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Chapter Text

Shen Jiu opened his eyes. 

"Qi-ge... Qi-ge..."

Realizing this was his familiar bedroom before Luo Binghe destroyed it. He got up. 

He could talk. He could see clearly. His limbs were still there. Was everything just a bad dream? Why was it feel so real? 

Qi-ge came to save him despite everything was too late. Qi-ge died for him. He swallowed Qi-ge sword's shards to follow Qi-ge. 

Everything was not too late. 

He got up. 

Ignoring the questionable looks from his disciples who were passing his bamboo hut. With no hesitation, he took his sword Xiu Ya and flew away. 

"Shizun?"

"Shizun??!"

"SHIZUN!!!!"

***

The Qiong Ding disciples were having a normal morning. 

They had a pleasant breakfast. The weather was nice. Their shifu gave them new tasks then left them with the Hall Masters. 

That was until Shen Qingqiu appeared. 

The man was a beautiful mess. He was still his nightwear. This was the first time they saw him without his usual 7 or 8 layers of clothes. They could see clearly how thin his waist was. His hair was not combed perfectly and neatly as always. Beautiful green eyes were looked like they about to cry. 

Who had bullied this man?!? 

Hearing the commotion outside, their Sect Leader came out to see what was happening. 

At this moment, their shibo's eyes lighted up. 

"Qi-ge!" 

He jumped into their shifu's arms and cried. 

What the hell?!? 

***

Yue Qingyuan was happy but confused and worried at the same time.

His Xiao-Jiu had came to his peak for the first time in like ten years? Not that he minded. He could always come to Qing Jing and visited his Xiao-Jiu. He had a new set of tea he had not time to give them to Xiao-Jiu yet. 

And now, Xiao-Jiu, in his disheveled (and tempting) form, was crying in his arms. Looked so much like a bullied wife who wanted to be comforted by her husband.

"Qi-ge... Qi-ge..."

"Shhh... Qi-ge is here."

Xiao-Jiu continued to sob, hugging Yue Qingyuan tightly. His Xiao-Jiu was not the easy to cry type. So Xiao-Jiu must have been mistreated horribly. He took out his outer robe and wrapped it around his Xiao-Jiu. 

"Shhh... It's okay. Tell me who had bullied you. I will kill them for you."

Yue Qingyuan's usual warm face was replaced by a sharp cold glare. 

The disciples around them shivered. 

Did their sect leader have a second personality that they never knew before??? 

***

"Shizun. I was worrying where have you ran out."

Ming Fan helped Shen Jiu to brush his silky hair. Usually Shen Jiu would not let the others touched him this easily. But his mind was still hazy. And this was Ming Fan, the boy who believed in him and died for him until the end. 

So it's worth for letting the boy to touch him like this. 

Instead of the hair crown, Ming Fan used a soft green ribbon to half tie Shen Jiu's inky hair. He knew his shizun loved soft things. Shizun always hated those hard ugly hair crowns but had a image to keep. 

"Where is Ning Ying Ying?"

His sweet little girl who had to join the harem to survive. 

"Ning-shimei is on a mission with Song-shije and Lan-shije."

"En."

Yue Qingyuan was waiting outside. Earlier on, he carried a sobbing Shen Jiu in his arms. Ming Fan and the other disciples were in a panic. Yi Anwei was still in the kitchen, making tangulu for his shizun. One of the unspoken rule in Qing Jing was shizun loved sweets. 

And the others? Releasing the Acid Spewing Spiders to Bai Zhan peak. They and their brute head shizun must be the reason for shizun's crying. 

***

Shen Jiu became sticky to Yue Qingyuan. 

Qi-ge never told him the reason why he left him? Scratch that. Qi-ge died for him. That's more than enough. Besides, he had been craving for his Qi-ge's touches for so long. 

"Xiao-Jiu..."

"What?"

"I cannot work like this..."

Shen Jiu was sitting in Yue Qingyuan's laps during the man's working time. Yue Qingyuan was in heaven, but God he could not do his paperwork like this. Shang Qinghua would cry instead of sleeping. 

"Any problem?"

"No..."

Yue Qingyuan continued to do the paperwork with a Xiao-Jiu in his laps. 

Shen Jiu hummed in satisfaction. Yue Qingyuan could smell the Jasmine and wood on Shen Jiu's body. 

***

Qi Qingqi spat her tea. 

In front of her, Liu Mingyan nodded her head. 

The rumours about Shen Qingqiu crying in their Zhangmen-shixiong's arms were spreading around the 12 peaks like fire

Did Shen Qingqiu know about this? Yes. 

But did he care? No. 

If shameless could save the world so be it. 

And this was just the beginning. 

Chapter Text

"Qi-ge."

Shen Jiu, after lying about having several nightmares (some of them were real), laying in Yue Qingyuan's bed and cuddling with the sect leader. 

(Yue Qingyuan was so deep in happiness that he thought he might die in any moments. And the best part? It's totally worth it.) 

"What's wrong, Xiao-Jiu?"

Yue Qingyuan had specially prepared the most expensive and the softest pillows and bed for this day. 

"I dreamt of the demon invaded the sect and took away my legs."

"It's just a bad dream, Xiao-Jiu."

"I'm scared, Qi-ge..."

Shen Jiu bit his lips, his eyes were teary but trying not to let the tears fall. Yue Qingyuan felt his heart stopped. 

He pulled Shen Jiu closer to his chest and kissed his childhood sweetheart's forehead. 

"Tomorrow I will request An Ding peak to upgrade security."

(Shang Qinghua shivered. He was still not done with repairing Bai Zhan disciples's dorm. He had not slept for four days straight.) 

Shen Jiu buried his face in Yue Qingyuan's chest, slowly drifting to the land of dreams. 

(It was worth two hours of practicing in front of the mirror yesterday.) 

***

Everyone noticed their cold and lofty peak Lord became sticky to the sect leader recently. The sect leader was always beaming. Sometimes, the disciples of Qiong Ding could catch their shifu smiling alone like an idiot in love. 

The Qing Jing peak Lord also changed in many ways besides being sticky to their sect leader. He didn't wear those expensive hair crowns anymore. Sometimes people could catch him in soft, female-cut style of robes. He used hairpins and ribbons more. The sect leader also gave him a ridiculous amount of ribbons and hairpins. The man would scoff the leader for wasting so much money. In the end he still used some of them. 

The day Shen Qingqiu chose to wear one of Yue Qingyuan's gifts would always the day that sect leader smiling more and widely. 

("I'm not going back in time just to be suffered in the clothes that I don't like." Shen Jiu grumbled while picking a ribbon for the day.) 

***

Shen Qingqiu was planning something. It must be it. Liu Qingge thought. 

He was just back from his mission. After checking (beating) his disciples, he went to the Xian Shu to meet his little sister. He caught his little sister who was in the middle of writing something suspiciously looked like yellow books. 

He asked Qi Qingqi and his shije told him about Shen Qingqiu's recently. Hah! As if that snake changed! A snake would always be a snake! 

Mingyan told him to leave Shen Qingqiu alone. Her shibo looked much happier recently. Their leader also (in some way) confirmed that he and Shen Qingqiu were indeed childhood sweethearts. 

How romantic, his sister dreamingly sighed. 

That snake was manipulating their leader! Using their leader's good heart. 

As the sect's protector and the War God, he must unfold that scum to protect the sect! 

Liu Qingge hummed. Qi Qingqi agreed with him. She also didn't believe that lecher scum. She was not as naive as Liu Mingyan. Shen Qingqiu must have been planning something terrible. This time it involved their beloved sect leader. 

***

The meeting almost started. Wei Qingwei was confused while staring at the tangulu and sweet tea at the table. 

Since when they have snack during a meeting?! 

The sect leader and tactician arrived earlier. Shen Qingqiu sat on Yue Qingyuan's laps. Face as satisfied as a cat found it's favorite spot. 

(No! Wei Qingwei was definitely not jealous!) 

Shang Qinghua dropped the paperwork when he entered the room. He rubbed his eyes many time to confirm that he was not hallucinated. Shang Qinghua transformed from a scaring rat to a confused hamster. It was cute though. 

Yue Qingyuan carefully stroke Shen Qingqiu's hair as if the man was touching a fragile treasure. Shen Qingqiu leaned to his touch. 

(Yue Qingyuan's heart almost stopped beating at the moment when Shen Jiu chose to lean on his hand, rubbing his cheek at his Qi-ge.) 

In the corner of his eyes, he saw Qi Qingqi whispered something to Mu Qingfang. The healer nodded and promised her that he would check both Qing Jing and Qiong Ding's food for poison. The healer also gave suspicious stare at the snack on the table. 

"Only Liu-shidi left."

Yue Qingyuan said. Liu Qingge would always the one who attended in last minute.

(When Shen Qingqiu did the same as the brute, everyone would point fingers at him.) 

Shen Qingqiu chew a piece of tangulu. Wei Qingwei could see the man's bitter smile behind the bamboo fan.

Finally, Liu Qingge kicked the door and entered the meeting. 

Greeting him was a scandalous scene of Shen Qingqiu in their Zhangmen-shixiong's laps. Liu Qingge immediately unsheathed Cheng Luan. 

"Shen Qingqiu! What are you planning?!"

Shen Qingqiu's eyes we're wide open. In a short moment, they could see a hurt look in his beautiful green eyes. 

"Are you planning to drag Zhangmen-shixiong into the mud with a low scum like you?!"

Before the War God could point Cheng Luan on Shen Qingqiu's neck. The room froze at the million years scene. 

Years began to roll down on Shen Qingqiu's cheeks. 

The tactician tried to hold back a hiccup. Yue Qingyuan immediately pat his shoulders softly. 

"What do you want from me?"

"I.... What?"

"I... I tried to be a better person... I always try..." 

Shen Qingqiu could not hold back anymore. He used both of his hands to cover his face. 

"I pushed Qi-ge away... You criticized me. When I want to be as closer to my gege as in the past... You're saying that I drag him down..."

Shen Qingqiu hiccupped. Yue Qingyuan glared at Liu Qingge. 

"Why...? Because I was not born as a noble like you...? So it's okay for you to beat me and humilated me daily?"

(Okay! Maybe it was not daily! But take that as a payment for what Liu Qingge and his Bai Zhan spawns had done to him and his peak before.) 

Shen Qingqiu choked back a sob. He had almost confessed to them that he was a lowly slave. Phew! How close! 

Yue Qingyuan gave Liu Qingge a murderous look. 

"You have gone too far, Liu Qingge."

No shidi. Liu Qingge gulped. 

Shen Qingqiu cried harder. This was the first time the peak Lords had witnessed their shixiong's vulnerable side. 

Guilt covered all over the peak Lords. Especially Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge. 

(What Shen Jiu didn't realize that some of his calculated words that this meeting was his true emotions, hidden deeply in his heart in both lifes.) 

The meeting was ended with a Shen Qingqiu being scooped in the sect leader arms like an upset kitten. 

And the guilty peak Lords. 

The plan had gone well as expected. 

(Ming Fan sneezed. He suddenly had a very bad feeling. He somehow had a feeling that he would gain more work in the near future.) 

Chapter Text

Shang Qinghua, was a normal author in his first life. The kind of "you better sleep with one eye open" author. You posted the story on time, the readers wanted to kill you because it was so shitty. You had not posted it yet? You better move to a new country because we're gonna find your house and burn it. 

Yeah, his first life was pretty peaceful. Apart from the deadlines and bills to pay. 

When he died and opened his eyes, he realized he had a system. And he was the cannon fodder character in his own shitty novel. Not the one he posted online, but the drafts in his old computer, laying in dust at his previous apartment. 

He would suffer with an overworking job and ungrateful martial siblings. Then his protagonist son would be suffering greatly, then came back and made his scum villain child suffering for years. After his scum son swallowed his Qi-ge's sword, he would die and be remembered as a scum. Shang Qinghua would also die after that, killed by his beloved king. Then Luo Binghe would go crazy, kill and destroy everything that reminded him of Shen Qingqiu. In the end, Ning Ying Ying killed Luo Binghe, successfully avenged for her father figure. 

But Shang Qinghua was a normal human. And normal needed to eat, had bills to pay. So instead of patiently waiting to build and scatter the clues about his villain son's background story, he turned his masterpiece into a regular porn novel. Which was always his biggest regret. 

(How could he know that after he died he would reborn as a cannon fodder in his own trashy porn book???) 

And there he was, with a ridiculous amount of paperwork and a bossy system. 

***

One regular morning, Shang Qinghua woke up after his two hours sleep. He had breakfast. He wished to turn back to the past and included coffee in his novel.

Then he realized something. 

The system had gone! 

He called the system, checked again and again. And finally, he brust into tears. 

He was finally free! 

The first thing he did was to go to Qian Cao peak to let the healer checked his health. And bam! He had a reasonable reason to go on a vacation under Mu Qingfang's order. 

He went to find cheese and tomatoes. Made himself a classic cheese pizza. He drank wine and ate spicy chicken legs. Read many stories and went fishing. 

He also slept for like a week. 

(During that time, he heard commotion in the sect. But who's care?! He needed to enjoy his little vacation as much as he could.) 

***

What in the parallel universe am I witnessing?! 

He went to the first meeting after his two weeks vacation. Only to find his scum son was sitting in Yue Qingyuan's laps during the meeting. Yue Qingyuan looked like he could die in any moment because of happiness. 

What the fuck?! 

He rubbed his eyes. He wasn't hallucinating! 

Shen Qingqiu, his villain son was snuggled in Yue Qingyuan's laps, reminded him of a big satisfied white cat in an emperor's laps. 

Shen Qingqiu? The tsundere beauty? The cold and lofty peak Lord? 

What the fuck is happening?! 

At least everyone else were also in shock, not just him. Thanks God! 

Shen Qingqiu was wearing a light green Hanfu with bamboo embroid, and a outer robe with laces. Like the one that were popular in the brothels. 

Shen Qingqiu loved them, but he would never wear them in public. 

Who on earth was possessing his villain child?!

***

Shen Qingqiu was sitting perfectly in Yue Qingyuan's laps. No one dared to open their mouth while he was sitting. That's a first. Good for his villain child! Gain a little bit more respect. Not as much as he deserved but an improvement was still an improvement. Although he wasn't sure about that much. The martial siblings might be scared for Xuan Su more than Shen Qingqiu himself. But again, an improvement was still an improvement! 

Shen Qingqiu happily ate the tangulu that Li Qingfei, the peak Lord of cooking and ingredients peak. Li Qingfei had always fond of Shen Qingqiu. He was also one of the people who stood with Shen Qingqiu till the end. 

He and Shi Qingdao, the peak Lord of spying and information went to find proofs for Shen Qingqiu's trial and getting ambushed by Sha Hualing's army. Sha Hualing's army would not be enough to bring them down. 

That was until Luo Binghe appeared and killed both of them. 

Shang Qinghua was deep in his memories, until he realized that the plate of sweet in front of Shen Qingqiu had gone empty. 

Shen Qingqiu's satisfied face was hidden behind the decorated fan. His son was too adorable! Too beautiful! 

And then Liu Qingqiu kicked the door. 

Please my brute child! Don't create more work for me! I just came back from my first vacation!

Shang Qinghua almost had a heart attack when Liu Qingge unsheathed Cheng Luan. 

The system ran away because my death day had came nearer than expected??? 

My first vacation would also be my final and only vacation????? 

At the important moment, Shang Qinghua was considering to fuck it all and protect his villain child (Shen Qingqiu didn't really need that tho, he still had Yue Qingyuan!), tears began to roll down from Qing King's peak Lord.

Huh? HUH????? 

Shang Qinghua.exe had stopped working at this moment. 

***

The aftermath was a crying Shen Qingqiu safety scooped the sect leader's arms. Shen Qingqiu had activated the sect leader's second personality! 

Shang Qinghua was still feel like he was in a fever dream. 

That was until a stack of paperwork was found in his room. 

"Huh? What is this?"

The stack of paper was higher than anything he had ever seen in his life. 

"The work you had to do after your two weeks vacation, shifu."

His head disciple, Ling Di, a girl with dead fish's eyes, explained for him. 

"Isn't this too much?"

"The sect leader also asked for a new swing built in this afternoon in Qing Jing peak."

Shang Qinghua almost bit his tongue to die. 

"And this had to be done for the next two days."

Ling Di brought out another stack of papers. 

"Nothing is too much, shifu."

Sometimes Shang Qinghua asked himself was this a good idea to let her became his head disciple. 

(She sometimes took his melon seeds without asking him too! Ling Di!!!) 

***

Shang Qinghua was still on his second stack of paperwork, that's when Ling Di entered the room. 

"Shifu, Shen-shibo wants to see you."

Huh? His villain child came to visit him?

Shang Qinghua immediately asked a set of tea and snack. He had to prepare the best tea! His favorite (?) son was coming! 

(Anyone know that the author's favorite character would always the character that received the worst backstory and suffering!) 

***

Shen Qingqiu stepped into the room. Inky hair was half tied in a popular way in the brothel. Decorated by a butterfly hairpin. Shen Qingqiu was indeed Yue Qingyuan's favorite shidi, that hairpin Shang Qinghua had never seen anywhere before. It must be cost a large fortune. 

"That hairpin..."

"It was a gift."

(Shen Qingqiu's jiejies had specially made them for his birthday. He never wore them in public in his first life. Now he would proudly wear them.) 

***

Shen Qingqiu bit the mooncake. His eyes lit up. It was so cute! Shang Qinghua felt he was an old father who took his son out for MacDonald after a fun day in the amusement park. 

Although his son was the most wealthy and the second powerful peak Lord. His son was never felt safe or peaceful in his life. So now without the system, he would love to pamper his son. 

"What is Shen-shixiong came here for?"

He poured tea. 

Shen Qingqiu gave him a chilling smile. 

"Luo Binghe, Mobel-jun, betrayal."

Shang Qinghua stopped. 

There's another transmiger?! 

"Airplane shooting toward the sky?"

He tried, and his son gave him a confused look. So this was actually his son. Phew! 

(In the end, his baby son gave him a slap on the face and made him promise to tell him everything he knew.) 

(He should not say that he was the creator aka author of this world.) 

(But it would be nice to hear his son called him daddy. But he still treasured his neck. So thank you very much!) 

***

This was his son's second life, so that would explain many OOC recently. 

But... 

"Shang-shibo! Shen-shibo took Zhangmen-shibo to the brothel yesterday!"

What the fuck?! 

Slow down my child! What about the sect's reputation?! 

Shen Jiuuuu!!!!! 

(Shen Jiu in fact, didn't give a fuck about the reputation anymore.) 

Chapter Text

Shen Jiu had been pleased recently. 

He had told Li Qingfei about his preferences in food and tea. Now he could have milk tea while doing the paperwork! 

Ming Fan and Ning Ying Ying had spent more time with him. With (his son?) Ming Fan here, no one accused him of grooming Ning Ying Ying. Ming Fan also had more time to pampered himself, so that's a win win situation! 

(Ming Fan was not so sure about that. He's not sure about letting Ning Ying Ying borrowed his hair for braiding and ribbons is a relaxing time, but hey! At least the milk tea is good! 

And the other male disciples were jealous of him for getting to spend time with their anti social shizun. So more power! 

And nothing felt better than being powerful.) 

Right now, Shen Jiu was playing the gupin while his son (?) and daughter were doing their homework. 

That reminded Shen Jiu something! 

In his first life, some ungrateful brats who were friends with Bai Zhan brats were accused him of abusing them. 

Kicking them out would be so easy for them. And some of them were nobles. So Shen Jiu would give them extra homework which had nearly deadlines. 

If Ming Fan had no problem in completing them, so why couldn't those brat do the same? 

The ungrateful children were crying in desperation and endless sleepless night but still managed to fail. What a great sight. Shen Jiu sighed in happiness. 

(Ming Fan gave Shen Jiu a worried look when he saw his shizun chuckling evilly alone. Ning Ying Ying just thought Shen Jiu's smile was cute and he should smile more.) 

***

Two more months before Luo Binghe appeared, Shen Jiu arrived at Qiong Ding with a box of rice cakes which was Yue Qingyuan's favorite snack. 

Watching Yue Qingyuan happily munching the snack, Shen Jiu sipped Jasmine tea, and finally went to the main point. 

"Qi-ge."

"Hmm?"

"I have a request."

"Xiao-Jiu can have everything he wants."

Yue Qingyuan answered a little bit too fast. But Shen Jiu didn't really care. 

"Good. I want you to go with me to the Warm Red Pavilion."

Yue Qingyuan choked on the rice cake. 

***

Letting Cheng-jie and San-jie scolded his Qi-ge for his unhappy days at Cang Qiong sect was funnier than he expected. 

The other sisters were still waiting for their turn to scold his beloved Qi-ge. 

Shen Jiu sat on a mountain of fluffy pillows, one jiejie was busying pamper him. Life was sweet. 

Qi-ge looked like a kicked puppy in front of his jiejies. 

"Xiao-Jiu..."

"Qi-ge, they're my family."

Qi-ge suddenly straightened his back. He swore with jiejies that he would protect and love Shen Jiu until his last breath. 

And finally after hours, Cheng-jie gave Qi-ge a forceful nod. 

"Not bad."

***

Qi-ge stayed with Shen Jiu for a night. They chatted, ate sweets, played cards with jiejies. Shen Jiu let jiejies braid his hair in many beautiful styles. 

Qi-ge painted flowers on a fan with San-jie and gave it to Shen Jiu. Shen Jiu accepted it. The fan was ugly but Shen Jiu would treasure it. 

Shen Jiu snuggled in Qi-ge's chest, surrounded by jiejies and soft flowery perfume. 

Before their departure, San-jie gave him a pat in the shoulder. 

"We decided to give him a chance. He is not as hopeless as we thought."

Shen Jiu hid his smile behind his new fan. 

(If Shen Jiu had spread one tiny rumor about the Huan Hua sect master being lecherous and grooming his young disciples, no one could suspect him and his righteous, naive Qi-ge.) 

***

"I heard it was a threesome."

"Are you kidding me? There's no way they had done that. Zhangmen-shibo is still looked like a virgin."

"I heard that they actually came to visit Shen-shibo's family."

"I had a friend from An Ding saw Shen-shibo called the workers in there sisters."

"So the rumors about him being a pervert is fault?"

"I fucking knew it! There's no way Shen-shibo is straight. Look at the way he sat in Zhangmen-shibo's laps."

"And with his look, Shen-shibo doesn't need to pay for a night, many people will gladly give their body to him."

"I heard that Shen-shibo is Zhangmen-shibo's childhood sweetheart. To make his lover jealous, he went to the brothel."

"I don't know if I want to them or be with them. Shen-shibo recently looked more and more like a fairy."

"..."

Begone the accusations, Shen Jiu happily fanned himself. In front of him was a very guilty Qi Qingqi. 

"Shen-shixiong..."

"Hmm? Please don't force yourself. I believe a lecher doesn't deserved to be your martial brother."

"I'm..."

"This shixiong's ears are old. Please speak louder."

"I'm sorry! Okay?! It's wrong for me to spread rumors about you!"

Shen Jiu hummed. Satisfied with the outcome. 

At the end of the day, the ban of Shen Qingqiu on Xian Shu peak was lift off. In addition of many stories about Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan tragic love miscommunicated and misunderstood stories were written. 

Not that Shen Jiu cared tho. 

(After the day taking Yue Qingyuan to the brothel. Yue Qingyuan would always smell like Jasmine mixed with Tuberose, as a way to quietly comfort Shen Jiu, making him feel safe. 

After all, Shen Jiu's safe place was always his jiejies.

Qi-ge wanted to make xiao-Jiu felt safe.) 

***

"Shen Qingqiu!"

Liu Qingge stood in front of Shen Jiu, behind him was a corpse of a monster.

Shen Jiu knew what about to come. He wanted Liu Qingge to suffer a few more days. An onion was hidden in Shen Jiu's sleeves, Shen Jiu bit his lips and rubbed his eyes. 

"Leave..."

"Shen Qingqiu...! I... I come here to sorry..."

"Leave!"

***

Shen Jiu went to the meeting, behind him was his head disciple. 

The other Hallmasters and disciples of the other peak saw him and immediately ran away like ducks. They're scared of accidentally making Shen Jiu cry and face the wrath of the sect leader's second personality. 

(The Hallmasters of Qing Jing hummed in approval of Shen Jiu's strategy.

"Shen-shidi should use ginger water, it would be less suspicious and left no smell."

Hallmaster Han gave him a small bottle of ginger water.

"We have been too gentle with those assholes. Time to show them who we are."

The oldest hallmaster tighted his fist.

"More fund to buy more scrolls."

The youngest mumbled. Qing Jing was having the best life recently. Qing Jing previous peak lord, their shizun had used his sharp tongue. Now Shen Qingqiu used his tears.

As long as it's still effective, it didn't matter.) 

Chapter Text

The disciples selection day had finally come. 

Shen Jiu fixed his hair with a soft ribbon. One of Qi-ge's gifts. Red earrings adoring Shen Jiu's pretty ears and silky black hair. 

Shen Jiu had given Liu Qingge a chance to redeem himself. So the brute had been waiting for Shen Jiu to escort him. It had been an hour. So Liu Qingge did know how to be patient, huh? 

(Shang Qinghua had called Liu Qingge "Uber". Whatever that was.) 

"Shizun!"

Ning Ying Ying happily went inside without knocking. Ming Fan realized it was pointless to stop her so he let her be. 

"Ying'er, Ming Fan."

Shen Jiu gestured them to come closer. 

Ning Ying Ying and Ming Fan did as they were told. 

Shen Jiu embraced them. 

"Be good. This master will bring back to you two a new shidi."

***

"Shen Shixiong."

"Brute."

The Qing Jing master and the Bai Zhan master were awkwardly staring at each other. 

And finally, Liu Qingge gave up. He threw something to Shen Jiu to catch. 

It was fluffy, soft, warm... and breathing? 

A baby tiger was blinking at Shen Jiu. A little girl with pure white fur and black strikes, with adorable pink paws and beautiful sapphire eyes. 

A regal spirit animal. 

"She's the only survivor of her pack. I found her three days ago. She's a picky eater and an attention demanding girl. But she will be a good friend and spirit partner for you."

Liu Qingge looked away with red ears. 

Shen Jiu stroke the soft fur, the little tiger purred softly. 

"She can also prevent Qi devitation at some levels."

Liu Qingge explained. Shen Jiu also decided to call her MaoMao.

MaoMao let out an adorable meow at her new master. 

"Thank you, Liu-shidi."

Shen Jiu smiled. The first genuine smile he had ever gave to Liu Qingge. It was light and soft. As warm as the first day of the early sunrise. 

Liu Qingge felt his heart was beating faster. 

Shen Qingqiu took off the ribbon on his hair and tied it around MaoMao's neck. MaoMao purred. Liu Qingge with red ears could not take his eyes off the scene. 

Beautiful. 

"What's the matter, Liu-shidi? You also want a ribbon from this shixiong?"

"Yes, please--"

Liu Qingge immediately slapped himself. 

"Huh?"

Shen Jiu gave Liu Qingge a confusing face. 

"I don't feel so good! I have to go to see Mu-shixiong!"

"Wait---"

Liu Qingge climbed on his sword and flied as fast as he could. 

Shen Jiu stood there with MaoMao in his arms. MaoMao squealed happily while playing with Shen Jiu's hair. 

What the hell was that? 

***

Everybody stepped aside when Shen Jiu arrived. Some stared at him in awe while the others were looking at him in fear, as if he's the death himself. 

(Sometimes people wished Shen Jiu was back to his bitter old self. A crying Shen Jiu was both alluring and scary at the same time.) 

Shen Jiu fanned himself, settled beside Yue Qingyuan. Yue Qingyuan moved his chair closer to Shen Jiu. 

"Where's Liu Qingge?"

"Mu-shidi's head disciple just sent a message to me. She said that Liu-shidi is at Qian Cao right now. He believes that he's having a heart attack. How strange...."

"Indeed, how strange..."

People around them had already got used to the scene of their tactician and their sect leader having a civil conversation. 

Shen Jiu snapped his fan shut. Everything around him immediately fell into silent. 

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

Shen Jiu sent a chilling stare at one of the disciples. 

They immediately shook their head. 

Shen Jiu decided to stop messing with them. 

(He just couldn't help it! He still remembered the way they spoke behind his back before.

Was Shen Jiu a petty person? Yes.) 

"That boy seems to have potential."

Shen Jiu used his fan to point at the curly hair boy from afar.

"Does Xiao-Jiu want him?"

Yue Qingyuan smiled. Shen Jiu got a feeling there's an icy tone behind his usual gentle smile. 

***

Shen Jiu could use Qi-ge's presence to forget about the time at the Water prison. But there would be time that Yue Qingyuan left for work or mission. 

Shen Jiu hugged a pillow. 

He knew he was the first one to wrong. He should not have treated Luo Binghe that cruel. 

Luo Binghe was a child. Just like Xiao-Jiu. 

Luo Binghe was not Qiu Jianluo. Ning Ying Ying was not Qiu Haitang. 

A lifetime had been enough. 

Time to let go of the past. 

This time Shen Jiu would be a better shizun for the boy. 

That's what he had owned the half demon. 

***

"Yes."

Shen Jiu said. He had already made up his mind. 

Yue Qingyuan was stunned for a moment. Shen Jiu could see a crack on the man's perfect mask.

"Qi-ge?"

Yue Qingyuan snapped. Then he returned to his usual gentle self. 

"Of course. Xiao-Jiu can have anything he wishes."

***

Yue Qingyuan had died once. 

When he opened his eyes. He was sent back to the past. 

Was everything just a nightmare? 

He stayed silent and locked himself for two days. 

He decided to stay normal. In the meanwhile, he gathered evidences about the Old Palace Master's crimes. He found Qiu Haitang. And he killed her. It was better to kill the snake before it attacked you. 

She was the same as her brother. 

Qi-ge would do everything to protect Xiao-Jiu. 

In this life, Yue Qingyuan would stay away from Shen Jiu if that was Shen Jiu's wish. He could protect Shen Jiu in the dark. As long as Shen Jiu was happy. 

And one beautiful morning, Xiao-Jiu went to Qi-ge's peak in his night robe. 

Xiao-Jiu jumped into Qi-ge's arms and cried. 

Although Shen Jiu's smile was the most beautiful thing in the world. His tears were as precious as his smile. 

And Shen Jiu's tears was the thing that snapped Yue Qingyuan's final string. They had been succeed in releasing Qi-ge's true self. 

There's a life time of a feeble Qi-ge. That lifetime ended in Xiao-Jiu's suffering. 

Qi-ge was a coward. And Xiao-Jiu had to pay the price in years. 

So Qi-ge decided to change. 

***

Only idiots could not point the differences between Xiao-Jiu's true tears and Xiao-Jiu's fake crocodile tears. 

Qi-ge knew Xiao-Jiu had been using his tears to earn what he wanted. 

It was adorable. 

The image of Xiao-Jiu bitting his own lips and an onion or a bottle of ginger water hidden under his sleeves was too adorable. 

Xiao-Jiu had already been cute with knives under his sleeves before. But in this life Xiao-Jiu had been more needy and touch-starved. He also smiled more. 

Qi-ge only could be happy if Xiao-Jiu was happy. 

***

Xiao-Jiu seemly wanted to take Luo Binghe under his wings again. Qi-ge didn't care if it was to revenge on the boy or to fix back his mistakes. 

As long as Qi-ge was here, no one could ever lay a finger on Xiao-Jiu again. 

Yue Qingyuan would gladly burn the world in exchange for one small smile from Shen Qingqiu. 

***

Yue Qi woke up in the middle of the night. Shen Jiu stirred his sleep. MaoMao was sleeping between them, just like a little child. 

Yue Qi stroke MaoMao's fur. 

(His and Xiao-Jiu's third child.) 

Chapter Text

Luo Binghe was a good boy. 

His mother had told that to him so many times during their happy days at their small shabby home. He cooked, he cleaned and he helped his mother as much as he could. 

After his mother's death, he went to Cang Qiong peak. 

There were so many people here. The nobles, the riches and the poors. It's hard to find another orphan like Binghe. 

His master, the most beautiful celestial he had ever seen, chose him. 

The man's daughter (?) pulled him over. His beautiful shizun scooped both of them in his arms. They went to his shizun's bamboo house. 

His shizun helped him bathe while Ning Ying Ying went to find her martial brother. She helped Ming Fan in preparing a light meal for Binghe before the tea ceremony. 

(Ming Fan and Ning Ying Ying were both terrible chefs. With Ming Fan being a young master and Ning Ying Ying being spoiled rotten by her shizun.) 

Luo Binghe was wearing the softest clothes he had ever wore. It's also smelled like Jasmine! 

With a hungry person like Binghe, the congee that brought by Ning Ying Ying was so good. Ming Fan sat near them, helping Shen Qingqiu to fix the hair for the ceremony. 

A little tiger was napping on Binghe's laps. Ning Ying Ying giggled while stroking her. Her name was MaoMao. 

After his meal, Ming-shixiong instructed him on how to make the tea up to shizun liking. 

(The secret was a little bit of sugar! Shizun loved sweet!) 

The ceremony ended in peace with MaoMao broke one of shizun's cups. Ming Fan shrieked in horrify. 

Luo Binghe moved to the boy dormitory after that. 

***

Life at Qing Jing peak was not as good as he imagined. Many boys were from noble clans. Without Ming Fan's presence, they bullied Luo Binghe. They ripped off his notebooks and they forced him to take up their chores. They put worms in Luo Binghe's rice. 

One day, Ning Ying Ying found out. 

She took a shovel and went to find the bullies. 

"Ning-shije.... There's no need... I can..."

"I can what?"

Shizun appeared. 

The man put a hand on Ning Ying Ying's shovel despite the girl's pout. He smiled softly then replaced the ugly grey shovel with a pink one. Ning Ying Ying beamed. 

"Report to Ming Fan after this, Ying'er. And don't hit their face, hit their stomach."

"See you later, shizun!"

She giggled. And walked away with her brand new shovel. 

Shizun took Luo Binghe to his bamboo house. 

"Little beast, why didn't you fight back?"

"They're my martial brothers, shizun..."

"Martial brothers are not, you must fight back if they are assholes."

Shizun hid his sneer behind his fan. The man then took a look to Binghe's clothes. He seemed to have a conclusion about the bullying. 

"Little beast, can you cook?"

And that was the day Luo Binghe moved to the side room of shizun's house. Near Ming-shixiong's own little head disciple house. 

***

"Ming-shixiong! You have to punish her!"

Four boys were whinning while Ning Ying Ying stood near there with a satisfaction look. 

"Why do I have to punish her?"

"She became unruly! She hit her martial brothers!"

"Ning-shimei, is that true?"

He turned to ask Ning Ying Ying. The girl shrugged her shoulders. The link shovel was still in her hands. 

"Of course not, Ming-shixiong!"

She answered with a sweet voice. Ming Fan now can completely confirm that she had indeed beat up those brats. 

"I didn't see any injuries on you..."

Ming Fan narrowed his eyes. 

"This bitch--- She hit on our stomachs! We can show you!"

"How disgraceful. Don't lift up your robe."

Ming Fan took Ning Ying Ying go away. The girl was happily skipping. No punishment. Life was fun. The sky was beautiful. She hummed softly. 

***

Yue-shibo was a regular guest at shizun house. The man was always smiling. Sometimes his smile sent chill into Luo Binghe's spine. 

Shizun scooped Luo Binghe over, gave Yue-shibo an unpleasant look. 

Yue-shibo grinned and gave shizun a pack of peach moon cakes. Shizun's eyes we're lit up as a cat saw it's favorite treats. 

Yue-shibo stayed with shizun for an afternoon. 

***

Shizun always had a small pretty bottle hidden under his sleeves. At first, Luo Binghe thought it was perfume. There must had any explaination for shizun's pleasant smell. 

Until a senior disciple of Bai Zhan attacked a junior disciple of Qing Jing. 

Shizun was furious. 

But instead of lashing out, shizun popped up the pretty bottle. A moment later, shizun was full of tears. 

When Liu-shibo arrived, shizun was using his sleeves (full of ginger water) and wiped his tears. 

Liu-shibo immediately got on his knees to apologize. That Bai Zhan disciple was in the lecture Hall for half of a year. (The usual punishment was only last for a week.) 

After Liu-shibo left, shizun sighed happily in victory. 

Luo Binghe made shizun's favorite food for dinner. 

***

"There will be a trial this weekend, held at Huan Hua sect."

"Oh? And for who?"

"The Old Palace Master."

"I was correct about him being creepy!"

"..."

Walking pass two Xian Shu girls, Luo Binghe was holding his new notebooks. Shizun just took him out with Ming-shixiong for stationary yesterday. Ming-shixiong was helping Luo Binghe with his calligraphy recently. 

"You're a physical cultivator. The first one on Qing Jing peak. Apart from the sword training, I expect you to master at least an average level of a scholar."  

Shizun said that during an afternoon tea party. (Ning-shije was the host) 

Luo Binghe was concerning for his shizun's health when he saw the amount of sweet that the man was consuming. 

Life was good. 

What should he cook for dinner? Shizun liked blant and soft food. Sweets was an exception. But Mu-shibo said shibo needed to have more protein. (And please, less sugar!) 

(Mu-shibo's cry didn't help to stop the other peak Lords to pamper shizun with sweets. Especially the sect leader!) 

Yue-shibo was pampering shizun too much (With sweet treats and flower tea)! He must think for shizun's health as shizun's disciple (personal chef)! 

Chapter Text

"Do you smell something weird?"

"Hmm... I didn't notice until you asked..."

The personal kitchen of the bamboo hut was burning.

A beautiful morning. 

***

"Shizun, please never, ever, step inside the kitchen again."

Luo Binghe and Ming Fan scolded Shen Jiu. Normally, Shen Jiu would bite back. But in this case, it was entirely his fault. 

Shen Jiu looked so much like a kicked kitten. He bit his lips. Seemed to be almost swimming in tears. 

Ming Fan already knew Shen Jiu's hidden sleeves. But he still could not bring himself to see his teacher cry. 

Luo Binghe, who was on the other hand, was a naive white sheep. Perfect victim for the Qing Jing peak Lord's scheme. 

"Shizun, it's not your fault. Binghe will cook anything you want if you ask."

"Luo-shidi. Please do not spoil shizun. Not this time."

Shizun could have died in the fire! 

MaoMao rubbed herself on Ming Fan's legs. Successfully helped Ming Fan cooler. The cub lately took a like to Ming Fan and Luo Binghe. (The one who cleaned her poops and the one who served her food.) 

"What are you trying to make?"

"A celebration cake..."

"Huh? For what?"

Shen Jiu smirked. 

Of course it was for the downfall of that old Huan Hua bastard! Damm. Shen Jiu would definitely swirl and dance after the trial. 

After spending a good amount of time to search Qiu Haitang, he still could not find the woman's whereabouts. Even in her past life sect. 

Strange. Shen Jiu hummed. 

But without the Old Palace Master's help, she would not be a problem. 

(A small part in his heart wished for Qiu Jianlo to have been survived that fateful night. So Qiu Haitang could finally have a taste of her righteous brother's true nature. Or so Shen Jiu could torture the man again. 

Shen Jiu was never a white lotus. He was petty. And craving for blood and chaos.) 

***

Today was the trial of the Old Palace Master's trial. Shen Jiu was dressed in his best clothes. Carrying his most beautiful fan. Wearing his favorite earrings and ribbon. His Qi-ge was also wearing nicer clothes than usual. 

They came with Qi Qingqi, Liu Qingge and Wei Qingwei. Mu Qingfang had declined the invitation since he was still busy with preparing medicines. Shang Qinghua, despite saying he had no time to sleep, came in the final moments before the trial. Carrying a bag of sunflower seeds. 

"Let's the trial begin!"

That old bastard was still in better shape than Shen Jiu in his previous life.

The fist accusation was the lecher of the normal women and protistutes. The little miss Palace Princess was a living proof herself. She's not his granddaughter. 

She was his blood daughter. 

Wei Qingwei provided a sword which could linked the family blood. 

Nailed. Perfect start. 

Before going to the second accusation. The old bastard looked at Shen Jiu's direction and screamed. 

"I am a lecher?! What about peak Lord Shen?! Who went to the brothel daily during his disciple days??!"

Everyone stared at Shen Jiu. 

Shen Jiu let out a faked sob. His shoulders were trembling terribly. Yue Qingyuan had to soothed him down. 

Suddenly everyone felt bad by looking at him. 

(Pretty privilege! A beauty's tears was always more trustful than an old coot's accusation.) 

"The rumors were untrue... Even my zhangmen-shixong had confirmed it to the cultivation world... Why... Do you keep attacking me?"

Tears rolled down on Shen Jiu's blushed cheeks. He had put on blush to his cheeks on purpose in this morning with Ning Ying Ying's help. The girl was the master of creating an innocent look.

(After three days of living on Qing Jing peak, Luo Binghe had sworn that he would never get on Ning Ying Ying's bad side.) 

"Peak Lord Shen! Please calm down!"

"Don't listen to this criminal's words!"

"Shixiong! I brought fruit candies!"

After calming Shen Jiu down (and the said man was munching on fruit candies), everyone gave the Old Palace Master dirty looks. 

"How cruel to insulting peak Lord Shen like that!"

"Everyone in the cultivation world know that he is a cut sleeve!"

"What next? He's gonna accuse peak Lord Shen of grooming the male disciples?"

"Peh! Peh!"

The second accusation was the grooming. The old man was a pedophile! 

Unfortunately, Huan Hua sect had managed to sway the man out of this accusation. Yue Qingyuan clicked his tongue. 

"And next, the murder of his previous head disciple, Su Xiyan!"

The room went into silent. 

***

The peak Lords stayed back for another night. The trial would be continued in the next morning. Qi Qingqi felt her chest heavy. 

Even though she was not close to Su Xiyan, but she knew the woman long enough to mourn for her death. 

At this rate, Su Xiyan's death would be slide away. They didn't have enough proofs. 

Someone tapped her shoulder with a fan. 

"Shen-shixiong?"

"Qi-shimei."

Shen Jiu offered her a bag of fruit candies. 

"Don't worry, he will get his karma."

Shen Jiu told her in a soft voice. 

She blinked. 

Than she accepted the candies. 

"Why there is only mango flavour?"

"Because I hate mango. I ate all the other flavours."

"SHEN QINGQIU!"

***

"Not enough proofs."

The room mumbled. The Old Palace Master smirked. It had been many years. He already disposed every evidences.

Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu were still young. Brats. Not enough to beat him yet. 

Suddenly the door was kicked opened. 

Shen Jiu hid his grin behind the fan. 

The witness was finally there. It took them long enough. 

"Tian... Tianlang-jun!"

Chapter Text

"Tianlang-jun."

Shen Jiu lifted up his cloak, a pale face with beautiful forest eyes appeared in front of Tianlang-jun. 

Apart from Su Xiyan, this was the most beautiful human being he had ever seen. 

Reminded of Su Xiyan, Tianlang-jun could taste a bitter feeling in his mouth. 

"Peak Lord Shen, please get straight to the point."

Zhuzhi-lang said. 

Shen Jiu gave the snake general a nod, then he turned his attention to Tianlang-jun again. 

"I want to free you."

"Why?"

Shen Jiu played with the mini ginger water bottle hidden in his sleeves. 

"Su-jie was an old friend of mine."

Shen Jiu blinked the tears. His nose was a little bit red. 

"Quit the crocodile tears, tell me what do you want in return."

Shen Jiu clicked his tongue. Zhuzhi-lang was surprised to the man's change. They were not actual tears? 

"I need you to kill a bastard."

"I'm all ears."

***

"That was the demon! Kill him!"

Somebody said. Immediately, the whole room unsheathed their weapons. 

"Rude~ I had an invitation."

Tianlang-jun shrugged. 

"Who had invited you?"

A female cultivatior shouted. 

"Me."

A calm voice was spoken. The room's attention turned to that person. 

***

"Peak Lord Shen? What are you doing here? This is Huan Hua territories!"

Gonyi Xiao sheathed his sword when he recognized the Qing Jing peak Lord. What was the man doing here in the middle of the night? 

Shen Jiu smiled. 

"I had your little childhood sweetheart at my place."

"Peak Lord Shen!?"

"You help me, or..."

Shen Jiu gestured the movements of cutting a head off. 

***

"Head disciple Gonyi Xiao?!"

Everybody gasped. Shang Qinghua unboxed his second pack of melon seeds. 

"I was cleaning my shizun's work table 3 months ago. I found a disturbing diary of his."

Gongyi Xiao took out an old notebook. He respectfully gave it to Wu Chen. The man opened and read it. His face got darker and darker on each pages. 

(Gongyi Xiao would never dare to touch someone else's property! Peak Lord Shen forced him to do that! He witnessed the man perfectly copying his shizun's writing to create that bullshit diary! 

Shizun! This Gongyi Xiao was sorry! And sometimes your gaze made me feel uncomfortable!) 

Shen Jiu wiped his eyes. 

"I thought it was only me... But even the younger ones could not escape the man's sick mind."

(The Old Palace Master did give Shen Jiu dirty look during his disciple days. Until Shen Jiu's shizun beated the shit out of that man.

Shizun in heaven would be proud of Shen Jiu!) 

"Poor peak Lord Shen."

"Please don't pity me. The real victim here was miss Su Xiyan."

Shen Jiu was on top of his game! He even had the white lotus aura! Shang Qinghua watched the whole show with interest. 

***

In the end, Tianlang-jun took the old palace Master back to the demon realm for punishment. The old coot would beg to be dead. Shen Jiu smirked. 

Cang Qiong would hospital Tianlang-jun, nursing the demon back to his health. 

The demon realm and the cultivation world had signed a peace contract. 

No more war. 

Shen Jiu fanned himself in satisfaction. 

***

"Shizun, welcome back!"

Luo binghe and Ning Ying Ying were playing puzzles in the bamboo house. (Shen Jiu's precious house had became their new playground.) 

Ming Fan closed his book. Immediately left for preparing hibiscus tea. 

"Binghe."

Shen Jiu stepped inside the room, behind him was a tall demon and a snake man (?). 

"Come here and greet your father. He just come back from the prison."

"Huh?"

In the kitchen, Ming Fan dropped the tea pot. 

***

Yue Qingyuan burned all of the evidences about Qiu Haitang. Now in this life, his Xiao-Jiu would be happy. 

A wedding would be nice. He hummed. 

The evidences that he had gather for this trial only pulled down one part of the man. But his Xiao-Jiu was so smart! Playing dirty to win! His Xiao-Jiu was the best in playing dirty and using tricks! 

Tianlang-jun would educate his son well. The old palace Master was gone. No more false rumors. The brothel ladies already accepted him. Qi Qingqi stayed far away from the Qing Jing peak Lord. 

What would he have next? 

Yue Qingyuan circled a name in red. 

Shang Qinghua. 

His beloved always voiced his concern about the possibility that Shang Qinghua might be a traitor. But no one took his words. In the end, Cang Qiong had to pay the price. 

And Shen Qingqiu, he paid the heaviest price. 

It's time to kill the rat. 

Yue Qingyuan chuckled darkly. 

***

Hibiscus tea, dried fruit, tangulu and milk candies were spread on the table. 

Shen Jiu left the father and son for private moments. 

Ning Ying Ying and Ming Fan followed Shen Jiu. 

"Uh... Sir?"

"Call me papa, son."

"Uh... Maybe later?"

Luo Binghe said in awkwardness. Tianlang-jun laughed. He used his much bigger hand to ruffle Luo Binghe's fluffy head. 

"Take your time!"

Outside, Zhuzhi-lang carried a tray with medicine. Ming Fan offered to help the man. 

Ning Ying Ying was chatting with Shen Jiu, wanting to open a small party to congratulate her shidi for finding out his father.

Shen Jiu didn't decline or oppose the idea. 

After the party, he could give all of his disciples extra homework for celebration. Yes! Extra homework! The children's cry would lure him into sleep! 

Life was good. 

***

"Xiao-ge, what are you doing here?"

"Didn't peak Lord Shen kidnapped you???"

Gongyi Xiao went to the place that Shen Jiu said. He said the little palace mistress was being captured here. If Gongyi Xiao didn't hurry up, she could be tortured. 

"I am having a vacation here. What wrong?"

Gongyi Xiao stunned. 

So peak Lord Shen was playing with him the whole time??? 

(At least his childhood friend was safe. And the old palace Master was creepy to him.) 

"We have a hot spring here. Do you want to join us?"

"Yes, please..."

Gongyi Xiao needed a break. 

(Later on, the little palace princess inherited the old palace Master's place. Gongyi Xiao stayed back to help her.

It was the future story.) 

Chapter Text

Shen Jiu just had a nightmare. 

Thousands of arrows killing his beloved. Shen Jiu became a pickle jar. Ning Ying Ying was hugging his jar and bawling her eyes out. Ming Fan's corpse had long gone under those damm ants. Luo Binghe had gone mad after his death. Mumbling about a kind shizun at another dimension. 

Luo Binghe woke him up. There was a tray of breakfast near his bed. 

"Shizun, are you alright?"

"No..."

Shen Jiu's prize, his long silk of hair was a mess. 

Scratch that, Shen Jiu didn't want to do anything today. 

"Binghe, prepare noodles and bamboo."

"Shizun?"

"Today we will catch some noodles."

***

(Nagashi somen: Somen is a type of Japanese noodle made from wheat flour. It is extremely thin, for comparison, kind of like angel hair pasta. Typically, it is served cold. 

Nagashi somen is an eating style where you “catch” your noodles with chopsticks as they make their way down a bamboo shoot in a stream of cool flowing water. In this method, the noodles are served cold with a dipping sauce called tsuyu, made primarily with dashi soup and soy sauce, a concept similar to cold soba.

And why was there a Japanese dish here because Airplane wrote it in his novel. Just as for chocolate and milk tea.

Blame Airplane.) 

***

Liu Qingge was invited to the outing noodle party. Many Qing Jing disciples and Bai Zhan disciples sat together. They even had board games and alcohol. 

"Brat, don't drink too much!"

"Yes Shizun/Shifu!!!!"

Shen Jiu elegantly catched some noodles. Instead of eating, he put them in Ning Ying Ying's bowl. Ying'er thanked him and put some in Luo Binghe's bowl. The youngest is surprisingly awful in catching noodles. 

Ming Fan was pulled into a drinking contest. The boy lost and got drunk. He kept calling Shen Jiu 'baba' and said sorry.

(Ming Fan shouldn't have used Shen Jiu's name when he gave Luo Binghe the fake manual in their first life.) 

***

"Qi-ge..."

Shen Jiu gave Yue Qingyuan his best pitiful eyes. 

"Xiao-Jiu, what happened?"

Yue Qingyuan immediately dropped everything (the documents about the ice demons) and rushed to Shen Jiu's side. 

"Qi-ge, I am sad."

"Who had made Xiao-Jiu sad?"

"Can I slap Qi-shimei?"

(He already tormented Liu Qingge enough. Even though the man seemed to be enjoyed Shen Jiu's tantrums. The man was one step behind of screaming Shen Jiu to step on him. Time for the next target. Who else would better than the one who spat on his face and criticized his jiejies before?) 

Yue Qingyuan kissed Shen Jiu's forehead. 

"Xiao-Jiu can slap anymore he wanted."

***

Qi Qingqi used to point out that Yue Qingyuan played favorism for Shen Qingqiu. 

Well, she would admit. She had been wrong about many things. 

Shen Qingqiu's regularly visit to the brothel. His lecherous actions toward his female disciples. (Ning Ying Ying had used her pink shovel to warn Qi Qingqi. The other female disciples of Qing Jing also dropped their elegant images and became those ugly terrifying ducklings to defend their mother duck.) 

And this. Today was the day that she knew what the real favorism was. 

"Qi-shimei, Shen-shidi must have the reason to slap you. And took your tangulu plate. You should apologize to him."

"Zhangmen-shixiong???"

"Shen-shidi's hand must be hurted. Call Mu-shidi to come over to Qing Jing peak and look at his hand."

"Zhangmen-shixiong!"

"Qi-shimei should be asking herself what had she done to make her shixiong feel upset like that."

"Zhangmen-shixiong!!!"

***

"Shizun..."

"What?"

"This disciple should go to practice..."

"Nonsense. Practice must be going along with resting. Luo Binghe had been practicing for 12 hours. He should rest."

Shen Jiu finished the braid for Luo Binghe. Mao Mao was making bread on Luo Binghe's thighs. Her purr was better than the Qin playing. How come Shen Jiu didn't notice before?

"Your Liu-shishu just gave me a new physical cultivation manuals. Read them after finishing the tea."

"Yes shizun!"

Shang Qinghua was going to have a vacation at the most popular inn which had a hot spring. Qi-ge also had works near there. So they would leave together two days later. 

Strange. 

Shen Jiu munched his (Qi Qingqi's) tangulu. 

Chapter Text

Drip. Drip. 

Blood dripping down from Yue Qingyuan's hand. 

Shang Qinghua's head was in Yue Qingyuan's hand. 

"Qi-ge..."

Shen Jiu sluttered. 

"Xiao-Jiu..."

Yue Qingyuan smiled at Shen Jiu. A cold feeling spread across Shen Jiu's spine. 

"Qi-ge... What have you done?"

Shen Jiu could not look at Shang Qinghua's disheveled body. 

"Xiao-Jiu... I will protect you..."

***

Shen Jiu woke up screaming. 

***

"Are you okay, shizun?"

Luo Binghe, who was living in the side room, rushed into Shen Jiu's room. 

Shen Jiu was drenched in cold sweat. 

"Luo Binghe, call Song Jie here immediately. This is an emergency mission."

"Yes, shizun!"

***

Shang Qinghua was having a good day. No more system. No need to interfere between the two realms. No more spy work. This working trip was more like a vacation trip comparing to the past. He bought some high quality moon cakes for his scum villain son. 

After his head disciple left, he stayed at the inn, checked his paperwork one more time. Mobei-jun was acting strangly lately. Maybe he should speak to the man soon. Over some tea and crackers. 

His shixiong, who was also his favorite son wanted to trade with the demon realm. Tianlang-jun was nagging the man lately. For go and poetry. Tianlang-jun was a disaster in poetry. Shang Qinghua chuckled. 

Suddenly, all of the candles went off. 

Shang Qinghua didn't afraid of ghosts. He was a cultivator himself. Weakest of the martial siblings but still much stronger than an average one. 

He pulled out some tailmans. But he didn't expect for what he would encountered. 

Not a ghost. But a cultivator. A strong one. 

His sect leader, Yue Qingyuan. 

The poor capybara. The spineless sect leader and his unconditional love for his villain son. 

"Shang-shidi."

The man smiled. 

"Time for payment."

***

"What are we rushing for?"

Liu Qingge asked Shen Jiu. Behind them was Mu Qingfang and Zhuzhi-lang. 

"Shang-shidi was in danger! I will explain after we went back to the sect!"

Mu Qingfang was for medical emergency. Just in case Yue Qingyuan hurted Shang Qinghua too much. Zhuzhi-lang in the other hand, for his blood. The man was a half heavenly demon himself. The worst case was death. But Zhuzhi-lang could always try. 

"MaoMao? Why are you here?"

"I brought her with us!"

"For what?!"

MaoMao let out a roar. Suddenly her small body turned into an adult form. There was blue fire around her paws. 

"MaoMao is an adult tiger! Not a cub! She is faster than any sword! Ride her, shixiong!"

Liu Qingge helped Shen Jiu climbed on MaoMao's back. 

"Go! Save him!"

*** 

Shang Qinghua had been running for half of an hour. He used every secret hiding spaces that he wrote in the drafts. Fortunately, this area was popular in his novel. Six of Luo Binghe's wives were from here. And a princess. 

But he was running out of idea. 

Yue Qingyuan was like a devil. He wanted to turn Shang Qinghua into a human stick. Just as the original ending of Shen Qingqiu!

"Shang-shidi, you know your crime."

Yue Qingyuan said in a sweet voice. 

"I know you still have your past memories. Come out. Come out. Wherever you are~"

Shit! Shang Qinghua just remembered his deleted drafts! Yue Qingyuan was based on a yandere character! A socialpath! 

Shit! Shit! God dammit!

If Shang Qinghua had a another chance for his next life, he swore that he would never become an author! He could work at the convenience store or at a fast food restaurant! 

Yue Qingyuan just succeed in injuring Shang Qinghua's legs. 

No! 

Shang Qinghua was trembling terribly. 

"Yue-shixiong... Please... Mercy..."

"Mercy?"

Yue Qingyuan said in a mocking voice. 

"Have you thought about mercy when you sold Xiao-Jiu to that half demon?"

Yue Qingyuan said in a calm voice. But Shang Qinghua could see rage in the man's dark eyes. 

Shit! He should not have romanticized yandere before! Shang Qinghua cursed his past self. 

If he died, he wanted to become a rock in his next life. No work, no stress, no deadline. And especially, no bills to pay. 

"QI-GE!"

Shen Jiu appeared. He let Shang Qinghua hid behind his back. Acted like a guardian angel. 

He changed his mind. Son! Shixiong! Please let me become your child in our next life! I promise that I will be the best daughter! 

"Qi-ge, we need to talk."

And Shang Qinghua was saved. For now.

Later on, Mu Qingfang (who was still in his night robe) arrived with Liu Qingge (who somehow didn't sleep and in his full fighting robe), with Zhuzhi-lang (who had a face mask and cucumbers on his eyes). 

And a demon tiger??? Were those fire???

Touken Ranbu! How could he forget?! 

Mu Qingfang checked Shang Qinghua's injuries and let out a sigh. 

"Three days with no walking. Later, Liu-shidi will carry you back to the sect."

Shang Qinghua somehow felt bad for dragging Mu Qingfang here. The man needed more sleep. 

"Here, hop on MaoMao."

The tiger looked at Shang Qinghua in disdain. 

"Never mind, let me carry you back."

MaoMao nodded at Liu Qingge. Satisfied with the man's answer. 

A tsundere like Shen Jiu, huh? 

Shang Qinghua huffed. 

Shang Qinghua now just hoped that Shen Jiu would succeed in convincing Yue Qingyuan to let him live. Hell! He would even willingly to be married off as long as Yue Qingyuan dropped off the idea of tearing his limbs off. 

At the demon realm, Mobei-jun sneezed.