Chapter Text
Proud Immortal Demon Way was a ridiculously long stallion novel centering around the half-demon Luo Binghe as he conquers his way across the land and collects a harem of hundreds of radiant beauties.
It’s not the only web novel of its genre - harem stories provide a particular pleasure to people in a world where people having one true soulmate is the norm and the dream. In contrast, PIDW's protagonist, Luo Binghe, went through the land with a golden pillar that pierced the heavens and enough favor from the gods that he was able to speak the soulmark-ordained first words of not one, but dozens of beauties throughout the course of its six hundred chapters!
Yes, that’s right - instead of just soulmarks being meant to be the first words a young couple speaks to each other, Luo Binghe didn’t have a soulmark at all! Instead, he simply managed to speak the correct words to the dozens of members of his harem that happened to have soulmarks! Because that’s how it works in a world with an OP protagonist!
Not to mention, wasn’t it supposed to be only a lucky one-fourth of the population that has soulmarks, huh? How was it that Luo Binghe was able to snag every other woman with a mark! Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, have some statistical integrity in your work, huh!
And so, Shen Yuan, PIDW superfan and famous hater, finished the story after long last, choked on a meatbun out of rage, and died.
It was only after Yue Qingyuan finally leaves him alone that Shen Qingqiu yanked up his left sleeve to try and get a good look at the soulmark on his forearm - only to be thwarted by the seemingly yards of cloth wrapped tightly around it.
Seriously!! he thought, struggling to pick apart the bindings - the original goods was definitely scum, but there’s no need for this!
Or maybe there was, hell if he knew - in his old life, as the third son of a rich family and the only sibling lucky enough to have a soulmark, he was given any number of lectures on the importance of keeping his mark secret lest some nefarious soul decide to say his words on purpose and trick their way into the Shen fortune. This very plot was used any number of times in dramas and webnovels - some scandal over some villain trying to force a beauty into believing they're soulmates, only for the treachery to be revealed later when the real hero swept in!
Shen Yuan read a normal amount of webnovels.
As the lengths of cloth wrapped around his arm fell away, however, Shen Yuan - or Shen Qingqiu, now - could immediately see why the original goods kept his mark so tightly under wraps. Or rather, what was left of his mark.
The only thing left on his arm was a jagged, ugly scar.
It was old, clearly - long healed over, but still puckered with scar tissue, any words that might have once been there either illegible or gone entirely. Shen Qingqiu squinted, turning his arm this way and that, but the few remaining blobs on his arm remained just that - blobs, with any legibility that might have once been there long lost.
System? h e thought to himself, Is this a result of transmigration?
[Answering User 002 - it is not! Host’s body is in the exact condition it was in pre-transmigration. Please continue to work hard!]
Shen Qingqiu frowned, inspecting his arm more closely. It did make sense in a way - the original story had included an entire arc about how the scum villain had coldly rejected his soulmate and run away, choosing instead to frequent brothels and prey upon his young female disciples after becoming a peak lord.
Had the rejection been so complete that the original goods had gotten rid of his soulmark himself???
Well, it didn’t matter now. What Shen Yuan had really wanted to know was whether or not his old soulmark had followed him from his original world, and the answer was, very clearly, a resounding no.
Ah well, nothing to be done about it now. Shen Qingqiu swallowed his mild disappointment and began re-wrapping his arm, being careful to make sure it was done just as thoroughly as before. He wasn’t sure what the social implications of a mangled and destroyed soulmark were in this world, but he didn’t particularly want to find out.
Besides, he reasoned, the chances of him finding his soulmate were minuscule in his old world as it was! He was a shut-in that spent all his time reading terrible web novels - it’s probably fair to assume that he has always been meant to be alone in either world. That was that1
As soon as Shen Qingqiu returned from the disastrous mission dealing with the Skinner Demon, he approached Yue Qingyuan and requests to cultivate in seclusion in the Lingxi Caves.
Yue Qingyuan, ever the attentive elder brother type, had expressed some concern but gave Shen Qingqiu permission to go, just as he knew he would.
Ah, Zhangmen-shixiong, Shen Qingqiu thought as he made his way towards the caves. If you have a soulmark, that woman is going to be smothered with gentle attentiveness for life!
Come to think of it, though, Airplane had never actually specified whether or not any of the Peak Lords had soulmarks beyond Shen Qingqiu's...situation. Shen Qingqiu grimaced - Airplane, show a little more care to your own worldbuilding, please! These things are important!
Eventually, Shen Qingqiu found a suitable cave - or suitable enough, considering it looked like a murder had taken place there many years ago. He grimaced as he took up the lotus position - whoever lost all their blood here must have died a grisly death! Good thing he was only here to meditate in peace!
Shen Qingqiu got peace for only a few shichen before he is interrupted by the panting of a person in pain and a burst of spiritual energy.
Seriously! He grumbled to himself before forcing himself up, determining to go investigate the noise. These caves were supposed to be for high-level cultivators to come and level up their power - who the hell was crashing through walls and breaking boulders in here, ah???
As soon as Shen Qingqiu turned the corner, he immediately regretted his curiosity.
Across the tunnel in a wide open chasm was another cultivator clad in white - or at least, what was left of his clothes is white. The rest was stained with blood, looking as though he’d been hacking himself to pieces as he grunted, trying to pull what is clearly a spiritual sword out of the wall.
The instant Shen Qingqiu saw the sword, he realized exactly who he is dealing with. And the instant the man turns around, he found himself struck speechless for an entirely different reason.
Hey, Airplane?? What the hell are you doing making Liu Qingge, the Bai Zhan War God, so fucking beautiful, huh??????
Shen Qingqiu wasn’t given any time to marvel at the War God’s beauty, though - as soon as they made eye contact, he abruptly realized that the man’s eyes are wild and bloodshot - combined with the rest of his wild appearance, a sure sign of a bad qi deviation.
With a roar, the War God launched himself towards Shen Qingqiu. At the same moment, Cheng Luan - because what other fucking sword could it be - broke itself free of the cave wall and came flying directly at him.
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK -
Shen Qingqiu scrambled back, cursing wildly as he tried to make his escape. The original Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge were enemies, deeply distrustful of each other despite being sect siblings - his only option right now is surely to get the fuck out.
Cheng Luan whistled through the air and embedded itself to the stone directly in front of Shen Qingqiu.
FUCK!!!!
Only barely managing to stop himself in time to avoid decapitation, Shen Qingqiu abruptly decided a new approach is needed. Escaping now that he’s attracted the deviating Liu Qingge’s attention is a near impossibility - so instead, he turned and met Liu Qingge’s incoming blow with one of his own, directing a sphere of spiritual energy to strike right at Liu Qingge’s chest.
Shen Qingqiu didn’t expect it to work - after all, Liu Qingge is a powerful warrior, second only to the protagonist - but to his shock the man was flung back, crumpling to the ground and beginning to hack up blood.
The original Shen Qingqiu had killed Liu Qingge in cold blood - likely in this exact moment. This Shen Qingqiu had no such intentions - he strode forward, flexing his hand and marveling at his own spiritual energy in action.
“Here goes nothing,” he said to himself. Liu Qingge was delirious - nothing he was saying would get through to him, but Shen Qingqiu mumbles to himself anyway, "If this kills you, just know that I tried and that's what matters," then slammed another burst of energy directly into Liu Qingge.
It was some time later when Liu Qingge started to stir.
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief - he’d been at it the entire time, passing along spiritual energy and carefully re-aligning Liu Qingge’s mangled meridians. A cheery notification from the System informed him that he’d succeeded in changing Liu Qingge’s original fate, but in the time he’s been waiting for him to wake up, Shen Qingqiu had come to a few conclusions.
Namely, Liu Qingge would be an incredibly valuable ally in protecting him from Luo Binghe! Meaning that Shen Qingqiu really had to get on his good side, no matter what!
Shen Qingqiu stared expectantly at his shidi as he groaned, beginning to push himself back upright. Shen Qingqiu had spent the entire time Liu Qingge had been unconscious planning out his speech imploring him to put their differences behind them, but as soon as Liu Qingge actually sat up, pushing his hair out of his face and blinking his now normal and not-bloodshot eyes open, turning to face him and make lucid eye contact for the first time -
His entire speech left Shen Qingqiu’s mind in an instant he got a full view of Liu Qingge's face. “Ah?” he said, very intelligently. “Why do you have such a young and pretty face?”
Liu Qingge’s reaction was instantaneous - looking as though he’s been struck by lightning, he jerked back, revulsion taking over his truly unfairly handsome and beautiful, sculpted-by-the-gods face. “Shen-“ he choked out, face flaming red with fury, “What the hell are you planning?”
Shen Qingqiu, who had been mentally scrambling to save himself after his horrific blunder of first words to his shidi, was now the one struck speechless, the words hitting him like a punch to the gut.
Liu…Qingge…you???????
What the hell was this????
When Shen Yuan had imagined what hearing the words on his soulmark would be like, he had always wondered what the hell kind of circumstances would lead to this kind of phrase being the first thing his soulmate said to him. "Shen... what the hell are you planning?" was, perhaps, one of the least romantic phrases to start off a romance, in his opinion! Plus, how would his soulmate already know what his name was??
It had always been a mystery to him, one he’d spent a not-insignificant amount of time wondering about.
But you mean to tell him that the first time he heard someone utter these words, it’s… a man speaking them, first of all. Not any man, but the Bai Zhan War God who was supposed to be dead , snarling those first words at him in the middle of a bloodstained cave with nothing but venom in his voice????
Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge stare at each other for a long minute, breathing heavily as Shen Qingqiu tried to get his thoughts in order. Somewhere in the distance, Shen Qingqiu heard the System garbling something, but he shut it down without a second thought.
This absolutely cannot be right.
It has to be a fluke. First of all, Shen Qingqiu wasn’t even gay! And Liu Qingge, the manly and strong War God, was the epitome of straightness! Not to mention, Shen Yuan's old soulmark didn’t even follow him to this world! All he had was a scar - there was nothing to prove that…that…whatever the hell just happened!!
Not to mention, Liu Qingge would surely run him through with Cheng Luan at the mere thought of being soulmates with his scum self!
It’s not even the first time Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu have met!! Okay, it's the first time that Liu Qingge and Shen Yuan have met, but he can't exactly explain that to Liu Qingge now, can he?
No, no, this was a fluke. It was a fluke. That is all this is.
Mind firmly made up, Shen Qingqiu took a shaky breath and gave his shidi a smile.
Liu Qingge flinched back even harder at the sight.
“Liu-shidi,” he said, trying his best to keep his voice steady, “This master has been thinking, and has come to realize many things. Seeing you at death’s door, a beauty fading - ahem, dying so young, it brought back so many memories. Shixiong is deeply ashamed and filled with regret.”
Liu Qingge was still staring at him as though he’s from another planet. Which, Shen Qingqiu thought a little hysterically, was not too entirely far off the mark, but he pressed onward.
“From this point on, how about we leave our disagreements behind us and move forward hand in hand as a pair of model sect siblings, full of the aff-” at this, Shen Qingqiu choked. He had originally planned on saying “full of the affection due to fellow sect members,” which was an utterly shameless line, but with the… fluke of Liu Qingge saying his soulmark phrase, he found himself fully unable to say the word “affection.” He’d already screwed up enough by calling Liu Qingge "a beauty fading"!
“…full of the respect due to fellow sect members?” he finally finished. “How do you feel about this, shidi?”
Liu Qingge responded by hacking up even more blood. Which, fair enough! Shen Qingqiu patiently waited for him to finish vomiting.
“…What the hell is wrong with you?” Liu Qingge finally said, wiping his mouth of blood harshly with his sleeve. Tutting, Shen Qingqiu passed him a handkerchief, which Liu Qingge stared at as though he had just handed him a deadly poison.
Shen Qingqiu tutted again. “Now, is this any way to talk to your shixiong? Can’t you see the sincerity in my eyes?”
Two parts of Shen Qingqiu were at war at this moment. On one hand, he must convince Liu Qingge to move past their animosity in order to reduce his villainous reputation and gain an important ally - in this regard, he must act as sincerely as possible to win over the Bai Zhan War God!
On the other hand, he was still reeling from the fluke that was Liu Qingge’s first words to him and battling the urge to deny any connection whatsoever!
However, his future fate is at stake here! If acting shameless is the way to prevent his future dismemberment, he will simply have to bear this burden with a smile!
After staring into Shen Qingqiu’s overly earnest eyes for an indefinite moment, Liu Qingge’s face once again twisted in revulsion. “…You, leave. Now.” he bit out.
Fine! Okay! Shen Qingqiu gathered himself with what dignity he has left and makes to obey - look, no matter how beautiful the man, his expression was beyond terrifying, okay! He can take a hint!
“If shidi needs anything, do not hesitate to call upon this shixiong,” Shen Qingqiu called behind him as he makes to leave. He heard the sound of Liu Qingge doubtlessly coughing up more blood in response.
“Scram!”
Shen Qingqiu scrammed.
Later, while back in his cave, Shen Qingqiu took a moment to process whatever the hell just happened.
On one hand, even though Liu Qingge is clearly still disgusted with him, it seemed that he had succeeded in saving his life! At least now, Shen Qingqiu would be able to call a favor upon the War God at the very least. It was an incredibly satisfying conclusion in comparison to the alternative fate of killing the man.
On the other hand…
Well, speaking of the other hand. Shen Qingqiu deftly unwound the bindings on his left arm, just to be sure.
Just as it was before. All that he saw was the ugly scar, no different from the first time he looked at it. Grimacing, Shen Qingqiu wrapped it back up, considering the situation carefully.
Obviously, this was a massive fluke. When he checked the system notifications after leaving Liu Qingge behind, it was just a bunch of nonsense about changing Liu Qingge's original fate, 200 B-Points, etc etc etc. There was also an odd notification about a romantic subplot being altered, but he assumed it has to do with Liu Mingyan - surely rescuing her brother must change something about her future relationship with Luo Binghe, but Shen Qingqiu wasn’t particularly worried. Surely Luo Binghe is going to be able to win over any wife he wants regardless of their backstories!
Point is, Shen Qingqiu clearly did not have a soulmate, and if he did it is someone the original goods cut out of his life a long time ago. Any coincidental words matching what Shen Yuan once had on his arm meant nothing, and it was for the best that he immediately put it out of his mind!
Decision made, Shen Qingqiu sat down once again and began meditating. After all, he still has some powering up to do!