Chapter Text
“What kind of dumb ass ending was that?! Stupid airplane and his dumb wife plots! Who ends a novel series like that!” Shen Yuan had just so happened to finish the novel Proud Immortal Demon Way and was now cursing out the author for how stupidly he ended the novel. He had paid for exclusive services and paid for early chapters since the very beginning of the novel. It had good potential, it really did! But the hack of an author just haaaad to add in all this wife plot bullshit and add in an unnecessary harem with pointless plot points. The amount of plot holes became tremendous and the novel lost all sense of plot. All of it just became another
dumb way for more papapa to occur. All so idiotic!!
Shen Yuan grumbled angrily to himself as he started to write one of his long winded hate comments on why this ending was so stupid and how the novel lacked plot and how terrible it was with all of its plot holes. “Dumbfuck author, dumbfuck novel!” Shen Yuan cursed as he took a bite of his yogurt angrily. He wasn’t quite sure how long it was there nor did he bother looking at his food as he ate it.If he looked then he would no longer want to eat so he resolved to pick the closest edible thing near him and snack on it before he lost his appetite for the day.
If Shen Yuan had chosen to look at the yogurt he would’ve seen the mold in it and how old it was. He also however would have lost his appetite and would not have been able to gain it back until the next day. So in a way it was a lose lose situation.
Unfortunately for Shen Yuan his decision to not take a split second look at his food would cause his untimely miserable death due to food poisoning. His last waking moments before choking on his own vomit was spent cursing out the dumb novel one final time. “Stupid author, stupid novel…” were the last words Shen Yuan muttered before he laid dead on his bathroom floor.
[ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴄᴏᴅᴇ: "ꜱᴛᴜᴘɪᴅ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ, ꜱᴛᴜᴘɪᴅ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ." ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ ᴀᴜᴛᴏᴍᴀᴛɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ᴛʀɪɢɢᴇʀᴇᴅ.]
Shen Yuan awoke to a robotic voice that oddly reminded him of google translate. “Who is this?” He looked around and it appeared he was floating in a virtual void like space. He was standing on endless tranquil water and surrounded by a neverending black void. The voice was coming from all directions around him.
[ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ ᴏᴘᴇʀᴀᴛᴇꜱ ɪɴ ʟɪɴᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇꜱɪɢɴ ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇᴘᴛ "ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴜᴘ, ɴᴏ ᴄᴀɴ ʙʙ"; ᴡᴇ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘʀᴏᴠɪᴅᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇꜱᴛ ᴘᴏꜱꜱɪʙʟᴇ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ. ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ᴏᴜʀ ꜱɪɴᴄᴇʀᴇ ᴡɪꜱʜ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅᴜʀɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴛɪᴍᴇ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ꜰᴜʟꜰɪʟʟ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴅᴇꜱɪʀᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ, ɪɴ ᴀᴄᴄᴏʀᴅᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴡɪꜱʜ, ᴛʀᴀɴꜱꜰᴏʀᴍ ᴀ ꜱᴛᴜᴘɪᴅ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴀ ᴍᴀɢɴɪꜰɪᴄᴇɴᴛ, ʜɪɢʜ-Qᴜᴀʟɪᴛʏ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ-ʀᴀᴛᴇ ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱɪᴄ. ᴡᴇ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ.]
Within his increasing vertigo a man’s gentle voice spoke lightly beside him, “......Shidi? Shidi, can you hear me?”
Shen Yuan shuddered slightly and forcibly opened his eyes as he was met with another wave of vertigo. The scene before him was blurred together and it took him a while before he could finally open his eyes to a clear environment. He was laying on a hard mat or bed with his head resting on what felt like a stone block beneath him. Looking around his environment, Shen Yuan looked above him. Above where he lay was a white, gauzy canopy with finely crafted perfume pouches dangling from the four corners.
Being the book fanatic he was, Shen Yuan calmly took in his surroundings so as to not set alarms off with the mysterious man that sounded beside him and concluded he transmigrated. He looked down at himself, noticing he was wearing a white robe of an ancient style. Ah, so this must be a cultivation world of some sort considering the robes and the form of address used for me earlier. So the man who spoke earlier was his superior. So should he refer to him as Shixiong? He thought to himself.
Shen Yuan slowly sat up so as to not upset his vertigo anymore and looked beside him. There layed a paper fan beside his pillow. He reached for it and quickly snapped it open, coincidentally hiding his expression. He looked to his left where a handsome, elegant young man dressed in xuanduan formal robes sat looking concerned at him.
Shen Yuan lightly waved his newly acquired fan, fanning away the cold sweat pouring from him in heaps. The man's eyes lit up and he excitedly exclaimed, “Shidi finally woke up, do you have any discomfort.”
“Nothing terrible.” Shen Yuan replied with some reservation. He was a little overloaded with information but wanted to act as natural as possible so he wouldn’t raise any alarms within the man before him. Dazed Shen Yuan asked, “I….Where is this?” He was truly putting on his best acting skills here! Going the amnesic route is perfect and it also made it appear as if he had just woken up. The man startled back at this but continued to smile warmly at him, “Did you sleep yourself into a trance? This is your peak, Qing Jing peak.”
Qing Jing peak……where had he heard this. He felt a foreboding feeling wash over him. Think Shen Yuan! Think! Just keep playing dumb.
Acting muddled he looked around confusedly, “Why…why was I asleep for so long.”
“Shidi had a qi deviation and suddenly came down with a high fever. I know that with the Immortal Alliance Conference approaching, you’ve been training your disciples non-stop and are anxious to see who goes. But with Cang Qiong Mountain being such a renowned sect, even if one our own didn’t attend, no one would question us”
As Shen Yuan listened, he felt himself growing with fear. There's no way….no way in hell. Hell to the fucking no. He finally had his suspicions confirmed when the man next spoke, “Qingqiu-shidi, are you listening to this Shixiong?” As soon as the man finished the sentence everything clicked in his head. No…nonononononono. Anywhere but Proud Immortal Demon Way. Any novel but this. He could feel his breathing picking up. Why this novel. Why couldn’t it be anywhere but here. Everything was static. Why him? Suddenly there was a ding and the mechanical Google-Translate voice rang out again.
[ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ ᴡᴀꜱ ꜱᴜᴄᴄᴇꜱꜱꜰᴜʟʟʏ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴀᴛᴇᴅ! ʙᴏᴜɴᴅ ʀᴏʟᴇ: ʟᴜᴏ ʙɪɴɢʜᴇ'ꜱ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀ, ᴄᴀɴɢ Qɪᴏɴɢ ᴍᴏᴜɴᴛᴀɪɴ ꜱᴇᴄᴛ'ꜱ ᴘᴇᴀᴋ ʟᴏʀᴅ ᴏꜰ Qɪɴɢ ᴊɪɴɢ ᴘᴇᴀᴋ "ꜱʜᴇɴ QɪɴɢQɪᴜ." ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴ: ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴡᴏʀᴅ xɪᴜ ʏᴀ. ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛɪɴɢ ʙ-ᴘᴏɪɴᴛꜱ: 100]
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! This couldn’t be happening! What kind of bullshit? Why him. Out of all people why him!? This was all too much for him! He could see the vertigo come back to his vision way more extreme than earlier and promptly passed out from all the stress.
Shen Yuan came to be again half a sichen later (half a sichen is an hour and a whole sichen is two hours) with now two men standing over him as he blinked bleary eyed. Suddenly the system rang out.
[ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪꜰɪᴇᴅ. ʏᴜᴇ Qɪɴɢʏᴜᴀɴ: ᴄᴀɴɢ Qɪᴏɴɢ ᴍᴏᴜɴᴛᴀɪɴ'ꜱ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ꜱᴇᴄᴛ ʟᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ, ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴ: ᴛʜᴇ xᴜᴀɴ ꜱᴜ ꜱᴡᴏʀᴅ. ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱʜᴇɴ QɪɴɢQɪᴜ: ꜱʜɪxɪᴏɴɢ, ̴̛̦̰̩̱̤͘ͅ?̶̱̂?̸͎͝?̸̢̗͎̟̼̰̟̻̠̔͌͜ ̴͍̙̱̟̓͂̀̓̓̎͌̈́͘͠e̵̝̩͒̆ŗ̸͖͉̿̅̒̚ŕ̷̜͔͎̼̖̙͇͑͒o̵̡̡̡̦͈͔̥̮͘r̸̡̤̘͚̭͇͑̈̀̏̋̀̅̌̀̚ͅ ̴͖̖͓̪̤̼͕̻͎̣̍́̈̈̀̋̍̒ų̴̬̤̫͇̠͓̏̋͐̽̌̚̕n̴̛͍͕̹̝̜͚͓̽̆̎͆̈́̏̈́ͅȧ̶̬̥̠͓̖̮̬͉̈͆͊͋́̈́̀̑̕͜ͅb̸͓̱̜̬̊̊̇l̸͎̃̔̚ḛ̵͍̣̞͐̎̇̋́͑̚͜͝͝ͅ ̵͇̖͇͉̳͈̬̗̖̫̏̚t̵̀̈́̀͑́͒̇͜ó̴͗͛̋̍̎̄̒̃̓ͅ ̵͕̪̗͕̳̪̲̩̥͚̈́͑̀́̚f̶̛̫̿ī̸̡͇̞̙̫̖̟̪̄͆̽̓͂͆͜ń̶̦̙̞̠͍̠͎̹́̂͗̚͠d̸̢̟̜̪͂̔͊͆͗̔ ̶̗͑̓͆͌͐̈̉͌̈́į̵̬̠̜̗̩̭̝͋̈́̉̅̂̏̄̕͘ņ̸̨͓͓̖͉̠̲͚̝̍f̶̨̨̙̠͇̯̂̽͌͂̀̍ô̴͓̹̯̱̱̖̞͚͗̚͜͜͝ŕ̷̩̣̟̰̤͓̦̈́̂m̷͚̈́̋̔͒͋͘ä̴̦̟͌̌̓̎̽̕t̸̮̆̀̎̇ǐ̴̹͊̀͒͛o̷̡̧̘͇̲̻̮̬̼̎̐̄͌͘̕͝n̷̡̙̤͎̰̥̽͐͒̓̃̑̂.̴̡̛̩͍̞̉̓̌́̈͌͌͝ͅ]
[ᴍᴜ Qɪɴɢꜰᴀɴɢ: Qɪᴀɴ ᴄᴀᴏ ᴘᴇᴀᴋ ʟᴏʀᴅ, ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴ: ᴜɴᴋɴᴏᴡɴ, ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱʜᴇɴ QɪɴɢQɪᴜ: ᴅᴇꜱɪɢɴᴀᴛᴇᴅ ʜᴇᴀʟᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜɪᴅɪ.]
Shen Yuan took in the information he was just given and found it curious that the system was unable to pull up any relations with Yue Qingyuan beyond the fact that he was his Shixiong. He slowly sat up and Yue Qingyuan rushed to help him rest on the headboard. How curious despite the original villain's cruel behavior towards the sect leader he still handles the originals body very delicately.
“Does Shidi feel any discomfort anywhere? Do not over-fret again and worry yourself unconscious.”
“This Shidi is fine…” He reached over for his fan and snapped it open again. Suddenly the identified Mu Qingfang stepped forward and asked to check his meridians. Shen Qingqiu handed over his wrist absentmindedly as he thought about everything. Mu Qingfang was a minor background character in Proud Immortal Demon Way and was the only peak lord left alive after the sect was raised to the ground because of his amazing healing expertise. Despite being described quite plainly in the novel he really was a sight to behold. Internally Shen Yuan was crying as it seemed perhaps everyone in this world was gifted with extraordinary beauty.
“Shixiong…Shixiong?”
Ah, it appeared he was being spoken to by Mu Qingfang. “Does Shixiong feel any discomfort in his meridians?” Shen Yuan wanted to be done with this as soon as possible and answered in bland and straight to the point sentences. “Well then, it appears Shen-Shixiong is perfectly fine then. Make sure to get lots of rest and not to push yourself too hard.”
“This Shixiong will keep this in mind.” Finally everyone exited the room and Shen Yua- no he was Shen Qingqiu now. Shen Qingqiu was left with his thoughts.
Shen Qingqiu stewed in his thoughts before it finally dawned on him. He was in THE Shen Qingqius body. He was in the scum villain's body. He would face the terrible fate the scum villain did if he didn’t do something about it. How far was he into the story? How much damage has been done…? Had he even taken Luo Binghe as a disciple yet? No, think logically here. Yue Qingyuan said the immortal alliance conference soon meaning he hadn’t pushed Luo Binghe into the abyss yet. But this also means Luo Binghe has already been taken in by Qing Jing…. Well that isn’t any good. So what is he to do about this then? The only option he can possibly take is to cling to the protagonist's thighs! Ah, yes the perfect solution to his problem indeed! If he clings to the protagonist's thighs then he will be seen in good favour and won’t die a terrible and miserable death again! He’s gonna completely ignore that he could take the more normal route of treating the protagonist normally and just getting rid of any ill wills against him and treating him as every other disciple! Why would he do that when there's a protagonist right there to spoil?? Just as he finished his thought process that damn annoying mechanical wanna-be google translate voice rang out again.
[ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴘᴏꜱᴇᴅ ᴘʟᴀɴ ɪꜱ ɪɴᴄʀᴇᴅɪʙʟʏ ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜꜱ ᴀɴᴅ Qᴜᴀʟɪꜰɪᴇꜱ ᴀꜱ ᴀ ᴠɪᴏʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀᴛᴛᴇᴍᴘᴛ. ᴏᴛʜᴇʀᴡɪꜱᴇ, ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ꜰᴏʀᴄᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴜᴛᴏᴍᴀᴛɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ᴅɪꜱʜ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴘᴜɴɪꜱʜᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜꜱᴇʀ.]
Shen Qingqiu felt his eyebrow twitch. “And how is that a violation? Huh?”
[ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴀ ʙᴇɢɪɴɴɪɴɢ ʟᴇᴠᴇʟ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴜɴʟᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴏᴄ ꜰᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ. ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴏᴄ ꜰᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ ɪꜱ ᴜɴꜰʀᴏᴢᴇɴ ᴜꜱᴇʀ ᴡɪʟʟ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴇʀꜰᴏʀᴍ ᴀɴʏ ᴀᴄᴛ ɪɴ ᴠɪᴏʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴏʀɪɢɪɴᴀʟ ꜱʜᴇɴ QɪɴɢQɪᴜ'ꜱ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ. ᴀᴄᴛɪɴɢ ᴏᴏᴄ ᴡɪʟʟ ʀᴇꜱᴜʟᴛ ɪɴ ʟᴏꜱꜱ ᴏꜰ ʙ-ᴘᴏɪɴᴛꜱ ᴏʀ ᴘᴜɴɪꜱʜᴍᴇɴᴛ. ٩(◕‿◕)۶]
So he can’t act out of character huh? Shen Qingqius aggravation was steadily rising. Fine then he won’t. At least straightforwardly. If this is a system then there's a workaround. Every system has a bypass. All Shen Qingqiu has to do is confuse it enough that it won’t read as being out of character or he could of course argue but messing with this annoying system would be funner for him. Besides, how could he just ignore the precious white lotus protagonist? That would simply be criminal. With that sorted out Shen Qingqiu ignored the system as it rambled on about how B-points worked and all the rules.
The next order of business would be for Shen Qingqiu to improve his reputation. In the original novel was known for his frequent visits to brothels, his lecherous ways towards his female disciples, and his terrible relations with his martial siblings. Now if Shen Qingqiu had been any normal reader he wouldn’t have thought twice about OG Shen Qingqius' ways but lucky for him he isn’t. Every villain has its story and the reason behind his actions. There's no way that Shen Qingqiu did all that he did for no reason. Well….actually he wouldn’t put it past Airplanes shitty writing. But the point is he’s going to get to the bottom of everything so he can nub out rumours at the roots! And improve his reputation all while doing it! He truly is a genius.
Just as he finished up his thoughts someone entered his room. He glanced over and was given an introduction by the System. This was the canon fodder Ming Fan. In the original novel he was the head disciple of Shen Qingqiu and held his Shizun above all. He was overly confident and was one of the main bullies of Luo Binghe. Instead of taking his job as a head disciple to help all students he tormented Luo Binghe. In the end he died a horrible death because of it. Really he wasn’t even really that bad looking for a canon fodder. In fact Shen Qingqiu would dare say he’s quite a handsome young man that's waiting to blossom. But moving back to Ming Fan’s problem with bullying. It really is a bad habit that needs to be snubbed out. Ah, that's another thing to add to his mental list of things to do. Help Ming Fan improve as a head disciple and rid him of his hatred for Luo Binghe. Internally Shen Qingqiu sighed to himself. Focus on one thing at a time for now. Little steps can equal big leaps in progress.
“Ming Fan, what can this master do for you?”
“Shizun! This disciple heard you qi deviated! May this disciple inquire how Shizun is feeling?”
“This master is feeling fine, Ming Fan. Where is Luo Bing-....the little beast?” Ming Fan gave a pause at Shen Qingqiu, almost using Luo Binghes actual name. “This disciple has remained vigilant while Shizun was unwell and has made sure the ungrateful brat has remained strung up in the wood shed as requested!” Shen Qingqiu spit up blood internally upon hearing this. His grave really is being dug. It’s okay the situation is still salvageable.
“Bring him to me.” Ming Fan quickly bowed, enthusiastically shouting ‘Yes Shizun!’ before scurrying away to retrieve Luo Binghe.
Shen Qingqiu went to the main room and sat by a study desk as he waited. He observed the house around him as he waited. Compared to popular belief the house wasn't as ornate as the fans believed. Everything seemed simple but elegant with minimum decoration. A few trinkets were scattered about shelves with paintings on the walls. Presumably the original works. Nothing was truly extravagant and it really seemed like a small cottage. Suddenly the doors burst open with Ming Fan pushing a bruised Luo Binghe into the bamboo hut. He forced Luo Binghe to kneel before him as Luo Binghe averted his eyes and looked down at the ground.
Dear lord, this is definitely the protagonist. He seemed to be surrounded by a golden halo as he was pushed into the room. Despite his bruised and battered body Luo Binghe still somehow managed to look good. His curly hair was unruly and untamed barley being held into a ponytail. The sight was truly…pitiful. It almost made Shen Qingqiu want to smother him in affection and spoil him rotten. But no he must not fall to such urges! That would be so incredibly OOC and he wasn’t looking to lose all his B-points.
Ming Fan stood to the side and looked on eagerly as he awaited what his Shizun would do. Shen Qingqiu glared over to Ming Fan and spoke as coldly as he could “Leave us.” Ming Fan obliged and left quickly looking almost giddy. He would really have to fix that soon.
Shen Qingqiu glanced over to Luo Binghe and looked down uninterested. He couldn’t be too OOC or he wouldn’t be able to pull this off. He’s gonna have to execute this meticulously to be able to help Luo Binghe. “Get up.” Luo Binghes head whipped up and stood up wobbly. Throughout this all Luo Binghe kept his eyes trained to the floor. “Begging Shizuns pardon. This disciple has acted out of turn.” The words and way Luo Binghe held himself truly struck a chord in Shen Qingqius heart but he must not be weak. Shen Qingqiu pulled himself together and scoffed. “Look at you. Unsightly of a Qing Jing disciple. You disgrace this master with your appearance.” Ahhhhh, he couldn’t do this. But he must pull through and use his resolve to live! Shen Qingqiu glanced around and spotted a bottle of medicine for external use only. He tossed it flippantly over to Luo Binghe and told him to apply it now. Just as the System was about to send out an OOC warning Shen Qingqiu justified that the original goods would not allow others to believe him to be abusing his disciple nor allow Luo Binghe to disgrace the sect by going out looking like a wild animal.
“Thanking Shizun.” Shen Qingqiu glanced over and spoke again, “Well, what are you waiting for? Do not make this master wait all day. You may not leave until your appearance is entirely acceptable and up to these masters standards.” Luo Binghe hurriedly began to apply the medicine to the visible wounds on his face while still averting his eyes to anywhere but his Shizun. Shen Qingqiu tsk’ed and took the bottle out of Luo Binghes hands and began applying the medicine himself. “Must this master do everything for you? Are you so incompetent that you cannot even apply medicine properly? A shame.” Despite all the vitriol Shen Qingqiu had been spouting to at least keep semi in character so he wouldn’t get another OOC warning Shen Qingqiu truly felt bad for Luo Binghe and just wanted to smother him in a bundle of blankets and give him all the happiness and comfort in the world. Alas to his lament the most he could do at the moment was make biting remarks about Luo Binghe’s appearance while tidying him up. Can’t complain though, he's gotta take what he can get in this situation. “Where else are your injuries? Hurry and show this master so he can patch up your pitiful wounds you whelp.”
A sichen stick(half an hour to 5 minutes but in this case 30 minutes) later Shen Qingqiu finally finished wrestling his disciple into allowing him to dress all his wounds. Luo Binghe already looked better but his hair was truly a problem. No worries Shen Qingqiu could definitely help Luo Binghe wrestle his bird's nest of hair into something presentable……if he knew how to do hair. Okay so he may or may not have a bad history with long hair BUT he could totally at least help wash the hair. He at least knows how to wash curly hair. He’d seen videos on it! He could do this. Definitely…well at least he knew he could wash it.
Just as Luo Binghe was about to slip out of his bamboo hut Shen Qingqiu spoke again. “And where do you think you’re going exactly? Your appearance is still not….presentable. This master definitely remembers saying you may not leave until your appearance is up to this master's expectations.” Shen Qingqiu spoke in a cold indifferent tone praying the System would not foil his plans and the first step in being a better master. “Begging this disciples pardon Shizun.”
“Look at me when you speak to me. Qing Jing disciples should be filled with pride. You squander the name with your appearance and behavior. Follow.” Shen Qingqiu walked out of the main room and into the only other room he's been in so far which was his bedroom. Using logic he could deduct that behind the privacy screen would most likely be a bathing area…hopefully. It’d be embarrassing if he led Luo Binghe all the way to his room for nothing. He didn’t glance back to make sure Luo Binghe was following behind him and walked behind the privacy screen promptly. Luo Binghe remained on the other side of the privacy screen. Shen Qingqiu could see his shadow shifting his weight while waiting. “Are you just gonna stand there uselessly or are you going to follow this master as instructed?” Luo Binghe then scurried behind the screen and continued to stand awkwardly. “This master doesn’t have all day. Come now so we can get a handle on your horrendous hair.” Shen Qingqiu pulled up a stool and handled Luo Binghe by the shoulders into sitting on it. The wooden tub had already been filled with water and been heated as the sect leader suggested he take a bath earlier. Not allowing any time for Luo Binghe to question anything, Shen Qingqiu quickly pinned up his sleeves and then dunk Luo Binghes head into the tub of water. “Soak your hair through.” Wait, does that count towards water boarding?? Did he just kind of water board someone? Noooo. It's fine...probably. Anyways!
Shen Qingqiu looked around and found an array of hair oils and among other things. Okay no problem….he deeeeeeefinetely knew what each one of these were. While Luo Binghe was frantically soaking his hair in the water Shen Qingqiu was picking up and smelling all the bottles hoping one would be shampoo and internally fighting with the system on whether he was OOC or if he should have B-points deducted. Y’know the boring stuff. He's going to fix Luo Binghe up even if it kills him DAMN IT! He finally decided on a random hair oil(?) he doesn’t know what they're called! But it smelt fine enough! “Sit up.” Shen Qingqiu poured some of the oil that's presumably a shampoo thingy and started to work it into Luo Binghes hair. “Shi…Shizun?” Luo Binghe glanced at him with wide eyes. “Hush. This master is teaching you to rally that hair. Remember this well.” Then just barely audible Shen Qingqiu accidentally let a ‘silly child’ slip out. Seems he can’t avoid B-points getting deducted for that one. Oh well….you win some you lose some.
Once Shen Qingqiu finally finished washing all the dirt out of Luo Binghes hair he sat him in front of the vanity and began combing out all the tangles in Luo Binghes hair. Then he grabbed a towel and started to scrunch Luo Binghes hair repeatedly with it being careful to not destroy the curl patterns. Shen Qingqiu had none of the modern day products to help but hopefully the scrunching would help the curls form nicely so it wouldn’t look so atrocious. Shen Qingqiu then picked up the only bottle labeled as ‘hair oil for ends’ and ran it through Luo Binghes hair. Finally he put Luo Binghes hair up in a towel to let it dry. “Come back to this master once your hair is almost completely dry.” With that Shen Qingqiu let Luo Binghe scurry off to the main study from earlier leaving Shen Qingqiu to explore his new home.
He walked out from behind the privacy screen and left his room. He went down the hall and opened the last door on the hall, finding a library of sorts where original Shen Qingqiu presumably did all his work. This will do nicely for now. Shen Qingqiu picked up a book on cultivation and settled down to read for a little while he waited.
The System had informed him earlier that his new body would not retain any previous skills it had and he would have to relearn everything. Meaning that he couldn’t rely on muscle memory for sword forms, cultivation, or playing instruments. Or really anything at all. So his goal would have to be relearning everything as quickly as possible otherwise he would surely be found out. But for now he would have to play the memory loss game. Just have gaps in the memory from his qi deviation. Completely plausible with Airplanes shitty writing.
“Shizun?” Shen Qingqiu glanced up from his book to look at Luo Binghe in the doorway. “This disciples hair is almost dry.” He hummed non-committedly and stood up waving for Luo Binghe to follow. He went back behind the privacy screen and had Luo Binghe to sit down again. He looked around for hair cream while letting Luo Binghe take his hair down from the towel. Once he found it he used it to break apart the curls finally finishing the last part of fixing Luo Binghes hair. Shen Qingqiu left to go grab a copper mirror to show Luo Binghe how lovely his hair looked now. Shen Qingqiu left it unstyled as he was NOT going to try his hand at styling hair but he thinks he did a pretty damn good job.
He almost ALMOST couldn’t hold back his smirk of victory. He handed the bronze mirror over the protagonist and watched as his eyes widened in wonder at how soft his unruly hair looked now. Shen Qingqiu really felt like smiling to himself but he must stay strong! He hasn’t won all the battles with the System so his beginning B-points of 50 have now diminished to 35. But Shen Qingqiu still counts what he got a win so System 0 and Shen Qingqiu 1! 0-1, he’d say he's doing well with confusing the system….somewhat. Okay, so maybe he hasn’t been able to confuse the system but he's won most of the arguments! So a win is a win!
Luo Binghe reached up to touch his hair and then looked over to Shen Qingqiu. “Thank you Shizun!” Shen Qingqiu handed him the hair oil he used and the hair cream and replied, “This master has taught you how to keep your appearance. You best remember it well or you’ll truly show how incompetent you can be. Now hurry and style your hair and get out of my sight.”
Once Luo Binghe finally scurried out of the bamboo house with what seems to be a renewed and better attitude Shen Qingqiu finally let himself relax. He made his way back over to his new bedroom and sat down on the bed as he felt the tension drain away from him and he slumped down. He truly felt exhausted. Man he felt like an old man, an old man who really needed a nap. In fact screw this he’s taking a nap! And if anybody tries to say anything about it he’ll beat them with his fan!