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Chapter Text

Shen Yuan wakes in an unfamiliar room with a blinding headache.

He squints, waiting for the pressure behind his eyes to recede. It does, slowly, breath by breath.

Shen Yuan opens his eyes.

When he tries to sit, a wave of dizziness keeps him flat. His legs don’t stretch as far as he’s used to, his hands unfamiliarly calloused and marked with scars. There’s hair draped around him, long and dark and curling like his has never been.

Where the hell am I!? Is this a dream?

It feels real when he pinches his arm, a sharp burst of pain quickly fading.

Shen Yuan takes stock of his surroundings instead of giving into the swirl of panic and confusion building in his chest.

He’s in a fine if plain bed, worn-smooth and lacking any design. The blankets are swelteringly warm, more heat trapped by the heavy curtains around the bed.

He is, notably, not alone.

They haven’t noticed him yet, a man and woman turned away from him standing in the open doorway. They lean into each other to whisper conspiratorially.

Shen Yuan can’t hear them from the bed. He also doesn’t recognize the style of their clothes, some kind of layered, draping robes in black and gold.

The room is entirely unfamiliar. The furniture is old fashioned and looks handmade, none of the mass-produced pressed sawdust and plastic Shen Yuan is used to. There’s no plastic in the room at all, actually, not in his view.

And then he sees it.

The man has a sword on his belt. It’s tucked neatly into a sheath on his belt, radiating a hum that isn’t quite noise but Shen Yuan feels like a vibration in the air.

A spiritual weapon.

There’s only one explanation for waking up in a strange room and strange body: he’s transmigrated!

But where? And more importantly -- who!

He must make some kind of sound, because they both spin to face him.

The woman almost trips in her haste to reach the bed, steadied by the man’s hand on her shoulder. They reach the bed in bare seconds, standing over where Shen Yuan squints.

“I’ll draw the curtains,” the woman says, noticing Shen Yuan’s pained expression. The room grows darker by degrees, covering the strange windows.

“Thank you, Lian-mei. A-Xiao?” The man asks, voice low and even. It sounds like it should be familiar, the tension seeping from his shoulders and back at the comfort it brings. This must be someone the original goods was close to, then, for his body to still react.

He cannot sit up when he tries. His voice comes weak and strained with disuse and illness. “What…?”

“It's okay, A-Xiao, the man says, leaning down to take Shen Yuan’s hand in his. “Jiujiu is here.”

That answers one question, at least. This man is the original good’s uncle -- and hopefully a kind one, given how he reflectively relaxed.

Shen Yuan's mind is racing. He's trying to figure where he is, who he is, how he should react.

Fuck it, amnesia storyline it is.

Shen Yuan prepares to act his heart out. He needs this to be believable, or he might lose his life! He's seen too many shitty xianxias to not know being possessed is a real threat, and he really doesn't want to find out if an exorcism will boot his soul from his new body!

He opens his mouth to speak.

Before he can make a sound, the world falls still and silent, abrupt as pressing pause on a video. The man still stands poised above him, hand so strangely still around Shen Yuan’s. Behind him, the woman holds a handful of curtain, the cloth falling open just enough to cast a long beam of warm light across the floor. Not even the beam of light, falling warmly across the floor, wavers at all.

Shen Yuan closes his mouth.

What?!?

A box, blue and floating and impossible, glows softly before him. Characters and numbers scroll across it in shining white and disappear too fast to read. Finally, the screen clears and legible text appears.

[Loading…Loading…]

[Welcome to the System, User 02! Bound Character Role: Gongyi Xiao, Huan Hua's Fallen Head Disciple! Congratulations, Congratulations, Congratulations!]

[User 02 Mission: [UNAVAILABLE]. Mission Parameters: [UNAVAILABLE]. Please do your best to earn [ERROR__POINT TYPE A] and fulfill your mission!]

The screen almost stutters, blinking blue and white. Shen Yuan — Gongyi Xiao now, he supposes — tilts his head sideways, trying to see if a new angle will resolve this strange system glitch.

It doesn’t. A loading wheel replaces the words and begins to turn slowly instead.

He waits. Nothing changes. It's hard to tell how long it's been with the world frozen around him.

"Stupid system, shitty service!" he complains. He pulls his hand from the man's grasp, a shudder running down his spine. "What is this shitty AI, huh?! Load already!"

The wheel on the screen keeps turning.

If he could throw up blood on this stupid thing, he would! Unfortunately for him, nothing happens when he tries.

Gongyi Xiao exhales forcefully. "Can you at least tell me who these people are? There's nothing about Gongyi Xiao's backstory in PIDW; they'll think I'm possessed!"

For a long moment, nothing changes. All Gongyi Xiao can do is sit in the still, silent world, waiting for the System to load. He takes the time to examine the people in detail—the woman doesn't look much older than Shen Yuan had been, but the man was far older. At least 50, by his estimate. They look like they could be related to each other, too, the same graceful lines and elegant curves to them.

Gongyi Xiao is about to throw the blankets away and attempt to leave the bed when the screen finally changes.

The loading wheel disappears, replaced with faintly glowing white script.

[Host does not need to worry! No OOC restrictions have been applies to USER_02.]

"Not reassuring." (Slightly reassuring. One less worry, he guesses.)

A noise like a phone turning on battery saver rings through the room, the System's screen glitching briefly before it returns to a blank blue slate. It seems a little dimmer, now, but that might just be the lack of text.

[SYSTEM IS IN LOW POWER MODE! Functions limited to conserve energy. Please do your best and earn points to transform this shitty xianxia stallion novel in a first-rate classic!]

[NEW MISSON: To The Top of the Golden Palace! Parameters: Become Head Disciple. Good luck!]

Gongyi Xiao frowns hard and swipes at the System's screen. It barely flickers as his hand passes through, intangible under his touch. What does it mean?

The screen doesn't change again.

Gongyi Xiao taps a few places uselessly, trying to find something that will elaborate a little more. Don't worry? Doesn't this stupid thing know that's the worst thing to tell someone?

After an uncomfortable length of time spent sitting in frozen silence, he notices the X in the top corner. Slipping his hand back into the motionless cradle of the man's fingers and laying back, he fixes his gaze on it and prepares to act his heart out

Within moments the System is gone. The world bursts into motion and sound, brighter and louder and so much more than just second ago. He has to blink hard, trying to stave off the wave of vertigo that crashes over him.

The man squeezes his hand comfortingly, saying something Gongyi Xiao can't make out over the roaring in his ears, and withdraws.

His mind races, undetered.

He has only the vaguest memory of Gongyi Xiao, that bland character foil that had been thrown away so uselessly. This transmigrator will definitely be clinging to the protagonist's thighs, thank you! He wants to survive to enjoy the protagonist's reign!

But first — he needs some sort of power or position. Obviously, the position for Luo Binghe's right hand man is already occupied. And Mobei Jun can keep it, thank you! Gongyi Xiao remembers how much of the dirty work of running a kingdom Luo Bingge had dumped on Mobei Jun. This week transmigrator can't handle all that!

But Luo Bingge had never had a left-hand man—everyone other than Mobei Jun was disposed of eventually.

Which means Gongyi Xiao has a chance to take that position. He sees his hopes for the future, spinning out endlessly before him.

He'll become Head Disciple, like the System demands, and turn Huan Hua into a place he can hand over to Luo Binghe proudly.

Luo Binghe, wait for me!

They don't travel at first.

Gongyi Xiao needs the time to heal, still weak after his days of unconsciousness. Luo Binghe, with his demon blood healing him almost as quick as he's hurt, is far better off, but seems willing enough to stay for a while.

Gongyi Xiao can't stop himself from thinking what might happen to him if Luo Binghe decides he doesn't want to wait anymore. Gongyi Xiao needs Luo Binghe if he wants to make it out of the Abyss, but he's all too aware the reverse doesn't apply.

Consumed with the memories of the most vicious and terrifying creatures of the Abyss, he doesn't think about what happened before he woke. He doesn't summon the System, either, and dismisses the notifications that crowd like wisps of blue smoke as soon as they appear.

Instead, he throws himself into Gongyi Xiao, Huan Hua's Head Disciple. Gongyi Xiao, Responsible Young Cultivator.

The cave proves to be a safe enough shelter. There's no more of the bug-things Luo Binghe had described to him — Acid Spitting Horned Wasps, he suspects, but there are number of smaller pests always skittering just out of sight.

The creatures of the Abyss are well adapted and generally unwilling to risk taking on a larger threat, so the mice with disturbingly long teeth and the beetle-spiders with legs edged razor-sharp, though anxiety inducing, keep to their shadows and crevices.

That doesn't stop them making minor trouble, though. Nothing in the Abyss is truly harmless, after all. Gongyi Xiao’s qiankun pouch looses a few of its decorative tassels; they both wake to pinching bites and long, thin claws rummaging through their clothes. Still, the cave is safer than the rest of the unknown Abyss.

When he steps out of the cave for the first time, there is no evidence of the fight Luo Binghe had described. There's nothing organic as far as he can see, just sand and stone and dull red skies. Still, the back of his neck prickles with the unmistakable feeling of being watched.

He eyes the cracks in the stone around him with a new suspicion, suddenly too aware of he sluggish flow of qi in his meridians.

Just how much life is out there, hidden away where he can't see?

When another distant scream breaks the eerie silence, he hurries back into the safety of a sheltered area with a Heavenly Demon, his heart pounding in his chest.

There's not much difference between day and night in the Desert. Far above, turbulent gray clouds threaten to storm, just enough eye-straining red light filtering through to see with. They figure out quickly that temperature is the best way to keep track of passing time, alternating periods of broiling heat and freezing cold that have them uncomfortable no matter what.

When the temperatures reach their peaks, they stay in the cave and rest. Gongyi Xiao rarely travels further than the entrance in those first days. Luo Binghe leaves often, disappearing for lengths of time Gongyi Xiao struggles to track. When he does, Gongyi Xiao sits in the darkest corner of the cave and watches the entrance, waiting.

He doesn't have the qi—or most of the tools—to scribe his usual arrays into the stone. The thought of being forced to rely solely on his swordwork against the monstrous creatures of the Abyss leaves him feeling more vulnerable than he has in years, waves of nervous dread rolling through him with increasing strength the longer Luo Binghe stays out.

More often than not, Luo Binghe returns covered in blood. His robes become more and more tattered and stained, unrecognizable from the sturdy white cloth they'd started as. After some convincing, he lets Gongyi Xiao care for the few injuries that linger long enough.

They sleep in turns, using Gongyi Xiao' bedroll and leaving Luo Binghe's packed away. If one of them sits further up in the cave, keeping watch, the other can just barely lay down comfortably.

The cave remains unfortunately dark and damp, but they had at least managed to burn away most of the slime.

They don't talk much. When they do, Luo Binghe uses as few words as he can manage, tone sharp. Gongyi Xiao maintains his Head Disciple facade, unfailingly polite, cool and composed through it all.

He pretends he doesn't see the way Luo Binghe stares unblinkingly at him, though it makes his heart beat fast and palms sweat.

He and Luo Binghe take stock of the meager supplies they have on Gongyi Xiao's second day awake. Neither comments on how much more Gongyi Xiao has or the better quality, only speaking to decide how best to arrange the supplies for travel.

Luo Binghe gives Gongyi Xiao back his Conference prayer beads with something strange and unreadable in his eyes. The beads shift and click on the long string as he runs his fingers over them, already warm under his touch, and clatter when he shoves them to the bottom of his qiankun pouch.

In PIDW, Luo Bingge's prayer bead bracelet had broken when the Black Moon Rhinoceros Python had thrown him into a tree, scattering beads among the torn-up ground—an action that, just moments later, saved his life. Disarmed by the attack, Luo Binghe had reached out desperately with his qi, picking up the dropped beads and pelting them like bullets at the monster charging him. The distraction had given him enough time to take up Zheng Yang from where it had been thrown away from him and slay the Rhinoceros Python with a single sword-shattering strike.

The beads must remind him of the loss of Zheng Yang, Gongyi Xiao deduces, and promptly resolves to leave them in the bottom of his qiankun pouch.

Fortunately, Gongyi Xiao has long been in the habit of carrying a hunting dagger with him. Multiple, actually, but he'd lost most of them in the chaos of the Conference. He pulls out the last one remaining from the bottom of his qiankun pouch: a sturdy, undecorated blade about the length of his hand.

"Here," Gongyi Xiao says, holding it out to Luo Binghe. Luo Binghe looks at him with dark eyes and an unreadable expression, mouth twisting. "This one apologizes that he can't offer more right now, but we should both be armed. It's too dangerous down here."

Luo Binghe takes it, a strange, unreadable expression crossing his face. Gongyi Xiao just hopes he wasn't offended he didn't give him his sword—but it's a spiritual weapon! It's not meant to have multiple wielders at a time, Luo Binghe won't be able to use it to its full ability.

And in the Abyss, they need every advantage they can get.

Luo Binghe stands. His wild curls brush the ceiling of the cave, posture hunched. "Patrol," he grunts, striding out of the cave and into the blazing heat of the Desert before Gongyi Xiao can speak.

Gongyi Xiao watches him go. He can't stop the frown that twists his mouth, something cold and snarling scratching in his chest. His throat burns with held back words. He swallows hard.

Luo Binghe doesn't look back.

In PIDW, Luo Bingge had landed on the edge of the vast Abyssal Plains, where it bordered several different climates. Luo Bingge, attempting to make his way through the Plains, nearly lost his life to the many dangerous beasts hiding among the tall, razor-edged grass before making a hasty retreat, nursing his wounds. He'd sworn never to return, only to find he had no choice: at the center of the vast Plains laid the legendary Xin Mo.

This Luo Binghe, however, had carried Gongyi Xiao's unconscious body in the complete opposite direction. Gongyi Xiao wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious, but it couldn't have been less than a full 24 hours with how far Luo Binghe had traveled.

Luckily, Gongyi Xiao recognized where they were: the Black Crystal Fire Desert.

Just thinking the stupid name makes him cringe! It's not even accurate, either—the crystals the Desert was named for were neither black nor on fire, but clear and sharp-edged, reaching high into the sky.

From the mouth of the cave, he can see the tops of the crystals disappearing into the hazy red fog of the sky. He can see, too, the distant shadow of creatures that look like moving mountains, slow and lumbering and terrifyingly huge.

Gongyi Xiao checks the System the morning of his third day awake.

It's not his fault it took so long! He's had better things to worry about—staying alive, for one! The Abyss isn't exactly a mountain retreat! And it's not like he'd talked to it all the time before the Abyss, either, since the only mission he'd had for years had been Become Huan Hua's Head Disciple.

Gongyi Xiao is sitting next to their cave, his sword laid across his lap. A short distance away, Luo Binghe is attempting to butcher an Armored Badger Frog---notable for its supremely ugly face, extremely thick skin and fur, and long, spiked tongues. It had crawled into their cave, hoping for an easy meal, and been promptly decapitated. Now, as was the way of the Abyss, it would become their meal.

Hopefully. Despite the Protagonist's allegedly awe-inspiring cooking skills, he doesn't have high hopes. The Badger Frog's oily fur and rubbery skin seemed to be proving itself a challenge, Luo Binghe's soft cursing a constant tune.

Gongyi Xiao is scrubbing furiously at a stubborn spot of blood dried to his sword when a System notification pops up in the corner of his eye.

He sighs but relents, opening the System window. It appears with its usual eye-straining twist of air, a transparent blue pane with scrolling white text.

Gongyi Xiao will never get used to the way interacting with the System freezes time around him. Even the ambient noise of the wind and distant monsters falls silent, Luo Binghe's quiet shuffling next to him paused.

[Congratulations, Congratulations, Congratulations! Important things must be said 3 times. Plotline: >ENDLESS ABYSS AND ENDLESS HATRED, A SKY FULL OF BLOOD< successfully initiated!]

[Rewards have already been applied to account:USER_02! Punishment protocol: >TRAPPED IN A NIGHTMARE< Complete!]

"Punishment protocol?" Gongyi Xiao mutters, squinting at the fast-moving text.

[NEW MISSION: >Golden Finger, Golden Sidekick!< Parameters—]

"Who are you calling sidekick, huh?!" Gongyi Xiao demands, scowling.

The System scrolls a little faster, characters a little larger.

[Parameters: Help Luo Binghe Obtain Xin Mo. Reward: 5000 B Points. Please continue to do your best!]

Almost before the last characters disappear, the System window closes itself. It jolts Gongyi Xiao unpleasantly back into motion, as always. He has to close his eyes briefly to shake off the ill feeling it leaves him with, breathing deep.

Luo Binghe's shuffling resumes, then pauses again. "Hey," he says, quiet. When Gongyi Xiao opens his eyes, Luo Binghe is staring at him with something like concern. Luo Binghe returns his gaze to the carcass below him, face smoothing into neutrality.

Well, Gongyi Xiao thinks, now's as good a time as any.

"So," Gongyi Xiao starts, voice more confident than he feels. Luo Binghe's intense eyes fix on him again. Feeling pinned by the protagonist's stare, he continues "We should probably make a plan for how to get Xin Mo."

They leave the cave after Gongyi Xiao has regained enough strength to not be a danger to them both.

The terrain of the Desert is uneven and jagged, huge crystals jutting from the barren land. They refract the light in strange, dancing patterns, hypnotizing to stare at for too long.

More than once, the two sneak past huge, terrifying creatures standing like statues, transfixed by the reflected light.

There’s no sun in sight, just dull skies stretching to the horizon. The light they let through is dim and smothered, straining his eyes. Luo Binghe seems unbothered, but Gongyi Xiao regularly has to close his eyes and hold onto Luo Binghe's robes to fight back the ache clouding his temples, the tired blurring in his eyes.

It's hot, too, almost unbearable with the way the air hangs like a thick, heavy curtain, smelling like ash and metal and dust.

It's all sand and rocks, shifting and unstable underfoot, with too many places for creatures to hide. They're caught off guard more often than Gongyi Xiao wants to admit, but without a stationary camp to draw a warning array around he can't really do anything about it.

Both Luo Binghe and Gongyi Xiao suffer more than a few attacks to their legs and feet, monsters lunging from cracks in the ground or under deceptively thin stone. They develop of method of walking quickly and lightly, following in each other's footsteps. One watches their surroundings, leading them and spotting any threats from above, while the other follows, watching the ground.

In this way, they manage to move fairly quickly through, avoiding fighting more dangerous than a Three Headed Fire Cicada — big and terrifyingly ugly creatures, but not terribly hard to kill if you know to aim for the weak spot on the underside.

Gongyi Xiao still feels oddly worn down, his qi circulating weakly in stuttering bursts. He's hungry, too -- he hadn't quite reached the stage where he can practice inedia long term, but he can go much longer than the average human without food and water. The rations they have won't last long, but hopefully long enough to find clean water and edible food.

It's a concern he keeps to himself, for now. He still needs to prove to Luo Binghe that he's worth the effort of keeping around.

Luo Binghe is willing to follow Gongyi Xiao's direction, too, falling into step behind him without argument or complaint.

Gongyi Xiao had expected Luo Binghe to argue with him, to be as stubborn and suspicious he had that first day. It seems to have been an example of Luo Binghe in a particularly bad mood, though -- Luo Binghe is still suspicious and withdrawn, but he appears to be willing to listen to Gongyi Xiao.

It feels strange and wrong to be leading the protagonist like this. Gongyi Xiao isn't some peerless immortal leading a little white lotus, or an enemy in disguise waiting to betray him.

He's an obstacle in Luo Bingge's path, a stepping stone to higher places, to be used and discarded.

But Luo Binghe is smart and cunning; if Gongyi Xiao gives him an advantage, he might be willing to keep him around.

Thankfully, they don't have to venture far into the Desert. Their water is running out faster than he'd like with two of them, even if they can both go longer than the average person without. As they trudge through sand, wrapping loose cloth around their faces to combat the cruel whip of the winds, Gongyi Xiao thinks over his plan.

The first step to obtaining Xin Mo was to go get another sword altogether.

The sword had been Bingge's first since Zheng Yang, inspiring conflicting emotions that were ultimately lost in Airplane's waves of drawn-out fight scenes and equally, if not more, drawn-out papapa scenes. Anyway, Luo Binghe had shattered this sword too in the fight against Xin Mo's guardian in a blatant rewrite of the Black Moon Rhinoceros Python fight from the Conference. Shen Yuan had hit character limit commenting on that chapter —twice!

They just have to make it to where the Eternal Blood River cuts through the jagged crystal cliffs bordering the Desert, then they can follow the river downstream to the Forest of the Undying Night. In the center of the forest, buried in ancient ruins, was a powerful sword.

Not Xin Mo levels of powerful, of course! Nothing can infringe on the might of the Protagonist's golden finger — so says stallion novel law!

But the sword had gotten Bingge across the Abyssal Plains and to Xin Mo in one —albeit regenerating—piece.

It's not the same path Bingge had taken. That had been thrown out the window the moment Luo Binghe started dragging Gongyi Xiao's unconscious body the complete opposite direction.

But since Gongyi Xiao is avoiding most of the backtracking, aimless wandering, and most dangerous monsters, they hopefully won't have to spend the full five years down here that Bingge had.

With both of them armed and the Protagonist's Halo on their side, Gongyi Xiao thinks he just might make it out alive.