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List of required items for Qing Jing Peak for delivery within five days as follows:

-Fifteen hammocks

-Everburning firewood to last one night with low embers

-High quality paper and twine for making kites

-Self-tying rope

-Plain lanterns with boats and bright inks

-One packhorse

-fifteen bushels of mallows of the marsh

-One book of stories intended to spark fear in children

Shang Qinghua stares at the list Ming Fan just delivered to him. He blinks and stares at it again.

What the fuck?

He sets the paper down, stares out the window and flips it over again thinking there’s no way in hell Shen Qingqiu just requested these items. They look like they’re fit for a summer camp, not the refined tastes of Shen Qingqiu. The Shen Qingqiu he knows would never, ever request such items.

Ever since his qi deviation ten months ago, Shang Qinghua does not understand what the hell is happening to the scum villain. Basically everything about him has changed and none of it makes sense. Including this list.

Shang Qinghua presses his hands to his temples staring at the list of demands before inhaling a long, deep groan and dipping his brush in ink to write a reply.

Liu Qingge has been back on Bai Zhan Peak for all of three days. He has been returning more often to help Shen Qingqiu with his without a cure. The longest he’s been gone is a total of twelve days in the past ten months, but then he had missed clearing Shen Qingqiu’s spiritual veins and he had a flare up rendering him without his spiritual power. Sect Leader Yue had to help him clear it and Liu Qingge couldn’t help but feel strange about the idea of someone else helping him with it. So now he returns more often and stays longer.

Cheng Luan clashes with a disciple’s sword. All it takes is a shove to push the young man off balance, and a kick to him chest sends him falling backwards with a cry. Liu Qingge doesn’t give him the light of day unimpressed with his attempt and turns to the next fighter already running at him with a scream. Their swords meet with a clang. This disciple at least has more force than the last one. Her spiritual energy is strong enough to make Liu Qingge take notice before slamming her to the ground with his blade against her throat and hand over her stomach keeping her pinned.

Someone claps.

Liu Qingge looks around.

Shen Qingqiu stands a short ways away softly clapping. There’s a small smile lighting his face. The sun breaks through the clouds to cast a warm glow around him.

Immediately Liu Qingge jumps up and brushes himself off. Seeing him done with his fight, Shen Qingqiu approaches. 

“I didn’t mean to disrupt Liu-shidi training Bai Zhan’s disciples,” he says warmly, reaching out to brush dirt off Liu Qingge’s shoulder. 

“You didn’t,” Liu Qingge assures before the sentence is even out of Shen Qingqiu’s mouth, only making his smile grow.

Something in Liu Qingge’s chest lurches. He asks, “Is something wrong, Shen-shixiong?”

“No,” Shen Qingqiu says quelling his fears of the without a cure striking twice within three days. Even so, there’s a clear continuation to his thought, so Liu Qingge waits. 

Sure enough, Shen Qingqiu tosses a piece of hair behind his shoulder and says, “I was actually thinking, there’s something I asked Shang-shidi for but he said it wouldn’t be possible to acquire in the timeframe that I need it. But I don’t want to do without, and if Liu-shidi has time-”

“I do.”

“You don’t even know what it is yet,” Shen Qingqui says. He snaps his fan open and hides behind it, although it’s easy to see his smile.

“Doesn’t matter. I have time.”

“I can always count on you, Liu-shidi,” Shen Qingqiu says. He looks around at the training field and says, “Should we leave this evening? I have a few things I need to attend to before going.”

“Mn.”

“Excellent,” Shen Qingqiu announces. He drops the fan and Liu Qingge’s heart picks up seeing the real smile this time. “I’ll come back this evening. It should only be a two day trip.”

Shen Qingqiu turns and leaves. He walks with his hands tucked behind his back and  long green robes flowing behind him. Liu Qingge tries to memorize the image because he both wants to see it again and never wants to see Shen Qingqiu walk away again.

As it turns out, as Shen Qingqiu explains while they fly far to the south, what he needs is the blossoms picked off of the mallows of the marsh.

“They’re very strange,” Shen Qingqiu continues his long explanation of the plants growing in the marshlands they head towards. “I don’t think I can properly explain their taste. Have you had one before?”

“No.”

“Ah, well if we find any you’ll have to try them. They’re sweet. And some people spear them through on sticks to cook them. That’s what I want to do with my disciples. I’ll have to invite you too.”

“Mn.”

“And they have a particular consistency. They’re not like flowers at all. It’s irrational actually that they’re considered flowers here, when really they’re more like a candy.”

“Do you like plants that taste like candies?”

Shen Qingqiu contemplates. “Some of them. But given how many cause unpleasant urges it’s best to avoid them unless you know for certain. Better to stick to real candies made in a kitchen.”

“Okay.”

“Why?”

“No reason.”

Shen Qingqiu peers at him from the corner of his eye. The wind blows past them both sending his hair whipping around. Liu Qingge’s ponytail is much more manageable. But Shen Qingqiu merely pulls his hair into a ponytail and holds it. He asks, “Were you thinking of finding some naturally growing candies to bring back for your disciples to try, Liu-shidi?”

“No.”

“I can show you more, if you wanted to. I’m sure your disciples would love to taste sweets from your travels.”

Liu Qingge hesitates before saying, “If you’d like to teach me.”

“Ah, we exchange so much knowledge. You don’t need to make it sound like it’s a hassle you’re supposed to refuse. I’d actually quite enjoy it. Not many people want to learn about rare plants.”

“I’d…like to.”

Shen Qingqiu beams at him.

They stay in an inn sharing a room. Shen Qingqiu sleeps in the bigger bed while Liu Qingge abandons his smaller one to sit in the windowsill, one leg hanging out the window. He stares up at the moon then back down at Shen Qingqiu sleeping.  He doesn’t understand what Shen Qingqiu wants these mallows of the marsh for, but no matter the battle to acquire them he’ll get all that Shen Qingqiu needs and more.

Shen Qingqiu has a plan and it’s all coming together.

It arose when he realized that if he really wants to make sure Luo Binghe doesn’t rip him limb from limb, he needs to put some real effort into making him care for his shizun. And more than that, if he wants to spare some of his disciples from becoming cannon fodder, he needs to put effort into making sure Luo Binghe trusts them and bonds with them. 

After all that Luo Binghe’s been through, trust will be hard to nurture and grow, so clearly a little help is needed.

And what better way to build trust than a few trust exercises. And where else to hold trust exercises than at a summer camp. Sure, everyone already lives here and work together every day, but he can make it new and exciting for his disciples by taking them to the back woods of the peak and setting up a camp. 

Just a few of them. Just the ones that need to get along with Luo Binghe.

Ning Yingying, of course. 

And Ming Fan. He doesn’t want Ming Fan to die according to his fate if he can help it.

Ming Fan’s friends who also tormented Luo Binghe could probably use some help too.

And a few other girls that Shen Qingqiu thinks would have made good wives for Luo Binghe if not for the fact they died too early in this disaster or that attack. 

Fourteen disciples total, including Luo Binghe. Fifteen including himself.

He now has a qiankun pouch filled with the entirely uncreatively named marshmallows. There are many more than he was expecting. He knew the marsh was filled with spiny toads and needle-expelling pines, but he didn’t expect Liu Qingge to go above and beyond to gather bushel after bushel of the plants the marshmallows grow on for him until his arms were too full to hold anymore and he almost had to beg Liu Qingge that it was enough. 

He really is too spoiled. And with that his disciples will be too.

He’s in quite the good mood walking back up to Qing Jing Peak. Tomorrow An Ding Peak will deliver the other supplies he ordered and everything will be ready for their day. Even the system seems pleased with him as a pop-up for three new B-points appears before his vision. He has to blink it away, and when he opens his eyes there’s Luo Binghe jogging down the path towards him.

Shen Qingqiu keeps his pace. He draws from his pouch a marshmallow and folds it in his fist to surprise Binghe with as the boy speeds up down the hill, accelerating from a jog to a run.

“I have something for you,” Shen Qingqiu says when Luo Binghe is close enough. Luo Binghe’s entire being brightens and he somehow speeds up to run even faster towards him.

Shen Qingqiu holds out his closed hand with the marshmallow, eagerness and excitement building in him. He doesn’t know when Luo Binghe’s supposed to first eat one, just that he already knows about them when he and a wife are caught in the marshes and they find the sweet treat. 

Luo Binghe’s toe catches on a small rock and his heel slips a few paces away from Shen Qingqiu. Without warning he goes tumbling with a scream towards him, his arms flailing and face red with fright. Immediately Shen Qingqiu’s stomach drops. He abandons the marshmallow to catch Luo Binghe, who slams into his chest hard enough to make him stumble back with some of the air knocked from his lungs.

“Sorry!” Luo Binghe says still pressed against him. “Sorry, Shizun.”

“Silly,” Shen Qingqiu says petting the top of his curly head. “Be more careful. Cultivators are meant to be graceful and powerful, not tripping over their own shoes.”

Luo Binghe pulls back looking abashed. Shen Qingqiu sighs at how pink and embarrassed he looks and decides not to reprimand him further. He’s trying to build his trust, not break it down. Instead of saying anything more of his fall,  he pushes back Luo Binghe’s bangs so they frame his face instead of catching in his long lashes and brushes off his shoulders affectionately. 

“This shizun has something for you to try,” Shen Qingqiu says with a reserved smile.

Luo Binghe gasps a small Oh sound.

“Mn. Close your eyes.”

Luo Binghe squeezes his eyes closed so tightly his whole face scrunches. Clearly he fully trusts his shizun already, which makes Shen Qingqiu’s life so much easier. He'll have to focus on building trust between Binghe and his peers.

“Open your mouth. Wide.”

Luo Binghe opens his mouth and sticks his tongue out.

From his pouch Shen Qingqiu pulls out another marshmallow. A smaller one, although still large. He deftly sets it on Luo Binghe’s tongue.

“Okay, go ahead and chew.”

Luo Binghe chews. He keeps his eyes clenched shut having not yet been told to open them. It’s still a big mouthful despite picking a smaller one and he has to chew large, dramatic bites. But a big smile grows over his face as he chews and swallows the marshmallow.

As soon as he swallows Shen Qingqiu says, “Okay. You can open your eyes now. What’d you think?”

“It was really good!” Luo Binghe says looking around to see what it was. “What was it?”

“Mn. I thought you’d like it,” Shen Qingqiu can’t help but feel pleased with himself even though he has the cheat codes to Luo Binghe’s preferences. “It’s called a mallow of the marsh. It only grows on bushes in the Shimmering Winds Marsh to the south of us. Not many people know about it, so it’ll be our little secret to keep them safe in case you might find yourself stuck there one day and need something to eat.”

Luo Binghe stares at Shen Qingqiu with wide eyes. 

“Our little secret for us to share?”

Shen Qingqiu nods and pats Luo Binghe’s head. “Come on then, Shizun needs to clean up. I’ve traveled long and far to get these for you. I have something great planned.” 

Shizun is being secretive and Luo Binghe doesn't like it. 

Or rather, he doesn't like it because he's being excluded. If Shizun was being secretive and including him, he would delight in it.  Instead, his shizun only told him to be good and left without telling him what he was doing. And when he asked to come too he was just told it'd be too dangerous.

It's entirely unfair. 

And now, to make matters so much worse, Shen Qingqiu is still being secretive. And it seems he's just being secretive towards Luo Binghe as a delivery from An Ding Peak arrives and Luo Binghe hurries to help take inventory, but Shen Qingqiu grabs him by the collar.

“I'm actually going to let Xue Yutong help me with this. Take a break. Go play.”

“But!” Luo Binghe stammers staring at his shixiong approaching the large packhorse the An Ding Peak disciple leads. “This disciple can help shizun!”

“Don't worry about Shizun’s workload. I have plenty of other disciples to help me today. Go find Ning Yingying and play.”

Luo Binghe very much does not want to play but he doesn't want to ignore such direct instructions either. His chest feels like he's being ripped in two directions and all he can do is stand in front of his shizun is utter distress at being sent away. 

Shen Qingqiu seems to read the distress on his face and pats his head.

“I've been away for a few days now. What if you and I share dinner tonight in the bamboo house instead of dining halls. If you don't want to play, you can practice your cooking skills.”

“Shizun will still eat with me?”

A flicker of confusion passes over the calmness of Shen Qingqiu. He asks, “Why would you think I don't want to share my meals with you?”

Luo Binghe balls his fists by his sides and takes a deep breath. “Because you keep spending time with other people and not with me.”

Shen Qingqiu tilts his head. He has to slowly blink as a strand of hair falls into his eye before brushing it away. 

“This shizun is preparing a surprise for you. I just don't want it ruined.”

Oh.

Luo Binghe’s heart unclenches. He still hates that Shen Qingqiu is focusing on others, but at least there's an explanation for it. He gives a brave nod of understanding and Shen Qingqiu smiles making his heart leap into his throat. Shen Qingqiu turns to look out at the green slopes of his peak.

Some disciples fight in training with a serious determination. Others sit along the ponds or on raised platforms practicing calligraphy or music. One pair of girls dance together laughing. Further beyond, disciples who are not training for the day chase each other with screaming laughs and bellowing whoops.

Shen Qingqiu slowly waves his fan in front of him watching the peak.

“Do you think,” he says after a moment, “that this is a good place to grow up, Binghe? Do you like it here?”

“Yes!” Luo Binghe immediately answers stepping closer to Shen Qingqiu. They're so close their fingers could almost touch if he just reaches out his hand. But he doesn't need too, because as soon as he's in Shen Qingqiu’s radius the man lifts his hand and sets it on Luo Binghe’s shoulder.

He glances down at Luo Binghe who tries to straighten and stand prouder.

“You've grown a lot these past few months.”

“Mn! Thanks to Shizun letting this disciple eat with him I've grown a lot.”

Shen Qingqiu lets out the smallest laugh. “You've had a growth spurt, yes, but Shizun means your cultivation. You've been working hard to grow stronger?”

Luo Binghe beams up at Shen Qingqiu. He's been working so hard. Between training with everyone else, reading the swordsmanship book Shizun gave him, fighting disciples from Bai Zhan Peak, and studying under Meng Mo's tutelage he's been working very hard to be able to grow up and protect Shizun. He's utterly delighted that Shen Qingqiu sees it. 

He receives a small pat on the center of his forehead with the snapped closed fan and Shen Qingqiu looks out into the distance again. After a moment. Shen Qingqiu says, “Take the day off from training and enjoy the day with your friends. I'll be back by sundown and we can share dinner.”

With that, Shen Qingqiu leaves him to assist the disciple who accepted the delivery and the pair disappear into the backwoods of the peak.

Luo Binghe is split between following them and cooking the most elaborate meal humanly imaginable. But in the end cooking wins because he's already ignoring on order to go play with friends, so he shouldn't break more. Plus Shizun clearly cares about this surprise. He doesn't want to ruin it for Shizun, so he'll just make a surprise of his own for when he returns for dinner. 

A day and a half later everything is ready. Shen Qingqiu spent the afternoon yesterday rigging ropes high in the trees for walking across, building small platforms for trust falls, and every other bonding activity he could think of. He then cleared space for a fire pit with ample seating around it and strung up the hammocks and a few of the lanterns for when night falls. He can’t help but feel proud of himself. Luo Binghe is going to bond so much with his shijies and shixiong. 

He gathers up his crew of carefully selected disciples for peak bonding and begins the hike down the mountainside below the bridges into a much more wild wilderness. 

Luo Binghe marches right next to him carrying a heavy box of all their foods for the overnight trip. His cheeks are pink with the exertion as he climbs down steep rocks without slipping, and his curls bounce with every step.

“Are you sure you don’t want help, Luo-shidi?” Ning Yingying asks from below, her arms outstretched to take the bundle.  Shen Qingqui watches from further below with budding pride that they’re not even to camp yet and already they’re bonding. His plan is really working. 

“No,” Luo Binghe breathlessly says blindly feeling for the next footing down. “Shizun told me to carry it so I have it.”

“You can share it if it’s too hard,” Shen Qingqiu quickly speaks up hoping that Luo Binghe will pass down the box and their fingers will brush sparking a deep seeded crush in the boy’s heart.

“I’m okay,” Luo Binghe calls back.

Except at that very moment his footing slips on the smooth stone and he crashes down towards Ning Yingying. She screams and covers herself, too small to catch him or the heavy box tumbling down the rocks at her. Not wanting her to be crushed, Shen Qingqiu flings himself forward, catching her and pulling her behind himself. At the same time he slams a hand into Luo Binghe’s chest to stop his crashing fall.

Around them, all the disciples stand staring, unsure of how to react.

Shen Qingqiu turns to Ning Yingying first. He holds out a hand for her to pull herself up and asks, “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes,” she says meekly.

“Are you hurt at all?”

“No,” she says before pulling up her pant leg to show off a crimson knee. Shen Qingqiu crouches to inspect, worried that his perfect day of bonding might be going array.

“It’s just a scrape, Shizun. I should be able to handle that.”

“Yes, you should,” Shen Qingqiu pats her on the head. “Tell me if it’s something more.”

He then turns to Luo Binghe laid against the rockface. Immediately Shen Qingqiu is confused. Tears are welling in Luo Binghe’s eyes. Immediately he dives towards the young boy in a billowing of light green fabric.

“Did I hurt you?”

Luo Binghe bites his lip and shakes his head. 

“Are you hurt?”

Binghe makes a small shrugging motion. 

Shen Qingqiu looks around. He doesn’t want the protagonist to be embarrassed in front of everyone and if he actually sheds tears he might be.

“Ming Fan?” He calls and immediately Ming Fan is by his side. “Go ahead and take everyone a little ways further down the path. Go slow and not too far, but wait for me when you get to the big clearing.”

“Yes Shizun!” Ming Fan says and starts barking at everyone else to keep moving. Before he leaves he hesitates and turns around. “Is Luo-shidi okay?”

Shen Qingqiu smiles to himself that at least this is a boon. A little bit of humanity from Ming Fan. Instead of tormenting Luo Binghe further he’s asking if he’s okay. That’s called growth.

“Your shidi’s fine. I’m just going to help him pick everything up. Go on ahead.”

Ming Fan and everyone else leaves the two alone.

Shen Qingqiu remains crouched in front of Luo Binghe who still bites his lip. He studies the protagonist. 

Very, very rarely had Airplane let Luo Binghe cry. Only in moments of truly bending so much he snapped did he cry. And yet here are the tears so Luo Binghe must be very hurt. Or embarrassed.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” He asks taking Luo Binghe’s hand in his, cupping it between his palms and sensing for any injuries.

“I’m not.”

Shen Qingqiu gives his hand a light squeeze and asks, “Then why do you look so upset?”

Luo Binghe’s eyes dart towards the ground where the box split open and the party’s meal has spilled all over the ground. Shen Qingqiu’s eyes follow and the tension in his heart eases.

“Don’t worry about that, Binghe.”

“But Shizun trusted this disciple to carry it for him,” he says still staring at the food. “And I slipped and fell.”

“No,” Shen Qingqiu stands and pulls Luo Binghe up with him. “I shouldn’t have made you carry it all by yourself. You were doing such a good job. Maybe, next time your shijie offers to help, you could accept it?”

Luo Binghe mumbles, “I don’t need her help to fulfill Shizun’s wishes.”

Shen Qingqiu almost wants to laugh at how utterly bitter Luo Binghe sounds at the insinuation that he needs help. Ever the protagonist, his fierce independence is silly on a boy barely fifteen. He looks more like a stubborn teenager  than terrifying demon. 

“Well,” Shen Qingqiu sighs and pat Luo Binghe’s head. “As long as you’re alright, let’s pick up what we can and keep going. Don’t worry about what spilled. I’ll send a message to An Ding Peak to deliver replacements.”

Luo Binghe immediately sets about refilling the box. He turns the items over his his hands to inspect as he repacks the box and Shen Qingqiu can’t help but mourn the fact that not everything will be a surprise now. But at least Luo Binghe wasn’t hurt when he slipped and only upset.

As soon as the box is sealed Shen Qingqiu picks up the unyielding thing.

“Shizun!” Luo Binghe yelps. “I can carry it! Let me carry it for you!”

“It’s fine, Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu says forming a new scheme. “Go run ahead and catch up with your shixiong. Let them know they can keep moving. Shizun will be right behind.”

He’ll let Luo Binghe run ahead to meet up with his peers. They’ll chat as the walk both cheering Luo Binghe up and helping them bond more. Meanwhile, Shen Qingqiu will move slowly just out of eyesight to ensure everyone’s safe passage. It’ll be perfect, especially since his soon to be friends already showed concern over him.

Except Luo Binghe does not run ahead. For as upset as he was for having failed his shizun’s command, here he is ignoring it outright to walk in step with Shen Qingqiu. He even holds out a hand for Shen Qingqiu to take when they come to another steep rock outcropping to climb down, and after offers to take the box again.

When they finally meet up with everyone else sitting chatting and waiting, they all jump up and run to their shizun, also falling into step with him for the rest of the hike as though Shen Qingqiu is a mother duck leading his chain of ducklings.

Ming Fan walks right behind Shizun. He can't help but feel annoyed that Luo Binghe walks right next to him and waits for Shizun to tell him to fall back and go to the back of the line, but much to his disappointment Shen Qingqiu doesn't. Instead he lets Luo Binghe walk right next to him or even take point walking at the front of the line in front of Shizun. 

When this happens, Ming Fan runs to take Luo Binghe’s place by his side. 

“What does Shizun have planned?” He asks looking up at him.

Shen Qingqiu angles his eyes down at him and he instinctively straightens. 

“It's a group activity,” he says. The same thing he's said when after before. 

“Are we fighting?”

“Ideally no one will fight.”

Ming Fan thinks hard trying to find a group activity that doesn't require fighting. If they were just going to study the arts they would have just stayed on the peak. Plus he didn't see the supplies or instruments. 

“Don't we get to know anything else? You told Luo-shidi.”

Shen Qingqiu’s gaze leaves him and watches Luo Binghe ahead swinging his sword to clear away the grasping vines. 

“I haven't told him. You're all equally in the dark. He just wanted to help his shizun by carrying things.”

Ming Fan immediately jumps in front of his shizun. 

“I want to carry things too! Let me carry that for you!”

Shen Qingqiu tuts. 

“I already watched one disciple slip and fall carrying this. I don't need to see another. Why don't you go help your shidi clear the path?”

Ming Fan doesn't want to help Luo Binghe and wants to stay by his shizun’s side, but he wants Shen Qingqiu’s praise more so he draws his sword and runs ahead.

“What are you doing?” Luo Binghe asks somewhat out of breath when Ming Fan runs up. “Go back. I’m leading the way.”

“No!” Ming Fan retorts and swings at a vine coming down towards Luo Binghe’s head. “Shizun told me to do this. Go back to walk at the back of the line.”

“Shizun didn’t tell you that!” Luo Binghe elbows Ming Fan just in time for him to duck  a barbed vine reaching out to grab at him. He stumbles to the side and grabs Luo Binghe with him, who drags him back the other way. The two press forward half wrestling, half fighting the vines until they see the clearing Shen Qingqiu set up with a large fire pit built into the center.

Ming Fan almost sprints to get there first, but a few paces into the race he realizes that Luo Binghe is cheating not by running to the campsite, but by turning around and running back to the group! Immediately Ming Fan spins on his heel and runs as fast as he can until a stitch forms in his side to skid into place in front of Shizun at the same moment as Luo Binghe.

He shoots Luo Binghe a dark look, who shoots him an equally dark look. 

Shen Qingqiu smiles down at them both from above the heavy box.

“Good teamwork, you two. We’ll need lots of that today. Come on, everyone. Let’s keep going. Ming Fan and Luo Binghe cleared the rest of the way for us.”

Everyone settles in first to have a snack. Shen Qingqiu stands in front of the heavy box handing each of them a baked roll. Each thank their shizun and go eat in small groups throughout the clearing. Except for Luo Binghe who eats alone.

“Why don't you go sit with your shidi?” Shen Qingqiu asks when he hands Ning Yingying and her friend their snacks. She happily bounces over to where Luo Binghe sits alone, and suddenly he isn't alone. Instead he's surrounded by a circle of four girls all chattering and laughing. Luo Binghe laughs too and Shen Qingqiu smiles to himself. He can already see Luo Binghe’s charm developing and his harem starting to form.

He gives them all ample time for snacks and conversation until he deems it time to begin. He stands before the two rows of disciples trying to decide who best to pair up. They're starting slow at first. Something basic. 

“I need one of you to volunte-”

“I will!”

“This disciple wants to!”

Ming Fan and Luo Binghe each jump forward. Perfect! These two need to bond the most.

Shen Qingqiu looks down on them fondly.

“Both over here. It is a two person activity and both can demonstrate. Binghe, here. Ming Fan, stand here,” he says setting Luo Binghe to stand directly in front of Ming Fan facing outwards. “This is a trust fall. Luo Binghe, do you trust Ming Fan?”

“I trust Shizun.”

Luo Binghe is cute. But that's not what he needs right now. 

“But do you trust your shixiong?”

There's the slightest pause before Luo Binghe replies, “If Shizun says this disciple can trust him, this disciple trusts him.”

Not exactly the answer he wanted, but it's getting close considering the abuse Ming Fan and his friends threw at him upon entry to the sect. He reminds himself that Luo Binghe hasn't even had a year of reprieve from the cruelties of the original goods.

He turns to Ming Fan.

“Luo Binghe’s going to fall straight backwards into your arms. You have to catch him.”

Ming Fan looks confused. After a second he asks, “Why are we doing this?”

“To make sure you trust each other and work well together. As shidi and shixiong, you may end up needing to fight side by side and rely on each other.”

“Are you sure you don't want to demonstrate with me?” Luo Binghe asks turning to face Shen Qingqiu.

“Yes. I want you two to do it,” Shen Qingqiu says turning Luo Binghe back around. “Go on. You just have to fall backwards without stepping back. Trust your Shixiong.”

Luo Binghe’s eyes flicker with doubt before he clenches them closed. Ming Fan holds out his arms. Slowly Luo Binghe starts to tilt backwards.

For a fraction of a second Shen Qingqiu is terrified that this was a mistake and Ming Fan will let Luo Binghe fall for the second time today, but to his relief, Ming Fan catches him with a grunt. He quickly pushes Luo Binghe back to his feet.

“Good,” Shen Qingqiu says and looks to everyone else. “Pair off and we'll start with these trust falls. Everyone's going to work with everyone today so don't worry about who you wind up with.”

Everyone pairs up and begins falling into each other's arms.

It's a bit of a silly exercise for cultivators who are used to flying high over the ground by sword and taking blows that fling them backwards a dozen feet or more. It makes much more sense for common people. But he didn't think of that before and now he needs to commit as he walks through the pairs, calling out for them to rotate partners.

It does feel a bit more practice when one by one he lets each disciple step onto his sword to rise up into the air. Once a good six or seven feet above the group he has the disciple free fall backwards to be caught. And to his delight not a single person hits the ground! 

So far, this is going well! Even the system seems to agree!

Shang Qinghua soars overhead peering towards the ground to find the site of Shen Qingqiu’s strange activities. He easily could have passed the delivery of items Shen Qingqiu apparently spilled?? But he would be lying if for once in his life curiosity isn't getting the better of him and he wants to know what the fuck is going on with Shen Qingqiu.

He hears them before he spots them. A loud shout rings through the air drawing his attention towards a small chasm between ridges. He can't help the fact that it makes him feel anxious and like he's sneaking into something he shouldn't even though he was ordered here by Shen Qingqiu himself. 

There's a clearing in the trees that Shang Qinghua can spot them in and the scene only looks more confusing. Shen Qingqiu’s disciples are tied together in pairs, running. Immediately Shang Qinghua wants to turn and leave thinking this a strange attack. 

The shouting doesn't help his unease.

But he makes himself lower and lands at the center of the clearing. 

“Shang-shidi!” Shen Qingqiu calls from the sideline near a firepit. “Over here.”

Shang Qinghua hurries over barely avoiding a pair of disciples who he now realizes are blindfolded! Just to add to the weirdness. 

“What exactly are you doing here?” Shang Qinghua says heaving the heavy box to where Shen Qingqiu sits observing. Shen Qingqiu pats the spot next to him in clear invitation to sit. Shang Qinghua looks for the trap before sitting.

Shen Qingqiu lazily wafts his fan looking out at his disciples. “Trust exercises. I realized it never hurts to strengthen the bond between martial siblings, wouldn't you say so, Shang-shidi?”

“Uh. Yeah.”

Shen Qingqiu gestures into the clearing. “They're divided into two teams, each with three pairs and one caller. The goal is for each team to bring back the most glowing sticks before time is up.”

Shang Qinghua frowns. He scans over the pairs until his eyes land on Luo Binghe tied to Ning Yingying. At least that feels right. Except…Luo Binghe is running blindly even though Ning Yingying can barely keep up. He seems to care more about getting the sticks than his shijie.

“Those two are struggling,” he says pointing it out just as Ning Yingying trips.

“Binghe!” Shen Qingqiu calls. Immediately Luo Binghe blindly spins around in search of his shizun’s voice. “Pay more attention to what your partner needs. She's your priority before collecting sticks, remember. Rong Duan, make sure you give clearer directions. You have a lot to focus on but I'm trusting you to guide your siblings.”

He then looks back at Shang Qinghua. Strangely he doesn't look mad at Shang Qinghua having seen the failure in his exercise. He shrugs lightly and says, “All the more reason we need to do this. They need to learn to focus on the task at hand but not at the expense of their peers.”

“...right.” Shang Qinghua says deeply confused given Shen Qingqiu’s rise to peak lord was largely at the expense of his peers.

Suddenly Shen Qingqiu stands and tucks his fan in his pocket. 

“Come on, Shidi,” he says pulling a blindfold from his sleeve and begins tying it around his own eyes. “We should lead by example.”

“What?”

“Tell me how to get to one of the glowing sticks and bring it back.”

“What??”

“Come on now. Which way?”

“How's this setting an example when your disciples can't see??”

Shen Qingqiu pauses at Shang Qinghua’s attempt to get out of guiding Shen Qingqiu, certain if he does and Shen Qingqiu trips or is embarrassed he will be sliced open and diced into a million and a half pieces.

“You're right,” Shen Qingqiu says and relief fills Shang Qinghua. Until he raises his voice and calls, “everyone back to the start. Shang-shidi offered to do a demonstration with me to show you how it's done.”

Oh no.

Oh noooo.

Shang Qinghua knows he's fucked. Now Shen Qingqiu is going to be embarrassed in front of his own disciples. 

He truly has half a mind to collapse onto the ground and pretend to be dead, but that's harder to do when not in battle.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Shang Qinghua asks.

“I trust you,” Shen Qingqiu replies with a smile.

Shang Qinghua wants to wail that he doesn't trust Shen Qingqiu not to murder him if he messes up though. That’s why he doesn’t want to do it as all of Shen Qingqiu’s disciples descend to witness the scene.

“Well, Shidi, which way to a stick?”

Shang Qinghua looks around for a stick. He spots one high in a narrow tree and other on a rock in the middle of the stream. He swallows heavy wishing there was one right at Shen Qingqiu’s feet. It’ll be easier to get him to the one on the rock than make him climb a tree.

“Go five steps forward,” Shang Qinghua says after a moment too long hoping his hesitation doesn’t incite Shen Qingqiu’s anger.

Shen Qingqiu blindly walks the five paces forward and stops, waiting for the next direction.

“Uh. One step to your right.”

“You can give me more directions that that. I know I didn’t place any right here.”

“Right.” Shang Qinghua says and shakes his head. “Um. Just keep moving at One o’clock until I tell you to stop. I guess.”

Shen Qingqiu hesitates and tilts his head. “Did you just say one o’clock?”

Shang Qinghua winces realizing his mistake. 

He quickly stammers, “New gear based mechanism that I’ve imported from a small town past Huan Hua Palace…. I guess my disciples forgot to deliver it to you… Heh... Just keep going forward a little to your right. Watch out for the big rock.”

Great. Now he’s going to have to figure out how to invent modern clocks here on top of everything else.

Shen Qingqiu starts to walk with the confidence of a man who can see what’s in front of him. 

“STOP!” Shang Qinghua shouts when he almost trips on a massive rock. Shen Qingqiu slams to a halt. 

“What?”

“Rock. Go around it. Not that way! There’s a log. Okay. Keep going  towards the sound of the water.”

He’s almost a little thankful that Luo Binghe clearly doesn’t trust him and runs out onto the course to move alongside Shen Qingqiu without notice, although once again it raises more questions about what the hell has been happening on Qing Ding Peak to make Luo Binghe care so much about his shizun.

Everything seems to go well until it’s time for Shen Qingqiu to lightly bound over the rocks to the boulder at the center of the stream throning the glowing stick. Shang Qinghua spends much too long carefully explaining the orientation of the rocks so Shen Qingqiu can effortlessly bound over. Shen Qingqiu patiently listens and calls out a few questions.

It feels like it will work. 

Except right at the moment he makes the first leaping bound entirely blind, his without a cure suddenly decides to make an appearance, and instead of a long leap as any cultivator could do, he jumps just far enough to splash squarely into the deep, rushing water.

FUCK

HE IS SO  DEAD

Fuck this hand in particular!

Shen Qingqiu splashes until he can find a rock to grab onto and draw his blindfold up. He’s met by his horrified disciples running to him and Shang Qinghua standing looking absolutely horrified at what he’s done. 

Luo Binghe has already flung himself into the water trying to swim to him as fast as he can, the cold water splashing hard against his face as he paddles and kicks.

“I’m fine,” Shen Qingqiu calls out despite the slew of curses running through his head. He waves his stupid fucking poisoned hand in the air.  It aches from being flung out to catch himself in the fall. “It wasn’t Shang-shidi’s fault.”

“SHIZUN!” Luo Binghe pants kicking towards him. A few others are running knee deep into the water too.

“It’s fine,” Shen Qingqiu says stopping the rest from running into the water.

This is definitely more than a little embarrassing. He just needs to save it so his disciples trust in the trust exercises still. 

Luo Binghe reaches him. While Shen Qingqiu’s toes can just touch the bottom, Luo Binghe’s can’t. His head bobs as he paddles to keep upright, but even so he wraps an arm around Shen Qingqiu. 

Every the protagonist looking to make a grand rescue, but Binghe! You’re supposed to save your rescuing for the pretty girls, not your old shizun.

Together they make their way back to shore. Shang Qinghua looks deeply anxious while Shen Qingqiu tries to brush it off.  He quickly pulls the darker layers of his clothes around himself to hide the translucent of the whites. With his spiritual energy blocked he looks to Shang Qinghua.

“Would Shang-shidi be so kind as to help dry my robes for me?”

“I can do it!” Ming Fan says jumping to his feet.

“Peak Lord Shang can help me just fine,” Shen Qingqiu says letting him fall back. “It’s natural we make mistakes so it’s about maintaining trust now that it’s happened, right?”

Shang Qinghua swallows hard. “Right.”

“If you want to help, help Luo Binghe dry off.”

The two look at each other and Luo Binghe quickly says “I can dry myself off.”

Shang Qinghua approaches and begins radiating heat off his hands to dry his robes.

“Thank you,” Shen Qingqiu says after a moment of feeling the warmth permeate through him.

“For what? I ruined your demo.”

Shen Qingqiu twists to look at him. “You didn’t ruin it. It was this stupid without a cure. Otherwise it would have been a perfect example. Besides, it shows my disciples I still trust you.”

Shang Qinghua narrows his eyes. “You never trusted me before.”

Shen Qingqiu shrugs. “Something must have changed then.”

He lightly rubs his wrist with his other hand. It really is shocking how this particular hand always manages to find it’s way into trouble. If there ever comes the day that Luo Binghe does rip his arms off, he’s absolutely certain that this one will be the first to go. 

“Do I need to go get Liu Qingge?” Shang Qinghua says after a few minutes of helping Shen Qingqiu dry off.

“No. I invited him to come try the mallows of the marsh, so he should be here later. I won’t need spiritual power until then anyways.”

Shang Qinghua’s minstrations pause. “You found the mallows of the marsh?”

“They’re not hard to find if you know where to look,” Shen Qingqiu replies. “If you’d like to stay, once the sun goes down we’re going to roast the flowers.”

Shang Qinghua is silent, a clear indication he would like to try one. Shen Qingqiu stands and pats him on the shoulder. “Stick around and join us, or come back around sundown when we light the campfires and you can try it. They’re quite good. I haven’t had anything like it in a very long time.”

Without waiting for a reply, Shen Qingqiu returns to his disciples, calling them into a ring around him to begin assigning the next activity.

With Shen Qingqiu’s spiritual veins blocked, he diverts from his original plans. Everyone spreads out in small groups around the paints that Shen Qingqiu packed to decorate the lanterns that will set sail once nightfalls. The idea is to pour yourself into this piece of art and let it go, trusting someone else to send it away down the river.

Even Shang-shishu sits down with them, although there are not enough lanterns when he’s included. It’s in this moment Luo Binghe sees his chance. He walks up to Shang Qinghua holding his lantern and holds his lantern out to him.

“If Shang-shishu would like to join in, I can share with someone else.”

Shang Qinghua’s eyebrows shoot up into his bangs in surprise.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. This disciple doesn’t mind sharing.” His eyes dart over in the direction of Shen Qingqiu, sitting and talking to Ning Yingying and two of her friends while they all dip brushes into ink to decorate their lanterns.

“Thank you,” Shang-shishu says and accepts the lantern.

As soon as the lantern’s out of his hands, Luo Binghe runs to his shizun.

“Shizun, I don’t have a lantern.”

Utter confusion passes over Shen Qingqiu’s face. It’s understandable given Luo Binghe was the first person he handed it to.

“Did it break?”

“No,” Luo Binghe says. He tucks his hands behind his back and bounces on his toes to dispel the anxious energy building in him. “There wasn’t enough for Shang-shishu, so I gave him mine. I thought maybe I could share?”

Shen Qingqiu’s confusion passes and a softness replaces it. He pats next to himself, next to Ning Yingying, for Luo Binghe to join them. Without waiting for any more confirmation, Luo Binghe plops down between them.

Shen Qingqiu pats Luo Binghe on the head saying, “Thank you for being so considerate of Peak Lord Shang.”

“Mn!” Luo Binghe says and rotates to work with Shen Qingqiu, who’s hand stills.

“I thought you’d want to work with Ning Yingying?”

Luo Binghe looks over his shoulder at his shijie who looks back at him. 

“If you want to,” she says hesitantly despite the sweet smile. “I wouldn’t mind Luo-shidi’s help.”

Her lantern is already lightly outlined with a scene of a lotus and a dragonfly over the water while two mallard ducks paddle through. It’s clear she’s already attached to her lantern as her own, putting them both in a tight spot of their shizun’s expectations. 

“I would rather send shijie’s lantern down the stream,” Luo Binghe quickly answers and Ning Yingying breaks into a bright smile at the thought of Luo Binghe being the one to send hers away.

She joins in and says, “I would like that too!”

“Well,” Shen Qingqiu says contemplatively. “Would you rather work with any other of your shijies?”

“I’m already sitting next to shizun, does he not want to work with this disciple?”

“No, no,” Shen Qingqiu quickly assures. “I would have thought you’d have wanted to–”

“I want to share a lantern with shizun.”

Shen Qingqiu smiles lightly and hands him a brush. He lets Luo Binghe rotate the lantern to see the pattern already forming as he talks over him with his other disciples.

He and Shen Qingqiu take turns passing their brush back and forth, each adding a few marks before handing it off to the other. The brush is always warm where Shen Qingqiu’s hand was on it. 

It fills Luo Binghe with a deep satisfaction to see his strokes working into Shizun’s until they become a single line, a single piece of art. It’s the same feeling as the first few times he cooked for his shizun and watched him eat. Together they’re unified into a single piece. 

Shen Qingqiu concentrates as he dips the brush and presses it against the lantern to form long, delicate leaves. His pointed brows furrow and his eyes narrow. He pauses before touching bush to paper to steady his hand, unused to the lack of spiritual energy. Luo Binghe watches fervently, determined to etch this moment into memory as a leaf is painted onto the tree they create together.

Suddenly Luo Binghe feels something agonizing in his chest: he can’t keep this lantern of his and Shizun’s. Instead, he will have to pass it off to someone else to set their hard work into the stream to float away until it’s gone forever. He doesn’t want to see it go like that. He’d almost rather destroy it than allow anyone else to touch it, but even that idea is unbearable. How can he destroy this creation of his and Shizun’s without drawing blame?

Shen Qingqiu passes him the brush and pushes the hair creeping over his shoulder behind himself again. He leans back and looks around at his disciples. The sun breaks through the trees to cast a warm light on him and he can’t help but close his eyes with a satisfied smile.

Luo Binghe adds a few strokes, stopping himself from destroying the lantern. Even if he can’t keep it forever, he wants to keep this moment with his shizun pure and pristine.

The moment Shang Qinghua’s missive that Shen Qingqiu’s without a cute has flared up, Liu Qingge is on his sword barrelling down the peak to the valley Shen Qingqiu invited him to. It does not matter that he was in conference with the peak lord of Ku Xian Peak. He barely bothers to excuse himself before leaving.

It’s not hard to spot the narrow clearing by the steam they’re gathered in. It makes for an easy landing as he flings himself off Cheng Luan to drop twenty feet right next to the group of disciples Shen Qingqiu sits in.

A few of the disciples cry out in shock or fear seeing such a form crash from the sky in a cloud of dust. Liu Qingge pays no attention to them and marches directly towards Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu pushes himself up from his place sitting on the ground with a group of his disciples with a low word to the annoying one. He brushes himself off and adjusts his sleeves so they drape flatly. Only then does he calmly walk towards Liu Qingge.

He’s a little sun kissed from sitting in the sun painting. With his spiritual energy blocked he’s managed to get a slight sun burn turning his cheeks a soft red. Immediately Liu Qingge feels himself heating up in embarrassment for Shen Qingqiu to be such an adept cultivator and still getting a sunburn. He steadies himself not to say anything of it, certain that he’d take offense.

Although, in recent months, he might not take such a statement of fact as a personal slight. He might brush it off lightly musing that the fates are cruel to him or a little sun never caused anyone harm. 

“You’re sunburnt,” comes out of his mouth before he can stop himself. Immediately he snaps his mouth shut determined not to say a word more.

“Am I?” Shen Qingqiu’s hand raises to his cheek, his soft, pale fingers contrasting his pink cheeks to feel the warmth radiating off him. 

“It’s not very noticeable,” Liu Qingge quickly stammers. He hates that he feels his heart racing like he’s entering battle and hates even more that he’s flustered by it.

“I’ll have to take Liu-shidi’s word for it,” he says dropping his hand. “What brings you so early? We haven’t even started the bonfire yet.”

“Shang Qinghua–”

“Ah,” Shen Qingqiu spins around to look over his shoulder at Shang Qinghua hunched over his lantern with a group of disciples. Liu Qingge wonders how a peak lord sunk this low sit in the dirt with another peak lord’s disciples. “He sent you a message.”

“Yes.”

“I told him I was fine to wait for you to come on your own time. I must thank shidi for stepping away from his tasks,” Shen Qingqiu says with a stomach filling warmth.

Liu Qingge remains silent, not willing to fumble his words again.

“Well,” Shen Qingqiu says when he realizes he won't reply. “Should we sit?”

Liu Qingge allows Shen Qingqiu to lead him just beyond the edge of the clearing where a series of hammocks are strung between trees. One of the wider ones he sits down on and carefully pulls off his upper layers so that only a single thin layer of fabric exists between himself and Liu Qingge.

Standing behind him, Liu Qingge places his palms squarely on Shen Qingqiu’s back and begins focusing his qi.

“If you would like to stay, Liu-shidi, you can. With my spiritual energy unblocked I have more exercises to  for my disciples, and it’s always good to lead with example of trust and camaraderie amongst us martial siblings, right?”

“Right.”

“So you’ll stay a while?”

“If you want me to.”

“I would.”

Shen Qingqiu shifts under his hands, readjusting himself. It makes the hammock drift and Liu Qingge has to step closer to ensure his hands maintain total contact with Shen Qingqiu’s back.  Liu Qingge stares at the thin fabric barring him from touching his skin. He can clearly see the outline of his shoulder blades. There’s a delicateness to them despite being bound in muscle. He doesn’t know why he’s never noticed this before despite having laid his hands on him so often. 

Shen Qingqiu inhales deeply, expanding his ribs and shifting his form.

“Am I hurting you?”

“No. No it feels good. Your energy is very comforting, Shidi.”

Somehow flustered again, Liu Qinggiu diverts his eyes from where his hands press into Shen Qingqiu’s back and his spiritual energy presses into Shen Qingqiu. He looks out at the groups of disciples painting together. All except for one. The annoying one watching him instead of painting the lantern his shares with his shizun. Liu Qingge wants to bark at him to get back to work but bites his tongue. 

Instead he redirects his gaze to be the man before him and asks, “Do you have any fighting activities?”

“I didn't have any planned.”

“Make them pair off and fight me. See if they can work together to land a blow in fifteen moves.”

Shen Qingqiu lightly laughs. “This isn't Bai Zhan Peak. If I can barely land a blow on you, how could my disciples?”

Liu Qingge has too much restless energy crawling over him like bees. He insists, “I'll go easy on them.”

“You think my disciples need your pity?”

“What?” Liu Qingge says in shock at the sudden change of tone, as though the Shen Qingqiu of before has reared his head. “I didn't mean that.”

Shen Qingqiu huffs a small laugh and says, “Relax. I was joking with you. I'd of course love you to work with my disciples. And they'll have to work well together to even strike you.”

The tension rapidly building in Liu Qingge’s chest relaxes. Shen Qingqiu relaxes too, leaning back into his hands. 

At this angle Liu Qingge can see the sun dappled over his soft face, a small smile creeping across it.

“What's wrong, Luo-shidi?” Ning Yingying asks seeing Luo Binghe’s expression darken. She reaches over and moves his hand so that another dark drip of ink doesn't ruin what he and Shizun have worked so hard on. “Luo Binghe? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Luo Binghe says but does not avert his gaze.

Ning Yingying follows his line of sight to see Shizun and Liu Qingge unblocking his spiritual veins. It’s a normal thing by now. Ever since the demon invasion, Liu Qingge often helps clear the without a cure from their shizun. But even so, even with the normality of it being well established and the fact that their shizun is rarely bothered by it except when it proves moments of danger for himself and others, Luo Binghe’s guilt at having been shoved aside seems to fester within him.

Ning Yingying sets her brush aside and leans over to pat him on the shoulder. 

“It’s okay, Luo-shidi. Shizun’s fine. Don’t look so upset.”

“I’m not upset,” Luo Binghe replies. He doesn’t look away from where the two are dappled by golden sun. 

Ning Yingying scoots closer to him.

She’s long abandoned the crush that infatuated her with him when he first entered the sect, but she still harbors a deep affection for Luo Binghe. He’s a sweet boy that so many failed to see back then. He’s diligent and kind and patient. Shizun’s attention has helped him grow too. She just found new priorities than the lone boy in her cultivation and her friends. She’d never had friends before. For some reason, it just clicked in her head one day that she should make friends instead of tagging along after her shidi.

“Just because the without a cure is your fault doesn’t mean you should feel bad,” she comforts as she has many times before.

“I know…”

Ning Yingying looks to her shijie who shrugs at her. She makes a little face indicating she feels bad for Luo Binghe’s guilt. She wants to point out that this time it was actually Shang-shishu’s fault, but with the peak lord nearby she wouldn’t dare. Instead, she sets her brush aside and pushes herself to her feet.

With light steps she jogs up to her shizun and Liu Qingge, stopping a few feet shy of them and standing waiting to be acknowledged.

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes are closed and a soft smile pulls at his lips. The rise and fall of his chest is slow and meditative. The light air drifts the leaves above them dappling the sunshine over him. In the hammock, he sways just a little, enough to make Liu Qingge move with him to not break the flow of energy binding them for the time being.

And Liu Qingge looks down on her with a cold, unimpressed expression. 

Ning Yingying can’t help but feel intimidated by him, but it’s less than in the past. He was once a terrifying figure on the mountain. Disciples from other peaks would share rumors of him jumping out of the darkness in the middle of the night to fight disciples who snuck out of their beds, but now she laughs at the rumors for just that: rumors.

Besides, for however feral he is, her shizun has domesticated him. Not that she would dare breathe a word of that to the man. He is still scary.

Ning Yingying has no qualms with waiting. She just smiles up at Liu Qingge, tucking her hands behind her back and rocking from her heels to her toes.

After a few minutes she starts looking around, tilting her head back to let the sun soak in. Above her a butterfly floats in wide circles around her. She spins with it, her chiffon layers floating around her like a petal drifting on the wind, until she gets dizzy and makes herself stop.

The butterfly doesn’t seem done with her though. Its circles narrow over her head until it lands softly on her nose. Its little legs tickle and she can’t help but let out a giggle trying not to raise her hands and scare it away.

The sound makes Shen Qingqiu opens his eyes to see her standing still giggling with a massive butterfly on her nose. He flips open his fan to hide the obvious smile.

“Do you know?” she asks pointing up at the butterfly.

“Beauty’s delight,” Shen Qingqiu replies. “It’s drawn to gentle souls.”

Ning Yingying can’t help but laugh scaring the butterfly away. “Be serious shizun. What kind of butterfly was that?”

“Your shizun wouldn’t lie to you,” he says watching it float upwards. “It’s a beauty’s delight.”

The butterfly drifts back down to land on the edge of Shen Qingqiu’s fan. His eyes cross staring at it face to face.

“I guess Shizun’s soul is beautiful too then,” Ning Yingying delights. 

Without moving, Shen Qingqiu replies, “Perhaps I was wrong and it’s something different.”

“It is the beauty’s delight,” Liu Qingge says before he can grow too humble.

Ning Yingying admires the faintest pink flush growing over the perfectly still expression. She has to agree with the butterfly. Her shizun’s soul truly is beautiful.

“Is there something you needed?” Shen Qingqiu asks.

“Oh!” She steps forward. “Luo-shidi seems upset that your without a cure has flared up. I think he thinks it’s his fault again, and this disciple was hoping Shizun would talk to him and remind him that it isn’t his fault that you threw yourself in front of that demon.”

“Ah,” Shen Qingqiu’s eyes drift towards Luo Binghe whose eyes are locked on him. Even Ning Yingying can see Luo Binghe suddenly turn pink and resume painting a little too rapidly to hide the fact he was staring.

“I should talk with him. I think my veins are unblocked. Thank you, Shidi.” Shen Qingqiu waits for Liu Qingge to remove his hands. He then stands and stretches, turning to Liu Qingge. “I’ll tell everyone to finish their lanterns, then we can begin your fights. And you have to stay for when we roast the mallows of the march.”

“Mn.”

Shen Qingqiu walks away leaving Liu Qingge and Ning Yingying standing on opposing sides of the hammock.

“So….” Ning Yingying says feeling the heat rising in her cheeks. “What's your sister like?”

Luo Binghe jumps up to volunteer first to face off against Liu Qingge. Something is burning deep inside him wanting to fight him anyways, and something tells him that if he volunteers first, he’s more likely to be paired up with Shen Qingqiu.

He is not, however, paired with his shizun to fight Liu Qingge. His shizun gives Luo Binghe an approving nod when he jumps up before his eyes gaze through the crowd of disciples nervous to go up against Liu Qingge. He’s instead paired with a boy that Lou Binghe has never paid attention to beyond he was one of Ming Fan’s friends always bullying him before. He looks up at the boy several years older and squares his shoulders. He does not believe they’ll work well together, but he’s absolutely determined to prove to Shizun he can protect him like he decided to the moment he fell into the dreamscape with him. 

Luo Binghe marches right up to the boy. Despite being quite a bit smaller than the other, authority exudes from Luo Binghe. In a low voice he says, “We’re flanking. Keep his attention, alternating between head and knees.”

“What are you doing then?” the boy asks crossing his arms.

“Sneaking in from behind.”

“Why should you get to land the blow! You should face him head on too!” the boy whines. “If you’re going to be selfish then I’m just going to fight for myself!”

“That’s not the point of this,” Shen Qingqiu speaks up from a ways away. “The entire point is you two working together.”

The other boy turns pink at being scolded.

“Fine.” Luo Binghe says bristling. “If you’re so determined then I’ll face him head on. You do what you want.”

The boy makes a noise of objection but Luo Binghe turns and walks to face Liu Qingge who is swinging his sword to warm up. The other boy runs after him and squares up next to Luo Binghe. They share a look agreeing to work together as much as they can without being the one to step back.

Liu Qingge looks down on them unimpressed and lowers himself into a readied stance with Chen Luan glinting in the sunlight to accidentally catch in Luo Binghe’s eyes.

Oh how he wants to be the one to land a strike on this man. He knows Liu Qingge is aiding his shizun whenever he helps clear his blocked veins, but something in Luo Binghe turns into vinegar whenever he sees him with his hands pressed against his back or when he shoos Luo Binghe out of the bamboo house so he and his shizun can visit. He can’t say that he hates him, objectively, but something very close to hate settles in his heart. It’s a jealousy that comes with wanting to be the only one shizun spends time with, a feeling he must fight back and stomach so often.

His shixiong makes the first move, cutting low towards Liu Qingge’s knees. Liu Qingge doesn’t even look at him when he blocks the block with his sword, returning the force enough to knock the young boy’s own sword from his hand. The boy drops and scrambles for it knowing Liu Qingge won’t attack and only defend, meaning he can leave himself vulnerable. 

Luo Binghe takes a step back clutching Zhang Yang tighter. He doesn’t see a weak spot to attack. Keeping low, Luo Binghe slowly walks an arc around Liu Qingge to flank him. 

Liu Qingge seems to have deemed his shixiong not a threat as he turns with Luo Binghe, keeping his ears perked for when he needs to throw a hand backwards with a blast of spiritual energy to knock the other boy back onto the ground immediately.

Luo Binghe knows that he can’t just keep circling. He inhales deeply letting the influx of air burn his lungs before screaming and flinging himself straight at Liu Qingge in what any tactical expert would call a fools game. But he doesn’t care about the risky move. He wants to throw Liu Qingge off his guard. 

His blow is easily deflected and spun around, a foot lands against Luo Binghe’s back and his face is in the dirt. He tries to press himself up but a foot lands heavy on his back, tip of a sword pointed at the bare skin of his neck. Luo Binghe wriggles under the pressure trying to break free, feeling the humiliation burning inside him at being trapped in such a position. Even more so when his gaze flits up and he sees Shizun grimace. 

“Okay, Liu-shidi, I think these two–”

“NO!” Luo Binghe shouts. “This disciple isn’t done yet.”

Liu Qingge’s weight grows on his back. “Yes. You are. Your fellow disciples get a turn too and you failed.”

Luo Binghe can’t take failure as an answer, not when his shizun is grimacing at his failure as though he truly thought he had a chance. With all his force, Luo Binghe throws himself backwards to get Liu Qingge off him. He scrambles to his feet, ignoring the dust blanketing him, and squares off again, this time rotating towards his shixiong. 

When he gets close enough he grabs him by the scruff and pulls him up with a sharp, “We’re not letting shizun down. Get up!”

His shixiong scrambles to his feet and the two begin to circle around Liu Qingge again who remains low like a cornered beast waiting for the impending attack, only he is a beast and the two children are the prey.

Shixiong lunges making Liu Qingge block, giving Luo Binghe an in only find himself blocked too with a swirl of dark hair, shoving Luo Binghe back and stumbling to the side by his shixiong.

A thought flashes through Luo Binghe’s head, of working together to prove his shizun proud and certain Liu Qingge won’t see it coming, he just needs to hold his breath until the moment he sees the perfect opening. Patience. Play the long game.

Liu Qingge sees the move coming the second Luo Binghe takes his first step. At 15 Luo Binghe might think himself clever but he’s anything but. His moves are too slow and too predictable. Staggered by the machinations of poor cultivation. It’s not hard to see when his shixiong trips Luo Binghe flinging himself at him as though it were intentional, so as to step on top of him, flinging himself high in the air with his sword pointed straight down at Liu Qingge.

In a battle, he would slice the teenager in two. In this exercise he would swat him out of the air to tumble and roll all the way to the foot of the crowd watching. But then his eyes catch Shen Qingqiu’s and there’s so much hope for his disciple to at least hit the ground without making a fool of himself etched across his face.

It’s not like he’ll face Luo Binghe in the future. 

And if he does, it’s not like Luo Binghe will get a strike in against him.

Liu Qingge dodges at the last second, slamming the butt of his sword against Luo Binghe’s side and slamming him to the ground with a loud pained groan from the child.

But above Luo Binghe, in the sleeve of his sword arm, is a tiny slash. 

He lets Luo Binghe up and dismisses him and his shixiong to return to the group. He touches the rip he allowed to happen and looks back up at Shen Qingqiu who notices too, his expression lighting up that his disciple was strong enough to even scratch his clothes. 

Liu Qingge doesn’t let anyone else’s swords anywhere near him. He sends Shen Qingqiu’s disciples back into the crowd two by two nursing minor injuries while barking at how they need to work together so they can at least get something from the experience. The entire time he glances up at Shen Qingqiu in search of his approval for acting against his disciples as he would his own, but Shen Qingqiu looks pleased with the arrangement.

He tells Liu Qingge as much once everyone has had a chance to face him. He brushes back the stray strands of hair from his face and stands before Shen Qingqiu who thanks him.

“If you would like a chance, I might—” he says before fading off.

“I would but it seems Shang-shidi already ran off when you started fighting,” Shen Qingqiu says with a warmth to his voice. He reaches out and untucks Liu Qingge’s ponytail where it’s caught under his collar. Liu Qingge stills and lets him. “But,” he continues, “Perhaps in a few days I can come to Bai Zhan Peak and we exchange pointers again.”

“Mn,” Liu Qingge agrees. “That will do.”

He had planned to leave on his travels again after this day of activities Shen Qingqiu arranged and invited him to, but now he’ll stay for a few days more to spar with Shen-shixiong. 

With his agreement, Shen Qingqiu turns back to his disciples and announces that they should all have water and a snack before the final activity of the day until nightfall begins. His disciples scatter and Liu Qingge has the hope to talk more with Shen Qingqiu, but a small herd run up to their shizun with a drink and small bag of something for him. He accepts it with a smile and pats a few of his disciples on their heads.

Liu Qingge watches from a distance as Shen Qingqiu gently puts his hand in and pulls from it a orange mouse like creature with a beak. He lights up seeing it and allows it to run over his hands, constantly adjusting to keep it under his care. He bends lower and starts talking at length, the ups and downs of his voice carrying on the breeze just enough for Liu Qingge to hear.

He doesn’t approach. He just watches Shen Qingqiu delight in teaching his disciples about this strange creature they found.

Something strange happens in Liu Qingge’s chest. A jolting palpitation.

The final activity, a rope’s course high in the trees wherein everyone will again be divided into pairs. Under normal conditions, when not in the cultivation world, merely a rope’s course would be enough to prove a bonding experience in which they must trust each other. But surrounded by cultivators this wouldn’t even count as a day’s training. Therefore, Shen Qingqiu moves through the pairs he assigns, tying them together by their ankles, merging a rope’s course and a three legged run. This very well might go terribly, but between himself and Liu Qingge, he’s certain no one will be hurt.

Especially given Liu Qingge declines his offer to join, stepping aside with his arms crossed to watch.

“Well,” Shen Qingqiu says to Luo Binghe who offered to not participate if Liu Qingge wanted to, “I guess your stuck with this old shizun for this activity too, Binghe.”

“That’s fine, Shizun!” Luo Binghe says eagerly. “This disciple is just happy Shizun trusts him.”

Shen Qingqiu suppresses a chuckle and kneels to tie their ankles together.

“Shall we begin?” he calls to the group at large who are all most enthused by this activity.  The moment the words are past his lips everyone is running. A few disciples trip and faceplant, and much to Shen Qingqiu’s pride, when he and Luo Binghe pass them Luo Binghe stops to help them up like a true protagonist.

He and Luo Binghe lag behind everyone else to climb up the tree last. Shen Qingqiu doesn’t care about winning and it would in fact be in poor form for everyone’s shizun to show off beating all his disciples in a trust exercise. He and Luo Binghe stand at the base of the tree everyone else is climbing.

Shen Qingqiu unconsciously rubs his wrist. It still twinges a little from the fall.

“Is it hurt?” Luo Binghe asks seeing this.

“What? Oh, no,” Shen Qingqiu quickly assures remembering Ning Yingying’s concern at him feeling guilty about the injury resulting from the demon invasion still. He’s already had this conversation several times and yet he seems to need to keep repeating it. “It’s not hurt at all. You did well facing off against Peak Lord Liu.”

“Really?” Luo Binghe’s eyes sparkle looking up at him. 

“En. You did actually land a blow on him. His sleeve was cut. Shizun just didn’t want to embarrass Liu-shidi in front of my disciples.”

Luo Binghe grins and bobs on his toes making his curls bounce. It’s too tempting not to reach out and pet them, so he gives in and lays his hand on top of Luo Binghe’s head under the pretense of stopping his bouncing. 

“This disciple won’t say anything of it,” Luo Binghe says in an adorably serious voice. “This disciple is just happy Shizun knows his capabilities.”

“I’ve always known your capabilities, Binghe.”

He’s always known what he’s going to grow up to be. His path is predetermined, written in another lifetime. Luo Binghe will be greatness defined. He will be powerful and self assured and collecting his harem before Shen Qingqiu knows it, so he can’t help but relish in the little white lamb now before he’s blackened.

Everyone else has managed to either jump to the next high platform or balance over narrow ropes, so Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe begin to climb too. They work in surprising unison, so well that Shen Qingqiu doesn’t need to think at all because Luo Binghe simply follows and tracks his movements to keep perfect pace.

When they get to the first gap to cross Shen Qingqiu looks to Luo Binghe. 

“How should we cross it?”

“What does Shizun think?”

Shen Qingqiu pauses before saying, “I want you to decide. Take the lead and tell me what to do.”

Luo Binghe looks appreciatively at his shizun, at the rope and the gap. He taps his finger on his lip before saying, “It's a bit too long so we shouldn’t just jump it, so let’s cross using the rope. Because our feet are tied together we should hold each other around the waist to keep stable.”

It’s an apt assessment although Shen Qingqiu feels it would be better if he had paired Luo Binghe with a pretty shijie, but alas, he’s here high in the canopy clutching his shizun as they waver over the ground far below.

Halfway through a heavy wind gust shoves them and they almost lose balance and Luo Binghe practically wraps himself around Shen Qingqiu like a piece of playdough. His face is buried in Shen Qingqiu’s robes to where he cannot see him at all. Shen Qingqiu can only stand perfectly still clutching Luo Binghe until the wind calms and they can slowly keep moving.

They’re on the fourth stretch of precarious ropes when something below catching Shen Qingqiu’s eye: down below where Liu Qingge stands staring up at the party, Yue Qingyuan joins him in staring up at them.

While Liu QIngge looks sharp, Yue Qingyuan has a soft expression gazing up at him, his gray robes tugged by the breeze that almost tipped Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe a moment before. Immediately Shen Qingqiu feels touched that Yue Qingyuan would want to come and see what he’s doing. He still always half expects him to avoid him after the original good’s habit of fighting with the friendly man.

“Stay here a moment,” Shen Qingqiu says when they get to the platform at the end of the rope. He bends and taps the rope binding their legs to make it untie. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

With that, Shen Qingqiu jumps down the platform to land lightly in front of  Liu Qingge and Yue Qingyuan.

“Zhangmen-shixiong,” Shen Qingqiu says in greeting. 

“Shen-shidi,” he answers and looks up at the affair. “I heard you had something interesting going on out here and had to come see it myself.”

“Ah,” Shen Qingqiu says and follows his gaze to Ming Fan and Ning Yingying tied together flinging themselves tree to tree ignoring the course and bursting with laughter. “It’s trust building exercises. I want my disciples to trust each other more and thought a day dedicated to it might help foster such comradery.”

Yue Qingyuan’s eyes crinkle into bright half moons but an expression of curiosity passes over his face.

“It’s a novel concept, one I’ve never heard Shen-shidi propose.”

He glances at Shen Qingqiu as though expecting him to break into rudeness. Instead with a jovial air, Shen Qingqiu says, “It’s a new concept that came to me in a dream. At least, this part of it.”

Yue Qingyuan gives a small nod and looks back up at the children tied together playing high in the trees.

“Would Zhangmen-shixiong like to try?”

His eyes dart towards Shen Qingqiu with a heavy question.

“Only if you’d like to, of course,” Shen Qingqiu assures. For all he knows this might be below the sect leader’s dignity. But then Yue Qingyuan says, “I would very much like to rebuild trust with my shidi.”

Shen Qingqiu only pauses a second at the strange phrasing before pulling out a fresh rope. He’s on his knees tying himself to Yue Qingyuan when he remembers Luo Binghe, who he catches peering over the platform with a sad expression. 

He must have really wanted to finish the course.

“Liu-shidi?” Shen Qingqiu asks, “Would you be kind enough to partner with Luo Binghe for the rest of the course?”

Instead of Shen Qingqiu returning to him so he can hug and cling to him, much to Luo Binghe’s horror, Liu Qingge effortlessly scales the tree and stands on the platform looking down on him.

“Your shizun says we’re partners now.”

Displeasure for Liu-shishu grows in Luo Binghe’s belly but given it was shizun’s order he works with Liu Qingge, surely to amend the damage to Liu Qingge’s ego at Luo Binghe actually managing to land a strike, Luo Binghe begrudgingly complies.

They fling themselves through the course without a care for their safety or wellbeing, each wanting to get it done as fast as possible and break free of each other, far surpassing any other pair and leaving them far behind in the ropes course.

Yue Qingyuan didn’t know what to expect when he bumped into Shang Qinghua trudging over the rainbow bridge and heard Shen Qingqiu was doing some “strange day camp” like what wealthy noncultivators apparently arrange for their children according to Shang Qinghua. He didn’t expect children tied together flinging themselves through trees and certainly didn’t expect to find himself bound to Shen Qingqiu by the ankle as they hold each other slowly shuffling sideways along a long rope.

He doesn’t hold tightly to Shen Qingqiu like he’d like to, but that doesn’t matter as Shen Qingqiu holds tightly to him as they shuffle in tandem.

Every so often Shen Qingqiu makes eye contact with him and his expression brightens as though he’s happy to see him and something in Yue Qingyuan’s chest twists. He both yearns to be looked at in this way and hurts because before his qi deviation Shen Qingqiu would never look at him like that. He wonders if this happiness to see and converse with him will forever remain or if the Shen Qingqiu he remembers will ever return.

No one wants him to return, but Yue Qingyuan can’t help but wanting him back to his bitter self, even if it were to mean nothing like this trust exercise would ever happen again. He just wants to prove…he doesn’t know what he wants to prove, what he needs to prove, but he just knows that he does. 

Shen Qingqiu wobbles on the width of rope narrowing from three twisted together to one. He grips Yue Qingyuan even tighter with an exhale that hints at a laugh.

“Sorry, Zhangmen-shixiong,” he says. “I suppose my spiritual veins weren’t entirely cleared since I’m a little off balance.”

“It flared up?” Yue Qingyuan asks. Now he wraps an arm around his shidi and begins to shuffle sideways towards the next platform, ensuring neither will fall.

“Ah. Earlier when I was demonstrating an activity with Shang-shidi.”

“You did trust activity with Shang Qinghua?”

“En. I was blindfolded and he was guiding me, except my without a cure flared up and I feel in the water.”

No wonder Shang Qinghua was so eager to leave the valley of activities so quickly. It’s shocking that he wasn’t limping away.

It’s strange that he would want to build trust with Shang Qinghua given how little respect he holds for the man. But then again, Yue Qingyuan realizes, that he’s thinking of the wrong Shen Qingqiu, the Shen Qingqiu prior to his qi deviation 312 days ago. Of course he now wants to repair the damages between the two and hope to make Shang Qinghua trust him enough to stop pretending to die during every fight.

The both get a foot on the next platform and stop for a moment. Yue Qingyuan tentatively starts to channel energy to clear what remains of the blockage from his spiritual veins. He half expects Shen Qingqiu to slap him off saying he doesn’t need help like he did when they were both disciples, but instead he accepts it.

High above the ground, bound together where no one can hear but disciples’ laughter can be heard in the distance, Yue Qingyuan studies the familiar face.

He can’t help himself from asking, “Are you ever going to actually trust me?”

Shen Qingqiu looks confused. 

“Of course I trust you. I’d place my life in your hands if not for the nuisance it would cause. I’d much rather not having you worried about me.”

Yue Qingyuan looks meaningfully into Shen Qingqiu’s eyes, in this light the dark brown almost looks hazel edging towards green. He yearns to say that he’ll always worry about him, his shidi and his xiao Jiu, but he keeps himself silent this time and merely replies, “I’ll always be here if you need me, Shidi.”

Shen Qingqiu smiles. “I know.”

It stings for him to agree, but at least he knows even with his qi deviation his life if dedicated to him. 

Shen Qingqiu breaks their gaze to stare out at his disciples. His eyes track the speck of Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge flinging themselves through the course. Yue Qingyuan remains behind him with his hands on his shoulders pressing energy into him.

“Zhangmen-shixiong?” Shen Qingqiu suddenly says, “What was the sect like when you first joined? Did your shizun ever do anything like this?”

“No,” Yue Qingyuan replies. “He didn’t.”

“Hm. Do you think it’s a mistake to help our disciples bond like this? Should it only be done through missions? Did you bond with your martial siblings much?”
Yue Qingyuan’s fingers clench, clutching the soft robes covering Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders. “I didn’t. I spent a lot of time in the spiritual caves.”

Shen Qingqing doesn’t notice. He tilts his head so he can see him just over his shoulder. He smiles and praises, “So diligent, Yue-shixiong. No wonder you became sect leader and everyone fears even the glint of Xuan Su’s blade.”

“I had a powerful motivation driving me,” Yue Qingyuan replies softly.

Shen Qingqiu looks back out at his disciples.

“It must have been. Someday I’d love to hear about it.”

Shen Qingqiu oversees everyone setting their lanterns down the river. Each disciple takes their lantern and hands it to whoever they spoke to the least today. He watches Luo Binghe struggle with letting his lantern go before marching up to a girl with a high ponytail and an elegant face and shoving it towards her. She blushes and accepts the lantern. Shen Qingqiu doesn’t hear they exchange but inside he’s absolutely beaming to himself for having found Luo Binghe a potential new wife. He eagerly waits for the system to throw up a new notification alerting him to a new romance, or a secret NPC or anything, but the system remains silent.

Perhaps Luo Binghe will have to strengthen their bond before the system realizes they’re absolutely destined to be in love. 

Everyone stands at the edge of the stream watching the glowing lights turn into dots and vanish behind a bend. Shen Qingqiu feels deeply proud of all his disciples today and turns to them all.

“Everyone back to the camp. Peak Lord Liu and Sect Leader Yue have both volunteered to start the bonfire for us, and I have a very special treat for everyone.”

A few of them go running, skipping and jumping together with loud cheers back through the dark trees to the clearing while the other half remain clumped around Shen Qingqiu leaving him once again feeling like a mama duck with his line of ducklings waddling behind him. Even more so as they walk away from the babbling stream.  

The fire is indeed alight when Shen Qingqiu and his disciples get back to the campsite. More than that, Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge have dragged over logs from who knows where to create a proper circle around the fire with space for everyone to sit. Shen Qingqiu delights in seeing it and hurries up to the both to issue thanks, which each brush off. Yue Qingyuan with a smile and Liu Qingge by turning away to throw another massively heavy log into the flames sending a high plume of embers floating high into the air like fireflies drifting up into the night.

Everyone sits and Shen Qingqiu carries over the basket, and from it a smaller container of the mallows of the marsh.

“These,” he says excitedly, “Are exceedingly rare and most of you might not have tried them before. It’s only because of Peak Lord Liu that I was even able to get some.” He takes out one fluffy blossom that thanks to Airplane’s lazy world building is just a large marshmallow, and holds it out. “Mallows of the marsh.”

His disciples lean in, their faces alight from the dancing flames. It feels Shen Qingqiu with delight seeing their unmasked excitement. 

“We could eat them raw, there’s no harm in it and they’re quite good, but what I recommend is roasting them. Binghe, could you go find Shizun a stick about this long, thin with a pointed end?”

Luo Binghe runs off into the darkness.

“We spear them through and then hold them just over the flames so that they roast. And then we eat them, or you can sandwich them between something else sweet, and eat it then.  Just don’t eat it right after it catches fire. It’s like a hot tar then. Even with your cultivation your tongue might be burned for a week.”

A few giggle while the youngest girl invited looks intimidated as though it’s a threat. 

Luo Binghe comes running back with a stick exactly like Shen Qingqiu has in mind. Wanting to ensure the protagonist knows how to roast the perfectly browned, gooey marshmallow when he and a wife to be are inevitably trapped in the Shimmering Winds Marsh, Shen Qingqiu spears it on the stick and passes it back to Luo Binghe.

“Hold it over the flames like that. You can bring it closer to the coals.”

Luo Binghe adheres to his words with a fierce determination, clutching the stick to make sure he doesn’t accidentally drop it into the flames.

Despite his best effort, the marshmallow catches fire. He yelps and jerks back waving the treat turned torch through the air crying out, “Shizun! What do I do!”

“Blow it out,” Shen Qingqiu says amused at how frantic he sounds. Yes, having him learn this early was certainly a good idea.

Luo Binghe inhales deeply, his cheeks puffing up before blowing out the fire. The blanket marshmallow hangs on the stick and, with its structural integrity compromised, slowly starts to slide down.

“Is it ruined?” Ming Fan asks.

“No. No. It’s just going to carry a burnt flavor. It’s still perfectly good. Binghe, why don’t you eat that one or pass it off to someone else to enjoy. Everyone else, go find yourselves some sticks.”

Everyone jumps up to run, leaving Shen Qingqiu, Yue Qingyuan, and Liu Qingge around the fire alone aside from Luo Binghe poking at the marshmallow. 

Shen Qingqiu turns to talk to the two when Luo Binghe suddenly speaks up. “Shizun? Do you want it?”

“Hm?” Shen Qingqiu says turning back to him. Luo Binghe looks so sincere in his offer it’s adorable. He can’t help but reaching out and patting Luo Binghe’s head and accepting the marshmallow.

“I usually prefer them more golden,” he says looking at it, then looking to Yue Qingyuan staring at the burnt marshmallow. “Zhangmen-shixiong, would you like this one?”

Yue Qingyuan looks surprised and accepts the marshmallow, prodding it with his finger. “I’ve heard about these but never got to try one,” he says and Shen Qingqiu beams. 

“I’m glad you decided to investigate today so you could try one.”

Luo Binghe interrupts, “Would shizun like my to try making another?”

Shen Qingqiu smiles at him. “Shizun would like that very much.”

A few disciples are running back with their sticks now. Luo Binghe snatches another marshmallow from the hefty back and sticks it onto the gooey stick and returns to the fire to roast it, this time keeping it further out of the fire to keep it from catching flame again.

Shen Qingqiu turns back to his own martial siblings and says, “I think we should arrange something like this for all the peak lords. Perhaps in place of a peak lord meeting.”

Both men remain silent but Shen Qingqiu takes it as agreement. Yue Qingyuan’s silence stems from chewing on the marshmallow, while Liu Qingge he never expected to answer.

A few more disciples run in screaming that they found their sticks, each showing them off to their shizun asking him to rank who’s is best. Realistically, Luo Binghe’s is best, but he praises each for their density meaning they will not burn or many branches so many mallows of the marsh can be cooked at once. Everyone gets a small affirmation from their shizun.

Luo Binghe runs back to Shen Qingqiu with another cooked marshmallow. Half is a perfect golden brown and half a little darker though not blackened at all, truly the perfectly cooked marshmallow proving Luo Binghe’s superiority. Shen Qingqiu slides it off the stick and hands it to Liu Qingge saying “I wouldn’t dare eat one before offering it to my shidi first.”

He misses Luo Binghe’s falling expression as he grabs another marshmallow and runs back to the fire.

This mallow of the marsh shizun will get! He’s given one to the sect leader and one to Peak Lord Liu, and now there is no one else to give it to.

Luo Binghe really doesn't want anyone else eating the mallows he roasts for shizun, but he can’t exactly jump in wielding a twig like a sword demanding his shizun not share and appear rude to the other peak lords. He wants to but he has a little more self restraint than that. One a little more.

This one he will make sure is a perfect golden brown. He keeps a sharp eye on it slowly rotating at an even pace before withdrawing it from the flame to examine and putting back to repeat the process until the entire thing has turned gold just like his shizun said. When it’s absolutely perfectly evenly roasted he runs back to shizun…

Only to find Shang-shishu has rejoined the group after slinking off earlier in the day and has joined Shen Qingqiu and the other peak lords on their log. His heart drops and he has to swallow a knot in his throat knowing his perfect mallow is going to be set in Shang Qinghua’s hands. He knows he could ask his shizun not to give his food filled with love to a man he doesn’t like at all, but he can’t make himself. The whole point of today was building trust and bonds, and this is Shizun bonding with his own peers, even if Luo Binghe wants that bond all for himself.

He mournfully gives Shen Qingqiu the mallow which he indeed passes to Shang Qinghua who looks shocked and glances at Luo Binghe, catching his eye before Luo Binghe turns away to get another mallow.

The bag is nearly empty now from the hoard of excited disciples left. Luo Binghe would like to take two to ensure he gets one too, but doesn’t want to take from his peers. Therefore he only grabs one hoping against hope that this one Shen Qingqiu will actually accept for himself, and returns to the fire to stare into the flames until they sting his eyes and he has to look away.

When he turns back Shen Qingqiu has gotten a tea pot from the box of food and supplies,  and is sipping the delicate cup in his hand. Yue Qingyuan drinks too, while Shang Qinghua and Liu Qingge merely hold theirs.

Luo Binghe builds himself up and approaches one more time. 

“Shizun,” he says presenting the stick yet again. “This disciple roasted this mallow especially for you.”

Shen Qingqiu reaches out a delicate hand and pulls it from the stick, its innards clinging to it leaving only a crunchy shell between Shinzun’s fingers. Immediately Luo Binghe’s heart falls that this mallow he presented was not perfect, but then Shen Qingqiu sets it on his tongue and chews, closing his eyes with a delighted expression. 

“It’s perfect,” he says after swallowing. “You really are a natural at cooking these. Thank you, Binghe.”

Luo Binghe feels like he could ascend at the praise. He feels giddy and light headed and full of delight, rolling the complement in his head over and over again like he rolled the stick to ensure nothing would burn. He only wishes he could make a million more mallows for his shizun.

Throughout the evening the children break into giddy giggles. Shen Qingqiu moves to a more brightly lit log and pulls out a book full of stories Shang Qinghua acquired for him. He flips through it in contemplation before stopping on one and smiling to himself. He then starts to read from the book a story that might be meant to be scary. Luo Binghe isn’t sure. He only half listens, instead preferring to listen to the smoothness of Shizun’s voice and staring at the light dancing over him. A few times a stubborn strand of hair falls into his face and he has to brush it back with long, delicate fingers. 

When he finishes reading he looks up at his disciples and they immediately ask for another.

Shang Qinghua stands at the pause in story and excuses himself, but Liu Qingge and Yue Qingyuan remain to listen to Shen Qingqiu’s stories for a while more.

With the requests, he silently flips through the book again and finds another and begins reading.

After the second story, Luo Binghe moves closer to the fire pretending to be cold so that he can sit on the log next to Shizun’s. Ning Yingying yawns deeply and lays her head on Luo Binghe’s shoulder and closes her eyes. Luo Binghe yawns and tilts his head against hers too,  but keeps his rapt attention pointed solely at his shizun even when he struggles to keep his eyes open.

Shen Qingqiu ends up reading nearly half the book before his own eyes grow heavy and he decides he’s done, sending all his disciples to bed. They all make a disappointed noise in unison but leave the warm fire for the hammocks Shen Qingqiu set up for them.

Luo Binghe mournfully gets up to leave too, but Shen Qingqiu coughs lightly drawing his attention.

“Does Shizun want something?” Luo Binghe asks.

“Mn. Sit with me a moment,” Shen Qingqiu says adjusting so there’s more room on the log for Luo Binghe. His heart jumps and he immediately sits down right next to Shen Qingqiu who is picking up a stick abandoned on the ground from early in the evening. With a small burst of spiritual energy he clears it of the dirt stuck to it and pulls from his pockets two mallows of the marsh.

“Thank you for roasting so many of these,” he says putting them both on the stick. “It was thoughtless of Shizun to share your cooking. Did you get any?”

Luo Binghe shakes his head. “This disciple wanted to make sure everyone else got some. But Shizun gave this disciple one when you got back to the peak.”

“You’re always so thoughtful, don’t ever change, Binghe.” Shen Qingqiu says with a smile. He keeps his voice low to not draw attention of everyone else around the clearing. He holds the stick with two mallows of the marsh over the fire and starts to slowly rotate it. “I thought that might be the case, which is why I set these aside.”

He glances at Luo Binghe from the corner of his eye and Luo Binghe can feel himself feeling pink that his shizun thought of him and his wants and needs.

“Oh!” Shen Qingqiu mumbles when they catch fire. He quickly draws them close and blows them out before looking at them with a frown. “It seems you were better at this than your old shizun.”

“Nuh-uh!” Luo Binghe says quickly. “This disciple likes burnt food.”

An actual laugh from his shizun fills the air making Luo Binghe’s heart flutter.

“Don’t pretend such a skilled cook like you likes burnt food, Binghe.”

“I might like these burned though! You said some people do.”

Shen Qingqiu sighs and agrees. He gingerly touches the mallow and, deeming it no longer molten, pulls it off the stick. He  passes the first one to Luo Binge and keeps the second one for himself. He doesn’t eat his at first, instead watching Luo Binghe eat it.

Luo Binghe savors it being the first food Shizun has overtly  made just for him. His shizun saved it for him, cooked it for him, and blew over it to extinguish out the flames. It’s as close to a kiss that Luo Binghe thinks he might ever receive and he’ll cherish it as much as he can.

He can’t help but mourn when he swallows it.

Shen Qingqiu looks out at the fire again and pops his mallow of the marsh into his mouth.

Luo Binghe shivers and moves closer. Shen Qingqiu instinctively wraps an arm around Luo Binghe and begins to channel energy to warm him more than the fire already does.

“How have your dreams been, Binghe? Any more like that one?”

“No…” Luo Binghe murmurs and closes his eyes.

“Good,” Shen Qingqiu says and falls into silence staring out at the fire’s dance.

Luo Binghe lays his head against Shen Qingqiu, staring at the flames licking towards the sky too.

Shen Qingqiu doesn’t realize it when Luo Binghe falls asleep next to him. He thought they were both watching the flames when suddenly the child slumps against him with his eyes closed and mouth ajar. Shen Qingqiu studies his sleeping face a moment deeping him cute and wondering how long he’ll stay cute, if it will last until he blackens or if as he grows into a teen he’ll mature out of his adorable curls and round eyes. 

He awkwardly brushes a curl out of Luo Binghe’s face. He knows that in Proud Immortal Demon Way his hair is straight, but he can’t help but hope Luo Binghe keeps his curls. He hopes a lot of things for Binghe.

He hopes for the best for him no matter what future trials may come.

Shen Qingqiu leans his head against the top of Luo Binghe’s curls and closes his eyes too.

He hopes in the future they’ll still trust each other, no matter what.