#Yue Ying | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

demon-shark · 28 days ago

Text

Jiu-ge and A-Ying; Chapter 1

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

[previous] [next]

It was cold. That was all Jiu could focus on as he applied the makeshift burn salve he managed to whip together. He wasn’t sure how long he had been travelling but his muscles burned and the newly acquired burns didn’t help. Though that fire taught him one thing, something important. He isn’t the only one. If Haitang remembers there is a good chance others remember too. It seemed even now he couldn’t escape his mistakes. As he thought that a face seemed to flash before him, Binghe, his tormentor and his husband. A man whose name sent fear deep into his bones but also brought so much joy and safety. A man he deeply hurt. Guilt started to curl into his gut, he hoped Binghe didn’t remember. That Binghe might live a happier life without him and his curse.

After applying the salve, Jiu continued on his journey, quickly arriving in a village. It was run down and the people were shifty, but it was the first village he had seen in days. As he hobbled through the street, trying not to apply too much strain to his left leg, he heard the barking of dogs. Curiosity getting the better of him, Jiu followed the sound he heard terrified crying. Despite the burns, he ran towards it, cursing whatever influenced him to be the kind of person that ran to help others. He quickly rounded the corner, landing wrong on his left foot sending stabbing pain up his leg. Gritting his teeth he pushed through it as he picked up a rock and chucked it at the dogs, “Hey!�� The dogs turned away from the curled up boy they had been biting, blood and saliva dripping from their maws as they focused on Jiu. “Shit,” was all he could mutter out as the dogs started running at him.

Panicking, he fell back into old habits, old pieces of scrap sharpening into knives around him before launching into the street dogs, killing the dogs before they could dig their teeth into him. As they fell dead, blood finding its way between his toes, Jiu could feel inquisitive eyes staring into him. He turned, emerald meeting silver, and they just stared for a moment. The boy in front of him was bleeding badly, yet he didn’t cry, the tears on his face clearly having been from his previous fear. His black hair was horribly knotted, he was completely filthy, and his clothes were several sizes too small. Everything about him screamed street rat but he didn’t hold himself like one, he held himself like a cultivator. A scared cultivator but a cultivator. The boy had already entered a practiced stance that would easily allow him to flee. Jiu could admit he could have been reading too deeply into it but if he wasn’t…

The boy then grinned up at him, his once tense stance loosening as he awkwardly stood up, “That was so cool! Where did you learn to do that?!” Jiu could admit the sudden change caught him off guard, especially as he dumbly said, “I taught myself,” despite knowing damn well he should never reveal such secrets. The slip caused a strange glint to appear in the boy’s eyes as he said, “Man, you gotta teach me how to do that.” The boy then stepped towards him, completely ignoring the waterfall of blood that trailed down his legs. An action that made Jiu genuinely wonder if the boy just didn’t feel pain. As the boy continued grinning he said, “My name is Wei Ying.” That made Jiu freeze, he recognized that name. It was a name he had heard often in his first life.

Wei Ying, more commonly known as Wei Wuxian the Yiliing Patriarch, the man capable of raising armies of the dead and was the major fighting force of the Sunshot Campaign. A man falsely charged of turning against the cultivation world because of the greed of people in better positions. A man who died alone and miserable as he was only proven innocent 13 years after his death. He remembered the trial well, while Jin Guangshan had died long before he could have faced any justice, the same couldn’t be said for Jin Guangyao who had the additional crime of killing Nie Mingyue. He also remembered the look on Lan Wangji’s face. While the man had always been notoriously hard to read, Jiu could proudly say he could and that man was heartbroken, furious, and vindicated. He loved the Yiling Patriarch and was his only defender all those years ago. Originally it was considered his only flaw, but it seemed he was just as flawless as the Lan Clan liked to say he was.

But Wei Ying wouldn’t know that, even if he did remember his previous lives. If he was the same person who died after that war then he could be very emotionally volatile which wouldn’t be good for Jiu. Wei Ying then gave him a weird look, causing Jiu to realize he had been quiet for far too long, “Shen Jiu.” He needed to get away from him now. Just as he was about to make his escape however the screaming started. For some reason, Wei Ying looked to the sky and then panicked as he noticed the sun was starting to go down. He couldn’t look too deeply into it however as he again started running towards the screams. There must be something wrong with him, he wouldn't have done this before, so why is doing it now? Whatever is happening isn’t his business and he shouldn't be risking his own skin for strangers.

It didn’t take long to find the reason for the screaming. In the center of the marketplace were three fierce corpses ripping through civilians like wet paper. As Jiu tried to come up with a plan, Wei Ying flew past him and towards one of the stands. Assuming he was using the chaos to grab food, something he should be doing right now, he initially ignored him. However, the boy instead made a move for a dizi, Jiu suddenly felt his blood go cold. As Wei Ying was forced to retreat from the stand by a stampeding corpse, Jiu couldn’t help but stare at him. Shen Jiu had only been in the Cang Qiong sect for three years when the war started, however he had been deemed strong enough to enter the front lines with his martial siblings. While he hadn’t worked with Wei Wuxian often, he would never forget the times he did. When that song filled the air and the dead rose to tear apart their enemies. Back then he had been jealous of the man, for his talent, for having the support and respect of his peers, and for having strength that was no longer possible for him at the time. Now he can see how stupid that jealousy was. Especially when he saw just how supported Wei Wuxian really was after the cultivation world no longer had use for him.

A screeching roar filled the air and Jiu snapped his head towards the fierce corpses. With Wei Ying unable to reach an instrument he was unable to control them. As one of the corpses started running at Wei Ying he acted quickly, making his way to the jewelry stand and used his qi to sharpen them before sending them into the fierce corpses, locking their attention onto them, “Shit”. As they started barreling towards him he started to chant, “shit, shit, shit,” repeating it over and over and he started putting distance between the corpses and himself. As one of them started to get a little too close for comfort, Wei Ying chucked a rock at its head, sending it to the ground. Jiu and Ying continued to shred and bash away at the corpses as they continued to lash out, destroying the market stands and spewing resentment into the air.

As the stands fell a fire started, whether it was from a broken lantern or a forgotten candle he wasn’t sure. But it started and started to spread fast. As smoke started to block out the moon, the fight was cast in a golden light that showed off the blank eyes and the gnawing teeth of the corpses. The rotting skin that threatened to fall off in clumps. The smell of decay mixed with the clear signs of putrefaction having set in. On some level he knew he should have been terrified. But instead he found a strange comfort. A comfort in the fire, a comfort in the smell of death, a comfort in the battle. He wasn’t sure what that said about him but something about this brought comfort and in that comfort his head cleared.

It didn’t matter if Qiu Haitang remembered, it didn’t matter that Wei Ying remembered, it wouldn’t matter if everyone on Cang QIong remembered. He would live free of his past mistakes, free of fear, and no one would get in the way of that. Shen Jiu took a deep breath and started to do what he did best, strategize. Wei Ying needed to get a dizi, he needed to give him the opening to get one. Problem was he didn’t know how much time he needed to actually find one in the rubble. Shen Jiu quickly grabbed a broken beam from one of the stands, setting one end on fire before falling into a well practiced sword stance. Something that Wei Ying clocked immediately.

Shen Jiu stood strong in his stance as the fierce corpses circled him and he ordered, “Get the dizi!”. A brief look of horror flashed on Wei Ying’s face before he nodded and started making his way to what used to be the instrument stand. Jiu carefully watched the corpses, waiting. The first one struck. Launching towards him with mindless fury. With practiced what Jiu would have liked to call grace but wasn’t, Jiu bashed in the first corpse’s skull. The other two quickly ran in, Jiu slashed the flaming beam through the air. Slamming into the second corpse and sending it flying into the third. As the first one recovered he lunged at Jiu. Jiu dodged, letting the corpse fly into the flames behind him. A terrible screech filled the air as the other two recovered. Clawing away at each other as they struggled to stand.

They didn’t get the chance to however as a familiar song filled the air. They suddenly froze before tearing each other apart, the 1st corpse crawling its way out of the flames to join them. With the three corpses on fire and ripping away at their rotting bodies the two boys only had to wait. It wasn’t long before all that was left was the scorching black bones and resentment. This left them in a rather awkward situation. They slowly turned to each other. In almost a single voice, they both said, “You remember.”

This was a conversation they couldn’t have in the open. Having moved deeper into the forest, along the bottom of the cursed mountain where no one would disturb them. In a very small voice, Wei Ying asked, “How much do you remember?” Determined not to give more information than necessary, Shen Jiu said, “Enough.” A deep tired sigh escaped Wei Ying, it suddenly seemed like he aged several decades as he fell to the ground. With his head on his knees, he curled up, trying to make himself smaller. It made Jiu uncomfortable just to watch, he wasn’t good with vulnerability and it was clear that Wei Ying was beyond that. After a moment, Wei Ying asked, “Why?” Jiu scrunched up his face in confusion as he gave a flat, “What?” Wei Ying looked up at him, his eyes just as dead as the corpses they just exorcised, “Why haven’t you killed me yet?”

“Why would I do that?” It was the softest Jiu had ever spoken, in any life. “I hurt a lot of people,” Wei Ying said it like an unquestionable fact. “So have I,” it slipped out of him before Jiu could hold it. Something about Wei Ying was unbearably recognizable and it lowered some wall he had forgotten was there. Ying gave a tired laugh but didn’t say anything. Despite himself and despite any previous plans Jiu said, “I’m going somewhere I can’t hurt anyone. You’re free to follow.” Wei Ying’s head snapped up in surprise, he struggled to find words for a moment before asking, “Why?”

“Why not?”

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

Liu Mingyu woke up in a cold sweat. Creeping images of a boy he didn’t recognize, his own death from a qi-deviation, a rescue from that same qi-deviation. A rival turned something else, something he wasn’t sure but made him ache with a sudden loneliness and grief. He knew one thing for sure; he needed to find the boy; Shen Jiu, now. Whispers of secrets made public, histories that haven’t become histories yet. Someone he swore to protect was being hurt and right now he is being too slow. But he didn’t know where to go, the name Qiu wasn’t a familiar one. That doesn’t mean it's hopeless though, he has one clue. A clue that is right in front of him. Mingyu slammed the door to his dorm room open, waking up some of his martial brothers in his hurry to get to Qiong Ding.

The moon was high in the sky as he ran across the rainbow bridges and through peaks. He didn’t care if he woke up the entire sect, he needed to find Shen JIu and nothing was going to get in the way of that. As soon as he entered Qiong Ding he started going through the dorm rooms one by one. Slamming doors and breaking locks in his search for Yue Qi. As broke open the 11th door he found him, startled awake and reaching for his practice sword on instinct. Ignoring the confused shouting of the Qiong Ding disciples, Mingyu grabbed Yue Qi by his sleep robes as he demanded, “Where is he?” A look of utter confusion took hold of Yue Qi’s tired face causing Mingyu to start shaking him, “Where is he? Where is Shen Jiu?”

The confusion melted away, replaced by a look of sympathy and grief as he said, “You remember.” It wasn’t a question. Yue Qi softly placed his hand on the one Mingyu was using to hold Yue Qi up, “Somewhere else. We need to talk somewhere else.” Mingyu impatiently waited as Yue Qi pulled on an outer robe, tormented by questions. If Yue Qi remembered, why was he here? Why wasn’t he out there protecting Shen Jiu? Saving him from that house? The more he thought about it the angrier he got. After getting somewhat dressed, Yue Qi led Mingyu away to one of Qiong Ding’s gardens, something usually used for diplomatic meetings. “What the hell are we doing here?” Mingyu snapped. Yue Qi didn't say anything at first. Preparing for the thing he would have to put in the air. The admission that he had once again failed. Mingyu, oblivious of Yue Qi’s torment, continued to yell at him, “Why are we going to get him? Why are we just standing around useless?! This is the same shit you pulled when that dem-”

“He’s dead.” Was all that Yue Qi could get out and without hesitation Liu Mingyu said, “Bullshit.” Yue Qi snapped his head around to stare at Mingyu, tears starting to form in his eyes. “That man is too stubborn to die,” Mingyu continued. “Liu-shidi, I understand that you don’t want to-” Yue Qi tried to say only for Mingyu to cut him off, “No, you don’t understand. He doesn’t die. Remember last time we thought he died?” Yue Qi scrunched up his face, thinking back on the second life. Determined to get Yue Qi to take action, Mingyu continued, grabbing Yue Qi by his shoulders, “If he isn’t at that house then he is somewhere else and as his martial siblings it's our job to find him.” As it sunk in, Yue Qi’s face of confusion became one of determination.

#Jiu-ge and A-Ying #shen qingqiu #svsss fanfiction #svsss #crossover fanfiction #shen jiu #wei ying #wei wuxian #mdzs fanfiction #mdzs #liu qingge #yue qingyuan

32 notes · View notes