Work Text:
Shen Qingqiu knew something was wrong as soon as he woke up. For starters, the world looked like a 1930's film-
Which was to say it was black and white with shades of grey and damn near impossible to make anything out because it was all too similar in color without any false lighting or outlines, everything just blended together, rendering Shen Qingqiu as good as blind. The world may as well have been all black, it hardly made a difference.
Wonderful.
"System, what's happening?" He asked.
System error. There has been a bug that caused this system to malfunction. Attempting to fix.
"Of course," Shen Qingqiu muttered. "Is Airplane-bro experiencing the same thing?"
User_001 is indeed experiencing the same error as User_002.
"Great, that hack author can help me. Since I'm the one fixing all his plot holes."
Shen Qingqiu stood and headed off to find Shang Qinghua. Only to run into him in the doorway. Quite literally, they both fell over.
"Gah, sorry Cucumber-bro!" Shang Qinghua yelped.
"It's fine... « Your robes make you blend in with everything since it's all black and white anyways. »"
"That's not my fault!" Shang Qinghua yelped defensively.
"Did I say it was? « Unless you did something with the cave where we found the Sun Moon Dew Mushroom, this is entirely the systems fault »," Shen Qingqiu said.
« You always blame everything on me or the system », Shang Qinghua protested.
"Shut up. And let's find you some new robes so that I can see you better."
"Right," Shang Qinghua said. "Not something too pale, it'll be harder to see each other during the day. And nothing too dark or it will blend in with the night. Actually, your robes are the perfect shade. Can I borrow some of your-?"
"Absolutely not. Now come on, we're going to the market."
"But aren't we supposed to meet with the other peak leaders?!"
"We'll show up late either way, won't we? We're just getting you some new robes."
"Fine, but if you blame it on me-"
"I'll take the blame Airplane-bro. Now where is Ming Fan or Yingying?"
Hand resting on the wall, Shen Qingqiu made his way out of his quarters where he was promptly met with Ming Fan and Ning Yingying.
"Shizun!"
"Shizun!"
"I have to leave with your Shang-shishu, watch the sect while I am gone," Shen Qingqiu instructed.
"Yes Shizun!" They said.
"And if anybody from Bai Zhan Peak comes to bully you, you have my permission to forcibly remove them from the peak and fight back," he added as an afterthought.
Then Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua left together and went to the market. They quickly found a stall selling robes- it helped that the stall owner had called out to them offering them robes, and then showed his robes for men. Shang Qinghua found some robes in his size that they could easily see against the sea of grey, and he bought some different robes in a few shades of grey, or that's how Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua saw them anyways. He bought five different sets of robes, and then they went to An Ding Peak where Shang Qinghua left the robes, changed into one of the pairs, and then they went to Qiong Ding Peak where the other peak lords were waiting for the two transmigrators.
"Where have you two bee- what is with those atrocious robes that you're wearing Shang-shidi?" Liu Qingge 'greeted' them, sounding angry then extremely confused.
"Shut up," Shang Qinghua mumbled. "It's not my fault everything looks-"
He was cut off by Shen Qingqiu hitting him over the head with his fan so hard he lost his balance and fell forward barely catching himself.
"Qingqiu-shidi, please treat Shang-shidi with some more respect," Yue Qingyuan sighed.
Shen Qingqiu sighed, and crouched down to help Shang Qinghua up. « Are you stupid? » He hissed as he did so. « We could be forced to reveal we're transmigrators if we tell them, this has to remain a secret. »
« Sorry, it won't happen again », Shang Qinghua murmured.
« See that it doesn't. »
Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua took their seats, only to space out the entire time, which wasn't unusual for Shang Qinghua, but entirely unusual for Shen Qingqiu, although unknown to them he usually just pretended to pay attention. He blamed it on missing Binghe, but while it was true he missed him, that was not the cause for him visibly spacing out.
Instead it was the fact everything was blurring together, too close in color to properly make anything out. Shen Qingqiu was hoping this was just his eyesight adjusting, and wouldn't be permanent, because then he'd have to explain why he couldn't see, and explain why he lied, which would be a pain to do without revealing himself or Shang Qinghua. Although if he got revealed he was bringing that hack author down with him.
Fortunately it turned out Shen Qingqiu was correct, as his eyesight got clearer as the days progressed, after a few weeks he and Shang Qinghua could see normally again- aside from the fact that everything was still devoid of color, which proved to be a real pain when it got too dark.
Which was precisely why, three years later in Jin Lan city, he ran straight into Luo Binghe.
Shit! What the fuck's the protagonist doing here, isn't he supposed to be in the Endless Abyss for another two years?! Wait, no, calm down. It's probably not him, people look similar when they're in black and white and it's dark out. It's not Luo Binghe... Right?!
Those were Shen Qingqiu's thoughts but externally he gave a quick bow. "This one apologizes for running into gongzi."
"Shizun?" Was the reply.
Shit! Wait, maybe he's calling someone else.
"Gongzi? I'm not sure I understand... Are you talking to me?"
"You are Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu of Qing Jing Peak, correct?"
"I am..."
"Does Shizun really not recognize me?"
"I'm afraid not... Besides, all my disciples are either at Qing Jing Peak or dead." Of course that's not true... But nobody knows I know Binghe's alive!
"Shizun... This one is Luo Binghe."
And there's goes my last hope. What the fuck is this?! Why have you escaped the Endless Abyss two years early!?
"Binghe...?" He asked aloud. "Is it really you? I couldn't recognize you what with seeing everything in-" Shen Qingqiu quickly caught his slip up. "You've grown considerably."
"What was Shizun going to say?"
"..."
System, will I get in trouble for explaining the truth?
While this system is attempting to fix the error, User_001 and User_002 can receive no punishment for their actions, and will also receive no punishment in the future.
"Why don't we talk in private..."
"Whatever Shizun wants," Luo Binghe agreed without hesitation.
Just then Shang Qinghua came barreling forward from the crowd. "There you are! Liu Qingge and I thought you'd died! Come on, let's get back to the inn, we'll investigate more tomorrow. Liu-shidi's orders."
"...Shang-shidi. Which way is the inn?"
"...I forgot."
"..."
"..."
The pair looked at each other in grim silence.
"So..." Shen Qingqiu said finally, breaking the silence. "Do we stay put and hope Liu-shidi finds us?"
"That seems like a good idea."
They waited in increasingly awkward silence until Liu Qingge showed up and yelled at them for getting lost. Then he led them back to the inn and showed them to their rooms, oblivious to Luo Binghe following.
Once they reached Shen Qingqiu's room, said person dragged Shang Qinghua into it by the collar and Luo Binghe followed.
Where they sat in awkward silence.
"Shizun wanted to tell me something?" Luo Binghe finally asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes... Shang-shidi, help me out here, please?"
"Fine. But only because you're my best friend. Long story short, something happened, we don't know what exactly, but now Cucumber-bro and I only see everything in black, white, and grey."
Shen Qingqiu stared at Shang Qinghua in horror. "You idiot."
"What, what did I- ...Oh no." Understanding and horror appeared on Shang Qinghua's face.
"...'Cucumber-bro'?" Luo Binghe asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Ah, shit... Um... Do we tell him?" Shang Qinghua asked.
"This is your mess. You fix it," Shen Qingqiu replied coldly.
"Okay. So, my son, please don't hurt me..."
"No, try again," Shen Qingqiu interrupted.
"Please don't hurt me for what I'm about to tell you my son," Shang Qinghua tried again.
"No, try again," Shen Qingqiu interrupted again.
"Fine... What I'm about to tell you will change your entire life but I have to ask that you not hurt me please."
"Better. Continue."
"Right... So, um. Long story short, I'm from a world where this world is a book I wrote filled with a bunch of plot holes, you're the main character, and have over 3,000 wives."
"WHAT?!" Luo Binghe shrieked. "B- but I'm in love with Shizun why would I have over 3,000 wives?!"
"I'm sorry, did you just say you're in love with me?" Shen Qingqiu asked.
Luo Binghe froze, then hesitantly nodded.
« Great », He mumbled. « I thought I turned the protagonist asexual, but no, I turned him gay? For me? »
« He was always gay », Shang Qinghua butted in. « It's just that he fell in love with Shen Jiu, and Shen Jiu was... Well... Shen Jiu. »
« Yes, thank you for that obvious statement », Shen Qingqiu said sarcastically. « Wait- Did you say he was always gay for my character? »
« Yes...? »
« Then what about his 3,000+ wives? » Shen Qingqiu demanded.
« An attempt to find love in people he never could... And a result of many plot holes and cut story lines. »
"What are you two talking about...?" Luo Binghe finally interrupted, confused.
"Doesn't matter," Shen Qingqiu said quickly.
"Anyways, I got electrocuted and reincarnated into this character, Shang Qinghua, as a baby. Which really sucked, I wish I'd given him a backstory and explained how he ended up working as a spy for my king instead of being completely unprepared and him scaring the shit out of me when we first met. Then doing so again repeatedly, he stole my fucking bed for a few days. But it was my king, so I don't care. Although it was terrifying when I forgot he tied a rope around my neck and he kept accidentally yanking on it while tossing in his sleep."
« You have weird kinks. »
« What?! »
« Payback bitch. »
« I hope you die! »
« I hope you get run through by someone on a flying sword who lost control or is new at flying. »
« What the fuck is wrong with you?! »
While Shang Qinghua continued to curse out Shen Qingqiu in English, Shen Qingqiu turned to Luo Binghe. "My real name is Shen Yuan. I was this novel's biggest hater, which is a long story as to why, I'll explain later. I don't hate you though, don't worry. Anyways, remember that personality change 'I' had where I suddenly starting acting nice?"
Luo Binghe nodded hesitantly.
"I choked to death, ended up in this body at that time, and starting acting nice for a few reasons. One, I had no idea why Shen Qingqiu hated everybody or his actual opinions of people, two, I didn't know how he acted behind closed doors. Three, I didn't want you to suffer more than you already had, which is why I got pissed off when that shitty system forced me to throw you into the Endless Abyss. Although only Shang Qinghua knew of my rage being another transmigrator. Oh, and four, I didn't want you to rip all my limbs off turning me into a human stick and then killing me. Or anybody else such as Ming Fan or Yue Qingyuan. I don't like violence. I also saved Liu Qingge from a qi deviation in the Ling Xi caves."
"Yeah, in Proud Immortal Demon Way, that's the name of the book by the way Binghe, Shen Jiu tries to save him only to fuck up and accidentally kill him, which he regrets a lot, but since you were all begging for him to be castrated and killed, I never got to show his regret and mourning."
"Well at least I saved him," Shen Qingqiu sighed. "Now we should get some rest. We'll have a lot to deal with in the morning."
Unknown to them, Liu Qingge had heard the entire conversation. So when Shang Qinghua left, and found him standing against the wall obviously eavesdropping, he screamed.
"Gah, shut up! Are you trying to wake up the whole inn?" Liu Qingge demanded.
"Liu-shidi..." Shen Qingqiu said. "How much of our conversation did you you hear?"
"Everything, I was confused what you three could possibly have to talk about and eavesdropped from the very beginning."
"Great..."
"I'll keep your secret," Liu Qingge promised. "I'm not someone to go around spilling everyone's secrets."
"You're exactly that type of person," Shang Qinghua said.
"And how do you know that?" Lie Qingge demanded.
"I created you. How could I not know that? Or what about that one time you saw Shen Jiu enter a brothel, and told everyone you came across, which he did by the way not to sleep around and have sex, but to sleep peacefully with people he felt safe with as he's terrified of men from being a slave in the Qiu family and abused and assaulted by the men, while being treated kindly by the women who knew nothing about the abuse he suffered, believing Yue Qingyuan to have abandoned him while in reality Yue Qingyuan, who he once called Qi-Ge, and who once called him Xiao-Jiu was locked in the Ling Xi caves having qi devations because he chose a sword too powerful for his cultivation to handle?"
When Shang Qinghua finally paused to catch his breath, the other three were staring silently at him in shock.
"I was going to have Luo Binghe end up finding out about his past and helping him overcome his trauma and learn to act kindly, but the readers wanted him dead so I had to kill him to calm their anger," he admitted, much calmer now, but still breathing heavily.
« I don't think we needed his entire backstory, but okay then », Shen Qingqiu finally said. "I'm going to sleep. Wake me in the morning."
Luo Binghe dismissed himself and left, finally Liu Qingge muttered an apology, and went to his room, leaving Shang Qinghua standing there for a few minutes until he too went to his room.
The next morning, when they woke up, Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua discovered they could see in color again. They finished up their mission, and when Shen Qingqiu was accused of shit, Liu Qingge, Shang Qinghua, and Luo Binghe all stood up for him and he defended himself as well with their newfound (in three of their cases) knowledge of the abuse Shen Jiu received.
Afterwards they headed back home, where the Qing Jing Peak disciples were happy to have Luo Binghe back, greeting him with hugs, tears, and a few punches for making them worry and think he was dead.
Liu Qingge punished his disciples for bullying Shen Qingqiu's, and helped out Shang Qinghua when he needed it, whereas Ning Yingying, with help from Liu Mingyan got Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe together and then married. Which came as a shock to (most of) the peak lords. Liu Qingge and Shang Qinghua, knowing Luo Binghe liked Shen Qingqiu, weren't surprised at all, attended the wedding with Liu Mingyan and Qing Jing Peak (the only others there) and accidentally revealed the marriage when teasing him for not noticing Luo Binghe had liked him for years at a peak lord meeting.
And Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua's secret was kept.