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Yue Qingyuan had not really been paying attention to his surroundings, focused more on getting to his destination and completing his tasks. He didn't care for any of his fellow disciples milling around. At least not until-
"You're Qi-ge!"
His eyes widened in shock as the words penetrated the distracted haze of his mind. Whirling around, he scanned his surroundings, but it turned out to be a moot effort: the disciple who had called out to him was already stalking towards him.
Bai Zhan, Yue Qingyuan recognized from the robes. Young, was all he got from the boy's face. The name evaded him entirely, though perhaps it wasn't so odd. It hasn't been long since his forced seclusion in Lingxi caves, and he hadn't exactly cared to collect any introductions since.
"Shidi," he nodded in greeting, trying to regain his composure. "May I ask, how do you know this name-?"
"Where's A-Jiu?" The boy interrupted him. "He never told me where he was, and now he won't even show up at all! You have to know where he's at, right? Did he come with you?"
Yue Qingyuan thought his heart to be a withered husk already, dead and burned out. And yet: There was more pain that could be squeezed out, it seemed, because it was breaking all over again.
It wasn't enough that he had failed Xiao Jiu, now he would have to share the news of that failure to Xiao Jiu's soulmate.
"May I know your name?" He asked first. It was only right to know his name, when he was about to share such devastating news. It would probably be too awkward to ask afterwards.
"Liu Qingge," the boy scowled. "And you're Yue Qi-ge. Where's A-Jiu?"
He startled a bit at hearing that the boy already had a courtesy name. Especially as Bai Zhan's disciple; Their head disciples tended to skew older, so why was this kid — Yue Qingyuan would eat Xuan Su whole if Liu Qingge had even reached teenagehood yet — already named?
Irrelevant. He pushed the thought away as he straightened out a bit.
"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Xiao Jiu is-" He choked a bit. But he had to say it, Liu Qingge deserved to know. "-he's dead."
Liu Qingge blinked. His brows furrowed. Yue Qingyuan let him process the news, hoping that- That, what, he would take the news easily? How is one supposed to act, when they learn that their soulmate died before they could even meet?
"No, he's not."
...Yes, he supposed "denial" was a predictable first step.
"Liu Qingge-"
"He's not!" The boy even went as far as stomping his foot. "I would have known if he died! He's still alive, his dreams are just- muddy. And irregular. Like he's barely sleeping. But he is alive. I guarantee it."
Yue Qingyuan hesitated. It wouldn't be good to let the boy delude himself, but... Well. He was Xiao Jiu's soulmate. If there was anyone who could know for sure...
"The manor was burned down," he shared impulsively. "And they said that only women survived the fire."
Liu Qingge nodded. "I'm not surprised. Qiu Jianluo was a dick, he had it coming. They all did."
Oh, Yue Qingyuan realized. He's assuming that Xiao Jiu was the one who set the fire.
Then: Why hadn't he done the same? Why did he think Xiao Jiu must have surely fallen victim to the tragic accident?
If Liu Qingge's assumption was correct, if Xiao Jiu was wandering around somewhere, why wouldn't he have come to Cang Qiong? Unless he wasn't able to come.
Xiao Jiu needed his Qi-ge to come back for him, still, wherever he might have found himself.
Yue Qingyuan hadn't even realized he started walking away, not until Liu Qingge grabbed him by the sleeve. The boy's frowning face startled some clarity into him.
"Where are you going?"
"...I don't know," he admitted. "To look for Xiao Jiu."
"I'm going with you!"
His first thought was to refuse. It would be irresponsible to let a young disciple embark on such a mission, where the goal was nebulous and information scarce. But on the other hand...
"Can you sense him?" He asked. The soulmate bond must have only appeared once Yue Qingyuan had already left for Cang Qiong, so he didn't know anything but the common tidbits: that the soulmates shared their dreams, that some could cultivate a full mental bond, that soulmates were a perfect fit for each other and needed no one else... Yue Qingyuan shook himself out of that maudlin line of thinking, focusing back on Liu Qingge's frowning pace. "Ah, apologies. You asked where he was, so-"
"I can probably find him," Liu Qingge seemed not to have heard Yue Qingyuan at all. "If I start from the manor, I could probably track the path he took. I only didn't do that because I wasn't allowed to leave the sect on my own."
"But if a shixiong were to take a shidi along on a night hunt..." Yue Qingyuan trailed off.
"What night hunt?" The boy scowled. "We were talking about getting A-Jiu back."
Right. Less subtle. Yue Qingyuan directed his sheathed sword to float before him, stepping onto it. "I meant, Liu-shidi, that we're going to go get Xiao Jiu."
***
They both flew on Xuan Su. There was a sword at Liu Qingge's side, but Yue Qingyuan didn't want to take any risks, especially when he intended to find Xiao Jiu as soon as possible.
Liu Qingge seemed a little disgruntled- "I'm not a baby!" -but settled in soon enough. Yue Qingyuan kept a tight hold of him, letting the boy focus entirely on his connection to Xiao Jiu.
At first, Yue Qingyuan set a course directly for the ruins of the Qiu Manor. But about halfway there, Liu Qingge tugged on his sleeve, his other hand pointing in another direction. Without a word, Yue Qingyuan adjusted his sword, following the path Liu Qingge set.
Only once the night has firmly fallen did Yue Qingyuan descend, to Liu Qingge's vocal protests.
"We'll be no use to him exhausted," he said, dragging the boy into an inn. "We'll set out again at dawn."
Petulantly, Liu Qingge settled.
***
Yue Qingyuan woke up early, a lifelong habit ingrained into his bones so deeply, not even a year spent without seeing the sun managed to break him out of it.
Liu Qingge was already up, sitting in a lotus position as he meditated.
"His dreams are still muddy," he said once he noticed that Yue Qingyuan was awake, springing to his feet. "But we're close. We'll get to him today, I think."
It was difficult to share that optimism, but Yue Qingyuan hoped he was right.
They ate a couple steamed buns while already in the air, not willing to sacrifice time needed for a proper breakfast. Following Liu Qingge's senses, they soared above a forest for many li. Eventually, a city appeared on the horizon, and they flew towards one of the fields sprawling around it.
Yue Qingyuan didn't dare let himself hope as they approached a small figure. He didn't dare hope even as they floated down, as they stepped off Xuan Su, as the person barrelled into him-
"Qi-ge! You came!"
His arms tightened around Xiao Jiu, loath to let him go ever again.
"I'm here, too," Liu Qingge piped in from the side.
Xiao Jiu rearranged in his hold to look towards the boy. "Who cares?" he sniffed.
"Xiao Jiu," Yue Qingyuan chided gently, his voice coming out choked up. He hadn't even realized he started crying.
"You should thank me, really," Liu Qingge didn't seem to take the words to heart, his arms crossed and brows furrowed. "I've been acting as a glorified compass for the last two days. And if I hadn't said anything, then Qi-ge would have kept on thinking you died in the fire, so-"
Leaning back, Xiao Jiu looked at Yue Qingyuan with an incredulous expression. "You really think so little of me?!"
Yue Qingyuan didn't know how to defend himself. He continued crying quietly, relief revitalizing his heart with every breath he saw Xiao Jiu take. Even if most of them were spent berating him for assuming the worst and oh so NOW you can cry, can you?.
He wouldn't mind being scolded for the rest of his life if it meant that Xiao Jiu would stay by his side.
***
The idea was to return to Cang Qiong immediately, lest the sect launched a search party for their two missing head disciples.
"Oh, I just need to kill Wu Yanzi real quick, and then we can go," Xiao Jiu nodded.
"Okay." Liu Qingge said, at the same time as Yue Qingyuan's, "Absolutely not!"
Xiao Jiu and Liu Qingge both looked at him as if he was the odd one out.
"I only just got you back," he pleaded, grabbing Xiao Jiu's hands. "Please don't go risking your life over a demonic cultivator. He's not worth it!"
Xiao Jiu snorted before breaking out into a proper laugh, his amusement so strong it squeezed tears out of his eyes.. He raised one hand, still held in Yue Qingyuan's grasp, to wipe at his cheeks.
"Ah, Qi-ge, Qi-ge," he shook his head. "If it had been a random demonic cultivator, you would have been correct. But if I let him live, I'll be leaving myself open to blackmail. He's got to go. Besides, he spent the whole night drinking; That's why I'm out here, gathering herbs for his hangover potion. I'll just quickly go, y'know, stabby-stab, grab the valuables, and we'll be good to leave."
Yue Qingyuan, who had already promised himself to have more faith in his Xiao Jiu, let him go do just that.
***
Liu Qingge flew back on his own sword, seeing how Yue Qingyuan was occupied by carrying his Xiao Jiu. They didn't stop for the night this time, even though Yue Qingyuan couldn't help but worry about Liu Qingge's stamina a bit. Still, they arrived at Cang Qiong safely just as the first rays of sunlight started breaking out over the horizon, and were immediately herded into Qian Cao.
Time passed in a rush, after that. Getting check-ups, all three of them, talking with their shizuns, revealing that Xiao Jiu was Liu Qingge's soulmate when his relation to Yue Qingyuan proved an ineffective argument-
Qing Jing would suit Xiao Jiu, Yue Qingyuan thought.
He wasn't quite sure how he made it back to his rooms. All he knew was that he found himself kneeling at his table, staring at a slowly cooling cup of tea. Alone.
Shizun was understandably upset about that whole impromptu rescue mission, even if the fact that it was Liu Qingge's soulmate gained them some leniency. As such, Yue Qingyuan was merely put on house arrest, for as long as shizun saw fit.
Perhaps it would be better like this. Better to stay out of the way, to let Xiao Jiu forget about Qi-ge in favour of his soulmate-
Someone knocked on the doors. Yue Qingyuan sighed as he slowly stood up, expecting nothing but a disciple bearing another mess for him to fix. They seemed to think that, since he was the head disciple, any little conflict fell under his purview-
"Took you long enough," Xiao Jiu complained the moment Yue Qingyuan opened the doors, ducking under his arm to get inside. "This is how you live? It's very... minimalistic."
"I've only had these rooms for a few weeks," Yue Qingyuan explained. Technically, he had moved into them before the caves, but he wasn't going to count that year. "I haven't had time to decorate."
"Don't worry, Qi-ge, I'll help you out," Xiao Jiu promised, stealing Yue Qingyuan's cup of tea. It was okay, he hadn't been drinking it, anyway.
But why was Xiao Jiu here? Had something happened? Already? "I thought- Qing Jing-?"
"They put me in the dorms," Xiao Jiu scoffed. "I'm not going to sleep in the same room as a dozen strange men. Qi-ge doesn't mind sharing, does he?"
"Of course not," Yue Qingyuan answered before the words even properly registered. That didn't change a thing, though. If Xiao Jiu wanted to sleep in his bed, who was he to refuse?
***
Yue Qingyuan was prepared to give his bed to Xiao Jiu but, as it turned out, his presence inside of it was very much required.
It was hard to fall asleep with Xiao Jiu snoozing happily by his side. What if, when he woke up, Xiao Jiu would no longer be there? What if it had all been-
He heard his front doors open and close, not particularly quietly. Yue Qingyuan froze, holding on to Xiao Jiu tighther. Who was it? Shizun? But why would he-
The footsteps approached swiftly and, before long, Liu Qingge stood in the doorway.
"Liu-shidi?" Yue Qingyuan whispered, confused.
The confusion grew as the boy climbed into the bed, too.
"A-Jiu keeps being smug about having the most comfortable bed," he said, by way of explanation. "So I'm going to sleep here, too!"
"Keep out," Xiao Jiu grumbled, one eye opening a sliver. "Qi-ge's mine."
"And you're my soulmate," Liu Qingge countered, wriggling himself under Yue Qingyuan's unoccupied arm. "So that makes him my Qi-ge, too."
"That's not how it works!"
"Does too!"
"We can discuss it more tomorrow," Yue Qingyuan said placatingly. "For now, let's just sleep."
Xiao Jiu and Liu Qingge seemed happy to do just that, settling in and falling asleep within moments.
Yue Qingyuan was, honestly, a bit jealous of that ease. He himself spent some long hours wondering how, exactly, did he end up in the middle of a soulbond without having a soulmate himself.