Chapter Text
The day after The Teapot Incident, Shang Qinghua burst into the sitting room of the little bamboo house, interrupting the beginning of a new spirit board session between Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu. They both looked over, Shen Qingqiu freezing as if being caught in some borderline unsavory act.
Shang Qinghua didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he closed the door firmly behind himself and stared wild-eyed at his friend, face pale and body almost quivering with tension.
“Yue Qingyuan is leaving the mountain tomorrow.”
“…ah…” Shen Qingqiu responded, his expression blank. Then he straightened and calmly rolled up the paper spirit board to set it aside.
They’d barely said more than ‘hello’ and established where Liu Qingge was sitting before they’d been interrupted, so Liu Qingge was mildly annoyed. From Shen Qingqiu’s behavior, it didn’t seem as if he was angry about what happened the previous day, but it would have been better to clear the air and affirm he’d meant no harm. Not that Shen Qingqiu could have possibly taken any harm from his petty revenge, but after the first heady rush of ‘being troublesome’ faded, Liu Qingge hadn’t been able to fully enjoy himself out of worry it’d been taken in the wrong way. It bothered him that he couldn’t communicate it immediately, and now he had to wait even longer.
“Don’t ‘ah’ me! Don’t you know what this means???” Shang Qinghua protested, flinging his arms violently into the air before moving over to plop down on the cushion on the other side of the table, nearly sitting on Liu Qingge.
He would have, if Liu Qingge hadn’t quickly moved. From the odd expression on Shen Qingqiu’s face, he was thinking that his friend was sitting in a ghost’s lap without realizing.
It was almost funny.
“Bro!” Shang Qinghua whined, hands crawling towards his ears as if he’d be tugging at his hair if it wasn’t pinned up.
“Aiyah…” Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes and tsked before he thought for a moment. His expression sobered. “The Demonic Invasion incident.”
“Exactly!” Shang Qinghua responded, arms thrusting into the air again (this time with relief) before his entire body crumpled in on itself with worry. “What do we do, Bro? Should we call him back? Put up wards or whatever to keep them out?”
“Of course not. This is important for Binghe’s growth. Just… maybe we can do our best to prevent people from getting hurt. Assuming the demons are actually going to show up.”
“Trust me — it’s happening. Maybe it’s even happening right now and we don’t even know it yet! It’s already been delayed by, what? More than a month by this point? Yue Qingyuan’s been hanging around because the novelty of a Shen Qingqiu who didn’t bite his head off for looking his way was too exciting.”
Shen Qingqiu made a face. “Don’t make it weird by saying it like that.”
Liu Qingge could only agree with that request, even if Shang Qinghua was entirely correct.
“What do we do?” Shang Qinghua repeated, curling up in a nervous ball on the floor.
***
Apparently what they could do was review what they knew from the prophecy and extrapolate a new plan based on what had already changed from the events as they knew them.
If the prophecy held true, the demons’ goal was to take the inscription hanging in Qiong Ding Hall to bring back as a war trophy… and if they could overwhelm the peak or at least injure or kill some disciples before retreating, all the better.
With that in mind, the two peak lords (three, really, as Liu Qingge voiced his opinions by tugging at Shen Qingqiu’s left or right sleeve to indicate agreement or disagreement — and judging by Shen Qingqiu’s hesitation or alteration of his words, he’d quickly understood which was which) arrived at something of a plan.
First they would limit the possible points of entry to a single winding path that would take the demons through disused corners of the mountain before they arrived at Qiong Ding Peak. Apparently it was important to the prophecy that Luo Binghe be recognized as a talented disciple, so they could not empty the peak of disciples as a large number should be there to witness his abilities. But there was no need to put the youngest and weakest members of the sect at risk of injuries, especially as there were very few peak lords currently in residence aside from the two (three) of them.
Yue Qingyuan would leave the next day and the others were in seclusion if they were on the mountain at all. According to Shang Qinghua, Mu Qingfang seemed to be collecting ingredients in a nearby forest, but the prophecy indicated he wouldn’t return until it was too late to join the battle.
So they agreed that they should take advantage of the fact that there would be no peak lords around to interfere.
Shang Qinghua would be responsible for organizing and setting the arrays that would dictate the ‘unintentional’ gap in their defenses and then he would lead a sort of training camp for the youngest disciples, assisted by most of the weakest of the rest. This camp would happen on the furthest peak from the direction the demons would arrive from and last until either after the invasion, or Yue Qingyuan returned, whichever happened first.
For his part, Shen Qingqiu would host a daily sparring session at Qiong Ding Peak for any who wished to participate. If challenged about his authority to do so, Shen Qingqiu would claim that Yue Qingyuan agreed to it — and the camp — and there was little chance of anyone bothering to press it further.
Even other peak lords — if they actually returned to the mountain between now and when the expected events unfolded — would wait for the sect leader to return rather than interfere, knowing there was next to no possibility that Yue Qingyuan would say anything that would lead to Shen Qingqiu losing face. Especially if nothing he was doing seemed to be of any harm, which training events like that could hardly be classified as. Only Liu Qingge himself might have persisted in thwarting Shen Qingqiu, and for obvious reasons the current circumstances meant no one with enough authority would move themselves to do so.
According to the prophecy, the demons should arrive, make a bit of a ruckus, challenge the sect to a three-round sparring competition so each side could end hostilities while saving face, and the whole matter would be settled when the sect won and drove the demons off. Luo Binghe would earn his accolades and everything would go back to normal, albeit with improved security so something of the like wouldn’t happen again.
It was a good plan.
It was truly a shame that things went awry almost immediately.
***
As An Ding Peak studied arrays more extensively than most peaks due to the different ways it helped them in their tasks, it was a simple matter for Shang Qinghua to direct his senior disciples to place the agreed upon arrays exactly where he told them to.
The first step of their approach to the situation was, in fact, set into motion in only a few hours from when they’d had the idea. Shang Qinghua had sent instructions to his head disciple to begin work on placing the arrays in the designated spots while they were still finalizing the rest of their plans. By all reports, the disciples were excited to do as asked, begging to be on the array team their master organized. (Which was not surprising as they were rarely asked to do anything more interesting than create arrays for transporting items or protecting structural integrity.)
Based on their calculations, the arrays would be completely in place by the next afternoon.
Areas within the mountain’s boundaries therefore gained protections that they had likely not required in many generations — and why would they? Things had been peaceful for long enough that even the exterior protections hadn’t been maintained as well as they should have been. Not even during the last major demon uprising had the mountain’s individual peaks required protections guarding them from threats within the sect’s boundaries. But now it would be difficult for the invading demons to catch all twelve peaks unprepared.
It was really the only part of the plan that went the way they’d expected it to.
They spent the rest of the day sending messages about the arrays and the supplies necessary for the camp to An Ding and plotting together, going into details about the Demonic Invasion that Liu Qingge found himself tuning out after the second time hearing them. Especially since the two fairies seemed to argue over the particulars. (He still didn’t understand enough about fairy social hierarchy to understand why things were Shang Qinghua’s fault, but he figured it was best he didn’t question it. There were likely many things in the cultivation world the fairies found just as arbitrary or confusing.)
During the few hours the two fairies napped, sprawled over the table and the floor, Liu Qingge appreciated the silence that reigned. At least until Luo Binghe arrived with the morning tea and squawked with horror that they’d never gone properly to bed. The two peak lords sheepishly submitted to a scolding along with their breakfast and agreed to meet up a few hours later after a wash and dressing in a fresh set of clothes.
As the afternoon set in, Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua sent their younger disciples ahead to the proposed camp site and began going peak to peak together to collect more of the young and the weak for the ‘training camp’. Other disciples from their peaks joined them on their procession, to be used as guides to the camp or runners for messages if it proved necessary.
While they waited the arrival of the new training camp candidates, they took the time to inform the more senior and stronger disciples of each peak about the mock competitions that would be starting the next day.
That was when they began running into resistance.
Most of the peaks gave over their disciples to the custody of the two peak lords with no more question than a confused, “Shizun didn’t tell us about this…?” but bowed due to their combined confidence and the subtle pressure Shen Qingqiu exuded on those disciples with the stronger backbones. A few of the more suspicious of the older disciples insisted on participating in the camp, “To assist Shishu (or Shibo).” but as neither peak lord had an issue with that, this seemed to put any lingering wariness to rest.
Not so when they arrived at Xian Shu Peak.
Liu Mingyan was the head disciple of Xian Shu and had obviously been informed of their upcoming visit. She was already on her way to meet the peak lords at the gates at the foot of her master’s peak, flanked by several beautiful, but obviously equally strong-willed senior disciples, if their poised stances and confident gazes spoke to their true attitudes.
Liu Qingge watched his sister’s veil flutter as she took the last few steps and bowed gracefully to the two peak lords. She greeted them with demure words and cold, cold eyes that she pinned to Shen Qingqiu, clearly marking him as the mastermind behind the strange activities going on while the other peak lords were busy elsewhere.
Which was perfectly correct, of course.
While the two peak lords and Mingyan exchanged the expected pleasantries and then Shen Qingqiu indicated that Shang Qinghua explain about the training camp, Shen Qingqiu watched her closely. Liu Qingge watched as well.
He couldn’t decide if it shamed him — as opposed to disappointed or worried him — to realize he hadn’t considered visiting his own sister to see how she was coping with his death. She was now the only surviving member of their family, after all, and they’d grown close since she’d arrived at the sect. Especially recently, when they’d both had more time to spend together. But he’d thought of his disciples before he’d thought of his own blood, and he wasn’t sure it reflected well on him.
In his defense, it was rather difficult to think of such things right now.
He’d considered visiting his peak several times, but always lost interest quickly, worrying that he’d leave Shen Qingqiu unprotected if he went that far. Sometimes even leaving the same room as Shen Qingqiu filled him with unease, and he couldn’t explain why.
This… was something, perhaps, to bring up with Shen Qingqiu when they had the privacy to have another spirit board discussion, though it was beyond him to plan for how to get the topic to come up if he couldn’t speak or write. But he thought it was important.
He might have bound himself to Shen Qingqiu somehow in his efforts to remain earthbound rather than passing beyond the veil of the living and the dead. That might excuse his neglect, though he still felt guilty for it. Especially without knowing if he was correct in his suspicions.
Watching his sister, he was sure she wasn’t doing well. She was pale and a little thinner, her posture stiff in spite of her attempts to feign a relaxed and welcoming attitude, and her eyes were like ice-covered irises. (Though it was fair to say her flower-colored eyes would likely not be warm for her shibo regardless.)
“No,” she said simply, when the request to fetch the young disciples was made.
She was polite but firm with Shang Qinghua. With Shen Qingqiu, she had the subtle menace of someone slowly sliding their hand into a sleeve both knew held a hidden dagger. There was no overt threat, or obvious rudeness, but she had made her decision and her peak sisters were ready to defend it if they had to.
“Shizun left very specific instructions as to our training while she is gone. She will return in a day or two — you may ask her then. If you will excuse us, Shen-Shibo; Shang-Shishu — we have many things to do to stay on schedule. In fact, we may be enough behind we should not leave our peak until Shizun returns,” Mingyan concluded with a coolness to her expression that made her seem even more unapproachable.
“Please consider attending the sparring sessions at Qiong Ding Peak, at least. It would be a shame for any peak to be absent from the rare opportunity to train with the others,” Shen Qingqiu persisted gently.
Liu Mingyan paused and lifted her eyes in a sharp movement like flung daggers. “Will you be there, Shen-Shibo?”
Liu Qingge sensed Shen Qingqiu tense a little, though it wouldn’t have been visible to anyone who wasn’t standing as close as Liu Qingge currently was. “I am. It is only correct that I attend when I am organizing it. Disciples may come any time from an hour after the morning bell to an hour before the evening bell. I will be there.”
“And will you be participating, or just watching?” she asked, her words crafted to sound mildly curious, but her gaze keen and unflinching over her veil.
Shen Qingqiu stalled for a moment, chuckling and unfurling his fan to waft it lazily in front of himself. “I might consider participating, but I don’t want to be accused of trying to usurp the place of anyone’s shizun by seeming to instruct anyone…”
“I’m sure my master would understand,” she said softly.
Her intent was clear to anyone who had enough information to know her current source of resentment. But ostensibly Shen Qingqiu didn’t, so he managed another light laugh and almost indulgently said, “Then I will look forward to seeing you there if your training schedule allows it, Shizhi.”
Mingyan’s expression relaxed into a sort of satisfaction before she bowed beautifully and made extremely polite goodbyes to the peak lords. The gates of Xian Shu shut and locked tightly behind the young women, silently underscoring their intentions to withdraw from the rest of the sect until their shizun returned.
Shen Qingqiu waved a hand to urge the disciples with them to walk ahead towards the next peak.
Once the others were no longer in earshot, Shang Qinghua leaned in and hissed, “She’s going to freaking murder you, Bro!”
Shen Qingqiu laughed wryly, looking maybe a little less worried about it than he probably should have been.
“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about them if they’re too paranoid about what I’m up to to leave the peak. And as long as I can interest Liu Mingyan in attending the Qiong Ding Peak event in hopes of sparring with me, she’ll be there to participate in moving the plot ahead. It’s fine, it’s fine.”
Liu Qingge placed a sympathetic hand on Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder. It wasn’t the fairy’s fault he’d died. It wasn’t even the original Shen Qingqiu’s fault.
Apparently the fairy felt the touch because his hand reflexively moved up as if to cover it before he disguised the motion as an attempt to settle his hair. In an off-hand way, he lightly said, “Don’t worry — I won’t hurt her.”
“Dude, I wasn’t worried about that! Of course not!” Shang Qinghua responded with an odd motion of his hand. Liu Qingge smiled, appreciating both the reassurance from the fairy and his friend’s immediate conviction in its truth, even if the words had clearly been intended for Liu Qingge’s ears. What Shang Qinghua followed it up with was far less reassuring. “I remember you saying she was your favorite wife.”
Liu Qingge frowned and gave Shen Qingqiu a hard poke in the shoulder — hard enough that he actually saw the indent in the fabric. Shen Qingqiu’s brows drew together in a slight wince before he cast an almost nervous smile in Liu Qingge’s general direction.
“I’ll explain later,” he muttered before hurrying forward to catch up to the others, his ears a bit pink.
Liu Qingge followed with a scowl, knowing the fairy was trying to prevent anything else from being said that he wouldn’t appreciate and the fairy wouldn’t be able to explain to him. He still didn’t understand why Shen Qingqiu hadn’t shared his ghostly presence with the other fairy, but he must have had a reason. He’d have to try to get that out of him too.
He really needed to figure out how to speak.
***
The attack happened in the middle of the night — not during the daytime as the fairies had expected.
On the plus side, most of the more vulnerable were safely tucked away on the far side of the mountain, presumably laying in tents and regretting the loss of their more comfortable beds at their own peaks.
But almost everything else about the situation was to their disadvantage.
The only reason Shen Qingqiu was able to leave his peak in anything other than just his sleeping attire was because the quick-witted Luo Binghe ran after him with a robe in his hands. If not for that, Shen Qingqiu’s single-minded determination to protect the sect might have meant he left Luo Binghe behind in his rush to ride his spirit sword over to the red glow that marked Qiong Ding Peak. Instead, Shen Qingqiu was reminded of his duties and was able to shout instructions to the other disciples who had woken when the alarm arrays went off.
Once his orders were given, he grabbed Luo Binghe and pulled him in front of him on his sword. Liu Qingge gripped Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder and was pulled along with them.
Qiong Ding Peak was in flames, thick black smoke pouring off of most of the buildings and demons of all shapes and sizes swarming like hungry dungeon rats trying to break their way into a full pantry.
Shen Qingqiu wasn’t the only one to arrive atop his spirit sword. Several of Qing Jing’s senior disciples had been able to follow their master, most just as under-dressed as he was. Representatives from most of the rest of the peaks arrived the same way, some sooner than others, either already awake at the time the alarm arrays had gone off or understanding immediately that was something was wrong and needed to be investigated.
Only a few wearing Qiong Ding’s robes were in evidence, most of those guarding the doors of the buildings; presumably defending the rest of their peak-mates inside. If the protection arrays had been properly installed by An Ding, those inside should be safe from the flames, but smoke inhalation and exterior damage would still be an issue if no one did anything but huddle in place.
Less than a hundred disciples made it to Qiong Ding Peak before a shield went up around the top of it, blocking entry to anyone else and trapping both demons and cultivators inside of its faintly glowing dome. The shouts of questions and challenge died out immediately as the shield made an ominous hum when more cultivators tried to break their way inside.
“Ha!” a silvery laugh rang out into the silence, underscored by the crackling of the fires.
Shen Qingqiu had been the first to move, finally pulling the robe Luo Binghe had given him on to cover his arms and shoulders, but stilling his movements in response to the laugh before he could make himself more presentable than that. His eyes were pinned to the stairs of Qiong Ding Hall as a little demoness, hardly more than a girl, descended towards them wearing layers of dark, smoke-colored silks wrapped provocatively around her.
Every step she took let loose a shimmer of bell chimes. They must have been magically assisted, because though they were soft, sweet sounds, Liu Qingge was sure everyone within the magical dome could hear them and was spellbound to silence.
The demoness reached the last step and posed almost coyly, using a finger to tuck one of her many braids behind her delicately pointed ear.
“Aiyah… was Ling-er’s visit ill-timed?” she called, her voice pitched to suggest an ingénue’s guilelessness. “Forgive us for waking you. Demons are prepared at all hours… how were we to know?”
Sword still gripped tightly in his hand, Shen Qingqiu strode forward until she turned her sly eyes his way. It appeared that she didn’t recognize him based on her mild confusion.
“We were not expecting guests,” Shen Qingqiu said, his voice cold and sharp.
His hair dark and unbound streaming around him, the hastily donned robes half falling from his shoulders billowing in the night air, bright blade in hand, feet bare, and body silhouetted against the flames? The picture was breath-taking, if Liu Qingge had breath to be stolen.
The thought startled Liu Qingge and he quickly shrugged it off to move closer, ready to act if necessary.
Emboldened by the presence of a peak lord, the disciples that managed to arrive at the peak closed in too.
Liu Qingge could see his sister nearby, her flower-colored gaze moving between Shen Qingqiu, the demoness, and some of the demons nearest to her, calmly assessing the situation and readying herself to move when the situation called for it. He was interested to note that she wore dark clothing, as if she’d not just been awake, but investigating in the shadows before the invasion. Before he could take note if she were alone, the demoness responded.
“Is that so?” she asked, her voice all but dripping with sarcasm. “It seemed that you must have been, or why else did you prepare for attack and lay fresh security precautions? If we hadn’t found a gap —” She cut herself off as if realizing she may have revealed too much.
Shen Qingqiu chuckled, reaching for a fan, but frowning as he realized he didn’t have one with him. Unable to use a prop to illustrate an unconcerned attitude, he instead settled his hair and relaxed his stance, though his grip on the sword hilt was still ready. “Surely a sect such as ours would have security measures as a matter of course? It’s strange that this offends you. ‘Guests’, after all, should be invited. Or at least come openly and request entry.”
“No!” she snapped and stalked forward, her bare feet slapping the stone courtyard that separated them, her pretty little bells jangling with none of the harmonious sounds from before. She stopped a few feet away, her glare burning as much as the flames behind her. “No, this is new. They were not there yesterday. Imagine our surprise when we came to visit and found the route we had selected barred! Our glorious entrance denied! And we instead had to sneak like thieves in the night.”
Shen Qingqiu huffed a mocking laugh behind his sleeve, ruining the intimidating and knowing mood the young demoness’s speech was evidently meant to create.
Her red lips thinned and her cheeks flushed with fury and embarrassment before she appeared to regain control over herself. She tossed her hair, the bells once more making a cascade of their pretty sounds. “I recognize you now, Xiu Ya Sword. How unimpressive you look when you haven’t had the time to hide yourself behind that prim and proper scholar mask you wear. How much of your reputation is a lie, I wonder?” she asked, her voice silky and suggestive.
The fairy only looked a little surprised before he smirked. “And you had all the time in the world to prepare for your glorious entrance, and you chose… this.” He waved a few fingers towards her, letting people fill in their own assessment, whether about how she presented herself or the demons’ arrival in general. From the flush on her face, her own insecurities had come up with something she found unflattering.
She was wise enough to abandon the petty taunts and return to the previous subject.
“How did you know to prepare for us? I know it must have been you, Xiu Ya Sword. You’re the only peak lord in residence.”
“Hmm. No wonder you’ve made a mess of this,” Shen Qingqiu said thoughtfully. “Your information is too poor. There are several peak lords here.”
“Two in seclusion and An Ding’s peak lord. Hardly worth mentioning,” she said dismissively.
There was a strangled sound from one of the disciples — either someone from An Ding who was offended on their shizun’s behalf, or someone startled into a nervous laugh they had the sense to smother at the last moment.
“And yet, he was vital to my plans to protect the sect,” Shen Qingqiu said, feigning boredom. “Really, little saintess, the fact that you attacked while I was resting was surprising, but do you really think we were entirely unprepared? Even after seeing changes to our defenses? You didn’t think for a moment that you might be walking into our trap? Aiyah…”
If he hadn’t been privy to all of the plans, Liu Qingge would have absolutely believed that the sect’s strategist had planned this all out to account for every eventuality. Certainly everyone else believed it. Luo Binghe, close on his master’s heels, sucked in a breath. Others gasped outright. Liu Mingyan gazed wide-eyed at him, her grudge momentarily set aside.
The demons shifted nervously on their feet, their eyes darting around in search of an exit route. Their leader silently moved her lips a moment, briefly speechless. She recovered quickly, to her credit.
“This was never about an attack, Xiu Ya Sword,” she scoffed, buffing her blood red nails on her hip and then examining the way they glittered in the flames before glancing over at him. “Neighbors often test fences for each other. Strong fences make good neighbors, after all.”
It was a weak excuse, but Shen Qingqiu hummed thoughtfully before nodding, accepting her claim of more innocent intentions.
“We appreciate your kind overtures. I’m sure you’ll point out the weakness in our fences that we overlooked on your way out.” He gave her a thin smile that was as sharp as the sword in his hand. He’d made no move to put it politely away, clearly wanting the threat to stand firm when the cultivators and the demons were nearly matched in number — at least if the Qiong Ding Peak disciples stayed safely inside the buildings.
“Perhaps…” the demoness said, floating the word gently on the night air as if entertaining a sudden afterthought. “Perhaps before we part ways, we could have a competition. Three rounds with a fighter from each side. Just to see what might have happened if we hadn’t come here to be neighborly,” she said lightly, once again feigning that she was just a young girl playing around.
Shen Qingqiu pretended to think again, turning the suggestion over in his mind as if the whole reason a gap had been left in the defenses wasn’t for precisely this reason.
“It would be rude not to accept,” he said finally.
***
While the majority of the disciples gathered around the courtyard to watch the matches — and provide back-up if the demons turned traitorous — others moved in the background, helping to put out the fires. Luo Binghe had been prepared to go help with that, but Shen Qingqiu kept him and told him to watch closely.
The competition began just as the prophecy had suggested it would.
Shen Qingqiu went first, showing far more grace and skill in battle than Liu Qingge could recall the original displaying before. He shadowed every movement the fairy made, prepared for underhanded tactics from the demons and wanting to be close enough to counter it. He did not have the assurance that he could react in time otherwise, the way full access to his qi would have given him.
Moving like this together was like riding Cheng Luan in a thunderstorm — thrilling and a bit electric. He wished he could have done something similar while he was still alive. He wondered how it would have felt then. It was over too soon, though thankfully without any need to exert himself. Shen Qingqiu was ready for everything.
Liu Mingyan’s battle was far more fierce than the two fairies had described from their memories of the prophecy. They had discussed something graceful and beautiful, like an aerial dance — but both women had actually been nearly brutal in their straight-forward bids to win the fight. Liu Mingyan still lost, as they had predicted, but it was a very near thing between victory and defeat. The demoness was furious.
When it came time for the third match and Shen Qingqiu selected Luo Binghe to participate, the boy didn’t even seem surprised, much less nervous. He grimly gripped his sword and took his place.
“He will win,” Shen Qingqiu said with calm confidence when the demons jeered and the disciples questioned.
And Luo Binghe did.
Presumably the extra month the two fairies had mentioned between when the Demon Invasion should have happened and when it actually did gave Luo Binghe all the time he needed to become comfortable in the skills Shen Qingqiu had encouraged him to practice. The demons’ third champion barely put on a good show as all Luo Binghe really needed was a few passes to test whether the demon had anything more up his sleeve than his armor and his size before unleashing his own attacks.
Like the previous two battles, Luo Binghe left his opponent alive, but he otherwise left little room for the demon elder to save face — the contrast of the young, weak-looking boy being able to deliver such an overwhelming victory was psychologically crushing. The demon should have everything on his side: size, weight, experience; even poison-coated armor — but he was still squashed like a bug in the courtyard when Luo Binghe was done with him.
That should have been the end of the matter. The demoness was even giving a bitter acknowledgment of their defeat when one of the demons in the background snarled and ran forward to the unconscious elder. The enraged demon pulled off one of the elder’s pieces of spiked armor to use as a shield and rushed at them, screaming.
It never made sense to Liu Qingge afterward — he’d heard the two fairies discuss for a quarter of an hour about how Luo Binghe’s position in the prophecy would provide him with the luck of a god’s favorite. He might be hurt, but it was unlikely to be serious and he’d miraculously find a solution to whatever troubled him and perhaps even make a significant gain from any temporary set-back.
So there should have been no reason for Shen Qingqiu to pull Luo Binghe behind him. And yet he did, with the protective air of a guardian ready to savage the threat.
With a growl, Liu Qingge stepped between Shen Qingqiu and the rampaging demon, pushing him hard enough that the fairy was forced back a step and the demon’s crazed attack with the poisoned ‘shield’ went astray. Unlike before, with the exploding weiqi board, Liu Qingge was not able to achieve a degree of solidity that blocked an attack — his focus was entirely on moving Shen Qingqiu aside.
Because of this choice in his focus, he saw the spikes stab through his ghostly body, rather than Shen Qingqiu’s solid one. Some of the spikes were still slick with the poison and he watched as droplets of it slid off the metal and were flung at Shen Qingqiu. Neither of them were fast enough to prevent or avoid all of the poison and Liu Qingge was forced to gnash his teeth as several drops splattered over Shen Qingqiu’s bared skin and clothes.
As Shen Qingqiu quickly used his sleeve to wipe away the poison on his skin, Luo Binghe lunged forward to take down the attacking demon. If the elder demon had been crushed like a bug, this one was nearly pulverized. Liu Qingge didn’t bother to keep track if the demon was likely to live — he was too focused on Shen Qingqiu.
“Shizun!” Luo Binghe called out once he’d finished, swinging from vicious guard dog to kicked puppy in a heartbeat.
“Ara…!” the demoness said, feigning concern as she moved forward, her eyes speculative as they darted over Shen Qingqiu.
When she launched into a description of Without-A-Cure, Liu Qingge was deeply relieved he’d moved in time to protect the fairy. By the end of her speech, it became clear that she would be attempting to use a test to discover whether or not Shen Qingqiu had been poisoned to determine if she had one last chance to turn this entire venture to her advantage.
Though Luo Binghe was strong, it was obvious that his concern would be for his master over the sect. If Shen Qingqiu were poisoned and Luo Binghe guarded him, the demons would only really have to contend with the remaining disciples, and with relatively even numbers, it was unlikely many of the cultivators would be able to match up to the demons’ natural strength.
From the grim smile Shen Qingqiu flashed as he straightened his stained clothes and stared at the demoness, he had come to the same conclusion.
“If a spiritual blast is all it takes to send uninvited guests home who have outstayed their welcome, I’ll gladly expend the power,” he sniffed, tone and expression so disdainful that the demoness’s confidence wavered.
But it was a bluff. Whether or not Shen Qingqiu was aware of it or not, Liu Qingge didn’t know, but he saw that the shimmer just underneath his skin that he associated with the fairy’s power was fading by the second.
The next few events happened so quickly that there was really no time to think.
Shen Qingqiu raised his arms to deliver the spiritual blast, the threads of his power gathering around his arms and into his palms in a flashy display that made many of the demons begin their retreat and the demon saintess falter as she prepared her own. Then Shen Qingqiu’s qi was suddenly snuffed out and the power died. The saintess offered a feral smile, eagerly shifting her weight forward — and Liu Qingge moved to place his palms on Shen Qingqiu’s back and shove his own power through him so it was forced through Shen Qingiqu’s meridians and was propelled outward, catching the demoness and several of her braver lieutenants and knocking them off their feet.
The saintess’s dome collapsed, finally allowing the cultivators outside in to act as reinforcements. As Shen Qingqiu wonderingly stared at his palms, the demons scattered and the cultivators pursued them.
Liu Qingge was able to watch his sister pursue close on the heels of the saintess and Luo Binghe catch his master by the shoulders as his own vision blurred.
That is good, he thought. Luo Binghe will protect him for me.
Then all he knew was darkness.