Chapter Text
Shen Qingqiu’s questing hands finally reached open air. From there, it was only a matter of time before he managed to pull the rest of his body out. He took a moment to revel in the pure and fresh air of freedom. And then he fell down face-first. Instead of his nose meeting the ground though, his face ended up being mildly cushioned by a cloth bundle.
Shen Qingqiu forced his body to sit up and then slowly pulled the cloth bundle towards him. It turned out to be a qiankun pouch. Inside, he found two sets of clothes, a smaller pouch containing money, a couple of knives, a nightpearl, one of his fans, a small jar of bath beans and… a sheet of paper.
Shen Qingqiu used the night pearl to properly look at the paper. It turned out to be a letter. Dear body-thief baba, read the letter. If you’re reading this, then you must be out of the mushroom now. Have no fear, I have told no one about your plans for resurrection. Not Ning Yingying, not Yue Qingyuan, and definitely not the beast. (The rat has not told anyone either as far as I know). You need not worry for me, for I am now a disciple of Qing Jing Peak once again. I also have “Uncle Yue” and my once-disciples to care for me. So, you can do as you like now – assuming that the System no longer troubles you, of course. If you wish to resume being Shen Qingqiu, then Cang Qiong will no doubt, welcome you with open arms. If you wish to roam the world as a wandering cultivator, then go ahead. I already have left you some supplies for that anyway. Whichever path you choose though, I must warn you to stay away from Luo Binghe (the beast). Yours sincerely, Shen Jiu (Yuan).
Shen Qingqiu folded the letter, feeling a sudden rush of warmth for his scum villain son. Awww, who’d have thought that the original goods could become so sweet. Still, he wished that Shen Jiu had written a date in his letter. How long had he been dead? Five years? Ten? Fifteen? Definitely long enough for his son to become a Peak disciple though. Shen Qingqiu hoped that he was doing alright.
He looked down at the letter again and shook his head. How typical of the original goods to still detest the protagonist. He didn’t have to warn him about Luo Binghe though. Shen Qingqiu wasn’t going to go anywhere near his former disciple. He hoped that Luo Binghe was doing well though. Surely by now, he already had at least a couple of wives who’d help him forget all about his former Shizun.
Shen Qingqiu tried to get up again and then grimaced. It seemed that his body wasn’t listening to him again. And so he continued to sit on the ground, going through the things that his son had left for him.
When he could finally get up, he did warm-up exercises until he could finally walk like a normal person. Using one of the knives and a mirror his son had left him, he shaved his beard off. However after shaving, he noted that his current body looked about 30-40 percent similar to Shen Qingqiu’s, so he picked up the beard again and stuck it back on his face. Once that was done, he set off down the mountain. It was time to see the world!
___________________________________________________________
Shen Jiu was playing weiqi with Yue Qingyuan when the brute suddenly barged in, holding Shen Jiu’s old body in his arms. Much to Shen Jiu’s disgust, the corpse was wrapped in the brute’s outer robe.
“Zhangmen-shixiong, I have finally succeeded in regaining Shen Qingqiu’s body back from the beast, Luo Binghe,” announced the brute.
Shen Jiu flicked his fan open. “Considering that you’ve been losing on a regular basis for the past five years, I am now deeply curious about how you managed it this time around,” he drawled.
The brute glared at him, but before he could tell Shen Jiu off, Yue Qingyuan spoke up, “I too would like to know how you managed to retrieve our martial brother’s corpse.”
And so the brute opened his mouth and told about how he had stormed Huan Hua Palace (not caring that someone had to have disabled the defences for him to get as far as he had) and how a mysterious stranger had helped him get Shen Qingqiu’s body back (without caring about who this cultivator was or why he was helping him). Typical Liu Qingge!
Shen Jiu on the other hand, knew full well who had disabled the defences and helped the brute get back Shen Qingqiu’s body, and that was no other than his baba!
It was still weird looking at his own corpse. No matter that said body hadn’t been his for over a decade, it never failed to be disconcerting.
“Yuan-er, are you alright with this?” asked Yue Qingyuan in a low voice.
“Yuan-er is fine with baba being returned so that we may have a proper funeral for him,” answered Shen Jiu.
Even if it was weird that the body be buried while its two owners were still alive, it wasn’t as if either of them had any use for it anymore. Shen Jiu had this much superior body that wasn’t inflicted with Without-A-Cure and multiple qi deviations, and his baba now had a mushroom body which was likely overflowing with spiritual energy.
Yue Qingyuan nodded. “Very well. In that case, Liu-shidi, could you please take Qingqiu-shidi’s corpse to the funerary platform and alert the disciples so that we may prepare it for the funeral?”
The brute nodded and then solemnly walked off with Shen Jiu’s old body still in his arms. Shen Jiu shuddered. As if it was bad enough that it had been manhandled by the beast for five years, now the brute was carrying his corpse around like it was his betrothed bride! If Shen Jiu hadn’t already not wanted to return to his former body, seeing this would have done it!
Once Liu Qingge was gone, Yue Qingyuan turned to Shen Jiu. “Are you really sure that you’re alright with this?” he persisted. “I know that you were hoping that Luo Binghe would be able to resurrect your baba.”
“It’s fine,” insisted Shen Jiu.
If this had happened only a week ago, Shen Jiu would have been calling the beast and berating him for his failure at protecting Shen Qingqiu’s corpse and demanding that he get it back right now! But the last time he had visited his baba’s mushroom, it was to find a withered mushroom with a large hole in front of it and the words “thank you” written in the dirt. So he knew that his body thief baba was out there somewhere and that Luo Binghe’s attempts at resurrection were no longer needed. Shen Jiu fervently hoped that his baba had gotten away from the beast after the corpse had been rescued and was now laying low somewhere.
Yue Qingyuan smiled down at him. “Well, if Yuan-er is alright with it, then I have no objections.”
Shen Jiu nodded.
“In that case, tomorrow Uncle Yue will discuss with the rest of your martial aunts and uncles regarding your baba’s funeral preparations. Yuan-er can sit in too,” offered Yue Qingyuan.
If it was already weird to look at your own corpse, it was going to be even weirder to help to arrange the funeral for it. Still, barring Yue Qi, Shen Jiu didn’t trust the rest of his ex-martial siblings not to muck things up. And so he agreed.
“Would you like to have a hug, Yuan-er?” asked Yue Qingyuan.
Shen Jiu considered this and decided that yes, he would like a hug from his Qi-ge. He nodded his head and Yue Qingyuan knelt down and took him in his arms. Shen Jiu hugged him back as fiercely.
Oh, baba. Wherever you are, I hope that you’re alright.
______________________________________________________________________
Shen Qingqiu raced up the great staircase of Cang Qiong, leaping multiple steps as he went. If his sect was under attack, then they needed all the help they could get. The farther up he went, the clearer it became that the sky above Qiong Ding Peak was roiling with the flash of lightning and the crash of thunder.
When he finally reached the summit of the peak, he found that some of the roofs of the building had collapsed and been destroyed, and the ground was littered with icicles. Outside of Qiong Ding Hall, two distinct factions faced each other. On one side were the human cultivators headed by Yue Qingyuan, and on the either side were demon soldiers in black armour, headed by Luo Binghe.
It appeared that Luo Binghe was no longer bothering to hide his identity, and Shen Qingqiu was not the least bit surprised. Luo Binghe’s bloodline reveal in the original work had been around this time as well.
Surprisingly enough, it appeared that the demons were worse off than the cultivators. And the reason for that could be no other than Yue Qingyuan. There was a reason why Bing-ge had chosen to ambush Yue Qingyuan in the original work rather than defeat him in single combat. Despite this however, Luo Binghe didn’t look like he was about to back down.
As Shen Qingqiu watched, Luo Binghe put his hand to Xin Mo’s hilt. As if to copy him, Yue Qingyuan’s hand went to the hilt of Xuan Su. The fanboy part of Shen Qingqiu screamed with delight about getting to see such a battle. Xin Mo vs Xuan Su: who would actually win? was a question that had long plagued the forums of PIDW. And now he could know the truth!
The larger part of Shen Qingqiu then stomped the fanboy flat. This was real life, not a story, he scolded himself. If Luo Binghe and Yue Qingyuan were to fight for real, the effects would be devastating for both combatants and those around them! Sure Luo Binghe had the protagonist halo which would ensure that he didn’t die, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t be badly injured.
Shen Qingqiu was not going to stand by and let them destroy themselves! He rushed forward and stood between the two combatants, placing his left hand on the hand Yue Qingyuan placed on Xuan Su, while his right pushed down on the hand Luo Binghe had placed on Xin Mo, thus preventing them both from drawing their swords.
Then Luo Binghe abruptly flipped his hand over and grabbed his wrist, fastening around it securely like a shackle of ice. “Caught you, Shizun,” he purred.
After a moment of absolute silence, a clamour rose amongst the cultivators. And then Shang Qinghua emerged from behind Mobei-Jun to let the cat out of the bag about the Sun and Moon Dew Mushroom and Shen Qingqiu’s resurrection. While Yue Qingyuan was distracted by Shang Qinghua’s story, Luo Binghe pulled Shen Qingqiu into his arms and took a few steps away from him. It turned out that the whole attack on Cang Qiong was just to lure Shen Qingqiu out. Thinking about how he had been tricked in the dreamscape by Luo Binghe pretending to be pitiful, made Shen Qingqiu want to spit.
Even so, Shen Qingqiu knew what he had to do. The reason why Luo Binghe had led an army to Cang Qiong was for him and while the battle had been much in the cultivators’ favour, that was only because Yue Qingyuan had been around and as Sha Hualing’s invasion had shown, he could not be on Cang Qiong 24/7 365 days a year. If Shen Qingqiu stayed at Cang Qiong, Luo Binghe would wait until Yue Qingyuan left – if he didn’t arrange some disaster to get Yue Qingyuan to leave the mountain first – and then attack once more, and who knew how much destruction the second attack would cause? And so for the good of the sect, Shen Qingqiu agreed to leave with Luo Binghe who responded by pulling him even further away from Yue Qingyuan.
This decision was met with much protest, both from his martial siblings and his disciples. Liu Qingge accused him of throwing himself at another man’s feet – hello shidi, can you please rephrase that sentence? Yue Qingyuan had to be reminded that as the head of the sect, he should prioritise the disciples of the peak. Ning Yingying had to be coaxed away – what a filial girl he had raised. He was so proud of her.
And then Luo Binghe made things worse by demanding Shen Qingqiu’s previous body. That led to even more yelling and arguments. In the midst of this commotion, a small figure broke away from the crowd and latched onto Shen Qingqiu’s waist.
“Baba, don’t go!” yelled the boy. “Yuan-er just got you back!”
It was the original goods – grown taller since the last time Shen Qingqiu had laid eyes on him, but still a cute little bun. And dressed in Qing Jing Peak colours too.
Shen Qingqiu patted him on the head. “There, there, Yuan-er. Baba will be alright.”
Well, at least he hoped that he’d be alright.
Shen Jiu stubbornly shook his head. “Baba doesn’t need to go with the ugly beast! Cang Qiong can protect you!”
Shouts of agreement came from the crowd. Shen Qingqiu studiously ignored them.
“Luo Binghe is the disciple that I taught, so it’s only right for me to take responsibility,” he answered. “Also, if I don’t go with him now, he will only attack Cang Qiong again and then more people will get hurt. Best to prevent that from happening and just give in now.”
Shen Jiu set his jaw mulishly. “Then Yuan-er will go with you!” he declared.
“No,” stated Shen Qingqiu firmly. “Stay with your martial siblings and concentrate on your studies.”
Shen Jiu glared at him but still refused to let go.
Shen Qingqiu opened his mouth to argue further, but he was then distracted by Liu Mingyan entering the hall and whispering something to Qi Qingqi. His shimei tilted her head to listen, and shock bloomed on her face before it transformed into calm.
“Luo Binghe, don’t bother to fight anymore!” she called. “Even if we agreed to grant your wish, it cannot come true.”
She then gestured Liu Mingyan forward. “Liu Mingyan, tell them.”
“Shen-shibo’s immortal body has disappeared,” announced Liu Mingyan.
After speaking, she stepped aside and several disciples were brought in from the back of the hall. These were the disciples in charge of guarding the funerary platform but now, they were all unconscious and their skin was an eerie, bruised colour.
The hall burst into an uproar. Luo Binghe’s expression also changed. In the uproar, the original goods seized the opportunity to stab Luo Binghe in the side with a knife.
Shen Qingqiu’s jaw dropped. Original goods, you already died an ignoble death in PIDW, why are you courting death at Luo Binghe’s hands once again?! Only wives can get away with stabbing the protagonist! Not you or me!
What actually came out of his mouth was, “Why do you have a knife?”
Luo Binghe pulled the knife out and away from Shen Jiu. “That’s what I’d like to know!”
As one, they both turned to look at Yue Qingyuan who put his hands to his mouth and called back, “I didn’t give him a knife!”
Luo Binghe pulled the original goods off Shen Qingqiu.
“Don’t hurt him!” protested Shen Qingqiu.
Luo Binghe gave him a wounded look and then threw a shrieking Shen Jiu in the direction of Yue Qingyuan who caught him easily.
“I’ll get you for that!” yelled the original goods from the safety of Yue Qingyuan’s arms.
Luo Binghe ignored him.
“No matter who took Shizun’s immortal body, I’ll find it eventually,” he vowed.
He then unsheathed Xin Mo and black qi streamed forth from it. An arcing crack split open where the blade sliced through the air.
“Tell your demons to retreat,” Shen Qingqiu reminded him.
Luo Binghe gave him a look. “As Shizun wishes.”
He then signalled his army to retreat and then pulled Shen Qingqiu into the crack.
_____________________________________________________________
“You lied to me!” yelled Shen Jiu. “You said that when baba returned, you’d respect his wishes! What do you call this then?”
“I changed my mind,” replied Luo Binghe bleakly.
Shen Jiu glared at him. Ever since Luo Binghe had kidnapped his baba, he had been pressing his amulet constantly. He had half-expected the demon to get fed up and toss away his own amulet, but to his surprise, the demon had actually brought him to his side. Of course, bringing him to his side didn’t mean that he was going to listen to him.
Shen Jiu directed his scowl to Xin Mo. “And what’s this still doing here? You said that you’d get rid of it after you got baba back!”
“Did I?” replied the demon carelessly. “I don’t recall.” He put his hand over the sword’s hilt. “Besides, I might still need its power in retrieving Shizun’s body.”
“And do you remember what happened five years ago with Xin Mo and baba?” retorted Shen Jiu. “Because I do – and I wasn’t even there.”
“And I’ve told you that I’ve taken precautions to ensure that that never happens again,” retorted Luo Binghe coldly.
Shen Jiu stamped his foot. “And I’m telling you that Xin Mo isn’t to be trusted! Even if it will never recoil again, it’s bound to do something just as bad! I mean, look at yourself! You’re a lot more crazy than you were five years ago!”
At that, Luo Binghe unsheathed Xin Mo. Shen Jiu backpedalled away from him and pulled out a knife. If the beast was about to kill him, then he wasn’t going down without a fight! And now that his cultivation had progressed, he could create some nasty little surprises for the demon
Luo Binghe sighed upon seeing his blade. “Just how many of those do you actually have?”
“Enough,” snapped Shen Jiu.
Instead of attacking him with Xin Mo however, the demon sliced the air open with the blade, easily evaded the sharp little metal projectiles that Shen Jiu created and flung at him, and closed the gap between them to disarm Shen Jiu of his knife. He then picked him up by the front of his robes and tossed him into the crack. Shen Jiu landed right on his bottom and the rift closed up almost immediately after him.
Shen Jiu stood up and rubbed his behind as he scowled at where the rift had been. That damned beast! He hadn’t even finished half of what he wanted to say! The demon was growing more and more unstable throughout the years and Shen Jiu blamed Xin Mo for it. The Luo Binghe five years ago would never have attacked Cang Qiong, much less have imprisoned Shen Qingqiu! Little surprise there, a cursed sword named “Heart Demon” was bound to worsen any issues its owner had, be they mental or emotional. And the world didn’t need an insane half-Heavenly Demon running about.
Shen Jiu looked around him. For a moment, he thought the demon had thrown him back to the bamboo house, but a look outside the windows showed that he was in the Demonic Realm. His lip curled. So Luo Binghe was trying to relieve his disciple days in his demonic palace, was he? How pathetic.
“Original goods?” called a voice.
He turned to see the body thief stepping out of the bathroom. “What are you doing here?” asked the body thief.
“Go ask the beast,” snapped Shen Jiu. “He’s the one that tossed me here!”
His body thief baba’s eyebrows went up. “Did he kidnap you?”
Well, this was a far cry from the days when his body thief baba had insisted that Luo Binghe could do nothing wrong. Then again, considering everything that had happened in Jin Lan City and the demon attacking Cang Qiong, it was little wonder.
“No,” admitted Shen Jiu. “I wanted to see you.”
His body thief baba’s face softened. “Awww, I missed you too.”
Shen Jiu smiled sinisterly as he stepped towards the man. “Yes, I wanted to see you so badly – so I can scold you properly for all your nonsense! What in the nine hells did you think you were doing?”
“Well–” started the body thief.
“Don’t you ‘well’ me!” snapped Shen Jiu.
He then launched into a tirade about the body thief’s many mistakes and shows of idiocy starting from Jin Lan City and ending in Luo Binghe’s invasion of Cang Qiong. The body thief listened patiently to him until he was finally done.
“I’m sorry to have made you worry so much,” offered the body thief meekly.
“I wasn’t worried about you!” snapped Shen Jiu as he crossed his arms. “Not like those other morons on Cang Qiong!”
The body thief flicked open his fan and fanned himself. “Of course you weren’t.” He then mumbled something under his breath.
“What was that?” demanded Shen Jiu.
“Oh, nothing,” insisted the body thief. He then smiled at Shen Jiu. “So, would you like to hear my side of the story starting from Jin Lan?”
Ah, finally he would know the full story. Shen Jiu nodded eagerly.
And so the two of them sat down together and his body thief baba told him everything that had happened after he had stepped foot into Jin Lan City. As the tale went on, Shen Jiu had to grudgingly admit that mostly his baba had picked the right decision at the time even if he had gone about it in his own strange manner. He still didn’t agree with him surrendering – both to the Old Palace Master and Luo Binghe though. And he was rather impressed by the way his baba had tricked the snake demon who had kidnapped him. He wouldn’t have been able to come up with such a plan had he been in his baba’s shoes.
“-Anyway, after I rode the snake demon out of the town, I patted him on the head and said, ‘I’m not interested in immigrating to the Demon Realm. Also, I’m under a lot of pressure right now. Since you can’t remove the heavenly demon blood either, there’s no need to repay the debt of gratitude. Goodbye, Xizhi-Lang’ and then hopped off and made my escape,” continued his baba.
Shen Jiu put a hand up. “Wait a minute. Did you just call the demon that kidnapped you, ‘Xizhi-Lang’?”
“Yes, because his name, Zhuzhi-Lang, is rather similar to the name of a brand of pudding cup in my world,” answered his body thief baba.
Shen Jiu put his hands on his hips. “Oh, I’m sorry. Let me rephrase that: you called the demon that kidnapped you, pudding cup?!”
“Yes,” said the body thief casually, as if it was a perfectly normal thing to give kidnapping demons cute nicknames.
Shen Jiu didn’t know how to tell his idiot baba that if this cousin of Luo Binghe hadn’t already been in love with him before the kidnapping, then he definitely was now! Why oh why, did he have to attract such flies? And this was a particularly large one too!
At least now he knew who had invaded Huan Hua Palace and killed those disciples and who had stolen away Shen Qingqiu’s immortal body. Shen Jiu shuddered. If this snake demon was anything like his cousin, then he was probably embracing that corpse right now.
His baba continued on with his story when he realised that Shen Jiu wasn’t going to add anything further. Not that there was a lot more to say – he had used the snake demon’s money to buy himself a rented spirit sword which he had used to make his way back to Cang Qiong just in time for Luo Binghe’s invasion. And the rest Shen Jiu already knew.
His baba suddenly snapped his fingers. “Oh! There’s one thing I forgot to mention!” He then grabbed Shen Jiu by the shoulders. “Luo Binghe likes me! In the romantic sense! What do I do?”
Finally, his time had come. Shen Jiu pushed his baba’s hands away, stood up, drew himself to his full height, pointed a finger at his baba, and thundered, “I TOLD YOU SO!!”
“I told you, didn’t I, all those years ago?” continued Shen Jiu. “I told you that the beast was trying to get into your pants. And what did you say?” He then did an impression of the body thief. “‘Oh original goods, don’t be ridiculous! Luo Binghe is only interested in women. There’s no way that he could ever be attracted to me.’ Well, hah! Hah!”
“I’m so sorry that I didn’t believe you back then,” apologised his baba. “Truly you must have the insight of the gods to realise Luo Binghe’s true feelings.”
“What ‘insight of the gods’?” snapped Shen Jiu. “It was so obvious that the beast was aiming to be your cultivation partner that everyone noticed. Even the brute realised it – the brute! – and he’s usually the last person to notice such things!”
His baba subsided meekly.
“So, what’s the beast done anyway?” questioned Shen Jiu.
“He kissed me,” answered his baba. “Though I think that he thought he was dreaming at the time. It was in his dreamscape, you see?”
Shen Jiu did see. “Did he do anything further?” he probed.
His baba shook his head. “Nothing further. When he brought me here, I told him that I didn’t want to see his face and after that, he never came back here. He just has his demon servants bring over his cooking, and that’s it.”
Was it just him, or did his body thief baba seem a little put-out about it?
“What did you expect him to do?” asked Shen Jiu suspiciously.
His baba waved a hand. “Oh, you know, the usual. Shackling me to the bed, blindfolded and gagged, or stripping me naked and whipping me. That sort of thing.”
Shen Jiu was aghast. He hadn’t known that his baba’s tastes were so extreme!
“You – you want him to do all of those things to you?” he demanded.
“No!” refuted the body thief immediately. “It’s just that that’s what the gay guys in my sister’s novels do to each other.”
Ah.
Shen Jiu put his hands on his hips again. “Were these novels anything like Resentment of Chunshan?”
The body thief waggled one hand from side to side. “Sort of.”
“You’re a moron,” Shen Jiu informed him.
“So you’ve told me the last ten times in various ways,” replied his baba. He then scowled. “Speaking of Resentment of Chunshan, I’d like to have a long talk with this Liu Su Mian Hua about all the bullshit they wrote.”
“You can if you come back to Cang Qiong,” Shen Jiu told him. “The author’s Liu Mingyan.”
His baba actually dropped his fan in shock. “Liu Mingyan?! Are you serious??!!”
Shen Jiu nodded. “Rough drafts were found in her room and she admitted to it when asked. She was banned from writing anymore of it, but her earlier stories are still circulating about.” He then pulled a sour face. “The general populace still has yet to tire of it though.”
“I still can’t believe that Liu Mingyan of all people would write NC-17 BL – and ones about me too,” breathed the body thief. He then shook himself. “Anyway, enough about me. What have you been up to in the past five years, original goods?”
Shen Jiu opened his mouth to tell him when the rat suddenly walked in. His baba immediately shot a spiritual blast at the rat. Unfortunately, the rat used a sheathed sword to absorb the attack. This didn’t stop his body thief baba from hitting him over the head with his fan while cursing him for selling him out.
Unsurprisingly, the rat wasn’t the least bit repentant about revealing the truth about his body thief baba’s resurrection. He then distracted the body thief by handing over Xiu Ya, which had been repaired so perfectly that there wasn’t even a hairline fracture to be seen. Shen Jiu had to be impressed at the skill of the repairing smith.
His baba then asked the rat about Tianlang-Jun. Shen Jiu, who had been considering whether or not he could get away with stabbing the rat in front of him, took his hand away from his hidden knife. All he knew about Tianlang-Jun was that the demon had been planning to wage war on the Human Realm, which was why the four major sects had come together to seal him away.
What he got from the rat though turned out to be unsatisfactory. Apparently the rat had meant Tianlang-Jun to be something called the “final boss” in Proud Immortal Demon Way, but his writing machine had broken down and thus he had decided to go for the easier path – which was pornography. He had then never bothered to write Tianlang-Jun’s story because he was afraid that the father would be more popular than the son.
Shen Jiu didn’t give a shit about a demon’s sob story. What was more important was how this abandoned plotline was going to bite them in the back. His baba must’ve had the same thought because he slapped the table and demanded to rat to list out everything he had originally planned for the story but didn’t write.
The rat opened his mouth to talk, but then suddenly the maids outside the room chorused in a respectful tone, “My lord.”
At this, Shang Qinghua’s expression transformed and he immediately ran away through the back door, promising over his shoulder that he’d tell them later. Shen Jiu stamped his foot in disgust. The gods knew when “later” was going to be – assuming the rat didn’t back out of it.
The beast then entered the room. His gaze immediately alighted on the Xiu Ya sword in his baba’s hand and then shifted to Shen Jiu.
“Time for you to go home,” he announced and stepped towards Shen Jiu.
Shen Jiu quickly fled through the back door. He wasn’t going to go back to Qing Jing Peak just yet! Not when he had only just been reunited with his baba! The beast would have to catch him first if he wanted to send him back!
It took Shen Jiu a few minutes of running to realise that the beast wasn’t pursuing him. He looked around his surroundings. For a demon’s palace, it was rather bare. It was as if the beast hadn’t gotten around to decorating the place yet – or just didn’t care. The rat was nowhere in sight, which was a pity because Shen Jiu would’ve liked to interrogate him about Tianlang-Jun.
Shen Jiu sat down against a pillar. Perhaps he’d wait here a while before heading back to his baba. Hopefully by then the beast would have gone back to Huan Hua Palace. He had just set his bottom down on the cold marble floor when he heard blood-curdling screams coming from where he had left.
Baba!
Shen Jiu raced back to his baba’s quarters, heart in mouth. What was the beast doing to his baba?! Even if he had little chance of actually saving his baba from the beast, he had to at least try!
He had barely reached the door when he heard the beast screaming for the guards. Shen Jiu entered to find the beast kneeling on the floor, holding a large man-like figure made out of plant matter. As Shen Jiu watched, the figure started to decompose in front of him.
Shen Jiu strode over to the beast and seized him by the front of his robes. “What did you do to my baba?” he demanded.
The beast shook his head as he trembled. “We were just playing around. I only meant to scare him a bit when he started screaming and then this happened.”
Shen Jiu cursed. He now knew why the snake demon had stolen the immortal body of Shen Qingqiu. It was so that he could call his baba’s soul into the body by using the Coffin of Resurrection!
“This is clearly the work of your snake demon cousin,” he informed the beast.
The beast stared at him blankly. “My what?”
Shen Jiu let out an exasperated sigh. “He’s on your father’s side. Apparently he tried to kidnap Baba earlier to the Demon Realm – probably to marry him there – but Baba was too smart for him and escaped.”
“And so he chose to steal Shizun’s immortal body in order to summon his soul over,” continued the beast. “I see.”
He then smiled. “Luckily, Mobei-Jun has just captured the last Black Moon Python-Rhinoceros that I need to storm the Holy Mausoleum.”
“You do that,” snapped Shen Jiu.
He didn’t like the idea of his baba being back in the beast’s clutches, but in this case, it was better the demon you knew than the one you didn’t.
As quick as a flash, Luo Binghe brought a hand up and pressed Shen Jiu’s amulet.
“Time for you to go back,” Shen Jiu heard the beast say as the power of the amulet whisked him back to Qing Jing Peak.
Finding himself back in his bedroom, Shen Jiu cursed the beast once more. How dare he send him back whenever he pleased! He wasn’t the beast’s servant! He sat down on his bed and crossed his arms. And yet again, he had to wait for someone else to save his baba. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to wait so long this time.