#moshang

AU Where Tianlang-jun and Su Xian have been married for a while and want to try making peace between the demon and cultivation realms. They organize a "conference" to "strengthen bonds" and invite representatives from all of the major sects to attend.

Well the sects don't exactly trust an invitation like that, and almost all of them try to send the lowest ranked person that they can get away with. For Cang Qiong, that's head disciple of An Ding, Shang Qinghua and a few others, including the Qing Jing disciple who's known for having an unnatural love of beast and demons, Shen Yuan. (It's possible that SQH had a hand in getting TLJ and SX together safely, not that they know this. It's also possible that he got promoted to head disciple just so that he could be sent on this trip).

The demon side had similar ideas, sending unwanted heirs (like Mobei-jun and Sha Hualing)instead of anyone important.

Thanks to this, TLJ stops taking this seriously immediately (and SX stops making him try) and instead starts having fun trying to pair people up, constantly assigning them to do 'bonding activities' with each other. Some pairs form naturally -- SY and LBH become inseparable immediately, ZZL won't stop following around the head cultivator from Huan Hua. Some are much more forced... SQH might be happy to finally meet MBJ in person, but god, he's so annoying to deal with right now, especially as a human, which he hates.

Not that that stops TLJ! He saw SQH look at MBJs chest and decided to assign them to half a dozen different 'learn each other's cultures' type events. Which involves SQH getting beaten up more than a few times as they 'spar.' In fact, MBJ pushes it too far and injures SQH to the point that he could raise a real complaint with the demon emperor about it, but SQH covers for him instead.

MBJ hunts him some kind of animal as thanks/apologies. SQH talks him through the logistics of actually butchering and processing every part creature like that. MBJ realizes that this little human is smarter than he lets on, and starts questioning on politics as well, and how he might advance beyond being just the fifth prince (And incorrectly assumes that SQH's knowledge of demon politics is why they sent him here). They end up *actually* bonding, but before anything can become of it... SY and LBH go missing.

Everyone starts freaking out, both sides blaming the other with no proof of where they've gone. Eventually Huan Hua breaks the tensions by leading an attack (ambush) on the event. During this, MBJ gets hit by and falls off of a cliff and SQH jumps after and saves him, hiding him and then leading the other cultivators away from him so that he can escape. One of them maybe is even brave enough to go for a kiss while they're hiding, but their parting words are the acknowledgment that the next time they see each other, they'll be at war.

Then, a timeskip, the war has been ongoing for some time and SY and LBH are still missing without a trace. MBJ has been assigned to lead asmall stealth/strike team while his elder brothers fight for the honor to lead larger armies that will win them glory. He ends up on a mission to go into enemy territory and disrupt their supply lines and, by happenstance... he runs across SQH.

Knowing how smart SQH is, he justifies to himself that he he should take him alive for questioning and kidnaps him off of the battlefield. But as soon as they're alone, SQH starts begging him for help -- he thinks he knows where LBH and SY are and wants to rescue them!

In fact, he's drawn this conclusion thanks to Logistics. He was sent to assist Huan Hua, and did a little snooping to find that they've been buying up huge amounts of a certain herb that, among other uses, is able to suppress the powers of a heavenly demon for a short amount of time (hence the huge quantity). And he doesn't think that it's meant for TLJ, because when he investigated to find out where those herbs were going... they were being shipped straight to the water prison.

On top of that... the Old Palace Master was obsessed with SX, so he's either moved that obsession onto LBH or is trying to using him to get to her somehow.

MBJ wonders at SQH wanting to lead a rescue, since he's a self admitted coward, but SQH says "Well, yeah but sneaking around is way more cowardly than fighting in battles, right?" (….so MBJs family have told him) and "Peace is way better for cowards!" MBJ is swayed by the idea of getting recognition for pulling off a glorious rescue, but mostly by the fact that he wants SQH to like him soooo badly.

So, with the help of MBJs portal powers, they break into the water prison. Part of this also involves meeting up with and pressuring GGX to disable some wards and help them sneak past his sect members, with the tradeoff being that he goes with them to see if LBH and SY really ARE in the water prison, and trapping them inside if they're wrong.

But yeah, they're in there, and the Old Palace Master has been using the fact that they like each other against each other -- LBH won't escape without SY, and vice versa, which leads to them actually fighting Huan Hua cultivators until they retrieve both of them. GGX was trying to heroically stay behind and die in combat and is surprised to be teleported to the middle of the demon's base camp. He is now panicking about betraying humanity.

Politics immediately start happening as soon at LBH is back with his family. TLJ is happy enough to end hostility with every other sect besides Huan Hua (which will collapse if the other sects withdraw support. SY very much urges them to do so). But since they don't concern him directly, MBJ doesn't care and instead refuses to allow SQH to leave his side, even bringing him to his tent at night. He asks SQH what he would have to do to keep by his side from now on, and suggests that he kidnap him. SQH begs him to please, don't, because that might just cause another incident, then muses that "the only way people allow that sort of thing in this era is when they get married..."

Chapter 10, part 2/10

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Xiang Fei meeting his creation!

Next part to be up around 26th August :)