Chapter Text
I will heal the wounded and rescue the dying, regardless of the hardships. --Oath for medical students.
The first thing Shen Yuan did upon transmigrating was shave that monstrosity of a mustache. What was Mu Qingfang thinking, Shen Yuan wondered, glaring at himself in the mirror?! Well, he thought, it’s too late now.
He was now Mu Qingfang, peak lord of Qian Cao peak. He might as well get used to calling himself that now, so.
The OG Mu Qingfang had apparently been a nice guy. His disciples liked him well enough. Mu Qingfang was grateful that whatever entity shoved him into this lightly used body had also downloaded all the doctor files relevant to this world.
Mu Qingfang could recognize any and all flora that might affect a person. He knew all the right treatments. He could make all the poultices and heal all the wounds he came across. Fuck, he even knew how to sew.
His head disciple was a youngish looking woman who appeared to be in her early twenties. Mu Qingfang actually didn’t know how old she really was, though. Only relevant files had gotten downloaded, and apparently, somehow the Qian Cao peak head disciple’s stats weren’t relevant.
Now, his martial siblings, however-Mu Qingfang knew all about them. He knew about Zhangmen Shixiong’s cursed sword. He knew about Shen Shixiong’s damaged cultivation from having practiced demonic cultivation in his youth. He knew Wei Qingwei’s tendency to qi-deviate when forging certain swords.
He knew that Shang Qinghua was in an abusive relationship with someone outside of the sect, and his mousy shixiong liked to pilfer medical supplies. (The OG Mu Qingfang had deliberately left various stuff left in the main lobby in an easy to access cabinet. Shen Yuan suspected that OG Qingfang just wanted Shang Shixiong to be able to take care of himself, and didn’t take offense at his Shixiong’s secretive ways.)
Yu Qingxin, the Ling Yu peak lord in charge of beast taming and general animal husbandry was a pretty good field medic. Mu Qingfang knew that he did a year of intense study while Mu Qingfang was still a disciple.
Of all his martial siblings, Mu Qingfang was most concerned about Liu Qingge and his tendency to try and walk off mortal wounds- that is, wounds that were mortal even to a cultivator of his caliber!
Mu Qingfang had discovered several thick notebooks filled with OG Qingfang’s observations and tricks for treating Liu Shixiong. Within that notebook were several suggestions about sex-pollen related mischief. Apparently good old Liu Shixiong had a disturbing tendency to get sex pollened on the regular, all the while completely unaware.
He often returned to his mountain eager to give his disciples a beating. Mu Qingfang had postulated that this was Liu Qingge’s way of working out the pollen since he seemed to have no interest in taking care of it, the um. Usual way.
Other entries held run of the mill advice such as : Under no circumstances approach Shen Shixiong from the back. Make sure to make some noise on approach.
Another entry said: If you see Shang Shixiong, make sure to offer some calming tea, and make sure he has both eaten and slept in the preceding forty-eight hours.
Mu Qingfang read everything OG Qingfang had to say. He still wasn’t sure why the OG had passed so suddenly. He’d woken in the man’s body, apparently just waking from sleep. He called out, but no one answered. Some kind of muscle memory made him snap his fingers and just like that- a candle ignited.
From there, it was obvious he had transmigrated.
He’s several months in, now, and Mu Qingfang likes to think he’s doing a pretty okay job. There’s just one thing he’s worried about.
Luo Binghe.
Shen Shixiong’s scapegoat for everything. The abuse magnet. The Protagonist who will someday rip his Shixiong to shreds, kill Zhangmen Shixiong and raze Cang Qiong mountain sect to ash.
So. Mu Qingfang has a vested interest okay?
He’s been doing a lot of work trying to figure out where in the timeline they are. Liu Qingge? Still alive, and actively being a pain in the ass. No demon invasion yet. The Immortal Alliance Conference is set for four years hence.
But it feels like he’s running out of time.
So he does what this body does best, apparently, and starts making lists. Lists of things that he can use, things that he can do to avert the terrible future coming for them all.
The first thing on the list? Try and help Luo Binghe. But he needs a good excuse to be on Qing Jing peak, otherwise Shen Qingqiu will have a shit fit. Mu Qingfang’s only met the man like twice and both times were at Peak Lord meetings in which Mu Qingfang said nothing and simply observed.
He expected Shen Shixiong to be handsome, of course he would be! Aren’t villains always supremely good looking? Except Shen Qingqiu looks more like a tired professor than a would be Scum Villain.
Anyway, Peak Lord meetings are kind of an exercise in not being discovered by his martial siblings. Mu Qingfang sits through them with a kind of horrified fascination. He’s not sure what he expected but it’s certainly not Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu shouting each other down while Yue Qingyuan rubs his head and looks pained.
In addition to his duties as Peak Lord, Mu Qingfang also runs some free clinics down in the local towns. One day while he’s holding a general clinic down in one of the nearby towns, he cares for several street kids. They’re all so young! Terribly skinny, and so fucking tired. He cares for young mothers who are absolutely exhausted, with no kind of help. Everyone is poor and hungry and dealing with preventable illnesses. The millennial who’s riding in Mu Qingfang’s body hates it.
He hates knowing that most of these people would be so much better off with modern medicine. Fuck, Mu Qingfang would give anything for some fucking penicillin, and even more for some actual over the counter cold and allergy medicine.
Grimly, he amputates a foot here. A great toe there. This farmer got his arm scratched by a bird and now it’s black and necrotic all the way up to the elbow. Mu Qingfang’s only been a doctor for a few months but he recognizes necrotizing fasciitis immediately. Flesh eating bacteria he mentally translates as he prepares the patient for surgery.
His disciples scrub the patient’s skin while Mu Qingfang prepares the acupuncture needles for analgesia. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any kind of ventilation so he can’t really sedate the patient as much as he wants to. The leg will be numb but the poor guy will be wide awake. It’s horrific, and Mu Qingfang makes it a point to get it over with as fast as possible.
The Lord of Qian Cao peak is more efficient than ever, his disciples tell their peers, back at the mountain. Shizun is so knowledgeable! So revolutionary in his medical practice!
Really though, aside from the medical files downloaded into his brain, Mu Qingfang just has rudimentary medical knowledge gleaned by osmosis and constant use of the internet.
Wash your hands. Wash the patient. Use high heat to destroy bacteria. Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough.
It’s simple. But here, in PIDW-land? Earth shattering!
But gods above, Mu Qingfang hates chopping body parts off of people.
One afternoon, the healing pavilion door slams open so hard it puts a long vertical crack in the heavy wood. Liu Qingge stomps in with a disciple under his arm. The Qian Cao disciples scatter in an effort to direct Liu Shibo to an empty treatment room.
The Bai Zhan peak lord dumps the kid on the exam table and then turns to leave, but Mu Qingfang, a veteran of six whole months now, is wise to his ways and captures the elusive Liu Shixiong.
“Shixiong,” Mu Qingfang calls urgently, and sends out his qi in the shape of a lasso, which catches around Liu Qingge’s wrist. (This is a technique that OG Qingfang had created for sewing tiny blood vessels together, but it’s pretty great for stubborn Shixiongs as well.)
“What.” Liu Qingge says flatly, crossing his arms over his chest and inadvertently dragging Mu Qingfang a few steps closer.
“Liu Shixiong,” Mu Qingfang says, “It’s been some time since your last exam, and I need to check your meridians.”
Surprisingly, Liu Qingge’s glare relaxes into something a little less murdery and he reluctantly extends an arm.
Running a trickle of his qi through someone else’s cultivation system is now second nature and a cursory exam reveals that Liu Qingge is doing fine. Mu Qingfang smiles and says, “Everything looks great, thanking Liu Shixiong.”
Liu Qingge stares at him for a long moment.
“What happened to your disciple, Shixiong?” Mu Qingfang hurries to ask before the War God runs off again.
Snorting a little, Liu Qingge says, “He. Wasn’t paying attention and tripped over another kid. I thought he might have broken something.” He looks away and for a moment, Mu Qingfang’s eyes linger on the sharp angle of Liu Qingge’s jaw. “You’re always telling me to get things checked out before they become a real problem, so.”
“Thank you, Liu Shixiong,” Mu Qingfang says warmly, reaching out and squeezing the other man’s shoulder. Inwardly, he’s melting down about how FIRM Liu Shixiong’s muscles are. Truly a war god! “I will take good care of your disciple.”
Liu Qingge blinks, a small furrow appearing between his brows. “I…know you will,” he says finally and then escapes.
Mu Qingfang treats the boy for a severe sprained ankle and prescribes an anti-inflammatory tea, warm compresses and rest for a week. Because the boy is Bai Zhan, Mu Qingfang will need to keep him here on Qian Cao where he will be looked after properly. Liu Shixiong kind of has a Lord of the Flies thing going on over on Bai Zhan, and it doesn’t make a great place to recover from injuries.
A few days later, an emergency talisman calls him directly to the bamboo house on Qing Jing peak. OG Qingfang’s notes state quite clearly that Shen Qingqiu only called for help if it was severe, something about a misunderstanding from when Shen Shixiong was a disciple. OG Qingfang had been trying to make up for it for years, to no avail.
He leaves a note for his head disciple and flies immediately to Qing Jing peak. He lands in front of the bamboo house and knocks twice on the door. An unfortunate looking boy answers the door. “Mu Shishu,” he greets. “This one is Ming Fan, Shizun’s head disciple. I found Shizun collapsed on the floor and called for you immediately.” The boy wrings his hands together anxiously. “Shizun…Shizun always has me keep an emergency talisman just in case…”
“Where is your master?” Mu Qingfang asks kindly. “I will do my best to restore his health.” He follows Ming Fan through the small house to Peak Lord Shen’s bedroom. His Shixiong has been laid on top of the covers fully dressed and appears at first glance to be unconscious.
The bedroom is open and airy with a wide window covered by a paper shade. A small talisman is attached to the shade. Squinting, Mu Qingfang thinks it’s for privacy. He has a large set of built in shelves against one wall displaying small paintings, some jade statues and of course, books. Mu Qingfang itches to snoop and discover what the scholarly peak lord has been reading but alas. He does have a job to do.
“Shen Shixiong,” Mu Qingfang greets, assuming that all patients can hear and understand him until proven otherwise. “It’s Mu Shidi. Your disciple called me to check on you and I am going to run a scan and will need to touch you to do so.”
At the end of the bed, Ming Fan watches with parted lips. Is he so out of character then? Whatever, Mu Qingfang decides.
He runs the scan and finds Shen Qingqiu’s meridians stiff and inflamed like Shen Shixiong tried to push through a bottleneck and failed. “Disciple Ming, please bring me some cool water and clean cloths.” He doesn’t actually need them, but this kid needs to do something besides hover.
“Yes, Mu Shishu.” The boy leaves.
Mu Qingfang gets to work. He perches on the edge of Shen Shixiong’s bed. Some of Shen Qingqiu’s meridians are thinned nearly to the breaking point while others are filled with blockages. Making his qi as gentle as if he was treating a child, he repairs the damage using his spiritual energy to bolster the thin meridians and sloughing away carefully at the nearly blocked ones.
“There you go, Shixiong,” Mu Qingfang says, “It’s looking much better now. “I think you’ll make a good recovery.” He lets go of Shen Qingqiu’s delicate wrist (far thinner than it should be) and then takes his hand and squeezes gently. “Shixiong, would you consider waking up for Shidi?” he asks, not really expecting a response.
To his surprise, Shen Qingqiu’s eyes slit open and Mu Qingfang finds himself being observed coldly. He gives Shen Qingqiu’s hand another squeeze before releasing it. “Hello, Shixiong,” Mu Qingfang smiles. “It’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling?”
Shen Qingqiu blinks his eyes and frowns severely. He brings a hand to his forehead. “Like I just had a qi deviation.”
“Yes, I would think so,” Mu Qingfang agrees. “It was a significant one, too.”
“Why-” Shen Qingqiu clamps his mouth shut and Mu Qingfang leans forward.
“Yes? What do you need?” Mu Qingfang asks.
Carefully tilting his head from side to side, Shen Qingqiu shifts so that he is reclining against the headboard. He meets Mu Qingfang’s eyes. “Did you do something different this time?”
Mu Qingfang blinks in surprise. “No,” he says slowly. “I don’t think so.” In reality he has no idea. OG Qingfang hasn’t treated Shen Qingqiu for nearly a year. “Do you feel differently?”
Shen Qingqiu purses his lips, brows drawn together like he’s thinking about what he wants to say. Finally, he says, “I-usually, I feel…much worse than this.”
“I shall take that as a compliment, Shixiong,” Mu Qingfang says. “Do you have a headache? Any pain elsewhere?”
Shen Qingqiu for some reason can’t seem to stop glaring holes in him. “Yes, to the headache.”
Beginning to dig through his qiankun pouches for pain relieving tea, Mu Qingfang asks, “What about other pain?”
He receives no answer, so he stops rooting through his bag and looks over at Shen Qingqiu. “Shixiong?” Mu Qingfang raises his eyebrows. For a long moment, Shen Qingqiu meets his eyes.
Then Shen Qingqiu blinks and the moment is broken. The Qing Jing peak lord looks away and crosses his arms over his chest. “Just the usual.”
Mu Qingfang gives Shen Shixiong an evaluating look. “Would Shixiong please tell me more?” Shen Qingqiu just looks confused and so Mu Qingfang adds, “What is the usual amount of pain? Where do you usually have it, how long have you had it, and what kind of pain is it?”
Having gone completely still, Shen Qingqiu is giving off the air of a trapped animal. Sensing his patient becoming alarmed, Mu Qingfang says, “I am asking because I would like to treat any lingering pain you have whether it’s new or not.” He chews his lip for a moment. “Shen Shixiong should not feel pressured to discuss anything he does not wish to. I merely wanted him to know that this Shidi is always available if Shixiong has need of him.”
There, Mu Qingfang thinks. He should probably take his leave, but…he really feels like Shen Shixiong is waiting for something. Something bad to happen. Mu Qingfang remains very still, giving Shen Qingqiu his full, undivided attention. He’s very sure that if Shen Qingqiu wanted him to go he would have been told to get out in no uncertain terms. So he waits.
After what feels like forever but is probably only a few minutes, Shen Qingqiu says quietly. “My hands hurt.”
Mu Qingfang swallows. “Did I hurt you before when I squeezed your hand?”
Looking at the opposite side of the room, Shen Qingqiu says, “Mn.”
Feeling appalled at himself Mu Qingfang says, “Shixiong. The gesture was meant to comfort you. I am sorry this Shidi caused you pain inadvertently instead. Please, may I run a scan?”
Shen Qingqiu holds out his hand, still unable to meet Mu Qingfang’s eyes.
Carefully, Mu Qingfang takes the proffered hand in between his two larger ones. This time instead of a direct exam, he allows his qi to diffuse the space between his hands. He feels the dull ache of multiple breaks which have healed imperfectly. Four phalanges are affected as well as several metacarpals. “I see,” he says slowly. “This must make it difficult to-”
“To do my job? Yes.” Shen Qingqiu says acerbically, pulling his hand back and flexing it slowly. He makes a fist and then extends the fingers.
Mu Qingfang thinks quickly. The Peak Lord of music, of calligraphy, who must also be a master at Qing Jing peak’s sword forms. Mu Qingfang raises and discards any number of treatments. No doubt, Shen Qingqiu has some arthritis from the way the bones healed. Cold, damp weather therefore, must make it worse, at least it would for a mortal.
Ah. His cultivation base is not stable, making him more prone to mortal ailments, and of course, Shen Qingqiu being quite proud he would probably like this to stay unknown. So why, and how did Shen Qingqiu come to the decision to share this with Mu Qingfang today?
“Some anti-inflammatory tea,” Mu Qingfang says out loud. “As well, I will send over a container of beeswax and a number of specialized warming talismans. Once the beeswax assumes a liquid form, you can dip your hand- you know what? Why don’t I just bring it by in the next couple of days and show you how to use the wax treatment?”
“You can treat it?” Shen Qingqiu asks suspiciously.
“Yes, certainly,” Mu Qingfang says. “The melted beeswax will mitigate the pain on the worse days. It…it provides some deeper feeling relief for a lot of patients. The tea is based on willow bark and-” he smiles. “You will definitely want to add some honey to make it more palatable.” He meets Shen Qingqiu’s dark green eyes. “But Shixiong, yes, this pain can be treated, and hopefully will improve your quality of life.”
Shen Qingqiu looks dubious and Mu Qingfang can only hope he is willing to try the treatments. “Very well,” Shen Shixiong tells him.
“What else?” Mu Qingfang asks briskly and this time receives a blank expression. He withholds a sigh. “What other pain do you have?” Inwardly, he’s crossing his fingers. Something here isn’t adding up. Shen Qingqiu’s cultivation should be much better than this. Does he qi deviate every time he tries to break through? That….would certainly explain some of the man’s anger and frustration.
As Shen Yuan, he had been so firmly on Luo Binghe’s side, even commenting on the forums that Shen Qingqiu should be castrated for his crimes. As Mu Qingfang, though, he found his Shen Shixiong was…quiet, a lot of the time. Watchful, certainly. Untrusting. He hardly seemed like a man to hang up a kid and whip him near to death.
Do not approach Shen Shixiong from behind, make sure he knows of your approach OG Qingfang wrote.
He seemed more like a man that was always waiting for an attack to come at any moment.
OG Qingfang seemed like he suspected something really bad had happened to Shen Qingqiu, something so bad the other man could barely bring himself to seek treatment or allow anyone at all to get close to him. Just-
A lightbulb goes off in Mu Qingfang’s mind.
Just his very sweet female disciple, Ning Yingying. Who was definitely not a threat of any kind to her Shizun.
Shen Qingqiu doesn’t seem inclined to answer. But again, he hasn’t thrown Mu Qingfang out. Finally Shen Qingqiu sighs. “Another time perhaps, Mu Shidi,” he says with a tone of finality.
“Can I do anything for you before I take my leave?” Mu Qingfang asks. It’s a pretty standard question.
Breathing out in a huff, Shen Qingqiu says, “Why are you being like this today?”
Mu Qingfang’s eyes go wide. He literally has no idea what Shen Shixiong is talking about. “Why am I-?” He frowns and leans forward. “I-this is just how I am,” he replies, mystified, searching Shen Qingqiu’s face.
“Fine,” Shen Qingqiu waves a hand in the air, and Mu Qingfang stands and turns to the doorway. “It suits you,” Shen Qingqiu says abruptly. He gestures to his mouth and Mu Qingfang understands.
He laughs. “The mustache? Oh, it just seemed like it was time for a change, that’s all.” He meets Shen Qingqiu’s dark green eyes again. “Feel better Shixiong,” he calls and takes his leave.