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Luo Binghe invited him with sweet, watery eyes and a pout to his lips that always made Shen Qingqiu’s knees weaken. There was no need for the theatrics because the moment Luo Binghe said, “this husband heard there is a festival today at the next village over and would like to bring Shizun,” he was sold the moment he heard the word “festival”.
The original Shen Qingqiu’s character was too introverted to go out more than he absolutely had too, which had originally forced the current Shen Qingqiu to make himself into a homebody more than he would have liked. Otherwise, he would have started gallivanting years ago around the world of PIDW despite his own introverted nature, if only to first-hand experience the novelty of the, well, novel.
It’s one of the reasons why they took time off to travel around at their own pace, to explore their world together without sect siblings and demonic monarchs looming over their heads. A festival was something he had only experienced twice before in this world and it made him eager for more.
It took everything for Shen Qingqiu to contain his child-like glee as they entered the main road winding through the little border town. Large paper lanterns, bright and crimson, covered the skyline above, draped from roof to roof. The sweet smell of the local blooming flower trees and sugary sweets hung heavy in the air anda cacophony of music and joy rang high above the streets.
Luo Binghe stuck close to his side, their hands interlaced, but his other hand would reach across to grab onto Shen Qingqiu’s sleeve if the crowd grew too thick. It was a cool spring day with a slight breeze that ruffled the paper lanterns and the top of their heads, and stray petals from the flowering trees would brush through their hair.
A stall selling sugar paintings of delicate butterflies, elegant swords, and an array of animals beckoned for Shen Qingqiu to take one. He did with pleasure, picking out a sweet little dog he held up to compare to his husband. They paid and continued on.
Shen Qingqiu didn’t want to eat too much and gave the other half to Luo Binghe.
“Shizun,” Luo Binghe said as he licked away the remnants of sugar from the stick. “I could make these if you enjoy them so much.”
“I would love that, but there’s something special about getting some from a festival stall, don’t you think?”
Luo Binghe hummed. They meandered through the streets and stopped for more snacks and games. Shen Qingqiu had come with an empty stomach for the sole purpose of filling it with fried dough, sticky sugared fruit, and delightful little desserts,yet he was taken by surprise with each new treat he shared with Luo Binghe. What was strange was that some foods he expected to be sugary sweet were in fact sour or savory, or the savory foods were oddly sweet. It was only that first sugar painting that tasted exactly as it should.
“Hey, mister?” Shen Qingqiu called for the stall owner who served them a bowl of steaming noodles. “Why are these so sweet? Isn’t this a chicken broth?”
“It is! But for this festival we like to change up flavors in honor of the gods we are celebrating. These longevity noodles are for good luck and sweet harmony!”
“Hm,” Shne Qingqiu hummed and finished the rest of his half of the noodles. They weren’t bad, but the flavor took him by surprise.
“Shizun,” Luo Binghe said as he took the half-eaten bowl from Shen Qingqiu to finish. “Why waste our good money for food I can make at home? Mine would be so much better than sweetened longevity noodles.”
“Sometimes when all you eat is the best food, it’s good to humble yourself with something distasteful.” It was a load of garbage, but Shen Qingqiu sometimes did miss old microwaved frozen dinners and greasy fast food, even in the face of Luo Binghe’s heavenly cooking.
As this was a border town with demon and human cultures mingling, there were interesting things on sale along with the interesting cuisine. One stall sold an array of certainly cursed artifacts by a demon with only one wide eye in the middle of his forehead. The local humans didn’t seem to mind at all that there was a leering demon nudging them to buy some of his items, swirling with dark energy. A cursory glance showed there was nothing wrong with them per say, they could cause nothing more than a little bad luck like a stubbed toe or getting caught in the rain, but nonetheless Shen Qingqiu gave the one-eyed demon a leveled look that should read “I’m watching you”. Another stall sold only buns, no fillings or sides to go with, but the stall next to it held an array of fillings for the buyer to stuff it with, like fruity meat sauces and crunchy vegetables soaked in spices.
A game of ring toss drew them in. Shen Qingqiu mentioned offhandedly he liked the cute little porcelain tea pet shaped like a dog with bright eyes standing as a prize and Luo Binghe veered off course to beeline straight for the game.
“How much for the tea pet?” Luo Binghe slammed his whole wallet on the table, the heavy thud made the stall owner’s eyes widen comically.
“It’s a second place prize! See, get at least four of five rings around the bottle, you can have it.” The stall owner didn’t take his eyes off the heavy wallet.
“Easy enough. Let me play a round, I would like that dog.”
Shen Qingqiu stood a little back, just out of arm's reach, nibbling on a steamed bun with a sweetened pork filling as Luo Binghe made a grand show of taking aim and—
Missed.
“Ah, xianjun! Never you mind you still have—”
The remaining four rings landed easily around the bottle neck in a flash, stacked neatly on top one another with barely a rattle to the bottle.
Shen Qingqiu clapped in admiration, his steamed bun clamped in his mouth to free his hands. The little clay dog was passed to Luo Binghe, who turned to give it to Shen Qingqiu. He exchanged his bun for the dog and held it up at eye level to admire it. The craftsmanship was poor quality up close, its eyes wonky, and the obvious lines of fingerprints were immortalized in the clay. Nonetheless, Shen Qingqiu tucked it away in his sleeve and said, “He can join us for tea tonight.”
Luo Binghe had taken a few bites from the steamed bun and gave it back to Shen Qingqiu to finish. “Interesting what they did with the filling.”
“Mn. It’s not bad.”
They went with the flow of the crowd, followed it to where it thickened to a lively performance in the village center, a dramatic play enacting a showy sword fight. Their costumes would have been impractical in a real battle, even for PIDW standards, their moves too slow and left far too many gaps in their defenses. Shen Qingqiu spoke his critiques to Luo Binghe, who nodded along.
“Shizun is so wise and an excellent teacher,” he complimented.
No, really, he just had too many opinions!
The crowd were pushing and pulling at them as they drew closer to the stage. It was uncomfortably warm, too many people crammed into too narrow of a street. Luo Binghe wrapped an arm around Shen Qingqiu’s waist and drew him closer, the narrowed tilt to his eyes was the only warning before he released a pulse of demonic qi to spook people away.
“Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu chided. “Not here.”
“Sorry, Shizun, this disciple knows you don’t like crowds,” Luo Binghe smiled sheepishly and reeled his demonic qi in. It was touching, but it seemed almost worse to be given a wide berth than to simply melt into a crowd.
They passed through the thick of the crowd and emerged to where even more food stalls and exciting wares lined the streets, the glow of the day fading to a golden sunset tinted red by the nearby demon realm border. The excitement seemed to bloom tenfold, the air alight with a new electricity. A main road running through the town was cleared for a parade, led by a brilliant dancing dragon, swarms of beautiful women and demonesses alike dancing with their swirling robes, a float of the same sword fighting play performing the climax of the play. It was wonderful, a dazzling sight that had Shen Qingqiu’s heart racing, but he could feel his skin pulling taut from all the activity.
The aloof immortal mask he wore could crush the exhausting buzzing under his skin, but the gentle hand on the small of his back and the warm press of Luo Binghe’s side soothed his frayed nerves just enough to bear it for a little while longer. The evening wore the crowds thinner, the people exhausted from a full day of activity, but there were still so many people it made him itch to retreat back into their inn for the evening and curl up in bed against Luo Binghe’s side.
“Shizun.” Luo Binghe leaned in to speak directly into Shen Qingqiu’s ear over the cacophony of sound and light. “This festival is to worship a pair of gods. Maybe we should go pay our respects to them before we leave for the evening?”
Just like him, he picked up on the shift in Shen Qingqiu’s mood. “Mn. I would not mind.”
They departed from the crowd just as the parade reached its end. Luo Binghe asked for directions from a vendor, then weaved them through the packed streets to where the people grew louder, and alcohol and inhibitions flowed wilder.
A temple sat just at the central part of town, brightly decorated to match the festival mood. Locals were coming and going with the same idea to pay their due respects. It was a humble temple, kept neat by attentive priests, and obviously well-loved by the town. Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu climbed the steps to the wide entrance and found a towering statue of two gods arm in arm greeting them in the main hall. They lit an incense stick in offering and knelt to leave their prayers. Shen Qingqiu did not know much about the pair of gods reigning over this town, but he wished for this place to remain bountiful and flourishing for as long as time would allow. Then, as a selfish desire, asked to keep Luo Binghe by his side for even longer.
“What did you pray for?” Luo Binghe murmured as they left the quiet hall.
“Now why should I tell? Then my wish won’t come true,” Shen Qingqiu teased.
“This disciple heard those gods represent luck, both good and bad, but most of all represent shared deep love. I asked if Shizun would stay by my side and if we could increase our lovemaking from every three days to—”
Shen Qingqiu smacked him upside the head with his fan, never enough to hurt, but enough to pull a cheerful laugh from Luo Binghe.
“Shizun!” he whined. “I spoke the honest truth!”
“There’s no reason to speak such truth when this husband is already aware of it.” His thin face couldn’t handle it! He snapped open his fan to hide the pink flush of his cheeks, unsure if the red lanterns burning bright in the twilight sky could hide it fully. “... Tonight is our third night. Is that not enough to sate you?”
“This husband is always willing.” Luo Binghe perked up, his eyes bright under the lantern light. “Let’s return to our inn and relax. The day is gone and I’m sure my husband is ready for a bath and a proper meal.”
“Yes, yes, but you have more in mind besides the bath and proper meal. Will I get them before or after you have your way?”
“Before, if Shizun will allow it.” If Luo Binghe had a tail it would be wagging so hard his whole body swayed with the motion. He remembered the tea pet in his sleeves, shaped like a fluffy dog with it’s little molded tongue peeking out from between its little smile, and thought the real version was much cuter.
Shen Qingqiu sighed and tugged Luo Binghe around to face him. He lifted his fan to shield their faces from the passerbyers and placed a warm, tender kiss on Luo Binghe’s lips. It seemed to melt him down to his core, sinking into Shen Qingqiu’s lips without surging forward to nip and hold like he always tried. His exhaustion must have been very evident if it was even making Luo Binghe hold back.
“Then let’s go. I’m sure this husband can indulge a little after such a wonderful night.” He wouldn’t mind. He never minded when it came to Luo Binghe.
The air was sweet with raining spring blooms, thick with bright red lanterns and the leftover laughter of the day. Luo Binghe led him back to the inn with a leisurely stroll, trying to take in the last of the festival air before it closed for the year,
“Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu said as they arrived at their inn. He picked a stray blossom petal from Luo Binghe’s hair.
“Mn?”
“Let’s come back next year.”