Chapter Text
When Shen Qingqiu initially proposed the idea to him, Shang Qinghua looked at his fellow transmigrator like he was crazy. To be fair, Cucumber-bro probably was; he’d married Luo Binghe, after all. But this was an absolutely insane idea! Sure, it was doable with the power he had now, but it was still one of the most insanely stupid things he had ever heard in his life!
Of course, he was pretty much forced to agree to it by Cucumber-bro, at threat of some form of death or another. (He’d tuned out some time when Cucumber-bro started prattling on about how exactly he’d kill him.) And he valued his life quite a lot now, thank you very much!
So he got to work, carefully instructed by his fellow transmigrator hovering over his shoulder the whole time. Once Shen Qingqiu was satisfied, the system seemed to be as well, accepting what he’d written with a cheerful hum and a buzz of agreement. Great. How wonderful.
All they had to do now was wait for this little creation to show up.
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Even though the proposal had been his idea in the first place, Shen Qingqiu still found himself filled with shock and as slack-jawed as the rest of the peak lords – minus Shang Qinghua, of course – when his ‘brother’ finally makes his appearance in the main hall of Qiong Ding Peak. And in the middle of a Peak Lord meeting as well!
Oh, what inconvenient timing – or convenient, depending on how you look at it – you have dear “brother”!
“Oh great. There’s two of them now.” Liu Qingge’s comment is blunt and straight to the point as he gestures between the pair of Shens. Ah, great master Liu, ever depended on to make a snide remark! Shen Qingqiu hides his face behind his fan, gritting his teeth as he tries to think of what to say.
“Gege,” He settles on, dropping his fan from his lips and forcing a tight smile across his cheeks, “I’m so glad to see you! It’s been far too long since I’ve been able to see my dear older brother!” His tone sounds forced even to himself, but it must sound more genuine to those around him because all of his fellow peak lords don horribly conflicted expressions as he moves to embrace Shen Jiu. Shen Qingqiu is suddenly rather glad that he didn’t bring Luo Binghe along with him today, as he surely would have shoved him away from Shen Jiu in a fit of jealousy, even if the other Shen was his ‘older brother’.
“A-Yuan…” When he had come up with this plan, he hadn’t anticipated the soft and tender way his real name would slip from the former scum villain’s lips. But as it does, tears threaten to fall from his eyes. It had been so long since he had anything like this, and he couldn't help but to squeeze his brother a little tighter, relishing in the closest thing to family he would probably ever have in this world other than Luo Binghe. It is only when he hears a startled gasp from Yue Qingyuan that he pulls away from Shen Jiu.
The sect leader sits stunned in his seat, staring at both Shens – but mostly Shen Jiu – like he can hardly believe they even exist.
“Xiao Jiu… I… it’s been a long time…” He’s nervous, and Shen Qingqiu can practically see his hands shaking. Even though the ever steadfast Yue Qingyuan is tries his hardest to hide any of the emotions that are overflowing from him as he sees his precious Shen Jiu for the first time in so many years, Shen Qingqiu feels vaguely that he’s seen that kind of look somewhere before, not quite able to place it. He wonders: does Yue Qingyuan still love Shen Jiu after so long? A dark guilt settles over his heart at the thought.
I’ve deceived you for all of these years, Zhangmen-shixiong. Without you even knowing that there has been a replacement in Shen Jiu’s rightful spot for so long.
He’s caused him pain with this, by letting him know that it had been a lie for all along. Irreparable pain that will follow him and stab guilt into his chest for the rest of his immortal life. Which was a very long time to feel guilty over something.
Shen Jiu frowns, and for a moment Shen Qingqiu worries that he’s going to do something awful and hurt Yue Qingyuan. But the other man doesn’t say anything, just stares at Yue Qingyuan, into the poor man’s very soul, like he’s searching for something he lost long ago. For someone he lost. Shen Qingqiu knows, he knows the story now, since he’s had to make it his own as well. And he can’t help but pity his poor brother, the brother who finds himself lost in that deep ocean of brown eyes, who will find himself lost until he drowns within them.
“… Qi-ge.” When Shen Jiu finally does speak, it’s more amiable than Shen Qingqiu expected, but a simple name is enough to drive pinpoints into Yue Qingyuan’s heart. He stands in daze, a confusion still flickering in his eyes as he glances between the two Shens.
“Ah… so then, Shen-shidi, that makes you Xiao Yuan. What a fool I am for not noticing it sooner.” Shen Qingqiu hides the conflicted expression across his lips behind his fan, lest he revealed his true feelings when he didn’t want to. There are too many people here to let his guard down. Even among his fellow peak lords, there were those that he did not trust enough to let the walls he’s put up for so long crumble down. Yue Qingyuan was a fool, but Shen Qingqiu only wished for his foolish shixiong to be happy. That’s why he’d given him Shen Jiu back. Indeed, all he wanted was for him to be happy - to be loved - after all he’d received from his equally foolish shidi was an upturned nose.
“Ha. Yes, you are quite foolish Zhangmen-shixiong. I don’t look that much like him, and for one who was supposed to know us as well as you claim to, I would have expected you to notice far sooner. It shouldn’t have taken him showing up for you to finally see it!”
You’ll get everything you deserved, Zhangmen-shixiong, and far more than you ever could have wished for, assuming everything goes according to plan of course – one never knows with esteemed master Airplane Shooting Toward the Sky’s writing, even if I was supervising him the entire time.
After all, Qi-ge deserved love too!