Work Text:
As Shen Yuan quickly wraps his hands around his shidi’s neck, he quietly reflects on what exactly led to him being held tightly in Liu Qingge’s lap.
Just like every other bad thing in this world, Shen Yuan notes, it’s all Airplane-bro’s fault.
-/-
“As god of this world-“
“Bro, you sound like Kira.”
“Well, I’m a gay, sooo…” the two transmigrators laugh, and Shen Yuan actually refrains from smacking Shang Qinghua with his fan. Look at that, there’s a first time for everything.
“Anyway! As the AUTHOR of this world, I know my characters, okay? I can like read their minds, Cucumber-bro. Therefore, I need you to realize that I have discovered the two inimitable laws of the land, my land, this land is my land ehm… or your land. Wait, what was I saying?”
Shen Yuan rolls his eyes above his fan and scoffs loudly, “some stupid shit about ‘knowing your characters’.”
Shang Qinghua may have had one too many cups of wine, but he still valiantly fights on. He’s got shit to say, alright! “Yeah! Ummm, so like two things. First!”
Shen Yuan leans forward in obvious interest, clearly having also had a bit too much wine. Shang Qinghua looks his friend dead in the eye and says, “Your brother is fucking Yue Qingyuan.”
Shen Yuan gags just a bit.
“And second?” He asks after recovering. His face is blazingly red, and for a moment he envies his brother’s stone cold bitch face, Shen Jiu would never blush like this just because of a jug or two (or seven) of rice wine.
“And!” The author declares over dramatically, “If you run and leap at any one of the Peak Lords, they will, most certainly, catch you in their arms.”
Shen Yuan snorts, narrowly avoiding smashing a jar of wine into the bamboo mats lining the hut’s floor with his now closed fan, “Yeah, right.”
“I’m stone cold serious, Bro. You’re like everyone’s favorite,” he pauses briefly. “Except for Yue Qingyuan’s…”
They both shudder.
However, despite the sudden bout of disgust, Shen Yuan quickly returns with one word: “Bet.”
-/-
Shen Yuan considers himself about average. Sure, his cultivation’s pretty good, but that’s only because he had such a head start. Sure, he’s a bit good-looking, but everyone else in the sect is too. Especially the other Peak Lords. And, sure, he’s pretty knowledgeable about beasts and plants, but that’s just a side effect of him reading each chapter of Proud Immortal Demon Way at least three times.
Anyway, Shen Yuan is average. Average people have friends, but they don’t inspire like undying loyalty and shit. Peak Lords do not drop whatever they’re doing to catch average people.
That’s why, as an average person, Shen Yuan feels so confident making the bet with Shang Qinghua.
-/-
...That confidence may have been a bit misplaced.
-/-
“Let’s start off easy,” Airplane-bro whispers distractingly while Shen Yuan is trying to focus on the important information Yue Qingyuan is presenting. To be fair though, Shen Yuan wasn’t doing such a great job paying attention even before the author’s interruption.
“What?” Shen Yuan quietly responds, doing his best to make it clear that he’s not really that interested in his friend’s nonsense. Good thing he’s a decent actor. Obviously, Shen Yuan can’t let Airplane-bro know he actually finds him relatively entertaining.
Shang Qinghua not so secretly says, “the bet, remember? I say we start easy. How about Shen Qingqiu?”
“Hmph, he’s my brother before he’s a Peak Lord, of course he’d catch me.” Still, Shen Yuan figures that starting off with a win will make Shang Qinghua happy, so he isn’t too put out, especially when he knows his victory is rather inevitable. Even if Qing Jing’s Peak Lord, a.k.a. his brother, catches him, none of the others will.
“Would you rather we start with Liu Qingge?” Shen Yuan sneers. He wants to win, yeah, but like, he would prefer to temporarily postpone the inevitable impact with the ground he’s bound to experience after his shidi fails to catch him.
“Shen Qingqiu it is,” Shang Qinghua mutters while Shen Yuan begins sizing up his brother’s position.
“After the meeting?” The author offers, Shen Yuan nods once.
-/-
‘After the meeting’ comes much faster than Shen Yuan expected when Liu Qingge finally manages to goad Shen Jiu into the duel he’s been aiming for all month, and the two Peak Lords leave in a frenzied dash.
At first, Shen Yuan assumes that the impromptu challenge means a delay in fulfilling the first part of the bet. Shang Qinghua disagrees, “Bro, now is like the perfect time! Just throw yourself at Shen Qingqiu as soon as they separate for a sec.”
“What if Liu Qingge stabs me?!”
“He won’t,” Shang Qinghua says with confidence.
Shen Yuan squints distrustfully, “what if he does?”
A sniffle, “you’ll heal.”
Shen Yuan scoffs, but he also easily draws his sword, so he can follow after his brother and shidi. Bai Zhan Peak isn’t too far, but Shen Yuan doesn’t want to miss his chance.
Confession Time™, here’s what Shen Yuan’s got. His fellow Lords’ll tell you he’s a terrible sh-ehem, anyway. So, there’s a few things one needs to know about Shen Yuan’s relationship with his brother in order to understand the simultaneous fear and trust that he has for Shen Jiu. One: Shen Jiu is his older brother by two years, but because of transmigration and shit, Shen Yuan often feels less like the younger one and more like an ever suffering mother. But like, he’s chill with it at this point. Two: despite the fact that Shen Jiu is a possible future Scum Villain, he loves his didi very much. That makes Shen Yuan at least 85% certain he’ll be caught. However, that last fifteen is up for grabs because of number three: Shen Jiu is a petty little bitch that acts like he’s above it all, but totally isn’t really. That’s why it’s so easy for him to be drawn into fights by their War God shidi. Shen Jiu cares, and he likes fighting, so Liu Qingge’s challenges are usually lowkey very exciting for both of the Shen brothers.
So, yeah. Shen Yuan is fairly confident that his brother will catch him, but also, if he ends up stabbed by his shidi in the process, he won’t be overly surprised. Good thing his cultivation is high enough to make most stab wounds little more than annoyances.
When he gets to Bai Zhan, Shen Yuan can already hear the tell-tale clang of sword strikes. After that, it isn’t hard at all to pin down what part of the training grounds the two Peak Lords decided to remodel this time.
“Gege!” Shen Yuan shouts once he jumps off his sword. In the distance, he knows Shang Qinghua is slowly catching up with him. For all that he’s an official Lord of a legit peak, Airplane-bro is weak AF. Shen Yuan can beat him in a sword race or fight with his eyes closed.
Shen Jiu immediately notices his little brother’s arrival and sharply smiles in reply. He can’t do much more than that though. Liu Qingge’s got him deadlocked with their swords crossed. Any distraction on the Qing Jing Peak Lord’s part will lead to his instant loss and also possible maiming. They’re using a LOT of spiritual energy. Mentally, Shen Yuan adds a week to his estimated healing time in the event that he really does get stabbed.
Eventually, Liu Qingge seems to get bored of the stalemate, so he pulls off a, frankly unnecessarily showy, twirl and slides Cheng Luan down Xiu Ya with a metallic screech. After the swords disconnect, both cultivators quickly distance themselves before circling like vultures. Or maybe sharks.
Shang Qinghua less than elegantly lands next to him, and Shen Yuan looks over briefly. Airplane-bro makes some sort of weird baseball gestures, and Shen Yuan just stares. After like three more useless hand motions, he seems to catch on to their invalidity, “Go now! It’s like the perfect time, chances of stabbing are at an all time low!”
Shen Yuan privately agrees with that observation, but he outwardly rolls his eyes in a show of begrudging acceptance. With a put upon sigh, he dematerializes his sword and takes a running start at his brother.
“Gege, catch me!” He yells, and for a moment, a very brief moment where he notices how Shen Jiu instinctively raises Xiu Ya, Shen Yuan wonders if he was worried about being stabbed by the wrong person. But then Shen Jiu hurriedly throws his SPIRITUAL WEAPON onto Bai Zhan’s dirt training field and wraps his newly freed arms around Shen Yuan’s incoming body.
“I told you!” Shang Qinghua shouts from the sidelines as Shen Yuan is caught, bridal style, by Shen Qingqiu.
“What was that?” Shen Jiu viciously asks his didi. There’s some genuine concern in his eyes, and Shen Yuan almost feels guilty, especially when he remembers his brother’s immediate abandonment of Xiu Ya.
“Nice catch,” Shen Yuan chokes out through his rising embarrassment as his brother sets him down and retrieves his sword. Before Shen Jiu can question him further, he sprints back to Shang Qinghua. Together, they mount their swords and disappear.
Shen Jiu and Liu Qingge watch them go, still clearly mystified by the whole interaction.
“Does Shen-shixiong do this frequently?” Liu Qingge asks after a minute or two of silence.
“My brother is a strange creature.” Then Shen Jiu adds quickly, “and don’t call him shixiong, you freak.”
And so, their challenge is renewed, but Shen Yuan's strange actions are not forgotten.
-/-
“Was I right, or was I right?” Shang Qinghua crows as they dismount their swords on An Ding Peak. Shen Yuan smacks him with his fan.
“My brother doesn’t even really count. This doesn’t prove anything.”
“Sure, it doesn’t.” Shang Qinghua smiles indulgingly, and Shen Yuan has a hard time resisting the urge to throttle him… so he doesn’t.
Bai Zhan isn’t the only training field to get destroyed that day.
-/-
“Yue Qingyuan,” Shang Qinghua tells Shen Yuan once he’s released from Qian Cao. Mu Qingfang had thoroughly scolded them when they showed up, both riding on Shen Yuan’s sword Jue Shi, but Shen Yuan feels like they didn't really deserve it. After all, his brother and shidi were almost certainly in worse states when they finished their battle. Mu Qingfang is clearly a dirty rotten doctor specializing in favoritism. Well, it’s that, or he’s genuinely concerned about Shang Qinghua’s health if he continues being beaten into the dirt every two-ish weeks. Ah, it could go either way.
Shen Yuan tries to pretend that he doesn’t know exactly what Airplane-bro means, but this time his practiced bitch face fails him. Shen Yuan swears his brother got all the coffin face genes. Pei, unfair. Even his genetics show favoritism towards Shen Jiu. Shen Yuan grumbles lightly before responding, “where?”
“He’s having tea with Shen Qingqiu on Qing Jing Peak in like three hours, isn’t he?”
Shen Yuan briefly stops his leisurely stride in order to glare at his stupid fuck of a friend. Shang Qinghua looks only mildly offended, he’s probably used to it at this point. Maybe Shen Yuan needs to step it up… hmmm. Something to think about. He materializes his sword for the sixth time that day. “You,” he starts, threateningly brandishing Jue Shi, “want me to interrupt my brother and Qi-ge’s meeting? The same meeting that basically everyone in Cang Qiong Mountain knows is an excuse for papapa. Just to continue our bet?”
Shang Qinghua wilts slightly, backing out of swinging range, “I meant before he gets there!”
“Hmph,” Jue Shi disappears once again. Shen Yuan considers it, and after a while of tense silence, he agrees. At least this way, Yue Qingyuan won’t be in the midst of a battle when Shen Yuan interrupts him. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Shang Qinghua looks too smug for such a simple success, but Shen Yuan is feeling lenient enough to let it slide.
-/-
The two manage to catch sight of the Sect Leader before he notices them which 100% shocks Shen Yuan. But then again, Yue Qingyuan is headed to visit Jiu-gege, of course he’d be distracted. Nasty.
Airplane-bro elbows him, it doesn’t hurt, but it does easily catch his attention.
“What?” Shen Yuan bites out. Shang Qinghua makes the universal sign for hurry the fuck up, and Shen Yuan actually understands it this time. Cursing his drunken self viciously, Shen Yuan quickly pulls himself out of the bush they had successfully hidden in to escape the Sect Leader’s notice. Before attempting his run and jump, he straightens out his robes and waves at Qi-ge. Yue Qingyuan waves back, even though he’s clearly curious about Shen Yuan’s sudden appearance.
Shen Yuan gives him zero chance to inquire about his actions. In less than twenty seconds, he’s airborne, and the Sect Leader is obviously the target. Yue Qingyuan easily catches him bemusedly and sets him down.
“Fuck,” Shen Yuan sighs and walks back into the bush he appeared from.
-/-
“Xiao Jiu,” Yue Qingyuan inquires steadily as the Qing Jing Peak Lord pours each of them a cup of tea.
“Yes?” Shen Qingqiu testily answers. He flips his sleeves back into their proper positions and leans back, effectively straightening himself in perfect posture. Yue Qingyuan smiles sadly when he notices the other cultivator’s unconscious habit. Shen Qingqiu ignores him, instead focusing on his recently acquired tea.
“Has Xiao Yuan been acting odd recently?” The Sect Leader asks gently.
Shen Qingqiu looks up with a blank expression, “You too, huh?”
-/-
“This doesn’t mean you’ve won. Because like, you haven’t won, alright? Two’s not a pattern, it’s a coincidence at best. And they’re both like my family. This means nothing.”
Shang Qinghua is riding his own sword this time because he ‘didn’t want to impose on his Cucumber-bro’. They both know it’s a BS excuse to prevent Shen Yuan from being in the position to drop Shang Qinghua from 400 ft up. Maybe, Shen Yuan ponders, Mu Qingfang is right to be concerned about Airplane-bro. Recently, Shen Yuan has been feeling particularly violent, specifically towards the mostly useless author… maybe he should consider letting up a bit.
“Whatever you say, Bro,” the Peak Lord says from the safety of his own sword. Shen Yuan gives him a dark look, but the other transmigrator continues anyway, “but I swear, I’m gonna win. They all love you, Cucumber-bro. Even like, Wei Qingwei.”
Shen Yuan’s eye twitches. Shang Qinghua doesn’t notice.
“So…” he drawls lazily as he guides his sword closer to Shen Yuan’s. “Who’s next?”
“Mu QingFang,” is Shen Yuan's brief reply. Shang Qinghua looks at him and asks why.
“We’re headed that way.”
“We’re going to An Ding to finish the paperwork for the next round of disciple selection. An Ding is like three peaks away from Qian Cao.”
Shen Yuan snorts before striking out with his foot faster than the other transmigrator can react. The impact easily knocks Airplane-bro off his sword. As he falls, Shen Yuan innocently shouts after him, “How are you supposed to do paperwork when you’re so obviously injured!”
Shang Qinghua shrieks as his descent is slowed by many lush tree branches. They still hurt, but like, he should count himself lucky that Shen Yuan waited till they were no longer lethally high before kicking him.
-/-
They go to Qian Cao before An Ding, after all. Mu Qingfang is unimpressed.
-/-
Despite Shang Qinghua’s injuries, he’s still energetic enough to noisily insist that Shen Yuan follow through with the next target. Shen Yuan actually feels a little bit guilty about destroying yet another of the author’s nicer robes, so he refrains from meanly refusing to continue their stupid game. Instead, he waits for Mu Qingfang to come back into their private room to officially check Shang Qinghua out.
When the Peak Lord finally enters, Shen Yuan is subjected to even more scolding.
“He’s not like you and Liu-shixiong! He’s not even as sturdy as I am. You can’t keep doing this Shen-shixiong, he’ll die, or ruin his cultivation!” Mu Qingfang is really getting into it this time. Shen Yuan feels properly ashamed, that is, until he catches sight of Airplane-bro sticking his tongue out at him from the corner of his eye. The shame is pretty much gone after that.
“He’s still a Peak Lord,” Shen Yuan mutters before straightening up and nodding at his shidi. “You’re right, Mu-shidi. I should treat him more gently. After all, he is the weakest of us, and I couldn’t imagine what would happen if he were to suddenly be put out of operation. How would the Sect run without the help of An Ding’s Peak Lord?”
Shang Qinghua sniffles in mild offense, Mu Qingfang lets out a long suffering sigh, but he also smiles, so Shen Yuan knows he isn’t too upset at the sort of heartless and lackluster reply.
“How the Sect runs isn’t what Shixiong should be worried about,” Mu Qingfang admonishes him.
“But isn’t that what every Peak Lord should be worried about?” Shen Yuan replies innocently in mock confusion. Shang Qinghua gestures rudely from his place behind the Qian Cao Peak Lord. Shen Yuan ignores him.
Mu Qingfang looks just a bit disappointed, but also equally amused. He rolls his eyes and turns so that he can see both of the incredibly childish cultivators at the same time. He says, “If not for each other's well being, then for the sake of mine. Peak Lords should not come and go from the medical peak nearly as much as they do. I already have to deal with Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge every month. I don’t want to see Shang Qinghua here more often than those two, even if he often annoys you, Shen-shixiong. The paperwork one Peak Lord’s visit creates alone is more than I usually have to deal with in a normal week.”
Shen Yuan finally feels properly chastised, so he bows his head in apology and offers to help his shidi with said paperwork.
Mu Qingfang seems to momentarily consider before refusing politely, “if Shen Qingqiu caught me forcing you to do reports, he’d increase my workload by ten times. Don’t ask why. Don’t ask how. Just know that he will, and because of the risk, this shidi cannot accept Shixiong’s offer despite thoroughly appreciating it.”
“Sorry,” Shen Yuan surrenders helplessly, “my brother can be a bit over the top.”
Shang Qinghua makes a rather loud noise of agreement, and, when he isn’t hit for it, smugly grins and mentally thanks Mu Qingfang for his top notch guilting abilities. The Peak Lord has mad ‘mom’ing skills.
“That’s quite alright, I know Shixiong has little control over his brother. I would just like to escape his ire this time.” Mu Qingfang looks down at the papers spread across the table in the corner of the treatment room. They probably have a summary of Airplane-bro’s recent injuries or something because, after reading them, the medical peak’s Lord quietly dismisses himself to grab a salve for Shang Qinghua’s possibly broken elbow. Shen Yuan calls BS on that particular diagnosis though. If the author’s elbow really was broken, he wouldn’t be as carefree as he’s currently acting. Mu Qingfang is probably just being overly cautious after the An Ding Peak Lord’s many recent visits.
“When he comes back in, jump him!” Shang Qinghua whisper-shouts as soon as the other cultivator is out of sight.
“Never say that again,” Shen Yuan says calmly, and despite the actual words he uses, it's as close to an agreement as Airplane-bro’s gonna get from him. Together, they wait for Mu Qingfang to return. Shen Yuan stands in preparation, and as soon as he hears footsteps at the door, he moves.
He probably should’ve looked before he jumped, but he figured that Mu Qingfang would be the only possible option for the visitor. He was wrong.
Instead of finding himself in the doctor’s arms, or, more likely, on the floor, Shen Yuan is held tightly to Wei Qingwei’s chest. The Peak Lord looks down at him in obvious bewilderment and Shen Yuan blushes up to his ears before hopping down.
Shang Qinghua is laughing hysterically behind him, and Shen Yuan briefly considers the pros and cons of murdering a fellow Peak Lord.
“Shen Yuan?” Wei Qingwei questions, his arms crossing in front of his wide chest. Shen Yuan doesn’t know exactly how to explain his actions, so he just decides to pretend like nothing happened.
“Yes, what did Wei-shidi need?” In Shen Yuan’s personal opinion, he thinks he pulls off the unaffected immortal look quite well, especially with the added effect of the fan he’s pulled out to hold in front of his mouth.
“Hm,” the Wan Jian Peak Lord hums at the change of subject, but he goes with it, in the hope of ultimately finishing his tasks quicker. “This shidi was looking for Shen-shixiong in order to get his opinion on the next round of Qing Jing disciples to earn their spiritual weapons. However, it would probably be better to discuss this while Shen Qingqiu is also with us. Would this time next week work for you and him?”
Thankful for his shidi’s nonchalance, Shen Yuan immediately agrees, and without much delay, Wei Qingwei is gone.
Shen Yuan buries his burning face in his hands, fan most likely squishing an unflattering pattern into his right cheek. Shang Qinghua still hasn’t stopped laughing, but he has quieted down a bit. Thank the Gods for small mercies.
“Two may be a coincidence, but three’s a pattern, Cucumber-bro!”
Shen Yuan stills and lifts his cooling face to stare at his friend with incredibly dead eyes, he whispers, “the pros are starting to outweigh the cons.”
“What?” The author asks, Shen Yuan doesn’t reply. Shang Qinghua quickly gives up on knowing his bro’s meaning. Instead, he focuses on the recent events. Well, event. “What did I say? They’ll all catch you! You barely even talk to Wei Qingwei, and he still caught you with no prior notice. You’re like everyone’s favorite cat. No one drops their favorite cat!”
“Shut up,” Shen Yuan hisses, only further proving the cat thing. Shang Qinghua starts laughing again and Shen Yuan hears a crack. It’s from his fan, the transmigrator notes monotonously. Jiu-gege will be disappointed, it was a gift from him, after all. It’s also one of Shen Yuan’s favorite fans, and one of the only ones he used frequently. Just another beautiful thing ruined because of the shameless, idiotic, useless piece of shit masquerading as a Peak Lord, Shang Qinghua. However, instead of finally putting the little rat out of his misery and ending his sad existence, Shen Yuan swears to win the dumbass bet he never should have made.
Starting, and hopefully ending, with Mu Qingfang. Wei Qingwei was a fluke, and Jiu-gege and Qi-ge were dead-give-aways. Shen Yuan knows that this pattern will not hold.
Shang Qinghua seems to be able to read Shen Yuan’s sudden determination, if not his murderous intent, as he practically sings out a further taunt, “Mu Qingfang’ll catch you! Liu Qingge’ll catch you! They’re all going to. Stop lying to yourself, Cucumber-bro! Denial isn’t a good look for you.”
“We’ll see about that,” Shen Yuan grits out.
The room’s two occupants sit in silence after Shen Yuan’s ominous words. One smug, the other determined.
When they finally hear footsteps once again, Shen Yuan quickly uses his Qi to check the identity of the approaching cultivator. Lo-and-behold, it’s Mu Qingfang.
After a short moment of mental preparation, Shen Yuan sees the doctor turn the corner into their room. Without giving his incredibly thin face a chance to prevent him from doing what he must, Shen Yuan leaps at his shidi with a shout of ‘Catch!’
And then what happens?
MU. FUCKING. QINGFANG catches him!
WTF is this shit?!!
“You still haven’t won!” Shen Yuan yells at Shang Qinghua as soon as his shidi places him onto his feet. After his proclamation, he takes off down the hall. The then abandoned Shang Qinghua struggles not to keep laughing in a way definitely not befitting a Peak Lord, even the weakest. Mu Qingfang gives a look that basically says ‘keep trying, you might be able to trick me next year’.
When Shen Qingqiu enters the room, mere moments after his brother dramatically exits, Shang Qinghua is still struggling to keep the embarrassing squeaks of amusement inside, and Mu Qingfang is staring at him in disappointed confusion.
Shen Qingqiu scoffs at his brother’s best friend. He lightly fans himself while the man calms down, and after a minute, asks, “what are you forcing my A-Yuan to do?”
Shang Qinghua isn’t quite as used to intimidation from the older Shen brother, so he quickly pulls the thin infirmary blanket over his head and denies his involvement in any weirdness revolving around Shen Yuan.
Mu Qingfang is the only thing that stops the Qing Jing Peak Lord from torturing the information he wants out of the cowardly hamster man. Shang Qinghua mentally curses the system for putting him into such a weak character’s body. His system quietly informs him that it’s not their fault that he didn’t cultivate enough. They gave him the option to improve, he was just too lazy to take it. The transmigrator cries internally at the merciless words. Shang Qinghua never said he was ready for the truth! He can’t handle the truth, System!
-/-
It takes two weeks of meditation in Qing Jing’s bamboo forest for Shen Yuan to recover from his embarrassment and approach his punching bag friend.
“Qi Qingqi,” he spitefully offers, skipping any greetings. Shang Qinghua doesn’t seem to mind the informality and, dare he say, rudeness, because he easily begins to plan the best time for Cucumber-bro to carry out the next phase of their bet. His attitude is that of a man aware of his own imminent victory.
Shen Yuan can’t wait to wipe the dumbly satisfied look off of the author’s stupid face.
-/-
Except, apparently, that he’s going to have to wait because guess the fuck what!
Despite literally being in the middle of teaching her disciples a specific technique that she perfected years ago, Qi Qingqi dematerializes her sword at what seems like the speed of light and holds out her arms for him to settle into.
She doesn’t even question his presence on her peak afterwards, she just offers to spar with him. Shen Yuan is simultaneously mad at and grateful for the female Peak Lord. Because like, Qi Qingqi’s not really helping him, but she’s also not making him wallow in his many recent shameful mistakes. And, after his face smooths back out and he reigns in his indignity, Shen Yuan agrees to the spar.
At least, Qi Qingqi won’t end up in Mu Qingfang’s care after a simple duel. (Shen Yuan ignores the fact that what he and Shang Qinghua engage in are less of duels, and more of one-sided beatdowns due to the large difference in power and skill.)
-/-
A week later, Shen Yuan has experienced the awkward feeling of being held by most of his martial brothers and sisters, but he’s come no closer to proving Airplane-bro wrong.
He only has one more chance. The Peak Lord that’s been absent from the mountain since his last fight with Shen Yuan’s brother.
Liu Qingge.
-/-
“Liu Qingge,” Shen Yuan calls out as he dismounts Jue Shi. The Bai Zhan Peak Lord has just returned for his monthly lessons. Lessons being a codeword for battles. Though, the battles taking place on Bai Zhan at the moment are more like pathetically lopsided struggles. Shen Yuan respects everyone of the Bai Zhan disciples that manage to last more than a minute against their Shizun.
Liu Qingge sends out a powerful strike of Qi that leaves a large gash in the already torn up training field in front of him. The remaining disciples are knocked down simultaneously, most likely for good this time. The Peak Lord watches them skeptically, just in case someone manages to recover faster than he thought. No one moves. Shen Yuan mentally sends a prayer for the Bai Zhan disciples’ lives.
“Shen Yuan,” Liu Qingge returns shortly as he faces the other Peak Lord.
That’s the exact moment Shen Yuan says the one thing he’s refrained from saying since they were both just the Head Disciples of Qing Jing and Bai Zhan respectfully. He says, “let’s fight, Liu-shidi.”
-/-
And in what universe would Liu Qingge turn down a fight?
-/-
If Shen Jiu and Liu Qingge’s usual challenges are destructive, then Shen Yuan and Liu Qingge’s current fight is devastating. Probably because Shen Jiu and Liu Qingge fight frequently, they move in a sort of coordinated dance-like way, and, despite both Peak Lords using lethal strength in every strike, they aren't actually fighting to kill.
Shen Yuan is, and so is Liu Qingge.
Long before his shidi was given the title ‘Qingge’, he was begging Shen Yuan to duel with him. The first day Liu-shidi stepped foot on Cang Qiong Mountain, he asked around for who was thought to be the strongest. Three names came up: Yue Qi, Qiong Ding’s Head Disciple, Shen Jiu, Qing Jing’s Head Disciple, and Shen Yuan, interestingly enough, also Qing Jing’s Head Disciple.
As the battle obsessed disciple he was, and 100% still is, Liu-shidi challenged the three of them in that exact order.
Yue Qi beat him like it was nothing with only his Qi, never needing to draw his sword, and forever earning the future Liu Qingge’s respect, despite the fact that he then refused to spar ever again. Next was Shen Jiu. Though the fight was much closer, Liu Qingge still lost. To this day, neither Peak Lords have forgotten that first battle. Liu Qingge still considers Shen Jiu’s actions cheating, and will keep beating the proud man until he admits it (and Shen Jiu is never going to admit anything, whether or not it’s true). Thus, his search for an opponent that would equal him enough to make spars enjoyable ended with Shen Yuan. From what the young Liu Qingge was able to dig up about the second Head Disciple of Qing Jing, he knew that Shen Jiu was his older brother, that he was well liked by every peak, even Bai Zhan… no, especially Bai Zhan , and that he’s been a disciple longer than even Yue Qingyuan.
Everything new he discovered made his battle instincts tingle in excitement.
When Liu Qingge first approached Shen Yuan, he very bluntly asked for a fight. To which Shen Yuan simply blinked and, equally as blunt with his wording, replied, “no, thanks”, then walked away. Liu Qingge was thoroughly shooketh, and afterwards, he made it his mission to ask Shen Yuan for a spar at least once a day, sometimes twice, sometimes thrice. Eventually, Shen Yuan gave in to his shidi’s indomitable will and accepted the challenge.
This battle was the most intense Liu Qingge had ever experienced. Fighting Shen Yuan was more stressful than fighting Yue Qi. Yue Qi was like a vertical rock face with no hand holds. Not even once could the young Liu Qingge match him hit for hit. From the beginning, Liu Qingge knew he had no hope of winning. Shen Yuan, though, was like an unassuming slide. From the first look, the slide isn’t too steep, it isn’t too high. Climbing it isn’t an impossible feat whatsoever. The first step taken isn’t bad either. The second, third, fourth, fifth steps all go by quickly and easily, but then a slick patch randomly appears, and one is sent right back to the bottom of the slide.
Shen Yuan used his practice sword like a bonafide spiritual weapon and wielded it like he’d been practicing his whole life, but Liu Qingge had also been practicing martial arts for years at that point, and he was a natural prodigy with them, so the incredibly skilled swordplay wasn’t what got the Bai Zhan disciple. It was the excellent Qi manipulation and self control. Liu Qingge soon realized that, though Shen Yuan seemed like he was fighting with all his might, all the time, he was only really fighting with 60% max, unless something forced him to work harder. It was like the Head Disciple had become lazy because he never needed to be more powerful than he was when he didn't try.
Liu Qingge made him try though, and, as a reward, was immediately blown back by a wave of green Qi so overpowering that he couldn’t get back up. It gave the Bai Zhan disciple flashbacks to his battle with Yue Qingyuan.
Once Shen Yuan was sure that his shidi wouldn’t jump up and keep fighting, he walked over and squatted next to his prone form.
“Are you satisfied?” The thirteen year old questioned as he poked his shidi with his practice sword. Liu Qingge nodded fiercely even though he still couldn’t move the rest of his body. Shen Yuan sighed and, unexpectedly, laid next to his shidi on Bai Zhan’s training field. “Good, ‘cause I’m so tired now.”
And then he fell asleep!
After that battle, Liu-shidi enforced a one-spar-a-day rule that Shen Yuan could almost never slip his way out of. Not until they both became Peak Lords and were suddenly smacked in the face with countless new responsibilities.
However, that sort of battle familiarity doesn’t just disappear after a period of more scarce fights. A battle every month for ten years can’t compare to a battle every day for twenty.
When full grown Peak Lords Shen Yuan and Liu Qingge fight, full force, they completely level their surroundings. They completely forget wherever they are, whoever might be near enough to them to be negatively impacted, whatever is unnecessary, they ignore.
That’s why Shen Yuan chose to start a battle with his shidi.
Bai Zhan Peak Lord Liu Qingge would never be distracted enough from a battle to realize that Shen Yuan wants to be caught, not countered. It’s the perfect plan, even if it might have an even higher possible stabbing percentage than interrupting his brother’s duel did.
Winning the bet is worth being non-lethally impaled. Change Shen Yuan’s mind.
-/-
It takes a solid two hours of exhausting, but also exhilarating, (Shen Yuan isn’t exactly sure why he went cold-turkey in terms of intense duels, but maybe he should rethink that decision), battle for Liu Qingge to back off enough to give Shen Yuan enough distance for a run up. He takes the chance as soon as it presents itself. Shen Yuan sprints forward as fast as his legs can take him, dematerializing Jue Shi along the way. He says nothing in warning and sort of takes a leap of faith. If a leap of faith were something to be done when one was hoping something wasn’t going to happen, that is.
“Shen Y-” Liu Qingge’s words are punched out of him by the impact of his shixiong’s body. As Shen Yuan hits his target, he begins to fall immediately. He’s won, he realizes happily. Liu Qingge didn’t catch him! Holy shit, he’s done it! Never has Shen Yuan been so happy to hit the ground!
But then the smack of packed dirt never hits his back, and Shen Yuan opens his eyes in dread. Liu Qingge is staring up at him in panic.
Shen Yuan assesses his body’s position, along with that of his shidi’s, and comes to the conclusion that, after Shen Yuan hit Liu Qingge and began to fall, his shidi grabbed his waist and twisted himself in such a way that he could be what Shen Yuan landed on.
“You caught me,” Shen Yuan listlessly whispers.
“Yes?” Liu Qingge is so lost that normally, Shen Yuan would laugh. He does not laugh. Instead, tears spring to his eyes and he buries his face into his shidi’s neck. Liu Qingge quickly tightens his arms around him, but has no idea what to do afterwards, especially when Shen Yuan starts quietly sobbing.
You were my last hope , the transmigrator thinks despondently.
“What the fuck, Qingge,” he then sniffles out into his shidi’s skin. Liu Qingge still has no idea how to respond, so he doesn’t.
-/-
Shen Yuan has a thin face, as much as he’d love to pretend otherwise. He gets embarrassed very easily, and he’s done many, many embarrassing things throughout both of his lives, but crying in his shidi’s arms after a battle they didn't even properly finish? That tops the cake.
Despite his brother’s fervent attempts to get him to leave the bamboo forest behind their hut, Shen Yuan stays there for three months straight, just cultivating and meditating the shame away. That’s right, it takes three months for Shen Yuan to be ready to face other human beings without blushing fiercely and curling up into a small cultivator ball. Three. Months.
But, anyway, during those three months, Shen Yuan worked on coming to terms with his loss. Except after the majority of the embarrassment dissipated (was fiercely repressed), Shen Yuan realized something they’d both totally overlooked. Shen Yuan hasn’t been caught by all of the Peak Lords, and he’s not just talking about him not being able to catch himself, he’s talking about Shang Qinghua, the An Ding Peak Lord . In order to win, all Shen Yuan has to do is catch Airplane-bro off guard. If Shang Qinghua can’t catch him, then not all of the Peak Lords can, and Shen Yuan is victorious.
So, it may have taken three months (MONTHS! three of them!!!) of isolated cultivation, but Shen Yuan has finally found a way to win. He doesn’t hesitate to ask his brother to call the weakest Peak Lord into the bamboo forest for him, even though he knows Jiu-gege will be all passive aggressive about being treated like an errand boy, because neither of them want him to stay in the forest forever, and Shen Yuan knows that a win will be the only thing capable of fully dragging him out.
And Shang Qinghua is absolutely necessary for said win.
-/-
“Your brother is so freaking scary, Bro,” the author leads with, his shoulders hunched in and eyes beady. He then follows with, “so, this is where you were, Cucumber-bro.”
“Yes,” Shen Yuan says peacefully as he stands up. His back is towards Airplane-bro, but he can still tell exactly where the hamster-like man is based on the leaves shuffling at his feet.
“I heard what happened with Liu Qingge, that means I won, right?” Shang Qinghua sounds happy at the success, but also a little suspicious about the whole interaction. Shen Yuan turns to look at him. They start an impromptu staring contest that Shang Qinghua quickly loses.
“Not exactly,” Shen Yuan replies, and before the author can even blink, he’s tackling the other Peak Lord. Shang Qinghua is easily knocked to the leaf covered dirt, Shen Yuan almost elegantly perched on his chest. Shen Yuan smirks before continuing, “you said any one of the Peak Lords would be ready and able to catch me if I were to leap at them. Are you not a Peak Lord, Airplane-bro?”
Shang Qinghua squeaks in such a way that Shen Yuan is almost certain that he’s beginning to suffocate, and manages to get a single word out, “barely!”
“Barely isn’t a no!” Shen Yuan croons in a rare show of pure childish joy. “Barely is a firm yes!”
“I wouldn’t say firm,” Shang Qinghua complains as Shen Yuan finally releases the pressure on his chest.
“And!” Shen Yuan ignores him while straightening his light green robes from the wrinkled mess the tackle caused. “If you’re a Peak Lord, that means. I. WIN.”
Shang Qinghua sighs and doesn’t even try to get up. He just lets out a single laugh before reminding the stronger cultivator of the one thing he had been trying not to think of. He says, “I may have been wrong, but at least I’m not the one who ran around jumping into all of the Peak Lords’ arms!”
“Shut up!” Shen Yuan shouts before mentally apologizing to Mu Qingfang for the future paperwork he’ll most certainly be filing.
fin.