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Chapter Text

Shen Yuan woke to darkness, and with an irritating, google-translate voice still ringing in his mind. What the hell was it talking about, transforming a stupid work into a high-quality classic? What was going on?

Shen Yuan tried to rub his head, but he… he didn’t have any arms.

That realisation made him thrash in panic for a moment, and realise that he didn’t have any legs, either! He did have a long, sinuous body, however, and managed to smack part of it hard against the stone that was apparently all around him. Shen Yuan hissed in pain and curled up into himself reflexively.

A dim red glow suffused the dark cave that Shen Yuan found himself in. “Zhuzhi-lang?” a rough voice asked.

Shen Yuan turned his head towards the noise and the light and recoiled slightly when he made eye contact with a pair of glowing red eyes below a similarly-coloured zuiyin. A mark that he recognized immediately following the initial shock, because it was Luo Binghe’s demon mark. “Luo Binghe?” he attempted to say, but his mouth didn’t work right, and the only noise that came out was a garbled hiss of sound.

[The System was successfully activated! Bound Role: Tianlang-Jun’s right hand, most loyal servant of the Demon Emperor, “Zhuzhi-Lang” Condition: Half-snake form. Starting S-Points: 100.]

Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes against the unpleasantly bright blue glow of the notification screen that had appeared in front of him. Tianlang-Jun? That was Luo Binghe’s birth father, wasn’t he? It explained the identical zuiyin… So this really was Proud Immortal Demon Way, then? But who the hell was Zhuzhi-Lang? Shen Yuan edited the Proud Immortal Demon Way wiki, he wouldn’t have forgotten a character who was so closely named to Xizhi-Lang, his favourite brand of jelly. Had he been given some OC to inhabit? If the system was just going to make up some guy for him to be, couldn’t he have been given a body that at least had limbs?

And where the hell was he, it was terribly cramped and dark and… The penny finally dropped when Shen Yuan turned his attention back to Tianlang-Jun and registered that the man’s eyes were roughly at ground level, as though he was pressed against the floor and could not get up. Tianlang Jun had been sealed beneath a mountain before Luo Binghe was even born.

Shen Yuan’s tongue flicked out involuntarily and he cringed further at the stench of blood and decay that hit his senses full-force.

System, what the hell? He was stuck in some weird half-snake body, unable to speak, stuck under a mountain with a sealed Demon Emperor, and he was someone who hadn’t even been important enough to be mentioned in the novel once? How was he supposed to improve the story in any way like this ?!

[You have triggered the System’s execution command and have been bound to the Zhuzhi-Lang account. Your current assignments are to remain in character as Zhuzhi-Lang and to maintain strict loyalty to Tianlang-Jun. The system wishes you luck in providing character development to background characters and making the story a first-rate classic. Please be advised that out-of-character behaviour will result in a penalty, and ensure that no point score falls below zero or the System will automatically mete out punish–]

“You aren’t Zhuzhi-lang, are you?” Tianlang-Jun said, interrupting the google translate voice.

[...]

Hey you can’t blame this on me, you should have dropped me into a situation where the confusion and bewilderment at NOT HAVING ANY LIMBS wouldn’t have immediately given me away, you garbage System!

[-40 S-points. OOC lock removed. The requirement to maintain loyalty to Tianlang-Jun remains in place.]

Shen Yuan still had some extremely uncharitable thoughts about the System, but at least he hadn’t immediately been reduced to zero points. He still complained internally. I shouldn’t be getting a penalty, I should be getting compensation! This is the fault of your shitty customer service, not me!  

[A good user experience is a top priority of the System, that is why our services are always provided at the highest level of quality.]

In other words, I shouldn’t be expecting anything better from you, ah? Shen Yuan thought bitterly, then looked back at Tianlang-Jun and shook his head slowly. It was probably fine that the Demon Emperor had caught him immediately, considering the guy seemed literally incapable of moving. Besides, refusing to answer might be considered disloyal and would cost him more S-points.

The demon trapped beneath the mountain chuckled, his breath trailing off in a choked wheeze. “I told him to leave me be, you know. There’s nothing that can be done, any more. One of us might as well live, hey? The damn boy was stubborn, though. Wanted to die down here with me. I really expected to be the first one to go but, ah well. I suppose it doesn’t matter in the end,” he mused, seemingly half to himself. “Now it seems like I have a second nephew. Maybe you’ll be more obedient than the first one, ah? Don’t spend your brand new life trapped down here in the dark, that’s simply too depressing for words.”

If Shen Yuan had any eyelids, he probably would have blinked at Tianlang-Jun. That was a surprisingly even-keeled response from a demon who had apparently been enough of a threat to the cultivation world that all of the major sects had collaborated to seal him away. There were no commands to free him, or to wreak vengeance upon the humans that had imprisoned him, or even to give back the body he had stolen. He just wanted Shen Yuan, some random person he had met seconds ago, to have a better life than he did.

And to leave Tianlang-Jun alone in the dark.

Shen Yuan’s heart twinged. He was starting to get an idea of why this Zhuzhi-Lang was so devoted to his emperor.

Tianlang-Jun sighed. “Sorry, I can’t give you a better body. If you cultivate enough, though, you might manage to reach a point that you can assume a different form on your own. Something to aim for, hm?” The demon’s sharp teeth gleamed in the reflected red light from his eyes for just a moment, a flash of a smile. Then he closed his eyes and lowered his head; his forehead must have been resting against the stone because the light from his zuiyin was extinguished. “Anyway, nice meeting you. I’m going to go back to sleep for a while. So long, have a nice life,” he mumbled.

What the hell was this? What business did Luo Binghe’s dad have being this nice?! Airplane, you hack, there was a character like this in the books and you gave him nothing but a throwaway line or two about being stuck under a mountain? Wife #236 got more words dedicated to describing the freckles on her back! Tianlang-Jun was unjustly treated twice over, once when he was trapped under this hunk of rock and once when his pathos wasn’t even able to be appreciated!

Shen Yuan made an aggravated sound, which somehow managed to come out in the form of a rattlesnake’s rattle. Shen Yuan frowned and after a brief moment of concentration to adjust to the new layout of his body, flicked the tip of his tail. Nothing. He didn’t have a rattle on his tail, so then that noise came out of his mouth? How did that work? Whatever Shen Yuan was now, it was weird and interesting, and didn’t correspond to any of the monsters that he could recall being described in Proud Immortal Demon Way. Shen Yuan wanted to strangle the great master Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky. Hundreds of chapters of mediocre papapa and nothing at all for whatever strange demon Shen Yuan was now?

“Zhuzh– Second nephew?” Tianlang-Jun asked, interrupting Shen Yuan’s internal ranting.

Right! Right, he should focus on the situation at hand. Shen Yuan huffed and managed to scoot his body forward a bit. He nudged the side of his head against Tianlang-Jun’s, and hoped that it could be interpreted as a reassuring nuzzle. “I’ll get you out of here,” he attempted to say, but again his words came out as a garbled hiss.

“Oh, so you’re sentimental too,” Tianlang-Jun remarked, sounding wistful. “No need for lingering goodbyes, nephew. You can just go.”

Hmn, so he couldn’t be understood. That was a shame. He didn’t want to leave Tianlang-Jun down here in the dark without hope, but he couldn’t think of another way to communicate. He’d need to figure out how to hold a brush in his mouth so he could write messages. He let his head rest against Tianlang-Jun’s for a moment longer, then drew back and turned his attention to the rock around them. His tongue flicked out and he could smell a faint thread of fresh air trickling in from somewhere to the left. He located a crevice just barely large enough to squeeze his body though and was glad that he wasn’t particularly claustrophobic as he wriggled and squeezed his way through the winding path leading outside.

The further he went, the lighter his body began to feel, the more alert and responsive his senses became. It was the spiritual qi of the mountain, he realised, and it was most heavily concentrated where Tianlang-Jun was imprisoned. Shen Yuan grit his teeth as he scraped by a particularly tight corner, and got to thinking.

There were a handful of instances when Luo Binghe had been captured and imprisoned and chained up. (There were more instances of him being chained up for fun, but those weren’t applicable.) It hadn’t been under a mountain, but it was likely that the measures required to contain a heavenly demon operated on the same principles; Luo Binghe was too OP to have more than a handful of weaknesses. 

The spiritual arrays necessary to bind a heavenly demon had been described as multilayered and extensive, requiring the work of multiple cultivators operating in tandem to craft a series of chains that could suppress Luo Binghe’s demonic potential. These had needed to be applied in tandem with immortal binding cables to suppress Luo Binghe’s spiritual energy; he had managed to escape from that predicament with the help of Wife #284, whom he had convinced to cut the immortal binding cables and release his human cultivation. Once that was done, of course a genius of Luo Binghe’s calibre could undo the arrays binding him in place.

Of course, Tianlang-Jun was a full-blooded heavenly demon, so he had no convenient human cultivation to fall back on. The arrays that bound him would by their very nature need to be heavily resistant and hostile towards demonic qi, even unbound qi.

Shen Yuan’s current body was also a full demon; there was no hint of spiritual energy in his meridians. Trying to undo or unravel such a powerful and extensively prepared spiritual array with only the demonic qi that Shen Yuan currently had at his disposal was a fool’s errand. He could try for a thousand years and still not succeed. But undoing the array was only one of the options he had for resolving the issue. There was another one that was significantly more simple and more direct.

All he needed to do was remove the power source of the whole prison.

Not having hands sucked. Though once Shen Yuan got more used to his current body, away from the crushing spiritual pressure of the mountain, it was more dextrous than he initially expected. He could move quite quickly, his tail could work partially as a hand for some things, and he had managed to steal a bag from a passing merchant caravan under the cover of night. This certainly helped him in being able to carry more than he could fit in his mouth.

(He could fit a truly disturbing amount of material into his mouth, though, considering that his jaw could unhinge. At least his venom seemed to be fairly potent, and he didn’t need to feel his lunch wriggle as it slid down his gullet. Shen Yuan still wished he was in a body that was better suited for chewing.)

Shen Yuan had managed to find other thieving opportunities once he got clear of Huan Hua’s territory, as he made his way towards the border with the demon realm. What he was looking for could only be found in a particular region during this time period.

Proud Immortal Demon Way was a steaming pile of literary garbage, but that didn’t mean that it was entirely without merit. The worldbuilding could actually be quite compelling when Airplane wasn’t dedicating endless passages to papapa. Shen Yuan was quite a big fan of the Tectonic Crevasse-Bore Termites, which were an in-universe explanation for why there were so many extensive and sprawling cave systems found damn near everywhere. The termites were creatures that devoured solid rock and were instinctually driven to form intricate networks of tunnels when settling in a new mountain or cliff system. The species was rare and had almost gone extinct when the Qiaobi demon clan had domesticated the creatures to serve as living construction equipment as they established their rule in the mountainous eastern portion of the demon realm, over nine hundred years ago. Their rule had eventually fallen apart, and now their legacy remained in the form of a dozen cavern networks that the protagonist had looted for treasure, and a small surviving colony of Tectonic Crevasse-Bore Termites deep within the abandoned mines of the stronghold where they had made their last stand.

Shen Yuan had managed to fashion several necessary torches bound tightly with Solar Sedimentary Unfurled Grass, the smoke of which would keep the termites sleepy and docile while Shen Yuan infiltrated their nest. He needed to take both the queen and king of the most recent generation in order to ensure that the task could be completed in a reasonable timeframe, and after that he could grab a few dozen workers and a handful of soldiers. Everything that he would need to start the establishment of a new colony under Bailu Mountain. Fortunately, he had worked out how to use his demonic qi well enough to be able to light the torch with a spark from it, rather than having to fumble with flint and steel or some other firestarter with his mouth and the tip of his tail.

Shen Yuan could not exactly describe the trip through the mines as pleasant, considering that there had been several other creatures which had colonised the tunnels and were significantly less docile than the termites Shen Yuan was looking for. Shen Yuan was grateful that he seemed to have inherited some of the regenerative potential of a heavenly demon after his scuffle with a colony of  Shrieking Cavern Harpy Bats. But in the end he managed to fill several heavy ceramic jars with the necessary insects while clenching the smoking torch between his teeth.

The bag worked well enough to keep the necessary supplies in during his rapid return trip to Bailu Mountain, but once he actually got to the place itself, he had to grapple with yet another unpleasant reality of his situation. The tunnels he needed to squeeze through here, unlike the spacious and cavernous reaches of the Qiaobi clan lands, were extremely cramped. Trying to drag the bag through them was a recipe for getting the fabric snagged and torn and losing what he’d worked so hard to retrieve. There weren’t many options for turning around or trying to reposition himself, either.

So with a heavy sigh and a few swear words directed towards the System for sticking him in this situation, Shen Yuan tucked his bag under a bush, unhinged his jaw, and swallowed the items he wanted to bring down to Tianlang-Jun.

“Oh. Hello again, nephew. I didn’t expect to see you again. Do you need something?” Tianlang-Jun asked as Shen Yuan finally managed to crawl through the depths of the mountain.

Shen Yuan shook his head and pulled the tail end of his body out of the crevice. He internally grimaced, then began doing his best impression of a cat hacking up a hairball as he regurgitated the four jars and one bundle of waxed cloth. He allowed himself a shudder after it was done, and then began picking the jars up with his mouth to set them upright on the floor of the cave. He tugged the string loose that was holding the bundle closed and unrolled it, revealing a pre-written note as well as seven dark purple fruits. He set the note down on the ground in front of Tianlang-Jun.

“Oh, you’ve cooked something up, have you?” Tianlang-Jun remarked with some interest, eyeing the jars before turning his attention to the note. Shen Yuan waited patiently while the demon read it over, thankful that heavenly demons came with their own reading light; it made this much more convenient. Tianlang-Jun blinked, then scanned over the note again. “This is… Do you really think this could work?”

Shen Yuan nodded. The very rock of Bailu Mountain was deeply steeped in spiritual energy, and this was what fueled the arrays keeping Tianlang-Jun bound. If the mountain were to stop existing, then it stood to reason that the spiritual energy would also dissipate, its source removed.

The Tectonic Crevasse-Bore Termites could do just that. Even better, since it was significantly cooler to have massive branching networks of tunnels to explore rather than a huge empty crater, the termites instinctively avoided devouring the outermost stone of a mountain. If they were left to their own devices, they could hollow out an entire peak without the outside of the mountain seeming to have changed one bit. It was perfect for keeping this escape plan of his under wraps. If everything went according to plan, then Bailu Mountain could be almost entirely demolished without the Huan Hua cultivators being any wiser.

In order to speed up the rate of the destruction, Shen Yuan had also retrieved several Twilight Hellswarm Syrup Plums, which were known to vastly accelerate the foraging, colonising, and reproductive cycles of most insect species that were exposed to the fruits, thus leading to the name. Just two or three of the fruits could lead to normal plagues of locusts becoming apocalyptic threats to a region; the seven Shen Yuan had retrieved should be enough to establish a thriving and extremely voracious colony of Tectonic Crevasse-Bore Termites, even with the minimal specimens he had managed to retrieve. Still, an entire mountain was no small thing to consume. Shen Yuan guessed that it still might take the better part of a decade for the colony to be able to devour enough to break Tianlang-Jun free.

And in the meanwhile, Tianlang-Jun was going to be stuck in the middle of the establishing nest. Fortunately, the termites only ate stone and minerals and had no interest in flesh, so they shouldn’t pose a physical threat to the demon, but it was bound to be unpleasant being treated as terrain by a thriving and extremely active swarm of insects for years. And Shen Yuan shouldn’t return to visit during that interim period, not when his movements could potentially be noticed by the surrounding cultivators and have their scheme discovered when it was still early enough to put a stop to it. Would the Demon Emperor really be all right with such an undignified escape plan?

Tianlang-Jun huffed out a disbelieving chuckle. “Ah, so this nephew of mine turns out to be a miracle worker. That’s… Maybe I should have expected as much,” he murmured, then raised his eyes to look at Shen Yuan. “By all means, then, go ahead. I spoke once to a human who was very interested by insects, did you know? He told me about this ‘ant farm’ he kept and observed. Apparently they exhibited very interesting behaviours. It’s certainly more entertainment than I expected to ever have, down here.”

Shen Yuan nodded, and used his tail to unscrew the lids of the jars, setting the insects free. He nicked the flesh of the plums with his fangs, letting the syrup spill free, and he smeared it over the rock of the cavern they resided in. The stones within the plums were literal stone, and should be particularly effective for the mineral-loving insects. The termites immediately took notice and the workers sprang into action.

Tianlang-Jun watched the swift and efficient manner of the termites with some interest, then lifted his gaze up to Shen Yuan again. “Thank you, nephew. The next time we meet, you’ll need to tell me your name.”

Shen Yuan felt a little awkward at the realisation that he still hadn’t introduced himself. He’d been so focused on conveying the details of the plan that he hadn’t thought to write anything about himself. Shen Yuan nodded and tapped the side of his head against Tianlang-Jun’s once more, before he made his way back out of the mountain.

The System played a celebratory jingle and showered him with S-points, but it still refused to let him spend the S-points to change into a body that actually had hands , so as far as Shen Yuan was concerned the damn thing was still on his shit list.

Okay, so Shen Yuan had between five to ten years to kill before Tianlang-Jun would be able to break free. He was in a body that couldn’t talk, didn’t have hands, and was ugly enough that both demons and humans viewed him as some kind of repulsive monster. He supposed that he could go sight-seeing in some of the more remote parts of the world; there were lots of interesting locations that Luo Binghe had barely spent any time exploring due to being waylaid by countless wife pl–

Luo Binghe! The protagonist, Shen Yuan had almost forgotten! If this was still early into the time when Tianlang-Jun was sealed away, was Luo Binghe still a child? Was the protagonist as a cute little bun with round cheeks out there somewhere, trying to survive on the streets? Had the washerwoman taken him in yet?

Shen Yuan knew exactly how he wanted to spend his next several years.

Shen Yuan was not an extremely stealthy demon. Oh, he could move quickly and silently when he wanted to and was very adept at hiding in forests and grasslands and mountainous areas, but he was a bit too large and horrible-looking to be able to infiltrate an urban environment. Fortunately, Shen Yuan had found the protagonist when he was still being raised by the washerwoman, and as a result, Luo Binghe went down to the river fairly often. Shen Yuan was able to conceal himself amongst the vegetation along the riverbanks or just below the surface of the water and sneak peeks at the adorable little kid as he worked so earnestly to get the garments clean. So moe, it was hard to believe that he would one day grow up to be the ruler of all three realms.

Shen Yuan hadn’t really intended to interfere, but that was before some horrible snot-nosed brat had shoved Luo Binghe down into the shallows of the river and stomped muddy footprints all over the protagonist’s laundry despite the kid’s tearful pleas to stop. He even laughed at Luo Binghe’s distress! Laughed!

Shen Yuan saw red, and the next thing he knew there was a flailing child already crammed most of the way down his gullet and Luo Binghe was staring at him in utter terror.

Ah, shit. Those instincts could be real strong sometimes. Shen Yuan beat a swift retreat, crashing through the bushes along the riverbank and disappearing from view. After he got far enough to hopefully no longer be traumatising the poor protagonist, Shen Yuan remembered the kid he swallowed and hacked him back up. The bully was still breathing and mostly conscious, just a little slimy. He’d probably be fine, it wasn’t like Shen Yuan had bitten him. He didn’t actually want to murder the brat or anything. He nudged the kid slightly with his tail; he seemed a bit stunned at the moment. Shen Yuan heaved a sigh and latched onto the bully’s robe, dragging the kid over to the road leading back to town. There, now he’d either be found by someone passing by or he’d make his own way back once he recovered. Shen Yuan’s conscience was clean!

He slithered back into the woods and hoped that he hadn’t scared poor Luo Binghe too much. What if he was afraid to go down to the river now?

Shen Yuan slunk back to the riverbank, and found the spot deserted, the dirty laundry abandoned on the shore. He slumped sadly. It made sense, to evacuate when a man-eating monster had just lunged out of the bushes and taken someone, but knowing Luo Binghe’s backstory, the poor kid was going to be beaten for not finishing the job regardless. Shen Yuan had just made things worse.

Maybe he could help a little, to make up for it? Shen Yuan slipped into the water, and, making sure that the coast was clear, grabbed the clothing and pulled it deeper. He scrubbed the garment against the clean sand on the bottom of the river, working loose the mud and remaining dirt. He even endured the taste of soap in his mouth to scrub the clothes with the abandoned soap beans, then managed to sling the clothes over a nearby branch to dry. It was as good as he was able to get it. Hopefully it would be enough. Shen Yuan retreated back into a hiding spot and waited. He didn’t want the clothes to be stolen by random ruffians and get Luo Binghe in even worse trouble!

A group of men with spears came by after some time had passed, but they paid no mind to the still-damp clothing, instead looking over the riverbank and water and then following the path of crushed grass and snapped twigs that Shen Yuan had left in his initial haste to get away from the protagonist.

The sun had almost gone down when Luo Binghe crept down to the riverbank, tense and wide-eyed. He sported a new bruise on his cheek, and Shen Yuan winced. The protagonist eyed the surrounding vegetation with trepidation, but paused when his eyes fell on the hanging clothes, now fully dry. His brow furrowed and he looked around the riverbank one more time before hurriedly snatching up the clothes and dashing back into the town.

Shen Yuan felt a horrible combination of anger and guilt at the fact that Luo Binghe’s boss (or, well, his mother’s boss) had hit the kid and then forced him to go back to the river, alone, to get the garments after a child-eating monster had been there just earlier today. Ugh, Luo Binghe’s backstory was so unfair, and Shen Yuan had just added to his tribulations. He absolutely needed to make amends.

If the current evening was any indication, Luo Binghe was going to be forced to go down to the river regardless of the potential danger that lurked there. But, it was probably likely that anyone who heard about the rumour would avoid the spot. That meant that Shen Yuan could feel relatively confident in Luo Binghe being the only person who would return here in the near future, right? Then maybe Shen Yuan could leave a present.

It was tempting to steal some bruise medicine for the kid’s poor face, but taking anything that already had an owner would open up Luo Binghe to accusations of theft. Bad idea; Luo Binghe was currently at the point of the plot where if something could go wrong for him, it would.

Better to collect some fruits from the forest, maybe something sweet would be able to take the kid’s mind off the stress for a little bit. Shen Yuan went off to find the goji berry bush he had found before and stripped it clean, emptying the fruit into his bag and bringing it to the riverbank after dark. He made a little nest or basket of twigs to hold the berries and to try to make the peace offering more aesthetically pleasing. There, it was a start.

Shen Yuan would have liked to provide some more medicinal plants as well, but he couldn’t speak to explain their use and he couldn’t expect Luo Binghe as a small child to know what to do with them unprompted, no matter how brilliant the protagonist was. He’d need to think of something else. 

The poor kid could use something more filling than just fruit, but leaving dead rabbits on the riverbank would probably be misinterpreted. Shen Yuan didn’t think he’d be able to skin, butcher, and cook any meat on his own without any hands (he probably wouldn’t have been able to do that kind of thing with hands either, he had to admit; all the meat he’d ever cooked came pre-packaged in plastic and styrofoam). Fruit and maybe some tubers were probably the best that Shen Yuan could manage.

Oh, but seafood, seafood was a possibility. Well, riverfood, same difference. If Shen Yuan could scrounge up some mussels, oysters, or clams, maybe shrimp or crayfish and some kind of pot or bowl, he could boil them over a fire and probably make something at least edible.

Shen Yuan curled up for the night and went to sleep dreaming of ways he could help take care of the poor little protagonist while still being a monster that lurked in the woods.

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan felt appalled when he woke up in the morning, made his way back down to the river, and found Luo Binghe already at the riverbank, furiously scrubbing a new set of clothes. The sun was barely up, what the hell was this kid doing here already?! Was Luo Binghe's employer so heartless that he couldn't even let the poor kid sleep in after his traumatic experience the day before? 

Shen Yuan silently settled in to watch and seethe a little bit. Luo Binghe was nervous, his gaze darting from the garment in his hands to scan the vegetation along the riverbank, but he also had a stubborn set to his jaw, a strong sense of being a resolute protagonist even at such a young age. What was it that Luo Binghe was so determined to do, Shen Yuan wondered. Hopefully he wasn't planning on fighting the snake monster? Binghe, you'll be a great hero one day but please don't make plans to fight a demon when you're a small unarmed child! You'll give me anxiety!

The sound of footsteps over the gravel path leading to the river made Shen Yuan shift his attention away from the kid, tensing slightly. More bullies already? Did Luo Binghe have anything but bad luck? 

The person walking down the path wasn't a child; it was an elderly woman, her long grey hair braided neatly down her back. 

Shen Yuan had seen her before, she was a person who sometimes came to the river to do laundry as well, but she didn't carry any sort of basket with her this time. What was she doing here?

“Luo Binghe!” she called out sharply, causing the boy on the riverbank to startle and whip around, clutching damp clothing to his chest. “What do you think you're doing?”

“A–Niang,” Luo Binghe mumbled, lowering his head. “This Binghe was washing clothes.”

“I told you that I would take care of that from now on, didn't I? You're supposed to learn how to do the ironing instead,” the protagonist's adoptive mother scolded, planting her hands on her hips. 

Luo Binghe's little hands tightened on the garment in his hands. “A-Niang, you shouldn't–” Luo Binghe faltered at the expression on the washerwoman’s face, and changed tack. “I don't want to do the ironing, A-Niang. I don't want to be burned again. Please don't make me.”

A deeply sad expression passed over the washerwoman's face. “I'm sorry, Binghe, but it's… you'll learn how to handle the coals better, you're a smart boy. It isn't safe for you to be down here by the river right now.”

“It isn't safe for A-Niang either!” Luo Binghe shouted.

“Binghe, adults are supposed to protect children.”

“No! I'm your son, I'm supposed to protect you!” Luo Binghe snapped, stomping his foot.

“Good children should listen to their parents.”

“Then I'd rather be bad! I won't let you! I'll come out here and wash in the middle of the night if I have to!”

The washerwoman sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Binghe… how did I raise such a stubborn child?”

Luo Binghe let a little bit of the tension in his posture bleed away, and he took a step closer to his mother. “I'm sorry, A-Niang. But I… I'm probably too bony and small for the thing to want to bother with anyway, and I can run much faster than you. Let me do this.”

The washerwoman sighed again, reaching out to stroke Luo Binghe's hair. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry that there isn't an option where neither of us need to be here.”

“They'll kick us out if we don't get the laundry done, though,” Luo Binghe pointed out, and the washerwoman looked sadder.

“They will,” she admitted. “You need to be very careful, all right? Be safe.”

“I will,” Luo Binghe agreed. 

The washerwoman hugged Luo Binghe, uncaring of the damp clothing he was still holding, then straightened up. She paused when her eyes fell on the little nest of red berries that was off to one side of the cleared area of the riverbank. “Did you go foraging in the woods too, Binghe? Now, of all times?” she demanded. 

“What?” Luo Binghe followed her gaze and spotted Shen Yuan’s peace offering. He frowned, looking puzzled. “It wasn't me, A-Niang. I don't know where that came from.”

“Then did someone else…? But who would be picking berries here and now?”

“Maybe it was fairies?” Luo Binghe speculated. “If there are monsters then there should be good things too, right? To balance it out?”

The washerwoman didn't seem convinced, but she only patted Luo Binghe on the head. “Maybe. It's probably just someone who didn't hear the news yet, though. When they come back, give them a warning about the creature you saw. I'll feel better knowing there's someone else here with you this morning, even if they do seem a bit airheaded.”

“I will, A-Niang,” Luo Binghe agreed. 

“Good boy. Come home safe,” the washerwoman told him, and bent down to kiss the kid on the forehead before making her way back along the path into town. 

Shen Yuan felt incredibly guilty about having been the source of such turmoil and worry for Luo Binghe and his mother. And Luo Binghe, ah! The kid had grabbed the laundry first thing in the morning to go down to the river and protect his mother from a man-eating monster! Such a sweet boy, so good, so pure! How could this world be so cruel to him?! Shen Yuan cursed Great Master Airplane in his heart and watched the kid walk back down to the water's edge, continuing his work. 

It was a good thing that Luo Binghe was still doing the washing; Shen Yuan didn't want to be responsible for the kid needing to do ironing when there were no handy electric irons to be used. Needing to use live coals to heat up heavy metal irons sounded terrifying, and Luo Binghe was, what, five or six right now? Definitely not an age to be playing with fire! 

Shen Yuan would need to be very careful not to cause any problems that would require Luo Binghe to take that job rather than coming down to the river.

Shen Yuan settled in to watch over Luo Binghe. No one else came down the pathway, so the morning progressed peacefully enough. The kid finished washing the last garment and wrung it out, draping it over a bush in direct sunlight to dry out further. Then he glanced over at the peace offering, and around the riverbank. “Hello?” he called out. 

Sorry, Binghe, but I don't think you'd react well to meeting the person who gathered those berries.  

Luo Binghe waited for a while longer, searching for a sign of the mystery forager, but Shen Yuan didn't move from his hiding spot, so there was only the soft movement of a breeze and the sound of birdsong. Luo Binghe felt the drying garments, nodded, and loaded them back into the basket. Only then did he go over to the little nest of berries. He took one and popped it into his mouth, before looking around again, as if expecting someone to burst out and catch him red-handed. Considering how Luo Binghe's luck tended to pan out, that probably was a scenario he'd experienced before. 

When still nothing happened, Luo Binghe lowered his head and murmured, “I'll pay you back,” before hungrily devouring roughly half of the berries. He gathered up the remaining fruits and stashed them in the pouch-like portion of his robes just above where his belt was cinched around his waist. Then, with one last glance around, he picked up the laundry and left. 

Ah, Binghe, don't worry about paying anyone back! He already had the need to repay kindness even at this age, which was adorable, but Shen Yuan definitely owed the poor kid more than some berries! 

He probably wouldn't accept the gifts if he knew they came from the snake monster though. Shen Yuan sighed.

Shen Yuan had made an effort to make Luo Binghe's life easier, leaving little presents by the river intermittently. Fruits at first, then little piles of steamed clams or crayfish, arranged carefully on a plate of clean leaves. Cutlery was sadly limited in the woods.

He had managed to scrounge a “pot”, which was in actuality an old helmet that he'd, ah, borrowed from its previous owner and cleaned thoroughly. Shen Yuan wasn't sure who the skeletal corpse had originally been, but they'd clearly lost some battle or other and been left to decay where they fell. Aside from the obvious issues of the optics of serving food from a piece of armor, Shen Yuan had multiple reasons why he didn't want Luo Binghe to get his hands on it. For one, if the kid left with it, Shen Yuan would have a hard time finding a replacement. Theoretically he could just steal something, but he didn't want to risk needing to travel too far away from the protagonist or causing another scene that would make people panic. For another, he wasn't sure if the insignia on the helmet would be politically dangerous if it were discovered. And for last, Shen Yuan didn't want to risk there being some resentful spirit latched onto the object that would cause problems for Luo Binghe. If the ghost wanted to haunt Shen Yuan, fine, but there was a distinct narrative possibility that such a complication would only happen to the protagonist. 

In any case, Luo Binghe didn't seem to mind being served unseasoned food off of leaves. One day, he would be the ruler of the three realms and no luxury would be outside of his reach, but for now he was hungry enough to be happy with such haphazard offerings. Poor kid.

The appearance of cooked food seemed to convince Luo Binghe that there were some kind of fairies looking after him, instead of a forgetful and elusive forager leaving random fruits around. “Hello? Thank you for the presents, but… who are you? Can you show yourself?”

Sorry, kid. Not going to happen.  

“This is for me, isn't it? Why me? Do you want to be friends? Do you need help?” When there was still no reply, Luo Binghe sighed and clasped his hands together, bowing his head. “Thanking the honored benefactors for their consideration. This Binghe will remember the kindness always.”

Such a sweet boy! 

Shen Yuan's efforts seemed to be working, because Luo Binghe slowly began to look less scrawny and less frightened when he came down to the river.

Things were practically bucolic for a few months, a nice peaceful break for Luo Binghe. Unfortunately, Shen Yuan keeping a low profile also meant that other people started to believe the snake monster had vanished. It was only a matter of time before others began to be bold enough to visit the river again. 

Most of them ignored Luo Binghe, stopping only briefly to attend to whatever chores that needed doing, but that required Shen Yuan to shift his present-giving location slightly off the beaten path, sheltered by a bush. Luo Binghe proved how clever he was by noticing the little twig arrow Shen Yuan had left to indicate the new location, adjusting immediately. 

It took a few more weeks before the more problematic visitors began to show up, kids with far too much time on their hands and the kind of viciousness that cropped up fairly frequently in children. 

Luo Binghe hunched his shoulders and ignored the taunting jeers, but when they began stepping closer and curling their fingers into fists, Shen Yuan couldn't just stand idly by any more! He purposefully rustled some of the nearby foliage and let out a loud, menacing hiss.

The bullies went pale and immediately retreated back towards the safety of town. Unfortunately, Luo Binghe also stiffened up, snapping his attention to the spot the noise came from and scrambling backwards. 

Shen Yuan winced and hoped this wouldn't result in Luo Binghe being forbidden from visiting the river. He turned away and made no effort to be quiet as he headed in the opposite direction from Luo Binghe.

Luckily, it seemed like Luo Binghe had managed to keep his mother from hearing or believing the news, because the kid showed up the next day, and the day after that.

When the weather started getting colder, Shen Yuan hunted several geese and painstakingly gathered up their down, bundling it together in a few scraps of scrounged fabric. He left it at the usual location for Luo Binghe to find. The kid could hopefully make use of some insulation. He also dedicated his time to attempting to figure out how to make talismans or something along those lines. He had some ink and brushes still left over from his message for Tianlang-Jun, but Shen Yuan's calligraphy when writing with his mouth was amateur at best. He'd have a hard time drawing the necessary sigils with the precision needed. 

But in the end, he did have heavenly demon blood. Shen Yuan found that the easiest way was to nick himself with his fangs and then direct the blood mites to spread out into the necessary shapes. He applied the markings to several fist-sized rocks, then channeled demonic qi into the objects to activate it. The stones began to radiate warmth like space heaters. It felt very nice, in fact, chasing away the sluggishness that Shen Yuan had begun to feel with the onset of the cooler weather. He'd love to give one to Luo Binghe, but a stone with a sigil written in blood, buzzing with demonic qi, wasn't exactly something one could just show up with without prompting some serious questions. 

But they worked just fine for Shen Yuan to hide them amongst the normal rocks on the riverbed, upstream of the location where Luo Binghe did the washing. It didn't make the river warm by any means, but it reduced the cold from ‘biting’ to ‘slightly chilly’. Hopefully it would keep the poor kid from flirting with frostbite. 

Shen Yuan wasn't sure that going into the river had been the best idea, though. Especially not after using all of his warming stones. His body felt heavy and lethargic, and he had a hard time dragging himself out of the water. He slithered languidly to one of his most secure hiding spots and curled up, feeling sleep dragging him down. Just a little nap . 

It was spring when Shen Yuan woke up, judging from the flowers that were blooming around him when he stirred. What the fuck, was that hibernation? Did he just hibernate? Shen Yuan wondered groggily.

…Well, maybe that was for the best, he would probably have had a hard time staying hidden when the vegetation had mostly died off for the winter, but the urge to check on the protagonist would have been difficult to resist.

Oh, shit, Luo Binghe! 

Shen Yuan made his way back down to the river, hoping that nothing too horrible had happened to the kid over the winter.

To Shen Yuan's relief, he found Luo Binghe in the normal spot, apparently having just finished up his work. The kid was taller now; children grew up fast. He finished packing the garments into the basket, but then he paused and checked under the bush that Shen Yuan had normally left his gifts under. Finding nothing, the kid sighed and picked up the basket, heading home.

Shen Yuan had missed months of being able to spoil the protagonist, what a tragedy. But he could start again now! 

When Luo Binghe found the little nest of kumquats left under the bush the next morning, his smile was so bright it was almost blinding.

Things settled into something of a routine after that, Shen Yuan spending his time obtaining gifts for the protagonist, exploring the woods near the town, watching over Luo Binghe, and generally lazing around. Every so often he needed to scare off bullies, but soon Luo Binghe barely blinked at the threatening hisses or snarls. Maybe he thought that the fairies looking out for him were just emulating the sounds of a snake monster.

That was fine. Shen Yuan was just glad that Luo Binghe had one place where he could relax and feel safe. He was sure that the kid was still tormented when he was in town, but at least the riverbanks were a refuge.

Luo Binghe didn't come down to the river one morning. Sometimes that happened, but usually if it did, his adoptive mother would show up to do the washing instead. She had been increasingly frail the last few times that Shen Yuan had spotted her, and it had been a long time since the last visit. 

Shen Yuan swallowed down his anxiety and tried to think positive thoughts. Maybe they had just been given a day off.

The second day passed with no sign of Luo Binghe, either. 

It was the evening of the third day, just as the sun was going down, that Luo Binghe staggered down to the edge of the water.

“A-She?” Luo Binghe called out, his voice wavering and cracking halfway through the word. He pulled in a trembling breath and called out more firmly. “A-She! I know you’re there! Come out!”

She. Snake. Luo Binghe was coming down to the riverbanks and calling out for a snake. That had to mean Shen Yuan, right? He had watched the kid pretty much any time he came down to the river before, and he had never heard Luo Binghe refer to anyone else by that name. But why would Luo Binghe be calling out for him?

“A-She, please,” Luo Binghe said again, his breath hitching in his chest.

Shen Yuan slithered out of his hiding place and into the open, still leaving some distance between himself and the kid, in the event that Luo Binghe had in fact been looking for someone else and wanted to flee in terror.

Luo Binghe’s gaze fell on him, and Shen Yuan saw that the kid’s eyes were red and puffy. He’d been crying. Luo Binghe met his eyes and let out a shuddering sigh, slumping down to his knees in the gravel. “There you are,” he murmured, and scrubbed one of his hands across his cheek, wiping away another tear that was trickling down his face. “You’ve been watching me for a long time, haven’t you? You must have some reason for it. Are you planning to eat me? If that’s…” Luo Binghe shuddered and covered his face. “If that’s what it is, you might as well do it now. There’s nothing left for me here.”

Shen Yuan’s heart ached when he realised what must have happened. Luo Binghe looked like he was about ten years old, now. This was the time when his mother died. It might have happened today. Shen Yuan moved forward, slithering right up to Luo Binghe, and felt even sadder when the kid didn’t so much as flinch. 

Shen Yuan curled up in a loose coil ringing the spot that Luo Binghe knelt in, and laid his head in Luo Binghe’s lap. He nudged his head against Luo Binghe’s stomach and shifted his tail to stroke down Luo Binghe’s back. 

The kid sobbed, crumpling in on himself and clutching Shen Yuan, burying his face in the snake demon's matted black hair. Shen Yuan wished that he was softer and nicer to hug. He wished that the poor little protagonist didn't have so much goddamn heartbreak in his life. 

“It isn't fair,” Luo Binghe sniffled, and Shen Yuan couldn't help but agree. He kept up his best attempts at soothing back pats and let Luo Binghe cry against him. “Why does it hurt so much?”

Shen Yuan wished he could make any noises that weren't terrifying, wished he had actual hands to hug Luo Binghe with, wished that he could take Luo Binghe into a story that wasn't so goddamned tragic.

But all he could do was just be there, and try to provide some level of comfort. 

The moon had risen by the time that Luo Binghe's tears slowed, and he drew in a shuddering breath. “A-She,” he muttered, his voice thick. 

Shen Yuan nudged his head against Luo Binghe's hands in acknowledgment. 

“I can't stay here any more, A-She. Even– even if they didn't throw me out, I couldn't stay with them. Not after…” Luo Binghe's breath hitched, and his lip trembled. “A-Niang told me to go to a cultivation sect. She said that they would take care of me, and help me grow up healthy and strong.”

If only that were true , Shen Yuan thought bitterly.

“I don't think the cultivators would be kind to you, A-She. I don't… I don't think that we'll be able to meet again,” Luo Binghe whispered, his voice wavering. “You're smart, you can understand me, right? You can't follow me. I'm sorry.”

Shen Yuan felt torn. It wasn't like he could look after Luo Binghe on his own, but should he really just let Luo Binghe go to Cang Qiong Mountain, where so much misery was there waiting for him? Would he even be able to interfere, or world fate force Luo Binghe down his destined path, no matter what Shen Yuan did? 

Maybe Shen Yuan could write Luo Binghe a note, and try to convince him to go to Tian Yi Overlook, or some other sect, rather than Cang Qiong Mountain?

Unfortunately, it seemed like the system was going to make Shen Yuan's decision for him.

[Alert! The bindings restraining the Demon Emperor Tianlang-Jun are due to be broken in 18 hours! You should make your way to Bailu Mountain immediately to assist! Failure to demonstrate loyalty to Tianlang-Jun will result in immediate termination of the user's account!]

System, what the fuck?! Right now?!

[You should have sufficient time to rendezvous if you leave immediately!]

Shen Yuan suppressed a snarl and regretfully unwound himself from around Luo Binghe.

The kid smiled sadly and reached out to pat Shen Yuan one more time. “Goodbye, A-She. I'll miss you.”

Shen Yuan wept in his heart and nudged his head against Luo Binghe's hand once more before he darted off into the woods. Damn the System for this, for him needing to leave his heartbroken little lamb to wander into another slaughterhouse.

[Warning! User has ten minutes remaining to find Tianlang-Jun! Please follow the indicators!]

I fucking know! Shen Yuan would like to submit several complaints to whoever designed this goddamn HUD from Hell because he could hardly see anything beyond the flashing lights of the System screen, and it had stopped letting him dismiss it an hour ago.

Shen Yuan crested the ridge of a hill and felt his breath catch in his chest.

Tianlang-Jun would have been easy to track down even without the ‘helpful’ quest marker arrows that the System was providing him with. The Demon Emperor was in the centre of a swirling and overwhelmingly powerful storm of demonic qi, laughing maniacally. He looked like something that came straight out of a horror movie, one of those unkillable creatures that pursued the hapless victims relentlessly, no matter what measures had been taken to try to destroy it. Half of the demon’s body was in tatters, huge gouges carved out of his torso and rotted chunks missing from his legs, but the muscle and flesh and sinew were already filling in the gaps like some high-speed timelapse, painting over the yellow-white glimpses of bone.

The system indicators urged him on, and Shen Yuan closed the distance between them.

He arrived just as Tianlang-Jun rolled his shoulders, flexed his hands, and reached out one arm in the direction of the Bailu mountain in front of him. The demonic qi surrounding him crackled as a blast of dark power slammed into the stone, and a huge hole was rent open in the hollow shell of the mountain. It began to grow even wider, the outer layer of stone falling into the empty space beneath with ever-increasing speed. If it continued apace, soon not even the outline of the peak would remain, the entire mountain swallowed by the void below.

Shen Yuan faltered at this, gaping at the display of power. He’d known, academically, that Luo Binghe’s father had to have been incredibly powerful, but he hadn’t expected to come back to this after his previous interactions with Tianlang-Jun. The demon had seemed entirely reasonable when he spoke to Shen Yuan the last two times, but this was a side that Shen Yuan had never had a chance to see. Maybe he hadn’t gotten a very good read on the demon after all.

Just what was a heavenly demon of Tianlang-Jun’s calibre going to do now that he was free?

“Ah, nephew, there you are,” Tianlang-Jun said, his sharp-toothed grin widening as he turned his gaze on Shen Yuan. He crossed the space between them in an instant and seized hold of Shen Yuan, hauling him upright. A surge of that overwhelming demonic qi suddenly flooded his body, setting every one of Shen Yuan’s meridians ablaze. There was a terrifying instant where Shen Yuan was certain that he had made a horrible mistake in unleashing Tianlang-Jun from beneath the mountain.

In the next moment, though, Shen Yuan was set down onto his feet, and a hand ruffled his hair.

…Wait, his feet ?

Shen Yuan looked down to find himself finally occupying an entirely humanoid body, complete with a full set of limbs. He also had robes, interestingly; were they left over from the last time he'd been in this form? He even had hands ! Hands, glorious hands, how Shen Yuan missed having you! Overwhelmed, Shen Yuan lunged forwards and wrapped his newfound arms around Tianlang-Jun, hugging him tightly. The Demon Emperor chuckled against him.

“There, now both of us are doing much better. Let’s go home, hm?”

Shen Yuan felt a bit awkward about his abrupt display of affection and let go of Tianlang-Jun, clearing his throat and glancing away. That made his gaze fall back onto the crumbling mountain. “Um. What… what about the termites?” Shen Yuan asked, his voice raspy from disuse. Maybe it was a silly thing to worry about right now, but they were an endangered species!

“Of course I’m not about to abandon Ai-Huang and her family! I’ve got them all right here,” Tianlang-Jun said, and gestured down to a bundle at his feet. It looked like Tianlang-Jun had cobbled together some kind of qiankun bag from the scraps of his robes and his own blood. Like father, like son, Shen Yuan supposed. Both terribly OP.

…Wait. Wait a second, Luo Binghe was Tianlang-Jun’s son. Didn't that mean–

Tianlang-Jun picked up the qiankun bag with one hand and wrapped an arm around Shen Yuan's shoulder with the other, steering them both away from the mountain. It felt incredibly weird to be touched by a hand that was still in the process of rapidly regrowing its flesh and skin. 

“So! Now that you can talk, why don't you tell me about yourself, eh?” Tianlang-Jun asked cheerily as they headed off.

“Uh, sure. My name is Shen Yuan, and I, um…” Shen Yuan trailed off, not sure how to explain his backstory without getting the System angry with him. 

“It's nice to meet you, Yuan-er. I can't say I'm not curious about where you're from or how you knew about these little beauties,” Tianlang-Jun hefted the termite sack. “But I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. It's pretty obvious that Zhuzhi-lang knew what he was doing.”

“Zhuzhi-lang…?”

“Mhm, he cut some kind of a deal, I assume. Gave you his body in exchange for setting me free, that's the exact kind of thing he would do, after all.”

“I…” System?! 

[Your current assignment is to maintain strict loyalty to Tianlang-Jun.]

“Oh, don't worry, I'm sure he would have been over the moon with how things turned out so far. This is exactly what he would have wanted.”

“I see,” Shen Yuan replied, not sure how to feel about all this. But still, he had an opportunity! 

System! It would be a very loyal thing for me to do, to retrieve Tianlang-Jun’s long-lost son for him, wouldn't it? I should bring Luo Binghe home to his father, right?

[Calculating…]

Apparently Shen Yuan had fallen silent for too long. “If you don't feel like talking about yourself, I can tell you all about Ai-Huang and her family, if you like. They're absolutely fascinating creatures, Ai-Huang was the daughter of Li-Huang, but her sisters were also vying for the throne, and don't get me started on the wild stuff that the colony's kings got up to. There were several skirmishes between Jin-Wang and Yu-Wang before an eventual treaty was established, and–”

“Sorry, we're still talking about the termites?”

“Of course! What's a king and a queen without a little political intrigue, eh?”

Shen Yuan could suddenly imagine with crystal clarity Tianlang-Jun narrating an extremely embellished nature documentary about the Tectonic Crevasse-Bore Termites. “I–”

[Ding! New quest assigned: Family Reunion. You are required to reunite Tianlang-Jun with his son, Luo Binghe.]

Yes! Now Shen Yuan just needed to intercept the kid before he made it to Cang Qiong Mountain; it would be significantly harder to extract him once he was on the sect’s grounds.

“I'd love to hear more, Junshang, but I'm afraid that I need to attend to something urgent, first,” Shen Yuan continued. “Can we meet at the Bianjie Outpost, about two weeks from now?”

“All right, Yuan-er. Do what you must, but be careful; I imagine the human realm will be in quite an uproar soon. Ah, speaking of, I should probably try to pick up all the installments of the novels I've missed in the last decade, before things get too chaotic here. Lots to do.”

…Of course the Demon Emperor read trashy pulp novels, this universe was created by Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky. “Good luck.”

“You too, Yuan-er.”

The System had helpfully provided him a list of some of the new abilities that had been unlocked in his new form, which wasn't enough to get it off of Shen Yuan's shit list, but he had to admit it was useful. Especially the new full-snake form, which was huge, agile, and able to cover great distances with ease. The difference between it and the awkward half-snake form he had been stuck in previously was night and day. It was so cool, Shen Yuan felt so powerful and sleek and impressive. 

But he had to focus on the mission, he could explore his new abilities later. If he remembered things correctly, Luo Binghe had managed to hitch a ride with a passing merchant caravan part of the way, and would be dropped off in a town not too far from the foothills of the mountain. Shen Yuan would need to intercept him between that town and the mountain. He wasn't sure exactly which town, though. One of the ones to the east of the mountain, but that narrowed it down to three.

Shen Yuan finally reached the forest that spilled out from the foothills of Cang Qiong Mountain, after keeping a careful eye out for flying cultivators above. He disappeared amongst the trees and heaved a sigh. Step one, successful. 

Junshang!  

…Uh, what was that? 

Junshang, welcome!  

Shen Yuan was hearing things?

Junshang is so big! 

Shen Yuan looked around in puzzlement and noticed several normal-sized snakes emerging from the underbrush, slithering up to him and butting their heads affectionately against his scales. Uh, hello?  

Hello!!! The chorus of little voices replied. 

System, I can talk to snakes? Shen Yuan asked. Well, it wasn't exactly talking , the communication was more of a flicker of specific emotion than words.

[Snake kinship was one of the abilities unlocked with the new form!]

Would it kill you to have a more descriptive name? Shen Yuan complained. 

My name is Sun and Warm Rocks, Junshang! one of the little brown grass snakes volunteered. 

Oh. Uh, that's very cute.

Thank you!

Shen Yuan settled down into the grass, lowering his head to be closer to the level of the other snakes. Wow, there really were a lot of them… Do you think you could do me a favour? Shen Yuan asked.

Of course Junshang!  

I'm looking for a little boy, Luo Binghe. Shen Yuan tried to project an impression of what Luo Binghe looked and smelled like. Judging from the feedback he got from the snakes, they understood. Do you think you could look for him, and let me know where he is? There's no need to approach him, just pass the news along. Spread the request along to the others too.

Yes, Junshang! The snakes happily replied, and the dozens of reptiles that had gathered around to cuddle up to him dispersed.

Well, that made things a lot easier.

“Luo Binghe,” Shen Yuan called, stepping out from the trees to block Luo Binghe’s path. Fortunately, he’d reached the kid before he crossed Cang Qiong’s protective wards.

Luo Binghe took a few cautious steps backwards away from Shen Yuan, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Who are you? How do you know my name?” he asked.

“I’m an old friend, Binghe. It’s me, A-She,” Shen Yuan replied, letting his forked tongue flicker out of his mouth in demonstration.

Luo Binghe’s eyes widened, and he took a step forward before seeming to catch himself. “You don’t look like A-She,” he said.

“I, uh, wasn’t able to assume my current form until just recently,” Shen Yuan explained awkwardly. “If I could have, then I definitely would have helped you earlier. I’m sorry.”

“Were you cursed?”

“Not exactly, but you can think of it like that. I can explain in detail if you like, but I would prefer to do it off of the main road if it’s all the same.” Shen Yuan was relatively confident in his ability to conceal his demonic qi from any cultivators who might pass by, but he didn’t want to risk being subjected to the kind of scrutiny one would have for a strange adult approaching a clearly wary child. Currently there wasn’t anyone passing by, but he had no guarantee that would remain the case.

Luo Binghe crossed his arms, opting not to let the stranger lure him into an isolated part of the woods. Shen Yuan had to admit that was a good call. “Why are you here?” he demanded.

“Because you shouldn’t go to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect,” Shen Yuan replied, and winced at the flash of hurt that flickered over Luo Binghe’s face. He hurried to elaborate. “It isn’t because there’s anything wrong with Binghe. It’s just… there are cruel people there. I’m sure that you have encountered those sorts of people before. They won’t treat you well. Binghe’s mother wanted you to go to the sect so you would be taken care of, but it won’t happen; you’ll only face mistreatment and abuse.”

Luo Binghe’s expression crumpled, and he bit his lip, looking close to tears. “Then what am I supposed to do? It doesn’t– It never changes, everyone hates me.” His voice hitched, and he swiped impatiently at his face with his sleeve. “I don’t even know what I’m doing wrong.”

Shen Yuan closed his eyes sadly and sank down to kneel on the ground. “It isn’t Binghe’s fault,” he said softly, meeting Luo Binghe’s gaze again. “You haven’t done anything wrong. Fate has just been unkind to you. I’m trying– I’d like to change that. Come with me, instead. I’ll take care of you.”

“Why do you even care?” Luo Binghe mumbled.

“Because we’re family,” Shen Yuan replied.

“Family?”

Shen Yuan smiled wryly. “Ah, it’s a bit complicated. I can explain in detail later. Will you come with me for now? I can… I can bring you back to Cang Qiong later if you change your mind, but I promise you’ll be better off with me. I’ll keep you safe.”

Luo Binghe wavered for a moment, glancing past Shen Yuan at the mountain that rose into the sky behind him, then back down to the demon. “...Okay,” he finally agreed, walking up to Shen Yuan. “I’ll trust you, A-She.”

Shen Yuan smiled warmly and held out a hand. Luo Binghe took hold of it, and Shen Yuan rose to his feet and led Luo Binghe off of the road to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.

Luo Binghe was so light, Shen Yuan thought sadly as he carried the kid princess-style through the woods. They had quite a lot of ground to cover to get to the border with the demon realm, so Shen Yuan was glad that Luo Binghe had consented to being picked up. He definitely needed to get some more food into the poor kid as soon as possible, though.

“What did you mean when you said that we’re family?” Luo Binghe asked.

“I meant it literally. We’re cousins, actually.”

“Cousins? But aren’t you a…”

“Demon? Yes. You’re, uh, half-demon. Your father is my uncle; he’s a demon too.”

“Oh,” Luo Binghe said, and Shen Yuan felt him shiver a little. “Is… is that why I was abandoned?”

“No, not at all. You were loved, Binghe. Your birth mother used the last of her strength to seal your demonic heritage so that you would be able to grow up amongst humans without being hunted. If she had survived, she would have taken care of you, but it wasn’t… It wasn’t possible. I’m sorry.”

“And my father?” Luo Binghe asked.

Shen Yuan sighed. “Have you heard of Tianlang-Jun before?” 

“No.”

“Ah, I suppose it is old news by this point in time,” Shen Yuan muttered. “Tianlang-Jun is a heavenly demon of unsurpassed strength and ability; he served as the Emperor of the southern half of the demon realms before you were born. He was deemed to be a threat to the human realm and was defeated by the joint efforts of all the major cultivation sects, sealed beneath a mountain before you were even born. He’s also your father, though he doesn’t know that you exist yet.”

“Oh. So he’s gone too, then,” Luo Binghe replied dully.

“No, actually. He’s broken free just recently, in fact; he’s the reason why I’m able to be in this form instead of the one you’re, uh, more familiar with. I’m bringing you to him now.”

“What?!” Luo Binghe exclaimed, and suddenly writhed in Shen Yuan’s grip, clearly trying to get loose. When Shen Yuan set him down, he scrambled backwards a few steps. “You’re taking me to a demonic emperor?!”

“Oh. Uh, sorry, I think I described him in a scary way? He's not dangerous, I promise.”

“What part of me looks presentable to any kind of emperor, A-She?!” Luo Binghe exclaimed, gesturing at his scruffy, tattered clothing and his bare feet. “I won't– he obviously won't want me! At best I'll be a disappointment!”

“No. There isn't anything wrong with you.” Shen Yuan reached out to clasp one of Luo Binghe’s shoulders. “You’re Luo Binghe. You could never be a disappointment. He’ll love you; it’s impossible that he won’t.”

Luo Binghe blinked furiously, clearly trying to hold back tears. He looked horribly vulnerable. “Do you promise?”

“I…” Tianlang-Jun had loved Zhuzhi-lang, and had welcomed Shen Yuan immediately as family. Shen Yuan was sure the man would be able to love his son as well. “Well, things might be a little awkward at the very start, when you don't know each other very well. But I'm sure he'll warm up to you. This is where you belong.”

Luo Binghe stared at Shen Yuan for a moment, then set his jaw and held out his arms again. “All right.”

“Ah, Yuan-er! Welcome back!” Tianlang-Jun exclaimed cheerily as a parrot-demon led them to the room that the former Demon Emperor occupied in the outpost. He had been lounging on a daybed with a book, but he got to his feet to greet Shen Yuan.

“It's good to see you again, Junshang.”

“Did you manage to complete your most recent mysterious mission?”

“I did. And I suppose now I need to introduce you both,” Shen Yuan muttered to himself, before nudging Luo Binghe slightly out from where he was hiding behind Shen Yuan. “Luo Binghe, this is Tianlang-Jun, your father. Junshang, this is Luo Binghe, your son.”

“My son?” Tianlang-Jun echoed, turning his attention to Luo Binghe. His eyes widened and his shoulders slumped. “That’s… Did… Did you meet Su Xiyan, too?” he asked quietly, still staring at the kid. “Is she here?”

“Su…? Oh, you mean Luo Binghe’s mother? Ah, no. I’m afraid not. She… she passed away not long after Luo Binghe was born.”

“Oh,” Tianlang-Jun said, and was expressionless for a moment before he shook his head and grinned. “Well, not to worry, I know all about how I’m supposed to handle a surprise child who has turned up after years of growing apart from me, I’ve read about this exact situation before. Ahem. So, you finally show your face, boy. Come to challenge me for my throne, eh? I admire your spirit. Come, let us fight to the death and see who is stronger!”

Luo Binghe squeaked at the booming declaration and ducked behind Shen Yuan, clutching at his robes.

Shen Yuan let out a long-suffering sigh. “Junshang, he’s only ten years old! And he didn’t even know he was a demon until last week!”

“Oh! So this is a rags-to-riches story, then. A virtuous but impoverished orphan has discovered that he is secretly the long-lost heir to some great kingdom, to be whisked away to a life of luxury and adventure.” Tianlang-Jun nodded to himself. “Those can be quite fun, there’s a lot of variation. Though your timing could use some work, Yuan-er. The missing heir should be retrieved when there’s a lavish palace for him to adjust to and explore, and I’m afraid that my previous living arrangements have almost certainly been taken over by some clan or other in my absence.”

Shen Yuan winced a bit at the realization he was playing exactly into some extremely tired tropes. “This isn’t some cliche storybook, Junshang,” he lied. “Besides, it was critical that I retrieved him now; he was going to join a cultivation sect otherwise, and it would have been a nightmare to get him out of there.”

Tianlang-Jun tilted his head, looking at Shen Yuan with some interest. “Oh? A cultivation sect? Which one?”

“Cang Qiong,” Shen Yuan said.

“Really? He didn’t want to follow in his mother’s footsteps?”

Luo Binghe peered out from behind Shen Yuan with a frown. “My mother was a washerwoman,” he said defiantly.

“He never really met his birth mother, Junshang,” Shen Yuan elaborated.

“I see.” Tianlang-Jun nodded, then moved faster than even Shen Yuan was able to follow, and the next thing he knew the heavenly demon had scooped Luo Binghe up into his arms. He curled one clawed hand around Luo Binghe’s chin and tilted his face up, scrutinizing the kid. “You really do look so much like your mother,” he murmured, lightly tapping a finger against Luo Binghe’s cheek. “This seal is her work, too. Ah, my Xiyan, so skilled. If you had your way, would he have grown up as a full human? Would you have erased every trace of me?”

Luo Binghe went pale and tried to wriggle out of the hold, but Tianlang-Jun held him steady.

“Sorry, Xiyan, but the human realm is no longer any place for us, or for him,” Tianlang-Jun continued, and shifted his hand from Luo Binghe’s jaw to his forehead. “You’re going to need your demon half, boy.”

There was a pulse of that same overwhelmingly dark demonic qi, and Luo Binghe screamed.

Shen Yuan lunged forwards and snatched Luo Binghe out of Tianlang-Jun’s arms, pressing him close against his chest. “Junshang, what the hell?!” he demanded, wincing as Luo Binghe snarled against him and brand-new, razor-sharp claws sank into his flesh.

Tianlang-Jun held a glittering wisp of spiritual energy in his hand for a moment before loosening his fingers and letting it dissipate into the air. “It had to be done; if he’s going to be travelling with us it’s likely that he’ll be targeted sooner or later. Having the regenerative capabilities of a heavenly demon may well be critical. Besides, neither you nor I can teach him much about spiritual cultivation; if he’s going to become stronger he’ll need to develop his demonic cultivation.”

“That’s–!” Shen Yuan cut himself off with a grimace. He couldn’t argue with any of that logic, not really. The sooner that Luo Binghe grew into his full potential, the safer he would be. Having his cradle seal undone now was infinitely less traumatic than the tragedy of the Immortal Alliance Conference and the subsequent Endless Abyss arc. This was the best way to look after the kid. And there was no turning back now, no way for Luo Binghe to join a cultivation sect any longer. The plot was well and truly off the rails. “You could have at least given a little bit of warning first!”

“He’ll be fine,” Tianlang-Jun replied dismissively. “There might be a bit of an adjustment period, but he isn’t even biting you, so he’s already got a good amount of control. Give it a few more minutes.”

“Easy for you to say, you're not the one being stabbed,” Shen Yuan grumbled.

Tianlang-Jun smiled and held out his hands. “You’re the one who took him from me, Yuan-er. Would you like me to take him back?”

“No!” Shen Yuan retorted, twisting away from Tianlang-Jun at the same time that Luo Binghe’s claws bit more deeply into his skin. Tianlang-Jun chuckled in response.

Shen Yuan held Luo Binghe close and patted him on the back as the snarls and growls slowly petered out into soft panting. The claws digging into his chest finally relaxed, and Shen Yuan spent a moment focusing on healing the shredded skin over his ribcage. He also directed his blood mites away from under Luo Binghe’s fingernails, leaving the kid’s hands clean. Soon the only sign that he had been injured at all were the shredded tatters of his robes where they laid over his chest. “Are you feeling all right, Binghe?” he asked softly.

Luo Binghe sniffled and raised his head, lifting one hand to wipe away the tear tracks on his cheeks. “I… I feel different, A-She,” he mumbled, and his eyes dropped down to Shen Yuan’s chest. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

Shen Yuan scoffed. “Just a few scratches, nothing to worry about. They’re already all healed up, see?”

“Mhm,” Luo Binghe agreed, and stared at his now-clawed hands. “...I really am a demon.”

“That’s right,” Shen Yuan said. Oh, wait, was the kid having an identity crisis or something? “Don’t worry, demons are a bit different from humans, but they aren’t–”

“It’s not a lie, or a mistake,” Luo Binghe continued, apparently not listening to Shen Yuan. “We really are family.”

“Yes, Binghe. We’re your family.”

Luo Binghe turned his face up towards Shen Yuan again, and his smile was as bright as a sunrise.

Chapter Text

The Cang Qiong Mountain Sect was in turmoil, especially its peak lords. “What do you mean, Huan Hua lost a mountain?”

“Not just any mountain, but the mountain that had sealed away the Demon Emperor?!”

Yue Qingyuan was staring off into space, idly running his thumb over the hilt of Xuan Su. “Tianlang-Jun is the strongest demon lord in at least the last five generations, it probably could have happened to anyone who took custody of him,” he remarked distantly.

Shen Qingqiu scoffed. “We have a dozen peaks and we never managed to lose any of them,” he sneered, before returning his attention to the problem at hand. “So Tianlang-Jun is loose, eh? Do we have any reports of what he’s gotten up to with his newfound freedom?”

Qi Qingqi frowned, shuffling through some documents. “If the reports are to be believed, it seems likely that he’s been weakened due to his captivity under the mountain, because there hasn’t been any destruction or mayhem observed. There apparently was a mostly-naked man who showed up in the town of Huan Zhang, just outside of the protective maze arrays of Huan Hua. He claimed he had been waylaid by bandits, and spent an afternoon flirting, begging, wheedling and busking until he had a complete set of clothes and a handful of silver, the latter of which he immediately spent at a series of bookshops within the town. There have been accounts of someone engaging in similarly bizarre behaviour for a half-dozen towns, also almost entirely involving novels being purchased, in essentially a straight line towards the border with the demon realm. He seems to have crossed the border over two weeks ago, and we’ve lost track of his movements from there.”

“If Huan Hua had actually bothered to inform anyone of the mountain’s destruction when the event happened, maybe we could have mobilized our forces and prevented him from being able to escape into the demon realm,” Shen Qingqiu growled, snapping his fan closed. “Useless windbags, caring more about their reputation than handling the problems immediately at hand.”

“Are… are we absolutely sure that was Tianlang-Jun?” Shang Qinghua interjected, wringing his hands anxiously. “This shouldn’t have– I mean, like you said, there wasn’t any reports of destruction or mayhem, just some weird guy passing through towns in the direction of the border. And an entire mountain just disappearing? This whole story seems extremely far-fetched, doesn’t it?”

Qi Qingqi frowned. “It’s not impossible that the reports of the traveller were of someone unrelated, but the timelines add up, and we have several reliable sources confirming that Bailu Mountain no longer stands. I can’t think of a reason for why Huan Hua would want to falsely claim that they had lost custody of a highly dangerous heavenly demon. It's best to assume that Tianlang-Jun is indeed loose.”

“It seems a bit strange that one of the first things he would do would be to buy up a bunch of novels, though. What would be the purpose of that?” Wei Qingwei wondered.

“It could be some means of collecting encoded messages,” Shen Qingqiu replied, tapping his fan thoughtfully on the table. “There must have been some outside party assisting Tianlang-Jun, for him to have been able to break free of the restraints binding him. Possibly even human accomplices. The books themselves could possibly contain information, if the authors or publishers were involved in the conspiracy, or they could just be used as a key for decoding some kind of cipher. If it's the latter, they won't be any use on their own, but if it's the former, it could be an indication of a wide-reaching conspiracy. We should probably see if we can investigate copies of the books that were purchased.”

Liu Qingge scowled. “That's all well and good, but I don't see how that can resolve the problem we are facing right now. Shouldn't we be focusing on combating whatever Tianlang-Jun's next move is?”

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes. “Of course you would only be concerned about when you can start swinging your sword around.”

“Are you proposing that we try to talk the demon into submission instead? This is an existential threat!” Liu Qingge snapped.

Shen Qingqiu looked at Liu Qingge like he was a particularly ugly and repulsive insect. “The winner of a battle is often decided before it even begins. We need to consider our options carefully.”

“I say that there's no time to waste! The longer we let the demon scheme, the worse things will be for us!”

Yue Qingyuan sighed. “I do worry that time may be of the essence, in this case,” he added.

Shen Qingqiu grit his teeth. “ If the demon broke free on his own power and only wasn't causing issues because he's weakened from the confinement, then you would be right. If he has limited or no allies, then his first priority would doubtless be to consolidate his power. He'll be aiming to rally the clans that had been under his banner a decade ago. In that case, the longer we leave this problem to fester, the worse the situation will become; it’s likely only a matter of time before he musters enough power to mount a retaliatory invasion.”

“Then there's no time to waste!” Liu Qingge snapped.

Shen Qingqiu opened his fan with a snap, glaring at the Bai Zhan Peak Lord. “That is our best case scenario , you brute. In fact, it very well may resolve itself in that case. If Tianlang-Jun truly is weakened, he may fail to prove himself against the demon clans. Demons aren’t motivated by loyalty or duty; only power matters to them. If Tianlang-Jun loses a fight, then they’ll eat him alive rather than join him.”

Liu Qingge's eyes narrowed, and he settled back into his seat with a grunt.

Shen Qingqiu, satisfied that the knucklehead would finally stop interrupting, let out a huff of breath and turned his attention back to the other peak lords. “That isn't to say that we can afford to waste time, but we need to assess the situation first. If there is some conspiracy that endeavoured to destroy Bailu Mountain and free Tianlang-Jun, then the least of our worries may be the rogue heavenly demon on the loose. It could be an indication of a widespread rot through the cultivation sects themselves. No matter how powerful a beast may be, it remains a beast. The true threat is the intelligence that may be guiding the actions of a monster. We already defeated Tianlang-Jun once, and our efforts were undone. It would be a fool’s errand to focus entirely on repeating this cycle and allowing whoever is behind the scenes to continue pulling their strings.”

“You make several good points, Qingqiu-shidi,” Yue Qingyuan agreed with a nod. “It would be best to assess the situation and avoid stumbling into any traps. As for Tianlang-Jun himself…” Yue Qingyuan's fingers settled on Xuan Su's hilt. “I expect that he'll wish to settle some personal scores first, before shifting his attention to the human realm as a whole. So there should be some time for an investigation to proceed.”

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes at the sect leader, but instead of saying anything, he turned his attention to Shang Qinghua and Qi Qingqi. “I'll need you to utilize your information networks; I'll also contact my agents. There's no way for a mountain to have vanished on its own, there needs to be some traces of whoever arranged for such a thing. We need to determine who we can rely on as an ally against the demons, and who will stab us in the back.”

Qi Qingqi nodded, but Shang Qinghua looked more nervous than usual.

“Is there a problem, Shang-shidi?” Shen Qingqiu asked archly.

“Ah! Um, no, no, not at all. It's just… is it a problem that Liu-shidi is already gone?” Shang Qinghua squeaked.

The other peak lords turned their attention to Liu Qingge's empty seat.

Shen Qingqiu heaved a sigh. “I'm surrounded by idiots.”

Tianlang-Jun was a maniac. Admittedly, being trapped alone under a mountain for a decade wasn't exactly a recipe for becoming mentally stable, but Shen Yuan wished that some inborn paternal instincts would wake up in the man so he wouldn't be quite so unhinged when it would affect Luo Binghe.

“Do you see that, Binghe? That's a fire-breathing spotted antelope, they're quite common in the southern grasslands of the demon realm,” Shen Yuan pointed out the distant creature, Luo Binghe sitting on his shoulders so that he had a good vantage point to look over his new home. The demon realm was home to so many fascinating creatures, Shen Yuan was sure that Luo Binghe would grow to love it, given the chance.

“Oh, nicely spotted, Yuan-er!” Tianlang-Jun added with a nod. “That should make for some great starter prey. Binghe, go kill it. You could use the practice.”

“What?!” Shen Yuan exclaimed.

“What? Is it too inauspicious for his first kill? We could look for something more impressive if you like?”

“Binghe shouldn't go up against that thing! It's four times his size!”

Tianlang-Jun looked puzzled. “Yes? He's a child. Most things are larger than he is.”

“It could trample him! Or gore him! And it breathes fire !”

Tianlang-Jun shrugged. “None of that would be difficult to recover from. And he seems smart, I'm sure he'll figure out how to evade things like that with a little trial and error. Better to learn with something like that antelope, which will run off if given the chance, rather than something that will continue to attack once he's down.”

“ Trial and error ?!”

“Well, it's of course fine if he's able to easily kill it on his first try too,” Tianlang-Jun allowed. “Then we can move onto more challenging beasts.”

“That isn't–! Binghe is not going to be fighting anything until he gets some actual combat training, and learns how to use his qi!” Shen Yuan exclaimed.

Tianlang-Jun peered at him, bemused. “That sounds like a waste of time, and the boy is already a decade behind on his developmental milestones as it is. The best way to learn how to fight is by fighting.”

“ Trauma is not the best way to learn something!”

“Hmm. All right, if you say so, Yuan-er. I'll leave him to you,” Tianlang-Jun replied with a shrug. “I suppose you'll want to avoid him fighting demons as well, then?”

“Yes, at least for right now.”

“I see. You'll probably want to start running, then.”

“What?”

Tianlang-Jun turned and pointed at a hill three hundred yards away, just as two-dozen heavily-armed demons charged over the crest of the slope with a howl.

Shen Yuan swore under his breath and swung Luo Binghe down from his shoulders, clutching the kid to his chest as he took off in the opposite direction. Behind him, he heard Tianlang-Jun cackle and felt the pressure of his demonic qi being unleashed.

“My dad is crazy, isn't he?” Luo Binghe asked glumly, peeking out from their hiding spot up in the branches of a tree to watch Tianlang-Jun tearing through the horde like a whirlwind.

“Uh, well… he's been through a lot,” Shen Yuan offered lamely.

“Hmm,” Luo Binghe replied. “So A-She will teach me how to fight?”

“Looks like I don't have much of a choice,” Shen Yuan said with a sigh, and Luo Binghe immediately wilted.

“If it's troublesome for A-She, then this Binghe will learn the other way,” he offered quietly, his eyes downcast.

“Oh! No, Binghe, I didn't mean it like that! I just didn’t expect Junshang to be so… extreme. I thought maybe you could bond over training together. But I'm happy to teach you!” Shen Yuan peeked around the trunk of the tree and eyed the battle. “We should have an incense stick of time before he's done, I can give you a quick lesson about qi if you like?”

Luo Binghe beamed at him. “Yes, please!”

“All right, so qi is, in essence, life energy. Most living things possess some amount of it, and sometimes non-living things also possess it, whether due to natural accumulation or because someone else provided it at some point. For most humans, and many other creatures in the human realm, their spiritual qi is unrefined. It typically takes significant effort to develop it into something useable; the people who do so are called cultivators. Demonic qi tends to be significantly more… active. Most demons are born with some instinctual control over their own demonic qi. Since you are half human and half demon, you possess both kinds of qi within you, but your spiritual qi has yet to be harnessed. Your demonic qi was sealed away until recently, but I imagine you can feel it within yourself now?”

Luo Binghe listened attentively and nodded. “Yes, A-She. It's a sort of warm buzz, most of the time.”

“Qi can be used in many ways, for activating talismans and arrays or for strengthening your body beyond what you might think possible, for example. The applications are mostly only limited by the user's imagination and their level of control. The first step is being able to sense its movement, to influence it,” Shen Yuan held out his hands, palm up. “Can you give me your hands, Binghe?”

The boy laid his hands over Shen Yuan's, and Shen Yuan curled his fingers gently around them. He let his eyes fall closed and took a deep breath, letting a trickle of his own demonic qi brush against Luo Binghe's.

The kid let out a startled little giggle. “I felt that! It kind of tickled.”

“That's my qi. Do you think you can try pushing yours towards me?”

Luo Binghe nodded, and his brow furrowed in concentration. The crackle of demonic qi that pressed against Shen Yuan felt like nothing so much as a cat batting at something suspicious, a quick, sharp moment of contact and then gone. Shen Yuan smiled. “Good job, Binghe, you're a natural. Now, the movement of your qi is typically conducted through your spiritual veins, or your meridians. Qi naturally gathers in your dantians, and it's within those you can develop and strengthen your core. You have two cores, and we should try to develop both of them; you'll be more susceptible to qi deviations if you completely neglect one for the other. I can give you some advice for spiritual cultivation, but we should probably try to get a hold of some additional instruction eventually. For right now, try to get a feel for manipulating your demonic qi; there should be some commonalities between both types, so once you understand the basics, it should be easier for you to feel your spiritual qi as well.”

“I understand, A-She,” Luo Binghe replied.

“You're doing very well. I'll walk you through some basic exercises you can try.”

“Yuan-er!” Tianlang-Jun called cheerily, and Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe both clambered out of the tree. The blood-flecked heavenly demon waited for them at the base of the tree, one clawed hand curled around the throat of a hulking ram demon. “I have good news, I've negotiated terms with Zhu-Wang here,” Tianlang-Jun emphasized his point by lifting the demon off of his feet. “And he's willing to let you both stay with his clan while I go conquer some more territory. That way you should be able to take your time educating Binghe without being interrupted by minor scuffles like this.”

“It is an honour to serve Junshang,” Zhu-Wang wheezed out. “Greetings, honoured guests.”

Tianlang-Jun smiled brightly and set the demon back down on his feet, letting go of his neck and patting him on the shoulder. “I'm sure you all will get along very well. Zhu-Wang and his people are quite familiar with human customs, so Binghe should be comfortable with them. I'll stop by regularly to check up on you both.”

Shen Yuan managed a smile. “It's nice to meet you, Zhu-Wang.”

The former territory of Zhu-Wang’s ram demon clan (currently part of Tianlang-Jun's territory) was located directly adjacent to the border with the human realm. They in fact regularly did some trade with a settlement located not too far beyond the human side of the border. Ram demon wool was a very durable and useful material for making clothing or armour, and the clan in turn enjoyed many luxuries produced by the human realm. Shen Yuan could only assume that the backgrounds of people who chose to live so close to the demon border must have been checkered at best, but the arrangement between the demons and humans was surprisingly cordial.

Shen Yuan was glad that he could show Luo Binghe examples of both sides of his heritage being able to coexist, and it was nice to be able to pick up human-produced goods when the need arose.

Shen Yuan often took Luo Binghe out into the grasslands of the clan's territory, to give the kid lessons on combat and on qi manipulation and on the flora and fauna of the demon realm.

It was during one of these lessons that a human cultivator swooped down on them, standing on his sword and glowering at them both. It was a terrible use of a pretty face, such a sour expression. “Where is Tianlang-Jun?” he demanded.

“He’s busy,” Shen Yuan replied, standing protectively between Luo Binghe and whoever this stranger was. The man hadn't immediately attacked them, maybe there was hope for a peaceful resolution? “I’m his second-in-command, do you need something?”

The pretty man scrutinised Shen Yuan. “You’re his most loyal subordinate? Do you command respect from the other demons as well?”

“Uh, yeah, mostly. Is someone causing problems in the human realm or something? I can tell them to knock it off if you–”

“Hmn. All right. You’ll do. I am Liu Qingge, the Peak Lord of Bai Zhan, and I challenge you, demon!” the cultivator declared, leaping off of his sword and smoothly shifting into levelling it at Shen Yuan as he landed gracefully on his feet.

Shen Yuan just gaped at him for a moment. What. This was Liu Qingge? This bishounen pretty boy who could pass for a girl with ease? He was the War God of Bai Zhan Peak? Shen Yuan reeled as his mental image of the badass musclebound warrior, strong enough to rival Luo Binghe, clashed with the lovely and delicate-looking man in front of him. Airplane, what the hell?!

Liu Qingge seemed to misinterpret Shen Yuan’s shocked silence. “Don’t tell me you’re scared,” he sneered.

Shen Yuan snapped back to attention. “What? Uh, no, just distracted, sorry. Binghe, go hide,” Shen Yuan said, attempting to shoo Luo Binghe off in a direction away from Liu Qingge. The kid clung to his leg instead, glowering at the cultivator.

“Will you be all right, A-She?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. Go hide so you don’t get hurt,” Shen Yuan reassured him, prying the boy’s hands off of his leg and giving him a gentle shove.

Shen Yuan kept a close eye on Liu Qingge while the kid scampered off, but the peak lord barely glanced at Luo Binghe before turning his attention back to Shen Yuan.

“The kid doesn’t have anything to do with whatever grievance you have with Tianlang-Jun. You won’t go after him if you win the fight with me, will you?” Shen Yuan asked.

“I came to fight a demon general, not a child,” Liu Qingge retorted.

“Good,” Shen Yuan said. That meant he didn’t need to feel bad about trying not to kill Liu Qingge. “Let’s get this over with, then.”

Shen Yuan lunged forwards, shifting between his humanoid form and his full snake form in a split second. Liu Qingge’s eyes widened and he swung his sword, but the near-imperceptible instant where surprise made the War God falter gave Shen Yuan just enough of an opening. He snapped his jaws down on the flat of the blade and wrenched his head to the side, tearing the sword out of Liu Qingge’s hands and flinging it away in the opposite direction. All it would take for Liu Qingge to retrieve it would be to form a sword seal, though, so Shen Yuan couldn’t let that happen. The moment the sword left his mouth, Shen Yuan snapped his head back in the opposite direction, slamming his skull into Liu Qingge. The cultivator went flying to the side, tumbling a hundred yards across the ground before skidding to a halt in a crouching position, hands and feet braced against the ground. He growled and surged forward to meet Shen Yuan’s follow-up strike, both of his hands flashing out lightning-fast to grab hold of the upper and lower halves of the huge snake’s mouth, bringing him up short of being able to bite down on Liu Qingge.

The peak lord twisted his arms and torso to the side and slammed Shen Yuan’s head into the dirt, only letting go to evade Shen Yuan whipping his tail forward in retaliation. Shen Yuan reared up and shook his head once to clear the ringing in his ears before lunging forward with a hiss, keeping Liu Qingge on the defensive. The cultivator leapt backwards to avoid Shen Yuan’s snapping jaws and was finally standing in the tall grass at the edge of the clearing, just before the open area gave way to the woods. Shen Yuan felt a surge of triumph; he’d figured that Liu Qingge would head towards terrain that had more obstacles and would give him the advantage over Shen Yuan’s larger body.

That was a mistake, of course. Shen Yuan wasn’t the real threat; he was the distraction.

Liu Qingge had not even noticed the small, gold-flecked snake in the grass he had been corralled into until it lunged forwards and sank its fangs into his calf. He inhaled sharply in surprise and snapped his attention to his feet, but the serpent was already beating a fast retreat back into the grass, her job done. Liu Qingge scowled and tried to back further up while making a sword sign to summon his weapon, but he stumbled abruptly, cutting the gesture short. He barely managed to stay on his feet; it was as though his legs weren’t listening to him. The cultivator’s eyes widened, and he snapped his attention back to Shen Yuan an instant before his knees buckled entirely and he fell to the ground.

Shen Yuan let out a sigh and shifted back into his humanoid form, striding over to where Liu Qingge was sprawled in the grass, glowering furiously at his now-useless legs.

“What did you do to me?” he demanded, furiously scrabbling to try to push himself back upright despite now only having two working limbs.

“Razorgrass Savannah Viper. Its venom is a very potent paralytic. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be powerful enough to stop your lungs or heart from working, at least not at your cultivation level,” Shen Yuan explained, crouching down next to the fallen cultivator and keeping a close eye on him as the venom spread. He traced his finger over one of the vials of antivenom he kept on his person at all times, hidden in his sleeve.

“How dare you resort to dirty tricks!” Liu Qingge growled, twisting his upper body and taking a swing at Shen Yuan. The venom was already affecting the man’s systems, though, and when Shen Yuan caught the fist against his own palm, the limb trembled. After another moment, Liu Qingge’s body crashed back down to the ground, unable to obey the commands of its owner.

“I’m really not sure why you expected a fair fight when you challenged a demon ,” Shen Yuan remarked, tilting his head to one side.

Liu Qingge snarled. “This isn’t the end of this, demon. Cang Qiong Mountain will avenge me; they won’t let you win.”

Shen Yuan sighed. That sounded tiresome. “Yes, yes, I’m shaking in my boots,” he replied dismissively.

Liu Qingge tried to say something else, but the venom had begun to affect his face as well. With a final enraged growl, the cultivator finally fell silent, only able to glare up at the demon hovering over him. Shen Yuan reached out to lay one hand against the side of Liu Qingge’s neck, and the man couldn’t even flinch away. For a few minutes, Shen Yuan just stayed there as he felt the pulse thundering in the human’s veins, and watched his chest rise and fall. Once Shen Yuan felt confident that Liu Qingge wasn’t going to start dying on him, he drew his hands back from both the man’s neck and the vial of antivenom, and straightened up.

“Binghe,” he called. “You can come out now.”

After a minute or two, the kid scurried out of the bushes and came over to peer at the downed cultivator. “Is he dead?”

“No, only incapacitated,” Shen Yuan replied. “He’s not even unconscious, technically.”

“Oh. Are you going to eat him?”

“What?! No! Of course not, what makes you think that I would eat humans?” Shen Yuan sputtered.

Luo Binghe blinked up at him. “You ate that bully.”

“I did not! I only swallowed him a little! I coughed him back up, he was fine! Didn’t you see him around afterwards?”

“No,” Luo Binghe replied with a shrug. “I figured he was dead.”

“Huh. Well, I guess the negative reinforcement worked, at least,” Shen Yuan muttered, then snapped his attention back to Luo Binghe. “Wait, you thought that I ate a child and you still decided to hang around me?!”

Luo Binghe shrugged again. “He was mean.”

“That’s not–! Okay, we need to have a discussion about ethics later . And also self-preservation practices.”

“Okaaay,” Luo Binghe agreed with a sigh. “So what are you going to do with him then?”

Shen Yuan grinned. “Well, first we get to enjoy the spoils of victory,” he said, and took hold of both sides of Liu Qingge’s outer robe, pulling it open. The cultivator’s breathing hitched, then whooshed out of the man in a large exhale.

“Oh come now, did you really expect me to not take advantage of this?” Shen Yuan replied conversationally as he began to rifle through the pockets in the inner lining of the man’s robes. “Ooh, talismans, these should be useful. Ouch! I guess this one is anti-demon.”

Shen Yuan paused for a moment to pull on some gloves, then pulled out the stack of talisman papers, idly leafing through the slips. “Yeah, I think you can learn something from these, Binghe. You could stand to learn how to apply your spiritual qi as well. We can try them out later. Let’s see what else we’ve got. Rations, first aid supplies, assorted empty sacks, ah, here’s a purse, this will make things easier. Oh, and there’s a note. Orders from your sect? Let’s take a look.”

Shen Yuan shot a teasing look at Liu Qingge and was met with the man’s furious glare. He shrugged and opened up the note. It read: ‘Don’t do anything too stupid. Come home safe and tell me all about it, I’ve got the tea you like. -Liu Mingyan’

Oh. Shen Yuan suddenly remembered how Liu Mingyan’s story played out in Proud Immortal Demon Way. If everything went the way that it did in canon, Liu Qingge was going to die in a few years, some time after Luo Binghe turned fourteen. That seemed horribly sad now, looking at this note he had kept from his sister, at the obvious affection both in the writing and the way that it had been carefully folded and tucked away in a pocket near Liu Qingge’s heart.

But it wasn’t as though there was anything that Shen Yuan could do about it. He was a demon, he couldn’t just show up in the Lingxi Caves to prevent Shen Qingqiu’s murder attempt, and there wasn’t a chance that Liu Qingge would believe him even if Shen Yuan tried to give him a warning. Maybe not having Luo Binghe on Qing Jing Peak would change the timeline enough that Liu Qingge could survive?

Or who knows, maybe it would just move up the timeline for his murder. Shen Yuan sighed and carefully refolded the note, tucking it away right back where he had found it. “Well, let’s make sure you get back to your sister safe and sound, hmm?” he slipped the stolen talismans into a reinforced pocket he had made specially for caustic things and tucked the purse into his belt before getting to his feet and slinging Liu Qingge over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Binghe, can you get his spiritual sword for me?”

Luo Binghe scampered off to retrieve Cheng Luan from where it had fallen, bringing it over to Shen Yuan. “Are you going to fly on it like he did?”

“No, this sword wouldn’t work with demonic qi. You might be able to fly on it, when you’re older, but it would be extremely difficult to use someone else’s spiritual sword,” Shen Yuan explained, accepting the blade from Luo Binghe and sliding it back into the sheath on Liu Qingge’s hip. “We’re going to need to walk, I’m afraid. It’s not too far, though.”

The two (well, technically three) of them crossed the borderlands and passed into the human realm. Shen Yuan strolled casually into the nearby border town. Tianlang-Jun, Shen Yuan, and Luo Binghe were all familiar faces in this place by now, having frequently dropped by to stock up on new books or swap gossip with the locals. Shen Yuan didn’t go too far into town, instead stopping by a large stable near the outskirts. “Hey, Zhe Yi! Are you around? I’ve got a delivery for you!” he called.

A stocky man with straw in his hair and horse slobber on his shirt stepped out of the stable with a smile. “Ah, Yuan-Jun, welcome ba–” His smile vanished and his voice cut out when his gaze landed on the limp body that was draped over Shen Yuan’s shoulder. “A-ah, uh, I’m t-terribly sorry, Yuan-Jun, but I could get in a dreadful amount of trouble if I’m f-found with a dead cultivator.”

“What? Oh, no, he’s not dead, don’t worry. I just need you to take him back home.” Shen Yuan unslung Liu Qingge from his shoulder and laid him down in the back of a wagon, making sure to roll the man onto his side into the recovery position just in case he ended up getting sick. Shen Yuan straightened up and pointed down the road. “Take him to the Zhao Hua Temple border outpost down the way. Contract one of the cultivators there to take Liu Qingge here back to Cang Qiong Mountain. He should recover on his own in a few days, but he could really stand to get looked at by Mu Qingfang, just to be safe. You can use this money to pay them.”

Shen Yuan tossed Liu Qingge’s purse to Zhe Yi before pulling out a little slip of paper and scribbling something down onto it, tucking the note into the collar of Liu Qingge’s robes.

“It's been three days now, is there still no word from the disciples we sent out to retrieve Liu-Shidi?” Yue Qingyuan asked.

Qi Qingqi frowned and shook her head. “There's word, but it isn't good. He crossed the border before we were able to intercept him. There was some indication of a struggle not too far into the demon realm, but no sign of our wayward martial sibling.”

“This is a disaster,” Shang Qinghua muttered, holding his head in his hands.

Shen Qingqiu sniffed. “I fail to see the problem. Either he’ll find Tianlang-Jun and win, which will solve at least part of our problem, or he'll die, and then we won't need to worry about wrangling a reckless idiot any longer. It resolves a headache either way,” he replied dismissively. “Liu-shidi made his decision, and he can live with it. Or die with it, as the case may be.”

“Of course that would be your opinion–”

“Mu-shishu!” A Qiong Ding disciple burst into the meeting room, looking frantic. “Liu-shishu is on Qian Cao Peak, you've been requested to come immediately!”

The gathered peak lords glanced at each other and soon all of them were following Mu Qingfang to his peak.

The group seemed to be universally surprised to enter the treatment room to find Liu Qingge laying on his side on the bed looking entirely untouched, without any visible wounds. His eyes even moved to focus on his martial siblings, so he seemed both conscious and lucid, but he made no effort to move or speak to them, only stared silently.

Mu Qingfang immediately shifted his attention to his disciple where she was standing near the side of the bed. “What's his condition?” he asked.

“He's paralyzed, Mu-shifu. He seems to be unable to move any part of his body aside from his eyes. There was also this note on him,” she replied, passing the slip of paper to him.

“Razorgrass Savannah Viper,” Mu Qingfang muttered out loud. “Hm, its venom does match the symptoms that Liu-shixiong is showing.”

Shen Qingqiu's eyes narrowed. “What the hell happened? If this idiot is paralyzed, how did he make his way back here? And who wrote that ‘helpful’ note? Are there any risks involved with applying that particular antivenom? Could it react badly to some other poison that causes paralysis?”

“Liu-shibo was brought here by a cultivator from the Zhao Hua Temple Sect. Apparently he had been delivered to their border outpost, and someone hired them to transport him here,” the Qian Cao disciple elaborated.

“So we're expected to believe that, what, Liu-shidi had an unfortunate run-in with a snake while he was stupidly hunting for Tianlang-Jun, and then some extremely knowledgeable and benevolent passer-by collected him and had him shipped back here?” Shen Qingqiu snapped incredulously.

Mu Qingfang shrugged and passed the note to Shen Qingqiu. “I don't recognize the calligraphy. There's always a nonzero risk when it comes to any medicine, but I don't know of any serious complications that could result from a dose of the necessary antivenom. I think we would do better to hopefully cure Liu-shixiong and then ask him those questions directly.”

“Assuming he knows anything useful seems overly optimistic, but it's worth a try,” Shen Qingqiu muttered.

“I'll prepare the remedy, then. It should only take an incense stick of time,” Mu Qingfang took his leave, while the rest of the peak lords crowded around and peered at Liu Qingge.

“Snake venom, hm?” Yue Qingyuan murmured. “When we battled Tianlang-Jun the last time, there was a snake demon that fought at his side. I believe that it was seriously injured in the fight; it's hard to believe that it survived. But maybe he had other allies among that clan?”

“If that's the case, why would any ally of the Demon Emperor incapacitate a peak lord of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect and then just have him delivered right back to us?”

“I couldn't say. Maybe Liu-shidi knows,” Yue Qingyuan said, patting Liu Qingge's motionless hand reassuringly. “Don't worry, you'll be better in no time.”

“ Yuan-Jun ,” was the first thing that Liu Qingge snarled as the antivenom finally took effect and he lurched upright, practically tumbling off the bed as he immediately went for his sword.

Mu Qingfang sighed and shoved the War God back onto the bed. “Liu-shixiong, I'm going to ask you to rest for a while longer; you're still recovering.”

“That cheat!” Liu Qingge growled, but allowed himself to be pressed back down on the bed. “I'll beat him next time.”

“Would you perhaps mind informing the rest of us what happened before you run off to get yourself killed again?” Shen Qingqiu drawled, fanning himself.

“He distracted me. I should have noticed faster, it was a cheap trick,” Liu Qingge muttered.

“I'd ask Mu-shidi to check you for brain damage, but that would be a waste of time; you can't damage what isn't there,” Shen Qingqiu sneered. “Would it kill you to try to be at least marginally comprehensible?”

Liu Qingge scowled at Shen Qingqiu. “I challenged Tianlang-Jun's second-in-command to a duel. He turned into a giant snake. While I was fighting him, a smaller snake bit me.”

“And he didn't decide to finish you off when you were helpless?”

Liu Qingge flushed slightly red, and Shen Qingqiu didn't think he liked whatever thought might have prompted that. “No. He just went through my belongings. He stole my talismans and my purse. Then he delivered me to a human town, and someone from there took me to the Zhao Hua outpost,” Liu Qingge explained. After a beat of time, he added, “He said that he didn't eat humans.”

“Hm. So it's a taunt, then,” Shen Qingqiu muttered. “They want to send the message that they are so powerful it doesn't matter if they kill you or not, it's all the same to them.”

Liu Qingge growled again and tried to get off of the bed, but Mu Qingfang shoved him back down. “I'll show him,” the War God spat.

“Indulge in your death wish some other time, Liu-shidi, we have a problem to resolve right now. You said that the demon had contacts in a human town? Then that's probably the best place to start if we want to gather more intelligence.”

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan jerked awake to the sound of Luo Binghe's startled yelp. In the next instant, he was on his feet with a snarl, his fangs and claws bared. He was met with two pairs of glowing red eyes and identical zuiyins, a yard or two away from the pile of hides and blankets that made up Luo Binghe's bed. The kid had evidently been yanked out of it. “Junshang, what the hell?” Shen Yuan asked.

Tianlang-Jun settled Luo Binghe on his hip and shook his head, making a sharp gesture for Shen Yuan to follow him. “There's no time to explain, we've got to go! Come on, Yuan-er!” he replied, and then rushed out of the yurt that they'd been provided by the ram demons. 

Shen Yuan hissed in a breath and hurried after Tianlang-Jun, looking around frantically when he got outside. There was no sign of attack or impending doom threatening the settlement; the night seemed quiet and clear. What was causing Tianlang-Jun to be in such a rush? Were cultivators coming? 

Tianlang-Jun ran out into the grasslands, where a huge beast that looked like a grotesque cross between a bat and a scorpion hunched down low to the ground. Luo Binghe yelped again as he was tossed up onto the back of the monster. Tianlang-Jun clambered up one of the chitinous legs sprouting from the sides of the creature, settling in behind the fuzzy bat-like head and grabbing hold of the set of reins that had been attached to the thing's mandibles. “Hurry up, Yuan-er!”

“I'm coming!” Shen Yuan exclaimed, managing to pull himself up onto the monster's back. He settled next to Luo Binghe and patted the wide-eyed kid on the back. “Hold on tight, Binghe.”

Luo Binghe nodded and laced his fingers through the fluffy ruff of fur ringing the upper torso of their ride.

Tianlang-Jun cracked the reins and the creature chittered, spreading its wings and taking off into the night sky. Shen Yuan looked back at the settlement they were leaving behind; a few of the night watch people waved back at him. “Will Zhu-Wang and his people be all right?” Shen Yuan asked, shouting to be heard over the rush of air and the sound of wingbeats.

“Eh? Sure, why wouldn't they be? They treated you and Binghe respectfully, didn't they?” Tianlang-Jun replied, apparently unconcerned.

“It's going to be focusing on coming after us, then?” Shen Yuan asked, scanning the sky behind them.

“What are you talking about, Yuan-er?”

Shen Yuan paused. “... Junshang, there is a reason why you dragged us both out of bed in the middle of the night, isn't there?”

“Yes, of course there is,” Tianlang-Jun answered with a nod. He did not elaborate. 

“What is it?” Shen Yuan prompted, annoyed. 

Tianlang-Jun slew his upper body around to grin at Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe. “It's a surprise!”

“...” Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe both exchanged a look. 

“Come now, don't you trust me, nephew?”

Shen Yuan drew in a deep breath, and his System beeped a warning at him. “I… do. But I would still appreciate being kept in the loop for things like this!”

The Demon Emperor laughed and turned back around. “Don't worry so much, Yuan-er. Just enjoy the ride, it's a beautiful night.”

Shen Yuan sighed and looked out over the darkened plains they were soaring above. He'd seen vistas like this before, out of the windows of an airplane, but he'd never seen so few points of light scattered over the ground before. He really was in a world with no electric lighting. There were a few dots of flickering firelight in certain areas, either marking more permanent settlements like Zhu-Wang's clan had, temporary campsites, or possibly areas where the fire-breathing spotted antelopes were getting a little rowdy. 

Most of the land below them was only washed over by the light of the moon and the stars, though. The silvery light did lend a certain charm to the landscape, but Shen Yuan thought that he'd probably better be able to appreciate the view in the daylight, and not with two measly hours of sleep under his belt. 

“Where did you find a Nyx-Dread Eclipse Manticore, anyway?” Shen Yuan asked.

“The Dazhong mountains, where else? I was looking for a new home for Ai-Huang and her family and stumbled across this big lug.” Tianlang-Jun patted the manticore’s neck and it let out an ear-piercing screech. “He's very useful for transportation, as you can see.”

“I guess,” Shen Yuan agreed, feeling a little deflated at the knowledge that Tianlang-Jun had turned a top-tier apex predator of the demon realm into an airbus.

Shen Yuan looked ahead, wondering just how long this ride was going to be, and paused. There was a strange glow near the horizon in the direction they were flying towards; it almost looked like modern light pollution, a diffuse but distinct brighter patch of the sky. Maybe it was a larger city? 

As they drew closer, Shen Yuan saw that it was, in fact, a forest, and the ‘light’ he'd seen smeared across the sky was some kind of weird, faintly luminous cloud that was hovering over top of the entire wooded area like a massive fog bank.

Tianlang-Jun sucked in a breath through his teeth. “It's already started,” he muttered, and twitched the reins, causing the manticore to plummet from the sky in a stomach-dropping dive. Luo Binghe, having partially drifted off snuggled into the manticore’s fur, woke up with a squeak and clung to Shen Yuan. 

The manticore pulled up at the very last second, stopping both itself and its passengers from slamming into the ground. With a rumbling chitter, it settled to the ground and hunched down once more, making it easier to dismount. Tianlang-Jun immediately hopped off the back of the monster, waving a hand impatiently. “Come on, no time to waste!”

Shen Yuan looked in the direction of the forest that was presumably their destination; they were still quite a fair distance away, at least a kilometer or two. “Did we really need to land this far away?” he asked tiredly. 

Tianlang-Jun nodded. “We do, the manticore can't get any closer. Besides, a little walking never hurt anyone.”

Shen Yuan sighed and looked at Luo Binghe, who yawned and rubbed his bleary eyes. “C’mere,” he muttered, picking Luo Binghe up and settling the kid against his chest, letting Luo Binghe rest his head on Shen Yuan's shoulder. Then he slid off of the beast and into the grass, hurrying after Tianlang-Jun, who had already started striding off towards the forest.

The closer they got to the trees and the weird luminous mist, the fainter the nighttime sounds of crickets and nocturnal animals became, until they stepped under the canopy of the trees and into an area of dead silence. That seemed like a bad sign. Shen Yuan looked around at the sparkly mists around them, shifting to support the dozing Luo Binghe with just one arm. He waved a hand through the stuff and rubbed his fingers together. The ‘mist’ wasn't actually cold or clammy like condensed water was; it instead seemed to be formed of some extremely fine dust particles. It didn't smell like anything in particular, maybe faintly like tin. “Junshang, are you sure this is safe?” Shen Yuan asked, glancing around warily at the dark, silent trees surrounding them. 

“Yes, I'm sure. There's nothing dangerous in these woods, and you don't need to worry about Binghe needing to fight anything,” Tianlang-Jun replied, leading them confidently along a meandering trail. 

“What is it?”

“Something that only happens every forty-four years! I knew you wouldn't want to miss it!”

Forty-four? That number seemed a bit… inauspicious, but it was nowhere near the usual thousand-year timeframe for the truly ludicrous things Airplane dreamed up, so it was probably nothing too wild. 

“Ahah, here we are!” Tianlang-Jun exclaimed, stepping to the side and gesturing theatrically for Shen Yuan to go ahead. “Behold!”

Shen Yuan walked forward and… well, he did have to admit this was a pretty breathtaking sight. He nudged Luo Binghe gently and jerked his chin forwards to encourage the waking kid to turn around and look.

Luo Binghe yawned again and twisted around to take in the sight. His eyes went wide. “Wow,” he breathed, eyes sparkling with both wonder and the reflected light from the scene in front of them. 

The forest floor before them sharply dropped down about two meters and extended outwards into an area roughly the size of a football field, but no trees were located in the depression. Instead, a carpet of enormous puffball mushrooms sprouted from the earth, shimmering with a similar but brighter glow than the mists surrounding them. The caps seemed to absorb and enhance the moonlight shining upon them, glimmering like a lake of opals and lighting up the nighttime forest nearly as brightly as daylight with a reflective gleam that rippled like light filtered through water.

The stalks of each fungus were likely both wider and taller than a fully-grown adult, but due to the crater they were located in, the tops of puffball caps only reached to about the height of Shen Yuan’s chest where he was currently standing. 

“The best part is still coming up, look!” Tianlang-Jun said, pointing at a glimmering bubble that was rising up out of one of the nearby puffballs, floating slowly and shakily up into the air like one of those enormous soap-wand bubbles from Shen Yuan’s childhood. Shen Yuan watched with fascination and absentmindedly let Tianlang-Jun lift Luo Binghe up and out of his arms. 

That was a mistake, because the next thing that happened was the child being hurled directly at the bubble.

“Junshang, what the hell?!” Shen Yuan exclaimed, lurching forwards as though he'd be able to catch Luo Binghe.

Luo Binghe yelped, but he landed on the wobbly surface of the thing without breaking through the membrane, blinking in astonishment as he sank into the bubble like it was some kind of inflatable bouncy castle. After the moment of shock had passed, Luo Binghe looked around with some interest, prodding experimentally at the bubble he was sitting on. “Huh. My claws don't pop it?” he muttered, shifting up onto his knees. 

“Try using your demonic qi instead!” Tianlang-Jun called out. 

Luo Binghe gave Tianlang-Jun a skeptical look, but seemed to be willing to take his advice, setting his hands against the surface of the bubble and frowning in concentration. The next moment, the bubble popped in a brilliant shower of sparks, dropping Luo Binghe a few feet down onto the cap of the mushroom directly below him. Luo Binghe gasped in wonder, holding his hands out as a luminous shower of fine dust from the centre of the bubble rained down on him. “That was amazing!”

“I know!” Tianlang-Jun replied, and gestured at the mushrooms surrounding the one Luo Binghe had landed on. It seemed like the impact of the kid's landing had jostled the other puffballs, and more of the opalescent bubbles began to rise from the adjacent caps. “More are on their way! Come on, Yuan-er, let's go!”

Tianlang-Jun sprang forward and drove his feet into the nearest bubble, popping the object with just that brief contact and plunging through the flash of sparks and luminous dust to land on his feet on the mushroom cap. “Let's see who can get the most!” he called, before pouncing on another one.

Luo Binghe wasted no time either, scrambling up to his feet and eagerly leaping onto a new mushroom cap. 

Shen Yuan hurried forward as well, leaving the tree cover and jumping up onto the mushrooms before setting his hand against one of the nearby bubbles. The moment he flexed his demonic qi, the membrane burst into the same shower of sparks and dust. The sparks weren't particularly hot, but they did tingle a little, reminding Shen Yuan strongly of when he held his hand close to a lit sparkler and felt the jagged white light pinging off of his skin.

After going through two more of the bubbles, Shen Yuan had to admit that this was pretty great. Like getting to have your very own up-close fireworks display, combined with the satisfaction of popping bubble wrap.

“Ten!” Luo Binghe exclaimed gleefully.

“Great job, Binghe!” Tianlang-Jun called. “Yuan-er, you're falling behind!”

Shen Yuan huffed indignantly. How was he supposed to compete with the OP protagonist and his equally OP father? “You two had a head start!” he replied, but picked up the pace. He was going to come in last, but at least he could try to not fall too far behind!

Eventually, all the mushrooms had grown much dimmer than before, barely putting off any light at all. No more bubbles appeared, not even when Luo Binghe crouched down and prodded at one of the puffballs hopefully. It seemed like whatever phenomenon this was, it had run its course. 

“You did great, kid,” Tianlang-Jun said, patting Luo Binghe on the head and stirring up a little cloud of that luminous dust. 

Luo Binghe raised his head to look at his father and let out a snort of laughter. “You look so silly,” he giggled, only to look over at Shen Yuan and start to laugh harder. “A-She, too!”

Shen Yuan and Tianlang-Jun looked at each other. They were absolutely coated in the fine glittering dust that the puffballs produced, looking more like statues carved from mother-of-pearl than demons.

Shen Yuan felt a bubble of laughter rise up out of his own chest; it really was such an absurd scenario, three heavenly demons, vastly powerful and intimidating, looking like they had all been the victims of the world's most thorough glitter-bomb.

Soon all three of them were shaking with laughter, and seeing the other two of the trio laughing their asses off led to a feedback loop of mirth. Shen Yuan was overtaken by the fit of giggles, sinking down to sprawl on the surface of the cap, letting the laughter wash over him.

Finally, the giggles subsided. Shen Yuan rolled onto his stomach and wiped away the tears of laughter. He had to admit, that had been pretty amazing. Even worth waking up in the middle of the night for, though he still wished he had been given advance warning.

He had rolled relatively close to the edge of the mushroom, and his gaze happened to fall between the gaps in the puffball caps and down to the floor of the crater. In the steady light of the moon rather than the shimmering, wavering light thrown off by the mushrooms, Shen Yuan was able to make out the objects littering the ground below them.

Bones. 

The mushrooms were growing from a thick carpet made up of thousands of bones, entirely covering the bottom of the crater. Shen Yuan’s breath caught in his chest. He scrambled back away from the edge and pressed his hand over his mouth, glancing over towards Tianlang-Jun and Luo Binghe. The older demon had pillowed his head on his hands and was gazing up at the sky, and the younger one was sprawled out gracelessly and snoring softly; it was way past his bedtime and he had just spent a lot of energy. Both of them seemed fine. However…

A forty-four year life cycle, growing out of the site of a mass grave, distinctive opalescent sheen, bursts upon contact with qi, showering everything in the area with spores…

“Junshang, aren't these Lyco-Nacre Deathcap Mushrooms?!” Shen Yuan hissed under his breath to Tianlang-Jun.

“Yes, that's right,” the demon emperor replied languidly.

“Lyco-Nacre Deathcaps are incredibly toxic, especially their spores! It would only take a handful of them to kill a full grown Black Moon Rhinoceros Python within minutes!”

“Oh. Really? I never thought to time anything like that before. But yes, you're right about the toxicity,” Tianlang-Jun agreed. “We’ll need to wash off before we go back to the manticore, or the poor thing will die in agony. You don't mind taking a bath, do you?”

“What about us?!”

“What about us? We're obviously immune to it,” Tianlang-Jun replied with a shrug.

“Binghe is half-human! What if he isn't immune?”

Tianlang-Jun shrugged again. “If he wasn't immune, then he'd certainly be dead by now.” 

“Junshang!” Shen Yuan hissed. 

“Oh, I was only speaking hypothetically. I knew he'd be fine; heavenly demon blood is very strong, after all, and he never had any reactions to any of the other toxins he was exposed to.”

“What other toxins ?!”

“Well, there was that field of maddening itchwort we passed through, that time he got stung by a skullarrow wasp, and then there was Zhu-Wang's birthday dinner.”

“That food was poisoned?!”

“Not exactly? But the herb they used for a garnish causes severe gastrointestinal issues in humans. They use it to play pranks on visitors sometimes, as I understand it.”

Shen Yuan groaned in exasperation, and Tianlang-Jun reached out to pat him on the shoulder.

“You worry too much, Yuan-er. Didn't you have fun? No harm, no foul. Besides, you can count it as your good deed for the day. If the spore bubbles drift beyond the vicinity of the forest there can be catastrophic results for the surrounding area.”

Shen Yuan went pale at that realization and quickly scanned the sky.

“We got them all, Yuan-er. Take it easy. Just lay down and look at the stars with me, hmm?” Tianlang-Jun coaxed, and Shen Yuan sighed before flopping down onto his back. 

“I thought I'd never get to see the stars again,” Tianlang-Jun said softly. “There are a lot of things I thought I'd never see again, but thanks to you, that list got significantly shorter. So you should enjoy yourself, Yuan-er. What's the point of living if you can't have fun?”

“Cleaning up your messes, I suppose,” Shen Yuan retorted dryly, and Tianlang-Jun chuckled, patting Shen Yuan on the shoulder again and then just leaving his hand there.

“Ah, sometimes you sound just like him. He worried so much, too. So I suppose it's all right if you do as well.”

Shen Yuan wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he just laid a hand on top of Tianlang-Jun's where it was resting on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

They lapsed into companionable silence, gazing up at the stars shining overhead.

After Shen Qingqiu finished attending to any extremely pressing business on Cang Qiong Mountain, he swiftly made his way to the border town that the demon had dropped Liu Qingge off at, forgoing a carriage and traveling instead on Xiu Ya for the sake of speed. It was less dignified to arrive at his destination with windblown hair and minimal luggage, but time was of the essence. At the sect leader's insistence, he had brought a talisman that would transmit a distress signal when activated or when Shen Qingqiu was injured. It was a compromise so that Shen Qingqiu hadn't needed to wait around to be accompanied by useless idiots who would only get in his way and draw unnecessary attention.

Once he reached the town, he made his way to the stables that Liu Qingge had mentioned, taking the opportunity to investigate his surroundings before tracking down the man who had been hired by the demon.

“Zhe Yi?” Shen Qingqiu asked, upon finding a stablehand who matched the description that Liu Qingge had given.

“Ah, honoured cultivator, what can I do for you?” the man asked with a polite bow.

“You are Zhe Yi, correct?”

“I am, Daozhang.”

“Good. I wish to speak with you. In private.”

Zhe Yi nodded obsequiously and led Shen Qingqiu to a small receiving room with a low table and unpleasantly grimy looking seats. “Would Daozhang care for any tea?”

“No,” Shen Qingqiu replied, wrinkling his nose at the shabby furniture and the strong smell of horse wafting off of the man. Reluctantly, he settled at the table, and gestured sharply for his target to do the same.

“You have been colluding with demons,” Shen Qingqiu stated harshly, the moment the other had taken a seat.

The man looked at Shen Qingqiu with wide, guileless eyes, as though butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. “I would never do such a thing, Daozhang. Everyone here in this town knows how fearful and terrible demons are, considering how close we are to the border. We would never dare to help the creatures; our poor little town would be the first to be overrun and ransacked if the things dared to cross the border en masse.”

Shen Qingqiu curled his lip in disdain. “And yet, you know one of them by name, do you not? Yuan-Jun?”

The man's expression shifted slightly, and he bit his lip. “Ah. I suppose you're from the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, then?”

“Correct. So, care to elaborate on why you happen to be in communication with Tianlang-Jun's general?” Shen Qingqiu asked. 

“Tianlang-Jun?” the stablehand repeated gormlessly, and Shen Qingqiu lost his patience. 

He snapped his fan shut and leaned over the table. “Don't play dumb, you miserable worm,” he hissed. “There's no way that anyone living near the border to the southern half of the demon realm doesn't know who Tianlang-Jun is.”

“Ah, yes, of course I know who Tianlang-Jun was! But, er, wasn't he defeated more’n a decade back? He's long gone, right? Are you worried about Yuan-Jun trying to pick up the mantle or somethin’?” the man asked, flinching back slightly away from Shen Qingqiu.

“That is none of your business,” Shen Qingqiu snapped. “What concerns me is that you are taking orders from demons.”

“What, would you have preferred if I refused? Or if I just dumped that Liu Qingge fella in some ditch somewhere, instead of sending him back to you?” the stablehand asked, sounding baffled.

“...No,” Shen Qingqiu replied through gritted teeth. “But that's hardly been your first encounter with the snake demon, not if you knew his name. What other tasks have you carried out for him?”

“Look, it might be hard for someone so powerful as you to understand, but it ain't like I take the jobs because I want to. A powerful demon like that; if he felt like it, he could wipe out the whole town. What else are we supposed to do?” the man whined pathetically, wringing his hands. 

“Die, for all I care,” Shen Qingqiu replied, unsympathetic. “What other jobs?”

Zhe Yi raised his eyebrows slightly, then his demeanor shifted entirely, and he slouched back casually, running a hand through his hair. “Ah, I see. You're a right bastard then, eh?”

“Watch your tongue,” Shen Qingqiu snapped. 

“Ah, right. Sorry, sorry. Can't blame a fella for trying the sympathy ploy first,” Zhe Yi replied, waving his hand nonchalantly. “You want information, then? What's it worth to ya?”

“This is not a negotiation.”

“Nah, it is.”

Shen Qingqiu shot up from his seat and unsheathed Xiu Ya. “It is not.”

Zhe Yi hardly blinked. “You got one of those fancy immortal master techniques that can get answers out of corpses, do ya?” he asked mildly.

“I don't need to kill you to make you regret treating me so lightly,” Shen Qingqiu growled. 

“Sure. But torture ain't any good for getting real answers. You hack some bits off of me, and I won't exactly be inclined to want to help you out, you know? I could feed you complete nonsense. What's the incentive for me to tell the truth? It's not like you'd know if I lied or not, so there's no guarantee on my end the truth would even get you to stop hurting me,” Zhe Yi explained, examining his fingernails. “And, honestly, if you're looking to intimidate me, you'll have to try harder than that. I’ve seen all sorts of things here in the borderlands; you don't crack the top fifty when it comes to danger.” 

“And do you mouth off to all of those things, too?” Shen Qingqiu hissed. 

“Nah, not all of them. Everything's just a matter of leverage and incentives. When you identify a weak spot, you exploit it. And I'm thinking that all you cultivation types are feeling real antsy right about now,” Zhe Yi replied with a smile. 

Shen Qingqiu clenched his jaw. “You know, then.”

“Mhm, well, you weren't exactly subtle about it. But I guess you were fishing for a reaction, eh?”

“If you already know, then you should realize that it's of utmost importance that the situation be resolved as soon as possible, or the entire human realm could be at risk. Weren't you just saying that this town would be the first to fall in the event of an invasion?” Shen Qingqiu snapped.

“I said a lot of things,” Zhe Yi replied with a shrug. “Demon realm and human realm aren't all that different, in my experience. Both have folks that will stab you as soon as look at you, and both are infested with self-important big shots who expect you to bend over backwards for them just because they said so. Personally, I prefer to be compensated for my efforts directly. Loyalty doesn't fill my stomach, you know?”

Shen Qingqiu glowered at the man.

“Come now, won't you sit down and let us discuss things all pleasant-like? I'm a self-respecting businessman, I'm sure we can reach an agreement where both of us can benefit.”

Shen Qingqiu grit his teeth, shoved Xiu Ya back into its sheath and took a seat again. “Fine. One hundred taels of silver, and you tell me everything.”

“ ‘Everything’ is an awful lot. You'll need to be more specific.”

“Everything about the demons, then,” Shen Qingqiu growled. 

Zhe Yi shook his head. “Still too much; I’ve had a lot of interactions with demons. How about this? One hundred and fifty taels, and I'll answer any of your specific questions. No generic ‘tell me everything’ requests; let's both have some respect for each other's time. Another seventy taels on top of that, and I'll ask around the rest of the folks who have had interactions with your particular demons, and collect any specific details that I might not be privy to right at this very moment. It'll save you the trouble of doing these negotiations with more folks like me. And, since I'm feeling generous, if you fail to ask me about any extremely relevant details that I think you oughta know, I'll tell you you're missing some pieces and let you buy the additional information for thirty taels.”

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes. “One hundred and fifty taels and you'll answer my questions along with doing any necessary additional legwork in town. I'm not paying you extra for being an informant who didn't cover his bases beforehand.”

Zhe Yi sighed. “I'll probably need to grease some palms to get detailed information out of folks, you know.”

“That's not my problem. One hundred and fifty.”

“Fine, fine. You don't want to haggle over the extra information fee?”

Shen Qingqiu scoffed. “I have confidence in being able to be thorough with my questioning. If you claim that there really is something I overlooked, it had better be an extremely relevant detail. I'll pay ten taels upfront for any details you want to volunteer, and you'll only be getting the rest of the payment if the information was actually worth it.”

Zhe Yi inclined his head. “All right, that sounds fair enough. Do you have enough cash on hand to make the payment upfront, or will you need to come back later?”

Shen Qingqiu flicked his sleeves and a heavy purse appeared in his hand. “I came prepared,” he replied, and counted out the payment before sliding it across the table. “One more thing, Zhe Yi. If it turns out that you've lied to me, misled me, or withheld vital information, you will wish that every last one of those fifty intimidating things had gotten a hold of you by the time I'm finished with the miserable pile of flesh and bones you call your body. Do I make myself clear?”

“As crystal, Daozhang,” Zhe Yi agreed, scooping the money off of the table. “I'll be telling you the truth, as far as I know it. Just don't blame me if it isn't what you want to hear.”

Shen Qingqiu scowled. “Who is Yuan-Jun working for, right now?”

“Tianlang-Jun. But you already knew that, didn't you?”

“I didn't want to discount the possibility that you were bluffing,” Shen Qingqiu retorted. “Where is Tianlang-Jun?”

“What, right this moment? I couldn't tell you exactly, the guy has been on the move a lot. Somewhere in the demon realm, most likely. He's been working his way west from the border, but he keeps circling back to the ram demons just across the way.”

“What are his plans?”

“Apparently he intends to retake his old palace, from what I heard. He probably has other goals too, but he's hard to read. Oh, and he really wants to get his hands on the sixth volume of Where The Twilight Petals Drift.”

“Why does he want that book?”

“I mean, I'd assume he wants to find out if the beautiful and daring Lianmei manages to reunite with her beloved Haoban or if the scheming villain Xiechou will succeed in his nefarious plots,” Zhe Yi replied. 

Shen Qingqiu's eye twitched. “The former Emperor of the southern demon realm is not buying books simply because he enjoys pulpy cliche drivel.”

Zhe Yi shrugged. “I mean, if you say so. But the way that he'll talk your ear off if you so much as mention having read one of the books he's bought sure makes it seem like he reads them, at least.”

Shen Qingqiu frowned. “Tianlang-Jun comes here regularly?”

“ ‘Regularly’ is probably a strong word for it. He's shown up four times, as far as I know. Three times with his son and nephew, and once on his own to have tea with Kang Huijing.”

“His WHAT ?!” Shen Qingqiu exclaimed. 

“I'm gonna need you to be more specific with your questions,” Zhe Yi replied, picking a bit of lint out of his ear. 

“Tianlang-Jun has a son?!”

“Yeah. His name is Luo Binghe, he's a sweet kid. A little shy. Real attached to Yuan-Jun, too, you basically never see them apart.”

“You're sure that it's Tianlang-Jun's child?”

“Pretty sure. They don't look all that similar, but they've got the exact same eyes and zuiyin.”

Shen Qingqiu groaned, pressing a hand to his forehead. After a moment he lowered his hand and took a deep breath. “I assume that means Yuan-Jun is Tianlang-Jun's nephew, then?”

“Yep. That's what Tianlang-Jun calls him, anyway.”

“Things keep getting worse,” Shen Qingqiu muttered to himself. “How old is Luo Binghe?”

“I'm not sure. At a guess, ten or eleven?”

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes. That would mean the spawn had been born around the same time as Tianlang-Jun was sealed away. So the most likely culprits to have assisted in his escape were this Yuan-Jun, along with… “Who is the demon's mother?”

“No clue. They've never mentioned her before.”

“Does Luo Binghe display any identifiable traits of other demon clans?”

“Nothing distinctive, at least not from any of the clans that I'm familiar with.”

Shen Qingqiu clicked his tongue in frustration. “You said that Tianlang-Jun keeps circling around to the ram demon territory, correct?”

“Yeah, but that's because he's left Yuan-Jun and Luo Binghe with them; I guess he wants to keep the kid out of harm's way? I doubt that any of the ram demons are Luo Binghe's mother; there was absolutely no sign of the kid there any time in the last decade or so. Tianlang-Jun and Yuan-Jun just brought him along recently.”

“How are you so sure?”

“I make deliveries out that way every month or so. I know the inhabitants pretty well, and they aren't much for subterfuge. And considering how clingy the kid is, he'd probably have latched onto one of them if he'd been raised there, instead of his cousin.”

Shen Qingqiu sighed. “Why would Tianlang-Jun leave his child with some random demon clan instead of the mother's?”

“No idea.”

Shen Qingqiu frowned. Tianlang-Jun repeatedly flaunted his supposed son in a human town, and then just left the spawn with a random clan of demons located extremely close to the human realm? Every part of that reeked of a trap, something intended to be just enticing enough to tempt cultivators into trying to eliminate the little monster before it also became a calamitous threat. 

But if that was the case, hadn't Liu Qingge already fallen for it, albeit unintentionally? And then he'd been sent back to Cang Qiong Mountain relatively unscathed. That was suspicious in its own right, but at Shen Qingqiu's insistence (and much to Liu Qingge’s consternation) Mu Qingfang had checked Liu Qingge thoroughly for any kinds of mind-affecting charms or drugs, parasitic infestations, or monitoring sigils. The tests had found nothing out of the ordinary. And the Hong Jing sword had confirmed that the brute unfortunately really was Liu Qingge and not some demonic impostor. Too bad about that, really; it would have been cathartic to carve up something with Liu Qingge's face. 

In any case, there was no evidence that Liu Qingge had been sent back as some form of sabotage. So then why–

Yuan-Jun had gone through Liu Qingge's belongings first. Ostensibly to steal from him, but… The demons had set a trap, incapacitated the first idiot to stumble into it, searched him, and then sent him back alive. Most likely in order to not scare away other fools who might show up looking for glory.

They were looking for something. Something specific.

It wasn't clear if this Luo Binghe really was Tianlang-Jun's child or if it was all some elaborate hoax. Considering Shen Qingqiu had never heard of the existence of the heavenly demon child any time before just now, he was inclined to believe that it was just some unrelated demon in disguise, but on the other hand, it would be much, much better for him if the spawn really was some irrelevant minion, and Shen Qingqiu had never had luck on his side before.

He needed to get more information about this supposed demon child. At that thought, a suspicion struck Shen Qingqiu.

“Did Luo Binghe accompany Yuan-Jun when he dropped off Liu Qingge?” he asked.

Zhe Yi nodded. “Yeah, every time Yuan-Jun shows up he brings the kid along. He drops by a lot more often than Tianlang-Jun does.”

Shen Qingqiu was going to kill Liu Qingge. The idiot hadn't even thought to mention the demon child?! Maybe the demons sent the dimwit back because they knew he was worse than useless!

Shen Qingqiu reined in his rage and snapped open his fan, waving it idly. He would confront Liu Qingge about this later. Focus on the task at hand. “I see. What else has either Yuan-Jun or Tianlang-Jun hired you to do?”

“I mean, I'm a delivery guy. They come to me when they want something they can't already buy in town. Let’s see, that's been, volume five and six of Lost Among Rolling Hills and Bountiful Rivers, volumes two, three, and four of Spring of the Hidden Palace, volume seven of The Blossoming Jade-Like Beauty, and of course, volume six of Where The Twilight Petals Drift, but that one's been hard to track down. Limited print run, apparently. Tianlang-Jun told me to keep an ear out for when the fourth volume of Treading The Forbidden Trail finally gets released. Yuan-Jun asked for ginseng, black pepper, ginger, chili peppers, and cinnamon. He also asked if I could get my hands on a cultivation manual, but you folks tend to be real protective of your secrets and I didn't want to risk giving him a fraudulent one, so I didn't take the job.”

Shen Qingqiu mentally noted down the titles of the smut and wondered if Tianlang-Jun was doing this on purpose to torment anyone who might be following his activities. The spices were doubtless going to be used to disguise the taste of poison. But a cultivation manual? That wasn't any use for demons; spiritual and demonic cultivation techniques were largely incompatible. “Why did he want a cultivation manual?”

“He didn't say. He seemed pretty disappointed about not being able to get it, though.”

“Hmn,” Shen Qingqiu muttered. Maybe they were trying to lure in cultivators to get their hands on a manual? But for what purpose? It seemed like far too convoluted and indirect a plan for such a simple goal. Surely it would be more effective to just lay waste to a minor sect and take whatever they wanted. He set the thought aside for later. “Did the demons hire you to do any deliveries for them, instead of retrieving items?”

“Sure. One cultivator,” Zhe Yi replied with a smirk.

Shen Qingqiu growled. “Nothing else?”

“Nah. Not yet, anyway. I got a feeling that if you guys keep hassling Yuan-Jun I might start getting a lot more busy.”

Shen Qingqiu thought about how hell-bent Liu Qingge was on challenging Yuan-Jun again, and needed to resist the urge to tell Zhe Yi to just dump the idiot in a ditch next time. “What other items did they buy in the town, that they didn't need your services for?”

“As far as I’ve heard, Yuan-Jun mostly bought food. Ingredients like flour and rice and tofu, along with sweets for the kid. He bought a couple of toys, too. If you want a full list of the books that Tianlang-Jun bought, I'll need to talk to Kang Huijing, she runs the bookshop.”

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes. “She's also the one whom Tianlang-Jun had tea with, alone?”

“Yeah, they have similar tastes in books, apparently.”

“And she wasn't afraid, to be alone with a heavenly demon?”

“Nah, Huijing is old as dirt and tough as nails, and it's not like there's any point in being afraid.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, none of us here have much in the way of cultivation. Sometimes a couple rogue cultivators drift through, but they tend not to stick around. We've got our own ways of dealing with lower-level demons that start causing trouble, but someone like Tianlang-Jun? Wouldn't matter if you were in the middle of a crowded street or all alone in the woods where no one could hear; if he wanted to hurt ya, he could do it with impunity. With folks like that, it's a lot better to be friendly. They're much less inclined to want to wipe a place off the map if they're made to feel welcome and given reasons to be fond of the town. Plus, then you have a powerful demon lord who is quite fond of the lovely little bookshop on the corner and might be terribly angry if another, less polite demon were to make trouble there. You’d be surprised at how many people are willing to mind their manners, if given the right incentive.”

Shen Qingqiu snorted. “Beasts aren't people.”

Zhe Yi shrugged. “If you say so. I doubt you're paying me to philosophize anyway. Anything else you want to know?”

“Where are they getting the money to pay for all of these things?”

“Hah, well, I think that Tianlang-Jun cleared out the ram demons of all their human currency. A lot of the coins coming in are pretty recognizable. Aside from that, they've also been doing a fair amount of bartering. This town does a lot of business with folks from the other side, and it's pretty common for them to not have taels on hand.”

Shen Qingqiu frowned. “What kinds of things have they been bartering with?”

“Hm, let's see. A couple of gemstones, a variety of monster pelts, teeth, and claws, a bag full of Rainswept Indigo Chestnuts, several logs of everburn wood, and a half-dozen venom sacs that the apothecary has been absolutely over the moon about.”

Shen Qingqiu added the apothecary to the list of people he would need to investigate, joining Kang Huijing. “Did you know that the purse Yuan-Jun recently paid you with was stolen?”

“Well, I didn't know for certain. But it certainly matched with the rest of what that Liu Qingge fella was wearing,” Zhe Yi replied. 

“And was all of the money in the purse spent hiring the Zhao Hua cultivator?”

“Hah. No, it wasn't. I don't run a charity, I took half of the money in it as payment for my services.”

“And do you have any intentions of returning the stolen goods?”

“Nope. You want recompense for that, you can take it up with the guy who stole from you, not me. Besides, I think one purse of coins is a pretty good deal for a guy's life, don't you?”

Shen Qingqiu glowered at Zhe Yi, who just shrugged. “You paid me to answer your questions truthfully; I'm just following our agreement.”

Shen Qingqiu let out a huff of breath. Well, the lost funds were Liu Qingge's problem, anyway. He needed to focus on collecting relevant information. “What are Yuan-Jun ’s plans?”

Zhe Yi snorted. “Near as I can tell, spoiling Luo Binghe rotten. He doesn't seem to be particularly ambitious; he's been happy enough to just sit tight and play nursemaid while Tianlang-Jun has been off conquering the demon realm.”

“Have Tianlang-Jun, Yuan-Jun, or Luo Binghe killed anyone?”

“I mean, over the course of their entire lives I imagine that both Tianlang-Jun and Yuan-Jun have killed people at some point. The kid probably hasn't, but I don't know for sure. If you're asking if they've killed anyone in the town, though, no. They've been perfectly polite.”

“What have they spoken to the townsfolk about?”

Zhe Yi raised his eyebrows. “I tend to keep my ear to the ground and collect local gossip, but I’m not privy to every conversation everyone has.”

Shen Qingqiu grit his teeth. “What have you heard of them asking about?”

“Eh, well, Tianlang-Jun keeps asking if anyone will be performing any plays, or if any traveling troupes will stop by. He mopes when people tell him that traveling entertainers don't tend to risk coming this far out. Both of them have asked about any kinds of news spreading from the cultivation sects, probably because they're bracing for you all to make your move. Yuan-Jun tends to ask about Cang Qiong Mountain in particular; he knows an awful lot of you fellas by name.”

Shen Qingqiu felt a chill creep down his spine. “Which names?”

“Ah, so far he's mentioned Yue Qingyuan, Mu Qingfang, Qi Qingqi, Shen Qingqiu, and Liu Qingge, though he has actually met the last guy, so he may have been introduced then. Oh, and he really seems to dislike you in particular, Shen Qingqiu.”

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes. “I never told you my name.”

“You're wearing Qing Jing Peak colors and Xiu Ya is a pretty distinctive sword, it's not too hard to work out,” Zhe Yi replied with a shrug.

“Why is Yuan-Jun so interested in Cang Qiong Mountain Sect?” Shen Qingqiu growled.

“I don't know.”

Shen Qingqiu grit his teeth. It made sense that the demons would be targeting Cang Qiong, since its sect leader was the most powerful cultivator of their generation and had been instrumental in sealing away Tianlang-Jun the first time. Retaliation was to be expected, but then why would they return Liu Qingge? And why would Shen Qingqiu be particularly disliked?

Was it just that Shen Qingqiu was destined to be hated by everyone?

Shen Qingqiu viciously shoved aside that useless and pathetic thought. He needed to assess things tactically, not waste time throwing himself a pity party.

Maybe his strategic expertise was being taken seriously. Maybe they recognized that he was the most likely one to unravel whatever complicated scheme they were weaving. 

Was Cang Qiong being asked about because the other sects had already been compromised? Did the demons already have informants planted in the other major sects and thus minimal need to collect information indirectly? 

But if they wanted information about Cang Qiong, then why not keep Liu Qingge and interrogate him?

As tempting as it was to assume it was because they realized Liu Qingge’s skull was entirely empty, Shen Qingqiu grudgingly had to admit that Liu Qingge was a peak lord. He was privy to a reasonable amount of information that could be dangerous in the hands of outsiders. 

Of course, the damn man was so stubborn that he'd sooner die ten thousand times over than reveal anything.

Maybe the demons knew that, and cut their losses? But they didn't even try to question Liu Qingge, so knowing that personality trait immediately would suggest that they did have some kind of inside source on Cang Qiong Mountain…

Ugh, he was going in circles. He needed to take some time to mull over the information he received, and to question Liu Qingge more thoroughly about his encounter with the beasts. He’d clearly left out some very pertinent details already.

Shen Qingqiu sighed. He was running out of information to gather that wasn’t an enormous long shot. But he might as well try. “I don't suppose the demons told you about how Tianlang-Jun managed to break free from the mountain?”

Zhe Yi grinned. “Ah, I was wondering if you'd ask. They did.”

Shen Qingqiu jolted forwards, slamming his palm down on the table. “They did?!”

“Oh, yeah. Tianlang-Jun loves to talk about it. At great length. It was termites, apparently.”

“... Termites? Termites ate the chains and talismans sealing Tianlang-Jun under the mountain?” Shen Qingqiu said incredulously. 

“No. They ate the mountain .”

“That's impossible,” Shen Qingqiu scoffed.

Zhe Yi shrugged. “I'm only telling you what Tianlang-Jun told me. I can't promise he was telling the truth, or that he isn't just insane. I do imagine that at least part of the story was embellished, considering that it involved a multi-generational dynasty of convoluted political scheming and intrigue on the part of the insects, but apparently rock-eating termites are the reason why Tianlang-Jun is up and about. What was it that Yuan-Jun called them? Tectonic Crevasse-Bore Termites, I think?”

Shen Qingqiu huffed out a frustrated breath. Every part of that sounded like utter nonsense intended to throw investigators off of the scent of the real escape method. But he couldn't discount the possibility entirely, not when any explanation for how a mountain vanished was bound to sound ludicrous. He would see if he could investigate these supposed termites, along with everything else. Time to run through the other long-shot questions.

“Do Tianlang-Jun or Yuan-Jun have any spies, agents, or collaborators in any of the major or minor cultivation sects?”

“Not as far as I know, but I doubt they would tell me.”

“Do they have any spies, agents, or collaborators among the human realm’s government?”

“Not as far as I know, unless you count the town council here as being government and ‘letting Tianlang-Jun do his shopping here’ as collaboration.”

“Are there any impending plans for them to attack the human realm?”

“Not as far as I know, but again, it's not like they would tell me.”

“Have there been any signs of demons amassing near the border?”

“No. We're getting less visitors from the other side than normal, actually. But it's hard to say if that's because Tianlang-Jun's presence has spooked them or if they're being gathered up somewhere else.”

“All right. And now, for my own curiosity. Why are there so many coffins in your storehouse, Zhe Yi?” Shen Qingqiu asked. 

The stablehand raised an eyebrow. “Ah, so you investigated me, didja?”

“It seemed prudent to do so, in order to assess the threat that you posed.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” Zhe Yi granted, dipping his head in acknowledgment. “As for the reason why I have so many coffins… well, did you happen to notice that this town has no graveyard?”

Shen Qingqiu was puzzled for a moment, then his eyes widened. “You don't mean…”

“Yep,” Zhe Yi confirmed. “None of the folks who wind up here are all that fussed about proper burial practices, so when one of the citizens ends up kicking the bucket, I ship ‘em across the border to a demon clan that considers rotting human flesh a delicacy. The payment received goes towards maintaining public infrastructure and whatnot. Death and taxes all in one, you could say,” he added with a wry smile.

“That's horrific,” Shen Qingqiu spat out. 

“Nah, it's practical. If we had an actual graveyard it would be a prime scavenging ground, what with the border being so close. The bodies would probably end up in the same place eventually, just with a lot more hassle and conflict on both of our ends,” Zhe Yi replied with a shrug. “Doesn't have anything to do with the demons you're worried about, though. Heavenly demons don't eat human flesh.”

“Hmn,” Shen Qingqiu muttered in reply, then rose to his feet. “I'm going to go ask the apothecary and bookshop-keeper some additional questions. You will get me the list of all the books Tianlang-Jun has bought, and a list of all of the publishers and other sources that provide books to the shop. After you’re done with that, you are to begin asking around to see if there are any relevant conversation topics with the demons that you may not have initially heard about. Following that, I may have additional questions. Return here in a sichen.”

Zhe Yi got up from the table and nodded. “All right.”

The apothecary, after receiving an appropriately-sized bribe, had been willing to admit to having a sizeable number of dealings with Yuan-Jun, having worked with him to develop antivenoms for several of the frankly alarming number of serpents that the beast had at his command. Shen Qingqiu suspected that the demon had some level of sway over other snakes from Liu Qingge’s original account, but the amount of control that the apothecary had observed was unsettling, to say the least. Shen Qingqiu did not like to think about how easily a small snake might be able to infiltrate a key location, for the purposes of spying or assassination. It was also odd that the demon was only now developing antivenoms. Most likely it was as a safety measure to avoid killing people he incapacitated with a given snake’s venom, which had unpleasant implications. Whatever the demons were looking to do, it was not as simple as merely killing their enemies. Torture seemed the logical next step, though it hadn’t happened to Liu Qingge…

“Why would you assist a demon in developing antivenoms?” Shen Qingqiu demanded.

“Who would pass up an opportunity like that?” the apothecary asked, tilting her head. “Yuan-Jun is a real wonder; it’s never been so easy to milk snakes before. He was a little freaked out when I tested out the antivenoms on myself, but how else were we supposed to confirm they were effective?”

Shen Qingqiu grimaced. “His snakes bit you and you still helped him?”

“What? No, he refused to let any of them bite me, I needed to inject the venom myself,” she muttered. “It would have been so much easier if he’d just listened to my request, but no, it’s too risky, apparently. Bah.”

The people in this town were all insane. “I see,” Shen Qingqiu replied dryly. “Did you develop anything aside from antivenoms for the demon?”

“No, that was most of what he was interested in, the only other things he bought were teas. A real shame, too, I would have loved more ingredients and specimens to experiment on.”

Shen Qingqiu supposed that it was probably unlikely that the demon needed any assistance from humans in developing more virulent poisons. He would need to get the sect to carefully examine any recent tea or ingredient shipments that the sect received since Tianlang-Jun’s escape, because there was a distinct possibility the demon was trying to determine which foodstuff would work best to deliver poison to a large number of people.

Shen Qingqiu took his leave after surreptitiously planting a scrying focus under the windowsill of the apothecary’s office.

The bookshop owner was the most likely to be an informant for the Demon Emperor, considering that she had met with him in private and Tianlang-Jun had been so focused on collecting novels. Possibly the publishing industry had something to do with the demon’s plans. Shen Qingqiu would need to tread carefully around that one. It was tempting to just apprehend the woman and take her to Cang Qiong for further questioning, but that risked cutting off the one lead they potentially had and causing the rest of the collaborators to go to ground. It was better to observe more surreptitiously for now, and not tip off any of her allies about Shen Qingqiu’s burgeoning suspicions.

The old crone had offered him tea, which he refused, and then made several suggestions about books that Shen Qingqiu might be interested in. “I’m not here to shop,” he retorted. 

“Ah, yes, an upright cultivator like yourself is likely concerned about the demons stopping by this town, ah?” Kang Huijing said, her eyes glittering with amusement. She swapped out a few of the offerings and showed them to Shen Qingqiu. “These are new stories that I recommended to Tianlang-Jun, since he has been missing several highly entertaining series released over the last decade. Perhaps an immortal master like yourself would also be interested, in order to better understand the mindset of your opponent?”

Shen Qingqiu glowered at the bookshop owner over his fan, looking the books over with disdain. If these things were being offered immediately, odds were very good they were nothing more than a false lead, possibly purposefully steering him away from more relevant information. But on the other hand, he couldn’t afford to leave any stone unturned when it came to this situation. “Very well, I’ll take them. I’ve heard that you and Tianlang-Jun are quite… close.”

Kang Huijing tittered. “Ah, close, you flatterer. Tianlang-Jun is a charming young man indeed, but I don’t know that I suit his preferences.”

Shen Qingqiu’s lip curled in disgust. “Don’t be vile.”

“Ah, apologies, Daozhang, I did not intend to offend your delicate sensibilities,” the shopkeeper replied, eyes still twinkling.

“My sensibilities are not delicate, but anyone willing to be… close with a demon must be both insane and suicidal.”

“As you say, Daozhang.”

Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes. “What did you speak with Tianlang-Jun about?”

“Ah, literary talk. We discussed the plots of several series, along with our opinions on how the stories played out. We’re both in agreement that Tingxi had much, much better chemistry with Xiaofeng than Shizheng and should have ended up with her instead, and it’s such a relief to find someone who shares your opinion on these things. I also tried to encourage him to write out a manuscript.”

“A manuscript of what? ”

“Well, while Tianlang-Jun was trapped below the mountain, he was apparently able to closely observe the habits of a colony of termites that operated in the area, and has pulled together the most fascinating tale about their behaviours and the interactions between the queens, kings, and the rest of the colony. I felt like it was a wonderfully original idea for a story, and urged him to try writing it down; I’m sure there would be people who would find the tale fascinating.”

“The damn termites again,” Shen Qingqiu muttered. He was starting to suspect that the things were some kind of coded euphemism. In which case… “By all means, please send word to Cang Qiong if such a manuscript ever becomes produced, we would be interested in purchasing a copy. I would also appreciate a list of all the books you and Tianlang-Jun discussed.”

“Of course, Daozhang, I’ll add it in with the rest of your purchases. Thank you for your business.”

Shen Qingqiu left two additional and inconspicuous scrying focuses in the bookshop, one in the store itself and one in the tea room. If the demonic conspiracy was exchanging information with their allies, it was most likely going to be passing through that shop. He would need to keep an eye on the comings and goings here.

After collecting the lists from Zhe Yi, Shen Qingqiu didn't waste any time loitering around the area; he got as many answers as he was liable to during this trip, and he didn't particularly wish to risk being in the town when the snake demon came for a visit, especially not when the beast apparently disliked him in particular. 

Shen Qingqiu decided he would omit that particular detail from his report when he delivered his findings to the Sect Leader; Yue Qingyuan would doubtlessly become foolishly overprotective if he thought that Shen Qingqiu might be specifically targeted. The idiot was just fine with himself being first in line for the chopping block, but heaven forbid that any of his martial siblings be potentially in harm's way, then Yue Qingyuan would shift the heavens and the earth to try to protect them. Even for someone like Shen Qingqiu. He may be the reviled black sheep of the peak lords, but Yue Qingyuan still strove for fairness and showed the same idiotic protectiveness for all his shidis and shimeis regardless. What a waste of effort.

The first thing he needed to do after getting back to Cang Qiong Mountain was corner Liu Qingge and interrogate him properly before the stupid bastard went charging off again.

“What do you mean, Tianlang-Jun has a child that can use SPIRITUAL ENERGY?!” Shen Qingqiu shrieked.

Chapter Text

Shen Qingqiu drew in a deep breath and suppressed the urge to throttle his infuriating martial sibling, reminding himself that the brute would vastly prefer a physical altercation to actually being forced to use his brain. “Do you mind explaining why you didn't consider it pertinent to mention the demon child accompanying Tianlang-Jun's general?” he asked tightly. 

“It was a demon kid in the demon realm, that's where they're supposed to be. He clearly wasn't a physical threat, so I didn't think he'd be relevant to the problem at hand,” Liu Qingge replied impatiently, waving away a cup of medicinal tea that a harried Qian Cao disciple was trying to coax him into drinking. “Are you really scared of children?”

“Surely even you are capable of understanding that something being harmless now doesn't mean that will always be the case. Or are you telling me that you've never exterminated juvenile monsters before they grew large enough to become a threat?” Shen Qingqiu sneered.

Liu Qingge raised an eyebrow. “I have, but I don't usually kill the juveniles when the parents are still alive, since that's a great way to enrage the fully grown and significantly more dangerous individuals.”

Shen Qingqiu paused, and internally had to admit that was a decent point. Regardless of whether the demons had any actual affection for the child, they would doubtlessly be extremely upset about the loss of their investment. Luo Binghe was a massive potential threat, but at the moment, a potential threat was all he was. The fully-grown demons were a significantly more pressing issue at the moment. Still, that didn't mean that they could just discount the half-breed entirely. “You have to admit that it's still wise to take into account all potential threats, which is something that you didn't bother to do. Not even when you heard Yuan-Jun talking about the child's potential to use spiritual energy.”

Liu Qingge shrugged. “I didn't take it seriously. Yuan-Jun was very erratic, didn't behave in any way that made sense, and generally seemed to babble about nonsense. The information hardly seemed to be reliable enough to pass along.”

“That's–!” Shen Qingqiu cut himself off. He didn't believe that a demon who was adept enough at ingratiating himself to Tianlang-Jun and insinuating himself into a position of trust with the presumable heir to the throne could be a raving lunatic, but that certainly didn't mean that everything Yuan-Jun said was truthful, either. He would know better than anyone how the venom functioned; he would have known that Liu Qingge could still hear him. It wasn't impossible that Liu Qingge had been sent back to disseminate false information. But to what end? All the evidence that Shen Qingqiu had available to him suggested the involvement of humans as well as demons in this mess; Luo Binghe being half-human certainly wasn't outside of the realm of possibility, and he couldn't think of any particular benefit to misleading Cang Qiong Mountain Sect into falsely assuming that was the case. 

“Let me be the judge of what information is reliable or not, Liu Qingge. That is, after all, my specialty, and you clearly can't be trusted to even be reliable in the field of combat, which is what you were supposed to have mastered,” Shen Qingqiu retorted, pointedly glancing up and down the medical bed that Liu Qingge was still being confined to.

“You–!”

“Am I wrong? Perhaps if you were better at paying attention to small things, that other snake wouldn't have gotten you so easily, either,” Shen Qingqiu replied with a smirk. 

“You'd know all about dirty tricks, wouldn't you?” Liu Qingge snapped back, clenching his fists. 

“Well, it's hard not to have an appreciation for things that can result in–”

“Ah, Shen-shixiong, I see that you're visiting Liu-shixiong,” Mu Qingfang interrupted the escalating argument, stepping into the room. “I hope you don't mind, but Liu-shizhi wanted to see her brother.”

A slim young girl wearing a veil stepped into the room beside Mu Qingfang, pausing briefly to bow to Shen Qingqiu. She didn't appear to be all that much older than Ning Yingying, but even with half her face covered, the resemblance to Liu Qingge was obvious. “Greetings, Shen-shibo.”

Shen Qingqiu sniffed and took a step back from the bed, snapping his fan open. “I see that manners are not entirely absent from the Liu family. What a surprise.”

“Mingyan,” Liu Qingge said, and Shen Qingqiu grimaced behind his fan at the way he could hear the smile in Liu Qingge's voice. Of course the man had an amicable relationship with his sibling on top of everything else, there was no privilege denied to Liu Qingge. 

“Da-ge,” Liu Mingyan replied brightly, striding up to the bed. “How are you feeling? Did you get any new scars?”

“No, I'm afraid it wasn't a very exciting fight. And I'm fine now, if Mu-shidi would just let me leave,” Liu Qingge replied, raising his voice at the last sentence and fixing Mu Qingfang with a meaningful look. 

Mu Qingfang sighed. “You're still not fully recovered, Liu-shixiong, and you and I both know that you'll be heading back to the demon realm the moment we let you go, which is why Zhangmen-shixiong gave orders for you to stay here until I see fit to release you. If you took your medicine, perhaps you would be able to leave faster,” the doctor remarked, glancing towards the cooling cup of medicinal tea that had been left in the wake of his disciple making herself scarce the moment the fight started up. 

Liu Qingge huffed and snatched up the cup, downing the tea in one gulp and grimacing at the taste. “There, happy?”

“Hmn. I'll examine you later this evening and make the decision then. For now, please try to rest. Catch up with your sister,” Mu Qingfang replied, before taking his leave, presumably to see to other patients. 

“Did you really fight a demon general? How could that not be exciting?” Liu Mingyan prompted.

“He didn't fight fair, I didn't really get a chance to do much fighting at all,” Liu Qingge complained, and shot a glare in Shen Qingqiu’s direction when the Qing Jing Peak Lord loudly cleared his throat. 

“As much as I would love to hear you detail your humiliating defeat for a second time, perhaps you would be able to provide any additional information about what Yuan-Jun rambled about where you could hear it?” Shen Qingqiu asked. 

Liu Qingge made an aggravated noise, but lowered his eyes, taking a moment to think. “Apparently at some point in time, Yuan-Jun swallowed a human child in front of Binghe, but spat him back out rather than fully devouring him; he claimed he doesn’t eat humans. He plans to teach Binghe about ethics and self-preservation. He stole my talismans with the aim of having Binghe use them for practice, and he claimed that Binghe would be able to fly on Cheng Luan when he got older,” Liu Qingge rattled off, taking a moment to snort derisively at that last point. “Most of what he talked about was related to the kid, probably because he was conversing with him. He also… He knew that Mingyan was my sister.” Liu Qingge’s voice changed in tone at that last sentence, and he glanced towards Liu Mingyan with a faint expression of worry. 

Shen Qingqiu’s attention also snapped over to Liu Mingyan, who couldn't be more than 13 years old. Hardly a cultivator who would be well-known to any outsiders. “What's that supposed to mean, did he mention her by name? Make some kind of threat?”

“No, he read a note I had on me, and then he said something about getting me back to my sister safely,” Liu Qingge replied with a frown.

“What note?” Shen Qingqiu demanded, and scowled when Liu Qingge crossed his arms defensively. “This is important, Liu Qingge. What note? ”

Liu Qingge grit his teeth and leaned off the side of the bed, pulling an outer robe down from where it had been draped over a stand, and fishing out a piece of paper from one of the pockets. “This one. I want it back, Shen Qingqiu.”

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes and unfolded the paper, scanning over the message briefly. “Oh,” he remarked, voice dripping with disdain, and tossed the note back into Liu Qingge's lap. “That's not the result of an information leak, it's just an obvious deduction. You're a well-known peak lord, and unmarried. The only other women who would share your family name are relatives, presumably younger ones who are also members of Cang Qiong, considering that you apparently share a ‘home’. A sister is the most likely relative to be close enough for you to keep a note like that on your person. Is that all?”

Liu Qingge somehow managed to scowl and look relieved at the same time. “Essentially. He also knew Mu Qingfang by name, he told Zhe Yi I should be sent to him for treatment.”

“Mu Qingfang is hardly unknown,” Shen Qingqiu muttered to himself, then looked over towards Liu Mingyan. “You. See if you can prove yourself to be more intelligent than your brother. After he finishes regaling you with the details of his defeat, write a report about any strategically important information that can be gleaned from the story, and send it to Qing Jing Peak.”

Liu Mingyan nodded. “As Shen-shibo requests.”

Shen Qingqiu swept out of the room and began making his way back towards his own peak, taking the time to mull over the information he'd managed to extract. 

One of the most concerning details was that the little monster was apparently half human. And most likely the mother had been a cultivator, to provide the creature with strong enough spiritual veins to coexist with those of a heavenly demon. 

Half-breeds weren't unheard of, historically, but all the records that Shen Qingqiu had access to indicated that it was exceedingly rare for any such hybrids to display any talent for spiritual cultivation. Though this could be largely attributed to cultural factors, admittedly. The circumstances that gave rise to half-demon children were often tragic ones, and any products of such a crime were unlikely to be welcomed into any righteous cultivation sects. Whether the half-breeds had potential for spiritual cultivation or not was largely a moot point if they never had an opportunity to pursue it.

But Yuan-Jun was hunting for a cultivation manual. He wanted to nurture the half-breed’s spiritual potential. This had truly unsettling implications for what kind of ambitions the demons had for the child. A heavenly demon with the capacity to unravel the secrets of righteous cultivation sects…

In any case, it seemed unlikely that they would bother trying to develop Luo Binghe’s spiritual cultivation if the spawn didn’t already have a large amount of potential. The mother was almost certainly a powerful cultivator, which significantly reduced the chances that she was merely some unfortunate victim of Tianlang-Jun’s attentions. Cultivators had fairly extensive control over their own bodies; if the woman had not wanted to carry the child, there would have been any number of techniques she could have utilized to terminate the pregnancy. It didn’t entirely rule out the possibility of more extensive coercion, Shen Qingqiu supposed, but there was a distinct possibility that Luo Binghe’s mother had been a willing collaborator in this scheme, and most likely not her alone.

It would certainly explain why there had not even been a whisper of an heir to Tianlang-Jun’s empire over the last decade. Luo Binghe had been concealed in the human realm, sheltered by whichever organization or group had conspired to create a monster strong enough to shake the foundations of both the demon and human realms. Whoever was behind that was most likely the same group that had freed Tianlang-Jun from beneath Bailu Mountain.

…But if they had been the ones raising Luo Binghe, why would they unleash Tianlang-Jun? It was exceedingly easier to manipulate a child than an adult, especially one that they raised from birth. Surely they would have been best served to maintain uncontested control and influence over the half-breed, to condition Luo Binghe to unquestioningly obey them and serve their own interests. Having Tianlang-Jun entirely out of the picture would be ideal; then there would be no adult heavenly demon to potentially challenge the monopoly they would have over that kind of power, or to influence their developing weapon.

Oh, but there still would be another heavenly demon around, wouldn’t there? Yuan-Jun, who Luo Binghe was so attached to. Yuan-Jun, who seemed so content to adopt a subordinate role, who was so focused on protecting and coddling the burgeoning and apocalyptic threat that the half-breed posed. A snake in the grass, in more ways than one. Doubtless he was at least partially behind the plots that Shen Qingqiu was beginning to grasp the shape of.  Possibly the mastermind behind it all. If he had been the one keeping the human conspirators in line all this time, it would go a long way to explaining things. 

The apparent friendliness of the demon, the way that he endeared himself to the lunatics in the border town, the mercy shown in sending Liu Qingge back essentially unharmed… Well, since he was always accompanied by Luo Binghe, who had likely been at least partially raised amongst humans, it could be as simple as not wishing to upset the child. But it could also be some part of a larger scheme. All the evidence that Shen Qingqiu had gathered so far suggested that the heavenly demons were not merely aspiring to conquer the demon realm, but the human one as well, with the help of a beast that could master both demonic and spiritual cultivation. Perhaps Yuan-Jun was trying to lay the groundwork for a support base in the human realm to support Luo Binghe’s eventual territorial ambitions?

Determining the identity of Luo Binghe's mother and the other human collaborators was a top priority, as they would be the most likely to start causing problems, subtler problems than an invading horde of demons. He could leave the issues of any kind of frontal assault to the martial cultivators to deal with, but Liu Qingge had already provided a prime example of the danger of only paying attention to the most conspicuous threat before you, and not investigating the potential for concealed traps.

He didn't have a lot to go on at the moment, but at least he had a vague idea of what to look for. With a name like Luo Binghe, it seemed likely that the half-breed would have been born near the vicinity of the Luo River. Considering the span of the watercourse, that didn't narrow it down all that much, but it was something. Yuan-Jun had attacked a human child, possibly to remove a witness that had somehow stumbled across the half-breed. Again, the disappearance of a single child at some unspecified period of time over the last decade wasn't exactly going to be easy to narrow down, but Shen Qingqiu could at least see if his information network could turn up any news of abnormal snake activity near the Luo River, and investigate further from there. 

Maybe if he was lucky, the disciples he set to work poring over the smut would turn up some clues from the publishing industry, but it seemed increasingly likely that Yuan-Jun was the one pulling the strings here, not Tianlang-Jun. The books may just be some kind of wild goose chase. 

And Liu Qingge would doubtless be charging back into the demon realm for a rematch as soon as possible. Shen Qingqiu should supply him with some questions to ask. If the demons sent him back alive again, then Liu Qingge might be able to collect some useful intelligence from the demon's side of the border. 

He'd also need to implement contingency measures in the event of either surreptitious or straightforward acts of aggression from the demons. He’d need to enlist some assistance in creating poison-detecting talismans, for one.

Shen Qingqiu swiftly began categorizing what tasks he would need to prioritize, delegate, or circle back to later. Yuan-Jun was right to dislike him; if the snake demon was expecting him to be as easy to outmaneuver as Liu Qingge, he had another thing coming.

Shen Yuan drifted awake when direct sunlight shone down on him, pulling him out of his peaceful doze. He yawned and blinked his eyes open, squinting against the brightness of the daylight. The sun was surprisingly high in the sky, having risen far enough over the horizon to shine over the tops of the trees and down into the clearing that Shen Yuan woke up in. It was weird for him to wake up so late in this lifetime; usually he’d be woken up by incessant birdsong around the crack of dawn instead. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and suddenly remembered why there would be no birdsong here. They were still in the forest of the Lyco-Nacre Deathcap Mushrooms, and were likely the only living creatures remaining in this place. He glanced around to see Tianlang-Jun languidly stretching as he woke up, and Luo Binghe was leaning over the edge of one of the mushrooms and peering downwards at the bone-carpeted ground . “Binghe!” Shen Yuan exclaimed, making Luo Binghe jolt and scrabble back from the edge.

“What’s the matter?” the kid asked, blinking up at Shen Yuan. The deathcap spores had lost their opalescent gleam under the harsh light of the sun, and now mainly served to make Luo Binghe’s hair and skin appear ghostly white, making his glowing red eyes stand out in an admittedly rather creepy effect.

“Be careful, I don’t want you to fall,” Shen Yuan answered, getting to his feet and glancing down at the ground below. Yeah, there was still a mass grave down there. Probably not a great sight to introduce a small child to…

“If you didn’t want him to fall, you shouldn’t startle him while he was leaning over the edge,” Tianlang-Jun pointed out, before yawning widely. He either didn’t notice or didn’t acknowledge the dirty look that Shen Yuan shot his way.

“Are those all human bones, A-She?” Luo Binghe asked.

Shen Yuan winced. “Uh, no, of course not,” he replied.

“Yes, considering how uncommon humans are in these realms, almost all of the bones would be demon, not human,” Tianlang-Jun added.

Shen Yuan winced again. “In any case, there’s no need for you to worry about it, Binghe. It all happened a long time ago.”

“At least forty-four years, right?” Luo Binghe replied.

Dammit, it was hard to shelter a kid with protagonist-level smarts. “Probably a lot longer than that. Anyway! I think we should get going, don’t you, Junshang?”

After dusting themselves off a little bit, they made their way out of the forest, but rather than heading directly for the hill that they had parked the manticore at, Tianlang-Jun led them off towards a tumbled pile of stones past the edge of the trees, scattered haphazardly like some giant being had decided to idly peel off slabs of rock from a mountain and hurl them all into the same generalized area. For all Shen Yuan knew, that actually was what had happened to cause this rock formation.

They passed under the shadow of two massive boulders leaning against one another before Tianlang-Jun came to a halt. “All right, this here should do well enough for a bath,” he remarked, glancing around the flat, rocky area with a nod.

Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe both gave the surrounding area a longer, more searching look.

“There isn't any water here,” Luo Binghe pointed out. 

“Oh, it isn't that kind of a bath,” Tianlang-Jun replied, rolling up the sleeves of his robes to expose one forearm. With his other hand, he drew a dagger from his belt, the wickedly sharp edge gleaming in the sunlight. “We won't be using water.”

Shen Yuan sucked in a sharp breath and hurriedly covered Luo Binghe's eyes before Tianlang-Jun carved a deep gouge down the entire length of his own forearm. The demon emperor raised his arm over his head and squeezed his fist, sending thick rivulets of heavenly demon blood dripping down over his face and hair. He hummed and slid the dagger back into its sheath before tilting his head back and raising his other hand to run through his hair like this was some risque shower scene and not whatever the hell this was . 

After a minute or two of bleeding heavily all over himself, the red rain of ichor trickled to a stop, the cut sealing itself shut like it had never existed. Tianlang-Jun lowered his hand and ran it over his face, wiping away both the blood and all remaining traces of the pale dust that had clung to him. The blood that poured over the rest of him behaved strangely, cascading down over his skin and robes in a concentrated wave, rather than soaking in at all. Soon Tianlang-Jun's shoulders were wiped clean, then his chest, his arms, his stomach. He opened his eyes and met Shen Yuan's horrified stare. “What? It's simple enough, you just need to direct the blood mites to eat the spores.”

“It's- That's-! Can't we just take a normal bath?!” Shen Yuan sputtered.

“Not really. It won't be thorough enough, and it will contaminate any water source we use. You were the one worried about the toxicity, weren’t you?” Tianlang-Jun replied.

“Toxicity?” Luo Binghe asked, his eyes still covered.

“Ah, don’t worry, it won’t hurt you, you’re perfectly safe,” Shen Yuan assured the kid.

“Yes, it’s only dangerous to everyone else,” Tianlang-Jun agreed, and looked faintly puzzled when Shen Yuan glared at him. “What?”

Luo Binghe swallowed and lifted his hand up to touch Shen Yuan's where it was laid over his eyes. “I'll do it, A-She. I don't want to hurt people. Give me the da–”

“Absolutely not!” Shen Yuan exclaimed. 

“You don't know how to control your blood mites in any case; all you'd do is make a mess,” Tianlang-Jun remarked, lifting up one leg and then the other to let the blood slough off of his feet and pool in his hands. “Here.”

Like he was re-enacting the scene from Carrie, he dumped his blood directly onto Luo Binghe's head. Luo Binghe flinched, then cringed further as the thick, metallic-smelling liquid trickled through his hair and over his face. 

“Junshang!”

“What? Did you want to do it instead?” Tianlang-Jun asked. 

Shen Yuan grimaced as the blood lapped against his hands and trickled through his fingers. He felt Luo Binghe scrunch his eyes tightly shut and hold his breath as the blood slid over his face. Shen Yuan couldn't exactly blame him.

It felt uncanny, to be touching something that felt liquid but also intently alive , the way that the fluid slicked against his skin but didn't linger, leaving his hands entirely clean and dry. Shen Yuan wasn't exactly unaccustomed to manipulating his own heavenly demon blood in a similar manner, but never at the same scale or with such fine control. It suddenly brought to mind all the descriptions he had read, about the myriad ways that the blood mites could horribly torture a person once introduced to their system. 

“...No, it's fine,” Shen Yuan grumbled, lifting his hands away from Luo Binghe's eyes as the blood began trickling down his neck and shoulders. “Uh, just bear with it, Binghe.”

Luo Binghe, still scrunched up, nodded but otherwise remained still as the blood crept further down his neck and shoulders. 

“I can do you next, Yuan-er,” Tianlang-Jun offered. 

“No, I can take care of myself,” Shen Yuan replied, and received a shrug in response. He grimaced and lifted his hands, drawing one claw across the back of his hand, hard enough to draw blood. He turned his attention to the vivid crimson ichor welling out of the cut, exerting his will over the blood. It trickled over his hand in a widening stream, but instead of dripping down to the ground below, it curled up and over his wrist, twining up and around the limb like a serpent. The blood mites voraciously devoured the clinging spores as the ribbon of blood made its way up Shen Yuan’s arm and over his shoulder. The sensation was still giving the heebie-jeebies but at least he was in control of the movement. He'd love to rush through it, but the toxicity of the spores really was no joke. Shen Yuan focused on thoroughly wiping himself clean and only opened his eyes again when the blood finally had trickled off of his legs and puddled on the ground at his feet.

Luo Binghe was watching with some interest as the blood seeped into the sand at his feet, and Shen Yuan sighed. At least this was still a better childhood than he’d have at Qing Jing Peak, right? That bar was buried ten meters below the dirt, though, so it wasn’t exactly a challenge to pass that one. “You were very brave, Binghe,” Shen Yuan praised, and patted Luo Binghe’s head. “Let’s go back home.”

Luo Binghe’s bright smile eased Shen Yuan’s worries, and they made their way back toward the manticore. It had evidently gone hunting in their absence and was in the process of messily devouring the innards of its breakfast. There wasn't all that much of the outside of the prey that wasn't obscured by gore, but Shen Yuan could make out the spotted pelt of one of the antelopes common to the plains.

Shen Yuan despaired at having absolutely nothing happening this morning being appropriately PG-rated, and tried to hurriedly usher Luo Binghe away to the side of the monster, repressing his desire to get a closer look at the no-doubt fascinating feeding habits of the Nyx-Dread Eclipse Manticore. This wasn't a sight for tender eyes!

“Hello, beautiful,” Tianlang-Jun crooned as he stepped up to the monster. The manticore chirred wetly and lowered its head to let Tianlang-Jun pet its chitin. “Sorry to keep you waiting. We'll let you finish your snack before heading out, hmm?”

Shen Yuan fidgeted a little as the wet tearing sounds and the snicker-snack of the manticore’s mandibles resumed and Tianlang-Jun circled around to sit down on the grass near them. “You two don't mind if we wait a little longer, do you?”

“No, Junshang,” Shen Yuan replied, biting his lip and glancing in the direction of the front of the beast, but the bulk of the thing blocked any line of sight. “It's a beautiful morning, and there's no particular rush.”

Luo Binghe looked up at him, tilting his head to one side. “... I've already gutted chickens in the kitchen before, A-She. This really isn't that different,” he remarked.

Shen Yuan sucked in a sharp breath, then smiled wryly. “Ah, sorry, was I that obvious?”

“A little. It's nice that A-She wants to protect me, but I'm all right. Really.”

Shen Yuan wavered for a moment, then his resolve crumbled. “Well, all right. We can consider it educational, hm? Like a nature documentary.”

“What's that?”

“Oh. Uh. It's… nevermind about that for now. Let's go take a look. Nyx-Dread Eclipse Manticores are fascinating creatures, you know. It's said that the venom from their sting is powerful enough to liquify bone. Maybe we'll get to see it in action, eh?” Shen Yuan explained, leading the both of them to the front of the monster and finally getting able to take a closer look, though still keeping clear of the reach of the mandibles. “Ah, yes, you see the ribs there? The way that they're melting? It makes it easier for the manticore to get at the lungs of their prey, they love eating lungs. Something about how the breath of life carries the strength of the creature that bore it.”

Luo Binghe peered at the mess. “But right now it's eating the… liver, I think?” he replied.

“Well, yes, it's going to consume essentially every part of the prey, except for the skin. But it leaves the best for last, some say, though it's also possible that it is just feeding on the more easily accessible organs first, while it waits for the venom to more fully digest the bones.”

“I see.”

“It's surprisingly delicate with those mandibles, interestingly enough. It seems like it likes to eat each part separately, how fascinating. Oh, and we can have a quick biology lesson as well! This was a fire-breathing spotted antelope before it had an unfortunate run-in with our friend here. Most of the fire produced by the antelopes is a qi-based technique, but they do have something that amounts to a second voicebox in their throat that stores some volatile chemical compounds and helps them to produce the sparks to ignite into gouts of flame. Colloquially, it's called a tinderbox. Since this manticore is such a picky eater, it's possible that–”

The manticore made a short trill of sound and flicked its head; a blooded chunk of something, roughly the size of a tennis ball, rolled across the ground towards them. 

“Oh! Thank you,” Shen Yuan remarked, crouching down and picking up a nearby stick to prod at the spongy thing. “I figured it wouldn't want to risk the chemicals seeping into the lungs and spoiling the taste. Such a clever creature. See, this is where it would normally be attached to the windpipe, and you can smell that, right? Sulphur and saltpeter, along with some other assorted compounds. I'm not sure if you had any dealings with fireworks before, but this works on very similar principles. If you dry out and process the organ properly, it can actually work quite effectively as a bomb. There's a clan of hyena demons in these plains that specialize in doing just that, though they guard the secret of the process quite jealously.”

“It won't blow up now, though?” Luo Binghe asked curiously. 

“No, in this state the worst it can do is spit out sparks, even if I stomped on it.”

Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe watched as the manticore finished with its meal, Shen Yuan pointing out the proboscis that the monster used to suck up the liquified bones. Soon enough, the beast had swallowed the exposed lungs whole and lapped up any remaining scraps of meat still clinging to the inside of the pelt. 

“They always leave the skin behind. If you're brave enough, you can usually find some pelts of rare and dangerous beasts in the lair of a Nyx-Dread Eclipse Manticore,” Shen Yuan explained, gesturing at the remains. “The method of consumption and the venom usually preserves the skin near-flawlessly. But manticores aren't stupid, and they know that other creatures can find value in the skins. Many a foolhardy adventurer has found their own skin added to a manticore's collection.”

“Wow,” Luo Binghe replied, and he looked impressed, though Shen Yuan felt like some of the impact was lost when discussing this on an sunny afternoon, next to an entirely docile specimen of the creature he was telling spooky stories about. 

“You're very knowledgeable as always, Yuan-er,” Tianlang-Jun's voice remarked from behind them, making Shen Yuan jerk in surprise. He hadn't even noticed the other man coming to join them. 

“Ahaha, I suppose. I just find this kind of trivia fascinating,” Shen Yuan replied. 

“The way you tell it, I think most people would be fascinated,” Tianlang-Jun replied, and strode past them to pick up the antelope’s pelt, folding it up and draping it over one arm. “Shall we get going?”

“Sure,” Shen Yuan agreed, and the three of them climbed on board of the manticore's back.

While Luo Binghe was eagerly taking in the view as they flew over the plains, Shen Yuan thought of something.

“Junshang, would you happen to know where I could get my hands on some immortal binding cables? I think I could probably use a couple sets of them,” he asked.

“Oh! I'm sure I can scrounge some up for you. What do you need them for?”

“There might be more cultivators that show up looking for you or me, and I'd rather have something more reliable than hoping that I manage to get the right dose of venom to not kill them.”

Tianlang-Jun paused, then turned to look at Shen Yuan. “ More cultivators?”

“Ah, right, I haven't had the chance to tell you. Liu Qingge, a peak lord from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, came looking for you. He settled for dueling me instead, after I told him you weren't available. I just knocked him out and shipped him back home, so nothing of note really happened. But there might end up being more people that come nosing around, you know? Better to be prepared.”

Tianlang-Jun nodded. “I see. You're planning on dueling more cultivators? And you want to get immortal binding cables involved, how daring.”

“I wouldn't call it daring! I just don't want to end up killing anyone!” Shen Yuan exclaimed defensively, hoping that he wouldn't be ordered to eliminate any interlopers. Tianlang-Jun didn't seem to be particularly bloodthirsty, but maybe he would draw the line at cultivators from one of the Sects that had imprisoned him. 

Tianlang-Jun chuckled. “I believe that the standard line of thought is that anyone who challenges you to a duel should have the courtesy of being strong enough to not die so easily. But I see that my nephew is extremely considerate in this aspect of his life as well. I think it's sweet. I'll get you the cables, just be careful, all right? Don't let anyone hurt you.”

Shen Yuan let out a small sigh of relief. Tianlang-Jun was happy to let him be soft-hearted instead of mercilessly killing their ostensible enemies. “Don't worry, Junshang, I'll be cautious, and if anyone really seems like bad news, I have no qualms about just grabbing Binghe and making a break for it.”

“That's a relief to hear. If you need, I can take care of anyone you want gone for good,” Tianlang-Jun replied cheerfully.

“I really don't think that will be necessary!” Shen Yuan exclaimed. “I can look after myself, don't worry!”

“Of course, of course. I wouldn't want to interfere. I just hope you have fun. Though if you ever feel like sharing some juicy details, I won't complain,” Tianlang-Jun remarked with a wink, before turning back to look in the direction they were heading. “Humans, hm? I suppose it runs in the family,” he muttered to himself. 

Shen Yuan frowned, looking over at Luo Binghe. He wasn't sure what that remark was about, but he didn't like the implications. “There's nothing wrong with humans, Junshang,” he said reproachfully. He didn't want Luo Binghe to feel badly about half of himself.

“No, no, of course not! I didn't mean it like that,” Tianlang-Jun exclaimed. “There's a lot to like about humans, certainly.”

“Good.”

Tianlang-Jun got them settled back in with the ram demons and provided Shen Yuan with a dozen coils of immortal binding cables. He also provided a book that he claimed would be helpful. Shen Yuan had taken one look at the contents before blushing furiously and making sure to hide the volume somewhere Luo Binghe wouldn't get at it. It had certainly detailed all sorts of ways to tie people up, but not in any way that Shen Yuan would want to tie someone up! The cultivators would think he was some kind of pervert! Was Tianlang-Jun really so hyperfocused on smutty novels that he couldn't even think of providing a knot-tying manual that didn't involve naked people?

Shen Yuan had been right about cultivators showing up to pester them again, but he was surprised at who showed up.

“Yuan-Jun! I challenge you!”

Shen Yuan looked up to see Liu Qingge hurtling towards him. He blinked, and drew Luo Binghe off to one side as the Bai Zhan Peak Lord landed heavily on the ground in front of them, brandishing his sword. 

“You again?” Shen Yuan asked, baffled.

“Did you think that I’d be too scared to face you?” Liu Qingge demanded with a scowl.

“Uh, no? I just… Why do you want to fight me? Didn’t I win already? Aren’t we done?”

“You cheated!”

“In which way?”

“With that snake of yours!”

Shen Yuan tilted his head to one side. “Why is it considered cheating to make use of the resources you have at your disposal?”

Liu Qingge scowled deeper. “You involved outside parties in a duel.”

Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow, and glanced over at Cheng Luan. “Spiritual swords have consciousness of their own, do they not?”

“That- That's different!” Liu Qingge snapped.

“How so?”

“It just is! Obviously a cultivator is going to have a spiritual weapon!”

Shen Yuan crossed his arms. “And obviously a snake demon is going to have snakes.”

Liu Qingge grit his teeth. “It's not obvious, you purposefully concealed them from me and kept my attention on yourself in order to ambush me with the serpent. Cheng Luan is right here,” he retorted, hefting the sword. “So, fight me. No dirty tricks this time.”

Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. “No.”

“Wh– No? What do you mean, no?!”

“I mean no. Even if I felt like agreeing to those terms, you didn't bother to specify what constitutes a ‘dirty trick’. What guarantee do I have that you won't turn around and declare that me being able to turn into a giant snake is a ‘dirty trick’, and therefore I didn't actually win? You seem like a sore loser who will just look for reasons to disqualify any victories I might claim.”

“I am not a sore loser!”

“No? You're not coming back here because you're mad that you lost?”

“I'm mad that you cheated!”

“I don't recall agreeing to any rules beforehand. Isn't there a saying about this, ‘all’s fair in love and war’?” Shen Yuan asked. 

“Maybe you didn't agree to any rules, but I did. I agreed to not go after Luo Binghe, remember?” Liu Qingge retorted.

Shen Yuan's eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward. “Should I take that as a threat, Liu Qingge?” he asked coldly.

Liu Qingge inhaled sharply, and lowered the point of his sword. “No. I apologize, I didn't mean it like that. I will not target the child, but you do agree that there is a baseline level of honour expected in the fight, yes? Or does such a thing only apply to me?”

Shen Yuan sighed. He supposed that it was only fair that both of them had certain expected restrictions. “Fine. I won't have any of my snakes attack you,” he agreed. He wasn't really planning on involving them in the fight again anyway; he'd only felt confident enough about getting the Razorgrass Savannah Viper involved after he'd disarmed Liu Qingge and kept his attention directed elsewhere. He would feel awful if one of his friends got hacked in half during the fight. “Is there anything else you want to forbid?”

“No other demons getting involved either.”

“All right, fine. In return, you won't have any other cultivators ambush me?” Shen Yuan asked. 

“I came alone,” Liu Qingge said. 

“It doesn't hurt to make sure.”

“No outside parties involved on either side,” Liu Qingge agreed with a nod.

“Is that everything?”

“Yes.”

“All right, good. Binghe, go hide,” Shen Yuan said, shooing the kid off to a more heavily overgrown area to the west.

Trying to actually fight Liu Qingge on even footing was a challenge. The man was fast and strong and graceful and had reflexes that would make a cat jealous.  

Shen Yuan had his (currently non-existent) hands full just trying to keep Liu Qingge on the defensive enough to prevent him from regularly firing off sword glares at Shen Yuan. He could use his own demonic qi to deflect the spiritual attacks, but that required focus and would give Liu Qingge an opportunity to dart to a more advantageous position. Plus, even taking a glancing blow from a sword glare burned like a particularly nasty sunburn, leaving his scales feeling both painful and itchy. Getting up close and personal allowed Shen Yuan to leverage his greater bulk against the cultivator and limit Liu Qingge to much less annoying jabs rather than the wide, elegant swings that crackled with spiritual pressure. 

Shen Yuan had drawn less blood than Liu Qingge, but he had managed to land a blow to the peak lord's leg that had the man not quite limping, but certainly moving more slowly than he had before. 

In a battle of attrition, Shen Yuan’s regenerative abilities would give him an edge, and allow him to eke out a win with enough patience. 

But Shen Yuan wasn't feeling particularly patient, so he opted to take a shortcut instead. It took longer than he would like to herd Liu Qingge in the direction of the demonstration that he had been planning for Luo Binghe. He’d been tinkering with the tinderbox that the manticore had extracted from the antelope, and he believed that he had managed to modify the object sufficiently to serve a useful purpose, now. His prototype was hanging from a tree not too far away, and Shen Yuan simultaneously reared backwards to avoid another swing of Liu Qingge’s sword, and to allow his head to come into contact with the tinderbox, letting his qi light the ‘wick’, as he considered it.

Liu Qingge noticed the item absorbing demonic qi immediately, and he shifted into a ready stance, his eyes narrowed and his attention fixed on the mystery object.

Unfortunately for him, that kind of vigilance was exactly the wrong thing to do in this case.

There was a deafening crack of sound and a blinding flash of light as the tinderbox immolated itself in the span of a second, the exact same moment that Shen Yuan lunged forwards. 

Liu Qingge hissed and lashed out blindly with his sword in an effort to keep Shen Yuan at bay as he leapt backwards, trying to buy time to recover.

Cheng Luan bit deeply into Shen Yuan's side, but Liu Qingge was too disorientated by the flashbang to be able to get himself fully out of Shen Yuan's striking range. Liu Qingge barely had time to blink his blurry eyes before Shen Yuan had coiled tightly around him, pinning his arms to his sides and restraining his legs entirely. It did have the effect of also having Cheng Luan pulled free of Liu Qingge's grip due to it being jammed right between his ribs, which, ow, ow ! But it wasn't anything that heavenly demon regeneration couldn't handle later. For now, he ignored Liu Qingge’s slightly breathless complaints about how traps were unfair , weh weh weh , and nosed around in the underbrush until he found the immortal binding cable he'd stashed there. It was a good thing that he had so much experience with not having hands, because it allowed him to tie a rough loop in the cable with nothing but his mouth and drape it over Liu Qingge before pulling it tight around his shoulders and upper chest. Immediately, the struggles against his constriction grew much weaker. It was enough of an advantage for Shen Yuan to shift into his humanoid form and tie Liu Qingge more securely before he could manage to get loose. Cheng Luan fell to the ground when Shen Yuan got smaller, due to the majority of the sword no longer having any flesh to be embedded in.

“Honourless cur!” Liu Qingge snarled, writhing against the binds.

“I abided by all the rules we agreed to, it's hardly my fault if you didn't consider that I might have had other contingencies in place,” Shen Yuan replied dismissively, before shoving a gag into Liu Qingge's mouth. “Come out, Luo Binghe. You can carry Cheng Luan for me.”

Luo Binghe emerged from his hiding place and picked up the bloodied sword with a frown. “Are you all right, A-She?” he asked. 

“Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit of a scratch,” Shen Yuan replied, idly rubbing the tender spot between his ribs as new skin began to knit itself over the wound. He pulled the sheath for the sword free from Liu Qingge's belt and handed it over to Luo Binghe. “Spiritual weapons can cut immortal binding cables, so we'll need to keep Cheng Luan out of his reach, just in case.”

Luo Binghe nodded and wiped the sword free of blood before sheathing it. “Are we going back to town now?”

“Got it in one,” Shen Yuan confirmed with a nod, picking Liu Qingge up. 

“Can we get some tanghulu while we're there, too?”

“Sure.”

“Ah. Back again so soon, Yuan-Jun?” Zhe Yi remarked as Shen Yuan showed up with a gagged and hog-tied Liu Qingge slung over his shoulder and Luo Binghe at his side.

“Yeah, it seems like I'm popular,” Shen Yuan remarked wryly. “Do you have carts that have cages for transporting livestock?”

“I do, come take a look,” Zhe Yi replied with a smile, leading Shen Yuan to a storehouse. “Feel free to take your pick.”

Shen Yuan pointed out a cart with a rather large and sturdy enclosure built into it, likely something that had been intended for transporting animals to a slaughterhouse. “That will work.”

He loaded Liu Qingge into the back of it, ignoring the way that he wriggled indignantly. “You can practice inedia, right?”

Liu Qingge glared at him, but nodded.

Shen Yuan smiled. “Great!” He closed the door to the enclosure and then slapped a talisman on the roof. With a shimmer, an illusion of a pig snuffling placidly amidst the straw snapped into place, concealing the actual contents of the cart. He turned to Zhe Yi. “It's three or four days to get to Cang Qiong Mountain from here by cart, right?”

“Yes, Yuan-Jun.”

“Maybe that will give him enough time to cool his head. You can just dump him on the steps leading up to the mountain. Will this be enough to cover it?” Shen Yuan asked, producing a pair of gleaming gems that Tianlang-Jun had handed him as ‘a souvenir’ from some territory he'd conquered. 

Zhe Yi’s eyebrows rose. “Those are Forest-Light Tiger's Eye, aren't they?”

Shen Yuan didn't remember anything in particular about the characteristics of gems with that name, so they were presumably nothing too special. The way that the darkened centre of the stone shifted to follow movement like a real eye would make for some striking jewelry, though. “Probably. I'm not an expert with minerals,” he replied. 

Zhe Yi smiled. “Just one of them is enough, Yuan-Jun.”

“For a week of work?”

“Certainly. Don't worry about me, I can work your delivery in with some other routes I need to pass by and check on,” he replied with a shrug, taking one of the gemstones and wandering off to go prepare some horses to be harnessed to the cart. He shot Shen Yuan a sidelong glance, smirking a little. “Besides, I've got a feeling that you'll be needing to pay me the matching gem soon enough.”

Shen Yuan made a face. “Don't jinx me.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“You spent the entire conversation quibbling over rules for the duel ?! You didn't even ask one of the questions you were assigned?!”

“I figured that I would do it after I beat him.”

“I despise you.”

Liu Qingge showed up. Again. 

This time, Shen Yuan had a different plan. Liu Qingge kept showing up because he didn't want to accept a loss, right? So if Shen Yuan just lost instead, then Liu Qingge wouldn't come around any more, right? Right. 

Shen Yuan was grateful for how skilled Liu Qingge was in combat, because he really didn't need to fake much at all before Liu Qingge got the upper hand, using Shen Yuan’s own body as a springboard to reach the  uppermost portion of his torso, driving Cheng Luan into Shen Yuan's flesh with enough force that the momentum slammed Shen Yuan backwards into the dirt, Liu Qingge crouched over his chest. Cheng Luan was embedded in Shen Yuan right up to the hilt, and he could feel the sharp edge of the blade just barely kiss against his heart when the chambers of it expanded. 

Liu Qingge grinned viciously and straightened up, leaving the sword where it was and planting his foot directly on top of Shen Yuan's windpipe, applying pressure. “Do heavenly demons know how to yield, Yuan-Jun?” he asked.

 Shen Yuan weakly flailed his tail and made pathetic choking sounds, really trying to ham it up.

Shen Yuan’s masterful performance was interrupted by an enraged snarl, and suddenly Luo Binghe had leapt onto Liu Qingge's back, immediately going for the man's eyes with those sharp little claws of his. A flinch saved Liu Qingge's eye but Luo Binghe still carved a deep set of gouges down the man's face from his eyebrow to his cheek. 

Shen Yuan gasped in horror and snapped back into his humanoid form, which, ough, that might have been a mistake, now he was fully impaled by Cheng Luan, the point of the sword scraping the ground under his back. But he still dragged air into his unpunctured lung to yelp “Binghe, no!”

Liu Qingge yanked Cheng Luan free as his other hand reached for the kid, growling when Luo Binghe snapped his jaw shut on his fingers. Shen Yuan leapt up from the ground and lunged forward to grab Luo Binghe, tearing him away from Liu Qingge and clutching him tightly to his chest. He hunched up protectively around the kid, bracing to take another hit from the cultivator's spiritual sword. 

The blow never landed, and Shen Yuan peeked in Liu Qingge's direction. The man was just standing here, one eye squinted shut from the blood running down into it from his eyebrow. “That kid of yours has bad manners.”

Luo Binghe snarled and tried to struggle free of Shen Yuan's hold. “I'll show you bad manners! Let me kill him, A-She! I'll do it!”

“Binghe, no. You shouldn't have done that, you could have gotten hurt,” Shen Yuan wheezed, before grimacing and focusing on healing his lung.

“I don't care, let him try! He was hurting you, he would have killed you! You should have eaten him the first time!” Luo Binghe ranted, but his voice broke on the last sentence. 

Shen Yuan paused, then shifted his grip on the struggling child, turning him around to face him. Tears were trickling down Luo Binghe's face, and Shen Yuan winced. “I'm sorry, Binghe. I didn't think it would be so scary for you.”

“A-She can't go away. He can't,” Luo Binghe choked out.

“I'm not. I'm not, Binghe. I'm right here, I'm all right.”

Luo Binghe sniffled and buried his face in Shen Yuan's chest. Shen Yuan stroked his back and looked back to Liu Qingge. “Uh. Sorry about this. I definitely broke the rules this time, and you had the upper hand before that, so you can consider this my forfeit if you like.”

Liu Qingge grimaced. “I don't want to claim a win by default.”

Dammit ! “You probably would have won if it wasn't for the interference,” Shen Yuan pointed out. 

Liu Qingge raised an eyebrow. “With how fast you were able to move when the kid showed up?”

“Adrenaline can work miracles, sometimes,” Shen Yuan prevaricated.

Liu Qingge shook his head. “It wouldn't feel right to claim the win.”

Shen Yuan internally wept for having let himself become swiss cheese for nothing. “Fine. At least let me help patch you up, as an apology,” he offered, and patted Luo Binghe again when he growled. “He wasn't really trying to kill me, Binghe.”

Zhu-Wang and his people were surprisingly good sports about letting Liu Qingge into their settlement and giving them access to the medical tent. Most of the demons had looked over the bloodstains spattered all over both Liu Qingge and Shen Yuan, then nodded and let them pass. Some of them even smiled and wished Shen Yuan “good luck”, which was the opposite of what he needed if he wanted Liu Qingge to finally leave him alone!

Shen Yuan set Luo Binghe down on the opposite side from him as Liu Qingge and let the kid continue to cling as they all sat down and Shen Yuan dabbed the scratches on Liu Qingge's face with disinfectant. He hoped that this wouldn't scar, it would be a horrible shame to mar such a pretty face.

Liu Qingge sat still and let Shen Yuan daub away the blood and apply some human-safe salve to the scratches. “Hm. So, is Tianlang-Jun planning on attacking the human realm any time soon?” he eventually asked. 

“Eh?” Shen Yuan replied, baffled. “Where's that coming from, don't you normally just rant about how it doesn't matter what evil plans I have, you're never going to give up, that I should do my worst?”

Liu Qingge glanced away. “No reason. Just wondering.”

Shen Yuan sighed and fumbled for some gauze and bandaging. “You think that I don't already get enough of fighting humans right here?”

Liu Qingge’s gaze snapped to Shen Yuan’s face. “You've been fighting other people?!”

Shen Yuan rolled his eyes, setting the dressing in place over Liu Qingge's scratches. “No, believe me, you're more than enough.”

Liu Qingge huffed out a breath. “Good. Don't you dare attack other people, you vile demon.”

“ You're the one who keeps attacking me !” Shen Yuan squawked.

“Good news, Yuan-er, Binghe! I've finally gotten my palace back, and cleaned it up enough for you to move in! I'm sure that you will both have a wonderful time there, Binghe especially,” Tianlang-Jun declared, waltzing into their yurt one morning. “We can leave immediately, I've already got Zhenbao ready to fly us there.”

Shen Yuan sighed. “At least it's not the middle of the night this time. Binghe, get yourself packed up. Don't forget to get your spices from the kitchen; we’ll probably have a harder time getting ingredients from the human realm in the imperial palace.”

“Yes, A-She,” Luo Binghe agreed, then glanced over at Tianlang-Jun. He bowed to him. “A-Die worked very hard to secure a place that I could live in, a home. Thank you.”

Tianlang-Jun faltered for a moment, then he smiled and reached out to pat Luo Binghe on the head. “You're welcome, Binghe. I hope you'll like it, and have lots of adventures. I'm sure there are at least some secret passages to find!”

“Mhm,” Luo Binghe murmured, then scurried off to pack. 

“Oh, and don't worry about Liu Qingge, I've made sure to leave directions with Zhu-Wang for when he shows up.”

“They aren't going to try to kill him, are they?” Shen Yuan asked, honestly more worried about the well-being of the ram demons than he was about Liu Qingge in that situation. 

“No, no, of course not. They all know he belongs to you.”

“...I probably wouldn't put it like that, but if that keeps things peaceful then I suppose it works,” Shen Yuan muttered. “I'll go get packed up too. Thank you, Junshang.”

“Now that you've seen the dining hall, the receiving hall, the ballroom, the coliseum, the throne room, and the trophy hall, I think there’s only one more major item I have to show you. There’s still plenty of nooks and crannies to explore, but hopefully this will be helpful with that endeavour,” Tianlang-Jun remarked, having taken them on a whirlwind tour of the palace. He threw open a set of doors with a theatrical flourish, revealing a cluster of demon children who had been idling about in the sitting room and scrambled to line up in a row at the entrance of the re-established emperor.

“I've found you some friends, Binghe. I hope you'll all get along,” Tianlang-Jun said.

Luo Binghe eyed the other children with trepidation, shuffling a little closer to Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan couldn’t blame him, he didn’t know if Luo Binghe had actually had any positive interactions with kids his own age before, rather than abuse.

A short demon kid with rather pointy features stepped up and bowed practically in half before straightening up. “My name is Six Balls. What's yours?” he asked. 

“I'm Luo Binghe. It's nice to meet you,” Luo Binghe replied shyly. 

The little demon looked him up and down, then snorted. “There's no way that you weigh as much as an entire river.”

Luo Binghe paused, confused. “How would you even weigh a river?”

“I dunno, but whoever did it must've done it wrong. I'm named Six Balls because I weighed as much as six balls when I was born, isn't that what they did for you?” Six Balls asked.

“... No, I was named Luo Binghe because I was found floating in the Luo River during the coldest day of the year, as a baby.”

“What, really? That's so cool!” another kid piped up, starry-eyed. “It's kind of like Banli, she got named that because a chestnut tree fell over and crushed her house and only missed her by inches!”

“Is your mom from the northern desert? I hear that the Mobei clan has a tradition of leaving their babies on ice floes to test their will to survive.”

Luo Binghe shook his head. “No, my mother was a human,” he replied, a touch of defensiveness creeping into his voice.

“A human?”

“Oh, does that mean you know all about humans? I've never seen one before. Is it true that they all have flat teeth? How do they eat anything like that?”

“They mostly use knives and forks to substitute for claws and sharp teeth,” Luo Binghe explained, while the kids listened with rapt attention.

“Do they put them in their mouths? Like, between their teeth?”

“No, they cut up the food first and then put it in their mouths.”

The kids generally agreed that this seemed terribly inefficient, but that maybe it could be good practice for weapon training. Luo Binghe soon got drawn out into the courtyard to play with the rest of the children.

Somehow, despite them now being located in the centre of the demon realm , Liu Qingge still managed to make his way to the palace and demand that Shen Yuan fight him. There were staff in the palace that came hurrying up to inform Shen Yuan of this fact and urge him to go out and duel the cultivator. Shouldn't they have, like, some level of animosity towards a peak lord of a righteous cultivation sect? Weren't demons and cultivators supposed to be natural enemies? Why was everyone tripping over themselves to help Liu Qingge get at Shen Yuan, huh?

Shen Yuan reluctantly went out to deal with this latest round of nonsense. He had a new speed-boosting amulet he wanted to try out, anyway.

“You can stop coming around to hassle me at any time, you know,” Shen Yuan grumbled as he knelt on Liu Qingge’s back, pinning the peak lord's arms under his legs. Shen Yuan shifted forward and braced one hand against the ground as he reached over towards the immortal binding cables that were coiled up nearby. 

Liu Qingge snarled and suddenly thrashed underneath Shen Yuan, twisting his body around and striking like a viper, latching his mouth onto Shen Yuan’s wrist and sinking his teeth in hard, biting down until his jaw clenched around bone. 

Shen Yuan hissed in pain, and then gasped in horror as he felt his blood spurt out from under Liu Qingge’s teeth and rapidly spill into the cultivator's mouth. “Ah, ow, shit! Liu Qingge, don't–!” he started to exclaim, trying to yank his arm away. 

In his panic, he lost his grip on Liu Qingge and the man took full advantage of that, bucking Shen Yuan off of himself and reversing their positions, slamming Shen Yuan into the dirt and straddling him, snapping a hand down to close tightly around the demon's throat.

Liu Qingge huffed out a laugh and grinned savagely, breathing hard. “What's the matter, Yuan-Jun? You and your little underlings are so eager to bite others, but being bitten is too much for you?” he taunted, and licked blood off of his teeth.

Shen Yuan could feel his blood mites trickling down Liu Qingge’s throat, and the transmitted sensation of the parasites beginning to happily burrow into the veins of a new host was incredibly distracting. “No, that's not– You shouldn't–” Shen Yuan wheezed out around Liu Qingge’s grip on his throat, trying to wiggle free. This was bad, the mites weren't listening to him, he needed to be able to focus! 

Liu Qingge was evidently too busy enjoying his victory to listen to Shen Yuan either. “It's your own fault for underestimating me, you know,” he said, and made a sword sign to call Cheng Luan to his free hand. “Now you're the one at my merc–”

“Get off of me!” Shen Yuan snapped irritably, and to his surprise, Liu Qingge obeyed. 

He was suddenly released as Liu Qingge shot up onto his feet and stepped back from Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan sat up and raised a hand to his bruised throat, coughing. “It's an incredibly bad idea to bite heavenly–” Shen Yuan began to explain, but was interrupted.

“What. Did. You. Do. To. Me?” Liu Qingge demanded, prompting Shen Yuan to look up.

The peak lord was pale and wide-eyed, gripping his sword tightly, which only caused the tremor in his arm to be transmitted into the blade as well. Shen Yuan focused his attention on his blood mites and winced when he realized that the parasites had worked fast, and were now integrated into most of Liu Qingge's body. He hadn't obeyed Shen Yuan’s demand by choice , evidently. 

“That's… why I tried to stop you from biting me,” Shen Yuan replied. 

“What's that supposed to mean?” Liu Qingge demanded. 

“Heavenly demon blood is… special. It is host to countless blood mites, and if other beings consume it, then the mites will infect their systems as well. Heavenly demons can exert control over their mites, and, consequently, over anyone who happens to be infected with them as well,” Shen Yuan explained, and made a brief gesture with his hand, prompting the blood mites to make their presence known. 

Liu Qingge grunted and staggered slightly at the sensation, but it only lasted for an instant. His expression became even grimmer. “That's… can they be removed?” he asked. 

Shen Yuan hesitated. Considering how quickly and eagerly the mites had colonized Liu Qingge, he did not imagine that they would be very happy to leave. Shen Yuan probably could coax the parasites out with enough effort, but it would more than likely be deeply unpleasant for Liu Qingge.

And besides, the blood mites weren't only good for torture.  The deadline for the time when Liu Qingge would be murdered by Shen Qingqiu was fast approaching. If Shen Yuan left the blood mites in his system, then he should be able to stabilize Liu Qingge in the event of a murder attempt. Saving the life of such a badass character and fucking up the villain’s plans seemed like a pretty righteous cause to him!

“Sorry, no. It's impossible,” Shen Yuan replied with a shrug.

“So I'm permanently your slave now?” Liu Qingge asked, and an alarm bell started ringing in Shen Yuan's head.

His eyes flicked down to Cheng Luan, and the white-knuckled grip Liu Qingge had on the hilt. He didn't at all like the tone of voice that the peak lord had slipped into. Liu Qingge would be just the sort of steadfast warrior who would rather die than compromise his sect, wouldn't he?

Shen Yuan raised his gaze to meet Liu Qingge’s eyes and gave a little scoff, smirking. “Hah, I think I've heard some rumors about it being permanent; I suppose that's the sort of scary stories that you cultivators like to tell each other. It would be ludicrously overpowered if heavenly demons could exert extensive and perpetual control over anyone who consumed even a few drops of their blood, wouldn't it?” Shen Yuan replied nonchalantly. It indeed was ludicrously overpowered. Unfortunately Liu Qingge lived in a world that was set up to fulfil power fantasies and not provide compelling character development, another one of Airplane’s many crimes. 

A little bit of tension bled out of Liu Qingge's posture. “So it wears off.”

Shen Yuan nodded and continued to lie through his teeth. “Mhm, the mites will die off on their own. It usually wears off within a week or so, depending on how much blood you consume. I suppose that in most cases, that's certainly long enough to affect someone for the rest of their lives, so I can see why the rumor spread,” Shen Yuan replied, flashing a smile and drawing a finger across his throat. 

Liu Qingge let out a breath that was only just barely not a sigh, and his grip on Cheng Luan relaxed. “I see. Then you won this round as well,” he muttered grumpily.

“I suppose, but you really did make a good go of it this time! There's nothing to be ashamed of.”

Liu Qingge rolled his eyes. “Don't condescend to me.”

“I wasn't!” Shen Yuan replied. 

Liu Qingge huffed and jammed Cheng Luan back into its sheath. There was a beat of silence where neither of them said anything. 

Shen Yuan finally broke the awkward silence. “So. Uh. Are you going to go home without me needing to incapacitate you and ship you back, this time?”

“I'm not going anywhere.”

“What?”

“I'm not going anywhere. I'm compromised and I cannot risk returning to Cang Qiong in this condition, not when there's the risk I could be forced to betray or sabotage the sect.”

Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow. “You trust me to not kill you, but not to not cause problems for your sect?”

“You've had the opportunity to do the former multiple times and you never took it. The same can't be said for the latter,” Liu Qingge replied with a shrug.

Shen Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh and got to his feet. “Fine, whatever, don't go back to your sect. That doesn't mean you need to stay here ,” he pointed out, brushing dirt off of his robes. “Go and take a vacation or something.”

“No.”

“No?”

Liu Qingge crossed his arms. “I'm going to keep an eye on you. You could do something nefarious while I'm out of the picture and unable to contact my martial siblings.”

“And you think you'd be able to stop me if you're here to watch?” Shen Yuan asked, raising an eyebrow.  Liu Qingge just scowled in response. 

Shen Yuan sighed again and regretted claiming that the blood mites would last for a week instead of a day. Then a thought occurred to him, and he grinned. “My slave, you said you were, before. So am I to understand that I have you all to myself for a week, that you need to do anything I ask?” Shen Yuan asked, taking a step closer to Liu Qingge.

An uneasy expression flashed across Liu Qingge's face. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Well, what sort of evil demon would I be if I didn't take advantage of this, hm? Having a peak lord at my beck and call?”

Liu Qingge narrowed his eyes. “You're just trying to scare me off.”

Shen Yuan smiled a little wider. “You think that, do you? Then you won't mind coming with me. I know exactly what I want to do with you,” he teased, before turning around and walking off, back towards the palace.

There was a brief pause, and then Liu Qingge’s footsteps followed after him. Never one to back down from a challenge, as usual.