Chapter Text
Shen Yuan had spent too much of his life in these caves. With the smell of blood and hopelessness. With the boys who ended up here, each with the same hollow look. These were the caves where Shen Yuan had learned fear and pain. Not even on the streets did he feel so helpless as he did here.
Because here he didn’t have his brothers.
Time moved differently in a dream. Memories flashed and bled together. One minute, he was pinned by a much bigger boy as he painfully and slowly pulled his arm from its socket. He was looking down at the broken body of a boy. Shen Yuan looked at him from his hiding place in the shade as he waited for his turn. So young. Too young, and this place had destroyed him.
He remembered the time he truly thought he was going to die. There had been two boys in the ring with him. The boys knew that Shen Yuan was weak and that they could easily hurt him. Shen Yuan remembers the smirk on the boys ' faces, how the boys’ eyes seemed to glow with happiness. There were true monsters in this world.
The two boys had chased him, punched him, and kicked him. They had managed to push him to the very end of the area. To the place mostly above ground where small shoots of bamboo tried to grow.
Hunched over, Shen Yuan tried to protect his head when he saw the green bamboo swaying gently in the wind. How long had it been since he saw anything that wasn’t gray?
The bamboo seemed so peaceful as the leaves fluttered in the wind. Wait, fluttering leaves?
The two boys were on top of him. One boy was throwing punches from above, trying to break through his measly defenses. The other was trying to kick him in the head. Shen Yuan slowly reached his hand forward towards the leaves.
Please, he thought, please let this work.
The bamboo continued to sway. Then they started to sway their stems, bending more and more.
Come on, come on.
The bamboo stem bent backwards, and Shen Yuan felt his heart stop.
Come on!
The kicking boy landed a good blow on Shen Yuan’s head, almost breaking his concentration as his vision blacked out.
Come ON!
The bamboo leaves pulled against the stems, breaking off and flying to Shen Yuan’s hand. Shen Yuan turned the leaves onto the boy on top of him, who had been too busy punching him to notice anything else happening.
The bamboo leaves cut through the boy's face. He screamed and fell off Shen Yuan and tried to put as much distance as he could between them.
The other boy stopped kicking him but didn’t move away. He just watched. Shen Yuan raised his hand, ready for another attack. The boy smirked and moved forward.
There was only one way out of this. This boy wouldn’t stop with a few cuts to the face. Shen Yuan took a deep breath. Ever since he came here, he knew this day would come. The day he would have to fight for his life… and take someone else's.
“STOP!” Master called.
The other boy turned towards the side of the area as he focused on something else. Shen Yuan dropped his hand, letting the bamboo leaves fall to the ground.
“Stop!” Master called matching into the middle of the ring. Guards grabbed both boys.
“Which boy did you say you wanted again?” Master asked, turning to a man and woman who must have just been a few steps behind him.
The man held an air of arrogance around him. This was a man born with too much who would never know its worth. “My disciple was interested in… which one did you want again?” He asked the women.
The woman had a sense of power around her. She held herself like a soldier. Her hands crossed in front of her, with her right hand holding a sword. Her eyes found Shen Yuan’s, and she nodded towards him.
“Ah yes,” turning back towards Master, the man said, “I would like to buy that one,” gesturing to Shen Yuan like he was a bag of potatoes, not a person. “Have him brought to my servant's carriage in an hour. My disciple will make sure your people know where. Su Xiyan?” The man asked the woman, who gave him a glance and a slight nod before returning to look at Shen Yuan.
“Of course! Now let’s go back to my box and talk about the price!” Master said all too happily as he led the man away.
“Come,” the woman, Su Xiayan, said to the guards as she led the four of them into the caves.
The dream seemed to disperse, leaving Shen Yuan in a dark, empty landscape. Shen Yuan hadn’t thought about Su Xiyan in years. Not since she disappeared so many years ago. What was it about her that seemed so familiar now? Could it just be nostalgia? Or could there be-
“Shizun?” That voice was A-Luo’s voice.
“Yes, I’m over here,” Shen Yuan called.
“Shizun!” A-Luo called racing over to see him.
“Shizun, where are we?” Looking at his surroundings, Shen Yuan had a pretty good idea.
“I believe that we are in your dream, A-Luo.”
“My dream? But it’s so dark.”
“It seems that the demons from before aren’t done with you. This is an attack. Be careful. Do you remember what I told you about dream demons?”
“Yes, Shizun.” A-Luo looked a bit nervous, getting quiet and looking down at his feet.
“What is A-Luo?”
“It’s just that Shizun wouldn’t be in this if it wasn’t for me. He wouldn’t have been hurt and won’t be vulnerable to a dream demon.”
He remembers what I taught him about dream demons, Shen Yuan thought. Maybe he hadn’t rambled about that particular demon for so long.
“Well then, if A-Luo is worried about this master, he should get stronger to protect him.” Hopefully, these words won't come back to bite him in the ass. Oh well. What’s done is done.
“Let’s explore and see if we can find a way out of here.”
Walking through a dreamscape is weird. Walking through someone else’s dreamscape is even weirder. A-Luo’s memories, not fully formed, moved around them. The master and disciple moved through a town that was not quite right. Shen Yuan had to give it to his disciple for someone so young and untrained; his memory and projection were leagues above what someone of his age should be able to do.
A-Luo stopped and looked behind him. “What is it?” Shen Yuan asked.
“I saw someone’s face.” This led the master and disciple farther into A-Luo’s memories. Shen Yuan’s heart broke for the innocent little lamb A-Luo was and for how those bullies hurt him. Shen Yuan could live another fifty years, and his cries for his dead mother would still haunt him.
Again, Shen Yuan was proud of his disciple. How well he fought against this attack. However, the longer the two stayed here, the more Shen Yuan saw A-Luo start to give in. He knew more than anyone how hard it was not to get pulled into the past. To wonder what if.
It wasn’t surprising when A-Luo started to fight back.
Shen Yuan didn’t think he had just acted. He jumped in front of A-Luo and his memories and received a punch to the gut for his troubles. Lucky that seemed to snap A-Luo out of his rage.
“Shizun!” He cried, looking even more distressed, when he watched his younger self getting attacked by bigger boys.
“A-Luo, that's not the way to fix that. You’ll only end up hurting yourself.” Shizun said as A-Luo checked him over and ended up clutching his arm like a small child.
“But Shizun, why would you do that? It’s not worth it for this lowly one.”
Shizun let out an aspirated sigh and patted A-Luo’s head. “Don’t call yourself lowly.”
“Who dares to defy me!” Someone said from the darkness.
“I think they are calling for you.” Shen Yuan said, using the arm A-Luo was holding onto to push him forward. A-Luo stared back at his Shizun before straightening his shoulders and walking forward.
“Who stands before me?”
With one more glance backwards, A-Luo answered.
“This one is Luo Binghe.”
~~~
Shen Yuan didn’t have much time after that announcement to properly freak out before he was knocked out again and sent back into his nightmares. He only knew his disciple was successful when he woke up in the hospital room. It was night outside, and it seemed that visiting hours had ended, which gave him plenty of time to freak out.
Luo Binghe was the protagonist. The one who killed Shen Yuan’s brother’s character in the original novel. The one who would end up with an 8,000+ harem of women. His precious little lamb was, in fact, a wolf in sheep's clothing!
A wolf in sheep’s clothing was climbing in through the window.
“Shizun!” Luo freaking Binghe said excitedly. Because, of course, he said it excitedly. Because Shen Yuan was his amazing Shizun who treated him kindly. This Luo Binghe hadn’t suffered on Shen Qingque’s peak, and he won’t suffer now.
Luo Binghe had taken Shen Yuan’s distraction to hug his master. Shen Yuan let it happen for a few minutes before extracting himself.
“Alright, alright, you aren’t a child anymore. There’s no need to worry; this master is fine.”
His little lamb looked up at him with watery eyes. How had Shen Yuan turned the protagonist into such a crybaby? “This one was so worried, Shizun. I didn’t know if that demon told the truth when he said he released you.”
Shen Yuan smiled and patted his disciple's head. “I’m alright, so there’s no need to cry.”
Luo Binghe nodded but didn’t seem to calm down. Reaching into his sleeve, Shen Yuan grabbed a handkerchief and presented it to his disciple.
“Dry your eyes. Why is A-Luo coming in through the window?”
“This one wanted to stay close to Shizun.” Luo Binghe answered, still crying.
Shen Yuan let out a small huff. “Well, it’s still late at night. A-Luo should get some sleep.”
Luo Binghe looked up at Shen Yuan with big eyes. “There’s a sleeping mat on the corner." Shen Yuan had seen it when he woke up before he had started spiraling down the Luo Binghe rabbit hole.
Luo Binghe’s shoulders dropped. Was he upset that he had to sleep on the floor?
“If you don’t want to sleep here, this master is sure that we can find you another room to sleep in,” Shen Yuan said, trying to get out of bed to go find someone.
“No! No, Shizun, this one is fine here and would love to use the mat.” Luo Binghe said, running over to help Shen Yuan back into bed.
“Alright,” Shen Yuan said, a bit confused. Nothing some sleep can’t fix; it will probably all make sense in the morning.
“Good night, Luo Binghe,” Shen Yuan said, settling down into the pillows and fighting his eyes open just long enough to hear a quiet, “Good night, Shizun.”
~~~
“What is this beast doing here?” Shen Jiu yells. First thing in the morning, too. Bad Jiu-ge, you know Shen Yuan isn’t a morning person. Groaning, Shen Yuan turns over to see his brother and his disciple glaring at each other. It’s too early for this.
“Jiu-ge, it’s too early for this.”
Both men look over to Shen Yuan. “Jiu-ge, this is my disciple Luo Binghe. Luo Binghe, this is my brother Shen Jiu.” Should he have used the name Shen Jiu? His brother looked at him like he had grown a second head.
“Shen Yuan!” Jiu-ge said in anger.
“Jiu-ge!” Shen Yuan said happily. How long has it been since he got to bother his brother?
“A-Yuan,” Jiu-ge said. Deciding to ignore Luo Binghe for now, Shen Jiu sat down on the side of Shen Yuan’s bed.
“This brings back memories,” Shen Yuan said.
“Yes,” Shen Jiu replied, both of them getting lost in memories.
“A-Yuan, what happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. What happened to you?”
“I’ll tell you one day,” Shen Jiu said, reaching for Shen Yuan’s hand, “but right now I’m just glad you are here. That you’re alive.”
“Me too. I’m glad you’re alive, Jiu-ge.” The two smiled at each other.
“Uh, Shizun,” Luo Binghe broke in. The two brothers looked over at him. Two identical faces. One smiling and the other glaring.
“It’s ok, Binghe, can you wait outside for now?” Shen Yuan asked, tilting his head slightly.
“Okay, Shizun.” The two brothers watched the disciple leave in silence. Only when the door closed did Jiu-ge say, “You need to get rid of him.”
“No”
“Yes”
“No”
“Shen Yuan, you've read the story; you know what happens.”
“Yes, I’ve read the story; that's why I can change the story.”
“You can’t change a beast's behavior; it will always bite even the hand that feeds it.”
“Then it’s a good thing he’s a boy, not a beast.”
“He won’t be a boy forever.” Shen Yuan couldn’t help imagining a parent trying to talk a child into giving up a puppy they had found on the street.
“Jiu-ge,” Shen Yuan said using his best puppy eyes, “please?”
Sighing, Shen Jiu said, “Shen Yuan, you need to think of yourself. That demon poisoned you. You’re almost back to where you were in your first life. You're going to need constraint observation, medicine, meditation-”
“So Luo Binghe can help with all that. He’s a good person, Jiu-ge.”
“No, he’s not Shen Yuan. You know what happened to Shen Qingqin.”
“Which is why I have to save you.”
~~~
Shen Jiu obviously wasn’t going to get through to his brother. Shen Jiu remembered the way his idiot brother mooned over Luo Binghe. He had been captive for many of his ramblings about his favorite book and his favorite protagonist. Shen Yuan always had a soft spot for “white lotus” Luo Binghe. Shen Jiu knew Luo Binghe, knew men like him, knew what he was like in Shen Jiu’s past life. There would be no changing him. Not now. Not ever.
But Shen Jiu also knew his brother. His idiotic, stubborn brother who had broken through Shen Jiu’s walls. Once he had a thought in his head, he would go with it no matter how crazy it was.
If Shen Jiu couldn’t stop this from happening, maybe he could contain it?
“There will have to be ground rules,” Shen Jiu said.
A-Yuan let out a screech and hugged his brother. Melting into the contact, Shen Jiu patted his brother on his back.
Shen Jiu didn’t know what was going to happen in the future, but he knew it would be alright if he had his brother with him. Nothing and no one would take him away from him again. Not in this life, not in the last, and most certainly not that beast.
The End.