Chapter Text
~Airplane hid behind a stray chair while Bingge stared Shen Qingqiu down. The latter merely opened up his fan.
Cucumber bro! Shouldn’t you try and bullshit yourself out of this situation like how you always do?!
He could freeze Bingge like he did with Mobei Jun but he didn’t know if that would effect Bingmei!
Why did this have to be so difficult?!
Shang Qinghua couldn’t see it but Shen Qingqiu was completely and utterly freaking out in the inside.
He didn’t forget that one specific System punishment for failing to succeed in a specific quest. He didn’t forget how Bingge tore off his arm in cold blood.
(How could he forget when he had nightmares about it every few months?)
Having Bingge here instead of his husband was /tiring./ He could say he was a fan of him when he was behind a screen and in an entirely different dimension from him, but this was different!
“Shen Yuan! You need to say something lest the beast do something to you!” The ghost beside him
I’m working on it! Shen Qingqiu thought but he knew Shen Jiu couldn’t hear him.
“Yes I am a different person.” He said slowly, as if he were approaching a dangerous animal.
(Which at this point, he was.)
“What will Junshang do about it?” Shen Qingqiu countered, not removing the fan that was covering his quivering lip.
He would like all of his limbs intact, thank you! One System hallucination was enough for a lifetime!
Binghe took a step back.
“You look like my Shen Qingqiu but you aren’t him. I already checked for possession before as well.” He said.
…Didn’t Shen Qingqiu already say that he wasn’t the original goods already? Why was he repeating it?
<“Is he broken?”> He muttered to Airplane in English. Shang Qinghua -who still didn’t budge from behind the chair- shrugged.
Bingge’s eyes turned into a ferocious red.
“DON’T SPEAK IN THAT LANGUAGE AROUND ME!” He roared, punching a nearby wall.
Both Shen Qingqius jumped together and one of them shivered.
Shang Qinghua nearly wet his pants with the sudden scream.
“Let’s sit down and talk about this like civilized adults shall we?” Shen Qingqiu gestured to the chairs.
They really didn’t have time for this. His Binghe was in danger! The world was also glitching for some reason! How else would it explain why Mobei Jun froze by Shang Qinghua’s touch?
“Where did this esteemed cultivator come from? Why is he impersonating as Shen Qingqiu? Does anyone else know about this?” The last question that Binghe spoke sounded very much like he wanted to have blackmail material against the peak lord.
Well that won’t work! Apparently Zhangmen Shixiong knew that I’m not the original goods! He thought smugly.
It did hurt though, knowing that he knew. Yue Qingyuan had lost the one he cared about but still cared for the one that took his place.
“Now Junshang, one question at a time.” Shen Qingqiu replied patiently like he did with his new disciples. It was a very effective method after all.
Luo Bingge gritted his teeth.
“Tell me how this esteemed cultivator managed to fool even the Sect leader. Please.” Shen Qingqiu’s blinked.
Huh. Maybe the white lotus was still in him even after two hundred years of corruption.
Or it was probably the fact that Xin Mo wasn’t in the area clouding his judgment.
Either way it wasn’t like Shen Qingqiu could hide anything anymore.
Did he want to torture me as well? But I didn’t even lay a finger on him! Based on the character analysis’ Peerless Cucumber were famous for, he would think that no, Bingge wasn’t that cruel. When no one has dealt him harm then he wouldn’t harm them back.
Then again, he merged the demon and human realm by the whim of his wives.
Shen Qingqiu pointed to himself.
“This one’s name is Shen Yuan.”
Both Shen Jiu and Shang Qinghua gaped at him.
“Shen Yuan.” Bingge repeated, rolling the new name with his tongue.
“What are you doing?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” Shen Jiu nearly yelled.
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t answer back even if he wanted to.
“So you’re the one that I hurt back in the dream realm.” Bingge pondered.
I’m sorry. What? He fucking remembered?! Panic started to rise up in Shen Qingqiu’s mind.
“And even then you didn’t hurt me even though I’m very much vulnerable here.” It sounded like he was talking mostly to himself now.
I think even here your protagonist halo would reach! You’re not vulnerable!
Shen Qingqiu decided to say nothing about the manner and lazily waves the fan on himself.
“So then… why did you come and take over the bastard’s body, A-Yuan?”
If Shen Qingqiu was drinking water he would have spit it out.
A-YUAN?! Just because I told you my real name does not mean that we are on a first name basis! He didn’t notice Shen Jiu getting offended by Binghe calling him a bastard he was just stuck on this fact.
“This Master hasn’t granted you permission yet to call him by his name.” Shen Qingqiu said behind his fan.
“Oh? But this one is still Junshang isn’t he? He still has more status than a Peak Lord whose peak I destroyed back in my world.” Luo Binghe gave a gleaming smile. The Qing Jing Peak lord could only look at his shining teeth.
Shang Qinghua shuddered in the background.
Why does this one have fangs and my husband doesn’t?! Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes.
“Even if that’s the case, Junshang doesn’t have the power of Xin Mo here to help him overpower me. This one did teach the Luo Binghe of this world after all.” It was worth a shot even if it was hopeless.
Bingge scoffed.
“No wonder this world’s version of myself is so weak after all.” Shen Qingqiu closed his fan with a snap.
Just before he was going to defend his sweet white little lamb, Shang Qinghua started screaming behind him.
“What’s wrong?!” Shen Qingqiu demanded. As much as he liked to say that he hated the writer, he couldn’t help but have gotten attached to him. They were from the same hometown after all.
Shang Qinghua showed his hands, which were turning into pixels. It spread all throughout his body.
“Cucumber bro!” The An Ding Peak Lord tried to reach out for his fellow martial brother but remembered that if he did, something terrible could have happened to him as well.
But Shen Qingqiu couldn’t just leave him there!
Forgetting Bingge and whatever he might have had planned to torture the Peak Lord, Shen Qingqiu grabbed Shang Qinghua’s hand and he too, started to turn into pixels.
What are you doing?! Who knows what would happen if you touch him! Shen Jiu flew on top of him, trying to touch his body snatcher’s hands to pull him off.
At the same time, Bingge looked appalled and astonished.
“W-what’s going on? I haven’t seen anything like this before!” Shen Qingqiu had never heard Bingge’s voice shake like this. His usual arrogant aura had washed away from him as he took a step towards the disappearing duo.
“Don’t come near us!” Shen Qingqiu warned. “If you do, you could get hurt!”
“What’s happening to us, bro?” Shang Qinghua’s face was struck by fear.
(More So than usual.)
“You’re the author you hack! You should know what’s going on!” Shen Qingqiu spat back, wanting to wack him with his fan.
So even in death we argue. The pixels were starting to spread throughout the rest of Shen Qingqiu body. He turned to look at Bingge’s face. Who knew that in fight flight or freeze, Bingge was the one who would be the type to freeze?
(It was explainable actually. Him and his husband were the same version of each other.)
But even so, this Binghe wasn’t Shen Qingqiu’s husband.
And oh, how he wanted to see his face before he died again for the fourth time.
“My King… I’m so sorry.” Shang Qinghua’s voice cracked, thinking these were his final words. “You’ll be frozen forever!” Whatever was left of him had turned into pixels and Shen Qingqiu was quick to follow.
“Fucking System! You can’t even let me have a happily ever after after all the shit I’ve went through!”
“A-YUAN!” Bingge and the ghost yelled together when suddenly Shen Jiu felt faint. His eyes began to close as he floated to the ground.
When he awoke, a demon lord was looking at him with a look of relief.
[̵̧̫̗̇͒̒S̵̨̱͂y̵̘͎͖͗͋̕͝ṣ̵̝͎̿̇́͋̇͝t̶̤͌e̶̢͈͋̋͋̔̏m̵̱̘̺̮̆ ̸͙͂̋̊L̵̼̗͎͋́̈ö̴̼́͂̂̄̀ǎ̵̜̥̝̬͒͝d̸̲̘͓͕͊ͅi̶̧̻̹͈͎͂̑̓͝n̵̲̜͚̝̑͌̍͗͜g̵̨̡̢̪̠͉̃.̸̡͚̌.̵̢̘̈́͜.̴̡͚͈̺̫̑͜]̴͓̳̱̟͎̊̑̔̚͠
“Where is Xin Mo?!” Luo Bingmei used one of his demon claws to scratch Qiu Haiting’s cheek.
He didn’t care that this was one of his alternate’s wives, he had hurt the Shen Jiu of this world and who knew how his husband was daring at the moment?!
Even with some level of cultivation, Qiu Haiting knew she wouldn’t be able to keep in her scream. So she didn’t.
They were in the same basement where Luo Bingge had tortured Shen Jiu. A twisted sense of fate, if you had to ask the demon emperor himself.
“Y-you’ve changed, husband! You used to hate my ex fiancé with a passion! What happened to you to suddenly change your feelings?” She answered his question with a question, avoiding the actual topic at hand.
“This lord told you that was none of your business! You betrayed this kingdom, your lord who has graciously taken you in, just because I decided to look the other way for someone who used to teach me?!” Binghe’s eyes turned mercilessly red before he took a deep breath.
No. This isn’t what Shizun would want for me. He shook his head.
And what was up with him actually acting like Qiu Haiting was his wife? He had only one wife and that was his husband!
Binghe just didn’t get why she couldn’t let everything go! It’s been two hundred years here and the former peak lord has had more than enough punishment to last more than ten lifetimes.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Binghe realized that was the whole damn reason him and his alternate switched in the first place.
He could easily go into her dreams and probe her memories, but she needed some kind of punishment for stabbing Shen Jiu and maybe inflicting harm to his Shizun by some odd wayward connection between him and his alternate self.
(Well Binghe wasn’t sure if calling him Shen Jiu’s alternate self was appropriate but it was the best he could think of at the moment.)
Qiu Haiting struggled in her chains.
Since this was his Shishu’s novel, of course the only way to tie her up was to chain her with her wrists upward like it was one of Binghe’s and Shen Yuan’s roleplays back at home.
“You can make this easy or difficult. This lord doesn’t need to kill you. The influence of Xin Mo is already doing the work for me. Who did you give the sword to? Did you really betray this lord for some foreign demon?” Binghe pressed a dagger to her throat. Blood was dripping to the cement below her. That was the only noise in the dungeon because Qiu Haiting’s lips didn’t budge.
Maybe she wasn’t in control? How could someone be so stubborn about a single thing that she wouldn’t even answer?
Putting the dagger back, Luo Binghe pressed his index and middle finger onto her forehead and forcefully went through her memories. He ignored the cry that Qiu Haiting as he saw a single figure in her memories with a smile that didn’t quite suit him.
Shang… Shishu?
Except this Shang Qinghua had much shorter hair and wore something that would be considered as revealing if he were living in the time period he was in now.
What did Shizun call it? A… t-shirt?
Luo Binghe was watching through Qiu Haiting’s eyes so he saw everything in her point of view. She was a few centimeters shorter than the Shang Qinghua of her memory and she must have asked for something because Shang Qinghua had replied like this,
You want my aid? My aid? How did you even come here in the first place? Dimension travel isn’t so easy you know.” Binghe felt Qiu Haiting gulp.
Was she actually scared of this Shang Qinghua?
Was any kind of Shang Qinghua remotely scary?
Well, there was a first for everything.
“T-the idol of Infinite Wishes. I wished for there to be a way to bring Junshang back into his senses!” She stammered.
Binghe flinched. The Idol of Infinite Wishes was a particular item that had started a very heated argument with him and Shen Qingqiu. The Peak Lord had wanted to destroy it because it was simply too powerful while Binghe wanted his Shizun to visit his home one more time as a farewell of sorts.
Shen Qingqiu wanted nothing to do with his world anymore saying that his world was with his husband.
In the end, it was a stalemate. They went to Shen Yuan’s real hometown and destroyed it.
Shang Qinghua scoffed.
Binghe figured that if he had a choice in choosing which one of his Shishus he wanted in his universe he would keep the one that was close friends with Shen Qingqiu.
(Even if he had made Binghe go through Hell and back.)
“So it brought you to me? I don’t even know all of the useless plot devices my alternate made in that novel of his but this aligns with my plans.” If Binghe had a corporeal from, he would have tilted his head in confusion.
What did he mean by that? Did this Shang Qinghua not write the novel that Bingge and essentially him were originated from?
A world where Binghe nor Shen Qingqiu never existed? A world where Shen Yuan would have never picked up Proud Immortal Demon Way even if it was to hate read it?
Luo Binghe blinked, trying to get back to the topic at hand.
“W-what do you mean? ” Qiu Haiting inquired. The Shang Qinghua in her memories waved her off.
“It's nothing. Now, here’s what you’ll do-” As he was saying this, the memory shifted.
No! I needed to see the whole thing! Trying to use his powers, Binghe tried to go back to the memory but it had buzzed out. Binghe had no choice to back out of the memory lest he die.
On the outside, Qiu Haiting coughed out blood. Inside, the memory shifted and Binghe was now in front of a young Shen Qingqiu.
He didn’t look as refined as he Shizun did nor did he look as bad off as Shen Jiu was when Binghe had taken him out of the basement.
But still, something about him was… off. One of his eyes were purple and his left hand was bright red, so swollen a child wouldn’t recognize it as a hand.
Qiu Haiting giggled as she put rogue on Shen Jiu’s face.
“You can be so clumsy sometimes, A-Jiu! Brother said that you tripped on your way to the water well! Here, this rogue will cover it all!” Luo Binghe was the smartest in his generation of Qing Jing but even an idiot could tell that Qiu Haiting’s brother was a blatant liar. It wasn’t just by the way the slave had acted around her, it was his whole demeanor.
He looked like a hollow doll, ready to be at her disposal.
It wasn’t like the Shen Jiu he had remembered before his fatal qi deviation, this one looked like he had just accepted everything.
Or… he was waiting for something to happen.
Luo Binghe knew that Shen Jiu was a slave. It was what his Qiu Haiting had told him back when the Sower Demons attacked Jin Lan City along the fact that his previous Master had followed Wu Yanzi, a demonic cultivator to escape from the manor, thus dissipating their relationship. When Binghe had clawed his way out of the Endless Abyss, saw his husband die right before his eyes, found out about the Old Palace Master of Huan Hua Palace and punishing him the way he deserved to be punished, Qiu Haiting had followed him and that was the last he had seen her.
There must have been something more. Something else! It would have been so helpful if Shen Qingqiu had told him something!
Binghe was about to delve deeper when he felt someone pull his shoulders from behind.
Binghe jumped when he turned around to see Mobei Jun with an unusual look of frantic painted on his face. In front of him, Qiu Haiting’s eyes were bloodshot and her breathing was shallow.
Binghe might have overdone it. Just a teeny bit.
“Didn't this lord tell you to leave him alone?!” He faced Mobei Jun in anger. Binghe was so close to finding out what was going on! He was this close to trying to understand why Shen Jiu was the way he was!
“Junshang… Shang Qinghua disappeared from this one’s sight.” Binghe narrowed his eyes.
“Well he couldn’t have gone far! Just use your powers to find him!” He didn’t have the time for this! This Shang Qinghua was supposed to watch Shen Jiu while he was gone! When he got his hands on him-
Mobei Jun shook his head.
“He didn't run. He actually did disappear in thin air. He did it in front of your previous Master and I.” Binghe’s eyes widened.
So not only was Shen Jiu awake, Shang Qinghua was gone too!
Binghe had a feeling that the one in Qiu Haiting’s memories had something to do with this. The only question was why?
“I grant you permission to look for him. Use whatever means necessary.” He knew that Mobei Jun didn’t need his permission, he would have gone anyways. Binghe figured it was the formality of it all or something.’
Mobei Jun bowed.
“This servant will tell Lady Sha to take over the troops when I’m gone.” And with that, he left in his shadow portal leaving Binghe alone with one of his alternate’s unconscious wives.
He used his dagger to lift her chin up.
“This one thinks you should hang here just a little bit longer before the demonic influence of Xin Mo finally kills you altogether.”
Binghe had to see if Shen Jiu as doing alright anyways.
As he opened up the cellar, his System flickered open, blinking like an old television.
“There you are! Collect the points that are mine to deserve!” Binghe said.
The System didn’t say anything but wrote a very ominous sentence.
[I have your husband. If you want him and your martial uncle safe, come find me.]