#binghe is smiling but he is suffering

[nyoomerr]

SY as a disciple on another peak? It's just very amusing to imagine LBH desperately scrabbling to get onto THAT peak, clearly there's been some sort of MISTAKE, he's supposed to be over there!!

lbh would just keep showing up like a stray dog, lmao. here's some qian cao peak disciple!sy taking care of little binghe!

---

As a reader, Shen Yuan had been under the impression that everyone knew about Luo Binghe nearly immediately. Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge fought over him at the disciple selection, only for Shen Qingqiu to treat the poor bun like shit, thereby causing a whole separate fuss as Yue Qingyuan unjustly defended the abusive actions of his scum shidi. That sort of thing was basically begging to be treated like hot gossip - surely, in a sect full of teenagers, news of Luo Binghe would travel nearly as quickly as he arrived on the peak!

So why is it, exactly, that the first Shen Yuan hears about Luo Binghe is the demon invasion that takes place years after Luo Binghe’s arrival?!

Was there no gossip after all? Are Qian Cao disciples really that busy that they don’t hear the gossip?! No, no - Qian Cao would obviously get the most gossip; every other peak visits Qian Cao regularly, and half of them end up high on pain meds while here, unable to filter most of their thoughts! If there had been gossip about Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan would have heard it first! He had been listening the hardest!!

In front of him, Luo Binghe shifts awkwardly. “Um, Shixiong…”

Shen Yuan feels like he’s been struck by an arrow. 

Ah! Shixiong!! He called me ‘Shixiong’!! Luo Binghe’s Shixiong!! I could be Luo Binghe’s Shixiong!!!!! …Wait, no, the seniority of the peaks -

“Shixiong, is something wrong?” Luo Binghe asks hesitantly.

A second arrow!!! Shen Yuan is going to keel over and die, right here in the middle of the medicinal peak, because Luo Binghe keeps calling him ‘Shixiong’!!!

“Of course not,” Shen Yuan says, before gathering all his strength to tack on: “Shidi.”

Fuck the seniority of the peaks, to be this golden bun’s Shixiong is to ascend early!!

“Oh,” Luo Binghe says. He shifts again, looking around the small triage room they’re in. 

The triage room he’d been directed to because he’d just finished fighting an unfair battle against a demon elder. Right. That triage room.

Shen Yuan clears his throat, smiles awkwardly, clears his throat again, and promptly begins treatment. The best pain medicine Qian Cao offers, the most expensive healing ointments, a tincture for general strength and wellness, a tea for good sleep - so what if Shen Yuan has to pull some of these things out of his personal stores? That’s Luo Binghe, and he’s bearing far more injuries than those that came from his battle with the demon! 

He does his best to keep up friendly chatter the whole time, too - asking after Luo Binghe’s studies, backpedaling immediately and telling him what a good patient he is, asking after Luo Binghe’s friends, backpedaling again and telling him what a sweet boy he is - 

Normal bedside manner. Shen Yuan is very good at that sort of thing, as a senior disciple of Qian  Cao. 

Unfortunately, Shen Yuan eventually runs out of injuries to treat. He very badly wishes there was some sort of medical sanctions he could pull out of his ass to keep Luo Binghe on Qian Cao - something about the injuries on his back looking more like whip lashes than normal training injuries or wounds from the demonic invasion, something about the injuries looking like abuse - but Shen Yuan already knows there isn’t. 

Only the peak lord could pull that sort of authority over Luo Binghe’s own Shizun; if Shen Yuan tried to do anything himself he’d end up in a diplomatic battle over it.

In the end, all he can do is pat Luo Binghe’s head a few times (and then a few times more, his hair is so soft now that Shen Yuan has carefully washed it out under the pretense of medical necessity for cleanliness!) and send him on his way.

Still, Shen Yuan cannot tolerate letting Luo Binghe suffer on Qing Jing, now that he knows Luo Binghe is there. He’ll have to find some excuses to run errands over there, or -

“Shixiong,” Luo Binghe calls from outside the disciple halls, looking shyly over at Shen Yuan.

Or, Shen Yuan thinks, more than a bit surprised, Luo Binghe will just show up for treatment on his own…?

Shen Yuan scrambles over to Luo Binghe, gently patting his head and turning his face this way and that and carefully running his hands over his shoulders, trying to figure out what’s wrong. 

“Ah, Binghe, did I miss something yesterday? Shit - I mean, uh, shoot, you’re too young and cute to be cursing just yet, you hear me?”

Luo Binghe nods obediently, then shakes his head. “Shixiong didn’t miss anything,” he clarifies.

“Oh, good,” Shen Yuan says, letting go of some of the tension in his shoulders.

Shen Yuan of course put his best foot forward when treating Luo Binghe the other day, but he isn’t the peak’s best healer - he’d chosen Qian Cao to study poisons and rare flora and spiritual plants, not actual healing. He’d only been helping treat patients the day of the demonic invasion because half their best healers were missing! 

“If Binghe’s alright, what can this -” Shen Yuan breathes deep, savors the feeling, “- this Shixiong do for you?”

Luo Binghe glances up at him shyly, big wet eyes peeking out from long lashes. Ah, the pinnacle of perfection, for a cute little boy!! 

“I… tripped,” Luo Binghe says hesitantly. 

Shen Yuan blinks down at Luo Binghe. Luo Binghe swallows thickly.

“On my back,” he adds. “And bruised it like - like the bruises Shixiong treated yesterday.”

“Bruises,” Shen Yuan echoes incredulously, which he thinks is a rather restrained response to hearing the sweet baby protagonist talk about lash marks as if they were mere bruises.

Luo Binghe nods, still looking up at Shen Yuan pleadingly. Shen Yuan sighs; it’s better to be able to treat Luo Binghe’s injuries than not to, even if Luo Binghe himself is going to downplay them even as he asks for help.

The Luo Binghe of Proud Immortal Demon Way had never asked for help from Qian Cao, now that Shen Yuan thinks about it.

…After he’s taken care of Luo Binghe, he’s going to figure out which disciple would’ve treated Luo Binghe in the original, and he’s going to put chili powder in all his tea, ah!!

---

Luo Binghe keeps coming back. Small injuries, larger ones, keening whines about how Shixiong, I’m scared of qi deviations, please help me cultivate safely!!

Shen Yuan is torn between feeling relieved that Luo Binghe has found a Shixiong (Shixiong!!) that he feels he can trust, and feeling absolutely terrified of Luo Binghe’s general health. The original Luo Binghe of PIDW had never felt this worried, he was never in so much pain over simple scrapes! Had Shen Yuan’s doting somehow turned the protagonist’s bones to glass??

Regardless, Luo Binghe spends more and more time on Qian Cao. He even shows up to some of the lessons Shen Yuan teaches, which - protagonist, you don’t need to know healing!! Your blood will do it for you, eventually! When that fails, a large-bosomed woman will take care of you!!

“I can’t help but feel bad for how often I bother Shixiong,” Luo Binghe whines when Shen Yuan tries to shoo him out of the Qian Cao beginner lessons. “Isn’t it better for me to learn how to take care of myself?”

It’s better for this Shixiong to take care of you, ah! Shen Yuan very much does not say, but he does begrudgingly let Luo Binghe stay.

Except the lessons go too late, and it’s dangerous for Luo Binghe to be wandering between the peaks after dark, so he ends up having to bunk with Shen Yuan for the night, and Shen Yuan offers him some of his old Qian Cao disciple robes to sleep in, and Luo Binghe never takes them off -

Shen Yuan stares at Luo Binghe, happily calling him ‘Shixiong’ and dressed in Qian Cao robes and without even the smallest of bruises or scrapes on his person, and -

Well, this is probably a good a way as any to rescue Luo Binghe, ah!

[sapphicjackal]

Bingyuan Soulmate au 5

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Shen Yuan told himself he would wait until the next day to read the web novel he found, Proud Immortal Demon Way. The web novel had only been uploaded for 20 days now, making it fairly new and unknown. It was probably only because Shen Yuan had searched with keywords that the exact webpage came up. So far it only had 4 chapters, each one being a reasonably sizable length.

Normally, this was the kind of story that Shen Yuan would truly enjoy.

It seemed intriguing and held great promise. The bits of world building that had already been sprinkled in were captivating and promising. Shen Yuan could see the makings of a great premise.

However-

The protagonist is named Luo Binghe, and this is a story of his suffering. 

The first chapter starts with a baby, one abandoned to float down the freezing Luochun river during the coldest night of winter. Named Luo Binghe, the unwanted orphan lived on the streets. How he survived infancy was left vague, but he was eventually taken in by a poor washerwoman who had little to provide other than the love in her heart.

Luo Binghe wanted for nothing, even while having so little. He was spat on and bullied by the masters that his adoptive mother worked for, but he was content purely because he had his mother. She taught him to cook and she brushed his hair while telling him stories of peerless immortal cultivators. 

She worked tirelessly to provide for him, all without a single complaint and wearing a warm smile. She saved meticulously for a long while to be able to afford a jade Guanyin pendant for her son, only to find out that the jade was fake. The heartbreak of it all took its toll, especially when there was no extra money for food and her health began to take a turn for the worse.

Luo Binghe had to beg for food to give her, and work to get her medicine. On the day she died, he went out to beg in order to get her a bowl of watery congee. He was beaten for the right to have a cold bowl of food, and by the time he returned, she was already dead.

From there, he lived another two and a half years on the streets until he turned 10, the minimum age requirement to take the test for the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Renowned as the top cultivation sect in the world, it was also the only sect open for anyone to join so long as they had potential and were chosen by a Peak Lord. 

Luo Binghe traveled up the countless stairs and threw all of his effort into digging a hole, wishing with all his heart to be chosen. He was overjoyed when a peerless immortal cultivator stopped before him, one who looked distinguished and elegant, dressed in greens and white. Luo Binghe was the only one chosen for the second highest ranked peak, Qing Jing Peak.

This should have marked the turning point for Luo Binghe’s miserable luck, the beginnings of something good.

The first chapter ends with Luo Binghe’s tea ceremony, with his new Master dumping hot tea over his head with a cold look of disdain. Luo Binghe’s tears mixed with the dripping tea while his Shizun scoffed at him, proclaiming him a worthless Beast. Shen Qingqiu tossed him his manual, telling him with a sneer to learn it well before kicking him out.

Things don’t get better.

The next day, Luo Binghe received his materials from the Head Disciple, Ming Fan. He was only given the worst of what they could offer, and he was barred from being allowed inside of the Disciple Dormitory. Luo Binghe was forced to find shelter in the woodshed which became his home.

It marked the start of the relentless bullying from Ming Fan and the other disciples. Shen Qingqiu had clearly marked the boy as a pariah, meaning the whole Peak left him to fend for himself. He was kicked out of lessons with some Hallmasters, and given endless chores that kept him from attending the classes he was allowed in. The only person who treated him kindly was Ning Yingying, but this only drew further ire from Ming Fan who had a crush on her.

Life was miserable, but Luo Binghe did his best to rise above it. He did his work, and he learned what he could. It took months for him to even be able to read his manual, but once he could, Luo Binghe threw himself into studying cultivation. Only. He didn’t know that the manual was a fake. One made to look genuine, but would waste the years of greatest potential for a cultivator, and could even lead to death.

The fourth chapter left off on Luo Binghe being whipped for hours because Ming Fan blamed him for messing something up. Luo Binghe was left bleeding in the dirt while his scum Shizun walked away.

Shen Yuan finished reading with a foul taste in his mouth, staring blankly at his phone screen long enough that it turned off automatically. Normally, this kind of narrative was one that Shen Yuan enjoyed. One where a protagonist starts from nothing and climbs their way to the top, then slaps their faces and takes revenge on everyone who had pushed them into the dirt when they were at their lowest. Shen Yuan liked YY stories, it was easily his favorite genre to read.

Maybe once this could have been the start of Shen Yuan’s favorite story.

Instead he felt nothing but sick.

His soulmate had told him pieces of this information, accompanied by all of the feelings that went along with it. Binghe had told him that his mother died close to three years ago, and how much he missed her. 

Maybe if he found the story first, he would have seen Binghe as a protagonist first. Maybe he would have found it cool to be soulmates with a fictional character. It wasn’t even that hard for Shen Yuan to wrap his head around. He knows tropes very well, and a modern guy finding out he’s soulmates with a fictional character is a popular genre.

But-

Shen Yuan has spent hours writing to his soulmate for the past few days, in those snatches of time that Binghe manages to steal. He’s spent a few days getting to know his Bing-er in all of his earnest and sweet glory. Binghe was a true white lotus, born in the muck yet managing to remain pure despite it all.

Shen Yuan has spent 15 years loving his soulmate. 

Ever since he knew of the concept from his parents. He’s been writing to his soulmate since he could hold a pen, first it was nothing but the sloppy scrawls and doodles of a child, but he learned quickly to write. Literacy had extreme importance in society, and children were taught to read and write as soon as possible so they could communicate with their soulmate, especially among those with wealth.

Binghe has been at the end of every message. 

Even if they’ve only known each other for a short time, Shen Yuan has cared for his soulmate his entire life.

Binghe is more than a protagonist. 

Shen Yuan didn’t manage to sleep a wink. The first half of his night was spent reading, and the second half spent waiting for Binghe to wake up. He knew Binghe rose with the sun, and so he only had a few more hours to kill while waiting. He flipped through tabs on his phone, opening and closing apps restlessly. 

Shen Yuan doesn’t think about his soulmate being abandoned at birth. He doesn’t think about years of getting tormented by those around him. He doesn’t think about a confession laced with pain. This one likes Qing Jing Peak. Qing Jing Peak does not like this Binghe.

No.

Shen Yuan doesn’t think about it at all.

He lost track of time, flinching in surprise when he finally felt the tingling swipe of a brush on skin. Shen Yuan sat up in bed and turned on his lamp, fumbling for his marker. He couldn’t help his smile at Binghe’s words even if he tried. All of the suffocating heaviness was lifted all at once, leaving him feeling light and unburdened.

“Wishing Yuan-ge a happy day!” Binghe had written, his brushstrokes precise and careful, words filled with happiness. 

“Good morning Bing-er.” Shen Yuan responded, returning the sweet greeting of his little white lotus of a soulmate. 

Shen Yuan bit his lip, staring down at his arm. He had thought about what to say for hours now, so he pushed back his strange hesitation and began to write. “You told me you had trouble cultivating, I thought about it last night. The most important part of learning is cross referencing. Is there any way you could look at someone else’s manual?”

“Yuan-ge?” Binghe wrote, shining with innocent curiosity.

“Make sure your material is real. People could be trying to hurt Bing-er with fake material.” Shen Yuan asked, full of worry and suspicion. 

“This one will check.” Binghe responded, he felt faintly skeptical, but completely truthful. It took a heavy weight off of Shen Yuan that he didn’t even realize he was carrying.

“Thank you, Bing-er. I hope I’m wrong.” Shen Yuan wrote, feeling utterly relieved though it was threaded with an underlying anxiety. 

Shen Yuan went through the rest of his day with Binghe’s situation lingering in his mind. He ate breakfast the chef made with his mother and meimei, both his father and his older brothers already left for work. He went back to his room and did his schoolwork.

Technically, Shen Yuan attends the best private academy in Beijing. However, he doesn’t actually go onto the campus because of his health concerns. His parents worked it out so that all of his work is sent to the house and his tests are administered by teachers who come to him instead. 

Shen Yuan used to resent it when he was younger, wishing that he could go to class with other kids and make friends, but now he’s glad he does have to spend most of his day surrounded by other teenagers.

In addition to his standard curriculum, his mother also has him tutored in the four arts. It was something that Shen Yuan actually enjoyed though his siblings found it to be tedious. Now he would have to take it even more seriously and learn more outside of his lessons so that he could teach it to his soulmate. 

Hours earlier than he expected, Shen Yuan feels a brush on his skin. He can immediately tell something is wrong, the feelings are overwhelming, upset, and heartbroken. Shen Yuan excused himself from dinner and went to his room, checking his wrist.

“You were right, Yuan-ge. It was fake.” Binghe wrote, full of helpless anger, bitterness, and pain.

Shen Yuan swallowed heavily, feeling furious for Binghe. The confirmation that his soulmate's life is at the very least connected to the web novel was something that Shen Yuan would need to think about later. For now, he needs to comfort his soulmate.

“I’m so sorry, Bing-er. You deserve better.” Shen Yuan wrote, wishing that he could do more for Binghe to keep him safe. If everything is true in that web novel, then right now his soulmate was living in a woodshed. A fucking woodshed. He was being hurt by everyone around him and doesn’t have a single good thing to his name. 

Binghe deserves nothing but the best and now Shen Yuan is all too aware that Luo Binghe has been forsaken by those around him. Shen Yuan wants to find the author and thrash them until they answer why Luo Binghe has to suffer. Why did they do this the the sweetest person that Shen Yuan has ever met? How can they stand to hurt Luo Binghe who has never done anything wrong but had the whole world against him from the start?

“Yuan-ge.” Binghe wrote, his brushstrokes shaky and filled with desperation, longing, loneliness, and pain.

Shen Yuan choked on secondhand pain, feeling his heart break for the overwhelming betrayal that Binghe has suffered. Shen Yuan wishes nothing more than to be there for his soulmate, but all he can do is write. 

Shen Yuan concentrates on sending comfort and love, writing messages one after another to his Binghe.

“My Bing-er, I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

“We’ll figure this out, Bing-er, I’ll help you.”

“I’m so sorry Bing-er, you deserve better than this.”

“Bing-er deserves the world, I would give it to you if I could.”

“I’m here, Binghe.”

Shen Yuan runs out of space on their left arm, so he leans over to begin writing on his leg. He choses one sentence, the most important truth he wants to impart onto his soulmate. He writes small, repeating the line uniformly spaced out one on top of the other until it fills the skin from his ankle to his knee. 

When Binghe still hasn’t responded, Shen Yuan starts writing a symmetrical series of lines on his other leg.

“Binghe is precious.”

He had nearly finished on his second leg when he finally received a reply from Binghe, right above their knee.

“I wish Yuan-ge was here.” Binghe wrote, his words containing fathomless amounts of yearning.

Shen Yuan grit his teeth, wishing he could fulfill Binghe’s wish. He wanted nothing more than to give Binghe everything. Everything he deserves, all the love he should receive. Shen Yuan feels useless, but he pushes that away.

All he can do is try his best to help Binghe in any way he can.

That day, Shen Yuan subscribes to Proud Immortal Demon Way, and he never misses reading an update as soon as it is uploaded. He leaves comments criticizing the author for making Luo Binghe’s life so needlessly miserable. He hopes the author will listen and lessen Binghe’s suffering.

[ultimateshixiongfuckertournament]

Canonicals Tournament FINAL

The final is between Luo Binghe from The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (shizun: Shen Qingqiu) and Mo Ran from The Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (shizun: Chu Wanning)

Propaganda under the cut! (Warning: Propaganda may include spoilers about the characters and their media)

Luo Binghe:

Luo Binghe's shizun Shen Qingqiu caused his sexual awakening and they lived together with Luo Binghe acting similar to a housewife.

Even after being betayed, stabbed, and pushed into the Endless Abyss, Luo Binghe still loved Shen Qingqiu and wanted answers instead of revenge. Instead he had to repeatedly suffer his shizun dying in his arms and assumed abandonment. Which makes him absolutely lose it, made even worse by his evil sword Xin Mo which worsens all of his negative emotions and destroys its hosts, along with additional trauma over the course of the story.

He reused the sword that his shizun sacrificed himself to free him from, cuddles the corpse every night for five years to preserve it, he creates dreams of their happy years together but never made a Shen Qingqiu that would speak to him, he kidnapped and destroyed cultivators' cores so he could feed xin mo and preserve sqq's corpse, he rebuilds their house in his demonic palace, he spent years fixing sqq's destroyed cultivation and trying to revive him, he forces Shen Qingqiu live in that new house, he rescues and repeatedly puts himself in harms way to protect sqq, he tries to destroy the world so Shen Qingqiu can only love him (due to being driven mad by Xin Mo and his believed abandonment by sqq). He tries to kill himself after Shen Qingqiu dies for him again. He would do absolutely ANYTHING for Shen Qingqiu! He's increadibly jealous of everyone Shen Qingqiu gives attention to, including stairsweeps he smiles at. Luo Binghe has sooo much wrong with him and it makes him so lovable. He's so incredibly traumatized, driven by love and desperation for a majority of the story. He loves Shen Qingqiu so much and can't bear to live without him.

After everything? He lets Shen Qingqiu go, wanting him to be happy even if it means sqq won't stay with him. But sqq wanted to stay together! He gets his man! There is in world porn written about them, they have weird kinky sex inspired by the porn, they get married! Luo Binghe cries regularly for sqq, so sqq can dote on him despite his thin face. Luo Binghe is shameless and adores sqq. Lbh got so nervous that he fell flat on his face when proposing! Lbh loves sqq so much and wants him to be happy more than anything else!

More on disciple era:

Luo Binghe's sexual awakening was his shizun tied up and shirtless. He fell in love after Shen Qingqiu got poisoned protecting him. He moved into his shizun's house and handled all of the cooking and cleaning, would regularly fake fall into Shen Qingqiu during training to get hugs. He got a boner from being forcibly cuddled to heal his injuries. And ran to jump into a lake after being spanked for struggling too much during the forced cuddling. Sqq still never noticed lbh's affections.

--

It took him like 3(three) interactions with nice shizun (transmigrator who replaced his old one) to fall irrevocably in love. baby boy was ready he had mommy issues daddy issues and honestly by that time shizun issues too... luckily his new shizun can fill all those roles and more!

#lbh is THE shizunfucker

#binghe calling him shizun is a kink at some point its definitely him

#vote binghe!!#he wanted to fuck shizun so much that shizun died twice for him

#... i mean. luo binghe is a satire of the shizun fuckers character trope. hes an exageration of it so hes Very It

#luo binghe#again its basically a kink for him as well that puts it on another level

#cmon man#binghe is THE shizun fucker#activily has to be told to not call his husband shizun during sex

#binghe is THE shizunfucker supreme. no competition.

Mo Ran:

*gestures helplessly at the whole damn book*

#Mo 'I died and went into the past after the teacher I hated died in my arms and I dream of him every night' Ran???#of course its him

#vote for Mo ran I’m sorry but he is the emperor shizunfucker of all the shizunfuckers#he is the man the myth the legend#he’s the one you think of immediately when someone says shizunfucker

Extra Propaganda here. There are 3 versions of Mo Ran throughout Erha and every single one of them either wants to or did fuck their Shizun. Even in the darkest timeline when he thought he hated CWN more than anyone he fucked him. This boy is obsessed.

#mo ran 100%#he truly has the shizunfucker mentality

#mo ran#HAS TO WIN#he wants to fuck his Shizun so bad

#but it's gotta be mo ran#the all-time shizunfucker in this world that world and beyond

[cocoacat323]

Scum Villian Fic Recs

So, I've been reading fanfiction for a long ass time, longer than I've been on Tumblr and have always loved fic recs, and now I realize I can make my own(yay!), so here it is. None of these are explicit or anything, but they are super good.

A Transmigrator and a Time Traveler Walk Into The Bamboo House Summary:

Over a year after Shen Qingqiu's death, Luo Binghe consults his servant's servant, concurrently his disgraced martial uncle, for a way to bring the love of his life back. Shang Qinghua sends him in the direction of a certain time-traveling artifact, which supposedly brings one to the day they first met their soulmate. Odd, though, that the artifact ends up missing the destination by just a few years…

A story in which post-Abyss Luo Binghe relives his disciple days, while juggling his secrets, traumas, and some unexpected revelations about the man he loves on top of that.

Unveiling The Imposter Summary:

While tracking a suspicious fortune-teller, Shen Qingqiu falls unconscious. The fortune-teller extracts a glowing orb from his body, telling Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge that this Shen Qingqiu is an imposter, and they can see for themselves if they don't believe it.

Alternatively, the Demon Lord and Peak Lords watch Scum-Villain's Self-Saving System.

Characters Watch the Series fanfic. Post-Canon.

High Mountain, How I Long Summary: Shen Qingqiu, after enduring his trial, is placed into Luo Binghe’s custody at Huan Hua Palace.

meta madness Summary: Looking at SVSSS through the eyes of the universe left behind when Airplane and Cucumber died. (Note: Not a fic, but a series, but every fic in it is so good so definitely check it out.)

it's only shameless if you had any shame to loose in the first place Summary: They have not told anyone about their marriage, and at Shen Qingqiu's request, they will only do so once the wedding preparations are done. No one will have time to nag!

But in the meantime, Luo Binghe, demonic lord or not, is only an alpha. He must do something to show off his claim or he'll go insane, he really will. He'll qi deviate terribly, see if he won't.

Fortunately, as thin-faced as he is, his Shizun does not care much for proper dynamic etiquette...

love's worth running to Summary: “Shizun,” he purred, darkly calm despite the anger oozing out of his mock-respectful smile. Luo Binghe's grip on Xiu Ya's blade tightened, and he realised with belated horror that his blood was running down the sword and dripping by Shen Qingqiu's feet. His sword had to be held at an upwards angle now, to reach the place where he pierced him back then.

Shen Qingqiu felt sick. There was something wrong in this dream.

“I ask you again. Do you regret it, Shizun?”

//

Shen Qingqiu can't answer whether he regrets betraying him. Luo Binghe wants his Shizun to understand how he suffered, and drags Shen Qingqiu into his dreamscape of the Endless Abyss that night.

The only problem: Shen Qingqiu isn't waking up.

We Are Not Wise Summary:

When Shen Qingqiu drew Shen Yuan’s soul sword, it felt like being burned from the inside out. The fire wasn’t cruel, but it was still fire—hot and destructive, searing the softest pieces of him.

When Binghe’s fingers touch the hilt, he is ready for pain.

Transmigrated into a version of Proud Immortal Demon Way where cultivators manifest their own souls into spiritual weapons, Shen Yuan finds himself sort of kind of…accidentally blackmailing Shen Qingqiu into taking him on as a disciple before Luo Binghe joins the sect.

That should give Shen Yuan plenty of opportunities to make sure nothing goes wrong for his favorite protagonist, right? RIGHT!?

A story of twists, turns, hope, despair, and soul swords. Written for the Bingqiu Reverse Minibang 2023, illustrated and conceptualized by the incredible Suzu!

The Cultivating Force Summary: In which a Master and a Padawan run into a Shizun and a... Sith?

and judgement is just like a cup that we share Summary: The blob finished rotating into place in a way that wasn’t quite compatible with geometry as Shen Qingqiu understood it, and cleared a throat it didn’t seem to have.

“Greetings,” it said, somehow clearly addressing him in particular more than the room as a whole despite its total lack of features other than blueness and translucency. “I’m here on behalf of the Hyper-Celestial Peace and Order Enforcement Bureau. Crime scene secure, proceeding to interviews. Beginning with Subject One: You are Shen Qingqiu, formerly Shen Yuan, also known as Peerless Cucumber?”

"Proud Immortal Demon... Protection Squad?" Summary:

[ REWRITTEN 2023 ]

in which shen qingqiu, the nation's scum villain, doesn't perish from a qi deviation and instead, after dying tragically in his pathetic, sickly, 20 year-old body because he ate some definitely rotten yogurt he mistook for cream cheese like the absolute knob that he is, shen yuan wakes up to find himself in the body of a child, in the middle of a forest, and with absolutely no clue what world this shitty system had dropped him into. he decides to just go with the flow, one step at a time.

what could possibly go wrong?

(the answer is: everything)

(Shen Yuan Might Die Often but His) Old Habits Die Hard Summary: When Luo Binghe asks about his spiritual veins in the Holy Mausoleum, Shen Yuan's chest feels so funny that a lifetime of being chronically ill and reassuring his loved ones that, actually, he's fine kicks in. It is fine, really, because every problem in Airplane-bro's world can be solved by something that's penciled regularly into Shen Yuan's schedule at least eight times a week now.

Except the cure for Without a Cure doesn't work, and Shen Yuan's unlucky enough that Airplane-bro's plot device for winning over a tsundere via 'walking a mile in each others' bodies' hits him before he can figure out an alternative to telling Binghe that actually his five years of rebuilding Shen Qingqiu's spiritual veins diligently failed to cure him.

Luo Binghe is, of course, less than impressed to discover through personal experience what Shen Yuan, with his pain scale so skewed by years of chronic pain, never did during all his time poisoned: that, actually, having spiritual energy forming blockages and blood stagnating in your body hurts like hell.

Anyway, that's all that I've got for now. I hope that if you do take my recs you enjoy them, and remember to read all of the tags. Have fun reading!

[tcfactory]

Thinking about an AU where the manual did cause Binghe to qi-deviate and ruin his cultivation potential exactly one year after he's taken in as disciple. Seeing that anyone would have suffered the same fate, it wasn't some kind of karmic punishment directed at Shen Qingqiu for being an unpleasant, hateful little thing (the self-hatred and projection is Real in this one) settles something in him, like a broken peace of him is suddenly jolted back into its proper place. It makes him lose interest in torturing Binghe any further.

That does leave him with a disciple that's not suited to his peak in any way shape or form, so clearly the next step is to have one of the other peaks take him off his hands. He subtly puts out word while Binghe is on Qian Cao recovering, so that anyone who might want the brat can take him after the next peak lord meeting, but there really is only one choice.

Out of the peaks with a physical cultivation style, Bai Zhan is out of the question on account of Binghe's ruined potential, Ku Xing doesn't take children this young and, in his opinion, Binghe is just too stupid and trusting to make it on Qiong Ding or An Ding, so clearly that only leaves Zui Xian. If the little beast is fortunate, eating all the spiritual food might even help him recover a little.

Perfect plan!

All he needs is to make up a good enough excuse as to why he allowed the little beast to cultivate from a faulty manual or let him be bullied. And he knows already how he's going to do it: he will let Qi Qingqi make the excuse for him.

"Qi-shimei," he says, the very picture of nonchalance, as if Liu Qingge didn't have a sword at his neck. "I know you assume that any disciple of yours returning to secular life will do so at the side of a powerful husband, but if that was not the case: how would you test if someone of lowly birth and no connections could survive the court environment?" Qi Qingqi thinks about it for just a moment before her mouth twists into an unhappy pout, eyes lighting up with understanding. "Let him go, Liu-shidi. It was not an attempt at murder, merely Shen-shixiong being a crafty old dog who made a test too harsh for Luo-shizhi." "But-" "Scholars, like my girls, are intrinsically linked to the mortal courts, as much sages and exemplars in the four arts as advisors in politics. If one has no allies, then connections must be made. Bullies that can't be fought head on must be outwitted or circumvented." She gives the fake manual a disgusted glance. "Ill intent and sabotage must be recognized, regardless of its source. Without these qualities, someone without proper backing will be dead the week they set foot in court." "Quite. Disciple Luo has failed each and every one of those criteria: he bent obediently to the whims of his bullies, made no friends or sought no help from anyone on or off peak, and kept cultivating from the faulty manual with a bullheaded stubbornness that surprised even me. I fully expected him to realize at least as much, but he proved too simple even for that." He resists the urge to smile when Liu Qingge reluctantly withdraws his sword. It's a sweet, if easy victory.

So Luo Binghe goes to the food and wine peak, where he can make friends, his heart (and to a degree his cultivation) can be mended and his trust in his higher ups isn't scorned or abused, but he never forgets that Shen Qingqiu sent him away because he found him too stupid for his peak. Shen Qingqiu picked him, only him, from dozens of potential disciples and was disappointed. He keeps striving, even years later, to somehow get Shen Qingqiu's approval, taking every opportunity to loiter on Qing Jing with food offerings and all sorts of excuses. He's almost as bad as the sect leader! They do, indeed, bond with Yue Qingyuan over being the frequent targets of Shen Qingqiu's ire.

Then one day when Binghe is around 17 a qi deviation splits Shen Qingqiu into two: the scarred, sharp-tongued and vicious Shen Jiu and the sickly, soft hearted and kind Shen Yuan, and Luo Binghe suddenly feels vindicated in his dogged insistence because the soft Shen Qingqiu likes him! It's literally the best thing in the world!! And maybe sect leader Yue helps him a few times to steal Shen Yuan away on some absolutely-not-a-date picnics, so it's really only fair that he helps him reconcile with the sharper Shen Jiu (Binghe can't see the appeal, personally, but as long as Yue-shibo doesn't want to take his Shen Qingqiu too then he's fine with those two doing whatever).

Everything seems to be going perfectly (QiJiu have reconciled, BingQiu are almost inseparable), but then Binghe leaves the mountain to gather ingredients for the very special meal he wants to propose with, trips and stumbles straight into the Abyss and the rest is SVSSS-typical miscommunication and demon shenanigans.

[scribblestatic]

Awww shit, it's popping off fr. More amputee!SY for the spooky month.

Between writing Tumblr stuff and my fics on my mature AO3, my bag's heckin full lmao. But I'm enjoying writing this, so I'll keep doing it hehehehe

Ah, also, I refer to Amitabha Buddha as such instead of his Mandarin Chinese name, Amituofo. So, any ascetic practitioners will be saying "Amitabha" for their greetings and such. Just a head's up.

Prev: Part 5

---

He absolutely planned this. Of course he did.

Never underestimate Binghe.

Shen Yuan sent a withering stare over to the demon emperor, but he seemed to ignore it this time. Though, the blood mites warmed in a spot around his shoulders, the exact spots he sometimes holds and rubs him placatingly. So, the man knew he was giving him the "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed" look and asking him to roll with the situation for now.

Ach, fine, fine. Gods forbid he have some peace.

"The first accusation this lord brought against Shen Qingqiu was that he abused me on Qing Jing Peak. Back then, Shen Qingqiu made no plea, and he was found guilty. How do you plea now, my love?"

...Not sure where you're going with this, but as he promised, Shen Yuan would go with the flow.

"Guilty," he answered plainly, with the crowd starting to murmur at his admittance.

"So he says. And yet, the case at the time was missing important context that I, at the time, was too blinded by my own hatred to pursue."

"And what would that be?" Yue Qingyuan asked, his voice low and hands clenched.

"One, that many of the punishments bestowed upon me were quite common for Cang Qiong Sect."

Immediately, many demons expressed outrage, griping about how they were called cruel for their disciplinary actions when the cultivators were no different. Some of the cultivators in attendance, sensing blood in the water, also began yelling, denying that their sect would ever do something like that.

Some, of course, still sided with Cang Qiong. And amongst the demons, a few were quiet, perhaps thinking that what Binghe suffered through hadn't been that serious.

Yue Qingyuan pressed his lips tightly together, not saying anything in response. The Zui Xian Peak lord, seeing this, did not have the same restraint.

"Surely you jest! Cang Qiong Sect does not abuse our disciples!"

Luo Binghe smiled, happy for the man to have taken the bait.

"Is that so? Then, this lord presumes whipping was not practiced on any peak other than Qing Jing?"

"Not to the extent you mentioned, no."

"Was kneeling in the sun not practiced on any other peak than Qing Jing?"

"...Not to the extent you described."

"Were no disciples ever ostracized by their peers on any other peak than Qing Jing?"

"Of course, some disciples find it difficult to fit in, but we would not go out of our way to worsen it!"

"So, Peak Lord He, you've never dumped out a disciples wine?"

"Not on their head! Yes, Cang Qiong Sect does discipline our disciples, but the punishments you mentioned at the trial went too far. We could not reasonably accept what he'd done, and so, he was ousted at the trial. Why do you bring up our methods now?"

"Simply because, if you knew that what Shen Qingqiu was doing was inappropriate, why did no one take any steps to stop him?"

At this, Qi Qingqi spoke up.

"The peak lords do not interfere with each other's disciplinary decisions. How would a parent feel if someone interfered with the discipline of their child? This lord, for one, would not take it kindly for these men to tell me how to care for my girls. And I'm sure you would hate for someone to tell you how to treat your wives, since you've not had any children yourself."

"Ah, but is Cang Qiong Sect not familial? This lord recalls that you all have generational names and function like a family unit. In such a case, would an aunt not beseech that her brother treat her nephew lightly?"

"Even families have rules amongst each other. And if that aunt is her brother's younger sister, why would she have any real say in his childrearing?"

"What then of the eldest brother?"

At this, her lips shut, a grimace just slightly flinching on her face.

The eyes of the crowd swiftly settled on Yue Qingyuan.

Ah...yeah. Shen Yuan was sure of it now.

Luo Binghe certainly did not like Yue Qingyuan.

In fact, that was an angle he'd considered when reading the book, as much as he loathed to admit there was anything wrong with the man. As the sect leader, he had the authority to set Shen Qingqiu straight, but he did not. He did nothing.

Just like he did nothing to come back for hi—Shen Jiu.

How many times did Luo Binghe look to him for help? Clearly, the book didn't explain everything, as it didn't explain Shen Jiu's past.

So, perhaps there were instances, where Binghe gave him a look. The sort that a child does when they need an adult to help them. Perhaps he had outright asked him for it, asked him to confirm if he deserved what was happening to him. And him, being a child, perhaps didn't know.

But Yue Qingyuan would've known. And he did know, judging by his silence.

He knew what Shen Qingqiu was doing was wrong, but he allowed it. And each time he refused to do anything, he was stabbing Binghe in the back.

...The trap with those thousand arrows now looked quite different to Shen Yuan.

He'd thought it was the typical overkill revenge plot from Luo Binghe the character. But, considering the circumstances, perhaps it was more symbolic than he'd thought.

Yue Qingyuan finally opened his mouth.

"This lord was in the wrong."

Well no shit, Sherlock!

"...So you say," Luo Binghe said quietly. "Is there any reason you did not govern your younger sect sibling and guide him to more reasonable disciplinary tactics?"

"...This lord has no excuse."

"Surely you don't. Though, an explanation would suffice."

None left his mouth. Instead...

"I admit that I was complicit in Shen Qingqiu's poor treatment of you."

"Tch."

When the crowd looked toward Shen Yuan, he stared away, his fan concealing the scowl on his face. His eye, though, held all the emotion they needed to see.

Typical. Irritating.

With the mood sufficiently cooled, Qi Qingqi attempted to speak again.

"If you wish to bestow punishment upon Sect Leader Yue, this lord asks that you allow the judgement to be fielded with his peers. Considering the damage you've caused to Shen Qingqiu's body, I am distrusting of your ability to discipline others reasonably."

Despite the jab at him, Luo Binghe smiled.

"Indeed, I can agree that my handling of Shen Qingqiu's treatment leaves much to be desired. After all, in addition to him not receiving guidance, this lord can no longer say he was abusing me whilst in his right mind."

At this, the crowd began to murmur again, confusion evident in their expressions. The Ku Xing Peak lord interrupted their musings, his voice forcefully calmed.

"Amitabha. To what are you referring? Do you mean to say Shen Qingqiu was insane before but that he is not now?"

"Frankly, yes. Two, Shen Qingqiu was mentally unfit to function as a peak lord prior to his current state, and Cang Qiong Sect should have easily noticed this to be the case. He was, in a specific capacity, incapable of differentiating right from wrong. As such, this lord unjustly punished Shen Qingqiu for the wrongdoing of his whole sect."

Even Shen Yuan wasn't sure about him following such a jump in logic. Hey, Binghe, what are you going for with this?!

"Beloved."

"Hmm?" he responded reflexively.

Shen Yuan looked up to see Binghe smiling at him kindly.

"Could you remind me of the definition of insanity?"

"Ah. Ahem. Insanity is mental illness of a severe nature, to the point one cannot distinguish fiction from reality, cannot conduct their affairs due to psychosis, or display...rather, is subject to uncontrollable and impulsive behavior... Ah, it's also known, in some aspects, as lunacy."

A few wolf demons immediately understood, murmuring amongst each other.

"You mention psychosis. And that is?"

"A loss of touch with reality. A symptom instead of a diagnosis itself. Psychosis can include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, and abnormal movements."

"Thank you, my love."

Shen Yuan huffed and fanned himself, looking away as he turned to address the others.

"Peak Lord Mu, as a physician, are you aware of these mental maladies?"

Mu Qingfang, who had been silent throughout, stepped forward.

"This lord is a medical physician, not a psychiatrist. Unfortunately, mental maladies are beyond my scope of expertise."

"Ah, but you know the definition of some of the words, this lord presumes."

"...You would be correct."

"Then, if you would please define the ones you believe would be relevant for the others to know."

He remained quiet for a moment, but with a sigh, he began to speak.

"Hallucinations occur when you perceive something that doesn't exist, like a shadow, an object, or a person. Delusions are false beliefs held by individuals or groups that are fanciful, self-deceptive, demonstrably false, patently untrue, or impossible. Even so, the person or people with said delusions will be resistant to evidence that their belief is incorrect.

"Disorganized speech refers to interruptions in speaking patterns that makes it difficult for others to understand them. For example, incoherent babbling is a form of disorganized speech. And abnormal movements can range from seizures to motionlessness."

"Thanking Peak Lord Mu for your educational evaluation. Then, from your professional opinion, would you say that a qi deviation can be a cause of psychosis?"

"It is possible. Yes. Qi deviations have similar results to the psychosis you mention."

"And it can result in death, yes. Have you noticed personality changes as a result of a qi deviation in your field?

"Yes."

"Then, from your professional opinion, could persistent qi deviations alter someone's personality? If not forever, at least for a period of time?"

Mu Qingfang paused. Luo Binghe tilted his head in quiet, eerie curiosity.

"Hmm?"

"...It...may be possible."

"I would think so. After all, is it true, from your profession as a physician, that qi deviations can have permanent ramifications on someone's physical wellbeing, such as a loss in core stability?"

"...Yes."

"I see! However, with treatment, can these qi deviations be reduced, alleviated, or their symptoms treated?"

"...They can be, depending on the situation."

"Indeed, indeed. Then." Luo Binghe's jovial tone dropped. "Did Shen Qingqiu ever receive long-term, thorough treatment for the results of his constant qi deviations?"

Ah.

Even Shen Yuan paused.

"A normal cultivator may qi deviate once or twice, if that many times. Some never deviate throughout their entire journey. But Shen Qingqiu deviated many, many times. Enough that Qing Jing Peak used to have protocol for functioning when he was indisposed.

"Had this happened to any other peak lord or disciple, would you, as a sect, as a family, not done everything in your power to help and heal them? Would you not have done anything you could to stop them from suffering? What made Shen Qingqiu so different? ...Ah. Sect Leader Yue."

He did not look as firm and staunch as he had before. Instead, there was something a tad haunted about him. He kept shooting that pleading look toward Shen Yuan.

The latter had begun to hate it immensely.

Why look at him like that? What do you want?

Will you do anything beyond looking like that?

"When was Shen Qingqiu accepted into Cang Qiong Sect?"

His gaze flickered, then he turned back to Luo Binghe.

"...When he was brought to the mountain, the Peak Lord of Qing Jing decided to accept him."

"Hmmh. Beloved."

"Mm?"

"Tell me again how you met with Yue Qingyuan."

"...Right." He had to think a bit, remember to say it as though it was his memory rather than a dream he had. If... They were still just dreams. Right? "There was an Immortal Alliance Conference. This one was...under the tutelage of Wu Yanzi. He brought us there to...kill disciples and take their hearts for some sort of elixir. When he targeted Yue Qingyuan, I...killed him."

"I see, thank you. Then, to more accurately state how Shen Qingqiu was accepted into Cang Qiong Sect, it was after he rescued their then top disciple in the entire sect from being murdered by his then shifu. Ah, but Wu Yanzi...I didn't know anything of him, but I recall learning that he was reviled in the cultivation community for being a criminal. Murder, arson, robbery. He was a human practitioner of demonic cultivation.

"Therefore, Shen Qingqiu, prior to his acceptance in discipleship and rising to his position of Qing Jing Peak Lord, was also a human practitioner of demonic cultivation, correct? After all, that's all he'd really come to know. That was all someone like Wu Yanzi would teach him. So then, I wonder how he was treated, as a demonic cultivator among the many little ladies and lords of Cang Qiong Sect."

Qi Qingqi cut in again.

"You think he was mistreated? That's just conjecture! You have no evidence of any mistreatment you can try to claim he faced!"

"And I have no intent on interrogating my future empress on it either. But this lord can say, demonstratively, that the previous Qing Jing Peak Lord taught Shen Qingqiu righteous cultivation. In teaching him your cultivation practices, they were either purposefully or unknowingly negligent, causing his qi to clash with the core he'd formed during his years as a demonic cultivator.

"Neither they nor anyone of their generation did anything substantial to help him adjust to their teachings and practices despite him trying to follow the righteous path. Without any known treatment given to him, Shen Qingqiu struggled and formed a core with both spiritual and demonic qi in a human body. Such a situation would prime anyone for a lifetime of constant, rampant qi deviations, wouldn't it?"

Binghe's eyes narrowed at them.

"Then, instead of growing beyond what their shifu taught them, the Qing generation of Cang Ciong Sect, either knowingly or ignorantly, neglected to help him change, whether to purge the demonic qi or to help him manage both flowing through his forcefully altered meridians.

"And, during the time of my trial against him, Shen Qingqiu, took on the blame for all wrongdoings brought against him, either with or without the context that, for a good portion of the time he functioned as Qing Jing Peak Lord, he was likely suffering the symptoms of severe qi deviations that may very well have killed him at any point, twisting his mind and perpetuating actions beyond what he potentially would have ever done.

"And instead of coming to his defense with any of these details, Cang Qiong Sect...no, Sect Leader Yue, who we can quite clearly prove knew that all this happened, did absolutely nothing to help him."

Luo Binghe laughed.

"Indeed, what a loving, close-knit family."

...Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

...Shen Yuan understood.

He understood it now.

Why Shen Jiu became intolerant of Yue Qingyuan.

Why he'd so firmly overlapped Luo Binghe and Qiu Jianluo.

Why he'd just as firmly overlapped Ning Yingying and Qiu Haitang.

Why he was an acerbic piece of shit spiraling further out of whack the longer he lived.

...One of the two things he'd been guilty of.

Of abusing Luo Binghe. And he hadn't even been mentally sound enough to teach, much less run a peak.

And the other thing he'd been guilty of, killing all the men and destroying the Qiu House...that had been the trigger to his future psychotic symptoms. He hadn't killed just the men for no reason.

He knew why now, having dreamt it. Experienced it.

Felt the pain in his broken legs. Heard Yue Qi call to him from the other side of the door. Waited.

Waited.

Waited.

And could wait no longer, his mind shattering as he burned everything he could to the ground.

...It hurt.

It hurt to realize the Qiu House had not been the only group to wrong him. That Wu Yanzi and Qiu Jianluo hadn't been the only men to abuse him. That the Cang Qiong he'd loved had let him hurt and hurt him more.

And all he could feel, aside from the pain, was...

...the same resignation he felt the first time he was judged.

He was guilty. He felt guilty. But he was not the only one to blame.

----

"We plead not guilty to this charge for reason of insanity."

— Luo Binghe, defense attorney and prosecutor, apparently.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6: here Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11+: links on Part 10

AO3

[sun-and-moon-mushroom]

AU where at some point between becoming a Peak Lord and Luo Binghe becoming a disciple, Shen Qingqiu is sent out on a mission that requires him to pretend he’s not a cultivator. Maybe there’s an organisation that’s kidnapping people and they need to find out why. Everything is going fine… until another group of cultivators shows up and interferes with his plan. He’s about to reveal himself to insult them, when… Qiu Haitang recognises him.

Now, while she initially thinks he’s Shen Jiu, she quickly realises she must be wrong. It’s been decades since she last saw him, and this young man who is clearly not a cultivator is much too young to be him. She asks him about his parents and he looks at her with confusion and says he’s never had any. It makes sense, she thinks to herself — certainly someone like that, who would abandon his fiancée, would also abandon his own son. She smiles at the poor boy and assures him that she’ll help him take revenge on his absent father.

Liu Qingge has been looking for Shen Qingqiu for days now, after he’d gone missing on a fairly simple mission. He’s even checked a few brothels! But the one time he gets a potential lead, it turns out that it’s just his poor bastard son, clearly abandoned by his own father. Qiu Haitang fills him in on the backstory — abandoned as a child, captured as a slave — when he meets Shen Qingqiu again, he doesn’t think he’ll be able to hold back from beating the man soundly.

Shen Qingqiu, in the meantime, is Suffering. He’s tried getting away, even leaving silently in the night, but the organisation he was after seems to have figured out his identity, and with his cultivation still sealed away to hide it, he has to rely on others to keep himself safe. Until they’ve been dealt with… he’ll have to keep pretending to be his own son.

[patheticpeoplesupreme]

Luo Binghe and Shang Qinghua headcanons

Probably OOC I like it when people get along

but also I like it when there’s conflict

I like it better when they fix that conflict

I can’t explain what I want their friendship to be like, but Binghe’s more than a little mad at SQH

Cuz like, he probably overhears SQQ and SQH conversations and how SQH’s always like “I’m so proud of my son” “and ahh he’s so cool” or something

And Binghe knows he’s not related to the man, and they interact really stiffly in reality, so why is this weirdo acting like this??

And if SQH has these delusions, why hadn’t he stopped SJ’s abuse and all that stuff, or even why hadn’t he helped him when he was obviously in pain

Since SQH obviously knew more than he should

And he remembers that in his childhood, that SQH did try to help him with little trinkets although he didn’t understand why SQH didn’t fully just take him away

And so their relationship with each other is still just super awkward with a bit of slight dislike towards the smaller man

he tries to tolerate him since SQH makes SQQ smile and then eventually they can talk to each other without SQQ in the room

—

Shen Yuan has shown a picture of his old self to Shang Qinghua as a mercy from the System

Qinghua doesn’t have a picture of himself though because he doesn’t like how he looks

—

“Beat him three times daily” mobei Jun told him as advice

And Binghe just looked at him incredulously but thought nothing of it until months later, he’s in the room when SQH talks to SQQ about Mobei Jun

“Oh yeah… he used to beat me up a lot.” Cue SQQ’s horrified and murderous look. “Not—Not anymore!!”

And then Luo Binghe stares at him intensely thinking like, is he serious?

And when SQH leaves he goes to his shizun gloomily like : “Shizun, is Shang—shishu usually this dense?”

SQQ: ?

“Shizun…” Binghe whined and then reminds him of the demon courting rituals

SQQ: oh shit

SQQ looks at Moshang and goes: simps, all of you!

SQQ gives Mobejun the shovel talk anyway, SQH is his to bully

—

Why does Mobei Jun just does anything SQH wants bro is super funny

—

“I created your world. As a story…. I created you.” Shang Qinghua bites his lip before admitting it. He usually wouldn’t say anything, but the System had given them permission to. And fortunately, Shen Qingqiu had stayed by his side while he admitted it.

Shen Qingqiu would usually be on Binghe’s side but he cared about both of them. He doesn’t want it to end badly.

Luo Binghe faces him with a murderous glare, “You’re the reason I’ve suffered so much?”

SQH gulped as Luo Binghe pushed forward threateningly over him. He shivered.

“P—Please have mercy Junshang— Uhm, this slowly servant hadn’t… hadn’t realised that you had become real.”

SQQ reached his hand infront of SQH, “Binghe.”

“Shizun, he’s the reason—!” “Binghe.” SQQ repeated, gesturing to the other door, signifying he wanted to talk in a different room.

He huffed. “Shang Qinghua, who ever you are, leave this place immediately. If you ever dare to step inside my territory this one will rip you to shreds. You are not a god. You are not my god. Leave.”

“Binghe!” SQQ frowned but before he could say anything, SQH bowed, hiding the fear in his eyes.

“Of course Junshang.” SQH flees away

[waitineedaname]

POV!!

i decided to go with a rewrite of something i've already posted this time! here's binghe's pov for a snippet of the age reveal fic i posted on sqq's birthday

--

"How old will you be turning?" Luo Binghe asked curiously, tilting his head up from where he was snuggled into his husband's chest. He was still a little peeved to learn his husband's birthday was only four days away -- he would still put together the best celebration the three realms had ever seen, but he couldn't help but feel he could make it even better if he'd been given more time to prepare -- but at least this was an opportunity to learn more about the man he'd married.

Shen Qingqiu stared down at him, looking uncharacteristically uncertain. It was still such a gift to see his honest emotions on his face, in the privacy of their own home and softened by years of marriage. "Do you mean combined between my previous life and this one?"

Luo Binghe nodded. "Shizun must be very old and wise with the experience of two lives," he said, fluttering his eyelashes at him. There had been many things that thrilled him about learning the truth about who his husband was. One was the knowledge that Shen Qingqiu -- Shen Yuan -- had loved him before they even met, had been a fan of his and had been so outraged by his suffering that it brought him across worlds to fix it. Another was the reassurance that some of the things that had confused him about his Shizun's behavior could be blamed on the mysterious System that had brought him here in the first place, and he had never truly wanted to hurt him.

Most exciting of all, however, was the idea that with two lives under his belt, Shen Qingqiu might be even older than he'd previously assumed. Luo Binghe found the idea thrilling.

"I wouldn’t say that," Shen Qingqiu said with a humble laugh. He stroked Luo Binghe's back while he thought. "Let’s see… I was twenty when I first transmigrated, and then there were those five years when I was dead."

His words were chilling to Luo Binghe, and not just because of the reminder of those horrible five years. Only twenty? Then that meant...

"I suppose at this point, I’m only a year older than Binghe," Shen Qingqiu realized, cheerfully oblivious to the crisis he'd just thrust upon his husband.

"Only… a year older?" Luo Binghe repeated. This was unthinkable. This whole time, he'd been revelling in the knowledge that his husband was much older than him, only to learn that was a lie?

"Yes?" Shen Qingqiu sent him a strange look. His Shizun, for all that made him wonderful, was not always on the same page as he was.

"So Shizun… isn’t old and wise," Luo Binghe said. Even prior to learning about his husband's former identity, he'd enjoyed how much older Shen Qingqiu was. It was the subject of many of his hormonal teenage fantasies. His Shizun, his kind older teacher, so mature and experienced...

Shen Qingqiu frowned down at him, his brows pinching together. "Well, this body is likely in its forties at this point," he said, as if that made things any better. Only in its forties! When he first came to Qing Jing Peak, he'd been unable to guess Shen Qingqiu's age, obscured as it was by his cultivation. He could've been over a hundred for all Luo Binghe knew! Only to learn he hadn't been much older than thirty when Luo Binghe joined the peak, when Luo Binghe was now nearing thirty himself?! This couldn't possibly get worse.

Luo Binghe resisted the urge to pout. "But you complain about your old hips when we–"

Shen Qingqiu cut him off with a swift smack of his fan, which despite everything still sent a pleased little thrill through him. "Don’t say anything else! They are old hips! Not all of us are blessed with youthful demonic stamina!"

That, at least, cheered Luo Binghe up a little. As much as he valued Shen Qingqiu's cultivation, he did wish his body's age was more visible. His husband would look so dashing with gray hairs and smile lines... But at least his sore back and hips betrayed his body's age, and Binghe was always more than happy to massage those aches and pains away.

Luo Binghe wormed his arms around Shen Qingqiu's torso and gave him his most pleading expression. "Shizun, why don’t we celebrate your birthday as your forty-eighth? Twenty-eight sounds too strange." Luo Binghe himself would be turning twenty-eight in the winter, and the idea of celebrating the same age as his Shizun made him shudder.

"Okay?" Shen Qingqiu looked bewildered, though he'd subconsciously begun petting his back again as Luo Binghe snuggled closer. "You really don’t need to make a big deal out of my birthday, it’s nothing special."

Please. Everything about his husband was special. And they had over a decade of missed birthdays to catch up on! Luo Binghe would make it the best celebration the Demon Realm had ever seen. "This one is happy to dote on his middle-aged husband," he said, squeezing him around the middle.

"I’m not–"

Nope, Luo Binghe was not hearing it. "His middle-aged husband," he repeated firmly, hugging him even tighter. He continued clinging to him like that until Shen Qingqiu's flustered swatting grew more urgent.

"Alright, alright," Shen Qingqiu said, once he'd relented and let go. He was clearly flushed but made an attempt to conceal his blush behind his fan anyway. "Pass me another mooncake, will you?"

Luo Binghe happily sliced him another piece and fed it to him by hand, already drafting plans for his husband's fiftieth birthday in just a couple years.

[ultimateshixiongfuckertournament]

Canonicals Tournament Round 1, Match 3

Match 3 is between Luo Binghe from The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (shizun: Shen Qingqiu) and Li Tongguang from A Journey to Love (shifu: Ren Xin / Ren Ruyi)

Propaganda under the cut! (Warning: Propaganda may include spoilers about the characters and their media)

Luo Binghe:

Luo Binghe's shizun Shen Qingqiu caused his sexual awakening and they lived together with Luo Binghe acting similar to a housewife.

Even after being betayed, stabbed, and pushed into the Endless Abyss, Luo Binghe still loved Shen Qingqiu and wanted answers instead of revenge. Instead he had to repeatedly suffer his shizun dying in his arms and assumed abandonment. Which makes him absolutely lose it, made even worse by his evil sword Xin Mo which worsens all of his negative emotions and destroys its hosts, along with additional trauma over the course of the story.

He reused the sword that his shizun sacrificed himself to free him from, cuddles the corpse every night for five years to preserve it, he creates dreams of their happy years together but never made a Shen Qingqiu that would speak to him, he kidnapped and destroyed cultivators' cores so he could feed xin mo and preserve sqq's corpse, he rebuilds their house in his demonic palace, he spent years fixing sqq's destroyed cultivation and trying to revive him, he forces Shen Qingqiu live in that new house, he rescues and repeatedly puts himself in harms way to protect sqq, he tries to destroy the world so Shen Qingqiu can only love him (due to being driven mad by Xin Mo and his believed abandonment by sqq). He tries to kill himself after Shen Qingqiu dies for him again. He would do absolutely ANYTHING for Shen Qingqiu! He's increadibly jealous of everyone Shen Qingqiu gives attention to, including stairsweeps he smiles at. Luo Binghe has sooo much wrong with him and it makes him so lovable. He's so incredibly traumatized, driven by love and desperation for a majority of the story. He loves Shen Qingqiu so much and can't bear to live without him.

After everything? He lets Shen Qingqiu go, wanting him to be happy even if it means sqq won't stay with him. But sqq wanted to stay together! He gets his man! There is in world porn written about them, they have weird kinky sex inspired by the porn, they get married! Luo Binghe cries regularly for sqq, so sqq can dote on him despite his thin face. Luo Binghe is shameless and adores sqq. Lbh got so nervous that he fell flat on his face when proposing! Lbh loves sqq so much and wants him to be happy more than anything else!

More on disciple era:

Luo Binghe's sexual awakening was his shizun tied up and shirtless. He fell in love after Shen Qingqiu got poisoned protecting him. He moved into his shizun's house and handled all of the cooking and cleaning, would regularly fake fall into Shen Qingqiu during training to get hugs. He got a boner from being forcibly cuddled to heal his injuries. And ran to jump into a lake after being spanked for struggling too much during the forced cuddling. Sqq still never noticed lbh's affections.

--

It took him like 3(three) interactions with nice shizun (transmigrator who replaced his old one) to fall irrevocably in love. baby boy was ready he had mommy issues daddy issues and honestly by that time shizun issues too... luckily his new shizun can fill all those roles and more!

Li Tongguang:

- built a whole secret room in his house to the shifu he thought was dead - this room has... so many portraits, a whole statue of his shifu, and even some of her old clothes - loses all rational thought when he thinks that there's a chance his shifu is still alive and is hiding under a secret identity; literally risks his whole political position to seek her out and take her away from her boyfriend - promised he would do anything his shifu asked if she just stayed by his side - claimed that even though he's only 22 years old, he could still be mature enough for her - is constantly kneeling to his shifu and is very subservient toward her - he often gets humiliated by his shifu (having tea poured on his face, verbally reprimanded/insulted in front of everyone) and is still adoring/infatuated with her and thinks it's deserved - god i just think getting dommed by his shifu would solve 99% of his problems. damn

[scholomancefan]

Hihii, here with a bit late prompt delivery 🚚

Bingqiu + Gifts

OR

Bingqiu + Beach Day

Thank you for your prompt! Sorry for the delay, I'm not very good at tumblr... Hopefully it'll go smoother next week ^-^;

Shen Qingqiu looked out across the water at Ning Yingying, sternly disapproving. Ning Yingying registered none of it, and continued to splash and play in the sparkling water of the ocean. Gentle waves lapped at her ankles as she frolicked. When she saw Shen Qingqiu looking, she moved deeper into the water.

Ning Yingying! Do you not care if Luo Binghe gets sunburned?!

Shen Qingqiu cared, which was why he was currently rubbing white medicinal creams into Luo Binghe’s shoulders. 

“Mnh, mnh, Shizun,” Luo Binghe made happy little noises as Shen Qingqiu smoothed white lotion over tan skin. 

“Almost done,” Shen Qingqiu reassured Luo Binghe, moving down Luo Binghe’s back and carefully tracing the knobs of his spine. “I just want to make sure I don’t miss any spots.”

Shen Qingqiu was straddling Luo Binghe, who was lying facedown on a towel in the hot sand. The sunshine beat down on them both–perfect weather for a day at the beach, but also terrible for Luo Binghe’s latest weakness.

Shen Qingqiu wasn’t sure why Luo Binghe’s skin was so prone to sunburn. It hadn’t featured at all in Proud Immortal Demon Way, but then perhaps Airplane had just left those bits out. It did sort of wreck the impressive image of Luo Binghe, PIDW protagonist and Emperor of the Three Realms, to know that the last time Qing Jing Peak had made a trip to the beach Luo Binghe had gotten so badly sunburnt he had turned lobster red.

Shen Qingqiu had needed to spend *days* applying xianxia-aloe to every bit of Luo Binghe’s skin–and even some bits Shen Qingqiu was shocked were exposed enough to burn. And poor Binghe whimpering the whole time! 

Shen Qingqiu was *not* going to let his poor bun suffer so again, not on his watch! He would instead diligently apply Mu Qingfang-approved sunscreen to Luo Binghe twice a shi, to be absolutely completely certain his precious disciple would not be hurt again!

Shen Qingqiu slipped his fingers under the waistband of Luo Binghe’s swim trunks to make sure that he got lotion in that seam where the fabric ended. Luo Binghe made more little sounds at this, probably enjoying the massage he was getting. He had turned very quickly into a happy little puddle, and was now more relaxed than Shen Qingqiu had ever seen him. Shen Qingqiu was happy for the chance to spoil Luo Binghe like this. Luo Binghe worked too hard!

Ah, but this was why it should have been one of Luo Binghe’s future wives applying the sunscreen! Shen Qingqiu shot Ning Yingying another despairing glance. She ignored him again and launched a wave of water at Ming Fan, drenching him and making him splutter. No help there.

The swimwear everyone wore was entirely inappropriate for traditional xianxia, but as Proud Immortal Demon Way had degraded into basically just porn, standard swimwear was just tiny scraps of fabric. Luo Binghe had so much skin to cover! Shen Qingqiu finished by rubbing lotion on backs of Luo Binghe’s thighs.

There. That was enough, and Luo Binghe could get the rest.

“And now Binghe, you can do mine,” Shen Qingqiu said, passing Luo Binghe the bottle and getting off of him.

“Yes, Shizun!” Luo Binghe said, rising to crouch next to Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu looked closely at Luo Binghe–he seemed like he was turning red already! Mu Qingfang’s sunscreen seemed pretty ineffective, Shen Qingqiu would have to reapply it *very* frequently. Perhaps four times a shi.

“Let me add a bit more to your face first,” Shen Qingqiu insisted.

Luo Binghe closed his eyes and leaned in eagerly, a bright smile on his face.

[joys-of-everyday]

Even though he'd always revered Shen Qingqiu, he had no illusions about how his master treated and looked at him.

At 14, after two years of abuse, Luo Binghe still reveres Shen Qingqiu. He knows Shen Qingqiu (Shen Jiu) hated him, and he still looks up at him.

He thinks he's done something wrong.

Saying nothing about whether Binghe had Shizun-fever in every universe (I do think what Luo Binghe fell in love with was Shen Yuan's kindness and support)(I say this whilst consuming Bingjiu fics like a starving man). But if nothing else, there was an admiration that soured.

Bingmei deals with this by thinking he's magically proven himself to Shen Qingqiu and rationalising that all the past suffering was training to make himself stronger. But he's plagued with the thought that this favour could be lost equally fast.

Bingge deals with this by running in the opposite direction. He pivots 180 to regard SQQ as detestable scum. He is not the problem, he tells himself. SQQ is. But this conviction is shaken when he sees a universe where SQQ is nice to him.

On the topic of a SY reveal... sure SY revealing his identity would make Bingmei happy because SY never hated him, never wanted to hurt him, and is as obsessed with him from the start as Bingmei is with SY. But more than that...

SY isn't the godlike figure who descended from above to pick him up from the dirt. SY isn't the person he spent two years desperately trying to please, not the figure his admiration had (initially) been directed towards. Maybe there, there would be a sense of loss.

Maybe Bingmei knew from the start that SY wasn't SJ because of how differently they are. But also, maybe he wondered whether he really had just offended his Shizun somehow the first time round. That his good treatment is conditional on how he acts.

He learns SY isn't the Shizun who had him strung up and whipped, or locked him in a woodshed. SY is the Shizun who gave him medicine and smiled to him in a carriage.

SY's love was never condition. SJ's hate was never deserved. There was nothing wrong with him, right from the start.

[shizunitis]

teacher teacher teacher what's your favorite Binghe face from the donghua??? And what's your favorite of Shizun? I know you got to have lots!

(also the donghua fascinates me so much because they make them look like such perfect models and yet they have to give them human facial expressions so it's like not quite an uncanny valley effect but constantly flirting with the uncanny which just fascinates me to watch)

the donghua being so… goofy, at times, as well as flirting with the uncanny (which is the perfect descriptor, thank you so much) is sometimes deeply jarring.

one moment i’m looking at my beautiful perfect shizun, in awe of his grace, and the next he has the weirdest attempt at a smile on his face. however the donghua project is very dear to us starving children and i couldn’t ask for a better adaptation honestly. it’s fitting 🙂‍↕️

i’ve added (some of, i’m on mobile and thus, suffering) my favourite stills under the cut. it’s my first try at editing things properly and. i am. unconfident shall we say

Binghe:

And, oh… Shizun…

i tried. i swear i did

[a-mere-dream]

For the prompts thing: Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu are the same person and Yue Qingyuan is aware of this, so he has no idea what to make of Shen Qingqiu telling him about the transmigration and that he’s not Shen Jiu

Anon, this AU has existed in a dusty corner of my notes app for far too long. Thanks for giving me an excuse to write it.

So Shen Qingqiu has some questions. First of all, is this even Proud Immortal Demon Way? It must be, right? Because the larger strokes all mesh, even if the details... don't.

It's hard to explain. Have you ever read one of those exaggerated whump fanfics? The ones where the Protagonist suffers left and right, and teachers and parents and basically Every Adult Ever is an abusive piece of shit? Shit's dark and people die.

And then, eventually, you return to the source material. And sure, things suck, but definitely not to that degree.

That is what Shen Qingqiu is feeling right now. It's like Proud Immortal Demon Way is an edgy teenager's fanfic of some nicer, kinder world, and that world is where Shen Qingqiu ended up. Somehow.

Because he asks Yue Qingyuan where Binghe is, and he is told that the boy is in the dorms, since it's late and he needs to get a good night's sleep in order to properly participate in tomorrow's lessons. And when he meets Liu Qingge, it is not in some kind of battle to the death, but because the man kicked in the door and told him he lost his fan again. He smiles, and doesn't get an OOC warning--once, he even gets told to lighten up a little or it'd be suspicious!

Don't get him wrong, he's not complaining. It's very nice to be able to meet the Protagonist when he's looking happy and healthy! But... No, there's not even a but. It's nice, period.

Time passes, and Shen Qingqiu learns to relax.

Shen Qingqiu--the old Shen Qingqiu, the Original Goods--still seems to have been a strict teacher. If you ask around, you'll hear he rarely talks to people, that he's always cold and distant and has the nerves of a spooked deer.

But you'll also hear that he is an innovative genius at teaching, and that his punishments are fair and educative. No beatings. Ever. He doesn't believe in them, apparently.

Shen Qingqiu isn't sure what to do about that, really. He lies awake at night and thinks up ways to make this world a better place, a kinder one, and then in the morning he is told that actually, he has already introduced that change a decade or so ago.

(He feels like a fool, like people are judging him for not being aware what is going on on his own Peak. But even when his hands twitch with repressed violence, none of his people ever look scared.)

And then there's Yue Qingyuan.

Yue Qingyuan is...

He's a warm, gentle man for one, but that should be obvious. He was that even in a far crueller world. He's also deeply, terribly weird.

Whenever Shen Qingqiu does something that conflicts with what he is supposed to know--a metaphor without context, a language from halfway across the world--Yue Qingyuan does not even bother to look confused. He simply accepts his lack of understanding, and moves on. Maybe he bothers to check if he has missed an important layer of meaning from Shen Qingqiu instructions, but even that is rare.

Even so, when Shen Qingqiu finally decides that he should reveal his identity, fueled by a Yue Qingyuan who expects him to be his friend instead of a distant coworker... it doesn't quite go the way he had expected it would.

"My name is Shen Yuan," he says, and waits for the inevitable questions and distrust and violence.

Yue Qingyuan only nods with an understanding expression. "A-Yuan is feeling weird about names again, then?"

"... I suppose?" Shen Qingqiu says slowly. "You aren't--you're not upset?"

"It's alright," Yue Qingyuan says, and shrugs. "Tell me when it changes again." And that seems to be that.

"I am not from this world," Shen Qingqiu says two days later, half a room and a wide Sect Leader's desk between them, and having decided the point obviously hadn't gotten across.

"You are now," Yue Qingyuan says, and it sounds like something he has said often. "What are you struggling with today? Has anyone made you feel unwelcome?"

"No, I don't mean in a class sense. I mean I am literally not from this world."

Yue Qingyuan looks unperturbed. "And the same goes on that front. Really, did anyone bother A-Yuan?"

Shen Qingqiu throws his hands in the air and gives up for the day.

"I don't remember our childhood together."

"Yes, I am aware of A-Yuan's memory issues. Mu-shidi says it should all work out. Is there anything specific you need to know?"

Shen Qingqiu takes a deep breath and calms himself. "Because that wasn't me," he says slowly, staring Yue Qingyuan in the eyes and begging him to understand. "My name is Shen Yuan. I transmigrated into Shen Jiu."

"... And?"

"And?" Shen Qingqiu sputters. "And what? Shen Jiu's dead and he's not coming back, are you not mad?"

Yue Qingyuan blinks. "I'm missing something. Is that a pop-culture reference?"

"How do you know what pop-culture is?!" Shen Qingqiu screeches.

"A-Yuan has told me?" Yue Qingyuan looks politely confused, like he isn't quite sure if it is him or Shen Qingqiu that is not following the script for the conversation, but he's apologetic about it either way.

"When?!" Shen Qingqiu waves his arms around. "When would I have done that?" He freezes. "Oh god," he says. "Do I really have memory issues?" He doesn't think he's missing any time, but...

"I don't quite remember." Yue Qingyuan's thick eyebrows pull together. "I was somewhere between six and eight? It was winter, if that helps?"

"Ahaha," Shen Qingqiu says. "Repeat that, please."

"I was probably eight," Yue Qingyuan says, deep in thought. "It was after the thing with the dogs, but before that time with the hay... but right, you don't remember that."

Shen Qingqiu is not ashamed to admit he bluescreens a little.

"So tell me again," he says two hours later, a steaming cup of tea clasped between his hands and a thick black robe laid over his shoulders. "I have always...?"

"A-Yuan is Xiao Jiu is Shen Qingqiu, yes," Yue Qingyuan says patiently. Ever perceptive, he follows it up with, "Are you having a name-thing again?"

"No." Shen Qingqiu scowls. "Yes. Maybe."

It really does explain an awful lot about this world.

"And Mu-shidi says my memories will return?" he asks, not quite sure what he's feeling about that. He knows that the past itself won't turn him into a monster; he knows that he has always been far better equiped to survive this world with his heart intact than the blank-page version of his soul would have been.

"There is a large chance, yes." Yue Qingyuan hides a smile, instantly making Shen Qingqiu suspicious. "Of course I hope they will, but I won't mind much if they don't. A-Yuan reminds me a lot of how he was as a child. It's endearing."

"I am twenty!" Shen Qingqiu sputters. "Hardly a child."

"I recall you saying the same thing when you were, ah," he holds his hand a meter or so from the floor, "about this tall. You were very insistent you were the more mature one, and should thus be listened to."

"If I were an adult, of course you should have listened," Shen Qingqiu says, the argument feeling oddly wellworn on his tongue.

"Perhaps," Yue Qingyuan admits easily. "But I had had a growth spurt, and you had not, so you could never have convinced child-me of that." He tips his head forward. "Of course, right now I am the older one. Listen to big brother and drink your tea, everything will be fine."

[suitov]

Magi birth '24!

Shen Qingqiu threw down what he'd been reading (amateur poetry, ugh -- didn't this shit world have any manhua?) and stared at the wall in stunned, belated realisation. He'd only been followed obsessively around for a whole entire week. How had he not pieced things together sooner?...

🍃

Novice Binghe was meticulous about his chores. If something was worth doing, it was worth doing mindfully. This was why he'd developed a pattern that let him pretend to sweep the entire courtyard diligently, while maximising the time he could spend with his master's window in his line of sight. Just in case Shizun needed anything! Some snacks, some tea, encouragement for bothersome visitors to leave! No task was too small for Shizun's most faithful disciple!

"Oi, Binghe!" bellowed Shizun handsomely from inside. Luo Binghe threw down his broom, starry-eyed.

🍃

The little creep showed up so fast he'd probably been lurking right outside. Shen Qingqiu growled at him to shut the door. He had no plan of attack here. He might as well come out and say it.

"I know it's you, you awful girl."

Luo Binghe smiled blankly up at him. The protagonist's bloody damn halo painted him with an innocent twinkle.

"You can cut the crap. I don't know how you found out about Neo World, let alone got it running before we even finished it, but your little game's up."

He swiped away yet another of those annoying text boxes. The only status message he was interested in was the shutdown confirmation and he knew what that looked like. If someone thought they had a message SO important they could interrupt him about it, that meant he definitely wasn't going to read it.

Luo Binghe's smile was shading into a look of concern.

"Don't give me those big ol' eyes, you harpy! You better tell me what you're up to in here right now or so help me..." He hoped nobody asked him to finish that sentence. Actually, didn't his character have a sword somewhere? He slapped away another warning prompt. Yeah, everyone here was some kind of martial arts monk, right?

He wondered who the hell had introduced the pestering witch to xianxia. She was usually more into trashy Western movies. But that wasn't the point.

"Shizun... is suffering a qi deviation?" asked Binghe, whose lower lip was now distinctly wobbling.

"I, uh, yeah, whatever that is! Medical emergency. So shut down the simulation right now, before I get even more deviant, or whatever."

"This disciple will get help!" squeaked Binghe, already scampering off.

"Hey, wait! Get back here, you damn--!" Shen Qingqiu set out after him, giving up after a couple of steps. "Dammit, hold it, Ryoko!"

Gnashing his teeth, and ignoring the sudden commotion heading his way, Shen Qingqiu flung his fan across the half-swept yard and wished it were a scalpel.

[i-will-cry-you-a-river]

It would be better.

Better for him. Better for Luo Binghe. Better for everybody.

Shen Yuan was sure of that. After all, anything would be better than being a human stick. He didn't want to experience the original good's fate.

He also didn't want to throw his beloved white lotus, his sweet discipline into the Endless Abyss.

Why wouldn't he then...?

[Unusual behavior detected. Please note that attempts to deviate from Luo Binghe entering the Abyss will cause a deduction of 10000 B-points and immediate termination of your account.]

Anything would be better than being tortured by the blackened protagonist. Anything, huh...

Why not then...?

It's not like anybody would mourn the scum villain.

System sure would agree that taking the scum villain out of the way, the story would improve.

[User? System does not understand. Unusual behavior detected.]

His sweet and sticky white lotus wouldn't have to go through years of suffering. He wouldn't be betrayed by his Shizun. He wouldn't get that awful sword that only fed his resentment and anger. He wouldn't have to fuck countless wives who doesn't even love him. Maybe he could find somebody who loved him for himself, who would be good for him. Fitting to a sweeter Emperor.

[System notice: Endless Abyss closes in 10... 9...]

“Shizun, this lowly disciple is sorry," Luo Binghe said tearfully, trying to cover his demon mark, however fruitless that endeavour was.

Shen Yuan smiled at his innocent little protagonist, and let himself pet that soft hair one last time. Soft, so soft and fluffy. Ah, the protagonist was the cutest white lotus ever.

How could anybody push him into the Endless Abyss?! He just wanted to be accepted! He was just a sweet little bun. Innocent. Lovely.

“Binghe, ah, Binghe. How could you apologize for being born this way? This Shizun is not angry at his silly discipline."

The blaring red numbers on the blue screen ruthlessly showed that the end was near. That was okay. Luo Binghe would be free soon.

He had no need of this scum villain.

"Be a good boy, Binghe," he smiled.

Luo Binghe was crying. That wasn't right. Shen Yuan did not like that; one last hug was allowed, wasn't it?

"Wh- Shizun?" Luo Binghe froze, but didn't try to move away, and that was telling. Ah, his sweet discipline, so touch-starved. Shen Yuan hoped he would find himself a wife who could fulfill all his emotional needs, and not just his physical ones. "This lowly..."

[6... 5...]

The System continued counting down.

"No. No, Binghe, you are not lowly. You are so hardworking, so strong and smart! Shizun is proud of you. My sweet lotus..."

His arms squeezed the protagonist.

It was the best choice. Luo Binghe was too sweet, he deserves to live his life happy. He didn't need the scum villain to screw up his life even more than he did.

"Be good, my sweet white lotus. Be happy. This Shizun loves you."

[2... 1. Quest failure! Punishment for failing quest is the deduction of 10000 B-points. User termination is in progress.]

Shen Yuan was ready. His body was already dead; there was no suffering waiting for him. His conscience was clear - he did everything in his power to give his lovely discipline the best life he could offer.

He was ready to accept his fate.

[User termination is complete. Thank you for your patronage.]