#liu wei imagines

[suvidrache]

Wei Liu As A Boyfriend

age in bio when interacting. minors do not interact.

Word Count: 74 / Read it on AO3 | Offline Version

- Wei Liu has had no prior experience in having a relationship. 

- He would honestly be pretty dull and boring until he learned and figured things out as he went along.

- He would buy flowers, maybe a couple of dates here and there, but nothing more than that, he's trying.

- He would stay up late at night talking on the phone to you.

- As time goes on he'll try to be a little less "boring."

© SUVIDRACHE — do not copy, translate, modify, or plagiarize my work. reblogs are appreciated!

[fireflysugarpie]

I think it would be funny if Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu decided to get married, not for tax purposes per se, but for marriage/sex curse immunity. secretly, of course ;)

why would they do this, you may ask? why wouldn't they? excluding aphrodisiacs, there are plenty of curses and/or magical objects just laying around the SVSSS world just waiting for an unsuspecting Peak Lord to trip over them. And since Shen Qingqiu has decided to travel to see all the worldbuilding and cool flora/fauna he missed out on in the original PIDW, he's dragging Shang Qinghua along with him for the ride. Of course, they would need protection against the more serious afflictions they could catch or be caught by, and getting married was the perfectly logical solution!

and if they ended up getting sex-pollened and needed to rail each other anyway? if they both said no-homo after, then it didn't count! and if they had started to sleep in the same bed and woke up in each other's arms, that's because it's cheaper than getting separate rooms! Who cared that Shang Qinghua started to sleep over at Shen Qingqiu's peak when they were both back at the sect? And brought him gifts and food? And that he reciprocated? They were obviously just hanging out as friends.

And friends are supposed to be affectionate and show care towards each other! They're the only transmigrators in this world, so they need to stick together! Watching the other jerk off can be a bonding activity, you know!

And if Shen Qingqiu noticed one day that they stopped saying no-homo? They already know they aren't gay, so it would be redundant to keep saying it. Carding your fingers through your fake (real) husband's hair while he lays in your lap and complains about the merchant's trying to weasel out of a deal with the sect is completely straight behavior!

[anachronismstellar]

SQH x Wine Peak lord

I would imagine SQH would teach the Wine Peak Lord modern drinking games and it goes from there. (IDK if it will go like the SVSSS extra if you know what I mean.)

HISHSDAUFHUSDHDF not only did SQH taught a modern drinking game, UNO is now canon in the SVSSS lol

AND FUCK YEA BODY SHOTS LET'S GO

A Peak Lady this time! :D Her lovely name was given by @busysavingtheuniverse, thank you so much and I hope you enjoy my wine aunty!!

Omg I'm so sorry it took me this long but *waves at the past weeks*

But to make it better this is ahahahah 13 pages long on my docs. :D

Why I am going a little insane ty for asking

BTW, this one has mild explicit content AND it has two adults getting reaaally drunk before having sex. Everything is consensual, but if that makes you icky, maybe skip this one

Now, on with the fic!

--------

The room was filled with the scent of incense and tobacco, the lights bright just enough to create an intimate atmosphere. Four people gathered around a low table, the clacking of ivory pieces mixed with their low voices.

And the wine, of course, flowing like a river, making laughter bubble free. They probably shouldn't drink so much, their week packed with meetings and trainings, but if their dear Mu Qingfang himself was indulging, who were they to say no to a bit of fun?

The stones were given to each player, some of them being exchanged back and forth, the match starting with their host setting down the first piece.

And as soon as the game began, so did the gossip.

"Has anyone heard from their disciples yet? Wei-shixiong?" Mu Qingfang asked as he poured wine for all of them while waiting for his turn in the game.

"Not me," he replied as he discarded his stone, cursing right after, trying to take it back, only to get a tap on the wrist by Qi Qingqi sitting on his right.

"Pong. Don't cheat." Qi Qingqi said as she moved her pieces at a speed that would leave anyone dizzy, already displaying a group of three identical stones, her eyes focused on the game, shoulders tense.

"I heard nothing from him as well," Mu Qingfang added along with his own discarded stone, moving way slower than his shijie on his left. "But I don't think he noticed the rumors yet."

"I don't wanna add to the fire," Zhang Qingyan started as she tapped her nails on her pieces, holding her pipe between her teeth to move her own blocks before continuing. "But I heard some An Ding disciples talking about Liu-shidi being the last victim."

"Really?" Mu Qingfang asked, genuinely surprised. "I thought he was scared of Liu-Shixiong?"

"Oh he is!" Wei Qingwei said a bit too excited for someone losing their third round or so. "But I heard that girl, what's her name? The An Ding Head Disciple? Qi-shimei, do you know who I am talking about?"

"Ye Ling."

"That's the one," Wei Qingwei threw another piece at the discarded pile, then sipped his drink. "She said Liu-shidi scared the soul out of Shang-shidi's body, and Shang-shidi grabbed him and threw Liu-shidi on the ground."

"And that would do it, wouldn’t it? Liu-shidi is so odd…" Zhang Qingyan took another smoke from her pipe, then offered it to Qi Qingqi, who just refused with a shake of her head. She had lost the three last matches, and that mixed up with how much wine they had already...

Zhang Qingyan moved a little bit to the side, just in case.

"Who is missing then?"

"Almost half of the peaks, I believe."

"Do you think he's gonna sleep with all the lords?"

"A bit difficult, I mean, Gao-shidi has eyes only for his talismans. And Qi-shijie-" Mu Qingfang said as he took the pipe Qi Qingqi rejected.

"I won't touch men, not even if there's no one else in the world," she said as she put down her stone, glaring at Wei Qingwei.

"Don't look at us like that." Wei Qingwei gave her a wink, laughing at her face of disgust. "You haven't got the full Shang Qinghua experience!"

"It baffles me how he got himself into the bed of so many." She pretended to move her pieces around, just like Zhang Qingyan pretended not to see her take a piece from the discarded pile without the others noticing. "I tried to ask him where he bought his ink, you know the shimmery one? I couldn't open my mouth before he ran away like a scared rabbit."

"And can you blame Shang-Shixiong?" Mu Qingfang chuckled as he put his stone down, a light brush on his cheeks even though he had just a few cups. "Qingqi-shijie talking to a man of her own will is not something common to see. He probably thought you're going to ask for his liver."

"Hunf! I didn't need anything from him anyway." She flipped her hair back, as if she hadn't just confessed wanting to ask Shang-Shixiong a question. "My girls were more than able to gather all the information I needed to buy the ink."

"What I find really intriguing is that so far it has been all peak lords and no lady," Zhang Qingyan said as she poured another cup for Qi Qingqi and then herself, sighing at the taste of plum and spice. "Is he even interested in women?"

"Zhang-shimei, not you too," Qingqiu shook her head in dismay. "You are not considering-"

"The boys keep talking nonstop about him. And as Mu-Shixiong doesn't tell me anything-"

"It's doctor and patient confidentiality!"

"-I'm curious, that's all."

The entire table got dangerously quiet before exploding with noise.

"No, no, no, absolutely not, I have my money on Wu Qingfang being the next one!"

"Please don't indulge this nonsense, they are already insufferable as they are-"

"You should call him for the next game." Mu Qingfang took a sip of his wine, the red on his cheeks spreading down his neck. "He's been dealing with a lot lately, I bet he would enjoy the distraction."

She turned to look at him, eyebrows pulled up in surprise as she slowly let go of her smoke.

"Mu-Shixiong really thinks so?" She tapped her ashes in an empty bowl next to her chair, ignoring Qi-Shijie and Wei-shixiong bickering to focus on her dear doctor. "You-" she paused, glancing at the two other cultivators, certifying they were distracted before taking his hand and gently squeezing it. "You know him better than any of us..." She paused again, their eyes meeting, a heartbeat passing before he gave her a soft smile, glasses a little crooked.

"I know it's been a while since he had good wine." Mu Qingfang squeezed her hand back with a discreet shake of his head. "And if there's anyone I trust to show him a good time would be Zhang-shimei."

She nodded slowly as she clicked her cup against his before taking her sip, the sweetness of the wine tingling on her tongue, making her sigh.

"Besides," Mu Qingfang continued, taking his last piece from the face-down pile. "Shang Qinghua is not that bad. The secret is to hand in his paperwork on time and not ask for any last-minute favors. Then he doesn't care about the rest."

"Hah!" Wei Qingwei exclaimed as he waved one of his pieces at Mu Qingfang's direction, showing its symbol for anyone to see. "It also helps that you like sucking his-"

Smack!

The sound of Qi Qingqi slamming both her hands against the wooden table was loud enough to make them all stop and stare at her bright red face.

"Can we talk about anything else that's not Shang-shidi- Shang- the A-An Ding Peak Lord love life?" And at each stutter, her grip on the table got stronger, to the point of her knuckles going white. "Honestly, you are all worse than my teenage girls!"

They looked at each other before lowering their heads with soft mumbles of "Sorry Shimei" and "Sorry Qi-Shijie." Zhang Qingyan felt bad for her poor Shijie, Wei-Shixiong must have already talked her ear off about Shang-Shixiong if she got to the point of exploding like that.

They went back to focusing on the game, their silence lasting for three more rounds before Wei Qingwei opened his mouth and-

"But how long do you think it will take until he notices his disciples bragging about him fucking Liu-shidi?"

Qi Qingqi grabbed the closer bottle she could reach and took a big swing while Zhang Qingyan patted her shoulder, holding back her laughter.

-------

Shang-Shixiong and Zhang Qingyan had a very... Feeble relationship.

They were both close friends to Mu Qingfang, but they had never actually talked anything substantial outside of small talk.

If anyone asked Zhang Qingyan why, she would say they just hadn't much in common. She liked her wine and spending days and days in her peak, experimenting with all types of tinctures and salts, while he would never stop going on and on about paperwork and numbers, topics she wanted to avoid like demons after she closed her office doors.

She knew he was a good man, Mu-Shixiong wasn't one to praise freely. She just had been under the impression of Shang-Shixiong being a busy bee that cared only for his work, with no time to let his hair down. Literally.

Then came the rumors.

First was a joke that she caught among her disciples, then a bet here and there. Upon a bit of a digging, she found out a very interesting talk among the disciples of all peaks. She didn't believe it at first, and who would?

But then Wei Qingwei told his own story, and added to what she knew Mu-Shixiong and Shang-Shixiong would get up to...

One couldn't ignore all the evidence.

She got curious, of course she did. Did she believe that her invitation for a game of Mahjong would be accepted? Honestly, no.

Was she disappointed when instead of a polite decline she received a confirmation of his presence at their next gathering?

Absolutely not.

"This one would like to apologize to Shang-Shixiong for the absence of the other guests," she said as soon as they sat down on the low table, the set of Mahjong organized over it, ready for a game. "Mu-Shixiong had to cover his head disciple's shift, and Wei-Shixiong is lost in his forge, he said he was about to finish his last masterpiece and couldn't come."

"You mean his masterpiece of this month, right?" He took his wine cup from her hands with a small nod, waiting for her to pour her own drink before taking a sip. "Hoping he doesn't blow up another forge."

"Let's hope not, or he won't escape Qi-shijie's fury this time."

The name made Shang Qinghua tense, a weak laugh escaping his throat while he looked around, as if Qi QIngqi would jump from the curtains at any moment.

"Speaking of her, you said she was invited too...?"

"Oh, she's invited, but with Qi-shijie is always a wild guess,"

They left their talk trickle down as they both sipped their wine. When the silence kept going, Zhang Qingyan put her cup down to get her pipe. If she was going to host, she would have a good smoke.

"Do you want some?" She offered the tobacco. "I also have another wine, if Shixiong prefers something a bit stronger."

"This wine is perfect, thank you," he said as he rushed to take another sip, nodding his head. "But- uh. I wouldn't mind a smoke, actually."

He took his own pipe out of his robes, filling his pipe with fresh tobacco, shoulders dropping as smoke left his lips.

Deciding not to let the conversation die a horrible death, Zhang Qingyan poured more wine to them, hoping for it to loosen up Shang-Shixiong's tongue.

She wanted at least some gossip to tell Wei-Shixiong!

"I'm sad that I've invited Shang-Shixiong all this way for a match and we won't be able to play." Zhang Qingyan said after taking another sip of wine before starting the task of putting the Mahjong pieces away.

He quickly started helping her to put all the pieces in the silk lined box, picking up one or other to admire the hand work. "We could play something else, if you would like," he suggested when they finished putting everything away.

"Oh? What do you suggest?"

He patted his robes until he found a qiankun bag, taking a bundle of paper from it, setting on the top of the table. "Have you ever played Yi?"

She put the box aside, reaching for the papers, letting out a surprised "Huh" when she touched it, not finding it as flexible as she was expecting. And the colors! There were the ones with numbers, but also many drawings, some of them so detailed one could stare at them for hours.

"You've made these?"

"Oh no, no, I'm not an artist. But I know a lady that does some commission work, so all I had to do was describe the cards for her to make."

"They are beautiful..." she whispered while admiring a red phoenix delicately painted to look as if it was curling around the number nine. "How do you play it?"

He delicately took the cards from her hands, setting one of each type on the table, explaining one by one along with the rules of the game. And during the entire time she couldn't help but feel impressed, her polite smile slowly becoming sincere the more he talked. And she could see that Shang-Shixiong was opening up too, his own lips curling up in a smile, eyes crinkling with joy every time she asked a smart question.

"And there are many ways you could bend the rules, some people back in my town would play it as a drinking game."

"A drinking game?" Zhang Qingyan immediately perked up, eyes glinting with mischief. "Would Shang-Shixiong want to try going against me? Really?"

He squinted his eyes at her, and she could see him biting the inside of his cheek, as if considering his changes.

"Yes, let's make it a drinking game."

Oh poor dear, he had no idea, had he?

It wasn't his fault, really. Zhang Qingyan wasn't the type to brag, and again, they hadn't spent enough time together for him to know what a terrible mistake he had just made. And before he could go back on his offer she brought a cheaper wine, pouring them both a cup full to the brim, pulling her sleeves up so they wouldn't get in the way of her handling the cards.

Shang Qinghua shuffled, cutting the deck in half and then shuffling again, giving each of them seven cards, picking one from the top of the remaining, a beautiful blue bird with the number 6 next to it settling the first color of their game.

And so it started. 

"Zhang-shimei is a fast learner," he downed his wine in one swallow, without blinking at the strong taste. She could see he wasn't expecting her to get the rules so fast, their first round ending with Zhang Qingyan's victory. "Maybe we should add more drinking rules."

"Shixiong is too kind," she batted her eyelashes at him. "But if you think you can keep up with this one, we could add a cup each time one has to buy two cards or more."

"Deal," he agreed with a smile that was too sharp and too dangerous, a glint in his eyes that made her giggle with anticipation. It was like she could hear Mu-Shixiong's voice laughing with her, poking at her ribs while saying proudly. "Told you he's not bad."

…She could also hear Wei-Shixiong too, a whistle followed by "Careful, Shimei~ you gonna fall for it~"

"I'm not falling for it," she thought as she shook her head while giving all the cards for Shang Qinghua to shuffle again, firmly ignoring the way her heart picked up pace when his warm hands touched hers.

They played another round, and then another, tricking each other as much as the cards themselves tricked them, drying one bottle then two, then four. At some point Shang-Shixiong had let his hair down, and Zhang Qingyan had lost her outer robe, both stacking cards as fast as they could just to see the other fumble, smoke and alcohol making the room spin softly around them.

"I didn't know Shimei was such a good drinker," Shang Qinghua set his card down, laughing as Zhang Qingyan cursed like a demon, picking up two cards before drinking her wine. "I should have proposed that we drank each time one has to buy a card instead of two or more."

"Careful, Shixiong, one could think you were trying to seduce poor little me," she replied with a sweet smile, while curling her hair on her finger.

"Oh shimei, if I were really trying to seduce you, I would suggest body shots," he laughed, then drinking his cup after drawing a card.

"What are body shots?" she couldn't help but ask, glaring at the bright green dragon in the middle of the table, her cards dancing in front of her. She had the card to change colors for a while now, but she could also make him draw four more cards.

Hmmm choices choices...

"Oh, uh," his hesitation made her raise her glance at his red face, surprised at how he had gone from relaxed and cheekey to embarassed in less than seconds. "It's- It's something from my town? But, ah, is a bit-"

"Shixiong," she set her cards turned down at the table, putting her elbows on top of it so she could rest her chin on her hands. "Is it a lewd game?!"

"Oh Heavens," he hid his face between his hands, groaning. "I should not have mentioned it, oh no, this is dangerous-"

"Now I'm even more intrigued," she leaned forward, head slightly tilted down as she looked up at him. "Shixiong wouldn't leave me curious, would he?"

She didn't think it was possible for him to become more red, but at this point he was about to let smoke leak through his ears. He coughed, recomposing himself only to lose it all over again after glancing at her neckline, mumbling a word she couldn't understand.

"I- I could show you?" his voice went up at the end as if he himself was doubting his abilities. But with a deep breath he took the wine bottle and drank a good half of it, setting the porcelain on the table with a sharp nod. "I will show you. But you have to promise not to be angry."

She laughed out of pure surprise, agreeing not to hit or harm him in any way. And the more Shang-Shixiong explained what he was going to do, the more she started questioning herself on why she had never seen him in one of Wei-Shixiong wild parties, or how the quiet peak lord had knowledge of such games.

And that's how she ended up with a cup of wine nested between her robes and her chest, and Shang-Shixiong standing right in front of her, brown eyes blown wide as he held her by her waist. They both moved slowly as if the air had turned into molasses, unsure of where the lines were drawn, Shang Qinghua's heated breath sending shivers down her spine.

It was mesmerizing to watch as Shang Qinghua bit the porcelain and threw his head back, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. Clear liquid trickled down his chin, making everything messy, and probably it was not as graceful as he wanted it to be, both already drunk as they were. But then he went and licked the cup clean and-

He raised his eyes at her, and it was impossible for her not to hold his face, sinking her hands into his hair. She guided him into a biting kiss, both of them moaning, as his hands slid up and down her body, touching her everywhere as she did her best to get rid of his collared shirt, pulling him even closer by the back of his neck.

If the room had felt hot before, now it was boiling, her red robes hitting the floor right after his leather bracers, her dark lip tint smeared over his mouth and cheek.

Everything tasted salty and sweet, the haze of the wine making her entire skin tingle as he pushed her slowly until he was lying on the wooden floor. She felt as if she were floating under the brushes of his fingertips as he left her chest completely exposed to his gaze, tracing a swirling pattern all the way to her belly.

"There's another way to do a body shot," he said, and the way his voice went deeper with lust, oh Heavens, she might never recover. All of Mu-Shixiong's wildest stories weren’t able to prepare her for the vision that was Shang Qinghua completely disheveled, hair dripping down his shoulders, strong muscles peeking from his half opened shirt. "Shimei would like to learn it?"

She kept nodding while he took the bottle from the table, gasping when he pulled the cork with his teeth. "This might tickle," was the only warning he gave her before pouring wine in her bellybutton. She whined, nails scratching his arms with thin lines of red as he breathed over the cold liquid before sucking. And he drank it all up to the last drop, his tongue dancing on her skin, setting it her on fire, turning her whine into full moans as his mouth went lower and lower and-

"S-Shixiong!" She cried while grasping his hair tight, her back bending until it wasn't touching the floor for a second.

The slurping sound was obscene, it was divine, it was driving her into madness. She couldn't stop making noise, pulling her legs up until her knees were touching his head, begging for more, begging for mercy, begging and begging-

"I must say..." He wiped his chin with the back of his hand, pressing a soft kiss on the side of her knee. "This was much better than any body shot."

She kissed the smugness off his face, doing her best to reverse their positions, biting as she noticed Shang Qinghua was letting her move him around, allowing her to sit on his lap.

He was about to find out two could play that game.

"My turn," she said as she grabbed the bottle, pouring it all over his chest.

----------

She took her time getting dressed, feeling relaxed like she hadn’t in a good while, body sore all in the right places. Her guest had already left for his own peak, but not before making sure she had a good breakfast and some water, hangover tincture ready by her bed. 

And as soon as she could, she set foot to Mu-Shixiong’s peak, asking the first discipline that passed by if the doctor was in his office, not surprised at all by the affirmative answer.

"Mu Qingfang," she didn't slam the door open because that would be beneath her, but her entrance was dramatic anyway, robes fluttering as she rushed to get closer to him, crossing his office in a few steps. 

"What?" he asked as he paused by his examination table, his magnifying glasses perched up on his nose. And it was a testimony of their long friendship that she didn’t even blink at the sight of him bent over what seemed to be a tentacled creature; a scare thin knife in one hand, a pair of tweezers in the other.

“You were right, I was wrong.”

“Well, that’s a first coming from you. What was I right about?”

She took him by his wrist after he set all his instruments aside, making him sit before going through his shelves to get the good wine. Yes, she was still hungover, but she was in the mood for a celebration.

That and the fact that she would collect a big bag later from her disciples was also very nice, but not the point.

“Shang-Shixiong came by yesterday.”

“Oh?” and that was what made him shift his entire focus towards her, fingers intertwined on the top of his desk. “And how was it? Did you guys play Mahjong?” and then he dared to wiggle his eyebrows at her, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Stop it, I just told you that you were right," she poured him the wine, waiting for him to sip first before tasting it as well. “And I have to admit, I didn't know fingers could move like that. And don't tell Qi-shijie but- his tongue?"

"I know," Mu Qingfang let out a dreamy sign.

"And how long can he hold his breath? I mean-”

"I know," he sighed again, a silly smile on his face. Before, when she was the one on the other side listening to him sing Shang-Shixiong's praises, she would roll her eyes fondly, saying that he was a man in love.

Now? She understood. She completely understood..

The entire time Shang-Shixiong had been the most polite, making sure she was comfortable, taking what he wanted but not taking it for granted. He asked permission in the sweetest ways, teasing her when she failed to use words. And at the end of it all, he had taken time to massage her sore thighs, kissing her feet, treating her like an empress.

It made her heart race but she wasn't a romantic woman. She liked to have fun but relationships? Hah! In a world controlled by men, to become someone's wife would be the same as giving away her power and titles.

Mu Qingfang, on the other hand...

"Are you... Are you alright with all of this? I know how deeply you feel about Shang-Shixiong." She took his hand between hers in a similar gesture all those days ago, searching in his eyes any sign of pain. "Just say the word, and I go after him to give a strong talk."

He laughed, a genuine belly laugh that made her relax her shoulders, the band around her heart releasing a bit.

"This one thanks his Shimei, but she doesn't need to worry. My relationship with Shang-Shixiong is not like that. We love each other, but I know he wasn't meant to have only one lover."

"That's a way to say it," she tsked as she patted his hand again, letting it go to pick on the sleeves of her robes, still a bit out of it from the previous night. "The man is turning the Sect into his personal harem… And I don't think he knows it."

"He has all of us wrapped around his fingers, doesn't he?" And then it was his turn to take her hand, checking her pulse and Qi levels out of habit. "Now, what else did you do last night?"

"Shixiong!"

"What? Is nothing I haven’t seen before, at least from his part. And I’ve told you worse and you know it."

She groaned, caught by his sound argument. She hid her face between her hands, feeling her ears burning up, face almost scarlet as her robes.

“Well?”

She peeked at him between her fingers, pouting. But when he just crossed his arms she knew she would have no escape. "Fine. But first-" she took his cup of wine, drinking it up in a gulp, the burning on her throat matching the burning of her face.

She started talking.

--------

The plan for this was:

They played mahjong cards

They got drunk

Sqh: uhh body shots is uhh a game but is not appropriate to play with decent company Zqy: good think I'm far from decent then ;)

BODY SHOTS

Uhhhhh, as spicy as we can get

And my brain couldn't think of any creative name for their UNO version so I went with the number one in Mandarin aaaaaa

Holy shit y'all I can't believe we are 7/12 already?!?!! sdhfuishdf Send help aaaaaaaaa

aaand next on the line is Beast Peak Lady, Wu Qingfang!

here is the masterpost of all the other achievements

thank you again for this ask and for giving it a read!!! :D

Beast Peak here we gooooo~

[higuchisora]

How I think the main MXTX couples would vibe with each other:

WangXian and HuaLian:

Wei Wuxian being Wei Wuxian is ready to talk the ear off of anyone willing to listen. Xie Lian being Xie Lian is just as willing to listen as Wei Wuxian is to talk. They'd be the gossiping stay-at-home wives/soccer moms that would see each other at the grocery store or their kids' soccer match and end up talking for hours while their husbands stand off to the side like 🧍‍♂️ and do that awkward little Dad Nod of Acknowledgement before refusing to make eye contact for the rest of WWX and XL's conversation. Both of the husbands have little to no opinion about each other's spouses besides "that's my wife's friend".

BingQiu and WangXian:

Similarly, gossiping housewife energy. Though their gossip is definitely more on the drama end "who does x think she is?!" Rather than just chill conversation. On the other hand, I don't think Lan Wangji would like Binghe all that much, unfortunately. Similar 🧍‍♂️ energy but with slight animosity. I can't even explain why, I just feel like Binghe would incur the same level of "shameless!" Comments as Wei Wuxian, except unlike Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji isn't horny for Binghe, and therefore he's never forgiven for it. LWJ reminds SQQ of Liu Qingge, but even more repressed (make of that what you will). LWJ has probably held one (1) conversation with SQQ before, and generally thinks he's respectable, if not someone with poor taste in men.

HuaLian and BingQiu:

Shen Qingqiu is yet another one of the "mean"/snarky friends in Xie Lian's entourage. He's basically just another Mu Qing/Feng Xin. Meanwhile, Binghe HATES Hua Cheng. With a burning passion. Unlike the other couples combos, Shen Qingqiu CANNOT bring Binghe around when he goes to see Xie Lian, because Hua Cheng will undoubtedly be there and he's NOT trying to deal with yet ANOTHER Whole Foods Incident.

Binghe's hatred for Hua Cheng lies solely in the jealousy category, because what the FUCK does he mean he's a demon that didn't have to chase his idol down in order for senpai to finally notice him? The fuck? Xie Lian KNEW from the BEGINNING that Hua Cheng was a ghost, the ghostiest ghost in town even, and he STILL banged him? No world-ending demon sword possessions necessary??? HUH??? This wouldn't even bother him so much if Hua Cheng didn't rub it in his face deliberately. HC is SMUG. I saw a post somewhere about how Hua Cheng and Mobei-Jun can't coexist in the same universe because he'd be too jealous over the fact that MBJ was literally created to be his god's ideal man, and I'd imagine this would be Hua Cheng's way of settling the score.

Similarly to the first, HC and LBH only vaguely recognize the others' spouse as "my wife's friend".

[sillygoofyqueer]

about liu qingge breaking swords that wei qingwei replaces!!! i can imagine so well they start this "project" where wei qingwei wants to create a standard disciple sword (so like a sword that doesn't have to be chosen) that is almost unbreakable in the face of battle so it can be used safely for disciple missions without them having to fear it breaking willy nilly, and he's tasked liu qingge to use it in all kinds of situations to see where it holds up!

it's a long and difficult process so eventually people start worrying about why the bai zhan peak lord is fighting giant beasts with just an iron sword

YESS YES YES YES!!! Liu Qingge receiving different comments about whether or not he's lost Cheng Luan, and getting slowly more frustrated until it all culminates in him standing up during a peak lord meeting, throwing Cheng Luan onto the table and loudly announcing "I HAVEN'T lost my sword." before just flopping back down into his seat, with Wei Qingwei giving him a supportive thumbs up from where he sits next to the man. Neither of them elaborate. I'm going to start very mini rambling now, because I'm eepy and this man is always on my mind. I think that WQW actually gets really excited whenever someone damages or breaks their weapons because "Ooooh, I was hoping to upgrade this thank you SO much for this!" as though they're doing him a favour rather than giving him more work to do. He often spends a lot of his time upgrading weapons and working on random different designs, whipping out the most intricate, tiny swords to like...I don't know, file his nails. Despite both the previous QCP lord's and Mu Qingfang's best attempts to explain to WQW that he should NOT arm his disciples until they have the sword techniques down with the practice swords, WQW has gained his shizun's enthusiasm with arming children - the only difference was that he doesn't let them use their real weapons with one another, instead just sparring with him. So he takes on the brunt of stab wounds and shit. He just likes making things, alright?? I really love to think that this guy could definitely put effort into other kinds of art, but he really loves the physical labour that can be put into making weapons specifically - from personally mining and finding the metal ores to breaking them down and turning them into something gorgeous through his effort alone! He would also quite like clay/sculpting for that reason, but he's a lot more shy about that one (he has a secret little kiln that he fires everything in because everyone knows him for his metalwork and weapons ((and maybe woodcarving)) but not claywork).

[orenji-iro-no-sora]

The most fun thing about SVSSS is that the female protagonist of the original story, beauty beyond comprehension, Liu Mingyan, became a BL fangirl shipping Bingqiu and writing fanfictions of them along with the Holy Mothers. Imagining it to be a self insert character, instead of fighting for Luo Binghe, MXTX said I'd rather write smut of him with his Shizun.

Also Luo Binghe really used the most successful strategy in the history of "getting what you want" aka crying. It works. every. time. Whether he's actually so sensitive or he knows Shizun would cave if he cries idk. Maybe it's a bit of both. Maybe he's just following Shang Qinghua's advice. If he was subjected to the system, he would have lost more badass points than he could ever manage to gain. For a protagonist revered so by cucumber bro, he really was so babygirl. He'd use his puppy eyes, whimpering and whining until he gets what he wants. So pathetic. So smitten. So unlike an overpowered hero. I loved it!!

While the story was hilarious (and heartfelt I loved Yue Qingyuan), I also really liked how MXTX commented on writing and fandom culture. Cucumber bro as a fan thought he understood the narrative and the characters so well but he did fuck up as SQQ. He didn't know anything about Luo Binghe in reality despite admiring him so much.

Was it because Airplane failed to write well or is it because a fan's perspective is inherently different from that of a creator while also being influenced by the creator's objectives for the characters? Afterall, Airplane created Luo Binghe to be loved and commended (he couldn't have a weakness like wanting genuine love and affection, at all cost he must remain cool), making Mobei-jun a side character even though he was his ideal man (I don't blame him).

Another aspect that points to the power of character interpretation held by the fans is the smut included in Song of Bingqiu and the Regret of Chunshan. While she as an author can not include "morally depraved" porn into canon material (although I mean whatever she wrote wasn't... well) unless she turns Luo Binghe into a twisted yandere maniac, fans can write them and she can include it through them. It's quite genius actually.

Airplane has his hands tied too. He couldn't write the story he wanted. His fans while criticising his work, also wanted it to be exactly how he's written it. In such creative works, audience really is omnipotent. It makes sense for him to turn out to be an 'insignificant villain' in his own story considering whatever he writes, it won't be good enough. He really has no power. Characters are often slippery anyway. Authors can't really control them, at some point they become sentient and independent and the narrative changes to accomodate them instead. Luo Binghe, the perfect example.

I wished she had written more in this universe although she picked elements of this series and used them better in other works like MDZS and TGCF. I would have loved to see Luo Binghe in the Endless Abyss but since Shen Qingqiu couldn't see what happened there, we can't either. It's the same as when Wei Wuxian fell into the Burial Mounds. Also, I wished there was more Bing-ge vs Bing-mei. The original Binghe is definitely a character I wished she had explored more especially how he'd have reacted with a Shen Qingqiu who wasn't as scummy as the original. Him just giving up and leaving didn't feel too satisfying :/

Overall it was super fun and weird. But mostly fun.

[minsarasarahair]

Its actually illegal to me that no one recommend Liu Yao when you love Mo Dao Zu Shi. Both stories highlight the blurry line between demonic cultivation and righteous cultivation. It also have sect siblings found family story (Yunmeng Shuangjie, Fuyao Sect) you'll cry for. Honestly, both of them have these bittersweet story that will linger around you. Sure, WangXian and MingQian ended up together but its not a flawless good ending especially for other characters.

In the beginning, you'll see Cheng Qian already questioning why people ended up using demonic cultivation to his master that reminds me of Wei Wuxian's scene with Lan Qiren suggesting his ghost cultivation idea.

The ML, Yan Zhengming is like a fusion of Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji. Instead of only mourning his dead childhood sweetheart and taking care of what he left behind, he also have the responsibility as the eldest sect brother to protect their Fuyao sect and later become the sect leader. He's literally a teenager when he took over. He might be annoying in the beginning because of his laziness and spoiled behavior but you'll love his character development. Whenever his ugly emotions resurfaces, its so good!! Such as him being scared not meeting other's expectations, strong self-hate, being a coward and narcissist at the same time, wishing to die but has responsibility as sect leader so he can't die yet so he's like a walking dead man etc. He's not a bad guy, okay? It just sometimes he's mentally unstable and his qi deviation because of the weight of his responsibility. Without Cheng Qian to calm him down who don't fear changes, he's alone shouldering his sect.

Han Yuan reminds me of Wei Wuxian. A former beggar child who find his home in Fuyao sect but ended up in unorthodox path just because he's not lucky enough. He's not a genius cultivator or good looking unlike Wei Wuxian but has low cultivation. He's not competitive and love cheering for his sect brothers achievements. He don't have that privilege to be a genius but he really care deeply about his Fuyao sect and blame himself for what happened.

As for romance, Liu Yao is closer to MDZS donghua s1 where the 1st half of story heavily focus in sect siblings than romance. Liu Yao took a while before romance but tbh what do you expect? We have two people occupied by responsibilities (one is a sect leader, other is obsessed in becoming stronger to protect the sect) so they only realized their feelings when one of them died but don't worry, he shall return after 100 years. Just imagine WangXian from WWX's perspective because he's occupied by Wen Remnants and Yunmeng Jiang sect so no time for romance with LWJ until his resurrection lol. That's MingQian. Unlike WangXian tho, you will not probably ship MingQian because they have romantic feelings for each other but because they are literally the pillar of their Fuyao sect. The mom and dad of their sect. They pull each other up because there's no adult to rely on so they have to be the adult. Like I can see the sect collapsing if something bad happened to these two. Even if they are not in romance stage yet, MingQian is aleady behaving like married couple. If LWJ's reaction to WWX's return is take him back to Gusu to protect him, YZM's reaction is he's blaming himself for being incompetent leader that he didn't do a better job protecting his sect siblings. YZM's obsession to CQ is like TGCF's Hua Cheng without worship but exchange it with regret of being not good enough for your husband where you'll see him drawing his beloved but destroy it when the face don't satisfy him lol. He's also as needy and babygirl as Luo Binghe. And yeah, both Lan Wangji and Yan Zhengming are beautiful-looking gong with white robes. Young MingQian has the special bond Young WangXian has in the flashback that I really love. Sparring, classroom-like antics, getting in trouble together, their teamwork in battle as they get closer etc. If that's what you love in MDZS, you'll love Liu Yao.

[lansplaining]

Re Jin Ling/Ning Yingying: The extended martial in laws possible shenanigans of this are also delightful.

Imagine JC (+/- WWX and the multiclan duckling contingent that is the rest of the juniors) trying to out plan a wedding against various peak lords and their compatriots. Also Fairy is there 🤣

you've highlighted the most important thing which anon and I neglected which is that NING YINGYING DESERVES A DOG

Lan Wangji is off his game because Yue Qingyuan is so disconcertingly like his brother

Liu Qingge keeps starting fights and Jiang Cheng can't not fight back

Lan Qiren thought that this Shen Qingqiu seemed like a nice young man until someone showed him a copy of something that would not be permitted in Cloud Recesses

Wei Wuxian accidentally talks with Shen Qingqiu about monsters for too long one day and now Binghe's trying to kill him

[lintwriting]

why liu runnan is the perfect fancast for sqh

Liu Runnan

LIKE IS THAT NOT SHANG QINGHUA

I first saw him in this show called Douluo Continent, where his character is a PITCH PERFECT Shang Qinghua

first of all, he's introduced fr like this:

cowering in fear. crying. begging for his life. perfect start.

AND THEN HE FUCKING DIES

Of course, it turns out he was just lying, and his ACTUAL character is being a hack artist

AGAIN ! it's a perfect sqh

i think the funniest fact about this drama i learned about -- other than the fact that it stars Xiao Zhan, Wei Wuxian's actor -- is that Shi Lan Ke is the pinyin version of the transliteration of SHREK from Chinese to English (transliteration inception).

Imagine giving your life for SHREK academy !!!

(i wonder if xiao zhan had a similar career trajectory to timothee chalamet. starred in one of the most famous gay medias ever (The Untamed, Call Me By Your Name), then used the BL fanbase clout to get the main role in the biggest upcoming action medias (Douluo Continent, Dune). )

Actually, I watched Ou Si Ke in Douluo Continent before I even read Scum Villain, so I spent the whole read-through imagining Ou Si Ke everytime Shang Qinghua showed up XD.

ICONIC

Anyways, that's not even my favorite thing Liu Runnan worked on. he also worked on one of those slice of life "i transmigrated into an ancient fantasy land and now I cook for audience food porn" shows, called "Gourmet in Tang Dynasty."

this show is not all that notable, pretty mid in fact, BUT it's saved by its absolutely batshit editing/writing choices

BEHOLD:

Why are they unironically using a SPONGEBOB transition in their official live action drama like what?? 😭😭😭

Anyways, that’s him with the white fan at the end.

but yeah, I think it's interesting the way cultures have cliches that are unfamiliar to other cultures. For instance, transmigration is getting so stale that we're getting parodies of it like with Scum Villain, but even now we're getting to the point where the parodies are also getting stale 😭😭😭. Douluo Continent even used to be a transmigration in the novel but they got rid of it for the live action. Meanwhile, in the US, nobody knows what that means lol...

Similarly, I wonder if SQH's character felt fresh to me only because I am not very familiar with chinese character tropes, having only encountered it before with Ou Si Ke. something to think about

[robininthelabyrinth]

The Other Mountain - ao3 - Chapter 27

Pairing: Lan Qiren/Wen Ruohan

Warning Tags on Ao3

———————————————————————-

Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze led Wen Ruohan and Lan Qiren into the passageways and made their way deep into the secret parts of Jinlin Tower, heading towards what they claimed was some sort of laboratory that would provide them with the answers they required. They were being unduly mysterious, which was both highly annoying and so in character that it was not worth arguing over.

Behind them, the Wen sect disciples had been left to guard the hole in the wall and keep the Jin sect disciples from either following or leaving – to the extent there were any unfortunate revelations to be had here, the four of them had all agreed that it was better to keep them first to themselves.

The Jin sect would learn in time what they deserved to learn, which probably wasn’t much.

For his part, Lan Qiren spent much of the journey in silent contemplation.

He thought first of Wang Liu, who had – well, if Lan Qiren was being completely honest with himself, probably deserved his fate. His ghost had been honest in the manner of the dead, beyond the use of lies. He’d explained succinctly how he had worked loyally for Jin Guangshan until he had realized that the man planned to betray him in exchange for holding off Wen Ruohan’s rage; he had accordingly shifted his loyalties over to Lan Qiren’s brother, reaching an agreement with him that he believed would allow him to preserve his life. He had then later realized that the man was insane, a realization that had likely though not explicitly occurred upon learning that he’d murdered Jin Guangshan, at which point he had rather unwisely tried to double-cross Lan Qiren’s brother and go back to the Jin sect. Floundering and clueless as the Jin sect appeared to be regarding his death, it was likely that last betrayal which had led to it. Though the ghost hadn’t known how he had been killed, the event having come upon him as a complete surprise, the details made it clear who must have been the perpetrator.

Wen Ruohan hadn’t asked, which meant that he already knew.

Lan Qiren…

Lan Qiren genuinely did not understand what his brother was doing.

He never had, that was true, but this seemed beyond even the furthest reaches of his imagination. Truly his brother must have gone mad, genuinely mad. Why would he ally with Jin Guangshan, only to later kill him? Why kill Wang Liu so recklessly, practically in front of their eyes? What was his goal? What did he even have left to live for, knowing that He Kexin was dead at his own hands and that Lan Qiren would never tolerate letting him escape justice for what he’d done? Did he really want to kill everyone in the world, as Wen Ruohan had suggested?

Lan Qiren wanted to say Surely not and he would never and some of those people are his friends, but he didn’t think his brother had any friends, not anymore. Lao Nie had been his friend once, perhaps, and several others besides, but his brother had ruthlessly accounted for them all in his original plan. He had used his friendship with them in the most awful of ways, using what he knew about them to manipulate them, plotting a course that could and would have led to their deaths or at least their shame and grief and guilt. Still worse, he had done so without any shred of remorse, and even now there seemed to be no sign of regret – or of changing course.

He had to be stopped.

He had – and Lan Qiren really and truly hated to admit it – to be killed.

The fact that only he and a few others knew the truth of what he’d done did not change this fact.

Justice had to be meted out. That was Lan Qiren’s bottom line, the point of no return past which he would not go, the point past which he could not go without losing everything worthwhile about himself. It was a fundamental part of who he was. Lan Qiren knew himself to be a rigid man, someone who would break but not bend, and this was something he could not give in on. Hadn’t he just nearly had a qi deviation just thinking about how those in his sect had perjured morality and closed their eyes to injustice? As Cangse Sanren had pointed out, if all their principles of justice and righteousness were abandoned, then what was the point?

Lan Qiren did not see his efforts at concealing the truth of his brother’s actions from the world as contrary to that steadfast belief. Justice was paramount, morality the priority, learning first – but harmony was also the truest value, and the Lan sect rules had always counseled against excess, whether in joy or grief or self-sacrifice. The rules imposed Do not tell lies instead of Tell the truth, and that, too, was the wisdom of Lan Qiren’s ancestors. Truth was an instrument, to be played when it would help achieve the loftier goals of justice, of harmony, of kindness, of righteousness, and kept silent where it would not.

If the cultivation world found out what Lan Qiren’s brother had done, it would disgrace not only his brother, who thoroughly deserved it, and his sect, which could probably stand to be at least a little disgraced, but also very specifically his nephews. Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji would grow up the sons of an acknowledged murderer, a madman, in a world that did not absolve children of their parents’ sins. They would be shunned by their peers, disdained by women (or men, if their preferences ran that way), blacklisted by all the respectable matchmakers and mocked in their efforts no matter how much they accomplished, no matter how perfect they were in their own conduct. No matter what they did, everyone would always be waiting for them to go mad as well.

Lan Qiren did not want that.

His brother needed to be punished and justice restored; that much was unquestionable. But he was a member of one of the Great Sects, and according to long-standing tradition and written treaties both, that meant the Lan sect had the first say in meting out his punishment. Lan Qiren might have married out, but he had the right surname and the closest blood connection, and he could therefore claim that right of punishment in his sect’s name if they would not – and claim it he would, because having first right only meant the right to be first. If the Lan sect failed to punish one of their own, if they tried to let his brother go free in contravention to all justice and morality, then they gave up that right, and the right and obligation to seek punishment would flow to the next-most victims.

And the Jin sect, having lost both their sect leader and all their face, would pursue that punishment to its utmost bitter end with not one bit of care about what life would be like for Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji in the aftermath.

That was why Wen Ruohan was helping Lan Qiren now, helping him buy the time he needed. Time for them to find his brother and to stop him by whatever means necessary, time for them to keep the punishment inside the confines of the Lan sect where the collateral damage could be minimized. Time enough to convince the Lan sect of the necessity of that punishment – a trial and sentence, if they could take him into custody, and death, if they could not. Time for Lan Qiren to take that first right and try his hardest to make a terrible situation with no good results end better than it might have otherwise.

It was perhaps a little insane to feel warm about the fact that his wife was helping him manipulate a murder investigation.

Lan Qiren thought once more about that painting, obsession, and decided it was fine.

(Or, well, at least that it was mutual.)

Of course, he immediately then began contemplating – worrying, really, if he were being honest with himself, a virtue he often strove for and just as often failed in – whether he was being hypocritical, as his brother had several times accused him of being. To claim that the madness of love he felt was righteous, and that that of another was not, would seem to be the first and easiest fallacy to fall into; “acceptable for me but not for you” was the first step of any hypocrisy. It was necessary to seek to evaluate everything he did from an objective standpoint, without clouding the eyes with undue passion or excuses borne out of love instead of reason.

Still, after some considerable consideration, Lan Qiren genuinely did not think that was the case.

His brother’s madness was not love, as Lan Qiren felt it. He had turned against He Kexin not for any just cause, not for any rational reason that made him feel as if he had no choice in acting against her, but only because she did not love him as he loved her, a fact he had already known when he’d married her. He’d murdered her for disagreeing with him, murdered her out of jealousy, and he hadn’t sought to punish himself for what he’d done, only others. He had blamed others for what he had done – first Lan Qiren, and then the world…never himself.

Their madness, insofar as it had been based on love, was not the same.

Similarly, Lan Qiren’s efforts to cover up his brother’s actions in order to have the chance to bring him to justice with as few negative side-effects as possible were in no way comparable to his sect elders’ complicity in covering up the crimes of the mine, choosing to use He Kexin as a scapegoat and never seeking justice at all. Lan Qiren had been willing to hide He Kexin’s murder from public knowledge for his nephew’s sakes, when he had believed that to be her crime, because he had known that she was being punished for it; he would only be willing to hide his brother’s crimes, if he could, for the same reason.

It was not the same.

Despite what his brother might think, Lan Qiren was not a hypocrite.

She thought you were a hypocrite. Stupid woman.

Lan Qiren paused: that was Wen Ruohan speaking, but it was an unfamiliar memory. From last night, perhaps? Wen Ruohan had asked him to alert him if –

Ah.

There were the rest of yesterday’s memories.

Including the ones where he –

Ah.

Grateful for the relative dimness of the tunnels, which hid how red his face was turning, Lan Qiren retracted the hand he had reached out to Wen Ruohan, intending on alerting him to his recovered memories as he’d requested, and delivered a sharp kick to his shin instead.

Predictably, Wen Ruohan did not stumble, but instead turned and smirked at him, clearly realizing exactly what it was that had motivated his action.

The heat in Lan Qiren’s face got worse. He couldn’t believe that he’d actually – in a public room – and in such a bestial fashion, no less! Even if Wen Ruohan had been egging him on, and he had been, thoroughly, his own behavior really had gone beyond the pale. Particularly the bits that weren’t strictly sex-related, though Wen Ruohan had certainly reacted as if they were, vocally appreciative to great extent. It wasn’t that Lan Qiren didn’t agree with his drunken self that Wen Ruohan desperately needed to be turned over his knee and given a good thrashing, but still, to actually do it…

Though he supposed if Wen Ruohan really had enjoyed it as much as he’d appeared to, perhaps the restrictions he had placed on his behavior were a little more arbitrary than he had hitherto considered. Something to think about.

…not the bit about being in public, though. They were another sect’s guests, bound by etiquette and the rules of hospitality! To behave in such a manner was utterly disgraceful!

“Here we are!” Cangse Sanren announced.

Lan Qiren shook his head to clear it, as now was most eminently not the time and place for such thoughts, and stepped out of the passageway into a broader room. It was a frightful place, by any token: dark and gloomy, with chains and cages and sinister contraptions on the wall, some of which Lan Qiren recognized from Wen Ruohan’s Fire Palace…though the quality was not quite as good.

He couldn’t believe that he knew enough about torture implements to make that judgment.

He kicked Wen Ruohan again for good measure.

(When Wen Ruohan gave him a puzzled look in response, Lan Qiren pointedly looked at a few of the pieces, then mouthed the word inferior at him, which caused Wen Ruohan to let out a bark of laughter that made Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze look at the two of them oddly.

Lan Qiren refused to explain.)

That room, however, turned out to only be the entrance, with the main attraction being centered in the next room they entered: a much larger but more vacant room, with only a few forges and other such things pushed out to the sides, and in the center, a vast and ominous-looking array, glowing with a dull light, already activated and ready to go to work.

It was massive, even as arrays went, and extraordinarily complicated: more circles than Lan Qiren had ever seen, with dizzying geometric designs, all sorts of runes and other complex equations built in. It was filled with spiritual energy, emitting a low-pitched hum that shook the bones. It was exceptionally menacing.

Wen Ruohan went over to examine it at once.

“We figured Sect Leader Wen would be able to handle it,” Wei Changze said with satisfaction and not a little bit of relief. “It took us some doing to even get this far and find it – apparently, the door lock to this particular room only opens for someone with Jin blood. Luckily not limited to the main line, at least!”

“We got it voluntarily,” Cangse Sanren said. “Don’t look so worried, Qiren-gege.”

Lan Qiren, pained, decided not to ask about the details.

“What else have you managed to learn?” he asked. “How did you even find this place?”

“Let’s answer that first question, since you don’t want to hear the answer to the second – ”

Lan Qiren narrowed his eyes.

“– purely because it was very boring and involved a lot of following people around using papermen in a reckless and inadvisable fashion, plus at least one attempted sexcapade – ”

“We started kissing so that someone wouldn’t pay attention to us,” Wei Changze said proudly. He was just as bad as his wife, actually. Lan Qiren was starting in retrospect to worry about what bad lessons his nephews might have picked up while in their care. “It was great.”

“It was,” Cangse Sanren said, nodding. “Very sexy of us.”

Lan Qiren did not throw anything at either of them, but only because there was nothing to hand.

“You said that you could help us in identifying the nature of the curse that killed Wang Liu and Jin Guangshan,” he said patiently. “I assume that’s the array? How did you determine it was related to their deaths rather than being for some other purpose, such as a protective array or something like that?”

“No one would keep their protective array in a creepy laboratory of death,” Wei Changze said.

Lan Qiren thought about the Fire Palace’s record-keeping function and grimaced in disagreement.

“We captured and interrogated one of the Jin sect disciples that were here when we got here,” Cangse Sanren said, more helpfully. “He confirmed all sorts of interesting things, including that this array had only been set up after the events of the mountain at Xixiang, that it was something very secret that only the sect leader and a very select few knew about…and most importantly, after a little encouragement, he told us what it does.”

“Tell me you did not torture him for information,” Lan Qiren said, pinching his brow.

“What, your lover gets to torture people and we don’t? That’s just blatant favoritism, Qiren-gege…”

“We scared him and then knocked him out,” Wei Changze assured him earnestly. “Don’t worry.”

Lan Qiren inclined his head in thanks. Very begrudging thanks. “I am not worried. I am impatient. Will you proceed to the part where you tell me what the array does?”

“That’s the interesting part!”

Lan Qiren assumed that meant he wasn’t going to like it.

“As far as we can figure,” Cangse Sanren said, “the whole thing is actually meant to drain spiritual energy.”

Lan Qiren frowned and reached up to stroke his beard. He’d been right: he didn’t like it.

“Drain spiritual energy?” he asked. “What does that even mean? I have heard of arrays meant to improve the ability of a given area to contain spiritual energy, and inversions to make a place more unlucky or less auspicious, and naturally there are spells to use up what spiritual energy is available, however unwise those may be. But what does it mean to ‘drain’ spiritual energy?”

“I think Qingheng-jun told Sect Leader Jin that he could pull off something like what Sect Leader Wen did at Xixang if only he had enough power,” Wei Changze said. His mirth had faded away, and he looked unusually solemn. “The only difficulty was in gathering that power, which had taken Sect Leader Wen a century or more to accumulate – time they didn’t have. So they decided to go with a shortcut by obtaining it from cultivators directly.”

“What?”

Orthodox cultivation taught that each cultivator had to train themselves in order to generate and use their own spiritual energy: to absorb qi from the world around them, to form a golden core, to further refine and strengthen their golden core through hard work and effort. Draining the spiritual energy of another person, using their efforts as substitute for your own, building cultivation on each other’s corpses rather than their own strength – that was demonic cultivation, surely!

“Technically yes, though demonic cultivation is a larger category of which this sort of ‘drainage’ technique would just be one subgroup,” Wei Changze said when Lan Qiren said as much. “Orthodox cultivation has always categorized almost all usage of resentful energy, particularly when involving resentful energy generated by human beings, as demonic cultivation, regardless of the type, methodology, or purpose involved. This is likely because the side effects of utilizing – or rather, mishandling – resentful energy is similar throughout, with corrosive effects to the temperament and often judgment and morality. While traveling, we’ve actually encountered any number of different legends about – ”

Cangse Sanren tapped him on the shoulder. “Not the time for academia, husband mine. Qiren will be happy to hear about it later.”

“I would be delighted,” Lan Qiren assured him. As someone with his own set of special interests which consumed his mind whenever mentioned, he was always willing to listen to others who were willing to listen to him…even if it was on as unsavory a subject as demonic cultivation. Wei Changze had strange interests. “But I agree with Cangse Sanren, perhaps later.”

“Right, right, of course. Later is fine.” Wei Changze coughed. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to get distracted. Where were we?”

On second thought, perhaps discussing demonic cultivation was the lesser of the two evils here.

Sadly, they didn’t have much choice in the matter.

“Jin Guangshan’s plans to use cultivators to provide my brother – and himself, presumably – with additional power.” Lan Qiren grimaced in disgust. “What a vile plan. I cannot believe Jin Guangshan would do such a thing to his own people…!”

“Oh, he didn’t,” Cangse Sanren said, and pointed to one of the forges that had been pushed to the side – or at least, which Lan Qiren had previously assumed had merely been pushed to the side. “He planned to use everyone else’s.”

Lan Qiren walked over to the forge, which was not a forge, exactly. He didn’t quite know the word for what it was: a place where one could pour molten metal into molds, casting some figure or item…

He blanched.

“Surely not,” he said, recognizing the symbol on the mold. “Those terrible coins he was handing out?!”

“Cursed coins are a classic,” Cangse Sanren said with a shrug.

“From what you and Sect Leader Wen told us, Sect Leader Jin was handing them out to everyone who participated in the events at Xixiang, claiming that they were a means of commemorating the grand night-hunt that had unified the cultivation world,” Wei Changze said. “Which meant that even if people knew that it was just his attempt to buy good will, they would still accept the coins, whether from pride, not wanting to be left out, or even, like Cangse and me, just because they were made of gold and therefore able to be resold.”

It made a sick sort of sense.

The Jin sect excelled at applying spells to gold and silver – they produced the finest spiritual ornaments in the cultivation world, ranging from jeweled hair pins to elaborate necklaces to belt adornments to ornate golden fans. There was a reason that Jin Guangshan was able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the other leaders of the Great Sects, beyond merely his wealth and heritage and despite his own mediocre level of cultivation; he was usually dripping with enchanted wealth, spelled for protection and sometimes offense. It was unwise to discount the Jin sect’s ability in this field, just like no one would doubt Qinghe Nie’s skill in producing sabers.

It wouldn’t be hard for Jin Guangshan to find someone to pour the metal and cast the coins, nor for him to arrange one casting of the coins to be with the curse and one without. And then he’d only need to hand the cursed ones to the rest of the cultivation world, reserving the rest for his own sect, and that would mean that they would remain safe when Lan Qiren’s brother eventually activated the array and drained the spiritual energy from everyone for his own selfish use…

“That is truly terrible,” Lan Qiren said vehemently. “Is there really an array that can do such a thing?”

“No,” Wen Ruohan said.

They all turned to look at him.

“Well, I cannot discount the possibility of such a thing existing, people have always been both clever and lazy,” he said. “But that’s certainly not what this array does.”

“Are you sure? The researcher seemed quite sure, and it tallied up with everything else we discovered,” Cangse Sanren said, pouting a little at having her deductions overturned, but then shrugged it off a moment later. “All right then, I guess we were wrong. What does it do?”

“Nothing.”

They all paused, waiting for an explanation.

None appeared forthcoming.

“What do you mean?” Lan Qiren finally asked. “What does ‘nothing’ entail?”

“No, I mean it does nothing.” Wen Ruohan shrugged when they looked at him. “The spiritual energy pathways all tie into each other until they’re knotted. There’s no exit point: you can feed the array qi and it will light up and look impressive, but functionally, that’s it. It’s a dud.”

“…are you joking right now?” Cangse Sanren asked blankly.

“Not in the slightest,” Wen Ruohan said.

“It’s a dud?!”

“A very fancy dud, yes. If it makes you feel better, I’m sure the rest of your deductions were correct, or at least that they matched up to the false bill of goods being sold to Jin Guangshan as a miracle pathway to power,” he said dryly. “Only Qingheng-jun decided not to bother with all the effort involved in finding or inventing an array that could drain spiritual energy from living cultivators, which may or may not be impossible. He just cursed the coins directly.”

“He fooled Jin Guangshan,” Lan Qiren realized. “That was the purpose behind the array: it was to trick Jin Guangshan into helping him create and then spread the cursed coins!”

And if the array for draining energy was fake, then the true purpose of the cursed coins was likely to be the traditional one – namely, the death of anyone who possessed one.

Wen Ruohan had been right. His brother really did want to kill everyone.

Lan Qiren felt sick to his stomach.

“Well, I mean, cursed coins,” Cangse Sanren said. “Like I said, they’re a classic. There’s a reason for that.”

“Indeed there is,” Wen Ruohan said. “When it comes to finding a way to kill a great number of people to whom you do not have immediate access, there is scarcely any better – although removing the array from the equation does mean that this attempt at murder is far less creative than Qingheng-jun’s previous efforts. I suppose he must have put all his energy into devising his first plan, leaving nothing behind for this shoddily crafted fallback.”

“Isn’t that a good thing for us?” Wei Changze asked. “That it’s not creative, I mean?”

“Not necessarily. Creativity often means innovation, and innovation leaves loopholes that can be exploited, whereas using a tried-and-true method has the advantage of reliability. For instance, a curse on coins has a less obvious focal point – moreover, I’m not familiar with an array that generates a curse quite like the one we have observed, or for that matter a curse like that at all, excluding arrays from consideration. Even if the method is crude, the curse itself is quite clever. I like to think that I would have thought of something similar myself, in time…cultivators do so love their swords.” He snorted. “Or their sabers, I suppose. Such a thing would be tremendously effective on someone like Lao Nie, who treats his saber better than his sons.”

Better than his lovers, you mean, Lan Qiren thought, a little spitefully, then felt bad: When others lose to you, do not look down on them.

“I can’t even imagine the look on his face if something like that was used on him,” Wen Ruohan continued, shaking his head. “His expression – to see his precious Jiwei cracking in two right before his eyes – ”

Something about the way Wen Ruohan had phrased it suddenly caused something to flit across Lan Qiren’s mind. It was a memory, very faint, of something he’d read once but not especially cared to remember. Something obscure, given that the subject was curses. But definitely some text, the memory accompanied by the familiar feeling of pages unde his fingertips, the smell of ink, the pleasant exercise of learning something…

Perhaps it was a reading he had come across while searching for ideas for one of his classes? No, that didn’t seem right.

It didn’t seem like something he’d read for sect business, either, and neither did it fall into the memories of the times he had helped others in his sect do the research necessary to solve a tricky issue that had arisen in one of their night-hunts – it felt like something he had read alone.

But why would he have read a treatise on curses? That was hardly something he would read for pleasure…

Lan Qiren abruptly recalled where he’d encountered it.

It wasn’t reading for pleasure, necessarily, or at least not how he’d term it, even though it had not been motivated by any actual requirement.

It had been his brother.

Lan Qiren had once used to read every book his brother had ever requested, cherishing the rare notes that his brother had left behind for the servants that only came to his seclusion in order to clean and leave food and items. At the start, he’d hoped that it would give them something to discuss through his brother’s closed door, though that had never come to pass; his brother had ignored Lan Qiren so completely that his visits had swiftly turned more into recitations than anything else, reading out a report without any expectation of commentary. Even after he realized that he would never find common ground with his brother, he’d never really stopped skimming the books that were sent in for his brother’s reading pleasure. He’d gotten into the habit by then, and since it had served as a good way to find new books to recommend (or not) to He Kexin, he’d carried on in the same fashion he’d started.

This memory had come from one of those books.

“Ah,” he said.

“It appears that I’ve been underestimating the Gusu Lan library,” Wen Ruohan said archly.

“No, it makes sense,” Cangse Sanren said, though she was suppressing a smile. “We all agree that it was Qingheng-jun who was the one planning this, wasn’t he? He knows what his sect knows, so it only stands to reason that Qiren would have a better chance of figuring out what curse he used.”

“How did they both manage to read up on the same obscure curse, though?” Wei Changze said. “Assuming the library in the Cloud Recesses is even bigger than the one in the Lotus Pier, that seems like rather a coincidence. Fengmian and I almost never read the same books, except when we had overlapping interests – oof! What did I say?”

“Nothing of value, husband mine. Consider the value of silence instead.”

“But –”

“Qiren,” Wen Ruohan interrupted. “What can you tell us about this curse?”

“Not much that is relevant,” Lan Qiren said, too busy mentally sorting through his memories to figure out what exactly what they were trying to distract him from – he didn’t have enough mental energy to spare to also figure out social situations. The majority of what he recalled about that particular reading pertained to the way the underlying part of the curse functioned, utilizing certain musical elements to achieve its aims, specifically, the crack of shattering steel rebounding through the body with an echo effect. Hardly the most effective means of accomplishing the goal, though an unusual one…however, he suspected no one would very much care about the technical details at present. “Other than the means of attack, I believe it was fairly standard.”

“Is there a standard for curses?” Wei Changze asked. He looked interested and appreciative of Lan Qiren’s knowledge, which Lan Qiren could appreciate. “Do you know a great deal about curses, Lan Qiren?”

“Leash your dog, Cangse Sanren, or I will do it for you,” Wen Ruohan informed her.

She rolled her eyes back at him, but did in fact reach out and tug her husband’s collar.

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” Wei Changze protested to her. “I really do want to know more about it.”

“Later. You can wrap it into the discussion about demonic cultivation.”

Lan Qiren decided to ignore them.

“I do not know more about curses than I know about most things,” he explained, although for whatever reason that made Wen Ruohan smirk as if proud of something, Wei Changze smile, and Cangse Sanren snort in amusement. “I only mean that it is not dissimilar to other curses: it is meant to cause death. There is nothing special about how it operates, other than that it takes a longer route to accomplish the same goal as a regular curse – in fact, I would say that the only thing that makes it different from other curses is its obscurity, and perhaps the dissipation of spiritual energy afterwards.”

“I suspect that that latter one is sufficient reason for its use here,” Wen Ruohan said. “Jin Guangshan would have demanded a demonstration of the curse’s ability to ‘drain’ cultivators of power, and seeing the energy dissipate would have been sufficient for him.”

“That is reasonable. In terms of how the curse is done, that is also typical: it can be cast directly on another individual or, as in this case, indirectly on an object, with the goal of it triggering later. I think what is most interesting here is the use of coins, as curses used on cursed coins are typically monomorphic in nature – ”

“I really need to visit Gusu Lan’s library,” Wei Changze mused.

“I’m going to stop you there, Qiren-gege,” Cangse Sanren interrupted, although she was grinning. “For the same reason that I stopped Changze: now is not the time for academia. Let’s be practical – the array’s a dud, and you know what curse he’s using. How do we stop it? Is there another triggering array hidden somewhere?”

Lan Qiren must have been going too deeply into theory despite himself.

He cleared his throat, a little embarrassed, and tugged at his beard.

“I do not believe there is any array that controls the form of the curse,” he said. “On the contrary, I think that the coins were created and then cursed, just the one time, which would mean that there is only a single predetermined action that is set to function as the trigger, the mechanism that causes the curse to take effect.”

“So what you’re saying is that the curse on the coins is going to lie dormant until someone does the specific thing that sets it off,” Wei Changze observed. “That makes sense and is certainly more traditional, especially for cursed coins, but it makes things trickier for us. Both Jin Guangshan and what’s-his-name Wang must have done the same thing, but since we don’t have eyewitnesses to either death, we have no basis to figure out what the trigger action is.”

“I don’t suppose anyone would be amenable to testing it out with some of the coins we have in stock…?” Wen Ruohan held up his hands when they all glared at him. “So noted. A better question, then: do we care?”

“What do you mean?” Lan Qiren asked, puzzled. Wen Ruohan had been joking the first time, possibly, but his second question appeared to be wholly sincere – yet he could not understand why they would not care. Curses were pernicious, and they did not know how many of the gold coins had been taken by Wen sect disciples. Even putting aside morality, or what morality he was willing to assume for Lan Qiren’s sake, Wen Ruohan would not risk his Wen disciples so callously. So what did he mean?

“He’s right,” Cangse Sanren said, surprising Lan Qiren. “We don’t care. The curse is in the coins. That makes it easy! We don’t actually need to undo the curse. We just need everyone to get rid of the coins before they trigger them.”

That…made sense.

“The coins have all been scattered by now, all the way throughout the cultivation world,” Lan Qiren said. “Yet we have not been hearing about mysterious deaths occurring anywhere but here. The trigger must not be that straightforward an action, nothing that would activate too soon – which makes sense, assuming my brother did not want people to immediately suspect the coins, and therefore the Jin sect, of what he was doing.”

“That gives us some time, at least,” Cangse Sanren said. “Which is good: I desperately need a bath. Do you know that crawling through dusty corners is awful, actually?”

“How are we going to convince people to give the coins up?” Wei Changze asked, even though he was just as dusty as she was. Lan Qiren even thought he saw a spiderweb in the other man’s crown. “I mean…the coins are made of gold. If someone came up to me and asked me to give them up to them, I’d be suspicious that they were out to cheat me.”

“Or rob you of your valor, given that it was meant to act as a prize for participants,” Wen Ruohan said. “Which means that even if we offer them a gold coin of equal value in exchange, they may not wish to accept. Naturally this is not a problem for my sect – no one is going to countermand my order, and if they do, they’d be getting what they deserve.”

“Perhaps that is the answer,” Lan Qiren said, ignoring Cangse Sanren’s snort of help someone else for once. “The leaders of the Great Sects have more authority than most. If each one gives the order to collect the coins, especially paired with remuneration in equal value, they would be able to obtain the majority of the coins from not only their own sects, but their subsidiary sects as well.”

“And the minor sects would catch wind of there being something wrong with the coins and be in a hurry to get rid of them, especially if there’s an equal or better exchange being offered,” Cangse Sanren agreed. “I know your sect doesn’t like gossip, Qiren, but you must admit there’s some value in it.”

“When it has value, it is news, not gossip,” Lan Qiren informed her, making her laugh. “Do we need to worry about the Jin sect itself? If my brother was planning on tricking Jin Guangshan, he might not have refrained from cursing the coins that were meant to go to the Jin sect’s own disciples, or to its own subsidiary sects. They are currently lacking a sect leader, and Madam Jin might not want to issue such an order without adequate explanation…”

She almost certainly wouldn’t, in fact. And even if she did, it was uncertain if the Jin sect would believe that any orders she gave were free of coercion…

“I wasn’t planning on letting her give the order,” Wen Ruohan said mildly. “I do have that army sitting outside. They’re probably getting rather bored with nothing to do – a search for a needle in a haystack, or a bunch of cursed gold coins in the hotbed of gold items that is Jinlin Tower, sounds just right.”

It sounded like the Jin sect was going to be in for a fairly miserable time.

“That sounds reasonable,” Lan Qiren said, conceding the point. It wasn’t the Jin sect’s disciples’ fault that they had as terrible a sect leader as Jin Guangshan, but boats rose and fell with the tide; they were ants on the same branch as him whether they liked it or not. “Provided you ensure that your army does not do anything outrageous in the process.”

“I’ll give orders that strict military discipline will apply,” Wen Ruohan promised, which was good.

(Somewhat less good was the suggestion that military discipline wouldn’t normally apply, but it was the Wen sect, after all. There were limits to the sorts of ethics Lan Qiren could reasonably expect to see before he’d had a chance to make some serious changes and enough time to make sure they would stick.)

“I can go to the Jiang sect,” Wei Changze volunteered. “Cangse shouldn’t, since she’s nominally guarding the kids right now – and I’m better at avoiding answering questions about uncomfortable things like that. Fengmian will listen to me on something like this.”

“He’ll listen, but will he do anything?”

Wei Changze sighed. “I think so. I’ll do my best to get Yu Ziyuan on board as well – she doesn’t like me, but she doesn’t hate me, either.”

“Another good reason not to send me,” Cangse Sanren said, then shrugged. “I guess that leaves me to go tell the Nie sect? That’ll be fun, I don’t think I’ve been to the Unclean Realm in years.”

She paused, then belatedly winced.

“Oh, sorry, Qiren-gege,” she said.

Lan Qiren frowned. “For what?”

“I just assumed you’d be the one going to the Cloud Recesses to tell the Lan sect,” she said. “Wouldn’t that be awkward?”

“Why would it be awkward?” he asked, puzzled. “Even if I married out, I’m still a Lan, and a member of the main family. Naturally I should be the one to go to them. I am the one most likely to be believed.”

He was painfully aware of how slow his sect was to trust in news from the outside. Some of them claimed that it was just obeying the rules against gossip, but Lan Qiren suspected it had more to do with a violation of Do not form a clique to exclude others.

Still: even if his marriage had now rendered him an outsider, he was still a Lan of the main sect line, and more than that, he had been their acting sect leader for ten years. That was not nothing. He knew how to make them listen.

And…the coins were not the only business Lan Qiren had with them.

Lan Zhengquan – the other sect elders –

Lan Qiren’s brother had claimed that they’d all known, to greater or lesser degree, and that they’d all refused to share their knowledge with him, purposefully deceiving him. Lan Qiren needed to know how true that was. He needed to know how far the rot extended. He needed to make them see that they had to excise that rot, destroy the corruption of their values root and branch, if the Lan sect were to hold its head up high in the cultivaiton world once more.

“What about my brother?” he asked, thinking of another problem. “We speculate that he fought with Jin Guangshan, and he certainly must have been here to create the coins, but we do not know where he has gone.”

“I expect he’s still here, hiding somewhere,” Wen Ruohan said. “Jin Guangshan’s death was too recent – my forward scouts were already here, setting up detection arrays. Between the scouts and my spies, they would have noticed if someone tried to escape the city, and now that my army is here and searching the city, there will be no chance left to leave; it is impossible for him to run away even if he wanted to. Do not be concerned – I will find him for you, Qiren. You go to the Cloud Recesses.”

Lan Qiren smiled, thinking once more of the painting: obsession, he’d titled it in his head, but it could also be called merely love, if a very particular form of it.

But perhaps, for Wen Ruohan, the painting would best be termed something even rarer than love: trust.

He was letting Lan Qiren go, and back to the Cloud Recesses of all places. Back to his home, back to where he had supporters and a Great Sect of his own to back him – if Lan Qiren wanted to leave Wen Ruohan, or to turn against him, this would be the best moment for it. Now, when Wen Ruohan was weakened; now, when his forces were committed far away from the Nightless City; now, when he trusted him.

Lan Qiren would not betray that trust.

And neither would he overlook what Wen Ruohan was doing for him – because it was for him that he was doing it. Finding Lan Qiren’s brother was a necessity, of course, as necessary as finding and putting down any mad dog. But sending Lan Qiren away…

I will find him for you, Wen Ruohan had said, but he meant I will kill him for you.

Knowing that they were discussing his brother’s death should have made Lan Qiren feel bad.

It didn’t.

Later, when he had time, he would mourn his brother properly. He would mourn the possibility of his brother, really, rather than the man he’d become in the end, but that would be enough to fulfill his duties, whether to his brother, to his family, or merely to himself as a younger brother. And when he did, he would take the time to properly mourn He Kexin as well, as he should.

For the moment, he would be grateful for what he had, however unexpectedly he’d obtained it.

“We have a plan, then,” Lan Qiren said firmly. “I will set out tomorrow morning, at the earliest opportunity.”

“We can leave tomorrow, too,” Cangse Sanren agreed, then made a face. “Though maybe…not quite as early as whatever you mean…you Lan are all insane…”

Lan Qiren sighed and ignored her.

“How much do you need to do to get started with the search on your end?” he asked Wen Ruohan as they walked out of the hidden laboratory. “Although current events naturally take priority, if there is an opportunity I should very much like to play you the song I wrote for you.”

“In that case, very little time,” Wen Ruohan said with a faint smirk.

Lan Qiren left him to it and returned to their rooms. He didn’t have anything he needed to pack, as he’d arrived at Jinlin Tower with little more than the bare essentials and had never had the opportunity to unpack, but he hadn’t come here for that.

Guqin in hand, he began setting up an extensive set of privacy wards, layering them on several times over, and then over again. It was almost certainly overkill, but they’d been subject to an assassination attempt once before, and Lan Qiren wanted them to be able to sleep without concern.

As well as – other distracting things.

He had promised to be diligent, after all. Diligence is the root.

“Tell me, Qiren,” Wen Ruohan said upon arriving and observing Lan Qiren’s preparations. “Is there something about Lanling that particularly inspires you? Or is this just good luck on my part?”

“Purely the latter,” Lan Qiren said dryly. “I assure you.”

Wen Ruohan chuckled. “Why so many, though? Do you have a particular concern that we will be attacked while sleeping tonight?”

He seemed to be suggesting that Lan Qiren was being unnecessarily paranoid. Ironically enough, Lan Qiren was well aware that if he confirmed that he had such a suspicion, Wen Ruohan’s own paranoia would then ensure he did not sleep at all.

Lan Qiren wouldn’t do that to him, but for a moment he was tempted.

“I do not,” he said. “However, I wanted to ensure that we had some privacy, as I had hoped that we could try dual cultivation this evening.”

Lan Qiren was a little disappointed when Wen Ruohan’s expression of mild approval and teasing did not change in any way at his words. He’d hoped that being unexpectedly blunt with the request would have a greater and more amusing impact.

However, Wen Ruohan also didn’t say anything, so eventually Lan Qiren prompted: “If that would be acceptable to you?”

Wen Ruohan blinked extremely slowly, as if moving through water, and then said, with unusual politeness: “Forgive me, you may need to repeat yourself.”

Lan Qiren felt a sudden urge to laugh, though he suppressed it immediately. It seemed he’d gotten his desired-for impact, only it was even more impactful and more humorous than he’d originally suspected. Truly, Wen Ruohan could be very funny…often when he least expected to be.

“I would like to dual cultivate with you this evening,” he said, and watched as Wen Ruohan seemed to absorb that statement with remarkable slowness. “I also would like to play for you. I do not expect that either will have much effect, but it would please me to know that you have as much power at your command as possible when you go up against my brother.”

“Oh,” Wen Ruohan said, and sat down heavily on the bed, all at once, as if he were a puppet whose strings had just been cut. “Yes, that makes sense.”

Lan Qiren arched his eyebrows. “Do I want to know what you were thinking?”

“Many things, none helpful,” Wen Ruohan said, which meant his thoughts had probably been especially pornographic in nature. “Are you certain about the dual cultivation? It’s not necessary. I am quite confident in defeating him either way.”

“If it is not something you want to do, we do not have to,” Lan Qiren said, tilting his head to the side and wondering at Wen Ruohan’s atypical hesitancy. Most of the time, the other man was goading him on to further acts of debauchery, not acting skittish – he hoped that he had not inadvertently misstepped, somehow. Was there some sort of etiquette he should have followed…? “You had previously expressed an interest in doing it, that was all. I thought now seemed like a good time.”

Would making a joke about carriages be inappropriate? Was this a sensitive subject or something? Something that had happened to Wen Ruohan in the past –

“You’re not – worried?”

Oh. Of course.

Understanding dawned.

It wasn’t that Lan Qiren did not know what risks dual cultivation entailed. They would be merging their qi together, achieving harmony, accessing something deep within each other, and in so doing they would leave themselves vulnerable to the worst sort of theft. It was a little like the fictional array his brother had invented, and no doubt the reason Jin Guangshan was so willing to believe in it: this was the only way Lan Qiren knew of that cultivators could steal each other’s spiritual energy. Once they were dual cultivating, they each of them had the chance to destroy the other, if they wanted, or drain away the other’s cultivation and leave them empty and broken – or, well, Wen Ruohan could drain him dry, while Lan Qiren could at least make a significant dent in Wen Ruohan’s remaining power, leaving him weak and powerless just before his brother attacked him.

And that made all of Wen Ruohan’s hesitations make far more sense. It was exactly what his painting had already told Lan Qiren: the thing that had been most missing in Wen Ruohan’s life until now, that which he lacked most, was not love, nor lust, nor friendship, but trust. Someone he could feel safe in trusting, but also someone who would trust in him: someone who would give him the benefit of the doubt, who would side with him first simply for his own sake, someone to believe in him, with an unshakeable faith.

Luckily for him, Lan Qiren had that in spades.

“No,” he said. “I trust you.”

Wen Ruohan looked as though he’d just been struck by lightning.

Lan Qiren politely averted his eyes for a little while to let him have some privacy as he collected himself.

“I do want to play for you first, however,” he remarked after a few moments had passed, changing the subject. “I know a number of songs that can be used to enhance meditation and improve energy, and of course there is the song I wrote with you in mind – I am not yet certain as to what the purpose it may eventually be put, so playing it for you may be pointless, but as an emotional matter, I would still like to do so.”

“That would be good,” Wen Ruohan said, his voice a little hoarse. “I would very much like to hear it.”

“I will warn you that the same terms apply as to your painting,” Lan Qiren said, moving over to settle by his guqin. “I do not explain my songs. I find that it is impossible to express precisely what I intend using words. They simply do not capture the full extent of my meaning.”

“Mm. ‘If it were possible to simply say what I meant, I wouldn’t have needed to paint it’ – something like that, but with music?”

“Exactly,” Lan Qiren said, and snuck a peek at him: Wen Ruohan looked much better, though his expression was still uncharacteristically soft. It was nice. “Going back to the subject of dual cultivation, as you can imagine, I am thoroughly inexperienced in how it would go. Would you like to take the lead? Or the assertive position, for that matter?”

That seemed to give Wen Ruohan yet another shock: he stared blankly at Lan Qiren for another long moment.

“You go both ways?” he asked, a little incredulous. “Since when?”

“…you do remember that I came to your bed a virgin, correct?” Lan Qiren asked, a little bewildered by the question. “You made fun at my expense over it? Several times? How would I have known if I preferred one to the other? I just went with what felt right at the time.”

Wen Ruohan opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again – then repeated the whole process a few more times, looking increasingly aggravated each time.

In fact, overall, he seemed to be deeply vexed by something, though Lan Qiren couldn’t begin to guess what. Some internal debate or shockingly overturned assumption he’d made, presumably.

“Receiving does not seem that difficult?” Lan Qiren hazarded a guess. “Unless there is something I’ve missed?”

Wen Ruohan snorted, and all of a sudden, he no longer looked annoyed, all the tension leaving his shoulders as he relaxed. “No, nothing like that,” he said. “I think you have a good grasp on the mechanics by now. This is on me: I should stop being surprised at being surprised by you…tell me, do you really not mind? The thought of being the one being taken, I mean?”

Lan Qiren had heard some strange things about sex before, but this one seemed especially bizarre. “I already told you that sex is not an imposition to me, but a duty I am happy to fulfill. Why would the position matter?”

“I’ve often asked myself the same question,” Wen Ruohan remarked. “I have yet to receive an adequate answer. And yet, some people think it does.”

“I enjoy the position I generally take,” Lan Qiren said with a shrug. He was not ‘some people’ and never had been. “I have never especially yearned to try the other way around, but perhaps it would be valuable as a learning experience…?”

Wen Ruohan stifled a laugh in his sleeve. “Let us save that for another time. I would prefer not to distract you right before you go confront your sect elders – I assume you are planning to raise the issue of the mine with them?”

“Of course. How could I not? Justice has already been delayed long enough.”

“I thought you’d say that. I almost regret not being there to see their expressions, but I suspect that if I were there, they wouldn’t make them.”

Lan Qiren inclined his head in agreement.

“As for dual cultivation…” Wen Ruohan paused.

“We do not have to,” Lan Qiren said firmly. “It was only a thought – ”

“I like it.”

Lan Qiren paused, a little frustrated: Wen Ruohan could be so mercurial at times.

Wen Ruohan laughed at him, clearly identifying the expression on his face.

“I would very much enjoy dual cultivating with you,” he said. “In spite of the risks of it – because of the risks of it. I like the idea that you would bare yourself to me and give me everything you can, wanting me to be strong, wanting me to have power, not because you fear me, but because you fear losing me.”

He smirked.

“After all, the one advantage of being in love with a bastard like me is my longevity, is it not?”

Lan Qiren groaned. Wen Ruohan was never going to let him live that one down, ever.

“Well, for my part, I look forward to what it will do to you.”

“To me?” Lan Qiren asked, surprised. “What do you mean?”

“Proper dual cultivation benefits both parties, but the weaker one benefits more,” Wen Ruohan said, confident as ever. “I want to see your face when the power comes to you. I want to send you back to your sect glowing – I want them to see that beautifully pure golden core of yours shining through your eyes, and know what a treasure they gave up when they gave you to me.”

“And you are not worried in return?” Lan Qiren asked, charmed in spite of himself. Despite the offer, he had no intention of letting himself take too much of the power they would be able to generate – the purpose for this evening was to enhance Wen Ruohan’s strength, not his own. “Your paranoia is infamous, and yet your primary thought is of me and my fears, not your own?”

Wen Ruohan laughed and settled down into a meditation pose.

“That much I already promised you,” he said mischievously. “Do you dare doubt my word? Watch yourself, Qiren. I might grow insulted.”

Lan Qiren smiled despite himself, and settled himself at his guqin.

“Now, play me your song,” Wen Ruohan ordered, back to being imperious and demanding. “The one you wrote for me. We’ll start with that one, and then we’ll see about the rest.”

Lan Qiren would have preferred to start with the more definitively useful ones, the ones that encouraged focus and clarity of purpose and strength, but it was no matter – he could play those just as easily later, or even in the morning if need be. And he did want to play Wen Ruohan the song he’d written for him.

He didn’t know if Wen Ruohan knew what it meant for one of Gusu Lan to write their beloved a song. But whether he did or did not, it didn’t really matter. The music was the music, expressing whatever it expressed, the listener just as able to extract meaning as the player, each interpretation equally valid.

All Lan Qiren could do was play it with every last feeling he had in his heart.

He put his fingers to the strings and sank into the music.

When he finally looked up, it was to see Wen Ruohan kneeling in front of him, his eyes glowing – literally glowing, the way he’d said he wanted to do for Lan Qiren (and which Lan Qiren had perhaps mistakenly assumed was merely poetic exaggeration), the red of them bright like rubies.

“Qiren,” he rasped, voice choked with unspeakable emotions, and he reached out to put his hands on Lan Qiren’s face. “The answer is yes.”

Lan Qiren didn’t even know the question, but as Wen Ruohan reeled him in, he found he didn’t care.

[piosplayhouse]

You know what? Jiang Cheng is so lucky he didn't receive the Liu Qingge treatment bc god knows that i would make so many bad taste jokes abt him getting his man stolen by a Lan (the in-universe equivalent of your boyfriend dumping you for the hall monitor). Like, Wei Wuxian is his brother and dude acts as if he's his ex husband who left him with 5 kids and a lot of debt for the bitch he told him not to worry about so i can't even imagine how hysterical it would be if Jiang Cheng was given 2nd male lead treatment

This is a flawless post I can't add anything to it to make it better. Thank you so much for bringing this into the world

[toomanyplotbunnies-sendhelp]

Hello and welcome to (the true) Day 14 of "Let's Explore My Plot Bunnies"

Today, my brain decided to be very... resourceful, for the lack of a less polite word, and remake the Cat!Shen Jiu fic from *checks notes* Day 4. Only now, instead of Shen Jiu being the one transformed into a cat, it's Liu Qingge.

The current title for this is "Paw Prints in Your Heart," and I do intend to make it a LiuJiu fic.

The premise is quite simple:

Liu Qingge was injured in his latest mission. He falls unconscious at the base of Cang Qiong Mountain, and, unbeknownst to him, his body turns into that of a cat. Shen Qingqiu is the one that finds the injured tuxedo cat and takes him (he did check; it is a boy) back to Qing Jing Peak for treatment.

When Liu Qingge wakes up, not only does he find himself to be a cat, but also he finds himself in the care of the (surprisingly gentle) person he hates, Shen Qingqiu.

Now, imagine: Cat!Liu Qingge has to stay around the Qing Jing Peak because his paw has a bad injury and ends up being in the same room as Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan have their (admitedly one-sided) argument of the day. And after Yue Qingyuan leaves, Shen Qingqiu, feeling the anger rising, decides to vent to the only creature here that will listen to him and not interrupt - cat!Liu Qingge. So, Shen Qingqiu speaks (read: vents) about his past, about Yue Qingyuan, about all the other Peak Lords, about everything that he can really vent about.

Needless to say, Liu Qingge has a ton of things to think about now with all these revelations.

Then there is the monthly Peak Lord Meeting... at which Liu Qingge is missing. Most of the other Peak Lords don't really find a problem with this as it is well known that Liu Qingge loves to hunt monsters so "he is most likely doing just that" is what they argue. Shen Qingqiu, on the other hand, finds it weird since, as much as that brute annoys him, Liu Qingge doesn't miss the Peak Lords Meeting without announcing beforehand.

And so, Shen Qingqiu starts a one man (and one cat) search party for that idiot brutish shidi of his. Their first destination? The Red Warm Pavillion. If there is anyone who knows where esteemed cultivators can be found based on rumors, it is the Madame of the Pavillion - who is also the most trustworthy source of information Shen Qingqiu can find.

Some details to note:

I feel OG!Shen Qingqiu would prefer cats to dogs, mostly because as an orphan on the streets dogs would fight with you for food (looks at Wei Wuxian), while cats - especially in cold/rainy days - would snuggle with you. Not because they like you, but because they like the body heat you can provide for them.

Cat!Liu Qingge definitely gives Shen Qingqiu a lot of snuggles after he vents to him. Both as an apology and as comfort.

Shen Qingqiu tried to talk with the other Peak Lords about how strange it is for Liu Qingge - of all people - to dissappear without a trace or a letter. The other Peak Lords, unfortunately, ignored him. This is why he takes it in his own hands to find Liu Qingge.

Liu Qingge feels a lot of guilt after he learns more about Shen Qingqiu and about the reasons behind most of his actions. He vows to treat him better once he is back to his human self.

This could either take place before Luo Binghe is on Qing Jing Peak or after - like the first 2 weeks after he was admitted. Either way, the kiddo is chugging vinegar - first because his Shizun likes the cat better than him; second, because by the time Luo Binghe arrives at the sect, Shen Qingqiu has a boyfriend.

So what do you think? Good? Bad? Brain has been on crack for far too long? Let me know!

Honestly, this idea just came to me today - probably 2 hours before I post this, actually. The better way to explain the plot would be "Shen Qingqiu vents to his newly acquired cat about his entire life, without knowing that said cat is actually his shidi, Liu Qingge, whom he doesn't like". There is something special about the whole "venting to an animal that is actually a human cursed/transformed into an animal" trope I see in fics. It's soo damn cute and agsty at the same time. I love it so much.

But enough rambling from me. I hope you have a great day/night and that you take care of yourselves!

See you tomorrow,

-TooManyPlotBunnies-Send Help

[rarepears]

July & Aug 2023 Masterpost

twin cat brothers shen jiu and shen yuan plus their poor owner luo binghe AU

shen jiu and liu qingge's peak sibling moments AU

shang qinghua and mobei jun transmigrate into solo leveling as architect and sung jinwoo respectively AU

Evil goose transmigrates into Liu Qingge's body au

BAI ZHAN PEAK DISCIPLE!LUO BINGHE AU

shen jiu transmigrates into su she au

newly transmigrated shen yuan vs deaged without memories shen jiu AU

shen jiu gets the death note au

lol imagine if shen yuan wrote game of thrones and is a professional author yet he still follows pidw

luo binghe thinks shen yuan is OLD old AU

tywin lannister x sung jinwoo

shen jiu feds the local stray cats au

honkai star rail X solo leveling AU

red-green colorblind Jedi would have Issues recognizing Sith based on their laser swords... au

abo solo leveling AU starring Sung jinwoo the omega

modern AU where Shen Yuan is looking for his cat Shen Jiu AU

luo binghe and shen yuan transmigrate as Lan Qiren and Wen Ruohan AU

cat!shen yuan adopts a human shen jiu AU

mdzs crossover with kung fu panda

Shen Jiu gets spirited away to Ancient Greece AU

wei wuxian gets dumped into Tianlang Jun's body AU

Mace Windu was the one to found Cang Qiong sect and teach Yue Qingyuan AU

Shang Qinghua is the only alpha Cang Qiong peak lord au

bakugou reincarnated into mdzs AU

khr X Welcome to demon school crossover

shen yuan transmigrates into Mu Qingfang instead au

Modern AU Bingliushen date

liu qingge faked his death in pidw to go on a secret mission au

tywin lannister x sung jinwoo

secret realms in pidw are actually solo leveling dungeons AU

Komamura Sajin x endeavor AU thoughts

taxation in svsss meta

heavenly demons actually have small pillars due to EvolutionTM AU

shen yuan was a rich boy who never went outside so his original world could very well be a world with mechs and space travel AU

sung jinwoo x shen jiu

if obiwan reincarnated as a gusu lan sect disciple au

hannibal lector reborn as Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe's firstborn son AU

Let's dump Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe into KHR world AU

urahara kisuke x todoroki enji AU

Cang Qiong Sect disciples included a number of Jin Guangshan's illegitimate children AU

endeavor gets a pet dragon AU

SVSSS grease AU

[namwool]

Imma rant~ Apologies ignore and delete this if you want. I just want to get this off my chest.

I'm actually relieved you're not a fan of Yue Qingyuan either! It's quite rare to find someone who shares that sentiment. Shen Jiu is the only character I'd go to bat for as well, despite his limited presence in the story. I'm not particularly fond of Liu Qingge either, especially since many fanfics paint him as this overly righteous figure, which doesn't seem to align with his character's complexity. He's a PIDIW character of course he's head has a screw loose up in there.

If imma be honest Bingge was gonna be hated if he was in any man's peak including YQ and be loved in close proximity to females because of his system halo. The OG Luo Binghe greek tragedy truly wasn't the abuse that set him off it was his greediness he really wants to covet his cruel Shizun so bad he'd go to the Walmart version to pick it up. His longing for his cruel Shizun is so intense that he'd settle for a lesser version of him, which is quite telling. If his feelings toward Shen Jiu were purely hatred, he wouldn't have subjected him to such prolonged torture unlike palace master. It's evident that his emotions toward his Shizun are more complicated than simple animosity; there's something deeper there that he craves. It's almost a relief that the story didn't take a turn toward a "2HA" scenario, if OG Binghe decided a different kind of torture .

The number of fanfics that portray Shen Yuan as the sole reason for Luo Binghe's victory and love triumph over the protagonist is astounding. They often depict Shen Yuan's kindness as the catalyst for winning over Little Binghe's heart, when in reality, he wears a mask of a precious teacher. Thats it! He has his face. That what makes him special. If true kindess and loves from his wives didn't get him going what makes Shen Yuan different? I know most are MC bias but like... knowing MXTX works and identites and the fact this wasn't revealed made me go whaat ?

If that were true, the reveal would have happened already. Bingmei and Bingge are both undeniably deranged in both worlds, and he was a white lotus; I can't comprehend why so many reveal fics portray him as calm. He would have gone crazy and lose his shit, not calm, in all these circumstances, as depicted in these fics.

I dislike the other Peak Lords, but Yue Qingyuan frustrates me the most because of his ineffectiveness as a leader. His relationship is one I feel would have been better left unresolved with loose ends, much like with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng because some relationships are better left to be departed and let go . As a reader, I wonder how many times he can just fail before giving up and throwing in the towel. What angered me the most was Shen Jiu being tortured inhumanely for who knows how long, until his severed legs were sent to him, which finally spurred Yue Qingyuan into action. That is truly sickening! I can't help but imagine himself in that situation needing help and, and as a reader would resent YQ for it. Does his tragic death make up for it when his childhood friend was suffering? As a reader, I care less about Yue Qingyuan's personal struggles. I know he has trauma, but in such dire circumstances, how can he not push himself for Shen Jiu? He has all the power but limits himself, unable to move forward and often fumbling.

If SJ can drop and go 100% and he can't then it's relationship is unequal. I once came across a damn Tiktok talking about shit like if " YQ was a different person one day or acted strange Shen jiu would do his damnest to find out who it is he wouldn't just stop he'd keep going because of his heart and would be the same for the rest of the Peak Lords".

What infuriates me the most is that he owes him a life debt—one that he was deeply involved in, and yet Shen Jiu saved him. Despite everything, all Shen Jiu needed was for someone to believe in his good heart and see him as a good person, even if it was just one person. It would have meant the world to know that his big brother truly understood his nature, especially considering his deep self-loathing. If just one person believed in him, it could have greatly improved his mental health. Yue Qingyuan was saved by Shen Jiu and could have taken significant actions, such as clarifying the rumors and not appearing so guilt-ridden, which led others to misinterpret his relationship with his shidi. At the very least, even if he couldn't explain "why," he could have shown through his actions how much Shen Jiu meant to him. Shen Jiu saved him twice—how could he not find it in his heart to believe in him?

That was makes me so pissed off. YQ didn't so I see him as a disgrace. Like YQ passiveness is like seeing the stupid trainwreck of Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu.

LQG for all his bullshit is weirdly the one I felt would work simply because of his personality and character dynamic with Shen jiu lol.

I have no idea how long this ask has been in my inbox. Sorry for the late answer!

Anyways, I agree with almost everything you said, except the torture part.

While I do agree that ripping apart someone's body is inhuman, it does align with the "historical" context of the novel. I did prepare a post some time ago about historical abuse in Svsss, but I didn't post it because I didn't want to fuel the fandom or create anymore beef.

I too don't think LBG loves SY. Or anyone really except maybe Zhuzhi-Lang? But as far as I personally saw in the book, everyone who took an interest in him was because he was in SQQ's body. That's my personal interpretation, I might be wrong, I might be right. Even LQG's interest, to me at least, seems to mostly be because he believed SY!SQQ to be SJ!SQQ. (I love Liujiu, I might be extra biased here. Not sorry.)

YQY had plenty of chances to come clean, like... you can't tell me he didn't know how possessive SJ was over him. Sj literally killed his demonic shizun to save him, and chose to follow him to Cang Qiong. I don't believe anyone who says "YQY didn't know". Let's not forget SJ almost fought a bunch of other kids for calling him their Qi-ge.

There's also this other thing that bothered me: YQY assuming the same thing as everyone else.

Like, he had the power, the position, the respect of everyone. If he went to the RWP to investigate the truth, with how highly respected he is, no one would say a thing.

Their relationship is so one-sided it hurts. I physically can't stomach canon YQY. I'm sorry. I prefer the fanon one.

The thing that bothers me, is that I can't even fully blame him. It's Airplane the problem. He wrote the characters that way. Had SY never transmigrated, disrupting the novel, YQY would have never revealed why he failed to save SJ.

I hate Airplane more than I dislike YQY 😤

Also, 2ha kina creeps me out. I wish someone told me what the books were about before I bought the first three volumes together. I regret investing my money in those books 🥲

[sillygoofyqueer]

PART TWO OF ME BLABBING ABOUT MY WEI QINGWEI HEADCANONS. Part one can be found here!!!!

(Azzie brought up Crowyuan with this next statement in italics, and I POUNCED): 'now i imagine crowyuan flapping over to wan jian peak to have a look at the swords (shinies all the shinies of the wooorld!!), and wei qingwei sees this obviously very intelligent crow hopping around so he decides to let it perch on his arm/shoulder while he gives it a good proper tour!! (maybe he thinks its from the beast peak, or maybe he just reaaally wants to give a tour to someone who can't talk back dnsjsksksms. and the crow seems very interested!!) idk how exactly the sword picking ceremony works, but id be sooo good if there was a sword that sort of "reacted" to shen yuan aaahhh'

WEI QINGWEI STARING LIKE "????" AS ONE OF THE SWORDS HUMS AGGRESSIVELY AROUND SHEN YUAN WHEN HE'S SHOWING HIM THE CAVES. He glares at the sword for a moment, shifting crowyuan away from the sword and watching as the aggressive vibrating lessens. Then he turns to Shen Yuan, narrows his eyes, and says "you know, I don't think that sword is small enough for you" and he sounds genuinely SO upset about it.

This guy would arm everything around him if he could - one time, when they were head disciples, Yue Qingyuan had to physically stop the beast peak head disciple and Wei Qingwei from arming one of their bigger monsters after finding them whispering and giggling to each other as they designed random plans for it. Listen, he's very proud of his shidi but there is a LIMIT. Wei Qingwei sees crowyuan and is like "....would the birdy like his own sword?"

ALSO, he loves his peak, it's his baby!! He shows so much consideration of it, and I like to think that he mainly allows the natural wildlife to do its thing, as long as his forges remain in use and his disciples have all the space they need. The moment someone new steps onto his peak, it's like the heavens have opened for Wei Qingwei - SOMEONE NEW TO SHOW AROUND!!! And I also like to think that (although he rarely asks for them), whenever Wei Qingwei asks for a change to his peak in a meeting everyone is instantly like "YUE QINGYUAN ARE YOU GOING TO SAY NO TO THIS BEAUTIFUL MAN" as he gives them all his brilliant smile. Listen, the moment he gets a new change it is STIM CENTRAL AND EVERYONE GETS TO LISTEN TO HIM YAPPER ON EXCESSIVELY ABOUT THESE THINGS!!

I like the idea that, as disciples, Liu Qingge was an unwilling guinea pig for Mu Qingfang, but Wei Qingwei was actively going out of his way to get the wildest injuries just so Mu Qingfang could practise treating them - "Mu-shidi, Mu-shidi, look!! You told me that you were struggling with pulling people out of qi deviations so guess what I did!!!" "WEI-SHIXIONG NO-" I still have much to talk about surrounding this man (including how he GOT his scars *squealing in the background*) but it IS my bedtime and I don't want to overwhelm you guys with my autism. (oh em gee is that a part THREE???? Where did that come from....)

[phoenixkaptain]

You know, the more I think about BingQiu raising Wei Wuxian, the more I think it would be the funniest fucking thing.

Like, Wei Wuxian is extremely shameless, but he… has limits.

Luo Binghe… does not have limits…

And, the extras imply that Shen Qingqiu is not only extremely indulgent, but that he is occasionally even worse than Binghe. Shen Qingqiu looks at every other man and thinks “not as handsome as Binghe” and looks at every woman and thinks “Binghe really deserves someone more beautiful” and wow I just realized that that’s why he shipped Bing-ge x Liu Mingyan so hard, because Liu Mingyan is canonically the most beautiful person ever and Shen Qingqiu thinks that’s what Binghe deserves-

Anyway, technically every scene ever implies that Shen Qingqiu is incredibly indulgent with his disciples and Binghe specifically. I mean, he does let Binghe hug him in front of anyone and he even brags about how great Binghe is at being a wife being head disciple, so…

I just imagine that, if Shen Qingqiu + Luo Binghe raised Wei Wuxian, honestly, his disregard for his own image makes a lot more sense.

Also, I just think it would be funny if Wei Wuxian was absolutely mortified by how sticky his parents are in public, like jeez, show some restraint, you can’t just kiss your husband in the middle of the road like it’s nothing!!!