#Qing Jing Peak

[lurkinginnernarrator]

I need Shen Qingqiu, who left for a week-long mission to not return. I need the peak lords to look for him, scouring high and low.

Only, they find him. He's crouched behind bushes, journal in hand fastidiously observing Malevolent Mango-Leopard Birds. He looks crazed. It's the dirtiest they've ever seen him. He has rivers of notes and illustrations.

He shushes them all and tugs them behind the bushes.

"The mating rituals of Malevolent Mango-Leopard Birds haven't ever been documented before. It's believed they only mate once every thousand years."

"Shen-Shixiong was here... watching birds."

"Shen-Shixiong didn't send word because... He was too busy watching birds. Mate."

"...don't say it like that."

[junesfool]

Shen Qingqiu's ducklings

[wyyvoren]

you go to a righteous cultivation sect to learn to be good. you wonder what it was you did. why you deserve this. you must deserve this. otherwise why would it happen?

you need to be better. you need to be good

[ID: various pictures of Luo Binghe from Scum villain, one where he gets tea poured on his head, one where he is hunched over getting kicked, one of him curled up shivering surrounded by piles of wood, and the final picture of him struggling kneeled over a cultivation manual, blood dripping from his mouth. End ID]

[ineffectualdemon]

New Theory: Shen Jiu and Qing Jing are Like That because being deep into arts and academica makes you that way sometimes

It's the "I can't get the fucking trees right! I shall kill everyone!" impulse

It's the "I've been studying this obscure subject for weeks now and been surviving on spite and the xianxia equivalent of 3 different kinda of energy drinks mixed together with 7 shots of espresso and if you interrupt me I'm stabbing you" energy

Artists and academics mid project are the most dangerous of folk

(said by someone who has a headache but is still trying to work on my current project)

[daikonfarmer]

he probably taught them the naruto run.

[moonshine1298]

Thank you for your support on the SVSSS Gotcha 4 Gaza, @naixaie! It's the funnest prompt ever! QJP shenanigans!!! 🎍🎋✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚

[notoisstrange]

Shizun and Ning Shijie really like dressing up the little lotus 🪷🤍

[bloodyfries]

My personal favorite hc of mine is that sqq has a hard time falling asleep without lbh (he stresses about his husband's well-being/Binghe’s anxiety has rubbed off on him). This leads him to sometimes fall asleep in odd places.

Imagine Binghe finishes up what ever work he had to do earlier than expected and decides to surprise Shen Qingqiu. He shows up at Qing Jing Peak, exciting to see his husband.

He can't find him. Why? Sqq fell asleep against a tree while on a walk. Now, of course, like any reasonable person, Binghe freaks out.

So, eventually Sqq come back to an overturned peak and his husband looking like this:

[twelve-forfend]

Well, I did say this was a multi-fandom blog... Alright, let's do this.

The Qing Jing Peak Lord's Bamboo House

(and the symbolism therein, as recorded in the donghua)

I was snooping through the establishing shots of the Qing Jing Peak Lord's Bamboo House, and had to laugh as I always do at all the gay symbolism that managed to sneak its way inside. But then I looked a little closer, and was floored by just how much passive storytelling was packed into background assets. I talked about it at length over discord, and at the urging of others decided to make a shareable post on social media as well.

First, the shots which first piqued my interest in this topic years ago:

Shen Yuan transmigrates into the stallion-genre webnovel entitled 狂傲仙魔途 (translated as Proud Immortal Demon Way). The author's and his own usernames are dick jokes.

Notice the chrysanthemum vase, the cock vase, and the stallion statuette.

The stallion and cock are obvious nods to these jokes on their own, but for the uninitiated, the chrysanthemum is a symbol of gay sex between men, as the asshole itself is often euphemistically referred to as a chrysanthemum. This should have been Shen Yuan's first clue that not all is as it seems here! These are the personal quarters of Shen Jiu — the original Shen Qingqiu!

But let's move to the main room you first walk into upon entering the bamboo house.

There it is: the writing on the wall.

As the Peak Lord of strategy and the scholarly arts, Shen Qingqiu would naturally have calligraphy and paintings hanging everywhere! So let's break it down.

On the top we have 道㳒自然 ("Dao Follows Nature"), which comes from a Dao teaching by Laozi (founder of Daoism) meaning that life, death, the entire universe, the heavens and earth and everything outside and inbetween, all follow a set of laws referred to as the nature of things. Although unrelated to the Buddhist couplet below, it's certainly relevant!

Originally hanging in right-to-left order, I've arranged them to read left to right here to make things easier to keep track of. The calligraphy reads 西方竹葉千年翠；南海蓮九品香 and is a couplet commonly found in Guanyin temples. My classical chinese is not as strong as I'd like, but this translates roughly to "The bamboo leaves in Paradise are green for a thousand years / The fragrance of lotus flowers in the South China Sea is as thick as 9 sticks of incense."

The character 西 for West is used to denote the destination of enlightenment/purity: the buddhist Paradise (think Journey to the West). The South China Sea is where Guanyin was born. Upon the Lotus flowers is where Guanyin is commonly depicted as sitting. The "9 sticks of incense" though literal can also refer to the 9 tiers/grades of reincarnation lotuses with the 9th tier being the lowest, meant for those who in life committed the most evil of crimes — the 4 parajikas — and who can only manage a sincere Amitabha recitation 10 times and no more than this.

To put this in context with Shen Jiu (the same jiu as in 9/九), the 4 parajikas committed by the 9th Tier Lotuses Reborn (officially entitled the Lowest of the Low) are:

Sexual Intercourse

Stealing

Murder

Claiming attainments of stages of pure mental concentration that have not been achieved (in other words, rushing or lying about your cultivation/enlightenment, or maybe even becoming a Peak Lord without having formed a golden core beforehand).

From what we know in the context of the novel, Shen Jiu is innocent of at least the first of this parajikas, but the overall view of Shen Jiu in the eyes of others in the story is that he is guilty of them all. This calligraphy can be seen as a condemnation or a reminder for the character Shen Jiu, who even as the Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu is widely thought of as a scum villain and the lowest of the low.

Phew! That's a lot to unpack.

But if you turn your gaze to the original screenshot, you'll see to the right that there's a vase painted with a blue bird. This vase appears in several rooms of the bamboo house, and seems to be the image of a qingniao (青鸟; lit: Qing bird, wherein 青 can mean blue/green/clear-but-brackish black).

These qing-coloured birds are messengers and foragers of the Goddess-Mother of Paradise (Xiwang-mu 西王母, the "west/paradise" character from before, lit West-King(unisex)-Mother). They're a highly intelligent species who are exceptional in song (a good representative for Qing Jing's scholarly arts and pursuit of qin!), and the older ones might learn to speak human tongue. As a subspecies of luanniao (鸾鸟 lit: luan bird), they're thought to be related to The Phoenix and indeed thought to be the lifetime/samsara just before being reborn as a Phoenix.

If given to a "master" they don't like, the qingniao may refuse to pass messages or sing until they're set free, but if they do get along with you then they're loyal to the end.

As a point of interest, the Qing generation of Peak Lords uses the character 清, which is 青 ("colour of nature; brackish black, blue, green; young) + the radical for "water," resulting in the meaning of clear (as in water or heart; see-through); distinct; quiet (as in still); just and honest; pure; to settle or clear up; to clean up, expunge, or purge.

And as a bit of trivia, Liu Qingge's sword Cheng Luan 乘鸾 means "to ride the luan, take flight on the back of a luan." (Relevant, because the qingniao is considered a subspecies of luanniao).

With the Lords of both Qing Jing and Bai Zhan referencing this bird, I really wonder about its significance! It's spawning plenty of theories and headcanons for me.

Heading back outside for a moment, you'll find that in the Quiet Pool (清静小池 qingjing xiaochi (yes, the same Qing Jing the peak is named for)), there are lotuses, and on land there are flower shrubs which are either wide-petaled chrysanthemums (gay bottom jokes ahoy), or a type of peony, the king of flowers demarcating wealth and prosperity. Either way, a blossom fitting of our Qing Jing Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu!

My one regret is that I cannot get a clear shot of the fan hanging on the wall to try and translate the calligraphy on it. If anyone can snag one, please tag me! I also couldn't translate the paintings with poems hanging in Shen Qingqiu's bedroom (it's just too small and blurry for my bad eyes to make out). If I make another post attempting these things, I'll append them to this initial post in an edit afterwards.

[scumvillainess]

au where shen qingqiu has the whirlwind romance of the millennium, but it’s from the perspective of the other peak lords who are in complete shock and horror at seeing this new side of their misanthropic coworker.

[mamaclownhunter]

I would like to put in my ADHD Shen Yuan rambling.

I have been obsessed with this idea since I read Shang Qinghua referring to SQ’s Qing Jing Peak as a daycare for kids with ADHD (sevenseas translation)

Once upon a time my ADHD ass taught kids and my classes were also referred to similarly.

Let me tell you what that looks like. It is a teacher unbothered by a storm of children who listen to instructions like a swarm. It is parent wondering how the hell you can keep their attention for longer then ten minutes, it is kids who retain information faster then most other kids. It is for once your brain and the world around you are the same speed. Bc you can be having two seperate conversations while one kid is stalking you from behind trying to scare you and you are making silent plans with another kid behind him to jump scare him instead.

Endlessly creative kids that keep you on your toes and being able to retain and be ready for anything they throw at you.

It is SQ both unbothered by whirlwind kids and recognizing when their attention is waning to gently nudge them into a new gear. It is SQ paying attention to his students and recognizing their needs bc his was met/weren’t depending on how you are projecting his coping.

He can tell when a kid needs to fidget he gives them something to write or play. When the kids are having a hard time listening he adds little movements for them to follow along with.

Stretches are filled with talking and engaging with one another. Passions are followed and encouraged. He also talks a bit faster than OG!SQ. Not super fast but fast in a way kids kind of cling to.

He is a bit of a fucking need so he is taking the opportunity to be elegant and fluid so he is always bellowing his robes, making sweeping gestures with his fan, playing with leaves in the air. The visuals leave the kids staring.

He doesn’t punish kids when they get that urge to run- instead he just lets them. Tell them it is training. Sets up courses for them.

He is firm and strict about enough to not let it be destructive- but also redirects it. If you are going to fidget practice your calligraphy or your qin hand positions.

If you are going to keep your head down, at least be copying the book we are reading.

If you are going to be a little faster then the other kids then walk off to the side, take your manual and try the next section, or you can help me with another.

If you are having trouble at least ask me for help or one of your peers.

That being said Neat freak Luo Binghe was having a time living with the man 90% devoted 10 parts wondering how his Shizun somehow hat 10 cups of tea around the house and seemed to always remember what page he left his book on after Binghe accidentally put it away bc there were like 5 books out and he wasn’t sure what his Shizun meant when he said he was reading all five at once but hadn’t touched any of them three days. Or how his Shizun could go off for three hours about one topic he over heard while in town for a hunt- and the next day be stuck on not being able to retain anything from the An Ding reports that were sent to him.

[lurkinginnernarrator]

Cang Qiong's rumor mill has a new topic.

Peak Lord Shen hasn't been seen in two weeks. The last time he was seen was flying back from An Ding, where he purportedly commandeered some unknown objects from An Ding's storerooms after a hasty discussion with Peak Lord Shang. He entered the Bamboo house and hasn't emerged since.

The most popular theory is Peak Lord Shen is conducting some sort of toeing-the-line-of-taboo ritual.

Eventually, someone convinces Mu Qingfang to do a wellness check.

The Qing Jing disciples greet their Mu-shishu respectfully, the disciple escorting him to the Bamboo House inquiring as to the nature of his visit, seeing as 'Shizun wasn't expecting shishu today.'

"This master is merely here to visit your Shizun."

The disciple bows after announcing Mu Qingfang's arrival.

Mu Qingfang opens the door.

"Shen-shixiong?"

"Mu-shidi? To what do I owe the pleA—FUCK get BACK HERE YOU ARE NOT"—the sounds of struggle reach Mu Qingfang's ears and he leaps to action, striding in to take stock of the situatio...n.

Shen-shixiong is flat on his stomach; outstretched hands tightly grasping a precocious ball of fluff. His eyes gleam in victory, the scene casting it in a more crazed light. There is a heaviness to Shen Qingqiu's eyes that cultivation cannot banish and miscellaneous stains on his person. And, looking around, the Bamboo House is a disaster. Books, brushes, scrolls, inkwells and fans are scattered around, many haphazardly dropped on the floor. There is. Also. Hay?

Mu Qingfang freezes in the doorway. Ball of fluff and Shen Qingqiu also freeze.

"Is... Shixiong alright?"

This seems to snap Shen Qingqiu into action. He scrambles up firmly but with care, cradling the fluffball. Shen Qingqiu gets himself in order as best he can with both his hands occupied and clears his throat.

"Ah...Yes. this master is fine. To what do I owe the pleasure?..."

The fluffball twitches, wriggling until Shen Qingqiu loses his grip on it. It hops to the floor. A juvenile Whitecrested Snowrabbit of Agility stares up at Mu Qingfang.

"This. Shidi could come back at a more opportune time?"

The bunny starts chewing on a scroll.

"I believe that would be best."

Mu Qingfang backs out of the doorway.

He does send tea to help with Shen-Shixiong's fatigue and a subspecies of carrot that Whitecrested Snowrabbits are supposed to favour though.

I wonder what the next topic of Cang Qiong's rumor mill will be?

[svsss-fanon-exposed]

Exposing SVSSS Fanon: 5/∞

MING FAN AS HEAD DISCIPLE OF QING JING PEAK

Rating: FANON - CONFLICTING

Most fanworks I've come across call Ming Fan the Head Disciple of Qing Jing Peak-- because of the prevalence of this idea, I even held to it in my own writing for a while. However, in canon, Ming Fan is NOT and never was Head Disciple.

This is another case of a fairly honest misconception, though.

In an earlier translation of SVSSS done by BCnovels, Ming Fan is referred to as Head Disciple:

"Descending the mountain this time is for the sake of gaining experience. This teacher will not be able to help you. Ming Fan, as the head disciple, you will need to vigilantly prepare so the demon won’t harm your fellow disciples." (BCnovels Ch. 6)

Shen Qingqiu said affably, “They were harvested from my head disciple Ming Fan’s family’s tea fields. As for whether they’re high-quality or not, won’t Shang-shidi know if he comes to take a meal at Qing Jing Peak?” (BCnovels Ch. 93)

(Many thanks to @shen-qing-qiu for providing these quotes!)

Even in terms of translation, the mistake is fairly honest as well. The exact position Ming Fan holds is 大弟子 (Da-dizi), and he is called 大师兄 （Da-shixiong) by Ning Yingying.

In some cultivation novels, 大弟子 is also the head disciple (I believe MDZS may be this way, but I do not have a copy of the original on hand to check right now), but what it literally means is "most senior/oldest disciple." It isn't necessarily the oldest of the group, but the one who was first to become a disciple of their master/a sect/etc. and has thus been training for the longest time, and has the most experience.

Ming Fan continues to be referred to as Da-shixiong even after Luo Binghe became head disciple:

Ning Yingying tugged on the battered and bruised Ming Fan. “Da-shixiong, did you hear?” she murmured. “A-Luo and Zhangmen-shixiong are saying that person is…Shizun?” (7S Ch. 13)

Which makes perfect sense-- even if the ranking has changed a bit, he is still the most senior disciple of Qing Jing Peak-- that won't ever change.

However, this is not the same as being head disciple.

In SVSSS, this is a separate category, where instead of being determined by seniority, the head disciple (首席弟子 Shouxi-dizi or 首徒 Shoutu) is a disciple specifically chosen for the role by the peak lord. Huan Hua Palace also has this role, and though less is known about internal sect politics there, it seems to follow the same sort of rule, with favored disciples being given this title.

Ming Fan is never referred to with this title. He is senior disciple, NOT head disciple.

The two quotes from the BCnovels translation above have since been corrected in the official TL:

“This trip down from the mountain is for the sake of your training. Unless as a last resort, this master will not assist you. Ming Fan, as the most senior disciple, you must design careful strategies, lest you let that demon harm your fellow disciples.” （7S Ch. 2)

“They were harvested from the tea fields of my senior disciple Ming Fan’s family,” Shen Qingqiu said affably. “As for whether they’re high-quality, won’t Shang-shidi know if he comes for tea at Qing Jing Peak?” （7S Ch.26)

It appears that when there is no head disciple, the senior disciple fills that role and performs the same duties:

All affairs on Qing Jing Peak, whether large or small, were handed to and looked after by Shen Qingqiu’s trusted subordinate, Ming Fan. (7S Ch. 1)

However, if a head disciple is chosen, many of these duties and authority will shift to the selected disciple:

These past couple of years, Shen Qingqiu had handed all manner of miscellaneous tasks big and small to Luo Binghe to deal with. After all, for now Luo Binghe was so sweet, obedient, and useful, his work thorough and meticulous. （7S Ch. 4)

At this point, though it has not directly been stated, Luo Binghe is the head disciple of Qing Jing Peak (there will be another post on this topic later).

One last note, I have also seen Liu Mingyan being referred to as head disciple in fanworks. This is a similar situation as Ming Fan's, though she is not even referred to as senior disciple. It isn't a big enough issue with enough canonical references to be worth its own post, so I would just like to add onto this post that Liu Mingyan is NOT head disciple either.

[litchar-o]

TikTok is CRUEL

[afsosville]

Time to over-analyze things with limited canonical information just because. Here are some of the reasons why Qing Jing may have been a hindrance to Shen Jiu's emotional development and solidified his corruption arc>>

Qing Jing was like the perfect peak to let all his mental wounds fester if you think about it.

Shen Jiu acting like nobility or an educated young master (as most disciples of Qing Jing are) is purely a coping mechanism. It literally screams masking! While the exact circumstances of how he got chosen for Qing Jing is unknown, we can assume he didn't have a choice since most disciples typically just follow their new master to wherever they take them from the selection grounds (with the exception of Bai Zhan lol). He was most likely hoisted onto the Qing Jing peak lord, as no master would've wanted him because of his fucked up meridians and late age. They acquiesced to take him anyway coz of Yue Qingyuan's/the sect leader's insistance. And because it's Shen Jiu, he would naturally do whatever it took to get to the top, and if he started acting like the very sort of people he hates, then so be it.

You can imagine how disastrous imitating his abusers is going to be (he's imitating noblemen in general, but he's definitely taking the Qiu's as a primary example). Shen Jiu clearly is trying to remove and forget everything about his past, and even accepts the rumours of him being a spoiled young master to cast away suspicion. He is coping hard. Not to mention, he was named QingQIU when he became Qing Jing's succeeding disciple. Listen I don't care if it was a bad coincidence or not but that doesn't endear me to Shen Jiu's shizun in the slightest (I'm only talking abt SJ's shizun in canon, not fics, the fics are great. But it's more than likely that SJ's shizun was negligent or abusive as well. Here's why I think that). Between all of this, there's no way he's processing any of that trauma when he's constantly forced to remember all of it. No wonder he slipped into the abuser role easily since he's literally out here actually being made to copy their behavior.

Qing Jing and even the rest of Cang Qiong were always hostile to Shen Jiu, even in his discipleship. These ppl went out of their way to run interventions on Shen Jiu when he's minding his own business. Yes I'm talking abt the whole brothel thing. There were doubtlessly so many disciples who went for the very reasons Shen Jiu was assumed of going for, so why is he the only one getting shit for it? Not only was going to brothels not even a crime worthy of conviction, it was even normalized to an extent. And it would've been so easy to figure out if he really was going for anything "lecherous" by just asking the women there. The fact that, that whole ordeal was never cleared up just shows they didn't actually care about the women or what he was supposedly doing to them. They only cared because it was Shen Jiu who was involved.

Shen Jiu being on any other peak would change things for sure even if it's marginally. Its probably just wistful thinking, but I know at least half of those peaks, even the fanon ones, would be better than Qing Jing at any rate. Again, Shen Jiu would claw his way up and try to succeed any way he can, so if he were put on another peak that would be a somewhat healthy environment for him, he would do well, regardless of the peak. Him doing well on Qing Jing doesn't mean anything other than showing off his awesome(horrible and problematic) coping skills. So really, I can't help but think Qing Jing wasn't a good fit for him, especially with Shen Jiu's specific brand of trauma.

I did a pole once asking if Shen Jiu would've done better on another peak, or if they were just curious to see him anywhere else, and I'm not surprised that the most voted for peak was Yin Hui, the fanon peak for espionage and assassins. Now I'm going to go another tangent why Yin Hui would be good for him later.

[recca3007]

how i imagined some of the peaks in svsss