Work Text:
Back at the time Shen Yuan hadn’t realised how he’d managed to get admitted to Qingjing peak of all places. He’d been digging his hole in the ground, not too diligently, just like all the other kids, when he’d suddenly heard master Jin’s call. Although back then Shen Yuan obviously hadn’t known anything about master Jin, he’d simply reacted to his name. With relief at that: he’d been tired of digging, his hands had been aching, his fingers injured, he’d been dizzy from the heat and the scorching sun, and the one thing Shen Yuan had wanted had been to go back home, to his mother’s aged maids, who’d immediately start oohing and aahing, bring “young master” a tent, fans and shaved ice.
It hadn’t been until later that Shen Yuan had recognised the troublesome position he’d found himself in. He hadn’t wanted to join Qingjing peak: he’d rather not interact with the scum villain – the bastard molesting his disciples, the lowlife not above backstabbing people. Shen Yuan would have rather gone to one of the peaks that had been left nameless and forgotten in Airplane’s shitty book: unimportant to the plot, not attracting any attention, they would provide more chances to quietly escape the protagonist’s righteous revenge.
However, for now the scum villain couldn’t be found on Qingjing, and the studies weren’t so hard: Shen Yuan had dabbled in weiqi in his past life, eagerly read cultivation manuals as only an information-starved millenial in a magic school ever could, besides, master Jin had found Shen Yuan talented in painting. Shen Yuan still had trouble playing qin, as well as writing poems, but he didn’t despair, sometimes passing masterpieces of the poets of old he’d learnt in his past life for his own work, which made master Jin and other adepts believe Shen Yuan talented, but lazy. This suited Shen Yuan just fine.
It was going well. Considering that Shen Yuan had reincarnated in the world of “Proud Immortal Demon Way” of all places.
Good thing he still had a long way to go before the important plot points. In order not to forget anything, Shen Yuan wrote down every detail: the plot, the names of secondary characters and macgaffins, the timeline. No one would be able to decipher the mixture of English, pingyin and hiragana anyway – bless Shen Yuan’s parents, who’d been conscripting their son to every language course they could find!
Now Shen Yuan was also sitting next to the Mirror Peace pond, carefully filling out his writing boards. First he needed to remember everything he could, then to organise the information and carefully write it down on a scroll protected by a few additional seals. Alas, a pebble hit Shen Yuan’s shoulder, distracting him from his task. Shen Yuan rubbed his skin and winced.
“Fight me!”
Shen Yuan turned around with an arrogant and disdainful expression, estimated the threat, then relaxed. A child – a few years younger than Shen Yuan’s current body – dressed in Baizhan uniform was standing far enough, shuffling from one foot to another, and didn’t look like a threat at all.
“I’m bad at swordfighting,” Shen Yuan replied peacefully. “Find someone else.”
“Others refuse,” the child muttered. Shen Yuan couldn’t determine their gender: long hair, loose clothing, a pretty face and a high-pitched childish voice.
“Ask your masters then.”
“They’re busy.”
Right, the Immortal Alliance Conference was approaching, and everyone was running around like headless chickens, which had allowed Shen Yuan to sneak away. Well… the child seemed neglected, so they were bothering anyone they could find. Shen Yuan sighed, cursing his soft heart.
“Fine. Bring us training swords… or do you want to use sticks?”
“Sticks.” The child immediately looked around, searching for suitable materials. “Or you’ll run away while I’m getting the swords.”
“I won’t,” Shen Yuan said, barely holding back his laughter. “I like it here.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. Bring the swords.”
The child nodded seriously and ran off. Huh, their basics weren’t bad at all: even breath, light steps, not leaving any footprints on the ground.
The child came back in half an hour, when Shen Yuan was done with his writing and had already started feeling bored. Shen Yuan took a training sword and bowed seriously.
“Asking shidi to take care of this unworthy one.”
Shen Yuan said it half-jokingly, wanting to flatter the tadpole, but quickly realised the child was way better than him at martial arts. Shen Yuan was soundly defeated thrice; he was sporting a lot of new bruises and suppressing an awful suspicion that the child had taken his words at face value and had been holding back during the sparring session. “The others” likely “refused” out of fear of losing, not because they had something better to do.
Good thing Shen Yuan didn’t give a damn about his reputation.
“You’re afraid of pain,” the child said a bit disparagingly. “Trying to evade every blow.”
“Hey, a blow like that can be lethal in a real fight!”
“That’s not it. You’re not even blocking my attacks, because you’re sparing your wrist. Trying to jump away, never attacking… You should harden your body.”
“Oh no, no thank you! I’m a delicate Qingjing flower, my brush and weiqi board are more important to me than my sword!”
“I’ll teach you,” the child promised seriously. “Same time tomorrow.”
Shen Yuan sighed looking at the slim back. What a burden… the tadpole clearly felt neglected if they were willing to waste their time on talentless disciples from other peaks. And Shen Yuan wasn’t heartless enough to wave them off. He’d really have to study.
Sha-shijie, whom Shen Yuan interrogated the same evening, laughed at him.
“That’s little Liu! He’s been at Baizhan since he was eight, bothering everyone who didn’t run away in time. “Fight me” this, “fight me” that… You should’ve said no, now he won’t leave you alone so easily.”
“Are they a boy or a girl?” Shen Yuan asked.
“A boy. There’s a rumour he was almost taken to Xianshu, but fought off.”
What a feisty tadpole… where’d he come from? Although… “little Liu”, huh? Could he be related to the Liu family? Some younger niece’s brother-in-law’s son… Liu Mingyan was considered a peerless beauty, and had relatives to match.
Shen Yuan smirked at his own thoughts, then froze. Why had “little Liu” never been mentioned in the book? Liu Mingyan’s whole family had consisted of her brother, murdered by the scum villain… Had something happened to the tadpole even before the protagonist’s arrival? To this child with baby fat on his cheeks? This kid, who was way too serious for his age?
No, no way. After all, the plot hadn’t started yet, and perhaps it wouldn’t for centuries. Maybe the protagonist’s parents hadn’t even been born yet, and little Liu would live to a hundred years before dying of old age…
Or not of old age.
Heavy-hearted, Shen Yuan decided to watch over the tadpole. Perhaps he’d manage to ward off a disaster.
Just like he’d promised, little Liu was waiting for Shen Yuan at the lake, sword at the ready. Shen Yuan suffered through half an hour of shame, then a lecture, then he walked the tadpole back to Baizhan, delivered him to his teacher and left for the library – to look for manuals that could help harden one’s body. Little Liu wouldn’t leave Shen Yuan alone so easily; it’d be better in the long run to follow his advice and find a way not to fear pain.
Half a year later the sect was abuzz with gossip: Yue Qingyuan, Qiongding peak senior disciple, came back from seclusion and almost immediately found fame and respect fighting Tianlang-jun.
Shen Yuan suddenly realised how little time he had left. He needed to find the protagonist – now, while his adoptive mother was still alive, before he blackened and turned into a bloodthirsty murderer. So Shen Yuan begged master Jin for a permission to “collect folklore” and departed to travel through the towns along the river Luo.
He found Luo Binghe three years later. He had to make a lot of effort to gain the washerwoman’s trust, but later Shen Yuan “accidentally” mentioned her son greatly resembled Shen Yuan’s tragically dead acquaintance, a spitting image… As expected, the washerwoman grew curious, and Shen Yuan advised her to try her luck at Huanhua palace: in the book the old palace master had been Su Xiyan’s teacher, treated Luo Binghe like a son, engaged him to his own daughter, cherished and spoilt him.
The System, the electronic garbage that it was, chose this moment to throw a shitton of notifications at him. Shen Yuan hastily ended the conversation, hid in the nearby empty alleyway and hissed like a cobra.
“The hell do you need?”
[Warning! Warning! The user is significantly influencing the plot! The user’s interference may lead to unpredictable changes…]
“So? You’ve told me I have to fix the book! Which is what I’m doing! How am I supposed to fix it without interference?”
[The plot parameters…] the System began uncertainly. Shen Yuan huffed.
“Change them! After all, it’s nigh impossible to write something decent when limited by the laws of a trashy stallion novel with a Gary Stu protagonist. And let me remind you, it was you who wanted to transform a stupid work into a magnificent, high-quality, first-rate classic. What, are you going to deny that?..”
[Does the user believe that changing the genre will improve the work?]
“You bet! Have you read “Harry Potter”? Imagine, we have this pitiful orphan boy Binghe, and one day he finds out he’s a son of a powerful cultivator, gets admitted to the local Hogwarts, where the headmaster adores him…”
[Acceptable,] the System said disinterestedly. [The subsequent changes will be the user’s responsibility.]
Shen Yuan waved it off. The money he’d given to the washerwoman should be enough for a few years of decent life – Shen Yuan had been right to rob a hidden treasury which the original Luo Binghe had conquered with wifey number 63. Shen Yuan merely hoped that in the future the protagonist would not harbour a grudge against him – after all, the money still found its rightful owner, only a bit earlier than expected!
When Shen Yuan returned, he found out there were quite a few surprises waiting for him, not all of them pleasant.
First of all, little Liu had turned from a pretty child into a criminally gorgeous youth, and had earned himself a new name – Liu Qingge. However, little Liu hadn’t lost the habit of dragging Shen Yuan to sparrings, so Shen Yuan spent a few days hiding from his personal headache in dark corners and trying to fix his broken heart. This was the Baizhan War God?! A twink that Shen Yuan had almost mistaken for a girl? You’ve got to be shitting me! Hey, Airplane, I want my money back!
Second of all, Yue Qingyuan had brought a new disciple to the twelve peaks – Shen Jiu. And master Jin had already named Shen Jiu his successor. While Shen Jiu had already quarrelled with practically everyone unlucky enough to exchange a few words with him.
Shen Yuan cursed everything while running up and down the Rainbow Bridge, convincing his Baizhan acquaintances not to break the Qingjing peak gates and not to pick on every adept wearing teal-coloured uniform. Good thing the Baizhan crowd knew Shen Yuan well and liked him enough – for willingly putting up with Liu Qingge’s company, freeing others from the unpleasant duty to lose in sparrings and listen to unwanted advice. The looks were one thing, but Liu Qingge’s temper wasn’t nice by any means, and sometimes he could say something completely inappropriate while genuinely believing he’d done nothing wrong. If it were Shen Yuan, he’d be long dead of embarrassment, but Liu Qingge didn’t seem to care.
The staggered relationship between Baizhan and Qingjing had just begun to improve when the scum villain struck again: first he attacked Liu Qingge after a sparring, then started picking up fights with him at every corner. The Baizhan adepts stood up for their future peak lord, so now Shen Jiu only left Qingjing very carefully, either accompanied by someone, or sneaking out in secret. It did nothing to improve his disposition. Some older disciples tried to say that Shen Jiu was hiding a kind heart behind his sharp tongue, but Shen Yuan didn’t believe this rubbish. And no one did, except for a few over-enthusiastic maidens seduced by the villain’s decent looks.
Shen Yuan honestly wanted to sit this one out. To finish his studies properly, to live to the peak lord generation change, then leave to become a wandering cultivator, because he didn’t feel like sharing a peak with the scum villain… but Shen Jiu loudly and publicly threatened to kill Liu Qingge every chance he got, and then Liu Qingge secretly told Shen Yuan that Shen Jiu had already tried – when they had both been sent to the same mission.
Shen Yuan had to act. Liu Qingge was no longer a stranger, so Shen Yuan couldn’t let him die off-screen from the scum villain’s hand.
Finding a suitable occasion wasn’t hard: Shen Jiu knew full well Shen Yuan was friends with Liu Qingge, so he kept bothering him over nothing. Normally Shen Yuan turned everything into a joke, unwilling to start a fight, but this time he chose a different way.
“Does Shen-shidi think the quality of my work is too low?”
Shen Jiu’s face blackened from anger: he’d come to Qingjing later than Shen Yuan, and each reminder of that fact cut him like a knife.
“Shen-shidi believes shixiong should’ve chosen another cultivation area. Or a different peak: shixiong clearly has no penchant for arts.”
“Very well.” Shen Yuan straightened his back and looked Shen Jiu in the eyes. “Why doesn’t shidi back it up? I challenge shidi to determine once and for all who is better at arts.”
Of course, Shen Jiu couldn’t just refuse a public challenge: he always reacted badly to any hint at his lack of abilities. The “duel” was scheduled for the next morning; somehow the rumour spread over all twelve peaks in record time, so a lot of fellow disciples, Liu Qingge included, visited Shen Yuan to wish him luck.
Poetry wasn’t a problem: Shen Yuan had the classics at his disposal, so choosing something suitable for the conditions set was easy. He was soundly defeated at weiqi… or rather, defeated according to the modern rules Shen Yuan was used to; he won according to the old rules, even if only by half a moku. To be honest, Shen Jiu was better than Shen Yuan at playing qin, but master Jin, who was judging their duel, told them to play a tune written by them – and Shen Yuan had been long practicing to play modern songs, drama themes and other rubbish on available instruments. Shen Yuan also cheated in painting: naturally, the realism hadn’t been invented in xianxia yet. Yes, there was a risk that master Jin wouldn’t appreciate such novelty, but Shen Jiu was better at the classical painting style, and Shen Yuan knew it. Thankfully, the portrait of Liu Qingge meditating in a willow’s shadow created an uproar – so much so that master Jin immediately took it for his personal collection.
Naturally, Shen Yuan won the sparring: his practice with Liu Qingge hadn’t gone in vain. Besides, Shen Yuan, taught by the experience of his predecessors, had determined all the possible rules and loopholes in advance. He wouldn’t wish to lose vigilance and be shanked by a hidden knife – Shen Jiu had already done it a few times, innocently claiming there had been no direct rule against a second weapon. Shen Yuan also knew Shen Jiu’s knives were always poisoned: he still remembered Ji Jue’s arm swelling and festering after one scratch, remembered Ji Jue’s friends carrying him to Qiancao while Liu Qingge, beautiful in his righteous anger, had rushed off to “teach the viper a lesson”.
All that remained was calligraphy, but losing one challenge out of many wasn’t a problem. Although Shen Yuan got lucky here as well: after a streak of losses Shen Jiu was on edge, his hands shaking from the nerves, and he couldn’t reach his usual impeccable level. Having listened to master Jin’s judgement, Shen Jiu straightened his back, as if having a stick up his arse, congratulated Shen Yuan through clenched teeth and turned around, clearly intending to leave as quickly as he could.
“Wait a bit,” master Jin called out. “Is such a loss worthy of the first disciple?”
“No, shizun,” Shen Jiu replied woodenly.
“I think so too. From this moment forth, Shen Yuan becomes the Qingjing peak first disciple.”
If looks could kill, Shen Yuan’s corpse would be lying on the grass. However, Shen Jiu could do nothing in the presence of his teacher and a crowd of onlookers. Although Shen Yuan noted to himself he’d have to be cautious, never go anywhere on his own and constantly wait for surprises.
Well. A worthy retribution for his cheating, but Shen Yuan couldn’t regret his decision. The position of a peak lord would grant him enough power to protect Liu Qingge from a mere adept.
Shen Yuan left the sect a few more times, just in case – allegedly to “improve his relationship with other peaks”, in reality – to ransack a few more treasuries and to boldly borrow some useful trinkets. Mu Qingfang promised to stay silent in exchange for a supply of rare medicinal herbs, Wei Qingwei grabbed an ancient and, in Shen Yuan’s opinion, a rather plain sword with a glint of admiration in his eyes, and Liu Qingge didn’t even have to be bribed, he wasn’t talkative in the first place. Shen Yuan comforted himself with the idea that the stolen treasures hadn’t played a significant role in the book, and besides, Shen Yuan was saving the protagonist’s future brother-in-law! A talisman of equilibrium, revealing enemies’ hidden plans, was hanging off Liu Qingge’s belt, a necklace made of a blue-eyed phoenix’s congealed blood, capable of reviving its owner once and healing all wounds before breaking to pieces, was hidden under Liu Qingge’s clothes, and in the end Shen Yuan made Liu Qingge eat a pill made of a lanceolar root extract, reliably protecting him from any qi deviations.
Liu Qingge took it as a strange challenge and started bringing Shen Yuan corpses of monsters he’d killed. Shen Yuan wasn’t complaining: he was delightedly examining the teeth and claws, drawing the monsters in a special book, writing down everything he could drag out of Liu Qingge regarding the beasts’ habits and ways of attack, then sending the corpses to Zuixian or Qiancao to be stripped for spare parts and ingredients. After Shen Yuan’s slip of the tongue Mu Qingfang had grown very interested in the possibility of transplanting animal organs to human bodies and was now secretly experimenting – not on humans, of course.
In a few years Shen Yuan’s album turned into a full-blown bestiary, which Shen Yuan gave to master Jin as a gift. Master Jin responded by patting Shen Yuan’s head and telling him he was relieved to leave the peak in such capable hands.
Of course, Shen Yuan didn’t say someone else could do better: he needed the position, so much so that Shen Yuan had resorted to cheating to steal it from under the scum villain’s nose. It’d be stupid to refuse out of fake modesty. Especially since Shen Jiu wasn’t sitting idle and had tried to recover what he’d lost more than once; Shen Yuan’s only saving grace was his good relationship with other people. A shixiong secretly telling him Shen Jiu had recently borrowed this or that book from the library, a shimei overhearing a conversation between Shen Jiu and a herbalist from Qiancao, a shidi claiming he’d spent last evening meditating with Shen Yuan, so Shen Yuan couldn’t have been peeping at Xianshu maidens at the time, those were dirty lies… The part about dirty lies wasn’t wrong, Shen Yuan tried to steer as far away from the beautiful flowers as he could, but he didn’t have any alibi, because he’d been actually wandering around looking for inspiration. But Shen Jiu had been openly visiting brothels in a nearby town, to which there were numerous witnesses: both the guards and the guys from Baizhan accidentally passing by. Master Jin listened to it all, sighed in annoyance, demanded to spare him the worldly affairs and looked at Shen Jiu with increasing aggravation.
Finally the Ji generation ascended, the Qin generation replaced them, and Shen Yuan – now Shen Qingqiu – was relieved to send the scum villain to Qiongding. The peak had something akin to an IA department: if someone from Cangqiong was accused of something unseemly, Qiongding adepts came to air the dirty laundry. This did nothing to endear them to others, but it wasn’t like Shen Jiu was popular in any case, so there were likely no significant changes there.
Now that Shen Yuan had become a full-fledged peak lord, he had more time on his hands. For a start he went to visit Luo Binghe and his mother; regretfully, he found out that the washerwoman had died of an incurable disease a year ago – the protagonist’s rotten luck! if the poor woman hadn’t adopted the hero, she could’ve survived! – and Luo Binghe had vanished after that.
Well. If Luo Binghe came to Cangqiong to try out his luck, Shen Yuan would take him under his wing and protect from anything. And if his mother had had the presence of mind to send the protagonist to Huanhua before her death, it’d be even better.
Luo Binghe had never come to Cangqiong, although Shen Yuan diligently visited every selection ceremony, spending whole days there regardless of the weather. Oddly enough, Liu Qingge kept him company every time, although according to the tradition disciples came to Baizhan on their own. The first few years Liu Qingge refused to accept anyone at all, but Shen Yuan found him one talented child, then another one, and now a covey of boys and girls, too serious for their age, was following Liu Qingge around, watching him with shining eyes. Shen Yuan teased Liu Qingge, calling him a mother-duck with ducklings, Liu Qingge blushed to the roots of his hair, yelled at his tadpoles and chased them away to train, but stubbornly brought Shen Yuan monster corpses and pretty trinkets.
Finally the day that Shen Yuan had been waiting for with baited breath arrived: the Immortal Alliance Conference. In the book this had been the start of Luo Binghe’s journey to fame and glory, and Shen Yuan was eager to see the protagonist in action. Luo Binghe had to appear, he just had to.
And so he did – surrounded by other Huanhua palace disciples. People around them were eagerly gossiping about “the maiden Su’s son”, “the old palace master’s favourite disciple” and “the young hero who’d achieved many feats”. Shen Yuan was eavesdropping, using his increased hearing of a cultivator, maidens were giggling, making eyes at Luo Binghe, but he seemed not to notice, smiling at his bride – the Huanhua palace young mistress.
Oh well. Not the wifey Shen Yuan would’ve picked, but still better than useless dead weight like sisters Qin.
The attack on Juedi Gorge still happened, but the scale of it wasn’t as grand as in Shen Yuan’s memories. Almost all adult cultivators present rushed to save their young disciples, the old palace master leading them. Shen Yuan found such fatherly affection terribly endearing. Not that Luo Binghe was threatened by anything worse than unplanned sex: this time Shen Jiu hadn’t come to the Conference, citing other business.
To put it briefly, Shen Yuan was awfully proud of his foresight and successful attempts to fix the plot. His joy lasted up until the moment when three Zhaohua monks dragged the tied Luo Binghe to the viewing platform. The mark on the protagonist’s forehead was glowing so brightly a few cultivators reflexively threw talismans at it before they realised what was going on.
“Ungrateful beast!” the old Huanhua palace master was following them, cursing Luo Binghe. “I took you into my palace out of mercy, gave you everything you could wish for, engaged you to my daughter, made you my heir, and you!.. Behind my back!.. Truly, nothing good can grow out of a bastard! Pity your mother didn’t listen when I told you to get rid of you!”
Wait, what?.. Shen Yuan blinked in utter bafflement: this information hadn’t been in the book, he was certain of it! So what, the old palace master wasn’t a loving mentor to Luo Binghe? How could it be?!
Luo Binghe was shivering and biting his lips, but stayed silent, his gaze stubbornly lowered. Seeing no resistance, the old palace master kept yelling.
“Give the beast to me! Huanhua palace knows how to treat demons! He won’t leave the Water Prison until he confesses his crimes!”
“Wait,” Shen Yuan interfered. “Is it certain that this young man is somehow involved in today’s attack?”
“Master Shen is too interested in fine arts and detached from the world, just like his teacher was,” the old palace master said with a sneer. “Our youth is attacked by demons, one of my trusted disciples turns out to be a demon… do you truly believe it to be a coincidence?”
Shen Yuan didn’t believe it, he knew for sure! His indignation gave him the energy to find the arguments.
“Your disciple risked his life by going to the Gorge. He could’ve died alongside the others. Besides, are Huanhua Palace disciples involved in organising the Conference? Perhaps they help you find suitable monsters as well?”
The old Huanhua palace master paused. Shen Yuan was willing to bet Huanhua palace disciples had known in advance which dangers they’d have to face, but the palace master clearly would be reluctant to admit such cheating out loud, and in public to boot.
“The bastard must have somehow gained trust of our senior adepts and abused the kindness of their hearts to…”
“Are Huanhua palace secrets so poorly guarded even a green disciple can reach them?”
Luo Binghe glanced at Shen Yuan for a moment – his eyes shining with unshed tears and fearful hope. However, he immediately averted his gaze. Shen Yuan tried to keep his poker face: he felt nothing but pity for the boy.
“Master Shen…” the Huanhua palace master began, but Shen Yuan boldly interrupted.
“If the young man is involved in this terrible attack, he doubtlessly deserves the worst punishment. However, what if it is a coincidence? If the young man had no idea about his nature? I think it has to be investigated… and I’m ready to do it myself.”
Shen Yuan knew nothing about investigations, but in the world of “Proud Immortal Demon Way” secondary characters’ IQ was close to zero, the schemes were child’s play, and Shen Yuan hoped that a few detective stories he’d read when he’d been younger would help him deal with the task.
Zhaohua monks joined the conversation, with master Wu Chen supporting Shen Yuan and offering to take Luo Binghe to the temple until the circumstances were clarified, which Shen Yuan happily agreed to. The old palace master ground his teeth, but had no good reason to refuse.
Thankfully, the investigation didn’t take long: Shen Yuan knew the culprit’s name, he just needed proof. Surprisingly, the IA department, where Shen Jiu was working now, helped a great deal. Of course, Shen Yuan hadn’t addressed the scum villain directly, he’d gone to Yue Qingyuan, who’d given out the orders. Shen Yuan thought this case made Shen Jiu frequent the sect leader too much: they were often seen exiting the inner chambers on Qiongding peak or sitting over some documents, their heads close… still, it had nothing to do with Shen Yuan. He’d finished his task.
All he needed to do was talk to Luo Binghe and “make sure of his innocence”, which led Shen Yuan to Zhaohua temple. Not just him, as it turned out: the old Huanhua palace master had “visited the youth a lot”, as Shen Yuan learnt from the monk showing him the way. Shen Yuan didn’t feel like interrogating Luo Binghe in the old palace master’s presence, – what if the boy said something about him studying under Mengmo? – but still went to the cell, hoping to eavesdrop on the conversation between the protagonist and his former teacher.
Look, Shen Yuan had his weaknesses, ok? He hadn’t wasted his time and money on Airplane’s shitty book for no reason! And he wouldn’t let pass up a chance to discover new lore!
The monk showing the way stopped at the next turn, suggesting that the guest might proceed on his own. Shen Yuan didn’t argue and tiptoed down the hall. The walls here were thick, the sound didn’t really travel far, so he had to get close to the door.
Then Shen Yuan almost felt sick.
“You look so much like your mother… She rejected me as well, though she could’ve led a happy life… but no, she ran off with your father, the damn whore… don’t be so stubborn, I’ll do everything, then get you out of here…”
Shen Yuan didn’t remember breaking the cell door or dragging the old palace master outside – not even letting him pull up his pants or cover his limp dick, – yelling at him, accusing him of all possible crimes. Master Wu Chen told Shen Yuan about it later, pouring him hot tea and bemoaning the moral decadence that the “lofty immortal master” hadn’t been ready for. The only thing Shen Yuan remembered was Luo Binghe’s gaze – eyes shining with tears and the mark glowing on the boy’s forehead.
Shen Yuan got back to Cangqiong in a carriage, giving himself time to calm down. It didn’t help: he returned just in time for a peak lord meeting and couldn’t hold back from retelling everything he’d seen and heard in great detail. Yue Qingyuan got agitated for some reason, told the others to leave, spent half an hour interrogating Shen Yuan, then flew to Zhaohua accompanied by Shen Jiu. Shen Yuan was hiding at his peak – for two days. Then Liu Qingge came back from hunting and dragged him to spar. Strangely enough, it helped: Shen Yuan was so tired after their practice session he plopped on his pillow and fell into a dreamless slumber.
Soon Cangqiong became abuzz, discussing the news: Shang Qinghua turned out to be a traitor and ran off to demonic lands, the old palace master was imprisoned in Zhaohua temple, waiting for a trial, the slandered Tianlang-jun was soon to be released from under the Bailu mountain… No one paid much attention to Luo Binghe in all this turmoil, although Shen Yuan found out the boy had been freed from imprisonment.
The protagonist resurfaced two months later: he came to Cangqiong base and spent half a day kneeling until a guard felt some pity and reported to higher-ups. Apparently, Luo Binghe wished to talk to his “savior”. Having heard that, Shen Yuan broke into cold sweat and rushed to the stairway as fast as he could: what if the protagonist met the scum villain? What if he got mad over being forced to wait? It’d be a pity to lose everything Shen Yuan had achieved.
Shen Yuan’s appearance made Luo Binghe beam and press his forehead to the ground.
“Immortal master Shen! This disciple is immensely grateful to you for the rescue! You’ve stood up for me twice..."
"I did what I had to.” Shen Yuan hastily grabbed Luo Binghe by the shoulder, pulling him up. “No need to exaggerate.”
“But this disciple isn’t exaggerating,” Luo Binghe said guilelessly. “My own master treated me so despicably… and you helped me, although I’m nothing to you.”
Shen Yuan broke into cold sweat again. He prayed for Luo Binghe to never learn who had pointed him towards Huanhua palace. Oh, the boy’s luck was rotten indeed, for him to end up as the protagonist of Airplane’s shitty talentless book! He’d barely escaped one scum teacher only to end up under another.
“This world has more kind people than villains,” Shen Yuan said pompously, praying for the protagonist to believe him. “Luo Binghe was just unlucky.”
“This disciple understands. This disciple…” Luo Binghe paused. “When master Shen saved this disciple… I’ll never forget this moment. You were so… so… This disciple is ready to do anything to pay back his debt!”
“No need!” Shen Yuan jumped to his feet and waved his arms, almost losing his balance. Liu Qingge, whose approach Shen Yuan hadn’t noticed, put his hand on Shen Yuan’s waist and pulled him close; Shen Yuan nodded in response. “No debts! I only hope that Luo Binghe will become a decent person and help people in need just like he was helped in time of trouble.”
Luo Binghe’s gaze dwelled on Liu Qingge and on the palm on Shen Yuan’s waist. Then Luo Binghe’s face darkened, and he nodded.
“This disciple understands. This disciple will follow master Shen’s footsteps.”
“Young Luo Binghe lost his mother early, but his father is still alive. Perhaps Luo Binghe will be able to find a family after all,” Shen Yuan concluded and hastily left. Liu Qingge offered to take him to the bamboo house on Chengluan, which Shen Yuan happily agreed to: he felt too lazy to walk to the peak.
The System suddenly flooded him with notifications in the middle of the way.
[Achievement unlocked: A new plotline explored!]
[Achievement unlocked: The protagonist’s character became more nuanced!]
[Achievement unlocked: The scum villain now has a motivation!]
[Achievement unlocked: the first novel of the series “Luo Binghe, the Demon Prince” is on the website’s list of top ten most popular novels!]
[Congratulations to the user for finishing the assignment!]
[The user may check the amount of points accrued in a separate window]
Wait a minute! What “Demon Prince”?! What prince, System, diagnose yourself!
[The plot proceeded in accordance with the user’s request, the System is not responsible for the changes,] the electronic garbage replied disinterestedly.
No way, how was it possible?! Shen Yuan wished for “Harry Potter” xianxia-style, not this! He had a brief thought that Airplane’s shitty work was impossible to turn into a decent book, which strangely comforted him. He’d done all he could: protected Liu Qingge, saved the protagonist from blackening, saved Cangqiong. As for the genre of Airplane’s trash writing… who gave a damn?
Liu Qingge let Shen Yuan step off his sword in front of the bamboo house and hesitated. Shen Yuan hid a surprised smile behind his sleeve: if memory served him right, there had only been two or three occasions in all the time of their acquaintance when Liu Qingge had been at a loss for words.
“I’m going to the Lingxi Caves soon. To meditate,” Liu Qingge finally said. Shen Yuan knew nothing bad could happen now, but still got worried. What if the plot found a way to return to its original direction? “Will you come with me? To cultivate together…”
Shen Yuan beamed. Yes, it was a solution to all problems! The scum villain would definitely be too cautious to do anything in Shen Yuan’s presence, even if they ended up in the caves at the same time.
“I’ll be happy to cultivate with shidi. Don’t hesitate to come to me anytime, whenever you need help… come to think of it, shixiong suggests we only go to the Lingxi Caves together from now on.”
Liu Qingge suddenly laughed in joy and embraced Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan froze, awkwardly patting his shidi’d back. His heart was beating like crazy, and Shen Yuan had no idea why: either from being touched, or from Liu Qingge’s ethereal beauty. His sincere smile looked divine.
Shen Yuan had no idea what made his perpetual frowner of a shidi so happy, but he wasn’t complaining. Liu Qingge should smile more, and if Shen Yuan had to cultivate together to make him do so, that was an incredibly low price to pay.