Chapter Text
Pain.
Pain.
PainpainpainpainpainpainpainpainpainpainpainPAINPAINPAIN!
He was in pain!
It hurts!
It fucking hurts so badly!
Just what… what happened to him?!
Shen Jiu forced his eyelids to move. An act that supposed to be as easy as breathing suddenly become difficult. It was as if someone just superglued his eyelids together. That… that can’t be normal. Okay. Okay Shen Jiu. You can doit. Move your limbs slowly. Careful. Fingers. Toes. Wrists. Elbows, Hisss! It feels like his elbows were made of rusty doors. Okay. Okay. Careful. Careful. Now. Straighten your legs. Left leg. Then right. Deep breath. Exhale.
DING!
He… he thought he heard something. A notification from his phone? Where the fuck he put it…? His pocket?
DING!
No. He didn’t have Pocket. Why didn’t he have one? His outdoor clothes always have pocket somewhere and this—this isn’t his outdoor clothes.
This is robe.
He hasn’t… this was his but wasn’t in the same time. He hasn’t worn robe since…
No wait. Didn’t he always wear robe? What else he would wear? This was one of his favorite robes.
Wait. Favorite?
DING!
He ends up clutching his head as another wave of pain racked his brain.
Deep breath. Deep breath.
Close your lips. Inhale for four seconds. Hold it for seven. Then exhale for eight.
Inhale. Hold. Exhale.
Inhale. Hold. Exhale.
Inhale. Hold. Exhale.
Shen Jiu carefully open his eyes and study something.
He was… in a cave. Yes. A cave. A natural cave to be exact. Not a man-made one. He was sitting on a slab of smooth rock for a while. His ass feels like flat tire. He needs to stand up. He needs to know where exactly he was.
No. He know. This was ￭￭￭￭￭￭ Caves.
Wait. What caves?
DING!
If Shen Jiu hasn’t been sitting, he would’ve collapse. As it was, it took him all he had to not curled up like newborn kitten and groaned like zombie. His arm that had been clenching at the edge of the stone tensed so hard he didn’t know which one will break first. His fingers or the stone.
Shen Jiu… didn’t like it. At all.
Gritting his teeth, he threw up what his reasons to be here and making his way out—No wait. He was here on his own will and not being kidnapped by some zealots? He, what the hell was he thinking?! Some Chuunibyou or overexcited cosplayer pretends he’s some kind of hotshot cultivator?
What’s a Chuunibyou? And he is a genuine cultivator! He fought hard, sacrificing tears sweat and blood to reach where he stood right now!
Wait, what?
Shen Jiu paused. Leaning against his sword-cane-what?
What with his head?
He… he doesn’t understand?
It’s like…
A roar startled Shen Jiu out of his skin.
That… that sounds like… somewhere between human and a beast?
Shen Jiu clutched the skirt-robe and slowly make his way to the source of voice. Fool, he admits, but he has poor record not getting into troubles when his curiosity gets better of him.
He stepped into another cave system, heart beating rabbit-fast.
What greet him can be categorized into R18 due sheer gore alone. The walls are painted red in human-shaped silhouette, in various positions, as if someone was being slammed over and over and over. The stench of blood was basically filled the air and Shen Jiu feels himself getting ill from the smell alone.
His body suddenly buckled down without his input. Just in time to avoid a white and blue blur skewering him like a shish kebab.
Wait. What?
Mind numb is shock, his hand moves by itself and use the sword—a real fucking sword that was more real than the thing they displayed in the museum—blocked another attempt of skewering him. The one who’s been trying to kill him was—
Shen Jiu blanked out.
He feels like colliding with something. Something hard and soft in the same time.
When he came to his senses, his once pristine-but-a-little-dusty-and-disheveled white and green robe was soaked in red.
And there’s someone lying in front of him. Bloodied and battered with glazed eyes and still chest.
“No… no no no no no no no…”
He dropped on his knees.
“Don’t die don’t die don’t die please don’t die on me I don’t know what happens I don’t mean it I’m so sorry wake up wake up wake up please…”
His heard pounded and his vision become blur.
What to do what to do what to do…?
He doesn’t like brute… he likes him… no he doesn’t… but he didn’t want him to die. What should he do he didn’t breathe how did he make him breathe again—CPR!
Shen Jiu quickly put him in comfortable position, laying on his back with head tolt backwards slightly for airways, before pushing the center of the chest. Hard and fast. Mimicking blood flow. One two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty twenty-one twenty-two twenty-three twenty-four twenty-five twenty-six twenty-seven twenty-eight twenty-nine thirty!
Shen Jiu press their lips together, giving rescue breath. This is embarrassing and if anyone saw this, he would kill them then himself because hell, he willingly locking lips with the Brute!
The thought was banished a millisecond after it come. This is life or death situation! Pride can come later!
Okay, rescue breath done. Checking for breath. No signs?! Repeat it again!
As he keeps doing CPR, Shen Jiu feel his chest constricted again. This was done as he felt something was drained out of him. Like a flow goes to his arms and disperses when he’s pressing the chest, or from his mouth when he’s giving rescue breath.
Qi?
“What the actual fuck?” Shen Jiu whisper-swearing as he saw something in his… mind eye? Mind eye. He saw something akin to pathway like in that orange clad ramen-obsessed Ninja anime. Except more… realistic? Complicated? And it seems to be, oh you gotta fucking kidding me. This is the first time he saw such a thing with his own eyes, but hell, Shen Jiu only take one glance to know that this. Was. WRONG!
Alright, Shen Jiu made a mental movement to roll his sleeves. He got Qi, didn’t he? Time to fix this. You go here, and you go there. No no no, you don’t get to loop around. Not until you full complete the circle and not even a millimeter before it. You, get moving. And you. You… what the fuck are you doing there?! You don’t belong there! Get the fuck out! AND STOP FIGHTING ME DAMMIT!
He did it all while keep doing CPR and giving breath.
That… that was not a good idea.
Shen Jiu’s Qi was limited. He was not bottomless pit of energy. Already, he can feel what meagre Qi he had left was drained dry, and this guy haven’t shown any signs of regaining consciousness.
He had to get out.
He had to bring this guy to medical help, wherever they were.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m so sorry I had to stop giving you CPR but please hold on.” He whisper-prayed. Slipping one hand behind this pretty pretty pretty guy’s back and another behind his knees and lift him.
He’s light. Or maybe Shen Jiu suddenly gain enormous arm strength because hell, he remembers lifting his Meimei when she was twelve and she weighs more.
…meimei? What meimei? He has none to his name.
No. he has one. The youngest of four siblings and the only girl.
…huh?
Shen Jiu shook his head. No. not the time for it. He has to focus sending his Qi to him and finding a way out. He left the swords behind. Okay, it was bad and he was going to be in big trouble but he only has two hands and already he’s feeling jitter nervous and impending panic attack because he’s not sure this pretty guy is breathing at all!
The cave is long and with many branches and Shen Jiu was really, really, really on verge of panic attack or mental breakdown or maybe both because he has been speed walking for… maybe half an hour, and yet he hasn’t seen the entrance exit whatever!
The Qi flow didn’t help. They totally didn’t help!
Shen Jiu thought with his newfound ability to sense Qi, no he always has this doesn’t he ever since childhood, he can use it to track the mouth of the cave, and yet… and yet… and yet he CAN’T!
The Qi flow within the cave feels like current at meeting point between two oceans. One goes this way, other goes that way. Except, WORSE!
Shen Jiu feels like crying.
DING!
“Ah!”
Sudden bout of nausea and pain on his chest area cause him to trip over. He manages to keep this guy in his arms with heads above to ensure the airways aren’t clogged or messed up, and Shen Jiu only feel to his knees.
“Cough!”
There’s a tangy bile at the back of his throat and he coughed a mouthful of blood. Turning the white patch of cloth pinkish red.
Oh no. Did he manage to injure himself? Must be by overspending Qi. There’s trope called Cast From the Hit Points where if you’re low on MP, you’re using HP for substitute. Did he truly drain all Qi he had and substitute it with his life force?
Shen Jiu gritted his teeth. He forces himself to get up and keep walking.
One step. Two steps. Three steps.
Shen Jiu cough another mouthful of blood as his vision began to pin.
No. No. No.
He must stay awake. At least until he reaches the end of the Cave. Until he found someone who can help them.
Until then, until then he mustn’t lose consciousness no matter what happens.
He must stay awake.
“Ngh!”
Focus Shen Jiu! Focus! You must focus at walking! Don’t, don’t let your mind wander!
Come on.
One step. Two steps. Three steps. Four steps.
One foot in front of another.
Careful.
Steady.
Another cough and Shen Jiu almost fell to his knees.
Spite and Determination, Shen Jiu told himself to get up, Spite and Determination are good fuel.
He has so many questions and is not going to keel over without getting some answers.
He will not let anyone die in front of him.
He will not let ￭￭￭ ￭￭￭￭￭￭ die before his eyes again. He will not make same failure twice.
DING!
The Cave’s current is pressuring him down. The sweat drenches robes are the absolute worst. Shen Jiu regrets not cutting it off just to ease his movements. He will never wear this shit again…!
The wind that caresses his face was the only thing that was bearable.
Wait, wind?
As in, fresh wind? From outside?
Hope bloomed in Shen Jiu’s heart. He quickens his pace, paying no heed on his overworked heart nor the pain that spread from his head and chest to the rest of the body.
He can see it. The mouth of the cave.
Just a few more steps.
Just a little further.
Almost there.
Body, don’t fail him now.
Just a little more effort.
Hold on, hold on, please hold on.
One more step.
And,
“Shishu?”
He was meet with horrified faces of teenagers milling not far from the mouth of the cave.
“Help.” He croaked out, blood spilling from his mouth. The pain has become unbearable and now crashing at him with vengeance now that he finally reached the goal.
The world spins and Shen Jiu collapsed. But not before he ensures the one in his arms would be unharmed. Distantly he heard some voices calling frantically.
The last thing he know was a stray thought of his,
I don't want to fail again.