#Omegaverse svsss

[everytimewetouch-dot-mp3]

svsss disciple au where normal human sy transmigrates into the hit omegaverse stallion novel PIDW, as…an omega disciple in the same year as binghe.

like there’s nothing wrong with being an omega. obviously. that’s sexist or something, right? being an omega is totally fine and normal, it’s just— why couldn’t he be a beta? like he knew there was no chance of him being an alpha, not when he’s basically a self-insert side character in binghe’s story. but he could’ve been normal at least.

instead, he’s got to deal with this weird obsession with the way people smell, and he feels itchy when he doesn’t have enough pillows to sleep with, and he’s eventually gonna go into heat, and it’s all a bit much, okay?!

plus… he lost some jewels in the transmigration. important ones between his legs… and it’s not like he was hung in his first life or anything, but his dick was definitely bigger at this age in his first life. this thing is like, tiny. and now he’s got this stupid hole that leaks WAY MORE than pidw ever said it would. airplane made it sound like it only did that right before binghe and some omega got down to papapa, but he keeps finding his inner clothes uncomfortably damp when it’s time to bathe.

…and sometimes around binghe, it just gets worse. binghe smells better than anything in the world—like milk bread and the first light of morning and the relief of finally finding something you’ve been missing for ages. nobody else smells like that. like coming back home from the road after months, years away. usually, that scent is a warm comfort like nothing else, but sometimes it turns hot, and sy feels his face go hot, and his breath goes a little shallow, and then the leaking between his legs gets so much worse.

isn’t all this a touch too much suffering for one poor transmigrator? it really isn’t fair at all, and sy curses airplane’s name into the dirt every time it happens.

[asexual-angsty-writer]

Beta!Liu Qingge

Like, My brain just keeps replaying this idea:

Airplane added Omegaverse into his stallion novel because of an online friend he had, called 'Asexual-Menace' (Don't ask about the naming convention), who just kept brainrotting A/B/O.

But like, they had an extra focuse oj the socialization, how each dynamic would work, what are their differences and even fleshed out Betas as a subgender. Which, Airplane indulged in and eventually, asked to add their friends ideas into his stallion novel.

'Ace' would often beta read any of his begging drafts, encourage him and even help him with world building — which is why the Omegaverse became a part of PIDW

Though eventually, between Ace... no longer being around and Airplane needing to pay rent, a lot of things were left ambiguous, implied, personal information or small scenarios he wrote to get out of creative ruts at like 1 am.

What came as a consequence, is that all that background information becomes very tangible situations once he transmigrates as Shang Qinghua.

Luckily for him, SQH is a Beta, and thus, he doesn't need to deal with the A/O aspect.

Now he gets to deal with the Beta-aspects his friend had written, which are both good and horrible:

Pros: Great sense of smell, naturally boosted stamina, faint scents that don't stick easily/harder to track, No heats/ruts, rarely goes feral, levelheadedness is easier to maintain, pack-driven which means he can blend into crowds if need be.

Cons: Being the most responsible of subgenders, ferality is a dangerous thing for betas and usually leads to qi-diviations in Beta cultivators, need to run pack-mating cycles, needs to care for Alphas/Omegas/Pups equally, instinctual inclination to battle other betas to release stress

So, he's in a meh state, but overall — prefers to be a Beta.

Though, there was just one plot line he never thought he'd get to see through — but thanks to our resident Cucumber-bro, SY saved Liu Qingge's life and let's the plot line unfold.

You see, Liu Qingge became a peak lord without presenting — he's a late bloomer. His Qi-diviation was actually related to this fact, for obvious reasons; as not presenting makes it so bottlenecks are harder to break.

Though thanks to him being Alive, he eventually does present and as a Beta.

All of his readers assumed LQG is an Alpha and a lot of in-world characters did too — but that was never the case. LQG was meant to be a sort of mentorly-rival/Mid-Boss for LBG to learn/fight with. Him being a Beta was important to that.

Because Betas don't have strong scents, meaning not catching it in time or taking seconds too long to follow it, ends with it disappearing.

In Airplane's drafts, LBG would face off against a semi-recently presented LQG. A LQG who now has the natural boosts of being a Beta, alongside having had several major breakthroughs that were being held back due to him still being a 'pup' in that regard.

LBG would be arrogant, then be knocked down a peg by the War God himself — outlasting expectations and disappearing in tight spaces like corridors because his scent is so faint, LBG can't catch it for more than seconds — while LBG's scent is overwhelming, meaning LQG has the natural advantage. A play of nature/instincts + wisdown/strategy between the Alpha Demon lord and the Beta War God.

There's another layer to this, being a subversion of expectations — LQG had a presence; the way he stood, his tone and cadence, the way he carried himself in and out of battle. It makes sense, when you take stereotypes into consideration that he'd be an Alpha — but thats exactly why 'Ace' argued against it. Why they instead brought the idea of a Beta being the war god and how that would give a better showcase of how A/B/O and the subgenders can manifest the same instincts in different ways.

The readers, just like the characters in the drafts, are meant to be fooled by expectations then be blind sided.

Obviously, that was scrapped for the original novel but now, SQH gets to witness such a thing — though Obviously different to how he imagined it.

Since the Original SQH was the eldest beta amongst them, that means HE has to be the one to help LQG through those first stages of adapting to the changes in your body, to this new hypersensitivity, to the way your qi and meridians slowly change to adapt and the new instincts that come with being a Beta.

LQG has this earthy scent, like fresh soil, mixed in with some scent oil — something remenicent of the oil they use to clean/polish their swords.

Airplane would be so happy to see the plot line him and 'Ace' made come into fruition in some capacity.

Then it would spiral into something he didn't expect, because BingLiuShen + 'Compatible scents'

He was cursing at himself and the 'compatible scent' bs he had made for some of the wife-plots to work.

[lomlompurim]

Something born from a convo on twt

(Bingmei is still The Emperor and The HHP Palace Master but he spends more time with his family and house duties, and working hard into his dream of having a BIG family)

The tweet that inspired this, which I very much agree, omega Binghe supremacy

[allpiesforourown]

Guys is this a safe space because lately I've been thinking about nothing but omegaverse role reversal au . Can you imagine it. Possessive jealous alpha binghe and his omega disciple shen yuan who doesn't notice anything odd about his shizuns behaviour because he transmigrated from a world where everyone is a beta

Binghe would constantly insist on "showing shen yuan a sword move" or "fixing his robe" and shen yuan would think nothing of it because surely he needs to learn these things! He has no idea his shizun is touching him everywhere to cover him in his scent when shen yuan mentions he's going to talk to Liu qingge or Yue Qingyuan ..

Oughhhh Binghe would be so normal. He would be So Normal. He definitely doesn't have dreams about shen yuan going into heat every night. (Unfortunately shen yuan uses suppressants because he hates airplane for writing this omegaverse shit)

Also just throwing it out there I think Luo binghe and Liu qingge would fight over who is shen yuan's "provider" like

Liu qingge: shen yuan I caught and killed a wild animal for you. *side eyes Binghe* like an alpha SHOULD

Shen Yuan: oh um thanks...

Binghe: a-yuan, I cooked dinner :) perfectly toasted and spiced

Shen Yuan: oh I can't wait to eat it :D

Binghe to Liu qingge: HA. IM THE ONE WHO PUTS FOOD ON HIS PLATE. IM HIS ALPHA

Qingge: THIS IS BULLSHIT, MAKING CONGEE ISNT HUNTING

[asexual-angsty-writer]

Now, just add BingQiu being suspicious of any new missions those two take together — like they gotta insert themselves to ensure Airplane isn't trying nothing.

Just to doom Airplane even further, I present to you, ☆NOMMING☆! — it's already a way to show affection, which typically results in some extra production of pheromones; typically content, relaxing and happy ones on part of the doer and recipient.

But in the middle of being pollened, feeling like your very core will rip apart if you're not touching and your senses feeling overwhelmed to the point you want to submerge yourself fully in a comforting scent — maybe they'll forget to stay gentle.

How will Airplane ever justify, much less convince his bro, that the bruises that came from constantly worrying skin and fading teeth imprints aren't of a less innocent nature? Especially with where a betas scent glands would be (shoulder and nape) — to cover that area up because you were trying to stimulate the production of a calming scent, is suspicious.

Like, Bingqiu jealousy arc? More like conspiratorially planning someone's demise arc.

bingqiu BIGGEST jealousy arc tbh!!!!!

[princessdave]

If Luo Binghe ever found out everything about PIDW and transmigration AND somehow found out about the Omegaverse he’d be furious at Shang Qinghua. He’d have Shang Qinghua at sword point writing “Luo Binghe is an omega” ten thousand times to try and change their universe.

[huab1nan]

Another prompt I did for the Svsss gotcha 4 gaza! Omegaverse qijiu for @ buryyourgaydar on twitter!

[greeniegaes]

Was thinking of omegaverse SY and how he’s super protective of the other omegas on his peak.

Like one day NYY goes into her first heat and he’s instantly in protect mode, bringing her in the house and covering her in soft bedding and making everything smell nice. All he wants to do is care for her but like halfway through it the other peak lords find out and think he’s doing shit (everyone thinks he’s a beta) and they try taking her away

Leading to one SQQ fighting like 5 other peak lords and winning before LQG makes his way to grab NYY on the sidelines. Which makes SQQ go ballistic and bite him lmao. He takes NYY to the brothel as an improvised heat place. And of course the peak lords follow, trying to save her.

All the prostitutes look at all these alphas chasing after a pair of omegas (one freshly of age) and are immediately like “absolutely not.” And scurry them to the back and are like “nobody here mate” to the point CQS is like “we’re getting the civilian police involved” (who can’t do anything)

After the whole ordeal is over the prostitutes are like “okay, something is up with how they treat omegas. Cause like didi doesn’t feel safe having his heats there, they tried to barge in on this kid’s, wtf is going on” and they report the sect.

Tian Yi or some other big sect look into the matter, realize “hey, a lot of shit isn’t up to code except for QJP and that one is run by an omega in disguise so some shit isn’t right” and they end up having a conference with everyone not on QJP and being like “y’all are shit at taking care of omegas, fix all of this up.”

[rainmaster-simp]

I love how on chinese novels there is always some kind of omegaverse feature:

Tgcf: canonical mpreg with those child-bearing pills and ghost rut

Svsss: calming sex and all of the demoniac habits tbh

Mdzs: wwx's self lubricant ass and wangxian's baby fever

Xiao Mogu: AZ literally searching for his offspring and how his spore reacts to LF

[astrologysaysno]

I saw an Omegaverse fanfic, thought of SVSSS and thought, why not mix them both.

So I offer to the masses the idea of a Second Gender-less Shang Qinghua.

I have a vision that pre PIDW, he had written a lot of books before that, some of which I can imagine are Omegaverse fics

So why not have the PIDW world collide with the Omegaverse and just give everyone secondary genders.

Not Shang Qinghua though, he's special like that.

I imagine that for his formative years, he freaked out constantly regarding the day he presents his second gender. He was really hoping to be an Alpha or a Beta to spare himself the travesty and possible karmic retribution of throwing away his original plans for PIDW by experiencing heat as an omega.

As the years go by, and every teen in his village starts presenting, it just never arrives.

Everyone is clueless. They initially think he's just a late bloomer, then after half a decade of when he was supposed to present, he's still not showing any signs, people just slap the Beta label on him and call it a day.

Going with the flow and not causing a scene, he goes through the Cang Qiong entrance exam, and he gets in.

Most of the people of the sect are immediately off put by him.

For a starter, he is completely alienated to all things scent.

He doesn't give off a smell that any secondary gender has. It's like the equivalent of the taste of water, no flavour, just the scent of his nervous sweats and whatever he accidentally spilled himself with that day.

His stuff gets confused for unused supplies constantly, which is a real hassle, getting his mattress from storage whenever a newbie finds his bed and thinks it's an extra that was never used.

He doesn't seem to recognize scent either. Senior disciples have tried using their scent to drive off Qinghua like they do all juniors, but it doesn't work since he can't smell their haze of intimidation, forcing him to learn tells of behaviors through visual observation alone.

This causes him to become incapable of the process of scenting, unable to smell or be smelt. All attempts for his peers to give him a piece of their scent, it is ultimately washed off like dirt under the pressure washer.

In this scenario, it's the reason why he has never been caught as a spy for Mobei-jun. The King of the Northern Desert has tried to mark him with his scent to declare his ownership, but it fades by the end of the day at most. This frustrates Mobei-jun as he can't seem to get Shang Qinghua to make him his in this manner.

The other big thing is that he has none of the instincts that having a secondary gender would give him, a key one would be on the realm of romance.

My belief is that because of his biology, he was chosen to be head disciple.

The An Ding Peak Lord was going through performance reviews, found Shang Qinghua with no record on any sexually aligned misdemeanors, gets his work done faster, and thinks, "Let's make this boy my disciple."

Again, condolences to Mobei-jun, but I need him to remember that words exist cause his beloved is incapable of being courted by normal means, he needs to be told that you like him romantically or all attempts will go out the door.

I think about how in this AU, Shang Qinghua probably thinks he's a complete outsider that puts everyone off because he can't connect to them in the same way, but the rest of the Peak Lords look at him like:

"Hello, here is our socially inept sibling who we can't do normal ABO things with, but he's incredibly good at organising stuff, so there's that, I guess."

[bluenightfm]

sqh raising luo binghe bc the wash lady never happened bc the timeline's altered and subsequently mbj finds out or qinghua tells him (pre-established moshang) and qinghua is hmmn . freaking the fuck out bc wdym his stallion protag is a colicky newborn baby that won't go to bed unless he's rocked, swaddled, and cuddled by sqh (mobei-jun's heart shattered when baby binghe cried when sqh handed him off for a second before putting him to bed, he's still nursing his bruised ego) . this is his beloved if bloodthirsty son who is 75% cheek and 25% baby fat, it is a miracle he ever goes to his jobs when his son is so cute and tiny and why did he not write cameras into PIDW !!! no amount of portraiture would capture his sweet boy looking up at him all cute and tiny and never to be captured on camera. moshang being dads co-parenting binghe and everyone being confused bc everyone thought mobei-jun would finally marry and make qinghua consort shang but to each their own . co-parenting and then oh my god they're not even together yet are they? posing for family portraits together with romantic tension thick enough to start choking everyone out of the room. qinghua and mobei-jun looking next to dead bc binghe has never slept thru the night and sqh feels like he hasn't had a good night's rest since he transmigrated into PIDW . also maybe make it omegaverse

@coastinglove

[everytimewetouch-dot-mp3]

i want everyone to know that alpha shen jiu is fiercely protective of his omega disciples ok

they are his pack they are his pups he does not tolerate disrespect to his little ducklings!!!!

little omegas shen yuan and ning yingying are his precious babies and every time luo binghe even looks sy’s way, there’s a part of shen jiu that is growling snarling baring his teeth to make this strange little alpha beast get away from his ducklings

[asexual-angsty-writer]

More Beta!LQG & Beta!SQH ideas

Once LQG presented fully, SQH was the person that had to guide him through it, much to their shared weariness

- SQH would make soft coo's and chuffs at random, because LQG would unconsciously respond back

- LQG always had a bullied expression when he'd unconsciously respond back

- SQH once reconstructed a nest, while using a manual, because his instincts demanded he do so and put an injured!LQG in it

- LQG randomly chuffs at animals he thinks are cute, without realizing he did

- SQH spent hours 'proofing' the room Cucumber-bro had designated as LQG's guest room

- LQG often goes to SQH after SQQ/LBG leave after one of their visits, as a way to self soothe

- SQH and LQG greet each other by throwing fists, because Beta-Fight-Bonding instincts (SQH can't even be upset because he always feel more relaxed afterwards)

- SQH always wrist-scents LQG during meetings; originally, this was to help keep him calm due to the overestimating nature of their hypersensitivity — now its to get a bullied expression out of him

- LQG had several failed tries at recreating a nest, even under LMY's instructions

- LQG feels embarrassed that he needs to read through books and pamphlets about his subgender — mainly because they started him off with the same collection that are given to newly presented betas (which are typically children with vastly different literacy level)

- LQG felt conflicted during the first time he encountered MBJ after presenting; because he actually thought his scent was decent to be around

- LQG now often barges into SQH's office and asks him to summing his 'Demonic Alpha' to fight with

- LQG refuses to speak about the one time he started a wrist-scenting; SQH cherishes that memory more than anything

- SQH basically vibrates in his seat whenever someone gets LQG subgender wrong; because on one hand he wants to correct them, on the other he wants to see them get blind sided by the truth

- After a sparing match with MBJ, LQG often smells of him and SQH (Much to YQY distress)

- LQG chuffs at his students, which makes them make a sound back (Chuffs from the betas, chirps from the Omegas, and rumbles from the Alpha's)

- LQG does, much to his embarrassment, often unconsciously croon to comfort his students

- SQH (he made it) and LQG (he was forced to participate) have a detailed list of which Alpha's has the most agreeable scent to which one has the least; They both agree MBJ is top 3

- LQG gets into even more fights now — because other betas now smell his scent and their instinctual fight-bond mode gets activated

- It once leads to LQG actually wrestling with a succubus; because Instincts went burr and the Succubus forgot she had asphorisiac bs at their disposal

- They may have started a ritualistic greeting-fight whenever LQG visits Huan Hua because of SQQ

- Beta Huan Hua disciples (Whether human, half-demon or full demon) will follow LQG around whenever he's training; like lost pups

- LQG may have started to give them minor lessons to improve their stances and he may recognize each of them by scent at this point

- SQH didn't mind being paired up with LQG when they were disciples, though he wa svery jumpy, because LQG has the funniest reactions to things

- He loves it even more now, because having the resident War God help him get materials and watching how LQG ends up circumventing so many hidden Plots/his reactions to them is just perfect entertainment

- LQG's face whenever he's hit by some sex pollen that won't kill him + will wear off eventually is just the perfect mixture of resigned disgust and definetly-not-pouting moping

- Ace made it so LQG has the potential of being the 'Asexual-smut-writer' stereotype, if given the chance; Which means the moment SQH let him read anything he wrote, he got roasted by his shidi

- LQG nose thinks the combination of LBH's scent and SQQ's is the most agreeable, but he'll die before admitting to even himself

- LQG has a constipated face whenever his instincts demand he cares for someone, because he's unsure of where to start or how, just knows he *needs* to

- LQG and SQH will, occasionally, sink so much into a beta-equivalent of a subspace that they start making hyena cackles at each other because they deep in their instincts

- SQH keeps trying to gift SQQ some scented candles, to try and help make his and his husband's scents more harmonious to LQG

- But also, never explain that LQG has the biggest cheat sheet when it comes to Wife-plots or plot-pushers because of several unspoken headcannons or details

- No he will not tell SQQ that certain asphorisiacs/sex plans require someone experiencing sexual attraction to work

- No he will not explain that succubus-siren hybrids would be peaceful around LQG because their powers only work on someone that has some amount of sexual attraction towards them

- Nor will he explain that other things work off of arousal and that those are the ones LQG hates the most

- But yes, he will very much be bitey and fight his bro for the right to be the one to help LQG with any plot-points that revolve cuddling

- Beta instincts demand to gift stuff to those they care; LQG hunts rare creatures for SQQ, gets rare materials for MQF and makes good quality ink/brushes for LMY & SQH

- SQH particularly hunted down a creature for their horn, and gifts it to LQG to help with gathering liquid/sap from plants/trees

- MBJ eventually gifted a thick winter coat to LQG because SQH convinced him to visit the Northen kingdom (Did so by telling him about all the strong creatures there)

- LQG, in turn, hunted down a fearsome creature that was making trouble in MBJ's territory and gifted it to him

- SQH likes watching SQQ and LBH fumble in regards of interactions with LQG, because of how everyone else perceives a mated A/O couple interacting with a lone beta

- The demon realm are convinced LQG is trying to court the couple; their hearts go out to the lone beta

- Cultivators find the way LBH postures against LQG kinda... off

- Normal people either theorize LQG is SQQ's beta or that LQG is trying to prove that he should be the couples beta

- SQH may or may have not found a way to get LQG scent all over a certain item to keep in his house (may have found a way to scent an item that's in LQG's house)

- SQH is waiting for SY to either figure shit out or enter a crisis over the entire "But he was really a beta all along" plotline; could go either way iho.

- SQH might be petty a be an obstacle in SQQ's eventual endeavors; just to be a smart ass

- It would be so easy with how LQG ends up smelling like Him and MBJ after a visit/sparing session

[yoyowrites]

omega shen jiu that is trying very hard to contain his nesting instinct. it leading to him staring intensely at shen yuan, internally fighting himself because on one hand hand he wants to scent and bundle up the beta, on the other he would rather die than give in to his instincts. so every once in a while, he just stands and glares at shen yuan with his hand occasionally twitching but not moving otherwise. shen yuan goes between ignoring the omega and occasionally teasing him

[allpiesforourown]

Glad you guys fuck with my role reversal omegaverse au but hear me out when I say alpha shizun binghe and beta disciple shen yuan....

Come on it would be so unexpected. Binghe touching and feeling up shen yuan everyday and shen yuan is going "if I didn't know any better I'd think shizun is scenting me, but I'm a beta.. I guess he's just very affectionate??"

Shen Yuan is super grateful he's a beta bc if he was an alpha binghe would see him as competition for his wives. He's so lucky he can sit with the protagonist and have tea while the two of them talk about their day :)

One night shen yuan wakes up on his stomach pinned by hands holding down his wrists and feels binghe in his bed whispering "a-yuan~ shizun needs your help again.." shen yuan stammers out that shizun is in a rut, he should find an omega to help him and binghe just laughs before fucking shen yuan stupid

Binghe trying to claim shen yuan but since he's a beta, he just mindlessly bites shen yuans neck all over. The side of shen yuans neck is completely bruised the next morning

This isn't even going into how shen yuan will cry trying to take the protagonist’s huge knot in his tiny tight- I have been advised to stop typing

[scholomancefan]

Horrifying prompt/idea:

Omegaverse where Shen Yuan is Shen Jiu and Qiu Jianluo’s son.

For Context: I’ve been reading Sha Po Lang, and Chang Geng’s relationship with his (supposed) mother in his memories had me thinking of Shen Jiu (after escaping the Qiu household) raising Shen Yuan similarly, with alternating murder attempts, machinations, and pity.

Fun fact, in the first draft of Marrying the Scum Villainess's Daughter, Shen Yuan was going to be Qiu Jianluo's and Shen Jiu's! But that was too dark for what I wanted to be a lighthearted comedy, so I cut it 😅 Anyway, here's my first try writing omegaverse! Please be gentle ❤️

“All this time this man has deceived you!” Qiu Haitang cried out. “He’s no beta. He’s an omega, the wife of my brother, and the bearer of my nephew Qiu Yuan!”

Everyone turned to stare aghast at Shen Qingqiu, including Shen Yuan himself.

It couldn’t be true. Shen Qingqiu was a beta just like Shen Yuan. He’d gotten Shen Yuan on some brothel worker somewhere, something Shen Yuan’s bullies on Qing Jing had rubbed in Shen Yuan’s face over and over.

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes were like black marbles, and there was no life in them. Only purest loathing for the alpha Qiu Haitang as she made her accusations.

The Huan Hua Palace Master stroked his beard. “These are serious accusations,” he murmured in a carrying voice.

Because omegas were little better than property to be bought or sold through dowries–treasured in families, to be sure, but one could never hold a position of power. Whether they were even allowed to cultivate was generally the decision of their alpha after they had been mated; how could omegas be expected to control their base lusts without a firm and guiding hand?

“He murdered my brother, Qiu Jianluo, and stole their child,” Qiu Haitang wept. “Qiu Yuan, a precious omega of our house!”

And now it felt like all the air around him had vanished. Shen Yuan couldn’t breathe.

“Baba…” Shen Yuan whispered.

The teas. The damn teas that Shen Qingqiu insisted they drink together every day. Shen Qingqiu had never liked Shen Yuan; had encouraged the other disciples to bully him, had turned away from Shen Yuan’s tears. But he insisted every day at the same time that they take tea together. It was a far cry from family bonding. It was as much warmth as Shen Yuan ever had from him.

“The omega Qiu Yuan of course cannot remain in omega Shen Jiu’s care,” the Huan Hua Palace Master insisted.

This!!! Fucking!!! Setup!!! Everyone was just taking Qiu Haitang’s word for everything, even though Shen Yuan was certain he and Shen Qingqiu were still to all appearances betas. This could only mean one thing… or rather, that one person was behind this.

“We will arrange a marriage for him straight away to a trustworthy cultivator of great promise,” the Huan Hua Palace Master continued.

There it was.

Shen Yuan peered through the crowd and sure enough there was Luo Binghe, watching the proceedings with the smug look of someone for whom everything was going according to plan. For the protagonist everything always went according to plan.

And in this case apparently the plan was to collect Shen Yuan into Luo Binghe’s harem like a special edition Pokemon card!

Gongyi Xiao stepped forward and reached out to Shen Yuan. “It’s going to be all right,” he said softly, the trappings of kindness trying to hide the poison of the lie.

The snap of a paper fan unfurling. Blood spattered the cobbles at their feet. Gongyi Xiao clutched his bleeding wrist and cried out in pain.

And then it was Shen Qingqiu standing there, shielding Shen Yuan from the view of the crowd.

“If you try to take Shen Yuan, I will slaughter you all and dance in your bloody remains,” Shen Qingqiu snarled, and raised his fan, stained crimson at its qi-honed edge.