#Binghe definitely bites

[nanocados]

Top 10 worst babysitters (LQG almost threw binghe in the trash)

[sunderwight]

Thinking about a crack SV AU where Shen Yuan transmigrates into a horse.

Luckily he is not a normal horse, no! He is a spiritual stallion, a character that was mainly a joke about the novel's genre in PIDW, originally bred on Cang Qiong's beast tamer peak but not actually encountered until Luo Binghe's "raze cultivation society to the ground" phase. At which point there was a subplot about him finding the stallion and letting it loose to run free, as like, an allegorical reference. Occasionally Binghe would find other horses across the years that were obviously descended from that one, as more jokes, until Airplane forgot about the reference and never brought it up again.

Shen Yuan, of course, was always Big Mad that Binghe never got to actually ride this super magical mystical horse, and never got the horsegirl arc he deserved! Where is the man's companion animal? How can someone with nine billion wives and even more nameless underlings be fated for a life of perpetual loneliness??

Naturally, the first thing Shen Yuan does upon figuring out that he's this magic horse is break out of the beast peak and make for Qing Jing. He's not necessarily planning to go bond with the protagonist or anything, but he's not particularly keen to live out his fate as some feral horse that fucks other horses either, and he's extremely valuable so it's unlikely anyone will kill him even if they catch him again. So, might as well take the opportunity to clap eyes on his favorite character before he's doomed to a life of eating hay and whatever, right?

Horse SY manages to arrive on Qing Jing Peak right before the start of the skinner mission, though, just as Ming Fan is telling Luo Binghe that there aren't enough horses. Ning Yingying points out SY and is all oh look, one of the stable hands must have realized the error and brought another, and everyone else is kind of like "uh that is... not a normal horse...?" but then Shen Qingqiu gets impatient and snaps at them to get a move on, and fear of their mercurial shizun overrides everything else to the point where Binghe just clambers desperately onto this mystical saddle-free horse.

Airplane borrowed kelpies for his demon beasts at some point and they are pretty common, so it occurs to Luo Binghe only after he's climbed onto the strange and definitely not normal Horse SY that he might be on the verge of getting carried off and drowned. But SY just kind of rolls with it, and falls into line with the other horses.

Hey, it's an excuse to leave the sect! And practice doing horse stuff! And also, he's not going to buck Luo Binghe off of his back!

Of course as it happens, the specific kind of magical horse that Shen Yuan is comes with a specially bred-for trait where they only bond to one rider. They're usually bred for like, kings and emperors and other highly important figures as status symbols, like magical companion animals but ones with perfectly mundane utilities. He's also got Shadowfax-like stamina and speed, meaning that Airplane can treat this kind of horse as interchangeable with a motorbike, and of course the capacity to cultivate. Which means that when the party finally arrives at their destination, everyone suddenly realizes that Luo Binghe has unwittingly bonded with a horse that's worth a fortune and won't ever let anyone else ride it now.

Shen Qingqiu flips his shit, Shen Yuan bites Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe hyperventilates, Ning Yingying gets kidnapped, and the situation basically resolves with Shen Yuan kicking the shit out of the skinner demon in defense of his new BFF the baby protagonist.

Well if he's going to end up letting anyone ride him for the rest of his life, Luo Binghe would be his first choice.

Anyway they get back and Shen Qingqiu is still spitting mad and offers Luo Binghe's head on a platter to the lord of the beast peak, but Beast Peak's people are actually kind of pleased. Like sure it's a little inconvenient, because Luo Binghe is a Qing Jing disciple and not one of theirs, but they were honestly beginning to worry that this stallion wouldn't bond with anyone! It's really hard to manage them when they don't! And SY in particular comes from a long and illustrious lineage that has nearly died out a few times, so they were never planning to sell him off even for a high price anyway. With a rider chosen, the odds of them getting him to cooperate for breeding purposes are a lot higher, plus it will be much easier to take care of him now! Though they will be taking Shen Qingqiu up on his offer of Luo Binghe's time, since "punishment" for this transgression will involve splitting his time between the peaks in order to help take care of SY (all the beast peak disciples are super relieved, apparently before Shen Yuan transmigrated, the horsey original goods was extremely prone to biting and kicking...)

Shen Qingqiu basically tells Luo Binghe not to bother coming back, which fills Binghe with despair, but he gets over it eventually. The beast peak is nice! They give him a cultivation manual as well, in order to help him understand what they do, and it seems that Binghe can understand it a lot better than his QJP one. The peak lord gives him permission to use the dorms as well, since there will probably be times when he has to stay overnight, and no one says much about it when Binghe basically moves in full time. On the books he's still a Qing Jing disciple, but functionally he's a transfer student now. He even sits in on classes and lectures, and a lot of the peak are just under the impression that he was transferred over to their peak in full.

Shen Yuan considers this a big improvement, and expects Luo Binghe to enjoy running around with all the pretty girls on the peak. But Binghe mostly seems to spend his time with him, in fact, asking questions upon questions not only about Shen Yuan's breed, but about his specific background and lineage. The beast peak is overall pretty nice, although sadly it's not full of cool monsters and companion animals as Shen Yuan would have hoped. Mostly the peak specializes in the cultivation world's equivalent of livestock and work animals, training beasts like spirit eagles and horses like himself, and raising animals prized for their meat, organs, bones, or other parts for medicinal, alchemical, or culinary ingredients, or sometimes components for weapons or other spiritual tools. They work the most closely with Qian Cao, Wan Jian, and An Ding.

Being a horse is honestly kind of boring for Shen Yuan, although running is fun, and he at least gets plenty of time to work on his cultivation.

By the time Sha Hualing's invasion happens, he's gotten pretty comfortable in his new state of affairs. Binghe has even figured out that he likes being read to, and has started reading aloud to him from various texts in the evenings! So far no good novels, or even bad trashy novels, but it's better than nothing!

Binghe also takes him for a lot of rides around the peaks (not Qing Jing) which is how they end up caught on Qiong Ding when the rainbow bridge goes down. When Shen Qingqiu tells Luo Binghe to fight, Binghe doesn't even have a weapon at hand.

Actually, he doesn't have a sword at hand.

Turns out having your magical horse kick a demon to death is still pretty effective!

Shen Yuan even manages to avoid getting poisoned too. Rather, Elder Hammer threatens to poison him and Luo Binghe charges at him shouting "stay away from my horse! I'll kill you!" and etc, and does get nicked by the thorns, but only Binghe and Shen Yuan notice and of course the poison doesn't work on Binghe, congrats for unlocking a new hint as to Luo Binghe's mysterious origins!

Yes, Horse SY shows up to help Binghe in the Dream Demon event. He still looks like a horse for it, but it also marks the first time he's able to speak to Luo Binghe, which successfully distracts Luo Binghe from a lot of the tormenting visions of his past because talking magic horse friend has a way of doing that.

So the Dream Demon is like, that's not a normal horse, and Luo Binghe is all "stay away from my horse! I'll kill you!" and Shen Yuan gets knocked out of the dream as usual. Wakes up to Luo Binghe rushing to his stall to check on him and prepare him some nice warm congee and double-check that he can't talk for reals (only in dreams for now, alas).

Anyway Luo Binghe has no reason to hide his demonic cultivation practice from his horse, so Shen Yuan gets to sit in on it as Binghe tries to put Meng Mo's teachings into practice, which he finds super cool. Binghe's normal cultivation also progresses quite a bit, but he's still very much disadvantaged there because the beat peak is only giving him like, half-assed guest disciple status lessons, no personal one-and-one tutelage, and he's unofficially banned from Qing Jing and wouldn't get any help there anyway (apart from Ning Yingying). The beast peak lord isn't really his shizun and Shen Qingqiu isn't going to take Binghe to do things like claim a sword from Wan Jian, either.

Luckily, Binghe can now confer with his horse in his dreams! Shen Yuan has such helpful ideas as compelling various hall masters and combat teachers to dream about their lessons, so that Binghe can insert himself into the form of their students and supplement his tutelage with nighttime training from all around the sect. And also stealing some blank documents from An Ding and forging paperwork to turn over to Wan Jian to make it look like Binghe has permission to claim a spiritual sword without Shen Qingqiu's approval.

What a way to pass the time before the Immortal Alliance Conference!

Horse Shen Yuan would like very much to just carry Luo Binghe away in the opposite direction, thank you, but he does have a system and it is still holding a metaphorical gun to his head about this. Still, there's no force in the world that could keep Shen Yuan in his stable when shit starts to go down, or that could stop him from kicking the snot out of Shen Qingqiu when he tries to throw Binghe into the Abyss. (Binghe's thoughts on the fight: "stay away from my horse! I'll kill you!")

However, Binghe does still get thrown down, and Horse SY runs off whilst weeping crystalline tears of dismay as his mane whips in the wind, imagining a future where a blackened Luo Binghe returns for his revenge arc and symbolically sends his beloved horsie companion away forever to go frolic or some shit, which Shen Yuan is not interested in!

But what can he do? By the time Binghe gets out of the Abyss, his need for a horse will be decidedly minimal. It already went down a bunch when he finally got Zheng Yang (that Binghe somehow almost never flew anywhere on, surely for reasons unrelated to his bond with SY), and with Xin Mo and all his OP talents, even if he did keep Shen Yuan, wouldn't he become as much of a useless background character as countless auxiliary wives in his harem?

No! He won't stand for it! There has to be a way for him to convince even blackened Binghe that Shen Yuan is still the best ride in town!

Luckily, Shen Yuan knows where there are some power-ups that might be able to help him. While he won't touch anything that would be vital for the protagonist, he's more flexible on screwing over random future harem members or side characters, especially when it wouldn't even really harm them all that much. So while Binghe is going through his gauntlet of horrors in the Abyss, Shen Yuan embarks on his own level-up quest to dramatically increase his cultivation, and become more capable of keeping up with Binghe.

When this leads to Shen Yuan being able to take on a human form, he gets really excited, but that's mostly for personal comfort reasons. He can finally hold books again! And talk to people! Who cares if he looks like someone's ponysona gijinka, he can walk over to a stall and order meat buns!

Unicorn form is next, and it's... meh? Mostly it's a boost in his cultivation. The horn looks fun but doesn't really do much.

When he upgrades to being able to take on a pegasus form, now that's really cool. He can fly now! Not only is it crazy good fun, but it also increases his mobility exponentially. Surely riding a flying horse would be more comfortable than balancing on a sword, too?

But that's not enough for his actual goal, he needs to keep going until he finally finds the right bullshit mythical item that will do what he hopes:

Turn him into a dragon!

Unfortunately said bullshit item is in the demon realms, which are a fairly difficult place to navigate as either a horse or a human. Beefing up for the trip takes Shen Yuan just about two years, and requires all of his other upgrades. But he does it, he gets to the demon realms, eats the creatively named Dragon Fruit Plant, and... gets... stuck???

In his new dragon form???

WTF this didn't happen to the random ox that Luo Binghe fed the fruit to in order to create a suitable beast of burden to impress the husband of Wife No.666! Although, thinking about it, maybe it did because it wasn't like the ox ever turned back into an ox afterwards. But Shen Yuan just figured that was because it was a simple beast of burden and saw becoming a dragon as an overall upgrade, why go back? He honestly hadn't really thought about it!

Cue Luo Binghe getting out of the Abyss only to shortly find that a random dragon is following him around. Maybe that just happens here? It doesn't attack him, at least, and he has no time to deal with it (or to sleep) because his first order of business is establishing enough of a foothold in the demon realms to regain access to the human ones, and find out what happened to his horse. And then kill Shen Qingqiu. In that order.

[pr0cyon-lotor]

Au where Shen Yuan is the beast taming peak lord and trying to court Shen Jiu, Luo Binghe is a Bai Zhan disciple, and Ming Fan is just... just so so very tired.

Okay, so Shen Yuan, Yue Qi, and Shen Jiu all grew up as street rats. They were close and stuff. Once they're in Cang Qiong, Shen Yuan is the one to pull teeth and twist arms until Yue Qi and Shen Jiu end up talking about their problems.

Somewhere around becoming head disciple and ascension, Shen Yuan comes to terms with that his feelings towards Shen Jiu aren't so #platonic as he originally thought, so he starts trying to court him.

Shen Jiu is playing hard to get as revenge for him being an idiot.

This continues even as they become peak lords. And Ming Fan has in more than one occasion thrown out his shishu out of the peak because he's causing an interruption.

The poor guy's workload only worsens when Liu Qingge takes on a new disciple and the kid is instantly infatuated with him.

So now he has to deal with 5 things

A Bai Zhan brat clinging to his leg and crying when he tries to pry him off

His Shen-shishu trying to court his Shizun, who is playing hard to get

Liu Qingge trying to court his Shen-shishu while the man in question seems oblivious to it

Keeping his Shizun from killing Liu Qingge because he's not oblivious to Liu Qingge's (attempted) courting

Ning Yingying definitely planning something behind his back.

Somehow this leads to Luo Binghe not being thrown into the abyss after it being revealed he's half heavenly demon, his shishu and Shizun coming out of a storage closet with cartoon kiss marks covering their faces, and Liu Qingge and Shang Qinghua coming out of a different storage shed with bite marks and hickeys covering them both.

And almost nothing happened to Luo Binghe other than Liu Qingge giving him harder training.

Ming Fan says that life isn't fair and moves on. He still holds on to his sanity by a thread. That is until the sect leader announces that he has married the former demon king of the demon realm that had been presumed dead and was sealed under a mountain for years.

Ming Fan gives up, concludes life has a strange sense of humor, and lets Luo Binghe court him. Not like anything in the sect is making sense anymore.

Somewhere in the background Liu Mingyan gives Ning Yingying a limited edition novel about Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan because she won the bet they made.

[meltedmush]

What if Binghe got thrown into the abyss as a normal guy but when he comes back from the abyss he's Binghorse

YOOOO I’ve been nibbling on this hypothetical ever since you’ve sent it.

There’s so many avenues of thought I have yet to explore as I rerun the entire story of SVSSS post Endless Abyss again and again in my head. (I’LL CONTINUE ENTERTAIN THESE THOUGHTS WHEN I HAVE A LITTLE MORE FREE TIME 👍👍👍)

With his first meeting with SQQ, SQQ is definitely going to be uncomfortable for the first couple of interactions but get past it slowly. (And then get obsessed… because it’s still Binghe after all HAHA)

The Huan Hua Disciples are likely to be weirded out initially, but it’s quickly overshadowed by Binghorse’s capabilities, so Binghorse’s strange appearance is ignored.

But moving back to SQQ, I don’t know why, but I imagine the rooftop scene, where Binghe calls SQQ a “hypocrite”, acting out like a scene from Little Red Riding Hood.

SQQ: What strong legs you have, Binghe!

LBH: All the better to chase you with!

SQQ: What a large body you have!

LBH: All the better to gobble you up with! ^^

Obviously the dialogue wouldn’t play out like that, but it would still have the same threatening nature.

I’m not even sure how Binghorse would give SQQ his blood parasites…. Bite his tongue? If that were the case, we’d have such a bad kiss scene (As if the first kiss scene wasn’t bad enough HAHA)

Also the rooftop chase scenes would look so funny, because from a distance, it’d just look like SQQ is being chased by a random horse. 😂😂

[nyoomerr]

For ficlet prompts: Bingge being jealous of SY's pet dog.

if sy is going to call him a rotten dog all the time, then bingge should at least get all the benefits of being a dog, ah! what's with the competition being treated better than him? 😂😂

---

Generally, Luo Binghe tries to be magnanimous when it comes to The Dog. The Dog had been Shen Yuan’s before Luo Binghe had ever come to this world, after all. He knows that, at least on some level, The Dog had been responsible for making sure Shen Yuan was getting up out of bed each day and remembering to eat at the correct times before Luo Binghe took that job. If The Dog had been a retainer of Luo Binghe’s, he would have rewarded it handsomely for keeping Shen Yuan safe in Luo Binghe’s absence.

The Dog is not a retainer. It is, in fact, quite stupid, and ugly, and overall very useless now that Luo Binghe is here.

It also gets away with a truly astounding number of things that Luo Binghe himself gets scolded for. 

Luo Binghe’s bites are also playful! His licks are also meant to express affection! And when Luo Binghe tries to mark his territory, it’s far more tastefully done than with dog piss! Why does he get told no and kicked out of bed for this behavior, when all The Dog gets is a few disapproving tuts and a pat on the head?!

Why can’t Luo Binghe jump up and be caught in Shen Yuan’s arms when Shen Yuan gets home?!!

“Because you’re nearly 300 pounds of pure muscle,” Shen Yuan deadpans. “I’d be flattened into a pancake.”

“It’s not all muscle,” Luo Binghe says, suddenly quite defensive about this point. 

He’d made a point to soften up a bit for Shen Yuan specifically! There’s some plush there just for Shen Yuan’s comfort, so that Shen Yuan doesn’t complain so much when Luo Binghe very politely requests to be used as a pillow!

Shen Yuan rolls his eyes. “300 pounds is still 300 pounds. If you expected me to catch you, I’d have better luck surviving your sulking about falling and bruising yourself than I would trying to survive being squished under your weight.”

Unfortunately for Shen Yuan, The Dog is currently being cradled in his arms, so Luo Binghe refuses to hear a single word he says.

“If I just start by leaning my weight onto you -”

“I’ll definitely topple!”

“I lean on you all the time!”

“You pretend to lean on me all the time, you big octopus, but I know you’re keeping most of your weight off of me!”

Luo Binghe scowls. “Yuan-ge should start working out, then. I can cook meals with more protein, too, and -”

“Luo Binghe if you even dare to suggest that I go to the gym just to be able to hold you like a dog -!”

Luo Binghe sulks off to the kitchen. Fine, then - he’s a former emperor, he can do this the sneaky way. He’ll start fattening The Dog up with more food than it’s strictly supposed to eat, and either Shen Yuan will have to get strong enough to pick it up or he’ll stop picking it up. 

Either way, Luo Binghe will win this battle.

[sillygoofyqueer]

Please, oh mighty one, bless us with more jiuyuan crow Yuan content. I'm kicking my feet giggling everytime I read any of your additions. That guy so needs an emotional support animal, no matter what form it comes in.

Do you think crow yuan wld be attracted to the shinies in the bamboo hut? All the uselessly gaudy gifts the sect leader keeps throwing at him are finally coming in handy. But SJ is also super possessive of his items, so I wonder how that interaction will pan out? Would crows be the type to appreciate fine art and pretty colours in paintings, or are they just attracted to things that glow and reflect the light?

Also I'm just imagining crowyuan completely missing the bullying scene, then flying around until something shiny within the bamboo stalks catches his eyes, and he just finds a dangling guanyin there like ???

Does he take it with him? Does he realize it's the protagonist's jade pendant? Or does he just go, huh, how'd this get up here, and off in a nest it goes lol. Man, one of your previous posts talked about crowyuan just scattering his nests all over the peaks, and no one can touch them unless they want the wrath of god (SJ and thusly his enabler) upon them. And I just find it hilarious how inconvenient it could possibly be? Like imagine him setting up nests in the most inconvenient places on An Ding out of spite, and people just have to circle around it and try not to dislodge anything. Like, not all of them are on purpose across the peaks but man can it turn out to be a bit of a pain. And then ofc it can just be endearing the other times, with peak disciples recording the location of new nests and tallying to see which peak has the 2nd most nests (1st ofc always goes to Qing Jing)

I'm squealing over this reaction, I will bestow upon you what you seek. Shen Yuan is literally pulled into the Bamboo Hut after the sun hits the shinies through the window and he notices the glint from where he's politely making a nest nearby (so Shen Jiu won't be lonely!! God!). There is a slight pause of 'oooh, shiny! NO, THAT IS SHEN JIU'S- holy shit was that a ruby-' and then he darts into the hut (conveniently left open because SJ had to rush to deal with a rude visitor) to go poke and prod at the shinies. SJ returns to his hut after booting Liu Qingge (who wants to show SY a cool monster he killed) off his peak, to find the source of his headache holding a random gold trinket close to his mouth (he can test the realness that way, he swears), frozen in place as he stares at SJ. Of course, SY is embarrassed and SJ is confused (and yet pleased - SY entered his house of his own accord). SY awkwardly hands over the shinies he has scooped up into his arms, apologising profusely about the instincts he has while SJ (although he doesn't care about them, they're still his) acts righteously offended by his the little thief and forces him to stay for the night as punishment - no nest equals punishment for the thief teehee. However, Yue Qingyuan sees how much SY likes shiny things and starts offering him little gifts because he wants him to feel comfortable on Cang Qiong Mountain- SJ is of the full mindset that YQY is trying to steal his bird and immediately gets pissed off. As if that loser's bribery gifts are any better than SHEN JIU'S!! He will not stand for such a thing, and starts shoving his gifts into SY's hands almost forcefully. SY has learned to appreciate the finery of things, which is his human side still sliding into his life, but the other crow demons are still working on that aspect. SY does most definitely just sees the fake jade pendant, bites it, and just goes "mmm, fake things <3" and drops it into his nest. Luo Binghe sees it one day and has to physically hold himself back from just snatching it right away, instead finding SY and breaking down into tears as he tries to justify why he should have it back. SY has already handed it back to him, but he feels the need to explain. SJ is super jealous to find SY coddling LBH in his nest like the baby birds he deals with all the time. SY WILL PUT HIS NESTS ANYWHERE, AND HIS NESTS WILL STAY THERE BECAUSE NOBODY CAN DENY THAT DEMON. He makes them everywhere: on paths because then he can still be social while chilling, in An Ding peak storerooms just because..., on the roofs of Wan Jian Peak forges because they're toasty, Bai Zhan Peak fighting grounds because cool entertainment, and Qing Jing Peak because SJ <3

[coolshadowtwins]

SVSSS YQY Fan Fic Round up!

Ok, I finally have them all together! Please enjoy these fanfics, and if you have any to recomend that's not on here, feel free to say! I'll add it later!

First off, The YQY Weekend 2023 AO3 collection and The QiJiu Week 2023 I'm going to recommend as the entire pages! Great places to go find a fanfic to enjoy! Some might be double recomanded, but some should be unique!

Mouse On The Thorn by Lbhs_left_tiddie

On a mission, Yue Qingyuan comes across an omega child, who shares a name and a startling resemblance with his favourite shidi. Shen Qingqiu, however, denies knowing such a child, and make it very clear he wants nothing to do with him.

Without any family or home, Yue Qingyuan instead offers to take care of the child.

Palimpsest by Azzandra

Yue Qingyuan has one giant blindspot as a sect leader, and that's Shen Qingqiu.

But now a curse has made him forget Shen Qingqiu, and that changes some things.

gather jewels from graveyards by formerlyknives 

When strange rumours reach Cang Qiong, Shen Yuan is a little slow to investigate.

He lives to regret it.

The number children by Angry_gremlin_commando

Ten-year-old Mobei Wu, fifth son of the current Mobei-Jun, gets stranded in the human realm after one of his uncle's murder attempts. There he meets fifteen-year-old Yue Qi, fresh out of Lingxi caves and on the way to rescue Shen Jiu.

It turns out even ice demons aren't immune to Yue Qi's Big Brother energy. (This author has a good number of stories to check out! Go look at them!!)

A smile for the master, a snarl for the wolves by Angry_gremlin_commando

Shen Qingqiu and his young disciple Luo Binghe qi-deviate at the same time and swap bodies. It makes them understand some things about each other.

To Plant a Garden by SweetTiramisu

Yue Qingyuan spends so long beneath the earth that he becomes a part of it. Perhaps Shen Qingqiu will plant a garden in him.

Written for Qijiu Week Day 2: Touch Starvation.

bite your way to safety by AMereDream

The Geese come at a time that neither Shen Jiu nor Yue Qi considers ideal. They make it work. (This author has so many good fics! Go read them! This is just the one I chose to put on this list!)

You Were You, And I Was I by MissMegh

Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan qi deviate and turn into their teenaged selves. They don't know who they become. They don't remember the worst moments of their lives. They only know they're together again.

Pretty soon everyone on Cang Qiong Mountain knows they are, too.

Our Sect Leader Is A Baby! by dryingmangoes

Yue Qingyuan gets deaged. Somehow this changes everything.

for day 2 of qijiu week blessing/curse

Treading Well-Worn Paths by mofumofu

After Shen Qingqiu married Luo Binghe, Yue Qingyuan thought his role in the man’s life was over.

However, as he carried the child-sized lord of Qing Jing Peak in his arms, he was grateful for this unexpected opportunity to bond with the person he cherished most.

Shen Yuan, meanwhile, wondered desperately where the hell he was.

hey, share the weight a little by Tossawary

Shang Qinghua is miserable as an outer disciple of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, doubtful that the plot will ever begin, when he finally runs into his first character. Yue Qingyuan is only a boy in desperate need of a helpful friend. Well, why shouldn't Shang Qinghua be that friend? A little investment now when they're young and Shang Qinghua might just be able to survive this world with the support of a sect leader.

It's definitely not because he's also in desperate need of a friend.

(He's definitely not expecting love.)

you're my number one by pennydaniels

Yue Qingyuan is granted a chance to have his heart's deepest desire made real by a mysterious goddess living in a small sect's private temple.

The Evening by kat8cha

Yue Qingyuan wakes up, he gets dressed, he goes to work, he goes to the gym, he goes to a party.

He pays people to tell him what to wear, people to tell him where to be, people to tell him what to do, and pays for someone else's engagement party.

A broken mirror restored by bunnyfication

Yue Qingyuan is hit over the head with the realization that he could ask Shen Qingqiu to marry him, Shen Qingqiu's suspicious mind cannot make sense of the sequence of events. Yue Qingyuan would never, would he? What is this, mind control??? (it's happiness, but neither of them has ever felt it before).

nobody, nobody told me by AMereDream

“Qingqiu-shidi,” he started. “Are you al—”

Xiao Jiu tugged, surprisingly strong for someone who had collapsed out of nowhere less than an hour before. Yue Qingyuan followed, partly out of surprise and partly because it was Xiao Jiu; of course he’d go wherever Xiao Jiu wanted him to be.

He found himself being dragged onto the bed, only the thin sheets separating him from Xiao Jiu's body. His breath caught in his chest, and he clenched his eyes shut.

Xiao Jiu's bony elbows dug into his chest, his thin — too thin, having skipped too many meals even for someone who didn’t need to eat — shoulders curved to meet Yue Qingyuan’s body.

His long hair tickled Yue Qingyuan’s face. He smelled like the honeyed soap he washed his hair with. Yue Qingyuan inhaled covertly, deep and greedy.

 

One morning, Shen Qingqiu woke up a changed man. Yue Qingyuan is left trying to figure out what happened to make him so relaxed and affectionate.

[esamastation]

Part sixty-one of Shizuroth, aka, the SOLDIER General's Self Saving Shizun.

Ao3 link.

Previous parts: fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty

-

"There, wasn't that so much faster?"

If looks could kill, Tseng's answering glare would've had him six feet under. He doesn't object, though, and Sephiroth grins smugly. He knows might've given the Turk a perfect opportunity to observe his new abilities and that might come back to bite him in the ass, but Sephiroth doesn't care anymore.

He's already fucked everything up! He's killed the protagonist! Maybe! Possibly!

Though true enough, Final Fantasy VII has a weird relationship with mental illness and death and coming back from both, so brain dead is probably nowhere near permanent - but then again, it might be a gateway to who knows what kinds of shenanigans. Especially where Cloud Strife is concerned! The guy was mind controlled left and right, literally swam through the Planet, came out with a major case of broken brain, had someone go into said brain, and recovered! Like. Cultivators could go through some weird stuff too, but that is really something else together!

And the worst thing is, Sephiroth doesn't know how reliant this world is on its protagonists. Back in PIDW, if something happened to Luo Binghe, it might've very well led to Game Over for the rest of them. It definitely would've been Game Over for Shen Qingqiu! Their Protagonist was literally the lynchpin holding everything together. What if Cloud Strife is the same?

And what if Sephiroth's sloppy approach to transmigration this time led to his death?

So, yeah. He doesn't really care about what he reveals. Between accidentally leading to Protagonist's death and becoming the Big Planet-Killing Bad, he's probably got some leeway here. He's already OOC, he already messed stuff up. Who cares!

Plus… Tseng's face was really funny.

Tseng adjusts the front of his suit jacket, giving him the side-eye. "Faster, maybe. Necessary…?" 

"It was very necessary. There's barely a signal at the house!" Sephiroth says innocently and brings out his phone, opening it with a decisive snap. "You can send messages, sure, but to make calls? Besides, you're the one who insisted on tagging along."

Tseng gives him a bitchy face. "I appreciate your accommodation for my wishes, then," he says acerbically. His tone suggests he wouldn't be insisting again.

Sephiroth grins and then turns his attention to his phone. Genesis' number is the third on speed dial, after Mission Office and Angeal.

He answers on the third ring.

"Someone had better be dying," Genesis groans, voice sleep-rough and stretched by a yawn.

Oh, oops, time zones. "Ah, Genesis, did I wake you?" Sephiroth asks, wincing, and turns to walk away from Tseng, following the mountainside and keeping to the clear, where he knows the connection works.

"Sephiroth," Genesis answers, and nothing else. Oh dear, he's really not happy.

Leaning his head back to look at the sky as he walks and hoping he wouldn't be paying for this later, Sephiroth clears his throat. "I'll, uh, just get to the point, shall I? You know about the new injection trials?"

"Yes," and again nothing else. Sephiroth is on very thin ice, it seems.

Walking away from Tseng is more for his peace of mind than anything - he's pretty sure Tseng is wiretapping him somehow. Still, he checks back to make sure there's some distance in between before speaking. 

"There's one candidate that went brain dead," Sephiroth says, and looks away. "I need to know what you know about him."

Genesis is quiet for a long moment before a sigh sounds through the connection, and then there's a sound of bed frame cracking and a heavy breath as Genesis stands up. "Hang on a moment."

Sephiroth waits, biting his lower lip, watching the clouds drift over the forests below.

"Cloud Strife, fourteen years of age, originally from a little town called Nibelheim on the middle continent," Genesis says, accompanied by the sound of papers rustling. "He signed up for the SOLDIER candidate trials a little under a month ago and was pulled into the new project five days ago. He got two injections, both on the same day, and flatlined almost immediately after the second one," Genesis trails away. "They managed to rez him, but by then the oxygen deprivation wreaked havoc on his brain. He'd been on life support in a Mako tank since."

Sephiroth falls to sit on a rocky outcropping sticking out of the mountainside. "Shit."

"Mmhmm," Genesis says. "Hard to say who has it worse, him or the ones who have fallen. You do know that this mess has already led to deaths, right?"

Well, now he's angry. "I know, I know," Sephiroth sighs, running a hand over his face. "I'm sorry."

"Tch," Genesis answers and there's a sound of papers being thrown. "Madness of the beasts leads to the corruption of good men. I'm guessing Strife has a chance of ending up like you, then?"

"... What?" Sephiroth asks.

"Oh, don't play coy, I'm far too tired," Genesis scoffs. "You got overdosed, flatlined and changed. The injection did something to you, gave you knowledge. Is the same going to happen to Strife? That's why Hojo is dragging it out keeping him alive, but if you think so too…"

Sephiroth clasps a hand over his chin. He hadn't even thought about it. Could it happen? Another transmigration, in style similar to his? PIDW had two transmigrators, but they were very different. Shang Qinghua began as a baby, Shen Qingqiu inherited a full life of an established scum villain.

If Cloud Strife died - which he might've already… does that make him open for transmigration? Who would transmigrate into him? Shang Qinghua was slated to die, just like Shen Qingqiu was, but… Airplane, in a Protagonist? Why would he?

Why had Sephiroth?

"I… don't know," Sephiroth admits. "I can't… deny the possibility."

"Damnation," Genesis sighs. "What should we expect?"

"I have no idea," Sephiroth says and looks up. It could be anyone - or might not even be someone he knows! It could be someone from Earth! 

"Well, that's just great," Genesis sighs. "Do you have any idea when, how, what we should look out for, anything?"

"Um," Sephiroth says and then shakes his head. "I think it might be best if I just come there."

"Oh, wonderful idea! That's just what this situation needs, you giving the scientists new ideas!" Genesis groans, muffled as though against a palm. "Just do me a favour: when you next lose it, feel free to finish Hojo off, alright?"

"I -"

Genesis hangs up on him. 

… Rude.

Sephiroth lowers the phone, eyeing the scenery for a moment. Then he turns to his watchman who's pretending as if he didn't hear everything. "Oh, Tseng?"

"I don't know if i can arrange you a transport to Midgar at this short a notice," the Turk says, very bland and noncommittal. He's absolutely lying.

"Oh, you can't? I must've overestimated you Turks," Sephiroth says and jumps up to his feet, walking back over to him. "Isn't your job getting me back to Midgar as soon as possible?"

"Back to work, and only once we're sure you're not still unstable," Tseng says, wryly, giving him a very dubious look. "Something I'm still not so sure of."

"I had one mental breakdown, and I've been level since, haven't I?" Sephiroth cajoles him. "I promise I won't lose it again. And this will let you observe me more, in a different situation, reacting to stress!"

Tseng doesn't look convinced.

"I'm going to Midgar one way or another. At least like this you'll be in charge."

The Turk shakes his head. "I don't think that's a good enough reason to arrange intercontinental transport on a whim." Tseng says dryly. "If you feel fit for duty, I can certainly arrange some missions for you. Until further notice, you're stationed here."

Sephiroth gives him a look. "I'll fly under my own power if I have to," he threatens.

"Even over the ocean?" Tseng asks sarcastically, but pulls out his phone. "And what's your plan when you get to Midgar - walk up to Professor Hojo and just demand he releases a research specimen to you?"

"You know, that might not be a bad idea. Who knows, he might actually do it," Sephiroth says brightly and then, at Tseng's judgemental look, snorts. "I'm kidding. I'll think of something."

"... Very reassuring," Tseng shakes his head and punches in a number from memory. "You'll owe me, Sephiroth," he promises, putting the phone to his ear. "And don't think I didn't notice that you reacted to the name, rather than the status of this Cloud Strife."

Sephiroth smiles at him sweetly. "You're my favourite Turk, Tseng."

Tseng sighs, and gets him a flight to Midgar.

-

You've heard of Liuber, now get ready for...

[masiethewriter]

Honored Eternal Path of Demise CH. 12 - Regaining Health

Instead he moves closer to Shen Qingqiu’s head. taking hold of his hand and shoulder, he pulls him up, so he is forced to sit back up again. Luo Binghe does not release his grasp, but even with his support, Shen Qingqiu can’t manage more than a slouch. "Senior Shen. We need to get you somewhere dry. And find medical supplies. You think you can manage that?" Luo Binghe gently asks.  Shen Qingqiu does not think he can manage that. But for whatever reason, his head still nods.

First Chapter ~~ Previous Chapter ~~ AO3 Link

Low hanging branches and sharp leaves grasp at them as they run through the garden forest. There is no road to guide their way and their only light is a far away lamp post, whose glow only barely allows them to see the way.

They are moving too slow.

Shen Qingqiu can only limp as Luo Binghe carries most of his weight. What is left of his leg is stuck in hell and the world around him becomes more blurry with each second. Were Luo Binghe to let go of him now, he would definitely fall, unable to get up or move away. The entirety of his survival hinging on Luo Binghes kindness.

A kindness that puts them both in danger. 

The shrill screams of the Killer have turned into roars of rage. The pain from the poisonous bushes can only distract him for so long, having instead left him a hunger for revenge. 

He is on their trail. 

They have no hope of outrunning him.

Shen Qingqiu can’t think. Mindlessly he can only follow wherever Luo Binghe goes. When he suddenly throws them both to the side, he can only fall along.

They land in between two tall bushes with barely an opening between them. Trees from above cover them with their long branches, water drops dripping down from them. Luo Binghe is quick to drag them further in, until they barely can see the way they came from.

His foot howls for mercy at the rough treatment, but Shen Qingqiu almost bites his hand bloody in an attempt to keep in his cries of pain. Only when he believes he can control his voice, does he instead move to cover the bleeding of his leg. Warm blood spills through his fingers as he does his utmost to keep it from further pouring out.

His foot is still attached. But with how deep and destroying the axe went, it might have been more of a blessing if it had just been cleanly cut off.

Luo Binghe leaves him to it. Once certain Shen Qingqiu is hidden behind him, he moves forward to peek through the bushes. A hand held to his mouth keeps his breathing quiet as he looks out. 

Shen Qingqiu can see nothing from his vantage point. The crashing of the underbrush tearing apart as the Killer bursts through is not possible to miss, though.

The Killer stops. Only his strained breathing can be heard in the silence. Luo Binghe stands completely still. Shen Qingqiu holds his breath.

Seconds that last eons tick by. The Killer walks in a careful circle around the area, twigs cracking under his heavy weight. Slowly, oh so slowly, does he move closer to their hiding spot. With each step, the tension in Luo Binghes body tightens. With each splitting stick, Shen Qingqiu runs out of air. With each beating of their terrified hearts, they both come closer to their doom.

In the distance, splintering can be heard. With not a second of hesitation, the Killer follows the sound.

Finally he has lost their trail.

Shen Qingqiu gasps for breath. He is cold, he is dirty and he is in so much pain that he should not be conscious. Nothing of what he is doing seems to hinder him bleeding out.

But without the Killer to worry about at the moment, Luo Binghe returns his attention to him. Crouching by his side he assesses the situation at hand.

"Fuck," He curses. Shen Qingqiu couldn't agree more.

Words are too much for him, though. He can't tell Luo Binghe what they need to do next. Not that he would even know what that would be. Their current predicament is nothing like anything that has happened in the game before. 

"Okay. Okay! We can work through this. We just need-" Luo Binghe mutters as he looks around the small space. Suddenly his eyes catches on Shen Qingqiu’s jacket. 

"Sorry Senior, but please let me get that. My own got lost earlier."

Shen Qingqiu is too exhausted to fight him. He lets Luo Binghe pull off his jacket, limp body going along with the movement. Letting go of his leg releases a burst of pain that catches his breath. Unable to react with more than a weak whimper, he can only let Luo Binghe continue whatever he is doing.

Luo Binghe does not put on Shen Qingqiu’s jacket. Before he can return to provide pressure against the bleeding, Luo Binghe delicately picks up his leg. 

That slight movement is enough for the agony to sap the last of Shen Qingqiu’s strength. Falling back into the mud, his mind is pure static, blurry eyes dumbly watching Luo Binghe and his actions.

As carefully as he can muster, he ties Shen Qingqiu’s jacket around the wound. First he covers the foot with the cloth, wrapping it up like a cocoon. Afterwards he ties the sleeves around it, pulling them as tightly as he can. Each jolt breathes life in the inferno that is Shen Qingqius leg, the jacket quickly reddening with his blood. But as Luo Binghe finishes the improvised bandage, he does not put the leg down.

Instead he moves closer to Shen Qingqiu’s head. taking hold of his hand and shoulder, he pulls him up, so he is forced to sit back up again. Luo Binghe does not release his grasp, but even with his support, Shen Qingqiu can’t manage more than a slouch.

"Senior Shen. We need to get you somewhere dry. And find medical supplies. You think you can manage that?" Luo Binghe gently asks. 

Shen Qingqiu does not think he can manage that. But for whatever reason, his head still nods. 

"Good. Then we need to go. Can you keep your leg up? I will help you in a moment, but I don't want it getting in the mud."

Another nod. Luo Binghe releases his hand and gets up. Shen Qingqiu manages to keep his foot above the ground, using both hands to hold its weight. Once Luo Binghe is standing again he hurries to lift Shen Qingqiu, once again throwing their arms around each other so he can keep his weight. A stable force, he keeps them both balanced as they move on once again. 

Without the Killer chasing them, their pace is slower. Luo Binghe is much more careful about not hurting Shen Qingqiu further, no matter how impossible an act it is. Still, he finds each bump along the way only leaves a flaming ember instead of the blazing hell that consumed his foot before.

Once again his mind goes static as Luo Binghe leads the way. His only focus is his breathing, unable to think further than the pain in his leg and the kinder warmth seeping through from Luo Binghe. 

He must lose some time. Suddenly they are no longer surrounded by trees and plants, instead finding themselves in a small clearing. The first strand of moonlight lights the area, revealing their sorry states. Both are drenched to the bone, Shen Qingqiu almost completely covered in mud. Each of their steps have left footprints in the grass, the muddy ground breaking apart under their weight.

Miraculously, Luo Binghe has managed to find a shed.

While it can be argued whether Luo Binghe is the actual protagonist of Honored Eternal Path of Demise, he certainly bears the halo of one. Shen Qingqiu can only think of this, as Luo Binghe carries them both inside.

The inside isn't particularly remarkable. A single lightbulb hangs from the ceiling, which releases weak fluttering light as they turn it on. It reveals that the shed mostly contains tools for gardening and the like. Still, there is a small stool on which Luo Binghe places him on. Once he is certain Shen Qingqiu can carry his own weight and won’t fall over, he turns to sort through the mess.

Shen Qingqiu leans his head against the cold wall. It is a relief to no longer be under the onslaught of the harsh weather. He also finds it easier to deal with his leg when he isn’t moving around. Really, if there is any place where Luo Binghe could leave him, this wouldn't be the worst...

The luck of a hero continues to impress. From his search, Luo Binghe manages to find a small medical kit. Hurrying back to Shen Qingqiu's side, they both open it to see what it contains. 

It is not much. A few rolls of bandages and an almost empty package of pain killers. Looking at the supplies, Shen Qingqiu hardly thinks about it for a moment before he reaches out for the pills. 

"Give me those."

"Are you sure Senior?" Luo Binghe asks, but only hesitates for a second before he does as he is told.

Shen Qingqiu knows the pills could be a trap. He doesn't care. They are going to relieve his pain either way, whether that is by doing their function or putting an end to his suffering. He does not care which.

Swallowing the pills dry, his head returns to the wall. Luo Binghe has rolled out one of the bandages and carefully unties the bloody mess that is Shen Qingqiu's jacket. For the first time, both of them can get a clear view of the damage. 

His foot looks horrible. There is too much blood to clearly see the wound, but angry red skin still reveals the edges of the cut. His pant leg also got sliced, with bits of it mixing in with his open meat. How he hasn't died from blood loss yet is a mystery. Likely the same forces that kept him alive long enough to fully experience his grotesque deaths are the ones behind this. 

"We have nothing to clean it with," Luo Binghe mutters as he studies his foot. "If we don’t find anything else we risk it getting infected."

Risk it getting infected? Shen Qingqiu could laugh. He has barely managed to survive for half an hour in this wretched game, when would he have time to get it infected? If he survives the next couple of hours that would be impressive in itself.

"We can worry about that later. We need to deal with what we can for now," he manages to grit out. The painkillers will take a while to kick in, so it still leaves him exhausted to speak. Luo Binghe seems to understand though.

"Don't worry Senior Shen," he tries to reassure. "Just give me a minute."

Then Luo Binghes full attention is on Shen Qingqiu’s foot. The first thing he does is try to loosen Shen Qingqiu shoe. At his harsh intake of air, he hesitates. Instead he checks his pockets until he pulls out a small pocket knife. 

Ahh, this Shen Qingqiu recognizes. The small knife is a tool unique to Luo Binghe. The backstory is that he got it from his foster mother before she died. It is cheaply made, the plastic handle meant to imitate that of jade stone. The blade itself is so short that it could never be used as a weapon, requiring to be almost in an embrace to reach anything vital. Still, Luo Binghe has kept it in good condition, edges sharp as he cuts open Shen Qingqiu's shoe. 

Like this he is able to peel it off. Soon after he does the same to his sock and pant leg, until his foot is completely free. They don't have the supplies to remove the fabric already caught in his wound, but now more won't get stuck in it. 

The entire process is agonising. Shen Qingqiu has his eyes closed through most of it, his focus on controlling his breathing. He must remain patient as Luo Binghe does his best to patch him back together. 

With the cloth out of the way, Luo Binghe begins to roll the bandage around his foot. His movement is precise, showing that clearly this is not his first time tying a bandage. The pressure he has to apply to stop the bleeding is enough that Shen Qingqiu can't hold in his sobs, fists clenched at his sides. 

But finally, after a lengthy process, Shen Qingqius leg has been properly dressed. Or as properly as is possible given the circumstances. 

Now they just have to wait for the painkillers to kick in.

Luo Binghe prepares to wait. Sitting down on the floor and leaning against the wall he puts the bandages away. Quietly Shen Qingqiu watches him through hooded eyes.

Luo Binghe looks like a mess. His shirt is almost see-through from the rain and multiple curly locks have slipped out of his ponytail. Mud is splattered across his pants, which is still not as horrible to see as the blood splatter covering his hands. 

His face is pale, dark shadows under his eyes. But considering the traumatising experience he has just gone through, he seems mostly put together. Staying strong in the face of adversity like a hero should.

Shen Qingqiu himself on the other hand must look like a total nightmare.

The dirt and blood on Binghe is nothing compared to Shen Qingqius appearance. Even when looking past the state of his foot, he is covered with mud from head to toe. It is impossible to wipe any of it off as his hands are just as dirty. It sticks to his clothes, it sticks to his hair and no matter how he tries to move to loosen it, it sticks to his skin through his uniform. Nothing but a full bath could save the sorry state that he is in. Though that is not likely to happen anytime soon. Especially since he still has no trust in any body of water they might stumble upon.

Basically, there is nothing Shen Qingqiu or Luo Binghe can do but wait. Until Shen Qingqiu is in less pain, he is in no state to decide on their next course of action. Even now, Shen Qingqiu is still unable to really focus his attention enough to analyse what has happened or why Luo Binghe would save him. Instead, he just rests his head against the wall, carefully breathing in and out, as he exhaustingly slowly waits for his agony to lessen.

Suddenly Luo Binghe breaks the silence with the last statement Shen Qingqiu would have ever thought he would make.

"You shouldn't have come back for me." 

Shen Qingqiu has to take a minute to get his mind on track and return to the here and now. His first instinct is just to yell "What the fuck?!" at Luo Binghe. Why would you ever say something like that? That is fucked up!! What the hell protagonist??? 

But before it can be released, he manages to remember that it is not Shen Yuan that Luo Binghe is talking to, but Shen Qingqiu. And even in his miserable state, he has to play the role he has been given.

Wishing they could have this conversation when his foot isn't a mess of burning suffering he manages to grit out: "And what exactly... would you want me to have done instead?"

"You should have run away, like I told you to!"

Luo Binghe isn't exactly angry. Rather the eyes he sends Shen Qingqiu's way are confused and upset. Like he couldn't imagine any world where the other would run back for him. Were it the original goods, he would have been right. Shen Qingqiu, on the other hand, can only feel pity at what he sees. Still, he has to muster out much harsher words.

"Tell me, what would I then have said to Ning Yingying? That I just abandoned you to a crazy killer? Don't be stupid-" He first tries to dismiss, but Luo Binghe interrupts. 

"That you had no choice! The killer was between you and me, what could you have done? Isn't you being hurt like this proof that this was the stupid thing to do?"

"Not as stupid as you dying! I am your senior. It is my responsibility to keep my juniors safe. What exactly would you have done if I hadn't turned back?!"

"I would have been fine! I had already seen an opening and knew how to get away. You coming back only put you in unnecessary danger!"

Shen Qingqiu finally can't keep it in and explodes: "Are you really so incapable of a simple thank you that you argue for your own abandonment!?"

Luo Binghe is silenced, eyes as wide as saucers. When he tries to open his mouth to argue further, Shen Qingqiu refuses to let him.

"I turned back. I got hurt. We got away. We can't change any of these actions. So instead of telling me everything I did wrong, the least you could do is show some goddamn gratitude!"

Luo Binghes mouth snaps shut. It takes him a second to fully take in Shen Qingqiu’s words. Then he turns his face away, in what Shen Qingqiu can only assume to be shame.

The shouting match stole his breath away. First when it becomes clear that Luo Binghe has nothing more to add, does Shen Qingqiu allow himself to rest again. Pure calm is hard to reach though, his temper still prickling at him underneath his skin. What was before a somewhat comfortable silence between them is now thick with tension, awkward and bitter.

The thing is, Shen Qingqiu doesn't need Luo Binghe to tell him how much of a moron he is. He knows! Of course he knows! He risked everything to save a character that can't permanently be damaged! And every time he is about to forget it, a flare of pain from his leg reminds him of it all over again! This was totally not worth it!

And that just leads to the question of what their next course of action will be. 

They have to get back to Ning Yingying, first of all. In order to correctly progress through the game, they have to solve the upper floor of the mansion. They have already wrecked the sequence more than once and the faster they can return back on track the better. If they can just find their way back from where they came while watching out for the Killer then-

Suddenly Shen Qingiu's entire body runs cold. Everything around him is forgotten as he has one horrible realisation.

In the original order of the cutscene, Ning Yingying would be forced to run back from where she came. The same as Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe needs to do. And in order to do so, she would have to navigate back through the maze of poisonous bushes until she was safe on the other side. 

This navigation only possible with the use of the flashlight.

The same flashlight that Shen Qingqiu yeeted at the Killers head, sealing his fate, as it broke and turned into pieces of junk. 

(Which, BTW, wouldn't have been changed by the fact that he had actually been aiming for the Killers back. Luckily he didn’t completely miss his target.)

Broken flashlight = No going back through the bush maze.

No going back through the bush maze = No way to return to the entrance of the mansion.

Shen Qingqiu has softlocked them!

Motherfucking, goddamn, shitty ass bullshit of a-

Nope! Nope, Shen Qingqiu is not going there. This is completely, undoubtedly his fault. Of all the things he could have thrown, the flashlight was the absolutely worst! What can he do now? What can they do now? Luo Binghe is maybe meant to spend his time outside, but that is by himself! Not only is Shen Qingqiu not meant to be here, but with his leg crippled as it is, he will only drag them down! Also, he doesn't even have any idea where they can go from here? He doesn't know where they are and he doesn't know where anything is. This is completely uncharted territory, even when compared to when he first played the game. 

For the first time since he woke up in this world Shen Qingqiu has absolutely no idea what to do. 

He doesn't want to break the game further and worsen their situation, but they also can't just stay here and do nothing, that will lead them nowhere, and if they go out they might stumble into the Killer, but maybe that would be for the best, maybe reseting and returning everything back to the start is the best solution, if Shen Qingqiu just dies once more, in the grand scheme of things, another death would make no difference-

"Thank you Senior Shen."

His thoughts halt. Looking down, he is almost shocked to find Luo Binghe staring directly at him. He looks almost shy, head slightly bowed and words hesitant like he is not used to muttering them. But as Shen Qingqiu’s eyes are caught by his, he finds himself unable to look away, the honesty too pure.

This time it is Shen Qingqiu that is left speechless. Mouth slightly open he tries to formulate a response. A tiny voice in his mind screaming at him to stay in character. But nothing sticks and Shen Qingqiu is stuck just staring back at Luo Binghe.

This serves to strengthen Binghe's resolve. He adjusts his posture so he is properly kneeling. Like a student looking up at his master, he gives a determined nod before he bows down once.

"Thank you for coming back to save me!"

[ineffectualdemon]

Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua and the autistic bite of affection

I feel like Shang Qinghua definitely does the affection bite to Mobei once they are established relationship and Mobei just bites back excitedly but after the first disaster he learns the correct pressure for affectionate biting and it's not unusual to see them gently biting each other.

They do it more than kissing

In fact Shang Qinghua will be doing paperwork while holding Mobei's hand in his mouth like a chew toy

I feel like Shen Qingqiu really wants to affection bite like ALL the time but refrains due to maintaining his image

Like he sometimes stares really hard at Liu Qingge and is thinking really intensely of gnawing gently on him and Liu Qingge doesn't know what that stare means but it makes him nervous

I can totally imagine tho that he will just lean over and bite Airplane mid conversation when they are alone and Airplane just bites him back. These bites are a little bit stronger that your average affection bite and are slightly malicious

He thinks about biting Binghe all the time. He thinks about so much it makes his teeth ache but does not because that's too OOC and Binghe might misunderstand :(

Except he doesn't realise that sometimes when hes really sleepy and they're cuddled up he gently bites Binghe and makes happy noises when he does. Binghe finds it almost too sweet to handle

[shioritsumi]

Shang Qingshui having a System that he's mostly figured out how to manipulate and now he's in his 30s he hasn't gotten a mission from it in years. Things are chill.

Then Luo Binghe arrives and his System reactivates. And it gives him some of the WEIRDEST missions he's ever had! They used to be semi-normal shit, like "Avoid suspension" or "Improve Student Council's opinion of you", "Prompt a Physical Response from Shen Tianyu", stuff like that. Now suddenly his missions are things like "Convince Luo Binghe you are harmless" or "Acknowledge Northern Kingdom's Transfer Request".

He thought he was fucking DONE with the system and it's BACK and worse than ever.

One day Tianyu is telling him how excited he is to have his son for a couple of weeks and invites him to dinner. He made Bingge promise to make a dinner Jiuyuan would like for sure and he'd love it if his best friend came to dinner too! Shan Qingshui bites back his snark about how stupidly happy Tianyu is and agrees bc whatever, Luo Binghe was always a good cook before, he just didn't cook for many people. The moment he agrees, a new mission pops up.

[New Mission: Dinner Among Enemies] [Objective: Survive] [Optional Mission: Encounter Shen Qingqiu and improve your reputation]

Shen....Qingqiu? From PIDW? From his old world? That guy died, right? Then again, he died too, didn't he? So....that means....oh no. Oh no no no....

And missions just KEEP on coming. And they're all ridiculous. If he ever meets Airplane again, he's definitely unloading all his complaints on him because this is all his fault. He wrote the stupid story, he made this whole stupid thing, and THEN he kicked Shang Qinghua out of his body and into this one! So this is STILL all his fault!

[svsssiperfixationdump]

If LQG could change one thing about his life, what would be?

Also, what do the peak lords think of SQH dating?

And the other Peak Lords' reaction can be summarised with...

Liu Qingge: I've already answered once, but at least Mobei Jun isn't as present on the Peak as Luo Binghe... and he is definitely a lot less annoying.

Shen Qingqiu: ah, haha, well, as much as I enjoy poking fun at Qinghua I can say that their relationship has been accepted relatively easily... especially after all the other stuff between me and Binghe... (Still, Airplaine is an idiot for not noticing that Mobei had been courting him for decades...)

Mu Qingfang: In my case, I'm more relieved after knowing the nature of Shang-shidi's lover... the first few times I observed his bruises and bite marks I worried that he had ended up in an abusive relationship... Qi Qingqi: While I am not too thrilled about what Shang-shidi's lover is I have to agree with Liu-shixiong... (Not to mention how much fun my girls have writing about them *cough*)

Lin Qingshui: The moment I met Shang-shidi I knew what he would marry, after all the string of fate never lies kekekeke. Gao Qinggao: As a monk, I believe love should know no bounds or restrictions, we should not judge them. Amitabha.

Ruan Qingruan: I came to know about Shidi's relationship status after a night drinking with Qinghua (no one was available to try my new brew for only immortals) and he just spilt the beans about his "King" only after the big reveal I understood that he was speaking of an actual demon king...

Yu Qingtao: I also, connected the dots later... all my animals would stay away from Shang-shidi... he is most definitely scent-marked by Mobei Jiun hahaha.

Xu Qingli: I don't care, I believe romance is a waste of time.

Yue Qingyuan: I see Shang-shidi's marriage as a great opportunity between the realms, as cultivators we should always strive for peace. With Xi-Shen-shidi's marriage with Luo Binghe, we can create a long era of peace and prosperity for both realms.

.... Wei Qingwei: Wait, Shang Qinghua is married??

(This is set POST-CANON)

[sunderwight]

Demon Shen Jiu is such a fun idea though.

Especially if he himself doesn't know. Like imagine, Yue Qi finds this abandoned baby and the baby is REALLY OBVIOUSLY not human. But this also enables Shen Jiu to survive being abandoned at such a young age -- a human baby would die without adequate nutrition or care, but demons are a little more resilient. Baby Demon SJ has a way more forgiving digestive system and can move under his own power from a much earlier age. By the time he's a year old he's hunting his own rodents and small birds, and has to be stopped from biting and mauling anyone he doesn't like. Which is most people. Qi-ge develops amazing reflexes.

Why do the slavers tolerate a demon baby hanging around? Maybe it's really not all that uncommon. Demons come across the borderlands from time to time, and are as liable to abandon their kids or die or etc as anyone else. It's maybe an open secret among slavers that demon-blooded kids are a better investment, even, because they can survive for longer on less. The only downside is if they don't ever look human enough to pass as human, because that limits potential buyers, but that's only relevant when the slavers are trying to sell them. For the purposes of having a network of street kids stealing and grifting and spying and etc, it's fine. A lot of the slavers themselves started out as demon-blooded street kids with no other options.

But in SJ's case, he pretty quickly starts passing as human. Mostly because he's quite strong, and he's convinced that he's the same as his Qi-ge, so he makes himself the same. Makes his hands look the same and his teeth look the same and etc. It's largely subconscious, and once he starts doing it, it becomes automatic. SJ forgets that he's a demon in the way that most people don't retain their earliest childhood memories -- although he remembers that some of the slavers were demons.

Then of course there's the question of why didn't the Cang Qiong cultivators notice?

A few options. One is that whatever kind of demon SJ is, it's really good at mimicking humans. Another is that he's only part demon, and like Luo Binghe, fully capable of handling both kinds of cultivation. So once he starts learning spiritual cultivation, even from a heretic like Wu Yanzi, he doesn't seem different from any other recruit with a patchy education on the subject. Anything else odd about him could be easily attributed to his exposure to Wu Yanzi and his wicked practices.

Although full demon SJ is a fascinating idea. (Also, it could contribute to all those qi deviations -- he's trying to cultivate AND "fake" human cultivation at the same time, I doubt Qing Jing's techniques are totally compatible with everything going on there even without the psychological turmoil.) Like I'd imagine Airplane wrote that SJ was abandoned on the streets as a baby, and the system was like "hmm he probably wouldn't survive that?" and then in some nine billionth wife arc, Airplane also creates a variety of demon that can fully pass as human (for some identity conflict with a prospective wife), even to the point of fooling human cultivators and demon-detecting tools. So the system just ties these two disparate pieces of world-building together in order to patch a critical plothole (Airplane doesn't know anything about babies). Which has the side effect that Shang Qinghua doesn't even know that SJ became a demon!

And SJ himself doesn't know. The only person who knows is Yue Qi.

Obviously this wouldn't come up much in PIDW, but it could be pretty funny in the SVSSS timeline. YQY just sitting there through the whole Luo Binghe being a half-demon reveal, wondering if he should say something. Subsequently being the most absolutely chill about the whole demon reveal thing anyway. Like he's definitely not upset that Luo Binghe is a demon, or part demon, and the multiple people who try to make a point about it just run afoul of his impenetrable smile and get nowhere.

Then eventually Yue Qingyuan decides that he should probably tell Bingqiu that Shen Qingqiu is a demon. For like, safety purposes if nothing else. He's kept the secret so long also for safety purposes (even if someone put Shen Qingqiu under a truth compulsion he wouldn't be able to admit to being a demon, because he himself doesn't know!), and he's done tons of stuff to prevent anyone ever finding out (although Xiao Jiu is so talented that he didn't have to do much), but Luo Binghe is the demon emperor. That changes things. If Shen Qingqiu is going to be visiting the demon kingdoms regularly then there's a chance something could reveal the truth unexpectedly, and that would probably be worse.

So Yue Qingyuan sits down and has a very serious discussion with Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe about how Shen Qingqiu is actually a demon, was just the cutest little demon baby in fact, here he drew a picture from memory of what Xiao Jiu used to look like before he learned to look more human, and also how a lot of slave kids and slavers and people who fall through the cracks in society have demon ancestry, some more recent than others, and Shen Qingqiu always retained a certain discomfort around his own kind because of the adult slavers who sold him off, and etc etc.

[darlingpwease]

I completely forgot about those HAHA– I hope your travel back home was well!! And I can be ur hypeman!! Ur works are always stunning (and ik many others agree, so u technically have many hypemen) but you truly are very talented, so no matter how big or small ur works are, they always deliver and are very good <33 /gen /pos aahhhdjwaks ur too lovely and a tad bitter but that's okay Dove <33 /t /j /pos

Wuuhhhdjsh,, Wei Wuxian who loves to show you off, but when one day the rolls switch, where you are the one showing him off as if he's your omega, he's feeling all soft and weak in the knees, his chest fluttering in joy at the thought of you adoring him as much as he does you,,, he will always find excuses to cling to you, both before and after he became a demonic cultivator. Him sometime biting your neck (as you do to him) and loves to see others reactions to it, because no matter what, you two are meant for each other, even if others don't seem to fully understand it.

Luo Binghe definitely wasn't the most "alpha"-esque alpha, you can't help but find it so cute at times <<333 Sure, his possessiveness and aggression to others who get close to you are definitely (somewhat) expected, but those moments when he willingly submits to you, sticking to you like taffy and being anything but an alpha towards you, well.. it'd be a lie if you were to say that you weren't at least a bit effected by it </33 Yes, he turned, yes, he used to be a beta, but the fact that he is now an alpha, still emits those alpha tendencies towards others but not you,,, even when he grows very confident and stronger, when he is so pliant towards you, only you, so willing to shed tears and keen into you, begging for your attention, for just a small kiss for how good hes been, just a small one— hhdbskdhs baby boy baby <333

AHH THATS SO CUTE,, Hua Cheng just releasing his scent because he's so happy to be around you is so fucking adorable omg 😭😭 maybe he got scared the first few times,, what if you didn't like it, would you hate him?? Think he's disgusting?? What if you never want to see him again?? He couldn't have that, he can't, he couldn't bare that– but when you keep brushing it off, not acknowledging it, he just gets happier, sometimes willing to release it as a way to not so subtly claim you as his dbska Maybe you know as well?? It was odd at first, but with how adorable it is, you can't help but indulge this cute little alpha who trots around, willing to be a beta/omega just for you <33

YESS!! When he finds out that ur just an alpha like beta, he can't help but think that you're just for him, how the heavens must have blessed him with you because of just how perfect you are,, for you seem to know whats comfortable for him without needing him to tell you, for you seem to know exactly what he likes, for he seems to wanting to be with you always– and when you allow him to cling to you as you keep scenting him and even marking him, he can only think how perfect you are, his perfect disciple

-panna cotta

desktop

because you embarrassed me (in a good way though) and I do not know how to answer you, since I can't even think of teasing, while I have already said everything about you in posts before about what a charming little panna cotta you are and how I love you<////3 'many hypemen' shush silly shush I appreciate the feeling of exclusivity and prefer to give it to others so you will be my only one<///3 /ht /affectionate / I'll pretend like I didn't see it after all these sweet words otherwise we'll have to get a gif with a hard block<3 /ht /hj very srs~<33333

WEI WUXIAN, whom you have known since childhood, and who constantly rubbing against you and leaving his milky smell, — because the appearance of smell during puphood feels slightly similar to teething, — and you didn't know if this was due to subconscious reaction to the fact that he treats you like you're 'omega', a simple puppy competition between alphas, or you also like to touch him, but you did exactly the same, sometimes even participating in incomprehensible for Jiang Cheng — who was an omega and regularly tolerated the two of you — attempts to hold the other and rub, even if there was no smell yet — and over the years it did not disappear; on the contrary, it became almost impossible to understand exactly what kind of smell you two had, because you constantly continued to mark each other with the smell, continuing to participate in all sorts of playful fights and chases, especially when WEI WUXIAN played dirty and jumped up, catching you by surprise, only to immediately try to hide from you.

(that's why you loved visiting Gusu Lan sect — after all, he couldn't use dirty tricks anymore!!!)

and this incomprehensible mutual dependence and obsession almost confused others, especially when you tried to treat each other like omegas, bragging and teasingly shamelessly asking for compliments for surpassing the other — and at the same time, ready to 'play along' with each other, even if still continued to maintain this playful struggle for dominance, forcing his brain to work to the maximum in attempts to surpass you, make you consider him "the best alpha" — and at the same time recognizing in his heart that when you surpass him, it's much nicer and even... mmm... hot, especially when you look down on him, — just like he feels — playfully arrogantly demanding that he acknowledge your superiority, but teasing his alpha instincts and inflaming him emotionally rather than actually suppressing.

(like 'step on me' let's be honest)

and it's really both hard and easy for you to explain why you have each other's bites on your neck, because, well, who is objectively better than you for each other? even if there is a feeling of rivalry and attempts to be better and stronger between you all the time, you are forced to step on your throat and agree that everything would be too smooth without it — even with the quarrels that sometimes arise, WEI WUXIAN is too attached to you and malleable, needy and clingy, and you are not better towards him, finding your home in him, just as he has found his home in you,,,,,,,

but just imagine that a cute hardworking turnip is running around next to you, like your pet that you first tamed and then made a puppy that you have to take care of, a sweet meek beta maiden who looks like only a lotus and looks at you with trusting adoring eyes, like a member of your pack, such a cutie — only to in a few years this 'cutie' turned out to be the demon king and was presented as an alpha, although you were sure that he was a beta, but he remained the same physically sticky and emotional; rather, even more adoring than he was, since the demonic blood strengthened all his already innate traits, making him completely whipped and obsessive, but you are surprisingly okay with this, even when he asks you to mark him as yours, shamelessly using the role of a servant boy, forcing you to even forget who he is now is — until it begins to seem to him that you are looking at someone else — and he explode emotionally, demanding that you look only at him, and you need all your perseverance and a smell, that acts on him like a tranquilizer, to convince him that he is your only charming husband and of course you will leave a bite!!! you will treat him like your omega!!! he's your adorable demonic hubby!!! you're not looking at anyone at all!!! no one can compare with him!!!

LUO BINGHE, who has moved to another universe where you are alive and coos and cares for you, knowing that in the future he will become an alpha anyway, while for now he can abuse his position as a beta (which he never did in his first life, wanting to look strong in front of you) and enjoy your protection and overprotection in view of the fact that someone has offended your beta, without hesitating to whimper or make a sad puppy face so that you feel sorry for him, knowing that he is not the type who will cheat or engage in acting, and LUO BINGHE purrs, snuggling up to you, although in fact smoothly makes you start to become too protective and loving, so that even after his conversion to alpha, you continue to consider him unknowingly lower/weaker and spoil him :(((( tell me that after your death in his time line, he did not have a thing for your belittling of his abilities and/or treatment as with your cute little thing, because your absence has dealt a huge blow to his psyche and that's how he felt while you were gone what's the name of this kink that's about belittling the intelligence of a partner so yes, he's your silly affectionate needy puppy do what you want with it dumbification & objectification i remember it. and so. he wants to be your pretty trouble-free doll, even if he is an alpha, but then he does not detach himself from you in search of love and adoration. you don't know what happened to your beta now alpha, but you're doing everything in your power,,,,, he's your shidi, after all,,,,,,,,

HUA CHENG is the type who cunningly follows you, continuing this role with an omega-like beta — and you gently nod, encouraging him to walk with you and get close (of course you don't see how his hand is constantly trying to touch you, and even when he touches you so unexpectedly, oh, it's so unexpected and imperceptible, it's so implicit), even if you have long known that he is a demon and an alpha, because, well, his scent so obviously seeps in and tries to wrap itself around you, as if clinging to you, that even with his disguise — after you have said goodbye to each other — for some time his implicit scent remains on your clothes.

he is just so excited to see you again, having previously spent several hours looking good for you and choosing the most suitable place to 'accidentally' meet, that his control unconsciously slips, — especially when he senses your own scent and wants not only to leave your scent on himself, but also to leave his own on you. even knowing that he should not do this so as not to arouse suspicion — but he is completely defenseless when inhales deeply while you are not looking and unconsciously wants to see if you also react to his smell,,,,,,

HUA CHENG who doesn't understand when suddenly he just stops hiding his smell, jealous, afraid that he's not good enough, and you really don't expect when you are almost knocked down by his strong and strong smell, trying to scare everyone away from you before you realize that your 'omega-like beta lover' suddenly began to smell like evil and the jealous alpha — wow what a coincidence apparently it's just some couple passed by with a jealous alpha of course it couldn't have been your lover!!! — and HUA CHENG is no longer sure, is he ashamed or funny if you say something like that when they ask you 'what's wrong with this guy', — but, well, what can they oppose? can they guarantee that no one was around?? of course not. your beloved beta is, well, beta, it's clear from his smell alone! besides, he's human!! he's a beta and a human!!! it's not very right to blame a person... unless they're betaphobes, of course!!! but you're not a betaphobe!!! betas are cute too!!! they're just looking for a way to humiliate someone because of their gender!!! they know how hard beta is, especially omega-like betas, but they still tell him like a face!!! not very good!!! they should think about their behavior!!!

and HUA CHENG in the background, not sure if you are protecting him or really think so, and experiencing butterflies in his stomach from your protection — and at the same time embarrassment, even more not understanding how to admit now that he is an alpha,,,,,

CHU WANNING, who may be becoming too... dependent on his disciple — of course, he cares about all his disciples, they are all members of the pack, as a teacher and students should be, but he is so implicitly and at the same time clearly favored towards you,,,,,

hates when you smell someone else, even if it's other disciples, constantly rubbing against you and scenting to get rid of the fragrance that makes him feel disgusted, touching possessive feelings that he didn't even know about before — until one day you and other disciples were engaged in random scenting in the winter in an attempt to warm up and establish contact (especially with those, who suffers from a lack of bodily contact, which is especially common in winter due to the lack of skin-to-skin contact and a small amount of sun), before visiting him — and Chu Wanning does not understand whether he is sick from the abundance of smells or because these smells are on you, but you stink so much that he can't help but try almost from the threshold, rub against you, ridding you of a mixture of other people's flavors and replacing it with his own, jealously snuggling — but you obediently accept, also slightly rubbing against him, leaving your smell that always relaxes him, but rather waiting until CHU WANNING feels that now you smell only of him before letting you go out of his hands, purring contentedly, and returning to the role of a calm and cold shizun (not so cold and calm though, but you prefer don't talk about it out loud), finally having the opportunity to be alone with you, even if he is not the best conversationalist — until you find a suitable topic and he becomes almost terribly talkative, especially for his usual personality, feeling the desire to answer your every question and explain everything that causes you perplexity.

but what can he do? you are too precious, too perfect — and even after getting used to giving and working without waiting for recognition, CHU WANNING cannot deny that you seem to have been created to complement each other, even if he has long grown out of these fairy tales and understands that this is impossible. but you smell so charming, alluring, and at the same time implicitly, as if specially smelling so nice and soft for his hypersensitive nose, which does not tolerate any strong aromas that are inherent in most people or even things,,,,,,

maybe neither of you two had a choice from the very beginning — especially when his teeth touch your skin, understanding little of what is happening under the influence except that his is hot and divine, feeling like he puts a mark for the first time in his life on something very desirable and important — while you are lying, not so confused by the label, but rather amazed that it was you who turned out to be what he so longed for. leave a mark on your neck? is this shizun's dream? you are so puzzled and confused... ,,,,,,,,

[danmei-confessions]

liushen is such a weird ship bc it's completely one-sided and would never happen as long as binghe is in the picture, and if he wasn't, shen yuan would probably still not like lqg like that. the entire time sy like "haha he's really pretty compared with how i imagined him" "haha he's so fun to annoy" but there's absolutely zero romantic feelings. in the extras, sy gets annoyed with lqg when he barges into the house in the bingge extra and immediately kicks him out when lqg insults binghe. sy also says "he's all bark and no bite, when he's done barking he leaves"; he PUTS UP with lqg, there's never any indication that he actually enjoys lqg's company, and definitely not as much/more than he likes being with binghe. in the succubus extra, he even tries to stop lqg from coming with him and gets annoyed with his actions several times. it makes me so uncomfortable that a ship like this is so popular, it's as if sy's lack of feelings doesn't matter at all to these people. it's so forced and gross. yeah sure everyone can have their AUs or whatever but this just doesn't sit right with me at all. it's one thing to ship a pairing which doesn't have any interactions at all/some kind of enemies to lovers situation but when just one of the characters very obviously isn't interested in the other/literally married to someone else it's just weird imo

.

[nyoomerr]

May I request another mer AU drabble but this time Shen Qingqiu is a merman? Whether Binghe is a human, merman or octobing is up to you

aye aye cap'n 🫡 warnings on this one for what is definitely a more violent sort of atticwifing

(also i still have like 3 more mer related drabble requests in my inbox, y'all are really into the mer AUs rn huh?? very nice)

---

There’s a mer following Luo Binghe. 

He’s been following Luo Binghe since he was a child, a guardian angel of the sea. Luo Binghe used to throw himself overboard just to feel the mer’s gentle touch as he’d drag him back to the surface; at night he’d poke at the little pinpricks in his skin from where the mer’s claws had made him bleed despite the gentle way he was held. 

That was years ago, though. Luo Binghe hasn’t seen the mer in a long, long time. One time he fell into the ocean - a genuine accident, that time - and the mer wasn’t there, and then the mer was never there, ever again. 

For a kid who hadn’t felt a kind touch from a human since his mother had died, the loss of that mer’s rescues had been a devastating loss. 

When Luo Binghe had realized the mer was still there, and still following Luo Binghe - occasionally leaving out little shells for him, or scaring off sharks when Luo Binghe had to get in the water to scrape barnacles off the ship - the loss had begun to feel more like a betrayal.

The mer hadn’t abandoned Luo Binghe - he’d only grown distant, only decided that helping Luo Binghe was only worth it if he never had to touch him. 

Was the mer’s assistance only out of pity, then? Or perhaps just some sort of animal curiosity? 

The friend that Luo Binghe had imagined himself to have, as a kid struggling to survive the life of an orphan on a pirate ship - did he ever exist, or had it just been a foolish projection of human motivation onto a creature acting on whims that Luo Binghe could never understand?

It wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to Luo Binghe; not by a long shot. For as long as the mer would keep following him, though, it would itch at him, a problem that was never quite resolved.

Fine, then. Luo Binghe is a long way away from the little orphan kid just trying to survive the high seas, now. If there’s a problem that itches at him, he’ll scratch it until it bleeds.

Once he sets his mind on it, it only takes three days before his crew manages to catch the mer. 

Luo Binghe stands over him now, taking in the sight of him. Before now, he’d only ever managed glimpses, and his memories of being held by the mer as a child had grown fuzzy. Dragged onto the deck of the ship, the mer is far larger than Luo Binghe had thought: the human head and torso were roughly the same size as Luo Binghe’s, but the mer’s tail was so long it seemed more like a serpent’s than a fish’s. 

He’s pretty, too - more than just the way his scales glint in the light, or the way the rope of the net digs into his skin in a way that makes him look so soft Luo Binghe could take a bite out of him.

The delicate bridge of his nose, the slant of his eyes, the sharp line of his jaw - Luo Binghe wants to cut him into little pieces to eat almost as badly as he wants to have him stuffed in one beautiful, elegant piece.

The mer had stopped thrashing in the net when he’d seen Luo Binghe approach, though his chest is still heaving with the exertion of it. Luo Binghe watches the frantic rise and fall of it for a long, hypnotizing moment before deciding he’d like to inspect the mer even closer before deciding what is done with him.

“Hello there,” Luo Binghe croons, kneeling down in front of the mer. 

The mer watches him with intelligent, panicked eyes, but makes no sound in return.

“You’ve known me for a long time, now,” Luo Binghe says evenly. “Do you remember my name, from back when I used to try and speak with you?”

The mer licks his lips, a nervous tick that reveals what looks like two separate rows of needle-sharp teeth.

“...Binghe,” the mer says eventually. His voice has a reedy, inhuman quality to it, but the tone of it does not surprise Luo Binghe nearly as much as the sound of his name does.

So you didn’t forget me, he thinks almost viciously. You didn’t forget, and you were listening.

He doesn’t give the mer the satisfaction of hearing those thoughts, though.

“And you? Do you have a name, or should I call you as I please?”

This time, the mer remains silent. 

Luo Binghe hums, assessing the mer from beneath lazy, half-lidded eyes. “I’ll give it some thought, then,” he says. “I’ve got all the time in the world with you now, after all.”

The mer’s fins twitch, his eyes slipping away from Luo Binghe to look for some means of escape.

Luo Binghe decides quite quickly that he doesn’t care for the mer to look away from him.

“You seem able to breathe air just fine,” he says, louder than the soft voice he’d been using before. “And you can speak like a human, too.”

The mer’s eyes flick to him again, then back away. Luo Binghe narrows his eyes.

Slowly, he leans towards the mer, reaching out with one hand. The net keeps the creature pinned to the deck of the ship, but it wouldn’t stop him from snapping Luo Binghe’s fingers off if he got too close.

Luo Binghe brings his hands to the mer’s gills anyway. The mer does not try to bite.

“If you can breathe air just fine,” Luo Binghe says, his fingers tracing the delicate lines of the mer’s gills. “I wonder: what do you need these for?”

The mer makes an aborted, panicked movement to jerk away from Luo Binghe’s hand. Luo Binghe catches him by the throat, his fingers sinking into the mer’s gills to keep the hold firm, and the mer goes entirely limp. 

“...Binghe,” The mer says, his voice soft and nearly pleading. 

Luo Binghe relaxes his grip. He does not pull his fingers away from the mer’s gills. Instead, he runs his fingers along them, his touch firmer than before, and slowly - so, so slowly - pushes one finger inside. 

“I think,” Luo Binghe says softly, “that I could take these away, and then you’d never have the chance to hide from me again.”

Luo Binghe flicks his gaze up from the mer’s gills, stretched painfully around Luo Binge’s finger, to meet his eyes. 

The mer’s pupils are blown huge. He looks more human like this, without his eyes peering at Luo Binghe through a snake’s slitted pupils.

Slowly, Luo Binghe withdraws his hand. 

“Well,” he says. “I have time to think about it.”