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Shen Qingqiu was wrapped in the familiar, warm embrace of his sticky, clingy husband, determinedly ignoring the rising sun as it washed golden beams of light into his eyes. He didn’t want to wake and rise from the moment of peaceful bliss he was experiencing; moments of quiet, beautiful calm like this were rare, especially with Luo Binghe’s inability to stop whining “Shizun” every waking second of his life.
So, as content and warm-hearted as he was, it was only understandable that when a mechanical voice that haunted his worst nightmares filled his ears, Shen Qingqiu was filled with unimaginable rage. Damn this system, damn this world, and damn Airplane-bro for creating it!
[Bonus Trial has begun! First step: prepare to travel with the Peak Lords of Cang Qiong Sect to Quonzhen Pass! Reward points for completing the entire Bonus Trial: 180,000]
The fury at having his morning interrupted was stilled by his shock at how high the points were. Why were they so high?! What was this Bonus Trial?
Groaning, he shoved his head down to nestle against Luo Binghe’s shoulder, taking slight comfort in the warm arm that sleepily settled around his waist, drawing him closer. The man moved slightly, sensing Shen Qingqiu’s agitation.
Blinking his eyes open, Luo Binghe asked in his gravelly, early-morning tenor, “What is it, Shizun?”
Shen Qingqiu lifted his head to gaze at Luo Binghe’s elegant face. “Nothing, nothing, Binghe. I am simply unwilling to get out of bed this morning.”
Luo Binghe’s gaze softened slightly, his black eyes bright with concern. His worried aura still persisted, but he just gently wrapped his arms around Shen Qingqiu and held him close. “Then let us lie here a while longer. Whatever is bothering Shizun can surely wait until later.”
Burrowing into his arms, Shen Qingqiu sighed quietly. He was not usually this touchy, but the morning was cold and Luo Binghe was a soft, comforting, and loving presence next to him. A surge of something warm and fuzzy rushed up his chest, filling his throat with an unexplainable emotion that made him feel as if he would choke if he didn’t let it all out.
Murmuring into Luo Binghe’s embrace, Shen Qingqiu quietly said, “Wo ai ni, lao gong.”
I love you, husband.
The arms around him stiffened.
“Wo ai ni, xin gan,” Luo Binghe replied, his voice warm and eyes no doubt swimming in tears.
I love you, heart and soul.
Hearing that, Shen Qingqiu was filled with a surge of embarrassment and warmth at the same time. He coughed, tucking his head into his own chest in an attempt to not be seen. Luo Binghe chuckled, splaying his broad hands over Shen Qingqiu’s back and tracing long fingers up his spine.
“We can stay here as long as you wish, Shizun,” Luo Binghe murmured, his arms embracing Shen Qingqiu in a comforting hold.
*
“We need to travel to Quonzhen Pass,” Shen Qingqiu announced. “Binghe has informed me of a growing disturbance in the energies there that would be best for righteous cultivators to attend to. When he personally inspected it, he reported that its magnitude is too great for a small expedition. In order to balance the energies out, we will need all the present Peak Lords.”
All of this was, of course, a very big, fat, blatant lie. Shen Qingqiu merely needed the Peak Lords to accompany him on his travel to complete whatever this Bonus Trial bullshit was. The System had refused to elaborate on what the Bonus Trial might be; Shen Qingqiu wasn’t surprised at all at its unwillingness to cooperate. The System was determined to fuck him over again, and all he could do was sigh and go along with it. He really hated that thing.
“Very well,” Yue Qingyuan agreed, nodding his head. “We will depart at noon today. Shang Qinghua, please arrange the transportation.”
Shang Qinghua bowed quickly, shooting a curious glance towards Shen Qingqiu, who ignored him. He would tell Airplane-bro about the Bonus Trial when they were on the road.
*
The Peak Lords arrived at the foggy entrance of Quonzhen Pass five hours later, swords drawn and talismans already burning. Liu Qingge led the way into the pass, Shen Qingqiu following behind with the rest of the Peak Lords.
They trod carefully through the mist for what seemed like hours, almost completely silent as they tried to track down the cause of the strange energy fluctuations. To Shen Qingqiu’s surprise, there were imbalances in the energy here, which he was grateful for. Without them, he didn’t know how he would have covered up his lie that got them here.
Without any preamble or warning, Liu Qingge dashed into the fog ahead, his sword swinging. Shen Qingqiu heard a slight scuffle and a hoarse shout before silence fell. Through the mist, the echoing sounds of a singular pair of footfalls came, slowly approaching them. He nervously lifted his sword, his fan clenched tightly in his other hand.
Liu Qingge appeared from the fog, a wiry man held in a one-handed grip. A strange, foreign aura blanketed the man, smothering the Peak Lords’ senses and causing the surrounding qi to go haywire.
“He was standing on a stone pillar, waiting for us to pass,” Liu Qingge announced. “It seems like he is the cause of these energy imbalances.”
The man was small and slight. He wasn’t much to look at, with mousy, dark brown hair, pale skin, sharp-edged features, and an uncomfortable aura surrounding him, as if he was unused to existing in his body, or even this world. He exuded an air of otherworldly prestige as if he existed in a far higher realm than they did. The man’s most prominent feature was his eyes; he stared at them with cold, bright violet eyes, lit by some kind of mechanical glow that reminded Shen Qingqiu of a computer screen.
“My name is Xi Tong,” the man announced in a thin, clipped voice, his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure at being held in such an undignified way. The stilted tone was strangely electronic, reminding Shen Qingqiu of Google Translate. His eyes widened as a realization rushed through him, sending his heart pounding and blood racing.
“Xi Tong,” Shen Qingqiu said in disbelief, his fan falling from where it was covering the lower half of his face. Xi Tong. 系统. This man was the System; Shen Qingqiu knew it without a single doubt. He had even chosen the name “System”, not bothering to try to disguise himself.
Shen Qingqiu’s features warped into an enraged snarl. “I’ll cut your fucking dick off,” he growled lowly, marching forward and grabbing the man by the scruff of his neck. Xi Tong yelped as he was hoisted into the air and roughly dragged away, obviously not expecting Shen Qingqiu to be so daring. The startled gasps of the Peak Lords behind him did nothing to deter him; he would get his revenge on this damn System if it was the last thing he did.
He hauled Xi Tong up so they were face to face. Meeting his eyes, he roughly grabbed the cold, metallic jaw of the small man. “I vowed all those years ago that if I ever got my hands on you, I would let loose, and you still continued to torture me with those horrible scenarios, ridiculous multiple-choice options, and blasphemous point reductions for doing something like protecting the well being of my own ass. You do all this and still have the courage to show your disgusting face to me, where I can beat the ever-living shit out of you?”
Xi Tong’s eyes widened, his prestigious air completely gone. “Ah, ah, Shen Yuan, rethink what you are doing! Once I return to my System status I am completely capable of sending you to the original world’s timeline!”
Shen Qingqiu snarled, “Bold of you to assume you won’t be dead before you can do anything to hurt me.”
Xi Tong gave a very, very satisfying yelp as Shen Qingqiu began to drag him into the closest cave, already mentally listing all the torture techniques that the original Luo Binghe had used on the original Shen Qingqiu, mulling over which would be best to employ on the wretched excuse of a creature that he currently had in his grip.