#(burned Cang Qiong to the ground)

[supposethismatters]

Was someone going to tell me that all of the crimes Shen Jiu was imprisoned for Bingge was guilty of or was I just supposed to pick it out of the subtext?

[disgracefulthings]

Some Cultivator: Why would you let that traitor back into your sect after he sold you out to demons?

Yue Qingyuan: Shang Qinghua may be a traitor, but he's also something much more important than that

Shang Qinghua: Useful?

Yue Qingyuan: He's baby

Shang Qinghua: WTF dude, I'm older than all of you!

Mu Qingfang: Someone so innocent could not be held accountable for their wrongdoings

Shang Qinghua: I literally caused the deaths of many children

Qi Qingqi: That precious boy would never do anything to purposely hurt the sect

Shang Qinghua: I swear I will burn Cang Qiong to the ground (I've technically done it before)

[allpiesforourown]

Protagonist Shen Yuan would win the people over by how kind he was and how he continued to keep trying to do good no matter what happened in the story. His heart would always be in the right place no matter what happened to him. He would never give up and that’s what Binghe would definitely admire about him- *gets tackled but the guards before I could continue*

So true...

14 yo Binghe: it's time for lessons but shixiong and shizun left me too injured to move..

Binghe: *remembers chapter where shen yuan had to go through physical therapy after being sick and bedbound for so long*

Binghe staggering to his feet: I CAN DO IT

But also does this mean binghe would choose to be a better person and follow shen yuan's ideals of forgiveness? Or would he go "you took away my book about shen yuan" and be even more furious while burning cang qiong to the ground

[tossawary]

Qijiu's reunion at the Immortal Alliance Conference could have so easily gone differently. If Yue Qi had had the time to express joy over Shen Jiu's survival, before Shen Jiu got angry at apparently being abandoned for a better life, and before Yue Qi then assumed that the failed rescue was the unforgivable harm rather than the apparent failure to return at all, they might have gotten somewhere.

But, you know, another way things could have gone differently is Yue Qi and Shen Jiu not coming face-to-face and recognizing each other at the same time. It could have been one or the other.

Wu Yanzi presumably can't slip into the conference because he's (not invited and also) a wanted criminal, but he might have been able to send his apprentice in to walk around, with Shen Jiu pretending to be just another random disciple among the crowd. If Shen Jiu had disguised himself to enter the conference early, he could have easily seen Head Disciple of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect Yue Qingyuan in a position of dutiful prominence during some opening speech, without Yue Qi noticing him in return.

The conclusions that Shen Jiu would jump to without any indication Yue Qi even remembers him? Bad. Obviously, the only thing to do there is take furious revenge and completely ruin this Yue Qingyuan's beautiful new life somehow.

Likewise, if Shen Jiu had been wandering around the conference to scope out the valuables, Yue Qi could have seen him through the crowd without being noticed in return. Maybe CQMS's head disciple is better situated making the mingling rounds rather than standing up somewhere with the talking heads. Before Shen Jiu knows what's happening here, he's being accosted in a quiet corner by some young master on the verge of crying on his stolen uniform. He just barely manages not to stab this guy about it.

"Xiao-Jiu, you're alive! I came back for you but I was too late and found that awful place burned to the ground! Nobody knew where you'd gone. You're a disciple of Huan Hua Palace now? I'm so happy for you!" this person says, beaming with ugly joy- wait, is this...? "I'm so sorry that Qi-Ge was so useless."

Shen Jiu barely manages to stumble out of this conversation without passing out. Yue Qi gets dragged away by some Cang Qiong master for some social responsibility, clinging to Shen Jiu's hands and swearing to find him later, and he thinks Shen Jiu is a Huan Hua Palace disciple. What was Shen Jiu supposed to say to that assumption? That he's actually lying scum?!

Shen Jiu now has to survive this conference without Yue Qi finding out the truth and without Wu Yanzi finding out about Yue Qi. Upping the tension of this fic idea: maybe Wu Yanzi does find out that Shen Jiu knows the head disciple of CQMS. (Maybe Wu Yanzi was lurking around the edges in disguise as well. Maybe Wu Yanzi witnesses some later conversation between Qijiu.) Wu Yanzi now wants to use Shen Jiu as an "in" to rob or otherwise harm CQMS.

If Shen Jiu is the one who saw Yue Qi first and jumped to angry conclusions and revenge plans about it, maybe the spiteful Shen Jiu likes the idea of reuniting with Yue Qi just to fuck him over like that. He's going to regret that pretty quickly, though.

[red-garden]

Time travel au where Shen Jiu is the only one who doesn't remember, but everyone else does. So Yue Qingyuan saves him early, like in a couple of months after he was sold to the Qiu house, with the entire backing of Cang Qiong. Sj is happy, but there is a bit of a problem.

Shen Jiu wants to take Qiu Haitang back with them.

While Qiu Jianluo never crossed any lines, he was still being too much of a creep to him. Shen Jiu also notices that his behavior was also being directed at his sister. And since she was kind to him, he wants to get her out and away from her brother before things escalate.

Imagine baby SJ looking directly into YQY eyes and saying, "She needs saving too, Qi-Ge".

Yue Qingyuan, who wants to refuse because this woman helped ruined Xiao Jiu's life, immediately crumbles. However, Qiu Haitang also remembers and wants nothing to do with Shen Jiu or Cang Qiong, so she refuses. So, Shen Jiu has no choice but to leave her there, but not before letting her know that if she ever needs help to find him.

Imagine baby SJ going up to Qi Qingqi, looking up at her with innocent eyes full of awe and calling her Qi-Shijie, to ask if Qiu Haitang could have a place in her peak in the event she comes to Cang Qiong in search of refuge. Occasionally, he'll also ask her if she can look in on her once in a while if she has a mission near the area (Which she doesn't, even if she agrees, because she doesn't particularly like Qiu Haitang either).

Years later, Qiu Haitang does show up, haunted by the true monstrous faces of her family and the reality of her actions in their first life, after she herself burns the Qiu House to the ground. Shen Jiu accepts her with open arms, but everyone else doesn't. But, they tolerate her for SJ's sake since he deeply cares about her and wishes to repay her kindness.

Qiu Haitang effectively becomes an overprotective sister, partly due to guilt but also because Shen Jiu, who is not bitter and with a hell of a lot less trauma, is just a bratty little brother who is just too lovable.

SHIT EATING BRAT DISCIPLE SHEN JIU SAVE ME!!!

If all of Cang Qiong already knew he was a slave, he would have no reason to put on airs, free to be that little bitch of an urchin who throws rocks at Bai Zhan kids. I actually don’t think he would chose Qing Jing, at least initially. He just got his Qi-ge back!!! He’s staying in Qi-ge’s head disciple house, and if anyone tries to remove him, they’ll just get married so they can’t force him out!

Most everyone would hate him about as much if for his shitty personality this time rather than his bad reputation. But Qi Qingqi? Instant besties. Besties in crime. Besties in delinquency. I thing Qi Qingqi would feel soooooo bad about everything she thought about Shen Qingqiu she would spoil him endlessly. Xiao Jiu wants candy? Okay, jiejie will buy you candy. No one ever told her he used to be so little!!!!!!!!!!

[moonlightobsessions]

Meowyuan scumcum au.

Shen yuan transmitigates as he does

Dumb fuck novel, of course he dies reading that piece of shit. But isnt death supposed to be nothingness? Why is he still thinking. Slowly opening his eyes hes surrounded by a forest filled with massive plants, he seemed to be in a small den between roots of one of these massive trees. He lies there contemplating what to do. Obviously he got isekaied but to where. He tried to get up and walk when he realized the problem. He was a cat, a kitten.

He doesn’t realize he is a spiritual beast, one sought after by cultivators to be companions. He does hate being a cat quickly, having to hunt and eat raw meat is not fun. Thankfully he stumbles across a village. There he meets two street kids, jiu and qi, and reasonably gets attached to them. Qi-ge feeds him and jiu-ge protects him.

Sadly the Qiu manor still happens. Shen yuan sees the last moments yue qi and shen jiu have before yue wi goes to join cang qiong. Yuan stays with jiu, hoping to help him escape but hes discovered by Qiu Jianlou and recognized as the rare and valuable beast he is. He’s captured to be sold to whatever cultivator passes by. Shen jiu helps him escape, and unknowingly to shen jiu, shen yuan bonds them due to his spiritual beast instincts. They wont see each other for many years.

Shen yuan looks back through the small hole in the wall, Jiu-ge pushing him to run. Reasonably he knows he should run, but he follows an instinct he never had before. He rubs his head against Shen jius hands, the small jewel in his forehead touching his skin. A small jolt of qi reach out. The qi cycles as he feels them connect and their qi becoming intertwined. He licks the hand one last time before he runs into the forest.

The manor burning and wan yanzu still happen. Though damage to shen jius cultivation base never become as bad from the demonic cultivation as the connection between the two rejected the demonic energies. Shen yuan runs around for a long time. He is searching for yue qi first, but got sidetracked a lot. Especially since he avoided most cultivators. Soon he have up on yue qi, years have past and finding a way into cang qiong as a beast is near impossible, if he was even there.

He felt exhausted and found a small area rich in qi to take a small nap. That small cat nap would last ten years, when he woke and headed to the village he heard whispers of the new qing generation of peak lords. He felt into the connection he had and decided to follow it, to reunite with shen jiu.

At this point many of the rumours around shen qingqiu had taken root, he ignored them too. Opting to focus on missions and his research. There had been many studies on spiritual beast companions but few on the one he was interested in. The Jeweled qi cat was extremely rare, as a kitten they form a bond forged with qi with a person or a place and rely on them for protection. They grow uniquely to the qi they absorb and many cultivators desire one for their bond that is said to prove a noble soul and improve cultivation.

He only realized he was bonded to the small kitten he saved when his shizun inspected his qi. Even if he knew that bond existed, he never could use it to find the cat. He only could venture out often to search. That bastard yue qingyuan never came and he wont do the same for xiao yuan.

When they reunite its in a large town. Shen yuan felt the bond resonate and ran towards shen jiu. Shen Qingqiu was on a mission to deal with a sighting of a moonscortched black viper when a tugging in his qi made him turn around.

Shen yuan had hardly grown, not having access to shen jiu’s qi. Still fluffy and small but with all his might he decided jumping right into shen jius arms. It was a sight to see as a peak lord was knocked to the ground by a kitten that looked no older then three months. Shen yuan refused to be put down, clinging to shen jius clothes.

Of course Cang Qiong was shocked when the notorious peak lord came back with the Jeweled Qi cat that refused to leave his arms (shen jiu tried but shen yuan would yowl everytime he was put down(shen yuan could not afford losing Jiu-ge)). Of course shen yuan realizes this is the scum villain and decides that cannon is for losers and shen qingqiu couldn’t have been that bad.

So here we get looks for the list of tropes i enjoy Shen jiu improved relations with his martial siblings, rumors proven false and people feel shame, shen yuan bullying shen jiu into a better person and teacher, qijiu reconciliation.

And during this shen yuan is DESPERATE to cultivate a human form. Shen Jiu is hiding all the books in places he cant get to after one too many books had pages torn (some literature DESERVES to be destroyed).

He finally succeeded! Human hands! Thankfully he was still in the bamboo house as he made his way on wombly legs to Jiu-ge’s room. He might have seen Jiu-ge putting on those complicated robes many times but he never put any on before (He was a modern man! No where near as many layers). Just putting on one robe seemed enough. And Jiu-ge had a mirror! Seeing himself was a shock. Honestly he didn’t know what to expect, would he look like his old self or someone completely different. Long white hair, his cat ears and split tail, jade green eyes match the jade where a huadian would be, his face looks eight parts his old self, one part feline with his fangs and eyes, and one part shen jiu, sharpening his features (did bonding with Jiu-ge influence it?).

Shen jiu does find shen yuan scandalously clad reading yellow books in his bed. This does awaken something in him. (Shen jiu does trick shen yuan into marriage before shen yuan realizes his own attraction)

[misfitmonarchy]

Frostbitten

Should I continue this? A little sprint from today…

The snow falls slowly in spinning circles of frozen promises of a storm. Liu Qingge looks up at the gray sky. A bell is tolling somewhere in the distance of this abandoned town. He frowns and looks back to the corpse at his feet, already covered in a thin blanket of snow and frost.

He’s too late.

His grip on Cheng Luan tightens with determination. He begins to walk towards the tolling bell tower, the only sign of life in this desolated small town. What was once a lively trading post with farmers and children in the streets selling wares is now empty and decorated with a body or two in the alleys. The ones that couldn’t escape in time.

Anger— no, fury rises within him, his spiritual powers are burning to be used. Justice begs him to find the perpetrators responsible. To destroy their existence in the name of the people who died.

He should call for backup, these are a lot of bodies. Someone has to bury and perform rites for them.

He continues to march to the bell tower. It stops tolling, an eerie silence upon the town as snow crunches underfoot.

Liu Qingge’s eyes narrow at the building, casting his senses out and finding nothing in return.

Either whoever was there is gone, or they’re hiding their presence. Either do not bode well. He enters the building cautiously, Cheng Luan drawn.

“Hello?” He calls, announcing himself and looking up the flights of stairs that lead to the top of the tower. There— a shadow—

“Wait!” Liu Qingge shouts as it darts away and up the stairs.

Using his qinggong, Liu Qingge moves quickly, but the shadow is just as fast. They race up the tower and out to the balcony that over looks the abandoned town.

“Stop!” He shouts, cornering the shadowed figure.

It stops.

It turns.

Liu Qingge’s vision blurs and swims, frowning, he steps away from the figure.

“Please….” A voice begs, not aloud, but in his mind. “Help me…”

“W-what— Who are you?” He demands, shaking his head and trying to clear his vision. He’s beginning to feel… so cold…

”Help me…” The figure rasps in a deep womoan’s voice. She sounds so mournful. So sad…

Liu Qingge can feel her sadness. Her pain. Her…

He shakes his head again and the figure is now on the edge of the balcony. Liu Qingge gasps just as she tips over the ledge.

“No!” He reaches for her, lunging forward. He can only watch as the wisps of the cloth hiding her face brush his fingers.

Her face is completely decayed, leaving a dark skeleton in its wake, the fabric flutters through the air. Something feels horribly wrong, even as the corpse crashes into the ground below. Liu Qingge shudders, using his qinggong to jump down and reach the bottom easily. He inspects the rubble left behind, a pile of bones and ashes and cloth. There is no way this was a living person… So how….?

Instead of an answer he finds another question.

Who was this? What was this? And what happened to this town?

He sifts through the remains and finds a singular strand of prayer beads with a gemstone beaded in the middle of it. Carefully he picks it up.

A shock of cold air bursts forward from the beads. It’s the last thing he remembers.

—

Luo Binghe is warm and sated, laying in his husbands arms, when something feels… Something feels wrong.

He slowly peels away from Shen Qingqiu, frowning and looking around. He casts his senses to the barriers around the Bamboo House. Nothing is there, nothing is disrupting the peace of Qing Jing. Nothing approaches Cang Qiong.

Yet…

And yet it feels like something important has just occurred. He tries to sleep again but this feeling of wrongness stays in his chest until the early hours. He gets up, makes breakfast and kisses his husband on the forehead, murmuring soft good mornings until Shizun stirs.

“What do you mean, exactly?” Shizun asks him over breakfast, later that morning after they’ve pulled themselves from the warm bed.

“I can’t explain it. Something just… feels wrong. I should speak with Mobei-Jun.” He says, setting down his chopsticks.

“Ah, I should probably check with Zhangmen-shixiong then. Just in case?”

Luo Binghe didn’t like him seeing the sect leader alone, but he nodded. If he’s right about this feeling… something serious might be approaching. ”I think it’s a good idea. Shizun should be careful though, just in case this husband is late coming back.” He says.

“I will be fine, I have all of Cang Qiong to protect me, should something happen.” Shizun huffs, shaking his head and smiling down at his tea. “Binghe shouldn’t doubt this master’s abilities.”

“This one would never do that, Shizun.” Luo Binghe says quickly. “It’s just…. It really feels like we’ve forgotten something.”

”I’m sure it’s just some paperwork back in the demon realm. Shang Qinghua will probably know what to do.”

”I hope so.” Luo Binghe looks out the window of their little home, and frowns at the sky. It looks like it's going to snow.

—

[opalfairy]

The Ones Who Walk Away from PIDW

Ok so, I���ve been thinking about this for a while now (as in, since 2023) but never put it in words before—or at least I don’t remember doing so—and I think it’s finally time I write it down, so without further ado:

I think the world of PIDW works exactly like Omelas (from that one Ursula K. Le Guin short story)

(all my yapping under the cut bcos this is long)

With that I mean that it works throw a scapegoat system in which there must be an individual (or group) that suffers infinitely so that everyone else can have a happy and comfortable life.

I know that The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is already a criticism of the real world and the society we live in where many are exploited for some others to live comfortably, but that’s not what I am talking about here.

What I am talking about is a much smaller scale version, in which a city condones and encourages the suffering of a single person, a child, because the suffering of said child means that everybody else gets to have a good time.

Some may feel bad for the child, but they know that removing that child from the situation will mean a great calamity will fall upon the city. Those who disagree with the exchange of the child’s suffering for their own good fortune are free to leave and not come back.

What happens if you take the child away? Nobody knows, the story doesn’t tell us. Some speculate that the gone child can be replaced with a new one; some think that calamities, be it of natural or supernatural nature, will befall the city; some think it is a hoax, and some get so mad about it all that they write their own version, like that one guy, N.K. Jemisin, who wrote The Ones Who Stay and Fight¹.

Now with all that explained, let’s get to what really matters here: our blorbos.

So, the interesting thing here is that “the child” could be many of the story's characters, but there are two that I would like to point out in this post, starting with everyone's favorite stallion protagonist: Luo Binghe.

In Qing Jing Peak he was singled out as the scapegoat the moment Shen Qingqiu (Jiu) poured hot tea over his head. He must be isolated from everyone else, and he must be neglected. He is the one who the master of the peak can safely take his hatred on without repercussions. The other disciples are safe because Binghe is the one being beaten. They can also expiate their own frustrations using the same method: crushing this child under their hill.

Then, at the Immortal Alliance Conference, he is removed from his scapegoat position. At first everything seems to be fine, five whole years in which we do not know what really happened in Qing Jing Peak (maybe they found a new scapegoat, maybe not, who’s to say); and the Binghe returns. Except he is no longer the hopeless child that they could easily lock in the woodshed, but a destructive force that razes the entirety of the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect to the ground.

It doesn’t end there, though. One could argue that just like Binghe under Shen Qingqiu, Shen Jiu under Bingge is also the Omelas’ scapegoat.

And how interesting, that Shen Jiu is cast in this role, as it is but a reprisal of his past under the tender care² of the Qiu. His role there, however different, ultimately was the telling of the same story:

An abused child, made to take over the ire of the master of the house over and over again. A child whose only purpose is to suffer so that others may be spared. In the end, that child also left Omelas, he left it and killed most everyone there, burning it to the ground.

Except this time Omelas is not the Qiu manor, nor Qing Jing Peak, but Bingge’s palace: a shining, shimmering bastion, where he and his many wives can be happy. Where, in a dungeon hidden in the palace’s bowels; dangling from chains and unable to speak or move, Shen Jiu suffers by himself.

Every time Bingge is irritated, he can descend to the dungeon and torture the other man. Just like he was Shen Qingqiu’s scapegoat for violence and ire, so now the roles have reversed. And Binghe is happy³, he is surrounded by affection, and if he feels like punching a wall, he can punch his prisoner instead.

Eventually, tho, Shen Jiu manages to escape the metaphorical Omelas’ basement once more. Not by being cast away nor by destroying the place, but by dying. The result of the child (the adult, here) leaving is the eventual merging of the realms, as Bingge now must find new characters to expiate his ire and pain.

And, interestingly, in a way the narrative itself can be seen as the Omelas basement, with Binghe never being able to leave. Suffering forever for the happiness of the readers of the novel. His whole existence is linked to the pleasure⁴ of those who do not really care about him⁵. Those who find his suffering too horrible are free to go. And yet, there is this one guy who just can’t let it go, except he is not N.K. Jemisin this time, but our most beloved Peerless Cucumber.

(I also want to talk about how Tianlang-Jun fits the Omelas narrative so well too, but this post was already long enough, so maybe there will be a sequel, who knows)

¹OP (hi! Hello! I’m OP!) has not read this one, y’all, so I can’t really delve into it.

²Terrible place, terrible service, 0/10.

³Or he thinks he is, but we all know how to read between the lines.

⁴not only sexual, it is a whole ass power fantasy after all.

⁵and, like, he is literally a character to them, so no fingers pointed, that would be hypocritical of me.

[archerdepartures116]

pet cafe au story snippet

I can't write for shit but I've wanted to write something about the au for a while now

and cause content has been a little dry lately..

anyways cat jiu and bun qingge!

Burning.

 There are flames everywhere. What is happening?

It hurts.

 IT HURTS. 

What is happening?!

My meridians. 

it's like lava under my skin… 

…

The pain has faded.

What?

.

..

…

I hear ringing…

Shen Jiu jolted upright to the feeling of movement and subtle rocking. 

He was…..being carried?

Shen Jiu blinked and tried to get his vision to focus. His heart was pounding. 

When he woke up after a qi deviation he was sure was lethal, he noticed something wrong right away. He was proven correct a second after when he lifted a hand and what came into view was a white paw. He had been turned into a cat. 

What the hell?

The second thing he noticed that was off was the surroundings he was in. He was in some sort of cage, though the sides of the box were made of some weird material that had a shiny, slippery smooth texture. Only the exit to the cage was made of some metal. 

“Oh curse the heavens.” he sneered as he pawed and clawed at the door until a human's face came into view.

A face that looked strikingly familiar to him. 

It wasn’t a direct one to one copy but the human had his sharp eyes and narrow mouth, his high cheekbones and pointy nose. The human wore clear glasses around his eyes. The human’s clothes looked strange and underdressed. 

What was going on? He was sure he never had any family.

He hissed, his fur puffing up in suspicion. 

“Ansty aren’t we? Let's get you out now.” The human frowned and unlocked the door to his cage.

Shen Jiu jumped out the second the lock sprung free and took a glance at his surroundings. There was a huge mat that covered the entire floor and multiple soft looking pillows that surrounded the corners of the room. When he turned to look at the human, he was talking to another person. When the other human in the room looked down, Shen Jiu was struck by his face.

That was the face of a traitor. Shen Jiu seethed. 

He hissed and the fur on his back raised in agitation. The man looked rather shocked by his reaction.

“Oh dang, I guess he really doesn’t like me huh bro?”

“Of course, you look stupid.” The four eyes smirked. 

“Awe dudeeeee-”. Bemoaned the ratty looking man. 

“We have a lot of animals to unload here, get to work or I'm not paying you.” 

“We own the cafe together wha-”

The traitor lookalike was cut off by four eyes when he turned and put a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. Four eyes then brought out a cage, which was carefully lowered to the ground. He seemed to be holding his breath. 

From what Shen Jiu could see, the interior of the cage contained a lot of hay and padding. The man set that cage in front of a wall and unlocked the door to it. 

“Be quiet, this little guy is very skittish.” the visually impaired one whispered to his companion. 

One moment there was absolute stillness. The next was whatever that was inside that cage bolted out, nearly crashing into the man’s leg. 

“aCK-” four eyes yelped as he tried to grab the bolting white blurb.

It was quite unseemly and humorous to watch the two fumbling humans try to catch the creature that was performing nearly impressive acrobatics to evade grabbing hands. 

“HE’S VERY SKITTISH FOR SURE-”, the traitor look alike said as he dived right into the carpet whilst trying to apprehend what Shen Jiu could now see was a bunny. 

When the two animals locked gazes, Shen Jiu knew immediately who it was.

Liu Qingge, Baizhan peak lord, Cang Qiong Mountain’s War God, had been reborn as a bunny. 

Shen Jiun was going to ascend to the heavens by laughing himself stupid. 

It seemed like Liu Qingge was very puzzled by this change of events and his momentary distraction allowed the traitor look alike to scoop him up and wrap his arms around Liu Qingge’s struggling form. 

This day couldn’t get better, Shen Jiu thought amusedly

One would think that Liu Qingge would have been reincarnated as a cat like him or some bigger predatory creature due to his hot and volatile personality and hunting prowess. Shen Jiu could almost appreciate the irony of this scene.  

[demon-shark]

Jiu-ge and A-Ying; Prologue

Shen Jiu wakes up in Qiu Manor with memories of two lifetimes

[next]

It hit with a bang. Or at least that is the only way Jiu could explain it. He clutched at his aching head, a pain he could only compare to his still bleeding back. Jiu could only stumble through the wood shed until he collapsed on the makeshift bed he made of straw. His vision had blurred from the pain and he struggled to ground himself as things flashed through his mind. Biting down on his tongue to choke down the cries that threatened to escape him. Whether they came from the pain or the newfound torment in the images he wasn’t sure. 

The sudden rush of memories, of entire lifetimes. Lifetimes that might have been his, they looked like his. One where he waits, bears hell upon his shoulders until he cracks. Where he is turned as a cauldron for a demonic cultivator until he is reunited with Qi-ge. Where he continues to wallow in his own misery as he makes enemies out of everyone around him. Where is he relieved of his limbs and gets everyone killed, including his precious Qi-ge who tried to save him from his own mistakes. One of a strange world of iron carriages without horses, glowing tablets, and stoves without fire. A world where he was sickly but loved, loved by his two older brothers; Ru and Shilin and his precious little sister; Lihua, who he absolutely spoiled. A life where he died and came to this world, terrified and constantly trying to fight a future he was so sure would happen. One where he sacrificed himself for those he grew to call friends. But more importantly it showed him what would happen if he stayed. 

. 

He has to leave, QI-ge is going to get himself hurt trying to reach him if he stays here. But he can’t go to Cang Qiong either, he only ever brought those people misery and he won’t do it a 3rd time. He refuses to be a curse upon them any longer. It doesn’t matter if he has to go to the other end of the world to make it happen. He would have to cultivate, the world is far too dangerous for him not to and he won’t have any support this time. But before that he needs to find a way to contact Qi-ge, tell him not to return, to not look for him. Jiu took a deep breath. 

He needs to focus. Take things one at a time. Before he does anything he needs to get out. If he just runs away, Qiu Jianluo will chase him down. He needs to fake his death. He’s done it before, he can do it again. But how? It needs to be something that doesn’t leave a body, or at least not much of one. As Jiu plotted his escape, someone made their way to the shed. Torch in hand and tears on her face, Haitang promised that she would protect her brother from the monster in the shed. With the lock steadfast, Jiu wouldn’t be able to escape and with a single motion she lit it ablaze. It caught fire faster than she thought it would. The fire that once haunted her dreams, now protecting what she holds dear. 

—-----------------------------------------

Yue Qi ran. He couldn’t be late. Not again. Not when Xiao Jiu suffered so much for him already. It didn’t matter if he had a sword or not, he would burn that cursed mansion down himself if he had to. But he WILL protect him this time, he WILL make up for everytime he failed him before, he WILL make things right and make sure that Xiao Jiu never suffers again. 

He ran for three days straight on his cultivation and determination alone. By the time he arrived at the Qiu manor he was ready to collapse. But he powered through it, pounding on the door and demanding to see the master of the house. He was instead greeted by Qiu Haitang, a cold look on her face, “what are you doing here?”. Cold fury filled Yue Qi upon seeing her, but he swallowed it down as he said, “I want you to release Shen Jiu from his contract. I’m willing to buy it out if necessary.” He absolutely didn’t have the money to do that but if he could get enough time to find Xiao Jiu and get him out it didn’t matter. “That won’t be necessary. He’s dead and I killed him.”

As soon as she said those words, Yue Qi could feel the world crash down around him. He failed. He failed again and now Xiao Jiu is gone. The girl was saying something, taunting him, but it didn’t reach him. All that he could hear was Xiao Jiu’s voice echoing in his head, scolding him for going to save Shiwu and telling him to leave him behind because he was too sick to make the journey. Then came the voice of Shen Jiu, the boy who did whatever it took to survive under Wu Yanzi, who constantly got into fights with Liu Qingge and couldn’t stand to be in the same room as him. Then Shen Qingqiu who made snide remarks behind his fan and protected the sect with everything he had. Then the man who didn’t remember any of it, the man who gave and gave and gave without anything in return. All of them precious parts of his Xiao Jiu and all of them gone. Gone because he failed him again. 

Yue Qi doesn’t remember how he got back to the sect or why he even returned. The world was out of focus and dull. Faces blurred together but he could make out the black and white uniforms of Qiong Ding peak despite that. As he crossed the threshold he was greeted by his Shizun. Upon seeing him the soft smile quickly fell and he asked, “Disciple Yue, what’s wrong?” With one question, he completely collapsed. Tears shedding down his face as he screamed in agony. His qi flared up and seemed to explode in some half-mad attempt to self-destruct as he went into a qi-deviation.

[moonshinesonic-moonstarslight]

Back to oc Peak Lords for a bit!

Some of them *eyes the fifth peak lord* went and added themselves to a small story I have been working on the side, so Notes!

WARNING! If you are reading my story Secrets Hidden in Red Smoke on Ao3 and want to avoid spoilers for future chapters please pass along. (Will be hiding spoilers under Read More just in case.)

So where are the Other Three Peaks/Lords during PIDW/Svsss? Well...

Ming Qingyue (12th peak: agriculture/horticulture)- off working with the mortal world with the vast majority of her peak. Very little contact with the sect.

Yun Qingfeixing (11th peak: falconry)- peak mostly closed from the outside world, only heads out for mandatory missions or whichever ones take them north and far from the sect.

Min Qinghe (5th peak: An Ding's sister peak/Turks)- Dead... And the turning point of a lot of things pre-canon.

Okay so, the Airplane in my head isn't the type of person to just have one of his villains be evil simply because of being overworked and underappreciated. (Although those are perfectly fine reasons for villainy. (^^)) Especially when he can make it tragic~.

Thus, why would Shang Qinghua be willing to burn the whole sect to the ground? He first joined Mobei Jun because of the treatment of An Ding and of himself, sure. But he had plans regarding that alliance and wasn't completely sold on slaughtering the whole sect (from elder to child). So what would make him not resist Luo Binghe's command to destroy Cang Qiong and even hand over the information needed to have it succeed?

Feeling betrayed by the sect. But how would he be betrayed? The more reasonable the feeling the better. It's the tipping point after all. Make it dramatic!

The death and abandonment of his dearest person. That would be a dramatic turning point. (And a point of irony/contention in Svsss)

So Min Qinghe was crafted in Airplane's head as an answer to who and how while filling out the other peak lords. (He was working backwards from Shang Qinghua is a Peak Lord with demon connections so can be the spy. So didn't figure out all the details on how both Min Qinghe and Shang Qinghua became peak lords until long passed the destruction of Cang Qiong. So he just kept it in his head as fun background knowledge.) She's Shang Qinghua's single confidant and the only person he would bring himself to call friend and family. His other half. (Not necessarily romantic or anything like that. More like a co-dependant relationship that has no true boundaries or definition but makes them happy.)

(Airplane tried not to get attached. He knew what would happen to her... But it is really hard not to get attached to the person who is made to be everything you need and you are everything they need in return. It doesn't help that he is questioning if she isn't another transmigrator with how she talks and acts at times. He always ends up attached and closes his heart even more than the Og after her death.)

Now how is she the turning point? Well, her death for one. While on a mission with Yun Qingfeixing they run into a Black Moon Rhinoeros-Python. Now know that these two are out with a small group of disciples so even if they thought they could fight this beast they can't without risking the students. So they focus on getting away more than fighting. But this is a demonic beast currently furious and lashing out.

So, in desperation to save her friend and their disciples Min Qinghe takes a stand. Aiming to distract and lure the beast away from the group of fleeing disciples. Yun Qingfeixing goes with the disciples but lends her falcon, Hayabusa, to act as a second pair of eyes and as backup.

Min Qinghe ends up dying in this fight. She and Hayabusa were about to retreat as the beast was far enough from the others that they might be able to slip away now and everything would be fine.

But Hayabusa accidentally caught the beast's eye. And Min Qinghe who knows how precious the familiar is to her friend immediately jumps in to save the bird.

Hayabusa lives. But Ming Qinghe is speared through by the beast's horn.

Yun Qingfeixing gets her bird back with the report on what happened. Is devastated that her best friend is dead but ultimately makes the call as a peak lord to get the disciples back to the sect before reporting what happened so they can have the others come to help fight the beast.

Yue Qingyuan leaves to fight this beast along with Yun Qingfeixing, Liu Qingge, and Zhen Qingxun (Ku Xing). By the time they get to where the beast is it is slipping away into the Abyss via portal. So it is no longer a threat.

Yue Qingyuan makes the decision that they would not be searching for Min Qinghe's remains. As he believes that it is very possible the woman was pulled into the Abyss if there is any at all. Thus he wishes to keep his martial siblings from going on a wild goose chase and only get hurt. Never mind the fact they might run into the Black Moon Rhinoerous-Python and they would have another dead on their hands.

This is not a decision taken well. Yun Qingfeixing wanting to immediately go find her friend and lay her to rest. Liu Qingge understanding the logic (not that Yue Qingyuan actually explained his reasoning) but feeling honor-bound to at least look and see if they could find something to bury. Zhen Qingxun remaining neutral on the matter but does inquire if Yue Qingyuan realizes what he has done with this decision.

Because Yue Qingyuan had just made himself a massive target for Shang Qinghua to lash out at.

Yue Qingyuan acknowledges that and says he will handle it.

Little does he know Shang Qinghua's anger is a quiet thing that is hidden behind lies of acceptance, sad smiles, and An Ding's assistance being slowly pulled from the other peaks. Under the excuse that Shang Qinghua had to run two peaks now. When in truth he has been making the sect forced to learn how to do their basic chores themselves and started shuffling his disciples and Min Qinghe's disciples into a single unit with plans to break from the sect.

After all, if they don't care for the people in charge of the little things, the caretakers of the sect (their so-called servants), then why should they give them anything more than the bare minimum? This is part of the reason Shen Qingqiu's abuse towards Luo Binghe wasn't talked about much besides Yue Qingyuan being an enabler. The other peaks did not know the full extent of it without An Ding and Qian Jiu gossiping about it.

Liu Qingge begins to train even more and ignoring his limits in his desperation to get stronger.

Yun Qingfeixing feels a deep never-ending guilt and ends up being locked away on her peak for a while in an attempt to keep her from disobeying Yue Qingyuan's order.

Ming Qingyue starts following Shang Qinghua's example and begins distancing her peak from the sect.

There is no funeral. There is no memorial. Those closest to Min Qinghe are furious but keep silent as they do not believe they would be heard or that their sect leader cares.

The outside world wonders what happened to one of the Lords, but no answer is ever given.

(Airplane is furious and laughing at the fact that of course, they would do anything for Shen Qingqiu. Cucumber-bro or not that man was always meant more to the sect. The hypocrisy is never called upon in Svsss [Because facing Luo Binghe was far more dangerous than searching the countryside for a dead body or facing a Black Moon Rhinoerous-Python.] and Airplane just stews in his grief before shoving it into a box and forcing himself to move on with this 'happy ending'.)

I did not mean for this silly side character (who ended up being a second Airplane at times) to be such a big deal in my worldbuilding/headcanons. ¯\(ツ)/¯ But here you go! ~(^^~)

[parisvalia]

quarterly reminder that when PIDW!binghe burned cang qiong to the ground the lost guanyin pendant most definitely burned with it. just a friendly reminder :)

[ineffectualdemon]

I just realised while writing my wip that it's a probably a really necessary thing plot wise that Yue Qingyuan could not explain why he failed to rescue Shen Jiu when they were reunited and later both head disciples

Because if Shen Jiu had learned about what really happened to his Qi-ge there wouldn't have been a Cang Qiong Mountain for Luo Binghe to later study at at all

Shen Jiu would have burned the sect to the ground even more thoroughly than Bingge did in the original story

There would be a valley where the mountain once stood

Even as it is in this fic it's going to be very hard for Yue Qingyuan to stop Shen Jiu from finding the former sect leader and destroying him and the rest of the former peak lords

Bingge picked up a lot from his Shizun

[rarepears]

The lqg fake death au with soulmate strings au,

Oh man when lqg gets to sqq and sees him I know for a fact he'd feel so helpless because he wouldn't know how to help him.

Maaaannnnnn this is really a great au, so much good angst

I also can't help but try to imagine ways this could turn into a hurt/comfort but I keep feeling like that'd be ooc, maybe a lot of hurt/ very little comfort.

Would sj just have a defeated air to him? Just bitter but wouldn't do anything about it because it's pointless in his eyes? His chest burning like acid had been poured on it and the weight of his grief would feel crushing to his soul, almost numbing with its intensity.

I want to say that lqg just takes sj away from hhp and cqs but I don't think lbh would let him just go. And lqg being more actions then words would probably start just fighting lbh.

I want sj to be happy, man, but the angst needs to happen ya know? Maybe lqg gets injured but gets sj out of there, I don't think for long, since I'm pretty sure lbh has blood parasites in sj but I'd like to believe they get to breathe for a moment.

Shen Jiu's love language: fan smacking and self-sacrifice Liu Qingge's love language: leaving dead and bloody beasts on pristine ground

There is no comfort, only dead animals and blundering each other... and yet that's apparently how these two idiots comfort each other?

ANYWAYS

There's NO way that PIDW only has 2 ways of reviving dead people. There has to be more secret ways - because plenty of Airplane's drafts turned out to exist in PIDW and there has to be more ways he thought of resurrected hot dead people to add to Luo Binghe's harem.

Maybe Liu Qingge hunts one or two down and that's how he rescues Shen Jiu in the end? By "killing" Shen Jiu and then allowing Shen Jiu to take on a new body, new identity and Liu Qingge leaves Cang Qiong sect for good.

(Also I don't recall what's in this AU anymore but I'm too lazy to read it out right now, so hopefully I didn't contract things too much.)

[More in #liu qingge faked his death in pidw to go on a secret mission au]

[sunderwight]

#ooo you could tie in tianlang jun at that point#just go completely off into the woods with it#if it’s been over five years and SQQ was paranoid about eventually being chopped into tiny cubes by whoever#then he might have gone after the sun dew mushroom and run into ZZl#that’s plenty of time for TLJ to get the mushroom body#kidnap SQQ#and overthrow the tenuous hold MBJ and SHQ had been building on the demon realm#picture the demon realm completely militarized with LBH’s insane dad at the helm#MBJ on the run and building an insurgence but floundering in his grief over losing SHQ#SQQ stuck as a prisoner and being unwillingly courted by ZZL#the cultivation sects (minus Huan Hua which mysteriously burned to the ground) gearing up for war#with Cang Qiong giving the loudest and most furious calls for retribution and the return of SQQ#and on top of all that the system is now demanding that SHQ put his stolen halo to use and kill MBJ in a twisted reflection of the original#the chaos!! the drama!! Shang Qinghua is beginning to wonder if it would have been easier to just play out PIDW instead of this clusterfuck! @the-night-gods-moon

Oh this is great!

Shang Qinghua keeps trying to dodge the system and for now part of that would probably mean avoiding Mobei Jun, who is actively trying to find him so that they can defeat TLJ together and get married and live happily ever after. Angst and miscommunication galore.

Meanwhile Luo Binghe is scouring the realms trying to find WHERE TLJ and ZZL stashed Shen Qingqiu, who... possibly escapes confinement via mushroom body? So then this SQQ-alike twink shows up and LBH is like "not now hormones, we're exclusively in love with Shizun" and so he keeps telling Plantzun that he's not interested, he already has a lover, while Cucumber is like that lady with the math symbols meme trying to figure out why Luo Binghe keeps saying this to him and also which of the canon wives he's actually interacted with enough to be this ride-or-die about it. Not that he cares of course! It's good that Binghe finally has a love interest! Maybe the system will fix itself and remember that he's the protagonist now! But meanwhile, Cucumber's gotta get that halo back from the other guy...

The system is having such a bad time. It is so broken lol, especially when SY goes in the plant body so it can't find him anymore either. SQH just keeps getting eldritch alerts that range from tutorial-mode user guides to demands that he chop off all of Mobei Jun's limbs. Good thing it still thinks he has infinite points (for now).

SVSSS AU where Shen Yuan transmigrates as usual, except it's to find that his system is freaking out because it's been several years since Luo Binghe was supposed to show up at the sect trials to start his plot but so far there's been no sign of the protagonist, the Protagonist Halo Features aren't working correctly, and there's another transmigrator who arrived earlier, somehow hacked into the system, and erased its ability to track or punish him before disappearing into parts unknown (it was Airplane).

So Shen Yuan, now Shen Qingqiu, reasons that anyone who was trying to interfere with the plotline had either rescued or killed Luo Binghe while he was still young. Hoping for the former (but braced for the latter) he uses what scant knowledge the novel provided about Luo Binghe's origins, plus his new skills and some of the sect resources available, to track down Luo Binghe.

Turns out, in this version of events, some "random benefactor" showed up and gave Luo Binghe's mother some life-saving medicine. So she didn't die. But her health remained poor and Binghe never left her side, instead doing as much of her work as he was able to. So teenaged Binghe is basically a seemingly average, run-of-the-mill servant.

Shen Qingqiu is like "well this is pretty easy to fix actually" and approaches Luo Binghe as a wise immortal master type, says he sees Binghe's potential, and offers to take him on as a disciple. Luo Binghe is thrilled and kind of gobsmacked, but won't abandon his mother. Not a problem! Shen Qingqiu figured he wouldn't, so he offers to make arrangements to have Mama Luo comfortably set up in one of the villages at the base of the mountain. Sure, having her be alive and letting Binghe visit and write to her would be a deviation from the usual tragic backstory, but not a huge one! Shen Qingqiu is ready to mark this problem solved (and start dealing with all the other problems it creates for him) but the system is weirdly unsatisfied.

Turns out that even though Shen Qingqiu has found Luo Binghe (and a few discreet tests confirm that he has some sort of seal in place, and what are the odds of some other random orphan found on the Luo river, raised by a kindly-but-ill laundress, and named "Luo Binghe" exists in the same region?), the system still can't detect the Protagonist Halo Feature. The stupid glitching thing can't recognize the protagonist without it, so it keeps insisting that Shen Qingqiu locate him, even when he's kneeling right there and performing the tea ceremony for his initiation!

It's really annoying!

Especially since this means that the system won't actually safeguard Luo Binghe from harm. Which means it's up to Shen Qingqiu to make sure that his little white lotus disciple lives long enough to become the ruler of everything. This is easier said than done! Between the skinner demon side quest, and the demonic invasion, and various other side missions to build up the protagonist's potential, Luo Binghe is constantly getting into trouble and Shen Qingqiu keeps getting poisoned or injured trying to drag him back out of it in one piece!

Matters come to a head at the Immortal Alliance Conference (as they so often do). Shen Qingqiu is not planning to yeet Binghe, of course. Like this there's no guarantee of survival, and the system isn't even demanding it of him (because it still doesn't recognize the protagonist), but it seems to be demanding they turn up for the event anyway. Shen Qingqiu is a nervous wreck and fighting the urge to hover, because as expected, there is still a demonic invasion. Except this time Mobei Jun is there, and so is a mysterious cloaked figure who seems to be searching for something.

As soon as Shen Qingqiu claps eyes on the figure, the system chimes happily.

Protagonist Halo successfully located!

Turns out, part of Airplane's hacks involved stealing the halo and reassigning it to himself. Except that means that narrative destiny still wants him to hit certain plot beats, so he's been busily conquering the demonic realms -- in MBJ's name of course -- and mostly doing the bare minimum to satisfy the requirements while evading the system's efforts to regain contact. But now he's gotta go get Xin Mo somehow, except the minute Shen Qingqiu spots him so does the system.

The system, which immediately reassigns Airplane as the protagonist, and orders Shen Qingqiu to throw him into the Endless Abyss.

Which is like, better this rando than Binghe, so okay, but Mobei Jun is not cooperating plus the mysterious hooded stranger also seems pretty resistant to the idea (Airplane is NOT a heavenly demon, Protagonist Halo or no he's still actually a relatively squishy human cultivator, and he does not want to go into the hell pit), and between one thing and another Airplane manages to fall int the Abyss with Luo Binghe.

Not ideal. Which is to say, Shen Qingqiu is emotionally devastated and almost convinced that Luo Binghe has died for real and that Mysterious Halo Thief is going to come out somehow in a few years and chop off all his limbs, and Mobei Jun is extremely distressed because the man he intends to marry just fell into the Endless Abyss, and that seems like a difficult thing to somehow Evil Vizier your way out of.

The other peak lords arrive to keep Mobei Jun from killing Shen Qingqiu, and so everyone just kind of despairingly returns to their separate corners of the universe to wait and see what will happen.

Meanwhile, down in the Endless Abyss, Luo Binghe has unlocked his heavenly demon blood and is now constantly trying to kill Airplane. But thanks to the transferred protagonist halo it just doesn't work. The system interferes and creates a last-minute unlikely survival route for Airplane every time. They eventually reach an impasse where Airplane can't die but only Luo Binghe is strong enough to actually fight most of the creatures in the Abyss, and all this "fighting" between the two of them (generous description) keeps attracting big monsters.

So, Airplane offers a deal. He knows things about this place. Including how to get out. If Luo Binghe helps him fend off the monsters, then he'll help Luo Binghe survive and escape as well. He even offers to help him get away from Shen Qingqiu and make a place for himself in the demon realms! Luo Binghe tries to kill him again for that, so he drops that line of attempted bribery really quick and switches tactics. He knows more things! Things about Shen Qingqiu's past! Secrets he'll share if Luo Binghe helps him!

Is this the start of a beautiful new friendship?

No.

Turns out Luo Binghe and Airplane have exactly the correct combination of shared traits and differences to find one another mostly intolerable. But not intolerable to the point of not being able to manage teeth-clenched teamwork. By the time they get out of the Endless Abyss, Luo Binghe never wants to hear about cup noodles or tax collection or Mobei Jun's tits ever again, and Airplane feels much the same about anything at all to do with Shen Qingqiu (and either Shen Qingqiu is a fellow transmigrator now or else Luo Binghe has inserted a shockingly vivid delusion over the scum villain he wrote). But they're both alive and in joint custody of an evil sword.

Unfortunately, due to the bickering and the complexities of Shang Qinghua's sketchy memory for his own plots, it takes them even longer to get out of the Abyss than it took PIDW Luo Binghe to manage on his own.

And, uh. Well.

They don't find things in great shape, considering how they left them...

[mirai-eats]

Rewind and Start Over:: Noon

Bingqiu, rated M, 5,120 words, part 2/5, Incomplete

Angst, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, re-transmigration, Angst with a Happy Ending, Rating May Change

Modern science is so good it kept a dead man alive.

Shen Yuan is dragged forward but his feet are stubbornly digging in the ground. Luo Binghe is running as fast as he can to catch up.

- Binghe's perspective of Shen Qingqiu dropping dead back to life.

read on AO3

He promised. He promised he wouldn’t leave Luo Binghe ever again. Shizun said he would stay with him forever!

It fell away with the shatter of a broken teacup and a sharp inhale, his last gasp of air, from Shizun’s chest as his eyes rolled back and he collapsed in a heap on the other side of the low table. Luo Binghe cried out his name and lurched forward, the tea set shaking from the sudden movement. He shakily pulled Shen Qingqiu up in his arms, completely limp and not a trace of life left in his body. It was as if he’d fallen from the tower all over again- an empty kite with a hole in its wing with no cultivation or soul to give it flight.

Shen Qingqiu remained beautiful even in death, his layers of robes fanned out like he was a fallen flower, his hair loose from the impact of his fall and slipped from his silver and jade crown, a lock tracing his temple and the pale ribbons trailing his inky black hair like a green river in volcanic meadows. Luo Binghe gently lifted him, his name spilling from his lips and tears falling from his eyes stained the pale face already losing its shades of life and gave away to a deathly grey. There was no pulse, the warmth dripped away with each drop of a crystalline tear. No flutter of his eyelashes, no gentle rise and fall to his chest.

Luo Binghe worked quickly to preserve Shizun’s body all the while his mind scrambled to find a solution. There has to be a reason behind him suddenly dropping dead, something must have pulled the soul away. He promised! Something beyond his control had reached in and snatched Shen Qingqiu’s soul out from his body- the real body this time! He wouldn’t break a promise! Last time it was his useless father that had to pull Shen Qingqiu back to his real body from the Dew Seed body. There was no powerful demon to pull him away so suddenly, he was one of the most powerful demon lords there was absolutely no one who would dare to mess with him!

After pouring his spiritual energy into Shen Qingqiu and arranging him comfortably on the bed, he dropped the silken drapes to hide him away and set off toward Cang Qiong Mountain. 

---

Even after digging through the whole of the mountain and threatening every Peak Lord and every disciple, he came up with nothing. No one knew anything and was shocked to learn of his sudden passing. He didn’t believe a word.

A scurrying mouse caught his attention and he chased after it. 

---

“I don’t know anything!” Shang Qinghua squeaked in fright, the wall behind him blown in from the sudden force of Luo Binghe’s fist. He was trapped by Luo Binghe’s leering form, shivering under his glare. “I’m just as shocked as you are!”

“But you had a different look on your face when I told everyone,” Luo Binghe sneered. “You looked confused. Did you do something?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Shang Qinghua shrank deeper into his collar. “How-how about this. Leave me alone, but! I have an idea of how to get him back.”

“Talk,” Luo Binghe spat, eyes on fire. 

“I have a hypothesis that his soul might… might have been sucked off somewhere far away,” Shang Qinghua stuttered. “You can easily go traipsing through the human and demon realms with your demon and human blood, but-but this might be beyond our reach. Don’t ask how! It’s an untested theory!”

“Who did this?” He drove his fist deeper into the wall by Shang Qinghua’s head. He whimpered pathetically. 

“I don’t know!” He cried out. “But give me time, I’ll think of something to help Cu- Shen Shixiong out!”

Luo Binghe stepped back, a couple of crumpled rocks fell to the ground from the wall. “I’m going to continue physically searching. I’ll be back, for now, you must think of something before I return.”

With a flourish of his black robes he left. Shang Qinghua’s legs gave out and he slumped to the floor with a mutter of “scary, too scary!” under his breath. 

---

Nothing. He searched every crevice of the mortal and demon realm, shouted to the heaven’s to give him back. There wasn’t a whisper of his soul anywhere. He dug through holes in the mountains, swam down to the deepest parts of the lakes, turned over every rock and leaf in the world and there was no Shizun. 

He returned to Shen Qingqiu in his demon palace, resting in their grand bed and shielded away from prying eyes. He was stripped to his under robes, bathed in soft jasmine flowers, and his hair was brushed daily by Luo Binghe. It was always silky and knot-free. The long locks were braided loosely and he would lay him on his back and pull the silken blankets up to keep the chill off. His body was well preserved by Luo Binghe’s own spiritual energy as he did during the five year period of his death and for the first time in years, he went searching for humans with high spiritual power to help balance out his clashing demonic and spiritual energies. Every night, no matter how far away he searched, he always came back to lay next to Shen Qingqiu, curled up next to him under the blankets and cried  real, hot tears onto his lukewarm chest, kiss each finger, bury his face into the junction of his neck and inhale the subtly sweet scent of jasmine flowers, tea leaves, and something that’s so distinctly Shizun.

Every morning he’d rise before the sun, press a kiss on Shen Qingqie’s forehead as he always didoes to his demon mark, fills him with more spiritual energy, and disappear to find him.

---

He reappeared to harass Shang Qinghua over half a year later. 

“You need to reforge Xin Mo,” Shang Qinghua said. “But you’ll need to do more. As you might have found, Shen Qingqiu is nowhere on either world and the heavens have not sent a sign yet that he is with them. No soul has responded to inquiry, not unless he was split apart beyond anything recognizable, he must have been pulled far away.” His eyes shifted. He wasn’t telling Luo Binghe something. “But we can’t be certain. Try your alternate Bingge’s world and see if he’s been sucked in first.” 

“That’s exactly what I’m planning. What will it take to reforge?” 

To mine the steel of an immortal mountain, forge it in the fires of a mountain of blood, and slaughter a hundred thousand demons to stain the blade black with its malice. For at least one moon cycle it needs to be embedded in a corpse, preferably a full thirteen moon cycles but they were pressed for time. 

“It won’t be as powerful, but it should be enough” Shang Qinghua finished. 

Luo Binghe set off to start. How long it would take, he didn’t know. Shang Qinghua said it would take at least three years. He will do it in one. 

—-

The cloying darkness of the mine was nothing compared to the anguish in his heart, the burning flames of the bloody mountain were nothing but an added flame to his determination. His hands were bloody and raw, his skin dry and filthy- almost like he was back in the Endless Abyss again. 

Every night, he returned to bathe and curl up by his Shen Qingqiu, filled him with spiritual energy, then rose in the morning to take a human or two brimming with fresh spiritual energy and balance out his demonic energy. He wouldn’t have cared if the demonic energy laid waste to his body, but the flash of Shen Qingqiu behind his closed lids- laying stripped and raw and bloody from his uncontrolled hands would always send a shudder of fear deep in his heart. No matter the torment, how easy it would be to let go, he refused to fall for Shizun’s sake.

—-

The new sword was forged in record time (Xin Mo 2 is what he called it) and after a brief reprieve to rest at Shen Qingqiu’s side, kissed his naked cheek, wrapped his arms around his slim waist, and buried his head into his slender neck. He left at the break of dawn drained of spiritual energy and brimming with demonic energy.

First, he tracked down Luo Bingge’s world and traipsed through his cursed realm. It was colder here with Shen Qingqiu’s blood staining the soil. He crashed through the doors of Luo Bingge’s demon palace and found him in the arms of three wives.

“Get out,” he pointed his sword toward the three unfamiliar women. They quickly gathered their clothes and fled from the ominous blade, his ominous gaze.

“I thought you destroyed your sword,” Luo Bingge snarled. He lounged back on the large bed, uncaring of his nudity. He was exactly like Luo Binghe, minus his the scar on his chest and hand, the faithless look in his cold eyes, a cutting edge to his words. 

“I did, but I needed it again.” He pointed the blade to Luo Bingge. “Where’s Shizun?”

Luo Bingge arched his brow. “He’s not with you? I only have the remains of mine, do you wish to see him?”

The bloody, lifeless hunk of flesh Luo Bingge kept preserved in his dungeons could not be Shen Qingqiu, the blood soaking the walls and floors and ceiling were not his Shen Qingqiu’s. He felt a whiplash of cold strike through his heart at the thought of and Shen Qingqiu suffering a fate like that, limbless, half-blind, wholly mad, completely shattered even in death. Sometimes, the corpse swinging listlessly from the chain would haunt the deepest recesses of his dreams.

“No. I need mine.”

Luo Bingge spread his arms in welcome. “Feel free to search my realm, turn over every stone and leaf, to find him. But know you are wasting your time.”

With a flourish of his robes, Luo Binghe turned on his heel and marched out of the bedchamber and proceeded to search. 

This time it went faster with the help of his demon sword, stopping to flood his system with this realm’s cultivator’s spiritual energy then returned every night to put every drop into Shen Qingqiu. 

When he dug through the last mountain, he laid on his back and stared up at the bleak, grey clouds and let his tears drip down to his hairline.

---

He broke through Cang Qiong Mountain’s barriers with ease and kicked down Shen Qinghua’s private chamber’s doors down. A startled screech met his ears followed by a rough thump on the bamboo floors. Luo Binghe went around the private screen to find Shang Qinghua half out the bed, his robes pulled open, and Mo Beijun sitting up next to him, blinking the last remnants of sleep from his eyes. He gave Luo Binghe a short bow of his head and pulled Shang Qinghua up off the floor.

“Can’t you knock? Politely wait outside until I let you in?” Shang Qinghua hissed, pulling his thin robes tightly over his chest. Mo Beijun’s hands were still resting firmly on his waist. 

“Good morning to you, too,” Luo Binghe greeted. “Xin Mo 2 is done.”

“Xin Mo 2…” Shang Qinghua muttered, a look of disbelief crossing his features. “Okay, okay let me get dressed and we can discuss what to do next.”

Not long later, Luo Binghe sat with Mo Beijun at Shang Qinghua’s low tea table where he served them fresh tea and snacks. Xin Mo 2 laid across the table, it’s blade an obsidian black, a pale, green jade was mounted in the hilt.

“Interesting touch,” Shang Qinghua noted. 

Luo Binghe nodded. “For Shizun.”

“We should test to see if we can reach him in the first place. Have you tried opening a portal yet?” Shang Qinghua asked.

“How do you think I got here?”

“Ah, makes sense. Okay, and you’ve checked Luo Bingge’s realm?”

Luo Binghe nodded darkly. “Get on with it, what else can I do?”

“Since it might be such a far reach, you might not be able to reach him. Here, I thought we could use this to help. Mo Beijun brought this back from the demon realm we might at least be able to use this to catch a glimpse of where he may be at before you go jumping into any portals.” Shang Qinghua stood and bustled to the back of his house, emerging a moment later with a large, smooth obsidian disk. It was about the size of the tabletop, the surface polished to a glossy reflection where even after he cleared off the table and placed it in the middle, his fingerprints dissolved on the surface before their eyes. It didn’t radiate malicious energy as most things from the demon realm would, but a sort of calming threat as if it can strike if striked first. 

“Luo Binghe, can you slash the surface with, uh, Xin Mo 2?” He asked him. 

Luo Binghe nodded and stood. In one fluid movement, he drew his sword, cut the starless surface, and sheathed it. 

The slash in the middle where it was precisely cut seemed to suck in light, the polish surface that had their faces reflected around a moment ago swallowed by the expanding black hole until they were looking down a dark hole carved through the wooden table. They leaned forward, breaths held to catch a glimpse, a sound, of anything. 

After a moment of nothing, Shang Qinghua piped up. “You focused on Shen Qingqiu specifically, right?” 

“What else would I be thinking of?” It’s not like he could have anything on his mind but Shen Qingqiu. 

“I have another hypothesis,” Shang Qinghua stood. “Try again, but let me hold the sword, too.” 

Luo Binghe grasper the hilt and pulled it away from Shang Qinghua’s outstretched hand. “No.” 

“Do you have any ideas?” Shang Qinghua snapped, a moment of boldness. There was a tilt to his tone, an unfamiliar accent Luo Binghe here crop up when Shang Qinghua thought he was out of earshot with Shen Qingqiu. “I don’t like this either but… ah, I really hope I’m wrong, please Binghe let me try just once?” 

He kind of didn’t want Shang Qinghua’s hands anywhere near him or his sword, but he pushed that away and hesitantly held out Xin Mo 2. For Shizun, he told himself. Shang Qinghua’s clammy hand wrapped around his and together they raised the sword and slashed the obsidian mirror.

Like the first time, a black void spread across the surface, but then there were blinding lines of green accompanied by a high pitched, repetitive noise. Shang Qinghua next to him choked on a gasp, a barely heard “oh fuck.” muttered under his breath.

“How did you do that?” Luo Binghe asked. “Why were you able to open a portal to him, and yet I, his own husband, wasn’t?”

Shang Qinghua didn’t answer right away, his eyes glazed over, a similar look She Qingqiu would have sometimes. Mo Beijun watched Luo Binghe and Shang Qinghua with sharp eyes, not caring for the mirror at all. It took a moment before Shang Qinghua responded, blinking himself back down to the present.

“How do I start- uh, I guess with the most obvious, no use tiptoeing around it anymore,” Shang Qingqiu straightened up, his eyes focused on the trailing green lines. “Shen Qinqiu and I transmigrated into this world together. I was hoping my assumptions were incorrect because as being the creator of this world I could come up with a way to get him back, but by the looks of it he was pulled back to where we came from. I have no jurisdiction over there.”

No one spoke, the repetitive noise from the mirror echoed in the chamber. 

Surprisingly, Mo Beijun broke the silence first. “Are you a god?”

“Oh my god no, no? Uh, well, yes maybe?” Shang Qinghua was flustered. “I’m a writer back in our realm. This is a story I wrote to pay the bills. I… I died due to unforeseeable circumstances and transmigrated into this world a long time ago at the beginnings of Shang Qinghua’s life. Cucumber bro was a devoted reader who also passed away, a heart thing or whatever. Remember back, what was it, I think twelve, thirteen years ago? When Shen Qingqiu suffered from qi deviation and was changed, losing his memories and his nasty personality?”

Luo Binghe’s heart pounded in his chest, trying to absorb this new knowledge as calmly as he could. This person, this not-Shizun who is Shizun but there hasn’t been a Shizun in many years is the one he’s so thankful for. 

Shang Qinghua continued. “This realm’s Shen Qingqiu passed away and as Cucumber bro died cursing my novel, his soul was plopped into his body and told to fix the story if he thinks it’s so terrible.” He turned to Luo Binghe, his accent tilting once again to something he used privately with Shen Qingqiu. “The Luo Bingge you met who tried to take Cucumber bro, that’s the original Luo Binghe I wrote. All because Cucumber bro swore to hug your thigh and treat you better, the whole course of the story changed from my daring stallion novel to this BL. Isn’t that crazy? So many people are alive now all because Cucumber bro took the reigns of this story and changed it for the better.

“Aaah, I originally wanted to write a BL, but it’s not what my readers wanted!” He flopped back down to the ground with a sigh, the harsh green light emanating from the obsidian mirror throwing shadows across his face. “I needed money, I hope you understand but seeing the original scum villain making the protagonist fall in love with him, even I didn’t see that coming!”

“Protagonist?” Luo Binghe finally spoke up. “Scum villain?”

“Yes, you.” He pointed up to Luo Binghe’s looming figure. “You’re the ultimate protagonist! And now Cucumber bro went and made you gay on accident. I’m not terribly mad, but there’s still so much fanservice we’re missing out on!”

“Why did you write such a shitty protagonist the first time around?” The thought of Luo Bingge being his original counterpart made him sick to his stomach.

Shang Qinghua gasped, clutching his chest. “I’ll have you know that despite hating the work as a whole your husband adored the protagonist!”

At that moment the high pitched sound stopped and the green light faded, putting their conversation to a halt. They all leaned forward with their heads crowded around the obsidian mirror as the green lights fizzled away and replaced by a dark room. 

Luo Binghe held his breath afraid it might shatter the surface. The room was barely lit, shrouded dark except for lines of pale light striping the edge of the bed and floor. Everything looked weird, too square and smooth. There was a person on the bed, curled up improperly with an arm thrown up, a pale hand knocked against the headboard and a tuft of dark hair were the only things visible. 

“Your world is ugly,” Luo Binghe noted, examining what he could see of the smooth walls with glossy portraits hanging from them, the simple furniture all had items he couldn’t figure out what was for. Clothes, at least he assumed so, were spilling out of a basket in the corner and draped across a chair, piled at the foot of the bed, even on the bed. This is most certainly his Shizun’s room, and that must be Shizun asleep. 

“Our world is practical, now hush let’s see if he’s gonna wake up,” Shang Qinghua said. As if roused by them, the figure in the bed shifted, rolled over and stretched. He reached over and grappled something on the side table, a smooth, black item that was rectangular and sleek like the obsidian mirror and brought it under the blankets with him.

“A scrying mirror?” He asked.

“Not quite,” said Shang Qinghua

They watched as the figure shifted again and pulled himself up. This man was not Shen Qingqiu, his face too slender and his cheeks too low, the brows and nose broader and his lower lip was fuller to an almost natural pout, but Luo Binghe suddenly recognized those features as to that of the Dew Seed body Shen Qingqiu hid himself in, the features on that one only a 40% match to his body but the other 60% was unmistakably this. 

The difference was the short hair. It made Luo Binghe want to weep, especially how it stuck up flat on one side and was a tangled mess on the other. The not Shizun, yawned widely, uncaring for his posture as he slouched down and rubbed his eyes and face hard to wake himself up more. The clothes he wore were unusual, the sleeves short, only reaching to his elbows, and there was no tie to indicate how he got in it. 

Not Shizun rolled himself out of the bed, shuffling papers and books that were tucked in the folds of the blankets into a pile and stood with a stretch. Luo Binghe choked and pushed Mo Beijun, turning to Shang Qinghua to do the same but he already had his eyes closed and turned away with a shout of “I’m not looking!” Not Shizun didn’t have anything on his legs! His legs were completely bare, save for the little piece of garment hanging from his hips that barely passed the tops of his thighs. Luo Binghe wanted to cover his eyes for Shizun’s privacy, but also he couldn’t help take in the figure

Shen Qingqiu was slender like a steel-blade, but this Not Shizun (he will never call him Cucumber bro) was paper-thin as if the slightest breeze would send him tumbling. The ends of his hair barely traced his nape and his skin was pale to the point it was almost sickly. Not Shizun leaned over the side table again and put a weird contraption on his face, blinking blurrily into the clear glass and stumbled out the room, most likely to freshen up.

“I think,” Shang Qinghua started. “We were able to locate him only because I have a link to this world too.” He didn’t meet anyone’s eyes through his whole explanation, his gaze firmly fixed on the shapes of the furniture, a melancholic notes to his words. “You should be able to just jump right in and get him back but how will you do that?”

“What do you mean?”

“He has two bodies and one soul,” Shang Qinghua pointed out. “He can’t easily leave his current body without dying again, and Shen Qingqiu is only preserved due to you dutifully replenishing him with spiritual energy. How will you get him back? And consider this.” Shang Qinghua straightened up, an unusually sharp look in his eye. “Will he want to? This is how he lived, everything he knew, until a little over ten years ago he suddenly died and was thrown into a whole other culture and told to survive. He lost his friends and family, everything he worked at and was blessedly given another chance of life but not his life. Now he’s back somehow and he’s clearly making strives to live life to his fullest. Look.” 

He pointed to the mirror and Not Shizun was back pulling on clothes that covered his legs and arms, but they were so form-fitting they left nothing to the imagination! His socks barely covered his feet and he watched him roll up the leg of his pants a little, revealing tantalizing ankles. The papers and books he had piled up at the foot of his bed were put into a strange bag and with a strange sound, he sealed it shut, tucking the obsidian rectangle into a pocket at his side. His hair was smoothed down (except when he turned, there was a stubborn cowlick on the back of his head), his face flushed with wakefulness, and he left the room.

“I’ll… we can figure it out once I see him.” There was a moment of silence, the sounds of Not Shizun moving around in another room. “I need to see him at least and if he doesn’t…” he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

There was a loud clacking sound from Not Shizun’s end followed by the deafening sound of a door shutting, muted clicks concluded his exit. 

“I’m heading over.” With a solid location finally set, trying to hold back his hands from quivering, he raised Xin Mo 2 and slashed open another portal, one that will link to the little, messy bedroom viewed in the obsidian mirror. The image in the mirror dissolved without Xin Mo 2’s energy directed into it.

“Wait!” Shang Qinghua stopped him. “Promise me you won’t leave the room until Cucumber bro comes back! Don’t go running after him you might cause a scene just- just wait there in the bedroom until he returns.”

Luo Binghe harumphed and stuck his foot through the portal. “No promises,” he said and lept through.

---

The room was cool, cluttered with unfamiliar items yet done familiarly, like when Luo Binghe first moved into the bamboo house and found out despite his immortal exterior, his Shizun was a mess. 

At first, he politely sat by the bed on his knees facing the door, ready to greet his Not Shizun the moment he came home. He watched the light grow brighter through the weird window covers, strips of white that only allowed light in like prison bars. The golden lines moved across the bed, a hum came from outside the window, people moving around above him, below, to the sides. 

Curiosity finally got the better of him and he stood to explore the room. Everything was blocky, made of strangely smooth, cool material that wasn’t wood sometimes but lighter, sometimes hollow. The weird white bars on the windows could wiggle. He peeked outside and was met with a textured wall, down below was a grey ground framed with sparse grass between the narrow alley. He turned to further explore the room.

Everything was strange. Books bound in hard casings lined the towering bookshelf, stacked on the floor and dresser. God statues and portraits hung on the walls in vibrant, glossy colors. Clear cups with gunks of something stuck to its sides made Luo Binghe’s nose twitch.

The room was strangely stuffy, outside sounds muted by the hard walls and floors. There was an uncomfortable itch to his neck. Guilt ate at him for snooping around his Shizun’s room and he quickly shuffled back to his spot and knelt on the weirdly soft ground, back straight as a blade and eyes trained on the door with a guard dog concentration.

---

The sun trailed across the room, a peak of a muted blue sky from the pains of glass was the only sense of time he could gather. He could wait, he waited for three years, he waited for five more, and after finally- finally - receiving his Shizun’s affections, he had to wait another year. Determination was the only thing leaving him from straying too far into an aimless wander, but it was still an aimless path he carved himself. Now here the aimlessness was coming to an end and all he had to do was be patient, very patient. 

Luo Binghe was a generally neat person and his Shizun was not, but here it felt like he had given up on even trying to keep anything somewhat orderly. It’s fine, it’s one of Shen Qingqiu’s cute traits that only he has the pleasure of knowing about, but a mess like this with the undertone of something rotting in the air mixed with dust and dirty clothes, he couldn’t take it. After sitting diligently on his knees for a few incense sticks time he sprung to his feet and started a mad dash to clean. He easily found the source of the rotting smells (a bowl of something with green fuzz starting to stick to the bottom, a cup with a handle with black stains on the bottom and rim, and a few crushed metal cylinders that read it was energy drink on the sides) and didn’t hesitate to throw them in the can by the door with more trash in it. He gathered all the clothes on the bed and set to sorting out the clean from the dirty based on smell (and if he stuck his nose into a soft coat to take a really good sniff of this new smell he could associate his shizun with, who would know but him?), and gathered the remaining books and stray papers back onto the bookshelf.

It was in the middle of neatly cramming the clean clothes in the wardrobe did he here the distinctive click from the doors opening. He froze, wanting to run out and greet the Not Shizun and yet unsure if the rule applied to him staying in the bedroom only or the entire house. Not wanting to cross any lines and realizing he wasn’t done, he quickly went back to trying to put away the rest of the clothes, dumping the dirty remnants into the wicker basket already packed full. He rolled to the ground and started picking up anything he could, accidentally bumping into the bookcase and one of his god statues came tumbling down. With a suppressed curse on his lips, he brushed her off and gently placed her back up, along with the snapped off arm and did a quick prayer for forgiveness. 

He bodily slid back to the ground to his knees by the bed facing the door, trying to adjust his robes to make him look less disheveled. Quiet footsteps were approaching the door slowly, his Shizun was back! He’s almost here! He gripped his clammy hands to his pants in anticipation almost vibrating on the spot. 

A sudden clatter and painful, hollow-sounding thunk echoed outside the door instead. Panicked, Luo Binghe lurched to his feet and in two long strides opened the door to find-

The Not-Shizun from the obsidian mirror, sitting upon the ground, one hand holding some weird contraption and the other held up on the narrow wall. The weird lenses he wore had slid down the bridge of his nose to reveal his wide, frightened eyes and his hair was tousled much more than when he’d originally left. With a shaking hand, he pushed it back up to his eyes and the fright turned to shock.

“Binghe?!”