Work Text:
Shang Qinghua woke up with an alarm blaring inside of his head. If he had still been Airplane in the real, modern world, he would have shook it off, thinking his phone was going off. However, the fact that the alarm was not blaring near his head, but in his head had made him wake up, weary and confused.
[Congratulations! System Update has completed. Would you like to check the patch log?]
The text had been in a dulled neon green, shining brightly in front of his eyes. Of course, no one except him could see it, but he still felt that it was too bright and shiny for his tired eyes. He groaned and forced himself to wake up so that he could reply.
“Yes.” His eyes hovered over the text before another page came up, complete with the new system updates. Honestly, if this were anything else, Shang Qinghua would have said no and continued on his day, but the System had spoken very rarely over these past few years, as Shen Qingqiu had finished the plot of Proud Immortal Demon Way years prior. There were no other sequels to the book, as Airplane had unfortunately transmigrated before that happened.
To hear from the System now was alarming, to say at the least. He still had a prompt box in the back recess of his mind that he would think about from time and time again, but never had the heart to check yes. That, of course, was the return home function. Other than that, hearing an update out of seemingly nowhere scared him and if he could review the new updates, maybe he could still be ahead of the game, especially added with his author’s knowledge.
The patch log opened up and immediately, Shang Qinghua was bombarded with text that was long enough to make his eyes go fuzzy. It took him a while to even make it through half the text and as he grew too tired, he just hit the x-button over the patch log and went ahead with looking over the various new features that were included.
[New Chat Function. Would you like to start a conversation?]
Shang Qinghua could actually thank the System for once, pleased that there was a DM function. He quickly put in his online ID, Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky. It didn’t take him long to find his good buddy, Cucumber Bro. After all, the System currently only had two notable users in the Proud Immortal Demon Way server.
“Cucumber Bro, guess we can chat like this from now on!” He had sent, though the text seemed ironically full of false excitement. The message went unread at the moment, as he figured it was too early on the day for Shen Qingqiu to bother with him. The only reason he could find Shen Qingqiu’s ID was probably because he had received the System update before Shang Qinghua had. It must have had something to do with the System being powered by Luo Binghe.
He pushed the message aside and looked through the various other functions.
System speed improvements, DM functions enabled, minor bug fixes--Wait, what? Did this world have minor bugs? Shang Qinghua dared not wonder what kind of weird glitches this world had experienced beforehand that prompted the System to update such a feature. Did people end up floating in the air? Horses flying up into the sky? Duplication glitches? Whatever it was, it was gone now.
One particular update had caught his eye, though that was mainly because the prompt box suddenly flashed before his eyes and scared him.
[Premium User Trial!: Unfiltered Chat Option currently Disabled. Enable?]
Shang Qinghua’s eyebrow rose a little at that. What exactly was an unfiltered chat option? He could only begin to imagine what it was; as most direct messages tended to have filtered chat options to avoid swear words from appearing. He recalled his chat forums and how many stars and pound keys showed up from time to time from people swearing at his book.
However, he was an adult and he didn’t think he or Cucumber Bro would have cared if the filter had been disabled. He didn’t want to say something only to have it censored and making it worse, after all. He had enough misunderstandings in his lifetime; look at his whole marriage! It came up from a long, long misunderstanding.
“Enable.”
[Loading… Loading… Enabled. Unfiltered Chat Option will be enabled for the next seven days as a new premium user trial! Please note that this unfiltered option is only available between close individuals.]
Shang Qinghua really didn’t know why that mattered, whether it was a trial or not. Did they think he and Cucumber would argue up a storm full of f-bombs and what not? Please, they weren’t children and this was past the age of Peerless Cucumber’s rants about castrating Shen Qingqiu, or “this plotline sucks”, or “Airplane has never had a girlfriend in his life”. The latter of the three hurt the most, to be honest.
Secondly, he and Cucumber were (supposedly) the only users. He didn’t understand what “close individuals” had meant at all. Still, he was too tired to complain, and promptly closed his eyes and fell right back asleep to the body next to him, who had held him tighter after he had stirred awake from the System update.
That person, of course, was a sleeping Mobei Jun who had been fast asleep with his head on Shang Qinghua’s chest, finding the rhythm of his human’s heartbeat soothing. Even when Shang Qinghua had been stirred awake by something or another, Mobei Jun had not moved. He had awoken for a split second, felt nothing wrong, and had promptly fallen back to sleep.
Shang Qinghua and Mobei Jun had married a couple years ago, but to the eyes of an immortal cultivator and demon lord, a couple of years could also be seen as recently. They had courted (which was a joke, honestly) each other and finally, they had married. While Shang Qinghua had a home in his king’s expansive palace, he still took the time to return home to do assessments on An Ding. While his Head Disciple had basically taken over the job, they still acknowledged their (basically useless) Peak Lord and would occasionally dump the harder tasks onto his arms. Shang Qinghua did the work without complaint, as his disciples seemed to enjoy working less when their Peak Lord arrived home. Not only that, but Shang Qinghua gladly took over the Peak Lord meetings, as his Head Disciple technically did not hold the title.
Still, Shang Qinghua spent most of his time in the arms of his king, who had been busily working away as the ruler of the demon world. When Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe had all but disappeared to enter retirement, the demon world was left without a decent ruler to take over until Luo Binghe finally announced that his right hand man would take his spot. It had been an obvious choice, though Mobei Jun had a harder time uniting some of the rowdier clans, as Luo Binghe held a powerful protagonist presence that Mobei Jun did not have. Still, with the help of Shang Qinghua’s author knowledge, Mobei Jun managed to repress a few clans and talk his way into uniting other clans. The palace in the Northern Borders flourished with Mobei Jun’s lead.
Busy as he was, Mobei Jun would never say no to Shang Qinghua’s requests. Whether he had walked into the middle of a war discussion, or came in needy for attention while Mobei Jun had filled out some paperwork, Mobei Jun would always wordlessly oblige and spend the rest of the day with his husband. Mobei Jun was, as Shen Qingqiu put it, spoiling his husband to bits. While the world saw Shang Qinghua as the whipped servant of his powerful king, many who knew the couple often saw it more as Mobei Jun had become whipped for his husband over the years.
Though Shang Qinghua would never complain about the gifts and attention his king had lovingly lavished him with, there were often times he would grow upset. He would never speak out his mind, fearing another misunderstanding between him and the demon king, but if he were to point out a single flaw he had given his extraordinary character, it would be that he spoke little of his intentions.
Mobei Jun was not a good talker to begin with. He was a powerful man and in most of his official meetings, his intimidation and knowledge would often win over his fellow demon rulers. However, in the world of romance, Mobei Jun could not talk his way out of a sack. Shang Qinghua, being the more helpless romantic, would often recite the new poems and writing he’s done in his past time for his king, but it was often met with lackluster remarks and a simple tug at his sleeve for bedtime.
It didn’t hurt his feelings, Shang Qinghua knew that Mobei Jun was not good at being romantic, what with having a culture based solely in the demon world. In fact, he wouldn’t have felt too hurt if Mobei Jun didn’t say the words “like” or “love” very often; hearing them once in a while was good enough for him and enough to make his heart burst with joy.
Ironically, Shang Qinghua, though being a big talker who rambled endlessly when he was excited, also did not say the words “like” or “love” often as well. Though many words could fly from his lips within a minute, he was too embarrassed and shy to even utter romantic words without the guise of “it’s part of my story” in front of his king. He was a person who thought sentimentally and could expertly put down his feelings onto paper, but when it came to speaking, he was glad he could even utter Mobei Jun’s name.
Bringing that together, the two of them were very bad at telling each other their feelings. It took some time for them to figure each other out. Mobei Jun had a bad habit of cooling the room when he grew annoyed while Shang Qinghua would grow quiet whenever he grew upset. They were small things that took both of them some time to pinpoint and figure out, but now, they knew each other semi-well enough. Still, disasters happen and most misunderstandings come from Mobei Jun’s general passiveness and Shang Qinghua’s panicked rambles.
Shang Qinghua awoke once more when Mobei Jun had gotten out of bed, albeit reluctantly. He moaned softly as he shifted from his spot in bed and opened his bleary eyes as he watched the shadow of his husband shifting ever so gently so as to not wake up Shang Qinghua. It was too late, but it was cute being able to catch Mobei Jun being gentle.
“I love how you do that every morning…” Shang Qinghua murmured, loud enough for Mobei Jun to hear. They both froze for a moment for separate reasons. Shang Qinghua was tired and could not even begin to believe why he just spoke out his thoughts. Sure, it happened from time to time when he was stressed out, but he’s never had it slip out of his mouth so quickly, as though he had meant to say it.
Mobei Jun had froze, both shocked that his husband had been awake so early, and a little taken aback by the confession. It was not a usual thing to have Shang Qinghua both awake and in a loving mood, and while it had surprised him, he accepted it willingly. He sat up, running a cool hand over Shang Qinghua’s soft locks of hair and pet him gently.
“Go back to sleep, it’s still early.” Mobei Jun had responded quietly, knowing that Shang Qinghua tended to spend long nights awake with his work before crashing into bed, snuggled up in his husband’s willing arms.
“Mm… Alright,” Shang Qinghua responded sleepily, his shock already dissipating as the comfort of the bed finally overtook him again.
He went unconscious again, but not before hearing Mobei Jun whispering a murmured, “love you” before leaving the bed.
Shang Qinghua did not wake up until one of the servants had come in to announce that breakfast was ready. He begrudgingly woke up and quickly received help in getting dressed for the day. While he was on An Ding, his head disciple would often help him dress, though his clothes reflected the Cang Qiong’s general style of clothing, which was green or teals. Being in Mobei Jun’s home, he dressed about the same colors, though they were darker in tone to match his king’s attire. What were usually light blues and greens, which reflected the trees and the sky of Cang Qiong mountain, Shang Qinghua now wore dark, midnight blues and silvery blues to reflect the snowy mountain borders of his new home.
His hair was brushed and tied up with a dark colored ribbon, which was then decorated with a silvery crown that was crafted by the most skilled of craftsmen in the demon realm. Shang Qinghua slipped on his shoes and let out a tired yawn before heading towards their dining room. Usually, if Mobei Jun was not busy, they would both sit together and eat. It was a semi-rare past time during the busiest of times, but they would both appreciate the company.
Today, Mobei Jun was dressed in his average attire, seated already at the table. To be perfectly honest, Shang Qinghua did not recall whether or not demons really needed to eat food. Like immortal cultivators with levels as high as Shen Qingqiu, it was not uncommon that they forgo eating altogether. Eating was just a means to please the bored palate, not to satiate the stomach. For someone like Shang Qinghua, who was not skilled enough to practice inedia, food was still something he still needed every day in order to survive. However, in Mobei Jun’s case, Shang Qinghua had a feeling that Mobei Jun could have lived without food, which was why the kitchen had been so rarely used before they married.
Breakfast was a simple congee with shredded pork, green onions, and slices of ginger mixed into the soft rice mixture. The scent of the meal made Shang Qinghua’s stomach growl before he had even sat down. He eyed Mobei Jun, who had been on and off sipping some tea that was brought to them.
“This smells wonderful, I’m so hungry.” Shang Qinghua immediately uttered, unsure why the second part of his sentence was even necessary. He must have been so hungry that he just let out his thoughts again. Still, it wasn’t as though it was something embarrassing, so he played it off and began to mix up his food in his bowl. He brought the spoon to his lips and savored the saltiness of the pork. “Did you make this? If you did, I’m really happy that you did. Your cooking has improved a lot.”
Mobei Jun looked taken aback.
Shang Qinghua was also quite startled by his own words. His eyes grew wide as he put a hand over his mouth. What on earth was happening? He had only wanted to voice that he liked the bowl of congee and ended up speaking three more sentences than what was expected of him. It was not uncommon for him to spill words from his mouth like an endless fountain, but for it to happen while he was awake and not deep in thought was a different story.
“This king is glad you enjoyed it,” Mobei Jun answered gruffly in response. “He spent the morning cooking it, as Shang Qinghua seemed a little off this morning. This Mobei Jun… was very worried--hn?”
They both stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what was happening.
“My king… does it seem like…”
Mobei Jun nodded, looking equally as suspicious.
“...We’re speaking our thoughts?” Shang Qinghua had continued, solely because his mouth would just not stop talking. “I don’t know what to do, my king. I can’t stop speaking my mind, but this congee is very delicious. Qinghua enjoys it as much as he loves his king--Ahh?!”
AH?!
AHHH?
Shang Qinghua tried to shut his mouth, but it had kept running.
“I mean, my king is not congee. He is not warm and soft like congee, but if this husband may say… Mobei Jun is the most attractive man he’s ever seen. Even if he is cold on the outside, his heart is warm and spares plenty of room for his Qinghua.”
When the last words had left his mouth, he had not even realized he had not even shut his mouth. In fact, he had sat there, mouth wide open, ready for a fly to enter if he had not been careful. He looked at Mobei Jun with wide eyes, cheeks heating, and ears pink.
Mobei Jun’s eyes were also widened, looking very surprised at Shang Qinghua’s word vomit of compliments. It had made him happy, and had it been a normal day, Mobei Jun would have probably nodded his head or brought his husband over for a kiss.
Today was not a normal day.
“This Mobei Jun is extremely pleased by how much his Qinghua loves him. He wishes only for Qinghua to be happy with his life here and he will continue to do so. However, he’s often worried that his lack of words would cause Qinghua to grow upset--” Mobei Jun forced a hand over his mouth and the rest of his words became muffled. He was scowling, his pale face usually devoid of any emotion now showing signs of pinkness around his cheeks.
He was… embarrassed.
“That is so cute,” Shang Qinghua said, immediately voicing his thoughts. He didn’t even have time to cover himself up with that one, he was already embarrassed enough. He felt as though the room went up a couple of degrees in temperature, despite the cold nature of his husband. They both sat, confused and blushing like a newly wedded couple.
It was strange, but it wasn’t bad.
Well, it was pretty bad, considering that Shang Qinghua did not know why this was happening. He could only faintly recall the early morning hours when the System had woken him up about news of an update, and he had selected yes to an unfiltered chat option.
Wait.
Was the chat option meaning… real life chatter? Shang Qinghua hid his surprise well, considering none of his thoughts were going through a brain filter. He was surprised he had not spoken the truth about the System, his being, and the world yet, but as soon as the idea had popped up in his head, a dialogue box appeared before his eyes.
[Attention: Any references made of the System and the world beyond this world will still be filtered by our filtering system as it would violate our B-point rules of being OOC.]
Shang Qinghua understood that immediately. He could potentially talk about the world and tell everyone his secrets, but that would deduct his B-points, which have been apparently silently accumulating, adding to his score with things like marriage and other “big milestones” set up by the System. The System seemed to understand that it would be hard for him to not talk about the “real world” if his words were forcibly unfiltered and to stop that from potentially happening, it only filtered him when he thought of the System itself.
Still, he couldn’t help but feel confused. If it worked on him, why would it spread to Mobei Jun? He couldn’t understand how that would work, as the System usually only had scenario pushers to help the user, not the people around it.
The System had answered his question even before he had voiced it. The monotone Google Translate voice filtered into his head with a response: [Unfiltered chat options are only available to close friends.]
If Shang Qinghua wasn’t sitting at the dining table with his husband, he would have thrown a tantrum. Close friends?! Shang Qinghua would argue his husband should be at a higher level than close friends! If that was the case, was he going to run his mouth at Shen Qingqiu? He didn’t dare want to try, because he knew that it would cost him B-points enough that he’d wake up in his fried body in the real world, if his body hadn’t already been buried six feet under!
“I want to enable the filter!” Shang Qinghua thought loudly to the System, who seemed to quickly process his request with a pop-up showing a big red X.
[Sorry Premium User, the trial cannot be cancelled once it has been enabled. Please wait seven days before the filter enables itself again. Thank you, have a nice day!]
With that said, Shang Qinghua’s vision went back to the real world again and the System went quiet as he screamed the System’s name in his mind.
“Is Shang Qinghua alright? He has been quiet and still for a long time, and he has not eaten his breakfast. This Mobei Jun is worried--” Again, Mobei Jun threw his hand over his mouth again, embarrassed that so many words had come spilling from his lips.
Shang Qinghua blinked several times as he reeled himself back to the world. He had almost forgotten his surroundings but quickly laughed it off, knowing that lying about the System was still something he was fully able to do. Lying about everything else would have been a little harder, but after years of marriage to Mobei Jun, he had hardly much to lie about. He began to eat his congee again, despite the fact that it had already cooled off significantly.
“I’m alright, don’t worry about me. I was just worried that perhaps this was going to be an ongoing thing.” In fact, it was. He was surprised he was able to hide that he had mistakenly enabled some strange feature in the System which controlled the world, but it seemed the filter the System had mentioned earlier was still working as promised. “I think it’ll go away soon, don’t worry your handsome face over it. You look better when you’re not scowling or worrying about me. I love you.”
“...”
Mobei Jun did not respond, even with a truth serum effect going on between them, it seemed the man was at a loss for words. He just coughed a little and ate his food, despite not really needing food to continue his day. Shang Qinghua still thought he was being very thoughtful, and had voiced that out immediately.
“I love how thoughtful you are. You always think about me nowadays. This husband is happy.”
It took a lot of willpower for Shang Qinghua to not bite down his tongue.
“This Mobei Jun is glad. He also loves Shang Qinghua.”
They both stared at each other again, still looking like a newlywed couple. No, this was worse. This was more like a couple of grade schoolers who just learned they had a crush on each other and now they can’t stop hugging at the playground after school. It was embarrassing!
This, Shang Qinghua concluded, was going to be a very… very long week.