Chapter Text
Luo Binghe had always seen characters and symbols floating above other people, but it took many years before he realized they were names- even longer before he began to understand the symbols. (He wishes he had been able to read when his mother was still alive so he could make a proper spirit tablet for her, but he was never able to remember the characters.)
His mother had had eight of the pink flower petal symbols, the most he’d ever seen and probably the highest possible. Those symbols seemed to represent affection. When he was living on the streets most people had no symbols at all but sometimes they had a dagger symbol which surely indicated hostility.
After he joined the sect there was more variation.
When he first met other disciples they tended to start out with one of the petal symbols. Unfortunately the other members of Qing Jing, the people he saw most often, tended to exchange their petals for daggers before long. Probably the influence of Shen Qingqiu.
Shizun, when he’d first selected Binghe, had lacked symbols. When he’d seen Binghe more closely he’d gained a dagger. When Binghe made him tea and explained why he wanted to join the sect it had become two daggers.
The last time he’d seen Shizun there had been six, but the number fluctuated.
Sometimes there would be fewer after one of Shizun’s punishments, but other times there were more. Something about his interactions with Ning Yingying also tended to increase the number of daggers. So far he hadn’t been able to figure out a pattern, but he’s sure he could fix everyone’s perception of him if he could just see what caused the changes!
He couldn’t avoid Ning Yingying, though. Not just because his shijie was beyond his control, but also because she was the only disciple on the peak who truly cared for him. And, now that he was getting better at reading, he had discovered that having enough petals allowed access to more information about the person. The ‘Character Profile’ as it was labeled.
For instance, he now knew that dumplings were one of Ning Yingying’s favorite things and that his shijie thought of him as being ‘adorable’. Not that he often got insights on her thoughts, only occasional glimpses into her opinion of him and only if he happened to be looking at that extra information. It took special effort to see it, and disappeared the moment he stopped concentrating on it.
Binghe didn’t know what to make of it at all. He had thought it might be a sort of divination, but the little he’d been able to research the subject in the Qing Jing library didn’t seem to support that idea. Not knowing the source of the information made him hesitant to ask anyone- especially with the number of daggers he saw increasing every day.
But now… now he was confronted with something truly incomprehensible.
Luo Binghe stared at his Shizun. The name “Shen Qingqiu” still floated above his head but there was no way it was the same man. This Shen Qingqiu showed seven of the flower petal symbols, and when he focused he saw that ‘Luo Binghe’ was listed under his favorites.
He was so shocked and confused he neither knelt nor noticed “Shen Qingqiu” greeting him- until he realized he’d been addressed by name. Only Ning Yingying used his name here- and only in a way that got him in even more trouble with Head Disciple Ming Fan.
Not-Shizun was closer now, and Luo Binghe could see that there was something else next to the name “Qingqiu” but it was too hazy for him to make out.
Wait, he’d been asked something… “Yes Shizun! This disciple has learned his lesson,” he bowed, peeking up at the expanded information to see Shen Qingqiu’s current mood listed as ‘Dismayed, outraged, panicking’ and current thoughts as ‘How could the scum villain treat Luo Binghe this way!’
Binghe looked at Not-Shizun’s face and saw absolutely no evidence of these thoughts or feelings.
“Take this medicine; we don’t want anyone thinking Qing Jing abuses its disciples,” his new Shizun said, lightly tossing a bottle his way.
Binghe stammered his thanks, completely stunned. There was some conversation after that but he had no memory of what it was and he’d been unable to concentrate enough to bring the character profile up again.
Later he heard that Shizun had had a qi deviation and forgotten some of his past but Binghe doubted that was what actually happened. What could he have forgotten that suddenly made him love Binghe almost as much as his mother had? No; forgetting might erase hate but it surely couldn’t create affection.
As much as he didn’t understand what had happened or why, he didn’t find himself regretting that it had.