#I like to let Shen Jiu have a spark of happiness

[whos-the-seme]

Shen Qingqiu was doomed.

He stood still, fluttering his fan nervously and trying to avoid catching his counterpart's, the real Shen Qingqiu, glaring eyes from across the room. Instead, he idly observed the other Cang Qiong Mountain Peak Lords, trying to spot the differences between the ones he knew and their alternates.

Liu Qingge had brought back a strange artifact from one of his hunts to the monthly Peak Lord meeting. It was a mirror, rimmed an ugly tarnished gold, topped with a decoration that was shaped into an unidentifiable creature with ruby red eyes.

[Important Artifact Detected: Red-Eyed Sphinx's Mirror! Quest starting...]

Shen Qingqiu had been trying to remember where it might have appeared in PIDW when the surface of the mirror suddenly began to glow a dull yellow. It quickly brightened until it obscured everyone's vision.

And then, there stood another set of peak lords across the room, facing them down.

System, what on earth is going on???

[Quest started: Lost Long Spirit in My Reflection! Other characters have been transported to this universe. Host must find a way to send them back without revealing his identity as a transmigrator.]

WTF? I didn't agree to this!

[Good luck!]

System??? Get back here!

While the two Yue Qingyuans and Xu Qinglis conversed together to try to understand what had happened, the other peak lords had begun to mingle with each other, curious about their counterparts.

Shen Qingqiu tried to suppress his panic, sticking close to Shang Qinghua. His Yue Qingyuan occasionally flicked his softened gaze towards the alternate Shen Qingqiu, likely noticing that the other still acted as he used to before his qi deviation. In fact, several of the peak lords he had gotten to know over the years were sending some looks at the other Shen Qingqiu.

With the original goods right there, how long would it be before something exposed him as a fraud?? What if he was confronted about why he acted so differently?

[Host must avoid having his identity exposed. Being revealed as a transmigrator will result in Host being immediately sent back to his old body.]

Yeah, yeah, same shit as always!

Looking to his side, Shang Qinghua seemed to be experiencing the same threats, desperately looking away from the more dead-eyed Shang Qinghua across the room who, luckily, was barely paying him any attention.

Fuck, what do we do?

---

Shen Qingqiu continued to glare at the Other Shen Qingqiu in the room. The other Shen Qingqiu was so obviously a fraud, he could tell within minutes of being here. While his alternate seemed somewhat familiar, he didn't act like him at all, his mannerisms were all off, and despite the attempt at keeping a poker face, Shen Qingqiu could tell that he was nervous. Probably at being caught out.

His alternate self had likely been replaced with a bodysnatcher or some sort of spirt, if they truly were supposed to be the same person. Was everyone else stupid, or had they had their brains sucked out by a Heart Mouthed Lobster-Squid?

Or maybe they simply like the bodysnatcher better and didn't bother to investigate.

Shen Qingqiu's face became stormier, turning his glare to the Other Yue Qingyuan, wondering if he had felt happier once his precious Xiao-Jiu had vanished. The other Yue Qingyuan's face grew even more pathetic. Tch. Typical.

"That stupid System--" Shen Qingqiu nearly snapped his neck in looking at the bodysnatcher upon hearing his murmur. The fraud, upon noticing his sudden attention, clammed back up and looked away. But Shen Qingqiu knew what he heard.

Xi Tong.

He hadn't heard those words in years, not since--

He stepped forward, scanning the other once more. Upon a second, more thorough look, Shen Qingqiu realized that he grew more familiar. He wore his hair in the way that Shen Qingqiu wore it, but looser and less severe. His eyes were clearer and lighter, with hints of a smile, despite his nerves. He occasionally quickly glanced up and to his left, as if seeing something there, before bringing his attention back to the room at large.

No. It couldn't be. He was long dead, despite Shen Qingqiu's best efforts. Even if the fake had some similar things about him, that doesn't mean--

Shen Jiu had once had a brother, besides Qi-ge. Slightly smaller than him, despite the fact that Shen Jiu passed him along as much food as he could when on the streets. He smiled so much despite their circumstances, and was so kind despite Shen Jiu constantly telling him that he was making himself a target. But he looked so, so similar to Shen Jiu himself. They could have switched their clothes and looked exactly the same, if one didn't notice the difference in their demeanors.

His brother has also always been a little odd, talking to himself and arguing with an imaginary friend that only he could see named Xi Tong. One of the reasons that they survived as long as they did on the streets was due to the inexplicable knowledge that his brother seemed to have. Somehow, his brother knew about the various plants or small animals that they could hunt and sell for a pretty coin in the markets. Shen Jiu never asked, not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

But his brother was dead. He had died years ago, in the time during when they were in Qiu's manor. During a punishment for Shen Jiu's attempt to get them both to join Wu Yanzi; he had switched their clothes and taken Shen Jiu's place and died for it. That had been the final catalyst that made him set the manor ablaze and escape, mourning his brother's death as his fault for daring to be free. Cursing Qi-ge for not coming back for them.

Dazed and his vision dim, Shen Jiu took another step forward, and another. Hope, something he thought he had killed off long ago, slowly rose in his chest.

Had his brother survived in this world? Had he managed to escape alongside Shen Jiu? Or had Shen Jiu died in his place? Dimly, he can't help but think that the world would be far kinder if that were the case. If his brother had made it to Cang Qiong Mountain and became a peak lord all on his own and still managed to keep his smile. If he didn't have Shen Jiu dragging him down with him.

The other Shen Qingqiu, not having noticed his approach, laughed at something the other Shang Qinghua said ("Wonder if Shang Qinghua is a traitor here, too," Shen Jiu thought dimly). His laugh was the same. He rose his fan to hide his face, but Shen Jiu noticed how his nose crinkled, and his eyes nearly closed in delight, exactly like--

"A-Yuan?"

[rarepears]

Gasp! The OnlyFans AU! I just had a thought! So, in a lot of fics, I see that YQY and SJ are basically SY's brothers in another life. So if we apply that here... if SJ was so startled to see someone crash land in his backyard, and somehow, forgot about his camera being on and he tried to check on LQG and flashed a side view of his face, would SY's brother start getting weird messages from randos or a freaked out visit from SY who ultimately doesn't say anything about this (SY is also YQY'S brother, so some bad habits are passed along) so when someone off the street or in a Serious Meeting suddenly blurts out a question that they obviously didn't mean to say to the Shen Family's Second Son about whether he has an OnlyFans streaming, not paying, account.

So now SJ has to try to tell everyone that he doesn't stream videos when his side profile /perfectly/ matches and maybe YQY takes a look to see why people keep insisting his little brother is an OnlyFans streamer. THAT IS HIS BROTHERS FACE WTF! And on some of the pics/vids, when his ankle is displayed, maybe he has a little beauty mark. Just. Like. His. Brother. Cue YQY losing his mind and desperately trying to find out if SJ somehow, with their insanely wealthy family, needs money. Even in another world, YQY assumes the worst. This time, SJ didn't even do anything! Nothing that could be misconstrued. Except for himself in another world, pandering to foot fetishists.

Meanwhile, in another world, SJ cannot get rid of this cultivator who insists on taking responsibility when HE'S the one who barged onto private property and started yelling about impropriety when he woke up before randomly proposing???

P.S. did tumblr eat my ask about Hibari being LXC's twin AU? Or did it not spark joy?

Omfg what a twist o.o

Hm, would Shen Yuan be able to recognize that face as his er-ge if the guy is wearing long hair and has more delicate facial features - lets say it's because of the lack of nutrients and insert some other bullshit xianxia explanations about being a Yin cultivator - coupled with the very different "personality" being shown? Maybe Shen Yuan might take rapid fire screenshots because the "girl" is so pretty" and then he accidentally sends the pics to the wrong number... ahaha I TOTALLY DID NOT MEAN TO SEND IT TO YOU DA-GE, IT'S SUPPOSED TO GO TO MEI MEI DELETE DELETE DELETE.

Too late. The messages already show "read" from da-ge. Damnit.

I guess the most reasonable explanation is that er-ge just has a look-alike. It's common enough -  scientists believe every person has roughly SIX doppelgangers out there. But it's still a fun thing to tease er-ge about.

However, now... if da-ge is feeling a little tired or he finds some free time... well... why not watch his didi's doppelganger having tea and being happy in a picturesque meadow on Onlyfans? Ahem, it's a bit awkward site to go to when his reasons for watching are perfect innocuous, but well, *insert shrug*.

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