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Shen Yuan had lived through the same ending more times than he could remember.
Every attempt ended the same.
No matter what he did, Shen Jiu died.
The moment Shen Jiu's heart was pierced, the world would shatter around him. Then the System would reset everything, and Shen Yuan would awaken once more in his head disciple's quarters in Qing Jing Peak, back to the day after Shen Jiu found him in that lonely alley.
Again.
And again.
And again.
~
Ever since his first qi deviation, his body had never resumed aging properly.
He was twenty-six years old.
He still looked seventeen.
He had refused the position of head disciple countless times, yet Shen Jiu had insisted every single loop.
"You'll be my head disciple."
No arguments. No room for refusal.
Shen Yuan knew why.
He resembled Shen Jiu too much.
Every glance Shen Jiu gave him was filled with a longing meant for someone else.
For the younger brother he had lost.
'Bitch... I AM your younger brother.'
I just can't tell you.
He had tried everything.
He had married Shen Jiu.
He had murdered Luo Binghe before the Endless Abyss.
He had thrown himself into the Abyss in Luo Binghe's place.
He had dragged Shen Jiu away from Qing Jing Peak and lived as wandering cultivators
He had ran before Shen Jiu could take him in from the streets.
He had even allowed himself to die first.
Nothing changed.
Every road led to the same destination.
Shen Jiu stuffed into a pickle jar.
Shen Yuan restrained before he could interfere.
His own head rolling across the ground beneath Luo Binghe's sword.
Eventually...
He stopped counting.
~
Shen Jiu had found a strange teenager in an alley.
The boy looked so much like him that denying any relation felt impossible.
Despite the boy's reluctance, Shen Jiu brought him back to Qing Jing Peak.
Made him his head disciple.
The youth never smiled.
Never complained.
Never displayed joy, anger, sorrow, or fear.
He obeyed every order flawlessly.
Even Shen Jiu had to bitterly admit that the boy's swordsmanship can rival his own.
If only...
If only he had truly been A-Yuan.
Shen Jiu had secretly performed every soul-recognition array, every talisman he knew.
Every result was the same.
Negative.
Yet...
He couldn't stop favoring the child.
~
"Shizun."
Shen Jiu looked up.
Shen Yuan stood before him, documents neatly stacked in his hands.
His face was as expressionless as ever.
"Place them on my desk."
"...Yes, Shizun."
"And return to your room. I'll finish the rest."
Shen Yuan silently obeyed.
~
The moment he entered his room, he activated a privacy talisman.
"System..."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"Is there truly no way to save Gege? ..I'll do anything. Even marry binghe who keeps killing us."
The System remained silent before finally replying.
[Host should stop trying. Canon must proceed, or the loop will never end.]
Shen Yuan laughed bitterly.
"But I was never part of canon. So what am I supposed to do? Die before Gege finds me? I always reset to the same day where jiu-ge offers me his hand, I can't even kill myself before then."
Silence.
The System's screen flickered.
[•́︿•̀]
"..."
Shen Yuan lied down without changing his clothes.
Sleep claimed him almost instantly.
~
At the Immortal Alliance Conference...
Everything unfolded exactly as before.
Luo Binghe stood at the edge of the Endless Abyss.
The demonic seal glowed on his forehead.
Shen Jiu raised Xiu Ya.
"A demon... To think I accepted a monster as my disciple."
"Shizun! I've never harmed anyone! Please...Believe me!"
Luo Binghe stumbled backward.
One more step...
He would fall.
'This beast won't corrupt my didi this time.'
Shen Jiu thrust his sword forward.
A flash of green robes.
Shen Yuan.
Instead of pulling luo binghe back...
He shoved him.
Then jumped after him.
Shen Jiu's mind went blank.
"A-Yuan!"
He rushed to the cliff's edge.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
~
Three years later...
Shen Yuan tucked another blanket around the unconscious Luo Binghe.
The System didn't punish me for not letting him go down the abyss...
He had prepared for this.
The teleportation potion purchased from the System.
The secret object coated in its liquid, the instant they reached the Abyss and fell. He had drank the liqiud and exchanged places with the coated object.
He needed Binghe alive.
His Gege alive.
Everything else could wait.
Shen Yuan sat quietly beside the bed.
"I'd die for both of you."
His fingers tightened around his robes, his expressionless face cracking.
"I already have. So many times... And it still wasn't enough."
~
When Shen Jiu was imprisoned in the Water Prison, condemned by lies and false accusations...
A familiar voice echoed through the darkness.
"Jiu-ge."
Shen Jiu looked up.
"...A-Yuan?"
His younger brother stood before him, holding a fresh set of robes.
"Change with me."
"No. I refuse."
Shen Yuan's expression remained calm.
"...I'm sorry."
Before Shen Jiu could react, Shen Yuan forced the robes onto him and pushed him outside the prison.
"I'll handle the rest."
"But I only just found you again! I can't lose you!"
Shen Yuan smiled. A tiny smile.
One Shen Jiu had never seen before.
"We've been together ever since I became your head disciple...That was surely enough."
~
The execution platform overflowed with spectators.
Kneeling in Shen Jiu's robes, Shen Yuan lowered his head.
"Today," the old palace master declared,
"We rid the cultivation world of one more evil man!"
Interesting words...
Coming from you.
Shen Yuan closed his eyes.
For the first time in countless lifetimes...
He smiled.
Real tears slipped down his cheeks.
"I finally..."
"...broke the loop."
Gege was alive.
His little white lotus was alive.
Everything...
Would finally be alright.
Steel descended.
~
Inside the small inn...
Luo Binghe awoke to a single letter.
«Binghe, I'm sorry. This shixiong has to leave.
Permanently. please protect Shen Qingqiu.
My Gege.
Let him live somewhere far away from those who wronged him. Let him finally be happy.
Thank you...
for giving me three peaceful years.
— Love,
Shen Yuan»