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Chapter Text

This was a dangerous temple, long forgotten in the reaches of time and the expansion of the land. The god lost long ago, buried in the rubble. It’s steep steps leading up it’s winding mountainside had bee taken back by nature. A weeping willow shielded the massive temple from most of the elements, it’s roots torn through what was left of the old stone pathways. A fountain laid dried and crumbled, teeming with wildflowers and moss. 

Shen Qingqiu surveyed his surroundings, his heart tight in his chest with nerves. There was not supposed to be anything here anymore, nothing he couldn’t deal with that it, but it didn’t hurt to check. He pulled up the System menu and dropped a revealing spell, it’s green-blue light pulsed around him like a radar’s signal. Nothing appeared.

Nothing out to kill him, that is. The spell only worked for traps and monsters, not for people. He picked through the decaying orchard to the massive front steps with a little less caution but no less alert. A column had fallen across a huge portion of the steps, it’s corinthian details eroded away. The doors had long since been knocked away and broken down, the gaping entrance a dark hole that echoed with the distant wind blowing through its desolate halls. Shen Qingqiu flicked on the light at the top of his staff and stepped into the cold darkness.

The main room was massive, with more pillars lining the grand hall, ghosts of old lanterns and hanging tapestries. Shen Qingqiu walked carefully, his eyes scanning every shadow, every hollowed sound. 

The staircase leading to the dais had certainly seen better days. Loose stone shifted under his feet and stray roots caught the tail end of his sweeping robes. The deformed monument of an old god, it’s face smoothed with time. Cobwebs swayed in an unseen breeze, draping the statue like silky shawls. Shen Qingqiu slowly walked around the statue, staff held high to shed more light and mindful of his steps. There was supposed to be a specific loose stone, a secret nook where it was hidden. He had read extensively on this temple before taking off on the journey and nothing was going to stop him from-

Aha!

There it was, a mark stamped on its face. Shen Qingqiu knelt and laid his staff down next to him, using both hands to pry it out of its hold. Inside there was a dusty sphere, pulsing gently with a fluttering heartbeat. 

“Yes!” He snatched it up and dropped it up, but in that moment the ground started to rumble. Perfect.

He rose to his feet, staff raised at the ready. This was a trap and he knew it, but he had come prepared. A large, heavy shadow dropped from the high ceiling, debris crashing to the ground around it. Six glowing white eyes pierced through the darkness and a guttural growl cut through the air.

Shen Qingqiu grinned and raised his staff. “I was expecting you.”

The trap was what he was here for. The Soul Bead he snatched was something he had a few dozen already in his possession, the real prize laid within the beast’s innards- a Star of Shangri-La. 

It was a fox the size of a tank with three pairs of glowing, pupil-less white eyes and red teeth dripping poison, it’s droplets hissing and dissolving the already decaying ground. There was an extra set of legs in the middle, black-footed and tipped with wicked sharp red claws, and red spines running from the top of its head and down it’s back. It hissed, spitting its putrid breath and poison haze.

With a loud, guttural roar, it pounced toward the dais where Shen Qingqiu met its ferocious claws with his own attacks. He launched darts of light pierced its fiery coats and ground-shaking blasts of thunderous waves of sheer energy. He dodged a deadly swipe to his body with a quick teleportation spell to the other side of the room, he landed a deadly hit to the beast’s flank with an arc of shattering lightning.

It howled on agony. Shen Qingqiu easily dodged it’s swiping tail and landed another volley of light into its metallic coat. It had little effect but it did plenty to rile the beast up. The weak point was under its jaw, just shy of its thorned throat where the fur was soft and free of poisonous spikes. That’s where he needed to hit.

Another swipe of deadly claws caught him off guard and he barely managed to throw up a shield. He divided the shield energy into flashing arrows of light and launched it straight into its face. It reared back with a howl, blinded in one eye and black blood oozing thickly from its wounds.

It blindly thrashed and howled. Shen Qingqiu jumped high, stepping onto plates of light that appeared under his feet and took him up, up, up above the beast to avoid its writhing body. 

Now angry, it raised its head and howled sharply, a piercing noise that would shatter a normal person’s eardrums. Shen Qingqiu was far from normal though, erecting another barrier before it could cause significant damage. His ears were ringing as he drew his sword and raised his staff to deal a deadly blow. Golden light swirled above his head, an array growing in size until it was larger than the beast. 

With a swift downward strike of his staff, the array dropped and crushed the beast, erupting in an explosion of light and flame. When the air settled, Shen Qingqiu delicately touched down next to the beast’s tail. It was out cold at least. He picked around its body carefully, avoiding its poisonous spikes that laid broken and scattered across the floor. 

The spell must have not been enough. A claws shot out to what would have been a fatal blow when a black sword came out of nowhere and stabbed it into the ground. The beast howled its deadly howl, knocking Shen Qingqiu into the ground and barely the shivers of a barrier up to block it.

A black figure swooped down out of nowhere, pulling the sword from its paw and ran straight for its open mouth. In one smooth strike, they stabbed the sword straight up under its jaw, killing it instantly. The beast jerked once and collapsed to the ground without another sound. 

“Hey!” Shen Qingqiu shouted, stumbling to his feet. His ears were ringing, his equilibrium thrown off from the last attack. “That’s my kill, back off.”

“I was the one who dealt the final blow,” the fighter said. They jerked the sword from its jaw cleanly and flicked the sluggish blood from the blade. 

They turned to face Shen Qingqiu. Glowing red eyes, wicked sharp teeth, and the mark of a demon on his forehead, he was a fighter in black and silver armor and a sword with a midnight black blade. He bared his teeth at Shen Qingqiu to ward him off most likely and turned to cut the beast’s stomach.

“You raided my fight! This is my kill, come back another time and try again.” Shen Qingqiu marched forward and grabbed the fighter’s shoulder to turn him around. 

The fighter punched him. Shen Qingqiu didn’t hesitate to throw a fireball straight at his face. The fire was deflected with his black blade and with a growl, he launched himself bodily at Shen Qingqiu. He leaped high out of the way, spun, and launched a volley of light straight at his stupidly handsome face. They were deflected easily, bouncing off his armored chest. Stupid fighter must have magic armor. 

He checked the System for this guy’s information as he launched a lightning bolt. 

[System archive new player alert.

Name: Junshang

Race: Demon

Class: Fighter

Level: 967]

Shit! This guy was much higher than he was! And here Shen Qingqiu was sitting on a very high level 789, but Junshang eats him! Nonetheless, this guy was an absolute villain, sweeping in out of nowhere and killing everyone on sight! Shen Qinqiu was fucked!

“Too bad, you were too slow and I took the kill. The Star of Shangri-La is mine,” Junshang growled. 

Their swords clashed in a shatter of sparks. Shen Qingqiu almost toppled back from the sheer force of the blow. 

His sword was twisted out of his hand and clattered off into the shadows. Shen Qingqiu stumbled back and barely dodged a sharp swipe to his chest. He wasn’t armored like Junshang, but robed in magic robes meant to protect him from spells and poisons. Swords can still hurt him pretty badly.

He spun and with one hand launched a dizzying array of lights followed by a volley of arrows. Junshang was blinded for a moment and the arrows had no effect, but it gave Shen Qingqiu enough time to dig out another spell from his archive. Magic bindings sprang from the cracks in the stone and bound Junshang. The green vines held for only a second before he growled and broke free. 

The spell was still too low level! And that was one of his more powerful binding spells! That was supposed to buy him time to draw another array to crush this idiot!

Desperately, he pounded his staff to the ground, sparks dancing at his feet from the force, and from the green sphere another roll of sheer power shook through the temple, a thunderous clap of strength meant to knock Junshang off his feet and take him down a notch.

It didn’t work. Shen Qingqiu moved to transport to the other side of the room to buy him even another second of time but Junshang was on him in a flash.

Junshang grabbed Shen Qingqiu’s throat and slammed him into the ground. A spark of pain echoed through his head and stars flashed across his vision. He barely registered his staff rolling away. 

“Nice try, wizard,” Junshang said, his hot breath fanning over Shen Qingqiu’s cheek. He could feel a trickle of hot blood under his head. The world was spinning despite being completely pinned under. “Maybe you should come back another day and try again. You were pretty close this time, hm? Or, I could kill you. How many lives do you have left…?”

He trailed off, red eyes widening. He was checking the System, reading over Shen Qingqiu’s information which certainly included things like his current equipment, number of lives left, and weakness. His head was spinning from the lack of oxygen, his hands scrabbling uselessly at the hand holding his throat much too tight.

“Shizun?” Junshang said so softly, his words quivering like a leaf. “Are you… Shizun?”

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t speak with the hand pressed into his throat. He gasped with the sudden wave of fresh air as he was released. He coughed as Junshang got off him. 

“Shizun?” He said again, weakly. No one has called him that since he began as a low-level wizard the same year the game opened up. It’s been five years and in those five years, Shen Qingqiu has grown into one of the most powerful players, ranked in the top ten for the last two. Shizun was a name a kid gave him, a little paladin who had his real name as his handle, like a fool-

“Binghe?” He gasped. Luo Binghe, a sweet little paladin who was so eager to play but had very little gaming experience was always left in the dust, taken for granted by many cruel players, and barely managed to keep himself alive long enough to reach the next level. He stuck to Shen Qingqiu like glue and despite them both being new to the then brand new game, Shen Qingqiu had already clocked in triple the number of hours than him. He disappeared one day when he was just starting to gain his footing and become a certainly formidable paladin. 

Who was he talking about a kid?! He had been a kid himself back then! This man clearly wasn’t a kid anymore!

“Shizun it’s me!” Luo Binghe knelt down next to him, a steadying hand on his arm as he sat up gingerly. “My account was deleted because of a virus but I came back as soon as I could! I’ve been looking everywhere for you since then and knew if I got strong enough, you could rely on me, too!”

“I- wow,” Shen Qingqiu gulped. “You’re in the top three now, that’s incredible.”

“I’m number one! I did it all to find you again and go on missions like we used to. Those were the best days of my life.” Luo Binghe was positively glowing, the dark demon aura turned off seemingly with a flick of a switch and a sweet ray of sunshine peeked through. “Can we be a team again?”

Shen Qingqiu smiled. “I would love to.”

Chapter Text

Every day, Shen Qingqiu wove a shroud of black as deep as night with silver-like speckles of stars for his father. Every night, he sat up unraveling each delicate thread piece by piece until all his hard work was gone. 

Every day, the suitors come and beg for his hand in marriage. Every day, he pleads with them to wait until the shroud is finished at least, as a final goodbye to the man he hoped to marry. 

Luo Binghe went off to war ten years ago. On their last night, he left his final marks on his skin and pressed a heated kiss to his forehead.

“More than anything, I wish to marry you now,” Luo Binghe had murmured into the tender skin of his throat. “But if I wait until the war is over, that means I will have another reason to come home to you.”

“Then you must come home quickly,” Shen Qingqiu breathed, his hand running through Luo Binghe’s black curls. “Don’t make me wait too long.”

“I promise.”

The promise seemed to have been broken years ago, but three years didn’t seem that long, nor did five. Seven years hurt, but hope was still alight in his chest. Ten years burned deep in his bones, an ache he couldn’t fight off. He could wait ten more years if need be.

His joints seemed to ache under the repetitive movement at his loom, every shift of bone under his skin weighed more and more with each passing day. The worst pain, the sharpest kind, was the suitors throwing themselves at his feet.

Every day the suitors would arrive, bearing treasures and stories and words wrapped in honey to beg at Shen Qingqiu’s feet to pick someone and marry them. They wanted to serve him, be at his beck and call, though some wanted him to serve them. As if that was the cure for Shen Qingqiu’s misery.

“Not until I’m finished with Tianlang-Jun’s shroud,” Shen Qingqiu said every time. “This is all I ask, let me give this to the man I hoped would be my father-in-law as a farewell to…” He could never say it. 

Whispers always floated back to Shen Qingqiu’s ears about the state of the war. The death toll, the enemy tricks, the bittersweet victories. Every single time Shen Qingqiu would ask, “What of Binghe?”

He’s a hero, he’s in trouble, he’s their savior, he’s a genius, he surely won’t survive this.

A pendulum of news swung in front of Shen Qingqiu’s eyes, a dangerous trick that brought him to his knees, dizzy and drowning in anxiety. Every day he prayed to the gods and asked for them to bring him home safe, please let him come home.

The suitors didn’t care that Shen Qingqiu’s heart laid somewhere else. He was a peerless beauty, intelligent and talented, a beautiful centerpiece to whatever collection they were crafting meant to show off their might. 

“You’re wasting away,” one said. “Your youth is falling far behind you, but we all are willing to take you in before you rot.”

“You’re too talented to be left alone, too smart,” another said. “Why lock yourself away when we can give you a chance to bloom?”

“You’re a lily in full bloom, why can’t you let us pluck you before you shrivel up?”

“Marry me, please, your Luo Binghe won’t come back after such a long time.”

Shen Qingqiu slapped the offended hand out of the way. “Leave. Don’t come back with Binghe’s name soiled on your lips.”

He unraveled much more than he usually does that night, frustrated with tears welling in his eyes. He could barely see his loops. 

For three years he managed to keep up the charade in weaving a shroud for Luo Binghe’s father. His fingers ached from weaving so much, cramped and tender from the repetitive movements. It doesn’t matter, because he made a promise he was resolved to keep, holding out for the promise that was made to him many years ago. 

The gig was up when Ming Fan, a sweet servant certainly only looking out for Shen Qingqiu, had told the suitors what was really happening. 

“The shroud seems to take forever because there has never been progress on it. Every day you watch him weave, every night he unravels all his work,” Ming Fan said to the crowd of suitors. “There is no need to wait, please, I beg of you, make my master happy. He is too sad to know what is right anymore.”

There was no way Shen Qingqiu could be happy about that.

“You have no excuse now! You must marry me!” Said a fine warrior.

“No, you must marry me, I can give you everything you would ever want,” said a faraway prince.

“Your shroud will be completed by my own weavers so you may marry me and never have to live a day of worry,” said a young lord. 

There were one hundred and eight of them clamoring for Shen Qingqiu’s hand, unrestrained now without the shroud as a shield. He couldn’t fight off all their hands at once, so he ran.

He ran and ran, even when his heart was begging to stop and his lungs were screaming its pleas, he still ran until they were far, far away. He collapsed deep in the gardens, under a spray of white orchids dripping from the bough of a tree. The pond in front of him reflected his tear-streaked face, his hair and his fine silks in disarray. He heaved a heavy sigh and scrubbed his red eyes with thin chiffons.

The orchids smelled lovely, sweet white butterflies that fluttered in the golden wind. This spot hidden away by thickets of trees and blooming flowers was where Luo Binghe would take him to. It was their little secret, a reflective pond that mirrored the moon on clear nights and sparkled with the sun on warm days, sweet orchids and spilled all over the wild grass and tall trees kept their hidden kisses away from prying eyes.

With the sun caressing his cheeks, Shen Qingqiu could pretend it was Luo Binghe’s hands holding his face in a revered touch, the wind dancing across his lips could be Luo Binghe leaving delicate kisses. His heart hurt so much and the soothing balm of Apollo’s chariot could never quite sew him back together.

He was unraveling day by day, strung back together by his own hands and pulled apart by his own heart. At night he could hear Luo Binghe whisper his name into his skin. When his thoughts trailed off down the marble halls he could feel the ghost of a hand on his waist and the shiver of an old laugh.

“Qingqiu.” A murmur was teasing him again. “My Qingqiu.”

This wasn’t the wind tricking him again. He looked up from the clear pond and across the bank stood a beggar. He was draped in rags, his cheeks sunken and sallow, worn down from the sun and age. His hair fell lank, messy tangles of what could have been smooth silk. His eyes brought a tide from the sea, pulling his currents like the moon in the sky in a familiar rhythm Shen Qingqiu in an almost unfamiliar feeling.

Shen Qingqiu rose to his feet, eyes sharp at the stranger. “Who are you? How did you get in here?” He demanded.

“Qingqiu, it is me, Luo Binghe.”

Disbelief and hope rose in high tide. There was no way it could be him, he was set to return at sea like he sailed off so many years ago, with his army and armor, his proud sword strapped to his side and head held high, not this joke of a beggar. 

Too many years have passed. Shen Qingqiu had certainly changed, and so must have Luo Binghe. 

“You cannot trick me,” he reasoned. This can’t be Luo Binghe. “Too many suitors have pretended to be my Luo Binghe to take my hand in marriage. This is by far the most laughable attempt.”

Is it?

The beggar straightened up. “How must I prove myself then?”

Shen Qingqiu had an idea.

He swept away back through the gardens, the beggar following close behind. Into the house and through the winding halls until they reached Shen Qingqiu’s, and Luo Binghe’s, private quarters.

“Ning Yingying,” he called.

The servant scrambled out and bowed deeply to Shen Qingqiu. Before she could open her mouth and ask why a beggar was standing in their private quarters, Shen Qingqiu spoke. 

“Please move the marriage bed. It is an eyesore.”

Something snapped inside the beggar. “You shall not.”

“And why is that?” Shen Qingqiu said, tilting his head in question. He gracefully sat down on a long divan by the wide windows where the fresh summer breeze could sweep in through the room, cooling the sweat heating the nape of his neck.

They were in the main room of the private quarters, meant to treat more intimate guests but guests nonetheless. The room sat high in the palace, the courtyard below where the roots of an old olive tree sat rooted deep into the palace walls.

Fury was etched on the beggar’s face. He glared at poor Ning Yingying, who fidgeted at the entrance of their sleeping quarters. “I built this palace with my own two hands for my love and me to live forever in. The marriage bed was crafted from the live branches of the olive tree, impossible to move without destroying the tree itself. How dare you wish to move our sacred bed!”

Shen Qingqiu smiled, his heart was lighter than it’s been in over ten years. He shucked the weights holding it tied taught to his ribs and allowed it to flutter free.

For in fact, the only people who knew of the true nature of their marriage bed was Ning Yingying, Shen Qingqiu, and-

“Binghe,” Shenqiu sobbed. “My Binghe.”

Luo Binghe fell to his shivering knees and cried into Shen Qingqiu’s arms. The filthy hands that held him close were certainly the shape of Luo Binghe’s. 

“Shen Qingqiu, my Qingqiu,” Luo Binghe cried, his tears hot against Shen Qingiu’s skin and soaking his fine silk clothes. “Oh, I’ve missed you, my love.”

“You came back, you kept your promise,” Shen Qingqiu wept. He can’t remember feeling so good while crying. They sank into each other and cried and cried, pressed tender kisses and exploratory touches until the moon came out. 

Once Luo Binghe had been properly cleaned and fed, given time to properly recover his strength and tell his tales over and over again, they were to be married. Luo Binghe was different now, older, wiser, stronger. There were crinkles at the corners of his starlight eyes and his hair did not bounce as it used to. His hands were worn down but still held Shen Qingqiu so firmly, his smile lingered in the lines of his cheeks. Shen Qingqiu took his time to relearn his love and Luo Binghe did the same.

The suitors were dealt with swiftly, killed one by one by Luo Binghe’s hand for tarnishing his reputation, wasting away his wealth by living on his land in his absence, harassing him when he came home dressed in rags, and above all, attempting to steal his betrothed on his very land. Shen Qingqiu was more than a little happy to be rid of them and gave Luo Binghe one hundred and eight kisses as thanks.

Shen Qingqiu finished the shroud in record time, presenting to Tianlang-Jun along with the blessings for their happy marriage. The old man smiled and laughed and said it was beautiful because every weave held their undying love.

“The pattern is a little plain, but I’ll give you a pass because you love my son so much,” Tianlang-Jun chided. Shen Qingqiu flushed and Luo Binghe laughed and pressed a kiss to his red cheek.

The wedding was small, under the evening stars, and when they finally fell into the olive tree marriage bed together, Shen Qingqiu truly felt every second of their ten long years apart was worth it.

Chapter Text

The flag was torn down with roaring cheers. This old king could hear it from his throne room as the last of his forces fell to the enemy’s might. They were a small kingdom, barely worth notice, yet were swiftly claimed by the quickly growing empire under Emperor Luo Binghe’s hand. They were only one of many claimed and will later simply be a name in the history books under the long list of families turned to dust. 

The king sank back into his throne with a heavy sigh. The court he held was small, pale-faced and shivering with what will come next. The tapestries with the kingdom’s crest will be erased and they took a moment to look at them hanging limply one last time. 

No one spoke, no one moved. There was no need to do anything now that all hope was lost. The weary king, with a great heaving sigh, took the crown from his head and placed it at his knee.

The court looked up at him expectantly.

“We can only embrace our new future. Let us hope our new ruler is benevolent.”

That was a fool’s wish and they all knew it. There have been many kingdoms already who have been wiped completely off the maps for opposing the Emperor. They had fought back. The Emperor had never felt a need for mercy.

Marching footsteps rapidly approached the grand throne room door, a hoard of soldiers coming to claim the king. The doors burst open with a flurry of cheers and raucous celebrations. At the forefront of it all stood the imposing Emperor Luo Binghe.

Dressed in battle-worn armor and a simple silver grown affixed his sweat-soaked hair, blood drying on his temple, he still looked like the grand ruler he’s made himself to be. He was young, too young to have so much power in his hands, but that didn’t matter when no one could tell him to stop. 

He didn’t bow to the king upon entry. The court bowed to him and the king bowed his head for the first time since taking the mantle when he was a measly child. His neck creaked. 

“We have fallen by your hand, Emperor,” said the old king. He’s never looked wearier.

“This one will take your kingdom as part of my reign. All those who oppose my order will be marked as a traitor and killed. Your people fought valiantly, but it wasn’t enough,” said Luo Binghe. “First order of business is to have your army disbanded and your crown taken. My people will rule this land in my place while you hold no more power.”

The king nodded solemnly. This wasn’t a negotiation. They were orders.

“The reason for taking your fine country was more than just the abundance of resources and wealth of knowledge, but I’ve come to take a betrothed from under your name,” Lio Binghe continued.

The king sat bolt upright, his eyes aflame. “You can’t.”

“I can.” There was a dark glint in his eye.

“Father!” The princess pushed her way through the crowd of Luo Binghe’s soldiers, her armor dented and hair unbound and tangled. There was blood soaking her chainmail. “Father you can’t let him! I won’t!”

“You may take my land and all my people, my palace and riches, but the one treasure you shall not take is my daughter’s hand,” the king said sharply. “Rumor has it you are looking for concubines. My daughter will not be another one of your playthings!”

Luo Binghe laughed, a deep-bellied guffaw that rang loud in the wide room. “Your daughter? Now, why would this one want her hand? Strong and intelligent as she might be, even one of my fiercest foes, she’s not who this one is after.”

The king rose, his hands clenched into fists. “Then who could you have possibly ravaged my entire kingdom for?”

“Her tutor.”

The king deflated. A hush fell over the court where even the loudest heartbeat seemed to echo. Luo Binghe’s own soldiers were shocked into silence. They assumed they were fighting for the princess…

The princess whipped around with a dangerous look to her eye, her sword gripped tightly in her hand yet remained sheathed. “My tutor?”

“Shen Qingqiu, won’t you please step forward?”

The sparse court parted for one willowy tutor to step out of the shadows. A silk fan covered his lower face, his eyes were tight with shock. Only his sharp steps and the delicate swish of his clothes broke the heavy silence.

“Binghe,” Shen Qingqou said stiffly. 

Emperor Luo Binghe, ruler of twenty kingdoms, melted by the call of his name. 

“Oh, Shizun, it’s been so long.” He strode forward, hands outstretched, but stopped when Shen Qingqiu took a step back.

“It’s been years,” Shen Qingqiu said cooly. “You’ve grown much since then.”

“It’s thanks to your teachings I’ve grown into the man I am today,” he said proudly. The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees. To say that in the face of a conquered kingdom?

“Mn.”

“Shizun, I did this for you. I want to have you for my own. You are worth every kingdom I took to my name and more, just as you gave me my world, I wish to give it back.” Luo Binghe boldly stepped closer, unwavering even when Shen Qingqiu stepped back.

“I’ve idolized you, worshipped you from the day you took me under your wing, now there is nothing more than to let me worship you forever,” Luo Binghe continued breathlessly.

He dropped to his knee and took Shen Qingqiu’s hand, looking up at him from under his long lashes. They were like the clearest starry nights, his heart laid out in the bloodied lines of his face. Shen Qingqiu moved to pull away but Luo Binghe gripped his hand tighter.

“Shen Qingqiu, my Shizun, my love, will you marry this lowly disciple of yours?” He was pleading on his knees, begging the man he’s already conquered for more as if he couldn’t simply swoop in and take it for himself regardless of his feelings.

“If you say no,” Luo Binghe said slowly after Shen Qingqiu took too long to answer. “Then I will not ask again. I took this kingdom to make you mine, but I will let you walk free without taking more. The people will be ruled over by someone I personally trust to treat the people fairly and if you wish it, you may never have to see this lowly disciple of yours again.”

These were dangerous words for Luo Binghe to say. To fell a kingdom only to ask one lowly palace tutor for his hand in marriage? There were much simpler ways to go about this.

The silk fan snapped shut and tapped Shen Qingqiu’s pale cheek. “May this master… have time to think of your proposal? So much has happened these past few months and my mind is a little muddled.”

“One week!” Luo Binghe said, happiness bubbling in his chest. It wasn’t a no! “I will return for your answer in one week! You may say no, there will be no repercussions for you or the people of this kingdom.”

Shen Qingqou nodded and pulled his hand free. Luo Binghe was reluctant to let him go. 

“One week.”

Despite the new order of rule for the kingdom, changes were coming slowly. The sparks of the revolution were crushed swiftly, and woman by the name of Sha Hualing took a seat at the old king’s throne. New laws were being passed, but nothing extreme enough to incite a new revolution. 

The royal family’s title was stripped. Shen Qingqiu would have been booted from the palace since his position was irrelevant anymore if it weren’t for Luo Binghe’s request to give him room and board as long as he wished.

He locked himself in his private quarters, giving only one servant permission to bring him food. He spent the week pacing his rooms and wandering the private gardens, at night he could lean into the cold window and watch the moon creep up the sky. 

There wasn’t any reason for him to stay anymore except for the proposal. He can easily call it quits, pack up, and travel somewhere else and find a new job shaping young minds out of Luo Binghe’s reach.

The idea of losing him again scared Shen Qingqiu.

When the week passed, they met once more under the sweetly blooming apple tree, its delicate white blossoms like a fresh winter snowfall. Luo Binghe was glowing in the morning light, a bud bloomed into a charming flower openly facing his sun. 

Shen Qingqiu held his fan tight and took a deep breath. Luo Binghe had not said a word, allowing Shen Qingqiu to speak when he was ready.

“Not yet.”

Luo Binghe slumped into himself, his fiery heart dimmed. “Not yet?”

Shen Qingqiu shook his head. “Not yet. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. Might I learn more of you before we are bound forever?”

“Shizun… do you mean…?”

“You may court me first, Binghe, then I might give you my hand.”

Prove yourself worthy, is what Luo Binghe thought. Prove yourself enough.

He took Shen Qingqiu’s hand a pressed a feather-light kiss to his knuckles. “I will do my best to earn your heart.”

Chapter Text

Luo Binghe wasn’t supposed to be here. He had been kicked out of the institute years ago, but there is no way he could ignore this.

Shen Qingqiu died, but that doesn’t mean he’s dead. 

The passcodes had all been changed and his DNA codes have been deleted from the system, but it was easy to hack his way in and knock out a guard or two and drag their faces up to the retina scanners. The technology to decipher unconscious from the conscious had yet been fully developed, which worked completely in Luo Binghe’s favor.

All the winding halls were still familiar. He could still name every door he passed, noticed where light fixtures had been replaced and small remodels had been done in the years of his absence. Unfortunately, but fortunately for him, they had not updated their security system.

In the middle of the night, there was next to no one to intercept him. The AI security checkpoints were easily overridden by Shang Qinghua from the ship and any physical blockage (guards) Luo Binghe could breakthrough easily.

He didn’t like how easy it was to get to Shen Qingqiu.

There were a number of locations he could be in the sprawling facility. Desperation was wearing himself thin as he checked separate labs, his old private labs, hospital wings, the main hall (in a casket?), and even the morgue, but there was no trace of the doctor.

In a last-ditch effort, chest tight with and nerves frayed, he checked the bowels of the facility where the more dangerous experiments were held. It was a slim chance he would be down there, but when Luo Binghe had been here, next to no one but top staff members knew what went on down there.

“You need to gimme a moment the codes here are tricker to break apart,” said Shang Qinghua through the comm. Luo Binghe could hear him crunching on chips through the mic. 

“That’s okay, make sure to do it as quickly and thoroughly as possible. There are a few bodies lying around and I’m afraid they’ll find them soon,” Luo Binghe said, pressing close against the cold wall to avoid cameras.

The glass elevator leading down into the underground hangers needed both a thumbprint and a retina scan of authorized personnel only. The safeguards around it stopped any outsiders from forcing it open without raising an alarm. 

“The vents?” Luo Binghe tried.

“Too small to wiggle through with your massive boobs, but there’s a recycle chute I can shut off for you to climb through. Once you’re in you don’t need authorization taking the elevator back up,” Shang Qinghua explained.

The chute was slimy for a recycle, barely big enough for Luo Binghe to slide down in. It took a moment to melt the bolts off the entryway with the laser on his gauntlet to allow the entire frame to wiggle free, making enough room for him to roll out of the vent onto the cold glass floor. 

He had never been down here, even as an apprentice for Shen Qingqiu he was never allowed to accompany him down to the restricted labs. 

They were huge, the size of airship hangers. The glass elevator ran through the middle of it all right where the main control center was. Walkways lined the whole space leading into smaller labs, at least ten levels up. There were creaks and groans echoing from somewhere far off, certainly not due to the integrity of the building. The air was cold, colder than the main labs, each step echoed in the wide space much too loudly for comfort. His lungs felt like ice, his neck hurt from craning to look up to the very top levels. 

The central control module was set up in a large oval with steadily blinking monitors and idle holograms. Luo Binghe walked to the largest centermost monitor and touched a gloved finger on the touch bad. A digital screen popped up.

[System activated

Passcode required]

“Shang Qinghua?” He murmured into the comm.

“On it. Plug me in.”

Luo Binghe picked a blue chip from his belt pouch and slipped it into the drive. A moment later the screen was overridden with binary codes and flashing documents.

“Bingge,” Shang Qinghua breathed into the comms. “Bingge, I think I found something.”

“Don’t say ‘I think’,” Luo Binghe growled. “You did or you didn’t.”

“I can’t be sure but it’s certainly something . Go down a level and find SY-1057 that might be a clue.”

“Down?” Luo Binghe murmured. There didn’t seem to be anything further down than this.

“There’s a key lock on the elevator. I’ll override it, just get in.”

Luo Binghe unplugged the blue chip and stepped into the glass elevator. The door slid shut smoothly and behind the glass case at the button panel, a key lock turned and lit up blue. The elevator sank into the floor, submerging him into almost total darkness except for the lights of the elevator buttons. 

“What the fuck,” Luo Binghe gasped as light breached the elevator and descended down to its last stop- a large room full of large, rectangle tiles across the floors and walls. Most were glowing a weak green, but plenty were dark. It was much smaller than the lab above, but certainly still larger than the facility’s main lab.

“I-I don’t know,” Shang Qinghua squeaked. “Shen Qingqiu’s name was coded into the file.”

Luo Binghe hesitantly stepped out, his breaths harsh in his ears. 

He looked down at the glowing tile under his feet and choked. 

“There are people in here.” His breath was rattling in his chest, the site of the boney person curled up in the glowing green substance, display screens blinking in the corner. 

“Why… what the fuck are they doing with them?” Shang Qinghua murmured. Rapid typing could be heard through the comm. 

“Who are they?” Luo Binghe asked shakily. 

“I don’t know. But find SY-1057.”

There were numbers at the top of each box, a pattern distinct by the first series of numbers and the second letter. Luo Binghe tried to walk along the seamline, almost like he was walking over open graves. He paced slowly up and down the aisle, heart beating faster as he got closer to the numbers. This next one, the next one for sure, this one has to be it-

“Shizun,” Luo Binghe choked and fell to his knees.

This was certainly his Shen Qingqiu curled up in the strange, clear box under Luo Binghe. His hair was longer than it ever has been, floating like an inky cloud around his head. He was thin, too thin. His ribs and the knobs of his spine jutted out, his joints defined through the thin stretches of his pale skin. Despite the corpse-like appearance, those thin, pale lips and long, elegant face belonged to no one but his Shizun.

He tried deciphering the coding displayed on the box face and realized they were vital signs- heart monitors, blood pressure, brain activity. He tapped the screen and hologram screens appeared around the box, almost caging Luo Binghe. Profile information, much more thorough readings on his vitals, and-

“Operation DEW?” Luo Binghe said slowly. “Shang Qinghua?”

“We can’t safely take him out of the box without hurting him. You’re going to have to steal the whole thing.”

“How- oh.”

The box steamed and hissed from the edges, the holograms fizzing out. Luo Binghe rolled off just as it started lifting from its casing. It floated just a foot above the ground, a slim board of machinery and tubing keeping the whole thing together at the bottom. It was roughly the size of a large suitcase and Luo Binghe figured he could probably put this in a suitcase if need be. He didn’t like that idea at all.

“What are they doing with these people?” Luo Binghe asked, prodding the warm plexiglass side. It moved gently with his touch.

“I can’t dig that far into their documents, there are too many firewalls for me to break through. I would need physical access to their database,” Shang Qinghua explained. “But these people are all dead, or were dead.”

“Can we safely take him out of the box once we get back?”

“We’ll see. We don’t know what they’ve done to him. My guess is some sort of army of superweapons, but that’s just wishful thinking.”

Luo Binghe sneered. “Why would you think of such a thing?”

“It would be cool, but also- wait.” There was a pause filled with rapid clicking on Shang Qinghua’s end. “Get out, now. Guards are on the alert there’s been a breach. Just push the box along it’ll be fine. I’ll lay out a path for you to take safely without running into anyone.”

Luo Binghe stood up fully, the box sensing his movement and elevated further until it was about waist high. He pushed the box back toward the elevator, weighing next to nothing and moving like he was pushing a hard cloud. He moved carefully, not wanting to jostle Shen Qingqiu too much. 

Once secured in the elevator, Shang Qinghua sent a map to Luo Binghe’s monitor and started the elevator up. The box glowed brightly in the darkness, Shen Qingqiu’s hair swaying to and fro from all the movement. 

“Poor Cucumber bro,” Shang Qinghua moaned. “His whole ass is just out there.”

Luo Binghe leaned over the box to check and yup. That was Shen Qingqiu’s butt just open and bare for the world to see. Perhaps it was fine when he was sunken into the floor, but now he was flashing the whole world. Luo Binghe flushed with heat and swore to throw a blanket over the box as soon as he could for the sake of his Shizun’s modesty. And his poor heart.

The ascended pasted the underground labs and back into total darkness, going up, up, up, back to the first floor of the facility. 

They were let out in a locked room, the doors clicking open from Shang Qinghua’s meddling.

In the halls, the alarms were flashing with shouts and rapid footsteps echoing from a distance.

Luo Binghe followed the route Shang Qighua laid out for him and just for good measure, Shang Qinghua had planted a distraction in one of the far upper floors to draw away the guards. 

It was easy breaking out through the delivery doors to where Mobei-Jun sat waiting in the disguised van. The back door was thrown open to allow Luo Binghe to carefully shove the box in the open space and threw himself in just as shouts were ringing out behind him.

Movie-Jun was hitting the gas and driving down the road before the doors were fully shut. Luo Binghe tumbled in the back, holding the box as steady as possible as the green liquid sloshed dangerously around.

“Drive better, we have precious cargo!” Luo Binghe barked.

Mobie-Jun grunted and leveled out his driving without losing any speed. Gunshots rang in the air, followed by pursuit vehicles coming quickly down the road behind them.

There was a blanket rolled up on the floor. Luo Binghe spread it out over the box but left Shizun’s head open. If it weren’t for the death-like appearance and the fact he was in a floating box full of glowing green liquid, he could have been asleep. Luo Binghe curled his body around the box, pressing his head into the hot surface right above Shen Qingqiu’s. The van rocked and jerked with the harsh driving and Luo Binghe felt this was the only way he could protect him.

He failed to protect him once, he won’t do it again. He pressed a kiss to the hot surface, his grieving heart settling for the first time in five years.

Chapter Text

Luo Binghe slammed Shen Qingqiu against the wall, holding him tight with an arm pressed to his throat.

“Why?!” Luo Binghe yelled. “Why won’t you listen to me?!”

Shen Qingqiu choked and coughed, but wouldn’t meet Luo Binghe’s eye.

“This is for your protection! If you go waltzing back, all our work will be lost!” Luo Binghe pleaded, his chest tight.

“I can’t abandon them,” Shen Qingqiu heaved, his face flushed. He still wouldn’t meet Luo Binghe’s gaze, eyes stuck toward the ground. The gun he stole from Luo Binghe was shaking in his grasp.

“You did abandon them the moment you waltzed into our office and asked for protection for information,” Luo Binghe countered. His eyes burned but he refused to back down. “Don’t act rashly. This is finally your chance to make it out and you’re turning back now?”

“Let me go!” Shen Qingqiu begged as he struggled against Luo Binghe’s arm. Luo Binghe grabbed his arm and twisted it, forcing the gun from his hand and a yelp. It clattered to the damp ground. A shard pierced his heart at the force he had to use, but he couldn’t relent now.

He pinned Shen Qingqou’s arm to the wall next to his head, leaning in to press almost his full weight into Shen Qingqiu’s slender form. He felt Shen Qingqiu swallow against his arm, his jaw set and eyes alight with determination.

“Shizun,” he leaned in close and whispered into his ear. A shiver ran through Shen Qingqiu’s body. “Please, for me at least. Save yourself to live another day.”

“They were the only ones good to me in there,” Shen Qingqiu argued weakly, his Adam’s apple bobbing against Luo Binghe’s forearm. “Let me save me, please.”

Something broke in Shen Qingqiu’s voice, hot tears wetting Luo Binghe’s sleeve. 

---

A little community center with not much to it, the ceilings molded with rot and the walls peeling. The spluttering fan and wide-open windows did little to battle the summer heat. It was plain, a little desolate, but nonetheless children gathered every day after school.

“‘ Twinkle, twinkle little bat!
How I wonder what you’re at’
‘You know the song, perhaps?’
‘I’ve heard of something like it,” said Alice.
‘It goes on, you know,’ the Hatter continued,  ‘in this way:-
‘Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea tray in the sky.’”

Children laughed, one interjected, “that’s not how the song goes!”

“But this is the Hatter’s song, no?” said a young Shen Qingqiu, thin in his oversized shirt and large glasses sliding down his sweaty nose. This was a time lost to maturity, a twenty-year-old with too much to do yet too much heart to give.

Luo Binghe sat on a stool by the window where the thin summer breeze hit his sweaty back. He didn’t care for the reading time with children as he could be playing basketball or doing another puzzle, but he wanted to spend more time with Shen Qingqiu.

“‘Well, I’d hardly finished the first verse,’ said the Hatter, ‘when the Queen bawled out ‘He’s murdering the time! Off with his head!’
‘How dreadfully savage!’ exclaimed Alice.”

He was doing all the funny voices for the characters and it was honestly ridiculous, but the children absolutely loved it. Luo Binghe loved it.

---

“I’ll do everything in my power to help them, but please, I’m begging you.” Luo Binghe’s voice cracked, his eyes were hot. “We need to go before they find you.”

“Do you promise?” Shen Qingqiu asked. He finally raised his sharp, red-rimmed eyes to meet Luo Binghe’s. 

---

“ The Moonstone ?” Luo Binghe read off questioningly. 

“It’s an interesting read. I’m personally not a fan of epistolary novels, dreadfully boring in my opinion,” said Shen Qingqiu. “But you said you wanted to be a detective and this is considered one of the first detective novels.”

Luo Binghe gingerly flipped open the battered cover to see a scrawled “S.Y.”  in the corner. The pages were bent and a little water damaged, scrawled annotations and underlined sentences stained the text. 

“What kind of stuff do you like?” asked Luo Binghe.

Shen Qingqiu jumped, not expecting the question. His glasses were sliding down his nose again. “Uh, I’m more of a Woman in White kind of guy. The sensationalized, dramatic sort of stuff. Earthsea, Frankenstein, Lord of the Rings. Exciting stuff.”

“You want to teach?”

Shen Qingqiu nodded. “I want to teach literature and help folks find something exciting in stories. Perhaps if reading isn’t their thing, I can inspire them to find their own path.”

Luo Binghe shut the book. “Is that why you always spent time at the community center instead of studying?”

A guilty looked flashed across Shen Qingqiu’s face. “A little bit. I like reading to kids, and I hope they like it, too.”

They loved it. The kids in Luo Binghe’s foster home always rush ahead to the community center whenever Shen Qingqiu is there to make sure they catch the next chapter of whatever he’s reading. Luo Binghe certainly picks up the pace on the walk over. 

“Shen Qingqiu,” Luo Binghe started nervously. “Do you think I could be a detective one day?”

“Hm, yeah I think so,” Shen Qingqiu said. Luo Binghe’s heart did a flip in his chest. “You’re really smart and perceptive. I wouldn’t recommend a book like this even to some of my own classmates because it’s a little trickier to read, but I’m sure you can handle it.”

---

“Do you trust me to keep a promise?” Luo Binghe asked.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t say anything. There was a crack in the lens of his glasses, his usually neat hair was tousled and damp from the rain. 

Slowly, he nodded.

Steadily, Luo Binghe released Shen Qingqiu from his hold. Shen Qingqiu coughed and gasped as he slumped against the damp alley wall. 

Luo Binghe picked up the fallen gun and tucked it back into his holster. “You rescued me years ago, Shizun, when you gave me hope and the tools to get where I’m at today. This is my turn now to pay you back. I will not let them find you, I promise, and I will save your friends, too.”

Shen Qingqiu shakily pushed his cracked glasses up his nose, the blood on his temple long tried into a sticky mess. “I only did what anyone should have done.”

---

“Do you have another book I can read?” Luo Binghe asked eagerly, passing back The Moonstone.

Shen Qingqiu had already tugged out two books from his bag. The Woman in White and Murder on the Orient Express. “Try these.”

“Shizun-”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Shizun, I want to go to college.”

Shen Qingqiu nodded. “And I’m sure you can make it just fine.”

Luo Binghe shook his head, gripping the new books close to his chest. “No. I’m in the system with no money to my name. More than anything I want to be a detective but I’m stuck here.”

“That is a problem.” Shen Qingqiu stood and stretched his arms above his head with audible pop s of his spine. “How about I give you a hand?”

---

“You tutored me, helped pay for all my AP and IB tests, helped me get into a community college, and work my way to a university best for me. Paid for my applications, helped me write my letters, pushed me to the top of all my classes so universities would have to look at me. I would have been some nobody working a minimum wage job instead of living my dream right now.” Luo Binghe was crying. “You helped dig me out when everyone else was determined to bury me alive.”

Shen Qingqiu reached up and gently wiped a hot tear from Luo Binghe’s cheek. His hand lingered, his fingers ice cold against Luo Binghe’s heated skin. 

---

On a winter evening, there was a knock on Luo Binghe’s office door. 

The secretary came in with a grim look on her face. “We have a visitor requesting to see you, saying he has important information in regards to your case.”

Luo Binghe sat up straighter, his eyes burned from the blue light of his computer monitor. “I’ll meet them in the conference room in five.”

The visitor turned out to be Shen Qingqiu. Five years older, on the cusp of his thirties with age starting to show on his pale face. He was shaking because he was so nervous, his glasses were different from the one’s Luo Binghe had always remembered him in. There was a heavy computer bag at his feet, bulky with slips of paper peeking out of the flap. 

A wide grin split Luo Binghe’s face. “Shizun.”

He jumped and spun around. There was a frantic look to his eye, a bruise yellowing on his jaw. “Binghe,” he breathed. 

“It’s been so long, how can I help you?” Case completely forgotten, he plopped down in the seat next to Shen Qingqiu. 

“I-I,” he stuttered then swallowed. His face was so pale, dark shadows bruised under his usually sharp eyes and his lips were cracked and dry. “I joined the mafia.”

Ice flooded Luo Binghe’s whole system. “What?”

“Years ago during my graduate program.” Shen Qingqiu was shaking. “I didn’t know what was happening at first but I was desperate for cash to pay for school. One thing led to another and I- I was taken to the boss. He had me do an errand for him and gave me so much money in return. If I didn’t I would have been killed on the spot.” 

“Graduate program…” Luo Binghe froze. “That’s when you were paying for all my applications for university.”

“Don’t think about that!” Shen Qingqiu yelled desperately. “There was so much going on at the time and more than anything I wanted you to succeed. I was going to get kicked out, my loans were piling up, the school was knocking on my door asking for the next payment, textbooks-god the number of books I had to get- was too much. But you, Binghe, you were a priority.” 

“So you joined the mafia?” Luo Binghe growled, heat melting the ice in his veins. He was angry, never at Shen Qingqiu, but at what he was forced to do.

“Anyway!” He yelped. “I did! And I have been for seven years now.”

Luo Binghe sank into his seat. “How did you know I was on the case?”

“You were investigating a warehouse I happened to be stationed at. I saw you and knew this is my only chance.” Something hardened in Shen Qingqiu. He sat up straighter and met Luo Binghe’s gaze with something sharp, a fire he hasn’t seen since those years ago in the community center when he talked about all the books he loved and hated. “I have blood on my hands, Binghe. I’m not innocent, but if I confess all my crimes and give you names, places, plans, everything I know, will you protect me?”

Luo Binghe took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure they can’t take you back.”

---

“Let’s go, Shizun.” Luo Binghe wanted to step back and lead him to the car, but the hand on his cheek kept him rooted to the spot.

“Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu said. “Will I see you again?”

No is what he needed to say. Never again. Part of witness protection was erasing him from the earth, completely starting fresh. That includes cutting off every single past relation. 

Shen Qingqiu didn’t need him to voice it. He tilted his head up and pressed a cold kiss to Luo Binghe’s lips. His breath was sucked right out of his lungs and he could only stand there dumbly with the gentle touch of lips. Shen Qingqiu moved to pull back, but Luo Binghe snapped out of it and grabbed him around the waist and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss. Thunder rolled in the sky, but that might have been the heavy beat of his heart flooding his ears as their lips slid together in their first and only kiss. 

He never, ever wanted it to end, not when the tentative lick of Shen Qingqiu’s tongue asked for entrance he willingly gave, nor when his long fingers tangled in Luo Binghe’s curls. Their faces were wet and Luo Binghe was sure it started raining again.

When they pulled apart, the sky was dry. Luo Binghe pressed one more delicate kiss to Shen Qingqiu’s swollen lips and pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“I’m sorry,” Shen Qingqiu whispered, “that we couldn’t have more time.”

“I won’t forget you,” Luo Binghe murmured. 

“I’m sorry I messed up.” Shen Qingqiu was crying now, tears staining the soft blush of his cheeks.

“You never did.”

“I’m sorry I love you,” he hiccuped. “But I don’t regret it.”

“Neither do I.”

Luo Binghe had to walk Shen Qingqiu to the car just as it started to rain. The last glimpse he caught of his Shizun was at the car pulled away, was the blurred reflection of Shen Qingqiu looking back at him through the back window.

Chapter Text

“Shen Qingqiu,” Liu Qingge said cooly. “May we speak in private?”

Shen Qingqiu closed the novel he was reading and rose to his feet. “Shall we go to the gardens?”

Liu Qingge’s lips thinned and he nodded stiffly. Shen Qingqiu led them out of the estate into the grand gardens, taking a cobblestone path into the rose gardens. They were alone, the gardeners busy in some other section of the garden and the guests of Qing Jing were entertaining themselves in the lounge where they’d left them.

It was a warm afternoon, a sticky sweat already making Shen Qingqiu’s scalp tingle and his back damp with sweat. He breathed in the fresh air, letting the cool breeze soothe his body.

“What do you wish to speak with me about, Sir Liu?” Shen Qingqiu said, turning to face Liu Qingge. 

“This.” From his inner pocket, he produced a black silk handkerchief. “I found it in your trash.”

Shen Qingqiu’s skin prickled. He furrowed his brows. “And what were you doing digging through my trash?”

“You were acting off when I came to visit last night. I found this after some investigation.” The handkerchief laid innocently in his hand but sweat was beading at Shen Qingqiu’s hairline.

“It’s trash, is it not? It was thrown away because it’s deemed useless.”

“This doesn’t belong to you. All your handkerchiefs are white and green, where did the black one come from?”

Shen Qingqiu licked his lips and turned away. “How should I now? I’m not the only one who visits the drawing room.”

“This is that Luo Binghe’s.” It wasn’t a question. “He’s the only one staying at Qing Jing right now with black handkerchiefs.”

There was a pause interrupted only by the chirping of nearby birdsongs. Shen Qingqiu was shivering despite the midday sun, his face flushed white. “Perhaps you’ve been reading too many novels, Mr. Liu. Your imagination has taken flight.”

“You know I don’t waste my time with fanciful stories,” Liu Qingge said, his lip curling in distaste. Shen Qingqiu swallowed, his eyes looking anywhere but at Liu Qingge and the handkerchief.

“What will you do?” He finally asked stiffly.

“Nothing,” said Liu Qingge. “This is not my business.” He gave the handkerchief to Shen Qingqiu, who gripped it tight between his hands, wrinkling the fine material. “I must warn you to stop it now before you ruin yourselves.”

Shen Qingqiu nodded stiffly as Liu Qingge turned and walked away. Once out of sight, his legs gave out from under him and he collapsed on a stone garden bench with a heaving sigh.

To think even the least perspective guest staying at Qing Jing right now would be the one to sniff out Shen Qingqiu’s sin. He was truly a hound, a beast to be reckoned with on and off the hunting grounds. 

He was also a man of his word. He would not do anything about this, has no reason to hold heavy blackmail over Shen Qingqiu’s head, but the fact someone knew.

The only thing he could do was call it off before this put both he and Luo Binghe in jeopardy. 

Things remained normal over dinner, or as normal as Shen Qingqiu could muster with the danger himself keeping his eyes glued on Shen Qingqiu from across the table.

Luo Binghe was an imposing young aristocrat, a former gentleman who worked his way up to owning more land than he knew what to do with until old records found him a fortune and a royal name to take. He was far above stature than everyone in the room, thus making the simple gentry seeming underclass company despite their own fortunes and old names. He was the guest of honor in Qing Jing and was treated as such.

To be friends with the gentry was a joke to the aristocracy. They could be in the same room, attend the same parties, but to actively seek companionship amongst a lower class was frowned upon. Luo Binghe was too powerful to care what his peers thought. Baron Yue QingYuan saved Luo Binghe’s stature as a Count, but the remaining Knights and gentlemen should be far below his sights.

The reasons for his attending a lowly gentleman’s country house, the lush Qing Jing manor tucked away in its own idyllic forest, was for Shen Qingqiu, the owner of the house. They sat at either end of the long table- one of his royal stature and one as the host, with guests bridging the gap. In a past life, they could have been companions.

After a long dinner, the guests moved to the sitting room to chat and play games. Shang Qinghua told them thrilling tales of adventures he promised were not from novels. Gossip fluttered between the tall tales and songs Shen Qingqiu played per requests on the grand piano. They were upper-class folk with too much time to waste, gossip was a staple to their pastimes as there was nothing much better to do.

Because of that, low whispers made it past the merriment to Shen Qingqiu’s sharp ears.

“He’s still young, but there has been no one he seems to want to court,” said a sweet Lady visiting on Liu Qingge’s behalf.

“He’s royalty, his choices are limited to only the finest people in high society,” whispered back Qi Qingqi sarcastically, a tilted sneer to her words. “No one in this room has a right to look at him, yet time and time again he always joins our parties.”

They were talking about Luo Binghe.

“There are many women privy for his attention. The shows they put on when he’s around is utterly ridiculous,” joined in Mu Qingfang. 

“He has the cream of the crop, yet why doesn’t try and court one?”

“He could take a wife and have a mistress or three, no one can stop a man as handsome as he from doing as he pleases,” the first lady snorted. 

Shen Qingqiu knows why. He was pulled from eavesdropping when Luo Binghe slid up to the piano and leaned against the polished wood, his long fingers tapping the Shubert rhythm Shen Qingqiu played.

“May I place a request?” he asked smoothly.

“Mn.”

He didn’t leave right away as the rest would once their request was placed to mingle with the rest of the party. Instead, he took a seat on the piano bench and leaned in close to watch his fingers dance across the monochrome keys. He was warm against Shen Qingqiu’s side, always was warm. They weren’t touching but Shen Qingqiu knows what the warmth feels like directly on his skin.

“Liu Qingge knows,” Shen Qingqiu said lowly.

Luo Binghe stiffened. This wasn’t a conversation they should be having in the midst of evening tea. “What will he do?”

“Nothing. He only warned us to stop.”

“Because it’s unsanctioned by the church?”

“Yes and more.” Shen Qingqiu could never be with a man like Luo Binghe because too much kept them apart. 

“Then allow me to court you.”

Shen Qingqiu messed up the song, his fingers stumbled but he quickly rightened them before anyone could notice.

“You cannot do that, Count Luo,” Shen Qingqiu said acidly. To incite his title was a burn to his skin, a sharp reminder. Luo Binghe’s expression soured and he rose to his feet. 

“I am turning in for the night,” Luo Binghe addressed the room. “Good night, everyone.” With the tale ends of murmuring well wishes, he left the room swiftly.

The party adjoined not long after. Shen Qingqiu lingered a little longer until the head butler urged him to go to bed, too. He ignored him and went up to his private study instead to clear his head with a little reading before turning in.

Luo Binghe was waiting for him by the blackened window. A single lamp was lit on his desk and a low fire heated the fireplace.

“I thought you went to sleep,” said Shen Qingqiu, shutting the door softly .

“I was, but decided to take a detour.” Luo Binghe turned to Shen Qingqiu. “Lock the door.”

The door locked with a sharp click. Shen Qingqiu shed his coat and rolled up his sleeves, tossing his coat over the back of a chair. “We shouldn’t be so careless, Binghe.”

“That’s why we are in your private study with the door locked. Liu Qingge won’t stumble in like before unless he foolishly got lost on the way to the bathroom and started pounding on the door.”

Shen Qingqiu frowned. “Be nice to Sir Liu. He has done nothing to you to warrant this hostility.”

Luo Binghe stepped into Shen Qingqiu’s space and tugged the gold watch from his waistcoat pocket. “He’s a man with his eyes set on the wrong person.” He opened the lid, the time ticking away to a late hour, shut it, and tucked it back in. “He should know you’re mine.” His hands lingered on Shen Qingqiu’s waist.

Shen Qingqiu frowned harder. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

Luo Binghe laughed and pressed in closer, his warm breath tickling his ear. “You don’t, but I would like you to more than anything.”

“Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu protested, pushing against his sturdy chest. The grip on his waist tightened. “You should never.”

“I want to marry you, I don’t care what I have to lose for your hand to be mine, or for mine to be yours,” Luo Binghe said softly, something tearing at the edges of his voice. “More than anything in this world, I want to be with you forever, our names be damned. I can forever be deaf if it means I will have you to hold.”

“You cannot sacrifice your name to marry a mere gentleman!” Shen Qingqiu protested. “I won’t allow you to lower yourself for my sake! People will laugh, you will be the joke of the courts and the next story at every ball. For me, I want nothing more than for you to live the fullest life possible even if it means… even if it means leaving me behind.”

A kiss was pressed to his cheek, a tender reminder. “How can I live without you by my side? The kisses you give me, the pleasure you invoke, is only a sweet taste of nectar you torture me with. You’ve ruined me for life and there is no way I can marry another when your kisses will always be the best. You must take responsibility and marry me, Shen Qingqiu.”

“Your title-”

“I don’t care!” Luo Binghe pulled back, fire dancing in his too-bright eyes. “I will still have land and money, but all that is meaningless if I cannot have you, too.”

The cold wax building Shen Qingqiu’s wall was melted by his hot gaze and hotter hands, his lips a ghost against his skin, and his eyes an imprint on his heart. Marrying for love is the dream, an idea even novels can’t quite hold up when two people are of the same class or the man happens to have a large fortune to solve all the heroine’s problems. This was different, but maybe Shen Qingqiu didn’t really care anymore.

“You have wasted me for marriage and I love you despite that,” Luo Binghe continued. “How can I marry when the only one I’ll ever love is you?”

How could he? Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t know how he could move on if they were to part for good. The idea of it hurt more than a harpoon to his chest.

“Then I will take responsibility,” Shen Qingqiu said finally.

A smile bloomed on Luo Binghe’s handsome face.

They met for a kiss, hopefully, the first of many to come. The need to rush was no longer present, but a wash of relief flooded through their blood as they pushed for more, more. It was more than just a courting peck, but a deep, soul-healing kiss that left them breathless. They devoured each other’s taste, pressed impossibly closer, and craved the sinful touch that should never reach outside the marriage bed. It certainly has never stopped them before and with how they carried on, stumbling until Luo Binghe’s back was pressed against the wall, a thigh slotted between Shen Qingqiu’s legs in a swelling heat, they will certainly keep going until there was nothing left to strip from their souls.

A heavy knock on the study door broke the spell.

Chapter Text

Luo Binghe didn’t know what had happened but he was alone and in his blindness, stumbled into either a gift of a dream or in death’s illusions. Lights flickered and floated between the trees, flowers bloomed sweeter than the freshest spring blossoms, the air was warm and fragrant. The grass was plush under his feet, the moon hanging large and heavy in the glittering sky like a beacon. Whispers and charmed laugher tinkled like bells just out of sight.

He had been left behind, that much he had remembered, his acquaintances suddenly screaming in fear as he turned around to answer a question. At first, he thought it was another cruel joke— to abandon him in the forest when they came to train in peace outside of the village walls. It certainly felt like it until he stumbled upon a creek and saw his reflection. 

Horned curled from his temple, black as smoke and razor-sharp, his teeth were sharp and deadly, with tusks protruding from his lower jaw. A red mark— a sigil of the Devil— glowed brightly on his forehead. He had looked down at his clawed hands shakily, black-tipped and razor-sharp. He felt no different but if he focused he could feel the dull scrap of his tusks on his lips and the weight of the horns. 

He could not return to the village and settled to sleep for the night, curled up in the cradle of an ancient oak tree.

Perhaps he had drifted into a dream. As he awoke, glittering light had descended upon the forest despite the midnight hour. He sat up, wary and alert.

Something was coming. The glittering light was concentrated somewhere in the trees and was coming closer, brighter. The laughter and whimsical chatter, so small and light Luo Binghe could not hear what it was saying. 

He must have been an angel of the heavens, a spirit of the forest, a deity of beauty. They emerged from the trees, an ethereal procession of light and joy and he was the forefront of the merry band of bouncing light.

“O, my love!” A man so slender and fair, with midnight black hair falling like silk down his back and robed in gossamer that moved like water. He seemed to float toward Luo Binghe, his steps a whisper on the grass, with his graceful arms outstretched and a delicate smile tugging at his petal pink lips. “I have finally found you!”

Luo Binghe found himself in the sweet arms of a fairy, his skin glowing like pale moonlight and his arms warm like a summer breeze. His whole body felt delicate and light against Luo Binghe, as if a sudden breeze will blow him away. They tumbled back to the ground, the fairy snuggling close to his body with a content sigh.

“... May I help you?” Luo Binghe asked hesitantly. There was no way he wanted this to end. The most beautiful being he has ever encounter threw himself into his arms there was not a chance he would let this go.

“Only for you to stay with me,” he murmured sweetly into Luo Binghe’s neck.

The bouncing fluttering lights came into view. They were fairies of all shapes and sizes- from the largest toddler to a speck of light. They bounced and played and laughed, a joyful parade of light and nature. Some were small enough to wear acorn caps or foxglove dresses, some much too large and wore spun silk web or simply nothing at all but their fluttering wings and the little forget-me-nots and baby’s breath perched in their hair. Not one seemed to care their leader had fallen into the arms of a stranger, a beast at that.

“I awoke from my sleep feeling rather sluggish and saw you laid out under the moonlight like a gift for me. You are my love, I decided, and I want to be with you,” the fairy continued.

“Is there a name I may refer to you as?” Luo Binghe asked slowly, confused yet not at all upset anymore.

“Shen Yuan is fine.” He lifted his head from Luo Binghe’s chest and waved a few fairies over. “As you are with me now, you must have some servants. Take Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed, they will do anything you ask of them.”

“I am hungry?”

The four fairies bowed and scurried off with their tinkling laugh echoing behind. It was not long until they returned with bountiful of juicy fruit and berries, fresh vegetables and earthy roots. Shen Yuan plucked a crisp grape from the offerings and held it to Luo Binghe’s lips. He opened his mouth and allowed him to push it past his lips, his soft fingers lingering on the tender skin of his lips. The fruit burst under his teeth, sweet and flavorful, chilled from the night air. 

Luo Binghe allowed himself to be fed and cooed over, the sweet fairy in his arms, a beauty of the Seelie Court most likely, had somehow fallen for him despite his hideous appearance. The eglantine and myrtle in Shen Yuan’s hair was light and fragrant, tickling Luo Binghe’s nose with its gentle scent as he rested his head upon Luo Binghe’s heartbeat. 

“... You do not mind?” Luo Binghe asked slowly.

“Mn. What is there to mind?”

“I am a monster.”

Shen Yuan lifted his head and took in Luo Binghe— all of Luo Binghe. The grown of horns, the tusks, the claws, the hellish light to his eyes. Only the joyful ring of the dancing fairies broke the bubble of quiet around them as Shen Yuan drank in his features.

“Do you hurt people?”

“Never.”

“Then how are you a monster? My eyes cannot see past my love for you.”

“You’ve been blinded by love-in-idleness then if you cannot see my face.”

“Does it matter? You’re very kind to me. I cannot help but want to be yours and keep you as my own.”

Luo Binghe’s heart swelled, his breath shaken by the lovely words. No one has ever shown him love so selflessly, so purely. He looked upon Shen Yuan and his delicate face, his peach blossom eyes, the dainty turn of his lips, and the lily-white of his skin. Even curled up in the roots of a tree with Luo Binghe, he seemed to be on a throne of nature built to accommodate his slender body. He met Luo Binghe’s gaze unashamedly, his eyes foggy, perhaps with unshed tears, like a misty morning.

There was nothing but open purity and irrevocable love in his face. How could Luo Binghe not fall for him, too?

“Let’s dance,” Shen Yuan breathed. 

Luo Binghe was pulled to his feet and fell into step with him, gentle sways and artful twirls around trees and brush. The fairies laughed and sang them a rhythm to dance, the gentle plucks of a lyre made their song true. Shen Yuan was pale and fair, just a tad taller than him and graceful like the tall stocks of a calla lily. He hummed along to the nonsensical song, a glowing smile on his beautiful face. Small fairies and flecks of light followed their dance, draping Shen Yuan like a cape of light.

He was so caught up in his beauty, the swirling joy of their simple dance, he didn’t notice their feet had left the ground until they brushed the treetops. Green gossamer wings, larger than himself, fluttered delicately in flight on Shen Yuan’s back while small specks of fairies held Luo Binghe’s clothes and feet, ones too small to hold anything held locks of his hair up.

They were truly dancing on air, his own heart bubbling with the sweet melody Shen Yuan sang for him and the unfurling blossoms of newfound love. Why would he ever return to the village where he would be ostracized, hunted for his foul appearance when Shen Yuan was all he needed and more?

The moon was their spotlight as they fluttered higher, swirled and dipped and twirled for an audience of hundreds of little followers. Luo Binghe lifted Shen Yuan and spun him higher, his laugh better than the sweetest song.

A golden kiss was pressed to his lips as they floated down. Pressed to teach tusk, his nose, his horns, the glowing mark, the shadows of his eyes, and once more to his lips. Luo Binghe couldn’t help but sigh into his arms, content and warm.

“Let’s go back, my love,” murmured Shen Yuan. “It is late into the night. Tomorrow we can play some more, but I and my fairies cannot stand the moonlight much longer.”

“Then why are you out? We must hurry then for your sake,” Luo Binghe urged.

“Of course I want to spend all my time with you. Please, let’s go rest.”

The parade of fairies led them deeper into the forest until they came upon a lily pond, an ancient willow tracing its surface with its delicate touch, it’s green curtains swaying to the moonlit breeze. Little fairies parted the natural curtain and led them to the trunk to rest. They bounced up to branches to rest on the wide bough and cozy nests of leaves, their light flickering like festival lanterns, a star-strewn sky made just for them.

Shen Yuan pulled him to the ground and curled up in his arms, tucked close to his heart. He was so warm and light, his skin soft and smooth, Luo Binghe couldn’t help but press a kiss to his head and drift off to sleep with the slowing hum of the fairies.

He awoke alone at the mouth of the forest, tucked under a cypress tree. He scrambled to his feet, dizzy and confused. The sun was rising from the horizon, a pale light that promised a warm summer day. He spun in the spot, looking for something, some one, but he was alone. 

“There you are!” It was Ming Fan and Ning Yingying running up to greet him. “We were looking everywhere for you.”

“You disappeared as the sun set, A-Luo! We were worried!” Ning Yinying cried, tears welling up in her wide eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I- yeah, I think I am.” Luo Binghe held his forehead and traced the corners of his mouth, his nails smooth and no horn or tusk in sight. Why was he looking for horns and tusks…? “Must’ve hit my head.”

“Don’t do that. We gotta go before Shizun yells at us fro being late again,” Ming Fan snipped. “We wasted too much time looking for you.”

“Oh- uh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, A-Luo!” Ning Yingying comforted, clinging onto his arm as they walked back onto the road that led straight into the village. “You must have simply fallen. You don’t look hurt, though. Ah, the fairies must have saved you.”

Ming Fan snorted. “The fairies wouldn’t save him.”

Ning Yingying pouted. “They must have if he’s back! It was midsummer last night they were out to play. They must have found him and brought him back to us.”

“Sure, okay.” He rolled his eyes fondly but didn’t dare bring up the old “the fairies don’t exist” argument.

It didn’t feel right. Luo Binghe knew there was something… missing. Too much time was missing and yet, undeniable warmth permeated his foggy memory.

That night, he had a dream. A spectacle of light, a parade of wonder, a dance on the moonlit sky. A smile so tender and dripping the sweet, honey words of “I love you” in his ears.

He stole his way into the library early the next morning and found what he was looking for.

Shen Yuan, Shen Qingqiu, was one of the rulers of the Seelie Court. The simple name brought back the whole night of memories— the strange curse, the bell-like laughter, the honest wishes of love. The fairies were fickle folk, dream-like, and whimsical on their desires. He must have fallen for their tricks.

Yet, he was in love.

 He delved into studying them, sworn to find Shen Yuan once more and love him forever. The ache in his heart and the breathless yearning in his soul drove him to travel to different scholars, different wells of knowledge from the largest libraries to the little elder of a backwater village.idle

On the next midsummer, braced with his new knowledge and a stronger heart, he trekked into the forest with the plan of never coming back.