Work Text:
Luo Binghe looked down at Shen Qingqiu with watery eyes.
“Shizun, I promise I’ll be back by tonight, it seems to be a small demonic uprising. We can extend our vacation by a week, okay? This disciple apologizes.”
Shen Qingqiu took a pensive sip of tea before responding , “It’s fine, Binghe. We will have ample time to enjoy the countryside out here once you return.” He supported the teacup with both hands, savoring the warmth it provided. Mobei-jun had departed swiftly after relaying the news, but there was a residual chill left in the midst of the cottage.
Luo Binghe paused after checking his qiankun pouch and securing his sword to his waist, “Shizun … please be careful until I return. This area should be clear of anything too dangerous, but I think it’s better if we explore it together...”
The teacup gave a soft thud as it was placed down, and the flutter of a fan opening followed. Shen Qingqiu met the pleading gaze of Luo Binghe with a stern one of his own.
“Binghe, don’t be silly. Is this master not a peak lord and cultivator able to defend himself?” Truly, does this master look like a simpering maiden to you, Binghe? Peak Lord? Xiu Ya Sword? Does this mean nothing?!
Luo Binghe internally sighed. “You’re right, Shizun. Well, this disciple will be off then. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” As he turned to leave, Luo Binghe checked in with his blood parasites within Shen Qingqiu – they pulsed back to his order, in perfect condition. His muscles untensed a degree as he reminded himself that he can count on them as a failsafe.
***
Shen Qingqiu crossed his ankles on the edge of the table, back flat on the floor and held the book above his head. It was the third time he had changed position in the past hour, and he could feel his arms going numb. The day had really just started, and while he wanted to appease Binghe’s request to stay close, the boredom had set in.
Without Binghe around, this vacation is a bit lacking. Maybe just a short walk to stretch would be fine.
Standing up and straightening his robes, Shen Qingqiu fussed at the myriad layers of his outfit. Maybe giving Binghe full control over my clothing was a mistake. What is this that he packed for our vacation? The soft greens and bamboo patterns are suitable, but what is with all these decorative layers of silk and transparent cloth? There has to be four additional layers than usual, all just to flash out momentarily in movement? This is not practical in the least! At least with qi circulating there is no overheating, though…
The small cottage was situated in a clearing with a copse of trees gradually forming a forest line at the back. Finding nothing of note in the immediate area around the cottage, Shen Qingqiu meandered to the line of trees. Just a quick poke around the forest, who knows what kind of rare wildlife is out here!
Under the canopy of leaves was noticeably cooler, but the fan in Shen Qingqiu’s hand waved against his waist out of habit. Every twenty feet or so, his attention was pulled to a unique looking sprout in the ground or strange colored bird perched on a branch and he skittered up to each to get a closer look. Wow, I can’t believe I spotted the larval form of a Transient Form Lilac Butterfly here! They only spend the five minutes like that until they are encased in their cocoon! Amazing! After taking a few rushed lines of notes, the brush and notebook were stashed back away. Looking back up, Shen Qingqiu noticed beams of sunlight peaking through the trees ahead. He strolled forward, eyes glittering, his gaze bounced around the clearing, searching for the signs of a rare creature.
An area the size of a soccer field was clear of trees, but the ground was covered in a lush, green grass. Shen Qingqiu began to survey the field, but his light steps stopped abruptly as a rumbling stirred just beneath the soil. A thirty meter distance ahead of his spot, short stems sprouted out of the ground in a large, circular pattern. Petals folded out of centers, and the sunlight shot off a reflection from one that was captured in the pupils of the inquisitive cultivator. Taking great, leaping strides, he broke into a sprint to bridge the distance. The flowers had nearly completed blooming, their forms appeared like pinwheels with a holographic surface, as though the color was shifting and glittering in the sunlight. Looking closer at their forms, the petals could have been made by M.C. Escher, following the lines of their growth, they seemed to flow back into themselves, like a mobius strip. These! These flowers! They were only mentioned once in a footnote – so incredibly rare! Now, what exactly was this behavior –
Shen Qingqiu’s thought was interrupted as he approached the blooms, and just as he caught his robe under his right foot. Ah--! His body surged forward, his arms braced the fall, and the closest petals sliced into his palms. They’re sharp?! Shen Qingqiu gathered himself, assessing the damage. His palms and wrists were covered in small red welts and dirt, but the cuts looked superficial. Ah, basically just a papercut, poor little flowers need a defense mechanism, I suppose. Dusting off his robes, he stood up, looking at the sea of flowers. Each one reached only to his calves and they were bobbing up and down, as if buoyantly floating. Shen Qingqiu felt a flash of warmth pulse through his body, and a light blush rose on his cheekbones. A giggle escaped his mouth as he thought about how cute this blooming field was. The sunlight was reflecting off the expanse of swaying petals, catching and holding his attention. He slowly spun in a circle, trying to follow the twinkling, shining reflections bouncing around the petals. An odd thought pushed to the front of his mind, unclear in origin, to sway with the blooms. After all, Shen Qingqiu was feeling good, he felt flexible and a surge of energy filled his limbs. His mouth felt a little dry, but that was no matter, he could feel a thick energy woven in the air of this field and he wanted to join it.
He stepped to the center of the circle of flowers and experimentally shifted his weight from side to side. The flowers matched his movement, and the thick air surrounding him pulsed, almost in praise, as he let his arms join in, too. His thoughts drifted away as he moved in time with the sea of petals around him. Shen Qingqiu could barely discern a soft sound coming from the ground, it sounded like, a thumping bass? As if a volume bar were being slowly pushed up, the full sound became clear. This couldn’t be! It’s for sure my favorite Kpop group, but this is song is not part of their catalog. It’s so catchy, though! How could they not have released this? Shen Qingqiu’s feet moved quicker, in time with the rhythm and he spun in circles, laughing and dancing. The flowers circled, too, like a carousel, moving up and down with different rows swinging in various directions. What kind of root patten must support this plant network? I’d love to investigate it, later. It was as if a disco ball had come to life and Shen Qingqiu felt the euphoria rush through his body, twirling at the epicenter of it.
Without concern, he could feel the petals pulling a stream of qi from his body as he danced and danced. Oh of course, they must be power by qi, and I certainly have enough of it, I can share. Shen Qingqiu smiled and let the plants take what they wanted from his energy. Each of his steps caused a ripple effect of motion and color to flow through the petals, mesmerizing to observe. This is like a life-sized rhythm game, neat! As the song seemed to be ending, Shen Qingqiu briefly thought of taking a break, This old man can’t go on for too long, ha!, he could hear a new song crossfading in, equally enchanting. Just behind him, he thought he heard Luo Binghe chime in “Hey Shizun, dance one more song for me, okay? I am preparing some boba, you can taste it after the next one is done.”
Shen Qingqiu twirled in step with the song, but his full three-sixty uncovered no sign of his husband. “Binghe?” Shen Qingqiu called out.
“I’m over here, just continue, Shizun, I’ll let you know when it’s all done.” The voice came from a distinctly different location than the first time. Ah, my Binghe is just playing around with me. I’ll just go one more, then I can stop. Anyway, this is my favorite anime OP!
Shen Qingqiu continued his bopping, the stream of qi flowed out, uninterrupted. He could not stop himself from laughing, singing the choruses, and moving in time with the music around the flowers. The thick energy surrounding him seemed to subtly suggest steps to follow and he could see star ratings as if his eyes contained an overlay. His body seemed to innately know how to imbue his qi into his movement to the achieve a smooth flow. No self-consciousness flooded his mind, but the exertion did brighten the flush across his face. The longer he danced, the less his mind interrupted, and Shen Qingqiu found it difficult to remember why he had ever wanted to stop. His eyes reflected the rainbow of flickering petal-reflections, his ears full of bouncing music, and his body fully in sync with the field. He felt transcendent, with only a small part of his mind wondering why his mouth was so dry.
The sun had moved across the sky, dipping lower, as sunset was approaching. While the qi the flowers drained was fairly low in intensity, Shen Qingqiu had long ago felt a deep exhaustion flooding his entire body and spirit. Each step he took, he could feel the muscles contract like a lighting bolt striking up each nerve, and raising his arms felt like a boulder shifting on his shoulders. As his pool of qi drew lower, Shen Qingqiu’s only thought was that he wished he could supply more. Any sobering thought was immediately disrupted with a new floral pattern or color display that quickly overtook Shen Qingqiu’s concentration. Despite the pain reverberating in the periphery of his consciousness, Shen Qingqiu continued giggling and adding in steps, lightfooted as he moved. The euphoria continued to rush and flow through his entire being, though with each breath he caught, Shen Qingqiu confusedly found himself repeating “Binghe, Binghe, Binghe…”
Time had long ago felt like it had lost its balance, at times extending infinitely, but also like only a blink had passed for Shen Qingqiu. The last beams of sunlight were dropping below the horizon when a slice of wind cut through the clearing, and the soft grass dampened the thud of two feet dropping off the hovering sword.
Luo Binghe frantically ran towards Shen Qingqiu, though just before he stepped into the array of flowers, he momentarily paused. Gazing at this scene, he felt almost as bewitched as his husband clearly was. The way his immortal husband was moving along with the petals was simply exquisite. Shen Qingqiu’s face displayed a full open mouthed grin that would never be shown to others, always behind the cover of a fan, but even to his most intimate partner, Luo Binghe wasn’t sure if he’d ever really seen this expression on his face before. He looked goofy. And so, so desirable. He could see the red flush across his husband’s face even at this distance. His guan had been discarded and his silky hair was pulled together at the crown of his head in a disheveled ponytail, revealing more of his swan-like neck than usual. The fluidity with which he twirled and swayed wasn’t surprising but it was enchanting. The robes he had ordered for Shen Qingqiu fluttered and draped across his lithe body, the under layers peaking through to add a glimpse of shimmer or complimentary color. The bottom edges of the robes had been torn to reveal graceful ankles that glided and hopped with imbued qi.
Luo Binghe collected himself, before leaping above the blooms, securing his husband’s delicate waist in his arm, before landing well past the flower pattern. Kneeling down, he shifted his husband, so he was comfortably supported across his lap and within his arms. Luo Binghe could hear his name being repeated by Shen Qingqiu, sometimes whispered, sometimes nearly unvoiced. Looking down into the green eyes of his beloved, he nearly took them for black with how dilated his pupils were. The heat of the body he held was shockingly high, like a white hot sword from a furnace. Luo Binghe supplied cooling qi and circulated it through the meridians of his husband, and Shen Qingqiu’s condition seemed to stabilize, though his limbs twitched occasionally.
Unable to stifle the occasional giggle, Shen Qingqiu’s mind felt muddled, but was starting to right itself. “Binghe, I was promised boba. Where is the boba? I got an S rating on that last one. I never had cleared that one before on Project DIVA.”
Luo Binghe raised his eyebrows, “Shizun? Are you feeling okay now? I’m so sorry, I would have come earlier, but all I could read from the blood was that you were happy and exercising. I thought you might have been practicing sword forms. It was only when you were nearly out of qi that I noticed something was wrong. And what is a Project Diva?”
Shen Qingqiu’s mouth curved into a lopsided smile as he reached up to stroke a loose section of Luo Binghe’s hair. A snort of laughter escaped Shen Qingqiu’s mouth, as he observed, “Binghe, wait, Binghe, Binghe, did you know your hair is fluffy?”
After a few more minutes of silent qi transfer, Shen Qingqiu looked up at Luo Binghe with clear jade eyes, and his husband could see he was more sober.
Luo Binghe sighed, “Shizun, do you know what those flowers were?
Shen Qingqiu swallowed with difficulty, his throat was dry and maybe swollen after all the singing. Yeah, no one needs to know about the singing. His voice came out hoarsely, “Let’s not tell anyone about this. They are called the Luminous Trance Mushroom are actually a fungus network that induces a state of ecstasy and draws qi from positions in the array while the subject is intoxicated. Once a subject is lured into the array, the fungus continues to reinfect them by releasing spores periodically. They really aren’t that dangerous, and so rare as to be basically an endangered species. I only remembered what the species was after I got accidentally infected with a high dose of the spores, but then couldn’t react.”
“O-okay, Shizun, why don’t we get you back to the cottage to rest. I do have tapioca flour, I can make boba.” Luo Binghe replied with a strained smile.
Shen Qingqiu started to pull himself out of the arms of his husband, but the moment he shifted weight onto his feet, his legs buckled like a newborn foal. Luo Binghe scooped him into a bridal carry without missing a beat, “Ah, Shizun, you must be exhausted, let this disciple take care of getting us back. You were in there for a while, weren’t you?”
With a soft grumble, Shen Qingqiu settled into his arms, the red flush across his face reappearing as he tilted his embarrassed face to his chest. Luo Binghe thought he heard a nearly imperceptible mutter of “another damn wife plot” but chose not to question his flushed husband.
Gently placed on the daybed of the cottage, Shen Qingqiu looked up tenderly at his husband as Luo Binghe began to speak, “How is Shizun feeling? Should we transfer more qi?”
The initial qi transfer had smoothed over the abrasions on his hands and arms, and Shen Qingqiu mainly felt a sweet, slightly dizzy bliss mixed with the full bodied exhaustion.
“This master is fine, any residual effects should fade within a few hours, the main concern with the Luminous Trance Mushroom is being caught in the array.”
Luo Binghe nodded and replied, “Understood. I’ll fetch the tapioca flour from the storehouse, but call for me if you need anything!”
A short while later, Shen Qingqiu found himself supported in his husband’s arms, being fed snacks and drinks by hand.
“I’m not totally indisposed! I’m capable of feeding myself!” Shen Qingqiu argued, but his body relaxed into the embrace of his husband and he accepted the sips of various teas and nibbles of desserts.
“Say Shizun, I can think of one way to totally clear your body of those pesky spores, hmm? What do you say?”
Shen Qingqiu tensed a bit, “What are you – Binghe!” But he averted his eyes from Luo Binghe and nodded a few times.
***
The rest of the vacation was spent in full relaxation without incident, but as Binghe was packing their bags on their last day, Shen Qingqiu thought he saw a flash of silver catch the sunlight from a small sachet as it was placed in Binghe’s qiankun pouch.