Just a hopeless avo

Admittedly, the "you can just get a new disciple" moment definitely stands out as a failure, but it is a good starting point for where their communication begins. Liu Qingge tries to comfort Shen Qingqiu and fails.

But while we don't see everything that happens in the years it takes for Luo Binghe to leave the Abyss, we do see that something shifted in the communication between them.

Maybe the Succubus incident opened his eyes to just how much Shen Qingqiu can misunderstand if allowed, maybe something else.

After a lot of bullshit and imprisonment, there is a scene where Liu Qingge tells Shen Qingqiu to get off his sword. Shen Qingqiu protests, saying he won't tease Liu Qingge anymore, but Liu Qingge immediately corrects himself and explains that it's not safe to ride with him. He's about to be targeted, it's safer for Shen Qingqiu on foot. Shen Qingqiu complies easily after that.

And then, after even more bullshit, when Shen Qingqiu is feeling like shit because the entire plot is a mess, Liu Qingge calls him out on what he’s not saying and comforts him in a way Shen Qingqiu will actually accept . “You fear becoming the sect’s burden, but we don’t fear that burden” - Liu Qingge has picked up on Shen Qingqiu's feelings, but also knows that just saying "you're not a burden" won't actually make him feel any better.

Imagine with me: Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan join the sect together. Both of them had a late start to cultivation, but they manage to claw their way to the top. Shen Yuan is always just a bit better than Shen Jiu, and while Shen Jiu is surrounded by unsavoury rumours and unsettling whispers, Shen Yuan is beloved by all.

The two of them are attached at the hip. Always. Shen Jiu is jealous of his brother, which is very obvious. Shen Yuan thinks it's cute and absolutely refuses to let that get between them. Shen Jiu is secretly glad about that, absolutely loves that despite everything Shen Yuan will always chose him above anything else.

And then, just a week before the ascension ceremony, Shen Yuan doesn't return from his night hunt. Everybody else managed to, but not Shen Yuan. Nobody knows where he is.

Shen Yuan is declared dead.

The ascension ceremony still happens. A grieving, angry Shen Jiu is promoted to peak lord despite his protests. The other peak lords hate that they ended up with Shen Jiu instead of Shen Yuan. Shen Jiu despises that they're so willing to declare his brother dead.

He wanted to be as good as Yuan-ge, yes, but he never wanted to take his place. Especially not like this!

Shen Jiu keeps looking for traces of his brother. He doesn't tell anyone. He doesn't show his anger and fear and grief to anyone either. There's rumours that Shen Jiu killed his twin to take his place. Shen Jiu's reaction to that, angry and violent in a way he hasn't been since just after they joined the sect, does nothing to quell those rumours.

Things progress as they did in PIDW. Shen Jiu becomes colder, angrier, lashes out more and more. Luo Binghe joins. Shen Jiu doesn't care for him, not in the least. The abyss happens.

And somewhere during those five years, Luo Binghe finds a man who looks identical to his angry, abusive Shizun. The man smiles warmly in a way Shizun never did and seems excited when Luo Binghe tells him he looks like a human. "That must be A-Jiu! He's doing well, then? How about his health? Is he eating properly? Is he happy? Oh, you have to tell me everything about him! I haven't seen my little brother in years…"

And it turns out that this man, Shen Yuan, was supposed to become peak lord instead of Shen Qingqiu. Right until he fell into the endless abyss shortly before the ceremony. He shows Luo Binghe how to survive, and at some point they fall in love. Together, they finally manage to leave the abyss.

Luo Binghe never tells him that he hates his Shizun, just that he learned under Shen Qingqiu. He doesn't burn down the world or even the sect that abandoned him. Instead, he comes back in front of everyone.

He tells them that, actually, he wasn't dead. He fell into the abyss that day, yes, but he survived. And he found someone else who survived there, namely his new husband.

He brings out Shen Yuan, and he revels in the pain and panic and absolute despair on Shen Qingqiu's face.

He doesn't need to ruin the man's reputation. Everyone is right back to comparing him with his brother and finding him lacking anyways. He doesn't need to destroy everything he loves, either. The only thing Shen Qingqiu truly loved more than himself is already Luo Binghe's. And Shen Qingqiu will always be scared of his kind, wonderful brother finding out how he pushed his own disciple, Shen Yuan's husband, into the abyss with his own hands. Being able to hang that over Shen Qingqiu's head is torment enough.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Shen Yuan can tell. He saw the look of panic on his didi's face, noticed how Lou Binghe always refused to mention his relationship with his Shizun and connected the dots.

And Shen Qingqiu agrees, after all what use would it be to remain on his mountain, when Binghe will never return to him again? When these mountains will never again hear his laughter echo through them or be lightened by his smile. Luo Binghe died in the abyss and it is his fault. If his body can be used for peace he'll offer it willingly.

His sect siblings watch him go, expecting to hear of his death in only a few months. Shen Qingqiu's heart has been weakened by deep grief for too long, they do not expect him to survive the dangers of the demon realm. To want to survive them. (They had tried to negotiate, to reason with and then beg for the Emperor to choose something different but he refused to reconsider. So away Shen Qingqiu goes.)

When he gets there his husband does not greet him. There is no ceremony, no big reception, no official wedding, nothing. He is simply led to his rooms, guided by the maids of the palace.

The hallways are decorated in extravagant statues, paintings, finely crafted lamps. Shen Qingqiu finds it sickening to look at. How would Luo Binghe have decorated these halls, had he not failed him, had he been able to rise to his full power, to have survived?

He doesn't leave his room, ignoring the soft knocks at his door, the food that is delivered to him by his servants. He stares out at his private garten and refuses to eat. There's nothing to it. No sense.

The garden is flourished with the prettiest of flowers and fauna. Perfect bamboo stalks sprout from the ground, beautifully framing the little pond in the middle. Waterlilies coat the surface. He stares long at the still surface of the quiet water.

The Emperor visits him on what he thinks might be the third day, dressed in dark iridescent robes that flow behind him, giving him an ethereal look. Shen Qingqiu looks at him for a few seconds before his eyes fall back to the pond. He doesn't know what is expected of him and decides to wait him out.

"Does my husband not have anything to say to this Lord?" The man asks after a moment.

"This master was not aware that this arrangement included providing his husband entertainment." He replies in a dry sarcastic tone and does not care about how it might get him into trouble. What use, what use. Luo Binghe is dead. There is no more.

Suddenly he hates the Lord in front him, just a little. For taking him away from home, from the only place Luo Binghe will know where to find him — should he ever return. For having to leave Zheng Yang behind, the last piece of Binghe's soul he could still watch over.

The Lord, his husband now, is silent for a moment before he quietly asks, "What makes my husband unhappy? Tell this Lord, so he may fix it."

Shen Qingqiu is suddenly exhausted. "There is nothing wrong. My chambers are fine, thank you. This husband wishes to be alone."

He doesn't know how much time passes but some while after that his husband softly closes the door on his way out. A bamboo leave slowly falls to the ground. Shen Qingqiu watches and watches. Luo Binghe is dead. Someday that will make sense.

His husband continues to visit him day after day. Each time he brings more beautiful, more elaborate and more expensive gifts. Shen Qingqiu thanks him and sets them down on nearby tables and shelves, not once looking back at them.

(Luo Binghe despairs, what is he doing wrong?! What is wrong with Shizun, why won't he move or smile?! What happened!!)

But over the months Shen Qingqiu opens up more and more, and one day he tells his husband about the disciple he once had, who had lived with him, cooked for him and washed his clothes, whom he loved and cherished, and then killed. Unexpectedly his husband bursts out into tears.

"What's wrong? My Husband, what is wrong?!" He gently takes his husband's face into his hands, swiping at the flood of tears.

"Shen Qingqiu," he sobs, "what would you do, to have him back?"

"Anything," Shen Qingqiu answers immediately, "there's nothing I would not sacrifice, to hold my Binghe once more."

His husband cries and cries and Shen Qingqiu watches in confusion, as slowly his appearance starts to slip. Soft curls replace the shiny hair from before, his dark eyes lighten to a vibrant red and Shen Qingqiu stares as his husband turns into his former disciple.

And a little extra of my own

Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe wake up in a field somewhere far, far away with no memory of how they got there or who they are, but they get one look at each other and come to the conclusion they must have been important to each other- husbands maybe?

Insert some time passing where they wander around, realize some things about themselves (like, whoa! They're really strong? They have swords! Binghe can heal really fast! Binghe...can actually do some freaky things with his blood? Shen Yuan is *fascinated*. Also, Shen Yuan doesn't have to eat? Or, well, he does sometimes. He's also sick? Maybe??) And basically fall in love all over again.

And they get domestic *so* fast. It's a record. They build a home in the middle of nowhere, wander their 'territory', fight together in spars and against beasts, and share tender moments of sweet sweet bonding-

And also very clumsy sex.

Look, what do you think these two are gonna do? They're sparkling clean virgins with no idea sex is even a thing. At best they figure out if they do this, stuff feels real nice, and they like doing it together. They probably only found out on *accident* and then Shen Yuan decided to be curious and experiment with it. Binghe, of course, goes along happily.

Luo Binghe is about 14. His mother is bedbound, too sick to work, and they're too poor to get her medicine, so he's taken to- reluctantly- petty theft.

In the original plot, he'd end up stealing from someone working for Shen Qingqiu and get himself in some serious trouble for it; something that would eventually lead to Binghe somehow rising from the ashes to become the biggest crime boss in the city, country, and eventually the world.

In this timeline, he tries to pickpocket a passing stranger with glasses during a rain storm, but as he pretends to trip onto him, he sees the man's eyes go wide. Suddenly things aren't going to plan at all. The man tries to catch him, and instinctively Binghe tries to correct himself, but Binghe's momentum ends up overtaking them both and they fall onto the wet sidewalk. The man's umbrella falls off somewhere to the side.

There's groaning under him as the man tries to sit up, and then Binghe proceeds to get fussed over. He's barely managed to sit up himself before the man (introducing himself as Shen Yuan) starts patting him down and checking him over.

"You're alright? No scrapes?"

"M-Mm."

This is not how it usual goes for him. If Binghe messed up and/or missed the target, his victims tended to either scoff at him on the ground or scold him viciously. No one has ever checked him over like this before...

Shen Yuan helps him stand and, the next thing he knows, Binghe is being dragged into the nearest restaurant and sat down for an apology meal, because somehow this man- Shen Yuan- got it into his head that the whole thing was somehow his fault.

Binghe gets to eat as much as he wants.

Binghe gets to take food home. A whole meal.

Shen Yuan gives him extra cash for the trouble, as if this wasn't enough.

Binghe- Binghe-

He feels so Guilty.

The poor boy ends up bursting into tears, pleadingly pushing the cash back at the man, explaining that it was all actually his fault and that he was a pickpocket. The nice man- Shen Yuan-

Knows?

He still insists on Binghe taking the cash. He-...He gives Binghe his phone number and says to call him if he gets into trouble.

He gives him his umbrella and tells him to get home safe.

. . .

I need each of these troubled children to look up to XF &/or SY and cling to him despite the fact that XF wants nothing to do with them and SY is very dense actually

like XF is an elusive pl, he's also the head of the logistics peak. He's not bound by a system or anything but he sticks around because why would he ditch the life of a person in power? Like sure he has to work but he has tons of freetime and plenty of people to boss around.

Imagine SJ scurrying off to QJP's library only to find the current An Ding Peak lord lounging in there reading some specific book series that the QJPL (SY) bought for themself.

SJ's like "what the hell" as XF's just sitting there reading, kicking his feet and eating some snacks of some kind. SJ's immediately like "oh this guy's weird." And XF sees SJ staring at him and he’s in a good mood so he offers SJ like,, a snack and SJ unintentionally gets like puppy trained.

one day SJ's running from... idk some older disciples on his ass and he runs into XF again and XF chews them out (one of the disciples was like "do you know who my parents are" and that's like one of XF's irritants so he got real passive aggressive or something)

Now SJ finds himself hanging out w/ XF whenever the other's in the library because it's guaranteed that SJ won't be bothered on those days (people still come looking for trouble but they don't dare pick a fight infront of a peak lord) AND he gets snacks.

XF also likes fucking w/ the QJPL (SY) so SJ sees him quite often.

SY in the other hand is real strict with his disciples because he doesn’t know who SQQ is yet and he’s really stern about morals and what’s okay and not okay to do. This of course means that SJ is subjected to the scene of SY chewing the sect leader (YQ’S SHIZUN) out for the way he treated YQ (All of the pls are aware of what happened to YQY) and a few other disciples of his.

SY gets in trouble because he scolded the fucking sect leader but he drags XF to go on strike with him and the sect leader has no choice but to relent because there’s nobody to handle accounting, negotiations, and diplomacy.

LQG picking a fight with SJ and SY picks up LQG by his scruff and brings SJ along with him as he goes straight to Bai Zhan and scolds both LQG and the Bai Zhan peak lord because STOP LETTING YOUR DISCIPLE COME ONTO MY PEAK TO FIGHT MY DISCIPLES. And SJ’s standing behind him smugly like “stupid brute.” (He gets scolded when they get back and is told not to pick any more fights w/ any of the Bai Zhan disciples)

SJ can never forget the scene of like some noble family visiting CQMS to try and build a relationship and offering their very young daughter to like SY (they went to QJP because they thought the scholars would save them face and humor them) and the man’s like “Wtf no ew that’s a child.”

SJ’s genuinely so shocked because while yes it’s the bare minimum, SJ grew up in a place where the bare minimum wasn’t the norm. Seeing SY start chewing out the nobles before kicking them from his peak leaves such a lasting impression on SJ.

SJ following SY like a little duckling whenever he can. Whenever SY chews SY out SJ is there staring judgementally. (Eventually SY pieces together that SJ is going to be SQQ and he emphasizes that children are meant to be cherished to SJ in the hopes that they’ll become values that SJ follows. SJ thinks that his Shizun truly cares about him and he’s like well okay maybe I have a dad now)

One time a disciple of XF’s is tossing their sword around aimlessly and XF (who hates all of the additional expenses added to the budget on whims) drags all of his disciples to Wan Jian peak and chews them out for like half an hour going on about who makes the swords and the materials needed and how they need to treat their swords better and that he wants the disciple that started the whole thing to go publicly apologize to the WJPL and WQW has never found another PL besides his Shizun agreeable until now.

When Luo Binghe spots Shen Qingqiu in Jin Lang city he’s absolutely shocked to discover a mere 2 or 3 (how much was it) years left on Shizun’s counter. What had happened in the time he was gone? Did without a cure get worse? Was it something else?

Worried to pieces he hurries over to his master. Except once said master lays eyes upon him—while outwardly calm—his counter starts to glitch showing only minutes left, then seconds, then months, zero, seconds again and so on.

As she supports her shizun's drunk self back up to the bamboo house, Yingying can't help but worry. Her Shizun has never gotten drunk like this before; and though he isn't saying much, his usually stoic face is twisting in unusually open displays of emotion. It was...unsettling.

But it was also an opportunity.

"Shizun," Yingying starts quietly. "Shizun, lately..."

"Mm?" Shen Qingqiu turns his head to look at her. At the same time he stumbles, and Yingying has to quickly correct his balance. "Ah, careful, careful!"

Yingying feels the urge to smile. Her silly Shizun...

She smothers it.

"Yingying wonders if Shizun will do her a favor?"

The words take a visible moment to register. When they do, Yingying feels warmed that her Shizun’s first response was worry.

"Is Yingying in trouble? Is someone daring to trouble my disciple?"

Yingying nods, mustering up all her daring. "Shizun has been, yes."

She watches his face closely, waiting only long enough for his face to twist in confusion before barreling forward. "Shizun has been grieving- no, Shizun, don't deny it. I have seen it. More than that, though, Shizun has been withdrawn and will not confide in even this Yingying. What is wrong, Shizun?"

Her shizun tries to deflect, but Yingying expected that. In a way she couldn't have when her Shizun was sober, she maneuvers him into a verbal corner, waits for him to make a mistake, then stikes.

"Shizun, what happened at the conference?"

It was strange to see Shen Qingqiu so open with his emotions. She almost didn't recognize the shapes his brows took or the curve of his mouth like this.

Almost.

"....Shizun looks so miserable. Was it really that bad?"

".......worse than you could imagine," he pauses, glances to the side. Something flicks through his eyes- Surprise? Outrage? Exasperation??- before focusing back on her. ".....if you truly wish to know, then it's best we speak elsewhere."

Yingying gets the hint. They continue to the bamboo house.

Once she's settled Shizun in on a seat, she takes the seat across, not daring to make tea lest Shizun changes his mind.

"Shizun, what happened?"

He purses his lips. "Yingting must promise to speak of this with no one-...."

-and for the next half-hour Yingying hears of the conference from her Shizun's perspective. The chaos, the fighting, and also- also-

Oh, A-Luo...he must have been so scared.

Shizun seems to agree. There's this far off look in his eyes as he explains how A-Luo begged and pleaded. He spares no detail of the confrontation, telling Yingying exactly what he did. What he said. Giving himself no excuses to hide behind as his eyes mist and stare somewhere past her head.

Yingying doesn't need to hear his reasoning. She can guess why he did what he did. However, she still asks him anyway. She just...needed to know for sure.

"They would have killed him, Yingying. A Heavenly Demon, discovered at the sight of an invasion in progress?" He shakes his head. "There is nothing so hated amongst the four cultivation clans as one with his blood. The Abyss is hell, but atleast he would live and come out of it stronger. Death is not something so easily beaten."

"I only regret," He continues. "That I said such terrible things to him before pushing him in." He deflated, hunching in on himself. "Undoubtedly, Binghe hates this master now; and while I know I deserve it, it is a hard pill to swallow."

Yingying blinks, silently reeling. She's barely processed any of that before she's blurting out, "Then why say it at all? Shizun is not usually one to say what he doesn't mean."

"This Master panicked. Binghe has always been so sticky. He needed a way to cut ties, otherwise..."

Oh. Otherwise A-Luo would just come right back.

Yingying understands now. Shizun...really had tried his best for A-Luo, hadn't he?

That said, "Shizun must know that A-Luo could never hate him."

Resignation lined his entire body. "You more than anyone must know that Binghe, while a sweet child, gives back exactly what is given to him." Which...yes, that is true. But still-! "If he returns, it will be to return the harm I've done to him ten times over." Shizun sighs, "But that's alright. This Master will accept whatever he plans to do with me."

She can see that, in this, Shizun is resolute.

Except...

Except.

Does it really have to be like this? When her shidi returns, will she really have to watch the two people she loves suffer and fight?

No. "Shizun should find a way to save A-Luo."

Shen Qingqiu watches her with confused eyes, but she is sure. Determined. It...almost seems to fill him with a new light.

"Remind me of this conversation tomorrow."

A month later, they have a plan, and it's simple: Shizun will find an item or spell that will allow he and Binghe to switch bodies. While Yingying is helping A-Luo readjust to the human realm and hiding that he's taken over Shen Qingqiu's body, Shizun will navigate A-Luo's safely out of the Abyss and return it to Binghe as soon as possible! This way, all debts are paid, and A-Luo won't be left to stew in suffering in a pit designed specifically just for that!

(And while Shizun is gone, Yingying can secretly dissolve the entire misunderstanding! A win-win!)

Yes, a simple, foolproof plan. Nothing could possibly go wrong!

In the spring of the same year as Shen Jiu is born, Shen Yuan wakes up as the infant son of an Army General.

He hates it. Infants have no dignity, and new layers of Shen Yuan's already thin face shave off with every diaper change and feeding. So! To stave off the growing cracks in his mental state, he starts focusing on the world around him.

As an infant, he figures he must be in some hacks half-assed historical fantasy or something. At three years of age, he decides that, more likely, it's some sort of Wuxia-Xianxia mix with an emphasis on...well, he's not entirely sure, but there's a lot of hidden politics his military family has to deal with, so. Maybe it's something like Game of Thrones?

It isn't until he’s started being taught military strategy and how to read that he starts seeing familiar names. After all, what are the chances of all four Cultivation Clans of PIDW being named in one book?

So.

So...

Yeah, no. Shen Yuan loses his shit.

Some time later (much, much later), Shen Yuan has the wherewithal to start scouting around. The good news is, he's several years away from the start of PIDW's plot, and even more before he would have to worrying about the Realms Merger Luo Binghe would wrought upon them all.

The bad news is that he may not even have to worry about any of that; because while the land Shen Yuan's family currently lives on is at peace, it's tentative at best, and Shen Yuan is next in line to be General of the Nation's army.

--

Many years later, Luo Binghe is ten years old, slowly traveling from town to town on his way to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, when he meets what he would later realize is the love of his life.

Walking a well-used path between towns, his bad luck had caught up with him when a young master in a carriage took exception to the sight of him and, as young masters always did, decided to harass and bully the poor defenseless child in their sight line. Lou Binghe was just starting to regret ever being born when he hears the sounds of hoof beats catching up to their position.

"Make way!" A stern voice shouts. "Make way for the Army!"

The young master's party tries, but their master is prideful and a fool, and thus refuses. It turns out the young master is of some higher rank (with nothing better to do than cause trouble) and so the moment he is told to move, he digs his feet in. A confrontation starts.

Binghe tries to subtly scuttle away, but he's grabbed before he can go far and thrown to the ground between the two parties- used as a scapegoat for why the young master is being so obstinate. He knows- from years of watching servants take the fall- that the next few minutes are likely to hurt real bad.

But then the clouds part, and under a ray of gentle light, a voice calls out amongst the army men. Binghe dares glance up, just in time to see the rugged men part for another man on horseback.

He's different from the others. Oh, he had the build, the armor, and his hair was tied up tight in a bun, making him seemingly indistinguishable from the others, but there was something there that called all eyes to him. A silent assurance, or maybe just a quiet gravity.

Binghe feels himself fill with cautious awe.

"Why have we stopped? What is the issue?"

"Apparently this child is blocking the road." The leading soldier informed.

"That's right, this little runt refused to move for his superiors! The Master will not be moving until some proper respect is beaten into him!"

The man on horseback turns to him then. All awe dies. Binghe's heart sinks. There is a cold analysis in that gaze, and-

No. No, wait. Even as Binghe's heart fell...did those eyes gain a hint of warmth?

"I see." The man speaks. "So a single lost child is enough to ruffle the young master's feathers like this? How great your house must have fallen, that it cannot ignore a single slight from an orphaned boy."

The young master seethes, "You-!"

The man turns to the leading soldiers, cutting him off with a swift order- "Move Them," -then in a smooth, well-practiced move, swings off his horse and lands in the dirt with a gentle, heavy thud.

Binghe watches him with eyes wide- and getting wider as he approaches Binghe's kneeling self and drops to bended knee right in front of him.

"You've found some trouble, child."

Ah! A scolding! Binghe's cheeks flush with shame, his wide stare dropping to his hands. "This lowly one is sorry! This lowly one did not mean to cause trouble for you-"

"Stop. I'm not criticizing you." A warm hand lands on his head, and Binghe nearly gasps aloud. "What's your name? Where are you going?" A small pause. "You've been injured; let me bandage that for you."

For the next little while, Binghe basks in the care of a total stranger. He tells his name, his life story, and for the first time since his mother's death, feels as if he is really and truly being seen.

"Cang Qiong, huh?" The man, plain and indistinguishable from any other soldier at first appearance- oh, but Binghe will never forget his face now. He stares at the man's features as long as he dares, determined to memorize every line and scar and out of place strand of hair. "I can't take you all the way there, but if you don't mind sharing a horse and promise to hide if trouble comes knocking, I see no reason we can't take you a town close by."

Forget memories, he needs to know this man's name now!!

--

He shares a horse with the man (Shen Yuan!). Others offer, but for the second time in Binghe's life, he dares to hide behind someone's legs and clings to the man's pants. (It was entirely impulse, and he scolded himself for it viciously, but Shen Yuan- proving Binghe's mother right that there are kind people in the world still- laughed. Laughed!)

Binghe had never ridden a horse before, but Shen Yuan was so kind. He taught him how to get on, helped him up the entire way, guided him on the best way to sit and hold the resigns; and when Shen Yuan climbed up himself, Binghe didn't feel nervous about their closeness at all.

In fact, an hour into the ride, Binghe fell into a light doze. He couldn't help it. Shen Yuan was warm and sturdy, and Binghe was small and tired. It was bound to happen, and he only woke up when new sounds reached his ears.

When camp was made, Shen Yuan shared his food with him. When it was time to sleep, he didn't mind that Binghe clung to his side and refused to go anywhere else. When Binghe got scared to relieve himself in the forest at night, Shen Yuan would sigh, pat his head, and say "Alright, I'll go with you. But only the once, got it?" And Binghe would happily agree; but by that point they both knew if Binghe asked, Shen Yuan would indulge him. A week of this, and even the other soldiers would tease them for becoming "father and child on the way to war."

Traveling through towns was the best, though. Shen Yuan told the best stories, and when he saw things in the markets or food in the stalls, he would point at them and tell Binghe stories of "that time I ripped some drunk a new one for messing with a girl," and "when I was younger I accidentally broke my mother's prized necklace and spent the next month trying to hide it from her."

They couldn't really stop in town, but at one point Shen Yuan decided to wait until they'd made camp and eaten before taking Binghe on the speediest ride back into town of his life- and all to get him a bath and change of clothes.

A bath! A warm, clean bath! And he wasn't weird about it at all, like some of the street kids told him adults could be! He even bought Binghe's new clothes with his own personal coin! (It wasn't new, and the colors were a little faded, but it was clean and sturdy and bought just a little bigger than Binghe's size- but most importantly, it was His! His, and a gift from the man who was quickly becoming his favorite person!)

All in all, Binghe- oh, Binghe didn't want to leave Shen Yuan at all!

And then he overheard it.

It was a town close to Binghe's last shared destination with Shen Yuan. The townsfolk were quieter there, and when they saw the soldiers, they all murmured and stared as they passed, quiet and solemn. Like the wake of a funeral.

Binghe tentatively called up to Shen Yuan, unnerved.

"Hm?" He followed Binghe's eyes, sighed, and pat his head. "Don't worry, Binghe. They're just worried."

Later in camp, Binghe asked more about it; and that's when he learned what an Army was. Really learned.

"You could die?"

The firelight made odd shadows on Shen Yuan's face, but for a second Binghe thought he saw somberness settle there.

"That's right."

"Why?" Binghe asked- and he knew he shouldn't, but a new fear had grown in him and the image of Shen Yuan cold and still on a battlefield, injured so bad he died, all alone without Binghe there to help- oh, it made his little heart tremble and made his eyes burn with tears.

"Orders from our dearest Emperor," another soldier chimed in, poking their fire with a stick. Shen Yuan called his name in a scolding tone, but another soldier cut in just as quickly.

"You see, the mortal realm's Emperor decided fighting with our neighbors was better than brokering peace."

Shen Yuan tried to scold him too, but Binghe beat him to it with another "Why?"

"Enough. Binghe does not need to hear-"

Another man- one that spoke to Shen Yuan frequently with information and questions- stepped in then. "Captain, he of all people needs to hear. You'll be parting soon, doesn't he have the right to know why you might not meet again?"

And Binghe learned. He learned that the current Emperor of the mortal realm was recently instated. That he was young and tyrannical and bore no insult, no matter if insult was meant or had ever existed in the first place. Executions were plentiful, relations with old neighboring allies were failing, negotiations with opposing neighbors were falling apart, and in fact the only person here in this camp that had come out of any sort of willingness was Shen Yuan, as the son of a General. The others had been enlisted very much against their will with little expectation to make it out alive, let alone gain anything from their misery.

Why? Because the Emperor had perceived insult from an envoy negotiating peace, had them locked up, and when the country they came from refused to apologize for some imagined slight, the Emperor had lost it and had the envoy executed before the whole capital.

Binghe had never hated someone before, but now, knowing that it would be on this man's orders that his Shen Yuan could die...

"Let me come with you."

The soldiers laughed at him. It wasn't mean-spirited, just sad and knowing, and Binghe understood even if he didn't like it. What would a ten year old do on the battlefield? Die, that's what.

Shen Yuan pulled him over into his arms before Binghe could really start crying, sitting him in his lap and rocking him side to side.

"It'll be alright. Even if I do die, I won't go."

"You won't?" Binghe hiccups into his chest. His small arms cling to Shen Yuan's sides, and Shen Yuan holds him almost exactly how his mama used to.

"Of course not. Binghe wants me to stay, so how could I die?"

There's a smattering of laughs behind him, and Binghe pouts. "Don't joke!"

"Not joking, not joking," Shen Yuan soothes with lightness in his voice- definitely laughing then! "I'm very serious. The most serious. Binghe doesn't want me to go, so even if I die, I'll stay and wait for Binghe to find me; how does that sound?'

Binghe sniffles, "Sounds good."

"Good. Then it's a deal: as long as Binghe wants me, I won't move on to the next life. I'll wait right where I fell, I promise."

Binghe would prefer a promise to live, but even he knew that wasn't one a person could keep. Atleast this way, even if Shen Yuan wasn't alive, Binghe could still keep him. Maybe...maybe he could even find a way to bring him back? If cultivation magic was real and demons walked amongst mortals, then why not bringing back the dead?

--

Their parting isn't happy in that final town. Everyone knew Binghe had to go. Binghe knew he had to go. Yet, when Binghe looked up at Shen Yuan, he could see the soldier struggling with himself. His hold on Binghe's hand was firm, and it tightened when Binghe adjusted his hand inside it before finally letting go.

Just like the first time they met, Shen Yuan moves to kneel before him.

"You'll be safe? Stay out of trouble? Cang Qiong isn't far; if you're scared, I can take you the rest of the way..."

Binghe shakes his head. "You can't. The Emperor won't like it."

Shen Yuan purses his lips. Binghe likes to think he knows the man very well now, and so he swears he can almost hear Shen Yuan say "Damn the Emperor!" in his mind. It makes him smile.

The soldier moves on. "Food then? Water? Do you have enough? Should I give you coin for an Inn? A bath might be good if you want to make a good first impression on Cang Qiong."

"The boy will be fine, Captain. You've given him everything he'll need. If you give anymore, you'll end up giving him half our supplies and go broke."

Binghe and Yuan both pout at the man: Binghe, for interrupting their goodbye, and Shen Yuan for denying his need to care for (spoil) Binghe with his Logic. Still, the logic was sound. Binghe had to convince Shen Yuan not to give him his entire coin pouch as a parting gift.

(Binghe loves this man. He's too young to know what kind of love it is at the moment, but when he's fifteen and discovering the existence of romance for the first time, he'll think back on these long weeks with Shen Yuan and Know.)

It takes awhile for Shen Yuan to drag himself away. Binghe doesn't even try to put distance between them, watching Shen Yuan mount his horse like- like a man off to war.

The procession leaves slowly, each soldier yelling out their own farwell as they pass. Binghe waves to them as they call, but his eyes cling to Shen Yuan, not wanting to miss a second.

Shen Yuan glances back frequently over his shoulder. Their eyes meet more than once, and each time Binghe feels a jolt in his heart. Will Shen Yuan turn around? Will he take him with him after all?

He never does. Eventually the soldiers take a turn on the path and disappear behind the trees.

Alone, Binghe makes his way to Cang Qiong Mountain.

--

There's a phrase he hears on Qing Jing that doesn't quite process until he’s knee deep in the demon realm, amassing power at an alarming rate: "A General must follow an Emperor."

Shen Yuan would try to dissuade him, reminding Binghe that becoming a soldier means likely dying young, and that of all things his mother would have wanted for him, dying a thankless, likely bloody and painful death wouldn't have been one of them- to which Binghe would cry, revealing that he'd already thought of that and, even despite knowing as much, he still wants to; and doesn't that make him just the worst son ever? How unfilial! How ungrateful! His mother would be rolling around in her grave!

(Privately Shen Yuan admits to himself that a soldier and a cultivator aren't too different, and that the chance of dying is pretty high in both professions, but atleast if Binghe becomes a cultivator, not only is his success guaranteed, he'll live a long, long life out of the control of some uppity mortal idiot who can't tell a joke from a shoelace. Plus, Cultivators are more respected. Binghe deserves respect.)

Shen Yuan would, much to his dismay, find himself comforting Binghe; telling him that, while maybe not her first choice, his washerwoman mother would be most concerned with Binghe's happiness and success, not some last request she made of him out of what was most likely desperation to give him somewhere to go that wasn't the streets. He then says something that changes the entire trajectory of Binghe's life goal in that moment:

"Go to Cang Qiong. Become a Cultivator. If you don't like it- if it's not for you- then you don't have to stay. Binghe's mother will surely know you atleast tried, and that's all that'll matter to her."

"But...where will I go after?"

Shen Yuan flounders for a moment, then, knowing he's likely about to throw Airplane's plot in a firey bin and already dreading the future headaches from it, pulls out a small jade token and places it in Binghe's small hands. "Go to my home in [city]. Show this to the steward and tell them I sent you, and that I wish to take you in as my Charge. They will not turn you away."

Binghe stares at the token with wide, wet, disbelieving eyes. "They'll...really let me stay?"

Shen Yuan softens. He ruffles those soft curls. "They will. They'll teach you anything you want to learn, and if you truly want to follow me to the battlefields after that, then my family will help you do that too."

Binghe's eyes sparkle, "I can follow you?"

"You can follow me- *if!*" Shen Yuan brings up a hand, palm out flat towards the little lotus before he can get tackled. "-if you end up not making it as a Cultivator. Don't throw that chance away just to chase after me," (into death, he wants to say, but he holds that part in. It won't do anything but encourage Binghe to try half-heartedly and give up at the first sign of trouble. Which, well...there will be many.)

"Okay," Binghe agrees, nodding furiously. And then he tackles Shen Yuan, because a baby Binghe not expressing his happiness through excitable huggings is a very strange Binghe indeed.

Their parting is much the same as I wrote before, but instead of Binghe sticking it out under Shen Qingqiu's thumb and enduring the mistreatment, he realizes pretty early on that he doesn't have or need to take it. He's got options now.

So he becomes a bit unruly. As in cannon, he's good to Ning Yingying, but when Ming Fan and his cronies try to bully him, he fights back. When Shen Qingqiu tries to make his life hell and punish him for no reason, Binghe decides to give him reasons. He studies hard and finds work arounds to stupid restrictions put on him. When he tries to study his manual and can't make any progress, he steals an invading Bai Zhan disciple's manual and tries to learn from that.

In other words, he goes in knowing in his heart that he won't be staying, and so he decides practically the moment he's accepted that he's going to milk this as hard as he can for as long as he can stand. That way, when he leaves to join Shen Yuan, he's be *so* useful! The most useful! And maybe...maybe he can even teach Shen Yuan a thing or two? That way they'll *both* have a leg up in the battlefields!

Shen Qingqiu- the huadian

Yue Qingyuan- his fat fucking eyebrows

Mu Qingfang- the mustache

Qi Qingqi- her signature red lipstick

Liu Qingge- the iconic beauty mark

Wei Qingwei- his nasty old apron

Shang Qinghua is the only one who is recognizable in all forms— ironic because he is a spy. He cries 5000 tears about this daily.

Liu Qingge:

He wants Shziun somewhere he can't escape that he can talk to him..... but starts having second thoughts standing there with him, especially because of the disrespect and whispers of Huan Hua cultivators who will be guarding him.

Then realizing.... the noble cultivator thing isn't working, Shziun still ran from him... what good is Huan Hua/ or any of this charade?

He can clear SQQ name at trial but then SQQ may leave to Qing Jing peak.... maybe without him.

And he already has Shizun in immortal binding cables... unable to escape...and with charges unable to return to human sects...

The Huan Hua guards confused as LBH is just standing there before scooping SQQ in bridal carry demon mark revealing itself as he cuts a hole and reality and walks though.

LBH deicdiding the best rooms in the palace are a far better worthy prison for SQQ to stay in while they talk and with not having to play part of human cultivator LBH can focus on dotting on SQQ and getting him to talk to him. Making him food, getting him gifts and robes....maybe planning a wedding.

Bonus no annoying rivals or Huan hua disciples.

Just him and Shizun.

SQQ not sure what's happened to the plot, system seems oddly happy though so he's worried... at least Binghe is taking his time maybe the mushroom body will work and bonus he gets to eat Binghe's food again. Who cares if he's poisoned it he's going to die anyway and already has blood parasites.

While the weirdest courtship is happening human cultivation world in shambles as Cang Qiong is convinced Huan hua killed SQQ, no one believes magic portal sword.

All out chaos... while LBH is staring at SQQ with heart eyes while SQQ sits anxiously staring at pile of courting gifts doing mental gymnastics worthy of a gold medal

Bonus: LBH tells MBJ he's done with sects lets secure demon realm so no cultivators can stumble in and find Shizun.

MBJ:...so you don't need anything from sects.

LBH: Nope

It's torture for Binghe. Shen Jiu, the white walls and pain are all he knows. Until one day he hears a noise and finds a boy slightly older than him in the lab looking around in shock. The boy, Shen Yuan, looks horrified by the blood on the floor, asking Binghe what he's doing in his basement. Why is he locked up behind glass? He fumbles around the buttons until Binghes door opens and he's finally free.

Binghe: yes.. I have a debt I need to repay to your brother

Binghe: now I have to act pathetic and harmless until shen yuan leads me to shen jiu and I can finally take my revenge