Chapter Text
Shen Yuan hasn’t seen Shen Qingqiu in days.
Which isn’t weird, contrary to what you expected. Shen Qingqiu is the head disciple of the second-ranked Peak in the entire sect, which means he’s probably buried under a mountain of responsibilities courtesy of the Qing Jing Peak Lord. And anyway, you would rarely see that guy since he avoids the general population like they’re the plague. And lastly, Shen Yuan is from another peak! Basic geography, and well, common sense, should tell him he’s not exactly going to be bumping into the Scum Villain every other day.
So really, Shen Yuan not seeing Shen Qingqiu should be the total norm.
Well… unless you consider the tiny, insignificant detail that Shen Yuan has (completely voluntarily mind you) appointed himself President, Vice President, and sole member of the Shen Qingqiu Watch Club™. See here, it’s really important, alright? Shen Qingqiu is the notorious and future villain of the stallion novel Proud Immortal Demon Way! He’s dangerous! He should be watched! Preferably with binoculars (if they existed in this stupid universe). And snacks.(at least those existed.)
And Shen Yuan has been dutifully fulfilling that self-appointed role ever since he transmigrated into this world, and consequently doomed himself to a future of unimaginable pain and relentless suffering.
Shen Yuan can NOT, in good conscience (or paranoia really), just leave Shen Qingqiu to his own devices! No! He needs to nip that evil bud before it blossoms into a full-blown Scum Villain mushroom of doom.
‘Heh. Real poetic there, Shen Yuan.’ he grinned for a moment.
So back to the point, Shen Yuan hasn’t seen him for days.
Fortunately, or conveniently however you think of it, Shen Yuan has somehow managed to charm the Qing Jing Peak Lord with his weiqi skills. Yes, really. And thanks to that, he now has official permission to frequent the Qing Jing Library. A strategic victory, if he says so himself.
And hey, if he’s already a regular visitor to Qing Jing, then no one’s going to question him wandering the Peak grounds a little, right?
See that? Isn’t Shen Yuan an absolute genius? He can roam Qing Jing like just another dilly-dallying disciple, which, for the record, is browsing books (and yes, he genuinely enjoys that, don’t get mistaken). And while he’s at it, he also gets to observe the wild, elusive species known as Shen Qingqiu!
But even as he walked along the stone path back toward the library and the pavilion where disciples gathered for classes, Shen Qingqiu was nowhere to be seen. By now, a few disciples had noticed him pacing back and forth and were giving him increasingly suspicious looks. Which—fine, fair. He is known around here as the Beast Freak.
Which is rude, by the way. It’s completely normal to love all the fascinating, sometimes horrifying, but always majestic creatures this world has to offer. He’s a man of culture. Respect that.
Damn him, getting distracted again. Right, so no Shen Qingqiu. Not in the halls. Not in the bamboo hut, even after he’d mustered the courage to greet the Peak Lord himself. Not in the common classroom. Not even in the library. And as far as he knew, Shen Qingqiu hadn’t been sent out on any mission either. So where could he possibly be..?
“Ah, is Shen-shidi looking for da-shixiong?”
Shen Yuan startled at suddenly being talked to, letting out a short and shrill scream. Turning around, he faced a slightly taller girl with a kind smile. He rubbed his neck in embarrassment. “Oh… ahahaha. This one didn’t notice Shijie..?”
“This one is Rong An,” she said, smile taking on a teasing edge. “Shen-shidi may have forgotten, but I’m in charge of processing the books you keep borrowing from the library.”
“Rong-shijie, this one merely didn’t notice you behind me. I am not normally very startled,” he replied, laughing awkwardly. Just great. Now he looked like a mannerless idiot in front of a polite, scholarly senior sister. Way to go, Shen Yuan. “And Rong-shijie had mentioned Shen-shixiong?”
Rong An’s smile got a little strained, before smoothing back again. “If you’re looking for da-shixiong, Shizun had dismissed him from duties just a few shíchen ago. You’ll likely have to come another time if you wish to see him.”
Shen Yuan turned red like a tomato. Did Rong An think he was here just to see Shen Qingqiu?! And wait, he didn’t deny that he was looking for him either! Oh gods. He must look like a total idiot. A total idiot who is pestering the head disciple of Qing Jing Peak…
“This Shen thanks Rong-shijie for the information…” he muttered, bowing once before speed-walking away.
“Pfft…!” Rong An chuckled softly behind him, watching the head disciple of Ling Ye Peak scurry off after failing to catch a glimpse of the scholar he so obviously wanted to see. “Da-shixiong is like a tourist attraction to outside peak disciples…”
Shen Yuan walked along the bamboo-lined path, taking a moment to appreciate the lustrous beauty and wondrous thrum of natural Qi that surrounded Qing Jing Peak.
For a place inhabited by disciples who either strutted like peacocks or wallowed in depression, the land on which Qing Jing stood remained in perfect harmony with nature. He couldn’t understand how anyone could stay at this peak and live a miserable life. Qing Jing is a beauty in itself, and those who can’t appreciate it are in vain.
In this part of the forest he knows is mostly land and bamboo, a few animals made their home, helping to sustain the natural cycle of a mountain realm. And if he remembered correctly, somewhere around here was an old, abandoned woodshed. He vaguely recalled stumbling upon it while chasing a White Tigrous Ferret.
Now that he thought about it... wouldn’t this be the same woodshed where Luo Binghe would be unceremoniously dumped by his scummy Shizun?
Of course, being the ever-curious creature he was, Shen Yuan just had to see it. The legendary Protagonist Spot from Chapter 3-43.
After a few months of roaming—ehem! well, sneaking, really, since visitors weren’t exactly allowed to freely wander another peak, Shen Yuan had become almost familiar with Qing Jing. He could now map out its territory in his head, identifying key spots with surprising ease.
And right there! Is the abandoned woodshed. And it looks really run-down. Honestly, if it had fallen into such disrepair, why hadn’t Qing Jing Peak just demolished it already? What, because it will be the protagonist’s future home? Ugh.
He moved closer to the door and gave it a push. Surprisingly, it didn’t budge.
Shen Yuan considered breaking off a bit of the wood to peek inside, but hesitated. It might cause a disturbance, and worse, consequences, especially since he was, technically, still an outsider here.
Sigh, maybe not today, then.
With a soft leap, he used his qinggong to land on the roof of the shed, glancing idly over the surrounding forest. The view was nice, but he was growing bored. With no Shen Qingqiu in sight and the mysterious woodshed remaining stubbornly unexplored, this trip to Qing Jing had turned out to be... kind of a waste. Maybe he should head back to Ling Ye Peak…
Walking across the roof, he idly thinks again of Shen Qingqiu, and why he chose to observe him. He remembers their first meeting and how he’d stared slack-jaw at the then-named Shen ‘Qingqiu’. He expected a bitter, peacock-looking guy, and while he did turn out bitter-looking, he was also… quite beautiful. Ah. this shitty world full of ikemen.
If PIDW had been written in the genre his younger sister liked to read, he has no doubt Luo Binghe would’ve had a harem of pretty guys by Chapter 456. And Shen Qingqiu might’ve been pardoned simply for being a cold teacher and a beauty archetype all at once. But eh… that’s kind of weird to think about. And if it had been a yao-wee? His younger sister would have finished PIDW before he even started it and celebrated 6,666 chapters of men getting—ARERHGH!
Shen Yuan fell!
Right through a loose crack on the roof. Just his fucking luck.
He coughed like a dying man, choking on dust from the broken wood, his whole front slamming straight into the floor. This is exactly why you shouldn’t keep run-down buildings around, especially ones that’ll just become fire hazards when Luo Binghe inevitably razes the p…eak. Wait. Is that a person?
Is that a fucking corpse?! What?!
Lying just across from where he landed face-first is a person, or a corpse—on a sleeping mat?
Heart skipping a second beat faster, Shen Yuan slowly crawled towards the body. He knows all about curiosity killing the cat, but a body hidden in an abandoned woodshed in Qing Jing? That’s peak (hah) mystery, in his opinion.
He shifted from crawling to a crouch, keeping his movements silent, just before a blinding sword glare whished past his head. If it weren’t for his cultivation and reflexes, that sword would’ve slashed his neck clean!
He heard a groan behind him, where the sword’s strike had come from. That snow-white glare gave him an instinctive chill from something cold and familiar…
Turning around, he saw a person and not a corpse, and nearly recoiled at the beauty glaring at him. That’s—Shen Qingqiu!
But why is he here?! Why is he sleeping on the floor?! Of an abandoned, dingy woodshed?! And did he almost kill him with what he now recognizes as Xiū Yǎ?!
“You… What are you doing here?” Shen Qingqiu’s rough voice demanded, his glare so cold it made Shen Yuan think he should be more worried about a glacier than a fire hazard in this shed.
‘I should be asking you that as well…’
“Shen-shixiong… this one merely fell from the roof after chasing a particular bird. This one didn’t mean to…” he trailed off, eyes fixed on Shen Qingqiu. Now that he could see him clearly, he seemed… off.
Shen Qingqiu had always been a jade-skinned beauty, but right now, he looked like all the blood had moved to his face. He appeared red and haggard. His villain aura is gone! Which means: he doesn’t look well, like at all.
Shen Qingqiu didn’t seem to want to see or hear him anymore. He dropped back down and pulled a blanket over his head.
“Go away…”
A sniffle followed it.
Is Shen Qingqiu…sick?
That couldn’t be right. His cultivation should have cleansed any illness immediately! That was one of the perks of living in a xianxia world. How could he possibly be sick?!
“Shen-shixiong, are you alright...?” Shen Yuan attempted, hoping he wouldn’t get bitten or struck down just for asking. But Shen Qingqiu didn’t respond, only burrowing further beneath the meager covers.
Shen Yuan looked at the curled-up lump resting on a simple sleeping mat, something entirely unbefitting the status of a head disciple, and felt his heart squeeze. Glancing around the woodshed, he noticed a small table with an inkstone and brushes, and a few robes folded over a wooden frame. It looked lived-in, which meant Shen Qingqiu had been staying here for some time.
Bravely, Shen Yuan crawled closer to the lump that was Shen Qingqiu.
‘A Nu Yuan Chan is scarier than Shen Qingqiu. A Nu Yuan Chan is scarier than Shen Qingqiu. A Nu Yuan Chan is scarier than Shen…’
He managed to get right beside Shen Qingqiu’s head without being bitten or struck by Xiū Yǎ. He hesitated, then slowly brought his palm toward the forehead hidden beneath the blankets. Before he could make contact, Shen Qingqiu repeated, in a softer tone, “Go away…”
Shen Yuan sighed and placed his palm over the blanket, right where Shen Qingqiu’s forehead should be. Even with a layer of fabric between them, the skin underneath felt warm. His hand moved on autopilot, fingers brushing lightly through Shen Qingqiu’s scalp. He was stunned when there was barely a reaction.
He must be really unwell, huh?
He began pulling back, only for Shen Qingqiu to grab his wrist. “Go,” he murmured weakly, but his hand didn’t let go.
Shen Yuan gave a helpless smile. This sick scum villain was... kind of cute. He wasn’t recoiling from physical contact in this state, quite the opposite from his usual self, who would glare at even friendly pats or accidental bumps from other head disciples.
“Shen-shixiong, where do you feel sick?” he asked, softer now, cautious not to disturb him too much.
“I don’t. Not sick. Go.” Shen Qingqiu replied, peeking out from the covers to glare at him. Right now, he looked less like the cold villain and more like a sulky child. He’d even dropped the formal speech. Shen Qingqiu ah, do you really not want to be cared for, hmmm? Shen Yuan is even volunteering! For observational purposes, of course.
“Can this shidi look at your wrist, then?”
“Hmph. Whatever.” Shen Qingqiu didn’t offer his wrist, figures. Although he didn’t say Shen Yuan couldn’t…
Biting his lip slightly, Shen Yuan dared to gently take Shen Qingqiu’s delicate wrist in his hand, moving slowly, the way he would with the animals and sometimes the more temperamental plants on Ling Ye Peak, careful not to startle them. As expected, Shen Qingqiu didn’t pull away. He thinks he’s getting a little better at reading him! What progress!
He placed two fingers against Shen Qingqiu’s pulse point and let a thread of his own Qi flow inward, carefully guiding it along Shen Qingqiu’s meridians. As it moved deeper, he focused, tracing the energy pathways toward the dantian to check for any obstructions that might be hindering recovery.
And what he finds gives him the shock of his meager 20 years of modern life.
Shen Qingqiu’s meridians are jagged, like shattered glass beneath the surface of his skin. Instead of a steady, fluid circulation, the Qi flow is erratic, interrupted by sharp bends, fractures, and constrictions that twist and choke the energy mid-stream.
When his Qi finally reaches the dantian, Shen Yuan sucks in a breath. It’s not underdeveloped the way one would expect from someone who began cultivating late, it’s depleted. Thoroughly, forcefully. Like a spiritual well drained dry, over and over again.
From what he knows of the original novel and his time in the sect, Shen Qingqiu entered Cang Qiong Mountain at age 17, barely within the acceptable age to begin cultivation. That kind of late start usually means stunted progress for years, perhaps permanently. But these aren’t the meridians of someone who started late. Quite the opposite. Shen Qingqiu’s body carries the imprint of deep, prolonged cultivation. Or worse, the exhaustion of having been used... deliberately.
Like—like!
A cauldron.
His stomach twisted into knots, unease furrowing his brows. He knew what a cauldron was. Luo Binghe’s wife No. 132 had been one: a tragic backstory in the original novel where Luo Binghe saved her from a demonic cultivator who had used her as a living vessel. That, plus the many other xianxia stories Shen Yuan had read, painted a clear picture.
To be a cauldron was to be used. Your natural Qi siphoned off to empower someone else, often through rituals that tore through the body’s ability to regulate or regenerate spiritual energy. Even Luo Binghe’s wife hadn’t been able to cultivate normally afterward. It had taken the usual PIDW solution: papapa, aka dual cultivation via the Heavenly Pillar, to patch her meridians back together.
But Shen Qingqiu… he was clearly having a harder time. The sickness lingering in him wasn’t from the cold alone, it was his Qi, unable to flow properly due to the jagged meridians. Shen Yuan could even suspect a Qi deviation had occurred sometime prior, which likely disrupted any automatic healing his body would’ve done.
Naturally, a trip to Qian Cao Peak would have solved Shen Qingqiu’s common cold…
“Why are you still here?” Shen Qingqiu asked softly, his eyes now half-lidded, looking at him through the haze.
Shen Yuan thought again of what he knows about him. Shen Qingqiu was prideful. He would never admit to weakness. He wouldn’t even let it show. Going to Qian Cao Peak meant announcing his condition, which would open him up to whispers and ridicule. Because even if it wasn’t true, even if it had nothing to do with it, people would still murmur about his late start. Use it against him.
“This shidi thinks he ought to stay by his shixiong’s side and be a filial shidi,” Shen Yuan said, carefully. “Shen-shixiong is sick and alone. It worries me.”
Shen Qingqiu seemed to sober up a little and openly scoffed at this, saying, “Is it because you now know I have a weaker cultivation than even the usual weak? I don’t need your pity.”
“This shidi does not pity shixiong,” Shen Yuan replied quietly. “He only wishes to... I just want to help you with this.”
“Hah. Shen-shidi, you really are so kind,” Shen Qingqiu muttered. The mocking tone was still there, but it came out sounding more wistful than cutting, tinged by exhaustion.
Shen Yuan didn’t reply. Instead, he began to channel cold Qi through his palm, deliberately pulling warmth away from the surface. Once chilled enough, he placed his hand gently on Shen Qingqiu’s forehead.
Shen Qingqiu seemed a little startled, so he quickly said, “Ah well, shidi is just regulating the Qi in his palm to lower the surface temperature. It might help bring down your fever.”
Shen Qingqiu frowned a little, looking clueless he asked, “How is that going to help?”
Ah? Had Shen Qingqiu never had a cold before? That... seemed unlikely. He should have, at least once in his life. And surely cooling down a fever wasn’t a technique exclusive to the modern world. Unless… Airplane couldn’t have made it alien in this world, right?
“This cool sensation can help alleviate your fever, bring your temperature down a little,” Shen Yuan explained carefully. Then, unable to resist, he added with a touch of disbelief, “Has shixiong never done this before?” At the question, Shen Qingqiu clutched his blanket a little tighter, eyes averting ever so slightly.
Shen Yuan took the hint and dropped it immediately.
Right now the atmosphere between them was quite peaceful, gentler than the usual atmosphere that hung between them: carefree, stubborn Shen Yuan bothering the cold, aloof head disciple Shen Qingqiu. Usually he approached with questions about books, beasts, or odd plants when he could summon the bravery, and then waited patiently for Shen Qingqiu to drop the suspicion and answer him.
Shen Qingqiu didn’t seem to like him, just as he didn’t seem to like most people. But unlike with Liu Qingge or even Yue Qingyuan, he didn’t outright hate Shen Yuan either. That was something. Since Shen Yuan aims to foster a better relationship with Shen Qingqiu to avoid his ire, he thinks he’s been doing quite well at it!
Unbidden, a soft smile tugged at his lips. He didn’t notice it himself, but Shen Qingqiu did. Through the haze of fever and fatigue, he glanced over at Shen Yuan, eyes filled with something like curious wonder.
Shen Yuan was reluctant to leave Shen Qingqiu alone in that woodshed, but he had things to do! He needed to be responsible! (also when did he get so clingy?!)
The golden glow of the afternoon sun hung high above, painting the landscape in orange hues and the sky in shades of pink. Around this time, peak disciples would be moving about, finished with their classes and leisurely going about their business. It was the perfect time to look like he was leaving Qing Jing Peak, since he knew he couldn’t overstay or else the Peak Lord might personally throw him out.
“Shixiong, I’ll be back.”
“…”
“This shidi will bring some items that could make shixiong comfortable… I definitely won’t be long.”
“…”
“Do you hear me, shixiong?”
“…Mm.”
“I’ll be back.”
“…”
Maybe Shen Yuan really shouldn’t have left! Shen Qingqiu had looked even more forlorn after he said that, so he must not want to be alone! Now Shen Yuan felt like a shitty shidi…
But he comforted himself with the fact that he was only making a quick trip to his dorm on Ling Ye Peak to grab blankets, some cooking utensils, and ingredients for soup. Yes, soup. Soup is very important for sick patients! See, Shen Yuan is taking this very seriously!
His current role is to nurse the scum villain back to health! Because—because..! Shen Yuan is a good person! Right. (and he really was so cute…)
“Gua-xiong! Gua-xiooong!!”
Shen Yuan facepalmed, already wanting to throttle Shang Qinghua, who is also Airplane, aka the bane of his fucking existence. Facing that mousy head disciple always reminded him that every mess in his current life somehow can be traced back to Shang Qinghua’s fault.
“Feiji-ge.” he deadpanned.
Airplane acted like he was used to it and said, “Just where have you been, Gua-xiong? I need help identifying the extracts you can get from Pixie Blue Frogs, you still remember those, right? And then the Incinerated Eel Fangs, do they give you a total fire immunity, or just a slight fire resistance? I remember only mentioning them once, so I forgot. But hey you—“
“How did you manage to forget the stuff you wrote yourself?” Shen Yuan cut in, leveling him with a judgmental stare. Seriously, Airplane? You’re the author here! To his astonishment, Shang Qinghua’s thick face just laughed.
“Gua-xiong, I wrote too many of those, I can’t keep them all in my head all the time!” Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow. That sounds like a you-problem then, isn’t it?
He shook his head, resigned to Airplane’s antics, and continued walking across the rainbow bridge.
“Oh, Gua-xiong. Were you just coming back from Qing Jing Peak?” Shang Qinghua asked curiously.
Shen Yuan nodded, then stopped abruptly and turned to face him, startling Airplane.“Feiji-ge, do you have anything else about the Scum Villain?”
Shang Qinghua chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. “Ah, well…Gua-xiong you know I can’t just share those, right?”
Shen Yuan did remember Shang Qinghua explaining why before. But to be fair, being told “because Shen Qingqiu might get mad” was not exactly a satisfying reason. After all, if Shang Qinghua only told him, how would Shen Qingqiu even find out?
“Why does it matter? You hid so many important details and backstory in the original novel, and you couldn’t even tell me? Me, the sole person who transmigrated with you?” Shen Yuan faked a hurt and stern tone. Really, he was just itching to uncover all the plot holes. And well, having the author himself right here, shouldn’t Shen Yuan be treated like a VVIP by now? (he unfortunately paid for premium chapters before so he was already VIP.)
Shang Qinghua grimaced and said, “It’s totally not like that, Gua-xiong… it’s just that…” he trailed off.
“What?”
Shang Qinghua looked away briefly with a sheepish smile, “Shen Jiu is a real person now, isn’t he?”
Shen Yuan’s eyes widened slightly. It wasn’t that he didn’t know Shen Qingqiu was real now, but perhaps he’d treated him too lightly, as if he were still just a fictional character from the novel. In a way, he still was… But to disregard all the respect and privacy you’d give a real person, just because you don’t see them that way…
Shen Yuan turned away. “I know he is.”
“Right? If you get to know more people around here, you’d realize that they really are real. I can guess some of my characters’ intentions and feelings, but I can’t say whether I’m right or wrong. A lot of them might even be more complex than I ever imagined,” Shang Qinghua confessed, relieved that Shen Yuan didn’t press the issue and comforted by being able to admit this much.
Shen Yuan thought of Shen Qingqiu, the man who surprised him just a few hours ago. If it had been before he transmigrated, would he ever have believed Shen Qingqiu could be the clingy type when sick? Probably not. Hell, Shen Yuan would’ve gone off in the comment section to prove it didn’t fit his character. But this Shen Qingqiu… did he even know him that well?
Shen Yuan hummed, “Even Shen Qingqiu is hard to predict.”
Shang Qinghua lit up like a christmas tree, clearly curious about the topic. “What about Jiu-mei? What did he do?”
Shen Yuan scoffed at Shen Qingqiu being addressed like a maiden, only to swallow the complaint when he remembered the clingy version of him from earlier. “He’s sick right now, so don’t give him trouble. I don’t even know if he knows how to take care of himself. I replicated a cool towel using my palm and he acted like it was alien! Really, Feiji-ge, how abnormal did you make normal things in here?”
Shang Qinghua was surprised at this, but then thought about it. For a former street child and a slave… there was a reason why such things would be foreign. “Shen Jiu is probably not used to them.”
“…What does that even mean? How could he not know about those?”
“He… nevermind.” Shang Qinghua almost said more, but shook his head. That would be revealing too much. Like how Xiao Jiu once saw sickness as a kind of survival test. Medicine was unaffordable, if you couldn’t survive it alone, you were meant to die. Even now, Shen Jiu must have never felt the cool of a towel for his fevers.
Shen Yuan raised a brow, irritated by the unspoken implication, but didn’t voice it. He could probably guess what was running through Shang Qinghua’s mind. “Yeah, forget it. I’ll help you next time. For now, I’ll return to my peak.”
“Yeah sure! See you next time, Gua-xiong!” Shang Qinghua replied, completely oblivious to Shen Yuan’s plan to sneak back out after returning to Ling Ye.