Chapter Text
Shen Qingqiu was leisurely examining a display of fans after finally getting Liu Qingge off his back. Hopefully, his shidi would have the sense to leave him alone for a shichen or so instead of trying to drag him back to Cang Qiong.
Sure, they had completed their assignment, so there was no point in staying in the formerly terrorized town anymore, but why not take a break before reporting on what had happened? It wasn’t like the mission was particularly urgent, it hardly needed two peak lords to attend to it. Even if that wasn’t the case, why wouldn’t Shen Qingqiu want some time away from his utterly incompetent disciples and the idiot of a sect leader, whose pitiful nagging had been the only reason he was here?
“How about this fan here, daozhang?” The man running the stand pointed at a fan depicting looming grey mountains, “It’s the finest you can find in the whole town!”
Shen Qingqiu was just about to respond until feeling a pair of eyes burning into the side of his head. He whipped his head around, seeing a man dressed in emerald and black, a veil covering the lower half of his face staring at him. Making eye contact with the Qing Jing Peak Lord, the man turned around, walked further into the crowd, and turned into an alleyway.
Shen Qingqiu turned back to the fan seller, apologizing and saying something had come up, and hurriedly went after the mysterious man.
Whoever he was didn’t give off any malicious intent, instead feeling welcoming–familiar, almost. Pushing his way through the busy main street, Shen Qingqiu pondered when or where he might have encountered this–assumed to be a cultivator from the sword at his waist.
Turning onto the alley the cultivator disappeared into, he was met with the sight of the man unclipping the emerald veil that hid his features.
“Jiu-ge,” was said in a soft voice after the veil was gone.
Shen Qingqiu’s eyes widened after hearing the name that very few knew, coming from a voice similar and seeing a face just short of identical to his own. With surprise leaking from his voice and his usual aloof behavior thrown out the window, and caution, like he expected this to all be an illusion, the peak lord exclaimed:
“A-Shi?”