Chapter Text
After a long, hard day of teaching snot-nose brats with poor impulse control, the last thing he wants to do is find a larger snot-nose brat with even poorer impulse control eating his entire pantry, while his books and scrolls lie strewn about the floor like someone set off a whirlwind talisman in his office. He can be forgiven for losing a little bit of normal poise when faced with something as terrible as a younger brother.
"My house is not a resort! You are not paying me to let you lodge here, and you are not paying me to clean up my own belongings after you demolish them!" Shen Qingqiu growls as he stumbles over a book that is not only extremely old, but incredibly expensive, and has been discarded on the floor like common garbage.
Shen Jiu turns to glare at the other common garbage in room, who looks up at him with wide, innocent eyes. Shen Jiu is sure it works for him with everyone else, but Shen Jiu is not everyone else. He's cynical of the most innocent-eyed child - devils, the lot of them - and Shen Yuan is a grown man. As far as Shen Jiu is concerned, a grown man is the most suspect thing in the world.
Also, Shen Yuan is currently fanning himself with one of Shen Jiu’s fans. Shen Jiu’s eyes snap over to it, and he leans forward slightly, jabbing a finger at the parasite as he hisses, "If that fan accidentally finds its way into your things again, I will shove it down your throat."
The fan doesn’t even pause in its lazy wave. Shen Yuan pouts up at him. "It was an accident, Jiu-ge! Are you never going to let that go?"
Shen Jiu rolls his eyes. "Do you think I’m stupid enough to think ‘accidents’ can happen on three separate occasions? Do you think I’m that naive?"
Shen Yuan shrugs and waves the fan lazily. Shen Jiu eyebrow twitches. "In my experience - hey!"
Shen Jiu tucks away the fan he's just rescued as Shen Yuan looks mournfully at his empty hand.
"It's hot out, Jiu-dage!" He whines. "And I lost my fan."
"Who's your dage? I don't know you." Shen Jiu snaps, grabbing scrolls and books off the floor to start re-shelving them, as is proper for delicate materials. "Until I get my crane fan back, you can lose all your fans for all I care."
Shen Yuan huffs and, instead of storming out so Shen Jiu can finish his paperwork in peace, collapses backwards on the floor in an inelegant puddle, scrolls rolling away as he flops like a stranded fish.
"Shen Yuan.” Shen Jiu snaps, kicking the idiot’s leg to the side so he can rescue a scroll. “You didn't answer me."
"Did you ask a question?" Shen Yuan says, rolling his head from where he was staring up at the ceiling to frown at Shen Jiu. "Wait, the dage thing? We've known each other since we were kids, you don't have to take it literally -"
"Not the 'dage thing'." Shen Qingqiu mocks. "The fact that you've been in my house for a solid week with no signs of leaving."
"You absolutely did not ask a question, you just yelled at me.” Shen Yuan points, out irritatingly, as if he shouldn’t know enough to know when Shen Jiu is asking for information. He pauses for a moment, and then looks pitifully at Shen Jiu. “Are you kicking me out?" Shen Yuan asks, and the last vestiges of Shen Jiu’s patience snaps.
Shen Jiu bounces the rescued fan off Shen Yuan’s forehead (snatching it back before Shen Yuan can steal it again). "Who’s kicking you out? When have I ever kicked you out?” Shen Jiu says, snapping the fan open in front of his face. “Don’t you try that with me, you're not as good at evading as you think you are! I see right through you, and I always will. Don’t make me ask a second time, or I'm going to assume you’re loitering because you’re injured, and I’m going to drag you to Qian Cao myself."
“You didn’t even ask a first time!” Shen Yuan yelps. “You still haven’t!”
Shen Jiu stands up sharply, fully prepared to make good on his threat.
Shen Yuan scrambles backwards, hands up in placation. "I'm not injured! I'm just...I'm laying low! You don’t have to get your panties – get all worked up! What’s wrong with taking a break at Qing Jing, I thought you wanted me to spend more time here?"
Shen Jiu scowls at him. Spend more time at Qing Jing? Ha! As if he could settle down long enough for that. Shen Jiu studies his didi for a long moment. The only reason Shen Yuan would loiter for this long without being injured is if he’s using the sect’s boundaries for something. "You’ve angered someone." He finally declares, not a question so much as a certainty. Shen Yuan flinches. Shen Jiu’s fingers come up up the bridge of his nose to squeeze away the headache that this is certain to develop.
Shen Yuan is, despite everything, a very capable cultivator. His foundation is strong, and his thirst for knowledge means his techniques are varied. When he sets his mind to learning something, he’s as persistent as a terrier, not stopping until he’s learned all he can. Shen Jiu has seen him piece together a resentful ghost's identity using a scrap of fabric and a half-burned shoe. He also has an uncanny sense for imminent disaster, and has unraveled countless mysteries, revealing the sources of chaos and their weaknesses at crucial junctures. Shen Yuan is a very intelligent man.
Unfortunately, he's also an idiot. Shen Jiu has also personally seen him mistake a very important person for a valet, despite the fact that the Old Palace Master was dressed in opulent robes and finery in the colors of the Huan Hua sect, and was surrounded by actual valets. The old man’s rage at being treated in such a manner would have landed Shen Yuan, still utterly oblivious to his mistake, in the water prison if Shen Jiu hadn’t been around to intervene.
He’s also seen Shen Yuan stroll right into the carriage of a particularly foul and creepy old man, not even a day after the Qiu household had burned, as if he simply couldn’t wait to get trafficked again. Again, an error in judgement he had only been saved from again because of Shen Jiu’s interference.
Shen Yuan in danger is nothing new. Shen Yuan realizing he’s in danger means one of two things.
He’s in catastrophic, and highly imminent, danger, which Shen Jiu will be obligated to help him out of.
Or, someone has a crush on him and he’s misinterpreted their feelings. This happens equally as often as the first situation, but Shen Jiu has never had any intention of helping out with these situations. He would like to be informed of them though, so that he knows when sabotage is necessary.
“Who.” Shen Jiu demands.
Shen Yuan looks like he wants to argue, and then sighs and sits up, crossing his legs to face Shen Jiu properly as his shoulders droop. “I...didn’t catch his name.”
“Did he catch yours?”
Shen Yuan grimaces and hisses in a breath through his teeth, nodding.
Shen Jiu stares at him through lidded eyes. “Make tea. And tell me what happened.” He orders.
Shen Yuan sighs but peels himself off the floor and obliges. “Okay, so don’t get mad.”
Shen Jiu opens his eyes to pointedly stare at him as he sets about making tea, so that Shen Yuan knows with certainty that Shen Jiu is promising exactly nothing.
“Don’t look at me like that, okay!” Shen Yuan says, dumping leaves haphazardly into a pot and qi-heated boiling water after it. “So, I was exploring an abyssal rift in the demon realm -“ He says, affecting casualness.
The lecture Shen Jiu has the pleasure of delivering reaches a volume that kick-starts the migration of every bird on the mountain.
He only has the pleasure of yelling for an incense stick before he remembers that this story, in all probability, gets worse. “What. Else. Happened.” He says through gritted teeth, sitting down in a graceful billow of robes.
He followed the spiritual fluctuations, using a talisman he’d designed to track the phenomenon. The area he found himself in was hot and arid, with craggy rocks rising up from loose, sandy soil. The first he spotted of the rift was almost impossible to see, even with the assistance of his qi. It was similar to a hairline crack in glass, visible only at certain angles. Shen Yuan moved closer to it and then stopped, reeling. His body swayed from the sheer force of twisted spiritual energy he could feel coming from it, oozing from the crack like pus. When he stood next to it, he could feel a deep hum in his bones, like being rattled by the roar of a beast, but the rift itself was soundless. It wasn’t resentful energy like you’d find in a ghost, it was just...off.
Shen Yuan tracked the glass-spun crack, watching the threads of it twist away, leading away into the canyon ahead of him.
No...not a canyon. Shen Yuan ran a hand carefully over the stone. The plane was unnaturally flat, and there was a seam where two stones have been fit together.
He’s found stone ruins, half buried in the desolate sand and stone of the demon realm, sticking up like a last plea. As his eye followed them, he could see more and more rising up a hundred meters away, growing taller and bigger as the city started in earnest. Shen Yuan followed the abyssal disruption, watching as the low ruins turned into dilapidated - but mostly standing - structures. There was nothing but the sound of his own footsteps, echoing through the streets like a beacon. Not even the sound of the harsh wind dared to blow through here. The rift hummed silently next to him, zigzagging deeper into the ruins. It made him think of labyrinths, thread, and minotaurs. He shivered.
If he ran in to a minotaur here, he was going to be pissed.
Shen Yuan kept a cautious distance from the rift as he followed it, stepping over the shattered remains of what might once have been a carriage. He eyed it. A carriage! In the demon realm! The implications for the world building here were staggering.
The ruins loomed up on either side of him. Empty windows on intact walls leered at him as he passed, black and hollow, the interiors of the abandoned houses cast into deep, impenetrable shadow by the setting sun.
The rift turned down into a narrow alley, and Shen Yuan hesitated. The alley twisted away from him, too narrow for him to track its progress or to see where it let out. Forcing himself through would bring him far closer to the inactive rift than he wanted to be.
He's not a cultivator for nothing though; with a touch of spiritual energy, he leapt up to the nearest roof. As soon as his feet made contact with the stone, the building wheezed and groaned like a waking beast. Shen Yuan froze, waiting, arms askew, for the building to decide whether to fall down or not.
Dust scattered away in the dying light, but the sound of the building settled, and through some miracle, it stayed upright.
Shen Yuan stepped carefully over the tops of the buildings, peering down between the buildings periodically to check on the threads cast out by the rift. Each step brought new creaks and groans from the fragile stone beneath his feet, and on a few instances, inspired some quick reflexes, sending tumbles of rocks careening down into the streets or the interiors of buildings. Each thunderous sound made him wince, the cacophonous echoes resonating eerily through the hush of the ruined city. Each time it happened Shen Yuan found himself frozen, ears straining as he waited for the echoes to die out, like he was expecting a responding noise to start up in the distance. It was what would happen in a horror movie!
He made it to the center of the city without incident.
The rift, as far as Shen Yuan could tell, stemmed from here. The thread he’d been following was arching out from a wider pool of inactive rift. He could count four others branching off, vanishing into the ruins of the city just like the one he followed here. It reminded him of a large insect, legs spreading out impossibly long in to the city.
There was a large stone basin at the center of the rift, directly below the fat body of the imaginary insect. Though it was dry and dusted over, Shen Yuan suspected it was formerly a fountain. A deep one too, almost as deep as a grown man was tall. There was a small dais jutting out of the center of the fountain, perhaps big enough for two people to lay down on.
He moved closer to the fountain, and with each step the humming in his bones intensified until it felt like his core itself was shivering. His head began to spin, just the littlest bit. It was strange, but not necessarily unpleasant. Shen Yuan forged ahead through the thick miasma of energy. He didn’t think it could be a coincidence that the rift formed over the center of the fountain. His boots scuffed the dry stone, loud in the emptiness of the city as he put a foot up on the edge of the basin. From his new vantage point, he could see the smooth surface had been marred by deep etchings in the stone, characters thick on the stone from edge to edge. If it was a script, it was one he didn’t recognize. Time and the elements had stolen the details, making it impossible to tell just what was written here. Shen Yuan hopped down into the dry bed of the fountain anyway, crouching down to see better.
It would make sense, considering everything, that this fountain, and whatever array was drawn here, were the cause of the inactive rift. Shen Yuan dug into his bag, fumbling for some charcoal and a clean page. He started to sketch, mapping out the clearest of the etchings, noting down where in the fountain they were located relative to the dais in the center as he worked.
There were characters on the dais itself that he could see, clearer than the others despite the dais being more exposed to the elements. He reached a hand out, hovering over the stone dais and the characters there without quite touching. He thought he could feel a faint warmth rising from the stone. Shen Yuan frowned, hand reaching out to brush over the characters there.
"You're trespassing."
"Gods and the fucking abyss!" Shen Yuan shrieked, flinging himself away from the voice that was almost breathed in to his ear.
His thighs hit the dais, the back of his knees buckling and his ass landed on the stone. He froze, hands hovering over the intricate carvings there.
There was a moment or two of frozen stillness, but nothing happened. The rift didn’t suddenly tear open, Shen Yuan wasn’t suddenly blood sacrificed. He sighed in relief, and then turned to glare at the man who interrupted him.
It was a tall demon, dressed in black and red. He wore ornate, expensive clothes, but worn carelessly, the top of his sculpted chest peaking out in a way that was rather distracting. He had pitch black hair, shining under the light of the dying sun. His features were handsome, and his eyes dark, like staring into the night sky, looking for the glimmer of stars -
"I didn't ask whether you would sleep with him, I asked if he had any defining characteristics."
"Da-ge! You - I didn't say - I was describing him, how dare you! I don’t want to sleep with him, I was just - "
"If you keep going on about his eyes I'm going to vomit - "
"Just shut up, and listen, okay!?"
The demon was just over six feet tall, with a red marking on his forehead, and a black sword at his waist. He wasn't wearing any clan symbols, but he did have what looked to be the Huan Hua palace symbol on his sash. But it was definitely a demon, so Shen Yuan figured he must be mistaking the symbol for something more familiar.
"What do you think you're doing, sneaking up on me like that?" Shen Yuan scolded. "This area is obviously unstable - you must have noticed, the rift is hard to miss - if the dais was still active you could have killed us both!" And especially him.
Both of the demon's eyebrows shot up as Shen Yuan scolded him like a child. The air grow heavier as the demon brought his aura - and wow, that was a lot of spiritual energy - to bear. Shen Yuan crossed his arms, looking at the demon with his best impression of Shen Jiu. "And stop that! I just said this area was unstable! Fluctuations in spiritual energy could easily split open the rift."
The demon scowled and scaled back his qi the tiniest bit. "You are trespassing on this Lord's lands. The presence of the rift is of no concern to this Lord when he's asking you to justify your presence here. No sects asked for permission for their disciples to investigate the rift, and this Lord is more than capable of taking care of his own territory without their interference."
Shen Yuan frowned at the formal language. He still couldn't place the symbol on the man's sash, but clearly he thought he was important. He ignored the part about the sect, because he wasn’t sent by anyone except for his own curiosity. "This isn't your land. This is unclaimed territory."
"And you are certain of that?" The man asked, arms crossed over his chest as he took a step closer. Shen Yuan was still perched awkwardly on the dais, with no where to retreat, but he refused to be cowed just because someone was tossing their spiritual energy around. He tilted his chin up defiantly, eyebrows raised cooly.
"This humble one is so glad you asked." Shen Yuan said, voice dripping with faux sweetness. The tone, or perhaps his abrupt switch to match the demon’s tone, give the stranger pause. Before he could say anything else, Shen Yuan dug into his qiankun pouch and whipped out a scroll. He turned his back on the demon, and spread the scroll out over the dais, using it as a table.
There was a moment of silence behind him as Shen Yuan smoothed out the parchment. Shen Yuan pointedly refused to turn around. The demon could either cooperate, or he could to talk to Shen Yuan’s back; that’s the compromise here. The demon stepped up alongside Shen Yuan, an odd expression on his face that Shen Yuan doesn’t even bother trying to decipher.
"See? I followed from here - " He indicated a little human town on the border between the realms, and then through the path to the demon realms. " - to here." He traced the path he took, stopping when he hit the spot where the ruins they’re standing in are. They weren’t marked on the map, and it’s a feat of willpower not to mark it down right then and there. "I was following the spiritual disturbance - the rift, so I followed this path here. Between the southern tribe here - “ He taps a spot on the map. “ - and these two smaller tribes here, they’re always fighting over this area. It gets declared neutral whenever they’re in a stalemate, and right now, they’re in a stalemate. This whole area is neutral right now. No individual tribe lays claim to it." Shen Yuan said, tapping the map triumphantly. He raised his eyebrows at the demon, daring him to come up with a rebuttal.
"Right before one side or the other claims it and starts the fighting over again." The demon said, watching Shen Yuan instead of the map that's got all the information. Shen Yuan glanced down at the map, and then quickly scribbled the ruins in on the map where they should be.
There. Better.
"True, but currently, it's neutral. Has been since that-” Shen Yuan flapped a hand in the air. He doesn’t think he’s heard the guy’s name, he hadn’t been paying attention. “- new demon took over. So I don't know what you're trying to pull, but it won't work on me."
"That new demon." The man repeated, seeming stunned. There was a low thrum in the air has the man's aura uncoils the slightest bit, wild with energy. Shen Yuan felt a tingle run down his spine, and he looked up suspiciously at the rift above them, squinting at it as it absorbs the demon’s excess qi.
"Technically, then, you're trespassing in the lands of 'that new demon'. Should you not stop to pay respects to his court?"
"That's -” Shen Yuan finally looked away, back in to the relentless eyes of the demon. “The borders are open. He hasn't closed them, so it isn't necessary. " Shen Yuan paused for a moment. "Seriously, can you calm down your aura some? The rift is reacting, I came here to close it, not make it worse. Control yourself."
The demon frowned harder at him, frustrated like he thinks Shen Yuan is being difficult on purpose. "You lack respect. Do you think because this Lord is a demon you can talk down to him?"
"Don't be an idiot!" The demon actually rocked back on his heels as Shen Yuan jabbed his fan at that salaciously bared chest. "I don't care that you're a demon! I care that your energy is poking the thing that can kill us!"
The man blinked, his fingers drumming on the hilt of his evil-looking sword. His hand finally moved off of it, and the demonic energy eased. "You’re here to seal the rift?” He asked.
Shen Yuan nodded. “Yes, thank you. It’d destabilize both realms, so its for the best to just patch it up before that happens.”
“This lord knows of a way to seal it." He said. His voice deepened and he stepped closer to where Shen Yuan was still perched on the slab.
Shen Yuan blinked. He also knew of a way to seal it. Four of them, actually. He brought supplies for two of them, but if the demon had another way, it never hurt to learn new things... "What would you suggest?"
The demon stepped closer which - it's getting crowded? There was no need to tell this like a secret. There’s no one around to eavesdrop, but the man still leaned in close, eyes half-lidded, as Shen Yuan leaned farther and farther back against the dais. This guy was seriously still trying to threaten him? He thought they were finally on the same page!
"What is your name?"
"Shen Yuan." He answers.
“Well, Shen Yuan," the demon says, saying Shen Yuan's name like a caress instead of introducing himself. "The rift will seal quite easily with just the proper entanglement of energy.” He purred into Shen Yuan's ear. His hand came down to touch the stone Shen Yuan was sitting on, fingers moving right next to his hip. "I believe this ritual stone would be the perfect place...for dual cultivation."
It took Shen Yuan a moment or two to process that - the man is so warm, it feels like heat is rolling off him in waves, and seriously? Why was he standing so close - but when it does hit, Shen Yuan wrinkled his nose. Why is it always Dual Cultivation? Every time! "Well that doesn't help us! With the rift unstable we're not going to be able to go back and get anyone for you to dual cultivate with and be back in time to close it!" Shen Yuan tapped on the demon’s chest (the clothed part) to get him to back up. He couldn't even reach his bag in this position, what is with this guy?
("What indeed." Shen Qingqiu says dryly, but refuses to elaborate when Shen Yuan asks.)
"Thankfully I have everything we need for a heaven-earth spirit mending array." Shen Yuan said, tugging his bag out from underneath the demon's other hand.
The man stared at him. "You-what?"
“I have the feathers from the ocean-soaring pearlescent crane, and some scales from a tsunami calling sea serpent. We just need to write out the array." Shen Yuan pulled his supplies out and held them up so the demon could see. He looked from the items in Shen Yuan’s hands to his face, and then back down, blinking rapidly.
Does he...not know what the array is?
"Are you making fun of me?" The demon demanded, powers flaring out around him abruptly, thick like a miasma. If Shen Yuan didn't know better he'd say the fluctuation started at the man's sword before spreading to him. He eyed the black sword distastefully. Just what kind of weapon was that?
Now wasn’t the time for that. "How is an array making fun of you?” Shen Yuan said.
The demon’s brow was furrowed. He stared at Shen Yuan in frustration before he visibly rallied. He wiped the dark look off his face, and a dark smile, sweet as drugged syrup, spread over his face, and he looked up at Shen Yuan through his thick, dark lashes.
The hair on the back of Shen Yuan’s neck stood at attention all at once, goosebumps prickling his skin. There was no need for him to sound so -
so -
dangerous! This one is cooperating with you, demon lord! No need for whatever this is!
“Dual cultivating -” The man says, in a voice like silk being dragged over skin.
“Dual cultivating isn’t necessary!” Shen Yuan interrupted, cutting off that deep voice before any more chills could chase their way over his scalp. He resisted the urge to whack the demon with his fan, right on his demon marking...barely. At least, he stopped his fan midair, pulling back right before it could make contact. The demon had actually flinched, leaning back to give Shen Yuan some space – finally! Shen Yuan stood up, brushing out his robes.
He eyed the fan, and then Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan marveled at the expression on his face, and imagined it must look similar to his own expression. He didn’t think this interaction was going how either of them imagined it, though he was definitely being a lot more straightforward than the demon, so. Join the club pal! Shen Yuan hadn’t expected to meet anyone else out here at all, except maybe a few angry and fascinating beasts. “I already said I have the stuff. It’s okay if you don’t know the array, I memorized it before I came out here for this exact reason.”
The demon seemed struck speechless. “I know the array!” He snapped, honeyed tones. Demonic energy flared, overwhelming, and then the air around them snapped -
“You are fucking kidding me.” Shen Yuan said. The one thing he hadn’t wanted to happen! “Calm down!” He told the demon, but it was too late.
Reality blurred around them, shifting and tearing. The world wobbled, merging and meshing and pulling apart again.
Parts of the world that weren’t meant to touch did, and with a vicious howl, something came through the weakened barrier.
A strong arm caught Shen Yuan around the waist, pulling him out of the way of the charging beast. It was massive, stone and masonry cracking and crumbling around it as the ruined city collapsed under its weight. Shen Yuan caught a glimpse of a curving horn, and a long snake-like tongue. Like an actually snake-like tongue, with jaws and fangs and everything.
“Black moon rhinoceros python!” Shen Yuan said, from where he was pressed in to the demon’s side. “Look, can you handle that? If I don’t stabilize the rift right now, things are going to get even worse.”
“Black moon rhinoceros python?” The demon muttered. “This lord is not familiar with them, but it won’t be a problem.”
Shen Yuan tapped on the demon’s arm to get him to let go, which he did, though it took him a moment. Probably focused on the rampaging monster. “Just avoid all the dangerous parts.”
The beast turned around, getting ready to charge again.
“Which are?” The man drew his sword, and if Shen Yuan didn’t like it before, he hated it now. That thing just oozed instability and evilness.
“All of it, basically.” Shen Yuan said, dropping down in to the fountain. “And the snake’s venomous, so especially look out for that.” He dropped down to his knees and began to draw the array.
Behind him, the ground shook, and then beast howled again. Shen Yuan couldn’t help glancing over his shoulder. The demon was fast, form graceful but strong. He moved like a typhoon, slashing at the creature’s hide with that ugly sword.
He twisted, light in the air, black hair flowing as he dodge under the snake and past the horn, blade flashing like lightning against the back of the rhinoceros’ skull.
Shen Yuan jerked his eyes away to focus on his array. He grabbed a handful of scales, crushing them with a burst of spiritual energy. It burst through the air like glitter, and above him, the cracking rift churned and roiled like a pot boiling over.
The energy coming off of the rift was giving him a headache. It felt like his teeth were about to rattle out of his skull as he scrawled, fast and loose over the stone, the characters for the array bursting out from his memory. No time to reference everything, he was just going to have to hope he was doing this right.
The entire fountain lurched alarmingly as the beast got way too close for comfort. Before Shen Yuan could get to his feet, the demon drove the rhinoceros back again. “Good job! I’m almost done, I promise! I just need a minute.” He shouted, distracted.
There was another howl – but this one was from the rift.
“There’s another coming through!” The demon shouted.
“Almost…” Shen Yuan mumbled. He took the feather out carefully, mindful of the delicate barbs along the shaft. Carefully, he channeled spiritual energy into the feather and the array at the same time. The feather took flight, the array began to glow, the air smelled kind of like tapioca for a second which Shen Yuan wasn’t expecting, and then there was a burst of light, of pure energy -
When Shen Yuan’s eyes cleared, the spidery rift was gone.
He turned, and the demon was stepping away from the limp body of the black moon rhinoceros python. Alarmingly, there was another black moon rhinoceros python.
Well. There was half of one. Apparently the rift snapped shut faster than it could react. Shen Yuan grimaced, putting a sleeve over his nose as he stepped back away from the still-steaming body. Gross.
“Is Shen Yuan okay?” The demon said, standing way too close again. His eyes were almost feverishly bright, as if the fight had excited him instead of exhausting him like a normal person. There’s a long, thin gash on his exposed chest that Shen Yuan is spending a lot of energy not looking at. This is why people wear armor!
“I’m assuming at some point you insulted this cretin?”
Shen Yuan makes a face at him and then slurps his tea, obnoxious and loud and definitely on purpose.
"He came swaggering over after he killed his rhino. I did give him some compliments because killing a black moon rhinoceros python is seriously impressive, but then he started making noises about me paying him back for saving my life.” Shen Yuan takes a deep breath and leans over the table. “Seriously? He said I owe him! What kind of nerve does this asshole have, assuming I owe him?” Shen Qingqiu sips sedately at his tea, basking in the glow of one of Shen Yuan’s rants. “If he had just accepted that I didn’t need his help with the rift, instead of getting insulted over such a stupid thing. I had to remind him that he unleashed the stupid rhino! The rift wasn’t about to open on its own any time soon, it’s only because he couldn’t keep control of his temper! The rift would have been sealed without any incident at all! No one would have been poisoned – envenomed, sorry, you pendantic jerk - “ Shen Yuan says when Shen Qingqiu opens his mouth. He hums and sips at his tea instead. “ - because nothing would have happened if he had just kept his temper! And then after all that, you know what he did?” Shen Yuan leans forward, eyes glinting. “He asked if I knew who he was. The only people who ask that are entitled assholes. Literally no one else does that. Seriously, why do people expect me to know who they are when I've never met them before?” It’s because, on average, they are people that Shen Yuan should know who they are, if he didn’t dodge current events as well as he dodged his common sense. He finally sits back, exhaling, mouth pulled into a pout, fan fluttering in front of his face. Shen Jiu narrows his eyes at the cranes on it. “So yeah, I called him some names. And he definitely deserved it! And don’t pretend you wouldn’t have done the same.” He says, glaring at Shen Jiu.
“I’m certain I would have been more creative, if I ever ended up in such a stupid situation, which is unlikely as I have more than two brain cells to rub together. So after he finished saving your life, and you finished insulting him, what happened?”
“Nothing really happened after that. He told me he was going to take me back with him. I declined, he insisted."
Shen Qingqiu feels his grip tighten on his cup, eyes snapping to his didi. Now that is much less amusing.
"I told him I didn't want to stay in the Demon realm, he went all,” Shen Yuan puffs out his chest and deepens his voice, putting a stupid expression on his face. Shen Jiu assumes its supposed to be an impression of some sort. “’You’ll be much more comfortable with this lord in his Huan Hua Palace!’ Remember the symbol I mentioned on his sash? I didn’t mistake it, it really was Huan Hua, no doubt.” He says, looking pointedly at Shen Jiu, who has frozen in his seat. “I think Huan Hua is associating with demons. Something worth looking into."
A piece slots into place in a puzzle he didn’t know he was doing. Across from him, Shen Yuan continues, blithely oblivious.
"Anyway, he kept asking, I ended up holding him off by saying you were expecting me back at Qing Jing Peak, so...he might be under the impression that I'm a disciple here." Shen Yuan says, tossing Shen Jiu a guilty look. “I didn’t say that, but it might have been implied.”
Shen Jiu doesn't bother addressing that. He's already tried several times to coax Shen Yuan into joining Qing Jing Peak, immediately starting after Shen Jiu had been appointed Peak Lord. Ming Fan is a fine head disciple, without a doubt, but he’s no Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan had resisted, insisting he didn't "want any part of that sect-politics-bullshit". Shen Jiu wanted to be angry at him for it, and had been for a while, but he's around often enough he may as well be a disciple of Qing Jing, even if he avoids the other peaks – and the other peak lords – like some sort of weird hermit. Not that Shen Jiu can talk; he avoids them too.
“And then I ran when the cure I gave him for the Black Moon Rhinoceros Python bite made him black out. It was only for a few seconds, but it seemed like a good time to hit the road.”
Shen Jiu sets his cup down, carefully. The porcelain doesn’t even clink as it touches the table. “This demon of yours, did he have a sigil on his forehead? A red sigil?”
Shen Yuan’s eyebrows shoot up, meeting Shen Jiu’s gaze across the table. “He did! How did you know?”
Shen Jiu closes his eyes. "You idiot. Do you ever listen to anything anyone tells you?"
"Hey! What? What did I do?"
"That was Luo Binghe you managed to insult." It wasn’t ideal, but not irredeemable -
The cup in Shen Yuan's hand explodes. Only Shen Jiu’s high cultivation level saves him from getting porcelain embedded in his face.
Shen Jiu glares. At least Shen Yuan recognizes the name, though his reaction is several magnitudes larger than Shen Jiu was expecting. "Buy me a new set. Cups and teapot to match, since this set is incomplete now." Shen Jiu says, pulling his sleeve out of the way of the puddle on the table.
"What? Luo- are you - no. Luo Binghe?” Shen Yuan has gone deathly pale. His gaze stares blankly at nothing, before it snaps back up to Shen Jiu. “Is he your disciple?" He demands, a hint of desperation in his voice.
Shen Jiu looks at him, disgusted by that entirely illogical leap of logic. "What the hell are you talking about?" Shen Yuan looks utterly lost, an expression Shen Jiu hasn’t seen on his brother’s face often. He feels a thread of worry. Shen Yuan recognizes the name, and yet he acts like he has zero context for it.
"He...I – dage - " The color rapidly drains and rises in Shen Yuan's face in turns, his mouth twisting, and Shen Jiu feels a matching shiver of panic. Shen Yuan’s expression is eerily similar to the time he'd suffered a minor qi deviation from hearing that Shen Jiu was now Shen Qingqiu. Shen Jiu had never managed to pry a straightforward answer from Shen Yuan about it, though Shen Yuan later said he was reacting to the horrid ‘Qiu’ name he’d been saddled with.
Right now, he reaches out and grabs Shen Yuan's wrist, carefully threading spiritual energy into him, gentle against his meridians as he coaxes Shen Yuan back into calmness. “Breathe, didi. Focus on circulating your energy. Carefully...” He tuts. “More carefully than that, little idiot.”
Shen Yuan steadies his breathing and leans into Shen Jiu a little. "Okay. I’m okay. Oh wow, okay, you're better at that than I thought you’d be. The transfer, not your bedside manner. Have you been practicing? Again, the transfer, not the bedside manner." He blabbers.
Shen Qingqiu frowns as he focuses. Transfers require a steadier, more careful use of his qi than he's used to, and his unstable base makes him a poor choice for a transfer partner. "You insisted I learn how, remember?" He sighs and closes his eyes, a small frown forming between his eyebrows as he keeps himself and his brother calm at the same time. "It wasn't a complete waste, that idiot Liu Qingge had a deviation in the Lingyi caverns some years ago." Under his fingers, Shen Yuan's settling qi explodes as surely as if someone had lit a firework in his meridians.
Shen Jiu hisses, his grip tightening as he pulls Shen Yuan's arm, lifting him out of his seat."That's it. We're going to Mu Qingfang." He moves to toss Shen Yuan over his shoulders, but in a familiar move from their childhood, Shen Yuan drops downwards and makes himself into dead weight, until he’s basically just dangling from Shen Jiu’s grip like a disobedient kitten.
"No, no! I'm okay, I'm - just keep doing that and I'll be okay! See, it's already getting better!"
Shen Jiu growls and keeps at it, trying to guide Shen Yuan back into some semblance of order, though Shen Jiu does drop Shen Yuan’s ungrateful ass back onto the floor, kneeling next to him as he works. This is - and he cannot state this enough - not his fucking area of expertise. He needs to be calm for this, but he’s finding that difficult. It was a miracle he didn't kill Liu Qingge doing this, and he's a great deal more attached to Shen Yuan than he is to that idiot.
Shen Yuan stops his slow breathing exercises to tentatively ask, "Da-ge...Luo Binghe is...not your disciple, right? Have you met him?”
Shen Jiu scowls. Shen Yuan should know all this. He always insists on keeping up to date on Shen Jiu new disciples. "No. never. He's never even been to Cang Qiong, didi. He was a Huan Hua palace disciple. I saw him compete a past Immortal Alliance Conference, but we never spoke. I only know him by rumor and reputation.”
Shen Yuan blows out a breath, squeezing his eyes shut.
“He had some falling out with the Old Palace Master, there was a fight and he was revealed to be a half-demon. That was years ago, I’m surprised you missed it. No one would shut up about it." Shen Jiu studies Shen Yuan’s face, trying to puzzle out his reactions. His qi has, at the very least, settled down. As his circulation remains steady, Shen Jiu continues. "He vanished, and everyone assumed the Old Palace Master had him killed. But then about a year ago, he showed up again. He'd claimed the demonic realm for himself, and then he took Huan Hua as well. Which was another story that everyone everywhere spoke nonstop about for a year. So most people in possession of both ears and brains know about it."
Shen Yuan doesn't react to the barb, eyes staring off into the middle distance like he's seeing something else. Shen Jiu transfers a little more qi, and then cautiously releases Shen Yuan’s wrist. Shen Yuan lists backwards to his cushion, inelegant and posture terrible. When he doesn’t immediately qi deviate again, Shen Jiu allows himself to relax, returning to his own seat.
He allows the silence to settle for a while, until some of the color has returned to Shen Yuan’s face. "Didi?" He asks.
Shen Yuan takes a deep breath. “I’m fine. I’m okay.”
“What happened?” Shen Jiu asks.
“Nothing I just - “ Shen Yuan stops, teeth gnawing at his lower lip as he refuses to look at Shen Jiu.
Shen Jiu waits him out.
“It was before we met. But...it was a long time ago. Just a dream, and it...it reminded me of that. But it’s okay! It’s nothing to worry about, really.” Shen Yuan says.
Shen Jiu stares at him, impatient and annoyed, but Shen Yuan doesn’t say anything else.
Finally, he huffs in to the silence. “Well that couldn’t have been less convincing. Truly a child would know better than to believe that. I can call in some of my disciples and test it out, if you want.” Shen Jiu says snidely.
“Jiu-dage.” Shen Yuan says. “I’m – I will be fine. It’s just a nightmare, really.” He puts the sentence out like it’s heavy with meaning that Shen Jiu isn’t picking up, face still too pale and hand trembling faintly.
Shen Jiu sighs. “Fine then. Keep it to yourself. It isn’t my problem.” Shen Jiu slaps the table and stands up, snatching the tea pot. “Wait here.” He says.
He takes the tea pot with him, slamming open cabinets as he searches the kitchen. He finally finds an unused sachet of leaves. Mu Qingfang had given them to him months ago, but they’re still fragrant. It should be fine. He takes his time, brewing the tea the proper way, head turning periodically to catch on Shen Yuan as he waits. Shen Yuan is sitting at the table, looking for all intents and purposes like he’s meditating.
When the tea is ready, he pours it all out into a single cup.
“Thanks.” Shen Yuan murmurs, when he presses the cup into his hand.
He takes a sip and then sputters, making a face. Only the force of Shen Jiu’s glare prevents him from spitting the tea back out again. He swallows, painfully, and then coughs. “Are you punishing me for something? Is this about the fan?”
“That’s my crane fan. I literally saw it in your hand.” Shen Jiu says. “But no. It’s a medicine. For dreamless sleep. You nearly qi deviated, you need to rest tonight.”
“But Luo Binghe - “
“We’ll deal with it tomorrow. He can’t do anything to you tonight.” Shen Jiu says, pushing the cup back towards Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan picks it up, but doesn’t drink, looking unconvinced. “But - “
“Did he try to kill you?” Shen Jiu asks. Shen Yuan shakes his head. “Did he say he wanted you dead? Did you cause enough insult that he would have recourse to demand Qing Jing Peak hand you over?” Reluctantly, Shen Yuan shakes his head. “Then it will keep for the night. If he believes you're a disciple of Qing Jing it's unlikely he'll smash the barriers down to get at you. He's maintained a good relationship with Cang Qiong thus far, and from the sounds of it, you were only trespassing as far as he's claimed the entire demon realm for himself. Perhaps he was angling for a favor from you, by insisting you were trespassing. Regardless, Cang Qiong can stand up to the demon long enough to make sure he doesn’t have any unreasonable demands. And he has, thus far been entirely reasonable. For a demon, anyway.” Luo Binghe had caused an uproar by taking over Huan Hua, but none of the sects had felt they had enough recourse to stand against him. “Luo Binghe has worked hard to maintain his status as someone...if not respectable” Shen Jiu refused to call a demon respectable. “then a close imitation of someone respectable that we probably bargain him down to a fine. For the trespassing."
Shen Yuan sighs, hand tightening on the cup. "Jiu-dage, I don't want to cause trouble for the sect. I don't want him to - " Shen Yuan stops, fumbling over his words, and for a moment he looks stricken.
Shen Qingqiu flips his fan shut and brings it down on Shen Yuan's head, just a spark of qi behind it. "Breathe! Slowly!"
Shen Yuan jumps a little at the smack, but the jolt is enough to clear his head and he obeys, forcing himself back to calmness. Shen Jiu hates it, hates knowing Shen Yuan is so close to a deviation without any idea why or where it’s coming from. "It will be fine, A-Yuan. You haven't done anything egregious, there's no reason for him to launch whatever assault your panicked brain is showing you. This is going to be nothing more than an inconvenience in the long run. At most you'll have to apologize. If he wants gold or an artifact or something the most trouble will be for An Ding Peak and all the paperwork they’ll have to do." Shen Jiu tells him.
Shen Yuan sags, finally. He stares down moodily at his cup of tea, and then tilts it back, drinking it like it’s liquor he doesn’t want to taste. He grimaces and sets the cup down. “Please tell me I don’t have to drink more than that.”
“One cup should do it. I only made enough for one cup anyway. Up, you’re going to be tired and I’m not carrying you to bed.” Shen Jiu says, tugging on Shen Yuan’s arm. This time he comes up easily enough. Despite what he said, Shen Jiu supports most of Shen Yuan’s weight as he brings him to the spare bedroom in his house.
“That tea works fast!” Shen Yuan mumbles, leaning heavily into Shen Jiu, his shuffling feet working better to trip them up than do anything useful.
He sighs and then blinks in surprise at the ceiling as Shen Jiu drops him into the bed and strips off his boots. “Head.” Shen Jiu demands. Shen Yuan lifts his head up, letting Shen Jiu remove the wooden hair pin he’s been favoring, hair uncurling against the pillow.
“Sorry, Jiu-ge.” Shen Yuan mumbles, eyes already shutting. “I was just...I was just remembering something but...that’s not here. It was somewhere else because...things are different.”
Shen Jiu pauses, trying to parse that, thinking of far too many things in their childhood that had always been odd. Another Shen Yuan oddity, and not one he can explore right now. He sets the wooden hair pin down next to the bed. “Shut up and sleep.” He says instead, using his fingers to untwist Shen Yuan’s ponytail.
Shen Yuan makes a vague noise, and his eyes shut fully, body going limp as sleep takes him. Shen Jiu tosses the covers over him, and heads back into the kitchen, thinking of dreams and the past as he cleans up spilled tea and broken shards of porcelain.
He wasn’t overly fond of this tea set, but he will still make Shen Yuan buy him a new one. He starts to pick the remaining the shards of porcelain from the puddle of tea.
Shen Yuan has always been strange, even back in the Qiu household. Yue Qingyuan had left, and never come back, and Shen Yuan had shown up and clung to Shen Jiu like sticky rice. Young, vulnerable and so strange; strange with his reactions, both his knowledge and his ignorance in turns greater than it should be in the strangest places. But all of it has never been a threat. This talk of dreams is just more strangeness.
Shen Jiu throws away the old shards, and then wipes up the tea. He’ll interrogate Shen Yuan tomorrow.