luo Binghe mutters, fingers clutched tightly in his robes. Shen Qingqiu very badly wants to pat his head and tell him it’s okay. “This disciple didn’t intend to hide it from Shizun, but… but was afraid of how Shizun might react. If Shizun were to hate me for it, I…”
“Luo Binghe, what did this master just tell you?” Shen Qingqiu replies after a brief silence. “Do you still think this master would immediately kick you out of the sect over something like this?”
“…”
“Besides, this master already found out earlier.” Luo Binghe’s eyes snap up at that. Shen Qingqiu raises his fan to stop him. “You’re still weak, and don’t have much control over your powers, am I right? I could see your forehead mark earlier.”
“Sh—Shizun, this disciple is truly useless…”
…How much more was he supposed to coddle Luo Binghe? Shen Qingqiu wants to faint. Any more would probably be an OOC violation, and he didn’t want to die just yet. Yet, Luo Binghe still looks like he has things to say, and it stirs up something strange in Shen Qingqiu’s heart.
It was going to be a long journey home.
When they’ve settled down in an inn nearby, the sun has already long set, the candles flickering in the slow stream of wind coming in from the window.
“Shizun, I’ll leave the tea here,” Luo Binghe says, dutifully setting out the tea set on the small wooden table before bowing. “If there’s nothing else Shizun requires, this disciple will return to his room.”
“Binghe.” Shen Qingqiu looks at Luo Binghe, his back slouched over and a frown creasing on his forehead, a pitiful caricature of the perfect stallion protagonist. “Sit down. This master wants to talk to you.”
Luo Binghe’s eyes widen, slightly brightening up. He quickly shuffles forward and takes a seat, almost bumping into the table on his way there. “This disciple is listening, Shizun.”
“What else are you keeping from me?” Shen Qingqiu sets his fan aside, and drops ‘master’ from his speech. Hopefully, this can help Luo Binghe feel more comfortable in opening up to him.
And, honestly, since Luo Binghe had been stuck to him all the time, having to use this self-important pronoun all the time had been a little tiring. Acting cool was fine, but all the time! Shen Qingqiu had his physical limits, too.
Luo Binghe stays silent for a while, eyes darting around, like he didn’t know how to start talking. Shen Qingqiu knows he probably has a bunch of secrets – including the ones that Shen Qingqiu had already known, like dream manipulation… nightmares that would’ve required the help of one or two or five willing ladies… things like that. He just has to play the role of a caring teacher here, to ensure that Luo Binghe doesn’t keep everything cooped up for too long and eventually die from a qi deviation.
Easy, easy.
“Shizun…” Luo Binghe swallows thickly, gaze glued to the ground. “We didn’t get out of the Abyss just because of Zheng Yang. I met a demon there after we fell, and he… he wanted me to go back with him.” Shen Qingqiu hums. It has to be Mobei-jun right? The timing seemed right. “But I said no, Shizun!” Luo Binghe defends, misinterpreting Shen Qingqiu’s reaction as doubt that his disciple would defect under the pressure of another demon. “I rejected him, but he still managed to send demonic energy into my body, and I think that had awakened the powers inside me. After some time, I figured out a way to use the demonic energy to send us up. I think the barrier only repels normal spiritual energy.”
“It’s still because of you that we managed to return alive. Binghe, you don’t have to keep that on your mind.”
“Also,” Luo Binghe continues. “Even though that demon never bothered me again, I met another demon in my dreams…” Yeah, Shen Qingqiu also expected this. He nods, encouraging Luo Binghe to go on. “He’s been teaching me the skills to create and manipulate dreams – my own, and other people’s. That was how I managed to find you that time, Shizun.”
Oh, oh. This was the thing that Shen Qingqiu had forgotten! He had indeed met with Luo Binghe in a dream, and… what did he do?
“Of course, I refused to become his disciple…” Luo Binghe mutters, head low, “I already have you, Shizun.” If Shen Qingqiu was drinking the poor tea that was already getting cold, he would’ve done a spit-take here. Why did you have to phrase it like that, Binghe! “Using those dream techniques, this disciple was utterly rude and made Shizun ingest his blood back then. After that, I helped to monitor Shizun’s spiritual energy flow and tried to cleanse your meridians every night. I thought that would have some help…”
“Shizun still slept for two more years, after that.” Luo Binghe sounds crestfallen now, as if Shen Qingqiu was still deep in a coma. For a moment, Shen Qingqiu tries to imagine how Luo Binghe lived the past five years, if just talking about it could make him look so… sad. Did he really think so highly of this fraud of a Shizun?
“…Thank you, Binghe.” Shen Qingqiu slowly answers, beckoning Luo Binghe closer. He places a hand on the top of Luo Binghe’s hair, feeling the youth flinch under the touch, then slowly pats his head. “You’ve worked hard, haven’t you? This master is sorry he wasn’t there.”
Luo Binghe struggles under Shen Qingqiu’s hand – like he wants to break free to look at Shen Qingqiu, but at the same time, not wanting to separate from the contact. “Shizun,” he whines, “please don’t apologize – it’s this disciple’s fault that we ended up there…”
“Alright, Binghe. In the future, don’t hide anything from Shizun, understand?”
“This disciple understands.”
“Good, now go get some rest. This master will see you in the morning.”
“Good night, Shizun.”
Shen Qingqiu doesn’t sleep. Long after Luo Binghe had left the room, he hadn’t been able to fall asleep, thoughts occupied by the plot that he’d forcibly changed, the disappearance of the System, Luo Binghe’s terrible progress in his harem collection… He’s about twenty now, and all he knows to do is to cling to this old teacher! Did the System get so aggravated by this it just left? Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t rule this out as a possibility.
Either way, although the plot has branched out, it seems like Luo Binghe still managed to hit his growth milestones of 1) demonic power awakening, and 2) meeting Meng Mo, so he was still probably going to end up just as powerful as the original Bing-ge – although, without the twisted obsession on revenge (on his Shizun), hopefully…
Shen Qingqiu doesn’t sleep.
Suddenly, the doors creak open. Dull footsteps make their way closer to the bed, keeps a distance from Shen Qingqiu. What did Luo Binghe want now?
“Shizun, this disciple lied to you again,” Luo Binghe whispers. “I’m really sorry, Shizun, that I can’t tell you everything truthfully… I… this disciple is really disrespectful… Shizun is kind, and generous, and so considerate to me, and yet, I repay the favor by harboring untoward feelings towards Shizun.” He exhales, “Shizun, even today, I don’t know how I still have the face to see you, and to stay by your side like it’s a given. Shizun, this Binghe… I’m in love with Shizun – not in the way a disciple sees his master, but… but it’s alright if Shizun never finds out.”
Shen Qingqiu’s heart freezes. He almost flinches outwardly, but tries his best to remain still, regulating his breathing.
“I will be very content if I can just serve and take care of Shizun for the rest of my life.”
After Luo Binghe leaves, Shen Qingqiu stares at the ceiling until the sun rises.
The following morning, Shen Qingqiu doesn’t see Luo Binghe anywhere. Which was weird, because Luo Binghe – no matter the occasion – would always be up earlier than himself, always ready with breakfast and a basin of warm water for him to wash up. It’s astounding, how dependent Shen Qingqiu has become to this daily routine.
Not today, apparently.
He gets up sluggishly, having not slept a wink the previous night. His thoughts were a jumbled mess, mostly self-berating for ruining the plot to this extent. No wonder the System just upped and left him alone.
Damn it.
Anyway, instead of Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu finds a letter on the table. The content was short and simple, in Luo Binghe’s neat handwriting, ‘Shizun, this disciple has to attend to something, and will be back. My apologies for not being able to accompany Shizun on his way back home.’
Luo Binghe hasn’t left by himself like that before – he didn’t have the guts nor the authority back in Proud Immortal Demon Way, and in this world, he was too stuck to Shen Qingqiu’s back that he hadn’t really exercised much of his freedom. Shen Qingqiu muses, and quickly decides that it has to be something to do with the demons.
Thankfully, right now, Shen Qingqiu could do with Luo Binghe’s absence. He quietly leaves the inn, and makes his way back to Cang Qiong Mountain.
Luo Binghe hadn’t wanted to leave like that.
Initially, he’d almost wanted to spill his feelings towards Shizun when he asked last night, but managed to hold back – he doesn’t know what he would do if Shizun had really ended up hating him or avoiding him after knowing what Luo Binghe feels for him.
Shizun had been infinitely kind to him, but surely, he has his limits, too. Having to face romantic feelings from his disciple… Luo Binghe can’t imagine. Feeling like he needed Shizun to know, yet feeling like Shizun shouldn’t have to be burdened by feelings, he had to tell Shizun – but only while he was asleep, like a coward. Like the many times he had done in the past five years, when Shizun couldn’t hear him.
Luo Binghe had risen early, a bit before dawn. He’d wanted to go down and ask to borrow the kitchen so he could make breakfast for Shizun, but he had sensed demonic energy nearby, and left the inn to see the demon that he’d met in the Endless Abyss.
“You again?” After five years, Luo Binghe was of about the same height as the other demon now, and wasn’t as afraid as he was the previous time. Not to mention, Shizun was only a minute away, if anything were to happen.
“Luo Binghe, you can’t keep running away.” The demon says calmly, almost slightly exasperated. “Tianlang-jun wants you to return.”
Luo Binghe raises an eyebrow. He’s learnt from Meng Mo that Tianlang-jun, the supposed lord of the demon realm, was his birth father. Meng Mo had only revealed information on the demons to him to incite some sort of desire for power within Luo Binghe, but it hadn’t worked. On the contrary, Luo Binghe felt like he didn’t want anything to do with it.
“Return? What for? Does he intend for me to take over?” Luo Binghe scoffs. “Also, who even are you?”
“I manage the northern territories.”
“Ah, so you’re the Mobei-jun. I’ve heard about you.”
“Are you coming back, or will I have to use force to take you back?”
“My stance hasn’t changed from last time,” Luo Binghe answers. “I’m not leaving, I want to stay in Cang Qiong Mountain Sect and to stay with my Shizun. What else do you want me to say?”
“Even after knowing your bloodline and position?”
“I don’t care for them in the slightest. Like I said, all I want is to stay with—”
“If you go back with me and negotiate with Tianlang-jun, he might agree.” Mobei-jun interrupts.
“What?”
“The Lord isn’t that much fond of you taking over for now, he just wanted to make sure everyone else knows you exist.” Mobei-jun sighs. “Maybe he’ll let you off managing a few smaller regions, and you don’t have to stay there permanently,” Mobei-jun continues, “and, I would also be spared from having to play messenger all the time.”
Luo Binghe taps on his chin, thinking. This Mobei-jun actually also didn’t really want to do this, huh? He could work with that.
“Fine, I’ll meet him. Let me leave a message for Shizun and I’ll go with you.”
After Shen Qingqiu had returned to Qing Jing Peak alone, he starts trying to get used to not being fussed over 24/7.
It was tough.
Although he didn’t have to eat, he still felt strangely empty in the morning, without the protagonist’s insane culinary skills catered to his palate, and his mood in the morning had permanently plummeted after a while.
Noticing this, Ming Fan and Ning Yingying had even resorted to taking turns to bring him breakfast, but it just didn’t feel the same.
And the nights were also quiet, the small side room in the bamboo house now empty, and Shen Qingqiu would feel very, very alone.
Way too alone. How did Shen Yuan used to cope with stuff like this in his past life? He didn’t, not really, when he had his computer and smartphone, all he had to do was to get immersed into a new hyperfixation, and he wouldn’t have the capacity to start thinking about tiring things.
Here, though, there was nothing convenient like that. Just the soft sound of the night breeze, the tranquil rustling of leaves outside the window, sometimes the falling of rain, all of his heavy thoughts, and himself.
So, right. Luo Binghe actually like liked him. Likes his old bag of bones teacher, his immortal Shizun Shen Qingqiu who notably also used to abuse him. Just how twisted was his taste?! Shen Yuan had used to write plenty of long comments cussing out one too many harem choices, but this – this! This was somehow worse! Had he raised Luo Binghe to be some kind of weird masochist?
Undeniably, it may partially be his own fault. For his own survival, this Shen Qingqiu had been way nicer to Luo Binghe as compared to the original one. They even managed to escape the whole cruel plotline of Pushing My Disciple Down A Cliff, Also It’s Not Just Any Random Cliff, But One That Led to Actual Hell! Had Luo Binghe really confused gratitude and guilt with love? But also, he had five years to think about it, so…
Well. It would be rude, as a person to another, to write off Luo Binghe’s feelings also, if they were real.
More importantly, what did Shen Qingqiu himself feel about Luo Binghe?
He hadn’t done much research on the culture in this era, but there had to be something against romantic relationships between teachers and students, right?! But also, technically, the current Shen Qingqiu isn’t really Shen Qingqiu, and technically, isn’t Luo Binghe’s Shizun. But also, he’s been at this for many years now, he might as well be. Okay! Already one red flag in this checklist. Doing well, Shen Qingqiu!
Next. Shen Yuan wasn’t a fan of Proud Immortal Demon Way, he really wasn’t. He mostly hate-read through it, and he thinks the only acceptable parts are the monsters, the flora and fauna, and the general worldbuilding of the human and demon realms. If he were to compile his chapter-by-chapter comments, it was probably substantial enough to publish his own book. Then, was it fun reading Luo Binghe carry out his conquest of territories and women, fueled by rage and hatred? In all honesty, it was a stinking stallion novel on fifty levels of power fantasies. It was written to make readers feel good about whatever Luo Binghe did. So, yes, kind of, if Shen Yuan has to admit.
But this was a little different, it had to be a little different, when Shen Yuan is no longer the reader, a third-party, but now in the role of Shen Qingqiu, watching Luo Binghe grow up, having the power over how Luo Binghe grows up. And, if Shen Qingqiu may, he did a good job raising Luo Binghe – the little bunny protagonist had grown up to be a reliable and strong young man even without the guidance of his teacher now.
And, he might’ve done too much of a good job, that now Luo Binghe was attracted to him instead of the many potential wives that Shen Qingqiu knows he was going to have.
Luo Binghe… his precious, cute, endearing white lotus bunny disciple. Shen Qingqiu had used to like reading him as the blackened stallion protagonist, and if he were to be honest, he’d liked this version of Luo Binghe as well, sweet and hardworking, hungry for Shizun’s praise, powerful in his own way. And now that he’s twenty, maybe it was time for Shen Qingqiu to stop treating him like the child he used to be.
But still… in that way…?
Many sleepless nights ensue for Shen Qingqiu over this one question.
Days turn into months, and Luo Binghe has still not returned. The days pass very slowly when Luo Binghe is away, Shen Qingqiu finds. Aside from the fact that he was really starting to miss Luo Binghe’s cooking, even the other Peak Lords had habitually started asking about his apprentice, and if it was the reason why Shen Qingqiu had looked “gloomy” lately.
Huh. He hasn’t even noticed that himself.
Initially, it went okay, with Shen Qingqiu still having his regular paperwork and duties as a Shizun to attend to, and Ning Yingying had stepped up to offer as a substitute for Luo Binghe as a Shizun-caretaker. Ashamed that he’s acting so out of it that people were all starting to notice, and still wary of what the original Shen Qingqiu had done to the poor girl, Shen Qingqiu had to reject her help gently, telling her to focus her time and energy on improving her cultivation instead. She accepts the decision without much refusal.
Then, eventually, it got tiring, waiting for Luo Binghe with no promise on when he would be back. Shen Qingqiu had then decided to fully enjoy what this world has to offer (aside from Luo Binghe, and immortality), taking most of his free time losing himself in reading (free monster and worldbuilding lore!), and improving his other skills (swordplay and music). Soon, he also discovers that he can use his acquired guqin proficiency for something interesting, since all these serious xianxia people did with the instrument was to manipulate feelings, senses, or communicate with spirits. An insult to the elegant instrument! Where was the cultural appreciation of music in the cultivation community?
So, it went like this. Shen Qingqiu, bored out of his mind, had started to practice his guqin skills for self-entertainment purposes. He made up some lame excuse about trying to meditate with music alone, and ended up with a habit of sending all his disciples far away about twice a week.
Using his precious alone time, Shen Qingqiu spent days learning how to play music from his modern playlists that he misses so much on his guqin. Learning how to read music from these ancient books was a pain in itself, and he had to recall the songs that he liked, then transcribing them, and then finally playing them on the instrument. A painful process, but it was paying off. Quiet afternoons with just him, his guqin, and now the company of Mayday, had been worth all the trouble.
He had forgotten that people from An Ding Peak were supposed to visit today, part of their routine check-ins with the disciple quarters. Shang Qinghua had also quite enjoyed Shen Qingqiu’s company (and vice versa), and would always drop by to have a cup of tea or two before he left for his other duties.
Too engrossed in his new hobby, Shen Qingqiu doesn’t notice the petite Peak Lord standing at the sliding doors with his mouth agape, watching Shen Qingqiu pluck at the strings with a faraway, whimsical look on his face.
Shang Qinghua had arrived slightly earlier, and was drawn to the sound of Shen Qingqiu’s playing. He clears his throat and asks his disciples to carry on without him, looks around sneakily, and then rushes in to grab Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders hurriedly. Shen Qingqiu finally opens his eyes and looks at him in both surprise and guilt.
Shen Qingqiu was terrified, thinking that the An Ding Peak Lord was probably curious to what tune he was playing, and where he had learnt it from. He was ready to cook up a convenient lie in his head, but with comically huge eyes, Shang Qinghua gulps.
“Bro, was that JJ Lin?”
After that, Shen Qingqiu had adopted another hobby – talking to Shang Qinghua, who had stupidly exposed his own identity as Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, the writer of Proud Immortal Demon Way. Shen Qingqiu was still in shock that he had actually found the actual writer, who he had cursed at countless times over the computer screen, and they were both suffering in the same sect, as fellow Peak Lords, no less.
This had to be karma, right? Some sort of cosmic joke played on the both of them. The writer of a shitty novel, and the stupid hater who read all six thousand and something chapters of it. Anyhow, Shen Qingqiu needed to expel his inner frustrations somewhere anyway, and who was a better target for that aside from the literal root of all trouble? Even though this Airplane was a victim of unfortunate transmigration himself, he was still the reason why all of this was happening.
Besides, Shen Qingqiu had already been restraining himself from geeking out over the in-universe worldbuilding details, and was dying to share the information with someone willing (or not). Even though Shen Qingqiu was reluctant to praise the hack writer even a little bit, he was internally relieved that he had someone to share his experience with.
“What have you been doing all this time?” Shen Qingqiu asks.
“You have it lucky, Cucumber-bro,” Shang Qinghua sighs, already getting used to the nickname coined from Shen Yuan’s online handle, “I transmigrated to an earlier time and had to work my way up to Peak Lord. I even had to form my golden core myself! You came in here with a boosted account, that’s so unfair.”
Shen Qingqiu doesn’t have any retort to that, everything had really been conveniently easy for him so far.
“Maybe that’s because the System also knows you’re a hack writer.”
Shang Qinghua pretends he doesn’t hear. “Anyway, like the character, I’ve been a spy for the demons. It’s been cool though, I’ve been avoiding all the red flags and triggers, and it doesn’t seem like Mobei-jun wants me dead anytime soon yet. He’s like, super busy with Tianlang-jun and Luo Binghe, he doesn’t even have the time to—”
“Luo Binghe?”
“…Yes?” Shang Qinghua pauses, taking a sip of tea. “Cucumber-bro, did you get your head messed up after so many years here? Did you forget that Tianlang-jun wanted Luo Binghe to go back and use Xin Mo to help him merge the two realms?”
“No, wait, you have news on Luo Binghe?!” Shen Qingqiu repeats, “he doesn’t even have Xin Mo here, why do they want him back? He hasn’t even written me a letter or anything ever since he left, but you, a peripheral spy, gets the updates?”
“That’s a really weird thing to get jealous over,” Shang Qinghua tuts over Shen Qingqiu’s quick ‘not jealous!’, before continuing, “you think they have like, post offices in the demon realm? Bet they don’t even have messenger pigeons that aren’t also demonic and murdery. Chill out, bro. He’s doing okay. Last I heard, he was negotiating with Tianlang-jun so that he doesn’t get stuck there working as a shitty diplomat.”
Shen Qingqiu’s heart feels like it’s been doused with cold water, and also set on fire at the same time. It’s great news that Luo Binghe wasn’t in any sort of danger, and that Tianlang-jun wasn’t that deprived of morals he would harm his son, but… at the same time… this Luo Binghe, he really didn’t bother trying to update Shen Qingqiu in any way after that abrupt departure, huh? So much for ‘I love you, Shizun’, huh?! Does he even know how much Shen Qingqiu has worried about what had happened to him?!
“…Bro,” Shang Qinghua finally breaks the silence after Shen Qingqiu doesn’t reply, “you might wanna work on that poker face a bit more, I can’t believe you’re not suffering from the OOC alarms about right now.”
“What?” Shen Qingqiu snaps.
“Look in a mirror! You look absolutely heartbroken!” Shang Qinghua accusingly points a finger at his face. “Are you like, actually into Luo Binghe? Despite commenting like a hater? You know, although you write comments like that, I can tell you’re actually invested…”
“Airplane.” Shen Qingqiu heaves a long breath, “Luo Binghe told me he liked me. In the romantic way.” This was extremely embarrassing to say out loud. Shen Qingqiu wanted to bash his head into the tea table, if he could suffer no consequences from it.
“…”
“…You… you turned my protagonist…” Shang Qinghua stutters, “you turned my son gay?”
“How is it my fault! All I wanted to do was to make sure I don’t die like the original goods! I was just decently nice to Luo Binghe, acted like a regular teacher! This is your fault, actually, for making him so easily attached to people!”
“That’s why you looked like a crestfallen maiden earlier, huh, bro?” Shang Qinghua quickly grasps the main point, “you like him too.”
“What?”
“Oh trust me Cucumber-bro, I’m a writer. I know what I’m seeing. Actually, even if anyone else saw the kind of face you made just now, they’d think the same, too.”
Shen Qingqiu remains quiet, attempting to salvage the last shreds of his dignity and face in front of the accursed hack writer. “Shang Qinghua, haven’t you overstayed your welcome? I’m sure your good disciples are waiting for you outside now, so you should go.”
“Chasing me away now ‘cause you can’t face the facts?” Shang Qinghua cackles, then changes his expression to his usual Peak Lord cosplay one, and finally leaves. “I’ll see you again, Shen-shixiong.”
“…” Shen Qingqiu wants to strangle the hack writer. He always has, but today, a whole lot more.
He turns back to his guqin again, and starts mindlessly strumming away at the instrument, letting the calming melodies take him far, far away from his jumbled thoughts that have somehow gotten even more jumbled after that messed up talk with Airplane.
Just what did he actually feel about Luo Binghe, if he wasn’t judging the situation as his role as Shen Qingqiu?
Deep at night, Shen Qingqiu falls asleep after much inner turmoil.
When he refocuses his vision, he’s no longer in his bed – because his bed would never feel this soft. This felt like one of the modern air mattresses or down feather – or something – that would probably be advertised in modern day. Back in Shen Yuan’s day. Where was this?
Shen Qingqiu sits up and blinks. It was still his bamboo house, but everything felt about three times more pleasant to the eye, the sky outside a brilliant shade of blue and the trees were all in full bloom. If he’s not mistaken, this was his dreamscape, the bamboo house that exists in his subconscious. Why was he here instead of having a regular dream – or not having a dream at all – only had one answer.
“Binghe?” Shen Qingqiu calls out cautiously.
There was a brief moment of silence, and then the doors to the bamboo house slides open, and Shen Qingqiu takes in the sight of Luo Binghe for the first time after a whole year. Luo Binghe had grown taller again, and was no longer in his white Qing Jing Peak disciple uniform, but dressed in a long, heavy robe of black laced with intricate threads of red, a very familiar sight to Shen Qingqiu.
For a moment, he thinks to himself, that the real protagonist has finally appeared, after one too many delayed caused by his own hands. And yet, Luo Binghe’s face has no traces of the familiar sneer of hatred and blackening that was distinctive to Bing-ge. He had a soft smile on his face, and if Shen Qingqiu squints, he can even see the tears that are starting to gather in his big, downturned eyes.
“Shizun!” Luo Binghe exclaims, making his way closer to Shen Qingqiu, and Shen Qingqiu’s heart squeezes – not like it usually does out of how endearing this disciple is, but harder – somehow, like he was hit by a truck of emotions. Whatever being hit by a truck would feel like. It’s been so long, and hearing the familiar voice call out for him was so…
How would he describe this feeling…?
“Binghe, how have you been?” Shen Qingqiu asks, reaching his hand out to place it on Luo Binghe’s head. There were too many thoughts to deal with by himself, but this question was genuine. Even though he had heard the general story from Shang Qinghua, he still wanted the personal confirmation from Luo Binghe himself.
Luo Binghe looks up in slight surprise, probably because of the way Shen Qingqiu had figured out it was a dream already. “Shizun,” Luo Binghe whines softly, grabbing Shen Qingqiu’s hand from his head to clasp it in his hands again. Shen Qingqiu notices that he’s done this several times now, but his hands were big and warm and… Shen Qingqiu can’t find the energy to complain about it. “This disciple is doing fine. I have managed to see Tianlang-jun…” he pauses, like he felt the need to explain, but Shen Qingqiu nods for him to carry on. “…my birth father, and with some effort, managed to talk him out of having me stay there permanently.”
Shen Qingqiu nods again. So this was consistent with Shang Qinghua’s story, so far. “So…” Shen Qingqiu says, pursing his lips, the question not leaving his throat that easily. “When will Binghe be returning?”
At that question, Luo Binghe’s grip on Shen Qingqiu’s hands tightens, and he shifts closer to Shen Qingqiu, sitting on the bed now. Shen Qingqiu reflexively moves back, but he didn’t have his usual fan to hide his face now. Luo Binghe is so close! “Shizun, it’s been a while, but did you miss this disciple?”
Shen Qingqiu misses his fan dearly. He’s pretty sure his face was red – probably visible from where Luo Binghe is. “Have you gotten bolder during this time, Binghe, talking to this master like this?” With his free hand, he reaches up to touch Luo Binghe’s cheek, before he realizes what he was doing. “I raised you, can’t I want to see you?”
“Sh—Shizun!” Luo Binghe splutters, his eyes darting between looking at Shen Qingqiu, and Shen Qingqiu’s hand on his cheek, but Shen Qingqiu drops his hand quickly. “Of course Shizun can look all he wants,” he replies, the tips of his ears red, “although this disciple unfortunately had to change into the clothes of the demon clan, he still hopes he’s pleasing enough to the eye for Shizun.”
Shen Qingqiu clears his throat. He’s almost forgotten that Luo Binghe had sort of confessed to him thinking that Shen Qingqiu was asleep. He shouldn’t have been so rash—what was he thinking?! Wait, how can he salvage this situation now… Do Shizuns usually touch their disciples’ faces like that for no reason?! And what stupid thing did he just say?!
“…Binghe.”
“Shizun, I have something to tell you.”
They both say at the same time, looking up at one another.
“You go ahead, Binghe.”
Luo Binghe clears his throat and sits up properly, now taking both of Shen Qingqiu’s hands into his own. If this was really a fixation of his, Shen Qingqiu truly can’t find it in himself to complain. Might as well enjoy it. “Shizun, this disciple has wanted to tell you something for a very long time now.”
Shen Qingqiu tries to not let his hands jerk, not when Luo Binghe was still holding onto them. “Go on.”
“To Shizun, I…” Luo Binghe looks away, slightly embarrassed, “I like Shizun very much.” Shen Qingqiu is about to reply, but Luo Binghe raises their linked hands to his lips, and presses a soft kiss to Shen Qingqiu’s knuckles. “Shizun, I like you not like a disciple does his Shizun, but more. Shizun, in the demon realm, all I think about is coming home to you. The air is dry and cold where I stay, the trees don’t bloom naturally unless I will them to. It’s empty, and I get lonely, and I only think about wanting to find Shizun, to look at Shizun, to even kidnap Shizun and take him with me, to…” Luo Binghe pauses, looking furtively at Shen Qingqiu. “Like Shizun said, this disciple may have really gotten too bold while he was away. Could Shizun ever forgive me…?”
And Shen Qingqiu’s heart twinges, a pang of both pain and disgusting sweetness filling his lungs and making him unable to speak immediately. His poker face must’ve been all collapsed by now, and his eyebrows are furrowed, but there is a soft smile on his face. “Binghe. When has this master ever said no to any of your requests?”
Luo Binghe stills for a moment, processing the words, then he looks up with his eyes so bright Shen Qingqiu thinks he’s going to go blind. Or maybe he already was. Sticking with the almighty protagonist the whole time hadn’t turned him immune to the innate charm of Luo Binghe, and by the time he’s realized, he’s actually also pretty attracted to him as well.
In, like, the personal sense. He’s thought about it. There’s still much to discuss about if Luo Binghe doesn’t stop calling him ‘Shizun’ ever, but…
That’s something he’d have to deal with.
And that’s fine.
“Shizun, I… I’m sorry I can’t be back sooner.” Luo Binghe says, somehow still leaning closer to Shen Qingqiu, their noses almost touching now. “They have set a banquet in a week, and I’m supposed to attend to show my face to the regional lords. It’s a shame I can’t bring Shizun along with me…”
Shen Qingqiu reaches up to pinch Luo Binghe’s cheek. “Don’t be mischievous, Binghe.” He chides, but still finds it hard to drop the smile from his face. Luo Binghe… had he always been this adorable? Shen Qingqiu can’t help but start to notice every detail of his disciple now, from his inhumanely perfect face to his soft, flowing long hair, to the veins on his hands, to the way he’s looking at Shen Qingqiu, emotions swirling deep in his eyes. It makes Shen Qingqiu want to run, but he finds that he can’t.
Luo Binghe doesn’t stop staring, and they’re so close now – Shen Qingqiu wants to take the silence to move away, but Luo Binghe tugs him close in one motion, and before Shen Qingqiu recovers from the movement, Luo Binghe’s lips were pressed against his, a lot softer than he could ever imagine.
(Not that he’s ever imagined them. Maybe it was just another side protagonist perk to have extremely kissable lips.)
Luo Binghe presses closer when Shen Qingqiu doesn’t resist, wrapping an arm around Shen Qingqiu and presses his other hand against the nape of Shen Qingqiu’s neck, tilting his head. Wait, Shen Qingqiu – Shen Yuan had never kissed anyone before (don’t judge). But he’s pretty sure Luo Binghe doesn’t have any experience in this field either, so why…
(Maybe it was another side protagonist—)
Anyway. Luo Binghe is nibbling at his lips, and if Shen Qingqiu wasn’t so distressed by his own lack of experience, he would’ve thought it was cute. At a particular harsh nip, Shen Qingqiu gasps, and Luo Binghe takes the opening to slide his tongue in, and it’s – it’s unbelievably rude, the way he was manhandling his respected Shizun, and yet… it’s also really hot. If Shen Qingqiu was forced to admit at gunpoint. He inadvertently leans into the kiss, letting Luo Binghe lick into his mouth and suck on his tongue like an overly enthusiastic puppy, all while juggling the internal awe of how broken this protagonist was.
Shen Qingqiu’s hands wind up in Luo Binghe’s hair, pulling at the thick strands slightly as he tries to pull away. Luo Binghe finally releases Shen Qingqiu, pecking his lips a few times more as Shen Qingqiu gasps for air. Were his lungs of protagonist caliber as well? How will Shen Qingqiu ever survive like this? Please don’t let him get traumatized over a kiss! Shen Yuan may have died a virgin, but nobody else had to know!
“Thank you for the farewell gift, Shizun,” Luo Binghe says, voice dripping with honey, a huge, satisfied smile plastered on his face as he leans in for another kiss, “this disciple will try his best to come home as soon as he can.”
“…” Shen Qingqiu can’t find the right words to say, not right after having the air kissed out of him by his very capable, very hacked disciple. He briefly regrets this, but he takes a look at the beaming Luo Binghe and the thought melts away.
Luo Binghe holds his hands once more, letting the warmth linger between the two of them, and the dream shatters in an instant, Shen Qingqiu’s vision fading to black slowly.
Luo Binghe had promised a week.
It had been two weeks.
Beyond the demon realm, the news of the annual banquet held by Tianlang-jun had spread far thanks to the hot topic of his only son returning from the human realm, and that he had actually been living in one of the most prominent sects in the human realm.
Seeing may be believing, but hearing was not believing, since Shen Qingqiu’s anxiety hadn’t settled as time had started to pass after the one-week mark. Had Binghe been delayed? Where was the dream to update him about it? He’d even take the murderous killer pigeon mail at this point!
Shen Qingqiu wasn’t an impatient man, no, he wasn’t. If anyone had seen him pacing back and forth at the foot of the grand marble stairs of Qing Jing Peak’s entrance every evening, they did not.
He’s even starting to hear weird rumors spreading about him waiting for Luo Binghe to come back, like a weird obsessed Shizun. Okay, this was a fact, but nobody else had to know. Besides, if a disciple disappears only with a letter saying he’d be back, it was only natural for his Shizun to be concerned! That was all there is to it!
To other people, anyway.
At the monthly Peak Lord conference, he didn’t get to escape either.
Shang Qinghua was the exception – he already long knew what was up between Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe – and although he had outwardly lamented about Shen Qingqiu changing Luo Binghe’s sexual orientation and all that, he had also been supportive, showing up at Qing Jing Peak every now and then to listen to Shen Qingqiu rant and sigh for hours on.
Also, while they sent their disciples away, they now also had frequent karaoke sessions over guqin covers of dearly missed Mandopop and anime opening songs.
Other Peak Lords – Yue Qingyuan, for instance – had been more worried, thinking that something was deathly wrong with Shen Qingqiu for him to be so concerned over a disciple, over Luo Binghe, no less. He wasn’t wrong – if this was still the original Shen Qingqiu, his Shen Jiu, it might’ve been the case. He should’ve told Mu Qingfang to check on him a long time ago.
But it wasn’t.
“Shen-shidi…” Yue Qingyuan starts, trailing off like he wasn’t sure how to bring his point across. Shen Qingqiu already knew what he was trying to say, but he politely waits for the sect leader to finish.
Except he doesn’t. The resident snark, Bai Zhan Peak Lord Liu Qingge walks over and takes his seat next to Shen Qingqiu, looking over at the both of them. “Zhangmen-shixiong is trying to say that you look out of the window so often nowadays that we’ve started to wonder if you have a hidden wife out there who just passed away.”
“…”
“Xiao-jiu,” Yue Qingyuan finally says, with a smile on his face. If Shen Qingqiu hadn’t been so used to distancing himself from the other man, as per Shen Qingqiu character description, he would’ve been enraptured by the rare soft expression on his stoic face. “We know you’re concerned about Luo Binghe. Are you sure you don’t want us to carry out a search party for you? Even though we don’t usually try to interfere with the… the other realm, we could…”
“It’s alright, Zhangmen-shixiong.” Shen Qingqiu watches Yue Qingyuan’s expression fall slightly as he doesn’t reciprocate the childhood nickname, but thinks to himself that he doesn’t owe him that, anyway, not when he wasn’t really Shen Jiu. “If he says he’ll return, I trust him.” He pauses, then takes the opportunity to ask, “rather, is the sect fine with him coming back? With his demonic lineage made known to all, if he were to become a future point of possible conflict with the other major sects…”
“…If Shen-shidi would like him to stay here, I would be willing to take care of it and make sure it wouldn’t be used as something against us.”
Liu Qingge looks on wordlessly, while the other Peak Lords were also starting to covertly listen in on the gossip-worthy conversation.
“I wouldn’t want to trouble everyone like that,” Shen Qingqiu replies, worry in his tone. Although he hasn’t really formed the kind of strong emotional bonds with the people in this room that he should’ve, it’s still become some sort of a welcoming place for him these days. If people from other sects were to actually use the fact that the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect was housing a half-demon to try to undermine their standing… “I’ll think of something when he comes back.”
The topic was dropped then, and Yue Qingyuan had nodded with him with a slightly resigned expression as he led the conference as per usual.
Shen Qingqiu didn’t manage to pay much attention.
It had been another week, maybe two – Shen Qingqiu has started to lose count now. Not to be dramatic. But it had been some evening – the compounds were empty since the disciples have been sent off for dinner, and it had only been Shen Qingqiu doing his usual mindless walking around the stairs. The disciples have long gotten sick of staring at their Shizun doing this for weeks on end now, and have left him to his own devices since a while ago.
“Shizun!”
Shen Qingqiu jumps, his fan almost falling out of his hand as he turns around so fast, he swears his hair crown was going to fall off as well. (So much for not to be dramatic…) “Binghe?”
And there he was, Luo Binghe in his full demon lord glory, taller and even more handsome than when they had met in Shen Qingqiu’s dream before.
Shen Qingqiu almost has the air knocked out of his lungs at the sight.
Unfortunately, in this moment, he could almost relate to the many harem members fainting over Luo Binghe’s good looks in the trashy novel. Almost.
Shen Qingqiu can’t help but compare the sight in front of him to the stallion protagonist he’s always known, draped in bold robes of black, silver and red, and thinks that if the original Shen Qingqiu were here to see this, he’d probably want to strangle his imposter to death on the spot. Or, he might also be rolling in his spiritual grave right now. At least he’s not tortured alive as a human stick, Shen Qingqiu muses. Still a good outcome for everyone.
“This disciple apologizes for returning late,” Luo Binghe says, bowing and cupping his hands together respectfully. “I’m back, Shizun.”
Aware of the possible eyes around them, Shen Qingqiu bites back his urges to do weird shit like pet Luo Binghe’s head. “It’s fine if you’re back.”
“Sorry for making Shizun wait.” Luo Binghe shuffles closer. “While on my way back, I actually thought of something, and acted without Shizun’s prior permission… Please forgive this disciple, but… will Shizun follow me?”
“What is it?” Shen Qingqiu calmly answers, like he wasn’t going to say yes to anything Luo Binghe might say now.
Luo Binghe only smiles grabs his hand, and takes Shen Qingqiu onto Zheng Yang. Shen Qingqiu can barely respond to the sudden action, more so the worry that someone might’ve seen what they were doing – but the two of them were already flying away from the training grounds, landing in a secluded little forest not too far away from Cang Qiong Mountain.
It was a house. Not too big, and not too small, just enough for the two of them, Shen Qingqiu thinks, entirely unbidden. He quickly smashes the thought into pieces in his mind.
“Shizun, this may be too forward, but I know… I know that with my identity, it would make it difficult for everyone if I were to stay in the sect. But this disciple is also selfish, and wanted Shizun by my side. If…” Luo Binghe swallows, looking at the ground, “if Shizun would prefer remaining in the sect, this disciple will not stop him.”
Shen Qingqiu looks at him silently, thinking about how to respond to that.
“But if not,” Luo Binghe continues, “this disciple went ahead and tried recreating Shizun’s sleeping quarters here. Made it into a house. I… I was thinking of staying here, and if Shizun wanted, he could visit me anytime, and I would be content with just that… Shizun has his duties, and I—”
Shen Qingqiu moves before he can think, tapping his fan on Luo Binghe’s forehead, which makes the younger man stop rambling. “Binghe.”
“…Yes, Shizun…?”
“Would this master let you do whatever you wanted, waited for you for so long, and didn’t complain when you pulled him away like this, if I was unhappy about it?”
“No, Shizun, but… that means…”
“Staying here alone, you say?” Shen Qingqiu smiles. “You? You probably wouldn’t make it three days before running home and asking to become this master’s apprentice again.”
“Shizun, you…”
Shen Qingqiu moves closer to Luo Binghe, yanking on Luo Binghe’s robes to pull him down to press a kiss on his cheek.
“This master is fine with this.”
Shen Qingqiu watches as Luo Binghe’s eyes well up with tears, and soon he’s crying for real, wet tears falling on the back of Shen Qingqiu’s hands as he moves to wipe them away from Luo Binghe’s face.
“This master is fine with you.”