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The courtroom was in uproar, but Shen Jiu couldn’t bring himself to care enough about the commotion to try and listen. His fate was already sealed; Whatever happened next was out of his hands.

All he could do was just submit himself to the punishment the general public deemed sufficient for his crimes.

No doubt the beast was pulling the strings there; Luo Binghe had been orchestrating this entire situation from the moment the Sower demons claimed Shen Jiu to be their benefactor, through Qiu Haitang’s damning testimony, all the way through to the Huan Hua Palace lobbying for placing him in their famous Water Prison.

Shen Jiu’s future held nothing but as much torture as Luo Binghe could cram in before his inevitable demise.

“Mount Hua Sect will hold that Peak Lord.” An unyielding voice rose above the noise.

The room plunged into silence so fast, Shen Jiu wondered for a second whether he had gone deaf. But no; He could still hear the delicate sounds of shifting fabrics and creaking wood as the crowds shifted, leaving a wide berth around the speaker.

Curiosity sparking despite his general miasma of uncaring, Shen Jiu looked towards him. The man was… certainly dressed like a taoist, even if he wasn’t really acting like one. One of his fingers was digging into his ear, his other hand holding a bottle which, Shen Jiu strongly suspected, contained alcohol.

“That won’t be necessary-” The Old Palace Master attempted to wrestle to control of the situation back into his greedy hands, but the Mount Hua taoist appeared unmoved.

“So you’re planning on sticking a Peak Lord of another sect into your own prison based on nothing but hearsay?” The taoist seemed relaxed, but Shen Jiu could see the odd glint in his eye. “That’s quite a brave stance to take.”

Whispers rose. Where before, the crowd didn’t see anything amiss with leaving Shen Jiu in Huan Hua’s custody, now they seemed to notice the potential issues with that course of action. Of course it would only happen once someone else pointed it out.

Why hadn’t Qi-ge made note of that?

“Are you calling Tang-er a liar?” The beast interjected smoothly when the Old Palace Master failed to come up with a sufficient response.

“How am I to know? I have no idea who she is. Why should I trust her word alone?”

“It’s not just her word. I can provide my testimony, as well-”

The taoist rolled his eyes, finishing off his bottle and tossing it behind himself carelessly. “Oh, yes, the word of a disciple who ran away during a major competition. I’m sure you have a completely objective view of that Peak Lord’s teaching skills.”

Shen Jiu was starting to suspect that the taoist didn’t actually know his name. Why, then, was he so insistent on sticking his nose in Cang Qiong’s business?

Tired of this farce, he decided to try and get his opinion known. “This is unnecessary-”

“I quite agree!” The taoist approached, unceremoniously grabbing Shen Jiu’s elbow and forcing him to his feet. “I’ll be taking him now. We can reconvene in a month and, hopefully, you’ll be able to present a stronger case then!”

The room at large was just as speechless at the man’s audacity as Shen Jiu himself. He had half a mind to struggle, to dig his heels in, to kneel back down and let the sentencing proceed as it was.

But… He didn’t want to land in the beast’s grasp. He might deserve such fate, but Shen Jiu had always been a survivor at heart. Whatever Mount Hua might have in mind for him, it couldn’t be worse than the Water Prison. And, if Shen Jiu escaped from their custody, it would not bring more misfortune to Cang Qiong.

Feeling as if he just pulled off a risky cheat when he didn’t even know the rules, Shen Jiu let the taoist lead him out.

His hands were freed the moment they left the building, the taoist’s swords cutting through the bonds in a move almost too fast to see. Shen Jiu tensed, preparing himself in case he needed to defend himself.

But the taoist didn’t attack him. He simply placed the sword back in his sheath, whistling cheerfully as he walked away.

Shen Jiu watched him go, for a moment. Was this… It? Could he simply make a run for it, right now? He hesitantly took half a step back-

“You coming?” The taoist tilted his head back, his gaze piercing through Shen Jiu.

…Maybe it would be better to go along with him, for now. Get some distance away from Huan Hua territory. Think through his next moves properly, before deciding on a course of action.

Slowly, Shen Jiu started to walk, falling in step with the taoist.

“What business does Mount Hua have with this master?” He asked, deciding that he might at least get some information.

“Hm? Mount Hua?” The taoist shrugged. “Probably none, I don’t know.”

“Does daozhang have some personal grievances, then?”

“Oh, I’ve no clue who you are.”

Shen Jiu stared at him, baffled. He suspected that was the case already, but… This was absurd. “Then why would you interrupt the proceedings?!”

“It didn’t seem very fair for all of them to dog on you like that,” was the taoist’s clever reasoning.

Shen Jiu started to feel as if he’s made a massive mistake. Sure, he was relatively free — for now — but this person, whose custody he’s found himself in, sounded rather insane. Who butted their nose into a matter between two other sects, used their own sect’s name as a leverage, all to save someone he didn’t know anything about?

“Who are you??”

“Cheong Myeong!” The man offered cheerfully. “Also, I’m hungry. Do you know any good restaurants near here?”

Shen Jiu shook his head mutely, trying to make sense of this situation.

“The first one we see, it is!”

“It wasn’t hearsay,” he blurted out, the urge to push his life into ruin still flaring in his chest. At least that was something he had control over. “I did kill all the men at the Qiu’s manor. I did punish that little beast more than he deserved at the time. I fought with my martial siblings, I spent half my nights at whorehouses, I- I forget what else they tried to convict me of-”

“Very convincing.”

“They were right to condemn me! My own sect washed their hands off me, and they were right to do so! You shouldn’t have butted in; All you’ve done is implicate another sect in my crimes! You should have stayed out of-!”

Shen Jiu got interrupted by a mooncake abruptly getting stuffed into his mouth. He nearly choked, and almost spat the sweet out, but… He couldn’t waste food. Especially not a sweet treat! Even if it’s been poisoned, he could not simply spit it out.

He chewed through the mouthful as quickly as possible, extending his qi to inspect it as he swallowed, but he wasn’t able to detect anything amiss. As soon as he managed to get it down, he opened his mouth-

Only to get another mooncake stuffed right back in. He didn’t even see Cheong Myeong’s hand move!

Glaring as he chewed — the task made more difficult by the dryness of his mouth — Shen Jiu hoped to convey all of his dissatisfaction with that one expression.

“There, there, you’re clearly not thinking clearly while you’re hungry,” Cheong Myeong patted him on the head, as if he were a child. “Let’s get some food into you, and I’m sure you’ll feel better! I’ll even share some alcohol, if you’d like.”

“I don’t drink,” Shen Jiu tried to say, but it came out more like, “Ah dahn dwan.”

“Great! That means more for me!”

That’s it. Cheong Myeong was certifiably off his rocker.

It did not take long to reach Mount Hua. Not after Cheong Myeong disappeared somewhere that first night — a night they were spending at a local brothel, since “it sounded like he liked this sort of place” and Cheong Myeong “didn’t care where they slept, as long as there was booze”, an odd stance for a taoist — and returned with Xiu Ya in hand.

After that, they traveled by sword. Singular sword, since Cheong Myeong wouldn’t, or couldn’t, use his own to fly.

Shen Jiu wasn’t entirely happy about having to carry another person on his sword, but as long as it got him out of this absurd situation faster, he could stomach it.

Cheong Myeong wasn’t the worst passenger, thankfully. He didn’t grab on too tightly, the directions he gave were clear, and he transferred qi to Shen Jiu whenever he started running low.

Not that Shen Jiu had requested it, or even wanted it. But on the second day of their travel, the exhaustion of the last week had caught up to him, throwing him straight into the throes of a qi deviation.

When he came to it, lying on the ground somewhere, Shen Jiu kept his eyes closed for a moment longer, just… Breathing. Bracing himself for the inevitable. If he was still alive… Chances were, Cheong Myeong wasn’t.

Another crime to add to his already long list. He could place him on the list of his perceived victims, joining the ranks of Liu Qingge and Qiu Jianluo and all those men whose names he hardly wanted to remember or even know.

Another sect to want him tortured and then killed.

He heaved himself up with a sigh, rolling his neck gently. He felt less terrible than he usually did after a qi deviation, oddly enough. Perhaps his constant insistence that Mu-shidi shouldn’t bother treating him was somehow correct…?

“Finally!” Cheong Myeong’s voice startled him out of his thoughts. Shen Jiu whipped his head around, watching the man leaning against the tree with yet another bottle of alcohol in hand. “Took your sweet time there. Why didn’t you tell me you were running low on qi? It’s stupid to let yourself deviate-”

“You think I chose to deviate?” Shen Jiu asked, baffled.

“When it’s a matter of a single request to prevent it? Yeah.”

This was- This was a completely absurd way of looking at things. Shen Jiu fished into his sleeve, pulling out a couple of fans and lobbing them straight at Cheong Myeong’s forehead. The taoist didn’t seem phased, simply moving the bottle he was holding so that the fans bounced off of it harmlessly.

“I didn’t want to deviate- I never want to deviate! My meridians are fucking torn to shreds, you pompous prick, it’s inevitable that they fail every so often-”

Shen Jiu flinched back when Cheong Myeong approached him, seizing his wrist. A wave of qi was pushed into his meridians, stinging slightly as it was forced to complete the circuit. But it did complete it and, for the first time in literal years, it didn’t take several shichen to do so.

“You’re not broken,” Cheong Myeong told him, letting go of him in order to stretch his arms. “You just need some help. Happens to everyone, you’re not special. Now, can we keep going?”

Baffled, Shen Jiu nodded, getting to his feet.

Ever since, Cheong Myeong would randomly grab him at any time of the day, cycling their qi for a couple loops and stabilizing the itch that’s been, so far, a constant part of Shen Jiu’s life.

All this time… It couldn’t have been that simple. Could it?

It took a little under a week to finally reach Mount Hua. When they did, Cheong Myeong insisted that they land directly in the courtyard, rather than politely land outside of the sect territory and walk inside.

When they did, there was someone already waiting there, his arms crossed and expression even more cross.
Shen Jiu approached slowly, apprehensive. Clearly, Mount Hua has gotten wind of the situation ahead of their arrival, and they did not seem happy.

“Hi, sahyoung!” Cheong Myeong greeted cheerfully, hopping off the blade and pulling Shen Jiu along with himself. Was he blind? Did he not see the person greeting them was clearly pissed?

“Cheong Myeong!”

“That’s me! Glad to see sahyoung didn’t forget about me. Did you get any tasty alcohol while I was gone?”

The anger seemed to deflate from the man before them, and he clutched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. Then, straightening decisively, he turned towards Shen Jiu. He stiffened, debating trying to make a run for it, but Cheong Myeong was still holding on to his elbow and also stepped down on his sword, pressing Xiu Ya down to the ground-

The man bowed deeply. “I apologize for Cheong Myeong dragging you into his chaos,” the man said as Shen Jiu blinked, trying to make sense of this sight. “He tends to do that a lot. I hope you don’t hold it against Mount Hua-”

“He took me away from a death sentence.” Shen Jiu felt the need to clarify. What kind of a story, exactly, reached this sect to cause this reaction? He had to straighten it all out, before the deception could reach too far. “A long, painful, deser-”

Cheong Myeong elbowed him in the side, making Shen Jiu choke on his words.

“Dessert!” He yelled, grabbing Xiu Ya in an unyielding grip and pulling Shen Jiu along. “That’s a wonderful idea! Let’s go eat now!”

Eating, sweets and meats in particular, was Cheong Myeong’s second favourite activity after drinking alcohol. Shen Jiu didn’t protest… Much, at least. The food was always good, and he never had to pay.

Now, Cheong Myeong didn’t pay half the time, either, somehow charming people into providing him with all he wanted for free, but that was neither here nor there.

Shen Jiu was absolutely not jealous about that. Why should he be? It’s not like he could have used some of that charity when he was younger. It’s not like he’s ruined himself to climb out of the gutter he was born in, and yet was still shunned and detested.

A flick to his forehead pulled him out of his maudlin thoughts. Incensed, Shen Jiu reflexively slapped his fan onto Cheong Myeong’s head, something the other man allowed with a childish giggle.

“Is that your preferred form of violence?” He asked, Xiu Ya pressed underneath his armpit as he tucked his thumbs under his belt. “I can get a fan if you’d like. Nice, big, war fan, eh? You can hold on to it for most of the time, I’ll just borrow it when I need to stop your silly spiralling-”

When Shen Jiu swatted again, Cheong Myeong deftly avoided the hit, dancing away from him.

“Come on, Shen Jiu, you can do better than this!”

When did he even figure out that name?? Deciding that there wasn’t much more dignity to lose, Shen Jiu hiked up his heavy robes and darted after that nuisance.

The angry man who had greeted them upon arrival was, as Shen Jiu soon learned, the sect leader. At some point — Shen Jiu wasn’t entirely certain when — Cheong Myeong had managed to fill him in on the situation (or at least the situation as Cheong Myeong understood it) after which the sect leader invited Shen Jiu for tea.

And very gently explained that Mount Hua would stand with Shen Jiu against any injustice he suffered.

“It’s not injustice,” Shen Jiu argued. “They have, in fact, every right to seek revenge against me.”

“Yes, Cheong Myeong said you think so.” Cheong Mun nodded. “Why don’t you explain the situation to me? Perhaps an outsider’s opinion would be helpful in this case.”

It was tempting. The offer of unconditional support, something Shen Jiu hadn’t received even from Qi-ge… But it was pointless. Once Cheong Mun knew the situation, he’d turn on Shen Jiu too. He’d be disgusted with him, just like everyone else-

There was a mooncake being pressed, oddly enough, against his hand. Shen Jiu looked down at it in surprise.

“I usually keep those for Cheong Myeong when he’s in a mood,” the sect leader confided conspiratorially. “But I’ve been told they’re helpful for you, too.”

Shen Jiu gripped the poor cookie harder, crumbs breaking off against his fingers. It was food, though. He couldn’t waste it. Eating it in two quick bites, he tried to pretend that interlude never happened.

“This master would prefer that Mount Hua not interfere,” he said. “It is a closed matter.”

“The only thing closed seem to be the minds and hearts of those going against you,” Cheong Mun argued. “Mount Hua can investigate the truth, bring proof-”

That was the crux of the matter, wasn’t it? “I would rather be disgraced as a Peak Lord than lose face with the truth.”

Cheong Mun fell silent, watching him intently.

Something whistled behind him and, before Shen Jiu could react, a heavy fan connected with the back of his head. A war fan; Just like Cheong Myeong promised.

The man himself popped into view behind the window soon enough, clambering into the room with loud complaints.

“Bullshit!” He was saying. “I did some digging-”

“-bullied someone into doing it for you, you mean,” Cheong Mun muttered.

“-and I know what you’re hiding! And it’s absolutely stupid!”

Ice dripped down Shen Jiu’s spine as he straightened. “I don’t know what you mean-”

“You grew up as a slave. So what? You killed the man who bought you — good for you! — stuck with a demonic cultivator until you could join a regular sect, climbed your way to the top- So what if one student thought you were too harsh a teacher? It doesn't matter-”

Shen Jiu lobbed the fan back, narrowly missing hitting Cheong Myeong. “I had him strung up and whipped, had him kneeling at the stairs for nights at a time, filled his days with chores and menial work-”

“And the first night I met my direct sajae, I beat him up and strung him off a cliff by his ankle. So what? He’s fine now. He proved he was strong enough.”

…right, Shen Jiu had forgotten who he was speaking with. Cheong Myeong was not a good gauge of what proper teaching techniques were. He turned towards Cheong Mun instead, who was holding his face in his hands, elbows resting on his desk.

Hearing the break in the argument, Cheong Mun looked up.

“Hm? Have you come to a decision? Will you let us help you?”

Shen Jiu blinked rapidly. Was… Everyone in this sect equally as insane?

“I killed my martial brother,” he offered, as a last ditch attempt to receive condemnation from those oddly unflappable people.

“It seems like there’s not much proof of that, actually-” Cheong Myeong’s smart ass tried to contribute.

“We always fought. There’s been numerous witnesses of me telling him I’d kill him. We secluded in the same caves and only one of us emerged alive-”

“Straight into a demonic invasion, yes, I did my homework,” Cheong Myeong waved his hand dismissively. “How did you kill him?”

Shen Jiu paused. Somehow, no one had asked him that before. They all just assumed he was at fault, either saw the body or decided the exact method didn’t matter-

“Sword through the heart,” he choked out. He could still see it sometimes, when he closed his eyes, the blade plunging into the flesh.

“So you, a person who’s never won a fight against him before, somehow managed to overpower and kill him?”

Of course that pest of a man wouldn’t just let Shen Jiu implicate himself in peace, he just had to keep asking questions- “He was weakened from a qi deviation,” he barked out.

“Mhm. And you weren’t?”

…What did Cheong Myeong think he knew? “No. I was not.”

“So that’s why, when you qi deviate, you beg that brute to stop being stupid and put some of that famed Bai Zhan stubbornness into surviving?”

Shen Jiu blanched. Did he really-? But that would mean- Around Mu-shidi, too? “I do not.” He protested weakly, even though those were the words he had used back then. “Why are you doing this? Just leave me to face my fate!”

“You’re not fated to be punished for the sins you couldn’t avoid.”

Of course he was! Of course he was. He’s been earning it his whole life. Everyone thought so.

…so why didn’t Cheong Myeong? Why didn’t Mount Hua?

Cheong Myeong approached, pressing the fan into one of Shen Jiu’s hands. Cheong Mun pressed a mooncake into the other.

And Shen Jiu- Shen Jiu tried to hold on to the scraps of who he thought he had to be.