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Chapter Text

Shen Qingqiu heard about the attack on Bai Zhan Peak while he was doing important self-reflection in his bamboo house, and not taking a several hour nap--like some would choose to believe. The crash from the peak was loud enough to wake him up with a start from his deep meditation that he may or may not have dozed off during.

Shen Qingqiu at first was annoyed at having been woken up, but then worry settled at what could have possibly caused such a commotion. In the following year after the Immortal Alliance Conference, the Cang Qiong Mountain peaks had been relatively peaceful. Shen Qingqiu guessed the drama and fire followed the protagonist, leaving Qing Jing Peak rather uneventful--not that Shen Qingqiu didn’t mind not almost dying every couple days.

Shen Qingqiu left his bamboo house to find out what was happening by asking the nearest disciple. The disciple he stumbled upon was in the middle of running around, seemingly in a panic, and they stopped their run at the sight of the Peak Lord.

“Shizun.” The disciple bowed a little hastily to Shen Qingqiu, trying their best to maintain a somewhat refined air in his presence.

“What caused that noise?” Shen Qingqiu asked, getting straight to the point.

“It came from Bai Zhan Peak, we’re assuming it's an attack from multiple monsters,” the disciple answered.

Bai Zhan Peak? That seemed highly unlikely, that place was full of nothing but fighters. If they were to get attacked it would be more like the enemy felt like getting its skull bashed in. If Bai Zhan Peak was actually under attack, this had to be some super powerful monsters.

Before Shen Qingqiu could give advice to the disciple, another crash sounded from off in the distance where Bai Zhan Peak was.

Where was Liu Qingge when his sect was under attack? Was he off on another hunt to kill a monster?

Another crash sounded and Shen Qingqiu made up his mind. If Liu Qingge wasn’t going to be there for his sect, then Shen Qingqiu would be. It wasn’t like Shen Qingqiu was doing anything to begin with...he doubted he’d be able to return to his sleep--meditation--with all this commotion.

Without A Cure was still very present in Shen Qingqiu but he was already on his way out to worry too much about it. He hadn’t been bothered by it for months now, what with his frequent medication and meridian cleansings he had. Shen Qingqiu flew low on his sword, just in case his poison decided to act up, leading to him plummeting to his death.

Sword flying was possibly one of Shen Qingqiu’s favourite things about this trashy novel universe, it was a super effective way of transportation and not to mention extremely fun. Or at least it was fun until Shen Qingqiu’s Without A Cure kicked in and he suddenly wasn’t able to go secretly flying around anymore or else he could possibly die.

Luckily, Without A Cure was deciding to be nice to Shen Qingqiu today and he arrived at Bai Zhan Peak without a single disturbance.

From the short distance up on his sword, Shen Qingqiu could see the state of the battlegrounds that was mostly taking place in the Bai Zhan Peak training area. Bai Zhan Peak disciples were fighting off an obscenely large amount of wriggling human sized worm creatures. They had sharp teeth and were covered in spikes, however, this wasn’t a problem for the Bai Zhan disciples who easily cut through the masses.

Shen Qingqiu sighed as he recognized the monsters. They were a single chapter appearance in Proud Immortal Demon Way but Shen Qingqiu remembered them because he was annoyed at the author for making such a cliche enemy.

Shen Qingqiu landed a little off to the side of the worm infested battlegrounds to inspect the place. The worm creatures behaved like bees while also being very similar to the myth of the two headed dragon where if you cut one head off, two more would grow in its place.

The worms were like bees because if you attacked the queen bee--the worm leader--every single other worker worm would instantly attack the killer. The queen bee worm had the power of regeneration, which meant if you killed the worm, it’d be back. Cut the main head off, now you have to fight two heads and a whole swarm of angry worms.

Shen Qingqiu, however, knew exactly how to kill the queen bee. Luo Binghe had seduced wife #211 by killing the worm with her. Wife #211 was skilled with the sword and her and Binghe had bonded by fighting monsters together...only to never fight monsters together again after being added to the harem, go figure. Shen Qingqiu took a moment out of his search for the queen bee to curse his Airplane bro.

Shen Qingqiu found the queen bee worm right where he expected it to be. Right smack in the middle of the battle, surrounded by loyal worm underlings forming a protective circle around the queen who had five heads now since someone had failed the first time and decided to just keep going at it.

Since clearly all the disciples had no idea how to properly kill the main worm, Shen Qingqiu was going to take that credit. He was just going to quickly carve his way through the throng of worms and kill the leader worm in one swift move before his poison could decide to make itself known in him.

That was it, it’d be easy. Of course, he’d have to pick up an extra sword to actually kill the queen bee, but whatever, all Shen Qingqiu had to do was ask and a disciple would offer their sword to him.

Shen Qingqiu joined the fight, easily swiping down any worm that got too close. He made steady progress towards the big group of worms protecting the queen, it was honestly child's play compared to his power.

Or it was supposed to be child's play. The familiar sudden loss of spiritual energy made Shen Qingqiu wanna cry and just lay down and admit defeat. It was like a candle getting snuffed out, one moment Shen Qingqiu was slaying any enemy in his path and the next he was just standing there, the legendary sword Xiu Ya in his hand vanishing at the lack of spiritual power to summon it.

“Why now? Can’t I have just one victory without you being like this?!” Shen Qingqiu wailed to himself, cursing the poison that ran through his veins.

His Without A Cure hadn’t bothered him in so long, Mu Qingfan’s medicine along with Liu Qingge’s regular visits to clear his meridians making it seem like it didn’t exist. This universe truly was just against him and enjoyed seeing him suffer, that must be it.

Shen Qingqiu went searching through his sleeves for the medicine that Mu Qingfan gave him for a quick fix if he ever was in a dangerous situation. He found it and quickly ingested it, hoping for a miracle that it would kick in quickly and he could defend himself.

At his stop of powerful attacks, the worms wriggling their way towards him increased their speed with all their might. The medicine would take a while to clear out the blockage of spiritual energy which meant Shen Qingqiu was going to be a sitting duck for a while.

Shen Qingqiu looked at the five headed worm in the middle feeling a pang of loss, he had been so close too. Without his spiritual energy, Shen Qingqiu thought he could fight off the surrounding worms for maybe another minute if he managed to snag a sword from one of the nearby disciples. Then again, there were so many of them and they were all going straight for him since he was the closest to the queen worm, he doubted he could fight them off for that long.

Shen Qingqiu looked at the skin of the worms, covered in spikes that suddenly seemed a lot harder to cut through with a sword.

I should’ve made a last will or testament before coming over here…Shen Qingqiu thought to himself as he took a cautious step backwards, debating if losing his face by fleeing was really all that bad when compared to death.

Just as the masses of worms were about to overtake him, a strong wave of spiritual energy cut every single worm in two that was within five feet of Shen Qingqiu.

Liu Qingge jumped over from wherever he had been fighting and landed right in front of Shen Qingqiu, presenting his back to him as he took up a protective stance.

“Oh! Liu-shidi, you’re here,” Shen Qingqiu said in greeting.

Liu Qingge glanced behind him to stare at Shen Qingqiu. He gave him a flat look that Shen Qingqiu wanted to laugh at.

“Of course I am. You think I’d just let monsters be in my sect?” Liu Qingge answered, before quickly turning back to the worms trying to get near again.

Liu Qingge did a wide horizontal swipe of his sword, creating a wave of spiritual energy that sent surrounding worms flying back ten feet.

Shen Qingqiu glanced around at the monsters clearly invading his sect. He opened his mouth to give a sarcastic comment but Liu Qingge turned back to him with an openly angry look on his face.

“Now, why are you here?!”

Shen Qingqiu sighed, and now he was getting scolded.

“Figured you could use some help?” Shen Qingqiu shrugged and gave Liu Qingge an amicable smile, hoping he’d pacify that anger somewhat.

Liu Qingge’s frown just deepened, not liking Shen Qingqiu’s response. “No.”

Shen Qingqiu shrugged helplessly again, glancing behind Liu Qingge and at the queen bee worm.

A few worms managed to get within that ten feet radius around Shen Qingqiu, causing Liu Qingge to angrily send another wave of spiritual energy at the intruding worms.

“You shouldn’t be here. You’re too weak to be fighting, get out of here,” Liu Qingge snapped at Shen Qingqiu, turning to face him fully once again.

Shen Qingqiu raised an eyebrow at Liu Qingge. His words were meant to be harsh but it was hard for Shen Qingqiu to actually take it seriously when Liu Qingge was making sure nothing dangerous could come within ten feet of him.

“Doesn’t Liu-shidi want to know how to get rid of all of them really easily?” Shen Qingqiu avoided Liu Qingge’s jab to get him to leave.

“I already know how. Just kill them all. Now, get off my peak,” Liu Qingge said and widened that safety radius around Shen Qingqiu to fifteen feet.

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help the pleased smile that pricked at the corners of his lips. Liu Qingge really did care for him somewhat, Shen Qingqiu considered this a wonderful development. With the way things were going with him and Liu Qingge, if and when Luo Binghe eventually came looking for his head--or rather his limbs, Shen Qingqiu could use Liu Qingge as a means of defense and escape.

Shen Qingqiu took one of his fans out and flipped it open to hide the smile on his face. Was suddenly fanning himself in the middle of a battle insane? Sure. Was it out of character? No.

“Well, Liu-shidi. I know of a way that will get rid of all of them really quickly,” Shen Qingqiu said and Liu Qingge paused to look at him.

At his silence, Shen Qingqiu decided to just tell him outright. “In the middle of the crowd of worms is the leader--it has five heads, you can’t miss it. You only need to kill that one, after that all the other worms will have nothing to protect and will leave.”

Liu Qingge turned his head to look at the five headed leader. He looked back at Shen Qingqiu with an annoyed look.

“Yeah, I tried that. It kept growing heads.”

Shen Qingqiu stared at Liu Qingge, feeling a slight headache oncoming along with the return of his spiritual energy, but that was unpredictable for how long it’d last. The headache was for how, of course, it was Liu Qingge that brought the queen bee here, the rest of the worms had followed him to get their queen back.

“You need to kill it in a specific way...just chopping its head off will only make it worse,” Shen Qingqiu said and shook his head slightly.

This Liu Qingge was truly a brute...was that the only solution he had when it came to fighting monsters?

Shen Qingqiu recalled how Luo Binghe and wife #211 had killed the monster together. It had to be a synchronized attack, wife #211 stabbed the worm in the heart while Luo Binghe had sliced off the two heads of the beast. Doing this at the same time had caused the worm to be unable to regenerate and it had died.

“You need to stab it in the heart and chop off its heads at the same time,” Shen Qingqiu explained to Liu Qingge. That might be a bit difficult with how many heads there were to slice now, but Shen Qingqiu figured if anyone could do it, it’d be the War God of Bai Zhan.

Liu Qingge squinted at the five headed worm, nodding slowly like what Shen Qingqiu said actually made it through his thick skull.

Shen Qingqiu cleared his throat and Liu Qingge looked back at him.

"Since I can't be trusted to actually attack it right now, you'll have to do it. Go and make me proud, Liu-shidi," Shen Qingqiu said, humour easy to detect in his voice as he summoned Xiu Ya once again.

Shen Qingqiu extended his arm with his sword in it, indicating for Liu Qingge to take it.

Liu Qingge froze, it wasn't that obvious but with how attentive he had to be in a battle it was still a pretty noticeable change.

“Shen Qingqiu!” Liu Qingge exclaimed as he stared at Shen Qingqiu, looking both incredibly offended at his tone and aghast at the same time.

Shen Qingqiu found it funny but was more focused on why Liu Qingge was staring at him instead of fighting the worm like he should be. Shen Qingqiu lowered his fan and gave Liu Qingge a weird look, hoping to encourage him to take Xiu Ya and get going.

What is this guy's problem?

"What's the matter? Aren't you gonna take it?" Shen Qingqiu demanded and waved his sword more in Liu Qingge's vision like he was trying to entice him with it.

Liu Qingge narrowed his eyes at Shen Qingqiu’s taunt. He slowly extended his hand and wrapped his free hand around the hilt of Xiu Ya. As he did so, his pinky finger lightly brushed against Shen Qingqiu's hand where he still held it.

Liu Qingge's grip around the hilt of the sword suddenly tightened and he proceeded to rip the sword from Shen Qingqiu's hand.

Shen Qingqiu blinked in surprise but didn't think of it as odd, so he moved on.

"Alright, good Liu-shidi. Now you can stab it in the heart and slice its heads off at the same time," Shen Qingqiu gave Liu Qingge an encouraging smile, "Go and get 'em!"

Quickly now, before I lose my spiritual energy once again… Shen Qingqiu added quietly to himself.

Liu Qingge did not move despite Shen Qingqiu's cheering.

Shen Qingqiu tilted his head to the side at Liu Qingge, keeping that simple but genuine smile on his face.

Why...why is he looking at me like that? Shen Qingqiu thought, feeling self conscious. Was there something on his face?

Liu Qingge looked like he wanted to say something but seemed unsure how to.

Just as Shen Qingqiu was thinking he was about to finally say whatever was bothering him, movement in the edge of his vision caught his eye.

"Liu-shidi, behind you!" Shen Qingqiu called out in alarm.

Liu Qingge snapped out of his daze, whipping around and swinging his own sword.

The wave that he sent sliced all worms within a twenty foot radius this time.

Shen Qingqiu held back the urge to whistle, feeling quite prideful all of a sudden.

Liu Qingge stood at full attention, looking over the sea of his disciples slicing up countless worms with ease.

Several disciples must have felt his icy gaze, that or they all had telepathic mind communication with their Peak Lord, because the ones closest to Liu Qingge stopped fighting to meet his eyes.

Once Liu Qingge had the attention of the disciples, he spoke in an angry voice that left no complaints. "Watch over and make sure he doesn't get within 20 feet of these monsters. If so much as one worm gets near him, you will all have to suffer the same fate this worm is about to."

At Liu Qingge's command, the disciples scrambled over to Shen Qingqiu and formed a wide circle around him.

Shen Qingqiu laughed lightly under his breath and Liu Qingge whipped his head towards him.

Shen Qingqiu quickly brought up his fan, an indifferent look covering his face.

Liu Qingge breathed out harshly through his nose before turning around and charging into the pile of worms surrounding the main one.

Shen Qingqiu sighed a little, the circle of disciples mostly blocking his view of Liu Qingge. Through the minimal gaps between the disciples, Shen Qingqiu watched as Liu Qingge slaughtered every single worm blocking him without even looking at them. He wiped out another wave of worms, clearing the way for him to charge at the five headed worm.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t dare blink, knowing this was going to be over in a flash. Sure enough, Liu Qingge dashed forward heading straight towards the lead worm.

Xiu Ya glinted in the midday sun, pointing straight at the heart of the worm. Liu Qingge’s other hand held his own sword, Cheng Luan, out at the side, ready to swing forward in a wide arc.

Shen Qingqiu subconsciously leaned forward, forgetting himself as he lowered his fan to gaze at Liu Qingge with an awestruck expression.

It was just like in an action movie! And Shen Qingqiu was getting to experience it in person, how could he not be amazed?

Liu Qingge stabbed Shen Qingqiu’s sword into the worm’s heart at the same time that he swung his own sword at the five wriggling heads of the worm.

Shen Qingqiu scrunched up his nose in disgust as blood immediately gushed out from the worm’s five decapitated heads. The heads all plopped on the ground, rolling quite a ways from Liu Qingge’s strength.

Shen Qingqiu lifted his fan and quietly fanned himself, glancing away from the bloody scene in front of him.

The worms surrounding the circle of disciples all stopped attacking them. Instead, they began scurrying away from the battleground, retreating to wherever it was that Liu Qingge had first found the leader.

The disciples cheered loudly for Liu Qingge’s flawless victory and for the win for Bai Zhan peak. They chased after the worms while Shen Qingqiu just breathed out a sigh of relief that it was over.

Before Shen Qingqiu could gather his bearing and leave the blood covered peak, the sound of footsteps approaching him made him pause.

Shen Qingqiu looked up to find Liu Qingge standing in front of him. In his hands were both Xiu Ya and five decapitated worm heads.

Shen Qingqiu lifted his fan higher to try and cover the greenness of his face at the sight of the heads. From this close up, Shen Qingqiu could see that each worm head had a few strands of greasy hair. Liu Qingge was holding each worm by the hair like he was showing off a fish he just caught. It actually reminded Shen Qingqiu about how guys would pose with their freshly caught fish in photos. However, a decapitated, bloody and hairy worm head was far less appealing than a fish.

“Aha, very good, Liu-shidi…” Shen Qingqiu mumbled as he awkwardly reached over and took his sword back from Liu Qingge, Xiu Ya vanishing once he had it back.

Liu Qingge didn’t say a word, just thrust the five heads closer to Shen Qingqiu.

Ew, ew, ew, ew, what the fuck, Liu Qingge?! Shen Qingqiu screamed in his mind, raising the fan even higher on his face.

Shen Qingqiu successfully held back the urge to shriek and instead he calmly took a step back and away from the dangling monster.

Liu Qingge seemed confused at Shen Qingqiu’s aversion to the monster. He stuck his arm out even more in offering, causing Shen Qingqiu to tremble a little. Shen Qingqiu figured he was going to have to spell this out since Liu Qingge seemed to not be able to pick up on things too well.

“I don’t want this,” Shen Qingqiu said with another disgusted glance at the monster.

Liu Qingge blinked before narrowing his eyebrows at Shen Qingqiu. He let out an annoyed humph and tossed the beheaded beast aside.

“Fine. I’ll go get another one,” Liu Qingge grumbled, crossing his arms.

Shen Qingqiu shuddered more visibly at that. Five was enough, he didn’t need anymore!

“No! No, I don’t want any of them!” Shen Qingqiu waved his fan and hand in front of his face to emphasize.

Liu Qingge went still, his arms falling to his side. Shen Qingqiu felt guilt shoot through him as a hurt expression flashed through Liu Qingge’s eyes. It was immediately masked by just irritation.

Ahh, he was just trying to be nice or something. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings! Shen Qingqiu wasn’t even sure what he did to hurt him but all he knew was that he felt bad now.

In his attempt to make Liu Qingge feel better, Shen Qingqiu leaned forward without thinking and awkwardly pulled him in for a hug.

Liu Qingge tensed up like a bowstring in Shen Qingqiu’s hold. Just as Shen Qingqiu was thinking he made a mistake and should let go, Liu Qingge hesitantly raised his arms and wrapped them around him.

Okay...this is possibly the most awkward thing I’ve done in my entire life. Shen Qingqiu thought as he and Liu Qingge embraced each other while Bai Zhan disciples chased after worm monsters around them. A few noticed Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu hugging each other and did double takes, followed by immediately looking away and pretending they saw nothing with red ears.

Shen Qingqiu decided that he and Liu Qingge had been hugging for probably longer than the average friendly bro hug time and decided to part. He patted Liu Qingge on the back as he separated, hands coming up to rest on his shoulder as he pulled them apart.

Liu Qingge had an absurd expression, like he just tasted something sour and it made Shen Qingqiu want to laugh at him. When was the last time this poor guy ever had a hug? He looked like this was the first time he ever had physical contact that wasn’t violent in any way.

Apart from the pinched look on his face, it was also an unusual shade of red as he averted his gaze from Shen Qingqiu’s openly prying gaze.

Shen Qingqiu moved his hands to cup Liu Qingge’s face, feeling the warmth of his cheeks in the palms of his hands. Liu Qingge’s gaze snapped to Shen Qingqiu’s eyes to stare indignantly at him like he had just cursed his ancestors.

Shen Qingqiu ignored the mixture of shock and rage in Liu Qingge’s eyes. “Are you feeling well, Liu-shidi? You’re quite warm...did the fighting tire you out?”

Liu Qingge’s right eye twitched at Shen Qingqiu’s observations. Shen Qingqiu felt his jaw tense under his hand as he grit his teeth.

Liu Qingge was the War God of Bai Zhan, fighting against weak little worms was nothing to him. However, Shen Qingqiu felt that it was important to take breaks and take care of yourself. Liu Qingge probably knew nothing about R&R, meaning Shen Qingqiu was taking it upon himself to teach him how to relax.

“How about we go back to my bamboo house and get you some tea?”

At the invitation to Shen Qingqiu’s private quarters, Liu Qingge somehow managed to turn even more red.

Shen Qingqiu’s concern grew at Liu Qingge who looked moments away from passing out.

Is he going to have another qi deviation? Shen Qingqiu worried he wouldn’t be much help with his fluctuating spiritual energy.

“I...I gotta go. Fight. Monsters.” Liu Qingge replied through gritted teeth, stumbling backwards and out of Shen Qingqiu’s hold.

...but the worms are already gone?!

Shen Qingqiu sighed and dropped his arms to his side as Liu Qingge started speed walking out of the training grounds. Liu Qingge’s brain really did only work in terms of fighting. Some things were just best not to be questioned.

“Well, okay,” Shen Qingqiu said, disappointment clear to hear in his voice, “But please be careful Liu-shidi.”

Liu Qingge walked face first into a training post with a loud thunk.

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes widened and he couldn’t contain the giggle that escaped his mouth in time. Liu Qingge whipped his head around to glare at Shen Qingqiu, a high flush on his cheeks.

Shen Qingqiu quickly flipped his fan open to try and hide his silent laughter, his slightly shaking shoulders and light in his eyes betraying his true feelings. Liu Qingge caught the brief moment where Shen Qingqiu hadn’t hid behind his fan, seeing the way his mouth opened a little, lips curved up as breathy laughter escaped him for just a second.

Unable to stay in place for any longer, Liu Qingge, completely red in the face, turned back around to hightail it out of there. He stumbled a little as he summoned his Cheng Luan before hopping on it and booking it, no longer trying to have a smooth exit anymore.

The Bai Zhan Peak disciples watched the scene unfold with unconcealed looks of shock. They’d never speak about the event at a volume where Liu Qingge could hear it though, unless they wanted to get beaten near to death. Still, most disciples quietly stored that bit of information, sneaking curious glances at Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu was looking rather annoyed. Liu Qingge was kinda his ride back since he didn’t have reliable spiritual powers and he had just ended up scaring him off.

Well...guess he’d just have to walk. No big deal, though in a magical world like this why wouldn’t he want to fly?

Shen Qingqiu sighed and lowered his fan from his face, watching where Liu Qingge’s silhouette on his sword faded in the distance. Liu Qingge was proving to be far more complex of a character then he’d originally thought.

Shen Qingqiu smiled a little, thinking to himself. Man, maybe he’s just nervous because he’s never had a friend before? For Liu Qingge’s very brief mentions in Proud Immortal Demon Way, it was never mentioned if he had anyone close to him. Shen Qingqiu felt pity for him, a canon fodder character whose only purpose was to fight and be killed by Shen Jiu. He was clearly so much more.

I should send him some freshly baked goods to apologize and as an act of friendship… Shen Qingqiu thought to himself, closing his fan with a resounding snap to go with the determined look on his face. After all, who wouldn’t want treats?

Chapter Text

Much to Shen Qingqiu’s request against it and to his further dismay, more severed monster heads showed up at the door to his bamboo house. Every week it was like a new monster appeared, leaving blood stains leading up to his door that Shen Qingqiu would have to make his poor disciples clean up each time.

Shen Qingqiu was baffled as to why Liu Qingge kept sending his kills to him. He clearly asked him not to, so why did he keep on doing it?

Shen Qingqiu pondered this question as he watched one of his disciples pick up the severed head of some demon creature with multiple layers of sharp teeth in its mouth, similar to a shark.

Shen Qingqiu ran a hand down his face at the pool of blood the monster left.

Whyyy?! Shen Qingqiu thought as he sat down heavily at the table where he did most of the paperwork duties that came with being a Peak Lord.

Does Liu Qingge hate me? I specifically asked him not to do this. Shen Qingqiu came to the conclusion that this must be Liu Qingge’s way of getting back at him for laughing when he embarrassed himself. This must be his way to prove that he wasn’t clumsy, that he could kill monsters with ease to make up for the fact he had ran into a pole the last time he saw him.

With this assumption made about Liu Qingge’s choices, Shen Qingqiu decided the best course of action was to increase the number of baked goods he was sending to Bai Zhan. Hopefully, with more gifts to Liu Qingge, he’d stop feeling like he needed to prove his fighting skill to Shen Qingqiu.

Apart from the dead monsters at his house, nothing was happening in Qing Jing Peak. The uneventfulness of Cang Qiong Mountain with the absence of the protagonist made Shen Qingqiu feel restless inside his bamboo house. He could be like Liu Qingge and go find monsters to beat the crap out of, but violence really wasn’t his style. So instead, Shen Qingqiu picked up the time consuming pastime of heading down the mountain to nearby towns and going window shopping.

Of course there weren't really windows per say in this universe like the ones associated with window shopping in modern times, but Shen Qingqiu still called it that in his head. Being a Peak Lord and a Shizun made it so that he could live a far more wealthy life then the average person, or in other words, he had a lot of money to spend on useless things. And spend on useless things he did.

Turned out there were a lot of nifty things in the stores that would look cool on his shelves and around his bamboo house. However, his ‘humble’ bamboo home couldn’t fit all the cool things he found during his trips into town, so Shen Qingqiu started sending random things to Liu Qingge as friendly peace offerings. Really, he was just too bored and rich.

It eventually became a habit for Shen Qingqiu, he’d go window shopping and would pick out gifts that he’d think Liu Qingge would like, not even questioning this new shift. He’d just think as he perused: That would look nice on Bai Zhan Peak, Liu Qingge would look nice with this hair piece, a sachet bag would be good for him, medicine in case he ever came back hurt from a hunt, more treats because who doesn’t like receiving tasty food?

The disciples on both peaks watched this strange new exchange go on between their Peak Lords. Deliver severed monster heads to Shen Qingqiu, deliver cutesy gifts and treats to Liu Qingge--rinse and repeat. Sometimes two disciples would meet each other halfway between the peaks, both carrying the not so subtle courting gifts with them. They’d look at each other and just shake their head, both equally perplexed.

Despite Shen Qingqiu’s accidental addiction to sending Liu Qingge dozens of gifts per month, Liu Qingge never sent one in return. If anything he just increased his slaughtering of monsters, like he needed to vent his anger from Shen Qingqiu’s gift giving. The amount of monsters increased at Shen Qingqiu’s doorstep and he was getting more annoyed with each addition. Did Liu Qingge just hate the gifts he sent that bad?!

Finally, after several months of this back and forth--with limited visits from Liu Qingge when he’d clear his meridians--Shen Qingqiu finally was given a chance to confront Liu Qingge about his problem with him, an opportunity in the form of an expedition off the peak.

Apparently there was an unknown threat, assumed to be some kind of water monster that was wiping out the population of several small towns about a day's sword ride from them. It wasn’t so bad that they’d need to send two Peak Lords to fix it, however, a lot of higher up people had had enough of the weird courting ritual Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge were doing with each other. So they planned to make them do something about what was going on between them by making them go on a few day hunt together.

The reasoning they gave to Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge was that they needed Shen Qingqiu to use his encyclopedia brain of monsters to identify it and how to kill it, Liu Qingge to do the actual killing. Easy enough reasoning, Shen Qingqiu didn’t have any problems and figured getting off the mountain and going somewhere new instead of just the local towns would be good for him.

Liu Qingge came to his mountain sect, truly being a taxi for Shen Qingqiu who was not allowed to fly for such a long distance. Which meant Liu Qingge was going to pick up Shen Qingqiu from his sect and leave together.

Liu Qingge lowered his sword that he was standing on top of to hover right next to Shen Qingqiu.

He had an air of indifference as he stood next to a grounded Shen Qingqiu, a stern look on his face as he looked out towards the distance. Shen Qingqiu raised an eyebrow at Liu Qingge, he was like that angsty emo character in shows that looked out into the distance, having ‘deep’ thoughts. The comparison made Shen Qingqiu want to laugh, just who was Liu Qingge trying to impress with his aloof edge?

“Liu-shidi, are you ready to go?” Shen Qingqiu greeted him, ignoring the fact that it was him getting picked up and not the other way around.

Liu Qingge finally looked over at Shen Qingqiu, the indifferent air around him softening as he took in the sight of him, unknown to Shen Qingqiu.

“Yes, I’m waiting on you to get up here,” Liu Qingge said with a click of his tongue.

Shen Qingqiu just smiled slightly, not taking his curt tone to heart. He gently stepped onto the sword behind Liu Qingge which didn’t even dip a single bit under his added weight, Liu Qingge was really making sure it was steady.

Once Shen Qingqiu was standing firmly in place behind Liu Qingge, he didn’t take off like he expected him to.

Liu Qingge’s hands formed fists and he kept his face forward, not letting Shen Qingqiu see his expression.

“You should hold on...so that you don’t fall off,” Liu Qingge advised, narrowing his eyes at the horizon.

’Hold on’? Hold onto what? Shen Qingqiu questioned before looking at the man standing in front of him.

Shen Qingqiu nodded slowly as he connected dots, that made sense. He had never had to hold onto Liu Qingge before, which must mean he was in a hurry and planning on speeding, it would be best if he held onto him. Plus, it wasn’t like it was much different then being a passenger on a motorcycle, this was a totally normal thing to do, right? Right?!

Shen Qingqiu shuffled forward and wrapped his arms around Liu Qingge’s waist, positioning himself to be comfy behind him. Shen Qingqiu found that Liu Qingge actually had a thinner waist than he originally thought, it was still toned as he was a fighter of course, but it was still rather dainty which Shen Qingqiu found was much to his liking.

Liu Qingge didn’t say a word, just seemed oddly tense in Shen Qingqiu’s arms. He made the sword fly high above the top of the trees before heading in the direction of the reports made about the aquatic monster they had to kill.

The weather was already getting chilly with the changing seasons, but being high up in the air for several hours made the air seem even colder. Shen Qingqiu shivered a little as the wind whipped against his face, sending his hair flying behind him. Liu Qingge’s ponytail flew behind him as well, loose strands occasionally brushing against Shen Qingqiu’s face.

Shen Qingqiu eyed Liu Qingge’s shoulder that was the perfect height for him to easily rest his chin on. Shen Qingqiu frowned as the thought crossed his mind, why would he think of that? Now that he was thinking, Shen Qingqiu found that because Liu Qingge was taller than him, he was already blocking most of the chilly wind.

Shen Qingqiu frowned in concern, was Liu Qingge cold? Shen Qingqiu knew he himself was.

Shen Qingqiu bit his lower lip in thought and then shuffled even closer to Liu Qingge.

Woah! This guy is like a furnace! Shen Qingqiu thought to himself as he pressed himself up against Liu Qingge. It was probably just because Liu Qingge was the only other being that could hold warmth up in the freezing sky, but to Shen Qingqiu the guy was radiating warmth.

To Shen Qingqiu’s unawareness, Liu Qingge’s blood was running extremely hot from Shen Qingqiu suddenly hugging him even closer. His face had gone a bright shade of red and the sword dipped slightly in the influx of emotions.

Liu Qingge quickly righted the sword back but the speed had increased dramatically at him trying to compensate.

Shen Qingqiu frowned at how the air was even colder now that Liu Qingge was going faster. Shen Qingqiu tilted his head down at the shoulder that was temptingly close to his face.

Shen Qingqiu decided to throw all caution to the wind and to indulge himself, dammit he was cold! Shen Qingqiu buried his face in Liu Qingge’s shoulder, the fabric surprisingly soft as he searched for warmth in it.

The sword dropped several feet, causing Shen Qingqiu to tighten his hold on Liu Qingge in terror. Liu Qingge raised the sword again but it was now going so fast that Shen Qingqiu could only hear the sound of the wind in his ears. The only reason he could hear what Liu Qingge said next was because he was right next to him.

“W-What are you doing?!” Liu Qingge demanded, voice angry to cover how flustered he was.

Shen Qingqiu did not raise his head, he was finally starting to warm up, why would he show his face to the freezing air now?

“You’re warm,” Shen Qingqiu mumbled into Liu Qingge’s shoulder, like it was the most obvious answer.

The sword swayed dangerously again, Shen Qingqiu squeezed his waist even more causing Liu Qingge to gasp a little for breath.

Liu Qingge kept the sword in place, still going at a concerningly fast speed for another hour when he started to lower the sword towards the ground at his own volition.

The air closer to the ground was warmer and Shen Qingqiu finally lifted his head to glance around. They were far from Qing Jing Peak where Liu Qingge had picked him up from, now in a forest of sorts.

“Are we near?” Shen Qingqiu asked Liu Qingge.

“Yes, it should be around here, aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?”

“I am. This shixiong just wasn’t paying attention.” Shen Qingqiu huffed, breath hot where it fanned across Liu Qingge’s jaw. The sword dropped drastically into the forest.

Shen Qingqiu yelped, holding onto Liu Qingge for dear life as the sword pierced through several branches of trees, pine needles and twigs flying in random directions.

Liu Qingge drew in a sharp breath, slowing the sword down to an easy to control speed as he weaved around the trees.

Shen Qingqiu blinked but didn’t mention what just happened. If Liu Qingge didn’t want to talk about it then he just wouldn’t say anything.

Liu Qingge swerved around a particularly thick tree and a wide lake came into view. A lake that Shen Qingqiu found oddly familiar despite never seeing it in person before.

“We’re here,” Liu Qingge announced flatly, his sword coming up to hover in front of the clear water of the lake.

Shen Qingqiu sighed in relief, he made it without dying tragically. Hooray!

“That’s good.” Shen Qingqiu rested his chin on Liu Qingge’s shoulder as he relaxed.

Liu Qingge’s spine straightened as he tensed up like a spring. The sword suddenly shot forward, aiming directly into the centre of the lake.

“Liu-shidi!” Shen Qingqiu exclaimed as Liu Qingge grabbed control over his emotions again.

The sword halted violently right in the middle of the lake, a few feet above the surface of the water.

Shen Qingqiu let go of Liu Qingge to let him turn around and face him.

Liu Qingge did not turn around, he stared indignantly ahead with an annoyed expression.

Shen Qingqiu sighed, unsure how to phrase this without stepping on Liu Qingge’s toes and making him even more cross.

“You’ve been so distracted lately, Liu-shidi, is something the matter?” Shen Qingqiu asked carefully, voice laced with concern.

Liu Qingge raised his shoulders defensively, crossing his arms.

“I’m not distracted. You’re distracted.” He spat out, still refusing to look at Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu raised an eyebrow at his childish comeback. What was he, five?

Well, fine, if you’re gonna act like a kid I’ll just have to treat you like one. Shen Qingqiu thought, a smirk coming to play at his lips.

“Okay, baobao, how about we--” Shen Qingqiu didn’t even get to finish his tease. Liu Qingge fell off his sword with the grace of a cat getting thrown into the deep end of a pool.

Liu Qingge hit the water hard with a loud slap that made Shen Qingqiu wince from where he hovered above the lake. Liu Qingge’s splash sent droplets up into the air and some landed on Shen Qinqiu’s boots and robes.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t even notice him getting splashed, he looked down into the water with wide eyes. The lake that Liu Qingge had fallen into was the same lake that Shen Qingqiu was pretty sure of was the eel monster’s lair from chapter 552 of Proud Immortal Demons Way.

Liu Qingge surfaced perfectly fine, apart from looking like he was moments away from murdering.

“Shen Qingqiu!” Liu Qingge growled out, face bright red from what Shen Qingqiu assumed was rage.

“Ah, Liu-shidi, are you alright?” Shen Qingqiu asked, praying that Liu Qingge didn’t decide to kill him in the end.

How the hell did he lose his composure? He was perfectly fine just before, so why did he fall? Shen Qingqiu looked at the perfectly balanced sword he was still standing on. He clearly hadn’t completely lost his composure if he was still fully controlling his sword, making sure Shen Qingqiu didn’t fall in the water as well.

“I’m fine!” Liu Qingge snapped, wading angrily in place, the redness to his cheeks not going down. “I just decided it was hot out and needed a swim.”

Shen Qingqiu blinked at him, not believing his bullshit excuse for a moment. It was freezing out here, why would anyone think jumping into a lake was a good idea? Shen Qingqiu knew he’d need an extremely good life or death reason to jump into that freezing cold lake.

“Uh-huh…” Shen Qingqiu answered. He squatted down on Cheng Luan, ready to extend an arm down to lift Liu Qingge out of the water.

Liu Qingge just glared at the extended hand, seeming to decide that swimming in the cold water was better than accepting help.

Shen Qingqiu frowned at Liu Qingge’s choice.

Is he unaware of the giant monster eel living in the bottom of the lake?

He was.

Oh, great… Shen Qingqiu thought as he saw something big and black moving at the bottom of the lake.

And there was probably the monster that had been terrorizing the villagers. It had the uncanny ability to travel through the ground and river streams, coming up to take any human near a body of water if it so pleased.

Liu Qingge was unaware of the giant eel rising to the surface, coming to eat him in one big bite. Shen Qingqiu made an instant decision as the monster got closer to him.

Hero time! Don’t kill me now, Without A Cure!

Shen Qingqiu dived off of Liu Qingge’s sword, summoning his own sword and pointing it to the side of Liu Qingge where the eel was rapidly approaching.

Liu Qingge’s expression turned shocked, mouth dropping open as Shen Qingqiu jumped into the freezing cold lake with him.

Shen Qingqiu used the force of his sword to propel himself deeper into the water towards the eel, the thrill of the fight overtaking the urge to scream over how cold the water was.

The eel didn’t even have time to react to Shen Qingqiu, by the time it realized there was another person in the lake to eat besides Liu Qingge, it was already being stabbed by Xiu Ya and a strong force of spiritual energy.

The eel let out an ear splitting screech that had Shen Qingqiu questioning how it made the noise as it was an eel and underwater. Shen Qingqiu swung his sword with all his force and the eels head slid clean off its body.

Shen Qingqiu frowned in disgust, unsure of why Liu Qingge took so much enjoyment in doing this each time.

He put Xiu Ya away and awkwardly reached out to hold the massive eel head that was the size of a really fat cat.

Shen Qingqiu kicked his way to the surface, the disgusting blank stare in the eel’s black eyes haunting him the entire way.

Liu Qingge was still wading in place with a baffled expression as Shen Qingqiu broke the surface, gasping for air.

Shen Qingqiu shook the wet strands of hair sticking to the side of his face aside. He met Liu Qingge’s eyes which were filled with a lot of emotions, the main ones being shocked and incredulous, maybe even awe, if Shen Qingqiu was reading him correctly.

“What the fuck.” Liu Qingge stated.

Shen Qingqiu laughed loudly at that, warmth filling him and almost making him forget the cold that was seeping into his bones. Almost.

Shen Qingqiu shivered. “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting out of this lake.”

Liu Qingge blinked dumbly as he watched Shen Qingqiu wade towards land. He shook his head, snapping out of his stupor and swam after him.

Liu Qingge joined Shen Qingqiu on land who used an instant dry spell on himself, no longer wanting to be cold and wet or else he might die of hypothermia.

Liu Qingge made no move to dry himself, instead he just stared at the now dry Shen Qingqiu who was still holding onto the monster eel’s head.

Shen Qingqiu glanced curiously at Liu Qingge and then down at the eel he was holding.

Oh, right…he had almost forgotten why it was that he took this damn eel head in the first place.

Shen Qingqiu bit back a grin. Finally...payback time.

He lifted the eel head up to Liu Qingge, mimicking his previous movements when he had first tried to give Shen Qingqiu the five worm heads.

“Here you go,” Shen Qingqiu said, about to thrust the eel head against his chest to really emphasize how horrible it was.

Liu Qingge’s eyes widened dramatically, staring straight at the eel in shock.

He made no move to take it, instead he seemed to be almost shaking in disgust or anger. Both were valid emotions to Shen Qingqiu.

Ha, I told you it wasn’t nice to get these things.

“So, there. Now you really don’t need to keep sending me decapitated monsters,” Shen Qingqiu told Liu Qingge who still hadn’t replied, not even moved from the spot.

Shen Qingqiu nodded his head firmly, sure that Liu Qingge was so disgusted that he finally got the message. He tossed the eel head aside on the ground, shaking the wet and grime off of his hands with his tongue stuck out in disgust.

Liu Qingge continued to stare at Shen Qingqiu, a blank expression having overtaken his face.

Shen Qingqiu paused and took a good look at Liu Qingge. A strand of hair had fallen out from his ponytail and was plastered to his forehead, dripping water down his face.

Shen Qingqiu smiled at the sight, finding it oddly endearing. He raised a hand and idly brushed the wet strand of hair to the side, returning it to the rest of his hair on his head.

Liu Qingge had a violent shiver run down his spine, finally finding his voice.

“Y-You!” Liu Qingge exclaimed, face turning bright red as he took a step back and out of reach from Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu blinked in surprise, arm hanging dejectedly in the air now without more of Liu Qingge’s hair to touch.

“What’s the matter?” Shen Qingqiu asked, wondering why he suddenly got angry.

Liu Qingge grit his teeth, hands forming fists until the knuckles turned a starch white. He turned around abruptly, ponytail scattering droplets of water on Shen Qingqiu at the motion. Cheng Luan flew to hover right in front of Liu Qingge.

Shen Qingqiu tilted his head in confusion as Liu Qingge hopped onto his sword.

What? Were they leaving already?

Liu Qingge took off without him, abandoning Shen Qingqiu on the edge of a lake with a sunken giant eel monster body in it.

Shen Qingqiu stared at Liu Qingge’s retreating figure, mouth feeling incredibly dry as his main ride abandoned him once again.

“W-wait! Liu-shidi, don’t leave me!” Shen Qingqiu called as he went to summon Xiu Ya.

And, like how fate just loved to bully Shen Qingqiu, his spiritual energy sputtered and faltered, making Xiu Ya unable to carry him after Liu Qingge.

Shen Qingqiu sighed, so he was abandoned in some woods in the middle of nowhere. Guess he’d just have to make do...he might have read a book about surviving in the wilderness once when he was a kid.

He needed to make shelter...call for help...eat berries, but not the poisonous ones? Shen Qingqiu frowned and walked over to a fallen log that overlooked the water. He sat on it with a huff, crossing his legs and propping his chin up on his hand.

Did Liu Qingge really hate him that much? He thought they were getting a little friendly at least, but it seemed he was wrong. To think he’d abandon him right after Shen Qingqiu saved his life and everything. He would’ve liked a thanks at the least, not to get abandoned.

The sun was going to set soon and when it got dark then Shen Qingqiu would start panicking. For now though, he was going to wait like the damsel in distress he was and sit on this log until Liu Qingge got his shit together and came to pick him up.

Chapter Text

Shen Qingqiu didn’t end up having to try and survive the night on his own; after not even an hour of waiting, Liu Qingge came flying out of the woods with a hostile air following him.

Shen Qingqiu stood up from the log, stretching a little as he walked to where Liu Qingge had stepped off of his sword.

Liu Qingge walked towards Shen Qingqiu at a startlingly fast pace, despite the stiffness of his steps.

Shen Qingqiu raised an eyebrow at him. What was with this guy? You’d think he had a stick shoved up his ass…

Now that Liu Qingge was nearer, he could see that in one of his hands were two flowers in a bouquet of sorts with the stems held so tightly in his fist Shen Qingqiu thought he was trying to strangle the poor flowers.

Bouquet wasn’t quite the right word to use to describe what Liu Qingge had though. There were really only two flowers in the bouquet but Shen Qingqiu was unsure how else to describe it.

Shen Qingqiu had both eyebrows rise to his hairline in surprise at this. Did he seriously abandon him just to go get flowers?!

Before Shen Qingqiu could demand why Liu Qingge had just abandoned him out of nowhere, Liu Qingge came to a halt just in front of him.

The hand that was clutching the flowers came forth and Liu Qingge thrust the two bright white flowers at Shen Qingqiu in an offering. Shen Qingqiu squinted at the flowers clearly suffering in Liu Qingge’s hold. They were slightly crumpled at the stems from Liu Qingge’s violent grip, still really nice flowers though. Nice enough for Shen Qingqiu to recognize them after another second of examining them.

It would make sense that the ‘bouquet’ Liu Qingge was giving him only had two flowers in it when considering the rarity of the plant. It was one of the rarest flowers out of the hundred other ‘rarest’ flowers in the Proud Immortal Demon Way novel. This rare flower was given the stupid but fitting name of ‘Never Wilting Flower’. Title self explanatory for what its purpose was.

Binghe had given it to wife #437, using it as a metaphor for how their love, like the flower, would never wilt. Wife #437 swooned and sighed...got added to the harem and never was mentioned again.

But still, why in the world was Liu Qingge giving Shen Qingqiu two Never Wilting Flowers? He could understand Binghe doing it, it was a romance, but Liu Qingge?! Never in a million years did Shen Qingqiu think Liu Qingge was the type to give flowers, even more so to him. So why was he giving them to him?!

There had to be a valid reason behind why a man like Liu Qingge, who was naturally unaccustomed to the art of giving flowers and had probably never even done this before in his life, would give flowers. Especially a rare flower like the Never Wilting Flower which was quite abundant in spiritual energy. Maybe he thought it’d be a quick fix for his clogged spiritual energy? Shen Qingqiu rationalized that Liu Qingge must not understand the romantic implications behind the act, perhaps just considering it a gentler alternative to the usual decapitated monster.

It must be a peace offering as well…a peace offering for abandoning him. Shen Qingqiu nodded to himself, that must be it, nothing more.

With that in mind, Shen Qingqiu gave Liu Qingge a pleased smile and took the crumbled flowers from Liu Qingge’s death grip around the stems.

Shen Qingqiu looked at the damaged flowers in his hand, feeling the spiritual power in the bright petals even though the flower suffered heavy damage. The spiritual energy flowed gently into Shen Qingqiu, clearing out some of the clogged meridians.

Well, the flowers were useful, however, he had Liu Qingge for clearing out his meridians...why go the extra lengths to deliver flowers? Shen Qingqiu glanced up at Liu Qingge who was staring a little expectantly at him. Shen Qingqiu laughed softly to himself at the sight. Liu Qingge really had never done this before had he?

Liu Qingge narrowed his eyes, anger coming off him in waves at Shen Qingqiu laughing at his gift.

What was he supposed to do with a bouquet of two immortal flowers? Keeping the flowers in his bamboo house would only look good if he had only one or a truly full bouquet to put in one of his big fancy vases. Shen Qingqiu decided that since Liu Qingge was so bad at gifting flowers, he was just going to have to show him how it's done and return one.

Shen Qingqiu looked up slightly to meet Liu Qingge’s eyes that looked more pissed than anything else.

“Mm, here,” Shen Qingqiu said with another small laugh, lifting one of the Never Wilting Flowers up to Liu Qingge’s head.

He gently slipped the flower into the no longer damp hair that Liu Qingge always had fastened together in a high ponytail. Shen Qingqiu tilted his head back a little to admire his handiwork. The Never Wilting Flower was a beautiful shade of white contrasting with the black of Liu Qingge’s hair where it rested on the side of his head.

Liu Qingge’s eyes widened, his cheeks turning a rosy red. The shock was replaced with anger as he glared fiercely at Shen Qingqiu who was still smiling at the pretty picture in front of him.

“You can’t do that!” Liu Qingge snapped, making Shen Qingqiu hold back a snicker at how easily upset someone could get over a little flower.

“Can’t I?” Shen Qingqiu taunted Liu Qingge who now looked so angry that Shen Qingqiu was beginning to think he might be testing his luck with how much patience he had when it came to not killing him. Shen Qingqiu stood his ground against Liu Qingge’s rage, continuing with a playfully reprimanding tone, “Just because you’re a War God doesn’t mean you can’t be pretty.”

Liu Qingge’s face turned an even brighter shade of red at that and Shen Qingqiu truly thought he had gone too far this time with his temper. Liu Qingge shot a hand out and Shen Qingqiu winced, preparing to get punched.

Instead, Liu Qingge just snatched the last Never Wilting Flower remaining in Shen Qingqiu’s open palm, taking it back.

Shen Qingqiu looked sadly at his empty palm, he liked the pretty flower and now he lost it. Before Shen Qingqiu could mourn the loss too much, Liu Qingge suddenly placed both of his hands heavily on his shoulders with enough force to make him wince.

Liu Qingge gripped Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders tightly, the flower stem in his hand getting crushed between his fingers and Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder as he held onto him.

Ouch.

Liu Qingge released an angry breath through his nose before raising the hand that was holding the flower off of Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder.

Shen Qingqiu’s breath caught in his throat as Liu Qingge tucked the flower behind his ear, making it match Liu Qingge’s own Never Wilting Flower in his hair.

Shen Qingqiu blinked twice in surprise, Liu Qingge fully letting go of him to take a step back, face still that striking shade of red.

Shen Qingqiu slowly raised a hand that he didn’t even notice was shaking up to gently touch the flower tucked behind his ear. The petals were soft against his fingertips as he traced the points of a few petals.

Shen Qingqiu focused his gaze on Liu Qingge that was glancing to the side, an annoyed furrow to his brows.

Why...Why?? Was the only thought repeating in Shen Qingqiu’s head as he looked at Liu Qingge.

Was Liu Qingge really so unaware of flowers and gift giving that he thought of the flowers as some sort of competition? That was the only solution Shen Qingqiu could think of, that Liu Qingge returned the flower to one up him and prove that he could use flowers as well.

Liu Qingge was like a puzzle that Shen Qingqiu just couldn’t solve. There was no way he was just some 2-D character in a novel--not a chance.

“Liu-shidi,” Shen Qingqiu called and Liu Qingge glanced over at him. Shen Qingqiu gave him a genuine smile to express his gratitude, unaware of how it made Liu Qingge weak in the knees, causing him to sway forward. “Thank you...Liu Qingge.”

Maybe using his first name was too big of a jump in their relationship, but Shen Qingqiu figured they were close enough at this point and it was a special enough occasion to use it--Liu Qingge was actually trying to be nice! What a good thing that needs to be commemorated! Plus, it was only fair with how Liu Qingge clearly felt no need for formalities, calling him Shen Qingqiu all the time.

Shen Qingqiu’s fan that he usually used to cover up his smiles was ignored as he thanked him. This lack of fan revealed something that Liu Qingge considered the most powerful and life-threatening of attacks he would ever receive--a smile.

A smile sweet enough to bring a War God to his knees, to make him lose all sense of control. And lose control is just what Liu Qingge did.

One moment, Liu Qingge was meeting Shen Qingqiu’s blissful expression with a startled look, and the next he had passed out at Shen Qingqiu’s feet.

What the fuck! Shen Qingqiu screamed internally, the smile falling off his face.

“Liu-shidi! Liu-shidi?!” Shen Qingqiu cried out, dropping to his knees to shake Liu Qingge’s unconscious form.

A qi deviation?! Now? Why now?!

The qi deviation wasn’t near as bad as the first one Shen Qingqiu had witnessed, but it was still a qi deviation.

Shen Qingqiu struggled to lift Liu Qingge up, hands sending a steady and soothing stream of spiritual energy into him as he carried him over to a nearby tree, dragging his heels the entire way.

Shen Qingqiu propped himself against a tree, sitting down with his back leaning against it for support. He positioned Liu Qingge’s head on his lap in an attempt to make him somewhat comfy during his state of distress. One of Shen Qingqiu’s hands rested against his back, sending spiritual energy to him as his other hand came up to be placed against his forehead, seeing if he was burning up.

It wasn’t like Liu Qingge had a fever or anything, but Shen Qingqiu found himself checking out of habit.

Nothing was out of place, apart from the troubled slant of Liu Qingge’s eyebrows as he seemed to be in deep discomfort or pain.

Shen Qingqiu fretted in his heart but was unable to do much other than keep sending soothing spiritual energy to Liu Qingge. After a moment, Shen Qingqiu went digging for a fire talisman, using it to start a small fire in front of them.

It was almost like camping if Shen Qingqiu pretended hard enough. Just him and his good bro friend roughing it up in the wilderness. Of course, his ‘good bro friend’ was passed out on his lap and they both had cute little matching flowers in their hair, but...just two dudes camping together, right?!

The sun had fully set and the forest was dark when Liu Qingge shifted his head around in Shen Qingqiu’s lap.

“Liu-shidi? Are you feeling better?” Shen Qingqiu asked quietly, the hand sending a steady stream of spiritual energy automatically coming up to stroke his forehead once again.

Liu Qingge’s eyes snapped open at Shen Qingqiu, looking bloodshot as he stared up into his concerned face which was lit up by the orange and red glows of the small fire.

Liu Qingge stared at Shen Qingqiu, mouth hanging open as no words came out.

Shen Qingqiu moved his hand to idly pet Liu Qingge’s hair as he filled him in on what he missed.

“You had a minor qi deviation, don’t worry I’ve been taking good care of you.”

Liu Qingge swallowed roughly, hands forming fists at his side as he took steadying breaths.

“‘Kay, we should be going,” Liu Qingge said after a few moments of regaining control, voice rough like he had just woken up and Shen Qingqiu realized it made sense since he sort of just did.

“Go where?” Shen Qingqiu asked as Liu Qingge lifted his head from his lap.

“Cang Qiong, where else?” Liu Qingge sat up fully before Shen Qingqiu could slam his head back down on his lap.

“What?! No. You aren’t fit to take us anywhere, we’re spending the night here,” Shen Qingqiu retorted.

Liu Qingge gave Shen Qingqiu an annoyed look that clearly said, ‘you think I’m not capable?’.

“It’s best if we stay here for the night. I don’t want to fly in the dark anyway,” Shen Qingqiu argued and Liu Qingge rolled his eyes, a very petty act that Shen Qingqiu would have laughed at if he could actually see well enough in the night.

“Flying in the dark isn’t difficult,” Liu Qingge said and Shen Qingqiu shook his head. He really felt it was best if Liu Qingge didn’t immediately go flying the both of them in the dark after suffering from a qi deviation.

“Good for you, Liu-shidi. I, however, am staying here,” Shen Qingqiu replied, fully digging his heels in. Liu Qingge would have to literally carry him if he was so adamant in flying back tonight.

At Shen Qingqiu’s stubbornness, Liu Qingge just sighed, relenting for possibly the first time in his life. Shen Qingqiu really was going to be the end of him.

“Fine, move over then.” Liu Qingge shuffled over to sit next to Shen Qingqiu up against the large tree.

Shen Qingqiu shifted over a little to make space for Liu Qingge, there wasn’t much room and he found himself easily touching shoulders with him in the dark.

Oh, right...it was dark. The talisman had gone out at some point without his knowledge.

Liu Qingge seemed to have read Shen Qingqiu’s mind because he lit another talisman, bathing the area in a soft red light.

Shen Qingqiu smiled in appreciation, a yawn breaking that smile. Shen Qingqiu lifted a sleeve to cover his yawn as he blinked blearily at the fire in front of him.

“I’m tired,” Shen Qingqiu stated and Liu Qingge let out a breath that could have either been a sigh or a small laugh. Or just a breath of air.

“Then sleep,” Liu Qingge deadpanned, not dealing with Shen Qingqiu’s dramatics.

Shen Qingqiu glanced over at Liu Qingge who sat motionless beside him, a look of concentration on his face as he stared at the fire. Shen Qingqiu eyed that shoulder that he had rested his chin on previously, remembering how soft and comfy it actually was. Shen Qingqiu debated some things in his mind, deciding it wouldn’t hurt after all that he had been through that day to do this one thing.

“Well, goodnight, Liu-shidi,” Shen Qingqiu mumbled and, with all the confidence of a guy slinging his arm around his date's shoulder at the movies, he rested his head on Liu Qingge’s shoulder.

Liu Qingge reacted the same way he usually did at Shen Qingqiu making sudden contact. Going incredibly tense and gaining the appearance of a guy who just ate something really bitter and didn’t want to emote too much.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t notice Liu Qingge’s internal crisis, eyes already shut as he waited to fall asleep.

Shen Qingqiu fell asleep using Liu Qingge’s shoulder as a pillow, surprisingly having one of the best night’s sleeps he’d had in a long time. Liu Qingge stayed awake all night, eyes bloodshot on the fire as he tried not to have another qi deviation. It was a very long night for Liu Qingge.

Chapter Text

Every month the Peak Lords all got together for a meeting of sorts where they discussed future plans and whatever current event was going on. Shen Qingqiu always found himself both dreading and looking forward to it as it was incredibly boring but also gave him something to do. At the moment he was regretting not faking ill from his Without A Cure and skipping going.

Yue Qingyuan was currently talking about the affairs of the mortal realm, simple and inconsequential things such as smaller sects and the state of the economy. Shen Qingqiu did not care in the slightest at what he was saying, so he didn’t even bother to listen. Just sit there and look pretty, he'd be fine.

Shen Qingqiu sat at a small table, representing Qing Jing Peak as he leisurely fanned himself. Eleven other tables were placed around the room, each with a peak lord sitting behind it. Shen Qingqiu spotted Shang Qinghua in a corner looking like he was moments away from falling asleep.

Shen Qingqiu at least pretended to be paying attention, sitting with his back straight unlike Shang Qinghua’s slumped over form. He supposed it couldn’t be helped, living a double life with the ice demon king Mobei-Jun would most likely be tiring.

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes wandered over to the room where the table representing Bai Zhan Peak sat parallel from his. Liu Qingge was no doubt as bored with whatever Yue Qingyuan was talking about as Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua, but he was still listening to him because the guy seemed to respect Yue Qingyuan a lot for reasons Shen Qingqiu didn’t quite understand.

Liu Qingge sat with an upright posture like Shen Qingqiu, however his face had a permanent hostile squint to his eyes, narrowly hiding his disinterest. He held a cup of tea in his hand, occasionally taking a sip from it or just staring into the liquid when the conversation got crazy stale since there was nothing better to do.

Shen Qingqiu thought that a fan would help him, it certainly helped block his own frequent yawns.

Liu Qingge must have felt Shen Qingqiu’s gaze on him because he glanced up from the cup in his hand to meet his eyes.

Shen Qingqiu blinked in surprise, the lazy flapping motion of his fan coming to a halt as he made eye contact with Liu Qingge from across the room.

Liu Qingge raised one eyebrow in a miniscule way, the clear question of ‘yes?’ clear from the action.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t quite have an answer to his question, he was just looking over at him.

At Shen Qingqiu’s lack of response, Liu Qingge just gave him a flat look but didn’t look away.

Shen Qingqiu felt a smile worm its way onto his face behind the fan, feeling a strange sense of warmth. It reminded him of when he still attended school, making eye contact with a close friend in the middle of class and making a funny face or rolling your eyes at something the teacher said. Silent communications between friends, it made Shen Qingqiu feel a sudden wave of nostalgia.

Shen Qingqiu lifted his free hand and wriggled his fingers at Liu Qingge in the form of a wave.

At Shen Qingqiu suddenly waving at him, the cup of tea in Liu Qingge’s hand shattered. The little tea left in the cup splashed onto the table as shards of the cup went flying from the strength exerted from Liu Qingge’s white knuckled grasp.

Shen Qingqiu raised the fan even higher so only his eyes peeked over the edge of it to cover his surprise.

Um...okay?? What was that?! Shen Qingqiu thought as he stared at the shattered cup.

“...does the recent price spike of peaches bother you that much?” Yue Qingyuan asked Liu Qingge, clearly having missed the entire silent exchange he and Shen Qingqiu had just undergone.

Liu Qingge pushed the remains of the cup to the side of his table, a pressed look on his face as he deeply inhaled.

He looked up at Yue Qingyuan, steeling his gaze to mask his emotions.

“Yes,” Liu Qingge lied through gritted teeth.

“Oh...well, we will have to see if we can arrange a deal with the town to see if…” Yue Qingyuan’s voice faded in Shen Qingqiu’s head as he looked concernedly at Liu Qingge.

Liu Qingge’s hands were clenched in fists at his side as Yue Qingyuan prattled on about negotiations, he felt Shen Qingqiu’s gaze on him again and he looked up with a cross look this time.

Shen Qingqiu lowered his fan, letting him see the apologetic smile on his face.

Liu Qingge let out an inaudible huff, turning his head away from Shen Qingqiu’s play for forgiveness in annoyance.

Shen Qingqiu raised his fan again, the lazy fanning starting up once more. He didn’t expect Liu Qingge to forgive him, he didn’t even know why he had reacted that way in the first place. He just felt like he needed to apologize in some way.

The meeting ended some time after that small exchange with Liu Qingge. Shen Qingqiu had plans to meet up with Shang Qinghua after so he left the meeting room without any further chatting with the other Peak Lords.

Shen Qingqiu met up with Shang Qinghua in another room where he was already slumped over at a table trying to stay awake. Shen Qingqiu closed the door behind him, blocking out any outside noise as he came to sit across from Shang Qinghua at the table.

“Dude, what did Mobei-Jun do to make you this tired?” Shen Qingqiu asked as Shang Qinghua blinked blearily up at him.

“I don’t wanna talk about it...I hurt all over, Cucumber Bro!” Shang Qinghua wailed, burying his face into his elbow that was resting on the table.

Shen Qingqiu sighed, finding Shang Qingua both extremely pitiful and also not pitying him one bit.

“I’m surprised the System wasn’t screaming at you to at least look somewhat presentable…” Shen Qingqiu mumbled, even though the system had been wonderfully but also scarily silent since Luo Binghe fell into the Endless Abyss. Shang Qinghua shot his head up with a sudden burst of energy.

He pinpointed Shen Qingqiu with a critical gaze that had Shen Qingqiu wanting to flick him on the forehead.

“I’m more surprised you aren’t getting OOC warnings with how you’ve been acting around Liu Qingge,” Shang Qinghua grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes. “What nonsense are you spouting this time, Airplane Bro? How have I been acting?”

“If I’m spouting nonsense then you’ve got the whole cultivation world talking nonsense...anyone can see whatever it is you’re trying to do.”

“...What? What are you actually saying?!” Shen Qingqiu demanded, genuinely not knowing what he was talking about.

Shang Qinghua groaned, digging his palms against his eyes. “Y’know, the thing going on between you and Liu Qingge.”

Shen Qingqiu blinked in confusion. What was going on between him and Liu Qingge again?

Shang Qinghua continued with the tone of someone whos had enough, “Like seriously, could you guys stop flirting during our Peak Lord meetings?”

Shen Qingqiu froze, blood running cold and then hot. “W-what? We aren’t flirting.”

Shen Qingqiu laughed it off like it was a joke with a dismissive wave of his hand, but the laugh even sounded forced to him.

Shang Qinghua lowered his hands, looking at Shen Qingqiu with a peculiar look in his eyes.

“Then what the fuck have you two been doing for the past year?”

Shen Qingqiu stared at Shang Qinghua like the man had truly gone insane.

“...?? Becoming friends?”

Shang Qinghua laughed loudly at Shen Qingqiu’s response, seeming to find it the funniest thing he had ever heard.

“No. No, I know Liu Qingge because I created him. Whatever that is, is not friendship.”

Shen Qingqiu frowned in disagreement. “You can’t say that. He’s not just some character you wrote down, he’s evolved far from that...there's no way you can say you fully understand his character.”

Shang Qinghua went silent, his mouth hanging open slightly as he stared at Shen Qingqiu.

“Cucumber Bro…” Shang Qinghua said, voice soft in a patronizing way.

Shen Qingqiu felt his irritation flare up and he reached to grab his fan to mask how much this conversation was getting to him. The fan typically found placed around his waist was gone and Shen Qingqiu grasped at nothing but the layers of his robes.

Oh, I must have left it at the meeting… Shen Qingqiu thought as he sat upright once again, just giving Shang Qinghua a scowl instead.

It wasn’t that unusual for Shen Qingqiu to lose his fans, they typically ended up back in his hands courtesy of Liu Qingge who found and returned them for him.

Where was Liu Qingge when he needed him??

Shen Qingqiu looked at Shang Qinghua and the almost pitying look he was giving him.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Shen Qingqiu scolded, about to make a move and rap his knuckles against the top of his head.

Shang Qinghua let out a sigh that became a yawn showing Shen Qingqiu all of his teeth. Shen Qingqiu decided against hitting him on the head and instead turned his nose up in disgust at the sight of his open mouth.

“Well, if you don’t feel that way towards him, Cucumber Bro, stop leading the poor guy on,” Shang Qinghua said sleepily, wagging his finger at Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu visibly recoiled. Shang Qinghua had more screws loose in his brain then he originally thought.

“You’re insane. He doesn’t think like that!”

“Eh?! Are we talking about the same Liu Qingge here?” Shang Qinghua asked, sitting more upright.

“What other Liu Qingge is there?” Shen Qingqiu snapped, “How could you even suggest that for him? Liu Qingge is the second straightest character in this whole universe!”

Shang Qinghua’s mouth dropped open, this time not from a yawn though. “Wait, what? More importantly, why are you keeping track of these things?”

Shen Qingqiu glared fiercely at Shang Qinghua who now had an almost sneaky grin slipping its way onto his face. What was wrong with Shen Qingqiu making lists and observations in this world? Being aware and keeping track of all kinds of matters could end up helping him out in terms of surviving, you never know when it could be important!

“Shut up.”

Shang Qinghua did not shut up as Shen Qingqiu so kindly requested of him. Instead, he proceeded to pry a little more. “If Liu Qingge is the second straightest, then who is number one? Do you think its you?”

Shen Qingqiu paused in his flippant response, thinking about Shang Qinghua’s last question. He actually hadn’t put himself as first place for number one heterosexual, he hadn’t even thought to put himself anywhere on the list. He guessed it just slipped his mind, but whatever, he could find a spot for himself on that list later.

“I put Luo Binghe for number one. It's hard to compete for that place when the guy is going to have a harem of wives in the hundreds,” Shen Qingqiu responded, crossing his arms in thought. “I, naturally, am high up on that list as well.”

Shang Qinghua stared at Shen Qingqiu and the self-confidence on his face for a full two seconds, then he burst into laughter.

Shen Qingqiu glared at Shang Qinghua who was now slapping his knee with one hand and wiping away what Shen Qingqiu hoped was fake tears in his eyes. Or maybe he wished it was real, he felt Shang Qinghua deserved to cry a little.

Shang Qinghua quieted down after a while of Shen Qingqiu’s crisp silence, looking up at him with teary eyes.

“Aha, Bingge maybe, but the Bingmei that you raised?! I think your list might be upside down, Cucumber Bro…”

“Nonsense. You’re clearly exhausted and not thinking rationally,” Shen Qingqiu said, a hand moving for his fan once more, but then he remembered it was still not returned to him.

“Just because I’m moments away from passing out doesn’t mean I’m blind, Cucumber Bro is just being mean,” Shang Qinghua replied with a small pout that turned into another yawn.

“Blind? No, you’re clearly just insane. Only an insane person would actually think Liu Qingge isn’t straight or that he’s even remotely interested in me like that.”

Shang Qinghua’s slumped over form looked up at Shen Qingqiu with disbelief in his eyes. Shen Qingqiu cleared his throat as he was feeling the need to emphasize, “There is nothing going on between Liu Qingge and I, we’re both very straight.”

That seemed to be the last straw for Shang Qinghua’s sanity. He dropped his head against the table with a solid thunk and didn’t raise it.

“I’m sorry, Cucumber Bro, but I can’t deal with this shit anymore. You and Liu Qingge can just keep going around in circles, I don’t care anymore,” Shang Qinghua said with a muffled voice from where his forehead rested on the smooth surface of the table.

Shen Qingqiu glared at the crown of his head before deciding he had had enough anyways.

“I’m leaving to get my fan,” Shen Qingqiu announced, rising up from his sitting position.

Shang Qinghua mumbled something incoherent, already half asleep.

Shen Qingqiu flipped his sleeves--for the dramatics--and exited the room. He beelined it straight for the room that the Peak Lord meeting had taken place in.

Just as he was about to enter the room, the doors opened and Liu Qingge walked out with his typical annoyed expression on his face.

Shen Qingqiu froze in place as he saw him, Shang Qinghua’s words racing through his mind.

Liu Qingge noticed Shen Qingqiu standing just a few feet in front of him and he walked over, the hostile air around him softening unbeknownst to Shen Qingqiu.

“Shen Qingqiu,” Liu Qingge greeted, a suspicious look on his face, clearly wondering what Shen Qingqiu was doing back.

Shen Qingqiu blinked back to attention, forcing his uptight shoulders to relax.

“Aha, Liu-shidi, I was thinking you had already left,” Shen Qingqiu said, giving Liu Qingge an innocent look.

Liu Qingge just narrowed his eyes at Shen Qingqiu, making him resist the urge to fidget. “I was just about to leave. What are you still doing here?”

Shen Qingqiu’s fingers itched to grab his fan but there was nothing there. He glanced behind Liu Qingge’s shoulder at the doors leading to where his fan must be waiting for him.

“I think I forgot my fan...I came back to get it,” Shen Qingqiu explained and Liu Qingge raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, you did.” Liu Qingge took out Shen Qingqiu’s fan from where it was being held against his waist.

“Oh!” Shen Qingqiu exclaimed, taking his fan from Liu Qingge. “You’re, uh, really good at finding these.”

Liu Qingge huffed, giving a shrug of his shoulders. “It’s not like it's difficult with how often you leave them.”

Shen Qingqiu’s grip on the fan tightened, feeling his heartbeat increase abnormally. He glanced up to meet Liu Qingge’s eyes.

“Well, thank you for always returning them to me, Liu-Shidi,” Shen Qingqiu said, his hand moving up to clutch the fan against his chest.

Liu Qingge paused, sensing something was off as he looked Shen Qingqiu up and down. “Sure…”

Shen Qingqiu nodded but felt like he needed to address a certain issue or he wasn’t going to sleep easy.

“Y’know, Liu-shidi, Shang Qinghua said something really weird awhile ago…” Shen Qingqiu began, feeling his pulse race.

What am I getting so nervous for? I already know the answer, so why am I so stressed?!

Liu Qingge raised an eyebrow. “Most of what Shang Qinghua says is already really weird.”

Shen Qingqiu laughed, grateful for the brief comic relief and distraction from where the conversation was heading that Liu Qingge just provided. “You should see what he writes…”

“He writes?”

“Yeah, don’t ask him to show you,” Shen Qingqiu said with a knowing smile that did nothing to hide the cruelty behind his words.

Liu Qingge stared at Shen Qingqiu, clearly not getting what he was saying.

Shen Qingqiu sighed, deciding to just nip it at the bud and get to the point.

“Anyway, about what he said…” Shen Qingqiu trailed off meeting Liu Qingge’s eyes.

The following confrontation died in Shen Qingqiu’s throat as it tightened, his already thumping heart going even faster.

“I…” Shen Qingqiu tried but couldn’t find the words. He could feel his skin heating up and he flipped his fan open with forced casualness.

Shen Qingqiu fanned himself under Liu Qingge’s understandably confused gaze.

“What? What’d he say?”

Shen Qingqiu swallowed roughly. What the hell is wrong with me? What is this feeling?

“Er...I forgot, it just slipped my mind,” Shen Qingqiu lied, his fan increasing in speed.

Liu Qingge frowned, not believing his lies for even a second.

“Hey, Liu-shidi, would you mind giving me a ride back? Shang Qinghua just fell asleep on me…” Shen Qingqiu suddenly asked, changing the subject before Liu Qingge could pry.

Liu Qingge sighed, taking the bait of Shen Qingqiu’s clear conversation changer. A hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “He fell asleep? What a useless piece of shit.”

Shen Qingqiu smiled in amusement behind his fan. Somehow it was that ‘useless piece of shit’ that created this whole universe, still useless though.

“Mm,” Shen Qingqiu agreed verbally as he returned his fan to his side.

Liu Qingge nodded at him before suddenly turning away.

“Okay, let’s go then.” Liu Qingge started walking to the exit, glancing back to make sure that Shen Qingqiu was following.

Shen Qingqiu met Liu Qingge’s backwards glance and he smiled warmly at him, ignoring the imaginary flashes of OOC that the system would have been giving him if he hadn’t had the lock removed.

Liu Qingge looked forward again roughly, cheeks blossoming a pretty shade of pink that had Shen Qingqiu hurrying his pace to get a better view of.

...Airplane had just been saying that to rile me up. Shen Qingqiu thought desperately. Surely, there was a perfectly valid explanation behind that pink tint to Liu Qingge’s cheeks. Behind why Shen Qingqiu felt like his heart was in his throat everytime he made eye contact with Liu Qingge.

He’s just mad because he has to give me a ride now...that's why his face is red. Shen Qingqiu reasoned, nodding to himself and deciding to not think on the problem any further in case he found out how obvious he was bullshitting himself.

Outside, Liu Qingge summoned Cheng Luan and stepped onto it.

Shen Qingqiu got on as well, standing behind Liu Qingge as he usually did. Shen Qingiu’s heartbeat skyrocketed as he stared at Liu Qingge’s waist.

He...he should be holding onto him right? Would it seem suspicious if he suddenly stopped now? Or was it even more suspicious to hold onto him? Ahh, fuck this whole situation! Why did Shang Qinghua have to make him aware?! Shen Qingqiu made up his mind and shuffled forward, successfully wrapping his arms around Liu Qingge’s waist.

Liu Qingge didn’t show his face to Shen Qingqiu who was too afraid to even look and see what his reaction was. Liu Qingge took off, flying towards Qing Jing Peak.

The high mountain air helped clear Shen Qingqiu’s mind enough for him to formulate a plan. A plan that probably wouldn’t backfire on him...probably. He was just going to ask him some totally not suspicious questions, maybe go and get one of the hundred truth spell flowers that exist in this universe, pair it with a memory forgetting flower, and ta-da! Awkward interrogation with Liu Qingge will be over and forgotten just like that.

Shen Qingqiu gave Liu Qingge’s waist a squeeze to get his attention. He would start off just asking subtle questions and, if necessary, bring in the stupid magic flowers at another time.

“Hey, Liu-shidi, wanna visit my bamboo house for a while? I’ve got a new tea I think you’d like.”

Liu Qingge didn’t reply at once but looked over at Shen Qingqiu’s questioning gaze.

The mountain air was crisp and dry, causing Liu Qingge’s lips to feel dry. He licked his lips and Shen Qingqiu’s eyes followed the motion, a strange feeling overcoming him.

Liu Qingge noticed where Shen Qingqiu’s eyes were and he went even more rigid.

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes shot up, face flushing as he realized he had been caught.

Liu Qingge blinked wide eyes at Shen Qingqiu, all the background noises seeming to fall into silence.

Shit! Shit! Why did I do that?! Shen Qingqiu cried internally, but on the outside he was giving Liu Qingge a calm look, pretending absolutely nothing was the matter, like he was still patiently waiting for his answer.

After a few painfully long moments, Liu Qingge slowly nodded in agreement.

“Sure,” Liu Qingge agreed, sounding a ton more collected than he really was.

Shen Qingqiu nodded back, turning his face to the side like his answer wasn’t that important. “Okay, cool.”

Liu Qingge looked back in the direction they were going, the sword ride going silent once more as they both stewed in their own thoughts.

Chapter Text

Back at the bamboo house, Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu fell into their typical routine when they were there. Shen Qingqiu sat cross legged at the table, pouring both him and Liu Qingge tea while Liu Qingge sat behind him cross legged and began sending spiritual energy to him, clearing his meridians.

After a few moments of silence, Shen Qingqiu flipped his fan open and started lazily fanning himself. Starting to ask Liu Qingge questions out of nowhere would make him get up and leave, he needed to do this naturally.

Shen Qingqiu paused shortly in his thoughts, instead studying the fan in his hand with a small smile playing at his lips as he thought about just how frequently he made Liu Qingge have to return his fan back. No, that wasn’t right--he wasn’t making Liu Qingge do anything, if he wanted to he could just avoid Shen Qingqiu altogether, instead he went around picking up his fans and personally delivering them to him.

“You really are quite good at returning my fans, we don’t even need to schedule meet ups if I keep leaving them around randomly,” Shen Qingqiu said with a tiny laugh, only distinguishable by the way his shoulders slightly jostled at the movement.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Liu Qingge replied flatly and Shen Qingqiu shrugged his shoulders in response.

“Next time I’m missing your company or needing my meridians cleared, I’ll just drop my fan,” Shen Qingqiu said with a turn of his head to see Liu Qingge’s reaction, a teasing smile spread on his face.

Liu Qingge narrowed his eyes at Shen Qingqiu. “How do you lose a fan in your own home? I won’t find it.”

Shen Qingqiu blinked, realizing what a stupid thing he had just said. Liu Qingge had a fair point, Shen Qingqiu didn’t leave his bamboo house enough to really be able to drop the thing whenever and expect Liu Qingge to find it. He was always in his bamboo house, dropping it would only make it so that it'd be waiting for him to walk across it in the next half hour or so.

Shen Qingqiu felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment but he twisted his upper half around to face Liu Qingge. The fan in Shen Qingqiu’s grip snapped close, letting Liu Qingge see the red tint to his cheeks for just a moment.

Shen Qingqiu delivered a quick hit to Liu Qingge on the head with his fan in retaliation for his snide comeback. With the lack of evil intent behind the move, and Liu Qingge being too busy staring at Shen Qingqiu, he was able to land a solid hit that Liu Qingge couldn’t dodge in time. Liu Qingge gave Shen Qingqiu a sour look as the fan retreated, the hands placed flat against his back dropping to his sides, cutting off the steady flow of spiritual energy to Shen Qingqiu’s meridians.

Shen Qingqiu blinked twice at the flat look on Liu Qingge’s face that was now paired with the slightly red mark from his fan on his forehead.

Ah, had he gone too far? Shen Qingqiu worried, thinking a bop on the head with the fan was going to be the final thing in encouraging Liu Qingge to cut their hang out time short.

Without Liu Qingge’s hands on his back to hold him in place, Shen Qingqiu twisted fully around to be sitting facing him. Shen Qingqiu leaned forward, a hand coming up to lightly touch the red mark on his forehead.

Liu Qingge frowned but didn’t flinch back at the touch which Shen Qingqiu considered a good thing in terms of their friendship, in terms of...other things, well...Shen Qingqiu wasn’t thinking about it.

“Aha, sorry, Liu-shidi, I didn’t mean to hit you that hard…” Shen Qingqiu said, his hand falling back to his side, eyes not leaving the red mark though.

“What are you talking about? I barely even felt it--” further words of retaliation died in Liu Qingge’s throat as his face went an extremely bright shade of scarlet.

Shen Qingqiu had moved even closer while he was talking. Without thinking, Shen Qingqiu had tilted his head up and placed a gentle kiss on Liu Qingge’s forehead.

At Liu Qingge making a strangled noise in his throat, Shen Qingqiu frowned upon realizing just what he was doing. He really wasn’t thinking much about it, just focusing on the simple task of soothing the red mark on his head. It really wasn’t his fault that he did it, Shen Qingqiu’s disciples often went to him whenever they scratched their knees or elbows during training, and because he babied all of his disciples like a loving mother, Shen Qingqiu would lean down and give little kisses to each scratch and ouchie on his disciples. His disciples loved the attention and care they got from Shen Qingqiu and they’d smile brightly up at him before running back to their training. Shen Qingqiu did it so often it felt like second nature, he didn’t even think twice about kissing Liu Qingge’s forehead.

Back in the present, Shen Qingqiu jerked his head back, cheeks catching aflame to match the colour of Liu Qingge’s face.

Oh god, oh no! Oh fuck! Shit! Shit! Abort mission! Shen Qingqiu screamed in his mind, alarm going off in his head while his outward appearance appeared only mildly shocked.

“Why did you do that?” Liu Qingge demanded, sounding just as shocked as Shen Qingqiu was feeling, however he looked a lot more angry.

“I-I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking,” Shen Qingqiu blabbered out, losing his composure as he gripped his fan tightly.

Ah! His fan! At the reminder of his saviour, Shen Qingqiu went to lift the fan to his face and flip it open to cover his blushing face.

Liu Qingge predicted Shen Qingqiu’s movements before he could even raise his fan higher than its resting place on his knees. He shot a hand out and gripped Shen Qingqiu’s wrist tightly, gaze intent on Shen Qingqiu’s face.

Shen Qingqiu’s breath caught, the hand holding the fan twitching slightly under Liu Qingge’s applied force.

This man really can be a brute… Shen Qingqiu thought as he could already sense the bruising around his wrist forming.

The pain around his wrist was the least of his worries though, with the way Liu Qingge was looking at him, Shen Qingqiu doubted he’d live to see the sun rise on Cang Qiong Mountain ever again.

Shen Qingqiu squeezed his eyes shut, hoping Liu Qingge would take mercy and at least make his death painlessly quick.

A sudden unexpected warmth was gently pressed up against his lips. Shen Qingqiu shot his eyes open to find Liu Qingge’s face right in front of him, eyes shut tightly with an angry furrow to his brows as he kissed him.

...Oh, Airplane you fucking bastard. Was Shen Qingqiu’s first thought, followed by amazement at how gentle Liu Qingge actually was. He still had a death grip on Shen Qingqiu’s wrist but his kiss was soft and yielding, so unlike his fighting style and typical brash personality. It made Shen Qingqiu’s heart melt a little in his chest, warmth filling up inside him like a spring.

Liu Qingge wasn’t actually that bad of a kisser, not that Shen Qingqiu had put that much prior thought into it or anything.

Oh...okay. Neat. Wow. This is really nice actually. Shen Qingqiu thought and relaxed his shoulders, leaning forward and melting into the kiss.

Liu Qingge didn’t seem to actually expect Shen Qingqiu to accept his kiss or even more reciprocate it. He popped open his eyes and pulled away from Shen Qingqiu with a jerk of his head.

Shen Qingqiu blinked open the eyes he had shut when he kissed Liu Qingge back. Liu Qingge’s face was still bright red but he also had a deer in the headlights expression, clearly having no idea what was happening.

It made sense, the guy had probably never kissed anyone before. Nonetheless ever had any romantic feelings for someone until Shen Qingqiu.

Wow… Liu Qingge had feelings for Shen Qingqiu. The realization hit him like a sack of bricks. Shen Qingqiu found he wasn’t actually all that bothered by this fact...rather he found himself feeling something like joy and pleasant surprise, maybe he should drop himself further down on that list of straightest people in this world.

In the now, Liu Qingge sat with his back rigid, not saying a word.

Shen Qingqiu let out a quiet sigh, deciding to take the reins since Liu Qingge was most likely moments away from taking flight.

“Thanks,” Shen Qingqiu said to Liu Qingge before wincing slightly.

What the fuck. That was not what he wanted to say. ‘Thanks’??? Who said that after getting kissed?!

Liu Qingge didn’t seem to think Shen Qingqiu was an absolute idiot for saying that--he probably thought it for other reasons that weren’t relevant at the moment-- he nodded his head slowly in response.

“Mhm,” Liu Qingge agreed before standing upright with absolutely no grace.

Shen Qingqiu blinked up at Liu Qingge, wondering why he suddenly got up.

“I’m leaving. I have a sect to run,” Liu Qingge said, walking backwards out of Shen Qingqiu’s bamboo house, the red in his face not having left since it showed up.

??? What. They weren’t even going to talk about what just happened?! Was that just going to be expected to be a normal thing?

“Uh, Liu-shidi?” Shen Qingqiu called out. Liu Qingge paused in front of the entry to Shen Qingqiu’s bamboo house.

“What is it?”

Shen Qingqiu blinked, he actually didn’t know what to say. Where to even begin? ‘I think I like you now and was just too dumb to notice before, do you like me back?’ That would be a stupid thing to say considering Liu Qingge was the one who kissed him in the firstplace. Shen Qingqiu just decided to scrap the whole confession thing since Liu Qingge clearly wasn’t the type for talking about feelings.

“I had a good time with you today--even though it was short. You’ll come and visit me soon so we can continue, right?”

Liu Qingge stared at Shen Qingqiu, a perplexed and almost terrified look on his face. Shen Qingqiu would find it funny if he wasn’t also terrified out of his mind over what was happening.

Liu Qingge nodded, taking a shaky steadying breath.

“Yes,” Liu Qingge agreed, voice sounding both strained and gruff from overcompensation at him trying to sound nonchalant and cool.

Shen Qingqiu smiled slightly, picking up on this.

“Okay, good. See you later, Liu-shidi,” Shen Qingqiu said, giving a little wave of farewell at him.

Liu Qingge nodded once more, face flushing even more. He took Shen Qingqiu’s dismissal and summoned his sword Cheng Luan outside, proceeding to book it off of Qing Jing Peak.

Once Liu Qingge was out of sight and mostly off of the peak at the speed he was going, Shen Qingqiu gently placed the fan on the table top.

Well, guess he had more of whatever that was to look forward to.

Shen Qingqiu buried his face in his hands, cheeks going bright red.

“I’m such an idiot,” Shen Qingqiu mumbled to himself, all the pieces to the puzzle falling into place in his mind.

Had Liu Qingge really thought he was courting Shen Qingqiu for the past year and somehow Shen Qingqiu--the one being courted--was the only person unaware?!

There were so many obvious signs, it was no wonder Liu Qingge thought it was so.

Wow...Shen Qingqiu was a hell of a lot dumber than he thought. Even though he was ridiculing himself for being so blind, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but feel excitement as well. The phantom feeling left over from Liu Qingge’s kiss on his lips made his heart stir and he buried his face even more in his hands to hide the dopey grin spreading across his face from the world.

It looked like Shen Qingqiu had been incredibly unaware of his feelings as well. Now that he was aware of them he felt like he was going to pass out. Good thing he didn’t have to do much in regards to courting Liu Qingge considering he had apparently been doing so for the past year.

Shen Qingqiu sighed, lifting his face from his hands. He picked up the fan placed next to him on the table and gave it a small smile.

Now, where should he accidentally lose his fan next?