Chapter Text
When Shen Yuan transmigrated into Proud Immortal Demon Way, he had hoped that he would get some cool powers, maybe he would even be a cultivator and meet Luo Binghe and hug the protagonist's thighs so tight that the Heavenly Demon Emperor wouldn't have any reason to kill him.
Unfortunately, his luck seemed to have followed him into his new life.
"Goddamn it," he muttered, his voice hoarse from coughing all night long.
The two bodies sleeping on either side of him were silent and warm, but Shen Yuan found it hard to stay asleep, the rattling in his lungs getting worse with the cold and wet weather.
Shen Yuan tried to calm his breathing. In quite a lot of ways, this life was far worse than his last one. Yes, he had been sickly, but he'd been warm and loved, he'd had an inhaler with him at all times, and his rough breathing could often be calmed by medication and rest. He didn't have any of those luxuries here.
Except for the love.
There was no way he could have survived this long in this world without Qi-ge and Jiu-ge. He had transmigrated as a toddler, and while Jiu-ge and Qi-ge were also children themselves, they were at least able to move around freely and steal food. Shen Yuan had spent the first year of his transmigration getting his limbs to behave correctly and not cry at every strong emotion he had.
If he had to guess, Qi-ge was the oldest, probably around twelve now, though it was hard to tell with their stunted growth and malnutrition, and Jiu-ge was about a year younger. Apparently, when Jiu-ge had been sold to the slavers, Shen Yuan had been with him. Jiu-ge wouldn't have been older than six, and he'd had an infant in his care. Shen Yuan didn't know why Jiu-ge hadn't thrown him in the ditch at the first opportunity, but they were still together after all these years.
"Xiao-Yuan, are you awake?" The boy to his right whispered, pressed closely to Shen Yuan's side, as if hoping to chase away the ever-present chill with forced proximity.
"I'm alright, Qi-ge," he whispered back, letting the older boy hold him as he turned to face him.
"We need to get you some medicine tomorrow," Qi-ge muttered, listening closely to Shen Yuan's rattling lungs.
Shen Yuan shook his head, "We can't afford that! If you get caught taking medicine, you'll be in big trouble. Food is already bad, but medicine is expensive, Qi-ge-"
"A-Yuan is being stupid," another voice spoke, louder than both Shen Yuan and Qi-ge. Jiu-ge turned to face them both, slightly elbowing Shen Yuan in the ribs, though he couldn't be sure if it was on purpose. "A-Yuan needs medicine, so we'll get medicine, stop being a baby."
"I'm not a baby-" Shen Yuan spoke, but his words were cut off by another round of coughing. The worst part wasn't necessarily the coughing itself, it was how raw his throat was. Every breath felt like little shards of glass. He felt tears welling in his eyes against his will as his body shook.
"It's alright, Xiao-Yuan, we'll take care of you," Qi-ge spoke softly and moved them both to a sitting position, pulling Shen Yuan onto his lap and rubbing a soothing hand along his back. Jiu-ge sat up as well, gently brushing Shen Yuan's hair out of his face. It was slightly humiliating, being comforted by boys who were, by all intents and purposes, younger than Shen Yuan himself. When he had first transmigrated, a part of him wanted to be the amazingly smart child that all those isekai stories had, who helped them get out of poverty using his knowledge of the future and of the story, but his illness made it hard for him to help in any meaningful way at all. It was already hard enough to survive. What else could he do?
He felt his face flush as a few tears escaped from his eyes because of the force of his coughing as it subsided. Jiu-ge reached out and wiped them from his face gently.
"Stupid A-Yuan needs to let Jiu-ge and Qi-ge help him, he's too much of a baby to look after himself." his words were harsh, but his tone was so soft that Shen Yuan wanted to stay wrapped up in his Jiu-ge voice forever, then maybe the world would leave them alone.
Shen Yuan couldn't help the wet giggle that left his mouth. He felt his body getting heavy as sleep settled back into his bones, his eyelids drooping. He leaned on Qi-ge's shoulder, letting both of them lie him back down, and cuddled even closer than before, if that was possible. He felt his eyes closing, almost against his will, but he knew he would be safe if he was surrounded by Jiu-ge and Qi-ge.
He let himself rest.
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
The days are never the same for Shen Yuan, but they are also hardly ever different. It was a strange dichotomy. The slavers who owned them were cruel, barely giving them enough to eat, and expecting them to bring back coins at the end of the day. Sometimes they will beg in the street, Jiu-ge producing picture-perfect tears while Qi-ge tries his best. Shen Yuan just plays up how pitiful he already is, making sure to let his coughs ring extra loud when people pass by.
Sometimes they need to fight off other children for their spot on the street. Jiu-ge is very good at that, his nails are sharp, and his words are sharper.
Occasionally, they will wander for scraps, sometimes pieces of fabric to stitch up their clothes, or small items that can be sold for cheap. If they're lucky, they'll find food thrown out that's still good to eat, but that doesn't happen often.
Sometimes Qi-ge gets hired out to help with some manual labour, though not very frequently, and generally only by people who want someone they can bully to do their menial work. Qi-ge is the biggest of them and the strongest, he can carry the big sacks of rice from the stall to the inn faster than the old man who runs the place. If he does enough work, he has just enough coins to give to the slavers while keeping a small amount for himself.
On some of the days when Qi-ge is gone, the old woman who runs the brothel in town will find them and speak to Jiu-ge, but Shen Yuan has never been allowed to listen to those conversations. Each time this happens, Jiu-ge purposefully makes himself look worse afterwards, he rubs dirt on his face and messes up his hair, seething. He's always in an awful mood after those talks, but the woman will often leave a small cloth full of warm bread rolls in his hands, so Jiu-ge never purposefully avoids her.
Shen Yuan isn't dumb, he knows what must be discussed in those quiet talks, but he never asks Jiu-ge to talk about it. Jiu-ge seems to be more comfortable talking to Qi-ge about 'adult' things.
"We'll be fine, Xiao-Jiu," Qi-ge said when they both thought Shen Yuan to be asleep.
"Will we?" Jiu-ge snapped, lightly petting Shen Yuan's head where it rested in his lap.
Qi-ge let out a small sigh, "Old farmer Feng said that he'll have some more work to be done once spring starts because he can't do as much anymore, that's just a few weeks away, we'll be alright-"
"She said she has medicine," Jiu-ge whispered, his hands shaking slightly. Shen Yuan suddenly found it very hard to keep his breathing even, "she says that because I'm young I'll be cheap, but once I start… taking people she would give me an allowance-"
"Xiao-Jiu-"
"Even if you make some coin, what good will it do? We're already starving. Do you think we can afford it? A-Yuan is going to die if we don't-" Jiu-ge stopped, his whole body tense, a small sob breaking through his words, "A-Yuan is going to die, and I have a way to get him help, how can you expect me to say no, Qi-ge?"
Qi-ge let out a sound like a wounded animal, moving to sit next to Jiu-ge and pull him into a hug as the younger boy's body shook from quiet weeping.
"I know you're worried about Xiao-Yuan, I am too, and I promise we will do everything to keep him safe and healthy." Qi-ge's voice is thick with emotion. Shen Yuan can't blame him, he's never seen his brother cry actual tears before. They see his fake tears all the time, but genuine sobs that wrack his body are something Shen Yuan has never expected from his brother.
"What good are we?" Jiu-ge chokes out, "he's my baby brother, if he dies, I might as well slit my own throat, what good would I be without him?"
"Don't say such things!" Qi-ge sounds shocked and close to tears himself, "Xiao-Jiu, you're the most important person in the world, you and Xiao-Yuan are everything to me, I couldn't bear to lose either of you."
Qi-ge holds Jiu-ge for a moment, neither of them speaking. Shen Yuan wants more than anything to join them, but he can't let them know that he's awake.
Qi-ge lets out a small sigh, "I know Xiao-Jiu doesn't like to listen to this stupid Qi-ge."
"Of course I don't, you have the worst ideas," Jiu-ge bites out, furiously wiping the tears from his face as he resumes the calming motion of petting Shen Yuan's hair.
A small chuckle escapes Qi-ge's mouth, "Of course, Xiao-Jiu is much smarter than me." He takes a moment before speaking again, his voice quiet and serious, "All I ask is that Xiao-Jiu waits a while. One more year, once the planting season and the harvest are done. If Qi-ge hasn't gotten enough money for medicine, then Xiao-Jiu can do as he wishes."
The small fingers in Shen Yuan's hair tremble as Jiu-ge scoffs.
"A year, you know what can happen in a year? What if A-Yuan gets even more sick and medicine doesn't work anymore? She might not be willing to give me the medicine if I wait that long. What will happen then? What if we just get sold anyway?"
Shen Yuan wants to scream at his brother. He wants to tell him that nothing is worth this, his sickness will progress no matter what, and he doubts any medicine in this xianxia universe will help a chronic condition like his. He's sure that if Jiu-ge and Qi-ge were older and understood the human body a bit more, maybe they would see how futile it is, but they are only children themselves, in their minds, medicine must work, otherwise there was no hope at all.
"Besides," Jiu-ge mutters, "at least the brothel is warm, and she said A-Yuan would be allowed to share my room if I wished," Qi-ge tries to speak again but Jiu-ge rambles on, "she said I wouldn't take… customers right away, she'd teach me to play an instrument and do chores. She said that my purity-" he spits out the word like venom, "would make me valuable."
"Xiao-Jiu…" Qi-ge truly sounds like he's crying now, "Xiao-Jiu, please don't act hastily, we need to have patience, A-Yuan will get better once the weather warms, you'll see, and then I'll find some work."
Jiu-ge is quiet for a long pause before finally spitting out a short, "fine."
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
As promised, Jiu-ge never brings up the brothel again, at least for a while. Shen Yuan tries to act like he never heard that conversation, but whenever the old brothel lady finds them, he fights the urge to run up to her and hit her shins until she leaves.
He doesn't know why she doesn't just buy Jiu-ge anyway, it isn't like he would be able to refuse, as much as he hates to admit it. In a strange coincidence, Qi-ge asks that same question a few nights after their original conversation.
"She said that someone who is willing is less of a hassle," Jiu-ge scoffs, "it seems like she enjoys motivating her workers."
They don't mention the woman at all after that.
Qi-ge does get some more work in the spring, though not much. As strong as he might be for a fourteen-year-old, he is still a fourteen-year-old, only able to do maybe half the work of a full-grown man, and his pay reflects that.
Still, it's just enough to keep staving off the hunger pains, and Shen Yuan knows that a full belly is probably the best thing he can get for his health, so when both Jiu-ge and Qi-ge give him the largest portion, he doesn't call it out.
He needs to be healthy, so Jiu-ge doesn't go to that place.
One pastime he has found that does help them is collecting herbs from the forest right next to town. The first time he had spotted them, he had been wandering around with Qi-ge looking for scraps. He'd turned to see a small clump of plants that sparked his interest.
Quietly, so as not to alert Qi-ge, who was rummaging through the trash outside a barn, he wandered over and knelt down to inspect them more closely. To his utter delight, he recognised them!
If there was one good thing to say about Airplane Shooting Through the Sky, it was the fact that he never skimmed over the descriptions of the plants and creatures in his story. Granted, this was often for pa-pa-pa reasons, but still!
Shen Yuan was gazing at Sun Dipped Clovers, a generally common plant, but they were known to aid with aches and pains. Of course, in PIDW, they had been accidentally mixed into a concoction of Full Moon Clovers, which look almost identical and have a calming effect, but unfortunately, as poor wife #279 figured out, when combined, they create a powerful aphrodisiac.
Why would those two seemingly innocent plants create such a thing? Because obviously, PIDW was a trash novel that made no sense!
"Xiao-Yuan!" Qi-ge's panicked voice called out, making Shen Yuan jump up, but not before collecting a clump of clovers.
"I'm here, Qi-ge," Shen Yuan said, waddling over as fast as his small legs could carry him. He was probably around six or seven now, but his body was smaller than it should have been.
"Xiao-Yuan, you can't run off like that!" Qi-ge didn't sound angry, but his voice was tight and worried. His brows were furrowed in a way that would have looked cute on any other child, but it displayed his genuine fear at the thought of losing Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan threw his arms around him, beaming up at him, "Look, Qi-ge, I found some plants!" He reached into his pockets and pulled out a fistful of the clovers.
Qi-ge's eyes widened, and he snatched them from Shen Yuan's hands, "Xiao-Yuan, you don't know what those do! They could be dangerous!"
Shen Yuan watched as the clovers he had just gathered were crushed in Qi-ge's fist, and he felt tears welling up in his eyes. He tried his hardest not to cry, but seeing what he had just worked hard for end up destroyed made a small sob bubble up in his chest.
Then, he let out a truly awful wail.
Curse his small child emotions!!!
Qi-ge's face changed from worry to panic in an instant, "No, Xiao-Yuan, don't cry, Qi-ge is sorry he ruined your plants." He crouched down next to Shen Yuan, who was trying his best to stop the tears from falling.
This was so humiliating.
"I- I just- A-Yuan wanted-" He was struggling to get the words out through his childish cries, "A-Yuan want- wanted to hel- help Qi-ge and- and Jiu-ge,"
Qi-ge pulled him into a gentle hug, his larger body almost fully engulfing the smaller boy, "Xiao-Yuan always helps Qi-ge and Jiu-ge, he's such a good helper, Qi-ge is so lucky to have Xiao-Yuan helping him." his voice was soft as Shen Yuan's cries died down, little by little, becoming small hiccups, before Qi-ge continued, "Qi-ge was just worried about Xiao-Yuan, alright? There are lots of dangerous plants in that forest, and Qi-ge didn't want Xiao-Yuan to get hurt. Does Xiao-Yuan understand?"
Shen Yuan looked into Qi-ge's eyes and nodded, his face splotchy and his eyes red. Truly, he must look pathetic like this.
Qi-ge smiled at him, his calm smile that he almost always wore. Qi-ge and Jiu-ge were good at keeping their faces from showing emotion. Qi-ge had his smiles, and Jiu-ge had his snarls, but both served the same purpose.
"Can Xiao-Yuan tell Qi-ge why he grabbed the plants?" Qi-ge asked.
Shen Yuan looked over to the patch of clovers he had been picking from, "They're supposed to stop things from hurting," he mumbled, not meeting Qi-ge's eyes.
Qi-ge looked rightfully confused. Why would Shen Yuan, a child with no education in any sense of the word, know about the properties of plants?
"I heard the old ladies talking in the market," Shen Yuan hurried to explain, "they said they use it for their knees."
He still didn't look convinced, but Shen Yuan knew that out of his two older brothers, Qi-ge was much more likely to fall victim to his cute appearance. There had been more than one occasion where all Shen Yuan had to do was beg and stare at Qi-ge with his big child eyes, and the boy would fold instantly. That being said, Qi-ge also almost always let Jiu-ge do anything he wanted without much of a fuss, so maybe he was just a pushover.
"Ok," Qi-ge relented with a sigh, "let Qi-ge try it first, alright?"
"Thank you, Qi-ge," Shen Yuan mumbled as he wrapped his arms around the boy, letting himself be picked up and held.
Later that day, when both Qi-ge and Jiu-ge deemed the herbs safe to use, Shen Yuan felt a tension in his chest that he hadn't even realised was there, finally uncoiling.
If he could do these small things, maybe they'd find a way out of this. He'd get better at finding herbs, he'd sell them, and they would be alright.
Wouldn't they?