Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“A-Yuan, A-Jiu, no matter what happens, don’t come out. Understood?”

The woman with fox ears and multiple tails behind her, crouched beside the hidden opening beneath the floorboards, her voice soft but urgent.

Inside the small space, two similar looking toddlers looked up at her.

“Where are A-Niang and A-Die going?”

Shen Jiu asked as Shen Yuan held tightly onto his brother’s dusty robes.

“We’re going to protect the town.”

The man beside her knelt down and handed them a small knife.

“If anyone ever tries to hurt you, promise us you’ll protect each other.”

Shen Yuan carefully held the knife with both hands.

“Only if A-Die and A-Niang promise to come back quickly…”

For a moment, neither parent spoke.

Then they smiled.

“We promise.”

Shen Yuan set down the knife and lifted his pinky. “Pinky promise?”

Their parents hooked their fingers around the children’s.

“Super pinky promise.”

The floorboards closed above them.

Darkness filled the small hiding place, lit only by a candle and the sight of Shen Jiu clutching the knife tightly in his shaking hands.

 

~

 

Shen Jiu woke with a startle and took a sharp breath.

His chest rose and fell heavily as he pressed a hand against his forehead.

That dream again.
It had been more than a decade since he last saw his brother, but the memory still felt fresh. He had spent years searching through towns and brothels, even forcing himself to ask Yue Qingyuan for help.

And still, he had found nothing.

Today, he had planned to visit another brothel early in the morning, but the nightmare left him too restless to sleep properly.

Annoyed, Shen Jiu got up and prepared for the day before heading to the peak lord meeting.

 

~

 

“Shen-shidi, greetings. This one is glad you were able to attend.”

Yue Qingyuan said carefully even nervously, as Shen Jiu took his seat.

Shen Jiu merely gave him a cold glance.

“This one does not mean to be rude,” Mu Qingfang said tiredly, “but why did Zhangmen-shixiong call for a peak lord meeting?”

Yue Qingyuan cleared his throat.
“It is well known that Shen-shidi has been searching for someone for a long time.”

Shen Jiu tightened his grip on his fan, the creak of his fan audible in the room
“Where is this going, Yue Qingyuan?”

“This shixiong is grateful for the help our fellow peak lords have given in the search—”

“You asked them for help?!”

The anger in Shen Jiu’s voice made the room quiet.

He had only told Yue Qingyuan. He never expected him to tell the others.

But Yue Qingyuan’s next words made him forget his anger.

“This shixiong has finally found where that person is. There is no longer any need for everyone to continue searching.”

Shen Jiu froze.

Relief hit him so suddenly it almost hurt. But at the same time, bitternes rose in his chest because Yue Qingyuan had found news of Shen Yuan before he did.

“This shimei is curious,” Qi Qingqi said with interest, "WHO exactly is Shen-shixiong searching for that even HE had to ask Zhangmen-shixiong for help?”

“It is none of shimei's business.”
Shen Jiu glared from behind his fan.

“This person is important to both Shen-shidi and myself,” Yue Qingyuan answered anyway.

The meeting continued after that, discussing finances and disciples, but Shen Jiu barely listened.

 

~

 

The moment the meeting ended, Shen Jiu dragged Yue Qingyuan straight to the bamboo house in qing jing peak.

“This one would like Zhangmen-shixiong to explain everything he knows.”
His polite tone sounded completely fake.

The two sat across from each other with untouched cold tea between them.

“Xiao-Jiu…”

“Don’t call me that!”

Shen Jiu slammed his fan onto the table.

Yue Qingyuan looked guilty, which only annoyed him more.

“This one discovered that Shen Yuan has been working in a brothel in Jinlan City.”

Shen Jiu immediately looked up.
“Tell me which brothel he is in. Now.”

“Shen-shidi must know something first.”

Shen Jiu narrowed his eyes.

“And what could possibly be more important than telling me where my didi is?”

Yue Qingyuan hesitated before quietly saying

“i personally went to check on a-yuan and... a-yuan appears to have lost his memories.”

 

“…What?”

The room went silent.

Then—

 

“WHAT?!”

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan had been in this body for more than four years now.

Not only that, but the moment he woke up in this world, he had immediately been dragged onto a stool, dressed in beautiful robes, powdered with makeup, and he even had fox ears and a tail.

Someone please explain what was going on. He had literally just woken up.

A glowing blue screen suddenly appeared beside him.

[User 002 is currently inside the body of Shen Yuan, twin brother of #$_()@/.]

‘Shen Yuan? That’s literally me! And where exactly am I?!’

[User 002 is currently in Proud Immortal Demon Way, twin brother of @&_(&#)]

‘Whose twin brother?! And why do I have ears and a tail?Am I some kind of furry?! Great, not only did I transmigrate into this shitty novel, I’m a fucking furry too!’

[User 002 is a huli jing. •̩̩̩̩ᯅ•̩̩̩ ]

‘Yeah, so I am a furry.’

The brothel ladies carefully fixed his hair into a complicated style that Shen Yuan couldn’t even begin to understand. Somehow, they twisted and pinned it into something elegant enough to make him stare at his reflection in shock.

Okay… he looked pretty. That's undeniable.

A lotus-shaped huadian was painted onto his forehead. Flowers were tucked into his hair, red eyeliner brushed beneath his eyes, and flowing robes were draped over him.

There was even a hole in the back for his tail, which swished around awkwardly while his ears twitched nervously.

‘This feels weird…’

“A-Yuan.”

Shen Yuan flinched. Right, the body he possessed was also named Shen Yuan.

“Y-yes, ma’am?”

“Ma’am?” The woman frowned. “Since when were you so formal? Call me shijie!”

“Sorry, shijie!”

“Tsk. You’re acting strange today.” She crossed her arms.
“Stop being nervous. You’ve done this a thousand times already. There’s just a crowd tonight.”

‘System, who is this?’

[She is one of the brothel ladies User 002 currently works with. Her name is Qiao Shui (◍•ᴗ•◍)]

‘Wait—I work here?! How am I supposed to do that?! I don’t even know how to play the guqin!’

[…]

‘System? SYSTEM!!’

[User 002 should not worry.]

‘Don’t worry my ass!’

“Come on now, hurry up.” Qiao Shui picked up the guqin and handed it to him. “People are excited to see you. A huli jing isn’t common, after all.”

Shen Yuan stiffly followed behind her while trying to look calm.

If he embarrassed himself, at least he would do it while looking nonchalant.

The crowd wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either. Most of them were men.

‘…am I a trap?’

He sat down carefully and rested his hands on the guqin.

‘…Weird. It feels like I’ve done this before.’

Then his fingers moved.

A soft melody flowed through the room, smooth and calming.

The crowd quickly quieted as the music wrapped around them like water. shen Yuan’s fox ears relaxed against his head while his fluffy tail swayed slowly behind him.

When he finally finished, the room burst into applause.

Even Shen Yuan couldn’t keep his stoic expression anymore.

‘Damn. Thanks, I guess.’

 

~

 

That soon became his daily routine.

For four years, Shen Yuan played the guqin in the brothel while dancers performed around him in flowing robes. He still didn’t understand how he could play so naturally. Maybe the original goods knew how, and muscle memory carried over.

Honestly, he didn’t want to question it too hard.

The worst moments were when he had to play in private rooms while one of the brothel ladies entertained a customer.

Absolutely horrifying.

‘i’m lucky I’m a guy.’

For 4 years, he wasn’t allowed to leave the brothel at all. Only last week had they finally trusted him enough to run errands outside.

Today, he had been sent to buy fabric.

As Shen Yuan wandered through the market carrying several bundles of cloth, he reached for another bolt of fabric—
Only for someone to suddenly grab his wrist.

He turned around and froze.

‘…That’s one pretty man.’

“Shen Qingqiu!”

Shen Yuan nearly stopped breathing.

‘Shen Qingqiu? I’m not that villain, what the hell?!’

“W-what?” Shen Yuan stammered. “This lowly one is not Shen Qingqiu.”

“Stop lying to me!” the man snapped. “Have you become so shameless that you’ve even started wearing women’s robes?!”

Shen Yuan stared at him in horror.

“I-I swear this lowly one is not Shen Qingqiu! I’ve never even met him before!”

The pretty man narrowed his eyes.

“…What is your name?”

 

~

 

Shen Yuan was deeply confused.

He was currently sitting across from a tall, gentle looking man and an extremely beautiful man.

“What should this lowly one call you two?”

The gentle man looked slightly surprised.

“Xiao-Yuan may call this one Qi-ge.”

Shen Yuan flinched at the nickname before turning toward the other man.

“Liu Qingge.”

Shen Yuan froze internally.

‘Liu Qingge? Wait- THE Liu Qingge?! The war god himself?! What the fuck?! Isn’t he supposed to look super intimidating?! Why is he this pretty?!’

Shen Yuan kept a straight face on the outside

“M-mn.” Shen Yuan tried to stay calm. “May this lowly one ask why Qi-ge and Liu-shixiong were searching for me?”

The gentle man’s expression softened immediately.

“This Qi-ge has been searching for Shen Yuan for a very long time now. Liu-shidi helped greatly in finding you.” His voice turned quieter. “Your gege and I have both been very worried.”

Shen Yuan’s confusion must have shown on his face because the man suddenly looked concerned.

“Xiao-Yuan…” Yue Qingyuan asked gently, “what is the last thing you remember?

“The last thing this one remembers…”

Shen Yuan frowned as he tried to think.

“I remember tripping in the middle of the brothel and landing face-first onto someone’s foot.”

Silence.

Then Liu Qingge let out a short snort while Yue Qingyuan stared at him blankly. Blinking. 

“Ah- this one apologizes.” Shen Yuan coughed awkwardly. “This one is confused about what Qi-ge means by ‘last remembered.’”

Yue Qingyuan hesitated before asking carefully,

“Does Xiao-Yuan remember having a twin brother? Or… the Qiu manor?”

At the mention of the Qius, a small flicker of recognition appeared in Shen Yuan’s eyes.

But there was nothing when Yue Qingyuan mentioned a twin brother.

“Apologies,” Shen Yuan said slowly, “but this one does not remember.”

‘Fuck. I don’t even know anything about the original goods.’

“That is… concerning,” Yue Qingyuan murmured under his breath.

“Zhangmen-shixiong should report this to Shen Qingqiu,” Liu Qingge said flatly, sounding a little annoyed.

Yue Qingyuan looked back at Shen Yuan, unwilling to give up just yet.

“Does Xiao-Yuan truly not remember?” he asked softly. “Does the name Shen Jiu ring any bells?”

Shen Yuan obviously recognized the name.

How could he not? Shen Jiu was literally the scum villain, the Shen Qingqiu.

But he definitely didn’t recognize him as a twin brother.

Still, Shen Yuan shook his head.

Yue Qingyuan sighed tiredly.

“This one shall return first and report this matter to Xiao-Jiu.” He stood up slowly before giving Shen Yuan a gentle smile. “I will visit from time to time. Is that alright with Xiao-Yuan?”

Shen Yuan nodded politely.

“This one would be delighted.”

Soon, both Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge left the room.

The moment the door closed, Shen Yuan finally relaxed and slumped against the table.

“What the fuck was that…”

BANG!

The door suddenly slammed open hard enough to make even Shen Yuan shriek.

Qiao Shui and several brothel ladies crowded into the room immediately.

“Sh-Shijie!” Shen Yuan clutched his chest dramatically. “You startled me!”

“Sorry!” Qiao Shui grinned without a hint of guilt. “But what did you and the sect leader talk about?”

The other women quickly surrounded him, throwing questions one after another, some proper and some absolutely not proper.

“Shijies…” Shen Yuan groaned weakly. “Qi-ge simply wanted to ask me some questions.”

“Heh… calling him Qi-ge already?”

One of the brothel ladies nudged his side teasingly.

Shen Yuan internally suffered.

 

~

 

Meanwhile, outside the brothel-

Liu Qingge frowned deeply as he flew beside Yue Qingyuan.

‘Zhangmen-shixiong never mentioned that the person he was searching for looked so much like Shen Qingqiu…’

His expression darkened.

‘He also failed to mention they were related.’

Liu Qingge recalled Shen Yuan’s delicate appearance—the fox ears twitching nervously, the flowing robes, and the soft way he spoke.

Then he thought about Shen Qingqiu.

“Tsk.”

There was no way those two could possibly be related.

But the more he thought about it, the more similarities he noticed.

The eyes.

The face shape.

Even some of their expressions.

Liu Qingge’s brows furrowed harder.

‘…They are definitely related.’

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan had recently begun experimenting with his guqin using spiritual energy.

Surprisingly, it worked like he had always known how to do it naturally.

He sat cross legged inside his room, fingers brushing against the strings as faint spiritual energy flowed through the melody. The music sounded softer, almost dreamlike, as the energy wrapped around the notes.

‘Okay… that’s actually kind of cool.’

Just as he was about to try again, someone knocked on his door.

“A-Yuan? Someone is here looking for you.”

One of his shijies called from outside.

Shen Yuan reluctantly stopped his experimenting and carefully set the guqin aside before fixing his rumpled robes.

‘I hope it’s Qi-ge and not some random creepy old man.’

He stepped outside and headed toward the lounge.

The moment he entered, he spotted Yue Qingyuan first and smiled slightly in relief—

Only for his gaze to land on another man sitting beside him.

A man with a face painfully similar to his own

‘…Huh.’

The man stared at him with an expression filled with shock and hope.

Shen Yuan froze internally.

‘This must be the twin brother Qi-ge talked about…’

Then realization hit him like a truck.
‘WAIT. THAT MEANS THE SCUM VILLAIN IS MY BROTHER?!’

‘System, what the fuck?! Is this my story now! Am I going to die early just to blacken Shen Qingqiu even more?!’

Outwardly, however, Shen Yuan remained calm as he walked over and sat across from them.

“This lowly one greets Qi-ge and Qing Jing Peak Lord.”

He bowed as politely as possible.

Just because they were supposedly brothers didn’t mean Shen Yuan knew anything about him. For all he knew, Shen Qingqiu could hate him too.

The moment he called Yue Qingyuan “Qi-ge,” the other man’s expression noticeably darkened, though he kept his usual calm appearance.

“Raise your head.”

Shen Yuan slowly looked up.
For the first time, he properly looked at his supposed twin brother.

And something inside him stirred strangely.
The man looked familiar.

Not just because they shared similar features, but in a deeper way. Something nostalgic settled uncomfortably in his chest.

“Does A-Yuan truly not remember me…?”
Shen Yuan hesitated before lowering his eyes respectfully.

“This lowly one apologizes. I do not remember anything.”

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes slightly.
He had spent years searching for his brother.
Years.

And now that he had finally found him, Shen Yuan looked at him like a stranger.

Shen Jiu suddenly had the strong urge to pull him into a hug just to confirm he was real.

But the distant politeness in Shen Yuan’s eyes stopped him.

“…Pack your things,” Shen Jiu finally said coldly. “You are coming back to Qing Jing Peak."

“Xiao-Jiu-” Yue Qingyuan started carefully.

“Shut your mouth.”

The sharpness in Shen Jiu’s voice made Shen Yuan flinch slightly.

“This lowly one will return quickly,” Shen Yuan said immediately before hurrying off.

The moment he disappeared down the hallway, silence filled the room.

Yue Qingyuan sighed helplessly.

“Xiao-Jiu, you frightened him.”

“And whose fault is that?” Shen Jiu snapped quietly. “If you had informed me sooner-”

“I only confirmed it recently.”

Shen Jiu clicked his tongue and looked away.
On the other side of the hallway, Shen Yuan rushed into his room and immediately grabbed his head.

“What the fuck, what the fuck, WHAT THE FUCK?!”

[User 002 should calm down.]

“How am I supposed to calm down?!” Shen Yuan whisper-yelled. “Shen Qingqiu is my brother! MY BROTHER! The scum villain himself!"

He started pacing around the room, tail puffed up and ears down in distress.

“And now I’m moving to Qing Jing Peak?! Do you know how dangerous that place is?!”

[…]

“System don’t dot-dot-dot me right now!”

Shen Yuan hurriedly shoved clothes, hairpins, and random belongings into a bag while panicking internally.

Then he paused.

“…Wait.”

If Shen Qingqiu was his brother…

Then didn’t that mean the original Shen Qingqiu spent years searching for him?
Shen Yuan slowed slightly.

He remembered the look Shen Jiu gave him earlier.

That brief moment of hope before disappointment replaced it.

“…Ah.”

For some reason, Shen Yuan suddenly felt a little guilty.

"That's my fault isn't it?"

[It is not user 002's fault ╥﹏╥]

"Right, totally."

Shen Yuan finished packing surprisingly quickly.

To be fair, he didn’t exactly own much.

After changing clothes, he stepped out of his room wearing simpler and lighter robes than the elaborate ones he usually wore while performing at the brothel. Instead of styling his hair into the usual half-up bun, he tied it into a loose ponytail.

Unfortunately, that only made his fox ears even more noticeable.

His fluffy tail swayed nervously behind him as he walked back toward the lounge carrying his bag.

The moment Shen Qingqiu saw him, his expression darkened immediately.

Annoyance rose in his chest.

Huli jings were hated.

Feared.

Most people believed they had long gone extinct for a reason.

And yet here his idiot younger brother was, openly displaying fox ears and a tail while working in a brothel of all places.

Had no one taught him to hide them?

Had no one protected him?

Shen Jiu’s grip on his fan tightened.

Meanwhile, Shen Yuan completely misunderstood the stare.

‘Oh no.’

‘He hates the ponytail.’

Shen Yuan resisted the urge to grab his hair dramatically.

“I-I can change it if Qing Jing Peak Lord dislikes it—”

“Who allowed you to walk around like that?”

“…Huh?”

Shen Jiu pointed sharply at his ears.

“And those.”

Shen Yuan blinked before his ears twitched instinctively.

“Oh.” He reached up and touched one carefully. “I can’t exactly take them off.”

For a brief moment, even Yue Qingyuan looked like he was trying not to laugh.

Shen Jiu’s eye twitched.

“I meant why are you displaying them so openly?”

Shen Yuan looked genuinely confused.

“…Am I not supposed to?”

The room went silent.

Shen Jiu stared at him in disbelief.

“You have lived this long while openly revealing yourself as a huli jing?”

“…Yes?”

“And you are still alive?”

“…I would hope so.”

“…”

Yue Qingyuan quietly covered his mouth with his sleeve.

Shen Jiu suddenly understood why his brother ended up in a brothel.

He had no survival instincts whatsoever.

“You.” Shen Jiu stood abruptly and walked toward him. “Sit down.”

Shen Yuan immediately obeyed out of pure instinct.

Shen Jiu moved behind him and gathered part of his hair before adjusting it with surprising familiarity. Long fingers carefully shifted strands over Shen Yuan’s ears until they became less obvious.

Then he grabbed part of Shen Yuan’s tail and shoved it beneath the outer robes.

Shen Yuan nearly jumped.

“Wah-!”

“Stay still.”

“This lowly one apologizes!”

Shen Jiu clicked his tongue in irritation while fixing the robes properly.

“You are too noticeable.”

“…Sorry.”

The quiet apology made Shen Jiu pause slightly.

For a brief moment, he remembered a much smaller Shen Yuan apologizing after accidentally breaking bowls, tripping over things, or getting caught stealing extra food for the both of them.

The memory softened his expression for less than a second before it disappeared completely.

“There,” Shen Jiu said coldly as he stepped back. “At least now you look slightly less foolish.”

Shen Yuan blinked.

‘…Wait.’

‘Why does this feel weirdly familiar?’

For a second, he could almost remember someone fixing his clothes for him before.

Warm hands.

A tired voice.

A dark cramped space lit by candlelight—

His head suddenly throbbed.

Shen Yuan flinched and grabbed it immediately.

Yue Qingyuan noticed first.

“Xiao-Yuan?”

“Im fine,” Shen Yuan said quickly, though his face had gone pale. “Just a headache.”

Shen Jiu’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“…Did you remember something..?”

Chapter Text

“What? N-no.” Shen Yuan quickly shook his head. “Like I said, it’s just a headache. Geg-”

He froze.

“-Shen-shixiong shouldn’t worry.”

Silence filled the room.

Shen Yuan felt cold sweat immediately form down his back.

‘Fuck, that’s a huge fucking slip-up. I barely know him and just found out he's my brother and I already almost called him gege so casually.

[host is doing a great job.]

‘Shut up!’

Across from him, Yue Qingyuan looked startled before his expression softened slightly.

But Shen Qingqiu went completely still.

“…What did you just call me?”

Shen Yuan’s tail puffed up in panic beneath the robes.

“This lowly one misspoke!”

“Say it again.”

Shen Yuan looked horrified.

‘Absolutely not.’

“I-It was merely an accident-”

“Shen-shixiong?” Shen Jiu repeated flatly. “A moment ago, you were about to call me gege.”

Shen Yuan wanted to bury himself alive.

“Well…” he laughed weakly, “people make mistakes?”

Shen Jiu stared at him for a long moment.

Then, unexpectedly

 

“…Mn.”

That was all he said before turning away and sitting back down.

But Yue Qingyuan clearly noticed the way Shen Jiu’s grip on his fan loosened slightly.

Meanwhile, Shen Yuan internally screamed.

‘WHAT WAS THAT REACTION?!’

[Perhaps User 002 subconsciously remembers him.]

‘Don’t say creepy things like that!’

Shen Yuan carefully sat back down while trying not to look suspicious.

Unfortunately, his fox ears had already betrayed him by twitching wildly from embarrassment.

Shen Jiu noticed immediately.

His expression became complicated.

When they were younger, Shen Yuan’s ears used to twitch exactly like that whenever he got nervous after lying badly.

“…Hopeless,” Shen Jiu muttered under his breath.

“Hm?” Shen Yuan blinked.

“Nothing.”

Yue Qingyuan sighed softly, deciding to interrupt before Shen Jiu stared holes into Shen Yuan any longer.

“It is getting late. We should return to Cang Qiong soon.”

At those words, Shen Yuan stiffened.

Right.

He was actually leaving.

The reality of it suddenly hit him harder than expected.

For four years, the brothel had been the only place he knew in this world. Weird? Yes. Questionable? Absolutely.

But it was still familiar.

Qiao Shui and the others had taken care of him.

Even if they teased him constantly.

Shen Yuan glanced toward the doorway quietly.

Shen Jiu noticed.

“…If there is something you need to say, then say it quickly.”

Shen Yuan hesitated before standing up.

“This lowly one shall return shortly.”

Without waiting for a response, he hurried away.

The moment he disappeared, Yue Qingyuan smiled faintly.

“It seems Xiao-Yuan became attached to the people here.”

“Tch.” Shen Jiu looked irritated. “Attached to a brothel.”

Despite his words, however, there was less anger in his voice than before.

Not long after, Shen Yuan returned again

Except this time, he was followed by several emotional brothel ladies clinging tightly onto him.

“A-Yuannn! You can’t forget your shijies!”

“Remember to visit us!”

“And don’t let strange men trick you!”

One of them shoved snacks into Shen Yuan’s hands while another fixed his slightly crooked collar with watery eyes.

Shen Yuan looked absolutely mortified.

“Shijies, please…” he whispered weakly. “This is embarrassing.”

“It’s fine! You’re cute!”

Shen Yuan looked ready to ascend from shame on the spot.

*insert embarrassed Shen yuan pic*

(i just realized his hair is supposed to be in a ponytail and his ears are supposed to be camouflaged but I'm too lazy to change it)

Meanwhile, Yue Qingyuan looked both amused and helpless as he watched the scene.

Beside him, Shen Qingqiu’s face had gone darker and darker with every second.

His younger brother.

His long lost twin brother.

Was currently being smothered by women in the middle of a public lounge.

One of them even pinched Shen Yuan’s cheek affectionately.

Shen Jiu’s fan creaked ominously in his grip.

“Enough.”

The sharpness in his voice instantly made the women quiet down.

Shen Yuan looked relieved.

“We are leaving.”

The brothel ladies reluctantly let go of Shen Yuan one by one, though several still looked emotional.

“Take care of A-Yuan properly!”

“Don’t overwork him!”

“And make sure he eats!”

Shen Jiu’s eyebrow twitched.

“…This peak lord knows how to care for his own brother.”

The room went silent for a second.

Even Shen Yuan blinked in surprise.

It was the first time Shen Jiu openly referred to him as his brother.

Shen Jiu immediately looked irritated afterward, as if annoyed at himself for saying it aloud.

“Tch. Stop standing there foolishly and move.”

Shen Yuan quickly followed after him while trying to ignore how strangely warm his chest suddenly felt.

As Shen Yuan followed behind Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan out of the brothel, he quietly adjusted his fox ears lower against his head in an attempt to make them less noticeable.

It did not help much.

His tail still swished nervously behind him beneath his robes.

‘Geez… it’s been so long since I’ve had the feeling of having a sibling.’

A strange warmth settled in his chest again.

‘Feels nice.’

Then another thought entered his mind.

‘Now that I think about it… I can totally hide behind him because he’s terrifying.’

Shen Yuan glanced toward Shen Qingqiu’s back.

Elegant posture.

Cold expression.

Murderous aura.

Yep. Absolutely terrifying.

Perfect shield material.

Meanwhile, Shen Jiu suddenly frowned slightly.

“…Why are you staring at me?”

Shen Yuan immediately looked away.

“This lowly one was merely admiring Qing Jing Peak Lord’s robes.”

“Liar.”

‘Damn. He’s scary AND perceptive.’

As they continued through the streets, Shen Yuan’s eyes sparkled slightly as he looked around.

‘I’m really going to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect…’

Excitement slowly replaced some of his panic.

‘This is actually so cool.’

Then his expression suddenly stiffened.

‘WAIT.’

‘What exactly is the timeline right now?’

Shen Yuan nearly tripped over his own feet.

‘System! How many years before Luo Binghe enters the sect?!’

[User 002 should not worry (𓂂꜆◕⩊◕꜀𓂂)]

Shen Yuan twitched.

‘You-! Fuck you.’

[Profanity detected.]

‘THAT’S NOT THE ISSUE HERE!’

If Luo Binghe had not entered yet, Shen Yuan still had time before the plot exploded into suffering and trauma.

If Luo Binghe had entered already...

Shen Yuan’s soul nearly left his body.

“Walk properly.”

Shen Qingqiu’s annoyed voice snapped him out of his thoughts just as Shen Yuan stumbled again.

“This lowly one apologizes.”

“Tch.”

Yue Qingyuan watched the interaction quietly from the side.

Despite Shen Jiu’s cold tone, he had unconsciously slowed his pace enough for Shen Yuan to keep up comfortably.

Shen Yuan obviously did not notice.

A few passing cultivators and townspeople stared openly at Shen Yuan as the group walked by.

Mostly because of the fox ears.

And also because the beautiful fox-spirit-looking youth was walking beside two extremely well known cultivators.

Some whispers even started spreading.

Shen Yuan immediately moved closer behind Shen Jiu.

Shen Jiu paused.

“…What are you doing now?”

Shen Yuan answered honestly.

“Hiding.”

“…Why?”

“Qing Jing Peak Lord looks terrifying enough that nobody would dare approach.”

Silence.

Then Yue Qingyuan suddenly choked on his own laughter and turned away with his sleeve covering his face.

Shen Jiu’s eye twitched violently.

“You-”

Before he could finish, Shen Yuan added sincerely,

“It feels very safe.”

Shen Jiu stopped speaking.

Yue Qingyuan hid his smile behind his sleeve as they continued walking.

After a moment, he spoke again.

“Should this one announce another peak lord meeting?” Yue Qingyuan asked gently. “That way, Shen Yuan can properly meet the peak lords who helped greatly in searching for him.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“I’d love to!”

The twins said at the exact same time.

A beat of silence followed.

Shen Yuan slowly turned his head toward Shen Qingqiu, eyes filled with instant betrayal.

‘Bitch, don’t blame me for being excited to see them.’

Those were peak lords.

Actual peak lords.

People he had only ever heard and read about while surviving in a brothel.

Meanwhile, Shen Jiu looked like he had just heard something deeply offensive.

“You want to meet those idiots?”

Shen Yuan straightened immediately.

“This lowly one is honored to meet Qing Jing Peak Lord’s martial siblings.”

“…Tch.”

Shen Jiu’s eyes narrowed again, clearly unconvinced.

Yue Qingyuan, however, looked amused.

“Then this one will arrange it later.”

“Qi-ge is truly kind!”

At that, Shen Jiu’s expression darkened a fraction.

“You adjusted to him very quickly.”

Shen Yuan blinked innocently.

“Qi-ge is very approachable.”

Shen Jiu looked offended on principle.

“And this peak lord is not?”

Shen Yuan paused.

Then carefully answered,

“…Qing Jing Peak Lord is very dignified.”

Yue Qingyuan immediately coughed into his sleeve, clearly trying not to laugh again.

Shen Jiu clearly heard that it was not a compliment.

“Tch.”

The conversation moved on, but Shen Yuan was barely holding himself together.

His thoughts were already racing.

‘i’m going to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect…’

His fox ears twitched slightly under his lowered hair.

‘This is actually insane.’

He glanced at Shen Jiu from the corner of his eye.

‘Still… having a sibling in this world is weirdly nice.’

Then another thought immediately followed.

‘And also terrifying. Mostly terrifying.’

Shen Jiu noticed the look.

“…What are you thinking now?”

Shen Yuan froze for half a second.

Then smiled brightly.

“This lowly one is thinking Qing Jing Peak Lord is very reliable.”

Shen Jiu narrowed his eyes.

“…You’re suspicious.”

Yue Qingyuan let out a soft sigh, clearly resigned to the chaos.

Chapter Text

Yue Qingyuan left ahead of them on his sword, robes disappearing into the clouds within moments.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingqiu chose to take a carriage with Shen Yuan instead.

Absolutely not because he wanted time alone with his younger brother.

The carriage moved steadily along the mountain path, quiet except for the occasional sound of wheels against stone.

Across from Shen Jiu, Shen Yuan sat awkwardly with his hands in his lap, absently fidgeting with his fingers.

Shen Jiu watched him from behind his fan.

Long black hair.

Fox ears twitching every few minutes.

A face nearly identical to his own younger features.

And completely unfamiliar eyes.

‘Shen Yuan truly doesn’t remember me…’

Across from him, Shen Yuan was trying very hard not to squirm.

‘Geez, what’s wrong with this dude? Stop staring at me like that…’

Shen Jiu’s gaze remained fixed on him, sharp and assessing above the unfolded fan hiding the lower half of his face.

‘To call that man Qi-ge so naturally without even knowing who he is…’

His brows furrowed slightly.

‘How did you even survive these past years?’

Finally-

“Shen Yuan.”

Shen Yuan straightened immediately. “Yes?”

Shen Jiu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“How much do you currently remember?”

Shen Yuan froze internally.

‘How much I remember? What the fuck am I supposed to say? All I remember is the past four years of playing guqin and pretending to be elegant in a brothel.’

Outwardly, however, he lowered his head politely.

“…This one only remembers the past four years.”

Shen Jiu went still.

‘Only four years…?’

His grip on the fan tightened faintly.

“How did Shen Yuan lose his memories?” he asked immediately. “Did some incident occur? Were you poisoned? Fed some strange flora? Attacked spiritually?”

The questions came one after another, rapid and clipped.

Despite the coldness of his expression, the worry beneath his tone was impossible to hide.

Shen Yuan blinked.

‘Bro. Calm down.’

“No,” he answered honestly. “This lowly one does not remember how my memories were lost. The first thing this one remembers is waking up in the brothel while the shijies were preparing me for a performance.”

Shen Jiu’s eyes sharpened dangerously.

“…Performance?”

A pause.

“…What type of performance?”

Shen Yuan immediately sensed danger and chose his next words carefully.

“This one mostly played the guqin to help create atmosphere in the brothel,” he explained quickly. “Sometimes this one also danced with the shijies.”

Silence.

Then, very slowly-

“…What kind of dances?”

Shen Yuan looked mildly alarmed.

“Um. Dancing?”

Shen Jiu stared.

“Normal dancing?”

“…Mn.”

The sound Shen Jiu made was unreadable.

Shen Yuan suddenly felt like he was being interrogated by an overprotective parent instead of a peak lord.

The carriage fell quiet again for a few moments before Shen Jiu spoke again.

“Does Shen Yuan know how to cultivate?”

This time, Shen Yuan hesitated less.

“This one knows a little bit of musical cultivation.”

Shen Jiu’s expression eased almost imperceptibly.

‘Good. At least he can protect himself a little.’

His gaze drifted briefly toward Shen Yuan’s fox ears.

A huli jing.

One who looked almost exactly like him.

News of Shen Yuan’s existence had probably already spread through parts of the sect by now.

Which meant-

‘He needs to stay close to me.’

Shen Jiu’s eyes lowered slightly behind the fan.

‘If he remains beside Qing Jing Peak, I can at least keep watch over him.’

Out loud, however, he merely said,

“That is good enough.”

Shen Yuan blinked.

Then relaxed slightly.

‘Oh. Cool. I passed the interrogation.’

The carriage continued steadily down the mountain path, quiet after Shen Jiu’s endless questioning.

Across from him, Shen Yuan sat properly for a while before slowly relaxing.

His eyes drifted toward Shen Qingqiu.

Cold face.

Sharp eyes.

Terrifying cultivation.

Very scary older brother.

‘Surely I can sleep here,’ Shen Yuan thought.

‘I have a terrifying brother now, so I should be safe.’

The thought alone made him relax.

His fox ears slowly drooped lower, no longer standing alert, while his tail lazily slipped free behind him and rested against the seat.

Then Shen Yuan closed his eyes.

At first glance, he looked calm and elegant, sitting upright with perfect posture like he was meditating.

In reality

He was absolutely preparing to sleep.

Shen Yuan had mastered this skill during his years at the brothel. Whenever business was slow, he would sit quietly beside the musicians pretending to meditate gracefully while secretly taking naps upright.

It saved energy.

The carriage rocked gently.

A few minutes later, Shen Yuan’s breathing became softer and more even.

His head dipped slightly.

Then jerked back up.

Then dipped again.

Shen Jiu stared silently from behind his fan.

“…?”

Another bump in the road made Shen Yuan slowly tilt sideways.

Still asleep.

Still somehow looking composed.

Shen Jiu’s eye twitched faintly.

‘…He’s sleeping.’

After everything that happened, this fool was actually sleeping in front of him so comfortably.

Shen Jiu lowered his fan slightly, quietly studying him.

While asleep, Shen Yuan looked younger.

Less nervous.

Less cautious.

For a moment, Shen Jiu saw traces of the child he remembered.

“…Hopeless,” he muttered softly.

Right then, the carriage suddenly bumped harder over the road.

Shen Yuan nearly fell sideways.

Shen Jiu instinctively reached out and grabbed his shoulder before he could hit the wall of the carriage.

Shen Yuan made a soft confused noise but didn’t wake up.

Instead, he unconsciously leaned slightly toward the hand holding him steady.

Shen Jiu froze.

His expression immediately became complicated.

‘…What kind of habit is this?’

Meanwhile, Shen Yuan remained completely asleep.

[Safe environment detected.]

Shen Jiu looked at him quietly for a long moment before clicking his tongue.

“…Idiot.”

But he never pushed him off and sat beside shen Yuan to let him lean against him.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan woke up buried in something soft.

Warm blankets.

Soft pillows.

A faint scent of bamboo and ink lingered in the air.

“…Mn…”

He blinked blearily and slowly sat up, only to realize he was wearing different clothes light sleeping robes instead of his usual outfit.

Outside the windows, the sky was completely dark.

Shen Yuan froze.

‘Did I oversleep? Why is it dark already-’

Then his eyes widened.

‘Wait. Where am I?! System!’

[User 002 is currently in the bamboo house on Qing Jing Peak.]

‘Huh?’

Shen Yuan looked around quickly.

‘Where’s Shen Qingqiu?’

“You’re awake.”

“EEEK—!”

Shen Yuan nearly jumped out of the bed.

His fox ears shot straight up while his tail instantly puffed out behind him.

“What the fuck?!”

Silence.

Then Shen Yuan slowly slapped a hand over his own mouth.

“…This lowly one apologizes.”

Across the room, Shen Qingqiu sat calmly near the table, one hand holding a book.

“A-Yuan is awake,” he said coolly. “It also seems A-Yuan forgot his manners.”

‘Don’t drag it! It was one slip-up!’

Shen Yuan coughed awkwardly.

“…Why am I here?”

“You overslept,” Shen Jiu replied flatly. “This peak lord was not about to leave you unconscious in a carriage all night.”

“O-Oh.”

Shen Yuan immediately sank back into the blankets a little.

“…Tomorrow, you will attend the peak lord meeting,” Shen Jiu continued. “Sleep early.”

Shen Yuan blinked.

“Where will Shen-shixiong sleep?”

“This one does not need sleep,” Shen Jiu answered. “Unlike you.”

‘Ouch. Rude.’

Still, Shen Yuan relaxed again.

The bed was ridiculously comfortable.

His ears slowly drooped while his tail wagged lazily against the blankets as he buried his face deeper into the pillow.

‘Damn… this is nice.’

‘Even my pillows back then weren’t this soft.’

Within seconds shen Yuan was asleep again.

His tail still swished faintly in his sleep.

“….”

Shen Jiu stared silently at the sleeping fox for a moment before looking away.

That night, he remained awake.

Meditating.

Handling paperwork.

Finishing reports and disciple matters one after another so nothing would interfere tomorrow.

So he could spend the day properly with his younger brother.

 

~

 

Shen Yuan woke up early the next morning.

Very early.

Far earlier than the rest of the peak disciples.

The sky outside was still dark blue, barely approaching dawn.

At the brothel, this would have been the time he usually woke to prepare for the day.

Even if he no longer worked there, his body still woke automatically from habit.

Shen Yuan sat up slowly.

“…Mn.”

The room was empty.

No Shen Jiu.

After fixing his robes, Shen Yuan quietly wandered through the bamboo house before eventually stopping outside a nearby study.

Light still glowed faintly inside.

He knocked softly.

No response.

Carefully, he pushed the door open slightly and peeked inside.

Then paused.

Shen Jiu was asleep at his desk.

One hand supported his head while scattered papers lay beneath him.

His brows were slightly furrowed even in sleep.

Shen Yuan stared.

‘Heh. “Doesn’t need sleep” my ass.’

Quietly, Shen Yuan slipped inside and closed the door behind him.

His eyes drifted toward the paperwork on the desk.

Disciple evaluations.

Lesson plans.

Sword technique corrections.

Shen Yuan blinked in surprise.

‘Their grades are actually high…’

‘I thought he’d fail all of them out of spite.’

Then-

“A-Yuan…”

The sleepy mumble made Shen Yuan jump slightly.

He looked back quickly.

Shen Jiu’s eyes were still closed.

His expression looked uneasy.

‘…A nightmare?’

Shen Jiu’s brows furrowed tighter.

“Shen-shixiong?” Shen Yuan called softly.

No response.

“…Shixiong?”

Still nothing.

Concern slowly replaced amusement.

Shen Yuan stepped closer before carefully grabbing Shen Jiu’s wrist to inspect his spiritual veins instinctively.

Then immediately froze.

“…What the fuck am I looking at?”

His eyes widened.

‘Are these even meridians?!’

It was a complete mess.

Chaotic spiritual energy twisted through damaged pathways dangerously close to instability.

Shen Yuan’s panic immediately spiked.

‘Qi deviation?!’

“H-Hey- shen Jiu!”

He quickly pushed some of his own spiritual energy forward, trying to soothe the violent flow inside Shen Jiu’s meridians.

It felt like navigating a maze full of blades.

“A-Jiu! Shen Qingqiu! Wake up!”

Nothing worked.

Shen Yuan became more frantic.

“Fuck, what else is he called?!”

Then suddenly-

“Jiu-ge, wake up!”

Shen Yuan grabbed him and yanked him upright.

Shen Jiu stumbled forward directly into Shen Yuan.

At the same moment, his eyes finally snapped open.

For one terrifying second, spiritual energy burst violently around the room.

The bamboo curtains rustled sharply.

Papers flew everywhere.

Shen Yuan almost got smacked in the face by a brush holder.

Then

Everything stopped.

Shen Jiu’s eyes were open now, still slightly unfocused from abruptly waking up.

Meanwhile, Shen Yuan had both arms around him from trying to keep him upright after dragging him awake.

The position was… very close.

Too close.

Shen Yuan froze.

Shen Jiu froze.

A long silence followed.

Then Shen Yuan spoke carefully.

“…Good morning?”

Shen Jiu stared at him.

Then at the hand still gripping his wrist.

Then at the spiritual energy tangled inside his own meridians.

His expression darkened immediately.

“…What were you doing?”

Shen Yuan instantly let go like he had touched fire.

“This lowly one was trying to stop Shen-shixiong from entering a qi deviation!”

Shen Jiu paused.

“…what?”

“You were having a nightmare and your meridians became a complete disaster!” Shen Yuan said quickly. “This lowly one checked and nearly died from shock!”

Shen Jiu went very still.

Most cultivators could not inspect another person’s spiritual veins so easily.

Even fewer could guide spiritual energy through damaged meridians without causing harm.

And Shen Yuan had done it instinctively.

Messily.

Clumsily.

But correctly.

“…Who taught you that?” Shen Jiu asked quietly.

Shen Yuan blinked.

Then froze internally.

‘Oh shit.’

He had reacted automatically without thinking.

Back in his original world, Shen Yuan had read enough cultivation novels to understand the basics. Combined with the instincts of this body and some strange huli jing sensitivity to spiritual energy

Well.

Now he had accidentally looked suspicious.

“…This lowly one doesn’t know,” he answered weakly. “My body just… moved on its own?”

Shen Jiu narrowed his eyes.

Clearly unconvinced.

Shen Yuan immediately changed the topic.

“More importantly, your meridians are terrifying!”

Silence.

Then Shen Jiu calmly pulled his sleeve down over his wrist.

“That matter does not concern you.”

‘That means yes.’

Shen Yuan frowned immediately.

“How does it not concern me? You almost entered a qi deviation while sleeping!”

“I did not.”

“You absolutely did!”

“I was handling it.”

“You were unconscious!”

Shen Jiu’s eye twitched.

For someone speaking to a peak lord, Shen Yuan was getting strangely bold very quickly.

But before Shen Jiu could respond, Shen Yuan suddenly leaned closer again, staring at him suspiciously.

“…Did you even sleep at all?”

“….”

That silence answered everything.

Shen Yuan looked horrified.

“You stayed up all night?!”

“This peak lord had work.”

“That’s not an answer!”

Shen Jiu looked deeply offended at being scolded in his own study.

“…You are noisy in the morning.”

“And Shen-shixiong is irresponsible!”

The room fell silent.

Both of them paused.

Shen Yuan slowly realized what he had just said to one of the strongest cultivators in the sect.

“…This lowly one apologizes.”

“Tch.”

Surprisingly, Shen Jiu did not seem angry.

Mostly irritated.

But not angry.

Instead, he simply rubbed his temple before standing up slowly.

“…Get ready,” he said. “The peak lord meeting will begin soon.”

Shen Yuan immediately perked up.

Right.

Peak lords.

Actual peak lords.

His tail instantly wagged behind him.

Excitement completely replaced panic again.

Shen Jiu noticed immediately.

“…Why are you wagging your tail?”

Shen Yuan froze.

His tail stopped mid-swing.

“…This lowly one is not.”

“…Liar.”

Shen Yuan coughed awkwardly and quickly tried to flatten it behind him.

Shen Jiu watched the entire struggle silently before turning away.

But Shen Yuan still caught the faintest upward twitch at the corner of his mouth before it disappeared completely.

Shen Yuan went to the spare room in the bamboo house still thinking about the state of Shen Qingqiu’s meridians.

Honestly, they were horrifying.

‘I should talk to Mu Qingfang during the peak lord meeting,’ Shen Yuan thought seriously.

‘I can’t have my human shield die from a qi deviation this early. The system might punish me.’

[ʅ(｡◔‸◔｡)ʃ]

‘Don’t give me that face.’

Shen Yuan quickly started getting ready.

At first, when he had transmigrated, he had absolutely no idea how ancient clothing worked. There had been several tragic incidents involving backwards robes and upside down belts.

But after four years-

He could practically dress himself with his eyes closed.

Soon, his robes were neat and properly layered.

Then came the harder part.

Shen Yuan pulled his long hair down and carefully adjusted it to hide his fox ears beneath the dark strands. After that, he tucked his tail securely beneath the layers of robes.

‘System,’ he complained internally while fixing his sleeves, ‘aren’t I supposed to be powerful? I’m a huli jing for fuck’s sake!’

[…]

‘And why do I only have one tail? Don’t fox spirits usually have multiple?! Airplane really left plot holes everywhere.’

[User 002 will find out soon enough ( •̀ ω •́ )]

Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

[User 002 only has one visible tail because the other one is hidden.]

“…Hidden?” Shen Yuan muttered aloud.

He looked genuinely offended.

‘Where the hell am I hiding a second tail? Up my ass?’

[User 002’s spiritual system naturally conceals the second tail.]

‘So my spiritual system decided to hide only one tail instead of both?! Could’ve made my life much easier, you know!’

Shen Yuan huffed while fixing his collar.

‘Can’t you at least let me see it?’

[User 002 is not permitted.]

‘Fuck your mother.’

[Profanity detected.]

‘Good.’

After finishing his robes, Shen Yuan moved toward the mirror.

Then paused.

“…Ah.”

Right.

The huadian.

Out of habit, Shen Yuan started drawing the same style he usually wore at the brothel.

But the moment he finished the first strokes, he stared at his reflection and immediately grimaced.

“…I look exactly like Shen Jiu.”

Not that it was strange.

They were twins.

Still, standing beside each other looking identical sounded like a terrible idea somehow.

Shen Yuan quickly wiped it away before trying again.

This time, instead of the sharp elegant design Shen Jiu preferred, Shen Yuan drew a softer lotus-shaped huadian on his forehead.

Once finished, he blinked at his reflection.

“…Better.”

Less intimidating.

More approachable.

Slightly less likely to make disciples think the Qing Jing Peak Lord had duplicated.

Satisfied, Shen Yuan finally stepped out and headed toward Shen Jiu’s study.

the bamboo house was quiet except for the faint scratching of a brush against paper.

Shen Yuan peeked inside.

As expected, Shen Jiu was already working again.

‘Definitely overworking himself.’

Shen Yuan sighed internally.

‘This man is one bad day away from exploding spiritually.’

“Shen-shixiong,” Shen Yuan called as he peeked into the study, “this one is ready. Are we about to go?”

Shen Qingqiu looked up from his paperwork.

Then paused.

His eyes lingered on Shen Yuan for a moment longer than usual.

The lotus huadian.

The loose hair hiding the fox ears.

The softer expression compared to Shen Jiu’s naturally sharper features.

For once, the resemblance between them was less startling.

“…Tch.”

Shen Jiu stood from his desk smoothly, folding his fan open with one hand.

Without answering, he walked past Shen Yuan and out of the room.

Clearly expecting him to follow.

Shen Yuan blinked.

‘Ah. So that means yes.’

He quickly followed after him.

The morning air around Qing Jing Peak was cool and filled with the scent of bamboo. Disciples could occasionally be seen sweeping paths or carrying scrolls in the distance.

The moment they noticed Shen Jiu, they immediately straightened.

“Peak Lord.”

Their greetings were respectful and careful.

Then their eyes drifted toward Shen Yuan walking beside him.

And froze.

Shen Yuan instantly moved half a step behind Shen Jiu out of instinct.

‘Nope. Don’t perceive me.’

Unfortunately, his brother was too recognizable.

Even with hidden ears and tail, Shen Yuan still looked suspiciously similar to Qing Jing Peak’s terrifying lord.

The disciples expressions became increasingly confused.

One disciple nearly dropped the scrolls in his hands.

Shen Jiu noticed the staring immediately.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“What are you standing around for?” he said coldly.

The disciples nearly jumped.

“This disciple apologizes!”

They scattered almost instantly.

Shen Yuan watched them flee with admiration.

‘Amazing.’

‘Truly the strongest human shield.’

Beside him, Shen Jiu glanced sideways.

“…What ridiculous thing are you thinking now?”

Shen Yuan immediately looked innocent.

“This lowly one was admiring Shen-shixiong’s authority.”

“…Liar.”

Still, Shen Jiu’s expression looked less sharp than usual.

As they continued down the bamboo paths, more disciples stared openly at Shen Yuan before quickly pretending not to.

Whispers quietly spread behind them.

“Who is that?”

“He looks like Peak Lord Shen…”

“Is that a relative?”

“Did Qing Jing Peak split into two?”

Shen Yuan’s ears twitched beneath his hair.

‘This is horrifying.’

He quietly moved closer behind Shen Jiu again.

Shen Jiu paused mid-step.

“…Why are you hiding?”

Shen Yuan answered honestly.

“Shen-shixiong is frightening enough that nobody dares approach.”

Silence.

Then Shen Jiu’s fan snapped shut against his palm.

“You say that like it is a compliment.”

“It is.”

Another silence.

Shen Yuan looked sincere.

Shen Jiu looked deeply offended.

Somewhere nearby, a disciple choked trying not to laugh after overhearing.

Shen Jiu’s cold gaze immediately swept toward the sound.

The disciple fled for his life.

Shen Yuan watched this happen and became even more impressed.

‘Incredible.’

The two continued down the winding bamboo paths of Qing Jing Peak in relative silence.

Well.

Relative silence for Shen Jiu.

Shen Yuan’s mind, meanwhile, was extremely loud.

‘Okay. Calm down.’

‘You are about to attend a peak lord meeting.’

‘Act normal.’

A pause.

‘Actually no, don’t act normal. My normal is terrible.’

Beside him, Shen Qingqiu glanced sideways briefly.

“…Why does your expression keep changing?”

Shen Yuan immediately straightened.

“This lowly one is preparing mentally.”

“For what?”

“…Survival.”

Shen Jiu looked at him strangely but said nothing further.

As they descended farther down the mountain paths, more disciples appeared. Every single one reacted almost the same way upon seeing Shen Yuan.

Shock.

Confusion.

Immediate fear once Shen Jiu noticed them staring.

Some disciples bowed so quickly they nearly lost balance.

Others hurried away pretending they had somewhere extremely important to be.

Shen Yuan watched all this happen with growing admiration.

‘This is amazing.’

‘I don’t even need to speak. I just stand near him and people avoid me automatically.’

Shen Jiu’s eye twitched.

“…You’re thinking something rude again.”

“How could Shen-shixiong say such a thing?” Shen Yuan replied innocently.

“…Because your face is obvious.”

Before Shen Yuan could defend himself, another figure approached from the path ahead.

Warm smile.

Gentle eyes.

Calm spiritual energy.

Yue Qingyuan.

“shen-shidi. Xiao-Yuan.”

Shen Yuan immediately brightened.

“Qi-ge!”

Shen Jiu’s face darkened slightly on instinct.

“You adjusted to calling him that very quickly.”

Yue Qingyuan only smiled helplessly.

“It is merely a form of address.”

“Tch.”

Shen Yuan pretended not to notice the strange tension and instead looked around curiously.

The closer they got to the meeting hall, the more cultivators and disciples appeared.

And the more attention Shen Yuan received.

Whispers spread almost immediately.

“That’s him…”

“The fox spirit?”

“He really looks like Peak Lord Shen…”

“Did Qing Jing Peak secretly grow another one?”

Shen Yuan’s soul nearly left his body.

He instinctively slid behind Shen Jiu again until only half his face remained visible.

Yue Qingyuan watched with amusement.

“A-Yuan seems nervous.”

“This lowly one suddenly understands why celebrities hide from the public.”

“…What?”

“Nothing.”

Shen Jiu sighed through his nose.

“Stand properly.”

“But they keep staring.”

“You are the one hiding suspiciously.”

“That sounds like victim blaming.”

Both Shen Jiu and Yue Qingyuan paused.

“…Victim… blaming?” Yue Qingyuan repeated slowly.

Shen Yuan froze.

‘Fuck.’

“This lowly one meant…” he coughed awkwardly, “…this lowly one feels wronged.”

Shen Jiu narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

But before he could question further, the doors to the meeting hall finally came into view.

Shen Yuan stopped walking for a second.

His eyes widened slightly.

Peak lords.

Actual peak lords.

Inside.

His tail immediately started wagging beneath his robes again.

Shen Jiu noticed instantly.

“…Your tail is moving.”

Shen Yuan looked horrified.

“It is not!”

“…Liar.”

Yue Qingyuan quietly covered his smile with his sleeve again.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan stayed firmly hidden behind Shen Qingqiu the entire way there.

Partly because of the staring.

Mostly because he was dying from embarrassment.

His tail was also starting to suffer.

Being tightly hidden beneath several layers of robes while walking uphill was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

‘I’m going to lose circulation in my tail at this rate…’

Worse, the thing would not stay still.

The closer they got to the meeting hall, the more it twitched nervously beneath the fabric. His hidden fox ears were not helping either, constantly flicking under his hair every time someone stared too long.

At last, they arrived at the peak lord meeting hall.

To Shen Yuan’s surprise, not everyone had arrived yet.

Only a few peak lords were present.

And seated among them—

Liu Qingge.

Early.

Shen Yuan blinked in disbelief.

‘This brute…’

Then his eyes lingered a second longer.

Tall.

Sharp features.

Cold expression.

Golden warrior aura.

‘…It’s still hard to believe this guy is the War God.’

A pause.

‘Too gorgeous.’

[User 002 is daydreaming ꒰՞ °ᗝ°՞꒱.ᐟ.ᐟ ]

‘Fuck off! It isn’t gay to appreciate a man’s looks!’

Another pause.

‘And I am absolutely NOT daydreaming!’

Meanwhile, Liu Qingge had already noticed them entering.

Or more specifically

He noticed the suspiciously familiar person half hiding behind Shen Qingqiu.

The room quieted slightly.

Several peak lords immediately stared.

Shen Yuan’s tail froze beneath his robes.

Unfortunately, because it had been moving earlier, the shape beneath the fabric was now painfully obvious.

And every time his ears twitched under his hair, the strands visibly moved.

Shen Yuan wanted to ascend from shame.

Nearby, Yue Qingyuan calmly took his seat like this was all perfectly normal.

Traitor.

Shen Yuan was still trying to decide where to stand unnoticed when suddenly—

His sleeve was grabbed.

Hard.

“Ah—!”

Before he could react, Shen Jiu harshly dragged him over and forced him down into the seat beside him.

Shen Yuan nearly stumbled into the table.

‘Geez! At least be gentle!’

The sharp snap of a fan opening echoed through the room.

Shen Jiu sat elegantly beside him, fan covering the lower half of his face while his eyes narrowed toward Liu Qingge.

“It seems Liu-shidi is here early today,” he said smoothly. “What caught his attention?”

The atmosphere instantly became dangerous.

Shen Yuan stared in disbelief.

‘Gege…’

‘The meeting hasn’t even started yet and you’re already picking a fight?!’

Across the room, Liu Qingge looked completely unbothered.

His sharp gaze moved briefly from Shen Jiu—

To Shen Yuan.

Then back again.

“…None of your business.”

Shen Jiu’s smile behind the fan became colder.

“Tch.”

Shen Yuan looked between them nervously.

‘Oh my god, they really do this constantly.’

Meanwhile, several other peak lords were already watching with expressions ranging from exhausted to entertained.

One of them quietly muttered, “The meeting hasn’t even begun…”

Another sighed. “As expected.”

Shen Yuan shrank lower in his seat.

Unfortunately, his tail chose that exact moment to twitch again beneath his robes.

Liu Qingge’s eyes immediately flicked downward.

Shen Yuan froze.

Then slowly tried to press his tail flat with both hands under the table.

It only made him look guiltier.

Shen Jiu noticed instantly.

“…What are you doing now?”

“…Nothing.”

“…Your robes are moving.”

“…It’s the wind.”

“…Inside a hall?”

Shen Yuan looked deeply offended at being exposed so quickly.

Across the room, one peak lord suddenly coughed suspiciously into his sleeve, clearly hiding laughter.

Shen Yuan wanted to die.

Liu qingge suddenly spoke, tone dry

"That one."

"Me?"

"He is distracting."

A pause.

“This bi—”

Shen Yuan barely got the word out before the pressure in the room shifted sharply.

“...What exactly does the brute think is distracting?”

Shen Qingqiu’s voice cut in immediately, calm on the surface, but cold enough to make the air tighten.

His fan snapped open with a clean shhk.

Shen Yuan froze mid-breath.

He was already staring directly at Liu Qingge.

The tension in the hall spiked instantly.

Liu Qingge, however, didn’t even blink.

“…Everything,” he replied simply.

Silence.

For a moment, no one moved.

Then-

Shen Yuan slowly sank lower in his seat.

‘Everything?? That’s not an answer, that’s a declaration of war.’

[( ｡•̀⤙•́｡ ) system notes emotional escalation]

‘Stop narrating my suffering!’

Across the table, a few peak lords visibly struggled not to react.

Someone coughed into their sleeve.

Another looked away entirely.

Yue Qingyuan sighed softly, as if this was exactly the situation he expected and dreaded at the same time.

“Liu-shidi,” Yue Qingyuan said gently, trying to ease the pressure, “perhaps you should be more specific.”

Liu Qingge didn’t take his eyes off Shen Yuan.

“He is weak.”

A pause.

“He is distracting because he is weak.”

Shen Yuan stopped breathing for a second.

‘OH??’

Shen Jiu’s fan closed.

The sound was sharp.

Very sharp.

“Say that again,” Shen Jiu said quietly.

The hall went completely silent.

Even the wind outside seemed to stop.

Shen Yuan immediately grabbed Shen Jiu’s sleeve under the table.

‘Gege. Gege no. We are in a meeting. This is diplomacy. This is politics. This is—’

Shen Jiu didn’t move his gaze away.

But his tone lowered slightly.

“…You think he is distracting because he is weak?”

Liu Qingge finally nodded once.

“Yes.”

Another pause.

Then, flatly:

“He should not be here.”

That was it.

The atmosphere cracked.

Shen Yuan felt his fox ears twitch violently under his hair.

‘OH SO I’M THE PROBLEM??’

[( °ㅁ° ) system observes: user 002 experiencing injustice]

‘NO SHIT!’

Shen Jiu stood up slowly.

The chair beneath him creaked.

“…Liu Qingge,” he said, voice dangerously calm, “repeat that.”

Shen Yuan immediately shot up too.

“WAIT-!”

Too late.

The room was already watching.

And Shen Yuan had the sinking feeling this meeting was about to become a historical disaster

“Gege should calm down!” Shen Yuan blurted out quickly, stepping slightly forward. “The meeting had just started. Please take this elsewhere.”

The moment the word gege left his mouth

The entire hall went quiet in a different way.

Not hostile.

Just… stunned.

Shen Qingqiu froze mid rise.

His fan stopped moving.

Even his aura already sharp paused for half a beat.

Shen Yuan didn’t seem to notice.

He was too busy trying to prevent a peak lord war from starting over him being called weak in a meeting that had barely begun.

Across the table, Liu Qingge narrowed his eyes slightly.

But he didn’t speak.

The silence stretched.

Then-

Shen Jiu slowly sat back down.

Not because he had calmed down.

But because he was clearly forcing himself to.

“…Tch,” he finally clicked his tongue.

Shen Yuan exhaled internally.

‘Okay. Crisis averted.’

[( •̀ ω •́ ) system notes: emotional disruption stabilized]

‘For once, you’re useful.’

But the system didn’t reply.

Because Shen Yuan was currently very aware of something else.

Shen Jiu was looking at him.

Directly.

Dangerously quiet.

“…What did you just call me?” Shen Jiu asked at last.

Shen Yuan blinked.

“…Gege?”

A pause.

The air tightened again.

Shen Jiu’s expression shifted slightly—not anger this time.

Something more complicated.

“…Say it again,” he said flatly.

Shen Yuan immediately realized his mistake.

‘Ah. I activated it.’

He coughed awkwardly.

“This lowly one meant Shen-shixiong-”

“No.”

Shen Jiu cut him off immediately.

“Say it again.”

Shen Yuan froze.

Across the room, someone very audibly dropped a tea cup.

Yue Qingyuan quietly pressed a hand to his face like he had already given up on the meeting.

Shen Yuan looked between everyone nervously.

‘Why is this more dangerous than Liu Qingge?’

He swallowed.

Then tried again, cautiously.

“…Gege?”

Shen Jiu didn’t respond immediately.

But his grip on the fan tightened once.

Just once.

Then he leaned back slightly, expression returning to its usual cold composure.

“…Tch.”

“That is enough.”

But his eyes didn’t move away from Shen Yuan.

Not even once.

The door to the hall finally opened again.

Late arrivals filtered in one by one completely unaware that they were stepping into a room where the atmosphere had already been strained to its limit.

Qi Qingqi entered first, fanning herself lightly like nothing was wrong. Right behind her came Wei Qingwei, then Shang Qinghua looking mildly exhausted already, and finally Mu Qingfang, calm as ever, as if he had not been summoned into potential chaos.

They all paused.

Because the room was… weirdly silent.

Too silent.

Several peak lords were sitting unusually stiff.

And Shen Qingqiu-

Shen Qingqiu—

was sitting very still.

Beside him sat Shen Yuan.

And somehow, that was what broke the normal balance of the entire hall.

Qi Qingqi immediately noticed.

Her eyes sparkled with interest the moment she saw Shen Yuan.

“Ah?” she said lightly, tilting her head. “This shimei is curious.”

She leaned forward slightly, gaze sharp and completely shameless.

“Who is the individual beside Shen-shixiong who horrifyingly looks very similar to him?”

The moment the words landed—

Shen Yuan’s tail beneath his robes puffed up instantly.

He froze.

‘Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me.’

Across the table, several peak lords visibly stiffened again.

Shang Qinghua looked like he lost his soul when he looked at Shen yuan.

Mu Qingfang’s eyes narrowed slightly, already analyzing.

Wei Qingwei glanced between Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan with quiet confusion.

And Yue Qingyuan only sighed faintly, like a man preparing to smooth over disaster number two of the morning.

Shen Jiu, however, did not move.

Not a single reaction.

Just silence.

Too calm.

That alone made Shen Yuan even more nervous.

‘Why is he not answering?! That’s worse than answering!’

Qi Qingqi waited, clearly enjoying the tension she had just stirred.

Shen Yuan slowly tried to shrink in his seat.

His fox ears twitched under his hair.

His tail still puffed pressed awkwardly under his robes like it was trying to escape.

Shen Jiu finally spoke.

But not to Qi Qingqi.

“…You talk too much,” he said flatly.

Qi Qingqi blinked.

Then smiled wider.

“Oh? So it is interesting?”

Shen Yuan felt his soul leave his body a little.

‘Please stop smiling like that.’

Shen Jiu’s fan snapped open once.

“I will say this once,” he said coldly.

Then his gaze shifted slightly toward Shen Yuan.

“…He is my brother.”

Silence.

The entire hall froze again.

Even Qi Qingqi paused mid smile.

Shang Qinghua’s eyes widened slightly like he had just unlocked forbidden lore.

Mu Qingfang immediately looked at Shen Yuan again, this time with full medical interest.

Wei Qingwei tilted his head.

Yue Qingyuan closed his eyes briefly, like he already knew this moment would happen eventually.

Shen Yuan, meanwhile

just stared at Shen Jiu.

‘…He said it.’

His chest tightened slightly.

Not fear this time.

Something warmer.

But Qi Qingqi recovered first.

“Oh?” she repeated, eyes gleaming. “So that’s the hidden piece of gossip.”

Shen Jiu’s eye twitched.

“…It is not gossip.”

Shen Yuan finally managed a weak voice.

“This lowly one apologizes for the inconvenience…”

Qi Qingqi waved her fan.

“No no, this is very entertaining.”

Shen Yuan immediately regretted existing in this timeline.

And somewhere beside him, Shen Jiu didn’t correct anything.

He just stayed seated.

Silent.

'Can someone fly in and take me out of here...'

Chapter Text

Across the hall, Shen Yuan was still suffering in silence.

Across another level of suffering, someone else was panicking much harder.

‘FUCK! WHY IS SHEN QINGQIU’S BROTHER HERE?!’

Shang Qinghua sat rigidly in his seat, face carefully neutral on the outside but internally exploding.

[This is a simple plot deviation. User 001 should not worry.]

‘SHOULD NOT WORRY?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHOULD NOT WORRY?! WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PLOT NOW?! HE’S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, ISN’T HE?!’

[…]

Shang Qinghua pressed both hands over his face under the guise of exhaustion.

“I’m in so much fucking trouble,” he muttered, voice muffled through his palms. “Stupid system…”

His words came out distorted, barely audible.

Unfortunately

Shen Yuan heard some of it.

His fox ears twitched slightly beneath his hair.

One of them lifted a fraction, sensitive enough to catch scattered fragments through the noise of the hall.

‘…What?’

Shen Yuan tilted his head slightly, trying to focus.

But the words were too broken.

“…plot… wrong… supposed to be dead…”

He frowned.

‘Is that person talking about me?’

[( ｡•̀_•́｡ ) system detects irrelevant background noise]

‘That is NOT irrelevant-'

But before he could finish the thought, Qi Qingqi’s voice cut through the room again, dragging Shen Yuan’s attention away.

“So,” she said lightly, still watching him with far too much interest, “what does Shen-shixiong’s brother actually do?”

Shen Yuan instantly stiffened.

‘Oh no. I'm the topic again.’

Shen Jiu didn’t look at Qi Qingqi.

But his fan shifted slightly.

A warning.

Shen Yuan quickly answered before things escalated again.

“This lowly one… mostly follows Shen-shixiong.”

Silence.

Then Qi Qingqi smiled.

“Oh? Like a little shadow?”

Shen Yuan immediately regretted speaking.

‘That sounds worse than it should.’

Across the hall, Liu Qingge’s gaze sharpened again.

Still fixed.

Shen Yuan slowly sank an inch lower in his seat.

‘I miss the brothel. I miss being left alone.’

Then

A faint murmur reached him again.

Jumbled.

Panicked.

Something about plot.

Shen Yuan’s ear twitched once more.

But again

It didn’t fully make sense.

He frowned slightly, distracted for just a moment.

“…Strange,” he muttered under his breath.

Shen Jiu noticed immediately.

“…What now?”

Shen Yuan hesitated.

“This lowly one thinks…” he said slowly, “…someone nearby is very stressed.”

Shen Jiu paused.

“…Everyone here is stressed.”

Shen Yuan blinked.

“…Fair point.”

 

Shen Yuan’s gaze stayed fixed across the hall.

Shang Qinghua was still sitting there with his face half covered, shoulders slightly hunched like he was actively trying to become part of the furniture.

Too suspicious.

Too panicked.

Too loudly thinking for someone who wasn’t speaking.

Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes.

‘That traitor is acting really weird, system.’

[( ｡•̀⤙•́｡ ) system remains silent]

‘Don’t “no comment” me. That’s always when something bad is happening.’

Shen Yuan tilted his head slightly, still staring.

Shang Qinghua, meanwhile, was having the worst internal breakdown of his life.

‘He’s looking at me. He’s LOOKING at me. Why is Shen Qingqiu’s brother LOOKING at me?!’

He immediately straightened his posture, then slumped again, then straightened again—completely inconsistent.

From the outside, it just looked like a man slowly losing his will to live.

Shen Yuan squinted harder.

“…Shen-shixiong,” he muttered quietly beside him.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t look away from the front. “What.”

“That person over there…” Shen Yuan lowered his voice. “Is he always like that?”

Shen Jiu finally glanced in the direction Shen Yuan was looking.

Then looked away again immediately.

“Tch. Shang Qinghua.”

Shen Yuan blinked.

“You know him?”

“Everyone knows him,” Shen Jiu replied flatly. “He talks too much and accomplishes too little.”

‘Rude.’

Shen Yuan looked back again.

Shang Qinghua was now fully covering his face again, whispering to himself.

“I’m dead. I’m so dead. This is how I die. I knew it. I knew it—”

Shen Yuan’s fox ear twitched slightly.

“…He really is weird,” he muttered.

Shen Jiu sighed.

“Ignore him.”

But Shen Yuan didn’t stop looking.

Because now he was curious.

‘Why is he so panicked? Did I do something?’

[( ・_・ ) system advises: user 002 should not investigate side characters]

‘That makes it more suspicious.’

Shen Yuan leaned forward slightly, still watching.

Shang Qinghua, feeling the stare intensify, slowly peeked through his fingers

and immediately locked eyes with him.

Both froze.

Shang Qinghua’s soul left his body.

Shen Yuan blinked.

“…He saw me,” he said quietly.

Shen Jiu clicked his tongue.

“Sit down.”

Shen Yuan slowly sat back.

But his eyes stayed narrowed.

“…He’s definitely hiding something.”

And across the hall, Shang Qinghua was silently screaming inside his head.

‘He KNOWS. HE KNOWS SOMETHING. WHY DOES HE KNOW SOMETHING?!’

“Airplane shooting towards the sky…”

Shen Yuan said it softly.

In English.

The words were quiet barely noticeable in the noise of the hall.

But the moment they landed

Shang Qinghua froze completely.

His face went blank.

Then pale.

Then outright shocked.

He turned so fast it looked like his neck almost snapped.

“…W-what?” he blurted in broken English, voice cracking slightly. “How do you know my ID?”

Silence.

The entire meeting hall felt like it dimmed for a second.

Shen Yuan didn’t respond immediately.

Because his brain had just short circuited.

‘…No way.’

His eyes slowly widened.

“…You’re—”

He stopped.

His expression changed.

Not confusion anymore.

Not embarrassment.

Something sharper.

Colder.

For the first time since arriving in this world, Shen Yuan looked exactly like Shen Qingqiu.

Not just similar.

Identical in everything

The air around him seemed to drop.

Shang Qinghua visibly flinched.

Shen Yuan stared at him without blinking.

The noise of the hall faded.

Even Qi Qingqi stopped fanning herself.

Even Liu Qingge’s gaze paused mid observation.

Shen Yuan’s voice came out low.

“…Airplane.”

A pause.

Then, slower

“The author.”

Shang Qinghua’s face completely collapsed.

“…Ah.”

That one sound carried the weight of confirmation.

Shen Yuan felt something in his chest go cold.

‘So it’s real.’

‘He’s really here.’

The writer of the world he was trapped in.

The man responsible for every ridiculous plot point, every stupid plant, all the suffering Luo binghe went through, all the sudden danger he went through the past years he was here, only able to survive cause he didn't follow the original plot.

Shen Yuan’s fingers curled slightly.

“…You wrote this?”

Shang Qinghua immediately raised both hands defensively.

“I-I can explain—!”

Shen Yuan’s eyes narrowed.

“No.”

A beat.

“You can’t.”

His tone was calm.

Too calm.

Even Shen Jiu beside him finally looked over properly.

“…What is going on,” Shen Jiu said slowly.

Shen Yuan didn’t answer.

He just kept staring at Shang Qinghua.

And Shang Qinghua, now sweating like he was about to be executed, whispered weakly:

“…Why are you here…”

Shen Yuan gave a quiet laugh.

No humor in it.

Just disbelief.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “That’s what I want to know too.”

Shen Yuan turned slowly.

The cold pressure in his expression softened instantly the moment he looked at Shen Qingqiu.

A small smile returned.

Almost polite.

Almost gentle.

“May this lowly one speak to Peak Lord Shang Qinghua privately?”

The hall went silent again.

But this silence was different.

Heavier.

Sharper.

Shang Qinghua immediately stiffened so hard it looked like he forgot how bones worked.

“W-wait privately?!” he squeaked in broken English again, voice cracking. “No need! No need for private! Public is fine! Very fine!”

He was already sweating.

Shen Jiu didn’t move for a moment.

His fan remained open, half covering his face.

But his eyes were fixed on Shen Yuan.

Carefully.

Slowly, he spoke.

“…Why.”

Just one word.

But it carried weight.

Shen Yuan didn’t look away.

Still smiling.

“This lowly one has some questions,” he said calmly. “Regarding… things only Peak Lord Shang would know.”

A pause.

Shen Jiu’s gaze narrowed slightly.

Not rejection.

Something closer to suspicion.

“…And you think I will allow that?”

Shen Yuan blinked once.

Then tilted his head slightly.

“gege does not trust this one?”

The tone was light..

That word

“gege.”

It landed exactly where Shen Jiu was weakest.

A faint shift.

Just barely noticeable.

His grip on the fan tightened.

Across the hall, several peak lords collectively held their breath without realizing it.

Even Qi Qingqi stopped smiling for once.

Shang Qinghua, meanwhile, looked like he was actively witnessing his life flash before his eyes.

Shen Jiu finally clicked his tongue.

“…Tch.”

A long pause.

Then, coldly

“Don’t take long.”

Shen Yuan’s smile widened slightly.

“Understood.”

He stood.

And stepped forward.

Shang Qinghua immediately tried to scoot back in his seat like that would somehow erase his existence.

“No—wait—why me—why always me—”

But Shen Yuan was already walking.

Slow.

Calm.

Directly toward him.

Shen Yuan stopped in front of Shang Qinghua.

For a moment, he just stared.

Shang Qinghua stared back.

Both of them looked like they were silently negotiating survival terms.

“…Wait,” Shang Qinghua started weakly. “We can talk this out—”

Shen Yuan reached forward and grabbed him by the collar.

“Wah—?!”

And just like that—

He dragged him out of the hall.

No hesitation.

“Wait, wait, wait—!” Shang Qinghua flailed as he was pulled along. “I didn’t do anything wrong this time! I swear! This is abuse of authority!”

“Shut up,” Shen Yuan said calmly.

That calm tone somehow made it worse.

Behind them, the entire meeting hall went dead silent.

Qi Qingqi slowly leaned forward, eyes sparkling.

“…Oh my,” she murmured. “That’s bold.”

Liu Qingge watched them disappear through the doors, expression unreadable.

Shen Qingqiu clicked his fan once.

But he didn’t stop them.

“Shen-shidi really is a cut-sleeve, just as I suspected,” Qi Qingqi said lightly, smiling as if she had only commented on the weather.

Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge both froze at the same time.

“What—?” Shen Qingqiu’s voice cracked slightly before he could stop it.

Liu Qingge’s hand tightened on his sword hilt. “Say that again.”

Qi Qingqi only tilted her head, still smiling, entirely unbothered by the sudden rise in killing intent from Shen yuan's brother

“Oh? Must I explain it more clearly?”

Shen Qingqiu’s expression turned dangerously stiff.

But Qi Qingqi simply waved her fan.

“Shen-shixiong, no need to be shy. It’s not a bad thing. A cut-sleeve is simply a man who prefers men, that’s all.”

The room went even quieter.

Shen Qingqiu looked like he had just been struck by heavenly lightning.

Liu Qingge’s brows furrowed.

"..."

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan dragged Shang Qinghua all the way to the end of the Hall before finally letting go of his collar.

Shang Qinghua stumbled back with a cough, clutching at his robes. “Bro, can you not manhandle people the second you meet them?!”

“Oh, now you want human rights?” Shen Yuan hissed. “After everything you put me through?”

Shang Qinghua immediately pointed at himself. “Excuse me? I suffered too!”

“suffer too?” Shen Yuan nearly choked. “You made Liu Qingge die in a cave! You turned Luo Binghe into a refrigerator-sized red flag! Half the female characters existed only to papapa! and don’t even get me started on the endless shitty arcs!”

Shang Qinghua looked offended. “The readers liked that!”

“The readers had no standards!”

“They absolutely had standards!”

“You made Luo binghe have hundreds of wives! ”

“That one was symbolic!”

Shen Yuan stared at him flatly. “Symbolic of your lack of sanity.”

Shang Qinghua opened his mouth, closed it, then muttered, “Okay, fair.”

For the next hour, Shen Yuan alternated between aggressively interrogating him and verbally beating him over the head with every horrible plot point in Proud Immortal Demon Way. Shang Qinghua defended himself with the desperation of a man trying to survive heavenly tribulation.

By the end of it, both of them looked exhausted.

“…So you really got transmigrated ONLY four years ago?” Shang Qinghua asked quietly.

Shen Yuan leaned against the wall, expression dimming. “Yeah.”

“And Shen qingqiu—?”

“…isn’t exactly what the book said.”

'He can be caring..'

Shang Qinghua fell silent.

Neither of them noticed the figure standing behind shang qinghua until Shen Yuan looked behind him and nearly jumped.

Shen Jiu stood there with crossed arms, face cold.

“…Finished?” he asked flatly.

Shang Qinghua instantly straightened like a criminal before a judge. “Peak Lord Shen! This humble one was just leaving!”

He vanished onto his sword so quickly he nearly crashed into a tree.

Shen Yuan watched him flee before sighing.

Then he noticed Shen Jiu still standing there.

“…You heard?”

“A portion.”

Shen Yuan’s shoulders stiffened.

But Shen Jiu only turned away. “Come back. It is late.”

 

~

 

The bamboo house was quiet that night.

For the first time in days, Shen Yuan didn’t feel like a guest there.

Shen Jiu set another blanket down in the spare room with stiff, awkward movements, clearly unused to doing such things. “Sleep.”

Shen Yuan blinked.

“…Okay, gege.”

Shen Jiu paused.

The title slipped out naturally this time.

Not shixiong.

Not Peak Lord Shen.

Gege.

Shen Jiu’s fingers tightened slightly around the lantern handle before he turned away sharply. “Sleep already.”

Shen Yuan hid his smile and obediently laid down.

That night, he dreamed.

 

~

 

The world was cold.

Small hands clutched tightly together as two children walked down an empty street.

“Ge…” a tiny voice trembled.

Shen Jiu looked older than he should have. Thin. Dirty. Alert in the way starving animals were alert. He tightened his grip on his brother’s hand.

“They’ll come back,” he said firmly.

But even he sounded uncertain.

Days.

Their parents had been gone for days.

The house had no food left.

So they left.

The town was only a few sichens away.

At least, it should have been familiar.

Warm lanterns. Vendors shouting. Children running through the streets.

Instead

Silence.

A terrible, suffocating silence.

The gates hung broken from their hinges, dark stains splattered across the wood. One door creaked weakly in the wind.

Shen Yuan’s small hand tightened around Shen Jiu’s sleeve.

“…Gege?”

Shen Jiu didn’t answer.

The smell hit them first.

Blood.

So much blood that the air itself felt thick with it, mixed with smoke and the sharp scent of burned fur.

Bodies littered the streets.

Not one or two.

Everywhere.

Collapsed beside market stalls. Slumped against walls. Half-covered beneath shattered carts.

A woman lay curled around a child no older than Shen Yuan, both motionless in dried pool of dark red. An old man’s hand still clutched a basket of scattered vegetables, now soaked crimson.

And every single corpse

Every single one

Had fox ears and tails brutally removed.

Some cuts were clean.

Others were ragged, as if torn away in haste.

Blood matted silver, black, and red fur across the road. Detached tails had been discarded carelessly like trash, stained dark and trampled into.

Shen Yuan froze.

His breath caught so hard it hurt.

Then he screamed.

His fox ears flattened instantly before puffing up in terror, tails exploding outward in fear as his whole body shook violently. He clamped both hands over his ears as if trying to keep them safe and attached to his head.

“Gege-!”

His voice broke into sobs.

Shen Jiu’s face had gone completely pale.

He looked sick.

Terrified.

But he forced himself to stay standing.

Forced himself to pull Shen Yuan against him so the slightly younger child wouldn’t keep staring at the corpses.

“Don’t look,” Shen Jiu whispered harshly, though his own voice trembled.

But there was nowhere safe to look.

The entire town had become a graveyard.

A house nearby had been burned down halfway, black smoke crawling up the walls. Inside, shadows of bodies remained where people had fallen.

Buzzing flies filled the house.

Shen Yuan buried his face into Shen Jiu’s shoilder, crying so hard he could barely breathe.

Meanwhile Shen Jiu swallowed down his fear so violently it hurt.

No one was alive.

No one.

Not even their parents.

His shaking eyes scanned every face desperately anyway. Hoping. Praying.

But every corpse was cold.

Shen Jiu clenched his teeth until his jaw hurt.

Then, with trembling hands, he began searching the bodies.

Coins.

Food.

Anything useful.

Survival came before grief.

Even now.

Even while his stomach churned and his vision blurred.

He found a pile of abandoned clothes near a destroyed stall ragged, but mostly clean and immediately grabbed them. His fingers shook badly as he wrapped layer after layer around Shen Yuan’s trembling fox ears and tails, hiding every trace of them.

“Listen to me,” Shen Jiu whispered urgently, gripping Shen Yuan’s shoulders tightly.

His own hands were ice cold.

“You cannot let anyone see.”

Shen Yuan looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

“But a-niang and a-die.”

Shen Jiu’s expression cracked.

Only for a second.

Then he pulled Shen Yuan into a fierce hug.

“We survive first,” he whispered hoarsely.

Even if they were alone now.

 

~

 

Shen Yuan woke with a violent gasp.

Cold sweat drenched his robes.

For several moments, he could only stare at the ceiling while his breathing shook.

“…System,” he croaked.

[Ding!]

“Why the hell am I dreaming about this?” Shen Yuan whispered. “For four years I’ve only had normal dreams. Why now?”

The system remained silent for a long moment.

Then

[Insufficient permissions.]

“…Useless fucker.”

But even as he said it, his chest felt tight.

The fear in that dream had been too real.

The grief too vivid.

And worst of all

Shen Jiu had looked so small.

The next morning, Shen Yuan was unusually quiet.

He spoke less during breakfast, stared into space more often, and every time Shen Jiu entered his line of sight

That dream resurfaced.

The blood.

The tiny shaking hands wrapping cloth around his ears.

The exhausted child forcing himself to survive.

Shen Yuan looked at him with unconscious pity.

Which Shen Jiu absolutely hated.

By midday, Shen Jiu finally snapped.

“If you continue staring at me like a kicked dog,” he said coldly, “I will throw you off the peak.”

Shen Yuan blinked. “…Sorry.”

“Hmph.”

Clearly irritated, Shen Jiu turned sharply and left the bamboo house altogether, abandoning Shen Yuan to manage Qing Jing Peak’s affairs for the day.

Shen Yuan watched him leave quietly.

“…He really doesn’t know how to handle concern, huh?"

'He's making me feel even more guilty for taking over this body...'

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan remained seated long after Shen Jiu left, fingers curled around the porcelain cup.

The tea had long gone cold.

He drank it anyway.

“Hey, System,” he said quietly into the empty room. “Is there any way for you to make me keep dreaming the original goods memories? It’d help with… not getting suspected of possession.”

The familiar chime rang in his mind.

[Okay.]

Shen Yuan blinked.

“…That easy?”

No answer.

“…Weird.”

He took one last sip of tea before setting the cup down with a soft clink.

The bamboo house was unusually quiet.

Without Shen Jiu around, even the rustle of leaves outside sounded louder.

Shen Yuan stood and stretched before heading deeper into the house toward the study.

The room smelled of bamboo slips, dried ink, and old paper.

Scrolls and books lined the shelves in neat rows. Bound books sat stacked in careful piles.

Shen Yuan trailed his fingers across the spines before pulling one free.

Compendium of Spiritual Flora Native to the Northern Territories.

“Mm.”

He opened it.

Pressed flowers had been carefully preserved between thin pages alongside notes written in elegant calligraphy.

A few pages later:

Moon Dew Orchid - blooms only under a full moon. Petals useful in stabilizing spiritual qi when brewed fresh.

Then another

Silverbone Vine - highly poisonous raw, medicinal when processed correctly.

Shen Yuan hummed thoughtfully as he sat cross legged near the low desk.

‘I might as well read these.’

His knowledge of PIDW’s flora and fauna used to be absurdly good.

Back when he was still just an angry reader with too much free time and a hate-like relationship with Airplane’s writing, he could rant for hours about spirit beasts and magical herbs.

But after four years

Especially four years spent trapped in a brothel reading manuals on beauty powders, hair oils, decorative pins, and embarrassingly explicit dual cultivation guides

…his priorities had shifted.

‘My knowledge’s probably gone rusty from all those beauty books.’

He flipped another page.

Illustrations of spirit beasts stared back at him.

Cloud Treading Deer.

Jade Eyed Crane.

Firewhisker Fox.

Shen Yuan paused at that one.

The painted fox had six tails, elegant and bright eyed.

His fingers rested against the page.

For a moment, he remembered the dream.

The streets.

The blood.

The discarded tails.

His chest tightened.

He exhaled slowly and turned the page.

Hours slipped by.

Sunlight filtered through the bamboo blinds in thin strips across the floor.

At some point Shen Yuan stopped skimming and began reading properly.

Making notes.

Correcting a few things Airplane had clearly written inconsistently across later chapters.

“Wait, no,” Shen Yuan muttered to himself. “Firewhisker fox saliva was used in alchemy in chapter seventy-two, but in chapter three hundred he said it combusts in open air. Pick a rule and stick to it, Airplane.”

He grabbed a brush and scribbled a correction into the margins.

By late afternoon several scrolls sat open around him in a messy circle. He didn’t notice Shen Jiu return until a shadow fell across the doorway.

Shen Yuan looked up.

Shen Jiu stood there silently, robes carrying traces of dust.

His gaze swept over the cluttered study.

Open scrolls.

Books stacked messily.

Loose papers covered in Shen Yuan’s handwriting.

Then he landed on Shen Yuan himself.

“…What are you doing?”

“Studying.”

Shen Jiu’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Voluntarily?”

Shen Yuan snorted.

“Your lack of faith in me wounds me, jiu-ge.”

Shen Jiu ignored the title entirely, though his expression shifted for the briefest second.

He stepped into the study.

His eyes landed on Shen Yuan’s notes.

Then narrowed harder.

“…You corrected mu qingfang’s annotations.”

Shen Yuan stiffened.

“…Did I?”

Shen Jiu picked up the page.

Read it.

Silence.

Shen Yuan slowly began preparing excuses.

Then

“…You’re right.”

“…What?”

“he mislabeled Silverbone Vine’s flowering cycle.”

Shen Yuan stared.

Shen Jiu set the paper back down.

“You should copy the corrections into a clean volume tomorrow.”

Then he turned to leave.

Shen Yuan blinked after him.

“…You’re not mad I wrote in the margins?”

"Mm..”

“That’s not an answer.”

Shen Jiu paused at the doorway.

Without turning back, he said

“If you’re going to ruin the books, at least improve them.”

Then he left.

Shen Yuan stared at the doorway for several seconds.

'How OOC of him. Now that I think about it, hes been OOC since the moment I met him.. Heh, perks of being his brother I guess.'

 

~

 

Shen Yuan did not sleep

Outside, Qing Jing Peak had long since gone quiet.

Even the disciples’ quarters were dark.

Only the study remained lit.

For once, Shen Jiu had actually gone to bed largely because Shen Yuan had fussed over him until he left with an irritated expression and a muttered threat of bodily harm if Shen Yuan followed him.

So now he sat cross legged amid scattered books and loose paper, brush in hand, eyes dry and burning.

The old flora compendium lay open beside him.

Another sat nearby.

And in front of him

A freshly bound volume.

His handwriting neat but increasingly rushed as the night wore on.

Correction after correction.

Clarification after clarification.

An entirely rewritten record.

No contradictory entries.

No missing details.

No “Airplane forgot his own lore in chapter three hundred and twelve” nonsense.

Shen Yuan blew lightly across the wet ink before closing the finished book.

He pressed a hand against the cover and exhaled.

“There.”

A proper version.

Or at least, a better one.

His shoulders ached.

His eyes stung.

But every time he blinked too long, the dream returned.

Blood in the streets.

Tiny trembling hands.

Shen Jiu’s face.

So Shen Yuan refused to close his eyes.

“System,” he whispered after a long silence, voice rough from disuse. “Should I tell Jiu-ge about the dream?”

[Ding.]

He leaned back against the shelf.

“He’s my brother. Kinda… now.”

The words still felt strange.

But not wrong.

“If I tell him… maybe he’d worry less.”

Or maybe more.

Maybe he’d understand.

Maybe he’d look at Shen Yuan with that guarded expression and know exactly what memory it was.

Maybe he’d deny it happened.

Maybe Shen Yuan wasn’t ready for any of those possibilities.

The system chimed.

[User 002 should think it more thoroughly.]

Shen Yuan stared into the darkness.

Then scoffed.

“Useless. Couldn’t even answer properly.”

Silence.

Then Shen Yuan glanced down at the ends of his long hair spilling over one shoulder.

A random thought struck him.

“…Hey, System.”

[Ding.]

“I’m an all-powerful huli jing, right?”

[Correct.]

“So… can I control my hair length? We're known for shapeshifting aren't we? ”

A pause.

Then:

[Yes. But User 002 does not know how.]

Shen Yuan sat up straighter.

“Then teach me. You’re supposed to be helping me, aren’t you?”

Something thumped against his lap.

“—Ah!”

A book.

Shen Yuan stared.

A thin manual had seemingly dropped from nowhere.

Its cover was old but smooth from use, stitched with pale thread. Gold ink marked the title.

Foundations of Huli Jing Spiritual Regulation.

“…A manual?”

He picked it up carefully.

Flipped it open.

His exhaustion vanished immediately.

The first pages were familiar enough breathing techniques, qi circulation patterns, meditation posture.

But altered.

Not human.

Tailored.

Literally.

There were diagrams of qi pathways branching differently around the lower dantian and spine, specifically accounting for tail growth and ear sensitivity.

Shen Yuan blinked rapidly and kept reading.

And reading.

And reading.

Apparently

Huli jings could consciously alter hair length and density by guiding qi through the scalp.

Ears and tails could be partially concealed through low-level glamour techniques.

Emotional instability affected physical features directly, fear puffed tails, embarrassment heated ears, anger sharpened claws.

“Wait- seriously..?”

He flipped ahead faster.

There were notes on scent masking.

Body temperature regulation.

Foxfire manipulation.

Illusion resistance.

Seasonal shedding.

“Seasonal... what?”

He nearly dropped the book.

“No. Absolutely not.”

He read further.

Yes.

Shedding.

Tail brushing schedules.

Recommended oils.

Methods to reduce knotting.

A warning paragraph on neglecting fur maintenance during winter months.

Shen Yuan buried his face in one hand.

“…I spent four years in a brothel learning beauty maintenance when apparently I needed species specific fur maintenance.”

He kept reading.

Hours passed unnoticed.

At some point dawn began lightening the paper screens with pale silver.

Shen Yuan didn’t notice.

His fingers absentmindedly played with a lock of his hair.

Experimentally, he gathered qi the way the manual instructed.

Down through the meridians.

Up through the scalp.

Warmth prickled across his skin.

The lock of hair in his hand slowly

Shortened.

Shen Yuan froze.

Then stared.

Then tugged on it.

Still real.

Still attached.

Just shorter.

“No way.”

He tried again.

Longer.

The strand extended halfway to the floor.

“Holy shit.”

Shorter.

Longer.

Shorter.

Longer.

A manic grin spread across his face.

“Oh, this changes everything, this will end my suffering.”

A floorboard creaked behind him.

Shen Yuan went rigid.

Slowly turned.

Shen Jiu stood in the doorway in his night robes, loose hair spilling over one shoulder, expression unreadable.

His eyes moved from the open manual

To the piles of books

To Shen Yuan

To the absurdly long lock of hair Shen Yuan was still holding in one hand.

Silence.

Then Shen Jiu asked

“…Why is your hair touching the floor?”

Chapter Text

Shen Jiu decided to not question it. His Didi had been nothing but questionable the moment he found him, asking him and him answering it with the most weird answer would only make things even more complicated.

"Jiu.. Jiu-ge-"

"Don't."

Shen Jiu kneeled behind him and runs his fingers through his silk black hair, not caring if his ears are more obvious in this style, he's already here, he can protect him anytime. And the whole peak already knows what his Didi exactly is so trying to hide it would be pointless

Shen Jiu carefully braids his didi's hair and tied it with his spare ribbon, Shen yuan sat quietly, slightly tense but slowly relaxing.

"Why is jiu-ge up so early...?"

Shen Jiu settles the braid over Shen yuan's shoulder

"...you were loudly talking to yourself."

"Oh."

"And also because were going to qian Cao."

'HUH?'

"What- why?"

"To to get a check up and to check your pea brain to try and find the reason why you suddenly lost your memories"

"Excuse me-?"

"Get yourself ready."

Shen Jiu then left the study

'Go to qian Cao? WAIT- mu qingfang is very skilled! He'll definitely find out something's wrong! Ask me things I don't know how to answer- SYSTEM! HELP ME!'

[No o(〃＾▽＾〃)o]

'YOU-! useless like always!'

Shen yuan stood up and rushed to the spare room to wear his robes, he's still only in night robes, luckily he brought robes from the brothel and didn't have to share his brother's robes.

Shen yuan finished up, and stared at his braid in the mirror for a couple of seconds before finally going to the courtyard where his brother is waiting for him with his sword.

"Took you long enough."

"Hah, it wasn't even THAT long-"

"Stop talking and get on."

Shen yuan rolled his eyes and stepped on the sword, and immediately clutched his brothers shoulders

"You-!"

"Dont blame me! I'm not a cultivator! Ive never flew before!"

Shen Jiu tsked but flew gentler than he usually flew

Shen yuan turned his head and stared

'Wow. I never expected pidw to be this beautiful.'

Shen yuan stared down at the peak and then at the sunrise

A few minutes later and they arrived at qian cao, disciples already up despite the early hour. They've been taking care of disciples injured by a mission, and still now. The mission wasn't done despite so many disciples doing it together

'I can probably help them... Not that I'm a medic but I know enough, I haven't even done anything this days in Qing Jing peak except correcting those books.'

They both went down the sword and Shen yuan's heightened smell immediately took in the scent of bitter medicine and covered his nose

'Nevermind. I don't think I can handle this smell...'

Shen Jiu gave him a glance before walking ahead with Shen yuan following behind him before finally reaching the room mu qingfang is currently in.

Mu qingfang sat at his desk, handling paperwork all about reports of the recently injured disciples and medicines needed before finally looking up and seeing a huli jing. His eyes widened in shock before realizing it was just Shen yuan, his martial sibling's twin brother.

"Shen-shixiong you came, does shixiong need something from this one?"

Shen Jiu pulled Shen yuan closer to him by his sleeve

"This one wants his Didi checked."

Shen Jiu quickly put a privacy talisman on the door

Mu qingfang then looks serious yet also curious and sat up straight as Shen Jiu and Shen yuan sat on the low table

"What is shixiong concerned about?"

"A-yuan had lost his memories."

Mu qingfang's brow perked up, lost memories... Could be from a qi deviation.

"And this one also wants to know any knowledge about huli jings."

Shen yuan squirmed

'System... Theres no way Im not gonna be able to hide that I dreamt about it.'

Mu qing fang turns to Shen yuan and went closer to him, his hand moving closer to his wrist

"May this one check Shen-shidi's meridians?"

Shen yuan nodded and gave his wrist before feeling something warm and soothing spreading across his meridians.

"His meridians seems to be healthy."

"Healthy? Is mu-shidi sure?"

Shen Jiu asked confused.

"Yes, his meridians are slightly different from that of a normal cultivator, it's like his were made to naturally store more qi."

Shen Jiu then brushed off his confusion, his brother having healthy meridians must be due to some huli jing healing mechanism bullshit.

A thud was heard, banging on the floor board. Shen Jiu looked down and saw Shen yuan's tail moving around and hitting against the wooden floor. He's nervous, which only makes Shen Jiu even more suspicious as to why.

"About shen-shidi's lost memories. It could be due to a qi deviation, it could also be because of some flora or fauna that causes memory loss.."

Mu qingfang thought hard, if it really was like that, his memories would be back by now but.. According to Shen Jiu, Shen yuan still doesn't remember anything

"How much does Shen-shidi remember?"

"Around.. The last four years."

"Hmm"

A pause.

"This one is afraid he isn't sure... Shen-shidi should have his memories back by now, there's only one reason left on why shen-shidi doesn't remember anything. He's-"

Shen yuan thinking mu qingfang was about say possesed blurted out, panicked.

"I remember. A little."

Shen Jiu perked up. If he was also a huli jing, you would've seen his ears going up and his tail tensing.

"How much."

Shen Jiu asked seriously, staring at Shen yuan intensely

Shen yuan glanced at mu qingfang, not knowing if he should say it with another audience, but seeing his jiu-ge not caring, he finally spoke out.

"This lowly one remembers. Our town full of huli jings, slaughtered."

"..."

'Of all things he could've remembered it had to be. That...'

Shen Jiu stared at Shen yuan Worriedly

'...is that why he was looking at me- like "that" yesterday? It turns out he remembered.'

Shen Jiu started spacing out until Shen yuan called
Out and gripped his hand

"Jiu-ge?"

Shen Jiu stared at his hand before moving his hand off

"What? Go on, what else do you remember?"

Shen yuan looked at him Worriedly before putting on a calm expression knowing his jiu-ge hated that

"That is all this one currently remembers."

Mu qingfang then stated cautiously:

"It seems shen-shidi remembers a little. His memories will surely but slowly come back to him. But shen-shidi shouldn't rush or force it."

Shen Jiu became relieved, he bitterly didn't want to admit

"What does mu-shidi know about huli jings?"

"I'm afraid this one only knows as much as everyone else. They're known to be able to shapeshift into anyone and create illusions. But they also heal a lot faster though easily injured more often than humans."

Shen Jiu already knows that... He'd been studying about huli jings after all. He expected more, but he doesn't wanna waste any more time hearing knowledge he already knows

"This one gives gratitude, this one and a-yuan will take our leave."

Shen Jiu grabbed Shen yuan's arm and pulled him up before leaving the room.

Shen yuan looked at his gege

'Is he mad?! Fuck- what am I gonna do now!'

 

~

 

Shen yuan and Shen Jiu was back in Qing jing peak but instead of Shen yuan staying in the bamboo house, Shen Jiu made Shen yuan go with him to teach disciples.

Shen yuan was quiet the whole time, mentally fighting with the system

'You haven't answered me system... HOW MANY years until binghe comes?!'

[User 002 is very desperate ╥﹏╥]

'Of course I am! I want to protect jiu-ge and keep him alive as much as possible! And besides, I already broke plot, surely you can't stop me from doing it?'

[...]

'...?'

[User 002 is 2 years away from canon]

'So I still have around 2 years before pain and suffering comes. Great.'

"Yuan-di."

Shen yuan snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his gege

"Hmm?"

Shen yuan finally took in his surroundings and realized every each of Shen jiu's disciples were looking at him, jaw dropped.

Either because he's drop dead gorgeous, or because their shizun has a brother, or both.

Shen yuan's ears went down in embarrassment and his tail started to wag which even Shen Jiu couldn't help but cover his face with his fan to hide his smug smile.

"Yuan-di should take his seat at the back."

'You kept pestering me to wanting to go out, and when I finally let you, you're a squirming mess.. Hypocrite.'

Shen yuan then sat at the spare chair at the back at the side of the room not wanting to be seen

'COME ON! I didn't mean taking me with you to your class like your son when I meant I wanted to go out!'

Shen yuan decided to listen to his gege teaching and figured how scary he can be when teaching.

And when he meant scary.. Horrifying scary.

He was teaching the guqin today which was Shen yuan's hobby. ACTUAL hobby since he found playing it fun ever since he did it for the first time when working in that brothel.

 

Shen Yuan sat at the back of the room with his chin propped against his hand, trying very hard to look invisible.

It wasn’t working.

Every few minutes a disciple would glance back at him, then quickly away when Shen Jiu’s fan snapped shut.

Shen Yuan sighed and let his gaze drift toward the guqins arranged before the disciples.

Polished wood, silk strings

His fingers twitched unconsciously. He hadn’t played since returning to Qing Jing Peak.

It was one of the few things from those brothel years he genuinely missed.

Shen Jiu was correcting a disciple’s hand position at the front.

“No.”

He shifted the disciple’s wrist lower against the strings.

“Relax your fingers.”

The disciple stiffened more.

Shen Jiu clicked his tongue.

“Not like that.”

Shen Yuan hid a smile.

Terrifying.

His gaze went back to the nearest spare guqin beside him, his hand moved before he thought about it.

A light brush of fingertips over the strings.

A soft note rang out.

The entire room froze.

Shen Yuan immediately pulled his hand back.

'…Oops.'

Shen Jiu turned, every disciple turned with him. Shen Yuan slowly lowered his hand into his lap.

“Sorry.”

Shen Jiu’s gaze lingered on him.

Then on the guqin.

Then back to him.

“Yuan-di.”

Shen Yuan’s ears twitched.

“Yes?”

“Come here.”

'Oh no. Fuck.'

Every disciple watched as Shen Yuan stood. He walked to the front nervously.

“Sit.”

“…Jiu-ge.”

“Sit.”

Shen Yuan sat.

The guqin rested before him.

His fingers hovered over the strings.

He looked up.

“…Why.”

“You wanted to play.”

“I did not say that.”

“You were staring at it for the past quarter-shichen.”

“…I was appreciating craftsmanship.”

“And touching it.”

“…Respectfully.”

A few disciples snorted.

Shen Jiu ignored them.

“Demonstrate.”

Shen Yuan stared.

“You’re serious.”

“Play.”

'Traitor.'

Shen Yuan glanced at the disciples. Then at Shen Jiu. Then down at the instrument.

'Fine then.'

If he was going to embarrass himself, he might as well commit to it.

He straightened.

Settled his hands.

The room quieted.

Then—

The first note rang out.

Bright.

Clean.

Followed by another.

And another.

The melody flowed effortlessly from his fingertips.

Soft but deliberate.

His hands remembered faster than his mind did.

The strings vibrated beneath practiced fingers, each note blending into the next. The disciples who’d been staring before were now staring for an entirely different reason.

Even Shen Jiu went still.

Shen Yuan’s braid slid over one shoulder as he leaned into the rhythm, expression smoothing into something peaceful.

No embarrassment.

Just music.

By the final note, the room was silent enough to hear bamboo rustling outside.

Shen Yuan lifted his hands from the strings.

Silence.

Then

One of the younger disciples whispered:

“…Shizun’s brother can play?”

Another hissed back:

“Apparently better than you.”

Shen Yuan coughed and looked anywhere but at Shen Jiu.

“…I learned a little.”

Shen Jiu folded his fan shut.

“A little.”

“A modest amount.”

“Mm.”

Shen yuan glanced at Shen Jiu

“…So?”

Shen Jiu closed his fan with a soft snap.

“Acceptable.”

The disciples looked shocked and horrified.

Shen Yuan stared.

“Acceptable?!"

Shen Jiu ignored him and turned back to the class.

“Observe.”

He gestured lazily toward Shen Yuan with his closed fan.

“Relaxed wrist. Controlled pressure. Proper breathing.”

“Do that.”

The disciples looked like they wanted to cry. Shen Yuan nearly laughed but forced himself not to, so that he wouldn't embarrassed the poor students even more.

One brave disciple raised a hand.

“Shizun… respectfully… we cannot.”

“Why not.”

“Because… we are not Shizun’s brother.”

Shen Yuan immediately buried his face in his sleeve to hide his grin.

Shen Jiu stared at the disciple for several long seconds.
Then:

“A poor excuse.”

The disciple lowered his hand in defeat. Shen Yuan finally failed and laughed outright.

Shen Jiu glanced sideways at him.

“…Stay."

“Hm?"

“You’re demonstrating the rest.”

Shen Yuan’s smile dropped.
“What.”

“You wanted to play.”

“That’s not what wanting means.”

Shen Jiu took his seat at the front of the room.
Unbothered.

Shen Yuan stared at him. Then at the dozens of disciples now looking at him expectantly.

“…System.”

[Ding.]

“Help.”

[No. ૮₍ • ˕ - ₎ა♡]

Chapter Text

The moment Shen Yuan arrived back at the bamboo house, he immediately dropped onto his bed.

Exhausted. Taking Shen Jiu’s place teaching while his brother sat at the back silently judging him had been more tiring than expected.

He wanted to sleep. If he could, he’d happily sleep for a whole week, which he HAD done before after overworking himself.

But he couldn’t.

Cang Qiong was too interesting.

So instead, he sat up and reached for the huli jing manual the system had given him.

If there was any way to turn into a fox, there was no better disguise. Far easier than dressing up and putting on makeup just to sneak around.

He read until dawn without Shen Jiu’s knowledge.

And eventually he did it.

One pulse of qi.

White fur.

Two tails.

Tiny paws.

Fox.

Half a minute later:

Poof.

Back to human.

“Damn,” Shen Yuan breathed, staring at his hands. “That’s cool.”

Then he frowned.

“I don’t know how to move like one though…”

The moment he said it, all his exhaustion crashed down on him.

Apparently transforming took far more qi than expected. Especially after spending most of it earlier on guqin demonstrations and rambling about musical cultivation.

Shen Yuan promptly passed out asleep.

He slept through the entire day.

And woke the next night to find Shen Jiu sitting beside his bed.

Watching him totally not Worriedly.

“…Why were you sleeping the whole day?” Shen Jiu asked flatly.

Shen Yuan blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

“Did you mess with your body again? You’re too weak to be doing advanced techniques. Start small.”

Shen Yuan scoffed.

“Hah! Who said I’m not experienced? Let me tell you, I am a VERY experienced huli jing who totally has nine tails.”

Shen Jiu stared.

“Right.”

“…”

“Keep dreaming.”

“Hey-!"

“Continue this and I won’t let you leave for a week.”

Shen Yuan sat bolt upright.

“WHAT?! I’m not your son! you can’t ground me!”

“I own the house.”

“That’s not how that works.”

“So yes I can.”

Shen Jiu stood.

“Goodnight.”

Then left.

Leaving Shen Yuan scandalized in bed.

“…Tyrant.”

Shen Yuan sighed and flopped back onto the mattress.

Then noticed the small window on the side of the room above the bookshelf.

Far too small for a human to go out.

But-

“Heh.”

“Good thing I learned it.”

White fur burst outward.

Shen Yuan landed lightly on the blankets as a fox.

He immediately turned to inspect himself.

Two fluffy tails waved behind him.

“…Huh. Guess I really do have multiple tails, system didn't lie.”

He hopped to the edge of the bed.

Jumped.

Landed on the bookshelf.

Slipped.

Nearly died and scratched the wood of the bookshelf.

Recovered.

Then grabbed the window handle with his teeth, nudged it open, and squeezed out.

He dropped into wet grass.

'Yuck.'

He slowly padded forward, getting used to walking on all fours and having two tails he could control.

Then he started running.

Through Qing Jing.

Into the forest.

Across peaks.

Sneaking from one to another under the cover of night.

His white fur would’ve stood out if not for the mud now coating his fur. Now he blended right into the dark.

And started spying shamelessly on disciples.

'If I get caught they’re going to call me a pervert.'

Fuck.

Eventually he made it to Bai Zhan Peak.

He expected loud disciples sparring at midnight.

Broken swords.

Blood.

Chaos.

Instead:

Almost no one.

Shen Yuan stepped closer.

And suddenly.

A hand grabbed him by the scruff.

He yelped.

“HEY! WHAT THE FUCK! LET GO OF ME—!”

Only sharp, high-pitched fox cries came out.

Shen Yuan immediately shut up.

Then looked up.

And nearly died.

'WHAT THE FUCK.'

'IT’S LIU QINGGE?!'

Behind Liu Qingge stood several Bai Zhan disciples, all staring openly at the fox in their shizun's grip.

Mostly at the two tails.

Apparently Liu Qingge had been taking them on a mission before spotting a fox running through the forest and grabbing it on instinct.

But now,

Seeing the two tails,

He hesitated.

“I could give this fox to Shen Yuan,” Liu Qingge muttered.

Shen Yuan went limp in horror.

Then Liu Qingge turned to his disciples.

“Mission cancelled for tonight. Return to your dorms.”

The Bai Zhan disciples did not question it, in fact they were relieved and fled.

Meanwhile Liu Qingge kept staring at the fox.

Then decided.

He couldn’t give Shen Yuan a fox covered in mud.

That was disgusting.

So he brought him home.

Filled a large bucket.

And dropped Shen Yuan in.

The water immediately turned brown.

'I don’t think I can hold this form much longer- SHIT! SYSTEM!'

[host should stay calm. •́︿•̀]

'STAY CALM?! I’M ABOUT TO RUN OUT OF QI! IT'S EITHER I TRANSFORM BACK AND NOT PASS OUT, OR PASS OUT AND TRANSFORM BACK!'

The fox started thrashing.

Water splashed everywhere.

Then launched itself out of the bucket.

Paws skidding.

Water flying across the floor.

Liu Qingge frowned and reached for a talisman to paralyse the animal but the fox had already disappeared under his bed.

“This beast…!”

“How annoying.”

Under the bed.

Poof.

Human.

Completely naked.

Shen Yuan slapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming.

'I’M NAKED.'

'WHAT KIND OF WIFE-PLOT NONSENSE IS THIS?!'

'WHEN I PRACTICED YESTERDAY MY CLOTHES STAYED ON WHEN I TURNED BACK!'

Liu Qingge crouched to lift the bed.

“LIU-SHIXIONG! DON’T- DON’T LIFT THE BED!”

Liu Qingge froze.

“…Shen Yuan?”

“Don’t lift it.”

“Where are you?”

“…Under the bed.”

“Under the—”

Everything clicked.

Liu Qingge stood so fast he nearly hit his head.

Then immediately turned and retrieved clothes.

A bundle of robes was shoved under the bed.

“Geez…”

Shen Yuan grabbed them gratefully.

He only managed to get the inner robes on in the cramped space before awkwardly crawling out.

Face burning red.

Hair damp.

Two tails still visible.

“Liu-shixiong…”

Liu Qingge was looking firmly flushed red at the opposite wall.

“This one is sorry,” Shen Yuan said quickly. “I didn’t expect to get caught. I was just curious and wanted to explore.”

He stood and properly tied the robes shut.

Liu Qingge finally spoke, throat hoarse.

“Shen Yuan should have mentioned during the peak lord meeting that he could turn into a fox.”

“This one apologizes. I only recently learned.”

Shen Yuan bowed slightly

Then noticed.

His extra tail were still there.

“…Ah.”

“This one will take his leave.”

“No.”

Shen Yuan looked up.

Liu Qingge cleared his throat.

“I mean- I can fly you back to Qing Jing.”

“Is Liu-shixiong sure?”

Liu Qingge nodded while absently fiddling with his sword hilt.

“Alright.”

Liu Qingge stepped onto his sword and offered a hand.

Shen Yuan took it gratefully and stepped on behind him.

'I’m in so much fucking trouble.'

The flight back to Qing Jing was silent.

Painfully silent.

Wind rushed past them.

Shen Yuan stood behind Liu Qingge in borrowed robes that smelled faintly like sandalwood. His damp hair clung to his neck. His extra tail refused to disappear.

One: he had been caught trespassing on Bai Zhan.

Two: Liu Qingge had bathed him.

Three: he was currently wearing Liu Qingge’s clothes.

This was bad.

Very bad.

When Qing Jing Peak came into view, Shen Yuan almost sighed in relief.

Then

A figure stood waiting in the courtyard below.

Green robes.

Folded fan.

Cold posture.

Shen Jiu.

Waiting.

Arms crossed.

Looking directly at them.

Shen Yuan stopped breathing.

Liu Qingge landed neatly.

Neither moved.

Shen Jiu’s gaze swept over the scene once.

Liu Qingge.

His sword.

Shen Yuan.

The damp hair.

The oversized robes.

The visible tails.

Then his eyes narrowed.

“…A-Yuan.”

Shen Yuan swallowed.

“Jiu-ge.”

A dangerous silence.

“Why,” Shen Jiu asked very calmly, “are you returning at midnight from Bai Zhan Peak?”

Shen Yuan opened his mouth.

Closed it.

Opened it again.

“…I can explain.”

Shen Jiu’s fan snapped open.

“Good.”

“Explain.”

Liu Qingge followed Shen Yuan into the bamboo house.

Entirely because he needed to speak to Shen Jiu about Shen Yuan sneaking around at night.

Entirely.

Definitely not because he wanted to make sure Shen Yuan got back safely.

Shen Jiu sat at the low table waiting for them.

His tea had gone untouched.

His expression was cold.

And furious.

Shen Yuan stood before him like a disciple awaiting punishment.

Liu Qingge stood off to the side.

Silent.

Shen Yuan swallowed.

“This one was experimenting with the manual and successfully turned into a fox yesterday.”

Shen Jiu stared.

“And when I woke up earlier… and Jiu-ge threatened to ground me…”

Shen Yuan coughed into his fist.

“I decided to sneak out in my fox form.”

Shen Jiu’s expression did not move.

“I swear,” Shen Yuan added quickly. “I didn’t mean to get caught. Liu-shixiong just somehow happened to be there and saw me.”

Shen Jiu slowly looked toward Liu Qingge.

Liu Qingge nodded once.

Confirmation.

Shen Jiu looked back.

Still unconvinced.

Mostly because his brother was standing there with damp hair.

In Liu Qingge’s robes.

Smelling faintly of Bai Zhan’s soap.

And Shen Jiu hated every part of that sentence.

His gaze flicked over Shen Yuan once.

The wet hair.

The oversized sleeves.

The tails.

Then back up.

“…Why are you wet.”

Shen Yuan froze.

Liu Qingge went stiff.

Shen Yuan forced a laugh.

“Funny story-”

“Answer.”

Shen Yuan glanced helplessly toward Liu Qingge.

Liu Qingge, traitorously, said nothing.

Shen Yuan sighed.

“Liu-shixiong… tried to wash me.”

Silence.

Shen Jiu’s fan snapped shut.

“Wash you.”

“I was muddy.”

“You put my brother in a bucket.”

“He was filthy,” Liu Qingge answered flatly.

“I was camouflaged,” Shen Yuan muttered.

Shen Jiu slowly pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You snuck out.”

“Yes.”

“Into the forest.”

“Yes.”

“Across multiple peaks.”

“…Yes.”

“Spied on disciples.”

“…Potentially.”

“Went to Bai Zhan.”

“Yes.”

“Got caught.”

“Yes.”

“Got washed.”

“…Yes.”

“Then came back at midnight wearing Liu Qingge’s robes.”

Shen Yuan stared at the floor.

“…Yes.”

A pause.

Then Shen Jiu looked up.

“At least you’re honest.”

Shen Yuan brightened.

“Really?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

Shen Jiu stood.

Shen Yuan immediately stepped back.

Liu Qingge subtly straightened.

“You used qi until you passed out.”

Shen Yuan winced.

“You transformed again while your reserves weren’t recovered.”

Shen Yuan winced harder.

“You snuck out after I explicitly told you not to overexert yourself.”

“…In my defense-”

“There is no defense!”

“…Right.”

Shen Jiu exhaled slowly.

Then pointed toward the inner room.

“For the next seven days.”

Shen Yuan went pale.

“No.”

“You are staying in the bamboo house.”

“Jiu-ge-”

“No.”

“That’s tyranny.”

“That is recovery.”

“That’s prison.”

“That is bedrest.”

Shen Yuan turned toward Liu Qingge.

“Liu-shixiong.”

Liu Qingge crossed his arms.

“…You should rest.”

“Et tu.”

Liu Qingge did not know what that meant.

But Shen Yuan looked betrayed enough for it to be insulting.

Shen Jiu sat back down.

“Also.”

Shen Yuan braced himself.

“Return Liu-shixiong’s robes.”

Shen Yuan looked down at himself.

Then looked up.

Then looked down again.

“…Now?”

Shen Jiu’s brows lifted.

Liu Qingge immediately looked away toward the wall.

Shen Yuan’s tails puffed.

“No, no, later is fine.”

“Much later,” Liu Qingge added.

Shen Jiu’s eye twitched.

“Go change.”

Shen Yuan bowed so fast he nearly tipped over.

“Yes, Jiu-ge.”

Then fled into his now own room.

The curtain dropped behind him.

Silence settled between the two peak lords.

Tea steamed quietly between them.

Shen Jiu poured a cup.

Did not offer one.

Liu Qingge remained standing.

After a long pause

Shen Jiu spoke.

“You put him in a bucket.”

“He was covered in mud.”

“…You bathed him.”

“I attempted to.”

“…Mm.”

Another pause.

Then Shen Jiu’s gaze sharpened.

“Thank you for bringing him back.”

Liu Qingge blinked taken aback.

Then nodded.

“He should not roam at night alone.”

“I know.”

“Especially not while newly transformed.”

“I know.”

“He would've transformed back and go home naked if he weren't taken by me.”

Shen Jiu’s hand stopped halfway to his teacup.

“…He what.”

Liu Qingge said nothing.

The curtain rustled.

Shen Yuan’s voice came weakly from inside:

“Liu-shixiong.”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t have to say that..."

Chapter Text

Liu Qingge didn’t stay much longer.

Once Shen Yuan returned the borrowed robes folded as neatly as he could while Shen Jiu watched from the doorway, Liu Qingge took them back then left.

The moment he was gone

Shen Yuan got scolded again.

This time worse.

Shen Jiu sat across from him at the low table, fan shut in his hand.

Shen Yuan sat stiffly on the other side.

Head lowered.

Two tails drooping down.

“You snuck out.”

“Yes.”

“You transformed with almost no qi left.”

“…yes.”

“You wandered into another peak.”

“Yes…”

“You got caught.”

“…unfortunately.”

“By Liu Qingge.”

Shen Yuan sank lower.

“Yes.”

Shen Jiu’s eye twitched.

“How does one accidentally end up soaked in Bai Zhan at midnight inside Liu Qingge’s house?”

Shen Yuan coughed.

“This one was… exploring.”

“You were covered in mud.”

“Exploring thoroughly.”

Shen Jiu stared.

Shen Yuan looked away.

By the end of it, Shen Yuan was grounded for a week.

No leaving the bamboo house.

No night wandering.

No transforming.

And no, as Shen Jiu put it

“Doing suspicious things.”

Shen Yuan had been too tired to argue.

So the second Shen Jiu left

He collapsed face-first onto the bed.

A familiar screen flickered into view.

[Host will dream of Shen Yuan’s memories?]
[Yes] [No]

Shen Yuan stared at it.

Then sighed.

“If I’m trapped here for a week, I might as well gain some sort of knowledge.”

He pressed yes.

The screen vanished.

Shen Yuan rolled onto his side.

And fell asleep almost instantly.

~

He was in the streets.

Dusty roads.

Crowded stalls.

People brushing past without looking.

He was small again.

Small enough his sleeves swallowed his hands.

Walking beside Shen Jiu.

Both of them shared one tanghulu.

Sticky syrup clung to Shen Yuan’s fingers.

He bit into one of the grapes and winced.

“Too sweet.”

“Then stop eating it.”

“No.”

“Then stop complaining.”

Shen Yuan huffed and took another bite anyway.

Shen Jiu snorted.

They had bought it with stolen money.

Money Shen Jiu had quietly taken from the bodies in the ruined town.

Neither of them ever talked about where it came from.

Around them were children just like them.

Sleeping under carts.

Begging by stalls.

Fighting over scraps.

Stealing buns.

Running from angry shopkeepers.

Trying to survive.

And leaning against a wall near the edge of the market

Was Yue Qi.

Shen Yuan brightened immediately.

“Qi-ge!”

Yue Qi looked up and smiled.

“A-Yuan. A-Jiu.”

His voice was always soft.

Always calm.

Even when hungry.

Even when tired.

Even when it rained and they had nowhere dry to sleep.

Shen Yuan ran over and shoved the half-eaten tanghulu toward him.

“Here.”

Yue Qi blinked.

“For me?”

“Jiu-ge stole it.”

Shen Jiu elbowed Shen Yuan hard enough to nearly knock him over.

“I paid.”

“With stolen money.”

“That is still paying.”

Yue Qi laughed.

Actually laughed.

Shen Yuan remembered liking that sound.

Yue Qi took a small bite.

“Sweet.”

“Right?” Shen Yuan grinned.

Shen Jiu sat beside them.

“Don’t finish it.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“You were thinking about it.”

“I was hungry.”

“So were we.”

“Fair.”

They sat together against the wall while people passed.

Sharing one tanghulu between three people.

Making it last.

That night it rained.

They slept under a broken roof behind an abandoned stall.

Water dripped through gaps in the boards.

Shen Yuan curled between them.

Cold.

Shivering.

Shen Jiu shoved him into the driest corner.

“Move.”

“I was already here.”

“Move.”

Yue Qi laid an old cloth over the three of them.

It barely reached their shoulders.

Shen Yuan yawned.

“When I’m rich I’m buying a whole blanket.”

“A whole blanket?” Yue Qi asked.

“Two blankets.”

“Ambitious.”

“And candied fruit every day.”

“Even more ambitious.”

Shen Jiu snorted.

“If you get rich from begging, tell me how.”

Shen Yuan poked him.

“I’ll steal enough.”

“Then you’ll get caught.”

“Not if you steal it for me.”

“Unbelievable.”

Yue Qi laughed quietly beside them.

And Shen Yuan fell asleep smiling.

Years passed like that.

Begging.

Stealing.

Sharing scraps.

Running.

Sleeping side by side beneath broken roofs.

Three children becoming family because they had no one else.

Then one day....

The Qius came.

A carriage stopped in the middle of the road.

Lacquered black.

Gold trim.

Silk curtains.

Far too grand for their street.

Servants stepped down first.

Clean robes.

Clean shoes.

Hands untouched by dirt.

Too clean.

Shen Jiu immediately moved in front of Shen Yuan.

Yue Qi stepped beside them.

“What do they want?” Shen Yuan whispered.

“Nothing good,” Shen Jiu muttered.

The carriage curtain lifted.

A woman looked out.

Then pointed.

At Shen Yuan.

Then Shen Jiu.

Servants approached.

Shen Jiu grabbed Shen Yuan’s wrist.

“Run.”

They ran.

They barely made it three steps.

A servant caught Shen Yuan around the waist and lifted him clean off the ground.

“Let me go!”

Shen Jiu lunged for him.

Another servant grabbed Shen Jiu by the arm.

Shen Jiu kicked.

Bit.

Scratched.

Screamed.

Yue Qi threw himself at them.

“Let them go!”

He was shoved hard into the dirt.

Shen Yuan cried out.

“Qi-ge!”

“A-Yuan!”

Shen Jiu twisted violently against the servant’s grip.

“DON’T TOUCH HIM!”

The carriage door opened.

Shen Yuan was thrown inside.

Shen Jiu after him.

Yue Qi got back to his feet and ran after the wheels barefoot.

“A-Jiu!”

“A-Yuan!”

Shen Yuan threw himself against the window.

“Qi-ge!”

Dust flew behind the carriage.

Yue Qi kept running.

Face streaked with dirt.

Breathing hard.

Still running.

Still chasing.

Shen Jiu slammed against the door trying to force it open.

It wouldn’t move.

Yue Qi stumbled.

Hit the road hard.

Shen Yuan gasped.

But Yue Qi pushed himself back up immediately.

And kept running.

“I’LL COME BACK FOR YOU!”

His voice cracked.

“I PROMISE!”

Shen Yuan cried so hard his throat hurt.

“QI-GE!”

Shen Jiu pounded against the carriage wall until his fists bled.

“LET US OUT!”

Yue Qi kept running.

Smaller.

Farther.

Then smaller again.

Until the carriage turned.

And he disappeared behind dust.

Gone.

The last thing Shen Yuan remembered

Was Shen Jiu gripping his hand so tightly it hurt.

Neither of them saying anything.

And both of them crying.

Chapter Text

Yue Qi had found them once. Only once.

Late one night, while rain tapped softly against the shed roof and water slipped through cracks in the wood, Shen Yuan lay half asleep against Shen
Jiu’s shoulder beneath a pile of old rags.

The door creaked open.

Shen Jiu was awake instantly.

He sat upright with a start, ready to lunge.
Then froze.

A figure slipped inside and shut the door behind him.

Soaked through.

“Qi-ge?”

Shen Yuan sat up so fast he smacked his head on the beam overhead.
Yue Qi dropped to his knees immediately.

Shen Yuan nearly crashed into him.

Yue Qi wrapped both twins into a tight embrace, shaking with cold and relief.

“You’re both alive."

His voice cracked.

Shen Yuan buried his face into Yue Qi’s shoulder.

“Qi-ge…”
Shen Jiu sat stiffly beside them, saying nothing.
But he didn’t pull away.

Neither of them had thought they’d see him again.
Yue Qi stayed only a short while.

Too dangerous.

Too risky.

If the Qius found him

If any servant saw, he’d be dragged in too.

Before dawn he stood.

Shen Yuan grabbed his sleeve with both hands.

“Don’t go.”

Yue Qi crouched.

Rainwater still clung to his lashes.

He wiped dirt gently from Shen Yuan’s cheek.

“I’ll come back.”

“You said that before.”

“I know.”

“You didn’t.”

Yue Qi smiled sadly.

“I know.”

Shen Jiu still didn’t speak.

Just stared at him.

Yue Qi looked at both of them.

“I’ll come back for both of you.”

Then he left.

And didn’t return.

One year.
Then two.
Then five.

 

~

 

Shen Yuan opened his eyes to silk curtains.

He was in Qiu Haitang’s room.

Bright robes hung from lacquer stands.

Hair ribbons spilled from drawers.

Jewelry boxes sat open.

Porcelain dolls and carved toys covered the floor.
Qiu Haitang sat before him smiling.

Young.

Pretty.

Excited.

And already used to getting exactly what she wanted.

Shen Yuan sat still while she tugged his outer robe loose.

He wanted to stop her.

Wanted to pull away.

But his body didn’t move.

The younger Shen Yuan didn’t resist.
Didn’t flinch.

Like he’d done this hundreds of times.

Qiu Haitang giggled as she dressed him.

Blue silk.

Then white silk.

Then embroidered gold.

She brushed his hair smooth.

Tied ribbons around his braid.

Ran her fingers through his ears.

Fluffed his tails with delight.

Then trimmed uneven ends of his hair with tiny scissors.

Turning him left.

Then right.

Admiring him.

Like a doll.

Like a pet.

Like something she owned.

Hours passed.

Tea.

Games.

Laughter.

Until eventually she yawned and fell asleep against a cushion.

Only then did Shen Yuan stand.
Quietly.
Automatically.

He slipped from the room and walked down the dark corridor.

Then entered another room a few doors away.
Someone waited inside.

Qiu Jianluo.

Dread settled in his stomach before the door even shut.

The dream blurred after that.

Time stretched strangely.

Shen Yuan felt trapped inside the body.

Unable to move.

Unable to stop anything.

Only silence.

Enduring.

By the time he was allowed to leave, his robes hung crooked and wrinkled.

His body ached.

He walked back to the shed through the dark.

Then collapsed onto the rags beside Shen Jiu and curled tightly against him.

Shen Jiu stirred.

Half asleep.

Without opening his eyes

He wrapped an arm around him.

 

~

 

Shen Jiu knew Shen Yuan spent his days with Qiu Haitang.

Dressed up.

Played with.

Treated like a toy.

He hated it.

But he always told himself

At least Shen Yuan wasn’t getting beaten.
At least not like him.

Then one winter night Shen Yuan came back late.
His robes were torn.

He was trembling.

Quiet.

Too quiet.

He crawled under the rags beside Shen Jiu and curled against him.

Freezing.

Shen Jiu stayed awake the rest of the night.

Shen Yuan already had healing marks across his back from the last punishment after spilling tea.
If he got sick

There would be no medicine.

No blankets.

No one to help.

By dawn Shen Jiu made up his mind.

He tucked every rag over Shen Yuan.

Then left the shed.

He went to Qiu Haitang’s room.

That day

He took Shen Yuan’s place.

Qiu Haitang never noticed.

She dressed him in soft robes.

Brushed his hair.

Pinned ribbons into it.

Made him sit with her while she played.

Talked endlessly.

Shen Jiu endured all of it.

By afternoon she dismissed him.

Shen Jiu stood immediately.

Ready to leave.

Qiu Jianluo blocked the hallway.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Shen Jiu froze.

“Don’t forget. You haven’t done our routine yet.”

Routine.

He didn’t understand.

But he followed.

Too afraid not to.

The door locked behind them.

Then Shen Jiu understood.

Slowly.

Then all at once.

His stomach dropped.

No.

No.

No.

He had thought Shen Yuan had been spared.

Thought it was only dresses.

Ribbons.

Games.

Not this.

Qiu Jianluo stepped closer.

Shen Jiu shoved him hard and ran for the door.
Locked.

He yanked at it desperately.

It wouldn’t move.

Behind him

Laughter.

Then the crack of a whip being drawn.

Shen Jiu spun around.

Panicked.

Searching.

Anything.

His eyes landed on a bottle in the corner.

He ran.

Grabbed it.

Smashed it against the wall.

Glass shattered across the floor.

Before Qiu Jianluo could reach him

Shen Jiu drove the jagged edge forward.

A scream split the room.

Blood sprayed hot across Shen Jiu’s face.

Qiu Jianluo fell.

Shen Jiu didn’t stop.

Couldn’t stop.

Not until he stopped moving.

When it was over

Shen Jiu stood shaking over the body.
Covered in blood.

Breathing hard.

The broken glass slipped from his hand.
Then he ran.

 

~

Shen Yuan woke coughing, smoke filled his lungs.

Heat burned against his skin.

Someone lifted him.

Carried him.

Shen Jiu.

Shen Jiu had him on his back, running through the dark.

The manor burned behind them.

Flames climbed into the night sky.

Wood cracked.

Roof beams collapsed.

Orange light lit the forest.

“jiu-ge…”

Shen Jiu stumbled but didn’t stop.

“A-Yuan? You’re awake.”

“What happened?”

Shen Jiu kept running.

Voice hoarse.

“I ended it."

Shen Yuan blinked.

Then noticed blood soaking through Shen Jiu’s robes.

His brother’s hands were stained red.
Shen Yuan said nothing.

Only wrapped his arms tighter around Shen Jiu’s shoulders.

 

~

 

They washed in the river before sunrise.
Cold water turned pink around them.
Then clear.

For weeks they lived by the forest.

Sleeping under trees.

Stealing scraps.

Pickpocketing in crowded streets.

Running whenever someone shouted.

One day Shen Yuan’s fingers had just brushed a merchant’s purse

When someone grabbed his wrist.

He froze.

Shen Jiu spun around instantly.

Ready to fight.

Ready to run.

Instead

A cultivator in dark robes crouched to their height.
Kind eyes.

Gentle face.

Tired smile.

He didn’t tighten his grip.

Didn’t shout.

Didn’t call guards.

He only looked at them.
At their bruises.

Their hollow cheeks.

Their thin wrists.
Shen yuan's ears...

And held out a warm steamed bun.

Steam rose into the cold air.

“When was the last time you two ate?”

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan didn’t recognize the man.

He stood in the middle of the market street, hand still wrapped around Shen Yuan’s wrist where he’d caught him trying to slip a coin purse free.

Shen Yuan froze.

Beside him Shen Jiu reacted instantly, stepping forward with bared teeth like a cornered stray.

“Let go of him.”

The man looked between them.

At Shen Jiu’s bruised cheek.

At Shen Yuan’s too-thin wrists.

At the dirt ground into their clothes.

Then he loosened his grip immediately.

Shen Yuan stumbled back into Shen Jiu.

The cultivator crouched so he was eye level with them.

His robes were white once, though stained with dust from the road. His hair was tied loosely behind him. He looked tired.

Kind.

Or at least kinder than most.

“When did you last eat?” he asked.

Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu said nothing.

The cultivator waited.

Shen Yuan swallowed.

“A few weeks ago, daozhang.”

Shen Jiu shot him a look.

Shen Yuan lowered his eyes.

The man’s expression tightened.

“A few weeks?”

Shen Yuan nodded.

“A bun three days ago,” Shen Jiu corrected flatly. “He means a full meal.”

The cultivator stared at them.

Then slowly reached into his sleeve.

Shen Jiu tensed.

Instead

He held out two steamed buns.

Still warm.

Steam rose from the cloth wrapping them.

Shen Yuan’s stomach clenched painfully at the smell.

“Take them.”

Shen Yuan looked at Shen Jiu.

Shen Jiu narrowed his eyes.

“…Why?”

“Because you’re hungry.”

“No one gives food for free.”

The cultivator smiled faintly.

“Then think of it as repayment for not reporting you for pickpocketing.”

Shen Yuan blinked.

Shen Jiu hesitated.

Then took one.

Handed the other to Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan bit into it too fast and burned his tongue.

He didn’t care.

It was soft.

Warm.

Filled with pork.

He nearly cried.

The cultivator watched them eat.

“What are your names?”

Shen Yuan swallowed quickly.

“Ba.”

“Jiu.”

“No surname?”

“We don’t use one.”

The man nodded like that wasn’t strange at all.

“Come with me.”

Shen Jiu immediately stiffened.

“No.”

“I have a place to stay nearby.”

“No.”

“Food.”

Shen Jiu’s expression did not change.

“Warm beds.”

Still nothing.

“Medicine.”

Shen Jiu glanced at Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan’s sleeves were still damp from washing in the river that morning. He’d been coughing for days.

The cultivator saw it.

“You’re sick.”

“I’m fine,” Shen Yuan lied.

“You’re shivering.”

“I’m cold.”

“That is usually how sickness starts.”

Shen Yuan looked away.

The cultivator stood.

“My name is Wu Yanzi.”

Neither moved.

He smiled slightly.

“You can leave whenever you want...”

~

Wu Yanzi’s house sat just outside town hidden behind bamboo trees.

It was small.

Quiet.

Warm.

Shen Yuan stood in the doorway staring at the floor mats.

Clean.

Everything was clean.

He felt like if he stepped inside he’d stain the whole place.

Wu Yanzi set down his bag.

“You can come in.”

Shen Yuan hesitated.

Shen Jiu stepped in first.

Shen Yuan followed.

Wu Yanzi brought them hot water to wash with.

Fresh clothes.

Rice.

Soup.

Braised vegetables.

Tea.

Shen Yuan stared at the table like it wasn’t real.

“Eat before it gets cold,” Wu Yanzi said.

Shen Yuan looked at Shen Jiu.

Shen Jiu sat.

So Shen Yuan sat too.

They ate until it hurt.

Too fast.

Too much.

Shen Yuan’s stomach cramped halfway through but he kept going.

Wu Yanzi didn’t stop them.

Later that night, Shen Yuan lay on an actual bed.

Soft mattress.

Blanket.

Pillow.

He kept sinking into it.

“This feels weird,” he muttered.

Shen Jiu lay on the mat beside him.

“Mm.”

“I feel like I’m floating.”

“Then sleep.”

“Do you trust him?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“But we stay.”

Shen Yuan turned toward him.

“Because of me?”

Shen Jiu didn’t answer.

Shen Yuan smiled faintly anyway.

~

Days turned into weeks.

Wu Yanzi fed them.

Clothed them.

Taught them letters.

Then cultivation.

“You both have potential,” he told them one evening.

Shen Yuan sat cross-legged before him.

Shen Jiu beside him.

“Guide your qi here.”

Wu Yanzi pressed two fingers lightly against Shen Yuan’s lower abdomen.

Shen Yuan obeyed.

Warmth stirred.

Qi.

Like heat moving beneath his skin.

“There.”

Wu Yanzi smiled.

“Very good.”

Shen Yuan beamed.

Shen Jiu frowned.

“How did he do that faster than me?”

Wu Yanzi chuckled.

“Some are... naturally gifted.”

Shen Jiu clicked his tongue.

“Annoying.”

Shen Yuan grinned.

“Jealous.”

“Never.”

The lessons continued.

At first

They felt harmless.

Meditation.

Breathing.

Qi circulation.

Sword stances.

Then Wu Yanzi learned what Shen Yuan was.

A huli jing.

Everything changed.

“Interesting…” Wu Yanzi murmured one day while holding Shen Yuan’s wrist.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

But it wasn’t nothing.

After that

Shen Yuan’s lessons got longer.

Harder.

More painful.

“Again.”

Shen Yuan forced qi through his body.

His meridians burned.

“Again.”

Sweat soaked his robes.

“Again.”

His hands shook.

“It hurts,” Shen Yuan whispered.

Wu Yanzi wrote something down.

“Good.”

Shen Yuan stared.

“Good?”

“It means it’s working.”

Shen Jiu waited outside every lesson.

When Shen Yuan came out pale and swaying

Shen Jiu was always there.

“Sit.”

“I’m fine.”

“You can barely stand.”

“I’m dramatic.”

“You’re shaking.”

“I’m cold.”

“Liar.”

Shen Yuan laughed weakly and leaned against him.

Wu Yanzi pushed harder each season.

Bitter medicines.

Qi forced through blocked channels.

Talismans burned against skin.

Long nights kneeling in meditation circles until Shen Yuan’s legs went numb.

Shen Jiu got lessons too.

But not like that.

Never like that.

One night Shen Jiu cornered Wu Yanzi outside.

“What are you doing to him?”

Wu Yanzi didn’t even look up.

“Teaching.”

“That’s not teaching.”

“Don’t question what you don’t understand.”

Shen Jiu’s hand tightened around his sword hilt.

Wu Yanzi finally looked at him.

“You should be grateful.”

~

Winter came.

Shen Yuan collapsed.

Halfway down the hall.

His legs gave out.

He hit the floor hard enough his teeth clicked.

His vision blurred.

Wu Yanzi crouched beside him.

Checked his pulse.

His qi.

Then released him.

“Shizun?”

Wu Yanzi stood.

“Rest.”

That night Shen Yuan woke to voices.

Merchants.

Coins.

Someone inspecting his face.

“Pretty.”

“Rare.”

“Two tails?”

“Mm.”

“How much?”

A bag of coins hit the table.

Shen Yuan was too weak to move.

By dawn

He was gone.

Sold.

~

That same night Shen Jiu sat outside Wu Yanzi’s room with a knife.

He’d had enough.

Enough of pretending he didn't know he was teaching them demonic cultivation.

Enough watching Shen Yuan grow weaker.

Enough watching him tremble after lessons.

Enough watching Wu Yanzi smile through it.

Wu Yanzi slept deeply.

He never saw Shen Jiu enter.

Never saw the knife.

By morning

Wu Yanzi was dead.

Shen Jiu’s hands were red.

He didn’t care.

He ran straight to Shen Yuan’s room.

Shoved the door open.

“A-Yuan.”

Silence.

"A-Yuan?"

Empty bed.

Cold blankets.

No Shen Yuan.

He searched the house.

The woods.

The roads.

Town after town.

Weeks.

Months.

Nothing.

Every brothel, every merchant caravan, every inn.

Nothing.

Until eventually

He heard Cang Qiong was accepting disciples.

A sect.

Power.

Resources.

Access.

If Shen Yuan was alive

Shen Jiu would need strength to find him.

So Shen Jiu climbed the mountain.

Passed the trials.

And all the while

He kept looking.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan forced the dream to stop.

The streets shattered.

The burning manor disappeared.

He woke with a gasp so sharp it hurt.

His whole body jerked upright.

Sweat soaked through his robes.

His breathing came fast and ragged.

For several long moments, Shen Yuan could only stare.

His bed.

Qing Jing Peak.

His room.

Morning light spilled through the window.

Real.

He was here.

Not there.

A blue screen hovered beside him.

[User 002 has been asleep for 5 days.]

Shen Yuan blinked.

“…five?”

[Correct.]

His voice came out hoarse.

“Five days…”

His limbs felt heavy.

His chest felt worse.

Like someone had carved it open and left it that way.

He sat there.

Silent.

Then slowly brought both hands to his face.

And started crying.

Not quietly.

Not prettily.

Ugly, shaking sobs tore out of him before he could stop them.

He curled forward over his knees.

His shoulders shook violently.

He couldn’t breathe.

Shen Jiu.

Yue Qi.

The Qius.

Wu Yanzi.

The brothel.

The original Shen Yuan

His fingers dug into his sleeves.

“I can’t…”

The words dissolved.

The blue screen flickered beside him.

[…]

[Does host wish to stop the dreams for a while?]

Shen Yuan laughed through tears.

A broken sound.

“Yes.”

He wiped his eyes roughly.

“Yes, please.”

[Confirmed.]

The screen dimmed.

Shen Yuan leaned back against the wall behind his bed.

He felt hollow.

Like if he moved wrong he would crack apart.

Then

Something clicked.

A memory.

Not from the dreams.

His own.

His breath caught.

A candlelit room.

Incense.

Red curtains.

The brothel.

A client.

A man in black robes.

Eyes bloodshot.

Fingers trembling as he drew talismans over the table.

Demonic cultivation.

Resentful energy.

Shen Yuan’s eyes widened.

“No… why do I remember it.? These aren't my memories?"

He remembered it.

The man laughing.

Too loud.

Too unstable.

Shen Yuan pouring him wine.

Then

A backlash.

Black smoke bursting from the talisman.

Screaming.

Pain flooding through Shen Yuan’s meridians like fire.

His body collapsing to the floor.

His vision blackening.

Another flood.

Memories.

Modern streets.

Phones.

Computers.

Instant noodles.

Reading Proud Immortal Demon Way late into the night.

Cursing Airplane.

Laughing at Shen Qingqiu.

Crying over extras.

Calling Shen Jiu scum.

Shen Yuan went still.

Completely still.

“No…”

More memories crashed into him.

Not replacing.

Not possessing.

Combining.

His childhood in this world.

His childhood in another.

Both-

Both his.

His nails bit into his palms hard enough to hurt.

“No no no…”

The system flickered back on.

[Host has regained associated memory fragments.]

Shen Yuan stared at it eyes filled with tears.

Hands shaking.

“What…”

[Host experienced qi deviation due to resentful energy backlash approximately 4 years ago.]

His breathing hitched.

[Qi deviation caused memory loss.]

“No…”

[Host’s previous-life memories surfaced in place of damaged current-life memory.]

Shen Yuan shook his head so hard it hurt.

“No.”

[Host believed himself to be a transmigrator due to incomplete memory retrieval. This system noticed plot deviation and went to help host.]

“No.”

His voice cracked.

“No!”

He lurched off the bed so fast his legs nearly gave out.

He stumbled against the bookshelf.

Scrolls crashed to the floor.

“No, no, no!”

He was breathing too hard.

Too fast.

“I’m not—I…”

His mind reeled.

He wasn’t possessing Shen Yuan.

He wasn’t wearing someone else’s face.

He wasn’t.

He was Shen Yuan.

He had always been Shen Yuan.

The little fox in the ruined town.

The child in the shed.

The boy sold to the brothel.

The man who qi deviated.

And also

The person who sat in bed reading PIDW and cursing the author.

Both.

He was both.

He slid to the floor.

His legs gave out entirely.

Hands clutching at his hair.

“Then what did I do?”

His voice broke.

“What did I do?”

[Host experienced severe memory displacement.]

“I called him a character.”

Silence.

Shen Yuan laughed hysterically through tears.

“I called jiu-ge a villain.”

His whole body shook.

“I mocked him.”

His nails dug into his scalp.

“I pitied myself for ‘taking over’ his body when it was mine-”

His voice shattered.

“Mine.”

He remembered it now.

The brothel.

Painting lips red in a mirror.

Clients.

Music.

Demonic cultivator.

Pain.

Waking up convinced he was someone else.

Convinced this was fiction.

Convinced Shen Jiu wasn’t real.

Convinced none of this was real.

Shen Yuan folded over himself.

Sobbing so hard he felt sick.

“Oh gods…”

He had looked Shen Jiu in the eye.

And thought

'I stole your brother.'

But he hadn’t.

He was the brother.

He was A-Yuan.

The one Shen Jiu searched for.

Protected.

Scolded.

Braided ribbons into.

Waited outside the door for.

Shen Yuan covered his mouth with both hands.

He thought he might throw up.

“I forgot him.”

The words came out muffled.

“I forgot him.”

[Memory loss was involuntary.]

“I forgot everything.”

[Correct.]

“Yue Qi.”

[…]

“The town.”

[…]

“The Qius.”

[…]

“Jiu-ge.”

His chest heaved.

“He spent all this time thinking I came back and I…”

He squeezed his eyes shut.

“And I thought I was some stranger in his brother's body.”

A knock sounded at the door.

Shen Yuan froze.

“Yuan-di.”

Shen Jiu.

Outside.

Shen Yuan stopped breathing.

Another knock.

“You’ve been awake for too long to still be ignoring me.”

Shen Yuan slapped a hand over his mouth to stop the sob that nearly escaped.

His eyes burned.

His throat hurt.

The door remained closed.

Shen Jiu sighed from the other side.

“If you are still sleeping, then this one is speaking to the wall like an idiot.”

Silence.

Then quieter

“Open the door.”

Shen Yuan stared at it.

Hands trembling violently in his lap.

How was he supposed to face him now?

How was he supposed to look Shen Jiu in the eye knowing

He remembered.

He remembered everything.

And he had forgotten him.

Outside the door

“A-Yuan?”

Shen Yuan broke all over again.

He clapped a hand over his mouth to smother the sound, but it came out anyway sharp and ragged.

Outside the door, silence.

Then Shen Jiu’s voice came again.

Lower this time.

“A-Yuan.”

Not irritated.

Not cold.

Just calling him.

The way he always did when Shen Yuan slept too late or hid in the qing jing library for too long.

Shen Yuan wiped furiously at his face.

His sleeves were damp already.

He forced himself upright.

His legs nearly buckled.

He caught himself on the bedframe.

The room felt too small.

The memories still pressed against his skull.

Too many years.

Too many lives.

Two childhoods.

One name.

One self.

His hand shook as he reached the door.

He opened it only a crack.

Shen Jiu stood outside.

Fan tucked in one sleeve.

Hair neat.

Expression composed.

Until he saw Shen Yuan’s face.

Then it cracked.

Not much.

Only enough for Shen Yuan to notice.

Red eyes.

Wet lashes.

Hands trembling.

Shen Jiu’s brows drew together immediately.

“What happened?”

Shen Yuan couldn’t answer.

Shen Jiu stepped inside without waiting.

Closed the door behind him.

“A-Yuan.”

Shen Yuan stared at the floor.

If he looked up he’d cry again.

“What happened?”

Shen Yuan laughed weakly.

Broken.

“I remembered.”

Shen Jiu stilled.

“What?”

Shen Yuan swallowed.

“My memories.”

Silence.

Shen Jiu’s voice came carefully.

“All of them?”

Shen Yuan nodded.

Then shook his head.

Then laughed again because even that answer made no sense.

“I… yes.”

Shen Jiu said nothing.

Shen Yuan finally looked up.

“I remember the town.”

Shen Jiu went still.

“The huli jings.”

Silence.

“Yue Qi.”

Shen Jiu’s fan slipped from his hand and hit the floor.

Neither of them moved to pick it up.

“I remember the Qius.”

Shen Jiu’s expression had gone blank.

Too blank.

Dangerously blank.

“I remember Haitang dressing me up.”

Shen Yuan’s voice shook.

“I remember the shed.”

Shen Jiu’s breathing changed.

Just slightly.

“I remember… Qiu Jianluo.”

Shen Jiu looked away immediately.

Jaw tight.

Shen Yuan took one shaky breath.

“And Wu Yanzi.”

At that

Shen Jiu closed his eyes.

Like he’d been struck.

For a long time neither of them spoke.

Then Shen Jiu asked

“…why now?”

Shen Yuan wiped his face.

“Because I qi deviated.”

Shen Jiu looked at him.

Shen Yuan laughed bitterly.

“Back at the brothel.”

He hated saying it aloud.

“One of my clients was a demonic cultivator. His resentful energy backlashed into me.”

Shen Jiu’s hands clenched.

“It damaged my meridians.”

His voice dropped.

“And my memories.”

Shen Jiu stared.

“I forgot everything.”

“A-Yuan…”

“I forgot you.”

The words landed between them like something sharp.

Shen Jiu said nothing.

Shen Yuan kept going because if he stopped now he never would again.

“I forgot all of it.”

“The town.”

“You.”

“Yue Qi.”

“The Qius.”

“Everything.”

His breathing hitched.

“And instead…”

He laughed through tears.

“I remembered another life.”

Shen Jiu frowned.

Another life.

Shen Yuan pressed both palms over his eyes.

“I thought I was someone else.”

“What?”

“I thought I had transmigrated.”

Shen Jiu stared.

Shen Yuan dropped his hands.

Eyes red and swollen.

“I thought this world was fiction.”

Shen Jiu froze.

“I thought you were…”

He couldn’t say it.

But Shen Jiu understood anyway.

“A character."

Shen Yuan nodded.

Ashamed.

“I thought Shen Yuan was someone I replaced.”

His voice broke.

“I thought I stole his body, that I was the brother of the villain.”

Shen Jiu’s expression changed.

Something unreadable.

Something wounded.

Shen Yuan dropped to his knees before him.

Shen Jiu startled.

“A-Yuan—”

“I’m sorry.”

Shen Yuan bowed until his forehead hit the floor.

“I’m sorry.”

His voice shook violently.

“I forgot you.”

“A-Yuan—”

“I forgot everything.”

His shoulders trembled.

“You got your brother back and I looked you in the eye every day and didn’t know.”

Shen Jiu inhaled sharply.

“I thought I was a stranger.”

Shen Yuan pressed his forehead harder into the wood.

“I thought I stole him from you.”

“A-Yuan.”

“I’m sorry.”

Silence.

Shen Yuan couldn’t lift his head.

Couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t stop shaking.

Then fabric rustled.

Shen Jiu knelt.

Shen Yuan felt hands on his shoulders.

Firm.

Pulling him upright.

Shen Yuan resisted.

Shen Jiu pulled harder.

“Look at me.”

Shen Yuan couldn’t.

“Look at me.”

Slowly

He did.

Shen Jiu’s eyes were red.

Shen Yuan had never seen that before.

“You forgot.”

Shen Yuan nodded.

Crying openly.

Shen Jiu’s hands tightened on his shoulders.

“You did not leave.”

Shen Yuan blinked.

“What?”

“You forgot.”

His voice was quieter now.

“But you stayed.”

Shen Yuan stared.

Shen Jiu swallowed.

“You stayed.”

Tears gathered in Shen Jiu’s eyes but didn’t fall.

“You called me gege.”

Shen Yuan broke again.

Shen Jiu continued anyway.

“You argued with me.”

“You ruined my books.”

“You mocked my teaching.”

“You snuck out.”

“You got caught by Liu Qingge as a fox.”

Despite everything

A laugh escaped Shen Yuan through tears.

Wet and helpless.

Shen Jiu’s mouth twitched.

“You are troublesome.”

“Very.”

“You talk too much.”

“I know.”

“You sleep for days like the dead.”

“Sorry.”

Shen Jiu brushed wet hair from Shen Yuan’s face.

Then said quietly

“But you are still my A-Yuan.”

Shen Yuan stared at him.

Shen Jiu’s expression finally softened.

Painfully.

“I do not care how many memories you lost.”

Shen Yuan’s lip trembled.

“I do not care if you remembered another life before this one.”

Shen Jiu’s thumb brushed under his eye, wiping away tears.

“You came back.”

Shen Yuan made a broken sound.

And threw himself forward.

Shen Jiu caught him.

Arms wrapping around him instantly.

Like reflex.

Like he had done it a thousand times.

Shen Yuan buried his face into his shoulder and cried.

Actually cried.

Years of fear pouring out all at once.

Shen Jiu held him through it.

One hand on the back of his head.

The other around his waist.

Like if he let go

Shen Yuan might disappear again.

Hours later

When Shen Yuan’s sobs finally faded into exhausted sniffles

Shen Jiu spoke against his hair.

“So.”

Shen Yuan sniffed.

“So?”

“You thought this lord was fictional.”

Shen Yuan froze.

“…yes.”

“And a villain.”

“…yes.”

Shen Jiu hummed.

“Interesting.”

“Jiu-ge—”

“You may explain everything.”

“…right now?”

“Yes.”

Shen Yuan groaned into his shoulder.

“Can I cry for another hour first?”

“No.”

“…cruel.”

“Speak.”

Chapter Text

“Jiu-ge, how about we drop the topic for now—?”

“Shen Yuan. This is important.”

“It’s not! Believe me! I was just blabbering nonsense because I was emotional. Can we talk about this some other time...?”

Shen jiu scoffed
“Fine. But you’d better tell me the truth.”

Shen Yuan let out a breath of relief before clearing his throat.

“I need to talk to qi-ge.”

“Why? And how are you still able to call him that when you already have your memories back..?”

“Well... who knows? Maybe he had a reason for leaving us. He never told you, did he? There has to be one.”

“There isn’t. Don’t get your hopes up, a-Yuan.”

“How can you be so sure qi-ge doesn’t have one?”

“He’s spent years apologizing to me. What else could that mean besides trying to keep me quiet about the fact that we used to be acquaintances? slaves.”

“Gege...”

Shen Yuan called tiredly. He had never heard something so ridiculous come out of his brother’s mouth before.

“How did you even come to such a stupid conclusion...?”

"Watch your words."

Shen yuan gripped at his hair in frustration.

“The whole sect already knows you two have some sort of history because of how obvious it is. And who knows? Maybe he keeps apologizing because he feels guilty for leaving us.”

“I’m not changing my mind. If he did have a reason, he would’ve told me by now. And if that reason is nonsense, I’ll hate him even more.”

“Exactly! So let me go talk to qi-ge for you.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I don’t want you getting close to that man.”

“Saying that like you two weren’t close.”

Shen Yuan muttered under his breath.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. Qi-ge is our family, jiu-ge... He should at least know I’ve gotten my memories back. That I know he left us. Please?”

“...”

“...Fine. But make it quick. I refuse to go with you and see him. Bring the brute with you.”

“You’ll allow me to bring Liu Qingge?”

Shen Yuan stared at him, stunned.

Shen Jiu raised a brow at his brother’s shock. Liu Qingge was strong enough to keep Shen Yuan safe. Shen Jiu might dislike the brute, but the man was useful where it mattered.

“Get ready quickly before I change my mind.”

Shen Yuan immediately shot to his feet, rifling through his closet before disappearing behind the curtain with an armful of robes.

Shen Jiu fidgeted with his fan, unease settling in his chest.

What if he had been wrong all along?

A moment later Shen Yuan stepped back out, dressed in robes similar to Shen Jiu’s though lighter in color, with foxes embroidered delicately along the hems and sleeves.

“Hm. Good enough. I’ll have someone call the brute so he can fly you there on his sword.”

“...Can’t I just run there? I’m pretty fast in my fox form.”

“And get caught again? You could run into someone other than that brute and get yourself killed.”

“Okay, okay! I won’t!”

Liu Qingge arrived only minutes after being summoned.

Shen Yuan stepped onto the sword behind him while Shen Jiu stood at the edge of the courtyard, sleeves fluttering faintly in the breeze. Before they left, Shen Jiu gave Liu Qingge a sharp look and a curt warning that needed no repeating.

Liu Qingge only nodded once.

Then they were airborne.

Wind rushed past Shen Yuan’s face, tugging loose strands of hair free as the peaks blurred beneath them.

'Speaking of fox form... I really need to learn that manual more.'

He frowned to himself. He’d gotten by well enough with instinct before, but after what happened last time, “well enough” clearly wasn’t enough.

“Shen Yuan. We’re here.”

His ears perked instantly.

Shen Yuan blinked, looking around in surprise as Liu Qingge guided the sword down onto Qiong Ding Peak.

They had arrived faster than he expected.

He stepped off behind Liu Qingge, smoothing his robes automatically. His gaze swept the courtyard.

Thankfully, not many disciples lingered nearby. Those who were around only glanced their way before hurriedly lowering their heads and moving along. Shen Yuan let out a quiet breath of relief.

He followed Liu Qingge toward Yue Qingyuan’s office, though the farther they walked, the lower his tails drooped behind him.

'Now that I think about it... how am I supposed to talk to that guy?'

His steps slowed slightly.

'I have all my memories back now. The memories from before. The memories after. And if he’s spent all these years apologizing to jiu-ge without ever explaining why...'

Shen Yuan swallowed.

'What if he never planned to tell either of us?'

His thoughts tangled so tightly he didn’t notice Liu Qingge stopping until he walked directly into the man’s back.

“Ow—!”

A startled, embarrassingly high-pitched yelp escaped him sharp and squeaky like a startled pup.

Shen Yuan slapped both hands over his mouth.

Liu Qingge glanced back.

Shen Yuan stared at him in horror.

Silence.

Then Shen Yuan slowly lowered his hands from his face, ears burning.

He had walked straight into Liu Qingge.

They were standing in front of Yue Qingyuan's Office.

Shen Yuan forgot his embarrassment immediately.

He stepped around Liu Qingge before he could think too hard about what had just happened and raised a hand to knock.

Three quick taps echoed against the wood.

Beside him, Liu Qingge stood motionless as a blade.

Shen Yuan straightened unconsciously, fingers curling into his sleeves as they waited.

His tails twitched behind him.

“Enter.”

Yue Qingyuan’s voice carried through the door.

Shen Yuan pushed it open gently and stepped inside, with Liu Qingge following close behind.

'Calling him qi-ge after getting my memories back feels strange now...'

“Zhangmen-shixiong.”

Yue Qingyuan flinched.

It was slight barely visible but Shen Yuan caught it immediately.

Still, the man’s expression remained composed.

“Yes? Did a-Yuan need something from this one?”

“This Shen Yuan wishes to speak with zhangmen-shixiong alone. It is… an important matter.”

Shen Yuan glanced toward Liu Qingge.

Liu Qingge met his eyes for a brief moment, then gave a single nod and stepped back out without a word, closing the door behind him.

~

Shen Yuan sat across from Yue Qingyuan at the low tea table, fingers curled around a warm porcelain cup.

Yue Qingyuan poured himself another cup to replace the first before finally looking up.

“What did a-Yuan wish to speak about?”

Shen Yuan took a sip.

'I need to be blunt. Like jiu-ge.'

'He won’t take me seriously if I soften it.'

“I got my memories back.”

Yue Qingyuan froze.

The cup halfway to his lips slipped from his fingers.

Porcelain struck wood with a sharp crack before shattering across the table, tea splashing over lacquered surface and pooling in the grooves.

For one shamefully brief second, Shen Yuan felt a little proud of himself.

He had never seen Yue Qingyuan so visibly shaken.

The color drained from the sect leader’s face.

“…What?”

Shen Yuan set his own cup down with deliberate care.

“I remembered everything.”

Yue Qingyuan stared at him.

Shen Yuan held the gaze.

He watched realization settle in followed immediately by dread.

“And,” Shen Yuan continued, voice level, “I came because I want to know why you didn’t come back.”

Yue Qingyuan’s hands tightened in his lap.

“This one is sorry.”

Shen Yuan’s expression flattened.

“I don’t need apologies.”

Yue Qingyuan lowered his gaze.

“I want the reason.”

Yue Qingyuan looked like a man standing before a blade.

Shen Yuan leaned forward.

“For years, you apologized to jiu-ge. Again and again. But you never told him why.”

His voice sharpened.

“Why?”

Yue Qingyuan’s lips parted, then closed.

Shen Yuan’s tails twitched behind him.

“If you’re about to apologize again, don’t.”

The words landed harder than intended.

Yue Qingyuan swallowed.

Shen Yuan did not look away.

“You owe him more than that.”

“You owe us more than that. The longer you keep your reason for leaving hidden, the more I’ll start to hate you.”

'That’s a lie.'

'I can’t hate this kind man more than I do right now.'

Shen Yuan kept his face blank anyway.

“I want to prove jiu-ge wrong about his conclusions. And I’m afraid you won’t like how negative those conclusions are because you chose to keep your reasons hidden.”

Yue Qingyuan’s shoulders sank.

“This one… will tell you.”

His voice was quiet.

“Will a-Yuan tell Xiao Jiu for me?”

Shen Yuan’s answer came immediately.

“No.”

Yue Qingyuan blinked.

Shen Yuan sighed through his nose and corrected himself.

“I mean, tell me first. Then I’ll decide.”

He held Yue Qingyuan’s gaze.

“If it isn’t nonsense, I’ll tell him.”

To Shen Yuan’s surprise, Yue Qingyuan let out a weak, breathless chuckle at that.

Then the sect leader straightened and folded his hands in his lap, fingers worrying the fabric of his robes.

The tea between them had long since gone lukewarm.

Neither touched it.

Yue Qingyuan drew in a deep breath.

“On why I did not come back.”

Shen Yuan’s ears perked upright instantly. His tails puffed behind him before he could stop them.

“Are you… actually going to say it?”

“Yes.”

Yue Qingyuan lowered his gaze to his hands.

“…If the reason is nonsense, I’ll hate you.”

Yue Qingyuan somehow looked even guiltier.

“I know.”

“I was desperate.”

Yue Qingyuan’s voice was steady, but his hands trembled.

“Desperate to save you. And Xiao Jiu.”

Shen Yuan went still.

“I rushed. Too much. I bounded my soul to Xuan Su before my body was ready for it.”

He swallowed.

“Xuan Su was too powerful for me. Every time I used it… it consumed my life force.”

Shen Yuan stared.

Yue Qingyuan continued before Shen Yuan could interrupt.

“I suffered a qi deviation not long after. My shizun discovered it.”

His expression tightened.

“He broke my bones… and sealed me inside the Ling Xi caves.”

Shen Yuan’s grip tightened around his sleeve.

“When I was finally released…”

Yue Qingyuan’s voice nearly broke.

“I went back to the Qiu manor immediately.”

He shut his eyes.

“It was in ashes.”

Shen Yuan’s breath caught.

“I thought I was too late.”

Yue Qingyuan’s hands clenched in his lap.

“I thought you had both passed.”

Silence.

“When I saw Xiao Jiu in Cang Qiong years later…” Yue Qingyuan’s lips trembled into something painfully close to a smile. “I was relieved beyond words.”

His eyes opened again.

“And then I looked for you.”

Shen Yuan’s ears flattened.

“But you weren’t there.”

The guilt in Yue Qingyuan’s expression was unbearable to look at.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry.”

“I’ll stop. I’m—”

Shen Yuan’s eye twitched.

“I just told you to stop apologizing.”

Yue Qingyuan pressed his lips together immediately.

Shen Yuan exhaled sharply through his nose.

“Do you know how much jiu-ge suffered because you never told him this?”

Yue Qingyuan lowered his head.

“He thought you abandoned us because we were a burden.”

His voice came out harsher than he intended.

“He thought all those years of apologizing were your way of keeping him quiet. That you were afraid he’d expose your past together.”

Yue Qingyuan’s head jerked up.

“No. Never.”

“Well that’s what happened.”

Shen Yuan leaned forward over the table.

“You left him with nothing but silence and apologies. What did you think he would make of that?”

“I didn’t mean for it to become this.”

“Well, it did.”

The room fell silent again.

Yue Qingyuan looked like he had been struck.

Shen Yuan looked away first.

'I would’ve cried hearing all this… if I’d truly lived through it.'

But they’re memories from a dream. Memories returned to me, not something I actually stood in.

Still

Shen Jiu had.

And Yue Qingyuan had.

That was enough.

Shen Yuan stood.

“I’m not telling jiu-ge.”

Yue Qingyuan’s gaze snapped to him.

“You are.”

“A-Yuan—”

“No.”

Shen Yuan’s tails lashed once behind him.

“You made him live with resentment for years because you were afraid to tell him.”

His voice softened, only slightly.

 

“If he hears this from me, he’ll think I pitied you enough to speak for you.”

 

Yue Qingyuan went silent.

 

“You need to tell him yourself.”

 

Shen Yuan stepped back from the table.

 

“And then the two of you can deal with the rest.”

 

Neither of them said what the rest meant.

 

Or whether there would be anything left between them after all of it.

 

Shen Yuan moved toward the door.

 

Behind him, Yue Qingyuan sat frozen before the untouched tea and shattered porcelain still scattered across the table.

 

 

~

 

 

Shen Yuan shut the door softly behind him.

 

Only once it clicked closed did his shoulders finally sag.

 

He dragged a hand through his hair and exhaled.

 

'Fuck…'

 

'These two brothers of mine are going to be the death of me.'

 

'System, how long until Luo Binghe appears?'

 

[Host is currently 1 year and 10 months away from canon ૮₍ • ˕ - ₎ა♡]

 

Shen Yuan rubbed at his temple.

 

Still time.

 

Time to prepare. Time to keep gege alive.

 

And maybe

 

Time to keep a lot more people alive.

 

The Immortal Alliance Conference…

 

His ears twitched.

 

'I need the demon attack there stopped or at least changed. Too many disciples died in PIDW.'

 

Too many nameless bodies.

 

Too much blood spilled just to move the plot forward.

 

Shen Yuan stood in front of Yue Qingyuan’s door, staring blankly into the courtyard without really seeing it.

 

He didn’t notice Liu Qingge waiting quietly beside him.

 

Liu Qingge watched Shen Yuan’s expression shift from frustration to calculation to something bordering on dread.

 

Then, deciding Shen Yuan had finished speaking with Yue Qingyuan long enough ago to leave, Liu Qingge unsheathed his sword and stepped onto it.

 

Shen Yuan moved automatically after him, climbing on behind without a word, still trapped in his thoughts.

 

'I can break canon now, can’t I?'

 

'I don’t have an OOC lock. And I’m supposed to be dead. That should count for something.'

 

[Host is correct. Host has already deviated significantly from the original plot. At this point in PIDW, Shen Qingqiu would be frequenting brothels and acting considerably crueler than current. Host instead chose to remain alive and softened him.]

 

'It’s not exactly my fault I’m still alive, you know...'

 

[Host is correct.]

 

Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes.

 

'You sound suspicious.'

 

[However, user 001 will be punished for failure to complete his task if the demonic attack at the Immortal Alliance Conference does not occur. User 001 will also be punished if Luo Binghe fails to fall into the Endless Abyss.]

 

Shen Yuan nearly choked.

 

'Seriously?! Airplane? You just said I could stop canon!'

 

'Now you’re saying I can only change it if Airplane gets punished for it?! That’s complete bullshit!'

 

[o(〃＾▽＾〃)o]

 

Shen Yuan’s eye twitched.

 

'So the demonic attack still has to happen but with fewer casualties.'

 

'Binghe still has to fall into the abyss…'

 

'And somehow he has to do that without coming back later and murdering my gege.'

 

He felt a headache building behind his eyes.

 

'The demonic attack is manageable.'

 

'But Luo Binghe?'

 

'How am I supposed to fix that one?'

 

“Fucking bullshit.”

 

He muttered it under his breath.

 

And then

 

Shen Yuan froze.

 

Right.

 

He was standing directly behind Liu Qingge.

 

On a flying sword.

 

With cultivator hearing nonsense. 

 

Slowly, painfully, Shen Yuan lifted his head.

 

Liu Qingge remained facing forward, robes whipping in the wind.

 

Silent.

 

Shen Yuan considered pretending he hadn’t said anything.

 

Then Liu Qingge spoke.

 

“What is?”

 

“…What?”

 

“What is bullshit.”

 

Shen Yuan closed his eyes.

 

Of course he heard.

 

“Nothing.”

 

Liu Qingge was silent for half a breath.

 

“You were muttering to yourself outside zhangmen-shixiong’s door.”

 

“…You heard that too?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Shen Yuan wanted to fling himself off the sword.

 

“I was thinking out loud.”

 

“I noticed.”

 

“…Can we pretend you didn’t?”

 

“No.”

 

Shen Yuan groaned and pressed both hands over his face.

 

Liu Qingge said nothing more.

 

The sword cut cleanly through the clouds.

 

After a moment, Shen Yuan lowered his hands and glanced at the broad back in front of him.

 

Liu Qingge hadn’t asked what Shen Yuan discussed with Yue Qingyuan.

 

Hadn’t asked why he came out looking wrung dry.

 

Hadn’t even asked why Shen Yuan had cursed under his breath at the sky.

 

Just

 

Stayed.

 

Shen Yuan huffed.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Liu Qingge tilted his head slightly.

 

“For what?”

 

“For not asking.”

 

Liu Qingge looked forward again.

 

“When you wish to tell me, you will.”

 

Shen Yuan blinked.

 

Then his ears dipped.

 

“…Right.”

 

 

~

 

 

The moment Shen Yuan returned to the bamboo house, he slipped inside without so much as a word.

 

The door to his room shut.

 

Then locked.

 

Shen Jiu glanced up from where he sat in the main room with his tea, heard the bolt slide into place, and narrowed his eyes.

 

He let it be.

 

For now.

 

Inside, Shen Yuan dropped cross-legged onto the floor with the huli jing manual spread open across his lap.

 

He read.

 

And reread.

 

And read it a third time just to make sure he hadn’t misunderstood anything.

 

Then he began experimenting.

 

Qi curled through his meridians in careful streams while he sat before the bronze mirror propped against the wall.

 

At first, nothing happened.

 

Then

 

His ears vanished.

 

Shen Yuan jolted so hard he nearly tipped backward.

 

He grabbed the top of his head with both hands.

 

Nothing.

 

Smooth hair.

 

No ears.

 

He twisted around.

 

His tails were gone too.

 

“…No way.”

 

He nearly laughed.

 

The effort barely took any qi at all.

 

Far less than he’d expected.

 

He kept at it.

 

Making them appear.

 

Disappear.

 

Half-shifting.

 

Pulling one tail out.

 

Then two.

 

Then hiding them again.

 

By the second hour, the transformations came almost instinctively.

 

By the fourth, he could dismiss ears and tails so naturally he barely had to think about it.

 

By the sixth

 

He got ambitious.

 

'If I can hide them… maybe full glamouring isn’t impossible either.'

 

Shen Yuan flipped to the relevant page in the manual and squinted.

 

“Shift skeletal frame… alter facial structure… maintain qi circulation evenly…”

 

He frowned.

 

“That sounds fake.”

 

He tried anyway.

 

Qi flooded his limbs.

 

Heat rushed under his skin.

 

His bones ached.

 

His face tingled.

 

The reflection in the mirror wavered.

 

His features blurred eyes shifting shape, jaw softening, hair darkening by a shade

 

Then everything went black.

 

~

 

When Shen Yuan opened his eyes again, his head was pounding.

 

“…Ugh.”

 

“Awake?”

 

Shen Yuan immediately wished he hadn’t.

 

Shen Jiu sat beside his bed with arms folded inside his sleeves, expression sharp enough to cut paper.

 

“…Hi, jiu-ge.”

 

Shen Jiu’s fan snapped open.

 

“Would you like to explain why I found you unconscious on your floor with qi running wild through your meridians?”

 

“…Cultivation accident?”

 

“Wrong.”

 

“Studying accident?”

 

“Wrong.”

 

“Being too talented?”

 

Shen Jiu shut the fan.

 

“No.”

 

Shen Yuan sighed and sat up, pressing a hand to his temple.

 

“I was practicing.”

 

“I gathered that.”

 

“The manual said glamouring was possible.”

 

“And because a manual says something is possible, you thought it wise to attempt full-body transformation alone in your room until you collapsed.”

 

“…When you say it like that—”

 

“Because that is what happened.”

 

Shen Yuan muttered something into his sleeve.

 

“What was that?”

 

“I said yes, gege.”

 

“Hm.”

 

Shen Jiu looked deeply unimpressed.

 

Shen Yuan rubbed sleep from his eyes and sat up straighter.

 

Something brushed against his back.

 

He paused.

 

Then shifted again.

 

Something soft thumped against the bedding.

 

Shen Jiu’s eyes narrowed.

 

Shen Yuan slowly turned.

 

A tail swished behind him.

 

Another curled around his waist.

 

And beside them

 

“…Wait.”

 

A third. 

 

Shen Yuan blinked.

 

Then blinked again.

 

“Oh.”

 

Shen Jiu stared.

 

Shen Yuan stared back.

 

“…Did you have three tails before?”

 

“No.”

 

Silence.

 

Shen Yuan twisted harder to look over his shoulder.

 

Sure enough

 

Three fox tails fluffed behind him lazily.

 

Shen Yuan gaped.

 

“…Huh.”

 

Shen Jiu snapped his fan shut.

 

“You gained a tail.”

 

“Apparently.”

 

“You didn’t notice.”

 

“No.”

 

“You collapsed trying to become another person and somehow came out of it with an extra tail.”

 

“When you say it like that it sounds ridiculous.”

 

“It is ridiculous.”

 

Shen Yuan reached back and touched the new tail with both hands.

 

It twitched immediately.

 

His eyes widened.

 

“Oh no.”

 

“What?”

 

“I can feel it.”

 

Shen Jiu pinched the bridge of his nose.

 

“Of course you can.”

 

“It’s weird.”

 

Shen Jiu stood.

 

“You are forbidden from practicing full-body transformations alone from now on.”

 

“Gege—”

 

“No.”

 

“That’s unfair.”

 

“You fainted.”

 

“But I succeeded halfway.”

 

“You fainted.”

 

“I almost had the face right.”

 

“You fainted.”

 

“…Fine.”

 

Shen Jiu moved toward the door.

 

“And brush your tails before sleeping. They’re a mess.”

 

Then he left.

 

Shen Yuan sat frozen on the bed.

 

Then slowly gathered all three tails into his lap.

 

“…When did this happen?”

 

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan absentmindedly brushed one of his tails.

"Ugh. So boring..."

With a dramatic groan, he flopped backward onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

His gege had confiscated the manual, and he wasn't allowed to leave the bamboo house.

It was torture.

After several minutes of staring at absolutely nothing, Shen Yuan decided he might as well practice.

In a puff of spiritual energy, he shifted into his fox form.

Immediately, he felt more comfortable.

His fox form had always felt more natural than his human one.

Stretching all three tails behind him, Shen Yuan curled up on the bed.

Maybe I'll just take a short nap.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, his body had other plans.

~

Shen Yuan woke up feeling refreshed.

He stretched his paws forward and arched his back, pleased with himself.

I actually stayed in fox form all night.

Progress.

Then he froze.

A strange scent lingered in the air.

Medicine.

Herbs.

Not bamboo.

Not home.

His ears immediately perked upright.

Huh?

'System, where am I?'

[Host is currently in Qian Cao Peak.]

'Qian Cao?!'

Shen Yuan nearly fell off the bed.

'Why am I in Qian Cao?!'

[Host has been asleep for two weeks.]

"..."

"...Oh."

A horrible realization struck.

'I forgot to tell jiu-ge I sleep through my breeding period.'

Fuck.

Shen Yuan buried his face in his tails.

'All I've done this month is make him worry.'

He let out a long, miserable whine.

Before he could continue wallowing in shame, the door opened.

Shen Yuan immediately dove underneath a nearby low table.

Hide first. Think later.

The door slid open fully.

Shen Yuan peeked out.

'Qi-ge?'

'Why is he here?'

[Host should trust the sect leader more.]

'I do trust him! I just expected it to be jiu-ge!'

Fortunately, someone had arranged pillows beneath the blanket on the bed, making it appear as though Shen Yuan was still sleeping.

Yue Qingyuan didn't notice.

Instead, he walked over and sat beside the bed.

His expression looked tired.

Nervous.

'Huh? What's wrong with him?'

"A-Yuan."

Yue Qingyuan's voice was quiet.

"You've been asleep for two weeks now."

Shen Yuan's ears drooped.

"This one finally told Xiao Jiu everything."

His fingers tightened on his robes.

"His response was not... favorable."

A bitter smile appeared.

"I expected as much."

He looked down.

"But at least I told him, just as you asked me to."

Silence filled the room.

"Xiao Jiu will never forgive me."

His voice grew softer.

"And I understand."

Another pause.

"I only hope he doesn't hate me more now that he knows what a failure I was."

Shen Yuan froze.

"Not being able to save either of you from the Qius..."

His ears flattened completely.

'This man...'

'Why are both my gege's like this?'

One spends years hating himself.

The other also spends years hating himself.

Neither talks.

Both suffer.

And somehow Shen Yuan was stuck in the middle trying to fix them.

Yue Qingyuan sighed and reached toward the blanket.

Then froze.

"...?"

The bump underneath it felt wrong.

His eyes widened.

"A-Yuan?"

He pulled the blanket aside.

Nothing.

Instant panic.

"A-Yuan?!"

A sharp bark echoed through the room.

Yue Qingyuan looked down.

Shen Yuan slowly crawled out from beneath the table, ears lowered and tails swishing sheepishly behind him.

Relief flooded Yue Qingyuan's face.

"A-Yuan."

He let out a breath.

"There you are."

Shen Yuan looked away guiltily.

"You worried me."

The guilt only intensified.

Unable to explain himself, Shen Yuan trotted forward and rubbed against Yue Qingyuan's leg like an oversized cat.

Yue Qingyuan blinked.

Then laughed softly.

The tension in his shoulders eased.

Shen Yuan rubbed against his hand next.

"I forgot."

Yue Qingyuan gently scratched behind one of his ears.

"A-Yuan can understand me in this form."

Shen Yuan leaned into the scratch before catching himself.

Dignity.

"I've always thought it strange."

Yue Qingyuan smiled.

"A-Yuan acts like both a fox and a cat."

Shen Yuan huffed.

His tails flicked indignantly.

Yue Qingyuan chuckled.

"This one has always wondered."

He tilted his head.

"You and Xiao Jiu are twins."

"Mn."

"Then why is Xiao Jiu fully human?"

Shen Yuan side-eyed him.

Then sighed.

He tapped Yue Qingyuan's knee.

Then pointed at his own throat.

Translation talisman.

Understanding dawned.

Yue Qingyuan carefully attached one.

Shen Yuan cleared his throat.

"It's simple."

He sat down.

"Our father was human. Our mother was a huli jing."

"I see."

"My mother's traits ended up dominating my dad's, so I inherited the fox traits."

Yue Qingyuan nodded.

"And Xiao Jiu?"

"He still has huli jing blood."

Shen Yuan flicked an ear.

"Who knows? Maybe he could grow ears and tails too."

Yue Qingyuan looked thoughtful.

"Shen Jiu already possesses several fox-like traits."

"Hm?"

"The shape of his eyes."

Yue Qingyuan counted on his fingers.

"The sharpness of his gaze. His agility. His instincts."

Shen Yuan immediately smirked.

"Hah, you sure do pay attention to jiu-ge a lot."

Yue Qingyuan blinked.

"It's merely because this one grew up with both you and Xiao Jiu."

Shen Yuan gave him a look but ultimately decided not to comment.

"Right."

A comfortable silence settled between them.

Yue Qingyuan continued absentmindedly petting the fur between Shen Yuan's ears while Shen Yuan shamelessly enjoyed the attention.

Then the sect leader suddenly spoke.

"A-Yuan knows how to fight, doesn't he?"

Shen Yuan's ears twitched.

"A little."

That was technically true.

If one ignored the fact that most of his combat knowledge came from memories rather than actual experience.

"Good."

Yue Qingyuan smiled.

"This one wished to ask whether A-Yuan would volunteer for a mission."

Shen Yuan immediately sat upright.

"A mission?"

"Mn."

Yue Qingyuan nodded.

"Only if A-Yuan wishes to. And only after Mu-shidi confirms that you are healthy."

Shen Yuan relaxed slightly.

"Now that A-Yuan has become something of Qing Jing Peak Lord's right-hand man, it would be beneficial to gain more practical experience."

His smile grew gentler.

"Do not worry. Liu-shidi will accompany you."

Shen Yuan froze.

Fuck.

'I know a little about musical cultivation, but there's no way I can actually do a mission!'

The System immediately chimed in.

[Host is lying to himself.]

'Excuse me?'

[Host should not worry. Liu qingge will accompany host. This is an excellent opportunity to strengthen friendship with him. (≧∇≦)/]

Shen Yuan resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

'You sound like you're trying to complete a side quest.'

Still...

The System wasn't entirely wrong.

'And I definitely don't want Liu Qingge dying.'

Especially since he could become an excellent trump card if Binghe ever comes back looking for revenge.

After a moment, Shen Yuan nodded.

"Alright."

His tails swished behind him.

"This one accepts."

Yue Qingyuan visibly brightened.

"Excellent."

The relief on his face was strangely obvious.

"If Mu-shidi declares A-Yuan healthy, then you shall depart tomorrow at noon."

Shen Yuan immediately regretted agreeing.

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow."

"That's awfully fast."

Yue Qingyuan chuckled.

"Cultivators often leave with less preparation."

Shen Yuan grumbled under his breath.

The sect leader pretended not to hear him.

"The mission is located near the Heng River."

That got Shen Yuan's attention.

"Heng River?"

"Mn."

Yue Qingyuan's expression turned serious.

"Several villagers have reported merchants disappearing during the night."

The room grew quiet.

"Their carts are later found abandoned in nearby forests."

Shen Yuan frowned.

"No bodies?"

"None."

"No blood?"

"Very little."

That was somehow more concerning.

"The villagers wish for assistance in locating the missing merchants, should they still be alive."

Yue Qingyuan paused.

"And discovering what is responsible."

Shen Yuan's ears flicked.

No bodies.

Merchants disappearing.

Abandoned carts.

His tails puffed slightly.

"What rank is the mission?"

"A moderate one."

Shen Yuan immediately became suspicious.

Whenever anyone in cultivation novels said "moderate," it usually meant someone was about to almost die.

Yue Qingyuan either failed to notice his expression or chose to ignore it.

"With Liu-shidi accompanying you, there should be little danger."

Little danger according to cultivators means enough danger for normal people to die ten times over.

The System remained unhelpfully silent.

Shen Yuan sighed.

"Fine."

Yue Qingyuan smiled.

"Then this one will have Mu-shidi examine you."

Shen Yuan's ears flattened.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"What if I'm perfectly healthy?"

"You slept for two weeks."

"Fair."

"And frightened half the sect."

"..."

"And nearly gave Xiao Jiu qi deviation from stress."

"..."

"Perhaps even two qi deviations."

Shen Yuan buried his face in his tails.

"Alright, alright! Stop listing my crimes!"

Yue Qingyuan laughed softly.

~

A shichen later, Mu Qingfang finally arrived.

By then, Shen Yuan had reluctantly returned to his human form and was seated beside the table while Yue Qingyuan waited nearby.

Mu Qingfang settled into the seat across from him and gently took Shen Yuan's wrist.

"This shidi asks Shen-shidi to remain still."

Shen Yuan obediently held out his arm.

The examination was far more thorough than he expected.

Mu Qingfang checked his pulse, spiritual veins, meridians, temperature, complexion, and spiritual energy circulation. At one point he even inspected Shen Yuan's ears and tails, running practiced fingers through the fur.

Shen Yuan felt increasingly like a prized pet being judged at a competition.

Finally, Mu Qingfang released his wrist.

"This shidi can confirm that Shen-shidi is perfectly healthy."

Shen Yuan immediately brightened.

"See? I told everyone I was fine."

Mu Qingfang gave him a look.

"You slept for two weeks."

"...That's unrelated."

"It is completely related."

Yue Qingyuan chuckled quietly into his sleeve.

Shen Yuan felt betrayed.

"This shixiong thanks Mu-shidi for his help."

Yue Qingyuan rose and offered a respectful nod.

Mu Qingfang returned it.

"There is no need. If Shen-shidi experiences unusual symptoms again, please inform this shidi immediately."

Shen Yuan suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.

Mu Qingfang's eyes narrowed.

"Immediately."

"...Yes, Mu-shixiong."

Only then did the physician seem satisfied.

After exchanging farewells, Shen Yuan and Yue Qingyuan finally left Qian Cao Peak.

The afternoon sun hung low overhead as they walked together down the mountain path.

For a while neither spoke.

Then Yue Qingyuan broke the silence.

"This one will inform Xiao Jiu about your mission."

Shen Yuan blinked.

"Hm?"

He glanced sideways at the sect leader.

"But jiu-ge is still angry at you, isn't he?"

Yue Qingyuan smiled faintly.

"Yes."

His answer came without hesitation.

"But this one will still try."

Shen Yuan stared.

Then his expression softened.

They're finally communicating.

It wasn't much.

Shen Jiu still avoided looking at Yue Qingyuan whenever possible.

Yue Qingyuan still carried enough guilt to fill an ocean.

But at least they were speaking.

That was already more progress than years of silence.

The rest could come later.

Hopefully...

The two eventually reached Qing Jing Peak.

As soon as Shen Yuan stepped into his bamboo house, every ounce of energy seemed to abandon him.

"I've decided."

Yue Qingyuan glanced over.

"Decided what?"

Shen Yuan pointed dramatically at his bed.

"I shall spend the remainder of today cultivating."

Yue Qingyuan looked unconvinced.

"By cultivating, this one means sleeping."

"...Correct."

Without another word, Shen Yuan threw himself face-first onto the bed.

The mattress let out a muffled thump.

Yue Qingyuan laughed.

Actually laughed.

"I thought A-Yuan had already slept enough."

Shen Yuan's voice emerged from the blankets.

"I was unconscious. That's different."

"How?"

"It just is."

Yue Qingyuan shook his head.

"Rest well then."

"Mhm."

The sect leader lingered for a moment, watching to make sure Shen Yuan truly looked healthy.

Then he quietly left.

The bamboo door slid shut behind him.

Shen Yuan remained sprawled across the bed for several seconds.

Then he lifted his head.

'System.'

[Yes, Host?]

'I have a mission tomorrow.'

[Host does.]

'I'm going to die.'

[Host is accompanied by Liu Qingge.]

'Good point.'

Shen Yuan immediately relaxed.

If Liu Qingge was there, the chances of dying dropped significantly.

At least until Luo Binghe entered the picture.

'...I really need to figure out what to do about Binghe.'

[Host still has one year and ten months.]

'That sounds like a lot until I remember how fast time passes in cultivation novels.'

The System wisely chose not to comment.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Qing Jing Peak,

Yue Qingyuan stood outside Shen Jiu's office.

The familiar bamboo door stood closed before him.

For a moment, he simply stared at it.

Then he raised his hand and knocked.

Inside, papers rustled.

A familiar voice answered.

"Come in."

Yue Qingyuan took a breath.

Then stepped inside.

The door slid shut behind him.

Shen Jiu didn't look up from the paperwork spread across his desk.

"What does zhangmen-shixiong want now?"

His tone was cold.

Yue Qingyuan quietly closed the distance.

"A-Yuan has been cleared by Mu-shidi."

Shen Jiu's brush paused.

"Good."

Yue Qingyuan felt a small warmth in his chest.

At least some things never changed.

"He will be accompanying Liu-shidi on a mission tomorrow."

This time Shen Jiu looked up.

"What mission?"

"The one near the Heng River."

Shen Jiu frowned.

"The missing merchants?"

"Mn."

For a moment, Shen Jiu seemed ready to object.

Then he remembered who would be accompanying Shen Yuan.

"Liu Qingge is going?"

"Yes."

A pause.

"...Fine."

Yue Qingyuan almost smiled.

Trusting Liu Qingge with Shen Yuan's safety was perhaps the greatest compliment Shen Jiu had ever given the man.

Silence settled over the room.

Neither moved.

Neither left.

Eventually Shen Jiu set his brush down.

"You've delivered the message."

His gaze returned to the papers.

"So why are you still here?"

The question hung heavily in the air.

Yue Qingyuan lowered his eyes.

"...Because I wanted to see you."

Shen Jiu laughed. The sound was sharp.

"See me?"

He leaned back in his chair.

"What is there to see?"

"Xiao Jiu—"

"Don't."

The interruption was immediate.

Yue Qingyuan fell silent.

Shen Jiu's fan snapped open.

"I already listened to your explanation."

His eyes narrowed.

"I listened."

The words sounded almost resentful.

Yue Qingyuan nodded.

"Thank you."

Shen Jiu clicked his tongue.

"Don't thank me."

Another silence.

Yue Qingyuan found himself staring at the familiar bamboo walls.

The familiar desk.

The familiar figure sitting behind it.

For years he had imagined this conversation.

Yet now that it was happening, he had no idea what to say.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—Shen Jiu had never suffered from that problem.

"You really are an idiot."

Yue Qingyuan blinked.

"...Mn."

"I spent years thinking you abandoned us."

"Mn."

"I hated you."

A pause.

"Mn."

"I still haven't forgiven you."

The words were blunt.

Yue Qingyuan lowered his head.

"I know."

Shen Jiu stared at him.

Then clicked his tongue in irritation.

"Stop agreeing with everything."

Yue Qingyuan looked up in confusion.

Shen Jiu immediately regretted speaking.

The room fell silent again.

"..."

"..."

"...You should have told me."

The words came so quietly Yue Qingyuan almost missed them.

Shen Jiu's gaze remained fixed on the papers.

"You should have told me from the start."

Yue Qingyuan's throat tightened.

"I know."

"You should have explained."

"I know."

"You should have trusted me enough to explain."

The fan in Shen Jiu's hand clenched.

"Instead, you stood there apologizing for years like some kind of fool."

Yue Qingyuan could not find an argument.

Because Xiao Jiu was right.

Completely right.

"I know."

Shen Jiu suddenly looked angry again.

"Stop saying that!"

The desk rattled as his hand slammed against it.

"If you knew, then why didn't you do it?!"

The words escaped before he could stop them.

Silence.

Shen Jiu froze.

Yue Qingyuan froze.

The anger drained from Shen Jiu's face first.

He looked away.

"...Forget it."

Yue Qingyuan's hands trembled slightly.

"I was afraid."

The admission was barely audible.

Shen Jiu didn't respond.

"I thought if I told you..."

Yue Qingyuan laughed bitterly.

"...you would hate me even more."

That finally earned a reaction.

Shen Jiu stared.

Then stared harder.

After several moments he let out a disbelieving scoff.

"You really are stupid."

The insult lacked its usual bite.

Yue Qingyuan found himself smiling faintly.

"...Mn."

Shen Jiu immediately looked irritated again.

"Don't agree with that one."

"...Mn."

"Yue Qingyuan."

"Mn?"

"Get out."

Yue Qingyuan's smile widened despite himself.

"Alright."

As he reached the door, Shen Jiu's voice stopped him.

"...Make sure A-Yuan comes back in one piece."

Yue Qingyuan paused.

For a brief moment, his eyes softened.

"I will."

Chapter Text

Liu Qingge had taken an interest in Shen Yuan.

Not simply because Shen Yuan was a huli jing.

Nor because he was Shen Qingqiu's twin.

In fact, the more Liu Qingge got to know him, the stranger it felt that the two were related at all.

They were complete opposites.

Shen Jiu was sharp-tongued, suspicious, and quick to assume the worst in people.

Shen Yuan, on the other hand, was kind.

Gentle.

Annoyingly easy to talk to.

Even after meeting only a handful of times, Liu Qingge could tell the fox genuinely cared about people.

Which made his habit of throwing himself into danger even more irritating.

There was also another problem.

One Liu Qingge didn't understand.

For some reason, Shen Yuan could make him flustered.

How?

Why?

He had no idea.

It was ridiculous.

He was Liu Qingge.

Nothing should be able to make him flustered.

Especially not a fox who spent half his time rambling and the other half sleeping.

Liu Qingge still remembered the Peak Lord meeting.

He had been rude.

Needlessly rude.

His pride had gotten the better of him.

At the time, he had dismissed Shen Yuan as weak despite knowing absolutely nothing about his actual strength.

Afterward, he'd realized he was wrong.

Unfortunately, admitting that aloud was difficult.

So instead, he had tried helping Shen Yuan whenever possible.

Flying him between peaks.

Accompanying him on missions.

Small things.

Not an apology.

But close enough.

"Liu-shixiong?"

Liu Qingge snapped out of his thoughts.

Shen Yuan was looking up at him curiously.

His ears twitched.

Clearly he'd noticed the staring.

"Liu Qingge."

"Hm?"

"Call me that."

"Oh."

Shen Yuan blinked.

"Okay... Qingge?"

A pause.

"Too familiar?"

"It is alright."

Shen Yuan looked surprised.

Then smiled.

For some reason, that made Liu Qingge look away.

"So about the mission."

Shen Yuan immediately pulled out a notebook.

Liu Qingge had no idea why he carried those everywhere.

"Wasn't this mission one that Bai Zhan disciples struggled with? When Jiu-ge and I visited Qian Cao Peak, I saw a lot of Bai Zhan disciples getting treated."

"Those disciples weren't injured by the mission."

Shen Yuan looked up.

"They weren't?"

"They injured themselves."

"..."

"They were sparring."

"..."

"They escalated."

"..."

"They continued escalating."

"..."

Shen Yuan rubbed his face.

"Huh. I should've expected that."

Liu Qingge raised an eyebrow.

Shen Yuan wisely pretended not to notice.

After putting away his notes, the fox hesitated.

"Jiu-ge only agreed to let me come because you're accompanying me."

Liu Qingge listened quietly.

"So if I'm being a burden, just tell me."

A brief silence followed.

Liu Qingge frowned.

Why did Shen Yuan always speak as if people would eventually get tired of him?

"Even if you are, I'd tolerate it."

Shen Yuan stared.

"...Thank you?"

Liu Qingge nodded.

That had sounded reassuring in his head.

Apparently it hadn't translated very well.

—

Soon afterward, Liu Qingge unsheathed Cheng Luan and stepped onto his sword.

Shen Yuan climbed on behind him.

The journey resumed.

For approximately two hours.

Then Shen Yuan fell asleep.

Again.

Liu Qingge wasn't even surprised.

One moment the fox had been talking about mission possibilities.

The next he had gone completely silent.

Then—

Thump.

A warm weight leaned against his back.

Liu Qingge glanced over his shoulder.

Fast asleep.

Of course.

The fool had somehow managed to fall asleep while standing on a flying sword.

If Liu Qingge hadn't immediately slowed down and reached back to grab Shen Yuan's arm, he would've fallen straight out of the sky.

"..."

Liu Qingge decided they were stopping for the night.

—

Unfortunately, the nearest town only had one room available.

Liu Qingge bought it without complaint.

Shen Yuan was still half asleep by the time they entered.

The fox barely made it to the bed before collapsing face-first onto it.

Seconds later, he was asleep again.

Liu Qingge sat nearby, planning to meditate until morning.

Then Shen Yuan suddenly squirmed beneath the blankets.

His eyes cracked open.

Barely.

Then—

Poof.

A small fox appeared.

The fox bundled itself deeper into the blankets, curled into a fluffy ball, and immediately returned to sleep.

Liu Qingge froze.

His mind betrayed him with an unfortunate memory.

The bath incident.

The one where he'd accidentally thrown Shen Yuan into a tub full of soap thinking he was just a normal fox and nearly seen far more than he should have.

Liu Qingge immediately slapped a hand over his face.

What was wrong with him?

The fox was sleeping.

There was nothing strange happening.

Why was he remembering that?

—

Liu Qingge spent the entire night meditating.

He did not.

—

Morning arrived.

Shen Yuan woke before sunrise.

The sky outside remained dark.

As he stretched, he noticed Liu Qingge sitting beside the bed.

Head resting against the mattress.

Asleep.

"..."

Shen Yuan blinked.

'Why is he on the floor?'

For several moments he simply stared.

Then his eyes lit up.

An experiment.

—

Shen Yuan quietly transformed back into his human form.

Over the past few days, he'd secretly been reading portions of his huli jing manual whenever Shen Jiu wasn't looking.

He'd learned a few things.

Mostly small things.

Nothing impressive.

But...

Maybe.

Just maybe.

—

Shen Yuan raised his hands.

Spiritual energy flowed from his fingertips.

Carefully.

Slowly.

The energy wrapped around Liu Qingge's body.

Supporting his weight.

Lifting him.

Very.

Very.

Slowly.

Shen Yuan's face immediately turned red.

His spiritual energy trembled.

Sweat dripped down his forehead.

Why was Liu Qingge so heavy?!

After what felt like an eternity, Shen Yuan finally managed to place him onto the bed without waking him.

The moment Liu Qingge was settled, Shen Yuan collapsed onto his knees.

Panting.

Sweating.

Exhausted.

"Why is that shit harder than turning into a fox..."

He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

His eyelids suddenly felt heavy.

Very heavy.

Apparently moving a Peak Lord with spiritual energy was not something his cultivation appreciated.

Shen Yuan barely managed to crawl onto the bed before flopping down beside Liu Qingge.

Within seconds—

He was asleep again.

Completely unaware that Liu Qingge had actually woken up halfway through being moved and was now lying perfectly still with his eyes closed.

Wondering what exactly he was supposed to do about the warmth curled up beside him.

Chapter Text

With the System's help due to Shen yuan's begging, Shen Yuan and Liu Qingge finally managed to narrow down their suspect.

A male cultivator.

Around his forties.

Long dark hair.

Good-quality robes.

Strong enough to avoid suspicion.

And most importantly—

He wasn't local.

According to the System, the man rarely stayed near the Heng River for extended periods.

He came and went.

Always disappearing before anyone could connect him to the missing merchants.

That alone made him suspicious.

The problem was finding him.

Fortunately, they weren't far from Jin Lan City.

Unfortunately, their investigation quickly led them somewhere Liu Qingge never wanted to enter.

Again.

"A brothel?" Liu Qingge asked.

Shen Yuan coughed.

"Several brothels, actually."

"..."

"The suspect apparently visits them often."

"..."

"The witnesses were surprisingly consistent."

"..."

"The man's reputation is not very good."

—

Their first stop was the establishment where Shen Yuan had worked for years.

The moment they entered, disaster struck.

A customer hurried past and shoulder-checked Shen Yuan.

The fox stumbled.

Nearly falling backward into Liu Qingge.

"Sorry!"

The man shouted before vanishing deeper into the crowd.

Liu Qingge's eyes narrowed dangerously.

The customer had already disappeared.

A pity.

—

Before Shen Yuan could recover—

He was attacked.

Not by enemies.

By women.

"A-Yuan!"

"Look at him!"

"Our little fox finally came back!"

Several women immediately surrounded him.

One grabbed his cheeks.

Another inspected his ears.

A third checked his tails.

A fourth somehow appeared from nowhere and started fixing his hair.

"Sh-Shijie—"

"No complaining."

The eldest woman crossed her arms.

"We finally have you visiting."

"Let us pamper you."

Another scoffed.

"Hmph. I preferred him when he was younger."

Several immediately nodded.

"He was adorable."

"Such a cute kid."

"He used to follow us around everywhere."

Shen Yuan's face turned bright red.

"I was a teenager!"

"Still cute."

"Shijie!"

The women ignored him.

—

Liu Qingge watched from a sofa in the lobby.

People kept staring.

Some recognized him.

Others simply couldn't comprehend why the Peak Lord of Bai Zhan Peak was sitting inside a brothel looking like he'd rather be fighting demons.

Liu Qingge looked away from them all.

'I'm worse than Shen Qingqiu.'

He had entered a brothel voluntarily.

Twice.

—

Nearly half a shichen later, Shen Yuan finally emerged.

He had clearly lost the battle.

His hair had been redone.

A bit of makeup highlighted his features.

His robes had somehow been replaced with a more elaborate version of his usual outfit.

The women behind him looked extremely pleased with themselves.

Shen Yuan looked resigned.

"Sorry, Qingge."

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I couldn't refuse them."

'Who could blame me!? They're basically my sisters!"

Liu Qingge looked him over.

Then immediately looked away.

"...It is fine."

Shen Yuan sighed in relief.

"Good."

"Now let us continue."

Liu Qingge stood.

"I do not wish to stay here longer than necessary."

—

The women quickly ushered both cultivators into a private room.

Tea was served.

Doors were shut.

The atmosphere immediately shifted from reunion to investigation.

One of the older women sat down first.

"If you're asking questions, then something serious happened."

Shen Yuan nodded.

"We're searching for someone."

He described the suspect.

Middle-aged.

Long hair.

Expensive robes.

Frequently visited brothels.

Often traveled between cities.

The moment he finished, several expressions changed.

The women exchanged looks.

One clicked her tongue.

"I know who you're talking about."

Another groaned.

"Him again?"

Liu Qingge immediately leaned forward.

"You recognize him?"

"Unfortunately."

The eldest woman rolled her eyes.

"He doesn't come here often anymore."

"But he used to."

Shen Yuan perked up.

"You know where he goes now?"

One woman nodded.

"He prefers a place on the western side of Jin Lan City."

Another added,

"And whenever he's in town, he rents a private residence nearby."

The room fell silent.

That was the first solid lead they'd found.

Shen Yuan immediately pulled out his notebook.

The questioning continued for another quarter of a shichen before one of the older women suddenly snapped her fingers.

"Oh."

Everyone looked at her.

"What?"

The woman frowned.

"He was here earlier."

The room immediately fell silent.

Shen Yuan straightened.

Liu Qingge's hand moved to Cheng Luan.

"What do you mean earlier?" Shen Yuan asked.

"This morning."

The woman's expression darkened.

"He left in a hurry."

"How long ago?"

"Perhaps two hours."

Shen Yuan's heart sank.

Too recent.

Far too recent.

Another woman leaned forward.

"Now that I think about it, he started visiting shortly after A-Yuan left."

The room grew quieter.

"He kept asking questions."

"What kind of questions?" Liu Qingge asked.

The women exchanged looks.

"About A-Yuan."

Shen Yuan froze.

"He asked what A-Yuan looked like."

"He asked where he lived."

"He asked how long he'd worked here."

One woman looked particularly disturbed.

"He even asked if we would be willing to sell him."

The temperature in the room dropped.

Liu Qingge's expression didn't change.

Which somehow made it worse.

The women immediately felt a chill.

Shen Yuan, meanwhile, simply sat there.

Silent.

The pieces were fitting together far too neatly.

The man appears after his identity becomes public.

The disappearances begin.

The questions begin.

The murders begin.

And now—

The man had specifically sought information about him.

Not a huli jing.

Not fox spirits.

Him.

Shen Yuan.

His ears slowly drooped.

His tails puffed up instinctively.

The room immediately quieted.

The women noticed at once.

Most had known him since he was young.

They knew exactly what that reaction meant.

Fear.

Not panic.

Not terror.

But the old instinctive fear that had followed huli jings for generations.

The fear of being hunted.

Shen Yuan lowered his gaze.

Huli jings being targeted wasn't unusual.

It never had been.

Not after Huan Hua Palace.

Not after the extermination campaigns.

Not after entire clans vanished.

He remembered the stories.

The memories.

Huli jings killed for bounties, captured and sold, frapped in their animal forms, used as pets, servants entertainment.

Things.

Not people.

If someone wanted to kill him simply because he existed—

That wasn't surprising.

It was expected

"...A-Yuan."

One of the women reached over and gently touched his shoulder.

His ears twitched.

"It's best if you stay here for a few days."

Shen Yuan blinked.

"Huh?"

The woman crossed her arms.

"If he's looking for you, he'll probably come back."

Another nodded.

"You'll have a much easier time catching him here."

"Rather than running around every brothel in Jin Lan City."

Several immediately agreed.

"Exactly."

"We know his face."

"If he comes back, we'll recognize him."

"And we can send someone to get you."

Shen Yuan slowly considered it.

Objectively speaking...

It wasn't a bad idea.

The man clearly had some connection to this place.

He'd been coming here for months.

If he returned—

They could catch him.

Before he disappeared again.

Shen Yuan looked toward Liu Qingge.

"What do you think?"

Liu Qingge looked absolutely miserable.

His gaze swept across the brothel.

The musicians, customers, women, decorations, the entire establishment.

His expression said everything.

He hated this idea.

Deeply, profoundly, with every fiber of his being, unfortunately—

He couldn't find a flaw in the plan.

"..."

The silence stretched.

"...It is better than searching every brothel."

Shen Yuan immediately laughed.

"You sound like you just swallowed poison."

"It is still preferable."

"To what?"

"Searching every brothel."

The answer came far too quickly.

Several women covered their mouths to hide their laughter.

Liu Qingge ignored them.

Mostly.

One of his ears had turned red.

Shen Yuan unfortunately noticed.

The fox immediately looked far too entertained.

"Aww."

"Do not."

"You hate being here that much?"

"I do."

"You've visited this place twice now."

"I regret both."

The room erupted into laughter.

Even Shen Yuan's mood improved.

Just a little.

Enough that his ears rose again.

Enough that his tails slowly settled.

Liu Qingge watched the change and quietly relaxed.

 

~

 

What was supposed to be a stakeout quickly became Shen Yuan returning to his old job.

Temporarily.

At least that was what he told Liu Qingge.

Somehow, three days later, he was already helping with performances, carrying trays, playing the guqin, and gossiping with the women as if he'd never left.

Liu Qingge suspected Shen Yuan had simply missed them.

Deeply.

"Shijie, your hairpin is crooked."

"A-Yuan, stop fussing."

"It is crooked."

"Then fix it."

Shen Yuan immediately did.

The woman laughed and pinched his cheek.

"A-Yuan is still the sweetest."

"I know."

The shameless answer earned several amused snorts.

—

The performances were especially bad.

Bad for Liu Qingge.

Not because they were poorly done.

The opposite.

They were very good.

Far too good.

Shen Yuan sat gracefully before the guqin, long fingers dancing across the strings while several dancers performed around him.

His fox ears twitched occasionally.

His tails swayed behind him.

Every time he smiled, someone in the audience seemed ready to throw more money at him.

Liu Qingge hated it.

Not because Shen Yuan looked good.

That would be ridiculous.

He hated it because Shen Yuan kept dragging him into the performances.

"Qingge!"

Liu Qingge immediately felt dread.

"No."

"You don't even know what I'm asking."

"No."

Shen Yuan clicked his tongue.

Then immediately turned toward the audience.

"Our honored Peak Lord Liu seems shy today."

Liu Qingge nearly choked.

The audience laughed.

Several women laughed harder.

Shen Yuan looked entirely too pleased with himself.

"Perhaps I should lower my price?"

Liu Qingge froze.

The room immediately became interested.

"What price?" someone called.

Shen Yuan smiled.

"If Peak Lord Liu purchases my company tonight, I'll charge him half."

The room erupted.

Several customers nearly fell from their seats in shock.

Liu Qingge looked ready to draw Cheng Luan.

"Shen. Yuan."

The fox immediately hid behind one of the dancers.

"Look everyone, he's embarrassed."

Liu Qingge spent the rest of the night following Shen Yuan around with the expression of a man contemplating murder.

—

Several days passed.

The suspect never appeared.

But Shen Yuan wasn't entirely discouraged.

Eventually someone would make a mistake.

People always did.

—

One evening, Shen Yuan sat upon the stage playing the guqin.

Soft music filled the room.

Several dancers performed nearby.

The audience watched quietly.

His ears twitched occasionally.

His tails moved lazily behind him.

All while he secretly monitored every person entering the building.

Searching.

Waiting.

Watching.

When the performance ended, applause followed.

Shen Yuan stood and bowed politely.

Just as he was preparing to leave—

A voice spoke up.

"I'd like to request Shen-gongzi's company tonight."

The room immediately grew interested.

Shen Yuan blinked.

The speaker was handsome.

Young.

Far too young.

At least in appearance.

Certainly not the forty-year-old cultivator they were hunting.

Still...

Something felt strange.

Liu Qingge immediately stepped forward.

"No."

The answer came instantly.

The man raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't asking Peak Lord Liu."

"I answered anyway."

The atmosphere became tense.

Shen Yuan quickly stepped between them.

"It's alright."

Liu Qingge turned.

"It is not."

"It's just conversation."

"No."

"Qingge."

"No."

The man chuckled.

"You guard him closely."

Liu Qingge's expression somehow became even colder.

Shen Yuan immediately intervened before someone died.

"I accept."

Silence.

Liu Qingge stared.

Absolutely stared.

Shen Yuan smiled nervously.

"It'll be fine."

"No."

"It will."

"No."

"Trust me."

"No."

"...You really only know one word, huh?"

—

A private room was prepared.

Tea was served.

The handsome stranger sat across from Shen Yuan.

For a while, their conversation remained harmless.

The man asked questions.

Many questions.

About Shen Yuan.

About Cang Qiong.

About huli jings.

"What are huli jings really like?"

Shen Yuan shrugged.

"People."

The man smiled.

"That's a simple answer."

"It's the correct one."

"Most would disagree."

"Most people are idiots."

The man laughed.

Genuinely.

For a brief moment, Shen Yuan relaxed.

Perhaps he had judged too quickly.

Perhaps this was merely a curious cultivator.

—

Outside.

Liu Qingge sat in the hallway.

Waiting.

Fuming.

A passing worker wisely chose not to disturb him.

—

Inside.

The conversation continued.

"What was your childhood like?"

"Terrible."

The man blinked.

"...That direct?"

"You asked."

Another laugh.

The stranger seemed increasingly interested.

Meanwhile Shen Yuan's guard slowly lowered.

Not completely.

But enough.

Enough to miss certain details.

Like how the man's questions never truly stopped focusing on him.

Enough to miss how carefully the stranger observed him.

Enough to miss the hidden blade concealed inside his sleeve.

—

Eventually the man stood.

"I should leave."

"So soon?"

"I've taken enough of Shen-gongzi's time."

The stranger moved behind him.

Slowly.

Calmly.

Shen Yuan remained seated.

The man gently brushed several strands of hair away from his neck.

A strange gesture.

But not enough to trigger alarm.

"Gege?"

The term slipped out automatically.

A habit from years of dealing with customers.

Then—

Pain.

A sharp sting against his neck.

Shen Yuan's eyes widened.

His body immediately went numb.

Poison.

'Shit.'

His vision blurred.

The room tilted.

The last thing he saw was the man's appearance shifting.

The youthful features melted away.

Wrinkles appeared.

His face aged.

His disguise breaking apart.

A man in his forties.

Long dark hair.

Expensive robes.

Cold eyes.

The suspect.

'Found him...'

Everything went black.

—

The cultivator caught Shen Yuan before he collapsed.

"You really are foolish."

His voice carried no warmth.

Only hatred.

"Just like every other huli jing."

He lifted the unconscious fox into his arms.

Then escaped through the window.

Not quietly.

He no longer cared.

—

Outside.

Liu Qingge immediately stood.

Crash.

The sound of breaking wood echoed from above.

His instincts screamed.

Without hesitation he kicked the door open.

The room exploded inward.

"Shen Yuan—"

Silence.

Empty.

The window hung open.

Curtains fluttered in the night breeze.

No Shen Yuan.

No suspect.

Nothing.

For one horrifying second, Liu Qingge froze.

Then he spotted it.

fur caught on the window frame.

The room instantly filled with killing intent.

Cold.

Violent.

Terrifying.

The nearby workers stumbled backward.

Someone dropped a tray.

Liu Qingge snatched the hair from the frame.

His hand trembled.

Not from fear.

From fury.

"Shen. Yuan."

The name came out dangerously quiet.

Then he jumped through the window.

Cheng Luan appeared beneath his feet.

The sword shot into the night sky.

Faster.

Faster.

Faster.

Spiritual sense spread across the city.

Searching.

Hunting.

Desperate.

But there was nothing.

No trace of Shen Yuan.

No trace of the kidnapper.

Nothing.

For the first time since arriving at Jin Lan City—

Liu Qingge felt genuinely afraid.

Chapter Text

The man carried the unconscious Shen Yuan deep into the forest, following a narrow path hidden beneath overgrown roots and thick vines until a cave came into view.

It was damp.

Cold.

And filled with the lingering scent of blood.

Broken carts, scattered cloth, and abandoned merchant goods were piled near the entrance.

Further inside—

Bodies.

Covered with old blankets, lined against the stone wall.

The missing merchants.

The man looked down at the fox cultivator in his arms and sneered.

"I had to kill so many people just to catch Cang Qiong Mountain's attention."

He brushed a strand of hair away from Shen Yuan's face.

"What a troublesome little fox."

His fingers reached one soft ear and squeezed it.

The ear twitched unconsciously.

"Hm..."

He pulled a dagger from his sleeve.

The blade glinted in the dim light.

"I could cut these off now..."

The tip rested against the fluffy ear.

"...or perhaps I should wait until you're awake."

"So you can scream."

A smile slowly spread across his face.

"Yes."

"That sounds much better."

He sheathed the dagger and instead dragged Shen Yuan toward a stone pillar.

Immortal binding cables wrapped around his wrists and waist before tightening.

The fox couldn't move an inch.

The man stepped back, admiring his work.

"Let's see if the Peak Lord you seduced can save you now."

He disappeared into the shadows.

~

Miles away—

Liu Qingge crushed a communication talisman in his hand.

Golden light shot into the night sky.

Straight toward Cang Qiong Mountain.

For the first time in years—

He didn't care about pride.

He didn't care about appearances.

He only had one thought.

Find Shen Yuan.

Now.

~

Barely an hour later—

Two swords descended from the clouds.

One calm.

One sharp and filled with killing intent.

Yue Qingyuan and Shen Jiu landed almost simultaneously.

The moment Shen Jiu saw Liu Qingge standing alone—

His expression darkened.

"You lost him."

Liu Qingge remained silent.

Shen Jiu laughed bitterly.

"I should've known."

"I never should've let A-Yuan leave Qing Jing Peak, he had always been reckless. And now he's gone."

Each sentence was sharper than a blade.

Liu Qingge accepted every word without argument.

Because Shen Jiu was right.

Yue Qingyuan stepped between them.

"Xiao Jiu."

"We don't have time."

He turned toward Liu Qingge.

"Tell this one everything."

Liu Qingge recounted every detail.

The brothel.

The disguised cultivator.

The poisoned blade.

The escape.

The more he spoke, the colder Shen Jiu's expression became.

When he finished—

Silence.

Yue Qingyuan finally spoke.

"Liu-shidi."

"Search around Heng River."

"This one and Xiao Jiu will search Jin Lan City and every nearby village."

"If the culprit planned this for months..."

"He must have prepared somewhere to hide."

Shen Jiu didn't even glance at Yue Qingyuan at the name.

He simply stepped onto his sword.

"I'm finding my didi."

Then he disappeared into the night.

Yue Qingyuan let out a shaky breath before following.

Leaving Liu Qingge alone.

For only a moment.

The next second—

Cheng Luan shot through the sky.

~

The journey should have taken four hours.

Liu Qingge reached Heng River in two.

He landed hard enough to crack the ground beneath his feet.

His spiritual sense expanded again and again.

Nothing.

He searched the riverbanks.

The abandoned trade road.

The forest.

Every cave.

Every ruined shrine.

Every hunting path.

Nothing.

His heartbeat grew faster.

'Where are you...'

—

Inside the cave—

Shen Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

"...What..."

His throat burned.

His vision blurred.

The ceiling above him was rough stone.

Water dripped somewhere in the darkness.

'A cave...?'

He tried moving, but metal scraped against skin which caused pain shoot through his wrists.

Shen Yuan looked down.

"...Immortal binding cables?"

His heart sank.

'System! Help!'

[System cannot assist Host while far from its primary power source.]

'Don't tell me...'

[Host guessed correctly.]

'...Luo Binghe?'

[Yes. ╥﹏╥]

Shen Yuan wanted to scream.

'Then do something!'

'I can't die again! I just got my memories back! I just reunited with my gege!'

[Host will have to figure it out on his own.]

"...Useless system."

A chuckle echoed through the cave.

"So."

"You're finally awake."

Shen Yuan immediately lifted his head.

A figure stepped out of the darkness.

Middle-aged.

Long hair.

Fine robes.

Cold eyes.

The same face he and Liu qingge had been searching for.

"What do you want from me?"

His ears lowered instinctively.

His three tails puffed up behind him.

The man smiled.

"Relax, little fox."

"I won't hurt you."

"...Yet."

He walked closer.

Slowly.

Almost casually.

"I'm impressed."

"You managed to seduce a Peak Lord."

Shen Yuan stared.

"...Seduce?"

"Yes."

"No."

"No?"

"I didn't seduce anyone!"

The man laughed.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Huli jings have always deceived humans. You charm them. You manipulate them. You make them forget reason."

Shen Yuan almost rolled his eyes.

'Seriously? People still believe that stereotype?'

"I'm literally just existing!"

"You cannot deceive me."

The man crouched until they were eye level.

"If Peak Lord Liu truly cares for you..."

"We'll find out."

His fingers grabbed one fluffy ear.

The ear flattened immediately.

"I wonder..."

He slowly drew out his dagger.

"...whether I should start with your tails..."

"...or your ears."

Shen Yuan's breathing quickened.

But his expression remained calm.

His hands slowly shifted behind the pillar.

His claws extended.

Quietly.

Carefully.

The sharp tips began scraping against the immortal binding cables.

Tiny threads loosened.

Not enough.

Not yet.

The man stood again.

"I'll give him until sunrise."

"If he fails..."

His gaze drifted toward Shen Yuan's tails.

"I'll remove one."

"And then another."

"And another."

Until nothing remained.

He disappeared back into the darkness.

Leaving only silence.

Shen Yuan leaned against the stone pillar.

His claws continued cutting.

Slowly.

Painfully.

His fingers trembled.

Each movement scraped his skin raw.

The cables barely weakened.

His ears flattened completely.

 

"...Qingge..."

His voice was barely a whisper.

"...where are you..."

 

~

More than a shichen passed.

Outside, the first light of dawn filtered through the cracks in the cave ceiling.

Inside, Shen Yuan's breathing had become uneven.

The immortal binding cables continued to suppress his spiritual energy, making every movement feel unbearably heavy.

The man stepped in front of him once more.

"So."

He folded his arms.

"It seems your Peak Lord is taking longer than I expected."

Shen Yuan lowered his ears.

"..."

The man reached toward the fox's tails.

Shen Yuan instinctively shrank back.

"No..."

The man ignored him.

With a rough tug, pain shot through Shen Yuan's body, forcing a muffled cry from his throat.

His vision blurred as red splattered against the pillar and poured on the ground.

His remaining tails immediately puffed up in fear.

Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes as he struggled against the restraints.

The man calmly examined the fox tail now in his hand.

He smiled.

"It's been a long time since I've seen one this beautiful."

He turned it over thoughtfully.

"If your protector doesn't arrive soon..."

His gaze returned to Shen Yuan.

"...I'm afraid I'll grow impatient."

Shen Yuan shook his head desperately.

Even while trembling, his hands hidden behind the pillar continued scraping at the immortal binding cables with his claws.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The strands were finally beginning to fray.

Just a little more.

Just a little—

—

Elsewhere, Liu Qingge stood before the roaring waterfall.

His breathing was controlled.

His heart was anything but.

His spiritual sense swept over the area once again.

This time—

Something felt wrong.

Behind the falling water was a narrow opening concealed by moss and stone.

Without hesitation, Cheng Luan left its sheath.

Liu Qingge stepped inside.

The cave was dark.

Silent.

Too silent.

—

The kidnapper's eyes narrowed.

Someone had entered.

He immediately extinguished the nearby lantern and concealed his spiritual energy within the shadows.

Before retreating, he shoved a cloth between Shen Yuan's lips.

"Be quiet."

Shen Yuan's eyes widened.

No.

No, Qingge—

Don't come closer—

Liu Qingge heard it.

A faint sound.

Barely audible over the rushing water.

A muffled whimper.

His pupils contracted.

"Shen Yuan?"

No answer.

He rushed deeper into the cave.

Then stopped.

For a single heartbeat, his mind went blank.

Shen Yuan was tied against a stone pillar, his robes torn from struggling against the restraints, his face pale and streaked with tears.

His remaining tails trembled uncontrollably.

One was missing.

Liu Qingge was beside him almost instantly.

The sword in his hand disappeared.

Instead, he reached for the restraints.

"I'm here."

His normally steady voice shook.

"You're safe. Don't be scared."

He removed the cloth from Shen Yuan's mouth and draped his own outer robe over his shoulders.

"I'm taking you home."

Shen Yuan looked at him with frantic eyes.

He shook his head repeatedly.

"Q-Qingge..."

His voice was barely a whisper.

"Behind—!"

Too late.

A presence burst from the darkness.

Shen Yuan's instincts moved before thought.

With a desperate surge of strength, he forced his weakened arms apart.

The damaged cables snapped.

He grabbed Liu Qingge and pulled him away.

The two of them switched places.

Steel flashed.

A heavy impact struck Shen Yuan from behind.

Everything became quiet.

For one frozen second, nobody moved.

Then Cheng Luan answered its master's fury.

A single arc of light swept through the cave.

Silence returned.

Liu Qingge didn't even look at the fallen attacker.

His entire attention was on the fox collapsing into his arms.

He lowered Shen Yuan carefully onto the ground.

His hands were unsteady as he pressed spiritual energy into the wound, trying to stabilize him.

"Shen Yuan."

No response.

"Look at me."

Shen Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

"...Where's..."

His voice was weak.

"...jiu-ge...?"

"He's coming."

Liu Qingge answered immediately.

"He'll be here soon."

"So stay awake."

The usually fearless Peak Lord sounded almost pleading.

"I'm supposed to protect you."

Shen Yuan managed a tiny, exhausted smile.

"...I'm..."

"...fine..."

"My body..."

"...usually heals at this point..."

He wasn't entirely sure if that was true under the long effects of the immortal binding cables.

But he still wanted Liu Qingge to stop blaming himself.

Liu Qingge tightened his grip.

"You are not allowed to sleep."

"..."

"...Shen Yuan?"

The fox's eyes slowly drifted closed.

His breathing remained steady, but he no longer answered.

For the first time in many years, Liu Qingge felt completely helpless.

All he could do was hold Shen Yuan close and wait for the sound of approaching swords from the sky.