Work Text:
When he first got the mirror, Shen Jiu was still a head disciple. His shizun insisted he take it, the small silver mirror supposedly having some power to aid in battling heart demons or such nonsense. While Shen Jiu held little belief the mirror did any such thing, nor did he need or want anything like that, he also held deep respect for his Shizun and it was practically a gift. Even at his angriest, he refused to let go of any gift given to him. Having grown up on the streets, he knew to hold tight to every possession, even something given from a person you hated – and he hated Yue Qingyuan, how could he not hate him when he left him behind to become better.
A frustrated breath left his lips before they tugged into a frown. He didn't really need a mirror, he already had one in the small bamboo house his Shizun had constructed for him. In fact, he had a second mirror that laid in the hidden pile of gifts he refused to acknowledge under his bed. Still, his Shizun wanted him to have it. Hoped it would help with his heart demons, however that would work, so Shen Jiu left it on his nightstand with a sigh, deciding to deal with it later.
Later became tomorrow, which became next week, which turned into next month. Being busy with his duties as the head disciple, along with being sent on numerous night hunts with the other head disciples in the name of bonding, he forgot about the mirror until one night he saw it's shimmer when preparing for bed. That evening's night hunt had been especially frustrating, having been forced to work with Liu Qingge and Shang Qinghua, ending with accusations of trying to kill his martial brother. Frankly, he'd wanted to go to the brothel to sleep, wanting to vent and feel understood and cared for, if only for one night, but with his shidi determined to make his life a living hell now, he knew it would be a foolish idea.
Holding the polished silver mirror in his hands, he watched his reflection. The exhaustion in his eyes, the tension in his jaw, the sad downward tilt of his lips. This doesn't help at all. It only reminds me what a wretched thing I am and always will be.
Letting out a sigh, he put the mirror down on the nightstand again.
"If heart demons could be beaten so easily, they wouldn't be called demons, Shizun..."
Tired and with a heavy heart, he laid down in bed, hoping he'd get a few hours of sleep but knowing it wasn't likely. Only a miracle would let him sleep in peace on this mountain. He expected to spend hours tossing and turning in bed, sleep eluding him against his wishes, but hadn't even closed his eyes when he heard it.
A whisper, soft and confused, but also hopeful.
"Hey is anyone there..?"
The male voice made him tense up, throwing himself out of the bed to reach for Xiu Ya. He heard a panicked squeak and found himself looking at the mirror. The voice came from there, he was sure of it. Just what had his Shizun given him?
"Uhh... I understand you're probably... really suspicious, but I swear I didn't mean to end up here!" the voice continued, nerves obvious in the way his voice trembled. Was he afraid though, or was he just a bad liar? A possessed mirror is nothing uncommon, but to think this creature could pass through the wards without notice implies he is far more dangerous than your average demon...
Still, it was foolish to reveal himself to a cultivator.
"This master has no interest in speaking with a demon," Shen Jiu spoke, his voice tinged with irritation and suspicion. He had no doubt it would attempt to bargain for its' freedom, but the only freedom he'd grant it was from living.
"L-listen! I know it doesn't sound believable, but I'm really not a demon! I'm a spirit! I swear I-" he took a breath, seeming to calm himself down. "I get that it looks really wrong, but I honestly didn't mean to intrude... I was trapped in this mirror and haven't been able to get out... You... You don't have to help me, but please don't kill me."
There was a sudden sharp intake of breath from Shen Jiu. There was resignation in that voice. A sadness and grief so deep from the mention of his possible death. While he still wasn't sure if this creature was telling the entire truth, his want to live was true. That, Shen Jiu was certain of. His mind was telling him to ignore it, to destroy the mirror and not look back, but deep in his heart - so deep he hardly knew it was there - a part begged him not to.
"You expect me to allow you to continue to spy? Even if you remain in that mirror, you are a threat to this sect-" Shen Jiu's voice growing louder as he slipped out of formal speech in his frustration. He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all-
"I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!"
The bamboo house grew quiet, the loud breaths from the mirror being the only noise Shen Jiu could focus on. He blinked slowly in shock.
"I didn't ask to die! I didn't ask for some demonic cultivator to shove me into a mirror so he could use me to balance his qi! I didn't fucking ask for any of this!"
... Shen Jiu felt his shoulders go tense, his face feeling warm from embarrassment.
He was crying. The creature... the man in the mirror was crying. His sniffles were soft, but every so often he'd take a loud hiccuping breath. It shouldn't have made him feel bad. Shouldn't have made his throat close up in shame.
"... This master..." he started only to stop, unsure how to continue. He'd wanted to reassure the man but he didn't even know how. "... Who... This demonic cultivator, who were they? Are they still alive?"
The man's breath hitched, soft coughs echoing through the room before he cleared his throat.
"He um... he's dead. His disciple killed him... to steal me. The disciple is dead too... E-everyone is. All the people who've had this mirror were... killed. Usually by the next person..." His voice was filled with exhaustion. Likely this had been going on for decades, then. Shen Jiu wondered if the tales of the mirror helping battle heart demons came about because anyone who had held it was no longer bothered by wordly worries at all, being dead and all.
Shen Jiu frowned, a deep sigh leaving his lips. Lowering Xiu Ya, he walked up to the nightstand. Glancing down at the mirror, he could see a face. Picking it up, he stared at that face. At first, he thought it was once again his own, but looking closer he could spot differences. Softer eyes, rounder cheeks, eyes a deeper green instead of Shen Jiu's bright ones. The man in the mirror's hair was down, clearly in need of some oils and a brush, and he knew he'd never let someone else see him in such a state.
"... What is your name?" he asked the man, softly. While he still held some suspicion in his heart, he couldn't help but feel some guilt. If the man spoke the truth he had been trapped against his will, used over and over by men caring for naught but themselves, powerless to do anything but beg for freedom and hope. No doubt he'd only decided to reveal himself because Shen Jiu held no apparent knowledge of the mirror.
"... Shen Yuan... My name is Shen Yuan..."
Shen Jiu blinked. Shen? He was an orphan and the name was common enough, still... They looked similar, was it possible-? Shaking his head to rid it of the thought, he met Shen Yuan's eyes.
"This master is Shen..." he hesitated before continuing. "Shen Jiu. It is unlikely we hold any relation, being that you are far older than this one." He wanted to cover his face with his fan, but one hand still held Xiu Ya and the other the mirror. Shen Yuan blinked, his shining eyes crinkling into a more amused look.
"You're probably right. I stopped counting after a while but it's... been a long time, that's for sure..." he trailed off, holding his chin in thought. "If I had to guess it's been at least 400 years, and it has to have started early on because the protagonist hasn't become emperor yet... I don't think he's even been born..?" Shen Yuan's mumbles got quieter and quieter, becoming more of a ramble. He kept muttering about "the protagonist" and "AU" and "papapa" whatever that meant. Perhaps it related to going ons from the far past, long before Shen Jiu was born.
"Shen Yuan, focus."
Shen Yuan blinked in surprise, red coloring his cheeks. "Sorry, sorry... got lost in thought... A-anyway, I can't really uh... stop seeing out of this thing. Or hearing. I can hide myself, but it doesn't change the way I percieve the world, so... I can't stop um... spying, as it were."
Shen Jiu wasn't certain why he decided to share that information. Raising an eyebrow in question at Shen Yuan, it became apparent he wasn't sure either with how his entire face became red.
"That... only made it sound worse, didn't it?"
"Quite."
"For what it's worth I ah... I can only see what's reflected in the mirror..? So it isn't as if I'm omnipotent or anything... And my voice doesn't carry that far either, you know? So even if I hear something I shouldn't, I can't share it with anyone so-"
"Shen Yuan."
"Y-yes?"
"Shut up."
"..."
Shen Jiu snorted, amusement warming his chest. "While this master cannot ascertain if all your words hold true, he is at the very least certain that you are of little threat, especially in that form."
Shen Yuan pouted at that. Whether it was because Shen Jiu didn't fully believe him or because he was called weak, he wasn't sure. Putting the mirror back on the nightstand, Shen Jiu leaned Xiu Ya against it as well before sitting down on the bed. He could still see Shen Yuan, though he doubted the other could see him quite as easily. He wasn't sure what to do.
Logic dictated he should tell his Shizun and let him decide on what to do. Still... he had given Shen Jiu the mirror. It was his mirror, and though he had no interest in owning a person... His Shizun entrusted the mirror to him, and thus Shen Yuan by virtue of being inside the mirror. It was only right for Shen Jiu to decide what to do, wasn't it?
"This one will go to the library in the morning and do some research. Perhaps there will be some mention of a situation similar to yours."
Shen Yuan's face brightened and he seemed to come closer to the mirror – which??? how?? did that work?? Shen Jiu had a lot of questions – eyes widening.
"Y-You'll free me?! Even though you're suspicious??" came out with excitement, his voice growing louder. Perhaps his talk of his voice not reaching far had been a white lie after all.
"This master will scour the library, he promises nothing more. Should there be a way to free you, then... we will see. At the very least... it is becoming quite clear this one could defeat Shen Yuan with little effort, so the matter of you being a threat if freed is hardly a concern."
Shen Jiu saw an eyebrow twitch and couldn't stop himself from letting a smug smile cover his lips, this time hidden behind his fan. He wasn't entirely sure if he was making a big mistake, but something urged him it was worth trying.
If nothing else, he could always shatter the mirror.
~
Shen Jiu spent the next couple months holed up in the library when not busy with his duties. He researched any artifact he could find that was said to be a mirror, any mention of demonic cultivators and imprisoning spirits. Anything that had the slightest connection to Shen Yuan's situation. While the information was sparse, and any way of reversing such a thing even rarer, his research did bear some fruit. He'd often speak with Shen Yuan at night about the information he'd found too, in part to see if Shen Yuan would say something suspicious, but also because he finally had someone to discuss cultivation and research with that didn't hate him. Didn't look at him like he was lesser. Perhaps it was unfair, after all Shen Yuan was the weaker in the dynamic, but he seemed perfectly happy to debate and discuss.
When Shen Jiu had reluctantly revealed the many problems that came with his damaged meridians and delayed start to cultivation, how it made him easy to anger – because everyone, that Liu Qingge especially, just kept pushing and mocking and telling him he was weak when he fought so hard to get here – Shen Yuan had looked shocked at first. Soon after, he'd hesitantly offered comfort and revealed his own pampered upbringing – something that rankled Shen Jiu – but also a life of sickness and a struggle to be taken seriously.
While Shen Jiu couldn't relate to having a loving family, he couldn't help but feel a kinship with Shen Yuan. When he'd mentioned the conflicting feelings he had about his courtesy name as well as the prospect of losing his Shizun one day, it had seemed as if he'd transformed Shen Yuan's entire world. While he never really explained why he was so horrified – besides having heard of everything the Qiu name represented – things seemed to take an even bigger turn after that.
That kinship only grew stronger as he went on nighthunts to find the many ingredients he needed, bringing Shen Yuan along when possible. The two would talk a lot about the demonic beasts they'd encounter and the various flowers and plants they'd discovered, and during one such conversation Shen Jiu realized something.
That the feeling he got in his chest when Shen Yuan got passionate about some beast or flower wasn't heartburn, or some heart demon or anything like that. He was growing to care for him. Seeing Shen Yuan's joy at seeing a beast he'd only heard of... it made Shen Jiu happy.
He'd hesitantly asked if it made Shen Yuan happy too, to hear ofShen Jiu's interests and wants. If he also felt that warmth in his chest. It had been an awkward night of even more awkward confessions, but it had left them both with lighter hearts and hope for the future.
When two weeks later Shen Jiu finally freed Shen Yuan from the mirror and his heart had shook in fear he'd be left alone again, Shen Yuan had simply embraced him, shaking and sobbing. If Shen Jiu's Shizun wondered why there was suddenly another disciple living in the Bamboo house, he never spoke about it.When he was later asked for his blessing, he gave it without hesitation, merely happy that Shen Jiu had found someone to remain at his side.
Anyone that did question why Shen Jiu had a spirit as a roommate was simply told it was none of their business, with prejudice. Shen Yuan was fierce in his anger, his words more cutting than Shen Jiu could even manage. He was also beautiful, a fact which the brute that hounded Shen Jiu's home seemed to notice.
If Shen Jiu happened to conveniently have some disciples toss out dirty bathwater near every time the brute was sniffing around, well... There was no proof of any wrongdoing, and even if there had been no one had the heart to say so when Shen Yuan would pout and complain about how everyone was ganging up on his A-Jiu.
Sadly, Liu Qingge was still invited to the wedding, though Shen Jiu found some smug joy in the fact that he had to watch the martial brother he hated marry the man he undoubtedly had a crush on.
Ten years later, when a small boy with curly hair arrived to the selection ceremony, his stay on Qing Jing peak turned out to be one of comfort and home. And if that boy happened to develop crushes on both of his teachers, well... He was hardly different from his peak siblings.