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【 Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Important things must be said three times! Role updated! 'Shen Qingqiu' has been changed from 'Scum Villain' to 'Wise Mentor'. Keep up the good work, Host! 】
It only took seven years of being the best teacher Shen Qingqiu could possibly be to all of his disciples. Absurd requirements. Absolutely absurd! And does this new role mean I don't have to push Binghe into the abyss?
【 Protagonist must fall into the Endless Abyss. Failing to complete quest will result in a deduction of 10,000 satisfaction points. 】
Shen Qingqiu pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, feeling the painful drag of defeat on his lungs.
He'd tried. He'd really tried. Point farming, plot guiding, achievement hunting, quest seeking—he'd sought every alternative there was to pushing his pure white lotus into that awful place, and nothing worked. He was nowhere near being able to sink 10,000 points, none of the alternate routes he'd unlocked had gotten around it, nothing.
He'd thought, somehow, that arriving in time to prevent Luo Binghe's abuse at the original good's hands would throw the plot off enough that he wouldn't need to do this, but...
【 Protagonist must fall into the Endless Abyss. Failure to complete quest will result in a deduction of 10,000 satisfaction points. 】
Shen Qingqiu sighed again, heavier, and ignored the slight sting of his eyes. The child he had raised for the past seven years—his sweet young lamb was up for the slaughter, and he could do nothing to stop it, except, well. Die.
The tea set Ming Fan had brought sat on the table, wisps of steam rising from the water, the scent of Shen Qingqiu's favorite blend permeating the air, and it turned his stomach.
Four days. He had four days left with his Luo Binghe, the precious disciple he was either going to fail or die protecting.
In his guiltiest heart of hearts, Shen Qingqiu wished he would come home from his hunt sooner so he could find some more excuses to hug him.
Aiyah, what was going to become of this poor old shizun without his sweet white lotus, hm? Or, alternately, what was going to become of that sweet white lotus without his poor old shizun...
"I'm back, Shizun," said the devil, sounding very un-devilish indeed. In the doorway, he stood tall and lithe, handsome features painted in reflected sunlight, white robes and shining eyes and gentle smile taking him from 'comely' to 'angelic'. Then the gentle smile widened into a grin. "Did you miss me?"
"You're early," said Shen Qingqiu, schooling his own features out of a smile and back into a proper poser's mask. Saying so was much better than the truthful but pathetic, yes; you were gone for three days and I missed you like a limb.
"I missed Shizun terribly," said Luo Binghe cheerfully. He took a seat at the table and began to pour tea. "I couldn't rest knowing I could be spending time with him instead, so I rushed back as fast as I could."
"Shameless," Shen Qingqiu scolded and swatted him on the head with his fan, cursing his heart for skipping a beat. That protagonist aura was simply too strong! "Stop testing your lines on this old man. It's unbecoming."
"But how else will I know if they work on Shizun?" Luo Binghe returned, his smile softening unbearably.
Shen Qingqiu thwapped him with the fan again and didn't dignify his words with a response. Then he sobered. "Binghe?"
"Yes?" said Luo Binghe, smile falling as he mirrored Shen Qingqiu's mood.
"Do you want to become stronger?"
Luo Binghe gave him a strange look. "This one is still a mere disciple, so... I suppose so?"
It wasn't the answer Shen Qingqiu had been hoping for. Or, rather, it was—it just spelled out a future that he wouldn't be around to see. Still... "So strong that no one under the heavens would dare challenge you?"
Luo Binghe raised his own teacup to his lips and paused. "No. That means every fight would be boring." Then he shot a mischievous look at Shen Qingqiu. "Unless... Shizun wants me to? Would Shizun find his littlest disciple becoming a peerless warrior... pleasing, perhaps?"
Shen Qingqiu opened his fan and hid behind it in lieu of burying his face in his hands. "Incorrigible," he grumbled, defeated, and Luo Binghe laughed, lighter and sweeter than the weather outside. "And far too filial! How did I raise such an ambitionless disciple! Do you strive to be anything other than this master's kept wife?"
It was a joke, but Luo Binghe colored a fetching pink and looked away, apparently taken off guard. He didn't reply.
Shen Qingqiu sighed. This wasn't going according to plan, but then, he probably should have expected this route. The boy never seemed to stop flirting. If there was an off switch somewhere in that too-clever head of his, Shen Qingqiu had never found it!
He switched tracks, taking a moment to rearrange the words in his head. "If... this master asked something of you that would put you through so much pain and trouble you'd rather die... would you ever forgive him?"
"Of course," said the little bun, looking at him even stranger still. "I would think, Shizun is Shizun. He must have his reasons."
Too trusting, too pure!!!
Shen Qingqiu swallowed heavily. Thankfully, speaking in these terms didn't make the System fuss. "And if it was a choice between an unspeakably awful trial that you would survive, and this master's... death—"
"I would choose the first," said Luo Binghe immediately, the stars in his eyes blazing with determination and bottomless with worry. "I would choose it no matter what, every single time. Shizun, what—"
"A hypothetical," Shen Qingqiu said, cutting him off. "Just... a hypothetical." He found the ghost of a wan smile for his favorite disciple. "Do draw up that list of Qing Jing's participating disciples for Sect Leader Yue, will you? You handle them all much better than I do."
Luo Binghe didn't look reassured in the slightest, but Shen Qingqiu refused all further questions, and there wasn't much he could do about it.
Might as well enjoy his hypercompetent assistant while he still had him...
Shen Qingqiu spent the next few days alternately working fervently on a few side projects and trying not to cling to his favorite disciple too obviously (and failing flatly, because having his stickiness reciprocated seemed to break the protagonist's brain a bit—which was adorable, but not particularly subtle).
The bag he had been planning to send with Binghe regardless was almost complete, but after their conversation, he knew it wasn't enough. If he was going to send his cute little bun off to the races of mortal peril, he at least needed a weapon.
He had been hoarding materials to make a proper demonic one, but had never managed to get a hold of a weaponsmith who could make any use of them. Now, well...
He laid a grimly determined Xiu Ya on his writing desk and started mixing demonic qi infused ink.
Three days later, he had just fed his qi into the final disguise talisman when eager footsteps pattered outside his door.
"Shizun!" said Luo Binghe, trying for dignity and only partially succeeding. Shen Qingqiu was put in mind of a puppy who had been told to sit and stay but couldn't still his furiously wagging tail.
"Is it time?" Shen Qingqiu asked, stowing his materials and picking up Xiu Ya to sheathe. It had responded to its new demonic qi channels the same way Shen Qingqiu had responded to Without a Cure—a necessary indignity to be borne with grace. It knew Shen Qingqiu's heart the same way he knew its.
"Yes, Shizun!"
Shen Qingqiu slid open the door to find his favorite disciple standing a tad too close, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Luo Binghe bowed sharply, nearly vibrating with excitement.
Shen Qingqiu gave into the urge to pat his head, and Luo Binghe twitched in surprise, and then shamelessly leaned into the touch, pink-cheeked and sparkling. Cute. Cute!
"Well?" Shen Qingqiu asked, hiding his reaction behind his fan. "Are you going to tell this old master how the preparations have gone or not?"
Luo Binghe popped up. "Of course, Shizun!"
As he rattled off the status of the luggage, transportation, and company, Shen Qingqiu double- and triple-checked his second qiankun bag, praying and praying he hadn't forgotten anything.
He insisted on taking a carriage with Luo Binghe to Jue Di Gorge, under the guise of quizzing him further on the sorts of monsters that might pop up during the test, but mostly so he could soak up his precious disciple's visage while he still could. Despite taking every precaution he could, he still... worried. That this would be the last time he saw his bun so warm, so open.
Even if he didn't come for Shen Qingqiu's limbs specifically...
Luo Binghe, of course, caught him staring. With a cheeky grin, he asked, "Shizun can't seem to keep his eyes off me. Does he find my appearance pleasing?"
Normally, Shen Qingqiu would look away with a grumble, or perhaps tap the protagonist's head with his fan in reprimand, but this time, he let himself look.
He had grown into a handsome youth, denying the world his teenage awkwardness with impeccable grace and a form that could never be said to be anything worse than 'lanky'. He had begun to fill out, just barely, and his shoulders were broadening by what seemed like the day. Milky smooth skin just tinted enough to show how much time he spent outside training. Curls Shen Qingqiu knew the softness of from many nights caring for them were pulled into a high tail, with locks pulling free to frame his face with roguish charm. His features was starting to suggest the handsome angles it would someday grow into, full lips present and long eyelashes framing obsidian eyes that shone like the stars on moonless nights.
It was hard to imagine a being who didn't find his appearance pleasing.
He hummed an assent, only half-hiding his smile behind the fan, and finally looked away.
(Unseen, the protagonist blushed from his hairline to his chest, cocky smirk wiped off his face. That smile—that smile—on his aloof, reserved, elegant master's face—he was clutching at chest like a swooning maiden in his heart.
He didn't dare call out his master's attention again, but it didn't stop his heart from pounding whenever he felt the weight of that gaze again.)
When their carriage finally arrived, Shen Qingqiu reached out snatched Luo Binghe in a desperate hug before either of them could leave.
"Shizun...?"
"Promise me you'll be alright, Binghe," Shen Qingqiu whispered into his fluffy curls.
"Wha... Yes, Shizun. This humble disciple will endeavor not to disappoint his esteemed master by letting the Blue-Toothed Butterfly-Rabbits take his life."
The levity eased his heart despite himself, and he pulled back to pinch this unruly child's cheek. "As long as you understand."
Luo Binghe pouted and scrubbed his cheek, and sulked the rest of the way to the pillar.
The rest of the Immortal Alliance Conference passed as expected, from the sudden flooding of high level monsters to the appearance of the Abyssal Rift.
Slightly less expected was the early appearance of Mobei-Jun, but he did a much cleaner job than the Black Moon Rhinoceros-Python, shattering the cradle seal and leaving the mark of the Heavenly Demon on his precious disciple's forehead as the poor boy staggered.
In the corner of Shen Qingqiu's eye, a timer began to count down from five minutes. As if sensing the way his heart rebelled, the System gave him another notice.
【 Protagonist must fall into the Endless Abyss. Failing to complete quest will result in a deduction of 20,000 satisfaction points. 】
I get it already, Shen Qingqiu snapped back, gathered his composure, and approached his student.
"Binghe."
The protagonist looked up, zuiyin blazing the same shade as his eyes, terrified and confused, and, above all, trusting. "Shizun?"
"I don't have time to explain, but—I need you to trust me."
Already the terror and confusion were fading, overtaken by the loving, docile lamb Shen Qingqiu had raised. "Yes. Always."
It made it all the harder to swallow his heart. It was only his long years of composure that let him force out, "I need you to enter the Endless Abyss."
Thick eyelashes fluttered, making his red eyes flicker, but then he nodded sharply, straightening his spine like all Shen Qingqiu had done was task him with a particularly difficult night hunt that would truly test his skills.
This boy...
Shen Qingqiu detached Xiu Ya's full sheath from his hip and changed it with Zheng Yang's empty one at Luo Binghe's. "I am entrusting this to you for the duration of your trip. Bring it—and yourself—back to my side in one piece."
Another nod, awed and even more determined than the last.
With the System's increasingly insistent beeping in his ear, Shen Qingqiu reached out and fixed the qiankun pouch to Luo Binghe's belt, then clasped the boy's face in his hands and brought him down to press his lips against the zuiyin.
"Gain control of yourself and your form before then. Do not implicate me in harboring demons before we've discussed how to go about it. Above all: survive."
Then, before he could lose his nerve, he gripped the protagonist's shoulders and pushed.
The last thing he saw of Luo Binghe was the expression on his face—one of peace, determination, and faith.
He had Zheng Yang reforged.
It was a matter of sentimentality, of course—the precious white lotus he had doted on for seven years was gone, a tribute to him was necessary—but also a matter of sheer practicality. A peak lord couldn't very well conduct himself with an ordinary weapon, and Zheng Yang...
Well, it responded to Shen Qingqiu almost as well as it responded to Luo Binghe himself, which was... strange. The original goods had coveted this sword and it hadn't responded to him at all. In Shen Qingqiu's hands now, it was just a half-step away from his own Xiu Ya. He didn't even have a protagonist halo to assist him.
His fellow peak lords gave him odd looks whenever he used it; his disciples regarded it with melancholy understanding.
It was obvious to them all just how much Luo Binghe had meant to him—and how much he had meant to Luo Binghe in return.
Five years.
Binghe would escape the Abyss in five years.
And after that... well. They'd see.
It did not take five years.
It did not take three years.
It took six months.
Luo Binghe dragged his feet through the door of the bamboo house. "Shizuuuun, I'm baaaack."
Nobody was home—this concerned him for all of ten seconds, until he saw the position of the sun and realized it was time for Shizun's calligraphy class. Luo Binghe decided to take the opportunity to take a bath.
(Or, he attempted to. He quickly realized that the bathtub was a bad place to scrape off several months of demonic viscera and soot and ended up outside with a bucket and a ladle.)
Once he was clean—or, at least, clean enough to make the mopping later tolerable—he scoured the grime off Xiu Ya and hid its demonic tells back under the the disguise talisman, then set it back up on the wall rack where it belonged. Xin Mo, covered in so many suppression talismans as to be papered over entirely, went up on the wall below it.
He was just considering trying again with the bath when Shizun appeared on the path leading to the house.
Relief crashed over Luo Binghe like a tsunami.
He gracelessly banged both knees against the low table as he scrambled to get up, but he could barely feel it because Shizun was here, here, here!
A cry of, "Shizuuun!!" was all the warning his lovely master got before Luo Binghe tackled him.
The soft scents of bamboo and incense and hair oil surrounded him, banishing the brimstone and scorching rot of the abyss, pulling tears from Luo Binghe's eyes like a waterfall, his heart trying to leave his chest to hop into Shizun's. "Shizun, Shizun, Shizun...!"
"What is this? How old are you now, Binghe? Too old for this nonsense, surely." Though the words were scolding, Luo Binghe could feel the breath tremble in his master's chest, and the arms holding him were clinging just as tightly as his were.
"Apologizing to Shizun for this shameful display," Luo Binghe said breezily, not very apologetic at all. It was hard to be anything except blissful when holding Shizun like this.
Shizun tsked and stroked his head, pressing it into the crook of his silken, jade-white neck. "My Binghe escaped quickly. This master is very proud."
"I missed Shizun terribly," Luo Binghe explained, smiling helplessly at the tantalizing skin rubbing his nose. Shizun, Shizun, Shizun... "I couldn't rest knowing I could be spending time with him instead, so I rushed back as fast as I could."
"Shameless," his master muttered halfheartedly, patting his head again. "Ah... this old man can't say he hates it. He missed his Binghe's incorrigible mouth."
Overwhelmed with relief, giddy off the high of being so close, and once again thoroughly seduced by Shen Qingqiu being himself, Luo Binghe's 'incorrigible mouth' abruptly had nowhere better to be than plastered against his master's.
"Mmph?!"
It was a brief kiss—far too brief—but Luo Binghe had important things to say that would be unintelligible if he kept kissing him. Breathlessly, "Apologizing to Shizun for this one's unfilial actions."
Shizun gaped at him, an enchanting flush dusted over his elegant cheekbones. Luo Binghe couldn't restrain himself from another brief, fierce kiss.
It was a little less brief that time, and the guttural satisfaction of feeling those petal-perfect lips between his teeth was quickly chased by the raw heat of Shizun biting back.
Luo Binghe's knees promptly gave out.
At the sudden shift of weight, they fell to the ground, and Luo Binghe wasted no time in crawling into his lap.
"This impertinent one must know—how would my master prefer to have his Binghe?" he asked, panting and feverish, as the man kept staring at him, open-mouthed. "A kept wife? A peerless warrior?"
Luo Binghe had planned to go slow. He had planned to bring up the topic with grace and gentility. He had planned to figure out how he could show his master he was finally a man in his own right before posing the question.
He wasn't surprised that those plans went out the window as soon as he was breathing the same air as his beloved again. Luo Binghe had never been the patient sort.
At the lack of response, he continued, passionately and a little too fast, "This one has collected a number of courting gifts so far, and would be delighted to provide others, but he must know whether Shizun prefers a dowry or a bride price." An idea strikes that made him tingle down to his toes. "I could make you an empress. It may take some time, but I could. If you wanted it."
His beloved opened and closed his mouth several times, an addicting shade of red, then weakly said, "This master would prefer whatever makes Binghe the happiest."
Luo Binghe nodded. An answer that was so quintessentially Shen Qingqiu! Ah, Luo Binghe loved him so much. "A kept wife, then," he said decisively. Then, "Or a cauldron."
Shizun choked. "Binghe?!"
Luo Binghe kissed him again, giddy and euphoric, and then forcibly restrained himself. "This disciple would like to reassure Shizun that, despite his improper conduct today, he will be a perfect gentleman going forward, and not touch Shizun without his express permission."
It was violently difficult not to punctuate that statement with a kiss, but Luo Binghe was as good as his word—even if he wished his word could have been given about one ke later.
"Ah, Binghe," his master said weakly, a flush on his face that Binghe would have loved to lick and bite and make permanent in every way he could, "let's... let's go to Qian Cao together."
It took a surprisingly long time to convince Shizun that his love was true, and not the product of an aphrodisiac, poison, brainwashing, mind control, head injury, demonic possession, spell, prank, or long con.
Like somehow he thought that Luo Binghe could look at Xiu Ya, his immortal master's soul, violated and reshaped for Luo Binghe's hands alone, and not come out the other side reshaped to match.
(Surprisingly, I have burned for you since I was fourteen years old and had the privilege of seeing you indisposed, did not help assuage Shizun's doubts, and in fact sent the man into a days-long crisis. Luo Binghe would have regretted it, but Shizun couldn't look at him without hiding behind his fan as his ears turned bright red, and that was... well. Luo Binghe spent much longer being a different kind of 'indisposed' himself for some time after it stopped.)
Eventually, his master muttered something about how dual cultivating with a heavenly demon was the magic cure for every ailment, and in the syrupy post-coital haze, Luo Binghe declared his love once again.
Shen Qingqiu looked at him, said a few very unexpected (and very affecting) obscenities, and hauled him into a soul-searing kiss.