Chapter Text
With the death of Luo Binghe a special kind of hell descended upon Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. The most exquisite form of torment. The mourning Shen Qingqiu. Not that Shen Qingqiu was ever cruel or violent towards others. No. That wasn't the problem.... Shen Qingqiu was just. too. damn. beautiful.
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Shen Yuan was lounging on his beloved day bed. His thoughts heavy and bleak. Wearing only two inner robes, he was trying to relax as usual.... only it wasn't working.
There was no obedient, cute disciple to fan him, no disciple to peel his fruits for him or give him a massage. Ah, how he missed Binghe. He knew he could ask some of his other disciples to do it, but he didn't really want to. Not only did it feel wrong to ask anyone else to take over Binghe's self-appointed duties, but also the reactions from his disciples might not be so good.
Just look at Ming Fan and Ning Yingying! Since they took over his care, bringing him food, cleaning his house, etc. - their behavior got stranger and stranger!
Just the other day, when Ming Fan brought him tea to his work area, the poor boy took one look at him and promptly started making worrying noises. That shade of red was definitely unnatural. Hell, he even walked right into the wall on his way out! Clearly the stress of his duties as the head disciple was getting to him!
And Ning Yingying! He never knew how clumsy that girl was. Two days ago when she brought him dinner she actually dropped the whole thing right after she greeted him! One of his favorite china sets was smashed into smithereens! Of course, she apologized immediately, blushing furiously, but still.
Children these days. Clearly Binghe has been an exception. Though maybe that was his protagonist halo in action. Who knew?
Shen Yuan sighed again. As nice as it was to have his hair up on occasion, it was giving him a tension headache right now. He reached up and undid it, letting soft tendrils of black silk scatter everywhere. Aaahh, much better.~
In the background someone choked and there was a sound of something heavy falling. Shen Yuan ignored it, too deep in thought. So deep that he didn't notice the group of his own disciples or their strange behavior.
Ning Yingying was so red she could put the rippest of tomatoes to shame, using her hand to cover her mouth so no sound would escape. Her eyes so huge they reminded one of dinner plates.
Ming Fan was lying in a dead faint on the ground. One of the other disciples was shakily trying to move him somewhere else, before running off to get a much needed cold, cold bath.
The other male disciple was making inhuman noises more reminiscent of boiling tea kettle than a human being and swooning. Two of the older female disciples were on their knees and seemed to be... praying? to some higher being. What for? No one knows, but the glint in their eye was highly disconcerting.
Hard times have come to Qing Jing Peak since Luo Binghe's untimely demise. And the rest of the disciples didn't know whether to curse or thank him for the vision that was their Shizun. According to Ming Fan definitely curse! According to Ning Yingying...quite the opposite.
Of course, they always knew their Shizun was a beauty, but they never realised how much of one he was. Their Shizun was the type of beauty that could ruin nations and bring empires (and emperors) down to their knees. The delicate beauty of a fairy with seductiveness of a succubus and grace of a flowing river - that was their Shizun.
Still, despite clearly mourning his precious disciple to the point that he resembled a forlorn abandoned widow, they have only seen him cry once. Usually they paid their respects and left him alone in front of the sword mound, but at that time it was just few days after that cursed day and they worried for his health, so they decided to check on him.
They will never forget the vision they were blessed with. The tragic beauty that was their Peak Lord. All of the female disciples agreed that none of them could look half as pretty when they cried even if they tried to. Their Shizun was truly a devastation level beauty... And it seems other Peak Lords agreed.
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Liu Qingge regularly visited Shen Qingqiu bringing him trophies, trying to get him out of his funk. And yes, trying to convince him to consider Liu Qingge as a proper marriage partner.
Today was no different. He slew another powerful monster and brought his body to the bamboo house to present to his Shixiong. He was NOT ready for what he saw.
Shen Qingqiu was lounging in his garden. On a day bed. Wearing nothing but his undergarments... again. His hair flowing freely like a river of black ink.
Liu Qingge found it hard to breathe. Tracing those perfect features, eyes watery, lips bitten red. Slender, swan-like neck bare for the world to see. Glowing like a beacon of unblemished skin begging to be kissed, bitten and marked.
The robes were slightly open on the front, temptingly falling off one shoulder, letting him see the glimpse of his collarbone and chest. And wait? Was that a leg? No, no, no, no, no! He couldn't go through that again. It was like the lake scene all over again!
Liu Qingge tried hard not to whimper. That was definitely a leg peaking out. He can see his thigh! His lightly muscled, milky white bare thigh!
Suddenly his pants were painfully tight. Liu Qingge swooned. Unable to take any more of this torment lest he does something to his Shixiong that he will later regret, he drops the carcass, does a u-turn and flees as fast as possible. He needs a cold bath, or two, or three and a good, long session with his hand.
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Yue Qingyuan looked thoughtfully at the back of fleeing Liu-shidi and sighed heavily. He knew this was bound to happen sooner or later. Especially now that his beloved Xiao Jiu was getting more popular with others and they regularly dropped by.
Really, he knew it was only a matter of time before this dirty little secret was discovered. Still, perhaps foolishly, he hoped to keep this to himself. To hoard this secret close to his chest and never let it see the light of the day. Selfishly, he wanted to be the only person allowed to see him like that.
Then again, he shook his head feeling a little guilty as he watched Qing Jing Peak disciples wonder around like someone hit them with something heavy over their head. It was, at least partially, his fault.
He knew his darling Xiao Jiu's habits, but he never bothered to actually correct him or tell him what he was doing wrong. Part of it was because he didn't dare tell Shen Jiu what to do and how to live his life. Not after he failed him so badly. And part of it... was for his own perverse, selfish enjoyment. He knew it was wrong. He knew he should have corrected him earlier. And he knew that it was probably already too late to do it now.
Yue Qingyuan took a deep breath and walked forward. Whatever sent Liu-shidi fleeing like that was sure to be something spectacular, but Yue Qingyuan was ready for it. He had years of practice after all. He can handle anything his dear shidi threw at him.
...Fuck. He was not ready for this. He did not expect it to be this bad. What fool gave him that tanghulu? Oh wait, he was that fool. He sent it to him as a gift just yesterday. And now, Yue Qingyuan was jealous. Of a stick of candied fruit. Fuck his life.
Taking a deep, fortifying breath and subtly readjusting his pants Yue Qingyuan marched forward like a prisoner towards his, admittedly pleasurable, execution. He was going to talk to Xiao Jiu.