#binghe is a very normal regular girl!
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inaconstantstateofchange · 8 months ago
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The Lost (Demonic) Art of Innkeeping
Lesbian BingYuan Pseudo-Historical AU
Word Count: 3k
Read it on AO3 here
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Shen Yuan sighed as the warped and bowing front door creaked slowly shut behind the village head. It was nice of him to walk her out to her new property, but something about Yue Qi’s mannerisms kind of felt a little more like he was trying to get her away from the train station before she could change her mind. Looking at the dilapidated building in front of her now… she couldn’t say she blamed him. 
More wind than a self-respecting building should rightfully allow entry whistled through numerous cracks in the once-sturdy walls around her. There were several inches of dust and grime on every single surface, and some frankly concerning scuttling from down the hallway to her left. And, even for someone as unfamiliar with the intricacies of woodworking as her, Shen Yuan did not like the look of some of the spots on the ancient support beams. She cast a fretful look about her, but surely the listing agent would have had to disclose structural failures to that level. Not to mention, the village head would likely not have been in such a rush to leave her to get settled in if he thought he would return to find her squashed like a bug!
The pictures she had seen in the listing hadn’t been lying exactly, but the preponderance of ‘Look at its historical glory days! How beautiful! How magnificent to be the one to return it to its former splendor!’ inclusions suddenly made a lot more sense. Shen Yuan scowled to herself for a moment, then set her face. No! She was going to overcome this. So what if the prospect of the amount of work that was going to go into this project was honestly far more than she would have signed off on apportioning at the start. Like hell she was going to go back empty-handed, with nothing to show for her latest “ill-thought-out investment”. This time, it was going to work. Her admittedly-thin face could not take another year of knowing looks and ‘good-natured’ humor verging on cruel pity at every single social event she found herself at. 
She turned to set her valise on the floor beside the entrance, then quickly thought better of it when she saw the pile of rags there arranged in the form of a – hopefully unoccupied – nest. She squeaked – in a very ladylike way! – and darted two steps away, clutching her valise protectively closer. Her traveling clothes she could take or leave, but she’d be damned before she let anything happen to her prized texts! 
Shen Yuan picked her way across alarmingly creaking floorboards to inspect the rest of the dilapidated inn — her inn, as of the paperwork signed just this morning. The kitchen was… a kitchen! She verified that there was a stove and an antiquated icebox just as stated in the listing details, then opened one or two cabinets aimlessly. Cobwebs, cracked and dusty teacup, snake, more cob—Shen Yuan swore her neck creaked like the rest of the hinges in this place as she looked back to her left to confirm. Yup! Still a snake! Hah! She exhaled harshly, biting down on what would definitely not have been another squeak, and slammed the cabinet door shut again as she speedwalked out of the kitchen. 
Behind the cupboard door the teacup spun, and toppled, another hairline fracture joining the others obscuring its original pattern. 
Shen Yuan paused again once she was back in the main hall of the inn, at the foot of the stairs that she was in no way optimistic enough to try out tonight — or at all, for that matter, at least not until she’d had someone out to look at them who was not affiliated with the building’s seller. Surely even a town this quaint had to have a carpenter, right? 
Her mental crafting of her to-do list broke off, interrupted by a yawn that almost cracked her jaw. Ergh, the hours of travel by train to get here – after already waking up hellishly early because the seller was in such a rush to get the paperwork signed – had exhausted her beyond reason. The sun had barely slipped below the horizon, flinging its last glimmers of golden light filtering through the surrounding trees and beating themselves against the grime-coated windows. Normally she would be up for hours yet! Now, all she wanted to do was find a bed that wasn’t housing some horrific manner of creature or fifty years’ worth of mold growth, and sleep for an entire day. 
As she poked her head tentatively into each of the four rooms on the first floor of the inn, however, Shen Yuan began to think she might, possibly, have made some slight miscalculations along the way. Nothing remained of the beds that existed here at some point in the past aside from their frames, all in varying states of disrepair — and in one tragic case, decomposition. The only linens she could find had more hole than cloth remaining to them from long exposure to the elements and the wild creatures that had been the only living beings using this place for its intended purpose for the last decades. 
Her eyes started to prickle with frustrated, overwhelmed tears, and she strongly considered just walking back to the train station to curl up on a bench and wait for the next train, dignity be damned. Only the brief recollection that the train service to this remote area was intermittent, not daily, kept her from following through. She threaded her fingers into the weave of her braid, draped over her shoulder, and squeezed tightly, trying to press the stress, overwhelm, and near-panic out into it. She had grown tired of the nail marks etched near-permanently into her own palms one day, and finally settled on this technique as a workable substitute. Sometimes – like now – she did miss the horribly satisfying bite of stinging flesh beneath her nails, however. 
Okay! Whatever! This shitty house-that-would-be-an-inn was not going to defeat her! A temporary retreat on her part was not a victory on its! She told herself all of these things staunchly, on repeat as she stepped carefully back out the front door the village head had ushered her so obligingly into just a few hours prior. She thought about heading back down the path toward the village proper, maybe seeing if Yue Qi had a spare bedroom, but the thought of the knowing look on his face as she admitted she was in over her head made her feel like she was going to vomit. 
Nope! Nope! She would figure something out, but she would not be doing that. Hell, people camped out under the stars all the time! And this region was known for its incredibly temperate climate and beautiful wildlife. She was just… doing preliminary research on the local attractions! Exactly! She nodded firmly to herself, determinedly ignoring the way the trees darkened forebodingly over the pathway back to the village. She would just… stay right here, and get a little catnap, and things would look better in the morning. 
Shen Yuan cast about for a spot that seemed tolerable, debating with herself over a few top contenders, before settling back against the trunk of a tall and sturdy tree. It was close enough to the inn that she didn’t feel like she was leaving its air of vaguely comforting – albeit rather derelict – civilization, but far enough that none of the creepy-crawlies within its walls were likely to bother with her. It was… not the most pleasant place of repose, but she convinced herself firmly that she had certainly had worse! …Even if no particular examples were coming to mind right at the moment. 
Shen Yuan closed her eyes and dozed off into a fitful sleep, valise serving as a very lumpy headrest. The moon above her shone down bright and yellow, almost-full. It followed her into her dreams, duplicating itself, then bleeding dull crimson from the outer edges, yellow eaten away until it remained only in the middle, burning like fierce and fiery eyes. She felt trapped in some sort of contest of wills, her eyes locked with the doubled moons as her own heartbeat grew fainter and fainter. At last, just as she felt on the cusp of… something, the moons blinked out, and she gasped awake, lurching forward. 
Crack!
Shen Yuan let out a loud groan, a blinding starburst of pain erupting from her forehead as it felt like she rammed it right into a wooden fencepost — a good one too, not the halfway-to-rotten things marking out the borders of her new property. Had she somehow moved in her sleep?? Was this normal?? Why did anyone ever go camping?! 
The ringing in her ears finally started to fade out, bringing with it fragments of a rich, melodious voice… stammering apologies? What was going on?? 
Shen Yuan carefully pried open one eye, wincing as even the tepid rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon managed to stab their way in, exacerbating the incredible headache building from the point on her forehead where she must have made contact with the woman before her. The woman who… Shen Yuan choked on her own spit as her vision finally shook into focus. 
Dark brown hair – so dark you could call it black without making a liar of yourself – billowed entrancingly out from the loose grasp of a handkerchief that was clearly not up to the task of containing it. Several thick sections had already fallen out from the front, framing the young woman’s face in a perfectly effortless manner, drawing the eye to the painfully exquisite symmetry of her face. Her skin was smooth and clear, and her eyes were just big enough to fall on the alluring side of unusual.  
Who allowed beauties like this to waste away in provincial villages! With a face like hers, this girl should be making her way in the big city by now, taking it by storm! Didn’t anyone ever tell her these provincial towns were supposed to be for the elderly and unlovable? 
She opened her mouth to say… something, hopefully none of the insipid things actually running through her mind, but the beauty beat her to it. Or, perhaps Shen Yuan was just finally able to hear her properly, with the ringing in her ears finally fading away entirely. 
“Furen? Can you hear me? Oh, this is really not ideal, I should probably send for Mu-dafu, but—” Her voice was rich and velvety, slightly husky in a way that sent shivers down Shen Yuan’s spine, but still girlish and sweet. Who knew people like this actually existed outside of novels — certainly none of which might be found in Shen Yuan’s own valise!
Shen Yuan took a deep breath, exhaled through the remaining pain, and managed to get both eyes open this time. The woman was somehow even more stunning like this, backlit in the gentle glow of the rising sun, and Shen Yuan almost had to slam them closed again at once. 
She raised a hand to placate the fretful girl, waving it loosely. “No need, no need! No harm done, see?” She put on her most unaffected expression, although the dubious look on the other woman’s face told her it maybe had not been her finest effort. “In fact, it’s truly what I get for sleeping outside!”
The girl’s beautiful face creased in a delicate frown — almost a pout. “I… wouldn’t go that far, but I was coming over to check on you, furen. Most people know not to stay too long out he—”
Shen Yuan cut her off, feeling guilty even as she did so, but needing to clarify to this lovely vision that she was not in fact some foolish wanderer. “Ah, yes, I’m hoping to stay in the building as soon as possible, but I got in quite late last night – the paperwork took ages, that weasel kept trying for more concessions – and, well… none of the rooms were really in a fit state—”
Now it was Shen Yuan’s turn to be interrupted, as the woman blurted out, something in her eyes that looked like shock, “You’ve bought the inn?” 
Shen Yuan bristled, pulling herself up as much as she could when she was pressed up against a tree trunk, her travel clothes extremely rumpled and her braid wisping undone around her. “Why yes, I have! All on my own, thank you very much, and I’ve got quite the plan for it! Now, if that’s all, I’m quite well, as you can see. No need to trouble yourself any further.”
The young woman lurched forward, reaching out toward Shen Yuan but stopping herself abortively. Her eyes had flooded with some strange emotion Shen Yuan found herself unable to discern. “No, no, furen, I apologize! You look extremely competent! It’s just that no one’s been willing to take a chance on this place in ages. We all thought it would just get swallowed by the woods someday.” She paused, then continued on, seeming almost bashful. “I… really am glad to hear you’ll be here to stay.”
Shen Yuan dissembled awkwardly for a few moments, feeling like she had made a bit of a fool of herself with her overreaction. “I… apologize, as well. Few things have gone exactly to plan recently, and I fear it's made me forget my graces. Do forgive me.”
The young woman’s blush darkened her cheeks becomingly as she glanced away, before her eyes darted back to meet Shen Yuan’s, almost sparkling. “Still, I really do feel horribly about it! You must allow me to make amends, I insist!”
Shen Yuan almost waved her off, but then judged that she was not in fact too good to pass up this opportunity to check a few items off her to-do list without having to go back into town herself. 
“... If you really do feel it necessary, I wouldn’t be opposed to some information about the village itself.” Shen Yuan paused, groping for a politic way to state it. “The inn is in… something of a worse state than I’d been led to believe, and I’m finding myself in need of a few specialists sooner than I’d hoped. Would you happen to know if there’s a local carpenter?”
The young woman hummed thoughtfully, looking back in the direction of the village with something of a shadow falling across her face. Her answer came slowly, almost unwillingly. “The Lius are the only ones nearby who would be able to manage the work you’ll be needing, I’d imagine.”
Shen Yuan smiled happily at her, imagining an elderly couple carrying on the traditions of yesteryear. How inspirational! And she was not at all above benefiting from their – presumable – expertise. 
She clapped her hands once decisively, dipping her head to the woman in front of her. “Thank you so much! You’ve truly saved me some legwork on that one.” She stood up forcefully, shaking out the worst of the wrinkles in her skirt and traveling coat. As she did so, another thought struck her. She paused for a moment, then decided it wasn’t like she had much to lose. “Ah, actually, guniang…”
The young woman, getting to her feet alongside Shen Yuan, shot up even faster at being directly addressed. “Yes?”
Shen Yuan was momentarily distracted to find that the clearly younger woman was… actually a bit taller than her. Shen Yuan was used to being one of the tallest women of her acquaintance, and wasn’t quite sure how she felt about this. The young woman gave a polite cough, and Shen Yuan felt her cheeks heat as she realized she’d let the pause extend awkwardly. 
She gave a slight cough, then continued, just a bit too quickly. “That is, I’d meant to ask, would you perhaps know of anyone else in the area who might be looking for a job as a housekeeper? I’ll need a cook too of course, in the future, but… given the state of things, a housekeeper is definitely the first order of business.”
The woman’s eyes widened fetchingly before she tilted her head forward, the thick locks of hair that framed her face obscuring them for just a moment before swaying back as she raised her head to meet Shen Yuan’s gaze. An enigmatic expression played over the edges of her lips briefly before they stretched into a true smile. 
“Actually, furen, if you’re taking applicants, I’d put myself first on the list.”
Her shapely lips opened to continue on, no doubt to lay out her references or skills, but Shen Yuan didn’t let her finish. “Hired!” She blurted out immediately. If this beauty did not know how much higher she could aim, well… Shen Yuan would certainly help her out in the future, but she truly could not afford to let this opportunity pass her by. Please do not hold it against her, guniang! Shen Yuan thought of the snake awaiting her inside, along with other untold horrors, and firmed her heart. 
The young woman’s cheeks had darkened with a delicate blush, and she smiled directly at Shen Yuan with a truly overwhelming force. The sun itself would crawl away in shame at being so tragically outdone! 
“I’m looking forward to working with you then…” The young woman’s voice trailed off leadingly. 
Shen Yuan flushed again, realizing that, this entire time, she had neglected to properly introduce herself. Her new employee was liable to quit before she even began if Shen Yuan kept making such a poor showing of herself! 
“Shen Yuan,” she rushed to correct her oversight. “Pleased to meet you.”
The young woman’s eyes creased shut in a brilliant smile. Just before the lids pressed closed, Shen Yuan could swear the light glinting off of them gave the illusion of a red spark buried deep within them. For a moment, a vision of twinned red moons twisted through her mind, fractaling away as the other woman opened her mouth to speak. 
“This one is Luo Binghe, Shen-furen.” Her tone shifted subtly, her next words coming out as almost a purr. “And I’m certain the pleasure is all mine.”
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dokidreaming · 3 years ago
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Liu Mingyan for the ask game!
favorite thing about them
her design and colour scheme, it's so pleasant to look at?? on god I want to put her outfit on every other character, it's really my type. I drew LQG in it once but hmmm Binghe should wear some female disciple uniforms too I think
least favorite thing about them
see unpopular opinion below
favorite line
... none really come to mind in particular but her listening to the juicy bingqiu gossip while Mr. Peerless Cucumber is twitching and freaking out is VERY good comedy
brOTP
taking the bro thing a bit literal, but I crave seeing her interact with LQG so badly. HOW does their dynamic work. what kind of siblings are they. I want to know more about them and their family so badly god.
OTP
I think people tend to ship her with NYY and/or SHL? I like her with those three nuns but I'm not extremely invested in her ships so any and all the girls are great
nOTP
her/Binghe?
random headcanon
she and liu qingge are like, nearly identical. eerily identical. if you took off her veil and gave her a beauty mark it would be hard to tell the difference.
unpopular opinion
idk if this is unpopular but I don't see it mentioned much - it's like genuinely kind of fucked up in the world of sv that she writes and publishes porn about real life people that she knows and sees on a fairly regular basis, to the point of interacting very normally with Binghe and assuming his presence means SQQ will be visiting soon. I know it's played for laughs and I am able to find it funny, but it's one of those things where if I think about it for longer than five seconds it's actually REALLY wack
song i associate with them
here's a fun song
favorite picture of them
there's a critical lack of canon art for anyone other than bq but the donghua promo art for her is gorgeous
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and honourable mention to any of velsmells art of her
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myheartismadeofstars · 4 years ago
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More babies for my otps! Scum Villain Edition!
BingQiu:
Now, I have two backstories for their children. One is in an ABO verse, but the other is canon verse. The canonverse one involves LBH and SQQ deciding to have children together. (Well....more like LBH starts getting all wistful whenever they are around children which reminds SQQ of how, though Bingge was never a very present father for his many children...he did love them. And he was always ecstatic to find out he was going to have another, and when he did spend time with them, he enjoyed being around them Airplane didn’t think readers would find children very interesting once they were born and it made him realize that that is still part of who Binghe is and he’d still want a family)
SQQ hated himself for it, but he asked the system for methods to have a child with LBH, and discovered a plant known as the Frog Pomegranate (not to be confused with the Pomegranate Frog, apparently). The interesting thing is....the plant is relatively normal (!!!???) until a specific ritual is done, after which point consuming the seeds of the fruit (and papapaing of course) will guarantee conception (if it wasn’t in such a stupidly remote area...it only grows on a rocky mountainside, on almost a 90 degree slope, far from human civilization, it would probably be extremely popular as a fertility aid!) Of course it turns out the ritual to make the fruit magical requires a *ahem* gift for the tree (and SQQ went alone!). SQQ ended up gathering an armful of the magical fruit, to bring them back to Mu Qingfang. Surely he’d have a use for it!
The result is triplets.
The first child to be born is their oldest daughter Shuilu (”Light Green”) she highly resembles SQQ, and you can really only tell LBH is her father if you have them both together. Otherwise her silky smooth hair and seafoam green eyes are all SQQ. She grows up an independent but helpful child. Able to care for herself young, but always mimicking her parents. Wanting to “work” with them (trying to imitate them doing paperwork, or help LBH cook). She grows up the very image of a princess. Elegant and polite and hardworking and diplomatic. LBH and her have a very special bond and while most tend to favour his son as his heir....privately? He favours her.
The second child is their son: Shuanghu (”Frost Tiger”). He actually resembles Tianlang-Jun quite a lot, though like his father his hair begins to curl as a teenager. He is very much the tsundere type, a bit proud, a fierce warrior since he was young (he often trains with Liu Qingge who had always been a part of his and his sisters’ lives), however he doesn’t get along well with his father. He’s very loyal to him (something a few would be conspirators learn the hard way) because he does love him (LBH is never anything but good to him, just a bit strict and not as bad as LQG is!) they just clash personality wise. Like his father, however, he’s very popular with women...he’s just not very good at expressing himself lol.
The third child is another little girl. She was born so tiny and delicate that even MQF wasn’t certain if she would make it. After a lot of TLC from SQQ, A-Zhen (one character, and it means “to receive blessings in a sincere spirit”). She’s the most even mix between her parents, even inheriting both their signature features: SQQ’s green eyes and LBH’s curly hair. She’s Baba’s special baby, and...admittedly he kinda spoils her a bit. She’s a bit shy and clingy...and a bit of a crybaby. That’s not to say she’s useless! She’s the child with the second closest connection to her 1/4 demon heritage (after her brother. Her sister barely has any such connection and relies entirely on regular cultivation) She simply is mostly a pacifist.
In addition to their three biological children, LBH and SQQ end up rescuing a lot of street children which they teach, and love as their own children.
BONUS: Moshang!
SQH and MBJ have a son a few years after the Bingqiu Triplets are born.
The choice was kinda pressured, and SQH really didn’t think he was really ready to be a parent...but they were basically being told either they have a child, or MBJ will have to take a second (female) spouse in order to have an heir or more. MBJ would obviously have vetoed that with extreme prejudice, but SQH didn’t want to be more unpopular than he already is.
At birth, he is named Fengying (Wind Shadow). SQH, slightly uncertain on how the Lang/Jun suffixes work in this scenario (he’s the heir...but he’s also a half demon?) at first gives him the suffix “-Lang” but MBJ scolds him for trying to deny their son his inheritance. As per tradition, he is called Fengying alone until he’s a teenager, when he officially becomes Fengying-Jun. If/when his father can no longer rule, he will take the name of Mobei-Jun, as his father did. (Random headcanon: MBJ’s given name is actually Ji “Sharp/Fierce or To Incite” and Lin “to tremble in fear or shiver with cold” but also “imposing, cold, austere, majestic, stern, etc” however due to sharing that last character with his Uncle, no one, not even SQH is permitted to call him Jilin-Jun) 
He’s on the short side for an Ice demon, only 6′2 as opposed to his father being between 7-8), he only leans ever so slightly to his demon side, his father’s sharp features being softened by SQH’s human side. Making him slightly more delicate looking (SQH wonders if being so pretty might be a half demon trait now, rather than specific to LBH). He retains most of his demonic features: icy blue-white skin, pale eyes, black hair frosted with white when healthy and pure black when ill, sharp ears (though his are rounder than normal), and a low body temperature, though his is higher than standard. Leading some to be concerned he’s running a fever. He does however, lack his father’s sharp teeth.
His personality is intelligent and he’s pretty skilled with his demon magic considering he’s only half...and he inherited resting bitch face from his father...but he’s actually pretty shy, which he never properly grows out of. He’s even gentle and merciful, which a lot of his father’s court consider an embarrassment, and clearly SQH’s fault. (poor boy has a lot of pressure on him, might have anxiety)
He develops romantic feelings for Luo Zhen, despite her being older than him. And his courtship methods are very human.
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scumvillain · 6 years ago
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The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System
(back to masterpost)
It has been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve been busy, but the regular updates for this novel invigorate me so here I am! I have a long way to go until I catch up to the latest translated chapter though, haha.
Chapter 5
Yue Qingyuan is an interesting character. His concern and care for Shen Qingqiu, despite the original Shen Qingqiu being cold and aloof, tells you that they have some sort of shared history, though the story itself won’t reveal exactly that is until way later, if I remember correctly.
“Yue Qingyuan carried a snowy white porcelain tea set inside Shen Qingqiu’s bamboo house, his eyes brimming with concern...”
Really, though, sect leaders don’t normally go out of their way and busy lives to bring tea to their injured or ill subordinates even after it was established that they’re probably okay. He seems like the kind of guy who would do it for anyone he cares about, which is nice.
I do love it when Shen Yuan shits on the original Shen Qingqiu, though. And how he calls him the “original goods”. It’s great. He was still a reader, remember! One of the ones who apparently advocated for punishing the evil scumbag.
And then he calls Yue Qingyuan a “mission-giving NPC”. xD Just a reminder that he still considers them characters in a novel at this point!
It’s nice that Ming Fan is also competent, it’s just when Luo Binghe is involved that he is a bully, but aside from that is rather reliable. 
“Absolutely not OOC, perfect!“
lol, I will forgive you for describing the MC’s appearance because he is actually trying to be conscious of how he looks to keep IC. 
“【Even if it is in a world with a setting like Harry Potter, not every wizard would go outside riding a broom. Too high-profile.】”
“Shen Qingqiu: ‘You seem to know a lot about this? In the past, were you assigned to Harry Potter’s world?’”
See, usually the system doesn’t add much to the story aside from setting up the basic transmigration premise. This system and Shen Qingqiu’s interactions with it are hilarious. So much snark from both sides.
“Ming Fan was truly well-versed in being a piece of cannon fodder.”
Oh, Shen Qingqiu. Your narration is hilarious. His evaluation of the canon fodder characters and how he even sympathizes with some never fails to amuse.
omg Ning Yingying, the “worst sort of evil catalyst”. Poor girl. She only wants to help!
“Every deceased person had a similarity: each one had all their skin perfectly removed.“
AHHH NOO. I remember being very grateful that this novel isn’t heavy on descriptive writing because that is literally my only squick/triggering thing I cannot take. I blame Murakami Haruki’s Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Excellent novel. But damn did I want to vomit in the middle of class when I read one scene in particular...
So, yeah. Glad they don’t get too gory with the descriptions.
“It was totally different from what they agreed on!”
lol you didn’t agree to any terms, did you.
“Wordless, Shen Qingqiu was even able to find five or six tea sets.”
Five or six. Tea sets. In a carriage.
I wouldn’t even put one in there.
“Shen Qingqiu: ‘Warning what? I wasn’t OOC.’”
haha Shen Qingqiu, learning how to beat the system. yay for loopholes!
“Maybe he wasn’t a first-class, number one handsome man, but he was undeniably good-looking and with a face one would never tire of looking at. His face half in light and shadow seemed to be worn by soft-flowing water, easily pleasing to behold. If he took up his famous sword in one hand, he would be picture of cultivated elegance.”
Luo Binghe, please. But of course he waxes poetic about his shizun!
“The system said righteously: 【OOC is OOC. 】”
haha the system got back at him. I love these two. the system is practically a character in and of itself.
Next: Chapter 6 ← back • onward →
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