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The first sensation Luo Binghe felt when he woke up was an excruciating pain, which broke the air in his lungs and made him fall out of bed with very little grace.
It had been months since he had felt like this. He was no longer in the Infinite Abyss, where every moment was an unexpected victory and where it was a miracle to survive for another day.
He was at Huan Hua Palace, safe – or how could you be safe among people who would curse him if they ever found out what he was – away from the monsters of the Abyss.
But the pain was unbearable, and for a moment, he feared that he had been poisoned by someone who had guessed his true nature.
"Shizun!" a familiar voice exclaimed. He heard a plate falling to the ground, and gentle hands rested on his back. The hands of Ning Yingying.
Although it cost him an inhuman effort, he raised his head. That was Shen Qingqiu's bamboo house. He was back at Cang Qiong Mountain. But if Ning Yingying had called him Shizun...
He looked at his hands and flinched inwardly when he realized they weren't his. That body was not his. It was Shen Qingqiu's body.
Ning Yingying spoke again, "Shizun, what do you have? Should I call Mu-shishu? Your meridians..."
He didn't hear the rest of the sentence: it was covered by a cheerful ping and suddenly a blue window opened in front of him.
[The System welcomes the new user. At the moment the service is offline, but we will guarantee 24-hour assistance. The service will be active again as soon as possible. Thank you for choosing us.]
If there was one thing Luo Binghe was, it was adaptable. After the initial surprise – and the much, much pain – he managed to keep enough control to order Ning Yingying to call Mu Qingfang and then settle down before the doctor arrived.
[The System welcomes the new user...]
"What are you?" the half-demon asked once again but got nothing but always the same answer. The System will help him in case of need. It was offline at the time (whatever that meant). No, it won't tell him what it was exactly.
The frustration had reached its peak, and he couldn't even ask for the help of the Dream Demon, since he wasn't there with him.
Probably, he had remained with his body in Huan Hua Palace... God, his body. If he was currently in Shen Qingqiu's body, did that mean Shizun was in his? And if he wasn't, where had he gone?
He hoped that the System had at least that answer, instead, after a cheerful ping, he just said
[The System will be active 24 hours a day to help you solve any doubts or answer questions]
"Useless," he muttered, just as Mu Qingfang entered, followed by an anxious Ning Yingying.
"I came as soon as possible," the doctor said, signs of fatigue evident on his face, sitting down by the bedside, "Your disciple told me that she found you lying on the ground when she came to bring you breakfast. Can you tell me what happened?"
"I woke up in another body and the first thing I felt was pain. I am unable to provide any other explanation."
That would have been the most logical step to take. But he didn't want to risk it. He didn't know what Shizun had said about what had happened at the Alliance Conference, and he didn't want them to try to exorcise him like any evil spirit, putting Shen Qingqiu's body at risk.
So he did what he found to be very good for him: he lied.
"I apologise shixiong for making you come all the way," he replied, imitating as much as possible the tone and attitude of his Shizun, struggling to articulate the words because of the pain, "This master woke up feeling a lot of pain..."
"I imagined it. After all, you skipped the meridian cleansing again," the doctor sighed, taking off his glasses and cleaning himself. You should take better care of your health, shixiong. I know that the loss of your disciple was a hit to you, but you cannot continue to treat your body in this way. How many times a day do you eat?"
Luo Binghe gasped, not knowing how to answer, his mind still focused on the loss of your disciple (a small part of him clung to the hope that, perhaps, Shen Qingqiu had regretted his choice, and that he regretted it). Thankfully, Ning Yingying chimed in, "Once a day, if it's a good day. Otherwise, he is sustained with inedia."
"Shixiong, we talked about it. Without a cure doesn't make it easy to practice starvation. Your spiritual veins are compromised."
His eyes widened. So, was the pain he felt due to the obstruction of Shizun's spiritual veins?
It hurt, fuck. And Shen Qingqiu had been saying for years that he was fine and not worried as if it were a minor annoyance.
Shizun, what the hell?!
"I..."
"Are you taking your medicine?" the doctor asked again, and in the face of Binghe's silence, it was again Ning Yingying who answered, "He will only take it if I or Ming-shixiong remind him of it."
Mu Qingfang let out a long, tired sigh as if he was expecting it.
"And I guess you spend most of your time kneeling in front of the sword mound, despite telling you several times that it was harmful to your body," he said and looked at Ning Yingying for confirmation.
"That's what Shizun does," was her reply, and Luo Binghe felt his heart clench. Mound of the sword? Had Shen Qingqiu erected a mound for him? Even if he hated him?
(Except he wasn't sure if he did, and he wanted answers so badly, but he couldn't ask him because he didn't know where he was and the System wasn't useful either.)
"Shen-shixiong, I know we've already talked about it, but you can't go on like this. You are seriously compromising your body," he reminded him, his tone stern and with a hint of exasperation, "Your disciple would not have wanted this for you."
He did not know what to say. Oh, he had answers ready, but they were all too detached, too fake to be convincing. Therefore, he chose silence.
This must have been familiar to Mu Qingfang, too, as he simply shook his head and proceeded with the cleaning of the meridians.
It was a long, tedious process, and gave Luo Binghe too much time to think.
If sending me away was so painful, why did you do it?
Do you hate me?
Shizun, why didn't you ever say how much Without a cure hurts? Why did you hide your pain from me? You didn't trust me?
At the end of the treatment, Mu Qingfang stood up, with a final warning to him, "Really rest this time, shixiong. Don't force yourself to be taken to the infirmary to be kept under observation."
"I will," he replied, and he wasn't lying. He had to take care of Shen Qingqiu's body while he was there. He would not have tolerated any more damage being done to him.
Hours later, Luo Binghe ventured to sit up on the bed. The pain had passed, but it had left a feeling of soreness that weighed down his body. Moving around was difficult, he felt like he was in the body of an old man and not that of an immortal cultivator.
He had always admired his master for the elegance with which he moved and for the grace with which he did everything. He would never have imagined how much effort there was behind to hide the defects of a body that rebelled against him every day.
If he didn't have Without a cure, Shen Qingqiu's body wouldn't be so bad. If there were no poison, his master would not have to force himself to do the most basic things, such as getting out of bed.
If it weren't for Luo Binghe, the cultivation of his Shizun would not have suffered such serious damage as to compromise his body.
"Oh, Shizun... this humble one did not deserve such a sacrifice..."
He was ready for a good hour of self-pity (it is not that he could do much when he was in that state, and the System was not helpful) when Shang Qinghua entered the bamboo house without any invitation and any ceremony.
How rude.
"Bro, today you are a rag. Have you decided to go back to being a weeb and lock yourself in confinement for the next two years?" Shang Qinghua asked, in a language Luo Binghe did not know.
Before he could open his mouth to speak – after all, the man was a spy and worked for Mobei-Jun, so he should have some use – the Peak Lord sat completely boneless behind the coffee table, muttering, "I have too much work. The management of the sect, the spying for my king, the growth of the seeds of the Flowers for... you know...“
"The seeds for what?"
"For our plan b, aka how to escape death and live more or less happily ever after."
Luo Binghe blanched. Escape death? Was Shen Qingqiu's condition so bad that you had to think about this?
But no, it didn't make sense. Mu Qingfang would have noticed it (although he hadn't even realized that the person occupying Shen Qingqiu's body was not the original one, so there were legitimate doubts about his abilities).
Also, why did Shang Qinghua get involved? The last time he checked, the Peak Lord had not been infected with any deadly poison nor was he sick.
"Don't look at me like that, I'm doing my best," the An Ding Peak Lord said, pointing his finger at him in an accusatory manner. "Be relieved that Luo Binghe will come out of the Abyss in two years and..."
"Two years?" he croaked, in confusion.
Did Shizun know he was going to get out? He knew this and was preparing a reserve corps in case Binghe wanted to...
No, it couldn't be. He must have known that he would not hurt him for what had happened, was he?
(Except that it was possible. The dead look with which he had looked at him, the punishment given to a lowly half-demon. He could believe that Luo Binghe, the monster that he was, would return to take revenge on the man who had driven him out.)
"Yes, two years, bro," Shang Qinghua repeated, slowly dropping his words as if he were talking to an idiot. He felt offended on behalf of Shizun. "Hell, today is one of the bad days, huh? You don't even look like yourself. Did the System wake up and give you a penalty or something?"
At the mention of the System, Luo Binghe jumped up, and with enormous effort, almost pounced on Shang Qinghua, putting his hands on his shoulders.
He growled, "What do you know about the System?"
"Bro? What the..."
"I asked you a question: what do you know about the System?"
"I have it too, you don't have to be all paranoid. I swear, you don't even seem to know..."
He paused, assuming an alarmed expression that made him look like a hamster. He tried to get up, but Luo Binghe managed to keep him pinned to the ground, using the little spiritual energy he could use, mentally asking Shizun for forgiveness for his abuse.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, a voice too similar to the one before, when there was no kindness in his Shizun, only bitterness and anger. "I asked you a question."
"You are not Shen Qingqiu," Shang Qinghua stammered, swallowing hard. "You're not even the original, otherwise everyone would have already known... God, has the System deducted points? Did it finally take his soul out of this body to replace it with someone who would follow the plot more? It would make sense but..."
"Plot? Points? What are you talking about?" he growled, squeezing the other farmer's shoulders tightly. He was just lucky that Shang Qinghua's cultivation was mediocre. Anyone else would have already knocked him down at that time.
"You know what I'm talking about. You had to be a reader too, am I right? You got angry about the ending and you ended up here. At the worst moment by the way, since the revenge arc is about to begin and..."
He paused, widening his eyes. Whatever his System was saying, it didn't have to be good.
"Oh... you're not a reader," Shang Qinghua exhaled, terrified. "You are..."
"I'm Luo Binghe," he revealed, finding it useless to hide his identity, as it would only slow down his chances of getting his answers. "Now, we had to talk."
"....so you're telling me that the System is a sort of God, giving and taking away points at will for its amusement and that you and Shizun have been under its control for years? Did I understand correctly?"
Shang Qinghua moved uncomfortably in his seat, under the relentless gaze of Luo Binghe.
The man swallowed, "Well... sort of..."
"Sort of?" he repeated, irritated.
The Peak Lord gasped, "Look, you're lucky your System is still dormant. Whatever is responsible for the exchange must have caused an error that the System has yet to acknowledge, so it treats you as an ordinary user and not as... well, you. But I have quite stringent constraints and I can't speak without risking a very, very painful death."
He felt no sympathy for that traitor, not after the confused explanations about a written destiny and a story to follow. However, he found himself asking, "Is Shizun also subject to these constraints?"
"What do you think?
"And he can't talk about the System, with anyone. Like you."
Shang Qinghua seemed on the verge of tears, "Maybe yes, maybe not."
"So it's a yes," Luo Binghe guessed. "If he had done so, his soul would have been taken out of this body as punishment, and perhaps replaced with someone more malleable."
He did not wait for Shang Qinghua to find a satisfactory answer for his System. He continued, "Shen Qingqiu is not the original one. He is another person."
It wasn't a question. Now he understood what had happened six years ago, after the qi deviation that had almost killed his master.
There had been rumors, he reminded them, of a memory loss that had caused a drastic change in character.
He had asked himself questions in the face of the sudden change, but then... He had simply accepted it. He preferred a gentler Shen Qingqiu, though perhaps one with no memory, to one with all his memories who treated him like a beast.
Shen Qingqiu had not become kinder. He was dead, replaced by another person, with a tyrannical god that had imposed missions on him for his amusement, threatening terrible repercussions if he did not comply.
A terrible thought made its way into his mind: what if his kindness had been a lie? Just another mission of the System to make things more interesting?
It was a terrible thought, and he wishes he could say that no, Shen Qingqiu was kind because he wanted to be, but with a god who follows your every move, forcing you to do what he wanted, how free could you be?
"The System... it gave missions... and among these... There was also... to be kind to me?"
"Oh, no," Shang Qinghua replied, this time with ease, involuntarily removing weight from his chest, "Indeed, I'm sure that Cucumber... I mean, Shen Qingqiu's life would have been easier if you hadn't stayed in his Peak. He may have spoiled you a little too much, but considering certain... extenuating situations, the reason is understandable."
"Extenuating situations?"
The man took on an unhappy expression, "You like to ask me difficult questions, huh? Look, let's just say Shen Qingqiu already knew you, in a way. And let's say that he liked you very, very much. He liked you so much that he got angry about a certain thing and... well, he was brought here. There were rules that he managed to bypass, and once those rules were removed, he was able to spoil you tremendously, as he wanted to do for a very long time."
"A long time?" he squeaked, feeling a warmth pervade him everywhere, his heart beating fast at the knowledge that Shizun, despite the System, had had a choice, and had chosen to be the wonderful man he had fallen in love with.
"Oh believe me... a long, long time," Shang Qinghua said with an elusive look, only to curse at the air screaming, "Hey, I didn't say anything! It was just... oh come on..."
"You're arguing... with the System?"
"Yes, Shen Qingqiu and I do this often. Sometimes it's... Never mind."
"And did he try to fight during the Alliance Immortal Conference as well?" he ventured to ask.
Shang Qinghua's gaze darkened, "Listen, if you want revenge..."
"I don't want to do that," he spat angrily. "I don't care about the fate that the System wants, nor what heaven has decided for me. I just want to know... why, if Shizun cared about me, he threw me away?"
Another grimace of pain crossed Shang Qinghua's face, and the cultivator muttered, "He had no choice. Just as I didn't have it."
"Did the System want him to throw me into the Abyss?"
Silence. So, it was what the System had asked for. And if even Shen Qingqiu, who had always rebelled, had no choice but to obey, it meant that he had no choice.
He pursed, "The System forced him to throw me into the Abyss. If he hadn't, it would have ripped out his soul, making return the original Shen Qingqiu."
"I'm not sure that he would have returned..."
"But that's what would have happened," he continued, his hatred growing with the horror. The System had forced Shizun's hand. The System had ruined everything. And for what? Destiny? Entertainment? Sadism?
"I couldn't say that," Shang Qinghua said, shrugging his shoulders, "He is... well, you know how he is. But don't... yes, you know... he wouldn't have chosen to throw his favourite into literal Hell if..."
If he had a choice.
Torn between the exaltation of being the favourite and anger at a punishing and manipulative god, Luo Binghe said, "You are preparing alternative bodies for a future that the System has declared inevitable. Like my fall into the Abyss. But Shang-shishu, you said it would take another two years before I returned from the Abyss..."
"Yes, I said it..."
"But I got out first," he said, leaning forward, "I've already gone against the will of the System."
"If you are in Huan Hua Palace no, you haven't. And not even if you have Xin Mo... and if you are married..."
"I'm not married," he blurted out, disgusted at the thought of being with someone other than Shen Qingqiu (his Shen Qingqiu), "And even though I did those things... I can make my own choices. I won't follow the destiny written for me by someone else!"
Shang Qinghua shuddered, and Luo Binghe almost expected a talk about what a foolish child he was who didn't know what he was dealing with.
He didn't care. He won't be a slave to heaven or any divine will. One day, he will find a way to kill the System and make it pay.
Before that day, however, he had to talk to Shen Qingqiu and assure him that whatever god told him was a lie.
He had nothing to fear from him. He didn't care that it wasn't the original Shen Qingqiu.
(A small, wicked part of his brain was glad the other was gone. If he hadn't, he would never have met him.)
"I have to find Shizun," he said, resolutely. I don't know if it's in my body or lost who knows where."
"You don't know anything about how the exchange happened?" the Peak Lord asked, appearing genuinely curious.
The half-demon shook his head, "The last thing I remember is that the Old Palace Master made me visit the treasure room of Huan Hua Palace, and..."
"And one of the pieces he boasted about the most was a mirror that belonged to an ancient race of demons that the cultivators of Huan Hua Palace exterminated decades ago," Shang Qinghua continued the odd expression of someone who had just tasted something very bitter.
He frowned, "How do you know?"
"Oh, I know many powerful objects of this world... and I also know that particular mirror... certainly not because it had to cause heartbreak or anything like that just to please people who had nothing better to do than project their fantasies onto characters of pure invention who..."
"You're rambling," he growled, impatiently, "Do you know what it is?"
Shang Qinghua coughed in his hand, and continued, "The mirror you have seen is the Mirror of Destiny. Human cultivators believed that it was to see the future, and they were disappointed when they saw nothing. They left it there in the treasure room unaware that, in reality, it was a tremendously powerful object. Whoever looked in the mirror, human, demon or other creature, would be mistaken for... Um... his other half."
"His other half?"
"Yes, how to say... with the person who was most in tune with his soul... a concept not copied from soulmate stuff or anything like that eh ..."
Whatever the Peak Lord's ravings, Luo Binghe didn't hear it. His mind was fixed on one word: soulmate.
Ah. Somehow, among hundreds of souls, the System had chosen the only one that was only for Binghe. The only person he would love, loved in return.
He had said that he would not follow fate. But a life with Shizun? That was a life he wouldn't have minded having.
"How can we return to normal? Will we have to see ourselves reflected in the mirror?"
Shang Qinghua stared at him, with a dull look, as he said, "No, the two predestined ones will have to... uhm... finalize their union."
"Should we get married?" he asked, excited.
"Um... The wedding could also come later... You know, after ... consummated... the bond..."
Consumed the...oh... Luo Binghe understood.
How many turns of phrase to simply say you have to have sex and you will go back to the way you were before.
He smiled so wide that it frightened Shang Qinghua even more, "If that's what it takes, who is this humble person to say no?"
"Wait, since when have you liked men?"
"I don't like men. I only like Shizun," he replied, decisively. "Wasn't it clear?"
"No!"
"A mirror figured it out before you did," Luo Binghe reminded him, as Shang Qinghua covered his face with his hands, muttering curses against discarded drafts and fans who were impossible to please.
Whatever.
He had a Shizun to retrieve and many things to prepare for wedding consumption.
Meanwhile, still freaking out at Huan Hua Palace and without a System, Shen Qingqiu, in Luo Binghe's body, felt a cold shiver down his spine.