Archive of Our Own

Praise the Lamb, conduit of great power, liberator of he who waits below.

Before us stands the last of its kind. All others we have hunted down and put to the blade.

Shen Yuan came back to awareness to the sound of a distant buzzing, threading through a heavy gray fog that seemed to have swallowed him.

He felt... strange. The last thing he remembered was being at his computer, gaming late into the night; he didn't remember stopping, or going to bed. Was he in the hospital again? That didn't sound like a heart monitor. But if he wasn't in the hospital and he wasn't at home...

"Hello?" he managed to call out. His throat didn't hurt but his voice didn't sound right, either. It seemed to get swallowed up by the fog before going more than a meter away from him.

But something seemed to hear him.

[System activated! Code phrase received: "Fucking game, fucking furries." Welcome, User UV002!]

"Who are you?" he asked, and then felt compelled to add, "Where are you? Where am I?"

[Following the cessation of your mortal life, you have been reincarnated into the world of Immortal Lamb Crusader Way!]

Immortal Lamb Crusader Way? That wasn't... wait a minute, he did recognize that name. That was the title of the video game he'd been playing just before he...

"Wait. I'm dead?!"

[Please try to keep up, User UV002! This System operates on the principle of "Git Gud or Get Gone." Do your best to improve your skills and increase A-levels throughout the course of the game in order to achieve the best possible score! Failure to achieve satisfactory A-levels will result in account termination!]

"So, what? I'll die again? How much worse can it get?!"

[Would User UV002 really like to find out?]

...Yeah, User UV002 really would not.

Fuck!

Okay. Okay, okay, all right. He remembered Immortal Lamb Crusader Way. It was a Dark Souls-ish roguelite with base building and dungeon delving. He'd bought it on sale ages ago, but put off playing for literal months because although the premise was interesting -- start a religion, recruit followers and grow your base until you got powerful enough to cast down the Elder Gods -- the game developer was clearly a fucking furry.

Not only the NPCs, but even the player character were all anthropomorphized woodland critters! The whole world was a Redwall paradise! The blurb listed it as a feature that you could marry the cute fox-girl of your dreams! And it only went downhill from there -- not just foxes, cats and wolves but badgers, chickens, elephants, squids...

Shen Yuan might be a NEET, a shut-in, and a hopeless virgin but the one thing he was not was a fucking furry. He still had his pride! As a nerd and as a man!

But as the lockdown came up on eight months, and nothing new was coming out, Shen Yuan had at last turned in desperation to the last unplayed game in his library, Immortal Lamb Crusader Way. The soundtrack was good, the setting a fantastically creepy world of cultists and sacrifice and eldritch horror, the player avatar was cute despite the annoying artstyle. And the gameplay itself was surprisingly addictive. He'd stayed up several days in a row playing through it, subsisting off of only the snacks within reach. His older brother hated it when he did that, claiming it was unhealthy, and that Shen Yuan couldn't afford to take risks with his health, didi.

...Well, okay, maybe he had a point there. (Too late now.)

So he'd gotten isekai'd into his own video game system? Fine, okay, he'd manage. He'd been working on a 100% playthrough, he knew the game inside and out, knew the optimal level-up path and where all the best resources were hidden --

[Welcome to your new existence!] the glowing screen chirped brightly at him. [Current location: the Endless Abyss. Current B-Points: 50. Current A-Levels: 0. Current Role: Shen Qingqiu, He Who Waits.]

Fuuuuuck.

Was this seriously happening?! Was this really his life -- afterlife?! Not only had he transmigrated into the shitty anthro bloodborne remake, he'd been reincarnated as the end boss!

He Who Waits, Shen Qingqiu, a fallen elder god who'd apparently managed to be such a bastard that even the rest of his own bloodthirsty pantheon had enough of him and sealed him away. He was the one who had started the Lamb on his rampage across the world, reviving him after every death and setting him back on the path. But at the end, when the Lamb had completed every task that He Who Waits could yoke him to, Shen Qingqiu had betrayed even his own champion. He'd tried to murder the Lamb and -- predictably -- met the same fate as all the rest of his eldritch brethren.

Shen Qingqiu, like any good boss villain, had been a real piece of work. He'd been vile enough to get kicked out of a pantheon of elder gods who were themselves pretty beyond the pale, he'd been vile enough to put out hits his own former brothers and sisters, and he'd been absolutely vile to the poor Lamb from start to finish. Constantly mocking him, tormenting him, piling on the abuse -- frankly, Shen Yuan was of the opinion that if Shen Qingqiu was going to be so foul, so ungrateful, and so unbelievably stupid as to heap abuse on the one guy he was counting on to get him out of prison, there was just no helping him.

Which meant that there was now no helping -- Shen Yuan!?

"System, can I change my role?" he asked.

[User UV002 is permanently bound to the role of Shen Qingqiu, He Who Waits.]

Motherfuck.

For the first time since waking up, he tried to move. It was an exhausting effort -- the charcoal gray fog that surrounded him seemed to cling to his skin, weighing him down and leaching the warmth from his skin. There were... things around him, wrapped around his arms and legs, that wouldn't let him move more than a few inches in any direction. Chains, he realized as he felt the sharp edge of one digging into his wrist, the inside of his knee. That's right, He Who Waits was always depicted as being endlessly bound by chains, part of the whole sealed-evil-in-a-can deal.

The thing was, for all the cutesy trappings and gratuitous furry waifus, the world of Immortal Lamb Crusader Way was an absolute crapsack. Monsters roamed the wilderness, plague and disease ravaged every settlement, famine took a constant toll, bandits stole what little was left. It was bad enough that most people willingly accepted the domination of the Bishops, even though their religious rituals inevitably involved human sacrifice.

(Or -- well. Critter-person sacrifice. Whatever, close enough.)

The Bishops each resided on their own mountain, sealed away from the lands surrounding them. Liu Qingge resided on Bai Zhan in the Darkwood; Qi Qingqi presided over Xian Shu Peak in Anura; Shang Qinghua stayed in Anchordeep; and Yue Qingyuan on Qiong Ding in the Silken Cradle. They were the old sort of Old Gods, the kind who'd throw plagues and famines at you because they got up on the wrong side of the mountain that morning. The Bishops demanded a steady, unceasing flow of sacrificial blood to keep them sated, and their followers obligingly spilled it -- and then the Bishops unleashed their catastrophes anyway!

Dicks.

Not that he was in any position to throw stones: Shen Qingqiu was the worst of them all. Of all the cruel and capricious Bishops, the master of Qing Ding Peak had the worst reputation for terrible temper, lashing out at his followers so punishingly that he ran through them faster than he could accumulate more and then turning his undaunted rage on his fellow gods and their followers instead. Murdering mortals was as casual as stepping on a bug in this setting, but apparently it was still bad manners to do so without even asking at least -- and when they protested his indiscriminate slaughter, he lashed out at them instead.

In the end the other four had enough of Shen Qingqiu's temper tantrums, and sealed him away in the Abyss. All four of the remaining Bishops had injuries, eternally unhealing, from that final battle. But even in his imprisonment and exile the vile Shen Qingqiu continued his relentless campaign of vengeance, sending champion after undying champion to challenge the world above.

And the latest in his long line of unlucky champions was the Lamb.

Of all the creatures in this crapsack world the Lamb had it worst of all, no thanks to an ancient prophecy that a Lamb would be the one to free He Who Waits from his prison. The Bishops had responded with a straight-up ovine cleansing, hunting down every Lamb in the land and slaughtering them without mercy.

In the game, the Lamb was the last of his kind; he'd spent his entire life fleeing from one crazy cult community to another, barely scrounging enough to survive while dodging the daggers of the Bishops' prelate puppets. Every one of his own kind had been killed, many of them before his eyes; even his adoptive mother, a kindly raccoon, had been butchered on a cultist's altar when she refused to tell them the hiding place where he lay just in the woods beyond.

And in the end, he hadn't been able to escape them forever. A group of thugs had captured him, beaten and tormented him, and dragged him to the altar for slaughter. Except, instead of removing him from the picture, all they'd managed to accomplish was sending the Lamb... right to the feet of the sealed-up death god, He Who Waits.

To Shen Qingqiu. To him.

"So wait, what am I even supposed to be doing here?" Shen Yuan demanded. "He Who Waits is sealed! I can't move from this spot, and I'm supposed to affect the outcome of the game? How?"

[Reminding User UV002, all of the Protagonist's powers originate from He Who Waits! You have discretion in how you introduce the Protagonist to his powers, and guide him on his journey to becoming the scourge of the Old Faith! The Protagonist's path to success will be dependant on the choices you make.]

"I'm supposed to level him up? What, so he can kill me at the end?"

[Reminding User UV002, the Protagonist's path will be dependant on the choices you make.]

Shen Yuan shoved the window to the side, all but breathing fire from his annoyance and frustration. Now it was just glitching, repeating itself, and saying nothing of use! Piece of crap! Was it trying to gaslight him? He knew how the game ended, damn it!

Although... now at least he had an idea of what the path forward would look like. Introduce the Protagonist to his powers? Guide him through the skill tree? It would be sort of like he was still playing through the Lamb... or maybe it would be more like some kind of co-op mode, where one person made all the level-up decisions while the other player did all the combat. Put that way, it didn't sound so bad...

"Master, is something wrong?"

The voice nearly jarred him out of his borrowed skin! He hadn't realized there was anyone else down here in this abyss with him. The chains squealed as he startled, then made himself relax. No, wait, of course he wasn't alone down here -- He Who Waits was always depicted with his two cat-person henchmen flanking him. But he'd never heard their voices before -- they didn't really have lines, just serving as a couple of warm-up minibosses before the final event. He hadn't even been sure they could talk.

Apparently they could. He managed to turn enough to see the one who had spoken, a scruffy-looking young man with thick tiger-striped fur. That must be Ming Fan; on the opposite side was his sister, sleek black-and-white Ning Yingying. They were looking at him with barely concealed concern; had they heard any of his conversation with the System?

[Answering User UV002, no in-game characters will be able to see or hear this System, nor overhear User UV002 when he addresses it. This private service is exclusive to you only.]

Well, that was something; at least they wouldn't think that he'd gone mad enough to start talking to himself.

"Is it the chains, Master?" Ning Yingying's voice was a higher-pitched copy of her brother's, dripping with sympathy that made Shen Yuan wince. "Do they hurt today?"

"No, Yingying. No more than usual." Shen Yuan hesitated, then added, "Something has changed in the world above. Someone is coming here... the Old Faith has sent them."

"Oh! Will you take a new Champion?" Ming Fan said eagerly. "It's been long enough since Meng Mo abandoned you, that cowardly rat. Don't let his desertion get you down! Please try again, Master!"

Haa, as though he had a choice in the matter.

The first thing to notice was a gust of wind -- a sharp, brisk breeze that made Shen Yuan realize how heavy the air was down here, how musty and rank. The draft from the living world carried a sharp woodsy smell and an iron tang like wet metal, or blood. Off in the foggy distance, at the end of a long black sandbar, a shadow wavered into view.

He was here -- the player character of this world. The Protagonist; the Lamb.

[Wishing User UV002 the best of luck!]

With that, the electronic window blinked out of existence. Then it was just the fog, the black sea, the creaking chains, and the slowly approaching footsteps.

As the silhouette came into view -- it could only be the Lamb, no one else should have been able to access the Endless Abyss -- Shen Yuan found himself leaning forward, almost straining, eager to see the face of the approaching Lamb. He was curious, okay? He wanted to see what all the fuss was about!! Immortal Lamb Crusader Way had a fixed over-the-shoulder camera, so you only ever actually saw the Lamb from the back. You only ever got to see other people's reactions, which were always comically over-the-top in awe of his beauty. He just wanted to know if it lived up to the hype!

The Lamb moved slowly -- limping, one arm across his ribs, and his head was bowed, showing only a white fluffy fleece and two ears poking out which twitched forward as they picked up the sound of creaking chains. Shen Yuan settled back, a little too quickly, trying to pretend he hadn't been craning his neck to get a good look.

And then the Lamb raised his head, and Shen Yuan's first thought was, oh.

Oh no.

"He's cute!" Ning Yingying squealed softly, unknowingly echoing Shen Yuan's thoughts.

Of course a video game protagonist would have a lot of attention paid to his appearance! The Lamb was supposed to be so charismatic that he could recruit followers without needing a word, just his appearance and presence. But he hadn't expected the bloodthirsty zealous prophet whose new cult would overrun the world and topple the existing order to be so precious!

Seeing him in person, now, was a very different experience than through the crappy pixelated art style. To Shen Yuan's relief, the anthro aspects weren't really that offputting. There were the ears, yes; there was the white wooly fleece that couldn't quite pass for curly hair. The Lamb's eyes were a little too big, and spaced a little too widely in his face, but mostly it just made him look young and harmless and adorable.

Shen Yuan... wanted to pet him. Oh, he wanted to pet that fluffy fleecy head so bad.

Wait. Right. He had a role to play, here. Shen Yuan cleared his throat; when he spoke, it came out suitably booming and intimidating. "Come closer, Lamb. I have need of you," he said. Yeah, this was the stuff! Loud, pompous and arrogant, just like a proper BBEG should be "Those foolish Bishops thought they could keep you from me, but in death, they sent you straight to me."

The Lamb looked up at him, his eyes wide and glassy, clearly struggling to comprehend. The two torches flanking the end of the path cast a cherry-red glow over his white fleece, making him look as though he'd been bathed in blood. "I... I'm dead?" he said at last, voice wavering and breaking.

Shen Yuan couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Yeah, that was a tough pill to swallow, huh? He should know!

"Fear not. I will give you life again, and all the power you wish," Shen Yuan said comfortingly. "All I ask is that you form a new faith in my name, and teach others to worship me. In this way, I shall grow in power, and you shall be my champion, the blade I wield upon those that betrayed me. Do you agree?"

The Lamb's eyes got even larger, and somehow even more sparkly. Spots of color rose into his cheeks as he raised his chin proudly. "Absolutely!"

Well, that was pretty unambiguous.

"You saved my life," the Lamb continued enthusiastically. "Whatever you ask, I'll do it for you, Master --"

"No!" Shen Yuan snapped reflexively. He coughed, trying to regain his composure. "Ahem. This... this exchange between us need not go all one way. In return for your service I will give you power, and guide your way to knowledge of techniques and rituals that will elevate you above all others."

"Then... if you are to be my teacher," the Lamb said slowly, "Should I address you as 'Shizun?' "

It sure beat Master. 'Master' was the title the original He Who Waits had insisted on, but for Shen Yuan, twenty-first century boy, hearing another sentient person call him that gave him the crawling horrors. "If you like."

The Lamb squared his shoulders, straightening his spine firmly. His eyes gleamed with new determination. "Then this lowly Luo will do so," he said.

"Ah..." Shen Yuan paused. He'd said something just then, hadn't he? Not 'this lamb,' but... hang on, was that his name? Did the Lamb actually have a name, that wasn't just Lamb?! "What... is your name?"

The Lamb looked up at him, his enormous eyes flickering red in the reflected torchlight. "Luo Binghe, Shizun."

"Luo Binghe." Shen Yuan repeated it under his breath, committing it to memory. "Very well."

[Reminding host: All of the Protagonist's powers originate from He Who Waits!]

The crowning ceremony. Right. With a great effort against the chains Shen Yuan raised his arms above his head and pulled free his guan. It was a heavy, baleful-looking thing of wrought black iron with one red eye glaring out of the central spire; it seemed to vibrate in his hands. He gestured imperiously for Luo Binghe to bow his fluffy head; when he did, he placed the Crown on him.

"Return to the world of the living, Luo Binghe, and begin your crusade!" Luo Binghe looked up, eyes shining, as Shen Qingqiu relaxed into a really good villain monologue. He was doing this! It was working! "Spread my name throughout the lands of the Old Faith, gather followers, and raise a temple in my image! You are my chosen vessel and death cannot halt you. I shall not allow it. Continue on, undaunted. Each time you are brought down you rise again stronger!"

[Crown Ability Unlocked! The Protagonist gains access to the following trait: Might of the Devoted! B-points gained: 50! A-levels have been increased: IV!]

Fuck yeah!

Armed with his new dark powers and the starter blade Zheng Yang, Luo Binghe set off for the world of the living once more. Shen Qingqiu spent some time scrolling through the System interface, trying to figure out what exactly he could and couldn't do in his new role locked to the bottom of the underworld.

Reading through He Who Waits' tooltip and the history of the Lamb reminded him of the existence of Meng Mo, whom he promptly dispatched to find Luo Binghe in the living world. Affectionately called 'Rat Grandpa' by the players, he was a former champion of Shen Qingqiu's who had gone through so many deaths that his body had failed him entirely, leaving him a largely powerless wraith. But he could still be of some use as a tutorial character guide the Lamb through his first few missions: escaping the lands of the Old Faith, recruiting his first follower, and finding the old ruined temple that would become his home base.

Not that Shen Qingqiu got to watch any of it, stuck here in the Abyss as he was. He'd see Luo Binghe again when he leveled up some, and came to Shen Qingqiu to receive additional powers from He Who Waits. First thing to do, definitely, was fluff up his hit points a bit so he was harder to kill.... But until then, there was nothing to do but plan.

And read. Through the System he was able to access something of a limited wiki, and a menu of tooltips and options that he could award to the Lamb once he started to level up a bit. Shen Qingqiu recalled the skill tree pretty well, and plotted a course that would lead Binghe to picking up the Ranged Attack skill as early as possible. For a lot of the nastier monsters, being able to stand off and shishkebab them at a distance really was key! Relics and curses were locked out for now, but would become available later on.

There was also a new set of values that he didn't remember from the game, in a glowing blue box the same color as the System's fonts. 'B-points' were currently set to a round 100; A-levels simply read 'IV.' "System, what do these numbers even mean?" he asked, unheard by his attendants.

[Answering Host: User UV002 will have his own metrics to track his progress throughout the story! B-points, or Boss Points, are awarded based on how well User UV002 fulfills his role as He Who Waits and delivers a satisfactory villain performance.]

"Fine, but what are 'A-levels?' Why aren't they just displayed in numbers?"

[A-levels are a metric reserved for the Player Character, and is not available for Host to view at this time. A-levels are currently set to 4.]

"Four out of... how many? What's the scale here?"

[This metric is not available for Host to view at this time.]

Useless!

He finished reading through the entire System interface on the first day, and had it memorized by the fifth. Unfortunately, once that was finished there was nothing to do but idle around his time and try to mentally measure out how far Luo Binghe would have gotten by now. Had they put in the first crops? Did they have enough shelters for everybody? Did they spend their evenings dancing around the bonfire, under the stars? Had he been through the Darkwood yet? Had he brought back flowers to plant in his new home?

He could only imagine it, because the only time he could to see Luo Binghe in person was when he was dead.

"Oh, Binghe," Shen Qingqiu sighed, as the familiar fluffy silhouette became visible once more through the mist. "What happened? Why are you here again so soon?"

"Forgive me, Shizun," Luo Binghe choked out, head bowed as he stumbled to a halt before Shen Qingqiu. Shen Qingqiu's hands twitched to pull him up from his miserable kneeling position, but the chains wouldn't let him reach that far, so he settled reluctantly back. "This lowly lamb has no excuse. I was just. Too slow."

Too slow. Hmm. Maybe he needed to boost his speed stat? Shen Qingqiu's mind turned towards his library of relics and updates, but an uneasy feeling nagged at his attention even as he did so. Binghe looked -- terrible, actually. Even beyond being beat to hell and bloodied as he so often was, there was an ashy pallor to his skin and his hands where they clasped the sword were trembling.

This didn't look like something a power-up could fix. Which left Shen Qingqiu at something of a loss. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "Is there trouble at the temple? Your followers, have they tried to --"

"None of them would dream of being disloyal!" Luo Binghe interrupted hastily. "No, it's only that -- they're all very hungry, Shizun. Sleeping out in the cold -- we tried to build tents, but they all collapse, and we don't have the strength to build them again."

"Don't have the strength?" Shen Qingqiu was taken aback. "You... don't have enough food?"

"No, Shizun. All we have to eat is grass." Luo Binghe's gaze dropped back to his hands, trembling in his lap. "The berry bushes ran out two days ago and I -- there's nothing but vermin to hunt, they take more energy to catch than the strength they grant. I meant to venture into the Darkwood in search of meat, but that was when those Bai Zhan thugs found me..."

"I see." Shen Qingqiu took a deep breath against the anger that threatened to rise in him. The audacity of those thugs, picking on a poor little lamb just trying to snatch a bite to eat! If Luo Binghe hadn't surely killed most of them before being taken down, Shen Qingqiu would have liked to go up to the Darkwood and teach them a lesson himself.

But, enough of that. Binghe's problem was the main focus here. Shen Qingqiu frowned, turning the question over in his mind. Yeah, resource gathering in the early game was a real bitch, wasn't it? The later dungeons had better food drops, as he recalled; but of course to get that food, you had to first get through the dungeon you needed to the food to level up to get through! A real catch-22. Surely there was something else he could do, something he could use to help him?

Ah, yes, that was right. "Luo Binghe, listen to me carefully," Shen Qingqiu directed him. "When you return to the temple, leave the mountain heading south. Follow the river to the coast, then look for the lighthouse. That will guide you to Pilgrim's Pier. There's a man there who can teach you to catch fish, enough to feed yourself and your flock. It's a little difficult, but I'm sure you can master it."

Honestly, the fishing minigame had been one of the most annoying parts of an already very annoying stage of the game; Shen Qingqiu hadn't spent much time on it and had never gotten very good. But it was a steady source of food that wouldn't catch Binghe or his followers in the constant vicious cycle of falling sick, needing to eat more to get well again, then falling sick again from the poor quality of the food.

Luo Binghe's eyes filled up with tears, which made Shen Qingqiu feel profoundly uncomfortable and squirmy. "Thank you, Shizun!" Luo Binghe burst out, his breath coming in gasps. "For this -- for this knowledge, this Lamb is profoundly grateful! I will definitely devote myself to this quest, and I will not fail you!"

Ah, Binghe, there's no need to react like that! That wasn't even a power-up! Anyone on the Immortal Lamb Crusader Way forums could have told you that!! "Of course," Shen Qingqiu said, trying to get back into the grandiose persona of He Who Waits. "I require that you become strong, and your followers as well -- for your strength is my strength in your world!"

"Then this Lamb will strive to become stronger," Luo Binghe swore.

[Crown Ability Unlocked! The Protagonist gains access to the following trait: Fervour of the Righteous! A-levels have been increased: VI!]

And become stronger he did.

Luo Binghe grew in might, and his powers increased with him. He traded out the starter blade Zheng Yang for a more powerful dagger, then for a wicked set of spiked gauntlets. He began to dress in armor, bulking out his silhouette and adding to his imposing presence. He faced and defeated Liu Qingge, absorbing his power to grow in strength even more; his once-white fleece began to blacken at the roots, as his pale robes began to permanently stain red at the hems.

Shen Qingqiu's little sheep was growing up! But he still kept coming to Shen Qingqiu when he fought a foe that got the better of him.

When Luo Binghe appeared again before him, torso gashed and heart pierced by dagger-long teeth, Shen Qingqiu healed him diligently back up but couldn't contain the exasperation in his voice as he asked, "And how did my champion come to be in this state, hmm?"

Luo Binghe coughed, then inhaled deeply once he realized there was no more blood drowning his lungs. His voice was still a little rusty when he said, "Greater Wyrms in the Darkwood, Shizun. They backed me into a corner and I couldn't take them down before they got their teeth into me."

Shen Qingqiu tsked and said, "And what was my champion doing in the Darkwood? You've already defeated Liu Qingge; you shouldn't need to return to Bai Zhan peak any longer at all!"

"Apologies, Shizun," Luo Binghe mumbled, lowering his gaze.

"Apologies are not good enough! I want you to be more careful, Binghe," Shen Qingqiu snapped. "Should I have to be on call twenty-four hours a day, just waiting to pick you up again if you should trip and take a fall?" Well. It wasn't like there was anything else to do down here, other than wait for Binghe's appearances. But he wanted to make an impression on his little lamb, damn it. "Do you think that just because you can't die, it's fine to take reckless risks?!"

If the way Luo Binghe's breath hitched, he'd made it; but the next moment Luo Binghe dropped from his half-kneel into a full kowtow, and Shen Qingqiu did not care for that at all. "Please forgive this unworthy champion, Shizun," Luo Binghe said, and the tears in his voice would have been enough to make Shen Qingqiu cave instantly, if Luo Binghe had been looking at him just then. "I only wanted to -- One of my followers, Qin Wanyue. She had a sister, but lost her in the Darkwood -- she was torn away by thugs of the Old Faith. She begged me to seek out her sister, to save her if she still lived, and I couldn't..."

Shen Qingqiu suppressed a sigh. He couldn't blame Luo Binghe for being so good-hearted, he supposed; he wouldn't have been Shen Qingqiu's sweet little sheep otherwise. But follower quests should be strictly a side-priority! He could come back to those after he'd leveled up a little! Qin Whatever's sister would have kept. "Binghe, I commend your dedication to your flock," he said, striving for an even tone. "But you must remember, your followers serve you. You do not serve them. They should strengthen and empower you, not hold you back nor put you to unnecessary risk."

Now that Shen Qingqiu's annoyance had lightened, Luo Binghe straightened up. He cocked his head in curiosity. "Strengthen me?" he said, sounding a little doubtful. "Pardon, Shizun, but I don't see how. They are only civilians -- they don't have the strength to fight beside me..."

"They cannot, no." That would change when Luo Binghe started recruiting demons, but that was still a ways off in the game. "But there are other ways they can lend their strength to you. There are rituals you can conduct with your flock, that will boost your own strength and health."

"Shizun can teach me?" Luo Binghe leaned forward eagerly.

"I can, but they need fueled with the blood and bones of your enemies," Shen Qingqiu said severely. "So don't take this as an excuse to sit around my temple all day -- you still need to progress into Anura! Qi Qingqi is no force to be trifled with. The ritual will help when you have to face her, I have no doubt."

"What are these rituals?" Luo Binghe persisted.

"There are many. You can conduct funerals for those of your flock who have passed, to increase their loyalty to you. You can sow the blood of the heretics in your gardens, so that your crops will grow at speed. You can..." Shen Qingqiu coughed slightly. He felt a little awkward explaining this to Luo Binghe, his innocent little sheep. But he would feel worse not telling him! "You can, er, wed your followers. When you perform a wedding, you link your spouse's life-force together with your own, and this will nourish your inner strength."

"Link to my own life-force..." Luo Binghe breathed. Rather than seeming excited, he frowned. "But... only once."

"No, you can marry as many times as you wish!" Shen Qingqiu correctly him hastily. "You needn't allow anyone else to stop you. You decide." The Wedding ritual wasn't even gender-locked; the Lamb could pick according to his preference, and the Followers were all appropriately player-sexual!

Luo Binghe nodded slowly.

Taking that as assent, Shen Qingqiu was determined to spend the rest of Luo Binghe's visit to his realm teaching him all of the Rituals that would be available at his level. Luo Binghe was especially intent on learning the Wedding ritual; Shen Qingqiu tried not to mind that. It was a powerful spell! The Wedding ritual had been the fastest way to power-up in game, bar none. The Lamb was supposed to bind his followers in marriage; the flock and the harem leveled up in size together!

It was just... just hard to envision his cute little Binghe, with some faceless follower...

Well. It wasn't like he'd have to see it happen.

Still, once Luo Binghe had gone back to the living world... he couldn't help wondering. Would he conduct the Wedding ritual with this Qin Wanyue first? He wondered what she looked like, this follower that Binghe had cared enough for to risk his life at her request. For Binghe's sake he hoped she wasn't a wolf or a lynx or a coyote or something, something predatory and cruel. There were no more Lambs, Luo Binghe was the last one, but surely it would be better for his spouse to be something compatible, something... appropriately gentle and herbivorous. Maybe a cute bunny? Or a graceful deer? Whatever! Shen Qingqiu wasn't thinking about this, he wasn't a furry!

He just hoped that whoever Binghe wedded, they would treat him right.

[Crown Ability Unlocked! The Protagonist gains access to the following trait: Heart of the Faithful! A-levels have been increased: IX!]

After that, to Shen Qingqiu's puzzlement and dismay, Luo Binghe seemed to hit a wall. He was well into Anura, but he couldn't seem to progress past Qi Qingqi. It was true that there was supposed to be a bit of a difficulty jump once you got past the starter boss, but...

Shen Qingqiu was at his wit's end!

He'd given Luo Binghe every power and upgrade he could get his hands on, he'd guided his talent tree carefully towards the optimal survival build, he'd done everything and yet Luo Binghe just would not! Stop! Dying!

Every couple of nights, it seemed, a battered lamb would appear on his doorstep, looking -- hah -- sheepish and humbly apologizing for his failure to succeed in the latest crusade. Shen Qingqiu didn't care about the crusade, but he did care about Luo Binghe! Just because Luo Binghe couldn't permanently die, didn't mean he was invulnerable. It was up to Shen Qingqiu to heal him back up to par after every death, and the process could go wrong, even if it hadn't yet. If Luo Binghe got battered enough, if he lost enough body parts, then sooner or later Shen Qingqiu wouldn't be able to help him any more. He'd go the way of Meng Mo, a disembodied, undying wraith haunting the world until the next Champion came along.

And Shen Qingqiu didn't know if there could even be another Champion, after the Lamb. Nor did he especially want to find out. Protagonist, please stop dying!!

In the original game, anytime the Lamb died and returned to the Abyss, the original He Who Waits would inevitably lash out, heaping scorn and abuse on the poor Lamb for his weakness and failures. He would return the Lamb to life, and heal the worst of his injuries -- he could hardly do otherwise, if the Lamb was going to continue to fight his battles for him, now could he! -- but the grudging resurrection inevitably came with a side of cruel torment.

This was the thing that Shen Yuan had the hardest time understanding; He Who Waits was entirely, 100% reliant on the Lamb! The Lamb was the only one who could overcome the other Bishops and free him! Abusing your only chance of revenge and escape was just the most brain-dead, noodle-pated, short-sighted thing he could possibly do in this situation -- typical video game villain stupidity! Who cared whether it made sense as long as it made a good boss fight, right?!

Now that he was Shen Qingqiu, of course, there was none of that! He always healed Luo Binghe's wounds as gently and thoroughly as possible, and sent him back to the living world with words of encouragement and comfort instead of insults and threats. And Luo Binghe seemed to respond well to that attention, too!

But there was a small part of Shen Qingqiu that couldn't help but wonder -- was it because of this that Binghe wasn't advancing? Was Shen Qingqiu being too soft on him? Was it true after all what his grandfather had always said, that children needed a bit of the rod for their spines to grow up straight? Maybe he should be scolding Luo Binghe more, to make it clear to him that dying and getting sent to the Abyss was to be avoided at all costs!

But even if that was true... he just... couldn't bring himself to do it. How could he, when looking into that sweet little face, those wide hopeful eyes? He just couldn't, that was all! Not an option!!

"Binghe, what's going on? Why are you dying so much?" Shen Qingqiu demanded, as he carefully knitted together Luo Binghe's slashed-open throat. It looked awful and must have felt worse, but Binghe was bearing up under it like a trooper. "Are you still being weakened from lack of food?"

"No, Shizun," Luo Binghe insisted, once his throat was mended enough to speak. "This Lamb has been fishing diligently! Thanks to Shizun's guidance, none of us have gone hungry in weeks!"

If Luo Binghe was the one doing the fishing, then wasn't it thanks to him that his followers were no longer hungry? Whatever, that wasn't the concern right now. "Then I really can't understand what's holding you back," Shen Qingqiu said, frustrated. "Has this teacher failed to instruct you properly?"

Predictably, this threw Binghe near to tears in the way that the horrific wound hadn't. "Shizun! This one is sorry!" he said vehemently, flinging himself to his knees as soon as Shen Qingqiu let him go. "There is definitely no better instructor in the world that Shizun, it's only that this lowly Lamb is stupid, and fails to understand!"

"Now, none of that! I know you aren't stupid Binghe, and after all this time you definitely aren't weak," Shen Qingqiu scolded him. He should know, he had direct view into Binghe's statblock! "Look, why don't we go over in more detail what happened that caused you to end up here. Maybe we can pin down what you are missing."

"Well... to tell Shizun the truth..." Luo Binghe looked hesitant, almost... shifty? Was he embarrassed at dying so much? "What this one is missing more than anything is... more instruction from Shizun."

"More?!" Shen Qingqiu squawked before he got hold of his voice. "You've ended up before me ten times in the last three weeks! This is unsustainable, Binghe!!"

"I know, but --!" Luo Binghe's big black eyes glistened with tears, poor precious sheep. "Our time together is so short! I barely have time to learn anything before being sent back! Maybe, if this one could stay here for longer..."

Shen Qingqiu considered.

Luo Binghe's proposal was simply out of the question. The living couldn't stay in the Abyss for more than an hour, or else their bodies in the real world would rot away and leave nothing to return to. And there was no way to cross here physically until the Bishops were all dead and the Gateway unlocked -- that was the whole point of the Lamb, after all! At Binghe's current rate of progress, he'd get there only in his dreams...

Hmm.

"If more instruction time is needed, then perhaps this teacher can arrange something," Shen Qingqiu said at last. "Have you learned the Enlightened Dream ritual yet?"

Luo Binghe perked up immediately, the tears vanishing. "N-no, Shizun. What ritual is that?"

"It will allow you to project your consciousness astrally through time and space to visit others in their dreams, even if they aren't on the same plane as you," Shen Qingqiu said.

"Shizun knew of this ritual all this time?" It was Luo Binghe's turn to squawk in outrage. "And never told this one!?"

"You weren't ready for it yet! Getting one's soul torn out of one's body is extremely difficult and dangerous!!" Wait, why was Shen Qingqiu apologizing? He was the dark and terrible patron in this relationship, dammit! "But if that's what it will take to get you over this hump, then we'll have to risk it."

"Of course, Shizun!" And just like that, he was all smiles again. "I won't misuse it!"

[Crown Ability Unlocked! The Protagonist gains access to the following ability: Ritual of Enlightened Dreaming! A-levels have been increased: XII!]

That little bit of instruction truly must have been all that was needed to get Binghe up and over the hump, because he cleared Xian Shu Peak the week after, and didn't appear before Shen Qingqiu for resurrection one single time for the next six months.

He did, however, see him frequently in dreams. Shen Qingqiu was a little baffled just how frequently. Rituals couldn't be cast every night -- they took days of preparation, and a substantial investment of resources that could only be harvested from the lands of the Old Faith. But somehow Binghe was able to collect enough mushrooms and sacred stones and bones of the heretics to hold the ritual every four or five days.

Which was just. Insane! Clearly he was doing well enough on the crusade that he didn't need Shen Qingqiu's advice that badly! And yet there he was, once or even twice in a week, when the charcoal gray of the Abyss darkened to true black night, the wispy shimmering mirage of Luo Binghe would appear in his dreams.

The first few times Luo Binghe only appeared as a misty shape, and was only able to stay for a few minutes -- long enough to exchange a few sentences, to report on his progress -- before the ritual ended. But as Luo Binghe continued to progress through Anchordeep and level up, he seemed to improve his control over the dreams as well. Before long he was able to conjure other images in the dream, smudged and faded shapes of things Luo Binghe had seen during the day. Shen Qingqiu saw the ruined Temple, the way it had looked when Luo Binghe first saw it: a wasteland of tumbled obelisks and overgrown trees, choked with weeds and heavy with gloom.

He was treated to images of a few of Binghe's followers as well. It was a bit startling, to see new faces other than Binghe or either of his two attendants. He'd gotten used to their looks by now; they'd stopped looking like animals to him and just looked like, well, themselves. But it was still an adjustment, seeing the inhabitants of this world as fully-realized people, not just pixel art on a screen. Luo Binghe named a few of them, including this Qin Wanyue he'd been so sneakily curious about, though Luo Binghe didn't treat her any differently than the rest -- did that mean he hadn't wedded her after all? Or that he'd wedded all of them, and that was why he didn't feel the need to single one out?

He didn't have time to ask, as Luo Binghe had moved on to proudly introducing two of his best followers: a crimson-furred young lady with sleek fox ears and tail, and a tall cervid with skin so white it was almost blue, and a pair of icy black antlers emerging from his head. They both had vivid markings on their foreheads, and Shen Qingqiu realized with a start that these must be this world's demons!

Demon followers showed up later in the game. While most followers were just civilians who the Lamb had rescued on their quests, there were a few strong, independent operators who resisted getting pulled into the thrall of the Lamb at first. Only once they were defeated, the Lamb's superior strength proven, could they be recruited; and unlike other followers, they could follow the Lamb on crusades and aid him in combat.

"Good," was his verdict after Luo Binghe had explained the long drawn-out battle during which he'd recruited Mobei-jun. "I approve of these worshippers. You have done well in recruiting them."

Luo Binghe beamed at him, sparkling with delight at the approval, before his face sobered somewhat. "I only wish that I could bring them to swear to you in person," he apologized. "This one can only provide a pale facsimile. Someday, Shizun will be free and then he can meet all of his flock!"

"It's fine, Binghe." Shen Qingqiu was just relieved that Luo Binghe had someone watching his back in those dungeons now! It all made sense, now, why Luo Binghe's unlucky streak had ended and he'd stopped dying. It really had nothing to do with him at all! "They're not my flock, they're your flock, and that's what matters. So long as they are strong enough and loyal enough to fight beside you, their devotion to me doesn't matter."

"Shizun!" Luo Binghe looked shocked -- actually, he looked almost angry at that. "Of course it matters! They are strong and they are loyal and they fight for you! Of course all of my followers know that it is you they serve!"

Shen Qingqiu eyed Luo Binghe skeptically. This was a dissimulation, surely? They were well into the part of the story where the Lamb would have started amassing his own power base, preparing for the day when he would inevitably break free from the thrall of He Who Waits and start his own climb to godhood. But no matter how closely he looked, he couldn't see anything but pure sincerity on his little lamb's face.

Luo Binghe went on. "They fight in your name, as I do," he said. "And if they die in battle against the forces of the Old Faith, then their names will go down as martyrs to the cause of bringing about the new world!"

"You shouldn't be so flippant about that possibility," Shen Qingqiu scolded him. The Lamb could not die permanently, but his followers absolutely could! If they were Luo Binghe's faithful friends and companions, then they were important. "What do I keep telling you about fighting recklessly? This is not a game, Binghe."

Luo Binghe was quick to agree, and promised to take better care of his followers, and by then the Enlightened Dream ritual was running out, sending Luo Binghe back to the waking world to begin his next crusade.

It wasn't until he was returned to the monotony of the Endless Abyss that it occurred to Shen Qingqiu: Wait. Why did I say that?

Of course this was a game!

What else could it possibly be?

[Achievement Unlocked: Sacrificial Beast!]

The System's monotonous chime at was the only warning Shen Qingqiu got before he was hit by a sudden rush of sensation. He gasped aloud, drawing a concerned chorus from Ming Fan and Ning Yingying, and strained at his chains as power surged within him. But for once, the sharp bite of the cold metal on his arms didn't come, or at least he didn't feel it. He couldn't feel anything except the upswell of power, bright and clean and heady, pouring through him from his heart out to his limbs and... and...

And then it was gone, leaving only the steady glowing warmth like a banked coal fire. Shen Qingqiu wheezed, trying to return his heart and lungs to their normal function, or at least what he was used to being their normal function. His breath felt... Easy? Light? The pain in his limbs, his head, his torso which he always made a conscious effort to ignore, was so faint and distant it might as well not exist at all.

"What was that?" he wondered aloud, then directed the question. "System! What the fuck was that?"

[Answering host, The Protagonist has unlocked the achievement: Sacrificial Beast!]

Oh. Oh shit. He remembered now. That was the achievement you got the first time you sacrificed a follower.

Which meant that sudden rush of power, of euphoria...

Shen Qingqiu shuddered. Was that what it felt like to a god, when a victim was sacrificed in their name? That was terrifying! It felt... not exactly sexual, thank god, he wasn't going to have to deal with some kind of forced fetish here, but it felt good. Invigorating. Like the first rush off a morphine drip.

It would be so, so easy to get addicted to that rush.

---

For once, when Luo Binghe appeared in his dreams, Shen Qingqiu was not happy to see him. "Binghe. What did you do?"

Luo Binghe drew up short, looking a little startled at being addressed so sharply. "Shizun? What do you mean?"

"I felt... the passing of a soul..." Shen Qingqiu gritted his teeth. "Dedicated in my name. Binghe, did you sacrifice one of your followers?"

"Yes! I had to, Shizun." Luo Binghe explained earnestly. "She was causing trouble, hassling the others, spreading lies. She said that Shizun was evil, that he was a false god, that he should be locked away and forgotten. I couldn't let her keep on talking like that, so I made an example of her."

Right. Because as cutesy and saccharine as the visuals of this world might be, it was also a world of crap, and human sacrifice was a well-established way of life here. The Old Faith was built on it; why wouldn't Luo Binghe continue that tradition? "I didn't ask you for sacrifices," Shen Qingqiu said, fighting to keep his voice calm, his tone even. "Your followers are meant to serve and empower you. Where did you even learn that ritual?"

"From Meng Mo. He said he used to send people to you regularly, before he lost his body. I thought Shizun might be pleased." Luo Binghe stole a glance up at Shen Qingqiu's face, and apparently he wasn't keeping as good a lid on his emotions as he'd thought. "...But you're not. Shizun is angry? Why? What did I do wrong?"

"No, Binghe, I'm not angry with you. But you must not... you should not..." He groped for a good reason, for a logical argument that Luo Binghe would accept from the dark god-patron he was supposed to be. "I am He Who Waits, you know this. All mortal lives will end with me eventually; there is no need to make a special delivery out of it. You should concentrate on re-educating dissenters, to get the most use out of them, rather than throwing them away."

Luo Binghe's face fell. He dropped to his knees, wrung his hands. "A thousand pardons, Shizun! I was stupid, I didn't know! This lowly one will never do such a thing again!"

"It's all right," Shen Qingqiu sighed. "Just... be careful trying out things you learn from other people. You can't be certain their intentions are good."

Luo Binghe cocked his head to one side, ears twitching with interest. "Was not Meng Mo one of your most devoted followers? Doesn't he know Shizun's will better than anyone? So, how could his intentions be anything other than good?"

Uhhh.

"Yes, well... remember that Meng Mo failed me," Shen Qingqiu managed to say, and infused his voice with a stern, menacing tone. "I do not want you to fail as well."

"This Lamb will not!"

That seemed to decide the matter, and Shen Qingqiu breathed a sigh of relief, that he had headed this off at the pass. But then Luo Binghe popped back up to his feet again and said, "Shizun, what sort of things do you like?"

Shen Qingqiu had not expected the question. "What sort of things... what do you mean by that?"

"Of course I still need to make offerings to Shizun!" Luo Binghe declared. "But if you don't want me to send followers to you, then what do you want instead?"

"I ... don't really need anything? Shen Qingqiu asked, confused. It wasn't like he needed to eat, after all. Besides, how would Luo Binghe send him any offerings if he was in the living world and Shen Qingqiu was here in the Abyss?

"It's not about needing, just, what would you like?" Luo Binghe insisted. "Do you prefer vegetables? Meat? Flowers? Just say the word and I will send them to you!"

He was really set on this! Shen Qingqiu couldn't really understand it. What was the protagonist hoping to do here? Farm favor? Rep grind? Binghe, this old master's reputation bar is already maxed to full! There's really no need to try to win any additional favor from him! Keep those resources for yourself!

After a too-long moment of silence, he realized Luo Binghe was still waiting for him to answer. Inspiration struck and he said, "I... suppose... I have always had some fondness for... flowers."

"Yes, Shizun!" Luo Binghe perked up. "What kind of flowers does Shizun prefer?"

"...Camellias." Were there any other flowers in the setting? Shen Qingqiu couldn't remember. But camellias were the most common, being a reagent for several of the starting alchemy recipes. By this point in the campaign Luo Binghe really shouldn't need them for medicine any more, so it was safe to offload them onto him! Right?

Luo Binghe nodded vigorously and departed, swearing to find some flowers to sacrifice to him. Harmless enough. Better to have an altar decorated with camellias than with carnage, anyway.

But whatever Luo Binghe eventually decided on as his offering, as time wore on, nothing other than the Lamb himself ever came through. However the 'offerings' mechanic actually worked, they sure weren't crossing the impenetrable boundary between the land of the living and that of the dead.

It was a shame, because Shen Yuan hadn't just been bluffing. He really did like camellias. He had a vivid memory one time of his middle school teacher sending him some when he was in the hospital. He'd kept them until they withered and then carefully pressed them between pages of a book, proof to himself if no one else that at least for a little while, someone out in the world had known him.

Some camellias down here really would have livened up the place.

[Crown Ability Unlocked! The Protagonist gains access to the following ability: Demonic Weapons!]

Shen Qingqiu stared at the notification screen for a long moment, confusion mixing with a low-key, swirling dread. He didn't... that hadn't come from him, so where would he have gotten...

What was happening to Binghe up there...?

Maybe this had to do with that hidden value, the one the System had never been willing to tell him about? Actually, come to think of it -- had been ages since he'd seen one of those obnoxious 'A-levels have increased!' notifications.

"System," he found himself asking, all the while feeling like he wasn't going to get the answer. "What are Binghe's A-levels at nowadays?"

[Answering host, The Protagonist has reached A-levels of a locked value and can no longer be changed.]

Oh. Well that was... good? Was that a good thing?

Not too long after that -- it must have been during the same crusade, there wouldn't have been time for anything else -- Luo Binghe appeared before him again. It was a bit of a shock. In the dreams, he was still the sweet little lamb that had come to Shen Qingqiu the first time; in his waking body, he had become a fearsome warrior. Taller, broader in the shoulders and arms, moving with a predator's grace. His robes had become stained a permanent crimson; his fleece had grown out black almost to the ends, only the tips still showing their original pure white. His stride was powerful, confident; his head was high and his gaze fearless.

"Lamb," Shen Qingqiu greeted him. It felt right, for this deadly creature in front of him, not to address him as Binghe. "You've grown more powerful."

"Yes, Shizun." Luo Binghe looked up at him, his eyes faintly glowing. "I've learned the lessons you taught me well."

"Those I taught you, and others as well, it seems." He wasn't trying to be salty, but... it stung a little. And he was anxious. Worried. Luo Binghe was straying, and what was Shen Qingqiu supposed to do about it?

"I'm strong enough now that I can find lessons in many places, Shizun," Luo Binghe replied. "Even in the lands of the Old Faith, sometimes."

Shen Qingqiu felt his heart go cold in his chest. "What are you saying?" he managed.

Luo Binghe's voice dropped to a low murmur. "I've heard the echoes deep in the Silken Cradle, at the foot of Qiong Ding Peak. That those who call themselves gods were not always gods. That once, they were mortals like we were."

Shen Qingqiu said nothing.

Honestly, what could he even say? He couldn't answer Luo Binghe's questions one way or another, because he wasn't the original Shen Qingqiu! He hadn't lived that guy's life, so how could he say what he once had been?

"But even the Bishops must have had a beginning." Luo Binghe lifted his head, his eyes piercing right into Shen Qingqiu. "Meiyin and the others, they say there were gods before the Old Faith. Is that true? Was the world different once?"

"...different, yes," Shen Qingqiu finally managed to say. He'd read the lore, he knew the history. And the world of Immortal Lamb Crusader Way had never been anything other than a crapsack. "Not better."

Luo Binghe let out a soft, thoughtful sound. "And yet, something changed, to let the Bishops ascend to godhood," he said slowly. "And... Shizun, as well."

What was Luo Binghe getting at here? Was he already looking for ways to overpower his eldritch mentor, to cut off his source of immortality so that he could kill him for good? Was Luo Binghe looking ahead to his own ascent to godhood? Shen Qingqiu didn't know what to say. Even if he'd wanted to encourage this line of thought, he didn't know how it had happened in the past, only that it had. Luo Binghe would have to find out how for himself.

And Shen Qingqiu would have to find out, too. The hard way.

"It's a one-way trip, I'm afraid," was all he could say in the end.

"So is death. And yet." Luo Binghe tilted his head to one side, gestured at the Abyss around them. "Here we are."

Shen Qingqiu made an effort to rally, to take control of the situation. "Who told you these things? Who's been filling your head with this?"

"Yue Qingyuan."

That was a shock, almost enough of one to distract Shen Qingqiu from the topic at hand. "You're up to Yue Qingyuan already?!"

Luo Binghe shook his head. "I haven't been able to scale Qiong Ding peak, yet. But I will. No, Yue Qingyuan comes to talk to me sometimes, when I'm carving up his little lackeys." There was an expression on Luo Binghe's face that Shen Qingqiu didn't know how to read, except that it wasn't one of the many flavors of bright admiration he'd grown to know so well. He didn't wear an angry or hateful snarl, either. He looked... Calculating? Pensive? "He's strange. Very strange."

"How so?" Shen Qingqiu said cautiously.

"The others... they all curse the name of Shen Qingqiu." That did get an angry snarl, which smoothed again to seriousness after a moment. "But Yue Qingyuan doesn't. If anything, he seems to... regret."

Once again, Shen Qingqiu had nothing to say.

"They say the gods were four, once," Luo Binghe said thoughtfully. "Liu Qingge, Shang Qinghua, Qi Qingqi, and Yue Qingyuan. Until Yue Qingyuan reached his hand out and lifted another to sit behind them, and four became five. And now five becomes four becomes three becomes two becomes one becomes nothing."

His eyes flashed red and his voice turned suddenly into a cavernous echo, spooking Shen Qingqiu nearly out of his skin? What was that? Was that prophecy? Was Luo Binghe channeling something... someone? He didn't even seem to notice that he'd said anything strange.

"Binghe..." Shen Qingqiu began, hesitantly. The sound of his name seemed to bring Luo Binghe out of some kind of trance, like he'd snapped back to his body again.

"...Well, good!" he said forcefully. His fierce, angry scowl showed the glimpse of a white fang as he said, "Good. He should suffer! Isn't it just what he deserves? What does it matter if he regrets? He still betrayed Shizun, cast Shizun out. If he was the one who raised Shizun up in the first place, that only makes it more of a betrayal to turn on him this way. Bound him here, while he and his disgusting brethren rampaged across the world, killing... killing whoever they please!"

The red glint was back in his eyes, the white flash of teeth that grew sharper by the day. For a moment, standing with the fire of vengeance in his eyes, he truly did look like the demonic protagonist of Immortal Lamb Crusader Way. "He'll pay for that," Luo Binghe said fiercely. "I'll make him pay."

And then Luo Binghe vanished, back to the world of the living. Leaving Shen Qingqiu here, alone in the sea of gray fog at the bottom of the world. Trapped, depowered, with his only lifeline a champion who was already making plans on how to dethrone a god.

Shen Qingqiu knew the lore of this world; gods rise and fall and more gods rise, clambering up on the broken backs of a thousand sacrifices, pulling in more and more of the world into themselves until they became something more, something apart. Gods lived a thousand years but not forever; eventually someone newer would come along, someone hungrier, to cast them down and feast on their divine flesh and take that divine power for themselves.

The Bishops weren't the first gods in this world and they weren't going to be the last, either. The Lamb would overthrow them, and become them -- a new god, climbing to divinity on a ziggurat of blood-washed bones. The Lamb would become the new faith, presiding over a world of darkness and chaos and sacrifice, bathed ceaselessly by the terror and adoration of his ever-cycling flock.

That was just how it had to be! That was how the story went. Outstrip your mentor, kill your mentor. Slay a myth, become a myth. It was Luo Binghe's narrative destiny, and it would surely make him happy. Why wouldn't it? Who wouldn't want to live forever? Who wouldn't want to be a god?

[Crown Ability Unlocked! The Protagonist gains access to the following ability: Bloodthirsty Weapons!]

He knew how the story had to go, but for the first time, he wished...

[Crown Ability Unlocked! The Protagonist gains access to the following ability: Merciless Weapons!]

He just wished...

[Crown Ability Unlocked! The Protagonist gains access to the following ability: Damnation Weapons!]

He just wished he could see his sweet little lamb again.

For a long time after that -- Shen Qingqiu had lost count of the days -- there was no more sign of Luo Binghe. He visited neither in dreams, nor for Shen Qingqiu to return him to life after falling in battle -- it seemed that he had truly surpassed all others, and there was nothing left in the world of the living that could take him down. There were no more levels or power-ups he could give, and Luo Binghe didn't need him any longer.

But it was only a matter of time. Luo Binghe would have to come here one last time, after all. The game couldn't end until he did.

It felt like his whole existence had been spiraling down to ever-more confined, claustrophobic settings. Even as a kid his health had been a problem, making it difficult for his family to travel. As he progressed he eventually had to drop out of school in favor of home-schooling, and college had been quietly taken off the table. His life had narrowed down from one town, to one building, to one room, and finally to one desk and chair. He felt the whole weight of that wasted life pressing down on him, squeezing him further, like it was going to deform him Junji Ito-style into a horrible new shape.

At least he wasn't alone down here -- thank heaven for small mercies! There was never any explanation as to why He Who Waits was always portrayed with his two attendants, and he couldn't exactly ask now -- not when he was obviously supposed to know. But they were with him, always, which made the endless roaring darkness a little easier to bear. The distant booming of unseen surf, the seething charcoal darkness, and the pain -- it waxed and waned like the tide but it was always there, a little. Shen Qingqiu was quite accustomed to pain from his former life but down here, there was little to distract from it.

Even Ming Fan and Ning Yingying could only do so much to help. They weren't much use as distractions; after a thousand years, there was just not much left for them to talk about. When he shuddered, when he sagged against the chains, Ning Yingying was always there to ask solicitously: "Do the chains hurt today, Master?"

Such a sweet girl! But what was the point? Asking wouldn't change the truth of the matter. Ming Fan and Yingying could be here with him, but they couldn't help him; they couldn't free him. Only Luo Binghe could do that.

For the first time, Shen Qingqiu thought about the fate of his loyal attendants. They would be killed by the Lamb, just like he would, last-stage minibosses before the final battle. For the first time he wondered how Ming Fan and Ning Yingying had come to be down here in the first place. Had they been his followers, dragged with him into exile? Had they chosen to be here, or had they been thrust into the roles willy nilly, just like him?

It was too late to ask, now.

What difference would it have made either way?

When the last chain shattered, he felt it. Shards pattered down around him like a rain of glass, soft glimmers swallowed up by the dark fog. Somewhere in the living world, Yue Qingyuan was dead. The fourth Bishop had been defeated.

The gateway to the underworld -- Shen Qingqiu's world -- was open.

It should have been a triumph. Victory over his enemies (but they had never been his enemies) and freedom within reach (but where was there to go?)

It should have been a relief.

Instead, it felt like doom.

[Achievement Unlocked: Crosser of Thresholds! The Protagonist now has access to the Endless Abyss!]

The annoying System notification chimed in his head, but it wasn't really needed; the air was static, charged like an ongoing thunderstorm. The fog sank lower, thicker and darker as though condensing on the ground; far off in the distance there was a crack of light.

The crack widened, spilling radiance out from the opening of the rift, and Luo Binghe came through it.

Luo Binghe had grown again since Shen Qingqiu had seen him last. There was no more glint of pure white in his fleece, only a roiling aura of inky black. Zheng Yang, the faithful starter blade, was long gone; now he carried a black, steaming sword in black spiked gauntlets. It dripped ichor that blended in seamlessly with the fog, a blood-red eye on the hilt that shifted in uncanny synchronicity with Luo Binghe's eyeline. An aura of distant wailing ghosts seemed to trail after him like a cloak, audible even from here, and he left crimson footprints on the black sand.

This was not his sweet little Lamb any longer; this was the Protagonist, come into his full power and glory, and the Red Crown sat on his brow like he had been born to it.

(In a very real sense, he had been.)

"Shizun, I've come at last." Luo Binghe came to a stop at the end of the walkway, looking up at the figure of Shen Qingqiu towering over him. There was not the slightest hint of fear in his eyes, even now. "I'm here to put an end to this. After all this time, you'll be free."

Shen Qingqiu stirred, tried to find his voice again. There was a whole speech he was supposed to give here -- he had it memorized. A tirade about what a low and pitiful worm Luo Binghe was, and how dare he challenge his betters, he should know his place, he would suffer in agony in the dark beyond for ten thousand years, blah blah blah.

Instead, what came out was muted, almost defeated. "Binghe, you cannot..." He shook his head. "You must know it. The Red Crown can only sit on one brow."

"I know." Luo Binghe gave a small, sinister smile. "I have no intention of giving up this crown. This strength, this power, it's served me more than it ever has you."

"Binghe, I don't want to fight you!" Of course he didn't! He wasn't suicidal.

Luo Binghe drew his sword; the metallic sound of it struck a pang of dread in Shen Qingqiu's heart. "That will make this much easier, then."

"Damned Lamb!" Ming Fan piped up, nearly sputtering in his outrage on Shen Qingqiu's behalf. "You dare to be so insolent to your betters!"

"You don't have to do this, Binghe," Shen Qingqiu tried. "You defeated all the Bishops, you've made this land yours! Surely, by now, you've had your revenge? For what the Old Faith did to you, to your people? It's enough! You've won!"

"No." The denial was soft, but powerful. Determination blazed in his eyes, hotter and redder than the reflection of the torches. "I haven't won yet."

Ning Yingying gasped. "Shizun, he wants to kill you!" she exclaimed. "Well, we won't let him!"

There was nothing Shen Qingqiu could say to stop it from happening. This was all part of the script; the two henchmen would rush forward, one after another, and be defeated by the Lamb. All just a warm-up mini-boss encounter, in preparation for the real thing.

Despite the numb horror of the situation, there was still something amazing in getting to watch the protagonist at work. He moved like lightning, stepping in a flash from one side of the stage to the other, dealing out surgical strikes from his sword to his opponent's back and flanks. When Ming Fan went into a frenzy, hacking and flailing in a whirlwind of steel that would have made mincemeat of anything within his range, Luo Binghe retreated out of his reach and waited until Ming Fan began to slow, flinging black fire that caught his attendant right in the eyes and sent him down screaming.

When Luo Binghe was done with him, Shen Qingqiu didn't know if he was dead -- he was still in one piece, at least -- but he definitely wasn't moving.

Ning Yingying actually did better than Shen Qingqiu had expected -- he had not expected such a sweet girl to fight with such fury. But fury she had in abundance, fighting to avenge her brother and protect her master. Sheets of fire sloughed from her sword, sending Luo Binghe scrambling from one side of the platform to the other in an effort to avoid being roasted -- the sword itself took on a life of its own, sweeping and stabbing outward sin a deadly missile.

But this ending, too, was inevitable; Luo Binghe timed his steps between the fireballs, found a path around the hungry sword, and once he was in Ning Yingying's melee range it was all over.

It really was all over.

Shen Qingqiu hadn't been planning to actually try to fight Luo Binghe. For one, he knew he couldn't succeed -- his defeat, one way or another, was inevitable. For another... even looking at the bloodthirsty berserker he'd become, he couldn't bring himself to want to harm his little lamb.

I can't, he thought. He resolved himself to that truth. He'd take a few half-hearted swings, then 'accidentally' fumble his weapon and leave himself wide open.

And then the System chimed up in his head.

With a cheerful ding and a strobing light in his eyes that left him blinded, the System announced its return. [Final story arc has initiated: Wait No More!] the monotonous voice chirped. [To assist Host in this battle, this System will now cash out the accumulated Boss-points balance of 7,422 points to activate 'One-Winged Angel' alternate battle form!]

Wait, what?!

[User UV002, please enjoy this elevated experience!]

System! I didn't ask for --

The only reason Shen Qingqiu didn't scream as an invisible riptide seized his body, was because his lungs and throat were suddenly no longer in the right shape to do it. Power surged into him, torrential, unbearable, bending his bones and distorting his flesh. Something burst from his side, hot and wet and agonizing, and he looked down to see another set of spindly, insect-like arms emerging from his torso, before his vision blurred out.

He didn't pass out. That would have been too merciful. But he wasn't exactly awake, either. He was strapped into this ride, as the mutated carcass that had formerly been Shen Qingqiu shrieked and flailed its way around the platform, burning whips and swords in multiple sets of hands, intent on flaying the Protagonist's flesh from his bones. Shen Qingqiu screamed in his mind, writhing against the iron grips of the System's control, and his outer form howled in fury and hatred and did its utmost to rend his precious little sheep into pieces.

And then, with a strike of metal on bone that he felt rattling in his teeth, it was over. The tornado of flesh and ichor collapsed, and all of a sudden he was himself again, sprawled and panting on the platform in a sea of dark fog and black-burned stains. Luo Binghe stood across from him, bruised and bloodied and heaving for breath, one hand clenched on his sword and the other outflung from the final spell.

He tried to smile. He thought it might have come out awful. "Binghe," he managed to croak out. At least he was able to say this, at least he was able to die as himself... as something like himself. "Binghe, you've grown up so well... I'm glad." His breath was short, it felt wet and stuffy in his lungs. "Be happy."

"Oh..." Luo Binghe took a step forward, almost stumbling as he closed the distance between them. He raised his sword-hand, looking down at Shen Qingqiu with bonfire eyes. "I mean to."

And then the sword came down, and everything went to black.

Shen Qingqiu came back to awareness to the sound of a distant buzzing; the droning monotone of a cicada, singing its swan song to the world.

He opened his eyes without really registering that they'd been closed, and was greeted with the sight of a sun-dappled ceiling. From this side it looked like the ceiling was woven of thatch or perhaps of twigs, twined together with living vines that sent tender green shoots and tiny white flowers peeking through the seams. Bright sunlight slanted in from a window, sending dust motes dancing in its beam before casting green and golden shadows shifting on the curved wall.

Shen Qingqiu stared. He couldn't help it. He hadn't seen the sun in... in...

What the hell was going on?

After a few moments, carefully, he raised his head. He was lying on some kind of overstuffed mattress. There were no chains pinching him, holding him down. The room he was in was small -- some kind of dome-shaped, green-roofed hut? -- and he was alone. He felt strange, awkward, light. This body... this body he was in was much less heavy than his last one. Lighter and free of restrictions, free of chains, free of... pain?

And yet, this new body wouldn't move quite in the way he was accustomed to. He pulled himself over to the edge of the bed, then nearly pitched on his face when he moved to stand and realized that his legs bent backwards from how they ought to.

Shen Qingqiu pushed aside the light blanket and stared at his legs, his feet. Not -- not backwards, exactly. The sole of his foot had suddenly become much too long, leaving his ankle a good two feet off the ground, and his knee and thigh much shorter and folded up compactly. It felt wrong and awkward trying to place his feet flat on the ground; only the ball of his foot and his toes seemed to want to bear his weight, balancing the rest of him over them like a pair of stilts.

Also, his toes... had beans. Beans. He felt like he wasn't quite touching ground underneath his feet; it was more like wearing a pair of slippers with the grippy bits on the sole. He stared down at his feet, brain unable to process what it was seeing, until the sight of a dark sinuous shape slowly tapping up and down at the corner of his vision completely derailed his train of thought.

That -- was a tail. His tail.

Was he a fucking catboy?!

"Shizun!"

...

Nope!

Shen Qingqiu turned to go back to bed, but he wasn't given the chance. The familiar voice heralded a familiar shape and as soon as the Lamb burst through the door of the hut, Shen Qingqiu's attention was riveted.

It was Binghe!

Of course it was Binghe! How could it be anyone else?! This whole world revolved around the Lamb; the camera was locked right to him! Luo Binghe looked healthy, his fleece glossy and eyes bright, a vigorous bounce in his step as he ducked under the grass curtain into the room.

Also, from this angle, Luo Binghe was... a lot bigger!

As He Who Waits, Shen Qingqiu had only ever gotten a very... foreshortened view of the Lamb. With his black armor, his scarlet robe, the powerful muscles of his legs and shoulders, and the unruly volume of his pitch-black fleece, Luo Binghe was considerably more intimidating in person than he had ever been in the Abyss! Not... not bad intimidating, though. Just enough to make you really sit up and take notice. From this angle, his jaw and chin were actually quite strong and well-formed, and his cheekbones were ridiculously good. His eyes were less disconcerting too from this perspective, less googly, still large and luminous and full of adoration when they turned on Shen Qingqiu...

No! Shen Qingqiu mentally slapped himself. Bad thoughts! Sure, Luo Binghe was beautiful, but he wasn't a furry, dammit!

Wait a minute -- wasn't he now also a....

Nope! Nooope! Not thinking about that at all!

They had to be at the Temple, the Lamb's home base, where his followers lived and worked and worshiped. Had he... reincarnated as one of Luo Binghe's flock, somehow? No -- Luo Binghe had addressed him as Shizun. Had -- had Luo Binghe brought him here? Somehow?

How? Or, maybe even more importantly -- why?

Hadn't Luo Binghe defeated him soundly just now, most fairly in combat? What was he doing alive again, and in the heart of the Lamb's sanctuary? Binghe! This isn't good security protocol at all! Enemies should be dispatched, not brought back to the healing bay and left unattended!!

"Binghe," was all he managed to get out, and even his voice left him unbalanced. It was no longer the raspy, booming roar of He Who Waits. Instead he sounded... almost normal. "Binghe, wh..."

There were so many questions that should have started with that wh, he didn't know how he could pick just one! What! Where! Once again, why!!!

"Everything's all right, Shizun," Luo Binghe said, stepping forward and holding out one hand to him. His voice was pitched to a low rumble, sparking something deep and primal in Shen Qingqiu's brain. "I know it will take time to get accustomed to your new form, but it shouldn't be all that different from your original!"

Hahaha Binghe really had no idea.

Wait. What?

"New form?" Shen Qingqiu said weakly.

Luo Binghe nodded. "From Yue Qingyuan, I knew that Shizun's original form would never be able to leave the Endless Abyss," he said. "That the energy of that place had blended too closely with the fabric of Shizun's body. Even up to the very end, he was so sure that the binding could never be undone. And besides, your old body would have been much too big. But I figured it out! The forces that link the transportation network isn't so different from the anchoring of a soul to a body, so by using Xin Mo..."

He rattled on like this for a while, but Shen Qingqiu's brain had stopped accepting new input several paragraphs ago. He was still stuck on new form? while Binghe was reciting quantum state uncertainties.

Somehow, even while he was talking, Luo Binghe managed to get a hand on Shen Qingqiu's arm and ease him gently forward. With Luo Binghe half a pace behind him, one hand under his elbow, Shen Qingqiu managed not to unbalance himself on his strange new ankles and fall flat on his face. But when he stepped past the threshold, he stopped dead.

What met his eyes was a beautiful sun-drenched meadow. Stretching off in every direction was thick, lush green grass dotted with wildflowers, flitting with jewel-winged insects. Late afternoon lay golden and warm over everything, slanting over the high dark tops of trees on the horizon.

Under his feet was a tiled mosaic path leading away from the building behind them -- some kind of clinic? -- towards a flat open space where the path split into several winding branches. Dense, dark green stands of bamboo separated different sections of the compound from each other, and everywhere -- lining every walkway, growing in profusion at the base of every building -- were brilliant red blossoming camellias.

"This place..." Shen Qingqiu was speechless.

"Your Temple," Luo Binghe said proudly. He damn well should be proud! This place was a crumbling ruin, Binghe!! A decaying wreckage of a fallen god whose stones were stained with a thousand years of sacrifice, Binghe!!! How did you manage to turn this place into a - a theme park! "Would Shizun like me to show him around?"

He didn't wait for an answer. A strong arm had found its way around Shen Qingqiu's shoulders, guiding him along the pathway. That warm, deep voice kept murmuring a running commentary as they went, the warm damp breath in Shen Qingqiu's ear making it want to shiver and flick. The sensation, and the accompanying feelings that surged up and down his spine in response, were so distracting that he only caught snatches of the tour. "...the koi pond, which I stocked with fish from Pilgrim's Passage... ...trying a new crop this season in the farmlands, I hope Shizun will like it... ...kitchens are open to you day and night, although if you are ever hungry, this humble Lamb would gladly cook for you... ...mines and quarries to the south, behind the hedges, though of course Shizun won't have to worry about such things..."

Also splitting his attention were the figures they passed along their way through the compound; some working, some eating, some sitting idle in the sunshine. All of the stopped to stare at Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe as they passed, and an awed murmur sprang up behind them.

Shen Qingqiu was inclined to stare in return. These were... they really were the critter-people from Immortal Lamb Crusader Way, brought to life! He recognized some of them from Luo Binghe's visions; Mobei-jun was even taller and more glacial in real life, and Sha Hualing was actually shorter than she'd apparently loomed in Luo Binghe's imagination. He even spotted Ming Fan gawking from the sidelines -- smaller, of course, but with that unmistakable tiger patterning on his forehead that gave him the look of a brow perpetually furrowed with worry. And if Ming Fan was here, then Ning Yingying must be in this crowd somewhere as well...

Not that he had a chance to stop and talk to his former attendant, or any of the other followers; Luo Binghe kept them moving, sweeping him along and gathering the rest of the flock in their wake like a parade float. "Shizun won't be sleeping in the shared quarters, of course; you have your own hut, especially," he said as he nodded towards a whole-ass house built from bamboo, sitting a regal and noise-dampening distance apart from the rest. "And... here we are! Aren't you glad, Shizun? Aren't you proud?"

They came to a halt in front of a grand building that glowed in the setting sunlight, beams red-painted and roof black-thatched, overgrown with twining green ivy and red camellias. Shen Qingqiu tilted his head back and tried to parse what he was looking at. It wasn't easy; his eyes and brain were overloaded, ok! This was more color and light than he'd been exposed to since... well before his first death, ok! It's a lot to pull a poor shut-in from an eight-month lockdown and then throw this at them!

So it took him a minute before he realized that what he was looking at was in fact a temple, with a grand marble fountain out front featuring a solemn and elegant figure standing in the center, water pouring from his outstretched hands. A figure carved of... dark marble, with catlike ears flanking a red-eyed crown...

Shen Qingqiu's face flooded with heat. "Binghe!" he hissed. "That's not -- is that supposed to be me?!"

"Just an icon, Shizun; I know it does not do you justice!" Luo Binghe managed to get him moving again, chivvying him inside the temple. "But I wanted my followers to know the face of the being that they served. That I served. Shizun, this was all built for you."

"For... me?" Shen Qingqiu echoed.

"Yes, for you!" Luo Binghe swung him around, clasping both Shen Qingqiu's hands between his as he peered down intently into his face. "Shizun, everything I've accomplished has been thanks to you; your mercy the first time we met, your power, your guidance... Everything I've accomplished I will lay at your feet, along with my life, and my heart. Does it please you? Do you accept?"

Shen Qingqiu had never intended to reject; he was just having a hard time processing all this! But Luo Binghe's face was right before his, tears of earnestness welling in his large glossy eyes, and there was one thing Shen Qingqiu knew for certain.

"Of course I accept," he said. "Of course, nothing of Binghe's could ever not be pleasing to me."

The tears vanished, replaced by a white beaming grin. "I'm so glad!" he exalted, and then stepped backwards, pulling Shen Qingqiu through the archway with him. "Then, there's just one more thing we have to do..."

The chapel was spacious, but there were enough bodies crowding into the pews and packed along the walls to make it feel more than cozy. Luo Binghe led him up to the front of the nave, where a suspiciously dark stone altar was bedecked with fruits and yet more flowers. Luo Binghe struck up a pose at the altar, facing his flock without ever letting go of Shen Qingqiu's hand, and began to deliver a speech in the measured singsong cadence of a practiced ritual. He really was a natural orator, Shen Qingqiu marveled. But then, by now he must have had hundreds of days to practice.

The chant was quickly picked up by the rest of the audience, voices raised in a harmonious hum. Shen Qingqiu didn't get to hear the words, however, because just at that time the System's obnoxious voice chimed in his ear:

[Achievement Unlocked: True Love Found!]

What? What does that mean?! Shitty system, what even is the criteria for 'True Love Found?'

[Answering host: achievement True Love Found unlocked when the Protagonist completes the Wedding ritual for the first time!]

....Oh.

Oh.

Something bright-colored appeared at the top of his field of vision, and he felt a soft weight settle on his head. Luo Binghe had set a similarly colorful flower crown on his own head, and leaned forward to reel Shen Qingqiu in for a kiss.

So his legs felt weak and his knees gave out! What of it! It was his first day in this body, okay, and he wasn't expecting such a rush!! Shen Qingqiu found himself flailing a bit for support, which was surely the only reason why both arms wrapped around Luo Binghe's shoulders and both hands cupped the back of his skull. Binghe's hair threaded through his fingers -- inky black, riotously tumbling, curly black fleece. Ahhh, it felt just as warm and soft and fluffy as he always thought it would.

The kiss felt nice too. Warm and soft and fluffy. And hot and wet and hungry and...

He was gasping a bit when Luo Binghe released the kiss, though he didn't go any further than the length of Luo Binghe's arms. Luo Binghe -- looking incredibly, indescribably smug -- leaned in one more time to whisper in his ear.

"Now I've won," Luo Binghe said, and kissed him softly.

All Shen Qingqiu could think of to say, in the end, was: "Good game?"

Okay.

Maybe he was a little bit of a furry.

Only for Binghe, though.

~end.