Chapter Text
Shen Yuan has, over the years, become something of a cryptid in the cultivation world. He lives almost entirely in secret realms, content to stay trapped within them if it meant he could properly study the plants and creatures naturally inhabiting them, and he only rarely comes out to check in with the goings-on of the rest of the world.
This has perhaps made Shen Yuan’s age a bit wonky, given the way time distorts inside most secret realms - he himself has only really lived 25 or so years, but the cultivation world has known him as a secret realm master for far, far longer than that - but Shen Yuan’s never minded too much. There simply isn’t anything in the known realms that’s interesting enough for him to give up his live-in exploration of the unknown, even if it means being caught in weird time pockets.
The only real consequence of this that Shen Yuan regrets is that the few friends he makes while in the known realms aren’t always still around the next time he comes out again. Mortals grow old and die far too quickly to be comfortable, and even cultivators move on to different stages of their immortal lives while Shen Yuan is hidden away in one of his realms. It would be nice if the time difference wasn’t so drastic so that he could keep at least a few friends, or recognize a familiar face when he visits a market in the known realms, or -
Or be up-to-date in the goings-on of the demonic world, apparently, but that concern has never quite made itself known until about thirty seconds ago when a demon crashed into Shen Yuan’s home with all the finesse of a beast that had been given a hammer.
“Hello…?” Shen Yuan greets after a beat of confused silence, raising a hand in a half-hearted wave from where he’s still sitting on a particularly nice rock. The tea set he’d been using a moment ago is completely ruined, destroyed the moment the demon had fallen into the realm with an impact that had shaken the ground around them and sent Shen Yuan’s poor tea set to the ground.
The demon, for his part, shakes off his surprise at meeting another person in the secret realm far quicker than Shen Yuan does, and begins approaching. His energy doesn’t actually seem completely demonic, Shen Yuan notes as he gets closer, and -
Shen Yuan squints. Doesn’t this demon look an awful lot like Shen Yuan’s little shimei from Huan Hua, actually? Has so much time passed since the last time Shen Yuan left his secret realm that Su Xiyan had procreated?? And with a demon, no less!
“This Luo Binghe greets his host in this realm,” Luo Binghe says once he gets close enough, completely oblivious to the internal revelation Shen Yuan is having. Shen Yuan frowns.
“Luo?” Shen Yuan hadn’t known any demons by that name, but then again, if some demon was going to put themselves at Su Xiyan’s mercy, it likely wouldn’t have been one Shen Yuan had heard of. “Hm. I’m Shen Yuan, then. Are you just here to visit?”
Shen Yuan doubts it. Luo Binghe had slipped into a charming enough manner once he’d noticed Shen Yuan, but before then, he hadn’t shown much respect for the realm itself when he entered it. And really, not even Su Xiyan’s spawn would hop into a secret realm just for a pleasure visit. That’s an insanity that only Shen Yuan is prone to, so he’s been told.
“Unfortunately, there is little time to waste on such a thing. This Luo Binghe has need for the treasure of this realm, and then will leave Shen Yuan be.” Luo Binghe is still wearing a handsome smile, but his eyes had gone a bit serious when he’d repeated his own name as ‘Luo Binghe.’ Ah, is he upset that Shen Yuan hadn’t recognized him?
Had Su Xiyan actually told her son about Shen Yuan, and expected Shen Yuan to greet him as family of a friend? How unexpectedly cute! Shen Yuan never would have expected his little Shimei to think so warmly of him, to tell her children about him! No wonder Luo Binghe is displeased that Shen Yuan hadn’t shown any sort of recognition at his name - he probably didn’t know that Shen Yuan hadn’t seen his Shimei in so long. Good thing he looks so similar to his mother, so Shen Yuan can still meet these expectations!
Shen Yuan smiles warmly at Luo Binghe. “Yes, yes, I recognize Binghe - it’s hard not to, with that face!” Luo Binghe bristles at the familiar form of address, but - too late! If his shimei’s son wants to be recognized, he’ll have to take all that comes with it! “What treasure did you want? There’s a few in this realm, but not all of them are, ah, available, for various reasons.”
Shen Yuan largely doesn’t mind helping out the various cultivators - or cultivator-demons? Shen Yuan admittedly isn’t sure what Luo Binghe would call himself - that pass through whichever realm he’s living in at the time, but there are some exceptions. Not all treasures can be removed from a realm without destabilizing the entire space, and others simply aren’t replenishable, so it isn’t necessarily a good idea to give them out without ensuring it’s necessary first.
Hopefully, Luo Binghe will want something easy to part with, so Shen Yuan can continue to play the part of a good family friend. So long as Luo Binghe just wants the stones from the riverside, or the plumage of one of the Imitation Phoenix Birds in the realm, or really, just about anything except for the -
“The Golden Sparrow’s Egg,” Luo Binghe replies easily, and Shen Yuan winces.
The Golden Sparrow’s Egg, last Shen Yuan had checked, is tied directly to the life force of the forest in this realm, and indirectly to the many creatures that live in it. Shen Yuan had been working on slowly whittling that connection away so the Golden Sparrow’s Egg may be used as the miracle panacea it is without killing the realm, but that goal is still a few years off. If Luo Binghe needs it now… well, it’s unlikely he’d think ‘just a few years’ would be an agreeable wait time.
Shen Yuan sighs. “Sorry, Binghe. That one really can’t be removed from this realm, right now. Have you already made sure that nothing else will work for whoever needs healing? There might be something else -”
“Will it cease to work, when removed from the realm?”
Shen Yuan frowns. Su Xiyan had always been a bit brusque, but he doubts she would’ve let her son get away with so rudely interrupting someone.
“No,” Shen Yuan replies slowly, “But it would irreparably damage this realm.”
Luo Binghe hums, watching Shen Yuan with a considering look in his eyes that makes Shen Yuan shift uncomfortably. Why does he feel like he’s being sized up to determine how much of a threat he is, ah??
“Shen Yuan must be a talented master, to claim to recognize me and then refuse me in the same breath.” Luo Binghe has dropped his agreeable expression, now, and Shen Yuan nervously slides off his rock so he’s standing on equal ground with him. Luo Binghe watches him move in a way that makes him distinctly uncomfortable. “The health of this realm is not a concern to me. I’ll give Shen Yuan another chance: I need the Golden Sparrow’s Egg. Where is it?”
Shen Yuan rubs at his hands in an attempt to dispel his nervous energy, his brows pinched together in a mixture of confusion and low-level anxiety. “Binghe, I don’t think your mother would appreciate -”
Luo Binghe’s expression turns black at the mention of his mother, and Shen Yuan has just enough time to think ‘what the fuck am I missing here’ before Luo Binghe launches himself at Shen Yuan in attack.
“Binghe!” Shen Yuan calls, nearly scandalized, as he dodges out of the way. “What are you doing -!”
“This Lord would like to know what Shen Yuan thinks he’s playing at,” Luo Binghe replies lowly, and draws his sword. Shen Yuan stumbles back a bit at the sheer evil weight the sword puts into the air, an energy that nearly burns to be around, and only grows more confused. That is certainly not the sort of blade that any living creature should be wielding, let alone one with human blood in them!
Luo Binghe barely gives Shen Yuan the time to restabilize himself before he’s launching himself into another attack, though, and Shen Yuan doesn’t have a weapon on him to parry or block with. There’s a chance he can dodge and escape back in the direction of the little hovel he’s been living in, but then what? Even if he manages to get his hands on a proper weapon, it’s not like he wants to actually harm Su Xiyan’s kid!
That was another thing, too - knowing there is no one else this Luo Binghe could be but Su Xiyan’s child, it was really difficult to keep his mind focused on staying out of the way of his awful sword instead of on the general ‘what the fuck is going on’ vibes in this situation!
Su-Shimei, just who did you get in bed with that created this rude little brat, ah?!
Luo Binghe had called himself a lord, right after he’d attacked Shen Yuan - this ‘Luo’ demon that sired him must be some fancy demon noble, then. Shen Yuan couldn’t really see a world where Su Xiyan wouldn’t be involved in the rearing of her own child, but if something happened… if this Luo Binghe had been left to grow up in the demon realm, with only some self-entitled demon lord to guide him…
Shen Yuan frowns, ducking out of the way of another attack, just barely in time to avoid the burning evil that surrounds Luo Binghe’s blade. What a truly mean-feeling sword!
Alright! That settles it, then!
Shen Yuan is going to set this Luo Binghe straight, get rid of that ugly sword of his, and march him right over to Huan Hua! Su Xiyan would owe him for this, but he’d let her off easy as a favor for an old friend, given that Su Xiyan serves him those tasty little pastries they’d had the last time he’d visited.
A perfect plan!
Except - except Su Xiyan’s kid is really too strong! How is Shen Yuan supposed to frog march him home if he can’t even (gently) punt him into the ground to make him sit still long enough to be tied up!
“Binghe,” Shen Yuan calls, trying very hard to ignore the breathless quality of his voice - it’s not his fault that secret-realm exploring doesn’t give you that much of a workout, okay! “Binghe, hold on a moment, just -”
“Shen Yuan should save his breath. This Lord isn’t planning on letting him have many more of them,” Luo Binghe sneers, and wow! Okay! Did this kid learn how to speak from reading trashy action novels?!
Shen Yuan stiffles his laughter and focuses on getting in close to Luo Binghe. He doesn’t really want to get close to that sword, but he doesn’t have too much of a choice if he’s planning on finding a way to pin Luo Binghe down until he behaves.
Luo Binghe, unfortunately, had apparently been waiting for Shen Yuan to make a move like this.
Shen Yuan hits the ground before he even realizes he’s been knocked back, and isn’t given the time to regain his breath before Luo Binghe sits himself heavily on top of him, his knee digging in harshly to Shen Yuan’s stomach. His sword is pressed to Shen Yuan’s neck in the next instant, and Shen Yuan gasps at the burning sensation of that evil blade so close to him.
“Fuck, what is that thing made of, it’s -”
“Quiet,” Luo Binghe bites out, and Shen Yuan’s jaw snaps shut with a click. “The Golden Sparrow’s Egg - where is it?”
Shen Yuan rolls his eyes. “I thought you wanted me to be quiet, but you still want me to tell you this, ah, what is this poor cultivator to do -”
Luo Binghe growls - actually growls! Where are his manners - and presses the blade of his sword harder into Shen Yuan’s neck. It burns like a hot coal, and Shen Yuan feels his face twist up in pain without his say-so.
“Fine, fine! Get this sword off me, though, it hurts like a bitch, Binghe, honestly!” Shen Yuan squirms a bit, and Luo Binghe’s knee jabs deeper into Shen Yuan’s stomach, but he does lift his sword away and sheathes it one-handedly. Good, good - not completely ill-mannered, then! “Thank you! Now, if you’d just let me up off the ground -”
Luo Binghe snorts, shifting to get a better grip on Shen Yuan’s wrists, which he had pinned to the ground next to his head with the hand not holding his sword. “Shen Yuan takes me for a fool. No, if you’re half the master you seem to think you are, you’ll be plenty able to give this Lord directions where you are.”
Oh, Shen Yuan is going to have words with whoever was in charge of raising Luo Binghe! Every time he opens his mouth, he only has such rude things to say! Shen Yuan scowls, squirming a bit again to test the strength of Luo Binghe’s grip on his wrists.
Far too strong, was the result of that test. At least Luo Binghe must be eating well, to have a grip strength like that!
Still, though, Shen Yuan has no interest in remaining pinned like this. Luo Binghe is doing something odd to Shen Yuan’s qi - it’s clearly still there, but it seems suppressed by Luo Binghe’s own energy, somehow - so a kindly blast of energy isn’t an option, even if he can get a hand free. Neither are any of the other weapon-free defensive moves Shen Yuan knows; at least, nothing that wouldn’t hurt Luo Binghe too badly if it landed.
It seems obvious to Shen Yuan, then, that the next best thing is to suddenly jolt upwards, neck craning to get a good enough angle, and bite down hard on whatever patch of skin Luo Binghe has left unprotected. In this case, Luo Binghe’s neck. It’s a tried and true method of surprising a captor into loosening up, just a bit! Shen Yuan is a professional!
Luo Binghe goes stiff above Shen Yuan the moment he bites down - like Shen Yuan said, tried and true! - and Shen Yuan takes the chance to buck upwards and to the side, twisting the pin so that Shen Yuan is on top, rather than the other way around. He’s careful not to put too much pressure on Luo Binghe’s gut; even if Luo Binghe seems to be lacking proper manners, Shen Yuan himself hasn’t forgotten what the polite way to pin a man down is.
“There,” Shen Yuan sighs, carelessly wiping at Luo Binghe’s blood on his mouth with one hand as the other presses firmly into a pressure point under Luo Binghe’s jaw to keep him relatively boneless. “Now, we can chat properly.”
Luo Binghe blinks up at Shen Yuan, turns bright red, and bares his teeth. Shen Yuan snorts.
“Yes, yes, you’re very fearsome. Be good, now.”
Shen Yuan pauses, considering, and then reaches down to Luo Binghe’s belt. Luo Binghe startles as Shen Yuan shifts, snarling and trying to buck Shen Yuan off of him, but Shen Yuan presses more firmly into his neck, and Luo Binghe stills just long enough for Shen Yuan to finish reaching for Luo Binghe’s sword and tug it free from Luo Binghe’s belt, scabbard and all. He tosses it behind him, shaking his fingers briefly afterwards. Even through the scabbard, that awful thing still almost hurts to touch! It’s a good thing that Luo Binghe has settled down enough to let Shen Yuan pin him like this - even a less skilled swordsman could do some serious damage with a weapon like that.
(Luo Binghe, for his part, has not settled down. This pretty little man had - had bit him, and so forcefully, too! A bloody bite on the neck, pinning Luo Binghe down, reaching for Luo Binghe’s belt - Luo Binghe had never known anyone bold enough to come onto him this strongly, before! Luo Binghe hadn’t even known that anyone outside of demons courted like this, but as it was, that was a textbook perfect demonic proposition that this Shen Yuan had just delivered, with a clear message about who he thought should be the dominant one between them - the balls on this man!
Truthfully, Luo Binghe enters every new adventure half expecting some pretty thing to fall into his lap at some point before he’s reached his goal - it’s just the way things go for him, usually. But being ready to have his way with a pretty cultivator or a barely clothed demoness is a very, very different thing from being ready for someone else to have their way with him, but now that the option has presented itself to him… No, Luo Binghe could never -! Couldn't ever even imagine this pretty thing following through on all that he promised the second his teeth broke Luo Binghe’s skin, the second he pushed Luo Binghe into the ground and basically promised him -!
So, no, Luo Binghe most certainly has not settled down. He just - between the bite and the pin and the sight of his blood on this cultivator’s lips - he just forgot to keep attacking, is all. He’ll remember again soon, he’s sure.)
“Now,” Shen Yuan says, completely oblivious to the thoughts running through Luo Binghe’s mind and turning his face that pretty pink color, “Why don’t you explain to gege what you need a Golden Sparrow’s Egg for, and we can figure something out, hm?”
“Gege,” Luo Binghe repeats, voice sounding almost punched-out. Shen Yuan frowns, shifting his stance a bit to be putting a bit less weight on Luo Binghe, assuming he had been making it difficult for Luo Binghe to breathe.
“Sure, it beats Binghe calling me so formally, don’t you think? We’re basically family, there’s no need to be distant.”
‘Basically family,’ Luo Binghe mouths, looking especially shell-shocked. Shen Yuan pats at his cheek consolingly with the hand not still pressing into his neck. Poor boy, he must not have been socialized very well if he took an act of familiarity like this so strongly!
There’s a long moment of tense silence. Luo Binghe’s eyes drag down Shen Yuan’s form, expression intense.
Eventually, Luo Binghe says slowly, “I need the egg to heal a set of shattered meridians. Yuan-ge.” He tacks on the last bit hesitantly, as if testing the words out, and Shen Yuan nods approvingly. Ah, it’s been awhile since he’s been someone’s gege!
(Luo Binghe, coincidentally, is also thinking quite hard about Shen Yuan being ‘gege.’ Presumptuous, to have Luo Binghe call Shen Yuan that! Luo Binghe is going to make him pay for it, as soon as he can think past the constant loop of ‘Yuan-ge,’ filling his mind with white noise at the moment!)
“What happened to this person’s meridians to shatter them? If it was a qi deviation, do you know what caused it?” Shen Yuan asks, already mentally filing through a dozen possible cures.
“She had been plagued by a heart demon,” Luo Binghe grumbles, but his attention has clearly slipped from the conversation. His muscles flex under Shen Yuan, as if testing the give in Shen Yuan’s pin, and Shen Yuan sighs.
“Pay attention, Binghe,” he calls, moving the hand that had been patting at Luo Binghe’s cheek to pinch at the fat there scoldingly. “Gege told you to be good, hm?”
“Yes, Yuan-ge,” Luo Binghe replies immediately, as if on instinct, before he turns bright red and scowls fiercely up at Shen Yuan. Ah, poor boy, so clearly embarrassed at being caught not paying attention!
“Luckily for your friend, if it’s only been caused by a heart demon she won’t need a Golden Sparrow’s Egg specifically to heal her meridians. Blood from a Yellow Hound Snake should do the job well enough!”
“There isn't time to hunt a - It doesn’t matter. The Golden Sparrow’s Egg is here, so I will take it.” Luo Binghe pauses, some of his harsh expression fading as he looks Shen Yuan up and down again the best he can, pinned to the ground as he is. After a moment, he amends, “The egg, and anything else I want from his realm.”
Shen Yuan, positive he is missing some subtext here and also sure he does not want to be clued in, scrunches up his nose in distaste.
“You most certainly will not be simply doing as you please!” Honestly, who goes around just saying stuff like that, all ‘I do what I want, when I want,’ the way Luo Binghe is!
Shen Yuan sighs. Ah, so much trouble to try and wrangle his Shimei’s little boy into behaving!
…His Shimei’s big boy, Shen Yuan reluctantly amends in his own mind, remembering the weight of Luo Binghe pressing down onto him when their pin had been reversed. Very, very big boy.
Well, surely still a good boy, either way, even if he needs to be reminded of his manners. He’s behaved himself well enough since Shen Yuan pinned him to the ground and sat on him, and his goal is to help someone heal their meridians, so he’s clearly a good boy at heart! Shen Yuan can certainly afford to help him out before returning him to Huan Hua to let Su Xiyan beat some respect into him.
“How’s this, then - I’ll go get Binghe a Yellow Hound Snake, and Binghe waits here for me. If I haven’t returned in a couple days, you can try to take the egg. Okay?”
Luo Binghe’s face goes on a rapid journey through several distinct expressions before landing just this side of overwhelmed.
“Yuan-ge will hunt for me?” Luo Binghe asks, almost breathless, and Shen Yuan smiles down at him reassuringly. Poor boy, so overcome at the thought of receiving some help, he must not get offered assistance often!
“Of course - I am your gege, aren’t I?”
Luo Binghe opens his mouth to reply, pauses, and then all at once his expression twists up into one of distaste. “You are being too presumptuous,” he growls out, but his face is still colored pink, so Shen Yuan assumes he’s simply embarrassed at needing a bit of help.
“No, this is how it should be,” Shen Yuan says firmly, trying to make the point clear. “I’m your gege, so of course I should hunt for you.”
“You are weaker than me,” Luo Binghe argues, as if that matters. “You are less powerful, and have less status, and - and you are being too bold! If someone is to be hunting, it should be me!”
Shen Yuan pinches at Luo Binghe’s cheek again. 11/10, very pinchable, Shen Yuan really quite likes it! “Why should that matter, hm? Isn’t it Binghe who’s being a bit too rude, telling his gege that he’s weaker?”
“Because the stronger one is supposed to be the one who hunts!” Luo Binghe cries, and honestly, Shen Yuan has sort of lost the line of conversation here. “But you bit me! And you want to - for me - too presumptuous! I should kill you now, for the insult of it!”
“Oh, right. Sorry about that, Binghe.” Shen Yuan lets go of Luo Binghe’s cheek, bringing his hand down to where Luo Binghe’s blood is still smeared over the bite mark on his neck. He smooths a gentle hand over it, feeding it a bit of qi to heal it up. “There we go, all better, hm?”
“You’re not supposed to heal it!” Luo Binghe shrieks, sounding borderline hysterical, and Shen Yuan finally lets up on the pressure point under his jaw, worried that maybe he’d been cutting off the oxygen to Luo Binghe’s brain, or something.
Luo Binghe immediately flips them back over, lips pulled back in a snarl. It isn’t very convincing, when his face is still flushed with embarrassment and he’s being quite obvious in the way he only hovers over Shen Yuan, compared to the harsh way he’d pressed his weight into him the last time he’d had Shen Yuan pinned. Shen Yuan grins up at him, unable to pet him in praise since both his hands are - once more - restrained in Luo Binghe’s, but pleased with Luo Binghe nonetheless. Look at that! He learns so well, so quick! Already being so much more polite in his pins; Shen Yuan’s lead-by-example really worked out quite well!
Luo Binghe just snarls in return. It sounds a bit forced, poor boy - he’s clearly trying so hard to still seem intimidating, when he really must want to accept the help! “You’re so -!”
“-Presumptuous, yes, yes, I know. Binghe has made this very clear. But you need the cure for your friend’s meridians, don’t you?”
Luo Binghe watches Shen Yuan closely for a long moment. Then, without warning, he pulls back and stands up, turning his back to Shen Yuan. “I’ll find one first.”
“A Yellow Hound Snake?”
“A Yellow Hound Snake - I’ll find one first, and hunt it before you can. You’ll have to call this Lord gege, then, as it should be.” Luo Binghe pauses, and Shen Yuan pushes himself up onto his elbows to watch him with mild amusement. “No, wait - I’ll find one first, and then I’ll kill you for being so bold.”
“Sure, Binghe,” Shen Yuan agrees good naturedly, rolling his eyes. “But drop the ‘this Lord’ thing when speaking to your gege, okay?”
Luo Binghe fumes, but says nothing in retort. Shen Yuan thinks his little act of aggression is very cute, when he’s not actively trying to maim you.
Ah, so sorry Su-Shimei - this Shen Yuan is going to want to hold onto your kid for a bit longer than originally planned, if he’s this cute!
---
Shen Yuan finds and kills a Yellow Hound Snake before Luo Binghe has even located a nest of his own. It isn’t that surprising - Shen Yuan’s lived in this area for a long time, now, even if most of that time was spent inside the secret realm rather than exploring the outside of it.
Luo Binghe fumes about it, but in a charming, embarrassed way that really just makes Shen Yuan want to tease him a bit. Luo Binghe is just too cute, really way too cute!
(Really, Luo Binghe fumes about it, but in a charmed, enraptured way. The pretty little cultivator hunted for him! Biting and pinning someone could be flirty things, non-serious things, even if it was insulting and overwhelming and everything in between for someone to be so bold and presumptuous with Luo Binghe. But hunting, an actual hunt to bring a trophy back for your intended -! There was no mistaking it, no way to play it off as something done just for fun.
Isn’t this a bit too fast to be hitting all the proper marks of a demonic courtship?? And after Shen Yuan erased the claim he bit into Luo Binghe, too -!
Luo Binghe is so, so confused. He hates this. He hopes it never ends.)
---
Shen Yuan follows Luo Binghe back to his palace as soon as he finds out that Luo Binghe does, in fact, have a palace. Luo Binghe can likely manage the actual healing process just fine on his own now that he has the blood he needs for it, but Shen Yuan had already been curious about what sort of demon lord had sired Luo Binghe and let him get away with being so rude, and there’s no better chance to find out than to simply follow Luo Binghe home!
Luo Binghe puts up very little fight against this, when Shen Yuan suggests that he might be useful during the process of refining the blood into medicine, so follow Luo Binghe home he does.
It’s… a very big palace, is Shen Yuan’s first impression of the place. It’s a bit ugly, is his next thought, but he tries to keep that one under wraps. He’s already invited himself in, he won’t be rude about it if he can help it!
“It’s a very nice place,” Shen Yuan says diplomatically, as Luo Binghe leads them down one sprawling hallway after another. The decor is so horribly hideous. It looks a bit like a demonic bat going through its rebellious phase threw up everywhere.
Luo Binghe frowns. “Yuan-ge doesn’t like it?”
Luo Binghe had settled into calling Shen Yuan ‘Yuan-ge’ without much complaint, ever since Shen Yuan bested him in their hunt.
“When did I say I didn’t like it, ah? Didn’t your gege just tell you it’s a nice place?”
“Yuan-ge doesn’t look like he likes it,” Luo Binghe grumbles, as if this is something that matters very, very much to him.
Shen Yuan rolls his eyes, but before he can reassure Luo Binghe that his interior design skills won’t make or break their friendship, Luo Binghe stiffens and crowds in closer to Shen Yuan in the same moment the temperature in the hallway drops significantly.
“What,” Luo Binghe bites out to whoever had appeared in front of them, barely making it into a question.
Shen Yuan peers around Luo Binghe’s large frame curiously at the newcomer, and his eyes go wide at the site that greets him. An ice demon! An actual, in the flesh, super powerful-feeling ice demon! Powerful- looking, too, since he has that fancy blue huadian glowing bright on his brow, and -
Hm. Shen Yuan leans further around Luo Binghe to glance up at him. Just as he thought! Luo Binghe’s own demonic marking looks quite similar, except for the obvious difference in color!
Could it be - is this the demon lord ‘Luo’ that Su Xiyan had her fun with??
“The rebellion in the East is -”
Luo Binghe growls, cutting the ice demon off. Shen Yuan frowns. “I told you to handle that, if you’re good for anything.”
Shen Yuan frowns much, much harder. Luo Binghe, that certainly can’t be the way you talk to your father, ah?!
Luo Binghe looks ready to say something more - or growl something more, as the case may be - but Shen Yuan steps up beside him, reaches up to tangle a hand in Luo Binghe’s hair, and pushes his head down harshly into a small bow. Shen Yuan mimics the position next to Luo Binghe, looking down at his feet.
“This Shen Yuan apologizes for Luo Binghe’s rudeness,” Shen Yuan says, and that’s about all he manages to get out before Luo Binghe just about explodes beside him.
His energy, which had more or less been at a casual ‘I could squash you like a bug’ level since Shen Yuan had presented his kill of the Yellow Hound Snake to him (as opposed to the original ‘I will squash you like a bug’ level of pressure Luo Binghe had been giving off when they first met in Shen Yuan’s secret realm) suddenly jumps about eighteen levels in danger. Shen Yuan can actually feel him tremble under his fingers, as if bowing his head to this demon is truly such an offense that he can’t even think straight through the fury.
“Shen Yuan,” Luo Binghe snaps, his head pushing up against Shen Yuan’s hand. “You -!”
Shen Yuan calmly lets his hand slide from Luo Binghe’s head to his neck, squeezing firmly with his fingers pressed just slightly to the side of that pressure point he’d been abusing back in the secret realm to keep Luo Binghe pinned. Not anything to actually disable Luo Binghe in front of his probably-dad - Shen Yuan isn’t that cruel - but just enough to remind him. ‘Don’t be a little shit,’ Shen Yuan thinks loudly in Luo Binghe’s direction.
Luo Binghe goes almost boneless under Shen Yuan’s touch, so he probably got the message.
“Good,” Shen Yuan mumbles to Luo Binghe, “Now try again. Be nice, this time. He’s bringing you helpful information, isn’t he?”
“Yes, Yuan-ge,” Luo Binghe says, the air whooshing out of him seemingly all at once. His eyes look a little glazed over, Shen Yuan notes with concern. Is the stress of being called out for being rude in front of his probably-dad too much for him?
(Shen Yuan’s worries are baseless. Luo Binghe has not had a single coherent thought since Shen Yuan put his hand around Luo Binghe’s neck and squeezed, so close to where his bite mark would have been on Luo Binghe’s skin if he hadn’t healed it.
Luo Binghe is going insane.)
“...The rebellion in the East is stalled,” the ice demon eventually says, eyes flicking between Shen Yuan and the hand he has on Luo Binghe’s neck. “They aren’t fighting anymore, but wish to seek an audience with Junshang to discuss a possible trade deal in exchange for easy peace.”
Shen Yuan blinks. Junshang?
“...Thank you, Mobei Jun,” Luo Binghe eventually says, voice strained.
Shen Yuan blinks again. Mobei??
Ah. There might have been… a slight misunderstanding here, if this is just some random ice demon under Luo Binghe’s command, and not, in fact, the ‘Luo’ demon that is his father. Shen Yuan releases Luo Binghe’s neck and clears his throat, embarrassed for about two seconds before he remembers that forcing Luo Binghe through remedial lessons in general nicety had actually been his original plan anyway. So what if bowing to a subordinate is probably embarrassing for demons! Luo Binghe had still been rude to begin with!
This Yuan-ge is still in the right!! He has to believe this, or else he’ll probably evaporate on the spot from the embarrassment!
Mercifully, Mobei Jun takes this as his cue to leave just as quickly as he had arrived, throwing one last look between the two of them as he does so.
Shen Yuan tolerates the awkward silence in the hallway after Mobei Jun leaves for about half a nanosecond before he clears his throat awkwardly. “So! Rebellions! Binghe is actually really quite important in this realm, then?”
Luo Binghe sends Shen Yuan a look that is so exasperated and confused that even Shen Yuan is impressed at the level of emoting done in that one expression. “Yuan-ge said he recognized me,” Luo Binghe bemoans, and Shen Yuan feels his cheeks flush a bit in embarrassment.
“Well, sure, in the important ways! I recognized you as that whole basically-family thing, isn’t that the most critical thing?”
Luo Binghe’s look of exasperation takes on an edge of desperation. He looks very much like he really has no idea how he ended up in this position, but isn’t sure if he dares to complain. Shen Yuan, apparently having forced his way into the position of ‘Junshang’s gege,’ relates all too well.
Shen Yuan clears his throat again. “Ah, in any case, we should probably go heal your friend…?”
Luo Binghe spends another long moment watching Shen Yuan before nodding, and they continue down the hallway. Shen Yuan does his best to focus on the ugly decor, and not the tension between them.
Luo Binghe does his best to make the tension as unignorable as possible.
It’s a delicate balance.
---
(Across the palace, Mobei Jun glares at his jumpy rodent of a servant. “Junshang has taken a mate,” he says meaningfully.
Shang Qinghua sweats. “O-okay? Doesn't he already have, ah, all the women he’s been having flings with…?”
“No,” Mobei Jun frowns. “Junshang has taken a mate,” he repeats, as if this little cultivator spy is stupid. “The mate is in charge.”
Shang Qinghua swallows thickly. This provides very little insight into why Mobei Jun is telling him this.
“The mate is in charge, so…?”
“Junshang has taken a human cultivator as a mate, and the mate is in charge,” Mobei Jun repeats one final time. He is being very obvious, he thinks, and does not understand why Shang Qinghua is taking so long to pick up on this.
“...Right,” Shang Qinghua says eventually. “I’ll… let everyone know, then?”
Mobei Jun sighs heavily, and turns to stalk out of the room. Shang Qinghua gets the feeling he missed something, there, but… Mobei Jun also didn’t protest that last bit, so he supposes he had best really let everyone know about this whole ‘Junshang has taken a mate,’ business!)