Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shen Jiu was someone who knew both freedom and the very lack of freedom. He knew more about the lack of freedom, though. Back then when he was still nothing but a slave, his freedom was deeply restricted, he was caged most of the time and tied up more than that. It was terrible.

His time with the Qiu’s was even more terrible, he was caged, tortured, beaten up, tied up. He acted like a real slave, begging to be pardoned, begging for mercy. At the very least, his time with Qiu Haitang made him know what freedom was... Barely.

She pulled him along for shopping, for sightseeing, to deepen their relationship. It was relaxing, always being with her, knowing she had no power nor would hurt him in any way. Haitang was his freedom back then.

Then, after he killed the Qiu and followed Wu Yanzi, he gained more freedom... Somewhat. Wu Yanzi didn’t exactly give him freedom, but it was much more of a freedom than being with the Qiu’s. He got to visit various places... Which most of the times he couldn’t visit again because they alerted the authority. Still, the fresh breath of air was much more preferred than being constrained in a rich man’s household.

Shen Jiu only tasted some freedom, but he knew what freedom was.

Then Yue Qi- no, no, Yue Qingyuan came along. Ruining everything for him. Ruining his trust. Ruining his wish that the big brother he really loved already died somewhere for his sake, because of him. But no matter how much Shen Jiu hated that hypocrite to death, he still killed Wu Yanzi for him. A feat that, to this day he convinced himself, only been done because he hated Wu Yanzi anyways.

He reluctantly followed Yue Qingyuan to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, there, he met the cold and distant peak lord of Qing Jing who instantly took a liking on him. He trained hard there, making up for all of his losses, for all his flaws, for his inexistent education. He studied and trained like crazy, memorizing a hundred of book in a year, mastering Four Arts in three...

Until one time, a particular whiny and scaredy fellow disciple from An Ding peak named Shang-something told him-near tears- that going outside and traveled around was much more relaxing than staying in the peak (Granted, staying in peak only ended with doing more chores for An Ding peak’s disciples.)

At that moment, it struck him how much he missed seeing those stars in the wild. Where he was surrounded by nothing but nature... No people nearby. Qing Jing was a quiet place, Shen Jiu liked it very much, but the constant and difficult rivalries amongst the disciples made it somewhat stuffy.

At that time, Shen Jiu realized he was slowly shutting out his real freedom. He finally grasped it. No shitty master that taught him nothing but how to be a trash, no abusive household that limited his freedom of movement, no slave trader who would beat him if he talked back. He was a proud disciple of Qing Jing and he could do anything as he pleased, more than any of his previous situations let him.

As much as he wanted to be the next peak lord to secure his life, Shen Jiu just wanted to grasp on that thing he lacked the most.

Coincidentally, the next day, his Shizun brought some of the disciples for a mission outside about a disturbance in the town near Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. His performance then had made his Shizun impressed but Shen Jiu felt the freedom outside much more suited him.

As they said, traveling outside is much more beneficial than reading a thousand books. With that excuse, Shen Jiu managed to gain his Shizun’s blessing to go outside more often. He took up some missions then disappeared for a few months, that was how he avoided most conflict with his martial brothers and sisters over the right of succession. And that wasn’t even the best part, the best part was, in that months of his disappearance, he wouldn’t need to face Yue Qingyuan at all.

Years he did something like this, disappearing for a few months in the guise of finishing missions outside. Return for a few weeks for his cultivation, study behind closed doors so that Yue Qingyuan wouldn’t bother him, and then he was gone again.

This persisted until his Shizun pointed him as his head disciple and successor, he bestowed him the name Shen Qingqiu. Apparently, it was because autumn was the most perfect season for him, cold but wise, already experiencing spring and summer, and prepared for the winter. Autumn was his Shizun’s favourite season. And also, Shen Jiu often returned to the peak in the autumn, he couldn’t help it, he couldn’t just march his way through winter, he needed preparation and that was why he always returned more in autumn.

Shen Jiu hated the name. The word Qiu brought nothing but distaste in his mouth but now he had to live with it? It almost felt like his Shizun was spitting on him through that gentle and doting gaze.

His freedom as a head disciple was more limited, he was in charge of the peak most of the time. He was in charge of his Shizun’s needs. He was in charge of his martial brothers and sisters’ needs. But there were some moments where he could ditch them with the reason of head disciple’s duty, in which, head disciples usually needed to go out sometimes to scout out missions and problems in their territory.

As Shen Jiu- now Shen Qingqiu- finally became the peak lord. This freedom... Became very limited. He took in disciples, he taught them, he listened to their problems and he didn’t even have an option for it.

Shen Qingqiu hated brats. He couldn’t even enjoy his morning walk as he had classes to do.

It was at that time his envy towards that all-brawn-no-brain Liu Qingge shot up past the roof.

That bastard, not only his talent was top-tier, not only he started off early, not only he had come from good family background, he also had the freedom to ditch the kids that had chosen his peak and disappeared God knows where. How could that brainless idiot lived his best life so fully???

Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu always had a disagreement whenever they met, the root of the problem was absolutely because of their shitty first meeting. Damn snotty talented brat from a rich family, Shen Qingqiu just itched to snap that boy’s neck back then. Shen Qingqiu was pretty sure he killed more people than Liu Qingge ever did in the same age.

The second he envied the most was the peak lord of Zui Xian, that mad man, he appeared once in a blue moon to go through the alcohol stash his disciples had made. Drunkenly told them any random things in his mind, that somehow enlightened his screwy disciples, and then swaggered away, disappearing for the rest of the year.

Totally irresponsible and distasteful, both of them.

Shen Qingqiu also planned to do that. But not quite like them. Please, he was the elegant and graceful peak lord of Qing Jing. His fame was known to all, he didn’t want to be in the same league as an idiot and a madman.

So Shen Qingqiu patiently nurtured his head disciple that he had chosen out of the batch, made sure he was very stern enough to his disciples to make them understand how to behave themselves without him being there. Doting on his female disciples. Finally came the day he thought that Ming Fan was ready to be the babysitter for his martial brothers and sisters.

Shen Qingqiu wanted to leave immediately but his favorite disciple, Ning Yingying, who really resembled Qiu Haitang adorably, wanted a younger martial sibling. Shen Qingqiu figured Ming Fan could babysit an extra kid, Ning Yingying couldn’t be denied, after all.

He admitted choosing Luo Binghe was out of spite which he immediately regretted somewhat when he saw Liu Qingge flew out of the Sect for ‘training’. He should have choose a girl, why did he end up with another boy? Damn Liu Qingge.

Seeing Liu Qingge walking away and easily flew off like that made Shen Qingqiu felt a sense of loss. He wanted to walk away as soon as possible too.

He quickly took the boy to his peak, seized his wrist to feel out his talent- which was very great, damn him and Liu Qingge. Threw a cultivation manual to his face, enjoying the look of mixed excitement and dumbfoundedness on the boy’s face. Threw him to Ming Fan to babysit. All the while not saying a word.

When he gestured Ming Fan to gather the other disciples, he finally talked, “This master will be going out for a long time. The world is vast, the heaven is unlimited, I trust you all to take care of this peak properly while I’m gone.”

Everyone looked at him with wide eyes but they nodded anyway, “Yes, Shizun!”

“En. I don’t want to hear anything messy when I returned, am I clear?”

“Yes, Shizun!”

“And I tolerate no failure, you all still have to train as hard as possible,” he didn’t want to hear that they lost against Bai Zhan’s disciples ever again. How could that master-less disdainful Bai Zhan disciples beat his disciples? If Liu Qingge could have so many strong students whilst being mostly absent, then, he could too.

“Yes, Shizun!”

“Good,” Shen Qingqiu nodded. He looked at Luo Binghe and then Ming Fan, “Teach him the manner of Qing Jing peak. I don’t want to see him acting so unsightly like that when I return.”

“Yes, Shizun,” Ming Fan bowed down.

Shen Qingqiu nodded, patted Ning Yingying’s head off when she bade him a goodbye, and took off with Xiu Ya. Luo Binghe’s eyes followed him until he was gone beyond the cloud.

Shen Qingqiu’s life as an absent master started.

It had been precisely a year and a half since Luo Binghe entered Cang Qiong Mountain Sect and became a disciple of Qing Jing peak. Life had been really kind to him since then and Luo Binghe was truly grateful for his benevolent Shizun that he last saw a year and a half ago.

He had kind and caring shijies, although his shixiong were not as kind and caring, they were all helpful in some way and Luo Binghe sincerely treasured it. But as he grew up, his cultivation advanced faster, the sisters also been kind to teach him some fighting moves, he became very skilled.

Naturally, it invited many displeasures of his martial brothers, but Luo Binghe was not offended nor hurt, he learned to act stupid and ignorant, still acting respectful and humble. His respectful manner eased his martial brothers’ envies a lot.

Up until Ning Yingying slipped up in telling Ming Fan that his gift was not beautiful at all and Luo Binghe’s Guanyin jade was much more beautiful. It was as if a switch finally touched that Ming Fan immediately became hostile to him.

Ming Fan demanded to see the jade, Luo Binghe hesitated, Ning Yingying defended him and said it was indeed a beautiful sparkling jade, he was forcefully forced and before he could stop it, his mother’s jade was taken away from him.

They fought after that, Ming Fan and several of their other martial brothers against Luo Binghe. Ultimately, even if Luo Binghe was very talented, he couldn’t take care of everyone and immediately beaten back. Ming Fan mocked him, dangling the fake jade Guanyin in front of his face. Ning Yingying was crying and told them to stop fighting and returned the jade to Luo Binghe.

One thing led to another, Ming Fan was malicious and annoyed enough to toss the fake jade Guanyin as far as he could with his power. In the dense bamboo forest, where could he search for the item? Luo Binghe was overcame by rage and hurled himself at Ming Fan, it was at that time a huge pressure built up on them and their Shizun who had been missing for a year and a half descended in the middle of them.

Everyone stood frozen still when his eyes landed on them.

They scrambled to kneel down before him, “Shizun!” They all greeted, sweating profusely. Even more intense than when they were fighting.

Shen Qingqiu was about to ignore them when he saw Ning Yingying crying, “Shizun!” She exclaimed pitifully.

“What happened?” Shen Qingqiu asked.

“Shizun! It was Ming-shixiong’s fault!” Ning Yingying immediately pointed a finger.

“Shizun! That’s not true,” Ming Fan paled. He knew his Shizun was really partial towards Ning Yingying, he immediately felt afraid for his fate.

“Continue,” Shen Qingqiu said to Ning Yingying and Ming Fan gulped.

Ning Yingying tearfully summarized the root of the problem, starting from Ming Fan trying to give her a gift, Ning Yingying refusing it as she was always told by Shen Qingqiu, Ning Yingying told them that Luo Binghe’s jade was much prettier, they fought, the jade lost, they were about to fight again.

Shen Qingqiu patiently listened to her vague story even though it mostly made no sense because of her crying. But in short, Ming Fan made a mistake because he was jealous, and had the audacity to make Ning Yingying cry.

“Ming Fan, acknowledge your mistake,” Shen Qingqiu said simply.

Ming Fan lowered his head, “This disciple is wrong...”

“Every one of you, go to the Hall of Quiet Reflection. Copy the art of gentleman for one hundred times, the art of ethnic two hundred times, the book of brotherhood two hundred times, book of etiquette two hundred times, don’t go out from there unless you finish it. Elder Zhao and Chenyu will watch over you, food will be delivered two times a day, you don’t have to worry,” Shen Qingqiu said heartlessly as they all looked at him in horror. Yeah, he basically told them to live in there for a good few weeks with a strict elder and his honest senior female disciple watching over them.

“Y-yes, Shizun...” Ming Fan nodded.

“Leave,” Shen Qingqiu waved them off. Ming Fan and the others scrambled to leave, leaving only a battered Luo Binghe and a sobbing Ning Yingying. “What are you doing here?” Shen Qingqiu said pointedly at Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying.

“Greeting to Shizun, this disciple wants to search for his heirloom...” Luo Binghe said, still kneeling down.

“Ying’er, Ying’er wants to help A’Luo,” the young girl’s heart filled with guilt that Luo Binghe had to suffer just to be her shield.

Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows, “Ying’er, go back,” like hell he would let his delicate female disciple searching for something in the dense bamboo forest with a male disciple.

“Shizun-“

“Return and tell Nie Chenyu and Elder Zhao about their duty in watching over the punishment,” elders and hallmasters usually didn’t mix themselves with the disciples of peak. They were mostly only responsible for punishments, resource distribution (if the peak lord didn’t want to do it themselves), mission and tasks details, basically they didn’t have any right to meddle with the disciples’ cultivation. Elder Zhao was someone his Shizun had saved by chance back then and had been trying to pay the grace ever since.

“... Yes, Shizun...” Ning Yingying bowed down, looking at Luo Binghe apologetically.

“Right, you also copy book of etiquette two hundred times and art of gentleman one hundred times,” Shen Qingqiu added as an afterthought towards Luo Binghe.

“Shizun...” Ning Yingying wanted to beg for leniency but Luo Binghe stopped her.

“Yes, Shizun. This disciple accepted his punishment,” his punishment was certainly lighter than Ming Fan and the others. “But this disciple is begging Shizun to let him search for his lost thing before he went on punishment.” Luo Binghe looked up and asked sincerely.

Shen Qingqiu stared blankly, “Ying’er, what are you staying here for?” he said to Ning Yingying.

Ning Yingying jumped and nodded reluctantly, “Yes, Shizun... Ying’er will return,” she turned away and walked off. She wanted to look back but she was afraid her Shizun would feel displeased.

Luo Binghe stayed kneeling with his head down, only looking up when he heard a sword being unsheathed. Luo Binghe raised his head to see Shen Qingqiu raised his sword on his direction and lightly slashed the air.

‘Lightly’ slashed, but the power behind that slash almost made the space distorted and for one second, Luo Binghe believed he would die a tragic death because of that attack. His hair wildly fluttered because of the wind, but the sword aura went past him and slashed the cluster stalks of bamboo behind him.

Slash! Ttrarataktaktak-

Dozens or even a hundred of tall bamboo stalks fell around Luo Binghe, if he moved even an inch from his kneeling place, he would be hit for sure. A sharp pain hit Luo Binghe on top his head and he thought his luck finally betrayed him and one of the bamboo trees fell on him but it didn’t feel like a bamboo tree at all.

The thing that had hit his head slid down to his lap and Luo Binghe blankly stared at the fake jade Guanyin his mother had left for him. His heart immediately raced and his eyes turned hot, he looked up, touched.

“This disciple thanks Shizun!” Luo Binghe kowtowed and Shen Qingqiu looked at him blankly.

“Help me gather all these bamboos,” Shen Qingqiu ordered and Luo Binghe looked up, his eyes shone in admiration and adoration.

“Yes, Shizun!” Luo Binghe immediately scrambled off to pick up the tall bamboos, intending to help his Shizun as much as he could.

“Ignore the thick and big ones, I just need the thin bamboos,” Shen Qingqiu said he also picked up some stalks of thin and young bamboos.

“Yes, Shizun!” Luo Binghe started to pick up the thin ones diligently.

When they finally picked up all the thin bamboos, Luo Binghe couldn’t resist to ask, “What do you need these for, Shizun?” He asked as he gave his last batch of bamboos. Shen Qingqiu gathered it and stuffed it into his space pouch. Luo Binghe watched the space pouch with awe before Shen Qingqiu tucked them back into his sleeve.

“Beast,” Shen Qingqiu said.

“Pardon?” Luo Binghe blinked.

Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows, he didn’t like to repeat himself, “Beast taming.” He accidentally stumbled upon the rare Yin-Yang Panda when he was outside, he had to get his hands on that panda or he would die trying. Yin-Yang Panda had the natural ability to stabilize a person’s qi, it could be a very good pet and partner for those who had the difficulty of breaking through without going mad with qi deviation.

And it was very fluffy, Shen Qingqiu had decided to make it his the moment he laid his eyes on it before he even learned that it was the extremely rare Yin-Yang Panda.

When Shen Qingqiu walked away, exiting the bamboo forest, Luo Binghe followed him like a puppy. Shen Qingqiu flicked a glance at him. Why is this boy following him? Didn’t he want to search for his lost heirloom in the bamboo forest?

Shen Qingqiu was too lazy to ask, moreover, it was beneath him to ask for a disciple’s affair. Shen Qingqiu ignored Luo Binghe and continued on his way until he reached his untouched bamboo house.

Luo Binghe sighed fondly as he clenched the fake jade Guanyin in his hands, he kissed it, “Fortunately I didn’t lose it, mother...” Luo Binghe said softly. “It’s all thanks to Shizun...”

The absentee master had been upgraded to a mysterious and benevolent one.

It was difficult for Shen Qingqiu to get out of the peak once again when Yue Qingyuan actually managed to catch him before he flew away again. After a long and arduous week of iritating reminders of his duty, Shen Qingqiu gave up and took his disciples for a mission outside to Shuang Hu City.

He cut down his disciples’ punishment in half and forced them to finish it off before the week ended.

When Ming Fan and the others got out of Hall of Quiet Reflection, their dominant hands were all numb and they felt nauseous just by the smell of ink. Shen Qingqiu was not concerned, in fact, he told them that when the mission ended, they would continue their punishment for good measure. Some of them burst out crying on spot.

Luo Binghe was also in the same state although not as bad as Ming Fan and the others, he also felt incredible frustration whenever he saw a brush and chinese words. It had been a few sleepless nights for them, Luo Binghe even felt that running errand up and down the mountain was not as hard as this.

Noticing this, Shen Qingqiu knew they would be useless so he told them to go rest for an entire day. That was exactly what they did.

When Shen Qingqiu brought them to Shuang Hu City, Shen Qingqiu gave them several tests to see their knowledge which was almost nothing in the field... Shen Qingqiu should give them another pointer after this.

When the mission ended with disappointment with Ning Yingying gotten kidnapped, Luo Binghe found her but got kidnapped too. Shen Qingqiu ended the mission with a little to no excitement, cutting up the Skinner when he unexpectedly appeared before it could touch any of his disciple.

The mission finished regardless, Yue Qingyuan shouldn’t be able to complain. Shen Qingqiu stayed for a while to drill his disciples about the knowledge of monsters and demons, taught them a few fighting moves which Luo Binghe could master after two times of demonstration (The boy quickly in charge to be the replacement coach), and then disappeared with the wind before Yue Qingyuan could find him again.

Shen Qingqiu disappeared for another year, when he came back, he only snuck in to take some bamboos from his bamboo forest and to see his disciples’ growth, making sure they didn’t lose out to Bai Zhan’s brats.

And then he disappeared again for another year. Even Zui Xian peak lord, Ye Qingjiu, said; “Shen-shixiong’s skill in disappearing without a news is akin like a father who loves his children but didn’t want any responsibility over them and didn’t want to meet the mother!”

Yue Qingyuan felt depressed when he heard that, could it be he was the ‘mother’ that Shen Qingqiu didn’t want to see at all??? Most likely, yes.

The only good thing came out of this was that whenever a meeting was held, Shen Qingqiu (and most of the time, Ye Qingjiu) was absent and Liu Qingge couldn’t pick a fight with him. So the meeting of peak lords was undeniable calmer in the last few years.

“Shizun!” Luo Binghe and the other Qing Jing disciples exclaimed in excitement when they saw it was their Shizun who had descended from the sky, sitting demurely on a beast’s shoulder... On a panda’s shoulder.

“You, demons, truly have no brain, don’t you?” Shen Qingqiu tilted his head as he got down from his new pet’s shoulder and stood in front of Qiong Ding’s Ancestral Hall. “Leave before I force you so,” Shen Qingqiu said.

Sha Hualing’s red lips twitched, she observed the powerful man carefully and saw the long elegant white sword, she cupped her fists demurely, “So it’s Elder Xiu Ya Sword, Ling’er always admired his valiant self.” Why did the absentee peak lord suddenly appear here?! Wasn’t the last sighting of him was two months ago in the isolated bamboo forest in between an ice land and a volcano far to the east!?

Shen Qingqiu gently extended his fan, “If you think of snatching the plaque whilst the master is away, you can forget it. This master will slaughter anyone who dared to step forward,” he said as he gently fanned himself. He only came back for the Spirit Caves, he didn’t expect to find an army of demons invading. He didn’t know if it was a bad luck or a good one.

“No way, Ling’er only came to exchange some notes, what does Elder Xiu Ya think?” Sha Hualing fluttered her lashes and smiled innocently.

“Leave,” Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows. He didn’t like to repeat himself.

Sha Hualing’s lips twitched. She didn’t want to sacrifice too much and wanted to seek an easy way to win, but since the other side was not cooperative... Sha Hualing looked around her, several elders that had come with her, many underlings... Her gaze darkened. They had come this far, there was no way she would turn back.

If she could overwhelm him... And if that failed, she could take several hostages. Their number was bigger.

“HELP!” A somewhat hysteric and fearful voice screamed out, everyone looked at the source to see a senior disciple from Qiong Ding and several other shaken disciples. “HELP, PLEASE HELP!” He desperately yelled.

“What’s wrong?!” Ming Fan asked.

“L-Liu-shishu...” The senior disciple stuttered out.

“Speak clearly,” Shen Qingqiu said coldly.

“It’s Liu-shishu! He... He’s dead inside of Spirit Caves!” The disciple cried out.

“What?!” A feminine voice exclaimed in horror.

“Shijie!” Several fairies of Xian Shu immediately surrounded one particular beautiful girl with a veil, she looked shaken to her core.

“B-brother?! My brother!” Liu Mingyan panicked as she pushed her martial sisters away and staggered towards the disciple who announced her brother’s death.

Shen Qingqiu hid his incredulity behind his fan, how could so many things happened when he just returned?!

Sha Hualing’s lips formed a sadistic smile, “Attack!!!” Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s disciples’ morale was already shaken with the news of Bai Zhan’s War God’s death. This was the perfect time to attack! The most dangerous enemy was only Shen Qingqiu, the other disciples would only be a burden with their shaken morales!

“Da Zhu, help me out a bit,” Shen Qingqiu patted the panda beside him, relishing the fluffiness on his palm. The panda made a sound of a somewhat lazy acknowledgment as he charged.

Shen Qingqiu quickly ran into the Spirit Caves, led by the disciple, he reached the cave where Liu Qingge died. He looked blankly at the motionless and bloody body on the ground, he looked around and frowned, “Qi deviation,” he said.

“Brother-“ Liu Mingyan wanted to approach but Shen Qingqiu pulled her back, pushing her to Luo Binghe who was conveniently standing behind him.

“Don’t go near,” Shen Qingqiu said as he walked to Liu Qingge’s body. Not only Liu Mingyan was not strong enough to enter a chamber in Spirit Caves, Liu Qingge might still have some residual violent energy that would also kill her.

“Brother...” Liu Mingyan sobbed harder as she gazed blankly at Liu Qingge’s body.

Shen Qingqiu squatted down before Liu Qingge, with this close proximity, he still couldn’t find even a slight of life energy on Liu Qingge. Positively, he already died... Shen Qingqiu put his fingers to feel out Liu Qingge’s pulse just to make sure.

“He’s dead,” absolutely.

“Ah...” Liu Mingyan’s dim and flickering hope immediately blown away, she went limp in Luo Binghe’s arms, her eyes were glazed and blank.

“Shen-shishu... What should we do now?” The disciple of Qiong Ding asked desperately.

“Sigh, nothing we can do. Recover his body, we’ll prepare him to be buried,” Shen Qingqiu sighed. He felt a bit melancholic, a talented and strong person like Liu Qingge, he ought to die in a battle. Yet, here he was, died in a closed-off cave because of qi deviation, this was why Shen Qingqiu didn’t really like to cultivate here, the notion of dying without someone helping him was too scary. Granted, Yue Qingyuan always offered to accompany and aid him whenever he wanted to break through.

“Grooo” Suddenly, pushing past the cluster of disciples, the Yin-Yang Panda strolled into the cave, munching on a stalk of bamboo all the while.

“What’s wrong?” After years of trying to bring this guy home, Shen Qingqiu formed some kind of understanding with him.

The panda sat on his butt by Liu Qingge’s body, munching on the bamboo before pulling out the stalk from its mouth and smacked Liu Qingge’s body with it.

The disciples were all speechless. What was that panda doing to the dead body of an honorable peak lord?!

“You want to do something with it?” Shen Qingqiu asked.

Wait a second-! Shen-shishu/shibo! Why did you sound so ready to indulge it?!

The panda made some munching noise as he smacked harder with his stalk of bamboo that even Liu Mingyan couldn’t stay still.

“Shen-shibo-“

“COUGH!!!”

Everyone including Shen Qingqiu jumped in shock when Liu Qingge, who was supposedly dead, coughed out violently.

Liu Qingge sharply inhaled, “COUGH!! COUGH COUGH COUGH! ACK-!” he coughed even harder and exclaimed when the bamboo stalk hit his face. He opened his eyes and protected his face with his hands. “Wha- what?” Liu Qingge’s eyes moved blearily around, weak and dazed.

Shen Qingqiu had long stood up and distanced himself a good several steps. Whatever it was, it wasn’t his fault, he never learned any wicked sorcery of reanimating corpses.

“Call your Mu-shishu!” Shen Qingqiu ordered quickly.

The disciples finally snapped out of their shock, “But, Shishu, the Rainbow Bridges are-“

“Use this! Hurry!” Shen Qingqiu said as he tossed a firework signal to them. One of them immediately took the firework signal and ran out.

“Brother! Brother, you’re still alive?!” Liu Mingyan immediately gained back her energy as she finally registered the reality and exclaimed.

“Ugh-“ Liu Qingge groaned and the panda put its paw on his stomach.

Mysterious and benevolent master upgraded to a miraculous worker.

“It seemed like, rather than ‘died’, his life energy was clogged along with his blood circulation. That kind of condition is really dangerous and rare, usually they should have died, but Liu-shixiong is a man of fortune and the Spirit Caves might have some hands in preserving your soul to not leave that easily. Luckily, our Shen-shixiong brought back a very rare Yin-Yang Panda from his journey outside, or else, your life might not be saved,” Mu Qingfang said with a great deal of relief. “Even I wouldn’t be confident in detecting  real death and that situation, but animals are keener than humans...”

“You mean, that panda revived me and saved my life?” Liu Qingge said.

“Yes, Yin-Yang Panda always have an affinity with qi deviation. This one had stabilized your cultivation too...” Mu Qingfang smiled at Shen Qingqiu who didn’t look happy at all. “Shen-shixiong is really a man of fortune, to find himself a Yin-Yang Panda and even befriended it.”

“Unexpectedly this shixiong’s Yin-Yang Panda is used by Liu-shidi first,” Shen Qingqiu said. He had spent years to get this panda to come home with him and the first one who got the benefit was actually Liu Qingge. Figure that bastard would get anything he needed without even asking- damn it!

Liu Qingge looked at him with complex emotion. It had been a long time since he saw face to face with Shen Qingqiu. Ever since he began to disappear and ran outside, Liu Qingge never saw him again. Unexpectedly, the first time they met face to face after years Shen Qingqiu had saved his life.

“Thanks...” Liu Qingge said, however, because he was too embarrassed to look eyes to eyes with Shen Qingqiu, he looked at the panda instead.

Shen Qingqiu was speechless. He’s fucking thanking the panda?! Fuck him! “The panda cannot answer you,” Shen Qingqiu gritted his teeth.

Liu Qingge blinked rapidly, “No, I meant to thank you,” he finally looked at Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu scoffed and turned away, “Yes, sure,” he said sarcastically as he took his panda out to another chamber to attempt a smooth breakthrough.

Mu Qingfang and Liu Qingge looked at each other, Mu Qingfang lowered his head to busy himself with Liu Qingge’s treatment again before he could be brought out of the Spirit Caves.

Cold, distant and irresponsible senior? More like a hot-tempered but spitefully caring older brother.

Qing Jing peak ended up with a pet Yin-Yang Panda after that. Luo Binghe always came every day to the bamboo forest to look at the panda who spent his day gnawing on a bamboo stalk and rolling around. His Shizun? Disappeared again after succeeding in his breakthrough, chidding he wanted to test out his power outside.

“I just can’t believe someone actually managed to find and even tame a Yin-Yang Panda, let alone it was actually such a weak human!” the demon inside Luo Binghe rambled.

Luo Binghe frowned, “Shizun is not weak. He’s very strong,” he defended.

“He might be strong for you, but he’s weak in my eyes. But I have to say he’s not a normal person to be able to tame a Yin-Yang Panda. This beast which was right in the middle of being a spiritual and a demonic beast, living carelessly and hated everyone that wasn’t a part of its race.”

“Spiritual yet demonic beast?” Luo Binghe blinked. Just like him? Half human and half demon?

“Yes, exactly like you. That weak Shizun of yours, to be able to bring home Yin-Yang Panda, you’re really lucky, kid. If you learn earnestly from the beast, you might quickly advance in both of your human and demonic cultivation.”

Luo Binghe clenched his fists as his gaze towards the rolling Yin-Yang Panda became heated and touched. Could it be... His Shizun...

“At least that absentee master of yours could be some use.”

“Don’t insult Shizun like that, demon. My Shizun is the kindest and benevolent person in this world. He’s just really withdrawn from worldly affairs,” Luo Binghe defended again with heat.

“Rather than withdrawn from worldly affairs, he’s withdrawn from all affairs...” Dream Demon grumbled.

Where did Shen Qingqiu put it? Shen Qingqiu solemnly rummaged through his cabinet to search for his students’ record, he could name every spiritual beast and demonic monster in one look, but he couldn’t remember most of his students’ names because he was absent most of the times. And now he needed the records to make sure which of them that truly qualified to join the Immortal Alliance Conference to represent his peak.

Let alone his students’ names, many people were sure that Shen Qingqiu even forgot about the Immortal Alliance Conference. Too busy enjoying his freedom and long vacation outside. Yue Qingyuan even had to send Liu Qingge to track Shen Qingqiu down to remind him about it.

Whilst most people found tracking the Qing Jing peak lord was a near impossible thing to do, the Bai Zhan peak lord and his near-animalistic instinct could track him down perfectly fine.

At the very least, now people could stop worrying about Shen Qingqiu ever forgetting he was a peak lord. The peak lord only came home when he needed to break through in the Spirit Caves with his Yin-Yang Panda.

It was all Immortal Treasures in this cabinet- Shen Qingqiu frowned as he put aside the fancy cauldron Mu Qingfang had gifted to him a few years ago, a jug of wine Ye Qingjiu had sent,  a pile of priceless treasures from Yue Qingyuan, Celestial Ribbon from Qi Qingqi- there it is! His records!

Shen Qingqiu pulled out the book and stood up.

“Shizun, I bring you your tea...” Luo Binghe finally said when he saw his Shizun had done searching, gesturing at the table with his hand.

Shen Qingqiu absently put the Celestial Ribbon in his hand to Luo Binghe’s extended hand and sat down, opening the book. Luo Binghe blinked down at the top-tier Celestial Ribbon of Xian Shu, he looked up at his Shizun who already began to study the record.

Luo Binghe was not sure about the Celestial Ribbon, but since his Shizun had handed it to him, naturally, his Shizun should have his intention. But Luo Binghe couldn’t understand his intention, Ming Fan was the only who was good at guessing that- and even then, he was usually wrong most of the times.

Luo Binghe didn’t dare to ask and simply bowed down, thanking his Shizun quietly and exited the abode.

“How many times I have to tell you!? He tried to kill you!!!” Dream Demon yelled in Luo Binghe’s head.

“Shut up! I know my Shizun, he is so nice and kind, his depth can’t be measured! I’m sure he pushed me into this bloody place because of something I can’t- you can’t understand,” Luo Binghe defended again, snapping at the demon.

“How can I not understand!? What thoughts I’ve never seen before in my entire existence!? I’m the Dream Demon!”

“Shizun gave me Xian Shu’s Celestial Ribbon a few days before the conference, I’m guessing, he knew about me already,” Luo Binghe said.

“That’s just a wishful thinking! Even a fool can see he was just as surprised when he found out you were a half-demon!”

“Still! The Celestial Ribbon softened my fall and I’m strong enough as it is. I still owe my Shizun so much!”

“Why are you so stupid?! Stop calling him Shizun! He pushed you off!”

“He must have had his reasons! Shizun never did something without reason, everything he did has its own depth, I just have to look into it closely,” Luo Binghe said as he silently clutched at the fake jade Guanyin beneath his clothes, now it was adorned by a beautiful green Celestial Ribbon.

“You’re delusional. That human totally brainwashed you so thoroughly even though I didn’t see any damage in your mind.”

“That just means there hadn’t been any damage in the first place,” Luo Binghe said calmly. “My existence as a half-demon might incite many people’s rage, especially after such a huge unexpected demonic attack in the conference...” Luo Binghe frowned solemnly.

“No matter what, I would be a target of suspicion. I would be condemned, either be killed or imprisoned... Shizun must have had known this and pushed me into this place, the only way to escape,” Luo Binghe winced as he rubbed his bruised shoulders and deep wounds on his sides. “But it’s ultimately not without a price...”

“Whatever. Believe in anything you want. I’m just here to give my legacy to you, let’s make the most of it and straight go to the demon world to train there.”

A few years later, Shang Qinghua stared at the hologram screen before him with a mixed feeling of incredulity, disbelief, confusion, bewilderment, and doubt. He was thoroughly perplexed.

[User Shen-Shizun is the best Shizun: I’m sure Shizun really have a hidden good intention for Luo Binghe. You all know how he never talked about his intention but always ended up helping our mc through many hurdles. Look! This place was certainly a place to power up!]

[User Zhangmen-Shixiong the pitiful Waifu: True, true, I don’t believe Shen Qingqiu actually have a bad intention. He is our Shizun, ah! Although he’s cold, but he’s secretly warm! Anyone who loves a panda can’t be a bad person!]

[User Zombie Liu-juju: That’s right! Anyone who loves a panda can’t be a bad person! +1]

[User Airplane-bro’s Slave-reader: Anyone who loves a panda can’t be a bad person! +50]

[User Goddess Mingyan: I’m not sure. After all, it was always the quiet one. He might be nice all this time to cover up his rotten core...]

[User Shen Qingqiu is life: Upstairs! You shut the fuck up! Shizun certainly has the best solution and intention! He never wronged Luo Binghe- even though the punishment were all inhumane  (copying a book for several hundred times? I’d die first before I finished one). AND ANYONE WHO LOVES PANDA CAN’T BE EVIL!!!]

[User Meng Da Zhu: HOW DARE YOU!? ANYONE WHO LOVES PANDA CAN’T BE EVIL!!! +999]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Listen to me here, I believe Shen Qingqiu certainly have a good intention to push Luo Binghe in there. Look! Even Luo Binghe acknowledged that, we should just see how it would play out when they reunited- though, based on Shen Qingqiu’s character, he wouldn’t likely to explain himself. Which is a pretty frustrating trait of a character- but damn, if he isn’t so cool!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: But I agree with some, we might get a character arc about Shen Qingqiu after so long! If he truly had a good intention, then , that’s good! If he has another intention, it would only deepen his character more! Damn it, I can’t wait to see if he will get a character arc! So far, we already get so many filler character arcs, Ning Yingying, Liu Mingyan, several other girls from the sect, Sha Hualing, several other demon girls- too many girls!- Well, there IS Mo Beijun’s character arc which was pretty interesting, but enough with the harem member already! Give me a Shen Qingqiu character arc or a few chapter worth of demonic encyclopedia!!!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Also, in my opinion, Shen Qingqiu would be the key of many arcs- have you seen in the chapter XX??? And the newest chapter ##??? It was hinted there that Shen Qingqiu might have some involvement with some other characters. ‘A gentleman in green robe’ that’s certainly our mysterious Shizun, ah!]

[User Xiu Ya Sword: Woah, easy there Cucumber-bro! But as always! Your analysis are all great! I can’t wait for it to happen!]

[User Qi-shigu is the best Auntie: Also, I just realized that Mo Beijun was the only man who ever got a character arc...]

[User Liu-juju and his Shen-shixiong: You’re right, ah!! I want a character arc for Liu-juju too! Explore his relationship with Shizun! I’m sure they just got into a misunderstanding along the way as they grow up, hence, the famous bad relationship formed! That being said, I’m pretty sure Liu-juju is in love with our Shizun...]

[User Badass Luo: Upstairs! Get your fujoshi mind out! What are you doing with perfectly two strong male characters, ah?! This is a stallion novel!!!]

[User badass Zhangmen-shixiong: I’m pretty sure Zhangmen-shixiong’s relationship with Shizun was more important, though... They seemed to have a bad misunderstanding in their youth. It was mentioned in chp OO that Zhangmen-shixiong revealed a guilty look when Shizun walked away from him. And Shizun ALWAYS avoided Zhangmen-shixiong. Seriously, we need character arcs for these people!]

[User Shizun Please Step On Me: Make a character arc for Da Zhu too... I miss him.]

[User Shizun’s Wife: For me, I miss my husband the most. Airplane-bro! When will Luo Binghe be able to meet my husband again??? I know he just returned and meeting Shizun might be a long way to go, but I’m really impatient to see my husband!!!]

[User Sha Hualing’s Little Bell: I’ll miss my Ling-Ling :* Best girl. But Luo Binghe would need to conquer the plot in the human world too. Lmao.]

[User Pang Ling: I thought this novel was boring at first, the first few arcs were boring because there was no real antagonist, but at least there was a goal. But since Luo Binghe got Dream Demon, it became better and better. Now, I’m sure the real antagonist was still in hiding, they’re probably the reason why Luo Binghe’s parents were not with him (presumed dead).]

[User Luo Binghe 342: Shit! Now upstairs said it, it could be true! What if Shizun was actually the murderer of Luo Binghe’s real parents!? (Assuming they are dead) that would be a twist and hurtful betrayal for Luo Binghe! And then after that, he would go through the 90% protagonists’ path, the blackening path!!!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: I hope not. But it would still be interesting too- ah damn it! At this point, I’m sure whatever Shen Qingqiu’s situation and intention was, I would still like him! But please don’t be a villain! I’m sure he’s only someone who knows something and not directly responsible!]

[User Our Shizun is the Best Shizun: Shizun’s character is so deep, it could be filled with anything. Even if he became the villain, I’m sure he had his reason, even if he stayed a good guy, I’m sure he had a dark past. Regardless, he is still the best Shizun in this entire site.]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Mm, dark past. That’s what I suspected too, this is why we need to see his character arc.]

[User S is for Shizun: Mm, would we see a very terrible dark past? A tear-jerking past that made us learn how did he get his current quiet and distant attitude from? I stand by the fan theory about him being an ex-slave though, he valued freedom so much and often slipped in the word ‘freedom’ as his excuse to go outside and disappeared for a few months (or a year).]

[User Peerless Cucumber: I like that theory too. But if it’s true, my heart goes to him.]

[.....]

The comment thread went on and on and Shang Qinghua became even more perplexed. He finally closed the comment section and emotionlessly leaned on a railing.

So... According to the comment Luo Binghe had returned early to the human world. Seriously, without Luo Binghe nearby, his connection to the System was very bad that he could only see the comment section to see the progress of the story.

[Ding! Ding! System’s connection recovered 50%!]

[Congratulation! Your first main mission of creating more depth for the Scum Villain Shen Qingqiu is successful! Shen Qingqiu’s current rank is: Mysterious and Wise Master.

Explanation: Mysterious and Wise Master was the character of a master from Protagonist that always be the place the Protagonist would convey his doubt to, however, this master was difficult to find because of his fondness of MIA. However, whenever the master came into the plot, he would always made some considerable change in Protagonist! A Grade A+ character!

Rewards!]

Shang Qinghua claimed his reward, shaking his head astonishedly. “And all I did was to tell him that being outside is much better then cooping up inside?” Shang Qinghua said disbelievingly. He had painfully think up a way to make Shen Qingqiu to be a C-grade character at best by slowly guiding him to not abuse Luo Binghe and maybe create a few misunderstanding to add a bit depth before revealing Shen Qingqiu’s past to Luo Binghe secretly.

However, all his preparation were for naught as Shen Qingqiu became an absentee after he took Luo Binghe in and his character grade just steadily climbed up without Shang Qinghua ever doing anything.

So all Shen Qingqiu had to do was being an absentee Shizun to add more depth to his character? Yeah, apparently so. He didn’t know what happened but he’s glad it happened.

Now, he just hoped Luo Binghe’s ‘relationship’ with Shen Qingqiu reached enough point where the book would write about Shen Qingqiu’s character arc itself... Hopefully it wouldn’t be a disaster.

Shang Qinghua sighed helplessly. A writer’s life is hard, ah. He will just be a normal accountant if he’s getting reincarnated after this whole fiasco.

Chapter Text

Upon crawling back to the human world, Luo Binghe decided his first and foremost priority is to find his Shizun. He didn’t go back to Cang Qiong and instead wandered around, searching for his wayward Shizun.

He stumbled upon Huan Hua Palace where he heard his Shizun last seen using the outer library of it. Sadly, when he got there, he didn’t even see a shadow of his Shizun. Luo Binghe was instead invited by the Old Palace Master of Huan Hua Palace which surprisingly remembered his face.

The Old Palace Master offered to tell Cang Qiong Mountain Sect about him but Luo Binghe refused, he would do that after he talked with his Shizun about this whole situation. And then Luo Binghe learned from everyone that Shizun had announced that he was dead, which led Luo Binghe to be even more determined to find his Shizun to discuss about the next course of action.

After that, the Old Palace Master kept asking for his help, Luo Binghe decided to help him since some of those problems actually beneficial for Luo Binghe, after all, Xin Mo was not something Luo Binghe could fully control yet. And then, a month after that, the Old Palace Master began to drop hints about marrying his daughter which honestly looked smitten with Luo Binghe.

Luo Binghe refused him, of course. He didn’t even know Xiao Gongzhu that well, and besides, didn’t she have that guy called Gongyi Xiao? Seeing his own similarity with that guy, Luo Binghe suspected that Xiao Gongzhu liked him only because he was much kinder and indulgent to her mischief than Gongyi Xiao.

And after that, Old Palace Master began to ask him whether he wants to be his disciple or not. Luo Binghe resolutely refused. His amazing Shizun was still alive somewhere, healthy and active, why should he acknowledge others as his Shizun? Besides, if there was ever a second choice, the Dream Demon is much more suitable than the Old Palace Master.

The Dream Demon agreed wholeheartedly. Go to the back of the queue, you degenerate lowly human! Dream Demon had suffered this insufferable Shizun-complex patient way longer!!!

Luo Binghe left Huan Hua Palace after that, roaming around to find his Shizun and followed every rumor about him. Because his Shizun was really secretive and simple, it was hard to find rumors about him, but as long as Luo Binghe asked around about a handsome dashing man, expressionless, with the elegance that shamed the moon, manner so graceful that it startled the swans, people would immediately get an idea.

A few months later, Luo Binghe was contacted by Huan Hua Palace, they asked for his help about the trouble in Jin Lan City. In which, many elders and disciples had fell victims and died because of a suspicious plague. Because they had been nice to him, Luo Binghe decided to help them. He was also suspicious that it was a demon’s doing.

Who knew? When everything was said and done, the mystery was unveiled with Sowers as the main suspects, no one would expect that the sowers immediately wailed out his Shizun’s name to help them.

It was a chaos since then, the cultivators of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect that had come to help immediately felt wronged and indignant. Many people looked at them with suspicion.

It had been great debate amongst everyone, Cang Qiong Sect defended their absent peak lord heatedly whilst others accused the said absent peak lord. Speaking of which, being absent eleven out of twelve months were really too suspicious. Even Zui Xian peak’s peak lord disappeared less than that.

Distrust had been sowed. Slanders were used. Luo Binghe was particularly angry at the people of Huan Hua Palace who had mocked his Shizun, however, before he could coldly rebuke them, a surprise shocked them all.

Shen Qingqiu walked into the scene like he wasn’t even a suspect, he immediately strode towards Mu Qingfang and extended his hand, “Antidote,” he said simply with his crisp and quiet voice.

Everyone instantly went silent, even the tragically wailing Sowers were too speechless to continue screaming.

“I heard you’re distributing free antidote, where?” Shen Qingqiu said again after no one responded, furrowing his brows, he hated repeating himself.

Mu Qingfang immediately fumbled with his medicinal pouch and gave one pill to Shen Qingqiu who immediately put it into his mouth.

Yue Qingyuan gazed at Shen Qingqiu deeply, “Qingqiu-shidi, why are you here...?” he asked.

“After fourteen months not returning home...” Qi Qingqi resisted the strong urge to facepalm and sighed harshly.

“How could you be here?!” Liu Qingge exclaimed.

“I’ve been trapped in this place for a few months,” Shen Qingqiu replied to his senior and juniors.

All the peak lords looked at him in horror as if they didn’t believe that their martial brother just said he lived in a town of demonic plague for a few months and not telling them.

“Why didn’t you set the emergency firework?!” Liu Qingge demanded as Mu Qingfang fussed over his wayward senior, checking his pulse, breath, skin- everything. There was no way they would let Shen Qingqiu be trapped here for a few months had they known!

“It broke,” Shen Qingqiu took out the said emergency firework and let it fell to the ground, they all nodded in understanding. “Da Zhu chewed on it. Didn’t notice when I brought it...” he said.

The peak lords’ gaze turned dark.

“That’s... Fourteen months ago?” Qi Qingqi’s lips twitched. Because the only time Shen Qingqiu could have meet Da Zhu was fourteen months ago, tops.

“Fifteen,” Shen Qingqiu answered honestly. It was worse.

“And you didn’t realize it broke until a few months ago when you were trapped here?” Shang Qinghua asked hesitantly.

“A month after I left,” Shen Qingqiu answered simply.

“Why?” Yue Qingyuan asked calmly, however, for the peak lords who had known him well, this was as desperate sounding as Yue Qingyuan could possibly make.

“It wasn’t really important,” Shen Qingqiu answered simply before he looked away, walking to the corner and sat down. That’s it. That was his way to tell them all ‘I’m not talking anymore.’

All the peak lords had a strong urge to cry, except Liu Qingge who had a strong urge to fight Shen Qingqiu right then and there.

Luo Binghe’s lips twitched, if he knew his Shizun was in this place for months, he would have come here! What a waste of time.

And then, came the accusation.

Shen Qingqiu stared blankly and only then he looked like he actually put his mind on things. Well, he was away for most of the times, he didn’t need to use his brilliant mind too much in his mindless journey enjoying freedom, he was too used to be free.

After an argument that was thoroughly dominated by Shen Qingqiu and Shen Qingqiu alone, it was the first time Luo Binghe saw one person winning against many people with words alone.

Luo Binghe had enough of his Shizun had to bear the accusation from those irresponsible demons, he was about to stop watching and end the drama when someone beat him to it.

“Shen Jiu...? Are you Shen Jiu?” A woman’s voice, sounding disbelieving and full of hidden resentment.

Shen Qingqiu paused, his shoulders tensed, his autumn water eyes slid towards the woman who had stepped out of the crowd, as did everyone else’s eyes. Now, Luo Binghe could see clearly how blood seemed to vacate his Shizun’s face, his expression was immediately hidden behind his trusted paper fan. His grip on it was shaking.

“It is you!” The woman exclaimed, her voice immediately corrupted in hatred. “Xiao Jiu!”

The Old Palace Master put up a calm expression, “This young lady, do you know peak lord Shen?”

“Peak lord?” The lady sneered. “So you’ve climbed that far, huh? What underhanded tricks did you use?! Yes! Of course, I know him!” The woman pointed at Shen Qingqiu rudely.

“Oh? This young lady, what’s your name? What makes you sound so opposing to peak lord Shen?”

“I know him! I know him from his past! My name is Qiu Haitang. He was named Shen Jiu, a slave boy that my family had bought!” Qiu Haitang yelled. “I don’t know about peak lord Shen Qingqiu, but I know him as Shen Jiu! A criminal of the lowest level!”

“Watch your mouth!” Qi Qingqi yelled.

Qiu Haitang winced back because of Qi Qingqi’s outburst, but the Old Palace Master immediately placated the angry Peak Lady.

Qiu Haitang braved herself again, “He was nothing but a slave! My family bought him out of pity because he was mistreated by his Slaver, we fed him, clothe him, who knew that one day, just because of a minor problem, he killed my brother and my whole family-“ Qiu Haitang continued on narrating Shen Qingqiu’s dirty laundry from the past.

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: HA!!! I CALLED IT, PEOPLE!!!]

[User Shizun is the best: SHIZUN!!!??? MY POOR SHIZUN!!! HE WAS A SLAVE?!?!]

[User Sha Hualing’s Little Bell: Uh-oh, and the plot thickens.]

[User Peerless Cucumber: AAAAHHHH!!! FINALLY! Is that a character arc I’m smelling?! Shizun’s character arc! Slavery, freedom and finally all of explanation behind him!]

Shang Qinghua quickly got rid of the barrage comments that had exploded instantly, his heart beat faster and faster by seconds. It wasn’t because he was afraid someone would see the barrage comments, only him who could see it. But he also wanted to see the drama, ah! This wasn’t in his original script! He was purely an audience with no knowledge of the drama right now! He needed to see!!!

Everyone was speechless when they heard of Qiu Haitang’s story, they all looked at Shen Qingqiu who didn’t look at anyone. Luo Binghe bit his lips. It’s not fair... Now, Luo Binghe has to watch.

“Well, I guess, this is not something we can decide right away. We’ll have to... Let’s say, relocate peak lord Shen first.”

Shen Qingqiu looked up in shock when Huan Hua Palace’s Palace Master said that. “No,” he defiantly responded.

The Old Palace Master gazed at him curiously, “But peak lord Shen, we have to judge your offenses and investigate the truth. Justice has to prevail, we can’t wrong anyone and especially Miss Qiu if her story is right...” He said.

Shen Qingqiu stepped back, distancing himself from the crowd which opposed him, “I’m not going with you,” he said stubbornly.

“Now, you’re making this difficult.”

“If my shidi is not willing to go with Huan Hua Palace, then Cang Qiong Sect will be the one keeping him,” Yue Qingyuan said calmly.

The two Great Sects immediately locked in a deadlock, The two sides were strongly insisting to get the right to detain Shen Qingqiu. Only one of them was really going to detain, whereas the other just want to kindly house their peak lord.

Shen Qingqiu did a completely reckless choice here, he flicked his sleeves and rushed away. However, his sudden movement alerted everyone which immediately trapped him back. Because of that, Shen Qingqiu was quickly detained by Huan Hua Palace.

“No! Let me go!” Shen Qingqiu growled furiously as Xiu Ya flew out and pointed itself to the people who dared to try and detain its master.

“Peak lord Shen, what are you doing is showing your guilt!” Palace Master Chen righteously said. “If you’re really as righteous as you said, then, stay silent and follow the rule!”

“Screw you!” Shen Qingqiu didn’t even care about propriety anymore and directly cursed at the Palace Master.

“Shixiong...” Mu Qingfang murmured, he knew the seriousness of the problem now that Shen Qingqiu tried to escape. He was extremely worried for his wayward martial brother.

“What are you doing? Just stay back and let us deal with this!” Liu Qingge scolded.

“As you all can see, peak lord Shen is showing a strong sign of guilt. We have to convict him immediately and hold a trial for him to be brought out to justice,” Old Palace Master righteously declared.

“You scared him!” Shang Qinghua couldn’t help but exclaimed as he read various delicious barrage comments in front of him. Damn! Why didn’t he think about that one before- that idea sounds beautiful! Oh my, a good angst scenario! –Damn bro, you should be my co-writer!

Now that Shang Qinghua mentioned it, everyone immediately noticed the panic in Shen Qingqiu’s eyes were not of guilt but because of fear. And not fear of being found out either, but a fear of... being detained?

Luo Binghe clenched his fists. His Shizun had always valued freedom, every time he returned to the peak, he always asked if they were dissatisfied with him and said that they were free to leave- of course, no one left. His Shizun... feared restriction?

“Alas, we still have to convict him,” Old Palace Master said calmly.

Shen Qingqiu turned to Yue Qingyuan, “Qi-ge...” He pleaded. He didn’t want to lose his freedom. Imprisoned? He hated that the most.

Yue Qingyuan’s eyes widened, his calm mask immediately crumbled as he furrowed his brows and frowned, “You’re not taking him anywhere,” Yue Qingyuan said coldly as he put his hand on Xuan Su, pulling out the sword from its sheathe slightly.

Huge pressure immediately built upon the people in the town, the weaker ones immediately fell to the ground. Shang Qinghua was immediately blinded with barrage comments that didn’t even leave one spot for him to peek through the situation. 

[User Zhangmen-shixiong Is A Husband Material: YES!!! YES YES YES YES YES YES!!! A build-up to character arc!!! Did Shizun just called our Zhangmen-shixiong ‘Qi-ge’??? What’s their story exactly!?]

[User Peerless Cucumber: AAAAHHHH!!! Shizun just showed a moment of weakness, in-depth character! In-depth! He finally showed something aside for indifference and annoyance! Character arc in the making! Airplane-bro, you did not disappoint! Finally, my favourite character is having his own arc!!!]

[User One Autumn Leaf: Don’t let them capture Shizun! They’re a group of warmongers! Damn Huan Hua Palace! I thought they were somewhat decent as Xiao Gongzhu is probably a harem member candidate, but damn! Touching Shizun is a crime unworthy of forgiveness!!!]

[User Half Prince: ‘Qi-ge’!?!? QI-GE?!?! Seventh brother?! Are they actually brothers?! Or is that some kind of nickname!? Yue Qingyuan also reacted very strongly!!!]

[User My Shizun is the Best Shizun: Shipped.]

[User Liu-juju and His Shen-shixiong: Hold on! Upstairs, don’t just decide as you like! Look at my name!!!]

[User Mystery Behind Liu Mingyan’s Veil: I’m putting my own two cents here. ZHANGMEN-SHIXIONG WAS ALSO A SLAVE!!!!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Holy Fuck! Upstairs, you’re making me getting goosebumps! We’ll see! We’ll see!]

[User Rogue Dao Cultivator: No way. From Zhangmen-shixiong’s manner, how could he be a slave? I’ll eat my keyboard if that’s true!]

[User Wife of Sovereign: Upstairs! You look at our Shizun, he’s so graceful and free. Elegant and untouched, does he look like a former slave!? NO!!! But he WAS!!!]

[User Shizun’s Wife: Aiyo, sister. Now you mentioned it. When will we see the official art of Shizun??? I want to see my husband, ah! I bet he’s very handsome! He wouldn’t lose out to Mo Beijun for sure!!! Airplane-bro! Quickly release Shizun’s official art!]

[User Meng Da Zhu: WHERE’S THE PANDA??!?!]

[User Red Clothes of Sha Hualing: That’s right. Quickly release the official art, ah. Your art is delicious, Airplane-bro! We already have three versions of Luo Binghe, kid, teenage, and after Abyss. We also have several of the harem members and Mo Beijun. WHEN WILL WE HAVE SHIZUN’S ART?!?!?!!]

[User Madame Liu: Or at least give me the official art of my Liu-juju!!! Description alone is not enough!]

[User Bamboo Erected Towards the Heaven: Description alone is not enough! +674]

Shang Qinghua expertly got rid of them whilst weeping to himself. How could he send an official art? The only way he could send it was when the other character’s friendship level with Luo Binghe is high or when it was very relevant to the original story! Shang Qinghua could send tclear pictures of all the harem members when they all met Luo Binghe and formed some kind of understanding with him or met him through a plot-tool accident! And it absolutely has to be PG-rating!!!

He was yet able to fully command on snapping pictures and recklessly posted it as ‘Official Art’! He wanted to, but he couldn’t!

“Set up the formation!” The Old Palace Master ordered.

“You dare?!” Qi Qingqi shrieked as she pulled out her sword, Liu Qingge also unsheathed Cheng Luan at the same time.

“Shixiong, shijie!” Mu Qingfang exclaimed in worry.

Hold on, we’re going to fight our way out here or what now?! Shang Qinghua blinked rapidly as he put his own hand on the sword hilt. Damn! He didn’t want to fight at all! Especially when the barrage comments cannot be closed as the readers were too excited and kept commenting!!! He’d die for sure!!!

“Stop!” Shen Qingqiu realized that Huan Hua Palace wouldn’t simply let him go just because Yue Qingyuan threatened them. He didn’t want this to escalate into an all-out war and harmed Yue Qingyuan so he immediately stopped them. “I’ll go!” He glared at Huan Hua Palace, damn them all. Shen Qingqiu shouldn’t have chosen to come to this city a few months ago, he should have chosen that shrieking forest...

Right, trying to fraternize with those grumpy shrieking trees is much more preferable than facing this...

“Xiao-“ Yue Qingyuan stopped when Shen Qingqiu glared at him. “...Qingqiu-shidi...” He said sullenly, clenching his fists. “One week. The trial will be held in one week,” Yue Qingyuan said firmly.

“That’s too early. I’m afraid too much will be overlooked,” Palace Master Chen said reasonably.

“If my Zhangmen-shixiong said one week, then it’s one week,” Qi Qingqi said coldly.

“Any try of changing it will result in death,” Liu Qingge threatened.

“I can assure you, he’s serious,” Shang Qinghua murmured quietly and Mu Qingfang smiled bitterly.

Luo Binghe stepped into the crowd and did nothing. He couldn’t meddle in this, his Shizun would be able to get out of this if he was truly innocent, if he wasn’t... Luo Binghe believed he had a good reason to, he’d help him out regardless.

Luo Binghe pursed his lips, luckily his relationship with Huan Hua Palace was nice, he could meet his Shizun even in imprisonment.

Shen Qingqiu raised his head when he heard someone coming in, “Gongyi Xiao?” He murmured uncertainly.

Luo Binghe paused, confused. Gongyi Xiao? What did Gongyi Xiao do to have his name remembered by his honorable Shizun? One had to know the peak lord of Qing Jing did not even remember most of his disciples’ name with the exception of the girls and Ming Fan. “Shizun...” Luo Binghe greeted when his eyes met Shen Qingqiu’s.

Shen Qingqiu stared blankly, blinked, and then looked away, sighing. Too many thing happened in one day that it could last his usual problem parameter for one week, now his half-demon disciple that he had banished and announced dead suddenly returned and stood in front of him. Shen Qingqiu knew where this would go.

“Go ahead,” Shen Qingqiu murmured indifferently as he looked down on his lap. He was ready for any form of revenge, but that’s it, he can only offer his body but not the explanation. Damn demons and their endless grudge, why didn’t he die?

“Go ahead what?” Luo Binghe blinked.

“Torture me,” Shen Qingqiu replied simply. Shen Qingqiu was not even in the mood to insult the half-demon. He suddenly missed Da Zhu and his fluffy stomach where Shen Qingqiu usually laid his head on...

Luo Binghe jolted up in surprise, he looked at Shen Qingqiu and chewed on his lips, “What do you mean, Shizun?” Is there any chance that his Shizun was that dense to not recognize Luo Binghe even after Luo Binghe directly calling him ‘Shizun’? No, his Shizun was not that dense, then... Why?

“I pushed you off into the Endless Abyss,” Shen Qingqiu replied blandly. “Surely, that’s your reason to join Huan Hua Palace,” he mocked.

“What? No. Binghe never...” Luo Binghe denied. “Binghe understands Shizun’s intention of pushing Binghe...”

Shen Qingqiu glanced disinterestedly, what did he understand?

“You pushed me because you know I would only be in danger if I remained there with my heritage was known...” Luo Binghe smiled bitterly.

Shen Qingqiu looked up, did the boy got the wrong idea or something? “No. I pushed you off to kill you...” At the moment he said this, the big rock covering the entrance moved and the Old Palace Master walked in with a pleasant smile and overheard their last bit of conversation.

Luo Binghe’s eyes flashed as his gentle smile turned cold and resentful, he gritted his teeth as he looked down at his Shizun, “So... You did it to kill me?” He said resentfully.

“Yes,” Shen Qingqiu replied exhaustedly. How many words had he said today? Talking is so exhausting.

Luo Binghe chuckled coldly, “I see...”

“Binghe?” The Old Palace Master finally spoke up from behind Luo Binghe, sounding concerned but actually gloating inside. “Oh, are you still talking to your... Shizun?” Palace Master Chen glanced at Shen Qingqiu with veiled distaste.

Luo Binghe shook his head as he looked at the Palace Master, “Nothing more needs to be talked about. Is the Palace Master going to talk to Shizun...?”

“Ah, no. I’m just here to just check on our special guest. I see peak lord Shen is doing fine,” Palace Master Chen said.

Shen Qingqiu wanted to sneer, as if the slight tear on his robe was not obvious enough. Whose daughter that was running rampant earlier? If Shen Qingqiu was not bound by the Immortal Binding Cable, he would have tied the little girl up and hung her by the water. Daring to be so arrogant before a peak lord which out-league her by far, Shen Qingqiu had stopped her before she got too arrogant.

“Then, shall I leave you here?” Luo Binghe said to the Old Palace Master.

“No need, let’s walk out together. Peak lord Shen, please bear with this place for a while,” the Old Palace Master bade pleasantly and walked out with Luo Binghe.

Luo Binghe entered his room and locked it, he exhaled in relief. That damn old coot, suddenly entering the dungeon like that, he really should have been more careful about talking of his heritage and that time he was pushed off. His Shizun even had to coach him to lie back there.

His Shizun was so quick to lie to adapt to such a situation, he had even begun to lie before Luo Binghe could feel the Old Palace Master’s presence entering the dungeon.

Luo Binghe nodded to himself. His Shizun pushed him off to kill him, this should be the ‘official’ story to the Palace Master’s eyes. As for what makes his Shizun chose that, Luo Binghe didn’t know. Regardless, Shizun would be free of the accusation of sheltering a demon if the official story was like that.

Luo Binghe rubbed his chin, he should search for a way out to get Shizun out of there.

Moreover, had his Shizun really killed an entire clan?

“Hey, Elder Dream Demon...” Luo Binghe called out.

Shang Qinghua sighed in pity. See? PG-rating. Even though Shen Qingqiu getting imprisoned was very important to the plot, he didn’t have access to the ‘art’ of this scene. If only he could have a full command, he would release everything!

Even the R-Rated one like those XX scenes with the harem members! Luo Binghe should have seen some sisters bathing already, right? And Sha Hualing’s clothes were very revealing nine out of ten times she appeared, he would release everything!

Everyone should see how beautiful the people here! Shang Qinghua felt suffocated just by seeing them for an extended amount of time! The harem members alone are not enough! Mo Beijun... Was very satisfying- but he only represented one criteria ‘devastatingly handsome, cold, cold, and cold’!!!

Shen Qingqiu was ‘cold, elegant, graceful, delicate, and distant immortal.’ Very pretty.

Yue Qingyuan was ‘warm, kind, solemn, and benevolent big brother.’ Very handsome.

Liu Qingge was ‘pretty, heroic, solemn, rather cold, brazen and wild.’ A perfect balance between beauty and hero.

Many of these had to be shown to the readers- but alas... Their friendship point with Luo Binghe was rock bottom!!!

Shang Qinghua wrung his handkerchief. How could he gain access to Shen Qingqiu’s picture if the feeling in his heart for Luo Binghe did not change too much from the original???

Time rolled by and one-week deadline was here. Luo Binghe had tried to sneak into his Shizun’s dream but apparently, his Shizun’s dreamland was locked and protected by a strange barrier.

“What the hell, it’s a Dream Crane’s protection. How the hell this man got a protection from a Dream Crane??? What the fuck? I searched for one in my entire life and back and I never even seen a shadow of it- how the hell a mere weak human cultivator could even attain its protection?!!” Dream Demon protested furiously when he felt the barrier around Shen Qingqiu’s dream world.

As expected of his Shizun, even elder Dream Demon is no match of his divine-ness. To be able to find something that the elder Dream Demon could only dream of seeing. His Shizun really had a talent with spiritual beasts. “Can’t you go through it?” Luo Binghe had asked.

“Not with my current power, I can do it if you give me a few months, but I don’t think you have that much time.”

Obviously.

“But there’s one place where it held a treasure that could breach someone’s dream and nullified the Dream Crane’s protection if you added my power into calculation...”

Luo Binghe followed Dream Demon’s instruction and went out to search for that treasure, creating yet a side plot of meeting another harem member much earlier than expected. Even Shang Qinghua, who was reading the comments to observe the development, had scratched his head confusedly as it wasn’t in the script.

But the readers reacted nicely so Shang Qinghua thought it wrote itself just fine.

When Luo Binghe came back with the treasure being rightfully his and Dream Demon being so weak after helping him subduing the treasure, the trial was due in one day.

“Kid... I’ll leave it to you...” Dream Demon said tiredly. “I need to sleep for a while to recover, you already know how to access my dream power. You use it with the treasure.”

“Alright, you go and rest up, elder. I’ll do it myself,” Luo Binghe nodded.

“Alright. Good luck on whatever you’re trying to achieve,” Dream Demon said and his presence disappeared into the very back of Luo Binghe’s mind to rest. That was a very big mistake.

Luo Binghe staggered into the trial hall, pale and dispirited. He had failed to sneak into Shen Qingqiu’s dream last night.

Apparently, the barrier had been really strong and subtle, they were also placed strategically. Luo Binghe could only see some pieces of memories before he was overwhelmed by a massive headache and had to retreat for a bit to recover.

Shen Qingqiu also felt the same thing, ever since he woke up, he had a splitting headache that he couldn’t even remember how he had transferred from his cell to the trial. His nightmare was coming back too even though only some pieces of it. Which was very strange since he stopped having nightmare since four years ago after he and Da Zhu helped a dying Dream Crane which had come to Qing Jing peak because it was attracted to Da Zhu’s complete Yin-Yang harmony.

Did the crane die somewhere and the nightmare was back???

The trial commenced on the Hall of Truth, a building in a neutral territory since it was for a very important figure from one of the Four Great Sects. The Hall of Truth was also a very ancient building built above an ancient spiritual array that was no longer able to be used. The legend said that only truth would be revealed inside the array.

Even though it no longer worked, people still use the building to hold an important trial in hope only truth came out of it.

Shen Qingqiu frowned uncomfortably as the trial started, not quite hearing Mu Qingfang gentle questions from afar on whether he was okay or not, or how Qi Qingqi was already throwing a few scathing remarks to Huan Hua Palace. Or anything at all.

Luo Binghe furrowed his brows in concern. He was truly useless, he couldn’t even help his Shizun and see the truth for himself. If it was like this, how could he defend his Shizun?

“Peak lord Shen, all evidence had pointed that you are the killer of Qiu Family’s members years ago, do you plead guilty?” Old Palace Master said after a strenuously long recital of evidence that Luo Binghe didn’t even glance at.

“What’s the need to ask him anymore? He’s obviously guilty! I saw it with my own eyes!” Qiu Haitang growled.

Luo Binghe scowled. Killing that woman certainly crossed his mind several times, but he couldn’t kill her as the problem for his Shizun might only getting bigger rather than smaller.

Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows even tighter as he sweated. The barrier of dream that Luo Binghe had secretly breached last night slowly crumbled after some times. Its ruin quickly threw Shen Qingqiu’s state of mind into disarray even though he didn’t know what the hell was wrong with his splitting headache.

“Qingqiu-shidi...?” Yue Qingyuan called out gently when Shen Qingqiu didn’t respond at all to the Old Palace Master’s question.

The Old Palace Master secretly smiled in satisfaction, looks like Shen Qingqiu is slowly breaking under the pressure. Good, let’s show how pathetic he actually is. “And moreover about the Sowers incident. There are no witnesses to act in your favor as you were mostly away, how do you intend to explain this?”

“I didn’t...” Shen Qingqiu growled lowly. His legs gave up and he kneeled down in the middle of the hall- goddammit! He really wanted to clutch his head and pull out his hair but his hands were tied! Hurts-! Shen Qingqiu pressed his forehead to his bound hands.

“What’s wrong with him?” Qi Qingqi asked to Mu Qingfang who solemnly took out a set of acupuncture needles whilst keeping his eyes on Shen Qingqiu.

“And, from a certain source, I also heard that you abused your disciple?” The Old Palace Master said in a pondering tone.

Luo Binghe’s eyes snapped open, a furious feeling built up in his chest- What?! Who abused who-? His Shizun didn’t even stay long enough to abuse anyone, the only abuse they went through was the sleepless nights to copy scriptures and books. They only had to do that when they messed up really badly! And by his Shizun’s rarity in staying, they almost close to never had to do that as long as they behave!

“That being said, of course, killing an entire family is a crime worth punishment even for a peak lord,” Old Palace Master said.

Qiu Haitang sneered, “Today, I’ll finally exact justice for my brothers, Shen Jiu!” She hated him. She hated him to the deep of her bones, after her sincere feelings, her family’s kindness, he decided to bit the hand that had fed him- despicable. “What wrongs my brother has ever done to you, Shen Jiu!?” She emotionally screamed.

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes snapped open, memories from the past surfaced by itself. Memories of a cruel teen that always looked at him with a sneer of disgust, changing expression in a blink, pain, pain, pain, humiliation.

Luo Binghe saw the pieces of broken memories from Shen Qingqiu and thoughtlessly grasped onto it. The pieces he saw made him feel uneasy, that was when the Dream Demon appeared again in Luo Binghe’s mind.

“Brat, what are you doing?!”

“What?” Luo Binghe responded, not quite understanding what he was freaking out about.

“Why are you tugging on those people’s consciousness too-?!”

“W-what?” Luo Binghe furrowed his brows.

“You’re losing control- damn it, this is why I told you to not---“ Dream Demon’s voice became distorted a bit before he turned silent.

Pain was the only thing registered in his mind as young master Qiu landed another kick on his stomach.

“How does that feel, huh? Feeling so tough now? That’s why never mess around with me! You’re nothing but a street rat, how dare you to humiliate me?!!” Young master Qiu growled as he stomped on Shen Jiu’s leg earning a painful groan from the very much younger boy who was no older than ten.

Young master Qiu hastily kicked Shen Jiu’s side and stomped on his head, “No need to be so noisy, slave. I’m just starting with you,” he sneered.

Shen Jiu gritted his teeth and used all of his power to push young master Qiu’s foot off of his head, he sat up hastily and scooted back, away from the lunatic bastard. “Not satisfied yet? Why are you doing this?” He growled despite all the pain in his body and his logic screamed at him that he was only courting death.

“You still dared to ask?” Young master Qiu glared. “You and your freak of a power that made me humiliate myself in public, you still dare to ask?” Now, the youth became angrier as he recalled that accident.

“Pathetic,” Shen Jiu spat out, despite all the odds.

Young master Qiu sneered, “When I’m done with you, you’re gonna be begging for my mercy,” he glared darkly. “And I’m not gonna give you any,” Young master Qiu choked Shen Jiu’s neck and hoisted him up, slamming him to the wall.

The younger boy choked soundlessly, his face turned bluish in a few seconds with the sudden cut of oxygen into his lungs.

“Brother~”

Shen Jiu slumped to the floor, gasping for air desperately. Young master Qiu turned around, he smiled dazzlingly and benevolently, unlike his earlier menacing and cruel sneer, Shen Jiu looked up and caught this sight.

“Tang’er,” Even young master Qiu’s voice took a one hundred eighty degree turn when he spoke.

Shen Jiu looked down, trying to focus on the ground and recover his breath. A flurry of bell’s chimings entered the room, filling it with much delight and cheer despite everything.

“Brother, how are you,” A girl’s voice. Shen Jiu lowered his head even more.

“I’m fine, really. What are you doing here?”  

“Oh, I heard you bought over something or rather... someone?” The girl’s voice said and her gaze landed on Shen Jiu. “Who is he?” she asked.

“Ah, no one you should be concerned about, Tang’er. He’s just a slave I took pity on,” Young master Qiu said magnanimously.

“Oh, how kind of you, brother. Tang’er is so proud!” The young lady then looked closely on the slave her brother had saved and frowned. “What happened to him?” She asked when she noticed the bruises and wounds.

“He was abused by his slavers. I took him in because of that,” Young master Qiu sighed regretfully.

“Oh,” Tang’er sounded really sympathetic. She turned to look at the haggard boy and smiled, “Hello, how are you? My name is Qiu Haitang, what’s your name?” she asked softly and encouragingly.

Shen Jiu turned his head away, not daring to look at her but Qiu Haitang did not give up so easily.

“What’s your name? I can’t be your friend if you don’t give me a name. Don’t worry, Tang’er and her family will definitely treat you better than your previous owner,” She continuously coaxed the slave boy.

Shen Jiu’s ears turned red, for the entirety of his life, he never felt any kind gesture like this except from Qi-ge. His little to no interaction with women didn’t help him at all, “I... I’m Shen Jiu,” He answered quietly.

Qiu Haitang blinked when she saw Shen Jiu looked bashful, her smile turned even brighter as a glint of innocent amusement and astonishment danced in her eyes, “I see.” She looked towards her brother who initially looked very displeased but immediately smiled when he turned at him. “Brother, he’s interesting,” she said.

“Yes, yes, of course. Why did you come here anyway?” Young Master Qiu steered Qiu Haitang away, tossing a nasty glare at Shen Jiu who looked down once more.

“Oh, you know. Tang’er wants to ask...” As Qiu Haitang trailed on and on, the two pair of siblings walked out of the room, leaving Shen Jiu alone. Shen Jiu shakily pushed himself up but his butt kissed the ground again, he looked at his left leg and sighed.

It was broken.

Shen Jiu didn’t know how long he had been here in the torture chamber for trying to defend himself, he had been starved, denied from clean water and decent clothes. He could only curse out his tormentors at any given moment whenever he could voice out his protests, if even the torture only got worse at some point, who cares?

Even if he begged for mercy, they didn’t give him. Why should he give them a nasty satisfaction for seeing him begging? It’d be better to just keep cursing them out and keep riling them up, only making them frustrated and never once satisfied with his defiance. Shen Jiu reached that conclusion a long time ago.

Bump.

Shen Jiu ignored the sound.

Bump.

“Xiao Jiu.”

Shen Jiu’s head snapped up, his eyes were wide in disbelief and hope sprung out in his chest. He straightened and resisted the urge to cry, “Is that really you...?”

“Xiao Jiu, you’re inside?” The voice from another side asked, sounding terribly relieved.

“How are you outside?” Shen Jiu asked.

“I managed to escape from their imprisonment, are you okay?” the other asked in concern.

“No!” Shen Jiu snapped unhesitantly. “Those fuckers tormented me every day, why would I be okay?!” he hissed.

“How serious is it?” The boy’s voice from another side sounded panicked.

“I’m half dying here!” Shen Jiu complained. “Those fuckers, just wait, I will definitely return what they did to me a hundredfold!”

“Xiao Jiu, calm down-“

“This is all your damn fault in the first place!” Shen Jiu growled.

The voice from outside turned quiet for a while. “... You’re right... I... I’m so sorry. I’ll free you now, just wait,” After he said that, Shen Jiu could hear some light bumping and metal clinking.

Shen Jiu’s sides were burning in pain, the dried blood on his ragged clothes smelled terrible, his chained up wrist felt numb, still, he waited and waited for hope. For his only ray of hope to succeed.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Shen Jiu became impatient and anxious. “Are you done yet?” he asked harshly. What if those bastards came back? Then, wouldn’t it be useless?? What if he got caught again???

“It’s useless. There are too many locks, I... I can’t open everything.”

Shen Jiu could feel his stomach sank at the new information. He clenched his hands, “Then, what should we do?! You know this is all your fault right?! It’s your fault we landed ourselves here, it’s your fault I’m being tortured like this! If only you’re don’t have that stupid hero complex, you’re so fucking stupid!!”

“I’m so sorry... I’m so sorry, you’re right, it’s all my fault.”

“Just go. Go escape by yourself, it’s useless if we’re both captured again,” Shen Jiu clenched his hands and unwillingly said.

“Xiao Jiu... I can’t leave you!”

“But what can you do? You’re weak! You’re nothing to these bastards! Even if you can open all of those locks, my legs are broken, what good could I be? We’re just gonna be captured again!” He lied. His legs were not in that dire of a state. His left leg was healing and his right leg was fine. But he needed to do something to get that idiot away.

“... Xiao Jiu. I will become a cultivator,” a pause. “I’ll become stronger and stronger and when I’m strong enough, I’ll return here and save you. I will get you out of here, I will definitely save you. I promise you.”

Shen Jiu’s eyes flashed with hurt and unwillingness. “Mm, whatever. I’ll wait,” he agreed. “This is also your whole fault, if only you could be much calmer. Remember this, your impulsiveness and righteousness are your flaws, other people’s problems are not ours to sort out. Remember, next time, be calmer!” he scolded.

“Yes... Yes... Yes, Xiao Jiu is right. Wait for me, okay? I will definitely return.”

“Don’t just ‘Yes’ me! Promise me next time you’ll be calmer in facing anything in the future, Qi-ge!” Shen Jiu snapped.

“Yes, I promise... Then, I’ll go?” Yue Qi asked from another side.

“Wait!” Shen Jiu panicked. This would be the first time he would truly be separated so far away from his Qi-ge, he was unwilling but it needed to be done. “Show... show me your face, can I see you for one last time?” Shen Jiu crawled to the wall and laid his hand on it, looking at one specific small hole on it.

“Of course,” Yue Qi’s tone contained a sad smile. Shen Jiu leaned down to look through the hole and saw Yue Qi’s face, his smile was sad and tired, his eyes shone in guilt and unwillingness. He looked haggard with his dirty appearance, no doubt because of his escape. He still looked handsome...

“You looked pathetic,” Shen Jiu commented.

Yue Qi closed his eyes, tears that were welling up in his eyes ran down his cheeks. “I am...”

Shen Jiu squeezed his eyes shut after he done looking. His mind recalled back that day when he used his mysterious power. A young boy, a mere street rat with a trick, used his ultimate trick of making anything to be a sharp and solid object to help two other street rats from getting trampled by a horse.

“It’s all your fault...” He murmured as he recalled that incident not long ago. “I’ll wait for you.”

Shen Jiu continued on his life in Qiu manor, being bullied, beaten up, and tormented continuously by the male members of the family. He was looked down upon. There was no day that he didn’t support a new bruise and wound, but he still wouldn’t beg for mercy to give them their satisfaction. If he couldn’t curse, he just took it with silence.

Months went by, Shen Jiu slept in the rundown woodshed. The night was always freezing and he learned to wake up early. At least, earlier than any people in the household, lest they had any idea of dumping a bucket of cold water on him.

“Look at you! You ruined my clothes!” Shrieked one of the male young masters of a branch family. “Don’t you know this robe cost more than your entire life!” He chastised as he attempted to kick Shen Jiu but Shen Jiu brought up his hands to protect himself.

“Accept your punishment, rat!” another boy barked out, kicking Shen Jiu from behind.

Shen Jiu sneered, “Only fools would think I would just accept a beating without protecting myself.”

“What did you say?!”

“I said, you’re a fool! Bastard!” Shen Jiu snapped.

“You’re really asking for it, continuously pissing everyone off. Qiu Jianluo already told us to do anything we want as long as you don’t die, why don’t we try to cripple you?” The branch family’s young master sneered.

Shen Jiu growled, “If even that bastard, Qiu Jianluo didn’t dare to cripple me for his face. Do you, pathetic fuckers, have any guts too?” he ridiculed.

“This hysteric slave is really courting death,” sneered one of them as he stepped up.

“What’s going on here?” Everyone froze and turned to see the speaker.

“Tang’er!” They all smiled dazzlingly at the newly arriving young lady who looked at them and smiled.

“Jianming-tang ge!” Qiu Haitang greeted the branch family’s young master. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Qiu Jianming awkwardly said as he looked at the slave behind him. He looked like he really regretted having him here with them now.

Qiu Haitang, of course, noticed another person on the ground, she gasped a bit. “Oh my, what happened?! What’s wrong with that boy?” She asked in serious concern as she drew closer in a flurry. She stared at Shen Jiu who looked away and recognized him, “You’re... You’re Shen Jiu, right? The slave my brother bought and saved...? What are you doing here?” she asked.

Qiu Jianming and the others panicked, “Erm! He was working, Tang’er. But he was careless and ruined your tang-ge’s clothes, see? Tang-ge was simply berating him so he wouldn’t do such a reckless mistake again in the future,” Qiu Jianming explained in a panic.

“Oh,” Qiu Haitang nodded, trusting her cousin’s explanation fully. “Why are you so reckless? Does my brother know this? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? You looked worse for wear,” Qiu Haitang reached out and Shen Jiu’s heart skipped a beat.

Shen Jiu scooted away with a flinch, he immediately regretted his move and covered his face. His face heated up. Qiu Haitang paused and looked at his reaction, she blinked.

“Tang’er, you shouldn’t be too close to a stranger like that,” Qiu Jianming said jealously. “Tang’er has the best interest. But others might not be used to it, see? He looked flustered instead.”

“Alright, alright. Hey, are you okay?” Qiu Haitang asked. “Here, let me help you up,” she unhesitantly reached out again and Shen Jiu flinched back again. “Can you stand?”

“Tang’er, he’s fine. He just fell down, nothing too serious,” Qiu Jianming said unhappily.

Shen Jiu slowly used his hand to support himself and pushed himself up, he staggered for a bit. He stood limply before Qiu Haitang, “I’m fine...” he said quietly.

“It looks like the fall is so serious, why don’t you go and get yourself checked?” The benevolent young lady said. She blinked, “Wait, is that a bruise on your upper cheek?”

Shen Jiu shook his head, finding his bare feet very interesting. “It’s okay...” he said in embarrassment.

“Well,” Qiu Jianming sneered. “Go back to work, don’t make mistakes like this again. Tang’er, let the servant work, I’m sure it’s not serious. Jianming-gege just bought you a very interesting trinket from the market...” Qiu Jianming and the others steered Qiu Haitang away from Shen Jiu.

Shen Jiu watched them leave. His eyes never left Qiu Haitang’s slender back.

A snap of whip greeted him when he just returned to rest in his woodshed, it was so sudden that Shen Jiu couldn’t help the pained cry that escaped his throat. Qiu Jianluo glared at him and tossed a cheap glass container at him.

“Tang’er came today and said she saw the pitiful slave which couldn’t take care of himself. My sister is always soft-hearted. Use that to tend your bruises which can be seen and stay out of Tang’er’s sight, filthy mongrel,” Qiu Jianluo growled and left.

Shen Jiu looked at Qiu Jianluo’s back with dark and freezing hatred, “Hypocrite motherfucker,” he hissed.

“Hey,” Qiu Haitang smiled as she approached the slave boy. “Are you okay now? I asked my brother to take good care of you. It seems like you’re more healthy now,” she grinned prettily.

Shen Jiu froze like a fool before her, “Th-thanks...” he mumbled quietly. “I really appreciate it...” he said, struggling to say something polite to such a lovely young lady.

Qiu Haitang giggled, “You’re welcome! You know, you’re too quiet, if only you talk more, my brother might notice. My brother is a bit dense, he needed to be reminded outright!” she said.

Shen Jiu didn’t know how to answer that so he simply nodded, “Mm.”

Qiu Haitang shook her head, “I said, talk more. You have a lovely voice, I like it,” she praised innocently, not knowing the boy before her had his heart sped up.

“Yes, young miss...” Shen Jiu said, trying hard to meet her expectation.

Qiu Haitang beamed and Shen Jiu’s heart eased down.

Since that day from a week ago, Qiu Haitang seemed to be determined to take good care of him. Shen Jiu was very grateful, whenever the girl was around, no one dared to bully him. However, their torments became even crueler. In this case, Shen Jiu could only curse them and was helpless to do anything else.

Qiu Jianluo was practically ruthless in hurting every inch of Shen Jiu’s body with the exception of the exposed body parts.

Today, Qiu Haitang was practically strange as she demanded him to be ‘fixed’ citing that his dirty and unkempt appearance was not fit to be a servant of Qiu household. When Shen Jiu was all cleaned up with a really nice bath and not just a bucket of clean water being used to wash his body, Shen Jiu was given a new set of clothes.

He felt terribly stiff as he walked out of the curtain to the awaiting Qiu Haitang. He fiddled with his lime green robe, “Young miss...” Shen Jiu hesitated.

Qiu Haitang turned around and her eyes widened, they stared at each other in silence before Shen Jiu shifted nervously, “Young miss... What is this?”

His words seemed to snap Qiu Haitang out of her reverie and she beamed, “A gift from me to you!” Qiu Haitang said proudly. The young lady rarely got to take care of anything. Everything was taken care of by the servants. She had her own sense of accomplishment when she helped Shen Jiu ‘out of his shell.’ “Xiao Jiu, you look great!” Qiu Haitang praised generously.

“Thank you...” Shen Jiu sighed in relief.

“From now on, you should keep this appearance! I like this look much more!” Qiu Haitang insisted as she walked closer and gazed at Shen Jiu appreciatively. “You’re so handsome!”

Shen Jiu didn’t know how to answer to that.

Years went past, he was still abused terribly. Sometimes, he had to cancel his plan with Qiu Haitang because he was too weak to move from his bed, but he couldn’t tell her anything.

Most of the times, he forced his way through the day. Trying hard to not show his pain to the young miss who had helped him so much. Getting teased by her as a limp affectionately because he sometimes couldn’t help but to limp after her. Her teasing only made him more determined to hide it from her.

Such a pure flower, let’s not taint it.

“Xiao Jiu, I really like you. Do you... Do you want to be my future partner? Going through thin and thick with me?” Qiu Haitang asked as she grasped his hands, looking up at him with sincere adoration.

Shen Jiu stared at her. He looked at her with a doting gaze as he squeezed back the slender hands holding his own hands.

This would bring him more despair. But if he had to cling desperately to the only ray of hope he had seen in years, then let him desperately clung on.

“I really like you too...”

“Then, let’s just engage Tang’er with that slave boy,” Master Qiu said with a final. “That way, other people wouldn’t be questioning why we’re not marrying her off when she’s an adult.”

“That’s right, father!” Qiu Jianluo excitedly agreed. “With that, we can watch over Tang’er closely. Keep her at home without anyone outside being suspicious and... And we can watch her grow properly,” the youth smiled lewdly.

Master Qiu frowned and glared displeasedly at his son, “Watch your tone, boy. You know your sister is mine. Just like her mother,” Master Qiu’s face turned reminiscing and inappropriate. “So gentle and beautiful. She’ll grow up even more beautiful than anyone, at that time, I’ll taste the fruit of my hard work for raising her.”

“You’re right, father. Of course,” Qiu Jianluo smiled a nasty smile. After his father left, Qiu Jianluo’s smile turned into a sneer, “Old fart, did he think he will be alive forever?”

Qiu Jianluo spun on his heel, “Haha, by the time Tang’er is ripe. You will be dead, father. And Tang’er will be mine and mine only,” he laughed crazedly and hummed a song as he walked away.

Shen Jiu, hidden in a cramped corner of the room, hugged his knees close. His face was blank and expressionless. He slowly put his face into his knees and sighed, “Haitang...” He murmured. “How could you be born into this wretched family?”

“Master Wu is not a con man,” Shen Jiu defended, holding himself back to not spit out insults and mockeries to Qiu Jianluo. Just because that scum didn’t have talent, didn’t mean others can’t.

“Look at you. So desperate for power, what are you going to do anyway? Cultivating? You? What a joke,” Qiu Jianluo sneered. “You’re too old for that already,” he smirked as he gazed at the fifteen-year-old boy who clenched his fists tightly at the reminder.

“It already went past your time to cultivate. You’re already wasted, there’s no reason to try and fail anyway,” Qiu Jianluo said. “And you’re going to be married off, what are you going to do about Tang’er, hm?”

“I’ll return to marry her. But first, I’ll learn how to cultivate and be strong enough to deserve her,” by that time, Shen Jiu hoped Qiu Haitang would be okay. If not, Shen Jiu could always sneak back and kidnap her to elope with her. Anything to get her away from her wretched brother who had killed his own father in a cold blood. Shen Jiu knew everything in this house, hidden or not.

“Speaking of deserving, you will never deserve her,” Qiu Jianluo sneered. “It is only because Tang’er wanted it that we reluctantly let you marry her.”

‘And then you’ll kill me off after sometimes, right? Effectively making Haitang a widow that couldn’t marry anymore?’ Shen Jiu hissed silently in his mind.

“Regardless of what, I want to learn how to cultivate. I believe Haitang will also agree with me.”

“But I’m not. Tang’er respects her brother’s wishes,” Qiu Jianluo sneered. “Are you trying so hard for that friend of yours? Who ran away and disappeared? You know, your traitorous friend probably died somewhere, right? A useless rat, the same as you, as pathetic.”

Shen Jiu stiffened and Qiu Jianluo noticed it. Shen Jiu glared at him, “I want to cultivate,” this is his only chance. His only chance to get stronger and shape his own fate.

Qiu Jianluo glared at him shook his head, “Fine,” his hand struck out and hit Shen Jiu’s chest, Shen Jiu coughed out. Qiu Jianluo slammed him onto the wall and sneered, “How laughable. Haha, you think cultivating alone will turn you into something else? You’re nothing but a slave and will continue to be so forever.”

“You- motherfucker,” Shen Jiu’s eyes burned in fury. “Just because you have no chance, doesn’t mean others don’t!” He pushed Qiu Jianluo away but Qiu Jianluo kneed his stomach and held his neck in a choking grip.

“Slave, it seems like you began to forget your place again. Being pampered by Tang’er really increased your ego, huh? Why don’t you act like a proper gigolo and stay,” Qiu Jianluo’s eyes fluttered. “A slave will always be a slave. But an ugly duckling could turn into a swan with the right feather, these years had been generous to you, huh?” Qiu Jianluo caressed Shen Jiu’s cheek.

“Don’t touch me!” Shen Jiu bellowed as he thrashed and managed to land a punch on Qiu Jianluo’s face. And it was very satisfying.

Qiu Jianluo growled and jumped on him again, using his full strength. Ultimately, Shen Jiu was still young, untrained, and malnourished despite what his nice clothes showed, he was quickly subdued again.

“Little slut. You dare to defy me?” Qiu Jianluo pushed Shen Jiu on top his work desk and choked the younger boy. His eyes darkened in lust when he saw the struggling Shen Jiu, choking and coughing, flushed. He had began noticed this slave boy’s look since a few years ago when he hit puberty. Shen Jiu was by no means bad looking, he was very handsome and pretty, otherwise, how could Qiu Haitang becoming smitten very easily?

Qiu Jianluo always pushed those thoughts aside because he had Qiu Haitang, but lately, Shen Jiu’s feature truly couldn’t be overlooked and he contemplated to just keep him alive. Two is better than one. Qiu Jianluo smirked as he used his hand to open Shen Jiu’s sash and the young boy froze in terror for a second before he struggled even fiercer.

“Let go!” Shen Jiu choked out a scream.

“Hmm, you look really beautiful like this,” Qiu Jianluo licked his lips as his gaze darkened further. “I’ll keep you. You and Tang’er. Both of you are going to be mine. My belonging, my consorts, to have two beautiful pretty little things to fuck. How lucky I am?” Qiu Jianluo laughed as the sash was untied.

Shen Jiu felt fury and power coursed through his vein, “You’re lowest grade of scum!” he roared as he pushed Qiu Jianluo off with a power that came out of nowhere. He kicked the older boy’s stomach and punched his face. His ears rang with deafening sounds, he didn’t know what he was doing until blood drenched his clothes and Qiu Jianluo laid dead beneath him, sword through his chest, a final blow after repeated stabs.

Shen Jiu didn’t look shocked at his first kill, he stood up shakily and limped out of the room. His gaze was dark and his frown was unmerciful. The power in his vein screamed for more blood, he was thirsty of revenge, he wanted justice after years of torment.

“Gasp!”

Shen Jiu paused and faltered, he turned his head to look at the end of the hallway. Qiu Haitang stood there, looking pretty in her pink dress. She saw the blood all over Shen Jiu’s body and the sword in his hand, she looked at him in shock, not a second after, her eyes rolled back and she fainted right then.

Shen Jiu approached her, he saw she was still breathing and dragged her out of the manor. After that, he took up his sword and exacted his revenge. He burned down the manor, watching with cold eyes as the fire slowly ate up the place that had tormented him for years.

“Hahaha! Kid, you’re ruthless! I like your decisiveness! I, Wu Yanzi, did not pick wrongly!” Wu Yanzi appeared out of nowhere and laughed gleefully. He didn’t hesitate to dive in the middle of the chaos and plundered the manor blind, taking anything that hadn’t been burned down by the fire.

Shen Jiu clenched his sword and his grip weakened.

Clang!

The sword fell down and he turned away from Wu Yanzi and walked back towards the place where he laid Qiu Haitang in. He kneeled down, gazing at her unconscious form and lowered himself to kiss her forehead.

“I’m sorry...” he paused. “I love you...” he sobbed as he touched his forehead with hers. However, a second later, he raised his head and emotion was void of his face despite the fact that a single tear slid down his cheek. He stood up and walked away, not looking back.

Shen Jiu raised his head and inhaled.

“What are you waiting for?!” Wu Yanzi, done plundering, screamed out for Shen Jiu.

Shen Jiu looked at him and looked to a certain direction. “Qi-ge...” He murmured almost inaudibly. “I’m done waiting, let’s go,” he turned back towards Wu Yanzi and escaped from the suffocating prison.

Years went past since the first time he went under Wu Yanzi's wings. Shen Jiu's life did not get better much, when his master was displeased he would still hit Shen Jiu. But at least it wasn't as bad like with the Qiu's. The worst part being with Wu Yanzi is not the physical torture, but the mental torture. He had to kill innocents with his own hands. Though, as his time spent with Wu Yanzi became longer, Shen Jiu often secretly let go of his victims. One time Wu Yanzi found out, he beat Shen Jiu down senseless.

Blood in his hands, both innocents and the villains. But in the end, the world is not a place for the weak and helpless. Shen Ju had to fight. It's either kill or be killed. The burden weight on Shen Jiu's mind terribly, his cultivation began to deviate more often. Most of the times, his so-called master delightfully watched him suffer qi deviation, slowly destroying his own talent and potential before saving him in the brink of death. Damaging his cultivation further and further, accumulating more and more inner demons.

“He ruined you...” Yue Qi, now a grand disciple of a great sect named Yue Qingyuan, said sadly. After their whole unpleasant reunion that ended with someone being killed and that someone was Shen Jiu’s own scum of a teacher, Yue Qingyuan had offered and insisted for him to join Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Shen Jiu had nowhere to go, so he accepted.

Shen Jiu knew that. He was ruined. His scum of a teacher was afraid of Shen Jiu's talent and that he would surpass him one day. He liked to control Shen Jiu. But in the end, when Shen Jiu finally realized it, it was already too late.

Shen Jiu glared and sneered. Yue Qingyuan said it like it wasn’t his fault. It was his fault that Shen Jiu was bought by the Qiu’s. Yue Qingyuan’s fault for throwing him away and made him run away with a scum of a master. He hated this man. Hate. “You ruined me, Yue Qi. You ruined me.”

Yue Qingyuan looked down, his tone was full of immeasurable guilt, “I’m sorry...”

He disgusts Shen Jiu.

“Weak. Soft. Pathetic. Too old and barely started,” The much younger boy looked down on him and chastised him openly. “Fight dirty too. Not worthy,” he harumphed coldly and arrogantly as he flicked his sleeves and left Shen Jiu on the stage alone.

Shen Jiu clenched his hand, he could feel eyes on him, mocking him, taking pleasure in his humiliation. Every word of that boy surnamed Liu pierced Shen Jiu’s heart like a thousand sword. His hair hid his expression which turned into resentment and envy. Envy, envy, envy.

Shen Jiu gathered himself and stood up, he quickly walked off the stage. After he was off the stage he stole a glance to the boy surnamed Liu again, surrounded by many people who praised him and fawned over him. The boy surnamed Liu looked back and their gaze met. Shen Jiu glared hatefully and the boy returned the favor with his own gaze of distaste.

Shen Jiu’s lips quirked into a self-deprecating sneer. Damn his luck. “Weak. Pathetic. Too old and barely started,” Shen Jiu murmured as he walked away, too ashamed to stay around. “Not everyone is born rich. If I... If I could have what you have too...” Shen Jiu faltered.

Weak.

Pathetic.

Too old and barely started.

Fight dirty.

Shen Jiu’s chest began to hurt and he held a hand over it. He doubled over.

“Xiao Jiu...?” Yue Qi came after that, searching for him. “Xiao Jiu, it’s okay, losing or winning doesn’t matter- Xiao Jiu, what happened?!” Yue Qi panicked as he rushed over to Shen Jiu’s side and saw that the younger boy was coughing out blood. “Are you injured?!”

Shen Jiu chuckled bitterly, “Words so poisonous that it could make others coughing out blood. This is the first time I experienced it myself,” he said bitterly and hatefully. His hands were clenched tightly and his eyes reddened in fury.

“Xiao Jiu- Xiao Jiu, you’re going into a qi deviation! Calm down and refine your qi properly!” Yue Qi warned as he took Shen Jiu’s hands and injected his own qi to calm down Shen Jiu’s chaotic qi.

Shen Jiu glared, “This is all your fault!” he hissed.

Yue Qingyuan looked at Shen Jiu and his eyes dropped in sadness, “I’m sorry...” he looked down and focused in helping Shen Jiu with his erratic qi.

Shen Jiu sent a flash of his power to the demonic creature that tried to attack Liu Qingge from behind. It was stabbed and quickly dispersed, the residual energy of the attack hit Liu Qingge’s shoulder and wounded him a bit.

Liu Qingge spun around and glared at the only man behind him, “You!” He growled. “Were you trying to kill me?!” he accused.

Shen Jiu paused and glared back, “What. Are. You. Talking. About?”

“Stop pretending! You just ambushed me!” Liu Qingge growled as he spun Cheng Luan and pointed it at his own shixiong. “Despicable scum! I never thought you couldn’t go any lower, but you did! If you hate me so much, then duel with me face to face!” Liu Qingge exclaimed

Shen Jiu was visibly shaking now, he glared at Liu Qingge murderously and raised Xiu Ya, “You ungrateful vermin! I will not stand this slander!” Shen Jiu growled.

“Talk big. Still want to pretend? You obviously tried to ambush me just now!” Liu Qingge snarled.

The two rushed towards each other and fought. As always, Shen Jiu lost.

“Are you really okay to keep coming here so often, A’Jiu?” One of the brothel’s women, Qichi, said curiously as she led him to the bed and laid him down.

“My reputation is beyond saving, what’s the problem in adding more? It’s not like I openly came here, I also do it secretly,” Shen Jiu said tiredly.

“Did something happened?” Another beautiful woman, Xiamu, asked gently as she arranged the pillows and laid down beside Shen Jiu.

“Just a stressful mission,” Shen Jiu said.

“Oh. Classified, then?” The woman sitting by a qin, Ruyan, questioned.

“Yes.”

“Okay, then. I’ll play the usual?” she asked and Shen Jiu nodded. Sweet and calming melodies filled the room.

There were only four women to accompany Shen Jiu in the large room. The last girl, Lianyi, laid down on the other side of Shen Jiu, “What do you mean your reputation is already beyond saving? Although there were some rumours, yours is still clean, unlike us,” she said languidly.

“Earlier today, someone accused me of ambushing him when in reality I had saved him from an ambush. However, the monster dissipated after I killed it and he thought I meant to strike him from behind.”

“How could that be?!” All the girls exclaimed. “He just accused you like that?”

“Our A’Jiu is very gentle, how could he do that?”

“That’s right, this person is so arrogant in the head! He had some problem with you!”

Shen Jiu furrowed his brows, “I don’t want to think about it again. I just want to sleep now.”

The four women smiled indulgingly, “You’re always like this, coming and buying our time just to accompany you sleeping.”

“Do you find me boring?” Shen Jiu opened one eye and looked at them.

“How could we?” They raised their eyebrows. “In fact, we found it refreshing. Someone who came to us for sincere comfort instead of pleasure, we really like you,” two girls stroke Shen Jiu’s hair and one caressed his cheek.

“I’m willing to marry you, you know? But... I’m not a cultivator. I will grow old and you will be embarrassed later on,” Qichi said shyly.

Shen Jiu smlied, “I’m a divorced man, I don’t think I deserve amazing women like you.”

“You’re saying it wrong, it’s us who don’t deserve you. Having to accompany you like this alone is already a blessing,” Xiamu giggled as she nuzzled closer.

“Sleep tight, A’Jiu. Big sisters will make sure no nightmare came to you,” Ruyan smiled.

Shen Jiu smiled and closed his eyes, falling deeper into his sleep.

Everyone woke up with a start, they looked around with bewilderment before their eyes all zeroed on Shen Qingqiu who was gasping for air in the middle of the hall. Some of them didn’t even realize that they were crying because of the suffocating emotion.

Luo Binghe collapsed in exhaustion, Dream Demon had finally able to forcefully pulled out from Shen Jiu’s memory, ending the dream. He couldn’t do it earlier because he was too weak. In fact, he didn’t even know how he could forcefully end the dream to everyone.

“Look!” Someone gasped and everyone dazedly looked around and finally saw that the person pointed at the old and broken Array of Truth that glowed softly and disappeared in a flash. Being an understanding demon he was, Dream Demon even had used some of his power to make it look like the array worked for a bit.

Everyone looked at Shen Jiu in astonishment. So... That was the array of truth informing them of the truth? Everyone took a moment of silence as the dreadful feeling dawned in them.

Luo Binghe’s tears fell as he sobbed, “Shizun...” He murmured despairingly. Shizun, you have suffered this much? You have suffered so much but you keep on. Luo Binghe would never be able to be like Shen Qingqiu at all, to go through all of those and still be the man he was now.

Yue Qingyuan strode forward and dropped to his knees before Shen Qingqiu, his mask of calmness was broken as tears slid down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry... I’m sorry. I’m really sorry,” Yue Qingyuan wrapped his arms around Shen Qingqiu and sobbed into his shoulders. “This is all my fault. My fault. You have suffered through so much yet I couldn’t do much. I broke our promise, I’m so sorry...”

“What...?” Shen Qingqiu blinked blearily. He just managed to stop the sudden flashback with his stored power from Da Zhu, his Yin-Yang Panda. Why did Yue Qingyuan suddenly being all disgusting like this? Shen Qingqiu looked around to get some idea only to see them all looking at him with... pity? Sympathy? Pain?

What the...

“Amitabha... It seemed like the ancient array actually worked in an unexpected way...” Zhao Hua Temple’s monk, Wu Chen, said sympathetically as he looked at the broken array, under the wrong perception that the array was the one behind that ‘truth.’

“Impossible...” Qiu Haitang staggered back. “Impossible. My brother was an upright righteous man, he couldn’t be... Impossible!” Qiu Haitang cried out, clutching her head. However, what she saw terrified her greatly and shook her to her core. Her honorable father... Her honorable brother. Her cousins. All of them... How could they....??? She broke out into a desperate sobbing. Her fiance, the man she once loved, was actually abused so terribly right under her nose? Her father and brother... All lusted for her? "No.... NO!!!!" Qiu Haitang screamed out, her cries made some people's hearts felt like being ripped out. Some people from Huan Hua Palace knocked her out because she was edging to qi deviation.

“Shixiong,” Mu Qingfang tearfully held Shen Qingqiu’s hands. “It’s okay, you’re okay now...”

“I won’t blame you anymore for going out too much,” Qi Qingqi said awkwardly with her usual sharp and tough tone. “You can do whatever you want as long as it pleases you, Shen-shixiong...”

Shen Qingqiu looked at them all in confusion, “What are you guys talking about...?” he asked. Clueless.

Liu Qingge came forward and kneeled down, under Shen Qingqiu’s shocked gaze, Liu Qingge kowtowed to Shen Qingqiu, “I’m so sorry... I didn’t know. My arrogance and bias blinded me, I truly didn’t know. You saved my life back then but I accused you of ambush, I... What I did is unforgivable.” Liu Qingge apologized sincerely.

“The truth has been revealed,” Of the triplets nuns of Tian Yi Overlook sighed in melancholy.

“Peak lord Shen had suffered so much under their hands,” the other sister continued.

“I think it’s justified that he killed them. Although it was too much, but he was also under the stress of qi deviation,” the last sister finished.

“Still an act of killing is wrong,” Wu Wang frowned. Some people glared at him.

“Amitabha, everyone can repent. The dead are dead, we can only send our prayer for them. But peak lord Shen was also a victim, he deserves his own parol,” Wu Chen said forgivingly.

Shen Qingqiu looked at them all with confusion that soon turned into horror, “You... You all saw it...???” He asked disbelievingly.

Everyone looked at him with a painful expression, some even burst out crying. Only the upper echelons could grasp the memories, so the lower level cultivators could only watch in disbelief and bewilderment as the upper echelons shaking their heads in pity.

“...Kill me now,” Shen Qingqiu bluntly said.

“Xiao Jiu!”

“Shixiong!”

“Shizun!” Luo Binghe cried out.

BAM!!

Thousands of snakes appeared out of nowhere after that.

[User Shen Qingqiu is My Life: SHIZUNNNN!!!!!! MY BABY SHIZUN, HOW DARE THEM?! WAAAAHHH!!!!]

[User Liu Mingyan’s Veil: Damn! My brother’s prediction was true! Yue Qingyuan was also a slave! Airplane-bro! Awesome plot!!!]

[User Shen Qingqiu is The Best: SHIZUN! Uwah, I’m crying! After all of those pain! Of course he’ll kill them! In fact, they got away cheaply! If it was a blackened protagonist, they would be tortured for months before being killed! They died too easily! I want torture!!!]

[User Our Shizun is The Best Shizun: Damn! A side character with an even more tragic backstory than the protagonist and not a harem member at that?! Shizun is really the best!]

[User Shizun’s First Wife: That damn Qiu Haitang! How dare her! She already had a perfect man by her side, her naivety and ignorance destroyed everything! If she was smarter, they could elope! Whatever! I’ll be the one who marries Shizun!!! Husband! Come to this wife’s chamber tonight! Dream Demon, help me to dream of my husband tonight!]

[User One Autumn Leaf: Damn, I’m crying. Shizun, you’re so strong. You’re my new favourite character now.]

[User Meng Da Zhu: See? Anyone who loves panda can’t be evil. HE’S A CINNAMON ROLL!!!! PROTECT HIM! PROTECT HIM LIKE THE PANDAS!!!]

[User Sha Hualing’s Bell: I’m crying +308. Damn, Airplane-bro! Why did you cut it at that cliffhanger!?]

[User Peerless Cucumber: I have to say you didn’t disappoint me at all, Airplane-bro. You’re my new favourite author now. To see this side of Shizun, a much more human side of him, he cursed, he hated, he envied, he despaired, he was indeed an A+ character- no! In fact, if I’m being honest, I will grade him S+++ character!!! To tell you the truth, he and I actually shared a surname, so I felt rather close to him. Now? I feel like we’re born from the same womb! He’s too pitiful! I just want to hug him and tell him everything would be alright! Bromance only. No homo.]

[User Peerless Cucumber: P.S It’s time for awesome character art, no? Ahem! I don’t mind if it’s not the time yet. But I really want to see how Shizun looked. I really love him. No homo. But I REALLY love him! Ouch- I can’t be too emotional, my illness will flare up. But damn! I love him! Luo Binghe better never betray him and stay his disciple FOREVER! Or else, I’m dropping this. I don’t care if some super strong monstrous demon god or something offered to be Luo Binghe’s teacher. Luo Binghe better keep being Shen Qingqiu’s student!]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: Snakes? Hmm, I’m smelling a bigger plot here.]

[User Pang Ling: Finally! I thought this novel would go without face-slapping in the human world because Luo Binghe had no enemy. But this Huan Hua Palace seemed to court troubles continuously. Waiting for the face slapping.]

[User Sexiest Banana: Think Shizun could be the gay lover? Please?]

[User Smelling Fortune: I’m writing fanfiction of Zhangmen-shixiong and Shizun. They’re lovers in my mind and nothing could change my mind.]

[User Liu-juju and His Shen-shixiong: See?! I know it was only a misunderstanding between Liu-juju and Shizun! Liu-juju thought he was a rich guy from the way he dressed, not knowing he was a former slave! My heart hurts.... Fanfiction time.]

Shang Qinghua was hiding behind a table which been turned over as he furiously looked at the comments, trying to see if his reader commented something that he missed in his mind (What? He missed something often, okay?!).

Blarr!

Shrieks!!!

Shang Qinghua ducked even lower as a person with Huan Hua Palace’s robe flew past him. He contacted his System to run his data. This time, he wasn’t checking the comments, but rather, the rewards of the perfect plot progress.

[Ding! The Main Villain had been upgraded from Mysterious and Wise Master (Grade A+) to Mysterious and Wise Master with a dark past as a Slave who had learned many lessons through his life and considered as the peak of white lotus origin- Grade S character!]

[Host could now access the Shen Qingqiu/Shen Jiu’s art gallery for opening increasing his grade to ‘S Grade’!]

[Open Shen Qingqiu/Shen Jiu’s art gallery?]

Holy shit-

Shang Qinghua ducked down and flashed to the side as Liu Qingge slammed his sword to a large red snake which fell on the place Shang Qinghua stood up just now.

He could access an art gallery freely! Finally! Although, it was only Shen Jiu’s art gallery, but a picture with other people might be unavoided. Let’s see-

Shang Qinghua stepped aside and pushed a Huan Hua elder to the mouth of a yellow snake very subtly.

Hoo ho oh! As expected of Ice pri- S Grade character! So many of it! Most were Shen Jiu being photogenic without realizing it (seriously, when would that man ever not being photogenic?), but some??? There was him and Yue Qingyuan, Shen Qingqiu leaving with a fan covering his expression meanwhile Yue Qingyuan was looking guiltily at his back behind him.

His fights with Liu Qingge, there were quite a few of them. When he helped Liu Qingge in the Spirit Caves (The Panda helped him, though. In fact, the panda is also within the shot).

When he ‘helped’ Luo Binghe getting his heirloom back, the ever emotionless him and the astonished Luo Binghe! And when he pushed Luo Binghe off into the Endless Abyss!

His and Luo Binghe’s fight against Mo Beijun!

Some pieces from his distant past. Shen Jiu and Yue Qi on a different side of the wall, a heart-wrenching ‘art’. Oh damn, there’s this fury-provoking Shen Jiu and Qiu Jianluo in their last moment together, Shang Qinghua frowned when he saw the pure horror on Shen Jiu’s face (He felt guilty). There were some for Qiu Haitang and Shen Jiu too. –oh? There was even one with Shang Qinghua, if he wasn’t wrong, it should be from the time Shang Qinghua told him to go out more, a strong plot device that changed the whole story.

The previous Lord of Qing Jing was also in this a lot. Wait, Gongyi Xiao? Shen Qingqiu really met a lot of people in his journey, huh?

Shang Qinghua blinked when he saw a certain picture with Shen Qingqiu and... Who is this? A very handsome man with golden-ish eyes and loose robe. The man was holding Shen Qingqiu’s hands and looked at him pleadingly, what is he doing? Proposing? Wait, was that scales on the back of that man’s palm-

Shang Qinghua looked up in shock and realization. Incidentally, he saw a man in black pulled Shen Qingqiu and he saw the back of the palm of that man was scaled slightly.

“Shen-shixiong!” Shang Qinghua exclaimed loudly and gained many attention. Everyone turned to see the helpless convict was going to be kidnapped and exclaimed in shock.

Yue Qingyuan immediately unsheathed Xuan Su without any hesitation, he had seen how much Xiao Jiu had suffered. There was little hesitation in his heart, should he die, then, he should die for Xiao Jiu.

Liu Qingge immediately leaped at the mysterious man and Luo Binghe helped him, pulling Shen Qingqiu back.

“Tsk!” The mysterious man clicked his tongue and looked at Shen Qingqiu solemnly who looked back at him gravely. The man raised his hand and pointed at Shen Qingqiu, in a speed that almost couldn’t be seen to the eyes of everyone present, a slender snake made of qi appeared and transitioned into a sword. The slender sword shot out straight at Shen Qingqiu.

“No!” Mu Qingfang cried out in terror.

Slash!

A clean hole was created on Shen Qingqiu’s chest, straight to his back. He spat out a mouthful of blood and his eyes rolled back. He fell straight to Luo Binghe’s arms.

“Shizun!” Luo Binghe exclaimed in terror.

It all happened too fast and everyone could only stare in disbelief.

“Xiao Jiu!” Yue Qingyuan rushed over and kneeled down, tears welled up in his eyes but he held it back, he couldn’t break in this kind of situation.

Liu Qingge dropped beside him, “He...” He couldn’t feel any sign of life in Shen Qingqiu.

“Shizun! Shizun, please! Shizun, wake up!” Luo Binghe teared up and he quickly sobbed out.

Mu Qingfang stopped before them and his mood turned grim, he slowly dropped on his knees and slumped down. “It’s... An instant death...” Mu Qingfang murmured in disbelief. Everyone looked at the healer in horror.

“No...” Luo Binghe shook. “Why!? He suffered enough- how... How could his ending is like this too...” He sobbed. He hadn’t even able to repay back all the favors his Shizun had given him. His Shizun... His Shizun died so undeservingly.

“Who is it?!” Qi Qingqi screamed, her eyes burned red but her fury prevented her to let any tears down.

“The snakes are all going away,” Wu Wang commented.

“Their goal is to kill...?” Liu Qingge’s eyes darkened.

Yue Qingyuan didn’t acknowledge them and simply mourned quietly as he stared at Shen Qingqiu’s face. So peaceful and calm... But he would never open his eyes again. He would rather be glared and hated by him rather than being left alone like this...

“Don’t tell me... That sowers’ slander???” Mu Qingfang reached a theory in his mind and shared it with his martial brothers and sister.

Qi Qingqi’s eyes widened and she threw her head back, laughing, “We’re played! Someone had aimed for Shen-shixiong so thoroughly! He wanted to destroy our shixiong’s good name and doomed him, but who knew the truth will come out? In the end, he was forced to kill Shen-shixiong with his own hand!” she mocked herself and glared at everyone present. “Fools!” She ridiculed. Because of their distrust and stupid logic in following those demons’ slanders, her shixiong is now dead!

Liu Qingge gritted his teeth, “I’ll kill him,” he growled as he stood up and rushed out. He didn’t know which way he should take, but he let his instinct led him.

“Shizun? Shizun... Binghe is weak and unable to save you, Shizun, forgive me. Please, open your eyes,” Luo Binghe pleaded. Nothing answered him. Luo Binghe felt a sharp pain in his heart, he slowly lowered his Shizun and stood up.

Luo Binghe had always been a sincere person. If someone did something good to him, he would pay them back tens of folds. If someone did bad things to him, he would pay them hundreds of folds. His heart burned in fury, so much that his body shook.

Revenge.

Luo Binghe would avenge his Shizun. He will find out who was behind all of this and he will make them pay.

[Congratulation! Revenge Mode is now activated for the Protagonist! Host gained +1000p!!!]

Shang Qinghua was not even in the mood to relish on his reward.

‘What is Shen Qingqiu’s business with the demon general, Zhuzhi-Lang?!?!? Why did he kill him!? Why!? Oh my God- my readers will KILL me!’ Shang Qinghua sobbed. ‘Luckily I cut the chapter when the snakes suddenly appeared. If I cut it at this part, I would get a ton of bad reviews and I’ll die in a night! Doesn't matter with the reward points!!!’

Next chapter wouldn’t be a pretty update. Shang Qinghua just knew that.

Luckily, he had access to Shen Qingqiu's art gallery. Maybe his fans could be satisfied with those.

Chapter Text

“Zhi-Lang! Come here! He’s digging his way out!” Tian Langjun called out for his nephew who immediately dropped everything in his hands and ran over with worried but hopeful eyes.

Tian Langjun let his nephew to help dig the person out from the ground, a dirty and soiled hand appeared from below the ground and Zhuzhi-Lang used his power to soften the soil around it and pulled it out.

The very much human figure was able to be pulled out, gasping and cursing at the moment he took a deep breath, “Fuck me sideways!” Shen Qingqiu swore furiously as he wiped his face with his equally dirty sleeves.

“Welcome back!” Tian Langjun said as he spread out his arms, grinning at the handsome man that just dug himself out of the soil. “It seems like I won the bet,” Tian Langjun smirked as he crossed his arms, smoothly tilting his body back as a dirty hand tried to claw at his handsome face.

“There’s no fucking bet, you fucking shitface!” Shen Qingqiu swore as Zhuzhi-Lang held him back from attacking his smug uncle.

“Lord Shen, please don’t get agitated so early. You just woke up,” Zhuzhi-Lang stressed.

“Of course there’s a bet,” Tian Langjun blinked innocently. “I said, one way or another, those people from the righteous side will clip out your wings and take away your freedom. And you said and I quote, ‘I’m my own person, if even the strongest of the righteous cultivator, the current Sect Head of Cang Qiong Sect, wouldn’t do anything, no one can take away my freedom.’ Unquote. We had a different opinion, betted on a different outcome. I called it, I won. Now, where’s my present?” Tian Langjun chuckled as he raised his brows.

“How long was I out? And fuck you.” Shen Qingqiu asked Zhuzhi-Lang and glared at Tian Langjun.

“A week,” Zhuzhi-Lang answered curtly.

Tian Langjun gasped, “Peak lord Shen! You’re truly wicked! You’re the one who said you would absolutely help us if I turned out right!” he pouted as he ridiculed Shen Qingqiu.

“I never said absolutely!”

“You promised! Is this how much your integrity is?”

“Yes!”

Zhuzhi-Lang helplessly watched as his uncle and his newest benefactor argued, not wanting to lose against the other. He shook his head and walked away to grab a few things for Shen Qingqiu.

“Well, what can you do about it now? Those people have slandered you-“

“You slandered me, you fucker!”

“Alright, maybe we slandered you but-“

“And you! How dare you to dig into my past!” Shen Qingqiu shouted at Zhuzhi-Lang who shook his head furiously.

“That woman is not mine. Only the sowers,” Zhuzhi-Lang said, his entire expression could be summed up in two words. Extremely wronged.

“Hehe, this only further proves that you should leave that side,” Tian Langjun snickered slyly.

“And was it your work that exposed my past to those bastards like a fucking opera?!” Shen Qingqiu choked Tian Langjun who didn’t fight back at all. Tian Langjun looked at Shen Qingqiu in honest confusion, Shen Qingqiu recoiled, Tian Langjun had no reason to lie about not knowing that.

“What do you mean?” Tian Langjun tilted his head.

“... Never mind,” Shen Qingqiu growled as he pushed him away, he looked away only to see Zhuzhi-Lang looking at him with distress.

“I’m sorry...” Zhuzhi-Lang looked down in remorse. He wasn’t apologizing for anything like he was at fault. He apologized for Shen Qingqiu.

“Shut up,” Shen Qingqiu growled.

“No, seriously, what happened?!” Tian Langjun, with all his passion about knowing somebody else’s business, asked fervently. He could hold back his curiosity if it was only Shen Qingqiu’s misunderstanding, but his nephew seemed to know something and he didn’t want to be the only one in the dark.

“Fuck you,” Shen Qingqiu snarled at Tian Langjun.

“Seriously, what is it? Can I help? Can I know?”

“Screw you, Tian Langjun!” Shen Qingqiu’s head hurt badly talking with Tian Langjun. He was originally a very quiet person, too lazy to talk, but having just come back from a disgraceful death can make any other people very frustrated indeed. Especially the thing about his past being watched by people...

“You’re really stubborn. You have to remember, we’re all accomplice here. And I did promise you for anything you ask if you help me in this case,” Tian Langjun pouted.

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes twitched.

It all started at one certain day in far long past. Shen Qingqiu was just minding his own business in Bai Lu Forest, he originally only wanted to look around, enjoying the nature. But his meeting with a very ugly deformed giant snake ruined that normal and relaxing day.

However, Shen Qingqiu prided himself to be a person full of mercy... to animals. After all, his best friend was a panda, which was back on his peak. He had amended, as long as the snake didn’t attack him, he wouldn’t attack

The snake didn’t attack him, it only looked at him from far away in a secretive way. In the end, Shen Qingqiu took pity on the snake and told him that Shen Qingqiu knew just which snake beast which would accept him. There was a unique snake queen in the south that really liked ugliness, the uglier it was, the better for her, with the white snake’s ugliness, she would absolutely welcome him to be her husband with open arms.

However, as he interacted more, he was finally lured to a certain cave. He ventured in and found the miraculous flower which could be used to host a lost soul. Skeptical, Shen Qingqiu decided to take a bath on the lake surrounding it and retrieve the seeds from the flower. Don’t ask Shen Qingqiu why he suddenly decided to take a bath there, he just wanted to.

He went out after that and encountered the ugly snake monster pacing to and fro on the mouth of the cave, not daring to enter and not daring to get out. Shen Qingqiu knew he wanted the Sun and Moon Dew Flower Seeds and gave some to it.

He went back home after that to break through his bottleneck with Da Zhu, check on his disciples and see if there was any new book that An Ding Peak managed to gather.

About five years later, approximately two years after the tragic Immortal Alliance Conference, Shen Qingqiu was approached by a handsome man.

“Please, would you help me again?” That man seized Shen Qingqiu’s hands and looked at him pleadingly.

... ‘I don’t even know you?’ Shen Qingqiu thought.”What?” he asked as he pulled his hands away from the man’s grip.

“Can you ask for your Yin-Yang Panda... to nourish my uncle’s new body?”

Alright, the conversation suddenly took turn of being creepy. “New body?” Shen Qingqiu asked calmly without batting an eyelid. “Who?”

“I’m someone you have saved.”

“...” He didn’t remember.

The man smiled, “Do you remember the ugly snake in Bai Lu Forest?”

“...” Shen Qingqiu rarely used his brain whilst he was in his free journey, but he forced his brain to work when he heard that and reached one conclusion. Bai Lu Forest. Bai Lu Mountain. White Snake. A stranger asking for a help to nourish a new body... “Fuck...”

-.-.-.-

“No,” Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows, staring distastefully at the man with a peerlessly handsome feature. He didn’t even flinch when the man’s arm fell off again.

“I’ll give you anything,” Tian Langjun said solemnly, his eyes stared right into Shen Qingqiu’s soul... If only Shen Qingqiu had a soul.

“Not interested.”

“It’ll be worth your time,” Tian Langjun enticed with a sly look, it didn’t really work out as Zhuzhi-Lang was re-attaching his fallen arm back.  “I can even give you half of the power over the world once my plan succeeded.”

“Why should I help someone who wants to destroy my Sect?” Shen Qingqiu flicked a stray strand of his hair aside. “I already have everything. I’m content with my life now, you can offer nothing to me.”

Tian Langjun and Zhuzhi-Lang shared a look before nodding. “How about, we’ll give you one treasure item that would erase your trace completely that no one can ever track you down?” It seemed like the two demons had done their research on this wayward peak lord and his fondness of disappearing.

Shen Qingqiu showed a mildly interested expression. After all, Liu Qingge’s infuriating dog-like ability was really getting into him. He found him in the brothel and dragged him back home, all the while looking disgusted at the smell of incense from the brothel. He found him by the street vendor, eating tanghulu, dragged him home with arms stuffed with the treats. He found him in the depth of screaming jungle that had screaming trees and screaming beasts- he could find him anywhere that Shen Qingqiu even started calling him a dog.

Too bad he wasn’t as obedient nor as tolerable as one. He was just as noisy if not more, though.

“Tempting, but no,” Shen Qingqiu shook his head.

“A one-way communication device?”

Shen Qingqiu went thoughtful again, he didn’t like to be disturbed by his students when he went out, but he also needed to check on them frequently. If he could contact them and they couldn’t contact him... That would be good. “No,” he rejected.

“Tsk, so loyal. I thought you would be an easy one to convince,” Tian Langjun narrowed his eyes.

“So?” Shen Qingqiu sneered.

“Nothing,” Tian Langjun said bluntly. “Your loyalty will only amount to nothing for you, peak lord Shen. The people you pledged your loyalty to will betray you at a moment notice,” Tian Langjun looked at him with a condescending know-it-all bored look.

Shen Qingqiu sneered and chuckled, “You think it’s loyalty? I never had and never will place my loyalty anywhere. Everyone will betray you at a moment notice, this, I understand.”

Tian Langjun blinked, from the tone Shen Qingqiu used, he seemed to have experienced a crushing betrayal once too. Tian Langjun suddenly felt a sense of camaraderie and smiled, “Then, if it’s not loyalty, what is it?”

“Common sense. My reputation might not be good, but I’m not so stupid to work for a demon against my own kin,” Shen Qingqiu said bluntly.

Tian Langjun laughed, “Indeed, that’s common sense, huh? One question, what do you think they will do to you if they betray you?” He asked smilingly.

“Kill me, torture me, condemn me, humiliate me,” Shen Qingqiu said bluntly. “Abandon me?”

Tian Langjun smiled softly, his suspicion seemed to be true. This man experienced a betrayal once too, “Worse. They will clip your wings, take away your freedom in the name of their justice. The worst thing about being captured was not about killed, tortured, condemned, nor humiliated, but when they took away your freedom. I wonder, how would a free spirit like you bear with being trapped?” Tian Langjun smiled honestly as Shen Qingqiu looked at him coldly.

“That won’t happen,” Shen Qingqiu growled, yet, from his tone, Tian Langjun knew he expected that one too. But he put it to the very back of his mind, locking it and looked away from this one fear. “I’m my own person, if even the strongest of the righteous cultivator, the current Sect Head of Cang Qiong Sect, wouldn’t do anything, then no one can take away my freedom.”

“What a faith. It seemed like you’re not as apathetic to your fellow peak lords as you seemed, hm?” Tian Langjun clapped his hands.

Shen Qingqiu snorted, “I believe him to be too much of a coward to actually condemn me.” He paused, “Besides, I’d like to see which fool that would be dumb enough to try and censure me.”

Tian Langjun smiled, “How about we have a bet? If you’re killed by your fellow ‘righteous’ cultivators, I win. If you’re not, you win.”

“That sounds like a sucker bet.”

“Haha, of course, only applied to the case of our earlier conversation. When they turned against you, that is. You haven’t planted your Sun and Moon Dew Flower Seeds, right? We have plenty ready, you can use them. When you die under such circumstance, I win and you have to help me,” Tian Langjun said.

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes and glared, he knew he had been pressed between a rock and a hard place. He knew exactly what Tian Langjun planned but he couldn’t exactly stop it, he can only hope that it wouldn’t go as the damn demon planned. “Fine,” he spat out. “Let alone killed. If they captured me and intended to imprison me as a punishment, you may kill me and let me transfer my soul to the flower,” He hated being imprisoned the most.

“Alright,” This time, it was Zhuzhi-Lang who answered him. Looking earnestly determined in his new ‘task’.

“It’s settled then! I’ll be waiting for you and your Yin-Yang Panda, peak lord Shen,” Tian Langjun grinned, the smug and cunning glint in his eyes sparkled brighter than ever. Smug bastard.

Shen Qingqiu snorted and turned away, his hand firmly on Xiu Ya as he left with tense shoulders.

Cang Qiong Mountain Sect was shrouded with a cloud and heavy atmosphere of gloominess after the peak lords and some disciples, that had come to the trial, returned. Luo Binghe was with them, of course. He had been questioned how did he turn out alive when years ago, his Shizun had announced his demise.

Somberly, Luo Binghe made up his own story. His Shizun is dead, there is no one that could guide him through explaining everything, he was alone now. He couldn’t ask his Shizun on what he had to do, he could only trudge on this path alone. He told them that he had fallen to the Endless Abyss after being pushed out of the way by his Shizun, his Shizun ‘might’ have thought he died but he survived and managed to find his way back... Only to see his Shizun killed before his own eyes. They took him back after that.

The disciples of Qing Jing were absolutely crushed when they heard their Shizun, who they believe to be wrongly accused, had died in an unexpected turn of event in the trial.

The only comforting for some of them were when Luo Binghe came back to them, Ning Yingying and the girls were a bit delighted to see a good news... that sadly had to come with a bad news. Ning Yingying spent an entire night crying on Luo Binghe’s shoulder.

The ‘official’ story and the peak lords’ suspicion about Shen Qingqiu’s cause of death spread all over the sect, it upset many people. It made the entire Qing Jing peak indignant over their Shizun’s unfair demise and also incited fury from other peaks’ disciples.

Then, it made some people skeptical. If the sowers’ slanders were plotted by someone who hated Shen Qingqiu, what about Qiu Haitang and her accusation? Many people began to question and pointed out how much of a convenient accident it was for her to be in Jin Lan City when the sowers’ accident happened. Rumors began to spread that Qiu Haitang was ignorant and was used by others to harm the peaceful and detached peak lord.

The saying of ‘the winner writes the history’ got overturned. Even though Cang Qiong Mountain Sect lost their peak lord to the unfortunate accident, they were the one who won the people’s sympathy. Especially some rogue cultivator, that had come to witness the conference, also saw the memory of the peak lord.

Although Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had done its best to suppress the rumor, there isn’t a wall that doesn’t leak. Bards began to sing about the pitiful soul of a boy who only yearned for freedom, a kind boy that was shaped in a sea of fire, a boy that didn’t break under the pressure and instead climbed up and became an immortal. A man who, despite other people’s jeer, kept holding his head up, untouched and unsullied despite his dark past. A man with a thin shoulder that unexpectedly carried so much burden from his past.

People lamented the loss of such a poor innocent soul.

They brought Shen Qingqiu’s body back. Luo Binghe told them that they might want to tell Da Zhu about it. They then went to the bamboo forest where Da Zhu often played and lazed around in the clearing.

They called out to the panda and laid out Shen Qingqiu’s body before it, the disciples of Qing Jing who had bonded with the panda tearfully explained to it, regardless if Da Zhu would understand or not.

Da Zhu understood.

The panda stopped laying lazily on its stomach when he saw the body, it stood up and slowly approached the body. It sat down beside Shen Qingqiu’s body and gently poked Shen Qingqiu with a bamboo stalk in its hand, it whined sadly when Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t open his eyes. Everyone began to tear up again when they saw this.

“Sorry... We couldn’t protect him,” Liu Qingge bowed his head to the panda who kept whining with its own mournful noises. They left the body for a night with the panda who seemed to refuse budge.

The next day, the body disappeared and sent the entire Cang Qiong into a panic and chaos. Shen Qingqiu’s discples were the most desperate as they tried to ask Da Zhu about their Shizun’s body, but Da Zhu was only a panda and he only played with his bamboo stalk, looking gloomy and depressed.

Two weeks later, Da Zhu also disappeared without a trace.

“That panda tried to recall his soul,” Dream Demon told Luo Binghe.

Luo Binghe’s eyes widened in shock, “You mean...”

“Nope. He might be a legendary beast, but he couldn’t do that much. He tried to, but he would never be able to succeed. Now, he simply nourished the dead body and used its power to retain that body.”

“Retain?”

“That body wouldn’t rot for sure.”

Luo Binghe fell silent for a while, “... Dream Demon, do you...” Luo Binghe hesitated. “Do you know a way to revive the dead?” he asked.

“... Sigh, I know you will ask that one way or another.” A pause. “Yes, I do. In the depth of Holy Mausoleum of demons, there laid a seal to recall a soul back. You must have the dead’s body perfect and usable though.”

Luo Binghe’s eyes widened, he clenched his hands as his eyes shone in determination. “I got it. Help me about this.”

That night, Luo Binghe stepped into the clearing of bamboo forest and greeted Da Zhu, “Da Zhu, how are you?” he smiled fondly to the beast that had taught him about the way of balance.

Da Zhu looked at him and snorted acknowledgingly, still brushing Shen Qingqiu’s body with his bamboo stalk sullenly.

“Da Zhu. Shizun... He could be saved. I... I’m gonna bring him away,” Luo Binghe told the beast as he stepped closer. “You trust me, right?” he smiled as he kneeled down harmlessly.

Da Zhu groaned and nodded sadly as it stopped trying to wake Shen Qingqiu up and looked at Luo Binghe, devastation radiated from it as it realized Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t wake up no matter how much it annoyed him.

Luo Binghe smiled and scooped his Shizun up. Looking at his Shizun’s peaceful face, Luo Binghe’s heart ached. He had suffered so much, he wouldn’t let him end like this. “Shizun, this disciple will bring you back, I swear.”  A pause, his throat tightened as his nose soured. “I will find your murderer along the way... I’ll kill him... No, I’ll make sure he lived a life worse than death. After you wake up, you can choose what you want to do with him.”

The tall man in black secretly brought away the dead body, away from anyone, leaving no trace. In the next morning, Luo Binghe returned to a chaotic sect.

Shang Qinghua secretly looked at Luo Binghe with trepidation though.

‘L-let’s erase that part from the draft... We’ll reveal it... When it was the time... And when it wasn’t as creepy.’ Shang Qinghua sobbed inwardly as he edited the approved draft. He truly didn’t want to update at all with all this sadness and depressing content... And then there was Luo Binghe who radiated with hope but being creepy as fuck.

As expected, a demon is still a demon. Xin Mo is still Xin Mo. Obsession is still obsession no matter what!

“I’m not digging my body back up. Just let it rot in the ground,” Shen Qingqiu growled as he trudged along the path.

“But...” Zhuzhi-Lang hesitated. “If you died again, your real body is the main catalyst to recall your soul.”

“Do I look like I have a plan to die again?” Shen Qingqiu glared at the snake demon who shook his head.

“It’s safer to just have your real body with us,” Zhuzhi-Lang explained.

“Oh, fuck off,” Shen Qingqiu snapped as he stepped into the clearing, his eyes instantly softened when he saw the big panda who laid on its stomach, in the midst of the mess of bamboo stalks.

“Groo” Da Zhu let out a mourning sound and Shen Qingqiu frowned, it must have had heard about his demise.

“Da Zhu,” Shen Qingqiu softly called out, testing the water.

Hearing the familiar voice, the panda perked up, it rolled aside and pushed himself up, looking straight to Shen Qingqiu who smiled at him.

“Hey, I’m here. Alive and well, how are you?” Shen Qingqiu inched closer and the two beast and human reunited again. The panda approached Shen Qingqiu and let out a drawl of delight when he was sure that it was really Shen Qingqiu.

Zhuzhi-Lang watched the touching reunion and stepped back, “Lord Shen, you may enjoy a moment with sir Da Zhu. I will have to step back for a moment.”

Shen Qingqiu sighed, “Whatever. Just don’t let me see the body,” he said carelessly as he let himself sink into the softness of Da Zhu.

Zhuzhi-Lang bowed down and disappeared.

Da Zhu nuzzled and poked Shen Qingqiu’s head and he shook his head, “It’s a long story, but I’m bringing you away to help me. Do you want to?” A pause. “The new place might lack high-quality bamboo, but it was pretty decent. I’ll bring some bamboo from this place and planted a new bamboo forest for you if you want,” Shen Qingqiu stroked the panda’s head tenderly.

Da Zhu snorted softly and Shen Qingqiu smiled languidly.

“Alright, I’ll get some bamboo and plant it for you later,” Shen Qingqiu nodded and stood up, he started gathering the bamboo which was already on the ground and stuffed them all in his space pocket. When he was done, Zhuzhi-Lang returned, furrowing his brows in worry.

“Lord Shen,” Zhuzhi-Lang called out.

“Done? Let’s head back,” Shen Qingqiu patted his hands off.

“... No... Lord Shen, I can’t find your tomb.”

“...”

“I had looked everywhere and then I heard something...”

“What?” Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows.

“It seemed like, your body had been stolen...” Zhuzhi-Lang said. Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had done its best to suppress the news and no one from outside knew anything about it. Zhuzhi-Lang didn’t even know about this not until when he stumbled upon a pair of gossiping disciples.

Shen Qingqiu stared at Zhuzhi-Lang blankly in baffled silence. “... What?”

In the wake of Shen Qingqiu’s death, the most affected were not just the disciples but also Yue Qingyuan. He also gained the utmost attention, whether it was from his fellow peak lords or the strong cultivators who happened to also see the memory. They saw the memory, they saw him there. Yue Qi, a fellow slave, a brother-figure to Shen Qingqiu. They could feel a deep and immeasurable sadness and grief from him when Shen Qingqiu died.

Helplessness and remorse kept radiating from Yue Qingyuan that his fellow peak lords kept visiting him to talk to him, but no one dared to touch the matter of Yue Qingyuan’s past... nor Shen Jiu. All except Liu Qingge.

“I know you have your own reason... Why didn’t you return?” Liu Qingge asked. Blunt as always. It wasn’t that he wanted to meddle in between their problems, it wasn’t that he wanted to condemn Yue Qingyuan. Liu Qingge wasn’t blameless. He was the one who had been one of Shen Qingqiu’s shadow, one that oppressed him, one that drove him stressed again and again. Liu Qingge wasn’t any better in his treatment towards his late Shixiong.

Yue Qingyuan looked at him, his eyes were hollow, but his expression betrayed nothing of his tiredness. Still serene and dignified, “Liu-shidi is still so straightforward...” He murmured softly.

“Why? I know you’re not that kind of person,” Liu Qingge insisted to get an answer. He needed an assurance, an assurance that his Zhangmen-shixiong deserved his respect. Yue Qingyuan was very strong, immovable as the mountain, yet as soft as a silk. But if he really left Shen Qingqiu there and forget him until he met him again, then...

“Qi deviation,” Yue Qingyuan spat out bitterly, it was the first time Liu Qingge ever heard something that wasn’t very peaceful nor dignifiedly stern from him. It was bitter. Resenting. “I was too hasty to return to him... I experienced qi deviation when I tried to take my Xuan Su. Three years.... by the time I came to my sense, The Qiu’s mansion had been burned down to the ground.”

A sharp intake could be heard from the doorway and the two looked at the new arrival. Mu Qingfang stood there, looking at Yue Qingyuan in disbelief, “I remember... So that’s why you... missed... him...” he murmured and bowed down. “I’m sorry to doubt you, Zhangmen-shixiong,” he murmured shamefully.

What they saw was Shen Qingqiu’s memory, it was one-sided and very biased. Whilst other people might think that Yue Qingyuan had been kind enough to help Shen Jiu to join Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. The peak lords of Cang Qiong were miffed, they were very familial and loyal to their own, a promise must be kept. They weren’t like others who thought forgetting someone from your past, who had done you a great service, was normal and a given. They expected better from their Sect Head, their leader, their pillar of strength.

Although they were all mature and thought there might be more to see, they still couldn’t help to hold a little doubt towards Yue Qingyuan.

Yue Qingyuan smiled, “Don’t worry.” He paused, “I also blame myself for all of his sufferings.”

Although Luo Binghe had come back, he only stayed in Qing Jing peak for a few weeks before he bade a goodbye to his martial sisters and disappeared.

Luo Binghe couldn’t stand the sight of Yue Qingyuan.

He only stayed for Da Zhu, but the panda had suddenly disappeared without leaving a trace, now the peak had become even gloomier. It pained him to leave Ning Yingying who begged him to stay, but he simply couldn’t stand being in the sect with chances to see Yue Qingyuan here and there.

Luo Binghe had placed his Shizun’s body in the safest place, a spiritual cave that he found when he ventured out often back before he fell into the Abyss. He also had made various seals around the place to make sure no one could come in and to protect his Shizun’s body. He sometimes dropped by to place various treasure spiritual herbs in there, he worked hard to repair his the damage on his Shizun’s body that had taken his life.

Meanwhile, Shang Qinghua was struggling to omit those parts and trying to make it more mysterious and not so obvious.

“-Shit! Do you really have to strip him completely naked?!” Shang Qinghua hissed as he erased that part from the approved draft with red face. He knew he was being unfair, after all, it wasn’t that rare to be forced to strip the patient’s body naked for a complete recovery- but still! He didn’t want to know about it!

“If it’s like this, I can’t do anything but to do a time skip again,” Shang Qinghua sobbed pitifully into his sleeves. There only one big time skip previously, and that was in the Abyss, how could there be another time skip so fast!? “What about the sisters, ah?” Shang Qinghua murmured.

In his quest to heal Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe found several members of his intended harem but there were only skirmishes with the sisters falling in love and Luo Binghe ignoring them. Although it was really cool, the Luo Binghe Shang Qinghua knew should be flirting back at least! Giving them sweet promises and hints of interest, making them chase after him and then straight to ‘pa pa pa’!

“Oh, Shen Qingqiu. My beloved S-grade character, what should I do now without you being cool and untouched in the background?” Shang Qinghua wrung his handkerchief. “I should really publish all the chosen arts soon...” Shang Qinghua murmured thoughtfully.

A caw of a raven pulled Shang Qinghua’s attention and he sighed when he saw the black bird outside his window. Shang Qinghua rubbed his face and walked over.

If only he could also skip these years and didn’t need to experience it himself!

Shen Qingqiu’s head felt very painful, the source of the problem was because a certain demon lord couldn’t stop apologizing to him after he heard of a bard song when he descended the mountain to play.

A year had gone smoothly without Tian Langjun knowing of his dirty laundry from those damn people who invaded his memory without his consent. If Shen Qingqiu could, he would have had destroyed that damn ‘truth’ whatever formation that allegedly exposed his memory.

“People call it the Song of Remorseful Fate. There are some other versions called The Hope of A Boy. But I like the Resentment of Spring Mountain, about a love story with you and your fellow-” Tian Langjun said, convincing Shen Qingqiu that he had learned every version in just a short while he descended the mountain. It also didn’t help that Zhuzhi-Lang was forced to spill out everything because of his uncle’s order and now Tian Langjun was even more determined that Shen Qingqiu was a part of them.

“You shut the fuck up before I regret helping you out,” who was he kidding? Shen Qingqiu regretted every single second for helping this noisy demon out. Not to mention the noisy demon lord also annoyed Da Zhu’s sleep time with his fascination on the legendary beast.

Tian Langjun crossed his arms petulantly and sat down, “So, are we gonna level Cang Qiong Mountain Sect to the ground? I can do it for you-“

Shen Qingqiu growled, “I’ve said it again and again. Don’t. Touch. Cang Qiong.” A pause to regain himself, “Remember, you owe me more than you can cough up. If you dare to touch Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, Da Zhu will make the power that he had used to nourish your body to rebel, if he can balance it out, he can make in unbalanced.”

Tian Langjun sighed, “Fine. A year of hard work, you’re still not soft at all,” he said.

“A year of hard work and you’re still a retard,” Shen Qingqiu snapped.

“Your words are still as poisonous as ever,” Tian Langjun complained. “Cang Qiong will not be touched as long as they didn’t fight too much over the destruction of the other Great Sects.”

Shen Qingqiu glared at him and continued to make brushes from the bamboo.

Luo Binghe sighed as he looked out of the window. It had been two years. Two long years he had lost his Shizun, his savior. Two long years he had done his best to investigate about the murderer.

Luo Binghe had suspected Huan Hua Palace, because of the old Palace Master’s apparent interest in locking his free-spirited Shizun away. Luo Binghe had even decided to forget his root in Cang Qiong and went to Huan Hua Palace, continuing to fraternizing with them, whilst still keeping the status quo as only a guest disciple, refusing to acknowledge any teacher.

Despite that, the Old Palace Master was happy to accept him, thinking his cold treatment of Cang Qiong rooted from Cang Qiong Sect itself. The old man was too happy, to be honest.

Slowly, Luo Binghe began to infiltrate Huan Hua Palace, investigating every rat hole and secret. His demon subordinates already infiltrated most of Huan Hua Palace bases.

In his latest investigation, Luo Binghe finally found out, the one who orchestrated Qiu Haitang and Shen Qingqiu’s problem was the Old Palace Master, further investigation revealed it wasn’t because of a personal grudge or something... It was because of  Luo Binghe himself. Because Luo Binghe refused to acknowledge the Palace Master as his master.

The fact crushed Luo Binghe. He indirectly caused his Shizun’s death, caused his Shizun to suffer so much before his death. All because of that rotten old man who didn’t know when to give up.

Luo Binghe glared as he kicked the grabby hand that tried to reach the hem of his black robe, his eyes were murderous as he stepped on the Old Palace Master’s hand and crushed it under his heel.

“My good Shizun did nothing to you. It’s your ego, your ego made me lose my Shizun...” Luo Binghe snarled as he kicked the Old Palace Master away, landing his kick square on his old face. Luo Binghe’s snarl turned into a sneer, “But you know what? I wouldn’t kill you. Death is too good for you, I will make your life a living hell, thousand times worse than my Shizun’s suffering.”

The Old Palace Master choked and wheezed, his breath was short, the blood parasite in his body was controlled to make him writhe in suffering, “He wasn’t... fit...” Old Palace Master looked at Luo Binghe with bloodshot eyes. “Why can’t you see reason?!” He yelled, Luo Binghe’s ‘disobedience’ reminded him too much of his late beloved first disciple. His beautiful doll, his gorgeous sunset.

“Hualing!” Luo Binghe growled and Sha Hualing immediately kneeled down, her hands presenting a whip barbed with fire crystals from the west. Luo Binghe snatched the whip and snapped it towards Old Palace Master, effectively earning him a shrill scream as the old man’s skin that touched the whip charred black.

However, it seemed like the Old Palace Master still didn’t know when to back off, “He was a slave! He killed innocents! He neglected you most of the times! He was a disgrace!” he wheezed senselessly. “Why can’t you forget him!? He’s dead! If you be my disciple-“

Luo Binghe snapped the whip to him again, this time, it hit the Old Palace Master’s face and left eye. The Old Palace Master screamed and Luo Binghe only stared at him coldly, “So what if my Shizun was a slave? He reached his position today solely based on his hard work. So what if he killed? He had no choice. So what if he was absent most of the times? He’s still the best teacher I could ever ask for.”

Luo Binghe’s face twisted, “Even in death, my Shizun is still thousand times better than you! You scum!”

Snap!

Luo Binghe earned another scream, he expressionlessly handed the whip to Sha Hualing, “Torture him until he passes out, I have a more important matter to attend to.” It’s the time to nourish his Shizun’s body. It should be the last session, after this, his Shizun’s body would be perfect as a whole.

“Yes, milord,” Sha Hualing’s lips curled up and she bowed down.

Luo Binghe exited the torture chamber and got rid of his outer robe in another chamber. He didn’t like the smell of blood lingering on him when he visited his Shizun, several demon girls helped him to change his outer robe and sprayed some cologne on him. After that, he left the dungeon and emerged back in Huan Hua Palace’s ground.

Luo Binghe had usurped Huan Hua Palace’s power, he kicked the Old Palace Master away from his position and announced to the world that he had passed his power over to Luo Binghe and disappeared for a retreat. It should have been a month since then.

Of course, Luo Binghe got a lot of criticism from his fellow sect brothers, he had never even been disowned by the Sect yet he ran away to another. Some even denounced him as an unfilial disciple to his late Shizun.

Luo Binghe didn’t care about insults, but when he heard that people calling him a traitorous and unfilial disciple that didn’t care about his dead Shizun, Luo Binghe felt furious. Why would Luo Binghe deign to be here if not for his Shizun? Why should Luo Binghe did all of this if not for his Shizun!?

But that didn’t matter. Despite all of Luo Binghe’s hard work, he still failed to find the real murderer. The Old Palace Master only responsible for Qiu Haitang, after a deeper investigation, he couldn’t find anything about the sowers nor the mysterious man in black that had taken his Shizun’s life.

But he did not lose his hope, he believed that old fart knew something about the real murderer. Luo Binghe just had to open that stubborn old fool’s mouth.

“Shizun, I promise you. I will definitely find your murderer,” Luo Binghe murmured as he clenched his hands and looked out of the window to see the brewing storm in the distant sky.

The storm was quietly brewing, waiting for the time before it destroyed everything in its way. Cang Qiong Mountain Sect was already healing from the tragic loss of their own, Huan Hua Palace was in the middle of reformation, whereas Tian Langjun had finished his preparation.

At the peak of an isolated mountain, Tian Langjun stood, facing the sunrise, a languid smile was on his face, “It’s almost the time,” he declared and his loyal army, who hid in the shadow, all opened their eyes and cheered boastfully.

“Noisy,” Shen Qingqiu stated and Zhuzhi-Lang expressionlessly held his hand to silence them all. When the noises were no more, Shen Qingqiu turned to Tian Langjun, “Remember your promise.”

“I will. I will. As long as they didn’t directly oppose me, I will even nudge them to the side to keep them safe,” Tian Langjun smiled.

“I will come along,” Shen Qingqiu said, he didn’t trust this demon at all even after three years living with him. “Da Zhu will stay behind,” since it would be too recognizable to have him.

“Fine, Zhi-Lang will watch over you,” Tian Langjun nodded at Zhuzhi-Lang who nodded determinedly back.

“I’m not a helpless damsel in distress,” Shen Qingqiu glared.

“Oh, trust me. I know that,” Tian Langjun grinned.

“Jun-shang, our people had successfully made chaotic accidents on some important points of the human world, shall we continue to do so?” Zhuzhi-Lang asked.

“Continue,” Tian Langjun said as he twirled his long hair, his smile slowly turned sinister and not suitable for the usually cheerful man. “Destroy them from the inside. Chip them off of their power. when we fight against them, let them experience the feeling of helplessness and powerlessness.”

Tian Langjun took out a bamboo flute, something that he had bugged Shen Qingqiu non-stop for until the younger man gave up and made one for him. He stroked the flute that he had refined with jade pieces, “That’s how they captured me, by chipping me off from my power,” he smiled.

“The old coot from Huan Hua Palace is my part,” Shen Qingqiu said.

Tian Langjun’s lips twitched, “How about, we share? My grudge to him is bigger than any others.”

“You get my leftover,” Shen Qingqiu snorted.

“Fair enough,” Tian Langjun agreed and put the mouthpiece of the flute before his lips and blew on it.

Eerie and haunting melody filled the air. The war is brewing.

Shang Qinghua’s lament.

[Chosen arts had been uploaded!]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: MY HUSBAND’S ART?!?! AAAAHHHHH!!!!! HE’S FUCKING HANDSOME! PLEASE! FUCK ME! ABOUFSBUWND!U()YY&UHIBSGE(@!)@&$!)*&$!!!!!! I’m fucking sharing this on every of my social medias, no one can stop me!!!]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s Second Wife: Motherfucker! He’s FUCKING GORGEOUS!!! Mom! I didn’t choose the wrong husband! Even though there are so many wives, I swear I do not mind! He’s too hot for me OMG!!! I’m actually crying! He’s so pretty!]

[User Our Shizun is the Best Shizun: IM CRYING!!! Those sharp but desolate eyes! Those sexy frowns! That beautiful face! That slim body! Such silky hair! Damn, I’ll need bathroom after this. I’m running out of breath.]

[User Sexy Banana: PLEASE FUCK ME, SHIZUN!!!]

[User BDSM in Waterprison anyone?: I wouldn’t fucking mind to be punished by this beauty, ah! Isn’t there a chapter where Shizun got home and caught his male disciples fooling around including Luo Binghe and he ended up hitting their palms with a bamboo whip??? Now I’m imagining myself in their position... DAMN! How could they stay straight!?]

[User My Heart Is Big Enough For Ten Men: Welp, he’s raised to be my first husband now. Sorry Sas*ke, Ac#, Sesshom*ru- SHIZUN IS TOO HOT!!!]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s Mistress: AAAAHHH!!! That one that held my husband so lewdly! Is that the fucking Qiu Jianluo!? Hmph! He’s not even half as handsome as my husband! HANDS OFF YOU BASTARD!!!]

[User Maybe Later: Fuck. I’m bent.]

[User One Autumn Leaf: ^ I think me too???]

[User Luxuria is the Way: Fuck. I’m bent +222]

[User BDSM in Waterprison anyone?: See?! So many came out bent, why didn’t his disciples turn bend!? This is a mystery! Can I ask for Shizun’s art in the water prison? *Drools* he was tied down, right? Chained? @Airplane Shooting Toward The Sky come on, brother. Please make it.]

[User Zhangmen-shixiong is the Best Shixiong: AAAHHH!! Zhangmen-shixiong is also very handsome, ah! Look at the way he looked at Shizun, so full of angst and guilt- my heart- My sons... They deserve to be happy too! Please! I’m sure it’s only a misunderstanding! T_T wuu.. wuu... Just look at the way he really regretted it. And Shizun... He also looked very pissed in there. My heart...]

[User Peerless Cucumber: I’m late! My heart almost dropped when you uploaded the arts- fuck! Thank you! I love you! I love you in the most bromance way! Let’s see, Shizun and Liu-juju’s fights, wow, their appearance level is really off the world, they looked heroic with those frowns! Shizun and Zhangmen-shixiong, oh... It still pained my heart, I won’t forgive Zhangmen-shixiong until you wrote his character arc to explain everything. Shizun and... ah, that bastard Qiu something! I want to punch him so hard, how could he do that to a child?! Damn pedophile!!! Shizun was only fifteen there! Look at how terrified he was!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Look! Shizun grew up to be a repressed person like this! Who’s to blame!? I’m blaming that Qiu bastard and his damn family! Also, Zhangmen-shixiong, you better have an explanation. Also, that art for Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe’s first gaze towards each other in the entrance test. That’s fate. Where can I buy these? When will you publish your work to be a hard copy? I’m your fan, I’ll support you! I’m rich, I will even buy three copies for each volume!]

[User Peony Flower: It’s been an hour! I can’t stop licking my phone’s screen! Shizun’s too delicious!]

[User Lick Lick Lick: Upstairs! Same! Lick Lick Lick Lick, I will never be tired of licking my screen! Ah! I will go online on my laptop, I can lick more there!]

[User I See Hot Guys I Click: I don’t read this novels, but the weibo blew up with these hot pictures. Can I join the fandom? I’ll start reading now.]

[User Made of 0s and 1s: Welcome to our weird family! We have harem, angst, hurt, adventure, hot girls, hot guys, fanfic fandom that recently blew up with danmei, and great storyline!!!]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: Damn! It’s just like when adult Luo Binghe’s art and Mo Beijun’s art were released! The weibo blew up! Only this time the scale is much larger! Aside Shizun, we have Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge too! Not to mention *drools* Qi-shigu is in one of the arts, my Qi-shigu turned out to be really sexy and beautiful, ah!]

After looking through thousands of comments, instead of calming down, Shang Qinghua only felt more afraid. He literally couldn’t sleep at night without yelling awake in the middle of the night. He was sure the shadow of death was haunting him.

If Shang Qinghua was any less than a man he is, he would have cried once every two hours. He only cried once a day, by the way.

With his guilty conscience, he ended up uploading a few ‘arts’ more. The most popular one was of twelve peak lords stood before the huge pit for the entrance test. Really the picture of untouchable immortals, all of them are drop-dead gorgeous that if they were brought to the modern world, the street would be flooded with drools!

But one of them is DEAD!!!

An Ding peak’s head disciple entered his Shifu’s abode to his Shifu’s mournful sobbing. He sighed sadly and stepped outside, closing the door. Bad timing to enter again. He’ll try again tomorrow.

When the chapter is updated, Shang Qinghua already wrote his will and good-byes to his brothers and sister and also his foolish disciples. He already chose a courtesy name for his head disciple, Zhao Ri will be Zhao Chuntian. The next generation’s name will start with ‘Chun’ for pure after ‘Qing’ for clear. With this name, Shang Qinghua hoped his average-IQ-ed disciple would pray every day for him to attain heaven (Tian) up above and cleansed to purity.

He wouldn’t be a fucking author in his next life, he swore.

Shang Qinghua probably should write to Mo Beijun too and professed his long-time admiration to that damn sexy icy ass. Hopefully, that demon would wish him the best to cross the bridge and would reflect on his harsh treatment on Shang Qinghua- oh, who was he kidding? He was but a speck of dust on Mo Beijun’s pristine shoes!

The chapters had been updated, it was a triple update with each chapter longer than the usual chapter by twice amount.

And the comment box is already in a riot. About 11 comments came in every two seconds, a proof that Shang Qinghua would probably die by tonight.

[User You’re the King and I’m the King: WHAT THE FUCK, AIRPLANE?!!?]

[User Our Shizun is The Best Shizun: WHHHAAAA-!?]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: My HuSBaNd!!! MY HUSBAND!!! NOOOOOO!!!!]

Shang Qinghua probably should write to his disciple too, that kid is a good kid, he just hoped no one would bully that sweet child. Right, Zhao Ri is a good child, he should probably ask Yue Qingyuan to take care of him.

[User Sexy Banana: Hold on, what the fuck!? Shizun died just like that?! What the fuck is this shit!?]

[User I See Hot Guys I Clicked: Hold on! He just died!? What the hell, author?!]

[User Mi Xin: I’m crying!! Airplane! I’ll kill you!]

Shang Qinghua sniffed. No need to try, he would be obliterated soon. His points kept decreasing, it would probably run out in two days. People liked to comment hate and wrath a lot more than positive response.

[User Peerless Cucumber: Airplane bro! I almost got a heart attack when you killed off Shizun! You put all those angst and instead of comforting him, you killed him off!? Ouch- my heart! If I die, I’ll haunt you!]

Shang Qinghua sobbed. No need to haunt! How about we talk nicely in the afterlife???

[User Shizun is the New Daddy: I refuse to acknowledge Shizun is dead!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Hold on, hold on! I’m calm now, let me analyze this. I believe Shizun is yet to die!]

[User Zhangmen-shixiong is the Best Shixiong: Really cucumber-bro??? What is it?!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: That. Shizun said ‘kill me now’ when he found out everyone had seen his past. It might be planned! Shizun might not be dead yet!]

[User Light After Darkness: That could be!]

[User Bright Darkness: You’re right!]

[User Translucent: You know, I like this ‘Denial’ stage of Five Stages of Grief. Yes! I deny reality! Shizun is still alive! That brief talk with Dream Demon about Da Zhu retaining Shizun’s corpse is suspicious!]

Shang Qinghua blinked as more and more response came up with their own theories, drowning the depressed and angry speeches. His point bar had stopped decreasing.

He... He couldn’t believe it. He survives? He survives to see tomorrow? Because of the first stage of Five Stages of Grief? Denial?

The more Shang Qinghua read, the more confident he is. Even if Shen Qingqiu died, with Luo Binghe’s protagonist halo, the S-grade character might be able to be resurrected! He wouldn’t need to worry after he passed this tribulation!

Thank God for denial!

Luo Binghe gritted his teeth as he glared at the man clad in a dark purple cloak before him. The man was a demon, alright, Luo Binghe didn’t know that was his problem for coming to Huan Hua Palace and started making a ruckus in his territory.

Luo Binghe tried to recall back, which demon faction that was hostile to him? There were several of them, but Luo Binghe couldn’t recall quite much.

“What do you want?!” Luo Binghe growled.

“Where’s the Old Palace Master?” Zhuzhi-Lang asked solemnly, he didn’t hear from Shen Qingqiu at all since the both of them breached Huan Hua Palace’s defense.

“Who are you?” Luo Binghe’s eyes lit in bloody red vengeance. His gaze was not any different than a beast preparing for a hunt. “The Palace Master is in a retreat and cannot be disturbed,” he said emotionlessly.

Zhuzhi-Lang frowned, from that tone alone, he knew Luo Binghe was lying, “You don’t want to compromise?”

“Why should I? Now, what’s your business with the Old Palace Master? I’m sure I can handle it,” Luo Binghe hissed and brandished Xin Mo.

The situation became even more chaotic and in the middle of that, one disciple yelled out for Luo Binghe.

“Jun-shang! Cang Qiong Mountain Sect came to help!”

Luo Binghe blinked, the news spread too quickly. How could Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s people suddenly here already?

Zhuzhi-Lang frowned deeply, he had vowed that he wouldn’t seriously injure anyone from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect unless severely provoked or to protect his life. Zhuzhi-Lang felt like in between a rock and a hard place when he saw Liu Qingge, Qi Qingqi, Zui Xian peak’s peak lord, and several senior disciples of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.

Luo Binghe and Zhuzhi-Lang pulled away from trying to stab each other as Liu Qingge sent a wave of sword qi at them.

Landing heavily, Luo Binghe scowled at Liu Qingge, “Liu-shishu, this martial nephew would appreciate it if you look at the way you attack to.”

Liu Qingge glared, “Shut up! Dare to say you’re my martial nephew!?”

“What?” Luo Binghe straightened. “Is Cang Qiong disowning me now? Even after I made it clear that Shizun is my only master?”

“How sweet that poisonous mouth of yours!” Qi Qingqi sneered. “We know you have Shen Qingqiu’s body!"

Liu Qingge pointed his sword at Luo Binghe,  "Return him. Now!”

Luo Binghe’s brows jumped and Zhuzhi-Lang’s jaw slacked slightly.

“This shizi doesn’t know what Liu-shishu is talking about,” Luo Binghe’s lips twitched dangerously.

“I’ll destroy this place,” Liu Qingge’s eyes litted up in wrath. If Luo Binghe refused to return Shen Qingqiu, then Liu Qingge would tear apart this place to search for him!

Luo Binghe sneered, “It seems like Shishu and Shigu found out about it from one disobedient mole, huh?” he recalled how he accidentally revealed his Shizun’s whereabouts to several of Huan Hua Palace’s disciple, the one who looked absolutely horrified by it was Gongyi Xiao... Luo Binghe hadn’t seen Gongyi Xiao this last few days.

“You admit to it, then?” Ye Qingjiu, Zui Xian’s peak lord, slurred as he strapped off a wine gourd from his belt.

“I will not return him just to be buried and ended like that,” Luo Binghe growled. “I will bring him back!”

“Lunatic!” Liu Qingge and Qi Qingqi yelled at the same time.

Zhuzhi-Lang slowly inched away from the fight. Despite his desire to know about Shen Qingqiu’s real body’s whereabouts, he couldn’t risk to accidentally hurt the peak lords and their disciples.

Someone appeared behind Zhuzhi-Lang and he turned to see Shen Qingqiu covered from head to toe in dark green cloak and a lime-green scaly mask to cover his face. “I couldn’t find that old bastard, what’s going on here?” Shen Qingqiu gazed at the intense fight and raised an eyebrow.

“Lord Sh- Milord,” Zhuzhi-Lang stepped aside and tugged on Shen Qingqiu’s sleeve. “We need to go,” he said solemnly and pulled Shen Qingqiu away.

Shen Qingqiu turned to look at Liu Qingge and Qi Qingqi battling with Luo Binghe as Ye Qingjiu led the pack of disciples to fight with Huan Hua Palace’s disciples and elders. He knew they would be alright and followed Zhuzhi-Lang.

After they escaped, Shen Qingqiu demanded, “What’s really going on?”

Zhuzhi-Lang pulled down his mask, “Luo Binghe has your real body and intended to resurrect you.”

Shen Qingqiu stared blankly, “Do you, demons, have some kind of unhealthy obsessions towards collecting dead bodies to be resurrected?” he demanded incredulously.

“This could be a problem,” Zhuzhi-Lang nodded.

Shen Qingqiu groaned, he couldn’t find any old bastard to be beaten up and now he had to deal with this, “Let’s return to Tian Langjun, we’ll discuss later.”

Chapter Text

“What? He has peak lord Shen’s body?” Tian Langjun stopped playing his flute to look disbelievingly at Zhuzhi-Lang.

“I heard he’s intending to resurrect peak lord Shen,” Zhuzhi-Lang nodded.

Tian Langjun set aside his flute, “That can’t be done. Peak lord Shen will absolutely get pulled by his real body, it will mess up our plans,” he said solemnly.

“Can you two not talk like I’m not here,” Shen Qingqiu interjected.

“You’re technically not here, your realy body is somewhere else. You’re practically a non-permanent subject right now,” Tian Langjun pointed out. “So... He set his eyes on the Holy Mausoleum?” he asked to Zhuzhi-Lang.

“I think that’s the case. He also has Sha Clan’s princess in his side, he’ll most likely use her to locate the ancient formation to recall the soul of the dead body,” Zhuzhi-Lang informed.

“Sha Clan’s little princess?” Tian Langjun furrowed his brows before he chuckled mysteriously. “I see, so that’s why the power struggle in Sha Clan...” he trailed off.

“I think so too...” Zhuzhi-Lang bowed his head.

Tian Langjun tapped his finger, “If it’s Sha Clan, they would certainly have some idea about the Holy Mausoleum. Which means, peak lord Shen is in danger of being snatched and out in the open again.”

“What’s with you, demons, with resurrecting dead body anyway?” Shen Qingqiu interrupted.

“We just don’t like to be wasteful,” Tian Langjun smiled eerily. “Just kidding, I’m also confused why so many people want your body. Usually, only one would bother but there were two sides now.”

Shen Qingqiu looked at Tian Langjun in annoyance, “Alright, so according to you two. If Luo Binghe succeeded in finding that seal that can resurrect the dead, I would be absorbed to my real body despite already being alive in this body?”

“Imitation cannot be better than the real deal, after all,” Tian Langjun nodded. “Your soul will absolutely feel way closer to your real body than this imitation.”

“What can we do to prevent it?” Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes. “To keep my soul in this body.”

“Nothing,” Tian Langjun said blankly. “Even if we surround you with countless formations and seals your soul will still be forcefully called. Nothing could stop it.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Well, nothing that would end well. If we try to hold it back as much as we can, your soul may break and you will not be the same person anymore,” Tian Langjun said. “That would be an outcome that no one would like.”

Shen Qingqiu’s face soured. That wouldn’t be something he wanted too.

Tian Langjun smiled reassuringly, “It’s okay, we can try another method to save you from getting into the limelight again,” he cited blithely.

“Going to your Holy Mausoleum, find the formation and destroy its existence?” Shen Qingqiu said.

“No. That thing is engraved deeply within the Mausoleum, you can’t exactly destroy it without destroying the part of the hall it was in. You can’t just destroy a holy site to the demon race. Besides, we don’t know what kind of forsaken traps planted there that may get triggered if we destroy anything,” Tian Langjun said calmly.

Shen Qingqiu glared, “Then, what the hell should we do?”

“Steal the corpse,” Zhuzhi-Lang said and Shen Qingqiu looked at him blankly. “We can steal lord Shen’s corpse back to prevent you from getting your soul called forcefully.”

... Is this it? Is this how far Shen Qingqiu had fallen? Stealing a corpse? His own corpse? He should have left a will for his corpse to be burned immediately on the spot should he die back then. What a missed opportunity.

“But there’s a flaw in that plan,” Tian Langjun said. “We don’t know where peak lord Shen’s body is.” He looked at Zhuzhi-Lang, “I don’t think normal spy work would work on that boy. You should also investigate Mo Beijun since his ice power might play some role in preserving a corpse.”

“Yes, Jun-shang,” Zhuzhi-Lang bowed down.

“For the meanwhile, peak lord Shen should just stay clear from going out,” Tian Langjun looked at Shen Qingqiu. “We could have some fun together instead.” he smiled eagerly. “Just leave the dirty work to the subordinates.”

“Easy for you to say that because you’re not the one who was in a fucking danger to be dragged into ‘life’ again!” Shen Qingqiu growled.

“Calm down.”

“If that little beast resurrected me, this is all just a waste of time!” Shen Qingqiu exclaimed.

“Peak lord Shen. Relax, if this gets worse, I’ll give you a hand,” Tian Langjun smiled lightly. “Now, why don’t you sit down and play a song with me?”

Zhuzhi-Lang gathered his army of demons who eagerly waited for his command, the Snake Heavenly Demon looked at his people and opened his mouth, “Words from Jun-Shang, we’re one step closer to the invasion we’re planning on,” he said impassively.

The demons around him looked at one another in glee and cheered rambunctiously, their demonic energy surged in delight at the idea of bloodshed and they began to wonder what the taste of those fallen cultivators would be like.

Zhuzhi-Lang raised his hand and they all quickly went silent, “But there’s one last thing needed to be done. Search Lord Shen’s Immortal Body the demon hybrid keeps and steal it back,” he said and they all blinked in bewilderment.

“Steal?”

“Lord Shen’s Immortal body? He’s dead?”

“The halfbreed???”

“Luo Binghe...?” they all murmured amongst each other grimly, repressing back their excitement to comprehend the last step before they raised and invaded the human world to kill the Four Great Sects’ cultivators (except Cang Qiong, of course, they had been drilled about that one).

“The Lord’s... bastard?” One snake demon mentioned hesitantly and everyone glared at him, hissing.

Zhuzhi-Lang, however, nodded indifferently. “That’s right,” he said. “Investigate thoroughly and don’t get caught,” if you're caught, make sure they can’t trace you back to this place.

The demons all nodded, “Yes, general.”

“Investigate Mo Beijun,” Zhuzhi-Lang added. “Everyone around Luo Binghe too.”

“Yes, general!” the snake demons all bowed down before transforming into their true form and slithered away.

Zhuzhi-Lang turned around and mused for a bit before he looked sideways to the direction where he had left Shen Qingqiu and Tian Langjun to play a song together.

Zhuzhi-Lang would never expect the half-breed would actually have Shen Qingqiu’s Immortal body. He hoped his spies would find out about it soon, he never spied too deeply on Luo Binghe aside from that one time when he had to clash with him in the demon world. No matter what, he could only hope he would find something.

[User All For Brawl: Holy f*ck! Luo Binghe KEPT the corpse!?]

[User Our Shizun is the Best Shizun: I KNEW IT!!! The vague conversation when Dream Demon said that Shizun’s body would be preserved and wouldn’t rot which was followed by a change of scene to the reaction of the people- I KNEW LUO BINGHE DID SOMETHING WHEN THEY FOUND OUT THE CORPSE WAS GONE!!!]

[User Queen Of The Southern Sea: HAH! GAAAYYY!!! No, but, seriously. That’s so gay. I ain’t complaining tho.]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: Praise the lord! There’s a way to revive my husband!!! But woah, Luo Binghe... I began to think I’m not deserving of my title as the first wife...]

[User Colourful Scales: This is getting darker and darker. I like it.]

[User Liu-juju and His Shen-shixiong: Dear God, Liu-juju is such a sweet shidi, ah! He came and tried to fight the protag for his Shen-shixiong’s honorable body!]

[User BDSM in Water Prison Anyone?: Hehehe, somnophilia fanfics would flood the fanfiction’s deck in no time, since this case should be called ‘sleeping’ instead of ‘dead’ (I refuse the notion of Shizun being dead, okay?). *Nosebleed*]

[User Whoever Ate My Chocolate In The Fridge, DEAD: Ah- Agh- My... My- fujoshi heart is SCREAMING!!! NO!!!]

[User Gay Liu-juju: See here? Forget about Zhangmen-shixiong! Should Shizun be with a man, it’s obviously Liu-juju!!!]

[User Bisexual Shen Qingqiu: Damn, Luo Binghe.]

[User Sexy Banana: What is Luo Binghe doing with such a perfectly sculpted body? I’m very jealous right now!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: YES!!! Shizun did not permanently die! He’s still could be saved! Do it! Make this pitiful man happy, damn it! I’m emotionally invested in his happiness and I have to see it!]

Shang Qinghua downed his tea and ate his rice cakes in celebration for having to finally let the plot flow and did not censor Luo Binghe’s questionable activity when he was recovering Shen Qingqiu’s body’s damage. Now his readers knew that Shen Qingqiu wasn’t permanently dead, they would let him off for a while.

Still. Liu Qingge was very determined to recover Shen Qingqiu’s body back from what his newest draft told him, even after being beaten by Luo Binghe, he still returned a week later when his other martial siblings chose to stay silent for a while.

Shang Qinghua grinned smugly for a bit, thankfully, he was away from Huan Hua Palace and wouldn’t need to be so close to that storm.

Besides, if he had to meet his (former?) martial siblings, they would probably target him in fury. It was so lucky that he chose to follow Mo Beijun.

“Get up.”

Shang Qinghua froze when he heard Mo Beijun’s voice, almost choking on his rice cake. However, he hastily got up and plastered a submissive and flattering expression on his face, “Are we going, my King?” Shang Qinghua asked flatteringly as he pushed the glass of tea away.

Mo Beijun looked at Shang Qinghua for a while, “No, I’m going,” he said blandly.

“Pardon?” Shang Qinghua blinked.

“I’m going to the demon world to finish some business,” Mo Beijun said coldly. “You go to Huan Hua Palace to tell the Lord about it,” he ordered and gave a travel talisman to Shang Qinghua.

Shang Qinghua’s flattering expression froze. “H-Huan Hua Palace?” He asked.

Mo Beijun furrowed his brows, “Yes. Stay there and don’t wander around if you don’t want to get killed,” he said with his still impossibly cold tone and turned away without waiting for Shang Qinghua’s response.

“M-my King-“ Shang Qinghua swallowed back his protest when Mo Beijun glanced back coldly at him. “Have... Have a safe journey,” he meekly bade.

Mo Beijun’s cold gaze softened slightly but he scoffed, as if Shang Qinghua’s words held no meaning and only wasted his time. He didn’t say anything more as he disappeared into a burst of frost.

When the scene cleared out, one snowflake landed on Shang Qinghua’s nose and he shivered. “Fuck...” He breathed out. He just jinxed himself earlier, didn’t he? Now, he had to go to the center of the storm himself!? Without Mo Beijun whom he could use as a meat shield?!

Shang Qinghua felt like crying when he looked at the travel talisman, he didn’t want to go there so fast. But if he traveled by walking or flying there, he might meet someone he knew and there was a high chance that he wouldn’t win against them.

Shang Qinghua grabbed the tea he had abandoned earlier and downed it in one go. He put down the cup before he tore down the talisman, in less than a second, his figure also disappeared from the isolated pavilion.

Sha Hualing furrowed her eyebrows before smoothly changing her expression to morbidly amused and flirtatious at the same time, “That Bai Zhan Peak’s peak lord really never gives up, huh?” she said slyly as she approached Luo Binghe who walked in with a tattered robe and minor injuries.

Luo Binghe sighed with a scowl, “He never learns and worst of all, he never listens,” he said. “If it isn’t because he is Shizun’s shidi, I would have gone a little bit harsher.”

Sha Hualing shook her head as Luo Bighe sat down. She smoothly slipped beside him, “Alright, let’s forget about that boring man,” she pouted. “I’m here to talk to you about something...”

Luo Binghe furrowed his brows, “Is it about the intruders a couple of days ago? Have you found out about them?”

Sha Hualing shook her head, she had also clashed with one of the intruders and lost miserably, that intruder also asked about the Old Palace Master. Luo Binghe had known, he had shared this with Sha Hualing too. “I still couldn’t find exactly who they are nor their goal about that trash...”

“How about Mo Bei?” Luo Binghe said calmly as he shed his dirty outer robe and tossed it away carelessly.

Sha Hualing leaned closer to him, smiling slightly as she brushed her arm teasingly on Luo Binghe’s, “He also found nothing, strangely. But... Lately, the demon world is brewing with something...”

“Something?” Luo Binghe glanced at her. “Like what?”

“It’s a bit too calm but also eerie. It feels like a calm before the storm,” Sha Hualing said. “That former shishu of yours came and told me Mo Beijun went to investigate about it, he was most likely worried that his territory would also be under the same atmosphere. You know about his relative...” she shrugged uncaringly.

Luo Binghe furrowed his brows but nodded nonetheless.

“Also, some smaller tribes seemed to start banding with each other,” Sha Hualing said. “And it seemed like... They’re hostile to you.”

Luo Binghe smirked, “Let them come if they want, I’ll make them be an example.”

Sha Hualing giggled as she lightly touched Luo Binghe’s arm, “I know you would, that’s why I like you,” she said seductively.

Luo Binghe snorted slightly before he flicked her forehead and leaned back. “How is that trash? Has he opened his mouth yet?” He couldn’t  ‘visit’ the Old Palace Master lately because Liu Qingge kept him busy and he still had to prepare for his journey to the Holy Mausoleum.

Sha Hualing glared at Luo Binghe, huffing as she nursed her forehead. Way to bring down the mood. “He still won’t open his mouth, I'm beginning to think he actually knows nothing.”

Luo Binghe’s gaze darkened, “Keep torturing him. It will do no harm to us anyway,” he said with a cold chuckle.

“Fine, fine,” Sha Hualing closed her eyes and sighed.

Luo Binghe nodded, “But come clean in a week, we’re going to be on an important journey,” he said, glancing to Sha Hualing who brightened slightly and smiled at him.

“I know, I’ll prepare everything,” Sha Hualing said. “But... What about Cang Qiong Mountain Sect?”

Luo Binghe narrowed his eyes, “Just let Xiao Gongzhu be in charge of the palace, they wouldn’t be so frivolous to attack an innocent younger generation and a young lady at that.”

Sha Hualing pouted slightly when Xiao Gongzhu was brought up but she nodded nonetheless, “Alright.”

Stepping back from around the corner, Shang Qinghua slowly walked away so as to not disturb the couple. He sighed disappointedly that he couldn’t ‘accidentally’ stumble upon a hot make-out session that he could get to see live.

‘Poor Sha Hualing...’ Shang Qinghua shook his head in pity as he looked at the comment section where many fans also voiced out their disappointment to Luo Binghe, luckily, it had no heat nor hate in their comment so it didn’t count as a negative point. Shang Qinghua huffed, ‘Damn protagonist! You have a hot beauty plastered on your arm and what you’re asking is a smelly old man who deserves to be spanked! When would you get laid if that’s the case!!!’

Shang Qinghua shook his head, at this point, Luo Binghe should have been laid several times already, but so far Luo Binghe only ever got laid with Sha Hualing ONCE because Xin Mo caught him off guard in the demon world! (Thank goodness! It was hot, unlike his inexperienced writing, but Shang Qinghua still had to censor some action, sadly...)

Shang Qinghua’s train of thought stopped after he scrolled past the whiny part of the comment section about Luo Binghe killing his chance and generally being exasperated for it (At least he’s not like a generic anime’s harem protagonist who was dense and not in control of his own harem...)

Shang Qinghua turned serious once he arrived at the intelligent side of the comment section who was here entirely for the plot (‘The sex and harem is only a bonus’ they said.) and was in the comment section entirely for discussing the amazing plotline and possible genius foreshadowing.

[User Lemonade with Mustard: Something is happening in the demon world? Hmm, is this only a useless off-story plotline that would be resolved without any connection to the plot or a prelude to something bigger?]

[User Jealousy Doesn’t Suit You: Oh no, Mo Beijun, my second husband, is not around. Is this a plot to make it difficult for Luo Binghe?]

[User Realestate Dealer: I think this separated plotline in the demon world would lead to something bigger. Idk, Mo Beijun’s disappearance smelled like a death flag to me.]

[User Icy Passion: Upstairs! Knock on the wood! How dare you to curse my husband like that!?]

[User Limited Patience: I’m still wondering about Shizun’s killer. And what the hell is Luo Binghe doing right now? He should be dealing with this murderer!]

[User Shizun’s Wife: I’m pretty sure Holy Mausoleum will lead us somewhere... Hopefully Shizun... Huu huu... My husband died a tragic death, ah!]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: I’ll just drop it here. I’m sure Luo Binghe would resurrect Shen Qingqiu, just like some of you already speculated and it was a bit obvious. A Mausoleum with treasures in it? Demonic Mausoleum at that? Pretty sure it would be for Shizun. But on another hand, resurrecting Shizun right now would be counterproductive as he hadn’t found the murderer.]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: Also, don’t you guys remember the Sowers’s slanders? (Yeah, that one that almost broke the fandom when we argued about whether Shizun was a villain or an innocent man) and the mysterious man that broke into the court and swiftly killed Shizun despite Shizun having been protected by a protagonist and two strongest peak lords? That murderer wouldn’t be a simple man. As Qi-shigu said, someone from the demon side really wanted Shen Qingqiu to die but we don’t know...]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: This trip to Holy Mausoleum wouldn’t end as Luo Binghe’s liking, Mo Beijun wouldn’t be able to help him there. But a boss might reside there... And it might be connected with Shizun’s death...]

[User Can’t Sleep: I agree with Sovereign.]

[User Must Practice: I am still in favor that Luo Binghe was simply looking for an answer...]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Brother! Nice! Brother Sovereign is right, I support it fully. Certainly, there was a powerhouse in the demon world who really wanted Shizun to be dead so as to risk himself to be exposed and killed Shizun in the middle of enemies. Yue Qingyuan had drawn his OP sword and the man didn’t even flinch! On another side, I think it’s... Luo Binghe’s mysterious demonic side of the family. Cough! Cough!]

[User SHIZUN IS NOT DEAD!!!: Gasp! Luo Binghe’s secret family! His father?! It was said his father was the demon overlord, the last pureblooded Heavenly Demon, Tian Langjun isn’t it!? He’s still alive?!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: It was never specified that he was dead. Some only assumed he was dead but no body remains and the human side decided to call it a day after ruining him according to chapter OO. Some still believed he was alive. That’s why the civil war in the south happened, one side was in favor he was dead and needed to be replaced and the other side believed he would be back.]

[User Feeling Sad and Pity: That’s right. Luo Binghe had yet to go and claim his inheritance from his demonic father right?]

[User Metronome kept Ticking: But why would Shizun be involved in all of this?]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Shizun is the best, that’s why. Let’s just wait, I believe brother Airplane wouldn’t disappoint us.]

Shang Qinghua found himself blanching off all colors when he read the comments and feedback. Ti-Tian Langjun...?

TIAN LANGJUN?!?!

No fucking way, hahahaha! No way, no way, pfft- no way, that OP last boss is sealed away somewhere within a mountain and would never go out, because Shang Qinghua had used his power as an author to damn that Overpowered last boss to oblivion before even appearing in the story!!!

Why would his lovely readers think like that? They would only be disappointed!

However, the more Shang Qinghua thought about it, the paler he got. Because, seriously? Nothing led to Zhuzhi-Lang if it wasn’t connected to Tian Langjun.

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,’ Shang Qinghua chanted in his mind. There was a difference in reading the story and speculating what would happen and living it himself. Shang Qinghua never thought that Tian Langjun would have anything to do with Shen Qingqiu but now after reading the comments... He began to self-introspection, yeah... Zhuzhi-Lang and Tian Langjun were definitely tightly tied to each other.

Tian Langjun... Might have had some hands in Shen Qingqiu’s death.

What is this?! A showdown between father and son?! This would be a solid reason for Luo Binghe to hate Tian Langjun to death! Even more solid than his shitty draft back when he was alive in the modern time that he had tossed away and forgotten somewhere!

But what the hell Shen Qingqiu had done to earn Tian Langjun’s ire?!

OR! Shang Qinghua’s eyes widened. Or it was to cover up his track...?

Shang Qinghua began to pace as he bit his nails, “No, no, no,” he murmured. Shen Qingqiu had become an absent peak lord, choosing to let go of himself in his ‘spiritual journey’ outside the sect. What are the chances he stumbled upon Bai Lu Mountain near Huan Hua Palace?

Too fucking big of a chance. There was a possibility he accidentally unsealed Tian Langjun- but, but, Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t be that stupid! He was extremely intelligent and Shang Qinghua was ashamed to admit, that he had way more knowledge about this world’s history and monsters than Shang Qinghua who wrote all of those himself! He would know what he had gotten himself into. There shouldn’t be a way to accidentally unseal a demon lord, right?!

Right!?

‘But what if the plot fixed itself to bury the plotholes? What if Shen Qingqiu’s aura as an A+ character at that time triggered a special effect of plot deviation? It could happen!’ Shang Qinghua freaked out. Could it? Could it happen? What if Shen Qingqiu was deceived- no, he was too smart for that, he would be the one doing the deceiving. Moreover, if the seal was broken, the Four Great Sects would be alerted-

‘But this is an S-level threat! Tian Langjun, ah! The protagonist’s father! His last boss villain halo might protect him from that cheap alarm for the plot’s sake!’ Shang Qinghua swiped away the comment box before him, finding it to be unsightful and only increased his anxiety.

Shang Qinghua frowned, he had cut away his connection with Cang Qiong Mountain Sect when he deflected. Mo Beijun was also away. He was powerless. He couldn’t just go to check the seal, are you kidding? What if he died!?

If Shen Qingqiu did die because he accidentally got involved with Tian Langjun... Ai. Shang Qinghua opened his window again to look at Shen Qingqiu’s serene picture as he played a bamboo flute with a misty mountain range in the background.

‘Ai, son, you’re really MVP, ah,’ Shang Qinghua exhaled as he sent a prayer for his favorite villainous son. I know you’ve been through a lot but please... Come back safely, please! Shang Qinghua wouldn’t be able to handle the second death! Hopefully, Luo Binghe could do something about Tian Langjun that could prevent him from killing Shen Qingqiu again...

Meanwhile, the man that Shang Qinghua was worrying over was leaning calmly on Da Zhu’s belly, looking at the so-called demon overlord with no little amount of disdain in his eyes.

“Hmm...” Tian Langjun looked at the Go board before him and sweated a little bit.

Tian Langjun slowly moved his piece and ended his turn.

Shen Qingqiu looked at the board for a while before he moved his own piece and, “You lost.”

“Agh-“ Tian Langjun groaned. “I’m the ultimate ruler of the demon world, no one dared to fight me and no one could scheme against me. Why couldn’t I win against you even once in Go!?” he protested.

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes, “You’re stupid,” he answered simply as he laid back on Da Zhu’s belly.

Tian Langjun’s lips twitched, “You’re so awful to your own brother.”

“Stop calling our stupid bond ‘brothers’.”

“But we were born from the seeds of the same flower,” Tian Langjun pointed out. “We’re as good as blood brothers!”

“Tian Langjun, I’m this close to teaming up with Da Zhu to kill you right now, so shut the fuck up,” Shen Qingqiu threatened and Tian Langjun chuckled.

“Alright, alright. Sigh, still so fierce, ah,” Tian Langjun pouted.

“Where is Luo Binghe!?” Liu Qingge growled in fury, brandishing his sword threateningly at the convoy that came out to greet him.

“P-peak lord Liu,” One of the Huan Hua Palace’s elders spoke up. “Leader Luo is not in the palace currently, he has a business outside.”

Liu Qingge glared murderously, “Get him out!” He yelled.

“But he wasn’t here...” Another elder said reluctantly.

Liu Qingge pointed his sword, “Then, give me Shen Qingqiu,” he demanded.

“We don’t know anything about peak lord Shen,” a female elder said smoothly. “Please, this problem with peak lord Shen has nothing to do with us. It’s your personal problem with Lord Luo.”

Liu Qingge swung his sword to the side, face cold, the elders thought he had given up and sighed. However, their faces began to twitch as the battle aura around Liu Qingge got thicker and angrier instead, “I’ll be the judge of that,” he said coldly as he raised his hand and swung his sword.

The elders cried out indignantly as they used their power to protect themselves.

As the chaos outside got louder, from within the palace, Xiao Gongzhu got out of her room and stomped her feet in annoyance. She headed towards the main hall, “What’s going on outside!?” she screamed. “Didn’t I tell you guys to take care of everything!?”

“I-it seems like peak lord Liu insists on investigating us himself even without Lord Luo here!” One of the senior disciples waiting anxiously in the hall said.

“So, what?! Are we so helpless in front of a single peak lord just because Luo-ge is not here!?” Xiao Gongzhu only got more furious when she heard that. “YOU! What are you doing here!? Go outside and help the elders!” Xiao Gongzhu glared at one particular person who looked at her as if she was crazy.

“Me?” Shang Qinghua pointed at himself. “I’d rather not. Thanks,” he said politely with a smile.

“Coward!”

“Little princess, I’m only here to seek refuge,” Shang Qinghua said meekly. “My specialty is logistics after all, I think I’ll retreat to the back hall,” or better yet, the storage. No one would check the storage, right?

Xiao Gongzhu shrieked in frustration, “Get out of my way! I’ll face him myself!” she pushed two female disciples in her way and stomped outside. Liu Qingge wouldn’t hurt a girl of the younger generation after all.

Shang Qinghua sighed in relief, it seemed like he had to depend on Xiao Gongzhu’s frivolous personality to survive the time Luo Binghe and his higher demon subordinates away. Without Mo Beijun, he was simply a liability. Which was fine, since he didn’t want to go to the Holy Mausoleum anyway.

He opened the window to his system and frowned slightly... Ah, they were still going to the succubi’s cave. Damn it, Shang Qinghua wanted to see those hot demon girls too... Shang Qinghua shook his head in pity and closed the window.

Shang Qinghua sought refuge in the backmost yard and found the most isolated storage that wouldn’t be checked by anyone, especially Liu Qingge in his quest to find Shen Qingqiu’s corpse. After all, there was no way Luo Binghe would keep an S-grade character’s corpse in such a bad place. Let alone Liu Qingge, Shang Qinghua would spit on Luo Binghe if he dared to treat his S-grade son like that (Secretly, of course, he wouldn’t dare to spit on Luo Binghe so openly even if you pay him.)

Shang Qinghua huddled himself in the corner as he opened his system’s window and read Luo Binghe’s progress. He looked at his points and smiled slightly, it was in the safe zone! Everyone was so excited about Shen Qingqiu’s revival and kept leaving encouraging and positive comments for Shang Qinghua to encourage him to update faster.

If this kept on, Shang Qinghua would be able to return to the real world by the end of the story! Added with the bonus points of plots getting fixed, he would be able to return! ‘I’ll be a fucking accountant when I’m back! I swear!’

Shang Qinghua sniffed slightly and said in a low murmur to himself, “Maybe it was creepy at first, but at least keeping a corpse and preserving it ended up helping me too,” After all those painful sleepless nights to redact the draft and spending some points for that!

Shang Qinghua didn’t see a brown snake slithering out of the isolated storage.

Sha Hualing stomped out of the cave, dragging Luo Binghe petulantly with her.

Madam Meiyin’s seductive laughter resounded from within the cave, “Come again anytime!”

Sha Hualing growled, “Bitch!” she yelled.

“Hualing,” Luo Binghe reminded sternly.

Sha Hualing huffed, “We can’t trust that slut’s statement at all.”

Luo Binghe shook his head, “We got what we needed in the end, let’s go,” he said.

Sha Hualing calmed down slightly when she saw Luo Binghe didn’t seem to take Madam Meiyin’s seduction seriously, “How is it?” she asked.

“In a good condition,” Luo Binghe said as he raised the treasure he had gotten from Madam Meiyin. The formation that would revive his Shizun would need months to learn, Luo Binghe had no time for that, disregarding Xin Mo which would go ballistic, Luo Binghe still had many troubles that would pounce on him if he let them be for a while.

Besides, one thing you shouldn’t do is to stay too long in the Holy Mausoleum. That was why Luo Binghe had done Madam Meiyin a favor earlier in exchange for this lamp-like treasure. This treasure would be able to copy the formation to the detail and Luo Binghe would be able to make it outside the Holy Mausoleum.

“Let’s group up with the others,” Luo Binghe said and Sha Hualing couldn’t be more eager to get far away from the Yin Cave of the succubis. “Is there any news yet from Mo Bei?”

Sha Hualing shook her head, “No.”

“It seems like he couldn’t make it,” Luo Binghe frowned.

“It’s fine, there is still me,” Sha Hualing smiled seductively.

Luo Binghe clutched the treasure and smirked, “I know. We have to get that formation no matter what.”

Mo Beijun returned to the human world after he made sure that nothing would happen in his territory, he went straight to Huan Hua Palace to find out that Luo Binghe and several other demons had gone to the Holy Mausoleum from the lesser demons left in the palace. Mo Beijun had half a mind to go and follow them but the lesser demons said they had been gone a week ago so it would probably be hard to track them down.

Mo Beijun nodded, “Where’s Shang Qinghua?” he asked. Wondering if Luo Binghe brought that weakling along too.

The lesser demons looked at each other hesitantly, “We don’t know. He didn’t go with the Lord for sure...” They reported.

Mo Beijun furrowed his brows. Where could that weakling be? He didn’t go with Luo Binghe but also wasn’t here when Mo Beijun returned. How dare he not be here to welcome his master? Mo Beijun waved his hand to dismiss the demons and walked away to search for Shang Qinghua himself.

The more he searched the more furious he was, by the end of the day, Mo Beijun was positively fuming and unconsciously creating a wintry wasteland around him. But that anger slowly turned into a concern once he had searched for the entire Huan Hua Palace and still found nothing about Shang Qinghua.

Mo Beijun stood there in the middle of the yard behind Huan Hua Palace, his face was grim as frosts covered the grass around him as he stared at a small piece of snake scale that looked like it had been ripped out in a struggle.

Mo Beijun’s glare became even more murderous as his lips curled up into a furious smirk. Who dares...?

Shang Qinghua shivered as he tried to curl himself into an even smaller ball. His arms, which were tied behind his back, felt like they could feel better unattached. The Immortal Binding Rope around him felt like choking him, he couldn’t refine any qi or cultivate and the smell of musks mixed with his own blood didn't stop him feeling hungry.

Shang Qinghua flinched when his captor put a bowl of water before him. Well... At least they were courteous enough to supply him with water.

“It could be easier if you just tell me,” The voice of his captor was a bit hoarse, indifferent, without a shred of mercy nor pity. “You don’t have to suffer, I could just directly kill you...”

Shang Qinghua shuddered. That’s the problem! Telling it or not, he would kill Shang Qinghua regardless! At least this way, he wouldn’t die so quickly! There was hope... there was... He still had his system... Once the guard was a bit lax, he could... (The guards had not been lax since the first time he arrived here...)

Shang Qinghua sobbed, his body screamed in agony, he could feel some of his wounds re-opened and the blood trickling along his sensitive skin. It hurts... Someone... Please-

Zhuzhi-Lang stared at the shivering ball indifferently. He might have promised that he wouldn’t touch anyone from the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, but since Shang Qinghua was a traitor to the Sect, then, it was fair game. “I’m pressed with time, here,” he said.

“I... Don’t...” Shang Qinghua choked out, he could feel blood rising in his throat and he coughed it out. “Know!” He gasped out.

“Lie,” Zhuzhi-Lang said calmly, his slit eyes didn’t leave Shang Qinghua’s terrified form even for a second. “Since you’re not talking, then, I have no choice,” he raised his sword.

“How is it?” A new, much smoother, voice resounded.

Shang Qinghua, who was already bracing himself for more tortures, fluttered his eyes open. Zhuzhi-Lang’s cold and indifferent gaze had changed to a much warmer and obedient one.

“He’s not talking,” Zhuzhi-Lang said. “I’m about to cut his arm,” He was powerless to hold his instinct as a Heavenly Demon after all, it had been two days since he took over the torture himself after his subordinates were proven to be useless at this. It was already a great strain of patience for him who was used to kill swiftly.

Shen Qingqiu was wearing his mask when he came in, he flicked a glance towards the traitor and furrowed his brows, “Messy,” he said.

“My apologies,” Zhuzhi-Lang said.

Shang Qinghua finally raised his head, staring at the new person in both wonder and some fear. Tian Langjun? No... Shang Qinghua had a feeling he wasn’t Tian Langjun, but who? Who would be worthy enough for Zhuzhi-Lang to be polite to?

“Shall I use my blood?” Zhuzhi-Lang asked, he wasn’t really fond of using his blood but if it was really needed, he would do it. Shang Qinghua paled.

“No...” Shang Qinghua blurted out in his horror, earning himself the two people’s attention. “Please...” He said shakily.

Shen Qingqiu tilted his head, “Oh? He seemed to know about the blood?” he said ponderingly. “Then, again. He’s a dog of Luo Binghe.”

Zhuzhi-Lang raised his brows, he didn’t think he ever told his prisoner that he was a Heavenly Demon? Could it be he guessed?

Shen Qingqiu stepped in front of Shang Qinghua, “So, you’re talking?” he questioned harshly.

“I really d-don’t know!” Shang Qinghua exclaimed desperately. Even if he said it, he would be struck by the heaven and die anyway!

Shen Qingqiu sneered, “You’ve betrayed once, why can’t you betray more?” he said. “It’s not like your credibility isn’t already trash. Now, speak. Where is Shen Qingqiu’s immortal body?!” He said firmly.

“I... I truly don’t...” Shang Qinghua said and let out a squeak when the masked man held a dagged right in between his brows.

“Don’t be like that...” Shen Qingqiu said slowly. “Make yourself useful for once, Shang Qinghua. If you’re useless, we’ll just kill you off and feed you to the younger demons to be useful for once. I’m sure those squirts would find you pleasing at least.”

Shang Qinghua shuddered, “Please...”

Before Shang Qinghua could finish his plea, there was commotion broke from outside. The usually silent place was filled with shrieks and explosions.

Zhuzhi-Lang shifted, his eyes were cold and calculating as he looked at the door. “My lord, please wait here,” he said and exited.

Shen Qingqiu simply glanced at the door after it was closed and focused his attention back to Shang Qinghua, “How long have you been here for, Shang Qinghua?” he asked coldly.

Shang Qinghua looked at his new tormentor and slowly shook his head, “I don’t know...” he mumbled.

“It feels like an eternity, isn’t it?” Shen Qingqiu smirked from behind his mask. “Would you rather-“

BAM!

“Would you rather spend more time here?” Shen Qingqiu continued without missing a beat. “That snake earlier, he might be merciful up till now. But in the end, he was still a demon. His calling for shedding blood is much stronger than-“

BOOM! CLANG!

WHOOOSH!!!

Shen Qingqiu stopped talking as he drew his sword and a burst of overwhelming qi exploded from his body, at the same time the cell that had been holding Shang Qinghua for God knows how long was cleaved into two.

Shen Qingqiu lowered his sword, “I’ve told you, holding a prisoner is much easier if it’s much deeper in the underground,” he said blandly as the dust cleared off and revealed Zhuzhi-Lang standing in front of him, holding Mo Beijun back.

“My apologies, he caught me off guard,” Zhuzhi-Lang said.

“My king!” Shang Qinghua gasped.

Mo Beijun spared his human a glance before narrowing his eyes at the demon in front of him. “Who are you?” He said grimly. Someone who actually could parry his attack, he wasn’t a normal demon. “What do you want?”

“My, my, it seems like he wasn’t as useless as we thought,” Shen Qingqiu looked back at Shang Qinghua. “To think the northern king himself would track us for him, you’re not simply a dog, aren’t you?” he walked closer to Shang Qinghua.

Zhuzhi-Lang increased his strength when Mo Beijun attempted to push him aside, his eyes also grew darker.

“My- My king,” Shang Qinghua stuttered out but stilled as Shen Qingqiu put his blade on Shang Qinghua’s neck.

“Are you an important piece that needed to be eradicated rather than in the enemy’s hands or... Something else?” Shen Qingqiu said ponderingly.

Mo Beijun glowered, but with Zhuzhi-Lang holding him back he couldn’t do anything to the masked man. His demon mark flickered instead, the chilling blue light prompted frosts to form on the ground, the air, all directed to Shen Qingqiu.

Zhuzhi-Lang stomped on the ground, his own demon mark shone in goldish-white light, forming a kind of barrier to protect Shen Qingqiu. They fell into another stalemate.

Shen Qingqiu’s gaze darkened as he swung his sword to Mo Beijun’s way instead and the ice demon’s heart skipped a beat. The northern demon king jumped back to avoid a wave of spiritual qi and leaped back to avoid Zhuzhi-Lang’s own attack.

Zhuzhi-Lang retreated instead of pursuing, he pushed Shen Qingqiu behind him and grabbed Shang Qinghua by his rope, harshly hoisting up the former peak lord and putting his sword on his neck. “Don’t move,” Zhuzhi-Lang said.

Mo Beijun glared, the ice sword in his hand only grew darker and colder at Zhuzhi-Lang’s threat.

Zhuzhi-Lang didn’t show a reaction, instead, he only pressed his sword and drew a line of blood on Shang Qinghua’s neck, adding another wound to his worn-out body.

Mo Beijun’s gaze grew darker, “You think he’s a hostage? For this king?” he challenged.

Shang Qinghua shook, the blade that already slowly burying itself on Shang Qinghua’s neck only made him even more fearful. He had been tortured for days, there was no place on his body that didn’t hurt, even his voice was hurt by crying and screaming in pain. What was the point of enduring all of those if he would be dead anyway?!

Zhuzhi-Lang raised his brows, “Then, I can kill him?”

Mo Beijun growled, “If you dare...”

“My King...” Shang Qinghua pleaded lowly.

Zhuzhi-Lang held Mo Beijun’s gaze boredly, like he wasn’t worth his worry. “I dare,” Zhuzhi-Lang nodded and tightened his hold on his sword, preparing to behead Shang Qinghua.

“My King!” Shang Qinghua exclaimed hoarsely. “Please, save me...” he coughed out as Zhuzhi-Lang tightened his hold around his neck.

Mo Beijun narrowed his eyes in frustration.

“He... he’s the one that killed Shen Qingqiu!” Shang Qinghua choked out. Zhuzhi-Lang and Mo Beijun reacted with surprise.

Zhuzhi-Lang looked at Shang Qinghua ponderingly, how could this human recognize him?

Mo Beijun looked at Zhuzhi-Lang and he understood the root. “You want Shen Qingqiu...?” He questioned.

“Yes,” Zhuzhi-Lang readily admitted.

Mo Beijun narrowed his eyes. “That’s all?” he asked in suspicion.

Zhuzhi-Lang blinked, he recognized that surrendering tone, “Yes.”

Mo Beijun looked at Shang Qinghua whose robe was in tatter, wounds and bruises littered his body. He mused for a while before he reluctantly nodded, “I know where he is,” he said.

Shen Qingqiu and Zhuzhi-Lang were surprised at how easily Mo Beijun said that when Shang Qinghua refused to say anything even after days of torture.

“Really?” Zhuzhi-Lang furrowed his brows.

Mo Beijun nodded, “Give him to me and I’ll show you,” he said.

“Show first,” Zhuzhi-Lang instantly refused.

Mo Beijun glared, “Fine,” he growled begrudgingly. “But untie him.”

Zhuzhi-Lang looked at Shen Qingqiu and when Shen Qingqiu nodded, he used his sword to cut open the Immortal Binding Rope.

When Shang Qinghua felt the qi, that had been suppressed in his body, returned back to flow freely, he almost shuddered and cried on the spot. He still felt miserable but at least he could have his qi and fast healing back.

Shang Qinghua tearfully gazed up to meet Mo Beijun’s cold gaze, he shivered and lowered his head, “Thank you, my king... Thank you,” he said sincerely.

Mo Beijun’s lips curled, “Follow me,” he said as he turned around and walked off.

Zhuzhi-Lang grabbed Shang Qinghua by his tattered robe and pulled him along as Shen Qingqiu trailed behind.

Mo Beijun looked at the demon behind him who was holding his man hostage. ‘Shen Qingqiu’s murderer...’ He mused seriously but his facial expression didn’t change. Luo Binghe had gone to the Holy Mausoleum to get the formation to revive Shen Qingqiu, approximately, he would return in a few days at best.

Mo Beijun needed to distract these people until Luo Binghe was back... He flicked a glance to Shang Qinghua who was half-dragged by Zhuzhi-Lang. Mo Beijun pursed his lips.

A few days...

Meanwhile, Luo Binghe would be finishing his search for that formation in a few days. A few days of hype and massive progress in the plot. Sadly, Shang Qinghua was too scarred to even feel happy about it.

Shang Qinghua looked up just as Mo Beijun took his gaze away. The former peak lord smiled shakily to himself. A weakling like him can only be used as a bargaining chip and damsel-in-distress... Shang Qinghua lowered his head.

Of course, the two’s failed exchange didn’t escape Shen Qingqiu’s eyes. He rolled his eyes, sneering. Blinded fools.

Liu Qingge left Huan Hua Palace positively fuming again after ruining a part of their main hall. He was tempted to just stab everyone else there, but with Xiao Gongzhu standing upfront acting like a leader, he couldn’t exactly fight her.

That damn Luo Binghe! Was he really a part of their Cang Qiong Mountain Sect!? How could he be so... shameless? How could he even steal his own teacher’s corpse and denied him his eternal rest!?

Liu Qingge growled in frustration as he brought Cheng Luan up and slashed several lines of trees on his right path. Not only did he fail to save that man, now he couldn’t even bring him back even when he was dead...

Even more frustratingly, Luo Binghe was actually stronger than Liu Qingge. Liu Qingge had no idea how that brat could, but he just did.

It had been weeks since he last saw Luo Binghe. He didn’t know what that bastard was planning. But the longer Liu Qingge didn’t see that bastard, the more restless he was. That little bastard was the only connection he had with Shen Qingqiu’s missing Immortal Body. If that little bastard decided to hide...

“Gah-!” Liu Qingge slashed his sword again to the lines of trees on his left path, bringing them all down. Done destroying the nature, Liu Qingge lowered his head and sheathed his sword back. “Shen Qingqiu...” he murmured.

Shen Qingqiu ran his hand through his hair once more again, lamenting the inexistence of his paper fan where he could fan himself furiously with it or whack someone’s head without touching them directly.

“Where the fuck is it?!” He asked impatiently, glaring at Mo Beijun who looked at him blankly.

“We’re almost there,” Mo Beijun said blandly.

“You fucking said that days ago!” Shen Qingqiu glowered.

“The path is long,” Mo Beijun said. “It’s not easy to find.”

“Bullshit,” Shen Qingqiu growled. If this wasn’t his own corpse they were talking about, Shen Qingqiu would have walked away days ago.

“Are you tired, sir?” Zhuzhi-Lang asked, for days, he still had his sword pointing at Shang Qinghua.

“No, never mind! Let’s keep going,” Shen Qingqiu growled.

Shang Qinghua was nudged by Zhuzhi-Lang’s sword’s tip to resume walking. He quickly resumed walking, he gazed at Mo Beijun who expressionlessly kept leading them on their route.

Luo Binghe returned to Huan Hua Palace with no little amount of casualties, Sha Hualing was by his side, also worn-down and exhausted. He only rested for a while, listening to Xiao Gongzhu’s cries of how hard she had worked to keep Liu Qingge away at the door as Sha Hualing sat beside Luo Binghe, sneering. The Qin sisters also welcomed Luo Binghe back with no little amount of excitement, however, Luo Binghe was not in the mood to entertain them and let Sha Hualing stop them from plastering themselves to Luo Binghe.

In the next day, Luo Binghe disappeared from Huan Hua Palace to an obscure cave slightly far away from Huan Hua Palace, he had put protective formation around the place to confuse anyone who came by, preventing them from ever finding the sealed spiritual cave.

Luo Binghe unsealed the boulder covering the entrance and it moved by itself to allow Luo Binghe to come in. All of Luo Binghe’s exhaustion disappeared when he saw the man sleeping inside the cave, surrounded by countless priceless herbs and treasures that helped to preserve him.

Luo Binghe stepped into the cave, “Shizun... Binghe is back,” he bowed down. “This disciple is sorry for making you wait for so long. But it’s ready now, Shizun,” Luo Binghe looked up and smiled, his eyes reddened slightly as he straightened.

“You wouldn’t need to worry, Shizun. No one would hurt you after this, I will not allow them to. You’ve been so kind to me, you’ve suffered so much. This time around, you can do what you want,” Luo Binghe stepped closer. “Pardon me, Shizun,” Luo Binghe reached to put his arm around Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders and another arm on the back of his knees.

Luo Binghe picked Shen Qingqiu up and looked at his Shizun’s face. He didn’t look dead at all, simply sleeping. If only he was obviously not breathing, Luo Binghe would suspect otherwise. “Let’s go, Shizun,” he murmured tenderly.

“Shen Qingqiu...” Liu Qingge murmured in disbelief.

Luo Binghe stilled in front of him, carrying someone so familiar in his arms. He didn’t expect to meet Liu Qingge here of all places when he was trying to transport his Shizun to Huan Hua Palace. “Liu-shishu-“

Liu Qingge attacked.

Luo Binghe jumped back, minding Shen Qingqiu in his arms, he spun to a stop on the ground and lowered Shen Qingqiu’s body smoothly. He bit his finger till it drew out blood and drew a simple seal to protect his Shizun before he unsheathed Xin Mo and leaped to meet Liu Qingge in the middle.

Clang!

“Return him,” Liu Qingge glowered.

“No,” Luo Binghe retorted and directed Liu Qingge’s sword to the side, he spun on his heel to kick Liu Qingge in the abdomen.

Liu Qingge twisted his body to avoid the kick, spinning on his heel as he brought his sword down and made an angle to slash Luo Binghe’s leg.

Luo Binghe kicked the ground and did a somersault, bringing his other leg to kick Liu Qingge on the shoulder. Liu Qingge brought his arms up to guard himself against the kick, forced to take a step back before he charged again with his sword.

Clang!

Blows after blows were exchanged, it was clear that Liu Qingge was once again in a disadvantage, but seeing his goal being so close (Really, really close) he pushed himself through his limit to try and win against Luo Binghe. No matter what, he had to bring that man back.

Luo Binghe’s gaze darkened as the fight went on. The more they fought, the more desperate Liu Qingge was, Luo Binghe realized it wouldn't be easy to bring his Shizun back if this kept on... He had to seriously injure Liu Qingge if he wanted to bring his Shizun back smoothly.

“Sorry,” Luo Binghe as brought Xin Mo closer. “I wouldn’t kill you, but...” he said and a dark energy enveloped Xin Mo, his hidden demonic mark appeared and Liu Qingge gasped lowly. "You're proven to be a difficult disturbance."

“So, that’s why,” Liu Qingge said solemnly. “You’re a demon!” He glowered furiously.

“And you’re in the way,” Luo Binghe growled.

It had been days since Shen Qingqiu had gone out with Zhuzhi-Lang, Tian Langjun was understandably bored without anyone accompanying him. However, the Heavenly Demon knew better than to just sit around, he began to straighten his army, gathering the informations from his spies which were scattered around the human world and re-checking his plans.

He had to make a trip to the Holy Mausoleum to fetch something mundane himself with Zhuzhi-Lang gone. But when Tian Langjun entered the sacred demonic place and fetched his thing, he frowned.

He looked around the fancy hall and felt like... There were some changes...

Tian Langjun would have ignored the change, but his instinct told him he needed to know. He ended up walking through the Mausoleum, none of those undead dared to obstruct his way as he did his inspection. As he walked his expression began to turn more serious and before he knew it he had run towards a certain hall, noting the traps had all been disabled.

He barged into the hall and he smiled bitterly. Someone had come inside. Someone had taken the essence of the formation of revival... “Damn it...” Tian Langjun knew Zhuzhi-Lang had been deceived.

The demon overlord turned around and left the hall with a flicker of the green fire that decorated the hall.

“Zhangmen-shixiong!”

Yue Qingyuan blinked when he heard the panic in Mu Qingfang’s voice after he got out of his chamber in the spirit cave, having successfully broken through after he struggled with his inner demons.

(In the end, that memory of Xiao Jiu leaning on the other side of the wall, helpless but concerned both haunted and encouraged him. “ Promise me next time you’ll be calmer in facing anything in the future, Qi-ge!” His childish voice reminded, so young and helpless. He needed help. He needed Yue Qi... Yue Qi failed him---)

“What’s wrong?” Yue Qingyuan asked in concern as Mu Qingfang hurried towards him, having sat outside the chamber for God knows how long.

“Zhangmen-shixiong, we have news of Shen-shixiong’s missing body,” Mu Qingfang said and Yue Qingyuan’s heart almost skipped a beat.

“Where?” Yue Qingyuan actually reached to shake Mu Qingfang’s shoulders as he asked, desperate. Desperate to fix his wrong. Desperate to do something for Shen Jiu even if he wasn’t in this world anymore.

“Luo Binghe, Shen-shixiong’s disciple, now Huan Hua Palace’s regent master, had him. It was him. It was he who stole Shen-shixiong’s body,” Mu Qingfang answered.

Yue Qingyuan inhaled deeply, looking at Mu Qingfang disbelievingly. “Why would he do that?”

Mu Qingfang shook his head, “We don’t know at all. Someone from Huan Hua Palace told us about this, now we’re currently sheltering him, but-“

“Does everyone know about this?” Yue Qingyuan asked seriously.

“The peak lords have all been informed,” Mu Qingfang nodded. “We didn’t know what to do because you’re in a retreat. Liu-shixiong, Qi-shijie, and Ye-shidi had gone at first but it was proven to be useless. We decided to give up on it... Liu-shixiong hadn’t...” he mumbled the last part.

Yue Qingyuan had begun to walk past Mu Qingfang after he finished talking, Mu Qingfang quickly fell into steps after him. “How long since you all received the news and confronted Luo Binghe about it?”

“It’s been over a month at least, we were waiting for your edict,” Mu Qingfang stressed.

“What about Huan Hua Palace? Has there any suspicious movement this far?” Yue Qingyuan asked again.

“They had been restless for the last few weeks,” Mu Qingfang answered. “But I don’t know for sure, the last thing I’ve heard is Luo Binghe had been absent. Liu-shixiong had gone there and didn’t find Luo Binghe...”

“Let us find Liu-shidi,” Yue Qingyuan nodded as the two peak lords exited the cave and pulled out their swords to fly to Bai Zhan Peak.

When they arrived in Bai Zhan, they bumped into Wei Qingwei who exclaimed in relief, “Zhangmen-shixiong! Mu-shidi! Thank God! Quick, you have to do something about Liu-shidi!” he stressed.

“What happened?” Mu Qingfang asked. “Xiao Yan couldn’t handle it?” He had left his head disciple to attend Liu Qingge lest he returned from a fight injured again, however, lately, Luo Binghe was not in Huan Hua Palace to fight Liu Qingge so Mu Qingfang had put down his worries and waited for Yue Qingyuan to finish his retreat instead.

“He’s helpless! Quick,” Wei Qingwei said. “No matter what your disciple did, the injury was slow to heal, he had a fever since we brought him back and it wasn’t coming down at all!” he filled in Mu Qingfang as they hurried to Liu Qingge’s abode.

When they arrived at the abode, Wei Qingwei pushed open the door, “Mu-shidi is here!”

“Mu-shidi!”

Yue Qingyuan could see Qi Qingqi by Liu Qingge’s bedside and a teenager fumbling with medicines beside her.

“Shifu-!” Xiao Yan stood up, relief washed over his face before he rearranged his tools as Mu Qingfang replaced him in his station.

"What happened?" Yue Qingyuan saw Liu Qingge who seemed to be fighting in his sleep, tossing and turning around restlessly.

Qi Qingqi looked at him, helpless, "This shimei doesn't know. He set the emergency firework and I went there to see what it was about only to find him like this!"

“Demonic energy?” Mu Qingfang blinked and Xiao Yan nodded.

“It prevented Liu-shibo’s self-regeneration, his fever wouldn’t go down too,” the boy said.

Mu Qingfang put his hand on Liu Qingge’s forehead and moved to open his closed eye, “Alright, shixiong, shijie, if you will...”

Qi Qingqi stood up, “I understand, do your best,” the three peak lords exited the abode and closed the door behind them.

Outside, Qi Qingqi sighed and weakly leaned back on the door, she massaged her temples, muttering about Liu Qingge being stupid before she finally looked at Yue Qingyuan, “Zhangmen-shixiong, have you heard...?” She asked softly.

Yue Qingyuan nodded, “I have...” he said seriously.

Qi Qingqi smiled nastily, “That boy, truly presumptuous, right...” she said coldly.

“We don’t know what exactly what he wanted,” Wei Qingwei admitted.

Qi Qingqi sneered, “He is a lunatic.”

Yue Qingyuan looked down, “I don’t know what that boy is thinking... He used to be a kind one...” Yue Qingyuan remembered his frequent visit to Qing Jing peak because of how often Shen Qingqiu was absent, he remembered Luo Binghe of course, he was always an eager boy who seemed to never run out of praise for Shen Qingqiu.

The three peak lords stood in silence as they waited for Mu Qingfang to come out with the news. Yue Qingyuan's hands formed into fists inside his sleeves as he waited for Liu Qingge to stabilize before he made his move.

Zhuzhi-Lang stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes went wide in disbelief, and the hand he used to hold Shang Qinghua tightened.

The others also stopped when he stopped, Mo Beijun glanced back at him whereas Shen Qingqiu looked at him questioningly.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Qingqiu asked.

Zhuzhi-Lang gazed at Mo Beijun and the northern demon king stared back blankly, wondering what was going on before Zhuzhi-Lang’s eyes darkened and the hand holding his sword twisted.

Slash!

Blood splattered and Shang Qinghua’s felt an unimaginable pain around his neck, “Ah-!” He gurgled in shock as blood oozed out of his mouth.

Everything was too fast but the next thing Shang Qinghua knew, Mo Beijun had rushed and used all his ice power to attack Zhuzhi-Lang. Zhuzhi-Lang retaliated just as furiously and Shang Qinghua fell to the ground, a collar of frost formed on his skin, tightly covering the slash wound.

Shang Qinghua vomited the rest of the blood in his mouth, feeling his throat getting number and colder as the frosts grew, sprouting out like crystallized flowers, collaring Shang Qinghua's neck beautifully. In his pain, he shivered and wondered ‘W-what happened?’

If Shang Qinghua was bewildered and terrified, Shen Qingqiu was just as bewildered. He stepped back to give the two demons room to fight, feeling more and more confused as it went, however, he had a bad feeling about Zhuzhi-Lang’s sudden enmity.

Shang Qinghua coughed out more blood, the frost collar around his neck spread and he choked, no... No, he didn’t want to die here... No! “Help...” He choked out. Anyone. Shang Qinghua tried to reach out. Anyone. Mo Beijun, he should... be able to, right? Zhuzhi-Lang, no, no, no. Shang Qinghua gazed at Zhuzhi-Lang's partner. That mysterious human amongst the demons... Shang Qinghua trembled greatly, his body rapidly cooled down due to the blood loss and the ice that sealed his wound around his throat but he gazed at the human desperately. He provided him water and food on the journey even if the reason was spiteful and selfish- Shang Qinghua just wanted to live.

Mo Beijun furrowed his brows as he glanced at Shang Qinghua when he heard that, a second mistake that almost cost him a lot.

Noticing his opponent's distraction, Zhuzhi-Lang threw himself to injure Mo Beijun but Mo Beijun’s ice sprung out and protected him in the last second, glaring, Zhuzhi-Lang twisted his wrist and sent a slithering qi towards Shang Qinghua.

Mo Beijun gritted his teeth and an ice wall sprung out of nowhere to protect Shang Qinghua, Zhuzhi-Lang spun on his heel and kicked Mo Beijun on the side. The snake demon was about to finish his job with Shang Qinghua by sending an enormous amount of wicked qi towards the ice wall which would crumble and kill Shang Qinghua under such tremendous power.

However, Mo Beijun stepped to the side after receiving the impact of Zhuzhi-Lang’s kick and instead pointed his ice sword at Shen Qingqiu, his own blue demon mark, a mark of his nobility and a proof of his Mo Clan's bloodline, gleaming eerily.

Mo Beijun sneered coldly, “Try it,” he challenged. “And he’ll die.”

Shen Qingqiu’s lips curled up from beneath the mask, “Amusing,” he said. But it was anything but amusing to Zhuzhi-Lang.

The snake demon’s expression only grew colder, “You deceived us,” he hissed.

“You planned to deceive me,” Mo Beijun defended. They were demons. That was their nature. Mo Beijun wasn’t a demon king for nothing, how could he trust an enemy’s proposal? Especially a demon of Zhuzhi-Lang’s caliber... A snake is not to be trusted.

Zhuzhi-Lang growled, furious. He was a simple demon, if you did something good for him, he would repay you ten folds of it. If you annoyed him, you would be killed. Mo Beijun actually deceived him into a blind chase for days, how could he not be furious? “Drop your sword,” he hissed.

“You step back first,” Mo Beijun said coldly.

“Your human is dying,” Zhuzhi-Lang spat off. Meaning, you’re not in command here.

“Then, I should just kill your human in return,” Mo Beijun said with a cruel smirk on his face.

It was a stand down, which one would show more weakness in this situation. Which one was more attached and which one was more willing to lose.

Shen Qingqiu looked at them both coldly, not moving even an inch from his place as if he wasn’t one of the hostages with a threat to his life and well-being. He wanted to see who would lose. Would Mo Beijun really let Shang Qinghua die after protecting him like that and Zhuzhi-Lang risked Shen Qingqiu’s safety, or would Mo Beijun surrender and Zhuzhi-Lang triumphed?

However, it was clear that Zhuzhi-Lang’s worry for Shen Qingqiu was bigger as he lowered his sword and shifted his posture, glaring at Mo Beijun to make him do the same. Shen Qingqiu sighed, foolish demons are foolish.

In a flash, the two demons were already on their companion, keeping an eye on the other. “My lord, are you okay?” Zhuzhi-Lang asked.

“Fine,” Shen Qingqiu spat out. “What happened?” He asked as he eyed Zhuzhi-Lang.

Zhuzhi-Lang pursed his lips, “We’ve been deceived. Jun-shang just sent me a message that someone already took the essence of formation in the Holy Mausoleum.” That someone was probably Luo Binghe, and if he already taken that, he would most likely have the corpse with him now.

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes turned colder, “What a clever dog,” he glanced at Mo Beijun and Shang Qinghua.

“We need to go,” Zhuzhi-Lang said and then looked at Mo Beijun. “I’ve poisoned him, he’ll die anyway,” the snake demon took pleasure from Mo Beijun’s twisted expression.

“You...” Mo Beijun growled coldly.

Zhuzhi-Lang turned away carelessly, “Let’s go,” he said to Shen Qingqiu and they both took off in a flash, disappearing into the lustrous forest.

“M-my King-“ Shang Qinghua gasped as the frosts spread quicker than before and began to envelop his cheeks and torso. “C-cold...” he whined.

Mo Beijun looked down on him and bent down to pick him up as Shang Qinghua’s body temperature fell rapidly. “Don’t move,” he said.

Shang Qinghua’s tears already rolled down his cheeks but his cheeks were too numb to even feel it. “M-my king-“ white mist formed when he spoke.

“The poison...” Mo Beijun simply said and Shang Qinghua understood. Mo Beijun had to lower Shang Qinghua’s body temperature, borderline freezing him to make sure the poison didn’t spread so fast.

But it hurts... Shang Qinghua sobbed.

Mo Beijun looked at him, and in his delirium, Shang Qinghua felt that he saw Mo Beijun’s eyes soften, “Stop crying,” his tone was as cold as ever.

Shang Qinghua shivered as Mo Beijun brought him close to his chest and flew towards Huan Hua Palace. His sight was a blur and Shang Qinghua began to lose consciousness. The last thing that crossed his mind before darkness consumed him was how regretful he was for ever being a writer and how awful torture was. Maybe... Maybe it was karma biting him back in the ass...

Shang Qinghua passed out in Mo Beijun's arms.

Chapter Text

Sha Hualing oversaw the preparation solemnly when she heard Luo Binghe’s steps behind her.

“Is Mo Bei here yet?” Luo Binghe questioned.

“We still haven’t heard anything from him,” Sha Hualing replied, she couldn’t resist glancing to the lifeless body in Luo Binghe’s arms. Treated so tenderly unlike anyone else. She held herself back to not show any out of bound emotion.

Luo Binghe exhaled harshly, “He never disappointed me like this before,” he said. “With or without him, we’ll proceed.”

“Yes, my lord,” Sha Hualing nodded as she made a sign for her subordinates to rise their guard. She respectfully stepped back as Luo Binghe stepped into the formation.

Luo Binghe inspected the formation for a bit before confirming that it was a perfect one, he kneeled down and set Shen Qingqiu’s body down in the middle of the formation, right on top of a padded platform in the middle of the altar. He delicately and carefully fixed his Shizun’s ruffled clothes and straightened any wrinkle that he saw.

Satisfied, he looked back, “Set the formation, we can’t let any disturbance happen!” Luo Binghe ordered and the protection formation around Huan Hua Palace soon litted up in power. “Hualing, check the formation, we can’t afford a single mistake”

Sha Hualing nodded and went to check the preparation for the four times that day. Luo Binghe himself was not idle and carefully used his good sight to see if there was anything amiss. The lamp-like treasure had helped him transferring the formation over and it looked perfect. The spirit stones and formation flags used to fuel it further were all of high-quality.

His Shizun was also in good condition. He had waited for so long, Luo Binghe finally able to recall him back and made him live a deserving life.

Luo Binghe looked at his Shizun’s peaceful sleeping face and rubbed his finger tenderly on his pale cold cheek. He retracted his hand and lowered his head, no matter what, he still felt itchy in his heart whenever he touched his Shizun. He didn’t know quite know why even though he had helped his Shizun to clean up once to let him bath in a medicinal bath .

Touching his Shizun had always made him feel somewhat stifled, his skin was cold and very tender like thus of maidens. Luo Binghe wondered if that cold skin would be warmer once his Shizun woke up.

“Binghe,” Sha Hualing called out and Luo Binghe blinked out from his trance.

Luo Binghe expressionlessly turned to look at her, “How is it?”

“It’s perfect. Nothing less from it,” Sha Hualing informed and Luo Binghe nodded.

The two flashed out of the formation and Luo Binghe looked intently to the altar, he made a hand signature and made a slashing motion with his two fingers, “Activate,” he whispered and the formation immediately lightened up with blood-red color.

The weak blood-red light slowly garnered power and became brighter as minutes past, Luo Binghe watched it with anxiety and apprehensiveness, ready to do something if anything went wrong.

Cries and shouts resounded, catching everyone off-guard.

BAM!!!

An overwhelming force suddenly swept past, the ground shook violently with it. The space itself looked like it was distorting in submission. The formation’s light died down abruptly and Luo Binghe caught Sha Hualing who lost her balance. His eyes blazed in fury.

“What was that?!” Luo Binghe yelled.

“My Lord!” Shouts resounded and a few cultivators appeared before him, kneeling. “Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had come and attacked!”

“What?!” Luo Binghe furrowed his brows. He had made sure to wrap it up with Liu Qingge! He really should have imprisoned that man, but his Shizun was far more important at the moment. “How about the protective formation?” He demanded. Those formations should be able to hold them off.

“The Sect Head had come himself and used Xuan Su Sword to destroy anything in his way!”

Luo Binghe’s brows jumped, “Yue Qingyuan?” He sneered as he spat out the name. He reluctantly glanced to the altar where Shen Qingqiu’s body was laying peacefully on. His eyes darkened.

“Repair the formation and proceed!” Luo Binghe ordered and unsheathed Xin Mo. His red demon mark flickered furiously. Sha Hualing’s face turned solemn as she stepped behind him.

“Be careful,” Sha Hualing said, even though she knew it was something vain.

“They should be,” Luo Binghe growled. “You stay here and watch the process.”

“Yes,” Sha Hualing nodded.

Yue Qingyuan stood in the middle of debris and ruins of what was originally Huan Hua Palace’s second line of the defensive wall. He flicked a mere glance to his surroundings, only confirming no one died and ignoring their yells.

Yue Qingyuan’s deep eyes stared at the high wall in front of him, it was actually more like palaces bunched together but also meant as a defensive line if anyone were to force a break-through like Yue Qingyuan did now.

Thousands of arrows were released once again, in hope it would actually make a difference, unlike the previous two waves. Yue Qingyuan raised Xuan Su and swung it down again, the result of the slash exploded and distorted the space, destroying almost half of the thing in his way that was also covered with troublesome formations to strengthen it.

Just one more slash.

Yue Qingyuan raised his arm and swung once again, another powerful sword light flashed but a wave of purplish dark wave intercepted it midway.

BOOOM!!!

Swooosh!!!

Cries filled the air but Yue Qingyuan straightened, sternly gazing at the space where the two energy collided, the dust settled and a figure clad in black walked out of the debris, spotlessly clean. The red mark on his forehead shone eerily, flickering like a crimson flame ready to swallow everything in its way.

Luo Binghe glared at his uninvited guest, “I don’t recall ever inviting the Sect Head and Qi-shigu over, but should you want to visit, I’m sure there is a nicer way.”

“So, it’s true...” Yue Qingyuan muttered as he stared at the mark on Luo Binghe’s head.

Qi Qingqi stepped up from behind Yue Qingyuan, glaring defiantly as she raised her chin, “Demon! Return my shixiong right now or suffer the consequence!”

“My apologies,” Luo Binghe’s dark eyes bled to crimson, gleaming ruthlessly with anger. “But Shizun cannot return to Cang Qiong Sect for a while, I’m helping him currently.”

“Nonsense! Does helping him mean you can kidnap his corpse to be used as your plaything!? You even hurt my shidi, your words can go and deceive ghosts!” Qi Qingqi stomped.

Luo Binghe’s eyes darkened at Qi Qingqi’s accusation, “Qi-shigu’s mind is too wild, this disciple only wants the best for his Shizun. As for Liu-shishu, he was in my way, that’s all.”

“You still dare to call him Shizun!?” Qi Qingqi growled.

“Why shouldn’t I? Shizun is Shizun. Nothing could change that,” Luo Binghe frowned.

“What are you doing?” Yue Qingyuan asked.

Luo Binghe glared, “What?” he asked back darkly.

“You’re wasting our time, what are you doing?” Yue Qingyuan asked solemnly. “Where is Qingqiu-shidi’s body?” he asked as he raised Xuan Su. Time. He was very familiar with that. Ranging from how he wasted so much time to train before ruining himself without ever being able to reach Xiao Jiu, to his limited time if he unsheathed Xuan Su. Yue Qingyuan knew someone who tried to waste his time.

Luo Binghe sneered, “I’m doing something a coward like you would never dare to,” he said as he raised Xin Mo.

The two people swung their swords at the same time, whilst Yue Qingyuan released a destructive power, Luo Binghe released a murderous one. The two energy waves collided, resulting in another ear-shattering explosion.

Luo Binghe gritted his teeth, his demon mark shone brighter as he lunged, swinging his sword once again.

Clang!

Yue Qingyuan pushed, Luo Binghe dug his heels to the ground. The two people jumped back to break off the stale and brought up their respective powerful swords up for another exchange.

Clang!

Cracckk-

Qi Qingqi, who was watching their exchange solemnly, narrowed her eyes. Truly a demon. No wonder Liu Qingge was reduced to such a state after fighting with him. She twirled her own sword, gazing coldly at the people who had pitched their arrows to attack her Zhangmen-shixiong when he showed an opening.

Qi Qingqi dashed on, she swung her sword to cripple anyone in her way, taking advantage that they were distracted by the two giants’ fight. She tossed her celestial ribbon to shield her from the arrows they used to force her back, using her step technique she soared to the air and snapped her celestial ribbon like a whip to get rid of several people above the third palace’s line of defense.

She moved so quickly and so swiftly, like flowing water, as graceful as fairies flying under the moonlight, it made people who watched almost couldn’t believe their eyes. Truly the fairy of Xian Shu. But the fairy seemed downright furious.

Luo Binghe, of course, noticed that and a sense of crisis washed over him. Damn it, this is why he needed Mo Beijun around in case something like this happened. In Luo Binghe’s moment of distraction, Yue Qingyuan found an opening and kicked the young man on his ribs before he raised Xuan Su once again and slashed the remaining debris that separated him from the inside of Huan Hua Palace.

“Yue Qingyuan!” Luo Binghe roared and swung towards Yue Qingyuan.

“Milord!!!” Sha Hualing’s voice rang loudly and Luo Binghe turned panicked. Qi Qingqi, damn her-! Sha Hualing couldn’t hold off Qi Qingqi! At least, not yet! She was still way weaker than the peak lady of Xian Shu.

“Zhangmen-shixiong!” Qi Qingqi’s yell caught Yue Qingyuan’s attention.

Something’s wrong.

The two men immediately flashed towards the inner encirclement of the palace, to the place where Luo Binghe laid out the formation.

What Luo Binghe registered next was how Sha Hualing was on the ground, sitting on her own pool of blood, her complexion was pale and ghastly. The next was the altar. The next was- Luo Binghe’s eyes flickered crimson as he raised Xin Mo. Beside him, Yue Qingyuan did the same with Xuan Su.

The two powerful waves had the same goal, that was, the man who was trying to grab Shen Qingqiu’s body but was hindered by several protective formations around the platform. The man looked at the sword waves and sighed, he flickered to the side to avoid it. He flashed beside an unsuspecting guard and snatching his sword, killing him, and then using the sword to parry the upcoming assault from Luo Binghe. His free hand reached out and gathered a ball of demonic energy before Luo Binghe’s chest.

Luo Binghe let out a gasp and tried to retreat but the stranger already flicked the ball of energy towards Luo Binghe and it exploded. The man stepped up and reached for Shen Qingqiu again.

Clang!

The man parried another attack, this one was from Yue Qingyuan.

“You...” Yue Qingyuan’s eyes widened in disbelief when he got a closer look on the stranger. “Tian Langjun...?” He whispered in a mix of disbelief and terror.

Tian Langjun smirked ironically, “Long time no see, young man.” Saying that, Tian Langjun abruptly shoved Yue Qingyuan back. He spun and caught a purple ribbon in between his pointer and middle finger, he clicked his tongue, “Tsk, truly a nuisance.” He pulled the purple ribbon and sent a wisp of demonic qi.

Qi Qingqi gasped and tried to let go of her ribbon but it was too late her right arm was electrocuted. She stepped back, holding her arm that felt numb. There were no other damage, but she couldn’t use her right arm now.

Tian Langjun reached out to take Shen Qingqiu’s immortal body with him.

“Touch him and you’ll die!” Luo Binghe roared and swung his sword towards the demon he didn’t recognize.

Tian Langjun easily parried it, glancing at the boy emotionlessly, “Come back after a thousand years, boy.”

Zap!

Luo Binghe got pushed a dozen steps back. Coughing out a mouthful of blood.

Yue Qingyuan swung after Luo Binghe was pushed back, preventing Tian Langjun from taking Shen Qingqiu’s body again. His pace speed up and each swing he managed to force Tian Langjun to step back.

Luo Binghe sent a wave of murderous demonic qi to catch the demon off guard.

Whoosh!

BANG!!!

Everyone’s breath hitched as the smoke and dust hindered their sight, as the dust settled, Tian Langjun slowly stepped up. His robe fluttered elegantly even with some small tatters here and there. He rubbed his cheek to wipe off a smudge of blood from a thin cut, he glanced at it and smirked, “It’s really hard to fight two of you to take that.”

Luo Binghe growled, “Who the hell are you!?” he coughed out.

Yue Qingyuan helped Qi Qingqi straighten up and looked at her condition, “Are you alright, shimei?” he asked.

“I’m fine, but I can’t move my right arm Zhangmen-shixiong,” Qi Qingqi said seriously. “Who is that man?”

Yue Qingyuan’s face turned solemn, “He’s-“ He was interrupted by a growl.

“And what do you want with Shizun?” Luo Binghe demanded darkly, brandishing Xin Mo.

“Taking him away, of course,” Tian Langjun carelessly said. “It’s gonna be a hassle if you resurrect him.”

Luo Binghe shook, “Why?” He demanded. He felt he was so close. So close to the mystery of his Shizun’s quick and swift death in the hand of a mysterious man.

Tian Langjun smiled, “Not your problem,” he said and lunged once again. This time, Luo Binghe and Yue Qingyuan worked together and dashed forward to prevent Tian Langjun advancing further. Tian Langjun swiftly redirected Xuan Su elsewhere and grabbed Xin Mo by the blade, ignoring how it dug through his skin he kicked Luo Binghe aside.

Tian Langjun flicked his blood and made a hand seal, the formations around the platform swiftly self-destructed under the force of his Heavenly Demon’s blood. Luo Binghe spun and sent Xin Mo off, the blade whistled through and almost slashed off Tian Langjun’s arm. Tian Langjun was expressionless as he snatched his hand back before the blade could do any severe injury.

Clang!

The last formation was broken and several demons coughed out blood because they used their inner energy to hold them up. Tian Langjun smirked as he reached, he managed to touch Shen Qingqiu’s sleeve before Yue Qingyuan attacked his side.

Tian Langjun stepped aside and jumped back easily, not withstanding even a bit of damage from the close contact with the terrifying sword. He smiled instead, “Your sword, I just realized it’s very unique. An Immortal one, but cursed...?” He tilted his head curiously and Yue Qingyuan’s face darkened. “No, no, not cursed,” Tian Langjun shook his head.

Yue Qingyuan ignored him in favor to attack the demon overlord. This time, his attack grazed Tian Langjun’s other cheek. Wiping off the blood again, Tian Langjun smiled ironically.

Luo Binghe leaped forward and put all his power into Xin Mo as he swung, a terrifying dark wave instantly swept over and Tian Langjun flicked his sleeves.

Whoooosh-

BANG!!!

Luo Binghe’s attack destroyed anything in its path, even the originally undamaged palaces in its way. When the dust settled, there was a crimson cocoon around Tian Langjun, it slowly opened to reveal him with bloodied arm, expressionless. “Not bad,” he commented blandly.

“What do you want with my shidi’s body?” Yue Qingyuan asked coldly. “What’s your connection with him?” Why? How? How did Shen Qingqiu even get any connection to Tian Langjun of all people?

“As I said, it’s not your problem,” Tian Langjun shrugged. “He’s dead, anyway. Why do you care?”

Luo Binghe growled, “My Shizun is not dead!”

“He is, and I intend to keep it that way,” Tian Langjun sneered ironically.

Srakk-

A blur of shadow suddenly bolted out of the shadow. Yue Qingyuan reacted but Tian Langjun swiftly on him, swinging a sword made of blood.

The fingertips of the newcomer already grazed Shen Qingqiu’s chest but Luo Binghe sent Xin Mo swiftly attacked the stranger. Zhuzhi-Lang twisted himself out of the way mid-air and landed beside the platform, he still reached to grab Shen Qingqiu’s body but Luo Binghe grabbed his wrist before he could touch his Shizun.

Luo Binghe yanked the intruder away and tossed him over his shoulder, however, Zhuzhi-Lang twisted again mid-air and landed swiftly on his feet, not too far away. Luo Binghe summoned Xin Mo to his side and Zhuzhi-Lang also took out his weapon.

“You want to take Shizun away too?” Luo Binghe growled furiously as his demon mark shone brighter, his eyes were the colour of crimson blood to match his mark.

Zhuzhi-Lang frowned, his demon mark also flickered up. Luo Binghe’s eyes widened, but soon, his face darkened.

Luo Binghe took a step back, the closer he was to the platform where his Shizun was, the safer he felt. He wouldn’t let anyone reach him. No... Over his dead body-

Zhuzhi-Lang lunged.

The two immediately fell into their own rhythm of fight. As they were both busy, the fight between Tian Langjun and Yue Qingyuan did not go smoothly at all, Yue Qingyuan was slowly pressured by the demon overlord who looked like he was taunting him at the same time, only giving him superficial wounds.

Tian Langjun almost tripped and looked down to see his one of his legs was wrapped by a ribbon. He narrowly dodged a sword to the head, he spun on his heel and pushed Qi Qingqi towards Yue Qingyuan. The peak lady stumbled but not without sending her immortal sword to attack Tian Langjun. The demon overlord tilted his head and the sword whistled through, once again, his cheek was grazed but, as always, it healed almost instantly.

Yue Qingyuan caught Qi Qingqi with one hand and gently nudged her to straighten up, she recalled her sword back and held it with her left hand. The numbness on her right arm still wouldn’t go away, she was still unable to fight to her full capability. Yue Qingyuan attacked again.

As everyone was busy fighting each other, Shen Qingqiu finally leaped off of the shadow. His goal was obvious, that accursed immortal body that once hosted his soul. His left hand reached as his right hand prepared to pull out his sword.

Luo Binghe, whose half attention was on his Shizun’s body, immediately noticed him. “No! Hualing!“ He yelled out to the demon girl who was pale because of blood loss and was not in a condition to fight.

However, Sha Hualing still grabbed her whip and snapped it towards the intruder. Shen Qingqiu caught the whip with his hand and sent a vast amount of destructive qi through it. The whip exploded and Sha Hualing cried out as she fell back.

Done with her, Shen Qingqiu unsheathed his sword, halfway through, he stopped and squinted his eyes.

Swoosh

Shen Qingqiu swiftly created a wall of qi around him as frost enveloped him. The wall of qi exploded and he fell to the ground, rolling over and recovering. He gazed coldly to Mo Beijun whose shoulder smoked with ice vapor. Mo Beijun gazed back, just as cold if not colder. He was carrying Shang Qinghua in his arm.

“Mo Bei!” Luo Binghe exclaimed, both relieved and angry. “Where have you been?!” he hollered.

“Pardon me, my lord,” Mo Beijun said gravely. “I’ve been in a solitary mission to watch over the enemies.”

Luo Binghe blinked, “What enemies?” he growled.

“Them,” Mo Beijun glared at Zhuzhi-Lang and Shen Qingqiu. “My lord, that man is the one who killed Shen Qingqiu,” he looked at Zhuzhi-Lang dead in the eyes and Luo Binghe gazed at Zhuzhi-Lang with wide eyes.

Luo Binghe’s gaze towards Zhuzhi-Lang turned from anger and resentment to fury and extreme hatred. Murderous intent flared up, wilder than any of them had seen from Luo Binghe before. “You... How fucking dare you-!!!” he hollered in fury. The power behind his attack grew stronger by three times, catching Zhuzhi-Lang off guard.

Mo Beijun flashed beside Sha Hualing who was nursing her inner injury. Without prompting, Mo Beijun shoved the unconscious Shang Qinghua into Sha Hualing’s slender arms.

Sha Hualing looked up, blood trailing down from the corner of her lips, incredulity and shock were clear on her youthful seductive face.

“Take him to the safety,” Mo Beijun ordered before his sword materialized eerily in his hand. “I’ll take care of the things here,” he gazed coldly at Shen Qingqiu. His grudge was with the snake bastard, but since Luo Binghe already marked him, Mo Beijun would take care of the bastard’s human pet instead.

Sha Hualing gulped, “Alright,” she nodded and hoisted Shang Qinghua in her arms. Despite looking skinny and weak, she was still a demon, she easily carried Shang Qinghua and ran off from the battlefield.

“Zhi-Lang! Quickly snatch it!” Tian Langjun yelled out. He was holding off the people of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect as much as he could without severely hurting them, if Shen Qingqiu saw him injuring them, he might raise hell on him later. That wasn’t something Tian Langjun wanted to face right now.

“Over my dead body,” Luo Binghe snarled and Zhuzhi-Lang frowned tightly as the stalemate between them both were broken by Luo Binghe who somehow overpowered Zhuzhi-Lang and pushed him half-a-step back.

Prang!

Zhuzhi-Lang’s attention was diverted as he glanced to the fight between Shen Qingqiu and Mo Beijun, the ice demon had managed to break Shen Qingqiu’s sword. Luo Binghe took that opening and intended to stab the murderer of his Shizun.

On another side, Shen Qingqiu managed to avoid Mo Beijun’s condensed energy sword and snorted coldly. He held out his hand and condensed his own endless qi, under Mo Beijun’s surprised eyes, Shen Qingqiu had made his own condensed energy sword with his vast amount of qi. He was someone who could make a spiritual manifestation and injected it to meager things since young, his control over his qi was peerless, condensing something out of it was easy as long as he had enough.

The battlefield soon got busier and livelier, in the middle all of it was Shen Qingqiu’s body, laying serenely on the platform as the prize to whoever could dominate the battle.

Having rid of Yue Qingyuan and Qi Qingqi for a bit (by nudging them gently to the side), Tian Langjun sent a condensed ball of demonic qi towards Mo Beijun who was pushing Shen Qingqiu to his limit. Mo Beijun was hit from behind but he quickly recovered, frost falling off his body having sustained most damage of the attack.

“Don’t get in the way,” Tian Langjun said as he raised his hand. The demon overlord quickly took over three enemies within the field.

Shen Jiu straightened, brushing off the blood on his hands, in that split second Mo Beijun was distracted by Tian Langjun, he instantly dashed off to the platform.

Mo Beijun snapped off in alarm and tried to use his power to freeze his opponent on spot but Tian Langjun sent a blood eagle his way.

Shen Qingqiu jumped towards the altar, condensed qi sword in his hand. He twirled the sword in his hand and stabbed it to the corpse. Tian Langjun and Zhuzhi-Lang faltered in disbelief.

Luo Binghe kicked Zhuzhi-Lang away, his eyes were wide when he saw the pure qi sword disappeared into his Shizun’s dead body.

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes shifted and he was eyes to eyes with Luo Binghe who suddenly flashed before him. before Shen Qingqiu could do further damage, Luo Binghe had slashed him away. The former peak lord was flung away as blood splattered.

“My lord!” Zhuzhi-Lang yelled out, horrified. He flashed over and caught Shen Qingqiu before he fell.

Shen Qingqiu coughed out a mouthful of blood to his mask.

Zhuuung-

Zhuzhi-Lang pulled Shen Qingqiu behind him and parried the dark sword wave. He glanced at Shen Qingqiu, “Are you okay?” he asked in concern.

“Shizun!” Luo Binghe fell as he looked at his Shizun’s condition in horror, he gathered Shen Qingqiu’s bloodied corpse in his hand. The dead body sustained a damage that should kill him if he was alive, it was a horrifying sight to see. “YOU!” Luo Binghe glared murderously.

“My lord,” Mo Beijun called out.

However, both of them were cut off by a muffled laughter came from Tian Langjun. “You really chose to shoot yourself in the leg and ran on hands,” he shook his head in amusement towards Shen Qingqiu who glared at him.

The world seemed to darken as Luo Binghe raised Xin Mo in the air, not moving an inch from his spot holding his Shizun’s dead body with one arm, he slashed towards Zhuzhi-Lang and Shen Qingqiu. Each slash left an afterimage, in his fury, Luo Binghe sent dozens of sword waves to kill off his Shizun’s murderers.

Zhuzhi-Lang raised his own sword and parried each slash, he was clearly overwhelmed because he had to stand still to not let Shen Qingqiu getting hurt. Tian Langjun soon helped him and stood before them both, waving off all the sword waves with his hand which immediately bled profusely.

“Jun-shang-“

“Prepare to bring him out, Zhuzhi-Lang,” Tian Langjun looked behind him and ordered.

Luo Binghe stopped and glared murderously.

“Who are you!? What’s your problem with Shizun!?!” Luo Binghe roared furiously. His whole body was shaking, his eyes were so red that no one would be surprised if it suddenly shed blood rather than tears.

Tian Langjun smiled leisurely, “It’s complicated. Him being in your hands will only halt my plan,” he said.

“What’s my shidi’s problem with a demon like you?” Yue Qingyuan said, his sword had already been sheathed back. “What could my shidi possibly did to warrant Tian Langjun himself to wish his death and the demon general himself to kill him off?!” Yue Qingyuan demanded.

Luo Binghe looked at Yue Qingyuan in shock. Mo Beijun’s eyes darkened, he had suspected it at first, but unexpectedly he was right...

Tian Langjun’s smile turned ironic, “Aside for what the four Great Sects had done to me?” he said mockingly.

Yue Qingyuan almost flinched but he glared defiantly, “He had nothing to do with it.” his tone darkened, “My shidi had nothing to do with it! The ones who trapped and imprisoned you were from the former generation. If you want to kill someone, it should have been me who was there in the first place!!! He was innocent!” Yue Qingyuan yelled desperately.

Tian Langjun looked at Yue Qingyuan impassively, “I don’t care.”

Yue Qingyuan’s heart turned cold. It was just a short sentence but Tian Langjun’s apathy horrified him.

“That’s all?” Luo Binghe growled. “You killed my innocent Shizun just because of that!? Just because of your grudge against those stupid people from the former generation!? You- you motherfucker!!!”

Tian Langjun laughed, loud and sounding almost insane. “When you’re sealed beneath a mountain for almost two decades, you won’t care who it is that should bear your grudge,” he smiled diabolically. “Innocent? He shouldn’t have been a peak lord from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, then. No one is innocent from the four Great Sects as far as I’m concerned.”

Luo Binghe’s heart sank. He couldn’t believe this demon didn’t care who was innocent or not, everyone suffered his grudge nonetheless. Even his innocent Shizun...

Tian Langjun opened his aura, blasting the surrounding with his powerful demonic qi and he laughed when he felt some cultivators at the distance flared in alarm when they felt his concentrated demonic power.

“This is only the start,” his lips curled up, his voice was even but it resounded in the wide range, scarying every cultivator that heard it. “Wait for the main show,” he looked at Luo Binghe and his eyes narrowed. “The Four Great Sects would be nothing but names once I, Tian Langjun, have my revenge!!!” Tian Langjun declared out loud.

His domineering voice travelled a great distance away, resounding overbearingly through the domain and could be heard clearly by the cultivators especially those from the other Four Great Sects.

Tian Langjun lowered his eyes to gaze at Luo Binghe, his eyes held no emotion when he faced the similar face of his former lover, “Hear me out, boy. If you keep hiding that old scum, I wouldn’t go easy on you either.”

Luo Binghe knew what he meant and he gritted his teeth.

Tian Langjun and his two people swiftly disappeared with a burst of blood vapor. Leaving nothing but the thick metallic scent and grieving people.

Luo Binghe was so angry and he had nowhere to vent it on, however, when he looked at his Shizun’s body tragic condition, he lost all the fury, replaced with frustration and desperation. “Shizun...” Luo Binghe whimpered and fell on his knees, hugging the bloodied corpse, grieving.

He was so close.

He thought he would soon have his Shizun back again, alive and free again. This time, Luo Binghe would protect him as a repayment for all of his Shizun’s kindness in his youth.

Yue Qingyuan was not fairing any better, his shoulders shook. The fury in his heart was not directed at anyone but himself.

His fault...

Yue Qingyuan was the one in that battle, he was the one assisting his Shifu, he was the one helping in that battle. Yet... The one who was killed in a cold blood... It was someone he failed from time to time again.

If Yue Qingyuan did not insist to bring him to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, would Shen Jiu’s end be this tragic...? In the end, he always bring endless grievance to that innocent man...

Qi Qingqi reluctantly placed her left hand on Yue Qingyuan’s shoulder, “... Zhangmen-shixiong...?” She softly called out and snapped Yue Qingyuan out of his self-deprecating reverie.

“I- I’m fine, shimei...” Yue Qingyuan forced out a smile but to Qi Qingqi, he only looked like he was trying not to cry.

Qi Qingqi’s eyes dropped, although she was never close with Shen Qingqiu, they were still apprentice brother and sister. And she had seen Shen Qingqiu’s past, terrifying and painful past. That man... never truly had any happy moment in his life except maybe for the time he was out of the Sect, being carefree and leisurely.

“Zhangmen-shixiong! Qi-shijie!”

The two peak lords perked up and spun around to see Mu Qingfang and Liu Qingge running towards them both after dropping off from their flying swords.

“Mu-shidi?” Qi Qingqi muttered.

“I heard the declaration just now,” Mu Qingfang started in concern. “Tian Langjun... has been freed?”

Yue Qingyuan nodded grimly, “He is. I don’t know how, but that’s certainly him.”

“Why are you here?” Qi Qingqi asked, looking pointedly to the injured Liu Qingge who wouldn’t take his eyes off of Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu’s corpse.

Mu Qingfang turned exasperated, “Liu-shixiong escaped,” he gestured. “I was just catching up to him and about to forcefully drag him back when we heard that.”

Yue Qingyuan nodded, “Sooner or later, the people from other sects would come here and asked questions. We might need to do an emergency meeting,” he said softly. “But first...” he looked at Luo Binghe and the corpse of his own shidi.

Liu Qingge clenched his hands so tightly it turned white, he glared at the grieving Luo Binghe. “Demon! Return Shen Qingqiu right now!” He yelled out but Yue Qingyuan quickly pacified him.

Pushing Liu Qingge to the back, Yue Qingyuan gazed at Luo Binghe who was glaring their way, “Luo Binghe, please return Qingqiu-shidi’s body to us. The war is brewing, we have to give him a proper burial.” They couldn’t fight right not. They couldn’t afford to. “We shouldn’t fight amongst ourselves.”

“Zhangmen-shixiong,” Qi Qingqi cut off. “That bastard is also a demon! He’s not Tian Langjun’s target, he might side with him!”

Luo Binghe growled, “I’d rather die than siding with my Shizun’s murderer!”

“Then, return the body!” Liu Qingge snapped.

“No!” Luo Binghe stubbornly shouted back. “I’ll keep him. I’ll preserve him... It’s not fair...” he whimpered and hugged the body tighter.

“Luo Binghe, my shixiong is already dead. What else are you putting him through? Let him rest,” Mu Qingfang stepped up.

“No! He’ll wake up!” Luo Binghe snarled. “Shizun will wake up. I’ll just... have to repair his body back, yeah... After that, we’ll try again...” He murmured incoherently before something hit him. “Mu-shishu... Mu-shishu, that’s right! Mu-shishu! You’re a miracle worker, right? You’re the best healer, right? Help him... please, help him!” Luo Binghe begged.

Mu Qingfang’s brows jumped in surprise. “Help you with what? Luo Binghe, wake up. He’s gone. Your shizun is gone.”

“He’s not-!” Luo Binghe choked out. “He’s just resting, yeah? He’s... He will wake up. I promise you, I can bring him back, but you have to help me.”

Mu Qingfang shook his head, he looked at Shen Qingqiu’s body and blinked rapidly when he saw the new wounds. Added with Shen Qingqiu’s convincing complexion and perfect condition disregarding the wounds, he became horrified, “What do you mean...?” he asked. ”Bring him back? Luo Binghe, what are you trying to do???”

“He’s insane,” Liu Qingge growled and brandished his sword.

“Stop,” Yue Qingyuan held him back and stared at Luo Binghe sympathetically. “Luo Binghe, your Shizun is long gone. You shouldn’t disturb the dead, it’s impossible.”

“Shut up!” Luo Binghe yelled. “It’s possible! My Shizun is still here! I would resurrect him!!!”

His declaration sent a ripple to the hearts of the present peak lords.

Yue Qingyuan was devastated seeing Luo Binghe this way. He recalled that innocent boy who seemed to never ran out of praises for Shen Qingqiu and gazed back at Luo Binghe now, desperate and grieving. “Luo Binghe, I know you really admire your Shizun. But you need to let go...” he said softly in sympathy

Luo Binghe laughed coldly, “Just like how you easily let him go?” he glared. “I’m not you, Yue Qingyuan! I’m not someone who would throw people away just because they were not useful for me anymore! I’m not as despicable as that! Don’t compare me with the likes of you, Yue Qingyuan!!!”

Luo Binghe’s words hit where it hurt the most, Yue Qingyuan’s eyes widened and his expression faltered, devastated and pained.

“What right do you have to say that?!” Qi Qingqi yelled out.

Luo Binghe scowled, “I respect all of you, but not him.”

Mu Qingfang stepped up, “You don’t know the whole thing.”

“I know enough! I know enough thing to know I hate him!” Luo Binghe shouted.

“Luo Binghe...” Yue Qingyuan murmured and Luo Binghe glared at him.

“You betrayed him! You took him for granted! He sacrificed everything! His life! His freedom! For what? For you to betray his faith and made him suffer a fate worse than an instant death!!! Had it not because of my Shizun’s sacrifice, can you be so lofty and arrogant in that seat, Yue Qingyuan!? Can you still be a Sect Head of Cang Qiong Sect without my Shizun?!!” Luo Binghe embraced Shen Qingqiu closer, the suffocating feeling of sympathy and grief surfaced again as his eyes reddened. He was like a child, holding onto his last lifeline.

“Even his death, isn’t it also because of you? You’re the one who has a grudge with Tian Langjun, why is it my Shizun that has to die?” Luo Binghe sobbed.

Yue Qingyuan looked away, his fists balled up tightly. His eyes reddened. The worst thing was not Luo Binghe’s accusation, but how Yue Qingyuan couldn’t find it in him that think Luo Binghe was wrong. Luo Binghe was not wrong... He was right...

“Had it not because of my Shizun’s sacrifice, you would have died under that horse or be enslaved. He suffered in your place but you threw him away! You don’t deserve him!” Luo Binghe continued.

“Enough!” Liu Qingge saw how much Luo Binghe’s scorn visibly hurt Yue Qingyuan. “That has nothing to do with this. Return him and let him be properly buried!” He demanded.

Luo Binghe gritted his teeth, “Liu-shishu, have you forgotten you died once too? Who helped you back then? It’s my Shizun! If my Shizun didn’t bring Da Zhu, we would all assume you were dead and would just bury you! He saved you from the fate being buried when you still have your chance at such a young age and a bright future. Are you going to let him be buried?! Are you going to give up on him!?” he demanded.

Liu Qingge was speechless from the boy’s comeback, he clenched his hands tightly. However, he quickly loosened it up soon. He couldn’t find anything to counter Luo Binghe’s argument.

Luo Binghe then gazed at Mu Qingfang deeply, “Mu-shishu, please... Please, this shizi begs you. Help me restore Shizun back to the perfect condition. I want him back, please... I want to pay him for all of his graces. Mu-shishu, don’t let him end just like this...” he cried. “He just needed a chance.”

That struck the peak lords and they all lowered their heads, it struck them so deeply because they knew. They knew, their late martial brother indeed... lost so many chances. His youth and peak age to start cultivating was wasted in years of torment.

His talent was ruined by his scum of rogue master. If... If Shen Qingqiu had a good chance, given a good start, they wouldn’t doubt that he would be amongst the top cultivator, stronger than what he had reached by his hard work, way stronger than he was in his peak strength.

In the end, Mu Qingfang surrendered first. He had seen the memory of Shen Qingqiu. He knew how much Shen Qingqiu had suffered. How his so-called wayward and cold Shixiong was actually someone who had experienced one of the worst things in the world and simply just wanted to relax.

Mu Qingfang remembered back when they were still disciples, Shen Qingqiu used to come to Qian Cao peak to ask for medicinal cream to make old scars disappear. He never thought of anything wrong about it back then. He remembered how stiff and tired Shen Qingqiu used to look, resentful and tense, before he began to venture out of the sect more.

Mu Qingfang couldn’t bear it. His Shixiong just wanted to rest after experiencing so much in his youth where he shouldn’t know how cruel the world could be. His Shixiong just wanted to lean back and relax, to live carefreely without oppression.

“Alright...” My Qingfang finally agreed, much to the others’ surprise.

Luo Binghe's breath hitched, “Thank you... Thank you, thank you, Mu-shishu, thank-“

“But,” Mu Qingfang squinted his eyes. “If this method harmed Shen-shixiong in any way, should this resurrection would only hurt Shen-shixiong’s soul, I will bring you down even if it kills me,” he swore.

Luo Binghe nodded, “It wouldn’t... I promise. I know what I’m doing.”

“Then, promise me,” Mu Qingfang stated. “If I helped you to restore Shen-shixiong’s body back, and then we go with this resurrection procedure, promise me that we’ll try it out only once. If the first time failed, you have to peacefully hand back Shen-shixiong’s body to Cang Qiong for proper burial.”

Luo Binghe swallowed, “I promise.”

The vow was made.

Since then on, Mu Qingfang assisted Luo Binghe in repairing Shen Qingqiu’s body. He even stayed in Huan Hua Palace for his new mission, day and night was spent to create medicines and repairing Shen Qingqiu’s broken cells and qi passages.

Days within the palace, Mu Qingfang had already memorized the place. He just finished with his duty and was about to return to his room when he stopped and looked from the corner of his eyes, “What do you want?” he asked indifferently.

Mo Beijun stepped out from the shadow, nodding curtly to the peak lord, “I have a patient for you.”

Mu Qingfang turned his head away, “My only patient in this place is my shixiong.”

“He’s your shixiong too.”

Mu Qingfang furrowed his brows before they loosened, “Oh,” he said disinterestedly. “Shang Qinghua??” he guessed. Mo Beijun’s silence confirmed the answer and Mu Qingfang shook his head, “He’s outside of my jurisdiction. Sorry.”

“We’re allies,” Mo Beijun furrowed his brows.

“Up till Shen-shixiong either wake up or be buried. Besides, Shang Qinghua was the reason of that breach in the Immortal Alliance Conference, didn’t he?” Mu Qingfang said quietly, sounding disappointed. “So many disciples died that day, you’re in it too,” he glanced coldly at Mo Beijun.

Mo Beijun narrowed his eyes slightly, “He’s poisoned for the one you’re trying to repair.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“He was the one who informed me about Shen Qingqiu’s killer,” Mo Beijun said. “We’re on the edge of war, you have to remember that.”

Mu Qingfang secretly gnashed his teeth, he threw a cold stare at Mo Beijun before he closed his eyes and sighed, surrendering. In the end, he had always been the most soft-hearted amongst the peak lords. “Take me to him before I changed my mind.”

When Shang Qinghua regained his consciousness after days, he felt like he just been dropped off of a plane and hit by a truck before rolling down a hill, got stepped over by a bull and then dumped into a frozen lake. It fucking hurt like a fucking bitch. It was fucking cold.

He shivered violently, he opened his mouth but no sounds came out.

“He’s waking up...”

Fuck. Fuck. It fucking hurts.

“Keep him.... frozen like that.”

What the fuck? It’s cold.

“... Antidote... I’ll-...”

Who was that? Annoying, ah. Don’t you see this father is sick? Shut the hell up!

[Welcome back host. Congratulations on getting over a deadly tribulation to advance the plot!]

[Level up notice! C-grade > B grade]

[B+ grade. Host has been upgraded from normal cannon fodder to a good and loyal subordinate who would absolutely get his own happy ending!

Status has been upgraded. “A hopeless and cowardly peak lord” to “A man who actually has some shred of loyalty in his bone, would not side with people who killed his former martial brother and braved through tortures.” Congratulations!

Account: Shang Qinghua

Grade: B

Special Authority: None.]

[Thank you for your hard work!]

Shang Qinghua almost puked out blood when he saw the notice. He didn’t need an upgrade for fuck sake! He almost died! He needed a special package, ah!

“Ah...” Shang Qinghua whimpered.

Mu Qingfang checked him once again and stepped back, flicking a glance to Shang Qinghua who caught his eyes and instantly terrified in his mind.

‘What the fuck!? What is Mu Qingfang doing here? Am I caught by Cang Qiong now? I’m dead.’ Shang Qinghua sobbed inwardly.

But when Shang Qinghua saw Mo Beijun beside Mu Qingfang, he became even more afraid!

Damn it, he hated being a writer. Not only he only gained barely end meet from it in his previous life, he even had to suffer through it for years. He would just be an accountant in the next life. Easy, boring job and no deadly troubles!

“I’ll leave him for the meanwhile, all you have to do is...” Mu Qingfang said to Mo Beijun and the ice demon nodded. The both of them walked out of the room, speaking hushedly as Mu Qingfang told Mo Beijun about the poison, leaving the patient alone inside the room.

[Host, the system detected a deadly poison within your body. Without Grade A character’s protection like Mo Beijun’s, you would have died in approximately six hours with a melting corpse.]

FUCK OFF!!!

Shang Qinghua’s face twisted .

Shang Qinghua wanted to shake his head but he was entirely frozen, he then remembered the injury around his throat and his blood ran cold. Aiya, it was already a blessing to have his head, ah. Truly a blessing. He wouldn’t take his head for granted again, honest.

[Currently. There is no antidote within a thousand li range. The only one who could possibly make an antidote is the peak lord of Qian Cao. Possibility of succeeding within a few days, 50%]

[Do you want to purchase antidote within the system’s shop?]

‘Wait, there’s the antidote within the shop? Why didn’t you tell me?!’ Finally something useful from the system! ‘I want! I want!’

[All-Poison Antidote. Price-

Shang Qinghua almost fainted when he saw the price. Fuck! Weren’t that half of his points that he had painstakingly saved up?! So much!? Why don’t you go rob a bank, system!?

If Shang Qinghua could, he would have cursed furiously and reported the system as he kept spouting out profanities. Truly this no-good system- fucking robber!

Shang Qinghua sobbed. All of the stress after being tortured, almost killed, frozen, and the price of the antidote finally caught up with him. He whimpered as his eyes felt hot and tears rolled down his cold cheek, it quickly turned into crystal ice, which said a lot about Shang Qinghua’s current body’s temperature.

As Shang Qinghua was crying in his wake, cannot asleep and cannot move, he just continued crying there, lamenting his fate... Until Mo Beijun came and stared him down coldly. Shang Qinghua choked back.

“M-My King...” Shang Qinghua stuttered out a whisper, fearful. He wanted to kneel down and kissed Mo Beijun’s foot for giving his small person a chance and didn’t just let him be a disposable pawn!

He recalled his frivolous attitude back then as a hostage. He wanted to slap himself! He actually demanded Mo Beijun to not fight to save his life! he actually begged Mo Beijun to be Zhuzhi-Lang’s tour-guide just for his own safety! He actually made Mo Beijun looked like a joke in front of another high-tier demon! He wanted to apologize! No, no, no- He wanted to kowtow and begged for his mercy!

Mo Beijun looked at him coldly, his brows were furrowed, making the beautiful blue royal mark on his forehead creased sternly. Shang Qinghua would die after this. He should beg for mercy now.

Shang Qinghua furrowed his brows, tears still streaming from his eyes, he opened his mouth, “It hurts...” Was the only thing that came out of his mouth in a weak whisper. No matter how much he wished he could eloquently begging for Mo Beijun’s mercy then, only those words left his mouth. His throat felt like it was being severed by a sword and put on fire.

His head almost left his body had Mo Beijun stepped in late. He would have died out of bloodloss had Mo Beijun didn’t freeze him in time. The poison felt like eating him from inside. It hurts... bloody hurts...

“It hurts...” Shang Qinghua choked back a sob, tears streamed down his face endlessly as he closed his eyes. He shouldn’t be crying. It only made his throat burned and his throat was frozen for his own good. He guessed Mo Beijun had managed to heal the physical wound but it was still very fragile.

Mo Beijun saw him like this and blankly stared. He raised his hand and put it on Shang Qinghua’s forehead, Shang Qinghua immediately felt cold sweats began to form in his body, he was scared... Scared for his life and Mo Beijun’s fragile patience. But then he felt a cooling feeling on his forehead.

“Sleep,” Mo Beijun’s voice was as monotone as always but Shang Qinghua found it relaxing. Shang Qinghua slowly lost consciousness under Mo Beijun’s spell and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Before his sight turned dark, Shang Qinghua stared at Mo Beijun’s expressionless face, he relaxed.

‘System. Buy me that antidote.’ Shang Qinghua welcomed the darkness.

Tian Langjun’s lips quirked up in sadistic amusement when he heard the reports from his demon spies from the human world, “I see, you may go,” he said as he sat back and concentrated back to play his erhu.

The demon spy hesitated, he looked at Tian Langjun who seemed unconcerned and then to the general who was brewing a pot of tea to the side, they looked completely domestic, completely unbothered with the brewing war atmosphere.

“J-Jun-shang, if you don’t mind this lowly one asking, w-when are we going to launch our attack?” The demon said nervously. “Pardon this lowly one, but... Isn’t it better to attack them as soon as possible?”

“Why would it be?” Tian Langjun raised his brows and the demon quickly kowtowed in apologies.

“Th-then?” Not only the demon spy, but several other demons there were also confused.

Tian Langjun tested out his erhu for a bit before saying, “Let them gather their strength and ally with each other. They took me down united, I’ll take them down united. It doesn’t matter, ants remain ants even if they bunched up together.” He shrugged.

The lesser demons looked at each other hesitantly, not truly understanding their eccentric leader.

Tian Langjun smiled lightly, “I want them to see, no matter how much they prepared, they would still fall under my power. I’m already paying attention to their measly cheating formations of Zhao Hua Temple.Tian Yi Overlook is not a problem. Huan Hua Palace, although it didn’t have its scumbag of a palace master and currently occupied by demons, I still want the people from there dead.” Not to mention, he still wanted to get that old scum in his hand for torture.

Hmm? Also, didn’t that scum have a daughter...?

Tian Langjun’s smile steadily got darker as he devised a plan how to torture Old Palace Master by killing his darling daughter in front of him later on. He wanted to see devastation, grief, and regret on that disgusting face.

“Th-then, what about Cang Qiong Mountain Sect?” One demon asked, they were ordered to not specifically attack any Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s disciple before or else, the consequence would be very hard. They wondered if the rule still applied in the war.

“Cang Qiong Mountain Sect? That is fine, they only added in power, I’m not really concerned. After all, their tactician and brain in battle is dead,” Tian Langjun smiled in amusement. “Without a tactician, Cang Qiong might still be very strong but their efficiency and power decrease by a lot. I would know.”

“Is that why you...” A demon trailed off, not daring to say anything further.

Tian Langjun smiled, “Yes.”

Without a tactician, it would be easy to nudge Cang Qiong Mountain Sect aside as per his promises.

“Shut the fuck up with that shitty erhu sounds already! Why don’t you stick with flute!?” Came a very irritated voice from the side hall.

Tian Langjun beamed as he instead played it harder and rougher.

“Tian Langjun- fuck!”

“Haha,” Tian Langjun chuckled. “For Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, hmm, they’re easy, you all should just relax, right?” he looked at the side hall. After all, he had their tactician. Whatever they might do, their tactician knew better.

Shen Qingqiu pushed aside the curtain and glared at Tian Langjun before looking at the lesser demons indifferently, “I’ll take care of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, no one touch them except for the demons assigned to me later.”

Shen Qingqiu would help them just for the sake to cripple Cang Qiong Mountain Sect early from the battle and nudge them to the side with minimal-to-non casualties aside for slight injuries. After all, although Tian Langjun and Zhuzhi-Lang couldn’t hurt them, Shen Qingqiu never said he himself couldn’t. In this case, the only one who was allowed to hurt Cang Qiong was Shen Qingqiu and Shen Qingqiu only.

[Host, the comments had been blocked for a long time. We have exceeded the block capacity. Read now?]

Shang Qinghua was immediately greeted by system’s notification the moment he opened his eyes. He couldn’t move his body, he could only move his eyes and facial expression. He blanked.

He couldn’t see Mo Beijun anywhere nor anyone at all. He closed his eyes and sighed, “Open it,” he murmured and opened his eyes. He immediately regretted his decision as his sight burst with words that couldn’t even see anything aside for words.

“Deactivate barrage comments,” Shang Qinghua hissed. He thought he had blocked that thing? He hated having barrage comments, it hurt his eyes.

Shang Qinghua blinked and squinted to adjust with the light before his eyes and read the comments to see how much he missed.

[User Peerless Cucumber: Good God! TIAN LANGJUN!!! Airplane, I kneeled down in worship!]

[User Lamenting My Fate As Shizun’s Widow: NOOOOOOOO!!! Fuck Tian Langjun! My husband was just about to wake up! I missed my husband, ah! Airplane, stop teasing us like this! I almost died along with Shizun, ah!]

[User I’m Here For The Hunks Stayed For The Plot: Tian Langjun is described as someone peerlessly handsome, huh? More handsome than Luo Binghe? Now I want to see his face.]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: Exactly what is Tian Langjun’s problem with Shizun!?]

[User Fangirl #233: ^Upstairs, maybe, a fight for Luo Binghe’s custody right?]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: My husband! But on a serious note, what made the last boss himself go on his way to kill Shizun? Like Zhangmen-shixiong said, didn’t he send his general to kill Shizun who is supposedly not that important in rank?]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s Fifth Wife: ^ Jie! How dare you to say my husband is unimportant?! He obviously had a very OP secret that no one knew about, ah!]

[User Yin-Yang Panda: Everyone, everyone, let’s not forget about Da Zhu. WHERE IS THE PANDA?! I BET IT HAS SOME SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE STORY!!!]

[User Let Me Take You To The Sky: I’m more curious about the human in Tian Langjun’s group. WHO IS HE?!]

[User Beautiful: ^ Are you sure it’s a man? It could be a woman dressing as a man. A new harem member probably? We need someone to spy from Tian Langjun’s side after all. My bet is on a new harem member.]

[User Peerless Cucumber: I won’t accept any harem member that stabbed Shizun so murderously, doesn’t matter Shen Qingqiu is not even alive currently!]

[User Dazzling Summer: Everyone makes a mistake, I’m sure she could repent if that’s the case.]

[User Lazy Writer: Why are you guys already writing HIM off as a HER???]

[User Beautiful: We’re talking about possibilities. ‘He’ could be a ‘She’, I have read a lot of LN, ah. It’s not impossible. Heck, that human could also be Luo Binghe’s secret half brother for all we know!]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: ^ Good God. Nice theory.]

[User Angst Queen: OMG that would be a plot twist!]

[User Let It Go~: No one would say anything about Mo Beijun showing up carrying that An Ding peak lord?]

[User Pure Onion: ^Here bro, or sis, whatevs. I’m also very curious. Didn’t expect Mo Beijun would even care enough to bring back that useless traitor/spy.]

Bitch, what? A tick appeared on Shang Qinghua’s temple.

[User Twelve Ruins: Yeah, he’s cannon fodder af. Don’t know why Airplane wrote that scene, maybe he had plans for that traitorous peak lord?]

[User Lotus Fragrance: Hey, hey, Shang Qinghua is fine. I’ve seen him in the official art of Twelve Peak Lords, he’s handsome okay. Maybe he has no sense of loyalty, but he’s in our side.]

[User Baby Doll: But he’s cowardly and annoying. Who cares if he’s handsome? We have many handsome guys in this novel. But if Airplane really has a plan for him, I’ll just see it.]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Agree, he’s annoying. But I’m sure Airplane would fix that... I hope.]

Shang Qinghua almost coughed out blood when he read the comments disliking ‘Shang Qinghua’, fuck! If you’re thrown into your own bloody writing of XianXia world with a blackened protagonist, you would also be terrified, okay!?

Shang Qinghua was your author! The person you worshipped and begged for new chapters, goddammit!

Shang Qinghua felt like crying again. Aiya, truly a thankless job, ah. He literally broke bones for this story to continue, yet everyone spat on him all the same with a fixed plot. Damn it. Damn it all to hell.

Shang Qinghua then reached to the section where the readers discussed about Luo Binghe and the peak lords’ confrontation after Tian Langjun’s declaration of war. His face dimmed slightly.

[User Peerless Cucumber: “I’m not someone who would throw people away just because they were not useful for me anymore! I’m not as despicable as that! Don’t compare me with the likes of you, Yue Qingyuan!!!” YOU DAMN SAY IT, LUO BINGHE!!! Hit that fool’s head so hard so he could reflect! I won’t forgive you till you explain everything with your own character’s arc, Yue Qingyuan!!!]

[User Step On Me Shizun: T_T I came here for adventure, indulgence, and fangirling over hot men, I didn’t sign up for feels.]

[User Sun Knight: Damn it! He only wants the best for Shizun! Shen Qingqiu’s death is unfair! Damn it all! Damn it all with this feeling! I hate this! I’m still having a heartache whenever I saw Shen Qingqiu’s official art, okay!? It hurts!!!]

[User Liu-juju and His Shen-shixiong: T_T Even Liu-juju also had that hope for seeing Shizun again. Uwaaahhh Luo Binghe’s words cut my heart, ah! It cut my heart, I don’t want to imagine how Liu-juju handled it! Fanfiction time...]

[User Lovely Moon: I’m actually glad that Cang Qiong Mountain Sect didn’t pursue the problem but also didn’t really condone it. Mu Qingfang gave that condition to draw a clear line. They might be grieving, but they won’t be crazy enough to keep disturbing the dead, but on the other side, they were desperate enough to TRY IT ONCE. God, my heart... their brotherly love is really deep...]

Shang Qinghua calmed down as he read further and further down, he had no time to see the updated version, it was better to just draw a conclusion from his dependable readers who had read the story for him. He read further and further down he was surprised when he saw ‘Shang Qinghua’s name was mentioned again...

Many times.

[User Misty Rain: What made Zhuzhi-Lang thought that Shang Qinghua knew anything about Shen Qingqiu’s body??? I mean, is that guy important enough...?]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: Now, I’m intrigued with Shang Qinghua. Days of torture and yet he could keep his mouth shut? Well, if he truly doesn’t know that was a different problem. But if he did know that was awesome. Still, withstanding those tortures without even once offering his allegiance? I’m surprised.]

[User Remote Control: He didn’t defect? Damn, for someone like him, if he could defect once, he could defect twice. So he DID know a sense of loyalty?]

[User Sunset Sky: Holy fuck. If this is BL, I would jump up and call Mo Beijun and he are actually a couple. But this is BG and you know what? I STILL CALLED THEM BEING A COUPLE!!! A SIDE BL COUPLE!]

[User Snek boi: ^ Sis, I usually would disagree with fujoshis’ bold statement, but you know what? It makes sense since Luo Binghe probably hogged all the great girls to be his harem members, Mo Beijun is either gay or asexual.]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Not only he didn’t defect, he actually found a useful information about Zhuzhi-Lang being Shen Qingqiu’s murderer. Nice. Does anyone think there would be a plot twist about him? I don’t think he would die uselessly like I first thought.]

[User Dawn: If he’s a normal cannon fodder, he would die and Mo Beijun wouldn’t even bother to save him. But maybe, he has a more important information??? After all, because of him, Mo Beijun became extra careful and even led Zhuzhi-Lang in a blind chase for days.]

Shang Qinghua closed the comments and opened the story tab instead, he urged the system to search for the newest update and there was a flashback chapter. Mo Beijun’s POV.

Shang Qinghua’s mood turned complicated when he read it. He closed it and had an urge to clear his throat in embarrassment. However, he ignored it and instead went back to work as he checked all his rewards whilst he was half-dying. The poison in his body had been cleaned by the antidote the system had released into his body, his physical wounds were also better, but he was still frozen.

‘System, what’s the use of me being B grade character?’ Shang Qinghua asked. ‘Did it lower my chance to die or something? Did I have a halo now?’

[No. But it lowers your chance to die a useless and forgettable death.]

‘What the hell is the use of that? I would die regardless!’

[Asking the host to work harder.]

Shang Qinghua felt helpless, he couldn’t steal the protag’s cheats, he couldn’t do anything too eye-catching, he absolutely couldn’t try and steal the protag’s woman, or else, the system would zap him with a heavenly lightning. Life as someone bound by a system is hard, ah. Unless the opportunity itself came knocking, Shang Qinghua absolutely couldn’t do anything extreme in fear of changing the course of the story to be worse and die a horrible death.

‘Forget it. Shen Qingqiu is an S Grade character yet he still died.’ Although, there was a 99% percent chance he would be resurrected with Luo Binghe’s help. But that was him as an S grade, ah. If Shang Qinghua died, they would probably bury him if he was lucky.

The system remained silent after Shang Qinghua said that until Shang Qinghua noticed a notification in the art gallery. He asked the system to open it. He blinked rapidly.

It was a notification from Shen Qingqiu’s art gallery. He opened it and saw two new pictures.

One was a picture of Shen Qingqiu (‘s corpse, Shang Qinghua reminded himself) laying peacefully on the platform and a masked man, that Shang Qinghua recognized as his human captor, stabbing him through the heart with a sword that seemed to be purely made of light. It looked so divine that Shang Qinghua felt his heart squeezed at the grand sight.

The second picture had a very handsome man in it, on the same par as Luo Binghe. Shang Qinghua realized that the handsome man was Tian Langjun, especially once he saw the demon mark on is forehead. Tian Langjun stood tall in front of Zhuzhi-Lang and the human masked man, smiling treacherously as the rest looked at him with a mix of shock and apprehension. Luo Binghe was on the corner of the frame, holding close Shen Qingqiu’s bloodied corpse, glaring with a feral murderous intent to Tian Langjun’s group of three.

Shang Qinghua sighed, even in death, this S grade son still updated his status, ah. So great. Not to mention, one picture had Tian Langjun in it.

Shang Qinghua didn’t stop and pondered why the year-long dead album suddenly updated itself as he uploaded the picture with Tian Langjun and Zhuzhi-Lang in it and left the picture of Shen Qingqiu’s corpse and masked man alone.

Chapter Text

[User Fangirl #444: HOLY SHIT, TIAN LANGJUN IS ONE HOT DADDY!]

[User Shizun Please Stop On Me: I’m cheating on Shizun for a bit. HOLY FUCK! YESSS!!! DADDY TIAN IS HOT AF!!! STEP ON ME TOO, DADDY!]

[User Sexy Banana: The image was loading as I read the comment, I snorted, thinking you guys were overreacting. Then, the image loaded and I had a nosebleed. HOLY SHIT! THAT’S ILLEGAL TO BE THAT HOT- WHAT THE FFFFFFF???????? He’s certainly my type! DADDY TIAN!!!]

[User Luo Binghe 343: The gene ran down on the family. This isn’t even fair. There’s no flaw in this father and son!]

[User Meng Da Zhu: Okay, I’m asexual, but I have to admit I wouldn’t mind sleeping with him if that means I can stare at his face for the entire night.]

[User Liu-juju and His Shen-shixiong: Too... hot... *die*]

[User Wife Of Sovereign: Why are there so many hot men in this fic and why are they all single? If they have a wife, I might be able to handle myself but this is too much!? Damn, Zhuzhi-Lang is also very handsome! What part on that perfect face was flawed!?]

[User Madame Liu: I’ll have to cheat on my Liu-juju for a bit. *Cries* how could there be a man that perfect? HOW COULD YOU PAINT IT?!]

[User Want JiuJiu: AIRPLANE!! STOP MAKING ME FELL IN LOVE WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT EXIST!!!]

[User My Heart Is Big Enough For Ten Men: Goddammit! Now I have to kick another husband to the curb just so I can fit this one in! I’m so sorry my beautiful Kyo So#ma, it’s not you... It’s me. Now, come to me, Tian Langjun!]

[User One Line Art: Your arts are all so amazing, man! You should totally sell arts next, I’ll buy everything you can offer!]

[User Secret Siren: Another beautiful art. I can only sigh at my own talentless self when I saw all of your works. Not only you’re a good writer, but you're also a wonderful artist.]

[User Peerless Cucumber: The point of view in this work is breathtaking. You can see the hopelessness but also rage and resentment from Luo Binghe but you can see the wickedness on Tian Langjun’s side. and *ouch* Shizun’s bloody body...]

[User Snake Empress: Great. You know, the more you gave us the arts of your characters, the more I think it was impossible for this great novel to be turned into a serial drama. It just wouldn’t be satisfying. I mean, where would you find these attractive people and then convince them to play a part in one big drama???]

[User My Body Is Ready: You know, someone who already had a child is totally not my type, but Tian Langjun? He has Luo Binghe who was only a few years younger than I am, but... Read my name.]

The world was shaken by the declaration of war from the demon, the cultivation world was even more shocked as they knew the leader of the demons was Tian Langjun that they had sealed within Bai Lu Mountain decades ago.

News traveled and everyone grew paranoid and fearful of the looming war. Several members of the Great Four Sects that had been placed to oversee the borders had all been sent back to their own respective sects inside a lovely package. Dead. With a haunted look on their faces.

Everyone instantly knew the grudge between them and Tian Langjun was not something that could be easily quelled.

Yue Qingyuan hurried over when he heard a commotion and he arrived at the heaven gate in front of Qiong Ding peak. “What happened?” Yue Qingyuan asked.

“Shifu!” Gongyi Xiao exclaimed. “It’s-“

A gasp sounded from beside Yue Qingyuan. “Mu Chen!” The peak lord of Tian Yin peak, Zhang Qingxu, rushed over and the crowd parted to let him reach his succession disciple who sustained quite damage. “What happened?!” He demanded as he looked at the rest.

“Shifu! We encountered a group of demons-“

“Why are you at the border?! Didn’t I already tell you no disciples should be at the border!?” Zhang Qingxu yelled.

“No, Shifu. We’re not at the border, in fact, we were finishing the mission you gave to us to strengthen the seal near the Xu forest,” Another disciple hastily said.

“What?” Zhang Qingxu and Yue Qingyuan stared, speechless. Xu forest was miles away from the border. That was why Zhang Qingxu was at ease to send his disciples there, especially with his head disciple whom he trusted so much.

“We almost died, luckily Mu-shixiong managed to create an opening and we all could escape with our lives. But he sustained quite a lot damage,” A female disciple sobbed inconsolably.

“He’s doing fine,” A Qian Cao peak’s disciple, who was doing the first aid to the head disciple of Tian Yin peak, said. “The outside wounds looked bad but they are superficial. The inner injuries were pretty bad but nothing life-threatening,” he said and Zhang Qingxu’s shoulders sagged in relief, for a second, he thought he needed to barge into Huan Hua Palace to drag Mu Qingfang out and heal his disciple.

“We should take him to Qian Cao for further healing,” Another healer said and the first one agreed.

Zhang Qingxu nodded, “Take him to Xiao Yan,” Xiao Yan was Mu Qingfang’s head disciple, he was currently replacing his master as the main healer for the meanwhile in Qian Cao peak. Naturally, head disciples should be treated by a head disciple.

The two disciples nodded and took off carrying the injured disciple.

When they left, a few people came to the scene. Qi Qingqi’s eyes followed the disciples who were leaving, concern in her eyes, “We have more casualties?” She asked gravely.

Although they were on the verge of war and many people had died, Cang Qiong Mountain Sect was the only one amongst the Four Great Sects that had yet to gain heavy casualties aside for a few skirmishes that were not meaningful enough to be mentioned. They always thought that luck was on their side for this one after continuous bad luck they sustained, the worst one being Shen Qingqiu’s death.

“Yes,” Zhang Qingxu pursed his lips. “It seems like the demons had begun their invasion.”

“Invasion?”

“They were sighted in Xu forest,” Yue Qingyuan stated.

“What?!”

“That’s miles away from the border!”

“Zhangmen-shixiong, we really need to do something about this,” Qi Qingqi said seriously. “Cultivators kept falling, be it young or old. That demon really knows no limit, he was blind to all except for his grudge!”

“The kids are innocent, most of them had yet even born when he was sealed,” The peak lord of Xian Zhen, Han Qingyu, said.

“He didn’t care about that,” Yue Qingyuan said bitterly, recalling Tian Langjun’s cold response about Shen Qingqiu’s death.

“Disciples shouldn’t go out without a supervising elder,” Zhang Qingxu suggested.

Yue Qingyuan nodded, “It’s better to give extra protection for disciples outside the sect.” He looked out to the distant horizon and his eyes narrowed wanly, “I’ll have a meeting to discuss this further with the rest of the Great Four Sects, we need to ask Luo Binghe about the old Palace Master,” they’d need every manpower that they could use.

“Oh yeah, the Old Palace Master,” Wei Qingwei perked up. “He was the one that suggested that ambush on Tian Langjun, am I right? He should be more experienced than any of us.”

“And should take up the responsibility and die first,” Zhang Qingxu scoffed coldly despite his martial siblings’ disapproving glances.

Yue Qingyuan shook his head, “We’ll need as many as we could gather.” He sighed, he looked dead tired with everything that kept happening, in fact, he only looked more and more exhausted ever since Shen Qingqiu’s death.

Everyone grew somber, “We have no tactician...” Liu Qingge murmured. The peak lords all looked down, a bitter feeling surfaced in their hearts. That’s right, they had no tactician.

The only person who was fit to take that tactician mantle was Shen Qingqiu and he left no capable replacement. Shen Qingqiu was everything, arrogant, slightly malicious, easily irritated, lazy, and a bit wayward (Many people balked when the previous Qing Jing peak lord chose him to be his succeeding disciple). Many rumors surrounded him ever since he was only a mere disciple, but in the end, when it came to it, everyone could trust him enough to not let them die in a war.

Yue Qingyuan exhaled, “Tian Langjun is not a someone to be underestimated,” he said. “With or without a tactician,” his throat tightened slightly, if his martial siblings noticed, they didn’t say a thing. “We can only continue. And this is for Qingqiu-shidi too,” he clenched his fists.

Everyone nodded. For their fallen brother.

“Look at what I found in my sneaky walk in the human realm,” Tian Langjun said excitedly as he presented a stringed musical instrument with a proud grin.

“You are useless,” Shen Qingqiu said blankly as he flicked the blood off of his sword.

“It’s called Yangqin,” Tian Langjun continued and Shen Qingqiu let out a long-suffering sigh. “Do you know how to play it?”

“I’m a scholar, moron, not a musician,” Shen Qingqiu massaged the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Breath in, breath out...

“You said that, but you can play at least six other instruments,” Tian Langjun pointed out. “That’s more than average musician.”

“You can’t fucking shut up, can’t you?” Shen Qingqiu spat out.

“I’m just being studious,” The demon lord shrugged. “How’s your excursion?”

“More useful than yours,” Shen Qingqiu retorted.

“Oh?” Tian Langjun grinned. “Did you kill your martial niblings or something?”

“Why the fuck I told you all to not touch them if I’ll do it anyway?” Shen Qingqiu shot a dirty glare towards Tian Langjun.

The demon lord shrugged, “Maybe, something personal. I would know the feeling.”

“... The answer is no,” Shen Qingqiu sighed.

“To the instrument or killing your former Sect’s disciples?”

Just before Shen Qingqiu wanted to strike Tian Langjun and end his misery, Zhuzhi-Lang appeared with a bloodied robe. He made sure to not stand too close to Shen Qingqiu as Shen Qingqiu hated the stench and bowed down to Tian Langjun, “The people that had ties with the Four Great Sects sighted in the southeast border are killed, Jun-shang. As your order, I left some alive to send the news.”

“No unnecessary casualties, right?” Tian Langjun glanced at his nephew.

“None,” Zhuzhi-Lang nodded and looked at Shen Qingqiu, “No one from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect was hurt as well.”

“Good,” Tian Langjun nodded. “I think that’s enough terror for them. We can’t keep killing them if we want to slaughter them in the war,” he said lightly.

Shen Jiu sat down and crossed his legs, producing a paper fan out of nowhere and started fanning himself elegantly, “When are you gonna move?”

“I’m still waiting for another player,” Tian Langjun answered.

“The old fart from Huan Hua Palace?” Shen Qingqiu sneered. “I say, your son probably had killed him to usurp his power.”

“No, I have a feeling he’s still alive,” Tian Langjun said. “My instinct about the person I hate the most can’t be wrong.”

“Whatever,” Shen Qingqiu shrugged and Zhuzhi-Lang re-appeared wearing a set of clean robe.

“We can’t find any trace of him still,” Zhuzhi-Lang said as he put down a tray of sweets before Shen Qingqiu.

“No worries, one way or another, he will appear.”

“If he’s alive,” Shen Qingqiu dryly pointed out.

“Enough about me and Huan Hua Palace. What about your plan for Cang Qiong Mountain Sect?” Tian Langjun mentioned.

Shen Qingqiu’s fingers delicately traced the moon cake in front of him, “I’ll make them feel included, no one would notice that they were excluded,” he said lightly. And to do that, he regretfully had to hurt some of them. But, hell, they should be happy to retain their lives with Shen Qingqiu secretly protecting them from Tian Langjun’s wrath.

“I can’t wait to see your plan in action,” Tian Langjun smiled.

“My plan is flawless, what about yours?” Shen Qingqiu sharply asked.

“Me?” Tian Langjun looked a tad bit flattered at that. “I’ll visit Da Zhu and get some sleep-“ he tilted his head sideways to avoid a throwing dagger courtesy of Shen Qingqiu.

“How many times do I have to fucking tell you to stay away from Da Zhu!?”

“About the war,” Mu Qingfang started as he and Luo Binghe focused on repairing his shixiong’s damaged qi path. “I have to participate,” he mentioned and Luo Binghe paused.

Luo Binghe smiled bitterly, “You don’t have to. Shizun is far more important.”

“I can’t keep working on the dead,” Mu Qingfang sighed and Luo Binghe tensed. “I have the livings to take care of too.”

“I’ll fight in the war,” Luo Binghe said. “We can’t both being in the war,” who would heal Shizun’s body, then?

“You fight, but I have to heal my comrades,” Mu Qingfang said solemnly. “I reckon we need to halt the progress.”

“No!” Luo Binghe snapped. “If we halt it for a long time, it will be harder to heal him. How about, you keep working on him, I’ll... I’ll make sure to give more protection to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s disciple.”

Mu Qingfang frowned, obviously disliking the suggestion, “Luo Binghe-“

“Please, Mu-shishu,” Luo Binghe begged.

“I’m not even one-hundred percent sure that Shen-shixiong could be resurrected,” Mu Qingfang stated. “I’m not losing any of my remaining martial siblings just to do something I’m not even sure of. At best, I gain my shixiong back and lost another in the war. At worst, Shen-shixiong wouldn’t wake up and I still lost someone in the war.”

Luo Binghe clenched his hands, “You can halt the healing if anyone needed your assistance desperately. But please... Don’t stop it,” he pleaded.

“...” Mu Qingfang stared at the young man in front of him and sighed. “Alright. But the moment my Zhangmen-shixiong called for my assistance, I will go even if you kill me.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Luo Binghe nodded.

“What? Mu-shidi is not coming back for the war?” Wei Qingwei exclaimed disbelievingly.

“That’s ridiculous! We need him.”

“Luo Binghe promised that should he really be needed, we can take him,” Yue Qingyuan said.

“Who does he think he is? To hold a peak lord back like that?” Zhang Qingxu said unhappily.

“That’s right. Is this project of him really important?” Han Qingyu asked.

The three peak lords who knew about Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe’s plan looked away guiltily. “We can only appease him for now, we can’t have the non-hostile side of the demons turned on us as well. We need everything we could manage,” Yue Qingyuan said.

“But now we’re down on number again,” Wei Qingwei said bitterly.

There were twelve of them before. And then down to eleven, and then ten, and now they only had nine peak lords left.

Liu Qingge clenched his hands. This is frustrating...

“We have no tactician and now the main healer is also unavailable,” Qi Qingqi lowered her head, her lips were pursed into a tight line.

“We also have a trouble at the logistic area,” Fu Qingwu pointed out.

“I might be able to help in that,” a new voice claimed and everyone turned to see a nervously smiling man in a simple robe not far away from them, this man was not just a normal passerby as a handsome demon with a blue royal demon mark on his forehead stood behind him.

“Shang Qinghua!?” Everyone exclaimed.

“Traitor!”

“Wait,” Yue Qingyuan raised his hand to stop some of his juniors from raising a hand against Shang Qinghua who tensely looked at them. “He’s not our enemy for the time being.”

Shang Qinghua tilted his head, “That’s a bit cold,” for the time being? Did that mean they may kill him if it’s any other time? “We’re allies now, aren’t we?” he said lightly, trying to be casual.

Some of the peak lords glared at him but kept a cautious eye at the northern demon king behind him who didn’t look like he wanted to be a part of their conversation.

“Hey... I’m in Luo Binghe’s side, technically, I’m not a traitor as Luo Binghe is still in your side,” Shang Qinghua bargained.

“When two kingdoms allied themselves, and the minister of the first kingdom ran to the second kingdom and pledged loyalty there, it’s still a betrayal,” Fu Qingwu said coldly.

“Does he even have a shred of loyalty left to be pledged?” Zhang Qingxu sneered.

Shang Qinghua smiled, “Regardless, I’m on your side and we have the same enemy. I’m here to lend you a hand at the logistic division.”

“Alright,” Yue Qingyuan nodded and the others jolted.

“But, Zhangmen-shixiong-“

“As he said, we’re allies now and have one common enemy. We also don’t have a main tactician and our main healer wouldn’t always be here,” Yue Qingyuan explained. He looked at Shang Qinghua, steady and calm, “I’ll leave it to you.”

Shang Qinghua bowed down, “With pleasure, Zhangmen-shixiong.”

Yue Qingyuan then turned to Mo Beijun, “But I need to talk to Luo Binghe about something.”

Mo Beijun silently gazed at Yue Qingyuan before he nodded, “Come with me,” he said but he glanced at Shang Qinghua furtively after that.

Yue Qingyuan looked at his other juniors who blatantly glared at Shang Qinghua, “Be good,” he said like coaxing some elementary children. If it was anyone who said it, it would be very offensive for these peak lords, but since it was Yue Qingyuan, they could only hold their breath and look the other way. “Wei-shidi, can you introduce Shang-gongzi to his task?” he said.

Wei Qingwei respectfully bowed down to Yue Qingyuan before indifferently looked at Shang Qinghua, “This way, Shang-gongzi.”

“Are you done with your plan?”

Shen Qingqiu almost blasted Tian Langjun off for scaring him by walking out of the shadow. He scowled, “I finished it days ago, just adding a few small things,” for Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, everything had to be perfect.

“Good,” Tian Langjun smiled.

“What’s wrong with you?” Shen Qingqiu crossed his arms, “You look pale.”

“We’re going to launch the first assault soon enough,” Tian Langjun told him.

“What? So suddenly?” Shen Qingqiu blinked rapidly.

“I can’t wait anymore,” Tian Langjun said as he ran his fingers through his hair. “If that old bastard did not appear, I’ll just kill the entire Huan Hua Palace and tear his daughter up limb by limb publically so he could taste regret.”

If he’s alive, Shen Qingqiu decided to not point that out again. “Alright,” he nodded.

Tian Langjun nodded at  him, “Zhi-lang already took care of the troops, tomorrow morning, we’ll go to the border and start our slaughter.” With that, Tian Langjun walked past Shen Qingqiu and disappeared around the corner.

Shen Qingqiu turned, “What’s gotten into him?” He asked seriously and another figure stepped out of the shadow.

Zhuzhi-Lang bowed down, his face was tinged with worry, “Jun-shang fell asleep...” he said.

Sleeping was a normal thing, even demons sleep. But Tian Langjun was not normal. Ever since he was captured and sealed, he spent his days wallowing in his wrath and hatred for the Great Four Sect, planning, waiting, whether his eyes opened or closed, he’d see the same thing. Darkness. Sleep came with dreams and nightmares, Tian Langjun rarely fell asleep.

“Not beside Da Zhu?” Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows. Shen Qingqiu knew Tian Langjun’s problem by heart, he was also the same. Every time he closed his eyes to sleep, nightmares plagued him like no others, he’d rather meditate than sleep. But if he slept beside Da Zhu, the panda’s calming and balanced energy usually kept nightmares away.

When Shen Qingqiu was away from the Yin-Yang Panda, he rarely fell asleep until he got that protection from the Dream Crane, which was sadly gone now.

“No, he did sleep beside sir Da Zhu,” Zhuzhi-Lang replied. Which was why it was weird, there was a reason why Tian Langjun was so fond of the mythical beast, he liked to rest near Da Zhu and didn’t have to be plagued by nightmares. Da Zhu’s balanced energy also lulled others around him to relax their guards.

“What?” Shen Qingqiu blinked. “Then, why is he being so impulsive now?”

“I don’t know...” Zhuzhi-Lang shook his head.

“Is there anything you’re not telling me?” Shen Qingqiu raised his brows. Zhuzhi-Lang was an excellent liar to those who didn’t know him and to those he didn’t care about. But towards Tian Langjun and Shen Qingqiu who knew him well enough, he was like an open book that recited itself. Extremely easy to read with his guilt whenever he lied to his uncle or Shen Qingqiu.

“Jun-shang brought sir Da Zhu out...” Zhuzhi-Lang said a bit fretfully as he glanced at Shen Qingqiu whose complexion darkened.

Shen Qingqiu had made it clear that no one should take Da Zhu out of the bamboo forest he had grown for the panda up till everything was solved.

“Jun-shang brought him to the bamboo grove near the Luochuan river where Jun-shang sighted a few interesting creatures,” Zhuzhi-Lang answered. “They didn’t return for a long time so I searched for them. When I found them, Jun-shang was asleep beside sir Da Zhu... He woke up like that.”

“... I don’t get it at all,” Shen Qingqiu said. “Even if Da Zhu’s charm and comfort failed to stop the nightmare, why is he suddenly this impulsive?” he looked sideway thoughtfully.

“General!”

The two people turned to see one of the snake demons running towards them and kneeled down, “Half of the army already snuck themselves to the border. Do you have any further orders?”

Zhuzhi-Lang turned to Shen Qingqiu, “Lord Shen, I’ve prepared everything. The only thing left is for us to merge our strategy further, please,” he said.

Shen Qingqiu nodded.

Yue Qingyuan stared with a sour expression as entered the room and was welcomed with the horrifying sight of what used to be the dignified Old Palace Master from Huan Hua Palace.

“I didn’t know you’ll come to visit,” Sha Hualing purred when she saw Luo Binghe, she discarded the bloody whip in her hands and greeted Luo Binghe.

“You’re still here?” Luo Binghe raised his brows as he raised his hand to wipe off a small splatter of blood on Sha Hualing’s cheek.

“Just came to release some tension,” Sha Hualing smiled flatteringly. “I’m very stressed at the impending war, you know?” she pouted before looking to the man beside Luo Binghe, “I see you’re bringing a guest over.”

Luo Binghe glanced towards Yue Qingyuan, “He had a business here. You can leave now and tend your army,” he said to Sha Hualing.

“Alright,” Sha Hualing nodded obediently before looking at Yue Qingyuan, “Have fun,” she winked and giggled on her way out.

Sha Hualing closed the door behind her, leaving the two handsome men inside with the Old Palace Master whose form was not even recognizable anymore.

Yue Qingyuan scrunched up his nose and glanced at Luo Binghe who didn’t seem to be bothered with the stench of blood and urine mixed into one. Using his qi to filter the air, Yue Qingyuan opened his mouth, “Old Palace Master, can you hear me?”

No response aside for a sneer.

Luo Binghe kicked the man and dug his heel down into his chest, “Old Palace Master, your fellow Sect Leader is here, with some questions. You have to answer,” he said.

“Son of a bitch,” The Old Palace Master croaked. “Filth, all of you. I’d rather die than to answer you!”

Luo Binghe kicked his head, “You should be grateful that I still keep your tongue even after I already know about Shizun’s murderer. If you keep being ungrateful like this, I’ll cut the useless tongue off.”

“Luo Binghe, enough,” Yue Qingyuan furrowed his brows. He did not condone tortures. But since it seemed like it was a personal problem between the Old Palace Master and Luo Binghe, he could only let it slide. “Old Palace Master, I have a question you have to answer.”

“What? Is it about...” Old Palace Master grinned crazily, “Your pretty little dead bitch? That slave, Shen Qing-“

Luo Binghe stepped on the Old Palace Master’s throat, “Filth, know your place,” he growled.

Yue Qingyuan held up his hand and motioned for Luo Binghe to stop, “Please, I’ll talk to him.”

Luo Binghe sniffed in disgust, “Have a nice talk, then. I’ll be outside,” he waved and exited the room, shutting the door behind him.

Yue Qingyuan sighed and looked at the Old Palace Master, “No, it’s not about my shidi. It’s about Tian Langjun and the battle that happened years ago.”

Old Palace Master glanced at Yue Qingyuan with a cold glint in his eyes.

“Perhaps you already know, but Tian Langjun is freed and is now intent to bring destruction to the Four Great Sects,” Yue Qingyuan stared gravely. “There are many things missing in the puzzle and you know all of it. Tell me, did Tian Langjun really intended to take over the human world or was it just a lie?”

The Old Palace Master glared with a sneer.

Yue Qingyuan dropped his head, “So, it’s like that,” he wasn’t a fool. He wouldn’t be fooled twice. Back then, Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had no way to withdraw because the other three Great Sects already agreed, as the foremost and strongest, they couldn’t exactly sit back and watch.

Even though the previous Sect Head of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect was extremely suspicious over the whole thing, the Old Palace Master sprung it up to them in a manner they couldn’t reject at all. Yue Qingyuan was there, he knew none of his shishu and shigu was delighted at the battle nor their victory over Tian Langjun. It was just a blind and strenuous chore for them, not a duty.

“You deceived us,” Yue Qingyuan’s gaze darkened.

The Old Palace Master glared, “He will!” he growled. “He’d corrupt his way through, just like what he did to,” he choked back. “My precious Yan’er...”

Yue Qingyuan’s dark gaze only got darker and colder.

“That old fart is the type of person who would adopt an innocent girl, watch her grow, and then prey on her after she is old enough,” Shen Qingqiu said after the Old Palace Master of Huan Hua Palace left.

Yue Qingyuan almost choked on his spit when he heard Shen Qingqiu mumbled such things, “Qingqiu-shidi...” he glanced at Shen Qingqiu as the other peak lords pretended they heard nothing after their initial spit-take. They were already used to their second senior’s blunt words, they knew their wayward shixiong’s brain-to-mouth filter was broken sometimes. This time seemed to be one of those times.

As long as he didn’t throw such a heavy insult to another of his Sect, they were fine with it.

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes, this time, with a quieter voice he added, “I’m familiar with the kind like him...”

“You’re upset because Su-qianbei had an affair with Tian Langjun...” Yue Qingyuan said coldly.

“That demon bastard will take over the human world! My innocent Yan’er was only a start!” The Old Palace Master screamed. “Yan’er, Yan’er, master do it all for your sakes...” he mumbled adoringly to nothing.

Yue Qingyuan furrowed his brows.

“I did nothing wrong! I’m right! If it wasn’t because of me, you all would have died like fools! That Tian Langjun was nothing but a bad news, he seduced my Yan’er and made love with her! How dare him to taint such a beautiful flower I’ve cultivated with everything I had?!”

The more he talked, the more contradictions he made from his previous tales. For once, Su Xiyan was said to be the one who seduced Tian Langjun and now it was Tian Langjun who seduced Su Xiyan?

“My Xiyan-“ The Old Palace Master’s voice suddenly died down as he stared in shock at Yue Qingyuan who gazed at him with his bottomless dark eyes. He choked as he tried to claw on his neck, a pure swarm of qi was blocking his throat. Cold and overbearing.

“You forced us to do something that could be solved peacefully and now Tian Langjun wants revenge,” Yue Qingyuan clenched his teeth. “Many innocent people who didn’t even partake in that battle fell victim, all because of you.” Shen Qingqiu died for the battle he never even fought.

The Old Palace master choked, staring at Yue Qingyuan with arrogant defiance but also mixed with fear. The damnable Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, every generation, without fail, they would always have the best and strongest cultivator as their head. Every. Damn. Generation. They were all a bunch of eyesores!

Outside, Luo Binghe was pacing in the dark corridor impatiently. He wanted to return and help fixing his Shizun’s body, he’d rather be anywhere than in this place since it didn’t improve his mood at all. It’d be easier to kill that old fool, but that old fart had a grudge with Shizun, better let Shizun finish it himself when he woke up.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid footsteps caught Luo Binghe’s attention, he blinked and squinted his eyes to see the red-clothed Sha Hualing running back towards him.

“My lord!” Sha Hualing exclaimed.

“What happened?” Luo Binghe asked seriously. “Hualing? What’s wrong?”

“The enemy has started their assault to the border!” Sha Hualing said urgently. “Mo Beijun already rushed there and everyone was calling for assistance.”

Luo Binghe jolted in surprise.

“Didn’t we have a line of defense for sudden assault?!” Luo Binghe demanded.

“They didn’t hold out for long, Tian Langjun himself led the army and they seemed to have a very good strategist on their side,” Sha Hualing reported.

Clicking his tongue, Luo Binghe slammed open the sealed torture chamber, “We’re under attack,” he said simply and Yue Qingyuan quickly turned towards him.

Yue Qingyuan hurried out of the chamber, “I’ll lead my Sect to the south, we have to work together if we want to defeat Tian Langjun,” he didn’t wait for Luo Binghe’s answer before he rushed off himself.

Luo Binghe pulled Sha Hualing out of the chamber and sealed it shut, “We have to go,” he said as he pulled the demoness out and unsheathed Xin Mo.

She did it.

She finally did it.

A single tear ran down her cheek as she helplessly put her baby in a basket. Her baby was pale, but aside for that, he looked incredibly healthy. She kissed his forehead as she covered him with everything she got.

Her hands trembled endlessly as she stared at the baby, cleaned up with the water of this blessed river. More tears fell from her eyes, “I’m so sorry...” she pleaded for the clueless baby’s forgiveness. “I can’t care for you, my dear...” she sobbed.

The baby seemed to feel her distress and cried too. The woman’s head dropped, “Live for me, be happy.” She let go of the basket and the basket flowed along the river’s flow.

The baby didn’t stop his cry, calling for the warmth that he seemed to be getting further away from.

The woman collapsed on the bank of the river, her eyes were dry as she finally gave up and laid down. “Your father is the sky, I’m his dusk...” She mumbled. “I will always watch over you, my child.”

She held up her hand, reaching out to the sky, “My sky... Tianlang... Night has come... I have to go, I’m so sorry...” another stray tear rolled down. She was his doom. Supposedly so.

The first time she approached him, it had been nothing but her sense of duty to bring down the evil demon overlord and protect the human realm. She intended to be his destruction, but now... Her feeling changed but her role didn’t. “Morning will surely come to you, my sky, my child...” she mumbled, half-awake.

BAM!!!

BAM!

BAM!

BOOM!!!

“Four Great Sects!!!” Tian Langjun howled, the ancient Heavenly Demon mark on his forehead shone crimson, like a beckoning light of death. “Today will be the start of your destruction!!!”

Shen Qingqiu watched with disguised fear as he rampaged through the battlefield, a hand touched his shoulder and he almost flinched. He turned to see Zhuzhi-Lang.

“Lord Shen, please do not worry,” Zhuzhi-Lang said. It seemed like he sensed Shen Qingqiu’s worry.

Shen Qingqiu brushed off his hand, “I don’t. Just make sure your lord didn’t straight up purge everyone.” He used to not worry about that, but the current Tian Langjun made him worry. Shen Qingqiu didn’t know what had gotten into him and it made him anxious, “I’ll take care of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.”

Zhuzhi-Lang nodded and watched as Shen Qingqiu left with his own assigned troops to fight off Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. He turned to see his lord going rampage at the distance, this battle might not go as they had planned.

“Prepare to break through,” Zhuzhi-Lang commanded to his subordinates who nodded and spread his order. He paused, “Halt,” he ordered sternly as he flashed towards Tian Langjun. Zhuzhi-Lang morphed into his true snake form and placed himself in front of Tian Langjun as another explosion happened.

“Tian Langjun!” Several people cried out sternly in anger.

Tian Langjun smirked, “Finally, you all are here. I thought I need to knock on your doors first before you stuck out your heads from your tortoise shells.”

“You, demons, are truly shameless! We won’t let you invade the human world!” A Great Monk from Zhao Hua Temple cried out sternly.

“Monks from Zhao Hua Temple are all so annoying with their blabbers,” Tian Langjun sneered. “I’ll have a good time harvesting your tongues and watch you babble.”

Tian Langjun jumped and stepped on Zhuzhi-Lang’s majestic snake body, raising his hand. Gravity seemed to pull even stronger when Tian Langjun raised his hand, several weaker cultivators already fell to the ground.

A beam of condensed energy suddenly shot Tian Langjun’s way but Zhuzhi-Lang used his tail to shield him. Tian Langjun clenched his hand and slammed it to his other palm.

Boom!

The cloudy sky split open, a crimson dragon made of pure demonic qi roared and coiled before flashing down to the ground.

Before it could reach the ground, the space opened and swallowed the dragon halfway through before it was clear nothing could win between the two of them and the tear in the space cracked and another large explosion occurred.

Zhuzhi-Lang lowered his head and his own demon mark shone in goldish silver light, several poisonous snake-like qi appeared and tried to poison the cultivators but the ground quickly froze beneath them.

The exchange of power between two sides only happened in a few seconds, one second late, there might be a lot of casualties from the human’s side.

Tian Langjun gazed at the newcomer, “You finally came,” he said before his gaze darkened. “Not accepting my warning and still hiding that old bastard? You’re truly daring...” he sneered.

Luo Binghe stepped up, Xin Mo tightly held in his hand as he glared defiantly to Tian Langjun, “Shut up,” he growled. “I won’t let you pass.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you let me or not. I always got what I want,” Tian Langjun said coldly. “Your sword will also be a lovely addition to my plan.”

Luo Binghe growled and leaped forward and Mo Beijun sent hundreds of icicles towards Zhuzhi-Lang.

Tian Langjun jumped off of Zhuzhi-Lang’s snake form and he morphed back to his human form to avoid being an easy target to Mo Beijun.

“Charge!” Zhuzhi-Lang ordered and everyone yelled out passionately behind him.

“Kill!” Mo Beijun’s eyes turned colder.

Yue Qingyuan arrived to a chaotic battlefield a few minutes later, having rushed there in a haste, he saw that Zhao Hua Temple had arrived first along with Huan Hua Palace and Luo Binghe’s own demonic army. “I’ll help Luo Binghe with Tian Langjun, the rest of you help the others,” Yue Qingyuan ordered.

Slam- BANG!

A man dressed in black wearing a dark veil over his face and a bamboo hat over his head appeared in front of them.

“Welcome, didn’t expect you all will find your way this quick,” Shen Qingqiu said nonchalantly as he looked down on his martial siblings while being suspended mid-air. He counted the peak lords and found only six of them turned up.

Mu Qingfang wasn’t here, he should be at the back, waiting for an emergency signal. Zhang Qingxu was also not here- as expected, should be waiting for a good moment to ambush at the back. Huang Qingxuan was also not here. Fu Qingwu too... Shen Qingqiu smirked, his plan went out smoothly.

Amateur. They didn’t even bother changing the basic strategy he left behind. But that only made it far easier for Shen Qingqiu.

“You!” Qi Qingqi recognized him as the human in Tian Langjun’s side and the one who almost ruined Shen Qingqiu’s immortal body.

“Who is he?” Liu Qingge glared and Yue Qingyuan nervously glanced at the distance where Tian Langjun was. He needed to re-group with the other Sect Heads to try and hold off Tian Langjun.

“He’s with Tian Langjun!” Qi Qingqi informed.

Everyone narrowed their eyes. The human in the pack of demons, huh?

Liu Qingge unsheathed Cheng Luan, “I’ll fight him.”

“Liu-shidi, be careful. He’s stronger than he seems,” Yue Qingyuan reminded.

Liu Qingge nodded, “I know,” that unmistakably strong and overflowing qi was not something Liu Qingge could underestimate.

“You think one peak lord is enough to fight me off?” Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes, mocking indignance. A burst of qi suddely exploded in front of them and they all used their qi to shield themselves. Shen Qingqiu raised his hand and summoned a sword of pure qi in his hand, he swung it down and Liu Qingge rushed to parry it.

Clang!

Shen Qingqiu smirked and Liu Qingge’s eyes widened as the other side’s sword passed through Cheng Luan after the initial block. But Liu Qingge’s reflex was quick, he tilted his body back, spun his body and leaped back, avoiding the other’s assault. Liu Qingge’s free hand went up to trace the slight graze on his flexible armor.

“Not bad,” Liu Qingge hissed.

Shen Qingqiu raised his head, “Charge!” he ordered and his own troops sprung up and charged at the people of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. There were disciples on the Sects’ side but they were all the senior disciples who volunteered themselves, they didn’t shy away in front of the demon’s intensity and instead brandished their swords and received their enemy with valor.

Several high-ranked demons Shen Qingqiu brought jumped forward to fight.

Shen Qingqiu ditched Liu Qingge to a few high-ranked demons and attacked Yue Qingyuan. Yue Qingyuan narrowed his eyes and dispersed Shen Qingqiu’s attack with only his palm, damn him. Truly strong... Shen Qingqiu thought, upset.

He swung his sword to his side to parry Liu Qingge’s attack. He kicked the annoying man when he tried to dodge a demon’s assault from behind and blasted him in the chest with a condensed qi. He focused back on Yue Qingyuan as he sent several beams of light his way.

His least worry right now was his qi, with Sun and Moon Dew Flower Body, his qi was replenished in mere seconds no matter what he did. This was his advantage against Yue Qingyuan.

Wei Qingwei noticed something from the corner of his eyes and pushed his opponent back to glance and confirm his suspicion. His eyes widened when he saw black smoke further away from the border, whatever caused that should be a very big fire.

“What is that?” Wei Qingwei gasped, gaining others’ attention.

“Oh, that? Have a guess,” Shen Qingqiu said casually. “Since we’re going to win, it’s a bit useless to have everyone fight. To save up the time I sent some demons to conquer the weaker part of the human realm so we could settle down immediately.”

They all looked at the masked man in shock.

“You! Coward!” Qi Qingqi screamed. This was a hostage situation!

“I’m just being efficient,” Shen Qingqiu said as he raised his head and they saw more smoke appeared from different directions.

Shen Qingqiu’s smirk widened. In a span of a few days, he managed to injure a few of his martial niblings that had an important role in their peaks such as the succeeding disciples and direct disciples, even the elders. He knew without them, the peak lords would all be burdened to watch over their own remaining disciples. He even fatally injured Ming Fan to make sure no one can lead Qing Jing peak.

Because of the absence of many succeeding disciples and elders, it ought to be right for one or two peak lords to be left behind and protect the Sect and the junior disciples in it. Decreasing their manpower further.

The only ones he failed to injure was the succeeding disciple of Qian Cao peak and Xian Shu peak. The Qian Cao peak’s successor seemed to be too busy to be outside of the Sect’s protection boundary, whereas Qi Qingqi’s favored girl was always either with her or her brother, Liu Qingge. Shen Qingqiu simply gave up on her.

“Some of you, follow me!” Qi Qingqi turned to the other direction from the battlefield, several disciples and elders looked at her and knew they had to do something.

Shen Qingqiu looked at Yue Qingyuan who gazed coldly at him.

For his goals, Shen Qingqiu would do anything. If to prevent these people from dying meant he had to hurt them, then, so be it.

Mu Qingfang gathered a few of his emergency tools in calm haste, “Let’s go,” he said.

“Is that everything?” His shidi asked. Too many senior disciples had been injured and too many things the peak lords had to divide their workload, not to mention with the sudden assault to the border, everything was in shambles and they really needed their physician brother on the field.

“Yes,” Mu Qingfang replied confidently.

“I know the quickest way there, come on.”

Shen Qingqiu clenched his teeth as he was forced a few steps back from his exchange with Yue Qingyuan, not to mention the few high-ranked demons he assigned to distract Liu Qingge seemed to be losing. Not long, he’d need to divide his attention back to Liu Qingge.

He formed another qi sword in his hand and slashed towards Yue Qingyuan who raised the sheathed Xuan Su to split the sword wave. Yue Qingyuan gazed coldly at Shen Qingqiu who raised his hand again and slashed the air again and again to create a sword wave after sword wave to push Yue Qingyuan back.

Yue Qingyuan faced them all calmly, which frustrated Shen Qingqiu slightly. Still, it was something that Shen Qingqiu was very grateful of.

“Cannot unsheathe Xuan Su just yet, hm? Sect Leader Yue?” Shen Qingqiu mocked. As long as Xuan Su was sheathed, he could use all his power to hold Yue Qingyuan back, but if that black sword left its scabbard, Shen Qingqiu might need to watch out for his small life.

Yue Qingyuan frowned and flicked a glance to Tian Langjun at the distance, he needed to save up his power. This man’s qi capacity was so big that he didn’t go tired even once after letting out all those qi-draining attacks, but he needed Xuan Su against Tian Langjun. His life force...  Yue Qingyuan narrowed his eyes.

Bang!

“He does not need to use his full power to fight you. I will,” Liu Qingge stated coldly, pushing his blade to inch closer to Shen Qingqiu’s face whilst the other side was holding him back with his own sword.

“Useless!” Shen Qingqiu spat out to the group of demons he had dispatched to fight Liu Qingge. Shen Qingqiu glared, ‘this bastard improved again!’ he thought enviously but he had the absolute advantage still. Shen Qingqiu gathered his qi into a ball and let it explode on Liu Qingge’s face.

They both leaped back from each other, as expected, it only grazed Liu Qingge a bit. That man really had the life force of a cockroach.

Shen Qingqiu noticed that Yue Qingyuan had gone off of his range and was about to chase him when Liu Qingge jumped in his way.

Bam!

Their qi met again in an eye-catching fashion, “Why do you side with the demons?” Liu Qingge growled. With this man’s power, he could easily be within the top ten of strongest human cultivator in the continent, why siding with demons?

“None of your business!” Shen Qingqiu spat out.

“You’re a traitor to your own race!” Liu Qingge condemned.

“How could you know that humanity didn’t betray me first?” Shen Qingqiu sneered behind his dark veil.

“You’re the most beautiful colour that ever graced my life,” Tian Langjun smiled coyly as he presented the pretty flower he just found on the edge of the cliff earlier this afternoon. “It’s not a lot, but you’re as beautiful as this flower, even more, actually.”

The woman he flattered looked down on the flower in her hand, “This is Volcanic Cloud Fireflower. A poisonous flower.”

Tian Langjun brightened, “Beautiful and deadly, just like you!”

“And you know the first part of my name is evening. Colour of evening,” The cold-faced woman raised her brows. “There wasn’t much colour there.”

“I love evening,” Tian Langjun smiled, lovestruck as he was.”And the time of dusk too. What do you mean with that? Dusk has so many colours! Beautiful red, orange, purplish, and finally, subdued darkness before dark of the nighttime.”

Something about what Tian Langjun said caused her expression to look downcast, but Tian Langjun was not able to point it out as the woman said, “At this point, you’ll just twist all your words to agree with me, aren’t you?” The woman gave a sideways glance at Tian Langjun.

"Compromise is the secret of happy marriage.”

“I don’t know what to say to you anymore, Tian-lang,” The cold beauty finally showed an expression with a tilt on the corner of her lips, she looked more amused than flattered but Tian Langjun still counted it as a win. “But after dusk, night comes.” She said quietly with an eerie tone.

Tian Langjun smiled, “I’m a demon. Nighttime never scares me,” he said as he reached to caress the woman’s cheek.

Tian Langjun reached out to him, his face was painfully similar to his mother, bringing all those bad memories back. Tian Langjun thought he had turned all his love to be nothing but hatred and indifference but one glimpse of hope made him crazy.

Seems like it was true, demons could never let go of the object of their obsession that easily. Especially a Heavenly Demon like him.

Another explosion could be heard, this time, it was because Yue Qingyuan had unsheathed Xuan Su sword to slash towards Tian Langjun’s arm that stretched out to hold Luo Binghe’s neck. Luo Binghe leaped back, stabbing Xin Mo to the ground to help him stabilize himself, he gasped slightly, a bit terrified.

‘That gaze just now...’ Luo Binghe swallowed, he pulled Xin Mo out of the ground and jumped back but before he could do anything else, another wave of demonic qi swarmed his way courtesy of Tian Langjun. Caught off guard, Luo Binghe could only raise Xin Mo to protect himself.

Even after blasting Luo Binghe off, Tian Langjun was still at ease in fighting Yue Qingyuan and other Sect Heads on the side. Tian Langjun shrugged off the attempt of Zhao Hua Temple’s monks in sealing his movement, “Useless,” he mumbled as he threw out his palm and hit straight on one of the monks’ chest.

Tian Langjun held out his hand and hold Xuan Su’s blade in his hand, blood rolled down the black blade and Tian Langjun eyed it slightly. “I recognize you, you’re the young man from years ago, right?” he smiled coldly, “You have a nice blade there, a bit too risky to be out in the open, right?”

Yue Qingyuan’s eyes widened in shock and Tian Langjun smiled as he raised his hand.

Meanwhile, Luo Binghe slammed to the wall halfway through the battlefield, he groaned and stood up again, his demon mark glowed in rage.

“Luo Binghe?!”

Luo Binghe’s demon mark dimmed as he turned to gaze at the speaker in horror, “Mu-shishu?! What are you doing here?!”

Mu Qingfang frowned, “The state of the battlefield is too dire for me to not take a part in.”

“What about Shizun!?”

“Your Shizun is in the safety of your sealed chamber.”

Back to Tian Langjun and the others’ fight, they all eyed Tian Langjun in a mix of fear and alertness, “Can you take this?” Tian Langjun chuckled with a teasing tone.

Yue Qingyuan raised his sword and the others also prepared themselves.

Tian Langjun smiled, but suddenly he turned to Yue Qingyuan’s other side and shot his explosive power towards Luo Binghe, shocking Yue Qingyuan who was preparing to defend himself.

Yue Qingyuan noticed that Luo Binghe was not alone there, there was his physician shidi. “No!” Gathering his power on his sword, Yue Qingyuan sent a sword wave to intercept Tian Langjun’s explosive power.

On another side, another sword wave greeted both attacks and the resulting shockwave shook the battlefield.

Tian Langjun blinked, he expected Yue Qingyuan’s intervention but... Tian Langjun gazed over to see Shen Qingqiu at the end of the last sword wave, he looked back to see another person beside Luo Binghe. Oh...A person of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.

The three-side of opposing energy tried to overpower each other before Luo Binghe slashed them off with Xin Mo, breaking them off with a loud bang.

“Stay at the back,” Luo Binghe said to Mu Qingfang, he couldn’t let Mu Qingfang die, he needed him to fix his Shizun. Luo Binghe then dashed off to help the others fighting Tian Langjun again.

Sha Hualing, as the third-in-command after Luo Binghe and Mo Beijun, was having a simultaneously fun and difficult day. She had a field day killing her enemies, but on the other side, she knew they were at a disadvantage in this war.

Don’t be ridiculous, the other side had Tian Langjun, the former overlord of the Demon World!

However, she still couldn’t help but feeling like the storm had yet to hit the harbor even after the battle starting in bloody fashion.

Countless seals suddenly appeared with the eight-trigrams formation being the main source of power, the change brought a slight falter in the battle, causing a few casualties from both sides.

Tian Langjun’s eyes darkened as he felt his body becoming heavier, no, this wasn’t those pesky bald monks’ doing. This was different, Tian Langjun glared at the peak lord of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect that specialized in seals. Annoying. He had made sure to destroy every defensive formation of Zhao Hua Palace at the border but not quite the seals of Tian Yin peak.

“Bring me that dead palace master! Or I’ll make a blood path in my search!” Tian Langjun hollered to the heaven. His mark flared brightly as he prepared himself to destroy the seals forcefully.

A bright beam of light shot out of the demon overlord’s body and broke several seals, the present peak lords all froze in disbelief whereas Zhang Qingxu clenched his teeth with blood oozing out of the corner of his mouth.

Tian Langjun grinned as he easily let out his power to shrug off the remaining seals and formations those pesky monks tried to set up. His crimson demon mark shone brightly. “So you chose death?” Tian Langjun glowered.

Shen Qingqiu felt numb when he saw the beckoning crimson light from Tian Langjun’s forehead. He saw everything from his place, he clenched his fists. Even though no one died but Tian Langjun intended to severely injure Zhang Qingxu as those seals' master. This is bad.

Having get rid of Liu Qingge to the willing Zhuzhi-Lang, who now fought both Mo Beijun and Liu Qingge, he decided he needed to take action immediately and get the people of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect away from Tian Langjun.

Shen Qingqiu made a handseal, ‘This better works,’ he sliced his finger and squeezed out a few droplets of blood. Several blood chains appeared from the void and shot off towards each peak lord near Tian Langjun, before they could register what was happening and fought back, Shen Qingqiu not-so-gently pulled them all away with a tug.

Shen Qingqiu managed one tug before all of them forcefully broke through the chains, not like Shen Qingqiu expected to hold them all off with it anyway. Shen Qingqiu created a force field with his vast qi reserve to defend against their half-hearted assaults in return.

A shockwave occured with Tian Langjun in the center of it.

“Tian Langjun! You lunatic!” Shen Qingqiu yelled out but he received nothing in response. Not good. He couldn’t trust the current Tian Langjun at all, he was showing the trait of willing to severely injure the people of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. He was insane!

“Argh-!” One of the high monks from Zhao Hua Temple fell, followed by another, then another.

“Great Monk Wu!” Yue Qingyuan’s eyes widened in disbelief when he saw even Zhao Hua Temple’s Great Monk was coughing out blood.

The peak lords prepared themselves to save those who were injured and held off Tian Langjun, Shen Qingqiu threw more blood chains towards them but he was too slow. “Damn it, stay put,” Shen Qingqiu growled. He gave up on the others and decided to focus on Yue Qingyuan.

Yue Qingyuan was about to flick Xuan Su and broke the chains tying him up when he heard the veiled man spoke up.

“Don’t be crazy. Tian Langjun is uncontrollable right now!”

Yue Qingyuan broke the chains, “And our duty to stop him.”

“Yue Qingyuan, you stupid fucking-“ Shen Qingqiu threw more chains but Yue Qingyuan raised Xuan Su and slashed towards him. Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes and used his overwhelmingly vast qi to parry it.

Bang!

Another shockwave occured but the peak lords were completely protected from it by Luo Binghe who once again received the full damage and was sent flying.

Yue Qingyuan, in his anxiety for his remaining brothers against Tian Langjun, decided to cut short his exchange with Shen Qingqiu with another sword wave before Shen Qingqiu could recover from the first.

“Damn it,” Luo Binghe sat up from the rumbles, growling. Weak. He was still too weak to fight against Tian Langjun in his peak strength alone. He needed to do something to –

The noise of debris getting pushed off sounded not far away from Luo Binghe. He turned to see the masked man that had ruined his Shizun’s body got out of the pile of debris he was in.

Their eyes met.

Luo Binghe’s eyes sparked with hatred whereas Shen Qingqiu cursed in his mind. They both jumped on their feet, Shen Qingqiu hastily conjured a sword made of qi to parry Xin Mo. That battlefield scale suddenly tipped with Luo Binghe’s absence against Tian Langjun.

Zhuzhi-Lang soon noticed there was something wrong and immediately scanned the battlefield for Shen Qingqiu to find him fighting against a furious Luo Binghe. Zhuzhi-Lang missed his footing and Liu Qingge slashed his shoulder, Zhuzhi-Lang tried to move but his foot was caught within Mo Beijun’s ice. Not enough with those, Zhuzhi-Lang felt a prickle on his neck and brushed it to pull out a small poisonous needle.

The snake demon growled as he glared to one spot that was on his blind spot and saw the traitorous peak lord of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect there. Shang Qinghua yelped and ducked back behind the large boulder he found shelter in, not quite seeing as Mo Beijun jumped in Zhuzhi-Lang’s way to protect him from having his boulder blown to smithereens.

Shang Qinghua felt depressed, a weak person like him should be at the back of the battlefield, but no one in Cang Qiong Mountain Sect trusted him enough to leave him with the children to protect so he got shooed to the front. And then they needed more help and he got pushed forward again into the battlefield. Had it not because Mo Beijun was in the battlefield, he would have run and become a deserter. He braved himself to crawl up and peek out to see the situation again only to blink as he could only see a wall of ice before him.

Shang Qinghua felt nothing but gratitude with the shield his King had given to him, but now he couldn’t see Mo Beijun and Liu Qingge fighting with Zhuzhi-Lang again. Shang Qinghua decided to focus his attention somewhere else and found Luo Binghe and the masked man locked in a dangerous battle.

The mysterious man made some motions with his hands, his qi infused themselves into random objects accross the battlefield, whether it was discarded swords or fallen leaves on the ground. He threw them all towards Luo Binghe.

As an amazing main character he was, Luo Binghe shrugged all of those meaningless distractions with ease, his eyes didn’t leave the veiled man’s figure even for a bit.

Shang Qinghua raised his hand and picked out another needle coated with potent poison he bought from the system. It was enough to paralyze an A-grade character, with some lessened side effects against Zhuzhi-Lang because he was a snake demon who was well-versed in poison. He used it against Zhuzhi-Lang mainly for distraction, he was not sure if it would work on long-term with the Heavenly Demon-Snake Demon hybrid.

But to others... It ought to.

“System, help me out again,” Shang Qinghua whispered and his sight suddenly became very clear and focused on the veiled man. This was his reward for escaping death, well, more like a reward after he got so many comments because of a single picture of Tian Langjun, but that was all connected, okay?

[Target locked. Do you want to use your 100% accuracy package? You have 4 packages left.]

“Yes,” Shang Qinghua prepared himself.

[Confirmed.]

Shang Qinghua raised his hand.

Sheng Qingqiu, who didn’t know he was targetted sneakily from behind, gritted his teeth as he was forced back again by Luo Binghe. “You beast!” He scorned and flung up his arms, more discarded sharp objects and fallen leaves floated up and shot towards Luo Binghe.

Shang Qinghua blinked, his jaw slowly dropped. ‘What???’

[Shoot.]

Shang Qinghua’s eyes widened, “No, wait!!!” but it was too late. The needle was released from his grip and it pierced through the air and chaotic flying things around and buried itself on the veiled man’s arm.

Shen Qingqiu felt the prickle on his skin and jolted back in shock. His arm fell numb on his side.

Shadow fell on him, Shen Qingqiu looked up to see Luo Binghe holding Xin Mo up in the air, ready to strike.

“Wait!!!” Shang Qinghua cried out. “Luo Binghe!!!” But, who was Shang Qinghua to Luo Binghe? 

Luo Binghe ignored Shang Qinghua’s yell and slashed down.

Blood splattered.

The veil was torn off, exposing the face it hid. The bamboo hat fell down and so did Luo Binghe’s stomach.

Luo Binghe’s eyes widened, “What...?” he disbelievingly murmured.

Shang Qinghua covered his mouth in horror, oh no...

Luo Binghe shifted, his body felt abnormally light as he stared at his opponent’s face for the first time. No, impossible... “S-Shizun...?!” Luo Binghe gasped.

No, no, no, impossible. His Shizun... What is he doing here?! Luo Binghe froze like a statue before the exposed Shen Qingqiu who had a gaping wound on his chest, bleeding crazily.

“Move, Luo Binghe!” Shang Qinghua had rushed quickly when he saw it. “Shen Qingqiu, what the hell!?” Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Being right hurt! Why was this S-grade character here? Alive? When he wasn’t even resurrected yet by Luo Binghe!? What the fuck is happening?!

“Lord Shen!”

Having heard Shang Qinghua’s distressed yell, Mo Beijun brought down the ice wall protecting Shang Qinghua which had also obscured Zhuzhi-Lang’s sight from Shen Qingqiu. He saw everything and was horrified when he witnessed Shen Qingqiu fell with Luo Binghe’s ruthless attack.

“No way...” Liu Qingge stared, wide-eyed. He murmured something under his breath as his arms fell on his sides in disbelief.

Zhuzhi-Lang’s yell confirmed half of the doubts.

Luo Binghe’s trembling arms reached out in haste and he caught Shen Qingqiu before he could crash to the ground. Luo Binghe’s eyes traced the pale face, not a single thing was out of place, it was his Shizun’s face. Luo Binghe’s eyes teared up without him knowing, “Shizun!!!” he cried out.

Shen Yuan didn’t even realize his ice cream cone was melting on his free hand and dirtied his green hoodie, too engrossed in his reading that he didn’t even realize his wide-open mouth was empty. He moved his thumb to swipe down again, nothing.

He blinked rapidly and swiped his thumb against his phone’s screen again.

Nothing.

Motherfucker! It ended there!?

“NO!!!” Shen Yuan jumped on his bed. “NOO! You can’t do this to me! What the fuck!?” He had devoted all of his mind into this chapter, the action was mesmerizing and he could imagine it in his head. Several new creatures also appeared and he lived for it. But the show was stolen by the reveal of the mysterious masked man who turned out to be Shen Qingqiu all along!

Shen Qingqiu!

The badass Shizun who valued freedom, former slave, formerly abused so much, the badass man who crawled out the hell hole and managed to climb up rank, putting himself as one of the most powerful and important cultivators of his generation! The man who was loyal to death that he didn’t even say it with his own mouth that he had been abused just to make sure his former love stayed in the dark about her disgusting family!

What would make that amazing man side with Tian Langjun!? He needed to know!

Shen Yuan shoved the entire ice cream cone into his mouth, tossed his phone somewhere else and grabbed his laptop. He needed to have his full power to give a review for this one and debate with the other fans about the theories they all came up with.

But first thing first, he needed to join the others in their cries.

[User Peerless Cucumber: GODDAMMIT, AIRPLANE!!! THIS CLIFFHANGER HURTS!!!]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: HOLD ON! YOU CAN’T JUST DO THIS TO ME!!!??? BECAUSE!?! MY?! HUSBAND!? IS?! ALIVE!??!?! WHAT ABOUT HIS IMMORTAL BODY?!?!?!]

[User Into The Unkown: So, Shen Qingqiu’s immortal body was not his body!? Or maybe, someone faked it!? What the hell, I’m confused!?]

[User Invidia_Envy: PLOT TWIST! PLOT TWIST!!! Also, MY HEART IS IN TWIST!!!]

[User OrangeRin: Are you trying to kill me, Airplane!??!]

[User Must Practice: GREAT! NOW I WON’T BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON MY PRACTICE BECAUSE MY BRAIN WOULD BE THINKING ABOUT THIS ALL DAY!!!]

[User All Is Found: WHAT?!?! YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE US AT THAT?!?!]

[User Sexy Banana: Excuse me, the site is broken, why can’t I see the rest of the chapter? It stopped at MOTHERFUCKING CLIFFHANGER!!!]

[User Tian Langjun’s Bitch: Oh, come on! I’m not an athletic person! If you keep me hanging like this, I will fall to my death!!!]

[User Liu Mingyan’s Goddess Veil: Aha! My oldest theory was right! Shizun was a villain all along!]

[User Our Shizun Is The Best Shizun: Upstairs! Shut the fuck up! We didn’t even know the whole story yet! He might be threatened or it was a part of a grand scheme!]

[User Liu-juju and His Shen-shixiong: Shizun is evil!? No, no, no, no, I don’t believe my Shen Qingqiu is evil! What about Liu-juju?!]

[User Zhangmen-shixiong Is Not The Best Shixiong Till He Explains Himself: I want to see Yue Qingyuan reacting to this. Come on! I just want to read his reaction!]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: No, no, no, Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Could this be Tian Langjun’s deceit? He had a human subordinate with the face like Shen Qingqiu and used it to his capability? What if he’s fake? Luo Binghe might get back-stabbed!]

[User Mistress of Moonlight: I don’t think so, Sovereign. The mysterious man had shown some suspicious action such as pulling the peak lords at a critical moment, I think... I think that’s really Shizun.]

[User Monkey King of The West: But, Mistress. He also showed to injure several people of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Not to mention, his morale was questionable! He burned up the villages near the border just to divide the peak lords’ attention!]

[User Sun Knight: Listen, listen, Shizun was always a man who caused a lot of understanding with his silence. He was still doing it, see?! Even if he hurt many direct disciples as shown and described, it might be because that was his plan all along!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: I agree with Mistress and Knight-bro. If that IS truly Shizun, I believe he another layer beneath his action of injuring the people. I NEED THE NEXT CHAPTER SOON!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: No rush, though, Airplane-bro. Take care of your health, I don’t want you to get sick. That would be redundant.]

[User Show Yourself Shizun!!!: Dear God, Shizun is really the connecting thread to this plotline. He was almost everywhere!]

[User Shizun Please Step On Me: *Uncontrollable sobbing*]

[User Beneath The Autumn Sky: Everyone is asking about Shen Qingqiu. But I want to know Tian Langjun’s story too, what made him this angry? He even targetted Luo Binghe like crazy! And Luo Binghe is his son!]

Chapter Text

Luo Binghe’s eyes shook as he stared at the bloodied man in his arms. He couldn’t believe it, his Shizun... His Shizun was moving, alive, and then... he... Luo Binghe struck him down.

But how?

Why?

What happened? Luo Binghe’s head began to spin.

In his arms, Shen Qingqiu flinched, brows furrowed and eyes squinted in an attempt to focus. A trail of blood oozed out of his mouth when he opened it, trying to say something.

“Urgh-“ Shen Qingqiu croaked weakly, choking on his own blood.

“Shizun!” Luo Binghe panicked.

“Luo Binghe!” Shang Qinghua hurried over, stumbling all over the place before he was close enough to the two people. “What are you waiting for!? Your blood!” Shang Qinghua bellowed angrily.

That was his S-grade son, he couldn’t afford to lose him again! There was no time for hesitation right now!

Upon hearing Shang Qinghua’s scream, Luo Binghe began to gain back some clarity, he slashed off his wrist with no hesitation.

Seeing that, Zhuzhi-Lang was overcome by panic and a sense of crisis, he tried to rush over and stop Luo Binghe but Mo Beijun immediately jumped in his way. A huge wall of ice formed again, making a barrier between Zhuzhi-Lang and the other side of the battlefield where Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe were.

Zhuzhi-Lang turned his eerily glowing golden eyes towards Mo Beijun’s cool blue ones.

“Your opponent is me,” Mo Beijun said.

“I’ll kill you,” Zhuzhi-Lang hissed.

On the other side of the ice wall, Luo Binghe fumbled to feed Shen Qingqiu his blood. He managed to make Shen Qingqiu swallowed a few drops of blood before he put his hand on Shen Qingqiu’s bloody chest, hands shaking.

“Please, please... please,” Luo Binghe gritted his teeth, feeling absolutely useless that he couldn’t heal Shen Qingqiu’s wounds faster. “Shizun, can you hear me? Shizun, answer please...”

A sob escaped Luo Binghe’s lips.

“I didn’t know...” He whispered. “I would never hurt you if I... I’m sorry...” Luo Binghe teared up.

Shang Qinghua saw this and couldn’t help but freaked out when Shen Qingqiu didn’t even react, “He lost too much blood,” he said as he stared at the blood pooling underneath Shen Qingqiu. Damn it, Luo Binghe’s blood had just entered Shen Qingqiu’s system and was still too weak to heal a life-threatening wound!

“What should I do?!” Luo Binghe panicked.

Shang Qinghua didn’t answer him, he truly didn’t know what to do, he’d asked his system if there was any way to save Shen Qingqiu’s life and it offered him nothing. “Mu Qingfang...” Shang Qinghua realized. “Mu Qingfang!”

Luo Binghe looked at Shang Qinghua and immediately enlightened.

“I’ll-“ Shang Qinghua had yet to finish his line when a loud bang sounded and the huge ice wall Mo Beijun had made burst into thousand pieces. A giant snake had broken through the solid ice wall, much to Shang Qinghua’s horror, and slithered their ways at top speed.

Two more figures ran past the destroyed wall. Mo Beijun raised his hand as the ice melted back and formed several huge stalactites over the snake’s giant form, he waved his hand and the stalactite shot over to Zhuzhi-Lang.

Zhuzhi-Lang twisted and avoided several stalactites that would severely injure him whilst having no time to avoid the ones that wouldn’t do much damage.

As Mo Beijun was trying to injure him enough to stop him, Liu Qingge rushed to the front and swung his sword with all his might, a huge whirlwind appeared around him and he slammed it on Zhuzhi-Lang to direct the snake off track.

Luo Binghe hugged Shen Qingqiu close and immediately jumped out of the way whilst Shang Qinghua yelped and scrambled to the other direction.

Zhuzhi-Lang hissed loudly, his snake body twisted violently as he shook off Liu Qingge’s disturbance and splashed corrosive poisons wildly. Mo Beijun sweated slightly as he clenched his fist and a thick ice barrier formed before Shang Qinghua to protect him from the poison. The ice wall emitted a quiet hiss as it melted down but Shang Qinghua was fine behind it.

Luo Binghe landed back and immediately felt fear when he heard Shen Qingqiu’s quiet painful hiss. He couldn’t fight right now, he needed to get his Shizun to Mu Qingfang! Decisively, Luo Binghe turned away and immediately made a run for it.

Zhuzhi-Lang saw it and immediately transformed back into his human form and pursued. Liu Qingge shouted for them to stop and darted after them. Mo Beijun frowned coldly and chased after them.

Shang Qinghua was left pretty much alone, gawking at them. Holy shit, his villain son just shed his veil and the important-level fight just stopped and turned into a freaking running fiasco!

‘To chase or not to chase?’ Shang Qinghua thought seriously. If he chased after them, deadly dangers laid await. Shang Qinghua then reached a decision and immediately darted to the back of the battlefield for Mu Qingfang. He couldn’t do anything with those giants fighting, but Mu Qingfang could do something to heal Shen Qingqiu!

Mu Qingfang didn’t know what to expect when he saw Shang Qinghua ran towards him with a panicking expression, but he didn’t stop tending the wounded ones. If Shang Qinghua needed any assistance he wouldn’t be running, it was most likely a news.

“Mu-shidi! Mu-shidi!” Shang Qinghua paused for a second to breathe as Mu Qingfang was done patching up a poisoned monk from Zhao Hua Temple. “Shen Qingqiu is dying!”

Mu Qingfang paused and looked at Shang Qinghua incredulously, “Who?”

“Shen-shixiong, ah!” Shang Qinghua cried out, “Luo Binghe accidentally slashed him!” everyone knew of Luo Binghe’s might. It was dangerous to be slashed by him!

Mu Qingfang immediately stood up, “Lead the way,” he said without any hesitation. “Explain everything while on the way.”

Shang Qinghua nodded and the two of them sped up the direction the three people had taken for their game of chase.

Shen Qingqiu gained some awareness after a while, he felt his body was in between of being alarmingly hot and dreadfully cold at the same time, his head swam. Wait, no.

‘Something’s not right...’ Shen Qingqiu’s mind supplied weakly. Something churned in his body, hot, urgent, maintaining the temperature within him like a churning wave. His chest felt hurt. Hot.

Shen Qingqiu opened his eyes with difficulty to see a blurry sight, “Agh...”

“Shizun?”

Shen Qingqiu blinked awake, everything before he passed out came back to him and he instinctively reached to hold his wounded chest, barely registering that he didn’t have his veil that covered his face anymore.

Fuck.

His cover was blown.

“Shizun, are you awake?” Luo Binghe was overcome by relief when he saw Shen Qingqiu opening his eyes. But when he saw how pale his Shizun was, he knew he needed more than just his blood to sustain Shen Qingqiu longer. His Shizun had just been digested, it was not strong enough yet to heal his Shizun completely.

Luo Binghe skidded to a stop and jumped sideways to avoid Zhuzhi-Lang’s sword wave.

“You want to die?!” Luo Binghe bellowed furiously.

“Hand him over,” Zhuzhi-Lang growled.

“Stop!” Liu Qingge barked at them both while Mo Beijun silently prepared himself for another attack.

Just before they would jump into another messy fight, Shen Qingqiu’s face twisted and he threw up a mouthful of blood. The sudden pulse because of it made his injury that was slowly healing with the help of Luo Binghe’s blood to tear out again.

The three men froze when they saw it, Mo Beijun used that chance to use his power to restrain Zhuzhi-Lang and pointed his sword at his throat. “Don’t move,” Mo Beijun said coldly, even as he said that, he pressed his sword on Zhuzhi-Lang’s throat to draw blood. He still had some grudges against this snake, there was no way he’d let him off easily.

“Shizun, Shizun, are you okay?” Luo Binghe hastily put Shen Qingqiu on the ground.

Shen Qingqiu had enough strength to push Luo Binghe off as he coughed out some more blood. Seeing this, Luo Binghe became even more distressed as he controlled his blood to heal Shen Qingqiu, hating that his blood couldn’t assimilate with Shen Qingqiu fast enough in such a dire time to heal him better.

Liu Qingge carefully shifted and kneeled down next to Shen Qingqiu, all the while not letting his back facing Zhuzhi-Lang and Mo Beijun. “Shen Qingqiu...?” He murmured disbelievingly. At first, he thought Luo Binghe had succeeded in resurrecting him somehow but he quickly eradicated that idea because it just didn’t fit.

Then, how could he be here?

“You’re in Tian Langjun’s side?” Liu Qingge couldn’t understand anything anymore. The concept of life and death never seemed so far away and confusing as now.

Zhuzhi-Lang’s expression got steadily colder when he saw the scene but Mo Beijun’s focus was still wholly on him.

“Liu-shixiong!”

Liu Qingge and Zhuzhi-Lang perked up at the call. They saw Shang Qinghua was rushing over with Mu Qingfang in tow, seeing Mu Qingfang, Luo Binghe’s eyes gained a bit of hope.

Liu Qingge stood up to receive them and meet them halfway.

Zhuzhi-Lang’s eyes gleamed, with a quick flick of his sleeve, a needle shot out towards Shang Qinghua. Mo Beijun reacted in less than a second and immediately tried to cut Zhuzhi-Lang’s head off of his shoulders.

Mu Qingfang pushed Shang Qinghua aside and whipped out his sword to repel the poisoned needle.

On the other side, Zhuzhi-Lang managed to survive Mo Beijun’s slash and ended up with a thin line of a bleeding wound on his neck that slowly healed as white scales began to emerge from his skin.

Shen Qingqiu, reacting a bit later than the others, immediately knew he had to get away somehow. He took the advantage of Luo Binghe having absolutely no guard towards him and pulled out a hidden dagger from his sleeve.

Luo Binghe felt pain stabbed into his stomach and the dagger twisted inside him. He stared at Shen Qingqiu in disbelief and staggered back due to shock.

Shen Qingqiu pushed himself to sit up, hissing in pain. The wound on his chest almost paralyzed him with pain, much to his chagrin, tears formed on the corner of his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut to withstand the pain and used the back of his hand to wipe the tears away.

However the next time he opened his eyes, he saw Liu Qingge standing in front of him with his back facing him, no, rather than in front of Shen Qingqiu, he was standing in front of both Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe.

It all happened way too fast. One moment Shen Qingqiu saw Liu Qingge with his sword bracing for Zhuzhi-Lang, the next moment he was thrown back past Shen Qingqiu.

“Liu-shixiong!” Mu Qingfang exclaimed in worry.

Zhuzhi-Lang paused and his eyes widened.

Just now, in a split second alone, a lot of things happened. When Shen Qingqiu stabbed Luo Binghe, Mo Beijun was distracted for the slightest bit and Zhuzhi-Lang managed to use his qi to shake him off and transformed into his snake form to break the restraining ice around his feet. He then lunged to finish what Shen Qingqiu had started by stabbing Luo Binghe. A stab wouldn’t hold Luo Binghe back after all, especially with his heritage.

Zhuzhi-Lang had attacked with a full intention to cripple Luo Binghe if possible but he didn’t hit Luo Binghe.

No, it was Liu Qingge who got in the way. Raising his sword to protect himself and the people behind him.

Zhuzhi-Lang transformed back into his human form and hastily rushed over, “Lord Shen, I... I did not...” he reached out carefully, guilty and worried that Shen Qingqiu reacted badly.

Shen Qingqiu did react badly.                             

He swung the dagger he used to stab Luo Binghe earlier to Zhuzhi-Lang’s reaching hand. Zhuzhi-Lang retracted his hand back when he saw Shen Qingqiu’s reaction, he ignored his bleeding hand and stared at Shen Qingqiu, pleading.

“Get lost!” Shen Qingqiu coughed and held his chest, heaving. “Don’t touch me, you filth,” he hissed, breathless.

Zhuzhi-Lang stepped back and raised his hand to catch Mu Qingfang’s sword, he glanced at the peak lord of Qian Cao and quickly retreated. Mu Qingfang stood between Zhuzhi-Lang and Shen Qingqiu, glaring coldly.

Luo Binghe pulled himself together and stood up, he didn’t look at his master at all, focusing all his attention to Zhuzhi-Lang, “Mo Bei!” He yelled.

The temperature dropped once again as the ground was quickly covered by ice.

Luo Binghe pushed Mu Qingfang back, “You look after Shizun and the injured,” his gaze darkened, “I’ll take care of the nuisances.”

Mu Qingfang was more than willing to step aside and immediately came to his shixiong’s rescue, “Shen-shixiong, don’t move!” he stressed, holding Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders to stop him from moving about. “You've lost too much blood.”

“Tian Langjun...” Shen Qingqiu hissed and Mu Qingfang froze.

“Shen-shixiong,” Mu Qingfang furrowed his brows and Shen Qingqiu grabbed his wrist tight.

“He has...” Shen Qingqiu started hoarsely. His breath hitched as he gripped on Mu Qingfang’s wrist tighter, “You all must go.”

“I understand, Shen-shixiong, please stop talking. You’re bleeding too much!” Mu Qingfang said.

“Leave this place...!” Shen Qingqiu croaked firmly. “Tell the others...”

“We can’t. We can’t let Tian Langjun continue his rampage and killing spree. We have to stop him no matter what,” Mu Qingfang said solemnly.

“No!” Shen Qingqiu hissed. “The deal’s off...” He murmured before stopping himself to say further. He covered his mouth and coughed out another mouthful of blood.

Mu Qingfang pulled Shen Qingqiu’s hand aside and put a white handkerchief over his mouth to wipe the blood off. “What deal?” Mu Qingfang asked as he solemnly stared into Shen Qingqiu’s eyes.

Silence fell in between the two of them.

“Just leave,” Shen Qingqiu exhaled, angry.

“No, what deals? Shen-shixiong?” Mu Qingfang insisted.

Shen Qingqiu slowly glared at Mu Qingfang in resentment, “It doesn’t matter, it’s already off!” he growled, weak because of bloodloss but still with a tone of warning.

Mu Qingfang knitted his brows tighter, “But I still need to know to decide for the situation!”

“Just listen for once, damn it—“

“No, you listen!” Mu Qingfang exploded. Mu Qingfang was tired, tired and frustrated. In the last few days, his mental burden kept piling up without stopping ever since he accepted Luo Binghe’s plea to help him fix Shen Qingqiu’s immortal body.

And now the frustration peaked, overflowing.

“If you keep being like this, I can’t help you at all, shixiong! No one could! You never said anything, you keep on hiding something. You didn’t even try to reach for us when you were trapped in a town plagued by demonic plague, not once you revealed the truth about your past to attain the justice you deserve- should we bring you back to that Truth Array and breach your privacy just so we could understand your way of thought?! To see the truth?!” Mu Qingfang gritted his teeth.

Shen Qingqiu stared at Mu Qingfang with wide eyes, he never saw his gentle physician shidi this furious before in his life.

“I saw you died. I saw your corpse. You almost died again. And you’re still hiding things?” Mu Qingfang slumped. “Do you have even a shred of faith in us?”

“He’s right...”

Shen Qingqiu turned his head slightly to see Liu Qingge being supported by Shang Qinghua. Liu Qingge weakly reached as Shang Qinghua slowly lowered him to the ground, Mu Qingfang helped him.

Liu Qingge groaned slightly as he sat down beside Shen Qingqiu, he looked quite good for someone who just received the full force of Zhuzhi-Lang’s deadly attack in favor to protect someone else. “Speak to us,” There were so many questions Liu Qingge wanted to ask, to demand, but in the end, he compressed it all into those three words.

Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows, the pain in his chest was still as distracting as ever but he focused all his frustrations to the three people nearby. “You don’t want to know it.”

“Let us be the judge of that,” Liu Qingge said coldly.

Shen Qingqiu exhaled harshly, he unwillingly told them the summary of what happened between him and Tian Langjun. How it all started with Shen Qingqiu encountering Zhuzhi-Lang and accidentally helped him to get the Sun and Moon Dew Flower Seeds. How years from then he met Zhuzhi-Lang again and subsequently Tian Langjun. Tian Langjun’s offer, their one-sided deal, and everything that led up to Shen Qingqiu’s death.

They all listened, by the end of it, Mu Qingfang looked positively disappointed.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Mu Qingfang asked. If only Shen Qingqiu told them about it, they probably could prepare themselves and even protected Shen Qingqiu from anything that might damage his reputation.

“And risk alerting him?” Shen Qingqiu glared. “Even before gaining the perfect vessel, he’s strong. Back then, I intended to keep the status quo as blank as possible but who knows that I kept on being watched?” he said bitterly. He only knew about Tian Langjun a year before his ‘death’, he originally wanted to observe for a while but in the end, he had no chance to report anything back to Yue Qingyuan, not to mention with him being trapped in Jin Lan city for a few months before the tragedy struck.

In the end, he decided to take a shot and hope that Tian Langjun, that demon, would adhere to his promise. Tian Langjun was good, he managed to convince Shen Qingqiu with his straightforward act. Shen Qingqiu couldn’t believe he got way too comfortable with him, he should’ve had known demons would always have their evil intentions.

“You still should have reported back,” Liu Qingge said, frowning deeply. “You can’t even protect your own self, you want to protect the entire sect?” It was rare for Liu Qingge to bother saying so much, but Shen Qingqiu’s action had truly frustrated him.

“Shut up!” Shen Qingqiu glared. “If you want to die so much, then go die!”

“Shixiong, please, you two are injured,” Mu Qingfang said and continued his work on his two patients.

Shang Qinghua fiddled with his fingers anxiously, “Is there any way to stop Tian Langjun from his rampage for vengeance?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Shen Qingqiu said. “Unless the other three Great Sects were leveled to the ground with everyone from them dead.”

Shang Qinghua whimpered.

“You also better hand over that useless scheming old fart from Huan Hua Palace,” Shen Qingqiu looked up seriously. “It may even appease Tian Langjun even for a slightest bit.”

“But... Then, he would only stop until thousands of people died?” Shang Qinghua bit his lips. “Nothing else?”

“We can’t let that happen,” Mu Qingfang furrowed his brows.

Shen Qingqiu snorted, mocking. “It’s either them or all of us. I chose them. Life has never been fair, it’s just their luck.”

“But we’re all allies, we can’t let our allies die,” Mu Qingfang said.

Shen Qingqiu groaned, “That will be the reason of your deaths. Too soft.”

“Shen-shixiong...” Mu Qingfang looked at Shen Qingqiu sadly.

“But, if we cannot choose either of them, then what should we choose?” Shang Qinghua asked Mu Qingfang and Liu Qingge. Truth be told, he was in Shen Qingqiu’s side in this, he’d love to help everyone and keeping everyone alive, he hated seeing casualties. But when push come to shove, if he’d to choose either his own life or those people who didn’t have any connection nor relation with him, he’d rather saving his own life.

Moreover, the choice was all four Great Sects’ destruction or three Great Sects’ destruction. As the old saying said, go with the lesser of the two evils.

“We’ll fight,” Liu Qingge said firmly, breaking Shang Qinghua from his train of thought.

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?!” Shen Qingqiu bellowed before wheezing as the wound in his chest ached from his sudden great movement.

“We couldn’t back down.”

“Pride is only for idiots!” Shen Qingqiu glared.

“We can’t leave our allies,” Liu Qingge said firmly. No matter how shallow their Sect’s relationship with the others, they still fought side-by-side in this war, how could they throw away that kind of camaraderie just to save their own behinds?

“You...” Shen Qingqiu’s face twisted.

Liu Qingge inhaled deeply. He knew what Shen Qingqiu had been through and didn’t blame him that his thought became selfish, cold, calculating, ruthless and efficient. That was why he couldn’t blame him, “It’s our duty,” he said wistfully.

Mu Qingfang nodded to show he was in Liu Qingge’s side. Shang Qinghua saw the determination in Liu Qingge’s eyes and he turned his head away, observing the on-going war with worry in his eyes.

Shen Qingqiu then became a bit anxious seeing that these fools still intend to continue and possibly die for their ‘allies.’ He then said, “There’s another way.”

The three paused and looked at Shen Qingqiu before Shang Qinghua jumped, “What is it?”

“Da Zhu. He’s the one who... ugh, perfected Tian Langjun’s body. He could make it...” He took another breath.  “imperfect.” He finished.

“Where is he?” Liu Qingge asked seriously.

“In the bamboo forest near...” Shen Qingqiu told them the place. “If Tian Langjun’s body is imperfect, you will have a better chance... to defeat him.”

“I’ll go,” Liu Qingge said.

“No, you don’t. Sit down,” Mu Qingfang furrowed his brows. “Your injuries are almost equally serious as Shen-shixiong’s! Zhuzhi-Lang had attacked with the intention to kill just now!”

“I’m fine,” Liu Qingge growled but cut short as he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

“I’ll go,” Shang Qinghua said resolutely

Everyone looked at him with a complicated gaze.

“W-well, Mu-shidi is a healer, Liu-shidi can’t go, and let’s not talk about Shen-shixiong... I can go,” Shang Qinghua said.

Shen Qingqiu sneered at the other, obviously thinking the worst out of Shang Qinghua but no one could blame him for that.

“Alright,” Mu Qingfang readily nodded.

The three of them watched as Shang Qinghua then stood up and immediately left the place briskly.

“You sure he won’t just run away?” Shen Qingqiu coughed.

Mu Qingfang lowered his head, “Even if he does, he wouldn’t find a place to hide,” he said. “I have to focus on you two, please don’t move.”

Zhuzhi-Lang jumped sideways to avoid a dark sword wave that immediately detonated the moment it reached something. The snake demon landed some distance away, the ribbon he had used to loosely tie his hair had been torn apart, earning him a messy hair. Zhuzhi-Lang pushed back his stray locks that obscured his vision, his eyes squinted with his snake pupils were completely slit. “You’re pushing your luck.”

With a wave of his hand, the dust that obscured one’s sight was immediately blown away. “An empty useless threat from someone so meaningless,” Luo Binghe growled.

“It seems like you’ve forgotten the purpose of this war,” Zhuzhi-Lang said with a hint of distaste in his voice.

“I don’t really care about the purpose of it,” Luo Binghe snarled. “What I care about is my purpose in it. Right now, my purpose is to kill you.”

Zhuzhi-Lang jumped high to avoid the spreading ice on the ground and waved his hands when Mo Beijun sent several ice needles after him.

Luo Binghe raised his sword and sent another wave of attacks, he clenched his free hand and a translucent dark purple orb appeared behind Zhuzhi-Lang’s and instantly exploded. Zhuzhi-Lang raised swung his sword behind him a moment before and effectively protected his back from the worst outcome.

“What have you done to my Shizun?!” Luo Binghe yelled, a powerful shockwave spread along with his furious yell and Zhuzhi-Lang waved his sword once more to dissipate the distracting shockwave before hitting him.

CLANG!

Two swords clashed and shook as they pushed against each other, a pair of red eyes looked at another pair of dark golden eyes. “Answer me or I’ll give you a fate worse than death,” Luo Binghe hissed.

“I’ve done nothing worse than what the humans had done to him,” Zhuzhi-Lang answered darkly and Luo Binghe’s eyes flickered in a mixed emotion. “They don’t deserve him,” Zhuzhi-Lang hissed.

Luo Binghe looked at Zhuzhi-Lang in shock, “And you think you did?”

Zhuzhi-Lang scowled, “As long as he wished to stay, I will serve him. Even if he did not, I will protect him.”

“Don’t make me laugh!” Luo Binghe scoffed, but resentment swam in his red eyes.

Mo Beijun raised his sword and spikes of ice raised from the ground, splitting the two Heavenly Demons with a bang. Mo Beijun tried to trap Zhuzhi-Lang within a prison of ice but with a wave of his hand but Zhuzhi-Lang broke free from the forming ice stalactites.

Luo Binghe braced himself as Mo Beijun launched him up with a burst of ice from the ground, Luo Binghe raised Xin Mo and slammed it down to Zhuzhi-Lang who barely raised his own sword to parry it.

A loud and booming clang resounded. Shockwaves spread through the battlefield. Suspended mid-air, the two Heavenly Demons were not backing down from each other for two seconds before Zhuzhi-Lang lost his balance and tilted over slightly.

Luo Binghe saw the chance and immediately seized it. With one final slash, he sent Zhuzhi-Lang slamming back to the ground. Dust particles obscured one’s sight, but Luo Binghe had no regard for that as he dived down with his sword pointing straight down.

The dust immediately cleared up with Luo Binghe’s force pushing it all away, but what emerged from it was Zhuzhi-Lang’s giant snake form. The white snake’s slit pupils shone in eerie light as he opened his mouth with a hiss and a powerful soundwave hit Luo Binghe.

Luo Binghe faltered slightly and ultimately retreated when he saw drops of poison mixed in. Mo Beijun stepped in, using his power he immediately targetted Zhuzhi-Lang’s gigantic body to freeze over. Luo Binghe landed and immediately darted forwards once again seeing the snake who was having difficulty to move.

BAM!

Luo Binghe sent a dark sword wave that immediately exploded violently towards his enemy, destroying everything in its path. Smoke and dust filled the air, Luo Binghe coughed slightly but his red eyes never left the spot where he had last seen Zhuzhi-Lang.

“Zhi-Lang.”

Luo Binghe’s eyes widened. The smoke and dust cleared instantly with a light wave of someone who stood in front of Zhuzhi-Lang’s huge snake form. Tian Langjun.

“This causes you distress?” Tian Langjun said as he clenched his hand around the neck of a cultivator that he had with him and tossed him aside like a ragged doll. Luo Binghe recognized that cultivator was wearing an elaborate version Huan Hua Palace’s uniform, but he had no time trying to recognize the man himself.

Zhuzhi-Lang hissed, low, sounding almost guilty and ashamed. But also a hint of question.

Tian Langjun raised an eyebrow, “You think your snake army would dare to come close with that demon from Mo clan here?” he looked at Mo Beijun pointedly.

Luo Binghe clenched his sword tighter as he got into a stance, his entire focus was once again on Tian Langjun, this demon...

Tian Langjun’s eyes shifted back to Luo Binghe and immediately darkened in resentment, Luo Binghe tensed, every time Tian Langjun had that look in his eyes, he would start attacking Luo Binghe murderously. “Too much like his mother,” Tian Langjun hissed, low, supposedly inaudible with how quiet he was saying it. But the wind picked it up and delivered it to Luo Binghe’s ears like a whisper.

However, one look at Tian Langjun’s face alone told Luo Binghe that Tian Langjun was not trying to be discreet when he said that.

Unexpectedly, Tian Langjun raised his hand towards Mo Beijun and blasted him off instead of Luo Binghe. Luo Binghe snapped his head towards his right-hand-man, “Mo Bei!” He cursed inwardly.

“Such a talented kid, must’ve been from the main line,” Tian Langjun said calmly. “Doesn’t matter, Lin Guang would still be a good vassal power.”

Luo Binghe clenched his fists, he knew after the human world fell into Tian Langjun’s hands, he would immediately look to the demon world. Luo Binghe’s influence might be very impressive for someone his age but it was nothing to the demon overlord himself.

“Jun-shang,” Zhuzhi-Lang, having transformed back to his human form, staggered slightly to Tian Langjun’s side. “Lord Shen...” He said.

Tian Langjun’s eerily dark eyes shifted to Zhuzhi-Lang, “What...?”

Luo Binghe could feel his heart clenched within his chest.

“He... deflected,” Zhuzhi-Lang said hesitantly as he lowered his head.

Tian Langjun narrowed his eyes, “How could that be?” He didn’t even kill anyone from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect!

“My apologies!” Zhuzhi-Lang bowed down with a hand over his heart.

Tian Langjun completely forgot about Luo Binghe as he looked at his nephew in quiet disbelief, “You did?”

“It was an accident,” Zhuzhi-Lang murmured shamefully.

Tian Langjun’s eyes darkened. He knew Zhuzhi-Lang, despite being a very good general and fighter, he was very foolish and quite stupid. Especially for the people he thought highly of. Tian Langjun couldn’t trust Zhuzhi-Lang to be rough or stern to Shen Qingqiu. “Where is he?”

At that moment, Luo Binghe attacked, breaking the two other Heavenly Demons from continuing their conversation. However, his rushed and thoughtless attack held nothing in Tian Langjun’s eyes. Tian Langjun calmly moved his hands like one would do when parting a curtain, and just like that, Luo Binghe’s attack was split into two and directed off course.

Luo Binghe didn’t care that he was risking himself in front of two Heavenly Demons, he immediately took a big leap towards Tian Langjun. Tian Langjun welcomed his bravery and recklessness with a flick of his sleeve.

Zhuzhi-Lang took a step back as he watched the pair of father and son battled, his eyes gleamed as he shifted his gaze and raised his hands to parry another attack directed to Tian Langjun from another direction.

Light burst out and Zhuzhi-Lang grimaced slightly, taking a step back. The light subsided and several chains lunged at the snake demon, binding his right arm. With a powerful tug, Zhuzhi-Lang had to follow the direction of it if he didn’t want his arm to be broken. With one swift spin, he managed to free his arm but he couldn’t hold back the other side from interfering with Tian Langjun’s fight.

Tian Langjun wasn’t bothered with the new disturbance, he stepped back and narrowly avoided Xuan Su.

Tian Langjun tapped Yue Qingyuan’s back and pushed him out of the way, he raised his other hand to shoot off a beam of pure energy towards Luo Binghe to blast him off.

Aware, Yue Qingyuan’s hand shot off to grab Luo Binghe’s sleeve and tried to pull him out of the harm’s way. He half-succeeded but they both still got blasted off because of the force.

Tian Langjun instantly took his attention away from them as he shot off towards the sky. He needed to do something far more important instead of playing around with them.

From the rumbles, Luo Binghe got out, wheezing.

Luo Binghe coughed out a bit of blood and held a hand onto his chest, even though Yue Qingyuan had pulled him away before any serious damage could happen, it was still quite terrifying.

“Are you okay?” Yue Qingyuan hurried over, genuinely concerned. He had seen how murderous Tian Langjun was towards Luo Binghe, the boy seemed to always get the shortest stick when it came to this.

“Stop him!” Luo Binghe yelled as he pushed Yue Qingyuan away. “He’s going to get Shizun!”

“What?” Yue Qingyuan blinked in surprise and looked towards where Tian Langjun had just been.

“Stop him, damn it!” Luo Binghe tried to walk but he swayed slightly. “Shizun is with Mu-shishu and the others, don’t let him get to Shizun!”

Yue Qingyuan’s eyes flashed in a certain way that even though he didn’t thoroughly understand the situation he knew he had to move quickly without asking about it. He left Luo Binghe and shot off after Tian Langjun.

Luo Binghe took out a jade bottle and poured out several precious pills right into his mouth. He tossed the bottle aside and grunted. This was not good, in the first place Tian Langjun had been stronger than he was, now he couldn’t even put a meaningful fight as half of his mental power concentrated to heal his Shizun’s life-threatening injuries.

“Get yourself together...” Luo Binghe inhaled and exhaled. Mo Beijun had been blasted off to who knows where, he needed to chase after Tian Langjun soon. His Shizun... Shizun needed him.

Luo Binghe inhaled, inhaled, inhaled. He grunted and held onto his chest as he fell to his knees. He couldn’t breathe—“Ha... hahh...” Luo Binghe furrowed his brows to focus his sight that began to get blurry. Cold sweats drenched his back, his entire body was trembling, his breath was short—but he refused to let go of Xin Mo.

“Shizun...” He gasped. He needed to help his Shizun--!

“Luo Binghe, take it easy!” The voice of Dream Demon reminded urgently. “You’re at your limit! If you keep pushing yourself like this you’ll absolutely break down!”

“I can go...” Luo Binghe insisted, more to himself than to the Dream Demon.

“Stand down, that Sect Head could take care of it. Several other peak lords even followed along.”

They can’t... They wouldn’t be able to... It was Tian Langjun...!

“You can’t go on like this. You’ve wasted your power and energy all on that man’s immortal body, even before the war you still wasted your energy on that corpse!” He didn’t even stop to recharge his power before the war! He straight up went with all his stress! “Not to mention you’re pushing all your power to heal that Shizun of yours again. You can’t keep challenging your limit like this!”

“Shut up!” Luo Binghe yelled. How dare him to say what Luo Binghe had done for his Shizun as a waste?!

“Your bloodline is going under a change, you should be in a safe place instead of war zone!”

But his Shizun was in this war zone!

“Damn it, you wouldn’t listen to me, wouldn’t you?!”

Luo Binghe ignored Dream Demon as he dragged himself up and began to walk, step by step, towards where he left his Shizun. Despite his body’s protests, Luo Binghe kept on walking. Despite his vision that began to swim, Luo Binghe kept his focus on his destination.

Despite Luo Binghe’s best effort, he fell down limply when his body shut down and darkness claimed him.

His crimson demonic mark flickered shut to dark scarlet.

Shang Qinghua almost dropped in shock when he read Luo Binghe’s pov. NO! Nooooo!!! Why now?! Why did he decide to shut down now!? This is in the middle of a war!!!

Shang Qinghua shakily brought up his hand and bit his fingers nervously. He wouldn’t make it. He absolutely wouldn’t make it! If Luo Binghe wasn’t there to help holding up Tian Langjun, he couldn’t go fetch Da Zhu and return back with it to weaken down Tian Langjun!

‘What should I do? What should I do???’ Shang Qinghua desperately thought.

They’re on the verge of losing the war. Tian Langjun was truly no joke, there was a reason why Shang Qinghua snubbed him out without him ever appearing in his original story. If war was lost, he was no longer a part of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, he would most likely die. But on the other hand, there was no major guarantee that Cang Qiong Mountain Sect would be safe too as Shen Qingqiu said the deal had been called off.

Moreover, if Tian Langjun re-took the demon world... His King... Mo Beijun might be killed and his wicked uncle would take over his place as the Northern Demon King under Tian Langjun...

“Over here! Get the injured away to the sideline!”

Shang Qinghua blinked and looked over to see a group of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’ disciples working together to evacuate anyone that can be saved. They didn’t look good, but certainly much better than some dead disciples from other sects that Shang Qinghua saw within the battlefield.

His eyes sparkled when he saw them, “Shizi!” he exclaimed out as he flashed towards them.

The disciples looked over to see their former fourth shishu/shibo that had recently returned to take care of the logistics department for the war. Although all of them still had doubts with him, they had to erase their hesitation because he was on their side.

“Shang-gongzi...”

“I need your help,” Shang Qinghua said solemnly, his eyes lingered on the group from Qing Jing peak. “Who can fly fast and who dares to venture further there?”

When the darkness claimed Luo Binghe, he could no longer hear the grating voice of Dream Demon. Silence and solitude claimed him for the first time in years.

Luo Binghe felt the sensation of floating aimlessly within his subconscious, the calmness around him felt more like suspension than true serenity.

He opened his eyes with force to see endless darkness before him, he looked down at himself and saw he was dressed in his usual black robe, no injuries could be seen. He forced himself to move as he looked around. “Dream Demon!!!” He called out to the constant existence within his dreamscape ever since years ago.

Luo Binghe moved his hands, trying to use his dream power but it was useless. The darkness before him didn’t even move. Luo Binghe exhaled in frustration, still trying to use his dream power to forcefully wake up.

Still nothing.

“AAARRGGHHH!!!!” Luo Binghe screamed out of sheer frustration. “Why now?!” He shouted desperately.

“When I just got Shizun back, when I’m trying to protect him!” Luo Binghe scorned. After his episode of wrath, he floated there, breathing heavily.

His eyes reddened and his hand immediately reached for Xin Mo, “Bring it on...” Bloodline evolution, was it? He’d do it. He would do it if that means he could grow stronger and defeat Tian Langjun. He would do it if that means he could save his Shizun. He would do it if that means he could support his Shizun’s freedom.

The place that his Shizun had stabbed him on was not visible in this mindscape, but it still ached. Even so, Luo Binghe believed his Shizun had something he didn’t tell Luo Binghe or anyone in that matter, a reason why he had to hurt his Sect and Luo Binghe.

Luo Binghe had a strong feeling that Tian Langjun was the reason...

With his current power, defeating Tian Langjun was nothing but a mere dream, how could he free his Shizun from whatever binding him with that monster?

SLASH!!!

Luo Binghe tore down the space in front of him and quickly jumped into it. He would slaughter anyone in his way, he would withstand and overcome every tribulation in his ways.

For his Shizun...

For that man who had turned Luo Binghe’s life for the better, for that man who struggled a life ten times worse than Luo Binghe and could still retain his light...

Luo Binghe would be the darkness to that light, if that mean he could protect it. Protect his Shizun.

Strong wind greeted Luo Binghe and he squeezed his eyes shut as an unseen force enveloped him in a feeling that Luo Binghe could only describe as ‘drowning.’

He gasped when the force spat him out and he landed on what felt like cold and hard concrete. He coughed violently and opened his eyes blearily, he raised his head and squinted his eyes as he made out his surrounding.

“You’re a stubborn one, I give you that,” A voice drawled out. So dark, cold, and resentful that it gave Luo Binghe goosebumps.

Luo Binghe scowled and furrowed his brows, was it his tribulation? His test? Luo Binghe clenched Xin Mo and looked over to the voice source behind him.

His heart dropped.

What...????

“And also a disgusting one,” A sneer formed on that familiar face. “None of your wives could satisfy your sick desire?”

Luo Binghe gulped, his heart beat painfully in his chest, he opened and closed his mouth several times before choking out, “... Sh-Shizun...?”

The man chained to the wall, battered and dirty- missing an arm and a leg. Even with all those, Luo Binghe would never mistake him for anyone else. That’s Shen Qingqiu, his Shizun!

Shen Qingqiu suddenly began to cough violently, blood oozed out of his lips and continued out dripping onto the floor. To Luo Binghe’s horror, he saw small pieces of inner organ in the blood.

“Can’t accept... a little of honesty?” Shen Qingqiu growled, resenting. “Demon?!” He choked out to finish. Furious. Luo Binghe had never seen his Shizun this resentful before.

Luo Binghe’s head began to spin as he dragged himself to go to his chained Shizun, past the tormentor that Luo Binghe didn’t even bother to glance at. “Shizun- Shizun...!” Luo Binghe called out, but no matter how desperately Luo Binghe called out, Shen Qingqiu didn’t respond to him. He began to recall his own Shizun who was injured out there with Tian Langjun hunting for him.

Is this the future? Would this happen if Luo Binghe failed to protect his Shizun?! Would Tian Langjun do this to his Shizun?

Luo Binghe didn’t react when he heard some noises behind him, too focused on his Shizun and his own fear, however, Luo Binghe froze when he saw a sword being pointed, he would never feel fear if a sword was pointed at him, But the sword was pointed at his Shizun and he couldn’t interact at all with this scene unfolding in front of him.

Shizun would die... Luo Binghe’s heart sank in terror.

Luo Binghe glared at the torturer, however, in the next second his breath hitched when he saw his own face looking down disdainfully at his Shizun.

Luo Binghe smiled down at his Shizun, “Shizun, if you think that kind of weak insults would get me to finally kill you, I have to disappoint you. But that doesn’t matter, after all, I’ve always been a disappointment to you, am I not?”

‘What’s going on?’ Luo Binghe thought in horror.

“Bring that brute away,” Shen Qingqiu said as he opened his eyes.

Liu Qingge opened his eyes and scowled at the scholar as Mu Qingfang looked at him in concern, “Shen-shixiong-“

“You wouldn’t be able to withstand this,” Shen Qingqiu growled as he stood up slowly.

“Shen-shixiong, you’re still injured,” Mu Qingfang said unhappily.

“He’s coming,” Shen Qingqiu said and the two other peak lords’ eyes widened.

Liu Qingge immediately tried to stand up but Shen Qingqiu unceremoniously kicked him down. He glared at the second-in-seniority, “I’m going.”

“You are but a burden with your injuries,” Shen Qingqiu hissed.

“Then, you too!” Liu Qingge stubbornly said.

“No one in this battlefield could compete with Tian Langjun’s vast power and qi,” Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes as he turned his back on them. “We both have the Sun and Moon Dew Flower Body, only I can even out his way to spend qi,” although Shen Qingqiu couldn’t compete with him in term of strength or bloodline purity, Shen Qingqiu could help to even out the scale of the battlefield with his vast amount of qi.

“But, Shixiong-“ Mu Qingfang stood up, intending to hold Shen Qingqiu back.

“I know what I’m doing, Mu Qingfang,” Shen Qingqiu glanced at him solemnly. “Am I not our Sect’s number one tactician?”

Mu Qingfang stilled for a second before he sighed.

“I’m against it!” Liu Qingge protested.

“Liu-shixiong, let’s just go,” Mu Qingfang said shakily.

“You just returned!” Liu Qingge exclaimed, staring at Shen Qingqiu’s back in frustration.

Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows, he knew Liu Qingge would make a fuss and most likely get in trouble. This troublesome man, he always counted all the unnecessary things. If Shen Qingqiu didn’t think fast of a justified excuse for him to go there, he would probably get killed to stop him.

“I manipulated a few strings to not let any of you come here, in the end, you all still come...” Shen Qingqiu sighed. “In the process, I hurt your precious students. Count this as my apologies for that,” Shen Qingqiu was someone who was very difficult to be forced admitting his mistake, but for this one, he admitted he had crossed the line. Even though all he wanted was for them to not be killed, he still hurt those kids with his own hands.

Liu Qingge and Mu Qingfang stared at their shixiong with wide eyes.

“That...” Liu Qingge gritted his teeth. “You even go that far...” the pieces clicking together one by one the longer he spent time with his newly returned shixiong. Those kids, some of them recovered somewhat and still pushed themselves to go to war even though they were only positioned in the back, some were still recovering and couldn’t come. One of them was even his own (and currently, only) direct disciple, Yang Yixuan.

“Yang-shixiong almost lost his entire arm!”

“Is it true?” Liu Qingge looked at the youth who was staring thoughtfully at his right arm.

Slowly, Yang Yixuan nodded.

“But, Yang-shixiong managed to avoid it... still not entirely,” A Bai Zhan peak’s disciple frowned at Yang Yixuan’s entirely bandaged arm. Yang Yixuan didn’t say anything in response until Liu Qingge dismissed the others to let Yang Yixuan rest.

“You’re quiet,” Liu Qingge stated as he looked at the strange state his usually fiery and passionate disciple was in. “Your first brush with death?” he scoffed slightly, mocking, because he knew Yang Yixuan had a brush with deaths countless of times before. The first time Liu Qingge met him alone was in a town of deadly demonic plague.

“Rather than avoiding it, I was being avoided,” Yang Yixuan said cryptically.

Liu Qingge raised his brows.

Yang Yixuan looked at Liu Qingge, “When I jumped in front of the enemy to protect Hua-shimei, I miscalculated and it should be a piece of cake to sever my entire arm or even head...” the youth blinked his clear eyes and his lips formed a thin line. Even though he didn’t voice it up, Liu Qingge knew what was in his mind.

Did the enemy show mercy?

Liu Qingge shook his head. How could that be?

“You’re... really an idiot,” Liu Qingge growled as Mu Qingfang helped him up.

Shen Qingqiu closed his eyes calmly, not deigning to answer. He knew he probably incited Liu Qingge enough to be angry and wanting to hit him right now, which increase the chance of him leaving Shen Qingqiu in his ‘atonement.’

Unexpectedly, Shen Qingqiu felt his arm being grabbed and he was spun around to look eyes to eyes with Liu Qingge.

“Apologize to them yourself,” Liu Qingge spat out, but it lacked fire.

“...” Shen Qingqiu stared at Liu Qingge in surprise.

“Don’t die,” Liu Qingge added as the hand on Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder squeezed it tenderly and desperately. With that, as Liu Qingge expected, Mu Qingfang sneakily dosed him with a sleeping medicine through a hidden acupuncture needle and he went limp in the healer’s arms.

Mu Qingfang looked at Shen Qingqiu complicatedly, “Let’s go home together,” he said confidently. His meaning was clear, he wanted them to return, no ‘if.’ They will all return safely. He could feel Xuan Su’s aura coming over too, he could leave this to their Zhangmen-shixiong.

With that, the two peak lords disappeared, leaving Shen Qingqiu alone to stare at the horizon where the vast aura rapidly approaching. Of course, he also noticed the all familiar aura that chased the first one.

Shen Qingqiu hated putting Yue Qingyuan in the harm’s way, but he was the only one Shen Qingqiu could rely on to stop Tian Langjun.

A flicker went off in Shen Qingqiu’s eyes as his spiritual qi leaked out of him and burst out like a beacon.

Tian Langjun stopped abruptly and narrowed his eyes at the sign of apparent hostility. “Whatever happened to negotiate first?” Tian Langjun said ironically with an empty smirk.

“You know what happened,” Shen Qingqiu hissed.

Yue Qingyuan arrived and saw the unmasked figure, his heart immediately ached in a mixed feeling of extreme relief, bewilderment, and astonishment. “Qingqiu-shidi...?” Yue Qingyuan whispered, low.

Shen Qingqiu lowered his chin slightly, he didn’t look at Yue Qingyuan but still said, “No time to explain. We hold this damn demon first, then, we’ll talk.”

Yue Qingyuan’s eyes widened, the last few words struck his core. Up till now, Shen Qingqiu always ran away from him, avoiding Yue Qingyuan more actively than avoiding a plague. Every time Yue Qingyuan built up the courage to as that small question, “Can we talk...?” Shen Qingqiu always shot him down with brisk and half-hearted excuses before completely disappearing from Yue Qingyuan’s reach for months.

Yue Qingyuan held tightly onto Xuan Su, “Alright,” he nodded.

Tian Langjun looked at Shen Qingqiu, a flash of complicated emotion appeared in his eyes, “Are you really going to fight me?”

“Shut up,” Shen Qingqiu hissed again.

“Is your loyalty to your Sect bigger than the bond we have made for the last few years?” Tian Langjun said, glancing at Yue Qingyuan slightly.

“My loyalty always stays with those whom I gave it to. It’s usually others who threw it away,” Shen Qingqiu glared accusingly.

“Fair,” Tian Langjun nodded. “I disappoint you, I get it. I suppose I can only bring you back by force,” frightening surge of power burst out of Tian Langjun, the sky above was shrouded by a dark cloud, making Tian Langjun felt like the most beckoning beacon.

“You are insane,” Shen Qingqiu said. “You showed nothing but insanity since the war. I can’t let your demon instinct deprived me from what I wanted to protect.”

Tian Langjun clenched his fists tighter, “Qingqiu,” he drawled out, almost wistful. “If you think I was insane, you’re making me even more insane right now.”

Yue Qingyuan looked at Tian Langjun before carefully shifting to Shen Qingqiu. Exactly, what happened to his shidi in the last few years with Tian Langjun?

“Mu-shidi! What happened to Liu-shidi?!” Qi Qingqi cried out when she saw Mu Qingfang hurrying towards her with Liu Qingge.

“Qi-shijie, thank God!” Mu Qingfang received her help gladly. “Where have you been?”

“I scouted the mortals’ villages around the border, that despicable race-traitor had burned them down for distraction!” Qi Qingqi gritted her teeth. When she reached those villages, there were nothing but burned down houses or demons laid in waiting to surprise them.

Mu Qingfang’s eyes widened, “Shijie! That’s Shen-shixiong!”

“What?” Qi Qingqi looked at Mu Qingfang with absolute confusion.

“The only human in Tian Langjun’s army, that’s our Shen-shixiong! I don’t know how Tian Langjun could manage to get a hold of him but he worked for Tian Langjun for our sakes!”

Qi Qingqi stared at Mu Qingfang like her shidi had grown three heads, “What do you mean by that?” Qi Qingqi squeezed Mu Qingfang’s shoulder.

“Shen-shixiong got resurrected by Tian Langjun- it’s a long story, but he never intended to harm anyone, he did it for our sakes!” Mu Qingfang said.

Qi Qingqi staggered back before she felt a pair of hands steadying her back, she was then reminded of the presence of her own disciples and immediately gathered herself together. As a master, she was forbidden to falter before her disciples, else, they would truly lose their pillar. “How could that be...” Qi Qingqi whispered.

“Could that be why...We saw no casualties from the villages?” From behind her, Liu Mingyan voiced out and Qi Qingqi could feel her temper rising.

“No casualties?” Mu Qingfang asked.

“The houses were burned, but we saw no one except for demons there, there wasn’t any trace of blood or corpse whatsoever also...” Liu Mingyan said.

“Shijie,” Mu Qingfang looked at Qi Qingqi.

“I know what I have to do,” Qi Qingqi said coldly. “I’m going to gather the others, you just stay here to heal Liu-shidi. You all, stay here and help your Mu-shishu or help evacuate the injured,” Qi Qingqi directed her last sentence to her disciples who immediately curtsied respectfully.

“In the direction of northeast from here,” Mu Qingfang informed.

Qi Qingqi nodded, “That wayward and troublesome shixiong. After this war, we’re locking him up until he explains everything,” her eyes reddened slightly. “How dare him making us worried? I’ll make sure he would never leave again after this!” she growled in annoyance.

Mu Qingfang smiled bitterly as he let Liu Mingyan taking her brother off of him, “He never left, shijie. He was merely absent. He’s still our shixiong and our tactician,” he said meaningfully.

“Hmph! It’s still not enough,” Qi Qingqi replied one last time before she turned into a pillar of light and shot out to the distance.

[User Thousand Centuries: Can anyone tell me what’s going on right now!? This is the first time I’m reading novel and getting this spooked and haunted!]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s Third Wife: What is going on?! I’m crying?! Airplane, take responsibility for making such a pretty lady like me crying!]

[User Sexy Banana: I can’t with this! I want a sexy time in imprisonment, not more pain! Exactly, what’s wrong with this tribulation, Airplane!?]

[User Shizun Please Step On Me: Someone, please explain! @Peerless Cucumber @Mistress of Moonlight @Sovereign Of Prediction @Fuck Not Fight  ANYONE?!?!?]

[User Goddess Mingyan’s Veil: I have a feeling Airplane’s favourite character to torture is Shizun. This is like that XX novel with the nth female lead OO or OO novel with XX female lead. In summary, in most case it’s a FEMALE LEAD that SUFFERS!!! WHY IS IT SHIZUN?!?! Let my Goddess Mingyan suffer, I’m willing to see her suffer! Just let Shizun go, goddammit! He had suffered enough!]

[User Fuck Not Fight: Damn it! Didn’t my name already convey my wisdom enough!? FUCK NOT FIGHT! What kind of nightmare is this?! No foreshadowing, nothing. It didn’t make sense to add it here, are you going to sow the seed of doubts or loyalty!?]

[User Sha Hualing’s Little Bell: Is this a foreshadowing chapter? Is this gonna get darker than it already is? Is Luo Binghe going to go to the blackened strayed path, going insane and hurting Shizun?]

[User Peerless Cucumber: ^ God, please NO! I’m stopping reading this if Luo Binghe decides to be ungrateful and killing Shizun! In that case, I will blame Airplane. I believe Luo Binghe would learn something from this.]

[User Mistress of Moonlight: But what about the WAR?! God please help me, Airplane! Don’t tell me you’re planning a rescue mission arc!? Can Luo Binghe even do it with Tian Langjun being far stronger than he is?!]

Shang Qinghua gritted his teeth and waved his hand to get rid of the comment windows. ‘That’s exactly what I’m trying to prevent!’ Shang Qinghua thought. He can only hope he could do something about the war to prevent his S-grade son from ever dying again or got kidnapped to Tian Langjun’s side.

If that happened, it would certainly trigger the cliche rescue mission arc! Shang Qinghua liked writing rescue mission but they were all for the countless female leads with stupid dogs-like characters that wanted to defy the protagonist! Not for Shen Qingqiu and especially with Tian Langjun as the captor!

But with Luo Binghe’s current condition, it was almost like the plot wanted a rescue mission as soon as possible!

Moreover, what the fuck is wrong with Luo Binghe’s mental trial?!

Goosebumps crawled on Shang Qinghua’s skin, like a touch of irony and a whisper of doom.

How could Luo Binghe see what happened to the canon story? Wasn’t the story deviated? Could it be the canon story was still there somewhere in this vast universe, continuing its existence with the plot Shang Qinghua had written before? With a thoroughly blackened Luo Binghe, resentful and petty Shen Qingqiu, disbanded Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, a pile of wronged women in a harem that had to fight for the continual survival and their child’s survival, with a ruined Shen Qingqiu having to pay for what he had done a thousand times the amount?

Shang Qinghua looked down as his eyes reddened. What he had written was a simple story that had lost its purpose.

Shang Qinghua always regretted the ending, but when he transmigrated into it, he had a lot more regret than the ending alone. He regretted doing Shen Qingqiu dirty like that when he knew he had drawn this character as someone with a terrible past. In the end, he simply kicked the backstory aside simply for the measly amount of money he made when he followed the flow, making Shen Qingqiu to be a shallow villain.

He regretted making Luo Binghe’s childhood to be worse than it should be. He regretted he had to put Yue Qingyuan through seeing his childhood friend’s suffering like that. He regretted he had to kick aside the real story of Liu Qingge’s death and instead making it simple and see-through to be Shen Qingqiu’s crime for the sake of getting Liu Mingyan for Luo Binghe.  

That’s why...

Shang Qinghua blasted the door before him into smithereens. “You’re coming with me,” he said coldly.

Given this second chance, Shang Qinghua would absolutely steer this story into the right path.

Chapter Text

He begged him to stop, he demanded him why did he do this. That was not him. Luo Binghe would never hurt his Shizun in any way-

“As expected... Seeing you like this is far better. No matter how hard you pretend, your place is always beneath others, doesn’t it? Shizun...” That was not him. That was not Luo Binghe. No matter how eerily familiar it was to his own voice, it wasn’t his’-

Shen Qingqiu looked up at him, his eyes were no longer sharp but endless hatred and detestation dripped from them like the most concentrated venom. “You enjoy it. Don’t you,” through a mouthful of blood, Shen Qingqiu spat out in disgust.

Luo Binghe stared down at him coldly. He then smiled, “Why, Shizun notices this disciple’s delight? Why wouldn’t I enjoy it, after all you’ve done to me?”

Shen Qingqiu sneered, manic, “Your gene can’t lie after all. Demons like you...” he wheezed. “Would always have... savagery,” he spat out the last word.

No. No. That’s not right. Not all demons are—

“I should’ve killed you,” Shen Qingqiu hissed.

Luo Binghe’s heart trembled.

“Why do you this...?” Luo Binghe’s lips trembled.

“Because he deserves it.”

Luo Binghe’s eyes widened and he looked up to see his counterpart (No, no, no, that thing wasn’t him.) looking at him with blank red eyes.

“What...?” Luo Binghe’s eyes narrowed. “Deserves- wha- Who are you to say that?!” he exclaimed.

“His student,” The strange man wearing Luo Binghe’s face smirked. “His victim,” he hissed.

“First of all, I applaud your audacity to call yourself his student. Second, I see a victim here and it’s certainly not you,” Luo Binghe retorted with a sneer.

The strange man laughed, “Alright, you’re certainly not my deep subconscious. But what kind of illusion are you?” he rounded Luo Binghe like he was looking at a slab of meat, weighing him down with his eyes.

“You are certainly not me,” Luo Binghe growled. “Release Shizun, you monster.”

The strange man looked at Luo Binghe, “You mean him...?” he then looked at Shen Qingqiu, incomplete body, looking worse beyond wear and strangely untouched face save one empty eye-socket. “Don’t worry. This is but my dreamscape...” he said calmly.

Luo Binghe furrowed his brows.

“You see, everything you’ve seen just now was only a memory...” The strange man said.

Luo Binghe trembled in rage. Memory?! Doesn’t that mean this disgusting monster did it once!?

“That man you so affectionately called Shizun...” The strange man turned to Luo Binghe and grinned. “Had long died...”

“No...” Luo Binghe staggered back. “You’re lying...”

“Look into my eyes, you’ll know when I lie,” The strange man smiled sardonically at Luo Binghe’s shock. “I killed him... because he deserved it,” he emphasized the last part of his sentence.

“I’ll kill you!” Luo Binghe, blinded in rage, didn’t even care he didn’t have any weapon and directly jumped on the murderer. The murderer smiled and calmly held Luo Binghe’s forehead.

“You’re not from here, right? Let me show you what a scum this man was and what I did for each deed he had done,” The man smirked, Luo Binghe hated seeing that smug smirk on that face resembling his own.

A flurry of emotion enveloped Luo Binghe and he was shoved into a hellish hell terrible for his own sanity.

“What should we.... now?”

“The demons are... forward... we...  pushed back.”

“Don’t lose out... I’m sure... would be... it.”

“We really need a reinforcement...”

“A’Luo... he hasn’t woke up...”

“If this thing going on for another day, we’ll lose someone...”

“Don’t say that!”

“When will Luo-shidi wake up? We really need him now.”

Luo Binghe finally woke up to hushed conversations, his eyes blearily blinked to see a few people on the corner of his eyes.

“He’s awake!”

The few people immediately scrambled to Luo Binghe’s side.

“A’Luo! A’Luo, you’re awake, thank God!” A girl reached out to remove the damp cloth on Luo Binghe’s forehead but Luo Binghe’s hand was faster in seizing her wrist.

With a powerful and harsh tug, Luo Binghe slammed her beside him, inciting a cry from the girl.

“Luo Binghe, what are you doing?!” A guy tried to reach out and pull Luo Binghe off of the girl but Luo Binghe slammed his palm onto his chest which made him flew back like a kite.

Luo Binghe growled, low, inhumane, his eyes shone with scarlet colour as his demonic mark bled wider with bright crimson.

The girl Luo Binghe was holding on choked back, terrified as Luo Binghe’s fingernails grew into a claw that would easily tear her skin if he applied more pressure.

“Luo-shidi!”

“What are you doing?!”

The others stepped back, terrified.

“He’s not conscious,” An older girl said, horrified.

“Luo Binghe, we’re not your enemy!” Another guy cried out.

Luo Binghe growled, “Back off, back off, back off! You filthy, ungrateful-“ he trembled and covered his one eye as it started bleeding.

“A’Luo-“ the girl in his hand choked out.

“Fake, fake, everything is fake!” Luo Binghe hollered out and the sounds of swords being unsheathed immediately resounded, all hostilities were directed at Luo Binghe who seemed to be losing his mind. “It’s fake. How dare you! How dare you! Stop!” Luo Binghe howled as like in pain.

“It’s no use, he’s not in the right mind. Get Ning-shimei off his grip!”

Ning Yingying’s eyes widened as her martial siblings all raised their spirit swords and jumped towards Luo Binghe. “Wait- don’t!” she exclaimed.

Luo Binghe snapped his head up and his eyes flashed darker, with a violent wave of his hand, a transparent force exploded from within him and the disciples of Qing Jing peak were thrown back, vomiting mouthful of blood.

“Trash,” Luo Binghe looked down at them all with narrowed eyes filled with scorn and raised his hand.

“A’Luo! A’Luo, it’s us, A’Luo! Your shixiong and shijie!” Ning Yingying cried out in panic. “It’s me, Ning Yingying. A’Luo, please don’t hurt them!”

Luo Binghe’s grip on Ning Yingying tightened, “I’m not hurting anyone! I’m not!” he screamed as he shoved Ning Yingying on the cave wall. “It’s you all. You let him suffer! How could you? How could I-“ the blood trail alongside Luo Binghe’s cheeks flowed harder.

“How could you let Shizun suffer?” Luo Binghe questioned, voice cracking. “How could you, Ning-shijie...?”

“A’Luo-“ Ning Yingying stared at Luo Binghe with wide eyes and a looming feeling of horror.

“He’s had enough! Let him die- please, just let him die!” Luo Binghe turned even more frantic.

“A’Luo!” Ning Yingying practically screamed into his ears. “That’s just a nightmare, it’s not real. You’re awake now, please,” she sobbed. “We need you, A’Luo. We’re losing the war... please wake up. We need you!”

Luo Binghe’s grip on her tightened, drawing fresh blood from the easily wounded flesh, and then it loosened. “War...?” Luo Binghe’s empty eyes slowly regained a light.

“War...” Ning Yingying nodded.

“Luo Binghe!” Ming Fan pushed himself to stand up, wiping the blood trails on the corner of his mouth. “We need your power, please help us!” It shamed Ming Fan to beg like this, especially towards Luo Binghe, but he knew his limit. Only Luo Binghe could hope of turning back the battlefield into a standoff.

“Luo-shidi, Shizun and other shishu and shigu are doing their best to hold off Tian Langjun. But it wouldn’t be long before we can’t keep up with Tian Langjun’s demonic power,” a female disciple stepped up and stated, near tears.

“Shizun...?” Luo Binghe’s eyes finally gained clarity. He released Ning Yingying and stumbled back. His eyes scanned the people around him, keeled over, and screamed as he held onto his head.

“A’Luo!?”

“Luo-shidi!”

“What’s going on now?!”

It was unknown to Luo Binghe how long he screamed but he stopped when his throat felt painful and sore. He blinked and his head immediately felt clear.

“Brat, you’re finally back.” The Dream Demon firstly welcomed him. “Your state of mind was in chaos, I couldn’t even try to snap you out of your little episode because it might damage your fragile mind,” he then explained why he didn’t assist to calm down the crazy Luo Binghe just now.

“Where am I?” Luo Binghe asked out loud, lost.

Instead of Dream Demon, the one who answered him was Ming Fan, “Not far away from the battlefield. We found you unconscious yesterday and dragged you here to recover.”

Luo Binghe blinked, finally recalling what had happened before he blanked out for his bloodline evolution. His face turned rigid.

“We were so worried, we thought that you...” Ning Yingying sobbed but Luo Binghe had no time to console her right now.

“Shizun... They got Shizun!” Luo Binghe shot up to his feet. “That damnable snake demon!” he screamed in frustration.

“Shizun is currently fighting alongside other elders from various sects to contain Tian Langjun!” Ming Fan hurriedly said. “They had yet to capture him, but you have to help the others to hold Tian Langjun back,” Ming Fan said seriously. “The righteous faction has begun to be pushed back at a faster pace than before, it had been a day and a night, and the demons almost pushed us to the neutral zone.”

Luo Binghe searched around frantically, “My sword? Where’s my sword!?” he exclaimed.

Ning Yingying hurried to take Xin Mo out of their supply pile and handed it to Luo Binghe. “A-Luo...”

“You have no need to worry, shijie,” Luo Binghe said coldly, his demonic mark glowed back. “I will not let them touch Shizun nor the human world.”

The disciples parted and Luo Binghe stalked out of the cave, the air around him got heavier with each step he took. Finally, he flashed out of existence when he was outside the cave, shooting towards the location of heated battles with the speed too fast for normal people’s eyes.

Ming Fan clenched his fists, “You better be.” The disciples of Qing Jing peak could only pray that they wouldn’t be left heartbroken again.

A terrifying bunch of earth spikes littered around and centered in one point, the ominous cloud above the battlefield spread terror through the spine of those who were in it.

A loud crack resounded and the giant earth spikes exploded into craters, making a grand spectacle and revealed a sole demon in the midst of it all. A wave of terrifying sword aura swept over and Tian Langjun raised his hand to meet it head-on.

Blood splattered, however, it turned into a blood beast right away and pounced to anyone nearby, forcing everyone to use their qi to protect themselves.

Shen Qingqiu growled, nothing could seem to faze that demon at all with his Sun and Moon Dew Flower body. Beside him, his fellow peak lord coughed out a mouthful of blood.

“Shixiong, I-“

“I know. It’s a wishful thinking to think of sealing his move, you go back and recover first,” Shen Qingqiu said. “I’ll try to hold him back again.”

“Even though we managed to seize a footing with Shen-shixiong’s hidden traps against the snake demons using realgar wine...” Wei Qingwei said grimly. “What a monster...” he stared at Tian Langjun who was currently fighting Yue Qingyuan and the Great  Monk of Zhao Hua Temple.

“You protect the people at the back,” Shen Qingqiu said to Wei Qingwei. “Don’t let any demon took advantage of the injured,” he took out his sword- not Xiu Ya, it was the sword that Tian Langjun had gifted to him when he asked for a weapon. Shen Qingqiu didn’t know if Tian Langjun was regretting it right now for giving such a durable sword for Shen Qingqiu.

“Be careful, Shen-shixiong,” Wei Qingwei said as he took a hold of his injured shidi and took off to the back of the army.

Shen Qingqiu nodded faintly when he heard his shidi’s reminder and inhaled deeply when he sensed they had retreated. He let go of several qi barriers that had formed around the weaker people who couldn’t form a qi barrier to protect themselves from Tian Langjun’s blood beast in time. He stepped up, readying himself.

Before he could do anything, however, another blood haze spread out. Shen Qingqiu gritted his teeth and spread his qi once again. “Damn bastard,” It was really like this. Whenever Shen Qingqiu wanted to jump directly to fight, Tian Langjun would always threaten the people around. Both of them knew if Shen Qingqiu focused his power on Tian Langjun, with the help of the peak lords and other strong powerhouses from other sects, Tian Langjun would be suppressed as their equally vast and unending qi reserve would clash, especially with Zhuzhi-Lang out of the calculation right now.

The half-Heavenly Demon was still at the back of the demon army, writhing after being poisoned with concentrated realgar wine. For the meanwhile, he couldn’t even fight Sha Hualing head-on, let alone Mo Beijun. It gave a real advantage for the human side.

But if they couldn’t seize a point in this clash, when the snake army recovered, it would only be another stagnate battle.

If only they had more manpower...

“Shen-shixiong!” Wei Qingwei’s distant voice snapped Shen Qingqiu out from his calculative musing and he turned to look at his side to see a blood eagle already before his own face. Too late for a qi barrier. Shen Qingqiu closed his eyes and his hands flew to protect his nostrils and ears.

Before the blood eagle could explode in Shen Qingqiu’s face, a pillar of light flashed down on what little space left between Shen Qingqiu and the blood eagle before it grew larger and rendered the blood eagle to dissipate.

Shen Qingqiu stepped back, nearly forgetting he was standing on uneven ground, but a warm hand steadied him and his back when someone’s chest. Shen Qingqiu turned around, his cool eyes clashed with fiery crimson eyes.

Luo Binghe flinched away as if Shen Qingqiu’s gaze burned him and stabbed him with thousands of hot needles.

Shen Qingqiu, however, brightened considerably when he saw this disciple of his that he had cast down the abyss years ago. His hand grabbed Luo Binghe’s sleeve, “Luo Binghe,” he called out, mind buzzing with a strategy suited to seize advantage with Luo Binghe here.

Luo Binghe turned rigid, the sleeve that Shen Qingqiu grabbed felt so heavy like it was bearing the weight of the world, his eyes reddened. He snatched his hand away.

Shen Qingqiu paused, “Luo Binghe...?” he looked at his disciple and continued,“ We need your help,” Shen Qingqiu said slowly as Luo Binghe bit his lips.

The same eyes. But brighter, calmer, and didn’t glint with hatred and emptiness.

The same voice. But this one was clearer, warmer, and wasn’t tainted with God knows long torture.

The same Shizun. But this one was akin to a free bird, uncaged, uncaring of the world, only return when he deemed it necessary, returning to the home he truly thought as a home instead of a cage full of intrigue.

This was his Shizun. His. No doubt of that.

“Luo Binghe...?” Shen Qingqiu blinked in surprise when he saw his demon disciple shed tears whilst staring at him.

But why was it still hurt to look at him?

“Shizun...” Luo Binghe spoke up. Voice hoarse with emotion. “I’m sorry...”

“What?”

“Forgive me...” Luo Binghe lowered his head. “Forgive Binghe-“ he stepped up and daringly, audaciously, wrapped his arms around his Shizun. “I will not strip you of what describes you. I will not hold you down from having what you want. Don’t hate me...” by the end of it, Luo Binghe was sobbing whereas Shen Qingqiu was rigid in his arms.

“Don’t ever hate me...” Luo Binghe sobbed. He didn’t know how that Luo Binghe in his trial could bear the hatred in his Shizun’s eyes. Maybe because of their different life, most of what that Luo Binghe said didn’t ring any memory bell in Luo Binghe’s mind. Luo Binghe grew up adoring his Shizun, grew up with his Shizun mostly absent but still quite caring.

But no matter what Luo Binghe tried to think, no amount of grudge could make Luo Binghe heartless enough to add such pain to his Shizun’s life.

He hated the trial.

He hated that Luo Binghe.

He hated himself for even witnessing all of that.

Shen Qingqiu, positively confused, furrowed his brows. He opened his mouth, stopping, and thought to himself. “Luo Binghe...” he spoke up, narrowing his eyes when he felt the disharmonic energy within Luo Binghe. One little push, this boy would go berserk. Whilst his berserk state might be really strong judging from the power within him, it wouldn’t last long, he would be useless again in a blink of eyes. “Calm down...”

Luo Binghe felt Shen Qingqiu’s cold hand on his back, awkwardly patting him, but that little touch set an enormous emotion within Luo Binghe. He admired his Shizun deeply and whilst he personally believed his Shizun was the best master he could ever get, Shen Qingqiu was not a kind of master who would pay too much attention to his students. The only one who ever got the privilege to receive his touch was the girls who always either got patted on the head or receive an affectionate flick on their forehead when they did something wrong.

His heart calmed down.

The trial was not real.

That strange man wearing Luo Binghe’s face was not real.

His Shizun was here and he was being the most amazing Shizun Luo Binghe could ever hope for.

“How touching, a late reunion between teacher and student,” Tian Langjun said indifferently and Luo Binghe tensed up.

Releasing Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe put himself between his Shizun and his so-called father.

“You’ll lose this war, Tian Langjun,” Luo Binghe stated coldly. “I will not let you take Shizun away anymore.”

Tian Langjun smirked, “I see your bloodline had gotten stronger,” he said leisurely. “But a half breed like you want to challenge me? A pure-blooded Heavenly Demon in his peak? I can see your resemblance to your mother. A newborn calf not afraid of a tiger...” He drawled off. “What a foolish idea.”

Luo Binghe glared at him, “Shut... Up...!!!” he raised Xin Mo, pointing at the pure-blooded Heavenly Demon with agitation. “I will not let you touch Shizun.”

“Oh? And what are you going to do about it?” Tian Langjun drawled out. “Qingqiu, you honestly don’t think you can return to the human side peacefully, right?” he directed his question to the man behind Luo Binghe. “After all, you helped me.”

“Don’t listen to him, Shizun,” Luo Binghe exclaimed.

“Your support helped me to kill hundreds, perhaps a thousand, of other four great sects’ cultivators. Elders, masters, and disciples alike,” Tian Langjun smirked. “I even went as far as to not kill anyone from the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect for you.”

“Shut up!” Luo Binghe yelled stubbornly.

“Qingqiu, you have nowhere to return to the human’s side,” Tian Langjun ignored Luo Binghe’s yell and continued with his taunt. “Zhao Hua Temple, Tian Yi Overlook, Huan Hua Palace, and some minor sects dumb enough to be dragged in. No one will let you go. Does Cang Qiong Mountain Sect would go against the entire righteous path for you?”

“I will,” Luo Binghe growled. “Shizun is under my protection. No one will touch him, no one is allowed to touch him,” his demon mark glowed eerily, not only warning Tian Langjun off but also the people who heard Tian Langjun’s statement and had started to look at Shen Qingqiu funny.

Shen Qingqiu stared at Tian Langjun emotionlessly, “I don’t care. What I know is that you can’t win this.”

“My victory might be uncertain. But your fate is. Come with me and live, or stay there and die,” Tian Langjun said.

Shen Qingqiu saw Yue Qingyuan getting back to his feet a distant away behind Tian Langjun, he narrowed his eyes, “I will not die.”

“My Shizun will not die,” Luo Binghe snarled but Shen Qingqiu put his hand on Luo Binghe’s shoulder to not let him attack with haste.

“I will live and thrive,” Shen Qingqiu said. “You’re right, I’m one of the variables that caused so many people died. And I won’t hesitate to be the reason of your fall too...”

Tian Langjun grinned, “Cold, Qingqiu.” He stepped aside and Yue Qingyuan’s sneak attack missed his head but injured Tian Langjun’s shoulder deeply. Without missing a beat, Luo Binghe lunged and aimed to stab through Tian Langjun’s heart.

Xin Mo successfully pierced Tian Langjun’s chest but was held back with his barehand.

Shen Qingqiu took out a talisman and sent a sword light to Tian Langjun, passing just beside Luo Binghe’s ear. The talisman that had been sent along with the sword light reacted upon touching Tian Langjun’s blood and dissolved into an endless chain that wrapped around Tian Langjun’s limbs.

Several monks from Zhao Hua Palace saw it and immediately chanted their spells. Several talismans flew out and stuck themselves on Tian Langjun.

Shen Qingqiu waved his sleeve and several flashes of light gleamed briefly. “Who knows you would give yourself up this easily?” he mocked to Tian Langjun who scanned the surrounding with his gaze and smirked.

“Restraining seal? Moreover, so strong? This kind of seal can’t be used without preparation...” Tian Langjun said.

“I don’t need preparation. My qi is enough to supply any rushed seal,” Shen Qingqiu said as a vast amount of emerald green qi oozed out of his body.

Tian Langjun’s demon seal snapped to life as the talismans around him burned into ashes. Luo Binghe furrowed his brows as his symbol also flared brighter and he used all his power to push Xin Mo deeper into Tian Langjun’s chest.

Shen Qingqiu raised his sword with his two hands, fueling it with his qi, “Time to shut you up.”

Tian Langjun smirked.

Shen Qingqiu blinked and before he knew it, the sword in his hand dissolved and transformed into a vine made out of metal that immediately bound Shen Qingqiu’s hands. He cursed, “Damn it!”

Luo Binghe, who had his back on Shen Qingqiu, was distracted with his Shizun’s exclamation, “Shizun-?!” he looked over his shoulder to find his Shizun had his hand bound up to his elbows.

“You shouldn’t trust what a demon gave to you,” Tian Langjun beamed but his smile turned strained when Luo Binghe pushed his sword harder into his chest, managing to dig a centimeter deeper despite with Tian Langjun’s firm grip.

“Shen-shishu!” a few disciples nearby exclaimed when they saw Shen Qingqiu’s predicament.

Angered, Shen Qingqiu oozed out more qi than before, almost flooding the space around him. “Give me a sword!” he yelled. “Nothing will stop me from sealing this demon today!”

Tian Langjun sighed, “You’re being stubborn.”

Shen Qingqiu growled, “I’ll never let you win this war.”

Tian Langjun’s eyelids dropped slightly, “Shen Qingqiu, you really give me no choice... except for one.”

One thing...?

A hiss entered Shen Qingqiu’s ears and he instinctively turned his head.

A white snake.

A small white snake had managed to slither its way just five feet away from Shen Qingqiu.

A small white snake that wasn’t so small anymore in just a flash second Shen Qingqiu laid his eyes on it.

Zhuzhi-Lang, now in his true gigantic form, opened his mouth wide and clamped down on Shen Qingqiu.

“This distraction game is my victory,” Tian Langjun smirked smugly. The chain around him cracked and shattered as he injected a vast amount of demonic qi into it. He clenched on Xin Mo and shoved his blood-related son out of the way before elbowing Yue Qingyuan on the solar plexus.

He didn’t step away, instead, he grabbed the two men and made sure none of them could attack Zhuzhi-Lang. He also didn’t look as unruffled as before, the injury on his chest continuously bled, even the chains from Shen Qingqiu just now left their marks. But those were nothing compared to snatching Shen Qingqiu back in his distraction.

“Qingqiu-shidi!” Yue Qingyuan yelled in horror.

“Mo Bei!” Luo Binghe hollered for his right-hand-man.

Gigantic flowers of ice spread out, trying to detain Zhuzhi-Lang within a prison of coldness.

Tian Langjun bit back, “Wait are you waiting for?! Swallow him!” he yelled at his foolish nephew.

“Don’t you dare!” Luo Binghe growled as he sent a wave of murderous sword qi in Zhuzhi-Lang’s way. Tian Langjun waved his hand and dug his claw into Luo Binghe’s back, pulling the half-demon back even if he had to endure a deep cut on the chest for his action.

The brat had gotten stronger...

Tian Langjun growled, no matter what, Zhuzhi-Lang would be easily suppressed with the current Luo Binghe. He had to restrain this halfbreed son of his.

But while Tian Langjun was busy holding Luo Binghe back, a dangerous ball of lightning appeared above Zhuzhi-Lang. Tian Langjun cursed as he gazed at Yue Qingyuan, but there was no way he could stop the Sect Head now.

The ball of lightning spread out and flashed down at Zhuzhi-Lang’s gigantic form. The snake demon hissed in pain and reverted back to his human form. Shen Qingqiu squirmed and kicked him in the chest to get away, but upon freed from Zhuzhi-Lang’s restrain, he fell onto his knees, looking at the metal bound around his hands in disbelief.

“It sucks up my qi...” Shen Qingqiu growled and futilely tried to snap it off. With his current reserve of qi, he could even break free from Immortal Binding Rope in a snap, but this damn metal cable...

Zhuzhi-Lang rolled away and Mo Beijun’s sword stabbed the ground he was on. The snake demon scrambled and yanked Shen Qingqiu into his arm again by his clothes, before Mo Beijun could attack him again, Zhuzhi-Lang already put Shen Qingqiu in front of him as a meatshield.

“Mo Bei, don’t!” Luo Binghe saw this and panicked when Mo Beijun raised his sword once again.

Mo Beijun glared at Zhuzhi-Lang who glared back with the same hatred, but the northern demon king didn’t lower his sword.

“You won’t dare,” Mo Beijun hissed as the aura around him turned frostier but it also reeked of challenge and a dare.

“Will I?” Zhuzhi-Lang retorted.

Mo Beijun snorted and his sword grew in size with his endless icy aura. “Fine then,” he didn’t believe Zhuzhi-Lang would put Shen Qingqiu in harm's way. If what Mo Beijun learned back when he led them on a blind chase was true, it was only a matter who would be heartless enough.

Mo Beijun was going to swing his sword despite Luo Binghe’s yell and something flashed in Zhuzhi-Lang’s eyes.

Zhuzhi-Lang cut open his wrist and hold it before Shen Qingqiu’s mouth, “Don’t move or I’ll make him consume my blood.” Zhuzhi-Lang glowered, “You know what will happen, right?”

This time, Mo Beijun froze. He glared at Zhuzhi-Lang with a frightening degree of hatred.

Zhuzhi-Lang might not be able to bear putting Shen Qingqiu in harm’s way, but letting his blood flow in Shen Qingqiu’s body which would be a big timebomb to his enemy? He could.

Mo Beijun stepped back and Zhuzhi-Lang stood up, pulling Shen Qingqiu up with him. The two sides gazed at each other warily and Zhuzhi-Lang pulled Shen Qingqiu to step back, putting more distance between them and Mo Beijun.

“What are you waiting for, Zhi-lang?” Tian Langjun furrowed his brows. “Make him consume your blood!” Tian Langjun ordered.

“Kill that snake, Mo Bei! Even if he dares to sully Shizun with his blood, just kill him!” Luo Binghe also ordered, black eyes already long transferred into the colour of blood, shining with vengeance, his fury and hatred went through the roof with that extreme decision. “What good a dead demon can do!”

Mo Beijun raised his sword again.

“I’ll bring him down with me!” Zhuzhi-Lang threatened, holding Shen Qingqiu by his neck tighter.

“Shen-shixiong!” several of Shen Qingqiu’s fellow peak lords all stepped up but ultimately hesitating with Zhuzhi-Lang’s solemn declaration.

“He won’t dare to kill me,” Shen Qingqiu said coldly, glancing back at Zhuzhi-Lang. “Attack him!” He ordered his martial siblings.

“Lord Shen, don’t force me,” Zhuzhi-Lang almost pleaded.

“Attack him!” Shen Qingqiu yelled at them.

“But-“

A sword light flashed through before Wei Qingwei could retort. Zhuzhi-Lang’s brows jumped but he quickly reacted shifting Shen Qingqiu in his hold as he jumped back, the upper part of his sleeve was torn and blood gushed out from his arm.

“Liu-shixiong!” Mu Qingfang yelled out and everyone turned to see the sword light was courtesy of Liu Qingge who seemed to not be in the healthy shape to join in the battle.

“If he ordered to attack, attack!” Liu Qingge glowered. “He’s our tactician!”

The peak lords all snapped awake from that.

Mo Beijun clenched his hand and ice formed on the ground Zhuzhi-Lang stepped on. The snake demon almost tripped, despite recovering in less than a second, Mo Beijun already zoomed in on him.

Zhuzhi-Lang’s eyes flashed coldly, he angled his body to the left and avoided Mo Beijun’s deadly strike, his left arm held Shen Qingqiu tightly as his right arm shot out to claw at Mo Beijun’s face.

Mo Beijun drew back and did not advance again. He swiped a finger on the cut on his face and furrowed his brows.

Poison.

Frost spread on Mo Beijun’s face, literally. The cut on his wound cracked as frosts covered it completely.

A sword appeared in Zhuzhi-Lang’s hand, made of pure poison qi. He flicked his wrist and was about to stab Mo Beijun with it when a ribbon wrapped around his wrist and prevented him so. Zhuzhi-Lang’s brows furrowed, with a snort, the ribbon holding him back suddenly turned black and dispersed.

Qi Qingqi released her ribbon from her hand before the poison qi could spread to her.

Seeing that, Shen Qingqiu turned serious, “Don’t engage him in close combat!” Shen Qingqiu ordered.

“Zhi-Lang! Silence him up!” Tian Langjun yelled.

Zhuzhi-Lang complied, putting his hand over Shen Qingqiu’s mouth to cover it shut. Tian Langjun wanted to roll his eyes at his nephew, how soft-hearted Zhuzhi-Lang was towards Shen Qingqiu? Can't he just hit the back of his neck and render the scholar unconscious?

Having shut Shen Qingqiu up, Zhuzhi-Lang missed the opportunity to slash at Mo Beijun with his poison sword and could only kick the Northern Demon King away before dragging Shen Qingqiu further away from anyone who could possibly snatch him up.

“Mo Bei!” Luo Binghe cursed his inability to push away Tian Langjun and yelled at his right-hand-man.

Mo Beijun raised his sword once again, prepared to jump back to snatch his lord’s Shizun whereas Zhuzhi-Lang raised his own poison sword haughtily as a challenge.

“WAIT! HOLD ON!!!” A particularly loud and desperate voice pierced through the tension just when Everybody was holding their breath in.

Everyone turned to see Shang Qinghua stumbling over, face pale, and ruffled.  He saw the situation of the battlefield amongst the giant and his heart beat frantically. He made it... He made it! No rescue mission arc! Hah, take that cliche plot deity!

In Shang Qinghua’s pause and the distraction he caused by his yell, Tian Langjun raised his hand to use a particularly devastating attack now he had Shen Qingqiu in hands when Shang Qinghua snapped awake and yelled out again.

“Tian Langjun! I bring you who you want!” Shang Qinghua said as he pulled up the person he was dragging behind him. “Please, stop your rage!”

Tian Langjun paused.

Luo Binghe’s eyes slowly widened when he saw closely who was being dragged by Shang Qinghua.

The entire battlefield turned still for miles away.

Shang Qinghua breathed heavily, although his legs were shaking, he still narrowed his eyes in determination. “You can have him. Can we have Shen Qingqiu back?” he requested with a trembling but determined voice.

“Well, well,” Tian Langjun turned towards him, his lips formed an intoxicating arc. “Finally a reasonable person speaking up.”

“Shang Qinghua...?” Yue Qingyuan’s eyes widened.

“Isn’t that...” Great Monk Wu trailed off in horror as his shidi gasped in disbelief.

Tian Langjun grinned diabolically, “You finally decide to turn up now, honorable Old Palace Master Chen. See? It’s not so difficult to bring him over.”

Shang Qinghua breathed in, “He’s yours,” he took a step back. The grip he had on his sword was pathetic at best but he still pointed it towards Tian Langjun, “Now, Shen Qingqiu...”

Tian Langjun’s manic smile dimmed slightly. “Of course,” he shrugged. He lightly waved his hand and an energy wave came swarming towards Shang Qinghua.

Bang!

Clang!

Shang Qinghua fell on his butt, Mo Beijun stood before him with a wall of ice whereas Luo Binghe had held Xin Mo against Tian Langjun’s neck whilst his other hand gripped Tian Langjun’s raised hand firmly.

Mo Beijun coughed out a mouthful of blood as his ice wall cracked, but he indifferently wiped it away under Shang Qinghua’s concerned look.

Tian Langjun smiled, “It’s hard to deceive fellow demons, isn’t it?” he said wryly towards Mo Beijun and Luo Binghe who glared back at him with hostility.

Zhuzhi-Lang redirected his sword and put it against Shen Qingqiu’s neck when he saw Luo Binghe’s threatening posture, Luo Binghe froze whilst Tian Langjun smirked smugly.

Shang Qinghua pushed himself back up and positioned himself behind Mo Beijun as he slammed his foot on the Palace Master’s rib. “You want him, don’t you? Take him!” Shang Qinghua said.

“Wait,” the Great Monk furrowed his brows. “We’re not selling our ally to the enemy. Moreover, what happened to the Old Palace Master Chen...? Why did he look worse for wear?” Putting that way would be putting it lightly, no one doubted the Old Palace Master had been tortured with how miserably his condition looked. Accusations in their gazes were directed to Shang Qinghua and the demons.

“Shut up!” Shang Qinghua hissed. If it was a few years ago, Shang Qinghua wouldn’t dare to act like this to big names like the Great Monk, but facing Tian Langjun upfront, Shang Qinghua would even dare to step on that bald head let alone snapping at him.

Luo Binghe straightened, “You want him?” he hissed darkly. “What for?” he knew Tian Langjun had no good intention if the manic look in his eyes said anything.

Tian Langjun’s eyelids dropped slightly. “Repaying old debts,” he said.

When the Old Palace Master saw Tian Langjun’s face, his face reddened in fury and then paled in fear, and then it went purple as his expression twisted in a mix of rage and unwillingness.

Of course, that didn’t escape Tian Langjun’s notice, he tilted his head and smiled, “Long time no see, Old Palace Master Chen. You must be very surprised that we meet again,” his gaze darkened like a spilled ink.

The human cultivators raised their guard, no matter what, the pure-blooded Heavenly Demon had Shen Qingqiu as a hostage. If he had the Old Palace Master too...

Tian Langjun waved both of his hands, indicating a harmless intention, “I will not make this long, I will suspend the war if I get to ask that old fart some questions.”

Different from the human cultivators, Luo Binghe was not concerned over the old fart’s life and death, if he was captured and held hostage, Luo Binghe would happily leave him be. But he wouldn’t let go of a chance to exchange hostage. “Questions can wait. Order that ugly snake of yours to release my Shizun first and that metal-bound around his hands...”

“Brat, who are you and who am I? You’re not in charge here,” Tian Langjun grinned diabolically.

“Neither are you,” Yue Qingyuan said from Tian Langjun’s other side, Xuan Su’s tip dangerously pointing at the Heavenly Demon’s temple.

The atmosphere went still and haunting again. The other sects were all concerned and confused after seeing the Old Palace Master, the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect kept glancing at Shen Qingqiu who was in Zhuzhi-Lang’s hands, whereas Tian Langjun only stood there emotionlessly.

Tian Langjun raised his head leisurely, obviously not putting the tense situation in his eyes, in a voice neither fast nor slow, he spoke up, “Over twenty years ago, when I got a letter from Su Xiyan that she wanted to meet me, was it really her who wrote that?”

A deafening silence followed as everyone watched the exchange. Some blinked in bewilderment, some furrowed their brows in confusion, whereas Yue Qingyuan lowered his head slightly and clenched Xuan Su’s hilt tighter in his hand.

Tian Langjun continued, voice steadily getting darker, “If she hated me so much, why wasn’t she there when you all shamelessly trapped me and imprisoned me?” Tian Langjun demanded. “Why did she give birth of that boy and didn’t abort him?” he pointed sharply at Luo Binghe who stared at him in shock.

“She hated you...!” The Palace Master croaked out. “If it wasn’t for the seed you planted in her would my sunset died now?!” he screamed and Luo Binghe gazed at him, shocked gaze slowly turned dark.

“Oh? Elaborate on that,” Tian Langjun sneered.

“Heh, you think I will?” The Old Palace Master spat out. “She didn’t even want to hear your name when she was alive... Give you the satisfaction to know her suffering before her death...? Nev-“ The Old Palace Master choked back. His bloodshot eyes glared at Luo Binghe.

“Speak. Clearly.” Luo Binghe glared murderously, crimson demon mark gleamed in warning. The heavenly demon blood in the Old Palace Master curdled then burning, and kept on going like that, earning him ear-piercing screams from the Old Palace Master.

“LUO BINGHE!!!” The Old Palace Master screeched hatefully. “You ungrateful half-breed bastard!!!”

“Speak, old scum,” Tian Langjun said calmly. “No matter what, that boy has demon blood within him. Instinct is always inherited.”

By this moment, it seemed like the father and son who didn’t want to acknowledge each other seemed to be in a tacit agreement to fish out a confession from the Old Palace Master.

“My Xiyan... wouldn’t have died if it wasn’t for you, you bastard!” The Old Palace Master glared at Luo Binghe before growling at Tian Langjun. “My sunset... My beautiful sunset, you forcefully impregnated her. I’ve given her the poison to let her miscarry and abort that half-breed, but the seed you forced in her is cursed one... You forced her to give birth and she died in childbirth!” The Old Palace Master went hysteric.

Yue Qingyuan narrowed his eyes when he heard that, “Old Palace Master, I advise you to not fabricate the truth.”

“Shut up! What do you know?” The Old Palace Master glared at Yue Qingyuan.

“Do you know anything about this?” Luo Binghe directed his glare to Yue Qingyuan.

Yue Qingyuan stepped back, he was an outsider, he didn’t know Huan Hua Palace’s internal problem. But he knew for sure the Old Palace Master had manipulated the Four Great Sects to siege Tian Langjun, however, he had no proof of that. Not in this immediate moment, anyways.

“I only know what little the public had known...” Yue Qingyuan bit his lips.

At this moment, a monk from Zhao Hua Temple spoke up, “Su Xiyan of Huan Hua Palace was said to have an affair with Tian Langjun, the demon world, to be closer with him and learn his scheme to conquer the human world. It was said she was pregnant from that seduction mission, after she returned, she downed a poison to kill the fetus and then left the cultivation world out of shame.”

Luo Binghe stared in horror, he staggered back, his arms dropped to his sides.

“But it looked like Su Xiyan had given birth safely... With your existence in this world,” A nun from Tian Yi Overlook said, gazing wistfully at Luo Binghe.

Luo Binghe bit his lips, it was numb. His head began to spin.

Tian Langjun clapped loudly, “Old news. I’m not here for that,” he stated in annoyance.

[User Peerless Cucumber: What the fuck, Airplane!? Luo Binghe just went through that mental torture of having to see Shizun getting tortured, now you just had to reveal the truth of his birth in this way?! I take it! You not only like seeing Shizun suffers, you also like seeing your main character son suffers!]

[User Heart Cold: My little demon lord doesn’t deserve this!]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: Hey, hey, hey, this truth behind his birth is a bit too cold, no? Unwanted by the mother, unloved by the father... MY POOR BINGHE! Come to mom, baby! Your Shizun and I will take care of you like our own son!]

[User Pretty Sure Mo Beijun’s Gay: This is a rare occurrence from every novel I read. Usually the protag is sent away out of love...? I say, that’s bullshit! Everything is too fishy here!]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: This old fart is lying. I won’t believe him. At. All. Luo Binghe should use his dream power to dig everything out.]

Shang Qinghua kicked the Old Palace Master on the side, eyes glaring angrily. “Hey, old fart, stop lying and tell the truth!” he hissed. He was the author! He knew this old bitch was lying through his teeth!

“If you knew she died in childbirth when the story said she banished herself from the cultivation world, that means you found her body... Or you’re just adding up tales,” Tian Langjun raised his head, staring at the Old Palace Master as if he was staring right through him. His tone was still serene and peaceful.

Everyone looked at each other, unsure where this was going.

“I’m taking him with me,” Tian Langjun stated calmly after a period of silence, somehow, after his voice fell, the sky turned dark red.

“Give me back my Shizun, first,” Luo Binghe said, his voice was oddly calm as well. Although he wanted nothing more than just torture this old coot to death but this bastard still worth a dime to exchange with his Shizun’s life.

“No,” Tian Langjun’s eyes flashed. “All of you should be grateful I’m retreating now,” after killing almost half of their numbers excluding the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect that only suffered severe injuries.

“Then, let’s fight until only one come out of this,” Luo Binghe growled, his own demon mark shone crimson and the aura around him turned darker. Xin Mo began to glow dark purple with a tint of crimson as Luo Binghe brandished it.

“Then, everyone here can only die for that old bastard!” Tian Langjun shouted furiously and a vast amount of frightening energy built up above him. And it was not stopping.

Luo Binghe also gathered up all his power in Xin Mo, after his bloodline evolution, he was far stronger and wouldn’t be easily knocked away by Tian Langjun. Although defeating a pure-blooded Heavenly Demon with endless demonic qi might be near-impossible, with everyone here helping him, it wouldn’t be impossible.

Tian Langjun released his power and Luo Binghe also released his with a swing. Their demonic aura clashed violently and made even several high-level cultivators threw up a mouthful of blood.

Luo Binghe withdrew his sword and charged up again but Tian Langjun already gathered more demonic energy in that second.

I can’t make it. A thought flashed in Luo Binghe’s mind. Dozens of people would die with this.

However, just before Tian Langjun released his second wave of furious temper, he swayed a bit and dispersed a large amount of energy like a puff of smoke. He grasped his chest and growled deeply.

“Stop!”

With few people noticing them, a group of green-robed disciples already entered the center area of the battlefield which wasn’t allowed for anyone below golden core.

Shang Qinghua’s eyes brightened when he saw them, “You all!” he exclaimed in extreme relief.

Those green robes were really familiar, it was Qing Jing peak’s signature uniform. And the person- no, the creature they brought with them...

“Da Zhu?!” Luo Binghe exclaimed in shock and Tian Langjun narrowed his eyes.

“Da Zhu...” Tian Langjun bitterly smiled. “Can you not make it difficult for me...?” he asked the spirit animal who crawled its way to the battlefield.

“The Yin-Yang Panda took off the balance within Tian Langjun’s body.” Dream Demon whispered in Luo Binghe’s mind.

“What?” Luo Binghe blinked.

“I did not realize it before, but it seems like Tian Langjun is living in a spiritual body, not a demonic one. It didn’t match his nature but it’s enough for him to gain a second life. However, with demonic blood and soul, a spirit flesh would naturally have its imbalance. If your chance to win against him earlier was below 50%, now it’s above 80%.”

Luo Binghe’s eyes widened in shock. He raised Xin Mo, his gaze darkened in bloodlust but before he could jump and make a move, a growl resounded from Da Zhu. It was deep, low, and non-threatening.

Da Zhu turned towards Zhu-Zhilang who somehow felt guilty under the creature’s gaze. Shen Qingqiu stomped on Zhuzhi-Lang’s foot and squirmed slightly until Zhuzhi-lang let him go.

“Da Zhu...” Shen Qingqiu breathed a sigh of relief. When he saw Shang Qinghua coming earlier and with the old scum instead of Da Zhu, he was vexed beyond everything. Luckily, that traitor seemed to have some brain to send his disciples to fetch Da Zhu.

Shang Qinghua smiled, there was a reason why he delegated his job to the disciples of Qing Jing peak. In the first place, Da Zhu was not close to Shang Qinghua, it was unlikely such an intelligent creature would follow him. However, disciples of Qing Jing peak were different.

Because Da Zhu was left to live in Qing Jing peak’s bamboo forest, disciples of Qing Jing peak often came to take care of him and had forged quite a bond to the legendary beast. If Shang Qinghua went there, it would be far harder to convince the beast to follow him. And Shang Qinghua had another plan, which was to drag the smelly old pervert to Tian Langjun to bid some time.

Since now Da Zhu was on their side, plus the plot armor of Luo Binghe, they would be able to win this war for sure.

“You’re siding with them too?” Tian Langjun smiled helplessly, there was pain in his tone that suggested betrayal.

Da Zhu turned to him. With those eyes directed at him, Tian Langjun suddenly felt those orbs which usually filled with dullness and laziness were really sharp and wise, as if it knew Tian Langjun’s deepest desire.

Screech!

A loud screeched resounded, everyone ignored it initially- after all, this was an open battlefield, it was not strange for animals to be stranded here. However, an owl soon drifted down and right on the strange panda’s back (“That’s not a normal panda...” a cultivator hissed. “That’s... the rumoured Yin-Yang Panda tamed by the peak lord of Qing Jing peak...?”)

The owl landed, all claws and talon on Da Zhu’s back, but the panda didn’t seem concerned.

“You’re... The animal in the grove beside the river,” Tian Langjun said slowly. As the owl turned its head 180 degrees to tilt its head at Tian Langjun.

“Snow Mountain Spirit Owl...?” Shen Qingqiu raised his brows. “The spirit animal of Truth... You met it... where?” he narrowed his eyes in disbelief. He knew this owl, it often came and go, especially when Da Zhu was around.

“Snow Mountain Spirit Owl...?”

“I’ve heard that! It’s extremely rare and only found in the deepest end of snowy mountains with thick spiritual air...”

Shang Qinghua lowly whistled, a random extremely valuable spirit animal made another appearance. Shang Qinghua didn’t even remember this one... as like 70+% of his other creations and he had been quite generous with that number.

The owl’s feather was pure white, there were a few wooden dark dots on its chest and they looked like they had been engraved there very carefully by a master sculptor. Its eyes were piercing golden, strikingly different from normal owls’ golden colour.

Slam!

Zhuzhi-Lang let out a groan as he was slammed on a boulder nearby. Shen Qingqiu glanced at Liu Qingge who immediately pulled him behind, at that moment, everyone seemed to be awakened from a trance and realized they were still at war.

Luo Binghe also snapped out of it and, without missing a beat, swung his sword at Tian Langjun who raised his hand and received it head-on without given any choice.

Tian Langjun staggered back, he didn’t panic. He simply raised his hand, “Slaughter everyone you see!” his order reverbeerated through the battlefield. And as if their restraint had been snapped off, the demons from Tian Langjun’s side immediately cried out furiously and began to use all their power to fight. There was no other choice, with his current power, Tian Langjun couldn’t hold most of the powerhouses added together himself.

Luo Binghe only had one goal in his mind; Kill Tian Langjun! Without the king, those demons would only be a bunch of headless chickens!

“CEASE!” Shen Qingqiu’s voice spread out after Tian Langjun’s. Also commanding a power. “I said; CEASE!!!” he shouted again.

Tian Langjun saw Shen Qingqiu stepping up to call up cease-fire, his gaze brightened. He waved his hand to halt his subordinates down, Zhuzhi-Lang also stood up and brushed himself off, a single signal from his finger sent half of the army to quieten down like children.

“Qingqiu-shidi...?” Yue Qingyuan furrowed his brows.

“Peak lord Shen...?”

“Shizun...?” Luo Binghe looked at his Shizun. There was no one who could stop him in this entire battlefield, no one but Shen Qingqiu. If Shen Qingqiu said to cease, no matter how much he wanted to kill Tian Langjun right then and there, he could only stop.

“Stop the unnecessary murders, the answer already came and you still want to fight?” Shen Qingqiu said harshly as he nudged Liu Qingge out of the way. “And you, you’re not recovered yet. Go back,” he reprimanded the Bai Zhan peak lord harshly.

“Hey...” Liu Qingge winced as Shen Qingqiu jabbed his wound with his shoulder as his hands were still tightly bound.

“The answer you want, will it cease the war?” Shen Qingqiu glared at Tian Langjun who looked back at him.

“Who knows...?”

Shen Qingqiu gritted his teeth, obviously irritated. “Since the Truth has come. Let’s see what it brings,” he walked towards Da Zhu and waved at his disciples who were just dying to jump and cling at him.

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes at the Old Palace Master a distance away, “I don’t trust that old bastard... Everything smells fishy in that story. Not to mention the reason behind Tian Langjun’s capture is really suspicious just like what my Shizun said to me.”

“Just like- what?”

Everyone looked at Shen Qingqiu with wide eyes and he glared at his fellow peak lords.

“What? You think I didn’t listen to what my Shizun said to me?” because of how much he was absent, the previous peak lord of Qing Jing peak took it upon himself to make sure Shen Qingqiu felt included with the sect. Which meant he had shared so many gossips with his disciple, some were even highly confidential and shouldn’t be known nor shared with a mere disciple.

“You did...?” Qi Qingqi sounded genuinely surprised. After all, Shen Qingqiu was famous for not listening to anyone. The rumors about him in the past might be out of hand, but some were based on truth, one time, she even witnessed Shen Qingqiu bluntly saying ‘No’ when the peak lord of Qing Jing peak asked him to spend the entire summer around the sect instead of running off without news as he usually did.

Hell, Shen Qingqiu almost didn’t join one Immortal Alliance Conference simply because he refused to return. The previous Qing Jing peak lord offered him many boons and even rare items, but Shen Qingqiu refused them all at that time with ‘richness is only superficial pleasure, Qingqiu is seeking for the wonder of nature’ to which everyone ridiculed as ‘Just say you don’t want to return, damn it!’ in the end, the peak lord of Qing Jing peak managed to coax him into the conference when he promised to let Shen Qingqiu roam freely for half-a-year without any repercussion of his action. Which he did. Everyone almost forgot Qing Jing peak had a succeeding disciple that year.

Even the previous Sect Head! When the previous Sect Head mentioned to Shen Qingqiu to return more to the Sect, this stubborn guy blurted out ‘Why?’ in the middle of public, in front of many people! If it wasn’t for Yue Qingyuan immediately jumping in and covering up for him, being told to cultivate for two months within the Spirit Cave wouldn’t be the worst punishment he got!

Every time any of them tried to share some gossips and information with him to make him feel included within the circle of succeeding disciples, this infuriating guy chose to fiddle with his finger and looked up at them when they stopped. Then, with an infuriating tone, he’d say, “Oh, done?” if he wasn’t the second in seniority, some of them would have had punched him in the face at least once!

On the other hand, the newcomer Palace Master stared at Shen Qingqiu in shock, “Shen Qingqiu?! You’re... alive?!” The Old Palace Master’s face twisted.

“As if a lowly slave’s words could be trusted,” The Old Palace Master retorted, his bloodshot eyes stared at Shen Qingqiu with thick resentment. “How low the righteous path has fallen to listen to that slave!? You dead slave! Why didn’t you stay dead?! You-“ The Old Palace Master could no longer continue his words as Luo Binghe controlled his blood and Shang Qinghua stomped his head into the ground.

This dead old scum! How dare him to talk like that about his S-grade son!? Shang Qinghua made sure to grind his head for a bit before he lifted his foot.

“I’m not the one being stepped on right now,” Shen Qingqiu calmly retorted and Shang Qinghua happily stomped his foot down again. He hesitantly gazed at the owl who hooted at him, tilting its head at Shen Qingqiu in a friendly manner. He looked up at the sky in lament, he truly didn’t like any spirit animals that had a connection to memories. This owl’s domain was truth and truth had things with memories... Just like that damn formation that outed his dirty laundry of a past.

Whilst this owl was certainly cute enough for Shen Qingqiu to want to pet it, its domain made Shen Qingqiu rather avoid it.

Shen Qingqiu sighed, still bound from elbows down, he looked at Da Zhu and then the owl, “May you show us the truth? Was what that old bas- Old Palace Master said true?” he asked.

The owl hooted back as if it completely understand what Shen Qingqiu just said. Most probably it could. The owl’s large wings flapped as it happily perched itself on Da Zhu’s head now. In just a second, Shen Qingqiu saw the golden irises it had slowly disappeared as its pupils widened like spilled inks, its head turned 180 degree to the left, capturing Luo Binghe, Tian Langjun, Yue Qingyuan, the Old Palace Master, Mo Beijun, and certainly half of the battlefield.

Luo Binghe stepped back, “It’s trying to pull us in,” he whispered. Having been a master in manipulating dreams, he knew when his consciousness was about to be pulled out. A dream or a memory?

A memory pull.

“Don’t fight it...” The dream demon said. “Might as well see what the Truth has in store.”

A beautiful cold-faced girl sat by the window, her chin was propped by her palm as she blankly gazed out of the window.

“Yan’er.”

The cold visage of the beautiful young lady turned even colder, her brows furrowed slightly in annoyance but she still turned around and stood up, “Xiyan greets Shifu-“

“Oh, no, no, you don’t have to stand up, Xiyan,” The Old Palace Master smiled gently. “No need to stand ceremony with this master. You’re my First Disciple, after all,” he said dotingly.

Su Xiyan reluctantly lowered her hands, knowing her master would keep on insisting if she did not listen. “What brings Shifu here? Xiyan could come if Shifu needs her,” Su Xiyan said politely.

It was unknown if it was what Su Xiyan said or something else, a glint appeared in the Old Palace Master’s eyes before disappearing in a flash that not even Su Xiyan caught it. “Nonsense, a master also needs to visit his disciple frequently to see their progress. I see you seem to be in deep thought earlier, what is it that bothers Xiyan? Your cultivation?” he probed.

Su Xiyan shook her head, “No, Shifu. My cultivation is still going on smoothly.”

“Then, what were you thinking?” He still probed further.

Su Xiyan hesitated, “It’s but a simple matter, Xiyan shall not bother Shifu about it.”

“You can tell me about it, Yan’er...” The Old Palace Master kept pushing.

Su Xiyan relented, “Feng-shidi came to Xiyan earlier regarding his training, one question of his made me stumped and I was thinking about it...”

A flash of coldness appeared in Old Palace Master’s eyes before it disappeared, “If it stumped you, then you don’t have to think about it. Leave it to the elders or hallmasters. You have your own problem to take care of,” he said gently.

“Xiyan already promised Feng-shidi to help with his cultivation, as the First Disciple, Xiyan has to uphold her promises and take care of her shidi,” Su Xiyan said.

“Does Xiyan like him?”

“Pardon, Shifu?” Su Xiyan gazed at The Old Palace Master and furrowed her brows.

The Old Palace Master smiled amicably, “Rather than that, I have a mission for you.” He turned around, hiding his cold and calculating gaze from Su Xiyan who stood waiting for his order behind him. “There seems to be a demon disturbance at the village in the south, you should investigate it.”

“Is there any further information about this mission, Shifu?” Su Xiyan inquired.

“No, it’s only a common demon disturbance. You alone can take care of it perfectly.”

Su Xiyan departed for her mission the next day and arrived at the town two days afterward. She located her target in half-a-day and finished the mission as perfectly as always.

With a space bag stuffed with the monster’s finger, she took a turn to a nearby village to rest before returning back to Huan Hua Palace.

She found herself less and less eager to return to her sect whenever she was outside. Huan Hua Palace was beautiful and it had dense spiritual qi around, perfect for cultivation, but the place never really inspired the feeling of ‘home’ for her. Her Shifu was nice and doted on her a lot, he brought her everywhere and allocated so many resources for her...

Her clear eyes looked up at the starry night sky, her lips slowly curved up into a slight smile. For quite sometimes, she longed to just be like this. Outside, away from people, free from duty, and just embrace the poetic feeling of freedom.

“What a beautiful a young lady!”

Su Xiyan snapped back, her trusted spirit sword left its sheath and landed on her hand as she brandished it to the voice’s source, her golden qi flared in alert murderous intent, her eyes found a man standing in the dark.

The man was wearing a black and silver robe which was sloppily put on, he was also wearing a bamboo hat, thought dressed sloppily he exuded a leisure elegance.

The man chuckled, “How fierce. I like it!” his dark eyes gleamed in the dark, “What’s your name, beautiful maiden?”

“I see, wonderful work as always, Yan’er,” The Palace Master generously praised when Su Xiyan returned. “Is there anything you’d like to report in?” he looked at Su Xiyan with deep concern.

“No, Shifu.”

“Then, who gave you this wound...?” The Old Palace Master tenderly took Su Xiyan’s left hand to rub the clean cut on the back of her hand.

Su Xiyan calmly took her hand back, “I simply met an audacious man on the way.”

“Audacious?”

“I took care of it myself.”

“Ah...” The Old Palace Master nodded. “You may return now. Here,” he once again took Su Xiyan’s hand, the right one this time, and put something in it. “This is a salve from Qian Cao peak, use it in your wound.”

“Thank you, Shifu,” Su Xiyan rigidly nodded as she put the container into her sleeve without even glancing at it. “Xiyan will return first, then. Good day,” she politely bade him goodbye and walked away.

She had found the answer to her shidi’s question whilst she was outside, maybe she should search for him to tell him the answer on the way to her room.

“Fang-shixiong?” The young male apprentice tilted his head at Su Xiyan, seemingly timid. “He... He resigned three days ago, he had long returned to his home.”

“What?” Su Xiyan blinked.

“I heard his mother was sick...” The boy elaborated a bit.

Su Xiyan nodded, “I see... Too bad, he’s quite promising...” After saying that, she walked away. No one ever mentioned the name of this Fang-disciple ever again after that, as if he never existed in the first place.

“Blame yourself for being audacious and arrogant,” The Old Palace Master looked down at the young man who was being held down with chains, the young man’s eyes were bloodshot as signs of qi deviation began to envelop him.

“A mongrel with no father daring to lay eyes on my sunset?” the Old Palace Master sneered. “You don’t even deserve to hold her shoes. Mull that over for the rest of your short pathetic life.” the Old Palace Master left the cells and the sounds of muffled furious screams behind.

Su Xiyan glared at the scroll in her hand, no matter how many times she re-read it she still couldn’t understand the content at all. She just managed to finish another solo mission and exterminated a demon that had managed to terrorize people living in the city, however, that demon left behind a scroll that could possibly a lead for her to decimate the chains of demonic attack that had been happening recently.

The Old Palace Master had proposed to go to Zhao Hua Temple and even Qing Jing peak to seek assistance to solve this scroll. Zhao Hua Temple had washed their hands off and directed them to Qing Jing peak. But when she came to Qing Jing peak, the peak of scholars was having a temporary absence of leadership. The peak lord of Qing Jing peak had gone into a retreat whereas the elusive succeeding disciple was outside with no one having any way to know when he would return.

In the end, her master simply ordered her to solve it herself.

The scroll’s content was filled with riddles in poetry. She quite liked poetries and smart enough to solve many difficult riddles but this one was in a whole different level. Having no other way, she decided to visit some scholar gathering and libraries.

“You seem to be troubled?”

Su Xiyan almost pulled out her sword, but this time, she managed to restrain herself. She turned around to see a ridiculously handsome man smiling at her in amusement. She knew this man.

She put a hand on her sword-hilt.

“Wait a second, beautiful lady, let’s have a civilized conversation. Isn’t that what hu- normal people do usually?” The handsome man raised his hands up in a surrendering gesture. “Seriously have I offend you? If so, I’m so sorry.”

Su Xiyan glared at the suspicious man. “Why are you here? Did you follow me?” her eyes gained a layer of frost, her brows creased in caution. She met this man outside a small village in the south, why did she meet him again in a village miles away from that place?

“I’m on a mission myself,” The handsome man smiled dashingly. “To unravel the wonder of the world hu- we live in. Isn’t it wonderful that humans have so many interesting tradition and entertainment? The world we live in is so beautiful, it’s a waste to not-“

“Shut up,” Su Xiyan cut him off and the person had the nerve to pout at her.

“Cold.” He crossed his arms, “I’ve never been treated like this by a woman before. You’re quite interesting, Su Xiyan of Huan Hua Palace...”

Su Xiyan wasted no time in sending a wave of murderous sword light towards the stranger.

“Xiyan...”

Su Xiyan had just finished her investigation and mission, fatigued and tired, but she still came when her master summoned her. She walked into the study to see two high hall masters talking hushedly to the Old Palace Master, she politely bowed down to them all before straighten up, “Xiyan answers Shifu’s call. Is there anything this disciple could do?”

The two elders bowed to the Old Palace Master and then left them alone, closing the doors as they exited.

“Xiyan,” The Old Palace Master looked at her with a hidden heat but calmly said, “You remember the person you reported to this master as suspicious?”

“Yes...” Su Xiyan nodded.

“Turn out, he’s more than just suspicious. He’s the current overlord in the demon world, a demon from the Heavenly Demon tribe, Tian Langjun,” The Old Palace Master said seriously.

Su Xiyan’s heart skipped a beat. “A demon...?” She knew that man was not someone to be trifled with, no matter how she attacked, she always felt their power gap was simply too big. But she’d never thought... “A demon overlord?”

The Old Palace Master nodded solemnly. “It’s without a doubt. How could you get involved with him?”

Su Xiyan turned a bit indignant, “I’m not-“ she barely knew him. She just unfortunately crossed path with him and he, being a salacious demon he was, kept bothering her.

“I know you’re not interested in him. It should’ve been him bothering you, isn’t it?” The Old Palace Master said confidently.

Seeing your master having the confidence in you should make you feel happy. But Su Xiyan never felt that way. Though the Old Palace Master’s words were in line with her thought, she didn’t feel happy at all. It was like the Palace Master was reassuring himself rather than Su Xiyan herself.

“A demon overlord visiting a human world is not something that usually happens, Yan’er...” The Old Palace Master stared at his disciple dotingly. “It seems like he’s interested in you.”

“What do you mean, Shifu?” Su Xiyan asked coldly.

“As one of the Four Great Sects, it’s our duty to find out what he’s aiming for. You’re the most suited one to do that,” The Old Palace Master smiled, there was a strange glint in his eyes. “Tian Langjun is not your everyday’s demon, he has the blood of Heavenly Demon in him. He needs to be watched and observed carefully.”

Su Xiyan furrowed her brows coldly, she didn’t like the tone her master was suggesting with, but she refrained herself for stepping over her boundary. She inclined her head, “What Shifu says, Xiyan will obey...”

“You know, you could come over and say hi, right?”

Su Xiyan did not even flinch when a familiar voice came from behind her, awfully close so, his breath bothered her but she didn’t let it show on her face. “I’m not fraternizing with my enemy,” she said coldly. “I’m here to protect these unknowing people from a hidden danger like you.”

“How heroic,” Tian Langjun leaned back, chuckling. “But don’t you think it’s cruel for me? I was waiting for you to come over and say hi for the last five days of you snooping around.” He grinned naughtily. “Don’t be so shy, I don’t bite. You can ‘investigate’ me closer.”

Su Xiyan had to physically restrain herself from pulling out her sword.

“Salacious, audacious, insolent, flippant, disrespectful, and very discourteous,” Su Xiyan said coldly.

“He didn’t touch you, right?” The Old Palace Master asked, tone filled with saccharine concern.

Su Xiyan frowned, “No...”

“Good. Keep your eyes on him, it’s good if you can extract more information from him. Take notice of his like and dislike, we have to find out what his goal is.”

Su Xiyan frantically pressed the wound in her chest and an arm extended from behind her, putting a bowl of paste-like medicine before her.

“The physician said to apply it twice a day, I have no idea how human’s medicines work, but I take it you know...?” Tian Langjun said caringly.

“Why?” Su Xiyan said coldly.

“Hm?” Tian Langjun smiled at her.

Su Xiyan glared, “Why did you save me?” she asked- demanded.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Tian Langjun smiled.

“If you want anything from me, note this, I’m not a kind person who would absolutely pay her debt,” Su Xiyan’s eyes flashed ruthlessly. “Whatever you’re planning is useless.”

Tian Langjun chuckled, “You’re a very interesting woman, Su Xiyan.” He stepped back and shrugged, “I truly have no hidden intention to help you, you know, aside from courting you.”

Su Xiyan glared.

“As you know, I can’t court a dead woman. It’s just a common courtesy to save the person you like,” Tian Langjun said coyly.

She snorted, “I’m not giving myself to a demon. Saving my life is not going to give you any advantage.” She coldly sneered, Tian Langjun could kill her easily but he didn’t. It was obvious he had another intention for her, she would not fall into a demon’s snare.

Tian Langjun smiled, “I know. Life is not as beautiful as fiction. Use the medicine, good night,” he patted Su Xiyan’s head and sauntered out, leaving Su Xiyan staring into space in a daze.

That’s... That’s all...?

Su Xiyan had been bracing and preparing for an all-out argument. She was prepared for more shamelessness. She was prepared to not take any confession to heart. She was prepared to mercilessly step on Tian Langjun’s pride and court her own death in the process.

She was here to ‘seduce’ Tian Langjun, but how could she bear to fake affection? She would not take this laying down. She had her pride. She may be able to manipulate Tian Langjun without feeling a prick of emotion but she couldn’t fake her emotion.

But Tian Langjun...

Su Xiyan stared at the paste medicine before her and a flash of emotion appeared in her cold eyes.

“Yan’er, what happened to you?” Old Palace Master extended his hands to hold Su Xiyan’s shoulders but the young lady stepped back, avoiding his touch.

“Never mind, just a little accident,” Su Xiyan pursed her lips.

“But you’re injured,” the Palace Master seemed to be overly concerned.

“Could be worse,” Su Xiyan said indifferently, her eyes showed a hint of hesitation. “I... This disciple would’ve been dead if it wasn’t for Tian Langjun...”

A cold light flashed in Palace Master’s eyes. “Tian Langjun? You’re injured because of him?”

“No,” Su Xiyan said. “I was reckless and he was there to save me.”

The Palace Master frowned.

“Lady Su, do you like poetry?”

“No,” she simply enjoyed it, not ‘llke’.

“Do you like plays?”

“No.”

“How about music?”

“No.”

“Do you know where could I get an answer ‘yes’?” Tian Langjun’s smile twitched.

“Stay put,” Su Xiyan said coldly. “I’m not letting you run around.”

“So possessive, I like it,” Tian Langjun sighed dramatically.

Su Xiyan glanced coldly at Tian Langjun who already returned flipping the book he recently got for the second time after finishing it. He seemed so fond of it and from a glimpse she caught, it should be a romance story.

She had no idea how a supposedly cold-blooded demon would like a cheap romance story.

Foolishness.

Su Xiyan looked down on her lap but hesitated when she remembered that he did save her life.

“But I know where you could get the most literatures,” Su Xiyan said and Tian Langjun’s eyes snapped back at her, astonished that she even bothered talking more. She knitted her brows seeing the reaction but showing anymore reaction would most-likely fire him more. “Qing Jing peak of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect is the source of many tasteful scholarly creations.”

Tian Langjun turned thoughtful.

“But if you stepped into Tian Gong Mountain Range, everyone would instantly know who you are. And with the number of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s members added with it being their territory, you would probably be bombarded to death,” She said blandly.

“That is unfair...” Tian Langjun pouted. “But did you just show concern about my well-being subtly there.”

Su Xiyan took out her sword.

"Yan’er...”

Su Xiyan stopped and turned her head to look at her master, “Is there anything you need, Shifu?”

“No, hm...” The Old Palace Master sighed. “Just make sure you’re not deceived.”

“But, don’t humans have a vigilante amongst them who stole from the rich and gave his loot to the poor?” Tian Langjun asked.

“That’s just in fiction. No one in their right mind would do that,” Su Xiyan said as she cleaned up her sword from her latest extermination of criminals. Tian Langjun had to admire how careless she was in beheading those bandits who tried to rob them.

“Really? I’ve read at least eight stories with that kind of character either as main character or side-character,” Tian Langjun said.

“Even if that kind of character exist, he would be captured and then beaten down for stealing,” Su Xiyan re-sheathed her sword.

“What if the thief is too strong?” Tian Langjun asked.

“Then, he shouldn’t be a thief, just go directly tax the rich,” Su Xiyan said calmly.

“Hmmm,” Tian Langjun hummed thoughtfully. “Wouldn’t he be a bandit that way?”

Su Xiyan snorted. “He’d be a government official.”

“What is government official?”

“People who work for mortals’ government. It’s a system to tie up a functioning society, though, more often than not, a corrupt one.”

“Aah...” Tian Langjun nodded. “It should be equivalent to echelons or demonic saint then... But we usually kill if we want something.”

Su Xiyan nodded, “But humans are smarter in doing it secretly while looking righteous.”

It had been a few months since Su Xiyan was ordered to keep an eye on Tian Langjun and she already changed. The Old Palace Master was deeply concerned about this and hurried to summon her back to Huan Hua Palace.

“You don’t have to keep an eye on Tian Langjun anymore,” the Old Palace Master said.

Su Xiyan stared, dumbstruck for a second, however, she recovered in a second and seamlessly bowed down to her Shifu. “Does this disciple make a mistake?” she inquired.

“It’s too dangerous and since there is no other development has happened, it’s a waste of time for you to keep doing this. You’re free from the duty,” Palace Master Chen said dignifiedly, trying not to show how anxious he was.

Su Xiyan was silent for a bit before she bowed her head deeper, “Understood.”

Su Xiyan spent the next several days free from duty and holed up in the library to read or in the training ground to train. She received a letter from Tian Langjun on the fourth day of her free-duty days. She didn’t even open it and directly burned it into ashes.

She got another letter five days later, she burned that one too.

Then another.

Another.

The letters kept coming.

Over a month later, she held the fifth letter in her hand, hesitating. She canceled all her plans that day and stuffed the letter into her pocket, she told her martial sisters that she would be walking around in Bai Lu Forest to meditate there.

She ended up walking anxiously within the forest. She didn’t know why she was like this. She could burn the previous letters just fine, but every time she burned a letter, it felt like something heavy dropped in her stomach. Now with the fifth letter in her hands, she began to feel anxious.

If the letter kept coming like this, it was just a matter of time for Tian Langjun to show up and wreck everything up. Her Shifu wouldn’t be pleased if Tian Langjun came.

Should... Should she open the letter and answer this one now?

She kept repeating in her mind that it was for the sake of not having Tian Langjun showing up and alerting everyone and she truly had no choice but to see what he wanted. She opened the letter and read it.

Srakk

Su Xiyan raised her gaze and her pair of sharp-coloured eyes met a pair of green ones.

“...”

“...”

The two people stood still, gazing blankly at each other. Su Xiyan’s gaze trailed down to stare blankly at a family of rabbits in the man’s arms, it was about half-a-minute later that the man slowly turned around, resolute in ignoring Su Xiyan’s existence.

By all means, whilst Bai Lu Forest was a public place, it was still Huan Hua Palace’s backyard, she was obligated to approach this unknown man and asked him for his intention here.

“Hey,” Su Xiyan called out and the man stopped.

He turned around to look at Su Xiyan, he was younger than Su Xiyan- that, Su Xiyan could ascertain. Instead of a man, he should be a young man. He was wearing a scholarly plain green robe, a sword strapped on his hips but strangely very quiet even when he moved.

The young man looked at her with annoyance on his face, never had a man threw such a look at her in her entire life.

“They chose me,” The young man answered tersely.

“...” Su Xiyan looked at the family of rabbits in his arms and shook her head. “You can have them. I just want to ask you of your intention to be in this forest?” since this young man could bypass the formation meant to confuse intruders, that meant he was a cultivator too, and of high knowledge at that.

“Journey to find oneself,” the young man said calmly as if he already said the exact sentence a hundred times before.

“...” Su Xiyan should press more but she was not in the mood to. In any case, she had asked him as per her duty, and he had answered. It wasn’t her problem anymore, “Don’t create any trouble.” She nodded. “Huan Hua Palace will not let you off if that’s the case.”

The young man snorted but nodded. He was about to leave when Su Xiyan called him out again.

“What?” The young scholar didn’t seem thrilled to be held back.

“You’re a scholar, right?” Su Xiyan asked. “Can you explain to me what’s this letter means?” Tian Langjun’s letter was... quite interesting. She couldn’t understand anything from the poem he had composed.

The young man grunted under his breath, something like ‘annoying’ and walked back up to her. He glanced at the letter and snorted, “Your man is thinking of having a secret rendezvous if you don’t quickly answer his letter.”

“What?” Su Xiyan looked at the letter in astonishment.

“I say, dump his ass,” the young man commented. “From his poem, it’s obvious he has read way too many inappropriate secret-love-affair literature works and saw too much moonlight thief-themed plays. Tasteless,” he ridiculed.

“What...?” Su Xiyan blinked, done astonished from the letter, she was astonished by this young man’s bluntness. “He’s not my man,” she said coldly.

“Oh, stalker?” The young man raised his brows. “But from the expression on your face, I’m pretty sure it’s not entirely one-sided from him.”

Su Xiyan was once again made speechless. She blinked quickly to get her mind snap out of it, “Watch your words,” she said coldly.

“No denials?” The young man did not cower back. “Better answer to that man’s letter, or ignore, whatever. I’m not providing relationship advice without payment.”

“You...” Su Xiyan furrowed her brows. “Who are you...?” No one ever acted this rude to her, although this young man was dressed humbly, she didn’t believe he was someone from a humble background. Not when he was obviously walking freely in Bai Lu Forest without being hindered with the magical formations within.

“My name is not important,” The young man raised his brows and stared back at her with a haughty countenance.

One of the baby rabbits within the scholar’s arms jumped out to the ground and ran away. The scholar’s unimpressed eyes finally peeled away from her.

“Wait, come back! Your mom and dad are here, you can’t survive alone!”

Once again, under Su Xiyan’s incredulous gaze, the scholar hastily chased after the bunny. She decided to let the scholar go as she had a more pressing and headache-inducing matter at hand.

Tian Langjun.

“My dear Xiyan! You finally answered-“

Su Xiyan pointed her sword to his throat, glaring. “What were you thinking? Can’t that demon brain of yours take a hint?”

“How could I take a hint if there isn’t any?” Tian Langjun smiled. “I thought my poetic mind and ideas had stumped you, I was planning to give you a normal letter, but that would be boring. But as expected, you understood-“

“I had to request an unknown scholar’s help to decipher it. Your poem is a mess of words.”

“You wound me,” Tian Langjun looked at her pitifully.

“What do you want?” Su Xiyan furrowed her brows.

Tian Langjun brightened, “There’s something I want to show you, you will like it.”

“I doubt that.”

“Do you know there’s a miraculous forest near the southern border,” Tian Langjun gestured. “There are so many beautiful things there- not as beautiful as you, but close.”

“Tian Langjun,” Su Xiyan started before she paused and glared. Her sword burst into light as she pointed it to another direction, “Who’s there?!”

A hiss sounded and the person hiding in the shadow shied away from her.

“Ah!” Tian Langjun made a sound as he pushed Su Xiyan’s blade down, “That’s our escort, my dear.”

“Escort?” Su Xiyan blinked in suspicion.

“Yes, Zhi-lang. Come over here, I’ll introduce you to your future aunt,” Tian Langjun said shamelessly despite Su Xiyan’s glare.

From the shadow, a young man with loose robe stepped out, he timidly looked at Su Xiyan before looking away when their gazes met. He walked until he was close enough to be pulled by Tian Langjun.

“This is Zhuzhi-Lang, my favourite nephew. Zhi-lang, this is Su Xiyan, your future aunt,” Tian Langjun introduced.

Zhuzhi-Lang nodded to her, “Aunt...” he spoke quietly.

“I’m not,” Su Xiyan inhaled deeply and prayed to the Lord to give her patience. “I’m not your aunt,” she hissed before turning to Tian Langjun, “What is he doing here?”

“Our escort, we’ll ride him to go there,” Tian Langjun said.

“You mean ride with him?”

“No, ride on him,” Tian Langjun said innocently.

“...” Su Xiyan stared at him, suspicious.

“Zhi-lang, come on,” Tian Langjun motioned to his nephew who stepped back several paces away before transforming into a huge white snake under Su Xiyan’s eyes.

“...” Su Xiyan held her head. “You use your own nephew as a means of transportation?” She said coldly.

“If I fly, I’ll have to reveal my demonic power,” Tian Langjun said. “And Zhi-lang likes it, right, Zhi-lang?”

Zhuzhi-Lang only hissed in answer.

Su Xiyan couldn’t believe these demons.

Despite Su Xiyan’s effort, they still ended up having secret meetings a few times. Effort. But Su Xiyan stopped justifying her agreement as ‘concern of humanity’ by the third meeting when Tian Langjun talked seriously about his dream.

“Don’t you think it would be great? If humans and demons live in harmony without killing one another on sight?” Tian Langjun asked. “If all demons and humans are like us right now?” he smiled.

“I tried to kill you,” Su Xiyan said bluntly.

“And then you got to know me,” Tian Langjun smirked. “Imagine if everyone stops the hatred and grudge for a while and gets to know each other. There wouldn’t be any barrier between us.”

Su Xiyan snorted coldly, “If humans could do that, let alone with demons, they wouldn’t even at war with each other.”

Tian Langjun sighed, “You’re right. Humans still at war with each other...” he mumbled.

Su Xiyan looked at him, “You’re talking as if demons are not at war with each other. Your kind is even more savage than humans,” so she heard. ‘Peace’ simply never existed in demon world.

Tian Langjun laughed, “I’m not saying there’s absolutely no war within the demon world, you’re right, my kin is even more uncontrolled.” He gazed at Su Xiyan, “But I’m not an overlord for nothing.”

Su Xiyan looked at Tian Langjun, astonished.

Of course, her secret outings did not go unnoticed.

“Apologies for disappointing Shifu. But Tian Langjun is insistent in meeting this disciple. This disciple merely thinks of her kin’s safety and had to follow through his words,” Su Xiyan said whilst kneeling down, smoothly transitioning all the blames to Tian Langjun. She knew...

She knew her master would never blame her.

“Yan’er, stand up,” The Old Palace Master distressedly helped her up, his touch lingered unnecessarily long. “It’s not your fault. Since Tian Langjun wants to meet you, how could you fight him alone? There’s nothing we can do, you may keep in contact with him and continue your observation.”

“Yes, Shifu.” Su Xiyan nodded firmly.

“Just keep it in mind, Yan’er,” A flash of ruthlessness appeared in the Palace Master’s eyes. “Don’t ever be deceived. We can only be in the controlling side, never give him any advantage, understand?”

Su Xiyan smiled coldly, “Don’t worry, Shifu. Yan’er always has Shifu’s teaching in mind.”

The Old Palace Master smiled in delight, “That’s my Yan’er.”

Su Xiyan closed the door to her room and her cold countenance fell. She looked up at the ceiling, spacing out in thought.

She walked to her desk and sat down, a stalk of Volcanic Cloud Fireflower in the vase that adorned the desk became the focus of her attention. “Can I keep doing this...?” she murmured.

She laughed mockingly to herself.

“Tian Langjun, you said I’m beautiful yet deadly,” she said to herself as her finger traced the vase and came up to the transparent glass enveloping the flower. “Volcanic Cloud Fireflower... a flower that emitted poisonous cloud when it’s of age, killing the surrounding but also itself in doing so...”

She curled her finger.

“Tell me about this human’s wedding tradition,” Tian Langjun started off casually as he lay down beside Su Xiyan. “I mean, the exchanging vows thing. I heard you also will do some ceremonial kicking doors? I’m quite interested in that.”

“Why?” Su Xiyan glanced at him. “You want to marry with human tradition?”

“Well, if you want to, heh heh,” Tian Langjun shrugged, but Su Xiyan simply shook her head and rolled her eyes. No immediate rejection or snorts of derision, keep going... “I don’t think you’d feel comfortable with demon tradition.”

“What’s wrong with demon tradition?” Su Xiyan asked, genuinely curious.

“Well, drinking each other’s blood... and that’s one of the least ‘disturbing’ things according to your human standard.”

Su Xiyan snorted. “Well...”

Su Xiyan eyed the trinkets and scrolls within the market with interest, ever since knowing Tian Langjun, her interest in tasteful work of art had increased. She no longer skimmed over them.

Last time, Tian Langjun gave her a rare flower from the border that helped her cultivation. She should return the gift with something. Not too expensive and not too precious that Tian Langjun would feel smug about it for days... But also something he’d like.

Her eyes stopped at a stand which was selling a few books and handmade trinkets.  In the middle of all kinds of stuff, there was a board that said ‘Buy one, get a free consultation of your academy and cultivation path.’

She raised her brows.

“You just say Zhao Hua Temple because I’m bald!”

She blinked and looked at one of the buyers before the stall.

“No, I said Zhao Hua Temple because your aura certainly suits their teaching.” Was the calm reply to the angry customer. “You said yourself that you wish to clean your mind from your rough life, Zhao Hua Temple is the best for that.”

“I’m not going to be a monk!” the customer yelled angrily.

“Too bad, your talent certainly could get you in there. Think about it. Not everyone could get into one of the Four Great Sects.”

“If you say my talent is great, then, how about Cang Qiong Mountain Sect? Can I get into that?”

The seller paused, he looked at his costumer seriously. “Ku Xing peak is good.”

The costumer choked, “Ascetic!?”

“Next,” The seller didn’t seem concerned that his costumer was dissatisfied.

A man beside the first customer stepped up, “Me, how about me?”

“Your talent is mediocre. I recommend you to go to either Wu Ying Sect or Lan Po Pavillion. Next.”

“How about me?”

“Tian Yi Overlook would treasure your talent.”

“A monk again!?” Others choked.

“You just want to draft everyone to be either a monk or ascetic, right!?”

“I’m afraid of the answer now. But what do you think about me? The best sect for me?”

The seller paused, “You’ll do good in Zui Xian peak.”

The customer smiled helplessly, “I’m a scholar, my family is a family of scholar. At my fifteen years of age, I’m already regarded as the future of my entire family for my achievement. How could I go to Zui Xian peak? Brother, if you can’t give a serious consultation, don’t put up the sign, ah...”

“You’re not suited in Qing Jing peak.”

“Why?”

“With your ability, you’ll only suffer there.”

“How could you know that? You don’t even know-“

“I know. Because I will personally make your life miserable there. Next?”

“That doesn’t even make sense!”

“I’d like this book,” Su Xiyan broke their commotion as she laid her hand on a book with a white cover, the title of the book was ‘The Journey of A Stone Monkey’

The other customers were struck, not only because Su Xiyan broke their momentum, but Su Xiyan’s beauty also silenced them.

“20 silver taels. No less.”

“That’s simply a robbery!”

“Shut up. People who only bought a small knot decoration do not have the right to talk about price,” The seller said disdainfully.

Su Xiyan narrowed her eyes as a feeling of familiarity gripped her, “You... Weren’t you the one in Bai Lu Forest...?” Now she looked closer, she finally recognized the seller’s face under his bamboo hat.

“Who?” the scholar with green eyes looked at her blankly. There was no hint of recognition in his eyes. “I don’t do discount, miss. No matter how beautiful you are.”

Su Xiyan shook her head, “I’ll buy this.” She took out twenty silver taels and put it on the stall.

“Do you want a consultation?” The scholar took the money.

“Don’t do it, fairy. This man is a quack.”

“He only randomly assigns people.”

“You’ll be suited for Xian Shu peak,” The scholar said blandly.

“That’s a very generic and expected answer towards a beautiful woman!” the customers protested.

Su Xiyan took the book she had chosen and flipped it open to inspect the story to see if it was decent. It exceeded her expectation for a 20-silver-coins book, this quality should be in a prestigious library somewhere.

Su Xiyan looked up, “I’m already in Huan Hua Palace, so no, thank you.”

The scholar looked at her with a furrowed brows, “Huan Hua Palace? God forbids...” He murmured.

“What’s wrong with Huan Hua Palace?” Su Xiyan raised her brows.

“Nothing. Just make sure not getting too close with the Palace Master,” The scholar said.

“Why?” Su Xiyan frowned.

The scholar hesitated for a bit before he looked down on his shady green robe and blinked as if he realized something. After that, he raised his head and said without any restrain, “That old man is a kind of lecher who would pick up a beautiful girl, nurture her, and then prey on her when she’s ripe.”

Su Xiyan went completely silent, not only her, even the dissatisfied group of teenage costumers also grew silent, gawking at the seller in disbelief.

“S-slander! Definitely slander!”

“Audacious! How could you say something like that about a Sect Head of one of the Four Great Sects?!”

“Brother, you’re crossing the bottom line! If this reach Huan Hua Palace, you’ll be maimed!”

“What makes you say so?” Su Xiyan furrowed her brows coldly.

“I’m very familiar with his kind,” The scholar said cryptically.

Shoo! Bang!

The scholar’s blank face finally twisted when he heard the banging sound, Su Xiyan turned and recognized it was from a kind of signal cracker.

“There he is!”

“Shit,” The scholar waved his hand and stored all the stuff in his stall and picked up a cat that Su Xiyan didn’t notice before. He didn’t even look back as he turned tail and ran.

“Wait, come back!”

“Your half-a-year vacation has ended two months ago!”

“At least leave us the spare key for the inner library!”

Su Xiyan blankly watched as a few apprentices ran past her but stopped when they couldn’t find the trail of the scholar which had disappeared into smoke.

"Tianlang...” Su Xiyan walked to and fro in her confinement room. “Tian-lang, Tian-lang, Tian-lang... Tian...“ She kept on mumbling as she bit her nail with her other free hand firmly on her belly.

“You’re still thinking about him?”

Su Xiyan’s eyes turned cold as she turned around to stare emotionlessly at the Old Palace Master who had entered the room whilst she was distracted.

“Xiyan, open your eyes! You’ve been played!” The Old Palace Master was so mad that his eyes turned bloodshot. “I’ve told you again and again to not be deceived, but you fell into that demon’s snare! And now you’re still thinking about him?!”

“I did not fall into his snare, I gave myself to him,” Su Xiyan retorted. “And how could I not be thinking about my husband?” she snorted coldly and sneered when the Old Palace Master fumed even more.

“You! That demon had raped you and brainwashed you so thoroughly. Wake up, Yan’er, how could you wrong yourself like this?” The Old Palace Master stared at her with fire behind his eyes.

Su Xiyan crossed her arms, she turned impatient, “If rape requires consent from the two sides involved, then, yes, I’m raped.”

The Old Palace Master inhaled deeply and closed his eyes to calm his anger, Su Xiyan was not afraid. She knew she would suffer anything within Huan Hua Palace’s ground. “You’re brainwashed. Stay here until we find a way to heal you.”

“You can’t keep confining me like this,” Su Xiyan said coldly. “I’m pregnant with Tian Langjun’s child. He would seek for me.”

“Then, he may come!” The Old Palace Master’s eyes turned bloodshot again. “I will show him what will happen to him for daring to take what’s mine!” he revealed his real face.

Su Xiyan sneered, “Yours? I’m my own person,” she hissed. “And I’ve given myself to Tian Langjun, I’m his. You never own me.”

“Don’t you want the position of Palace Master?” The Old Palace Master said grimly.

“I don’t need it,” Su Xiyan said resolutely. “That position? What’s the meaning of it? Being with Tian Langjun is a far more powerful position,” she provoked. “It seems like what people in the street says about you is true. You’re nothing but a lecher who picked up a beautiful girl, nurture her, and prey on her. But let me remind you, I’m never a prey,” she said ruthlessly.

“Su Xiyan, you-!” The Old Palace Master raised his hand and Su Xiyan raised her chin, challenging. The Old Palace Master lowered his hand and growled, “I’ll leave you until you’re de-brainwashed. We’ll get rid of that kid soon,” he looked at Su Xiyan’s slightly protruding stomach.

Su Xiyan stared coldly as the Old Palace Master left and the room was sealed once again.

She turned back and put her hand on her belly once again, “My sky... The night is coming and I’ve painted this, I’ve caused this...” she bit her lips. “Do not be deceived, Tian Langjun. Do not be deceived. Humans are not angelic innocent beings.” She murmured under her breath.

“I’m so sorry...I can’t care for you, my dear...” she sobbed.

The baby seemed to feel her distress and cried too. The woman’s head dropped, “Live for me, I’m sure you can. You survived the poison, after all... Be happy in my stead.” She let go of the basket and the basket flowed along the river’s flow.

The baby didn’t stop his cry, calling for the warmth that he seemed to be getting further away from.

The woman collapsed on the bank of the river, her eyes were dry as she finally gave up and laid down. “Your father is the sky, I’m his dusk...” She mumbled. “I will always watch over you, my child.”

She held up her hand, reaching out to the sky, “My sky... Tianlang... Night has come... I have to go...” another stray tear rolled down. She was his doom. Supposedly so. “I’m sorry...”

The first time she approached him, it had been nothing but her sense of duty to bring down the evil demon overlord and protect the human realm. Their first meeting was not smooth. She intended to be his destruction, but now... Her feeling changed but her role didn’t. “Morning will surely come to you, my sky, my child...”

A white owl flapped its wings and perched on a tree branch on the corner of her eyes, looking at her with its piercing golden eyes.

“I’ve lied so many times...” Su Xiyan smiled helplessly. Will the truth prevail? Or will the rest of the world just eat whatever the old coot fed them? She laughed bitterly. She had been selfish. “If only I stayed by your side...”

She closed her eyes and breathed her last.

[User Sovereign of Prediction: Fucking kill him off already.]

[User Lively Prairie: Fucking kill him off already. +1]

[User I’m still underage please take care of me: Fucking kill him off already +500]

[User Running Out Toilet Paper: I demand a torture. He single-handedly ruined a family, sealed the father for over a decade, killed the mother, and made the son live a miserable street life. Luckily, the son was saved.]

[User Peerless Cucumber: I’m not in favor of torturing him. Fucking kill him off already.]

[User Mistress of Moonlight: That scholar was right. The OPM did pick Su Xiyan and nurture her, that bastard was a part-pedophile for looking at a young girl that way. And yes, I think that scholar is Shizun.]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: ^ Duh, MoM. It’s obvious. It’s absolutely my husband. That ‘I’m familiar with his kind’??? Yeah, Husband is absolutely familiar with THAT kind. COUGH! qiu COUGH!]

[User Sexy Banana: This is not sexy. I’m not here for romance tragedy. Not after Shizun and Qiu Haitang... But I hated Qiu Haitang so... But no one is hateable in this! Su Xiyan was simply a bit selfish maybe but she was also naive in returning to Huan Hua Palace so easily! Tian Langjun absolutely has no fault too! The only repulsive thing in this story is that OLD SACK OF SHIT!!! THROW HIM INTO THE ACID WATER OF WATER PRISON ALREADY!!!]

[User BDSM in Water Prison anyone?: As the number one fan of Water Prison (or any prison who could possibly be a bdsm place) I don’t mind in dunking this old bitch in the acid water. WE’LL FEAST ON HIS MISERY!]

[User S Is For Shizun: I’m CRYING!! WHY?! They’re such a perfect couple!]

[User Demon Overlord: I demand to skin that old shit alive.]

[User Bitch on Fire: Burn him.]

[User Su Xiyan is Bae: BITCH! I ONLY HAD SU XIYAN FOR ONE CHAPTER AND SHE. JUST. DIED???]

[User Qing Jing Peak’s Scholar: Okay, I don’t want to focus on a dead man. That old sack of shit will definitely be dead anyways. I want to focus here... Su Xiyan’s words were really poetic. She said she brought the night as she was the ‘Dusk’ to the sky which was Tian Langjun. She also said she hoped she and Tian Langjun could oversee Luo Binghe’s growth as the sky.

But what get me giddy is... She said morning will surely come to Tian Langjun and Luo Binghe. And... Morning (晨) sounds almost exactly like To Sink (沉) ahem, ahem,  Shizun's surname was Shen (沈) Fuck. Airplane. That’s. Just. Beautiful. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!]

[User Peerless Cucumber: Holy shit! Holy shit! @ Qing Jing Peak’s Scholar You’re a genius! YES! SHIZUN’S NICKNAME WAS ‘said.’ Damn, if only we had a donghua or drama, this scene would be fucking beautiful.]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s Fifth Wife: I’M CRYING! Shen! Shen will surely come to you! YESSS! YES! Just. YES.]

[User Because I Like You: My producer heart is screaming. If Su Xiyan was talking like a dying person would, it would be easy to slip in some words... This could only work in either a donghua or drama. Could it be, Airplane? By making this scene, you're saying you're open for an adapatation?]

[User Fuck Not Fight: DAMN! As expected of Airplane, he’s still slipping foreshadowing, lovely pun, and still being so poetic! Kudos!]

[User Sha Hualing’s Little Bell: Fucking kill me with this feels.]

[User Please More: I’m fucking thirsty right now because of crying. I thought going to the comment section might take my mind off of the intense chapter and discuss about it. But. Damn. Qing Jing Peak’s Scholar-bro. You. You made me thirsty for fanfiction. NOW.]

[User Shen Will Surely Come To You: Just got back. Check out my new id.]

[User Call Me Your Mommy: ^ We can make a religion out of this.]

[User Everyday We Strayed Further: That’s my motto now. Shen Will Surely Come To You.]

[User Lick Lick Lick: ^ Ya haven’t? I already religiously refreshed Airplane-bro’s page ever since I got into the fandom, hoping for a surprise update.]

[User Monkey King: But seriously, won’t some big producer come over here and make this into a donghua or drama already??? Su Xiyan’s last word would be abso-fucking-lutely beautiful when said. Not just a pun that was picked up by some clever readers.]

[User Shizun Please Step On Me: Trust me. I have a friend who was an animator to a big brand. They already tried very hard to contact Airplane-bro but he’s simply too elusive! Airplane-bro! Make this into a donghua already! A 3d one! We, your fans, will make sure they do this justice! Don’t be afraid!]

[User Luo Binghe’s Mom: A drama will be good too. My idol certainly would make a perfect Luo Binghe.]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: NOT DRAMA! My husband’s perfection cannot be placed on a cheap actor’s shoulder!]

[User Love Everyone: Okay, but seriously. I just want to see that Old Palace Master die quickly. Take care of yourself, Airplane! Give us a deserving death of that old bastard!]

Chapter Text

The scene before Luo Binghe cracked and shattered, leaving nothing behind but a blank white room, seemingly vast and endless. His gaze was empty, nothing seemed to be able to bring him out of the state of blankness his mind was in. No sound could be heard. Not a life could be sensed.

Luo Binghe didn’t know the woman he just witnessed within the memory. But he recognized her face feature, she looked so much like Luo Binghe’s reflection. She could pass as Luo Binghe’s girl version in some kind of twisted dimension. The only thing different was her eyes. Other than that, she was so alike Luo Binghe.

His mother.

His birth mother.

Su Xiyan...

So, she was the owner of the name that the disgusting waste of an old man often muttered when he was tortured by Luo Binghe... Such a beautiful name sounded so disgusting coming from that scum’s mouth.

A beautiful intelligent woman, cold outside but warm inside.

So, Luo Binghe was born loved...?

The young demon lord tilted his head up. For so long he had thought that his own birth mother detested his existence. And when he found out he was a demon, he played with the idea that his own mother had been raped by a disgusting demon and his existence was a sin to her.

It would be a lie to say he never had any thought of seeking his birth mother, but when he knew he was a demon, the eagerness just disappeared into a wisp of smoke. His fear of being rejected made him unable to muster up any desire to seek his birth mother.

Luo Binghe had always been a child who was content on what he had. Back then, he lived in poverty, but he had a loving adoptive mother, he was content with just her. When she died and he was forced to live on the street, he was still content because at least he had a goal in mind, that was to get into a Sect and cultivate to attain his dream and to fulfill his adoptive mother’s wish.

When he got into Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, Luo Binghe was content in Qing Jing peak despite his Shizun always absent most of the times. At least, he had such an amazing Shizun who cared for him in his own way. Even when his martial brothers purposefully made it difficult for him, at least his martial sisters were all kind.

Luo Binghe was always content with his situation, he was determined but not overly ambitious.

 But after seeing the memories, a wisp of selfishness and resentment in him grew exponentially.

He could have had a complete and happy family.

He could have had everything in the palm of his hands without having to go through a terrible childhood in the street.

He could have had a motherly love from his own birth mother.

It’s not fair...

“Is it?” A dark shadow leaned on Luo Binghe’s shoulder, whispering in a terrifyingly seductive way. “Don’t you think it’s not fair? Such a poor son, losing father and mother at such a young age. Without a mother’s protection, you had to struggle so hard.”

Luo Binghe’s eyes were blank, it was unknown whether he was listening or not to the strange voice.

“Taken in by the poor washerwoman, such a sad fate. You know, without you, she might survive...”

Luo Binghe trembled.

“Food was scarce, yet, even when you’re not her real son, she sacrificed a lot for you, making her condition worse-“

“Shut up,” Luo Binghe hissed. “Shut up, Xin Mo,” he repeated, firmer.

Silence greeted him for a while before the darkness around him shifted as if laughing. “Deep down you know I’m right. We are one.”

Luo Binghe covered his ears vainly, however, his breath turned erratic.

“But was it your fault?” Xin Mo whispered again. “After all, the root of the problem is those people of Huan Hua Palace.”

“Kill them. Anyone who stands in our way deserves to be slaughtered like dogs.”

“Prove that you’re not in the wrong. Kill them.”

The more Luo Binghe listened to the murderous words, the more erratic his qi flow was. His spiritual and demonic qi clashed, disturbing the flow of harmony on each other, no more co-existing peacefully.

Dark purple veins began to bulge out under Luo Binghe’s skin. A telling sign of qi deviation.

Dark crimson qi swarmed around him as if welcoming. When Luo Binghe felt like to dive deeper into insanity his hand was clasped.

Cold yet assuring, that was what Luo Binghe felt from his hand that was clasped. The cold feeling spread in Luo Binghe’s body, making his mind somewhat clear again. His crimson eyes gazed to the source of comfort and his eyes widened in astonishment.

Tears unconsciously welled up in his eyes, “Mother...?” the word felt foreign when it was used to refer to any other woman other than the washerwoman who had raised him, but it still felt right. It just felt so right.

A wisp of Su Xiyan’s soul was there, smiling, her eyes were overflowing with love and affection. She didn’t say anything but her eyes conveyed a lot of unsaid things and somehow... Luo Binghe understood.

The truth was kind enough to reveal itself so that the lie couldn’t hurt you. But if you're hurt either way, I’d rather you hate me than you hurting yourself...

Luo Binghe sobbed, “Mother... Mother, Binghe is-“

Su Xiyan’s eyes revealed sorrow, she made a gesture with her transparent hands, before both hands landed on Luo Binghe’s cheeks, holding him yet not at the same time, her lips moved but he couldn’t hear her.

Regardless of what you thought, what you have done, or what you will do...

Su Xiyan’s form started fading as she threw her arms around him. Luo Binghe couldn’t feel anything enveloping him, as if no one was hugging him at all. He didn’t feel the embrace, but there was faint warmth lingering around him.

I love you...

Then, Su Xiyan was gone in a blink of Luo Binghe’s eyes, replaced by a pair of wide owlish golden eyes staring straight into him. Luo Binghe had no idea when the spirit owl had perched itself on a stake before him and staring deeply at him, but he had an idea that it was the one that let him meet his mother even for a few fleeting seconds.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

A scream finally snapped Luo Binghe out of his reverie and bafflement, he looked on to see Tian Langjun had stabbed the Old Palace Master on the shoulder and had used his foot to break the old man’s jaw as he held his own bleeding hand over and letting his blood dripping into the Old Palace Master’s mouth.

Just a few steps away from them, Mo Beijun was calmly guarding the cowardly former peak lord within his arms, keeping cautious eyes on Tian Langjun but ultimately didn’t concern himself about what would happen to the Old Palace Master.

“Unfortunately, you seem to have lost several limbs and deprives me of the joy of ripping them apart. No worries, I will make do of what remains intact now,” Tian Langjun said cruelly. His eyes shone in insanity, something more dangerous than what Luo Binghe ever saw in those deep eyes.

“Stop right now!” Wu Wang cried out righteously.

Meanwhile, the peak lords of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect all looked at each other as if discussing if they would ultimately speak out for the Old Palace Master and lied to their own desire and real feelings, or should they let Tian Langjun did as he pleases which would speak more in line with their personal wish.

“Lord Tian, please don’t resort to violence,” Yue Qingyuan said this, but he sheathed back Xuan Su, which ultimately sent the signal of him not having any desire to fight for that old fool. His words spoke what was expected of him, but his action spoke his real intention. “We’ll have to properly investigate and judge him,” by that moment, maybe all the crimes this old scum did would eclipse Shen Qingqiu’s faults somehow... Yue Qingyuan didn’t have a big hope on that, but it was good to hope.

“No need, I will take care of him according to demon custom,” Tian Langjun raised his head. “As the demon lord, I’m able to do this.”

“He’s a person of the human race, we’re the one who will properly judge him,” Wu Wang insisted.

“I don’t really want to be considered of the same race as that disgusting waste,” Qi Qingqi said bluntly.

“How could say that...” Some self-righteous cultivators who weren’t a part of people who saw the memory all protested.

Qi Qingqi glared at those ignorant people and snorted, turning her head away from the crowd and towards Yue Qingyuan who did not bother to look at her. However, Yue Qingyuan’s obvious indifference towards her action made a smug smile bloomed on her face. Yue Qingyuan had no intention to scold her even as a face-saving show, they were all in the same boat.

Tian Langjun also noticed this. He had no intention to stay and fight further. The memories he was forced to watch had done some damage to his desire for an all-out war. Right now, he was only in the mood to go back and torture this old bastard. Since Cang Qiong Mountain Sect wouldn’t put up any fight, he’d just force his way through the rest.

“Zhi-Lang!” Tian Langjun yelled out for his general.

Zhuzhi-Lang was quick to act, he jumped towards Tian Langjun and transformed into his huge snake form again. Visible golden demonic qi wrapped his enormous body and he coiled around the space containing Tian Langjun and the Old Palace Master, and then he released the energy within him and created a shockwave that kept everyone away.

“Detain them!”

“We can’t let them just go back after killing so many people!”

The demon army also immediately raised their weapons, ready to battle it out again to the last drop of blood.

“Enough!” A shrill voice once again resounded in agitation. Shen Qingqiu stepped out, the metal wire around his hands had long been torn apart by Da Zhu, and he glared at the human cultivators. “Let that old bastard’s fate to Tian Langjun’s hands. Decades ago, he dared to deceive everyone and schemed against the demon lord. Today, he’ll pay his dues. No one should die for him,” he said ruthlessly.

Tian Langjun mounted Zhuzhi-Lang, dragging the Old Palace Master with him, he watched the scene prevailed with cool eyes.

“NO!!!” Another shriek resounded and a beautiful young lady pushed herself through a throng of exhausted cultivators and glared at Shen Qingqiu. She then looked towards the Old Palace Master and her eyes teared up, “Father! Father, who could’ve done this to you!?” She cried out. “No, I won’t let my father be brought away by demons!”

Everyone looked at the young lady who couldn’t have been twenty yet, their gazes were complicated.

The young lady looked at the crowd, tearful. She wilfully said, “Look at my father, it’s obvious he had been tortured inhumanely! How could you all let this happen!? How could you let a father torn away from his daughter!!?”

“Go with him, then,” Shen Qingqiu calmly stated.

“You...” Xiao Gongzhu looked at Shen Qingqiu with eyes that could kill. “You dumb slave! How dare you talk like that to me?!”

The people of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect who initially smiled because of Shen Qingqiu’s bluntness immediately turned cold when Xiao Gongzhu insulted the scholar.

“I demand a fair trial! I won’t let anyone who tortured my father off!” Xiao Gongzhu shouted. She turned to glare furiously at Shang Qinghua who had brought the Old Palace Master to this place. “I want to know how the former peak lord of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had brought my father here. If you said Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had nothing to do with this, I won’t believe it!”

Shang Qinghua looked at Xiao Gongzhu incredulously. Why did this little sister suddenly throwing accusations out of nowhere? Aiya, aiya, little sister, the right course of action is to act wilful and dramatic after the climax, ah. Then, you can confront the protag after the war, shed a little bit of tears, apologize for your father’s sins, and then do some make-up sex! Why are you confronting the strongest sect head-on and even throwing such a heavy accusation like that!?

Xiao Gongzhu, ah, beautiful daughter that I forgot the name of, why are you so stupid!? Do you not want the harem membership anymore!?

Shang Qinghua sneaked a glance to Luo Binghe whose face was already dark and thunderous, he looked away and sent a prayer. Shang Qinghua decisively demoted Xiao Gongzhu from ‘beautiful daughter’ to ‘dumb girl’ in his heart.

“This is slander, we’ll not stand this,” Wei Qingwei stepped forward and said coldly. “And everyone knows Shang Qinghua is no longer a part of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect and had sided with demons?”

Xiao Gongzhu snorted, “That’s what you want us to believe. But the fact is you still accepted him to help you. What if it’s not just him who deflected to the demons’ side? What if you all deflected but kept quiet about it?!”

“Say, whose sect is it that’s been infiltrated and ruled by demons?” Shen Qingqiu raised his brows. “This young lady is surely a fruit not far off from the tree. Your projecting is top-notch.”

“You... You vile slave,” Xiao Gongzhu pointed at Shen Qingqiu. “You deflected and even helped Tian Langjun in killing hundreds and thousands of people of other sects, you even protected your own sect. Is it really far-fetched to say Cang Qiong Mountain Sect is not in cohort with demons and you’re just sacrificing the rest of us like fodders?!”

“Yes, I deflected,” Shen Qingqiu admitted.

Xiao Gongzhu smirked smugly.

“Yes, I helped Tian Langjun in killing hundreds and even thousands of people from the other three Great Sects. I gave him all the informations needed to triumph over you all. I made the strategy and tactics. I’m complicit in everything he did,” Shen Qingqiu calmly stated as he glanced at Tian Langjun’s form.

“Shizun,” Luo Binghe started. “I’m sure you had a reason to do that, right? You... You were threatened-“

“No,” Shen Qingqiu cut him off. “I did it out of my own will. He wanted revenge and couldn’t be stopped. He needed my help and I needed a place to stay. Truth to be told, I couldn’t care less about what will happen to other sects.”

Shen Qingqiu’s last sentence sent chills to the hearts of everyone present.

The peak lords all stared at Shen Qingqiu’s cold face in shock. Yue Qingyuan pursed his lips and wanted to say something, however, he was a step too late as the Great Monk Wu Wang jumped first.

“Peak lord Shen, I don’t know you could be this heartless,” Wu Wang gritted his teeth. “There are thousands dying in this war, some of them were just children. Where’s your compassion as a human?!”

“Who told you to bring children into this battlefield,” Shen Qingqiu sneered. “Don’t blame your enemy for being ruthless, blame yourself for being useless. The responsibility for their deaths is not within the enemy’s hands, but in your hands that had allowed them to be here in the first place!”

Shen Qingqiu’s words struck Wu Wang speechless, the Great Monk staggered back a step and his lips quivered in rage as he glared at Shen Qingqiu who glared back at him. He had done all he could to make sure no kids below 20 come to the battlefield, but they still sent them here. Foolish people.

Wu Chen held his shixiong’s shoulders to calm him down, “Amitabha, buddha gives mercy to us all. Peak lord Shen is a man of knowledge and wisdom, this one admired peak lord Shen terribly. No human is without a flaw, we all made mistakes, however, you’ve crossed the bottom-line. May buddha gives us mercy.”

“In all my life, I’ve never lived off of mercy, Venerable Wu Chen. I am someone who will not hesitant in sacrificing others for myself. If I have to sacrifice all of you to keep the only thing that matters to me safe, I would. Spare me your preaching, I never listen to others, I do things according to my own desire. If I decide on something, no one can change it. Not my Shizun, not Yue Qingyuan, not Tian Langjun, not even all of you combined,” Shen Qingqiu smiled calmly.

Everyone instantly incited into a rage when they heard the careless tone.

Before they could erupt, a vurst laughter resounded from Tian Langjun who was watching the scene like some kind of opera. He wiped away imaginary tears as he looked down at Shen Qingqiu.

“Ruthless. Ruthless and heartless as always, Shen Qingqiu. Not even to your own race you soften up,” Tian Langjun said in amusement.

Xiao Gongzhu erupted, “How could any of you possibly forgive him for this!? Attack him! Kill him!” she shrieked.

Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s people panicked. Luo Binghe brandished Xin Mo, ready to fight everyone in the vicinity to get his Shizun to safety. Even if his heart went cold hearing Shen Qingqiu’s ruthless words, in the end, he couldn’t just let Shen Qingqiu be killed in here.

That’s right. Who cared about others? As long as Shen Qingqiu was nice to the people who mattered, Luo Binghe didn’t care. He was a demon, cruel bloodline flowed within him. He would inflict thousands kinds of torture to those who wronged him, and he would fight thousands of enemies for the people who were kind to him. Like teacher, like student, after all... Luo Binghe thought in determination.

“No need,” Shen Qingqiu said calmly. “You can detain me, I’ll take full responsibility,” he said as he raised his two hands in front of him in a gesture of surrendering.

Luo Binghe froze, the peak lords were dumbfounded, Tian Langjun’s eyes widened and Zhuzhi-Lang perked up incredulously.

“I recognize my sins. I’m responsible for Tian Langjun’s rise. I also had a hand in the deaths of thousands people. For my own selfish reason, I betrayed my own race. Even though I tried to return the tide in the end, I know the dead would never return. But what I’ve done has nothing to do with Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, no one in the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect is in cohort with demons... except for that eyesore over there,” Shen Qingqiu glanced towards Shang Qinghua in disdain.

Shang Qinghua looked away. Forget it, that was his S-grade son and he was saying the fact anyways. Shang Qinghua was willing to be looked down on if it was by him.

“Yue Qingyuan, I acted on my own and wilfully so. I dragged Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s name to the dirt, for this, please forgive me,” Shen Qingqiu bowed down to Yue Qingyuan who raised his hands, wanting to stop him, but Shen Qingqiu continued. “Shidi, shimei, all of you have suffered. Believe me, I may have hurt your favoured disciples terribly but it’s for their own good, I hope you can forgive me for this.”

“Qingqiu-shidi,” Yue Qingyuan furrowed his brows.

He smiled enigmatically towards his martial brothers and sister, “No more running away now. I’ll stay.” If he left again after this mess, the one who would face the condemnation wouldn’t be just him but also Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Shen Qingqiu then turned towards everybody else and lowered his head, “I admit my crime and will accept any punishment you decide.”

Tian Langjun was rendered speechless at this, but then he saw Shen Qingqiu glancing at him. His blood boiled but his heart settled down and the corner of his lips quirked up cruelly.

Luo Binghe panicked when he saw his Shizun willingly surrendered himself and even would accept any kind of punishment. With all the crimes he admitted, how could his Shizun get out of this alive!? “Shizun-!” Luo Binghe started, however, a bright red demonic qi wave slammed to his side out of nowhere and he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

Luo Binghe slammed to a boulder several dozens meters away and struggled to get up. He heaved, ‘Impossible, didn’t Da Zhu took away his harmony?’ Luo Binghe raised his head to look at Tian Langjun who smiled bloodily at him. He then looked at his Shizun who narrowed his eyes at him with furrowed eyebrows.

Luo Binghe coughed out another mouthful of blood, his sight turned hazy and he fell front first to the ground as Xin Mo clattered beside him.

Tian Langjun laughed coldly when Luo Binghe fainted before looking back to the main attraction, “What’s with this righteous front? This is not amusing to watch at all.” Tian Langjun grinned, “Shen Qingqiu, Shen Qingqiu, don’t you remember that you’re my person?”

Tian Langjun stepped on the body of Old Palace Master and ground it into Zhuzhi-Lang’s hard body as Zhuzhi-Lang raised his head higher.

“I will never let you return to the human side. Even if you’re dead, you can’t leave my side,” Tian Langjun declared possessively.

The situation became even more hectic. The peak lords of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect were put between a rock and a hard place, on one hand, they recognized that Shen Qingqiu’s means to protect them but also hurt any other people aside them were cruel and ruthless- deserving to be punished, but on the other hand, they didn’t want to capture him at all since the only feasible punishment for all his sins was death!

But should they side with Shen Qingqiu, the entire world would go against them...

Yue Qingyuan gripped his sword hilt so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He weighed his options, which to be honest, none of them was a good option.

Shen Qingqiu gazed disdainfully at Tian Langjun, “I’m done playing traitor. Tian Langjun, you never owned me,” he emphasized.

Tian Langjun’s brows lowered, “Is that so...?”

A swift yet frightening wave of energy burst out from Tian Langjun and towards Shen Qingqiu, forming a bloody palm that opened up to grab Shen Qingqiu. Yue Qingyuan snapped.

The palm of energy shattered into dust before it could get near Shen Qingqiu. Between Shen Qingqiu and Tian Langjun, Yue Qingyuan stood with unsheathed Xuan Su.

“Lord Tian, your grudge is with another. My shidi has no debt with you, don’t cross the bottom-line,” Yue Qingyuan said coldly.

“Enough with your insolence, Tian Langjun. Stop putting up a front,” Shen Qingqiu gritted his teeth. “You’re not as mighty as you show us you are. Attack him! Da Zhu has snatched away the harmony within him, he’s way weaker than his previous condition.”

Whilst everyone was still too dumbstruck to react, Liu Qingge had taken up his sword and sent swordwaves after swordwaves that he even took Tian Langjun by surprise with his swiftness.

One of Liu Qingge’s attack hit Tian Langjun’s right shoulder, he immediately staggered a step back and held the injured shoulder. This time, he didn’t immediately heal. Blood continuously bled out that his sleeve turned damp with crimson colour. However, his expression was still calm, as if he wasn’t bleeding out at all.

He raised his left hand and absorbed the rest of Liu Qingge’s attack before releasing it back towards Liu Qingge. Wei Qingwei stepped up in front of Liu Qingge who was still too injured to fight properly, he raised his sword and dispelled Tian Langjun’s attack with one slash, his eyes narrowed after confirming that the scale indeed became much weaker.

Obviously, others noticed also. They immediately went back to their stances and looked at Tian Langjun with more courage than before.

Tian Langjun sneered, full of disdain, as if conveying to them that they were not worthy even to the weakened him. Instead, he growled at Shen Qingqiu, “Is this what you want? You, humans, are always sickeningly loyal. You. Su Xiyan. No matter how cold or ruthless you appeared, you all fell in the same hole anyways. Your loyalty to your sect kills you.”

Shen Qingqiu scoffed, “I’m not as foolish as Su Xiyan.”

Zhuzhi-Lang grew frantic as he raised his head and his golden snake-eyes glanced at Shen Qingqiu in unwillingness. No doubt, if only Tian Langjun was not standing on top of him with a prisoner, he would have jumped and tried to snatch Shen Qingqiu right away.

Shen Qingqiu noticed the demon general’s stare and glared, “Speaking of loyalty, your own nephew is uselessly suicidal on that. Pot calling a kettle black.”

Tian Langjun shook his head, “I’m talking about me. You think why I always called him foolish?” he ground his foot on Zhuzhi-Lang’s scales. Feeling the forceful strength of Tian Langjun’s stomp, Zhuzhi-Lang submissively looked away from Shen Qingqiu.

“Attack!” Tian Langjun initiated.

“Charge!” Everyone from the human side charged.

[User Rain in Autumn: I’m rooting for the demon side. To hell with Shizun’s villain speech, he’s still fucking epic, ah!]

[User S is for Shizun: Shizun, ah, Shizun, you’re so beautiful that they resumed the war to get your body! The world is not safe for beauties, ah.]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s Fourth Wife: Is it just me who noticed the pattern of Shizun always being in the middle of tug-o-war? Like, the first time was in his first trial where he ‘died’, Zhuzhi-Lang tried to abduct him in the middle of the trial and then decided to just kill him. And then, his dead body became a hot thing, getting pulled here and there. And then in the earlier part of the war where Luo Binghe wounded him and his identity was revealed. And then now... This troupe... Is usually for a weak protag with heaven-defying talent that makes others want to swallow him... That, or a heaven-defying female leads with many people wanted to pull her to their side (according to Rule #44 of heaven-defying female lead with mysterious background and talent, the female lead would be then kidnapped by a stronger power than the ones that were fighting over her and then disappeared from the protag’s side until a few hundred chapters later where she appeared to save the protag from an imminent danger with her new power-up.)]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s Sixth Wife: @Fourth Wife you want to say Shizun is the love interest? How dare you, on what basis are you telling a stallion novel had a male love interest? That’s a blasphemy! In any case, continue.]

[User Sexy Banana: In any case, Shizun already had several female lead traits. I mean, if he became the gay love interest, I’ll accept wholeheartedly. But only him. No one else.]

[User Shizun please step on me: ^ COUGH! COUGH! Banana-bro, what kind of blasphemy are you talking about? The ancient rule number one in Proud Immortal Demon Way: “If it’s Shen Qingqiu, it’s not gay.”]

[User Make Love Not War: Amen, brother.]

[User Rope Bunny: Xiao Gongzhu- that bitch!!! Her father is a scum, why can’t she just accept it and move on, for fuck’s sake! Forget it, Qiu Haitang might be dumb as hell and ended up hurting Shen Qingqiu with her ignorance, but Xiao Gongzhu is just pure evil and selfishness!]

[User Sovereign of Prediction: I can’t predict anything from this at all. If the demon side won, they would whisk Shen Qingqiu away for sure, and then we’ll probably have a Cang Qiong Mountain Sect arc because Airplane never left any important player behind. I imagine, CQMS would face a great condemnation if Shen Qingqiu did escape, after all, unlike Shang Qinghua, Shen Qingqiu’s betrayal was clearly biased. But if the human side won... Too many variables have to be counted. Airplane, damn it! You’re good!]

[User Leviathan’s Desire: With Tian Langjun nerfed down, I think it’s clear the airplane wants the human side to win. But we can’t be so sure. The demons are all cunning by nature. If Shizun is not watched, he’ll be kidnapped, again.]

[User Liu-juju and His Shen-shixiong: This war is very tiring, why don’t everyone just makeup with each other, spit on the Old Palace Master, slap Xiao Gongzhu, and go home?]

[User Peerless Cucumber: This is a really deciding fight, ah. BUT WHY IS LUO BINGHE UNCONSCIOUS?! SON, YOU’RE THE MAIN CHARACTER, PLEASE BE INVOLVED!!!]

[User Forbidden Love: What if Shen Qingqiu died...? What if by the time Luo Binghe woke up, he’d been too late? What if he’s unable to protect the one he loves and succumb further to darkness, becoming a tyrannical demon lord who kills everyone???]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s Little Husband: Upstairs, shut up. My wife is not going anywhere.]

[User Chocolate Life: Anyone who’s giving Airplane any idea to kill off Shizun would be in my list to write in Death Note.]

[User Sha Hualing’s Little Bell: I call Human side’s victory. Trust me, I have a very sharp intuition in this kind of thing. Shizun will die. The death flags are just all over his character.]

[User Tian Langjun is One Hot Daddy: No, Tian Langjun will save him. Any other idea aside for that is unacceptable. Shizun will be saved, and then probably elope.]

[User ZHANGMEN-SHIXIONG’S ARC, PLEASE!!!: Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck. The flags are fucking everywhere- Zhangmen-shixiong will have his flashback arc in front of a fucking tomb- AAAAAHHHH!!!!]

[User Liu Mingyan’s Veil: ^Upstairs, calm down. Don’t be negative! You’re having a meltdown!]

Shang Qinghua tried to calm his breath, forget his readers, he himself was already on the verge of meltdown! Shang Qinghua held back his worried tears to glance at Luo Binghe who was still uselessly unconscious after being blasted off by Tian Langjun earlier.

Son, ah! Wake up! Use your halo to get everyone out of this! Please!

However, hoping for the protag to wake up was something he feared to be futile. Shang Qinghua had no doubt that Luo Binghe would wake up stronger than ever, but currently, they were in the middle of the war. The heart of the problem was not Luo Binghe, but Shen Qingqiu! If anything happened to him, the protag would go berserk when he woke up.

So Shang Qinghua did the only thing he could think of. He flashed to Shen Qingqiu’s side and pulled his arm, unimpressed green eyes looked back at him, cold and distant- as usual.

“Quick, we need to go!” Shang Qinghua said. The best chance for everyone’s sakes was to bring Shen Qingqiu out of here, else the protag went all revenge-spree given the motivation of Shen Qingqiu being harmed-!

Shen Qingqiu scowled, “I’m not going. Unlike you, I’ll take responsibility for what I did.”

“Responsibility?! You’ll die!” Shang Qinghua cried out.

Shen Qingqiu snorted, “If that’s the result, then so be it.”

Why are you so suicidal, my dear child!? “You can’t be like this. Let’s go,” Shang Qinghua insisted as he pulled him harder but Shen Qingqiu easily brushed him off and even shoving him aside.

Shang Qinghua did not give up, “I know you want to take responsibility, but the least you can do to stop the bloodshed is to get the hell out of here. You’re now the heart of this war!”

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes flickered and looked at Shang Qinghua in a complex light before it went cold. “If you want to desert, do it yourself.”

The plot already went haywire this far! If Shang Qinghua let Shen Qingqiu die now, it would be even more chaotic!

“What are you doing?”

The two men turned to see Liu Qingge stalking towards them, it seemed like he had been pushed off of the battle because of his injuries, but the way he brought himself was still as prideful and as strong as always. Shang Qinghua felt anxiety rising within him when he saw the grim look in Liu Qingge’s eyes.

The war god of Bai Zhan peak gazed coldly at Shang Qinghua then to Shen Qingqiu, “Running away again?” he narrowed his eyes at Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu glared back, “No. I’m staying-“

“Draw your weapon,” Liu Qingge said impatiently as he drew out Cheng Luan pointing it straight to Shen Qingqiu.

Shang Qinghua’s jaw dropped. Wait, wait, there seemed to be a big misunderstanding here?! Why couldn’t he follow the track of this conversation at all?!

Shen Qingqiu stared at Liu Qingge in surprise, “I said, I didn’t-“ then something clicked in him. He glared murderously at Liu Qingge. “Liu Qingge, you brainless fool. What makes you think you can fight this master with your severe injuries?”

Liu Qingge narrowed his eyes, though he had been treated by Mu Qingfang, he was far from healed up, hell, he wasn’t even half-treated. One wrong pull, he might bleed out again. This. Shen Qingqiu could clearly see.

Shen Qingqiu gritted his teeth, “I’m not running away,” he said stubbornly. “You can’t force me so.”

Liu Qingge gritted his teeth, “Fight me.”

“I have no weapon, kill me if you can,” Shen Qingqiu said coldly.

Liu Qingge glared at Shen Qingqiu in frustration. He then looked at Shang Qinghua who shrank back, “Fight me,” he said to the traitorous peak lord when he saw Shang Qinghua still had his sword.

“W-wait-“ Too late. Liu Qingge already lunged at him, Shang Qinghua could do nothing but to raise his sword to parry the upcoming attack. The clashing sound of metals resounded, Shang Qinghua staggered back three steps and Liu Qingge made an arc with his sword which Shang Qinghua barely dodged.

Shang Qinghua raised his sword once again, resigned to defend against the strong peak lord when Liu Qingge spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to his knees. Blood began gushing out of his newly re-opened wounds and Shang Qinghua’s heart skipped a beat.

Liu Qingge gazed up at Shang Qinghua, for some reason, although Liu Qingge was the one bleeding on the ground, Shang Qinghua had a feeling it was him who was granted mercy. “Go,” he hissed. Low.

Shang Qinghua’s eyes widened. By this moment, he understood what Liu Qingge was trying to do.

He... He was trying to give Shen Qingqiu a leeway to escape without getting Cang Qiong Mountain Sect in troubles? Shang Qinghua almost kneeled down himself. Brother, this kind of loyalty was really too moving, he was pretty sure that he wrote this two men as enemies who couldn’t bear to breathe the same air as the other let alone letting the other go after such a heinous act of treason!

“You fool!” Shen Qingqiu rushed past Shang Qinghua and kneeled down to check Liu Qingge’s wounds.

Shang Qinghua gritted his teeth and stomped forward, harshly seizing Shen Qingqiu by his arm, “Shen Qingqiu, come with me,” he’ll take this sub-villain role to save face in front of the entire human righteous faction!

Shen Qingqiu growled and pulled his arm back, “Go to hell.”

Shang Qinghua lowered his head, “Don’t be stupid, you know what he’s doing.” Escape! That was what Liu Qingge wanted for them, look, the guy was glaring at them with an obvious message to scram!

“I’m not leaving.” Shen Qingqiu raised his head, “I’m taking responsibility. Stop being noisy,” he said to both of them.

“You-“ Liu Qingge grunted after saying the one-syllable word, holding his chest in pain as if Shen Qingqiu’s stubbornness gave him a heart problem.

“Shen Qingqiu!” Shang Qinghua turned anxious. “Look, I know you don’t like me. But Shen Qingqiu, there’s honestly a better way to end this-“

“No,” Shen Qingqiu glared at him. “There’s no better way.”

“What are you talking about?” Shang Qinghua tried to grab him again but Shen Qingqiu dodged his hand.

“I have to die to atone my sins,” Shen Qingqiu said coldly and Shang Qinghua paused.

“Don’t joke with me,” Shang Qinghua knitted his brows. “You’re bullshitting, right?”

Shen Qingqiu smirked, “Do I? I’m not the most honest man out there, but I won’t lie for something regarding myself. Leave.”

“But-“ Shang Qinghua tried to reason.

Shen Qingqiu gazed coldly at him before sighing, “No matter what you’re going to say, I’m not leaving.” He shook his head then chuckled slightly, “Shang Qinghua, as much as it disgusts me to say this, I have to thank you. If not for you, I would’ve been a trapped person, struggling within the sect’s internal affairs to my very last breath.”

Shang Qinghua’s eyes went wide, “You... Remember me...?” All this time, Shang Qinghua always thought that Shen Qingqiu forgot about him directly after. After all, at that time, Shang Qinghua was still nothing but a mere disciple too, he might be the direct disciple, but a direct disciple of An Ding peak was lower in rank and status compared to a new rising talent from any other peak. It took him nearly three years to make his presence known enough when he became the succeeding disciple.

“You’re the only coward surnamed Shang who stuttered when talking,” Shen Qingqiu said, unimpressed. “If not because of you, I would have forgotten that the most important thing for me is the feeling of freedom.”

Shang Qinghua stared at the handsome man in front of him, he suddenly felt bitter and sour. “Shen Qingqiu...”

“You damn-“ Liu Qingge growled at Shen Qingqiu.

A loud and resounding sound of a gong spread through the battlefield as yin-yang light burst to the sky. Shang Qinghua looked over to see Tian Langjun staggered back, holding his chest where a golden arrow had embedded itself in it, the demon overlord pulled it out ruthlessly but blood kept on gushing out from the terrifying wounds.

Before Shang Qinghua could watch further, a cold hand grabbed his wrist and he looked back to see Mo Beijun behind him, “We’re going,” he said coldly. Tian Langjun had gotten weaker than earlier, these humans needed no more support from him.

“My king, Shen Qingqiu-“ Shang Qinghua said. “Lord Luo is...” he didn’t continue on but Mo Beijun got his meaning. Luo Binghe was fond of Shen Qingqiu, if something happened to him, Luo Binghe would release his wrath upon everything and anything in an attempt of revenge.

Mo Beijun looked at Shen Qingqiu and frowned. Before he could say anything, Shen Qingqiu waved at him.

“You better bring Luo Binghe away, don’t concern yourself with my problem,” Shen Qingqiu said pridefully in front of Mo Beijun. “Careful, if you ruin my plan. Luo Binghe wouldn’t let you off. For someone who led a demon general and greatest scholar on a blind search, you should know better.”

Mo Beijun’s eyes flashed. He yanked Shang Qinghua into him and then threw him over his shoulder, he glanced one last time towards Shen Qingqiu before turning around and left with a burst of cold wind.

“Shen Qingqiu...”

Shen Qingqiu turned back to see Liu Qingge who was furrowing his brows at him, there was no longer fury in his eyes, only overflowing concern and frustration.

Shen Qingqiu calmly assessed this shidi of his, in the end, he sighed and kneeled down to his eye level. “Foolish shidi, who taught you to be so sly to even think of letting me off?” the corner of his lips quirked up, mocking. “You know what you were trying to pull was an act of treason towards the human race, right?”

The sounds of war seemed to sound so far away from both of them, Liu Qingge stared at the handsome face in front of him. Frustration and fear mixed into one, he had no idea how Shen Qingqiu could be this calm and reckless. To admit everything and heartlessly denounce other sects, he even offered himself to be detained. Only death awaits him...

He might be doing an act of treason underhandedly, but one thing Liu Qingge knew... He didn’t want this man to die.

Liu Qingge raised his hand with difficulty and used it to try and shove Shen Qingqiu away, “Go,” he hissed.

“No,” Shen Qingqiu shook his head.

“Why...?” Liu Qingge asked desperately.

Shen Qingqiu stared for a while, he ignored the sounds of battle and desperation not so far away from him. “I’ll tell you,” he smiled secretively at Liu Qingge. “I want to be free,” Shen Qingqiu said, his voice was serene but firm. A decision that couldn’t be shaken.

Liu Qingge frowned, not understanding it at all.

Shen Qingqiu tilted his head as his hand reached to feed Liu Qingge a high-grade pill for his wounds, with his free hand, he also put a pill into his mouth, “Living as a wanted criminal is not freedom.”

Liu Qingge almost choked on the pill, “Dying is freedom?” he looked at Shen Qingqiu as though he was mental.

Shen Qingqiu went silent for a while, his expression was unreadable, “For me, it is.”

Liu Qingge’s heart trembled. He knew some people might see death as something that freed them of the shackles of this world, some people who thought living was painful... But Liu Qingge never saw such a case with his own eyes. His blood ran cold, he tried to reach for Shen Qingqiu again but this time, Shen Qingqiu reached for him first.

Shen Qingqiu held Liu Qingge’s shoulders and pushed him to lay down. Two fingers between Liu Qingge’s eyebrows as he leaned down beside Liu Qingge’s ear.

Liu Qingge’s eyes widened before it went dull and he closed his eyes, unconscious.

Shen Qingqiu touched Liu Qingge’s naked chest, “That ought to keep you down for a while. You better not make a fuss.”

“Don’t move!”

Shen Qingqiu then stood up, not in the least bit intimidated facing several dozens righteous cultivators surrounding him, he distantly aware that Tian Langjun had been forced to retreat due to his serious injuries caused by unified teamwork of many high-level sect-leaders and elders.

“Everyone, wait,” Yue Qingyuan turned extremely anxious as he was dying to rush forward and defend Shen Qingqiu.

“Qingqiu-shidi...” Yue Qingyuan stared at Shen Qingqiu’s firm gaze and lowered his head.

“Zhangmen-shixiong,” Several peak lords came forward, their tone and action clearly expressed their hope for him to not be rash. He was their head, he needed to stay cool-headed else they lost their direction.

Yue Qingyuan raised his head, he stared at Shen Qingqiu across him, looking at him with a cool expression. On another hand, Yue Qingyuan felt countless eyes staring at him hopefully from behind. His guilt and sense of responsibility clashed in him, in the end, he sighed and adopted a stern stance.

“Shen Qingqiu, for all heinous and treasonous action you took that had harmed many lives, what do you have to say for yourself?” Yue Qingyuan said calmly.

Shen Qingqiu shifted and bowed down, “I’m guilty of it. I will accept punishment,” with that, Shen Qingqiu kneeled down and raised his hands in a surrendering motion.

With that motion, the war officially ended.

A week passed just like that after the war. The human side had tried as much as they could on picking up pieces left behind. They mass buried their comrades, they mourned, they arranged days of mourning.

Shen Qingqiu had been detained by Zhao Hua Temple in their most secure dungeon which was surrounded by countless strong and impenetrable formations that had been kept since ancient times. Getting out of there was not something easy.

Initially, Cang Qiong Mountain Sect thought the trial would happen a few weeks after the war. After all, they were all still healing after the war, and Shen Qingqiu’s deed by deflecting back to the human side near the end and his friendship with the Yin-Yang Panda were the things that helped them a lot in winning against Tian Langjun. Shen Qingqiu deserved a fair trial even though the result would probably still devastating.

But turned out, Huan Hua Palace’s Xiao Gongzhu insisted for him to be executed as soon as possible. It was unknown for them at first what that girl had said to the monks of Zhao Hua Temple, but they agreed to have a trial as soon as possible. But it seemed like the girl played the demon card, inciting people to believe the demons would absolutely be back for Shen Qingqiu and would consume more casualties for them.

Later on, from their own trusted net of information, they learned Xiao Gongzhu feared Luo Binghe would wake up from his coma and ruined the trial. A fair concern as everyone had witnessed first-hand how biased Luo Binghe was towards Shen Qingqiu. The demons in Luo Binghe’s side might be adopting a spectator stance right now, but that was only because Luo Binghe was unconscious and never ordered them to protect Shen Qingqiu or anything.

Things would be different once Luo Binghe woke up. Although the monks at Zhao Hua Temple mostly believed in mercy and always adopted a stance of pacifism, the knew the grim result of this.

After deliberating for a few days, they all seemed to agree to hold a trial as soon as possible and punish Shen Qingqiu of his wrongdoings. After all, a traitor shouldn’t be shown mercy lest other people might feel resentment for how they handled things.

Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had tried to ask for a lighter punishment, after all, in their opinion, having an imprisoned brother was better than a dead one...

Yue Qingyuan didn’t rest at all for the last few days, always moving here and there helping other people and later on trying to get Shen Qingqiu a lighter punishment. The time was too tight, he didn’t even had a time to breathe as he was too busy managing so many things as a Sect Head. He felt bitter that those people decided to deal with Shen Qingqiu so quickly...

However, he felt even more guilty for the disciples of Qing Jing peak. He couldn’t even bear to recall those kids’ faces when Shen Qingqiu was arrested and was said to be executed. Their despair and disbelief could break anyone’s heart. They experienced so many heartbreaks in such a short timespan.

Yue Qingyuan leaned his forehead on his interlaced fingers as he stared at Shen Qingqiu’s written and recorded confession before him. His brain turned and nearly fried itself as he tried to seek a way out of for Shen Qingqiu. “Xiao Jiu...” He murmured unconsciously.

“Zhangmen-shixiong!”

Yue Qingyuan looked up to see the person who barged into his study to see Qi Qingqi followed by a troubled and apologetic direct disciple of Qiong Ding peak behind her. Yue Qingyuan tried to smile, but his lips wouldn’t twitch, he opted to look gently at her.

“What’s wrong, Qi-shimei?”

“Liu-shidi has regained his consciousness,” Qi Qingqi reported.

“Liu-shidi has woken up. That’s great,” Yue Qingyuan sighed in relief. A good news at last.

“Indeed,” Qi Qingqi nodded. “He insists to see you,” she hesitated, “He said it’s about Shen-shixiong...”

Yue Qingyuan finally smiled in understanding, “I see. I will go and talk to him,” no matter how unstable Yue Qingyuan felt right now. He still needed to be the pillar and calm down his juniors...

All peak lords were present with their solemn expression. Yue Qingyuan strengthen himself as he looked at Shen Qingqiu sadly before the execution platform. Shen Qingqiu ignored him as always, in fact, he ignored everyone, as if the one who would be executed today was not him but a faceless stranger.

Standing beside Yue Qingyuan was Liu Qingge. The peak lord of Bai Zhan peak looked down at Shen Qingqiu from the platform with a grim look and pale face, a sign that he had yet truly recovered from his injuries but forced himself to come anyways.

Liu Qingge’s body was tense, his beautiful peach-blossoms eyes never left Shen Qingqiu’s figure. He looked perfectly restrained.

Not all peak lords were present, but those who did all looked at Shen Qingqiu with a gaze of regret and sadness. The scene was even more haunting with disciples of Qing Jing peak who hadn’t stop crying since they saw their Shizun, they had to be either physically restrained or supported by other peaks’ senior disciples.

“Shizun!” Ning Yingying wailed, inconsolable. These last few days, no one could stop tears streaming down from her face. It was already a miracle that she could stand there and not directly fainting away, but it seemed like the sight of her beloved Shizun gave her some sort of miraculous boost.

“Shut up!” Xiao Gongzhu snapped furiously at them. “Crying for a traitor, how shameful are you all!? That man is a murderer of thousands! He even schemed against my honorable father,” she growled.

Ning Yingying abruptly stopped crying to glare at Xiao Gongzhu, “It’s not my Shizun’s fault that your father is a scum!” the story had spread of course. About half the number of people within the center of the battlefield had seen the memories. Some disciples of Qing Jing peak who were there even witnessed it themselves. Of course she knew everything. “Your father doesn’t deserve death, he deserves a thousand death!”

“You, little slut!” Xiao Gongzhu blew her top, she grabbed her whip and directly snapped it towards Ning Yingying. The resulting snap created a burst of violent qi, however, Ning Yingying took out her fan and snapped it open with a twirl of her hand, dispersing the violent qi in a blink of an eye.

“Someone whose mother is not clear of shouldn’t have the audacity to say that,” Ning Yingying retorted.

“Enough!” Wu Wang looked at the two young ladies in disapproval.

Immediately, people from their respective sect came to pull the young ladies back.

Ning Yingying had no time to care about Xiao Gongzhu anymore, her eyes teared up again as she turned to look at her Shizun who was waiting for the judge's decision.

Ning Yingying caught Shen Qingqiu’s eyes, “Shizun-!” she called out desperately but Shen Qingqiu looked away from her, however, there was a slight tilt in the corner of his mouth. He seemed to be satisfied with her earlier performance.

After the slight inconvenience passed, the trial started. The court fairly showed the proof of Shen Qingqiu’s treason, even Shen Qingqiu’s own confession which Shen Qingqiu readily nodded at.

There was no fear nor concern in Shen Qingqiu’s voice, only detachment. He talked like that usually, however, today it sounded exceptionally haunting.

“With that, I rule you guilty of treason and guilty of causing the death of thousands of people,” The judge announced carefully as he looked at Cang Qiong Mountain Sect and then at the other sects. When everyone except Cang Qiong Mountain Sect nodded their heads, the judge decided on the punishment.

“Shen Qingqiu, you’ve betrayed your own race and killed countless people, working with demons. Although you turned back and helped us, it’s not enough to wash off the blood of countless people that you indirectly killed. Therefore, I’ll give you...”

Everyone held in their breath.

“Death sentence.”

Shen Qingqiu closed his eyes and everyone released their breath. Though, they knew what the punishment would be, they still felt apprehensive.

“For your good deed, however, you’re free to choose the method of your death,” The judge said with an air of mercy.

“Just let my head roll, I prefer a swift death,” Shen Qingqiu said calmly, not caring that his words obviously had an impact on the group of disciples from Qing Jing peak and several peak lords. “Oh, and...” he looked at Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. “Let me be buried by my disciples...”

Shen Qingqiu was pushed down to a kneeling position as a sharp sword pressed against his neck.

“Any last word?” the executioner asked ceremoniously.

Shen Qingqiu thought for a while, in the end, he simply looked at everyone present, everybody except the members of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, “With this, I atone my sins.”

---!

As other peak lords lowered their gazes, not being able to withstand their fellow brother’s death. Yue Qingyuan forced himself to watch, it shouldn’t be hard, he saw many people died in a more gruesome fashion in front of him before. In the end, though, he finally closed his eyes and released a long breath filled with exhaustion.

“SHIZUUUNNN!!!”

Everyone who watched the procession wouldn't help but feeling hollow when hearing Qing Jing peak’s disciples wailing out in grief.

“Ha-“ A sharp intake of breath made the body convulsed. Shen Qingqiu woke up with a start as his hands immediately flew to his neck. He had yet to calm himself down and recollect his thought when a mop of black hair obscured his sight.

“Shizun!” Luo Binghe exclaimed in relief and joy as he wrapped his arms around his Shizun’s thin torso tightly. “Shizun, Shizun, Shizun, Shizun!” he seemed like a broken record, only able to repeat the same word over and over again. Each time, he sounded happier and happier.

Shen Qingqiu easily pushed the young Heavenly Demon away and sat up weakly, swaying a bit as his vision spin. “Ugh-“ he blinked and held his head for a bit before he managed to control his spinning vision somewhat.

When he regained a decent vision, he furrowed his brows and raised his head to look at the people within the spacious hall. “Death is still not pleasant the second time,” he said bluntly.

“Shizun!” Group of young men and ladies all broke into tears as they all swarmed Shen Qingqiu’s stone bed and practically overwhelmed Shen Qingqiu. Luo Binghe seemed to re-stick himself to Shen Qingqiu in the midst of the crying mess the disciples of Qing Jing peak were in.

Shen Qingqiu waved his hands in a vain attempt to control them all, he only managed to push them all away five minutes later when they reluctantly complied to give him a little bit of his lost personal space. All of them were lightly smacked away with the exception of Ning Yingying who got patted and voluntarily leaned away for propriety sakes.

Shen Qingqiu scanned his disciples who all looked at him like he was their sun and moon, he cleared his throat, “How long was I out?”

Luo Binghe started, “About a month. Shizun, how do you feel? Anything lacking? Are you feeling alright? Do you need anything?” Luo Binghe then returned to ask things in bulk.

“No. And you’re giving me headaches,” Shen Qingqiu said and Luo Binghe shut up immediately, still looking at Shen Qingqiu like a puppy adoring its long-lost master.

Shen Qingqiu rubbed his head slightly when a hand holding a pill appeared in front of him, he looked up to see the owner of the hand.

“What I say,” Shen Qingqiu said smugly as he took the pill for the headache and put it into his mouth.

Liu Qingge didn’t look impressed as he lightly glared at Shen Qingqiu, “Cunning fox,” he said. He felt like a fool, he should’ve seen something when Shen Qingqiu said anything about taking responsibility. Knowing this man, he’d never take full responsibility for anything. When Shen Qingqiu leaned down to whisper to him about his real plan, Liu Qingge felt so angry yet so exhausted... and also felt a hint of helplessness.

Truly, no one could handle this man. He even handed the responsibility to tell the others about his plan to Liu Qingge, letting their brothers and sisters stressing over it up until Liu Qingge woke up from his coma and told them himself.

Shen Qingqiu rubbed his head some more before his eyes finally landed on another figure who seemed to be hesitant to step closer. He paused for a second before he sighed as if he didn’t know what to do.

“Yue Qingyuan...” Shen Qingqiu nodded at the hesitant man in the corner. Yue Qingyuan smiled when Shen Qingqiu’s eyes met his and several disciples parted to make a way as he walked closer.

“Qingqiu-shidi, I’m glad you’re okay...” Yue Qingyuan gazed at the pale man who just woke up from death. His gaze was soft but very restrained. As if he was afraid that if he expressed more emotion, he’d annoy Shen Qingqiu.

“Yes...” Shen Qingqiu replied robotically. Ultimately ending the conversation in such a spectacular fashion. Yue Qingyuan withered.

Seeing Yue Qingyuan’s restrained figure, Shen Qingqiu’s eyes flashed and he sighed. Slowly, Shen Qingqiu raised his arms towards Yue Qingyuan, the gesture was awkward, added with Shen Qingqiu’s cold face, it didn’t seem welcoming at all, still, Shen Qingqiu said, “Only this once... For old time’s sake.”

Yue Qingyuan’s eyes widened. He turned frigid for a second before he narrowed his eyes and instantly wrapped his arms around Shen Qingqiu, burying his face on his shidi’s shoulder. “I’m sorry... I’m so sorry...” Yue Qingyuan’s hands gripped Shen Qingqiu’s thin clothes tightly. “It’s because I’m useless...”

“Enough,” Shen Qingqiu sighed. “I wanted to die in that body anyways. And it’s the only way for me to get away without the entire sect dragged down to be condemned in the process. It’s not your fault that I worked for Tian Langjun.”

Shen Qingqiu awkwardly patted Yue Qingyuan’s back, “I’m more concerned that you unblinkingly watched as I got beheaded.” They pulled away and Shen Qingqiu absently fixed his thin satin robe, “I saw it.”

“What...?” Yue Qingyuan blinked.

“There’s a legend circling around for a long time that said someone’s head could still register and process a little information a few seconds after being separated from the body.”

Everyone shivered and stared at Shen Qingqiu in shock.

“It turned out that that was not false,” Shen Qingqiu said blankly.

“Hahahaha!” An elegant laughter broke out and everyone turned to look at Tian Langjun who had decided to jump off of the pillar he was perched on. His handsome face glittered with amusement, “You’re the only one who would say that after just waking up from resurrection. And what was that ‘it’s not your fault that I worked for Tian Langjun’? You talked like it’s such a pathetic thing to work for me. And let’s face it, you didn’t work for me. We’re in a partnership.”

“Shut up,” Shen Qingqiu glared at the bastard. “It’s your fault I have to go through all of that, you bastard.”

“Right, right, I’m sorry,” Tian Langjun waved his hand.

“How’s the situation outside?” Shen Qingqiu raised his brows at them. “That body was buried as soon as possible right?” he looked at his disciples.

Ming Fan hurriedly nodded in between his tears, “Before the Sun and Moon Dew Flower Body could wither and incite skepticism, we took Shizun’s body as soon as possible and...” he trailed off a bit.

Liu Qingge opened his mouth, “Burned it.”

Shen Qingqiu raised his brows at the peak lord of Bai Zhan peak. “Burned? Your idea?”

Liu Qingge nodded.

“That’s a better way to get rid of things,” Shen Qingqiu said with a hint of approval. “I had taken a special medicine that would make that body preserved for three hours before withering, but if anyone else saw it...” it’d be a disaster to his perfect plan.

“Anything else?” Shen Qingqiu asked again.

Luo Binghe tilted his head slightly, “Everything is playing out within control. After Shizun’s death, most people were quelled, some who weren’t all been suppressed. The rotten deed of the Old Palace Master had been spread and no one cared about his life and death after hearing the truth. But I need to advise Shizun to not go out for a while as your death is still the most talked-about news in the land.”

Luo Binghe smiled sweetly at Shen Qingqiu, “Shizun’s plan is really amazing. It solved the worse complications. As for the rest, it could be easily handled.”

In the panic of war, Luo Binghe had thoroughly forgotten that he had his Shizun’s body sealed deep within a secret dungeon. What he could focus on was the living and breathing Shen Qingqiu before him. That was why he almost had a heart attack when his Shizun asked to be detained and even specifically asked for death sentence. It was only when Tian Langjun attacked him with full force and the look of ‘stay down’ in his Shizun’s eyes that he realized what he had planned and complied by passing out right there and then.

Tian Langjun smirked proudly, “How’s my acting? Not bad, right? I could be the main character in a first-rank opera troupe. Those people believed that I really wanted to fight to death to bring you back, they even created a ballad of us now, ‘Tearfall Sky of Two Worlds’ they said.” Tian Langjun actually wanted to snatch Shen Qingqiu back kicking and screaming back then, but something out of his expectation happened...

His power which was supposedly off-balance restored to a complete balance. The only one who could do that was Da Zhu and Da Zhu took no order aside from Shen Qingqiu’s, and when he saw Shen Qingqiu’s look, a tacit understanding passed between them and he delightfully took his role as the obsessive demon lord to spice the drama so it wouldn’t look strange for him to suddenly desert Shen Qingqiu with the humans after expressing his intent to get him back a moment before. Of course, he had to lower his power level so it would look convincing that he was defeated so easily.

“By the way, Da Zhu is currently with Zhuzhi-Lang. Don’t worry too much, Da Zhu immediately came to search for us after the war.” Tian Langjun smiled when he saw Shen Qingqiu relaxed slightly after hearing that. “Do you want to hear the ballad the humans made for us. It’s amazing, I think it’s my favourite along with the ballad they made for me and Xiyan-”

“Fuck off, Tian Langjun,” Shen Qingqiu snapped again.

Luo Binghe held Shen Qingqiu’s hand, “Does Shizun have anything he wants? Shizun just woke up, does he feel uncomfortable anywhere?” he asked. “Shall my shixiong and shijie go and call for Mu-shishu?” he beamed.

The disciples of Qing Jing peak received the not-so-subtle message to scram and glared dissatisfiedly to Luo Binghe. However, they had no choice as their position was not high enough. “We will inform Mu-shishu that you have awakened, Shizun, please excuse us,” two disciples stood up and bowed down. The other disciples also said their lame excuses and left the hall briskly.

Luo Binghe’s soft smile remained mild as if he didn’t just kick out all his senior brothers and sisters. “Shizun, initially I investigated of the people that set you up in Jin Lan city. It was the Old Palace Master that dug up your past and wanted to use it to drag you down, initially I wanted to give him to you to deal with but as you know, he’s not in my hands anymore...” Luo Binghe glanced at Tian Langjun. “But I have several of his accomplices with me, if Shizun wants it, I can give them to Shizun to deal with.”

Shen Qingqiu shook his head, “I don’t have time to deal with them.”

Luo Binghe smiled, “Then, Binghe will deal with them.” Slowly. He then frowned again, “Shizun... About Xiao Gongzhu... what do you want to do with her? In these few days, I pretended to be in a coma so I haven’t deal with her yet.”

Tian Langjun jumped in, “If you don’t want her, can you give her to me? I want to see how important she is to the Old Palace Master... heh heh,” his last chuckle sounded so sinister.

Shen Qingqiu frowned, “She helped me to get my goal to be killed in that plant body. Don’t be too harsh on her.”

Luo Binghe and Tian Langjun paused for a bit, the bloody violence in their eyes receded a lot before they smiled reassuringly. Their smiles truly were identical, Shen Qingqiu noted.

“I’ll be gentle to her, then.”

Shen Qingqiu then looked at the two peak lords in the room, “You guys are strangely quiet, not gonna ask me why I deflected?”

Liu Qingge blinked, “We’ve heard.”

Yue Qingyuan gazed at Tian Langjun, “Lord Tian told the story to us when we sought Luo Binghe out to ask about your immortal body.” In fact, they arrived almost at the same time at Luo Binghe’s place. Tian Langjun came seemingly to tell Luo Binghe about the plan if his son turned out to be too dumb to fill in the blanks himself, however, at that time, Luo Binghe had roughly known the plan with Mo Beijun pitching in.

Yue Qingyuan gazed at Shen Qingqiu, “You did for us,” he said bitterly.

“More for my own convenience, actually,” Shen Qingqiu said indifferently but the tension on his shoulders loosened a lot. “Did the others-“

Slam!

The entrance was thrown open with a hasty movement, and several peak lords stood outside with wide eyes when they saw Shen Qingqiu awake and well.

Mu Qingfang relaxed his stance and smiled, “Shen-shixiong-“

“You son of a bitch!” Qi Qingqi hollered first as she rushed in. “There’s no normal way to solve a problem with you! Just how cheap life is for you, huh!? Is dying always your top choice to get out of troubles?!”

“Qi-shimei, Qi-shimei, quiet down, Shen-shixiong is a patient,” Wei Qingwei tried to calm down his only junior sister before smiling to Shen Qingqiu. “Shen-shixiong, don’t mind Qi-shimei. She’s just really worried for you.”

“Shen-shixiong, Shen-shixiong, being your shidi is a bad luck for someone who is trying to start sobriety like me, ah,” the peak lord of Zui Xian made a bee-line towards the stone bed. “Do you know how many jugs of wine that I downed ever since you ‘died’ the first time?” he sobbed drunkenly. “And then you ‘died’ the second time!”

Shen Qingqiu looked strangely at them, an inexplicable feeling rose in him but he pushed it down. “Noisy,” he said in annoyance.

“You-“ Qi Qingqi stomped angrily.

Mu Qingfang smilingly came and patted his shijie’s shoulder to calm her down, “Shen-shixiong, we’re just very worried, please don’t be annoyed.” He looked at Shen Qingqiu, “After all, it’s not everyday that we lost the same brother twice. Qi-shijie was really concerned over your well-being.”

Wei Qingwei nodded, “In fact, the others would come too, but they still needed to do some errands and taking care of the Sect. I’m sure they will be happy when they hear that you’re awake.”

“What’s the point of talking to that wooden man?” Qi Qingqi mocked. “As if he cared about our difficulty.”

“You’re right,” Shen Qingqiu nodded calmly.

Qi Qingqi’s hand twitched, “This dead man...” she gritted her teeth. “It’s a waste that I spent my tears on you...” she muttered under her breath as she turned around, letting her back facing Shen Qingqiu as she crossed her arms and the other peak lords sighed helplessly seeing her like that.

Shen Qingqiu watched Qi Qingqi refusing to face him and sighed. He looked down on his palm and clenched it. “I’m sorry...” he said.

Everyone snapped their heads to look at him in astonishment.

“It’s my mistake for not telling you all anything, but a scheme is always better when it’s least talked about,” Shen Qingqiu rubbed the space between his eyebrows tiredly. “I didn’t mean to hide it or play with you all. But the least I talked about it, the lesser possibility of it failings.”

“Qingqiu-shidi...” Yue Qingyuan’s tone sounded like a sob. “It’s not your fault. You did what you thought right and it all worked in the end. You had no intention bad intentions towards us...”

“Shen-shixiong...” Qi Qingqi furrowed her brows. “You actually said sorry...” She exhaled in disbelief.

“Day 12 of the ninth month of lunar calendar, Shen-shixiong actually apologized to us. Need to confirm it’s not a dream when I’m sober later,” the drunk peak lord of Zui Xian peak mumbled to himself, scratching the date on his wine gourd.

“Get out,” Shen Qingqiu said coldly.

Mu Qingfang smiled as he took Shen Qingqiu’s wrist and checked his pulse as he started, “Please bear with this, Shen-shixiong. A little bit of noise is nice. Besides, we might not be able to do this again after everything settled down...”

Shen Qingqiu looked at Mu Qingfang and saw him smile.

“As the world already perceived ‘Shen Qingqiu’ as dead. You’re now no longer bound with official business or work. You’re no longer obliged to return to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect and will live a solitary life as rogue cultivator from now on...” Mu Qingfang said.

Shen Qingqiu lowered his eyelid, “You’re right,” that was exactly what he aimed by going through all those scenes and getting publicly executed.

On his other side, Yue Qingyuan took Shen Qingqiu’s other hand and squeezed it, “But you can always come to visit. Cang Qiong Mountain Sect will forever welcome you. I believe your disciples would also be waiting for your visit.”

Shen Qingqiu closed his eyes and the burden in his shoulders finally disappeared. “Then, I’ll use the Spirit Cave as I please,” he said bluntly.

The peak lords sans Yue Qingyuan all twitched. “Really casual,” Qi Qingqi sighed helplessly.

“Shameless,” Liu Qingge spat out without heat.

Shen Qingqiu smirked at them before his eyes wandered to Tian Langjun who grinned widely at him, “Well, welcome back then. Congratulations on your new true rogue life.” he laughed at Shen Qingqiu. “Now you’re free to wander. You know, I’m quite free-“

“I’ll go with Shizun,” Luo Binghe casually cut Tian Langjun’s words off as he beamed towards Shen Qingqiu. “I have roughly finished all the errands I have and Huan Hua Palace is going to be left in my subordinate’s hands. Binghe is more than free to follow Shizun in his journey and to learn more knowledge from Shizun,” He said virtuously.

Tian Langjun twitched, “Didn’t you plan launch a campaign across the north-eastern plain before the war? Moreover, isn’t the north facing a rebellion as of now?”

Luo Binghe smiled, “That’s Mo Bei’s idea,” he threw his right-hand-man under the carriage. “I have no hand in it,” he lied. “Also, the rebellion had been put down just yesterday. Wasn’t my problem too.”

“What a load of nonsense,” Tian Langjun drawled brightly.

“Rather, don’t you have a territory to deal with?” Luo Binghe countered.

Tian Langjun shrugged, “Because I lost the war, they kicked me aside. I’m a demon lord without a throne now.”

“What a load of nonsense,” Luo Binghe chuckled. “What exactly my mother saw in you?”

“How could my sweet Xiyan gave birth to such a bitter brat like you?” Tian Langjun retorted.

“Like father, like son,” Shen Qingqiu deadpanned.

[Absent Without Leaving Ends....]

Bonus:

#1 Call me...

“Everything is already prepared here... Be careful in your journey,” Yue Qingyuan said wistfully as he handed over a space pouch to Shen Qingqiu. “Come whenever you need it. Call us if you’re ever in danger. Cang Qiong Mountain Sect is still your home.”

“I know,” Shen Qingqiu nodded.

Yue Qingyuan bit his lips, “May your journey be a safe and fulfilling one, Qingqiu-shidi.”

“Isn’t it a bit too much to call me that?” Shen Qingqiu raised his brows.

“Huh? You mean ‘Qingqiu-shidi’?” Yue Qingyuan asked.

“Yeah, if you kept slipping calling me Qingqiu-shidi, people will start to make guesses,” Shen Qingqiu said. “Either they’ll think you have gone mental or they’ll guess the truth.”

“That’s right, we can’t keep calling you ‘shixiong’ again...” Mu Qingfang said from Yue Qingyuan’s left side.

Shen Qingqiu nodded, “Call me Shen Jiu.”

Everyone paused.

“Cough, your real name...?” Wei Qingwei asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” Shen Qingqiu nodded.

“Then, Jiu-shixiong?” Mu Qingfang suggested.

Shen Qingqiu shrugged, “You choose.”

“Shouldn’t it be ‘qianbei’? Shixiong is too obvious.”

“How about just Jiu-xianzun?”

The other peak lords began to fuss what to call Shen Jiu in the background, leaving Yue Qingyuan staring at Shen Jiu face to face.

“So... Shen Jiu...?” Yue Qingyuan tried hesitantly.

Shen Jiu snorted, “Weird hearing you hesitant about it when you always audaciously called me worse.”

Yue Qingyuan flinched, “Shen Jiu it is...” he nodded meekly.

Shen Jiu stared at the pathetic man in front of him and looked behind Yue Qingyuan to find the peak lords subtly took their ‘argument’ further before slipping away. As if Shen Jiu wouldn’t notice their obvious intention.

Shen Jiu sighed, “You have anything you want to say?”

“I...”

“Yue Qi,” Shen Jiu interrupted Yue Qingyuan’s drawling coldly. “I have no time to deal with your bullshit. You’re restraining yourself but I’m always the one feeling confined talking to you when you’re being this pathetic. Talk.”

Yue Qingyuan seemed a bit stuck at that but then he stepped up, “I want to talk to you, about my reason of not coming to save you back then. But...”

Shen Jiu’s eyes flashed coldly when he heard the ‘but.’ He waved his sleeve impatiently, “If you’re going to waste my time by being a stuttering fool, I’m going to the furthest place I could find and will never return even if I die.”

“I just- I don’t want you to think this is an excuse or anything. After you hear my story, don’t treat it as an excuse. If you still find me annoying, feel free to condemn me. I... I don’t want you to feel obligated to forgive me,” Yue Qingyuan said under Shen Jiu’s cold glare.

“Actually, at that time...”

#2 The winner of the argument.

“Have you finished talking with your childhood friend?” Tian Langjun approached. “Your face didn’t look good, but you didn’t have any bruises or a palm mark on your face like him. So I guess you’re only giving and not taking right?”

“Oh, I did,” Shen Jiu calmly sneered. “I gave him a piece of my mind, because obviously that fool’s head is broken.”

“Haha, poor him,” Tian Langjun didn’t seem to pity Yue Qingyuan at all. “Anyway, we’ve decided! I will be the one who accompanies you occasionally,” Tian Langjun declared as he fluttered closer to Shen Qingqiu.

“What part of ‘I want no annoyance’ that you don’t understand?” Shen Qingqiu said blankly as he picked one paper fans out of a few dozens and stored the rest into his space pouch.

“Don’t worry, I know you like going off alone. I’ll just come with you sometimes. If I happen to be attached to a town longer than you, you’re free to leave me!” Tian Langjun said casually.

Shen Qingqiu paused for a bit. Tian Langjun easily got attached to towns especially when it offered him some entertainment. Whilst Shen Qingqiu would be fed up with a town after less than a week, this idiot would probably stick around for a month. That gave him enough room to be by himself.

And he knew sometimes walking alone was boring, so once in a while with a companion was not so bad.

“Alright,” Shen Qingqiu nodded. “What happened to your son?”

“What son?” Tian Langjun raised his brows. “That boy didn’t even treat me like a father, why should I call him son?”

Shen Qingqiu raised an eyebrow, “So what did you do? I didn’t see him flashing around asking me to let him tag along.”

“Oh,” Tian Langjun grinned. “I tossed him to his harem.”

“He has harem?” Shen Qingqiu furrowed his brows.

“Oho~ Yes, of course. Bunch demon girls, saved human girls, smitten girls. You’ll be astonished when you know how many women that boy attracted in such a short year you tossed him to Endless Abyss. There seemed to be no shortage of girls from the intelligence I gathered,” Tian Langjun chuckled. “What can I say, my gene is strong in him.”

“I don’t want to know,” Shen Qingqiu stated.

Meanwhile, in another place, Luo Binghe, who woke up confused and bewildered that he was in the middle of harem-like hall instead of in the training ground trying to get an even score with his own father, shrilled, “TIAN LANGJUN!!!”

#3 Do you remember her?

“So, you’ve met her, right? Su Xiyan,” Tian Langjun started.

“So it seemed,” Shen Jiu said. “I did not recall her though.”

Tian Langjun smiled bitterly, “So it seemed, huh. Not even after seeing the memory?”

“Not at all,” Shen Jiu shook his head. Remembering meant getting attached, Shen Jiu didn’t want to keep staying in one place for long.

“Right,” Tian Langjun smiled. “Too bad she didn’t heed your warning about that bastard…”

Shen Jiu shrugged, “She was raised by that trash. No matter how cunning and clever she was, most that she knew came from that bastard. She was no match.” Shen Jiu looked down at the qin he was playing and plucked one string, “She was raised under a great rich shelter, never knowing the real depth of human’s heart. She was a good woman but unfortunate. Good people die early.”

Tian Langjun chuckled bitterly, “Not just her. Obviously, I also did not know the depth of human’s heart in the past.”

“Now, you know.” Shen Jiu played five notes before he paused. “At the very least, I can see she was sincere towards you.”

Tian Langjun looked at Shen Jiu, “Do you really not remember her? Not even a little bit of impression?”

“I remember the rabbits and the cat,” Shen Jiu admitted.

“Of course you did,” Tian Langjun smiled helplessly.

#4-Break it. I’ll come.

“Lord Shen, please don’t be sad,” Zhuzhi-Lang said to the devastated man kneeling on the ground. “You know that sir Da Zhu can’t simply be here forever…”

“I didn’t even see him off one last time,” Shen Qingqiu said devastatingly.

“But it’s nature, we can’t interfere,” Zhuzhi-Lang said helplessly.

Liu Qingge paused when he saw the two men on the riverbank looking like a pair of parents who had just scattered their child’s ashes into the river, “Someone died?” he asked bluntly.

Zhuzhi-Lang turned to Liu Qingge and shook his head, “No. But Sir Da Zhu met a female panda and had chased after her before Lord Shen came.”

Liu Qingge blinked, he opened his mouth to ask more, but stopped himself. Why did he have to concern himself with this? He shook his head. “Shen Jiu,” he called out instead as he took out a scroll and tossed it to his officially dead former shixiong. “Yours.”

Shen Jiu caught the scroll and frowned at him, “How do you always find me?” he muttered in annoyance before cutting off the seal of the scroll and opened it to see a painting of a sword. Shen Jiu blinked and took out a knife, cutting his finger and dripped his blood on the painting.

With a burst of light that made Zhuzhi-Lang cringed away and turned to go further away. A sword appeared atop the scroll and the painting was gone. “Xiu Ya,” Shen Jiu touched his beloved immortal sword and took it into his hand. “You fixed it.”

“Wei Qingwei did,” Liu Qingge nodded. Though he was no longer a peak lord, Shen Jiu shouldn’t just use any sword he picked up somewhere. Xiu Ya was Shen Jiu’s and he should use it.

Shen Qingqiu softly smiled as he caressed the surface of Xiu Ya, “Long time no see, old friend...”

“...”

“...” Shen Jiu put Xiu Ya down. “You did not just see me talking to my sword,” he said dignifiedly.

“You just talked to me, then?” Liu Qingge raised his brows.

“I’d rather talk to my sword than to you,” Shen Jiu snapped. “If you’re done now, go away. It’ll be a disaster if anyone sees you here.”

“No one’s around.”

“You’re disturbing my supposed free-of-worry life.”

Liu Qingge grunted in annoyance. He took out a jade slip and hurled it to Shen Jiu, “Keep that.”

Shen Jiu picked up the jade slip that had hit his chest and raised his brows when he saw it was a jade slip that’d convey his location when broken. Usually used when someone was in trouble or in a life-and-death situation and needed a reinforcement from the owner of the jade slip. “Why should I keep this?”

“So I can come,” Liu Qingge said.

Shen Jiu smirked, “Your nose is better than dogs’, Liu-shidi. You find me even when I don’t want you to.”

“For dangerous situation,” Liu Qingge emphasized. “Break it and I’ll come.”

#5

“Shizun, have you ever long for a mother’s love...?” Luo Binghe asked from his place beside Shen Jiu.

“Hardly,” Shen Jiu said.

Luo Binghe felt bitter in his heart. Stupid. How could you ask Shizun that kind of question? You knew Shizun was an orphan slave with a terrible past. Stupid Luo Binghe. He sighed, “My apologies, Shizun... I just feel like talking about it.”

“Do you think it’s selfish of me to wish that my real birth mother survived and took care of me even though I’ve had enough love from the washerwoman that adopted me in?” Luo Binghe asked.

“Humans are greedy by nature,” Shen Jiu said calmly. “What separated us from mindless beasts is the feeling of gratitude.”

Luo Binghe’s eyes widened, “I’m really grateful to my mama, I will die for her if only she’s still here...” he turned melancholic. “But I think it’s better for her to never have me in the first place. Her life was difficult. To have a handful of food for the day was already the limit for her. To raise a child that wasn’t even her own, she had to suffer a lot.”

Luo Binghe’s fingers fiddled with the rock in his hands before he threw it across the river.

“She gave everything to me. I was still a growing boy, she said. She had to hold on her hunger and starve herself so I could eat...” Luo Binghe’s eyes turned dull. “And then she died out of chronic stomach ulcer. At that time, I didn’t know what that was. She had so many illnesses, but what killed her was stomach ulcer...”

“She said I brought her so much joy after her husband’s death... But... If only she didn’t need to care for me, she would live a longer life...”

Shen Jiu listened silently to his disciple’s story. He cast his line further away before answering, “Not necessarily.”

“Huh?”

“You said her husband died before she found you, right?” Shen Jiu said, his eyes didn’t leave the river before him. “She also had chronic illnesses before you came along, no? With that kind of harsh life, do you think a poor woman who had lost her husband would survive?”

Luo Binghe listened to this and his eyes widened.

Shen Jiu finally gazed at Luo Binghe, “Your presence might be the one that kept her going.” He looked down when he saw something moving strangely in the water and he set his fishing rod aside to stalk over and inspected it. A tortoise seemed to be stuck in between rocks. He picked it up before continuing, “Two women fought to stay alive to see you live, two mothers died so you could continue living. I think your life is very fortunate,” he said calmly as he set the tortoise free.

Behind him, Luo Binghe curled up, “Yes... I’m very fortunate,” he said softly as his heart wept. Two images of his mothers seemed to float in his vision, sincere and loving. “Thank you...” He whispered as the two images disappeared and he directly stared at his Shizun’s back.

Luo Binghe wiped his tears away.

Luo Binghe smiled as he kept watching as his Shizun splashed the water to encourage the tortoise to waddle away. The sun shining upon him with the river reflecting the sunlight as fragments that glittered in the air. Today’s sunlight looked exceptionally bright.

Now, he no longer needed protection. For this last person who had cared for him, Luo Binghe would never let anyone harm him.

#6

[User Sovereign of Prediction: 10/10 Thank you for the amazing story, Airplane.]

[User Zhangmen-shixiong is the best Shixiong: God, I can’t believe Yue-zhangmen had to experience all of that. :’( If only the damn sword wasn’t so strong and he was more patient, my OTP would be flourishing.]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: I almost had an heart attack when my husband was executed- wtf? I almost blew my top up and screamed at my sister when she asked me why I was wailing. Thank God for the mass update, or else, I’d probably be depressed for weeks.]

[User Sexy Banana: Dayum, Tian Langjun lmao XD He tossed Luo Binghe to bunch of girls. Truly. Daddy is pimping.]

[User Peerless Cucumber: First of all, there are so many things I want to talk about but I’m feeling too many emotions right now. I almost died when Shen Qingqiu was executed, you wrote it so subtly that I really thought he had that ‘dying is the way to be truly free’ track of mind. And to think Luo Binghe was into the lie with only a glance too.]

[User Peerless Cucumber: And I LOVE the extras. Yue-zhangmen’s regret and real situation. the little tidbits with Shen Qingqiu and the peak lords. And the final one, the heart-to-heart talk between Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe. I’m crying. Damn it, where can I find a Shizun like him? I want him. I’m never one to be interested in those childish ‘meet and greet’ or something like that, but if I could meet Shizun, I could make a sacrifice.]

[User Mistress of Moonlight: You know, this has surpassed all my expectation for webnovels that didn’t have any patreon system. (You deserve to be paid) And the ending is great! You tied all the major loose ends. Though Luo Binghe didn’t really end up with anyone but it was great since your main story line never too focused on romance anyways, they were only there to be fascinated with Luo Binghe and Luo Binghe never really too interested with them. Unlike the ‘harem’ tag, this was tame, Can I say I’m just glad that this didn’t turn out like the basic harem novel where the protag started out poor and then started gathering girls in the harem to satisfy their need to conquer and then forget about those girls in a few chapters? (Sorry, just got a bad experience reading other stallion novels. But PIDW cleansed my mouth.)]

[User Liu-juju and his Shen-shixiong: Oh look at that, open ending for Shizun. Guess who’s married in my headcanon now? Hint: their initial is in my ID]

[User Su Xiyan is Bae: What a peaceful ending. The prank harem was a nice touch to subtly hint at the possible progress of Tian Langjun and Luo Binghe’s indifferent relationship. Su Xiyan is crying in happiness up in heaven. :’)]

[User Mo Beijun is absolutely gay: Okay, I’m now sure Mo Beijun is gay. The unwritten side-plot where he left Luo Binghe unattended to stop the rebellion in his territory where Shang Qinghua was also conveniently kidnapped by the rebel? Yeah. Gay.]

[User Chocolate Rush: It has a very warm ending. Shen Qingqiu~~~ (Or is it Shen Jiu now?) What a clever man! I might be his nth wife now.]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s Seventh Wife: ^You’ll be little twenty-one then. Also, Airplane, what happened to Old Palace Master? Hehehe, I hope he’s suffering?]

[User Meng Da Zhu: I’m so happy that I finally finish this. I’m so happy that my babies are all happy. But even more, I’m so happy that Da Zhu found a female. POSSIBLE BABY PANDAS!!! EVEN MORE HAPPINESS!!!]

[User Demon Overlord: Oh God, you tied some loose ends in the extra. Thank God. I thought Yue Qingyuan would forever be the unexplained guilty person.]

[User Floating Across the Rainbow Bridge: Finally! A real action of ‘harem’ tag in this novel- even though it was only in the extra and Luo Binghe was only being pranked. Those poor girls, they were all smitten but Luo Binghe was too much of his Shizun’s student.]

[User Young Blood: Not gonna lie. To be honest, I think the harem tag is for Shizun...?]

[User Robbing Bank: I’m still crying for Su Xiyan. She appeared! To pull Luo Binghe out of the madness of Xin Mo! God, I’m sobbing.]

[User Shen Qingqiu’s First Wife: This is it... I had to say goodbye. I’ll be living in the wild and always on the move now my husband has chosen to really be a wanderer. Goodbye mom, dad, goodbye social interactions, I’ll go and lock myself in my room as I imagine my life with my husband if only we’re not in a different worlds.]

[User War Paint: Tian Langjun sometimes coming to accompany Shen Qingqiu in his wanderer life makes me die and revive me again. Gotta make a fanfiction now.]

[User Luo Binghe is the best Waifu: I’m laying this here. Luo Binghe could cook, very loyal, very obedient, and fucking thoughtful. You can’t change my mind that he’s the most perfect man for Shizun.]

[User Demon Overlord: ^ Are we seriously talking about BL headcanon here?]

[User Fuck not Fight: No, no, no, how many times it has to be said? If it’s Shen Qingqiu, it’s not BL. It’s just a destiny coming true and you should be grateful that he chose you.]

[User Waning Moon: I mean, who in their right mind wouldn’t tap that? Am I right?]

[User S is for Shizun: I’m a grown man who only likes women. But if Shizun said he wants me, I’ll rent the most expensive hotel suite and be his dog for the night. And that won’t be called gay.]

[User Surrender Love: Hey, I don’t like men nor women, but if it’s Shizun, I’m ready on the bed.]

[User I’m Still Underage Please Take Care of Me: Why is everyone so thirsty?]

Prologue:

Proud Immortal Demon Ways had gotten more and more popular as of late as the story grew and evolved into something bigger and more fascinating. The small fandoms that only consisted a few dozens or hundreds of people that read from web had evolved into something more.

It was also thanks to a young charming idol who accidentally revealed that he was a nerd for the novel that many people rushed over to read and also fell in love with the story, characters, and the plot. So many people came late but enjoyed the story anyways.

Different from them, Shen Yuan was a veteran reader who had followed the story when it was still less than five chapters on the web. Shen Yuan was not one to brag, but... As a veteran reader, he somewhat pitied these fools who only found it now.  And also annoyed. As the fandom grew, fan wars were everywhere. Some who weren’t even real fans would criticize things randomly and threw hatred. Some would compare it to a next-door webnovel. Some would start hating on a female lead and the pro-fans would lash back.

But forgetting the negative side. Shen Yuan loved the positive side of it gaining more popularity. That meant more fan-merchs.

Shen Yuan rarely liked buying fan-merchs, because although they might be created out of love, it still wouldn’t benefit the real creator most of the times. But Airplane was simply to seclusive and he never released any merch. Shen Yuan had to have something about PIDW to feel validated.

And there’s no way in hell that he would pass off Shen Qingqiu Mug. Also a folding fan with Shen Qingqiu fanart on it. Also Shen Qingqiu phonecase. Also several other things inside his shopping bags.

Shen Yuan stopped before a cosplay shop in the midst of this fandom market. His eyes sparkled with astonishment as he stared at the gorgeous green robe displayed in the shop. That gorgeous beauty-in-simplicity design was absolutely from Airplane’s official art of Shen Qingqiu.

The outer robe was the colour of forest green whereas the inner robe was pale green. The belt was nicely-made, the dark brown boots gave off the feeling of dignity and elegance. The accessories were, although not as gorgeous as the ones in the official art, also very eye-catching but not gaudy.

That was the best Shen Qingqiu costume Shen Yuan ever seen. Aside for, maybe, the legendary handmade costume that a famous cosplayer made a few weeks ago that had gone quite viral in the forum of PIDW.

Shen Yuan began to seriously think about buyin- scratch that. He’ll buy that robe no matter what. Shen Yuan checked the price tag- very expensive, but that’s something Shen Yuan was willing to pay for. After all, what was the use of money if it wasn’t spent, right?

As Shen Yuan made his purchase, he inadvertently heard the conversation of young girls behind him.

“My idol would absolutely be gorgeous in this!”

Shen Yuan was about to ignore them when another girl said.

“Don’t you think Shen Yanling would make a perfect Shen Qingqiu? He’s handsome and had a scholarly air around him. Not to mention, his surname was also Shen!”

Shen Yuan frowned. No. That actor is not suitable as Shen Qingqiu. Handsome, yes. But not in line with Shen Qingqiu’s handsomeness.

“Oh, oh, what about Yang Ying, ah? Kyaa, my family’s Yang Ying as a mysterious scholar, I’ll die happy!”

Shen Yuan shook his head. That one was even worse, his aura was too overbearing.

“God, yes! If PIDW ever became a drama, I really hope my idol could be Liu-juju! He’s sooo handsome and valiant, also very beautiful. My family’s Xuan would certainly do him justice.”

“You’ll cast him as Liu-juju? I say, Yu Ming is going to be a better Liu-juju, but he’s also good, ah. But let me tell you this. Xia Qing would make a good Ning Yingying, don’t you think? Pure and untainted, but also determined.”

“Tang Jin would make a perfect Sha Hualing. Pretty and enchanting. She’s also taking sexy route.”

“Gu Chen as Yue Qingyuan will make me die happy.”

“And the legendary doctor-actor Yao Mingchen as Mu Qingfang!”

“We should make a list of our dream casts for this and applied it again in the forum. I really hope those big producers would go and call the author already.”

“What about Luo Binghe’s cast?”

“He’s very hard, ah. Too handsome. But what about Yang Yang?”

“Zhang Xin?”

“Qiao Xiaoqin would be good too.”

Shen Yuan took his purchase and shook his head at the girls’ conversation. These girls just listed off the ones they think handsome enough. Casting for the characters of PIDW should be very strict, because the expectation was high, especially with realistic art from Airplane. If Shen Yuan had a say, Luo Binghe should be played by-

Bump.

“Oh-“ Shen Yuan dropped his shopping bag and the person who bumped into him also exclaimed in surprise.

“Sorry, sorry, I wasn’t looking.”

Before Shen Yuan could pick up the bag, the stranger had picked it up first and handed it to Shen Yuan as he bowed politely.

“You’re alright, right? I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine-“ Shen Yuan looked up and his eyes met with the stranger’s.

“Right, here’s your... thing,” The stranger’s eyes widened slightly when he saw the PIDW fan merchs inside and he coughed awkwardly. “Anyways, sorry for bumping into you. Excuse me,” he pulled down his cap lower.

“It’s fine,” Shen Yuan waved his hand.

“Then, excuse me, I’m in a bit of a rush.” The stranger smiled and bowed again before hurrying away.

Shen Yuan divided his bags on his hands and turned around to leave.

That man...

‘That man would be a perfect Luo Binghe,’ Shen Yuan thought seriously.

Unknown to both. They both will meet again as the wheel of fate spun.