Chapter Text
The three of them were now standing in front of the library. Shen Qingqiu had insisted on going to this specific library—as it had materials that An Ding peak refused to provide, Shang Qinghua’s fault, he claimed. The library was a pale dark green with curving roofs and intrinsically detailed windows touched up in gold. It was a sight that neither Liu Qingge nor Luo Binghe had encountered before, being that neither of the two read scrolls if they could avoid it.
Liu Qingge more so, considering that Luo Binghe only read to advance his learning.
Shen Qingqiu marveled at the sight, not having gone to libraries back in his world. This building was a historical thing standing before him; caught in the present time.
He glanced back at the other two, noting their expressions with amusement. Liu Qingge seemed utterly horrified at the thought of entering the building while Luo Binghe seemed to be satisfied with just tagging along. Shen Qingqiu ignored their expressions, looking at the library, as he walked up the wooden stairs to the shut doors standing before him.
Before he entered the library, he looked back at the two and said, “Behave.” He didn’t say anything else, being that those two understood just the word.
The inside of the library was grander than it looked. He looked at both ends, at a loss on where to start. In the background, he heard one of the two make a comment. Shen Qingqiu paused his look around and glanced back at where the two were standing, a smirk on Luo Binghe’s face as he continued with his taunting comment.
He sighed.
“I bet you’ve never read a day in your life,” Luo Binghe mocked.
As much as Shen Qingqiu didn’t want to laugh, he had to admit it was true. He’d never seen Liu Qingge pick up a single scroll in his life, not willingly at least.
The other scowled. “I have better things to do than pick up a scroll, unlike what you may think is important.”
“And what would that be?”
“There are demons to be fought,” Liu Qingge retorted, setting emphasis on the last word, “and reading scrolls will not take care of them.”
“You’re insulting Shizun,” Luo Binghe declared. Shen Qingqiu cringed at his response, it didn’t really matter if the War God of Bai Zhan read or not, and why was Luo Binghe bringing his name into this?! Shen Qingqiu had told them to behave, and the first thing they did was fight.
He really regretted bringing them here.
Either way, Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t do himself any good listening to those two preach their arguments as if someone else was listening. He’d be doing himself a favor by leaving and finding the scrolls he needed—the reason he had entered the library in the first place. It hadn’t even been his choice to invite them, those two had just so happened to invite themselves along and now Shen Qingqiu had to deal with their mess.
Better to not get too distracted.
…
The two’s hushed, angry whispers were growing in volume, now echoing across the rest of the library. When a random worker came up to them to ask them to quiet down, to respect the rest of the people trying to read, the worker was quickly shut up at a death glare from Luo Binghe. The worker quickly apologized and scurried away, dust puffing around his feet as if he were in a cartoon.
“That’s why you’re such a brute. You never learned to be socialized and educated,” Luo Binghe said matter-of-factly, crossing his arms. Liu Qingge’s brows lifted, his jaw ticking as he tried to restrain himself from lunging onto the man before him and beating him half to death. Liu Qingge’s shizun had been crass, sure, but he had cared about more than just swordsmanship!
“As if you fared any better. You grew up with nothing but bread scraps!” Liu Qingge muttered, his voice accidentally raising above a whisper. Luo Binghe froze in place, stunned, shocked Liu Qingge actually went there. A disciple ran past, carrying a hefty stack of scrolls, and tried to avoid eye contact as they did so.
“My mother and Shizun were kind to me, I won’t tolerate any disrespect against them,” Luo Binghe said quietly, his tone dangerous. Liu Qingge’s eyes glanced down to the long claws that emerged on the demon’s hands, and he felt the blood underneath his skin itch for a fight. He could feel Cheng Luan buzzing with energy.
“All I said was that reading is pointless,” Liu Qingge continued, telling Cheng Luan to calm down. Even if he didn’t read himself, he knew scrolls meant a lot to Shen Qingqiu and Mu Qingfang, so he didn’t want to destroy the library. He met Luo Binghe’s red eyes, watched that demon mark gently pulse. “Why would I read about something when I can go experience it myself?”
“Are you serious?! Do you know how many times Shizun did that and almost died? You dare bring up Shizun’s harm?!” Luo Binghe’s short fuse had reached its end. He reached forward and grabbed Liu Qingge’s wrist, yanking him close, their faces inches from each other. Liu Qingge’s brow furrowed. “We’re settling this outside. Shizun, we’ll be back.”
Without taking his eyes off of Liu Qingge’s challenging stare, he marched them towards the door and out, his claws digging into the fabric of Liu Qingge’s sleeves. Undisturbed, they made it outside, and Luo Binghe immediately unsheathed Xin Mo.
“Get out your sword. We’re doing this in the air,” Luo Binghe ordered, to which Liu Qingge soundlessly obeyed—Luo Binghe almost couldn’t believe his complacency.
The two of them rose on their swords, flying a few hundred feet above the library but staying over the land of the peak. That way, if one of them were to fall, it wouldn’t mean certain death.
The two stared each other down, Liu Qingge’s stance tall and proud—arrogant, almost—and Luo Binghe’s stance hulking and menacing. Each of them breathed for a moment before Luo Binghe lurched forward.
…
The two of them were pitted against each other, clearly having ignored Shen Qingqiu’s demand to behave. In the midst of their fighting, Shen Qingqiu had taken the opportunity to disappear amongst the scrolls. He had heard their loud sounds of fighting, their aggressive shouts coming from outside the library.
Amongst the scrolls, Shen Qingqiu cringed at their recklessness, having wondered what he did wrong in life to deserve two people as wild and fickle as this.
He glanced at the scrolls, pretending not to hear the loud noises. He picked up one of the scrolls, his hands unfurling the scroll in his grasp and reading the words. A moment later, he tucked it away back in its spot. They wouldn’t notice if he vanished amongst the den of scrolls, it’d probably take him a long long while to find what he sought.
He suddenly heard a loud crash, the room around him rumbling.
On the roof, Luo Binghe had pinned Liu Qingge between his hands, trapping him up against the tiled roof. Liu Qingge let out a hiss of annoyance, his back stinging from the hit. Their swords clatter against the tile roof, now abandoned without anybody flying them.
“You’re playing dirty,” Luo Binghe accused, his eyes narrowed.
Liu Qingge just let out a grunt, his hands attempting to push the man off him. Luo Binghe doesn’t let him make much of an effort as he leans in closer, bringing in more pressure on Liu Qingge.
He scowled at the man, not wanting to be trapped any further.
“Perhaps you should pay better attention to your shizun rather than beating me like the senseless beast you are?” He suggested mockingly.
Luo Binghe paused, pulling himself up to sit in a crouch. He glanced over at Liu Qingge for a moment then quickly darted over to the edge of the roof, his head peering down towards the ground. Liu Qingge watched him, wondering what he was doing.
“Shizun?” Luo Binghe asked, speaking to the void.
Liu Qingge heaves himself up, standing on the roof as best as he can with a stinging back. Luo Binghe gets up from his hands and knees, grabbing Xin Mo once he does.
“Right. Where’s Shizun?” He asked.
“Probably in the—” Liu Qingge got cut off right when Luo Binghe jumped off the roof and down onto the ground. He scowled, seeing that Luo Binghe refused to listen for more than a couple seconds. He followed him down right after grabbing Cheng Luan.
Luo Binghe had already disappeared from sight and Liu Qingge could only guess he’d gone into the library. He headed back into the library, pushing aside the doors and noting that Luo Binghe seemed to be searching for Shen Qingqiu. He didn’t know where the man had gone, but he couldn’t have gone far in a library of this size. Soon, he found him.
“Aren’t you going to look for him?” Liu Qingge questioned.
“He could be anywhere, this is a magical library, so it’s larger than it looks and there’s multiple floors.” Luo Binghe explained.
Liu Qingge had been to the library a few times before with Shen Qingqiu, and he knew what aisles the man liked to frequent, so they weren’t completely lost. Liu Qingge instantly set off, not looking to see whether Luo Binghe was following. However, he heard Luo Binghe’s heavy footsteps fall into line behind him, without any gruff.
At least this thing they could agree on.
“He usually likes to read about the demonic monsters, but recently he’s been reading about various poisons. Mu Qingfang takes scrolls from there all the time,” Liu Qingge explained to Luo Binghe, who glared at the back of his head. He knew what his Shizun liked, thank you very much!
The two continued walking through aisles, stepping around stacks of scrolls on the ground that were waiting to be sorted. As they passed, the numerous disciples sitting and reading turned as pale as the papers they were reading when they stepped past them, covering their faces with their scrolls. They carefully checked each aisle in the poisons section, even moving over to the antidotes, however they found nothing.
The two exchanged a worried look.
“How big did you say this place was, Qingge?” Luo Binghe asked, his voice hushed. Liu Qingge grimaced.
“It’s as large as a palace, and it has multiple floors,” Liu Qingge explained grimly. The two of them went quiet, the unspoken words floating between them.
They were never going to find Shen Qingqiu.
After a few moments of discussion, they decided to head to the floor below the ground floor. This was where the scrolls on demonic monsters were kept, and this was the other section they had in mind. Speed-walking down the stone spiral staircase, the two of them started to feel more and more worried.
Of course, no environmental harm could befall Shen Qingqiu while he was in here, but who knows who could come find him and hurt him. There could be demons lurking in the shadows, or assassins trying to kill him to speed up the replacement of the Peak Lords. This place would be the perfect place to hide a body, it was massive!
The two weaved through more aisles, following the wooden signs hanging on the walls, before reaching the monster section. Specimens lined shelves, and scrolls were packed tightly next to each specimen. Vials of poison were put on display with scrolls about each of their properties, kept watched by a guard with a sword, so that they couldn’t be stolen.
The two walked up to this man, who instantly looked wary as he observed Luo Binghe’s face.
“Have you seen Peak Lord Shen?” Liu Qingge asked, throwing courtesy out the window. The man turned his head and regarded Liu Qingge with a strange expression, before he shook his head. The cultivator and demon duo both cursed in their minds, demonic energy pulsing around Luo Binghe.
They walked off from the guard, unsure of where to head next.
Everywhere seemed to be covered in scrolls to the brim, and despite how much they kept walking, looking around for Shen Qingqiu, he seemed to be nowhere in sight.
Luo Binghe glanced over at Liu Qingge for a moment before he disappeared into a row of scrolls. He walked down the narrow aisle, not spotting Shen Qingqiu in it. He didn’t really care about informing Liu Qingge where he’s looking, he just wants to find Shen Qingqiu and leave.
Shen Qingqiu had disappeared into the lower floors.
He was seeking a few scrolls in particular, but if he specifically looked on the main floor, he wouldn’t be able to find anything. This floor was extremely challenging to navigate—considering that scrolls covered the ground like leaves in autumn and the plant infestation nobody would talk about—which would be Shang Qinghua’s fault. He’d definitely be going after him once he found what he needed.
He tapped his finger along the edge of one of the shelves, brushing aside the leaves that kept getting in his way.
Every step he took had to be carefully calculated because there seemed to be a scroll on the ground getting in his way each time. Shen Qingqiu took another step, a thick loud crunch occurring right after.
He scowled.
Shen Qingqiu sighed and kicked the scroll out of his way. This library had been mentioned quite a few times within the novel, being that the original goods had visited here a number of times to get methods to rid himself of Luo Binghe.
Sure, Shang Qinghua had mentioned the main floor of the library, and he had mentioned this restricted section in an off-hand comment, but he hadn't elaborated on it at all! Perhaps that had been why Shen Qingqiu was stuck in such an unruly area. The more he thought about it, the more he knew he was going after Shang Qinghua.
He exited the row.
He looked behind momentarily, pausing as he realized the plants looked just somewhat different in positioning. Maybe he adjusted them when he walked past?
Shen Qingqiu walked into another row. He found a number of interesting scrolls he wanted to get his hands on, but he didn’t grab any as he knew he would no longer have room to carry what he had been originally looking for. This kept occurring as he walked into more rows, each one seeming like they would have what he needed, but they didn’t. He walked into another row, carefully inspecting each of the scrolls until he finally stopped in front of one.
This was exactly the scroll he needed. A smile lit up on his face and he let his fingers brush against the scroll, grabbing it off the shelf.
Shen Qingqiu unfurled the scroll, and his eyes skimmed the page. He had just immersed himself into the information when he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up and realized that it was a plant that was moving, looking—can plants even look?—at him and the scroll.
“Do you… want to read it?” Shen Qingqiu asked hesitantly, holding out the scroll to the plant’s numerous vines. When it didn’t respond, just continued writhing in place, Shen Qingqiu felt his cheeks heat in embarrassment. Of course a plant wouldn’t be able to read, let alone want to. Why was he acting foolish?
He gave it another glance over before turning around and starting to walk away, clutching the scroll to his chest. He barely made it a few steps before he heard a woosh, and suddenly those vines were wrapping around each and every appendage, locking him down tight. He was rendered completely immobile, and the scroll was pried out of his hands.
“Hey! So you did hear me? Let me go!” Shen Qingqiu writhed, scolding the plant and mentally swatting it with his fan. A vine came up to wrap around his eyes, yet it did not stop him from speaking; so, he continued cursing at it, acting much like an enraged fan of PIDW arguing against his forum posts. There was no one here to witness his foolishness, so why keep up his front of stoicism?
“I would’ve let you read it along with me…” Shen Qingqiu said, hoping that the vines would understand and give him some freedom. The vines seemed to pause for a moment, as if thinking, which disturbed Shen Qingqiu greatly. This thing wasn’t even human or demon, it should not be allowed to think! “We can read it together, I won’t walk away. It’s a scroll about mycology… Do you even know what that is?”
The plant obviously did not respond, but the vine around his eyes recessed back into the main plant mass. It brought the scroll up to his face, yet it did not let go of his limbs. However, where it wrapped around his chest, it did not restrict his breathing at all, so he let himself relax. He wasn’t in any imminent danger, and he was sure his husbands would catch up to him in no time.
Shen Qingqiu began reading it silently, taking in its contents. He wondered if any of these dangerous plants had anything to do with the thing currently wrapping itself around him, but it seemed nothing on the scroll had anything that looked like vines. After a moment of silent reading, one of the vines shoved the scroll closer and one poked his lips, making him tense up. Then, his brain lit up.
“Oh! Do you want me to read it to you?” The plant mass responded by shoving the scroll yet again, and Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but feel the tug of a smile at his lips. The plant mass acted as if it was a young child begging to be read a bedtime story, all for a boring scroll about a random species of mushroom. “Alright then.”
To think, a random plant growth in this massive library could understand human speech but could not read. It was kind of funny.
Shen Qingqiu began to read diligently. Eventually, the plant mass unwrapped him and laid him in a comfortable, nest-like tangle of vines. Shen Qingqiu didn’t feel like he was at risk, so he continued to read to it, interested in the scrolls it was bringing him.
Surprisingly, the plant was quite knowledgeable and brought scroll after scroll, a large number of them being exactly what he had been looking for. Though it was quite a while of looking at scrolls before he remembered that he’d left the other two behind.
They wouldn’t be too concerned right? They got along just fine.
Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge were not getting along at all.
Luo Binghe didn’t understand why his Shizun had decided to invite Liu Qingge in the first place. He was enough company on his own! They didn’t need to invite someone whose default choice was to fight every person he met.
He’d already gone through a number of rows, exploring every inch and crevice of the bookcases to spot Shen Qingqiu. Despite inspecting everywhere, he hadn’t found him anywhere. He stepped out of the row of the bookshelves, and looked around for Liu Qingge.
He spotted him walking around, an unreadable look on his face. “Qingge!” He called out, catching the other’s attention.
Liu Qingge stopped, shooting him a glare. “What?”
“You checked that end right?” He asked, making a motion toward one half of the library.
“Yes. Why?”
“We have to go down a floor, I haven’t seen him on this side.”
Liu Qingge nods, swiftly turning around and walking over to the stairs. Luo Binghe huffs, wishing that the other had just waited for him to approach. He follows him down the stairs, stepping onto the wooden floor. He glanced around, hoping his wife was somewhere around. He was not.
“You go this side, I go that side.” Liu Qingge declared, walking off to one side of the library before Luo Binghe could open his mouth to respond.
He flips him off.
Liu Qingge doesn’t see it, but that’s fine, Luo Binghe could do it again when he was looking. Luo Binghe began walking around, circling the bookcases every time, hoping Shen Qingqiu would pop up behind one of them. Every shelf he circles seems to lack Shen Qingqiu so Luo Binghe’s hopes are easily dashed.
He walks around once more, trying to circle the shelves again, hoping he missed him somewhere. The library was quite large, lined with scrolls on the shelves and even several knocked down by careless disciples but Shen Qingqiu wasn’t in any of them. Luo Binghe sighs. He tapped his finger on one shelf, letting fingers brush along the undusted shelf. When he stepped out from the row, Liu Qingge was glaring at him, arms crossed.
“Are you done?” He complained.
Luo Binghe nodded.
“Next.”
Down they went to the next floor. No Shen Qingqiu.
They went down another floor. No Shen Qingqiu.
Another. No Shen Qingqiu.
The two of them were now standing at the entrance of a plant stained door, woven with leaves of every kind. Luo Binghe glanced at the other.
“You think he’s here?”
“Maybe.”
Liu Qingge walks up to the door, placing his hand on a symbol engraved on its surface. The symbol lights up and he pushes the door open. The two of them walk into the space, eyes widening at the sight.
Everywhere they looked, there were plants covering the surface.
The two of them walked forward slowly, careful not to step on any of the vines on the ground. Luo Binghe sniffed the air yet found there was no foul scent, which indicated that there were no monsters of demonic origin around. He stopped and gestured for Liu Qingge to do the same, to which the man obeyed.
“It’s moving,” Liu Qingge whispered, and once Luo Binghe focused, he noticed it as well. It was slowly writhing against the bookshelves, but it was only moving in place, meaning that it was not going to swallow them whole—rather, it looked as if it was breathing.
“Shizun?” Luo Binghe said quietly, straightening up and brandishing his sword. As he was unsure of whether this was an actual plant or a monster, he erred on the side of caution. Suddenly, as if hearing them, the plant started to move and vines started to wrap around their ankles.
With nowhere to run—and now incapacitated legs—Luo Binghe could only lash out with Xin Mo and attempt to cut the vines off of his legs before they went higher on his torso. However, the plant’s cell wall must have adapted to be extremely resilient, as Xin Mo barely left a dent. Liu Qingge attempted with Cheng Luan, pumping it full of sword qi, yet this only managed to cut it halfway through, and it did not retract its vines despite this injury.
Since they could do little to nothing, they stopped struggling and let themselves get taken to wherever the plant wanted to take them—without saying a word, the two came to the agreement: We’ll find a way out once this thing calms down.
Luo Binghe sighed, a vein popping out on his forehead, as one of the cold vines wrapped around his mouth, the vines doing the same to Liu Qingge. At least, this thing didn’t seem deadly, as it hadn’t tried to strangle them yet.
They were slowly brought through various aisles of the library, most of them covered in the plant’s organic matter. However, some of the sections of bookshelves were uncovered and even not dusty, which clearly meant that there had been human interaction in the recent past. Books were scattered across the floor, some of them being carefully held by small tendrils, as if they were waiting to be called upon.
After a few moments of silent movement, they were brought to what would be a sitting area, if this was a normal floor. This was the origin of the plant mass, as it covered every inch of the room, floor to ceiling. Slowly, the vines started to recede, freeing their mouths and arms.
However, as soon as Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge brandished their weapons yet again, the plant mass rapidly sent out two vines to capture their weapons, instantly engulfing them in organic matter. Their arms were quickly re-bound.
Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge exchanged a look, one that could only be described—in accurate words—by Shen Qingqiu: We’re fucked.
And in front of them, having been roused out of his relaxation from all the commotion, was Shen Qingqiu himself, sitting in a divot and watching them as he waved his fan passively, a slight smile on the lips that hid behind that folded paper.
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but find himself entertained by the spectacle before him. In part, seeing these two captured by the plant mass was interesting to say the least, and he felt no shame anymore from having been previously grabbed by it.
The plant was still helpful, fetching scrolls for Shen Qingqiu to read. He wondered if he should grant the other two mercy, or if he should let them be stuck there for just a little while longer. Shen Qingqiu had no shame because if he just so happened to be turned on by the sight, could one really blame him? The divot was far too comfortable to move from so he’d rather watch the scene just a little longer under the guise of “reading.”
He focuses on another section, eyes moving across the page distractedly. He can’t help but want to glance at the two, but he’d be shameless if he just glanced at the sight.
He wasn’t able to read any longer.
Shen Qingqiu gently brushed the plant, “Can you let them go?”
At his touch, the plant moves, wriggling out from under his palm. Shen Qingqiu watches as the mass of the plants begins to shift, and he feels a sigh of relief that the plant complied. A loud clatter sounds and Shen Qingqiu looks in the direction of the noise and realizes with horror that the plant had decided to release the swords of all things instead of Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe.
Shen Qingqiu has to stop himself from laughing.
“Let us go!” Liu Qingge protests. Before he can even complain further, the plant mass coils around him and flips him around so he’s hanging upside down.
“Maybe the plant would like you if you were nice.” Luo Binghe says with a hum, though he’s also trapped by the plant.
“You’re trapped too, so don’t talk!” Liu Qingge yells.
In perfect timing, the plant decides to drop Luo Binghe on the ground so he hits it with a loud thud. Having been dropped onto the ground, Luo Binghe lets out a sound of relief, immediately picking Xin Mo off the ground and putting it back in the sheath.
He glanced over at Shen Qingqiu who was still struggling to fake read the scroll. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Yes.” He answered, then he briefly looked at the plant, “Can you let go of everything now please?”
The plant seems to hesitate momentarily before beginning to wriggle, “Gently.” Shen Qingqiu stated, praying mercy that Liu Qingge wouldn’t land on his head. A second later Liu Qingge crashes onto the ground, having been freed from the mercy of the plants. He scowled at it for a second before picking up his sword, holding it as defense against the plant mass.
“Shidi. Don’t fight the plants, we’re leaving now.” He declared. Liu Qingge puts his sword away, no longer brandishing it.
Shen Qingqiu tucks the scrolls away, feeling satisfied with his findings. He’d have to read them when they reached the Bamboo House.
…
Soon, they all arrived back at Qing Jing Peak, to which they were welcomed by the disciples. Thankfully, the disciples had grown to tolerate Luo Binghe and understood the nature of the three’s relationship, so they had no sidelong looks as they arrived together.
They walked up to the Bamboo House peacefully, climbing the high stairs. Liu Qingge watched as Shen Qingqiu seemed to glide up the stairs, in a beautiful show of elegance and grace, quite fitting for his Peak.
Once they arrived, Shen Qingqiu gracefully sat onto the bed, smiling. Liu Qingge followed suit and sat next to him, but Luo Binghe stayed standing, a strange look on his face.
“Binghe-”
“Shizun-”
The two spoke at the same time. Luo Binghe closed his mouth, letting Shen Qingqiu speak, and he felt his cheeks heat.
“Binghe, please make us some dinner,” Shen Qingqiu asked kindly, to which Luo Binghe nodded and scurried off. That left Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu alone.
“Is Liu-shidi alright? There’s demonic energy on you,” Shen Qingqiu asked affectionately, eyeing the man, who suddenly tensed. Liu Qingge gently rubbed the fabric of his sleeves together. “You didn’t run into any monsters, did you?”
“No,” Liu Qingge said calmly, flicking his bangs out of his eyes. Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows, looking at the man pensively, and Liu Qingge felt his gaze burrow into his skin.
“You fought Binghe?” Shen Qingqiu said after a couple silent minutes of studying the other cultivator, remembering the crashing he had heard. He closed his fan and put it in his lap, smiling over at Liu Qingge, as he waited for a response. When Liu Qingge said nothing, he let out a small laugh, “I’ll scold him for you. Shidi really shouldn’t entertain his requests.”
Liu Qingge just scoffed and rested his chin in his hand, mumbling under his breath, “He deserved it.”
These two are just like children, Shen Qingqiu thought. He laughed again, and Liu Qingge blew air out of his nose.
“Apologize to Binghe when he gets back,” Shen Qingqiu said, to which Liu Qingge hummed in acknowledgment.
After a few minutes, Shen Qingqiu stood up and started reading one of the scrolls he brought home, and Liu Qingge started to clean off Cheng Luan. The silence was peaceful as they waited for Luo Binghe to finish cooking, not awkward at all.
Soon, the food was done, and Luo Binghe brought it over to their eating area, calling the two of them over as he folded up his rudimentary apron. As the two of them shuffled over, he took a seat.
They all started to eat, with Shen Qingqiu giving glances to Liu Qingge that went unnoticed.
“Ahem,” Shen Qingqiu said, breaking the pleasant silence, “Binghe, Liu-shidi has something he wants to say to you.”
Liu Qingge closed his eyes for a second, but finished chewing and put down his bowl.
“I’m sorry for fighting you,” Liu Qingge said finally, and you could practically see the way he had to grit his teeth to get the words out. Luo Binghe smiled, letting out a small laugh—he could tell that Shen Qingqiu put him up to this.
“This one apologizes as well,” Luo Binghe replied, but when he made eye contact with Liu Qingge, they exchanged silent words: Until next time.
They all finished eating their meal and Luo Binghe took the dishes and started cleaning them as Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge washed up. Once the sun had fully set, they all went to bed, already forgetting the library escapade.