The Original Goods does some Original Good

by Pancakes_With_No_Clean_Fryingpans

Summary:

After saving Liu Qingge's life using a Demonic Cultivation technique in the Lingxi caves, Shen Qingqiu comes to the begrudging conclusion that maybe, just maybe, he doesn't want his martial siblings to actually die and that acting like he does might in fact be highly counter productive.

But with his martial siblings now sniffing around his past, something stiring in the demon realm and his qi threatening to deviate out from underneath him, can he survive long enough to fix the problems he's made and protect that which he cares about?

Chapter 1: A spider's thread

Summary:

A fight in the caves and the aftermath

Notes:

Hello there, this has been giving me brain rot for a while so I'm handing it over to Ao3 to give you all brain rot.
Hope you enjoy!

Content Warnings for this chapter;
broken limbs, blood, the author's own poor knowledge of cultivation, implied child abuse, lots of screaming and a disciple called Carrot.

"Oi, hack Author. What do you mean Shen Qingqiu was the secret disciple of a demonic cultivator? Where was the build up for that nugget of gold? It's not like the guy wasn't shitty enough but really? Demonic Cultivation? We'd surely had seen even a hint of him using that before now right?"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

 

‘Fuck!’ was the only word that made it through Shen Qingqiu’s mind as Cheng Luan’s blade glanced by his head.

The quiet stillness he had been cultivating in had long since been irreversibly broken as his shidi once again swung at him with a cry. Shen Qingqiu barely side stepped said moron’s attempt to remove one of his arms, bringing up Xiu Ya to parry and divert the strike.

Liu Qingge you fuckin-

He couldn’t finish cursing out the man as another blow came down, jolting his arm as he parried it again. There was no tactics to Liu Qingge’s fighting by this point, the qi deviation had sunk in its claws deep into his mind.  Simply propelling him onwards to attack and attack and destroy. It was probably the only reason that despite having no golden core yet, Shen Qingqiu was able to keep pace. Still, he wasn’t a match, and the peak lord knew it.

Throwing a kick into Liu Qingge’s knee gave Shen Qingqiu some time to reshape his thoughts into something that wasn’t just cursing. Okay. What were his options?

Run and get help? The brute would cut him down the moment he tried to flee, so that was out.

Try to calm the qi deviation? Yeah right. The strain of the fight was pushing him to the edge of one himself and if he succumbed before Liu Qingge was calmed, they’d both be fucked.

Cheng Luan sparked off the rock as Liu Qingge threw a punch that half landed sending Shen Qingqiu staggering back, head reeling. His lungs felt heavy as inside qi scrambled through his meridians, unevenly alternating too thin and too much.

Options. Options. What were his damn options!?

Shen Qingqiu failed to dodge a kick to his side, that sent him sprawling into the next chamber. The cold rock feeling unforgivingly hot against the fresh bruises. Liu Qingge didn’t give him a chance to recover, slashing down and down, again and again at his prone form. Xiu Ya took each of the blows as Shen Qingqiu tried to shuffle back across the stone floor, a few ribs most likely broken.

The brute stalked him closer, not once letting up on his blows. Luckily he wasn’t changing the angle but each was ladened with enough qi to kill. Blow and blow and blow and blow and Shen Qingqiu’s arm was knocked down from its guard.

Just as he realised his defence was broken, the next blow came down.  It swung to the right, away from his body. There was a moment of clarity in Liu Qingge’s eyes.

“Sh-shidi?” Shen Qingqiu rasped. The clarity gave way to shock, and fresh blood flowed out of all seven apertures on the brute’s face covering the dried tracks already there.

Liu Qingge spasmed and stumbled further away with a scream.

Coughing blood with each breath, he shook his head.

“Shidi, you are having a qi deviation! Try to ease your breathing, it’ll help calm your qi.” Shen Qingqiu tried, repeating what Mu Qingfang and his predecessor has repeated to him far too often.

Liu Qingge wasn’t listening. He slashed as nothing, sending bright sword intent crashing into the wall, peppering both of them in loose shrapnel.

“Liu Qingge!” Shen Qingqiu tried again, sitting up as his ribs screamed murder.

“No! I- no. Not even you. No. I protect. I can’t – kill.” The brute wasn’t talking sense, another wave of sword intent carved up the wall. A pathetic sob worked its way out his mouth. “I can’t stop myself.”

He sounded so lost. So scared. So, unlike his normal arrogantly self-assured moronic self. It stunned Shen Qingqiu. Though not as much as his next actions did.

Hands shaking, the air roiling with qi, Liu Qingge switched his hold on Cheng Luan and aimed the blade at his chest.

No. No. No No No No What was that idiot thinking! HE WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO REACH HIM IN TIME. Everything in Shen Qingqiu’s head screamed as time slowed and his vision narrowed to Cheng Luan’s tip thrusting towards its master’s chest. No. Stop. STOP. STOP!

An instinct tickled the edge of Shen Qingqiu’s mind. A half-forgotten piece of muscle memory long left unused. He gripped it like Buddha’s spider’s thread.

A hand, his hand shot up and hauled, not on the air or stone but down into Liu Qingge’s flesh, the yin of his blood and bones itself.

Liu Qingge’s arm wrenched back from its path with a sickening crack as the man screamed again.

“If you die, I’ll fucking kill you!” Shen Qingqiu screamed in reply, ordering Xiu Ya’s spirit onwards to tackle Cheng Luan from the broken arm, before he matched it wrestling the thrashing Liu Qingge to the stone floor.

Liu Qingge’s moment of clarity had passed. He thrashed wildly underneath Shen Qingqiu’s thighs. His qi was still eating him up and passing calmed qi to redirect it was even less of an option now. Righteous cultivators couldn’t clean yin qi from their system. Half of the topmost deadly plants and cultivated poisons relied on this fact. Shen Qingqiu’s system still thrummed with the stuff from breaking his shidi’s arm.  Feeding qi to Liu Qingge now, even if Shen Qingqiu could calm down, would be a death sentence.

Like pulling on the spider thread had freed something deeply buried inside him, a memory surfaced.

A cruel arrogant laugh. “Ha, you know nothing. The kid can’t qi deviate when he has no qi left to deviate!” The feeling of hands on his back.

Shen Qingqiu shuddered. Guess that was an option.

Passing qi was easy. You let it out slower and gentler than you did with attacks. Taking qi was almost as easy when you knew how to do it. But… but it was illegal for a reason. Meridians were never meant to not have qi flowing inside them, pushing them open from within. They weren’t built to be sucked inwards like a person trying to get the last drop of water from a leather skin. Pulling them inwards like that made cracks and splinters, made blockages and twists. It broke whoever you took from.

Shen Qingqiu knew this far too well. But if it saved the stupid brute’s life then….

Liu Qingge's right arm was a mangled mess up close. But his left was still whole and flailing uselessly. The flailing became less useless when Shen Qingqiu made to pin it down. Liu Qingge had up to that point been distracted by the pain of a freshly broken arm but now, with a new target to focus his rage on to, he quickly became more coordinated.

With a grunt, he flipped the pair, rattling his shixiong’s ribs once more. His left hand quickly found his attacker’s throat. It squeezed before being dragged off by both hands to Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder instead. A willing compromise as his grip dug in deep, bruising down to the bone. Shen Qingqiu held the wrist tightly to keep Liu Qingge’s hand in place.

Blood dripped from his shidi’s nose and mouth onto his face as Shen Qingqiu’s spare hand ripped at what remained of the man’s under shirt. He was able to part the obstructing garment. Above him his shidi swayed, looking like he might vomit or tear Shen Qingqiu’s throat out with his teeth in equal measure. Not wanting to wait for either of these options, Shen Qingqiu’s hand splayed out over Liu Qingge’s Lower Dantian.

“This is going to hurt.” He muttered to the man above him and pulled.

The flood of qi up his arm was as roiling and as violent as its owner who screamed over him. He could feel it attacking and burning every edge of his meridians, finding every poorly healed crack and splitting them open. Shen Qingqiu vomited blood but didn’t stop. Digging his finger into where he held his shidi’s arm to his shoulder, he checked his pulse as he pulled more once again.

The free wave of qi crashed through his system with little regard to what it found in its way. Bulldozing open whatever stood in its path as Shen Qingqiu screamed along with his martial brother.

Nearly there, he was nearly there. The pulse of qi around Liu Qingge’s body was thinning, the deviation having its strength sapped away till it could be corralled back into order by the brute’s own body’s natural abilities.

So close, Shen Qingqiu thought as black spots crowded his vision.

Just a little further. He thought as the brute he was trying to save’s own qi tore him apart inside.

He pulled once again, and the deviation simpered out to nothing within Liu Qingge’s now sleeping body.

He’d live. Good. That was good.

The black spots became larger as Shen Qingqiu’s body numbed out from the pain, everything felt both too cold and too hot. He couldn’t move. Blood pooled in his throat, nearly drowning him.

It was fine. His lungs weren’t responding so he couldn’t breathe anyway.

The last thing Shen Qingqiu saw was Liu Qingge; dirty, bloodied and breathing softly as he drooled into his shixiong’s shoulder asleep on top of his chest.

Then there was darkness.

 

---

 

It was night when Shen Qingqiu awoke.

He choked in breath like a drowning man. The weight of Liu Qingge was still passed out on top of him. Everything felt cold. Every limb numbed out and weak. Dully Shen Qingqiu rolled his head over towards the centre of the room.

The chamber had had a hole through the ceiling which during the day let in plenty of sunlight and fresh air, now that light was nowhere to be found. The entire room was a confusing sea of pitch blackness.

Voice dry and strained, Shen Qingqiu called out into the darkness.

“Xiu Ya?”

A glow in the direction of his feet answered him. The blade lay over Cheng Luan’s still form.

“Here.”

There was a clink and a scrape as the spirit blade half-dragged half-flew weakly to its master’s side.

Turning inwards, Shen Qingqiu, starting from his lower dantian, slowly circulated his qi outwards to his right hand. The weight of the brute had cut the blood circulation from the limb leaving it tingly as he extracted it from inbetween them. Not even mentioning the mess his meridians currently were. Weakly he gripped Xiu Ya, using the sword to drag himself into a sitting position.

Liu Qingge bonelessly flopped into his lap as he did, still unconscious.

Never had Shen Qingqiu been so glad for the LingXi caves’ natural balance of qi. It would have been far too easy for a spirit cave for righteous cultivators to have been strongly Yang leaning. Bright, airy, warm, active, but the LingXi caves naturally tempered this with its sheltered chambers of cool rock deep under the earth whilst so near the sky. Sitting and absorbing the qi around him for a moment, Shen Qingqiu’s finger drifted to his shidi’s pulse point. Weak but flowing cleanly. He sighed in relief. A complete moron.

Again, Shen Qingqiu slowly circulated out qi to his legs and, with Xiu Ya’s help, was able to get to his feet. There had been a pool in this chamber. He eventually found it. With nothing but Xiu Ya’s glow to light the room, the dark water acted as a perfect mirror. He looked ghastly. Pale with blood splatter across his face. Manipulating Liu Qingge’s blood had torn open his upper dantian, leaving a stream of blood to flow down between his brows and down his nose. Clear evidence of his crimes. He couldn’t let anyone see him like this.

He quickly smudged the remaining blood from the wound into the cinnabar dot he wore on his forehead, then set about clean the rest of his face and ears. His hair was a mess, but he wasn’t going to bother fixing that. Clean faced and looking a bit more human, Shen Qingqiu stumbled back to Liu Qingge. He was shivering. Made sense. The caves must be colder at night and with little qi and in his underclothes the great war god of Bai Zhan was in danger of catching hypothermia.

Slouching off his outer robe, Shen Qingqiu wrapped his shidi in it loosely before hauling him over one shoulder like a sack of rice. He could have carried him more gracefully but like this Liu Qingge was less likely to fall should the strength in his Shixiong’s arms fail him.

Still wobbly under the weight, Shen Qingqiu dropped Xiu Ya who came to float just off the ground. Stepping on, Shen Qingqiu carefully flew out of the LingXi caves.

 

---

 

Night shift on Qian Cao was generally, on average, most would say, quieter than the day shifts. A lull in new arrivals could be felt as the sect found increased difficulty in injuring themselves in their sleep. The wards had even slowed down by this late at night. It was a time practically perfect for taking it easy.

Hu Luobu had lucked out getting reception night shift. It was nice. Cool air and a stunning view. Qian Cao was designed that almost all the main emergency rooms and clinics were on a large flat plaza. In the middle of the plaza rose the central building. It towered over everything. An impossible feat of architecture until you remembered that the mountain top was not actually flat but had been built out to look so. Up the inside of the central building climbed the rest of the mountain’s peak clothed by buildings and dormitories clinging for dear life like the limpets Hu Luobu’s father used to scrape off boats.

The plaza was wide and open with easy access from all four of the connecting rainbow bridges. Each gave off an iridescent glow in the misty night air as the lamps for An Ding and Bai Zhan shone haloed in the distance on the other side. If you stared hard enough, you might even notice the subtle shifts in the air surrounding each peak as the barrier arrays filtered the harmless mist from the less harmless mountain gales.

Hu Luobu kicked back in his seat, breathed in the moist air and then let out a startled cry when what looked like a bloodstained ghost came out the mist. Leaping to his feet he realised with mounting horror that the ghost was carrying someone and that it wasn’t a ghost at all.

Face like a fierce corpse’s, Shen-shibo marched into the reception and, before Hu Luobu had risen from his greeting, roughly deposited who he was carrying. The blood and dirt made them hard to recognise at first but oh shit that was Lui-shishu.

Hu Luobu quickly activated an emergency call talisman before taking the god of war’s pulse, thankful to find it, though worried at its faintness. Dai Yao appeared not moments later and took over monitoring, gently passing qi to do an internal examination.

“What happened, Shibo?” Dai Yao asked, frowning at what she found.

“He had a qi deviation whilst we were in the LingXi caves.” Shen-shibo’s voice sounded thin. “I knocked him out.”

Dai Yao nodded as she took this in. “Hu-shidi, go wake Shizun and Zhen-shijie.”

Hu Luobu gave a quick bow to his shijie and disappeared from sight.

“Shizhi, this master will be returning to his peak. Please inform my shidi that I will be along in the morning to check on the brute.”

Dai Yao glanced up. “Shizun will want to see you when he arrives.”

“He shall but not now.” With a note of finality Shen Qingqiu left. By the time, Hu Luobu returned with their Shijie and Shizun, he was long gone.

Notes:

Qian Cao Disiciples are called
Hu Luobu [ 胡萝卜 ] meaning Carrot or 'Reckless Turnip of Prophesy' which damn why does carrot get such a cool name?
Dai Yao [ 戴药 ] meaning 'to support, medicine'.
and Zhen [ 针 ] meaning Needle.

Next chapter shouldn't be too long a wait and will feature Bingbun. :D

Chapter 2: Screaming in the dark

Summary:

Binghe wants to sleep. Shen Qingqiu wants a bath.

Notes:

Bingbun enters the scene! For those that read Chapter 1 some minor changes have been made. Mostly adding in Shen Yuan's commentary and correcting spelling errors.

Content Warnings; Child Abuse both verbal and physical, Blood, Self harm in a dissociative state, screaming, characters constantly giving each other jump scares and General threats of violence towards Binghe.

"Dang, Airplane-bro. You'd think with how long you left our poor sweet protagonist to rot in that crusty old shed that someone would have tripped over him coming in to collect the morning firewood or something? Seriously why do they even have that shed if no one uses it?"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

 

Binghe stirred as the woodshed door lock rattled loudly. It was still the middle of the night. Who had come to bother him? Was it Ming Fan again? He thought Da-shixiong had been too quiet since Shizun left for seclusion in the LingXi caves.

The door opened and a cold breeze sent the disciple further under his raggedy blanket. His muscles ached. Whether from the cold, the hard floor or the strain of the amount of scrubbing he’d been forced to do just the day before, Binghe didn’t know. Squinting up at the entrance he could just make out the intruder. Too tall to be Ming Fan. One of the hall masters then, maybe? That theory was quickly disproven as it gave an unsteady lurch and swore like a street thug. None of the hallmasters' matched that voice. Who the hell was that? The man, for it was clearly a man, didn’t appear to spot Binghe on the floor and shuffled to the shelves that lined one side of the shed, each stacked full of firewood for the peak.

Keeping quiet, the disciple tried to blink away the last of the sleep to properly gauge who was apparently stealing from the wood store. Rather clumsily stealing. The figure was struggling to tug free a single split log from its brethren. A long list of swears passed under the man’s breath, as he lifted a leg to better leverage out the offending bit of wood. This did indeed provide leverage. Too much as the log left his grip, flipped in the air and landed on Binghe’s leg.

Binghe screamed.

The man jumped a chi in the air and screamed back, nearly falling back out the shed.

There was a moment of silence as Binghe hugged his leg before the man advanced on him.

“What are you doing hiding here?!” The boy wasn’t given a chance to reply as a boot stomped down on him. Again, and again. Some random. Nobody. Who had just waltzed in was stamping on his head. Like they had any right to be here.

A growl vibrating out his throat as he grabbed at the foot stamping on his head. He got his fingers bruised for his trouble but eventually got a good grip on offending limb. Using the little training he could remember, Binghe hauled the limb to the side bringing his attacker off balance before throwing them back to the other side of the shed.

His already unsteady attacker went flying, crashing back into the shelves as Binghe got to his feet.

Tch! A loud but familiar tut snapped across the shed as a blinding light burst out from the man’s side. Squinting against the bright light, Binghe recognised the shape of Xiu Ya.

“Little Beast?” It was…. Shizun. The most out of sorts Shizun Binghe had ever witnessed in his nearly two and a half years at the sect. But definitely Shizun.

“S-shizun?” The moment he replied, the relief on his shizun’s face was blinding. A big sigh left the man as Xiu Ya dropped from an attack posture, his shizun’s eyes closed briefly as his face went slack. Not frowning for once, how tired the man looked couldn’t be clearer. All this vanished in a second once he opened his eyes again, a green that seemed back lit from somewhere inside stabbed into the disciple.

“Get up.” His voice was once again the polished tones of a young lord, a sharp edge to the order like a knife trailing lightly the skin. “This master needs hot water for his bath. Gather some logs and follow me.”

And with that, the man swept from the shed like nothing had ever happened.

Binghe stood over the pile of blankets he’d been using as a bed, mind spinning. What had-

“Now! Little Beast.”

He’d think about it later.

 

---

 

The little beast had questions.

He could continue to have questions for all he cared. Shen Qingqiu was too damn tired and cold to answer anything.

He was currently perched on the bamboo couch in sight of the bamboo hut’s kitchen while his most hated disciple poked at the fire under a pot of water. The numbness from waking in the caves had worn off and everything hurt. His ribs ached, his arms were weak, his legs barely held, his head throbbed distractingly. It all hurt. Luckily the little beast understood the concept of silence or Shen Qingqiu might have beat the boy black and blue.

Not that he probably could. The little beast has proved he was currently stronger than him back at the shed. Sneaky little brat hiding in the shadows like that. He didn’t like it. That kid shouldn’t be lurking like that. Not in his space. Not that he’d slept in the woodshed since his shizun had commissioned the bamboo hut for him years ago. But still it rankled something deep inside him to know the brat had been using his secret hideaway.

“Little Beast.” Shen Qingqiu immediately regretted talking. His voice was too loud and turned the thud in his head into claws against the inside of his skull.

Luo Binghe looked up from the fire. “Yes Shiz- “

”Shut up.”

The brat’s voice was even worse. Closing his eyes and massaging his forehead, Shen Qingqiu braced himself and spoke.

“If I ever catch you sleeping in that woodshed again, I’ll have you whipped till the bones fall out your flesh. Are we clear?”

The look on the boy’s face might have been comical had his head not hurt so badly. All pale with wide eyes like a pathetic dog doing an impersonation of a fish. Shen Qingqiu didn’t let him sit in shock too long. Afterall if he gave him no alternative, who knows where he might next find the child sleeping.

“There’s a storage room around the side of this house. If Disciple Luo must continue to believe himself too grand to sleep in the dormitories, like everyone else, he may sleep in there.”

The startled dog shifted to confusion with a touch of anger then a growing realisation that had the little beast’s eyes practically shining. This irritating shining look lasted through the boy filling the bathtub and was still there when Shen Qingqiu dismissed him.

Alone again.

Good.

He didn’t bother standing to undress. It was too much effort. His haircrown came out his hair roughly, next his many outer robes were untied and left to let pool off his shoulders. Afterwards his boots were toed off and left tossed on the floor. Wiggling from the pile of robes, Shen Qingqiu tugged at the ties of his arm braces with his teeth as a finger hooked around the top of his socks and pulled them off. His lower half he’d have to stand to lay bare. A task he wasn’t looking forward to.

Letting his head roll back on his spine, Shen Qingqiu sighed then winced at a sharp throb of his headache. He’d have to move eventually, or risk being found like this in the morning.

Gritting his teeth, the Qing Jing Peak lord rocked forward off the bamboo couch onto his feet, then fell as his legs immediately gave out under him sending him down to his knees and the floor below.

“Ommfff……… Ow.” Fuck every part of this.

Trying again, Shen Qingqiu, stopping and starting, crawled towards the tub. The tub gave him a hold to support his body from, at last, letting him lose the outer trousers and inner pants layer of his bottom half. Shen Qingqiu didn’t bother lowering himself gently into the water, just letting his body fall roughly with a loud sloosh of the water.

The little beast had run the bath too hot.

Good. He’d rather scald himself than linger any longer with the cold feeling that seemed to pour out his bones. Letting out a near moan at the temperature, Shen Qingqiu let his body go limp, head resting on the tub edge. Logically he knew he had to circulate his qi. The yin energy from the caves hadn’t dissipated yet and he’d only feel worse the longer it stayed. Honestly, he was lucky Xiu Ya had such a large qi reserve inside itself. He’d been able to fly nearly all the way back to Qing Jing before the sword had given out.

Sighing Shen Qingqiu readjusted his position in the tub and let his body absorb the yang from the surrounding water, letting the water cool and the heat circle around his body till his headache left and the cold feeling vanished. Free from blockages, he could feel his body begin to generate qi again in earnest.

That task complete, he let himself go boneless in the water again. What a fucking ordeal.

He waited a few incense sticks of time before getting on with washing his face and hair. Something practical to keep his mind from lingering too long. After that, his qi levels had recovered enough that Xiu Ya had reawakened.

The blade gave a soft pulse of light to him that felt like concern.

“I’m okay.”

Xiu Ya was sceptical. The blade’s spirit always communicated with him more through feelings than distinct word. It drew a cocked smile from its master as it dragged itself out it’s sheath to rest on the lip of the tub.

“You did well.”

Another soft pulse of light and an odd humming up and down the length of the blade.

It wanted cleaned.

That was reasonable. His poor blade had taken a beating up against Cheng Luan. Blood and cave muck blemished Xiu Ya even as it lit the room. It’d have to wait till after his bath though.

Picking up the scrubbing brush, he had cleaned most of the way up his arm when he reached the bruise of a handprint Liu Qingge had left on his shoulder. The feeling of rough hands pinning him down rose without his permission.

Hot breathes against his ear.

Shaking his head, Shen Qingqiu returned to scrubbing himself down. He couldn’t fall down that rabbit hole, not yet.

Eyes mad from the qi deviation. Shining down from up above with a desire to hurt.

Fuck off.

Liu Qingge, his arm stretched out, Cheng Luan pointed at his heart. A cultivator’s corpse went cold the same way a commoner’s did.

Idiot. Idiot.

“I can’t stop myself.”

A fucking fool.

“Not even you.”

Why not?! He was worthless slave trash. Fucking moron, he-

A hand gripped around his wrist and Shen Qingqiu shrieked.

 

---

 

Binghe hadn’t known what to expect when he entered the storeroom. Maybe for it to be somehow worse than the woodshed. It was the only thing that would make sense. But no.

It was just a normal room. A thick layer of dust covered a pile of crates in the corner, but there were no obvious leaks in the roof or drafts creeping in from under the window or door. There was even a linen chest with spare bedrolls and blankets. A damp rag and a bit of time would make the room fit for a young noble, let alone a boy from the streets like himself.

Shizun couldn’t have been serious in giving him this room, could he? He’d been ready to be kicked out the sect after throwing him across the woodshed earlier but instead… How injured was shizun that he was being generous like this? Because he was injured. Even a poor a disciple as Binghe could see that. Pallid and unsteady on his feet. Even more snappy than normal but never raising his voice above a whisper.  Was that why he had returned so quickly from his planned seclusion?

Had he caught an illness? Maybe developed a fever? Fevers were no joke. The image of his mother shivering in their dirty room, her skin soft and far too warm, flashed in his mind unbidden. Binghe had left the storeroom and slipping the kitchen’s windows latch before he quite caught up with himself. A suitable pot was easy to find, and the firewood store was always full. Cleaning rice, Binghe finally realised what he was doing.

Would Shizun even thank him for this? No. As much as he hoped, Shizun would never dare lower himself to that level. But would Binghe ever forgive himself if come tomorrow Shizun was found dead, and a bowl of congee could have saved him. No. No. He would not. It took almost a full shichen before the small meal was done. He’d even found some cold cuts of chicken to add in. Dish ready, he replaced the lid and carefully manoeuvring the hot pot with a towel, once again exited the kitchen via the window.

He carefully knocked on the front door of the bamboo house. There was no response. Edging around the hut, his shizun hadn’t bothered to relock the back door after he had left. Backing in through it, Binghe’s nervous greeting died in his mouth.

The hut was thrumming with thrashing qi.

Placing his dish down on the floor, the disciple rushed through into the main living area. The tub was in the same place he left it. Inside it Shizun sat curled up to himself. A scrub brush scratching his shoulder bloody, not even looking up as Binghe closed the gap and pulled the brush away before it caused any more damage.

Shizun screamed at his touch, causing Binghe to drop his arm in shock, nearly falling over his feet.

“Shizun?” The peak lord didn’t make eye contact with him, shaking in what by now would be long cold water.

“Shizun??” Binghe tried again, eyes flicking to where Shizun’s free hand moved to cover a mark on his chest. A scar from the looks of it, the flesh silvery and stretched that formed a ‘+‘ shape where the hand didn’t cover it. There were hints of more under the long hair that trailed over his back and shoulders.

“W-why are you here?” Shizun voice was so quiet. Binghe had almost missed the words. The man still wasn’t looking at him. His gaze focused on a bit of the floor near his left foot.

“I brought congee. It’s in the backroom.” He started nervously.  “I noticed that Shizun wasn’t feeling well and when my mother was ill, she said that- “

Binghe flinched as something flew past his head.

“I AM NOT YOUR FUCKING MOTHER!”

Now Shizun was looking at him. Face contorted in a snarl as a trail of blood made its way down his face from a small injury on his forehead. Some distant part of Binghe realised he had thrown the scrubbing brush. The more present part of Binghe didn’t care what had been thrown as every strand of the qi in the room seemed to focus in on him.

“Go to bed. Now.” His shizun’s words promised only pain if disobeyed. Binghe ran as fast as he could from the room, the hut and into the bamboo forest until his heart calmed down and the leg that had been hit by a log earlier hurt too much to continue.

Catching his breath, he replayed the memory back and realised something. Underneath the scrub marks had been bruise like a hand print.

Shizun hadn’t come down with some illness.

He had been attacked.

 

Notes:

It's unlikely I'll be able to keep up this one chapter per week schedule but I want to give it my best shot.

Other notes: A 'shichen' is 2 hours and a 'chi' is a length measurement between 20cm-30cm.

Next Chapter: It's finally be morning and we'll meet Ming Fan, Mu Qingfang and Yue Qingyuan!

Chapter 3: To be a frog in a lotus pond

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu deals with his many problems as fast as he can

Notes:

Success once again on my 'one chapter a week' goal!

Content Warnings: More child abuse because Shen Qingqiu (mostly verbal), Just general Verbal Abuse because Knife mouth Shen, under the table medical dealings, QiJiu being QiJiu and frog metaphors.

"Holey Fuck. The Author remembered he wrote a fucking medicine peak into the story. Should we check if he's been replaced by an imposter? It's not like trained doctors would have been useful at any other point in the story. Good grief. Is this Shen-bastard's foul personality scaring them off as well as,  I don't know, that doting sect leader you showed us eight chapters back? Like dude. Stop writing the rest of the sect to only exist when convenient. Fuck's sake."

- Peerless Cucumber 

 

Light humming sounded through the bamboo hut as the regular draw of sword on stone kept rhythm with the tune. The tub had been emptied and cleaned of blood. The small pot that had contained congee sat empty on the floor of Shen Qingqiu’s bedroom. And as the first rays of sun came through the window, the man himself wiped down Xiu Ya and sheathed the now clean, sharpened blade.

At some point in his dizzy journey of getting out the tub and redressing, he’d pulled out a wound cream and applied it generously to his shoulder, over the broken ribs and a large green glob for his forehead. The cream’s pot still sat half open by his feet.

Was he feeling good? Fuck no.

On the minor end of grievances was his back. It hurt from both the caves and being hunched over Xiu Ya most of the night. On the major end, he was beyond certain he’d cracked most of the meridians down his left arm. The fingers were numb and even moving them slightly sent spasms down the muscles. On top of that the bone of his upper right arm was aching more and more in the familiar way that made him think the brute had managed to crack it with his grip strength alone.

However, his head felt clearer and regrettably the little beast’s food had helped. Inedia just wasn’t an option for demonic cultivators. The yin qi could not nourish the body in the same way the yang qi could, instead it took from the practitioner’s body. He'd deal with that later. What he was after right now was to be fuctional, not the pinnacle of health anyway. He had fought Bai Zhan’s God of War after all. He needed to be well enough and too much of a fuss for Mu Qingfang to keep on Qian Cao Peak. That way he wouldn’t be confined to a hospital bed. Less burdensome for his needs and less likely that his martial brother would be able to detect any lingering yin qi on his person.

 Zhou Qingde of Ku Xing peak would have been able to smell it off him, but the monk rarely left his peak, and it was just over half a month until the next peak lord meeting. Shen Qingqiu would be clean by then.

Still, it’d be better if he made his appearance at Qian Cao earlier than later. Straightening up his back with a unreasonably loud crack and a wince, Shen Qingqiu set about his morning routine. A quick shave and a change into one of his more comfortable roble sets, he adjusted the arm braces to be hidden under his sleeves but not dig into any of the new bruises. After that came make up.

His upper dantian had scabbed over thankfully. Carefully wiping off the excess healing ointment, he dabbed on his scholars’ mark slowly with a brush. Red on red covered the wound. He’d clean it properly later, but this would do for now. With a separate brush, he swiped away the bags under his eyes and gave his corpse like pallor the pretence of health.

He’d gotten as far as adjusting his hair crown into place, when the door to the outer storage room opened, closed and footsteps made their way not towards the rest of the buildings on the peak but further out into the bamboo forest. Ah, right. He’d given the little beast the room. Well, the boy would just be another thing he’d put in there to avoid so it made little difference.

But where was the brat going?

Curiosity caught, Shen Qingqiu grabbed a fan, concealed his qi and followed the boy.

It was hard to hide from the Qing Jing Peak Lord. Especially in the bamboo forests he’d thrived in since he had arrived. Even with his head start, it was easy to find the little beast. The boy was positioned at one end of a bamboo clearing going through the worst set of stances Shen Qingqiu had ever seen.

Not surprising really. Shen Qingqiu had only picked up the child in a fit of rage caused by Liu Qingge praising his potential and then mocking Shen Qingqiu’s own. A selfishly petty action to keep the boy from Bai Zhan, one he regretted almost immediately afterwards.

The boy seemed designed to irritate him. A street rat like himself but with none of his viciousness. Son of a loving mother who had wished him well. Boundless potential with a soft face. Liu Qingge had taken one look at him and deemed the boy worthy, a man who would only call him 'Shixiong' when polite company demanded it and never because he meant it.

Frankly put he hated the boy. Not long after joining he’d set him up with a fake manual designed to reduce his 'oh so praiseworthy' potential down to the same twisted heap of broken meridians and lost dreams as Shen Qingqiu. There was a problem though.

The Little Beast was doing his stances terribly, but he wasn’t doing the ones from the book. These were the correct stances, just done very poorly. Somehow he was getting instruction. It was only once he made a very familiar error that Shen Qingqiu realised with growing horror where he had found that instruction. Out of all his students, only Ning Yingying repeatedly made that mistake.

He had told that girl so many times to stay away from the little beast. He didn’t need the reminder of a little girl following around- It was too similar! She was too similar. And now she was going behind his back to play at being shizun to the boy. Isolating herself with a man with unstable cultivation.

Liu Qingge’s contorted face blinked to mind before being discarded forcefully. Not now. He'd unpack that mess later. Now, he had to solve this problem before it had serious consequences. He wasn’t going to see Ning Yingying hurt by his petty decision. But both children had showed his orders were meaningless to them. So again, unless he appeased them in some way, he’d be stuck with them sneaking off behind his back.

Fuck.

 

---

 

Binghe was only half paying attention as he moved from one stance to the next. Ever since he had joined Cang Qiong Mountain sect, his shizun had seemed untouchable. A lofty immortal of flawless nature handcrafted to lounge on the clouds, a premade god of ice-cold voice and the sharpest wits.

But last night had shattered that delusion. His shizun wasn’t untouchable. He bruised. He bled. He hid when scared. He was short tempered and flighty. He swore worse than any fisherman Binghe had met. He was human. Just like Binghe. He had climbed up the mountain. Just like Binghe. He had been hurt. He had been hurt and had tried to hide it. Just like Binghe.

Hurt by who though? Who dared lay their hands on his Shizun like that? He was the second highest ranked cultivator in the entire sect! Moving into the next stance, Binghe realised another thing about his Shizun. That he was standing right there observing him over the top of fan held carefully in his right hand.

Binghe immediately stilled. The design on the fan was of a red-crowned crane hunting in a lotus pond. Tall and elegant in white with a red forehead like his Shizun. Poised and ready to strike down the hopping little green frog in its path.

The fan snapped shut.

“Little Beast, collect your cultivation manual and follow this master.”

Ducking down in a quick bow, Binghe was able to croak out a quiet “Yes, Shizun.” before darting off to complete the orders. His injured leg was throbbing by the time he’d sprinted back to the storeroom, collected his manual and ran back to where his Shizun was slowly making his way towards the central hall.

Shizun looked better than last night at least. He walked slowly but he wasn’t stumbling like before. His clothing was perfect without a hair out of place. Once again, an immortal from a story book, too unreal to be touched.

Despite their pace, they made it to the central hall in good time. One of the Hallmaster’s had mentioned it used to be the previous Qing Jing Peak Lord’s private residence, but that Shizun had never moved out of his hut upon the previous generation’s ascension. He’d instead converted the two floored building into lesson rooms and small studies for each of the Hallmasters. He, himself, had taken the already existing study as the new peaklord which is where they were headed now.

Passing through, the Hallmasters greeted Shizun with an undertone of confusion. The seclusion hadn’t been scheduled to end for many months yet. Shizun replied to their greetings with only a hum of acknowledgement before making it to his study. Unlike the one in the bamboo hut, this had piles of paperwork for the whole peak stacked into carefully organised piles. It was a large enough room, with a desk at one end and a smaller desk to the side of it where Ming Fan currently sat brush poised as he considered what to write.

To say Binghe hated his Da-shixiong was an understatement. The boy had been nothing but cruel to him since he arrived. He had been the one to give him the faulty cultivation manual. It was only thanks to Ning Yingying he had been able to actually begin to learn anything at all. And it had been Ming Fan that had taken his mother’s Guanyin pendant from him. So, it took all he had not glare at the bastard when he rose and greeted shizun.

“Ming Fan, sit, I have something to discuss with you. Little Beast, you too.”

Both boys did as they were told, trying to ignore the eyesore they were knelling next to.

“This Master has noticed that the Little Beast has failed to keep up with his peers in multiple areas.” Shizun began once he had seated himself opposite them. “This is unacceptable. It shows poorly on our peak, on our sect and on general propriety. I presume Head disciple Ming is smart enough to have observed this without this master having to explain further.”

Binghe could feel Ming Fan shift next to him. Huh, Da-shixiong. You thought Shizun hadn’t noticed. Shizun is too smart for that. Maybe his kindness with the congee had brought some rewards, though he doubted Shizun had ended up eating it. But the thought counted right?

Shizun held out his hand and Binghe pondered for a moment before handing over the fake manual. Was he going to call Da-shixiong out on the forgery? Would he be whipped for tampering with supplies? Be made to do the peak’s chores for a month, no, two months!? Or expelled from the sect never to return?

“To get right to the point, this cultivation manual-” Is a fake. A forgery. A phoney. Tell him Shizun! Tell him! “- is no longer needed.”

Huh?

As he finished the sentence the book in shizun’s hand burst into flames, quickly smouldering down to flecks of cooling ash.

“Starting today, Head Disciple Ming will be charged with privately tutoring his shidi, to bring him in line with his peers and to prevent disgrace to the peak.”

If a fly had flown into the room, Binghe and Da-shixiong might have swallowed it with how their mouths gaped. What was happening!?

“This master will be testing the Little Beast at the end of each month to track your progress. If the results are not satisfactory after a year, Head disciple Ming will be demoted from his role as Qing Jing’s head disciple as it is clear he lacks the skill to teach, and the little beast will be removed from this peak as it is clear he lacks the skill to learn. Am I understood?”

Da-shixiong clearly had reservations about this but ever the loyal toady only joined Binghe in croaking out a “Yes, Shifu/Shizun.”.

“Good. Both of you are dismissed.”

 

---

 

Once the problem had been escorted out by Ming Fan, Shen Qingqiu quickly informed Hallmaster Su and Hallmaster Yitao of his early exit from seclusion. It was a quick meeting that let him know how far through the curriculum he’d left for his classes they’d gotten and to let them know he wouldn’t be back to teaching immediately. Hallmaster YiTao had also taken the time to request time to visit family since he was back early, which he had approved of though only after they’d reconciled the lesson plans.

In short; minimal fuss, minimal words and a professional distance that he appreciated. Shen Qingqiu might not have liked or been liked by, well, anyone much but he tried his best to maintain working relationships on his peak. Even if they were cold and purely focused on the common goal of keeping the peak running, they were functional.

Which is not what he could say about his relationships with the two peak lords that greeted him when he arrived at Qian Cao.

Mu Qingfang was a pleasant man. He was polite, had a gentle temper and was overall respectful. There was nothing Shen Qingqiu could point to for a fact that he hated but years of avoiding him and a poor relationship with Qian Cao’s previous peak lord, meant their relationship could be called strained at best. His continual avoidance of the peak and its peaklord had been taken as a personal slight as was his refusal to engage in any form of duel with the man. So they generally came, very politely, to odds on every occasion.

The bastard next to him however had a too many reasons for Shen Qingqiu to hate him.

“Zhengmen-shixiong. Mu-shidi.” Shen Qingqiu greeted the two, trying not to grit his teeth. “How is Liu-shidi’s condition?”

The pair exchanged a look. Fucking bastards. He wasn’t blind!

“Liu-shidi is stable but is yet to wake. If… if Shixiong would follow this doctor, we can discuss his condition in private.”

Yue Qingyuan wisely kept his mouth shut, though the concern on his features was irritating enough. How much had they been able to figure out? Well, he’d just have to find out. Not like legging it at this stage would be any less suspicious.

Following the fifth peak lord, Shen Qingqiu was led to a small examination room and offered a seat with a gesture which he blankly refused to take. The sect leader followed them in before placing a privacy talisman on the door.

“Well?” He prompted. Out with it. If they were going to brand him a traitor and imprison him, there wasn’t a better time than now. Not that he would have probably run either way.

“’Well’,” Copied the doctor, “We have very little to go off of without either of you two telling us what happened. As it stands Liu-shidi shows signs more in common with qi deprivation than the qi deviation that Shen-shixiong reported early this morning.”

“But he’s recovered or at least will be able to recover in the near future?”

“Shidi-”

“Zhangmen-shixiong.”

Yue Qingyuan sighed and began again. Shen Qingqiu didn’t even look at him. He caught the twitch of Mu Qingfang’s eyebrow at this slight.

“Shidi, this Shixiong awoke this morning to an urgent missive that yourself and Liu-shidi had not only both left seclusion in the LingXi caves but that you had delivered Liu-shidi who was unconscious and covered in blood to Qian Cao peak before leaving. What happened to cause this?”

Shen Qingqiu sighed. Right, because he was immediately assumed to be the one at fault here.

“As this master told Mu-shidi’s disciple when he ‘delivered’ Liu-shidi, Liu-shidi suffered a qi deviation whilst cultivating. He then proceeded to try to attack this master, who was able to knock him out and stabilise the deviation as best he could. This master can not think of how to explain this more clearly.”

Both the men in the room frowned. Again, he was not blind! His fan covered his lower face, not the upper.

“Would this shidi be able to take Shen-shixiong’s pulse?”

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes and there was a moment where he considered denying him. But in the end, skin already crawling, he presented his wrist looking away from both men, fan shielding his expression from view. He tried not to flinch when fingers circled his forearm and found his pulse point under his arm brace.

Mu Qingfang hissed under his breath. This made the wall of concern hoovering to their side fluster more. That bastard could drop the pretences. Shen Qingqiu doubted the doctor would care anymore with or without Yue Qingyuan's theatrics.

“Shixiong should have stayed last night. There are multiple fractured bones and his meridians-“

Shen Qingqiu withdrew his arm from the doctor sharply.

“Will Mu-shidi be confining this one to the peak?”

The doctor hesitated. “This doctor would suggest a night of observation but the vast majority of Shen-shixiong’s injuries should self-heal over the next month provided Shen-shixiong does not strain himself further.”

“This Shixiong would find any night spent on Qian Cao Peak highly straining.”

Shen Qingqiu watched Mu Qingfang think of something to say then wisely swallow it.

“As Shixiong insists. However, this doctor will also insist that Shen-shixiong take these supplements for the next three months to ensure no future relapses.”

Mu Qingfang quickly drafted up a prescription and held it out. Some how the paper slip in the doctor’s hand felt like a threat. Taking it, Shen Qingqiu gave Mu Qingfang the smallest bow he felt he could politely get away with.

“Very well, Shidi. Now this master would like to see Liu-shidi, asleep or otherwise. If only to confirm the brute still breathes.”

Mu Qingfang eyebrow twitched again when Yue Qingyuan interrupted.

“This Shixiong can show Shen-shidi to the room if Mu-shidi has work he has to attend to.”

“Ah, this doctor would appreciate that greatly. Thank you, Zhangmen-shixiong.”

Yue Qingyuan quickly separated Shen Qingqiu from their shidi and guided him down the hallway. The brute’s room was the same as any other. He looked pale but his chest rose and fell evenly. They’d changed him into the standard patient robes and his right arm was now in a sling. Briefly, Shen Qingqiu wondered what they had done with his outer robe but discarded the thought. Not important. He had others.

Stepping forward as Yue Qingyuan’s eyes burn holes into his back, Shen Qingqiu carefully took Liu Qingge’s pulse. His qi was circulating fine. Still a bit thin but steady. Shen Qingqiu couldn’t tell you why but after feeling the steady qi flow he felt lighter.

“Fucking moron.”

“Shidi, is what you told Mu-shidi the whole truth?”

“Is Zhangmen-shixiong calling me a liar?”

“Shidi, please answer the question.”

“What this lowly one said was the truth. Why does Zhangmen-shixiong doubt him so much?”

Yue Qingyuan hesitated.

“Shen-shidi has always been quite vocal in his threats against Liu-shidi’s life. For him then to appear at Qian Cao with Liu-shidi in a critical condition and claim he saved him from a qi deviation. There has been concerns-”

Hang you and your concerns. Shen Qingqiu carefully tucked Liu Qingge’s left arm back under the blanket, before whirling on the Sect Leader. His voice was sharpened ice.

“And this lowly one thought that Zhangmen-shixiong knew him well enough not to doubt his loyalty to his martial family.”

“This one is not doubting Shen-shidi’s loyalty-“Yes you were, liar. “- , he merely wanted to confirm the order of events.”

“Consider them confirmed, Zhangmen-shixiong. Now since you are here, this one will save himself the walk to Qiong Ding Peak to inform you of his leaving of LingXi caves and as the second peak lord would advise against letting Liu-shidi cultivate there until it can be confirmed that he is safe to be allowed to without injuring himself or others.”

Yue Qingyuan went to say another word, but Shen Qingyuan had already stormed past him and down the hallway before he could properly form anything sensible.

He didn’t leave the peak immediately. Dutifully visiting the pharmacy to put in the prescription order.

Thankfully Xun Yicao was the one managing the desk. He’d known her as an outer disciple, a friend of a friend of a reluctant acquaintance. She’d needed a practice subject for her lessons, and he’s needed someone to slip him sleeping cures and rearrange the bones in his hand into being functional without asking questions. Nowadays they exchanged unofficial medical consultations for detailed paintings of herbs and medicinal plants to use in her ongoing research dissertations .

She easily detailed out what Mu Qingfang had prescribed him. A qi calmer, some pain relievers, multiple nutrients to help with bone repair and three herbs known to aid in the restoration of damaged meridians, though one of them was through anecdotal evidence only. None of them should interfere with the sleep aiding herbs he was already using in the perfume bags around his bed.

Satisfied, he put in for the order to be delivered to the Bamboo Hut and left Qian Cao behind. He didn’t return to Qing Jing. He just went straight through Qiong Ding and down the steps out of the sect.

Mu Qingfang, though they didn’t get along, was the best doctor in the land for a reason. He had advised Shen Qingqiu not to strain himself. So, Shen Qingqiu would do as the doctor asked and make sure over the next few days he was not strained.

Xiu Ya flashed happily as it left the sheath. Shen Qingqiu barely had to guide it before both master and sword had taken to the skies and set off for the Warm Red Pavilion.

Notes:

SQQ: Today Ming Fan I am going to teach you an important technique on how to deal with your most troublesome problems.
MF: Yes Shifu? :D
SQQ: Delegation. The little beast is now your problem, bye.
MF: ?!?!?!?!?!?!

And yes Froghe and Ming Toad are my babies in this chapter.

First up Names:
Hallmaster Su 苏: Named for the Three Su's though in reseraching the history of chinese literature there are a few more Su's kicking about. But mostly this is for the Three Su's.
Hallmaster YiTao 伊陶 : Named for YiQi or Taotang or Tang Yao or Emperor Yao. A semi-mythical figure though to have invented WeiQi to help calm down his playboy son Danzhu.
Xun Yicao 薰衣草 : Lavendar or (Medicinal herb, Clothing, Grass), I doubt my naming skills will improve for Qian Cao. Sorry, not sorry.

Second of all; if you hadn't figured it out, 'Welcome to my Headcanons the fanfic'. There are too many to address but if you have any questions, ask in the comments and I'll try to explain myself.

Third, while writing this I have been trying to keep to the unspoken rules of PDIW and SVSSS. Like "anyone who eats LBH's cooking thnks it's amazing and is immediately kinder to him" or the QiJiu "Can't speak more than five times" rule. I already kept to another unspoken rule regarding the qi deviation in the caves but to explain that one is to spoil a plot point sooo ;) you'll have to speculate about that.

Next chapter: Liu Qingge finally awakens, Shen Qingqiu finally rests and the plot finally gets rolling.

Chapter 4: Resting during the waking hours

Summary:

Liu Qingge finally wakes up and Shen Qingqiu finally takes a break.

Notes:

This chapter was going to be longer but at 5k it's already huge compared to the others. The extra bit that would have been in this chapter will end up in next week's one instead.

Content warnings: Mention of attempted suicide, depictions of murder, Shen Jiu's past is not a happy one, Prostitution, a twelve year old working at the brothel, mentions of nudity, nightmares and another qi deviation.

"Hey what's with all the vague dream sequences? Can't you be a bit more, I don't know, clear with what the fuck is happening? All this flowery bullshit is just purple prose when you could be moving the plot forward, man. SMH I'm disappointed, bro."

- Peerless Cucumber

 

A moment of clarity had came to him admist the sea of fire. His sword arcing down, and Shen Qingqiu sprawled on the ground eyes wide as the blade descended towards him.

Liu Qingge forced Cheng Luan to veer off course into the cave’s floor.

The fire clawed back at him for this. It hurt.

He, he wasn’t in control. Shen Qingqiu was speaking.  He wanted to hurt him.

Liu Qingge tried to put distance between them. To block his voice.

The man wouldn’t shut up. He never shut up. The next swing went wide.

He let it.

They had never got along. Since the moment they met crossing blades at the inter peak tournament, he knew they couldn’t get along. Yue Qingyuan always insisted that he’d misunderstood.

There wasn’t much to misunderstand. The man had tried to take his head back when they were disciples.

He cheated. He lied. He debased himself. He had no respect for anyone.

He could barely hold himself upright from where he sat screaming the Bai Zhan peak lord’s name.

Liu Qingge could wipe that tainted man from the sect. Remove the arrogant blemish forever.

No! He fought against such temptations. Liu Qingge wouldn’t fall to dishonour like that. He wouldn’t betray his sect like that.

No. Not even Shen Qingqiu’s death could be justified.

No. Liu Qingge was mean to be their protector, Shen Qingqiu’s protector. He couldn’t kill the man.

His body swung. He turned the strike at the wall. The problem was though, he could kill Shen Qingqiu. He could do it so easily.

Since their rise to being peak lords, the gap in their cultivation had only widened. Liu Qingge had been making great progress, a stable core formed and steadily growing in power and density with each year.

While Shen Qingqiu lapsed into qi deviation after qi deviation. His lackadaisical approach to his cultivation hampering him at every step.

Liu Qingge could flash step over to the man and rip Shen Qingqiu's head and spine right out of his body before the man's brain had the chance to realise it was no longer connected.

The fire singed through his mind. He was out of control.

He couldn’t stop himself. He would lose himself again soon.

There had yet to be an opponent Liu Qingge couldn't best. He wasn’t about to let there be one. He protected the sect from threats. He protected his martial siblings from threats.

He, at this moment, was the threat.

Lining up Cheng Luan at himself, he struck.

Just as lightning struck him. Black lightning.

It crackled around him, taking his sword away.

Liu Qingge was flung into the fire. Everything burning him inside out, clawing and thrashing so that only ash would remain.

He wasn’t alone.

There was him and a storm. A storm that was over then under him, a storm that held him close.

A downpour of frozen wetness. Stabbing into him. Eating away the fire.

It chilled his blood as fog swept his mind.

Someone was here. They were cold. So cold.

All was cold and quiet and dark.

Then there was noise and warmth and-

Liu Qingge woke up.

He blinked at the ceiling. His head felt like a abused drum, pounding to a cruel rhythm he had not the strength to move to.

He could not recall how long he lay there dazed until he realised he was on Qian Cao Peak, not Bai Zhan Peak.

 Why was he on Qian Cao Peak? He… where had he been?

Everything felt a little too far away.

When Liu Qingge tried to reach for answers, pain shoot up his right arm. His resulting cry of pain made footsteps outside his door pause.

His arm. It was in a sling. Had he broken it? When had…

“If you die, I’ll fucking kill you!”

The caves. He had been cultivating in the caves. He.. Qi deviation. THE QI DEVIATION.

He had been- Panic seized him as memories returned. Where was Shen Qingqiu?

Liu Qingge forced his body up. He had to find him. Did he ki- He had to find Shen Qingqiu.

“Shidi? I’m coming in. “

There has a knock and then Mu Qingfang entered the room. Liu Qingge ignored him and tried to swing his legs around off the bed.

“Shen Qingqiu?” Was all he managed to bark out. His throat felt brittle and dry. The room titled and blurred before a hand caught him around the shoulders. If Shen Qingqiu’s body was lying dead and cold -so cold- somewhere, Liu Qingge would never forgive himself.

“You better not be thinking of going to fight him. Whatever he’s done can wait until after you’ve both recovered” grumbled Mu Qingfang from where he had caught Liu Qingge's fall.

“He’s alive?” Rasped Liu Qingge as the doctor pushed him back into the bed. His limbs were useless against the man, too weak to resist.

“Unless I spoke to a dead man this morning. Shen-shixiong is very much alive.” Mu Qingfang confirmed, forcefully tucking the blanket back around him.

Liu Qingge stared at the ceiling again, relief drowning his heart. “I hurt him.” Badly.

I would have killed him. He couldn’t quite bring himself to tell Mu Qingfang that.

“There were a few fractures, but he was well enough to fly you here and then make it back to his peak.”

“What-” He rewet his lips, finding a blooming bruise on the corner of his upper lip. “-happened?”

It was all fragmentary. Nothing fit together. His arm broke. But Shen Qingqiu was so far away and the lightning.

“We were rather hoping you’d be able to tell us. Shen-shixiong was… less than helpful.”

Liu Qingge’s brow furrowed. What had Shen Qingqiu said? Had he declared him a monster? It would be justified.

“Yue-Shixiong has asked me to send word when you woke up so we can go over the incident.”

Liu Qingge groaned. He didn’t want to do a debriefing.

What he wanted to do was find Shen Qingqiu, check that he was alright and then punch him until he stopped feeling so conflicted that he was alive!

Oblivious to his wishes, Mu Qingfang took his pulse and looked pleased with what he found.

“You’re recovering well. You’ll be kept another night just to make sure no irregularities turn up, but with your flow back to normal, you will be free to return to your peak. Though I will ask you to stick to very light exercises until I can check you over so that everything heals well.”

This was …. a light touch compared to normal. Why?

“Don’t qi deviations normally require longer supervision?” Especially ones concerning Peak Lords.

Chen Qingda had had a splutter two years ago and he had been locked in a ward for over a month. Yue Qingyuan had had to intervene and get the man out with a promise that he wouldn’t touch the distillery for the rest of the year. That promise had lasted four days. Mu Qingfang had been livid.

Mu Qingfang hesitated now though, expression growing tight.

“So, it was a qi deviation.” What else would it have been? His face must have clearly shown his confusion as Mu Qingfang quickly turned to him.

“When Liu-shidi arrived last night, he had very low qi levels.” Explained the doctor.  “But there was very little in way of the common signs of a qi deviation. Your meridians were slightly strained, true, especially around your lower dantian, but there were no signs of twisting or tearing like we’d expect when someone of your cultivation level deviates.”

“But I- “Liu Qingge furrowed his face further. “I definitely...”

“What qi you had was calm and it was entirely your own. Whatever method Shen-shixiong used to handle your deviation, he didn’t follow the standard procedure. You were never passed his qi to calm your own.” Mu Qingfang got up with a stretch. “I can’t make out his intentions for not doing so. He was very agitated when questioned. But he did right by bringing you here.”

Sh-shen Qingqiu. Shen ‘will stab you in the back’ Qingqiu had stopped him, whilst he was deviating, and had brought him here himself. Liu Qingge had been assuming Yue Qingyuan had caught wind of the fight and had stepped in but no, Shen Qingqiu… had saved his life.

“Impossible.” Was his only response, which made the doctor sigh.

“I’ll go get you some medicinal tea. It should help with the grogginess. Try not to linger too long on what happened in the caves. We’ll have time to discuss it later, just rest for now.”

 

---

 

When the rumours circled of Shen Qingqiu’s brothel visits, they made it sound like he snuck off to some nearby village’s whore house every night to have his fill of women and then snuck back in come morning like some theatrical villian. In truth, the Warm Red Pavilion was nearly three days by carriage from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect and just under two shichen by sword. Well, if you flew at sensible speeds.

Xiu Ya ripped through the clouds over the town just as the sun reached its peak in the sky. Shen Qingqiu had first come here with Wu Yanzi. Only staying for a single night before they'd moved on. He’d re-remembered it later after a solo mission as head disciple. On that day, he hadn’t slept soundly in nearly twenty days and had just given in. After buying the cheapest girl’s company, he had been woken up over eight shichen later because the brothel madame wanted to check he was still alive. That girl had eventually become the second concubine of a well-mannered if foolish noble the next province over. She was said to be doing well with her third daughter marrying very well and first daughter set to marry next spring.

Descending like falling leaf, Shen Qingqiu alighted on the packed dirt an alleyway over from the brothel. Xiu Ya glowed brightly from the work. Silly thing only seemed please when he had worked them both down to near exhaustion. Tucking the blade away first into its sheath then under his outer robe, he realised belatedly that in his hurry to leave, he hadn’t changed from his peak lord robes.

Fuck it. He had neither the qi nor the mental concentration needed to fly back. The girls here had seen him in worst and it was unlikely for anyone who knew him, let alone during the middle of the day, to be in the building itself.

Still, he stashed the hair crown in his qiankun sleeve and rearranged his robes so that the flasher embroidery was hidden by plainer silk. It was still a lot, but it did not scream peak lord as loudly as before, merely a rich cultivator.

Done fussing with his garments, Shen Qingqiu stowed his fan away and made his way casually to the pavilion. He'd long learned walking too fast or too slow attracted attention. The key to passing unnoticed was to act like you were supposed to be there. It did far more to let other’s eyes glaze over you than any disguise could. Besides when asked, they would only be able to say a handsome young rich man in white and green had visited. The range of those that matched that description spanned the entire country and beyond.

Entering though, he was recognised. The serving girl Li-mei was lounging, fanning herself by the entrance when he approached. Immediately the girl hopped up fromh er station to greet him and guide him in. She chattered non-stop about something or other. Shen Qingqiu could only hummed in acknowledgement, hearing half of what was said. She was going on a tirade about what one of her ‘sisters’ had said to her the other day.

“Meimei,” he eventually interrupted, stemming the stream of words.” This one is aware it is early, but a room with two willing flowers for this tired Gege, if you could.”

Understanding or maybe hearing the exhaustion in his voice, he was led to one of the business rooms and left to near collapse into the silk sheets of a bed that was barely less pillows than bed. The strong smell of incense that always lingered in the Warm Red Pavilion was already tricking his body into relaxing. He let it, breathing in deeply. Not long after En-jie entered, holding a small tea service. Behind her came Cong-jie with extra blankets looking like she had just climbed out of bed to meet him.

“Immortal Tian.” Both greeted as they approached. Shen Qingqiu nodded wearily back at them.

 He’d gained the name ‘Tian’ after ‘Shen Jiu’ [Shen Nine] had been misheard as ‘Tian Jiu’ [Sweet Wine] during his earlier visits. It was stupid mistake and made him laugh in how it didn’t fit him. So, he’d kept it. It’s not like any of his ‘sisters’ went by their real names in this place either.

Cong-jie deposited the blankets and drew him up into her arms, letting his head rest on her shoulder.

“It’s need a while, Tian-di.” She purred in his ear. He hummed in reply turning his head so the bridge of his nose rested against her neck. There was a soft huff and the two women must have shared a look over his head. “Okay, let’s get you ready for bed.”

“Thank you, Jiejie.” He half mumbled half groaned in reply as skilled fingers worked through his hair, combed over his scalp and scratched in all the right places that had him near boneless embarrassingly quickly.

Despite what the rumours might suggest, he didn’t know nor sleep with every girl in the brothel. While an easy to serve well-mannered customer with large coin purse was never unpopular, the girls all knew he would never fall in love with one of them and sweep that girl away to whatever sect he came from to be his wife. He would never be their ticket to freedom, just a pleasant acquaintance who could be bribed and bullied into teaching them a new skill to improve their value. As such only a small group regularly served him, the rest focusing on ensnaring a more realistic way out of service.

Both En-jie and Cong-jie had men they were hoping would buy them out soon, so an easy job like him between their lover’s visits was simply a way to lower the barrier that they had to convince their hopefuls to jump. He didn’t mind. He didn’t come here to be told lies like ‘I love you’, ‘we’ll always have each other’ or ‘I’ll never abandon you’. He came to be held, to keep his heart demons at bay, to fall asleep and wake up in a tangle of soft warm bodies that meant him no harm.

At some point the hands had gone from his hair to his clothing, each layer gone as soon as the last left his body. He couldn’t tell whose hands took to braiding his hair, whilst the other pair gently towel bathed his face, neck and hands. He could only barely tell that it was En-jie that circled up around his waist from behind, dragging him into the covers whilst Cong-jie curled up on his front, pressing kisses up his neck and jaw to his ear, forehead and then nose. Cong-jie was a shorter stockier build with the perfect thighs for just smooshing his face into. En-jie was longer limbed with board shoulders, a long nose and a very generous pillowy bust.

He felt En-jie lean over and pressed a kiss into his neck that made him shiver. Her lips curled into a smile on his neck as her arms loosened and one moved up to cradle his head, whilst the other rested on his hip, her thumb rubbing gentle rolling circles over the bone. He sighed under her ministrations, earning him another kiss on the neck. Cong-jie must have been the one to move the blankets over them all before settling in between his arms.  She brought a hand up to caresses of a loose strand behind his ear, then lets the hand lay there as his right arm slips behind her to hold her close.

Pressed between the pair, Shen Qingqiu was slowly seduced by the warmth and softness into a deep sleep.

 

---

 

The meeting with Yue Qingyuan was delayed by other business the sect leader had to attend to, though Mu Qingfang’s tea did help clear his head. Liu Qingge was honestly grateful. Lying in bed, he tried to address the barrage of questions circling his brain and maybe take a stab at exactly what he currently felt.

Relief was the main component. Relief and confusion. He was alive. They both were. They were both somehow alive. There’s no way that was possible. But it was the reality. The gap between him and Shen Qingqiu had been too great recently. There’s no way in a straight fight he would have lost.

Then had the man used one of his many underhanded tricks save his life?

Liu Qingge didn’t like the idea of that. He still wasn’t settled on the fact of Shen Qingqiu having actually saved him. The man had never passed up the chance to kill him in the past. To have him suddenly change behaviour like that. Though, what had he said, ‘If you die, I’ll kill you’? Was it that only he was allowed to kill Liu Qingge? What type of insanity was that.

He’d just finished his evening meal of well boiled rice and thinly flavoured healing aids, when the sect leader finally escaped his duties to see him. Mu Qingfang tailed the man in, pressing a silencing talisman against the door causing the hustle of the corridor outside to muffle.

“How is Liu-shidi feeling?” began Yue Qingyuan, all concern behind a taut smile.

He got a grunt and as best a shrug as the sling would allow.

Yue Qingyuan nodded. He took one of the far too small visitor stools to sit on, Xuan Su balanced across his knees.

“I was hoping Liu-shidi might be well enough to recount what he remembers from before he awoke?” The man continued hesitantly.

Liu Qingge grunted an affirmative and waited till Mu Qingfang had pulled up a seat before beginning.

“I was…” How did he begin? “I had reached an impasse with my cultivation.” Yue Qingyuan smile waned slightly. Liu Qingge looked down to his free hand. He would only get distracted if he paid too close attention to his Shixiongs’ reactions.

“I was foolish. Tried to force through. It backfired. Led me into a qi deviation.” Someone shuffled in their seat, he didn’t look up to see who. “Must have disturbed Shen Qingqiu. He came through, yelling something. I was so angry. So frustrated. I went after him. I- I wasn’t in control.”

A large, calloused hand closed around his. Yue Qingyuan gently eased his left hand out of the death grip it had held on to the sheets with. Rubbing over each finger, the sect leader held his hand with both of his giving him a little squeeze to keep going.

“I was seeing things. Attacking them. Attacking him. Broke my arm.”

“Shen-shidi did?”

“Not sure.”

Mu Qingfang straightened and frowned at that.

“The break distracted me. Then he…” What had Shen Qingqiu done? He vaguely was aware of his shixiong pinned under him.

“This is going to hurt.”

“Then he?” prompted Mu Qingfang.

“Punched me?” He had, right? There wasn’t anything else it could be. “Really hard in the stomach.”

“You are certain he punched you?”

Liu Qingge furrowed his face.

Hand waving his response, the doctor prompted him further. “What happened next?”

“I woke up here.”

“What?”

“I woke up here.”

Mu Qingfang threw up his hands. Yue Qingyuan shot the man a sympathetic look and gave Liu Qingge’s captured hand a pet.

“Thank you for telling us, Liu-shidi.” The Sect leader tried to soothe as the peak lord of Qian Cao had his head in his hands.

Mu Qingfang rubbed down both cheeks with a groan.

“It’s still vague but it does line up with Shen-shixiong’s story.”

“This Shixiong can ask Shen-shidi for a more detailed explanation once he returns, Mu-shidi.”

Once he returns? Liu Qingge shot Yue Qingyuan a puzzled look.

“Shen Qingqiu left?”

The sect leader’s expression dropped. “Ah, well, um….” He lapsed in silence.

Mu Qingfang took over for the man.

“Shortly after checking in this morning, Shen-shixiong was seen leaving the sect via the main gate.”

Leaving the sect. But why? Where would he go- Yue Qingyuan was refusing to make eye contact.

Liu Qingge’s mouth hung open.

“No. He- “That man. Really? REALLY? Right after making sure that he was still breathing. He just?

 “Shameless.” Is the only word that makes it through the increasingly flustered rage he felt.

“This Shixiong will also be having words with Qingqiu-shidi on that matter as well.” The sect leader admitted still refusing to make eye contact, his own ears a little pink.

“Regardless of Shen-shixiong’s questionable lifestyle decisions, this doctor will encourage Liu-shidi to get an early night tonight.”

Yue Qingyuan nodded and stood ready to leave.

“I still don’t understand.”

Both men turned to look at the bedbound war god.

“Understand what, Shidi?”

“He always said he’d kill me. He had the opportunity to. He didn’t take it.”

Yue Qingyuan sighed and shook his head.

“Liu-shidi, Shen-shidi says many hurtful things. He rarely means them literally. Or at least this Shixiong hopes he does not. If the truth was that he wanted you dead, he could have killed you long ago.”

“Nonsense.”

“No. It’s not. If Shen-shixiong had truly wanted you dead, he could have killed you at any point during the time you have known him. This Shixiong is sure of that.”

Liu Qingge didn’t understand where Yue Qingyuan got this idea of Shen Qingqiu from. Mu Qingfang didn’t look like he believed the Sect Leader either.

“… Yes, Shixiong.”

“Rest well, Liu-shidi.” Yue Qingyuan gave him a large smile and left taking Mu Qingfang with him.

Liu Qingge tucked himself back under the sheets. He never understood Yue Qingyuan’s favouritism. But even if what he had said was wrong, even if one day Shen Qingqiu would turn on him and slay him where he stood. This time around he had saved his life.

Liu Qingge owed him for that at the very least.

 

---

 

 He was reading in the LingXi caves. Bookshelves coated one wall as he lounged in that one sunny spot beside the Quiet Pool he liked sipping away at his tea.

Liu Qingge entered the cave walking right through the pool. That bastard couldn’t do anything right.

“Go away.” The brute stopped walking, Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes and went back to ignoring him.

“En.” Shen Qingqiu looked back up and Liu Qingge had Cheng Luan drawn. The blade angled towards his chest.

“What are you- STOP!” Shen Qingqiu threw the book aside and ran towards his stupid shidi.

He ran and ran and an arm circled around his waist.

“Why should he stop?” Purred a familiar voice in his ear, Shen Qingqiu tensed.

 The violet sleeve around his waist tightened.

“You asked him to go away. He is going away.”

“I- I didn’t mean.”

“Didn’t mean you wanted him dead?” The voice chuckled.

The man’s other hand gave him a light pat on the head. Shen Qingqiu flinched away from the touch.

“Oh, Xiao Jiu~”

He was safe. The young master never hit him in front of other nobles. They weren’t alone he was safe.

He pulled him in closer, Shen Jiu could feel the warm wetness of each stab wound bleed through the fabric on his back.

“You spent so long telling him you would kill him and then when given the chance to you denied him.” His voice was patronisingly soft. “Isn’t that cruel?”

Lips breathed over his ear.  “To promise something and not deliver?”

Just like Qi-ge. Shut up. SHUT. UP.

A please chuckle rumbled through the chest behind him.

“Come.” The young master gestured Liu Qingge over. His foolish shidi came forward.

Run. Run and don’t look back.

“We must help your Shixiong keep his promises.” Liu Qingge handed over the blade that had hung on the wall of the Qiu Estate’s office.

The young master easily forced it into Xiao Jiu’s trembling hand. It fit perfectly.

“Now is the easy bit,” Liu Qingge stepped forward. The young master made sure he couldn’t move his arm.
“after all,” The words were mummer like a kiss into the base if his neck. Liu Qingge stepped forward again, the tip of the sword pressed into the flesh just above his heart.

“Xiao Jiu has had plenty of practice killing young noble masters.” Liu Qingge stepped forward again. The blade pierced through cloth and flesh, scraping against ribs and spine. He had forgotten the sensation. Behind his shidi lay some no name junior cultivators face down in the pool, a qiankun pouch full of valuables on their waist and a stab wound through each on of their backs. In his hand the sword changed.

His uncle’s blood blade wasn’t as long as Xiu Ya nor the sword from the Qiu Estate. It's squat blade couldn’t make it all the way through Liu Qingge’s muscled torso as neatly. Eventually his shidi hit the hilt of the blade but that did not stop him stepping closer and closer, forcing Xiao Shen’s arm to bend and his back to press up against the young master who laughed.

“See? Not so hard after all. My, my doesn’t he look just like his sister up close?”

The one that looks like his sister is you.

Xiao Shen had never met Liu Mingyan in person. Qi Qingqi always sent her away when she saw him approaching.

Liu Qingge was still moving forward, sandwiching Xiao Shen between the two men’s chests. He couldn’t move.

His shidi gripped Shen Qingqiu’s throat and sneezed. Blood dripped from Liu Qingge's seven orifices as his throat was crushed further. He couldn’t breathe.

Struggling Shen Qingqiu pushed a hand against his shidi’s stomach. The man screamed.

A difference voice from the one pressed against his ear laughed. A rough voice, confident and arrogant and cruel.

“Well done, disciple.”

Shen Qingqiu awoke trembling. En-jie and Cong-jie were already awake next to him. They were speaking but his head sparked and spasmed. Holding his temples, he tried to breathe. He needed to breathe.

Heat and light fell from his tongue as blood and tears pooled in his eyes. Hands combed through his hair and stroked his forehead as blurred faces tried to talk to him. It was all a mess.

A pipa string cut through the noise and static. Following it came another and another. A steady rhythm and a song he knew. Half mumbling the lyrics as the pipa played on, the static edged away from his mind.

“-mmortal Tian. Can you hear us?”

“Y-yes.” He gasped. Nails raked soothingly across his scalp; Shen Qingqiu's eyes fluttered shut.

“You scared us quite a bit.”

“Nnnmhh.“ He rolled off the lap he was on, onto his stomach and rose slowly rubbing the blood from his eyes.

“Here.” En-jie wiped at the splatter with a wet cloth, cleaning up his face as best she could.

He had managed to ruin Cong-jie’s dress and the sheets. Nothing was on fire, thankfully. But motes of qi hung in the air. Li-mei was trying to catch them between her palms, the kid had snuck in to slack off again it seems. She only frowned when the light vanished as she touched it.

Xie-jie sat on some pillows not far from the leaping servant girl, pipa in hand, still strumming out familiar tunes at a gentle pace. Someone must have gone to get her once he started deviating.

Xie-jie had arrived at the Warm Red Pavilion with a little skill in the pipa. Around the same time that she arrived, Ti Gangdiao began to give his head disciple more solo missions. Thus, Shen Qingqiu had the freedom to frequent the brothel more. Naturally he was drawn to a fellow musician and the duo had spent many a long night practicing and composing songs with guqin and pipa at hand, playing off each other or bickering good-naturedly. After nearly nineteen years, she was one of the people closest to him.

“This- this one will cover the costs of any damages.” It felt inadequate but he didn’t have the face to admit to having woken like a brawling child from a nightmare.

Xie-jie levelled a look at him and continued playing. She’d want words with him later.

“Oh please, this needed replaced anyway.” Taunted Cong-jie, stripping out her inner robe. Shen Qingqiu blinked; he was far too used to his sister’s bodies to even comment as she stretched out her nude form a cheeky grin on her face.

En-jie rolled her eyes and dabbed at his face again. Cong-jie stuck her tongue out at her in response, spun on one leg in a mocking dance before wrapping herself up like a spring roll in one of the clean blankets.

“Meimei.” He called out softly. “Could you go fetch this one something simple but filling from the kitchens. Your sisters and you can order what they want as well. It will be this Didi’s treat.”

The blanket pile gave a cheer.

The girls quickly gave Li-mei their orders, who also took the dirtied sheets and Cong-jie’s dress out with her.  They had roped Shen Qingqiu into a new tending game with tiles by the time she had returned with hot noodles, mantou, a spicy soup and a new garment for Cong-jie, who once again made a show whilst redressing.

Mouth stuffed with a mantou; Shen Qingqiu soon found himself with a lap of Li-mei. The girl had been bought as a servant for the brothel when she was barely up to his waist. She was smart though. Smart enough to figure out if she acted like a bratty spoilt daughter, he would dote on her against his better judgement. Now nearly thirteen, she was getting too big to rest comfortably on his leg.

That didn’t mean he was going to push her off yet. Frankly speaking Xie-jie was a beast at this Mahjong game and until he caught up with all of it's tricks, it would take them both to even have a hope of defeating the pipa player. In the end, he lost three of the five rounds, En-jie won one and Cong-jie ate four bowls of noodles and made him laugh so hard he nearly choked.

It was early in the morning before they all resettled into bed. This time En-jie and Xie-jie cuddled together behind him as Cong-jie sprawled in front of him and Li-mei having gained the prized spot of curled up carefully in his arms, so she didn’t lean on his still healing ribs. He was full and warm again. Though the nightmare had long since passed, even as his sisters snores vibrated around him, it took a long time for sleep to find Shen Qingqiu again.

 

 

 

Notes:

Names:
Li 丽 - Beautiful
En 恩 - Kindness/Grace
Cong 悰 - Joy
Xie 龤 - to harmonize
Editing note: Added in the sisterly titles as I was informed that refering to someone by a only their single word name isn't a thing in chinese. E.g. It has to be Xie-jie, not just Xie. They probably all use 暖 Nuan 'Warm' from 'Nuanhong' Warm Red in place of a surname as the names are given to them by the brothel itself. So Nuan Xie.

Chen Qingda 谌清大 - 9th Peak lord of Zui Xian Peak. (alcohol peak). Sincere Clear Big
Ti Gangdiao 题刚雕 - Previous genration's Qing Jing Peak Lord. Shen Qingqiu's Shizun. Headline/title + Hard/Firm/Strong + Carve/Bird of Prey

If you are curious about the peak order and the rest of the Qing Generation. I have another SVSSS fic called 'A Poor Choice of Words' which has the names and peak order I'll be using for this fic. And yes I made MQF the 5th peak lord, fuck you lot that keep putting the team medic lower in the rankings. MQF deserves a raise and I'm giving him some respect whilst leaving him to deal with SQQ.

This chapter is the main reason the longer working title of this fic was 'The fix it fic that is just 3 days of straight up panic attacks, them being thrown into hospital twice and one of the characters spending 2 days in a brothel'. There was a shorter working title that was hinted at during the nightmare sequence. Might as well warn folks now This is an AU as well as canon divergence. It's canon compliant but yeah there is a big change I made to SJ's past that'll turn up eventually. Have fun speculating on that.

This chapter was also described to my friend as 'Liu Qingge's single braincell is getting a lot of work today. It only just woke up.'

Also headcanon time: During pidw caves both LQG and SQQ realised a little too late that neither of them wanted the other dead. LQG decided to act on this by killing himself to save SQQ and SQQ acted on it by taking the fall for LQG's suicide to protect his memory. Here they both survived and it will be messy.
Other headcanon at work: SQQ isn't full platonic with the WRP. His sense of socially okay skin contact is screwed due to slavery conditions, bad childhood and being close friends with sex workers. So he goes from 'Do not touch me it is a social sin' to spooning naked with 0 inbetween. He is aware there is a line of what is social acceptable, he has no idea where the line is so just avoids touching anyone unless it's a situation where they might as well be fucking away. In most cases he lets the other person he's with dictate the level of touching that happens. Because he knows he doesn't know where the line is.

 

Next chapter: Shen Qingqiu leaves the brothel (hooray!) and he and Liu Qingge finally talk. Meanwhile Ming Fan is having a few issues with his latest assignment.

Chapter 5: Water is often clearer than our minds and souls

Summary:

A time of internal reflection and a lot of bathing.

Notes:

Hello enjoy the slightly earlier chapter.

Content Warnings: Prositution mention, nudity, Everyone sucks at feelings, Bullying, teenage boys being emotional, slight cliffhanger

"Wasn't Liu Qingge well liked? Where's the mob, Airplane bro. Surely at least the Bai Zhan Brutes would be up in arms. Come onnnn! Get the pitchforks out and get that shitty Shizun out of here."

- Peerless Cucumber

 

True to his word, Mu Qingfang declared him free to go the next morning following a brief examination. A Bai Zhan uniform was sent for and after changing, Liu Qingge was given the standard qiankun pouch of ‘here’s all the things you had on you prior to being treated’ and waved off the peak.

Crossing the rainbow bridge, he felt something within settle as his foot hit the gravel pathways of Bai Zhan peak. He was home. Not in the same way the Liu family estate was home but home all the more for it. Severe rock cliffs and loud cascading waterfalls, the sounds of training and the smell of kicked up earth.

The walk up the peak was a slow one. The pace was an odd change as he was rarely not in a hurry to get somewhere. But as running would only jolt his arm and Cheng Luan was back in the LingXi caves, he was stuck putting one foot in front of the other. He’d have to ask Yue Qingyuan about collecting his belongings from the caves, though that could wait for tomorrow.

Passing the more frequently used training grounds, Liu Qingge soon found himself mobbed by disciples.

“Is it true Shen Qingqiu attacked you in the caves?”

“Shizun, we are ready. Just give us the order and we’ll go teach that snake a lesson.”

“I heard the sect leader banished him from the mountain.”

“Nah, he’s just being a pervert as normal.”

“Hypocrite! He deserves even more of a beating then!”

There were even a few of the hall masters in amongst the crowd. It had barely been a day and yet word of mouth had already spread the news this far. Liu Qingge clenched his fist. He wasn’t in the mood to beat down gossip and rumours. Did Shen Qingqiu really just runaway as fast as he could? He would have thought the man would have stopped to brag about finally besting him or saving him from the dishonour of suicide or complained about being attacked. Instead, judging by the mess of statements from the crowd, all anyone knew was that they had fought and Shen Qingqiu had fled the mountain.

As the fervour of the crowd began to turn towards heading to Qing Jing Peak in the man’s absence and letting his disciples handle their displeasure, Liu Qingge decided he had enough.

“No.” was all he needed to say to silence the crowd. “Shen Qingqiu…. Shen Qingqiu saved my life.”

The silence continued and something like shame wiggled in Liu Qingge’s gut.

Why was he the one that had to go around telling people this?

That he failed.

Why was he the one that had to watch their confusion and disbelief at his words?

It all felt wrong. It felt shameful. He wanted to yell at someone. He mostly wanted to yell at Shen Qingqiu. And for Shen Qingqiu to yell back at him. To find a sense of normalcy in this weirdness.

“He did?” Ji Jue was the first one brave enough to break the silence, he got an affirmative grunt in return.

Ji Jue looked at Liu Qingge, looked at his arm in a sling then at his clenched fist.

“…What do we do?” he asked looking dumbstruck.

“Nothing. I want to talk to him.” Liu Qingge waved his free arm at the crowd, and it parted. “Come get me when he returns.”

The rest of his journey up the peak was uneventful. He could see disciples staring at him then whispering to each other as the new information made the rounds. They had too much time on their hands. The moment Mu Qingfang let him; he was going to train them all till Qian Cao ran out of beds.

The Bai Zhan Peak Lord’s residence was a rather elegant building given the peak’s reputation. Built of hardwearing warm red wood with light purple-grey tiles that matched the surrounding rock, it was perched on a flattened boulder with stone steps cut up towards it. At the bottom of the steps was an additional flattened pebbled arena for sparring, training or hosting guests if the resident peak lord was so inclined. It was grand without being gaudy or overly large, a fairly simple three courtyard home. Liu Qingge tried to keep it clean at the very least.

The gate’s array responded to his qi, and he was able to quickly pass through, past the southern hall, across the front and central courtyards into the central hall. The space was fashioned like an office, the decorations mostly his shizun’s taste though a collection of well-preserved hunting trophies had appeared in the six years since he became peak lord.

Moving to a table he kept clear for unloading from his hunts, he up turned the qiankun pouch. The bloodied underrobes would have to go to the southern hall where once a week an An Ding disciple came by to do the laundry, tend to the small garden and other minor chores. That wasn’t what caught his attention.

In with his own clothes was a robe that was not his. Near translucent silk that looked deceptively fragile though Liu Qingge suspected like anything else made by Si Chou, the tailor’s peak, it could only be cut with a spirit sword or stronger weapon. Embroidered with bamboo and Qing Jing’s signature light blue-green, this was Shen’s. He had wrapped him in his outer robe.

Liu Qingge’s gut did that horrible crawling feeling again as his fingers traced over the garment.

It was cold, ice cold, with dried blood inside and out. He traced the arrays, ones for strength, ones for warmth. Then he frowned and retraced the arrays. They were broken. The ones by the collar were broken, and further in, searching the entire garment, they were broken hem to sleeve cuff. Each crackled open lengthwise, looking like they had been scorched. As if by a small fire or-

His mind flicked back to his dream. Black lightning?

He’d have to take this to Huang Qingying to be fixed. The seamstress was the only one that could repair such work. After all, it would make him squirm if he, on top of attacking Shen Qingqiu, returned him a damaged garment. Folding it carefully, he would deal with that tomorrow as well.

Liu Qingge was quick after that to organise a bath for himself. Warming talismans adorned a pool deliberately built into the corner of the back courtyard for this purpose. Even one armed he could easily run buckets from the pump to fill it. Qian Cao had a particular smell to it, earthy, medicinal. Mu Qingfang rarely smelled of anything else proving his name of Fang [fragrance] well chosen.

It had irritated his nose ever since he’d woken up. Kicking off his boots, socks and other trousers, Liu Qingge had to fight a bit to get his hair ribbon out.

It was even more of a struggle to get the upper half of his clothes off. His arm was splinted inside the sling and Mu Qingfang had warned him against getting it wet. Finally after a small struggle with his under robe, the Bai Zhan Peak Lord was bare.

It was then as he slipped into the warm steaming water that he noticed something amiss. Standing in the pool, his free hand gently rubbed his stomach.

Over his navel was a grey mark. A solid square-ish shape with five extending points. Like a splayed hand over his skin.

 

---

 

Shen Qingqiu’s arm had gone numb under Li-mei’s head by the time he awoke. His head ached with a strong staticky feeling as he tried to wiggle his left hand. Nothing. Though that might just be the damaged meridians rather than the girl drooling into his sleeve.

Somewhere in the pile of clothes he shed, he felt a sulking tug on his qi. Ah. Right, he’d been too out of it to remember to tend to Xiu Ya. As if sensing his awakening, the sword wriggled itself free from his robes and floated over to him, full of indignity and feigned misery. He lazily plucked it out the air, tucked it by his side and soothed it’s oh so injured ego with gentle strokes over the hilt.

The sword purred under his attention; all wrongs apparently forgiven. He lay there for a while longer letting the girls around him drift out of sleep and stir awake before moving. It was long past mid-day by the time they had all gotten out of bed and eaten. After losing again at Mahjong, En-jie and Cang-jie left. They each had a lover due that night and no longer had the luxury to indulge him. Still, he made sure they each left with a pouch of coin as did Li-mei since he was overstepping the boundaries taking a servant girl into his bed regardless of if they did the business’ standard trade interaction or not.

This left him and Xie-jie and a well outfitted bath, alone in comfortable silence. He combed the water through her hair as she sat lent forward in his naked lap in the tub. His ‘sisters’ all at seen or knew about the state of his body. A flawless face from the collar bone up and then scars and defects down from there to his broken-then-fixed fingers and toes. Some claim to have seen worse. Some bore similar marks; a brand on their arms or neck, whip scars on their back.

Xie-jie had a noble house’s crest on her upper thigh. He never asked her about it. Like how she never questioned the silvery stretched out trail left from the hot poker as the slavers had painfully written out his number over his heart. He didn’t remember much after that. By the time it had healed, and his memories resumed, he’d been working the streets same as the others. Not long after that he’d befriended Qi-ge. That liar.

“Thinking about something?”

His combing had slowed. He quickly resumed the task, his left hand was still cottony and clumsy.

“Just.” He worked around a tangle. “..things.”

“Things?” Xie-jie craned back to look at him.

She hadn’t mentioned the qi deviation yet. She rarely brought up his less than perfect moments but there was always this pressure. Like she was expecting him to be more than his broken parts and bring it up. Somehow, he always did.

“I.. There is this shidi I have. He’s obnoxious and stupid and stubborn and rude and urgh.. He drives me to fits of rage every time.”

Xie-jie hummed once as she leant back into him. Hair combing was abandoned for now as he looped his numb arm around her and rested his cheek on her shoulder as he talked.

“I always would yell that I wanted him dead or that he should just die. He is infuriating.”

A hand was stroking his left bicep, he could hardly feel it.

“But recently he really… He could have. He almost did die. And I don’t know..”

“Don’t know how to feel?”

Shen Qingqiu nodded into her skin. It was warm from the water, scented with flower petals and incense smoke.

“I don’t actually want him dead. I’ve said it so much though.”

Xie-jie lips twisted and pouted the way they always did when she thought.

“And have you told him this?”

“Told him what?”

“That you don’t want him dead.”

As if it would be that easy, he internally scoffed. Some small part of him piped up ‘It logically would just be that easy.’. That small part was beaten and locked somewhere out of sight before it could make any more contrary statements. That brute would laugh himself dead, before he believed a word this scum said.

“You haven’t told him, have you?” He’d stayed silent for too long.

“No.” he admitted. “I couldn’t face him afterwards.”

Xie-jie rested against him, letting both of them breathe. Back to chest, legs comfortably pressed together. The moment sat there as she said nothing.

“You think I should tell him.”

“Yes, dumbie.” She scoffed lightly. He whined, dropping his forehead onto her shoulder. “It’s not like you are fighting a demon. Just say ‘I don’t want you to die.’ and leave.”

“I’d rather be fighting a demon-“

“Didi is a fool.”

“Didi is no such thing.”

“I’ll believe that when he can defeat me in Mahjong, unaided.”

“I can beat you in Weiqi.”

“Mahjong is not Weiqi.”

He tsked into her shoulder and looked over. Xie-jie was smirking at him. He couldn’t find it in him to be mad at her. Really, somehow, she always crawled right past his defences.

“Are you going to continue combing my hair before the bath water goes cold?” She asked, expression defiant.

“Yes, Jiejie.” He answered with no small amount of mockery.

They finished up bathing slowly. After that both dressed in only their undergarments drew out their instruments. Shen Qingqiu always kept a spare guqin in his qiankun sleeve for such an occasion.

The rest of the afternoon and then evening was spent playing, laughing and playing far too many rounds of Mahjong. Shen Qingqiu was only glad as they crawled back into bed together that Xie-jie had been merciful and not made them place bets on the matches. His coin purse would have cried murder.

 

---

 

Ming Fan liked to think he was a good head disciple. He got along with everyone his Shifu approved of. He distained those his Shifu disapproved of. He worked hard. He tried. He really tried. He wanted that to be enough. Even with his latest task, no matter what, he would not disappoint Shifu.

The little beast wasn’t at the woodshed the next morning. Nor were his things. This was fine.

Qing Jing Peak had a very strict timetable so it wouldn’t be hard to track him down. After breakfast were the morning classes that lasted two shichen until the midday meal was called. Though they were in different classes, he could easily gain access to the timetable and head there once lessons were over. Failing that, all on Qing Jing peak ate at the communal mess hall. He’d be able to grab him then.

This plan fell apart almost immediately. Hallmaster Sun claimed ‘the scruffy one’ had packed up and left as soon as class ended. Luo Binghe didn’t show in the mess hall either. Nor did Ning Yingying. Asking around got a round of shrugs. By the time the midday meal ended and the afternoon’s period of chores or independent study began Ming Fan was a little upset.

Okay, he was a lot upset. How could he train someone he couldn’t find. Cheng Shan and Zhi Yao saw his mood and agreed to help him look. They began at the obvious places. Each splitting up to cover more ground. Zhi Yao searched over the practice fields and music pavilions along the great pools, Cheng Shan covered the calligraphy and painting studios whilst Ming Fan searched the library and self-study rooms. Not one of them could find hair or head of either of Ning Yingying or Luo Binghe.

Typical. When he didn’t want him around, he was always under foot. The moment his presence was wanted? Gone.

It wasn’t until the evening meal was called that he spotted him. Well, it was less he spotted him and more one of the Zui Xian cooks was yelling at his shidi to get out the way as they brought hot trays through to the mess to serve. Ming Fan didn’t waste any time and grabbed the little beast and dragged him out to the lotus ponds away from the swarming crowd of hungry disciples.

He flailed the entire time over, backing away once Ming Fan released his hold.

“Where were you!?”

“This Shidi does not know what Shixiong means-“

“Don’t play dumb! You weren’t at the midday meal, you weren’t in the study rooms. You took Ning Yingying off with you. How dare you!”

The false meekness of his shidi had come to put on less and less these days faded from his face.

“What’s it to you?” He snarled at Ming Fan.

“What’s it to me? Did you forget what Shifu assigned us!? You can’t just run off like that!”

“It doesn’t matter.” He-

Losing his temper Ming Fan closed in on his shidi.

“Doesn’t matter? You don’t get to decide that!”

“Shut up!” This little brat. Ming Fan moved to grab him, and he shoved him. That shoved was what started it.

After the shove came another grab, a missed punch and blocked punch and then another grab. Ming Fan wasn’t much of a fighter, he was middle of the class really but Luo Binghe despite no cultivation progress was determined, vicious and spiteful. Which is why when Ming Fan’s back connected with the pond’s railing, he kicked out his feet and pushed.

The water was cold. Worse than that it was muddy and thick with vegetation. A lotus flower jabbed into his head disciple hair crown as Ming Fan flailed in the water finding his rhythm to tread water. Above him, the little beast was screaming at him.

“I hate you. I hate you! I never want to see you again. Leave me alone. I hate you. I. Hate. You. You are the worst. You are mean. Soo mean. You make me sad. You hurt me. I hate you. I hattttteeee you.”

It all came out a big blur of words before coming to a sudden halt as the boy gasped for air again. Both of them stared at each other, the ponds deserted but for the two of them. Ming Fan snarled at his shidi.

“I’m telling Shifu.”

This seemed to startle the little beast who glared at him before running off. He didn’t even help him out the pond. Somewhere nearby a frog let out a croak too close to laughter. Ming Fan wanted to scream.

 

---

 

 Xiu Ya nudged into him as the morning light trickled in under the door. He’d have to go back today. The sleep had done its work, already his ribs were down to only tender if poked rather than every time he breathed. His right shoulder was in a similar state. His left arm was less numb that the day before but still it felt muffled.

Stretching out on the bed, Shen Qingqiu felt his spine crack and sighed. Xie-jie grumbled next to him, so he returned to his earlier position of spooning into her back. He felt so warm. Just a moment more in this peace. Just a little longer.

He was eventually forced to move when Xie-jie woke up, sat up and got fed up with him nuzzling his face into her stomach.

It felt strange to be wearing so many layers again. Each smelt of the brothel’s incense. Xie-jie watched him dress, curled up under the blankets.

“Is Didi a Hall master?” Sleep and the blankets muffled her voice, but her eyes never left his form. Trailing over the fine silk and embroidery he’d normally forgo wearing when he set off for the brothel.

“Is that what Jiejie believes this one is?” He smirked as the blanket pile Hmmphed. Xie-jie was always curious about his life as an immortal cultivator. It made sense as she was the one he mainly ended up complaining to. She was also one of the few that had met both Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge that night he’d beat the crap out of Ji Jue.

She still teased him every now and then about if she should worry about any other legendary cultivators breaking down her doors to steal him away. Still, he’d kept which sect he was a part of from her, he’d kept his rank and his name from her. Even when she gossiped about Shen Qingqiu when sharing the latest news that had trickled down to the mortal world from above, he didn’t tell.

It felt easier to keep Sweet Immortal Tian-didi separate from that lofty figure of legend, the Xiu Ya sword Qing Jing Peaklord Shen Qingqiu of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.

“Yes, a sad lofty Hallmaster that spends every day playing his guqin from an immortal fruit tree and seducing any passing local War Gods and their Shixiongs.” Grumbled Xie-jie.

“Seduce? You mean pick fights with. Neither of those two men like me.”

Xie-jie laughed at him further. He tossed a pillow at the pillow pile who yelped in protest.

Borrowing her mirror, he checked over his upper dantian. The wound had closed, leaving the normal scarred mark he’d had for decades. He used some of Xie-jie’s rogue to apply his scholar’s mark again. The creamy powder smelt of lilies and rust.

His hair was put up neatly as to cover his ears and neck in a way that meant he’d be easily able to put in his hair crown once he was away from the brothel.

A last check over and he looked nearly like Shen Qingqiu again.

He kissed Xie-jie goodbye, handing her a bag of coin as he did, before leaving the rooms and paying properly for his stay at the desk. Two days with three of the girls, food and a bath put a sizeable dent in his savings. He’d have to find another calligraphy commission if he intended to keep up with regular sleep to heal his injuries.

He left in much the same way he’d come, even turning into the same alley way to attach his head crown and draw Xiu Ya from its sheath. The blade bobbed and waved around him, glowing dimly and then brightly.

The sword spirit was always much happier after he slept. He felt like a chided child. It’s not like he had much of a choice about his sleeping habits. Really, the nerve.

Stepping up, they were soon in the clouds and above them, heading east towards the distant mountains.

He was back at the sect some time after midday. It took a while longer to climb up the many steps.

Though apparently lookouts had been set for his arrival. He was nearly a hundred steps from the top when he saw a disciple take note of him and run off from view.

The look out did their job as upon reaching the top of the stairs Shen Qingqiu was met with Liu Qingge standing across the peaks' entrance courtyard from him.

‘He looks healthy enough.’ Was Shen Qingqiu’s first thought.

He crossed under the Sect’s deceptively simple looking gate and entered into the unified barrier array that circled the entire mountain range.

“Shen Qingqiu.” Greeted the Bai Zhan Lord. He met Shen Qingqiu’s eyes directly. Not a challenge for once but still intense.

Flicking open a fan from his sleeve, Shen Qingqiu greeted him cooly in return.

“Shidi.”

 

Notes:

Bonus Art because I got too excited:

 

 

MQF: You must not strain your self.
SQQ: Yes, doc.
He then proceeded to sleep for 30 hours out of the next 48.
Meanwhile everyone back on CQMS thinks he's going at it for that long.

Additional:
LQG: Shen Qingqiu punched me in the tummy.
MQF, who has seen the weird arse handprint: He certainly did something but I don't think it was a punch.

Names:
Hall master Sun 孫 : Named after Sun Tzu (yes that one.)
Since Ming Fan shares his surname with the fourth Flame Emperor / descendent of Shennong, I named his friends after the others
Cheng Shan 承扇: 3rd Flame Emperor's name + fan/to fan
Zhi Yao 直遥: 5th Flame Emperor's name + remote/far away

This chapter is a lot of characters going 'well shit' and realising stuff internally as the LingXi caves are kind of the linch pin in this story, PIDW and SVSSS all being so different.

Also whilst everyone appears to not believe SQQ would save LQG that's mostly Bai Zhan just not trusting him and YQY and MQF going 'Something weird happened here. Don't say nothing weird happened. Look at that mark. Something weird happened here.' towards SQQ who was booking it to a palce to heal as fast as he could.

Next time: SQQ and LQG actually exchange more than 2 sentences, YQY has to step in and Ming Fan finds a way to get Luo Binghe to work with him.

Chapter 6: Shidi are terrible things

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge finally talk and Ming Fan works to solve his Luo-shidi problem

Notes:

A shorter chapter this week as I've been ill since basically last thursday

Content Warnings: Shen 'knife mouth' Qingqiu, Death threats, verbal abuse, Spoilt Teenagers being spoilt teenagers

"Why is everyone on this mountain range, high key, an arsehole?"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

 

He’s alive. Shen Qingqiu was definitely alive.

The feeling in his stomach was back again. Liu Qingge ignored it.

Shen Qingqiu looked the same as always, clothes a little ruffled and hair messed with from his flight but no different than normal. He stank of incense betraying where he’d been, and his scholar’s mark was a pinker shade of red than normal.

The man stared at him over his fan. Just stared. No immediate hostility in those bright green eyes for once. Just looking and waiting.

Liu Qingge cleared his throat.

“You were gone for a while.” He was getting worried in truth. Who spends two days at a brothel? Well, apart from Shen Qingqiu.

This was clearly the wrong thing to say. Shen Qingqiu immediately took offense, eyes flaring behind his fan. He turned on his heel and made straight for the rainbow bridge.

“Shen Qingqiu, stop-“ Liu Qingge quickly stepped to keep pace with him.

“Should Shidi not be in the care of Qian Cao?”

“We need to talk. You can’t-”

Liu Qingge was jogging to keep pace as Shen Qingqiu put his long legs to use, speed walking away. Qiong Ding’s plaza was one of the few areas of the sect that always had people passing through. It was a natural occurrence of needing to pass things to Qiong Ding itself and being the location of the sect’s main entrance to the village bellow.

As such various heads were turning at the sight of two peaklords near running, one hiding behind his fan, the other with an arm still in a sling.

Liu Qingge was able to get ahead of Shen Qingqiu about halfway across the plaza. Shen Qingqiu moved to go around him and he side stepped into the way.

“Move, shidi.”

“Not until we talk.”

“This shixiong has not got the time for such a thing.” Shen Qingqiu tried to sidestep him again, again he matched it preventing him from advancing. His stomach flipped again, and he felt his nails dig into his palms. Stop ignoring me! You saved my damn life. Stop acting like you didn’t.

“Oh no, but you have plenty of time for them!” It was petty and frankly he didn't care about the girls Shen Qingqiu had rented to spend his time with. But the provocation had worked as Shen Qingqiu stopped trying to move past him and rounded on him, fan still up high over his nose.

“Why does Shidi find the need to continue acting like the aggrieved wife I never asked for!?” The Qing Jing Peaklord was near shouting by the end of the sentence. Liu Qingge saw out the corner of his eyes more than a few groups of disciples where openly staring at them.

Shen Qingqiu used this lapse to stride past him.

No. This hadn’t gone how he had wanted it to. Spinning to catch him by the arm, Liu Qingge tried again.

“We. Need. To. Ta-“ The moment his palm made contact with Shen Qingqiu’s arm, the man struck. Liu Qingge wasn’t sure he’d ever seen him move that fast. One moment storming away, the next a spike in qi that made his ears pop and Xiu Ya pressed against his neck. The sword was bright with sword intent.

“DO YOU ACTUALLY WANT ME TO KILL YOU!?

Time slowed. He had one working arm and no spirit sword. Xiu Ya shook against his flesh drawing blood. But Shen Qingqiu didn’t look enraged or murderous. His words were passionate, but his eyes were scared. Scared and watching as the sword stayed against his neck, not cutting any deeper.

Liu Qingge wondered if his own expression was as scared too.

Lowering his hand to his side, he willed himself to stay perfectly still.

“No.” came out in a small voice.

A period of time stretched out between them as Shen Qingqiu’s eyes bounced back and forth across his face searching for something. He’s not sure if he found it or not but Xiu Ya leaves his neck. A dribble of blood flowed down to wet his collar.

Shen Qingqiu backed off and sheathed his blade.

“Go back to Qian Cao.” He all but growled, turning to swoop off, face hidden by his fan.

Liu Qingge watched him nearly slam right into Yue Qingyuan.

 

---

 

The sect leader of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had two offices. One was a small, cramped wood panelled whirlwind of paperwork and records located near their residence in the utility building block around the back of Qiong Ding Peak away from the visitor areas. This was not that office.

Shen Qingqiu sat in a large airy office. The desk was as wide as he was tall, made of some exotic ancient wood whose tree might very well be extinct. It lacked a single piece of paperwork on it. There was a garden on either side of this building. Gravel with trees and bushes carefully positioned in to give the best image of refined taste. In one of those trees was a family of small birds chirping up a storm. No, this office was the one that was used when the sect leader had to organise something more difficult than paperwork: people.

Yue Qingyuan pootled in with a tray of tea and set it on the desk, pouring both his kneeling Shidi a cup before kneeling himself on the other side.

Nobody moved to drink the tea.

“This shixiong is glad to see Qingqiu-shidi has returned safely.” From where Zhangmen-shixiong? Was he going to call him out on where? No? Coward.

Liu Qingge knelt next to him. They hadn’t spoke and Shen Qingqiu hadn’t looked at him since their fight at the plaza.

Sensing the tension, Yue Qingyuan’s smile turned a little strained.

“This shixiong knows this is a belaboured question but he’d like a confirmation of what happened in the caves. Just so we all agree on the order of events.” His tone was gentle, his eyes bouncing slowly from one of them to the other. Like they were a pair of easily spooked beasts.

“Indeed, Zhangmen-shixiong speaks true. This is a belaboured question. This lowly one shall thus repeat himself. Liu Qingge had a qi deviation and attacked this one. This one broke his shidi’s arm, knocked him out and took him to Qian Cao peak.” His tone was a clipped politeness that could skewer a man. The Sect Leader’s smile did not change though his eyes stopped bouncing, focused entirely on him.

“Impossible.” Shen Qingqiu twitched with irritation at Liu Qingge’s response. The man’s face was furrowed up staring at the floor, then Yue Qingyuan and finally Shen Qingqiu. “You were on the other side of the cave.”

“How could I have been on the other side of the cave, if I broke your arm?”

His shidi opened his mouth to respond then looked puzzled and returned to milling over his thoughts. Hopefully the brute did not strain himself doing so.

Across from them, Yue Qingyuan sighed.

“Does Liu-shidi have any alterations to this set of events?”

Liu Qingge shook his head.

Yue Qingyuan nodded slowly before clearing his throat and straightening his already perfect posture.

“As a result of these events, both of you will be unable to cultivate in the LingXi caves for at least a year and then only following an in-depth check by Mu Qingfang.” So never in Shen Qingqiu’s case. Fuck. He wasn’t even the one to deviate to start with!

“You will also both be banned from leaving the Sect until after the next Peaklord meeting.” The Sect Leader continued. “Not for night hunts,” he said meeting Liu Qingge’s eye, “or any other activities.” He said meeting his eye. What those other activities were didn’t need to be said. “This is so if either of you were to suffer a qi deviation, help will readily be at hand. Given that having one increases your chances of having another and high stress events can trigger them to occur weeks afterward.”

Tsk, Bastard.

“Furthermore, until that meeting, I’d also like to request that both of you stay within the boundaries of your own respective peaks. I would like you, both, to reflect on the events and be able to approach each other calmly.” Ah, so no more death threats in the middle of the plaza. Understood Zhangmen-shixiong, understood. Shen Qingqiu sarcastically thought.

“Is this an order?” he sniped.

“It is a request. You may of course visit Qian Cao Peak for a medical check up if you feel you need to.” Yue Qingyuan smiled at him. Shen Qingqiu hated that smile.

“I would like Zhangmen-shixiong’s permission to retrieve my belongings from the LingXi caves.” Liu Qingge interrupted.

“Granted but you will be escorted by two Qiong Ding Senior disciples and not permitted to stay any longer than necessary.”

Liu Qingge nodded to show he had heard and Shen Qingqiu fought the urge to pinch his nose by raising his fan up higher.

“Is there anything more to this meeting or are we free to go?” he said meeting Yue Qingyuan’s gaze.

“Liu-shidi is free to go if he pleases. Qingqiu-shidi, if you could please stay, I have something to discuss with you.”

He could feel Liu Qingge give him a glance before bowing out of the room.

Which left him and Yue Qingyuan and three full cups of cold tea.

Why had the man bothered pouring it in the first place?

“Qingqiu-shidi…” Yue Qingyuan trailed off, tapping lightly on his cup before sighing and getting to the point. “How exactly did you knock Liu-shidi out?”

Ah. Shen Qingqiu shifted in his seat.

“It was just a trick I knew.”

“A trick Wu Yanzi taught you?” Yue Qingyuan met his gaze. The entire office was built with inlayed arrays for privacy specifically so no one could eavesdrop. It was probably the safest place to discuss this.

“Are you going to have me arrested for using such a trick to save my shidi’s life?”

Yue Qingyuan shook his head.

“No... No, you won’t be punished. But I will need to convince Mu Qingfang to not look further if that is the case. What you did…. Uh- it left a physical mark on Liu Qingge.”

Shen Qingqiu’s breath didn’t hitch. He refused to let it. He tried not to think too hard about what type of mark Yue Qingyuan was referring to. He’d probably deviate if he did.

“Well done, disciple.” echoed in his ears.

“Understood. Is there anything else Zhangmen-shixiong needs to discuss with this one?”

“Qingqiu-shidi risked himself to save Liu-shidi’s life but when this Shixiong encountered the pair of you in the plaza, Qingqiu-shidi was… ummm. This Shixiong thinks Qingqiu-shidi should be more honest with his intentions towards Liu-shidi to avoid sending mixed signals.”

Oh so he was going to bring that up. Huh.

“Is Zhangmen-shixiong planning on being more honest with Mu-shidi?”

“No-“

“Then this lowly one asks that Zhangmen-shixiong not ask things of his Shidi that he himself is not willing to do, least he be called a hypocrite.”

Yue Qingyuan called out after him as he rose rapidly and left the office. He had jostled the table in his rush to leave. The tea dripped down off the desk next to the overturned cups.

 

---

 

Ming Fan nearly jumped for joy when he saw Shifu storming up the path towards his Bamboo hut. Though he restrained himself, because that would hardly have been proper. Still he was quick to run to his side and keep pace.

“Shifu! Shifu! You won’t believe it. Luo Binghe is being a complete menace. He won’t listen to a word I say and-.

“Remind this master again how this is his problem?” Ming Fan’s next words died in his mouth at his Shifu’s tone.  “You were given a task. It is up to you to complete it. I assume my head disciple was born with a brain. I suggest he uses it.”

“But-“

“Good day, Head disciple Ming.”

His Shifu closed the bamboo hut’s door firmly in his face and Ming Fan stared at it for a moment.

Was that part of it? He was meant to figure this out on his own. But- But Shifu that wasn’t fair!

Sulking, he kicked a stone on his way back towards the teaching rooms. He needed to get Luo Binghe to listen. Who would know how to make that little beast listen?

His foot froze mid kick.

He knew one person that had made him listen.

Ning Yingying wasn’t hard to track down. She was laughing loudly with her Shijies as they gossiped away.

“Any then she said that he said that shizun said that- Ah Ning-shimei, it’s Dashixiong.”

“Shimei!”

Ning Yingying immediately made to get away, but he was quicker than her. “Shimei. This Shixiong needs your advice.”

His wonderful Shimei crossed her arms and purposely turned her back to him. Her two friends began to make ‘Oooohhh’ sounds. If there was one thing about Qing Jing peak that always caught the other peaks off guard was that, despite their scholarly pursuits, they were viciously blood thirsty and if no blood could be found then gossip and drama were perfect substitutes.

She had been difficult like this since he exposed the little beast for trying to gift her a fake jade pendant. He failed to see how he had done anything but justice.

“Shimei. Please.”

Still, she refused to look at him even as he marched around her, all he saw was her back. Her friends were openly laughing at him. He hated when people laughed at him.

“Urghhh It’s- it’s to help the lit- It’s to help Luo-shidi, okay!?”

Ning Yingying turned to look over her shoulder.

“Shixiong wants to help A-Luo?”

Why was the little beast A-Luo and he was always Shixiong. At least be fair and call him A-Ming too.

Ming Fan sighed. “Yes, Shifu ordered it.”

Ning Yingying eyes turned into upside-down crescents as she spun to face him looking smug.

“See. Told you Shizun would put an end to your bullying.”

“Yeah, well I can’t help him if he keeps running away from me!”

Ning Yingying pinched her chin and smirked, thinking. She always looked so cute like that.

“So, you want my help to befriend him?”

“No. What I want is-”

“-to befriend A-Luo.”

Ning Yingying’s face was attempting to be stern. This unfortunately just made her look like she was adorably pursing her lips and about to cry.

He opened his mouth to object, and she cut him off again.

“To befriend A-Luo and never bully him ever, ever, ever again.” Her hands were now on her hips, and she was leaning forward towards him. He knew he was taller than her but right now it didn’t feel that way and HER FRIENDS WERE STILL LAUGHING.

“Don’t you two have chores to do!” The two girls ran off still giggling away. “Fine. I will try to befriend him.” He crossed his arms. “Now help me.”

Ning Yingying’s posture changed in a second. Now beaming at him like a miniature sun, she kidnapped one of his arms and began dragging him off towards the forest.

 

 

“Is Shimei sure it’s around here?”

“This was where you were fighting before.”

Tsk. This was stupid. They’d been at this for a shichen. Digging through branches and mud and leaves. His robes were ruined. All to find some stupid fake jade.

“Can’t I just buy him a new one?” he called over after it once again wasn’t somewhere in the deep layer of rotting bamboo leaves in the forest.

“His mother gave him this one.” Called back Ning Yingying.

“Can’t she just buy him a new one?” He tried again finding a bug the size of his hand under a fallen twig then carefully replacing it and hoping that the bug didn’t crawl out to bite him for moving its home.

“I think she’s dead.”

Oh. Well. That kind of made him feel like a jerk. Um.

“I-uh – I don’t think it’s here.”

“Where else would it be?”

She had a point. Getting to his feet he went and stood where he’d stood those many months ago. He’d been here and had the pendant in his hand and then the little beast had punched him in the nose, the brat and Ning Yingying had laughed at him and then they were rolling about. Only he doesn’t remember having it after he was punched.

He looked around where he stood. Come on think. As Shifu had said, he had a brain. In hand. He gets punched. Not in hand. Looked all over the ground.

Picking up a rock he tossed it once or twice in his palm then stumbled back, his grip loose to see where it went. It went up then vanished into the bushes behind him.

“Is Shixiong okay?” Ning Yingying asked seeing him nearly land on the ground.

“Just trying to figure out where it would have gone.”

He marched off after the stone and investigated the bush. Nothing there. Think. The stone went in this direction. It went up and then- It went up. They had been looking down this entire time.

Ming fan craned his head up and after a bit of wandering spotted a familiar Guanyin pendent.

“Shimei! I found it!”

Ning Yingying almost ran him over. “Really!? Where! Where?” She said frantically looking around in the leaf litter.

“Up there.” He pointed at a particularly tall bamboo stalk. The red cord of the pendant was wrapped around itself and the base of an off-shooting branch.

“Hmmm…. How are we going to get that down?” Ning Yingying had her thinking pose out again.

“Uh. Well this Shixiong will get it down obviously.” Ming Fan asserted. He was Head disciple. He should be able to climb a bit of stupid old bamboo easily.

“Eh!? But it’s so high up!” She pointed out.

“Ha. No problem. Shimei just stand back and watch me!”

With Ning Yingying worrying, now slightly further off. Ming Fan confidently strode up to the stalk.

He, with slightly less confidence, managed to shimmy up to the branch. It was a combination of using qi to strengthen his muscles and core as he used his feet to pinch around the stalk.

The red cord was securely knotted around the branch, and Ming Fan noted with some disgust that months up here had resulted in slimy mildew covering the entire thing. He was going to have the world’s hottest and longest bath after this. One even more extravagant than the one he had taken yesterday to remove the lotus pond mud.

Tugging did nothing. He have to use a bit of qi to snap the cord. It could be rethreaded later.

Grasping the stone itself in his palm, he carefully pointed his other at the string and let loose a blast. This had the result he wanted as well as one he wasn’t expecting.

Ming Fan, despite being sixteen and head disciple, wasn’t that great a cultivator. He was midrange for his peer group at best. He hadn’t even earned his spirit sword yet, not that Shifu had let anyone go to take theirs yet. And he had never had to maintain two focuses of qi before.

So when his focus went to cutting the cord, it lapsed on strengthening his muscles. With one hand full of pendant and the other having released a qi blast, neither hand was holding on to the stalk he was climbing. Ming Fan soon found himself falling for the second time in as many days.

He heard a gasp before he hit the ground and Ning Yingying running towards his fallen body screaming ‘Shixiong!’ shortly after.

Notes:

Yue Qingyuan: ☺️✨🌷 🌸You are both grounded.🌺🌈🌼 🌻

No new names for once. Rejoice.

Qijiu giving peak 'Divorced couple' vibes as per usual. Also if you noticed YQY being a bit cheeky back. He has issues with SQQ visiting brothels that are totally not him having a bucket of unresolved trauma and attatchment issues oh no. ....lol yeah it's 100% that so he's jealous and gay and sad and worried for his shidi's health and pissed he disaobeyed him but not gonna actually stop him or punish him. YQY is all sorts of fun to play with. He's trying his best. He just has soo many feral shidimei and is feral himself.

Though he's oddly okay with the likely illegal trick, given it saved Liu Qingge's life and proved Shen Qingqiu will take a risk to save even the martial sibling he hates. Which is great :D Now to get him to stop yelling death threats in front of the entire sect.

Next time: Liu Qingge returns to the caves, What will he find? Also Ming Fan's fate~ and if I have enough time, the Cang Qiong rumour mill will begin churning, fueled by that fight on the plaza.

Chapter 7: Steps in the dark, steps toward a light

Summary:

Liu Qingge returns to the caves to find some answers and Qing Jing peak is as lively as ever.

Notes:

Earler update: I am no longer ill! Rejoice!

Content Warnings: Blood, broken limbs, gossip, drunk people, bullying, the author's weird choice in how to write cultivation

".. and thus concludes my 14 point essay on why Liu Qingge's murder deserved further investigation and that Liu Mingyan is perfectly justified in seeking alternative sources when her own sect fails her."

- Peerless Cucumber

It took less than an incense stick for Shen Qingqiu to march out of that office swearing into his fan. Liu Qingge let him go. He didn’t feel like tasting Xiu Ya’s blade twice in one day.

Yue Qingyuan didn’t follow the Qing Jing Peaklord out. That was expected. It took time for him to emerge from the office and next to no time to organise two trusted senior disciples to escort Liu Qingge back into the LingXi caves. Liu Qingge didn’t ask him what had happened with Shen Qingqiu. It wasn’t his place.

Returning to the caves felt strange. Strange in that he remembered entering them before but had no memory of leaving them. Strange in that when first entering the cold stone had felt soothing, had felt like a reassuring hold over his body and qi. But now all he could feel was the press of the earth like his lungs were slowly being squished in.

There was blood, his nose told him. A trail of drops and stains leading out the caves. He didn’t follow it. He would go to where he had been cultivating then follow the trail onwards to track the fight.

He shuddered as he passed by the ravaged cave. It was an old landmark in the underground maze. Scarred up with deep slashes in the walls and deep red stains where the blood had rotted away but the stone hadn’t forgot. That cave felt like standing near a grave. Dark, not just physically but dark, so dark all the same.

The two disciples kept easy pace with him.

They soon arrived at the cave he had chosen. It was a mess. Stale qi still hung in the air, angry stale qi. It almost mirrored the ravaged cave. Huge chunks had been taken out the wall. Liu Qingge traced the damage, there was a punch crater, there a sword glare, there a qi blast. There was blood here too, only drops. Shen Qingqiu had always been good at avoiding attacks.

It had made their first fight so fun and their second so annoying.

It had been the first time they had met. The rumours had reached him months before, of course. The Qing Jing Peaklord finally claiming a personal disciple and within a week making him his head disciple, a fine young master of sixteen years who after a mere two months of cultivating had been sent to the sword hall and pulled a centuries old sword that had refused any other owner since it had been made.

He had been beyond excited when the lists were drawn for his first interpeak annual martial arts tournament and it was shown this talked of figure would be Liu Qingge’s first match.

He’d been one of the youngest contestants in the contest, but Liu Qingge was already well known around the sect. Then out had stepped the newest head disciple, hidden behind a fan, tall, fierce with the fabled Xiu Ya on his hip; Shen Qingqiu of Qing Jing peak. It’d been a good fight. Shen Qingqiu had had the height and reach advantage. The Qing Jing peak’s flowy bamboo stalk like style matched well with his long limbs but Liu Qingge had had the martial superiority and better cultivation of the pair.

No matter how fine his upbringing, mere months at a cultivation sect could not place that young master anywhere near the level of a disciple who had been in the sect since he was eight. The gaps in his stances were clear and he always paused after each one, eyes often fixed on Liu Qingge in a strange manner before he pulled a face and slipped into the next stance. The outcome was clear since the beginning.

Shen Qingqiu had never been able to accept that. Even as he held his borrowed spirit sword to the man’s neck, it had taken a number of panting breaths before Shen Qingqiu’s glares and words had both yielded. He did not acknowledge Liu Qingge after their match, instead marching off to his shizun and vanishing. His pride too injured to even attend the after party.

Despite the damage to the inside of the cave, Liu Qingge was able to easily find the qiankun pouch he’d brought in with him. Next to it lay his outer robes, Cheng Luan’s sheath and most importantly his hair crown. A-Yan had given this to him during the ascension party. She had only just been accepted as one of Xian Shu’s disciples and Mother and Father had used the occasion as an excuse to fuss over her. Da-ge had rolled his eyes at them all.

He wondered briefly if he had died in these caves who would have been the one to tell them. A-Yan was in the Sect so would no doubt learn of his fate first, but the rest of his family would have taken a while to be informed. Would Yue Qingyuan had to stand there and explain how he had fell to his own blade?

Storing the items in the pouch he hefted it over his good shoulder and gave the cave another good look over. Calling lightly on his qi, Cheng Luan gave no answer. It wasn’t here.

The two disciples met him outside the cave once he exited. They hadn’t followed him in or tried to make conversation thus far.

Good. He didn’t feel like talking.

The hunt then began following a trail of destruction. He didn’t remember this path, but the route felt familiar. His feet led him forward as much as his eyes did.

He eventually found something familiar in the rubble though it was not his. Trapped under a boulder lay a shattered fan. It had the three friends of winter on it; bamboo, pine and plum depicted in the finest green toned inks. The fan had been torn so the bamboo was apart from its companions, a splinter of wood dangerously protruding upward through the silk.

Yet another of Shen Qingqiu’s broken possessions he’d have to fix and return to him. He freed the fan carefully and wrapped it in a cloth before storing it in his qiankun pouch and continuing on his way.

It was as he approached the opening into another chamber that Liu Qingge felt something was wrong. Something was very very wrong.

Entering the chamber, he flinched at the difference in atmosphere. If the ravaged cave felt like walking by a grave, this felt like being face to face with a rotting corpse. The qi here was cold, mind numbingly cold. It clawed at him, pressing in close, begging him to slow, to stop, to lay down and sleep and never wake up. Catching his breath, Liu Qingge forced his cultivation to circulate around slowly.

What kind of messed up trick had Shen Qingqiu used?

Because it was always a trick with Shen Qingqiu.

 The man, when without an audience to judge him, pulled all sorts of strange manoeuvres. That’s how their second fight had gotten so out of hand.

It’d been a week since the interpeak tournament when Liu Qingge found at his bed in the dormitories, a note in an elegant hand challenging him. No name on it, just a request to a duel at the clearing near the foot of Bai Zhan Peak at noon in a few days’ time.

So, he’d went.

Alone.

Confident off coming second only to Yue Qingyuan out of the entire sect. A respectable defeat given his opponent. Years later he’d best the sect leader in a private personal duel, the rush from that fight still kept him up some nights.

The clearing was empty when he arrived. It was empty as he waited. It was empty as the sun rose up to the noon point. Then it was a whirlwind of dust and sand.

His opponent had been waiting and watching him the entire time. He didn’t fight fair. He used trick after trick after trick. His fight style was lightning quick and unlike any of the twelve peaks’ styles. Not that Liu Qingge could tell much as the man seemed focused on keeping him blinded and attacking his legs to keep him in place.

It would have gone worse for him if at that point his Shifu had not dropped out the sky like some meteor and trapped the attacker under him, pinning him brutally to the ground. Wiping mud and leaves from his face, Liu Qingge had recognised immediately Shen Qingqiu’s face, squirming as the man was under his Shifu’s knees.

His Shifu had sent him to Qian Cao Peak for a checkup immediately whilst he dealt with Qing Jing Peak’s disgraced head disciple. Shen Qingqiu had vanished for a year after that. He had returned with a habit of challenging Liu Qingge to formal duels. When he was denied, he resorted to a cruel trick or other before fleeing. No matter how Yue Qingyuan had promised to talk to Shen Qingqiu about the matter, Shen Qingqiu had kept challenging him right up until the sealing of Tianlang-jun. After that Shen Qingqiu had stopped leaving his peak unless ordered and Liu Qingge had avoided the sect as much as he was able.

Lost in his thoughts, he forgot about the two disciples with him. They’d forgone their silence to whisper worriedly to each other. He wasn’t the only one that could sense how wrong it was.

 Liu Qingge cast his eyes around the chamber. Cheng Luan lay in the far corner, it only weakly responded to his qi.

That was worrying.

The shock was wearing off as he crossed the chamber to pick up his sword. Even held in his hand, the qi response was weak. With a bit of finessing, he was able to with one hand draw out Cheng Luan’s sheath, sheath the blade and reattach it to his hip.

He shuddered. This entire thing made his hair stand on end.

Worse yet was that he could half remember this chamber. This had been where he’d had that moment of clarity. There was the mark of the sword slash that would have torn Shen Qingqiu asunder. Standing over it, he could still see the ghost of Shen Qingqiu’s face as Cheng Luan had arced down. He would have backed away in…. that direction.

Dried blood. A splattering of dried blood. It took nearly thirty strides to get there. The weird qi was strongest here. Shen Qingqiu had been too far away.

“Shishu!” he turned to the cry. One of his escorts was looking faint. He had his things. It would be best to leave. He couldn’t deal with whatever Shen Qingqiu had created here anyway.

Liu Qingge led the way out the caves quickly and all three of them sucked in the sun warmed air like drowned men.

He was escorted off the peak by the disciples and watched over his shoulder as they immediately set off for the Sect Leader’s office to report their findings. It would be Yue Qingyuan’s problem now.

Stepping off the bridge onto An Ding, Liu Qingge considered heading directly to Bai Zhan through Qian Cao. Thinking, he tried feeding Cheng Luan qi again. The response was better but still weak. He could wait till after the meeting but if the sword got worse then…

Unlike Qiong Ding, An Ding had multiple bridges leading across the mountain range as would be expected of the logistics peak. One of those bridges lead to Wan Jian Peak.

Wei Qingwei was in amongst a pile of swords when he arrived. A scroll over one knee, a sleeping pangolin over the other. Both were abandoned at the sight of his Shidi.

“Liu-shidi!” He greeted with a laugh. “How can this Shixiong help you?”

Instead of wasting words on irritating pleasantries, Liu Qingge simply handed Cheng Luan over to Wei Qingwei. The man held the sword for a moment before frowning.

“Was this caused by your fight with Shen-shixiong?” He asked eyeing the sling holding his arm.

Liu Qingge shrugged. “I had a qi deviation.” Wei Qingwei’s eyes widened at that. “Shen Qingqiu dragged me to Qian Cao. But Cheng Luan was left in the caves till today.”

“The LingXi Caves on their own wouldn’t cause this type of damage, Shidi. This looks like qi poisoning.”

Liu Qingge bit his lip. Shen Qingqiu had done something, but he’d saved his life. He would hold his tongue for now.

“Can you fix it?” he said instead.

“Should be able to. I’ll ask Zhou-shidi to cleanse the blade and if that doesn’t do it, I’ll go in and do a detailed fix.”

Liu Qingge gave him a nod before marching back towards the other bridge that led to Bai Zhan.

He ignored the third bridge that led to the three-way junction of Bian Jie, Si Chou and Xian Shu. Liu Qingge had travelled that way many times, from the junction you could head downwards to Bian Jie where the lowest peak was tucked in beside Qiong Ding and An Ding or upwards through the constant smell of dye and silk of Si Chou. Both had a bridge that connected upwards to Qing Jing Peak, though Bian Jie only came halfway up the mountain, so you had to follow the rocky trail up by foot to the Scholar’s peak gates. He could just make out the start of the bamboo forest from the Bai Zhan – Wan Jian Bridge.

Wandering home, he found that he had not seen the last of his fellow Peak lords today. Outside his house stood Qi Qingqi and A-Yan. The duo turned as one as he crunched up the path.

A-Yan barely had the chance to get out a greeting before he scooped her into a tight one-armed hug.

He ignored his shijie’s protests. A-Yan was his baby sister. He might never have seen her again. He was going to hug her.

A-Yan returned his hug two-fold. What had started off sweet soon turned into a sibling contest on who could break each other’s ribs first.

“If Liu-shidi is quite finished.” Qi Qingqi scolded.

He chuckled and released A-Yan who straightened out herself quickly into a proper disciple of Xian Shu.

Qi Qingqi rolled her eyes before focusing in on the sling.

“Shen Qingqiu really did a number on you.”

He shrugged, moved passed them to open the door and invited them in. “What brings Shimei and Shizhi here?”

“Rumours came in that that bastard Shen Qingqiu ambushed you in the LingXi caves.”

Liu Qingge sighed. Was the gossip on Cang Qiong Mountain Sect always so misleading?

“I had a qi deviation. Shen Qingqiu got me to Qian Cao.”

“Shen-shibo saved you?”

He grunted in reply.

“Why though? What’s that bastard’s angle? Did he want you indebted to him? Maybe he’s trying to swing a favour with the Liu Family.”

A-Yan shook her head. “I don’t think our family knows any Shen family for that to work with.”

Liu Qingge brought them into the central hall and offer them the kneeling cushions on the tanned hide of a Gloaming Eight clawed River Bear.

He had a tea set prepared, though he hadn’t any accompaniments for it in the house.

Tea was poured and each sat and drank it casually.

He had always gotten along well with Qi Qingqi. Both were driven, of a similar background and, unlike Shen Qingqiu, didn’t use it as an excuse to look down on others. Xian Shu was as much a martial-focused peak as Bai Zhan only hidden under manners and elegant purple silks. It made her both an excellent sparing partner and someone he could whole heartily trust with A-Yan.

They moved on from talking about Shen Qingqiu rather quickly when it became clear that his motives weren’t about to reveal themselves. Yes, A-Yan was doing well since they last had tea. Their mother had sent a letter through inquiring for updates once he left seclusion. Oh and Qi Qingqi had been assigned to a high-profile mission with Huang Qingying at the end of the month.

This last one jogged his memory.

Getting up, he found Shen Qingqiu’s outer robe and offered it to Qi Qingqi with the broken fan from the Caves to give to Huang Qingying next time she saw the tailor as he’d been unofficially confined to his peak.

“Why does Gege have Shen-shibo’s robe?”

“I was apparently wearing it when Shen Qingqiu dropped me off. Don’t give me that look.”

“He wrapped you in his robe!?” his sister squealed laughing. She’d definitely gotten the wrong idea. He blamed her shimeis corrupting influence.

“Disciple, calm down.” Qi Qingqi sighed, putting the items into one of her own qiankun pouches. “I was looking for a good excuse to go annoy my Shimei anyway. Shame it had to come from Shen Qingqiu. Do you want them sent to Qing Jing after or?”

“Send them here.” A-Yan’s eyes shone brightly over her veil. “I tried to talk to him earlier today but he took it as a fight. Maybe if I come with gifts, he’ll hear me out.”

Qi Qingqi gave a small laugh and rose to stand. “Unlikely but I wish you the best of luck.”

 

---

 

Shifu was angry. His anger was worse than the pain of his broken leg.

“When this master asked Head disciple Ming to use his brain, he had expected him to apply such advice.”

“This disciple is lacking.”

A belaboured sigh came from behind Shifu’s fan.

The Qian Cao Shidi finished wrapping the bandages around his splint leg, passed him a crutch and his Shifu a prescription before bowing out and near running away from his Shifu’s wrath.

His temper had already scared off Mu-Shishu, who had come to greet them and had left with a fan nearly thrown at his head.

Ning Yingying was waiting outside the room, happily chatting away with some of her friends from Qian Cao.

With Shifu’s call she left them and was by his side as the group left the main pavilion. Shifu’s short fuse did have it’s benefits though, as once they were outside, he hurried them both on to Xiu Ya and flew them back to Qing Jing Peak, keeping low to the ground despite their speed.

 It was still not as fast as he had flown them in though. Ming Fan really had caused his Shifu too much trouble with his carelessness.

The dinner bell rang just as they touched down and Shifu dismissed them from his sight, storming off to his bamboo hut again.

Entering the hall, Ning Yingying bid him goodbye and good luck before running off to her friends.

“Da-shixiong!” Cheng Shan cried, running up to him. “We found Luo Binghe.”

He brought him outside where Zhi Yao had his runaway shidi pinned. The older boy had an impressive black eye.

“Shidi, get off him.”

The boy scowled at him before letting Luo Binghe up, giving him a little push towards Ming Fan. Luo Binghe glared back at Zhi Yao before turning to glare at him.

“Shixiong broke his leg.” He stated quizzically, tilting his head to the side.

“Yeah, I was getting something stupid for a brat of a shidi.” Ming Fan snarked back, pulling out the Guanyin.

Luo Binghe’s eyes went ridiculously huge at the sight of the trinket. He made to step towards it then looked suspiciously at his three shixiongs.

Shaking his head, Ming Fan hobbled closer and offered it to him. The boy snatched it from his hand then backed away a few steps. He looked it over with such wonder, you’d expect it to be something better than a fake. Clutching it close to his chest, he stared at Ming Fan, confused.

“Look you don’t like me. I don’t like you, but Shifu gave us a task. So, stop being difficult about it, alright?” Luo Binghe frowned at him before looking back at the pendant, then his bandaged leg. He seemed to think things over before giving a small nod.

“Fantastic. Zhi-shidi, grab him.”  There was a brief struggle as Luo Binghe yelped in outrage. “Oi, you just agreed to stop being difficult. You can’t train on an empty stomach. Come on. I can’t have you disappearing on me again.”

With a bit of pushing and a lot of shoving, they were able to get Luo Binghe to sit at the table with them. The bowl of congee that was forced in front of him vanished quickly and Ming Fan rejoiced at this small victory.

Cheng Shan was less impressed and began motherhenning Binghe into learning some table manners. Whilst Zhi Yao complained about how the brat had kicked him in the face. Twice. Twice can you believe that, Da-shixiong! Yes, shidi, yes, he could. Ming Fan gave Zhi Yao a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and began to dig into his own meal.

 

---

 

Whilst the disciples of Qing Jing Peak enjoyed their food, their Shizuns, the Hallmasters, were having their weekly meeting to, in Hallmaster Jiang’s eloquent words, ‘Chat shit and get pissed’.

A fine wine had been bought from Zui Xian and both it and words were flowing about the North Hall. And naturally with him being their peaklord, Shen Qingqiu was the centre of all gossip.

“Apparently he was threatening to chop his head off in the middle of the plaza!” added in Hallmaster Youlan, head lolled into Hallmaster Su’s shoulder. Both women had been hard at work demolishing three jars between them when Hallmaster Youlan wasn’t singing some new tune she was composing.

“So what? He saves him and carries him into Qian Cao wrapped in his robe like some, some –“ Hallmaster Wang the Younger waved his hand to fill in the gaps. “- so he does that and then tries to behead him?”

Hallmaster Youlan went for a shrug and fell off Su’s shoulder into her lap. “M-maybe he changed his mind.”

“You don’t just change your mind about killing someone.” Hallmaster Zeng muttered into his cup. Next to him, Hallmaster Xiu backed him up.

“He checked in on Liu Qingge the next morning too before going off peak.”

“’Off peak’, just say whoring.” Came a recognisable rough voice.

“Jiang-shidi!” Object Hallmaster Su covering Hallmaster Youlan’s ears, who then tried to bite the hands. “You can’t just say that!”

“Why not?” Argued back the former An Ding disciple, now Qing Jing Hallmaster. ”He is off whoring.”

“Yes,” Hallmaster Su started trying to placate him before donning a hissing stage whisper. “but we aren’t supposed to talk about it!”

 “Why not?”

 “Because it’s indecent, you block head.” Oh great, Hallmaster Wang the Elder had decided to enter the fray.

“Eh? Block head? I’ll show you block head.”

Hallmaster Li looked on unimpressed as Hallmaster Jiang who looked to be in his forties though was probably closer to seventy tried to stand up and fight Hallmaster Wang the Elder who looked late twenties and had become a Hallmaster when the previous peak lord had been crowned. Neither man was sober enough to come to blows which was just as well because while Hallmaster Wang the Elder had the superior cultivation, he taught calligraphy and Hallmaster Jiang taught woodcarving and guqin maintenance. One of these men had spent most of his life hauling large bits of wood around and swinging an axe and it wasn’t Hallmaster Wang the Elder.

Hallmaster Li didn’t hate these meetings. They were necessary to find out what type of crazy his coworkers were stumbling towards. But he did hate his coworkers more when they were drunk.

After both Hallmasters Jiang and Wang the Elder had realised they were in no fit condition to tussle, they gave up and settled for glaring across the hall at each other.

“Still you’d think if he finally beat his rival after all these years he’d be more… .vocal? -  I don’t know the words so I’mma go for vocal- about it. Like telling folks and stuffssssss.” Hallmaster Yi slurred.

Hallmaster Li paused his dry brush sketch of his Shifu’s ornate Osmanthus shrubs that had survived the Peaklord’s residence’s transformation into a central office block. They were half in bloom and the lantern light had been catching them in such a way.

“Why would he do that?” He frowned as he felt the words leave his mouth. He couldn’t quite capture the half-opened curl of the petal quite how he wanted. He started another sketch to perfect that.

“What does Hallmaster Li mean?” He didn’t bother figuring out who had asked him that though probably Hallmaster Bai given how sober the voice sounded. Hallmaster Sun had already passed out, he had always been a lightweight, and Hallmaster Ling who herself was not fond of drinking had volunteered to take him back to his residence.

“Talking about it would only draw more attention to himself. So-“ His brush finally moved in the correct way to give him that shape. Yes. Good. Shapey shape. “- he’d rather stay quiet.”

“Are you saying he’s shy?” came a mocking voice and Hallmaster Li turned to lock eyes with Hallmaster Wang the Younger.

Had he somehow been the only one to not miss how much of a freak their peaklord was?

“Name one conversation you’ve had where he hasn’t hidden behind his fan.”

There was a lull which Hallmaster Youlan murmured half a tune through.

“Oh.”

“I thought he was just anti social-”

 “Or arrogant! Way too arrogant.”

 “He’s shy! That’s adorable! I’m gonna pinch his cheeks about it in the morning.”

 “Being shy doesn't excuse him from being rude. He never comes to our get togethers.”

Hallmaster Li wanted to drink his paint water.

“Has anyone ever directly invited him?” He asked. “Because if not, he will assume he’s not wanted.”

There was another round of drunken revelation which Hallamster Jiang broke with ‘Well, Fuck.”

“Weren’t you meant to invite him?” Came an accusation.

“Me? That was Hallmaster Sun’s job.”

”Don’t blame others.”

“I’m not I’m-“

 “Excuses, excuses.”

This had turned into a mess. He’d got his sketches. Time to head home for the night. Packing away his things, Hallmaster Li stood with purpose.

“I will ask him.” He announced to the crowd. Hallmaster Bai gave him a small applause, Hallmaster Jiang waved him good luck and fell over.

Though, Hallmaster Li added privately as he left, that will depend on if he’ll talk to me again.

Notes:

Breaks the bones and muscles in Liu Qingge's Right arm.
Breaks the meridians in Shen Qingqiu's Left arm.

Injures Luo Binghe's leg by dropping a log on it.
Injures Ming Fan's leg by dropping him off a bamboo stalk/ (log)

Narrative Paralells~

Also did some timelining and if the chapter 1 fight happen day 1 and Shen dropped off Liu on the night of day 1, this chapter covers the afternoon and evening of day 4. It's been under 96 hours. What a mess. Fight your shidi to death on Monday and get grounded for it Thursday. Rough week.

Names
There are a lot of Hallmasters in this one (12 out of the total 14!!) but the only plot important one is Hallmaster Li. Though do google all these people they are fascinating.
Li [李] Plum : named for Li Shangyuan, Li Muqi and the many many other Li's in Chinese history
Wang [王] King : Wang Wei, Wang Shen and Wang Ximen for Wang the Younger and Wang Anshi and Wang Xizhi for Wang the Elder
Jiang [姜] Ginger taken from Shennog's human name
Youlan [幽兰] Jieshi Diao Youlan (碣石調幽蘭) Solitary Orchid in the Stone Tablet Mode the oldest piece of chinese music we currently have
Yitao [伊陶] named after Emperor Yao's names of Yi qi and Taotang
Yi [羿] God of archer and Change's husband and Yi Yuanji
Zeng [曾] Zeng Jing
Ling [伶] Ling Lun legendary founder of music
Bai [白] Bai Juyi
Su [苏] Named for the Three Su's
Sun [孫] Sun Tzu and Sun Wukong

Next time: Every Peaklord on the mountain range makes the equivalent of the metal gear guard alert noise.

Chapter 8: As fast as the air carrying it

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu gets invited to be social and the peaklords are suspicious.

Notes:

Late chapter this week. Next week's chapter will also be delayed by a week. So it's a two week wait till chapter 9!

Content warnings: Description of injuries, Large crowds of named characters, Blackmail, Shen's poor self image and sleeping difficulties

"Wait. Li? HALLMASTER LI!? That arsehole painting teacher from the disciple arc!? Now you bring him back for this shit!? Airplane-bro who taught you how to foreshadow? What is this bullshit!"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

Shen Qingqiu was not having a good morning. He hadn’t had a good night and he sure as fuck hadn’t had a good evening or afternoon the day before.

He had wanted to be civil. He had. But ahhh why was everything set to piss him off. Liu Qingge appearing had gone from annoying to unnerving too quickly. Just under the skin shivery feeling like he was about to lose his shidi all over again. Then that bastard had stepped in.

Hypocrite. Hypocrite. Liar. Hypocrite!

Shen Qingqiu forced his hands to loosen around the scroll he was holding.

What you did…. Uh- it left a physical mark on Liu Qingge.

Like Shen Qingqiu was any better. Like he could pretend he wasn’t filth wrapped in pretty silks to look correct. Mark. Mark. He was Wu Yanzi’s pupil alright. Fucking scumbag.

The memory of the old man’s laughter had haunted him all night. He would have been so arrogant about what went down.

‘Over twenty years studying at a fancy high and mighty Sect like Cang Qiong Mountain and you have to rely on a fucking human cauldron technique from our brief year together. Oh disciple. How tragic for you. You really aren’t cut out for this. Not that you should have been peak lord anyway. They know that your Shizun made a mistake. He knew in the end he made a mistake. My wonderful mistake.’

Shen Qingqiu shuddered from head to toe. He had wanted to sleep last night if only to get away from his thoughts into the embrace of more familiar nightmares. But he’d forgotten about the little beast.

Ming Fan, after the idiot broke his leg doing fuck knows what, had half carried the brat back to confirm he was sleeping in the side room. The little beast himself was passed out, covered in sweat and bruises at the time. He hadn’t asked what Ming Fan had done. It didn’t matter. The little beast was dumped unconscious onto the sleeping mat he’d sourced, and a blanket thrown over his form.

This was fine. The boy wasn’t in the woodshed and Ming Fan was going to pick him up tomorrow morning and he wasn’t Shen Qingqiu’s problem for now and he was breathing so fucking loudly. Maybe it was imagined. How could he hear the brat through the shared wall when the shared wall was on the other side of the hut from his bed? But that’s what he heard the entire night. Fucking breathing. Fucking ahhhhh.

Shen Qingqiu was tempted once Ming Fan collected the brat in the morning to just sleep then. His body was still recovering so sleep was a precious resource. But he’d already agreed to meet Hallmaster YiTao and Hallmaster Su this morning. And he’d seen the piles of paperwork waiting on his desk the morning before he had left.

So, pretending he’d actually slept that night, Shen Qingqiu washed, dressed and made himself presentable before leaving the hut.

The meeting with the Hallmasters had gone well. The disciples had kept up with the work he’d left and it’d be easy to pick up where they had both left off. Though he doubted he’d be able to physically handle the swordsmanship lessons for the next month or so. It would be winter soon anyway. A good excuse to keep all the brats inside, especially with Hallmaster YiTao’s leave of absence meaning he’d be covering her Weiqi classes as well.

Maybe it was stress but both Hallmasters had stared at him more than usual, Hallmaster Su especially kept breaking into a little half smile staring at his cheeks. She was the unofficial head of the ‘Shu’ quarter of the Four Scholarly arts. Brown hair high on her head in a messy bun with a pair of corrective wireframe lenses above her normally manic expression.

 He’d been a favourite pupil of hers though only because he made sure to be very thorough in his essays. Her speciality was literature and literary techniques so his well-honed ability to measure the tone of the writer had put him high in her books. He sometimes wondered how she’d react if she knew it was a survival instinct. She was also unfortunately a chatter box who would carefully chat around a subject until the listener begged her to just say what she was after and go.

That was the feeling he got once he’d finally been able to get her to leave his office.

It was probably about Liu Qingge.

Most likely.

It had been four days since the fight in the caves, three since anyone knew what had happened and only one since their second fight on the plaza. The speed of gossip on this mountain was barely slower than the air used to form the words to carry it. Already he’d caught variations ranging from painting him as a noble saviour of the mountain’s war god who had now become a saint and repented to save his sworn brother to a bloody betrayer that the sect leader was trying to cover for after his latest attempt on his Shidi’s life had failed. Thankfully there was no talk of demonic techniques or human cauldrons and nor was there mention of Liu Qingge’s attempted suicide.

Good.

Let the brute keep his reputation. As long as he continued to be alive, just not near him, Shen Qingqiu was happy.

He had given up reading and let the crumpled scroll roll over his desk when there was a knock on his office’s door. Great more problems.

“Enter.”

Hallmaster Li entered, looked at the scroll falling off his desk then sent him the most judgemental neutral expression anyone could wear. Yep, definitely a problem.

“And how may I help you today, Hallmaster Li?” Shen Qingqiu picked up the scroll and made a show of smoothing back out the paper.

“Heard you saved Liu Qingge’s life.”

Urgghhh no. No. He was not dealing with this.

Hallmaster Li ignored the face he was pulling and sat opposite him leaning on the desk.

“So… what is the plan here? Save Liu Qingge to gain Yue Qingyuan’s favour?” He questioned playing with the scroll.

“This isn’t a fucking harem drama. I- The idiot needed saving and I was the only one around. It is not that deep.” Shen Qingqiu snatched the scroll from under his hand and rolled it back up to be dealt with later.

“Yes, but you could ply this to steal your man’s attention back. Afterall if he’s going to be doting on poor injured Qingge, it’d be a perfect opportunity to show him what a kind caring gentle shixiong you can be-“ Hallmaster Li stopped at the glare Shen Qingqiu sent him. “Just a suggestion. Do you know about the weekly get togethers the Hallmasters have?”

Embracing the subject change from Hallmaster Li’s annoying habit of treating the Twelve Peak lords like a husband and his cutthroat household of spouses, Shen Qingqiu answered him quickly.

“I am aware of them. Why do you ask?”

“Come to the next one.”

“No.”

Hallmaster Li scoffed. “Why not?”

“I find no need to spend more time than necessary with people who don’t want me around.” Shen Qingqiu answered with a dry laugh.

“You seriously think they don’t want you around? Oh wait. No. You are paranoid. Of course, you do.” Shen Qingqiu shrugged off the sarcastic insult.

He and Hallmaster Li had as disciples formed a bond of mutual blackmail and sharpened words. He’d bullied Li-shixiong into teaching him how to paint and in return made him the youngest Hallmaster in Qing Jing’s history. Hallmaster Li was one of the few he could tolerate insulting him, if only because the man never went where it hurt. They were soft blows and he traded back far worse things.

“Huabi, why do you want me to go to the meeting?”

“To prove how much of a freak you are.”

Shen Qingqiu gave him the flattest look possible.

“No.”

“Go or I’ll tell Liu Qingge you didn’t try to kill him when you were disciples.”

Shen Qingqiu tensed, his mind racing away from him. Shang Qinghua must have squeaked. The man was lucky he wasn’t on the mountain currently.

“How the fuck do you know about that?” He growled.

“I didn’t.” What. “I had a hunch.” Hallmaster Li answered with a shrug. “Thank you for confirming it.” … Fucking. He had been played! This man. THIS FUCKING MAN. “So, I’ll see you there next week.”

Shen Qingqiu grit his teeth. “Get out.”

“See you there, Mozi~”

Hallmaster Li managed to dodge the fan that followed him out the door.

 

---

 

‘Oh boy.’ thought Chen Qingda as he watched Mu Qingfang down his third cup of ‘tea’ staring into the middle distance like it had offended him more than their Shixiong had. ‘Tea’ in that no tea leaves were used in the making of the drink and it had to be distilled twice before serving to be safe to consume. But it was made by blanching the leaves and roots of a variety of plants in hot water, so that counted right? Its main purpose was as a fatigue restorative and qi balancer though it had the side effect of making you both more relaxed and more focused. This meant Mu Qingfang whilst drinking had stopped talking for the first time in a third of a shichen.

Chen Qingda had had to listen to the man the entire time. A summary: Shen Qingqiu used one of his weird tricks to save Liu Qingge during his qi deviation that had left Liu Qingge nearly damage free. Mu Qingfang had spent every moment since then going through the sect’s entire record library of cultivation techniques to piece together what that trick had been and if it was repeatable and could be added to the sect’s medical techniques when dealing with high level qi deviations. He had forgone sleep to do so. After he was caught harassing Shen Qingqiu, who was on the peak because his head disciple had broken his leg, Mu Qingfang’s own head disciple and three Hallmasters had stepped in demanding he take care of himself. As such, barring an emergency, the Peaklord of Qian Cao was banned from his library for the next two days until he demonstrated the ability to take care of his own health.

Mu Qingfang was pouring himself a fourth cup when Huang Qingying entered the pavilion that served as a private lounge for the Peak lords on Zui Xian Peak. Thank goodness. Save me Shimei!

“Mu-shixiong, how are you today?” She greeted softly.

Mu Qingfang turned and stared at her with a slightly deranged expression.

“Shen-shixiong did something and Zhangmen-shixiong is covering it up.”

“Damn right he did!”

Ah. Yang Qingfu was here too. Chen Qingda waved at the border guard of the sect and got a nod in return.

“What do you mean by that, shidi?” The doctor asked, head tilted.

Yang Qingfu went to explain but Huang Qingying made a sound that stopped him. They shared a look and Huang Qingying stepped forward to take a cushion near Mu Qingfang.

“Actually Mu-shixiong, this shimei has some questions.” Mu Qingfang gestured for her to go on as Yang Qingfu joined them, forgoing a cushion to sit cross legged. “She was curious what Mu-shixiong knows about the outer robe Liu Qingge was wrapped in.”

“Only that it was Shen-shixiong’s. Is something wrong with it?” replied the doctor, curious.

“Every array on that thing is fried.” Said Yang Qingfu. “Those were heavy duty arrays and they are smashed apart.”

The Twelfth Peak of the Tian Gong mountain range, Bian Jie, specialised in arrays and spearmen. It maintained the protective barriers around the sect and supplied nearly all its guards. Whilst Huang Qingying’s Si Chou Peak undoubtedly were familiar with protection arrays they’d need to weave into the garments they made, she had clearly wanted a second opinion in this case and had turned to her shidi for help.

“And that’s bad?” Chen Qingda asked joining the trio with a lightly fermented fruit drink for Huang Qingying and a small jar of wine for Yang Qingfu.

“Thank you, Chen-shixiong.” Said Huang Qingying softly taking her drink.  “It’s unusual. The Sect Leader, Qi Qingqi, Liu Qingge and Shang Qinghua all have similar heavy-duty arrays owing to their higher qi levels. Those arrays have never split open like this. Even when Xuan Su was drawn during the ascension ceremony. If they break, it’s in the designed weak spot so the rest of the array is preserved.”

“Only thing I’ve seen close to this type of damage was a portable barrier array taken to the battle with Tianlang-jun. Even then that was only where the attack hit. So, unless we are suggesting Shen Qingqiu somehow took a body consuming blast from a Heavenly Demon in that cave and no one noticed, something is up.”

Mu Qingfang drank his fourth cup and tapped his fingers in front of his face to think.

“Liu-shidi had no damage on himself but Shen-shixiong’s meridians were cracked,” He caught Yang Qingfu’s look, “More cracked than normal.”

“Think they are related?” The doctor shrugged in response to Yang Qingfu’s direct question.

 “Soooo…..” Huang Qingying sighed between the two men. “We have no answers. How disappointing.”

“Shidi!” “Mu-shixiong.”

All four of them turned their heads to Wei Qingwei in a joyful mood as always and Zhou Qingde, a monk on a mission.

“We need to discuss a matter in private.” He said gravely.

Yang Qingfu looked at the pair, took a long sip on his wine and asked. “Is this about Shen-shixiong?”

Both men at the door shared a look.

“Yes…..?” They answered suspiciously.

Pleased with himself, Yang Qingfu shuffled back to widen the circle and gestured to the space. “Join the conspiracy circle.”

Taking a seat next to him Wei Qingwei leaned over and whispered loudly, “Why do we have a conspiracy circle?”

“Because something weird happened in those caves.” Yang Qingfu said offering Wei Qingwei wine which he turned down.

“Ah you were told.” Said Zhou Qingde, nodding sagely. The other four stared at him and Wei Qingwei blankly.

“One of the chambers in the LingXi caves was flooded with rotting qi.” The sword smith explained. “Cheng Luan got left there for a few days and had to be cleansed in the Ku Xing pools.”

Chen Qingda gave Yang Qingfu a nudge. “Looks like he did fight a heavenly demon after all.”

Yang Qingfu batted him away. “I was joking!”

“It wasn’t demonic qi. But it was foul.” Corrected the monk. “What brings you all to this circle?”

“There was significant damage to the arrays woven into Shen-shixiong’s robe.” Huang Qingying answered. She handed her empty cup to Chen Qingda and let the giant of the man carefully arrange it on the tray with Mu Qingfang’s ‘tea’ set.

“Did Liu-shixiong’s robes bare similar damage?” Huang Qingying paused at Zhou Qingde’s question.

“This shimei did not think to check.” Standing, the seamstress brushed down the front of her robes. “I’ll visit Liu-shixiong and ask him directly.”

“This doctor is due a visit to his Shidi as it stands. Please allow me to accompany you.” 

“Oi! Like heck, I’m being left out of this!” Yang Qingfu handed Chen Qingda back the empty jar of wine and bounced up to follow the two. Zhou Qingde had said nothing but also follow the trio.

Which left him and Wei Qingwei.

The swordsmith turned to him with a look that had gotten them both into trouble before.

“You get Wang Qingqiang, I get Qi Qingqi.”

Chen Qingda returned the look. “Absolutely.”

 

---

 

Liu Qingge wasn’t sure what he expected outside his door when he opened it.

It definitely wasn’t eight of his fellow peak lords.

All eight of them greeted him in a cacophony of voices that turned immediately to complaints when he shut his door again. Regretting every moment of it, the Bai Zhan peak lord opened his door again to the chaos that was his sect siblings.

“What a-“ he didn’t get to finish his question as Zhou Qingde forced his way in, placed two fingers on his forehead and then two on his own and began chanting. Mu Qingfang rushed in beside the monk to grab his wrist to take his pulse.

“Hmm. Liu-shidi has been sticking to this doctor’s instructions. You are healing well.”

With only one working arm and no clear sign of a threat, Liu Qingge was stuck on what he should be doing. Behind Zhou Qingde, Huang Qingying slipped in and gave a small bow with her hands clasped together in front of her.

“Liu-shixiong, do you happen to have the clothes you were wearing that night in the caves?”

Liu Qingge furrowed his face and pointed with his chin at the southern hall, watching as Huang Qingying and Yang Qingfu hurried off in that direction.

Qi Qingqi was the next to enter through his door. Skipping she ran right into the central courtyard calling over her shoulder, “Your tea set is where it normally is, right?”

He barely had to yell “Yes” after her when Wei Qingwei appeared over Zhou Qingde’s shoulder.

“I brought Cheng Luan for you to test. It should be back to normal. Zhou-shidi cleansed it a few times.”

“…. Thank you.” He replied taking Cheng Luan and confirming the swordsmith’s words. Sending out a pulse of qi, the response was immediate and bright. Giving Liu Qingge a wink and a good natured grin, Wei Qingwei followed after Qi Qingqi out of sight.

The chanting slowed down and then stopped as Zhou Qingde removed both sets of fingers.

“He’s clean.”

Mu Qingfang gave his arm a little pat, dragging him further into his own home. “I told you he would be, Zhou-shidi.”

Last to invade his house came Chen Qingda carrying Wang Qingqiang under one arm. The tallest of the peak lords was happily ignoring the other’s monotone cries of “Why am I here?” as he smiled over at Liu Qingge.

“This shidi brought snacks!”

At this point he had lost already.

“Close the door after you.” Pushing off Mu Qingfang, the Bai Zhan peak lord went to see what had become of his central courtyard.

Qi Qingqi had found his tea set and Wei Qingwei was setting out sitting cushions to comfortably seat everyone. Urggghhhh what were they all doing here?

Chen Qingda went past them, set Wang Qingqiang down on a cushion and began pulling snacks out from a qiankun pouch. By the time Huang Qingying and Yang Qingfu had rejoined them, a small feast had been organised with tea and other beverages being handed out.

“Did you find anything?” Qi Qingqi asked them, offering cups of tea.

“The arrays are fried too.” Grumbled Yang Qingfu.

“Though only on the front, Ah! Thank you, Shijie!” Huang Qingying was easily convinced to sit next to Qi Qingqi who began spoiling her with easy refills of tea and sweets.

“What does that- why are all of you here!?” exclaimed Liu Qingge losing his patience.

“One of the chambers in the LingXi caves is unusable due to a negative form of qi.” Zhou Qingde sat there having refused both drinks and snacks.

“I know. I was the one that found it.” Replied Liu Qingge annoyed at the lack of a proper answer.

“So, you know that the type of damage found on both your and Shen-shixiong’s robes has only been seen fighting high level demons?” interjected Yang Qingfu giving Liu Qingge a searching look.

“The only thing Shen Qingqiu was fighting in those caves was me.”

“There was no one else?” continued the border guard.

He’d dreamt of the fight in the caves again last night. Of the black lightning and that cold storm with colder hands sucking out the fire.

“…. No.”

“You hesitated!”

“I…” the assembled peak lords all craned an ear. “I keep dreaming of black lightning.”

“Black lightning?” Mu Qingfang frowned. “You never mentioned this before.”

“Because it’s nonsense!”

“Maybe.” Acknowledged Yang Qingfu tilting his head. “Wang-shixiong, know of anything that might produce black lightning?”

Wang Qingqiang had been fully not present munching on a lotus seed bun Chen Qingda had handed him. At the question, he seemed to come back to them all, crumbs scattered over his cheeks.

“A large number of creatures produce lightning like effects. Thunder cats, storm hounds and lightning rodents are all families of creatures that can if threatened produce a painful static shock. More powerful creatures like dragons deliberately agitate forming clouds to produce torrential storms as a form of defence. Raiju are made entirely of lightning and can take any form. They are said to enjoy sleeping on human stomachs though that is not true, any soft and warm surface will do. In fact one of my former shixiongs-“

Wang Qingqiang’s out pouring of words was stemmed by Chen Qingda giving him another bun.

“But none of them produce ‘black’ lightning in particular?” Yang Qingfu got a shake of his young shixiong’s head in response. “Damn it!”

“Why do you care so much, Yang-shidi?”

“Because if something got past the sects defences all the way to the LingXi caves this shidi has failed in his duty!”

“This doctor doubts it is as drastic as all that. Zhangmen-shixiong has already confirmed that Shen-shixiong admitted to using a strange trick to stop Liu-shidi’s qi deviation but has refused to explain what that trick was and has asked this doctor not to look into it. The black lightning and other strange phenomena are probably a result of the trick.”

“Sounds like more than a ‘trick’.” Grumbled Yang Qingfu.

“We could corner Shen-shixiong. Get the bastard to explain himself.” Suggested Qi Qingqi a little too gleefully. “Once Liu-shidi’s arm has heal in a few days, we could easily pin him down.”

“It will be more than a few days for Liu-shidi’s arm to heal, Qi-shimei.” Sighed the Mu Qingfang which made Liu Qingge look at the doctor funny.

“My broken bones normally take a week to heal with Qian Cao’s help.”

“Yes, your broken bones do. But Liu-shidi’s arm was dislocated at the elbow, wrist and shoulder, the ulna and radius were both shattered in multiple places, various muscles and tendons were torn open and there was serious widespread damage to your main blood vessels.” Explained Mu Qingfang. “Liu-shidi will be in a cast for another ten days and won’t be able to even lightly spar for another month if he wants to be able to use his sword arm again.”

HE WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO FIGHT FOR A MONTH!? A whimper crawled out Liu Qingge’s throat and Wei Qingwei reached over to give him a commiserating pat on the back.

“Still, we should confront Shen-shixiong about this!” Qi Qingqi demanded.

“I can test him for possession.” Volunteered Wei Qingwei. “His odd behaviour and the rotting qi certainly call for it.”

He hadn’t seemed possessed when they’d spoken though. Shen had been the same shameless, aggressive disrespectful way he always was.

“Odd behaviour? When was he acting odd?” asked Chen Qingda.

“When he saved Liu-shidi from a qi deviation.” Snapped back Qi Qingqi like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Eh? But he’s always been worried about Liu-shixiong.” This was met with silence. Chen Qingda sighed and rolled his eyes. “Liu-shixiong remember the mission me, you, Wang-shidi and Shen-shixiong went on to update the flora and fauna records for the YuFen forest, the one Mu-shixiong had to miss out on?”

Liu Qingge nodded confused.

“Shizun pulled me off it the moment the list of who would be sent was announced.” Grumbled Mu Qingfang. “I really wanted to go.”

“While you were running around hunting for the whatever-“

“Heart devouring mist boar.” Supplied Wang Qingqiang and Liu Qingge in unison.

“Yes, that. Shen-shixiong was really stressed out the entire time. When I tried to calm him down, he ended up yelling at me how you were being too reckless and going to get yourself killed. That’s when he chased after you and ended up fighting with you the entire mission. I had to promise not to let you out my sight to get him to go follow Wang-shidi so we could get paintings of anything at all.”

“He’s defensive, like a rock wolf. Don’t touch what is his or he’ll bite.” Added in Wang Qingqiang.

“Whatever. Rock wolf or not, I’m still testing him for possession.” Said Wei Qingwei holding up his hands.

Notes:

The Four Arts consist of qin 琴 (guqin the instrument), 棋 qi (Weiqi the game), 書 (shu calligraphy) and 畫 (hua painting). I’ve split up the Hallmasters of Qing Jing peak into four loose departments based on these, expanding each slightly to match the cultivation aspect as well. This is to help me mentally figure out the peak and it also makes it feel more like a highschool/university boarding school than Shen Qingqiu, his bamboo forest and the forty children that he hates.

For the Hallmasters there are:
Four for Qin (Instrument making and repair, Theory and practice of the classics, The history of the instrument and famous players, and unique compositions as well as their use with qi techniques)
Three for Qi (Weiqi and other tactics-based games, History of the causes of various wars, the history of what tactics were used in each battle and Swordsmanship being covered by Shen Qingqiu).
Three for Shu (Literature and literary techniques, Calligraphy, Poetry, and being covered by Shen Qingqiu the analysis and synthesis of information)
Four for Hua (Painting of flora, fauna, people, and landscapes)
Feel free to guess which of the drunken Hallmasters are for which subject.

The Peak Lords the order that they are in for this fic’s universe, their peaks and what their courtesy names mean. Reminder that each starts with Qing 清 meaning clean, clear, quiet. The named peak lords are numbers 1-7. The unnamed ones are 8-12.

1st Peak {Qiong Ding} Domed Roof, Head peak. = Yue Qingyuan 源 Origin
2nd Peak {Qing Ding} Clear Calm, Scholar’s peak = Shen Qingqiu 秋 Autumn
3rd Peak {Wan Jian} Ten Thousand Swords, Swordsmith’s peak = Wei Qingwei 巍 Lofty
4th Peak {An Ding} Steady, Logistics peak = Shang Qinghua 华 Magnificent
5th Peak {Qian Cao} Thousand Grass, Healer’s peak = Mu Qingfang 芳 Fragrant
6th Peak {Xian Shu} Immortal Ladies, Fairy peak = Qi Qingqi 萋 Luxuriant
7th Peak {Bai Zhan} Hundred Battles, Warrior’s peak = Liu Qingge 歌 song/to sing
8th Peak {Ku Xing} Ascetic, Purifying peak = Zhou Qingde 德 Virtue
9th Peak {Zui Xian} Drunken Immortal, Alcohol and Food Peak = Chen Qingda 大 Big
10th Peak {Ma Jiu} Horse Stables, Beastmaster peak. = Wang Qingqiang 锵 Tinkling of bells
11th Peak {Si Chou} Silk, Tailors’ peak = Huang Qingying 樱 Cherry Blossom
12th Peak {Bian Jie} Boundary, Array and Guards peak = Yang Qingfu 福 Good luck/ happiness

Next Chapter: Shen Qingqiu gets bullied by his hallmasters and his fellow peak lords.

Chapter 9: Social visits and their consequences

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu has to deal with his nosey sect siblings and the gossipy hallmasters.

Notes:

And we are back, a little late as well. Sorry about that.

Content warnings: Shen Qingqiu's fear of men, being chased, vanishing into the forest never to return, drunk people, toads, the author not being able to give any character the honour of dignity.

"Why can't the other peaklords host their own investigation into Liu Qingge's murder? It can't be that hard."

- Peerless Cucumber

 

 

Shen Qingqiu should have known something was up when he opened his door the next morning to find Wei Qingwei greeting him with Hong Jing under one arm.

He stared pointedly at the sword and then at his smiling shidi from behind his fan.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Just a safety precaution. Please don’t take offence, Shixiong.”

Oh, it was far too late for that. Shen Qingqiu had already taken offence the moment he opened his door. Grabbing the sword out the man’s hands he tugged and pulled and strained to no avail. Satisfied he had shown significant effort, he tossed it back to Wei Qingwei.

“Is there anything else, Shidi?” He asked as Wei Qingwei returned Hong Jing under his arm.

“Have there been any issues with Xiu Ya?” Shen Qingqiu gave Wei Qingwei a very flat look and drew the blade, letting it gorge itself briefly on his qi so that the sword intent from the blade was hard to look at.

Squinting against the light, Wei Qingwei nodded and wisely retreated before his shixiong with a short temper and a very functioning spirit sword got any ideas.

It was later that evening that Chen Qingda appeared, apparently there to monitor his disciple cooks in their work on Qing Jing peak.

That was fine.

He then tried to approach Shen Qingqiu to engage him in conversation.

That was not fine.

Not that Shen Qingqiu personally found issue with the man. He was polite and one of the few of his martial siblings that were respectful towards him no matter how he snapped at him. The problem was entirely in the fact he was a man, a large very social man.

Shen Qingqiu could handle Yue Qingyuan’s height due to their history and Liu Qingge, though tall, due to their animosity kept at a distance rather than getting up close. The rest of the peak lords were his height or shorter. Chen Qingda, named ‘Clear Big’ by his ever imaginative shizun, though not as broad as Yue Qingyuan’s build, was nearly three chi taller than him. He was tall enough that Shen Qingqiu actively had to crane his neck back to talk to him. This sent the instinctive part of his brain into fight or flight mode, which he hated. He hated it even more knowing that a demonic beast that size would not have scared him in the slightest.

So, when Chen Qingda strode confidently over and greeted him with an enthusiastic ‘Shen-shixiong!’, Shen Qingqiu had taken a few paces back and returned the greeting from behind his fan. Chen Qingda seemed to physically deflate a little. Though he thankfully did not try to approach any closer. Their conversation was shallow, sticking closely to how their respective disciples were doing.

The wind did no favours to Chen Qingda either, blowing the smell of wine that clung to the man right into Shen Qingqiu’s face. He knew, logically, the man wasn’t drunk, or at least, he wasn’t drunk right now. Zui Xian’s main discipline was the refinement of cultivation aids, this often involved wines and other fermented goods. It was natural he smelt like that, just like Shen Qingqiu probably smelt like bamboo and ink.

It didn’t prevent Shen Qingqiu’s skin crawling. It didn’t help his desire to just turn tail and run as fast as he could.

The conversation ended as Chen Qingda’s students began to head back to their peak. The man gave him a crisp bow and left, seemingly in a good mood.

Shen Qingqiu was not in a good mood as he was beginning to see the start of a pattern emerging.

This was only confirmed when the following day, he found Qi Qingqi waiting for him at his office.

Qi Qingqi had avoided the peak ever since Shen Qingqiu was announced as head disciple all those years ago. To see her here was suspicious on its own. To see her here after two of his shidi had already casually dropped by to visit was downright incriminating. Hallmaster Ling had caught him just after his lessons had ended for the day to inform him that she had arrived.

He greeted her with the sharp snap of his fan openning in front of his face. “Shimei, how can this one help you?”

“Shen-shixiong.” She greeted back. “You’ve had a busy week, it seems.”

The laugh he gave was hollow.

“’Busy’. Hmm. Now that is a word for it.” He answered with a tight expression. “Shimei, what do you want?”

“Am I not allowed to check in on my Shixiong every now and then?” The look she received was so unimpressed that she scoffed and rolled her eyes. “My head disciple wished to give this to Shen-shixiong.”

The gift she produced from her qiankun pouch was wrapped in fine silk. Taking it, Shen Qingqiu carefully unwrapped it to reveal an ornate wooden box that held a fine set of calligraphy brushes inlaid with silver and a fan of a matching style. Also, inside was a finely penned letter thanking him for his work in saving her brother.

Ha. He felt numb inside. Feeling something like guilt. Liu Mingyan would not be thanking him if she knew what he had really done to save her moron of a brother. He didn’t deserve this.

With something close to a laugh, he closed the box and rewrapped it in silk. Qi Qingqi was watching him closely looking decidedly unhappy. Her expression became worse when he handed her back the box.

“Tell Liu-shizhi this lowly one doesn’t need to be bribed to do his duty.”

Qi Qingqi looked horrified and offended on behalf of her head disciple. “This is not a bribe!”

“I can not accept it either way. Good day, Shimei.”

He ran, more than strode to his office. After locking it, he ignored the angry knocking until Qi Qingqi gave up and left. It took longer after that for him to uncurl, straighten out his clothes and unlock the door to at least pretend he had been handling the paperwork for the day.

The next morning, he felt almost prepared when upon leaving his bamboo hut he nearly tripped over Wang Qingqiang. The man stood there; his fist raised to knock on his door. The hand dropped and immediately reached into the basket on his arm to produce a white toad. The amphibian was then held expectantly up to his face.

Shen Qingqiu stared at the toad who squirmed a little in his shidi’s grip before relaxing and letting out a low croak. This was clearly not the desired result as Wang Qingqiang frowned looking quite miserable.

Sighing, Shen Qingqiu decided to entertain his most puzzling shidi.

“Would Shidi like this Shixiong to hold your friend?”

He was immediately offered the toad that he easily took in one hand. The amphibian once again squirmed before settling and croaking gently.

“What species is this little one?”

“Storm screaming tree crawler. When they sense a storm approaching, they climb up trees and scream sticking out their metallic tongues until hit by a lightning bolt that they then consume for extra energy. They are normally black in colour, but Tang Yuan was born with a colour defect. I thought that since the black toads ate white lightning, Tang Yuan might prefer black lightning.”

“Black lightning? Does such a thing exist?”

Wang Qingqiang shrugged and stared with him at Tang Yuan who appeared to be going to sleep in his palm.

It really was such a fat stupid looking creature.

But he had classes to teach.

“Does Shidi want Tang Yuan back?”

Wang Qingqiang shook his head. “This one was told to keep an eye on Shixiong.”

“Ah.” That explained a lot. “Would Shidi please follow me.”

Thankfully, the person he sort out had arrived at her classroom early.

“Hallmaster Yi, my shidi has brought with him today an interesting creature. I was curious if your students would have any interest in capturing its likeness?”

The fierce looking woman took the two Peaklords’ measure before gesturing with her chin to show what he meant. Handing her the toad, she was immediately besotted with the creature. Wang Qingqiang needed no further excuse to begin to talk. This left Shen Qingqiu plenty of opportunity to slip away unnoticed. To be doubly secure that he would not be followed, he stuck his head in another studio, this one already partially filled with students preparing their canvases.

“Peaklord Wang is currently giving a small talk on Storm screaming tree crawlers in Hallmaster Yi’s room, if you wanted a chance to sketch his countenance.”

He had barely made it to the end of the hallway when he heard Hallmaster Zeng lead a dozen students over toward Hallmaster Yi’s classroom.

Between the two Hallmasters, the students and Wang Qingqiang’s love to share his knowledge about strange creatures to an interested audience, Shen Qingqiu was comfortably able to cover for Hallmaster Yitao without interruption.

He did return to collect the Peaklord once the midday meal bell had sounded. Tang Yuan was now clutching around Wang Qingqiang’s hair crown refusing to be removed from his perch. Amused by the sight, Shen Qingqiu cast his eyes around at the trailing students still packing away their sketches.

The little beast caught his eye.

“Littl- Disciple Binghe, come here and show me your work for today.”

The boy startled briefly before bouncing over. His hair still messy as always, a fresh bruise growing on his cheek. Shen Qingqiu was presented a collection of barely legible sketches.

“Disciple, why is ‘Ahyu’ written here?” The brat’s handwriting needed serious work. He could barely decipher it next to what he guessed was an attempt at a tree and a large ink splodge that presumably was a toad falling out of said tree.

“Wang-shishu told us that that is what a toad being struck by lightning sounds like.”

“Uh huh. Your brushwork needs improvement.” He shot Wang Qingqiang a glance. The man had managed to detangle a protesting Tang Yuan from his hair and convince the toad back into its basket. Shoving the little beast’s work back into his chest, Shen Qingqiu picked up the basket and began to escort his shidi to the peak entrance gate.

Yang Qingfu arrived just as Shen Qingqiu had nearly convinced Wang Qingqiang that Tang Yuan would be far happier if taken back home as soon as possible.

“Shen-Shixiong. I’ve come to do a check up of the perimeter arrays. “

Shen Qingqiu doubted that was really necessary but couldn’t muster the energy to call him out on it.

“As shidi wishes.” He replied now physically pushing Wang Qingqiang out of Qing Jing peak by the shoulders.

He had gotten a fair few paces down the path with one of his nosey shidis when he froze. Halfway up the path from Bian Jie Peak was a white and cream dot that could only be Zhou Qingde, Peaklord of Ku Xing the Ascetic purifying peak. 

The monk felt eyes on him and looked up at the three other peak lords.

Fuck. Fuck Fuck Fuck. That fucker would know. He’d fucking know. He’d smell it off him if he got any closer. Fuck Fuck.

“I trust Wang-shidi can find his own way back to his peak.” He said far too quickly, giving the youngest peak lord a light shove before walking back into his peak. His walk quickly gained pace till it was a brisk stride which became a jog and then an outright sprint as he heard Yang Qingfu and Zhou Qingde call out behind him.

The monk sounded like the louder of the two. He’d followed him in. FUCK.

Reaching behind him he disconnected the ribbons from his hair crown and balled them in his hand. He could hear the monk running after him with cries of “Shixiong!”. It didn’t matter what the man yelled at this point, he was not stopping.

Taking a shortcut across the surface of one of the lotus ponds, Shen Qingqiu was on the path to the Bamboo hut and further onwards to the forest. Tugging at his belt he was able to slip his arms out of both of his outer robes before bundling them up in one hand. Unlike his floor length outer robes, his middle layers only came to just below the knee. The excess clothing, ribbons and his fan was thrown through the bamboo hut’s open window as he dashed past. He heard something fall off a shelf inside. A problem for future him.

A future him that wouldn’t be out right pelting it down a rapidly becoming more and more overgrown path through the bamboo forest towards the river that flowed down through the peak. He hit the end of the path where it met the riverbank, unsheathing Xiu Ya as he went.

Turning the corner of the forest edge, he realised rapidly that he was not alone.

Looks like he would be sprinting through Ming Fan’s lessons with the little beast. Raising a finger to his lips as both disciples gaped uselessly at him, he dived into the water releasing Xiu Ya to fly brightly across it and into the forest on the other side.

The river was deep and dark under the forest’s canopy. Suppressing his qi down as far as it would go, Shen Qingqiu slipped under the overhang of the bank and held his breath. It felt far longer than it was before Zhou Qingde arrived after him panting harshly. Both disciples greeted him with a “Shishu.” that was muffled by the water.

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t see the boys from where he hid. He could only hope that his two personal disciples weren’t ratting him out to his shidi right now. Voices spoke for a while before he saw Zhou Qingde draw his sword and fly across the lake towards where Xiu Ya’s light could be seen flitting through the trees.

The sword spirit was smart and knew the forest as well as he did. He wasn’t worried about it getting caught. Even if it was, what would Zhou Qingde be able to do with an unsheathed sword he could not use?

Still, he stayed where he was until Zhou Qingde flew back the way he came and after that he waited a little longer.

Only once he was certain the man would have left the peak did he surface out of the water and inhale deeply. Both boys ran to him and tried to help him out the river. He batted their hands away roughly, drawing the water round him to push himself gracefully up to the surface of the river and then on top the bank. With a wave of his hand, he drew the water from his clothes and hair and tossed it back into the river.

Fuck he was cold.

Trying not to shiver in front of his disciples, he gave each a stern look. “How go the lessons?”

The little beast didn’t respond, looking in open bewilderment between the river, himself and the path Zhou Qingde had disappeared down. Ming Fan was quicker on the uptake and bowed with a respectfully salute towards him.

“They are progressing, Shizun. This one will not let you down.”

“Hm.” He replied resheathing Xiu Ya as it flew back to his hand. “Come to the bamboo hut later, I will have a message for you to send.”

Said message to Yue Qingyuan effectively put a stop to whatever it was his nosey shidimei were up to as they were banned from Qing Jing peak with the exception of the sect leader and Mu Qingfang. This gave him little comfort as the chase had him jumping at shadows least they turn out to be Zhou Qingde.

His left arm had also not appreciated the impromptu swim. The qi stuttered and stalled making the muscles cold and stiff which only further stalled the qi flow. By the following day, it was practically useless.

Shen Qingqiu then and there decided to take the next two days off. He informed the Hallmasters and Ming Fan before heading upriver towards the summit of the peak and detouring into the foliage.

Qing Jing Peak had always had a bamboo forest for as long as anyone could remember. Growing proudly on the peak, shielding the scholars from the worst of the weather as it absorbed the nature Qi from the mountain’s core and the sun’s rays. Around the halls and pavilions it was a firm, sparse and quiet presence. Even around his bamboo hut and the river further in it was temperate and calm.

But the deeper you went, the older the forest was and the longer it had had to cultivate itself.

When he had first joined the peak, he had ran into these woods to sleep constantly. It had drove his shizun half mad, often dragging him out by the scruff of his collar when he learned of it. It was why when he was made head disciple the bamboo hut had been commissioned. Maybe in the hopes that he’d learn to sleep in a bed like a proper human being. That had only worked so far.

One night, the nightmares had been too much and he had just kept walking into the forest. Maybe hoping he’d disappear. Deep in the bamboo, the forest’s consciousness had curled around this stray disciple and kept him company until morning. It was hard to describe properly. The near solid mass of yang leaning qi circling around him in the dark, prodding at his own qi to try to figure out what manner of creature he was.

It felt warm the way most plant qi did. It felt immovable in the way most other qi wasn’t. He should have been terrified. He had just felt held.

Now he felt the familiar mass of qi press in around him. There was no light this deep into the thick of the forest. Just smooth bamboo trunks. Each with no branches down here as there was no light to catch leaving each stalk a perfect pole that swayed gently with the breeze. Pushing through them, Shen Qingqiu eventually found a spot just large enough for him to sit and disappear for a while.

Adopting a cultivation pose, the Peaklord slowed his breathing and relaxed as the forest gently swayed around him.

 

---

 

Hallmaster Li was a little worried he’d have to get a hunting party out to find Shen Qingqiu in time for the social.

Lucky for him that wasn’t necessary as the man wandered out from who knows where in the bamboo forest the day of, looking a little less like he wanted to murder them all.

Seriously, why did the Hallmasters think this man was normal? Whose response to seeing their shidi was to run across half the peak then fuck off into the woods for two whole nights?

Peaklord Shen was being no more normal when Hallmaster Li went to collect him for the social.

The Peaklord was sat across a small table from that disciple Hallmaster Li was fairly sure he hated. The boy was chewing on an osmanthus cake under the intense glare of his shizun. As the glare intensified the boy shrank into himself chewing faster until he swallowed.

“Well?” asked Shen Qingqiu, out right hatred coiling around each word.

“It’s fine?” the boy relied uncertain. The glare aimed at him increased.

“Get out.” Shen Qingqiu snarled.

Hallmaster Li stepped out the way as the boy ran out the hut towards the meal hall. Okayyyyyy. He was not going to ask what the fuck that was about.

“Ready to go?” He asked instead.

Shen Qingqiu gave the most put upon sigh and collected a basket and his fan before nodding.

They entered the North Hall a little early though Hallmaster Jiang was already there.

The man stopped setting out the cushions and went to meet them.

“Peaklord! You made it!” He went to throw an arm around Peaklord Shen’s shoulders and missed when the man smoothly sidestepped the gesture to stand on Hallmaster Li’s other side.

“I brought snacks.” He said from behind a fan pushing the basket into Hallmaster Jiang’s arms.

“Oh? Excellent! Come! Take a seat we have tea and Hallmaster Youlan is securing the wine from Zui Xian.”

Both men nodded at that and found a seat, it wasn’t long till the others arrived. Each eyed their Peaklord who sat as still as he could in the corner, watching them all from behind his fan. Hallmaster Li wanted to wrench the thing away but knew from experience that that would only lead to a black eye.

Thankfully Hallmaster Youlan saved the man from being a wall flower the entire night by having tested the wine she would be bringing. Half drunk the woman nearly sprawled over their peaklord as she sat down. Maybe it was his brothel hopping habit, but the man relaxed at the contact even as the woman tried to apologize. Seeing their Peaklord take no offence at Hallmaster Youlan’s antics, the other Hallmasters in turn relaxed and began discussing the latest gossip from around the peaks.

This led to them breaking into both the snacks and the wine.

“Hey who brought the osmanthus cakes? These are good!” Exclaimed Hallmaster Xiu.

“I believe those were Peaklord Shen’s contribution to tonight.” Answer Hallmaster Jiang.

“These are good.” Hallmaster Sun said, taking a large bite out of his. “Where did you get them from?”

Shen Qingqiu had not been prepared to be addressed and could only reply meekly. “This one made them.”

“Eh? You made them?” exclaimed Hallmaster Bai, shocked.

“Should I have not?” Shen Qingqiu shot back, guard raising.

Hallmaster Bai tried to deflect realising his mistake. “These are great. I just didn’t know you could cook.”

“Well, I can.” He mumbled awkwardly playing with his fan.

Seeing the man retreat in towards himself, Hallmaster HanYu took it upon herself to ply their Peaklord with wine. There was some cajoling and eventually Shen Qingqiu accepted a single cup in return for them to not bother him further. Overall things were going well and then the subject shifted to the other Peaklords.

“I heard Peaklord Zhou paid Peaklord Shen a visit a few days ago.” Poked Hallmaster Zeng, a little too into his drinks to notice his bluntness.

“Uh, yes.” Grumbled Shen Qingqiu.

“Want me to hit him with my guqin?” asked Hallmaster Youlan from over Hallmaster Su’s shoulders.

“What!?” Asked Shen Qingqiu alarmed.

“My Guqin. If I smack him with it, he’d go flying.”

“That is a priceless musical instrument. You can’t just hit Peaklord Zhou with-“

“Nah, she could hit him with two. I have a spare.” Hallmaster Jiang volunteered.

“No!“ cried Shen Qingqiu even more alarmed.

“I could whack him with an easel?” Wang the Younger chipped in.

“Noone is hitting Zhou-shidi with anything less than a proper sword.”

“Shouldn’t Peaklord Shen be asking us not to hit his shidi at all?” Hallmaster Li added with a raised eyebrow.

“Huabi, don’t you start.”

This invited a round of laughter that had their Peaklord’s ears colour pink.

Hallmaster Su slung an arm around Peaklord Shen’s shoulders that had the man tense then relax.

“Well, what about Peaklord Liu then? Your ‘aggrieved wife’.” She asked with a smirk. “Does he deserve to be hit with a guqin?”

“No.” Shen Qingqiu dismissed. “Leave that moron alone.”

“Don’t want to undo all your good work?” Hallmaster Su asked.

“Good work?” The man scoffed swirling the drips still left in his wine cup. “I was just the one around when he needed help, that’s all.”

“You still saved his life.” She gave his shoulders a squeeze in a half hug. “You did good.”

Their Peaklord gave a mumbled string of words that nobody caught before clearing his throat to ask for the tea. His ears had turned a fine shade of red.

 

Notes:

SQQ: If the Osmanthus cakes suck, I don't have to be social. :D
LBH, chewing like his life depends on it because this little man has never been under such pressure over a snack before.

Other thing of note: Do I think Shen Qingqiu is shy? No. I think he is multiple unhealthy coping mechanisms in a fancy robe which can be read as shy to outsiders.

Names:
Tang Yuan is named after the chinese rice dumpling dessert that is traditionally eaten during the lantern festival.
Also because it was left out of last week's chapter, Hallmaster Li's and Peaklord Shen's nicknames for each other.
Huabi 画笔- Painting brush
Mozi 墨渍- Ink stain or ink blot or ink smudge.
Hallmaster HanYu 韩愈 is also named after the historical figure Han Yu.

Next Week: An update on what has been happening with Bingbun and the peaklords once again invade Liu Qingge's house to talk about Shen.

Chapter 10: Harm to the Body, Harm to the Soul

Summary:

Binghe is having a rough time and Mu Qingfang manages to see Shen Qingqiu.

Notes:

HOLEY FUCK! Over 500 kudos! Thank you so much! Sorry for the late chapter this week this one was tough to write.

Content Warnings: Bully, Child Abuse, Shen 'Canonical Child Abuser' Qingqiu, Discussion of Injuries, Medical examination and this Author's strange take on cultivation

"Stop being so mean to Binghe! (≧ロ≦) This bullying is too much!"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

“Disciple Luo, what is this?”

The fluffy haired boy wilted under Hallmaster Li’s gaze. The square faced man’s glittering black eyes flitted from fault to fault in his work; an attempt at the three friends of winter.

“You will produce me fifty sketches of bamboo, pine and plum each before next lesson. And the rest of you should likewise keep up your practice. Class dismissed!”

Fifty. Fifty each. That was …. What even was three times fifty? A lot. It was a lot. Binghe deflated as he packed up his painting supplies. Dashixiong would be along soon to pick him up as he had been for the past two weeks.

They’d gotten into a good routine.

Every morning Dashixiong would arrive at the Bamboo Hut to bring Shizun tea and see if he had any extra tasks for the day. Afterwards he’d drag Binghe to the meal hall to have breakfast and escorted him to his first lesson of that morning. He’d then come to collect him from his last class to drag him to the midday meal. They’d train after that by the river until dinner was called when he was dragged there once again.

Literally dragged each time. Seems dodging him for those few days had made Dashixiong paranoid he’d run off if not held firmly by the collar. It was slightly impressive that he could so easily man handle him whilst juggling a crutch and a broken leg. Though it was slightly embarrassing being escorted like that.

Today was no different. Ming Fan hauled him into the hall and dumped him on a bench before sorting out their food trays. Fidgeting where he’d been left, Binghe craned his neck back to see if he could see Ning Yingying.

Officially she had been given to Hallmaster Ling for catch up classes so possibly was eating with her. Unofficially, he’d been told by Dashixiong it was Shizun’s orders to keep her as far from himself as possible.

He missed her. He missed the way she was always so bright and cheerful and could talk for hours and hours.

Dashixiong wasn’t great with words. He tried to be gruff and cold like Shizun though it never fit him quite the same way. He always was too eager or too embarrassed to pull it off.

Still looking around he was able to spot Cheng Shan who noticed him and made straight for him. Uh oh. About to jump up and scurry away, Zhi Yao’s arm clamped around his neck and held him in place.

“Hello Shidi!” The boy was still mad that he’d kicked him. And now he was trapped.

He squirmed as Cheng Shan set upon him with a spit wet handkerchief scolding him for the ink stains on his robes. This had also become routine. The elder boys had each found a way to torment him now that Dashixiong prevented them from interfering in his training.

Cheng Shan had taken the stance that he was a filthy child that needed scrubbed clean. He also delighted in scolding him for his lack of manners. Kicking him when he didn’t hold his chopsticks just right or moved inelegantly.

Zhi Yao for his part had figured that his shidi hated Cheng Shan’s pestering and made it his mission to aid his shixiong in ‘reforming the little beast’. He mostly succeeded by either holding him down or sharply pinching his sides till he complied.

Binghe ended up calling in help when the dreaded comb made an appearance.

“Dashixiong! Help me.”

“No.” Grunted the boy wobbly setting two trays down and beginning to brew his medicine. “Stop whinging and eat.”

Tears threatening to fall from his eyes, he could do nothing but gulp down mouthful after mouthful of thin watery congee as Cheng Shan caught every knot he could find with that cursed comb of his.

By the end of the meal, Binghe’s hair ran smooth and was forced into a tight ponytail that squeezed at his scalp. For all this he was forced to thank the boy by Dashixiong as Zhi Yao smirked at him. Then he was dragged once more to the river.

The river was the quietest flat space they had found thus far to train. There was little reason for anyone to visit as the bathing pools and laundry halls were further downstream. The closest structure was Shizun’s Bamboo Hut and even then Shizun did not come out this way.

Well, unless he was being chased by Zhou-shishu.

That had been a surprise. Binghe had, like almost everyone else, heard about Liu-shishu and Shizun’s fight in the LingXi caves. Apparently Shizun had saved Liu-shishu, defeating him mid qi deviation and leaving the fight practically unscathed. Unscathed. That was a lie.

Had Liu-shishu been the owner of the hand that had bruised Shizun? He seemed the most likely culprit. Had he also been the one to set Zhou-shishu and possibly Wang-shishu after Shizun?

He didn’t know. All he knew was it had upset Shizun so much he’d vanished for multiple days, only to reappear like a disgruntled bamboo spirit in the middle of their training. Dashixiong had been sent off with a new set of tasks, whilst he had been told to refill the water jars in the Bamboo Hut.

Binghe had thought that strange as they had been full that morning but by the time he had entered the Bamboo Hut’s small kitchen, both jars were near empty and steam from Shizun’s bath escaped the hut’s main room.

It took him nearly a shichen worth of trips to refill the jars. His legs felt like they were going to fall off and the bamboo pole used to balance the buckets had worn a bruise across his shoulders. By the time he was finished the bamboo hut’s windows and doors had been opened to air out the space and a no longer leaf riddled Shizun sat calmly on the bamboo couch.

“Are you done?” Binghe had barely managed to form the required salute and bow that yes, the jars were filled. “Good. Come here. I want you to copy out this passage until I return. I expect this disciple of mine to pay close attention to his penmanship.”

“Yes Shizun.”

Needless to say, once Shizun returned he was unimpressed with his efforts. Binghe’s knuckles were duly rapped as he was instructed to repeat the exercise until the kitchen distracted Shizun with a sweet scent.

Only then did he get a reprieve. And weirdly enough a reward?

Shizun never did rewards. Not unless he wanted something from you.

Yet here sat an innocent looking osmanthus cake on a saucer in front of him.

Trying to decipher the scheme behind the treat, the fan across from him snapped shut sending him upright into the perfect kneeling posture.

“Is this disciple going to spend all day staring at it or did your precious mother not teach you how to eat?” Snarled Shizun, placing a steaming basket down next to the table.

Flinching, Binghe muttered a ‘thanks’ then picked up and bit into the cake.

It was just a normal osmanthus cake. Sweet and still warm.

Chewing, he tried to figure out what Shizun was up to. It was useless. The man sat opposite glaring intensely at him whilst he chewed. Did he do something wrong? Chewing faster, the glare only became more intense.

The intensity didn’t ease up when Hallmaster Li came to stand by the doorway.

“Well?” asked Shizun. Binghe was once again reminded of a crane primed to skewer a particularly loud frog.

“It’s fine?” the boy croaked. This was not the answer that had been wanted.

“Get out.”

Binghe didn’t need told twice, sprinting for the meal hall. He didn’t get another bite of the cake as Zhi Yao had snatched it from his hand and the trio had split it between themselves as Dashixiong moped about Shizun having never cooked for him before.

When he’d return to the Bamboo Hut to sleep that night, Shizun had also been coming back along the path. The basket he had had that evening was now empty and he seemed to be in a slightly better mood.

“Shizun?” The man jumped with a squeak and swung at him with his fan.

“Don’t do that! You little beast. Always sneaking around in the dark! What for? Troublesome little fuc- pest!”

“My apologies, Shizun.”

“This master doesn’t need your apologies. Stop being noisy and go to bed, brat.”

“Yes Shizun.” Turning to go he hesitated. “Were the osmanthus cakes well received?”

His shizun paused at his doorway. “They were. Go to bed, disciple.”

“Yes Shizun.”

“Oi Shidi! Stop daydreaming!” Dashixiong’s voice brought him back to the present. “Try that stance again!”

Refocusing Binghe did as told, wishing desperately to loosen his hair tie. Ming Fan barked a few more commands from where he sat, his bad leg stretched out. They went through the exercise they’d been slowly perfecting over the last course of lessons. He’d been told it was one of the most basic beginner exercises but that was good as what he had learned before had turned out to be useless.

Ming Fan had been soo exasperated. Served him right for giving him a fake manual in the first place. You reap what you sow, Dashixiong or something like that. Though he couldn’t be too mad. Dashixiong had returned his pendant back to him. Honestly he wouldn’t have been putting up with any of this if he hadn’t.

He completed the set and waited patiently for Dashixiong’s corrections. The boy leant back on his hands and sighed.

“It’ll do for now. We can move on to the next one tomorrow.”

“Okay.” At the lack of title, Ming Fan frowned. It was too easy to annoy Dashixiong sometimes.

“Yes, Dashixiong.” Binghe corrected, offering the other boy his hand to help him up.

“Better.” Grumbled Ming Fan, wincing as he rose.

“Is Dashixiong alright?”

“Yeah.” He answered pained, limping even with his crutch. “Perfectly alright. I’ll come get you from your room for dinner. Shoo.”

Binghe hovered nearby till Dashixiong’s patience ran out and he tried to hit him with the crutch. This left him with plenty of time before dinner to bathe and start work on Hallmaster Li’s assignment.

He had managed three rather splotchy copies of the nearby bamboo before Shizun returned. He frowned at his disciples loose wet hair or maybe the ink that had gotten halfway up his arms.

“What are you doing?”

“Hallmaster Li assigned this disciple fifty sketches of bamboo, fifty of plum and fifty of pine.”

Shizun raised his eyebrows at this, not surprised in the least.

“You are an unseemly mess. I expect you never to appear in front of this master like this again.”

“Apolo-“ Shizun narrowed his eyes. “This disciple will work to improve.”

“You better.” With a flick of his sleeves, Shizun went to enter his Bamboo Hut.

“Shizun?”

“What, brat?”

“Dashixiong’s leg was hurting today. More than normal I mean.”

Shizun paused to think. “This master will have Mu-shidi look over it.”

Binghe nodded. Returning to his art, he froze when an ice-cold hand threaded into his hair.

Shizun had moved like a ghost.

“This master has been thinking.” The man weaved his other hand into Binghe’s hair. It burned hot in contrast to the first. “How did this Disciple prepare that meal for this one that night?”

There was a threatening tug on Binghe’s hair when he didn’t give an answer immediately.

“The, the kitchen window had been left ajar.” He said quietly. “This disciple closed it after him.” Like that would make things better.

“Oh, did this disciple?” The sweetness in Shizun’s tone was mocking. “That’s good. We wouldn’t want vermin running around the kitchens freely now, would we?”

There was a chill around his head, then a wet sound beside him. Shizun removed his hands from Binghe’s now dry hair.

“Tie that mess up now, disciple.” Ordered Shizun before closing the door sharply.

Binghe could only stare at the tiny puddle next to his foot, before rummaging for a hair tie to comply.

 

---

 

“-And here’s the one where Tang Yuan began to climb on my face. And here’s one with a Storm screaming tree crawler falling out a tree going ‘Aiya!’ and here’s one-“

Huang-shimei didn’t object as Wang-shidi showed her yet another example of Qing Jing peak’s hard work. Mu Qingfang could only be amused by the display as he carefully unwrapped Liu Qingge’s arm.

It had been like this for the last half a shichen. The meeting of the ‘conspiracy circle’ had gone poorly. Noone had managed to gain any significant information before Yue Qingyuan had sent them each a private note informing them that they were basically banned from Qing Jing peak until Mu Qingfang himself gave Shen-shixiong the green mark of health. It was probably for the best.

Zhou-shidi had stormed off to his peak. Shen-shixiong’s flight from him had only made him more suspicious. The monk kept muttering something about ghosts and that the man had vanished right before his eyes. Mu Qingfang would have to make sure to gift him some calming tea.

Yang-shidi was also not impressed by Shen-shixiong’s avoidant behaviour. Though he was more relaxed having checked every border array on every peak twice. Whatever had gotten into the LingXi caves hadn’t been a failure on his part.

Still, he was here, sulking and fighting Huang-shimei for the snack tray.

Easing open the cast, Mu Qingfang felt Liu-shidi’s pulse.

The bones had healed well. Liu-shidi was lucky as none of his arm’s meridians had fractured with the attack. Circulating his qi deeper, Mu Qingfang focused in on the worst of the damage to the blood vessels. They were a little scarred but that would fade with proper qi circulation techniques. Manually flexing each joint, he had Liu-shidi flex them each himself before getting the man to mirror various movements to check the mobility.

All seemed good.

Mu Qingfang released Liu-shidi from the check up and set about packing away the dirty bandages and left over bits of cast.

The Bai Zhan Peaklord immediately rose to his feet as he did so and stretched. Testing his arm a few more times, Liu-shidi drew Cheng Luan and began moving through a basic set of stances.

“-and this one has Tang Yuan’s mouth open really wide like ‘Waaaaaaahhhh’ and-“

“That’s really neat shidi.” Huang-shimei continued to praise when she suddenly looked up. “Shang-shixiong!”

“Hello Huang-shimei.” The man gave his normal polite smile, hovering by the gateway to the residence’s central courtyard. “Wei-shixiong told me you wanted to put in an order for some high value materials?”

“Oh! Yes! I’m having to replace some of the heavy-duty arrays on Liu-shixiong and Shen-shixiong’s clothes. So, I’ll need more qi infused cinnabar thread and Yang-shidi suggested crystalline frost bees wax to help with the tempering?”

Shang-shixiong stole a glance at Liu-shidi to check it was safe to enter the Peaklord’s residence. He got a grunt and was ignored as Liu-shidi moved from his more basic set to a gentle intermediate stance combination.

This seemed permission enough so the man limped across the courtyard to join his Shimei.

Mu Qingfang’s eyes narrowed.

“Can this shidi be of aid, Shang-shixiong?”

The man looked startled then nervous. “No, no. This clumsy shixiong slipped on the path from his leisure house. It’s just a little bruising. Nothing to worry Mu-shidi over.”

This wasn’t the first time Shang-shixiong had refused aid over a claimed minor ailment. Mu Qingfang had his suspicions on how ‘clumsy’ the man actually was. He’d let it slide this time round as Huang-shimei snatched the tray of snacks out from under her Shidi and offered the snacks to her Shixiong. Yang-shidi frowned at this and shifted over next to Wang-shidi to continue eating, getting a very passionate showcase of all the portraits the man had acquired.

“Ah. Thank you Huang-shimei! May this one enquire what happened to Liu-shixiong and Shen-shixiong’s clothes?”

“You haven’t heard?” Yang-shidi asked.

 “He was away on a business trip.” Answered Huang-shimei, pouring Shang-shixiong some tea.

“Oh.” Yang-shidi added, stuffing a Golden Pea cake into Wang-shidi’s mouth. “Shen-shixiong filled one of the LingXi caves with rancid qi while saving Liu-shidi from a qi deviation and won’t explain himself.”

Shang-shidi’s polite smile fell off his face as his jaw dropped.

“That was a sentence! He did what!?”

“We don’t know what he did!” Yang-shidi yelled.

“It doesn’t matter what he did!” Yelled back Liu-shidi.

The courtyard fell silent as the Bai Zhan Peaklord stopped his stances.

“It… it doesn’t matter. “He repeated, sheathing Cheng Luan. “He saved my life. It doesn’t matter how.”

“Uh, I think it might.” Intoned Yang-shidi.

“Yang-shidi.” Mu Qingfang warned. It was a bad idea on many fronts to begin irritating Liu-shidi right now.

“It doesn’t matter to me.” Liu-shidi growled back. Shang-shixiong could only laugh nervously.

“Please don’t fight.” The man begged. It was in vain as Liu-shidi soon ran out of patience for the Peaklords still loitering in his house.

“Well, “ said Wang-shidi staring at the locked door. “I should head back.”

“Let this one accompany you part way,” said Mu Qingfang who had much to prepare for the next day.

And prepared he still didn’t feel standing next to Yue Qingyuan outside the Bamboo Hut. He hadn’t been here many times and even fewer with the Peaklord himself still conscious. This already felt like an ordeal.

 They’d given Shen Qingqiu forewarning of the visit to hopefully prevent him running away again. But it also gave time for Mu Qingfang’s most troublesome patient to hide the things he didn’t want them to see.

Seeing Zhangmen-shixiong hesitate yet again to knock on the door, the doctor stepped forward and gave it a small rap. Shen Qingqiu appeared almost immediately, hiding behind his fan as normal.

“Zhangmen-shixiong, Mu-shidi, please come in.”

They stepped into the Hut and were directed to a small area with prearranged seating and a tray of snacks laid out. Sat there looking a little sheepish was Shen-shixiong’s head disciple. The boy was not sat neatly and instead had his legs straight on the ground in front of him with a crutch across his lap.

Shen Qingqiu gracefully carried over a fresh service of tea and the doctor and sect leader took their seats.

“My head disciple’s leg has been causing him issues. This one took the presumption that after seeing to myself, Mu-Shidi would be free to check over the injury?”

“It would not be a problem at all, Shen-shixiong.”

Nodding, Shen-shixiong sat down next to Mu Qingfang and removed his forearm guard before presenting the doctor his wrist.

Taking the limb gently, his shixiong still tensed up at the contact. He’d make this quick. Taking the man’s pulse, Mu Qingfang frowned. Sending his qi in deeper was a challenge.

Shen-shixiong’s meridians, for as long as Mu Qingfang had been allowed to treat him, had always resembled more a maze than the straight road they should have been. There were twists and turns. Fractures that had healed into dead ends or had split them into multiple paths. It was frankly a miracle the man was able to cultivate at all.

After many moments of trying to find the correct pathways, Mu Qingfang was able to confirm that the injuries to Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder and ribs had mostly healed. He also could still feel the raw swelling inside the meridians of the man’s chest. He couldn’t even get any feeling of the condition of his left arm.

“This Shidi had his suspicions before but did Shen-shixiong have a qi deviation whilst fighting Liu-shidi?”

“What?!” Zhangmen-shixiong nearly spilled his tea, looking increasingly worried at Shen-shixiong who tensed further. The man’s expression was tight.

“Head Disciple Ming, please recommend your shibo the best of the snacks available.” He snapped. Startling both his head disciple and the sect leader, who took the hint and began making small talk over the selection.

“Shen-shixiong?” coaxed Mu Qingfang.

“It-it was a minor thing. That idiot Liu’s condition was more important.” This FUCKING man.

Doctor’s mask. Doctor’s mask. Keep professional.

“Your meridians are still showing signs of inflammation over two weeks later. This doctor would recommend a gentle series of circulation exercises and limited use of qi for the next month or so. Possibly longer if the damage persists. Shixiong, this is quite extensive damage you should-”

Shen Qingqiu pulled his wrist free. “This shixiong is aware. Save the lecture.”

Next to them, Yue Qingyuan sighed, regarding Shen-shixiong with concern.

“Don’t you start either!” snapped Shen-shixiong.

Mu Qingfang gave their sect leader some face by ignoring the way he shrunk into himself looking more and more like a kicked puppy. Instead, he turned to his other patient.

“Ming-shizhi.”

“Ah, yes, Shishu!” The boy was all nerves and snapped to his attention immediately.

“Your wrist please.”

“Yes, Shishu.”

Qing Jing’s head disciple was a lot easier to handle than it’s Peaklord. The boy’s meridians were a welcome easy path compared to his master’s. Nothing of major note just some strain around the broken limb and an overcorrection by the hips to account for the injury.

“Has Ming-shizhi been using this leg a lot?”

The boy looked guilty. Mu Qingfang gave him a lightly admonishing look.

“This doctor’s orders are that you are to avoid walking on this leg as much as possible. The crutch was there to aid you when walking was absolutely necessary, not for you to completely ignore your condition. Understood?”

The boy nodded. “Yes, Shishu.” Honestly, could the boy not say anything else?

Sensing a brewing argument as Zhangmen-shixiong fluttered more and more with silent concern and Shen-shixiong temper began to reach its limits, the doctor addressed the two men.

“This shidi is finished examining Ming-shizhi. Your disciple should avoid any tasks that require excessive walking on his injury and keep up with his prescribed medicine course. I see no reason why the issues he’s currently experiencing won’t ease up if such steps are taken.”

Shen-shixiong more aggressively blocking Zhangmen-shixiong from his sight with his fan acknowledged Mu Qingfang. “Thank you for your expertise.”

Mu Qingfang eyes flicked to Shen-shixiong’s fan, more to the hand holding it. It was his right side. Suddenly worried his Shixiong was hiding a more serious condition, he cleared his throat.

“Could Shen-shixiong please humour this one by mirroring his actions? This doctor wishes to just confirm that the injuries to your arms have healed properly.”

Looking suspicious, Shen-shixiong none the less agreed to the exercise. Moving his arms together in front of himself, Mu Qingfang rotated them one way and then the other. Shen-shixiong repeated the motion easily. Raising his arms above his head, the doctor drew them slowly down to his sides. Shen-shixiong was able to copy this, though Zhangmen-shixiong had to lean back to avoid being hit. Lastly, Mu Qingfang swung his arms back then crossed in front of his chest and then back again. Shen-shixiong was able to copy this once again. Hmm. Seemed his left arm could at least keep pace with his right despite the damage.

“Will that be all?” Enquired Shen-shixiong.

“Yes, that will be all.” Mu Qingfang answered.

“Now, what brings Zhangmen-shixiong to this one’s home?” Shen-shixiong didn’t bother to keep the irritation out of his tone.

“Uh, well. There is a Peaklord meeting the day after next.” Started Zhangmen-shixiong.

“This lowly one is aware.”

Zhangmen-shixiong gave a light laugh. “Yes, well, there is a unique topic that will be discussed then and this Shixiong was hoping Qingqiu-shidi would be able to collect some information ahead of the meeting.”

“What unique topic?” asked Shen-shixiong, feigning lack of interest with slow fanning. Like that would hide how his eyes had narrowed.

“A night hunt encountered a small group of demons fleeing what they called a ‘Shimozhe’, a demon eater. Would Qing Jing have any records of such a creature? Wang-shidi did not recognise the species at all.”

“That is because Shimozhe are not beasts. They are a type of demonic cultivator.” Answered Shen-shixiong. ”This one can have the necessary information ready for the meeting. Zhangmen-shixiong should not worry himself.”

“Ah, thank you Qingqiu-shidi.” Please Zhangmen-shixiong there was no need to look so happy like that. “This shixiong shall let you get on with that then.”

“Yes, Zhangmen-shixiong should.” Shen-shixiong dared to agree. “I take it I do not need to escort you off the peak?”

“No, no. This shixiong knows the way. Mu-shidi, will you walk with me?”

“Yes, Zhangmen-shixiong. Good day Shen-shixiong, Ming-shizhi.”

 

Notes:

And with that I've now gotten to the third point of the blurb. 'Stuff going down in the demon realm' >:D
'Shimozhe' 食魔者 literally translates as 'Feed on-Demon-Er' so Demon Eater. You'll find out more about them later :D (Yes this is a very flat name but look at fucking airplane's naming and tell me I'm worse)

Also I want to talk about how I'm handling OCs as you will have seen alot of them. My Rules for myself are: OCs must be either
+ disciples/hallmasters/sectleaders of one of the four major sects [to help flesh out the world building],
+ one of Luo Bingge's wives or related to their tragic backstory,
+ and/or from the Warm Red Pavillion.
There won't be OCs outside of these three groups. meaning any mystery characters are one of these three or are a named character from the original work. Should make some of the mysteries easier to parse.

Still on OCs, I want to discuss what some of the main one's this chapter's roles would have been in PIDW.
Hallmaster Li would be Season 1 Disciple Arc Arsehole Art Teacher who later turns up in Season 6 as some mini badguy in Waifu-of-the-week's backstory.
Cheng Shan is likewise Season 1 Disciple Arc Bully Squad and would be one of Hallmaster Li's minions as he is one fo HML's personal disciples.
Zhi Yao is also Bully Squad Season 1 but he as one of the better fighters on the peak gets to be a mini boss in the Burning of Qing Jing peak arc as he is the personal disciple fo the kinda hot poetry teacher who serves as an example of Shen Qingqiu's corrupting influence across the peak so that's why it must all burn because SQQ is the reason she refuses to be your wife Bingge, not cause you murdered her disciple and all her fellow hallmasters. /sarc Bingge.negative_opinion

In SVSSS they would have just been background characters that SY ignored. Cheng Shan and Zhi Yao are obviously implied to be Ming Fan's minions in the Leaf cutting scene but beyond that they are part of the mob of disciples on Qing Jing.

tbh timeline wise TOGDSOG Bingbun is doing alot better that Bingmei or Bingge were at this time, despite the bullying. He'd not in the woodshed, he's getting aggressively forced to eat, learn and train properly. He's, against his will, picking up Noble style manners. His Shizun hasn't abandonned him to cultivate, or destroyed his trust in him by murdering LQG. Nor can SQQ harshly punish him as that would interfere with Ming Fan's assignment. He's having it rough but things are looking up.

Next week: THE PEAK LORD MEETING! (Dun Dun Dunnnnn~)

Chapter 11: Productive Meetings

Summary:

In which, Shen Qingqiu has many meetings

Notes:

Hello! Unfortunately due to personal stuff, there will be no chapter next week. However there maybe two the following week. Something to look forward to!

Content warnings: Ambushing, being pinned down, yelling at someone until they cry, work meetings, Shen Qingqiu being used as an exposition dump, mentioned consumpsion of humanoid flesh by humanoids, human cauldron mention, human trafficking mention, an actual plot resolution

"You turned one of the best villain concepts you've written in three hundred chapters into another DAMN PAPAPA PLOT!? FUCK YOU! WHY DO I READ THIS! Sure she'll just casually marry him over some damn congee and engage in papapa for your cannibalism kink and heavenly demon blood fetish. Fuck this, man."

- Peerless Cucumber

 

Qi Qingqi was going to get answers!

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t avoid the Peaklord meeting. Not without really showing his guilt for… whatever he’d done.

Mostly Qi Qingqi was still angry at his slight against her head disciple.

Bribery! BRIBERY! He had accused her of bribery!

Her head disciple’s heartfelt, if misplaced, token of gratitude cruelly shunned by that, that lecher!

He should have been grateful to receive anything.

Bribery. Ha!

Maybe the sheer spite of getting even for Liu Mingyan is why she so easily agreed to help Zhou Qingde.

Xian Shu Peak’s main focus was martial, true, but it had carved its place from amongst the other eleven peaks by blending the raw fighting power of a cultivator with the manners and graces expected of a well brought up woman. This created a style that could be surprisingly sneaky.

Men didn’t feel the need to look for threats in their own sect. They didn’t immediately view women as dangerous. Especially not one bowing her head so demurely.

Still annoyingly Shen Qingqiu didn’t jump as she slipped his arm in hers. He merely looked confused.

“Shimei?”

“Hello Shixiong. Can’t have you running away like a coward again, now can we?” She kept a tight grip on his wrist, her other hand keeping his shoulder firmly anchored.

“Wha-“ was the most he got out when Zhou Qingde stepped into view. The reaction was immediate but he didn’t get far. She was the far stronger cultivator and unless he was going to rip off his own arm, he’d have to face the consequences of his actions for once.

Zhou Qingde stepped sharply up to the man and placed two fingers on his forehead and two on Shen Qingqiu’s. Qi Qingqi could feel the tension in Shen Qingqiu’s body as Zhou Qingde began chanting. The man was a twitchy shifty mess. He kept staring down his nose at Zhou Qingde like the man was some dog that might bite him. Ridiculous.

It took less than an incense stick to burn for Zhou Qingde to work through the necessary chants. At the end of it the monk frowned and removed his fingers.

“He’s untainted.”

“Is there a reason this shixiong would be ‘tainted’?” Spat Shen Qingqiu down at Zhou Qingde.

“Please take no offence Shixiong. But after you avoided your fellow Peaklords-“

“Who were snooping around and were trying to corner this one. Just. Like. Now.  Shimei, release me.” She looked up at him with clear distain but did as asked. Personally she was glad to put a far more comfortable distance between them.

In front of them, the monk rolled back his shoulders and tried as best as he could to match Shen Qingqiu’s impressive height. “We have our reasons. Explain what method you used to save Liu-shixiong.” She could almost see him wagging a finger at the taller man.

“This shixiong has nothing to explain.” Said Shen Qingqiu, unimpressed. He quickly stalked off towards the meeting hall in long strides that Zhou Qingde struggled to match.

“You can’t be serious! An entire section of the LingXi caves was flooded with the vilest putrid qi this one has ever felt in his many years. “ Zhou Qingde got out as Shen Qingqiu only walked faster.He was nearly running by the end. So when Shen Qingqiu suddenly swivelled, it took all her shidi’s training not to run right into his snarling face.

“Do you have proof that that is my doing!? Because so far, all you have done is physically assault me and accuse me of fulfilling my duty as Liu Qingge’s Shixiong!” Shen Qingqiu tilted his head sharply, voice full of knives, his teeth bared.

Zhou Qingde stood there, mouth flapping uselessly at Shen Qingqiu. The scholar glared down at the him before he twirled, sleeves bellowing out from his form to march into the meeting hall.

Qi Qingqi sighed.  Zhou Qingde was a gentle soul at heart. He had tried to force it but even as she passed him, she could see his eyes go glassy. The man had never coped well with being yelled at. Entering the meeting hall, she was just in time to see the rest of the Peaklords pretending they hadn’t heard the screaming match that had gone down just outside.

Chen Qingda looked at her mid-not-so-casual stretch before glancing towards the doors, quietly asking after Zhou Qingde. She shook her head at him. He sighed, excused himself and went out to see his shixiong. It was best to leave the cook to handle that mess.

Qi Qingqi took her seat next to Shang Qinghua who was fussing about with his papers. Shen Qingqiu himself had pulled a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to the sect leader. Both of them were reading through whatever the scroll contained, Shen Qingqiu pointing out sections as Yue Qingyuan nodded sternly.

Chen Qingda eventually returned with an arm around the monk, closing the door behind them. The man was still a little shaken. He got a reassuring pat on the arm as he slumped down next to her.

With everyone seated, Yue Qingyuan began to go through his normal opening speech and summary of itinerary. Glancing around at the other’s, Qi Qingqi noticed Liu Qingge openly staring at Shen Qingqiu. Like obviously staring. He looked like a primed attack dog wanting to strike.

Maybe it was because of their ambush but Shen Qingqiu fidgeted more as he noticed the Bai Zhan Peaklord’s attention.

Then it was Shang Qinghua’s turn. The monthly budgets were allocated and grumbled about.

During this Liu Qingge’s eyes had not once left Shen Qingqiu. Who was looking anywhere but at him.

Then came to the main topic of interest. It was rare for anything outside of internal sect affairs to make it on to the itinerary. Qi Qingqi fixed her posture and paid close attention.

“Moving on, Wei-shidi, I believe you had something to discuss.” Yue Qingyuan said, turning to face the new speaker.

“Thanking Zhangmen-Shixiong.” The swordsmith cleared his throat and began. “While on a night hunt on the borders of our territory, some of my senior disciples encountered a sizable group of demons. However, when faced with the cultivators, the group instead of attacking begged them for protection from the ‘Shimozhe’.

My disciples were confused but successfully captured all the demons and searched the area. What they found was the carcass of a Light Gobbling One Thousand Year Lotus Boar that had been torn apart and had large portions of its internal organs missing. It was also oddly pale. The blood leaking from its wounds running clear. They couldn’t find any hint of what had killed the boar so returned to the sect with their prisoners and what was left of the carcass.

I informed Zhangmen-shixiong and asked Wang-shidi to try to deduce what beast might now be roaming in our lands.”

Wei Qingwei looked expectantly at Wang Qingqiang who shook his head and looked at Yue Qingyuan. His face frowned as he as looked to his sect leader who then gestured for Shen Qingqiu to speak.

“Zhangmen-shixiong came to this one a few days ago and asked him to investigate the matter. Wang-shidi cannot be faulted for not being able to discover the information as Shimozhe are not beasts but a superstitious name demons give to a certain type of demonic cultivator. “

There was a wave of confused faces at Shen Qingqiu’s words.

“As their name suggests these demonic cultivators practice the consumption of demonic flesh or qi to boost their own power. They regularly hunt either demons themselves or demonic beasts like a Light Gobbling One Thousand Year Lotus Boar for example.”

“But demonic beast flesh is poisonous to humans! As is that of demons!” Interjected Mu Qingfang.

“These supposed ‘Shimozhe’ seem to have found a way around this. They often come from a background of being human cauldron users so will be dangerous to human settlements as well. There are some exceptions such as rogue cultivators that expanded the uses of the beasts they hunted for coin. The human cauldron users are more common as they already have the connections and support in the black market.”

“So, we are probably looking for a ring of human cauldron users?” said Shang Qinghua.

“From the prey alone, that would be the most likely answer. Light Gobbling One Thousand Year Lotus Boar’s are strong creatures. You’d need a team to take one down. The only known demonic cultivator that we have records of that could take down a beast the strength of a Light Gobbling One Thousand Year Lotus Boar on her own is Xue Jiang. But she disappeared over two decades ago after her disciple was killed. Possibly taken out by a Demon lord’s warband looking for quick fame.”

“But these demons were fleeing from this supposed ‘Shimozhe’.” Said Wei Qingwei.

“Demons have a wide cultural fear of anything they think might be a Shimozhe. Like how you hear children being told to behave or a demon will come and gobble them up, demon children are warned of a hungry Shimozhe lurking in the shadows. Descriptions vary greatly and the only unifying traits demons can agree on are that they are humanoid and eat demons. This makes it easy to spook them with the mere suggestion of a Shimozhe in the area.”

“So there might not even be a Shimozhe at all?”

“No. But we can’t ignore the poaching of a demonic beast either. This Shixiong suggests an in-depth investigation is conducted into the area surrounding the incident. Ask about any visitors to the nearby villages and keep a close eye out for the normal signs of human cauldron usage. The sudden sale of slaves. Strange marriages. Runaway servants, slaves, or whores. Missing children, often beggars or orphans. Those that are too weak to fight back or are unwanted so the poor, the sick, the foreign. Anyone people wouldn’t look too hard for if they vanished.”

There was a coldness to Shen Qingqiu’s eyes as he spoke.

“This shidi will take shixiong’s advice and organise an investigation into the matter.” Wei Qingwei said gravely. Shen Qingqiu gave him a brief nod of acknowledgement.

The rest of the topics of discussion were more pedestrian.

Yang Qingfu had completed his inspection of the border arrays and was content with them for now.

Mu Qingfang once again asked for the other peaks to be aware and take measures to prevent avoidable accidents that took up much of Qian Cao’s time.

Yue Qingyuan informed them all that the LingXi caves would not be available for secluded cultivation for the next few months. He didn’t give the reason, but everyone already knew why. Shen Qingqiu had hidden behind his fan at the glances sent his way.

With that all handled the meeting was nearly over.

“Right,” ask Yue Qingyuan.” are there any other matters to attend to?”

Huang Qingying raised her hand.

“There will be an order coming in for high quality materials. Because of this, this Shimei will have the resources to repair any of the more complex items for a brief period. Shen-shixiong, Liu-shixiong has already given this shimei some of the items damaged in the conflict you had. If you have any garments that were likewise damaged, this one would be able to get them quickly repaired.”

Their shixiong’s expression softened from what could be seen behind the fan. “This Shixiong will be sure to do so. Thank you, Shimei.”

Huang Qingying smiled and returned to her stitching.

“This one also has an issue to raise.” Shen Qingqiu said. Qi Qingqi felt the other Peaklords stiffen around her unsure what their Shixiong would have to say.

“Uh? Go ahead Qingqiu-shidi.” Encouraged Yue Qingyuan though he seemed equally nervous.

However, Shen Qingqiu, instead, turned towards his shimei.

“Huang-shimei. The expedition to the weaver’s convention in Molu Shui is in a few days, correct? This Shixiong has received news that Lord Huang has plans to attend. Will this be a problem or should this Shixiong interfere?”

Huang Qingying nearly dropped her sewing.

“There should not be a problem. Have no fear Shen-shixiong. This one can complete her mission regardless of Yin-xiong’s presence so there is no need for you to interfere with the mission-” She babbled trying to reassure him.

Shen Qingqiu only shook his head.

“You have misunderstood. I’m not asking if you’ll manage. I’m asking if you would like me to prevent or delay his visit to the area until you have left.”

He…. HE WAS WHAT? Qi Qingqi knew she wasn’t the only one gawking at the scholar who seemed perfectly calm despite of what he said.

“Shixiong!” She called out in her shocked silent shimei’s defence.

Shen Qingqiu spared her a glance and scoffed at her outcry.

“If it was your father, I’d be offering the same to you, Qi-Shimei.”

Her father? The fuck did he know about her father. Why did he know about her father or Huang-shimei’s brother? Had he been investigating them? The thought of that lecher taking too close an interest in his female fellow Peaklords sent a shudder through Qi Qingqi.

“T-that won’t be necessary, Shen-shixiong.” Huang Qingying managed to mumble out, fidgeting with her threads.

“Understood.” Came the gruff reply.

The sect leader had a hand over his face before sighing. Shen Qingqiu sent him a glare which Yue Qingyuan shook his head at before turning to the rest of the table.

“Does anyone else have any issues that need to be raised before our next meeting?”

Fuck this. Shen Qingqiu, you bastard. You want to intimidate your shimei with your knowledge of them then slink off like a traitorous little snake to avoid your Shidi. No screw you. You just declared war.

Smoothing her lips into a softer expression, Qi Qingqi raised her hand.

“Since Shen-shixiong is so concerned. This Shimei requests that Shixiong accompany herself and Huang-shimei on the mission.”

It was the lecher’s turn to gape at her.

“What?”

Her martial brothers looked betrayed. It was for all their benefit. She was more likely to get answers from him when he couldn’t run off and hide.

“This Shimei does not feel like repeating herself. It has been years since Shen-shixiong left the mountain range on any sort of mission. No doubt his students could use the field experience. Besides, Huang-shimei, was Wang-shidi not enthusing at great length at the quality of Qing Jing peak’s artisanship only a few days ago? Your students would no doubt appreciate the depictions of work on display for further study later on.”

Huang Qingying looked between her shijie and shixiong nervously.

“As long as Shen-shixiong has no issues with this.”

Shen-shixiong had been staring down behind his fan, thinking things over. His eyes flicked to Zhou Qingde and then to Liu Qingge’s persistently intense gaze before coming to a conclusion.

“This Shixiong thanks his Shimei for the offer. He shall accept it. Send the mission details over to Qing Jing peak and I’ll make sure to have myself and my disciples ready for departure.”

Heh. You are going to regret this, you coward.

Yue Qingyuan also seemed pleased by the outcome and with no more issues the meeting ended.

Liu Qingge was off like a shot in that moment. Near leaping over the table to block Shen Qingqiu from walking away.

“Zhangmen-shixiong, requesting permission to use a private hall.”

“You are not going to leave me be, are you?”

The Bai Zhan Peaklord had the nerve to nod at this, bouncing on the balls of his feet in front of Shen Qingqiu, who let out a loud sigh of exasperation.

“Fine. Zhangmen-shixiong, which hall may we use?”

The Sect leader pointed one out to them and the pair left. Yang Qingfu shared a look with Chen Qingda and were about to follow after them when Yue Qingyuan’s voice crossed the entire room.

“I believe it would be best if they are left alone. No one is to eavesdrop.” Said their shixiong. “Let them work it out themselves.”

There was a small murmur of complaint but in the end they did as he said.

 

---

 

What were nerves to a proclaimed god of war? A lot apparently. Liu Qingge's had never felt as unsure as he did now. Shen Qingqiu stood in the hall waiting. He already look displeased. How to go about this without setting off his shixiong's overly sensetive temper?

“I want to apologise.”  Liu Qingge started.

The change in the scholar’s eyes was immediate. “I am leaving.” Shen Qingqiu said going for the door. How had he failed that quickly?!

“No. No. Wait. Let me finish.” He was trying not to mess this up.

And here he was again, Shen Qingqiu waiting and watching his every action.

Liu Qingge started again.

“I want to apologise for attacking you in the caves. I was not in control-“

“Is this all this is?” Could his Shixiong not interrupt him whilst he was trying to work things out? It wasn't like this was easy and Shen Qingqiu was making things more difficult.

“Let me finish.” Liu Qingge grit out.

“So, you can say how sorry you are that you couldn’t control yourself in the middle of a qi deviation something that is known to lead to a loss of control and violent behaviour?” Shen Qingqiu shot back, voice harsh and mocking. “I don’t blame you for something like that!”

“My actions are still my actions.” Liu Qingge said stepping forward. ”I want to take responsibility. I should never have- I could have killed you!”

The fan snapped shut and Liu Qingge could finally see the rage painted across Shen Qingqiu’s face.

“You could have killed yourself! And you would have too!”

“That was so I didn’t kill you!” He yelled back. So much for this not turning into a fight.

“Like I would have wanted your corpse!” Shen Qingqiu snipped back.

“Well don’t you!?” Liu Qingge yelled.

“No!” Screamed Shen Qingqiu. There was a pause as they both stared at each breathing heavily. Letting that single word sink into the silence between them. “I have no need for your stupid death and no desire to ever see it!”

“I was trying to save your life!” They were both still yelling but the combative energy had leaked away, leaving something a little too emotionally raw.

What was left of Shen Qingqiu's restraint was abandoned and suddenly Liu Qingge was being grabbed roughly by his lapels.

“Maybe you should have just taken it instead of trying to steal my shidi away from me!” Screamed the man, shaking him so hard if he were a weaker man he might have risked neck injury.

Liu Qingge looked down at his long-time rival stunned. The sudden quiet drew itself out slowly before Shen Qingqiu started again. His voice subdued as his hands clenched and unclench around Liu Qingge’s robes, face down turned so he didn’t have to look his shidi in the eye.

“If I wanted you to die, I would have ran you through instead of trying to get you to calm down. You moron. And then you fucking- You are so stupid. So stupid and reckless and you never actually stop and think and, and.”

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t finish the sentence. He was trembling too hard to speak. For a second, Liu Qingge feared their fight had led to a qi deviation but then he heard a stuttered inhale of breath.

Oh. Liu Qingge had really worried the man. He hadn't expected that. Somehow Shen Qingqiu caring for any one but himself, hadn't occured to him.

Memories of soothing A-Yan surfaced as he carefully pulled the scholar into a hug. The man went taut as a bow string. Liu Qingge let his fingers begin to rub circles into Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders to soothe him. This didn’t remove any of the tension in the man but there was a soft noise and five fat droplets fell on the hands that shook around his lapels.

He hadn't come for a fight. Liu Qingge was just not very good with words but now, holding the man close, he found them.

“Tha-Thank you.” Liu Qingge’s voice was shaking as he spoke. “Thank you for stopping me. Thank you for taking me to Qian Cao. Thank you for letting me live, for making sure my sister got to see her Gege again, that my disciples still have a Shifu, that Cang Qiong Mountain still has a War god. Thank you, shixiong.”

“Idiot.” Came the snuffled reply. Tough luck, Shen Qingqiu. You had already admitted to caring. No insults could change that.

Liu Qingge begining to understand a little of what Yue Qingyuan had meant that day in Qian Cao smirked.

“‘Your’ idiot?” he teased, copying Shen Qingqiu's 'Your shidi' slip from earlier.

He was rewarded with a scoff. “Who else? Should fob you off to Zhangmen-shixiong.”

“Hm.” Was all he could reply, trying not to laugh.

The odd hug held for a few moments more. Then Shen Qingqiu pushed him gently away to hide behind his fan.

“I suppose you’ll want to know how I did it.” He asked looking off to the side. “Saved you, that is.”

Liu Qingge tilted his head and gave him a rue smile.

“Don’t care.”

Shen Qingqiu’s entire head snapped to him.

“Really?” He said, sceptical as usual.

“Hm.” Liu Qingge confirmed, wiping at his own eyes. “Don’t care how. Just glad you did.”

He had had plenty of time to think things over since their last fight. Seen plenty of the different opinions his martial siblings had. This was where he had landed.

Whatever had saved him was probably some underhanded trick. Having it explained to him would probably only make his opinion on the events worse. So it was better to just focus on the one positive truth in this mess. Shen Qingqiu had saved him. Arguably twice. Once from himself and once from the qi deviation itself.

That truth was what he would focus on moving forward.

“Oh…. okay.” Then was a further pause. Shen Qingqiu’s entire face was pink from crying, his eyes red. He looked oddly soft like this. Liu Qingge realised at that moment he had only seen Shen Qingqiu ever cry in rage. That... that was an odd thing to consider.

“Do….” Liu Qingge started then stalled.

“Hm?” There was a sniffle after the questioning hum then Shen Qingqiu finally produced a handkerchief to address the state of his face.

This gave Liu Qingge the time to properly form the question in his mind.

“When you get back, would you spar a match with me?” he settled on.

The man opposite him laughed lightly, looking at him like he truly was a fool. Maybe he was.

“Ask me again when I get back. I’ll have an answer for you then.”

“I’ll be awaiting your return, Shixiong.”

Shen Qingqiu’s ears flushed again as he looked over his fan at him, expression arrogant once more.

Liu Qingge got a small nod in return and nothing more before the man left to return to his peak.

It was enough for now.

It was an opportunity.

And Liu Qingge intended to make good use of it.

Notes:

HQY: offers to fix SQQ's clothes
SQQ: offers to maybe hurt her estranged brother
YQY, internally: Xiao Jiu I know you are trying but noooooo not like that.

Wooo thus ends the first arc of this story. Only took us 11 chapters for these two idiots to admit they maybe might not want each other dead. Fucking hell. There will be a bunch of mini adventures for the next wee bit till we hit the next PIDW/SVSSS plot point. Please stay tuned!

Bonus headcanon: SQQ out of sheer spite refuses to let his personal issues with YQY prevent him from doing his job. So on work matters with 0 personal feelings needed, they can be a surprisingly effective team.

And I once described how I try to write YQY to a friend as 'a man holding 11 cats whose personal favourite cat hasn't been fully domesticated yet.' Do with this mental image what you will.

Oh before I forget; names!
Molu Shui 墨绿水 Ink Green Water or Dark Green Waters
Yin 银 Silver
Xue Jiang 谑强 [Joy/to joke/to tease , stubborn/unyeilding] pronounced the same as 血匠 [Blood Craftsman]

Next time: Life changing field trip with Shen-shixiong???

Chapter 12: The raindrops trickle down slowly

Summary:

We are going on a trip! It's very soggy.

Notes:

Turns out I had next to no time to write while on my own personal road trip. Chapter 13 will either be out next wednesday or it'll come out before that and next wednesday will be Chapter 14

Content warnings: Reference sexism, being drenched in cold rain, School trips, and Shen Qingqiu being very very normal about Ning Yingying

"You forgot Binghe had been on a group mission again, didn't you?"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

 

It had been raining for two days straight and showed little sign of stopping today. Shen Qingqiu glowered at the sky like it would somehow sense his displeasure and rethink its current choices. The sky did not.

So, all he could do is look peeved as he helped Ning Yingying into an oiled silk over robe.

He’d chosen four disciples for the trip.

Ai Xingguang and Ke Huaban, aged fifteen and twelve, were the first two that had come to mind. Both girls were at the top of their classes and were Hallmaster Ling’s personal students. He still owed his former-shijie a favour for agreeing to give Ning Yingying extra lessons so had traded looking after her personal disciples for covering YiTao’s Weiqi class.

He was also relieving her of Ning Yingying for this trip too. Not that he needed much of an excuse to spend time with his favourite personal disciple, but now it was even more vital. If he wasn’t on the peak, he couldn’t keep her and the little beast apart. Besides she was sociable, lively, and scored high in her art classes. Were there more talented painters than her in his disciples? Yes, but he’d made sure they were all too busy improving on their weaker subjects to come. What a pity.

Lastly was Cheng Shan, one of Hallmaster Li’s personal disciples, who was relatively tolerable for a sixteen year old boy. His presence would prevent his Shimeis claiming he had only brought female disciples for unsavoury reasons. There were more talented boys, though not many, but Chang Shan was the least likely to grate on his nerves. The boy took after his other shizun, gruff but where Li would relentlessly tease, he fussed and scolded. He was quiet most of the time and did as he was told.  Ming Fan seemed to get along with him well enough, which only recommended him more.  Shen Qingqiu tolerated well behaved boys that could follow orders and didn’t question him. Besides, he was still in the top group of painters so was skilled enough for the mission.

They were all waiting near Si Chou stables. Ke Huaban, Ning Yingying and himself all wore oiled silk over robes and all five of them wore a woven bamboo hat against the rain. Their horses were loaded and ready for travel.

The Si Chou disciples around them were in a whirlwind of activity, packing and loading horses. Dashing back in forth in their pinks underneath the steady pouring of rain, some wore hats, some did not. After a certain stage of cultivation, a cultivators internal qi circulation would keep them dry and warm regardless of the weather.

Only Cheng Shan and Ai Xingguang of his disciples could be considered close to that stage. Shen Qingqiu himself had other issues that made the qi circulation needed far too taxing on his focus. He could ride a horse and be a victim to the rain or he could fall off a horse and be dry. He had opted for the more practical option of dressing sensibly and not breaking his neck.

The Xian Shu Disciples had no such issues. Floating down on their swords like a scattering of purple petals, they easily took over the moving of the heavier boxes like the sky wasn’t throwing a fit. Qi Qingqi, herself, led them down before noticing him and approaching.

She eyed his hat before greeting him with a bow.

“Good day Shen-shixiong, not a fan of the weather, I take it?” She unlike Liu Qingge had always been less direct in poking at his faulty cultivation. Indirect enough that he could ignore it without wanting to stab her.

“I dislike feeling the rain bounce off my head.” He replied. Silently, he wished he had a fan to hide behind. Unfortunately, the weather would only ruin them, so they had to remain in his Qiankun pouch. “These are the disciples that will be coming on the trip.”

At his words, each bowed and greeted their Shigu politely. Qi Qingqi nodded approvingly at this before scanning them over. She took their measure carefully before turning back to him.

“Have any of them claimed a spirit sword yet?”

“No. You asked for painters, not fighters. I believe your disciples were meant to be handling our security concerns.”

His shimei frowned a little at the sharp tone before nodding and returning to her own disciples. It took a while longer before Huang Qingying finally appeared, directing her disciples this way and that. After all the boxes were loaded, Shen Qingqiu sent his own disciples to stand by their horses and took Ke Huaban gently by the arm over to Huang Qingying’s carriage.

It was a beast of a thing, now laden with bags, boxes, and disciples.

A clearing of his throat brought his Shimei’s attention to him and the young disciple he had brought with him.

“This disciple has only been with Qing Jing peak for a year. Thus, she has not progressed far enough in her cultivation to be able to ride in this weather. Would she be allowed to travel with you, Shimei?”

Huang Qingying’s round face softened immediately. “Of course, Shen-shixiong. Come in child. I’ll need someone to hold things whilst I sew.”

Ke Huaban looked up at him, unsure of the other Peaklord. He was the wrong person to look for reassurance.

“Be good for your Shigu.” he said. His face only hardening like a silent threat.

“Yes, Shizun.” She said and with that climbed aboard. Shen Qingqiu beat a hasty retreat back to his horse as the rain continued its down pour.

His body felt numb as raindrops found their way around the oiled silk coat. He discreetly, gathered them up and flicked them away before they could do much harm. There hadn’t been enough space for him to bring his own carriage. But he could survive the journey. It’s not like they were heading into combat so he should be fine.

Tucking his hands into his sleeves away from the rain, he guided his remaining disciples into the formation.

The carriage and two carts were in the centre of the convoy. Qi Qingqi would be leading with some of her disciples at the front. His disciples, himself and those of the Si Chou disciples that possessed spirit swords would be behind the carts with the rest of the Xian Shu disciples behind them. Any Si Chou disciples without spirit swords yet were hiding under the tarps between the luggage. He could already hear them chatting away excitedly.

After a little more fussing and organising, Qi Qingqi set off and with that the rest of them followed.

The rain made the journey slow and blocked out all other noises for the most part. Just how he liked it. Everyone was either focused on riding or keeping dry. Even the twittering from under the tarps had died down.

Shen Qingqiu was the most drowsy he’d felt in days. The little beast was still preventing him from sleeping. It was irritating but until he was certain that the boy could be left to his own devices, it was necessary to keep an eye on him. Even now the relative quiet, the warmth from the horse under him and the splashes of rain were making him sleepier.

Stifling a yawn, he tried to focus on where his disciples were. Cheng Shan was by his side, quiet as ever, and Ning Yingying was frowning at the back of her horse’s head as she focused on circulating her qi. He had to turn in his saddle to find Ai Xingguang. She was now further back riding in line with some of the Xian Shu girls. She kept sneaking glances at one in particular. Interesting.

Turning back to face the front, he once again discretely flicked the rain away from his body. He had only accepted the offer of the trip to avoid being chased around by any more of his sect siblings, but Qi Qingqi hadn’t been wrong. He hadn’t left the sect in ages apart from to sleep. It made his wandering younger self seem very far away. With Wu Yanzi, they had rarely stayed anywhere longer than a night and even then, rarely returned to where they’d been.

It took them over three shichen with occasional breaks to make it to the inn part way. They had been rained on the entire time. It was horrible. Taking the horses to the stables, Shen Qingqiu looked over his charges trying not to lean too obviously on his horse.

Ning Yingying looked as miserable as she looked drenched. Ai Xingguang and Cheng Shan were better but neither looked brilliant. He himself could feel his hips protesting the long ride and was actively fighting his vision to remain in focus. They’d all need a quiet evening to recover.

Once the horses were settled, he ushered them all into the inn entrance way and gathered the water from them when his Shimei were distracted. All three children shuddered at the sudden dryness, grateful but still cold. A quick word with the inn owner landed them a small corner table with warm cups of tea as the Si Chou and Xian Shu disciples took over the central area of the inn. They were loud and far too excited to be cold.

Ke Huaban soon joined them, released from being a sewing assistant to her Shigu but with no signs of cold or illness from the weather. Good. She was immediately sandwiched between her shivering Shijie and took on the responsibility of ensuring everyone ate. The food was good enough but was most importantly warm.

He let them relax a moment after food, near snoozing himself as he prepared his medicine. Mu Qingfang had caught him the day following the Peaklord meeting and given him a new prescription. Which was just as well as between everything, He had quite forgotten to take the first. He did not mention this to the doctor. But it was said to be good for damaged meridians, so he drank the foul brew as he had been told.

His disciples’ rest wasn’t too long though as they were still disciples of Qing Jing peak. He refused to let them grow lazy whilst travelling. Pulling two Weiqi sets from his Qiankun pouch, Shen Qingqiu set them against each other each with the added task of explaining to him exactly why they had lost or won and how to improve for the next game. The winners and losers were then matched and this repeated until Huang Qingying began to organise everyone into rooms.

The rooming for this particular stop was complicated by the fact they had only two large rooms to themselves. The final decided arrangement was Shen Qingqiu, the male Si Chou disciples, and Cheng Shan in the corner of one room, fenced off by privacy screens whilst most of the Xian Shu disciples, Qi Qingqi and his other three disciples shared with them. Huang Qingying ended up in the other room with the rest of the Xian Shu disciples and all the female disciples from Si Chou.

Cheng Shan was quick, quiet, and efficient in getting himself sorted. The rest of the boys, however seemed to have mistakenly thought their Shibo would be a soft touch. The eldest boy, who would have been in charge of them had he not come, was a pathetic spineless thing. He lacked any presence and all protests from him were ignored as the next eldest boy egged on two boys rough housing. Shen Qingqiu snapped his fan closed sharply and levelled each of the hollering brats with a gaze that could freeze a strong cultivator solid to the spot.

“I would have hoped a disciple of our wonderful sect would have been able to get ready for sleep by himself without behaving like a rampaging demonic fool. It seems my expectations were far too high. Clearly some of you would be better off being let go so as not to bring disgrace to your peak and Shizun.”

That thankfully shut them up as he angled his chin down at them, voice barely above a whisper. “Get ready for bed, quietly. We have far to travel tomorrow.” Flicking his fan open loudly, Shen Qingqiu turned from the rabble as they used what little brains they had to organise out beds and blankets. This time without the unnecessary chatter.

Shen Qingqiu himself, was positioned near the window with a small mat he’d be meditating on all night. He wasn’t even going to pretend to fool himself that he’d be able to sleep tonight. Too many boys, men and in an unknown location as well. No, his time was better spent trying to circulate his qi so the affects of the rain would be gone by tomorrow.

Beyond the privacy screens, he could hear Qi Qingqi organising his girls and her disciples. She had a far easier task ahead of her, though Ning Yingying had bounced back as she always did so was talking up a storm. Shen Qingqiu relaxed into a meditative position and focused in on her lively demeanour rather than the nervous shuffling of the boys around him. This would be a long trip but he’d manage somehow.

 

---

 

Qi Qingqi’s plan had failed to account for one simple thing. That they would be escorting over forty disciples, so she barely had time to corner Shen Qingqiu.

She had cursed this fact, the entire time they had travelled. All that time and she couldn’t even ride next to him as it’d weaken the defences of the group.

Even when they’d finally reached the inn they’d be staying at overnight, she’d not had a chance to catch him. Between helping Huang Qingying herd her charges and Shen Qingqiu deliberately sitting apart from the group, there’d been no reason to approach him. It felt almost calculated. Then when had the man not been stand offish? He barely interacted with the other Peaklords outside of meetings. Never inviting them over and always finding an excuse to avoid them. Yue Qingyuan’s attempts to bridge this gap were always met with pointed words and anger. Even now she wasn’t so stupid not to have noticed he’d picked herself and Huang Qingying as the easier option against her martial brothers.

Such behaviour would have gotten her nowhere. She’d had to learn to mingle and socialise early on. Even if she hated her older brothers, playing the dutiful little sister had gotten them to help convince their father to let her escape that household to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Shen Qingqiu didn’t seem to get that. He’d been nearly an adult when he arrived and with the spoilt life of a highborn young man, he was just ill suited to any company he viewed lower than his own.

Even his peers in rank had been looked down on. She’d heard the stories of him acting like he was so far above all his shidi from the sons of merchants to the sons of regional dukes from the girls at Qing Jing peak. It hadn’t taken her long to agree with her Shizun’s dislike of him and follow her wise example. By the time the news of the lechery had reached her, she could only roll her eyes because it was predictable. She had yet to meet a man like Shen Qingqiu that hadn’t eventually resorted to collecting women like pretty vases.

And now he had began investigating her past and clearly Huang Qingying’s past. No. She was going to cut off that line of behaviour before he even tried anything. His Shimei were not pretty flowers for him to pluck because they were around, and he ranked above them. Not happening. Not on her watch.

Organising the beds, Qi Qingqi nodded as the little orange ribboned Qing Jing disciple continued to chatter brightly at her. She’d stopped listening but the girl didn’t seem to want much more than an excuse to continue to talk. It was an enviable temperament to have. On the other side of the room, the boys had quietened down significantly so all that could be heard was the young girl’s constant stream of words. A single advantage of Shen Qingqiu’s snappy behaviour being that he would not let them run riot in the same way some of the other Peaklords did.

Bedding arrangements were soon completed and after finally ensuring all the girls were comfortable, Qi Qingqi rapped lightly on the privacy screen surrounding the boys.

“Has everyone been settled on that side, Shixiong?”

“As much as could be expected.” Came the gruff reply before the man himself exited into view. He turned back to address the disciples behind him. “I expect you all to be asleep or pretending to be by the time I return. Cheng Shan, let me know of any troublemakers whilst I am away.”

In amongst the bodies, she heard a male disciple reply “Yes, Shizun.”. If his words hadn’t marked him as a Qing Jing disciple, then Cheng Shan’s refined tone would have done so instead. A lot of the Si Chou disciples came from merchant families that though at times ridiculously wealthy, never quite spoke as well as nobility. Some weren’t even the sons and daughters of merchants themselves, but of their servants sent to escort their young masters and mistresses to the sect only for that tie to be loosened due to the sect’s strict equality ruling. Hopefully her Shixiong’s disciple hadn’t his Shizun’s bigoted opinions, or this trip was going to be a rude awakening.

Seemingly satisfied, Shen Qingqiu snapped his fingers dousing the lamp behind the screen then gestured to her with his fan to lead the way.

She could only just repress a huff at this. Such a flashy trick. Was he trying to impress her? Just douse it like a normal person. She, herself, carefully blew out the lamps on the girl’s side before walking with Shen Qingqiu down to the main floor of the inn to meet with Huang Qingying.

Their shimei was already there. Qi Qingqi slipped down next to her before Shen Qingqiu could. He barely seemed to notice, taking his seat stiffly as Huang Qingying immediately fussed with pouring them each a cup of tea.

Each of their reports were short and as expected. Qi Qingqi had expected Shen Qingqiu to behave like he did during the Peaklord meetings. She’d never been on a mission with him before and with what the other Peaklord’s had let slip she was prepared for him to be as caustic off-peak as he was on-peak. But despite snapping at the boys earlier, he was calm. Not even trying to undermine Huang Qingying, who was leading, like he always tried to do to Yue Qingyuan. What was he up to?

Next came the discussion of their plans for tomorrow.

“We should arrive in Molu Shui not long after midday. We can check in at the inn then head to the convention centre. I’ll be asking Qi-Shijie’s help in unpacking and putting up the display at the convention.”

“Naturally, Shimei, you will have myself and my disciples for whatever you need.”

“I take it, both Qi-shimei and Huang-shimei are familiar with the town.”

“The Weaver’s Convention happens every three years and Si Chou always tries to attend.” Answered her shimei brightly. “There’ll be representatives from many cultivation sects and even more tailors, weavers, merchants, and artisans show casing their work! It’s also right on the banks of this gorgeous lake with mountains and the scenery is amazing.”

“This shixiong is aware. He visited it once in his youth.”

Oh?

“What business did your family have there?” Qi Qingqi asked taking a sip of her tea.

Shen Qingqiu went quiet.

“We were just passing through.” He eventually replied. “But yes, I am familiar with how the town is laid out. When did Qi Qingqi visit?”

“The last convention. Huang-shimei was nervous about attending on her own so asked this one to come with her and provide support.”

“This Shimei is very grateful to her Shijie!”

“Good, Good. How would myself and my disciples be able to aid once we arrive?”

“Oh,” Huang Qingying thought for a moment. “You could… Ah! We won’t have much time to unpack at the Inn, If Shixiong is okay with it, we could leave our bags with Qing Jing peak and rely on him to organise the rooms. I mean only if that is alright?”

Shen Qingqiu fanned himself lightly.

“That should be fine. It will leave this one extra time to prepare his disciples for their tasks the day after and give us time to recover if the weather is like today.”

She barely prevented herself rolling her eyes.

“Come now, Shixiong. You are said to be near Core Formation Level and yet you complain more about the weather than any of my girls who are below you in their own cultivation.”

This earned her a glare.

“I may be of that level, but my disciples will need time so that they are not painting with cold numbed hands.”

“Shijie, Shixiong. Please.” Huang Qingying pleaded looking between them. “Since Shen-shixiong agrees, we will arrive tomorrow at the Inn, Qing Jing will handle the arrangements there while Si Chou and Xian Shu set up for the Convention the following day. We then reconvene at the inn for dinner and sort out the groups for the next day.”

That sounded fine but Qi Qingqi had one more alteration to it.

“I will leave a few of my girls to help our weather-beaten scholars with the heavier boxes.”

“Qi-Shimei is so kind.” Shen Qingqiu’s words had a near sarcastic undertone to them. She sent him a mocking smile in return that made the hand around his fan clench. Hah!

“This sounds like we’ve come to an agreement.” And upon receiving the nods from both of them, she carefully rose from the table. “Good, now if you might excuse me, this shimei will see you both in the morning.”

“Sleep well, Huang-shimei.” Said Shen Qingqiu. His tone was softer.

His shimei paused. “You too, Shixiong.” She said and then left the pair of them.

…. What was that? Where did that come from? Shen Qingqiu was many things but soft wasn’t one of them.

The moment she was sure her shimei was out of earshot, Qi Qingqi rounded on Shen Qingqiu who was also about to head back to the room.

“What was that? Are you trying to seduce Huang-shimei or something?”

The man tripped over his own hem.

She’d never seen him so red before.

He opened his mouth to respond, closed it, hid behind his fan and somehow succeeded in turning an even brighter shade of red.

“Th-This one would never do her the dishonour, This one, This one.” He was fluttering his fan looking everywhere but at her.  

“She is a very lovely woman.”  He eventually got out very quietly, before making a face and appearing to realise something.

“This one is going to bed! Good night Shimei!” He said and then fled back to the rooms.

Qi Qingqi could only gape after him. By the time she was of the mind to chase after him, he was hidden back behind the privacy screens pretending to sleep.

So, she had been right! He was trying to steal away with her Shimei! Like hell would she let him!

Notes:

SQQ, very tired with a huge soft spot for soft women: *is softer than normal*
QQQ: Are you in love with HQY?
SQQ, who had never considered this but has just realised HQY ranks fairly high in his 'if I had to marry another peaklord' ranking: ...... BYE!

And yes all three peaklords running this trip have trauma involving noble young masters, they just handle it very differently.

Names - I'm continuing the flame emperor trend
Ai Xingguang 哀星光 6th Flame Emperor + Starlight (yes this is a Oshi no Ko reference)
Ke Huaban 克花瓣 7th Flame Emperor + Petal

Next Time: They arrive and Shen Qingqiu has a lot to think about

Chapter 13: Past the buildings they flow

Summary:

Day two of the field trip!

Notes:

This chapter was being awful. It gained nearly 1k in editing alone. I was having a rough time.

Content warnings: Sleep Deprivation, Horses, Maps, Reference to corporal punishment, Implied eating disorder, Mentioned sexism, mentioned slavery, mentioned prositution, mentioned allusions to preferring young women.

"So is it scanadlous for a cultivator to be attracted to women or not? You are giving mixed signals here, Airplane."

- Peerless Cucumber

Every time he blinked Shen Qingqiu could still see the wood grain of the inn ceiling above him. It had been a long night. He hadn’t been able to sleep as he had suspected but he hadn’t been able to meditate either. It was the worst outcome. At least with meditation, he could half counteract his lack of sleep.

Instead, Qi Qingqi’s accusation had spun around his mind all night.

In all honesty, he hadn’t been trying to seduce Huang Qingying. True, she was very sweet, even to the likes of him. It made him feel warm around her. Like a sunny day or a fireplace in winter. And she did look very nice to hug. Shorter than Qi Qingqi but much larger than her in other ways. He wasn’t oblivious to his own preferences. The Warm Red pavilion had given him plenty of examples of women to make an informed choice. He wasn’t not attracted to her. Like if he had to marry someone, anyone, she would definitely be near the top of the list. So, he liked her right? Or something?

He’d probably be comfortable spending a lot of time around her. I mean he’d never really had the chance to, but it’d be nice. So, had he been too comfortable that he’d been inappropriate? Was that why Qi Qingqi thought he was flirting? He didn’t have much experience with flirting or courting in general. Technically he’d courted Haitang but that had been limited to just continuing to act as her personal servant as normal.

He also didn’t have much experience with female cultivators. His shizun and shibo had kept him busy when he was still a disciple, and he treated all the Hallmasters with the same cold professionalism. Though that cold professionalism seemed under threat from Hallmaster Li’s bullying. That bastard.

The only women he had really been close to were the sisters at the Warm Red Pavilion. And the two relationships couldn’t really be compared. It would be incorrect to treat them the same. Try to would only lead to Huang Qingying being too flustered to even be in the same room as him and set Qi Qingqi on the war path to take his manhood, if not his head. No, his shimei couldn’t be treated like Xie-jie or any of the others.

So, how was he meant to interact with Huang Qingying? Clearly not whatever he’d done during their miniature meeting. He replayed the scene over and over in his head but hadn’t been able to find the fault?

Frowning at his thoughts, the horse he had secured for the journey nudged him as his brushing slowed. Giving its muzzle a gentle rub, he continued cleaning the beast down. His disciples had already been assigned to clean up their own mounts. A small bit of responsibility to keep them out his hair as well as another life lesson to those spoilt young masters that no, cultivators didn’t travel about with servants.

Towelling down the creature’s mane, Shen Qingqiu had come to a conclusion. He would just have to avoid Huang Qingying until he could come up with a concrete plan. Especially if he had been accidentally acting like he was pursuing her. Shen Qingqiu knew men that would hunt after their target of affections regardless of their target’s feelings on the matter. It rarely ended well and frankly he didn’t want to put his Shimei through that even if by mistake. He might be scum but he wasn’t a monster. If he was making her uncomfortable, it was on him to stop and leave her alone.

At least now he was aware that he might like Huang Qingying. Or at least he didn’t want her to hate him. Maybe in a way that was more than just wanting to be able to work together well. Even then his exact goals were hard to pin down. How could he plan without a damn goal? Why were emotions never just easy? Why were emotions about other people even worse?

“Um, Shizun?” FUCKING HELL.

He didn’t jump. He definitely did not jump at the sudden appearance of Ning Yingying, far closer than she should have gotten before he sensed her. No. Never.

She stared at him as he stared back.

“Yes, Disciple?” he asked.

“Qi-Shigu is trying to get everyone ready to move out.” She said, now looking concerned.

“Ah.” He said. “Are the other disciples ready to go?”

“Yes, Shizun. Chang Shen helped this one with saddling her horse, so we are ready to leave.”

“Good, tell them to go join up with the rest and to listen to carefully to their Qi-shigu.”

“Yes, Shizun.”

The dutiful girl bowed with a salute, her orange ribbons trailing after her with the action. Still, she stood there staring at him. He looked questioningly at her which broke her from her staring.

“Is Shizun feeling well?”

He scoffed at the question and turned from her to grab the saddle blanket. He was fine.

“Go on, this master will be along shortly.”

She was gone by the time he had finished saddling his horse.

 

---

 

Ning Yingying was sure she wasn’t seeing things. Keeping pace with Shizun’s horse, she looked him over. On the outside he was riding normally but, before they set off and even now, he seemed… unfocused. Not injured or ill, just not fully present.

She couldn’t quite identify what it was or the cause. But it made her nervous.

After nearly a shichen, Shizun finally noticed her constant staring and sent her to ride next to Ai Xingguang. This did nothing to reassure her. In his words it was to ‘prevent Xian Shu stealing her away’. She’s not sure any of the Xian Shu disciples really paid attention to her Shijie despite how she kept looking over. Most likely it was to hide whatever was wrong with him from her. Which had her even more nervous.

This mission was the first time she’d really seen her Shizun since he went into seclusion. Classes didn’t count. He wasn’t able to sit and listen to her whilst conducting an entire classroom of other disciples. It was only really today she’d have a chance to spend time with him. The rain had put a damper, literally, on her plans for the day before. And now he was making sure to send her away. She could only sulk the entire ride there.

The journey wasn’t that long today compared to the day before and by noon they were riding confidently through the town gates.

Shizun was distracted again as they stabled the horses. He stood there for quite a while just staring at his horse’s bridle unmoving. Ning Yingying had to tug on his sleeve for him to snap out of it.

It turned out the rest of the disciples wouldn’t be spending the afternoon with them so they were left with four of her very strong Xian Shu shimeis to move all the luggage, while everyone else went to set up for the convention. Shizun and Cheng Shan had had to move the boys’ stuff between the two of them. She had tried to help to keep an eye on Shizun but she had only ended up scolded and sent back. It was apparently indecent. She failed to see how luggage could be indecent.

After everything was moved, the rooms were locked tight and Shizun sat them all down. With a flick of his fan as he sat, he invited his shizhi and disciples to order off the inn’s inhouse menu. The words ‘This master will cover the cost.’ had distracted Ning Yingying from monitoring her shizun. She didn’t hesitate in ordering. Riding all day had really made her hungry. Though the others seemed a more reluctant at the offer. Well, it would be their loss.

Seeing such rare guests as Immortals from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect itself, the innkeeper came out personally to greet them. Shizun was very polite though not the sharp type of polite he used on the sect leader. It was just ordinary polite.  As they talked, an older woman took their orders and visibly took a double take of Shizun.

“Oh!”

Shizun blinked mulishly up at the innkeeper’s sudden exclamation, breaking off the flow of conversation.

“My apologies, immortal master.” The older woman was quick to bow as her boss sent her messages with his eyes. ”This one thought she recognised your face. Have you perhaps been to our establishment before?”

“You are mistaken. This master has not.” He replied coldly from behind his fan. “Please bring an extra pot of hot water with the tea service.”

“Ahh. Yes, yes. Many apologies.” She said bowing as she scurried away.

With the woman gone, Shizun ordered them to pull out their writing materials, an incense stick and holder. The innkeeper took this as a good time to also take his leave.

Waiting until the man had disappeared from view, Shizun calmly began.

“Write detailed instructions how to get to this inn from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. You have until this burns out.” He, then, flicked his fingers at the stick and with a small sparkle of light, it began burning. He had always refused to tell her how he did that. She’d looked through all the technique books too. Nothing. It was a ‘Shizun trick’ like many other things Shizun did.

As she wrote, Ning Yingying noticed the inn keeper returning with their tea, shizun’s hot water and the Xian Shu disciple’s snack orders. If the man had been hoping for further conversation, he was disappointed and sent off. The Qing Jing disciples weren’t to eat until after the lesson so all Ning Yingying could do was put brush to paper and long for food.

Sticking out her tongue as she concentrated, she almost missed something vital. Opposite her, Shizun pulled out a herbal medicine pouch from Qian Cao from his sleeve and carefully measured out something that smelled horribly bitter. He had drank the tea with a gulp by the time the stick fizzled out and the disciples looked up from their papers.

“Sign each of your writings and hand them over.”

The Qing Jing disciples did as they were told. The writings vanished into one of Shizun’s sleeves after only a quick glance.

“Next task, you have been in this inn for under a shichen and have travelled around the building during that time. Draw me as complete a floorplan map as possible of this inn. We will start it as an individual task. No conferring.” He reached into his sleeve again and replaced the incense stick and once again lit it with a flick of his fingers.

This task was much harder. Shizun had at least had them study the map of the route to Molu Shui before they set off but there was nothing memorised for this. Biting her lip, she mapped out the lower floor and placement of the staircase up. Turning where she sat, she could easily place the windows and the main door. Upstairs was more of a mess. The group had four rooms; three medium for the girls split into two groups, and the boys and shizun; then a very small one for Qi-Shigu and Huang-shigu.

Those she knew for certain, but she hadn’t seen the inside of the boy’s room and it was hard to guess what the others looked like. Still, she marked the doors she had seen as a guess. ‘Any information is useful’ after all and ‘it’s better to know you are missing something than pretend you know nothing or everything’. Shizun had made sure to drill that firmly into her head.

The stick eventually burnt out and Shizun stopped meditating. He didn’t even glance at their work.

“Pair up and compare your maps. Where do you agree? Where do you disagree? Why might this be?”

Ning Yingying immediately snagged Cheng Shan. He would at least know what the inside of the boy’s room looked like.

Though looking at his sheet, she realised something. He had drawn a perfect picture of the room from the door! Not a top-down view of the entire place. He also had a sketch of the outside. Looking contemptuously over at her Shixiong, he at least had the decency to blush. Though she couldn’t really blame him. If she remembered correctly he was the fourth son of someone vaguely important, and unlike Ning Yingying who had been swamped by maps of her dead father’s land since she could remember, he probably had little exposure to such things as there was little chance he’d inherit.

So, they worked together to improve her map, making corrections in red ink as Shizun had taught them to. ‘That way information was less likely to be lost between iterations’ if she was remembering that correctly. Cheng Shan’s detailed drawings were useful in that they could add in the windows onto some of the closed-door rooms and fully complete the inside of the boy’s room. Though Ning Yingying still couldn’t add any of the upstairs internal walls much to her annoyance.

Just as she was finishing up, Shizun called an end to their discussions himself. Ai Xingguang and Ke Huaban looked like they were also struggling.

“We’ll take a break for now.” Shizun said, fanning himself. “I’ve ordered fresh tea and your snacks. I want you each to consider what information you are missing and how you would go about getting it in an appropriate manner.”

With that he slipped back into meditation and left his disciples to, figuratively and physically, chew over the problems.

Ning Yingying sat there, eating her large portion of snacks that suddenly everyone wanted. Big surprise there. Next time just order some yourself in the first place! Sharing them out, her mind drifted from the task onto the man in front of them. Healthy people didn’t need to drink bitter teas from Qian Cao. He still looked outwardly fine. Not pale or using improper posture. But something was definitely up.

Snacks gone, Shizun made use of the Xian Shu disciples to go with them to in his words ‘put your considerations into practice’. So, the eight disciples began to circle the inn as per Cheng Shan’s suggestion. Neither Ning Yingying nor Ke Huaban had come up with any better ideas, and Ai Xingguang was too busy fidgeting and stumbling over her words with the tallest Xian Shu shimei to really be much help.

She didn’t understand why they needed their Shimeis to come with them, but they seemed amused by their Qing Jing counterparts’ task. Ning Yingying was not pouting over being called cute and adorable. Shizun wouldn’t have sent them off on a pointless task! No, she didn’t know why they had to map out the inn either, Shimei. Stop poking her cheeks!

Their criticism of Shizun eventually led into a long conversation between Ai Xingguang and the Xian Shu disciples what they were normally assigned to do if it wasn’t circling inn’s with brushes and paper in hand. This lead to no small part of boasting on the Xian Shu’s part. Ning Yingying shared a look with Ai Xingguang in mild horror at the thought of being tasked with that many dance and sword play classes. Laps around the peak were tough enough. On the flipside it was very amusing to see their Shimeis treat writing a two thousand word break down of the causes behind the fifth great demon-cultivator war from three centuries ago like it was a torture sentence. Dancing for over a shichen would have been the torture sentence!

Cheng Shan and Ke Huaban steered clear whilst this was going on. They instead ended up sketching the backside of the inn, the stable courtyard and then the horses. By the time they returned to Shizun, Ai Xingguang was bright pink, Ning Yingying had updated the map and combined they had enough horse sketches to according to her shixiong ‘bribe Ma Jiu for a month’. He wouldn’t tell her what they were bribing them for exactly, only that it was very possible.

Their shizun merely opened one eye at them all, blinked at them slowly and waited scowling for everyone to retake their seats. The Xian Shu disciples were once again offered snacks, but they had had enough and seemed more curious over the inn map task.

Eight pairs of curious and nervous eyes watched as Shizun carefully went over their work. His own sharp eyes taking in every detail and every brush stroke.

“Hmm.” Uh oh. That meant he had found something. Not good news for them.

There was the loud ratchet of a fan opening as his piercing gaze returned to them.

“One at a time, right to left, tell me who is in this building right now.”

Ke Huaban was first.

“The other guests?”

“Correct, Disciple Ke. Disciple Ai?”

Her shijie baulked for a moment before stuttering out, “We? Are?”

“Indeed, we are. Disciple Ning.”

The guest and themselves had been used as answers. Who else was there? At that point fresh tea arrived. As she drank it, Ning Yingying realised something.

“The staff.”

“Yes, Disciple Ning, the staff. In none of your maps had any of you included even a guess as to where the kitchens or staff areas are. Disciple Cheng, knowing of this gap where would you put them on this map?”

Cheng Shan furrowed his face and bit his lip for a moment before looking up. He then pointed on the other side of one of the downstairs doors on the same side as the backdoor they’d seen from the outside.

“The serving staff were using that door so it’s likely the shortest route to the kitchens. My family had our servants’ quarters near our kitchen so it’s probably here with access to the backdoor.”

“Why would an inn want to have it staff areas near a backdoor?”

This stumped them for a moment. They knew that it was where it would be located but it was hard to pinpoint why. They clearly took too long as Shizun snapped his fan shut.

“So, their paying customers don’t see their staff entering and exiting via the front entrance. It’s considered unpleasant to some.”

Reaching into his sleeve, he pulled out eight white Weiqi stones. “Each of you write your surname on a stone. Shizhi, since you are showing interest, you may join us for this part.”

The Xian Shu disciples didn’t need much encouragement as Shen Qingqiu flattened out their map of the inn and placed each stone exactly where they were currently sitting.

“Right before we begin, disciples, hands.”

Oh no. This was the worst bit of Shizun lessons. He always, after they’d finished the lesson, had their hands checked for ink stains. In his words, ‘Sloppiness reflected badly on the peak and the sect.’. As such Qing Jing disciples learned quickly to write carefully and to keep their hands and sleeves clean.

Ning Yingying passed the inspection as did Cheng Shan and Ai Xingguang. Poor Ke Huaban had a smudge up her palm. The girl looked near in tears but instead of a swift strike with a fan, she only got a disgusted tut.

“I expect better in future, Disciple Ke.” Said Shizun. His voice full of threat.

“Yes, Shizun!” Ke Huaban squeaked out.

At the very least, the hand inspection meant he didn’t have any further writing or drawing exercises planned for them so the inksticks, brushes and inkstones were put away.

Opening his fan again, Shizun began placing black Weiqi stones around the outside of the inn’s border on the map.

“In this scenario; this inn is being sieged by demonic cultivators and their demonic collaborators. I want you all to figure out the best battle plan to defeat them with as few injuries to yourselves and the ordinary people of this inn. You have until the rest of the disciples return with my shimeis to figure this out starting from now.”

 

---

 

The convention set up had went well. No issues apart from the organisers spending too long fawning over them. She understood that Molu Shui was in Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s sphere of influence but there were many much closer if not smaller sects to the area. It had felt like they might never be able to leave. Even now safe in the carriage, Qi Qingqi could still hear their voices. It must have worn out Huang Qingying as she had taken her arm for support the entire walk back to the carriage. Even now she was leaning on her shoulder, eyes closed. Such a chore.

Qi Qingqi huffed fondly. Tomorrow would be as chaotic as last time but at least this time round they knew what to expect. She was glad her shimei had asked her to attend with her again, even though this mission wasn’t dangerous to warrant two Peaklords running it. Let alone the third she had dragged along with them.

Settling the carriages and carts with the inn’s stablemaster, they ushered in the crowd of disciples.

The others weren’t hard to find. Shen Qingqiu sat at a table in clear view, wafting himself leisurely with his fan. Eyes closed, he appeared to be pretending to be above his lively disciples. Though as she got closer, Qi Qingqi quickly realised the loudest voices were from the girls she had left behind to monitor him.

Approaching them, the noise died down.

“What are you arguing over?”

“Answering Shizun, we were trying to determine which of us could best kick multiple combatants in the head.”

Qi Qingqi wasn’t sure what expression she was making. But somehow this was Shen Qingqiu’s fault. In two and a half shichen, he had corrupted her disciples. The man himself was still ignoring everyone. Was he even awake?

Grasping for a thread of sense, Qi Qingqi addressed the culprit himself sharply.

“Would Shixiong care to explain this conversation?”

It took a moment, but Shen Qingqiu slowly opened his eyes to meet hers.

“Battle tactics lesson.” She gave him a prompting expression, but he did not explain further. He even closed his eyes again ignoring her.

His answer explained so little. Sighing, she gathered up her disciples to follow her. Taking them up to her and Huang-shimei’s private room, she placed a privacy talisman on the door and bid them all to give her their reports.

The results were meagre. Apart from paying for their food and having them escort his disciples, he had borderline ignored them. He didn’t seem to favour the male disciple over the female ones, nor had he truly done anything out of the ordinary in regard to the lesson. Though if his target was herself or Huang-shimei, that would make sense.

It at least gave her enough evidence that he could be trusted around the female disciples tomorrow. The rumours she heard hadn’t given her high hopes for even that. Brothels normally stocked women from the age of fifteen with the majority being in their early twenties or late teens. The same age range as most of the Si Chou disciples and all but one of her own disciples. If his regular visits had given him a similar preference, it would have been on her head for bringing him on the trip and putting the disciples in danger like that.

As concerning as his interest in Huang Qingying was for many other reasons. She was at least in her fifties, even if she still looked barely twenty-three.

Dismissing her disciples, Qi Qingqi rejoined the main group. Huang Qingying waved her over to a spare seat beside her as they ordered the evening meal. Shen Qingqiu and the others were also now sitting with the group, though their shixiong only ordered tea and spent nearly the entire meal, quietly fan himself. He might have been meditating. It was a little hard to tell.

The meeting to discuss the next day also just didn’t happen. For some reason Shen Qingqiu was quick to head to the boy’s room. He stated he would trust whatever plan Huang Qingying and herself came up with and just left. Just like that. It felt rude and left Huang-shimei quite as a loss.

Drifting off that night, Qi Qingqi tried and failed not to think about her Shixiong’s odd behaviour. She’d keep an eye on him tomorrow as well but so far nothing bad had happened. And for her shimei’s sake, she hoped nothing would.

Notes:

The thing about the Issue with the Prostitutes is I don't think it's an issue with SQQ going off to fuck. That's part of it since he's meant to exercise restraint as a cultivator but I think if he was running off to the arms of his wife , there wouldn't be any scandal around it. Just eyerolls.
The issue with prostitutes (besides the social stigma) is as QQQ worries that they are close to the same age range as his disciples. The second issue is that true consent is a bit hard to confirm when you are essentially renting out a woman. This is possibly why it was brought up as evidence in the trail in relation to him having plans on Ning Yingying in PIDW.
It has the same vibes as wondering why a certain teacher is being fired then discovering he was dating a only just legal girl attending another school. It's legal but as a teacher it's sketchy af. SQQ unfortunately hasn't any other options and isn't going to confirm his innocence any time soon. >:c

On a lighter note: Figured out a backstory for NYY. Her mother died in childbirth and her father died when she was fairly young but he had written into his will that his lands were legally her dowry. Meaning his relatives couldn't inherit. However a young girl can't run an estate so they took over running it and sent her off to a cultivation sect to be out the way. Despite the shitty motives, whenever NYY visits she gets spoiled rotten and then spoiled sweet again. Overall this arangement works until one of her cousins is confused why he isn't inheriting the land his father ran and has to fight a Demonic Emperor about it. PIDW side quest: Secure NYY's inheritance which is now your's cause she's your wife, Bingge.

Also on my in-story calendar this chapter was SQQ fighting his way through his 12th day without sleep. Assuming he slept when he ran off into the bamboo forest for two nights. The man is tired.

Can you believe the original plan for this trip was for it to be 3 chapters long? My naive arse did. Woe is me. It will not 3 chapters at all.

No new names as I avoided naming the Xian Shu disciples.

Next time: Convention time! And maybe a Brother????

Chapter 14: Through the feet of the crowd

Summary:

Ning Yingying works hard. Shen Qingqiu has a bath, nearly kills someone and finally gets a nap.

Notes:

8 days late! Kinda had to change the outline for this one because the original just wasn't doing what I wanted it to do. So no brother this chapter, but you get some character progress instead.

Chapter warnings: Child abuse, Harm to children, Teachers so strict they make children cry, Implied eating disorder, Bullying, near drowning, Sleep deprivation, nearly Qi deviationing, mentioned assault attempt on child, Information nuggets from chapter 4 being expanded upon (yes it took 10 chapters shhhhhuuusshhh this is a slow fic), Qing Jing Peak disciples being used as living cameras.

"We all know it's just Cloud Brocade. 'Mist Brocade' is such a poor rename. Put in some effort. For fuck's sake."

- Peerless Cucumber

The morning meal was early the next day. Ning Yingying didn’t appreciate this at all. Blinking blearily at her congee, she spooned it dutifully into her mouth. Shizun sat opposite her. He had only ordered tea and was once again meditating as everyone else ate. Most people she knew didn’t eat much when they were sick. Though he still didn’t look sick. He wasn’t overly pale, just kind of drowsy.

Her snooping eventually ended when the food did. Once they were finished, Shizun sent them off to prepare but to meet him before the group set off. Sitting at one of the more private tables, he had them each present their tools and inspected them.

“It’ll do.” He muttered having checked over the last brush and gestured them to pack them away.

“We’ll be accompanying the others to the convention today. I expect you all to be on your best behaviour.”

“That means no sloppiness” he said looking at Ke Huaban.
 “No picking on your shidis or shimeis.” Cheng Shan nodded under his gaze.
“No starting fights.” It wasn’t her fault her shixiongs kept fighting with A-Luo! She looked offendedly at her shizun who gave her a raised eye brow before turning to Ai Xingguang.
“And lastly; No flirting with the Xian Shu disciples. Disciple Ai, can you repeat that back to me?”

“N-No flirting with the Xian Shu disciples.” Her poor shijie was bright pink. Cheng Shan snickered next to her only to stop when Shizun’s eyes shot to him.

“Good. Your Shigu, Huang Qingying, has organised how we are to be utilised this mission. Pay close attention to her instructions.”

“Yes, Shizun!” They said in unison.

Despite taking the carriages and cart the day before, the convention site wasn’t that far away so they would be arriving on foot. Molu Shui was quite a pretty town. Plenty of trees sheltered the roads and the shops were all neatly arranged and bustling with the new customers the convention had brought in. Even the small river that wove through the town lived up to its name. Dark green waters that was thick with plants and little black fish that darted for cover when her shadow passed over them.

When she had mentioned this to Shizun, he had said it was because of the hot springs nearby that brought nutrients and natural qi up from deep underground. It also stopped this part of the river from freezing so it was an excellent trade hub all year round. He had also said when he last visited there had been a bath house. That kept her bouncing along the rest of the walk. A bathhouse with hot springs! This was the best trip ever!

The convention centre overlooked the river. It was a large old building and even this early in the morning it was heaving with people. Cang Qiong Mountain wasn’t exactly sparsely populated and even Qing Jing Peak, one of the least populated peaks, had nearly fifty disciples to its name with that number increasing every year.  Still, Ning Yingying felt like she had never seen this many people in such a small space. Even the interpeak tournament matches had everyone spread out across the grounds.

Shuffling along in the mass of bodies, the Cang Qiong Mountain sect group made it to their exhibition. After a quick head count, Qi Qingqi marched back into the crowd and rescued two of the smaller Si Chou disciples that had been separated from the rest. Everyone now accounted for, Huang Qingying split her disciples evenly. Qi Qingqi then assigned a pair of Xian Shu disciples to each and lastly Shizun put a Qing Jing disciple with each group. Ai Xingguang had looked so hopeful until Shizun had deliberately not put her with the tall Xian Shu disciple from yesterday. Chang Shen caught Ning Yingying’s eye and smirked. She definitely did not return such a childish expression.

Shizun himself would be accompanying the last group as their artist. This put them on five groups to explore the convention and one left behind to man their exhibition. The plan was for everyone to regroup every half shichen to swap out so that everyone got a chance to explore.

The group Ning Yingying was in had one of the Xian Shu disciples from yesterday in it but the rest were unfamiliar. Still, they all seemed nice enough and the Si Chou disciples were already planning the most efficient use of their half shichen. It was decided they’d go from the furthest away parts of the convention inwards towards their exhibition. Thus, they set off.

The crowds were dense but the Xian Shu shimeis were good at their job and they were able to get to the far edge in a short space of time. Now began the slower walk back. Ning Yingying had never really paid attention to her clothing beyond ‘Did it fit?’ and ‘Did it make her look cute?’. She’d never learnt to sew. She’d never had the need to learn. Shizun always was willing to fix the tears in her uniform and when he was busy, she had a lot of skilled shijies, shixiongs, shidis and shimeis that she could ask to fix it. But now as the others gawked over Yun isle wool and needles made of the Bin clan’s steel, she found she was learning a lot about the merits and demerits of using what materials using what method in what type of robe.

That was when she wasn’t being asked to sketch that fabric weave or that cut of garment. Most of the Qing Jing peak painting classes focused on either landscapes, people, plants or animals. None had bothered on the exact weaving pattern of the strands of silk brocade ribbon. The Si Chou disciples corrected her a few times before she’d captured it to their standards. The next few times were easier. Clothing items and their drape were a little simpler as she could just pretend it was a full body portrait of the model or that her task was to dress an imaginary model in the clothes on the stand. These got better responses from the Si Chou disciples.

Though it might have been easier to paint if the Xian Shu disciple from yesterday wasn’t trying to also dress her up in trinkets as well. This Shijie did not appreciate it! She also didn’t puff out her cheeks when they wouldn’t stop poking them! She sent her best impersonation of Shizun’s frosty glare at the annoying shimei who began giggling! Rude!

Eventually the half shichen came to end and everyone returned to the exhibition. Her fellow Qing Jing disciples look similarly stressed. Shizun saw their expressions and gestured them all in with a wave of his fan.

“So, how was everyone’s first in the field painting experience?” He said behind a silk scene of the lotus ponds back home. Even with most of his face hidden, Ning Yingying could tell their shizun was a little smug. Shizun, stop being so mean! It might be easy for you, but this was difficult for little disciples like them.

Ning Yingying wanted to whine her thoughts out loud but Shizun never took that well, so she settled on giving him the biggest wettest eyes she could. He immediately avoided looking at her.

“Our martial siblings are very demanding.” answered Ai Xingguang glancing at the very passionate looking weavers that had been in her group. They were currently discussing something that involved a lot of arm motions like a fish diving in the water. Ke Huaban nodded along side her. Their youngest fellow disciple looked a lot more ruffled than before.

“It’s hard to paint with the crowd.” She muttered trying to hide her hands in her sleeves. Ning Yingying wasn’t the only one that noticed this action. Shizun snapped closed his fan and held his hand out in front of Ke Huaban, palm up.

“Show me.” Ke Huaban slowly put her hand in his and he drew back her sleeves to show the large amount of stains. Ke Huaban looked terrified.

“I didn’t mean to. Everyone kept pushing and, and-“

“Stop crying. No excuses.” Snapped Shizun, annoyed. “The Xian Shu disciples should have been preventing that. We’ll swap groups for now. Since at least the ones with me knew how to do their job. Tsk. Disciple, I said to stop crying.”

“S-Sorry, Shizun.” Ning Yingying offered Ke Huaban a handkerchief and helped her shimei clean her face and the worst of the stains on her hands. They were still clearly marked, as was part of the front of her uniform though she’d managed to hide that stain far better.

With that the groups reformed and another half shichen was allowed to explore. Ning Yingying’s group had to run the exhibition with Huang-shigu whilst the disciples they replaced became her new group, Qi-shigu also came instead of the Xian Shu shimeis. Huang-shigu seemed a little upset to be losing her shijie but was soon back to being busy handling the exhibition.

Once they were suitably far from the other groups, Qi-shigu moved to walk next to her. The crowd wasn’t as pushy here. Maybe because even non-cultivators could feel subconsciously the power of a golden core level cultivator. Maybe because Peaklord Qi, like her Shizun, was beautiful in a terrifying way and made no attempt to soften for other’s comfort.

“Shizhi, I saw that your shimei seemed rather upset when we regrouped.” she asked as the Si Chou Disciples stopped to observe a mist brocade demonstration. She was using the same tone some of her shijies used to fish for information when they thought they were being subtle.

Ning Yingying wasn’t blind. She knew Qi-shigu had some sort of issue with Shizun. She’d seen her trying to gently coax the female disciples of Qing Jing over to Xian Shu more than once. Ning Yingying as Shizun’s personal disciple had been given that offer many times. It always felt weird to her in a way she couldn’t identify. So, Ning Yingying paused before answering. ‘No starting fights.’ Shizun had said. ‘No starting fights.’ He probably hadn’t meant for that order to be considered so carefully on his behalf.

“Ke-shimei is not used to such crowded places and found it rather upsetting.” Was what came out of her mouth. It was mostly the truth. Mostly.

Qi-shigu seemed to accept her answer.

“Can this shizhi ask Qi-shigu a question?”

The Peaklord regarded her surprised before returning to watching over the Si Chou disciples. “Yes, she may.”

“Why did Shigu invite this one’s Shizun on this trip when she doesn’t like him?”

Qi Qingqi froze and stared down at her before answering. “This master wished to keep a close eye on him. Shizhi, has Shen Qingqiu been acting strangely recently?”

“Yes.” Her shigu immediately turned to her.

“Tell this master of what he’s done.”

“It’s more what Shizun has not done.” Ning Yingying continued conscious that she’d just became the centre of Qi Qingqi’s very intense focus. “This disciple is yet to see her Shizun eat this trip and he seemed …unfocused yesterday.”

“Unfocused?”

Ning Yingying nodded as the Si Chou disciples finished and called her over.

“Please excuse this shizhi.” Ning Yingying said with a salute before leaving Qi Qingqi to ponder over her words.

 

---

 

Qi Qingqi was paying attention to him more than ever. It had started yesterday after he’d swapped groups with Ke Huaban. Not that he wasn’t aware she had been keeping an eye on him before but it had been more subtle through her disciples. Not outright trying to glare a hole into his skull like this. It made his entire spine prickle up.

Huang Qingying had not been helping the situation at all. She seemed determined to place him and herself in near proximity to each other. He’d spent most of today focused less on whatever the Si Chou brats had wanted him to draw and more on how to dodge away from his shimei without offending her, her disciples or his other shimei. By the time they’d finished the second proper day of the convention, he’d managed to give himself a headache from all the trouble.

Head pounding, he was able to slip away from his shimeis and their disciples with the excuse of teaching. He took his own disciples up to the surrounding hills and set them the task of capturing as much of Molu Shui’s beauty as they could. It would also serve as a rest for them as well. Leaving them on the hill, he made his way back into town, able to keep an eye on them from afar.

Circling around a corner he found the bath house where it had been last time. Not much had changed. The owner had grown from a snivelling young boy clinging to his father’s leg to a fine busy tradesman who was more than happy to answer his questions. Information acquired he returned back to his disciples as dusk began to settle bringing a harsh chill with it even this far down out the mountains.

They returned to the inn just in time for food. Qi Qingqi’s stares hadn’t eased up at all with his absence. They seemed even more pointed, like him sitting there sipping tea was somehow an affront to her. Huang Qingying also was now glancing his way. Hiding behind his fan, he evaded eye contact with either of them, waiting out the meal.

Once the others had finished up, he approached Huang Qingying slowly. Qi Qingqi seem to materialise next to their shimei instantly. He stopped a good distance away from the pair.

“This shixiong was wondering if he might take the male disciples to the hot springs in town? He would of course cover the costs for the boys.” Huang Qingying blinked and then nodded.

“Of course. That’s very kind of Shixiong.” She answered. He gave her a bow and quickly left to gather the disciples.

Under half a shichen later, Shen Qingqiu was floating blissed out in his own private pool. The disciples were relaxing in the public one. He felt a bit like a dumpling in soup. A very sleepy dumpling. His eyes dipped closed and he sighed.

Curling into a ball, he sunk beneath the water and let the heat soak into his bones.

He still hadn’t figured out what to do about Huang Qingying but at this rate the mission would be over. He could avoid her far easier back on the mountain.

Exhaling, he felt the bubbles move past his face before he rose to the surface for air. He couldn’t wait for this trip to be over. He wanted to go back to his hut and just not move for a week. Maybe he could escape away to the Warm Red Pavilion. Though his funds were currently a bit low to afford more than a single night there.

Sighing, he leant his cheek on the warm stone nearby. Shen Qingqiu was dangerously close to falling asleep right there and then when some bastard knocked on the door.

“Shibo?”

Fucking hell. He wished for nothing more than to tell the brat to fuck off.

“Yes, Shizhi?” he said instead.

“…” Ah, his annoyance must have leaked through.

“Yes, Shizhi?” He tried again rising from the pool as whatever this was, was going to unfortunately need him to be dressed.

“This disciple is having trouble getting some of his shidis to stop fighting.“  

Pulling the water out his hair and from his body, Shen Qingqiu got dressed and wiped a light coat of make up over his face before opening the door to the pathetic eldest boy from Si Chou.

“Are they now?” he snarled causing the boy, honestly by his age legally a man, to shrink into himself.

Entering the public baths, he immediately located the troublemakers. The same ones as before. The second eldest was holding the arms of one of them and the other looked ready to leap on his captive.

Shen Qingqiu’s temper sparked and he used the water to grab the leaping boy. One moment the fool was pouncing the next he was thrashing bubbles under the water’s surface.

“Drop him. Now.” Shen Qingqiu growled at the remaining two.

The second eldest immediately released his captive who spluttered and splashed in the water.

“Cheng Shan.” His disciple step forward in the pool. “I’m putting you in charge of keeping that one,” he gestured to the former captive. “out of trouble.”

Cheng Shan saluted sharply and dragged the smallest of the trio away.

That problem solved, Shen Qingqiu turned to the second eldest who was eyeing up both his fuming shibo and his tattle-tale shixiong.

“You should help your shidi before he drowns.”

The bubble cloud had yet to resurface, despite Shen Qingqiu having released his hold. Springing to action, the second eldest hauled the half drowning boy out of the water, onto the poolside.

“Your Shizun will be hearing about this and if she doesn’t punish you, rest assured, I am happy to step in.”

The trio of troublemakers all cowered under his gaze.

“If I have to return again because our sect’s disciples can not even take a bath on their own, I will not be pleased.”

With that he left them to finish the rest of his soak in peace.

The walk back to the inn was no less irritating. The half drowned pouncer kept whining about his ankle. It took all of his self control not to yell at the boy to shut up. Cheng Shan was at least following orders. The smallest troublemaker was now forcefully stuck to his side and was utterly silent.

Huang Qingying was waiting for them when they returned. She took one look at the whining boy and immediately had him sat down. Fussing, she looked to Shen Qingqiu for answers.

“These three,” he pointed out the trio, “were fooling around and as a result that one hurt himself.”

Huang Qingying made a sympathetic noise and had the disciple show her his ankle.

A dark red bruise ringed it.

Oh.

He hadn’t thought he’d used that much force. Shit! His control had slipped. He was getting too tired for this. Fuck. Shen Qingqiu tried to ignore the phantom warmth that passed along his fingertips.

Thankfully all it took was a little qi circulation from his shimei for the boy’s bruising to fade down to a muddy yellow.

“There we go.” Huang Qingying said gently, “Next time be more careful, silly.”

The brat thanked her and shuffled off with the rest of the boys to the room without any further trouble. Just as he was about to follow them, Shen Qingqiu felt a tug on his sleeve.

“Would Shixiong join this shimei for tea?”

“I-“ He began an excuse.

“Please.” He looked down at his shimei who was still gripping his sleeve, with a soft pleading expression and knew that he’d lost.

“If Shimei insists.”

She dragged him up to her and Qi Qingqi’s shared room and set about preparing tea. He took a seat and quietly waited, opening his fan for a bit of protection.

Huang Qingying had finished preparing the tea when Qi Qingqi entered and froze. He didn’t look at her directly, but he could see the hem of her robes move cautiously from the door to nearer Huang Qingying.

“Ah! Shijie! Perfect timing!” Huang Qingying said as she set down the tea service and some snacks. He was poured a cup, as was Qi Qingqi. He avoided looking at her, taking a sip of his tea.

Silence reigned.

“So, um, Shixiong. How are you finding the trip?”

He could feel Qi Qingqi’s stare on him.

“Perfectly fine. How has Huang-shimei been finding it?”

“Oh! Um, good. It’s even more lively than last time and the disciples have been enjoying themselves.” Huang Qingying looked worriedly over to him, “Well, I just wanted to check. I mean I didn’t want to feel that Shen-shixiong has been inconvenienced by all this. I know it was decided rather last moment so um, um, Are you sure that everything is okay?”

“Shimei.” He said as she fidgeted with her cup some more. “It’s fine.”

“If you say so.” Huang-shimei gave a nervous laugh and began drinking her tea as silence reigned again. His entire body itched to fidget as the silence dragged out longer and longer.

Qi Qingqi made no move to break it, Huang Qingying kept nervously glancing at him and he just didn’t know what to say.

After what felt like days, Qi Qingqi gave mercy to his and Huang Qingying’s nerves.

“This master heard an interesting rumour today.”

“Oh? Do tell, Shijie!” Huang Qingying latched onto the conversation thread with both hands.

“One of the stall owners is a local tradesman and he said there were cultivators in the town a few months ago.” She said, taking one of the snacks.

Shen Qingqiu stopped drinking his tea. “Cang Qiong hasn’t issued any missions in this area for over a year.”

“I know.” Qi Qingqi replied pointedly. “They were chasing after a ‘Yellow Ghost’. From the description I got, it seemed like it was Abbots from Zhou Hua Monastery.”

“Evil spirits are their area of expertise. So, it makes sense they’d be tracking one.” Huang Qingying added in.

“But they didn’t inform Cang Qiong nor are they supposed to hunt on our lands.” Anger burned on Shen Qingqiu’s words, “We are the closest of the Great Sects so it should have come to us, not them.”

Shen Qingqiu’s tea tasted like ash. He put down his far scalding cup. Only then did he notice the remaining dregs of tea had burnt into the ceramic at the bottom.

Ah.

Fuck.

He wasn’t even that mad about Zhou Hua Monastery.

He was just far too tired. For this. For anything really.

 He needed to sleep.

This was unsafe. He could have broken that kid’s leg earlier.

Qi Qingqi had replied something to him and Huang Qingying had spoken soon after. He hadn’t heard either of them.

The warmth from his hands was dangerously ringing around his ears as they both made noises that he couldn’t translate into words. Closing his eyes, he waited out the ringing and the warmth. It took only a moment. He was far too used to this.

Once the ringing had cooled, he opened his eyes to find both of his shimeis staring at him concerned.

“Please excuse me.” Shen Qingqiu muttered as he rose and left the room.

Qi Qingqi was immediately at his heels as he went down the stairs, instead of towards the boy’s room.

“Where are you going!?”

“Out.” He replied. “I’ll be back by morning.”

“What do you mean out?! Shen Qingqiu! Answer me.”

He didn’t answer her, he marched swiftly, slipped onto Xiu Ya and forced the sword to go as fast as it could.

By the time his shimei had reached the inn door, he was airborne and leaving her far behind.

His flight was a short one and after the initial burst of speed tapered off to a slow meander along one of the nearby mountain paths.

Xiu Ya remained steady under his feet, while he swayed with the wind.

“A tree.” He commanded the sword and it left the path. Lazily the sword swung up to an old Ginkgo and he rolled into the space between the trunk and a thick branch. The bark crisped where he touched it before cooling in the night air.

Hopefully it wouldn’t rain. Hopefully. Xiu Ya calmly slid back into its sheath as he curled into a ball on the tree.

As a kid, when the three of them had been travelling place to place, he’d always ended up sleeping in trees. He’d learned the hard way that, although others might be friendly to Wu Yanzi or his uncle, they were as opportunistic as anyone else and a young boy sleeping within reach was far too tempting a prey.

Pulling in deeper under his outer most robe, Shen Qingqiu let his eyes close. The smell of warm bark in his nose and the soft silk texture of his robes against his cheek steadily had him relax. Despite the winter winds, the Ginkgo tree didn’t sway. The rustling leaves only further lulled Shen Qingqiu to sleep.

The sun was just dawning when he moved again. Looking down at the Ginkgo, there was clear scorch marks where he’d slept. Shen Qingqiu carefully circulated his now much calmer qi through the tree as a silent apology.

Shivering, he made it quickly back to the Inn. The old server nearly jumped out of her skin when he walked silently up to her to order tea. Cuddling the cup, he’d managed to warm up by the time the rest of the disciples came down for the morning meal. Qi Qingqi gave him a suspicious look but didn’t question him further. She just strode over to him and pulled a Ginkgo leaf from his hair. Twirling it in her fingers, she scowled at him before going to sit with her own disciples.

Notes:

Starting with names:
Cloud brocade, 雲錦 Yunjin: A real luxury silk weaving technique that was often used on emperor's robes. It's so pretty. look up pictures. Airplane's knockoff is Mist brocade. XD
Yun isle wool, Yun 云 Cloud. So Cloud Isle wool. Think a cloud sheep. Just Floof. Maybe like a Wooloo pokemon. Airplane is 100% a hack so he would yoink a pokemon or eight into PIDW.
Bin clan's steel : Bin 镔 fine steel. Basically The Fine Steel's Steel.
'Yellow Ghost': Huang 黄 Yellow (yes the same as Huang Qingying which was purely accidental as I had named HQY before I even considered this fic but here we are) and Gui 鬼 Ghost or an evil spirit.

Fun fact: Sleep deprivation can exacerbate existing medical issues. High blood pressure? It gets worse with poor sleep. As do seizure episodes and those prone to heart attacks. Part of the difference between SJ!SQQ and SY!SQQ cultivation is that SY actually fucking sleeps normally so is less prone to qi deviations. That being said I still think both had a rather fucked cultivation system as there's no way a healthy Cultivator should have been able to just implode and kill themselves like that. SY's become-a-plant suicide would have been a bit more difficult with a normal body but whatever.

And yes, SQQ's lil speech at the chapter start is a Peaky Blinder's Thomas Shelby 'No fighting' reference.
Also I will eventually name the Si Chou troublemaker trio and the tall Xian Shu disciple, maybe the one that likes irritating NYY too. But not this chapter. If folks have any suggestions for names, feel free to comment them.

Lastly, Ginkgo trees are super pretty though I'm not sure they grow on mountains. Either way. Aesthetic sleepy Shen Qingqiu in Ginkgo tree.

Next time: The braincell holder on this field trip appears as does the brother! I promise this time he'll show up!

Chapter 15: To the end of the road

Summary:

A small update with Qing Jing Peak meanwhile Shen Qingqiu and Huang Qingying finally have a talk.

Notes:

Though I'm still going to try to do a chapter a week. It'll probably work out as being sporadic from here on it.

Content warnings; Child abuse, Bullying, Bad childhood, Poor relationship with birth family, Someone acting like a karen, Implied sexism, triggering of trauma responses

"I don't know a lot about hair ribbons but surely it would have snapped by now? I get that Luo Binghe has to get there in time but seriously Ning Yingying and the villager she saved are hanging over a cliff held up by just one little itty bitty orange ribbon."

- Peerless Cucumber

 

“Do you think Ning-shijie is alright?” Luo Binghe asked.

“Shouldn’t you be focusing on not getting hit?” Ming Fan answered him not even looking up from his scroll.

“It was just a- Owww!” Zhi Yao gave a hollering laugh as he got two hits in. Served the little beast right for not paying attention.

Looking up from his study assignment, he saw Luo Binghe try to remember the stance to block only to get another hit in the ribs and one to his shoulder.

“Zhi-shidi enough. Break for now then we’ll do another match.”

“Yes, Da-shixiong.” Zhi Yao was giggling as he wandered over to Ming Fan to take a swig from his waterskin. Luo Binghe limped after him, grabbing the other skin.

This is what Ming Fan had settled on after Peaklord Mu’s visit over a week ago. Since he was all but banned from dragging Luo Binghe around himself, he’d gotten Zhi Yao to do it in his stead. He had managed to get permission to use one of the older training pavilions aswell. The lessons were still under Ming Fan’s instruction, but Zhi Yao was Luo Binghe’s opponent and the one now in charge of escorting him from classes to the meal hall. He hadn’t never seen his shidi so happy to be assigned work.

It wasn’t always combat training. Before he’d left for the trip, Cheng Shan had suggested helping the little beast with his classes as well as his general deportment. So, he’d added in some personal classes on etiquette as well as tutoring on the area’s where his shidi was lacking. Which was everywhere. It was tiring and they’d both lost their tempers more than once but it was slowly working.

He was slowly refining the little beast into a rather crude little scholar. Maybe. It had been just over a month. He was no miracle worker.

Still as the boy emptied his skin, he was looking a little less rough around the edges. No less bruises but holding himself a little taller, moving less like a drunk cow.

“So, you are certain she is okay?” Luo Binghe asked again.

“She has Shizun with her. Ning-shimei will be fine.” Zhi Yao said dismissively.

Ming Fan spared a glance at his shidi.

Qing Jing Peak hadn’t had a field trip in years. Even then Ning Yingying had been too young to attend so this was probably the first time he’d ever been away from her in so long. A little black coal of emotion lodged in his stomach. He tried to ignore it. Why were they always so close? What did his filthy little shidi have that he didn’t? It wasn’t fair. Why was he never good enough?

Shizun was the other point of worry. Over the past week, he had figured out Luo Binghe was somehow aware of Shizun’s injuries. Which he definitely shouldn’t be. That meeting with the sect leader and Mu-shishu had been private.

“This disciple is just worried.” Luo Binghe mumbled as Zhi Yao poked him in the head.

“They’ll both be fine, you worry wort. It’s not even a dangerous mission.”

Zhi Yao didn’t notice Ming Fan furrowed expression behind him as he dragged Luo Binghe off for another sparring match, he’d no doubt win.

 

---

 

Sleeping through a minor qi deviation wasn’t without its consequences. The daily walk to the convention hall had become a slog of stiff muscles and fizzing nerves. Shen Qingqiu stayed near the back to avoid drawing too much attention to his stilted gait as he hobbled along. Ning Yingying seemed not to notice, bouncing around him, talking about this and that. Apparently, he might be teaching her how to sew once they returned to the sect. He pointed out she could learn far better from one of the Si Chou disciples. He did not point out that his own sewing skills came from stitching up near misses from demonic beasts and other cultivators.

Cheng Shan kept close by with the smallest of the Si Chou troublemakers. He had reported that the male disciples had managed themselves in the four shichens he was gone. He thankfully did not question further than that as he was distracted by his newest duties. Given the success of Ming Fan keeping the little beast out of his hair, Shen Qingqiu had high hopes this would have the same results.

Trying not to grimace at a sudden twinge up the inside of his foot, Shen Qingqiu looked up to find himself in a staring contest with his shimei.

During the entire walk, Qi Qingqi had been shooting looks his way. It was unnerving and after a few times the Xian Shu disciples noticed their shizun’s actions and looked his way as well. Maintaining eye contact with Qi Qingqi did little to stop her actions. It was he who broke from staring first, fluttering his fan higher to shield himself from the gaze. There wasn’t anything on his face. He’s checked in a small mirror he kept in his Qiankun pouch. Nothing out of place, just his normal face.

He didn’t know what to do about her so settled on just ignoring it for now.

The Qi Qingqi shaped problem appeared again when Huang Qingying went to create the teams for the day.

“Actually Shimei, this shijie will not be available this morning.” She said suddenly.

“Oh?” said Huang Qingying visibly deflating a little.

“My business shouldn’t take long.” Qi Qingqi reassured her. “Besides, Shixiong will be here to keep you company.”

The intensity at which her eyes locked onto him at the last part of that nearly made him flinch. There was a threat in there. About what in particular? He was not sure.

Huang Qingying gave both of them the most nervous smile he’d ever seen cross her face.

“Ah, yes, Shijie. Yes, stay safe.” HOW WAS HE MEANT TO NOT MAKE HER UNCOMFORTABLE NOW!? QI QINGQI DON’T JUST SMILE AND WALK OFF.

The disciples were split into slightly larger teams and sent off to regroup in half a shichen. Huang Qingying didn’t want to contradict Qi Qingqi so left him out the groups. A small part of Shen Qingqiu was glad he had all but been ordered to stay put. He was in no mood to draw or walk right now.

The exhibition they were hosting consisted of multiple outfits of display along with a large range of samples from brocade light silk fabrics to toughened fabric armour pieces. They had an entire corner to themselves. It was a subtle power show as well as a way to gain financial backers. Many of the smaller sects as well as the wealthier non-cultivators didn’t have the skills nor time to manufacture their own fabrics so buying quality garments with inbuilt arrays was good for them, good for Si Chou, good for An Ding and gave Yue Qingyuan another soft power tool to use.

The large exhibition thankfully meant back here they had places to sit. Taking a perch on a crate, Shen Qingqiu pulled out Xiu Ya to place across his lap and settled in to meditate. He was only in the way next to the tables, lacking both the temperament and the energy to pitch the ‘many unique features of their special made sleeve cuffs’. The pair of Xian Shu disciples were already acting as obvious guards. He could be a clear threat in sight behind everyone else. A sleeping tiger not to be disturbed. Fuck, he wished he could actually sleep right now. Last night had helped but he was still exhausted.

The first half a shichen passed quickly. His disciples had gotten a handle on their role and were starting to stand confidently. Even Ke Huaban had learned not to be so clumsy. She’d been very happy if nervous to show him her clean arms. His scowl and comment of ‘It was about time.’ had dampened her mood a bit but not for long. All of them were doing well. Though Cheng Shan could have been more subtle with his constant pinching of the smallest troublemaker. Scolding the bewildered boy to stop curling inwards and stand properly. Shen Qingqiu could only wrinkle his nose at such a timid little brat.

“Is Shizun enjoying himself?” Asked Ning Yingying, skipping over as Huang Qingying swapped in and out the disciples.

“This shizun is taking in the atmosphere. I hope Disciple Ning is focusing on her duties and not solely on ‘enjoying herself’?” He said giving her a wry look. His favourite disciple had the nerve to cross her arms defensively.

“Of course!” the girl replied with a pout. He wanted to poke her cheek so badly. That wouldn’t be appropriate though.

“Your new group is waiting.” He said instead, pointing with his chin. The girl looked over her shoulder, sighed dramatically before stretching her arms.

“This disciple will do her best not to disappoint Shizun.” She gave him a quick bow before jogging away.

He couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his face. He rose his fan high to hide this lapse in control.

“I heard she is your personal disciple.”

He hadn’t noticed Huang Qingying approaching him. She fidgeted with her hands and kept close enough to converse easily but deliberately apart from him.

“Yes, Disciple Ning is.”

“She’s very energetic.” Continued Huang Qingying still fidgeting and not getting any closer.

“Yes. Yes, she is.”

The was a pause as Huang Qingying thought of something else to say. She immediately tensed up when he turned towards her.

Ah, he was making her uncomfortable again.

He looked away, eyes focusing on the departing disciples.

“Did Huang-shimei bring any of her personal disciples?”

“Me? Oh. I am yet to pick up any that are personally mine.” She laughed doing a little shrug. “You know, always busy. Not that I’m implying that Shixiong isn’t busy! I just. I just. Don’t think I’m quite there yet.”

“Huang-shimei should consider it. It is quite rewarding even if-” A certain fluffy haired brat came to his mind. “-trying at times.”

“I shall think on Shixiong’s suggestion.”

“Disciple selection isn’t until spring. You have time.”

They lapsed into another silence. The disciples were manning the exhibition well without their Shizun, who refused to move away from her carefully distanced conversation.

“She, your disciple, told this one her hair ribbons were a gift from you?”

“Yes, they were.”

“SunLion Weaver silk, she said.” He could see Huang Qingying turn to him out the corner of his eye. “That is quite the rare material for hair ribbons.”

“I thought it best they be …sturdy.”

“So, you had them made from the silk of a spider the size of a small cow that is found only in the deep caves of the demon realm?”

Frowning he turned to face her fully. As expected, she flinched back.

“Is Shimei teasing me? Or does she actually disapprove?”

“Ahh. No, I wasn’t. I, I mean.” She held her hands in front of her then slowly forced them back into her lap clasped. “It’s just a rather extravagant gift to buy. Especially for a young girl.”

“… I didn’t buy it.” He turned away.

“You didn’t?”

“Your shizun, Dou-shishu, agreed to spin some of the webbing I collected on a mission. I was told it would be unsuitable for me to wear them so when Disciple Ning expressed an interest, I let her have them.”

“Unsuitable for you to wear?”

He didn’t answer her probing look. So, she returned to fidgeting.

There was another long silence in their conversation. Just as his shimei opened her mouth to continue it further there was a small disruption near the front of the table.

Standing there was a very grand looking man, clearly rich and with white and grey staining his hair. By his side was another man with a similar face, either his younger brother or his adult son, potentially his adult grandson. They looked familiar. Though Shen Qingqiu couldn’t place them immediately.

A disciple shuffled up to Huang Qingying and said the man had asked to talk directly to the man in charge. She nodded stiffly, suddenly tenser than she’d ever been. Shen Qingqiu kept an ear tilted their way as his eyes traitorously slipped closed. There was perhaps three shichen left before they left the convention? Maybe less. He wanted to curl up somewhere. He’d take anywhere at this point. Put him horizontal and he’d pass out serenely-

“I can see him from here. Don’t lie to me, Yu-mei. Hello over there!”

A murderous twinge sparked through his hands into Xiu Ya. The sword gave him the emotional equivalent of a dog cocking its head. It couldn’t sense any enemies.

Slowly he opened his eyes and glared at the man who was gesturing at him. Seeing that he’d got his attention, the man laughed.

“Hello, it seems your disciples are slow to understand. I was wanting to have a private talk about a possible business venture between my humble family and Cang Qiong’s Si Chou Peak.”

The man was no doubt Huang Jinyin, the current patriarch of the Huang Clan and leader of one of the top five river merchant companies in over seventy Li. He didn’t look much like his half sister thankfully. Though Shen Qingqiu did note with some distaste that they shared the same smile lines around their shining dark eyes. How bothersome. Huang Qingying herself was staring at the floor trying to make herself seem as small as possible.

Xiu Ya again told him no obvious enemies were near as he tightened his grip.

Fuck. He’d have to deal with this prick. A prick who had sorely misunderstood the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s distinctive peak based colour coding. Just because the obvious guards are in purple on white, the rest of the disciples are in pink on white and he, dressed as the second in command of the greatest of the great sects should be, was the only one in soft green did not make him in charge.

But the shithead wasn’t going away on his own and neither his half sister nor his brother-son-grandson were going to wrangle him.

Fuck.

He hated dealing with rich bastards like this. He hated how pinned in he felt. That he first scanned this man’s sleeves. It was so stupid. He was going to snap.

He didn’t have the energy to argue with this prick who was going to talk. He could tell he was going to talk. After years of having to deal with some of his disciple’s fussier parents, he could spot a talker.

Talkers always wanted to spew words and words that amounted to nothing to anyone they thought was in charge. They’d ignore anyone else. Dismiss them as nothing of value.

Ah.

He had an idea.

Returning Xiu Ya to his hip, he approached.

Huang Jinyin grinned at having gotten his way. Shen Qingqiu didn’t leave him with that grin for long.

 It had been decades since he’d needed them, but the old mannerisms were still there. He fell into them with disturbing ease.

Instead of acknowledging Huang Jinyin any further, Shen Qingqiu turned his body with his head respectfully low and asked in a cold but gentle tone.

“Did Peaklord Huang wish for this one to scribe the discussion of this new venture?”

After all, there was nothing worse for a noble prick like Huang Jinyin to mistake a slave servant for anyone of importance.

 

---

 

Huang Qingying was not sure what she was experiencing right now. Somewhere she knew the emotion was probably shock but it wasn’t fully registering.

For as long as she could remember she’d been in the wrong place. She had been in the wrong place for her father. The daughter that had forced him to take in a concubine that his wife despised. She’d been in the wrong place for her brother, that clumsy ugly girl he had to call his sister. She hadn’t spoken up when they decided to send her to a sect once her mother passed. It made sense. Gave the family some prestige and meant they would never have to see her again. It made her useful. She just wanted to be useful, to be helpful.

So upon joining, she had done just that. She knew a little bit about sewing but she was never good before. Her younger sister had always been better. But she could learn. So, she had. She had helped her Shijies and her Shixiongs then later her Shidis and Shimeis. She was always willing to fetch more thread or help hem a garment or embroider that. Soon her shizun was asking her to help him personally. She still wasn’t the best but she was there and she was helpful and then she was head disciple.

Huang Qingying was never fully sure what made her Shizun pick her and not one of his much more talented disciples. She had once found the nerve to ask him and he’d laughed and laughed. He asked her to name anyone disciple that would care as much about this peak as her. Who would pour so much effort into making sure everyone kept going, that would offer a hand when they were in trouble. Who else could he trust his peak to if not her?

It had been nearly three and a half decades before they would ascend and long before there was even rumours of such plans to bring an end to the two century reign of the last generation of Peaklords. But Dou Gangfeng was already making plans for his peak.

He had been one of the few to really believe in her. To say she was worthy. She sometimes missed that strange moustached man so much it ached. A mentor, a teacher and a better father than the one she shared blood with.

It was only after he had ascended that she first really met her shixiong, Shen Qingqiu. She had seen him from afar many times and even been on a mission together where they exchanged all of five sentences total. He was quiet in a way that made it painful for others and spoke only to wound or insult. Cold eyes and judging. Everything about him told her she was in the wrong place. That she should be quiet and out the way somewhere else like a good little shimei least she attract his anger and cruel words.

It’s why when he knew about her family, she hadn’t known what to do. She hadn’t entirely cut contact with her family upon joining, after all what would be the point of sending her to a cultivation sect if not to have a cultivator in the family to show case. She still attended family get togethers and saw both her half-siblings happily marry well. She was there at her father’s funeral though try as she might no tears came. Her shizun had sat with her for the nights after she returned and couldn’t sleep. Overly sweet tea and far too powdery pastries.

But even at these events she never put herself forward, it wasn’t her place. She was there as a sign of the Huang family’s greatness, not her own. She never invited them to the ascension ceremony.

But Shen Qingqiu had found out.

Somehow he knew and he saw all with those dark green eyes of his peering over his many fans. He knew and then Qi Qingqi invited him along.

Huang Qingying knew he hated it. He must have. He seemed to hate her too or at least was avoiding her. The worst thing was that she had been glad.

Glad that her plans to steal Qi Qingqi away on a trip had gone uninterrupted. Her shijie was everything she admired. She was tough and fierce. She didn’t cower away from cruel men instead faced them sword in hand. And she was beautiful. So beautiful. It was maddening. So yes, she had selfishly stolen her away at the last convention and was beyond overjoyed that Qi Qingqi had come to her (to her!) herself to ask to join in the next one.

Of course, she’d said yes! But then Shen Qingqiu had been dragged into it. No longer was it her and her shijie but a game of walking on eggshells. A confusing one where the eggshells kept running away.

Was he mad at her? Was he mad at Qi Qingqi? Did he just not like either of them? She had barely managed to get two words out of him. The uncertainty had slowly started to eat her up until it reached a critical mass. She had to find out what was happening. Even if he hated her it would be less stressful than this looming uncertainty. So, Huang Qingying had pulled herself together yesterday and begged him to have tea with her.

That had gone…poorly. She had floundered on what to even talk about and then the topic had gone beyond her control and Shen Qingqiu had fled in a rage. Qi Qingqi had chased after him but returned empty handed. So, she had gone to bed that night with nothing to show for it but a burnt teacup. Qi Qingqi had frowned at the ruined cup and promised to buy her a new tea set.

Shixiong had been gone all night. He made no comment on the events of the evening before and somehow that made her feel worse. Worse but more determined to approach him.

Now she wasn’t sure what to think. The man who a week ago had made Zhou Qingde cry, was respectfully deferring to her. His entire face innocent. His eyes large and round. Since when could his eyes get that huge? She’d never seen them not narrowed in a glare. What was happening!?

Her brother next to her made a choking sound.

She could only stare at him then back at Shen Qingqiu who was not acting like Shen Qingqiu. He was acting more like the personal maid she had had back in her childhood.

“Peaklord Huang?” he asked batting his eyes in demure confusion.

“No, that won’t be necessary.” She found herself saying. He nodded and shrunk back behind her, his entire posture respectful.

Her brother’s face went pale then red.

“She’s in charge!? You left her in charge?! Jinyu is ? WHAT? “ Her brother seemed to lose his words as easily as he found them.

“Yes, the Peaklord of Si Chou peak is in charge of the work produced by Si Chou peak” Shen Qingqiu’s answer was so monotone and to the point one of the disciples with them snorted back a laugh. It was stated as a simple fact.

It was a simple fact. Centring herself, Huang Qingying mustered up a front of confidence she did not feel.

“Yin-ge. Please, just, please leave. You can send the deal in writing if you still wish later but… I have work to do here.”

She held her breath as Jinyin sized her up. In the end, her nephew made the choice for them both. Bows were exchanged and just like that he was gone. Just like that her lungs no longer felt heavy. Just like that she could breathe.

“He seemed pleasant.” The tone in which Shen Qingqiu said that suggested he had found her brother quite the opposite.

He was back to normal. Fan up high, glaring over the top of it at her brother’s retreating figure. He stood tall, shoulders back and head arrogantly high so that he was nearly looking down his nose at you. The quiet meek man from before seemed to have evaporated like morning mist.

“Shixiong, we need to have words.”

He startled and was suddenly looking at her with confusion. “What?”

“Right now. We need to have words.” Without giving him another chance to run off, she took a hold of his sleeve and pulled him along. Over her shoulder she ordered her most responsible disciple to be in charge and marched out into the crowd, dragging Shen Qingqiu along with her.

He didn’t resist or pull away, simply letting her take him to one of the smaller storage rooms. Entering, she checked it over. Empty of people. Good. Closing the door behind her, she pulled out a privacy talisman and stuck it to the door.

And then it was her and Shen Qingqiu. A Shen Qingqiu whose dark green eyes were rapidly jumping from her to the door like a cornered rabbit.

“What the hell was that?!” He flinched. Even she wasn’t prepared for the question to come out as a yell.

“It seemed like a better idea than stabbing him.” He had said the words quieter than a whisper, uncertain. He was tensely still. Just watching her.

“I what? You never- You don’t even- Since when could you make your eyes that big!?” All her words were a mess. Forget that. All her thoughts were a mess too.

Shen Qingqiu blinked at her. “You mean like this?” He said doing that again. She scrunched up her face at his teasing and, and then… he snickered then stopped like he had been caught red handed.

A moment passed.

“I meant no offence.” Shen Qingqiu said.

“You didn’t cause offence.” She wanted answers. “I just, you have been avoiding me the entire trip.”

This got a reaction. A few emotions crossed her ever evasive Shixiong’s face. She watched the look of guilt pass by. It was as good as a confession.

“Qi Qingqi informed me that I had made you uncomfortable early on in the trip.” He said, avoiding eye contact again.

“So, you avoided me?”

“I wanted to give Shimei space. I couldn’t be unpleasant to be around if I wasn’t around.”

“I thought you were mad at me!”

This made him sharply raise his eyes to look at her. “Why would I be mad at you?”

“Because. Because…” Because you are always mad at someone, Shixiong. She didn’t say that out loud though. “Are you mad at me?”

He shook his head. “Do… does shimei want me to give her space?”

“No. No, I do not. This shimei would much prefer it if Shen-shixiong spoke with her about such matters instead of running away or clamming up at the very sight of me!”

She hated how easily she cried. Rubbing at her eyes, she tried to breathe. In. Out and in then out then in again.

“This shixiong only meant to make the trip more comfortable for you.” His voice was so quiet. It was stern like it always was but there was no edge. No pointed jab. Just dullness.

Trying and failing to wipe clean her face, she eventually gave up.

“This one finds it hard to be comfortable around her shixiongs. It is not something she meant to trouble Shen-shixiong with.”

There was a glint of something in Shen Qingqiu’s eye.

“This one understands. This one,” he swallowed thickly, “understands.”

The quiet that followed was like a blanket.

“How can this Shixiong help Huang-shimei then?”

“Stop avoiding me for starters.” He exhaled in a near laugh at her bluntness.

“As you wish, Shimei.”

“And Qi-shijie! You were avoiding her too.”

He tsked loudly. “Huang-shimei is being unreasonable, Qi-shimei despises this one.”

“Who is the one in charge of this trip?”

Shen-shixiong was actually sulking now. It was oddly amusing to see him behave so childishly.

“Huang-shimei is.”

“Then as the one in charge, this Peaklord would like her Shixiong and Shijie to get along, at least for now. This Peaklord will even help Shixiong out.”

Shen Qingqiu let out the most put upon sigh possible.

“Fine. As Peaklord Huang wishes.”

“Good.” She shot her Shixiong a smile and his face softened to neutral instead of an outright frown. She was going to take that as a win.

They walked back together. Not long after the disciples returned so did a windswept Qi Qingqi.

“Shijie!” She called out joyfully. “Come, this shimei needs to ask a favour from you!”

“What is it, Huang-shimei?” Qi Qingqi said, eyes flicking to where Shen Qingqiu stood next to her.

“Qi-shijie plays Weiqi in her spare time, correct? Huang-shimei was curious if she could challenge Shen-shixiong to a game this evening. She would love to see her Shijie’s skills in action.”

Qi Qingqi made a face like she was about to refuse. That was until Shen Qingqiu stepped forward, looking down at her from behind his fan.

“Of course, if Qi-shimei is too scared to take this one on as an opponent then there is nothing to be done about it.”

Huang Qingying thought she heard the bone creak with how hard her shijie grit her teeth, fire burning in her eyes.

“Shixiong should prepare himself to lose.”

The smirk Shen Qingqiu gave in response could be felt rather than seen.

Notes:

That evening:
SQQ and QQQ surrounded by Shonen Rivals Anime flames as they play ( ◞•̀д•́)◞◟(•̀д•́◟ )
HQY stitching away: (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

Demonic Sunlion Weaver: I asked my spidernerd friend for names and they mentioned that their favourite spider is the Venezuelan Suntiger. So I based them loosely off that. I'm picturing a huge spider with a abdomen that strongly resembles a Lion dance costume head piece. Lots of brightly coloured fluff with fake eyes to trick other creatures that they are the head of something much bigger and scarier.

Names:
Huang Jinyin 黄金银 : Yellow + Gold and Silver
Huang Jinyu 黄金玉 : Yellow + Gold and Jade (precious) Huang Qingying's birth name.
Dou Gangfeng 都刚缝: All/Whole/Refined/Elegant + Firm Stitch

Next time: We finally find out what the deal with Qi Qingqi is.

Chapter 16: To grow the puddles

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu gets a nap and Qi Qingqi has a very Bad, not good time

Notes:

Hello, was planning to get this out before christmas but instead I'm getting it out before New Years Day! This Chapter ended up nearly twice the size of previous ones and over 10% of the current word could of the fic.

Content warnings: Sick characters, Medical emergency, Medical drama, fainting, lots of panicking, paranoia, basically Shen Qingqiu being an absolute mess, far too indepth descriptions of clothing, this author's wonky use of cultivation

"I'm actually impressed. Instead of having her become yet another wife you let Qi Qingqi die nobly defending her sect. Holey shit. You didn't MILF her! AIRPLANE AIRPLANE YOU ARE LEARNING! HE IS LEARNING EVERYONE! LOOOK!!! Fuck that was a good scene. WHERE WAS THAT THE REST OF THE TIME!?"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

 

Last night had been.. good. Qi Qingqi was a surprisingly skilled opponent. That or she had been itching for a fight all trip and had bested him out a sheer spite. They had managed to get through three games before Huang Qingying’s yawns had stopped the fourth part way through. He had won the first, Qi Qingqi had won the second and determined not to be bested again he had narrowly won the third. It had been fun.

It felt safer than before. If he was worried about teasing Qi Qingqi too far he would check Huang Qingying’s reactions. This gave him a line that he could play to. Or at least a sign that he’d gone too far. It was nice. It was nice to feel wanted in a room. To not feel like he was accidentally intruding. A warm filling feeling like the sigh after a deep breath in.

Shen Qingqiu’s body still ached despite his good mood though, and a persistent headache had bloomed overnight. He could feel the damage from the qi deviation catch his qi, sending it swirling in little eddies that collided against old tears. He still hadn’t healed the fractures up the meridians of his left arm yet, so this new pressure happily tore up any progress he’d made. Already the fingers on his left hand felt numb and cold while his right fizzed and sparked with uneven warmth. The pain was manageable thankfully but it came and went as it pleased.

All of this was not helped by the fact he hadn’t been able to sleep again. Shen Qingqiu had tried. He had naively thought that sheer exhaustion might knock him out flat. But no. Instead, he had laid there waiting until the disciples were all asleep before giving up and going down to the inn’s main floor to meditate. At least down there it didn’t smell or sound like teenage boys.

Meditation had been difficult with the uneven internal flow. Every time he got close, pain or a muddled rush jolted him back out. As dawn approached, he had nothing to show for his efforts except a strong metallic taste in his mouth. Slinking back in, he’d managed make it back to the boy’s room before the disciples woke with the creeping light.

Breakfast was lively as always, though this time Huang Qingying took a seat next to his.

“And how is Shixiong this morning?” She greeted giving his forearm a small hug.

“Well.” He lied, pulling his arm free. “Was Shimei’s night restful?”

“Quite!” She replied, helping herself to the food. He would be sticking to his tea for now. Throwing up would only make him feel worse.

“Ah, that’s good. I was worried Qi Qingqi’s anguished cries would have kept you awake all night.” He said jokingly.

He could feel the glare from the other end of the room bore into his head as the last of the disciples made it down the stairs. His other shimei had heard him. He wasn’t sorry.

“Shijie is graceful even in defeat.” Huang Qingying scolded him gently though she was still smiling as Qi Qingqi took a seat opposite them.

“Something that Shen-shixiong should learn from.” He glared at her but was grinning internally at the snark. Qi Qingqi was a fun opponent verbally as well. “That’s the last of them down, Huang-shimei.”

“Hello Qi-shimei.” He greeted with a sharp politeness. “I hope your night was also pleasant.”

“It was.“ She was still watching him, eyes flicking to the cup in his hand as he drank. “Will Shixiong be joining us at the convention hall tonight?”

“The convention hall?”

Huang Qingying next to him stopped eating then suddenly seemed to realise something. He had to wait for her to finish her mouthful to get his answers.

“Oh! I wasn’t able to tell you. Tonight, a large banquet will be hosted for the exhibition groups and stall owners along with some of the richer merchants. Qi Qingqi and I will be attending on behalf of Cang Qiong.”

“Ah.” He was never the best with large social events.

“Shixiong is welcome to come along.” Huang Qingying continued, dark eyes shining up at him. He felt already he was losing the ability to deny her. Something Ning Yingying and Jiejie both took horrible advantage of. Oh dear.

“Would you like me to attend?” He really hoped she would say no so he could curl into a little ball somewhere.

“Yes.” This was Qi Qingqi. “We would like Shixiong to attend.” She didn’t look happy about what she was saying, but Huang Qingying was overjoyed with her Shijie.

“…If my Shimeis insist.” He conceded. This got him a giggle and a small clap from Huang Qingying. Qi Qingqi just kept staring at him, arms crossed. “Will the disciples be alright on their own?” He asked.

“The girls will be going to the hot springs tonight.” Said Qi Qingqi which got a wave of excited whispering from the disciples not so subtly listening in.

“And this Shimei had organised some exercises for the boys.” Said Huang Qingying, which got a wave of sighs.

“This shixiong will see to it that his male disciple is also left work to keep him out of trouble.”

The rest of the day passed much the same as the rest of the week. His headache got worse, only weakening after four cups of the tea prescribed to him. He didn’t risk any more after that. Qian Cao ‘teas’ were medicine and, like any good medicine, too much was poison. The headache had returned by the time they packed up and took the disciples back to the inn.

The air was heavy, full of static. It would probably storm tonight. That did nothing to help his mood. Still he wiped himself down, redressed in the nicest of his travel clothes, redid his make up and carefully put up his hair. Checking himself over in the mirror, he had succeeded in hiding any sign of weakness from his image.

Huang Qingying and Qi Qingqi were waiting for him in the hallway outside their room. Both were dressed finely in the brilliant white of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect with richly colour sleeves embroidered with flowing flowers. Thankfully his clothing was a similar white with bamboo leaves so kept with a cohesive theme. He could be the green leaves and they could be the pink and purple flowers. Suited him perfectly fine.

The girls were sent off with the Xian Shui disciples leading the way. Of his own disciples, Ning Yingying was in danger of becoming part of the constellations with the height of her leaping bounces as Ai Xingguang, very red faced, appeared to be having a small crisis. Ke Huaban thankfully was there to keep both of her shijies earthbound and walking with the group. He hoped that they wouldn’t get into too much trouble.

He assigned Cheng Shan a simple portrait exercise. It should keep the boy quietly busy. Not that his other assignment wasn’t. The youngest boy, Rao Ding according to his Shimei, shrank under his Shibo’s stern gaze. Or tried to, Cheng Shan’s elbow made it hard for the boy to completely curl inwards. His cowardice only got him a sneer for Shen Qingqiu. That kid was going to have to learn to stand up and fight someday.

Oddly Qi Qingqi insisted them walk to the convention hall. Xiu Ya sulked by his side the entire trip. He hadn’t taken the sword from its sheath since the qi deviation, and it was not appreciating the lack of use. He rubbed a thumb into the pommel to soothe it, but this had minimal effect. To make things worse, one of his legs had cramped by the time they arrived. An erratic qi flow had seized the muscle just as they came off the bridge. Clenching his jaw, he ignored it and walked with purpose. Huang Qingying was hanging off Qi Qingqi’s arm talking away so neither appeared to note any change.

The banquet was in one of the nearby private guest houses still within sight of the convention hall. Gone was the heaving crowd of bodies and shouts of wares for sale, instead was small talk and the lowered voices and fake laughter of connections being made and deals being promised.

His fan came to his hand and shielded him from the many eyes as they entered. The host of the event immediately came forward and greeted them. Shen Qingqiu let Huang Qingying handle that prattle as he took stock of the crowd. They weren’t the only cultivators here. He could make out some people from the nearby Bi Qi sect further in and unsurprisingly two seniors from Huan Hua palace. There were others but none had any identifiable sect. So, from further afield, a different minor local sect or sectless rogues.

Shen Qingqiu eyed the pair from Huan Hua Palace as they started to whisper to each other. Any major business event saw Huan Hua Palace stick its nose in. He wasn’t surprised this one being outside their area of operations hadn’t stopped them. There was a strong predatory urge to go harass them but that wasn’t his job here. He and Qi Qingqi were Huang Qingying’s support for this event. The fact that both ranked higher than her didn’t matter. This was Huang Qingying’s world and her area of expertise. She was the one in charge.

Their host finally stopped grovelling and began to guide them onwards some ‘good friends’ of theirs. No doubt hoping that the introduction would lead to future business with the new Peaklord. Shen Qingqiu followed silently with Qi Qingqi. He could already feel eyes on them. Gazes sliding over each of them with intent. He had to hold himself perfectly still to avoid shuddering.

He did not like social events. He really did not like social events. He was terrible at making nice with people. He hated the looks, the two facedness. He hated the rich bastards that tried to shmooze up to him. Thankfully he just had to be quiet for this to work, quiet and calm and fuck, he should have risked another cup of ‘tea’.

He nearly did flinch when an arm looped into his. It was Qi Qingqi. It was just Qi Qingqi. She didn’t look in his direction or even acknowledge the arm. Good because if she began mocking him right now, it would not end well. He swapped his fan over to his right hand so the arm link was less awkward.

Huang Qingying continued to talk to the crowd of bodies. His head couldn’t decide if it was throbbing or spinning. Focusing on the weight at his arm helped if barely. He didn’t bother keeping track of the conversation. Words had just become noises and after a while the noises trailed off. Huang Qingying bowed to one of the many faces and himself and Qi Qingqi matched it. Then they were briefly alone, just the three of them.

“Is Shixiong alright?” Seems words were a thing again as Huang Qingying’s voice came back into focus.

“I’m fine.” He said ignoring Qi Qingqi blatantly calling ‘Bullshit’ to this with her face. “Are there any particular people Huang-shimei will be speaking with?” He asked, tone polite and maybe a little too fakely sweet.

“I, er,” Huang Qingying glanced at Qi Qingqi for a second. “This shimei has a few.”

“Excellent.” He stood waiting until Huang Qingying awkwardly nodded and led the way. They had a job to do. His issues with being eyed up were not a priority here. Focus damn it. Steeling himself, he ignored his throbbing head, he ignored Qi Qingqi glaring up at him, he ignored that fucking bastard over by the ugly vase that hadn’t stopped undressing him with his eyes since they walked in, he ignored his shitty cramped up leg, he ignored everything.

Instead, he forced himself to untense, straightened up and with poise escorted Qi Qingqi after Huang Qingying.

The group Huang Qingying took them to next was far older than their host’s friends. Two women with their white hair pinned up with gold and jade and a man whose seemed very content with his filled plate. A huge grin spread across his face.

“It’s Immortal Dou’s girl! Hello there!”

“Greetings Master Mao. This one is glad to see you in such good health. You were dearly missed at the last convention.”

Ahhh, so this was the main silk provider to the sect. Cang Qiong Mountain sect might have weaved its own fabrics but there was not enough space for the sheer quantity of silk production they would need to be self-sufficient. Instead, high quality silk threads were ordered in, to then be dyed and arrayed on Si Chou peak proper. The Mao family was responsible for most of this.

“Ha ha! All is well now.” The man was loud, it made Shen Qingqiu tense instinctively. But he seemed good natured. Like a doting old uncle. Not a threat. For now. “Thank you for your kind regards during that trying time. This master takes it that Xiao Huang is now Peaklord Huang? Quite the big change.”

Huang Qingying smiled. “Master Mao is correct. This one still has much to learn.”

Master Mao returned her smile before a bitter sweet expression took over his features.

“It is a pity of my ill health. I had hoped to talk to your Shizun one last time before he left. So strange to think he’s gone now. I remember my grandfather first inviting him over for tea when I was just a boy.”

“This one hopes to continue such strong relation in the future.” Soothed Huang Qingying.

“Indeed.” The bittersweet expression left his features as he looked up and realised Huang Qingying was not alone. “I’ve been being rude. Please introduce me Peaklord. Who are your companions?”

“This is Shen Qingqiu the Peaklord of Qing Jing and Qi Qingqi the Peaklord of Xian Shu.” He bowed at his introduction and Qi Qingqi at hers.

“Peaklord of Qing Jing?” Asked Master Mao. “Then this man must be quite the singer?”

“Master Mao has this one mistaken for his predecessor. This one’s shizun was gifted in the musical arts. This one’s talents lay elsewhere.” He answered humbly with another bow.

“Talents laying elsewhere? But is Peaklord Shen not quite well known?” It was one of the ladies by Master Mao’s side that said this. He suspected one was Master Mao’s wife but he could not presume which.  “The Noble Xiu Ya Sword. All the tales painted a tougher looking man in this madam’s mind but clearly immortality comes with its perks.”

“This master is grateful that a fine madam like yourself views him as such an example.”

The lady that spoke flushed and her companion snickered. “Oh my! He’s a charmer too.” She teased the poor woman. Had he over done it? Master Mao was laughing along with them at least.

Qi Qingqi’ disagreed, her grip on his arm tightening. Too bad for her. His left arm was already mostly numb so he couldn’t feel any of the pain meant to scold him.

“Sister! You have a husband at home.” The blushing woman whispered.

“I know but I also have a fine daughter at home too.”

Master Mao let out a loud, ouch his head, laugh. “Please excuse my sister-in-law.” The man said.

“In truth if you fine ladies seek a true noble warrior, Qi-shimei here is by far a better candidate. It pains me to admit but many of the legends of the Xiu Ya Sword have been exaggerated into complete falsehood.”

He didn’t dare look down, but he could feel Qi Qingqi glare up at him. He was done being the centre of attention. Your turn now, Shimei.

Huang Qingying was more than eager to sing her Shijie’s praises.

This gave him space to relax as the conversation drifted from Qi Qingqi to business matters. He regained his arm back at some point during this. Flexing his hand, a wave of painful pins and needles shot up his arm. That was going to be a bitch to heal later he could tell. His cramped leg had long since fallen asleep as well. Eventually the conversation concluding, and Huang Qingying guided them onwards to the next group.

This continued on for most of the night. Huang Qingying leading the way and himself and Qi Qingqi keeping quiet watch over her, joining in the conversation when addressed. Eventually they made it to the food table to collect a drink. His leg ached, his head ached, everything ached. Every now and then flecks of black and white dotted his vision and a ringing noise had started somewhere near the back of his ears and wasn’t going away.

“Any more people you need to meet, Shimei?” asked Qi Qingqi, sipping a cup of something he didn’t have the focus to identify. His eyes met hers briefly as he tried to keep his face neutral.

“Two more.” Huang Qingying said, a little hoarse from speaking so much. “Then we are done.”

Fuck it. He was going to fall over if he continued like this.

“This Shixiong will not be joining you.” Qi Qingqi immediately sprung to attention.

“What?!” He didn’t bother to look her way.

“There is a rather lovely garden attached to this property. This one wishes to view it before we leave.” It was a poor excuse but fuck everything.

“Shixiong?” Huang Qingying asked more gently, placing a hand on his arm.

“Your Shixiong is unused to such constant noise. Please grant him a quiet walk.” He said in a near whisper behind his fan. Huang Qingying stared at him for a moment maybe searching what little of his face showed above his fan for a sign of something. Whatever it was, she found it. Giving a nod, she let him go.

“You-!” Qi Qingqi tried to object but found herself stopped by her Shimei who shook her head at her. Somehow this worked in calming her.

“Don’t go far.” Qi Qingqi huffed out, glaring up at him.

“I won’t.” He said slipping out into the roofed walkway alongside the garden.

 It was a beautiful garden. It had an even more beautiful pavilion in the centre far from the noise where he could sit. Taking full advantage of this, he collapsed down and then lay down when a wave of nausea hit him.

Cheek against the cold wood, he couldn’t even bring himself to move let alone curse when the static laden clouds that had been building all day let out a peal of thunder.

The rain followed soon after.

It bounced loudly off the pavilion’s roof as he just lay there breathing with his eyes shut.

Well at least he didn’t need to worry about any of the guests walking in on him sprawled on the ground. He took this small gift for all it was worth and went entirely limp. He could feel his headache spike with pain in time with the beat of his heart and the pulse of his qi. It felt like knives sliding up his veins as it rippled unevenly.

Keeping his eyes closed both helped and hindered. It avoided spots swimming across his vision but the lack of sight made the entire world seem to spin about like he had collapsed on top of some poorly tied up boat in a storm.

The rain was loud, but soothing. He let it take over his senses. It was that or succumb to the smell of the now damp wood under his face. After a while, the rain just fuzzed out of being noticeable. It took some of the edge of the headache as it went as well. Good.

The wind was picking up now. He could feel it splash the rain further under the pavilion. A few drops landed on his face. He couldn’t find the strength to protect himself from them. The deceptively light drops rolled down his jaw, sapping away some of his qi as they went. Maybe if he forced himself to roll into the rain, he could drain all the burning heat away too.

The wood creaked under his face as more drops landed on him.

He wasn’t alone.

Someone was here.

Opening his eyes a sliver, he peered into the dark. A figure loomed over him. A figure with purple sleeves.

They said something but the rain drowned most of it out. He must have stayed out too long.

A hand reached towards him and all he could wonder is why the young master would have bothered to come out into the rain to get him.

 

---

 

The Weiqi board sat there still laid out mid-game as Huang Qingying got ready for bed. Qi Qingqi could only stare at the stones of black and white till they left afterimages on her eye lids. How was he still able to play so well?

Their shixiong had left a while ago. She’d guided him out and closed the door loudly. Secretly, she had opened it again a crack and watched as he had limped off to the boys’ room. A limp that only appeared when he thought no one was looking. He had been limping all day. He hadn’t said a word to either of them about it.

“Does Shimei still have that cup from yesterday?” She asked, tearing her eyes from the board.

“The burnt one?”

“Yes, the burnt one.”

Huang Qingying puttered around for a moment before handing it over to her. The cup wasn’t overly ornate. Small with a very simple impression of pink trees in bloom. The inside however was now a crisp mess of burnt on tea. It wasn’t unusual to heat or reheat teas or soups with qi. It was exhausting and put you at an instant disadvantage in a fight but if the person felt safe, it was perfectly reasonable. And maybe in heightened emotions a person could overheat their tea, okay, no big deal. Everyone makes mistakes now and then. But Qi Qingqi had a theory. A theory built on a hunch that had been building for the last few days.

Running her finger along the inside, it came out covered in soot but she had felt what she had feared. Inside the cup, where it should have been smooth was hard blister like bubbles cracking the surface unevenly. Shen Qingqiu had melted the glaze on the inside of the cup. He’d actually been putting enough qi into the cup to melt the actual fucking glass glaze.

Qi Qingqi put it down and squished her face into her hands.

Shit. Shit Shitty shit.

“What is it?” Huang Qingying’s voice asked concerned in her ear.

“I think Shen Qingqiu had a qi deviation last night.”

“…. Are you sure?” It was natural for her Shimei to be hesitant, heck even someone like Yang Qingfu, suspicious bastard that he was, would be reluctant to believe a man could act so unaffected after a qi deviation. Let alone that he’d been helping them with the disciples with the same prickly arrogance as normal all day.

Qi Qingqi had sat through the mandatory lectures by Qian Cao on qi deviations, they all had. Every example shown had either killed the person deviating or sent them into murderous rage, sometimes both. If the person survived, they were normally confined to Qian Cao for extensive around the clock care. As cross as Shen Qingqiu had been last night, melting a cup was hardly murderous. Hell, she’s surprised he hadn’t fainted from the qi required. He’d even been stable enough to fly on his sword. Something that required steady qi least you became reunited with the ground at speed. She still had a gut feeling that he had had a qi deviation though.

Shoving her thoughts to one side, she answered her shimei.

“I saw which way he flew last night and went that way this morning. Took a bit of searching but found an old Ginkgo tree that had been badly burnt. The entire thing was pulsing with abnormally high levels of qi.”

The tree had been nearly glowing with it. Normal qi flow didn’t push qi into dense bursts like that and there was no naturally spiritually dense tree she could think of that had ever grown surrounded by trees that themselves were not also qi dense. Nature didn’t work like that. You didn’t get singular examples of high qi density.

“That doesn’t mean it was him.” Huang Qingying tried. Qi Qingqi frowned at her shimei.

“He had a qi dense Ginkgo leaf in his hair this morning. He was limping the entire way to the convention hall.” With each sentence she uncurled a finger. “His personal disciple, Ning-shizhi, the girl with the ribbons, said he’d seemed unfocused. And I watched him, it seemed he was meditating nearly every chance he got. He’s also on a medical tea from Qian Cao.” Out of fingers to continue the list, she threw up her hand to the air. “And he has told us nothing. He’s clearly in pain and yet continues to hide it! Are we going to have to hunt him down? This is going to be like the qi poisoning incident all over again.”

Huang Qingying gave her head a gentle pat. Qi Qingqi allowed the patronising gesture with a sulk. It felt nice even if it bruised her pride a little.

“No, I don’t think that will work.“ Her shimei said. “He, well, we had a talk today. Him and me.” Her disciples had told her that Huang Qingying had dragged their Shixiong off somewhere. “My brother showed up and Shen Qingqiu helped me. I was worried he hated me and he wouldn’t talk so I took him to one of the storage rooms and we talked.”

“What did you talk about?” Qi Qingqi’s own words seemed too quiet.

“Turns out he’s more like me than someone like you. When he has a problem, he shrinks away from people. He’s the type to keep quiet and solve it on his own.”

“Okay. But he had a qi deviation. That’s not just a personal problem to figure out on your own. That’s a full on medical emergency! What if he had turned violent? What if he had burnt something more than a tree? We’ll need to confirm what is going on with that man. I am hoping, in vain, that I’m wrong. Frankly, I don’t know how he’s practicing Inedia in this state, but he hasn’t eaten once in the last three days either.”

“I’ll try to take his pulse tomorrow.” The arms around her gave a light squeeze. “At least now that we know we can keep an eye on him. Keep him safe even if he’s being stubborn.”

Qi Qingqi sighed and nodded in agreement.

Still, she could not sleep. Burned trees enflamed with qi haunted her thoughts, preventing any real rest. The squeak of the boy’s room’s door only further made it impossible.

Silent as she could, she cracked her room’s door open again and watched as Shen Qingqiu hobbled down the stairs. Slipping on an outer robe for modesty, she stalked after him. He didn’t go far this time. Limping and with an obvious wince, Shen Qingqiu found a small space on the inn’s main floor and settled in to try to meditate, Xiu Ya settled across his lap. Did he really believe you could just meditate a qi deviation away!?

Silently Qi Qingqi ended up watching him till dawn broke, padding back into her room before he returned back upstairs.

He made no sign of his lack of sleep at breakfast.

She was quickly coming to the conclusion that Shen Qingqiu in another walk of life would have been a gifted performer. As it was, in this life, he was a gifted liar.

If she hadn’t known before hand, she might have believed he was indeed ‘Well’. There was no difference to how he had been acting all trip. What the fuck was wrong with this man. He still wasn’t eating either.

She was able to guarantee he wouldn’t be left alone with the disciples but that was the only win from breakfast. When she caught up with Huang Qingying afterwards, her shimei had failed to get a read of his pulse.

“He was wearing forearm guards. I couldn’t feel anything through them.” Her shimei had claimed.

Why would he be wearing forearm guards? Is he expecting a fight? But his robes were just his every day fare. Surely he would have worn something less flimsy if he thought a fight might breakout.

The rest of the day was tense. Not that Shen Qingqiu did anything of notice besides drinking an excessive amount of tea. But still this man was going to make her qi deviate from stress at this rate.

She was beginning to second guess herself by the time of the banquet.

That didn’t last long though. Midway through their host’s introductions, there was a sudden spike of qi around her shixiong. Glancing over, the man had gone very still, his posture stiff.

Casually like they were actually close enough to do this, she slipped an arm into his, seeking out his pulse. He tensed next to her but made no move to remove the arm. That gave her plenty of time to curse at the solid leather barrier under his silk sleeves. Seriously why was he wearing forearm guards?

Luckily, she seemed to have been the only one close enough to notice the qi spike earlier, so they were able to muddle through the conversation until their host left them alone. Shen Qingqiu was still quiet, leaning on her intermittently and favouring one leg. He looked like he might throw up. Even Huang Qingying noticed it, the moment her attention returned back to them.

“Is Shixiong alright?” Her shimei’s face had dropped into concern.

“I’m fine.” The man on her arm lied. “Are there any particular people Huang-shimei will be speaking with?”

He was trying to deflect.

“I, er,” Huang Qingying glanced to her clearly thinking about their conversation the night before. “This shimei has a few.”

“Excellent.” Said their shixiong, like he hadn’t been listing slightly to one side. If this idiot fainted, at least she was in a good position to catch him.

Qi Qingqi and Huang Qingying had a quick unspoken conversation before her Shimei nodded and led them all onwards.

The rest of the night had Qi Qingqi convinced Shen Qingqiu was possibly the most evasive person she knew. He manipulated and slipped away from each conversation with perfect ease. He flattered and conversed with perfect politeness when addressed, remained silently out the way when not, and deflected any attention away from him as he pleased. He never let attention linger on him too long, always shifting it onto Huang Qingying or herself or back onto the speaker. What annoyed her the most was this proved he could be civil and respectful; he was just choosing not to be most of the time! The progress that could have been made in peak lord meetings!

The sickly look from earlier hadn’t disappeared but he was doing a good job of hiding the more obvious signs behind his fan, affecting a quiet aloofness. It felt like he had done this before. How many times would it have taken to get this good, Qi Qingqi didn’t know. It rankled something inside her though.

Eventually after many, many, many conversations, Huang Qingying called a break. Good, she needed a drink. She was enjoying some sort of fruit spiked wine when Shen Qingqiu tried his luck.

“There is a rather lovely garden attached to this property. This one wishes to view it before we leave.” Claimed the man.

Bullshit!

Who went garden viewing in the middle of the night!?

Huang Qingying stepped in before Qi Qingqi could call him out. Her approach was far more gentle.

“Shixiong?”

“Your Shixiong is unused to such constant noise. Please grant him a quiet walk.” He was nearly entirely hid behind his fan but Huang Qingying managed to get him to look at her.

Eventually her Shimei nodded, granting him his wish.

“You-!” Shimei, this is bullshit and you know it. The entire point of bringing him was to keep an eye on him. Don’t shake your head at me! Qi Qingqi eventually gave up when Huang Qingying gave her a significant look. She wasn’t going to get answers by causing a fuss. FUCKING DAMN IT!

“Don’t go far.” She ordered Shen Qingqiu, giving up.

“I won’t.” The man said leaving them.

“Shimei,” Qi Qingqi started only to be shushed by a finger.

“He must have been reaching his limit. If we continued to push him, I feared the consequences.” Huang Qingying’s wording was vague enough that the gold robes on the other side of the room shouldn’t have too much to work with. “We can finish up and then collect him from the garden afterwards.”

She huffed out a frustrated sigh.

“Fine.” It was better for Cang Qiong Mountain Sect if one of their Peaklords wasn’t caught fainting or qi deviating at an event like this. At least in the garden, he shouldn’t get up to too much trouble.

They were midway through Huang Qingying’s second business chat when thunder rocked the hall. This was followed soon after by the gentle pattering of hesitant rain that became less hesitant as time went on.

Seeing the weather turn for the worst, a number of guests decided the banquet was over. The pair of Peaklords drifted back towards the food table to see if their shixiong had reemerged.

He had not.

It wasn’t like he was hard to miss. Shen Qingqiu was the fourth tallest of their generation and frankly didn’t understand the meaning of subtle. He wore more layers on a summer day than Qi Qingqi would wear in winter, each either bright white or teal with silver thread making him pop like some rare pale wasp. The bright white sword on his hip only highlighted this.

They waited and his continued absence only made Qi Qingqi regret letting him wander off. Poking her head into the garden, she found the roofed off walkway empty and a sheet of rain beyond that. There was a pavilion but he was tall enough that sitting up she would have been able to see him.

Drawing her head back in, she shook negative to Huang Qingying.

“Well, bother.” Said her shimei.

“We shouldn’t have let him out of our sight!”

“This Shimei will take full responsibility but we still need to find him.”

They search the entire hall then moved on to the adjoining rooms and the other garden walkways. They even had to ask their host if he had seen where their martial brother had wandered off to. He had not.

Returning back to the table, Qi Qingqi once again stared at the pavilion out in the rain.

“Stay here.” She ordered Huang Qingying.  “There’s no point in us both getting soaked.”

With that she marched out, into the storm frowning. Her cultivation meant she barely felt the rain as she marched further along the now puddled path. It was rounding a large ornamental bush that she saw something white on the floor of the pavilion. It took her even longer to realise it was a hand.

It was rare for her to feel the need to panic but frankly, she felt it was warranted. Shen Qingqiu lay eyes open staring at her, sprawled out on the dampening wood.

“Shixiong?”

She got no reply. Edging closer, she reached out to touch his hand. It was freezing. Placing another on his forehead, she recoiled immediately. HOT. Actually, burning hot. Her mind conjured up the gingko tree again.

“Fuck!” She said with passion, easing qi through to heal her angrily red fingers. He had actually burnt her.

Standing she signalled Huang Qingying over with her uninjured hand. It didn’t take long for her shimei to run over to them.

“Oh no!”

“Careful! I tried to touch him and he burnt me!”

Huang Qingying retracted her hand, thought for a moment and then reached into her qiankun pouch and pulled out a thick blanket.

“What?” Shimei, what are you doing?

“To move him with. You know, like when you need to move a hot pot of dye.” Qi Qingqi really didn’t know but she watched as their Shixiong was carefully manuvered into the blanket and then placed into her arms.

“I’ll go say our goodbyes whilst Shijie takes Shixiong back to the inn.”

“Understood. Don’t be long Shimei.”

Huang Qingying gave her a nod and ran back to the main hall, a sleeve shielding her from the rain as she went. This left her with two arms full of Shen Qingqiu wrapped in a blanket staring unfocusedly up at her. His hair was a mess with strands having caught in his mouth and the sweat coating his forehead. Even through the blanket he was horribly warm.

“You are such an idiot.”

She said before pulling out Guang Rong and taking off into the storm. The flight was far from smooth. She aimed straight for the inn, keeping over the rooftops least a gale send them both tumbling. The rain did little to improve Shen Qingqiu’s condition, he kept whimpering the entire time. By the time she touched down at the inn, he had gone quiet. But his face was grey, eyes closed. Was he even breathing?

Didn’t matter. Heading straight for her and Huang Qingying’s room, she ignored the disciples greeting that turned into calls of concern. Ning-shizhi was particularly loud in her call for ‘Shizun’. Luckily Huang Qingying hadn’t stayed long after her and caught the disciples, herding them away, calming their panic. She was good at that. Qi Qingqi desperately wished someone could come and calm her panic. Where was Mu Qingfang when you needed him?

The wet blanket roll was lowered to the ground as she stuck her fingers either side of his neck. Faint but he had a heartbeat. Unwrapping the blanket, she began on the layers starting with those cursed forearm guards. He was ice cold now and even as his wrists were revealed they did not help.

Either Qi Qingqi was panicking too much or there was something really wrong with this man’s meridians. She knew he qi deviated frequently. It was well known that he had tried on multiple occasions to rush his cultivation. But as her sixth try to navigate the meridians ended in another dead end, she realised she hadn’t considered the full impact of just that fact.

Fuck.

Huang Qingying entered just after she’d gotten his belt off. She had a pile of towels in one arm and a basin and washcloth in the other.

“How’s he doing?”

“Not good. Help me!”

With the sect seamstress’s help, they got to work. Shen Qingqiu’s two outer layers came off easily. The outer most layer was a heavily embroidered sheer green silk gauze robe that went down to his ankles, normally left open to flow. Underneath it was a plain but thick white robe of the same length held closed at the front. Both were sodden from the flight. Under them came his middle layers that were all mid calf, three in total. All fine white silk with green and silver embroidery over the neck opening.

It was overkill frankly. Each of them had warmth arrays built in so it’s not like he was in danger of ever being cold. Lastly most bafflingly was an extra layer. Clearly hand made but some type of quilted robe. It had no arrays and was the last one before his inner garments.

With Shen Qingqiu as stripped down as was necessary, Qi Qinqqi checked his pulse from his neck again. He was warming up at least. That might have been a good sign. She didn’t know. Shoving her hands down his inner most layers to where his heart would be, she calmed her mind and began to feed him qi.

His body tried to resist at first before relenting. It was too weak to battle her golden core. Pushing in, she let her eyes slide closed as she felt her way around. The meridians in his chest were inflamed but whole. There was a lot of damage further down by his navel and his stomach but the route to his head was mostly clear. The right shoulder led to the frustrating maze from earlier and his left led nowhere. She could not feel anything past his left collar bone. Not even a tear. The meridian just ended.

WHAT THE FUCK

“What is it?” Huang Qingying asked, probably seeing the face she pulled.

“His left arm… it’s like it’s not there at all.”

Her investigating came to a sudden end as his spiritual root seemed to come back to strength giving out a wave of qi that nearly followed her own back up her arms. Qi Qingqi snatched her hands away quickly. Getting burnt once today was enough for her.

Was that good? She had no idea. She wasn’t a medic! She could fix a broken arm in a pinch. This was well beyond that.

Seeing her panic, Huang Qingying took her by the shoulders.

“Go get dried off and changed, this shimei will dry off shixiong and let shijie know if anything changed. Okay?”

She could only nod.

Now warm and dry, she exited the privacy screen to find Huang Qingying with a troubled look staring at Shen Qingqiu as she dried up the last of his hair.

“What is it?”

Her Shimei startled then shook her head. “Nothing to worry over.” Qi Qingqi tried to get a read on her, but she felt exhausted with her qi reserves now running low . Checking Shen Qingqiu’s pulse as Huang Qingying carefully finished a loose braid over his shoulder, she could at least relax over him catching fire. He was feverishly warm but it wasn’t burning.

A joint effort saw him moved into Qi Qingqi’s bed. She didn’t feel like sleeping tonight anyway. Huang Qingying tucked him under the covers as Qi Qingqi wet the washcloth and set about removing his scholar’s mark.

The cloth came off not just red but a pale peachy tan. He was wearing powder? Rinsing the cloth and wiping again, left her Shixiong sickly white with huge black circles under his eyes. Qi Qingqi once again cursed inside her head. Taking her frustration out on the last smear of red on his forehead, she quickly found it wasn’t paint.

Resting in the middle of his forehead was a small but very deep scar. It had the signs of having been reopened many times. Odd.

Shen Qingqiu’s face now clean, Huang Qingying laid a damp towel across his forehead to help combat the fever. They hadn’t brought any cooling talismans so it’d have to do for now.

Her plans to stay up all night ultimately failed. Huang Qingying had left her a spare blanket to keep warm and at some point she had drifted off.

Thankfully, it wasn’t the grey light of morning filtering through the clouds that woke her.

It was a voice.

“Shimei?” Two very tired green eyes found her own from the bed.

“I really fucking hate you.”

There was a pause then Shen Qingqiu gave a very hoarse reply. “That’s fair.”

Damn fucking right it was.

Notes:

QQQ: *thinks SQQ is threatening them with his knowledge of their pasts as an opening move in some 4D chess master battle*
QQQ: *is fully ready to throw down*
Nothing happens.
Nothing keeps happening.
QQQ: *digs deeper to find out why nothing is happening or if she’s missed a sneaky move from SQQ*
QQQ: *Finds evidence that SQQ had a qi deviation*
QQQ: ( ಠ_ಠ) The. Fuck. Shixiong.

Name time
Mao 茅 Reeds or Rushes
Rao Ding 饶丁 Bountiful + Adult male/Robust
Guang Rong 光荣 Honour and Glory

Next time: Shen Burrito Qiu must face his Shimei's questions

Chapter 17: That reflect the clouds they from which they first fell

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu is still very sick.

Notes:

I'm gonna keep trying to update this fic at least twice a month.

Content warning: Past child abuse, Unwell Character, Disordered eating, Shen Qingqiu being a bit uwu baby in this chapter due to being ill and having mobility issues

This chapter was editted whilst this author was also unwell. Please let me know if you spot any errors.

"Why is it always Papapa? We know Bing-ge has excellent skills in the kitchen! Have him make Wife #56 (no I'm not looking up her name fuck you) congee and gently feed it to her like the perfect proper husband. But no. Let's just have them Papapa it out. For fuck's sake, Airplane, she has a fever! "

- Peerless Cucumber

 

The young miss was crying. Oh right. He was meant to call her Haitang now that they were engaged.

Haitang was crying.

His fever had lasted three days and wasn’t breaking. He’d been forced into bed rest after he collapsed infront of the young miss. She hadn’t taken it well. The young master fussed over her constantly whilst she tried to fuss over her new fiancée. It was a mess. He’d have to hide it better next time.

Eventually the crying became sniffling, which became deep snotfilled breathing. A servant was called in and slowly led her away to get cleaned up.

The moment she left pain bloomed over his cheek. The young master had struck him. He was livid.

“Useless thing! How dare you make Meimei cry. I’ve put too much effort into you. You better be well by morning. Or else.”

Despite his anger, the young master still changed the towel on his forehead. The towel was a little too wet, a little too cold, a little too roughly placed. But he hadn’t had to do that. Huffing, purple sleeves swept out the room as the door slammed blocking out the last of the light.

And then he was alone.

His uncle had never left him alone when he was ill, much to Shifu’s annoyance.

Though, Xiao Shen thought, if Shifu hated it so much he shouldn’t have made him ill in the first place.

Both men stood over his bed in the inn they had for the night. It had been a close call today. Cultivators from one of the big four were no joke. The fight had been tough, and Shifu had needed just that extra bit of qi to get them out alive. Something his apprentice was now paying for.

Uncle felt his cold forehead and tutted. Cradling his head, he placed a spoon of water? Broth? Blood? No, congee. To his lips and urged him to drink. He could only do so weakly, near choking with every bite.

“You are going to drown him like that!” Shifu growled snatching the spoon away.

“Hey! Well what do you suppose we do, A-zi? Huh? I am not a doctor, alright?”

“Yes, because of course you don’t know of some mystical cure all.” Shifu answered sarcastically. He got a venomous glare in return.

Sneering at the man, Shifu pushed Uncle out the way. “Move. It is too thick, idiot. “

Kneeling he pulled out a bottle and poured it into the congee, giving it a stir with his stolen spoon. Uncle leaned over to get a better look and made a face.

“Wine!? A-Zi, He’s sick!”

This got a roll of Shifu’s eyes. “It’ll warm the kid up. Apprentice, open up.”

He obeyed obediently as his Uncle threw up his hands.

The congee had tasted better before but the wine did make him feel warmer. After a few spoons it chased his headache away too.

The teas from Qian Cao were a far more effective cure for those though.

Rong-shishu glared down at him as he handed over the prescription.

“This is the eighth time this month. This doctor swears the gods want this one dead.”

Shizun didn’t refute him. “Are you suggesting we let the gods have him?”

“Zhangmen-shixiong would have a fit.” The taller man in Qian Cao’s mud green grumbled.

His Shizun hummed at that staring down at him. The deviation had been bad this time. It had been sudden, so he hadn’t been able to protect himself before he collapsed. Thankfully Yan-shixiong had been searching for him or he might not have been found till the next day.

Now he was too weak to do more than wheeze blood as the two men stood there and continued their conversation.

“Well, it seems Shidi will just have to continue fighting the gods in the meantime.”

“For that bastard’s disciple.” Shishu near laughed out. It was a cold laugh, full of pain. “If this happens again. This master is leaving that brat to die. Fix this problem or it will be removed.”

“This Shixiong will bear that in mind.” Shizun said all gentle smiles as he was left alone with his charge.

The smile turned frustrated as he approached the bed.

“This master told you not to attempt to cultivate until future notice.”

“Wa-Wasn’t.” His throat spasmed and he coughed up pink phlegm. He hadn’t been trying to cultivate. He’d just been walking back to the boys’ dormitory.

“Shuuuushhh.” Shizun said taking his hand. “Don’t talk back. This master will arrange a punishment for your disobedience once the current damage has been healed.”

Strong warm qi flowed up his arm and across his body. They didn’t exchange any further words, though after a while Shizun began to sing. He couldn’t remember the words of the song but it had soothed him and gradually he had fallen asleep.

A tear rolled down his cheek as Shen Qingqiu awoke, his Shizun’s deep voice still echoing in his ears.

Where was he?

A wood ceiling greeted him. He had been in a pavilion and then… he must have imagined…. Then who found-?

Straining, he managed to roll his head to the side. Something warm peeled off his forehead as he did, landing with a wet ‘thunk’ nearby.

“Shimei?”

Qi Qingqi was asleep not far away. Hunched over, under a blanket, she looked exhausted. His normally fiercely put together Shimei was drooling, hair tussled in only just the decent number of layers.

She awoke at the sound of his voice. There was a moment where they both just stared at each other.

“I really fucking hate you.” She mumbled, wiping the drool off her chin.

She must have been the one to find him. Was he back in the inn then? It had been raining last night as well. She’d have had to fly him back in that weather.

“That’s fair.” He acknowledged slowly. A strong surge of a staticky pain muffling any further conversation.

Next to them both came a loud snort like sound and then something bumped the other side of the privacy screen from where he lay.

“Did Shixiong wake up?” came Huang Qingying’s voice, definitely not awake yet.

“Yes, our idiot Shixiong is conscious.” Grumbled Qi Qingqi getting to her feet.

Shen Qingqiu made a sound to confirm that fact and winced. He tried to rise from the bed only to grit his teeth. Firm hands pushed him back into the bed, despite his protests. It felt like he had been kicked in the chest. His shoulders burned. He coughed twice but it didn’t dislodge the feeling.

Blinking slowly, Huang Qingying seemed to materialise next to him in the intervening time of closing his eyelids and opening them. Her hand found his forehead. Any resistance left him then and there. He melted into the touch. Her hand was a steady weight that eased the static. It felt so nice. Huang-shimei looked concerned above him but he could not find the will power to care. Please, he’d do whatever he needed to keep her there petting the pain away right now.

The noise he made when the hand went away and something wet and gloriously cold replaced it was embarrassing. He closed his eyes, just for a moment and made that noise again. More tears might have escaped his hold at that point. He did not care. He just wanted his head to stop hurting, his lungs to stop burning and the women in the room to hold him. The world went muffled and the tears wouldn’t stop. People spoke and things were moved around him but he was barely conscious of it.

Eventually things went quiet again. Good. He was so tired.

Shen Qingqiu was startled awake by something wet and warm being pushed into his lips.

He pulled away grimacing.

It was painfully bright as he opened his eyes to find Qi Qingqi armed with a bowl of stew and a spoon.

“Did you hear anything I said?”

“What?” He groaned intelligently.

“You had a qi deviation.” She continued trying to make an attack with the spoon.

“Mhm?” Shen Qingqiu kept his lips closed tight. Seeing he was going to be difficult, Qi Qingqi stopped attacking briefly.

“Two days ago.”

“Shit.” She’d found out.

“And you didn’t tell us!” Loud! He whimpered instead of replying which got him a more aggressive attempt with the spoon. He tilted his head away but his foe followed his every move. Losing patience, Qi Qingqi jabbed the spoon into his cheek spitefully.

“Why not?”

“I’ll throw up.”

“Not the food, the qi deviation. Look, I put the meat back. It’s just the broth. You have to drink something.”

Debating if he had the energy to continue to be difficult, the ever-present headache decided for him. Fuck it. He relented and opened his mouth a little. Far more gentle than he’d been expecting, Qi Qingqi put the spoon to his lips and tilted it to let the liquid flow down his throat. It helped ease the dryness of his mouth.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Though the spoon was gone, the questions weren’t.

“Didn’t want to bother you.”

“And this isn’t bothering us!? Here have another spoonful.” Shimei was so mean! Let him go back to sleep.

“Nngghhh” He tried to escape the cursed spoon once more.

“Drink three more spoonfuls and I’ll stop.”

Sulking with his head still throbbing, he obediently let Qi Qingqi feed him. Afterwards a damp cloth wiped his face and the towel on his forehead was renewed again. It helped even if everything still ached.

With his eyes closed, it was nice like this. Clean, still with the taste of broth on his tongue, gentle hands touching his face and hair. It felt like back at the Warm Red Pavilion. Qi Qingqi would kill him if he ever told her that.

Gradually, the motions had him relaxing more and more.

“Get some rest.” A commanding female voice said over him. He was only too happy to obey.

“Yes, Jiejie.” He mumbled. Sleep already had a solid grip on his mind.

“What did you just call me?!” She was painfully loud.

He tried again. “Meimei?”

“Stop talking.”

“Mkay.”

 

---

 

Qi Qingqi had moved past panic, past frustration and, with some difficulty, past anger at her Shixiong for putting himself in this situation. Shen Qingqiu, bluntly, was not doing well. He had barely been conscious since this morning. Luckily she’d managed to get him to eat something during that period as well as pry a few answers from him. But that was it.

His fever was not dropping. Nor were his qi levels. Normally, when someone was sick their qi production would slow down. Not with Shen Qingqiu, who apparently was her freakiest Shixiong. His entire system was flooded to the point Qi Qingqi struggled to get a proper read even from his neck without risking burning her own meridians. She might have been concerned that the bedding would ignite had he not already soaked it through with sweat. Whatever was wrong clearly wasn’t painless. He whimpered and cried whilst never fully being conscious. Even when apparently awake he kept asking for ‘Jiejie’ and once for ‘Gege’.

Qi Qingqi didn’t know much about Shen Qingqiu’s family; only that he’d been picked up on a mission by the former Qing Jing Peaklord and been immediately made his personal disciple before even the then predicted head disciple candidate. Within a few weeks, Shen Qingqiu was announced as head disciple. He hadn’t even been to Wan Jian for his sword yet. She didn’t know what his family was like or where he fit into it but third or sometimes even second sons of the nobility made up most of Qing Jing’s ranks. It wouldn’t surprise her if her Shixiong was the same. They must have paid well for Ti-shibo had taken him on so eagerly.

She dipped a fresh towel in water and swapped it for the old one. The now gross warm lump of fabric was dropped in the laundry bucket the inn keeper was nice enough to give them. It had been a long day. It wasn’t even noon yet. Thankfully Huang Qingying chose that time to arrive with food and tea.

“How is he?”

“Worse than this morning.” She said between bites. “Did you manage alright? My girls behave themselves?”

“Yes, yes. Everything was packed away and is now stored in the disciples’ rooms. I assume we’ll be staying overnight now?”

“You might.” Qi Qingqi answered with a sigh, glancing at their still feverish Shixiong. “If Shen-shixiong shows no improvement over the next shichen this one will be flying him back to Qian Cao.”

“That’s a long trip.”

“This one knows her limits. We can make it there before tomorrow. How are his disciples taking things?”

“Ning-shizhi is the most upset but all of them were putting on a brave face this morning. Heads down focused on the work.”

“Good.” She got back to eating but Huang Qingying didn’t.

“Shijie, why did you place Xiu Ya on him?”

“I didn’t?” Looking over her shoulder, the white sword now rested perfectly on their Shixiong’s chest, bobbing up and down with each breath. Qi Qingqi stared at it. “I did not put that there.”

“Wei-shixiong once said that spirit swords can move to their wielder to protect them. Maybe…?” She trailed off looking thoughtful.

“Yes but not like that. He’s not even conscious.”

“Xiu Ya is an old sword maybe it’s livelier than others?” She gave Huang Qingying a disbelieving look that her Shimei returned with a small shrug.

They both left the sword where it was until they had finished their meal. After that Qi Qingqi tried to grab it and place it back with Shen Qingqiu’s other belongings. At this the sword rattled in its sheath and tried to squeeze in closer to Shen Qingqiu away from her touch.

“Looks like you were right, Shimei.” Qi Qingqi said in mild alarm. “It is livelier.”

“Hey,” Huang Qingying called in a soft voice, like she was talking to a small cat, not a possibly possessed long sword. “If I tuck you in next to Shixiong, do you promise not to hurt me?”

The sword tilted towards her then went obediently still.

“I guess that means yes?”

Qi Qingqi had no idea. Guang Rong had never moved on it’s own like that. Like they shared a connection but it was still a sword. Huang Qingying carefully slid the sheathed sword in next to Shen Qingqiu. It wiggled a little then squeezed in close to it’s wielder.

Over the next shichen time limit she had set, Qi Qingqi would begrudgingly admit Xiu Ya had somehow helped. She wasn’t sure why. She wasn’t sure how. She would be talking to both Wei Qingwei and Mu Qingfang about this when she got back but gradually Shen Qingqiu’s qi levels dropped to a relatively healthy level. His fever also dropped with them. It took another half a shichen after her deadline for it to fully break. But when it did, she could only hug Huang Qingying in relief.

Her Shimei held her close for a long time before shooing her off to take a nap.

When she awoke from that nap, Shen Qingqiu was sitting upright being gently bullied into eating by Huang Qingying.

“Hey.” He said. He sounded like shit.

“Hey.” She said. She also sounded like shit. She had really needed that nap.

“…” He paused, looked away and flushed pink. “Thank you.” He said quietly. “for all this.”

“You gave everyone such a scare, you moron.”

“Mm.” He mumbled still not looking at her. Huang Qingying smiled at them both before prodding Shen Qingqiu to eat something more. He gave a small protest but then relented and obeyed her.

“Alright, no more bullshit. What has been happening with you?” She asked directly once the bowl was emptied.

Shen Qingqiu once again avoided her gaze, fiddling with the sword laid across his lap. “This one doesn’t know what-“

“I said no bullshit.” He bit his lip and looked to Huang Qingying for help, who set down the bowl and waited in a pointed way that said she also wanted an explanation too, please Shixiong.

Still too ill to run away and now faced on two fronts by his Shimeis, Shen Qingqiu signed in defeat then winced from the movement that caused.

“This one is still healing his injuries from fighting Liu Qingge in the Lingxi Caves.” He admitted.

Qi Qingqi wanted to slap him. “You should have said so from the beginning!”

“You wouldn’t have let me come.”

“For this exact reason!” She exclaimed.

“Does Mu-Shixiong know?” asked Huang Qingying.

“Yes.” Shen Qingying picked at Xiu Ya’s tassel. “He expected the damage to heal over the next few months, if I didn’t do anything straining.”

“Well, I think your qi deviation has strained you greatly.” Qi Qingqi grumbled.

Shen Qingqiu glared up at her. Eyes full of fire. The anger was a welcome change from how sickly he’d looked before. “Qi-shimei speaks as though I willingly suffered it. Surely you do not think such things are in my control?”

Sensing the flaring of tempers, Huang Qingying spoke up. “Let’s calm down. Shixiong, will you be able to travel tomorrow?”

He didn’t answer for a moment before nodding. “I should be able to.”

“That’s a relief. Now,” Huang Qingying asked with a slightly strained smile. “Would you be up for reassuring your disciples?”

Shen Qingqiu’s face was a picture as he seemed to realise a few things. The man then dropped his face into his right hand. “How many people know?” came out muffle between his fingers.

“This master was more focused on keeping you alive than keeping your condition a secret.” Qi Qingqi answered.

“Oh boy.” He dropped his hand limply back to his lap. “Fine. But this master would like to redress himself and take a bath first.”

“Can you even clean yourself like this?” Qi Qingqi said eyeing up his so far unmoved left arm.

Her shixiong glared at her again.  “Your help will not be needed. I can manage.”

“Fine. But your Shimeis will be near by if you start drowning.”

A tub was called for and the privacy screens arranged to form a private bathing area as Qi Qingqi collected fresh robes from Shen Qingqiu’s belongings. It took longer than expected as her shixiong’s system of organisation was ‘cryptic’ to put it politely. On her search she had found out he had brought multiple Weiqi sets, a guqin, far too many fans and no less than six knives on this trip. She even found two small pots of makeup. One red, one a pale skin colour. Both half full from use. She picked them up and the pouch of brushes stored with them.

Repacking his belongings, she laid the robes over the screen and announced she had the pots. The inn staff came in to take the dirty bedding and towels to be cleaned. Qi Qingqi had felt compelled to tip them for their trouble.

It took a long time for Shen Qingqiu to finish bathing. He was definitely still in pain from how slowly he was moving. Eventually, dressed and still damp, Shen Qingqiu remerged from behind the screen. He looked hardly like himself. His hair was down and his feet were bare. Wearing a sensible number of layers for once, he looked alarmingly scrawny standing there using Xiu Ya as a crutch.

“Want these now?” She said pointing at the makeup pots.

He stared at them for a moment then shook his head.

“My hands are not steady enough.” He said, hobbling over to the new bedroll.

The staff had stripped and cleaned both beds earlier and had brought in a third at their request. Neither herself nor Huang Qingying were letting this hazard to himself out of their sight till they handed him off to Mu Qingfang. The man didn’t even make it halfway across the room before Qi Qingqi had to catch him when his wobbly gait failed him.

“I’m fine.” Shen Qingqiu complained from her arms. He was such a liar.

“You can barely stand.” She said ignoring him.

Scooping him clean off his feet, Qi Qingqi heard him squeak as she carried him to his bed. Across from them both, Huang Qingying started giggling as Shen Qingqiu continued to struggle in her hold. Her Shixiong look mortified as she set him down, rearranged the pillows to support his back and tucked in the covers. He refused to look at her the entire time clearly embarrassed. Really, he got flustered so easily. Just picking him up had left his face dark pink.

“Would Shen-shixiong like this Shimei to go collect the disciples?” asked Huang Qingying.

“That would be appreciated.”

Still, giggling their shimei left them in the room. Qi Qingqi stared at her shixiong then at the small pots of makeup.

“Do you want me to at least apply your scholar’s mark?” She asked.

“If,” He sighed and pulled himself out of his embarrassment. It was strange to actually see him do it rather than sense it behind a painted fan. “If Qi-shimei insists.”

Brush in hand, she carefully dipped it into the red pot and began dabbing his forehead. In this light his eyes looked washed out; more a light grey than their normal dark green.

“Done.”

He still looked wane and sickly but now at least his face looked right. It was odd how a small dot of red changed so much.

“Mm.” He hummed as Huang Qingying returned with the disciples.

Qi Qingqi quickly got out the way.

“You can come over. It’s not contagious.”

“Shizun!” Ning Yingying didn’t need to be told twice as she dashed across the room to tug at his sleeve.

“Careful.” He scolded as she burst into big, fat ugly tears. “What is this disgraceful behaviour?”

His personal disciple paid his scolding no mind as she continued to cry. He only shook his head and gestured the others over. They immediately came over and crowded in around him. None of the other three were as forward, but they kept close none the less.

“Is Shizun going to be okay?” The smallest girl asked over her Shijie’s sniffling.

“This master will be. Your Shigus are taking good care of your Shizun. Right, listen up. That means you too, Disciple Ning. Stop crying.”

A valiant attempt was made with a handkerchief and finally the girl settled into a very pink faced silence.

“This master will not be going with you back to Qing Jing peak. Thus he will need you to act as messengers upon our return to the Sect. Disciples Ai and Ke, you will need to inform your other Shizun of my situation. Hallmaster Ling should have enough preprepared work to cover mine and Hallmaster YiTao’s classes for another week. I trust her judgement after that point. Make sure she knows she has permission to act as she sees best in this regard.”

“Yes, Shizun!” Both girls said as one.

“Disciple Cheng.” He turned to the boy.

“Shizun would like me to tell Li-shizun?”

“Don’t interrupt but yes. Hallmaster Li will know how to act with other matters. Tell him Hallmaster Ling is already covering both mine and Hallmaster YiTao’s classes and I’m trusting him to behave sensibly in my absence.”

“Yes, Shizun.”

“Lastly, Disciple Ning. I will need you to inform Head disciple Ming. It is very important that he is aware of where this master is and what has happened. The litt- Disciple Luo’s examination will likewise be delayed. This master expects your shixiong to keep his shidi out of trouble and for you to stay out of any mischief yourself. At least, not till this master has been released from Qian Cao.”

“Yes, Shizun. This Ning will do her best.”

“Good girl.” He said giving the hand still clinging to his sleeve a pat. “Until then, you are all to heed your Shigus orders closely and to aid them where possible. Dismissed.”

All four disciples rose and saluted politely to their Shizun before bowing to Qi Qingqi and Huang Qingying. They were gently waved out the room. Once they left, Shen Qingqiu deflated with a wince.

“Ow.” He mumbled and with much grace rolled and fell to his side and shut his eyes.

Qi Qingqi slipped her fingers onto his neck’s pulse point. He tensed at the touch but his qi flow was normal.

“Is Shen-shixiong alright?” Huang Qingying asked, tucking Xiu Ya into his side and covering both with a thick blanket and a thinner cover.

“Just tired.” Their shixiong mumbled.

“You can sleep after you’ve eaten dinner.” Said Qi Qingqi.

A lot of bullying later, Shen Qingqiu had consumed one mantou and enough ginger chicken soup to please his Shimeis. His face was wiped clean and the scholar’s mark removed so to not stain the pillows. After this, they let him sleep and took their own evening meal downstairs with the disciples. Everyone was sent to bed for a needed early night as they would be leaving at dawn the next day. Qi Qingqi was barely aware as she crawled under the sheets and fell asleep for the second time that day.

Notes:

Field trip mini arc is over! Wooooo

The Qian Cao peak lord's name will come up more next chapter so I'll explain it then.
And as a side note. When Shen Qingqiu says Uncle he is saying Bobo 伯伯 (father's older brother) for another context clue. And yes, the Uncle calls Wu Yanzi 'A-zi'.
Also this should go without saying but don't feed people wine when they are ill. It won't do much good.

Next time: Shen Qingqiu is forced to get medical treatment and Mu Qingfang needs a raise

Chapter 18: Missing information, finding solutions

Summary:

QQQ takes SQQ to Qian Cao Peak to see MQF, HQY gives YQY the mission report and MQF bemoans SQQ's medical file.

Notes:

The tale of this chapter was 1 day was spent realising I needed to fix SQQ, another day was spent figuring out how I'd do that and the next three were spent some how writing 5.4k which was all edited today. I do not know what happened MQF is fun to write. Words go Brrrrrrr

Content warnings: In depth medical procedures and dicussion there of, hospitals, injections, surgery, physical therapy and post recovery, drugged characters, this author's wonky understanding of spiritual roots and meridians, excessing use of the word 'splintering'. Info dumping, lore hints, Mu Qingfang needing a raise, catching up with CQMS' peaklords who are chaotic as normal

"So are meridians corporeal physical parts of the body like nerves or veins; or are they like an ethereal vibes spiritual concept type of thing? Because you've described them both ways. Do all your readers a favour; pick one and stick to it! "

- Peerless Cucumber

There were many ways Mu Qingfang expected to start his afternoon. Being told that ‘Qi Qingqi had dragged, pushed and damn nearly carried Shen Qingqiu into his office and wasn’t leaving until he was seen to’ was not one of those ways. But as he entered, he quickly realised his entire afternoon was going to be spent dealing with this.

Shen Qingqiu was worryingly pale. His face; skeletal from the heavy bags under his dull bloodshot eyes. The skeleton imagery was not helped by how lightly dressed his shixiong was for once. Down to only a single middle layer and a familiar purple outer robe wrapped over his shoulders, just pushed his tall and long-limbed proportions further in the wrong direction. At least Mu Qingfang didn’t need to worry about catching him. Shen Qingqiu was firmly pressed into the chair by Qi Qingqi’s delicate hands, who looked like she wanted to punch something.

“Shen-shixiong, Qi-shimei. How may this Shidi help?” Began the doctor, greeting both with a bow.

“Shen-shixiong had a qi deviation in the middle of our trip and hid it, only to pass out three days ago.”

Mu Qingfang took in those words with what he hoped was a calm expression. Inside he was cursing.

“May this shidi take Shen-shixiong’s pulse?” He asked as Qi Qingqi continued.

“After his collapse, he was fever riddled for over a day before it broke and myself and Huang Qingying thought him safe enough to travel back.”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t reply to his question but he did try to lift his right arm, wincing as he did. Mu Qingfang took that as permission and knelt to gently grip the limb. Shen Qingqiu wasn’t looking at him, focused on the floor in the corner of the room. This was good because Mu Qingfang wasn’t quite able to school his features.

Everything was inflamed.

“This shimei couldn’t feel a pulse from Shen Qingqiu’s left arm when she was tending to him.”

Left arm. The one Mu Qingfang had suspected but Shen Qingqiu had been able to move it fine. The hand print bruise on Liu Qingge’s stomach was also from a left hand. Smoothly, Mu Qingfang set down one wrist on his shixiong’s lap and picked up the other.

There was nothing.

“I’ve never seen you make that face before.” Shen-shixiong, why couldn’t you have continued staring at the floor and not called out this Mu as he struggles to conceive of why there is no pulse at all in your left arm.

Bowing his head, Mu Qingying put his doctor’s mask back on and rose, placing the arm back in Shen Qingqiu’s lap. He crossed the room and activated a calling talisman before roughly filling out some of the necessary forms.

“Shen-shixiong, as you have probably feared, this doctor will be keeping you on Qian Cao Peak for at least the next three days.”

“Three days?! That’s it!?” Qi Qingqi yelled, outraged.

Mu Qingfang rose a hand to ease her anger. “That is the minimum amount for now until we know the extent of the damage.”

There was a knock on the door.

“Enter.” He said.

Zhen Su quietly slipped into the room, bowed in greeting and blinked at the two other Peaklords.

“Shen-shixiong, I’m going to leave you with Headdisciple Su. She will have a Meridian graph taken and then settle you in one of the private wards for now. I ask that you don’t make this difficult for her.”

He handed over the forms to Zhen Su, who flicked through them and nodded once. She had been his shimei and rival growing up but, with the position of Peaklord firmly settled, they had come to a strange harmony. Hopefully handing her his most troublesome patient wouldn’t shatter that.

“This way, Peaklord Shen.” Qi Qingqi released her grip on Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders and the man wobbling, got to his feet. Zhen Su appeared by his side offering an arm for support that the Peaklord took. Walking slowly, the pair left his office.

“Qi-shimei, before you leave. This shixiong would like a detail report of any symptoms or other things of note in regards to Shen Qingqiu’s qi deviation.”

“If shixiong is willing to prepare tea, this shimei is more than willing to talk about it.” Qi Qingqi pulled a seat up to his desk and slouched in it, cupping her face. “I feel like I might explode if I don’t.”

“That bad?” Mu Qingfang asked, activating with a simple touch an array custom built into a kettle pot to heat the water within. He did not have the luxury to waste qi nor time on boiling water. This was far smoother and simpler. And all he’d needed to do was tell Yang Qingfu that it couldn’t be done. Easily the best bet he’d ever lost.

Qi Qingqi hadn’t spoken for a while so he turned from his tea preparation to look at her.

“Shimei?”

Her expression was tight. “We thought he wasn’t breathing at one point.”

Passing her a cup of fresh tea, Mu Qingfang gave her shoulder a gentle pat and settled into what ended up being more a therapy session than a debriefing. It had clearly been needed though.

---

 

Yue Qingyuan sighed as he read through Ku Xing Peak’s report. They had managed to clear most of the tainted qi from the cave as well as prevent it spreading any further. It had taken over a week, half draining the sacred pools and enough peach wood incense that Yue Qingyuan could smell it from here. But the cave was cleansed. However, now there was a debate on the nature of its source on Ku Xing Peak. Demon, ghost, abyss creature, resentful energy and divine curse had all been suggested. Zhou-shidi wanted answers or at least a solid convincing lie he’d respectfully pretend was the truth. 

Yue Qingyuan didn’t have answers. Shen Qingqiu had admitted it was something he learned from Wu Yanzi but that didn’t narrow the scope at all. It was hitting him now, a couple of decades late, that he had no idea what his shidi had learned from his former master. He knew a little of his exploits under the man from the arrest record and rumoured hearsay about ‘Wu Yanzi’s mad companion’. But they had never really talked about it. Even directly after Shen Qingqiu had stabbed the man.

And now. Well. He was lucky to exchange a few sentences with Shen Qingqiu without it turning into the man cussing him out in every way he could. Still, he deserved it. He deserved it all. Xuan Su's laughter at his thoughts ran right up their bond and vibrated deep in Yue Qingyuan’s chest. It wasn’t a kind laughter, just bitter.

He shot a glare down are the sheath on his hip. Stupid old blade. A worthless thing.

The glare vanished when someone knocked on his office door.

“Come in.” he called brightly. A perfect smile slid into place as he rerolled the report up and added it to the pile to his left.

“Zhangmen-shixiong.” Greeted his older shimei. Oh, they were back!

“Ah Huang-shimei. I take it everything went well?” He asked.

“….” Huang Qingying gave a strained smile back in return.

A sinking feeling formed in his gut.

“Shimei?”

“It did go fine.” Huang Qingying clarified coming to stand next to the other chair in the room that was acting as a fourth table for scrolls and other papers. He quickly moved them out the way and let her have the seat. “Mostly.”

“Mostly?” He asked, worried. Huang Qingying carefully took his hands and made sure he was sitting down before continuing.

“Okay, before this shimei starts her report, she will need Yue-shixiong to understand everyone has returned safely.” He nodded at her, the sinking feeling had grown stronger. “and that Qi Qingqi has personally escorted Shen Qingqiu to Qian Cao Peak.”

Everything stopped as Yue Qingyuan processed what had been said.

“…She’s done what?” he asked in a quiet voice, not really seeing what was in front of him. Huang Qingying tightened her grip on his hands.

“Shen Qingqiu is fully conscious but he had a qi deviation during the trip. Nobody was hurt. He’s being seen to right as we speak.” She spoke softly and slowly. It helped. The tight grip on his hands helped too. It grounded him.

“I…see.” Letting out a breath that smelled like wet ash, Yue Qingyuan recomposed himself. “I will talk to Mu Qingfang about this later.”

Huang Qingying nodded slowly. “This Shimei has a question for Zhangmen-shixiong.” She looked conflicted.

“You may ask it.” He reassured, squeezing back on the hands holding his.

“How much of Shen Qingqiu’s history is Zhangmen-shixiong aware of?”

Yue Qingyuan stared at Huang Qingying, mind running to a hundred different places. “The vast majority of it, why Shimei?”

“So, Zhangmen-shidi is aware of the ring tattoo behind Shen-shixiong’s right ear?”

He had not been but he knew why Shen Qingqiu might have such a tattoo. As slaves and later as a disciple, he had heard tales of criminals caught, flogged and marked for harsher punishment if they repeated the offence. It wasn’t something the Sects did to anyone they caught, so Shen Qingqiu must have run afoul of the mortal authorities at some point. Yet another thing he didn’t know about him.

Lying, he nodded solemnly back at Huang Qingying.

“Has Shimei told anyone else about this?”

“No. I only discovered it whilst tending to Shen Qingqiu’s hair after the qi deviation. He was asleep at the time and Qi Qingqi was stressed enough that I did not share it with her.”

“That’s good.” He removed his hands from his shimei’s. “This shixiong would appreciate if Huang-shimei kept this a secret. Shen Qingqiu did not have an easy life before joining the sect. He has put in a great deal of effort to leave that past behind him.”

All of that past, even Yue Qi.

“This shimei understands… Does Yue Qingyuan trust Shen Qingqiu?”

“Yes.” He answered without thinking.

“Then this Shimei will trust him too.” Huang Qingying said.

 

---

 

The meridian graphs had came out well. And Mu Qingfang could not be more grateful to be born after their invention.

It was a simple process really. The patient changed into a single layer of specialised robes that would not block their qi and lay on a large scroll of uniquely treated paper. A spirit tool was then waved over them drawing up ink and staining the paper strongly where the patient’s meridian’s were. The end result was a clean map of the internal structures without the need to cut them open to see where the problems lay.

Which was great as Shen Qingqiu’s problems lay everywhere.

Really why wasn’t any of this on his file? Well, Mu Qingfang was definitely going to fix that.

For now as he stood over the scan, he had more pressing concerns.

Shen Qingqiu’s meridians frankly were a mess. He had already known that. He had felt it plenty of times but to actually see it was a different story.

His shixiong’s left arm’s meridians were broken. Not cracked or splintered but fully snapped apart. He could identify four distinct breaks along with half a dozen sites of splintering. And Shen Qingqiu had been able to move this arm like normal. Fucking insane. There were ghosts of qi flows in the scan that appeared to be moving through his muscles or skin to compensate. Mu Qingfang knew Zhao Hua Monastery used a similar technique as part of their style of cultivation but Shen Qingqiu would have had to come to a similar result by chance. Which was impressive, if mind boggling.

The damage to the left arm spread up through the shoulder and across his chest. By some miracle every vital meridian was whole and only lightly strained. Damage to any one of them could have killed his Shixiong out right. But they were all fine and the meridians around or nearby them were the mangled messes instead. Pure luck? Divine intervention maybe? Mu Qingfang just added it to the list of shit he would be looking deeper into at another time.

The right arm was not as a bleak picture but still was not good. It had a ridiculous amount of splintering concentrated on the middle of his upper arm and the lower half of his forearm avoiding the shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. The splintering had healed into the maze Mu Qingfang encountered every time he tried to take Shen Qingqiu’s pulse. It was old, having long scarred over into a weaving colliding mess. No surprise there were also signs of qi flows outside the meridians. It seemed his Shixiong had been using that trick for some time to counteract this old damage. Mu Qingfang wondered if the maze his left arm had been prior to this had the same appearance. In most cases damage like this had a trigger point or another injury that caused it. But from what he could tell this was just repeated damage to the same areas over and over again for no clear reason.

Sure, Shen Qingqiu had other damage that looked to be caused by bone breakages in far too many places across his body, but it wasn’t concentrated like this. He only had five signs of breakage in his arms and the one break on his right side was near the elbow. Not anywhere close to the splinter sites. It was abnormal.

This splintering was also present around his lower dantian. Not as pronounced but still clustered over and over again where his hips were, over his lower back and upper legs. This combined with Qi Qingqi’s account and burned fingers had Mu Qingfang suspecting damage to his spiritual root. Which his Shizun had clearly known about as there was also signs of indepth corrections to what might have been far more serious areas of damage. But which still weren’t on Shen Qingqiu’s file.

Rong Gangfu was a genius of his time. He had been the one to personally handle Yue Qingyuan’s near fatal case and Mu Qingfang could only hope to one day be close to his level. But the amount of neglect on Shen Qingqiu’s personal medical record file was bizarre.

For starters, all new disciples regardless of being Outer or Inner were given a starting checkup. Just to get a base assessment of where they were when entering the sect and if they had any preexisting conditions. It wasn’t very in depth, a basic pulse check that took less than a incense stick’s worth of time to complete but it was at the start of every one’s medical file. Shen Qingqiu’s file was missing it. Shen Qingqiu’s file was missing everything prior to about a week after he was officially named head disciple. All Mu Qingfang had for reference was a scrawled note at the very beginning.

Continuation Nine.

Never had such a thing filled him with dread. Especially not when he learned about the state of the file three years after his shizun had left him. The hunt for the previous files had ended in nothing. He didn’t even have Shen Qingqiu’s given name to work off of. There was no mention of it. Checking all files under ‘Shen’ had been a long task but none fit. He couldn’t find one file that matched, let alone the apparently nine missing ones.

The other weird thing about the file he had was Rong Qingfu appeared to be the sole doctor updating it prior to Mu Qingfang. Everyone else, bar Yue Qingyuan after the incident, was attended to by multiple members of Qian Cao Peak. Each writing a report of anything that happened that was stored in the file. Noone else’s record was managed by only one person like this. Everything felt weird.

This combined with Shen Qingqiu’s repeated history of qi deviations, reluctance to visit Qian Cao Peak and whatever he’d done to save Liu Qingge gave Mu Qingfang the feeling he was skimming dangerously close to something that had been carefully hidden.

Shuddering, the doctor made up his mind to update what he could and investigate more in the future. For now, he had an idea of how he wanted to address things as they stood. He just had to convince his Shixiong to let him.

Zhen Su had thankfully had little difficulty with Shen Qingqiu. Which was more a sign of the pain he was under than any permanent change in his shixiong’s temperament. But she’d located him in one of the quieter wards, with a nice view of the mountain range. Knocking, he announced he was entering before opening the door.

Shen Qingqiu was sat upright stroking the sword in his lap. Qi Qingqi’s tale of Xiu Ya stabilising his fever, along with the evidence of damage to his spiritual root had made Mu Qingfang reluctant to separate the wielder from the sword. Sheathed swords technically shouldn’t draw on their user’s qi so in theory it shouldn’t harm him, but clearly something odd was happening here as well. Once Wei Qingwei returned from the borderlands, he was going to ask for Xiu Ya’s sword records to find out what exactly it was.

Shen Qingqiu hadn’t looked up as Mu Qingfang had entered, only turning to him when he took a seat.

“What are you going to do to me?” His shixiong sounded closer to a prisoner addressing their captor than a Peaklord to his shidi.

“If Shen-shixiong agrees then this doctor suggests three operations to fix the most pressing damage.” Shen Qingqiu looked away again, alternating stroking Xiu Ya and fidgeting with the hem of his patient’s robes. “The first would be conducted by this shidi tonight upon shixiong’s right arm to fix old damage that this doctor suspects has been hampering Shen-shixiong’s qi flow and healing. The second and third operations would be conducted tomorrow and then the following day to repair the breakages found in Shen-shixiong’s left arm’s meridians. These would be conducted by a small team of Qian Cao’s Hallmasters who specialise in meridian reattachment as to give the best results for shixiong.”

“Hm.” Was all he got in reply. The fidgeting hadn’t stopped once.

“Upon completion of these operations, this shidi is willing to given Shen-shixiong two options on how to proceed.” Eyes slowly drifted back to him. “Option one is Shen-shixiong remains on Qian Cao Peak for the following month. He would be given around the clock care and have full control over who can come see him whilst he heals.”

“What is the second option?” Shen Qingqiu asked. Right. Mu Qingfang had thought he wouldn’t like the idea of being stuck on Qian Cao Peak.

“The second option is you return to Qing Jing Peak but this shidi visits you every morning and evening to provide the necessary follow up treatments for the next two or most likely three months.”

This was met with a long silence. Shen Qingqiu made a face and seemed to be weighing up the pros of being free of Qian Cao Peak against the cons of having Mu Qingfang invading his home so regularly.

“Would it not be taxing on Mu-shidi to walk to Qing Jing Peak twice a day?” His Shixiong tried.

“Yes, but if it means our second in command will actually let himself heal, this shidi will have no complaints.” Mu Qingfang’s expression was perfectly neutral in a sharp way that promised this was a polite warning and if he continued pushing he’d get a less than polite one.

“… Does this one need to make a decision right now?” Asked Shen Qingqiu.

“No.” Mu Qingfang replied. “But preferably by tomorrow so that we can organise things if you wish to stay.”

“Mm.” Another hum of acknowledgement. “Will this one be unconscious for these operations?”

“That is the standard.” Mu Qingfang answered.

Shen Qingqiu looked troubled for a moment.

“Could this one… not be?” The fidgeting had pulled a thread loose from the robes. His shixiong played with it. Wrapping it idly around one finger then uncoiling it and wrapping it around the next.

“Would that be preferre-“

“Yes.” Shen Qingqiu had cut him off. “Yes, that would be greatly preferred.”

Huh.

“Does Shen Qingqiu have any…. other preferences?” Mu Qingfang probed. “Operations have more success when the patient is relaxed and comfortable.”

“I – This one – This shixiong…. Will I need to remove my robes?”

“No. Provided we have access to your arm and your shoulder, there is no need.”

“Good.” Shen Qingqiu said. “Good.” He repeated again quieter.

“Does Shixiong have any other questions for this doctor?”

“How long would my arms take to heal following this? When would this shixiong be able to write again?”

“Your right arm will be functional three nights after the operation. Your left will be a month minimum. You will be on strong pain medication for that time and will find them both weaker for possibly up to half a year. This doctor would advise against long periods of writing for at least two weeks though.”

“Mm.” Shen Qingqiu sighed. “The sooner we get this over with the better. When do we start?”

“This shidi will need a shichen to prepare. Would Shen-shixiong like anything in the meantime?”

“If Zhangmen-shixiong asks to see me, deny him.” He said quietly, string wound round one finger before pulling loose.

“As Shen-shixiong wishes.”

With that Mu Qingfang left him and made suitable preparations. Paperwork was set in order to properly document everything. He spoke to the relevant Hallmasters who adjusted their schedules accordingly. Strong pain medications were ordered.  The operation theatre booked. And as Shen Qingqiu had predicted, the Sect Leader sent back to Qiong Ding Peak with some small reassurances.

Scrubbing up, Mu Qingfang had Zhen Su move Shen Qingqiu to the small theatre. She would be his assistant for the operation.

Shen Qingqiu was instructed to uncover his arm and lie on a thinly padded table. His shixiong looked a little pale entering but obeyed quietly.

Taking a seat opposite, Mu Qingfang fell easily into his task.

“Hello Shen-shixiong. What we will be doing tonight is a realignment and removal of two areas of concentrated splintering in your meridians. You will be numbed for this procedure and may feel a little drowsy but, as requested, you will be conscious. We will be handling each area in roughly the same manner. An incision will be made in your arm and the meridian’s exposed after which excessive or actively harmful qi pathways will be sealed and, if necessary, removed. We will then close the incision with stitches and bandage it. This shouldn’t take more than half a shichen total, after which you will be returned to your room to rest for a check up in the morning. Any questions?”

Shen Qingqiu shook his head. Mu Qingfang gave him a nod and set to preparing the needle with the numbing agent. Tapping out any trapped air bubbles, he gently swabbed his shixiong’s skin with a cleaning alcohol before beginning administration. A few moments later his shixiong was numb enough that he couldn’t feel when Mu Qingfang lightly pricked him with a needle. After confirming this, Zhen Su covered all but the operation area with clean medical towels. As Shen Qingqiu was still awake his face was left uncovered but his neck and hair were tucked away. Patient ready, the doctor and his assistant made a few last checks before getting to work.

The operation went well. Shen Qingqiu had looked both fascinated and horrified in equal measure to see the inside of his own arm. But he had stayed still and silent the entire time. Occasionally blinking sharply when the drugs caught up to him. By the time they had stitched and cleaned up the second cut, he was apparently losing that fight.

“Shixiong?” Mu Qingfang called softly.

“Hmngh?” grunted Shen Qingqiu back.

“That is us completing the operation. We are just going to finish bandaging you up and escort you back to the ward, okay?”

“Mkay.”

Shen Qingqiu hadn’t been in a state to walk back, so Mu Qingfang had had a wheelchair sent for and had pushed him back after scrubbing up. He’d left Zhen Su behind to handle the clean up of the theatre. She had already drafted in some of the free disciples to help as he left.

Getting back to the room, Mu Qingfang gently lifted his shixiong back into the bed, tucking him in as the man finally lost to the drugs in his system. He carefully place Xiu Ya in next to him, checked his pulse from his neck and left the room to get some sleep of his own.

His first stop the next morning after waking, washing and having eaten was to go see Shen Qingqiu. He was let known on no uncertain terms, as the man sulked in his bed, that the aesthetic had worn off in the middle of the night, waking his shixiong from the pain.

It was a quick fix as Mu Qingfang had made up a light pain soothing tea that shouldn’t mess with anything used for the operation that was set to happen around midday.

“How are you feeling besides sore?” He asked, taking the empty cup back and placing it on the tray.

“This shixiong wants to go back to his peak.” Complained Shen Qingqiu sounding not unlike a child.

“Now?” This got him a glare.

“After the operations. You said this shixiong had the option to leave.”

“As long as this doctor could visit him twice a day to ensure no complications.”

“Yes. That.”

Mu Qingfang sighed. “I will make arrangements for Shen-shixiong to be sent back to Qing Jing Peak following his operations. Until then may Shixiong please allow this Shidi to examine his arm?”

“Fine.”

Outside the damage wasn’t too bad. The two neatly stitched up cuts were healing up nicely. Each was the width of his hand. Mu Qingfang cleaned then both carefully with strong alcohol then a thick medicinal paste was coated over the area. As the paste was absorbed into the skin it should prevent the cuts from scarring and help prevent inflaming of the raw meridians underneath as well.

White bandages were tightly wrapped around each wound before Mu Qingfang took his shixiong’s hand and gently, oh so gently, pulsed qi up the new meridian tracks. No longer was it a confusing tree of pathways that looped back to force qi up where it came. Instead, what was left was a very fresh and scarred single narrow track. Mu Qingfang had taken the splinter in the best condition and removed any unnecessary branches. It wasn’t a perfect solution but with consistent treatment the new pathway could strengthen and widen in a way similar to how a normal undamaged meridian would.

“Could Shixiong try circulating his qi down to his hand please?”

Mu Qingfang kept sending out a gentle pulse that pushed the insides of the new meridian open as Shen Qingqiu’s own slow moving qi crawled up over his shoulder and down his arm. The flow was concerningly slow but this was good as it was densely charged with qi. Far too densely charged for Shen Qingqiu’s cultivation level. A mystery for later.

A full incense stick’s worth of time passed before the qi reached Shen Qingqiu’s hand. The man was sweating all over, his teeth grit painfully. It must have exceeded the pain medication from earlier. Up and down the arm, his muscles tensed. Mu Qingfang set about easing them with his own qi as well as identifying internal snags inside the pathway and smoothing them over. Judging that to be enough for today, he let Shen Qingqiu release the qi and carefully felt where it went. A cultivator’s body was trained from the time they joined to passively circulate qi. Whether it was the old damage or the new pathway, the qi inside Shen Qingqiu dispersed with no direction.

“Does Shen-shixiong need to consciously focus to circulate his qi?”

“Does not everyone?” Shen Qingqiu replied haughtily. Mu Qingfang kept his face neutral.

No, shixiong. They needed to focus to move it faster and with more power. Not to move it at all. Again, he was updating that damn file.

“This doctor will consider this with your recuperation.”

After seeing to the arm, Mu Qingfang left his Shixiong in peace.

The second operation went well according to the Hallmaster he left in charge even with Shen Qingqiu being conscious during it. Though like before he soon fell asleep once return to the ward. Late that evening, Mu Qingfang woke him with a light broth and some more medication for the pain. But Shen Qingqiu looked much improved even with a surgical drain poking out from his shoulder beneath the bandages. The circulating exercises in his right arm were still painful but it was easier than that morning. Overall it looked good. After cleaning, reapplying medicinal paste and rewrapping his shixiong’s right arm, Mu Qingfang let him sleep again.

Again, it was the same routine the next morning. Light broth, medicine, checking wounds, cleaning, reapply medicinal paste, rebandage, circulation exercises. The third operation not long after also went well.

 Both operations did basically the same thing. Go in, repair the breakages and, similar to the right arm’s operation, reduce the number of branching meridians. The sheer scale of having to piece back an entire arm had left it as a two stage process. But well worth it thought Mu Qingfang as he greeted his still waking Shixiong that afternoon.

“Hello Shen-shixiong.” He got a yawn in response. “I’ve brought food and the medicine you’ll be on for the next month.”

His shixiong was drowsy the entire check up. Not making any conversation back, just grumpily letting Mu Qingfang clean the wounds and rebandage them as he wished. Two very long cuts spanned up his left arm. One went from collar bone to just below the elbow, the other just above the elbow to the centre of his palm. Both had small surgical drains that he had to be careful of when rebandaging.

The third operation site was still too fresh to attend to but Mu Qingfang very lightly let his qi investigate his shixiong’s upper arm. Very tender and inflamed like the right arm but fully connected. He could trace his qi all the way back to Shen Qingqiu’s spiritual root.

A pleased grin crossed the Qian Cao Peaklord’s face.

Shen Qingqiu was once again left to rest until late evening. By this point, Shen Qingqiu could move his right arm with little issue. Easily able to pick up the spoon to feed himself.  This let Mu Qingfang allow his Shixiong change into some of the thicker patients robes without Mu Qingfang’s help as the doctor wrapped him in a cloak and as had been promised flew him back to Qing Jing Peak.

Entering the Bamboo Hut, Mu Qingfang was struck by how simple it was. A single building with a very large greeting room and joint study area that had deceived Mu Qingfang in prior visits about the size of the rest of the house. There was a small kitchen, a tiny bathing area and a moderate bedroom hidden right at the back, packed full of chest of drawers. It might have been appropriate for a new senior disciple but still the Qian Cao Hallmasters had bigger residences than this and they had to fight the wards for space.

It did make getting Shen Qingqiu to bed easier though. Removing his Shixiong’s boots, he pulled fresh blankets from the cupboard he was directed to and dutifully tucked in the man who had already fallen asleep in that short period of time. Easing the hair from his face, Mu Qingfang sighed deeply.

He frowned and sniffed the air again. Following the scent, he found its source. High up, inside the canopy of the bed tied to each post, was a small herb pouch. Reaching up, he opened one curious of the contents. They smelt familiar. As they should. It was filled with herbs from Qian Cao Peak’s store house. At a glance, the doctor could identify a common theme among them. Each one had a sleep aiding property. A fair few would have required a written prescription to gain access to.

“Shixiong, Shixiong. Who has been giving you these?” Mu Qingfang scolded the sleeping man. He got a soft snore in reply. He’d have to ask him in the morning.

Notes:

First off name time
Former Peaklord of Qian Cao; Rong Gangfu 容刚扶 - to hold/to contain/to allow + Hard/Firm/Strong + to support with a hand
Making a return appearence from chapter 1; Zhen Su 针苏 - Needle + Revive/A type of thyme (Chinese Basil)

Congrats to Revirag for catching on to HQY staring at SQQ whilst drying his hair in Chapter 16! That is when she saw the tattoo.

Interesting fact; tattoos were used historically in China up until I think the Song Dynasty?? (could be wrong) for the reason stated. I'm using one based on a banditry tattoo. It's a small circle about the size of your thumb placed behing the ear. Though a lot of historical tattoos were applied to the forehead. I wanted to save Shen Qingqiu's face in this fic so he got an ear one.

Hope the technical talk from MQF was understandable. I'm treating meridians like blood vessels made of glass for reference and the spiritual root as the organ they lead to and from. Probably incorrect but this is how we are rolling in this fic. And yes, I invented an X Ray/ultra sound type technology for MQF. The man needs all the help I can give him and a raise. He's got a long few months ahead of him.

Next time: We return to SQQ and Bingbun's perspectives for much sulking and a surprising amount of cooking.

Chapter 19: A day of recovery

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu continues to recover and adjust to Mu Qingfang's regular visits.

Notes:

Guess what. What was meant to be one chapter ballooned into two so it's SQQ POV today and in a few days you'll get Bingbun's POV.

Content warning: medical recovery, disordered eating, character in pain, near vomitting, this fic's wonky cultivation system, a nerd going feral over books, manipulation (a little)

"All that information! All those records! Bingge, you should have taken them before you burned the peak! So much knowledge has been lost! Damn it!"

- Peerless Cucumber

Fuck everything.

Just everything.

Fuck, it hurt. It really hurt.

Shen Qingqiu had been awoken at dawn by the pure agony of the insides of his arms. After the initial panicked ‘where am I?’ and ‘who is hurting me?’, he had resolved to just lay there till Mu Qingfang arrived. The morning was bright and cold with the many birds that lived in the bamboo forest chirping up a storm. Shen Qingqiu suspected he was probably going to be waking up in pain for the next week or two. Maybe escaping Qian Cao Peak before they’d gotten his arms would have been better. Logically he knew that was a stupid idea and that the surgeries had been necessary but still. Wiggling his way under the covers and quilt, he was left alone with darkness, warmth and the sound of his own beating heart.

Fuckkkkk.

Biting down on the inside of the quilt, Shen Qingqiu just focused on his breathing and hoped that Mu Qingfang arrived soon.

When the man eventually did, it didn’t go well. The doctor nearly had his fingers bitten off for the trouble of trying to remove his shixiong’s nice warm cocoon.

“Good morning, Shixiong.” Said Mu Qingfang withdrawing his hand, sounding unimpressed already. Shen Qingqiu didn’t care. Right now, he just wanted to make someone hurt as much as he did. If that meant eating a finger or two, so be it. “Can this Shidi please see Shen-shixiong’s face?”

Begrudgingly and with some aggressive squirming, Shen Qingqiu had poked his face out of the blankets enough to glare at the doctor.

“This shidi takes it the medication has worn off.”

“Correct.” He ground out.

Mu Qingfang sighed. “Due to the nature of the healing required, there aren’t many alternatives available that we can use with you outside of Qian Cao Peak.”

Shen Qingqiu said nothing and glared harder at the man. It seems his shidi had become immune to them as Mu Qingfang continued speaking.

“Your current prescription must be taken with food. This doctor has already found a disciple to collect some from the meal hall so they should be here soon. Until then, may this doctor see shixiong’s arms?”

There was a moment where Shen Qingqiu considered saying no. Considered cursing out Mu Qingfang until he left him alone. It would be a pointless waste of time. It might soothe his anger though. The Qing Jing Peaklord eventually after much sulking pulled himself from the covers.

 It was freezing. In a shock to no one, having your meridians forcibly altered fucked up your internal qi flow. Qi flow that pushed lovely warmth around your body with its Yang nature. His cultivation had already been dogshit at this but now he was sat there shivering just because of some autumn air as Mu Qingfang carefully unwrapped his right arm and began cleaning it down. Pathetic.

“This shidi will try to be quick.” Comforted the doctor.

“Don’t be quick. Be thorough. This shixiong doesn’t want to prolong this due to an infection.” He grumbled, jaw shuddering. He refused to look directly at the doctor as he worked. Too ashamed of his body failing him again.

Mu Qingfang was rewrapping his left arm when the little beast tottered in with a tray.

 Well.

His shidi certainly had found a disciple to help him.

The boy nervously put the tray down on the nearby table. He bowed lowly before peeking up. Shen Qingqiu glared at him with all his might when the brat dared make eye contact with him. Luo Binghe wisely broke it, staring down at his feet when he spoke.

“Does Mu-shishu have any further use for this disciple?” The boy said.

“No. Thank you for your help, Shizhi.” The little beast gave another bow and moved to leave. Ah ah ah, not so fast, brat.

“Disciple Luo.” His name made the little beast freeze in his tracks. “Inform your Da-shixiong that this master will be on leave from teaching until after the mid-autumn festival in two days’ time.”

“Yes, Shizun.” Another bow, this one lower than the one to Mu Qingfang, and he was gone.

Scoffing at his disciple’s retreating form, Shen Qingqiu turn back to Mu Qingfang to find him removing the lid off one of the two bowls on the tray. Thick white fragrant steam escaped into the room.

Peering through the cloud, Shen Qingiqiu found a simple bowl of congee. It appeared thinner than what was normally served, and someone had added an extra helping of pickled greens as well. Mu Qingfang, himself, added even more greenery to the dish in the form of medicinal herbs. The congee and tray were then lifted over to rest on Shen Qingqiu’s knees as a makeshift table where he sat in bed.

Picking up the second bowl, his shidi slid over a spoon for him to use before tucking in. Clearly one of the side effects of these regular visits was that they would be sharing meals together for the next few months. Great.

Shen Qingqiu’s right hand spasmed as he gripped the spoon. He needed to eat enough of this that Mu Qingfang would give him the gift of numbness but even now staring at the dish his stomach roiled. Qi Qingqi had forced him to eat at every mealtime on the trip back and Qian Cao Peak had been fairly regular with feeding him too. He didn’t need that much food. Righteous cultivation never demanded he eat so often.

The doctor was still watching him. Shen Qingqiu steeled himself, dipped the spoon and brought it to his lips. It tasted fine. He still wanted to puke. Mechanically, he forced the spoon down again. The doctor’s bowl was identical to his and he was eating it with ease. Shen Qingqiu watched him until the doctor noticed. Then it became too much, and Shen Qingqiu forced himself to look back at his own dish. Urgh. He was just putting off the inevitable, wasn’t he.

Lifting the spoon, Shen Qingqiu ate another bite. The food just sat in his mouth awkwardly. He didn’t want to swallow. He did anyway. The full body shudder that followed couldn’t be suppressed.

Mu Qingfang had finished his bowl by the time Shen Qingqiu had eaten a third spoonful. The congee by that point was nearly as cold as he was. Mu Qingfang set his empty bowl down and waited. After a fourth spoonful, Shen Qingqiu admitted defeat.

“Does this one need to finish it all?” He asked staring down at the food.

The doctor considered him for a moment before replying. “Half.”

“Half?”

“Half should be enough for the medicine.”

“Mm.”

It took nearly a third of a shichen but he made it to halfway.

“Well done.” Said the doctor as he took back the tray. It was a stupid thing to be congratulated for. But the small dark pill that made his arms stop hurting was well worth it. Once he’d confirmed it was working, Mu Qingfang ran him through the qi flow exercises. Only on his right arm for now but that evening he was promised that they’d begin working through the left arm as well. Fantastic news, Shen Qingqiu thought sarcastically.

After all this, Mu Qingfang finally left. Shen Qingqiu immediately curled back into his former cocoon of warmth. Maybe it was a side effect of the medicine but he just wanted to sleep. Hugging a buckwheat pillow close, Shen Qingqiu buried his face into the soft texture. His one good hand rubbed soothing circles into his scalp as he tried to just relax.

He must have eventually fallen asleep. How else could he then have been awoken by Mu Qingfang’s gentle voice. Blinking sluggishly at the doctor, he spotted behind him the little beast once again holding a tray of warm food. Upon seeing this, he promptly stuck his head back under the blankets and curled up some more. Above him, his shidi sighed.

“You can leave us.” Mu Qingfang told the little beast, who bowed and thankfully got out of the room.

The meal this time was wonton soup. Odd, the Zui Xian cooks for Qing Jing Peak normally stuck away from such fiddly dishes. Sitting up, Shen Qingqiu felt his spine pop. His eyes were still sore from dried tears and his hair was a mess. He didn’t feel like fixing it.

Like before Mu Qingfang arranged the tray across his lap to act as a table. Unlike before, the portion was smaller. It was five wontons with broth and no noodles or other sides.

“This isn’t from the meal hall.” Shen Qingqiu said flatly.

“No. This doctor had it prepared separately with some help.”

“Please tell me you are not indulging that troublemaker Disciple Luo in his cooking distractions.”

“Disciple Luo did offer suggestions, but this was made by some of the junior Zui Xian disciples.”

“Hm.” He used the spoon to bring a wonton to his mouth. After nibbling open the wrapper, the insides were a lumpy green colour and smelled strongly of pork, shrimp and medicinal herbs. Huh.

Placing one in his mouth, he chewed it through and swallowed. Well, it didn’t taste terrible and after the wontons, he would only have to drink the broth. Broth he could handle. It was like tea, only in a bowl.

With this new goal in mind, he speedily ate the second and third wontons and immediately regretted it. Sipping the broth, thankfully helped push everything further down to avoid disgracing himself in front of his shidi. But it was a near miss and Mu Qingfang looked a little alarmed at the faces he pulled.

The doctor thankfully didn’t comment when Shen Qingqiu stopped eating for a bit. Mu Qingfang’s own bowl had the same broth but with noodles and sides. No wontons. It looked more like the standard fare of the meal hall. Eventually the nausea passed and Shen Qingqiu was able to eat the fourth wonton in many tiny bites. The fifth went the same way leaving him with just the broth.

With the meal over, Mu Qingfang handed him the medicine as he handed the doctor his arm. Bandages were changed, the drains were checked, and exercises were completed with both of his arms this time. Shen Qingqiu wished they could forego the exercises. Though stretching out his hands helped ease the weird tingling feeling they brought. It was like the sensation he felt flying through thunderstorms but the fiery pins and needles version. Staticky, warm and heavy. The slow push of qi sent sensations rippling up his spine in the worst possible way.

Medicinal paste and spare bandages packed away, Mu Qingfang ordered him out of bed and to put on fresh clothes. Thankfully, Shen Qingqiu was left alone to dress himself. He even found the time to fix his messy hair. Having combed it out one handed, he flipped the now detangled hair over his right shoulder and tied it into a rough ponytail. A quick dip of red paint to smear on his scholar’s mark and he was done. Emerging from the bedroom, he found Mu Qingfang with a thick cloak in one hand and a pair of his boots in the other.

“A short walk will also now be part of these visits. Stagnant blood and stagnant qi will both hamper Shixiong’s healing.” Basically, his shidi wouldn’t let him rot in bed all week. Fuck you.

Frowning, he let himself be dressed in the cloak and got on the boots with some difficulty himself. Straightening out his robes, he turned back to Mu Qingfang.

“Is there anywhere in particular Mu-shidi would like to see? After all you haven’t been to this one’s peak often in the past.” Especially if Rong-shishu had any say in it.

“Is Shen-shixiong offering this one a guided tour?” asked Mu Qingfang, a touch of humour to his voice.

“No. I think we should walk around in the darkening cold in complete silence, bored out of our skulls.” Said Shen Qingqiu sarcastically. He pulled out a fan from his sleeve and flicked it open, gesturing the doctor to leave the hut.

This actually got a snicker. Closing the door behind them, Shen Qingqiu set off towards the main bulk of buildings.

“Well, shidi. Any ideas?” he asked as they crossed over the Lotus Pond Bridge.

“Forgive this doctor for being unimaginative but he has never actually been to the library here on Qing Jing Peak.”

“Then allow this one to guide the way.”

Qing Jing Peak’s library was not located all in one place. There was a minor hub library near the classrooms at the centre of the peak for easy access, but the main complex was further up on a minor peak that had been flattened out to house it as it further grew over the centuries. The pathway was steep with seated stone steps. There were night pearl lanterns every hundred chi or so to prevent you getting lost but that was it. The bamboo forest craned over head on one side and a sheer cliff on the other let you see over the top of Bian Jie Peak all the way to Qiong Ding Peak. Thankfully, the barrier array around the sect kept the mountain winds from carrying anyone off the side but there had been near misses with foolish disciples in the past.

As they drew nearer, the path twisted back from the edge towards the forest. Not long after they caught sight of multiple archway-like gates each the single-entry point of a barrier array. The Sect’s entire knowledge since its founding lay beyond them. The gates were still open at this time in the early evening but only just. Once the sun set, they would be sealed until dawn. Continuing forward they reached the library’s first physical wall. Inside was a small courtyard and the barracks of the guards, who saluted them both.

The guards, themselves, were members of Bian Jie Peak. They had discipled there, trained there and been raised there. But now their Bian Jie Peak blue had the pale teal of Qing Jing Peak around the cuffs and collar. Now they were his. Behind his fan, Shen Qingqiu smiled at this reminder.

Before even stepping foot on his peak, each had been heavily vetted. The process took years; he was still waiting for the newest recruit to meet Yang Qingfu’s standards. Most of the ones here were older than Shen Qingqiu and they definitely remembered him. Hard to forget the brat who had out classed them so many times before. It had certainly tightened up their security standards though.

Passing through the courtyard, they came to the first hall. A librarian immediately greeted them.

“Peaklord Shen, Peaklord Mu. How may this humble one be of aid to you?”

“Well, shidi?” Shen Qingqiu asked behind his fan.

“This doctor was curious what medicinal texts Qing Jing’s Library held. Qian Cao Peak has some copies in our own central library but this doctor suspects Qing Jing Peak has further more still.”

The librarian bowed to Mu Qingfang then turned to Shen Qingqiu with an inquiring look.

“He has my permission to access such texts and copy them for his peak.”

The librarian bowed to Shen Qingqiu again and began to lead them. They passed by others at work preserving and organising texts in near perfect silence. Qing Jing Peak had never had many senior disciples in the traditional sense, even before Shen Qingqiu took over. Most disciples were only there until they reached a stage where they could leave with a good education in the four arts and some rudimentary cultivation skill. Enough to pass the imperial scholar exams and honour their family.

Those that didn’t leave normally ended up as librarians or in rare cases Hallmasters. Set with the task of maintaining the records of each mission completed by the sect and keeping Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s knowledge base up to date. It was hard work and long hours. They rarely interacted with the everchanging junior disciples further down the mountain. Not that they couldn’t. It’s just those that stayed didn’t tend to fit with the rich young master mould Qing Jing Peak exemplified. Something Shen Qingqiu could forgive them for.

The peak lords followed on as they exited the first building, entered a second, exited that one and crossed another courtyard to a third building before being taken up to the second floor and through a heavily arrayed door. Each building already had multiple independent security arrays so this was nothing unexpected though they were the simple kind that could stand up to being locked each night and unlocked each morning. That type, Shen Qingqiu could crack open in his sleep. This one might have taken him half a shichen to puzzle out.

Good. They were learning.

Inside was lit was multiple night pearls. Each shelf buzzed with arrays to control the airflow, moisture and temperature to better preserve the books. Each scroll was in a cloth bag, each book tightly bound to a wooden board and likewise wrapped in cloth. Next to him, Mu Qingfang’s mouth hung comically agape. This was not a small room, and it was packed with shelves that stretched up to three times their height.

“Would Librarian Shi be so kind as to come collect these two Peaklords before lock up is called?” He tried not to grin when the woman who had guided them here startled. Yes, Librarian Shi. He knew all the names and faces of the library staff even if they rarely saw him. He had made sure to memorise all their faces early on. “This Shen worries Peaklord Mu might find it hard to pull himself away from his research.”

“This one shall. Would Peaklord Shen like writing materials brought for Peaklord Mu?”

“That would be appreciated.” He said dismissing her. Mu Qingfang was already investigating a few of the scrolls. The records were organised with little markers of content carved into the front of each shelf section. The Doctor made a manic expression when this was pointed out along with the fact that, so long as the wielder was careful, spirit swords were allowed to fly in this area. It was then he lost his shidi entirely.

Sitting down at the writing desks, Shen Qingqiu watched as Mu Qingfang flew from one shelf to another then back down to the floor to crouch to examine of the books down there. He seemed to be looking for something as he didn’t begin picking out texts until quite some time had elapsed. Librarian Shi returned with the writing supplies and stood there staring as the man zipped around.

“That will be all, Librarian Shi.” He said after she didn’t move.

“Y-yes, Peaklord Shen.” She said, still not leaving. Shen Qingqiu internally sighed.

“This master will make sure his shidi doesn’t damage any of the records. You can go.” He said, more pointedly than before.

“Right!” And with that she fled.

By this point, he was fairly sure Mu Qingfang had forgotten that their ‘short walk’ had meant to have been for Shen Qingqiu’s own health. Still the man seemed very happy as he sat down beside Shen Qingqiu and began reading through a small pile of scrolls.

Bored, Shen Qingqiu peered over the man’s shoulder. He froze at what he saw.

“This one thought Zhangmen-shixiong told you to stop looking into that.” He growled in Mu Qingfang’s ear.

“He strongly suggested it.” Replied the man continuing to read the scroll on qi deviation calming techniques.

Shen Qingqiu was both speechless and slightly impressed at just how ballsy it was to get the man who you know doesn’t want you to know what he did to escort you to the source of information that can tell you what he did. This bastard. This insane bastard. Had he really tricked him into guiding him right here?

“What’s to stop this master from marching you out of here and permanently banning you from the library?”

“Your two wrecked arms.” Shit, where had the polite doctor gone? Shen Qingqiu hated that he wasn’t wrong as well. He needed Mu Qingfang right now to heal his arms and until they were healed, he couldn’t exactly fight the man. Not that he would directly but still it was aggravating.

Fine. If they were going to start a battle of wits, Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t be outclassed on his own damn peak.

Leaning in, Shen Qingqiu snarled coldly in Mu Qingfang’s ear. “And what do you think wrecked my arms in the first place, shidi?”

Mu Qingfang paused his reading and looked up. He hadn’t touched the writing materials once. Was he just memorising everything!?

“If this shidi asks Shixiong again what he used to stabilise Liu Qingge’s qi deviation, would Shixiong answer him honestly this time?”

“This shixiong would not.” Shen Qingqiu’s expression was a little deranged behind his fan. He tried to school it down to something more respectable. “Shidi does not need to know.”

“But it could-“ He started. Shen Qingqiu bopped him on the nose with his fan.

“No, it couldn’t.” He said as the poor doctor clutched his nose. “I know what it can do and frankly I’m amazed Liu Qingge was left with as little damage from it as he was.”

“From it? Not the qi deviation?” The doctor seemed to mull over his words for a second. “Would Shixiong at least tell this shidi about Liu Qingge’s qi deviation? It would be useful to know what was prevented least it repeat itself in the future.”

Shen Qingqiu scoffed but conceded.

“There is not much to say. This shixiong was cultivating and there was a sudden burst of qi from the other cave. Logically this shixiong went to investigate. Liu Qingge was still in the initial confusion of it and threw himself at me. We fought all the way through the caves; this shixiong retreating, Liu Qingge attacking. Mid attack he had a moment of clarity. Then he….” He shook the image of Liu Qingge, sword pointed at his chest from his mind. Mu Qingfang’s sharp eyes caught the hesitation but Shen Qingqiu continued on anyway like he’d never stopped. “Then I slipped past his defence to break his arm and knock him out. “

“And your qi deviation?” The doctor asked. Oh shit, he had told him that the qi deviation he had had in the brothel had happened in the caves. Damn it.

“This one’s deviation occurred shortly after knocking out Liu Qingge.” He lied. “I lost consciousness for a few shichen. It was early afternoon when we fought.”

“And early morning when you dropped him off.” Said Mu Qingfang, stroking his moustache. “The qi deviation knocked you unconscious. Did your arm break before the qi deviation?”

Shen Qingqiu tried to figure out how to phrase this so that he didn’t immediately contradict himself. “Both occurred at the same time.”

“And your ‘trick’ broke your arm?” inquired Mu Qingfang further.

“Yes.” That was technically true. Though Shen Qingqiu suspected it was more the cold yin qi still in his system reacting explosively with the already unstable warm yang qi from Liu Qingge’s than the human cauldron technique itself. Under normal circumstances, it never did any damage to the taker, just the one taken from.

“Hmmm.” The moustache stroking continued. It looked less impressive with a short moustache than the long dropping thing Rong-shishu had had that came level with his shishu’s belt.

“You’re not going to stop looking into this, are you?” Asked Shen Qingqiu already sure of the answer.

“No.” His shidi replied bluntly. “But once I figure out a credible theory. I will be sure to ask Shixiong to confirm if it is correct.”

“This is not some class exercise.”

“Oh no, it’s much more interesting.”

Shen Qingqiu tsked at his giddy tone.

Librarian Shi came to see them not long after and the pair were escorted out. Privately he asked, Librarian Shi to put aside the scrolls Mu Qingfang had collected. If they were going to make this into a game, he might as well make it fair and have copies of the texts sent to the man. It would be the least he could do, considering Mu Qingfang would be banned from the library for the next year minimum. Shen Qingqiu would not let such trickery stand unpunished.

Escorting him home, the doctor didn’t speak. He seemed deep in thought.

“This shixiong will see shidi in the morning then.”

This finally brought Mu Qingfang out of his reverie.

“Yes, this shidi will see shixiong in the morning. Sleep well.”

“This shixiong will try.”

Notes:

I had not planned on a library trip but it sort of just happened. And I'm glad it did.

I mentioned this in the comments last chapter but my MQF is heavily in fluenced by Rox-of-iu on Tumblr's amazing art for 'Cultivate: Slow Life on a Monster-Infested Mountain' by NeonGhostCat (Excellent Fic definitely check it out) here on Ao3. Aka he's a little feral nerd. It's great.

Also fun bonus mental image: Imagine SY's reaction to the library. We know he went into a studying frenzy to get up to speed on the cultivation almost immediately after transmigrating in the SVSSS timeline. But SY, binged reader of webnovels, surrounded by a few acres of library and unlimited access to it all. >:D Homeboy must have had fun.

Names:
Librarian Shi [ 施 ] comes from potential author of the Water Margin (one of China's Four Great Classic Novels), Shi Nai'an

Next time: Bingbun gets his door kicked in and actually has a pretty alright day considering.

Chapter 20: Injury mandated Bonding time

Summary:

Binghe gets woken up early by his shizun who has work for him today!

Notes:

The second half of what would have been chapter 19. XD Together they are something like 8k which is wild.
Anyway expect chapter 21 on or shortly after Valentine's Day (14 Feb)

Content warnings: Child Abuse (Verbal and physical), For a change in pace BINGHE'S CANONCIALLY TRAGIC BACKSTORY, Cooking scenes written by an author who has not cooked nor even eaten the dish being made, SQQ's stubborn refusal to accept that being in pain means he should maybe stop.

Tone is softer than warnings may indicate but still be on guard.

"FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK RIGHT THE HELL OFF AND LEAVE BINGHE ALONE YOU STUPID SHITHEAD NO NO FUCK OFF SHEN QINGQIU FUCK OFFFFFFFFFF D:< WHY IS THIS MAN ALLOWED NEAR CHILDREN!?"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

 

The birds had just started to sing when Shizun kicked open the storage rooms door. Binghe looked up at the man, haloed in the dawn light as the disturbed birds squawked and took flight outside. It reminded him a little of his last night in the woodshed.

“Little beast, get up. Now.”

Binghe struggled to sit up, blankets still wrapped around him.

“Shizun?” he asked, voice still heavy with sleep.

“Up.” The man barked, clawing about with his one good arm until he found Binghe’s outer robes. Said outer robes were then thrown at his head. “What assignments do you have to hand in today?”

“A report on the battle of Bailu Mountain for Hallmaster Xiu.” Binghe said, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. Why was Shizun here? The man had spent yesterday asleep, healing from his time at Qian Cao Peak but today he was running around as if that never happened. Shouldn’t he still be in bed considering he’s sick? Shizun seemed to disagree as he started listing out orders.

“Hand it over and get dressed. You are to go to the kitchens with this list. Take what they give you back to my kitchen. If you see Ming Fan, tell him I will be borrowing you for the day. If you see Peaklord Mu, tell him this master is organising things with his Hallmasters and will be back at the bamboo hut shortly. Now get up.”

Binghe was hurried out of bed, Shizun’s fan clacking loudly at his heels threatening discipline if he didn’t get moving. Dressed and hair back in a clumsy ponytail, Binghe was soon running up the path to the kitchens. The Zui Xian disciples had just arrived with a few An Ding disciples bringing in supplies for the week. Binghe ran towards the most senior looking one and bowed, Shizun’s note held out in front of him like an apology.

“A note from Peaklord Shen.”

The note was taken and read. Then Binghe was piled up with a basket of ingredients and a small sack of something too large to be rice. Bowing in thanks, he didn’t dare dawdle and made it back to the bamboo hut’s kitchen in good time. With a chance at last to stop, the boy yawned loudly. The sun was still only just thinking of peeking over the horizon. He wanted to go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t get to as Shizun returned and began to issuing commands.

“Wash your hands and get those two tubs from the storage cupboard. No, not that one. The cupboard on the left. Place them here. Hurry up!”

Moving quickly, Binghe did as he was told, carefully placing them on the small table. With two fingers, Shizun pointed at the water barrel and a ball of water the size of a melon floated up and over their heads to splash into one of the tubs. Binghe stared at it the entire time. That.. that was so cool. He wanted to learn how to do that when he was older.

“Clean the dust out of that one.” Shizun said sharply as he repeated the water trick again on the other tub and started scrubbing away at it himself.

The man was clumsy as he did since he only had one useable arm. Shizun’s left one had been tucked into a fabric sling, snuggly positioned against his chest. Binghe was fairly certain his Shizun wasn’t meant to be using either of his arms for some time, but he didn’t dare voice his concerns. Better to not test the man’s short temper, especially when, wincing like that, Shizun was in a lot of pain. Together they each scrubbed out their tubs in a relatively peaceful silence.

“Hmm. Good enough.” Shizun said glancing at Binghe’s efforts. It was the most praise, he’d ever received from Shizun. “Empty them out.”

Part filled with water, the tubs were heavier than before, so it took both hands to carry one out to the back garden and dump the contents. Coming back from his first trip, he saw Shizun had begun to unpack the basket of ingredients. A small sack of flour, a pitcher of oil, ground sugar, a pot of honey and two different types of eggs were all carefully set on the cupboard near the stove.

“Have you done as I asked yet, little beast?” snapped Shizun when he caught him staring.

“Almost, Shizun!” He replied, nearly sloshing the second tub’s contents all over the kitchen floor. Shizun would not have reacted well to that. The trip to empty it didn’t take long. Returning, he found that the first tub he’d emptied had been filled part way with water again.

“Get the sack and bring it here.” Said Shizun pointing to where it had been placed. Binghe did as he was told and watched as Shizun fought with the knot tying it closed. Just when Binghe had found the nerve to ask if he would like some help, there was a flash. He missed the cord being cut entirely. Only able to blink the spots out his vision as Xiu Ya clicked back into its sheath.

“Fill the tub up to where the water is currently.” Ordered Shizun, like nothing had happened.

Binghe nodded, still a little dazed and reached into the bag. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected but his hands came out grasping dried lotus seeds. He stared at them for a moment before filling the tub as instructed, handful at a time. His mind had chugged along as he’d worked and finally had placed the pieces together once the tub was full up to the water line.

“Shizun, are we making mooncakes?” He asked.

“Disciple Luo has made them before?” Asked his shizun sharply, instead of answering him.

“No.” Binghe said dipping his head. “My mother and I could not afford such things.” They could barely afford the millet they’d used for dinner.

Shizun scoffed disapprovingly. “Stop moping and help me clean off the seeds.”

Rolling up his sleeves, Binghe reached into the tub and stirred the seeds gently. The water was bitingly cold, so he worked quickly. Collecting seeds with both hands, he gave them a good shake before transferring them to the clean second tub. This continued until one tub was empty bar dirty water and one was full of cleaned seeds.

“Good. Now, empty that tub.”

This one was a lot heavier than the first two. Binghe walked near crab legged from the weight. He managed to soak the entire front of his robes emptying it out. Jogging back to Shizun, he hoovered another ball of water into the tub in his arms barely sparing Binghe a glance.

“Clean it out, little beast.”  Binghe dutifully did so and emptied it again.

Returning once more, Shizun pointed to where it would be set upside down to dry. Binghe could see that the cleaned lotus seeds’ tub had been filled with water whilst he was away. They’d need a few shichen to soak before they could begin cooking them. Whilst he set the tub to dry, Shizun carefully placed a bamboo woven lid over the top of the lotus seeds and finally turned to look at him properly.

“Now little beast, we can- You are soaked.” Said the man, blinking annoyed when he realised the state of his disciple.

Binghe flushed, then startled when his clothes dried. There was a splash outside as Shizun flicked the water off him. A warm feeling at the apparent gesture was crushed at Shizun’s next words.

“Disgusting creature. Learn to keep yourself clean. Come. We will be seeing if there is any hope for your Guqin playing until Mu Qingfang arrives.”

There was apparently very little hope for his guqin skills as Shizun’s sharp tongue and bruising fan let Binghe know. He was beyond grateful when the Qian Cao Peaklord arrived, and he was ordered away to collect food.

As he was exiting the kitchens, Zhi Yao found him. Yesterday Peaklord Mu had managed to fend off the boy so that Disciple Luo could assist him with taking care of his Shizun. But today it was just him. Alone. Luckily, the other boy looked at the tray and asked no further questions.

“When you are done with that make sure you aren’t late to morning meal.” Zhi Yao ordered. “Hallmaster Xiu told Da-shixiong you’d be helping Shizun all day. So, he wants to run some more stances by you to practice on your own.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Don’t try! Do!” called his shixiong over his shoulder running off to the meal hall.

Mu-shishu was poking at the small tube sticking out of Shizun’s arm when he arrived back.

“Ah, Disciple Luo, Good job.” Binghe fought against preening at the praise. Shizun was glaring at him from his seat already. Better not to push his luck so Binghe quickly handed over the tray, bowed and left as to not invite further trouble.

Making his fifth trip up the path towards the kitchens and meal hall that morning, Binghe finally let himself catch a break. Nobody would mind if he took a short break, right? Despite Zhi Yao’s words his shixiong wasn’t the type to go out his way to track him down. Just the type to punish Binghe when he did turn up.

Feet dragging, the lotus pond bridge gave Binghe a nice banister to rest his arms and chin on. The pond was quieter now. The frosty mornings having scared off the croaking frogs and buzzing colourful insects. But even now a few of the titular lotus’ continued to bloom vainly despite the weather.

Binghe closed his eyes and tried with all his might not to let his thoughts wander back to Shizun. He failed once again. He just couldn’t do right by him. Did Shizun hate him? Was Shizun just strict? He’d given him a room in his house, so Binghe didn’t have to sleep in the woodshed and forced Ming Fan to correct his years of sabotaging him. Even today despite being in a foul mood from the pain he was giving him private lessons in exchange of him helping him cook. Shizun said cruel things and hit him. He dried him off and scolded him. Instructed him and worked beside him. And Shizun had somehow come home from a peaceful trip even worse than he had come out of the LingXi caves.

Concern for Shizun and fear of Shizun ran rings around Binghe’s head as a falling leaf fell into the pond below. He couldn’t quite name fully how he felt. Shizun was important to him. Shizun despised him.

Binghe had only ever had a mother. He had only ever cooked alongside by her. It felt odd to think that after morning meal he might be cooking alongside Shizun. Shizun had made it clear he was not another mother for Binghe. So where did that leave him? He didn’t think of him like the Hallmasters, purely as a teacher. There was something else. Something he wanted. A nameless, traceless thing that slipped through his fingers every time the man glared down at him in disappointment. It hurt.

“A-Luo!” A sweet voice roused him from his thoughts.

“Shijie!” Ning Yingying charged at him and nearly took them both off the bridge into the water below as she tackled him.

“It’s been sooooo long! Shijie hasn’t seen her favourite shidi in weeeeeekkkkssss!” She whined into his ear, wrapping her arms around him. Binghe leaned into the touch. Compared to Shizun, Ning Yingying was so straightforwardly warm. Loud and vibrant and so solidly present, as if she would let anyone forget it.

“This one was told that was deliberate by Da-shixiong.” She smelled like sun dried laundry. He wanted to stick his entire face into the smell.

“Hmm yes. Shizun found out I’d been tutoring you behind his back and was super unhappy about it. He’s had me worked to the bone for all the guqin classes I skipped out on before.” She complained with a pout. “Look at my fingers! Ruined!”

Binghe laughed and held her closer. “I missed you.”

This got him a smile that took his breath away and filed his lungs with a soft glowing warmth.

“Missed you too, A-Luo.” Ning Yingying said brightly.

“Hey, what’s taking you so long?!” Called out a familiar voice over the ponds. Ah, while Zhi Yao might not have gone to look for him, turns out that there was a very stubborn Shixiong that would. Ming Fan limped up to them before truly seeing that Ning Yingying was hugging him. When he did, a black expression crossed his Da-shixiong’s face. “Luo Binghe, You!”

Ning Yingying was quick to untangled herself from Binghe. He missed her warmth already.

“Da-shixiong!” She greeted, running over to Ming Fan. “Do you want to come to the Mid-Autumn Festival with me tomorrow?” She asked, smile at maximum brightness.

Ming Fan blushed red from his collar to his hairline. “T-together?” He stuttered.

“Yeah! Me, Ke-shimei and Ai-shimei are wanting to head down to An Ding Peak’s Plaza to see the Lion dances then on to Zui Xian Peak to browse the food stalls, want to come?”

“T-This Shixiong would like to, yes.”

“Yay!” Ning Yingying bounced happily on her heels. Looking over her shoulder, she called back.  “A-Luo, do you want to come too?”

Binghe nodded. “It sounds like fun.”

Ming Fan scolded at him. “Shizun told me to keep you two apart.”

“Ahhh but Da-shixiong, if you don’t keep an eye on A-Luo who knows what type of trouble he’ll get up to.” Ning Yingying by this point was clinging on to both their arms.

“That’s still no excuse.” Scolded Ming Fan. He set his shoulders back and tried to stand as tall as he could. Like that would make him any more likely to be listened to. “….How is Shizun doing?” He asked after a moment.

Binghe kept his face neutral as he answered Ming Fan. “Shizun is healing. Mu-shishu is taking good care of him. Shizun was even out of bed and running around early this morning.”

Far too early in Binghe’s opinion but what was done was done. Ning Yingying between them peaked up at the news.

“That’s a relief.” She said. “Shizun had me really worried, suddenly collapsing like that.”

Linked in her other arm, Ming Fan had a complicated expression on his face. Binghe cocked his head at his shixiong.

“Yes, it was rather sudden.” Said Ming Fan like he had a mouthful of sharp stones. He was lying, Bignhe realised. Lying really badly. Ning Yingying gave their Da-Shixiong a puzzled look. It was best if she didn’t worry too much. So Binghe cut in to cover for Ming Fan’s lies.

“Earlier. Da-shixiong said he was looking for this one?” said Binghe brightly.

Ming Fan looked a little taken aback then slipped into his normal haughty anger. “Yes. You were meant to meet me at the meal hall and yet I found you here lazing about!”

Binghe gave a bow of apology as Ning Yingying looked up at him suddenly horrified.

“Eh? Has A-Luo not eaten yet?”

“No, Not yet Shij-“

“Then go! Go! Go! You need to eat!” Binghe and Ming Fan both gave a cry of alarm as Ning Yingying started pulling them both towards the meal hall.

“Shijie, Da-shixiong’s leg!” He cried which lead to Ming Fan’s arm being abandoned in favour of his nearly being pulled out his socket.  “Ahhh slow down!!”

Somehow, Ning Yingying managed to wrestle him to the meal hall, Ming Fan limping along briskly behind them with the repetitive thump of his crutch.

 

 

“You took your time.” Was all Shizun said when Binghe returned to the bamboo hut’s kitchen. His stomach was full and a small scroll of illustrated stances to practice thrown carelessly on his bedroll. Shizun likewise had eaten and Mu-Shishu was nowhere in sight. So once again it was just Shizun and disciple.

“Head disciple Ming wished to discuss a few things with this disciple, Shizun.” He answered with a bow.

The man tsked and turned him towards the kitchen with a solid hand on his shoulder. He seemed calmer than before and wasn’t moving as gingerly. Mu-Shishu’s medicine must have been working.

“Get that pot ready then come here.” Binghe once again did as he was told, coming to stand next to Shizun with his arms clean and sleeves rolled up. He’d moved an iron pot onto a small earthen fire stand behind them on the stone slabs.

“Split the lotus seeds apart into this bowl. Discard any stems you find.” Were the next orders.

“Yes, Shizun!” Binghe dutifully got to work. It truly did feel like helping mother soak the millet and wash the few vegetables they could grow. Unbidden a sad smile crossed Binghe’s face. He’d ended up doing more and more as his mother’s health failed more and more. Eventually the vegetables had been gone and there was no money for millet anymore. Shaking, such depressing memories from his head. Binghe paused to watch the very living person working beside him.

Shizun had set about rinsing out the iron pot then filling it with the watery bubbles from before. Each sent ripples of the morning light bouncing off the kitchen walls. The Luo River sometimes did a similar thing in summer, reflecting it’s uneven surface back onto the tree canopies near the bank. It was beautiful. Pot full, Shizun then pulled out the lighter looking logs from the firewood storage. Right, Shizun couldn’t lift anything too heavy. Still, he could lift enough to build a fire one log at a time. With a snap of his fingers, a fire startled into sudden life beneath the pot.

Focusing back on his task and away from Shizun, Binghe quickly split apart the lotus seeds and removed any stems he found. Even with a growing warmth heating his back from the new fire, the water was cold. His fingers grew numb and clumsy with each seed, but he pushed on. At last he shook the water off his hands and gave them a slow stretch. Ow. Done, he turned back to Shizun.

The man was crouched down, tending to the fire as the pot of water on the stand started to simmer. A tiny blemish of soot having made it’s way onto his cheek.

“Shizun, this disciple has completed the task you set.” Binghe said, staring at the black stain.

“Good, put the seeds into the pot. It’s warm enough for now.” Shizun didn’t bother to look up at him.

Binghe hooked the bowl under his arm and careful not to get splashed by the hot water, dropped handful after handful of the seeds into the pot.

Bowl empty he was ordered to empty the tub then clean out both it and the bowl too whilst you are at it, little beast. That thankfully didn’t take him long meaning he was able to be ordered to dry and put away both tubs. Shizun then handed over the cooking of the lotus seeds to him and started quizzing him on his poetry knowledge.

They’d gotten through what had turned into a full-on oral class on the use of the Chu Ci collections one hundred and seventy-two heavenly questions and how they could be utilized by the modern-day cultivator when Shizun judged the seeds cooked enough. A handled bamboo sieve was used to pull the cooked seeds from the pot, which was let to cool. They were then put back in the bowl and Binghe was set to work to pound them into a starchy paste.

It was a deceptively laborious task. Not helped by Shizun continuing his lecture and quizzing Binghe to make sure he was keeping up. Both his arms and brain hurt by the end.

Lotus seeds pounded, Shizun watered down the mixture and together they strained it through a large weave tofu cloth. A frying pan was then set on the fire stand so that Shizun could cook out sugar in oil. Sugar now a delicious brown in colour, the lotus paste added to be cooked until it no longer stuck to the pan. Binghe was tasked with constantly stirring it as Shizun added more oil periodically. Arms already sore from pounding the lotus seeds, the quarter shichen of stirring then folding of the mixture till it formed a solid oily paste, made Binghe’s entire back burn.  At last, it was deemed done and Shizun had him lift the pan from the fire to cool.

Binghe managed then then stood there panting as sweat soaked his hair. Ow. He thought.

Shizun didn’t stop moving to rest and set about measuring flour, honey and a small bubble of water into a bowl.

Mixing it gently with one hand, Shizun spared him a glance. “Go clean up, little beast. They’ll be serving the midday meal soon after that come back and we can finish up here.”

”Yes, shizun!” said Binghe, leaving the kitchen. He picked up fresh robes from his room and set off to the male disciples’ bath house.

It was oddly empty with everyone still at classes. Binghe took full advantage of this, cannonballing into the pool with reckless abandon. Surfacing in a sea of bubbles, he shook his hair out like a dog and laughed with glee. His hair as it always did when wet and clung together in thick waves instead of its normally straight strands when dry. He didn’t care. The water felt so good on his muscles.

Despite Shizun’s temper he’d actually found himself enjoying the experience. It had been fun, if hard work. Stretching out in the tepid pool, he let his body float.

The bath house was fed directly from the stream that cut through the bamboo forest. The water was screened and then passed through heating arrays that took off the bitter chill in winter and made it deliciously warm in summer. Soak done, he made sure to scrub clean and comb through his hair. Towel drying off, he arrived at the meal hall clean and in fresh robes with plenty of time to spare before food was served.

This inevitably led to him being coopted by the Zui Xian disciples into carrying bowls and spoons and anything else they needed as they set up for the midday meal. His arms did not thank him for this but Binghe made sure to keep a pleasing smile on his face regardless.

Helping out did have the benefit of letting him be served first and with an extra-large portion that he received with a wink from the cook. He gave the disciple a blinding grin before finding a table and eating every last bit eagerly.

Fed and washed, Binghe again returned to the bamboo hut.

Shizun was crouched over a small pan as he cooked the last of the salted egg yolks for the mooncakes. Binghe wasn’t sure how Shizun was able to move the pan given even though it was small it still required Binghe use both hands to lift it. But that wasn’t important. Fishing the last cooked egg yolks out of the pan into a bowl, Shizun’s scowling face glanced over him briefly.

“Little beast, you are back. This master is going to portion out the lotus paste. It will be your job to carefully wrap it around each egg yolk, understood?”

“Yes, Shizun.”

The man scoffed at him and with no further delay started on his task. Shizun carefully measured by eye a ball of lotus paste that was passed to Binghe who wrapped it around the still warm egg yolks.

“If,” The man glared down at him for daring to break the silence, but Binghe took a deep breath and continued on anyway. “If Shizun needs help with cooking in the future, this disciple is very willing to aid him.”

“Oh, this master is aware.” Replied shizun sarcastically. He handed Binghe another ball of lotus paste. “Given how you like to distract yourself, this master is of half a mind to send you off to Zui Xian. Maybe I will if your time with Ming Fan doesn’t prove fruitful.”

Binghe instinctively flinched at the harsh tone then took in the words. He frowned.

“But….” The boy said slowly. ”Shizun wouldn’t.”

“Oh, would this master not?” said the man, all viciousness.

“No. Shizun wouldn’t.” said Binghe more confidently. He even dared to meet his Shizun’s frosty glare. “Because this disciple is Shizun’s and Shizun would never let someone else take what is his.”

Shizun’s eyes widened briefly. There was a lull in the kitchen as he opened his mouth before snapping it shut into a firm scowl.

“Shut up, little beast.”

“Yes, Shizun.”

The rest of the task was spent in silence. When the lotus paste ran out, Shizun moved on to portioning out the dough for Binghe to wrap around the lotus paste. After a couple incense sticks of time, they had a small army of mooncake balls.

Next; Shizun floured off a wooden mould that had been hiding in the ingredient basket. He then gently pressed each ball into it to acheive the correct ornate mooncake shape. Binghe’s job was to take each delicate new mooncake and arrange them on a tray for the oven Shizun had pre heated. Three and-a-bit trays later, they were out of mooncake balls.

The oven could only handle the trays in batches of two, so it took them two rounds to completely bake them all. Mid way through, they were pulled out to be egg washed which left the final cakes glossy and brown. The trays were then covered with a densely woven clean cloth so that they would soften to the correct texture as they cooled overnight.

Binghe was naturally left with the task of scrubbing out the pans and oven, while Shizun packed up the left over ingredients into the basket for Binghe to return to the kitchens. After the oven was deemed suitably scrub and yet another trip to kitchen, Bignhe returned to the sea in miniature.

A shallow level of water covered the kitchen floor that Shizun let rock back and forth collecting dust, dirt and stray flour from the floor. The gentle rhythmic sway of the currents was hypnotising. When Shizun was satisfied all dirt had been captured, the water curled in on itself into a grey-brown ball that splashed against a patch of bamboo outside. Binghe put researching Shizun’s water trick high on his list of things to look up on his next sanctioned library trip. It was far too useful and cool to ignore.

“What are you staring at, disciple?” Binghe flinched out of his plans.

“Shizun is very talented. This disciple was simply in awe at his-“ Shizun sneered at him and scoffed.

“Enough flattery! The water jars here are practically empty. Refill them.” He ordered with a dismissive hand gesture.

Binghe stared at the large water jars and wanted to cry. “Yes, Shizun.” He dutifully said, collecting the buckets and bamboo pole.

A shichen of hauling water from the well later, they were refilled and Binghe was finally dismissed. He bowed and saluted to his shizun and went to his own room. Kicking off his shoes, he stripped off his sooty outer robes and collapse into his bed. The sweet scent of baking still clung to his hair as he snuggled under the covers. Such a deep aching homesickness overtook him at this moment.

Breathing deeply into his pillow, Binghe not for the first time clutched the jade Guanyin under his clothes close and wished an impossible wish. That he’d wake to his mother’s gentle hands in his hair and her bright laughter in his ears.

Notes:

Ignore me going feral over Disciple era Luo Binghe. I just..... *squishes LBH's face* You are baby.

Tbh I love all the Qing Jing Trio and their terrible Shizun too.

Small notes on this version of SQQ and LBH.
In PIDW; I headcanon LBH having only given up on ever being accepted by SQQ after LQG died and SQQ sent him out to die during SHL's invasion. Not helped by LBH being a living reminder of LQG and the trauma of LQG trying to kill SQQ, LQG then suiciding to save SQQ and SQQ being labled as his murderer all but officially. So PIDW!SQQ would constantly be being triggered by a rapidly-becoming-a-man LBH and thus abuse him even more.
SVSSS!LBH meanwhile seems to think he passed a test set by his suddenly nicer Shizun who gave him a new manual before vanishing off to cultivate. This turned into a 'I secretly always believed in you' thing post SHL invasion which combined with SY being very very nice lead to SVSSS's entire plot.
And then there's TOGDSOG! Bingbun, who in this fic is getting HIS trauma triggered by his parental figure being very sick and near dying on him. He hasn't quite become disillusioned yet, so is a little clingy and determined to make SQQ like him still. It's a mess. SQQ meanwhile is making steps to resolve his BS with LQG so is going to soon run out of reasons to logically hate LBH because of his connection to LQG (not that abuse is logical but SQQ might have to face that he hates LBH because he's jealous and hates himself and neither of those are good reasons). Either way their relationship while very shitty is slowly improving and has room to grow.

Other things of note; Chu Ci is a classical chinese poetry colelction which contains 'the Heavenly Questions' which has 172 questions on mythology and religious beliefs. Do I think SQQ was giving LBH a free lesson? No. I think SQQ had opinions, has had noone but MQF to talk to for 4 days and thatt LBH was a captive audience. The Guqin lesson might have also been a thinly veiled excuse to hit LBH because SQQ woke up in pain and with nowhere to vent it. SQQ, why are you like this you terrible man? Leave the Bingbun alone.

Bonus: Millet! It's surprisingly good for you but historically was considered a very low class grain. Basically LBH and his mother couldn't even afford rice.

Last extra headcanon thing, yes SJ!SQQ can cook. He was a slave/ personal assistant/manservant for three years and Wu Yanzi wasn't gonna lower himself to cook their meals when travelling if he's got an apprentice that can do it for him. He can cook. Not to LBH protag levels but it's edible and at least up to QJL's standards.
Also you might have noticed character appearences are a mix of Doughua, Book and fanon. Often with a middle ground explanation of why I can have my cake and eat it too. Such as pure fanon things having plot relavence (a certain hair style for SQQ, the scholar's mark, arm guards, green eyes etc.) and semi canon things getting a hand wave (MQF's moustache and Bingbun having both curly and straight hair). So it's a bit of a medley in here.

Next chapter: Mid Autumn Festival time with medium sized spoilers for Heaven Official's Blessing (TGCF) so you might need to go read that in the meantime or I'll do a 'skip when you hit here' with a summary in the beginning notes.

Chapter 21: A night for small lights and small hopes

Summary:

How Shen Qingqiu spends the day of the Mid Autumn Festival.

Notes:

Guess which clown got knocked out by a cold for a week. I wrote this chapter once whilst sick, re read it whilst well and then rewrote the entire thing. Anyway today is not valentine's day but here's the chapter!

Also TGCF spoilers ended up being alot less spoilery than expected. So there will not be any 'skip reading here' points. Basically if you know who the main couple is for TGCF and have read the first chapter of the book or seen first episode of the Doughua you are good. If you don't, well whoops.

Content warnings: Shen Qingqiu's issues with touch and food, Yue Qingyuan's trauma, QiJiu being super fucking divorced, This author's wacky cultivation.

"Okay. Okay. The date at the Mid-Autumn Fesitval was cute. But! But! Releasing that many lanterns on a mountain range is such a fire hazard."

- Peerless Cucumber

 

The little beast was turning to leave them when Shen Qingqiu called him back into the room.

“Here.” He said, passing the boy a small greased paper packet tied shut with string. “For your work yesterday.”

The boy made the dumbest expression in response. His black eyes disgustingly huge in his skull and head cocked like some whimpering mutt. He took the packet like it was the world’s most precious treasure that might also bite him at any moment. Oh please. It wasn’t a trick or trap. Shen Qingqiu just refused to owe the child anything.

“What is it?” Asked Mu Qingfang amused as he placed the tray of food to the side.

The little beast looked to his Shizun for permission, and when Shen Qingqiu gave it with a nod, carefully unwrapped the paper to reveal a stack of three slightly crumbling mooncakes.

A pleasant smell escaped out into the room while the little beast just stared at them.

“Thank you, Shizun.” He said, a little teary eyed. Shen Qingqiu scoffed and waved him to leave. What was the brat crying for? It was just some food. Thankfully the boy bowed and left quickly before dampening any part of his house.

“May this Shidi ask why Shixiong has gifted his disciple mooncakes?” said Mu Qingfang, bringing across the dishes and uncovering them. They were sat at Shen Qingqiu’s table in the guest area of the house to eat. Breakfast today was a small but very densely filled Jian Bing. Looking over, Mu Qingfang’s was at least twice the size of his and notably less green with medicinal herbs. His meal’s portions had miraculously shrunk in size since that first day. It was convenient but also unnerving how observant his shidi was.

“As this shixiong said, Disciple Luo helped him make them yesterday.” The doctor gave him a surprised then disappointed look. Shen Qingqiu continued talking to avoid a lecture. “Disciple Luo did all the heavy lifting and parts that Mu-Shidi would no doubt call straining. Stop giving this Shixiong that look while he eats.”

Raising an eyebrow, the doctor none the less focused back on his own food. This left Shen Qingqiu to the green Jian Bing. Taking a bite, it was as oily and salty as he had expected. Only the bitter aftertaste of the medicine marked it as any different from what he’d could have gotten from a street vendor. He as normal had to eat far slower than Mu Qingfang but he did eventually finish it all. Sipping on the medicinal tea Mu Qingfang had brought with him, Shen Qingqiu was left to let his stomach settle while the doctor cleaned up and prepared for the examination of his arms.

The external wounds on both had finally healed but the paste had to be kept up to make sure nothing went wrong internally. Shen Qingqiu sat there obediently letting Mu Qingfang clean, examine and apply the paste. He had found a spot of light reflecting off a vase in the corner and was using his focus on it to avoid tensing up. Before it had been easier with the pain covering the sensation of fingers grabbing at him but now the pain had grown more tolerable…. It was stupid. He knew that Mu Qingfang wasn’t a threat. He knew it. But he still couldn’t help the flinch when the doctor gripped his upper arm.

Mu Qingfang froze. “Did it hurt?”

“No.” Shen Qingqiu grumbled. “Just get it over with.” Mu Qingfang gave him a long look and resumed working.

They passed through the rest of the routine in silence. It was only after the qi exercises were completed that the doctor dared talk to him again.

“This shidi has some questions for Shixiong. If he would be willing to answer.” Said the doctor packing away his supplies.

“Depends on the questions.” Shen Qingqiu replied cautiously, fan back in hand.

“Qi-shimei noticed odd behaviour from your spirit sword whilst you were unconscious. She claims it moved on its own and helped reduce your fever and stabilise your cultivation.” Said Mu Qingfang giving him a searching look. He had said it like it was something odd.

“What about it?” replied Shen Qingqiu brow furrowed.

“This doctor wants to know how that is possible.” How the hell was he meant to know? He hadn’t been allowed access to Xiu Ya’s file. Xiu Ya couldn’t exactly speak to him either and even if it could, he doubted the sword spirit understood their situation.

“Is this not a better question for Wei Qingwei? This one is not entirely sure how it works, only that it does.”

Mu Qingfang blinked twice then leant in.

“You are aware that your sword stabilises your cultivation?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes?” Shen Qingqiu said. Mu Qingfang looked at him like he’d grown another head.

Mu Qingfang opened his mouth closed it and put his hands to the bridge of his nose like a prayer. “….. How, exactly, is Shixiong aware of this?”

This felt like a trap or like he had missed something painfully obvious. Continuing on cautiously he answered honestly.

“Shortly after becoming a disciple, this one suffered repeated qi deviations. Rong-shishu eventually theorised that having a spiritual tool might help reduce their frequency, this one’s shizun suggested a spirit sword and after successfully bonding with Xiu Ya, the qi deviations mostly stopped.”

Mu Qingfang again looked a little lost. “How frequent were these qi deviations?”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t want to answer.

He did anyway.

He had a long day ahead of him and this was not a battle he cared to fight. Also, Mu Qingfang could probably find out from the past records regardless of his silence.

“Up to ten times in one month.” He muttered covering his face with his fan.

Mu Qingfang definitely wanted to say something. He definitely wanted to say a lot of things. In the end, he said nothing.

“Will Shidi be joining this one on his walk?” Shen Qingqiu asked ignoring the look of horror still present on his Shidi’s face.

“Huh?” The doctor snapped back to reality. “Yes. Yes. This shidi would.”

Their walks had developed into a set route around the peak. Starting at the bamboo hut, they headed out towards the river, followed it down past the bath houses and came back up the bottom through the various scenic ponds, bridges and pavilions until they took a shortcut away from the path to the classrooms back up into the forest to the bamboo hut. It wasn’t far but it was mostly private. Mu Qingfang especially liked the section in the forest. So far, he had found six identifiable plants unique to the dense qi environment. Shen Qingqiu meanwhile was gradually getting used to the man alternating from complete silence to talking his ear off whenever he spotted one.

It was amusing. The near manic energy shown in the library wasn’t just some one-off event but the man’s normal temperament, carefully bubbling away under that mildly frustrated doctor’s mask. A useful fact to know. He would have to brush up on his plant knowledge. If Mu Qingfang could be as easily plied with plants as Wang Qingqiang was with animals, then he might have an easier time with the man in the future. For now, he would work with what he had already.

As they arrived back, Shen Qingqiu told Mu Qingfang to wait and went to the kitchen. He returned shortly afterwards with another tied paper packet and handed it to the doctor.

“Mooncakes again?” commented the man, a little bemused. What was wrong with mooncakes?

“.. If Shidi doesn’t want them.” Shen Qingqiu huffed moving to take the packet back. Mu Qingfang stepped away holding them close.

“This Shidi is just surprised.” A soft smile crossed the doctor’s face. “Thank you Shixiong.”

Shen Qingqiu covered his warming face and cleared his throat.

“Yeah, well, um. Doesn’t Shidi have classes to teach or something?”

Mu Qingfang laughed. “This one no longer teaches personally but I do have a stack of work waiting for me. See you for dinner, Shixiong.”

“Mm.” He hummed as the doctor bowed and wandered back down the path.

With that he was left alone. Shen Qingqiu took the peace and quiet as an opportunity to sleep. He had been sleeping a lot lately. More in the last week than he might have in the past few months combined. It was becoming easy to just let exhaustion steal him away once he lay in bed. Especially when the little beast was elsewhere, busy with classes and chores. The past two nights, he had ended up meditating till the morning as the soft snores from the storage room set his nerves on edge.

 It was annoying but necessary. He couldn’t trust that child not to deviate the moment he left him alone with Ning Yingying. Shen Qingqiu’s still surprised the boy had managed to remain as healthy as he was. Fucking brat. He’d have to figure out what to do with him. But that was a problem for another day.

Shen Qingqiu woke in the early afternoon to the sun in his face. Groaning he gently and carefully rolled off the bed onto the floor, taking the blankets with him as he went. It took a while longer before he got up to wash and dress. Image in the mirror once more perfect, he set off to the main offices to see if anyone had had the mind to sort through his paperwork.

Unsurprisingly, they hadn’t. The next two shichen were spent digging through two weeks paperwork and the dregs of what he hadn’t caught up from seclusion. It was manageable if repetitive.

Anything that wasn’t petty lesson expenses and course schedules was information requests that were too classified to go through the normal library staff. He personally kept a little book for who asked for access to what to least keep a track of what any one individual was diving into. Call him paranoid but information was power.

However, he had a problem. There was a fair number from Ku Xing peak this time around. All were asking for access to records on demonic cultivation, divine curses or the summoning of ghosts.

Shen Qingqiu frowned at these and tapped the side of his brush with his finger. He didn’t in theory have any reason to deny them access but if he did and they connected too much of the evidence he had left behind….

Chewing his lip, he decide to leave them waiting for now. Technically Shen Qingqiu was on forced medical leave so a delay of a few weeks would be perfectly reasonable.

There were three knocks on the door.

“Enter.”

Hallmaster Li opened the door cautiously, saw he was at his desk and cocked an eyebrow at the brush in his hand.

“I thought they broke your arms.” He intoned.

Shen Qingqiu gave him the flattest of looks. “Only briefly. What do you want?”

“Will our Peaklord still be joining his Hallmasters tonight?” asked Hallmaster Li, tone still to even for the implied mock politeness.

“Are you giving me a choice?” Grumbled Shen Qingqiu.

“This one would never pick on the injured.” Shen Qingqiu hoped he could read the unspoken ‘Yes, you fucking would’ in his expression.

It had been decided before he left on the mission that the Hallmasters’ normal meeting would be delayed a couple of days and turn into a small lantern viewing feast instead. Hallmaster Li had made vague threats to him at the time of leaking when his birthday was to the other Hallmasters if he tried to avoid it.

The man was quite determined to prove his ‘strangeness’. Or so he claimed, he was probably just taking sadistic joy in forcing Shen Qingqiu into social situations. Shen Qingqiu didn’t know which was worse.

As it was, Shen Qingqiu scoffed. “This one will be there.”

“I’ll bring extra blankets then.” Hallmaster Li caught his eye. “Least our Peaklord become even more of a grump with the cold.”

“Fuck you.”

“Want me to come pick you up from the hut, Mozi?”

“… Fine.” He said with a sigh. “This one will be eating with Mu Qingfang beforehand so be late.”

Hallmaster Li looked amused at this.

“I’ll try not to intrude on such an intimate occasion.” He said wryly leaving under the full weight of Shen Qingqiu’s glare. He promised himself he was going to find the man’s collection of bad romance novels and reorganise them so he couldn’t find a damn thing.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent completing the rest of his paperwork. Now with a hefty pile in his outbox all neatly addressed, Shen Qingqiu stretched out his arm. It twinged from shoulder to fingertip.

Ouch!

Guess he had over done it. Clenching and unclenching his hand didn’t help ease the ache. In fact, it only seemed to make it worse. Fuck.

Mu Qingfang was less than impressed when he notice it at dinner.

“This Shidi told Shixiong to take it easy.”

“This Shixiong still has his duties to attend to.”

The doctor dared to look put upon and continued examining the drains.

“Shen-shixiong will need to visit Qian Cao peak briefly in two days to have these removed.” He said still cleaning and checking over the scars of his left arm. This touch was lighter than before but still made Shen Qingqiu tense.

“Fine.” Shen Qingqiu grunted and tried his best not to shudder as the cloth ran down his forearm. He had already resolved to just let the doctor do as he pleased. The sooner his arms healed the better.  So, his body would just have to shut up and cope with the contact. Even with this determination his skin still crawled.

Wrapping up the last bandage Mu Qingfang tied the knot and finally let his arm go. Shen Qingqiu tried to ignore how those eyes watched him tuck the limb in close far away from the man’s hands.

“This shidi would like permission to talk to Wei Qingwei about Xiu Ya in order to find out how exactly it is working in tandem with Shixiong’s cultivation.”

Shen Qingfang considered this. On one hand he really did not want his shidis being nosey around his cultivation. He didn’t need it pointed out any further how broken he was. But, and this was the thing, Mu Qingfang would be able to figure out how he was broken and might, once he knew that, figure out how to unbreak him.

“This shixiong would want to be kept informed of any information you find.” He conceded.

“This shidi will be sure to do so.” Mu Qingfang said with a bow.

As they returned from their walk, Hallmaster Li was waiting by his door. He gave a bow to Mu Qingfang. “Hello Peaklord Mu.”

“Hello.” Said Mu Qingfang looking to Shen Qingqiu for introduction.

“Hallmaster Li, our natural flora painting teacher. He volunteered to escort this master to and from the festivities tonight.”

Mu Qingfang gave a nod towards the man.

“Will you both be heading to Zui Xian tonight?” he asked.

“No, Peaklord Mu.” Replied Hallmaster Li with respect he had never shown Shen Qingqiu. “There’s a private lantern viewing tonight from further down the Qing Jing Peak.”

“ I see. This Peaklord hopes you have a good time, Hallmaster Li. I shall leave Shen-shixiong in your hands.” Hallmaster Li bowed again as Mu Qingfang left.

“You ready to go?” He asked Shen Qingqiu once his shidi was out of sight.

“Almost. I’ll need you to carry something.” Said Shen Qingqiu, gesturing him around the backdoor then into the kitchen. Laid on the table was a basket, heavy with mooncakes. Hallmaster Li stared at it then sighed at the ceiling.

“You do know you don’t need to pay in food to hang out with the Hallmasters.” Grumbled Hallmaster Li, picking up the basket.

“Who said I was doing such a thing?!” lied Shen Qingqiu taking Hallmaster Li’s arm and leading him out of the house. “Bringing gifts of food to such events is a perfectly normal thing to do.”

“Oh yes. Because Peaklord Shen Qingqiu is soo well known for being normal.” Said Hallmaster Li sarcastically before he looked ahead of them. “Speaking of things, you are perfectly normal about…. Greetings to Sect Leader Yue!”

Shen Qingqiu’s head snapped up to look ahead. That bastard was making is way up the path towards them. He nodded in greeting to Hallmaster Li before his gaze flicked to Shen Qingqiu and stayed there.

“Zhangmen-shixiong.” Shen Qingqiu said in greeting, giving a bow that was just respectful enough. “What brings you here?”

“Uh. I This one wished to speak with Qingqiu-shidi….. in private… if possible.”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t bother looking at Hallmaster Li to know what face he was making. He just sighed.

“I’ll tell the others you were delayed.” Said Hallmaster Li with no small amount of amusement.

“Fine.” He got out between gritted teeth and gestured for Yue Qingyuan to follow him back into the bamboo forest.

They went deep into the forest, over the river and to a clearing far away from the noise of anyone else.

“Well?” Shen Qingqiu said once he deemed that they had walked for long enough.

Yue Qingyuan opened his mouth and then closed it and said nothing.

This useless man.

“This Peaklord doesn’t have all evening, Zhangmen-shixiong.” This finally got the man to stop hesitating. Though nothing could have prepared Shen Qingqiu for the words he spoke next.

“Would Qingqiu-shidi permit this shixiong to see the tattoo behind Qingqiu-shidi’s ear?”

Everything froze.

Shen Qingqiu’s hand had reached to his ear before he had the mind to snatch it away. How the fuck did he…?

Yue Qingyuan saw his confusion and explained a little more.

“Huang-shimei saw it when you were unconscious on the trip. She came to this one to ask about it.”

It felt like ice-water had been dumped over Shen Qingqiu.

Huang Qingying had seen? She knew. She…. How had she reacted? Shen Qingqiu couldn’t remember. He hadn’t been conscious most of the trip back. Qi Qingqi had forced him into the carriage and the gentle rocking combined with soft female presences had knocked him out every time. When they hadn’t been traveling, Huang Qingying had been tending to the disciples as Qi Qingqi tried to tend to him. Was she disgusted by him? Scared? His mind raced to list down all the possibilities.

It was easy to be kind to someone that you naively thought was a good person. To look out for him. To trust him. But now she knew he wasn’t…. Because he wasn’t. He was not a good person. He had done too many horrific things to even be called anything less than a monster. She would, no should, hate him for it. Just like Yue Qi. Just like Shizun. Just like-

Large arms had pulled him into a hug.

“Breathe, Shidi. Breathe.”

Shen Qingqiu inhaled so hard it hurt his lungs then let it out in wobbly gasps. Everything smelled like Qi-ge. Everything smelled like a home that had always been a lie.

“She knows?” He eventually got out. “What is going to happen?”

“Nothing. She hasn’t told anyone and promised not to after I explained things. I think…. I think you can trust her.”

Shen Qingqiu pushed him away roughly. His arm ached for it. The Sect Leader dutifully gave him space. It was cold without him close.

“Promises don’t mean much. How exactly did you explain things?” He asked bitterly.

“I.. I said that Qingqiu-shidi had a rough past and wished to put that behind him.”

A hurt laugh escaped Shen Qingqiu before he could help it. Who wanted to put the past behind him if not the oh so glorious Yue Qingyuan?

“This shidi understands.” He said, staring hard at the ground between them. “Was this all Zhangmen-shixiong wished to talk to this lowly one about?”

“I..” Yue Qingyuan fell silent then drew in a deep breath. “I wanted to know if you were recovering well from the qi deviation.”

“This one is ‘fantastic’.” Shen Qingqiu bit out. “Now please do excuse me.”

He barely heard his footsteps back up the path as he stormed off. Once he was far enough away, he let the tears fall.

His heart was still pounding hard in his chest. Fucking stupid. He was so fucking stupid. For passing out. For not just taking a knife to the skin and carving the tattoo bloodily off his skull the moment he got it. Why couldn’t he have kept one good thing out of this mess?

Huang Qingying and himself, they had almost been friends. Maybe not ‘friends’ friends but at least ‘that person that you called your friend even if you never meant it’ friends. Or something like that. He didn’t know. Everything felt too much right now.

Everything always felt like too much around Yue Qingyuan.

He hadn’t even been able to tell that bastard about Mu Qingfang continuing to look into Liu Qingge’s rescue. Nor about the Ku Xing requests.

FUCK.

A poor stalk of bamboo was kicked for the crime of being too close to the path. It splintered under his foot, tilted then crashed down loudly. The sun had long since set by now. He was alone, cold with only the distant sound of the river for comfort.

He inhaled, then exhaled. This was stupid. Sniffing, he dried his face and breathed. He had to calm down.

Logically he should still tell Yue Qingyuan. Bastard that he was, the man had at least given him warning about Huang Qingying. Better to repay him with a similar warning. He didn’t even have to stay that long. Just tell him and then leave. Closing his eyes, Shen Qingqiu grit his teeth and stormed back down the path towards to Yue Qingyuan.

The man hadn’t flown off yet, just sat in the dirt with a … lantern? in his hands and a sad look on his face.

He startled when Shen Qingqiu stepped back into the clearing, hiding the lantern poorly inside his Qiankun sleeve.

“Qingqiu-shidi I-“ Shen Qingqiu cut him off.

“Mu Qingfang is still investigating the situation with Liu Qingge and what feels like every senior disciple and Hallmaster in Ku Xing is requesting information on demonic cultivation techniques.”

Yue Qingyuan eyes widened. “This one had words with Mu Qingfang.”

“And he has taken those words and gone behind your back. He even used his position as my doctor to attempt to gain knowledge from Qing Jing’s restricted medical records.” Shen Qingqiu shook his head. “This one has mostly dealt with him. It is now a ‘game’. ‘Can he figure out what I did?’ and when he does, he intends to present his theory and evidence before me.”

“This one sees that Qingqiu-shidi has the situation in hand.” Yue Qingyuan rose from the ground. He had lost that infuriating fake smile for once. It felt strange to see him so sombre. “About Ku Xing peak….Zhou-shidi is still very concerned about the tainted qi in the LingXi Caves.”

“Has Zhangmen-shixiong not found the right gentle words to assuage his fears yet?” Shen Qingqiu shot back at him.

“Shidi.” Yue Qingyuan’s voice was tight. A plea for him to back down.

Shen Qingqiu gave him no such mercy.

“Tell him a lie.” He snarled. “You are good at that.”

 “I don’t even know what I’m lying about!” Yue Qingyuan’s entire body was shaking. His hands gripped tightly by his sides. “I..I-“

“Does that matter?” Shen Qingqiu countered, cutting him off again. “Do you want me to tell you what I did? Do you want to be even more disgusted with me than you all ready are!?”

Their grand sect leader looked like he might cry. Bastard. Stop making that face.

The man barely whispered. “I’m not disgusted with you.”

Liar!

Shen Qingqiu wanted to yell back.

Instead, he broke eye contact to gaze at the man’s sleeve and said. “Why do you have a lantern?”

Yue Qingyuan stiffened.

“This one was…. selfishly hoping Qingqiu-shidi might want to release a lantern with him…. Qingqiu-shidi doesn’t have to if he does not wish to!” The man waved his hands in front of him, eyes already apologising to him.

There was no hope for this bastard.

“Show me the lantern.” Shen Qingqiu commanded.

“I… it’s not much. I um…” Stuttered Yue Qingyuan producing a medium sized paper lantern. On it was crudely drawn two figures. An offering lantern. Coming to stand beside him, Shen Qingqiu could see one of them better.

“Scraps Immortal.” For it was the only male god Shen Qingqiu knew that had bandages around his arms and a farmer’s hat upon his head. Craning further he could make out the eye patch of the god’s husband the Ghost King further around the lantern. “The great and mighty Yue Qingyuan still prays to a beggar’s god?”

They hadn’t had much on the streets. No guaranteed food, no family, barely a roof over their head. But they’d had each other. And they’d had hope. Foolish hope.

The paired luck gods had small altars in many of the cities the slavers had taken them to. Everyone wanted luck so there were many offerings. Some prayed for good luck for themselves. Some for bad luck for their enemies. The two slave boys prayed for a better future because no other god they knew would care for beggars like themselves.

On days where the begging had gone well and they had too much to hide from the slavers, they offered it to Scraps Immortal. They had no need for the martial prowess or academic excellence that other gods offered. What good would that do them? But a little more luck with begging was always welcome. Better than being beaten by the slavers or robbed by the other slave children.

Plus, there was the implicit bribe that if he looked kindly on them then Old Scraps would see more offerings in the future.  

Shen Qingqiu hadn’t prayed to any god since the Qiu family had bought him. He only learned later that of the pair of luck gods, the Scraps Immortal was the unlucky one. Having gone from a prince down to a beggar. If you wanted better luck, you went for the Ghost king who had risen to a king from nothing.

They had been such fools as kids.

It seemed Yue Qingyuan was still a fool.

He was watching Shen Qingqiu’s reaction closely. Hands twitching where they held the lantern, face embarrassed and ashamed.

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes at this and thought for a moment.

Frankly he didn’t understand why Yue Qingyuan had come to tell him about Huang Qingying. Was it a warning? And he had tried, poorly, to silence Mu Qingfang too. Even wanted to with Zhou Qingde as well. Wouldn’t it be easier to get rid of him by just letting the wolves rip him apart? To deny any knowledge and punish him accordingly.

Fucking fool.

And wanting to release a lantern together. Something that he’d clearly hand made. No vendor would sell something so shoddy. He was Sect Leader. Was Yue Qingyuan not worried about being laughed at? Was his face that thick or maybe just his skull. He shouldn’t be wasting his time on such childish things. Let alone on protecting filth like Shen Qingqiu.

Honestly.

This bastard with his stupid noble guilt complex.

He couldn’t really blame Shen Qingqiu if he was taken advantage of.

Fine. If he wanted to do stupid things, who was Shen Qingqiu to discourage him.

Eyeing the man in front of him who shrank further and further into himself with each passing moment, his dumb face a handsome crimson shade, Shen Qingqiu sighed.

Closing the distance, he flicked his hair off his right shoulder and lifted the section the covered his right ear.

“Here.” He said. “You asked to see it.”

 

---

 

Even in the growing dark, he could still see the uneven circle etched into Shen Qingqiu’s neck. It was high up near the hairline normally hidden by the outer shell of his right ear. The ink had faded down to a grey blue with time but still it popped against the pale skin. Some impulsive part of Yue Qingyuan’s brain wanted to reach out and brush it away like a strange smudge of dirt. He stifled that part before it did something foolish.

“What happened?” he asked instead. He got a scoff in reply as Shen Qingqiu let his hair fall back down.

“One of ‘that man’s’ friends had a bright idea and I got caught when we tried to pull it off.” That man would have been Wu Yanzi. “It took them three days to come back for me and bust me out.”

Yue Qingyuan ignored the unwanted voice in the back of his head that whispered caressingly that ‘at least they had been on time to rescue him unlike others’. Instead, he let the silence leak out between them both as he flexed his hands out of tension. Calmer than he had been a moment ago, he met Shen Qingqiu’s gaze.

“What do you want to do about Zhou-shidi and Ku Xing Peak?” he asked firmly. Shen Qingqiu didn’t answer immediately.

“I…. I don’t know. I probably left a lot of evidence behind.” He looked away speaking, quieter. “I wasn’t thinking when Liu Qingge attacked me. I just didn’t want him to die.”

“You did well.” Shen Qingqiu’s eyes were suddenly locked back with his. The rest of his expression carefully tucked behind his fan. “No matter how you did what you did, you did well.”

“…Thank you.” Those two mumbled words left Yue Qingyuan speechless. They were more than he deserved for such simple words. This gave Shen Qingqiu time. Time he used to think.

“Tell Zhou-shidi that in a moment of panic I summoned a ghost.” He said at last.

“You did-!?”

“No!” Shen Qingqiu gave him a look like he was an idiot, before cocking his head to the side in reluctant admission. ” … Sorta. Not really. It was a lot of yin qi.”

“I don’t know what 'yin qi' is.” Yue Qingyuan admitted, fiddling with the lantern in his hands.

“Normal qi is yang based. The so called ‘tainted’ qi is yin based.” Shen Qingqiu said with a nonchalant wave of his fan. These weren’t terms that Cang Qiong used. So, he must have learned them from Wu Yanzi.

“So, it’s dark and cold instead of light and warm?” said Yue Qingyuan, trying to follow from his remembrance of disciple era philosophy classes.

“Yeah and dead.” Said Shen Qingqiu casually. “Yin is dark, cold, wet, underground and dead. Yang is light, warm, dry, surrounded by air and alive.”

Dark, cold, wet, underground and dead. The sensation of raw nail beds against rock made his hands twitch. A worrying stray thought crossed his mind.

“You didn’t bring Liu Qingge back from the dead, did you?”

“What!?” Shen Qingqiu looked mildly alarmed. “No! He was very much alive the entire time.”

Yue Qingyuan exhaled. Well, at least he didn’t have an undead shidi to add to his growing pile of problems. Though now he was curious.

“Could you bring him back from the dead?”

“Is Zhangmen-shidi already at his wits end with the man?” It was said harshly though not as harshly as before. In comparison, it was almost teasing. “Give me a month to read through every confiscated dark text we have and then I might be able to puppet his corpse around like a child’s toy. Though it would become difficult to move him once bloat and rigor mortis set in.”

“Ewww.” Yue Qingyuan laughed out.

“You asked.” He was countered with. There was a brightness to Shen Qingqiu’s eyes that hadn’t been there before.

A wind blew in through the forest. Around them the stalks swayed and clattered and the Qing Jing Peaklord shivered. It had long since turned night.

“We should head back. This one has already delayed Qingqiu-shidi long enough.”

“Oh?” Yue Qingying looked up at the spitefully amused tone. ”And here this one had mistakenly thought we would be releasing a lantern together.”

Yue Qingyuan could only gawk as his stomach did flips and his ears burned. “Huh?”

Shen Qingqiu tsked loudly at his face. “Oh, please” he exclaimed sarcastically, jabbing at him with his fan. ”What was Zhangmen-shixiong going to do if this one said no? Go home and cry?”

Yeah, probably. He had already turned down the offer of some of his Qiong Ding peak shidis to spend the night with them. Frankly speaking, large sect wide festivals were one of the few days he had off as Sect Leader. He didn’t tend to waste them having to smile the entire evening.

Though Yue Qingyuan could feel he was smiling now. Shen Qingqiu flicked his fan open sharply.

“This one is willing to entertain Zhangmen-shixiong this one time if in exchange he helps this one harass his Hallmasters.” His shidi asked primly.

“Harass them?” Yue Qingyuan tried to hide his wolfish grin. He failed. “May I ask what they have done to deserve such treatment?”

“Zhangmen-shixiong may not.”

Oh dear. What had they done to annoy his shidi so much. Schooling his feature, Yue Qingyuan tried not to chuckle as he asked.

“How exactly are we to be harassing them, shidi?”

Shen Qingqiu made a dismissive gesture with his fan.

“Your mere presence will be harassment enough.” Oh would it now? Well then.

“Let’s not keep them waiting then.”

He pulled a night pearl from his sleeve and lit it. With proper manners, he offered Shen Qingqiu his arm. His cheeks ached from smiling when it was taken and they began to walk back up the path.

They had made it to the river in silence when Shen Qingqiu asked.

“Why do you still pray to the Scraps Immortal?”

Yue Qingyuan wasn’t sure how to respond.

How did he explain that the sect wouldn’t have allowed him to pray to a ghost king directly? To beg that a little slave boy burnt to death in a fire he was too late to stop would be cared for in the afterlife. That he’d had to settle for kneeling before the Ghost King’s husband begging instead for the god to pass on his prayers.

It had all been for naught in the end. Xiao Jiu had never burned that night. Stolen away by a criminal instead but that just left Yue Qingyuan the even greater fool.

“This one doesn’t know any other gods.” He lied keeping his focus straight ahead.

“Zhangmen-shixiong needs to learn some.” Grumbled Shen Qingqiu, tucking into the warmth of his shoulder. “Some that aren’t so unlucky.”

Yue Qingyuan hummed in agreement.

 

Notes:

Shen Qingqiu showing up late to the lantern viewing with mooncakes and the Sect Leader on his arm.

Small notes on this fic's shipless status: I will not be tagging ships until they are confirmed in story because this fic keeps changing as I write it so I don't know who is gonna end up with who yet. There will be lots of shiptease for basically every Shen Jiu ship you can think of for both female and male characters. This is mostly because this fic is 'Let's explore Shen Jiu's interpersonal relationships'.

Also MQF is now becoming my blorbo whilst writing this fic. He's so much fun. He needs a raise.

Fic recommendation if you like QiJiu and TGCF: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37266475

Next Chapter: Liu Qingge!!!! :D

Chapter 22: Little moments of solidarity give us hope

Summary:

Liu Qingge talks to Shen Qingqiu for the first time since the Peaklord meeting and Wei Qingwei returns to the mountain from his Shimozhe hunting mission.

Notes:

Hello, Happy Passover and an early Happy Easter!
I have been banging my head against a wall over this fic since the last chapter went up over a month ago. 95% of that time was just trying to figure out the LQG & SQQ section! Seriously I got WQW's section out in less than two hours.

Any way this is sort of a spiritual sequel to chapter 11 which I've also gone back and edited a little. (no content changes just making LQG's brain make more sense)

Content warnings (the two sections have very different tones so be prepared for some whiplash)

LQG POV : Shen Qingqiu being a bitch, discussion fo qi deviations

WQW POV: Child Abuse (Murder, Death, human cauldrons, implied sexual assault of children, implied allergory for sexual assault of children, starvation of children), Grief. [Summary of this section in End Notes because oh boy]

"It's good that Luo Binghe has Ning Yingying in times like these. It's hard to go through hardship on your own. Now if you could stop her causing the hardship to begin with. That would be great!"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

Agitated, Liu Qingge opened the silk fan once more.

Si Chou Peak had done a good job finding a way to fix the damage. It was hard to tell that the fan had ever been broken. Only the near invisible stitching line where the silk had been torn gave it away and Liu Qingge still had to squint to find it. Even now the spokes moved smoothly under his grip as he flicked the fan closed again.

The repeated motion did not dissipate the strange restless energy gnawing at his bones.

Shen Qingqiu had had a qi deviation on the mission.  Or so the gossip on the mountain was saying.

Nothing violent he had been reassured by his sister but Qi Qingqi had been spooked, acting more snappish and antsy than normal. His own disciples had also seen Mu Qingfang going to and returning from Qing Jing Peak daily. None of this boded well for Shen Qingqiu’s state of health.

Liu Qingge stopped fidgeting with the fan and wrapped it delicately in silk. He had had his month long forced recovery period end just that morning. Mu Qingfang had triple checked over his arm and asked for an unexpected meridian graph to be taken. But after a lot of hmming over the results, the doctor had at last cleared him for missions.

Liu Qingge honestly couldn’t wait to be out of the sect in the world again but first he was going to at least speak with Shen Qingqiu and confirm to himself of the man’s state of health.

Tucking the package into his qiankun pouch, Liu Qingge stepped up onto Cheng Luan and took off over the rainbow bridges.

He had only been on Qing Jing Peak a grand total of four, maybe five times, none of which had been in the last eleven years. But the peak, despite the dense bamboo, was easy to navigate when he arrived. Wide ponds and ornate pavilions gave clear sightlines and buildings were grouped into small courtyards depending on function. A little wandering and he spotted what looked like the Peaklord’s house.

It had changed quite drastically with the entire southern hall having been removed and an ornate garden having been put in its stead. The doors to the central hall were wedged open and the inside appeared to have been refitted with new walls.

Standing awkwardly outside, Liu Qingge came to a single conclusion.

This was not Shen Qingqiu’s house.

There was no way a man like that lived with his doors open.

Still, it appeared to be an administrative building so someone should be able to point him toward his Shixiong’s residence.

Stepping inside, the whining of a woman could be heard from near the back of what used to be the central hall. Following the sound, Liu Qingge’s sharp ears began to make out words.

“Regardless, it was still sooo embarrassing!”

“Hallmaster YiTao’s conduct is hardly Peaklord Shen’s fault.” Said another man sounding amused. “It can not have been expected that you would challenge Hallmaster Sun to a balancing competition right before our esteemed guest walked in.”

“What must the Sect Leader think of us?” The first woman bemoaned.

“That Hallmaster Sun is certainly flexible.” Ah. There was Shen Qingqiu speaking in that dry and clipped way of his.

“You! How could you joke!” Fussed the woman. “You should have given us warning!”

“A little warning might have been nice, Shen-Shixiong.” Said a second lady. She was quieter and more put upon sounding than the first.

“This master had none himself.” Shen Qingqiu said. “The Sect leader does as he pleases.”

“Indeed, he does.” The other man said with an undertone that Liu Qingge couldn’t understand.

“Hold your tongue.” Snapped Shen Qingqiu before continuing on in his normal monotone. ”If it will ease Hallmaster YiTao’s embarrassment, this master suspects the sect leader was more amused than critical of the situation.”

“That doesn’t help at all!” came the cry.

The other man laughed. And there was the sound of papers being tapped into an even stack.

“Regardless of circumstances, this master was glad Hallmaster YiTao made it back safely and hopes her family is well …. and her hangover is not too severe.”

“And here, you used to be one of my favourite students.” The woman grumbled before softening her tone. “Thank you for covering my classes. Both Peaklord Shen and Hallmaster Ling have my thanks. ”

“Hallmaster Ling deserves the thanks alone. It was her efforts that have been in use these past few weeks, not this one’s.” Deflected Shen Qingqiu.

“Ah, that is really not necessary. We both did what was needed. Hopefully all shall be to Hallmaster YiTao’s standards.” Said the second woman nervously.

“This one has no doubt it will be.” Said Hallmaster YiTao. With that, a Qing Jing Hallmaster with long black hair held up with a purple jewelled silver pin exited a room at the end of the corridor. She didn’t bother to look his way, just walking into another office, already reading through her stack of papers.

That must be where Shen Qingqiu was.  Moving up to the door, Liu Qingge heard Shen Qingqiu continue to talk.

“Was there anything else Hallmaster Ling or Hallmaster Li wish to discuss?”

“No, Shen-shixiong.” Said who he guessed to be Hallmaster Ling. “This Shimei begs permission to go attend to a small lesson with my personal disciples.”

“Granted.” Said Shen Qingqiu as various papers were rustled.

The man from earlier, Hallmaster Li spoke in the meantime.

“This one once heard that the Mid-Autumn Festival is the most popular occasion to celebrate marriages. For a husband to spend all night with just his wife, his poor concubines will weep tears of blood.”

His tone was flat but the words were near mocking.

Shen Qingqiu answered with a simple scoff.

This was followed by a pointed. “Don’t you have an extracurricular class to teach?”

“I do but they are my older set.”

“Huabi.” Came his shixiong’s stern voice.

“They are thirteen.” Replied the man dismissively. How Shen Qingqiu was letting him get away with such a tone was beyond Liu Qingge. “They can be trusted not to eat the inksticks until I arrive.”

So distracted by the conversation, was Liu Qingge that he didn’t notice the door to the room opening.

“Ah, Greetings Peaklord Liu!” cried Hallmaster Ling nearly dropping her scrolls.

He wasn’t eavesdropping!

Liu Qingge tried not to visibly jump or look guilty as the brown haired Hallmaster rose from her hasty bow. He sent an awkward one in return. All conversation in the room had stopped.

“Please excuse me!” Bleated the Hallmaster before making her escape, scrolls messily bouncing in her arms.

“Speaking of weeping concu- Ow! You know hitting me is illeg-“”

“Shut up!”

The door to the room was fully opened this time by the man he had been searching for.

“Shixiong.” Liu Qingge greeted then paused.

Shen Qingqiu’s arm was in a sling. When had that happened?

“Please tell me Peaklord Liu isn’t here to pick a fight over such a thing.” Was mumbled from over his Shixiong’s shoulder.

Liu Qingge stared at the Hallmaster. “What?”

“Ignore him.” Shen Qingqiu cut in. “Hallmaster Li was just leaving.”

“Moz-“ tried to protest Hallmaster Li but Shen Qingqiu was having none of it.

“Now.”

“Yes, Peaklord Shen. Let this one know if you find any issues with the accounts.” Said the man gesturing at the papers on the desk further in.

“This one will.” Said Shen Qingqiu with a glare. “Now go do your job.”

The man gave a small bow and strode out the front double doors.  

This left just the two Peaklords.

“Liu-shidi. What do you need of this Shixiong?”

Words had never been Liu Qingge’s strong point, so he just pulled out the package and placed it in front of Shen Qingqiu. “Here. This shidi had it fixed.”

His Shixiong raised an eyebrow at this and put down his current fan to carefully unwrap the package.

After which he stared for a moment. One hand of long elegant fingers picked up the repaired fan and carefully slid it open with his thumb. It was turned in his hand twice as he examined the repair, before his first fan was stored back into his sleeve. And much to Liu Qingge’s private delight, the repaired fan replaced its job in partially covering his Shixiong’s face. The immediate acceptance left him feeling a little warm. Especially as he had heard his sister’s own gifts had been rejected outright.

Though given the fan was originally Shen Qingqiu’s there wasn’t really many reasons he had to reject it.

“Is that all?” Inquired the man, gently fanning himself.

“No.” Liu Qingge said staring at the sling.

Shen Qingqiu let out something close to a laugh but far too bitter.

“It is not Liu Qingge’s concern.” Shen Qingqiu said, bringing his gaze back to the man.

Liu Qingge wanted to disagree. He wanted to argue but… but then Shen Qingqiu would argue back and it would turn into a fight like it always had.

So, he grunted and held his tongue.

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes and gestured for Liu Qingge to follow him as he shut his office door.

“Where are we going?” asked Liu Qingge, jogging a little to match Shen Qingqiu’s strides as they left the building and turned up towards the forest.

“This shixiong believes he promised shidi a spar.” Teased Shen Qingqiu. His voice light in the cold autumn air.

You had got to be kidding. Liu Qingge’s heels slammed to a stop causing Shen Qingqiu to slow and turn to him annoyed.

“Shen Qingqiu, your arm is broken!” He exclaimed.

“Goodness, really?“ Came the dry sarcastic reply.

This man!

“Be serious. I know you had a qi deviation not long ago.”

“You mentioned!” Oh no, that voice had an edge to it that was surely felt as Shen Qingqiu snapped the fan shut. “Shockingly, this shixiong has plenty of experience with the risks one might have with a qi deviation!”

Liu Qingge opened his mouth and then closed it.

“I won’t spar with you.” He reasserted. “I just…”

“You just?” hounded Shen Qingqiu.

“I want to talk!” Liu Qingge yelled back.

“Then speak! This shixiong’s ears are certainly not broken.”

There was a lapse in conversation. Somewhere in the bamboo forest birds sang on, ignoring that brewing argument. After a small staring contest, Shen Qingqiu scoffed and snapped open his fan, walking again. Liu Qingge followed, keeping pace beside him.

“Your qi deviations.” Liu Qingge started. He felt the man next to him tense but continued anyway, admiring the sea of green around them. “Do they always feel like that?”

Shen Qingqiu took his time to answer.

“This shixiong can’t possibly say he knows what Liu Qingge’s deviation felt like.”

More silence.

“It hurt. A lot.” He admitted. “I wasn’t in control of my body, my qi. Anything.”

There was a sigh.

“Then this shixiong supposes his are similar.” Liu Qingge tried to see Shen Qingqiu’s expression out the corner of his eye but the man was once again hiding behind his fan.

“I’ve never heard of you being… violent during yours?” It came out more a question than he had intended. But it was true. As much as there had been talk of Shen Qingqiu yet again having another qi deviation, there had never been talk of anyone being injured.

“I.. This shixiong… Compared to shidi’s…. this shixiong isn’t able to move much. So, he is probably easier to subdue….” Mumbled the man. “I don’t think they are any less violent though.”

“I’m sorry.” Liu Qingge said.

“Don’t.” Shen Qingqiu said immediately. Almost like it was a reflex. He had reacted badly to his attempted apology after the Peaklord meeting. But after pushing Liu Qingge had eventually gotten through then so maybe that would work here too.

“Let me finish talking.” Tried Liu Qingge. “This shidi was unfairly dismissive in the past to what he now knows was very serious incidents.”

“I don’t need nor want your apologies.” Snapped Shen Qingqiu.

“Then this shidi promises to improve his conduct moving forwards.”

“Promise all you want. This shixiong does not put much trust in easily uttered promises.”

“Then please give this shidi time to prove his words.”

“It’s not like I can stop you.”

Shen Qingqiu may have saved his life. But it was reassuring that not much else had changed about the man. He was still a contrarian at heart and frankly a fucking bitch to talk to.

The path wandered on. It clearly was only frequented enough to be kept clear of bamboo and by Liu Qingge’s internal sense of direction they were heading around to the side of Qing Jing Peak that faced away from the sect. It was a nice walk. The bamboo shaded them from the autumnal winds and direct sunlight that scattered in in shafts of golden light on green leaves. He could hear a river in the distance, growing quieter and quieter as they moved away.

“This shidi has been thinking.”

“Careful. The brain is a muscle like any other. Without regular training, overusing it might cause damage.”

Liu Qingge was sorely tempted to kick Shen Qingqiu in the ankle for that remark.

“As I was saying,” He started again. “this shidi has had a lot of time to think.”

“And?” said Shen Qingqiu.

“And I don’t understand you at all.”

“Thanks.” Shen Qingqiu said with dry sarcasm. Liu Qingge did kick him gently in the ankle this time. The man yelped and shot him a glare for his action.

“I want to.” He admitted. Shen Qingqiu’s fan couldn’t hide the startled look and faint blush as he stared at Liu Qingge, realised he was staring and turned away.

“Why?” Shen Qingqiu asked, focused again on the path in front of them.

“I want to stop misunderstanding you.” Said Liu Qingge. This earned an amused tsk.

“I doubt that will stop, Shidi.”

He had a point.

As they walked the forest eventually receded around them leading to a small area full of shrubs and local grasses. The lack of canopy gave them a clear view over the land surrounding the mountain range. Vast fields and smaller ranges of hills stretched out below them for li and li and li. Under the late afternoon sun, it was a stunning view.

In the centre was a small flatten stone platform with an old roof that had turn green from moss. Shen Qingqiu guided them towards it and pulled a small rug to sit on from his sleeve.

Kneeling down next to his shixiong Liu Qingge once again found himself breaking the silence.

“I- This shidi sent word of what happened to his parents. They send you their thanks for saving their son.”

Shen Qingqiu frowned at this. Why though? Liu Qingge couldn’t understand. Why was he not boasting and preening under every bit of praise. Instead, he seemed guilty.

“It’s hardly that-“ Shen Qingqiu tried to start. He didn’t let him get that far in dismissing what had happened.

“Shixiong saved my life.” Liu Qingge stated. Shen Qingqiu sighed at the interruption.

“This-“ He tried again.

“Twice.” This got him a frosty glare and the flat side of the fan he had returned to Shen Qingqiu jabbing into his shoulder before flicking it open again smartly.

“I didn’t do it for your parents thanks or praise.”

Liu Qingge smiled. “I know. But they send it regardless.”

Shen Qingqiu brow furrowed again. He was probably chewing his lip behind that fan.

A stray thought passed through Liu Qingge’s brain and before he realised it , he asked. “…Does your family know?”

Shen Qingqiu stared at him in shock.

“What!? My family? ” The man turned back to the beautiful view. “No… This shixiong. No.”

“You should tell them.” Liu Qingge said seeking out the view as well though much closer. There was some small birds playing hide and seek further down the slope from them. They leapt swiftly from bush to bush, chirping territorially at each other.

It was Shen Qingqiu that chose to break the silence this time.

“Shidi… Anyone that I could have called family has long since passed on.”

“Oh.” Was all Liu Qingge could say. He had assumed… Well, he had assumed a lot of things. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” came that quick response again, followed by a rustle of fabric. “Black or white?”

“Hm?” Liu Qingge said drawing his eyes from the birds below. Between them sat a Weiqi board upon which lay two bags of smooth stones in black and white.

“Weiqi.” Said Shen Qingqiu sharply, tucking the fan away for now.

“You were right earlier.” Admitted the man with a shrug. ”We can’t spar physically but this shixiong still owes you a match.”

Green eyes peered up at him. On anyone else the expression would have been called nervous but on Shen Qingqiu, Liu Qingge didn’t know what to make of it.

“White then.” He replied and was handed a bag.

 

---

 

Mu Qingfang was waiting for him, tea service already prepared for his arrival. Wei Qingwei took a seat and gratefully accepted the cup pushed into his hands. He had already been back for nearly two days but that hadn’t helped. He still felt rough, emotionally raw in a way he wasn’t prepared for.

The forge couldn’t even distract him. He’d called it in early yesterday after warping the metal twice.

Everything felt off.

Mu Qingfang had that professional mask on that always meant he had bad news. Still Wei Qingwei had to ask.

“How is the kid we brought back?” he mumbled into his cup already fearing the answer.

Mu Qingfang’s response was calm but emotionless. “There were complications with his treatment. The medicines weren’t taking and early this morning he entered a qi deviation that ruptured his already delicate meridians. We weren’t able to stabilise him in time and he passed away shortly after. I’m sorry.”

A wet tear crawled down Wei Qingwei’s face.

The investigation into the ‘Shimozhe’ incident had bore fruit in the worst way. While the villages nearby hadn’t seen anything strange, a missing grandniece who lived in a town fifty li south had led them onto the trail of a human cauldron ring. It had been horrific.

Wei Qingwei had seen death before. He had seen his fellow disciples die before but the sheer scale of dead children had broken something inside him that he feared might not be fixed. Most of the children were slaves, none could have been older than thirteen. Only a handful were living when they arrived. The slavers killed some in their haste to escape. This did nothing to prevent their own capture. Wei Qingwei hopes Bian Jie peak was taking it’s time getting information from them.

The living children that remained were in a dreadful state. Some died shortly after their arrival from internal and external injuries. One had a qi deviation, foaming blood at the mouth and thrashing wildly, unable to breathe until the light in their eyes dimmed and they went still. The rest simply could not eat. Any food that went down came right back up again. By the time, the Qian Cao disciples they had brought with them made the decision to run them back to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect for intensive treatment only four remained. Three died on the flight back. Wei Qingwei had hoped they would have been able to save the last one. Just to save one of them. They couldn’t have failed entirely.

The scent of herbs filled his nose as Mu Qingfang gently pulled him into a hug.

“I would have taken them as a disciple. I would have…” he mumbled into the dark green robes.

The doctor’s hand stroked circles into his back. “I know. I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“I failed. I failed them all. If I was quicker, if I-”

“No, this is not Wei-shixiong’s fault. Human cauldron victims have very low survival odds. This doctor has only read of a handful of incidents over the last hundred years and even then the results only meant one or two more years of heavily crippled life. A much happier life but never a long one. I’m sorry.“

Mu Qingfang let him weep himself dry then let him wash his face clean in the nearby basin.

Breathing still unsteady, Wei Qingwei was passed a fresh cup of tea and a slice of mooncake.

Funny, Yue Qingyuan had served him one with the same pattern when he had made his report a few days ago.

“Eat.” Mu Qingfang said. “It’ll help.”

Dutifully obeying his doctor’s orders, Wei Qingwei took a bite of the sweet dessert.

“It’s good.” He complimented.

“Shen-Shixiong made them.”

Wei Qingwei nearly choked.

“I’m surprised Shen Qingqiu knows how to cook.”

“This doctor has learned Shen Qingqiu is surprising in a number of ways.” Grumbled Mu Qingfang.

“Oh?” he asked, finishing the slice. It really was good.

The doctor sighed and took a sip of tea.

“Shen-shixiong had a qi deviation on his trip with Qi-shimei and Huang-shimei.”

Oh shit.

“He’s fine. But during that time, Xiu Ya moved about on its own and when in contact with its master, helped stabilise him. I questioned Shen-shixiong about this and he told me that my Shizun had prescribed him a spirit sword in order to stabilise his unstable cultivation.”

Mu Qingfang then checked to see what Wei Qingwei thought of this.

What Wei Qingwei thought was that, frankly, it sounded like nonsense.

Disciples were not allowed to try for spirit swords until they had stable enough cultivation to sustain them without overtaxing their still developing qi reserves. Those with unstable cultivation were actively discouraged from seeking swords as the added strain could send them into qi deprivation.

To deliberately have a disciple with unstable cultivation try for a sword to stabilise their cultivation was just backwards. Was this why Shen Qingqiu had so many qi deviations? Wei Qingwei was aware his shixiong had had at least a dozen which was already ridiculously high.

However…

“Not all sword bonds are created equal.” Yue Qingyuan’s Xuan Su remained unmentioned but from the sharpness in Mu Qingfang’s eyes, he knew the doctor had understood him. “Our Shizuns might have created a… a unique bond for Shen-shixiong.”

“This doctor suspected as much. Would Wei-shixiong please look into Xiu Ya’s file for this shidi? I want to get to the bottom of this.”

Wei Qingwei nodded. “Is there a time limit?”

“Before the Peaklord meeting next week ideally. Shen-shixiong wanted me to let him know if I found anything strange.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

 

Notes:

[Summary of WQW's POV]
WQW finds a human cauldron ring whilst hunting for the Shimozhe. All the children but one die on the trip back to CQMS. MQF informs WQW at the start of their meeting that early that morning the last child died due to complications. WQW is emotionally distruaght and is comforted by MQF. They then go on to discuss SQQ and agree to look into Xiu Ya's strangeness before the next peaklord meeting.

Translation notes:
Li - A chinese unit of measurement. About 1/3 mile or 1/2 km.
Extra Afternoon classes:
Hallmaster Ling's class is basically her getting to have tea time with her personal disciples and playing music together with them. It's her chill out time but blocked in as a class so she can defend it better.

Hallmaster Li's class is an agreement to let him use the art studios for his own projects; but he has to supervise and offer advice to any other disciples that use the extra classroom hours. His additional 'class' became so popular [because art assignments always need more time than they are given], an age divide had to be implimented. This just means Hallmaster Li gets to spend more time on his personal projects so he ain't complaining.
The difference between this and his normal classes is the morning classes he will have to teach the disciples techniques and give them assignments. The afternoon class is just him painting in the same room as them but 0 teaching required.

Next time: Ming Fan teaches Luo Binghe and us about how to cultivate! + (if it fits) Peaklords Mu and Wei get some answers about Xiu Ya!

Chapter 23: Metaphor abuse and other strange quirks of being a cultivator

Summary:

Ming Fan and Luo Binghe after an adverturous night during the Mid Autumn festival move on to teaching him how to cultivate. Meanwhile Mu Qingfang and Wei Qingwei are discovering some confusing new information.

Notes:

6k chapter wooo! And we have officially crossed the 100,000 word mark on this fic. That's insane. Thank you to everyone who leaves comments and funny notes on their bookmarks (yes I do read those too). The feedback fuels me to write more and more. :D So thank you sooo much!

Small note: The WQW POV last chapter chronologically takes place after the LBH POV this chapter. This doesn't make much differnce but just to help keep the timeline straight.

Content warnings: Child on Child violence, This author's wonky understanding on cultivation which is being hand waved as Airplane fucking up, Far too many metaphors, small mention of child death, This author's wonky understanding of Cultivation swords which again I'm blaming airplane for, Info dumping.... Twice..... Possibly three times.

"Wait, are you talking about the Nascent Soul stage or the Qi Condensing stage? You do know they are very differnt, right? Right? What type of Cultivation story is this?!"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

Binghe wasn’t sure who was more nervous; himself or Da-shixiong. Shizun’s cold gaze gave neither of them comfort as he swept over Binghe’s attempt at the exercises they had been trying to perfect for over a month now.

He had summoned them both suddenly, and in a foul mood too. Binghe had seen him walk towards Qian Cao Peak that morning for what Binghe suspected was to remove the small bamboo tubes that had been sticking out of his left arm. It seemed he was correct as Shizun was now tubeless and very grumpy.

Finishing up the last of the move set, Binghe bowed into a polite salute. His heavy breathing felt awkwardly loud in the near still clearing.

The silence was left to hang, left to make himself and Da-shixiong fidget before being broken with a displeased noise. Shizun’s fan snapped open making Binghe flinch and he sighed in a put upon way.

“It will have to do. Ming Fan, move him on to qi condensing but do it slowly. There have been enough qi deviations recently.” That last sentence was muttered under his breath in a way that made Binghe suspect they weren’t meant to hear it.

Da-shixiong made no sign he had heard it, just saluting as he replied. “Yes, Shifu!”

Satisfied Shizun left them to be grumpy in his Bamboo Hut.

Only once Binghe was sure he was beyond hearing range, did he collapse back on the ground.

“We did it.” He panted. He felt a little dizzy.

“Tsk. This is only the first stage.” Da-shixiong said waving a hand dismissively. “Get up! You stink. Go bathe. We are done for today.”

“Yes, Da-shixiong.” Binghe half laughed, dodging away towards the bathhouse at Ming Fan’s furious look.

Despite Da-shixiong’s temper, they were getting along much better since their fight during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The night had started pretty calmly. As agreed, Ning Yingying met up with them with Hallmaster Ling’s personal disciples, Ai Xingguang and Ki Huaban. Ming Fan had invited Zhi Yao and Cheng Shan to join them. Though only Zhi Yao had joined them for the walk over with the girls. They soon learned of what had delayed Cheng Shan when he caught up with them on the bridge from Wan Jian peak to An Ding Peak.

“Shixiong, what is that?” cried Zhi Yao, gesturing disparaging to the small Si Chou Peak disciple trailing alongside Cheng Shan.

Cheng Shan spared the boy a glance before turning back to Zhi Yao. “A duckling.”

Binghe hadn’t been able to help it. He actually began to laugh at the poor boy’s expense. Duckling! What an unfortunate assignment, not helped by the boy’s tufty black hair.

“Why are you laughing, Second duckling?” said Cheng Shan, cutting off Binghe.

“Second!? Why am I second? You knew me first!?” He had cried offended, making Zhi Yao jeer at him.

“Ha ha!” His boisterous Shixiong also stopped when Cheng Shan fixed him with a long look. “What?”

The look continued. Not unsimilar to the ones Hallmaster Li would sometimes give particularly stupid students. All of a sudden Zhi Yao seemed to realise something Binghe didn’t.

“No.” Said Zhi Yao pointing at Cheng Shan’s unchanging expression. “No. Don’t you dare! No!”

“Third duckling.” Said Cheng Shan causing Zhi Yao to clutch his own hair and scream.

“Nooooo!!!”

Ning Yingying and the others were laughing now.

“Am I a duckling?” asked Da-shixiong as Zhi Yao sulked.

“No?” replied Cheng Shang.

“Okay, good.” Ming Fan said, though he looked a little disappointed.

The ‘duckling’ turned out to be Rao Ding, an undersized shidi who had met Cheng Shan on the recent joint trip and taken a liking to him. Binghe couldn’t think why but Rao Ding seemed happy, and Cheng Shan had brought him along so whatever.

The group finished crossing the bridge and soon set about finding a good place to sit.

An Ding Peak’s normally bustling central courtyard was uncharacteristically empty as crowds of disciples and hallmasters loitered around the edges. The noise from the crowd rose and rose as the sun set and torches were lit around the edges of the courtyard. Until at least, a sharp roll of drum broke silence across the peak.

A group of a dozen, maybe more, disciples had stealthily set themselves up on route towards the peaks warehouses that formed the main path into the interior of the peak. Some had drums the others cymbals, gongs and bells. Confidently, the Head disciple of An Ding stepped forward to address the crowd and start the festivities. The crowd cheered as the head disciple bowed and jogged out the way.

Then the music began and the lions arrived.

The village where Binghe had grown up had had Mid-Autumn festival celebrations of their own, stalls, lantern races down the Luo River and the like. One year a troupe had come through to perform for his mother’s employers. She and the rest of the servants had watched carefully from the doorways and one or two from the trees nearby. A burly cook had let Binghe ride on his shoulders in return for helping peel vegetables for the next week.

That performance had nothing on this.

Although hosted on An Ding Peak, the performers were disciples for many different peaks. All skilled and light of foot. Cultivation and training let them move inhumanely as the first two lions charged into the courtyard. Light arrays had been places along the hairy tassels of the lions’ pelts, on each performer’s foot and behind the glowing red eyes each had. This highlighted their movements as well as the vicious expressions each had. These lions were meant to be demons, he was told by an excited Ning Yingying.

Two more demonic lions entered the ring with the same acrobatic flair. Each moved perfectly to the music. Perfect coordination between each pair of performers that made Binghe forget at times that these were not living creatures set loose in the courtyard.

The last person to enter was a disciple in a ceremonial uniform. Light arrays had been woven into the very fabric of the garment as this confident figure entered, spirit sword in hand.

The demonic lions danced a circle around the cultivator who after a moment of calm, joined in the dance. Their sword moved elegantly with the beat of the music as they danced with and against their foes.

Binghe couldn’t tear his eyes away as the performance continued. The lions lunged and the cultivator spun away, striking in with thrusts he knew were choreographed to miss but seemed so life like in the moment. The dance fight continued on until one of the lions flipped over the cultivator and was cleverly ‘cut’ in two. Each set of legs landed gracefully before dramatically falling over dead.

The crowd cheered.

The three remaining foes grew more energetic in the dance as the music picked up. The heroic cultivator danced around each, taking their time to artfully ‘slay’ each until they alone were the last one standing in the courtyard.

The music continued letting the hero have a final solo dance of victory before drawing to a close as the crowd applauded. The main hero then called each of the other performers up from the ground to bow and exit of the stage.

The next performance was closer to what Luo Binghe had seen as a boy. The lions were brightly coloured and extra lanterns were brought in to better light the courtyard stage. Stilted small platforms and other obstacles were brought in as the lions elegantly moved across them in time to the music and the cheers of the crowd. After each performance, the lion dancers would circle the courtyard where disciples would throw oranges and pomelos into their gaping mouths. A few of the helper An Ding disciples even gave their little group some to throw.

There was even a contest at the end where a pole was erected, and a head of lettuce hoisted high up on it. All the pervious lion teams were challenged by the An Ding Head disciple to reach the lettuce.

The resulting efforts were impressive showcases of not only cultivation skill, to try to climb such a flimsy pole, but also comedic timing as many of the now very tired dancers slipped and fell. Next to him, Ning Yingying leant over to Ming Fan and whispered.

“Maybe Ming-Shixiong should offer them some tips.” She said it teasingly and succeeded in painting Da-shixiong’s face bright pink as he sulked.

Binghe traced the Guanyin pendant under his robes absentmindedly as at last one of the teams succeeded in getting the lettuce.

With that, the performance was wrapped up. The band and all performers coming forward to bow and the crowd gave them a healthy cheer before it began to disperse.

Zhi Yao bounced up to his feet and gave a long stretch.

“So on to Zui Xian Peak?” he asked, directed at Ming Fan.

“Yeah!” cheered Ke Huaban, bouncing along side him. The height difference between the two as they bounced made Binghe want to laugh.

“Yes, on to Zui Xian Peak.” Said Ming Fan, patting clean his robes as he got unsteadily up to lean on his crutch.

“Wooo!!! Race you there!” Called out Zhi Yao dashing off. Ke Huaban giddily followed him.

“Careful!” Ai Xingguang called out too late as Ke Huaban ran right into another disciple in her haste to keep up.

“Ah sorr-“

“Hey, what you playing at?!” yelled the disciple shoving her away.

“What you playing at!?” yelled Zhi Yao shoving him back.

Binghe ran up to join them with Ning Yingying when he realised the other boy and his menacing friends were from Bai Zhan Peak. Ai Xingguang helped Ke Huaban up off the ground as the rest of their group gathered protectively around her. Rao Ding hid behind Cheng Shan but still managed to throw a decent glower at the boys as Ming Fan hobbled over.

“Zhi Yao, leave him. We don’t need to pick fights right now.” Zhi Yao shot the Bai Zhan disciples a dirty look before backing off.

“Yeah! Run off, you cowards!” They called at their back. Pathetic. Like that would get a reactio- “Just like that Shizun of yours!”

Binghe stopped and grit his teeth. Oh. Oh, they were going there.

“Keep going.” Ordered Ming Fan in his ear, Da-shixiong’s hand trying to push him along. A cruel snarl crossed Binghe’s face. A deep anger warmed his skin as he yelled back over his shoulder.

“Oh look, attacking your Shixiongs just like your Shizun.”

“HEY!”

Da-shixiong grabbed the base of Binghe’s neck with one hand, his crutch in the other and ran as the Bai Zhan Disciples took after them. Binghe was only vague aware of the others escaping toward the Qian Cao bridge as Ming Fan dragged him along. Half stumbling, they dived down one of the side roads towards Ma Jiu peak.

An Ding Peak and Ma Jiu Peak did have a rainbow bridge, a large, wide one made for hauling goods up from the stables, but the fourth peak also rolled gently into the tenth with very little incline. This meant there were many paths between the two through a rough forest of pine and broad leaf trees. This worked to their escape as Da-shixiong guided them both between the thicket, branches catching at their clothes and hair in the dark.

Sensing rather than seeing the outline of bushes, Binghe took a hold of Ming Fan’s robes and flung them both undercover. They each held their breath as the Bai Zhan disciples thundered past. An incense stick was spent just remaining quiet under that bush. Until their chasers gave up questioning where they went and trekked back up the mountain to An Ding Peak.

Almost immediately after they were safely out of ear shot did Binghe felt hands grab him.

“Why did you say that!?” Half yelled, half whispered Da-shixiong, shaking him.

“They were insulting shizun!” cried Binghe, trying to wriggle free. No use. Da-shixiong was still stronger than him.

“So, you started insulting Shishu!?” said Da-shixiong trying to land a punch on his stomach. Binghe curled up to prevent him being able to. “Are. You. Stupid!?”

“He hurt shizun!” Binghe tried to kick Ming Fan back.

“You little- How do you even know about that?!” Ming Fan had grabbed a hold of his hair and pulled sharply.

“Because I saw it!” cried Binghe, tears threatening to build up at the pain to his scalp.

“You what?” The pressure loosened off. Binghe used that to scrambled further out of reach. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he replied.

“When Shizun came out seclusion, he tripped over me in the woodshed.” Binghe paused remembering that day. “He looked really bad.”

Da-shixiong moved somewhere in the dark.

“Is that why he’s been treating you differently?” he asked slowly.

“I think so.” Replied Binghe, picking at the dirt under his fingernails. His scalp burned.

There was a sigh next to him.

“Still not worth picking a fight over. Not with those clowns anyway.” There was some rustling as Da-shixiong got out the bush and to his feet. This was cut off by a pained intake of breath.

“Da-shixiong?” Binghe crawled out after him to find the boy’s silhouette leaning heavily against a tree.

“Fuck you. Why did you throw us so hard?”

Shit. Yeah, Binghe had been too panicked to consider Da-shixiong’s leg.

“… Sorry.” He apologised, putting an arm around Da-shixiong to help him balance. Ming Fan curled an arm over his shoulders and put his weight between Binghe and his crutch.

“Brat, let’s meet up with the others.”

They didn’t bother going back up to An Ding Peak. Too dangerous and Da-shixiong’s leg wouldn’t handle the climb. Instead, they followed the slope down through Ma Jiu Peak and up the other bridge that lead to Zui Xian Peak.  Zhi Yao was the first to spot them as they stumbled towards the food stalls. The other’s had taken the shorter more open route of An Ding to Qian Cao to Zui Xian so had already had time to purchase a few Tanghulu sticks.

“Are you two okay?!” Ai Xingguang called out; sugar stuck to her cheeks.

Cheng Shan, next to her, looked them both over, found them covered in scratches, mud and leaves and tutted.

“We’re fine.” Said Da-shixiong.

Luo Binghe rolled his eyes at the boy. “Da-shixiong hurt his leg again!” He said. “Ning-shijie, could you come help?”

Ning Yingying quickly ran over. ”What did you two do?”

“It’s not that bad.” Grumbled Ming fan, blushing as Ning Yingying fussed.

“Da-shixiong says that but he’s been leaning so heavily on my shoulder the entire way over.” Whined Binghe with a pout. “Could Shijie please take over for me?”

Batting his big wet eyes had been a sure was to get table scraps back in his village. On Qing Jing Peak Binghe quickly learned it would only get him a beating. Still Ning Yingying caved every single time.

“Fine, Shidi. Give him over.” She said huffishly, though Binghe could see a slight blush rise over her cheeks.

“Uh! This really isn’t necessary!” Da-shixiong face had also gone bright pink.

“Da-shixiong. Shut up.” Ordered Ning Yingying, slinging Da-shixiong’s arm over her shoulder. Binghe gave his own a roll and flex before easily slipping his fingers between those of Ning Yingying’s free hand. She sent him a little smile and a squeeze at the contact.

Binghe smiled back easily. Ming Fan was less than impressed at their little moment. With a lightly laugh, Binghe gestured to Da-shixiong arm around Ning Yingying’s shoulder and shot him a wink that shut Da-shixiong up nicely. He really did turn such a bright shade of red soo easily.

This was roughly how they spent the rest of the evening, buying snacks off the Zui Xian vendors then cheering when the lanterns were released from the higher peaks. Binghe even thought he saw a few drift off from Qing Jing peak.

 It had been a good night.

The day after Shizun’s evaluation, Ming Fan was waiting for him at the unused pavilion they been using to train. He sat lazily, learning on one elbow, bad leg stretched out as he read through some scrolls. His leg had been unharmed by their little tumble. Qian Cao Peak was one of the few peaks that didn’t get a sect wide day off for the Mid Autumn Festival so had been easy to drop by on their way back.

Binghe cleared his throat as he approached and dropped into a bow. “Da-shixiong.”

Ming Fan gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

“Sit. This is going to take a while.”

Binghe obediently obeyed as Ming Fan put down what looked like a dormitory supplies charter. Right, with the cooling weather there’d be a new order of blankets for the disciples.

“Okay, how to go about this?” Da-shixiong muttered running a hand through his hair. “Okay, okay. What is qi?”

“The vital energy of an creatures.” Binghe repeated back the phrase automatically.

“Yes, correct. Do you know what that actually means?” Da-shixiong asked doubtfully. For good reason. Binghe’s face answered for him, as Da-shixiong sighed rubbing his forehead.

“Vital energy is like…. like what creatures need and use to live. To move. To heal and grow.” He began absent mindedly gesturing with his free hand. “But it’s not just present in animals and humans. It’s in plants and rocks and rivers and the sunlight and the air around us. It’s not all in equal quantities either. Qi collects in places. Sometimes in plants and beasts.”

Binghe nodded.

 “So, when we eat, we absorb the qi from the plants and animal?” he asked.

“No.” Binghe deflated a little. ”Well, we can but most people don’t. Inside you is a spiritual root. This houses and produces your qi that travels through your meridians, think like pathways inside you, letting it travel around your body. Even non-cultivators use qi every day to move. Not they are consciously aware of it or are producing enough to do anything noteworthy but it’s there.”

“This one thought only cultivators could use qi?”

Da-shixiong rolled his eyes and pours himself a cup of tea. “Lifting this cup requires a small flow to travel through my arm and hands. Everyone uses qi, all the time. They just can’t naturally feel it. The base exercise set forces your natural qi flows into a small, concentrated form so they are easier to feel. Once you understand what you are feeling, you can begin to manipulate it. Once you can manipulate it, you can refine it.”

“Oh.” Said Binghe dumbly.

“Quickly, what are the stages of cultivation?”

“Uh…” Binghe’s brain struggled briefly. “Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden core… uh Core Formation? and something to do with a soul.”

“Nascent Soul. There are more after that but those are the main ones. Explain what each does.” Da-shixiong was doing his best impression of Shizun’s lecture voice. It really did not suit him.

“Qi condensation is the first step and… involves a lot of meditating.” Ming Fan rolled his eyes but didn’t call for Binghe to stop. “Foundation Establishment is when you can get a sword and go on missions. Core Formation takes a long time and needs secluded cultivation. Na- The soul one.. I don’t know about.”

“You’ve been here for years. How do you know nothing?” Binghe eyes narrowed. Gee, Da-shixiong, I wonder why? The boy ignored him. “Qi Condensation is learning to bolster your internally produced qi reserves with external qi from your environment. Foundation Establishment is more complicated but it’s increases your own qi production and widens your meridians.”

“That’s the one like a mountain path, right?” His manual had been faulty but Ning Yingying’s had mentioned a sect being built on a mountain in the more advanced chapters as some sort of metaphor. Apparently Shizun had given her a different one involving building and managing an estate, but that only confused Binghe more.

“I guess. I never understood the sect building metaphor. Shifu explained it to me like a river at first then later a tea field.” Binghe gave his shixiong a blank look, prompting the boy to explain. “The river is like your meridians, the rain falling into the river is the qi you take in from the surroundings. As the river gains more water, it becomes deeper and wider, letting it take in more rainwater without overflowing its banks and having a qi deviation. As it flows, it hydrates the soil, promoting plants to grow that strengthen the banks. As qi circulates your body, it helps strengthen muscles and repair injuries. This lets it flow harder with more water.”

Binghe titled his head slightly, picturing the Luo River but inside his body. Da-shixiong saw his confusion and ran a hand through his own hair.

“This shixiong prefers the tea field explanation. You have a tea field and workers. As they collect the tea each day, they wear paths into the earth that lets them move and collect the tea faster and more efficiently. As time goes on these paths are paved and maintained, letting them collect more. As they collect more, you can expand the tea field and hire more workers, letting you collect more tea.”

“So, like a forest full of edible plants?” Da-shixiong blinked at him. “The more you walk to the best places to collect yummy mushrooms and wild fruits, the more worn the path becomes and the easier it is to find your way.”

“Maybe something like that. A golden core in the tea field example is like a warehouse letting you store tea for another day, so you always have tea available even if the workers take the day off.”

“So, like a pantry so you don’t need to head out to find food for the day.”

“Yes. In Shifu’s river example, it’s a well. So that there is always water even in droughts.”

“Da-shixiong.” Binghe said still struggling with warehouses, pantries and wells.

“Yes?” replied Ming Fan.

“When a golden core isn’t a well or a warehouse or a pantry, what is it exactly?”

“A concentrated mass of qi located near your tummy. It provides you with a constant and stable source of qi at all times. Spiritual roots don’t produce qi constantly. This causes high and low points over the day. Like you won’t have much qi when waking up as people generally use less when asleep so won’t produce much and when hungry, any spare qi gets used to help maintain your body so there’s not much left to use.”

“Is that how inedia works? Using qi instead of food?”

Ming Fan scratched the back of his head.

“This shixiong assumes so. But you are nowhere near that stage yet.”

Binghe nodded and looked down at his knees.

“How long would it take to get to that stage?” he asked.

“It varies. You want a stable foundation before you try to form your golden core and that takes time.” Da-shixiong answers with a wave of his hand. “The sect leader completed his in under two years but he’s a prodigy. He had a golden core before he was twenty-five. The average is around fifty years old. So, forty-ish years of cultivating.”

Oh. That….

“So long.” Binghe said glumly.

“And not getting shorter with you whining about it.” Ming Fan’s angry tone forced him to look up. Da-shixiong was frowning with his arms crossed. “We’ll do the base sets a few times through until you get a feel for the qi flowing through you, then I’ll show you some meditations.”

“Yes, Da-shixiong!”

 

---

 

The Peaklord of Wan Jian’s office was crammed into what might have been a naturally formed cave a millennia ago. As it was, it have been mined out for ore like most of Wan Jian Peak and hovered proudly above the entrance of the sword cave. Both could barely be identified as caves any more. All the walls have been smoothed and lined with elegant carvings. It was hard to tell which wall was the old mountain face and which was the stone brick building that had been built over it. Each flow seamlessly into the other.

Climbing the wood and carpet topped internal stone steps, Mu Qingfang tried not to be too distracted by the weapons being displayed around him. Many of them had been key to the turning of historical battles and the great legends of heroism he’d heard of as a boy. Below him, in the building’s foyer, disciples scuttled around cataloguing and hauling crates of weapons. Although busy, it lacked the tightly packed ever present movement of Qian Cao Peak, giving a grand airy presentation. Though this might have been because it was the only building Mu Qingfang knew of on peak that wasn’t a forge.

Wei Qingwei’s office was the only thing up here, so the stairs ran right up to the dark wooden door. Mu Qingfang gave it a firm rap and entered. Wei Qingwei was sat inside. A half-enclosed fire pit heated the room and a cast iron kettle hung over it. The man looked better than he had been nine days ago. Time truly was the greatest healer even if it was unlikely Wei Qingwei would ever forget the disciple he might have had. Mu Qingfang had unfortunately had almost disciples of his own. Wei Qingwei wasn’t the type to be sad for long but if he needed a hand, Mu Qingfang would be there.

“Greetings Wei-shixiong. Your message said you found something?”

“Well, it’s certainly a ‘something’.” Said Wei Qingwei gesturing Mu Qingfang to sit on the same side of the desk as him nearer the fire. The doctor was fetched a seat as he looked at the stack of papers Wei Qingwei pointed him to.

Most of them were technical diagrams on Xiu Ya’s dimensions and construction that made little sense to him. A page on when it was constructed, by whom and any past wielders or repairs. The list was very short. As the rumours of the past had said, Shen Qingqiu was its only wielder. There had been no known repairs either.

Frowning, Mu Qingfang shuffled further through the papers trying to find anything notably odd. Eventually he admitted defeat and looked at Wei Qingwei.

“Shixiong, this shidi is struggling to find the-“, Wei Qingwei smirked at him like he had planned this and pulled out a paper detailing storage transfers. Mu Qingfang gave the man an elbow to the ribs for the light prank. He laughed it off, rubbing the bruise and began to explain.

“Nearly a century ago, Xiu Ya was moved from the sword wall into restricted access storage.” Mu Qingfang eyes flung wide at that. Restricted access storage was for weapons the Sect held but that were deemed too dangerous or fragile for general use. Xuan Su had been originally stored there as well.

Wei Qingwei continued on. “The reason for this move was that the sword had began to attempt to cultivate a human form.”

“A human form?” Mu Qingfang asked confused.

“Wan Jian Peak’s caves provide a lot of qi for the spirits forged in the swords to absorb. After a while that absorbed qi may be used if the spirit desired to cultivate a mortal form. Most swords are too young to have reached that stage before they are pulled though.”

“Was Xuan Su-?” Mu Qingfang starts but doesn’t finish. Wei Qingwei understands his question anyway.

“Nah, that ancient thing was just spiteful.” Wei Qingwei waved the statement away casually. “It never attempted a human form, though this shixiong suspects it could have easily gained one. Makes you wonder what it might have looked like.”

Not letting his shixiong get too distracted by that line of thought, Mu Qingfang addressed him again.

“Okay but what does this mean for Shen-shixiong?”

“It means that Xiu Ya wandering around on its own is perfectly expected and normal for a sword on its way to a mortal form. What it also means is that it is very not normal for it to have bonded with Shen-shixiong in the way that it has. Meaning stably.” Wei Qingwei said.

Mu Qingfang blinked.

“Shixiong thinks the bond is stable?”

Wei Qingwei gave a laugh.

“Shixiong knows the bond is stable because if it wasn’t we’d have known about it already. But that’s also impossible.”

“Why?” asked the doctor.

“A spirit sword has no cultivation base of its own.” Explained Wei Qingwei. “In order to build one a massive amount of qi is needed over a long period of time. That’s perfectly fine when you are lying in a nice qi dense cave. Less so when you are attached to a human being’s meridians.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, either Xiu Ya achieved its own separate cultivation base prior to bonding with Shen Qingqiu, which is unlikely given the time it had, or option two is another Xuan Su repressed-by-the-sheath situation. This is what this shixiong is personally leaning toward but he would need a closer look at Xiu Ya to confirm it. Another option is that Xiu Ya is repressing itself but there’s no reason for it to do that.”

Mu Qingfang pondered for a moment.

“Would it not want to protect its wielder?” he said.

“Spirit swords don’t really think.” Said Wei Qingwei, making a face. “They have needs and wants and try to pick a cultivator that fulfils those needs and wants. Some like combat, some like flying, some aggressively like to be regularly maintained. Some like lots of wild flowing qi, some only need a little but it has to be constantly stable or they freak out. It truly is unique for each sword.”

That made sense and lined up with the basics Qian Cao peak disciples were taught in regards to sword bonds.

“Now answer me this,” Said Wei Qingwei tapping the table with his fingers for emphasis, “if you, a sword, are trying to cultivate a human form, why do you pick Shen Qingqiu? Because it certainly not for stability, nor any real depth of cultivation, given he had been at the sect a few months at most when they bonded.”

Mu Qingfang couldn’t come up with a suitable answer. Shen Qingqiu’s meridians were damaged and had scars of being damaged for a long time. He couldn’t say for certain they had been damaged back then but, the doctor also couldn’t say they weren’t either. So why pick to bond with Shen Qingqiu?

“Theoretically,” Mu Qingfang began. “if there was no repression happening, what would be happening?”

Wei Qingwei looked up from where he had began pouring out some tea from the warmed kettle. A mix of his cultivation and calluses let him pick up the pot barehanded like it was still cold to the touch.

“Shen Qingqiu would have gone into qi deprivation and the bond would have had to be broken.” He said simply, offering Mu Qingfang a cup. The doctor turned him down. “There’s no two ways about it. If Xiu Ya has no cultivation base of its own, the amount of qi required would be a kin to like… basically supplying another person’s system from scratch, constantly. Shen Qingqiu doesn’t even have enough qi to form a Golden Core, let alone enough for that.”

This was true. Unstable moments aside, Mu Qingfang had always found that Shen Qingqiu’s qi levels were actually a little low for a mid-core formation level cultivator. Not to mention the other issue with his stuttering flowrates.

“Is there anything on why it was given to Shen Qingqiu?” asked Mu Qingfang.

“Oh yeah. Though not written down that I could find. One of the hallmasters was there the day Shen Qingqiu came to pull a sword. He’s busy until late but this shixiong has bullied him to join him for a late-night chat, if shidi can find time tonight?”

Mu Qingfang shot Wei Qingwei a rue smile.

“This shidi should be available.”

That night Mu Qingfang once again made his way to Wan Jian Peak and soon found himself perched on a stool in the corner of a forge, a blanket draped over his shoulders, a cup of tea keeping his hands warm and a small horde of pangolins playing over his shoes and the hem of his robe. Wei Qingwei leant on a workbench nearby, cup in hand, dark red uniform rolled up his forearms as an old man with soot on his face and a thick singed moustache made his way through yet another sesame cake.

Food finished and pangolins gently shooed out the forge, the elder found another stool and sat down heavily.

“Right, how can this old man be of help to two fine young Peaklords as yourselves?” he said, winkles crinkling at the corner of his eyes.

“The thing we were talking about the other day.” Said Wei Qingwei casually.

“The other day…” The old man made a face. “The other day. Oh! Peaklord Shen’s sword acquisition?”

“Yep, that’s the one.” Said Wei Qingwei.

“Let me see. Well, this one remembers it fairly well as he didn’t come in with the other disciples. The rest of Qing Jing peak’s hopefuls had come the day before, you see. No, no, Peaklord Shen came in with the former Peaklords Ti and Rong arguing. The lad was very quiet and all, but this old man could tell he was a bit nervous. Either way in he went same as any other. He was in there a long time, went all the way to the back but no swords called to him. Ha! Or so they had thought.

Your shizun, Old Gan had this one take young then Head disciple Shen to the side while they talked over what to do. Then in comes running all these senior disciples crying about how one of the swords has gone rouge and off runs Gan Gangchui to find out what all the fuss is about and there this old man was with this sad boy staring at the floor when there’s even more screaming and this white streak nearly knocks us both off our chairs.

This one says nearly because that sword, for it was Xiu Ya, wasn’t aiming for himself. Oh no. It was after the future Peaklord Shen. Chased him all over the place it did, as he dodged and flipped and sprang out the way. And with all three Peaklords yelling at him and the disciples yelling. It was a mess. Eventually Old Gan put two and two together and caught the boy and that sword smacked right into him. Squished right in. Like this old man has seen a sword twitch or glow near someone they like. He ain’t never seen one put on its metaphorical boots and hunt them down.

Either way after that this one had to go help the senior disciples put the storage back to rights and that took all day!” The old man finished with a laugh.

“Does this help you out at all?” He asked the very quiet pair of Peaklords innocently.

“Yes, this one believes it does, thank you.” Said Mu Qingfang, a million thoughts buzzing through his brain like an overactive hive of bees.

As they bowed to the Hallmaster and saw themselves out. Mu Qingfang turned to Wei Qingwei and threw out his hands before beginning to pace.

“Xiu Ya choose him.” Meaning it wasn’t a forced bond like Xuan Su. Meaning there was probably something else fucked up with Shen Qingqiu’s system. Meaning Xiu Ya had found something it wanted in Shen-shixiong but Mu Qingfang had no idea what.

“Yes” agreed Wei Qingwei. “and your, mine and his shizun all approved it. We need to talk to Shen-shixiong.”

“He’ll be at the Peaklord meeting the day after tomorrow. This shidi will arrange for him to talk to us after that.” Said Mu Qingfang rapidly.

“Sounds like a plan.” Said Wei Qingwei as he began to guide Mu Qingfang back towards the bridge.

Mu Qingfang was glad, inside he was too busy trying to process what the information he learned might mean.

Notes:

I really love the QJP trio. Just, they are my babies. *squishes them all* I would have gone further into the cultivation system but it wasn't infromation that Ming Fan would feel he needed to tell Binghe so that information can turn up later. It's also not vital for any of the current mysteries.

Lion Dancing is super super cool. I spent soo long watching videos of performances on youtube. Heads up, I took some liberties with the sword dance + lion dance combo which isn't traditionally a thing but it fit the culture of a demon fighting cultivation sect so *shrug* But everything else is fairly accurate from the research I did. If I've fucked something up, please correct me. I am not natively chinese.

Disciple era SQQ trying not to cry: No sword for me :c
Feral Xiu Ya breaking out of prison: A WIELDER FOR ME >:D
There's an old saying that dogs reflect their owners.... I think swords reflect their cultivators. So Xiu Ya reflects SJ!SQQ..... Take of that what you will.

Also yes, I gave Wan Jian peak dark red + white uniforms and yes, I do have a map of how all the peaks connect to each other. This author would go crazy without it.

Names:
Gan Gangchui 干刚椎: [Gan, the surname of Gan Jiang, famous mythological husband of a sword smith couple (His wife is Mo Ye) from the Spring and Autumn period. + Gang, Hard/firm/strong + chui, Hammer/to hammer] - Former Wan Jian Peaklord and Wei Qingwei's Shizun.

Next time: Peaklord Meeting Round 2 Electric bugaloo~

Chapter 24: Discussions, Blades and Discussions of Blades

Summary:

A second Peaklord meeting happens follow by a private dinner with Shen Qingqiu, Mu Qingfang and Wei Qingwei

Notes:

Hello, its time to put 12 peaklords in a box and shake it gently. Only took me a month to get there. Whoops~

Content warnings: Mild Bingbun abuse, mentioned human cauldrons, info dumping, Wei Qingwei's jokester personality irritating Shen Qingqiu, Shen Qingqiu terrorising Shang Qinghua for sport.

"Oh no. You are going to explain what the fuck is wrong with That Sword right now, Airplane-bro!"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

Unsurprisingly Wei Qingwei wasn’t the first one to enter the meeting hall. Qi Qingqi greeted him with a nod from where she stood chatting to Liu Qingge, the War God looking up as Wei Qingwei approached.

“Morning Qi-Shimei, Liu-Shidi.” Wei Qingwei greeted casually.

He got a grunt from Liu Qingge in return.

“Any idea what that is about?” Asked Qi Qingqi conspiratorially, pointing to the group in the corner with her chin.

 Yue Qingyuan, Zhou Qingde and Wang Qingqiang were huddled up at the other side of the room speaking softly but very solemnly.

“No,” Wei Qingwei answered slowly. “but no doubt we’ll find out.”

“Find out what?” came Chen Qingda’s voice at the same time as he threw an arm over Wei Qingwei’s shoulder.

“That over there.” Answered Qi Qingqi. All four of them peered over. Maybe sensing eyes on him, Yue Qingyuan glanced in their direction. Immediately all four Peaklords found it very interesting to look anywhere but at the huddle.

Yang Qingfu thankfully came to their rescue entering with Huang Qingying by his side. The twelfth Peaklord raised an eyebrow at the obvious show of looking elsewhere.

“Did something happen?” He asked, a little amused as Chen Qingda looped his other arm over the man’s shoulder pulling him and Wei Qingwei in close with a gentle squeeze.

“As Wei-shixiong just said. We will probably find out.” Chen Qingda said amused. Huang Qingying had slotted in next to Qi Qingqi, who despite trying not to show it, had taken her Shimei’s arm as soon as she could. Wei Qingwei shot Huang Qingying a wink who flushed and stuck her tongue out at him in return.

This set Wei Qingwei chuckling to himself for the next while as his fellow Peaklords fell into casual chit chat.

Chen Qingda was midway through enthusing about the Mid-Autumn Festival stalls when Zhou Qingde split off from the corner group. Yue Qingyuan made a sound of protest but the monk was off.

Following him, Wei Qingwei noted his target. One Shen Qingqiu, arm in a sling, walking slowly next to Mu Qingfang as they entered the hall. The fan immediately came out and covered the man’s face as Zhou Qingde came to a stop in front of him.

“Zhou-shidi-“ Started Mu Qingfang glancing nervously at Shen Qingqiu. The monk wasn’t listening.

“Would Shen-shixiong permit this Shidi to speak with him in private?” Zhou Qingde asked, near vibrating on the spot. “Please.” he pleaded.

Shen Qingqiu stood there motionless. Wei Qingwei watched those eyes pierce into the monk for a moment before the fan fluttered and the Qing Jing peaklord closed his eyes with a very put upon sigh. “Fine. But this better not take too long.”

The pair left the room as Mu Qingfang came to stand with the others. Wei Qingwei leant over to the doctor to whisper in his ear.

“He agree to it?”

“Yes.” Mu Qingfang said. “Wei-shixiong will be joining us for dinner if he wishes.”

“Us? Goodness. You have been getting familiar.” He got an elbow and grin from Mu Qingfang for his cheek. “This shixiong is sure he can find the time for dinner tonight.” Said Wei Qingwei.

“Hey! Now you two are whispering about things!” protested Chen Qingda.

“Oh, are we?” Said Wei Qingwei with mock innocence as Chen Qingda reached over to pinch him making him laugh.

Their brewing slap fight was interrupted as a very out of breath Shang Qinghua arrived. The man raised a hand in greeting and then stood leaning on the door wheezing. Wei Qingwei raised an eyebrow at this. Always in a hurry that one.

“Ah, This one had thought- had thought he might be late.” Said the man, polite smile on his lips, sweat coating his brow.

“Oh no. You are.” Shang Qinghua let out a startled yelp as Shen Qingqiu appeared looming over him, eyes glaring daggers from over the fan. Next to him Zhou Qingde was smiling and calm, a being of complete serene that he hadn’t been since the LingXi caves incident. Wei Qingwei stored that away for later, out the corner of his eye he could see Qi Qingqi doing the same.

“I- This one- this one.” Stuttered Shang Qinghua, still flailing at their tall, scary shixiong’s sudden appearance. Shen Qingqiu did not ease his expression at all. This wasn’t anything unusual. Wei Qingwei failed to recall a time when the Qing Jing Peaklord wasn’t sadistically terrifying the An Ding Peaklord. Deciding to lend a hand, Wei Qingwei stepped forward and startled Shang Qinghua once again as he took the smaller man by the shoulder.

“These shidis will get out your way, Shixiong.” There was a nervous laugh as Shang Qinghua went limp under his grip and let himself be led over to the crowd of Peaklords.

Shen Qingqiu’s gaze prickled the back of Wei Qingwei’s head the entire way over, only relenting when the sect leader strolled over to him. Internally Wei Qingwei wondered what possessed Yue Qingyuan to try his luck when Shen Qingqiu was already in a foul mood.

“This shixiong didn’t expect him to do that. Sor-.” Yue Qingyuan was immediately cut off. Wei Qingwei tried not to bristle at the disrespect.

“It’s to be expected, Zhangmen-shixiong.” Cuts in Shen Qingqiu. He pauses and out the corner of his eye Wei Qingwei see him turn to face Yue Qingyuan, fan still high. “Everyone appears to be here.” He said pointedly.

“Qingqiu-shidi is correct.” The sect leader murmured with a smile before loudly clearing his throat and walking slowly towards his seat at the table.

The rest of the Peaklords followed suit, breaking off their conversations to find their seats. Wei Qingwei managed to give Shang Qinghua a reassuring squeeze before stepping around to sit between Yue Qingyuan and Mu Qingfang.

This gave him the perfect view as Shang Qinghua ducked into himself in his seat next to Shen Qingqiu who only glared at him.

“Cold, Shang-shidi?” comes out behind that fan, sharp dark eyes staring at the blue high collar over robe Shang Qinghua had chosen to wear today.

“A little.” He replied with a forced polite smile, rubbing at the back of his collar nervously. “You know with the weather changing and all.”

Shen Qingqiu’s gaze did not cease.

“A common problem for a cultivator who has achieved a golden core.” He said with a deathly calm.

“Is Shen-shixiong himself cold?” asked Qi Qingqi. Her face said she didn’t want to be asking but she still was anyway.

“What? No.” Scoffed Shen Qingqiu finally looking over Shang Qinghua’s head to his Shimei.

“Shang-shixiong is correct in that the weather has been turning cold recently. Perhaps Shen-shixiong has felt it quite acutely?” She offered? Provoked? Wei Qingwei didn’t know what she was doing. Whatever it was their shixiong didn’t like it.

“Shimei-“ Shen Qingqiu growled, tongue poised to cut into her.

Yue Qingyuan cleared his throat. “Thank you all for taking the time to gather here today. We will be handling the meeting in a slightly different order than normal as new evidence has appeared since we last spoke that may prompt more immediate action. As such the order of the meeting shall be as follows; Budgetary reports and areas of note; Peak level requests; and lastly reports starting with Huang-shimei then following through to Wei-shidi and lastly Wang-shidi and Zhou-shidi.”

The start of the meeting thankfully dispelled the brewing fight as Shang Qinghua rose to block the sight lines between Shen Qingqiu and Qi Qingqi. The An Ding Peaklord fell into his element. Polite smiles and gestures as he subtly critiqued some of the spending this last month. Wei Qingwei fought to keep a smirk off his lips at one particularly obvious jab at Liu Qingge’s Bai Zhan peak’s damage costs.

Lastly, Shang Qinghua made a small report with Chen Qingda was made on the overall running of the Mid-Autumn festivities. This led into the individual requests from each peak. Wei Qingwei tuned out most of them as it was just the usual requests repeated each month.

Next came the reports. Huang-shimei neatly put aside the sewing she had been working on during the meeting and timidly began.

“Barring one incident,” A few less than discreet glances went to Shen Qingqiu’s arm where it sat in its sling. The man gave no notice of these glances, staring firmly at something over Yue Qingyuan shoulder. “The trip was a success. The Mao family has agreed to increase our silk imports from them, and my students found the trip as enlightening as ever.” Huang Qingying’s smile waned a little. ”We did hear a troubling report whilst in the town though. A pair of Zhou Hua Abbots were in Molu Shui a few months prior to our arrival hunting after a ‘yellow ghost’. This shimei wonders if Zhangmen-shixiong was aware of this?”

“This shixiong had not been informed of such. He will contact Zhou Hua Monastery and make inquiries if Cang Qiong cna be of any help given they have had to chase this 'yellow ghost' on to our lands.”

“Thanking Zhangmen-Shixiong.” Perking up again, she looked over to Shang Qinghua. “Shang-shixiong will likewise receive an updated report on the potential new contacts made on the trip as soon as this Shimei has compiled it. Apologies for the delay of such a thing.”

The An Ding Peaklord shot the seamstress his normal polite smile. “This shixiong might have already been contacted by a few. Shimei should not worry too much.”

“Ah, my apologies! This shimei should have contacted you sooner.”

“It’s really no issue.” He reassured her.

“If Huang-shimei is finished with her report,” said Yue Qingyuan slowly until he got a nod confirm she had. “We will move on to Wei-shidi.”

Wei Qingwei gave a heavy sigh. This was the part he’d been dreading the most.

“This one was tasked with investigating further into the Light Gobbling One Thousand Year Lotus Boar incident brought up last meeting. The surrounding villages turned up no new information but we were able to locate a human cauldron ring many li to the south. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts we were unable to save any of the victims. The culprits in charge of the operation were arrested and handed over to Bian Jie peak for interrogation. A later investigation of their base of operations was unable to find any evidence linking the group we found back to the Light Gobbling One Thousand Year Lotus Boar. Would Yang Qingfu anything to add to this?”

The border guard shook his head solemnly.

“Those you handed over did not provide any more useful information. On top of the crimes Wei-shixiong had proof for, Bian Jie discovered after talks with the county magistrate, each had a long list of crimes that I shan’t bore you all with. The short version is we were given permission to execute them a few days prior to this meeting and have already done so.”

Wei Qingwei had hoped that something more might be found but at least he knew for sure they would never harm anyone again.

“With that, this Shidi concludes his report.” He said.

Yue Qingyuan nodded at this.

“Lastly for this meeting will be Zhou-shidi and Wang-shidi.”

With this Wang Qingqiang pulled out a box that had been wrapped in layers upon layers of purifying talismans. Carefully he set it on the table, removing the talismans as Zhou Qingde began to chant softly under his breath. Once the box was opened as one the Peaklords leaned forward to see what lay within.

It was disappointing to be frank. A chink of black metal just bigger than his thumb lay on a bed of white silk.

“This was found in the Light Gobbling One Thousand Year Lotus boar carcass.” Wang Qingqiang said like that explained anything.

“What is it?” Asked Chen Qingda

Wang Qingqiang shrugged.  “Don’t know.” He said.

Chen Qingda looked to Zhou Qingde for a more in depth answer.

“It appears to be solid tainted qi. This one’s peak had to cleanse five different disciples of qi poisoning upon its discovery. All of which merely touched it. We hoped that one of the Peaklords would recognise it.”

There was a shake of heads. Something tugged at a corner of Wei Qingwei’s memory. He had heard of something like this once.

“Could it maybe be-“ he started.

“Blood metal.” Shen Qingqiu was motionless, eyes pinned on the box, fan high and unmoving. “It’s blood metal.”

“And what exactly is ‘blood metal’?” asked Zhou Qingde.

“It’s a metal forged from blood, normally that of demonic or spiritual beasts. It is mostly used for weapons as if nourished correctly it can have power similar to that of a spirit sword.”

“Nourished?”

“The metal requires regular soaking in blood and feeds on its wielder ad it’s opponents’ qi in equal measure.”

Okay, Wei Qingwei had to ask. “Why do you even know this?”

The Qing Jing Peaklord tensed up behind his fan. “Demonic cultivators are an area of study with special interest to this one.”

Special interest? Wei Qingwei thought of Mu Qingfang talking about plants and Wand Qingqiang’s ability to talk for shichen about various animals. Huh. Shen Qingqiu was now staring at the back of his fan, occasionally glancing up at the box further down the table.

“Right, right.” Said Yang Qingfu. “So, whatever killed the boar used these blood metal swords.”

“Blood blades or blood swords. Yes.”

Yue Qingyuan spared Shen Qingqiu a troubled look in all this.

“Do we have any records on such things?” He asked. Though oddly he looked like he already knew the answer.

“This Shidi would have to check Qing Jing Peak’s archives.” Said Shen Qingqiu slowly.

“This Shidi believes Wan Jian Peak may have a blood blade in our collection.” Said Wei Qingwei causing a collection of heads to turn towards him. “There is a sword with a similar wrapping of purifying talismans in the restricted access storage.”

“This Shimei might also have a set of robes from a captured demonic cultivator made from a similar material.” Said Huang Qingying. Wei Qingwei blinked.

“Robes?” he asked. Shen Qingqiu had only mentioned weapons.

“They are likewise heavily purified.” Huang Qingying said fidgeting with her sewing. “This Shimei could see if there are any similarities?”

The sect leader gave a small hum of agreement. “It would not hurt. Qingqiu-shidi, would you be able to organise a list of those that might use such weapons before the next meeting?”

“This Shidi would need Zhangmen-shixiong’s permission to access the criminal profile records for such a task.” Said Shen Qingqiu.

Wei Qingwei’s brow furrowed. “Are those not stored on Qing Jing Peak?”

“They are but the former sect leader did not grant this one such permissions following his predecessor’s death.”

Wei Qingwei opened his mouth to say something more but Yue Qingyuan stepped in before him. “This Shixiong will verbally grant you complete access to them right now and can have a written copy sent along directly after the meeting if that will suffice.”

“This shidi will then get started on that list as soon as he is able to.” Said Shen Qingqiu, bowing his head in a rare show of respect.

The box was closed and talismans reapplied. Frowning down at it, Wang Qingqiang asked. “Should we also inform Zhou Hua Monastery of this?”

“Why should we do that, Wang-shidi?” asked Qi Qingqi.

“The boar was found near our shared border.” Replied the man with a shrug.

That…. was actually a good point.

“This Shixiong will handle it as part of the talks he will need to have with them in regard to their ‘Yellow Ghost’ hunt.” Said Yue Qingyuan.

“Shen-shixiong said he recognised the blood metal. How should we cleanse such a thing?” asked Zhou Qingde, now able to speak instead of chant.

Shen Qingqiu fidgeted with his fan.

“This one does not know.” He admitted.

Following this the meeting wrapped up. Wei Qingwei was asked to take custody of the blood metal fragment which he agreed to, and a small group was organised to meet back up to observe the potential blood metal artifacts Cang Qiong Mountain Sect already held.

Shang Qinghua stuck around long enough to volunteer himself out of that, far too busy he protested, before the nervous man gave them a overly polite farewell and left in a run. Mu Qingfang came to Wei Qingwei’s own rescue from the blood metal talks, Shen Qingqiu already beside him.

“Shall we go?” he asked.

“Where are you three off to?” called out Qi Qingqi.

“Shixiong has invited us over for tea.” Answered Wei Qingwei joyfully.

Qi Qingqi’s face was a sight to behold. Huang Qingying giggled beside her.

“Oh, Shen-Shixiong.” She called. “The repairs on your robes have been completed. When you have time, please organise a day to come to Si Chou Peak to take care of the last fitting issues.”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t immediately reply. His expression seemed dark? nervous? angry? Okay, all Shen Qingqiu’s expressions were different flavours of ‘angry’ but still.

Huang Qingying’s expression dimmed a little.

“This shixiong will take care to find a day soon. Thanking Shimei.” He at last said with a stiff bow.

Wei Qingwei shared a look with Mu Qingfang but neither decided to say anything as they led Shen Qingqiu away.

“So…” Wei Qingwei began as casually as he could, “We looked into Xiu Ya and were told something quite interesting.”

Shen Qingqiu cocked an eyebrow at this over his fan.

“That the day Shixiong bonded with Xiu Ya was quite an interesting occasion~” Wei Qingwei shot Shen Qingqiu a teasing grin as the man’s fan fluttering grew in pace and what little of his face that could be seen turned bright red. The Qing Jing Peaklord haughtily turned to focus on the path ahead of them as Mu Qingfang made his annoyance at Wei Qingwei quite clear.

“Wei-shixiong. Really?”

He gave a light laugh. “Come on! Shen-shixiong, don’t be mad. It’s a little funny.” He said, going to pat him reassuringly on the shoulder. Shen Qingqiu dodged his hand masterfully and kept glaring right ahead of him.

 “It’s also pretty impressive too, if that’ll get you out of your grump.” Wei Qingwei said.

“No.” Was muttered out from behind that fan and blush.

“Hm?”

“It’s just embarrassing.” Mumbled Shen Qingqiu. Wei Qingwei nodded trying his best not to laugh and agitate the man’s thin face anymore.

They arrived at the Bamboo Hut in good time, a small fluffy haired disciple was practicing his calligraphy on the porch.  He got to his feet almost immediately on their arrival.

“Shizu- “ Shen Qingqiu didn’t let him finish his greeting. Pulling a box from his sleeve, he dumped it into the disciple’s arms.

“Put this in the storage room and inform the cooks to prepare a third meal for dinner.” He said sharply.

“Yes, Shizun!” The disciple gave them all a bow and dashed out of view.

Entering the Bamboo Hut, Wei Qingwei took the opportunity to look around. Given how cagey their second shixiong was it was rare to see beyond the doorway. Shen Qingqiu gestured to a small kneeling table with cushions.

“Wei-shidi and Mu-shidi should take a seat whilst this one prepares tea.” With that he left them through another doorway.

Wei Qingwei easily took a seat looking around and drumming his fingers on his knees excitedly. Mu Qingfang sat down more slowly and did not hide his amusement with his shixiong.

It was a nice room, bright and airy due to the large windows on two sides. The bamboo outside filtered some of the light and he could smell the faint scent of incense from further in the house. It was well furnished too with a shelf holding vases and a few calligraphy scrolls on the wall repeating some famous poem or other. Despite his father’s best efforts, Wei Qingwei was not much of an academic. Swords, he got. Words, not so much.

Shen Qingqiu returned with a tea service tray balance between one hand and his hip.

“Ah, Shixiong! Let me-“

“This shixiong has it. Sit, Wei-shidi.”

Somehow with even more grace than anyone else might have managed with two hands, Shen Qingqiu set down the tray and poured them each a cup of tea.

It was heavily floral and a little too sweet for Wei Qingwei’s tastes, but it was warm.

“So,” said Shen Qingqiu taking a sip of his tea. “What did you find out?”

“A few things we suspect Shen-shixiong already knew but did not tell us.” Said the doctor.

Their shixiong prickled slightly. “Such as?”

“That his bonding with Xiu Ya was unusual, that Xiu Ya originally came from the restricted access storage, that that sword has been able to move on its own as long as Shen-shixiong has wielded it.” Wei Qingwei said listing each point out on one hand. “That Shen-shixiong was accompanied by three Peaklords to his sword bonding.”

“This shixiong believes he told Mu Qingfang that he was prescribed a spirit sword. It is hardly unusual then that his own shizun, the Peaklord in charge of his health and the master of swords would be in attendance.” Hissed Shen Qingqiu.

“Which is probably why your visit was handled separately from your peers.” Said Wei Qingwei with a shrug and another sip of the sweet tea. Shen Qingqiu glared at the corner of the table.

“It was suspected that none of the swords would… choose this one.”

“Well, one did.” Wei Qingwei said with a small smile, Shen Qingqiu frowned at him. “Is Shen-shixiong aware of why Xiu Ya was in the restricted access storage to begin with?”

“..No, this shixiong is not.”

“It was attempting to cultivate a human form.”

Shen Qingqiu’s shock couldn’t quite be hidden by his fan. “It what?” Their Shixiong turned to look at Mu Qingfang then himself then Mu Qingfang again. “Is it in any danger of succeeding?”

Wei Qingwei gave a shrug and then a wince when Mu Qingfang elbowed him in the side.

“We aren’t sure.” Said Mu Qingfang. “We speculated a few theories in regards to how your bond is managed but nothing conclusive. This shidi is ashamed to say he still doesn’t understand quite why it stabilises Shen-shixiong.”

Shen Qingqiu fiddled with his fan for a moment. “You want to examine Xiu Ya, don’t you?”

“It wouldn’t go a miss.” Wei Qingwei confirmed as there was a knock on the door.

“Enter.” Ordered Shen Qingqiu and the fluffy haired boy from earlier entered followed by a female disciple with orange ribbons. His shixiong did not seem happy about this in the slightest.

“Ah, Shizun. A-Luo needed some help with carrying the me-“

“This Shizun can see that.” Shen Qingqiu said pinching his nose bridge. “Hurry and bring them through then get back to your studies, Disciple Ning.”

The girl took his sour expression in stride, giving a bright smile as she placed Wei Qingwei’s plate before him. The boy likewise served Shen Qingqiu and Mu Qingfang’s meals. He was grabbed by the wrist before he could leave though.

“You are to finish your chores and not to distract your Shijie any further, are we clear?” Shen Qingqiu said in a cutting tone, eyes like daggers.

“Y-yes, Shizun.” Said the boy scrambling out the room. The girl pouted at her Shizun about this before also leaving.

“Interesting kids.” Wei Qingwei said amused.

“Tsk. Troublemakers, the pair of them.” Grumbled Shen Qingqiu, slowly drinking a spoonful of broth.

“Disciple Luo has been quite helpful to this one over the past few weeks.” Defended Mu Qingfang gently. Shen Qingqiu scoffed at the comment.

Wei Qingwei quickly noticed that while himself and Mu Qingfang have been served the same noodle soup dish, Shen Qingqiu had not. His meal had Shui jiao style boiled dumplings instead, though the broth seemed to be the same. Judging by the green colour and Mu Qingfang’s love for a nutrient style healing, it was probably more medicine than meal. That explained his shixiong’s very slow chewing.

Wei Qingwei could only pity him as he dug into his noodles.

Meal finished; the dishes were put to the side to be collect at another time.

Mu Qingfang soon took prisoner of Shen Qingqiu’s arms as the man very reluctantly handed over Xiu Ya for Wei Qingwei to examine.

He tried his best to keep his interest professional. But who was he kidding? Shen Qingqiu had always been super distant around him. This combined with the care he took not to damage his sword meant Wei Qingwei had never actually held Xiu Ya before. This legendary sword made over four centuries ago by one of the Wan Jian’s more obscure swordsmiths.

The sheathed sword was longer than the standard Jian sword length. Wei Qingwei would not have been able to wear this sword at his waist without it clipping him in the ankles. Something Shen Qingqiu leggy frame didn’t find difficulties with. The sheath itself, just seemed to be white dyed leather.

Which was worrying.

By the normal standards, nearly every sword Wei Qingwei had worked on or supervised had a small array to dim the qi flow between sword and wielder when the blade was sheathed. It was to prevent unnecessary qi being sent to the sword when not in use. The lack of one meant even as he held it, Wei Qingwei could feel a solid thrum of qi from inside the sheath.

Well, that crossed the ‘sealed up tight like Xuan Su’ theory off the list.

Testing, Wei Qingwei found as expected he could not draw the sword.

“Uh, shixiong-“

“Xiu Ya, let him.” The man said through gritted teeth as Mu Qingfang checked over a nasty purple scar running up his wrist and under his sleeve.

Wei Qignwei nearly dropped the sword when it grumpily? slid the slightest fraction open.

“Er, Thank you?” Wei Qingwei said half at his shixiong, half at the sword.

Drawing it carefully, it was a finely crafted blade. Perfectly even on both sides, if a touch narrower than the standard. The metal glowed faintly white with qi, not enough for an active combat situation but enough that it was visible.

“Wow. You are beautiful.” He said without meaning to.

The sword flinched in his hands and Shen Qingqiu made a small noise glaring a hole into his ear. It would be hard to focus if that kept up.

“Shen-shixiong, how exactly does one forge a sword from blood? This one has only done it from ore.”

Wei Qingwei hoped he was like Wang Qingqiang and would easily talk if given a topic he enjoyed.

He was proven right.

“From this one’s knowledge, the water is removed from the blood leaving behind the solids. This combined with large amounts of qi results in a forgeable substance.”

“A lot of blood would be required then.” Commented Mu Qingfang, in between asking Shen Qingqiu to flex his fingers one by one. The man obeyed the doctor’s command.

“Yes, this one believes so. Ideally from different but similar sources.”

“Oh, and why is that?” led Wei Qingwei examining Xiu Ya’s handle. The grips had some wear. He’d have to offer Shen Qingqiu some new ones.

“To prevent the resulting mass from gaining a unified consciousness that might challenge its wielder. The metal is functionally an undead technique of fusing part of multiple corpses into one singular weapon.”

“So hypothetically if you could find a creature with enough blood, you could make a living, well undead, sword.” Offered Wei Qingwei. Xiu Ya’s edge was well maintained and the metal regularly oiled so he could find nothing wrong on that front.

“Hypothetically.” Said Shen Qingqiu with a certain level of distain. “But this one doubts the resulting blade would be useable. It would most likely wield its owner rather than the other way around.”

“Scary. How do you wield a blade that qi poisons you if you touch it?” Asked Wei Qingwei having finished his normal base checks on any sword handed to him.

“This shidi was also curious.” Said Mu Qingfang, stretching out Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder and then elbow joint.

The stretches were not comfortable according to Shen Qingqiu’s face.

“Demonic cultivators can modify their internal systems to become used to yi- tainted qi sources. If one imagines a ceramic kettle straight off the heat, if it were plunged into iced water the vessel would crack and break. If you instead let the kettle cool down gradually, letting it come to temperature with the cold water, it would remain whole.”

“So, we are hot kettles and they are cooled ones?” said Wei Qingwei a little amused.

“More or less. Humans can’t keep up the technique for long as it’s not natural to us. Demons are naturally cold kettles in this metaphor so can use such weapons freely. Though they rarely have the need or knowledge to do so.”

“But a cold kettle or cup might crack if suddenly exposed to boiling hot water.”  Said Mu Qingfang.

“Yes. Both sides have their weaknesses, and with human demon hybrids being generally unviable to life, this shixiong doubts, thankfully, that we’ll ever find someone who can be both a hot and cold kettle at the same time. Demonic cultivators make a trade for their power. It’s why it can be so easy to take them out if given enough preparation time.” Shen Qingqiu said with a hint of viciousness.

“But it’s also what makes them so dangerous.” Said Mu Qingfang, wrapping up Shen Qingqiu’s arm again.

Wei Qingwei nodded. All this talk of kettles and tainted qi had led him to check Xiu Ya for the same qi poisoning he’d seen in Cheng Luan. There was none. Not even a trace. Odd.

“If Mu-shidi is finished, may this one check Shen Qingqiu’s bond with Xiu Ya just briefly?”

Shen Qingqiu gave him a sceptical look. “And how does one go about that?”

“You just need to hold your sword whilst I hold the pommel and check your qi flow.”

“Fine.” Shen Qingqiu acquiesced and with a finger flick, Xiu Ya floated out of Wei Qingwei’s grip, sheathed itself and bounced over to its wielder’s side. It hid behind his sleeve from Wei Qingwei’s gaze.

That… was kind of cool.

Scooting closer to Shen Qingqiu, he gently took the man’s wrist as he held up the sword. Placing a hand on the pommel, Wei Qingwei closed his eyes and tried to feel for the qi flow between the two. It wasn’t hard. There was a very open channel.

“Does Shen Qingqiu consciously have to feed qi into Xiu Ya?” he asked.

“Not outside of combat situations.”

“Would he be able to reduce the flow briefly?”

There was a small grumble and gradually the flow decreased. It was there that Wei Qingwei felt the shape of what was going on. The qi wasn’t being pushed by Shen Qingqiu into the sword, the sword was pulling lightly on his Shixiong’s system and was being given very little resistance. It might have been considered parasitic if he hadn’t felt an immediate instability begin to grow in Shen Qingqiu’s flow.

“You can resume the normal flow. Thank you.” Said Wei Qingwei as calmly as he could manage. Mu Qingfang would not appreciate him accidentally pushing their shixiong into a qi deviation.

The instability diminished, or more accurately Xiu Ya ‘ate’ away at the unstable bulge of qi, levelling out the flow. Wei Qingwei released his hold on Shen Qingqiu and Xiu Ya. The man not so subtly rotated the joint.

“Find something?” asked Mu Qingfang. Wei Qingwei laughed.

“It evens out Shen Qingqiu’s flow rate.” He said matter of factly. He got two ‘Well duh?’ looks in return from his Shixiongdi prompting him to explain further. “This shixiong suspects that Shen Qingqiu’s natural unaltered qi flow would be more like waves than a continuous stream and waves of a great height with deep gaps between at that. Xiu Ya seems to reduce and smooth the waves, reducing the difference changes in Shen-shixiong’s flowrate.”

“That would require constant monitoring to maintain.” Mu Qingfang said.

“Which wouldn’t be possible if Shen-shixiong bond wasn’t as open and passive as it is.” Wei Qingwei said. “This one found very little resistance to the absorption of qi.”

Shen Qingqiu was clutching Xiu Ya close and looking at the floor. “This one sees.” He said.

Wei Qingwei thought for a moment. “Does Shixiong sleep with his sword?”

“BEGGING WEI-SHIDI’S PARDON?!” the man spluttered, outraged.

“Like cuddling it? Only sword bonds naturally get weaker when the wielder is asleep so this shixiong wondered if Xiu Ya was still able to stabilise Shen-shixiong in his sleep without direct contact.”

His shixiong had gone bright red. “This shixiong’s nighttime habits are none of shidi’s concern.”

Wei Qingwei laughed and held up his hands. “Okay, okay. This shidi won’t pry.”

Laughing at his shixiong turned out to be the wrong move as himself and Mu Qingfang were politely ejected from the Bamboo Hut shortly afterwards.

“Thanking Shixiong for the meal.” He called through the shut door.

“Well, that answers that question.” Muttered Mu Qingfang as they made it down toward Bian Jie Peak.

“Still pretty weird. But this one guesses that yes, we found the answer.” Said Wei Qingwei. “Any progress on what happened in the LingXi Caves?”

His shidi sighed. “No. And this one unfortunately got himself banned from Qing Jing Peak’s library.”

“Zhou-shidi seemed fairly content at the meeting. Do you think he got an answer?”

“…” Mu Qingfang caught his winking smile. “This one will organise a meeting with the others.”

Wei Qingwei laughed freely. “Conspiracy circle time!” he cheered as the doctor shook his head bemused by his antics.

Notes:

Not SQQ that night hugging Xiu Ya, having thoughts about them maybe having a physical body.

If anyone is curious:
Team Dad: Yue Qingyuan
Team Mum: Mu Qingfang, Chen Qingda and Huang Qingying.
Team Step-Mum: Shen Qingqiu
Team Aunt: Qi Qingqi and Zhou Qingde (it's a vibes thing)
Team Uncle: Wei Qingwei and Yang Qingfu
Team Baby: Wang Qingqiang and Liu Qingge (mostly because they are the youngest and they will let you baby them with minimal issues)
Team Tired: Shang Qinghua.

Yes, I have backstories mapped out for each peaklord. We actually have an even 6:6 split of 'well off' background and 'not so well off' background so that's fun.

Well done to all the Theorists in the comments last time! It was great fun to read all the theories and seeing how close everyone got. We should be leaving the info dumpy chapters for a wee while now. (With the aim to hopefully get through this winter section which I had mapped out as 3 chapters max..... Yeah that didn't happen. Oh well. What we got is more fun :D)

Next time: We finally return to Shen Qingqiu's POV. :D

Chapter 25: Fresh ink, bamboo scrolls and days long since past

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu hunts for clues and instead gets repressed memories and a terrible conversation.

Notes:

Hello. I've rewrote this entire chapter at least 4 times. Because it would not behave. Eventually just stripped it down to the bare minimum and built from there. So if it's a little short, sorry, but it's also dense with whump so trade off??

Content warnings: Past child abuse, SQQ expreiences triggered flashbacks, The horror of going through a dead loved ones things after they pass, QiJiu being back on their BS, Shen Qingqiu not having a great time and verbally lashing out about it, The reason SQQ decided to be conscious during surgery, 'messed up parental figure & child in their care' relationships times five I think with all the hints this chapter, character being drugged.

"Seriosuly, she could have been soo cool. A monster that even demon's fear, hidden in the guise of a gentle young flower of a maiden. Playing with our protagonist like a mischievous kitten then hunting him for sport like a tigress. But no, Waifu number 143 has been wedded and now we'll never see her again. Fuck you man. At least have her joining the harem cause some of the demon wives to freak out or something. :c"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

Shen Qingqiu tensed slightly as Librarian Shi opened the archive doors. He immediately scolded himself for doing so. Inside it was just like any other archive in the library, wall to wall of shelves of scrolls. Nothing special. Nothing to overreact about. It was just the one part of the library he’d never been to. It was fine.

So what if he had never had the nerve to ask Sect leader Guo to let him enter. He’d never had any pressing need to. It had been better to not invite trouble. Better to keep his head down and working, least they decide to replace him after all, least they come to their senses.

Xiu Ya hummed by his side as he dismissed Librarian Shi. Ever since the Peaklord meeting, the sword’s presence had become a constant draw of his attention. Really, the distraction was annoying in its pointlessness. He had already known it fed off his qi. Slowly, constantly, in a lazy unobtrusive way but he had thought that had been, well, normal. The cost for maintaining the bond between them. He had never had any other sword bond to compare it to. Yet from how they both spoke, his shidis viewed it as an oddity. They didn’t say how it was odd but given his history it could be multiple things.

Still, what had been a background feeling for twenty-one years was now forefront in his mind. Thankfully the sword seemed to either not notice or ignore his newly acquired wariness, singing gently to itself as he moved in deeper to the archive.

Though he hadn’t been given access, the Librarians had been able to maintain the documents here. The air was a little stale, alive with that buzzed out smell the preservation talismans always left but there wasn’t a speck of dust to be seen.

A dark desk sat to one side to allow visitors a space to conduct their research. A pile of papers and scrolls still sat there. Leaning over, Shen Qingqiu recognised his Shizun’s hand. This must have been from before he left.

He swallowed down some indescribable feeling and mechanically put the dead man’s research to one side out the way before getting to work.

It took his entire afternoon combing through the shelves on that first day for Shen Qingqiu to get an idea of how the scrolls were organised. The profiles of known alive figures were to the east sorted half by association and half by name. To the south, those that had been imprisoned were grouped by where they were held. Anyone missing or presumed dead were chronologically organised by last sighting in the west. And lastly; the confirmed dead were grouped by year of death in the north.

The criminal profiles were in a very standardised format he’d learned. Each was a unique scroll with the subject’s name or known title written on the outside. Inside was their known aliases and associates, a list of crimes (confirmed and suspected) and a physical description as well as any information on how they fought. Some even had portraits, if his shizun has met them personally.

The sect’s information had relied heavily on rumours to fill in gaps. These were thankfully marked as such, but it was curious to see what Cang Qiong mountain sect had known about any of the figures Shen Qingqiu had personally met through his Shifu and Uncle. Annoyingly humans and demons were intermixed together, though Shen Qingqiu could concede that it wasn’t always clear from rumours who was which species. Most unfortunate was that the entire system was over twelve years out of date. He would have to open a separate scroll just to list profiles he’d have to update from his private information collection. A problem to solve at a later date. For now, he had focused in on his task.

Trailing along the shelves, Shen Qingqiu snatched up the scroll of any name he recognised. He could figure out the ones he’d missed after this. He was on his fourth day picking through the archives when his hand froze. His Shizun’s elegant hand spelling out his Shifu’s name.

Wu Yanzi.

He didn’t need this scroll, Shen Qingqiu reminded himself. Still his traitorous hand picked it up, tilting it one way or the other, as if that would somehow that would tell him anything new.

How much had his Shizun known about his head disciple’s former master?

His eyes glanced at the scroll that had been sat next to Wu Yanzi’s; it was his.

How much had he known about him? How much hadn’t he known?

Mouth dry, Shen Qingqiu forced his shaking hand to return Wu Yanzi’s scroll to the shelf and walked away.

He did not need it after all.

Shen Qingqiu soon found a quiet joy in falling into a steady rhythm as the scope of his task became clear.

Mornings were spent having breakfast with Mu Qingfang and teaching or, on the are days he had free of classes, managing his peak’s concerns. At midday he would trek up to the library to get some work done in peace. He only left to have dinner with Mu Qingfang again and be scolded for overusing arms the doctor had told him would fine to write with by this point. Whatever, his shidi had made no real moves to intervene beyond looking disappointed. After the doctor left, he snatched the little sleep he could in the time before the damn beast came back to the hut. Then, once the boy’s presence unfailingly woke him, it was a night of marking and organising lesson plans for the next morning.

However, today that beautiful patten was broken.

Librarian Shi knocked on the door snapping him from his concentration. “What is it?” he barked.

“The Sect Leader is here to see Peaklord Shen.” She said cautiously.

Shen Qingqiu looked up from the two scrolls he was comparing and sighed. “Let him in.”

The strand of qi he’d been using to write with, uncoiled from around the brush back into his meridians as he stretched out of his hunched position. His back let out a pleasant click in response.

He had expected this visit, though he was surprised Yue Qingyuan had hesitated for over a week before approaching him. Either way, he turned to greet the man, only to find him carrying a tea service.

“This shixiong thought Qingqiu-shidi might be in need of refreshment.” He said with that smile of his, lying as always.

“This lowly one has no need for such things.” Shen Qingqiu said sharply.

Yue Qingyuan didn’t seem to hear him, placing down the tray on the table.

“Librarian Shi has this one’s thanks for guiding him here. She can now leave us.” Said Yue Qingyuan.

Shooing the woman out, Shen Qingqiu watched him close the door and seal it with a privacy talisman before walking back over to him. Shen Qingqiu snatched up the kettle of hot water before his stupid sect leader could do something embarrassing.

“What do you want?” he growled.

Yue Qingyuan paused and addressed him in that pacifying gentle tone. Fuck that tone. “This shixiong came to check up on how Qingqiu-shidi’s work was progressing.”

Still holding the kettle hostage, Shen Qingqiu looked Yue Qingyuan dead in the eyes. “No, you didn’t.”

Yue Qingyuan’s smile dimmed a touch. “Shidi…” The man sat down at last and sighed. “It’s not the only reason I wished to speak with you in private.” He admitted.

“Ask.” The man winced a little at his sharp tone. ”There is no use playing coy. This lowly one already knows what you are going to ask, so get on with it.”

Yue Qingyuan took a breath and stared at his hands. “Is the heavily seal sword Wei Qingwei mentioned the one Shidi used to kill Wu Yanzi?”

“Most likely.” Shen Qingqiu admitted, shifting the kettle down to rest on his lap. “It is a blood blade after all.”

“Huh?” exclaimed the sect leader dumbly. “Shidi!”

“Huang-shimei’s robes are also most likely mine.” Shen Qingqiu added in quickly whilst Yue Qingyuan stared at him.

“Wu Yanzi used Blood Blades?!” the man said nervously.

“No.” Shen Qingqiu cuddled the kettle into himself. The heat didn’t made it through the protective arrays to reach him, but the weight was comforting. “No, he didn’t.”

“Then…?” asked Yue Qingyuan fishing.

“Wu Yanzi…. wasn’t a demonic cultivator.” Yue Qingyuan face furrowed at this information. “At least, his main body of cultivation wasn’t demonic.” Shen Qingqiu continued. “He had no issue using their arrays and other cheap tricks to keep ahead of his opponents. But… he had a golden core and demonic cultivators can’t develop those. I-I don’t know where he was taught.“

“Would it not say on his profi-“ began Yue Qingyuan.

“I haven’t looked!” tore out of Shen Qingqiu before he realised. “I’m not going to look! I… don’t want to know anything more about that man.”

The cruel glint in his eyes as his mouth curved in a lopsided smile said ‘Disciple’, the smell of alcohol and smoke and blood that clung to the man, rough warm hands…

Shen Qingqiu shuddered.

Yue Qingyuan reached out a hesitant hand out towards him and Shen Qingqiu gave him back the kettle. Oddly the man blinked at being handed it before just sitting there holding it like a fool.

“So, where did you get the sword then?” He eventually asked.

“Wu Yanzi might not have been a demonic cultivator himself, but he associated heavily with them. One took to calling himself the man’s Shixiong, making him my Shibo. When Wu Yanzi refused to recognise him as such, he switched the titles to Gege and Bobo. When Wu Yanzi eventually killed him, I, being the only one who could use it, inherited the sword.”

“This ‘Bobo’ taught you how to use it?”

“Come on Xiao-Xiao. If you don’t match the temperature of the qi, it’ll fuck you up.” Uncle lectured. “Now do it like I do.”

“You are a terrible teacher.” He had grumbled.

“I’m trying, you little brat.” The man gently bopped him on the head with the handle of the sword. “Now focus! Ignore A-Zi’s laughing and focus on Bobo’s words.”

“Yeah, him and… his Shifu.” Yue Qingyuan noticed his hesitation. “His Shifu was Xue Jiang.” Shen Qingqiu admitted.

“The Shimozhe.” Said Yue Qingyuan carefully.

“Yes. She wanted me to call her ‘Nainai’. Wanted me to be her little grandson.” He said numbly.

“And who exactly has my disciple brought back with him this time?” scolded the small woman, dressed in orange and white silks.

“Shifu! You know A-Zi, oh and this is his new disciple, Xiao Shen.” Greeted Uncle, pushing Shen Jiu forwards.

“Xiao Shen, huh?” Smirking at her disciple, Xue Jiang’s eyes sharp tiger like eyes took his measure slowly.

Neither of them had spoken for a bit, lips wobbling Shen Qingqiu broken the silence with a bitter tone. “Then, of course, she got bored of me.”

Grandmother had handed him a bowl of food. It was thick noodles with large slices of bittersweet yin tinted meats. He didn’t question what was in it. Food was food and Granny’s food was… what it was. It was only once he’d finished it that the room had started to spin and the edges of his vision had warped before he blacked out.

Yue Qingyuan’s concerned face brought him back to present. “I-“, the man started and stopped; a pretence of sincerity and guilt choking up his words.

When he awoke, everything hurt. He was slung over a shoulder. Trails of blood ran down his face and arms.

“What did you do, you crazy bitch?” Shifu screamed as he dodged a wave of yin qi, bouncing Shen Jiu’s injuries against his shoulder as he went. “What did you do to my disciple!?”

“She decided my organs were more valuable than I was.” Shen Qingqiu said casually, almost enjoying how Yue Qingyuan’s eye widened and his expression paled. “Can’t blame her really. I should have been used to my ‘family’ failing me by then.”

Yue Qingyuan flinched like he had stabbed him.

“I-I’m sorry….” He tried to say.

“Shut. Up.” Shen Qingqiu had no patience for Yue Qingyuan’s worthless apologies.

“Yes, shidi.” Murmured the man. Trailing a finger along the table’s wood grain, Shen Qingqiu did him a favour and broke eye contact.

“I don’t think the boar was Xue Jiang.” He admitted.  “She isn’t one to draw attention. The demon crowd. The corpse. It feels either very sloppy or deliberately flashy. Half of this list, “ he said gesturing to the table, ” is just this one going through her contacts, the other half is anyone I know of with a passing interest in the blood blade technique. This one doesn’t know if any of this will be helpful if this is some deliberate ploy by another sect to pull our attention. But if it is, this one can’t see what it would be for.”

Yue Qingyuan nodded shallowly. “Liu Qingge is heading the mission to return the captured demons back to their realm.” He said quietly. “This shixiong asked him to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”

“Tsk, like that idiot will find anything.” Grumbled Shen Qingqiu.

“Hmm. We’ll see.” Said Yue Qingyuan in a way that irritatingly neither agreed nor disagreed with him. He fidgeted with the still warm kettle in his lap. “Would you like some tea?”

“No.” Shen Qingqiu said pointedly. “Get out.”

Notes:

Family terms
Bobo 伯伯 - Uncle - Father's Elder brother
Nainai 奶奶- Grandmother/Granny - Father's Mother

Xue Jiang was mentioned chapter 11 and Shen Jiu's Uncle's blood blade was in that dream sequence in chapter 4. ;)
And yes I did over check the QiJiu Extras and SJ's flashbacks to find out where his swords went. (The Qiu family sword gets tossed into the Qiu estate fire, but the IAC sword is never stated to be dropped or lost.) Also interesting detail, in the flashbacks SJ refers to the former QingJing Peaklord as Shizun but always adressed Wu Yanzi as Shifu. So I have been using that distinction through out this fic.

Other fun fact Xue Jiang is wife number 143 because the radical for Blood 血 is radical number 143. :D

Next time: Conspiracy circle and examining those blood metal items ;D aka SQQ continues to have not a great time.

Chapter 26: Memories can harm just as much as a blade

Summary:

A brief conspiracy circle meeting and then a very tense trip down memory lane with Shen Qingqiu as the peaklords investigate the blood metal items they have for clues.

Notes:

Welp you had a short chapter, now we are back to one of the longer ones.

Content Warnings: Triggering of repressed memories, Lore/Information heavy chapter, Murder/Death, Dissociation, Paranoia, Being stuck in a room with people you are certain would want to cause you harm if they knew something you weren't telling them, Another Bingge wife OC mentioned (there are four planned so far to be minorly plot relevant), The author is a textiles nerd, Drunken Antics

"Does she not feel weird marrying the Husband of her Shizhi!? I get that she is grateful for Bingge helping her avenge the death of her lover but please! He! Does! Not! Need! More! Wives!!! Airplane-bro stop!!!"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

“What do you mean you can’t tell us!?” Yelled Wei Qingwei.

“This one promised the sect leader he would not speak on the matter to anyone else.” Zhou Qingde said, wincing a little from the volume. The sword smith sat back down with a ‘humph’.

“Traitor.” He grumbled.

“Would it not be more traitorous for this one to speak?” said Zhou Qingde, which did nothing to ease Wei Qingwei’s grumbling.

The conspiracy circle of eight Peaklords was gathered in the private room on Zui Xian once again. They were down two as Shang Qinghua had claimed he was too busy and Liu Qingge was off mountain.

Taking a sip of this tea, Mu Qingfang gave his shidi a thoughtful look. “Given what Zhou-shidi knows, would he say what Shen Qingqiu did would be readily applicable if this doctor were to uncover how to do it?”

Zhou Qingde paled. “No! ... No. Quite the opposite in fact. It- That- No, that should not be done again.”

Mu Qingfang frowned. Shen Qingqiu had also mentioned it was dangerous from the little he had said. Interestingly the meridian scans on Liu Qingge had revealed some traces of light cracking around his dantian but given how long it had been since the incident, it was already healed so Mu Qingfang had left it be. Whatever this technique was, the texts he had been able to borrow hadn’t helped much. And, not that it took much for Zhou-shidi to worry, but for him to act like this-

 Qi Qingqi’s voice pulled him from his musings.

“Mu-shixiong, did you at least find out what was up with the sword?” she asked.

“Oh boy did we! “ said Wei Qingwei a little too enthusiastically.

 Mu Qingfang elbowed him in the side for that.

Xiu Ya’s uniqueness linked heavily into Shen Qingqiu’s own condition which was not to be openly discussed until they knew what it was. Mu Qingfang was very sure Shen Qingqiu had some type to damage to his spiritual root by this point and, after a long private conversation with Wei Qingwei, he’d made the choice not to interfere with whatever was happening with Xiu Ya. It was a system that currently worked and he had too little information to meddle with.

“And? “ asked Qi Qingqi, glaring at his elbow.

“It’s nothing to worry about.” Said Wei Qingwei. “The sword is just very active.”

“’Very active’ is certainly one way to put it.” mumbled Huang Qingying, fidgeting with her cup.

“It’s fine.” Dismissed Wei Qingwei with his hand. “Just keep it near him if he gets knocked out again.”

“That explains nothing!” Qi Qingqi said sharply.

Wei Qingwei shrugged, prompting an eye roll from his shimei.

“At the very least, is he now well? “ said Qi Qingqi. Her face was a picture of discomfort.

Mu Qingfang smiled in spite of himself. As uncomfortable as it made her, Qi Qingqi did care about her least favourite shixiong.  “Shen-shixiong’s health has been improving greatly. This one was even able to remove the last of his bandages a few days ago, and with the surgery performed, he might be less likely to qi deviate in the future.”

“Wait, hold on. It was a physical thing?” asked Yang Qingfu. “I thought he was just constantly over doing it. Because, you know, he’s Shen fricking Qingqiu. The man can’t do things by halves.”

“It wasn’t entirely a physical thing” Mu Qingfang clarified, “but there were complications that certainly weren’t helping.”

“I doubt his personality will be improving any time soon from that?” said Yang Qingfu

“It is not expected, no.” said Mu Qingfang.

Chen Qingda tugged Yang Qingfu into a one-armed hug as the man grumbled out a sarcastic, “Great.”

“Don’t be mean.” The cook lightly scolded him with a prod.

“Why not?” said Yang Qingfu. “He is mean.”

“So to recap.” Said Qi Qingqi.  “The Sect Leader, Shen-shixiong and now Zhou-shidi know what happened in those caves. It was something dangerous and probably scandalous given the silence order and large volume of tainted qi. But it worked to save Liu-shidi. Shen-shixiong’s sword is weird but that’s fine? Apparently? And he’s now less likely to qi deviate in the future because of something to do with his arms.”

Mu Qingfang sipped his tea. “Pretty much.”

Qi Qingqi dropped her face into her hands.

“Has Shen Qingqiu even come for those robes we fixed up for him?” said Yang Qingfu having managed to pinch Chen Qingda hard enough to get him off.

Huang Qingying frowned. “Not yet. This one left the date up to Shen-shixiong, though that might have been a mistake.”

“Probably.” Said Wei Qingwei. “Mu Qingfang only gets to see him because it’s medically required and this one had to organise our little dinner together himself.”

“So unsociable.” Grumbled Qi Qingqi

“He is a perfectly fine host. He’s just, you know, Shen-shixiong.” Said Wei Qingwei.

Huang Qingying sighed. “This one will catch him later this week when we examine the blood metal and fix a date.”

“It’s probably for the best-“ started Wei Qingwei until there was a shocked gasp of a disciple outside which was their only warning before Liu Qingge came in with a giant beast over one shoulder.

Wang Qingqiang perked up immediately, suddenly out of his seat and bouncing around the War God like a puppy.

“A False Xiezhi!” he exclaimed.

Qi Qingqi was less than impressed. “You were meant to be escorting demons back home. How did you manage to turn that into a night hunt!?”

Liu Qingge shrugged at her and looked around the room till he found who he was looking for.

“Huang-shimei, could I have a word?”

“Certainly!”

With that Seamstress, Stablemaster and War God all exited the room as Chen Qingda and Yang Qingfu fell into amused giggles.

“We let him off the mountain for one mission!” gasped the cook between laughs.

Mu Qingfang merely shook his head and finished his tea.

“If it helps Qi Qingqi’s curiosity, Shen-shixiong indicated he would tell this one what he had done provided this one can figure it out on his own. This one will continue his research into the matter and see if he can find some answers.”

Qi Qingqi nodded solemnly whilst Zhou Qingde looked uneasy.

“The sect leader won’t like that.” he said.

“Most likely,” Mu Qingfang conceded, “but Shen-shixiong himself approved the challenge so unless he wants to take it up with Shen Qingqiu the matter is out of his hands.”

With that the Peaklords ran out of things to discuss and each left to return to their own peaks.

That evening Mu Qingfang waited patiently in his office. He was expecting company and rose to let in Xun Yicao when she knocked.

“You wished to see this one?” She said cautiously.

“Yes, have a seat. We have things to discuss.”

The woman entered and took the offered seat.

“This Peaklord was hoping Xun-shimei could help him with a bit of a mystery.” Said Mu Qingfang circling around to his desk.

“A mystery?” she said, curious. Mu Qingfang wore his normal doctor’s smile but there was an edge to his voice as he spoke.

“Yes. He has noticed some strange unauthorised takings from out herb supplies” Xun Yicao’s face dropped, “and even stranger is he found those same herb supplies in Peaklord Shen’s house. He was wondering if Shimei knew anything about that?”

To the woman’s credit, she came clean immediately, not bothering to deny his accusation. “Peaklord Shen came to this one many years ago for herbs to help with his sleep.”

“Yet it is not written on his file.” Said Mu Qingfang.

“Shizun refused to let anyone else handle care for Peaklord Shen.” Hallmaster Xun said avoiding eye contact.

“So, you took it into your own hands and went behind his and my own back.” Mu Qingfang said sharply.

“This one understands what she did is wrong.” She said.

Mu Qingfang sighed. He hated having to discipline people. “Can you at least list out what you gave him?”

“ Oh yes. This one has always recorded it in the daybook underneath the name Mozi.” Xun Yicao said.

Mu Qingfang furrowed his brow a little and asked. “Mozi?”

“It’s an old nickname he had before becoming head disciple.”

Storing away that little nugget of information for later, Mu Qingfang continued his questioning.

“Have you given him any other treatments beyond sleep prescriptions?”

Xun Yicao thought for a moment before speaking again. “Right back when he first joined, he asked me to fix some malhealed breaks in his hands. Three metacarpals and at least two of the promixal and middle bones on the smaller phalanges on one hand and this one recalls having to adjust the carpal bones in the other hand.” She said pointing to the area on her own hand. “He does also check with me whenever he was given new prescription to check what the herbs were and what they did.”

Sounded like Shen Qingqiu’s normal paranoia. Mu Qingfang made a note to look closer at his hands in the meridian scan, being right next to the mess of his arms would have done them no favours.

Returning to questioning Xun Yicao, he gave a piercing look. “Have you been supplying anyone else?”

“No.” The woman said, a little offended. “Peaklord Shen was an old friend. There is no one else.”

An old friend? Mu Qingfang had known Xun Yicao since she joined and she wasn’t exactly social. When had she found the time to become ‘old friends’ with Shen Qingqiu? She rarely left the Peak greenhouse on a good day!

Storing another question away for another time, Mu Qingfang fix her with a stern look.

“This master hopefully doesn’t need to go into detail what a gross misconduct your actions have been. “ Xun Yicao sunk in her chair. “Disciplinary measures will be taken. “

“Yes, Peaklord Mu.” She said quietly.

“In addition to those, this master expects a full report of what fixes you performed on Peaklord Shen’s fingers as to the best of your memory. You may leave.”

Once she had left, Mu Qingfang mulled over what he had learned. It was an incense stick into his meditation that a thought sent him racing to the records room.

Flicking through the files, he searched this time not for ‘Shen’ or ‘Qingqiu’ but ‘Mozi’. This, however, bore no fruit after a shichen of thorough searching. The missing medical files remained missing much to the doctor’s annoyance.

 

---

 

The room was too small, Shen Qingqiu decided. Wan Jian’s restricted access storage had not been built to house more than three people at once. As it was, six Peaklords were squished into this cramped little room consisting mostly of shelves and a singular small table.

Shen Qingqiu much to his annoyance had ended up near the back alongside Yue Qingyuan. The damn bastard wouldn’t stop fidgeting looking over at one of the sword racks then away again. Shen Qingqiu’s growing urge to pinch him was interrupted by Wei Qingqiu placing a heavily sealed box on the table. Zhou Qingde hovered nearby ready in case of a single hint of qi poisoning. The monk really was the worst type of worry wart.

Shen Qingqiu still remembered being dragged aside so he could force a box full of ghost repelling talismans and the like into his arms. Zhou Qingde hadn’t let him go until he’d reluctantly accepted the damn thing. In hindsight, having Yue Qingyuan tell Zhou Qingde that he’d summoned a ghost might not have been the best idea. But whatever, what was done was done.

With some trepidation and array enforced gloves, Wei Qingwei slowly pulled the lid off the box. Peering over Huang Qingying and Yang Qingfu’s shoulders, Shen Qingqiu saw his Uncle’s blood blade for the first time in over two and a half decades.

It didn’t look good. A bubble-like rust the colour of dried blood had grown over part of the blade and it gave off none of the usual dark qi that had spilled from it like a purring wine in the past.

The sword had been one of the first things Shen Jiu had noticed when his new Shifu had taken him to meet this ‘strange demonic cultivator he knew’.

The tavern had been located on the wrong side of the borderlands, a known hide away for those avoiding arrest. They had long since ditched the outer layers of his Qiu Estate uniform and killed an unfortunate travelling farmer for less noticeable clothes. His fingers had twitched the entire journey up as he fought to ignore how the too big robe still smelt of cut hay, blood and sweat.

Wu Yanzi had strode in confidently, earning wary looks and a few calls of recognition. Shen Jiu had just kept his head down, not bothering to remove the straw hat he’d taken with the clothing. After a conversation of half jovial jabs and half threats of violence, they were pointed to a back corner.

There sat a man in a dark blue robe with a black pulsing blade at one side and a pile of books he was reading through on the other. Wu Yanzi had walked right up to him and kicked over the pile.

“Hey!” The man cried, jolted out of his reading. “Oh, it’s you. I thought you ‘weren’t ever going to speak to me again’?” He said with dismissive mocking, piling the books back up.

“Oh~ I wasn’t. But then I acquired my new disciple and thought you might want to see him.” There was something smug about his Shifu’s tone but Shen Jiu kept his eyes on this stranger’s hands and sword. If this led to a fight, he wanted the most amount of warning to run.

“Uh huh. And why is that, dearest Shidi?”

Wu Yanzi’s chuckle was the most warning he got before his Shifu yanked the straw hat from his head and pushed him forward to look his possible Shibo in the face.

They both froze and stared at each other.

Then very eloquently the man had said, “Yo! What the fuck!?”

The trio had agreed to travel together after that and it had all progressed from there.

After showing a talent for using his Uncle’s sword, the man had begged his Shifu to make his new nephew one of his own. Blood blades were hard to make Grandmother claimed, so she would need time to smith his. At least that was the excuse he was given. She probably had never intended to give him one.

He had made do with his own crudely made blades for most of that year.

Then ‘that’ night had happened.

It had been a month after Xue Jiang’s betrayal. Uncle had claimed ignorance of his Shifu’s plans and abandoned her to keep travelling with them. But it was still tense. Xiao Shen had still been healing, still been throwing up in the middle of the night. Wu Yanzi’s temper was shorter than ever and he was drinking more too. Eventually things came to a violent conclusion.

Xiao Shen was left to finish tending to the stew pot while Shifu and Uncle went into the woods to have a talk. The stew finished cooking and they still hadn’t returned. He had finished his portion by the time Shifu stumbled out the woods, picked up a spade and ordered him to follow.

Following the man through the woods, they came to a clearing depicting a grizzly scene.

His uncle‘s head lay a few chi from his body, as clouds rumbled overhead. Xiao Shen had barely heard Wu Yanzi’s orders to get digging as he stared down at the corpse. The blood blade, itself, didn’t seem to notice it’s master’s death, happily drinking up his blood as above them the spring rains finally broke.

Shen Qingqiu startled when a hand found his. He was shaking. He wasn’t breathing. A pulse of qi travelled up through his palm, calming the riot of memories inside him. He glanced over at Yue Qingyuan, who was facing forward. Facing forward like he wasn’t holding Shen Qingqiu’s hand. Like he wasn’t slowly and firmly dragging him back from a qi deviation. Looking away, Shen Qingqiu let the contact remain as he counted to ease his breathing.

Back in the present, Wei Qingwei looked a little unimpressed at the blade. At some point the shard from the boar had been brought out to compare and the difference was obvious.

“So, this isn’t a blood blade?” Yang Qingfu asked.

“It is.” Shen Qingqiu’s voice was put together in a way he didn’t feel. “This master mentioned it before, but blood blades need to be fed qi and blood to be maintained or they fall into ruin. If this blade was stabbed into a strong demon or spiritual beast, it would no doubt repair to look like our shard here.”

“That doesn’t bode well for the robes.” Muttered Huang Qingying.

“It does mean we have a way to weaken them at the very least.” Zhou Qingde said. “A weakened form might lend itself to being more easily purified.”

“Potentially.” Shen Qingqiu said, subtly shaking off Yue Qingyuan’s grip. His skin tingled as the qi flow ceased.

Yue Qingyuan didn’t stop hovering by his side when they began to head for Wan Jian peak. Shen Qingqiu did end up pinching him to get him to stop but this didn’t prevent a pair of big wet eyes from watching him the entire flight over the bridge, across the terrace and up to Si Chou peak.

Ignoring the Sect Leader, Shen Qingqiu dutifully followed along with the other Peaklords towards Si Chou’s rare textile collection.

Huang Qingying guided them all into the room and after shooing out her disciples, locked the door.

The collection was made of three large rooms. The first was a repair workshop of some sort, the second was the archive itself, hundreds of clothing items carefully preserved in shallow bamboo boxes hidden in shelves that held far more than they appeared. The last was dominated by a large table upon which was one of the shallow bamboo boxes.

“This shimei will need help as there are many items contained within.” Huang Qingying said, removing the lid.

Inside was a wooden tray upon which, wrapped in fine paper and silk, was a garment. Huang Qingying pulled out the tray, placing it on the table before pulling out another. In total there was more than a dozen trays, only one of which was swamped in cleansing arrays.

“What’s with the extras?” asked Wei Qingwei, having shifted his assigned tray over so that Zhou Qingde could get better access to the talisman covered one.

“These clothes were acquired from a criminal Cang Qiong Mountain Sect arrested two or three decades ago. All their clothing items were archived in the same place. This shimei thought that observing them all might give us clues on what to look for when searching.”

Using chopsticks, the silk, paper and talismans were peeled back to reveal the potential blood metal robe. It was of simple design that was orange at the hems before fading into what once had been black and was now a rusting brown.

“Oh! Shen-shixiong, come look! It’s SunLion Weaver silk!” said Huang Qingying, fascinated. He gave a nod, the grim line of his mouth hidden behind his fan. “This shimei thought the material would be made in a way similar to cloth of gold but that’s not the case at all!”

Poking the fabric with a chopstick, then asking Wei Qingwei for the arrayed gloves, Huang Qingying carefully pulled open the robe and felt along the fabric.

“It’s applied like a stiff dye or maybe paint. But acts like a flexible metal sheet. Combined with an already tough silk base. That’s genius. And they left the areas most likely to touch the skin free of it. Look it’s painted on thickest around the chest.”

Yang Qingfu had been staring at it for a while. “How does it close? The fastening is missing.”

“No, it’s not. It’s on the other side.” Said Huang Qingying, pointing it out.

“Like burial clothes.” Muttered the border guard grimly.

“Yes, like burial clothes.” Huang Qingying said brightly.

“How would this even be worn?” Asked Wei Qingwei.

“Ah, there should be a contents list in one of the trays. Take care as you open them!” She called out. “The items inside might be fragile!”

There was some hustle as the other Peaklords set about examining the other trays. Yue Qingyuan stuck close to him as Shen Qingqiu joined them. Reaching out a trembling hand, he stiffly pulled the paper wrapping free.

Inside was a thick navy outer coat. He had stolen it off one of Shifu’s victims much to the man’s mocking that it was far too big for him. It had been too big, but it was warm and the rich fat bastard it had belonged to had had the money for a few arrays built in to keep him safe.

Well, safer. Shen Qingqiu trailed his finger along the tear over the heart that had been roughly stitched up. He had sewn it closed with broken fingers so the work was horribly uneven. Yue Qingyuan stepped closer and looked like he wanted to say something, ask something. Shen Qingqiu didn’t find out what, as Yang Qingfu suddenly exclaimed behind them.

“Why are there so many knives!?”

Wei Qingwei immediately rushed over. “Woah. That’s easily-“ He took a moment to count. “- thirty six knives.” The sword smith reached in a picked one up. It was barely larger than his finger. “They’ve got a strange grain pattern to them.” He said, bemused.

“This shidi presumes they are not blood metal.” Said Zhou Qingde still standing nearby Huang Qingying.

“No, no. This one is steel. That one is iron. That one might even be copper. Weird.” Said Wei Qingwei scratching his chin. Shen Qingqiu did his best not to make eye contact.

“This shixiong has found the list.” Yue Qingyuan said, scanning through the collection of papers. He shared a glance with Shen Qingqiu who just felt numb at this point.

“Right, lets have a look.” Said Huang Qingying having already put the blood metal robe back how she had found it. Yue Qingyuan neatly handed her the papers.

“No name on who this belonged to, but we have two inner layers, the ‘cursed’ robe, then four outer layers. Most of these are believed to be stolen.” Huang Qingying said.

Gesturing them to follow, she began making her way around the room.

“Okay, so this tray has a man’s inner robe and trousers. Most likely once belonging to a servant from a wealthy family going by the cut and the fine fabric.”

Those inner robes were one of the few things that had remained with him from the Qiu Family. There was even a slight burn on the hem from where the fire had chased him out the building, along with sloppy patches where he’d had to expand it to fit his growing frame.

Huang Qingying continued along.

“This one is a woman’s jacket that was used as an under garment. Seems fairly common in origin. Though qiankun pouches have been sewn into the sleeves.”

Wu Yanzi had given him money from a job and sent him into town to spend it to his liking. After a bit of searching, he had found a used clothing seller. The jacket had stood out to him with its simple soft peach colour and fine fabric. Wu Yanzi had laughed when he returned leaving Shen Jiu to curse the man out until he let him keep it.

“Next would have been the blood metal robe.”

It was a gift from Uncle. He’d outgrown it, he’d claimed. Shifu pointed out only his belly had outgrown it, which had of course kicked off another round of their normal bickering. It kept his other clothes clean of blood and even spirit blades had had difficulty stabbing through it. This didn’t save his ribs from being cracked from the force of the blows though. Despite its usefulness, Wu Yanzi had hated it. Hated that if he wasn’t careful the robe would crack off his own qi, jolting away his hands. Xiao Shen had secretly liked it for that reason.

“Then a southern demon style garment, which was altered to fit.” Said Huang Qingying, pointing at the panels sewn in to preserve the wearers’ decency.

“It has got more of those knives.” Wei Qingwei said, pointing at what had once been jangling bell like tassels when Xue Jiang first gave it to him.

He had had no use for bells, but the loops carefully hand stitched into the silk had been useful storage. Uncle later told him that it’d come from a demon prince that had led a hunting party after Xue Jiang. Needless to say, it hadn’t gone well for the prince.

“This one is a scholar’s robe that has had the sleeves and bottom edge hemmed up. You can still see the edging.”

That one had been an unfortunate academic that had known too much. He had made an awful gasping squelch as Xiao Shen removed the knife from his throat. It had been nearing winter then and his constant lack of qi had left him freezing. The round neckline and tightly woven fabric had been wonderful, the large hanging sleeves and longer hem begging to trip him up, not so much.

“We then hit the most concerning item. This is a rice-paddy robe. But…. with how it’s made and the arrays sewed inside it, it was probably a cultivator's. A well-connected cultivator.”

“Any idea of which sect?” Asked Yang Qingfu.

“Judging by the amount of blue and the Taoist imagery used, this one would hazard a guess at Tian Yi Overlook or the minor sects they support within their territory. Forgive me, this one is not familiar with how their rankings are organised.”

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but linger as the others continued on past to the navy outer coat and the tough workers trousers he had worn. He felt more than saw Yue Qingyuan come to stand by his side. An overly familiar hand finding his own again. They both looked over the ornately patchworked robe.

‘She wasn’t meant to die’, his uncle had said. That didn’t change a damn thing. Xiao Shen had taken it as payment to bring her body home. Maybe just to remember her by too.

“Ah, there’s a portrait.” Shen Qingqiu felt something like ice rise up his spine as Huang Qingying spoke. He waited. He waited for the four other Peaklords to turn on him. For Huang Qingying who knew of his criminal background to mark him out as a traitor, a fraud, not one of them. That never happened.

Terrified at what he would see, Shen Qingqiu edged closer and stretched out a hand for the portrait, not trusting his words not to fail him.

Huang Qingying handed it over casually.

It was of him. It was his build, his posture, the tight high bun he’d worn during the Immortal Alliance Conference, the fabric mask that had covered his face, the weimao with the veils pinned up so they hang to still allow peripheral vision. His shizun had captured it perfectly in ink.

But, Shen Qingqiu realised, he didn’t look like that anymore. He was the subject of the portrait, but he wasn’t at the same time.

Wei Qingwei leaned over his shoulder to get a better look and Shen Qingqiu handed it over to him. The sword smith looked puzzled.

“This master thought that the robe owner might have been the source of the blood blade. But a cursed sword is not mentioned nor is it in the art shown.” Wei Qingwei said.

“If they were arrested, we’d have a report of it in the Bian Jie records.” Said Yang Qingfu. “Probably also a criminal profile in Qing Jing peak’s library. Right, Shen-shixiong?”

Shen Qingqiu nodded. He really wanted to throw up right now.

Moving away from the two men and Yue Qingyuan, he stumbled over to an already unpacked tray.

Inside sat a hairpin. It was made of silver, with turquoise shell petals and strings of moon stones. The pin itself was broken in half leaving a jagged notch that had always caught on his hair when he used it.

A woman lay on the ground, poisoned blood pooling from her leg.

“Men like you never work for free.” she huffed, dribbling blood. “Take the cure to Sect Leader Lian. You must. Here! This one can even pay you.”

She reached up and pulled the pin from her hair. He had no words. But still she begged him.

“Do you think they had a fiancée, or did it belong to one of his victims?” asked Huang Qingying. Shen Qingqiu tried not to flinch away from her.

“It’s solid silver. Maybe payment.” He mumbled through his fan.

“Maybe.” Huang Qingying agreed. “Shen-shixiong?”

He turned to look at her stiffly, waiting for what came next. Waiting for the attack.

“This shimei knows this might seem presumptuous or pushy but..”

Shen Qingqiu closed his eyes and braced.

Huang Qingying must have noticed as she fidgeted for a moment before taking a deep breath. “Would Shixiong be available to come for his fitting in five days’ time?”

Ah, she was going to wait until they were alone to trap him.

“This shixiong will clear his schedule that day.” He said, somehow keeping his voice free of tremors.

“Thanking Shen-shixiong.” She replied.

He drifted through the rest of the meeting. Yang Qingfu agreed to look into the arrest reports and see if any mentioned the origin of the blood blade and robe. Shen Qingqiu excused himself shortly after that, made it outside the building and then curled up next to a tree just out of sight.

It was a good thing he did as Yue Qingyuan exited shortly after him. The fool looked around worried before heading towards Qing Jing Peak. Which was fucking great. Fantastic.

Fuck.

Letting Xiu Ya out it’s sheath, Shen Qingqiu let it take him down Si Chou’s slopes to it’s more wild and less cultivated forest near its base. The barrier array thrummed nearby down here but Shen Qingqiu just needed a place to sit and think and not be present.

The sky was dark when he eventually made his way back to Qing Jing peak. The disciples were already heading back to the dormitories for the evening, so they were easy to avoid.

Less easy to avoid was Hallmaster Li.

“The Sect Leader and Peaklord Mu were both looking for you.” The man said, his arms folded.

Right, Mu Qingfang. Shen Qingqiu had missed dinner. Fuck, the doctor was going to rake him over the coals for that.

He’d deal with that tomorrow. Taking a step towards his Bamboo Hut he found Hallmaster Li had moved into the way.

“Move.” He grunted.

“You look like shit.” Said Hallmaster Li.

“Thanks.” He said voice alive with a dangerous edge. ”Now, move.”

“No.”

“Huabi, for fucks sake. I’m not in the mood to-“

“Exactly.” Hallmaster Li said cutting him off. “If I let you go right now, what are the chances of you sitting in that tiny hut of yours and over thinking yourself into a qi deviation?”

“Fuck off.” He said but it had no bite to it. He was annoyingly not wrong. Shen Qingqiu was far from stable right now and with the little beast no doubt back, he had lost his opportunity to sleep for the day.

Hallmaster Li just gave him a long look and offered him his arm.

“Grab a hold.” Shen Qingqiu didn’t have the energy to fight so reluctantly did as he was told. Hallmaster Li then began to walk him across the Lotus pond bridges.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“To laugh at Hallmaster Sun getting plastered and doing something stupid.”

Shen Qingqiu stopped walking, forcing Hallmaster Li to stop as well.

“No.”

“Why?” asked the infuriating man.

“I.. I don’t have anything to bring.” Shen Qingqiu admitted. He was tired and mentally drained, he didn’t want to be in debt as well.

“You don’t need to.” Said Hallmaster Li quietly but firmly.

“I-“

“No. Look at me.” Ordered Hallmaster Li, staring him down. “You do not need to bring food or money or anything to pay your own damn hallmasters to tolerate you. You are their Peaklord. They want to help you. They want to know you. They want to have you around.”

Ah what pretty words.

“Liar.” Fell out Shen Qingqiu’s mouth before he could stop it.

“I’m not. The day Shizun died you cut everyone off. You distanced yourself from me, from Yan-shixiong, from Zhi-shixiong and then you buried yourself in the work of basically being acting Peaklord without any of the rank, recognition, or respect. You gave Hallmaster Jiang his post. You gave Hallmaster Ling the confidence to stay in the sect. And you think they don’t give a shit? They were convinced you hated them, despite having had nearly eight more years of working with you than they should have.” Hallmaster Li finished his rant with a sigh. “You’re not alone, you stupid man. Now grab my arm and walk with me.”

Shen Qingqiu just stared at the ground and swallowed thickly. He was lying. He was lying. Repeated around his brain. They were just waiting for a chance to get rid of him. He shouldn’t be here. He- He-

He gripped tightly to Hallmaster Li’s arm and let himself be dragged through the office buildings into the northern hall.

“Peaklord She-“ Hallmaster Bai called out. Hallmaster Li cut him off with a gesture. “Ah, come in. Let’s get you a seat.”

The meetings were now hosted further into the old personal quarters than before. The weather and cold pushing them under the eaves, into what might have been guest quarters. Heat array carved stones had been placed around to keep the drinking hallmasters from catching hypothermia.

True to Hallmaster Li’s word Hallmaster Sun was already well past tipsy and was retelling some famous battle with strange gestures and sound effects. Hallmaster Su spotted their arrival and elbowed Hallmaster Youlan off the spare cushions to offer them a seat.

Hallmaster Li gently guided Shen Qingqiu into his. Maybe it was spite or just a lingering madness from the cocktail of memories still circling his mind but Shen Qingqiu refused to let go of his forearm. The man himself thankfully made no signs of forcing him to do so.

Even as the actual story slipped out Shen Qingqiu’s memory like a sieve, Hallmaster Sun’s droning voice was like a thick balm over his frayed nerves. It let him hang on to old memories of shichen long lectures with little danger beyond the odd sneering of a spoiled young master. It felt warm. Shen Qingqiu was oddly disappointed when the man finished.

Hallmaster Su offered him a glass of wine which he turned down, as did he turn down the tea she then tried to pour him. A concerned look pinged across her face before she left him be.

Though at least she had asked, Hallmaster Wang the Younger didn’t bother. Stumbling over to drop a thick blanket over his head. At his glare of outrage, he stuttered that ‘Peaklord Shen was shivering from the cold.’.

He wasn’t. But Shen Qingqiu kept the blanket wrapped around himself and Hallmaster Li’s captured forearm.

The night continued on and the hallmasters around him talked and talked but let him be. Eventually Hallmaster Jiang, Bai and Youlan started singing some strange song together whilst Hanyu tried to speak poetry over it. It was a mess but it was louder than the voices in his head, so was oddly comforting.

A hand gently pulled him over to lean on Hallmaster Su’s shoulder before settling to rub his shoulder.

Shen Qingqiu stared up at the still mostly sober woman and fought every habitual instinct that said to just fold into the embrace.

“Isn’t this inappropriate?” he asked but made no move to lean away from her.

“Young man, this Hallmaster has known you since that Shizun of yours brought you back that summer from the Immortal Alliance Conference with your arm in a sling and a black eye covering half your face. I have known you since you were a boy and frankly, you have never looked more miserable than this evening. Now stop worrying about proper and just relax, you are as tense as a board.” She ended her words by giving his cheek a pinch that made him squeak and her laugh.

Cautiously, he let himself relax. Hallmaster Li next to him made no sign of noticing as he continue to sketch one handed.

Hallmaster Su’s hand continued to rub circles into his shoulder as he just lay there. At some point he felt his eyes mist over and leak down his cheeks.

A qi deviation? He wandered but the thumb he rubbed along the trail came back clear of blood. And gradually the terrible singing and gentle caressing rocked him to sleep.

It was still dark when he woke up.

The birds screaming at each other like that would make the dawn arrive sooner. He was in his bed in the bamboo hut. Someone must have carried him there. Shen Qingqiu didn’t know how he felt about that. His boots and guan had been removed but he was still wrapped in the blanket from before. Still dressed in all his many many layers.

Getting up, Shen Qingqiu shrugged off all but his inner robe and trousers. He scooped up the thickest outer robe tied it loosely closed at his waist and let his hair hang loose.

Then face sore from tears, went to the kitchen and made himself some tea.

Mu Qingfang found him dozing at the kitchen table like that, the kettle held close in the crook of his arms for warmth.

Notes:

MQF: *SQQ doesn't turn up for dinner* Uh oh.
MQF: *finds SQQ looking like shit the next morning* Well fuck.

A 獬豸 Xiezhi is a mythical one horned lion-goat-ox that was regarded as a divine judge that would eat corrupt officials. Going by the 'False' in the name, what LQG hunted was not divine but just a one horned lion-goat-ox look-a-like.

Names:
薰衣草 Xun Yicao - Lavender She was briefly mentioned at the end of Chapter 3 :D
莲 Lian - Lotus
砚 Yan - Inkstone / 焰 Yan - flame / 晏 Yan - A surname meaning quiet, clear, later in the day (all are pronounced the same)
纸 Zhi - Paper / 枳 Zhi - trifoliate orange/hedge thorn (both are pronounced the same)
Bi, Mo, Zhi, Yan - Brush, Ink(Inkstick), Paper and Inkstone are refered to as the four treasures of the study. and a reminder 墨渍 Mozi and 画笔 Huabi mean Inkstain and Paintbrush respectively.
Also 'Xiao' in 'Xiao Jiu' and 'Xiao Shen' means 'Little'. So 'Little Nine' and 'Little Shen'. Because I realised I never explained that.

Clothing:
Going from skin to outside here which 'robes' specifically I am refering to with all of SQQ's former clothing
Zhongyi 中衣 'Inner Clothing'- the under layers for all clothes. these would consist of a plain white robe and matching trousers for men. I see no reason for SQQ to ditch this layer. The upper layers would be recognisable but undergarments are generic enough that it wouldn't id you to a specific family.

Ruqun 襦裙 'jacket and skirt' - this would consist of a 'jacket' tucked into a 'skirt' to for single garment worn my women. I imagine SQQ's came from a now deceased wife/grandma. I also don't picture SQQ as very broad despite being tall so at 16, he could fit his shoulders into an adult woman's jacket.

Kuzhe 袴褶 'jacket trousers' - A robe worn with trousers normally used as miltary style clothing or riding wear. For this, SQQ mix and matches the blood robe with some hard wearing trousers either for labourers or soldiers.

Fantasty~<3 - The Southern demon style is think genderbent Sha Hualing meets Genshin impact then make it semi-see through a touch sluttier. ;)

Lanshan 襴衫 'full length garment' - A formal robe used by scholars, academics and those taking the imperial exam. It's most notable features are the black trim about the edges and the rounded collar design.

Shuitianyi 水田衣 'rice paddy clothing' - A garment worn my women made from patch worked pieces of fabric. They are gorgeous to look at and can be very ornate. Might have been inspired by buddhist monks. I just wanted to have someone wear one. They are soo pretty!!

Beizi 褙子 'person sitting behind' - A large loose garment with long sleeves worn by men and women of nearly any social standing.

Other things of note: I think SQQ would have had other clothes than this over his time with WYZ to keep him from being recognisable. This is just what he was wearing at the Immortal Alliance Conference.
Also most of the clothing does not come from the same era; please hand wave this as being Airplane's fault.

Oh and the burial clothes fastering.
Most of the clothing was closed so the right side is covered. Literally called 右衽 youren 'right lapel'. But zouren 左衽 'left lapel' was used on burial clothes. There's some symbolism involved to explain it beyond just tradition.
Youren had the left on the outside to mean the Yang suppressing the Yin.
Zouren had the right on the outside to mean the Yin suppressing the Yang.
Given it's from a demonic cultivator, I thought it appropriate.
Note: Zouren was also used by ethnic minorities and sometimes Han women. It very much depended on era and location. But for this case it's a physical representation for the wearer using Yin qi. Also yes, having it cross the other way would have made all the other clothing layers lay funny.

The hairpin: There was a tradition if two lovers had to seperate for a long time they would break a hairpin in half and each person of the couple would keep half so that when they reunited it could be made whole again. Often used for fiancees or secret lovers.

The knives: Metal goes naturally have grain pattern. Folding, hammering, heating and cooling all controll how that pattern forms and some can result in a very strong blade and others a very weak blade.

Lastly: How cloth of gold is made. The lengthwise warp threads are made of plain silk and the weaving weft thread is made of silk wrapped in very thin gold wire. The end result is a very tough, heavy and stiff fabric. Cloth of Silver is made is a similar way. HQY was expecting that but instead got something closer to acrylic paint spread thinly over fabric. Much lighter, more flexible and quicker to manufacture.

Again if I've got any of this wrong, correct me in the comments.

Next time: Meeting with HQY :) It'll go fine. : )

Chapter 27: The weight of connection

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu has his meeting with Huang Qingying. He indeed finds out she has been plotting but not quite how he expected.

Notes:

Hello~ It's been just over a week but I'm having a good writing time so *shrug*

Content warnings: Hosiptalisation, Dissociation, If you squint Self Harm, Shen Qingqiu's general paranoia and trauma, Hurt/Comfort? Sorta?, Mildly questionable consent to medical procedures, Getting hit by the knowledge people care about you, Mu Qingfang having a very concerning time in the background.

"Will you lot in the comments stop whining about Bing-ge actually bringing justice to this crapshot world? Like, those fuckers are criminals. They don't count. Nobody is gonna mourn Bandits A, B and C not being around to rob people anymore. Their fate was sealed the day they tried to steal from the protagonist. Good riddance! "

- Peerless Cucumber

 

Mu Qingfang took him back to Qian Cao peak that day. Something about concerning amounts of strain on his system. Shen Qingqiu hadn’t fought him at all, just numbly let it happen.

He didn’t remember any of the first day he was there and only pieces of the second between long naps and staring at nothing. The third was when he fully came back to himself. Sat on his bed, whilst Mu Qingfang checked him over.

The man’s grip on his wrist gave him a source of discomfort he could focus in on. Something material to latch onto.

“Does Shen-shixiong recall anything that might have triggered this episode?” He was asked.

“This shixiong does not.” Shen Qingqiu had lied.

He didn’t look up to see if Mu Qingfang believed him. The doctor’s professionalism made him hard to read. Besides, some unhinged part of him refused to let the hands on his skin out of his sight.

Eventually he was left to recover in peace.

Even if that recovery was something as dumb as sitting in the patients’ balcony garden trying to count how many plants and birds he could identify before he was dragged back inside to eat and sleep.

It was the evening of the fourth day he asked to return to Qing Jing Peak and Mu Qingfang reluctantly agreed, saying he would see him the following morning.

And so, Shen Qingqiu wandered back to the Bamboo Hut with Mu Qingfang’s help, bid the doctor good night and got to work. Not to sleep, for he’d already taken a long nap through the day for that, but to prepare.

Whoever this fucker hanging around their border was, Grandmother or some other creep, they were threatening his mental health and his position. Something Shen Qingqiu wasn’t going to sit back and do nothing about. Taking what he’d collected in the criminal archive and his personal experience, he began to sort all the information he had into a format usable to his sect mates.

Potential buyers of blood metal weapons, potential sellers, locations for black market trade, which minor sects to pressure for rumours into the less than savoury figures, demon beast traders from both sides of the borderlands, what beasts would be the most likely targets, people that had worked with Xue Jiang in the past. It took all night but by the end, he felt oddly satisfied.

Stretching the stiffness out his back, Shen Qingqiu had enough time spare to bathe and have a tea service ready when Mu Qingfang came to check on him.

His shidi still didn’t seem convinced of his recovery, taking the time to fully examine his system after breakfast. The doctor then gave him a new prescription of medical tea. Oddly enough Mu Qingfang took the time to explain each herb in it and what they did. He was even handed a scroll with all that he’d been told written down in Mu Qingfang’s messy calligraphy.

Slightly confused, Shen Qingqiu kept an eye on him during their customary walk to see if anything else new might occur. Though nothing did, leaving them both to bid each other goodbye until that evening.

Following Mu Qingfang’s departure, Shen Qingqiu set about preparing for the real challenge of the day; Huang Qingying.

Mu Qingfang had taken the liberty to inform the hallmasters of his admission to Qian Cao peak, clearing his classes for the week. Stopping by the offices, Shen Qingqiu quickly checked to see who had taken over his classes and was promptly told he should be resting by nearly every Hallmaster he encountered.

Shen Qingqiu could barely look Hallmaster Su in the eye as she wagged her finger at him. Really, what was this? One night and they all were acting like this. It was… It was something. A ball of emotion he carefully rolled up and sat in the corner to be dealt with later. Shen Qingqiu still wasn’t ready to pick apart how he exactly felt about that night or the consequences of it.

He had kept the blanket.  It was one of Shizun’s old ones, it still smelt a little like him too. Which was dumb and stupid and yet it still had sat neatly folded on his bed when he had left, with no intention of returning it.

Escaping the gentle scolding with cries that he had a meeting, Shen Qingqiu fled off his peak with his ears burning pink. Thankfully, the walk to Si Chou peak was very short, he only had to cross one bridge before the wind wrapped him up in the scents of soap and dye.

Si Chou Peak was very simply organised. Whatever wasn’t dying baths, was sewing rooms, and whatever wasn’t sewing rooms was weaving halls. Disciples clustered together gossiping whilst they worked, not even looking up to notice him. The most notable landmark was the collections office. A tall building next to a busy looking trio of warehouses. All repair work for the sect’s uniforms came through here, though An Ding Peak still handled the weekly laundering of garments.

Stepping inside, a disciple piled high with clothing nearly ran into him, before scuttling back with a bow and ‘Shen-shibo’. He ignored them and walked inside, leisurely fanning himself.

A disciple at the desk, who he vaguely recognised from the Molu Shui trip, immediately took notice of him. Shen Qingqiu capitalised on this attention and approached them.

“Your shizun asked this master to meet her today.” He said sternly.

The disciple immediately ordered one of the loitering youngsters to go inform their Shizun before offering to guide Shen Qingqiu. What followed was a brisk trip through the back door, out the building and through a side passage to a pleasant greeting room. He was then abandoned there as the disciple ran off to return to their post. Typical.

Taking a seat, Shen Qingqiu mentally reviewed his plan for the meeting. He first had to find out what she wanted from him. If it was minor enough, the tentative half-friendship they’d shared on the trip might be saved. Blackmail wasn’t the end of a cooperative relationship, at least not for Shen Qingqiu. His and Hallmaster Li’s entire relationship hinged on them being in a stalemate with each other.

If he could achieve something similar, that was fine.

If, however, what she wanted wasn’t plausible, then…. Fuck then he might have to go begging to Yue Qingyuan. Mu Qingfang had turned away the Sect Leader whilst he was on Qian Cao Peak but he’d no doubt see the man before the next Peaklord meeting at the end of the week. He really didn’t want to. He had been embarrassingly weak already and he didn’t like the fussy act the sect leader would put on. It made him squirm. It made him forget this was the man that left him behind to die.

Shen Qingqiu closed his eyes, took in a breath and held it. The clatter of the peak was just far enough away to be unobtrusive. The disciples talking as their feet kicked up gravel, the wind tossing the trees, the birds in them objecting to this, the sharp snap of a loom at work, the flap of drying fabrics and the splash of the stream further off.

Gradually he let the breath out.

Huang Qingying found him fanning himself, eyes still closed and calm.

“Shen-shixiong.” She greeted.

“Huang-shimei.” He returned pushing down the coiling of his insides as he followed her through the roofed walkways into the smaller isolated building that he assumed was her workspace and office.

As they entered, he swiftly shut the door behind them, slipped a silencing talisman from his sleeve and stuck it over the door.

“Shixiong?” Huang Qingying asked staring at the talisman, looking more than a little startled. Which was unnecessary, he’d done everything quietly.

“Zhangmen-shixiong told me what you saw.” He said bluntly. There was little point dancing around the topic. Not for Huang Qingying’s sake and not for the sake of his nerves.

Her face immediately fell.

“Oh! This one is so sorry! It wasn’t intentional.” She said flailing her arms about absent mindedly. “This shimei hadn’t mean to pry. Oh dear. I’m so sorry.”

Well, she wasn’t threatening him. So that was a point in his favour at least. Trying to seem indifferent, Shen Qingqiu walked slowly past her, fanning himself.

“Hm and what would Huang-shimei want?” he asked.

Huang Qingying stared at him. “Want?” she said, cocking her head slightly to the side. “This shimei does not understand was Shen-shixiong means.”

“To keep what shimei saw a secret.” Shen Qingqiu snapped. “What would she want in return?”

“Nothing?”

Shen Qingqiu blinked. What did she mean ‘nothing’? Everyone wanted something. Even when they said otherwise.

“You have a secret that could destroy me and the sect and you want ….nothing?” he asked incredulous. Why would she want ‘nothing’? “You haven’t told anyone else, have you?”

“Goodness no! Qi-shimei was near a qi deviation at the time and this shimei only told Zhangmen-shixiong because it seemed like the correct procedure for what happened… and well….. ” Huang Qingying trailed off, fingers fidgeting.

She looked scared.

“It was not this shixiong’s intention to frighten you.” Shen Qingqiu reassured. “He just wished to settle where we stood.”

“Shen-shixiong doesn’t frighten this shimei.” She said unconvincingly. “At least no more than usual.”

A knife wound might have been kinder than that last sentence. His fan apparently did nothing to shield his expression as Huang Qingying’s eyes widened.

“Shixiong is- has always been quite scary. He is very strict and focused. This one always worried she might cause him an inconvenience and be reprimanded for it.” She stammered on. “But what I saw doesn’t change anything… Really. It doesn’t.”

Doesn’t change that he terrified her. Good. What terrified you at least meant you knew it was dangerous. It couldn’t be trusted.

“Shimei is a hard worker. This shixiong doubts he would ever have reason to reprimand her.” He said, looking away. “He never meant to cause her such anxiety.”

Huang Qingying waved her hands in front of her as if dispelling his words. “That is- It is not. Um. Would Shixiong like to continue this conversation over tea?” She ended meekly, wilting as she stood.

“He is hardly in a position to refuse.” Countered Shen Qingqiu, making his shimei wince.

They moved through to a cosily furnished room. Two couches were sat by a low table, a heat proof mat sat on it with a small iron kettle still steaming in the air. A full prepared tea service sat alongside this. Huang Qingying wasted little time fluttering about, offering him snacks that Shen Qingqiu didn’t take and pouring him tea that he knew he would not drink.

At last, both of them sat on the couch a cup of tea in hand.

“Er, since we are speaking freely on the subject, may this shimei ask about what she saw?” Huang Qingying murmured into her cup.

“She may.” He replied, thumb stroking idlily over the rim of his own.

“The tattoo.“ She said, motioning to behind her ear. “In order to uh, ‘receive it’, Shixiong would have had to have been arrested?”

“Correct.”

Huang Qingying’s hands fidgeted around her teacup. “What was Shixiong arrested for?”

Ah. He should have expected this question.

“Attempted robbery.” He replied, evenly. Huang Qingying gave him a prompting expression and he continued with a small bit of sadistic mirth at her expected shock. “From a magistrate’s personal home.”

“Eh?” Squeaked Huang Qingying.

“Disappointed?” he barked out in a harsh laugh, hackles raised. Go on, say something, Shimei. Go on.

“No I. This one had half wondered if- ” Huang Qingying stumbled.

“If?” he jabbed back. Say something!

“If the arrest had been a case of mistaken identity or misunderstanding.” She said sheepishly, taking small sips of her tea.

He tsked and turned away from her.

“No, this one didn’t mean it like that. Ahhh!” she said flailing once again like it would some how soothe him.

“You don’t have to associate with this lowly one if-!” He bit out.

“No No! I just. This one has never met, well, a criminal.” She glanced over at him. “I had an image in my head, one made from childish stories. It doesn’t fit with Shen-shixiong. So…”

“Most cultivators, especially in this sect, are like that.” Shen Qingqiu said. “Especially those from well off backgrounds.”

“It could be said this one had a rather sheltered upbringing even on top of my family’s wealth… as Shixiong probably knows.” Her pointer finger tapped against the cup. “Why do you know that? About my family, that is… and Qi-Shijie’s.”

“This one has memorised the background information of most, if not all, cultivators of note believed to still be alive as well as the majority of notable non-cultivators within our territory as well. It makes keeping track of them easier.” He said casually

“Oh. “ Huang Qingying considered this information for a moment. “That does make sense.”

“As your brother is the head of a prominent merchant company, information about him reaches this one regularly.” He said lamely as way of an explanation. Huang Qingying didn’t reply immediately.

“This shimei sees. “ She said at last. Though the silence continued for a moment longer as they each sat there with their own thoughts.

“Right.” Huang Qingying said, when the silence grew unbearable. “This shimei should probably do her job and assist Shixiong with his clothing.”

“Yes.” He said, putting down the tea cup and standing.

He was directed to a small side room to change. The clothes themselves appeared to have had very little changed about them. As expected, Si Chou Peak was the best at its craft.

Having put on the inner robes and at least two middle layers, he stepped out to show Huang Qingying. She directed him to stand while she set down a small stool and stood on it to check the garments over.

“Please excuse this Shimei.”

“This Shixiong will do.” Shen Qingqiu said, half joking.

Huang Qingying’s hands were light and efficient. She tried to touch him as little as possible, tugging at the fabric in places and smoothing it out in others. He was asked to present one sleeve, then the other, then to turn on the spot until she was satisfied.

“That’s good. We were worried the heavy arrays would stiffen the fabric. Is Shen Qingqiu aware his wardrobe notes specifically called for arrays meant for late core development level cultivators?”

Shen Qingqiu sighed. “Yes. He is. My-” he said the next word with gritted teeth.”-’habit’ of qi deviating made them necessary since this one joined the sect.”

Huang Qingying bit her lip and said nothing further, other than to ask him to try on the next layer.

Much fussing and one small section of restitching later, he was fully dressed. Staring in the full length mirror, he felt transported back in time. Staring back at him was the man that had determinedly marched into the LingXi caves swearing that this time he’d break through. That man had been a fool. That man was now even further back than he had been that day.

“It looks fine.” Shen Qingqiu said, breaking eye contact with his reflection.

Huang Qingying nodded, staring at the point just behind his ear. He rose an eyebrow at this, flicking open his fan to cover his mouth.

Caught in the act, his shimei startled a little.

“Is the tattoo why Shen-shixiong so rarely changes how he wears his hair?” She asked blushing with embarrassment.

“Part of it.” He admitted. “This one also wants to avoid being recognised by those he might have encountered prior to joining the sect.”

Huang Qingying nodded. “Could this Shimei be so bold as to assume your arrest was also why Shen-shixiong joined the sect so late?”

His eyes dimmed. “… Yes.” In more ways than you know it, Shimei.

“Sorry!” Huang Qingying said automatically.

Shen Qingqiu clicked his tongue and mimed bopping her with his fan.

“Stop. Apologizing. To. Me.” He spelt out, flicking the fan back in front of his face.

“But I-“ She started.

“You. Have done nothing.” He growled. “You have asked nothing from me. Which is baffling?!”

“You’re my shixiong. I would never….” She mumbled.

Shen Qingqiu scoffed. “You might not. Which is a trait wholly unique to you. Really, there’s nothing I can do to ensure you don’t talk?”

Huang Qingying opened her mouth to speak and seemed to realise something.

“You really want me to ask for something.”

“……no.” he lied poorly.

Huang Qingying’s mouth quirked up a little as she thought.

“If Shixiong requests this shimei ask for something then she would like Shixiong to take lunch with her once a month.”

“Huh?” She would….. What? WHAT?

Nodding to herself, seemly self-satisfied, she continued on.

“Shen-shixiong might know a lot about this shimei but this shimei knows nothing about Shen-shixiong. And this shimei would like to… Maybe! if Shixiong, also, wants to be friends, that is?”

Embarrassing as a it was the cold Qing Jing Peaklord found that he might just want that.

Shen Qingqiu’s cheeks warmed. “That… would be acceptable.” He mumbled into this fan.

Huang Qingying gave him a small awkward smile in return before her eyes shot wide.

“Oh! This one almost forgot! There’s one more thing Shixiong.” She said hurrying out the room. “Don’t run off!”

He wasn’t? Confused, Shen Qingqiu stood there waiting until his shimei returned with a bundle neatly tied together with a silk ribbon.

“What is this?” He asked as the bundle was pushed into his arms.

“A gift.” She said half laughing.

Gift? Was she trying to bribe him?

“A gift?” He said, testing the bundle in his hands. It gave way pleasantly under his fingers.

“Just open it!” She said, grinning with mischief.

Giving her a very suspicious look, he carefully pulled untied the ribbon, letting the bundle unfold itself.

It was a cloak. A thick one, lined with grey fur on the inside and pale green silk on the outside with white borders, embroidered with a bamboo leaf motif. He vaguely recalled, Haitang having had a cloak similar to this for the winter months. But cultivators never needed such excess. Especially not a Peaklord. So-

“Why?” he asked. There were arrays sewn within the fur. Using his thumbs, he traced over the usual ones for warmth and protection and found a set he’d not seen before. His brow furrowed at that.

“It was Liu-shixiong’s idea from what Qi-shijie said at the meeting.” Huang Qingying explained. “Mu-shixiong heard our plans and offered to help as well. He even wrote a note that he told me to give you if you didn’t accept it. Let’s see who else helped? Right, Wang-shixiong helped with the tanning and Yang-shidi worked with Mu-shixiong on the arrays. They were designed to help Shen-shixiong circulate his qi easier, to speed up healing, and obviously this shimei helped sew it together.”

“…. Oh. “ He wasn’t sure what he was feeling. Why were so many people involved? Why did they all help make this? For someone like him? Why?

“May this one see the letter?” he asked a little overwhelmed.

Huang Qingying handed it over.

As Shen-shixiong is no doubt thinking of turning away his martial siblings’ hard work if he is reading this, this shidi would like to then like to say as Shen-shixiong’s doctor that keeping warm will aid in the recovery of Shen-shixiong’s meridians especially in these coming cooling months. As such this is cloak could be considered prescribed as part of Shen-shixiong’s recovery plan.

In other words; doctor’s orders.

Given no choice, Shen Qingqiu confused and feeling like he was in a trance swung the cloak over his shoulders. The effect was immediate. The warm arrays did little that his robes’ other warmth arrays did not but the qi circulation arrays were a whole other story.

He felt his own qi prodded and cajoled to move without his say so. It grumbled stuffily around his body, like a thick paste. His meridians creaking even with the very slow flow.

“How is it? How does it feel?” Huang Qingying asked.

Shen Qingqiu fluttered his fan, face bright red. “Warm.” He croaked out.

Because it was warm. It was a warm emotion, flicking up to tickle his insides. Really, they all had spent their time plotting something stupid like this?

That feeling stayed with him as he walked back to Qing Jing Peak. The cloak was heavy but soft. His meridians now relaxing where the arrays stroked against them. It was… a lot.

They had set a date for Huang Qingying’s proposed meeting. He still felt off balance like there was a sword still hanging in the air about to cut down on him. She hadn’t wanted anything of consequence. She wasn’t scared. She wanted to be friends.

His lips upturned a little at the corners. This was probably, definitely!, a trap. But he was going to walk stupidly into it on the off chance that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t.

Still the timing of the gift was much too suspicious. And Shen Qingqiu has a feeling he might know who to blame.

Hallmaster Li was hosting his afternoon extra curricular class when Shen Qingqiu appeared at the door.

“A word.” Is all he needed to say to get the man to join him in the hallway.

“Nice cloak.” Hallmaster Li said. Shen Qingqiu’s eyes narrowed.

“Was this you?” He asked.

Hallmaster Li stared at him for a few heart beats before sighing. “Okay, I’m lost. You are going to have to explain your paranoia this time.”

“Huang Qingying gifted me this. Did you… tell anyone?” He said making a vague gesture.

“About your birthday?” Said Hallmaster Li, dismissively. “No. If I was going to tell, I would have told the hallmasters and we would have dragged you out of the library two weeks ago on Double Ninth to get trashed.”

Annoyingly, Huabi appeared to be telling the truth. The lack of smugness and the brazenly candid reply gave it away.

Shen Qingqiu’s birthday wasn’t actually the Double Ninth festival, as cruelly fateful as that would have been. Given his life so far, Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t be surprised if there was a sadistic god or two mocking him somewhere.  But no, this time those fickle gods had left him be, the actual date was a few days prior most likely. He didn’t know the exact date but his mother had always pointed out at the festival stalls from their bedroom window and told him he was another year older. Another year he had been a burden to her.

After he had let it slip to Yue Qi, the boy had tried to buy him something nice whenever the stalls came up each year and he in return had been sure to steal the boy a gift on Qi-ge’s birthday in the spring.

Qiu Jianluo had bullied the date out of him in order to organise the adoption and subsequent engagement. Thankfully it had already passed at that time and come the following spring, that monster was long since dead. Shen Jiu never got to find out what type of birthday gift his young master might have prepared for him.

Uncle had never known. Though he could still remember the former sneaking him away from Shifu for a moment to buy him Chongyang cake that they lazily ate watching the crowds go by from the brothel rooftop. Shifu, himself, had known but never cared. It made no difference to him if Shen Jiu was sixteen or sixty, so long as he did as he was told.

The only other person that might have known was Rong-shishu, who had made a estimate on his age base off his spiritual root. Thought that had only been so the sect could confirm that he was as young as he claimed.

The Hallmaster frowning in front of him had just narrowed it down by asking how old he was every now and then. When Li-shixiong had noticed that his age went up between the mid autumn festival and dongzhi festival, he had wittled down the days until he pinned it to the Double Ninth festival. He was still wrong. But Shen Qingqiu wasn’t going to correct him.

Begrudgingly, he let Hallmaster Li go and began to slowly walk around his peak, fidgeting with the soft grey fur of the cloak.

He stayed mindlessly wandering until the light dimmed and he returned to the bamboo hut.

Mu Qingfang was waiting for him.

“Ah, Huang-shimei gave it to you.” The man said calmly, the meal Shen Qingqiu had nearly missed sitting there with a statis talisman keeping it warm.

“Yes.” Shen Qignqiu said stiltedly. “…Why did all of you do this?”

“Why?” The doctor frowned. “Can Shixiong be more specific?”

“…” Shen Qingqiu tried to find words but couldn’t. “Why?” he just hopelessly repeated. Mu Qingfang considered him for a moment before gesturing him over.

Shen Qingqiu hesitated but did eventually move to sit.

“May I have your hand?” asked Mu Qingfang.

Shen Qingqiu forced his fingers to untangled themselves from the trim lining. Raising his fan, he gave the doctor his hand.

Mu Qingfang clasped it. He used his thumbs to slowly threaded qi through the hand in a way that made it tingle and buzz then one by one he worked up each finger, feeling over each bone.

“What are you doing?” Shen Qingqiu asked.

“Repairing some damage his doctor noticed in Shixiong’s hands. If Shixiong will let me?” Shen Qingqiu looked away but made no sign of denying the doctor. He was by this point mostly numb to Mu Qingfang’s presence and his hands had always been one of the few places he didn’t flinch over.

The entire process itched as qi vibrated up and down his hand in waves. Finding the point of an old break, Mu Qingfang focused in on it. Massaging the calloused bumps in his finger more and more firmly with greater qi application until there was a fizzing pain that made Shen Qingqiu gasp.  He tried to wrench his hand away, but the doctor held firm, rubbing the site over and over again. The pain gradually subsided, leaving Shen Qingqiu shaking, teeth grit.

“Would Shixiong like this one to sto-“ Asked the doctor carefully.

“Continue.” Shen Qingqiu barked in reply. He didn’t want to repeat this later when he was less out of it. He, to his annoyance, trusted Mu Qingfang not to sabotage him so blatantly.

Blinking away the ringing buzz gathering at his eyes, Shen Qingqiu watched as Mu Qingfang moved onto the next finger and then the next, repeating the procedure six more times on his captive hand. By the end, Shen Qingqiu’s head felt dizzy and Xiu Ya was rattling in its sheath.

A few more ripples ran through the inside of his hand before the doctor let the qi settle. The hand was tingly all over, warm in spots where the skin was flushed pink.

“May I have your other hand?” The man asked. Shivering, Shen Qingqiu handed it over. The process began again, firm and buzzing and painful in a confusing way. By the end both his hands were warm and tender and shaking.

Mu Qingfang held them lightly, his finger supporting the palms and his thumbs brushing gently over the knuckles.

“Shixiong asked this one why earlier. Is there a particular answer he was expecting?”

Oh fuck off. Now he chose to address that?

Shen Qingqiu shook his head. “Nobody does anything free from motive. This shixiong likes to know what those motives are but he is lost today.” He admitted, not making eye contact.

“This doctor can’t speak for the others, but he assisted in the endevour in the hopes to see shixiong’s health improve.” Mu Qingfang’s voice was firm but gentle like the hands that still cradled his own.

“Am I that much of a burden?” Scoffed Shen Qingqiu.

Mu Qingfang’s thumbs pressed in a little deeper.

“Shixiong is not a burden. He is my shixiong and he deserves to feel well.”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t reply to that. The doctor didn’t know that those hands he held so gently had been stained many times over with the blood. If they were to talk about what he truly deserved, there was only one answer according to the law. Shen Qingqiu should be dead. Strung up in some public execution for his crimes or unremembered in some dark hole. Either worked. But dead as dead as dead. Just like his Uncle. Just like his Shifu.

“Look at me.” Shen Qingqiu rose his gaze to meet Mu Qingfang’s and wondered if the doctor might see the truth of what he was reflected in his eyes. It appeared not as the man stared right into him and said, “Shixiong, let this doctor see you in good health. Please.”

He was not a man of promises but…

“This one will try.” Escaped before he realised.

That was something he could at least promise; to try.

That night after Mu Qingfang had left. Shen Qingqiu sat on his bed staring at nothing, combing through his hair in the near dark. Xiu Ya lay partially sheathed already on the bed, lighting the room. It was humming away to itself as it did sometimes. He vaguely recognised the song as one of Xie-jie’s.

Without really meaning to his finger came up to where he knew the tattoo was. The skin had healed over flat mere weeks after he’d gotten it so he couldn’t tell precisely where it was by touch alone, but it was there.

Dropping his hands down, he washed his face, tied his hair in a quick plait and slipped out the last of his robes down to his undergarments.

The cloak hung nearby. He didn’t want to keep it. It was a clear mark of a debt he’d owe. It was evidence of a plot. And it was none of those things as well.

A chilly wind whipped around the room making Shen Qingqiu shivered.

Fuck it.

It was… practical.

That was the lie he told himself, slipping under the covers, wrapped in the blanket he would never return, curling around Xiu Ya and tugging the cloak over his head. Beneath the soft fur, Xiu Ya continued to hum through where his cheek rested on its sheath.

He had no issues sleeping that night.

Notes:

Our boy is growing and changing. Slow as it may be.

Right folks! That's this arc finished that, let me check my notes, should have been three chapters long and ended with chapter 14...... : ) Well that did not happen. Which is just as well because then we'd have missed all the character growth since then. Anyway sixteen chapters later, the trail ends of the Molu Shui field trip are over! ^^"

Double Ninth is a festival celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th month in the chinese calendar. Roughly in the later half of October. Sometimes called 'Double Yang' festival due to Nine being a yang number. It's celebrated with visiting graves to clean them, pay respects and present offerings. It's popualr to have Chrysanthemum wine and/or Chongyang cake, a sweet steamed rice and sugar cake. chrysanthemum and Zhuyu plants are like the symbols of this fesitval.

Semi unintentionally because the author actually forgot about their in universe calendar, YQY's visit in Chapter 25 was probably on SQQ's birthday with the intention being to spend some time with him. That did not work out :/ QiJiu, why you like this? Also bonus points to anyone who remembers Hallmaster Li threatening to tell the hallmasters when SQQ's birthday was to get him to attend the mid autumn festival.

 

Next time: A time skip, a trip to the demon realm and this author figures out every way possible to cuddle Shen Qingqiu because why not?

Chapter 28: For Business and Pleasure

Summary:

We have a time skip and Shen Qingqiu goes on a personal trip to hunt for information.
Or Alternatively
Shen Qingqiu goes to visit four different women and a man, and breaks into a logistics office.

Notes:

HELLO THERE! GUESS WHO GOT HIT WITH THE AO3 CURSE! So anyway I'm now moving house, getting a new job and going back to Uni so updates will be delayed, patchy and chaotic. Woooo

Anyway I got a third of the way through my outline before I realised I was over 9000 words deep so what was set to be one chapter is now gonna be two, most likely three. Enjoy that when they come out.

Oh and the rating of this fic has gone up because this chapter and past chapters have kinda skirted needing an M rating but plans for future chapters are far more violent and potentially more sexual in nature so better safe than sorry.

Content Warnings: 9K+ word chapter, Prositution, Naked cuddling, general nudity and non-sexual touching, Shen Qingqiu's mental and physical health, Child abuse, Off screen implied murder, A timeskip, biologically accurate foxes, Succubi, this author fucking around with cultivation and the world building again, a cliff hanger sort of.

"Okay, Airplane bro. First off, Imperial politics did not work like that. Second of all, I don't think Jianghu politics should work like that. And thirdly, can I just gensture at the enitre demon realm and ask what the fuck is that? How does that even work? What is their governance system? What do you mean they don't have a stable currency? Stop making Bingge pay with things with his dick, you hack author!"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

The days passed peacefully for the Qing Jing Peaklord.

Yue Qingyuan did indeed come to check in on him. Though, after a bit of dithering, Shen Qingqiu managed to get him to leave with a pointed jab to go bother Mu Qingfang if he was that concerned. Mu Qingfang told him, the next day over breakfast, that the oaf had done just that. Typical.

A few days passed and the next Peaklord meeting arrived. It was a fairly uninteresting affair. None of his siblings had found anything useful, which was both a blessing and a curse.

His arrest report was missing from Bian Jie’s records. Which, whilst a relief, did leave Shen Qingqiu wondering where it actually was. He sent Yue Qingyuan a probing look as Yang Qingfu continued to sulk. The sect leader gave him the same fake smile he always wore, which told him nothing. Bastard.

Wei Qingwei was next to speak about his own paper trail searching and had found no name for the owner of the blood blade either. Which made sense. The less evidence linking Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s blood blade to a criminal they weren’t meant to have the better. The previous Peaklords must have covered their arses and kept his name off the records from the beginning or removed it after he became a head disciple. Either way his shidi was as mystified as Huang Qingying over their nameless demonic cultivators.

The return of the demon captives was uneventful as well. Liu Qingge had taken the crowd to the most stable of the border tears and bullied them through. He and the Bai Zhan disciples had then guarded the tear for two days to make sure the demons didn’t return before heading back to the sect. Barring the impromptu night hunt, nothing else had happened.

The only apparent step forward in the Boar investigation had been his own report. Some of the proposed contacts had raised more than one eyebrow though. Yue Qingyuan had firmly shut down any questions on it. This left meant Wei Qingwei could only nod and add the information to the investigation it had been unofficially decided the swordsmith was spearheading.

In the end, the most startling bit of news actually came from Yue Qingyuan, himself, from the meeting with Head Abbot Wu Wang.

This being that Zhou Hua Monastery had admitted to having been in their lands. Just an outright admittance for trespassing, with not even an apology. Instead, it had been stated the matter was a private affair, so they did not wish for Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s help in the matter. Which was one of the politer ways Shen Qingqiu had heard someone tell another to fuck off and mind their own business.

While the agreed upon boundaries of influence weren’t exactly heavily enforced outside of Huan Hua Palace’s aggressive maze arrays, it was generally accepted that between the great sects that each would stick to their own lands. On the occasions where cultivators might need to cross over those boundaries, the sect of that area would be informed of what they were up to. It was an easy way to stop fellow cultivators being conveniently ‘mistaken’ for rogue criminals and attacked. This had been one of the few ways that the great sects avoided clashing with each other too openly. It kept relations peaceful and tensions down. The boundaries of influence were even signed off on in treaties to prevent any bickering.

So, to have Zhou Hua Monastery so blatantly flaunt this and then tell them to not interfere was enough to make even Yue Qingyuan’s fake face twitch. If Shen Qingqiu had been at this meeting, he might have torn them all to pieces for the disrespect. Luckily for intersect relations, he was not. Instead, Yue Qingyuan had smiled and weaselled out of them a few joint missions to patrol the areas surrounding their shared border. This cleverly gave Cang Qiong Mountain Sect leeway to widen their search for the blood blade wielder deeper into Zhou Hua’s territory without any political backlash.

In return, Yue Qingyuan had promised not to impede with their Abbots’ mission.

What he hadn’t promised Zhou Hua Monastery was that Cang Qiong Mountain Sect wouldn’t be keeping a very close eye on their ‘guests’. All missions from that point on included a brief note to keep an look out for the two ‘visiting’ abbots, Wu Changhei and Wu Changbai, so they could be able to offer them aid. Afterall as honoured guests, it was only natural Cang Qiong Mountain Sect be an attentive host.

The Abbots were located in under a week. Much to their annoyance. Apparently repeatedly having disciples from the sect you were trying to not be noticed by greet you by name and promise not to impede in your work was very off putting for their ‘private affair’. They soon abandoned the area they had been and turned up at one of the joint border patrols a month later, leaving with Zhou Hua Monastery’s people after that.

Yue Qingyuan was a liar. A fake bastard. A conman through and through. But when it wasn’t aimed at Shen Qingqiu, and it rarely wasn’t, it could be damn entertaining to watch him absolutely play people for fools. The day he heard that the abbots had left their lands, tails between their legs, Shen Qingqiu had laughed.

Back on his own peak, Shen Qingqiu didn’t return to teaching classes until the week following the meeting.

He soon found that all his work at maintaining those polite, functional relationships with his hallmasters was gone. If he dared spend his nights finishing his paperwork, his poor ears wouldn’t hear the end of comments about getting enough sleep or not staying up too late the following day. If he missed the midday meal, he was invited to come dine with this Hallmaster or another and watch in horror as they piled up his plate high with food.

Shen Qingqiu blamed Hallmaster Li entirely for this. The man, himself, gleefully took credit for it all, happily sicking any idle Hallmasters on him to ‘keep him company’. As revenge, Shen Qingqiu had hidden the man’s entire brush collection. It took Hallmaster Li three days to find out where most of them were. The ones in the roof’s rafters were still there last Shen Qingqiu checked.

Now, the fact that Hallmaster Su occasionally let him rest his head on her shoulder or knee at the weekly social events was neither here nor there in this discussion. Nor was the fact he had yet to bake for a Hallmaster meeting again since that night. Those were just …coincidental... oddities.

Moving on. The hallmasters weren’t the only ones that had changed recently.

That damn cloak had half his martial siblings acting weird as well.

Qi Qingqi had merely nodded at the sight of him wearing it. Whatever that had meant, he did not know. Yang Qingfu seemed to find something funny about it, Shen Qingqiu had not yet discovered what. Wang Qingqiang used it as an excuse to ramble about various cold weather creatures, providing Shen Qingqiu sat still long enough to listen to his shidi’s rambling and Mu Qingfang now had this sad tint to his eyes which made Shen Qingqiu want to scratch the man’s face off.

Liu Qingge, however, was the weirdest one.

Upon seeing him wearing the cloak, his shidi had smiled. Then preceded to drop by every few days to pester him with some new trinket or dead beast until he was chased away, only to return again a few days later and repeat the cycle again. Shen Qingqiu had no idea what to make of that. He didn’t need another Yue Qingyuan figure gifting him shit out of guilt or obligation. Him accepting his fan back and the cloak had not been an invitation, Shidi!

Even with the knowledge she held over him, Huang Qingying had been the most normal. He had kept his meeting with her. Though what was predicted to have been a tea for two turned into a tea for three when Qi Qingqi had invited herself. This turned into an awkward few moments of failed small talk before Shen Qingqiu fell back to what he had learned worked and produced a Weiqi board.

This was the right choice as the small talk turned into taunts over strategy and their three soon swelled to five when Yang Qingfu dropped by because he was bored and Liu Qingge appearing with yet another trinket to be refused.

Needless to say, when Shang Qinghua had arrived, heading an actually important shipment of fabric goods, he had stood there staring at the lot of them for a good few moments. Shen Qingqiu and Qi Qingqi were locked in a fierce match whilst Huang Qingying cheered them on. Yang Qingfu and Liu Qingge had gotten a little too invested over the game, which had turned into one of their sparring matches in the corner. That afternoon Shen Qingqiu had sauntered home having smugly bested Qi Qingqi three to one, Huang Qingying’s laughter in his ears and the image of Liu Qingge getting kicked in the face living freely in his head.

Still this weirdness over the cloak wasn’t going to stop him wearing it. The weather had finally turned cold enough to frost in the mornings. So, it was only natural he’d want to make use of the garment to battle the old aches in his bones that had just started up again. They were worse this year than the one before. His cultivation still faltering from his episode in Molu Shui and the following trips to Qian Cao Peak.

The meridians in his arms added to this normal occurrence with their own twinges where the old paths had been cut away and the new ones were still establishing themselves. The worst part wasn’t even the pain; it was fighting parts of his own muscle memory that kept expecting to face internal resistance where there now was none. He’d go to light a candle and nearly create a bonfire. A carefully held orb of water boiled or froze if his attention slipped. Even using a qi strand to flick up a dropped brush had sent it clashing up to imbed itself in the ceiling. The entire thing was a learning process, to say the least.

Though apparently, he wasn’t the only one learning. Ming Fan was turning out to be a better teacher than he had planned for. The little beast had quite proudly shown him a dimly glowing night pearl on his mere second check-up of their progress. Shen Qingqiu had had the sudden urge to smash the little light into his face.

After dismissing them, he had taken a calming walk to remind himself that this was a good thing. Ming Fan was developing skills that Shen Qingqiu could make use of in the future and the little beast was working towards a stable cultivation base. The more he cultivated, the stronger his meridians became allowing him to gather more qi and cultivate further. It was the nature of the cycle. With strong meridians, the boy shouldn’t be in danger of qi deviating and, more importantly, of hurting Ning Yingying.

This was good. This was fine. Shen Qingqiu still couldn’t stop himself finding an excuse to privately tutor the boy’s guqin playing the following day. The brat’s hands ended up an ugly purple from fan shaped bruises as Shen Qingqiu vented out his frustrations.

Eventually, another Peaklord meeting came to pass giving only the amusing news of the abbots’ departure. A week after that, his and Mu Qingfang’s regular breakfast and dinner agreement came to an end. It had been three months. Mu Qingfang still continued to check in on him for a week afterwards but only in the afternoons, then not at all. For the first time in a long time, Shen Qingqiu woke to no expected visitors. He ignored the slight hollow left where his shidi would be each evening meal and instead made full use of his new freedom.

With no new results in Wei Qingwei’s hunt, Shen Qingqiu was getting antsy. He needed to know who had killed that boar. Meditating on the problem for a few nights, he came to a possible course of action. Shen Qingqiu was still within the time he had planned to be in seclusion, so most of his out of sect affairs were still on hold until next summer. But he now had no reason to leave them like that. So, the following day, Shen Qingqiu set up a friendly meeting with the calligraphy seller he used in a nearby city. A city that happened to be less than a incense stick’s sword flight from the town that housed the Warm Red Pavilion.

The seller was naturally delighted that the predicted yearlong lull in artwork had been cut short. With that the official reason he would be leaving the sect for over a week was secured. The off the books reason was one that now had Yue Qingyuan frowning.

“Qingqiu-shidi wishes to help Wei Qingwei’s investigation?” said the man.

“Not directly but yes,” said Shen Qingqiu sharply blowing on his fresh tea, “this one has certain contacts that could provide us more information than aimlessly patrolling the border.”

“Certain contacts.” Yue Qingyuan sighed. They were in the Bamboo hut. A kindness that Shen Qingqiu was allowing, if only to soften up Yue Qingyuan. Still the man was being difficult. “The last time this sect leader let Qingqiu-shidi leave-”

“This one is aware of what happened last time. If the Sect leader has any concerns Mu Qingfang has checked this one over already.”

Yue Qingyuan still looked reluctant.

“Zhangmen-shixiong. Let me find out who this fucker is then we can take a more above-board route to make them regret ever poking their head out of whatever hole it was hidden in before.”

Yue Qingyuan pursed his lips but ultimately his shoulders sagged, and Shen Qingqiu knew he had won.

“Fine. But this shixiong would like you back before the Peaklord meeting.”

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes. “Yes, Zhangmen-shixiong.” He said mulishly.

Permissions gotten; Shen Qingqiu spent the next week preparing for the trip. A few letters were written and sent off, lessons were organised, and important tasks delegated. Liu Qingge had thankfully been off peak when Mu Qingfang had stopped visiting and wasn’t set to return until after he left, which meant Shen Qingqiu was in no danger of having to spar with the brute yet.

Thus, the night before the morning he was to officially head out, Shen Qingqiu packed up his qiankun pouches, dressed himself in plain clothes and quietly left Cang Qiong Mountain Sect just after the disciples’ nighttime curfew. There was little point in him sleeping on the peak only to fly over the next morning. It was far more productive to get a good night’s sleep in Xie-jie’s arms.

Xiu Ya touched down just before the Warm Red Pavilion began to wrap up for the night. This unfortunately meant Xie-jie was already with a customer. However, En-jie was lingering near the entrance and immediately captured him for herself. Shen Qingqiu followed her up to a bedroom with little complaint. En-jie however had plenty of complaints. Apparently, her man was playing her around.

He had the wonderful position of listening to this being hugged to En-jie’s ample chest.

“And then he said, ‘Of course I love you I just need a little more time.’ Can you believe that?” continued on En-jie, absentmindedly playing with his hair in a way that sent tingles down his spine.

“Hmm,” replied Shen Qingqiu barely coherent, his head pressed down by her arm across his shoulders. At some point they had stripped down to their inner robes and curled up in bed under the covers. He was barely awake by now.

“Exactly. This one is beginning to suspect he’s not even trying to save up for me.” En-jie sighed and cupping Shen Qingqiu’s jaw, she tilted his head up so the length of his neck now rested over her sternum. “What do you think?”

“This Tian thinks En-jie is wonderful and her man is a fool to not realise that.” Shen Qingqiu mumbled, tilting his head to the side to press a kiss into the flesh there.

“Thank you.” Said En-jie giving his head a scritch as a reward. He tightened his arms around her waist, repositioned his legs to not be resting on hers and sighed.

The next morning, he washed and then left early. En-jie wasn’t awake enough to see him off but he left her a bag of money regardless before heading downstairs to pay the brothel proper and put in a request for Xie-jie that evening.

After that, he found a private patch of woodland nearby to change into his Peaklord robes and address any lingering signs of the brothel.

Once more the second ranked Peaklord of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, Shen Qingqiu took to the skies and arrived in the nearby city within half a shichen. The calligraphy seller was very pleased to see him and did not waste any time before getting down to business. Over the course of the morning and most of that afternoon, Shen Qingqiu sorted out commission requests as well as suitable payment. It was all fairly mindless work that afterwards had himself and the calligraphy seller idly discussing gossip.

“But enough about the cost of ink, has Peaklord Shen heard the rumours recently?” said the man suddenly, glancing at Shen Qingqiu out the corner of his eye.

“This one has heard many rumours. Which rumours in particular do you refer to?” Shen Qingqiu replied loftily.

The calligraphy seller cupped his hand and glanced around before whispering, “They say the emperor is dying.”

Oh. Now that was news.

“Any confirmation of who the new heir is?”

The calligraphy seller snorted. “No, not since the crown prince’s riding accident last year. The third, sixth and fourteenth princes have all been readying their forces from the sounds of it though.”

Shen Qingqiu sighed. “It seems we are in for troublesome times.”

“You are telling me!”

Finishing up their conversation, Shen Qingqiu next headed not back to the Warm Red Pavilion but through the city to a certain tailor’s shop. Appearance-wise, he only switched out his guan for a plainer one before entering. The shopkeeper recognised him on sight and brought forward his order with little hassle. Shen Qingqiu flipped open the package and leafed through the items quickly. Most were embroidered scarves though the bottom layer held a detailed silk woman’s outer robe. Satisfied, Shen Qingqiu repackaged the goods and paid the man handsomely before storing the package in his qiankun sleeve and discreetly leaving.

Xie-jie was waiting for him when he returned to the Warm Red Pavilion that evening. The manager held her downstairs long enough to reel off enough songs to satisfy anyone not staying the night. The brothel didn’t keep a locally famous pipa player around to just bed clients after all. Shen Qingqiu didn’t mind. He ordered food, tea and enjoyed Xie-jie’s skilled playing along with the rest of the crowd.

At the end of the performance, Shen Qingqiu skilfully whisked himself and Xie-jie out of there. The pipa player gave him a kiss on the cheek as he asked for a bath to be prepared before taking them both to one of the upstairs pleasure rooms. Once in her room, Shen Qingqiu flopped onto the floor and Xie-jie began to divest herself of her hairpins and robes.

“I thought you would be in touch more often. It’s been nearly four months, Tian-di.” She scolded him. Shen Qingqiu cracked a lazy smile.

“I got attacked.”

“What?” She said, pausing in her motions.

“By my sect’s doctor,” clarified Shen Qingqiu, pressing his cheek into the carpet. “This one wasn’t allowed out.”

Xie-jie tapped the hairpin she had removed lightly against her vanity stand. “Did that have anything to do with you crying blood on your last visit?”

Shen Qingqiu covered his face with his hand. “Maybe” he said, his reply muffled.

He heard Xie-jie tut as she place the hairpin down with a clink.

“Didi,” she began but Shen Qingqiu was saved from her scolding by the arrival of the bath.

Shen Qingqiu stayed on the floor as a pair of servants carted hot water into a tub with skilful efficiency before leaving just as efficiently.

Xie jie combed her fingers through her hair, pins all removed, then stood. She glided past his prone form making sure that the tails of her thin underrobe trailed over his knee as she went.

“Will Didi be joining his Jiejie for a bath?” she asked coyly.

“This Didi will not.” He replied, smirking at her surprised face. “There is little point tonight. Unless of course, Jiejie demands it.”

“Ha. This Jiejie would never demand such a thing.” She said haughtily removing her robe and sinking into the water with a purr.

“Tough day?” He asked, finding the energy to slip from his own clothes.

“A tough month.” Xie-jie said leaning forward to rest her arms on the side of the tub, then her chin on her arms.

“Oh?” He hummed setting Xiu Ya on the floor followed by his belt.

“The current manager wants to train me to replace her.” She dropped her face into the water to blow a bubble before raising her head to face him, eyes closed. “How did it go with your Shidi?”

“Fine. We hugged it out and he is back to annoying the piss out of me.” Answered Shen Qingqiu far too quickly. “The manager wants you to be her successor?”

“Yes.” Xie-jie said. She opened her eyes then saw his expression and quickly said. “Don’t start. I’m still of two minds about the entire thing.”

“I thought you were content here?” he asked, getting undressed momentarily forgotten.

“I am… content enough. I am clothed. I am fed. I have a wonderful bed that I have to share a lot less than the other girls in this place. The other girls are fun to tease. The customers aren’t always horrible. It’s fine. It’s safe.” She said stroking at the noble crest branded into her thigh. “I just had hoped, I might... like the love songs and stories. Might have been able to leave here by this point.”

Xie-jie shook her head. “Silly idea really. Do you even know how old I am? Practically a grandmother in comparison to the other working girls.”

Shen Qingqiu stared at the ceiling. “I could-” he began after a moment.

“You could what?” she said bitterly. “’Marry me’? Ha. So I could spend the last few decades of my life with no sex life, and you can spend the next few centuries as a widower? We’ve been over this. It just doesn’t work. I would want a husband, not just a friend.”

Shen Qingqiu could say nothing to this. He knew he’d never be able to take Xie-jie to bed with any honest enthusiasm, as much as he enjoyed her touch. There was something broken in his mind when it came to sex. Naked cuddling caused no issues. But doing those same actions with the intent to fuck felt wrong. So wrong. Branding, burning cold hands over his flesh leaving only pain as he smothered his screams. Sweaty palms groping under his clothes late at night with nowhere to run. Lewd comments and dangerous looks. A blade held tightly in his hand as he slept. It made everything feel wrong. And he knew that was not how a man was meant to feel partaking in sex.

“And freedom?” Xie-jie continued. She trailed a finger through the water absentmindedly. “I don’t know what to do with that. At least here I can play for an audience and gossip away. I just don’t know if I can stomach preparing girls for this line of work.”

She was huddled in the tub now, arms curled around her knees.

Sighing, Shen Qingqiu made his way over and took Xie-jie into his arms. The water soaked his inner robe but it was warm.

“You’ll make the right choice," he murmured into her ear, "and I’ll be here to support you whatever it is.” Xie-jie pressed her forehead into his shoulder, gripping damp spots into the back of his robe.

“Thank you,” she said.

They stayed like that for a moment, when they separated Xie-jie’s face was red. He gently cupped her cheek and stroked the puffy skin.

“Finish washing up and let us both get some sleep.” He said, giving her forehead a kiss.

Swallowing, Xie-jie nodded.

“Didi, could you play for me?”

Shen Qingqiu exhaled softly. “Any tune in particular?”

Xie-jie shook her head. “No, just something.”

Nodding, Shen Qingqiu stripped off his wet inner robe, leaving himself bare bar his inner trousers. Fishing around in his qiankun sleeve, he pulled an old guqin onto his lap. After adjusting the strings, he began to play a simple piece to warm up his hands.

The room was peaceful then. The only sounds were the pluck of strings and the sloosh of water as Xie-jie bathed. Incense was heavy in the air, warming the base of Shen Qingqiu’s lungs as he played.

After a few basic pieces, he let his fingers wander. The tunes lost their neat airy quality, replaced with a more spontaneous pleasant sound. Eventually, he found himself repeating the same few chords over and over again in a rhythmic tune, similar to those used with a ballad. Xiu Ya seemed to like it, singing noiselessly along with the sound.

“A new song?” asked Xie-jie as she joined him on the floor. Her hair had been towelled dry and oiled till it shone like a dark pool of fine black silk.

“I don’t know.” Shen Qingqiu answered. Memorising the chords, he quickly sketched a note of them on a spare scroll.

“Something to think on then.” Xie-jie said resting her chin on his shoulder.

“Hmm.” He agreed, closing his eyes. Absentmindedly, he set the guqin aside and rolled over to fall into her lap, the bridge of his nose buried in the soft flesh of her thigh. It smelt of soap and the perfumed oil she had used on her hair.

A set of nails found his head and scratched little circles into his scalp. ”Sleepy?” Xie-jie asked softly.

“Hmm.” Shen Qingqiu replied, more yawn than word.

“Sit up.” Shen Qingqiu whined. “Come on, Didi. Sit up.”

Begrudgingly opening his eyes, Shen Qingqiu forced himself to sit up. Xie-jie dragged him half crawling up onto the bed, kneeling over her thighs to sit comfortably in her lap.

His head tucked itself into Xie-jie’s neck. As she ran her fingers up and down his spine, uncaring of the ridges of scarred flesh.

“Maybe you should let that doctor of yours kidnap you more often.” She murmured, poking down his spine more.

“Hng?” he grunted. His brow furrowed but his eyes still closed from where they sat against her shoulder.

“You’ve gained weight. It’s made you far nicer to cuddle.” She joked pulling him briefly into her arms to squish as if proving her point.

“My apologies for being so horrible to cuddle before this.” He said sarcastically. He got a pinch on the hip for that.

“You being so thin has always had me worried.” He grunted at that, laying obediently boneless against her shoulder. “It is good to see you looking healthier.”

Soon her hands wandered from his hips, back up his shoulder blades and over to rub a trail ticklishly over his collar bone as she pressed a kiss into his neck. They then moved down his upper arm before freezing. A single finger traced over the now faded purple line where his arms had been cut open.

“What did they do?” She asked mouth pressing into his throat.

“It was required to fix an old wound.” His eyes were still closed.

“Is it on both sides?” Her head tilted to look as her hands found the line on the other arm. “Yes. Goodness.”

“All healed now.” He murmured pressing a wet kiss into her shoulder. “Doesn’t even hurt.”

“But did it?” She pressed.

“Not important.” He got a light smack for that.

“Yes, important. Didi, you don’t have to be in pain.” Shen Qingqiu flushed head to toe. This was like his talks with Mu Qingfang all over again.

“Yeah. Yeah. I got it. I know.” He huffed.

“Grumpy.” Was whispered in his ear and all of a sudden, Xie-jie leant back causing them both to tip back onto the bed proper.

Shen Qingqiu raised his head out of the pillows to look her dead in the eye. “Yes.” He said flatly, making her laugh.

They rearranged so he was no longer kneeling over her but tucked into her side. The lamp was doused and holding each other close, they both drifted off to sleep.

Come morning, Shen Qingqiu was woken to fingers brushing through his hair and Xiu Ya whining up their bond. He ignored both, wrapping his arms around the nearest warm thing, a stomach in this case and tucking his face into it. Xie-jie giggled at this.

Though he should have really been aiming for an early start, it was well after midday by the time he left the brothel. Xiu Ya huffed under his feet as they flew further off to the west, towards a tear in the border between realms.

It was a known fact that the demon realm did not perfectly line up with the human realm. On one side, the distance between the tears between realms could be only a few li but on the other, those same tears could be hundreds of li apart. The location of the tears also wasn’t static. The points of connection where the two realms brushed against each other, often slid over the landscape. Sometimes vanishing for months or moving many li away only to return the next following year. Still they were reliably regular enough that if you memorised the location of one, it would probably be nearby the next time you looked.

With this in mind, Shen Qingqiu soon arrived at a fork where two streams joined together. Somewhere around here should be his way into the demon realm but first he had to wash and change into something more sturdy than the plain garb he wore to the brothel.

Stripping down, he pulled a block of soap speckled with green. The herb it contained was a neutraliser for the scent of human sweat and skin. While demons themselves didn’t care how human someone smelt, a large number of demonic beasts did. Sometimes the mere whiff of a human on the wind had them charging towards the source to destroy it. Shen Qingqiu didn’t have the time to waste with slaying such creatures.

That was also the reason he was bathing on this side of the tear and not the other. Demonic fish could bite down to the bone, as he’d unfortunately learned. Scraping his skin and hair, Shen Qingqiu applied the soap liberally. He also used it to clean the dark brown knee length robes he had pulled from his bag. They were made of tough fibres but with no arrays built in that could identify him.

Scrubbed enough, Shen Qingqiu changed clothes. He easily pulled the water from himself as he stepped on land and reorganised his belongings into the qiankun sleeve of the new robes. His arm braces were changed out for proper but more uncomfortable arm guards, as he slipped shin guards under the outer layer of trousers. Lastly, his long hair was plaited up tightly and wrapped into a long bun close to the base of his skull.

By the end of it, the only thing that remained to identify him as Shen Qingqiu was Xiu Ya. Even then the sword’s guard was wrapped securely in dark leather and its normal brilliant white sheath was traded for a dull leather one that bore many scuff marks. Pulling out a scarf, Shen Qingqiu folded it in half diagonally and tied it over his nose and mouth.

It wasn’t perfect. But he would need both of his hands, so a fan wasn’t an option.

Checking himself over in the river’s reflection, Shen Qingqiu found that his appearance was good enough and drew Xiu Ya. After an incense stick of circling around, he spotted the telltale break in the air that signalled the crossing point. Landing, he sheathed Xiu Ya and threw a stone ahead of him to check. Sure enough, a half a dozen chi ahead of him the stone vanished without a sound.

Inhaling deeply, Shen Qingqiu cooled his qi down to just above neutral, leaving it just yang enough that his connection to Xiu Ya was only strained, not severed and followed the stone in.

Where in the human realm it had been a forest deep in land, in the demon realm a roiling dark purple sea greeted Shen Qingqiu. He stepped carefully onto a white jagged tooth of rock as large demonic beasts screamed around him, flapping and diving for food. To his right barely visible in the morning gloom, a huge cliff face of the same white rock showed countless caves where the beaked bat like creatures were nesting.

A wave struck the outcropping he stood on, shooting water high up into the air and splashing down over him. He shivered, pulled the water from himself before stepping onto Xiu Ya and heading inland. The sword was slow and sluggish, not just from their limited connection but from the demon realm itself. The entire place thrummed with yin qi. A normal cultivator might have found it suffocating but Shen Qingqiu had little difficulty. Instead, he just focused on keeping himself and Xiu Ya in the air.

Though it had been nearly night in the human realm, here the sun was just rising. Shen Qingqiu used the traces of orange dawn light to guide him onwards. After a moment of flying, he spotted a familiar road and finally could estimate where he was. Skimming over dry rocks, he set off to the east hoping to avoid the southern lands north border’s toll path.

After nearing a mountain range, he once again headed back south. By this point the navy sky had shifted through to the daytime red sky that was natural to the demon realm and as the day continued, the winds picked up and the temperature began to climb. Dipping into a gorge, Shen Qingqiu rested for the shichen around the middle of the day before flying off again. The roads on the demon realm were old, well-worn but entirely bare at this hour. This left him unbothered for most of the trip, only having to dodge another traveller as dusk neared.

Half a li outside of the town entrance Shen Qingqiu at last landed. Xiu Ya was content with the flight though still frustrated from the reduced connection. He gave the sword a few reassuring pets on the pommel as he sheathed it and began to walk into town.

Demons did not bother living on the surface. The climate and weather here was far too harsh. Only in the deep valleys were the conditions calm enough that anything could be built. No, demons instead had their towns built entirely underground. Thus, the main gate Shen Qingqiu now approached looked more like a forgotten cave than an sort of official boundary.

He crossed it easily, weather worn with his skin coated in dust. The brute of a guard idling near the entrance didn’t spare him a second look. The blue skinned giant instead continued to pull black fermented meat from a jar and stuff it into his toothless maw. Shen Qingqiu was glad the scarf hid his disgust.

The road sloped down gently into the cave until it came to a steeper set of paved stairs illuminated by strange worms feeding on the lichen growth on the walls. It was far cooler and wetter down here. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Shen Qingqiu walked through a stone arch way and the entire town proper sprawled out around him. The buildings were built five or eight floors high, supported from the cave ceiling at the top, with banners, ropes, bridges and laundry strung chaotically between them. Wrinkling his nose, Shen Qingqiu forced himself to keep walking. The entire place reeked of demons.

Picking his way up a street puddled with who knows what, Shen Qingqiu tried to remember the route out of the main hub. He eventually found the turning that led to an alley way that led to a staircase up to a courtyard and then a long shelf in the side of a cliff that acted as a main road. Following along with the rest of the demonic crowd, Shen Qingqiu kept moving further underground. He passed over the markets full of the foul smells of rotting meat and the screams of unfortunate demons and humans a like.

Eventually, the buildings shrunk in size and the crowd moving along the road thinned. The shelf tipped down dropping the remaining travellers into a baren pit edged with ramshackle tents and herds of hauling beasts of burden. Shen Qingqiu ignored these and continued walking to what he believe to be the west.

The tents continued until the buildings started up again. These ones were made of wood, not hewn stone bricks like the others. They got grander and grander and more ornate the further along he went. Shen Qingqiu’s dust coated figure was beginning to stand out here. The roads were paved and the demons walking around looked less monstrous and more humanoid. Their clothing more refined and their hair up in pins topped with vulgar carvings.

Ducking into an alley way, Shen Qingqiu followed the street round until he smelt incense. After that he just followed his nose.

A pathetic trickle of a stream ran through this part of town. It was barely a chi wide and yet the demons had taken it upon themselves to carve ornate bridges detailing scenes of blood and sex over it. It was the bridge depicting a decapitated head pleasuring a laughing monster that Shen Qingqiu crossed over, finding himself at the entrance to the demon equivalent of a brothel.

A woman with far too many eyes and purple-grey skin leered over at him.

“Need some company, traveller?” She shook a club covered in spikes bigger than his fist at him seductively.

Shen Qingqiu just outright refused to understand Demonic courting behaviour.

“Heard you had a succubus?” he countered. Succubi, as problematic as they were, at least knew enough to not beat his head in as an invitation to sleep with them.

Her expression dropped, before she bluntly turn her head to face inside and bellowed. “Oi Zhenjie! You hungry? Got a customer for you.”

The demoness turned back to him calmly after this. “Good luck, you lunatic.”

A true beauty of a woman stepped out to meet him. Her face was different from the last time he had been here but her eyes brightened at the sight of him. “Hello again. I did not expect you to come back for more.”

“Madame is too beautiful to keep this one away.” Shen Qingqiu lied.

 With that Zhenjie smiled sweetly, and he was dragged through the building. Demons in various stages of undress, fighting and fucking were passed by as he was led up to the topmost floor of the establishment into a small room whose window overlooked the surrounding neighbourhood.

Once inside, Zhenjie’s clawed hands undid the ties of the scarf over his face and, before he could fight it, a fine dust like pollen was blown into his nose and eyes. He had expected this and let the succubus drag him deeper into the room.

Succubi were amusingly more closely related to the various qi eating demonic plants than they were to other demons making them quite literally ‘a flower for a man to pluck’. Their pollen, sometimes called their fragrance, worked as an aphrodisiac that confused their prey, letting them drain more of their prey’s qi directly from their core via their manhood. Interestingly, they could digest the yin qi of demons but preferred the yang qi of humans. This made them one of the rare creatures in both realms that could handle both yin and yang qi.

Shen Qingqiu’s steps grew unsteady his body warmed up and his head swam. A small, sweet mouth found his and kissed him down into the bed. Xiu Ya screamed in outrage by his side as the demon devoured his mouth hungrily searching for wisps of qi.

Even in his state, Shen Qingqiu felt the urge to roll his eyes and grabbed Zhenjie by her neck, flipping their positions. Pinning her claws above her head firmly, Shen Qingqiu turned his attention inwards. Carefully he drew up qi from his root, pushing his normally relaxed system to produce surplus qi. He then fed that qi through his hand into the succubus who moaned at the meal. A quarter shichen later and a food drunk succubus was coiled up in his lap, drawing circular patterns on his chest with a claw.

Shen Qingqiu himself was still flushed from the pollen. His lips nibbled to the point of bleeding and a straining problem lower down that he had fought off Zhenjie from addressing. He then sent her off to fix him a bath, the real reason he was there. As he waited, Shen Qingqiu meditated. At last, a tub of murky water and bathing oils was brought in and he could wash off the pollen and dust from himself and his clothes.  It took another shichen for the aphrodisiac to properly wear off. By then he had shifted Zhenjie into a nest of blankets.

“Be a good girl and wait for me to come back.” He said, opening the window.

“Yes, sir.” She mumbled already asleep.

Shaking his head, Shen Qingqiu made use of her mirror to rearrange his clothing as he redressed. Whilst not perfect, this was still safer than the alternative of trying this covered in the dust of the road.

Outside the lamps were being dimmed, a sign that the underground workday was ending and a sign for Shen Qingqiu to act.

Going to the window, Shen Qingqiu carefully placed a hand on the outside wall and circulated qi around his palms and fingers. The cycling created a force that stuck the hand to the wall, letting him swing out of the window on to the exterior of the building. Whilst Wu Yanzi had been reluctant to teach him, well anything, related to cultivation, the man had gone out of his way to drill this trick into him.  Shen Qingqiu suspected it was only so he wouldn’t have to carry his disciple over walls as they made their escape, but it was useful none the less. Repeating the trick on his feet and other hand, Shen Qingqiu easily climbed down the wall, leaped to the next building over and continued with the cover of the shadows to a balcony high up above the paved street below.

The building he was trespassing in was the main logistics centre for a demonic merchant whose trade deals covered every bit of land outside the northern kingdom. Most importantly for him, it was the location where it was all written down and organised.

The door to the balcony wasn’t locked as nobody expected someone to climb up this high, letting Shen Qingqiu slip into the dark corridor easily. This wasn’t the first time he’d broken into here so he knew the building well. Moving quickly, he arrived at the first of the main offices and tried the door. It was locked.

Not an issue. Shen Qingqiu thought as he placed his hand over the door lock.

Stretching out a thread of qi, he found the metal of the locking mechanism. Carefully, he crooked his finger and shifted the pins up and down one at a time. Once he found the right spot for the pin, he transferred it over to another thread of qi held by a different finger to hold it in place as he manipulated the next pin. His uncle had taught him how to pick locks with tools. Shen Qingqiu had quickly found he preferred to do it was qi.

Before Shen Qingqiu had been sold, he could remember a bell. It had belonged to his mother, a decoration on one of her hairpins. He had hated that bell. Hated it ringing every night, whilst he hid behind a curtain to sleep. Hated it. This hatred had had him one day try to crush it. Now a child that had only just stopped being a baby, lacked the strength to bend the metal of the little bell but in his white-hot fury he had achieved something else. With a cry, he had dropped the fire hot lump of metal and sucked angrily at the wound it had left. The bell on the outside looked the same but later that night Shen Qingqiu’s younger self had found it no longer rang.

He’d felt that same tingly sensation again not long after meeting Qi-ge. It wasn’t anger that time, just boredom as he played with a coin. He played and played and when it came time to hand it to the slavers they had whipped him bloody. How dare he hand them some scrap lump of metal. Shen Jiu had cried and tried to understand because it had been a coin, it had been a coin! Please believe him.

Qi-ge had also been confused. That night, whilst petting a still crying Shen Jiu’s head, he had pulled out the ‘coin’ he had foolishly palmed from one of the slavers. It was entirely deformed.

The following week they had played about with the deformed coin until Shen Jiu found if he focused in just a certain way, his veins would prickle and the coin could be bent. It would only be much later that Shen Jiu learned that the prickling was his qi in use. He didn’t do much with the coin bending, only once or twice making it into a shiv to scare off some of the larger kids. It was sheer desperation that had him making a proper blade to cripple Qiu Jianluo’s horse before it could trample Qi-ge.

The years after that were spent with Shen Jiu keeping that side of himself hidden. It was only when Qiu Haitang had dragged him towards a stall with an old monk who was looking for an apprentice that it came to light. The old monk had been Wu Yanzi. He had taken Qiu Haitang’s pulse and smiled saying that she had some talent. At Qiu Haitang’s insistence, Shen Jiu had reluctantly offered his own wrist. Wu Yanzi’s eyes had met his and he had declared that Shen Jiu could be legendary if he applied himself. Qiu Haitang had then childishly clung to him and made him promise not to leave her. He had only laughed her off and taken her back home. It was later that week whilst out at the market that Wu Yanzi approached him again and taught him a few focusing techniques. Suddenly he couldn’t just bend a needle but make it float when he practiced in the small hours of the morning.

After gaining this small bit of power, Shen Jiu was doomed to fall into Wu Yanzi’s clutches. It was one of those focusing techniques that had let him gain control of the sword in Qiu Jianluo’s office. He’d long since outgrown using them now.

As the pins all found their positions, Shen Qingqiu used his other hand to grip the inside of the lock and turn it open with a click. The door swung open into a very neat office. Closing it behind him, Shen Qingqiu pulled out several blank bamboo scrolls prepared specifically for this and began copying.

Trade records could tell you a lot about the state of the demon realm. If one demonic lord was buying up weapons, you knew he was heading into a fight. If another was buying up silks and fine paintings, you knew they were looking to coax and bribe. As it was, most of the trade here looked fairly standard right up until four months ago until suddenly there was a bump in weapons and maps; maps of the human realm. Never a good sign.

It took him over a shichen to complete the records in this office and then a further three shichen to cover the rest of the offices. The lamps brightened outside as he finished the last few lines. Tiding up his supplies, Shen Qingqiu dried the ink quickly with his qi before stuffing the last scroll into his sleeve. He had what he had came for it was time to leave.

Stepping out into the corridor, Shen Qingqiu’s qi enhanced hearing heard the sound of chatter getting closer. Gracefully he slipped up a wall and was clinging to the ceiling as they rounded the corner. Suppressing his qi down, Shen Qingqiu held his breath as the demons paused to chat directly under him.

A few moments trickled tensely by, before they each slipped into their offices. Shen Qingqiu decided it was safer to make it back to the balcony via the ceilings and continued on that way, back down the outside wall and over in through the brothel’s window.

Zhenjie looked up as he entered, a hungry look in her eye. He sighed at this. Another half shichen of forcing qi into the world’s only known lap cat of a succubus, Shen Qingqiu pulled out one of the embroidered scarves and gave it to Zhenjie.

Demons had no concept of money. Everything was a barter system and the more finely crafted an item was the higher was its value. Fabric was particularly hard to manufacture, and embroidered fabric was a luxury reserved for nobility.

Zhenjie cooed over the scarf wrapping it proudly over her shoulders as Shen Qingqiu made his escape from the brothel. He followed the road back and soon exited the cave just as the sun reached the midday point in the sky. The blue brute was there still, jar empty and discarded on the floor as the demon slept.

Shaking his head at this, Shen Qingqiu headed out into the baking hot day until he felt he was far enough from the demon town to fly. Heading further south, he followed the dried riverbeds and old trade roads towards Sishi'er Hu Gu city. It had historically been located on many small lakes but now sprawled out over where that would have been.

Each building was three or four stories tall with an umbrella like roof that interlocked together to make a haphazard artificial roof. This left Sishi'er Hu Gu city as a much airer but warmer place than the previous town. Shen Qingqiu again set himself down a few li outside of the city borders and walked onwards.

The house he was after was located near the centre of the city, a street away from a park that had been created in the bog of one of the few remaining lakes. The house still looked and unfortunately smelled the same as last time.

Giving the door a short rap, Shen Qingqiu tried not to wince at the strong musky smell that assaulted him as the door swung open.

That was the trouble with Huli Jing. They were cultivator foxes, and foxes by nature stank.

Soft fur looked sleepily up at him before immediately cackling loudly.

“It has not even been five months! You can’t count.” She said, waving him inside.

Shen Qingqiu followed her, relaxing as his nose adjusted to the odour. “Plans changed.” He said bluntly.

“Oh ‘Plans changed’, did they? Mr scary Shimozhe bullied by the whims of ‘plans’.” She mocked, shifting from the form of a woman into that of a fox in the blink of an eye. “You brought payment?” she suddenly asked standing on the countertop of her kitchen pawing at a demonic rodent that had been caught, skinned, gutted and then hung to dry.

“Of course.” Shen Qingqiu said as he approached a table Soft Fur had. It was piled high with everything; jewellery perfume, gnawed bones, fabric scraps and cleaned skulls. She leapt up and kicked it all off, providing him a space to lay out the package from the tailor’s shop. Slipping the other embroidered scarves back up his sleeves, Shen Qingqiu unwrapped the silk outer robe and presented it for Soft Fur to examine. Suddenly a towering human woman, taller than Shen Qingqiu, Soft Fur ran her fingers over the white and pink design.

Keening happily; she locked eyes with Shen Qingqiu and said, “It will do” before stuffing the robe in her mouth and bounding off through her house to store it somewhere in the chaos.

Shen Qingqiu waited and soon she returned crooking a finger at him from behind a doorway and leading him onwards. In what might have been a bedroom was a wardrobe that was missing a door. It was stuffed full, not with clothes but with scrolls. Soft Fur was something of a minor celebrity, if only in how she invited herself to every social event she could and got involved with everyone’s business sooner or later. She also kept a diary which Shen Qingqiu found was worth it’s weight in gold. Five months of the latest gossip in the demon realm awaited him in those scrolls, provided he could read her scribbles.

As he stood there pondering where to start, Soft Fur slunk up behind him, now a half fox, half woman monstrosity.

“Hey Jade Green. Is the reason you are back so early because of the hunt?” she asked, giving his shoulder a poke.

“The hunt?” he repeated, tearing his eyes from the scrolls to stare at her.

“The hunt for you.” She said like it was the most obvious thing.

Shen Qingqiu stared at her. “The What.”

Notes:

Yes, I made pterodactyls the seagulls of the demon realm. Fight me.

Notes of things SJ can do in this fic:
Metal fuckery - Canon. SJ makes a coin sharp and throws it hard enoguh to hit bone on QJL's horse. He also controls and floats the sword during the masacre and judging from how QJL spoke it wasn't a spiritual sword as the Qiu Family appears to not be cultivators.
Moving stuff with mind/qi - SY does this to pick up clothes and throw duvets etc. so canon-plausible for SJ to know
Fire lighting with a finger snap - SY does that as Plantzun so again canon-plausible
Water bending - Not canon 100% for this fic's plot.
Sticking to walls - donghua qi deviating LQG does it so I've kidnapped it to be used here. semi-canon though not by SJ and not in the novel.
Supressing qi for stealth - SY does it whilst spying on SHL so canon-plausible for SJ

Names!
Wu Changhei & Wu Changbai 无常黑 & 无常白- Wu is the Generation name for Zhou Hua Monastery that means no or not. Heibai Wuchang is a duo deity psychopomp figure from chinese folk religion. Wuchang is often translated as Impermanence and hei黑 and bai白 are black and white. They are sometimes jointly refered to as Impermanence Ghost (Wuchang Gui). Basically these two abbots are Impermanence Black and Impermanence White because they are hunting a ghost. If this seems familiar to you, three characters in Word of Honour use these names.
Zhenjie 贞洁 - Chastity. Yes, I named the succubus Chastity
Jade Green - Cuilu 翠綠- Soft Fur's name for SQQ
Soft Fur - Rouruan Pimao 柔軟皮毛 - I love demons having literal names
Tian-di - This was explain back in chapter 4 but Tian 甜 means sweet and Shen Jiu sounds similar enough to Tian Jiu (sweet wine) to be misheard. Basically the WRP girl's nickname for SQQ
Sishi'er Hu Gu 四十二湖谷 - Forty Two Lake Valley

Also yes whilst we are on it, the Didi and Jiejie thing is kinda a kink thing as well as found family. None of the relationships in this fic are normal, I am not sorry. And I did have to deliberately write in that scene so this fic won't be PipaJiu because my brain will try to make Xie-jie and Shen Qingqiu a couple which is unhelpful for the plot planned out. So No PipaJiu in this fic. My WIP oneshots though are another thing entirely. >.>"

Next time: Cuddling a fox, Xiu Ya vs Demonic Crabs and a terrible plan involving Shen Qingqiu in a dress.

Chapter 29: Trading a false face for a fox's eyes

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu travels around the Demon Realm to collect information and to plot for the up coming Hunt gathering.

Notes:

Ao3 curse continues going strong. Half this chapter was written whilst I was suffering from Covid. 🙃 Which was great fun.

Continue to expect delays in updates.

Content warning: Naked cuddling, A fox being a fox, dual cultivation/qi sharing, Some body horror, Author's brand of cultivation fuckery, human eating mentioned, Cold weather, Twins fusing in the womb, This chapter is not Thalassophobia (fear of deep water and drowning) or Claustrophobia (fear of small enclosed spaces) friendly, Crabs, Tiger ghosts, falling from a high place painfully, questionable omelettes, Shen Qingqiu being a little gender fucky as a treat and some sword abuse.

"I should have known when her name was fucking 'Soft Fur' that this was going to be furry shit. Can we just have a normal plot without the main character falling into bed with a literal fox!!!?"

- Peerless Cucumber

Soft Fur’s own eyes widened in response to his reply.

“Please tell me you were the one that broke into the Holy Mausoleum.”

Oh shit.

Shen Qingqiu pulled the dust covered scarf from his face. And Soft Fur realised without word that no, he fucking well wasn’t! There was a breath of silence before the fox swore.

Movements growing agitated, she began to pace. Her words grew faster and faster as she explained. “They were saying it was a Shimozhe that broke in. Well, they began saying that a few weeks ago when a group appeared having survived an encounter with one. So, I thought…. Fuck. Fuck.”

Scooping her into his arms before her frantic pacing and swearing could escalate any further, Shen Qingqiu guided her to look him in the eye.

“Tell me more about the Holy Mausoleum break in.” Shen Qingqiu said. His own knowledge of the place was limited beyond it being some sort of holy ground or crypt. As far as he knew, the entire place was surrounded by a heavily enforced barrier to only let demons of a significant power level, or the dead enter and leave.

Soft Fur’s canine features melted back into the worried face of a young woman with brown hair.

“Not much to say apart from the fact that one of the entrances was caved in by the culprit. He was still hopping around yelling when the mob found him and chased him through a tear.”

“He got past the barrier?” Shen Qingqiu asked, brow furrowed.

“He broke the entrance from outside the barrier.” Soft Fur said, arms crossed but fingers tapping her upper-arm nervously. “It’s got everyone twitchy. ‘The hunt’ is just a formality to let the nobility claim glory from killing the man.”

“Has it been formally declared?” He asked. If it had, he might be to manipulate some of the warbands to chase Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s own trespassing ‘Shimozhe’.

“Yes and no. Legally it was declared four months ago.” That explained the sudden spike in the weapons trade. “But the proper display of pageantry to organise warbands is set for eight days’ time in the Empress’ Amphitheatre near Shayan ridge to the northeast.”

Shen Qingqiu tutted as he thought this information over. To have a window into what the demons were plotting would be invaluable. Especially if their Hunt led into the human realm and began to cause problems there. Biting the inside of his check, Shen Qingqiu considered the woman in front of him.

“Were you going to attend?”

Soft Fur’s face grew mischievous. “I could. Depends. What does Jade Green have in mind?”

“Nothing fixed. We need more information.”

Soft Fur laughed. “We?”

“We. Unless my dearest fox was going to sit the biggest social event of the century out. Seems like a wasted opportunity.” He said coyly.

Soft Fur laughed so hard she barked. Stalking forward suddenly a very large fox prowled around him eight tails covering his clothes in small hairs. “You are always nothing but trouble.” She growled.

His first encounter with Soft Fur had not been a friendly one. Uncle had drag himself and Shifu off to hunt for some frog sheep creature that he’d never been able to find in Qing Jing’s bestiaries. They had spent most of the day setting up baited traps then moved to camp in a cave further down river. The next morning, they had caught a rather strange fox. ‘A Huli Jing’, his Uncle had squawked horror recognising the three tails. Shifu had moved to attack immediately, fully convinced of the rumour that a Huli Jing’s flesh could make a man immune to all illness and disease. He was fought off by Uncle who had been quite clear that was out of the question as well as a false rumour…. probably. Something about no provable evidence. In the end, they had released the terrified fox and kept hunting.

It was on a solo mission much later as head disciple that Shen Qingqiu encountered Soft Fur again. She had remembered his face from all those years ago and tried to lure him into a trap of her own as revenge. He had slipped out of it and retaliated. This led to them spending the next two days playing the most dangerous form of tag around the city before he finally pinned her down long enough to talk. What resulted was a tense agreement; she wouldn’t try to kill him, and he would make it worth her while to aid him. It had worked so far.

“Yes.” Shen Qingqiu said turning to keep eye contact as the fox laughed and shock her head. “Trouble that needs your help to get him into that event.”

“Oh yes. Because that will be so simple.” Snarked the fox, pushing up against him.

“But not impossible?” he prodded.

“Give me a few days to plan. In the meantime, I have a dinner to attend to.” She said, shrinking back to a more ordinary looking fox. “Enjoy my diaries~”

With that she darted off into the rest of the house. There was the sound of multiple objects falling over and Soft Fur physically digging through her mess before dashing out the door with a loud slam.

Shen Qingqiu ignored her antics, stripped out of his dust covered outer layers and focused of clearing out a spot to work. He had once, driven mad by the clutter, cleaned Soft Fur’s house top to bottom. When she had returned, he had been clawed at relentlessly because now she didn’t know where anything was. He had learned his lesson that day: Do not clean the fox’s den.

 An incense stick of moving various objects out the way, he unearthed a small table stained with ink and a heavily worm bamboo mat.

Pulling out his own inkstone and brushes, he opened the first scroll and began to copy it all down.

It was mostly idle local gossip. Demon X was sleeping with Demon Y whilst their husbands were out of town. Demon A was selling counterfeit human meat. Demon C said that Demon D told them that Demon F overhead Demon Z telling Demon E that Demon B was now doing business with Demon Q.

Still any information was useful. He would have to properly process this trip’s haul when he got back to Qing Jing Peak. A task that would no doubt take many weeks. There was a reason normally he only visited one source of information at a time. Copying it might take just a few shichen but analysing it took far longer. Still, if it helped him find the poacher who killed that boar, this would be well worth it.

It was many shichens later that the front door opened again, and a very giggly and wobbly woman dressed in a mix of oranges and reds flopped into Shen Qingqiu’s back.

“How are you still working? Borrrrinnggggg~” Soft Fur slurred, her fur carrying the hint of demonic spiced wine.

“You have written a lot in these past months.” He replied, keeping up his pace of copying.

“Not that much.” She whined crawling around his side as a fox to lay in his lap. Unable to fully resist, Shen Qingqiu gave her scritches behind the ears with his spare hand.

By the time he was done, Soft Fur was contently blissed out in his lap, head on his thigh whilst her eight tails lay across his back. The fox musk had gained an edge that smelled a bit like violets.

Packing away his scrolls and writing supplies, he now had both hands free to dedicate to petting.

Looking very content, the fox rubbed her snout against his thigh and sighed, “You finally finished?”

“Yes.” Shen Qingqiu said with a yawn. “All done.”

“Are you heading to Four Fingers’ tomorrow?” Soft Fur asked. Shen Qingqiu nodded. “Will you need qi?” She continued.

Shen Qingqiu thought for a moment and then reluctantly nodded again. At that answer, the fox under his hands grinned then grew in size until her head was the length of his leg. Before he could stop her, she had snapped him up into her jaws and half carried half dragged him through the house to drop him on a bed covered in drool.

“Gross.” Was his only reply as a elven chi long fox pushed him around, pawing at his underrobes until he removed them.

He was immediately smothered by a giant half human half fox woman wrapping around his back from behind. Giant clawed nails scratched over his heart and middle dantian, leaving red trails over his skin. Her muzzle tilted his chin out the way as she pushed in closer, her thighs trapping his waist so that her knees were hooked over his hip bones.

Then ticklishly, there was a prod of qi against his own seeking entry. Even with what was arguably a woman, Shen Qingqiu had to stifle the urge to thrash. It was fine. This wouldn’t hurt. He just had to calm down. Breathing in, Shen Qingqiu forced his body to relax and let the qi begin to trick in.

Ignoring Xiu Ya’s grumbling from somewhere on the floor as he placed his hands on Soft Fur’s thighs and returned the qi flow up through her legs. After a while the stream of qi coming in and qi going out had enough momentum that Shen Qingqiu hardly had to do anything to maintain it but just let it happen.

His meridians and insides prickled as his qi got diluted more and more with bestial fox qi. Still yang like his own but different. The lack of the painful hollow feeling eventually let the last of the writhing in his gut dissipate. The flow of qi was a calming sensation as it stayed strong but steady.

At some point, he fell asleep. It had been a long few days.

He woke up being crushed by a fox.

Feeling Shen Qingqiu move, Soft Fur laughed and pressed him further into the bed. His entire body was trapped beneath her. Craning his neck up, the damned fox licked up his neck. He grunted at this, shivering at the spark that raced up his spine from the action. His own tongue felt strange in his mouth but he was still able to get out a muffled “Get off.”

Soft Fur chucked again at this and bit the back of his neck gently, before rocking back to sit entirely over his hips still leaving him pinned. Shen Qingqiu ignored the way the bite and the weight had fuzzed out part of his brain and focused on the strangeness of his mouth.

There was an old debate on whether the qi took the shape of the body, or if the body took the shape of the qi. In Shen Qingqiu’s personal case, it was the body taking the shape of the qi. Having spent what remained of the night and most of the morning being fed fox qi, Shen Qingqiu now could feel the points of a small set of fangs in his mouth. He suspected if he looked in a mirror, his tender eyes would now bear a fox’s silted pupils. The pungent fox scent around him already felt stronger too though less offensive than the previous day.

Most human bodies wouldn’t have changed this fast to match a new qi source, but Shen Qingqiu had been deliberately conditioned to absorb and expel qi freely. It was great for making use of qi rich natural resources and feeding his crooked Shifu plenty of qi. Not so great in that his body could be more easily influenced or even possessed by outside forces.

Thankfully the fox features wouldn’t last long. Most would be gone by the end of the week as his own qi regained influence of his body.

Soft fur continued to sit on his butt, now playing with strands of his hair.

“What time is it?” he mumbled into the bed.

“Some point after noon.”

“I need to move.”

“Or you could not.” Replied the fox, finished her first braid and moving on to the next.

Though his hips were pinned, Shen Qingqiu still was able to twist his torso to raise an eyebrow at her. Soft Fur’s human appearance had also seen improvement from being fed his qi all night. The naked woman smirked down at him defiant.

Brat.

Shen Qingqiu flexed his legs a little to get blood and qi to circulate around the muscles before sharply snapping his hips up and to the side. Soft Fur went sprawling off to the side with a shriek.

“This one did tell you to get off.” He chuckled, sitting up.

“Tsk. No fun.” She complained before moving around the room to slip into the robe he had brought her the day before. She barely tied it closed, the garment near falling off her figure. See this is why Huli Jing were conflated with Succubi all the time. That and a notable historical figure resorting to human cauldron usage on over a hundred men.

Shen Qingqiu himself found his inner robes from the night before and a very pouty sword. Not even pommel strokes or the offer of sharping its blade could please Xiu Ya this morning. He could feel it’s disgust of having to now feed on fox qi, but it was necessary for his business today so the sword would just have to cope. Going back to the other room, he found his boots, outer robe and scarf and put them together in a pile.

Then from his qiankun pouch he pulled out a comb, ribbons, pomade, some wire and a hat. Sitting at Soft fur’s very cluttered vanity, Shen Qingqiu began to prepare for the day.

First, he combed out his fox-messed nest of hair. Even having been kept in a bun until Soft Fur had decided otherwise, it had still gained an enormous amount of dirt, dust and fox hair. Having combed it out fairly clean, he plaited it on each side high on his head. Taking the wire, he forced a little qi into it to create an angle, then fused another bit of wire onto the first piece. Taking a braid that was then carefully woven through the wire to create a fake ear shape. Applying a few more pieces of wire and pomade to hold the shape, Shen Qingqiu focused and watched as the fake fox ear flexed as he used his qi to bend the wire inside of it.

Pleased with his work, he repeated it on the other side. After testing, both ‘ears’ were able to move naturally. An oversized black Zhouzi jin cap then covered both his hair ears and his actual ears to complete the illusion. He looked like a weak Huli Jing who was poorly hiding his less human features. His eyes and teeth only added to the image. Perfect.

Washing down his face, Shen Qingqiu set about applying make up to further reinforce his disguise. His naturally too pale skin was left as it was, but his peach foundation was applied to the upper portion of his face and nose. Mixing in a touch of red, this gave a clear colour gradient line between the top of his face and the bottom similar to the natural divide on a fox. His eyes were elongated in bright red with a geometric huadian design set between his brows. Lastly with a bit of pale foundation, he erased his lower lip and drew in a smiling upper lip in black. Even with his face resting a neutral frown, the upturned corners gave him a cocky smirk.

Admiring his reflection, Shen Qingqiu entertained a stray though of maybe outlining his eyes more often, before banishing it with a sigh. It would have to be very subtly applied to fit with his current scholarly image and risked inviting unwelcome advances. Pity.

Giving himself another look over, Shen Qingqiu rubbed a smudge of black to the underside of his nose and called it good.

The last piece of this disguise was a small set of metal pieces that were bent around his nails to give him proper claws. Even under the black glove he slipped on they could still cut and scratch. These were combined with an orange outer robe that had a few protection arrays built just in case.

In truth the entire disguise was probably overkill, but it helped reduce all suspicion of him being a cultivator. After all, if he looked, smelled and acted like a fox, so what else could he be?

Content, Shen Qingqiu stored Xiu Ya up to the handle in a qiankun pouch in the inner folds of his robes. The sword was still in a huff. Luckily, he shouldn’t need it. Demon’s themselves might be dangerous but they liked to keep their cities peaceful.

Soft Fur was ripping apart some dead creature for her breakfast as he reemerged.

“Cute~!” Was her only comment. Shen Qingqiu tsked at that and left the house towards the northern part of the city.

Four Fingers was a fence. One that liked to deal in items from the human realm, particularly those belonging to cultivators.

Shen Qingqiu confidently leaped the locked gate to the courtyard out front of the shop. Readying himself, he knocked sharply on a wooden door.

“Go away! We are closed!” Came the nasally voice from inside.

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes and began to paw aggressively at the wood, letting his metal claw tips scratch into the wood.

“Fuck. It’s the damn fox again.” Swore the demon. “Let him in.”

It was not Four Fingers that greeted Shen Qingqiu but his sister Whole Hand. The fair faced woman waved him in her round eyes bright even as her brother yelled behind her. “Weren’t you meant to be off hunting for the best part of a year?”

The dour looking demon asked his long feather like ears twitching with annoyance. He had no nose and had a dental pad on the upper half of his mouth similar to a cow or goat. His hands were exceptionally long but the pinkie on both of them was heavily malformed, giving the demon his name.

Shen Qingqiu bowed deeply with his hands in front of him, his ears rolling back flat under the hat. “Jade Green did indeed say that but then Jade Green heard there was things happening. Drama. Secrets.” Shen Qingqiu’s tone was partially childlike and partially a poor mimic of Shang Qinghua trying to get through the monthly budgets as fast as possible. His ears flicked up mischievously on the last two words and sent, Four Fingers a troublesome grin.

“The hunt? Pah-! Not my problem.” Scoffed the demon.

“Oh?” asked Shen Qingqiu.

“It’s not! And it shouldn’t be your problem either.” He grumbled before getting up to guide Shen Qingqiu’s way.  “Right, let’s get this nuisance something to fiddle with.”

Shen Qingqiu skipped after the demon, sending Whole Fist a subtle wink as he went past.

The room he was led to was sectioned off with a tattered curtain. Inside were eight bookshelves of various heights, widths and wood types piled high with Four Fingers’ more exclusive wares. Demons didn’t tend to use arrays owing to yin qi behaving differently in array formats. Wu Yanzi, during some of his experiments with it had turned simple light talismans into deadly bombs that could fry a creature’s meridians. With the risks that high, most demons just relied on a solid lock or layers upon layers of interlocking curses like the Holy Mausoleums barrier.

This meant a lot of what Four Fingers’ collected, he couldn’t open. Thus, Shen Qingqiu was allowed first dibs on these items in return for prying them open. Identifying and by-passing arrays had been one of the few things Wu Yanzi had bothered to teach him and it had stuck. Shen Qingqiu still sucked at designing unique arrays himself, but it had only taken him a few months to figure out a work around for the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect style.

Gesturing to a desk, Four Fingers waddled around the room and began to pile up a variety of objects. A lot of which, as per normal, were from Huan Hua Palace. The Sect’s bright gold trimming made for objects prime for resale even if they were basically a glorified paperweight. Out of the Four Great Sects, Huan Hua Palace and Zhou Hua Monastery relied the most on arrays. Cang Qiong Mountain Sect used its fair share, but they were mostly limited to buildings and portable barriers rather than small diaries and personal objects.

Today in amongst the many Huan Hua Palace disciples waylaid personal travel luggage and ration supplies was a different item, a plain wooden box. Picking it up he could tell it was arrayed in Tian Yi Overlook’s style.

Turning the box over, there was no obvious markings beyond the locking arrays.

“The plain one is the one to catch your eye?” Four Fingers scoffed.

Shen Qingqiu flexed his ears, before leaving one cocked upright. “Jade green is curious. Jade Green wishes to ask where Noble Four Fingers gained such a treasure?”

The demon crossed his arms. “Some idiots claimed they’d captured cultivators in blue armed with them sticks with hairs on them. They escaped over night but left their bags behind.”

Sticks with hairs would be horse tailed whisks. Well that definitely sounded like Tian Yi Overlook. And they wouldn’t bother protecting worthless papers with arrays. Hmmm. But surely they would have come back for anything too vital? Strange.

Turning the box over again, Shen Qingqiu traced over the arrays. It took him an incense stick’s worth of time to eventually find an in. Using his claws and a burst of qi, he scratched a new channel between the two main layers of the array, creating a smaller sub array that interfered with both. The new array was a harmless sort that filtered and condensed water vapour from the air. This sub array neatly cut out vital components for the other two, letting him manipulate them further until at last, with only a little damp gathering on the surface, the box’s lid popped open.

Inside was a zigzag bound notebook. A log for a search mission apparently. Was Tian Yi Overlook also looking for a demonic cultivator? It seemed so though most of the important parts were annoyingly written in code. He’d have to try to crack it later.

Shen Qingqiu pulled out one of the embroidered scarves and pushed it towards Four Fingers as he tucked the documents into his inner lapel. The demon took the scarf, checked it over and nodded.

The rest of the afternoon was spent opening the storage containers and diaries from Huan Hua Palace. None of the storage containers held anything useful to him, just perished rations and tenting supplies. The diaries were more useful. Shen Qingqiu made sure to carefully separate the text from their ornate scroll tubes and book covers. Four Fingers could keep the fake gilded nonsense of Huan Hua Palace.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t expect much to be in the diaries but knowing what was happening day to day inside that maze array was still useful.

That done, he haggled the diaries to be worth an additional scarf and his opening of the storage containers and left the shop. Looping around the city to avoid any tails, Shen Qingqiu saw the windows above him open as night arrived and the city woke up.

Soft Fur had already left by the time he returned but that wasn’t an issue. Shen Qingqiu picked her front door lock and let himself in. The house was no less messy than before. Still, Shen Qingqiu took the time to find a wash basin and remove his makeup and let down his hair. Reorganising the diaries and mission report into his qiankun pouch he then stripped down to his inner robe, pulled out Xiu Ya and collapsed into Soft Fur’s bed cuddling the sword.

Shen Qingqiu awoke to a fox trying to pry his arms open. Her snout probed aggressively against his arms before her jaws opened to tug at his arm. Said jaws missed in the dark and he got to feel just how sharp Soft Fur’s little fangs actually were.

Suddenly a lot more awake, Shen Qingqiu swatted with little strength at the fox. “Use your damn hands.” This was met with a huff.

Opening up his arms, Soft Fur wiggled in. She wrapped her thighs around one of his as his other knee was hooked over her waist, her head burrowing in to lick apologetically at where she bit.

Grumbling under his breath, Shen Qingqiu repositioned Xiu Ya and wrapped his arms around Soft Fur. She was somewhere between a small woman and a fox currently, with a pair of twitching ears right under his chin. Freeing up one hand he couldn’t resist giving them a pet.

“How was your night?” He mumbled, his body ready to just drop right back into sleep.

“Fun.” Said Soft Fur pushing her head further into his hand. “I think I found a way into the Hunt gathering. Still working out how to get you in.”

“Let me know if you make an progress.” He whispered.

“Will do, bossy boots.” Laughed Soft Fur, giving him a small lick. “Did Four Fingers give you any trouble?”

“No. Easy business as always.” He rubbed his thumb along where the ears met her skull and Soft Fur keened.  “I’ll have to head out tomorrow though if I want to be back in time.”

“Safe travels.” She slurred hugging him close. He yawned in response and spent a while just petting the fox before drifting back off himself.

The next morning Shen Qingqiu was awoke to a rather cute sight. Soft Fur had fully squished herself against his chest, a very human figure curled around his waist. He gave her head a few more pets then slowly rolled them over to lay her onto the bed. It was easy then to detangle himself from the pile of limbs. Soft Fur stirred briefly during this but did nothing more than roll over, turn into a fox, cover her muzzle with her tails and go back to sleep.

Giving her one last pet, it didn’t take long for him to bathe the fox musk off himself, collect his belongings and leave the city. Xiu Ya hummed up their bond its mood improved now they were putting distance between himself and the fox. Such a jealous little blade.

He kept south for a very short while before coming across another tear spitting out snowflakes that would take him back to the human realm. For this next stop on his trip, it would be quicker to come out of the demon realm and re-enter further along than spend the week trekking to the borderlands.

After circling to determine the precise location of the tear, Shen Qingqiu cautiously flew through it.

Immediately on the other side was an ice-cold blizzard he should have expected. The temperature change almost more jarring than Xiu Ya dropping a chi underneath him. It was generally not recommended to fly through inter realm tears, as evidently even Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s legendary spirit swords would falter going from one realm to the next.

Shen Qingqiu could still remember his and Wu Yanzi’s mistake of taking rented array flying sword through a tear. They had fallen out the air and only Wu Yanzi sticking himself to a nearby cliff face at the cost the skin on his hands then catching Shen Qingqiu’s flailing leg had saved their lives. Shen Qingqiu was fairly sure they hadn’t relocated his knee joint properly after that incident. It still clicked from time to time.

Xiu Ya thankfully evened out under him, letting him glide down to a snow drift so he could pull the fur cloak out from his qiankun sleeve. He also retied the scarf covering the bottom of his face to now cover his head and ears. Wrapped up against the worst of the weather, he continued on sword down the mountain into the valley below. Snow fell thickly all around him, making it hard to get a sense of the terrain but Shen Qingqiu continued on.

Eventually he recognised a small town that lay deep in the foothills of Zhou Hua Monastery’s natural home range. With a geographical way point, he angled towards the borderlands and kept going. The blizzard had ceased by the time dawn broke. His fingers were painfully cold and despite the cloak, he was shivering all over with half his qi reserves sapped away. Xiu Ya flew low at this point barely staying high enough above the fields to avoid incident, but still they kept going.

Eventually white snow over green leaves gave way to white snow over the grey-black soil of the borderlands. Shen Qingqiu was careful to circle around the small garrison that had developed here, following a mountainside path up to a cave. Flying onwards, he circled up a mountain before dipping down to land.

Pulling the dampness out of his clothing, unfortunately didn’t make him any warmer. Nor did the inevitable fact he couldn’t wear such a blatant display of his identity into the demon realm. The chill the drilled down into his bones after packing away the cloak hurried his actions along as he sheathed Xiu Ya and made his way up a well-travelled path that had been cut into the mountain side. It rounded into a cave and as he continued on, he stepped from the frigid freezing darkness of the human realm into the blistering hot light of the demon realm.

Squinting under the burning sun, Shen Qingqiu retied the scarf over only his lower face and march onwards.

Off in the distance, level with the ground was a roof and below that roof was the foremost central hub of Jianghu’s under world.

Two Tone’s inn was busy as always. It was located far enough from the main towns for demon criminals to hide and in an entirely separate realm for the human ones to hide. It hadn’t changed much over the years.

The demon himself was manning the counter his four arms cross in front of him as he read through the reports. One of his younger brothers towered over him nervously. They all had the same face, block jawed and snub nosed, like someone had rammed it into a square tea tray. Four tusks poked up from both sides of their mouths in even pairs and all but one of the brothers had a crown of five thick horns evenly spaced across their foreheads.

The main difference between Two Tone and his brothers was that while Two Tone barely came up to Shen Qingqiu’s waist. His two-armed brothers were each nearly triple that, each broad with muscle.

Two Tone sighed at the papers. “Idiot, how did you go from counting five sacks to counting seven?”

“Da-ge.” The large demon whined.

“Count them again, Twisty. And get Curly to help you.” The tiny demon grumbled as his brother shuffled off moping.

The innkeeper rolled his eyes and cleared of the counter, appearing and disappearing from behind the bar as he jumped on and off the step built for him.

Shen Qingqiu made is most of the way over, before the demon looked up.

“Ah, the ghost returns. What you after?”

Shen Qingqiu leaned casually against the bar. “Blood blades.”

Two Tone leant in to match his pose. “Buying or Selling?”

“Looking for repair work but if not, I will buy.”

Hopping down, the red skinned demon pulled out a ledger and flicked through it. “Won’t be cheap.” He muttered.

“Never is.” Shen Qingqiu shot back. “Hear any rumours?”

“Rumours cost extra.” Two Tone’s lower blue hands held the book open as he ran a fat red finger down the list to find Wu Yanzi’s account.

Two Tone’s side business was a unique one, in that it traded favours and requests. Potential parties opened an account with the inn, their request was logged and in return they fulfilled someone else’s. Sometimes the requests were simple, other times they were far less savoury. Assassins, thieves, slavers and worse made up most of the clientele here so it was to be expected.

His uncle and Wu Yanzi had held accounts, both of which had still held debts after their deaths. Shen Qingqiu had ended up inheriting them after a massive fuck up on a solo mission. Bleeding heavily, he had limped into Two Tone’s and said he’d make good on clearing the remaining debt on both accounts. Two Tone had recognised him as that kid Wu Yanzi had dragged around so had agreed. One very unpleasant stitching session later, Shen Qingqiu had kept his side of the bargain. It had taken him two weeks and after returning his Shizun had whipped him bloody for ‘running off’, but he didn’t regret it. The information available here was priceless and he wouldn’t have been able to keep his name off the books if he’d opened an account from scratch. In the end after refusing to provide his name, Two Tone had shrugged and claimed he hadn’t wanted to mess with his ledgers anyway so had just kept his account open under Wu Yanzi’s name.

After much page flipping and looking through the many lists, Two Tone rocked back on his heels to meet Shen Qingqiu’s eyes.

“Midnight Mooncatcher Lagoon crabs.” The demon said.

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes. Right, of course.

“How many?”

Two Tone shrugged. “Client wants a barrel full.”

“Wonderful.” Quipped Shen Qingqiu.

“That will only cover a third. Let’s see.” The demon went looking through the ledger once more. Before coming to rest on an entry. “There’s a loose Chang hiding in the caves to the west.”

Shen Qingqiu shock his head. Chang were tiger like ghosts that possessed their victims, tricked their way into the victim’s hometown then slaughtered to their hearts content. Shen Qingqiu never did brilliantly in match ups against neither beasts or ghosts. It was far easier to leave those missions to his Shidis’ peaks.

Two Tone let out a huff and went looking once more.

“Got a request to obtain a ritual tablet from one of the northern princes.” He eventually said.

“I don’t have the time to head that far north.”

“Nah, they be in the south.” Shen Qingqiu rose an eyebrow at this. “The Northern kingdom sent an envoy party down for the Hunt announcement.”

If it was at the hunt, he could find time for that. It did give him an excuse to snoop in on what the ever-secretive Northern Kingdom was up to.

This though in mind, Shen Qingqiu agreed gruffly. “Fine. Got a diagram?”

“Somewhere.” Muttered demon as he hopped down to look. As he went Shen Qingqiu tried hard to ignore the mutilated blue face that was fused to his back. Two Tone should probably have been born with two arms like his brothers and with an extra brother. Instead as some point in the womb the weaker of the two had perished, fusing into his stronger brother. The only remaining signs of this unfortunate brother being the two shrunken blue arms and that face.

Behind them the main doors swung open, letting in two human cultivators. The other occupants hadn’t taken much notice of Shen Qingqiu. Clearly unhuman green slit pupils visible over his covered lower face. But the cultivators spread a mix of both false silence and uneasy murmurs around the building.

“Liu-ge, I’m not so sure about this.” Said one of the cultivators, a plain metal sword strapped to his back.

“Nonsense, old Qin. We’ll be fine. I’ve been here before.” And with that arrogant statement, ‘Liu-ge’ strode forward as ‘Old Qin’ jogged helplessly after him.

“Two Tone.” Liu-ge called out as he took the counter spot next to Shen Qingqiu.

“Busy.” Was heard from under the counter.

Judging by their mismatched uniforms these two were from the garrison. A joint venture by the four sects to promote unity though all but Cang Qiong Mountain sect used it as a useful way to ‘dispose’ of unwanted members of their sects. Cang Qiong Mountain Sect instead used it as a base for research missions into the demon realms, never bothering to contribute to its headcount, maintenance or upkeep. Shen Qingqiu wasn’t sure if that was worse or better.

Liu-ge gave him a guileless grin whilst they waited. Shen Qingqiu stopped staring and decided to ignore him, staring straight ahead.

“Found it.” Two Tone said, reemerged gripping a crumpled piece of paper.

The image was poorly draw with uneven, shaky brush strokes. The tablet was a rectangle with a uneven grid of sunken lines carved into it. This left raised bumps, each decorated with a rune that Shen Qingqiu did not recognise. A rope with a tassel like depiction hung from one corner.

“And you’re sure he’ll have it on him?” Shen Qingqiu asked, frowning at the tablet.

“Should do. I heard it’s going to be a gift for the new Saintess.” Two Tone said with a shrug. “The client has reasons to not want them to get too friendly.”

Shen Qingqiu stored the diagram away in his sleeve. It would be beneficial to break off a budding alliance. If the demon realm was fighting each other, they were less of a threat.

“Fine. I’ll take it.” He said.

“And the crabs.” Two Tone said handing him a net.

“And your crabs.” Grumbled Shen Qingqiu, taking the net and storing it in his sleeve.

Beside them Liu-ge cleared his throat.

“Now that gracious Two Tone is done doing business with-“ The cultivator leaned over to look at the ledger, Two Tone neatly slammed it shut. “- this respectable gentleman. Will he be willing to see to old Lu’s little request?”

Two Tone put one pair of arms on his hips as the other pair crossed over his chest. “Your ration order is in the kitchen. You can collect them after you pay for them.”

No longer needing to stick around, Shen Qingqiu left the men to conduct their business. He would now have to factor coming back to the borderlands into his plans.

Steeping out into the midday heat, Shen Qingqiu headed off between the mountains until he was out of view of the Inn then took to the skies on Xiu Ya. They were flying for a shichen before they passed over a half-covered grotto. The stone was the same orange red as everywhere else but gathered at the base of the grotto was a deceptively slow-moving stream.

Water was a rare resource in the demon realm, yet this network of floored caves collected from an ancient storm remained mostly untouched and there was a good reason for that.

Stepping off Xiu Ya, Shen Qingqiu sheathed the sword and approached the pool cautiously. Taking in a deep breathe, he savoured it as he let it out. He hated this part, but he was on a time crunch.

Stepping one leg into the pool, the tepid water immediately tugged at his foot. This tugging grew more and more forceful as he brought his other leg in and waded further into the pool. Once the water reached his knees, Shen Qingqiu chose to dive forward rather than have his feet swept from underneath him. Almost immediately the hidden current picked him up and pulled him under.

The light of the surface vanished quickly, leaving Shen Qingqiu near blind. He didn’t bother holding his breath, letting the bubbles of air escape his mouth and lungs as his ears popped from the drop. Instead, Shen Qingqiu focused on keeping Xiu Ya close and a tight shield of water closer. This shield cushioned his body against the blows of the old worn stone as he was thrown this way and that.

The underground river had a depth of many li. Shen Qingqiu had originally learned of it tracking the source of a nearby lake up to its source. The water had bubble up out of caves and pools in many small streams that knit back together to form a violent tide. The depths below these pools were a violent maze of fast tides and rock. Each squeezing the river through narrower and narrower tunnels until the water punched them wider. Down and down it roared, dragging him down with it into the pitch-black darkness.

Eventually the flow eased and settled releasing him into a submerged cavern that Shen Qingqiu was quite familiar with after so many trips.

At some point in the area’s near past, some fool had dumped the most toxic crabs known to demon kind into one of the pools. After a similar journey to Shen Qingqiu, they had made this strange under water nook into their personal kingdom feeding on whatever the water gave them and, if the water was not so generous, each other.

This all certainly made catching them for Two Tone easier and was probably the reason he always seemed to get stuck with this job. Once collected the crabs would be processed into a potent poison that was rumoured to be even able to kill a demon as strong as the former demonic emperor. If Shen Qingqiu had known about this cave sooner, he would have offered to collect some to help with that bastard’s defeat. Though his shizun would not have approved.

There was many things he would have done that his shizun would not have approved of.

Shen Qingqiu cleared the trace ghosts of memories threatening to distract him and let Xiu Ya out of its sheath. With a flick of his hand, he gestured with the sword to keep pace with him as he swam further into the underwater cavern the river had led him to.

Midnight Mooncatcher Lagoon crabs loved light. In their native environments, it was easiest to catch them during the day when most demonic predators were hiding from the heat or on the rare nights where all three of the demon realms dim moons shone brightly in the sky. Hence their name. But really any source of light would act as a lure.

Xiu Ya twirled in the water next to him as he approached the main nest site. Coming to a halt, he pointed onwards into the deep part of the cavern. Xiu Ya flashed once at him in acknowledgement and set off through the water. Shen Qingqiu’s qi temperature was too low now to maintain their yang qi bond so he couldn’t feel what the sword was saying only carefully observe it’s actions.  Already he could feel his cold qi pushing out against his meridians. This shouldn’t take long. He’d be fine.

Xiu Ya slipped through the current, with Shen Qingqiu using to the water to push himself smoothly after it. He stuck close to the shadows and remained unseen as around them the flat navy rocks coating the floor and walls began to scutter and grow eyes. Seeing this, he pulled out the net Two Tone had gave him and waited.

Shen Qingqiu kept his distance as the first of the crabs started kicking over to Xiu Ya. The sword dodged the grabbing claws skilfully. It was aided by the crabs' own clumsiness in the water as they paddled fiercely with their back legs after the glowing blade. The crabs would swim close and Xiu Ya would dart away, herding them higher above the cavern pool and closer together. Once the swarm had reached a critical mass, Shen Qingqiu spread out the net and swam up under them, catching crabs and Xiu Ya in one.

He pulled the water around him, to send him shooting up a tunnel at the corner of the cavern towards the distant surface. The remaining uncaught crabs swam after the disappearing light source, but the same water Shen Qingqiu used to push himself up, pushed them down. Eventually they were just too far away to pursue and the last of the crabs gave up. This just left Shen Qingqiu with the long swim back up to the surface.

The tunnel he was using obviously wasn’t the same one that he been dragged down by the current. It was attached to the near stagnant pool and water he’d used to first discover the crabs. His ice-cold qi still pushed eagerly out at his skin. Focus caught between hauling the net and swimming upwards, Shen Qingqiu just shoved as much of it as he could into the surrounding water. Once he surfaced, he could take the time to meditate and warm it back up.

After what felt like shichen, Shen Qingqiu at last saw a pinprick of light above him.

Unfortunately, as he swam closer to the surface it seemed the cave he normally exited through was currently occupied.

“- ake him scream and there is no one here to save you two now.”

Shen Qingqiu surfaced in a dark pool near the cave entrance to one of the earlier cultivators being held aloof by a festering demon corpse pulsing with yin qi.

That would be the Chang Two Tone mentioned earlier.

Said Chang likewise took notice of the person that had just appeared in the pool.

The tiger ghost possessed demon corpse stared. The half drown cultivator rapidly leaking yin qi with a net full of crabs stared back.

Old Qin made a choking sound between them.

Then the tiger threw a qi blast his way which Shen Qingqiu dodged. With no other weapons at hand, Shen Qingqiu threw the net of crabs at the corpse in response. Unsurprisingly, suddenly being attacked by dozens of angry dark blue pincers distracted the Chang and Old Qin was mercifully dropped as it screamed. The crabs wouldn’t do much damage to the ghost, and though deadly to demons, would at worst knock out a human cultivator so Shen Qingqiu feared little for Old Qin’s safety.

“Old Qin!” was yelled from further into the cave as the cultivator spluttered air back into his lungs. Liu-ge was on the ground with his leg bent at a unnatural angle. In his hands, he clutched a spirit-trapping bag.

“You know how to use that?” Shen Qingqiu said, pointing to the bag with his chin.

“Yes?” Liu-ge said looking at him confused.

“Good.” Said Shen Qingqiu sending out a thread of qi. Grabbing onto Old Qin’s sword, he focused back on the flailing Chang who was losing it’s fight with the crabs. With a flick of his fingers, he sent the blade through its skull.

The Chang’s corpse twitched before going still, the yin qi condensing around the body before pouncing out in the shape of a tiger, red lighting crackling for eyes.

It did not get far as Liu-ge pulled open the spirit-trapping bag and aimed it at the creature. There was a mournful howl, and it was gone.

Shen Qingqiu climbed out the pool, coughed up the water from his lungs, picked up his net and left the two men to sort themselves. He had interfered enough. There was a cry of ‘Hey wait!’ behind him.

Walking further down the mountain, he carefully freed Xiu Ya from the many many navy claws clinging to the poor blade. Taking a moment to warm his qi back up, the blade immediately whinned up their bond, sending impressions of monstrous crabs and crying about its torment. He stroked the pommel and promised it a long sharpening session that night.

Thankfully, the crabs were very weak outside of water. Though they were a lot heavier. Shen Qingqiu was able to fly them most of the way back to the inn, but the last li on foot left his bones screaming.

“Oi!” Shen Qingqiu called to the only one of the brothers without horns and lime green in colour instead of red or purple. Not Mine looked up from where he was hammering a leg back onto a barstool. “Get me a barrel.”

Used to being ordered about, the unfortunately named demon returned with just that and held it steady as Shen Qingqiu dumped the crabs in. It turns out he’d been a little greedy with how many he’d collected. The barrel ended up overflowing sending his demon helper running off screaming for ‘Da-ge’ as another crab managed to make their escape.

Grabbing a bucket, Shen Qingqiu did his best to scoop them up before turning the container upside down, trapping them between the ground and the bucket. He was able to slam a lid onto the barrel whilst he did this. One foot on the bucket and his elbows pressing down on the lid for good measure, he was stuck like that until the Inn’s back door slammed back open.

“Will you be careful! Not all of us can survive dying like you!” Two Tone yelled as he came out the purple skinned brother, Prongs, and pink skinned brother, Spike, wielding brooms either side of him.

“I have got your damn crabs.” Shen Qingqiu groused.

“Well done!” Said Two Tone sarcastically gesturing for his brothers to help. Not Mine had found another barrel and was hovering nearby. With a lot of fuss and one close call, they eventually had two partially filled barrels of crabs.

Chaos over, Shen Qingqiu caught Two Tone’s eye. “Enough Crabs?” He asked.

“Enough crabs.” Grumbled the demon shooing him away. “Get lost already.”

Shen Qingqiu did just that, calling over his shoulder. “See you in a few days.” There was a dismissive sound from the Innkeeper as Shen Qingqiu walked out of sight.

Exiting the way he entered, Shen Qingqiu near shrieked at the cold of the Human realm. It was pitch black and with biting frozen winter air. The cloak was immediately pulled back out. Shen Qingqiu took a moment to just huddle under the soft grey fur. The arrays massaged his meridians until his qi flowed out in a steady trickle. With this stability came such wamth that pulsed out from his centre. Sighing under the heat, he exited the cave. It was still daytime but only barely, the sun dipping low in an orange ball on the horizon. The snow crunched under foot as he moved to the edge of the cave, drew Xiu Ya and mounted the sword.

The flight away from the Borderlands, back towards that village near the foothills of Zhou Hua Monastery’s range was unventful. No blizzards awaited him this time as he flew up the mountain’s side. This left his journey peaceful as he arrived around the spot he had crossed over the realms before.

Squinting at the air, Shen Qingqiu thought he could almost see where the tear was when a shout came from below him. Turning to look, he only just managed to dodge a swipe of sword intent.

Bracing for battle, Shen Qingqiu turned towards the source to identify his opponent. A handful of Zhou Hua’s Monks were running up the mountain side towards him, each brandishing a spiritual weapon.

Fuck.

Brain kicking into overdrive, Shen Qingqiu Quickly pulled a smoke screen talisman and activated it. The smoke bloomed out around him, obscuring his location and more importantly his identity. Removing the cloak, Shen Qingqiu kept a careful eye on how the smoke dispersed. Most of it dissolved into the air like ink in water, but one section was whisked away by an unknown force. There. That was where the tear was. Wasting only a brief look at the pursuing Zhou Hua cultivators, Shen Qingqiu sent Xiu Ya shooting through the tear into the demon realm.

The transition between realms was not as smooth as before. Both he and Xiu Ya went shooting off across the pitch black demonic night sky, falling down towards the dry earth bellow. Clutching the sword in close, Shen Qingqiu sent a burst of qi into it directly from his hands as well as his feet. This gave them enough lift that both wielder and sword did not smash on impact as they rolled across the baked hard ground.

Shen Qingqiu groaned as bruises bloomed up his side. He had to move. Though Zhou Hua Monastery didn’t tend to use swords in combat, there was a good chance the group would have at least one flying sword between them for transport. Heck knowing the Monks they might be able to jump the distance from the mountain to the tear.

Xiu Ya wobbled under him as he tried to get air borne. The sword spirit sent the distinct feeling of nausea up their bond as Shen Qingqiu tried to push it onwards. He muttered an curse and continued to push the sword. Despite the slow start, they did eventually pick up speed. Very aware fo Xiu Ya’s bright glow, Shen Qingqiu kept finding himself checking behind him for pursuers multiple times. But if there were any, they were well hidden in the night time darkness.

Sishi'er Hu Gu City was bustling when he set down on its outskirts. Jogging the rest of the way to it’s more populous street, Shen Qingqiu vanished in amongst the crowds. He spiralled around the market a few times keeping an eye open for any human cultivators. Still none. Chewing it ove,r he cautiously vanished down a side alley out of the crowd and meandered his way to Soft Fur’s.

As before, the fox was out so he had to pick the lock. Closing the door behind him, Shen Qingqiu sunk down, his back against the wood, his head in his arms on his knees and breathed. Though there was little likelihood of the cultivators to have followed him this far, Shen Qingqiu still felt like he was being chased. His heart beat in his ears and Xiu Ya pulsed in his grip, alternating comforting hums and demands for attention.

Once his heart rate dropped back down to a normal level, Shen Qingqiu cleared a table and sat on it facing the door. Starting to sing himself, he pulled out his maintenance kit and set about cleaning, sharpening and oiling the blade. It was mindless work but right now he didn’t want to think.

That was how Soft Fur found him, singing the same tune he’d played a few days ago in the Warm Red Pavilion, hands slick and speckled grey as he rubbed a fine cloth into Xiu Ya’s blade.

The fox didn’t say anything, just tugged him towards the bed and crushed him under her weight. There was no objections as he pet sword oil into her fur and over her ears. His side ached. Xiu Ya hummed nearby and Soft Fur was a smelly but warm comfort. Yet he could not stop lightly singing that tune, even as he fell asleep.

The next morning, Soft Fur had good news for him.

They were sat over breakfast. Soft Fur has convinced him to at least eat something, so he’d settled on risking the collection of eggs she had had in her kitchen. So far only one of those he checked had gone off. Using a pan he had had to scrub clean; Shen Qingqiu had set about making a pair of omelettes as Soft Fur messily updated her diary. Finished, he presented the fox with her’s as he took little bites of his own. His hip still stung from the fall yesterday, but Xiu Ya’s wooziness had at least eased up.

“So, what’s the plan?” He asked chewing his bite over methodically.

“Blue Jiggly Tum has agreed to let me be his plus one.” Soft Fur explained ripping her omelette in half.

“The pleasure garden owner?” He said trying to remember. Soft Fur took a moment to reply as she took large chomping bites.

“Yep! I will be there as his brainless beauty to sit and smile and look pretty.” She said cheerily. Shen Qingqiu tsked at that but said nothing. Soft Fur loved acting like a foolish little fox if it got her what she wanted. Shen Qingqiu could not relate. Being thought of as lesser than he was made his skin crawl.

“And I will be your servant?” Shen Qingqiu said trying to figure out the shape of how this would work.

“Um, no.” Said Soft Fur now looking guilty. “You’d be a gift.”

Shen Qingqiu’s appetite evaporated. “A gift?” he said slowly.

“Look I couldn’t figure out how to get a human in any other way. It’s more believable for you to be there as human flesh to be eaten later in the event than as any sort of servant, slave or lover.”

“… So, I am to be an expensive bottle of wine to gift to the host.” He said slowly.

“Well not for the host but yes.” Soft Fur said licking her plate. “There’s a human flesh trader on Backwater street. They sell whole bodies. If I can find one matching your build, we can do a swap part way through. They won’t even know you were there!”

The plan wasn’t awful objectively. It made Shen Qingqiu want to vomit but logically it should leave little trace of him being there.

“You’d have to cover my face.” He said, poking at the remaining omelette.

“It isn’t too strange for humans for slaughter to be blindfolded. So, we can make a mask.” Soft Fur said raising a finger. “One where you can secretly see.”

“And my chest.” He said again.

“Your chest?” Soft Fur said then seemed to realise what he meant. “Shit yeah. Your chest.”

The scarred number from the slavers was old and would be near impossible to mimic on a freshly killed corpse.

“It’ll look really weird though.” Soft Fur murmured. “Men tend to only wear a loin cloth.”

Shen Qingqiu decided for his sanity he wasn’t going to ask why or how she knew that or that she had expected him to only wear loin cloth. For a moment Shen Qingqiu thought and considered his options.

“...What about the women?” he said at last. “They would surely wear some sort of dress?”

“You aren’t a woman though?” Soft Fur scoffed.

“I could be.” Shen Qingqiu replied, the sound Soft Fur made in response lightened his mood enough that he risked another bite of egg.

“Since when?”

Shen Qingqiu gave her no answer and just smiled.

“Jade Green!!” cried the fox.

“Answer the question.” Commanded Shen Qingqiu, plotting as he prodded his omelette. “Could we get away with a dress if I was a woman?”

“I mean, yeah. I guess.” Said the fox, throwing up her paws.

“Great then I will be a woman.” He said matter of factly taking another bite of the omelette.

“I’m not lending you a dress.” Grumbled the fox, still looking confused.

That was fair enough. He would just have to pick one up from in town as well as a few other things.

Notes:

Lu Liu and Old Qin are actual named characters from SVSSS. They are the borderguard and the guy the ghost was impersonating when SY pops up as Plantzun. They get a lil cameo as a treat. They may get another one if my outline pans out. I considered including six balls but couldn't fit him in anywhere. Rip :C

Btw I love the fact that demons unless they are fancy have very descriptive names. Makes it all sorts of fun to make one off OCs of them.

Mythological creatures mentioned in this chapter
Huli Jing - Foxes that have cultivated a human form. Often used in stories as agents of chaos or as charming women that sleep with men for their qi. Famously in the chinese classic 'Investiture of the Gods', the real historical figure Daji, favoured consort of King Zhou of Shang, was said to be have been replaced by a Huli Jing by the gods to destroy the dynasty.

Chang - A ghost or possessed corpse that leads others to their death. Often results from a person drowning (think Black Water Sinks Ships from TGCF) or being killed by a tiger. Those that drown hang around bodies of water and drag victims in. Those killed by tigers are used by the tiger to lure more victims to it. The Chang used in this chapter has been tweaked slightly to match the world building better. It is a tiger ghost that possesses it's victims to help it hunt, similar to the skinner demon.

Time for names:
Shayan 砂岩 - Sandstone
Zhouzi Jin cap 周子巾 - a type of hat that ends up a square shape when worn and facing forwards. Worn in the Song-Ming dynasties by adult male commoners.
Huadian 花鈿 - A small make up design on the face, normally on the forehead between the brows. Typical in female hanfu.

I'm not going to translate all the demon names into Chinese. You will just have to deal with them in English.

The underwater caves are based on a real place in Yorkshire, England. 'The Strid' is a point where the River Wharf, normally 90ft wide, squeezes through a 6.5ft gap. From the surface the water looks like a fast moving stream that is narrow enough to cross but it's basically a river on its side and is incredibly deep. All that have fallen in have been dragged to the bottom of it and drowned. It's perfect nightmare fuel. Note: There aren't weird crabs at the bottom of it as far as I am aware.

Next time: We are breaking into a demonic gathering in a dress folks~ This will be fun >;D

Chapter 30: How not to steal from Demonic nobility

Summary:

Shen Qingqiu tries to pull a heist under the very noses of the most powerful demons in the land.

Notes:

Ha. Yes. Here I am not dead. Just 2 months late. Well. Stuff happens. Have a chapter!

Content warning: Man pretending to be a woman, Dehumanisation, Our boy putting him in a situation he knows will most likely trigger his past trauma and then being triggered by it, Non consensual touching (both present and mentioned past), implied eating disorder and comments on body shape and weight, Physical abuse, Human eating, Continuing to push your body even when you know you are injured until it collapses under you, General not great attitudes towards women, passing out, being chained up, not claustrophobia friendly, under age girl being flirted with by older men, humiliation, qi deviations

Let me know if I've missed any warnings or spelling errors!

"OH COME ON, AIRPLANE! You had a chance to really dig into the demon political landscape with this. Bingge is taking out a Demonic lord! Why the fuck is that all happening off screen covered in a single fucking sentence whilst we've had two chapters going in to detail about how he and Sha Hualing broke their bed this time round!? LET ME SEE HIM CONQUERING!"

- Peerless Cucumber

 

Shen Qingqiu grit his teeth together as the palanquin jostled onwards over the dune. Four over-muscled demonic brutes were managing to keep it mostly level despite its three passengers. Soft Fur sat on the edge of the structure’s floor, one leg and four tails trailing beyond the curtain as Shen Qingqiu lay across her lap like a favoured pet. Behind them, in the platforms centre, sat their ticket into the event. Blue Jiggly Tum, the unfortunately named, was balanced uncomfortably on an overstuffed cushion. His fine robes, heavy and stiff over his round flabby figure as his tiny wet eyes darted back and forth.

The demon’s blue face was creased into the same nervous expression it had held for over two shichen as he absent mindedly scratched at the few hairs he had to call a moustache. Every single one of Shen Qingqiu’s old street rat instincts had him begging to rob the self-conscious fool blind. Instead, he pressed further into Soft Fur’s lap, trying to ignore the nausea like prickling of his gut.

Soft Fur’s ticket in, and thus his, wasn’t without conditions. Conditions that had Shen Qingqiu dunked up to his elbows last night in soap suds as Soft Fur cried murder. The now bathed fox smelt heavily of perfume and strong incense that Shen Qingqiu could already feel clinging to his skin as well.

Still, it was an improvement on her normal scent. By this point most of Soft Fur’s qi had been flushed from his system, leaving him once again with a normal set of eyes and teeth.

Rocking as the palanquin shifted, Shen Qingqiu tried and failed to ignore the restraints holding him in place.

His wrists were cuffed in matching black hide to the tall collar wrapped none too gently around his throat. A golden brass ring clipped the collar and cuffs together just under his chin in a pose that forced his fingers into his jaw. He’d done a few practice runs already and could reliably unclip himself from the restraints when needed so it wasn’t like he was actually bound but the position was still far from comfortable. A matching chain was draped over his upper arms like a mockery of a shawl. Damn thing was tight enough to constrain his upper arms against his body, though he could roll it out the way if needed. It like the cuffs connected to the collar. Also connected to that ring was a leash made of the same dark hide. It’s handle currently coiled in Soft Fur’s hand as she tugged a strand of hair caught under the mask.

The claustrophobic nightmare of a mask.

Shen Qingqiu had spent over a shichen, applying qi to a brass tray Soft Fur had pilfered until he had bent something that reasonably passed for a full-face metal blind fold. With how it was moulded he was reasonably sure it was impossible to remove by anyone not able to meld metal to their wills. Two pinpricks had been hidden in the original embellishments to allowed him a disproportionately large field of vision and two slits at his mouth and under his nose had been cut to let him breathe a little easier. It was still a sweaty, metal nightmare that was rubbing a spot on his head raw with how it butted up against the pins Soft Fur had done his hair up in.

Besides the cuff, collar, mask and chains was a tight pink dress Shen Qingqiu had been able to source at one of the night markets. It was long enough that it covered down to Shen Qingqiu’s ankles and fastened above his chest in a way that two reasonably full qiankun pouches pinned to the inside gave him the necessary figure.

In this respect Shen Qingqiu had been quite fortunate in his natural form. Hunger was an old companion. The slavers had expected him to fend for himself. Not that his mother before them had been particularly generous with food either. Only under the Qiu’s had he had regular meals and thus the chance to grow to his proper height. Qiu Jianluo, despite his other cruel tastes, had not denied him food and Qiu Haitang loved to sneak him sweets when she could. Frankly the siblings had liked watching him grow a little too much.

After leaving the Qiu’s, running from the law or hiding in back water villages left little time to scrouge together meals. Both Wu Yanzi and his Uncle attracted plenty of trouble and any food the trio secured was wasted fortifying his meagre weight against the gnawing of demonic cultivation and the whittling of human cauldron usage. What had been left when he stopped growing was a long thin slip of a man. All legs and arms with narrow shoulders and ribs.

Irritatingly his inability to train since the summer was also helping in the illusion. His normally solid frame weighed down with a layer of excess padding due to Mu Qingfang and his hallmasters constant nagging. It gave the chain over his shoulders something to dig into, though he still wasn’t a perfect match for the corpse they’d secured.

Soft Fur’s fingers at last found the spot on his head where the itch was the worst and Shen Qingqiu sighed a little bit. Her carding through his hair nearly sent him drifting off as the palanquin crested the last hill on its way to the Empress’ Amphitheatre.

Squinting through the dust and early evening dusk, Shen Qingqiu stared.

The structure still towered over a li high, a bold statement against the demonic landscape. The only thing rumoured to match it sheer size in the demon realm was the former emperor’s palace hidden off in the mountains somewhere. Fitting given said emperor had spent most of his days here. The Amphitheatre had originally been built for the previous demon emperor’s aunt or maybe his sister. But after her death, the emperor had just moved down from the mountains to make court here, playing patron to theatre troupes and gladiator battles.

 The halls stood empty now. None of the former cries of the crowd remained. Where once he’d seen bold banners had hung from the walls, there were only torn rags. The desert winds crumbling away parts of the circular stone block walls. Yet still the demons had gathered here now that trouble had struck. Shen Qingqiu wondered if their sealed emperor would feel a sense of pride at that.

A servant announced Blue Jiggly Tum’s arrival, and the gates swung open to let their party in. The common folk cheered around them, having long since arrived here earlier in the day by foot and beast. There were other nobility too though no one too prestigious. After all what was the point of arriving early when there was no one to observe your wonderous entrance. Half of this ‘Hunt’ was a display of power. To flaunt and parade the best the demon realm had to offer. It was a chance to observe various powerful individuals discreetly and calculate out a list of potential allies and threats.

Around Shen Qingqiu demons yelled and jeered at old friends, as Soft Fur pushed him off her lap and tugged him along across the yard. Blue Jiggly Tum led the way for their group with Soft Fur hanging off his arm, the leash still in her palm. He walked slowly in small steps, making sure to not give his sight away. He felt like a bull calf being tugged along towards market. Probably not far off how the demons around him viewed his situation.

The courtyard became a shaded grand hall as more of the nobility congregated in small groups. Blue Jiggly Tum wasn’t the only man with a woman hanging off his arm. In the corner a single horned demon smoking a pipe, had at least four much larger demon women laughing amongst the plume coiling from between his yellow stained fangs. They were led over to the other well to do from Sishi’er Hu Gu City that occupied a small balcony overlooking the main entrance. Blue Jiggly Tum took a seat on a lush green coach as Soft Fut curled into his side and Shen Qingqiu was forced to kneel by their feet. A red hued demon with jowls so long and loose they flapped as he turned raked his gaze over Shen Qingqiu’s body, a purple tongue flicking out to lick his top lip.

The prickling roiling of his gut from earlier returned, sending goosebumps over his skin. ‘This had been a mistake.’ Shen Qingqiu thought as the demon’s putrid yellow eyes dragged themselves away.

It wasn’t even the disguise. Haitang had played dress up with him plenty of times and the girls at the Warm Red Pavilions had taken similar liberties. He didn’t care. So long as those incidents never got back to the name ‘Shen Qingqiu’ it didn’t matter. Playing at being a weak woman had never put him in as much danger as being a powerless boy had. The young master and Shifu had certainly never needed it as an invitation to touch him.

It was the hungry looks that had him frozen, qi doing kick flips inside his chest. The eyes watching him as he sat quietly, calculating his value. He had felt it every time a buyer had come to view the slaver’s stock. During his visit with Grandma. From the last generation of Peaklords. Looking him over and deciding in the end he was scum, born to be owned and destroyed at a whim.

Suddenly his qi caught, and the mask’s tightness was too much. The restraints too restricting. The dress too thin. His body bare as the chain chafed into his flesh.

The burn of qi sloshed into his meridians as a panic clawed at him gut. Drawing in a breath, Shen Qingqiu held it as he forced his qi down somewhere quiet and forgotten. It fought like a caged beast as he pushed it further inside himself. He was not having a qi deviation here. If the demons around him even suspected for a moment he was a cultivator, he was dead.

He was not having a qi deviation here. He repeated to himself trembling in place.

His lungs burned. His meridians burned. His inner core burned. Hidden away in the Qiankun pouch over his heart, Shen Qingqiu could feel Xiu Ya screaming.

Then a horn sounded. It was long and loud, bringing a close to all the boasting matches around him.

Shen Qingqiu gasped for air and curled into a ball, shivering on the floor. Soft Fur’s tails curled over his head, though she was unable to even look his way as a towering white skinned demon in black entered with a crowd at his heels. Even from his position on the floor Shen Qingqiu recognised that face and the silver beaded crown.

Jiuchong-jun, the tyrant of the southern land had just entered the hall. And Shen Qingqiu was halfway to a qi deviation. Shit.

The blood pounded in Shen Qingqiu’s ears so loudly, he almost missed one of the demons nearby gasp out ‘There she is!’, as they pointed into the crowd trailing behind Jiuchong-jun.

Forcefully pulling himself from the floor, Shen Qingqiu peered through the banisters down to the floor below. Amongst the lord’s many children and prized warriors was a girl boasting a large amount of attention. She could have been no older than his own disciples, easily half her father’s height. And yet despite being so young she didn’t have a lick of modesty. Barefoot and dressed in a scant few ribbons with silver bangles clinking loudly as she strode arrogantly onwards.

“There is who?” Blue Jiggly Tum said his brows furrowing.

“Did you eat your brain? That’s the Saintess!” The demon scoffed leaning forward to get a better look. “She’s prophesied to bring in a new demonic emperor.”

Now that was interesting, Shen Qingqiu mused choking down the worst of the blood collecting in his mouth. While he, himself, didn’t hold much hope in prophecy, his uncle’s own attempts had proved wrong too many times for that, the idea of a prophecy wasn’t to be underestimated. It was often more dangerous to have the idea of a prophecy rather than the hard facts of it coming true or not. If this child gave the demon realm someone to reunify around…. Shen Qingqiu shook his head. That would not end well.

Despite the risk she posed, he still couldn’t help but think little of this arrogant little girl as she flaunted at the crowd and preened with a bloodthirsty smile. Truely, she had let her new title go to her head. They watched at more nobility arrived and paraded before the onlookers. Some brought slaves and riches to show their power, others wore the skins of large beasts that Shen Qingqiu had only seen dismissed as legends in Qing Jing’s and Ma Jiu’s bestiaries.

Gradually the crowd inside the once empty Amphitheatre grew and grew the noise growing louder and louder as the demon race’s self-aggrandising continued. Lastly just as dawn was breaking, backlit by the pink hues thrown from the rising sun, the north kingdom’s party arrived.

It wasn’t as grand as the others, but it was the most unique. Hard faced demons draped in thick blue robes lined with fur. The demon prince heading it wore a thick hood that he pulled back to reveal a youthful face and snow-white hair. He spoke gruffly to his men before painting a slippery smile on his features as Jiuchong-jun came forward to greet him.

“Linguang-jun! This lord is delighted to see you made the trip!”

Mentally Shen Qingqiu took note of the name and began building a file in his head. The northern kingdom was the area of the demon realm he knew the least about. A frozen hellscape that had flaunted with independence under the last emperor and fully settled into it after his sealing. There was rumours of infighting but that was all he had rumours. Even names were hard to pin down.

With the most notable guest having arrived, there was an incense stick’s worth of time given for everyone to settle before a loud gong was rung and drums pounded. A local governor stood up on a chair and welcomed the crowd. A loud cheer of war cries returned his greeting. A sea of goblets rose around him as a toast officially started the feast properly.

Shen Qingqiu watched as Linguang-jun and Jiuchong-jun as well as a few other region lords migrated out the hall to the next room. This was his chance.

Soft Fur’s tail was still hovering nearby. Gently, Shen Qingqiu leaned over and using two fingers tugged on it. Feeling her cue, Soft Fur called over a serving demon with an imperious hand gesture.

“You, take my human and store her in the stables for later. I will collect her later.”

The servant bowed and took Shen Qingqiu’s leash. As he was pulled away, he heard Blue Jiggly Tum turn to Soft Tum confused.

“I thought you wanted to show her off.” The demon whispered.

“Oh darling, I did but humans are so needy.” Said Soft Fur with a syrupy pout. “I’d much rather spend my focus on you~”

Once they were out of sight, the servant gave a sigh of annoyance. Apparently, Shen Qingqiu was walking too slowly because the next thing he knew he was being flung over the demon’s shoulder. Revulsion coursed through his body as he tried to kick at the servant.

“Oi! Knock it off! I don’t have time for your shit.” Grumbled the demon.

Biting his lip, Shen Qingqiu strangled the urge to rip the servant’s hands off and lay mostly still. The demon thankfully also wanted this over soon. He was dumped roughly in a clean-ish stall and immediately abandoned. It was just as well as no sooner had the servant left did Shen Qingqiu unclip his hands and rip the mask from his face.

Anyone could have walked by and seen him there. Frankly Shen Qingqiu did not care. His lips were bitten bloody, his eyes stung, his head itched, and his qi was back to doing chaotic spirals in his stomach. Laying there, sprawled out in the straw; Shen Qingqiu took a moment to just breath.

Shit. Fuck. Shit again.

Worst idea ever.

Once he felt he could stand it, Shen Qingqiu wiped his face clean and resecured the mask.

Poking his head up, the stalls around him were full of demonic beasts but luckily no actual demons. Clambering out the stall, it didn’t take him long to find the Northern Desert’s carriage and beasts that had pulled it here. They were huge hump backed pale grey furred spotted things that appeared to have traded their eyes for another pair of ears and another row of teeth.

Picking the lock, Shen Qingqiu frowned when the carriage itself was revealed to be empty. Explains why there weren’t any guards. The servants must have moved everything to the overnight quarters. And knowing demonic nobility….

Shen Qingqiu leaned back over the stable walls. Sure enough, there was movement in the old imperial suite.

“… Fucking great.”

An incense stick later, Shen Qingqiu was jogging up the outside walls of the amphitheatre, praying to whatever gods didn’t hate him that no fool other than him was out in this weather. The sun beat down on the stone, turning it just this side of bearably hot under his bare feet. He didn’t dare slow down, running parallel to the wall with a long-ingrained movement of circling qi in one foot and then the other.

Sweat slicked off him in buckets as he made it up the last of the distance. Balancing along the top edge of the outside wall, Shen Qingqiu forced a burst of qi into his legs to jump to the inner wall. He landed roughly but was able to press his entire body into the wall so as to not go tumbling too far.

The old emperor’s quarters were built into the nearby Shayan ridge that the amphitheatre rested alongside. There were few routes in but there was an old viewing deck for the arena pit below. That was Shen Qingqiu’s destination.

Following the inner wall along, he dropped down onto the balcony in a cloud of dust. Perfect just what he needed. Grumbling Shen Qingqiu trying to brush himself off, hyper aware of how he was leaving footprints behind him. Trying the doors to the balcony revealed them to be rusted shut though that wasn’t much of an issue.

He resorted to just breaking the lock open, grabbing the internal metal and with a flick of the wrist near silently snapping the latch holding the doors shut. With a grating creak of the hinges, Shen Qingqiu was greeted with an empty also dust covered room.

Looking up, Shen Qingqiu saw what he’d hoped for, old ventilation channels cut into the wall high up near top of the dramatically elevated ceiling. Most demonic buildings had them to keep clean air flowing through their underground structures.

Carefully he padded up the wall, skirts pulled up in one hand, the other holding the leash and chains still as he left dusty footprints in his wake. Reaching the top, Shen Qingqiu was able to pry open the protective grating on the ventilation channels peer through. The corridor beyond finally seemed to be in use, at the very least the floors had been swept and unlit lanterns had been prepared for use.

Pulling a waterskin from his qiankun pouches, Shen Qingqiu quickly swept the water over his body. A demon’s nose was not to be underestimated. Trying to sneak about whilst sweaty with a hint of perfumed fox was only going to end badly. Having scrubbed himself clean enough, Shen Qingqiu collected the water back into the skin and stored it back away in his chest.

Unseen many bu up, Shen Qingqiu began to explore. Scuttling along the ceiling like the world's most gaudy spider, Shen Qingqiu kept his movements quiet. Strangling the rattle of the chains and leash with a thread of qi, while holding his qiankun pouches close to prevent them bouncing around.

A grand total of two demons had pass below him in his searching. Seemed luck was on his side, the Northern Kingdom party was fairly small. Enough servants to be comfortable and enough warriors to be respectable. Meaning they hadn’t enough to cover the entire imperial quarters.

He soon figured out what rooms were in use. Peering down at a gaggle of pale blue furred servants gossiping and gnawing on dried bony meat chunks, Shen Qingqiu frowned as he failed to spot anything that looked like it would house the tablet. Linguang-jun’s party hadn’t carried in any boxes to the hall, but then again it might have been transported over as Shen Qingqiu was making his trek up. Though that would be wasteful to haul it to the rooms, only to immediately haul it back down.

Shimmying along the wall, he passed by a bedroom stocked with more knives than even he carried. Each a strange three bladed star shape. After that was a room with an axe that clearly had been banned from entering the main party hall. It was the same height as Shen Qingqiu and the head a bulbous hunk of metal that took up over half its length. Neither had anything inside that might house the tablet so Shen Qingqiu moved on to the next room.

Or he tried to. Getting closer, he immediately sensed strong demonic qi and loud jovial voices. Well, he’d found where the party that left the main feast had gone.

Jamming himself into a corner, Shen Qingqiu repressed his qi circulation least he be sensed. He had hoped they had gone to a pleasure hall somewhere so he wouldn't be dealing with multiple demon lords but no such luck.

Even worse luck is as he craned to see the faces of each lord, he saw his target. A overly elaborate box part covered in furs that had frostlike designs around the sides. It was the right size and wasn't far in design from the boxes Qiu Haitang had been gifted in the past. That would be where the tablet was being stored. It was also unfortunately on the other side of the room from Shen Qingqiu.

Fuck.

Moving slowly, Shen Qingqiu skirted the perimeter of the room. He kept his qi close to himself, only generating enough stick to prevent himself falling right into the meal below. This left him using much more muscle than qi.

The building ache, he'd have to deal with afterwards, simmered on the edge of his mind as Shen Qingqiu got himself into position above the chest.

Digging his knee, Shen Qingqiu braced himself against the wall, eventually figuring out a way to hold that position with qi circulating in only one foot.

Arms free he took a breather to consider how to approach the next task. The first thing to go was the furs. Wating for a particular loud bit of conversation, Shen Qingqiu dropped a thread of qi down and with a flick of his wrist the furs flipped back. A glance to confirm, the demons in the room were still none the wiser.

Guiding that thread closer, Shen Qingqiu felt it glide over the lid of the box until it found the lock. While picking locks wasn't particularly difficult for him, he'd never had to do it at such a great distance whilst holding himself steady to a wall.

Time passed by in a tortuous trickle as he tried to get the pins to line up as they should. Nearly an incense stick later, the lock gave. Watching the demon lords, Shen Qingqiu turned the lock open as slowly and quietly as he could. Sweat had begun to gather where his knee held its position, his muscles protesting and his foot going tingly with the reduced blood flow.

Timing it again to a moment of loud laughter, he silently opening the lid on the box and sighed in relief. There was the tablet, nestled in plush dyed velvet-like hides. It was a perfect match for the diagram Two Tone gave him.

Hooking his qi thread around it, Shen Qingqiu carefully pulled it from the box and slid the tablet round to the side facing away from the demons. His target out of sight, Shen Qingqiu set about covering his tracks. The threads of qi near silently shut the lid, turned the lock and with a last flick, recovered it with the furs. Simple.

Now to get his prize into his hands.

Pulling the tablet further away from the box and closer to the wall, Shen Qingqiu got ready to hoist it up towards him just as a line of the demon lords’ conversation reached his ear.

“-and Yue Qingyuan will be there!”

Immediately his focus snapped, the threads of qi dissipating dropping the tablet to the floor. Shen Qingqiu lucked out and it fell on furs, muffling the sound.

“And? Who cares if he’s there?” A demon lord laughed; his wine having hit him hard.

“Who cares!?” Jiuchong-jun cried, his black locks spiking with emotion. “The emperor’s slayer is not someone to be taken lightly.”

“It took near a hundred of them to corner the emperor.” The drunk lord continued. “They would be wiped out against any sizable army.”

“And there’ll be hundreds of them there. I want a battle, not a suicide mission.” Jiuchong-jun growled.

What the fuck were they planning? Glancing down at the tablet, Shen Qingqiu decided to leave it there for the moment.

“Jiuchong-jun is correct.” Linguang-jun added in swirling his goblet idly. His tone was light and playful. A scheming smirk draped across his features. “There will be hundreds of them there. The finest of the cultivation world. Ripe to take out in one fell swoop.” The northern prince grinned taking a sip.

“Then this lord wishes you the best of luck with that.” Jiuchong-jun bit out. The northern prince tittered at his ire, as the towering demon glared down at him. The northern warriors he had brought shifting as the southern tyrant’s qi leaked from him in a dark flame like bursts.

“Jiuchong-jun, you are indeed right to be cautious but forgive this prince for he cannot tell if it is wisdom or cowardice driving your actions right now.” Sneered the prince.

Jiuchong-jun was on his feet in an instance. The force of qi was immense. “Linguang-jun,” the demon lord said slowly, each word threatening to draw blood. “This lord will not waste his army on your foolishness. You want to fight Yue Qingyuan, you are free to do so with your own warriors. Stop bargaining for mine.”

The room was tense for a moment, before Linguang-jun laughed and waved the hulking demon in a hood to his left to pour out more wine. The thug did so with far more grace than Shen Qingqiu would have expected.

“This was all merely a suggestion. Jiuchong-jun, please, don’t get so agitated.”

No, do get agitated and get them to call off whatever this shit involving Yue Qingyuan is!

Unfortunately, as bad as Jiuchong-jun’s mood currently was, he did not seem keen to pick a fight right this evening and thus the conversation drifted to less heated topics.

Scowling down at them all, Shen Qingqiu refocused on the tablet far below him. He wanted to get out of here already. His knee had already gone numb by this point.

Once again unspooling a thread of qi, one from each arm just to be safe, he let them drop down and curl around either end of the tablet. Then slowly, painfully slowly, he retracted the threads bringing the tablet up with them. As much as he wanted to rush, it was not an option with this many people in the room.

A person’s eye naturally drew towards any fast movement even if only glimpsed out the corner of their eye. He had to go slow.

It took over half an incense stick before the ritual tablet finally was in his grasp.

It wasn’t ceramic like he had expected. Whatever it was made of was light, smooth and lukewarm to the touch. Weird. What he thought was a tassel might be some sort of metallic petaled plant? He wasn’t sure what else could be that texture. The raised sections were unlike what he had expected either. They weren’t solid, giving and springing back under his grip as he maneuvered the tablet under his dress into one of his qiankun pouches.

Whatever. Its weirdness was not an issue. He had the tablet. Time to get the fuck out.

Unhooking his knee, Shen Qingqiu began to circulate qi in both feet and hands again. Keeping the qi tight to his body, he shifted around the room, back to the grate he had entered from. Looking down, Shen Qingqiu froze at who was on the other side of the door.

Turns out he wasn’t the only person listening in as he gazed down as the demonic Saintess. She was sulkily pressed against the door, picking idly at her silks. Eavesdropping on her father’s meeting. Ha, what a brat.

He didn’t have time for her. Picking his way back along the corridor ceiling, Shen Qingqiu squeezed back into the first room he entered by the balcony. Sliding down the wall, he lay on the ground and stopped moving for a bit.

Ah, that hurt. His knee was twinging with pins and needles as the new meridians in his arms ached.

Mu Qingfang was going to kill him.

Dragging Xiu Ya from his qiankun pouch, Shen Qingqiu use it as a crutch to help him limp out onto the balcony. He could not stay here. Once the demons realised the tablet was gone, they’d start searching and he wasn’t in a fit state to fight anyone.

He managed to half-haul half-tumble himself over the banister. The ground swam in the midday heat many li below him. His original plan had been to walk down the wall, the same way he’d climbed it. That wasn’t happening anymore. He wasn’t going to risk one rogue spasm of qi sending him to his death. Instead, he slipped Xiu Ya beneath his bum and stepped off the balcony.

The sword caught his weight immediately, slowing the fall to a fast but controlled descent. The courtyard he dropped into was thankfully empty. For demons this was a pretty late hour to be awake at, yet he could still hear the partying from the main hall.

Sliding Xiu Ya away, Shen Qingqiu debated moving from the collapsed position there on the paving slabs. Ideally, he wanted to be back in the stables, ready for Soft Fur to collect once the party was over. But realistically, his legs felt like jelly. Ignoring his body’s protests he tried to stand up, only to fall over again. A sharp bolt of pain shot up his spine, making him tense.

Cursing he tried again only to make it two steps, before collapsing again.

Fuck. Fuck. It couldn’t get much worse.

Somewhere behind him a bell like tinkling rang out.

Oh. Never mind. Yes, it could.

Running through his options, Shen Qingqiu reluctantly clipped his cuffs back to his collar and curled up. A breath after he had done that, the Saintess hurried into the courtyard.

Her head scanning back and forth, she locked eyes with Shen Qingqiu through the mask and the tinkling stopped. Unable to run and unable to fight, he could only hope she would leave him alone.

No such luck as the sound of her bangled feet drew closer and closer.

“A human? My, my who left you out here?” she cooed.

No. I’m not your human. Leave me alone. LEAVE ME ALONE.

Sharp nails dug into his hair and dragged his head up from the ground. His spine protested at the position as his bruised knee screamed. From this angle, he couldn’t see he face clearly.

It was silent for a moment. Then the Saintess began to walk back to the main hall, dragging him along behind her. Struggling was useless as he was just hauled faster. His only saving grace was that the tiles in the hallway were polished smooth as he was dragged along by his hair and collar back into the main room.

“Ling-er, where have you been?” asked the Saintess’ brother.

“On a walk.” She spat out in response. Her brother laughed at that and laughed harder when the Saintess hit him and stormed by, taking a seat and pulling Shen Qingqiu across her lap until his back arched over her thigh.

Shen Qingqiu just lay there. His limbs felt like someone had taken a hammer to them. The punishment for his stupidity in trying to do something so straining after a near qi deviation. Across the room, he saw Soft Fur finally spot where he’d ended up. The fox’s expression would have been hilarious if he wasn’t so unsure how she was going to get him back.

Unable to move or escape, Shen Qingqiu gradually forced his body to relax. He still had to repress his qi down least ‘Ling-er’ notice her new lap pet was a cultivator but nothing else was required. The Saintess seemed content to pet his hair, arms and stomach.

It wasn’t…. terrible. A shichen passed with him trapped like this. There was a brief uncomfortable episode where the Saintess tried to pry the mask off. She didn’t succeed obviously and in a childish fit, proceeded to take her frustration out on pinching his arms with piercingly sharp nails.

Eventually though even the welts left from that episode faded in pain. His legs likewise had gone from painful twinges to a manageable ache to a dull throb. Twisting his feet in one direction and then the other, Shen Qingqiu found them not entirely painless but manageable. He’d probably be able to run given the chance.

His plans of escape were cut short by the Demon lords’ return. Jiuchong-jun’s expression hadn’t improved. Shen Qingqiu got a front row seat to one of his unfortunate offspring getting kicked out the way as the man took their seat.

Linguang-jun meanwhile was all smiles as he approached the Saintess. Bowing lowly in a salute, he gestured to the hooded brute from earlier along with another of Linguang-jun’s warriors to come closer. They were hauling the tablet’s chest between them.

“Saintess Sha Hualing,” he began. “It is a great honour to meet your grace.”

“Linguang-jun flatters me.” Said Sha Hualing with false modesty, her eyes darting to the chest.

“Pretty women deserve to be flattered. Please excuse my presumption but this lord has some gifts for the new Saintess.” Linguang-jun oozed out, striding forward to take a seat on the side with Shen Qingqiu’s head.

Sha Hualing turned to face him, her knee now digging into Shen Qingqiu’s spine at the worst angle. When he wiggled to avoid in, a sharp nailed hand covered the collar, forcing him still.

Really? Sadistic brat.

Resigning himself to being uncomfortable, he didn’t miss Sha Hualing’s confusion when instead of gesturing the chest closer, Linguang-jun reached into his lapel and pulled out a handkerchief.

Seeing her confusion, the northern prince gently explained. “My first gift is not a real gift. Though,” the handkerchief unfolded to reveal a silver bangle identical to the ones Sha Hualing already wore. The Saintess’ face paled, and the northern prince grinned. He continued with a now lowered voice, “this lord would have thought a daughter would respect her father’s orders more.”

Sha Hualing snatched the bangle up and aggressively put it on as Linguang-jun tucked his handkerchief away.

“So, this lord’s first gift will be his silence, Saintess.” He said with a wink.

Shen Qingqiu winced when Sha Hualing’s embarrassment found a soft part of his thigh.

“My second,” at this Linguang-jun waved over the two demons who sat the chest in front of the pair, “is a rare device long kept in my family’s personal vault.”

Sha Hualing was still too young to fully hide her interest as Linguang-jun produced the key from around his neck and unlocked the chest to reveal... nothing.

Shen Qingqiu bit his lip at the comedic shock crossing both of the demons’ faces.

Sha Hualing was the first to react. “Linguang-jun is this some manner of joke? Ling-er is scared to admit she does not understand it.”

‘Ling-er’ looked far from scared as she examined her nails, qi beginning to boil off her in a manner like her father.

“No, I, uh.” The slick act Linguang-jun had maintained up to that point had slipped off his face as he stumbled over his words. At last anger found him. “You two! Get the hounds. Find the thief that dared steal from me and rip his liver out.”

Sha Hualing brought a hand to her mouth and said a bit too loudly. “Goodness. This Ling-er had no idea the northern kingdom was so easily robbed. Please let her know when the thief is found.”

Linguang-jun opened his mouth in outrage and promptly shut it when Jiuchong-jun chuckled behind him. The southern tyrant was gazing proudly at the Saintess who straightened under the attention, shooting Linguang-jun a smug look.

The northern prince rose, bowed a sharp salute and left in a wave of black wind as his warrior’s hauled the now useless gift box out of the room.

Ah shit. Shen Qingqiu’s guts hurt from trying not to laugh.

This raised a few problems for him as he’d hoped to be gone before they realised the tablet was missing but fuck, the look on that bastard’s face!

Once the prince had left, Jiuchong-jun gestured his daughter over. Shen Qingqiu found himself roughly pushed from her lap. His knuckles cracked off the floor, his wrists jolting in the cuffs as he protected his face from the fall.

“What did the ice bastard want, Ling-er?” asked the lord roughly.

“Just to give me gifts he didn’t have.” Ling-er mumbled twisting a foot into the floor.

The demon lord shook his head. “Many men like him with attempt to buy you. Like such trinkets will make them emperor.” Jiuchong-jun sneered. “Do not fall for such weaklings’ tricks.”

“This one won’t, father.” Sha Hualing replied dutifully.

“Good.” The demon lord finished.

Shen Qingqiu was left discarded on the floor for the rest of the night. Which he could not be more grateful for. It was only when Blue Jiggly Tum’s party made to retire that Soft Fur approached cautiously.

Bowing low to Jiuchong-jun and his children, the fox spirit spoke in a submissive voice.

“Forgive this Soft Fur but she misplaced her human. Glorious Jiuchong-jun’s Saintess daughter found Soft Fur’s human. This Soft fur now begs for it back.”

“Ling-er, this true?” the Lord asked.

Sha Hualing put a single finger to her lips. “Ling-er wanted to explore earlier and found a human wandering about. She is over there.”

The demoness, lithe and fast, hopped to stand on Shen Qingqiu’s back. With hauling on his hair, she raised his masked face to Soft Fur.

“Is this the one?” Jiuchong-jun asked with a gesture.

“Yes.” Soft fur was bowed so low her nose practically touched the floor.

“This Ling-er wonders what this little fox will give in exchange for such a human?”

Jiuchong-jun grinned at this. “My daughter graciously found your human. How will you compensate us?”

“This Soft Fur is weak and has nothing that could be found worthy to such a lord.”

“Nothing?” Jiuchong-jun’s laugh, boomed across the hall. “What about the robe you are wearing? Such fine craftwork would surely cover the cost.”

Sha Hualing’s greedy eyes raked over the garment as he grip tightened on Shen Qingqiu poor locks.

Shen Qingqiu saw the debate in Soft Fur’s eyes. After a terrifying silence, she slipped out of the robe leaving her clothed in only a thin undergarment.

With a gesture from her father, Sha Hualing seized the robe with a cheer, kicking Shen Qingqiu over to Soft Fur. Her joy was short lived when the smell of the robe hit her. Her siblings and father laughed at the show as she threw the article away. Soft Fur didn’t hang around to be a target of any misplaced anger. Shen Qingqiu was slung roughly over one shoulder as the fox sprinted from the hall.

“Thank you.” He muttered in a low voice only she would hear.

“You owe me!” She hissed between clenched teeth as she picked her way after Blue Jiggly Tum.

“I’ll bring two robes next time.” He replied.

“Three!”

“Fine, three.”

Blue Jiggly Tum looked a bit concerned when Soft Fur finally caught up with him.

His pudgy pointer fingers bounced off each other as he looked between Shen Qingqiu and Soft Fur.

“That human is causing a lot of trouble.”

Soft Fur straightened up with a sweet smile. “She won’t after tonight.”

“Ah.” Said Blue Jiggly Tum. “Your room has been made up.” He gestured awkwardly to the door next to his. “Uh, good night!” he said, stumbling to close his door.

 With nobody to witness, Shen Qingqiu shared a long look with Soft Fur.

“What did you do to him?”

“Nothing~” The fox replied kicking open her door’s room and throwing Shen Qingqiu on to the bed.

He landed with a pained hiss that had the fox perking her ear up as she closed the door.

“Are you okay?”

“Never better.” He gasped waiting for the stabbing feeling in his lungs to kindly fuck off.

After a moment or two it did, Soft Hur’s palm stroked his head as he finally found the focus to unclasp the mask from his face. She wrestled his hands out the cuffs and unlatched the collar, whilst he just lay there.

“Liar.” The fox muttered, climbing on top of him.

Shen Qingqiu groaned and finally stopped repressing his qi. He regretted that immediately as the wave that followed reagitated every warp or irregularity it could find.

Soft Fur’s weight holding him down helped a little.

The entire mixture of sensations made the room tilt and slide in a dizzying way.

“Give me half a shichen.” He muttered.

“You might need longer than that.” Grumbled the fox, her hands removing the dress and dragging a blanket to cover him.

“Don’t have longer than that.” he murmured. He didn’t end up taking just that half a shichen. It was over a shichen by the time the burn in his chest had calmed down and by that point he was barely conscious.

He woke to a pitch-black sky outside Soft Fur’s room’s narrow window.

“Fuck.”

“Good morning to you too.” Sassed the fox. She had pulled on her second slightly tattier robe, the one he had bought her last spring.

“You didn’t wake me up.”

“You needed the sleep.”

“Fuck you.”

“You are welcome. How help me get this body sorted so you can fuck off and I can have a lovely evening getting half of Blue Jiggly Tum’s ‘friends’ too drunk to leer at me.”

Rolling off the bed, Shen Qingqiu was reluctant to admit he felt better. His knee was cramping but that was manageable. Finding the pink dress, he unpinned the qiankun pouches from it. Diving into one, he found the mortuary qiankun pouch and pulled it out.

With some careful qi channelling, the pouch opened, and he was able to pull the body Soft Fur had picked out. The lady in question was far from a perfect match for himself, but she was tall enough. He tried not to look too closely as Soft Fur began to squeamishly dress her.

Shen Qingqiu himself removed the preservation talisman from her forehead and slot the mask over her face. A smear of qi sealed over the pin prick holes he’d use to see out of. Pulling out a fresh preservation talisman, Shen Qingqiu quickly reapplied it. If they wanted this to be believable, Soft Fur would have to wait another day before letting the body begin to decay.

Annoyingly the welts on his arms from Sha Hualing would be impossible to replicate on dead unhealing flesh. They’d just have to rely on Blue Jiggly Tum and the other nobles not looking too closely.

The corpse now dressed, masked and cuffed; Shen Qingqiu slipped into his travel clothes. Binding his fabric mask over his lower face, his hair was combed out and tied in a tight bun low to the base of his skull. It tugged not to pleasantly on where he’d been dragged.

Shen Qingqiu ignored it. He scooped up Soft Fur into one last hug before slipping out the window. The two moons of the demon realm hung in perfectly balance with each other overhead as he clung to the outside wall. Xiu Ya sung under his fingers as he drew it and stepped onto the blade. A moment to balance himself and they shot away from the amphitheatre. Skimming just over the dunes, he kept low in a vain attempt to shield the sword’s glow from sight. It only half worked as he heard shouts of alarm behind him, but he was moving too fast to be caught now.

Once the Amphitheatre was out of sight, he veered north away from Sishi’er Hu Gu City. There was a high chance Zhou Hua Monastery was still buzzing around that tear and Shen Qingqiu was not picking fights right now. So, he’d have to take a longer route. Said longer route had meant he was flying for the best part of a day before he hit the alternative tear. Diving through, he narrowly missed a tree as Xiu Ya momentarily stuttered underneath him. The slap of cold air tugged at the still raw parts of his lungs.

Shen Qingqiu ignored it, urging Xiu Ya to gain height. The land raced below him as he reached the outpost near the border again. Landing once again in the demon realm, Shen Qingqiu hid Xiu Ya and continued on foot.

One of Two Tone’s brother’s saw him first and waved him over. Shen Qingqiu made no move to hurry simply giving the fool a small half wave as he slipped through the inn’s front door. The chattering inside slowed down briefly as the patrons took his measure before starting up again. Nothing to see here folks. Two Tone was at the bar as normal. His eyes bouncing up and down for Shen Qingqiu’s form.

“What happened to you?” The demon asked slowly.

Shen Qingqiu ignored the question. “I have the item. Give me what I paid for.”

Two Tone seemed to think for a moment before he set down the glass he was cleaning and hopped off his stall, disappearing from view. The side to the counter opened and a blue hand appeared over the top of it gesturing Shen Qingqiu to a door behind the bar.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t need told twice. Jumping the bar, he slunk into the back room after the demon, letting the door latch behind them.

Inside Two Tone dragged to stools over to a table in the centre of the room. Shen Qingqiu remained standing none the less. His knee still twinging. The tablet was pulled from his pouch and placed in on the table.

“You actually did it.” Two Tone muttered, examining the item.

“The Blood smith?” Shen Qingqiu barked. Two Tone hesitated; mouth tight as he refused to look up at him.

Oh? Shen Qingqiu’s eyes narrowed. Okay then. Shen Qingqiu took a menacing step forward, qi buzzing dangerously around him.

With a sigh, Two Tone held up his red pair of arms in a pacifying gesture. “I know a guy, but he doesn’t come in regularly. He’s a bit… like you. I don’t know if he can fix a blood blade, but I think he knows someone who can.” The demon said quickly.” I can organise a meeting. You just have to promise me you’ll leave me out of this, alright?”

Leave him out of this? What the fuck did that mean?

“Is he trouble?” Shen Qingqiu asked.

Two Tone gave a half laugh. “Not really but I suspect when you two meet you’ll cause a lot of trouble. And I don’t want no part in it.”

Glaring at the demon gave no more insight into what he meant. Rolling his eyes, Shen Qingqiu slid the tablet across the table.

“Fine. You won’t be involved. Now get me a meeting.” Two Tone grabbed onto the tablet and held it close.

“When will you be around next?”

“Probably spring. Set it for then.”

“I’ll see if I can get a hold of him by then.”

“Please do.”

Their business concluded; Shen Qingqiu left the inn as fast as he could.

It was a quick walk then hop into the human realm. Shen Qingqiu clenched his teeth against the winter chill that cut into his body as he exited the cave. Slipping on his cloak, he drew Xiu Ya and made straight for Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. It was a horrible journey. Sleet pelt at him the entire time. He barely noticed the sun rise, set and rise again, before the mountain range was even in sight.

It was nearing midday by the time he was able to land at the mountain’s base. Pulling out a small brass mirror, Shen Qingqiu checked his appearance and groaned.

He, truly, looked like a disgrace.

His worn-out face fell into his hands with a groan as a few barks of harsh laughter peeled out of him.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Qingqiu filled his lungs then slowly let it all slowly out.

He would be fine. He just had to get back to his hut and collapse. He’d be fine.

With this single thought, he combed out his hair and set about reinstating his appearance to something fitting of a Peaklord. If that took a smear of powder over his face as his redid his scholar’s mark, that was only for him to know.

Turning on the spot, Shen Qingqiu squinted at the small brass mirror. Not his finest work but the illusion was good enough to pass for now. Slipping a fan out of his sleeve, Shen Qingqiu snapped open and ascended the mountain. His knee rebelled the entire walk up, still he refuse to let something as minor as that mar his image as he re-entered through Qiong Ding Peak’s entrance.

Qi Qingqi stood there waiting for him. Guess one of the disciples must have seen him ascending.

“We were worried you wouldn’t be back in time.” She observed disdainfully. He… fuck it he did not have the energy for this.

“Shimei’s concern is appreciated.” Shen Qingqiu bit out. “But this shixiong is back in plenty of time.”

“Plenty of time? The meeting starts in just under a shichen.”

Somewhere between hopping through the realms he’d lost a day…

He was going to have to survive a Peaklord meeting like this.

Shen Qingqiu bit down the urge to scream.

Notes:

MQF: Why are you limping?
SQQ: ...
MQF: ... 😒 Give me your wrist now.

Also:
SQQ: The Demon Lords are plotting against you.
YQY: ... Qingqiu-shidi, why the fuck were you close enough to hear this? 😊
SQQ: Not important.
YQY: 😊 Very important, Shidi.

Translation notes:
Bu 步 is 5 Chi 尺 so about 1.5m
Li 里 is about 300-360 步 bu so 450-600m.
Jiuchong-jun 九重君 Ninth Level Lord- atually a named character from SVSSS. He is the very briefly mentioned father of SHL. He even has a cool very monsterous smoke monster design in the Donghua's 2D intro that I took inspiration from as his battle form. In this chapter, he is fairly human looking. Closer to a chinese version of Dracula from Castlevania but with shorter hair.

Apologies to those readers that were expecting our Mobei-jun to appear. I wanted to put SVSSS/PIDW's Failgirl terrible bitch trio within 2 feet of each other. Shen Jiu, Linguang-jun and Sha Hualing are just wonderfully awful and I need them in the same room more often. Just for the drama.

Next time: We return to our normal schedule of the peaklords being nosey and Shen Qingqiu telling them nothing. Also a Bingbun update~

Chapter 31: Old truths newly told

Summary:

New Years has arrived at Cang Qiong Mountain Sect bringing with it regret, curious truths and some new concerns to terrorise the mind.

Notes:

HOLEY IT'S BEEN 4 MONTHS. HI!
Annoyingly this chapter has been sitting at 95% done for two of those months.
Anyway, hello not dead. Have at ye!

Content warnings: Drinking, Yue Qingyuan being very not normal (why is he like this), Self Harm, Arguing, QiJiu being very divorced, Gambling, Sexism, Child abuse, Blink and you miss it Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Reference, Traumatising Binghe.

"The fuck you mean that scum has been 'destroying Qing Jing's most talented' for years? How? Where did they go!?"

- Qingge's Blood Brother

“Come on, Sect Leader, drink a little!”

Yue Qingyuan gently refused his more enthusiastic shidis as they pushed more wine his way. They had been trying for most of the evening.

The New Year's celebrations were in full swing around him. Hallmasters, senior disciples and Peaklords from across the peaks drank, ate and partied in loud abundance. It was tradition for Qiong Cang Peak to host a celebration of the martial family for those that had not left the mountain to be with their blood family.

As per usual this left Yue Qingyuan with no excuse not to attend.

Out of the Peaklords it was the usual group attending. Though Qi Qingqi, Huang Qingying and Wang Qingqiang had abandoned him to his hallmasters and generational peers at the top table shortly after arriving. Meaning Yue Qingyuan was left to smile and try not to track each slowly passing moment thinking of the man who was not here.

Shen Qingqiu had always found an excuse not to attend these new year celebrations and Yue Qingyuan did not expect any different this year either. Especially with how their last conversation had ended.

He should have gone with his gut instinct in the first place. That is, to say that Yue Qingyuan had been apprehensive to let Shen Qingqiu leave the mountain would have been an understatement. He’d regretted it the moment he had agreed. Growing only more agitated with his decision after he went to see Shen Qingqiu off the morning of departure and that found he had left the night before.

Dread had soaked into his bones in the slow days that followed. Each morning a labour to get through, each night a game of patience and prayer that the next day would come sooner.

The day of the meeting with no sign of Shen Qingqiu had been the worst. This had been their agreed deadline. Yet he hadn’t returned.

What if he had been kidnapped or injured weeks prior? They would have to send out scouts but in which direction? Shen Qingqiu hadn’t told him his plans and in the amount of time that had passed he could have been literally anywhere in either realm.

Yue Qingyuan had sat there in the meeting room at the head of it all, thoughts gnawing him alive as he twisted his thumb back and forth in its socket. A trick he’d learned that kept his hands from away from breakable tables.

Then Shen Qingqiu had walked through the door, smelling of soap, his hair freshly oiled as signs he had only just washed the dirt of the road off him. The midday sun haloed around him as he entered the room, and everything felt right again.

Shen Qingqiu had scowled at him over his fan. “Is Zhangmen-shixiong going to stand there all day or shall we get on with this meeting?”

Yue Qingyuan hadn’t even realised he had risen from his seat. His cheeks hurt with how he had to fight down the smile that had threatened to bloom. “Of course, Qingqiu-shidi.”

He couldn’t tell you much of the meeting only that Shen Qingqiu had met his gaze twice during it and both times it had been like being struck by lightning.

A sigh of relief that built in his chest and warmed him to the core.

Eventually the meeting ended and instead of running off, Shen Qingqiu had lingered. He had lingered! He had stayed. He had met Yue Qingyuan’s eyes. He had turned and he had spoken to Yue Qingyuan.

“Zhangmen-shixiong, there is something we must discuss.” The man had said carefully.

Yue Qingyuan had never felt so light, yet the shadow of apprehension hovered nearby.

“Certainly, Qingqiu-shidi.” He had replied, “What is it?”

Shen Qingqiu moved closer to speak. As he did, Yue Qingyuan could at last see how pain twinkled at the edge of his eyes with each step.

In that moment, his heart dropped.

“Are you hurt?” had left his foolish lips before he even thought to stop it.

“I’m fine!” snapped Shen Qingqiu automatically. Fan fluttering angrily in front of himself like it would hide what Yue Qingyuan had seen.

But it was already too late, and that outburst only hastened over Mu Qingfang that had already been politely taking his time to approach them.

“Shen-shixiong.” Greeted the doctor briskly.

“No.” was the immediate reply. Shen Qingqiu didn’t even look at the man. He only looked at Yue Qingyuan. Yue Qingyuan tried to ignore that he didn’t hate that.

“This shidi hasn’t said anything.” Mu Qingfang said, with a hint of exasperation.

“Good. Now leave.” Was the clipped response as Shen Qingqiu edged closer to Yue Qingyuan, shifting around to place Yue Qingyuan between himself and the doctor.

“Shen-Shixiong.” Mu Qingfang sighed. The exasperation had an edge to it now.

If this continued, it risked harming the strange rapport the pair had carefully been finding between themselves in the months prior. All that careful building ruined by Yue Qingyuan’s careless mouth, still he could not leave his Xiao Jiu in pain.

“Qingqiu-shidi please.” He pleaded. “Are you injured?”

“It’s not important.” This was as much of an admittance as a deflection.

Mu Qingfang held out a hand and waited. Shen Qingqiu glared at it like it was a street dog trying to steal his food.

“This doctor simply wishes to check on his shixiong’s health after so many weeks away.” The man tried, coaxing. Yue Qingyuan pleaded with his eyes to Shen Qingqiu.

Dark eyes flicking back between himself and the doctor, Shen Qingqiu expression shifted behind his fan, then stiffened as he transferred weight back onto one leg. His eyes met Yue Qingyuan’s once again and the Qing Jing Peak Lord grit his teeth and surrendered his wrist.

Mu Qingfang took it gently. Finding the pulse point with expert practice and Yue Qingyuan was stood at the perfect angle to watch his shidi’s face go pale.

Carefully not looking at either of them, the doctor released the wrist. It was immediately tucked in close to Shen Qingqiu’s chest like Mu Qingfang might snatch it back. Nothing was said for a moment. Mu Qingfang only pinched his nose and sighed.

At last, the man spoke. “Would Shen-shixiong be so kind as to follow this doctor back to Qian Ciao Peak? That knee at least should be seen and this shidi can give you something for the pain.”

Shen Qingqiu was glaring at the floor. From the twist of his mouth, Yue Qingyuan knew he was biting the inside of his lip.

“Fine.” Grumbled the man. “But Zhangmen-shixiong should accompany us. As this shidi said, he has an important matter to discuss.”

All three were in agreement and after a brief debate about if Shen Qingqiu was fit to fly, they landed on Qian Ciao Peak and slipped into one of the generalised clinic rooms.

Shen Qingqiu was made to sit on a small wooden bed in the centre of the room and asked to roll up his robes. Many skirts, outer and inner trousers and one sock later, exposed a knee that was purple from his middle thigh down to the top of his shin.

Mu Qingfang leant in closer, being careful not touch the skin.

“How did this happen?” Yue Qingyuan asked as calmly as he could manage. An itch crawled through his veins, overtaking the everyday numbness. He was angry, he realised. He was actually angry. Whoever dared cause this better hope he did not find them. “You said you were meeting with a contact.”

“The contact didn’t have all the information this shidi needed so he had to get creative.” Shen Qingqiu said watching Mu Qingfang, his fan flicking open and closed in his grip. The doctor appeared to be tuning their conversation out.

Which was good because what the fuck did he mean creative?!

“Qingqiu-shidi you only just recovered from the qi deviation a few months ago.” Yue Qingyuan tried. “The sect did not know where you were. What if you had had another!?”

Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders tensed slightly as he continued to look at Yue Qingyuan. Mu Qingfang glanced his way before looking away guiltily.

Everything that was carefully not being said was damning. He shouldn’t have let Qingqiu leave.

Ignoring the sect leader, Mu Qingfang very slowly reached out to place a hand just above Shen Qingqiu’s knee. Despite his very careful approach, his patient still tensed like he’d been struck. The hand lingered for a moment before retreating as the doctor made his way across the room to the desk.

“Qingqiu-shidi.” Yue Qingyuan said when the man still did not give him a reply.

“The demon lords of the south are plotting to ambush you.” Was mumbled into the spokes of his fan.

“Did you have another qi deviation whilst outside the sect?” He said carefully, Shen Qingqiu stared at him silently for a moment before exploding in rage in disbelief.

“Is the sect leader ignoring what this one said?!”

“Demons are always plotting against me.” Yue Qingyuan dismissed, a cocktail of the last few weeks of worry and the more recent anger building in his chest. “Y-You had a qi deviat-“

“Do not disregard my words, Zhangmen-shixiong.” Shen Qingqiu snapped back.

“Do not disregard mine!” He roared back. Then froze. “I did not mean to- Peaklord Shen was alone, with no back up available. If the sect were to lose you.”

“Glad see your true opinion of my abilities shining through.” Shen Qingqiu stabbed back.

“That is not what I said.” Yue Qingyuan tried to defend.

“Of course not, Zhangmen-shixiong. You are far too above me to ever say such a thing.” The caustic reply jabbed violently into him.

Mu Qingfang cleared his throat. “When exactly is this ambush set for?” The doctor ventured, eyeing them both carefully.

“This one…” Shen Qingqiu glared at the wall. ”…wasn’t able to find out. A large event was mentioned with many other sects.”

“Mentioned?” This wasn’t second hand knowledge. Shen Qingqiu was speaking like he overheard it personally.

Shen Qingqiu seemed to hear what he wasn’t saying. “It is not of your concern.”

“As sect leader of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect the safety of our Peaklords is indeed this one’s concern.”

“Oh, only as the sect leader does Shixiong show his concern. Ah I see. Understood.”

Yue Qingyuan realised his mistake too late. “No-“

“This one sees now it was this one’s mistake to be so focused with such a trivial thing as the great Xuan Su sword’s safety. As clearly, he is far above such concerns!”

Yue Qingyuan couldn’t reply before Mu Qingfang grabbed them, both, by the wrist.

Shen Qingqiu immediately clawed at the grip, his fan loudly clattering out of his hand to the floor below. Yue Qingyuan barely felt it, if he hadn’t caught the movement out the corner of his eye he might not have noticed.

The doctor’s qi firmly flowed into his veins and curbed the growing franticness of both their pulses.

“Yue-Shixiong, Shen-shixiong. Might this doctor suggest you both take a moment to calm your qi whilst he goes to fetch Shen-shixiong’s prescription.” There was a unyielding tone to that statement that only the sect doctor could get away with.

“Y-Yes, Mu-shidi. Thank you.” Yue Qingyuan said once the doctor released them both.

Shen Qingqiu gave no response. He just snatched his fan up from the ground and examined it over as the doctor left the room.

“Is the Sect Leader planning to punish me?”

Yue Qingyuan sighed and sat himself down on a stool in the corner of the room. “This one isn’t sure what exactly he would be punishing you for. Though..”

“Though?” Growled Shen Qingqiu.

“Though,” Yue Qingyuan said slowly, “it may be for the best if Qingqiu-shidi did not leave the mountain for the next few months.”

Just until he could be sure that Xiao Jiu would be safe.

He could hear Shen Qingqiu grind his teeth at his words.

“This shidi understands.” The man said at last. Yue Qingyuan did not believe he ‘understood’ what Yue Qingyuan had been trying to say.

Mu Qingfang returned at that point, glanced between the two of them and offered Shen Qingqiu a small paper packet.

“Three times a day, with food, Shen-shixiong” Shen Qingqiu ‘tsk’ed at that. “It’s a mix of goat’s root, eight petal peony leaves, opal nut shells and dried night hunter gizzard. The goat’s root should reduce the inflammation of your knee, and the opal nuts should help with the internal inflammation of your meridians. Eight petal peonies are a mild pain reliever that should take the edge off and dissuade some of the side effects from the opal nut shells.”

Shen Qingqiu took the paper packet in his hands; it crunched lightly in his grip. “And the gizzard?” he said staring at the packet.

“A known qi weakener.”

“Qi weakener?” Shen Qingqiu said a little outraged.

“Yes. Currently Shen-shixiong’s internal flow is sporadic owing to the pinched narrowing of his meridians. Internally your body is straining to properly circulate your qi, pulling hard and shifting it in large insoluble clumps instead of steady flow. The thinning of your qi will reduce the size of these clumps letting it cycle faster, with much less force and risk of internal damage until your meridians are no longer inflamed and widen out again. Think of it like the difference between being pelted with stones versus grains of rice. “

Shen Qingqiu made a face at this, glancing at Yue Qingyuan briefly before nodding. “If Mu-shidi insists.”

“This shidi does, he also recommends after the first two days that Shen Qingqiu wear the cloak he was gifted. The built-in arrays should help shift the last of the stuck qi clumps and encourage your system to clear itself. Both of these should also help speed up the healing of the bruises on your knee and, “the doctor adds with a knowing look. “your side.”

Shen Qingqiu flushes slightly, squirming in place. “Is there anything else?” He tries to bite out, though it lacked the normal impact.

“None, Shen-shixiong is free to leave. Though may this shidi be so bold as to ask to take tea with Shen-shixiong in a week’s time?”

“Suit yourself.” Groused the man and moves to leave before freezing in the doorway.

“Zhangmen-shixiong, this one will submit his trip’s findings to your office within the next few days.” The unspoken ‘whether you like it or not’ burned.

“Ah.” Yue Qingyuan said feeling more than a little drained. “Thank you, Qingqiu-shidi.”

Shen Qingqiu was walking off before Yue Qingyuan had even finished replying.

In the man’s absence, Yue Qingyuan’s face found his hands.

“Would Yue-shixiong like some tea?” Mu Qingfang had gently offered.

“If Mu-shidi would not mind.” He has replied.

That had been over a month ago. He had not spoken to Shen Qingqiu since then. Even at the most recent Peaklord meeting the man had avoided addressing him directly.

Yue Qingyuan considered the once warmed wine in front of him again. Getting drunk would not soothe anything he knows. Still, it was a tempting offer.

Staring at nothing, he once again sighed.

Next to him, one of the Qiong Ding hallmasters elbowed the other. “Do something.” She whispered lowly though not quite quiet enough.

“This one is trying.” Grumbled her shidi.

“Well, try harder.” She encouraged.

“Zhangmen-shixiong,” started the shidi and then stopped when Yue Qingyuan directed his smile towards him.

“Yes, shidi?” he said, no effort behind it.

“I… err.. we-“Whatever his shidi was trying to stutter was interrupted by a cry on the other side of the hall.

“Hallmaster Su!” laughed someone in An Ding’s colours.

“It is indeed!” cried a woman entering. Yue Qingyuan’s head immediately perked up. She was in Qing Jing’s colours!

“And here we thought you snobs were hosting your own celebration!”

“We were. But decided to crash Qiong Ding’s on a whim.” Answered another man also in Qing Jing’s colours.

There was a group of them entering now. Yue Qingyuan craned his head, heart in his throat hoping, praying, dreading.

Shen Qingqiu flowed into sight, glaring at a square faced Hallmaster that Yue Qingyuan recognised for the Mid-Autumn festival.

He had come. He was here.

It was no small crowd that had made its entrance. Qing Jing Peak probably had the greatest number of Hallmasters out of all the peaks. Two more than Qian Cao peak and four more than Qiong Ding peak. The sudden arrival thus was hard not to noticed. Even more when he noted a few of Qing Jing peaks senior Library staff arriving alongside them. In an instant, it was like the festivities had only just started all over again.

Yue Qingyuan could not stop watching as Shen Qingqiu set himself in amongst his hallmasters, fan high as he avoided looking at anyone in particular. His gait smooth and pain free, Mu Qingfang’s handiwork perfect as always.

“Well, looks like our efforts are no longer needed.” Murmured his shidi beside him only to receive another elbow. Yue Qingyuan paid his Hallmasters no mind.

Though it turns out he wasn’t the only Peaklord to notice the rare arrival.

“Shen-shixiong!” called Huang Qingying. “Come sit with us!”

Qi Qingqi at her shimei’s side looked less than enthused at the invitation while Shen Qingqiu himself looked conflicted. This confliction did nothing to stop one of the Qing Jing Hallmasters grabbing her Peaklord by the arm and dragging him over to sit with his shimei.

Had Shen Qingqiu’s Hallmasters always taken such liberties? It was unusual but Shen Qingqiu made no sign of protest, fan fluttering in front of his face as he turned down the wine offered to him.

Yue Qingyuan found himself on his on his feet before he realized. Turning to the hallmasters around him, he gave them a calming smile and a small bow as he excused himself.

“May this one join your table?” Huang Qingying smiled back at him as Yue Qingyuan approached.

“Certainly, Shixiong!” she said as Qi Qingqi shifted the cushions around to give him a place.

He felt eyes peer over a fan at him as he sat, but where Yue Qingyuan turned his head towards Shen Qingqiu, the man was looking elsewhere. There was a lull in conversation for a moment.

Gazing around, Yue Qingyuan noted not all the Qing Jing hallmasters had stuck close to their Peaklord. They had split off across the party, merging and mixing with a variety of other peaks. The square faced hall master had found a small alcove in the corner and was observing them passively, a scroll, brush and ink spread out to paint. He gave Yue Qingyuan a small nod when he noticed his gaze.

Yue Qingyuan nodded back in return a little bemused.

“It’s rare to see Shen-shixiong at these events.” Commented Qi Qingqi, taking small bites of the snacks provided.

Oh… great.

“My hallmasters insisted on it.” Came the clipped response.

“Actually, this shimei isn’t sure she’s ever seen Shen-shixiong at Qiong Ding’s new year’s celebrations.”

Shen Qingqiu glared at Qi Qingqi.

“How has this one’s Shimei been?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“Perfectly well. How has Shen-shixiong been?”

“Perfectly fine as well.”

The pair of them regarded each other, almost sizing each other up. Huang Qingying stuck between them shot Yue Qingyuan a look for assistance.

“It’s good to see you.” He interrupted trying to keep the peace. Shen Qingqiu bristled at the reminder of his presence and hid further behind his fan. “How have things been on Qing Jing Peak?”

“Perfectly fine. Thanking Zhangmen-shixiong for his concern.”

“Wei Qingwei asked this one to pass on his thanks for Qingqiu-shidi’s hard work.”

“It is ’hard work’ now, is it?” Shen Qingqiu scoffed then shook his head. “He has no need to thank me for something so trivial.”

“What did Shen-shixiong do?” Qi Qingqi asked, Huang Qingying also looked intrigued next to her.

“This one did some research into potential leads for Wei-shidi’s investigation.” Shen Qingqiu said dismissively. Yue Qingyuan diplomatically bit the inside of his cheek and said nothing.

“Is this in regards to the-“ Qi Qingqi shot a look towards surrounding people. “-incident at the border?”

Yue Qingyuan gave a quick nod. “Yes. Though now is not the time to discuss such matters.”

“Naturally.” Shen Qingqiu scoffed, then seemed to spot something beyond their group.

Turning to follow his gaze, Yue Qingyuan and his shimeis found their youngest shidi, being smothered by a Qing Jing Hallmaster. The look of begrudging complaint was clear across Wang Qingqiang’s features as he stood there letting the man do as he pleased.

“Zengshuzufu.” The beast master eventually said, noticing his fellow Peaklords attention. “You are crushing me.”

“Huzi-er, you kid.” Said the Hallmaster. “This ancestor is doing no such thing. It is good to see you, my boy. You must come visit more often!”

Wang Qingqiang made a half shrugging gesture. Shen Qingqiu next to them all sighed and snapped his fan shut.

“Hallmaster Wang, please leave my shidi alone.” He commanded catching both Wang’s attention.

“But then who will be my opponent.” The older man pouted, waving an arrow shaft in protest.

“This master will.” Said Shen Qingqiu tonelessly.

“If Peaklord Shen will honour this one. To the best of three?” The man said with a playful salute. Shen Qingqiu immediately rose from his seat and stalked across the hall.

Wang Qingqiang quickly shuffled over to them and took the space Shen Qingqiu had just occupied.

“This one was not aware Wang-shidi had a relative on Qing Jing peak.” Said Huang Qingying, sliding the man a plate of snacks which he began digging into.

Wang Qingqiang shrugged again, nibbling aggressively on a sesame seed ball. “It’s the reason my family sent me to this sect in the first place.” He got out quietly between bites.

Further questions were drowned out as the attention of the entire party was drawn to a Peaklord, and one as rare a sight a sight as Qing Jing’s, began to set up the simple Arrow Toss game. Yue Qingyuan noted how Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders set themselves with the increasing bustle.

At last, everything was ready. Against the wall a few paces away from Hallmaster and Peaklord stood a vase. Closer to them a spare shaft had been used to mark the throwing line as Hallmaster Wang went first, confidently swinging his arrow shaft between his fingers.

Taking aim, he tossed it towards the vase. There was a pause as it sailed through the air before rattling around the vase’s rim as it landed inside. Around them, a few cheers went up. Hallmaster Wang gave a mock bow in their direction.

“Your turn, Peaklord Shen.” The Hallmaster said good naturedly. Shen Qingqiu was handed an arrow shaft and swapped positions with the Hallmaster.

“I’m surprised you weren’t sent to Qing Jing peak then.” Said Qi Qingqi, watching as her shixiong measured the distance with his eyes.

Wang Qingqiang paused eating. “Was originally. But I’m not good at all that type of” He made a vague waving gesture in the air” …. stuff. Zengshuzufu didn’t really help. He was always saying how smart I was even when I was doing poorly.” Wang Qingqiang looked over at Hallmaster Wang, “It didn’t work out in the end.”

“A hundred wen on the Wang the Younger.” Was heard somewhere behind them as Shen Qingqiu continued to stall.

“This one will take that.” Came another’s reply. There were similar murmurs around before a clear voice from the alcove in the corner said loudly.

“A silver tael on Peaklord Shen.”

Yue Qingyuan with an amused grin, made direct eye contact with the painting Hallmaster. Clearly Shen Qingqiu had a friend.

“A tael?!” came the outraged whispers.

“Fine, two silver taels.” The Hallmaster said locking eyes with the source of the voice, one of Bian Jie’s hallmasters.

“Huabi.” Shen Qingqiu said in warning, still yet to throw.

“Three taels.” Continued ‘Huabi’.

With that Shen Qingqiu turned directly to the Hallmaster. “Put that bet up once more, and this lord will miss on purpose!” He snapped.

“Please Gentleman, Ladies, respected cultivators.” Complained Hallmaster Wang. “This is for fun. Put your money away.”

“Rich Qing Jing bastards.” Was muttered by someone who should be very grateful Yue Qingyuan failed to identify them.

Rolling his eyes are the chaos, Shen Qingqiu with a careful motion of his hand threw the shaft. It landed just outside the vase.

“Hey.” The painter groused in the corner as Shen Qingqiu sucked his teeth and rigidly let Hallmaster Wang the Younger take his place.

 Ah, he hadn’t meant to miss. Yue Qingyuan thought though the crowd seemed to just take this as him slighting Hallmaster ‘Huabi’. A few jeers were sent the alcove’s way.

“How did Wang-shixiong end up on Ma Jiu Peak then?” Huang Qingying asked, not at all distracted by the chaos around them.

Hallmaster Wang the Younger once more threw an arrow shaft, but this one was aimed a little too high and bounced off the wall. There was cries around them at this and embarrassed laughter from the Hallmaster himself.

“Ah, so close.” He exclaimed swapping once again.

“Shen-shixiong gave me the idea.” Said Wang Qingqiang. Qi Qingqi next to Yue Qingyuan paused mid sip of her wine.

“That’s impossible.” She stated. “Wang-shidi had long been Cai-shishu’s personal disciple by the time Shen-shixiong joined the sect.”

Wang Qingqiang looked puzzled for a moment. “But it was him. He approached me and told me ‘If I was so reluctant to be anything more than a disgrace to the peak then maybe I should find something else to do.’ “

Yue Qingyuan tried not to wince at the tone those words were no doubt said in.

“That ... certainly sounds like, Shen-shixiong.” Huang Qingying said ... politely.

Wang Qingqiang didn’t seem to realise or care about the harshness. “So, I started skipping the classes I really wasn’t enjoying to go read the bestiaries in the library. Tu-shibo after a few months of being angry at last recommended me to Shizun, who took me as his personal disciple almost immediately.”

“Peaklord Ti was more mad that Hallmaster Wang the Younger wouldn’t stop crying than anything else.” teased the Qing Jing Hallmaster that had brought over Shen Qingqiu. Yue Qingyuan had honestly forgotten they were there. Wang Qingqiang picked up another sesame seed ball to nibble.

“It still wasn’t Shen Qingqiu who said that.” Grumbled Qi Qingqi.

The Qing Jing Hallmaster seemed to consider that then gave a shrug. “Peaklord Shen was causing all sorts of trouble before he was made an inner disciple, so it wouldn’t surprise this one if it was.”

Qi Qingqi paused mid sip of wine again. Huang Qingying meanwhile sent Yue Qingyuan a look. He gave her a slight shake of the head which made the seamstress nod and look away. Yue Qingyuan wasn’t fully sure how her and Shen Qingqiu had resolved things behind the scenes. But they had. He’d leave it be for now.

“Wasn’t Shen-shixiong made an inner disciple upon joining the sect?” Qi Qingqi prodded.

“No, no. It took him quite a few years to get to that stage.” The Qing Jing Hallmaster replied waving a hand dismissively.

 

---

Qi Qingqi stared at Hallmaster Su as her brain caught up with the words. Behind herself and her martial siblings, Shen Qingqiu took his time with the second arrow shaft. Not long after there was the triumphant sound of the shaft landing inside the vase.

“Well done!” Hallmaster Wang praised. The arrogant sound a fan being flicked open snapping across the room as the game continued.

“What?” was all Qi Qingqi got out. “No, no, Ti-shibo picked him up on a mission in the south a few weeks before making him his personal disciple.”

Hallmaster Su looked bemused, and possibly a little drunk. Not that Qi Qingqi herself wasn’t also a little drunk. “If only it was that simple.”

“Then where-?” Qi Qingqi didn’t finish her question.

This didn’t line up at all.

The day had been fair, cloudlessly sunny with a sharp breeze that rattled doors of the pavilion that Zui Xian Peak had let its disciples’ fashion into something between a restaurant and a tavern. Lin Kuiwu had been late as normal, well later than normal. Qi Qingqi had finished her first cup of tea by the time the Qing Jing disciple appeared, sighing dramatically into the chair opposite her.

Quirking a smile at the girl, she had poured out them both a cup and nudged it closer to her friend.

Lin Kuiwu’s family had been close enough with her father to be allowed to escort the two girls to the disciple selection trials, with the implied notion that being rejected would finally get the Qi family’s daughter to calm down. It had done nothing of the sort. Only removing the last of her father’s control over her.

Lin Kuiwu took the tea and swirled it, not drinking a drop.

Qi Qingqi barely restrained a snort at her pout. “What has Shimei in such a mood? The southern weather not agree with you?”

There was no returning barb back.

“… Is it serious?” She asked slowly.

At last Lin Kuiwu met her gaze. “Shizun has chosen an inner disciple.”

“What?! Ti-shibo finally-? Who? It better not be that Yan-”

“No.” Lin Kuiwu cut her off.

“Then who?” Qi Qingqi pushed only to flinch when her friend slammed the teacup onto the table.

“I don’t know!”

“What?” Qi Qingqi blinked at the outrage in her friend’s eyes.

“Qi Qingqi, are you going deaf, I said I don’t know.” Lin Kuiwu near cried, flopping onto the table. She took a moment to compose herself, finishing her tea before speaking grimly. “He was some random whoring dandy that was a friend of a friend of the host of the last mission.”

“Whoring-?” Qi Qingqi stuttered.  “Ti-shibo picked a grown man from outside the sect as his inner disciple?!”

Lin Kuiwu made a sort of gesture with her head. “I don’t know about fully grown. He’s at least sixteen. He’s very tall.”

“He’s still too old to have an hope of properly developing his meridians.” Qi Qingqi declared. Lin Kuwui’s eyes dimmed.

“This one is well aware.” She said, hands trembling. “ but that is who Shizun has chosen and I just. I thought. I thought I was getting through to Shizun, that he could see what I was capable of.”

Qi Qingqi had taken a moment to consider the situation, her nail tapping on her cup.

“Has this ‘whoring dandy’ been made head disciple?” she at last asked.

“Not yet.” Confirmed Lin Kuiwu.

“Then don’t give him a chance.”

That whoring dandy had been named ‘Shen Qingqiu’ the following summer, just in time for the interpeak competition. Lin Kuiwu has left the following winter, returning to a marriage arranged by her family.

It hadn’t been fair. He had just appeared, swooped in and taken everything.

And now she was being told he had been there all along. Why had Lin Kuiwu not recognised him then? She wasn’t the type to forget her fellow disciples.

Hallmaster Su shrugged at her unanswered question. “All this one knows it that Qing Jing Peak sent fifty-six people to the Immo-.”

Yue Qingyuan coughed loudly. “Please excuse this one.” He said a little breathlessly.

“Is Zhangmen-shixiong okay?” Huang Qingying worried.

“This one is fine.” Her shixiong said, clearing his throat a little bit more.

Qi Qingqi wasn’t given another chance to question Hallmaster Su further as the game behind them came to a tie. Shen Qingqiu himself reapproached the table and stared at Wang Qingqiang occupying his former seat. The Stablemaster blinked back up at him, cheeks fully of sesame balls.

With a sigh, the Qing Jing Peaklord looked around for another seat, pointedly ignored the one next to their sect leader, and settled across the table from them near Hallmaster Su.

“Did you have fun?” She asked.

“I did not win.” Grumped Shen Qingqiu behind his fan.

“A tie is a win in my book.” Yelled Wang-shidi’s relative, going to pat Shen Qingqiu on the shoulder and somehow missing.

Qi Qingqi could only stare at her shixiong more confused than ever where he had appeared from.

 

---

 

Fireworks lit up the ground where Binghe knelt.

A new year had come. He was a year older, another year further away from the boy his mother had raised.

“I’m okay, ma. I’m doing okay.” Binghe murmured to the small shrine as he buried a lit incense stick before it. It was nothing more than a few carefully selected rooks and a wooden plaque with his mother’s name written as neatly as he had been able to achieve. Despite his best efforts, his handwriting still wasn’t great.

It had been relatively easy to sneak the plaque from one of the calligraphy rooms. Ming Fan, along with a large number of others, had left the peak to visit their families so he was free to do as he pleased for a week. Last year it had been a relief. This year it was an absence. Binghe could not yet say honestly that he missed Ming Fan per say but the last week of silence had gnawed at him in a way it hadn’t before even with Ning Yingying keeping him company when she could.

Things had changed. Things had changed a lot.

His hand ran aimlessly over the pendant beneath his robes.

He didn’t hate that they had changed.

“I miss you, ma.”

The bamboo swayed around him almost like a response.

At last, the fireworks seemed to run out and Binghe watched the incense stick he’d lit burnt out.

Carefully he packed away the shrine and set off back along the path out of the woods.

The bamboo hut was tucked away just before the forest ran out. No lights were lit, it was quiet and dark.

Binghe had watched as Shizun had been dragged off the peak by the Hallmasters.

He would be alone for tonight.

The bamboo stalks clanked against each other with the breeze. The stars overhead, bright enough that he didn’t even need to light a night pearl to guide him back to the side room.

That was another thing that had changed, his own room. Shizun had let him settle in as he pleased so long as Binghe kept the room clean.

And he had been doing a good job of that!

Or so he had thought right up till after closing the door behind him, his foot caught on something in the dark and sent him sprawling with the fluttering sound of paper and bruised knees.

Pulling out a night pearl, Binghe breathed deeply and focused. It took a moment but at last the swirl of his qi trickled through his finger making the orb produce a faint glow.

It was enough to see the mess he was going to have to clean up.

Loose talismans burst from the trip hazard. Some of them had landed nearly by, but most were spread out across half the room. After his foot lay the culprit, the smooth box Shizun had quickly shoved at him the day Peaklord Wei and Peaklord Mu had visited.

Seeing this Binghe was beyond tempted to just crawl to his bed and deal with it all tomorrow.

Though if Shizun walked in tomorrow morning to this…

Binghe had been enjoying the past few months without the sting of the punishment whip.

A shiver slithered over old sore spots and Binghe was on his feet.

Picking up, a few Binghe noted it wasn’t just one type of talisman covering the floor.  His memory of the lesson on these a few months back as hazy but this looked like one for repelling something, another was some sort of barrier and that one that he’d seen Ku Xing Peaks disciples using a lot.

What had they used it for? Cleaning? Purifying? Something like that. The one he could recognise instantly was the ghost tracking talisman. They’d had an entire lesson on the history of their creation.

Something about a man with a flute. Binghe forgot.

Picking them up, Binghe kept stooping slowly around the room until he noticed something.

The talisman at his feet was black in one corner.

Picking it up, Binghe squinted at it. Maybe it was dirt?

Rubbing did nothing, the dark spot remained.

Stepping forward to pick up the next, Binghe found this one even more discoloured.

But they were only meant to do that around ghost qi, right?

Slowly Binghe raised the night pearl, forcing more qi into it. The effort of it, made his head spin a bit or maybe that was the sight of the discoloured talismans clinging around Shizun’s old crates.

Binghe had been sleeping next to those for months.

Swallowing, Binghe edged closer and peeled off blacken talisman after blacken talisman. They only got darker the closer to the crates he got.

Some part of him screamed that he should ignore it. Should just go to bed and pretend he knew nothing. That curiosity was either going to get him killed or worse.

But then he wouldn’t know. He would be laying there in this room every night not knowing.

So Binghe kept going, kept picking up the talismans till he found a box that turned what he had collected in his hand pure black.

The night pearl had dimmed down again. He still wasn’t far enough in his training to keep it a glow for long. But damn Binghe wished he wasn’t doing this in the fucking dark.

Reaching out the crate itself was of smooth but cold wood, fine grained and large enough that it was cumbersome to move. As he separated it out from its brethren, Binghe heard something inside it rattle. Something that wasn’t wood or metal or ceramic bumped around inside.

Hands shaking, Binghe reached for the lid.

It was locked but gave just enough that there was a crack to peer through.

His heart was trying to drag him away, it must be with how it was bruising the inside of his ribs.

Breathing with forced slowness, Binghe put his eye to the crack.

Pitch darkness greeted him inside.

One breath, then the next. Binghe held the night pearl up behind him and let his qi swirl.

The eyeless smile of a skull greeted him from inside the box.

Notes:

MQF was side eyeing QiJiu during their arguement sooo hard.

Also yes there are three men in this fic with the surname Wang 王.
Peaklord Wang Qingqiang of the Beast/Stables peak, Hallmaster Wang the Elder (calligraphy teacher who almost threw down with the guqin hallmaster in Chapter 7) and Hallmaster Wang the Younger (Guy who dropped the blanket on SQQ during his badtime in Chapter 26). Only Peaklord Wang and Wang the Younger are related.

Bonus: The blackening talismens are from canon! Ming Fan uses them during the skinner arc! :D Those are canon! :D
Extra Bonus: Qingge's Blood Brother is a commenter from part 1 of the Airplane Extras. Big SQQ hater that one.

Translation notes:
Zengshuzufu 曾叔祖父 - great-grand uncle. In this case Wang Qingqaing's father's father's father's younger brother.
Huzi-er 虎子儿 - tiger cub (affectionate). Basically a cute term to refer to a brave young man.
Arrow toss is a real game and is traditional for new years.
Tael is a unit of weight. Used in the context of currency it referes to a tael of silver, worth 1000 wen or cash.
I'm valuing it in world at around 2000 yuan (close to the late Tang dynasty purchasing power) aka £200 or $250 for context. Meaning yes, Hallmaster Li did just casually up the bet from £20/$25 to £600/$750!!

Next time: A shidi connects some dots. <.<

Chapter 32: Connecting the dots

Summary:

A shidi connects some dots and this author gives some answers. :3

Notes:

Fun fact about this chapter: it was written entirely in Zurich, Switzerland and edited whilst airborne on the plane home.

It is also a lot shorter than previous chapters but eh this is as many words as was needed.

Content warnings: Attempted mystery solving, mentioned murder of shijie :c , alot of interpersonal politics, alcohol and 'tea' drinking, six whole peaklords!

"Where was this guy during the disciple era arc!? You are just busting out never before seen Peaklords to drop epic battles on us as Bing-ge scorches this shithole to the ground. Damn man."

- Peerless Cucumber

He had found it.

Finally.

It had taken months and a perilous, and in hindsight unnecessary, actual dive into deep storage that had spawned entirely new training exercises for the junior disciples to evict small colonies of Gem spotted leopard moles.

But there it was, not in any arrest record scroll he could find, not in the classified section, not even in the current prisoner profiles, but in the notes for an inventory check done twenty-three years ago.

There wasn’t much there but it proved there had been. That at some point Bian Jie peak had a record of an arrest and an imprisonment of a criminal just after the Immortal Alliance Conference. There was even reference codes to confiscated items being held in Wan Jian peak and Si Chou peak.

This was their man. The Shimozhe. It was proof that it was all connected. The blood metal items were all from the same source.

However, it wasn’t all good news. The record scroll itself was missing and the inventory check the following year had had all record of it and the arrest removed. It had been deliberately scrubbed clean.

Why?

Yang Qingfu frowned at the inventory list, a million answers to that ‘why’ floating around his head. Had his shizun deliberately hid it? Or was it someone else?

Shen Qingqiu would probably have a better idea what to make of this entire mess. Though he’d was definitely going to be… well ‘Shen Qingqiu’ about it.

Groaning, Yang Qingfu procrastinated for a day or two before resolving to be a good shidi and go talk to his prickly Shixiong about this.

Having made sure that the junior disciples knew their patrol routes for the day, Yang Qingfu set off up the rainbow bridge to Qing Jing peak.

The shade and smell of bamboo engulfed him the moment he entered. It was a lot colder up here, compared to his relative low-lying peak. There were fingers of frost still wound up each stalk despite the slowly warming weather. Blowing out a white cloud of breath, Yang Qingfu quickly meandered down the path. He soon exited into an open area consisting of large ponds and pavilions. Disciples carrying instruments and ink scurried back and forth over bridges in a scattered mob of green and white.

It was pretty easy to nab one up by the scruff of their robes.

The child, and it was an actual child (Seriously Shen Qingqiu where are your senior disciples?) didn’t even fight him, fixing his shishu was a unamused look screamed ‘I have more pressing things to do right now’. Yang Qingfu almost laughed in the child’s face. His shixiong was either rubbing off on his disciples or Shen Qingqiu’s resting bitch face was just a part of Qing Jing peak’s hoity-toity culture.

“Tell your Shishu where he might find his Shixiong, alright kid?” He asked fighting a grin down.

The child had the nerve to roll his eyes. “Across the lotus pond, down towards the Hallmasters’ quarters then take a left down the path out west towards the other side of the mountain.”

“Thank you, Shizhi.” Yang Qingfu said, setting the disciple back on their feet and watched as they immediately sprinted off somewhere. Where? Who knows. Not his problem.

Following their instructions led Yang Qingfu to a small building hidden in the bamboo. Honestly, he had walked right past it, found the river then circled back. Because, because look at it!

This wasn’t the residence of the Qing Jing Peaklord. He couldn’t make that fit in his head. Shen Qingqiu didn’t live here, and Tu-shibo certainly wouldn’t have. So, the kid must have been lying, right?

Wondering if he’d been pranked, Yang Qingfu jumped when a disciple emerged from one of the building’s side rooms.

The fluffy haired boy caught sight of him and froze, dark eyes widening to an alarming degree, a bag with brushes and scrolls poking haphazardly out of it swung over one shoulder.

“Hello Shizhi.” Yang Qingfu said, raising a hand in greeting.

The boy immediately dropped his bag of scrolls and bowed into a salute. “Shishu.”

“At ease, kid.” Yang Qingfu said, gesturing for the boy to relax. “Any idea where your Shizun is?”

The boy flinched so hard, Yang Qingfu thought he had been stung by something.

“I…. Yes. Shizun is… Shizun is… home.” There was a vague gesture to the other door into the building behind him. “Excuse me!” The boy suddenly said, grabbing his things and vanishing before Yang Qingfu could question him further.

Strange kid.

Shrugging that off, Yang Qingfu stepped forward and gave a firm knock on the hut’s door.

There was movement inside and the door was pulled a jar. A sliver Shen Qingqiu’s face glared at him, providing that wait shit he did live here?

“Yang-shidi.”

Yang Qingfu gave a very brief salute. This fucker always reacted better to some manners. “Shen-shixiong.”

“To what do I owe you frightening my disciple?” Well fuck. Wait a minute he’d know he was outside this entir- Nope. He needed to talk with him.

Yang Qingfu barked out an embarrassed laugh, rubbing his head guiltily. “That had not been this one’s intentio-“

“Shidi, why are you here?” Shen Qingqiu interrupted. Because of course he did.

Here went nothing. Straightening up, Yang Qingfu address the gap in the doorway with serious expression. “This shidi has discovered some new information about the ‘Shimozhe’ case, may he come in?”

Shen Qingqiu’s eye and fan regarded him for a moment before narrowing. “No. What did you find?”

“The blood metal sword and the robe are both from the same person.” He said bluntly.

Shen Qingqiu’s visible eye widened. “…What?”

Shock. Shock was good. Shock meant his shixiong might pay attention. Seeing his chance, Yang Qingfu pushed forward.

“This one found a reference to the arrest in an old inventory check. He hoped that Shen-shixiong would be able to help him identify who was arreste-“

“That isn’t possible.” Shen Qingqiu interrupted again, grinding Yang Qingfu’s explanation to a sudden halt.

Yang Qingfu stared at Shen Qingqiu and blinked. “What isn’t possible?” He asked, dumbly.

“This shixiong cannot help you.” Said Shen Qingqiu, like that sentence made any sense.

“Uh, yeah you can?” Yang Qingfu said, brain still catching up from where he’d been derailed. “Shixiong, you now have access to the criminal records archive. Surely you can-“

“This one cannot.” A third interruption!

“Shixiong.” Yang Qingfu said with gritted teeth.

“Good day, shidi.” The door was closed in his face.

“Shixiong!?” There was no response.

“Shen Qingqiu!” There was no response.

“Fuck!” he cursed. “At least tell me why!” Still there was no response.

 “Well fuck you then!” Bastard!

That had gone about as well as he expected.

Stomping back over Qing Jing Peak’s stupidly ornate bridges over their stupidly manicured ponds and down the rainbow bridge to his own peak, Yang Qingfu resolved that he would just figure this all out without that uppity prick.

Wei Qingwei was much happier to see him. The Peaklord was up to his elbows in sweat and soot, a Hallmaster’s newest work in his hands being oiled clean under a blackened rag.

The sword was handed over to its maker when he saw his shidi enter the workshop.

“Yang Qingfu! What does this shixiong owe the pleasure?” Wei Qingwei greeted happily.

The fury and tension drained out Yang Qingfu’s shoulders at his shixiong’s smile. Further entering the workshop, he ignored the pangolin sniffing at his boots to lean over the anvil conspiratorially. “Found something that might help you out with that side project of yours.”

“Side project?” Wei Qingwei asked.

Yang Qingfu angled his head towards the Hallmaster. “The one with the strange metal.” He said slowly. A light went off behind Wei Qingwei’s eyes and his smile dimmed.

“Ah, that one. Follow me.”

Wei Qingwei exchanged his leather apron for his maroon over robe and quickly lead them both out the workshop, up the mountain to his office inside.

Tea and snacks were offered and taken before the sword smith interwove his fingers and fixed him with a weary gaze, “What did you find, Shidi?”

Brushing crumbs off his robes, Yang Qingfu wet his throat with a gulp of tea before answering. “It’s all connected.”

Wei Qignwei’s eyebrow rose.

“The sword. The robes. All from the same arrest nearly thirty years ago.” Yang Qingfu said, leaning forward.

“You found the arrest record?” Wei Qingwei asked, matching his pose.

Yang Qingfu sighed. “No. But. But, I found a record of the arrest record.” Wei Qingwei laughed and covered his face, before shaking his head and pouring them both more tea.

“So, do we know who?” he asked half laughing.

“Also no.” Wei Qingwei laughed again. Yang Qingfu continued on regardless.  “But it was under the codename ‘Wu’. Shizun was never very creative so we are probably after someone from the Wu family or whose name begins or ends with Wu- why are you making that face?”

The laughter had vanished from Wei Qingwei’s features, something he failed to hide behind the rim of his tea cup. “A month or two ago, this shixiong was following a few potential leads Shen-shixiong found. During which he stopped by the garrison outpost out by the borders. When asked if they had seen anything strange, two men mentioned they’d been saved by a ghost.”

“A ghost?”

Wei Qingwei nodded. “With glowing green eyes, that leaked foul qi and was able to kill the demon attacking them with one of their swords. But get this, the ghost did it without touching the sword. Just made a gesture and the sword moved.”

“Most spirit swords could be overpowered by a strong enough third party.” Yang Qingfu said slowly, an unsaid question held in the air between them.

“It wasn’t a spirit sword.” Answered Wei Qingwei, leaning back.

It wasn’t a-

“What?”

“It wasn’t a spirit sword.” Repeated Wei Qingwei. “They showed me the sword. It was just a normal metal sword. A hunk of steel. I couldn’t have made it move with all the qi in the world.”

“Okay, okay, so we have a sword controlling ghost out in the demonic borderlands. How does this relate to ‘Wu’ whatever?”

“They claim they saw the man’s name written on a document he was carrying.” Yang Qingfu furrowed his brows at this, and Wei Qingwei just shrugged. “They couldn’t make it all out but what they did get was ‘Wu’, a square character of some sort and ‘Zi’.”

Yang Qingfu swirled the last of his tea around the bottom of his cup. “And you think your ‘Wu-zi’ is related to my ‘Wu’?”

“He might be.” Wei Qingwei paused. “Being able to take control of metal would explain all the knives.”

Oh right, he had forgotten about the something dozen tiny little knives stored in with the robe!

Still, something wasn’t adding up.

“But how did he go from being imprisoned with Cang Qiong to roaming the borderlands as a ghost?”

Wei Qingwei shrugged again.

“No idea. Have you asked Shen-shixiong if he can chec-“

“Yes.” Yang Qingfu dead panned.

Wei Qingwei’s eyebrows shot up.

“And?” he said, though judging by the tone he wasn’t expecting good news.

“He told me he could not help me and slammed the door in my face.”

Wei Qingwei laughed. “Wow. Okay. Why?”

“I. Don’t. Know!” Growled Yang Qingfu.

Wei Qingwei pursed his lips and pondered for a moment, before an idea brightened his eyes. “Have you spoken to Zhangmen-shixiong yet?”

Oh. Now there was an idea.

“No.” Yang Qingfu said. “No, this shidi has not.”

“Maybe you should.” Wei Qingwei suggested with a wink.

Sharing the man’s grin, Yang Qingfu bowed out a lazy salute and wasted no time heading to Qiong Ding peak.

Yue Qingyuan was making his best attempt not to be buried under paperwork in his smaller office. His success was questionable, but Yang Qingfu wasn’t here to judge that. Nor was he there to comment on the three different cups of cold tea sat in various spots between the piles around him, each only half drank.

“Yang-shidi.” The man in question greeted him, setting aside his papers and brush.

“Yue-shixiong.” He greeted with a relaxed wave.

Yue Qingyuan’s smile relaxed out of his mask into something a lot more common and rugged. His voice shifted a touch to match, one low born man addressing another. “Did something happen?”

Strolling in casually, Yang Qingfu didn’t bother taking a seat and just leant again the side of the chair. “This shidi has found more information in regard to our Shimozhe situation.”

“Oh? Come have a seat and tell me.” Yue Qingyuan gestured and only then did Yang Qinfu swing himself over the arm rest into the chair’s seat.

“Cang Qiong Mountain Sect made an arrest thirty years ago.” Yue Qingyuan’s smile froze on his face.

“Really?” the man said, sounding oddly distant.

Noting the change, Yang Qingfu continued on. “The actual arrest report is missing but this one found a reference to it. It’s coded under ‘Wu’. When talking to Wei Qingwei about this-“

“You have already talked to Wei-shidi about this?” Yue Qingyuan’s smile had definitely frozen itself at some point.

“Yes.” Yang Qingfu confirmed, conscious that there was some undercurrent here he was missing. “Wei-shixiong mentioned that a Wu-zi figure had been reported near the borderlands.” Yue Qingyuan’s sucked in a breath. “Though I haven’t been able to look further into the missing report or this Wu-zi as Shen-shixiong…. isn’t being cooperative.”

“This shixiong sees.” Came the stiff response.

“Yue-shixiong?” Yue Qingyuan’s distant gaze refocused back onto the here and now. “This one was hoping you might be able to convince him to at least permit me access to the archives even if he is too busy to-“

Yue Qingyuan sighed. “Shidi” he said in that slightly patronising way of his, especially given the man was a decade younger than him. “There is little point in chasing down some figure from the past.”

“But Wei-shixiong’s Wu-zi report is recent!”

Yue Qingyuan paused slightly at that before sighing again. “We can not chase down random rumours. Do you have any proof that this Wu-zi has a connection to the boar or the blood metal?”

Yang Qingfu did not. His silence spoke for him. Yue Qingyuan fixed him with a steady look that before rubbing his thumbs together and looking away.

“I admire your enthusiasm but nothing fruitful will come from following this.” He said looking at the edge of his desk.

Yang Qingfu fought not to clench his fists.

A beat passed then Yue Qingyuan met his gaze again, perfect sect-leader smile in place again. “Was there anything else, shidi?”

“No. Thanking Zhangmen-shixiong for his time.” Yang Qingfu said with a sharp bow and left.

He could sense the man behind him flinch awkwardly.

Good.

Fucking damn it.

His two top ranked shixiong seemed to never agree on anything except when it came to being brats and nuisances.

This entire thing smelt of some skeleton in the sect’s past that he was a little too close to unearthing. Which was horseshit. He was a fucking Peaklord. Sure, he was the lowest ranked peak’s Peaklord but what the fuck? He had the security clearance for this. He was the security clearance for the entire sect. Fuck.

Yang Qingfu needed a drink.

The Peaklord’s personal pavilion on Zui Xian peak was not unoccupied when he got there. Mu Qingfang was sat there, a pot of Chen Qingda’s questionable proclaimed ‘tea’ on one side and a forest of medical texts on the other.

“Afternoon.” Chen Qingda greeted him from beyond the counter his own peak’s paperwork spread out around him.

“Yeah.” Yang Qingfu got out before dropping into a seat. “Fuck.”

“Something strong?” Asked Chen Qingda expectantly.

“Something strong.” Confirmed Yang Qingfu, rubbing his forehead.

On cue, there was the shuffle of a scroll before Mu Qingfang politely asked, “Can this shixiong be of assistance?”

“Just a pair of headaches.” Yang Qingfu answered back.

There was a paused.

”This one was not aware you could have more than one headache.”

“You can when they are named Yue-shixiong and Shen-shixiong.”

“Ahh.” The doctor replied, a touch of mutual frustration to his tone. “Those two.”

Chen Qingda, as always, was wonderfully quick to bring over his drink.

“Are they fighting again?” he asked.

Yang Qingfu grumbled a thanks at the man before taking a large gulp of the sweet but biting wine. “If they are, they’ve clearly made up enough to give me grief.”

There was a bark of sarcastic laughter from Chen Qingda and a sigh from Mu Qingfang.

“Does this shixiong want to know what happened?” The doctor asked.

Yang Qinfu took another gulp of his wine, savouring the burn before answering.

“Nothing that should concern you, Doc. This shidi unearthed a lead for the Shimozhe shit and when I brought it up, I got told to ignore it. Wei-shixiong thought it aligned with some of his findings but because there’s no provable link between it all, Yue Qingyuan won’t let me pursue it further and Shen Qingqiu is being his usual fucking self.”

He received a sympathetic pat from Chen Qingda.

“It’s like they don’t trust us.” He grumbled.

Mu Qingfang nodded along with a knowing frown.

Taking another swig of his drink, Yang Qingfu pressed his face into his hands. “Don’t suppose either of you would know any criminals called ‘Wu’?”

Chen Qingda started to say ‘No, sorry’ only to be cut off as Mu Qingfang choked mid sip.

“Uh yes.” The man said recovering himself. “A fairly major one. Though he’s very dead.”

“Fairly major?” asked Chen Qingda as Yang Qingfu waved a hand at Mu Qingfang’s last statement.

“Being dead wouldn’t disqualify them in this case.”

The sect doctor pulled a look straight out of Shen Qingqiu’s book, for a moment Yang Qingfu could physically feel himself being picked apart with the man’s eyes. At last, something seemed to have settled inside.

“Does the name Wu Yanzi sound familiar?” Mu Qingfang asked.

No, but that name was too close to Wu-zi not to have him curious.

Both Chen Qingda and Yang Qingfu shook their heads.

Mu Qingfang made a face, finished his tea and began to talk.

“This one doesn’t know all the details as Wu Yanzi was active mostly before this one became head disciple. But as far as I am aware he was a demonic cultivator that used many foul tricks to rob and pillage across the country.

He was quite elusive, showing up randomly and disappearing just as quick. At first, he wasn’t treated as a major threat because the sects were reluctant to share just how active he was being in their territories.

It was only once the body count on each robbery began to increase that the true scope of his villainy came out and he was labelled an enemy of all four of the great sects.”

Yang Qingfu pulled a face. “You said he was dead? Sorry, ‘very dead’.” He corrected.

“Yes, he tried to attack the immortal alliance conference.”

A few things clicked into place in Yang Qingfu’s mind.

“So, he was capture and executed?” He said, hedging his bets.

“No,” shot down Mu Qingfang, a little more angrily than Yang Qingfu had expected. “Though an accomplice of his was.”

An accomplice?

Filing that away for later, Yang Qingfu continued his questioning.

“Then how did Wu Yanzi die?”

“This one does not know but his corpse was found among his many victims. A minor sect claimed it had been one of their own that slew him but that is as much as this one knows.” Mu Qingfang finished quietly, looking off to the side.

Huh. Mulling this over, Yang Qingfu was about to speak again when Chen Qingda broke his silent observation.

“Mu-shixiong.” The doctor looked towards Chen Qingda. “What are you not telling us?”

Mu Qingfang made to speak then stopped himself. It took a moment for his to centre himself.

“This one was not his shizun first choice of head disciple and had all things gone well, he would not have been Peaklord.”

There was only silence as the two other Peaklords caught on quickly to what wasn’t being said. Mu Qingfang drew in a shaky breath.

“It was a small village out west. An earthquake had triggered a landslide, and they needed help. Qingfeng-shijie had assured Shizun she would manage on her own. It wasn’t even that far away. She’d be back before we knew it. Patted me on the head and flew off on her sword. And well, this one did say he showed up randomly. She didn’t come back. After two weeks, a search party was sent out.”

Chen Qingda slipped in next to Mu Qingfang and pulled him into a hug. He got a small ’thanks’ from the sect doctor.

“This is why Shizun was always so protective of me. I rarely got missions outside the sect and even then, I was routinely pulled out of them. He wasn’t willing to risk the heart break of losing another head disciple like that. I… I can’t fault him for it. Though the anger of being coddled still hits me at times.”

Yang Qingfu’s wine jar was offered and refused.

Finishing the last of it, Yang Qingfu had one last question.

“Would Mu-shixiong know who claimed Wu Yanzi’s body?”

The doctor shook his head before fixing him with a suspecting look. “Shidi, why are you looking into Wu Yanzi?”

Yang Qingfu set the wine jar down and stretched. “Because he might be the key to figuring out whose blood metal sword and robe we have.”

The doctor could only look troubled at that.

Notes:

YQF: I have connected the dots.
SQQ, panicking: You didn't connect shit.
WQW: I think he's connected them.
YQY, also panicking: No, no he hasn't.
MQF: You connected which dots to WHO?
CQD: Those sure are some dots.

Okay, notes for this chapter.
Yang Qingfu - Peaklord of the 12th ranked Bian Jie Peak, which specialises in spears, guards and arrays. He's been in most of the Peaklord group scenes but never really got to stand out too boldly. He's also probably the eldest of the peaklords.
Peaklord Rong - former peaklord of Qian Cao and Mu Qingfang's shizun. it was mentioned in chapter 8 him dragging Mu Qingfang off a mission and the flashback in chapter 17 had hints at why he had issues with Shen Qingqiu.
Wu-zi? Old Lu in Chapter 29 got a peek at Two Tone's ledger. Wu would have been the first character he read and Zi (子) is a very simple and common character. Yan is a little more complicated and in demon handwriting might look like alot of other characters so he didn't read it in time. Basically Shen Qingqiu's 'No good deed goes unpunished curse' acted up again, rip to our boy.
Qingfeng - Taken from the phrase ' 清风明月 qīng​fēng​míng​yuè Clean breeze, bright moon ' which roughly means 'to live a quiet life'.

Other thing of note, Mu Qingfang's scene was actuall set to happen in a different chapter but due to plotline changes it kinda didn't fit there and it fit here and I recently discovered my favourite Mu Qingfang artist 'rox of iu' on tumblr has written really got Mu Qingfang fics here on Ao3 and needed to write the doctor man again. *Shrug* So if you like my Mu Qingfang, he is heavily based off of rox's. Their handle is Rox2 and I highly recommend their fics. They even have a MuJiu one set in PIDW. Go give them some love! :D

Anyway, Next time: Qi Qingqi throws a party. :3

Chapter 33: Old stains wrung out

Summary:

The Qing Jing trio share some information, it goes well.... mostly and Qi Qingqi is nosey and learns alot more than her Shixiong's past.

Notes:

I LIVE!!!!
HELLO I AM ALIVE.
Been an age. But here we are!
Enjoy!

Content warnings: Bullying, Dead bodies, Alot of named NPCs please do not panic you don't need to remember who is who I swear they aren't plot important, Bribery, corruption, public drinking, unadulterated world building, and general gossiping

Now with a second edit: Because oh boy I am out of practice! Sorry to all that read the first error filled version XD ^^"

"It is a pity that all relationships but Bing-ge attempts at romance feel so well done. Airplane, can we not focus on the Hallmasters or Peaklords? I really feel depth in those unlike these shallow night visits to Xian Shu Peak."

- Overtaken by Longing, Mistaken Red for Green

 

 

The sun was bright, the air was cold and Ming Fan could not be more grateful his leg no longer ached. He’d been, thankfully, out of crutches by the new year, so there had been no awkward talks with his mother or pitying looks from his brothers and father, but the bone hadn’t fully stopped protesting until some day last week. Now he was relearning how to walk without expecting it to complain on each step.

Easier said than done with a basket full of sheets blocking his vision.

Making it back to the river, he dropped his load at Zhi Yao’s feet and set about distributing its contents.

It had been tradition since his second year that come spring, the disciples of Qing Jing peak as a whole cleaned the winter bedding and clothing. It was meant to instil some responsibility into them, Shifu had said. To be grateful for the work An Ding peak did the rest of the year.

It certainly worked.

Ice cold water and shichens of scrubbing, drying and beating. Ming Fan hated it each year. Handing off the last of the linens, he stretched and observed the gathering.

The disciples had split into groups, each gossiping amongst themselves as they scrubbed and pounded their assigned work. The older disciples were charged with hauling the wet fabric whilst the younger ones would scrub at stains and sew shut any rips and tears.

As predicted Ning Yingying was once again taking their Shifu’s absence as an excuse to disobey his orders. She was arm deep in a bucket of suds chatting away to Binghe as he wadded in the shallows to rinse a blanket. The weight of it was already pulling him further downstream with the current.

Honestly, where was the appeal?  Ming Fan had given up warning Ning Yingying, opting to just silently keep an eye on the pair. If she wouldn’t listen to him, she could face Shifu’s wrath on her own.

Sighing as Binghe was dragged further, Ming Fan marched over, kicked off his shoes and wadded in to help his struggling shidi. He got a nod in response as they hauled the blanket back to the shore.

“Thanking, Da-shixiong.” Binghe said with a bow.

“Tsk.” Ming Fan splashed the little beast. “Next time don’t do such a pathetic job.”

The bastard had the nerve to smirk at that and let out a breath far too close to a laugh.

“This shidi will endeavour to do better, da-shixiong.”

Ming Fan splashed him again for that.

“Ming-shixiong, stop playing about!” called Ning Yingying, bubbles coating both her forearms as she crossed her arms.

“Shimei is the one playing about,” He called back, wringing some of the water from one end of the blanket as Binghe worked the other.

His shimei made a very cute face that was part pout and part indignation before returning to her scrubbing in a sulk.

“Since da-shixiong has decided to join us,” Ning Yingying broached, “who does he think will attend the disciple selection this year?”

Ah, right. The other reason for getting the washing done now rather than waiting for the warmer weather in a few weeks. The yearly disciple selection was coming up.

Ming Fan thought for a moment. “Maybe Hallmaster Li. He is the only one who I can see wanting another disciple at this point. All the others have at least two and Shifu still has his hands full with Luo-shidi here.”

Binghe glanced his way at that but didn’t say anything.

“So, you don’t think Hallmaster Sun will be after another?”

“I think he would,” Ming Fan replied wringing the blanket more, “but he has seven and Shifu is wary to let him have any more until his current disciples prove themselves or leave the sect.”

“Do many disciples leave the sect?” Binghe asked, he was oddly focused on his work.

“A few here and there.” Ming Fan answered slowly. “About five have left since I’ve been here, but they were all the last Peaklord’s disciples, not Shifu’s.”

“Oh.” That was clearly not the answer his shidi had been looking for. The boy was acting super weird. “Do you know where they went?”

“Probably home?” Ming Fan said confused.

“And if they didn’t have a home?”

Okay, fuck the mind games.

“What exactly are you angling for, shidi?” Ming Fan asked plainly stopping his wringing.

Binghe flinched. “N-Nothing! This shidi was just asking.”

“Yeah! He was just asking!” Ning Yingying chipped in.

Ming Fan’s eyes narrowed. “No, you aren’t.” Luo Binghe’s face flooded with guilt for a moment before forcing itself back to respectful neutrality. “Did you do something? Is Shifu going to kick you out?”

“N-no!”

“Then are you doubting my ability to teach you?!”

“No, it’s not that!”

“Then what?! We have been making good progress,” Ming Fan grumbled squishing more freezing water out the blanket. “Despite your short comings.”

Luo Binghe drew in a breath to speak, seemed to think better, then clenched his fists.

“It’s just-“

“Just what?” Ning Yingying asked, voice all concerned in a way that grated against Ming Fan’s nerves.

“It’s just I-this one found something.”

Ming Fan stared at Binghe who was now fidgeting looking anywhere but at Ming Fan or Ning Yingying. He saw Ning Yingying glance his way and exchanged a look of wary confusion with her.

“Found what?” they both ended up asking at the same time.

 

---

 

Okay. Okay. There was probably a reasonable explanation for this. A perfectly reasonable explanation for why Shifu had someone’s remains just in a box. In his storage room.

And when Ming Fan figured it out, he’d be happy to nod and go ‘Yes, what a reasonable reason.’ when he figured it out.

Over his shoulder, Ning Yingying was trying to squeeze between the night pearl and his head to see into the crack. He debated letting her before his duty as her Shixiong had him shouldering her face out the way. It was for her own good that she didn’t see.

Luo Binghe was glued to the doorway behind them both.

His fingers still pink from the water that morning.

Standing back up, Ming Fan doused the night pearl much to Ning Yingying’s protests and cleared his throat.

“I’m certain Shifu has his reasons.” He said confidently. The other two looked less than reassured by this, well the little beast looked less than reassured by this, Ning Yingying was still annoyed she hadn’t been able to see the skeleton for herself.

“Reasons that aren’t for us to know.” He said slightly more confidently.

Luo Binghe bit his lip and looked at the toe of his boots. “But whose skel- who is- was that?”

Ming Fan did not have the slightest clue. But he wasn’t about to tell his Shidi that.

Logically it wasn’t a criminal, those remains would have gone to Bing Jie peak. And given the lack of funeral rites or care, it wasn’t some sort of grave. So that ruled out anyone Shifu had been close to.

“It’s not a former disciple. If that is what Binghe was theorising earlier.”

Ming Fan was pretty sure about that. Though a sliver of doubt crawled around in the back of his skull. …. He might send a few letters to his old shixiongs and shijies, enquiring how they were getting on.

“But why would Shizun be hidi-“ Luo Binghe began.

“It’s not for us to know. Okay.” Ning Yingying gave up pouting, and straight up snatched the night pearl from his hands. Ming Fan whipped around to chastise her but was distracted when Luo Binghe spoke again, near in tears.

“Da-shixiong. I- this shidi has to sleep next to that.”

Oh. Uhhh. ……  Fuck.

Behind them both, Ning Yingying gave a cry of horror.

Double fuck.

“We, I.” Ming Fan bit back a groan of frustration. “This shixiong will see if he can get shidi moved back into the dorms.”

Luo Binghe nodded at this, still shaking. Ning Yingying walked numbly to his side, handing Ming Fan back his night pearl. Her hand found Binghe’s and squeezed. Ming Fan’s heart squeezed at the same time.

“But, “ he started with what he hoped was an authoritative tone. “we are not discussing this again and neither of you saw anything. Okay. This never happened. That box doesn’t exist. We tell no one.”

“But-“ Ning Yingying started to protest.

“No buts. That, “ he said gesturing at the box. “is none of our business. Understood?”

Neither of them looked convinced but they both gave a nod.

“Great. Let’s get out of here.” He said with a shudder and got no objections from either of them.

 

---

 

Xian Shu peak thrummed with activity. Frankly, Qi Qingqi was struggling to remember a time she had seen it more active. Disciples weaved this way and that through its walled gardens, a rushed swirl of skirts skimming the rails of balconies and trellises in their wake.

Qi Qingqi gaze passed over the group of outer disciples pulling weeds from the ornamental pond as she made her rounds. The girls’ lively conversation softened a little as they noticed their shizun before bursting into laughter when one of the girl slipped and landed in amongst the water lilies. Ah to be that young.

Qi Qingqi shook her head amused.

Around them, the busy blur of purple robes carried bundles of cushions, decorations and silks back and forth, as strings of night pearls were hung from the precarious balance of a spirit sword. In amongst it all, her brilliant head disciple Liu Mingyan danced and dodged, guiding her Shimeis where they needed to as Qi Qingqi’s own Shimeis set about making the girl’s life difficult.

She smirked as another of those attempts failed, and it perpetrator was left embarrassed and red faced.

Qi Qingqi had originally picked the young miss Liu as a way to quell the unsightly bickering that had been building during the lead up to her becoming Peaklord. The slight, taciturn girl had been the perfect solution at the time. Too young to be a threat and too well connect to be threatened. Even Xian Shu’s most ambitious back then had thought twice before directly facing the war god’s little sister, even if now they were becoming bolder in their tricks. She had been someone meant to be a temporary solution whilst Qi Qingqi had settled into her new position. A stop gap to allow her to actually gauge which of her Shimeis might best suit the position of head disciple.

Ha! Turns out her old Shizun had been correct in her warnings.
'Disciple Qingqi, a temporary solution often becomes a permanent one, if one is not careful.'

And now that girl was shaping up to fill the seat she was only meant to keep briefly warm. Give it a few more years and then Qi Qingqi would make the call if Liu Mingyan was to permanently take the seat. But odds looked good right now.

Across the pavilion as if hearing her thoughts, Liu Mingyan met Qi Qingqi’s eyes and cocked her head just a little.

‘Did Shizun need me?’ was said without words.

Qi Qingqi gave a small shake in return. Like sister, like brother. Both preferred to speak wordlessly like this at times.

Thing of that brute, Qi Qingqi could only sigh. He was finally back on the mountain with it looking like Yue Qingyuan wouldn’t be letting him roam away again for some time.

Zhangmen-shixiong and Shen Qingqiu had had another of their falling outs. Two within as many months.  About what? Qi Qingqi couldn’t even guess. All she knew is Zhangmen-shixiong had made a visit to Qing Jing Peak recently and it had ended poorly. Liu Qingge had thus been kept back to manage Shen Qingqiu’s foul mood and keep it directed away from the sect leader.

Last, she had checked, Liu Qingge hadn’t seemed to mind the unofficial assignment. In his own words, it was a chance to finally spar with the man honourably.

Qi Qingqi had asked how the sparring itself was going and had gotten a lukewarm shrug but a slight curve to the corner of Liu Qingge’s mouth.

“He keeps dodging.”

 At the very least, it didn’t look likely to escalate back to their previous hostility from before the caves.

It was probably half the reason why Shen Qingqiu had been nearly amiable, for his standards, during the disciple selection a few weeks back. The other half accounted by both him and Zhangmen-shixiong being far more focused on avoiding Yang-shidi than antagonising each other. Qi Qingqi couldn’t begin to understand what that was about. Regardless by the end of today, she was going to find out just a little more about her prickly Shixiong.

After the new year’s party revelations, she had raided the sect’s official records on him. It had revealed nothing new.

Shen Qingqiu became a disciple just over twenty-four years ago, a year and a bit after immortal alliance. This was too late for Wang Qingqiang’s story to be correct but with enough wiggle room for Hallmaster Su’s slipup to hold truth. But that was as far as the official records told her. Nothing about where he’d come from! Nothing that hinted at Lin Kuiwu’s story.

So, here she was tapping into an alternative source of information; the hallmasters themselves.

Though she would admit that her nosiness had started this, Qi Qingqi had been considering hosting a Shangsi Festival Feast for a few years now. Her predecessor had never done so but rumours remained that the Peaklord before her Shizun had been nearly infamous for her feasts. Going so far as to invite well married former disciples, and even on one occasion the empress to be!

Qi Qingqi wasn’t prepared to go quite that far, but a special occasion for the hallmasters across Cang Qiong Mountain Sect felt like the right balance.

At last after many days of preparations, everything was ready or as ready as it could be. Qi Qingqi took her position near the entrance of her walled off peak and waited. She was dressed in an airy lavender Daxiushan with her face elegantly done, the mid-day sunlight glinting pleasingly off the new hairpins Huang Qingying had gifted her.

The first to arrive were the unmistakable hallmasters from Ma Jiu peak. Ma Zhubao, a lithe figure with white hair and a missing eye guided a huge, long limbed haired beast of some kind along at her heel as her simpler looking companion, Hallmaster Hou cuddled what appeared to be a ball of fur gifted with ears, eyes and a twitching nose. Between them strode Cheng Jingji with her characteristic broken toothed grin carrying a large box. It was strange to see her out of her normal riding gear, but she moved with the same endless confidence as always.

All three women bowed in greeting and Hallmaster Ma spoke their thanks for the invitation. Qi Qingqi deflected saying the honour was all hers and guided them in. Cheng Jingli handed over the box to a some of the awaiting disciples who took it with a grunt.

“Some of those fancy ivory hair crowns that are in fashion.” Explained the hallmaster with a wink as Qi Qingqi let Liu Mingyan escort their guests inside.

The rest of the expected guests arrived soon afterwards.

Zui Xan peak’s four brought an actual cart of wine jars as well as sweets and cakes. They were already giggling away in a merry mood.

As expected, Bian Jie peak’s Sheng Xinghai and Bai Zhan peak’s Liu Ruili arrived as a pair. The sole female hallmasters of their peaks had long formed a mutual sympathy for each other. They had managed to capture one of the Wan Jian peaks smiths on their route through, and all three crossed her threshold arguing over weaponry.

Qiong Ding peak’s trio appeared not long after with the other Wan Jian smith, who was relieved to learn that her wayward shimei was already inside.

Next came Qing Jing peak’s hallmasters bringing fine paintings, instruments, scrolls, a basket of sweets and a pair of the archive’s head librarians. Qi Qingqi greeted the women warmly and guided them in herself.

 After Xian Shu peak’s own eight hallmasters, Qing Jing peak had the second highest number of female hallmasters in the sect. Not surprising given that it had the highest number of hallmasters out of all the peaks.

This left Liu Mingyan to greet the sparse collection from An Ding peak and Si Chou peak. Both peaks were off on a joint trip headed by Peaklord Huang to collect new silks from just beyond their borders, so there were few hallmasters that could spare the time to attend.

Qi Qingqi had returned back to the entrance by the time the last but not least of the hallmasters arrived.

Qian Cao peak’s five came as one group owing to coming off their shifts all at once. Getting nearly half the hallmasters of the peak call off on the same day hadn’t been easy, but Mu Qingfang hadn’t taken much convincing once Qi Qingqi revealed her side goal to uncover more on their Shixiong. The doctor had reframed the loss of hallmasters as ‘encouraging the senior students to take initiative’ after that with a wink in her direction and a promised tea date the following day to discuss any findings.

After making sure the last of their guests found their way into the halls, Qi Qingqi nodded to Liu Mingyan. The clever girl quickly signalled to her shimeis to close Xian Shu’s gates, sealing the peak off from the rest of the sect once again.

Entering the gardens, Qi Qingqi smoothly slid amongst the forming groups dotted around the water features. Conversations remained on day-to-day gossip with friends greeting each other and the odd word of praise passed her way.

It was only as the day shifted through to the evening that Qi Qingqi took the opportunity to guide the conversation.

“So, who did Qing Jing peak select at the disciple selection this time around?” asked Qi Qingqi airily, pouring out another round of wine.

“Oh.” Hallmaster Youlan said seeming to think. “I think Hallmaster Li picked up a girl.” Hallmaster Yi nodded at this. She appeared to only be half listening as she played with one of Ma Jiu’s beasts.

“No one else?” She pried.

“Not that this one is aware of.” answered Hallmaster Youlan.

“Pah! Honestly how is Qing Jing gonna survive like this!” grumbled Bai Zhan peak’s Hallmaster Liu, as one of Wan Jian’s Smith’s nodded along. “You barely take in any disciples. Like how many outer disciples do you even have left these days? Shen Qingqiu never seems to select any!”

At this the Qing Jing hallmasters shared a look.

“Qing Jing Peak stopped having outer disciples when Peaklord Shen ascended to his position.” Hallmaster YiTao explained slowly.

Qi Qingqi deliberately did not look over as Hallmaster Liu spluttered “It… what? Is that even allowed?”

“Shen Qingqiu got rid of the outer disciples?!” cried one of the Qiong Ding hallmasters looking confused.

“No,” Qing Jing’s Hallmaster Su began and then pulled a reluctant face. “Well yes, but in a very Shen Qingqiu way, you know?”

“Shen Qingqiu way?” Qi Qingqi probed.

Hallmaster Su hesitated on answering before half waving the question away. “Oh, he had each of the Hallmasters pick personal disciples from the outer disciples until there were none. After that each disciple selection, we’ve only been able to take on inner disciples. So technically Qing Jing Peak still has inner and outer disciples it just currently has no outer disciples.”

Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had two subcategories of disciples. Inner disciples, whose training was personally mentored and guided by a Mentor, and outer disciples, who attended general lessons without any additional specialised training. The Peaklord was nominally in charge of the peak’s outer disciples, ensuring they were looked after and educated well. But Shen Qingqiu seemingly had thrown off this responsibility.

Why? Why would Shen Qingqiu avoid outer disciples?

“What was wrong with the outer disciples?” Qi Qingqi asked.

“He didn’t like the system I guess.” Hallmaster Su added in with a shrug.

That told her nothing. Switching tactics Qi Qingqi went in with a different question.

“When you say ‘Shen Qingqiu way’ what do you mean?”

“Ha Oh you know what I mean.” Hallmaster Su said waving off the question only to pause when Qi Qingqi didn’t laugh along. “You don’t!?”

“Following the rules as written but not as intended.” Hallmaster Youlan explained with a laugh.

“He used to do that all the time. Had Ti-shixiong drawing up battle plans.” Hallmaster YiTao said fondly. “I swear he made him head disciple just to keep him too busy to cause any more trouble.”

….. Beyond his fights and vulgar habits, Qi Qingqi had never heard a bad word about Shen Qingqiu as a student. He had always been presented to her as the perfect scholar.

“Shen-shixiong was a bad student?” probed Qi Qingqi, trying to picture such a thing.

“Oh no, he was an excellent student.” Hallmaster YiTao said with a glint in her eye.

“Too excellent a student.” Murmured Hallmaster Yi further down the table.

“It was everything he did out of class that caused Ti-shixiong such hardship.” Hallmaster YiTao said. Her words were harsh but said with such clear nostalgic mirth.

“I don’t recall him being that problematic.” Said Hallmaster Ling, hesitantly.

“You are too young! You missed the entire library fiasco!” Hallmaster YouLan said as, the librarians present in unison glared her way.

“And that time he broke a Bai Zhan’s students arm without technically doing so”  murmured Hallmaster YiTao. Hallmaster Liu scoffed into her drink at that.

“Or the saga of him stealing Hallmaster Jiang to Qing Jing peak in the first place.”

Qiong Dings’s Hallmaster Lun choked on her drink. “Pardon my intrusion but he stole a Hallmaster!?” She wheezed.

“Technically, he bought a Hallmaster” Commented Hallmaster YiTao with a fond smirk.

“Stop making our boy sound like a crook!” Scolded Hallmaster Su batting her Shijie on the arm who could only weakly protest with “Well he did!”

“How did Hallmaster Jiang get his position?” Qi Qingqi asked directly, breaking up the fight.

“ Well,” started Hallmaster YiTao under the glare of Hallmaster Su. “Following the death of Peaklord Ti. Qing Jing peak came under the regency of Qiong Ding peak. Head disciple Shen took on a lot of the work for filling the gap left behind whilst we focused on maintaining the curriculum. This meant any sort of change on Qing Jing Peak had to be approved by the then Sect Leader Guo. This included among other things the instating of new hallmasters.”

Qi Qingqi nodded. That made sense. There was historical president for peaks without a lord to come under the management of those ranked above them, and only Qiong Ding ranked above Qing Jing.

“So, our Head disciple Shen had had his eye on Hallmaster Jiang for a while. You see Hallmaster Jiang’s family are instrument craftsmen by trade, so he was the main person An Ding sent out whenever Qing Jing requested repairs.”

“Aaand Peaklord Shen used to hunt him down to bother with any questions he had about his lessons. According to him at least.” Hallmaster HanYu added in conspiratorially.

“Either way,” Hallmaster YiTao said. ”he was skilled and frankly wasted on An Ding. But Guo-Zhangmen said ‘No’. So, Shen Qingqiu got strategic.”

Hallmaster Yi scoffed. “’Strategic’ is certainly a word for it.”

Hallmaster YiTao glared at her shimei, until the woman let out a high pitched ”What!?” before continuing her tale.

 “So, the Sect Leader had said no. So, Shen Qingqiu had a private discussion with An Ding’s then Peaklord Lan. Suddenly Qing Jing had ‘instrument repairs’ scheduled once a week. Hallmaster Jiang was naturally the one An Ding peak sent and if those repairs ended up involving unofficial lessons, then who was to say. Furthermore, he was invited to series of suddenly open to all peaks but very much not advertised lessons provided by Qing Jing peak that would help bridge the gap between the two peaks educations. Old Pei threw a fit once he realised what was happening.

“Old Pei would throw a fit over every damn thing.” Hallmaster Su grumbled, the other hallmaster at Qing Jing chuckled at that.

“But you said he bought him.” Hallmaster Liu pointed out.

“Look, this one is not sure what Shen Qingqiu agreed to at that private meeting but soon after he uncovered a large stash belonging to some famous criminal or something. He then argued with Guo-Zhangmen for his Lan-shishu to be the one to handle the matter, until it was agree with the authorities what to do with it.”

Hallmaster YiTao’s smirk turned sharp.

“The fact that An Ding coffers got a nice boost around the same time and that only half of that stash made it to the imperial investigator is neither here nor there. Nor is Peaklord Lan requesting to transfer disciple Jiang to Qing Jing peak at the next Peaklord meeting.”

One of the Qian Cao peak Hallmaster’s let out a laugh. Her face bright pink with wine. “Yeah, that sounds like Mozi!”

Qi Qingqi stared at her. Mozi?

The pair of Librarians that had come with the Qing Jing Hallmasters perked up at the name. “You!” one of them yelled, suddenly on her feet.

“Ehhh!?”

“I knew I hadn’t caught all of you!!” she accused, Hallmaster YouLan trying ineffectively to get her to sit again.

“Leave it, Shi-shimei.”

“No!” screamed the Librarian, flailing again her Shijie.

“Okay what is going on?” asked Hallmaster Feng, looking far too amused by the drama. Qi Qingqi was not surprised in the least that Qiong Ding’s most well know shit-stirrer was loving this.

“Well-“

“Shijie, don’t.” Cutt off Hallmaster Su.

“Let me talk about our boy!” Hallmaster YiTao wailed.

Hallmaster Su sighed and waved for her Shijie to go on then, if she must.

“Peaklord Shen, workolholic that he is, had a little bookclub that would meet after hours in the library.”

“They broke into my library more like! I knew I hadn’t identified each of those troublesome faces!”

“What makes you think I had any part in that?” The Qian Cao Hallmaster stated, looking particularly offended.

“Only those troublemakers caused him Mozi!” Bit out Librarian Shi, finally relenting to Hallmaster YouLan‘s hold. “He was Shen-shidi or Shen-shixiong to everyone else.”

“So Mozi is his name?” prodded Qi Qingqi

“Of course not! Who names their child ‘Ink stain’? It’s a nickname him and the rest of Peaklord Ti’s special cases used!”

Special cases? Qi Qingqi couldn’t help the furrow in her brow. This hadn’t been where she’d expected the conversation to go.

“Shi-shimei, stop!” ordered Hallmaster HanYu firmly. Librarian Shi seemed to realise her mistake and fear overtook her features.

“So, Mozi wasn’t his name.” Qi Qingqi said, taking control of the conversation. “What was Shen Qingqiu’s name then?”

Silence was the answer she got. The hallmasters of Qing Jing peak shared looks between themselves.

At last Hallmaster Su spoke, in an almost embarrassed tone. “We don’t know.”

You don’t know!? Boomed Bai Zhan’s Hallmaster Liu.

“We didn’t have clearance.” Hallmaster Yi mumbled.

“You didn’t have clearence?” said Hallmaster Lan. Qi Qingqi was equally as confused.

“Really, Shimei look what you- urghhh.” Despaired Hallmaster Su.

“Okay,” Hallmaster Yi said quickly before the other’s could stop her. ”Cang Qiong has always accepted disciples regardless of background. It’s what has always defined us compared to the other great sects. However, some disciples are...”

“Politically difficult.” helped Hallmaster YouLan.

There was a face made and a sigh. “Let us go with that, this meant they had to be handled carefully.”

“And Qing Jing peak normally was responsible for that handling?” asked Qi Qingqi.

She got a shrug. “It was seen as a refined enough peak for those from a noble standing but not militarised enough to cause any threat.”

“So, what? Is Peaklord Shen is some high and mighty nobles dirty love child?” Pokes Hallmaster Liu.

“We don’t know.”

“Di Renzhi was just the heir apparent in an unstable household.” Pointed out Hallmaster YouLan.

Wait, hold up. Di Renzhi, as in Duke Di?

“The county magistrate!?” Qi Qingqi asked.

“Yeah, went by Zhi-ge, if this one’s memory serves correct.” Said Hallmaster Yi.

“Duke Di was Zhi-ge!?? That dork!?” The Qian Cao Hallmaster spluttered, the Librarians still glaring at her.

Qi Qingqi thought for a moment.  Zhi paper, Mozi ink stain….

“Zhi-ge, Mozi…Can I assume Yan-shixiong too? “ Qi Qingqi asked, Hallmaster Su gave a nod. ”and… a Disciple Bi?”

“Huabi, yes.” Said Hallmaster Yi.

That name. Qi Qingqi remembered that name. Shen Qingqiu had used it at the New Years Party.

“The hall master?” She checked.

“Correct.”

“And the four treasures theming?” she asked.

“No idea.” Said Hallmaster Yi. “Four is the most we’ve had at one time whilst this one has been a hallmaster. It was normally just one or two, and never for long. But we obviously had Xiao Yan, Huabi arrived when he was quite young then disciple Zhi and lastly a few years later Peaklord Shen.

“Wait, so you mean to tell me there’s been this secret group of inner disciples on Qing Jing this entire time?” yell Hallmaster Liu

“Outer disciples and yes.” Confirms Hallmaster Yi, taking a pointed sip of her drink.

Outer? Duke Di was an outer disciple!?

“It is easier to hide a prized duck among ninety geese than thirty swans.” Said Hallmaster Hanyu. “Officially we were never told about these ‘special cases’ but they were the only disciples whose names were partially censored on records. Only listed a last name.”

Qi Qingqi made a mental note to pass this on to Mu Qingfang.

“If they were meant to be kept from notice,” she asked. “why then was Shen Qingqiu made Ti-shibo’s personal inner disciple? Surely that would defeat the point?

Hallmaster YiTao smirked and said nothing, and Hallmaster Yi could only shrug.

It was Hallmaster Ling who answered her. The stoic woman had been Lin Kuiwu’s shimei, a prodigy in the guqin but not talented in much else. “Shizun had wanted to test some of the candidates. He consulted this one on how she would go about it. This one suggested a test and though her own proposed test was flawed, he did select those he had been considering for a mission down south. When they returned, Shizun had made his choice.”

The mission Lin Kuiwu had mentioned.

“A choice that had him petitioning Guo-Zhangmen for months to acknowledge the change.” Snarked Hallmaster Yi.

“Ha! That was nothing compared to when he announced Shen Qingqiu as his head disciple!” Laughed Hallmaster YiTao.

“Was the blow back from Shen Qingqiu’s background?” Prodded Qi Qingqi.

“This one couldn’t say, Hallmaster Su said quietly, “but it seems likely.”

The conversation soon twisted off from Shen Qingqiu. Qi Qingqi didn’t feel like reining it back to her Shixiong. She had learned enough. It was nearly dawn by the time their guest had finally staggered home. The glasses collected, the left over wine stored away, the tables stripped and wiped clean.

Liu Mingyan was pointing various half awake disciples to hand over their duties to those that were now waking up.

And all Qi Qingqi could do was ponder the implications of what she learned.

An outer disciple kept hidden alongside a future duke and Peaklord Gan’s bastard son. Hallmaster Su had let slip him being picked up at the Immortal Alliance Convention at New Year’s party. So, potentially a cultivation background or nobility that liked to associate with them? …. With an older brother and sister too. He’d… been calling for them in Moshui.

Waiting for Liu Mingyan to finish, she signalled the girl over.

“This master has a task for you.”

The girl tilted her head and dropped into a bow.

“Let slip that the former Qing Jing Peaklord picked Shen Qingqiu up at the Immortal Alliance conference to your brother.”

“Shizun wishes to investigate Shen-shibo?”

“Shen Qingqiu has already revealed he has looked into this master’s past. Far be it from me to not even the playing field.”

Liu Mingyan continued to hold her gaze.

“I wish to know just what your brother and myself have to be on the look out for with our second ranked-shixiong.” Qi Qingqi admitted. “At least that way when threats appear we can be prepared, and maybe then this one will be able to spot when that idiot is hiding important things from us.”

“Shen-shibo’s qi deviation has greatly concerned Shizun.”

“The man is an idiot!” Qi Qingqi snapped, fce flushing red with denial. ”I am only concerned if his foolishness will bring us all down.”

Liu Mingyan didn’t fully seem to believe her but she bowed and agreed to fullfill what had been asked of her.

Qi Qingqi then dismissed the girl. They both could use some rest before the day proper began.

 

Notes:

Shout out to @hiiroakisan From the TGP discord chat for helping me name a couple of the hallmasters.
流 (Liu) - Flow 锐力 (Rui Li) - Sharp Force
盛 (Sheng) - Prosperous; Abundant 星孩 (Xing Hai) - Star Child

As for the other names:
Ma Zhubao 马珠宝 - Horse / Pearls,jewels
Hou 侯 - Marquis
Cheng Jingji 承劲急 - Inherit , receive / Swift and Strong
Cai 蔡 - a species of tortoise. Taken from Cai Lun who made huge innovations into papermaking
Pei 裴 look of a flowing gown - Yes this is the same Pei as is used in TGCF.
Peaklord Lan Gang 蓝刚支 - Indigo / hard,firm / to sustain
Feng 丰 - Abundant, lush, plentiful

The four treasures of the study
I've mentioned these before. The brush 笔 bi , the ink 墨 mo, the paper 纸 zhi, and the inkstone 砚 yan.
Basically the four treasured items by a scholar.

砚 Yan - Inkstone / 焰 Yan - flame / 晏 Yan - A surname meaning quiet, clear, later in the day (all are pronounced the same)
纸 Zhi - Paper / 枳 Zhi - trifoliate orange/hedge thorn (both are pronounced the same)
墨渍 Mozi - Inkstain
画笔 Huabi - Paintbrush

Tbh Hallamster Li's little rant in Chapter 26 might be worth a reread. :3

Daxiushan - A coat/jacket/gown with long broad sleeves. Normally won by women on special occasions.

Shangsi Festival Feast - A festival held on the 3rd day of the 3rd month in the chinese calendar (Double 3rd) . Normally involves having picnic by the river side with games and cleansing rituals. The one depicted is more like a general party, so isn't fully accurate.

 

Next time: We drop in of the duo that started this fic and they are once more fighting only this time less violently? Maybe?

Notes:

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read up to this point!

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Updates are currently chaotic due to Ao3 writer disease. Aka everything is happening. Will update when I can.