no thank you

A plot: aang learns to stand his ground in order to begin earth bending

B plot: zuko screams at god to strike him down with lightning

This came about through a combination of several factors. On the demon end, Shang Qinghua was way less circumspect about his identity whenever he was in the demon realms, so Mobei Jun was just flat-out telling his people that the Head Disciple and later Peak Lord of An Ding was his guy, and putting Shang Qinghua in charge of other servants or jobs as he saw fit, so his court faction were like alright cool guess that gives us a leg up in some departments, let's start coordinating with An Ding Peak?

Then on the other end of it, An Ding Peak is like ground zero for Cang Qiong's malcontents anyway, it is simultaneously the most vital peak and the most looked down upon, so reaching out to one of Cang Qiong's enemies to forge an alliance and hold it at the ready just in case they decide they want to overthrow the other peaks and change the hierarchies of the sect forever actually just feels cathartic. Like they probably won't, but knowing that they could is soothing. Shang Qinghua's closest disciples started figuring out the secret during his Head Disciple tenure, because what do you mean Shixiong survived an encounter with one of the most powerful ice demons alive and now suddenly sometimes his house is winter-cold and he can access a whole bunch of things from the northern climes of the demon realms?

The first few disciples stumble upon and then try to have semi-coded conversations with Shang Qinghua about it, which leads them to the conclusion that their shixiong is colluding with demons but doesn't have any plans to betray An Ding and mostly seems to dislike Huan Hua Palace (respectable) and is maaaybe pissed off enough at Bai Zhan to throw a demon at them one day (a sentiment shared by 99.9% of An Ding disciples) (they brought it up and most of it flew over Shang Qinghua's head but when someone was like "ok but are we taking action against the rest of the sect?" he was sardonically like "not unless Liu Qingge breaks another gate this month").

So when Shang Qinghua becomes Peak Lord and some of the more subtle servants of Mobei Jun show up, a lot of the senior disciples are like yup it's go time. They start conspiring to oust the less open-minded dregs of the past peak lord's rule, consolidate Cang Qiong's power overall and An Ding's influence specifically, help tit-for-tat the northern demon lords and specifically Mobei Jun's faction and disputes with his rivals, remove anyone who stumbles upon the plot and can't be trusted, establish trade deals and information brokers and etc.

All the while Shang Qinghua and Mobei Jun are still just like, it's only us two who have an arrangement going on here.

At minimum about 4.5 thousand people liked this without reblogging it.

Progress.

QQQ: What are you talking about?! We can literally see a whole group of ghosts clinging to him with the bare eye!

WQW: I tested him with every sword, he’s not—

LQG: Well if he’s not possessed then what is this?

YQY: Don’t worry Xiao-Jiu, I’m sure we’ll figure out how to fix this….

SQQ: Do NOT call me—

MQF: Hey hey hey let’s all stay calm… please…

SQQ: I am calm.

MQF: Shen shixiong—

YQY: Xiao-Jiu—

QQQ: And what’s up with you, ah? You can barely keep your babbling mouth shut most of the time and all of a sudden you’re quiet as a mouse.

All eyes turned to Shang Qinghua. All of them carried expectant gazes like he could magically fix this bizarre situation. A very strange group of ghosts had made their way onto Cang Qiong Mountain. They were neither malicious nor resentful; actually they didn’t really do anything but stick to Shen Qingqiu. It was truly a strange sight to behold. They were almost entirely white in color, faces distorted or gone entirely, bodies far too small and dressed in the simplest of garments.

They looked like children who had died before they even understood the concepts of life and death and their identities. Well, they looked like that because that’s exactly what they were.

SQQ: You do know something don’t you? Spit it out already, you rat!

SQH: Ah— that— so I— Shen Shixiong, they’re harmless I promise!

YQY: Shang shidi, if you know how to resolve this…

SQH: Oh no. No no no. Let’s just— let’s just wait and see? They really are harmless so—

SQQ: What the hell is that supposed to mean? Just wait and see?

MQF: Shang shidi, please.

SQH: how about we don’t…

LQG, QQQ & SQQ: Shang Qinghua!

SQH: Okay, look. You won’t like what I know about them and it doesn’t really help to get rid of them anyway so how about we—

SQQ: Spit. It. Out.

SQH: Okay okay okay but you gotta promise to not kill me!

SQQ: …

SQH: Promise!

SQQ: Urgh I promise. Now talk.

SQH: Well, okay, so… I can’t— I don’t really remember what they’re called right now but… I have actually, unfortunately encountered them before. They really are harmless. These ghosts they… stem from children who died very young. Like really young. Usually in slow, brutal ways… torture, assault, those things…. All they really do is cling to each other for comfort and flow from place to place.

The room stayed quiet for a moment.

SQQ: And? Why are they sticking to me?

SQH: That— I— You really don’t want me to say it, Shixiong…

If a gaze could kill.

Then, with a sigh and a sudden thwack the fan flew open.

SQQ: Very funny, Shang-shidi. Extraordinarily funny.

SQH: What— no I—

An awkward chuckle sounded quietly from somewhere in the room, quickly enticing others to follow.

SQQ: Does anyone have something to say that isn’t utter inappropriate nonsense?

SQH: Hey it’s not—

QQQ: Oh please. This nonsense isn’t believable for even a second, let alone funny. With Shen Qingqiu of all people?

LQG: Pampered lordling…

YQY: Ah, yes. Yes. Shang-shidi please don’t make such jokes. It’s inappropriate…

SQH: Im not joking, that’s what they are!

SQQ: Well obviously your knowledge is incomplete or entirely wrong then. You were right with it being entirely useless for this predicament though, I’ll give you that much.

SQH: Hey!

QQQ: who knows maybe they smell all the girls you abused on you and got confused…

A fist slammed on the table, cracking the intricately carved decorations at its edge, snuffing out any murmured conversation in the room in an instant.

Unwilling to endure this humiliation even a second longer than absolutely unavoidable, he had stormed right into Qing Jing Peak's library in search of any records even so much as barely resembling his predicament.

And so, the scholar had delegated all his classes of the day to hall masters and senior disciples to teach in his stead, locking himself in the bamboo house to study the piles and piles of texts he had gathered.

Night time had long since arrived when he heard suspicious movement in the bamboo grove that doubled as his back garden.

Slamming the wooden sliding door open, he made eye contact with a rat. This particular one may have been capable of human language, although in limited capacity, but it was a rat nonetheless.

SQQ: What are you doing here and why the hell are you dressed like a thief?

SQH: Ah! Shen-shixiong! I–

Xiu Ya's cold metal against the rat's neck made it squeal like the filthy rodent it was.

SQH: You PROMISED not to kill me! It's your own fault okay?!

SQQ: That nonsense is not the reason these things are clinging to me, is that clear?

A beat.

SQH: Of course not, shixiong.

After another moment Shen Qingqiu finally lowered his blade.

SQQ: Now, why are here? And why are you dressed like that?

SQH: I figured you wouldn't want anyone to see me coming here...? Well that and... you still want to get rid of them. Right?

Back in the bamboo house two cups of tea stood on the low teable between them. Shang Qinghua on one side, Shen Qingqiu with three ghost sticking to him on the other.

SQQ: Well?

Shen Qingqiu took a slow sip from his cup, gaze unyielding as his shidi shrunk under it.

SQQ: You came to talk, so talk. I want to be rid of these things as fast as possible.

As if the atrocious posture hadn't been bad enough, the rat began to fidget with the hems of its dirty, ink stained sleeves.

SQH: Uh so... I mean... if you want as fast as possible you can always just cut them down with Xiu Ya... not like they'd even try to evade. I'm honestly surprised you haven't tried that already.....

Another glare, another squeal.

SQH: So, uh, yeah. Just– just cut them down and they'll fall apart immediately. They can barely hold on as is. That's why they're so rare in the first place... There won't even be enough of their minds left to receive Meng Po's soup.... so you'll definitely one hundred percent be rid of them.

Shen Qingqiu closed his eyes after another sip, taking a deep, carful breath as he savored the taste of the tea, suppressing the urge to flip the table onto the rat and kick it out back into the cold where it belonged.

SQQ: Any other methods?

Now it was the rat's turn to sigh.

SQH: The way I understand it, the reason they can't move on is because they don't even fully comprehend that they're dead. All they know is that they're hurt and scared.

SQQ: So what does Shang-shidi propose this master does exactly?

SQH: Just... treat them like your kids for a while?

SQQ: Excuse me?

SQH: Just long enough for them to relax. Once they're not busy thinking about all the scary things that could happen to them anymore, they should be able to remember all the things that already did. Once they realize they're already dead they should be able to move on...eventually.

Shen Qingqiu could already feel the headache coming on. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

SQQ: Shang Qinghua. That is....

SQH: Cruel. I know.

SQQ: There has to be another way. Where is this information even coming from? This master was not able to find anything useful in the library. You must at least remember what they're called given how much you've managed to study about them.

SQH: That... I... I didn't study them... not really. It's mostly...personal experience.

Shen Qingqiu made no move react so Shang Qinghua continued:

SQQ: So you have never encountered any written records about them?

SQH: Ah, well, no, I have. They were just like, really short. I gave the research up super fast and freestyled the whole thing… didn't really have much of a choice to be fair… The one paper that at least had a visual description called them opal something… I think.

SQQ: Opal…

At that, the peak lord suddenly rose to sift through the mountains of scrolls and books he had surrounded his work desk with. The three ghosts still clung to his robes, tiny fists grabbing had fulls of the silks as they continued to float around the man as closely as they could.

SQQ: Opal eyed— Opal eyed hauntlings.

SQH: Yeah! That's the one.

SQQ: I will not be calling them that.

SQH: Ah—

Furiously the man grabbed his brush, ink still fresh with the help of a stasis talisman, and began to copy the short scroll. Once content with his work, he stomped back to the low table Shang Qinghua still occupied and slammed the new scroll right in the middle. The old one was flung unceremoniously into the fire. He continued after he finally plopped back into his seat and swallowed the last sip of tea he had abandoned for his little outburst.

SQQ: Opal eyed children.

Shang Qinghua couldnt help but smile.

QQQ: What are you talking about?! We can literally see a whole group of ghosts clinging to him with the bare eye!

WQW: I tested him with every sword, he’s not—

LQG: Well if he’s not possessed then what is this?

YQY: Don’t worry Xiao-Jiu, I’m sure we’ll figure out how to fix this….

SQQ: Do NOT call me—

MQF: Hey hey hey let’s all stay calm… please…

SQQ: I am calm.

MQF: Shen shixiong—

YQY: Xiao-Jiu—

QQQ: And what’s up with you, ah? You can barely keep your babbling mouth shut most of the time and all of a sudden you’re quiet as a mouse.

All eyes turned to Shang Qinghua. All of them carried expectant gazes like he could magically fix this bizarre situation. A very strange group of ghosts had made their way onto Cang Qiong Mountain. They were neither malicious nor resentful; actually they didn’t really do anything but stick to Shen Qingqiu. It was truly a strange sight to behold. They were almost entirely white in color, faces distorted or gone entirely, bodies far too small and dressed in the simplest of garments.

They looked like children who had died before they even understood the concepts of life and death and their identities. Well, they looked like that because that’s exactly what they were.

SQQ: You do know something don’t you? Spit it out already, you rat!

SQH: Ah— that— so I— Shen Shixiong, they’re harmless I promise!

YQY: Shang shidi, if you know how to resolve this…

SQH: Oh no. No no no. Let’s just— let’s just wait and see? They really are harmless so—

SQQ: What the hell is that supposed to mean? Just wait and see?

MQF: Shang shidi, please.

SQH: how about we don’t…

LQG, QQQ & SQQ: Shang Qinghua!

SQH: Okay, look. You won’t like what I know about them and it doesn’t really help to get rid of them anyway so how about we—

SQQ: Spit. It. Out.

SQH: Okay okay okay but you gotta promise to not kill me!

SQQ: …

SQH: Promise!

SQQ: Urgh I promise. Now talk.

SQH: Well, okay, so… I can’t— I don’t really remember what they’re called right now but… I have actually, unfortunately encountered them before. They really are harmless. These ghosts they… stem from children who died very young. Like really young. Usually in slow, brutal ways… torture, assault, those things…. All they really do is cling to each other for comfort and flow from place to place.

The room stayed quiet for a moment.

SQQ: And? Why are they sticking to me?

SQH: That— I— You really don’t want me to say it, Shixiong…

If a gaze could kill.

I was faster than you

https://archiveofourown.org/works/86561836/chapters/229052126#main

BINGQIU FASHION WEEK DAY 5

I kind of lost the plot, what was this challenge about again? not important!! more reaper SY doodles!!

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

Oh man, Binghe feels like *shit.* She went through the entire Abyss Arc convinced SQQ hated her guts, wanted her dead, and she was actually pretty angry about that. I mean, Shizun didn't give her a chance to explain at all! And he lied to her! All that talk about demons being good too, and then he throws her into literal hell for having demonic heritage!! How could he?!

And then she comes back home, realizes pieces aren't fitting the puzzle right, and after ages of slowly putting bits together in the right order, she finds out. (Figures it out? One of those.)

Anger points? Zero. Heartbreak points? Also zero...for about a day at most. Then both sky rocket when she realizes her poor husband has been terrorized, traumatized, threatened, and very possibly shoved into her previous Shizun's body by this entity for the sole purpose of being used and pushed around to do its bidding on a very real threat of pain AND death.

She also bounces around into relief and guilt, and also into sorrow, because her shizun always knew. He knew she was a heavenly demon. He knew what she was capable of, and he never cared. He loved her anyway. And it's so obvious now. How could she have ever believed for even a minute that he truly wanted her dead? She had known something was off, but she'd been too in her own head, too devastated and easily fooled by the play of her worst fear coming to light to see it, and her poor husband suffered for it.

Her poor husband, who would not eat, barely slept, wouldn't touch his books, and often hid away from everyone in his home or spirited himself away to a secret grave made for her where he'd sit and lose sometimes literal days in his grief if no one caught him in time. Wasting away for a foolish disciple who was too stupid to realize that her shizun would never have willingly hurt her.

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!

He's not sure where he is, and he can't go back to the last city they were in and ask (they were hiding in the woods for a reason) so he pushes forward, eventually reaching a small town on the Luo river just as a blizzard rolls in. Every inn he tries is full but a kindly fisherman tells him about a hut by the river the fishermen use to keep warm- it has a fireplace and should be empty for the night. Shen Jiu has slept worse places so he goes and settles in.

He thinks at first he's imagining the crying baby, but eventually he risks the storm to check- if it's a demon trying to lure people out he'll just kill it and sell it for parts later.

"No one wanted me either." he tells the actual baby as he sets it down by the fire, still in it's ice-crusted basket. "You're welcome."

It might be a bad idea, but a baby will make him seem more trustworthy and sympathetic. If it's too much of a hassle he'll just leave it somewhere else.

This works out pretty well for him and baby Binghe, they're at least well fed if not particularly rich as they keep up their wandering.

One night they're caught out in the open during an icy rain storm. Shen Jiu stuffs them into a hollow in the roots of a nearby massive tree to keep them dry. He thinks he's laying on a rock until he pulls a glowing crystal ball the size of a meat bun out of the leaf litter.

Shen Jiu's never seen a God Machine Orb (for evoking deus ex machinae) so he doesn't know what he's doing when he holds the glowing orb up for Binghe to play with. And he doesn't register how openly he is speaking to the baby at that moment. He is really tired though, and the orb is warm to the touch, so he and Binghe doze off with the orb still in their hands.

Meanwhile.

Tianlang Jun wakes up from a nightmare he knows is real. His lover is dead and he needs to burn Huan Hua Palace to the ground in retribution. Then he needs to go get his son- but the baby is safe for now with that rogue cultivator and he really really needs to rip the old palace master's head off so he's doing that first.

Once Huan Hua Palace is razed to the ground Tianlang Jun goes to collect his son before deciding what to do with the other human sects.

This proves harder than anticipated, the rogue cultivator didn't stay in the little town on the river- and it's not until the second dream that he's able to track them down.

He sees them leave an inn he's been to before and walk along the main road for some time. He sees where they leave the road to seek shelter from the sudden storm. He sees them find the God Machine Orb (well that explains these dreams) and listens as the orb pulls it's wielders' heart's desire from them, so it can grant it.

"I just want to be wanted." the young man tells his baby son. "I know I'm unworthy and disgusting, but I want someone to love me anyway."

"You can't leave me alright?" he continues. "Even if you have a rich daddy who desperately wants you back you can't leave me."

His son coos at the young man before they both fall asleep. Tianlang Jun wakes up and goes to collect his son and the youth. (Binghe promised not to leave him after all Tianlang Jun heard it himself.)

God Machine Orbs cannot change people's hearts, but even before Shen Jiu wakes up and stabs him Tianlang Jun thinks he likes this kid.

(Shen Jiu wakes up in an unfamiliar really fancy room with an unfamiliar man sitting next to him on an unfamiliar bed and Binghe is missing-ZZL is giving him a bath- of course he stabbed the mystery man.)

They set up an altar for Su Xiyan which Shen Jiu tends to religiously.

When TLJ eventually asks why SJ bluntly tells him that he basically stole Su Xiyan 's life, the least he can do is say thank you.

SJ: I know you wouldn't have wound up with me if she was alive.

TLJ: I would have lobbied so hard to make you a concubine. I'm the last of my race I need more wives.

SJ: *hits him* well you aren't getting any more while I'm around! ...Su Xiyan surely wouldn't have wanted to share either.

TLJ: You're very pretty, I think she wouldn't have minded too much.

SJ: *scoffs*

QQQ: What are you talking about?! We can literally see a whole group of ghosts clinging to him with the bare eye!

WQW: I tested him with every sword, he’s not—

LQG: Well if he’s not possessed then what is this?

YQY: Don’t worry Xiao-Jiu, I’m sure we’ll figure out how to fix this….

SQQ: Do NOT call me—

MQF: Hey hey hey let’s all stay calm… please…

SQQ: I am calm.

MQF: Shen shixiong—

YQY: Xiao-Jiu—

QQQ: And what’s up with you, ah? You can barely keep your babbling mouth shut most of the time and all of a sudden you’re quiet as a mouse.

All eyes turned to Shang Qinghua. All of them carried expectant gazes like he could magically fix this bizarre situation. A very strange group of ghosts had made their way onto Cang Qiong Mountain. They were neither malicious nor resentful; actually they didn’t really do anything but stick to Shen Qingqiu. It was truly a strange sight to behold. They were almost entirely white in color, faces distorted or gone entirely, bodies far too small and dressed in the simplest of garments.

They looked like children who had died before they even understood the concepts of life and death and their identities. Well, they looked like that because that’s exactly what they were.

SQQ: You do know something don’t you? Spit it out already, you rat!

SQH: Ah— that— so I— Shen Shixiong, they’re harmless I promise!

YQY: Shang shidi, if you know how to resolve this…

SQH: Oh no. No no no. Let’s just— let’s just wait and see? They really are harmless so—

SQQ: What the hell is that supposed to mean? Just wait and see?

MQF: Shang shidi, please.

SQH: how about we don’t…

LQG, QQQ & SQQ: Shang Qinghua!

SQH: Okay, look. You won’t like what I know about them and it doesn’t really help to get rid of them anyway so how about we—

SQQ: Spit. It. Out.

SQH: Okay okay okay but you gotta promise to not kill me!

SQQ: …

SQH: Promise!

SQQ: Urgh I promise. Now talk.

SQH: Well, okay, so… I can’t— I don’t really remember what they’re called right now but… I have actually, unfortunately encountered them before. They really are harmless. These ghosts they… stem from children who died very young. Like really young. Usually in slow, brutal ways… torture, assault, those things…. All they really do is cling to each other for comfort and flow from place to place.

The room stayed quiet for a moment.

SQQ: And? Why are they sticking to me?

SQH: That— I— You really don’t want me to say it, Shixiong…

If a gaze could kill.

But once the idea has entered his head, he can't quite shake it. See the thing is, the Mobei Jun he wrote in PIDW actually did wear whole entire outfits most the time. As the pinnacle of masculine ideals he was more into the high collars and buttoned buttons and cool armor that actually covered his vital points than his SV counterpart.

Shang Qinghua's just never really focused on the discrepancy because, well, most of the time he's around the Moboobs he's not thinking critically about anything at all. But, yeah. Even though ice demons don't have a problem being scantily clad in the cold, it is kind of weird that Mobei Jun dresses like a total harlot?

Not that he's shaming his king! Mobei Jun can dress however he wants and Shang Qinghua will enjoy the view!

He starts to think that perhaps he should figure out how he butterfly effected this particular change, though. Mysteries are dangerous. Obviously it's not actually his gaze that Mobei Jun is trying to draw, but there has to be some reason for it. Maybe he just spends so much more time in the human realms getting overheated that he needs the extra ventilation? Shang Qinghua decides to test a few theories, jokingly telling himself that the first thing to do is eliminate the assertion that the all you can eat beef buffet is being set out for his enjoyment.

It'll probably be easy to debunk. He just finds a way to shoehorn in some compliments on Mobei Jun's looks into their next few interactions, totally bracing himself to get his ass kicked the first couple of times for even mentioning anything at all. At the very least he's expecting his king to maybe take some of his outfits out of rotation, like he is not expecting a positive reception to his observation that "this mantle really emphasizes my king's broad shoulders and powerful chest, he should try wearing it shirtless" to result in... Mobei Jun showing up forty-eight hours later in the mantle and a loin cloth and precious little else?!

Then it keeps happening. Shang Qinghua decides he must have chosen the wrong kind of debunking test. Clearly, his king's a little starved for compliments! It's getting a bit absurd!

He decides damage control is in order before he accidentally praises Mobei Jun into becoming an exhibitionist (if it's not already too late...) and he pivots to... well. Leering, a bit. He spreads his compliments out more, also being sure the compliment Mobei Jun on wearing, like, actual coverage, and looking cool in armor and furs and etc (not hard, because he does). But he lets his king catch his eyes wandering a few times.

He's fully prepared to get his ass kicked for that, and he does. Not as badly as he'd feared, but it does net him some impressive bruises. It doesn't seem to deter his king from dressing how he pleases regardless, and Shang Qinghua despairs. Well of course some wandering eyes wouldn't turn Mobei Jun off of his preferred wardrobe! He's a grown ass demon king, not some uncertain youth who would blush and cover up!

Damn though, refuting this whole "he's doing it for you" theory is more complicated than he thought it'd be. Maybe he should move on to just, figuring out the actual reason, rather than attempting it process-of-elimination style...?

Shen Yuan: we're-

Luo Binghe: IM A FILTHY DEMON! *Faints mid sob*

Shen Yuan: He MEANS he's cosplaying- er, playing at being a LOVELY demon. We're working on it.

Shen Jiu: pray tell

Shen Yuan, throwing a washcloth over Binghe which does nothing to conceal the glowing mark of his heritage: You can't see it before we're done

Shen Jiu: It looks pretty well done to this scholar

He forgot until one of the kids calls him "Shiyi" that there was supposed to be another orphaned slave kid in the backstory of PIDW. He hadn't figured out yet if it was supposed to be another Peak Lord or just another brother-figure to flesh out Yue Qingyuan's and Shen Qingqiu's backstories before he ultimately decided three orphaned cultivator childhood friends was one too many, and eventually went on to create Shang Qinghua, who was a much less important character than a backstory like this would warrant. It's really biting him in the ass now, seeing as he's now living as said scrapped character; if he'd just given him a proper storyline, Xiang Fei wouldn't have to be dealing with this! He doesn't even know if he's actually Shang Qinghua, or an entirely different boy! Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets, the only way out was forward. Straight into the arms of the strongest character he could find, of course. Even if he was Shang Qinghua, it's way too early to meet Mobei-Jun; Xiang Fei couldn't be bothered with timelines, but he's fairly certain the ice demon should be running for his life from some humans soon. They wouldn't be crossing paths for at least a couple more years.

Xiang Fei is about to lose his shit, but then a thought occurs to him; there are two future peak lords in this room right now. One of them is strong enough to scare even his protagonist, the legendary Bingge! His kind and gentle Yue Shixiong! Sure, he doesn't have Xuan Su yet, which is what makes him such a threat to Binghe, but so what!! It's better to invest early, and get big returns later! Xiang Fei isn't Shen Jiu, who is undoubtedly the stars, sun, moon, and earth of Yue Qingyuan's life, but that doesn't matter!! As long as they're fond enough of him to keep him from dying, he'll take it!!!

Xiang Fei wastes absolutely no time ingratiating himself with the duo. It's harder than he initially expects-- he wrote them, but that doesn't actually mean he can read their minds! Especially since he has, in fact, forgotten a considerable amount of the lore of the world he'd built. Especially the stuff that never even made the final cut. Shen Jiu in particular doesn't trust him, but then that was to be expected. Ultimately, it's not like Shen Jiu can afford to not work with Xiang Fei; stuck in a cellar as a bunch of kids about to be sold, there really aren't any other options but to stick together.

Xiang Fei weighs his options. They could follow the plot, get bought out by the correct families and lose Qi-ge to Cang Qiong Mountain and Xiao Jiu can have his villain origin arc where he burns the house down. It'll be all nice and predictable and safe (enough). Xiang Fei as Shiyi will get bought, then escape through a sewer system after three years of torture, before eventually finding himself on that mountain alongside Yue Qingyuan.

Or.

Or, he could jailbreak them right now, and they could skip all that suffering, head straight to Cang Qiong, and he'd never have to miss a meal or know what it's like to be whipped a day in his life! It doesn't take any time at all to decide what he'd rather do. He ends up conspiring with the other children, and the night before the Qius are supposed to come by for some slaves, the kids bust out and make a break for it.

The rest can go several ways: I can imagine the kids splitting up, since they weren't particularly friends or anything aside from Yue Qi and Shen Jiu, but I can also see them deciding there's safety in numbers/not having anywhere to go and choosing to just stick together. If they stick together, I can fully imagine Xiang Fei becoming the self-appointed manager of them, working with YQY and SJ to keep the group together and safe (and balance the books). But I really can't help but want to imagine them as Robin Hood-style bandits!!! Shen Jiu and Xiang Fei in particular would be running scams on local noble houses and pickpocketing the belligerent guests at the nearby brothel (which they keep sneaking into and getting kicked out of). However, this angle will make Xiang Fei less anxious of Death by Binghe, but more anxious in another way; no mountain, no sword, no payoff for clinging to Qi-ge's thighs!!

It's unlikely they'd go to Cang Qiong if the orphans stay as a group, but regardless I think Xiang Fei would be determined to learn at least SOME cultivation, if only for peace of mind. They could run into Wu Yanzi, who lasts all of 3 seconds before Xiang Fei decides he's more useful dead; he trades Wu Yanzi's body in for scrolls on cultivation. If the kids split, Xiang Fei, Yue Qi, and Shen Jiu will stay together as a trio and go for Cang Qiong. Regardless, by that point their relationship is something akin to bonded street cats. Even when they get picked up by different peaks, they're with each other so often that it's hard to tell anymore whose peak they're actually disciples of.

SJ and YQY are so used to Xiang Fei burying himself in work to the point that I think they'd have a habit of forcibly taking care of him in different ways. YQY will kindly and patiently coax Xiang Fei into doing stuff like eating meals with him and SJ. SJ will smack the fuck out of Xiang Fei because he calculated something wrong due to lack of sleep, and will keep smacking him until XF agrees to take a "small nap" that ends up being 20 unbroken hours long. They'd eventually become the most functional and efficient 3-man beaurocratic system anyone has ever seen. I think whether or not they're fucking will be one of the biggest and oldest theories/pieces of gossip on Cang Qiong for a very long time.