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Chapter Text

In all honesty, Shen Yuan is fully prepared to blame his parents in his last life for this tendency of his to let his fascination with creatures get ahead of him. Shen Yuan’s natural resting state was leisurely homebody! It was entirely their idea to direct his attention from fictional monsters to a degree in zoology, a well meant intent on their part to see their youngest son in a respectable profession rather than wasting away at home secretly bored out of his mind and refusing to admit it. Shen Yuan appreciates them more than he can say for trying to take his interests into account in their planning out his life for him.

And for all intents and purposes, it was a mostly successful plan. The classes were interesting, Shen Yuan actually felt moved to engage with his professors and peers, and he willingly left the house of his own will, taking extra-curricular after internship after study abroad. It was a win-win all around!

It’s just too bad his poor parents had no idea that nature was fucking weird. And for Shen Yuan? The weirder, the better.

Instead of bragging to their friends and coworkers that their youngest son was helping save one of China’s dwindling species like tigers or pandas, or researching the regenerative effects of lizards — you know, something recognizable — they instead had to painstakingly explain just what an animal behaviorist does and why, yes, it was a degree that led to a real job. 

And it’s not like Shen Yuan left the country or anything crazy like that! 

...Anymore!

China had plenty of interesting wildlife to keep him close to home! Geeze, you go out of the country one time and you never hear the end of it. Anyway...

This is all to say; Shen Yuan may have let his enthusiasm lead him down an unwise path once he adjusted to this whole transmigration business.

It started like this:

His father in this lifetime is Shen Bochen, a former soldier turned farmer, discharged for taking a wound that permanently lamed his leg. His mother is Dong Baofen, a former tea house hostess turned farmer, glad to be well rid of dealing with rude and entitled customers. They love each other very dearly and their marriage results in three children; a son, then a daughter, then another son.

Shen Yuan is that second son.

It’s a pretty nice life, he thinks? Certainly no modern world with modern amenities but he has a loving, harmonious family and he’s never wanted for food, clothes, or shelter, which is better than others can say. Shen Yuan has read far too many transmigration novels to be ignorant of just how good he’s got it in this new life of his. Sure, being a farmer is far from the life he would have liked to live, but it could be worse! He could be one of those transmigrators with a System looking over his shoulder 24/7, never a moment of peace or true privacy to be had. He can live his life however he likes and if what he likes is looking after the animals on the farm then so be it!

The Shen farm is part of a larger farming village community that was not quite considered on the borderlands but certainly within spitting distance of it with all the goosebumps that implies. Certainly close enough to see its fair share of cultivators passing through in search of glory and a good hunt, as well as the occasional beastie or demon that managed to make it past the true border settlements. Not so coincidentally, begging cultivators passing through for stories (along with a small horde of other village children) is how Shen Yuan puts together he’s in Proud Immortal Demon Way.  

There may have been some screaming.

There may have been some vehement screaming.

But that’s not important! The cow forgave him eventually!

Funnily enough, Shen Yuan hadn’t even intended to pursue cultivation. At all. That way lay being in the path of the protagonist’s quest to mow down the great sects and undoubtedly a gory yet indifferent death as befits an adjacent target of the protagonist’s revenge upon the world. But somehow it just… happened.

It was an accident!

He thought a drunken deer had stumbled into the ravine! How was he to know it was a Qilin in the ass end of nowhere right next to the miasmic borderlands?

It was edging into late summer and all the leftover fruit on the trees coming to the end of their fruiting season were falling and, inevitably, terribly, fermenting. Which means various large grazing animals were eating them by the dozen.

Which means various large grazing animals were stumbling around drunk and ornery.

This was not free entertainment for farmers, by the by. This was an exercise in vigorous swearing and frantic running away as cows and deer and horses and wild hogs and just generally anything big, hooved, and muscley became twice as dangerous to be around, and three times as mean. 

Because, again, a drunk animal was an easily pissed off animal.

So when Shen Yuan had been making his way back from the river with a fresh basket of fish and heard what he thought was a drunken deer snorting and trumpeting from a muddy ditch, he hadn’t exactly been eager to get close enough for a good look. On the other hand, Shen Yuan was also a softy for animals and couldn’t in good conscience leave the poor stupid deer to suffer for however long it took for it to die. So. Shen Yuan had a rope.

Shen Yuan was also very good at lassoing animals courtesy of too many cowboy movies in one life, and far too much practice in this life to get one over his new big brother.

So loveable. Such a dick sometimes. Why was Shen Yuan always the little brother?

A gentle toss of the rope over where he guessed the head was based on the flashes of slender antler, and the rope pulled taut. 

The deer made a loud indignant noise, and Shen Yuan winced. At least it wasn’t pissed off screaming? Don’t ever believe movies, deer would let you know when they were mad. Shen Yuan scooched toward the lip of the ditch cautiously, hands loose just in case the deer decided to slip and fall and drag him over, and peered in, eyes wide, at the...

Well. His first guess wasn’t too far off?

It was sort of a deer thing. If deer were scaly white and blue and green and glittered like a many faceted gem, snouted like a dragon, and tailed like a lion. Something about it tickled his hindbrain but at the time he’d shoved it aside as PIDW weirdness, honestly there were so many rare monsters that only showed up once and never again. Kind of like the thousand year flowers. And the various wives. And the juicy mysteries that get a single honorable mention only to be drowned out by papapa— 

Anyway, he was content to think of it as a simple Deer Thing right up until after he grabbed it by the rope around its neck, helped it climb out of the ditch, and ever so carefully removed the rope as the deer thing swayed and snorted.

“My thanks,” it said, and Shen Yuan leaped right out of his skin.

And also back but that was as much the rank smell of fermented fruit on its breath as much as fear, really.

“Uh,” Shen Yuan said intelligently. “You’re welcome?”

“Nooo,” the deer thing swayed back and forth, “my thanks.”

And then, too fast for Shen Yuan to dodge, it bonked him on the head with its antlers.

He was out like a light.

When he woke up an incense stick later, bleary and indignant, an entire cultivation manual had been magically shoved into his head. 

Thanks, Qilin, you dumb asshole. You just made Shen Yuan plot relevant. 

And that was his first step on the path to being a cultivator.

He really should have taken it for the warning it was.

“You want me to what?” Shen Yuan asked flatly, in plain disbelief at the crazy he just heard come out of someone’s mouth. 

The demonic cultivator Shen Yuan loved to hate and only reluctantly tolerated for the sake of business shifted on the balls of his feet in a manner that might have been ‘nervous awkwardness’ in a lesser man, but given this was Wu fucking Yanzi was probably more like ‘I’m about to lunge for your throat’. The actual human child standing behind said demonic cultivator did shift in apparent nervousness, looking wary and violent and just generally like a feral cat prepared to go off on the next thing to look at it crosswise that Shen Yuan recognized as a particular flavor of Unfortunate City Street Child. And he got picked up by Wu Yanzi? Ouch, tough luck, kid.

“Shen Jiu needs a teacher,” Wu Yanzi repeated, equally flat and no small amount annoyed. “I’ve tried doing it myself but he’s not taking well to my cultivation style.”

Double ouch.  

Shen Yuan doesn’t bother hiding his wince. “Why would he? Humans can’t actually learn demonic cultivation, Senior Wu! It’s in the name! That’s how they sicken and die! Sicken, qi deviate, and then die,” he amended. 

He almost blew a gasket when Wu Yanzi pursed his mouth unhappily, and the kid turned white and furiously wide eyed, hands balling into fists. So the kid’s already had at least one qi deviation under his belt, possibly more, before Wu Yanzi rethought teaching some human kid demonic arts. He repressed a sigh and reluctantly exchanged his shephard hat for his professional babysitter cap.

“So it’s like this then,” Shen Yuan concluded. “Alright, Shen Jiu, was it? C’mere, I need to get a good look at you.” The glares he got from both of them were damn near venomous. The kid he wasn’t surprised by; all adults were enemies as far as street kids were concerned, though how Wu Yanzi coaxed one into tagging along with him was a mystery Shen Yuan wasn’t sure he could comprehend. But the demonic cultivator himself? Damn, he must be more attached than Shen Yuan thought.

Shen Jiu warily shuffled closer and extended his wrist for Shen Yuan to hold, still tense and poised to bolt.

Now, to be clear, Shen Yuan was not any kind of professional healer. Sure, he’s had some basic first aid — and basic cultivator first aid — pounded into his head over the years, but his true specialty is soothing, cleansing, and purifying, end to end. That’s it. There’s also some stuff in there with water and fire spells but honestly, it’s cantrip level compared to the rest. 

(Where were the lightning bolts! The sword forms! The cool talismans that could level mountains!

If ever Shen Yuan needed more of a sign he was just a side character in this world, this was it. This was obviously some kind of set up for some hermit-y sage type character that some pretty sister would inevitably need to go to for healing only for said hermit-y sage type character to just fucking die and/or be useless besides pointing her and/or the protagonist in a papapa direction! Exactly the kind of overly contrived and useless plot arc that had Shen Yuan spitting blood all over his screen! The outrage of being made a dead end side bit in exactly that kind of braindead excuse for sex, Shen Yuan wanted a refund!

But, it was a cultivation style so Shen Yuan grudgingly knuckled down and learned it properly.)

But anyway, what he could do was more than sufficient to repair a kid’s meridians, probably. He’s pretty sure? He’s only ever practiced on demonic and unorthodox cultivators out here in the borderlands; not exactly an excess of righteous cultivators willing to let a demonic cultivator outcast like himself root around in their systems. Not that he’s a demonic cultivator in the first place, he’s unorthodox at worst, but you make friends with one (1) demonic beastie and suddenly you’re a villain for not dying in a futile one-on-one battle in which puny human you are entirely outmatched.

Shen Jiu’s budding meridians are a mess and his spirit veins bruised, nothing too onerous to fix but it still made Shen Yuan sigh. 

“You’re lucky you came to me when you did,” Shen Yuan informed them, then turned to Shen Jiu specifically because it was his body and it would be rude to talk over his head when this was about him. “It’s nothing I can’t fix with a little time and care. You’re young, you’re malleable. You can bounce back from this just fine. But the next time you start having qi deviations you need to stop what you’re doing immediately before you do yourself permanent damage, alright? Your Shifu knows where to find me, so come find me.”

Shen Jiu tried to control his reaction but couldn’t quite lock down the way his eyes widened and his face went a touch paler. That’s right, kid. Total professional here telling you to take better care of yourself.

“Then it’s settled then,” Wu Yanzi grunted. “I’ll be back in a month. Brat better still be in one piece still.”

Shen Yuan glared. “As always, Senior Wu, I practice the habit of returning things in better condition than I receive them.” Shen Jiu flinched a bit and Shen Yuan shot him an apologetic look; not the best choice of words then. He patted the kid on the head in apology. Shen Jiu didn’t seem to know how to react to that and settled for outrage. Typical. 

"Well then, come along, kid," Shen Yuan said, stifling a sigh with long practice. "I hope you like tents. I'm currently, erm, between roofs I guess you could say."

"So you're homeless," Shen Jiu said tonelessly.

"No?" Shen Yuan blinked. "I mean, technically? My cottage got smashed when my— uh, pack beast got a little enthusiastic and didn't slow in time. I'm rebuilding it!" He added at Shen Jiu's less than impressed teenager face.

“Oh, whatever,” Shen Yuan huffed. “Come on, let’s get your stuff put up. Then I have to introduce you to Dajie so she’ll know you’re friendly. Her species are very territorial. Trust me, you don’t want to be on her bad side. It’ll be the last thing you ever do.”

“You’re… packbeast?” Shen Jiu said, suddenly nervous and trying not to show it. “The one that took out a house?”

“Guess you better make a good impression on Dajie then.”

It was probably mean to tease the kid like this. Seeing the looks on people’s faces when he introduced his best animal buddy was his favorite past time, honestly.

“...That’s a rhino,” Shen Jiu said blankly.

They stood at the top of a short cliff, more soil than rock. Below was a floodplain, long dried of its ancient river and grown lush. A single, pitch black rhinoceros with a gleaming, crescent moon shaped horn grazed idly, making the occasional whuffing sound and idly swishing her tail. Every now and again a red, fleshy snake poked out of her mouth and flicked its tongue.

“A Black Moon Python Rhinoceros, to be exact,” Shen Yuan said proudly. As well he should be. You could very well say this big, deadly lady represented a culmination of his life’s work!

Shen Yuan was, at heart, a nerd. Thoroughly a nerd. Specifically, for cool monsters and magical beasts. In another lifetime Shen Yuan was that kid who knew all kinds of weird facts about animals, and thanks to his then-parents he’d been well on his way to making a career out of it. This, in conjunction with a cultivation style that enabled him to project an aura of Calm and Soothing that worked even on demonic beasts, meant Shen Yuan could set himself up as the most knowledgeable beast tamer outside a major sect. Take that Heng-ge! You said he couldn’t do it!

And the culmination, the pinnacle, of this multi-life’s work was befriending a magnificent Black Moon Python Rhinoceros.

And her herd.

“...It’s a demon rhino.”

Shen Yuan sighed. “Yes. It is, indeed, a demon rhino. Shen Jiu is very astute.”

Shen Jiu glared at him, no doubt thinking of various ways to maim him when his guard was down. Since Shen Yuan lived in the borderlands and was the unfortunate, beleaguered babysitter of every vaguely demonic brat within a li, for reasons that were entirely opaque to him, Shen Yuan just found it vaguely child-cute. 

“Well, come along then, time to introduce you.” Shen Yuan whistled to get Dajie’s attention. Her ears perked up and swiveled in their direction, her large head following a moment later.

Shen Jiu paled in alarm. “Wait, but—!”

Shen Yuan shushed him. “Calm down, kid, I’m hardly going to shove you down there. Heavens, what a disaster that would be! No, we’re just gonna stay up here, nice and easy, nice and calm, and let Dajie approach herself.” The kid tried to bolt. Well practiced, Shen Yuan just wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him back and behind, letting him feel that Shen Yuan was between him and the threat. “Alright?”

Shen Jiu had gone white, eyes wide, and breathing tightly. Poor kid was having a time of it. “Do we have to do this now? Can’t we do it later?” Or never, his face said, let’s do this never you fucking crazy person.

“Yeah, Shen Jiu, unfortunately we do.” Shen Yuan felt for him, he did, he really did, but sadly for the both of them they lived in Proud Immortal Demon Way where letting your guard down and hoping for the best just invited the insidious bastardry of the perpetual angst/whump subplot to kick you in the ‘nads. Shen Yuan had come to learn the ins and outs of the various drama thresholds that tempted it over the years, painstakingly. Sometimes it could be warded off by preempting imminent potential drama, like so, sometimes you could only delay it by hinting at some bigger, even juicier drama in the future. It was times like that that had Shen Yuan thanking his lucky stars he hadn’t been saddled with a System.

Therefore, it was imperative that Dajie know not to gore the kid on sight. An animal like a Black Moon Python Rhinoceros carried a lot of potential for drama, like a weight on the fabric of the narrative, an unsuspecting bystander might get caught in the gravity well. Best to nip all that in the bud right away. This way the kid could at least get it over with at the start and sleep off the trauma later.

Dajie had meandered a little over halfway towards them before stopping, back to nuzzling at the grass, content to be close enough to hear them but didn’t seem to be interested in petting right now. Slowly, ever so incrementally, the tenseness went out of the kid’s frame, enough that he felt it safe to let go.

Shen Yuan took it as an invitation to do what he liked to do best; ramble about cool monsters. “Now, we’re just trying to get Dajie accustomed to the sound of your voice. Rhinos have very poor eyesight, but very rich anxiety. They make up for it by having good hearing. Black Moon Python Rhinoceroses further compensate with the snake’s extraordinary sense of smell. But, again, very anxious, new elements in their environment tend to freak them out because chances are they won’t see it coming if it means to prey on them. And you, kid, are a new element in the environment.”

“Oh.” Shen Jiu’s nose scrunched delicately. He was silent for a long minute before asking, “do I...have to say anything special?”

“What, like an incantation?” He couldn’t help it, he laughed. Shen Jiu glared. What a brave kid. Frightened near to tears yet still shoving it aside to think. Shen Yuan could like him. “No, no! Nothing like that! We’ll just talk normally, time and consistency will do the rest.”

“But I thought…” Shen Jiu swallowed whatever he was about to say, then his expression firmed and bulled his way forward anyway. “Shifu said you were an infamous beast tamer. If you’re so good, how come your beast destroyed your home?” Shen Jiu flung an imperious hand out to indicate the rhino below, and to his credit kept his voice low and level. “You can’t even control that; one beast? Are you another one of Shifu’s conmen associates?”

A silence laid between them, swelling with poignant feelings.

Or so Shen Yuan assumed, he mostly just blinked at the huffing and puffing teenager. So it was like thus, huh? The reality of meeting him no doubt dashing the fantasy Wu Yanzi sold him on The Infamous Beast Tamer of the borderlands. This wasn’t an uncommon reaction for Shen Yuan to run into. When you had a Name people expected you to live up to it, when really, most of the time Shen Yuan was just vibing in peace. 

Really, the only thing Shen Yuan could bring himself to do was laugh. So he did. 

“Alright, alright, kid,” he said between breathless chuckles. “You wanna see something? Watch this.” 

And with that, turned and slid down the short cliff, catching Dajie’s attention. He cooed so she’d know it was him, watching carefully as her ears flicked and relaxed. 

“Hey, Dajie,” he said, ambling closer, “is the grass nice here? You seem to like it well enough. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you like it more than me.” The words weren’t actually important, he could blather complete nonsense and it’d be just as fine; what was important was the familiarity of the sound of his voice.

Dajie’s black hide was thick and solid to the touch, but much like a normal rhino she was sensitive to touch and loved affection. Her eyes squinted contentedly as he pet her enormous head, smoothing both hands along her cheek, forehead, and tapered snout. A smaller, red, and fleshy snout peeked out of her mouth, forked tongue sampling the air briefly before retreating, making sure her person really was her person.

Any sect cultivator looking at this sweet picture would die choking up blood in swift order. Who would ever be so crazy as to pet an A-class monster like this, ah!

Smoothly, before Dajie remembered that things like belly rubs existed and got pouty and demanding, Shen Yuan gave her one last past and ambled back up to where Shen Jiu was looking very wide eyed.

“How was that?” Shen Yuan said smugly.

Shen Jiu shot him a sulky glare.

Shen Yuan risked a single pat on his shoulder and counted himself lucky to retract his hand with all five fingers intact.

“There’s a fundamental difference between taming and subjugation, Shen Jiu,” Shen Yuan explained. He’s not surprised Shen Jiu doesn’t know the difference. A lot of cultivators, even the ones that ought to know better, got this idea in their heads that a beast tamer could simply wave a talisman, chant a spell, and bring any beast under their thrall. And they technically could do that! But that was mere mind control, not actual taming. And he tells Shen Jiu all this, “Actual taming involves a lot of patience, understanding, and respect. That’s what builds a lasting bond. Not force, not fear, not any kind of domination save the natural language of the species.” He shrugged, smiling wryly. “When it comes to minds and hearts there are simply no shortcuts.”

He can’t tell what Shen Jiu thinks of all this, the kid has clammed up tight. That’s fine. The kid got taken under Wu Yanzi’s wing, of all bastards, human cultivation was probably all new to him. 

Hmm. 

Come to think of it, he should probably find out how old the kid is and when exactly he came into Wu Yanzi’s dubious care. He doesn’t imagine it’s a pretty story; he knows Wu Yanzi, however reluctantly.

“Anyway, let’s swap stories.” Shen Yuan nodded decisively. “Get to know each other!”

“I don’t want to,” Shen Jiu immediately shot him down. “Tell me more about cultivation instead.”

“Oh c’mon, you’re the one who’s supposed to be talking here!” Shen Yuan protested. “Here, tell me what you know about cultivation and I’ll tell you if it’s safe for you, demonic, or bullshit.”

Shen Jiu eyed him suspiciously for a long minute. “Fine.”

Aha! The babysitting credentials were finally coming in handy.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan was up bright and early the next morning. 

He had a lot of work ahead of him, getting his house fixed back up. Dajie had done quite a number on the front room, knocking down the wall and trampling some furniture underfoot before she could extract herself. And by extract, Shen Yuan means barreling through his bedroom and out another wall, snorting in confusion all the way. Good ol’ Dajie, always keeping life unpredictable.

Shen Jiu was a limp lump in his bedroll, in the way only exhausted teengers manage, so Shen Yuan leaves breakfast and a note next to him before he leaves.

Repairing the house, at least, would be simple enough. It was just earth packed walls around a basic wooden support structure. Dajie had taken out a pillar or two, some branches in between, but nothing Shen Yuan can’t replace. The real mess — after the initial trampling mess, of course — was repacking the walls.

Shen Yuan sighs. 

He can’t even be that mad at Dajie; that freak thunder storm had come out of nowhere and startled her out of a dead sleep. She just wanted the comfort of her herdmate! 

Maybe he should think about moving elsewhere for a season or two? Shen Yuan considers this glumly. Give it half a season more and Dajie will take to her heels across the Divide between the human and demon realms, driven by a female rhino’s natural instinct to roam. She was full grown now, it very well could be she’d come back from her roaming pregnant. Oh, that would be so cute! A little rhino baby gamboling across the floodplain on Dajie’s heels, possibly two if Dajie had twins!

Although, Shen Yuan conceded, patting the top of a new dirt block, it probably wouldn’t be safe to get too close to Dajie under those circumstances. Shen Yuan was her herdmate, and that was a delicate enough balance as it is. Shen Jiu would have to packed off into the dubious care of Wu Yanzi, and all the rest of his babysat regulars strongly discouraged from coming around until the babe had grown some and Dajie wasn’t as high strung about it.

Well, anyway, this is all for Future Shen Yuan to worry about!

Present Shen Yuan only needs to worry about getting his house in order. Still, the idea was tantalizing. Wouldn’t it be nice to move to the city for the winter?

Ever since that one adventure that resulted in what people were still calling the Council of Eight Evils the old settlements in the borderlands were recovering nicely.

Yes, Shen Yuan thought, satisfied. When Dajie took off at the end of summer, he’ll skip on down to Spirit Bridge City until spring. Last he heard, the auction houses were up and running again like they hadn’t in decades since the encroachment of the border. Perhaps he’d find something worthwhile to amuse himself with. Maybe visit a few colleagues and get some gossip that didn’t start and end with a radish field.

Shen Jiu shows up sometime when the sun is high in the sky and Shen Yuan was starting to consider breaking for lunch. Somehow, the correlation of both these things don’t feel like a coincidence.

“Couldn’t find my pantry?” Shen Yuan greeted him dryly, to which Shen Jiu flushed tellingly.

“What pantry?” Shen Jiu retorted sullenly, ducking his chin defensively. “Your tent’s as empty as your reputation.”

“So you couldn’t find it,” Shen Yuan concluded. “Well, it’s about time I took a break anyway. After lunch do you want to come with for afternoon lessons?”

Shen Jiu blinked, reluctant intrigue creeping up his face. “Afternoon lessons?”

“En, I’m the closest local equivalent to a free scholar around these parts so the families with children pay me in dry goods to tutor the cute little brats,” Shen Yuan explained as he rinsed the dirt and sweat from his hands and face. “Reading, writing, math, the abacus, geography, local history, magical fauna and flora, meditation, I even have this old guqin if you’re interested. After running around with that brutish Senior Wu I imagine you must be starved for a little civilization. I know I would be.”

Shen Jiu eyed him warily, then sniffed, turning away. “I don’t want to sit with a bunch of snot-nosed country brats.”

Tamping down his reflexive surge of annoyance, Shen Yuan mentally translated the vitriol; it would be embarrassing to sit with kids younger then me, worse if our education levels are equivalent, and grabbed hold of patience.

“That’s fine, you might be too much a distraction for them anyway,” Shen Yuan said, deliberately choosing not to acknowledge Shen Jiu’s prickly attitude. “We can assess where your education is over lunch and I’ll pick up where you left off wherever I can, how’s that?”

The kid seemed to find that agreeable enough.

After lunch, Shen Yuan led him across the way to the sparse handful of local businesses tying together all the families in the region into a coalition one could generously term a village with a handful of spit and a prayer. Despite it’s farflung nature, the region had only gotten more populated in the last decade as border cities recovered. By necessity, Shen Yuan’s residence was even more distant from the village ‘center’ than anyone else’s, which he only begrudged a little since he couldn’t exactly ride Dajie to and fro as casually as anyone else in possession of a large herbivore.

Dajie didn’t mind so much if her herdmate wanted to clamber on her, but she would mind crowds.

Belying his aloof attitude, Shen Jiu looked around with interest. To someone from a city it probably didn’t look like much; there was a tiny apothecary across from an equally tiny temple, a restaurant that doubled as an inn, a mill, a butcher shop, a tailor shop, a smithy, and a tannery off to the side. There were a couple residential houses among them, mostly the people running businesses full time rather then operating equipment for the community in between their own farming. As it was only midsummer, the restaurant was bustling with people at loose ends in the afternoon, swapping liquor and gossip and well-worn complaints.

“This is it?” Shen Jiu asked, following Shen Yuan to the temple. Shen Yuan has no idea who the temple belonged to; the statue had crumbled at the edges, and the holy scriptures rotted decades ago. Best anyone could tell it was some martial god who liked flowers, or maybe a particularly militant agricultural god. The only thing anyone agreed on was that it’d be rude to oust a god from their home, known or not. 

Anyway, Mr. Sword and Flowers didn’t seem to mind them coopting his temple for schooling so there never seemed much sense in erecting a separate building for the children. That might change later as more people came to live here, who knows.

“Just about,” Shen Yuan agreed. “There’s a proper city a few li west, Spirit Bridge City, but that’s sitting right next to the boundary with the demon realm so most of the time people save up for the few day journey to the town east for any mundane needs. That’s been changing the last few years though.” A quick rummage at the altar turned up a few sticks of incense. “Come say hello to Mr. Sword and Flowers with me.”

Shen Jiu blinked, taken aback, and glanced over the old, worn away statue. “Mr. who?”

“Mr. Sword and Flowers,” Shen Yuan repeated, lighting the incense. “No one around here really knows his name but we had to call him something. It’s only polite.”

“...I’ve never paid respects to a god before,” Shen Jiu said, flat with reluctance. He eyed the statue like it was going to come alive and scold him for his impertinence.

Shen Yuan stifled a snort.

“It’s fine, Mr. Sword and Flowers isn’t the fussy type,” Shen Yuan said, clapping his hands together and bowing his head in respect. “Just say hello, thank him for his hospitality, and promise not to make a mess of his place.”

That out of the way, Shen Yuan went about setting up the long benches for his little horde of brats.

They started trickling in by ones and twos within the next half hour, a full dozen and a half kids of mixed ages. They greeted Shen Yuan with various amounts of enthusiasm and politeness, and peered at Shen Jiu with undisguised curiosity.

Shen Jiu stared back just as much at little fangs, pointed ears, tiny claws, and equally nubby horns peppered across half the children.

“You…” Shen Jiu trailed off, shuffling closer. “They’re…”

“Yep,” Shen Yuan said to his unasked question. “Don’t mind us, we just want to get along and get on with our business out here. Understand?”

Shen Jiu ducked his chin, quiet. “Shifu doesn’t look like any of them.”

Shen Yuan supposed that was true. If you didn’t know Wu Yanzi was a half-demon, you’d never guess by the look of him. Just your average, garden variety asshole out to make his bad attitude everyone else’s problem.

“Well, not every demon looks overtly demonic,” Shen Yuan offered. “And adults can hide their features to blend in. I’ve never seen Senior Wu look anything other than human though, so I don’t know where he falls on the spectrum.” Anyway, his brats were all here so he should really get lessons started.

“Alright, enough milling around! Everyone find a seat!” 

Wordlessly, Shen Jiu slipped out the door.

“Had fun exploring?” Shen Yuan inquired later, Shen Jiu having shown back up as the lesson petered to a close, and Shen Yuan having ushered Shen Jiu across the street to the inn/restaurant for dinner.

Shen Jiu frowned into his tisane, turning the clay cup between his hands. He barely acknowledged Sister Hu bringing over a tray of steaming, fragrant food. 

“No,” he eventually said, surly. “There’s absolutely nothing out here. Why do you stick around to blather about animals to brats?”

Resignedly, Shen Yuan sent up a prayer to the local deity for the strength to get through yet another repeat of the ‘you’re wasting your potential!’ talk.

“Because it’s important,” Shen Yuan said, firm on this ground. “Because I’ve weighed what I want versus what I can do, versus what satisfies me to do, and I’ve concluded that what I want, what I can do, what satisfies me to do, is to teach, to research, to share, and in my own meager way to help the common people. This is a cultivator’s proper duty. I could be happy as a teacher in a larger school, it’s true, I could even be happy in a sect were I ever inclined to join one — and they stopped slandering me for two seconds of my life. But right here is my home. These roots are my roots, and these people are my people. My duty is to them. Not to arbitrary glory given to me by strangers who itch to tear it off me with the same hands they use to gift me accolades. Does that answer your question?”

Shen Jiu bowed his head, shoulders hunching. “I see. Shen-laoshi’s put a lot of thought into this.”

“Shen Jiu—” Shen Yuan started, gaze darting to Shen Jiu’s white-knuckled grip on his chopsticks, forcing his tone even. “Just because I have a certain direction I’m going in doesn’t automatically make it a criticism on the direction others want to take. There are over ten-thousand ways to reach the Dao, and each are important.”

Saying such, Shen Yuan forced his shoulders to relax and redirected his attention to his food. Waited patiently. Sure enough, Shen Jiu stopped looking liable to stab him in the next second, temper flaring and banking like a coal, and more willing to pick a more verbal venue of attack.

“So you’re saying the sects are full of two-faced assholes? Is that it?” Shen Jiu bit out. “That they don’t help people, that they—” whatever Shen Jiu intended to say died in his throat, stillborn.

Hmm. Not sure where all this is coming from. Shen Yuan’s brow rose. Seemed pretty personal, actually, not what Shen Yuan would have expected. But then, Shen Jiu wouldn’t be the first kid to elevate the mysterious and powerful sects on a pedestal from sheer lack of familiarity, and no small amount of hope.

“I’m saying the sects are large territorial organizations that necessitate a good deal of politics to maintain a harmonious relationship within and without — which just so happens to be the natural habitat of, ah, two-faced assholes,” Shen Yuan replied evenly.

Despite his temper, that wrings a bark of a laugh from the teenager. Shen Yuan smiled inwardly, triumphant, as the tension released in Shen Jiu’s posture.

“If Shen Jiu really wants to join a sect,” and Shen Yuan is certain not a word of this ambition had so much as ever been breathed in Wu Yanzi’s direction, “that’s fine. There are lots of very good reasons to do so. Resources, for one. The guarantee of shelter, supplies, money, food. And credibility too! A sect cultivator can get away with things that a rogue cultivator would be run out of town for simply because the sect he belongs to guarantees the quality of his honor.”

“So would you join a sect then, if you weren’t… ah, wanted for deviant practices?” Shen Jiu asked.

Shen Yuan shrugged. “I honestly never got the chance to consider it. And even if I did, I probably would still come back here eventually. The borderlands are no sect territory, Shen Jiu. Other than a couple groups that pop by once in a blue moon when they’re feeling brave, no cultivator looks after these lands. All the demon raids scared them off.”

“But not you?”

“But not me,” Shen Yuan agreed, letting his smile flash teeth, then gentled it. “But enough about me; let’s talk about you. And your education.”

Shen Jiu’s education so far was wouldn’t be out of place in a humble scribe, which was odd considering Shen Yuan’s impression of him so far. He was literate, if not impressive, and had memorized several classic texts as writing practice at some point in the last few years. Mathematically, he could run a household’s finances without too much problem, but the higher maths were beyond him. Geography was basic at best. His knowledge of history was fine enough, if broad, as was his grasp on law. And Shen Jiu himself insisted he was learned in the basics of guqin.

Cultivation-wise— it was a disaster. Gods, no wonder the kid was qi deviating. Wu Yanzi had fully inherited a demonic constitution that was wholly unsuited for human cultivation — and it showed. Shen Jiu had — and this was the kindest Shen Yuan could put it — no foundation in the habits of clarity, self-honesty, and discipline that kept cultivators from wrecking themselves in the pursuit of power.

Shen Yuan had his work cut out for him with this one. 

After dinner, safely ensconced back in his trusty tent, Shen Yuan instructed Shen Jiu in the basics of meditation. Despite his open spirit veins and talent for qi manipulation even untaught, Shen Yuan would very much peg Shen Jiu at Qi Condensation stage; the poor kid had no idea how to filter indrawn qi of impurities, he was clogging himself terribly.

“Don’t touch your qi, in fact don’t touch any qi at all!” Shen Yuan ordered, unmoved by the mulish teenager glare burning a hole in his forehead. He moved to sit behind Shen Jiu at a careful arm’s length, electing to ignore the twitch to a knife up his sleeve. Go ahead, kid, you wouldn’t be the first to try. “I’m going to circulate your qi for you, I want you to pay careful attention.”

For healthy meridians, qi ought to flow like water through irrigation, reaching all parts of the body and invigorating them with strength and vitality, much like water invigorated a field. Shen Jiu’s were a tangled mess. To follow the metaphor, parts of him were being underwatered and other parts were being overwatered.

Under Shen Yuan’s patient guidance, that nasty tangle gently unraveled. This early into the damage, at Shen Yuan’s level of skill, for him it was not unlike untangling a sulky kitten from a mess of yarn. Shen Jiu relaxed in his hands, first stiff, almost shocked, and then relived, as if a painful joint had popped or a stiff muscle had finally loosened. Smooth at last, Shen Yuan circulated qi through the kid’s meridian’s once, twice, and thrice for good measure. Teaching the body and mind what a healthy flow feels like and reinforcing the structure.

To his amusement, Shen Jiu was half asleep by the time he finished.

“Teenagers,” Shen Yuan huffed, amused, and bundled the kid into his cot. Sleep was the best thing for a body. And, honestly, probably for the best if Shen Jiu lied still for an hour or eight while his system resettled back into normalcy.

After tucking the kid in, Shen Yuan ducked out of the tent and stretched with a satisfied sigh. 

The stars were beautiful tonight, the night sky shot through with vivid clouds of purple and burnt orange and faint pinks all a-glitter.

“On a night like this, who needs the moon, hmm?” Shen Yuan mused to himself, ambling down to the flood plain where Dajie awaited.

The Black Moon Python Rhinoceros was settled on her stomach, legs curled under. Not wanting to startle her, Shen Yuan breaks into song. Keeping his voice low in respect to the hour, he sings something melancholic about a yearning lover wrapped up in a metaphor about a waning moon. Dajie’s ears flick and she snorts in his direction, but she doesn’t startle. Merely shifts to get comfortable in the grass as Shen Yuan settles against her bulky side.

He can’t sleep cuddled up like this, more’s the pity. If Dajie rolled in her sleep she’d crush him to death, no question.

But it was nice to be close to his herdmate.

He can still remember how little she was when they first met; him a gangling teenager barely older than Shen Jiu is now, and her a half-grown juvenile.

It had been his first trip across the Divide; an eminently stupid quest to get a bird egg for a hermit who turned out to be a demonic cultivator. He’d found the stupid bird egg, and he also found a dead mother Black Moon Python Rhinoceros with her guts torn out, her baby huddled against her too still back. 

At the time, Shen Yuan had been mostly of a mind to leave the little thing there. Even as babies, Black Moon Python Rhinoceroses were hardy as hell, and he certainly didn’t want to stick around to get attacked by whatever killed its mother. That was just begging for death.

Unfortunately for his teenage peace of mind, his cultivation’s burgeoning aura of Soothing Peace hit just the right buttons in a baby rhino’s mind to register him as safe to herd with.

It was very funny. 

Afterwards. 

Long afterwards. 

Heng-ge never did stop giving him shit about all the baby animals that started following him home.

Mentally shaking a fist in his brother’s general direction, Shen Yuan absently hoped he got a pebble caught in his shoe and fail to find it.

…he should introduce Shen Jiu to Shen Heng. And Shen Xiabao-jie. And his parents. Shen Jiu could use that kind of stability in his life.

“What do you think, Dajie, shall we take a trip back to the family farm before summer ends?” Shen Yuan mused. “It’ll be nice. We could introduce Shen Jiu to mom and dad and— and…” On second thought, introducing Shen Jiu in his currently feral state to Shen Bochen, with his too knowing stares that go all the way through you, and Dong Baofen, with her honed sense for smuggled items in pockets and sleeves—

Yeah. Maybe taking Shen Jiu to meet the family farm can wait until he’s further along the domestication process.

…much further.

“Hmm, maybe we’ll just invite Heng-ge and Xiabao-jie over here instead,” Shen Yuan murmured to the sleeping rhino. “That shouldn’t be too hair-raising.” Heng-ge’s insouciant ways would probably get him stabbed, but eh. Such was life. Shen Yuan trusted he wouldn’t get himself stabbed so badly Shen Yuan couldn’t patch him back together. And Xiabao-jie might be persuaded to bring along her latest experiments in brewing liquor. They could make a real party of things!

Shen Jiu would have to drink his share watered down though. Xiabao-jie’s spirit fruit wines were no joke.

“Well, we’ll see.” Shen Yuan nodded to himself. That bastard Wu Yanzi said he’d be back in a month, so any long term plans would have to wait until he’d hashed out whether Wu Yanzi would be dumping his kid in his custody on the regular, or if Shen Yuan was going to have smuggle the kid to a sympathetic enough sect and give the demonic cultivator the old run around about it.

Ugh, that means he’ll have to go poking around the sects to see who’s touting tolerance for poor people and which ones actually mean it. Ugh.  

“Maybe I’ll just get the latest gossip when I hit up Spirit Bridge City. Jiao Zong’s always weirdly up to date for a guy who’s probably forgotten what life’s like when you’re not a wanted criminal…”

But if he talks to Jiao Zong, inevitably he’ll have to talk to the rest of the Council of Eight Evils — fucking dramatic ass name, if you ask Shen Yuan. Not even accurate!

Only half the council might count as evil.

Though he supposes the Council of Four Evils, One Good Guy, and Three Ambiguous Assholes isn’t anywhere near as catchy, so eh.

Heaving a sigh, Shen Yuan hauls himself to his feet, gives Dajie a good pat, and ambles up the short cliff overlooking the floodplain. The grass was just as soft here. The midsummer air was delightful at this time of night, cooled enough to be refreshing but still warm and heavy enough to pass as all the blanket he’d need.

Life was good, despite being in the hell nest that is Proud Immortal Demon Way. He shouldn’t think that, that’s how you forget the stupid plot was always in a state of building up its next tsunami, but sometimes it’s true. Sometimes, life was soft grass, and summer air, and hypnotic insect buzzing, and the stars wheeling overhead — great, enormous furnaces of the gods churning out the building blocks of all existence — and your herdmate snoring away at the edge of your hearing, feeling so safe she barely twitched at all the noise Shen Yuan made.

Sometimes, the present was enough.