Work Text:
Back when Proud Immortal Righteous Way had actually been a relatively good story with a plot that bore foreshadowing, there had been one scene that sowed the first seeds of suspicion in the audience’s mind about Shen Qingqiu’s hidden identity. Of course, the story had eventually proceeded to become a shitty pile of hand-wavey powerups, meaningless fanservice and ‘power of friendship!’ type subplots, but the scene had gotten stuck in Shen Yuan’s mind.
It was set in the dark and humid shed where Luo Binghe was tied up, when the roof crashed suddenly under the force of rampaging qi... The only thing Luo Binghe could glimpse were green eyes and a jade green blurry demon mark shining through the darkness... The newmoon was a black smudge on the night sky as Luo Binghe shrank back from the unknown demon shrouded in shadows, his skin sizzling and bones creaking under the pressure of the demonic qi...
Luo Binghe screamed when his flesh cracked, the miasma burning through his skin...
“Shidi!”
A gentle-faced but terrified looking man leapt onto Shen Yuan, shocking him out of the murderous stupor he’d found himself in. Without a second’s delay, the man grabbed Shen Yuan into his arms and jumped on his sword, flying away. The wounded and still half-tied protagonist was left where he was lying, still crying in pain.
Shen Yuan panted for breath as his blood raged and burnt through his body, the dark force of demonic qi lashing out around him. The man was restraining him by the arms as he struggled instinctively. “It— It’ll be alright, Qingqiu-shidi. Just hang on. This shixiong will bring you to your house, alright?”
It certainly wasn’t alright.
[Welcome to the System.
This System operates in line with the design concept ‘YOU CAN YOU UP, NO CAN NO BB’; we hope to provide you with the best possible experience. It is our sincere wish that during your experience, you can fulfil your desire, and according to your wishes, transform a stupid work into a high-quality, magnificent, first-rate classic. We hope you enjoy.]
Shen Yuan, Shen Qingqiu, knew exactly what had happened, but couldn’t seem to put his mind into order. His body was still acting as it wished. This was his first time feeling qi in any capacity, but even he knew it wasn’t supposed to be attacking his body inside out like this.
Plus, perhaps most importantly—
“It... hurts,” Shen Qingqiu gasped, shaking. The arms around him clasped him more securely, shifting him into a more comfortable position as he forced his body to stop struggling.
The pain was unlike anything he’d ever felt.
It was worse.
Much worse.
Shen Qingqiu keened, grabbing the other man’s robes in a death grip. Burning electricity ate at his flesh and bones, like he’d swallowed millions of small knives and they were coursing roughly through his blood vessels.
“I know, shidi,” The man said, his voice pained, “This shixiong knows. Hang on a little longer.”
They were flying through the night sky on a sword, and the man waded expertly through the clouds without slacking his hold on Shen Qingqiu. Somewhere in his addled mind, Shen Qingqiu heard the system tell him that it was the Sect Leader, Yue Qingyuan, but he couldn’t focus enough to truly care about it.
He would only have a few tens of seconds to process the reality of his transmigration, to curse at the fact that he’d appeared in the shittiest novel of all times Proud Immortal Righteous Way, to plan a way out of this situation, before he’d be expected to talk. The pain was thankfully calming down with every passing moment, the fury of his qi abating, and it made it easier to think.
To think about the fact that he’d transmigrated into Shen Qingqiu, scum demon extraordinaire, that is.
God. He was doomed.
Literally.
Yue Qingyuan tightened his hold on him when Shen Qingqiu stopped twitching and slumped painfully on his shoulder instead. He landing hurriedly at the top of the mountain peak, in the middle of a bamboo forest, and sheathed his sword in a swift motion. Shen Qingqiu started counting backwards from a hundred to ignore the embarrassment when Yue Qingyuan gently pulled Shen Qingqiu into a princess carry to bring him towards a small house surrounded by bamboo.
He kicked the door roughly open and placed Shen Qingqiu onto a bed in the nearest room, lanterns illuminating their way. Shen Qingqiu felt his very bones ache when the change of positions jarred his broken vase of a body.
“I’ll call Mu-shidi, he’ll—”
“No!” Shen Qingqiu managed to croak past his pain, sweating through his thin robes. He looked fiercely at the hovering Sect Leader. “Don’t call anyone!”
Fuck, nobody knew that Shen Qingqiu was a demon in the book— how was it that this guy not only knew but wanted to spread it around?? Didn’t he know that Shen Qingqiu would be killed if it got out?
“I— you’re clearly experiencing a qi deviation, Qingqiu-shidi, you need a healer.” Yue Qingyuan muttered, seemingly to himself, “Xiao Jiu’s in no state to be making decisions, I need to—”
“Stop!” Shen Qingqiu groaned, throwing a hand over the bed to catch Yue Qingyuan’s robe before he could leave. “Wait, please! I’ll be killed if anyone sees!”
[OOC warning! Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t beg the character ‘Yue Qingyuan’ for anything! This is your only warning before the system will start taking off points.]
Fuck, do you even care for this host’s life, system?! I’m about to be killed!
[Please note that if host’s points fall below zero, host will be sent back to his original world.]
I’m dead there!! Shen Qingqiu tried to take even breaths. The pain and the panic were pressing in on him, pushing him ever closer to the edge.
He had to find a way out. He had to survive, he had to survive somehow.
“You’re delirious,” Yue Qingyuan said absently, looking very far away from the current situation as he pushed Shen Qingqiu’s hand down. “I need to get Mu-shidi, everything will be fine. Everything will be fine when you’re healed.”
Oh god, the man was completely ignoring the whole ‘My shidi is actually a (half) demon’ issue. Could Shen Qingqiu let him deceive himself and leave?
What a stupid question.
“Stop ignoring the situation!” Shen Qingqiu snapped, panic making his words short. He jerked the man closer by the collar, brushing his own sweaty bangs out of the way with his other hand to reveal his forehead. “Take a real look at this! Do you see?”
Yue Qingyuan fumbled, eyes averted. “Xiao Jiu, I—”
“Look!”
Yue Qingyuan’s gaze moved slowly towards Shen Qingqiu’s forehead like it was struggling through mud, before it finally settled on the mark. His eyes shook in the green reflection of the demon mark’s light.
Shen Qingqiu was panting like he’d run a marathon, and half feeling like that too. He didn’t know how this scene had gone for the original, seeing as the story was strictly from Luo Binghe’s perspective and Shen Qingqiu’s ancestry wasn’t revealed until much later in the story, and he was flying blind. There was no guide to help him through, no possible second chance to rely on.
But, well. If nothing else, there was at least this:
[Very IC! Congratulations to host for such deep insight into Shen Qingqiu’s relationship with the character, Yue Qingyuan.]
Shen Qingqiu didn’t even know. He was decidedly ignoring the system until it decided to be helpful.
“I’m a demon,” Shen Qingqiu said, grabbing Yue Qingyuan tighter when the man started shaking his head in denial, “Keep looking at the mark! It’s a demon mark, Shixiong. I’m a demon, a half-demon. Are you going to kill me?”
Because it’d be a huge problem if he was going to. But Shen Qingqiu was like 90 percent sure now that Yue Qingyuan had found this out the same way in the story, and the original had still lived long enough to be nobly defeated and sealed by Luo Binghe’s band of righteous protags with five swords pinning him on a wall through each limb and one eye. Ugh. Like, no thanks!
“No, no— how could I ever, Xiao... Qingqiu-shidi, how could this shixiong ever bear to hurt you?” Yue Qingyuan whispered, kneeling down by the bedside and finally allowing Shen Qingqiu’s tired arm to stop reaching up. The man took his hand in gentle hands, looking down at it instead of meeting Shen Qingqiu’s eyes. “This shixiong once swore to keep Qingqiu-shidi safe, doesn’t Shidi believe in that?”
Shen Qingqiu didn’t know what to say to that, so he didn’t say anything.
Yue Qingyuan let out a bitter laugh. “No, I suppose Shidi rightfully doesn’t believe. It was this shixiong who was presumptuous.”
“Then, will Shixiong help this shidi keep his secret from the sect?” Shen Qingqiu asked, starting to relax a little.
Yue Qingyuan in the book had always been a bleeding heart, letting his dignified-outside-evil-inside shidi do as he pleased, and even after Shen Qingqiu was revealed to be a demon and a scum, Yue Qingyuan had still gone and dived into a thousand arrows in the name of helping him. Truly, to be deceived by Shen Qingqiu to that extent, he was one of the naivest idiots in the story, comparable even to the likes of Luo Binghe’s most stupid party members.
But... That might help Shen Qingqiu in this instance, so he’d forgive him that.
Honestly, Yue Qingyuan with his foolish loyalty had been one of the parts that he’d been fondest of, in the story. Shen Yuan had even shed a few tears when the man had died.
“Sect? No, Qingqiu-shidi needs to leave immediately!”
...Shen Qingqiu took all those tears back.
[Warning! Warning! Warning! Important things must be said thrice! Shen Qingqiu would never agree to leave the sect! Host must stay near the main character to fill plot holes and increase the literary value! If thrown out of the sect: B-points –1000.]
“What?!” Shen Qingqiu cursed, hating the world for piling everything bad up on him specifically, and then, to Yue Qingyuan he said; “No!”
“Qingqiu-shidi is a demon, he can’t stay in Cang Qiong! If it’s found out, it’ll be a catastrophe,” Yue Qingyuan declared, his eyes flickering as if he was thinking through many plans. Probably how to throw Shen Qingqiu out in the most discreet way, to avoid losing face.
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t believe he had actually been fond of this character while reading. A clear misjudgement on his part!
Now that it’d come to this, there was only begging—
[OOC warning! Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t beg the character ‘Yue Qingyuan’ for anything!]
Fuck.
Shen Qingqiu had no choice but to adopt his most scalding ‘scum villain’ persona, pulling himself up on the bed despite the pain of his rampaging qi. “So Zhangmeng-shixiong’s grace was only for humans, none left for this evil demon,” He sneered, feeling both relieved and morbidly proud at seeing the gutted expression on Yue Qingyuan’s face. Check this brother’s acting skills out, aren’t they awesome! “To see that the countless years this demon spent as Shixiong’s little brother have left no trace in Shixiong’s heart, this demon really admires Shixiong’s unfailing righteousness. Even that oath that Shixiong promised to uphold was only for a human, I suppose.”
“No, Xiao Jiu—”
“Then Shixiong should simply cut this demon down where he stands, won’t it be more merciful than robbing me of everything I have in this life? Well, Shixiong? Isn’t Xuan Su for killing demons?”
“Xiao Jiu— Qingqiu-shidi, my sword isn’t—”
“—isn’t for killing demons?” Shen Qingqiu sighed. “This shidi only requests that Shixiong allow him to stay as a Peak Lord until my situation is ever discovered. I have no intention of sullying Cang Qiong Sect’s reputation. I will leave peacefully, if such a thing occurs.”
Then, biting his lips at the possible loss of points, he added; “...Please.”
[Violation: OOC. -10 Points. Points remaining after deduction: 90 Points.]
It wasn’t as bad as he’d imagined. Shen Qingqiu mentally sighed in relief.
Meanwhile, Yue Qingyuan had clearly been affected by his words, and his face was embroiled in a deep struggle. His hands were unconsciously squeezing Shen Qingqiu’s hands between them. “Qingqiu-shidi...” He said, his voice a mere breath, “It’ll be very dangerous if Shidi is discovered...”
“If Shixiong doesn’t want to let me stay, then he’s free to kill me.”
Since he’s clearly not going to kill, ah!
Shen Qingqiu felt very proud of the loophole he’d found.
Yue Qingyuan kept squeezing his hand in his palms, not saying anything. His face was lined deeply, and his eyes were murky. He opened his mouth, then closed it. In the end, he continued not saying anything.
Shen Qingqiu waited for his response, feeling annoyed that he even took so long to give one. Seriously, was it really that bad that one of his shidi was a half-demon? Demons weren’t that bad! They were practically humans with animal features. Hell, even Luo Binghe, a notoriously righteous protagonist whose main power was that of fucking friendship, had demons amongst his companions. Clearly it wasn’t that big of a deal!
Shen Qingqiu had only cheaply acquired this shixiong of his, but even he still felt a bit betrayed. He couldn’t imagine how furious the original must have been.
...Well, that didn’t really have anything to do with Shen Yuan, did it?
Suddenly, he felt very heavy, exhausted by the weight of the pain and panic and sudden transmigration all pulling up on him.
Yue Qingyuan continued struggling to find something to say, treating Shen Qingqiu’s hand the way a shy child might treat a stress ball. Shen Qingqiu sighed again, sliding his hand out of the man’s grasp.
“...Shidi?” Yue Qingyuan asked, looking up at him with blurry eyes.
“If Shixiong has decided against killing this shidi, then this shidi will go ahead and request to be left alone,” Shen Qingqiu said, folding his now free hand with the other in his lap. “I’m tired, and in my inner robes. It’s inappropriate for Shixiong to stay.”
Or at least that seemed like an appropriate excuse from the original. That guy was really obsessed with the idea of image, wasn’t he?
“That... Shidi is still hurt...”
“The qi deviation seems to have stopped, and my demonic qi is no longer rampaging,” Shen Qingqiu said, “This shidi will be fine. Shixiong, allow this shidi to rest.”
Yue Qingyuan hesitated.
Shen Qingqiu decidedly lay back in the bed, thinking that whether killing or leaving it was up to Yue Qingyuan at this point, so he might as well ignore him. “Leave,” He reminded one last time, as he turned his back.
He heard a rustling of cloth, before the lanterns that illuminated the room were extinguished. “...Goodnight, shidi,” Yue Qingyuan said.
In a fit of pettiness —that admittedly wasn’t all that unusual for him— Shen Qingqiu didn’t reply.
The door opened.
The door closed.
Shen Qingqiu groaned into his palms, curling into a comforting position in the darkness. Transmigration. Alright. He could handle that. Demons and immortals were fine, systems and plots were a-OK, being the bad guy in a trash novel he could handle, monsters were even welcome.
But did he have to share an awkward secret with his foolish Zhangmeng-shixiong?
Did he have to have an OOC restriction?
[Currently, host is in the starting stage, and the OOC feature is frozen. Host will need to complete the beginning-stage checkpoint mission to unfreeze. Before unfreezing, doing anything that violates the original ‘Shen Qingqiu’ character’s settings will result in 10 points being deducted.]
“Yes, thanks to system for that completely unnecessary explana— Wait.”
Shen Qingqiu sat up, looking at the message in shock. “I can unfreeze it?”
[Yes. By completing the beginning-stage checkpoint mission.]
“...And that is?”
[The mission will be revealed when it is assigned to host. Does host want a hint as to where it may be found?]
“Psh. Do I want a hint? Of course I by the stupid hint!”
[The hint costs 15 points to buy.]
Shen Qingqiu groaned. “You’re doing this cause I annoyed you, aren’t you? Fine. Pay.”
[A mission can be assigned by the Sect Leader of Cang Qiong.]
Shen Qingqiu lay back in his bed, disappointment shrouding his mind. Really? Did he have some ill-fated relationship with the Sect Leader or something? Now he even had to go find him himself?!
He’d hoped he’d be able to quickly unfreeze to go and hug that golden thigh of the protagonist, becoming a firm supporting character. Dang.
Come to think of it, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but feel like he’d forgotten something.
The protagonist... the protagonist...
Shen Qingqiu shot back up, clutching the sheets.
Fuck, he’d forgotten the protagonist! Luo Binghe was still lying there in his own blood, probably long unconscious. Ning Yingying would only find him in the wreckage of the shed when the sun was coming up— this scene was the real cause that cemented his hatred of the ‘green eyed demon’! He couldn’t let Luo Binghe stay there until he simply decided to go with that awful revenge subplot!
[Warning! Warning! Warning! Shen Qingqiu would never go find Luo Binghe to help him!]
Shen Qingqiu thought long and hard. An excuse would solve nearly all of his problems in one go, so he obviously had to find one.
“It’s not OOC, because...” Shen Qingqiu hesitated, “Because it’s not helping him!”
The system didn’t respond, but the magnitude of the sirens in his mind lowered to an almost thoughtful silence.
“That’s right,” Shen Qingqiu said, “It’s not helping him. Shen Qingqiu is very concerned with his image. If a disciple dies from a demon attack in his peak, that’ll be a horrible stain on his reputation. Plus, this will make Luo Binghe think that I’m not the demon that attacked him, and Shen Qingqiu is obsessed with making sure no one ever knows he’s a demon.”
[...]
[Reward: Adding literary depth to villain character. +3 points. Points after addition: 78 points.]
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but curse the system at seeing the sheer bias of its points deduction compared to addition. What, OOC was 10 points but IC was 3? Obvious cheating!
However, there was nothing he could do. The system had a monopoly on points, there was no competitor he could go to for a fairer distribution. If there was, Shen Qingqiu would already be spamming the system with low ratings.
He pushed his tired, aching body out of the comfortable bed, grumbling all the while. The small house was silent as he padded through it, and the bamboo outside rustled in the night wind. Thankfully, being a half-demon and a cultivator, Shen Qingqiu didn’t feel a chill even in his thin inner robes. Though he probably looked like a ghost wandering through his house, given that they were white.
There was a silver mirror in the bathroom attached to his room, because Airplane-Shooting-Towards-The-Sky didn’t believe in era-accurate architecture. Shen Qingqiu managed to light up a lantern there using only his qi, which made him feel very accomplished, and he paused in front of the mirror.
In the wavering light of the fire, Shen Qingqiu’s glowing green demon mark looked bizarre. Its shape couldn’t be ascertained, and mostly it just looked like a tangle of blurry green lines, swimming shapelessly. He knew it’d clear up into a proper mark of lineage when his bloodline was awakened, so he didn’t pay much mind to it.
The face, in the other hand, was familiar. It was similar enough to his own that he didn’t feel much of a dissonance, but thinner and sharper somehow. Definitely handsomer too. His hair reached his waist, and it fell unbound around his shoulders in what could only be called a cascade of black silk, smooth and shiny.
Fitting, considering Airplane-bro’s metaphors about Luo Binghe’s many women, but it was funny that they’d also apply to a villain character.
With a minute’s effort, Shen Qingqiu managed to contain his demonic qi enough that it couldn’t be felt by anyone, and the demon mark blurred further away before it went out completely, becoming a dark green tattoo.
There was concealer by the sink, so clearly the original had already known of his race. He probably hadn’t expected to go berserk on his own peak after a bad qi deviation, though. Shen Qingqiu sighed as he covered his mark with the concealer. A shame, considering the fact that if the original had been prepared enough, he might have avoided making enough of a commotion that he’d attracted the Sect Leader, and the man would never have been involved.
Shaking his head, Shen Qingqiu let go of that trail of thought. Anyway, it had happened as Airplane’s plot demanded, there was nothing else to it.
He checked his forehead once last time to make sure everything was covered before grabbing a heavier outer robe from where it was hanging to throw it over his shoulders, guaranteeing the barest ancient cultivator dignity for the sake of the long gone original. The inner robe was plenty by Shen Qingqiu’s own standards, but the original was a prissy guy. He wouldn’t have cared about the urgency of endearing himself to the invincible protagonist, only about whether he looked pretty in his newest robes or not. He had probably been one of those spoiled young masters that he loved taking as disciples.
Or so Shen Qingqiu imagined.
Grabbing bandages, a lantern to light his way, and some potent medicine from the nearby storage, Shen Qingqiu hurried down the mountain, heading towards where he remembered —barely— the shed being situated. Only when he was outside did he remember that he’d forgotten to put on any socks or shoes, but by then it was too late and his anxiousness to hurry up and find Luo Binghe was burning. He decided to just trust in the strength of his demon feet and keep going. It wasn't as if he was liable to get sick here, he might as well enjoy it.
The fire in his lantern flickered precariously in the blowing wind as he walked. He made sure to pull the outer robe tighter over his shoulders. His untied hair danced through the air.
It took him a few minutes of blind wandering before he finally spotted the wreckage that had been a shed at some point. Most of the walls were still standing, aside from one specific corner, but the roof was more hole than not. It stood ominously in the darkness. Shen Qingqiu walked faster, leaping lightly over the broken pieces of wood and tile, entering through the gaping entryway, the door lying fallen by the side.
As he walked into the shadows, the lantern illuminated the lines that his demonic qi had gouged on the wooden floor of the shed, and bloody stains peeked from underneath stored crates. In the middle of the shed, he finally found a pile of rubble with a boy lying unconscious on it.
Shen Qingqiu set the lantern on top of a nearby piece of a column, approaching the boy. Luo Binghe was a wreck, even more so than the shed. His clothes were ruined, hair in disarray, and every inch of his skin was covered in open wounds that bled sluggishly. His hands and feet were still bound with thick ropes, arms behind his back. Even unconscious, his face was scrunched in pain, and tear tracks of clean skin were visible on his dirty, bloodstained cheeks.
Through the all-consuming terror at the knowledge that he’d done this to the protagonist —the protagonist!— Shen Qingqiu still managed to find the sight a little heart wrenching. This was a kid, and a really cute kid at that. How could the original bear to hurt him?
Oh right. Trash novel villain with artificially lowered intelligence, plus scum demon. That was one heartless combination.
With that he sighed, lit a candle in his heart for the original, and got to work.
“Stop moving.”
Luo Binghe felt his body freezing in place, obeying the familiar voice automatically even before he was awake enough to register it. His consciousness trickled back to him drop by small drop, accompanying the stabbing pain he could feel on every part of his body from his skin to his bones.
His mind was full of cotton, making it hard to pull himself out of the molasses of unconsciousness.
“Good,” The voice said, praising and soft instead of derisive and cutting, shocking Luo Binghe into wakefulness faster than any pain. “Stay still. I’m not done bandaging.”
Luo Binghe shot up with a sharp inhale, eyes opening to the most improbable sight he’d ever seen.
He was on a dirty, bloodstained floor, in a familiar shed with an unfamiliar gaping hole on its roof. The starlight that streamed through the night clouds and the weak lantern sitting to his left illuminated...
...his teacher.
Barefoot, his hair unbound and dishevelled, dressed only in his white sleeping robes, Shen Qingqiu seemed like he’d rushed out of bed to get here. His hands were clasped around Luo Binghe’s ankle, bandaging a bad-looking wound there. Luo Binghe’s body seemed to have been bandaged from top to the bottom already.
Shen Qingqiu’s dark green eyes were lined with exhaustion, and as he looked down at Luo Binghe, he looked almost— almost worried.
Luo Binghe’s breath was taken from him.
“If you’re awake, tell this master where it hurts,” Shen Qingqiu said, his face going blank, hiding the worry that had been there. His long fingers slid away from Luo Binghe’s ankle, reaching up to push strands of his own hair behind his ears. Luo Binghe had never seen his teacher without his hair put up and his robes layered, impeccable in his image as a Peak Lord.
He looked... softer. Like this.
Gentler.
“Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu said, like he’d never called him anything else, like Luo Binghe had never been beast and wretch and ungrateful brat, like he’d always simply been Binghe. “Binghe, are you listening to this master?”
Luo Binghe nodded, faint.
“Good,” Shen Qingqiu praised again, “Now tell me, where does it hurt the most?”
“Um,” Luo Binghe hesitated, trying to filter through the countless aches around his body, “This disciple... It’s my back, I think, Shizun.”
“Oh,” Shen Qingqiu said, letting go of his leg, “Can you turn around, or do you need help?”
Luo Binghe hurriedly shook his head. “This disciple can do it!”
The next few minutes were spent in breathless silence as Luo Binghe sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, Shen Qingqiu’s hand smearing the cool medicine over his burning wounds. Luo Binghe focused his gaze on a piece of the broken roof to avoid fidgeting, not wanting to push his luck with the sudden change in treatment.
“So, what happened here, Binghe?” Shen Qingqiu asked as he started pressing the bandage along the wounds on his back.
“Shizun didn’t hear the attack?” Luo Binghe asked, startled. He heard Shen Qingqiu cough discreetly, as proper as always, but the man didn’t respond and Luo Binghe took that as a request to explain. “A powerful demon attacked the shed and crashed the roof. It used its qi to break the floor and attack this disciple, but thankfully a cultivator captured it before it could attack this disciple directly. Does Shizun know what happened to it?”
“Hmm,” Shen Qingqiu said, as he finished tying one layer of bandage tightly, and Luo Binghe managed to contain a flinch of pain as the man checked its hold with one firm palm between Luo Binghe’s shoulder blades, “This master was in cultivation when the demon seems to have attacked, and couldn’t break away. It was this master’s inadequacy that let Qing Jing Peak be harmed.”
Who in Qing Jing Peak didn’t know what it meant that their master couldn’t break away from cultivation? Shen Qingqiu’s frequent qi deviations were an open secret that no one dared to mention, lest they be strung up and beaten.
Luo Binghe suddenly remembered the exhaustion he’d seen in his master’s eyes, and couldn’t help but shake his head.
“No, Shizun!” He protested, “The demons are vile and cowardly, to attack while Shizun was cultivating! And there was no real harm done— this disciple was still in the shed, so he doesn’t know what exactly happened, but there wasn’t too much of a commotion outside so the shixiong and the shijie should be unhurt. There was only me inside the shed. This disciple doesn’t know why the demon chose to attack since it doesn’t have anything precious inside, but thanks to this, there were no losses.”
Behind him, Shen Qingqiu scoffed quietly enough that Luo Binghe guessed he wasn’t meant to hear it, whispering under his breath; “It had Binghe inside, didn’t it? No wonder...”
Luo Binghe squeezed the ripped fabric of his trousers to avoid tearing up. He was becoming increasingly certain that this was a fever dream or a particularly cruel hallucination, and that he’d wake up anytime now.
“Did Binghe see the face of the demon? Or anything we can use to identify it?” Shen Qingqiu asked.
Luo Binghe thought hard, trying to remember the hazy and pain-filled memory, so that he wouldn’t disappoint. Unfortunately, what was impossible remained impossible. “This disciple has disappointed Shizun,” He had to say reluctantly, “It was too dark. This disciple only saw that the demon had bright green eyes and a green demon mark. The cultivator that captured it should have more information for Shizun. Did Shizun come here to find the demon?”
“Do you think your Shizun is called the demon expert of Cang Qiong for nothing? This master knew that the demon had left before he even got out of his house,” Shen Qingqiu sneered, sounding enough like himself to frighten Luo Binghe, but then he added; “No, this master came here because he felt the demonic qi amassed here, and remembered that Binghe was still inside.”
Luo Binghe sucked in a cold breath, unable to help but turn to look at his master over his shoulder. Shen Qingqiu was kneeling behind him, fingertips coated in the medicine, his black hair trailing over the thin white inner robe. He still looked like he’d rushed out of bed. “Shizun... for this disciple..?”
“Don’t let others think Qing Jing Peak mistreats its disciples,” Shen Qingqiu said coolly. Behind the curtain of his hair, his lips were curved in a wry smile.
Luo Binghe snapped his face back to the front, hands clenching even harder around his pants. His arms were trembling with the effort. He just closed his eyes and counted, ignoring the gentle hands treating his injuries.
He didn’t know what to do with this sort of Shizun. He didn’t even know how to so much as stop himself from crying at every kind touch, let alone this— this.
He didn’t know what to do.
“Alright, done,” Shen Qingqiu said, after a few more minutes, tying the last knot on the bandages. “Binghe can go back to his room and sleep. If you do any chores tomorrow and ruin this master’s work, there will be punishment.”
Luo Binghe hesitated as he felt Shen Qingqiu get up behind him. The shed was destroyed now, so that meant that he could no longer sleep here. But that was okay, in light of this —of tonight, even if it was a one-night thing, even if it was a fever dream— he wouldn’t mind sleeping outside on the grass. Qing Jing Peak rarely got rain anyway, and Luo Binghe had slept in much worse places, this was—
“Why are you sitting there? Didn’t this master tell you to go to your room?”
Luo Binghe startled, jumping up to his feet and turning around only to stare down at the floor. “Um, Shizun,” He muttered, but couldn’t continue.
“What? Spit it out.”
“This disciple doesn’t have a room...”
Shen Qingqiu’s bare feet shifted in front of his smaller ones, and the man hummed in thought. “Right,” He said, as if remembering something, “Come with this master then.”
Luo Binghe’s face shot up. “...Shizun?”
Shen Qingqiu threw him a side glance as he turned around to walk out of the broken shed, and the edges of his lips were raised. “There is a spare room in the Bamboo House. Grab the lantern on your way, Binghe.”
It took a long while for Luo Binghe to really understand what he was being offered, but when he did, he jumped to get the lantern. Tears were prickling at the corners of his eyes, and he blinked them away with habitual ease. He didn’t want Shizun to beat him for crying again.
When he looked up again, Shen Qingqiu was at the opening where there had been a door before, waiting for him. “Are you following or not, Binghe?”
“This disciple is following, Shizun!”
Shen Qingqiu woke up to a delicious smell and the sound of a system message beeping in his mind.
[Remaining points: 28 points. Please work hard to gain more points!] It said, as if Shen Qingqiu didn’t know that.
The whole night yesterday had been spent in a state of sirens ringing in his mind in various levels of loudness and danger, flipping between ‘OOC’ and ‘SERIOUS OOC’ the entire time. He’d probably now be able to identify the tone of his points being deducted from miles away.
Well. It wasn’t like he could leave Luo Binghe to sleep outside in that state, looking like a mummy with his bandages and pained eyes, could he?
[‘Shen Qingqiu’ would choose to leave him outside!]
“Well, ‘Shen Qingqiu’ ended up worse than dead didn’t he? I’m not copying that idiot,” Shen Qingqiu muttered, annoyed. He had to immediately find the beginner-stage checkpoint mission and get rid of this awful OOC function, it was literally starting to kill him.
“Oh! Shizun, you’re awake!”
Shen Qingqiu turned towards the door, only to find Luo Binghe standing there, still covered in bandages, though the bruises on his face were already starting to look more green than purple, healing rapidly. He opened his mouth to say good morning, only to be stopped by the annoying siren of OOC warning.
Seriously?
...But it wasn’t like he could afford to lose any more points.
“Yes,” Shen Qingqiu said instead, stern and serious like the original was, “Is something the matter? Why are you standing there?”
“Oh no, nothing is wrong, this disciple—” Luo Binghe hesitated, before visibly deciding to push forward, “This disciple prepared food, for Shizun. It is to repay Shizun’s grace in treating this disciple and letting him stay in his house. Only if Shizun wishes to eat of course! Otherwise, this disciple can throw it away immediately...”
Throw it away? Do you know how many sisters that food attracted?! Of course this master—
[OOC WARNING: ‘Shen Qingqiu’ would never eat food that Luo Binghe cooked!]
Shen Qingqiu very nearly lost control of his demonic qi.
“No, Binghe.” He forced the words out of his mouth, regretting them with every second he spent smelling the divine smell that wafted from the outside. “This master has recently experienced a qi deviation so it’s unsuitable for this master to eat food for a while.”
Luo Binghe wilted like a thirsty flower under the burning sun. “Of course, Shizun! I’ll go throw the food out right away.”
“What throw it out, don’t waste food!” Shen Qingqiu said, thinking of all that godly cooking just going to the trash while Shen Qingqiu had to go hungry. “Binghe shouldn’t have had breakfast yet, right? You should eat it yourself.”
“Disciples... aren’t allowed to use the kitchen ingredients for personal nourishment,” Luo Binghe said, “The food belongs to Shizun.”
Shen Qingqiu waved his hand, disallowed from expressing just how little he actually cared about Qing Jing Peak’s rules. “Don’t waste food,” He repeated, looking into Luo Binghe’s eyes to see if he understood what he couldn’t say.
“Yes, Shizun!”
It seemed he got it. Of course, being a gary stu protagonist, Luo Binghe was a smart kid. It was to be expected of him.
Shen Qingqiu sent the teenager away, getting out of bed to dress himself up. Looking like the original would not only take the edge of those unceasing sirens, but it’d also stop him from being suspected of being possessed.
Especially considering that he was possessing Shen Qingqiu. He hoped it wouldn’t come up if anyone decided to test it.
[Not to worry! The system’s interference cannot be detected by any in-universe means. Host is not actually considered to be possessing Shen Qingqiu’s body!]
So he was only technically possessing Shen Qingqiu’s body.
With that revelation, Shen Qingqiu prepared himself for a long and awkward talk with Yue Qingyuan, trying to acquire a mission. The distance between the two Peaks was nothing to a cultivator of Shen Qingqiu’s level— especially when he managed to get a good hold of Xiu Ya’s abilities. Thankfully, flying on a sword seemed to be a martial technique, and Shen Qingqiu was provided with the knowledge of it.
Soon enough, he was seated in Yue Qingyuan’s study with a steaming cup of tea in front of him, very deliberately not meeting eyes with the man. Yue Qingyuan rustled through his papers, drank a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and finally said; “So, Qingqiu-shidi... How are you feeling today? Are you feeling any differently?”
Shen Qingqiu also took a serene sip of his tea. “I’m still a half-demon if that’s what Shixiong is asking,” He responded dryly, watching Yue Qingyuan flinch. “This shidi is willing to ignore that if Shixiong is willing to do the same. In fact, I came for something else today.”
“Ignore is a strong word,” Yue Qingyuan muttered, looking down at his clasped hands on the table, “What was it that Qingqiu-shidi wanted from this shixiong?”
“This shidi came to ask about a...” Shen Qingqiu paused to think. “About a mission?”
Give me the system mission, O mission giving NPC!
Yue Qingyuan rocked the tea cup in his hands. “Is shidi taking about the mission you planned to instruct the disciples with? Dealing with a, ahem... demon problem down at the town.”
“Yes.” Shen Qingqiu said, brightening. He remembered that mission from the book; it was the one where Ning Yingying got kidnapped for the first time. It would make a perfect beginning-stage checkpoint mission. “This shidi will instruct the disciples.”
Yue Qingyuan continued looking down and playing with his cup. “No,” He said.
Shen Qingqiu raised his brows. “No?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Shen Qingqiu asked, feeling a growing frustration in his chest. The original had gone, so why couldn’t he? “Zhanmeng-shixiong had already allowed this mission before. Why forbid this shidi from taking it now?”
“This shixiong didn’t know of your... circumstances before,” Yue Qingyuan said at length. “Now that I do know, I can’t allow Shidi to go on this mission without any help. If the rumours aren’t incorrect, there might actually be demons in the town.”
Shen Qingqiu was stumped. The original had gone, hadn’t he? What was this suddenly? “Is shixiong afraid that this shidi will hesitate to cut his brethren?” He wondered aloud, brows furrowed. “I assure you that I feel no more love for demons than I do for humans, whatever my heritage may be.”
“No,” Yue Qingyuan shook his head, unbudging. How had the original convinced this guy? Did he have blackmail??
... Actually that sounded very plausible.
Unfortunately, Shen Qingqiu didn’t know whatever embarrassing secret the original had known about, and couldn’t threaten his sect leader into compliance.
“Shidi recently experienced a qi deviation,” Yue Qingyuan said, reselling Shen Qingqiu his own excuse from the morning, “Maybe you should go to the spiritual caves to meditate and stabilise your base.”
“Meditate? Shixiong this shidi—”
[Beginning-Stage Checkpoint Mission assigned! Location: Cang Qiong Spiritual Caves...]
“—will go do so right away, great idea.”
Yue Qingyuan blinked. “It is?”
“It is,” Shen Qingqiu replied. “In fact, this shidi will be off now. For meditation. Good day.”
“Ah—” Yue Qingyuan managed to say, clearly intent on making some more awkward conversation, but Shen Qingqiu was already dashing out of the room. The door closed behind him before Yue Qingyuan could make things any more uncomfortable, and Shen Qingqiu proceeded to walk through the halls in a much more sedate pace.
“Alright system,” He whispered under his breath, “Let’s see it.”
[Beginning-Stage Checkpoint Mission. Location: Cang Qiong Spiritual Caves. Objective: Enter the caves and successfully experience a qi deviation. Reward: 200 points. OOC function unfrozen.]
“Experience a WHAT?!”