#svsss ficlet

[ineffectualdemon]

Shen Qingqiu decided he wasn't going to spend the next 5 years moping!

He had the author up talk to! He could finally ask all the world building questions and get all the monster details he wanted!

With that in mind he grabbed his favourite bestiary and walked elegantly to An Ding.

He definitely did not run like a little kid eager to talk to their friend about the latest power ranger episode.

He let himself into the other's leisure house, ignoring the disciples who tried to stop him.

"So," Shen Qingqiu began setting the bestiary in front of a very startled Shang Qinghua, "I have questions." He continued as he opened the bestiary to an illustration of a creature made of darkness and tentacles. With too many mouth and even more teeth.

"Ah" Shang Qinghua began after squinting at the page "Would."

He smiled up at Shen Qingqiu as if he was happily playing a game.

Shen Qingqiu meanwhile went completely still. His face blank and his fingernails digging into to the wood of the desk as that word bounced around his suddenly void of a brain.

They say the cry of "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WOULD'!?!????!!!!" was heard all across the peaks and even into the foothills.

The sight of the Xiu Ya sword chasing the An Ding Peak Lord all across An Ding was reserved for the disciples of that peak alone.

They would have interfered but their Shizun didn't seem in any real danger and judging from the cackling was actually enjoying himself for once.

[silentheiss]

Luo Binghe watches his Shizun sleep. He’s been reading on his daybed and dozed off, his book resting on his chest. Luo Binghe loves him so much it hurts. He’s filled with longing for the man who’s within his reach. He wants-

“Mother.” Luo Binghe says in the quiet of the room. It sounds like a plea, which it is.

“You would like him.” Luo Binghe continues in a cracked voice, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “Oh, mother. He’s not like anyone else in the world, my Shizun. He is kind and sharp, and so easily flustered. He is funny, too, even though he rarely shows it. He’s good. Mother, he is so good.”

Luo Binghe cries, fat tears rolling down his cheeks, and talks to his long dead mother until his voice goes hoarse.

“He is mine.” He whispers. “He is the only thing in the world that I want to be mine.”

He wishes he could talk to her just once more, share this one good thing that he has. She would smile. She would be happy for him, she would be happy.

“Binghe?” Shizun blinks at him, still barely awake. “Are you crying?”

Luo Binghe shakes his head, wiping his face. He didn’t mean to disturb Shizun. He’s just so full of love it overflows, sometimes.

[lurkinginnernarrator]

“Shen Qingqiu! What is this nonsense about Qing Jing requisitioning a disguise for one of its members?! You would dare send one of your little disciples trussed up like a pretty young mistress! Even I thought you better than”–

Qi Qingqi’s voice cut off on an extremely strangled note. She and the other Peak Lords all seemed unable to capture an ounce of oxygen.

Cang Qiong’s finest were gathered in a elegant war room, massive tables shoved to the side, covered with maps and intelligence reports: A mind-numbing amount of information scattered across sheaves of paper and neatly written on large boards; they spanned the walls not open to the serene nature of Qing Jing’s outdoors.

The murmuring of focused and purposeful Qing Jing disciples hushed at Qi Qingqi’s outraged exclamation and the sudden appearance of a majority of their shibo.

In the midst of the room, Shen Qingqiu stood, hands frozen in the action of sheathing a dagger to his inner thigh. While normally, such a sight would be arresting enough, it paled in comparison to the vision Qing Jing’s Lord made currently.

His eyes caught wide and surprised were rimmed with coal and rouge, claret lips parted infinitesimally. Gentle strands of hair framed his face and cascaded down his curved back. Hair ornaments tinkled and glittered in the silken black waves.

Delicate, airy robes flirted with graceful wrists, red lacquered nails making a pleasing contrast. Carmine and the tones of blushing rose danced about Shen Qingqiu, gentle fabric draping from his shapely frame; soft skin of his collarbones an–and the rounded mound of his, hi-his bust? Exposed. As was the refined line of sinewy thigh.

S-sshink!

Shen Qingqiu’s hand leaves the handle of the blade, nebulous skirts falling back into place, his pale thighs veiled from sight once more.

“Qi-shimei, Liu-shidi, Zhangmen-shixiong?”– Shen Qingqiu's eyes quickly take in the numerous uninvited visitors, yet his lilting voice doesn’t quicken from its whiplike cadence –”To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from Yue-shixiong and my shidimen?”

For some unknowable reason, Sect Master Yue and the Bai Zhan War God forsook courtesy for silence.

“Rather, to what does this Master owe my beloved sect siblings appearance,” the polished voice drawled, “ whose purpose is no doubt to meddle in the affairs of a Qing Jing operation? Without, may I add, any proper knowledge of the purpose of this operation to begin with?”

Mu Qingfang, who to this point was standing unobtrusively to the side, stepped forward, courteously greeting the Maste– Lady? Of Qing Jing.

His fellow peak lords prayed blessings, to be gifted such a level headed martial brother!

“These shidi apologize for the discourtesy, Shen-shixiong.” Mu Qingfang’s voice may have hesitated, or stuttered, and almost uttered ‘shijie’ but no one noticed because they were too caught up in their own lawless thoughts.

A Qing Jing disciple helpfully handed Shen Qinqqiu a fan. With a crack! It met his open palm, a gavel descrying doom.

Haloed in light, the Qing Jing Master stood like a wrathful goddess, a holy judge tired of the sullying presence of mortals.

Qing Jing’s Master, when garbed in his usual attire, was a sharp, intimidating figure. Graceful in his execution of masculinity, not unlike a dagger. Moreso, then, donning the mantle of femininity. Some intangible attributes changed, that when masculine, repelled, yet when feminine compelled. Those certain peak lords were unprepared to handle such a thing.

Shen Qingqiu tsked, turning his back he subsequently ignored them after hand-waving a disciple into acting as the hospitality.

The wrong-footed peak lords were bundled off to the side and laden with tea and light victuals, being appeased into silence and unobtrusiveness by snacks. If some of the scholarly disciples secretly thought of it as the kiddie table, that's for them to know, isn’t it?

[allpiesforourown]

Superstar Luo Binghe au. All the directors beg him to be in their movies because his fame will immediately assure success for anything they make. He’s handsome, charming, dedicated, and most of all, extremely talented. He even does his own stunts!! Women love him, and men who say they hate him will still watch his movies so they can figure out how to be more like him. 

The only weird thing about Binghe as an actor is that he refuses to star in romantic films. He won’t kiss anyone, won’t pretend to date someone on screen, won’t even let another actor take over his role for the scenes he doesn’t want to do. His reason? He’s completely loyal to his husband.

Everyone thinks it’s stupid, obviously. You aren’t “cheating” by pretending to love someone else, it’s literally your job! Luo Binghe still refuses and says even he’s not good enough an actor to make anyone believe he could ever love someone other than Yuan-ge.

His fans hate this mysterious Yuan-ge. Because of his (probably insecure and jealous) spouse, all of Binghe’s fangirls cant see him sweep some y/n character off their feet. It’s even worse because they don’t know anything about this guy. Whenever someone asks to see or learn about Binghe’s husband, the star says he’ll never reveal Yuan-ge to the public, because he’s too beautiful and he doesn’t want everyone falling in love with him. 

People kind of run with the idea that obviously this guy must be a total weirdo who Binghe is embarrassed to be seen with. That has to be the explanation, because no matter how perfect someone is, how can they have such a chokehold on THE LUO BINGHE??

Then, one day, years after Luo Binghe’s initial rise to fame…. He goes on a talkshow. With his husband Shen Yuan. 

Obviously EVERYONE tunes in. No one uses TVs anymore bc of the internet, but just for this show, viewer ratings are the highest theyve ever been. Everyone wants to know what the fuss is all about with this guy to have Luo Binghe so down horrible. 

And Shen Yuan isn’t a weirdo. He’s also not some pretty yesman. He makes jokes that make the audience burst into laughter. He’s opinionated, which is really refreshing when every other celebrity stays neutral on every topic to avoid losing fans. He’s polite, but he’s not a pushover. He’s likeable, but he’s not a try-hard about it. Referencing memes makes him an instant hit with the younger generations, and the calm gentle way he talks makes him a hit with the older ones. All of a sudden everyone is going, okay we see why Luo Binghe is obsessed with him. 

Except… while shen yuan was making jokes and charming everyone, Luo Binghe was at his side, pathetically pawing at his husband for attention. The actor keeps whining every two minutes to be reassured yuan-ge still likes him. Whenever Shen Yuan compliments the host, Binghe looks like he’s about to cry. Whenever Luo Binghe jealously wraps his arms around shen Yuan everyone watching just rolls their eyes. Seeing them together people realize… shen yuan is the one that’s out of Luo Binghe’s league.

In just one hour public opinion goes from ‘no one can be worth binghe acting like that for’ to ‘luo binghe is so annoying, let shen yuan talk!!’ 

The next day someone finds shen yuan’s twitter and it blows up. He has his own fan pages now. There’s no pictures of him online other than the footage from the talkshow, so the fan accounts just post that over and over again. Shen yuan retweets a post about him with the caption “i never realized she was holding a plate of corn in this scene” and everyone loses their mind. Everything he says immediately goes viral bc that’s luo binghe’s attic wife.

People start nagging Binghe to post about Shen Yuan bc theyre so attached after his one and only publicized appearance. Binghe is super possessive, but yuan-ge tells him not to worry, so he relents and posts pictures of him and shen yuan on vacation. They’re together, holding hands… but shen yuan’s face and body are blurred out. It’s HORRIFYING. He looks like an eldritch monster bc luo binghe refuses to let anyone look at his yuan-ge in a swim suit, go away you perverts!! His instragram is now just full of pics of shen yuan where his eyes are blacked out so noone else can see how pretty they are. It’s nightmare fuel

Shen Yuan is unfortunately too unbothered to post pictures of himself. Everyone’s tired of Luo Binghe for “hogging shen yuan all to himself” when Shen Yuan is practically an internet celebrity now. 

People go to watch movies and their theatre conversations sound like this:

“Oh, Luo Binghe’s in this one!”

“Who?”

“You know Shen Yuan’s annoying husband?”

“OH THAT GUY..”

[jiangyanlissidepiece]

(POV: little Ning Yingying overhears the peak lords gossiping about her Baba and corrects them!!)

—

“What?” Ning Yingying blurted out before she could stop herself, pure confusion on her face. “Shizun doesn’t sleep with women!”

Several faces blanched, and Yue Qingyuan rapidly began to look constipated at her bluntness.

“Oh honey,” Qi Qingqi said, pitying. “You shouldn’t even be hearing about this.”

Ning Yingying shrugged off the hand the older cultivator placed on her shoulder, now even more upset. “He doesn’t sleep with my aunties. That would be weird. And gross.”

“Your aunties…?” Mu Qingfang’s eyes cleared. It looked like he was rapidly putting things together in his mind.

“Your aunties are at the Warm Red Pavillion?” Qi Qingqi seemed stuck on that fact, eyebrows raised high.

“Yes!” She tried not to stomp her foot. Just because Baba didn’t mind when she acted childish, doesn’t mean they wouldn’t. “Why else would he go and visit there?”

Wei Qingwei coughed awkwardly. “Well, I mean…”

Qi Qingqi stomped on his foot, and he let out an unmanly screech.

“Why do your aunties live at the Warm Red Pavillion?” Qi Qingqi asked carefully, eyes narrowed.

“Ba—Shizun says it’s because he doesn’t have enough money to pay for them to leave.” The little girl looks sad, but then she brightens up again like a flower in the sun. “But he says he’s getting there, so they might leave soon!”

“Oh.” Shang Qinghua said, looking paler than usual. “Well that’s fine, then.”

“Did you almost call him something else?” Asked a female peak lord who Ning Yingying didn’t recognize.

“Baba says I can’t call him Baba in public…” Ning Yingying informed them glumly. “Because people might think he didn’t adopt me. And that they might treat me differently. I think that’s kinda stupid, though, but don’t tell him I said that…”

Yue Qingyuan put a hand over his entire face, and groaned.

[zarasu]

Cw depression, Binghe's depression becomes physical

***

The first months Luo Binghe is in the Endless Abyss, he's so busy fighting for his life and trying to stay sane that he wouldn't notice any changes in his body even if they did happen. Then, towards the end of his first year down there, he catches a break.

He is sitting in a cave, peeling his blood- and dirt crusted robes off of his body when he notices it. The scar right over his heart, where Shizun's sword pierced his flesh, is black.

First, he thinks it's dirt and tries to clean it as much as he can.

But it doesn't come off. Instead, as he scrubs the thin barrier of skin over it away, it breaks open and a strange, dark grey goo starts leaking out.

It doesn't look like anything that should come out of his body.

But Luo Binghe's body has changed so drastically over the last few months, has done so many things it isn't supposed to, that he can't muster up any fear for what could just be another demonic peculiarity.

He washes his robes in the green river running through the cave, cleans the grey goo off his chest and pulls his robes back on.

It keeps happening. Sometimes it heals just enough that he can go a few days without any... leakage. Then, he's in a fight and it breaks open again. Sometimes, it just builds up for too long and breaks open anyway.

Sometime during the second year, he finds the emotional capacity to be mildly concerned about it. Besides leaking, it also starts to spread. The black escapes the scar and starts to taint the skin around it in strange shapes, winding and curling like the long vines of a plant.

He begins to suspect that he has been cursed. Or maybe, one of the plants of the abyss has found its way into his skin and is now spreading inside his body. He doesn't know. Even if he did know, what could he do to stop it?

In any case, he doesn't get weaker. He can still fight and still flee and that's the most important part. And, in the privacy of his mind, he admits that sometimes, he kind of likes it. When the grey mud gushes out of his heart and stains his chest, when it runs down his arms and drips off his fingers.

No matter how he badly he gets injured, his body always heals, returning to a perfect, unblemished state.

The black scar and the way it stains him grey is the only thing that makes his outsides match how he's feeling inside.

The truth is, he doesn't try that hard to get rid of it. He gets used to it, even as it spreads further, until his chest is covered with curling black, possessively cradling him like thorny vines. He leaves a trail of grey if he doesn't keep his torso wrapped and clean.

It doesn't stop, even when he gets out of the abyss. The demons he fights and defeats don't dare mention it. Mobei-jun, when Binghe pins him to the ground and declares his victory, looks at his chest and frowns, but he drops the matter when Luo Binghe roughly pushes him away.

Then he's at Huan Hua Palace and, for once, has to truly hide his condition. He keeps his chest wrapped and vanishes now and then to change the bandages and clean up the goo. The drains of Huan Hua are flooded with grey and unbidden, Luo Binghe has to laugh.

He's reminded of women after they birth a child, desperately trying to keep the leakage contained.

Any child he fed this milk to would surely become a monster.

It was appropriate, in a way.

Then he's in Jinlan City, investigating a strange sickness. When he realises it's sowers, he knows he needs to be careful not to let them touch him. Anyone trying to treat him would pull up his long sleeve and be greeted by the sight of black, inhuman vines under his skin.

It's all manageable, all routine, until he turns around and there's Shizun.

Suddenly, he breathes in and, for the first time in a long while, feels something. It's not until the feeling brings a speck of colour with it that he realises his world has become entirely grey.

Shizun is as cold as stone towards him. His face doesn't betray any of his thoughts, he looks at Luo Binghe impassively and quietly while he talks and laughs with others.

Now more than ever, Luo Binghe feels like a child left in the middle of a large, grey sea, abandoned and forced to watch as he is disregarded.

Over the course of a few hours, the black vines creep down his legs. When he is alone in his room, he coughs and a string of grey drips out of his mouth onto the table.

He blankly stares at it for some time.

Then, he goes to confront Shen Qingqiu.

Things escalate quickly and Luo Binghe can't say he's sad about it. Finally, finally, Shen Qingqiu looks at him, shows some emotions other than disinterest on his beloved, hated face.

He chases him through Jinlan City on his sword and corners him in an alley. He knows he's frightening. He doesn't care, even when Shen Qingqiu points his sword at him.

It pierces his hand and Luo Binghe looks down, curious if it'll be blood or grey goo coming out of it.

It's red blood, surprisingly. Now that it's there, he might as well use it.

He pins Shen Qingqiu against a wall and pushes his bloody hand against his mouth, forcing the blood onto his tongue, down his throat.

Turns out his Shizun is only human, after all.

Shen Qingqiu swallows and his eyes dart around in fear. They catch on the front of Luo Binghe's robes and he abruptly stills. Luo Binghe realises that, during the hunt, the scar broke open again and stained his robes grey.

It must be a bemusing sight for Shen Qingqiu. Still, Luo Binghe doesn't expect him to care for long. He's all the more surprised when Shen Qingqiu seems to forget all about fleeing and, instead, gently grabs Binghe's wrist and guides his hand away from his mouth.

He thinks about resisting, at first, but he's becoming a little curious about what Shen Qingqiu is trying to do.

As soon as he can move, Shen Qingqiu is patting over his robes. "What is this," he asks. "Binghe, are you hurt?"

"Now, Shizun cares?" Luo Binghe laughs bitterly, but Shen Qingqiu doesn't seem to hear him. He's too busy parting Luo Binghe's robes.

He lets him. He's tired of hiding.

The black scar is uncovered, and the myriad of black vines spreading all over his body with it. They're all bleeding now, grey liquid flowing down his body in rivulets.

He looks like a broken cup, Luo Binghe thinks. Shattered and leaking everything that was inside.

"What is this," Shen Qingqiu asks, with the most horrified expression Luo Binghe has ever seen from him.

He touches the scar and his hand is immediately stained grey. He pulls it back and stares at it silently.

Luo Binghe wonders if he's disgusted.

Instead, life seems to return to his body and he suddenly grabs Luo Binghe by the shoulders. "Binghe, have you been cursed?"

He moves to touch the scar again and Luo Binghe grasps his wrist to stop him. He stains his wrist further with the touch.

"It's not a curse," he says quietly.

Shen Qingqiu looks up at him helplessly and Luo Binghe has the old, familiar thought that he is beautiful.

"What is happening to you?" he asks.

Luo Binghe is still angry, and hurt, and lost. But, right now, he finds it in himself to answer honestly. "I don't know."

Shen Qingqiu shakes his head. "This isn't supposed to happen."

A laugh escapes him. None of this had been supposed to happen. Luo Binghe feels that his life has stopped being anything like it's supposed to be from the moment he was pushed into the abyss.

But Shen Qingqiu seems more distressed about this, of all things, than anything else that happened.

He grabs Luo Binghe tighter and seems to barely resist shaking him as he insistently says: "Don't worry, Binghe, we will figure this out. We will find a way to help you."

Luo Binghe stares at him silently. Maybe he should feel more about this. He tries, but he just feels cold. He doesn't know if this is real. Shen Qingqiu cast him away so easily. Why would he be concerned now?

Shen Qingqiu seems to finally realise he might as well shake a stone with how little Luo Binghe reacts. He draws back a step, suddenly looks smaller.

"Unless... That is, I know you don't like me right now. Or rather, hate me. That's alright. I promise, you can hate me as much as you want to, but you need to be healthy to do it, alright? Just, let me help you this one time. I might know someone who can help you."

Luo Binghe shakes his head in denial and Shen Qingqiu grows fierce again, his eyebrows drawing together like elegant swords. "Binghe, don't be stubborn now! I swear, you can take your revenge however you want, later, when you're better again. But right now, nothing matters more than this."

He hesitates, looks to the side and back to Luo Binghe's chest. "Please, Binghe, let me help you."

Luo Binghe is standing on an island in the middle of a large, grey sea, and he knows he has been abandoned. There is no one coming to save him, he has been forgotten.

Except now, the one who abandoned him in the first place has come back, is reaching out towards him, is offering his hand to help Luo Binghe off the island.

Luo Binghe is afraid to take that hand. He's afraid to do anything. He doesn't know if he wants to be saved anymore.

But Shen Qingqiu is still looking at him with pleading eyes and Luo Binghe's biggest weakness has always been that he has a soft heart for the people he loves.

He doesn't know if he wants to be saved but, even after everything that happened, he can't bear to disappoint Shizun.

Slowly, slowly, he reaches out and grasps Shen Qingqiu's sleeve.

Shen Qingqiu exhales sharply and pulls him off the island and into his arms.

Luo Binghe takes a breath. The air tastes like spring.

[elf-kid2]

Listen to me. Listen.

Shen Yuan dies, and he reincarnates in the world of 'Proud Immortal Demon Way.' Fortunately, he's an NPC! A random extra! An Original Character!

That's right, he just popped out of the ground like a mushroom with a fully-formed body, a decent preinstalled cultivation base, and NO ties with any of the Main Characters! Score!

Wait, why is the treacherous Lord of An Ding Peak out for his blood?!

...Apparently, when he popped out of the ground, newly-transmigrated, with a fully-formed body, he was inadvertently stealing from the Peak Lord's secret patch of ultra-rare, valuable, hard-to-grow Sun-Moon Dew Mushrooms.

Shang Qinghua is super mad about it! And due to his status as a Scum Traitor, he has contacts in the Cultivation World, AND the Demon Realm!

So much for Shen Yuan's dreams of living an anonymous life as a Rogue Cultivator/Monster-Researcher and avoiding the Plot as much as possible; now he has a BOUNTY on his head!

Why did Shang Qinghua even have those Sun-Moon Dew Mushrooms?! Why was this never mentioned in PIDW?! When even ARE they, in the Plot? What's Luo Bingge up to, these days?

...Research indicates that these particular ultra-rare, ultra-valuable, hard-to-grow mushrooms have only a handful of uses. 1) Creating a New Body for someone-- a Dream Demon, for example-- who'd lost their original corporeal form. 2) Resurrection/Necromancy purposes. 3) World's Least-Convenient Method of Making a [Baby/Son/Daughter/Heir].

(The book also said that these mushrooms were considered too delicate and hard to cultivate to be a practical method Gardening Your Own Army of Thralls. If you wanted to do that, you'd use different ultra-rare herbs.)

So! Shen Yuan's got no backstory anyone knows about, he's made an enemy of a Peak Lord with surprisingly far reach, AND his new body may require some special maintenance!

It could be worse! At least he hasn't been in contact with The Protagonist yet!

...Oh No.

[levia53842]

Shang Qinghua wouldn't go as far as to consider them close friends. They're only martial brothers, and as Cang Qiong's resident scum rat spy, he is aware of exactly how meaningless such fickle relationships are.

But when Liu Qingge inevitable does something infuriating and destructive, it's Mu Qingfang whom he exchanges rueful, exasperated glances with behind the other Peak Lord's backs. They carry the weight of Cang Qiong's wellbeing -- Zhangmen-shixiong and the Bai Zhan War God carry their sect name to higher leagues, but it's Mu Qingfang and Shang Qinghua who ensure that nobody is dead or dying and everything is operating as it should. They're the invisible backbone; if they were to vanish for a week the sect would collapse.

None of his martial brothers noticed when Shang Qinghua was running on fumes and hasn't slept for two months straight, except for Mu-shidi, who slipped him a packet of what was essentially sleeping pills. In return, whenever a request for equipment or supplies arrived from Qian Cao, Airplane will rate it a 7/10 in urgency, making sure Mu Qingfang has what he needs as soon as possible.

Could that be considered favoritism? Perhaps, but why should he care? If Yue Qingyuan is allowed to be eternally biased towards Shen Qingqiu, he can do whatever he likes.

MQF and SQH friendship...

[monroeknoxwrites]

"Keep your hands to yourself. Your assistance is unwarranted and unwanted," Shen Jiu spat with as much venom as speckles of blood.

Mu Qingfang recognized his shixiong's threshold for pain was high. With red seeping through the multiple layers of his green robes, hair matted to his forehead and practically bed ridden, he had energy left to rebuff him. His uninjured arm clutched the front of robes closed.

A beat of silence passed. Mu Qingfang straightened, hands on his lap where Shen Jiu could see them.

"There's nothing to fear from me."

"Fear?" The vitriol and outrage Shen Jiu poured into that single word drained him further, eyes shutting as his head hit the pillow once more.

Yet still his trembling hands held the collar firm.

"Shen-shixoing has always been careful to keep his distance from me. During examinations you hardly permit me to check your pulse."

Mu Qingfang laid his hand not on the collar but Shen Jiu's chest, smiled in return at the savage look with an edge of anxiety sent his way.

"But I have checked your pulse. I understand what it is you do not wish for me to see. And I say once more: there is nothing to fear from me."

[corduroyserpent]

“Do you remember your mother?” Tianlang-jun asks the squirming, half-serpent thing he’s ninety-five percent sure is his nephew. The creature is far tinier than he thought it would be but that can perhaps be attributed to a lack of proper nutrition. He can’t imagine there is much for an infant to eat while crawling around the southern border. “It’s only been a year or so since you saw her but I don’t believe she kept you for long. It would not surprise me if your little brain discarded such memories.”

His nephew, as expected, does nothing other than continue to wiggle around in the mud.

“All that aside, I’m her older brother. She asked me to—oh, dear.” His nephew has begun to slither up his leg, dragging dirt and possibly poisonous secretions onto his elegant black clothes. Tianlang-jun lifts his foot, bending his leg at the knee; his nephew manages to cling to him despite a lack of limbs. Large yellow eyes peer out of a dirty, scale-dotted face. Tianlang-jun shakes his leg, testing his nephew’s resilience. The infant holds on, tail curled around Tianlang-jun’s ankle.

“Release me,” Tianlang-jun says. It’s a gentle order but his nephew almost certainly does not understand human speech yet. “This sort of behavior is quite unbecoming of a heavenly demon. Has nobody taught you manners?”

Tianlang-jun disentangles his nephew from around his leg and holds the child up to get a better look. Sickly pale skin, matted hair, a serpentine body that barely resembles anything human. “How ugly you are.”

The infant just looks at him. A small forked tongue flicks out.

Tianlang-jun sighs, glancing back at the army of mindless soldiers behind him. “The original plan was to give you these. Make you a lord.” He regards his nephew again, meeting those strangely intelligent eyes. “But as you are, I do not believe you have the capability to lead. You will have to be taught.” He shifts to hold his nephew like one might carry a ball meant for play, trapped under his arm. His nephew’s tail slaps against his back.

“Oh, right.” Tianlang-jun taps the child’s forehead with his other hand, sending a brief pulse of qi. In no time at all, there is a baby with four little limbs—no tail or scales in sight—caught in his grip. “That’s better, isn’t it?”

The baby blinks at him before tears well up. Hiccuping sobs force their way out of the tiny creature.

“Why are you crying?” Tianlang-jun brings his nephew to rest against his chest, awkwardly patting his back. Little hands fist in Tianlang-jun’s hair. “If this is your way of showing gratitude, it needs some work. I have a couple of suggestions—ah, let go of jiujiu’s hair.” Tianlang-jun carefully extricates his still-crying nephew’s remarkably strong hands from their undesirable goal of yanking out entire chunks of his hair. “There we go. Good child.”

His nephew sniffs, lip wobbling but tears beginning to slow. Tianlang-jun swipes a thumb across ruddy cheeks, drying the wetness that remains. His nephew clumsily grabs Tianlang-jun’s thumb and holds it.

“Excellent. It appears I don’t have to teach you how to be cute.” Tianlang-jun turns to leave the way he came, his new companion secure in his arms. “Now, as I was saying…”

[also on ao3]

[amystarsmith]

Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu (SY) Drabble

Basically SY feels guilty about YQY calling him Xiao-Jiu

Word Count:720

Can be platonic or romantic!

“Xiao-Jiu.” The sect leader said calmly, beginning to address Shen Qingqiu. It was a calm afternoon, until it all suddenly blew up.

“Don’t call me that!!” The Qing Jing peak lord slammed his hand on the table, causing his own tea cup to tumble over. He didn’t care about the hot tea getting on his clothes or on his hands, he didn’t care about the cup shattering to the floor in an instant.

Yue Qingyuan looked startled, wincing when the cup broke. It was from one of the sets he had gifted the man, so seeing it destroyed hurt his heart a little. Shen Qingqiu didn’t seem to calm down all that much, his brows still furrowed.

Suddenly it hit him, there would be no reason for him to act like this. This was different then when Shen Jiu would tell the sect leader to shut up, a more raw feeling in his voice as he yelled.

Shen Yuan had tried to play his part well. Being cordial and nice to the people around him, trying to fix his body’s awful reputation.

But this felt so different.

Yue Qingyuan would constantly be calling him by a name that wasn’t his, a personal name that wasn’t his. The way the sect leader said it too was always so tender and warm.

He’d be looking at Shen Qingqiu as if he was the sunshine after a rainy day. Warm, ready to surround you and comfort you now that the clouds are gone.

It made Shen Yuan too uncomfortable. He wasn’t the one Yue Qingyuan had wanted to give that look.

It was meant for the original Shen Qingqiu, the irritable Shen Jiu.

The person Shen Yuan wasn’t.

“Don’t…. Don’t call me that, please.” His tone was changed as he said it a second time, sitting back down politely. He took his hand off of the table, ignoring the feeling of his wet and warm robe sticking to the wood.

The look Yue Qingyuan held now was… worry. Those sunshine filled eyes, warm and happy, were slightly glossy now, the man’s brows a little furrowed.

“Shen… Qingqiu.” The sect leader’s voice was soft, he was testing if that form of address was okay. The peak lord met his eyes, there was so much emotion that wasn’t usually behind them. “What’s wrong with me calling you that?”

It was a simple question, but to Shen Yuan it held too much weight. So many things could be said and asked about it, like that he wasn’t Shen Jiu and shouldn’t be called that.

But that would only bring more questions.

Shen Yuan breathed in shakily, remembering what the dreams he had showed him of Shen Jiu’s past.

His enslavement. How he had met Yue. How he acted to proud but in reality was just as scared as every other child there.

“Jiu isn’t a name.” Shen Qingqiu buried his nails into his robes, clenching down on the skin underneath it all. “It’s just a number. Slaves never got names.” Every word that left his throat felt bitter, like as it crawled from his mouth it left a burning trail. Shen Qingqiu felt his face get hot, the words struggling to make it out as he talked.

“I’m no longer a slave, Yue Qingyuan.” He made eye contact with the man, a fierce look in green eyes despite the tears welling up in them. “Saying such a title as my number is disrespectful and only brings bad thoughts.”

The look of the sect leader’s face changed. Thinking, accepting, looking at Shen Qingqiu with a look of pity.

Shen Yuan knew that Shen Jiu couldn’t stand that face.

“Okay… I understand. That makes a lot of sense.” Yue Qingyuan sighed, picking up a new cup and pouring tea for the man across from him.

“… if you must call me Xiao something, Yuan is a name I like. The wall version, not like yours meaning source…” he continued, ignoring how Yue Qingyuan stopped pouring tea.

“Xiao-Yuan.” The way the sect leader said it held so much weight, as if his name was the most important thing in the world.

“… Yue-Ge.” Was Shen Qingqiu’s informal reply, sipping on his tea as the sect leader beamed in front of him.

Maybe this new life won’t be so bad.

[ineffectualdemon]

(AO3 link)

Shang Qinghua arrived back to Cang Qiong and headed to report to the Sect Leader only to find himself pulled into an impromptu meeting with his fellow Peak Lords.

With a noticeable absence and more notably addition. 

"Zhangmen-shixiong, may this one inquire as to what is happening?" He asked nervously as he the yelling from his fellow peak lords explained nothing and Luo Binghe stood still with his arms crossed, his jaw clenched tight, but silent.

"Lord Luo seems to think we have hidden Shen-shixiong away," Yue Qingyuan replied with confusion clouding his eyes.

"Which is nonsense! Qingqiu is sitting in the next room plain as day!" Liu Qingge shouted, one hand on the hilt of his sword the other pointing to a side room.

"And as this Lord has explained that thing is not Shizun." Luo Binghe replied with the slow carefulness that precedes great violence.

"We all here have seen and spoken to Shen-shixiong daily while Lord Luo was dealing with demon matters this past week. We have seen nothing amiss. Maybe he just tires of your company." Qi Qingqi really liked digging the knife in which was a huge mistake.

Shang Qinghua watched Luo Binghe's hand clench his fist tighter as his demon mark grew in brilliance.

"Alright thats enough! I can confidently prove whether or not Shen Qingqiu has been replaced!" He said loudly, his casual tone cutting through the noise and tension better then the volume.

Before he could think better of it Shang Qinghua walked briskly over to the side room and walked inside, shutting the door behind him.

Hardly any time at all passed before he was back in the room, the door closed firmly shut behind him and sealing and silencing talismans stuck to the outside.

"Shen Qingqiu has been replaced." He stated firmly. The room went eerily quiet and Luo Binghe, thought not smiling, relaxed as his posture took on an amused lilt.

"How can Shang-Shixiong be so sure?" Someone spluttered.

"He said I was his closest friend." Shang Qinghua said grimly.

"...but you are?" Liu Qingge said, his eyebrows tight as if he was puzzling over paperwork.

And he was right. Everyone knew Shang Qinghua was Shen Qingqiu's closest friend and confidant. Something that pissed off and confused everyone close to Shen Qingqiu to some degree. 

Shang Qinghua huffed.

"Of course I am! I know that! You know that! Everyone knows that! Even Shen Qingqiu knows that! But would he ever say it?"

That got everyone to pause.

No.

No he wouldn't.

Potentially not even on pain of death.

"Then what is it and where is Shizun?" Luo Binghe demanded, pushing past Liu Qingge who just mad a disgruntled sound.

"This one's guess? It's a Cuckoo Spirit. They're a type of dream demon. They hunt by reading the inner thoughts of their victim and replicating their mannerisms and behaviours as closely as they can based on dreams and so on. They then keep their victim asleep and assume their life. Feeding off both them and the people around them. This one guesses Qian Cao has had a lot of people on Qing Jing come down with fevers or are strangely lethargic recently." Shang Qinghua turned his attention away from Luo Binghe at this last and directed it as Mu Qingfang who looked troubled. 

"For the last three days. And four days ago Shen-shixiong complained of feeling tired when we had tea, but his meridians seemed clear. The imposter also stood up to scrutiny when this one examined him." Mu Qingfang explained.

Shang Qinghua nodded.

"Did Mu-shidi feel ill after the exam at all?" Shang Qinghua asked, even as he pushed past the sect leader and the demon emperor to pull out paper and ink and start scribbling quickly. 

"...yes actually, a headache." Mu Qingfang quickly crossed to join Shang Qinghu, tension tight in his frame.

"It used it's abilities to change your memory and perception." Shang Qinghua looked to his upset Shidi and gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder. 

"Don't be too upset with yourself Shidi! They are very dangerous creatures and extremely rare. The most important thing is Shen-shixiong is still alive. They can only maintain form if they still have a living connection." Shang Qinghua turned to look at Luo Binghe who had joined him on his other side.

"Meng Mo agrees and is impressed with your knowledge, he wouldn't have guessed or caught a Cuckoo. He thought his clan had wiped them out. He actually seemed afraid of them." Luo Binghe was still tense but knowing his Shizun was still alive was keeping him together. But it wasn't a surprised that the dream demon feared the creature. They had a terrifying ability, to make dream illusions work in the waking world. 

Their original feeding grounds were the dream demon clans, because who was easier to fool then those who were always half in a dream? 

In PIDW he had meant their inclusion to be a real horror movie moment but also a chance for character growth as Luo Binghe was forced to contend with something that shattered his confidence in his dream magic and made him face reality. 

In practice it was used to make a recent wife who was married "for political reasons" admit she actually did love her husband and wanted his pillar. 

Maybe Bingmei didn't need to know that. 

"If it hadn't flubbed so bad I wouldn't have caught it." Shang Qinghua admitted to distract himself before picking up his papers and turning around.

"Right. First off we must find Shen Qingqiu. Junshang? You search for disturbances in the dream realm. Something that feels off. But do not attempt to interact with it yet! Just use that to help us locate Shen Qingqiu. Liu Qingge? Mu-shidi? I need you to get these ingredients and turn it into an incense. Everyone else search every cave and grotto and outbuilding on this mountain to find Shen Qingqiu. If you find him do not touch him! We must break the bond first and we have to do that quickly before it realises we know. Right now this one has told it that Luo Binghe is unstable and we need to confine "Shen Qingqiu" for his own protection. It objected like Shen-shixiong would but not strong enough." Shang Qinghua was a little surprised they just let him take charge like that but Yue Qingyuan nodded.

"That Shang-shidi left the room on his own two feet after suggesting such a thing and Shen-shidi didn't break down the door and take Lord Luo and leave is even more proof than it calling Shang Qinghua its closest friend." Yue Qingyuan kindly pointed out for Luo Binghe's benefit, who was looking a little murderous. 

After that things moved swiftly. Shen Qingqiu was found in an old storage room on Qing Jing with help from Luo Binghe. One plastered with talismans to block the Emperor from tracking his blood.

Once the sleeping Shen Qingqiu breathed in enough of the cure to break the demon's hold dispatched the thing quickly, while the smoke from the same incense kept it from using its normal tricks to escape.

Shen Qingqiu once awake and finally devoid of a crying Demon Lord, due to said Demon Lord baking something, asked to speak to Shang Qinghua.

"Binghe said you convinced everyone but didn't say how." Shen Qingqiu, looking pale but mostly alright, asked.

"I walked in and asked if it knew who I was and 'you' rolled your eyes and said: 'um my best friend? Who else would you be you dumb hack author!' and I immediately knew because you'd never admit that." 

Somehow Shen Qingqiu looked more ill that before Shang Qinghua explained.

"Ew? Why would it so that? Bro no offense but I would rather kick in you in a well of dead fish then say we're friends." 

A different man would be offended but Shang Qinghua just chuckled. That's his tsundere Cucumber Bro! 

"I know bro "

Shen Qingqiu shifted in his seat at that, like what he said left a sour taste in his mouth and sand in his shorts.

"You're not..." Shen Qingqiu started before hiding behind his fan, "You're not not my best friend though." 

Shang Qinghua blinked at him before tearing up.

"Bro!'

"NOPE! I NEVER SAID ANYTHING!"

"You love bro!"

"I HATE YOU!" 

Shang Qinghua smiled as Shen Qingqiu loudly protested their friendship while also nudging his favourite treats towards him.

Ah, friendship was sweet when it was with your number one anti fan! 

[silentheiss]

It happens on a regular morning. Luo Binghe is happily refilling Shen Qingqiu’s cup with tea, his beautiful face open and serene. Shen Qingqiu looks at him and his heart suddenly starts to ache.

His husband, so strong and yet fo fragile when it comes to him. So enduring, yet willing to give up all the poise when cradled in Shen Qingqiu’s arms.

He never asks for things he knows Shen Qingqiu is unwilling to give. He never got his truth.

System!

Silence.

Something hot and angry boils inside his chest. He can’t bare to hide a single thing from his husband anymore, no matter what it entails. Luo Binghe deserves to know he was never hated. He deserves to know he’d be loved in his every manifestation.

System, I’m going to tell him.

Silence.

Welp, here goes nothing.

“Binghe.” Shen Qingqiu starts.

“Yes, Shizun?” Luo Binghe looks up, pitch-black eye gleaming and eager. He is precious.

“This master needs to tell you something important.” Shen Qingqiu falls silent for a moment, waiting for System to blow up with warning signs. And yet — nothing.

“Is- is everything alright?” Luo Binghe looks around the room, as if checking for threat.

“Yes.” Shen Qingqiu says. “It’s just that this husband has something to say. I haven’t been completely honest with Binghe, and it’s time to fix that.”

Luo Binghe visibly tenses.

“Is that safe?” He asks, carefully.

Ah, his perceptive, intelligent husband. Truly, his IQ is higher than the mountain they’re currently on.

“I don’t know.” Shen Qingqiu admits. “But I can’t stay silent on this matter any longer.”

Luo Binghe shakes his head, dropping his cup on the table. The tea spills across the wood. Neither of them pay it any attention.

“If Shizun’s wellbeing might be compromised, then I don’t want to know it.”

“Don’t you?” Shen Qingqiu asks. “Don’t you want to know why I did what I did?”

A breath Luo Binghe takes is a sharp little thing. Shen Qingqiu’s heart breaks for him, for the thousands time.

Suddenly, the weight of secrets is unbearably heavy on his shoulders. It’s a miracle he can still sit straight — he feels like any second now he’d get crushed into the floor.

“I don’t need to know it.” Luo Binghe relents.

“I think you do.”

And then, Shen Qingqiu starts to talk. He talks and talks, eyes never leaving his husband’s face, because if System decides to kill him after all, his Binghe’s face is what he wants to see last.

Luo Binghe listens. He’s not even crying, which is surprising, but Shen Qingqiu pushes himself to finish the monologue before reacting in any way. When he’s done, Luo Binghe takes a slow breath. Then another.

Then, he speaks.

“I am sorry.” He says.

What! He is sorry?

“Binghe!” Shen Qingqiu exclaims, heart in his throat. “What can you be possibly sorry about?”

“I failed you.” Luo Binghe

“What are you talking about?”

“I wanted to be stronger to protect Shizun, but failed to recognize that Shizun was under attack the whole time.” Luo Binghe looks bitter and ashamed, eyes downcast. “Begging Shizun for punishment.”

Shen Qingqiu is suddenly angry all over again. Punishment! He’s begging for punishment! Insufferable boy!

“You want me to punish you? For being a child who failed to recognize something this master has been purposely hiding?” He demands.

Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu’s eternal heartache, nods meekly.

“A child.” He says, slow and pained. “A bright, eager boy. Sweet, sticky, kind. A child who lived through so much pain, who suffered since the moment he was born yet he kept fighting, and trying, and being good. A child that I failed to protect. He deserves punishment?”

“Shizun.” Luo Binghe whispers. “Please.”

“Binghe.” Shen Qingqiu mirrors his husband. “Please. Please, never suggest you deserve anything but love from me. It’s not true. It’s never been true.”

Shen Qingqiu is ready for the table to topple over and Luo Binghe to fall on his lap. He catches him with shaky hands.

Cold tea spills all over the floor. Despite heavy weight on his lap, Shen Qingqiu’s heart, for the first time in forever, is light.

[stiltonbasket]

would you accept prompts for svsss and tgcf? If you do, what ships would you write for? :D

I do! My ships are pretty much just the canon ones (Bingqiu, Moshang, Hualian) with the random addition of Quanyin and Shi Qingxuan/Yushi Huang for TGCF. :)

[bingqiufics]

Title: let’s compare schedules

Author: marquisguyun ( @marquisguyun )

Relationship: Jiuyuan

Universe: PIDW AU / Mamajiu

Status: Complete

Rating: Teen

Length: 1K ( Ficlet )

Summary:

Shen Yuan gets some important news from his cultivation partner.

[magioftheseas]

At the very least, he had wondered if Shizun regretted his actions. If his kind-hearted Shizun had buckled after the fact, was left staring at his sword and the hand he had used to push Luo Binghe off the edge. Was left wondering if there had been another way.

Thinking, thinking, thinking--"If only..."

If he could've at least become a scar on Shizun's heart. If Shizun could've at least been tortured by thoughts of him to the point of regret, if Shizun only, only, only still wished things could be different. Maybe he could've been happy.

Luo Binghe had thought such things, and then he observed his Shizun, avoiding his stare all while chatting oh so cheerfully with Gongyi Xiao...

Of course you'd never be happy, Xin Mo murmured into his ear, and Binghe could only agree as he swallowed back bile and blood from biting too hard into his lip.