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Chapter Text

The thing about Proud Immortal Demon Way was that it was an undeniably poorly-written crock of shit.

It went without saying that the whole thing was just a male-fantasy power trip of a stallion novel; that part, Shen Yuan could forgive, because he knew what he was getting into when he opened it up.

However, what truly pissed him off was the fact that the novel was full of plot holes so deep they could be called plot chasms instead and the setting was a complete incoherent mess because the author himself—because honestly, there was no way that Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky could be anything but a man with that kind of ID and this kind of story—apparently didn’t know what a cultivation setting was or what the cultivation levels were and refused to even Google the terms to double-check.

And don’t even get Shen Yuan started on the writing for the characters! All the cannon fodder characters had one single brain cell that they shared amongst themselves or something, because they all became absolute idiots when confronted with the protagonist. Plus, the vast majority of women in the novel had what little amount of characterization they had betrayed whenever Luo Binghe came within their general vicinity because all of them, no matter who they were, had their brains disappear and clearly replaced with something else!

Really, it truly was enough to drive any man mad. After he started reading it, the nurses had confirmed that his blood pressure had actually risen as a result of his constant, ever-present rage.

See, when Shen Yuan first started Proud Immortal Demon Way, there was a small, hopeful part of him, one that he thought was long, long dead, that insisted that the writing would get better; he was, after all, only in the first-quarter of the story. There was so much room for improvement and so many newer chapters that he hadn’t yet read, so surely the author had gotten over the years and the novel had actually gotten good.

Despite everything, Shen Yuan had still blindly believed that the numerous plot holes would be filled, in one way or another, and the foreshadowing and red herrings would actually lead somewhere like an absolute fool.

Later, when he finally got past the halfway point and realized that Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky had no interest in taking any of his critique and growing as a writer, he had basically only kept reading out of sheer spite. He had already wasted so much of his time (and he had so little of it too!) on this piece of shit; his pride wouldn’t let him give up and quit reading because he refused to lose to this shitty author and this shitty novel!

It was then, at that point, in the depths of his despair, that Shen Yuan discovered fanfiction.

Proud Immortal Demon Way had a very, very huge following for some godforsaken reason and a very large amount of fanwork. It wasn’t much of a surprise that he was far from being the only one displeased about Airplane’s awful writing. Of course, a large number of fics were just as bad and self-indulgent as the original piece of shit they were derived from, but there were a couple of priceless jewels hidden away in that filthy trash heap.

Reading Proud Immortal Demon Way had completely changed him as a person, and his standards had been lowered enough that he would’ve read anything if it could give him a sense of closure over this. It did not take much for canon divergence fics become the balm to his very bruised and battered soul.

Eternal Demon Paradise, fanfiction writer Dumplings On a Jade Slate’s magnum opus and the fic that they were most well-known for in the fandom, was a work that was over three hundred thousand words long and still counting.

Compared to the original Proud Immortal Demon Way, it was basically a masterpiece, honestly. It was written in the style of an episodic piece, where Luo Binghe and his loyal right-hand man Mobei Jun embarked on an epic quest together, kicking ass and taking names as they slowly fell in love and actually, for once, filled in the numerous plot holes that had been present in the original work.

Though he had never been interested in reading slash before this, Shen Yuan was, again, very fucking desperate at this point of his life. He could handle reading guy-on-guy porn, as long as the plot was good and it satisfied him.

Hell, Eternal Demon Paradise even fleshed out Shen Qingqiu as a character, crafting him an actual backstory that explained why the man was as awful as he was and actually giving a reason as to why Yue Qingyuan enabled him so much! Shen Yuan hadn’t liked it at first, as he had no interest in sympathizing with a scummy child-abusing villain, but even he could admit that he felt bad for the Shen Qingqiu that Dumpling wrote about.

Sure, Dumpling only ever wrote smut fics and was just as bad a writer as Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky was in that regards—which made Shen Yuan pretty suspicious about their true identity, honestly—but Dumpling, at the very least, filled in their plot holes and actually listened to Shen Yuan’s criticism of their works.

Hell, they even asked Shen Yuan to be the beta for their fics!

BingMo, the portmanteau ship name for Luo Binghe and Mobei Jun, was not his ship of dreams, nor was it a ship he was all that attached to. Still, it was one that he did not mind being a passenger of as long as it took him away on a wonderful trip to the Bahamas.

.

As it turned out, it only took transmigrating right into Shen Qingqiu’s body for Shen Yuan to quickly change his opinion on that.

BingMo was life, Shen Yuan had thought in hysteria-fueled panic as the shock of his situation finally began to set in, BingMo was love. BingMo was better than canon because at least Luo Binghe stayed in the demon world in Eternal Demon Paradise and didn’t make Shen Qingqiu into a human stick because he accepted that without Shen Qingqiu punting him into the Eternal Abyss, he wouldn’t have unlocked his demon blood or met the love of his life, Mobei Jun.

He had still killed Shen Qingqiu later on, of course, because Shen Qingqiu truly was a scumbag who constantly tempted fate and needed to get what he deserved, but at least there wasn’t any torture involved in that situation. Shen Yuan would take what he could get, really.

Shen Yuan would captain the damned ship himself and even row the paddles if it would change Shen Qingqiu’s fate. As a demon, Mobei Jun’s ass could take the poundings that Luo Binghe was going to give him; Shen Qingqiu, on the other hand, as a fragile, lowly human, only had four limbs that would not grow back.

Canon? Who the fuck cared about something as shitty as that?! They were going to go straight to the Gay Happy Ending where Luo Binghe and Mobei Jun rode off into the sunset together!

Things were going to be okay, he thought to himself firmly, staring at the visage of Shen Qingqiu reflected in the mirror. He was going to make it so that things were going to be okay.

Once the shitty OOC function was disabled, Shen Yuan had plans to change Shen Qingqiu’s behavior and establish himself as a caring and supportive master towards Luo Binghe. It wouldn’t be hard, honestly. Luo Binghe was so adorable as a child that it was hard to resist spoiling him and after all the shit the original did, basically anything nice Shen Yuan would do for him would be a huge improvement in his treatment.

Project BingMo was going to be the end-game he was aiming for but there was nothing wrong with doing this as a side-project while waiting for Luo Binghe to grow older. There would only be benefits in doing so, after all; Luo Binghe wouldn’t have any problems with him later on if he was a kind and loving shizun, right?

What was the worst that could happen?

Chapter Text

After the whole accursed incident with the Skinner Demon was done and over with and also very carefully shoved away to the back of his mind to never be thought upon ever again, it didn’t take long for Shen Yuan’s anxiety over trying to figure out just how this transmigration thing worked to finally settle down.

With the sweet taste of a hard-won victory lingering on his tongue and the beautiful notes of the system alert informing him of all the points he had earned still ringing in his ears, it was easy to convince himself that he really could do this. That damned OOC function had been unlocked, after all, and he now had the ability to act as freely as he pleased without having to worry about maintaining the role of Shen Qingqiu.

This meant that he could truly throw himself fully into the act of hugging onto Luo Binghe’s thighs and save himself from a fate immeasurably worse than death! He would be the most kind and loving shizun there was!

Shen Yuan would raise Luo Binghe to be a happy and healthy protagonist during his years at Qing Jing Peak and then he would get to live the rest of his life out in his cozy little bamboo hut, with all his body parts properly attached to him, as Luo Binghe and Mobei Jun held hands and romantically strolled down the demonic equivalent to a beach at midnight (EDP chapter 34: Under the Moonlight)!

Unfortunately though, the calm that he had managed to brainwashed himself into believing lasted approximately only two hours before the startling realization that he had absolutely no idea how to properly handle children decided to come by to hit him like a goddamn truck.

The very alarming and very sudden awareness of this simple but very, very, very true fact sent Shen Yuan, or rather, Shen Qingqiu nowadays, right back into yet another very understandable frenzy.

If it hadn’t been for the sole fact that Luo Binghe was currently sitting across from him in the carriage, he probably would’ve screamed or, at the very least, started to pull at his hair. Sadly, there was no way he could do that and risk Luo Binghe realizing that there was something wrong with his master.

But, really, he wanted to. Shen Qingqiu wanted to so very badly, even as he displayed perfect physical composure. He deserved to be able to panic; step one of his master plan was already in jeopardy!

As Shen Yuan, he had never had much prolonged contact with anyone younger than him other than his younger sister, and it wasn’t like he ever once considered having children either. At first, it was because he was just too young to have kids of his own and it wasn’t like he had a significant other to discuss that subject with anyway. Then, after the diagnosis and the following hospitalization afterwards, well.

Those things had already been taken off the table at that point.

Most of the disciples of Qing Jing Peak were either in their teens or a couple years older than that, give or take, so they weren’t actually really children or anything. Shen Yuan, having been in his twenties himself, honestly wasn’t that much older than them all when he had ended up dying. Even Luo Binghe, the youngest of the Qing Jing Peak disciples with his sweet and innocent smile, was already fourteen years old too.

Keeping all this in mind did not do anything to change Shen Qingqiu’s spiraling thoughts of, oh my god, they’re all just babies, Luo Binghe is just a baby, and I’m going to be responsible for not fucking him up mentally and fuck, fuck, System, please Google how to take care of children for dummies for me right now!

Knowing the general demeanor of the original Shen Qingqiu, it probably… wasn’t really expected that he do anything with these kids besides perhaps showing up occasionally to remind them to be afraid of him with a neutral, resting bitch face, right? Even then, thinking about it, that kind of treatment was basically him being nice to them anyway, considering how he treated Luo Binghe in general.

Really, what did the original even do when he wasn’t either harassing Luo Binghe or sending the other disciples off to go harass Luo Binghe? Was his life as a Peak Lord really so boring that he had to get his kicks from bullying a fourteen year old boy because he was petty and deeply jealous?

The guy really should’ve gotten a life instead! Or picked up another hobby or something that wasn’t abusing children! There were so many options like pottery or fishing or even soap carving; literally anything else would’ve been perfectly fine and wouldn’t had led to his eventual very painful and very well-deserved death.

Shen Yuan had cheered when the guy finally bit the dust both in canon and the fanfic, but now that he was that guy—or, at the least, was in that guy’s body—all he wanted to do was to scream at the original goods and then violently beat him up for leaving him such a huge ass mess to clean up.

Do not abuse children and make their lives living hells! Shen Yuan wanted to screech in his face as he shook the original Shen Qingqiu around like a ragdoll. Or they will grow up full of so much fucking resentment that they’ll come back to rip off all four of your limbs, tear out your tongue and one of your eyes, and leaving you hanging from a rope in a dungeon to torture for their own entertainment!

Just look at young Luo Binghe! He was so hardworking and earnest as a youth! How could you fuck up a perfectly good kid like that so badly?! Look at him. He’s going to become so blackened, his soul was going to be indistinguishable in color to pitch black soot!

Fuck, and Luo Binghe was currently in his developing years right now too, right? He was still so young and impressionable. Even if anything that Shen Yuan could do to Luo Binghe would still literally be loads better than anything the original would’ve done, what would he do if something he did accidentally ended up scarring Luo Binghe mentally even more than the original Shen Qingqiu did?!  

Things definitely weren’t going to be helped by the fact that this Shen Qingqiu was going into this with the intention of not irredeemably twisting Luo Binghe and his mental state into a fucking pretzel and, instead, was trying to somehow bend this stallion novel protagonist who had over six hundred wives canonically!

It was one thing to raise a kid properly; it was another to try and purposefully raise a kid to be gay. Or, at least, to not be strictly heterosexual? Luo Binghe could literally be anything else; bisexual, pansexual, basically any other orientation out there that would make him compatible with the idea of pursuing one very specific man.

Mobei Jun was probably still a decent enough catch in canon as compared to the fanfic version, but Shen Qingqiu… really wasn’t certain on just how to influence canon Luo Binghe enough to want to actually pursue a relationship with the man. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure how BingMo had even gotten together in Eternal Demon Paradise in the first place; he had mostly skimmed through the romantic parts and the papapa, unless they directly involved either new lore or the patching up of certain plot holes.

Was it nature or nurture that determined a person’s sexuality? Shen Qingqiu didn’t know, but he was sure fucking hoping that nurture played a role in that or else he might be screwed.

God, having a grand vision and a final destination in mind was nice and all, but it really didn’t mean anything unless he had a road mapped out in his mind to take him to his desired location. BingMo as a ship didn’t mean anything unless he could make it happen!

At...  the very least, the progress he was making with convincing Luo Binghe that he was a good Shizun, so ha ha, please don’t kill me, was going as well as he could’ve hope them to go at this point. Thinking about that actually made him feel a little bit better about himself. Though the progress on that front would be slow-going, it had at least started.

When they had gotten on the carriage, Luo Binghe had actually managed to meet his gaze and give him a small, shy smile, even if his cheeks were flushed with anxiety and he had to immediately direct his gaze elsewhere afterwards. It had been so cute, Shen Qingqiu had to resist the strong urge to hug him. It was a near thing, really.  

And, even now as Shen Qingqiu eyed the boy from behind the cover of his fan and trying to figure out what he could do to convince the protagonist of a stallion novel to pursue at least one (1) man, Luo Binghe didn’t look too uncomfortable sharing the same space as his previously abusive and intensely neglectful master either. Of course, he was still shifting around nervously and fiddling with his thumbs, but the stiffness in his shoulders that was present the previous day was gone.

That was more than perfectly fine, in Shen Qingqiu’s opinion.

Trust was something that had to be developed day-by-day, the foundation built up brick by brick. Rome had not been built within a day. Suddenly piling Luo Binghe with affection after the original goods spent so long constantly kicking the poor boy without pause would only alarm him and make him suspicious as to what his master’s true intentions were.

He would need to start with small things first, little actions here and there; the softening of his words and the lessening of his bite, being more lenient with the disciples, and paying more attention to them in general even if he had no idea what the fuck he was doing. That… would have to be good enough for now. He would just have to see if he could find a book on parenting somewhere in the library at Qing Jing Peak.

Having a plan of action, even as shitty and vague as it was, helped him in the process of forcibly beating back the anxiety still lingering in his system and shoving it away to hide in the closet of his mind. Shen Qingqiu would just leave the more complicated part of trying to figure out how to get Luo Binghe to want Mobei Jun later!

That, he decided firmly, would be Future Shen Qingqiu’s problem instead, because the Present Shen Qingqiu definitely couldn’t think of anything at the moment!

.

The thing about leaving the work for your future self to handle was the fact that you would eventually become your future self so ultimately, the amount of work you needed to do really wouldn’t change much in the end.

So Shen Qingqiu had continued to think about the problem on-and-off anyway as they headed back to the sect, despite his bold decision to leave it all to deal with later. Initially, he had been planning to actually follow through with procrastinating, but then realized that it wasn’t like he had anything else to be doing during the ride anyway so he might as well continue to try and brainstorm.

There was no way that he could attempt to instigate Luo Binghe into small talk when he had no idea what he could possibly even try to talk about that could be interesting, and Shen Qingqiu could only zone out and simply stare at the kid for so long before he became genuinely worried at how red Luo Binghe’s small, tiny face was becoming.

Was he catching a fever or something? Or, maybe, he was overheating?

Shen Qingqiu had made a mental note to send Luo Binghe for an examination with Mu Qingfang after they got back just in case or something, but then suddenly paused as the thought of Mu Qingfang had given him… an idea of sorts on just how to get Luo Binghe to prefer men.

It was, all in all, a very bad idea if he thought about it logically; the experience would be awful for both of them and it was going to be the type of thing that would keep him up at night, too worked up over the memories of his actions to even attempt to sleep. It would be traumatic for Luo Binghe, and wasn’t he trying to avoid doing just that?

Still, he continued to consider the idea anyway, weighing the pros against the cons with the utmost seriousness.

At the end of the day, Shen Qingqiu was a very desperate man at the crux of things. He could put aside his face and his pride if it would help him keep his life. All he needed to do afterwards was internalize the event and repress it to the point where it would be deleted from his memory. It would be well worth the pain and suffering he would experience in the end if it had worked.

By the time they had finally arrived at Cang Qiong Mountain, he had talked himself into finally coming to a decision. He would do it.

Though he first had to make a stop at Qiong Ding Peak before doing anything else, Shen Qingqiu had taken the initiative and asked for Luo Binghe to wait for him to return to Qing Jing Peak inside the bamboo house.

“S-Shizun?” Luo Binghe had gasped in his surprise, eyes going wide and jaw dropping. He was not the only one who surprised; the other disciples, listening in on the conversation, had similar expressions on their faces. “Are… are you sure? You’re allowing this disciple to enter your home?”

It was an understandable reaction, really. Normally, the only disciple that was even allowed to enter Shen Qingqiu’s bamboo house was Ming Fan, and that was only because the young teen was Shen Qingqiu’s head disciple. There was no way that the original goods would’ve let Ming Fan in while he wasn’t currently inside either.

Still, it had to be done. Small steps had to be taken to show that he was different now.

Besides, he didn’t want Luo Binghe running off somewhere and disappearing while he was with the Sect Head; after Shen Qingqiu had already put in so much effort to talk himself into working up the courage to putting into action his awful, no-good, horrible idea, there was no way he’d allow the conversation to be delayed.

“Mm,” Shen Qingqiu inclined his head in agreement. “There is a conversation that we must have after I finish reporting to the Sect Head. This master does not wish to have to waste time in seeking you out later. I will be there shortly.”

Because, he continued mentally to himself, if I delay this, I’m definitely, absolutely, 100%, going to change my mind about doing it!

He had turned to leave immediately after replying, the very image of a lofty immortal cultivator with his robes trailing after him in the breeze. Shen Qingqiu did not stay to wait for a response of any kind, primarily because he was afraid that Luo Binghe would ask what they were going to talk about and there was simply no good answer he could’ve given him.

Thus, he quickly fled towards Qiong Ding Peak to report to Yue Qingyuan and, while he was at it, asked to enter seclusion in the spirit caves behind the mountain too while he was at it. Yue Qingyuan had agreed easily, because he rarely, if ever, said no to anything Shen Qingqiu asked of him—which, again, really made him wonder about Dumplings on a Jade Slate.

With his escape route prepared, Shen Qingqiu began to return to Qing Jing Peak to have what would definitely be the most uncomfortable conversation he would ever have in his (new) life. A heavy feeling of dread in his chest sunk his heart down into his stomach as he made his way through the tall stalks of bamboo forest, feeling much too akin to a person marching up to the gallows to be hung.

Luo Binghe had been waiting outside the house when he arrived, looking two steps away from a mental breakdown as he stared at the wall and muttered to himself. Watching him silently, Shen Qingqiu had felt a little bad for stressing the poor boy out so badly. There was no way for him to think that being asked to meet up with his awful, shitty teacher one-on-one and told that they needed to talk was a good thing, after all.

Another part of Shen Qingqiu, however, was glad to see him also freaking out. Good; at least he wasn’t the only one tempted to burst into tears here!

He cleared his throat, and was once again torn on how to feel when the boy literally jumped a good two feet into the air at the sound. It… would be really rude to laugh, he reminded himself, even if it wouldn’t be too out-of-character to do so at the expense of Luo Binghe’s suffering. He was trying his best to be a good shizun!

“Binghe. This master thought that he had told you to wait inside?”

Immediately stiffening as he came to attention, Luo Binghe spun around to face him, a look of barely restrained panic on his face. It was certainly a mood, really. “This disciple deeply apologies for disobeying you, Shizun! H-however, this disciple couldn’t bring himself to intrude on your personal space in any way…”

Shen Qingqiu raised a slender eyebrow. “It is not intruding if this master had invited you inside, Binghe. If I ask you to wait inside my home, then I expect you inside my home. This is not a conversation that this master would like to have in public. Go on, enter already.”

Though Luo Binghe looked like he was resisting the urge to flee, he reached forward to push open the door to the bamboo house like a good obedient disciple anyway. Then, as he watched Shen Qingqiu’s face and his expression intently as if to check if his actions truly were okay or not, he stepped inside carefully.

Shen Qingqiu followed him in and reminded himself firmly that he couldn’t laugh. “Have a seat and wait a moment,” he told the boy as he gestured towards a small seating table. “There is something that this master must give to you before we have that conversation.”

First things first; he had to give Luo Binghe the correct entry-level cultivation manual and feed him some kind of bullshit explanation for needing to give him another one, since the one that Ming Fan had given him long ago was a fake. Thankfully, the little pure white lotus was a total sucker at this age and incredibly gullible, falling for it hook, line, and sinker.

As he looked at Shen Qingqiu with deeply thankful eyes shining as bright as the sun, Shen Qingqiu actually felt more than a little bad lying to him like this. Luo Binghe’s lip wobbled with the force of his emotions, his eyes gaining a slightly glossy, wet sheen to them.

“This disciple truly, deeply thanks you, Shizun,” he whispered, voice heavy with emotion. “To give a cultivation manual specifically to him…”

Oh, no, Shen Qingqiu thought as his heart clenched painfully at the sight, please don’t cry. Please don’t cry! You’re making me feel way too bad about all this! Please don’t make this an emotional scene!

“Mm,” went his mouth instead, as he spread out his fan in front of his face. “It is only natural; you are one of this master’s disciples, after all. Take a moment to calm yourself, Binghe. Aren’t you already fourteen now? You’re much too old to allow yourself to cry over something this small.”

“Yes, Shizun,” Luo Binghe muttered quietly, his gaze dropping to his lap in shame. “This disciple apologizes for his unsightly display…”

When the boy sniffled wetly, that was the final straw for Shen Qingqiu. The tears of a fourteen year old really shouldn’t be this effective! He couldn’t continue to just sit there and just do nothing; it made him feel extra scummy all of a sudden! And Luo Binghe hadn’t even actually started crying for real just yet!

Urgh, there’s no way I can continue on with what I have planned after this! That’d be such awful emotional whiplash, any potential readers would kill me! Fuck, all I can do is just go with what’s currently happening. That talk will just have to be saved for next time.

He sighed before he pulled out a handkerchief from his sleeve. “No,” he said, reaching over to gently wipe at Luo Binghe’s face, “there is no need to apologize to this master, Binghe. You are still young, after all, and this master has not been so kind to you in the past.”

Luo Binghe had turned as stiff as a corpse when Shen Qingqiu had reached over towards him, and even stiffer still as Shen Qingqiu’s words registered to him. “S-Shizun, this disciple doesn’t even dare to imply–!”

“Shush. You need not defend me, Binghe. Especially not to myself. This master is more than aware of his behavior towards you. To attempt to defend me even still regardless though... Binghe, you truly are a good child.”

A full-bodied shudder ran through Luo Binghe’s body and tears began to truly fall from his eyes as he trembled silently.

Shen Qingqiu wiped his tears away as he spoke. “There is no excuse for how this master has treated you; truly, I do not deserve to even still call myself your master anymore–”

“No!” Luo Binghe suddenly shouted, head jerking up. It startled Shen Qingqiu enough to almost drop the handkerchief, especially when Luo Binghe had turned fierce eyes on him, burning with desperate indignation and something else that Shen Qingqiu could not identity, even though they were still filled with wetness. “Shizun is the only master that this disciple will accept! So, so, please… don’t say that about yourself!”

Though the sentiment made his heart warm, Shen Qingqiu wondered, feeling vaguely distraught, if this was a example of some weird form of Stockholm Syndrome or something. There was no other explanation for this type of behavior from Luo Binghe.

Binghe, are you really okay? How the fuck could you defend someone who has spent years abusing and neglecting you, especially when they’re currently pointing out that they’ve been historically awful to you? I’ve literally only been nice to you for less than a week! Is there any kind of therapist I can take you to in this Ancient Fantasy China?

Shen Qingqiu held back another sigh. “Binghe,” he called, his voice stern, and watched as Luo Binghe immediately deflated in response. When he was sure that the boy wouldn’t attempt to interrupt him again, he resumed speaking, even if he felt his anxiety begin to act up again.

Down! he hissed at it, mentally chasing it around his brain with a broom and willfully forcing it back by sheer stubbornness. Down! Shoo! I’m trying to have a moment here. Do not ruin it for me!

“Again, there is no excuse for my treatment of you, nor is there any amount of reasoning I can give that will justify my actions. No apology I can give will ever make up for the amount of pain I’ve inflicted upon you. I will not ask you to forgive me, nor will I ask you to simply forget about the wrongs I have committed.”

Everything that he said was all true; even if he really did want to go down on his hands and knees and beg for Luo Binghe to forgive him for all the shit that the original goods had done, it really wouldn’t be fair to do so because he knew, without a doubt, that this current boy, this pure and kindhearted Binghe, would actually forgive him for all those transgressions.

That... really wouldn't be fair.

Even if Shen Qingqiu had never planned to engaged in such an emotionally charged scene like this when he invited Luo Binghe to wait for him, a conversation like this would’ve been needed at some point. Eventually, Luo Binghe would wonder, and he would ask; he would’ve wanted an explanation as to why his master had changed so dramatically.

It was easier then, for him, to think about it as taking the initiative to simply clear the air between them beforehand. Thinking about it like that made it much easier to swallow down the sudden itchiness that swelled up in his throat.

“Still,” he paused before barreling through his next words, even if he had wondered, for a brief moment, if he should truly even say what he had planned. “If Binghe is still willing to be my disciple even after all his mistreatment, then I swear that from now on, this master–no, I swear as Shen Qingqiu, that I will treat you well.”

“Shizun,” Luo Binghe attempted again, frantic and desperate. “I–”

Shen Qingqiu shook his head and shushed the boy again as he stood, once all the tears had been wiped away. “Do not rush to answer, Binghe. I will be entering seclusion; take the time to deeply think and reflect on what you want. Whatever your answer may be, I will not blame you.”

Upon that note and once again not waiting for a response like a true lofty immortal (and not at all like a person that could potentially be called an emotional coward! Definitely!), Shen Qingqiu hastily exited the house and rushed back over to Qiong Ding Peak before the boy could work up the nerve to chase after him.

Luo Binghe was left behind then to stare at the image of Shen Qingqiu’s back with a greatly shaken heart, his face and his tears having just been tenderly wiped dry and a cultivation manual still held tightly in his hands.

Chapter Text

The sound of the system that went off in his head to announce the amounts of points he had gotten for his participation in that emotional scene had been loud and sudden, almost like a gunshot.

Shen Qingqiu hadn’t been gotten more than fifteen feet away from the bamboo house before it started. Currently distracted and caught up by his thoughts of fleeing the scene as quickly as possible, he had almost tripped on the ends of his robes and fallen flat on his face when he had heard that godforsaken, Google Translate-sounding voice begin to drone in his head and a text box had showed up to block his vision.

A short celebratory jingle also began to play too, almost as if to mock him.

【Added complexity and depth to the role of scum villain, Shen Qingqiu: +50 Points!】

【Added literary and philosophical depth to the novel: +30 Points!】

Fuck you! he cursed, barely managing to keep his balance as he mentally spammed the X button in the corner of the screen to get it out of his face. What kind of awful timing is this? I’m currently running away right now! Don’t send me weird pop-ups or play weird victory jingles like this when you didn’t send any last time!

【As per the default settings, certain sounds will not play and all text boxes have been set to be hidden when the host is around company. If you would like to change this feature, please head to the settings menu.】

There was actually customizable settings for this goddamn system? Shen Qingqiu was so suddenly enraged over learning this fact so many days after he had encountered the system for the first time, he felt like puking up blood. Where the fuck was the user manual he should’ve gotten upon either the (unwilling) purchase or the initial boot-up of this useless, piece of shit technology? Why did the system treat him like they were only on a need-to-know basis?

I am the poor sap using this goddamn product! Why don’t I know any of its features?! Zero stars on the Am*zon page! A plain rating of 0/10 on a shitty video game journalism site! Angry messages on Tw*tter tagged directly with the company’s handle!

He violently button-smashed his way to the settings and turned everything off. Sounds off, music off, system notifications off, everything off!

Then, approximately three seconds later after doing so though, he took a deep breath to calm himself and grudgingly turned everything but the music back on, albeit at half their original volume.

As much as he abhorred the system, Shen Qingqiu was more than aware that he needed the thing more than it needed him. Losing the all system notifications would only be a big blow to him in the end. Even if the system had stopped docking points from him for OOC violations, that didn’t mean he couldn’t end up losing points through other means. He still needed to be aware of the amount of points he either gained or lost.

His current petty anger with the system was something trivial and passing. It wasn’t worth risking his life, even if it was incredibly tempting…

Right now, Shen Qingqiu was aware that he was only blindly lashing out from agitation as, unlike earlier in the day when he had gotten points for the Skinner situation, he somehow couldn’t find the notification ping all that pleasant to his ears anymore.

The noise had still been ringing loudly in his ears like a particularly annoying alarm clock alert, over and over again, when he had finally entered into the spirit caves. Even if he’d reluctantly take the points, because that amount was nothing to scoff at, all he wanted was for the sound to leave his head.

It haunted him and his thoughts as he made his way through the darkness of the cave.

Though Shen Qingqiu’s first thoughts when he saw Luo Binghe’s emotional response to the random bullshit he had spouted was to go with the flow and take advantage of the situation to get a serious conversation out of the way, gaining points for a scene like that left an awful taste in his mouth and a strange sense of discomfort in his chest.

Even if Shen Qingqiu had apologized to Luo Binghe for years of mistreatment and took responsibility for his past behavior, the truth of the matter and the context behind the scene made things much more complicated than it should’ve been.

After all, it wasn’t actually the real Shen Qingqiu who had apologized. The one who had done so was Shen Yuan instead, an entirely different person from the original goods who hadn’t even done any of the things he was apologizing for and who also had ulterior motives (mainly survival) for saying what he did to Luo Binghe.

The original goods—no, Shen Jiu, according to Dumpling who may or may not actually be Airplane himself, depending on what side of the argument you were on—was already long gone. Though Shen Yuan didn’t know what had happened to him or where the original soul had gone after the transmigration, and ultimately didn’t actually care, there was only one truth to be had here.

Luo Binghe would never be able to get the true apology he deserved from his scumbag master. The closest he could get would be from an imposter instead.

There was a deep sense of unfairness to the situation that only this current Shen Qingqiu was aware of and the thought of it left an uncomfortable tightness in his chest. He took in another deep breath and decided to simply drop the matter entirely from his mind.

In the end, there was nothing he could do or even change about his situation. The facts of the matter were simple: Shen Jiu was gone and Shen Yuan had taken both his body and his name. In doing so, even if it had been unintentional, it was only to be expected that he also had to take on the man’s responsibilities and his fate.

Though it hadn’t been him that performed those actions, it had been this body that did it; whatever bad karma Shen Jiu had collected, it was all Shen Yuan’s burden from now.

Reminding himself of this, he forced those thoughts and the feelings associated with them away with a long-practiced ease, and settled down on the cool stone floor to slip into a meditative trance so he could cultivate.

It was far from being the first time that he had used sentiments like these to empty out his mind and his heart.

Unfortunately though, his relaxed state didn’t get to last for long. The sound that startled him out of his meditation was faint and distant, barely audible over the other soft noises of cave ambience, but he had heard it nonetheless. It was the clear sound of someone’s pained wheezing.

Almost immediately after he noticed the sound, his senses also began to detect a strange fluctuation of spiritual energy nearby, wild and violent. After that, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together and realize that someone had accidentally entered a state of qi deviation.

For a good moment, he was almost tempted to ignore it. Shen Qingqiu was genuinely trying to cultivate and get stronger here! Did he really need this kind of interruption in his life right now?

I’m just trying to be able to live through good old Luo Bing-ge kicking my ass if Plan BingMo ends up being a no-go! Honestly, I’m not even asking for much here! I don’t even need to win a fight with him, all I need is the strength to fend him off long enough that I can find a chance to run!

The poor sod began wheezing again. The fluctuation spiked once more.

Shen Qingqiu reluctantly got up from his meditative pose, letting out a heavy sigh as he did so, and left to investigate the source of the noise and offer help. He was already going to have enough bad karma. He definitely didn’t need more to pay more later on.

.

Staring down at an unconscious Liu Qingge though, Shen Qingqiu wondered, in complete dismay, why everything in his new life had to always be so complicated.

It was objectively a good thing to do, what he had just done; not only did he get a rather hefty number of points for doing so, saving Liu Qingge and not being responsible for his death meant that the number one reason (out of many!) that caused Shen Qingqiu’s later loss of standing and reputation in the cultivation world was gone.

But, really, wasn’t there also a chance that this could come back to bite him in the ass hard? He wasn’t quite sure if he should already be regretting what he had done yet.

It was a fact that Liu Qingge hated Shen Qingqiu, and he probably had very good reason for feeling that way, considering literally everything about Shen Jiu. How could Shen Qingqiu be sure that Liu Qingge wouldn’t end up siding with Luo Binghe to help kill him in the future if everything still ended up going wrong?

If Plan BingMo really ended up falling through and they continued on the canon path, Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe ended up becoming in-laws after Luo Binghe married Liu Mingyan. Then that would mean that Liu Qingge had even more reason to want to help Luo Binghe turn him into a human stick!

He really didn’t need a man who people admired as a god of war after his ass too! This only meant that Shen Qingqiu would need to make doubly sure that BingMo ended up happening!

After firmly renewing what was to be his end goal in his mind, Shen Qingqiu’s jaw tightened and his eyes were lit up by the fire of a grim sense of determination. If anyone was around and also currently conscious to see the fierce, staunch expression he had on his face at the moment, they would’ve assume that he was a man preparing to be sent to war.

Unfortunately for the hypothetical viewer in question, the truth of the matter was something completely different. As Shen Qingqiu sat there on the cold cave floor, idly pouring spiritual energy into Liu Qingge’s body to make sure the man didn’t die or anything, there had only been one thing on his mind.

His plan of action for launching the S.S. BingMo was still the same as it had been earlier before the whole emotional episode happened. Things had not changed on that front; his first attempt at carrying it out had only failed because of reasons that were beyond his control and were also totally not his fault in the slightest!

After he had already put in so much effort mentally working himself up for his plan, it’d be a huge waste if he didn’t go through with it in the end. Shen Qingqiu was determined to at least try, mostly because he was stubborn enough that he felt like he had to continue on. There was no way to get a refund for his emotional turmoil, after all.

If it worked, then great! If it didn’t, well, then that just meant that he and Luo Binghe definitely had never had that conversation together! He’d simply deny that it ever happened and delete the incident from his memory entirely!

With that in mind, nothing could possibly go wrong at all!

Therefore, following that quick self-brainwashing session, what he was currently spending all his brain power on was trying to plan out just what he should say when giving Luo Binghe an extremely butchered and bastardized version of The Talk, capitalization required for the emphasis.

The plan made sense on paper, alright?! If he could somehow scare Luo Binghe away from heterosexual sex and/or heterosexuality entirely, then there was nothing to worry about. They would already be veering in the opposite direction from the canon Proud Immortal Demon Way with that and all Shen Qingqiu had to do after was steer things towards Gay Happy Ending Land!

Of course, he’d still have to deal with the whole problem with figuring out how he’d get Luo Binghe to want to do the papapa with Mobei Jun, but this task would, again, be left up to Future Shen Qingqiu instead. He had a couple of years before shit hit the penultimate fan to convince Luo Binghe that not only were men much better company than women were, but also that demon men were pretty great too.

Right now, Present Shen Qingqiu’s only job was to make sure he forcibly take control of the boat before they even left the station. He needed to make sure that he could cut heterosexual romance out of Luo Binghe’s life and stop Luo Binghe from having any interest in girls before it was too late!

All of the romance scene with Ning Yingying early on would be cut out entirely. Liu Mingyan? We don’t know her! Sha Hualing? What a strange sneeze you have there!

As Shen Qingqiu’s attention at the time had been focused on his internal thoughts that had once again descended into very slightly panicked mania, he didn’t notice Liu Qingge slowly opening his eyes. He only noticed the man had finally regained consciousness when Liu Qingge had suddenly rolled over to start puking out blood.

Oh, huh. That really can’t be any good for him.

That thought came rather distantly. Shen Qingqiu had already hastily scrambled to help Liu Qingge into a better position on his hands and knees for all the vomiting he was currently doing, and, on a rather passing whim, helped hold the man’s hair back too while he was at it.

After Liu Qingge was finished puking out roughly about approximately 30% of his blood, he turned his head slightly to the side to get a look at the person who had helped him. His handsome face twisted when he caught sight of Shen Qingqiu’s face though, appropriating the expression of someone who had smelled something particularly bad.

Logically, Shen Qingqiu knew that the expression was justified; after all, Shen Jiu had owned the body before Shen Yuan had entered the picture and was literally a person best described as a literal heap of flaming garbage. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a little miffed and insulted anyway.

I saved you from dying a painful death out of the goodwill of my own heart, okay. Appreciate the gesture a little more, you flashy OP cannon fodder character!

Swallowing down the annoyance though, he said aloud with a sigh, “Don’t get too worked up right now, Liu-shidi. Your current condition is unstable. As the Lord of Bai Zhan Peak, how could you come to be in this terrible state?”

Liu Qingge grit his teeth and blood began dripping out his mouth once again. It was… actually really gross and Shen Qingqiu’s nose scrunched up with disgust at the sight. “Shen Qingqiu,” he barely managed to growl, before he had to turn his head back down as another session of blood vomiting had apparently been triggered.

Apparently not discouraged by the amount of blood pouring out of his mouth, Liu Qingge had attempted to continue speaking anyway as he puked, but the sight was so pitiful that Shen Qingqiu just shushed him flat out.

“This shixiong told you not to get too worked up, did he not? Really, Liu-shidi, you’re much too stubborn sometimes.”

Then, after Liu Qingge had wisely fallen silent, he began to channel spiritual energy into the man’s body again to straighten out his meridians. Absently, Shen Qingqiu had also started to gently rub soothing circles onto Liu Qingge’s back; it was a move taken from his sister who often tried desperately to offer him as much comfort as she could, as Shen Yuan’s body began to give up on itself.

Liu Qingge had stiffened at the touch, but could not do anything to stop him. His face was, at this point, definitely even more twisted and aghast than it was earlier. Shen Qingqiu didn’t need to look at it to know.

“You… Just what are you playing at now, Shen Qingqiu?”

The words came out hoarsely, almost akin to a croak. Shen Qingqiu felt deeply sorry for Liu Qingge’s poor throat. The muscle couldn’t be in good condition after all the suffering it had just been through.

“I’m not playing at anything,” Shen Qingqiu responded coolly, because he really wasn’t, even if he could hear Liu Qingge let out a disbelieving scoff. “I do not call you shidi simply only to call you that. Despite all our disagreements in the past, we are still martial brothers, Liu Qingge. It is my duty as your shixiong to aid you.”

Of course, Liu Qingge still didn’t seem too convinced. Shen Qingqiu, who didn’t expect it to work either, only sighed to himself. He continued with his task silently, still working to stabilize Liu Qingge’s spiritual energy and condition as he rubbed circles onto the man’s back.

Even if there was a part of Shen Qingqiu that was hoping to see if he could potentially sway Liu Qingge over to his side by helping him out here, he was aware that it’d still be a little too shameless to simply ask the man to let bygones be bygones when he didn’t know what their shared history was.

Shen Qingqiu instead could only use this moment to remind the man that they were martial brothers of the same sect and thus had a responsibility to help each other. He could only pray that, if everything ended up going wrong, Liu Qingge would remember this moment at that time and realize that he should definitely not help Luo Binghe kill the shixiong that had helped save his life in the past, even if he was a piece of shit scumbag.

Please repay this life debt, alright? I don’t need you to die for me or anything as dramatic as that, but please just don’t help Luo Binghe rip me to shreds in the future! I’m begging you, Big Bro Liu!

There had been a brief period of uneasy silence between them before Liu Qingge spoke again, turning his head to face him. His expression was, once again, something ridiculously ugly, especially with the blood still on his mouth.

“... Are you serious?”

“Does any part of this shixiong’s voice sound like he is joking?” Shen Qingqiu scoffed, and before he really thought better over it, reached over and began to wipe Liu Qingge’s face clean with his sleeve. He normally would’ve passed his handkerchief over, but it had been left in the house with Luo Binghe earlier.

Really, it was such a shame to see a face as nice as his all dirty and gross. Liu Qingge had the looks of an elegant young prince who wouldn’t even lose out to Luo Binghe in a contest of attractiveness. Even if the man was someone known to be a barbaric war god, how could he be so unaware of his own appearance that he’d just allow it to be dirtied like that without even caring a little?

Cherish this face a little more! Even if your personality is like this, at least your generally solemn and serious looks are great so do your job and give the ladies (and some of the men) the eye candy they deserve to have for putting up with an such awful world created by a shitty writer!

Liu Qingge froze, body becoming rigid in shock once more. “Shen Qingqiu,” he began to hiss, eyes turning wild at the shock of being treated like a child. “You–!”

“Shush,” Shen Qingqiu said and scrubbed at the man’s face a little harder. “I told you, Liu-shidi, you truly look awful right now. How do you have the face to just leave the blood there to dry on your face? Even a face as handsome as yours can’t still look good after.”

Liu Qingge immediately flushed with anger and indignation at his words, reaching up to slap Shen Qingqiu’s hand away from his face. “Leave! You’ve already done enough, so just leave already!”

Shen Qingqiu obliged, removing his hands and standing up. “Alright,” he agreed, not wanting to pick a fight. Still, he eyed Liu Qingge with not a small amount of worry, watching the man sway a little as he tried to get up. “Let this shixiong know if Liu-shidi encounters any troubles while cultivating; he will come to assist his shidi.”

There was no verbal response. Liu Qingge grit his teeth again and turned away. Shen Qingqiu, knowing that he had clearly been dismissed, and rather rudely at that, only shrugged to himself once again and left.

Just expressing the sentiment should be enough for now. If he wanted to patch things up with Liu Qingge, then they would need to take baby steps first. After all, the man had been so angry at the rather unintentional insult Shen Qingqiu had just delivered him that his face had turned as red as a tomato.

It would just be another side-slash-contingency plan that Shen Qingqiu would be working on then. There wasn’t anything wrong with at least trying, right? And if he could have a good relationship with Liu Qingge, then he wouldn’t have to worry too much about his safety in the future.  

With that thought in mind, Shen Qingqiu had left the cave in a fairly good mood. He felt particularly pleased with himself for having yet another back-up plan up his sleeve, and the expression on his face could’ve only been described as smug. Unmindful of his own hubris, he even began to pester the system about having an Intelligence or Strategy category for points.

Once again distracted though, he had been unaware, however, of Liu Qingge turning back to watch him leave the cave they were in. Nor was he aware of the intense stare that Liu Qingge had affixed to his back either.