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Chapter Text

Chapter Text

"Haven't you ever been in a fairy tale before?"

- Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

✨

So...

So far, Liu Qingge was taking this whole thing quite well!

Other realities, higher power puppeteers and the destiny of the world as its denizens know it perched on the brink of catastrophic change.

It would be a lot for anyone to take in.

Never mind the personal timelines of Shen Qingqiu being involuntarily body-snatched by Shen Yuan’s soul, Liu Qingge’s ‘destined’ death and the foretold utter annihilation of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect and then the Cultivation World at large...

Yeah.

Thus, Shen Yuan was now silently watching the Bai Zhan War God, PIDW Liu Mingyan’s dead older brother, process this information.

(Liu Qingge, who was Not Dead! Shen Qingqiu had not murdered his rival in the Ling Xi Caves and now there was one less black flag to condemn the Scum Villain with. Take that System!)

And another thing! Apparently it was alright to tell Liu Qingge everything about the future of this world and that Shen Yuan knew it because he'd read it from another world but being about to say Luo Binghe's name got him a System death threat?! He could tell Liu Qingge absolutely everything about Shen Qingqiu's soul essentially being defragged and stitched back together under System stasis after it apparently broke during his last Qi Deviation, but couldn't actually say 'System'?! But saying the 'Entity' was a-okay?! What sort of petty, persnickety computer was Shen Yuan's soul hanging in the balance of exactly?!

He huffed with silent wrath and took a sip of the absolutely exquisite tea they had in this world. Maybe it was partly the god-tier brewing skill he'd learned by following Shen Qingqiu's muscle memory and experimentation, but every blend was a delight to the senses. Even Mu Qingfang's prescribed medicinal brews had an intriguing earthiness to them, even if they were a bit bitter. He went to take another sip, but found his cup tragically empty and knew the pot was too... he eyed the full, untouched cup of beverage over on Liu Qingge's side of the table with a heart full of envy. It was within arm's reach. He'd learned slight of hand from one nurse introducing him to magic tricks for entertainment during one hospital stay or another. Maybe he could surreptitiously swap their cups... he glanced at the tea captor from under his eyelashes-

And found the renowned warlord was staring at him intensely while channelling qi through the grip on Shen Yuan’s wrist- which, come to think of it, was really a very pleasant sensation! All gentle pulses and curls like hot summer sunshine softened by filtering through a forest canopy to warm him up from the inside out, though the enjoyment was slightly off from the way it felt like Liu Qingge was trying to set him on fire with just his piercing and unblinking dark eyes.

They were very pretty eyes. It had been too dimly lit in the Caves to see properly, but Liu Qingge’s eyes weren’t actually black but a very, very deep purple, like black amethyst. Very striking, Lord Liu! Much more attractive than Shen Yuan had envisaged when the Great God Airplane spilled pre-teen worthy prose about Liu Mingyan’s crystalline lavender orbs sparkling with the strength of her conviction. With eyes like these, all phoenix-shaped and slightly-smoky-without-trying, it would be quite possible to become captivated by that intense gaze and get lost in the swirling depths of unfathomable emotions.

Liu-juju, what are you doing with these love-interest character traits, ah?! Airplane-bro, why is your burly, barbarian-class, toxic masculinity icon an elegant young master who should be writing hopelessly romantic prose by flickering candle light?! The warm fingers on his wrist were calloused from dedicated hard work and training, but the hands they joined to were elegantly sculptured with fine bones and milky pale skin crafted by the most refined of noble genes. The dichotomy was really too much!

Though, with the most beautiful woman in PIDW as a full-blood sibling, of course her brother would be the most beautiful man. Calamitous beauties both... though while Liu Mingyan’s beauty might incite chaos were her veil to be removed, Liu Qingge is the calamity in and of himself, who just so happens to also be a beauty. They even have the same star-shaped white birthmark on their foreheads! It’s a shame Liu Qingge’s is half-hidden by the loose lock of hair on one side, because it really was interesting to look at- very symmetrical. In the novel, Liu Mingyan kept hers hidden beneath a jewellery piece headband like a circlet or ferronniere and only showed it to the Protagonist on their wedding night...

Perhaps it was a Clan tradition thing? Or something both Liu siblings specifically were self-conscious about? It was definitely a Thing in the novel. A very obviously significant thread that could have led to a tapestry of worldbuilding… so of course the Great God Airplane cut it loose, never to be expounded upon, discarded to kindle the rage of Peerless Cucumber in the pit of sin and iniquity that was the PIDW Comment Section.

Shen Yuan vaguely recalled ranting in that same comment section about the obvious subplot-nix, that and the good message of the telling her he loved her for ‘more than her physical form and regardless of marks on her body’ being completely invalidated by the fact that the Protagonist was just spouting sweet-talk to get more of her body revealed and then into his bed. It was sad to see the upright and noble Liu Mingyan get done so dirty, alright?!

He quickly moved his gaze off the mark, right back into eye-lock with the man himself, who was frowning even more severely than before. Very fierce, Liu-juju! This lowly nerd apologises for staring at your familial insecurities! You have nothing to be ashamed of- it’s really very pretty!

Shen Yuan tried to express his acceptance, support and apology for rudely staring with his eyes and some of it evidently came across, as Liu Qingge gave him a long, searching look to verify his sincerity then looked down in... embarrassment? Happiness at being accepted? With a red flush tinting his ears and creeping across his nose. He nodded once, sharply. “This Lord accepts your story.”

Shen Yuan almost melted into a boneless heap with relief. Only the Original Good’s perfect control kept Liu Qingge from having to deal with a puddle of Peak Lord on the floor.  Hopefully when they get him a new body it will also have this reaction filter, ah!

✨

That at some point one of Shen Qingqiu’s students might seek revenge for mistreatment was almost to be expected- the man was notoriously strict with teaching and harsh with punishments, and besides that all Peaks had at least one former student swear revenge for Cultivation not being as easily achievable as they imagined or feeling wronged at a misdemeanour being punished. Every few years, Bai Zhan in particular was called to put down some of its own former disciple-hopeful unable to stomach the lifestyle, fled instead to demonic cultivation.

That one such weak willed coward might gain dangerous power was worrying however, especially as Silver-Silk Shen Yuan was unable to tell him the disciple’s name nor if they were already present on the Peak and with their demonic heritage sealed, there would be no way to distinguish them from any ordinary human. Not unless they were present in the Sect and Liu Qingge went through every single disciple, one by one, searching for a trace of demonic imprint on their souls.

Just the thought of it sent a shudder of revulsion up his spine.

There was a reason he spent so much time out hunting, a reason he preferred the forest and clouds to the Sect and cities. Though the fable about unicorns being attracted to virgins was just that, the aspect of purity was not. Cultivators worked on the body, mind and heart, and by consequence the soul, to refine and purify themselves enough to ascend to the Heavens as deities. The vast majority of mortals, especially in larger population centres, stank of bitter greed and spice-chocked hate, envy souring the scent of their souls until towns and cities reeked like curdled milk.

In the Sect, it was better, but on the other hand it was also highly populated with teenagers, whose emotions flared strong and priorities flipped so fast it made him sick to be around them too long. The older and wiser they got, the better, the stronger their cultivation, the better. Bai Zhan’s Hallmasters did a good enough job training them in his absence and didn’t seem at all bothered by the miasma of their innate selfishness at that age, so Liu Qingge was fully comfortable visiting once a month to show them what they should be aspiring to and encourage them to get on with trying to achieve it, for the sake of his nose if nothing else.

Orange blossom tickled his nose with curiosity and brought him back to the present- to the strange, lost soul Shen Yuan… who was staring straight at Liu Qingge’s horn star.

… several minutes later an a barely thwarted minor Qi Deviation later, and Liu Qingge was sure of a few things;

The first: though he made not a single mention in his explanation of present and future event, Shen Yuan knew he was a unicorn.

The second: the soul in front of him would make an invaluable ally to Cang Qiong.

The sheer volume and depth of knowledge contained within his head ensured that, from a strictly tactical standpoint, as well as his clear willingness to share it and learn even more, but there was more to it than that. The passionate and drive to change the course of the future as he knew it even with the looming threat of having his soul destroyed by the ‘entity’ that summoned him while Shen Qingqiu’s soul was being ‘mended’… the rare sort of courage to make the world a better place, that didn’t usually survive past gaining enough worldly experience to initiate.

But Shen Yuan was not making grand, unachievable plans built on ignorance and naivety. He simply wanted to do what he could, based on what he knew. This soul had not hesitated to risk himself to save Liu Qingge from his own delirium, or that disciple from was assumed to be fatally poisoned armour. He had apparently been working to bridge connections with the other Peak Lords in Shen Qingqiu’s stead and had even retrieved some rare plants and treasures to heal the damages to the Qing Jing Lord’s cultivation before he’d gone into seclusion. With the full intention to make himself an entirely different body and allow Shen Qingqiu to enjoy the benefit of his work once the ‘entity’ reinstated him.

Which formed his third conclusion: Shen Yuan needed a guard.

He didn’t seem to grasp how easily he could be killed, especially now with Without-A-Cure. Between Mu Qingfang’s genius and the innate purification properties of Liu Qingge’s qi, the condition was survivable, with careful monitoring and frequent meridian cleansing, but Liu Qingge could feel the reverberations of throbbing spiritual veins in his hand where the poison entered, yet Shen Yuan acted as if the pain wasn’t even there.

This was a man who would bring the world improvement to the best of his ability, and as it seemed he was forbidden from informing anyone else about his condition, it fell to Liu Qingge to ensure he survived long enough to do it. Not that there was a better choice for the task anyway and with the light and fragrant sense of Shen Yuan’s qi, it wouldn’t be a hardship anyway.

That was why he gave Shen Yuan his acceptance.

Shen Yuan perked up immediately, soul sparkling in his eyes like sunlight dancing through swirls of morning mists, bright and engaging where Shen Qingqiu’s had only ever churned with dark storms and lightning hatred.

He immediately launched into enthused babble.

“Great! So I’ve been thinking about what to use to form build myself a body- I’ve got things in hand on Qing Jing and am slowly implementing changes and solutions to problems from the book, but there’s only so much I can do at once to change interpersonal relationships how they need to be, so we don’t need to worry about that right now,” He got up and wandered into the kitchen area, still talking rapid fire, “Anyway, there’s the Sun and Moon Dew Flower seeds, but they take year to grow and I’m not sure about the conditions they need anyway, but I’ve been working through the Great Library in my spare time-” he emerged with a steaming pot, jasmine white by the smell of it “-and I’ve found something that might work, but all the ingredients are pretty isolated and-or guarded by all different high-level monsters or trials, so I would really need some help, especially as some of them are specifically designed for two people entering at the same time.”

He brought the slightly tepid tea up to his lips and knocked it back as he listened, ready for a fresh cup. Mn. Still good.

“ -and if we’re careful, we might even be able to do this without triggering any sex curses!”

Liu Qingge choked.

Chapter Text

“The butterfly swaggered before her eyes, singing, “One, two, three o’lairy,” as he whirled;”

- Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

✨

It took some narrowing down and careful contemplation, but eventually they hit on a workable method to grow Shen Yuan a body: the Sky-Moon Phoenix Flower Elixir.

Yet another example of Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky’s stellar naming ability, especially as phoenixes were a Western mythological creature distinctly different from Fenghuang and therefore should not exist in a strictly Ancient-China-only xianxia setting. And besides that, if its bird related, how exactly is it a flower, huh? Not that it is actually either of them! Oh no, the elixir was made of three non-animal or plant ingredients: a mushroom, a feather and a pearl, with flower ‘milk’ as the base (which did not count towards the ‘Flower’ name Airplane!).

According to the records of the Qing Jing Great Library, the ‘Emperor’s Jasmine of Boundless Nourishment’ was a high-quality milk substitute upon which a scorned imperial concubine had nursed the child that would become the thirteenth Emperor, who was actually an extremely accomplished Cultivator and ruled for many decades before his Ascension. He was the primary reason for the introduction of the political divide between mortal powers and Cultivation Sects, to prevent such a long stagnation of power from occurring ever again.

The records said the flower mut be plucked just beneath the receptacle (the round part beneath the flower head) and set against living skin, where the passive flow of qi would stimulate milk production, even by mortals.

According to PIDW lore, it needed to be set exclusively around a nipple and occasionally (when Airplane lost track of which plot device he was currently using) tricked the poor woman into feeling like she herself was producing the milk, with all the sudden mammary gland growth ensuing uncomfortable tightness that could only be relieved via Protagonist.

The comment section, which had gotten to know the dubbed Boundless Boob flower very well over several lactation and/or mothering themed arcs, said it was sexy (the horny weirdos with affection deprivation) and should be widely cultivated for use, especially with the healing and purification properties of it (Peerless Cucumber).

Well, he now had the opportunity for validation.

He and Liu Qingge set out for the first ingredient a few weeks later.

It would have been sooner, but Mu Qingfang had wanted to keep him close for observation because he was, technically, lethally poisoned and the healer wanted to make sure that the medication was actually working to ensure Shen Qingqiu didn’t fall over dead at any given moment. Which of course meant Yue Qingyuan grounded him by direct order not to leave the mountain for an additional twenty days after Mu Qingfang was satisfied with his work, with an additional order not to fly on his sword at all because he was excessive like that.

Shen Yuan did of course practice flying on his sword in the privacy of the bamboo forest. He had the ability to fly, what was he going to do, not fly?! Besides, he was being responsible about it! He always kept his practice directly over the Cold Pool so he had some surprise swimming practice when his qi cut out, there was no harm done!

(For some reason Liu Qingge was not convinced by this logic and had berated him thoroughly the first time he found him and fished him out of the pond, bright red with rage. However, he had eventually agreed that practice was necessary but had insisted on being present when he was flying. This meant the War God was on Qing Jing much more frequently, which was gaining a lot of gossip… but also significantly cut down on sudden cold dips. Liu-shidi was very good at catching him. Very reliable! This Shen Yuan was not even winded from impact and despite being entirely hard muscle, Liu Qingge’s arms were surprisingly comfortable! 10/10, would be caught again.)

Ahem.

So, the plan was for Liu Qingge to fly them to a specific hidden forest grove half a day’s travel north that Luo Binghe (and wives #222-226) had discovered full to the brim with the stuff, like a den of soon-to-be lactose related debauchery. Get a flower, take some cuttings for Qian Cao and then stop off a little bit further into the forest to get the first actual elixir ingredient before heading back. The Chiming Silver Lingzi Mist Mushroom, a specific variant of Lingzi mist mushroom that only grew on the antlers of deer living in the Silver Blood Birch forest on the borderland to the north-west of Cang Qiong.

As convincing the Guardian deer to give up some mushrooms may take a while, they’d packed to camp out overnight and hopefully return to the Sect by the end of the next day or day after at the very latest. A nice short, weekend-away adventure!

Shen Yuan leaned further over Liu Qingge's shoulder, squinting at the forest flashing by below them. Shen Yuan had not been allowed to fly alone on Xiu Ya and so was riding with Liu Qingge for this trip, which really wasn't so bad! He supposed that as a top-quality physical cultivator, the Bai Zhan Lord would naturally produce more heat than the scholarly neighbourhood spiritual cultivator, but whatever the reason, it combatted the wind-chill quite nicely. Another victory for the War God. And with his arms already wrapped around his waist for stability, he probably didn't even notice Shen Yuan squeeze his arms a touch tighter and surreptitiously lean against his warm, wind-shielding back to 'get a better look' over his shoulder. 

Liu Qingge had kept up an incredible pace, truth be told. Rocketing onto the sky as soon as Shen Yuan got a good grip and not really slowing down once, ah, actually he was now even speeding up, he must be more eager to get the flower than even Shen Yuan. They must be close by now…

“There!” he lurched forward as he spotted the smooth grey bark of one tree towering over the rest in its vicinity, with conveniently placed branched for easy landing. He cupped his hand over Liu Qingge’s wind-flushed red ear (with a bit of difficulty as he had to stretch his arm up across his chest to reach) to be hard over the wind, “that big beech tree’s the one. The grove should be hidden at the base of it, but if you land in the branched we can climb down easily”

✨

Liu Qingge had never been so glad to see a tree in his life.

It wasn’t that Silve S- Shen Yuan was doing anything untoward, per se. There were absolutely no wandering hands or groping touches, no sour, slimy edge of covetous lust curdling his qi signature, but he was very. Close.

So close that the silver silk of his qi turned to sensation dancing across Liu Qingge’s skin, dancing in tune to the bright bubbling of Shen Yuan’s curiosity, flitting here and there with his attention, curling playfully around stray wisps of Liu Qingge’s own qi, an invitation to frolicky amongst the air currents. Sweet and zesty orange sat on his tongue, juicy and ripe, threaded with fragrant jasmine like warm tea.

Even without that, physically… it had been a long time since Liu Qingge had had such prolonged, non-hostile contact. His ears and neck had not cooled since the moment Shen Yuan got on his word and embraced him

For such a thin faced person he was utterly shameless when it came to interacting with Liu Qingge. As soon as a disciple or Hallmaster approached, he put on a cool and aloof façade, every inch the serene and untouchable Immortal, even as he handled the disciples bafflingly gently. As soon as he caught sight of Liu Qingge however (as soon as Liu Qingge announced his presence. Shen Yuan was still training his spiritual awareness and had to be actively concentrating on it), his eyes false-green eyes warmed and crinkled up into crescent, fan waving faster and its owner soon ducking in and out of Liu Qingge’s space like a bamboo branch caught in the wind, new information, observations and teasing comments falling from his lips like rainwater, each word a droplet wearing away at walls Liu Qingge hadn’t quite realised were there.

Clearly, casual affection was more common where Shen Yuan’s soul lived before and it showed how comfortable he was with Liu Qingge to shower him with his regard. It didn’t mean anything, but that didn’t stop Liu Qingge from reacting to it. Shen Yuan even seemed to delight in flustering hm as much as possible when he noticed the blood rush through his unfortunately pale skin.

The climb down was easy, but the ‘hidden grove’ was one Liu Qingge would never have approached had he been alone. Only accessible from above, bulbus flowered jasmine vines wove together to make walls and ceiling around a spongy moss carpet, every single petal screaming trap to his senses.

A startled squeak and crash of foliage had him spinning around and leaping up, the act of holding this infuriating person in his arms a familiar one after watching him practice sword flight tricks until his spiritual veins seized. Shen Yuan grinned sheepishly up at him, “Ah, apologies. I was examining some lichen and a Bronze Nuthatch took offense. Many thanks for catching me.”     He huffed an acknowledgement and carefully billowed his qi to slowly descend, setting Shen Yuan on his feet when they landed on moss, learning in the meantime that nuthatches ‘walk’ headfirst up and down trees due to one toe facing backwards on their feet while three others face forwards.

Once on his own feet, the quick fluttering of his fan slowed, sharp false-eyes scanning the clearing with a thoughtful hum.

One thing he had learned over his astonishingly frequent visitation was that it was fascinating to watch Shen Yuan work. Being the only one aware of his circumstances, it fell to Liu Qingge to teach him the tricks of cultivation, combat and the world they lived in, anything Shen Yuan hadn’t been able to train in before his arrival and things his source of knowledge- a life-story book of some description, Shen Yuan evaded elaboration every time he asked- might have missed.

The soul within Shen Qingqiu questioned everything. Sharp eyes watched for details and logged them within an impeccable memory, even if his body couldn’t apply what his mind knew watching Liu Qingge demonstrate move-sets. There was an element of muscle memory, true, but in the few weeks since the confrontation in the Bamboo House, Shen Yuan had progressed from a fresh disciple with ingrained instinct to a low to mid-level senior, only held back by his lack of combat experience outside of spars.

And lack of self preservation, he added mentally as Shen Yuan walked right up to a bulbus flower and immediately touched it with his bare hands.

He easily caught Shen Yuan’s absent mutter of “So it really doesn’t produce anything before being plucked” trailing off into speculations of the function of the milk to nourish seeds germinating in a new location. He’d assured Liu Qingge repeatedly that no part of the Jasmine of Nourishment was an aphrodisiac or otherwise mind-altering and while only the milk was edible for humans, eating any other part wouldn’t be lethal, just not recommended. So he knew a lot more about this plant than Lui Qingge and didn’t consider touching it a risk, fine, but while he trusted Shen Yuan’s knowledge and recall, Liu Qingge had been actively travelling all corners of the Human Realm for more than two decades and knew intimately how similar some plants looked and how easy it was to be deceived into poisoning by something presenting as a treasure flower.

He called out a warning as a reminder, the “be careful” harsher than he’d intended, but approached the flower and Shen Yuan all the same. The Orange-blossom Jasmine soul seemed to think he needed soothing and rattled off facts and observations about the petal structure and colouration to assure him of its harmlessness. Then plucked one off, raising the suddenly dripping flower up with clear intent to demonstrate.

Liu Qingge swiftly caught his slender wrist in a firm grip and brought it up to his own mouth instead. He supposed they did need to verify that this was the right flower and Liu Qingge had both stronger cultivation and inherent poison immunity and purification attributes as a unicorn, so it only made sense for him to test it instead.

It was sweet and rich. Not as thick as the horse milk favoured in tea by the steppe people. It was smooth and slightly spiritually charged, but by itself only beneficial to young fresh initiates with still-developing spiritual veins. But this was apparently the base of the potion Shen Yuan needed, so that was fine.

✨

Liu Qingge looked up, dark amethyst eyes shadowed by the dark sweep of his long, thick eyelashes, half lidded and sultry and Shen Yuan just. Could not respond.

Error 404: Not Found

No thoughts, empty head. Just screaming.

Then the man released the warm, secure hold on his wrist (fingers curling all the way around, what the-) and stood up from where he was bowed and practically kissing Shen Yuan's hand-

And nonchalantly declared "It's fine."

A pink tongue swiped over thin lips, catching any residual taste. What did it taste like?

He swallowed thickly and choked out a strangled "Mhm!" that landed somewhere in agreement. His mouth was desert-dry all of a sudden, but the closest thing to drink was the flower he was still holding that Liu Qingge drank from so he would absolutely die if he-

The only warning was a faint tinkling of windchimes and a rustle in the leaves above.

Amethyst eyes sharpened.

Like a rain of silver arrows, a swarm of Razor-wing Butterflies burst through the jasmine vines, sharp bladed wings spinning with malicious intent and a sound like scraping metal.

Shen Yuan struck out his fan and summoned wind with a burst of qi, gathering a swirl of leaves of shred the incoming creatures- dispersing harmlessly as his arm spasmed, spirit veins cramping as Without a Cure cut off the qi flow with burning violence.

He heard Liu Qingge call out his name and watched as a blinding arc of sword light immolated the heart of the swarm. Cheng Luan moving lightning fast, cleaving the remaining creatures like a chorus of struck bells.

Unfortunately, in his apparent panic at Shen Yuan rolling a Nat 1 on his attack, he vastly overpowered his own strike… enough that the flare of qi continued on past decimating swarm and hit the remains of the canopy… filled with highly qi-reactive flowers...

Shen Yuan barely had enough time to shut his eyes as a wall of plant milk slammed down on him.

At least he now knew what it tasted like.

…Fortunately, being a PIDW wife-plot, he knew that the plant milk didn't sour or curdle as it dried and only left suggestive white stains in clothing, but even so he immediately proposed a lake-bath for the both of them before they set up camp for the night. Something Liu Qingge immediately agreed to, though he insisted (as much as one can with stilted one-word sentences and avoidant eye contact) on preparing the campsite while Shen Yuan bathed and going to wash up separately when he returned.

He'd put it down as Liu-family body-shyness if not for the livid flush and clenched jaw the War God sported the entire (short, due to the extreme speed he put on) sword flight to the lake, so maybe he just needed to cool off his rage from the indignity of being half drowned in dubious plant secretions. His expression back in the clearing had been 100% affronted wet cat, still brandishing his sword with suddenly see-through white robes.

Not that Shen Yuan had been looking at his muscles! It's just that human vision is highly attuned to movement and the ripple and flex of Liu-juju's biceps was very eye-catching! During the sword flight, he might have given his waist a purely scientific squeeze and determined that despite its deceptive narrowness, his core was no less sculptured than his very distracting arms and skull-crushing thighs.

And he'd certainly put those muscles to good use!

You would think it would be difficult to find a butterfly specimen un-mangled enough for anatomy study, but he had actually been spoilt for choice! The killing cuts were so clean, even though it had been a full on sword bisecting fist-sized insects, that the hardest part was finding the matching halves of a single butterfly in amongst the debris of leaves and liquids. He had already noted down what he noticed about their attack patterns and speculations on their diet and social structure given that they attacked as a collective, the light from the campfire was also good enough to make some rough sketches, so he worked on that while Liu Qingge settled down to meditate for the night.

The Bai Zhan Lord had done a wonderful job with the campsite too. He'd cut down a sapling into three big logs he said would burn through the night, banked with lake stones for safety. He'd also cooked (purely for Shen Yuan, he knew, even though Liu Qingge did actually eat some himself too), caught two fish while he was bathing and cooked them with some foraged cattail root sliced and fried on a large flat stone over the fire. Shen Yuan would have assumed he was the sort to eat raw meat and veg out in the wild if anything at all, but no! The War God actually carried some salt and herbs and a little bottle of oil in qiankun space! They even had some wild peppery watercress as a salad on the side!

It was… lovely. Sat at a warm fire, full of good food and staring up at the stars… he could almost forget that he was on borrowed time. He shot a glance at Liu Qingge to check he was still meditating, then pulled up the System's soul reconfiguration progress bar, staring at the blinking figure. He grimace and bit his lip to keep in a hiss.

[\\\_______]

36%

Now that they had the Jasmine of Nourishment for the base, they could start gathering the other ingredients. That was fine by itself, he had full confidence in the Bai Zhan War God. Except. Except. There were two timers Shen Yuan was running against- why this potion was risky to put all his chips on, even though it was the most likely to work the way he wanted it too and soon enough to help.

It was a simple thing really, to make it a person had to gather milk from the Jasmine of Nourishment as a base and within it place a Lingzi mushroom of immortality, a feather of a fire Roc and a rabbit moon pearl. No fancy incantations or finicky alchemical recipe. Easy, if not for the mind-boggling rarity of everything past the base ingredient.

Except the potion also needed 'qi charging' before use. A whole month of being filled with qi aligned to a specific element every dawn and dusk. Each. For water, wind, fire and metal. The earth element was absent entirely for some unknown reason, because replacing wood with wind didn't screw up the wuxing elemental cycle enough, evidently!

Luckily, Shen Yuan's soul was apparently aligned with wind and water, so he could charge the potion for those elements. Metal would be covered by Lou Qingge, which that still left fire, but they had at least three months before they could worry about that, so Shen Yuan had jotted down some ideas on bribes for Qi Qingqi (as the only fire element of the Qing generation outside of Shen Qingqiu, who wasn't exactly available right now) and left it at that.

After all the elements were charged, the potion would need to sit beneath the light of the full moon and the new body would emerge from it. He had to have a soul transfer array ready before that point, but even that wasn't impossibly complex, just obscure.

There was one glaring problem though, one he hadn't exactly shared with Liu Qingge.

The progress bar.

The sand timer to his demise, but worse because just like a computer process it was entirely unpredictable.

When he first woke up in this world, the percentages crept up by ones or twos after a week or more of nothing. Then a couple of days ago, he woke up to a jump from 12% to 30%. Asking the System about did nothing, it wouldn't even give his an approximate duration time.

There was nothing he could do but get the elixir made and charged as soon as possible and hope it's soon enough.

He closed the interface window and wriggled down onto his bed roll, curling up tight and trying to get some sleep. They were going to get the mushroom in the morning so he needed to rest up.

No more thoughts of death and the unknown! He was going to sleep and tomorrow they would be a step closer to the solution.

✨

Liu Qingge opened his eyes and looked over to the Silver Silk soul, who had eventually fallen asleep, but it was restless. He was curled up in a tight defensive ball facing Liu Qingge, a deep crease between his eyebrows and eyes moving beneath their lids.

The unicorn had felt the disturbance in Shen Yuan’s signature but had afforded him privacy about it, even as silver silk clouds began coiling like a gathering storm, as warm, rich jasmine gained a sickly-sweet edge like rotting and vibrant orange turned sharp with an edge of panic. It was subtle. Suppressed. Shen Yuan seemed to be dealing with it, so Liu Qingge let it be a stayed away, ready to intervene if it escalated towards true panic or Qi Deviation.

He got up and moved around the fire until he was next to the troubled soul and sat down, releasing his hold on his qi and letting it settle around him and Shen Yuan like an aura. Insubstantial, his qi signature flowed like water, carrying woody vetiver of growing things to twine and refresh night-blooming jasmine, while herbaceous and slightly smoky lavender soothed the too-sharp bite of citrus back to the fresh sweetness of mandarin oranges.

Shen Yuan’s expression eased and he let out a small sigh, turbulent clouds smoothing out into gently rippling silk and scent smoothing back to its usual refreshing brightness. Their scent signatures mixed strangely well, coming together like an oasis. A pool of crystal clear water within a rich, verdant forest, stray jasmine flowers and orange blossom dancing across the surface, fallen from nearby trees and vines, driven by the laughing breeze that twirled through the clearing and ran gentle fingers like wisps of silk through the delicately shining white metal lavender growing at the water’s edge. Odd, but beautiful. A secret paradise.

Liu Qingge shook the image away and closed his eyes, resuming meditation… when a rustle of fabric and a pressure against his leg pulled his out of it again. Amethyst eyes looked down and observed Shen Yuan curled close, his forehead pressed against Liu Qingge’s thigh. He must have subconsciously sensed the comfort innate to the aura of a unicorn, rather than been drawn to Liu Qingge’s presence for protection in specific.

Unbidden, his hand lifted to smooth lock of hair away from his cheek to tuck behind one ear. Suddenly becoming aware of the heat of the fire on his entire face, he slammed his eyes shut and forcefully pushed himself into meditation, one hand still resting atop silky brown hair.