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Shen Qingqiu happily spreads out the newly bought scroll and inspects it one last time for any flaws. He’s had the paper enchanted to repel liquids and to resist wear and tear. Living in a magical world is really too enjoyable for him.
It’s a gift for Liu Qingge. A map to various creatures and demons that he can fight, and Shen Qingqiu made sure that all the beasts are actually there; it’d been good practice for his disciples to learn stealth skills.
He would kill for a pencil right now.
Shen Qingqiu loses himself in the project, drawing out the lines of the map. He has different enchanted inks that will help guide LIu Qingge to one of the dozen monsters, all the way from the Northern Deserts to the Southern Forests. He can envision Liu Qingge perfectly, fighting against the Six Legged Snake of the East and the Long Eared Coiling Tarantula in the West.
Shen Qingqiu makes sure to only pick monsters that devour humans. It’s not that he wants the risk of Liu Qingge getting eaten! But if he’s going around hunting monsters, he may as well focus on the ones that are dangerous to people, rather than the herbivores who just want to eat a bush or two.
Liu Qingge is an oddball character. He’s noble, but uncaring; he doesn’t go around killing monsters to help people. He does it because it’s fun for him to test his skills and strength. Shen Qingqiu knows he isn’t emotionless though. He’s seen how kind Liu qingge can be, the way he’s always looking out for Shen Qingqiu, retrieving his lost fans, and bringing him bits of monsters he’s faced. Though he would really prefer if Liu Qingge didn’t dump whole carcasses on his lawn. It ruins the grass.
He can understand why Airplane Bro felt it necessary to chop his character down. Shen Qingqiu can imagine the polls and fanfiction of Liu-juju if we were kept alive. No, he would have been too much direct competition for Luo Binghe, and he probably would have had his character destroyed somehow in order for him to fall to the main character.
He’s hoping such a thing won’t happen in this world.
When Shen Qingqiu finishes, he goes over to Bai Zhan Peak, smirking a little when the disciples blanch at seeing him. They’ve been good about staying off his peak so he doesn’t intend to get them beaten today. He smiles at the one brave enough to point him to their master, and Shen Qingqiu finds Liu Qingge observing a fight between a dozen of his disciples.
“What are they doing?” Shen Qingqiu asks.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. They’re terrible,” Liu Qingge says with a huff. “What do you want?”
Shen Qingqiu looks at the fighting disciples then shrugs. Not his peak, not his problem, though it really does seem like a brawl rather than training.
“Liu-shidi will be taking off soon, won’t he? He’s already been on the peak for a week.”
“Hm.” Liu Qingge nods.
“Well, this shixiong has a gift for his shidi. Here,” Shen Qingqiu says as he hands Liu Qingge the map. Liu Qingge unrolls it, raising his eyebrows at it until he realizes what he’s looking at. A fire sparks in his gaze.
“Where did you get this?” Liu Qingge asks.
“This master made it,” Shen Qingqiu says, puffing his chest out in pride.
“You made it? For me?” Liu Qingge looks at him in shock.
“Yes, shidi, I made it. I have many skills, you know! And why wouldn’t Qing Jing Peak be able to make the best of maps? Our prowess with the written word is above all others.” Shen Qingqiu huffs a little at him.
Liu Qingge doesn’t say anything as Shen Qingqiu explains how good this map is. But he nods at Shen Qingqiu once he’s done talking and promises to bring him back a piece of each monster.
It’s an odd way to thank him but Shen Qingqiu understands this to be Liu Qingge’s way of repaying him for the gift. He’s more interested in the stories of Liu Qingge fighting the beasts and tells him so.
He’s a funny guy, this war god, but Shen Qingqiu is thankful he got the chance to save him. Liu Qingge deserves his own story.