Chapter Text
Shen Qingqiu has been acting weird. After that first night around the campfire where he had been shooed away (which, rude!), he had returned to an empty camp, no scum villain in sight. Only Shang Qinghua was left, looking extremely awkward and inexplicably guilty.
So clearly, Shang Qinghua was at fault. And by the weird looks he was shooting him, obviously it had something to do with himself as well.
Hours pass, but Shen Qingqiu doesn't return. Shen Yuan knows it's none of his business and the prickly man probably just needs some space, and he should really just go to sleep, but…
Okay screw it, he will go out and look. It's not like he's worried or anything. On the contrary! He has to make sure that guy is not up to anything scum villain-y.
It quickly becomes apparent that Shen Qingqiu does not wish to be found. There are no tracks, scents or anything leading away from the campsite. Or if there are, none that Shen Yuan can recognise or track.
After two hours spent scouring the forest in vain, Shen Yuan has to admit defeat. He returns to the camp, hoping to use this time to work out some sort of communication with Shang Qinghua. But the mousy man is wholly ignoring him save for shooting him more guilty looks. In the end he flees into the carriage, leaving Shen Yuan outside, confused and a bit angry.
Just what has happened while he was away?
In the end, there is nothing for him to do except wait for the scum villain to return on his own. Psht, not like he cares. He’ll just settle under the carriage, nice and cozy in a bed of his fog. They say clouds aren’t as fluffy as they look, but when you’re part of the cloud— it’s really damn fluffy.
All curled up and comfortable, it still takes Shen Yuan more time than he’d like to admit to fall asleep. It must be that he’s not used to sleeping outside, or because he slept so much in the carriage earlier. That must be it.
Once he finally does manage to sleep, it’s not a restful one. His ears are on high alert, keeping him in a state of restless half-slumber, where every little noise has him jerking to hazy wakefulness.
Time passes in that half-awake-half-asleep state, and by the time the sun rises he feels as if he hasn’t gotten even a wink of sleep. The sound of footsteps is what finally makes him get groggily to his feet, shaking out his fur and trying to dispel the sleepiness.
Shen Yuan squints his eyes to look into the distant forest, where the footsteps are approaching, sounding heavy.
It doesn’t take long for him to come into focus: Shen Qingqiu.
Still a bit angry, moreso because of his lack of sleep, Shen Yuan grumpily sits on his haunches, tail lashing and tapping the ground. He glares at Shen Qingqiu all the way, looking like some wronged housewife— EHEM.
This time, he won’t let up, not until he gets a proper apology from Shen Qingqiu. Who does he think he is, straight up ditching him and having him worry— cough, wait for his return.
But Shen Qingqiu, once he arrives at the campsite, only glances at him once before turning away immediately, not deigning to spare him another look. No, he doesn’t acknowledge Shen Yuan at all, stalking past him as if he were air!
Shen Yuan can’t help the angry growl building low in his throat. The sound makes the scum villain pause, for just one second, then continuing as if nothing happened.
He can’t believe it. Shen Yuan really can’t believe he actually stayed up late, searching for this guy that acts like he doesn’t even exist now!
Now truly angry, Shen Yuan decides, like the adult that he is, to get out before he does something he’ll regret. With one last angry hiss, he summons his mist around him, rapidly running away from the camp without so much as a backwards glance.
Shen Qingqiu wants to treat him like air? Fine! He won’t stay where he’s unwanted! Let that damned scum villain deal with the mission on his own! He’ll go explore the fauna and flora of the human realm, way cooler than staying by some stuck up holier-than-thou asshole!
Shen Yuan only stops running when his legs begin to ache, far, far away from the camp. It’s not like Shen Qingqiu did anything to call him back, not verbally or through the bond.
It’s not like Shen Yuan waited for that to happen or anything.
Fine.
Fine!
He’ll be doing just fine on his own. He wanted to get away all this time anyway, so this is great. Perfect even! He’ll have the best time without that stuck up guy breathing down his neck.
For the next few days, Shen Yuan goes and explores. It’s one thing to read about the world of PIDW, limited to what the protagonist notices and the writer deigns describing.
It’s a whole different thing to actually see it.
Though the forest close to Huan Hua palace, at least that’s where they’re supposed to be, is not too mystical of an area, there is still much to see for the trained eye. And Shen Yuan, having been absolutely obsessed with every morsel of plot and worldbuilding, easily manages to identify several magical plants and flowers.
He sniffs, pokes and prods at the ones that aren’t some variant of an aphrodisiac, being able to take in the sights and smells much more intensely than back when he was human.
Currently, he’s rolling through a field of Mourning Chilled Daisy Bells. They were not described in detail in the book, only appearing once during a wifeplot after the merging of the realms. Wife number 367, having lost her sister during one of the demonic raids that were common after the merge, was filled with so much grief that a sea of flowers sprouted around her sister’s resting place.
She would visit the grave multiple times, weeping “beautifully” and “soul stirringly” and all other flowery adjectives. That is also how the protagonist found her of course. And what better way to console the wife is there than to papapa right there in the flowerfield.
Typical shameless hack author.
Truly a new low for Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky.
Shen Yuan vividly remembers the boundless disgust he felt when reading that scene, doing something like that right on top of the dead sister's grave? Eurgh.
Anyway, that’s basically as much info as the novel gave. Dainty white flowers, drooping softly, in small clusters. The name is a wordplay, as the flowers only bloom on cold mornings, where the dew is still fresh and grief strong.
The book never explained how the flowers apparently managed to sense grief or mourning and specifically grow there? Also, what kind of biological advantage does that bring? But expecting some kind of knowledge of airplane’s writing is already expecting way too much, which is why Shen Yuan set out to personally investigate.
It was just his luck that he found a mountain practically drowned in Mourning Chilled Daisy Bells. He wasted no time getting closer and sticking his nose straight into one of the small flowers. Nobody tells you about this as a human, but with a heightened sense of smell sniffing things is really really fun! Like, there’s so much nuance to the smells and stuff!
Cough. Anyway.
As to why he’s currently rolling around in it…
Look, the book never said any specific effects of the flower, seemingly just a manifestation of grief. Nothing else. Well—
For humans, at least.
As it turns out, on cats it has a slightly different effect.
Giggling with glee, Shen Yuan rolls down the mountain yet again, whirling up petals and pollen in his wake before landing in a heap of the flowers with a dull thud. He feels light and floaty, everything smelling great and awesome and colourful!!!
Suddenly, he notices he actually levitated a few meters off the ground, not just feeling floaty but actually being floaty! Haha, once again giggling and turning over midair at the silliness of the situation, Shen Yuan lets himself float around, above the field, then crashing back down to roll around in the flowers.
He doesn’t know how long he spends lost in the sauce, fuzzy with the giddy, warm feeling seeming to overflow throughout his body. At some point, it ebbs down to more of a simmer low in his gut, a general contented relaxedness. One that doesn’t make him feel like crazily rolling around.
As he slowly comes back to himself, Shen Yuan abruptly stiffens.
Oh. My god!
Burying his face beneath his paws in mortification, he’s utterly grateful for his fur covering the skin of his body, hiding the full-body flush no doubt spreading across his skin. He groans, recalling his actions of the past, what, hour?
Who was going to tell him that Mourning Chilled Daisy Bells are apparently catnip???
Thankfully no one was around to see his foolish flailing. With one last miserable groan, he hoists himself to his feet, shaking off all the flower petals and pollen still stubbornly clinging to his fur. Better leave the scene of the crime before someone does pass by. Or he gets high again.
After just walking a couple of steps though, a feeling of being watched finally makes it through his honey-like awareness, still relaxed after the catnip— ehem, Mourning Chilled Daisy Bells.
Shen Yuan stiffens in place, one paw awkwardly hanging in the air. All the fur on his body sticks straight up, as he slowly, oh so slowly turns his head back to the mountain. He doesn’t see anything at first but then—
Two glowing, yellow orbs with flecks of green at the bottom and slitted pupils are watching him from a cave in the mountain.
For a second, all thoughts halt in Shen Yuan’s mind. His first thought, thundering through his head: Someone saw.
The second, more nonsensically:
Leave no witnesses.
He quickly shakes himself out of that one, but the sheer embarrassment has him still freezing in place, unsure how to proceed. Did whatever that creature is just appear or… did it watch the entire time? There’s no way he woke it up with the ruckus he caused, right? Shen Yuan thinks a little desperately.
Right?!
Oh who is he kidding.
Still frozen in place, he can only watch as the creature slowly slithers out of the dark cave, its body coming into view but still keeping to shade. Glittering green scales blend in with the grass around, but those striking yellow eyes stay fixated on Shen Yuan.
Huh. The creature, the snake? It must be a snake from the scales and lack of limbs but… It looks… kind of ugly?
Immediately, Shen Yuan feels bad for having thought so. But like— the snake looks like it was run over by a car, deformed and then someone badly photobashed a human face with a snake’s face. The result is really quite… something. Definitely the sort of face to scare children with.
So far, the snake doesn’t look aggressive as it slides up to him, stopping a good distance away. It doesn’t do anything more, just watching him with those… unnerving eyes. There is no malice in them, in fact, they’re quite pure looking, some sort of almost childish innocence in them. It’s simply observing him, looking for any sort of reaction.
It’s clear that it’s Shen Yuan’s turn to make a move, which means he has to unfreeze from his embarrassed stasis. Yay.
With jerky movements, he finally sets the hovering paw down, somewhat awkwardly turning to face the snake. Uhm. Now what. The snake is still looking at him expectantly. Should he try and… talk? Do snakes understand cat meows?
“Uhm, hello…?” He tries, and inquisitive meow leaving his mouth instead of the words.
The snake’s eyes rapidly flicker across his face and body before resettling to stare deep into his eyes. A few awkward seconds with no reactions later, the snake lets out a low hiss.
It startles Shen Yuan slightly, imperceptly jerking back before he can catch himself. Unfortunately, the snake already saw and recoils in turn, looking as if almost intending to flee back into the caves.
Feeling bad for showing such an adverse reaction, especially since he called the creature ugly in his mind earlier, Shen Yuan quickly steps forward again.
“Wait! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. Can you understand me?” He tries again. The snake seems wary of his approach, so Shen Yuan tries his best to keep his body language relaxed and open. It doesn’t seem like the snake can understand his words, which is to be expected.
The stalemate continues for now, one cat and snake staring at each other. Any outsider passing must surely be laughing at the odd display.
In the end, the snake seems to come to some sort of conviction, once again letting out a low hiss before turning around, slithering back in the cave it came from.
Huh. Shen Yuan remains where he is, unsure if that hiss was a “goodbye” or a “follow me”. After a few meters, the snake turns around and hisses again. Ah. That settles it.
Now, he knows it’s probably not the best idea to follow a random snake into a tight, dark cave leading to some unknown destination in a mountain, but—
You know what they say, curiosity killed the cat.
But satisfaction brought it back!
Feeling emboldened and ready for an adventure, Shen Yuan follows after the snake. Besides, if anything goes wrong or feels sketchy, he can always hightail it out of there using his mist.
The tunnel they go through is really quite dark and tight, giving a claustrophobic feeling. Even with feline night vision, Shen Yuan can’t make out much. Which is why he’s doubly glad when the tunnel gives way to a bigger cave with some light streaming in from a hole at the top.
Phew. Taking a breather, he watches the snake decisively slithering down towards the middle of the cave, where the light hits an elevated rock surrounded by water. The snake disappears into the water, circles the rock a few times and tries to climb up on it.
A sizzling sound and a harsh hiss later, it quickly ducks back down into the water. Ah. Shen Yuan sees the issue now. As soon as the head of the snake was exposed to the direct light streaming from above, it quickly ducked away again.
Thinking of how it kept to the shadows earlier, it must be the sunlight hurting it and preventing it from getting whatever is on that platform.
Cautiously, Shen Yuan slinks closer, curious as to what the snake wants so much to employ his help.
On the rock, bathing in the light, small white buds litter the surface. Upon a closer look, they look like tiny, plumb mushrooms! Hm… They seem kind of familiar… Something is scratching at the back of his mind, but he can’t quite put his finger on it.
Small, fleshy white mushrooms in a cave with sunlight… Also, there seems to be a huge abundance of spiritual energy emanating from the mushrooms and the light. Maybe that’s what’s actually hurting the snake?
He casts another look at the snake, where its head is shallowly popping up from under the water, those eyes still watching him. With just the upper half visible, Shen Yuan can focus on something else than the, cough, unfortunate visage of the snake.
And sure enough, on the forehead of the snake, hidden amongst the green scales, he can make out a demon seal!
That definitely explains the damage from the concentrated spiritual energy.
So the snake demon wants him to get those mushrooms for it? Carefully, Shen Yuan approaches the water. He doesn’t want it to think he’s going to steal its mushrooms after all. He glances once more towards the snake, looking for any resistance, but its eyes are still just watching him, with the addition of a sort of fervent, hopeful gleam in them.
That settles it. He’ll give the poor, unfortunate looking snake some of the damned mushrooms.
Summoning some mist around him, he glides over the water’s surface and safely lands on the rock, staying dry. Seriously, wet fur is the absolute worst!
Lowering his head, Shen Yuan gently picks a few mushrooms with his mouth, trying not to damage the delicate stem with his teeth. Once secured, he floats back to the other side, where the snake is already waiting with gleaming eyes, still dripping wet.
Shen Yuan cautiously places the mushrooms on the floor in front of the snake. Before he can even draw his head back though, the snake strikes quick like a viper.
For a split second, panic ignites in Shen Yuan’s veins, cursing himself for his foolishness. The snake was too fast, its head already in front of him, maw wide open, in the blink of an eye. There’s no way Shen Yuan can dodge the rapidly approaching, needle-like teeth—
Chomp!
Just as quick as the snake lashes out, it draws back again. This time with, however, with its cheeks bulging, stuffed full of the mushrooms.
Sighing in relief, Shen Yuan releases the tension in his body. Jeez. That scared him. The snake demon must’ve really been eager to get its hands— uh.. mouth? On those shrooms.
Those yellow eyes, still not leaving his face, are now shining with gratitude. They’re practically overflowing! If this was some kind of comic, he’s sure there would be sparkles appearing and pink circles floating all around its face.
It’s kind of… cute.
Feeling awkward in the face of such an almost worshipping gaze, Shen Yuan lifts one paw to itch his nose.
“Uhm, you’re welcome..?”
It feels odd to not say anything, so he speaks to it, regardless of whether it can understand him or not.
The snake demon, seeming to have waited for Shen Yuan’s meow, hurriedly slithers off into yet another tunnel. Wow, Shen Yuan didn’t even realise there was one there! Unsure if he should follow now that his work is done, he dithers in place for a bit, but follows after it at another hiss.
This time, the tunnel goes on for much longer, and much, much deeper.
The air shifts, feeling more and more… oppressive and heavy, the further they go. Additionally, his nose seems to pick up the slightest scent of iron— blood. It makes the hairs on Shen Yuan’s neck prickle and stand, his instincts screaming danger at him. But every time he stops to consider that following a random snake demon down the tunnel, no questions asked, might be a really bad idea, the snake hisses at him to keep up.
Alright then.
After several more minutes of walking, they arrive at their destination. Unfortunately, that is also where the oppressive aura is the heaviest. Even more unfortunately, it also seems to be the source of the thick, metallic scent of blood.
Gulping, Shen Yuan hesitates at the edge of the tunnel, where it opens to a huge cave. Does he really need to see what’s in this cave the snake led him to? Maybe he should just, you know, turn around and leave. Yep, leaving sounds pretty good actually—
“Ah, nephew. You’ve returned to me at last. And it seems you brought me a gift?” A deep male voice echoes from further into the cave, sounding raspy from disuse.
Shen Yuan freezes in place.
Holy Shit. The snake hisses some sort of response, to which the man (?) responds with a low, hoarse chuckle. But it’s not just the sound of that objectively attractive voice, even if it sounds rather gravelly right now, that has Shen Yuan caught off guard.
No, it’s the sheer amount of demonic qi practically smothering the cave. The energy is so thick, resentful and angry, that Shen Yuan can taste it on his tongue, feel it filling his nose like a viscous thing, almost drowning in it.
He feels dizzy, stumbling back and crouching low to the floor, instinctively trying to escape the assault. His ears ring, and there might have been more hissing from the snake demon, but he can’t be sure. What he does hear is the man’s voice cutting through the oppressive feeling, an indulgent “Alright, since you asked so nicely, nephew.” —
And suddenly the pressure lifts. The change is so sudden, Shen Yuan once again reels with the feeling. As if he managed to get to the surface, mere moments before drowning, fresh air filling his lungs once again. He gasps and coughs on nothing, trying to regain his bearing.
Distantly, he hears someone laughing at him hoarsely, he swears if he had human hands he’d give that man a certain finger. As it is, it doesn’t quite work with cat paws, so he settles for drawing himself upright again and levelling the source of the sound a frigid glare.
His eyes collide with deep, deep eyes. Abyssal eyes. However he tried to imagine the Endless Abyss, this is what it would be like to stare down at it, Shen Yuan thinks. Pitch-black eyes, with a hint of red smouldering in the depths. It’s only when the man averts his eyes first that Shen Yuan can look away and properly take the demon in front of him, for only a demon could possess such eyes.
The blazing red seal on the man’s forehead confirms his suspicions, and Shen Yuan finds himself speechless once more. Seems to be some kind of trend ever since he’s made the mistake of setting foot in this godforsaken cave.
First of all, the man is terrifyingly gorgeous. All sharp edges, chiseled facial features, deep eyes. The slightest lines around his eyes, speaking of past joys, betray the man’s age. He bears the beauty of an apex predator standing over its dead rival, blood dripping from its maw, staring right into your soul.
Raven black hair, curling tastefully around the tips, though the hair is rather knotted and messy. Pale skin, long lashes, strong but lean built…
If Shen Yuan didn’t know better, the man’s beauty would rival the protagonist. The only thing is—
The man is carrying a literal mountain on his back. That’s really the thing that has Shen Yuan so shocked. There is an actual huge boulder looking to crush the man, connected to the top of the cave. The man’s muscles are bulging under the strain, already on his knees, a thin sheen of sweat all over his skin making it glisten in the dim light.
Thick iron chains wrap around each of his limbs, pinning them roughly in place, the ones at his arms pulled taut. A plethora of talismans of all shapes and sizes are strewn all over the place, plastered to the chains, the walls, the ceiling, the rock and the man himself.
How the hell is that guy still kneeling straight?! Shen Yuan can’t keep the disbelief out of his eyes, as the handsome man rasps out another gravelly chuckle.
“Seems like your new friend doesn’t have that much courage now, does he nephew?” The demon teases the snake who’s apparently his nephew?
He doesn’t see the family resemblance, but who is he to judge?
“Look, he’s all frozen in fear! Don’t be a shy little kitty, hm? Come here, good boy.” The man continues, his voice going saccharine sweet in a way that makes Shen Yuan’s hair stand up on end and has the snake demon coil himself on the floor.
Good thing he’s not the only one feeling weirded out by the voice. Still, however disarming and innocent the man wants to sound, there is no mistaking the feeling of danger prickling at his neck nor the intense gaze fixed on him. So, unwilling but having no real choice, Shen Yuan reluctantly steps forward.
“Ahhh, there he is. Hm. Quite a handsome one you’ve chosen nephew. I approve.” The man practically purrs, giving Shen Yuan a once-over before turning back to the snake demon, eyes dancing with barely concealed mischief.
Shen Yuan doesn’t know how the demon judges him to be “handsome” as a cat, but okay. Whatever makes the old man happy.
Almost as if being able to hear his thoughts, the demon’s gaze snaps back to him, making Shen Yuan stiffen once more.
“If it’s my blessing you wanted, nephew, you have it. Is that all? Or did you finally manage to bring me those books I asked for?” Shen Yuan still can’t really keep up with the conversation— more like monologue , and keeps feeling like he’s missing some key point. Whatever.
At that prompt, the snake slithered up to his… uncle? And regurgitated the mushrooms from earlier right back up, spitting them to the man's feet. The man, props to him, doesn’t look the barest hint disgusted, as if this was a regular appearance. Maybe it was.
With an intrigued hum, the older demon inclines his head, studying the mushrooms. Feeling awkwardly stuck in place, not really being dismissed but also not very involved either, Shen Yuan does the same. Now that he takes another look at it, he really, really feels as if he should know this fungus. Narrowing his eyes, he really tries to remember.
It was probably some kind of wifeplot… Hmm, definitely post-abyss but pre merge of the realms, the chaotic qi of the combined realms would have surely destroyed a mushroom as pure in spiritual energy a this one. Mushroom mushroom, what plots involved mushrooms—
Shen Yuan’s eyes widen. No, but… this could actually be the— Sun-Moon Dew Mushroom?!
Used in one of the less outrageous wifeplots featuring wife #199, where she in an act of noble and heroic love sacrifices herself for Luo Binghe to resist Xin Mo, just to be regrown in a new, unblemished mushroom-body practically bursting at the seams with pure, spiritual qi.
All of the sudden it clicks in Shen Yuan’s head.
The snake demon was desperate to get the mushroom to save his uncle from this cruel prison, grow him a new body outside of the mountain. The uncle seems to have also understood this, lips splitting open in a savage, mad grin that has shivers run down Shen Yuan’s spine.
“My, what good things you have brought this Lord, nephew. This is truly… perfect.” The man’s expression is almost deranged, happiness, eagerness and rage contorting his handsome features into a demonic mask.
It’s scary, yes, but judging by the way the chains binding the demon have cut deep into his flesh, his bones cracking and breaking under the weight of the mountain, a bit of madness is to be expected. Shen Yuan can’t imagine how powerful the demon was and what kind of crimes he committed to warrant this kind of imprisonment.
Yep, this is probably the best time to make his exit. Adios unfortunately-looking snake friend and his weird uncle, he’s just gonna sneak on out of here.
Halfway through melting into fog and almost at the mouth of the tunnel leading outside, the demonic pressure returned with vengeance, promptly pressing Shen Yuan down into a pitiful cat-fog puddle right there on the cave floor. Damn it!!!
“Trying to sneak away, hm, Little kitty? How rude.” The demon tsks, actually tsks! Like some disapproving elder lecturing an unruly brat. With the full attention of the demon on him yet again, all thoughts of escape are promptly thwarted. God fucking damn it.
“As my nephew so graciously informed me, you were a vital part in retrieving the new body of this Lord. Of course this Lord must thank you properly.”
No thank you, he doesn’t need any thanking haha he’s just fine, nope, it’s better that he goes, actually, haha! Shen Yuan desperately thinks.
“Trying to be humble? Don’t be shy, come here kitty kitty.” Urgh. Why is that old uncle once again starting with that hair-raising, patronising voice? It’s not like he is some housecat!!
Shen Yuan unconsciously growls in discontent, which results in uproarious laughter from the demon.
“Haha, this one has a bit of spice in him it seems, nephew! Good choice, this Lord likes him even more!” The demon chuckles, lifting the power oppression at the same time. The snake demon curls in on himself at that, hiding his face under his loops of coils in an honestly adorable fashion.
“Now it is due time for introductions, don’t you think? This Lord’s name is Tianlang-jun, and this is my nephew Zhuzhi-lang.” Hm, the names don’t ring a bell, Shen Yuan thinks. There is a pause, as both the demon, Tianlang-jun and Zhuzhi-lang, peeking out from beneath his coils, stare expectantly at him.
Uh.
They do realise he’s a cat and therefore can’t speak, right?
After almost a minute of this uncomfortable silence, Tianlang-jun furrows his brows. “That can’t be right, is he still shy? Why aren’t you talking, hm? Kitty? What do the mortals say again? Cat ripped out your tongue?”
…
Shen Yuan is pretty sure the saying isn’t that bloody.
Anyway.
“It’s not like you can understand me.” Shen Yuan huffs, his voice coming out as a meow. To his surprise, both Zhuzhi-lang and Tianlang-jun’s eyes light up.
“Aha! Don’t fear little kitty, we can understand you just fine.”
And wasn’t that a surprise. Shen Yuan’s eyes widen like saucers, feeling startled that someone might actually understand him? He can… talk to someone? Feeling weirdly choked up all of the sudden, he hastily tries to reign his emotions in and eagerly speaks.
“Oh! I didn’t know! It’s been so long since I’ve spoken to anyone! I mean, uh, not that long uhm—” It’s at this point his mind helpfully supplies that he’s rambling in front of a full blown demon lord, and he quickly cuts himself off, “Anyways, my name is Shen Yuan.” He finishes rather abruptly after that bumpy start.
There is a brief moment of stunned silence following Shen Yuan’s sudden rush of meows, before Tianlang-jun starts laughing uproariously again with that raspy voice of his, sounding a fleck more genuine.
“Haha, well, this Lord is not unfamiliar with the burden of being unheard. We can certainly have a nice chat for a bit until this Lord’s body is fully grown.” He says with— was that a wink?! Towards him and Zhuzhi-lang.
Once again, Shen Yuan feels as if he’s missing something, but he’s not dwelling on it. What’s been nagging on his mind is the fact that someone with such strong demonic energy like the demon lord in front of him apparently intends to use the Sun-Moon Dew Mushroom to grow himself a new body.
That would totally not work! The two energies would undoubtedly clash and the mushroom-body would most likely degrade in a matter of months! But looking at the two demons, it doesn’t seem like they’re aware of that particular fact?
The problem is: Does he bring it up and risk incurring the wrath of a frustrated demon lord? Or does he wait, sneak away and hope to avoid being blamed for not speaking up?
While Shen Yuan was busy thinking over this dilemma, the demon uncle and nephew chatted amongst themselves about planting the body, Zhuzhi-lang’s long snake body wiggling in unconcealed excitement while a rare, soft smile plays around the edges of Tianlang-jun’s eyes.
Looking at the unexpectedly warm scene, something twists in Shen Yuan’s gut.
He’s made so many bad decisions already today, what is one more?
“Uhm, excuse me, Tianlang-jun and Xizhi— eh, Zhuzhi-lang, I think there’s something you should know. The Sun-Moon Dew Mushroom is a fungus full of spiritual energy. A demon’s demonic energy would likely, uh, clash with that and the body might… rot.”
There, stated as bluntly and clearly as possible. Shen Yuan winces at the sudden cooling atmosphere, feeling like an absolute scum for destroying the happy and expectant atmosphere around the two. Half expecting to be yelled at after the prolonged silence, he squeezes his eyes shut.
Instead, his ears pick up on an imperceptible sigh. “This Lord was… aware, it would not be this easy. However, that is a price I’m willing to pay to get out of this hell.” Tianlang-jun says, sounding carefully neutral. Zhuzhi-lang nudges against his hand with his head, as if to cheer him up.
Shen Yuan absolutely can’t let the situation stay like this, this is just too- too tragic! Mind racing, he tries to think up a solution.
“Uh well, I think you have two other options.” Shen Yuan starts, feeling the pressure as both of their gazes zero in on him again. “For one, you could try to somehow reverse the energy of the mushroom, or somehow change it to accept demonic energy instead. Though I’m not sure how that’d work…” He trails off, lost in thought.
“And? The second option?” Tianlang-jun prompts, still with that sternly neutral tone of voice betraying no emotions.
“Ah, well, your current body seems still mostly intact, that would probably heal once you’re out of here, right?” Shen Yuan vaguely gestures to the mess of chains, wounds, scars and broken bones all around the demon's arms, legs and torso.
“Of course. Wounds like this are nothing to this Lord.” Tianlang-jun confirms.
“Well, since your body is still strong, we might be able to do something about the chains holding and restraining your energy?”
Shen Yuan has been thinking about how all these talismans and chains manage to hold a demon of the calibre of Tianlang-jun. The demonic energy he manages to emit, even chained down and suppressed like this, is frankly insane. Surely he must easily break through any spiritual entrapments with a wave of his finger?
So what if it’s not actually spiritual energy at all? What if it utilises demonic energy instead, more specifically, Tianlang-jun’s own energy? It’s genius, really, that way Tianlang-jun and his fellow demons would never be able to free him. Only a cultivator or spiritual being could be able to free him, and even then massive amounts of energy would be required to match Tianlang-juns.
Tianlang-jun clears his throat, raising an eyebrow at him to keep going.
“Right. We could try to use the strong spiritual energy contained in the mushroom and release them at once, overloading the talismans! You could use that opportunity to break free and escape.” Shen Yuan finishes, watching for Tianlang-jun's reaction nervously.
The older demon looks a bit stumped at first, brows furrowed in concentration. But then his eyes light up and finally, that straining mask of neutrality falls away from his face. “What a delightfully brutal idea, dear Shen Yuan. My nephew really lucked out by meeting you, hm?”
It’s a relief to have that teasing nature back, Shen Yuan finds he really prefers the goofy side of the demon lord to his serious and scary side.
“Very well, let’s try it!” Tianlang-jun exclaims, and Shen Yuan is certain he would clap his hands once if they weren’t tied apart. It’s.. weird, how cheerful he manages to stay even in such a situation. Or well, pretends to.
As Shen Yuan is the least demonic of the three, though Tianlang-Jun did inform him he classified as a “demon”. In the sense that, while his energy is not traditionally demonic, his species does hail from the demon realm and shares the demon cultural aspects.
Shen Yuan doesn’t really know how to feel about that, but it’s something to shelve for later.
Unfortunately, Shen Yuan also has the lowest cultivation of the three by far, as well as the least experience with… cultivator stuff. He’s only recently gotten those “lessons” from Shen Qingqiu after all. So it’s Tianlang-jun teaching him how to feel out the arrays hidden within the chains and talismans.
Or rather— tries to.
Turns out Tianlang-jun is not that great of a teacher. His explanations amount to “just feel it”. Unfortunately, Shen Yuan can’t “just feel it”. And what do they expect? Judging from the intricate seal and power bleeding from Tianlang-jun even in his suppressed state, they must definitely belong to noble lineages.
Whereas Shen Yuan is just some random millennial soul shoved into a clouded leopard ripoff, nothing noble about that.
Tianlang-jun’s shitty explanations is what draws the whole process out for three days, Shen Yuan decides stalwartly. Honestly, he doesn’t even know how he managed to be around the man for three whole days. Don’t get him wrong, Tianlang-jun is… nice enough.
“Come on Shen Yuan, don’t you want to show off your prowess? Zhuzhi is watching after all.” Tianlang-jun giggles like some schoolgirl, winking at him and speaking in that suggestive voice. All Shen Yuan can do is roll his eyes, already desensitised to it. Zhuzhi-lang on the other hand, still coils his long body in embarrassment, which only spurs Tianlang-jun on even more!
If only Tianlang-jun would stop trying to set him up with his Nephew!
He knows he’s not very… knowledgeable about matters of the heart, but even he got the hint after the first day when that old demon practically spelled it out for him which—! The impracticality of a cat and a snake marrying in the first place, he only met Zhuzhi-lang literally yesterday!!
Obviously, Shen Yuan is not taking the offer seriously. Yet it's still grating on his nerves, being teased with it day in, day out. The only good thing is that it makes Shen Yuan try even harder to break Tianlang-jun’s prison, if only to escape the cave and consequently those two.
It’s a bit unfair to Zhuzhi-lang since he’s been nothing but shy and helpful, but then again he’s not exactly stopping Tianlang-jun’s behaviour either.
So it is with an intense feeling of relief that Shen Yuan finally manages to locate the exact flow of energy, with the help of Zhuzhi-lang channeling some of his demonic qi through his back with the tip of his tail.
“I’ve got it. Xhizhi- cough, Zhuzhi-lang, quickly bring the mushrooms.” Upon hearing Shen Yuan’s words, the snake quickly slithers to their stash of mushrooms, depositing them in front of him. Inwardly grimacing at the shiny with spit looking mushrooms, he places his paw on top of the pile.
He can feel intense eyes focusing on him, all but burning a hole in the back of his head. Great, no pressure at all. With one last shaky exhale, he starts drawing the potent spiritual energy of the mushroom into his body, using it as a medium to channel the energy into the huge, intricate array.
Following the path he’s mapped out together with Zhuzhi-lang, he lets the energy trickle into the web of talismans and chains. Once he’s certain the energy is flowing the right way, he opens the floodgates.
Quite literally.
Torrential energy floods the system, seemingly never ending and continuously increasing in intensity. Already, a low whirr resounds in the cave, the talismans and chains aching to support such a massive increase in energy.
Almost instantly, the demonic energy being siphoned by Tianlang-jun is replaced by the mushroom’s qi in its entirety. The more energy he pours into it, the louder the whirring gets, now with ominous creaking and crackling of energy.
Shen Yuan squeezes his eyes shut, the energy rushing through his system making his veins ache. He also kind of feels like the entire thing is about to explode. But even if he wanted to stop and pull back now, he couldn’t. He can only hang on for dear life and wait for either the energy of the mushrooms to deplete or the array to overload.
In the end, it’s the latter.
With the massive influx of energy, the chains and talisman start glowing like molten iron, giving off sparks, until the systems break. The talismans disintegrate into dust, while the chains half melt half shatter. Previously invisible lines on the ground dissolve under the assault of energy as well.
In mere seconds, it’s over. Shen Yuan hunches over, taking one, two panting breaths.
For a moment, all is silent except his breathing. Then—
An explosion of pressure, demonic energy wraps around Tianlang-Jun, the shock of it throwing Shen Yuan to the ground. With a deafening bang, the boulder crushing the demon to the ground is pulverised, the fine dust hovering in the air from the static of energy.
Tianlang-jun seems to revel in the return of his powers, drawing himself up to his full height, eyes flashing red and the demon mark on his forehead blazing, shifting and spreading with the power.
After another breath, it’s over.
As the demon retracts his energy back into himself, the dust falls to the ground, covering the three in a layer of grey. Tianlang-jun’s previously imposing aura is instantly broken as the man promptly inhales the dust and chokes on it.
With the pressure gone, Shen Yuan gets on his feet as well, but not without wrinkling his nose and sneezing. For a moment, it seems like none of the three know what to say. Shen Yuan’s meridians are still aching, but remnants of the mushroom’s energy is quickly healing any damage to them.
Just as Tianlang-Jun opens his mouth, Shen Yuan feels it.
A pull on his very essence.
The ones of the past could be considered gentle to the one he’s just felt. His eyes widen and he’s pretty much physically dragged in the direction of the tether during the tug. He should feel angry, the first contact with Shen Qingqiu after a week being such a rude pull on their bond, but…
There was a barely noticeable undertone there, to the tug. As if Shen Qingqiu ‘s ever iron grip on their bond slipped just the slightest bit, revealing some of his feelings underneath and conveying them unintentionally.
Unease, fear and an edge of panic.
Deeply suppressed of course, but when the usual amount of emotion through their bond is zero, any hint of it seems amplified to Shen Yuan.
He knows this is serious.
Tianlang-jun is looking at him in surprise, it seems like he wasn’t the only one noticing the very strong pull. “You’re bonded?” He says, letting out a sound of surprise. Having no time to chit chat or explain the situation, Shen Yuan answers with a brisk nod, already turning to the exit of the cave.
“Yes, I— I have to go.” Shen Yuan bites out in lieu of an explanation.
For once, there are no teasing remarks from Tianlang-jun. Instead, he almost lazily lifts an arm and blasts a hole straight through the mountain.
Gaping, Shen Yuan turns around to stare at the man with wide eyes. Tianlang-jun has the gall to shrug, looking casual. “There you go, now it’s quicker. Off you go Xiao-Yuan, I look forward to meeting you again.” He states, eyes still intensely locked onto him.
… right.
With a mumbled goodbye, Shen Yuan starts sprinting towards where he’s now able to feel Shen Qingqiu through the bond.