i would still love him if he was a worm

[ID: Disciple-era Luo Binghe sitting on a grassy hill with a closed-eye smile. Slightly behind him is a woven basket full of lilies of the valley. /End ID]

There's a reason he and Gongyi Xiao were compared to often! White Lotus Binghe was polite and earnest and really believed that if he worked hard and did the right thing people would love him!! And he truly believed in the ideals of being a righteous cultivator - a hero! Even if it was partially just because Shen Qingqiu did, or so to him proud, he worked hard to cultivate that perfect role model image!!

Could he be envious of others taking his Shizun's attention away? Yeah!! But we saw from his conversation with Liu Mingyan that his tactic was just to converse with her out of his earshot, not to drive her away completely!

The Abyss matters! It's important! It's where Binghe loses faith in being able to sustain himself by being good and following the rules! It changes his personality, severely! Some of his traits were already present, yeah - like his manipulation erupting as his teenage attempts to get closer to his crush - but they're subtle and ultimately harmless! He genuinely at this point really really wants to be good!!!

In PIDW it was used for a wife plot -- obviously -- and part of the plot was that it took Luo Binghe weeks to develop an immunity to the item, during which time he was forced to be the sex slave of the wife who used it (Peerless Cucumber had opinions on that, you better believe).

Obviously Shen Qingqiu keeps the item, both to keep it out of the hands of that dubious wife, but also as a last resort in case Luo Binghe comes after him and he needs to make a quick escape.

Which of course does happen after the confrontation in Jinlan City, when Binghe gives chase and, in canon, force-feeds Shen Qingqiu his blood. In this case however after Shen Qingqiu gets cornered, he hypnotizes LBH in order to regain control of the situation.

His plan was just to stop Binghe and then carry on escaping, but there's a problem. The hypnosis item isn't like, a constant upkeep deal, it's a one-and-done it's supposed to permanently hypnotize the target. It won't work forever on a Heavenly Demon, of course, but in his hypnotized state Luo Binghe is just... helplessly waiting in place to be given commands.

Shen Qingqiu hadn't realized it would be quite that effective at first.

What will happen to Binghe if he leaves him? PIDW hadn't specified, the wife who used the plot item had been able to control Binghe and keep him all to herself. But if she hadn't, would Luo Binghe have been inclined to comply with the orders of just anyone who came around?

That's really dangerous. Even though LBH is very hard to kill, plenty of other bad things can be done to him. Case in point: the original wife plot! Not to mention, someone commanding LBH to use his immense powers on their behalf doesn't bear thinking about.

So, Shen Qingqiu considers his options, and then decides to leave a note for his shidi and escort LBH all the way back to Qing Jing Peak with him. No time to spare, because he doesn't want to risk anyone else coming along and giving Luo Binghe a order, or figuring out that he's been hypnotized and accusing Shen Qingqiu of doing it. Even though he is and he did.

This unexpectedly sidesteps the Old Palace Master's setup to frame Shen Qingqiu, because he's not there to get accused or recognized by anyone when the sower situation is wrapped up.

Instead he settles Luo Binghe back into the side room on Qing Jing Peak, seals Xin Mo away as best he can, and weighs his options and just decides, actually this is a good thing. Probably. Maybe.

It won't make Binghe want to kill him any less once it wears off, obviously, but it buys Shen Qingqiu some more time. Time to make sure the plant body's ready, to plan some contingencies, and to maybe even lead LBH on a wild goose chase that will keep him from targeting Cang Qiong sect with his ire. At least, for a while.

All he has to do is keep Binghe safe and comfortable and convince everyone that he just came back of his own volition, make sure to give him enough orders to follow that no one else can try ordering him around with contradicting it (he verifies with Shang Qinghua that the hypnotism effect will prioritize the caster's commands over anyone else's), keep him otherwise pretty hidden, and as soon as he sees the telltale signs of the hypnotism wearing off and Binghe trying to murder him again then he'll hit the road!

Binghe Stage One after shrugging off the hypnosis:

--Oh I see. I didn't actually escape the Abyss and am stuck under one of those illusions where something convinces me I'm in a nice place while it tries to eat me alive. Well, at least it's actually a pretty pleasant illusion. I'll just wait for some cracks to show and then peel it open and kill whatever's eating me.

Stage Two:

--Oh it's not an illusion. I never have to pee during those. So... what???

Stage Three:

--If Shizun thinks he can control me through hypnosis, he's not afraid that I will go berserk and kill everyone with my evil demon powers. I can go back to being his good disciple again! I can stay with Shizun!

Stage Four:

Modern clothes Luo Binghe