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Shen Jiu shouldn’t have been surprised when Luo Binghe came back from the Endless Abyss. It was bound to happen, he thought, like a phoenix rising from his ashes, and like the hero he had always pretended to be. After all, it had been like this since the beginning. Shen Jiu had done almost everything in his power to get rid of the brat. Unfortunately, the faulty cultivation manual, the constant beatings, and even his fight during the demon invasion had merely been hindrances for him. More than that, they had marked him as special, as someone capable of withstanding whatever came to him. Luo Binghe had always been a survivor and he had convinced himself that he was something besides a pathetic little beast.
No, it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Luo Binghe came back, nor that he would use his influence to take revenge on his scumbag Shizun.
Still, Shen Jiu had been taken aback. Not because Luo Binghe had survived, nor because he’d allied himself with Huan Hua Palace, or because he threatened him with a trial that would destroy whatever was left of his reputation and further taint his already cursed future.
It had been a surprise because of how much Luo Binghe had changed.
The change had been physical, yes. He was taller now, more muscular. However, there was something else that raised Shen Jiu’s alarms. Something dark, revolting and terrifying that he couldn’t pinpoint. It always frustrated him greatly whenever he couldn’t understand something, and nothing ever had been as frustrating as not knowing what had happened to Luo Binghe in the abyss.
He only had an idea of how terrible the Endless Abyss was. A sea of magma, he’d heard, raging flames, and a broken reality, with portals that led both to nowhere and everywhere at the same time. It was a good place for evil to thrive. It only made sense for Luo Binghe’s negative traits to exacerbate in there. Still, whatever malevolence Shen Jiu sensed didn’t come from Luo Binghe. It simply surrounded him, shrouded his eyes and words like a dark cloud, making him feel more dangerous than he really was.
But what was that ominous veil? What was this darkness that roused Shen Jiu’s fears? Why was it that he was drawn to it as much as he was repulsed?
The sound of steps rudely interrupted his machinations.
“I hope you’re comfortable, Shen Qingqiu,” he could hear Luo Binghe’s voice beneath the rumble of acid cascade. A mechanical sound was heard and the cascade stopped. Luo Binghe closed the distance between them.
“I’ve saved this spot especially for you,” he said with a cunning smile. “It suits you.”
The man was trying to provoke him, but Shen Jiu didn’t take the bait. Luo Binghe didn’t deserve his attention. He was just a spoiled brat that yearned for acknowledgment. Shen Jiu wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
Instead, he focused on searching for answers. He looked around him, examined each part of his body and garments, and just as he noticed something off with his sword, Luo Binghe’s hand grasped Shen Jiu’s chin.
“I’m talking to you, Shizun.”
It was a forceful touch. Demanding and demeaning. If Shen Jiu hadn’t been used to both, he would’ve shuddered, but Luo Binghe’s hunger for approval was nothing but a child’s game against Qiu Jiuanluo’s visceral and arrogant brutality or Wu Yanzi’s scheming and relentless cruelty.
A red mark appeared on Luo Binghe’s forehead.
It was then that Shen Jiu remembered a long forgotten story. One about a brilliant, beautiful head disciple, and a powerful, vicious heavenly demon. It seemed that there was much more behind the story than he’d been told. It would have been interesting, if Luo Binghe’s sword hadn’t been so much more fascinating than his mark.
“Surprised, Shen Qingqiu?” he said without letting go of his chin. “I can’t blame you. I found out about my heritage in the abyss, so, in a way, I have to thank you for showing me how powerful I could be.”
Powerful? Shen Jiu wondered.
The forgotten story mentioned a creature so mighty that it couldn’t be killed, just imprisoned underneath a mountain. Tianlang-Jun had been a force to be reckoned with and only the joined forces of the four main sects had been able to contain him. Luo Binghe? He was merely a mutt, a crossbreed that had to cling to the Old Palace Master because he lacked power and influence of his own. Luo Binghe might one day become as powerful as Tianlang-Jun, but it would take years if not decades.
Unless…
Shen Jiu’s eyes drifted once again to the sword.
“Do you like my sword, Shen Qingqiu?” Luo Binghe let him go so brusquely, Shen Jiu tumbled to the ground.
“This is Xin Mo,” Luo Binghe explained, “yet another trophy I earned in the abyss. It suits me well, don’t you think?”
Shen Jiu didn’t respond. Instead, he took his time to return to his kneeling position. His arms and hands were bound, which robbed him both of his equilibrium and poise. If he hadn’t been as focused on Luo Binghe’s sword, he would’ve been furious at the insult. Regardless, he was, and once his eyes landed on Xin Mo’s hilt, it felt like the entire world fell into place.
There were a lot of cursed artifacts in the human world. It only made sense there would be even more in the Endless Abyss and that they would be powerful beyond belief. This sword was clearly one of those items. Its somber glimmer pierced through the darkness of the water prison like a spear tearing through iron armor. Refulgent and onerous, it called for Shen Jiu without words, without sounds, just pure, naked strength.
It was so satisfying it drew a smirk out of Shen Jiu.
“Are you losing your mind already?” asked Luo Binghe. “I haven’t even started yet. Be grateful I’m waiting for your verdict. Once I have the approval of the entire Jianghu, you will get to know what real pain is. You’ll scream and beg for death and I’ll refuse it to you– ”
Shen Jiu couldn’t hold his laughter anymore. His voice echoed in the chamber and it didn’t hitch even when Luo Binghe held him by the collar of his tattered robe.
“Shen Qingqiu!” said the man before he was interrupted.
“Luo Binghe, Luo Binghe… so pathetic, dumb, and incredibly ignorant. Not even the abyss could transform you into a proper warrior. I always called you a beast, but even beasts have autonomy. You’re worse than that. You’re nothing but a pet following the whims of its master, and you’re so arrogant, you don’t even realize your mind is no longer your own!”
“You scum…” growled Luo Binghe as he slammed Shen Jiu’s body against the hard floor of the prison.
Shen Jiu kept laughing.
“You think you’re the only one who knows pain?” Shen Jiu continued. “I’ve been living with pain longer than you’ve been on this earth and, unlike you, I thrive on it. What can a pathetic little puppet like you do to me? In the end, it’ll be nothing but you dancing to the beat of your master’s choices.”
“I’ll kill you, Shen Qingqiu! I’ll destroy you and everything you love!”
“Don’t be silly, pet,” he spat. “I’m scum, remember? I don’t know what love is.”
Luo Binghe put his hand over Xin Mo’s hilt, ready to cut Shen Jiu in two. However, he stopped himself before he could unsheathe it.
“Enough,” he muttered. “You’re taunting me to kill you so I lose face and favor in front of the sects. I won’t touch you until the entire world knows about your sins, and then they’ll thank me for giving retribution to all those you’ve hurt.”
Luo Binghe turned around and left the cell. The flow of the acid cascade resumed and Shen Jiu laid on the cold floor as he recalled the cold darkness of Xin Mo.
How delightful, he thought. He wondered how long it would take for the pet’s master to reveal itself.
In the end, Shen Jiu didn’t have to wait much for him. It didn’t take him entirely by surprise, though. He’d been expecting him since his last encounter with Luo Binghe, and he recognized the severity of the situation even before he heard the rhythmic click, click, click of his claws. He straightened his back and braced himself for what was to come.
A towering figure approached. Its presence was smothering and terrifying, raw and wild and so unlike the childish spitefulness of his former disciple, it made Shen Jiu smirk. The entity looked upon him.
It was a tall man with purple eyes and slitted pupils, who was staring at him ravenously. He smiled at his attention, and the curve stretched and stretched beyond when any human mouth should have stopped.
“Xin Mo, I presume,” said Shen Jiu.
He didn’t expect his voice to sound so calm. For some reason, it felt like he’d known the sword for a long time. They both were, it seemed, two of a kind. Non-human beings whose lives were driven solely by their desires. If it weren’t because all his senses were screaming out of fear, Shen Jiu would’ve found himself content.
Xin Mo seemed pleased too.
“It takes a liar to know another one,” he mewled.
His hand stretched out and drew nonsensical glyphs on Shen Jiu’s skin, just below his eyes, and as it passed over the bridge of his nose, he caught sight of the following blood, still fresh and red as it was painted onto his skin like the creature was staking a claim on him.
“I was wondering,” Xin Mo continued, “what kind of human would have enthralled my pet so. What kind of person would instigate such a dark obsession that would transform a weeping child into a monster. However, it only took me to see you once to understand his fixation. You are a fascinating creature, aren’t you, huli jing?”
“I am not more fascinating than you, Xin Mo” Shen Jiu responded with sincerity. When was the last time he’d spoken to someone so openly? The sword was right when he called Shen Jiu a liar. He had hidden his true nature for years, but only now he understood that his deceit came with a price. He’d been misunderstood and alone for so long that he mellowed down in the presence of an equal.
If he could dare call himself equal to Xin Mo, that is.
“What a curious word for you to use,” the spirit said. “Then again, who more than you understands my power? Who more than you knows the darkness in men’s hearts? Who more than you is acquainted with the pain and desperation? Even now, imprisoned and abandoned, you understand more than anybody else where this is going and how it will end. Not even my pet knows how deep his resentment goes. This is only the beginning and by the time he is done with you, there will be nothing left of your mind, your body or the world you know.”
“I will hold,” responded Shen Jiu. “Your pet can bark as much as he wants, but I will remain while he gets lost in his own delirium.”
“Perhaps you will. After all, what have you been doing all your life if not suffering? Seducing men without intending to? Unknowingly drawing them to you only for them to hurt you? You’ve lived a painful life. Wouldn’t it be delightful if all that pain transformed into pleasure?”
It would, wouldn’t it?
Shen Jiu thought that if there was someone capable of doing it, it was the spirit in front of him.
“I’ll give you my Yin energy if you give me your Yang energy in return,” said Shen Jiu. “Give me freedom. Give me everything and I will give everything I am in exchange. Promise this to me and I will choose you, now and forever.”
What might have been a laugh escaped Xin Mo, but the sound was so sharp and terrible - like grinding, colliding metal, with screams trapped beneath it - that it made Shen Jiu wince.
“I’ll give back all that I take from you, Shen Jiu. I’ll free us both and we will feast on each other until the end of time. That I promise you, oh seducer mine.”
Shen Jiu exhaled long and gravely, overwhelmed after finding someone he could trust. It had been so long, so long without someone who could understand him. Someone like him, who yearned and wished but could never be satisfied.
He could finally discover what satiation meant. He could finally understand what pleasure was.
“Free me, then, of the world’s bounds and my own, Xin Mo.”
Xin Mo sidled closer, eyes unblinking, until his nose just barely brushed against Shen Jiu’s. “One last pain,” he swore. “To break what binds you and make our spoken words an unbending oath. And then I will make sure that the only pain you ever feel again is the pain that you have asked for.”
Later, when the pain came and Shen Jiu transformed back to the demon he had always been, he leaned over Xin Mo’s body. The spirit was sharp and dangerous, but there was tenderness and care to be found too.
There was a promise between them and, for once, Shen Jiu had no fears that it would ever be broken. They kissed each other, hungry and desperate and grateful to have found each other despite their own darkness.
And then they were both gone.