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Shen Yuan hadn't meant to end up in a brothel, pampered by numerous women exclaiming how beautiful he was and that he and their A-Jiu would be great friends! Yeah, right! He transmigrates into some no-name cannon fodder with a pretty face and suddenly people are trying to pimp him out to the first person that comes along? He's not for sale you know!? The weird version of PIDW even had soulmates. Did no one care about that suddenly? Or were they hoping he'd magically have his soulmark resonate with their daughters and sons? He wasn't even gay, by the way so please stop trying to pair him with your sons! Stop asking where the mark was too, he was not stripping just to show you! (Why did it have to be on his ribs?!
The brothel Jiejies were the nicest about it to be fair, but he really wasn't interested in any matchmaking.
As for how Shen Yuan ended up in the brothel to begin with, well... It all started when he decided to investigate a rumor of a rare demonic beast sighting. Having spent nearly a year in PIDW Soulmate edition, he'd studied a lot of the plants and beasts he could safely get close to. While his cannon-fodder body had passable cultivation, it wasn't up to snuff when it came to actual threats, so Shen Yuan had mostly played it safe. When he heard there'd been a sighting of the Silver Feathered Gold Crane he knew it was a once in a lifetime chance to see it.
The Silver Feathered Gold Crane was well known for its silver feathers, the gold part of its' name from how it would mate for life with a Gold Feathered Silver Crane. It gave Shen Yuan a headache just thinking about it. Years ago they had been hunted to near extinction because their feathers were considered valuable, strangely moreso than its' golden variant. It was honestly a bit sad, considering how beautiful the birds were and how mesmerizing their mating dances were. The crane had first appeared in chapter 456, its' feathers being sought out by Luo Binghe to gift to his newest wife-to-be, number 362. The woman, a spoiled young thing that had never heard the word no or please, insisted she needed the feathers for her newest robes and Luo Binghe naturally obliged.
It was probably the one chapter where Shen Yuan found himself truly unhappy with Luo Binghe's actions. While he'd hoped the protagonist would perhaps get a feather peacefully through aiding the crane, he instead ended up killing it, leaving its' mate to remain alone for the rest of its life.
Regardless, Shen Yuan was determined to see this bird – and hopefully its' mate too! - and had traveled to the city below the Cang Qiong mountain sect following a string of rumors. According to the various people he spoke to the bird was in a nearby forest, drawn in by the ambient qi after one of the Cang Qiong peak lords had struck down a demonic beast there. Whether that was true or not, it was worth a look he decided.
There was just one slight miscalculation in Shen Yuan's plan. Apparently he looked a lot like the infamous scum villain, Shen Qingqiu. He'd stayed far away from sects ever since he transmigrated, not wanting to get involved with anything that would possibly get him killed in the future when the protagonist decided to burn the world, so he'd never actually seen most of the peak lords or sect leaders. How was he supposed to know he looked like someone so awful?!
When he'd walked past the Warm Red Pavilion, the brothel the scum villain was known to frequent, one of the ladies outside had gasped in shock before promptly pulling him inside, excitedly going on about how she wasn't expecting to see him so soon. Shen Yuan did try to explain he was, in fact, not a regular customer, but... Well... It was embarrassing okay?! He couldn't get the words out of his mouth, no matter how hard he tried. It was as if a rat had crawled down his throat and just sat there giggling like a little villain.
Thus, he got dragged into the Warm Red Pavilion, his cheeks flushed and his eyes panicked. The woman that was dragging him along didn't seem to notice, but the moment he accidentally made eye contact with another lady, her eyes widened and she hurried to meet them.
"Cheng-er, please let go of this young man-" she started, seemingly embarrassed and amused at the same time. Shen Yuan could hear the laugh in her tone, okay?! "I believe you may have mistaken him for someone else. Please forgive her young master," at this she turned to meet his gaze, a small smile on her face. Shen Yuan blinked before sputtering.
"I-It's fine, mistakes happen." Really, he just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Cheng-er, realizing her mistake, let go of him and took a step back while covering her face.
"This lowly one is so sorry!! It's just... you look a great deal like a friend of ours and I simply presumed-" Her panicked explanation was giving him hives. He really didn't want all this attention. Or trouble. Also, friend?! They referred to one of their customers as a friend?
"It really is fine! I- er, this one isn't bothered, truly. I hope your friend... visits soon?"
Someone kill him now. Shen Yuan was dying from embarrassment. I hope your friend visits soon? Really? He seriously said that?? Was he going to offer to hold said friend's pillar while they papapa'd too?! Ugh, Shen Yuan was starting to feel a bit sick, shaking his head to rid it of such awful thoughts.
"Anyway, I'd best leave, so..." he started, already turning to walk back out, when two hands grabbed hold of his arm again.
"Please, young master, allow us to compensate you for this mistake," the other woman spoke, hr voice pleading. Or perhaps seductive? He couldn't really tell. "At the very least, allow this lowly one to serve the young master some tea, perhaps play some music?" she continued, hands tightening.
It was at that moment, as Shen Yuan was warring with himself on how to turn her offer down that the door was shattered.
"SHEN QINGQIU, YOU DARE SHAME THE SECT AGAIN?!"
Shen Yuan blinked, eyes looking back and forth between the pretty cultivator yelling and the broken door laying mere centimeters from his feet. That could have hit him. It could have hit the woman behind him, who didn't have a shred of cultivation to rely on for that matter. It didn't really matter that he wasn't Shen Qingqiu, even if finding out he apparently looked like him made him a bit weirded out.
This was supposed to be a righteous cultivator? This man, kicking in doors with little regard of how someone could get hurt? Even a pretty face didn't mean you could simply act like an asshole. Taking a moment to look behind him, ensuring both women were okay with a soft question, he urged them to take a step back. He'd rather them not get hurt. The cultivator, meanwhile, seemed to only grow angrier upon being ignored.
"You would ignore me?!" he continued yelling while approaching, no doubt planning to drag him out of there. Or fight him. Shen Yuan was hoping for the former, to be honest.
"You have the wrong person, master cultivator," he spoke, figuring that maybe he could sort out the misunderstanding. "I am not Shen Qingqiu... Merely a wandering cultivator."
"I am no fool, Shen Qingqiu! Enough with your lies! You would engage in shameful activities with lowly whores and damage our sect's reputation again?"
Shen Yuan blinked. This man really was that stupid? Surely Shen Yuan's voice wasn't identical to the scum villain's?? There was simply no way they were entirely identical, right? Also, while he wasn't a purveyor of brothels, was it really necessary to speak of the ladies that way? To be honest, Shen Yuan was starting to get irritated. How was this guy a cultivator with enough authority to drag the second ranked peak lord from brothels?!
"...Are you serious right now?" he blurted out, his voice growing louder. "You not only refuse to listen to me when I tell you I am not the person you think I am, you insult the women of this place when they likely had little choice in their profession and have the gall to speak of shame?"
"You-"
"No, YOU," Shen Yuan interuppted, a furious look overtaking his face. "You kicked in that door with no regard for these women, who are civilians by the way, the people you are meant to protect! You could have hurt them, or any other visitors to this place! Regardless of ones' opinions on establishments like these, you have no right to hurt someone for simply being inside of one! Also! Listen to people when they speak! Are you stupid? Did someone drop you on your head as a baby?! I don't even know who you are and yet you're insisting I'm Shen Qingqiu with absolutely no proof. Go on, prove it then! If I'm really him, you should be able to right?!" Shen Yuan was panting at the end of his rant, hands curled into fists and face red from exertion.
All he wanted was to see some cranes! He didn't plan to have the whole town mistake him for someone else and start dragging him into brothels or accusing him of things!
The cultivator seemed shocked into silence. He stared at Shen Yuan with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing as if he was trying to speak but couldn't figure out how. Moments later, Shen Yuan heard the creak of wood as someone else entered the establishment. Glancing at the doorway, Shen Yuan blinked in surprise and shock.
That... That was definitely the scum villain, right?! Shen Yuan wasn't that vain, but they totally looked similar, right? So it had to be him, right?! He held a fan that covered the lower half of his face, so Shen Yuan couldn't tell his expression, but he looked smug for some reason?
"This master finds that he agrees with the wandering cultivator. Liu-Shidi could learn from him in this regard," he spoke, voice laced with venom and smug satisfaction. "Liu-Shidi" – that guy was the Bai Zhan war god?! Really?! This delicate looking beauty?! - snapped out of his shock, quickly turning around with a furious look.
"Shen Qingqiu!"
Shen Yuan blinked. "Shouldn't that be Shen-Shixiong?" he muttered in confusion. Granted, he hadn't used the proper way to adress his shixiong earlier either, but it was even more blatant now. Even if Shen Yuan didn't trust the scum villain as far as he could throw him (which really wasn't far), he at least expected an upstanding cultivator to use proper respect. It made sense, okay?! He wasn't defending the scum villain, he was just pointing out something stupid, alright?!
Shen Qingqiu only seemed to grow more smug. "To think even a wandering cultivator is capable of more respect than you, shidi. Truly, you never cease to disappoint."
Shen Yuan had no doubt the two were going to end up arguing again, but any attempt to leave would mean having to ask the scum villain himself to move out of the way. Glancing at the brothel ladies again, he let out a small sigh before walking over to them.
"I imagine they're going to be a bit, would it be possible to take you up on that offer of tea?" he asked the older woman softly, noting her still shaking hands. She quickly nodded with a grateful look before ushering him into what appeared to be a small lounging room for the ladies to rest in.
"This lowly one truly apologizes for this, young master. If I hadn't dragged you in thinking you were A-Jiu none of this would have happened..." Cheng-er apologized again, looking as if she might start crying. "That brute loves to harass A-Jiu whenever he visits, never even caring about his many other sect brothers and sisters who come here," she continued to mutter, clearly frustrated.
"... A-Jiu?" Shen Yuan mumbled, confused. That had to be the friend, right? But then, Cheng-er mentioned it in regards to Shen Yuan, who apparently looks like Shen Qingqiu... "Is... A-Jiu, by any chance... that man that came in just now?" he asked reluctantly, desperately hoping to get no answer. Cheng-er, however, crushed his hopes with her enthusiastic nodding.
"Yes! Though you best not call him that, it simply slipped out."
The other woman stepped back into the room with a small tray. "Young master, this Lanhua has brought the tea and some snacks, would master like some music for his meal?" She was smiling softly, making her previous smile look cold and uninviting.
"Ah... sure."
Moments later a third lady walked inside with a pipa and began playing a soft melody. It seemed as if the floodgates opened then, more and more women coming into the room to swarm him. Suddenly they were offering to brush his hair and massage his shoulders, all the while giggling about how valiant he looked defending their A-Jiu. Which?? He didn't? Sure, he said no one should be hurt for simply entering a brothel, but he was referring to customers in general! He didn't intend to defend the scum villain specifically! Especially when he did so many other questionable things!
It was then one lady, Hua-er, insisted he'd make great friends with A-Jiu. After all, not only did he defend their A-Jiu so fiercely, he was also a fellow cultivator! What's more, after Shen Yuan had finally introduced himself, she was sure that since they shared their surname, it was fate they'd become close. Moments later said man walked into the room, a tick to his eyebrow and tightness to his eyes. Clearly whatever argument he had with the war god annoyed him. Shen Qingqiu quickly came to a stop when he realized Shen Yuan was there. Raising an eyebrow, his face seemed to go blank.
"The wandering cultivator remains, I see."
Shen Yuan felt his eyebrow twitch. "Well, I thought it better not to get inbetween two cultivators simply to reach the door, so I decided to wait instead." If his voice sounded a bit sour, well, surely the scum villain would live. "I'm surprised more door weren't destroyed," he added in a mutter, ignoring the giggles around him. He could swear he heard Shen Qingqiu let out a snort.
"That brute was so broken by your assassination of his character that he could hardly function. It made him a rather boring opponent to debate, to be frank." He seemed amused still, even if it was obvious something was also bothering him. "He seems convinced you are this master's evil twin, cut from the same cloth."
Shen Yuan blinked. "I've never met you before??" he blurted out in confusion, struggling to connect the somewhat rude, but not entirely malicious, man in front of him with the scum villain he'd once read about. Where was the lecher that indulged in courtesans and would later kill the very man that had broken into the brothel?! He had been rude, sure, but he didn't seem like someone who wanted to outright kill his martial sibling! And he wasn't papapa-ing any of the ladies, clearly more content to have them fuss over him as if he was their younger brother?!
That nickname, too. A-Jiu. Clearly the ladies enjoyed his company, looked forward to it even, and they even wanted him to make friends! As if they were matchmaking little aunties trying to get good contacts for their nephew!
"Quite," Shen Qingqiu muttered in reply, bringing Shen Yuan out of his thoughts. "Then again that brute holds hardly any intelligent thought in that thick head of his. Surely he'd lose it were it not attached to his neck."
"I honestly wasn't expecting the famed war god to be... like that," Shen Yuan admitted, cheeks growing a bit red. "Does he always go around... doing things like that?"
"Oh certainly, if your name is Shen Qingqiu, or if you happen to look like him, as is your case," was the reply, wry and bitter. Yep, there was definitely baggage there. Shen Yuan was not touching that with a ten-foot pole.
"Right, well... I suppose I'll just have to be ready to have him harass me again on my travels then..."
Shen Yuan was still in shock all this came about because he wanted to watch those cranes. Speaking of the cranes though, this was a Cang Qiong sect cultivator! A peak lord, even! Granted, Shen Yuan still wasn't sure about him, still entrenched in bias from his time reading the novel, but if anything... Well if asking the scum villain questions also happened to let him gauge just how much text was left off of the page then...
"Say, master Shen... Do you know of an area nearby in the woods where a peak lord from your sect struck down a demonic beast recently?" he asked after a moment, having waited for the ladies to finish speaking with their A-Jiu. "I actually came here to see the Silver Feathered Gold Crane, and I was told one had been seen in an area full of qi left from a battle."
Shen Qingqiu blinked, seemingly thinking for a moment. "The last battle this one knows of was weeks ago. Whatever ambient qi was left has surely dispersed by now."
Shen Yuan slumped over, letting out a deep sigh. "Of course... I suppose I should have expected as much."
"... What is your name?" Shen Qingqiu asked him, staring at him rather intensely.
"Shen Yuan..?"
"Is that an answer or a question?"
"Answer, it's an answer!"
"If you seek to look at the Silver Feathered Gold Crane, you will have far more luck visiting the Cang Qiong mountain sect. They frequent Qing Jing peak every spring in search of mates, as it is not only a location full of ambient qi, but a quiet one too. You would need permission from the peak lord, however, as you are not a disciple."
Shen Yuan honestly wondered if he was trying to bully him. To dangle the chance to see those cranes in front of him like this! Still, scum villain or not, Shen Yuan needed to see those cranes.
"And would the peak lord be amenable to giving that permission for a short visit..?" he trailed off hopefully, unable to stop himself from pouting. "If nothing else, it might give peak lord Liu an unpleasant surprise..?"
It seemed to be enough to convince him, which Shen Yuan wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry at. As Peerless Cucumber he'd certainly written things purely out of spite, so he couldn't really judge him too harshly in this regard.
When he later followed Shen Qingqiu up the mountain, being subtly threatened not to mention any details about the brother jiejies or his relation with them the entire way, he found himself excited. He felt a warmth that seemed to nestle in his ribs and remain there, even long after watching the cranes, sat inside the famed Bamboo house. When later that evening there was a knock at the door and Shen Qingqiu's lips tugged into a grimace, Shen Yuan couldn't resist the urge to open the door himself.
The look of shock on the sect leader's face when Shen Yuan stated his evil twin wasn't available and please return another day would fill him with amusement for hours afterwards. It seemed to cheer up Shen Qingqiu too, if the small upturn of his lips was anything to go by. Sure, Shen Yuan didn't necessarily enjoy how harsh Shen Qingqiu had acted towards the sect leader in the book, but also, what kind of sect leader shows up at someone's private residence to bother them in the evening?
He became a frequent visitor after that, the warm feeling by his ribs growing each time. When he caught his reflection in the mirror after a bath one day, and noticed how the previously small soulmark on his ribs had seemingly bloomed into an entire canvas, well... The soulmarks weren't in the original story okay? He never cared about them, so he hadn't bothered to read about them before!
Still, the soulmark was painfully obvious, now that he looked at it. He was either soulmates with a pair of monogamous cranes... or the person that showed them to him.
When years later their relationship deepened to the point they married well... Shen Jiu never let him live it down.
The joke was on him though, forced to carry a canvas of a cucumber armed with a sword and scroll, surrounded by raining feathers of silver and gold.