Archive of Our Own

Shen Yuan watched, nervous, as Mu Qingfang checked over the small figure on the bed. The only reason he kept from openly fretting and wringing his hands was because his shizun had instructed him extensively on how to keep one’s composure during an intense situation.

His shizun who was, currently, a small unconscious child.

With a thoughtful hum, Mu Qingfang released Yue Qingyuan’s wrist and turned to Shen Yuan. “You said you found him like this?”

“Ah, yes…” Shen Yuan swallowed. “Shizun was late for a meeting with Ren-shishu, so this disciple went to go find him, and…”

It was strange, seeing such a large and powerful man so small. If Shen Yuan had to guess, he would put him at around seven or eight years old. Definitely younger than ten. The most concerning part was how scrawny he was—as though underfed. Had Yue Qingyuan really come from such a difficult background?

“I see.” Mu Qingfang glanced over the bed again, gaze sticking to the large sword laid out right next to Yue Qingyuan. “And you thought to bring Xuan Su?”

Shen Yuan let out a laugh that sounded too high-pitched to his own ears. “Shizun was actually clutching onto it in his sleep when I found him, so I just grabbed it without thinking.”

Frankly, it had been one of the most adorable things Shen Yuan had ever seen.

Mu Qingfang’s mouth twitched with amusement before he schooled his expression. “Well, it’s a good thing you did,” he said, and then didn’t elaborate. “Was there anything else of note? Any oddities in his behavior in the past week?”

“Not that this disciple noticed, no,” he said. “Other than that Shizun had been working even harder than usual.”

Overworking himself, more like, but Shen Yuan didn’t dare say something so disrespectful out loud. He didn’t know all the details, but apparently Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge had gotten into another argument, followed by Shen Qingqiu barging into Yue Qingyuan’s office and making demands of him. Since then, Yue Qingyuan had been running himself ragged trying to appease his mysteriously-favored shidi. Without even letting Shen Yuan help! His own head disciple! It was frustrating!

“Does Mu-shishu think it’s a qi deviation?” Shen Yuan asked.

“It’s a possibility, but I can’t yet say for sure.” Mu Qingfang started to stand. “I’ll need to run more tests—”

The sound of rustling fabric came from the bed as Yue Qingyuan stirred. Shen Yuan started forward. “Shizun—!”

Mu Qingfang held up a hand to cut him off. He sat back down by the bed as Yue Qingyuan woke up, looking around at his surroundings with bleary confusion.

“Zhangmen-shixiong?” Mu Qingfang gently asked. 

Yue Qingyuan’s gaze snapped over to him, brows furrowing. Something in Mu Qingfang’s expression changed, and he asked, “Do you know who I am?”

Yue Qingyuan stared at him for a long moment, then shook his head.

Shen Yuan’s stomach dropped.

Voice still gentle, Mu Qingfang continued, “My name is Mu Qingfang, and that’s Shen Yuan.” Yue Qingyuan glanced over, and Shen Yuan gave an awkward little wave. “May I have your name?”

“…Yue Qi,” he said after a moment. “Where am I?”

“You’re at Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, on Qian Cao Peak,” Mu Qingfang explained. “You’re here because you got sick and need to heal.”

“Sick?” Yue Qingyuan—Yue Qi—frowned. “Did Xiao-Jiu bring me here?”

Mu Qingfang glanced at Shen Yuan, who shrugged. He had never heard his shizun mention that name before. “No,” Mu Qingfang said. “But once you’re healed, we’d be happy to try and help you find Xiao-Jiu.”

“I feel fine.” Yue Qi sat up. “Can we go now?”

He made to stand, only to pause as his hand accidentally landed on Xuan Su. He quickly pulled away and shrunk in on himself, like he thought he would be yelled at for touching it.

“It’s all right,” Mu Qingfang said. “That’s your sword.”

Yue Qi’s jaw dropped. “My sword?!”

“Yes,” Mu Qingfang failed to suppress his amusement. “It’s sealed right now so you don’t hurt yourself, but it’s important that you keep it with you at all times.” After a beat, he added, “Would you like to put it on?”

Yue Qi, who had been tracing the sheath’s intricate engravings with a finger, looked up at him with wide eyes. “But it’s taller than I am!”

“We’ll strap it to your back.”

Despite his excitement, Yue Qi hesitated. He studied Mu Qingfang with an expression eerily similar to the one he’d wear when he knew Shen Yuan was lying about something. The hairs on the back of Shen Yuan’s neck stood up.

In the end, though, Yue Qi shyly nodded and hopped out of the bed. He stood obediently still while Mu Qingfang strapped Xuan Su to his back, and seemed to have no issue bearing the weight of such a large sword. Perhaps some of his strength and cultivation had carried over into this form. Once it was done, he twisted and turned as though trying to look at Xuan Su behind him, and then gave Mu Qingfang a hopeful look. “Can we go find Xiao-Jiu now? I really do feel fine.”

Mu Qingfang smiled. “I’m sure you do, but we still need to run some tests to make sure, okay?” At the sight of Yue Qi’s crestfallen look, he added, “You don’t want to risk collapsing again in front of your Xiao-Jiu, do you?”

Yue Qi shook his head, but the little pout remained. Shen Yuan manfully resisted the urge to pat his head. “Can we find Xiao-Jiu after?”

“Yes, once we know you’re healthy, we’ll help you find Xiao-Jiu.”

Shen Yuan glanced at him. What the hell kind of promise was that? This ‘Xiao-Jiu’ person was probably dead! Or, at the very least, so estranged that Yue Qingyuan had never once mentioned them. Sure, Yue Qingyuan would probably (hopefully) understand once he was himself again, but lying like this to a small child felt…iffy.

Yue Qi gave a long-suffering sigh—once again eerily similar to his adult self. “Okay.”

Mu Qingfang nodded, satisfied. “I have to go get a few materials for the tests, but Shen Yuan here will keep you company while I’m gone.”

Shen Yuan will do what now?

He shot Mu Qingfang a panicked look that went ignored as the latter swept out of the room. Shishu! Don’t leave me like this!

His shishu did indeed leave him like this.

Now alone with Yue Qi, Shen Yuan awkwardly cleared his throat. What could he even say? How much of this would his shizun remember once he was back to his old self?

Remembering how excited Yue Qi had been about his sword, Shen Yuan said, “I’m, ah, actually a disciple here. On another peak. You could, uh, probably become one too—you already have a sword!”

Yue Qi reached back and patted Xuan Su’s sheath in what looked like a self-soothing gesture. He stared at the ground for a bit, fists clenching and unclenching in his robes, then looked up at Shen Yuan. “Are you really going to help me find Xiao-Jiu?”

Shen Yuan’s smile froze.

Yue Qi dropped his gaze. “I knew it,” he muttered.

“Um—”

Before Shen Yuan could say anything else, Yue Qi darted towards the door. He was fast even like this, but Shen Yuan was faster and caught him around the middle before he could reach it.

“Let me go!” Yue Qi thrashed violently in his hold.

“We really are trying to help you!” Shen Yuan struggled to keep a grip on him. Fuck, it wasn’t fair that Yue Qi was still so strong!

“No you’re not! You’re lying! They sold me to you, didn’t they?!”

Sold?

That word—its implications—distracted Shen Yuan enough that Yue Qi was able to fully twist around and bite down on his arm. Hard.

“Ow! The fuck?!” Shen Yuan released him on instinct. Did his shizun really just bite him?!

After dropping to the ground, Yue Qi wasted no time. He scrambled to his feet and flung the door open, then ran out as fast as he could. Which was, unfortunately, far faster than any eight-year-old had any business to be running. Shen Yuan hurried outside and spotted him already at the end of the walkway, where a startled Qian Cao disciple was trying to stop him. Unfortunately for that disciple, Yue Qi had figured out a very effective technique, and promptly bit their hand hard enough to draw blood. They squawked and wrenched their hand away, and Yue Qi kept running.

Ahh fuck…Mu-shishu is going to kill me, Shen Yuan thought, and then ran after him.

It was a fine day on Qing Jing Peak, the summer sun’s heat cut pleasantly with gentle breezes and shade from the bamboo. Shen Qingqiu strode briskly down the paths, having finally finished teaching his last lesson of the day and ready to return to the sanctity of his Bamboo House.

There were a few small groups of disciples in the small clearings just off the paths, practicing poetry recitations and sword forms with each other. They all paused to salute their shizun as he walked by. Shen Qingqiu didn’t acknowledge them.

A violent rustling of leaves gave him pause, and he turned just in time to see a small figure burst out of the underbrush nearby, tripping and tumbling to the ground before quickly picking itself back up. The child, covered in scuffs and leaves, turned to face him, and Shen Qingqiu froze. 

For a moment, he feared he was hallucinating a ghost from his past.

The child— Qi-ge— Yue Qi stared right back at him, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. The two stood in mutual shock for the span of a few heartbeats, and then Yue Qi’s face twisted with fury. Having never seen such an expression on any iteration of Yue Qingyuan’s face, Shen Qingqiu was too stunned to do anything but stand there as the child barreled towards him.

Pain bloomed from his forearm where Yue Qi bit down, serving as proof that this truly wasn’t a hallucination or dream. Was this actually Yue Qingyuan, then? What happened to him?

Regardless of the cause, it appeared that in this state he was far less capable of hiding his disdain for Shen Qingqiu.

A few shocked outcries of Shizun! reached his ears, and Shen Qingqiu looked up to see his useless disciples dithering on whether they should intervene or not. In the next moment, there was more rustling before a youth emerged from the underbrush near where Yue Qi had appeared, panting from exertion. Though his Qiong Ding robes were dirtied and he had numerous visible bite wounds, Shen Qingqiu easily recognized the disciple that was always trailing after Yue Qingyuan. He was possibly his head disciple—Shen Qingqiu never cared to ask.

The disciple paled at the sight before him. “Shi— Yue Qi, no!” He surged forward to try and pull Yue Qi off of him, but the latter held fast with a noise that sounded almost like a growl.

“Yue Qi, please.” The disciple stopped pulling to flutter his hands uselessly over where Yue Qi’s teeth were still latched in Shen Qingqiu’s arm. “Shen-shishu, this disciple greatly apologizes! Shishu may not recognize him now, but this is actually the sect leader!”

As if that wasn’t obvious. Even without the advantage of having known Yue Qingyuan as a child, who else could have Xuan Su strapped to their back like that?

The disciple kept babbling, saying something about how Yue Qingyuan had been like this since this morning and had escaped from Qian Cao Peak. Shen Qingqiu stopped listening once it became clear the youth had no useful information on the situation, instead looking down at Yue Qi again. His jaw was still firmly clamped down on his arm, though Shen Qingqiu had long since stopped registering the pain. A child’s bite was nothing in the grand scheme of things. What was harder to bear was that expression—open fury directed at him and looking entirely wrong on that face. Shen Qingqiu was not so delusional as to think he’d never angered Yue Qingyuan before, but he had never had the satisfaction of seeing his anger. Of knowing he had successfully riled Yue Qingyuan up and cracked his mask.

It was anything but satisfying right now.

“Yue Qi.” Done babbling, the disciple gentled his voice and knelt down right by Yue Qi. Shen Qingqiu squashed the strange urge to kick him for it. “Yue Qi, I’m sorry if I scared you, I really do just want to help. What if— I can’t guarantee we’ll find them, but if you let go and come back with me, I promise I’ll help you look for Xiao-Jiu.”

Shen Qingqiu stilled.

That succeeded in getting Yue Qi to let go, but only so he could turn his glare onto the disciple. He pointed back at Shen Qingqiu and declared, “Only if he comes with!”

“Uh.” The disciple blinked and glanced up at Shen Qingqiu, then back at Yue Qi. “Um, Shen-shishu is very busy, and—”

“I don’t care!” Yue Qi rounded on Shen Qingqiu. The blood on his teeth made him look nearly demonic. “You—You’re alive and you live in this fancy sect and you have money while Xiao-Jiu is out there! You have to—to take responsibility or else you’re a—” He paused, hesitant, then screwed his eyes shut and shouted, “A bastard!”

Silence.

Ah…so that was what Yue Qi thought the situation was. It was almost amusing, despite everything. Shen Qingqiu still had vivid memories of trying to get Yue Qi to curse other people out, only for the latter to refuse and say it wasn’t right. He had always seemed so much older and wiser back then, but looking at him now, it was almost a shock to realize that Yue Qi had just been a small, scrawny street rat trying to protect smaller, scrawnier street rats. His noble Qi-ge who didn’t want to lower himself, even though they were both already in the dirt. 

To think that all it took was the misconception that he was faced with Shen Jiu’s negligent father.

The Qiong Ding disciple reacted with appropriate horror at hearing Yue Qi call Shen Qingqiu a bastard. He started stammering and wringing his hands before clasping them together and taking a breath—a technique that must have been taught to him by Yue Qingyuan himself.

“Shen-shishu, please don’t pay him any mind!” he said. “It’s been a stressful day, and he must be confused—”

Shen Qingqiu ignored him and instead bent to grasp Yue Qi’s chin in his fingers, twisting his head so he could whisper in his ear. His words were too quiet for even the disciple to overhear, but it sent Yue Qi stumbling back a step. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he stared up at Shen Qingqiu. “You’re…?”

Shen Qingqiu straightened and stared right back down at him, waiting. Wondering how he might react.

He certainly didn’t expect Yue Qi to start crying. Nor for him to launch himself at him again—this time wrapping his arms around Shen Qingqiu’s leg and clinging tight as he sobbed into his robes.

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but think he might prefer the biting over this.

Somehow, the disciple managed to look more horrified than Shen Qingqiu felt. He surged forward as though to grab Yue Qi and pull him away again, only to stop short when Shen Qingqiu held up a hand.

“Xiao-Jiu…” Yue Qi mumbled into the fabric, nearly unintelligible. “I was so s-scared. I didn’t know if you were safe. I thought—” He sniffled and looked up, propping his chin on Shen Qingqiu’s thigh and revealing red-rimmed eyes. “It’s really you?”

Shen Qingqiu swallowed down bile. “Mn.”

A bright, watery smile spread across Yue Qi’s face. For so long, Shen Qingqiu had been certain that Yue Qingyuan hardly cared for him anymore—not outside of his guilt and shame. Shen Qingqiu had thought perhaps he never actually did, that maybe it was all an act from the start. But looking at Yue Qi’s shining expression now…he really did care for him once, didn’t he?

Shen Qingqiu wondered when that stopped.

“Ah, there you both are.” A new voice dragged Shen Qingqiu’s attention over to where a very tired-looking Mu Qingfang came down the path. If he was at all surprised to see his juvenile sect leader clinging onto Shen Qingqiu, he didn’t show it. The Qiong Ding disciple winced and saluted, mumbling an apologetic Mu-shishu in greeting. 

“Mu-shidi.” Shen Qingqiu gathered himself and pretended there wasn’t a crying barnacle attached to his leg. “What happened.”

“That’s what we were trying to figure out before Zhangmen— before Yue Qi here ran off.”

Shen Qingqiu raised a brow. “The whole of Qian Cao Peak couldn’t restrain one child?”

“I mean, he’s still pretty strong like this,” the disciple muttered defensively, scratching at one of his healing bite wounds. “And fast.”

Shen Qingqiu ignored him.

Mu Qingfang didn’t react to the insult towards his peak. “This shidi thanks Shen-shixiong for…assisting in this matter. I’ll take Yue Qi back to Qian Cao—”

“No!”

Everyone paused, stunned, as Yue Qi scrambled behind Shen Qingqiu for protection. “Xiao-Jiu, don’t let them take me!”

Mu Qingfang’s eyebrows lifted at the use of Xiao-Jiu, but he didn’t address it. “Yue Qi, if you want to get better—”

“No! I feel fine!” Yue Qi shouted. Then, as though deeming his current position insufficient, he ducked under the skirt of Shen Qingqiu’s outer robe and latched onto his leg again. Considering his height and the fact that Xuan Su was strapped to him, the subsequent tent at the back of Shen Qingqiu’s robes was regrettably comical.

This finally succeeded in making Mu Qingfang’s expression crack, his entire face spasming before he coughed into his fist. “Shen-shixiong, perhaps if you came with us…?”

And drag this spectacle across the entire sect? Granted, it would be the quickest way to figure out just what happened to Yue Qingyuan and return him to normal. Shen Qingqiu was also sure he could drop him on Qian Cao Peak and be done with this mess, not to be bothered further until Yue Qingyuan was himself again and slunk back to Qing Jing Peak with that guilty expression of his. Shen Qingqiu really hated that expression. 

But like this, Yue Qi still…well, liked him. He hadn’t yet noticed the deficiencies in Shen Qingqiu’s character that Yue Qingyuan must have, for him to decide never to come back for him. Doubtless he soon would, though, if he spent too much time around Shen Qingqiu. Which meant Shen Qingqiu shouldn’t be tempted to grab Yue Qi and hide him away, to soak up every drop of that open affection while it still existed—

Yue Qi tightened his hold on his leg.

“The sect leader has clearly had a very stressful day,” Shen Qingqiu said blandly, like he was referring to Yue Qingyuan being a bit snippy during a meeting. “Subjecting him to more strain right now would risk worsening his current condition.”

“Shen-shixiong is not incorrect,” Mu Qingfang said slowly, “however, it would be best to diagnose the problem as soon as possible—”

“And working with an uncooperative patient always goes well.” Shen Qingqiu ignored the flat look Mu Qingfang gave him. “Allowing him some time to rest and recover from the shock of the situation would only be beneficial. Perhaps he might even return to normal on his own overnight.”

Mu Qingfang looked ready to argue his point again, but then his gaze dropped to Shen Qingqiu’s misshapen robes. He visibly debated with himself, weighing the odds of getting Yue Qi to cooperate without Shen Qingqiu’s assistance, before letting out a sigh. “This shidi will defer to his shixiong’s judgment. Though I expect to see the both of you on Qian Cao Peak tomorrow,” he added, with a stern glare nowhere near as threatening as Shen Qingqiu had experienced in his life.

He swept off without another word, leaving only the Qiong Ding disciple, who had done a poor job of disguising his laughs as coughs earlier. Now, he cleared his throat. “Ah, perhaps this disciple could stay and help look after Yue Qi…?”

“Because you did such a fine job of that earlier,” Shen Qingqiu drawled. “And by my estimations, Qiong Ding is now without its master and you are its head disciple. Do you not have other duties you should be attending to right now?”

Realization dawned on the youth’s face. He held fast, though, clasping his hands together tightly. “It…It is also this disciple’s duty to make sure his shizun is well-cared for…”

Shen Qingqiu smiled with a few too many teeth. “Do you mean to imply that this master would treat our sect leader with anything but the utmost care?”

At that, the disciple paled and stammered out some drivel about how of course that wasn’t what he meant, that he was only concerned for his shizun’s well-being, that he would never dare insult his shishu in such a way. Shen Qingqiu only half-listened, waiting until the disciple finally caught himself and stopped rambling. With a hesitant, though crisp, salute at Shen Qingqiu and one last glance at where Yue Qi was still hiding, he turned and scampered off.

A single withering look was all it took to dispel any lingering Qing Jing disciples, who would no doubt soon spread gossip of this to anyone who would listen. Surprisingly, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t bring himself to care. Something of his past had been exposed, in a way, but so had Yue Qingyuan’s. Even more so, in the latter case. And with the way Yue Qi kept acting, it would be more surprising if he didn’t inadvertently reveal his origins to the whole sect.

Shen Qingqiu would have to advise him on that. Not because he cared about Yue Qingyuan’s reputation, but for the sake of his own. It was obvious to anyone who had witnessed that whole incident that their pasts were intertwined, and the whole sect would likely know about it by the end of the day. If Yue Qi were to reveal the dirt he came from, even Liu Qingge would be able to connect the dots there. Best to make sure Yue Qi knew what he should and should not talk about before returning to Qian Cao Peak tomorrow.

…Of course, Shen Qingqiu would have to get him out from under his skirts first.

Yue Qi was having the best week of his entire life.

Once he had managed to calm down, Xiao-Jiu—Da-Jiu, more like—had whisked him off to an elegant little house, which he revealed to be his Bamboo House. 

His very own house! Xiao-Jiu was not only a rich cultivator now, but he had a whole house too!

He had much more than that, it turned out. Da-Jiu explained everything to him—how they were both immortal cultivators in this sect, each in charge of their own peaks. According to Da-Jiu, Yue Qi was also in charge of the entire sect. He was also, usually, a grown-up. Apparently Yue Qi had been a bit off in his initial theory that he’d somehow ended up in the future. The ‘sickness’ that the liar doctor kept talking about was just that Yue Qi’s grown-up self had somehow reduced in age, leaving him like this. Why didn’t he just say so?

It all felt too good to be true. Like a fantasy or a dream. When he went to sleep that night, Yue Qi half-expected to wake up and find himself sleeping on the hard ground again right next to Xiao-Jiu. He would tell Xiao-Jiu all about it, and Xiao-Jiu would huff and tell him he should have dreamt about food in their bellies instead.

But when he woke up, he was still in the Bamboo House. And when Yue Qi dared to mention it to Da-Jiu, he huffed in much the same way that Xiao-Jiu would. “Didn’t we always say we were going to become cultivators someday?” he asked. “Is it really so hard to believe?”

Well, when he put it like that, perhaps it wasn’t.

Da-Jiu did bring him back to Qian Cao Peak the next morning, and even stayed in the room while Mu Qingfang did his weird tests. When he was done, Mu Qingfang sighed and faced Da-Jiu’s expectant look. “It isn’t a qi deviation,” he concluded, “which means something specific did this to him.” To Yue Qi, he asked, “I don’t suppose you remember eating anything strange or encountering an odd plant before reverting to your younger self?”

Yue Qi shook his head. He couldn’t remember anything from being a grown-up.

This didn’t surprise Mu Qingfang. “Without knowing the cause, it’ll take longer to narrow down a cure. But this shidi will work tirelessly until then, so please rest assured,” he said with a salute. Even knowing his grown-up self’s role in this sect, it made Yue Qi feel strange to see an adult salute to him like that. 

Mu Qingfang turned to Da-Jiu. “Does Shen-shixiong plan to keep minding Yue Qi for the duration?”

“No one else seems capable of it.”

Mu Qingfang ignored the attempted insult, chewing on his next words before saying, “In that case, it would be prudent to warn you about Xuan Su.”

Da-Jiu arched a brow. “Xuan Su?”

“It looks to have sealed itself, so it shouldn’t even be an issue, but…” Mu Qingfang glanced at Yue Qi. “It’s imperative that Yue Qi keeps the sword with him at all times, but he mustn’t draw it. It could hurt him.”

For a few moments, Da-Jiu stood very still. “I assume you don’t mean in the way a sword can usually hurt a person.”

“…No, I don’t.”

“I see,” Da-Jiu’s voice came out clipped. “Does Mu-shidi care to enlighten me on the details?”

Mu Qingfang hesitated, glancing at Yue Qi again. “That’s something best left to Zhangmen-shixiong to explain.”

Da-Jiu was visibly displeased with this answer. His grip on the fan at his side tightened until Yue Qi heard a crack, and then he let out a slow exhale. He, too, glanced at Yue Qi. “It would seem so.”

The two of them left soon after that. For the rest of the morning, Da-Jiu was quiet and somber. Yue Qi hesitated to say anything to him. He got the impression that he had done something wrong. Or, rather, his grown-up self had done something wrong. Without knowing what it was, he didn’t have a way to apologize or make it up to Da-Jiu. He also doubted his usual method of sneaking Xiao-Jiu some candy would work. Grown-ups were more complicated than that.

Luckily, Da-Jiu’s mood eased after lunch. He was still quiet for the rest of the day, but he was more willing to acknowledge Yue Qi and treat him much the same as he had the day before.

Since then, Yue Qi happily trailed after Da-Jiu everywhere he went. He ate multiple meals every day in the safety of the Bamboo House, he watched him do paperwork and marveled at the fact that Da-Jiu could both read and write, and he even got to sit in on the lessons that Da-Jiu taught! Yue Qi had a sneaking feeling that Da-Jiu wasn’t actually very good at teaching, but he wisely held back from commenting on it.

The food from Qing Jing’s kitchens was a little bland, but they were proper meals and Yue Qi was allowed to eat as much as he wanted, so he would never complain. Plus, Da-Jiu had a stash of delicious snacks that he was willing to share with him in between meals. There was a smug air about him when Yue Qi gushed about how Da-Jiu could eat osmanthus cakes or egg tarts or milk candies whenever he wanted.

Da-Jiu also had very nice robes made of the softest fabrics, and unlike the nobles and rich merchants Yue Qi would pass by on the streets, he didn’t mind at all if he reached out to run his fingers over the delicate embroidery. The very next day, Da-Jiu somehow procured a few sets of robes of similar quality in Yue Qi’s size. These were a much darker green than Da-Jiu’s own pale shades, almost reminiscent of the black and silver robes that Shen Yuan and other Qiong Ding disciples wore.

Speaking of Shen Yuan, he popped by for a visit that same day. Now that Yue Qi was no longer panicked and scared, he did feel a bit guilty about how many times he’d bitten him the other day. He shyly apologized, and Shen Yuan just laughed it off and patted his head before seeming to catch himself. He withdrew his hand with a red face, and then—when Da-Jiu wasn’t looking—he snuck Yue Qi a few milk candies. He probably didn’t know that Da-Jiu had his own supply of candy that he shared with Yue Qi, but it was very nice of him all the same.

All in all, it was an amazing week. Except sometimes, Da-Jiu would get this strange look in his eyes, like he was sad and mad at the same time. He would also ask Yue Qi strange questions. Once, he asked if Yue Qi would ever consider leaving his Xiao-Jiu behind if it meant becoming a rich and powerful cultivator on his own. The question had been so frightening to consider that Yue Qi ended up throwing himself into Da-Jiu’s lap and clinging tightly to him. He never, ever wanted to leave Xiao-Jiu, and he told him as such. He would rather never become a cultivator at all if doing so meant not having Xiao-Jiu with him.

Da-Jiu just sat there stiffly, at first, until his arms slowly came around to hold Yue Qi just as tightly as he was holding him. They stayed like that for a long while, even after Yue Qi calmed down.

Da-Jiu didn’t ask any more strange questions after that.

On the last day of the week, Da-Jiu dressed Yue Qi up in his nicest new robes and carefully styled his hair with little silver accessories. He explained that they were going to something called a peak lord meeting, and that Yue Qi needed to look his best for it. Yue Qi thought he had already been looking his best all week—clean for once and wearing soft, pretty robes instead of ragged ones—but he trusted Da-Jiu’s judgment on this matter.

He clutched tight to Da-Jiu’s hand as they walked in. Beforehand, Da-Jiu had told him to keep his head high, and that he should not, under any circumstances, bow to anyone he spoke with. He reminded Yue Qi that he was technically in charge of all of them, so it would be beneath him to bow.

Yue Qi had to tell himself this over and over as they walked into a room filled with towering, immaculately-dressed cultivators. The kind of people Yue Qi normally wouldn’t dare look at, and he was expected to hold his head high?

He managed, somehow—more focused on not disappointing Da-Jiu than anything else. He ignored the staring as he followed Da-Jiu to his seat, and then sat down right next to him. Of these peak lords, he only recognized two: the liar doctor Mu Qingfang, and the one wearing silvery-gray robes with his hair up in a high tail. Yue Qi never actually learned his name, but he had stormed onto Qing Jing Peak the other day to yell at Da-Jiu a lot before Da-Jiu kicked him out. Somehow, he seemed to believe that Da-Jiu was forcing Yue Qi to stay with him against his will, which was just stupid. Where else would Yue Qi want to be?

He didn’t like that peak lord very much. And now, the very same man frowned at the two of them and asked, “Should he really be here?”

Da-Jiu barely glanced at the man. “Zhangmen-shixiong is still the sect leader, is he not?”

No one argued against that.

At the head of the table, Shen Yuan sat in what was presumably Yue Qi’s usual seat. He looked very nervous, which Yue Qi sympathized with because he was also very nervous in this room full of immortal masters, and he didn’t have to do anything more than sit quietly! He gave Shen Yuan what he hoped was an encouraging smile, but Shen Yuan’s responding one looked more queasy than anything.

It wasn’t long before the meeting started, and Yue Qi very quickly grew bored. He had thought that cultivators might talk about exciting things like monsters, but they only talked about boring grown-up stuff like budgets and whatever ‘requisition forms’ were. He tried his best to pay attention, but the fact that he didn’t understand half of what they were talking about made it impossible.

There was a plate of snacks on the table in front of them. Yue Qi couldn’t reach it from his seat, and he didn’t want to distract Da-Jiu by asking him for one, so he did the logical thing and climbed over into Da-Jiu’s lap so he could better reach the snacks. He didn’t think much of it—Da-Jiu let him sit in his lap all the time, after all. Da-Jiu also clearly didn’t mind, since he made no reaction other than to adjust his position so that Yue Qi had plenty of room to sit.

If Yue Qi were paying attention, he might have noticed how the currently-speaking peak lord (Qi Qingqi) faltered, or how everyone in the room gawked at the baffling sight. He might have noticed how Da-Jiu gave them all a severe look that had them averting their gazes before the conversation started back up again. But Yue Qi was too busy choosing which of the snacks to eat. He ended up eating a small cake full of a sweet paste that he thought Da-Jiu might like, so he took another and turned back to offer him one. Da-Jiu ate it without much reaction, but Yue Qi was pretty sure he liked it.

He spent the rest of the meeting finding ways to entertain himself. Once he had his fill of snacks, Yue Qi started fidgeting with the yupei hanging from his belt sash, then turned and started toying with the matching one on Da-Jiu’s robes. He thought about how he and Xiao-Jiu used to take oddly-shaped rocks and pretend they were toys and act out little scenes with them, and he smiled to himself.

It wasn’t as fun playing without Xiao-Jiu, though, so he grew bored of that too. He then moved on to fiddling with Da-Jiu’s soft, silky hair. He practiced his braiding, thinking about how since he was now the second oldest, the younger kids often asked for his help with putting up their hair for the day, so it would be best to get some practice in—

Ah. Right. Yue Qi wouldn’t be going back to the other kids. By now, they all must either be dead or grown-ups. And once Mu Qingfang figured out a cure, Yue Qi would be a grown-up again, too. A small part of Yue Qi couldn’t help but wish he could stay like this—clean and fed and safe under Da-Jiu’s care, without having to worry about all this weird grown-up stuff. 

But that wouldn’t be right. Like this, Yue Qi couldn’t protect Da-Jiu if he needed it. He couldn’t be his Qi-ge. As nice as this week had been, Yue Qi wanted to be Qi-ge again.

Holding back a sigh, Yue Qi glanced around the room. He immediately locked eyes with one of the peak lords, who had apparently been watching him. Compared to the others, this one looked a bit more…slimy was the only word Yue Qi could think of. If he weren’t wearing peak lord robes and Yue Qi saw him on the street, he would think he was the type of man to try and sell fake protection charms to desperate people. 

The slimy peak lord’s eyes widened at having been caught staring, and he quickly looked away. He also had a strange expression on his face, like he was constipated. Yue Qi made a note to ask Da-Jiu about him later.

For now, he went back to braiding Da-Jiu’s hair and tried to think about what they might do after the meeting. Maybe Da-Jiu would let him put little accessories in his hair like he had done for Yue Qi earlier. That would be fun. Da-Jiu would look so pretty.

Two days after the peak lord meeting, Mu Qingfang announced that he had figured out a cure for Yue Qi.

He had run out of a few of the needed materials due to all his testing and experimenting, so the actual refining and administration of the cure would take another few days. But this meant that Yue Qi would be cured, and he would be cured soon.

And thank fuck for that!

Shen Yuan had already known well enough that Yue Qingyuan had a difficult job. Even if he weren’t his head disciple who assisted him with all sorts of tasks, the fact that Yue Qingyuan was the leader of a major sect that was practically twelve smaller sects in a trench coat said enough! Obviously it was a difficult job!

It was even more difficult trying to do it as a teenaged disciple! Shen Yuan liked to think he was a good head disciple, but he’d only had this role for a couple years—he was vastly underqualified to take over Yue Qingyuan’s responsibilities.

And why were they even his responsibilities? Sure, he was technically next in line for peak lord, but shouldn’t at least one hallmaster have looked at him and gone, “Yeah, probably a bad idea to leave all this to the scrawny teen to handle?”

No such luck. None of the other peak lords seemed to think much of it, either—all perfectly content to dump their stupid issues onto Shen Yuan as if he really was Yue Qingyuan.

Endless requests! Grown-ass immortal masters throwing toddler-sized tantrums! Shen Yuan didn’t realize that Yue Qingyuan was basically just a glorified babysitter for an entire sect!

“And I swear, if Wei Qingwei refuses Liao Qingsu’s deal one more time, I’m gonna chuck him at his own sword wall!” Shen Yuan seethed, pacing around an empty clearing on Qiong Ding Peak. “He has to let her use his stock of Crimson Fire Opals if he wants her to refine that artifact to help with his swordsmithing! How the fuck else is she supposed to calibrate it?!”

How the hell did Yue Qingyuan manage to stay so calm and placid when dealing with so many assholes? Did he have a secret rage room under his house? Could Shen Yuan also use it, please, so he didn’t have to pace and rant in a clearing like a crazy person?

Speaking of Yue Qingyuan, “And what is up with Shen Qingqiu?! I thought he hated Yue Qingyuan—why is he being so fucking weird and OOC about Yue Qi? What the fuck was that display the peak lord meeting? If he—”

“What was that?”

Shen Yuan stopped and whirled around at the voice, coming face-to-face with the other scum villain. It took a moment for his brain to catch up, and he quickly smoothed down his hair and robes before saluting. “Shang-shishu, apologies. This disciple thought he was alone. Is there anything I can assist you with?”

Shang Qinghua stared at him for a long moment. “What was that you just said?”

“…Is there anything I can—”

“No, no, when you were ranting. The thing about Shen Qingqiu. Did you just call him…OOC?”

Caught out, Shen Yuan briefly panicked. But it wasn’t like someone would hear that and immediately jump to you must be a transmigrator from another world, right? In fact, he could probably just pass it off as youthful slang!

Before he could open his mouth, though, Shang Qinghua slowly said, “Proud Immortal Demon Way?”

Hearing that cursed webnovel’s title was like a slap in the face. Shen Yuan raised a shaking hand to point at Shang Qinghua. “You…You? You’re a transmigrator too?!”

“Oh thank fuck,” Shang Qinghua heaved out a sigh so large he folded with it, planting his hands on his knees. “I can’t believe this—I thought I was the only one! You know, I did think it was weird when Yue Qingyuan actually appointed a head disciple, but then I was like—well, it was never outright stated that he wasn’t supposed to have one, so maybe the System was just filling in the gaps. But if you’re actually another transmigrator…” He studied Shen Yuan. “How hard did you work to become head disciple?”

“You don’t want to know,” Shen Yuan said, exhausted.

He’d gone to Cang Qiong on a whim as soon as he was old enough, figuring that it might be cool to be in the general proximity of Luo Binghe and the plot. Imagine his surprise when he got picked for the top peak itself! Not that being on Qiong Ding automatically made his life glorious—quite the opposite, in fact, since he started off as an outer disciple. But he steadily worked his way up, and now look at him!

…Struggling to keep his head above water managing all the sect leader’s responsibilities, while Yue Qingyuan himself was happily being doted on by the scum villain. Actually, maybe Shen Yuan shouldn’t have worked so hard.

“I can guess,” Shang Qinghua said, looking equally exhausted. After a beat, his expression turned thoughtful. “This whole thing with Yue Qingyuan…you didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?”

Shen Yuan stiffened.

Listen, becoming head disciple meant working closely with Yue Qingyuan. Shen Yuan had already been fond of his character while reading, and having Yue Qingyuan as his shizun and working directly with him only increased that fondness. He was so cool! So capable! So big-brother-esque! Anyone would want to do everything they could to please him if it meant getting to bask in his gentle aura. 

Except it all went to shit whenever Shen Qingqiu came around!

It wasn’t like Yue Qingyuan’s entire personality changed, but there was always something fundamentally different about the way he interacted with Shen Qingqiu. As though Shen Qingqiu was the superior and Yue Qingyuan had to earn his favor. On the rare occasion that he would scold Shen Qingqiu (rightfully) for being an asshole, Yue Qingyuan would then turn around and mope for the rest of the day, like he’d just rejected a young maiden’s earnest confession and felt guilty about it.

It made no sense! Shen Yuan could already guess from the webnovel that there was something weird between those two, but seeing them interact, he was half-sure that Shen Qingqiu either had some sort of blackmail on Yue Qingyuan or some weird thrall on him. Or both!

So, Shen Yuan had decided to…meddle a little bit. It was for the good of the entire world, really. If Yue Qingyuan would just realize that capitulating to Shen Qingqiu would never make either of them happy, then maybe he would be less lenient on him later when it came to things like abusing the protagonist! Maybe Luo Binghe could be spared at least some of that endless whump!

As such, Shen Yuan sought out the Mirror of True Happiness. According to legend (Airplane), looking into the mirror was meant to show a person the key to what would make them truly happy. It was used in the book on some tsundere wife who denied her feelings for Luo Binghe, only to immediately accept his suit as soon as she saw his face in the reflection. The usual bullshit.

But why the fuck did it turn Yue Qingyuan into a child?!

Shen Yuan had presented the mirror earnestly to his shizun, claiming it as a trinket that he’d “just picked up” during a recent mission in order to fend off any potential suspicion and claim the resulting discovery of Yue Qingyuan’s true happiness as an accident, if questioned. He had high-tailed it out of there before Yue Qingyuan even opened the thing, only to return the next morning to find a child in his shizun’s place.

After hearing the whole story, Shang Qinghua nearly fell over with laughter. Shen Yuan could only stand there, irritated and embarrassed, while he waited for his fellow transmigrator to calm down.

“Bro, I can’t believe this.” Shang Qinghua wiped a tear from his eye. “You really tried to wifeplot the sect leader, and then got mad that it worked!”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Shen Qingqiu is the key to Yue Qingyuan’s happiness,” Shang Qinghua explained as he caught his breath. “Their backstory is—ugh, it’s some really intense shit. I feel kinda bad about it. Starting off in the dirt together as two slaves, then tragically separated in their youth, then later reunited but with a ton of misunderstandings and baggage, the whole shebang. They’re so intertwined that I don’t think one could be happy without the other, but they’re also the ones making each other miserable, you know?”

That sounded stupid and needlessly melodramatic—so, entirely in line with Airplane’s writing. Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes at Shang Qinghua. “If that’s the case, then why didn’t the mirror just show Shen Qingqiu’s face instead of fucking de-aging Yue Qingyuan?”

“Oh, it probably interacted weird with his fucked-up cultivation.”

Shen Yuan stared at him. “His what.”

“Oh, yeah,” Shang Qinghua flapped a hand nonchalantly. “It’s part of the whole backstory. Yue Qingyuan rushed his cultivation to try to get back to Shen Jiu sooner, and ended up fucking up his bond with Xuan Su. Haven’t you noticed that he never draws it?”

Shen Yuan had noticed that, of course, but he’d written it off as some quirk that carried over from the fact that this world originated from a power fantasy stallion novel. There was always some cool OP character that never drew their weapon as a show of just how powerful they were even without it—he’d thought Yue Qingyuan was simply that guy!

“I mean, like I said, your plan worked in a way,” Shang Qinghua continued. “I don’t know what is going on between those two right now, but it seems like things will be better even after this is over. Better for them, that is—somehow I just know this will end up making things worse for me…”

Now that he mentioned it, Shen Yuan realized this may end up worsening things for himself as well. If Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan were on good terms now, then that meant Shen Yuan would have to see and deal with the scum villain a lot more frequently in the future!

He fought down a frightened shiver and turned his attention to the more pertinent matter currently at hand: “How do you even know all this?”

Shang Qinghua blinked. “Oh. Because I wrote it.”

“…You’re Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky?”

“Yeah! Hey, what was your handle? It’s been decades since I transmigrated so I might not remember you, but it’s cool meeting a fan!”

Shen Yuan didn’t dignify that with an answer before surging forward to try and strangle the hack author in front of him.