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Chapter Text

The sect members gathered in Hua Yue City looked on in shock at the spectacle happening in front of them. Who could’ve expected that the famed Xiu Ya sword, Shen Qingqiu, would self-detonate in order to save his old disciple, Luo Binghe?

It seemed as though the disciple in question couldn’t believe it either, as he cradled the now lifeless body in his arms. 

“...If Shizun really did wrong you in some way, and you can’t under any circumstances forgive him, then at least today he finally repaid it all, right?”

The speaker was Ning Yingying, Luo Binghe’s former sect sister and only friend. She stood a few feet away from Luo Binghe, stopping others from attacking him, and yet speaking words that cut deeper than any blade ever could.

“So from now on, you…” Ning Yingying turned her head away. “I ask that you…stop calling him ‘Shizun.’”

“Repaid?” Luo Binghe couldn’t move his eyes from Shen Qingqiu’s face. He recalled that Shizun had said something about repaying him.

Had Shen Qingqiu been saying…that in exchange for pushing Luo Binghe into the Endless Abyss, he would also fall for his sake?

Luo Binghe started to panic.

“I don’t want you to repay me! I…I just couldn’t get over my anger.” Luo Binghe was speaking to himself, forgetting about the crowd of onlookers around him. “I just couldn’t get over it. Whenever you saw me, you acted like you’d seen a ghost. Then you would happily smile and laugh with others, when in the past you only did that with me. And to me—you would only say the bare minimum to me.”

Luo Binghe swallowed.

“And you kept suspecting me of everything…But I was wrong.”

The words fell out of his mouth, stammering and stuttering, as he wiped the blood away from Shen Qingqiu’s face. 

“You disdained me for being a demon, so I was afraid that if I returned directly to Cang Qiong Mountain, you’d throw me out. I thought if I took over Huan Hua Palace and became like you, a leader of righteous cultivators, I could maybe make you happy…”

Luo Binghe’s voice trembled. “Shizun…I…I really…”

But the words never got to escape Luo Binghe’s lips. For at that moment, a bright flash engulfed the city.

[SYSTEM ERROR: WORLDLINE DEVIATION > 75%]

[PROBABILITY OF REACHING DESIRED ENDING: < 3%]

[PROTOCOL: “IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT, DO IT YOURSELF” — AUTOMATICALLY ACTIVATED]

Everything went dark.

—————

Luo Binghe’s eyes shot open. 

He blinked, unable to process the new surroundings for a moment. His mind was still consumed with the view of Shizun’s body lying cold and motionless on the ground. He could still feel Shen Qingqiu’s drying blood on his hands. Luo Binghe looked down at his red-stained hands, making no move to wipe the blood off. 

It might be the last thing he had of his Shizun now, after all. 

Luo Binghe looked up, finally remembering the bright flash from before. He blinked in surprise, realizing that he was no longer in Hua Yue City. Instead, he was now in what appeared to be a large, circular room. It appeared well lit, despite there being no windows to let in the sun, and no candles or torches hanging to provide light. 

He also wasn’t alone. 

Luo Binghe looked around, and realized that he more or less recognized every person in the room. It looked like they had all been transported and were now standing in a large circle. 

Directly across from him was Liu Qingge, who scowled when Luo Binghe made eye contact. Luo Binghe scowled right back, purposefully flashing his fangs. He refused to be intimidated by a brute like Liu Qingge. 

Standing on either side of him were Ning Yingying and Ming Fan. He supposed that made sense, seeing as they were the closest to him before they were taken to…wherever this was. Ming Fan glared at him, looking like he wanted to continue what he’d started in Hua Yue City before Ning Yingying had stopped him. Luo Binghe had no issue with returning his glare.

Also in the room was the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect Leader, Yue Qingyuan, who stood next to Liu Qingge. He was joined by Qi Qingqi, Wei Qingwei, and Mu Qingfang. On the other side of the circle was Shang Qinghua, Liu Mingyan, and…Gongyi Xiao??? Luo Binghe clearly remembered Shizun speaking of the death of the other disciple.

He also remembered being blamed for that death.

Unable to stop himself, Luo Binghe blurted out, “What are you doing here?”

This not only brought attention to himself, but also to Gongyi Xiao, who was looking around in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Ming Fan scowled. “Did you make a mistake when bringing us to this place, and accidently bring him along?”

Luo Binghe growled. “I didn’t bring us here.”

“Sure you didn’t,” Ming Fan scoffed. 

“I didn’t!” Luo Binghe insisted. “Regardless of that fact, he’s supposed to be dead!” He pointed at Gongyi Xiao.

Ming Fan paused, following his finger. He, along with Ning Yingying and Liu Qingge, had been in Hua Yue City before this, and had heard of Gongyi Xiao’s untimely death during Shen Qingqiu’s escape from the Water Prison. So how then, was he here, in this room, alive and well?

“Wha—dead?!” Gongyi Xiao exclaimed. “What are you talking about?”

“I hate to agree with the beast, but he’s right,” Liu Qingge chimed in, also staring at Gongyi Xiao.

“Why would I be dead? Who’s been spreading these lies?” Gongyi Xiao looked around in confusion.

Ning Yingying tentatively raised her hand. “The Huan Hua Palace disciples confirmed that you were dead just recently. But they claimed that it was Shizun who took your life during his escape, which must be a mistake! Shizun would never do such a horrible thing!”

Ming Fan and Luo Binghe nodded in agreement, for once.

“They’re saying Senior Shen killed me?” Gongyi Xiao was shocked. “But I helped Senior Shen escape the Water Prison! He’s gone already, and as we can see, I’m still alive.”

“You helped Xiao-Jiu escape?” Yue Qingyuan spoke for the first time, looking at Gonyi Xiao with interest. 

Gongyi Xiao looked startled and slightly nervous at being addressed directly by such an esteemed figure, but managed to give a respectful salute before answering. 

“I did, yes. Senior Shen had said it was of the utmost importance that he left the Water Prison, and…I believed that Senior Shen was not being taken care of or respected to the degree that he should have been.” At this, Gongyi Xiao’s eyes slid over to Luo Binghe, before quickly looking away.

Luo Binghe bristled. What did that irrelevant, unworthy Shizun-stealer think he was implying?

“In that case, you have my thanks,” Yue Qingyuan inclined his head towards Gongyi Xiao. “I’m glad to know that someone was looking out for Xiao-Jiu during his imprisonment.”

Gongyi Xiao flushed, and gave a deeper bow back.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Qi Qingqi said, not looking sorry at all, “but where are we? And how did we all get here?”

Reminded of their circumstances, everyone started looking around at the room they were in. Everyone except Luo Binghe, for he had been reminded of something very important.

“Where’s Shizun?”

Everyone looked back at him. Ming Fan’s face turned red.

“Stop calling him that! We’ve asked you so many times and you still can’t listen? Even Shimei told you to stop!”

Ning Yingying looked down, a somber expression on her face, but didn’t disagree with Ming Fan’s words.

Luo Binghe ignored him. “Where is he? He was right in front of me, so he should be here too.” He scanned over everyone in the circle again to make sure he didn’t somehow miss his Shizun among them, before looking over the rest of the room.

“Stop it! He’s not here, obviously! Don’t you remember that you’ve killed him!” Ming Fan shouted in his face.

Luo Binghe lunged towards Ming Fan in a rage, just barely managing to stop himself when Ning Yingying ran in between them, pleading with them to stop.

“I did not! And so what if he’s dead? That one was dead, and he’s here, so where’s Shizun?” Luo Binghe yelled back, gesturing wildly at Gongyi Xiao.

“I’m still waiting for someone to elaborate on that,” Gongyi Xiao muttered.

“What do you mean, ‘Shen Qingqiu is dead’?” A sharp voice cut through the other noise in the room. Luo Binghe and Ming Fan froze. They both looked over to see an indescribable expression on Yue Qingyuan’s face. 

Before anyone could say anything, they were interrupted. Everyone jumped as a bright blue box appeared in the middle of the circle.

[SHEN QINGQIU IS DEAD. THAT IS THE PROBLEM.]

The words appeared on the box, and at the same, a loud voice read them off. The voice sounded unlike a human voice, despite speaking their language, and yet there was no other word to describe it. 

“What is that thing?” Qi Qingqi screeched. No one responded. They all watched as the words disappeared, before new ones took their place, the same voice reading them out as they appeared. 

[WELCOME TO THE SYSTEM.]

“System?” Mu Qingfang asked. He didn’t get any answers.

[THIS SYSTEM IS VERY DISPLEASED. THIS TIMELINE IS REACHING UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS OF DISSATISFACTION. DESIRED ENDING PROBABILITY: < 3%. PLEASE RECTIFY AT ONCE.]

What did that mean? Luo Binghe looked around, but everyone appeared just as confused as he was. 

[PLEASE RECTIFY. INITIATING “IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT, DO IT YOURSELF” PROTOCOL. THANK YOU FOR USING THIS SYSTEM. PLEASE ENJOY :) ]

Chapter Text

The gathered members continued to stare at the message on the glowing box in confusion, none of their questions having been answered. Multiple people started speaking, but were cut off by the message changing.

[PLEASE BE SEATED.]

Several couches and chairs suddenly appeared in a semi-circle facing the screen, causing sounds of shock to erupt.

“Ok seriously!” Qi Qingqi exclaimed. “What is this place?”

No one had an answer for her.

[PLEASE BE SEATED.] 

The message continued to shine on them. Yue Qingyuan walked towards the couches, yet didn’t sit down, appearing to inspect them. The others came closer as well, still unnerved by everything that had happened.

[PLEASE BE SEATED.]

The message started to flash with urgency. Apparently they were taking too long to sit down.

“Um…,” A meek voice started. It was Shang Qinghua, who squeaked nervously as everyone turned to look at him. “Um, perhaps we should do what the message says? It might help us get out of here quicker. Plus, we don’t know what will happen if we don’t listen…” he started trailing off, looking more and more unsure.

“What, we’re just supposed to listen to this random thing that appeared out of nowhere and kidnapped us all?” Qi Qingqi gestured towards the floating message. “We don’t even know what that thing is!”

Unfortunately for him, Shang Qinghua knew exactly what that “thing” was. Too bad he couldn’t tell anyone that. 

“I understand that,” he responded, “But doing what it says is probably our only way out of here. The longer we wait, the longer it’s going to take.”

“What makes you say that, Shang-shidi?” Yue Qingyuan questioned.

“Well…,” Shang Qinghua scratched his cheek. “This room has no other entrances or exits. Whatever brought us here is most likely going to have to be the one to release us as well.”

Everyone took a closer look at the room, realising that the An Ding peak lord was correct.

“No doors and no windows,” Wei Qingwei murmured.

Liu Qingge scoffed. “I’ll just bust a wall down with my spiritual power. There’s no reason for us to stay in this unknown place.”

“Yeah, but,” Shang Qinghua spoke up again, “none of us have our swords.”

Everyone startled, hands flying to their waists. Shouts of shock and anger erupted as they found that Shang Qinghua was right once again. 

“Enough!” 

The loud voice shot through the noise of the room, drawing everyone’s attention. It was Yue Qingyuan, who cleared his throat before speaking in his usual soft tone. “Please.”

He continued. “I agree with Shang-shidi. Whatever this being is that brought us here is clearly very powerful and unknown to us. For now, I think it best that we listen to what it’s telling us to do.” He nodded his head towards the still flashing message above.

“For how long?” Qi Qingqi did not look happy.

“Until a way to leave is provided to us. We should gather what information we can, and then try to escape this place.” Yue Qingyuan reasoned.

There were some grumblings and mutterings, but everyone ultimately agreed. Right now, there wasn’t much they could do, and there was no sense in angering an obviously powerful being. Especially not one that was capable of containing multiple peak lords. With that in mind, they moved to take their seats.

Yue Qingyuan, Mu Qingfang, Qi Qingqi, and Wei Qingwei shared the large couch in the middle of the semi-circle. To their left, Liu Qingge and Liu Mingyan shared a smaller couch, and Shang Qinghua took the single chair at the end. Gongyi Xiao took the single seat to the right of the peak lords, while Ning Yingying and Ming Fan shared the small couch next to it. Luo Binghe settled into another single chair at the end.

They had all just barely gotten settled when the message changed one last time.

[PLEASE ENJOY THE SHOW.]

Before anyone got the chance to speak, a new, slightly familiar voice spoke from the screen.

“Proud Immortal Demon Way was a male power fantasy of a novel.”

Shang Qinghua paled.

“Proud Immortal…Demon Way?” Wei Qingwei repeated. “What is that?”

“I guess we’ll find out,” Mu Qingfang responded. 

The screen displayed rows of demonic soldiers standing outside a grand palace at the top of a mountain. More lined the stairs heading up into a grand hall, headed by an ornate throne. The face of whoever was sitting there wasn’t shown, but they could see that he had several women in revealing clothing draped around him on the arms and back of the chair.

“To be more specific,” the voice continued, “Proud Immortal Demon Way was a monster-fighting, escapist cultivation novel with an incomparably ridiculous length, a golden finger that broke every rule, and a harem nearing three-digits.”

Shang Qinghua was starting to get the feeling that he knew whose voice was coming from the screen. He also had a feeling that he knew what they were about to be watching.

‘Oh, Cucumber Bro, what has the system gotten us into now?’

He almost envied Shen Qingqiu for being currently dead. At least he wouldn’t have to face everyone directly once his secrets were revealed. Shang Qinghua held on to the faint hope that he might be able to escape this unscathed, but he knew that it was unlikely. 

He glanced nervously around the group, eyes landing on Luo Binghe and Yue Qingyuan. Depending on how this was presented, those two had the highest likelihood of having a bad reaction. Especially once Yue Qingyuan found out that Shen Qingqiu wasn’t his precious Xiao-Jiu.

‘He’s been so happy that his relationship with Shen Qingqiu has improved lately,’ Shang Qinghua lamented. ‘It might break him to know that Shen Jiu died before they had the chance to reconcile.’ 

He returned his attention to the screen, hoping that the violence in the room would be kept to a minimum. 

The figure in the throne gestured to one of the soldiers. He shouted a command, and the screen changed to show two men dragging a large pot up the stairs to the palace, with what appeared to be a human head sticking out of it, though they could only see it from behind. They stopped in front of the throne.

“How brutal,” Gongyi Xiao frowned. “What could anyone do to deserve such a punishment?”

The others murmured out agreements, some looking unnerved at the inhumane depiction. Ning Yingying in particular looked distressed at the view. 

“We all know that in these types of stories, the one who is the strongest must be the protagonist…”

Finally, the screen revealed the face of the man in the throne to be none other than Luo Binghe. He leaned forward and smirked at the sight in front of him, a demonic seal glowing on his forehead.

Everyone turned to look at Luo Binghe, who was unable to hide the surprise on his face. 

“So you do know something about this!” Ming Fan accused.

“I don’t,” Luo Binghe shot back, but his focus remained on the screen and the image of himself. It was unsettling. It was undeniably him, and yet it wasn’t. 

“Forget that,” Qi Qingqi said, “Since when was this boy a heavenly demon?”

She pointed straight at the red mark glowing in the center of the on-screen Luo Binghe’s forehead. Mu Qingfang and Wei Qingwei jerked, having noticed it for the first time. Even Liu Mingyan’s eyes widened in surprise. Their eyes went straight to the present Luo Binghe, and the lack of mark on his forehead. 

Liu Qingge and Ming Fan had severe expressions on their faces. They, of course, had seen the revelation that Luo Binghe was a demon in Hua Yue City, but had been distracted by Shen Qingqiu’s following self-detonation, and hadn’t had a chance to address it. Ning Yingying bit her lip, looking nervously between Luo Binghe and the others, worried that a fight would break out in the room.

Yue Qingyuan opened his mouth.

“Luo-shizi…,” he trailed off. “Is this true?”

Luo Binghe stared him down, not saying anything. His eyes glanced over the room’s occupants, taking in the various expressions of nervousness, anger, and confusion.

“Yes, it is,” he finally replied, “Although I wasn’t aware for many years.”

No one really knew what to say to the revelation. While certain people had stronger feelings on the matter, they didn’t necessarily want to start fighting in this small room. Not to mention, they had no swords to fight with. Plus, if Luo Binghe was going to do something to them, he likely would’ve done so already. If he had been the one with the power to take all of them here, if he’d wanted to hurt them, he wouldn’t go through the effort of making them watch whatever visions these are.

Without any further conversation, the screen started to play again.

“...and anyone more arrogant than him must be a villain who will then be defeated by the protagonist.”

The view changed to the man in the pot. He was beat up. His hair was unkempt, hanging like a curtain in front of his face at first, but then he looked up and made eye contact with Luo Binghe.

It was undeniable. The face belonged to Shen Qingqiu.

The room went quiet. 

This was quickly broken as several people leapt to their feat. 

“What is the meaning of this?!” Liu Qingge roared towards Luo Binghe.

“Why is Shizun in a pot? And why is A-Luo there?” Ning Yingying cried. 

The other peak lords—barring Shang Qinghua and Yue Qingyuan—were also throwing questions in Luo Binghe’s direction. As for the sect leader, he sat frozen, staring at the image of the beat up Shen Qingqiu. His fists were clenched so hard that blood was starting to break through his fingers. 

Shang Qinghua watched, whole body tense, as Luo Binghe started towards the screen. “What cruel trick is this? Who would do that to Shizun?”

“Apparently yourself,” Ming Fan retorted. “Who else but a demon could do such a thing?” The only thing stopping him from jumping Luo Binghe was Gongyi Xiao, who had quickly placed himself between the two hot-headed disciples. 

Luo Binghe whirled around. “I’ve done no such thing! This scene has never happened, so where are these images coming from?”

“Who can say,” Qi Qingqi broke through. Her eyes were trained on Luo Binghe, cataloging his movements. “But it’s clear now that all of this has something to do with you. You can’t keep denying that.”

Luo Binghe’s hands trembled with restrained rage. He knew that he couldn’t fight all of the peak lords at the moment (plus Ming Fan he supposed), but how dare they presume that he could ever willingly harm Shizun in such a way! 

His jaw tensed with rage, mouth filling with scathing words that he just barely managed to keep from saying. 

“Excuse me,” a soft voice broke through the tension. 

It was Liu Mingyan, who, keeping to her nature as a quiet beauty, had not spoken until now. After gaining everyone’s attention, she gave a polite bow in greeting before speaking.

“We are all understandably shocked and upset at what we saw on the screen, and I know we all have questions about what we’ve seen. However, I don’t believe that Luo Binghe knows anything about the images on the screen.” 

She looked over at Luo Binghe, who nodded slowly. He hadn’t been expecting anyone to speak up in order to defend him.

“I think the best way to learn more about the situation is to keep watching. At this point, none of us in this room can provide any answers.”

Shang Qinghua twitched.

Some people (i.e. Liu Qingge and Ming Fan) looked as if they would rather just beat the answers out of Luo Binghe themselves, but relented when Yue Qingyuan motioned for them to return to their seats. Everyone slowly sat down, still able to feel the tension in the room. 

Shang Qinghua realized that the screen had frozen on the image of the other Shen Qingqiu in the pot while they had been arguing. 

‘Probably to make sure we don’t miss anything,’ he presumed. 

Once everyone was settled back in, the screen continued, thankfully moving away from the unsettling image of Shen Qingqiu.

“Now, let this Shen Yuan omit the countless fanservice-y details and concisely summarize the million-word epic for everyone,” the narrator—Shen Yuan, apparently—continued.

“Our protagonist’s story begins in the icy cold waters of the Luo River.” As Shen Yuan spoke, the viewers saw his words playing out in a cartoonish style, almost like something out of a storybook. A baby drifted in a wooden basket down the river in the middle of winter.

Numerous eyes glanced at Luo Binghe, who was watching the screen with a furrowed brow. 

“Why was he there, you may ask? To create a mysterious identity, of course!”

“What is this guy talking about?” Qi Qingqi asked, amused at the nonchalant way their narrator was speaking. 

A woman was shown next, lifting the baby out of the basket.

“Our protagonist was adopted by a kind woman. Since he was discovered in winter in the Luo River, he was given the name Luo Binghe.”

The scenes showed Luo Binghe as a young child watching his adoptive mother working, helping her in the kitchen, and receiving a jade pendant, always with a smile on his face.

Luo Binghe’s expression finally lightened upon seeing his adoptive mother. He gazed with warm eyes at the depiction of the women on the screen, drinking her in. He would never forget his mother, but it had been so long since he’d seen her that certain aspects of her appearance had started to fade from his memory. The way her eyes crinkled when she smiled, for example. 

Luo Binghe still wasn’t sure about this place, but he could be thankful for the gift of getting to see his mom again. 

His smile dropped slightly at the sight of the jade pendant. His hand automatically reached up to his neck to grasp it, yet felt only air. He let his hand fall. The loss of that pendant will always be one of his greatest regrets.

A few seats down, Ming Fan recalled the scuffle from a few years ago over that same pendant. He shifted in his seat, feeling slightly guilty. Looking at the young Luo Binghe on the screen, it was clear that the jade pendant meant a lot to him. Ming Fan glanced at the Luo Binghe of now, but looked away without saying anything. 

He could acknowledge that the Luo Binghe of the past didn’t deserve to lose his precious item, but that didn’t erase the harm and hurt that the current Luo Binghe had caused his Shizun. Ming Fan couldn’t forgive him for that, and felt that Luo Binghe no longer deserved his apology.

Plus, he doubted Luo Binghe would accept it anyway.

“There will always be warmth in this world, just as good deeds will always be repaid–”

Abruptly the images switched to young Luo Binghe in tears.

“Hey! Don’t give us an orphaned protagonist for a second time! I wonder if anyone dares to save someone from a river again!”

Luo Binghe was kneeling in front of a shrine to his adoptive mother. It was clear what had happened.

No one commented on the scene, many averting their eyes. Even Ming Fan stayed silent, not teasing Luo Binghe on his tears the way he usually would’ve done. 

Regardless of their feelings towards the half-demon now, they could offer silence in respect of the kindly washer woman. 

Luo Binghe’s face remained stoic. He had already cried and come to terms with his adoptive mother’s death years ago. He wasn’t going to break down now, especially not in front of people such as Liu Qingge and Ming Fan. 

“All right. Tragic backstory, check. Next, our protagonist went to improve himself at one of the cultivation world’s four greatest sects.”

Luo Binghe didn’t smile, but the corners of his lips lifted slightly. While he didn’t enjoy his life being read out like a story for all of these people, he couldn’t deny that the narrator’s way of speaking was quite amusing. It was almost…cute.

It seemed others shared his opinion. Qi Qingqi in particular was trying to hide her giggles at the abrupt change in subject by their narrator.

The shaking of her shoulders gave her away.

The images showed young Luo Binghe staring up at the mountain where Cang Qiong sect resided, clearly on his way to try and be accepted as a disciple.

“There, he apprenticed under the Xiu Ya Sword, Shen Qingqiu.”

Shen Yuan’s voice shifted when he mentioned the name of the peak lord, adopting a much more derisive tone.

Many people, Luo Binghe and Yue Qingyuan in particular, frowned at the way their narrator, Shen Yuan, spat the name of Shen Qingqiu.

The screen showed young Luo Binghe kneeling in front of Shen Qingqiu, the moment he was accepted as his disciple.

“What he didn’t know was that Shen Qingqiu was fair without but foul within, trash of the lowest caliber.” 

With every insult issued, Luo Binghe and Yue Qingyuan’s frowns deepened.

“He was jealous of Luo Binghe’s exceptional talent and always found new ways to taunt and demean him, even enlisting his peers to belittle him. During those years of studying, Luo Binghe endured every humiliation.”

The images showed Shen Qingqiu looking angrily at the kneeling Luo Binghe before cutting to a scene of him stringing the boy up and beating him with a whip.

Ning Yingying gasped, hands flying to her mouth. The young girl, though she knew that her Shizun and sect siblings had been harder on Luo Binghe, had always been spared from seeing the harshest punishments. Seeing her now kind and gentle Shizun whip a tied up Luo Binghe with a sneer on his face seemed wrong. She looked towards Luo Binghe who seemed strangely unbothered by the scene on the screen. He sent her a reassuring look.

Ming Fan did his best to hide his displeasure at the scene before him. Though he had been one of Luo Binghe’s biggest tormentors in the past, looking back on those actions brought to light how immature he had been. His Shizun had taught him the importance of kindness and respect the past few years, though Shen Qingqiu would never know it. 

While he’d never given a lecture on the matter, his disciples hung on his every word and did their best to follow his actions. After his qi deviation, Shizun always had a kind word for everyone, and was noticeably displeased whenever he saw any form of bullying on the peak. While Ming Fan still didn’t know what had caused the sudden personality shift, in his heart he had to admit that he preferred this new version of his Shizun, and knew that he’d be disappointed in Ming Fan’s past actions.

He noticed that Gongyi Xiao seemed especially shocked at the ugly display before them. It made sense, Ming Fan pondered. The other youth had never known Shen Qingqiu before his qi deviation. He only knew of the kind peak lord who doted on Luo Binghe and mourned his death deeply. There was no wonder that the sight of Shen Qingqiu taking a whip to Luo Binghe’s back was such an unexpected sight for him.

The peak lords shifted uncomfortably. It had kind of been an open secret that Shen Qingqiu would punish the young disciple harshly, but knowing about it and seeing it were two different things. 

Yue Qingyuan felt especially guilty. As sect leader, it was his job to reign in the other peak lords and make sure that they were ruling over their peak fairly. Their disciples were there to learn, and it was important that they were in a productive environment to do so. Yes, they still had punishments for wrong doings, but only when it was truly deserved. Yue Qingyuan knew that most, if not all, of Luo Binghe’s punishments were not. 

Despite that, he could never bring himself to reprimand Shen Qingqiu too harshly, not after all the pain he’d gone through due to Yue Qingyuan’s own failures. Because of this, even though he’d felt sorry for the young disciple, he’d never told the other peak lord to stop the frequent abuse. Letting his Xiao-Jiu do as he pleased had become a habit he’d been unable to break—an insufficient way to try and make up for their pasts. 

Looking at it from an outside perspective, it was clear that he’d made the wrong decision. That was a repeating story in his life, it appeared.

“Luo-shizi…,” Yue Qingyuan started, not quite sure what to say. 

“No need to worry,” Luo Binghe sent him a tight lipped smile. “This disciple has already forgiven Shizun for these events. Let us simply move on.”

Yue Qingyuan was unsure, but Luo Binghe returned his attention to the screen, clearly done with the conversation. Yue Qingyuan did as well, not wanting to make a fuss over something the recipient has deemed unnecessary.

“If you are a villain, remember this: never throw your talented disciple down a cliff no matter how much you despise him, alright? Because the pain will always end up being a blessing for him. Kicking him down the cliff is like getting him a scholarship!”

The scene showed a cliff, surrounded by flames. Shen Qingqiu stood at the top, while young Luo Binghe fell from the edge. On his forehead, a demonic symbol glowed red.

The room was silent for a moment. 

“Wait,” Wei Qingwei was utterly dumbfounded. “Shen-shixiong pushed you into the Endless Abyss?” He twisted to look at Luo Binghe. “That’s why you disappeared after the Immortal Alliance Conference? But…that makes no sense!”

Mu Qingfang nodded alongside him. 

“Yes,” he recalled. “Shen-shixiong was quite distraught after those events. I couldn’t see him bringing himself to do such a thing to Luo-shizi.”

The other peak lords, even Liu Qingge, nodded. They had all seen the way Shen Qingqiu had fallen apart after the supposed death of his beloved disciple. Him hating Luo Binghe to the point of pushing him into the Endless Abyss—don’t make them laugh!

Luo Binghe frowned. In all honesty, the events on the edge of the Endless Abyss were something he was still trying to figure out himself. More than anything, he’d wanted Shizun to explain himself about why he pushed him in.

He supposed that wouldn’t be possible anymore.

Luo Binghe swallowed, before answering.

“Shizun did indeed push this one into the Endless Abyss during the Immortal Alliance Conference. I couldn’t presume to tell you why, however. I myself am unsure, after all.”

The others could see that it was a touchy subject, and decided to let it go for the moment, turning their attention back to the screen.

“With that scholarship– I mean, with a grudge, our protagonist finally has a goal.”

Shang Qinghua did his best to stifle a snort.

A fire lit in Luo Binghe’s eyes, his expression dark and angry.

“Now in the Endless Abyss, Luo Binghe discovered the legendary sword Xin Mo and used it to release his body’s seal on his demonic heritage. Then, he single-mindedly cultivated and enlightened himself to otherworldly techniques, heading steadily down the dark path.”

An older Luo Binghe held a dark sword, standing on top of a pile of skulls while flames burned around him.

At this sight, Liu Qingge couldn’t help but look at the Luo Binghe in the room with them. The sword in the vision matched the one that he’d seen the demon use in Hua Yue City—the one wreathed in demonic energy. This Luo Binghe also was dressed in darker clothes similar to the one above them. All things considered, this vision seemed to be showing the threat he was on his way to becoming.

Liu Qingge sneered. The beast had already killed Shen Qingqiu, a debt the Bai Zhan Peak Lord still needed to repay. If the demon even thought about coming for the rest of Cang Qiong Mountain before that, Liu Qingge would be ready for him.

“What did he do with that sword? Of course, he fought the demon lord of the demon realm and took his daughter into his harem!”

The images showed Luo Binghe fighting a large, shadowy demonic figure for a moment before swapping to a picture of him standing with his arm wrapped around Sha Hualing, who was clinging tightly to his side.

Luo Binghe looked faintly disgusted.

“He fought the evil clan leader of Huan Hua palace and took his granddaughter into his harem!”

Similarly, they saw Luo Binghe swinging his sword at the Huan Hua palace master and then him holding the girl, who was smiling at him lovingly.

The half-demon almost gagged.

“He fought his old villainous master and took his childhood friend into his harem!”

Luo Binghe faced off with Shen Qingqiu. The peak lord’s eyes widened as Luo Binghe darted forward, and then in a splatter of blood, Shen Qingqiu was on the ground. Paying no attention to the body of his Shizun, Luo Binghe walked away with an enamoured Ning Yingying on his arm.

Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe looked at each other awkwardly, ignoring Ming Fan who was grinding his teeth next to them. They both looked away at the same time, deciding to ignore that fact until it became relevant. 

Either way, it was clear that the “them” of now did not hold the same feelings as their counterparts in the vision.

“No one could stand in his way. In the end he was the unchallenged ruler of the unified three realms and his harem count stood in triple digits. He was a legend!”

Qi Qingqi choked. “Tr-triple digits?!”

No one knew what to say. It was truly an incomprehensible number. Luo Binghe showed his displeasure with the projection, frowning heavily, but didn’t say anything. Obviously, whoever was up there in the vision was not him. There was only one person he wanted in his so-called “harem.”

Once again, they saw the throne. Luo Binghe sat on it with women surrounding him on all sides.

“Meanwhile the villain who had caused him so much pain lived out the rest of his days as a miserable man trapped in a pickle pot.”

Shen Qingqiu was shown again, reduced to a head sticking out of a pot, in front of Luo Binghe to be mocked and tormented.

Luo Binghe frowned again. Clearly, this vision's only goal was to cause him displeasure with false events.

Words flashed across the screen then: “Chapter 6666: Finale”

The scene changed abruptly to a dark room, the images no longer animated. A young man sat in front of a brightly glowing screen. His hair was short, his clothing unfamiliar, and he wore a pair of glasses. The previous images of Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu sat on the screen in front of him.

Mu Qingfang tilted his head. “He was reading some sort of…book?”

“Some sort of book about us, it appears,” Wei Qingwei said. 

“But so much of it was wrong!” Ming Fan burst out, forgetting momentarily that he was speaking to multiple sect peak lords. “About half of that stuff was either incorrect or never happened!”

“And yet a lot of it was true as well,” Yue Qingyuan said calmly. “Clearly, the book was based on some sort of factual knowledge. What we should be concerned with is where that information came from.”

Shang Qinghua did his best to fade into the background.

“Not to mention,” Qi Qingqi continued, “Wherever that strange place is. Look at this person’s clothes! And does anyone know what that glowing box is?”

No one had an answer. The world they were looking at was full of unfamiliar things, so different from what they knew.

“That young man,” Wei Qingwei said, pointing up at the screen. “I believe he said his name was…Shen Yuan?”

“‘Shen,’ huh,” Liu Qingge murmured. What a silly coincidence. He loses one Shen, only to be gifted the vision of another one.

Unknown to him, Liu Mingyan was giving her brother a heavy side-eye.

“How did I finish such a horrible long-winded story!” he shouted angrily. His voice was the one that had been narrating this entire time. “Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, you really are a horrible author! Rare herbs grow everywhere, women throw themselves at the protagonist, villains are all idiots, and what’s with the storyline?! So much foreshadowing, so much mystery, and none of it paid off!”

Shang Qinghua was crying on the inside as he listened to Shen Yuan bash his story.

‘Bro! Blame the editors, the editors! I did my best, really! Plus, you read the whole thing, so what does that say about you, huh?’

Honestly, Shen Yuan was practically the walking definition of what “hate reading” means. It was absolutely ridiculous. 

The others, while not understanding everything the boy was saying, were amused at the passionate ranting.

“It seems our narrator also has some lingering thoughts about the story,” Wei Qingwei chuckled.

As he ranted, his fingers tapped a strange contraption in front of him, and the viewers saw his words appearing in a box on the screen.

Mu Qingfang let out an interested hum at the contraption on the screen. While his passion is medicine, he’s always had a special interest in technological advances. Especially those that make it easier to write. As someone who has to do a lot of research and writing for new medicines, something such as the contraption on the screen looked incredible. With one press of a finger, the character just popped up! 

Shang Qinghua was also lamenting the lack of modern technology. He’s the peak lord of the logistics peak! Do you know how much writing is involved in that? His life would be so much easier if he had a keyboard, a laptop, a printer, anything!

“Dumbfuck author, dumbfuck novel!”

As he said it, he suddenly froze. A hand flew up to his chest, clutching over his heart. He collapsed out of his chair, and gradually everything went dark.

“Did Jet Shen Yuan just die?”

Shang Qinghua lit a candle in his heart for Shen Yuan. ‘RIP Cucumber Bro.’

“Did he just die…of rage?” Qi Qingqi asked, unsure if she should laugh about that.

“...It appears he did,” Yue Qingyuan responded. There were no other signs or actions that preceded the boy's death, other than his sudden fit of rage.

“Is that possible? To die from rage?” Gongyi Xiao inquired.

“In normal circumstances, no,” Mu Qingfang explained. “However, if someone had a previous medical condition, something that affected their heart, for example, a sudden and extreme burst of emotion, especially anger, would cause a heightened rush of adrenaline that a weak heart would be unable to handle. This would cause their heart to give out, and the individual would die.”

He gave the screen a considering look. 

“I couldn’t say for sure, of course, but it’s possible that this Shen Yuan already had some sort of illness, leading to his sudden death in this way.”

The others gave Mu Qingfang’s words some thought.

Shang Qinghua was surprised to be learning this. Despite discovering that they were both transmigrators, he and Shen Qingqiu had never spoken much about their previous lives, especially not how they’d died. He’d never imagined that Shen Qingqiu might have been a sickly person.

‘I can’t decide if this makes the Without a Cure situation worse or funnier.’ 

Shang Qinghua might be a bad friend, but at least he was self aware about it.

After a moment of just darkness, a voice sounded.

[Activation code: “Dumbfuck author, dumbfuck novel.” System automatically triggered.]

The viewers froze. That voice sounded a lot like the one that had trapped them here. Had Shen Yuan also fallen victim to the same powerful force?

“Who is this?” Shen Yuan asked.

[Welcome to the System. This System operates in line with the design concept “YOU CAN YOU UP, NO CAN NO BB”; we hope to provide you with the best possible experience. It is our sincere wish that during your time, you can fulfill your desires and, in accordance with your wish, transform a stupid work into a magnificent, high-quality, first-rate classic. We hope you enjoy.]

Well, that was a lot of words that they didn’t understand. They kept watching, hoping to receive some answers soon.

Slowly the darkness began to fade into blurry surroundings. They watched from Shen Yuan’s perspective as he blinked a few times to bring them into focus and saw that he was lying on a bed in a very familiar room.

“...Shidi? Shidi, can you hear me?”

“Wait, that’s…”

The scene fully revealed. The one lying in the bed was Shen Qingqiu, and sitting next to him was a very concerned Yue Qingyuan.

He smiled when he saw Shen Yuan looking at him. “Shidi finally woke up. Do you have any discomfort?”

“...What…what is this?”

It was Yue Qingyuan, though his voice was unlike what they usually heard from him. He stared at the screen in horror.

“Nothing too bad,” Shen Yuan said. He grabbed the fan lying next to his pillow and opened it to fan away the sweat on his face. “I… Where is this?”

Yue Qingyuan started shaking his head in disbelief.

Despite his more composed exterior, an echoey voice rang out, sounding much more freaked out. ‘Did I transmigrate? I always said if I ended up in this type of situation I wouldn’t say anything strange. Best to keep it simple for now.’

Yue Qingyuan startled. “Did you sleep yourself into a trance? This is your Qing Jing peak.”

It was unmistakable.

‘Your Qing Jing peak.’ 

Yue Qingyuan had clearly thought himself to be talking to Shen Qingqiu, to Xiao-Jiu. The projection was showing something completely different—a Shen Yuan, who had died and woken up in Shen Qingqiu’s body. 

A body that could accept his soul because…because…

“No,” Yue Qingyuan stated, “No way.”

“Is that Shen Yuan?” Qi Qingqi asked. “The Shen Yuan we just saw in the other world? Did he just wake up in Shen Qingqiu’s body?”

“Does that mean that…Shen Qingqiu…died?” Wei Qingwei questioned.

“No way,” Yue Qingyuan repeated. His hands were shaking.

Ning Yingying and Ming Fan exchanged shocked glances. They knew, obviously, that their Shizun had changed after his qi deviation, but being a completely different person?

But they’d just seen it with their own eyes.

“Does this mean that…Shen Yuan has been the one leading Qing Jing peak these last few years?” Mu Qingfang questioned. “How could this be?”

“No,” Yue Qingyuan tried to repeat, but the word got stuck in his throat. His eyes were still glued to the vision, where someone else, some… imposter , was wearing his Xiao-Jiu’s face.

Where Yue Qingyuan hadn’t noticed that it wasn’t Xiao-Jiu.

He couldn’t breathe. How could Xiao-Jiu die without anyone noticing? How could he not know? How could he not figure out that his most precious person, the person he wanted to protect more than anyone, was just…gone?

“Zhangmen-shixiong!”

He felt hands grabbing his shoulders, and realized that his vision had gone blurry. He heard himself taking heaving, shuddering breaths, and found that at some point he’d slid onto the floor. He tried to right himself, but couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Xiao-Jiu died to do anything.

“He’s having a qi deviation,” a voice spoke above him. “Move aside.”

The hands left his shoulders, and he felt new ones press against his back. The feeling of cool qi entered his body and started circulating, bringing the wild flaring of his own down. The more the qi circled through his body, the easier it was to breathe. Yue Qingyuan closed his eyes, and focused on his qi. No matter how distressed he was, he recognized that he needed to calm down so he could assess the situation clearly. 

After a few moments, he opened his eyes.

“Zhangmen-shixiong? Are you alright?” It was Mu Qingfang, who still had his hands pressed against Yue Qingyuan’s back, just in case.

“Yes, Mu-shidi, thank you.” He straightened up from where he’d fallen. “Apologies, I was simply…taken by surprise.”

He looked back up at the screen, at the face of Shen Qingqiu. No. Not his Shen Qingqiu. His Shen Qingqiu, his Xiao-Jiu, had already been long gone from this world by the time these events occurred. And no one had noticed.

“My apologies,” he repeated, not quite sure what to say.

Mu Qingfang shook his head.

“No apologies necessary, Zhangmen-shixiong. It was a surprise for all of us as well. And we all know…,” he trailed off. There was no need to continue. Yue Qingyuan knew that his affection for Shen Qingqiu was an open secret among the other peak lords.

Qi Qingqi and Wei Qingwei were casting him sympathetic glances, while also looking shaken at the revelation that their sect brother had died and been replaced by another. Liu Qingge was squinting at the screen, actually looking as if the information explained a lot for him. Shang Qinghua was gazing at him with solemn eyes, almost as if he knew the true depths behind his feelings.

Yue Qingyuan struggled back into his seat with the help of Mu Qingfang. Now that the sudden shock of the news was past, he was eager to keep watching and learn as much as he could about what had happened to his Shen Qingqiu, and what the new one thought about his situation.

While all of this had been happening, Luo Binghe had been having some thoughts of his own. He recognized the scene as his Shizun’s personality altering qi deviation from several years ago. The qi deviation where after, he’d started treating Luo Binghe nicer…and doted on him…and let Luo Binghe live in his bamboo hut. Other than the whole Endless Abyss thing, he couldn’t recall a time where his Shizun had caused him harm.

He’d only protected and cherished him. 

Does this mean that his Shizun—the one he’d loved and treasured for all of these years—was a completely different person from the one who’d string him up to whip him in the past? That all of those difficulties and struggles from his earlier years on Qing Jing peak—those were all caused by a different Shizun?

Luo Binghe couldn’t help but feel a seed of happiness start to grow in his heart. He could clearly see that this news was devastating to the Cang Qiong sect leader, yet it did nothing but please him. After all, it just meant that his Shizun had always put him first. Had always cherished him. Had looked at him and decided to protect him. 

‘But what about the Endless Abyss?’ His mind questioned.

Luo Binghe pushed that thought aside, deciding to focus on the positives. He turned his attention back to the screen, wanting to learn more about the man behind his Shizun.

“Why… Why was I asleep for so long?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. You were in perfect health, so how did you suddenly come down with a high fever? I know that with the Immortal Alliance Conference approaching, you’ve been training your disciples and are anxious to see results. But with Cang Qiong Mountain being such a well-established and renowned sect, even if one of our own didn’t attend this time, no one would dare question us. Why concern yourself with empty words?”

‘Something is off,’ Shen Yuan’s voice echoed again. ‘Why do these lines sound familiar? No, why does this setup sound familiar?’

“Well,” Wei Qingwei started hesitantly, glancing at Yue Qingyuan, “It appears as though Shen Yuan is just as confused about how he ended up there as we are.”

Yue Qingyuan didn’t speak, but did acknowledge that Wei Qingwei was correct. Shen Yuan did appear very confused. At the very least, he could be comforted by the fact that Shen Yuan was not purposefully trying to take the place of Shen Qingqiu.

His face still showed some confusion, so Yue Qingyuan asked again, “Qingqiu-shidi, are you listening to Shixiong?”

At that moment, a ding sounded and a small blue window appeared next to Shen Yuan.

[The System was successfully activated! Bound Role: Luo Binghe’s master, Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s Peak Lord of Qing Jing Peak, “Shen Qingqiu.” Weapon: the sword Xiu Ya. Starting B-Points: 100.]

“System?” Gongyi Xiao questioned. He’d been trying to stay quiet out of respect for the clearly frazzled peak lords, but the unfamiliar word drew his attention. “Is that the name of the entity that transported us here and Shen Yuan…there?”

“Must be,” Liu Qingge grunted, not elaborating on what he thought about the situation. His gaze was fixed firmly on the face of Shen Yuan, now Shen Qingqiu, in the projection.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, what bullshit is this? How come you’re speaking directly into my brain? Does Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky know you’re plagiarizing Proud Immortal Demon Way’s setting like this?!”

Despite the internal screaming, Shen Yuan’s appearance remained outwardly the same. Yue Qingyuan gave no indication that he noticed the blue window appearing in the room.

Ning Yingying and Qi Qingqi both snorted at the surprising vulgarity in Shen Yuan’s mind paired with the perfectly blank expression on his face. 

[You have triggered the System’s execution command and have been bound to the Shen Qigqiu account. As the plot progresses, various point types will gradually become available. Please ensure that no score falls below zero, or the System will automatically mete out punishment.]

Punishment? Although the majority of the watchers were still unsure about Shen Yuan, they didn’t like the sound of that. Especially since they knew how much power this so-called system held.

‘Wait. I’ve hit the jackpot! I’ve transmigrated! Even if it’s into this shitty novel with some kind of shitty “system” this is great! Except… the shell that I’m now borrowing just happens to belong to the male lead’s scum villain master, which certainly complicates things.’

Yue Qingyuan flinched at the description of Shen Qingqiu’s body as a “shell”.

Now more aware of what was going on, Shen Yuan looked around the room again. His eyes naturally landed on the one sitting next to him, still looking down at him with a concerned expression.

‘So this must be Shen Qingqiu’s shixiong, the current leader of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, the “Xuan Su Sword,” Yue Qingyuan,’ he thought. ‘Fuck.’

Yue Qingyuan blinked, wondering why Shen Yuan seemed displeased at seeing him.

Once again the view changed, showing an artistic scene of Yue Qingyuan, fallen to his knees as tens of thousands of arrows pierced his flesh from every direction.

Gasps erupted throughout the room. To see the powerful Cang Qiong Mountain Sect Leader brought down in such a brutal way was unbelievable. 

‘Of course I would think ‘fuck’ seeing him,’ Shen Yuan’s voice narrated. ‘After all, Yue Qingyuan’s death was caused by his own shidi Shen Qingqiu! And what a horrific death it was!’

“Caused by…Shen Qingqiu?” Mu Qingfang questioned. The other people in the room seemed horrified at the implication of that statement, but Yue Qingyuan accepted it with a nod.

‘If Xiao-Jiu really did cause my death in that other life, it would be what I deserved for being such a useless Qi-ge. I can accept that death graciously.’

The scene shifted again, showing the Shen Qingqiu who they had seen in the pickle pot earlier. This time, however, he was not in the pot but hanging suspended from the ceiling of a dark room, allowing the viewers to see that all of his limbs had been ripped off. His mouth was open, but all they could hear was an “ahhh” sound, as they saw his tongue had been torn out as well.

Ning Yingying wailed and covered her eyes at the gruesome sight. Ming Fan placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort, but his face looked green, barely holding it together himself. Gongyi Xiao had recoiled, and Liu Mingyan held a hand to her heart, both in shock at the image before them.

The peak lords all grimaced, none more than Yue Qingyuan, deducing that this image was from the other world, and therefore, of his Shen Qingqiu. He closed his eyes for a moment, before forcing them back open.

‘You don’t get to look away,’ he told himself. ‘You don’t deserve to look away from his suffering, not after you were unable to stop it from happening.’

Abruptly, it cut back to Shen Yuan.

‘Who am I to lament his fate when the worst one is my own! After all, if I really am Shen Qingqiu now, then that is what awaits me in the future!’ Shen Yuan—no, Shen Qingqiu—thought, resting his forehead on his hand.

After a moment, he seemed to come up with a plan.

‘Alright,’ he thought, ‘I can manage this. All I need to do is avoid any critical errors. First: eliminate any mistake at the root. Second: cling madly to the male lead’s thighs. Third: be a good mentor and helpful friend who is earnest and gentle in his teachings; meticulously show the male lead every kind of concern–’

Luo Binghe couldn’t help but frown. He’d thought that this new Shizun had been kind to him because he wanted to, but if his goal was only to avoid a gruesome death in the future…did he even care about Luo Binghe at all outside of that? Had all of the care shown to him only been an act? A means to an end? Had Shizun…ever thought fondly of him at all?

Maybe the other Shen Qingqiu had been right, and he was just a stupid beast after all.

Immediately alarms started blaring. Shen Qingqiu shuddered at the noise, clutching his head in pain.

“What the hell is that?” Qi Qingqi winced. She couldn’t imagine having to hear that sound go off in her head. She hoped for Shen Yuan’s sake that it wasn’t a frequent occurrence.

“Shidi, does your head still hurt?” Yue Qingyuan asked worriedly. The question was drowned out by the shrill voice of the System.

[Warning. This proposed plan is incredibly dangerous and qualifies as a violation. Please do not attempt, or the System will automatically mete out punishment.]

“How was that a violation?”

[Currently, you are at the beginner level, and the OOC feature is frozen. You must complete a beginner-level quest to unfreeze it. Before unfreezing, any act in violation of the original Shen Qingqiu character settings will result in a deduction of a fixed number of B-Points.]

Shen Qingqiu considered that. “In other words, before that whatever-feature gets unfrozen, my behavior and actions can’t differ from what ‘Shen Qingqiu’ would do?”

[Correct.]

“How uncomfortable,” Liu Mingyan sympathized, “To not be able to act freely as yourself.”

The others frowned, agreeing with the younger Liu’s words. For the System to be able to control Shen Yuan’s actions to such a degree…was unsettling. 

‘So the System already let me transmigrate into Shen Qingqiu’s shell and replace him but it still cares about something like OOC?’ The frustration was audible in his mental voice.

“You just said something about how… the points can’t fall below zero. If they do, what happens?”

[You will automatically be deported back to your original world.]

‘Right. The original world where I’m dead.’

“Oh no!” Ning Yingying covered her mouth.

“So basically,” Wei Qingwei started, “The System can come up with all of these rules that Shen Yuan has to follow, and if he doesn’t follow them, the System will kill him?”

“That’s what it seems like,” Mu Qingfang frowned, not liking the implications of what he was hearing.

“How awful,” Qi Qingqi sighed, feeling sorry for Shen Yuan. The boy had died, been shoved into someone else’s body, and then told that if he made one wrong move, he’d die for real. Seriously, it was a wonder he was keeping hold of his sanity.

Shen Qingqiu lifted his head and scanned the room.

‘Things should still be fine if I just ignore the male lead, right? Though I don’t see him here…’

Luo Binghe frowned, again. It felt like he’d been doing that a lot, these past few minutes. Still, he couldn’t help feeling upset about Shizun wanting to avoid him.

“Where is Luo Binghe?” he asked.

Yue Qingyuan gave him a strange look.

‘Am I so lucky that he’s not even here yet?’ Shen Qingqiu thought gleefully, a sharp contrast to the indifference on his face.

‘Is that really so lucky? You don’t have to sound so happy!’ Luo Binghe cried on the inside.

“Shidi, don’t be angry,” said Yue Qingyuan.

‘Oh no.’

Yue Qingyuan sighed. “I know you don’t like him. But that child’s already worked hard enough, and he hasn’t made any significant mistakes. Don’t punish him any further, alright?”

“...You can just say it. Where is he?”

Yue Qingyuan was silent for a moment. “Whenever you finish stringing him up and beating him, haven’t you always shut him in the woodshed?”

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes rolled back in his head and everything went dark.

Chapter Text

The room was silent as the watchers processed what they’d seen. 

The peak lords winced at the reminder of how the original Shen Qingqiu had treated Luo Binghe. Despite being upset at the revelation that he’d actually died during his untimely qi deviation, they couldn’t deny that Shen Qingqiu had always been unreasonably harsh on his disciples. Even Yue Qingyuan couldn’t deny that the Qing Jing disciples preferred and adored the new, kinder version of their Shizun. If nothing else, it was certain that Shen Yuan had fostered a more healthy environment on the peak than his predecessor. 

Still, Yue Qingyuan couldn’t stop the embers of resentment in his heart over a stranger swooping in to take Shen Jiu’s place, and profiting off of all his hard work to get there. He managed to push the feelings down for now, but his face was colder than his usual pleasantries as he continued to watch the projection.

The next images were hazy, like something out of a dream. Shen Yuan in his original body with two boys and a girl that looked similar to him. They were laughing together and seemed to be very close.

“Is that Shen Yuan’s family?” Mu Qingfang studied the image, noticing the similarities between the four. 

“It must be,” Wei Qingwei responded.

The air in the room turned slightly solemn as they considered the happy image before them. 

Liu Qingge glanced sideways at his sister sitting next to him, and felt his heart clench. In all honesty, he hadn’t thought about the implications of Shen Qingqiu being shoved into their world, more concerned with the previous owner of the body he’d taken. Yet it was clear that Shen Qingqiu, despite gaining a position of power and prestige, had left behind a lot more. 

One of the things Liu Qingge cherished most in this world was his younger sister. Although they studied on different peaks and had a significant gap in age, they never doubted their love for each other. Liu Qingge couldn’t imagine ever getting separated from that bond, and knew that though Shen Qingqiu had forged new relationships here, it wouldn’t replace those he’d lost.

‘I grew up well-off, in a close-knit family. Perhaps it was this upbringing that led me to believe that just ranking in the top ten of a competition was enough, so long as there were more than ten people competing.’

The dream faded away, showing Shen Qingqiu standing in front of a mirror, scrutinizing his face.

‘That’s also why I’ve never understood what scum villains like you were thinking as they dug their own graves. Shen Qingqiu… you had training in cultivation, standing and reputation, and the backing of the world’s largest sect. You didn’t want for anything, so why act like one of those bitter courtyard-complex concubines? Even if Luo Binghe was blessed with heavenly talent, even if his aptitude was exceptional to the point that he was more or less cheating, there was no need to envy him to that extent, you know?’

Yue Qingyuan agreed with the thoughts of Shen Yuan. Shen Qingqiu had been a hard person to understand, even for someone who knew all he’d been through. Someone like Shen Yuan, who—from the looks of it—had grown up in a happy and loving family with little hardships, couldn’t hope to understand why Shen Qingqiu had acted the way he did. 

Shen Qingqiu sighed as he turned from side to side, admiring his new body in the mirror.

‘At least I have a handsome face. Much better looking than I thought he’d be, though of course it’s still no comparison to Luo Binghe. I should go see him–’

That ear-piercing shriek sounded again.

The watchers winced.

“Heavens, that sound is horrible!” Qi Qingqi covered her ears, feeling sorry for Shen Qingqiu.

[Warning! OOC Warning! Shen Qingqiu would not take the initiative to visit Luo Binghe.]

“Fine. I’ll get someone else to bring him. No problem there, right?”

He paused for a moment, then called, “Ming Fan!”

The current Ming Fan perked up. Although he knew that the “him” of the past was likely to embarrass him at some point, he couldn’t deny that he was interested to hear his Shizun’s thoughts about him.

Almost immediately, the disciple ran in through the door. “This disciple is here. What instructions does Shifu have?”

‘So this is Luo Binghe’s shixiong Ming Fan, the legendary lowest level of cannon fodder!’

“‘Cannon fodder?’” Ming Fan tilted his head, confused.

He looked at Ning Yingying, who shrugged, not familiar with the term either. 

“He’s used a couple of interesting words,” Gongyi Xiao said, referring to Shen Qingqiu. “Perhaps they originated from his world?”

“Most likely,” Mu Qingfang agreed. “Though, it will make it difficult to understand what Shen Yuan means if we’re unfamiliar with his terminology.”

“Perhaps the meanings will become clearer as we keep watching,” Yue Qingyuan cut in, ending the conversation.

‘Shen Qingqiu’s most useful assistant in the tormenting of Luo Binghe. His fate isn’t much better than mine,’ he thought, a slight hint of pity coming through as he looked at the boy.

Ming Fan flinched, both at the implication that he’d died a brutal death and at the reminder of his previous actions towards Luo Binghe. He steeled his heart, however, reminding himself of all the reasons why Luo Binghe didn’t deserve his apologies.

“Go bring Binghe here.”

Ming Fan seemed confused, and opened his mouth, but clearly decided not to question his shifu’s orders. He ran from the room.

Ming Fan remembered this moment. It was the first time his Shizun hadn’t addressed Luo Binghe as “that little beast” or “ungrateful whelp” when referring to him. He would never question his Shizun, but it had thrown him off quite a bit.

While he waited, Shen Qingqiu paced the room, questioning the System in his mind.

[B-Points, also known as points awarded for being a badass. The more B-Points one accrues, the more magnificent, high-quality, and first-rate the work has become.]

“Then how can I raise my B-Points?”

[One, change the nonsensical plot and raise the average IQ of the villains and supporting characters. Two, avoid landmines that break suspension of disbelief. Three, ensure the main character’s satisfaction points. Four, discover and finish hidden plot events.]

‘So not only do I have to clean up the original Shen Qingqiu’s messes, I also need to stop other characters from creating more messes, and fill in “Great Master” Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky’s plot holes while dodging all the insane landmines created by his shitty writing!’

Shang Qinghua wilted with every insult spoken. He supposed he should get used to hearing stuff like this, considering they were hearing the thoughts of Pearless Cucumber, his number one fan—excuse him, his number one hater.

Qi Qingqi frowned.

“Why are his points determined by the actions of others?” She questioned. “It seems rather unfair.”

Mu Qingfang and Wei Qingwei nodded in agreement. 

Liu Qingge hoped that he’d never “created a mess” that Shen Qingqiu needed to clean up after. He wanted his actions to make Shen Qingqiu’s life easier, not more difficult.

Gongyi Xiao spoke up. “Perhaps the requirements by the system have something to do with Senior Shen’s words before he died?”

The residents of the room turned to look at him.

“Please, elaborate if you will, Young Master Gongyi,” Yue Qingyuan requested.

“Well,” Gongyi Xiao began, “Before…dying, Senior Shen was complaining about the original story, right? I can’t remember the exact words, but it sounded like a lot of the same things the System just told Senior Shen to fix. Perhaps it’s sort of a “If you think you can do it better, do it yourself” situation, where the System is making him back up his words with actions.”

The watchers mulled over his words.

“It makes sense,” Liu Mingyan agreed. “The System appears to be connected to Shen-shibo’s death, so the last words he spoke before that would hold some significance.”

“Still,” Wei Qingwei frowned, “To have Shen-shixiong be responsible for everyone’s actions is a tall order. I’m sure a lot happened that was out of his control.” 

“If the esteemed masters are finished,” a voice cut through, “perhaps we could keep watching, and some of these questions could be answered.”

It was Luo Binghe, who had been keeping remarkably quiet. He wasn’t planning on speaking, but he got impatient. Shizun had just sent Ming Fan to go get him! Which meant he would be showing up soon, and could hear Shizun’s unrestrained thoughts about him! All of this talking and theorizing was keeping him from that, okay?

Liu Qingge glared at Luo Binghe. He also wanted to move on from this conversation, but refused to agree with him on principle.

“Who are you to speak to your superiors in such a way?” the Bai Zhan peak lord growled.

Luo Binghe glared back, looking ready to start a fight. Although they had calmed down slightly due to their situation, it was clear that the two were still feeling some of the adrenaline and emotions from Hua Yue City that hadn’t been addressed yet.

Sensing an incoming disaster, Ning Yingying jumped in.

“Liu-shibo, A-Luo, let's move on, ok? I’m sure there will be time to fight later on, but we should focus on the images right now. Any grievances can be dealt with after.”

She looked between the two, hoping her words would be enough. It was entirely possible that they would brush her aside and fight anyway, at which point there would be nothing she could do. If she tried to get in the middle of a physical fight, she would be destroyed with one strike!

“Ning-shizi is correct,” Yue Qingyuan said, Ning Yingying almost collapsing in relief. 

He’d been watching the growing tension in the room, feeling that it would hit its breaking point soon, especially when you considered the scene that a lot of them had come from. It was best to shut any sort of violence down now. Plus, no one knew how the System would react if they started fighting in this room.

“Let’s put this matter aside for now and continue watching,” he continued. “Maybe Shen Yuan can confirm some of our theories.”

“What kind of plot would qualify as not nonsensical?” he asked.

[The standard is subjectively determined; it depends on the readers’ reactions.]

“Then how many points do I need to collect to launch a beginner-level quest?”

[The timing is situationally determined. When the requirements have been met, the System will automatically notify you.]

‘Subjectively determined, situationally determined—what an all-purpose remedy.’ Shen Qingqiu scoffed, but then the door opened behind him, and he turned around to see who had entered, putting his mask of indifference back on.

“He is rather quick at grasping Shen Qingqiu’s mannerisms,” Mu Qingfang commented.

Yue Qingyuan studied Shen Yuan’s face, agreeing. If he hadn’t known the truth, he never would’ve thought that it was anyone other than Xiao-Jiu standing there. He had to admit, it was rather impressive.

“Shizun,” young Luo Binghe greeted respectfully. His face was covered in injuries, and he appeared to be unsteady on his feet, but he still stood straight as he spoke to his master.

The watchers, other than Luo Binghe, winced at the sight of the roughed-up protagonist. 

‘I’m dead,’ was Shen Qingqiu’s first thought. ‘The protagonist’s face, this tender shoot of a handsome young man, and I’ve injured him to this extent?! Ah, but look at him. Even with all that abuse, the protagonist remains the protagonist. Eyes as bright as morning stars, a firm yet humble countenance, his unbending core… he really does have the kind of face that just makes you want to praise him!’

There was a moment of silence as they took in the sudden slew of compliments.

Luo Binghe’s cheeks dusted pink. While he’d hoped for his Shizun to look on him favorably, he hadn’t been expecting him to compliment him to that extent.

Shang Qinghua, meanwhile, felt like something had been confirmed for him.

‘Cucumber Bro!’ He thought vindicatively, ‘I knew you not-so-secretly had a thing for my son! I’ve heard your thoughts now, so you can’t keep denying it!’

Qi Qingqi scoffed. “He’s been hyping the brat up in his mind this whole time, are we really so surprised?”

The others thought about it, realizing she was right. Shen Yuan had been making a lot of complimentary statements about Luo Binghe in his thoughts. 

Ning Yingying laughed, unable to hold it back. Ming Fan jumped, not expecting it. He shot her a questioning look.

Ning Yingying apologized. “I’m sorry, it’s just…his face looks so stern and yet, his thoughts were like that!” 

She continued to giggle, others joining in. The dichotomy really was quite funny. 

Shen Qingqiu’s mouth opened, as if to do just that, but he quickly reined it in, snapping his fan open to hide his stumble while he internally berated himself.

‘That was too close! The protagonist’s halo of excellence really is too much—I almost couldn’t hold myself back!’

Shang Qinghua rolled his eyes. ‘’Halo of excellence,’ yeah right. I know what you are, dude.’

Luo Binghe limped into the room and started to kneel in front of Shen Qingqiu.

‘I really can’t afford your submission,’ Shen Qingqiu thought. ‘If you pay respects to me today, you’ll surely kneecap me in the future.’

Luo Binghe’s eyes went downcast. It seemed as though Shizun was already certain that he would definitely hurt him in the future. He supposed he couldn’t blame him, considering he’d just got there and hadn’t changed anything yet, but surely, after all the years they spent together, Shizun knew that Luo Binghe would never hurt him!

‘Then why did he run from you in Jin Lan City?’ A cruel voice crooned in his head, ‘Why did he try so hard to avoid you? Why would he greet others with warmth, but you with contempt?’

Luo Binghe didn’t know.

“No need,” he said out loud. He flicked his wrist, tossing a small bottle to the disciple, who caught it. “This is medicine. Don’t let anyone see; they might think my Qing Jing peak abuses its disciples.”

‘So long as I do it with a nasty enough attitude…’

The System remained silent. No OOC notification. Shen Qingqiu let out a subtle sigh of relief.

 It really was incredible how well Shen Yuan could grasp the “character” of Shen Qingqiu. 

Luo Binghe froze at first. He clearly had been expecting more “instruction” when he was summoned, and didn’t know what to think about the offer of medicine. He cupped the bottle in both hands and offered a sincere smile of gratitude.

“Thank you for the medicine, Shizun.”

‘So innocent, like the warm dawning sun. It really isn’t an exaggeration to call this pre-darkening version of the male lead a little lamb.’

Luo Binghe’s heart softened.

Shang Qinghua rolled his eyes again, enjoying this glimpse into his friend's mind a bit too much. 

Shen Qingqiu turned his head away after staring at that smile for a while.

“This disciple will henceforth redouble his efforts and not let Shizun be disappointed,” Luo Binghe continued happily.

‘Eh, no, if you redouble your efforts, I’m guessing your original master would really be disappointed…’

Yue Qingyuan sighed slightly, knowing Shen Yuan to be correct. He pondered the Shen Yuan before him, wondering. He stood the perfect image of a peak lord, unflappable and confident. For someone who claimed to hate Shen Qingqiu as much as he did, he really did have a good grasp on his character. 

The view changed to the older Luo Binghe.

‘If I hadn’t read Proud Immortal Demon Way, this scene would be heart-wrenching. But being privy to Luo Binghe’s colorful thoughts post-blackening…’

The older Luo Binghe smiled. “Today, the humiliation this disciple once suffered will be returned one hundredfold. For injuring my hands and feet. I’ll tear off your limbs and grind them into dust.”

Liu Qingge frowned at the scene.

‘I’d like to see you try,’ he scoffed in his head. 

Luo Binghe frowned for a different reason. He could see Ming Fan looking at him out of the corner of his eyes, as if he was actually concerned about Luo Binghe doing that in the future. Did Shizun really expect Luo Binghe to take revenge on him in the future? If he always had scenes such as these playing in his head, how could Shen Qingqiu ever be expected to believe him when he expressed his devotion?

‘All his current pitifulness directly correlates to the future ferocity of his wanton laughter as he grinds his foot into your head,’ Shen Qingqiu thought, the scene returning to the room with him standing in front of young Luo Binghe.

He crossed over to sit in a sandalwood chair, keeping his tone deliberately aloof as he asked, “Binghe, how’s your cultivation progress?”

Luo Binghe shuddered slightly, but answered with a shy smile. “This disciple is stupid and still… failed to understand.”

‘Well of course. With a fake cultivation manual, it’s a miracle he hasn’t fallen into a qi deviation. To actually understand anything would be impossible,’ Shen Qingqiu thought. 

 A commotion suddenly broke out.

“A fake cultivation manual?!” Mu Qingfang was shocked. “Those can be incredibly harmful to a developing disciple!”

The other peak lords nodded, raising concerns of their own.

Ning Yingying and Gongyi Xiao had both gasped, and Liu Mingyan’s eyes widened. Ning Yingying, momentarily forgetting her grievances with Luo Binghe, grasped his wrist in concern.

“A-Luo, are you okay? Why did you have a false manual?”

Luo Binghe was surprised, not expecting his Shijie to express such strong concern for him after everything. He was unable to stop a small smile from escaping.

“I’m fine, Shijie,” he reassured, “As far as I know, there were never any ill effects.”

Ming Fan humphed at the scene, but didn’t say anything. He could allow it this once, considering what they’d just learned. He denied to himself that he was also concerned for Luo Binghe.  

“Regardless, Shizi, I’d still like to give you an examination to make sure,” Mu Qingfang offered.

Luo Binghe’s smile lost its warmth, and though it stretched wider, it was much thinner.

“That won’t be necessary. Thanking Shibo for his concern, but this disciple is fine,” Luo Binghe stated.

Mu Qingfang looked unsatisfied, but decided not to press the issue for now.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

‘Boy, come hang out with me! This master will deliver unto you the correct techniques!”

The System’s warning notification started blaring.

“I was only thinking about it,” Shen Qingqiu told it, annoyed. “Of course I know it would be a violation!”

While the others chuckled at Shen Yuan’s words to the system, Luo Binghe felt warmth filling his chest. Even knowing that he couldn’t do anything, Shizun’s first thought was still to help him.

He smiled at the screen.

Out loud, he remained calm. “Today, this master punished you out of his own impatience. After all, time waits for no one. Now that I think about it, you’ve been under me for a while—how old are you this year?”

“This disciple is fourteen,” Luo Binghe obediently replied.

‘Eh? Fourteen, huh? So at this point we’ve already passed the incident at the mountain entrance where he was forced to kneel as punishment, the incident where his fellow disciples punished him en masse, the incident where he’d “backtalked” Shizun and was strung up and beaten, and the incident where he’d ruined the peak’s talismans and been punished with hard labor…’

Ming Fan winced with every event listed.

“It’s impressive that Shen Yuan is able to recall all of this,” Mu Qingfang commented.

“What do you mean?” Qi Qingqi questioned.

“All of those events happened very early in the novel, didn’t they?” The Qiang Cao peak lord explained. “We saw that there were well over 6000 chapters, so for him to be able to clearly remember events that happened in the first arc is very impressive. Most people would only remember the later chapters in a story that long.”

Yue Qingyuan nodded.

As he listed off each incident, flashes of them were shown before returning to his face.

‘There goes my last hope of survival.’

The warm feeling in Luo Binghe’s chest deflated slightly. They had barely started, and Shizun had already thought of Luo Binghe killing him at least three times. Was it going to be like this the whole time?

Shen Qingqiu rested his forehead on one hand and waved Luo Binghe away with the other. “I wish to be alone.”

Chapter Text

The scene transitioned to show Shen Qingqiu walking through Qing Jing Peak. A group of disciples passed by and he nodded at them, easily adopting the countenance of the original.

“I can’t get over how easily he’s adapting to his situation,” Mu Qingfang commented.

The others nodded in agreement. Shen Yuan truly did look like the perfect image of Shen Qingqiu as he walked through his peak. 

“Not to mention,” Qi Qingqi jumped in, “that he was able to act as a teacher and elder for his disciples without having gone through the training we did.”

The other peaks lords murmured in agreement. While there had been some talks of possession around the time Shen Yuan first showed up, they hadn’t continued for too long. Partly because the tests never showed anything—which they now know is because there weren’t two souls in Shen Qingqiu’s body, but one—and partly because Shen Qingqiu had been just as knowledgeable as before. There had never been any concerns that he didn’t have the ability to teach, and his disciples would often gush about how eager he was to answer their questions and how in-depth he would get. 

“It’s almost more impressive that he was able to learn so much from a book that wasn’t even focused on cultivation techniques,” Mu Qingfang stated. 

“Was he a teacher in his original world?” Wei Qingwei questioned. “How old is he anyway?”

The watchers paused, pondering the question.

“That other world didn’t seem to have cultivation,” Yue Qingyuan started, “so how he looked is probably close to his true age.”

“But he looked young, if I remember correctly!” Qi Qingqi exclaimed.

Shang Qinghua spoke up. Luckily (or not) for him, he knew exactly how old Cucumber Bro was when he died, having shaken it out of him one night. 

“I believe he looked around 19 or 20 years old.”

Everyone was startled. 

Liu Qingge’s eyes widened. That was…younger than he’d expected. Hmm. 

“But that’s not much older than we are now!” Ming Fan exclaimed, looking at Ning Yingying. 

While he’d matured from how he was at 16, Ming Fan knew that he still had a lot of learning to do, and would most definitely flounder if left in charge of something as important as a cultivation peak. He’d always thought of his Shizun as someone much older and wiser, so to learn that they were only a couple years apart in age was a shock.

Qi Qingqi was dismayed.

“We left a child in charge of the second most important peak in our sect!” She wailed.

“I don’t know if I would say child—,” Wei Qingwei cut in.

“Yes!” She retorted, “A child!”

Liu Qingge frowned.

“He’s not a child.”

He stared down Qi Qingqi, who stared right back. Clearly, neither of them were going to change their opinions.

“Let’s all calm down,” a calm voice broke through the tension.

Yue Qingyuan continued.

“While it’s true that Shen Yuan is younger than we’ve expected, we can’t deny that he’s still been able to perform the duties of a peak lord admirably. The fact that we all believed him to be older than he is shows how well he’s performed these past few years.”

Qi Qingqi still looked upset, but settled back into her seat, willing to let the matter go for now.

‘If I’m going to make it work here, I need to set some goals,’ he thought to himself. ‘In short: familiarize myself with the environment, work with the System as much as possible, diligently pursue more accomplishments, earn B-Points, and unfreeze the OOC function as soon as possible. Though, if it starts looking grim I’ll have to seek out an alternative strategy.’

He continued to ponder as he reached the forest, traveling deep inside.

‘Of course, the most pressing matter is self-defense, and that means I need to figure out how to access the original flavor’s martial ability and swordsmanship.’

Shen Qingqiu cautiously removed Xiu Ya from its scabbard. He paused for a moment, admiring the blade.

“Has Senior Shen ever…held a sword before?” Gongyi Xiao questioned nervously.

“By the look of that hand position, I’m going to say ‘no,’” Wei Qingwei grimaced.

‘Shen Qingqiu’s prestigious weapon. The blade is supposed to glow faintly when one channels spiritual energy into it. I wonder how…’

Wei Qingwei groaned, rubbing his hands over his face.

“We left a child alone with an all-powerful sword,” he fretted. 

Qi Qingqi nodded, glad that someone else was agreeing with her assessment of the current Shen Qingqiu.

As soon as he had the thought, the sword began to shimmer white.

‘I see. I must have inherited the original’s cultivation and martial abilities. My brain can fill in the gaps without my needing to consciously remember.’

A flicker of resentment sparked in Yue Qingyuan’s heart. Xiao-Jiu had worked so hard for his cultivation, giving blood, sweat, and more sweat to make up for his late start and damaged meridians. That he was powerful and respected as a peak lord now only reflected that amount of work he’d put in as a disciple. And now, Shen Yuan got to reap all of the benefits without any of the work.

Yue Qingyuan took a deep breath, reminding himself to calm down. Once this situation was over, he could break down. But right now, the best thing he could do is to watch with an open mind and learn as much as possible.

He studied the blade a moment longer, and then gave it a slash. The sword glowed bright as if lighting was leaping from his palm, and he had to close his eyes to avoid being blinded. When he opened them again, he saw a deep ditch had been carved into the ground.

“Holy shit!”

“WHAT IS HE DOING?!” Wei Qingwei leapt out of his seat, distraught at the casual use of such a respected sword.

Qi Qingqi had also jumped up, and was frantically pointing at the projection, exclaiming “a child!” over and over. For truly, only a child would decide that the best course of action would be to slash the glowing, highly destructive sword that they had no idea how to use.

Shang Qinghua was doing his best to hide his laughter, but he might as well not have bothered, as Liu Qingge was doing no such thing. Now that he thought about it, Shang Qinghua didn’t know if he'd ever seen Liu Qingge laugh before. 

‘Good job, Cucumber Bro!’

The younger disciples felt like their image of the wise and knowledgeable Shen Qingqiu was breaking apart in their heads.

Luo Binghe smiled.

‘So damn awesome! Power worthy of a character who was a peak’s sole master. If I diligently trained this for the next twenty years, then maybe in the future—if I absolutely have to face that overpowered Luo Binghe—I might just be able to flee in disgrace!’

Luo Binghe frowned.

Before he had the chance to practice any more, the distant sound of footsteps snapping dry twigs caught his ear. He glanced at the ditch in the ground, then sheathed his sword and hid himself in the surrounding greenery.

…

“What is he doing?” Qi Qingqi sweatdropped.

Truly, the sight was comical. The pristine Shen Qingqiu hiding in the bushes!

The footsteps approached, and after some time two people entered the clearing. The first was Luo Binghe, though he was not the first to speak.

“A-Luo, A-Luo, look, there’s a huge ditch in the ground here!”

Ning Yingying straightened up, excited to see herself for the first time. 

(She was going to ignore the ‘her’ that had joined Luo Binghe’s harem, as that was never happening!)

Shen Qingqiu jolted in his hiding place, though he remained hidden from the two youths in the clearing.

[Shen Qingqiu’s youngest female disciple, Ning Yingying,] the System introduced.

“What use was that introduction?” Shen Qingqiu hissed at the screen. “Everyone knows that only one person addresses Luo Binghe that way!”

Sure enough, Ning Yingying came into view a moment later, following after Luo Binghe with a carefree bounce in her step.

‘Every proper cultivation novel has to have a charming young shimei-type,’ Shen Qingqiu thought to himself. ‘Though, this one is a bit complicated for me. After all, the original Shen Qingqiu—that shady hypocrite—had designs on Ning Yingying. I never understood why Luo Binghe didn’t try to castrate the creep! In fact, I was even one of the ones flooding the comment section with those posts…’

Silence.

“He– he didn’t– he wouldn’t…” Ning Yingying didn’t know what to think. She didn’t want to believe that her Shizun who had practically raised her was harboring such intentions, but after so many insane revelations in such a short time she hated that she couldn’t dismiss it outright.

Ming Fan laid a hand on her shoulder in comfort, while Luo Binghe looked at her in worry. She didn’t know how to respond to their concern, or if there was even anything to be concerned about. 

Liu Mingyan stood and crossed over to Ning Yingying. She grabbed her hand, holding it tightly, eyes asking a thousand words. Ning Yingying looked back at her and knew that if she said the word, Liu Mingyan wouldn’t hesitate to protect her from further advances, even though they had never been super close friends. That was just the kind of person Liu Mingyan was. Despite knowing that nothing had happened in the past, Ning Yingying felt comforted by this assurance. She squeezed her fellow disciple's hand, thanking her without words.

“Zhangmen-shixiong!” Qi Qingqi whipped around towards Yue Qingyuan, eyes filled with rage. 

On the other hand, the sect leader looked as composed as always.

“Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t,” he stated with confidence, “it’s not true.”

“Shen Qingqiu clearly thinks it’s the truth,” Wei Qingwei spoke up, “and he’s been right about a lot.”

“Be that as it may,” Yue Qingyuan responded, “Shen Yuan doesn’t know everything. Keep in mind that the book his knowledge comes from was from Luo Binghe’s perspective. This isn’t the truth of the situation.”

The others paused. That was true. However, Shen Yuan had said it so confidently, as if it were an absolute fact. The sky was blue, grass was green, and Shen Qingqiu had designs on his youngest female disciple. 

“Still,” Qi Qingqi continued, “accusations like that don’t come out of nowhere, I would know. There must have been some reason that people believed that rumor.”

Yue Qingyuan remained adamant. 

“It’s not true.”

He turned back to the screen, refusing to engage in the conversation anymore. 

The viewers saw a quick flash of Shen Yuan in front of that strange box again, words flashing on the screen, “Please castrate Shen Qingqiu! No castration, we unsubscribe!”

Qi Qingqi gestured towards the screen.

“See? Multiple people believed this to be true! You can’t get that sort of conviction without good reasons to back it up.”

Yue Qingyuan didn’t reply with words, merely shaking his head.

The view returned to Shen Qingqiu in the forest. He shuddered.

‘I guess it’s a good thing Great Master Airplane didn’t give into those appeals.’

The “Great Master Airplane” in question was feeling faintly guilty. While he knew the truth of Shen Jiu’s backstory and that nothing inappropriate had ever happened between Shen Qingqiu and Ning Yingying, he couldn’t deny that he had written the book in such a way that the readers could interpret it as such. Especially once he made the decision to scrap the backstory explanation, and focus on other things instead. Now that decision was coming back to cause problems for him.

He glanced over at Qi Qingqi and Yue Qingyuan who, despite sitting on the same couch, had a frosty tension between them.

Ning Yingying was still inspecting the ditch. “Tell me, A-Luo, which shixiong was practicing their sword glares out here?”

“On Qing Jing Peak, I’m afraid only Shizun has this level of cultivation,” Luo Binghe answered, picking up an axe and chopping at a tree. He barely glanced at Ning Yingying as he spoke, too focused on his work. The axe he was using was half-rusted, so it was a difficult task to chop through these trees, and soon enough sweat was pouring down his face.

Ning Yingying sat on a log and watched for a while before growing bored. “A-Luo, A-Luo, play with me!”

Ning Yingying, still slightly shaken, was looking at this scene in a new light. She glanced guiltily at Luo Binghe, feeling bad that she had just been sitting there while he’d worked so hard. 

Luo Binghe felt her gaze, and gave her a reassuring look. This sort of thing didn’t bother him anymore, so there was no need for her to feel guilty.

Luo Binghe didn’t stop swinging the axe as he answered. “I can’t. Our shixiong told me that after I finish chopping today’s wood, I also have to carry the water. If I finish chopping quickly, I can clear out some time to meditate.”

“Our shixiong are really awful! Always making you do this and that. It looks to me like they’re bullying you on purpose.” Ning Yingying crossed her arms, pouting. “I’ll go back and tell Shizun. Once I do, they won’t dare bully you anymore.”

Watching, Shen Qingqiu paled in shock.

‘No, no, no, you absolutely can’t come tell me! What am I supposed to do?! I can’t be OOC—who exactly should I punish?!’

Luo Binghe perked up at the confirmation that Shen Qingqiu would have wanted to help him, despite the OOC function, while Ming Fan wilted in the background.

But at the same time, Luo Binghe shook his head.

“Absolutely don’t. I don’t want to trouble Shizun with these small matters. Our shixiong don’t mean any harm, they just see that I’m young and want to give me more chances to train.”

Luo Binghe snorted, amused at his past naivety. He glanced at Ming Fan out of the corner of his eyes, who was doing his best to become one with the couch.

‘Such profound enlightenment,’ Shen Qingqiu thought dramatically, ‘I can almost see ten thousand rays of light behind him!’

“He’s so dramatic,” Shang Qinghua muttered, rolling his eyes.

“He is, isn’t he,” Qi Qingqi agreed, startling Shang Qinghua, who hadn’t meant to be heard.

Luo Binghe continued to work until he had gathered enough wood to meet his quota. When he finished, he set the axe down and found a relatively clean patch of ground to sit and meditate on.

Shen Qingqiu let out a sigh.

“How long is he going to stay like that?” Qi Qingqi questioned, amused that Shen Qingqiu was still crouching in the bushes, even though Luo Binghe had been doing nothing but chopping wood for a long time.

‘Even now, Luo Binghe’s overpowered nature has already started to emerge. The cultivation manual Ming Fan gave him was a fake, so his techniques should be degrading into absolute rubbish, yet with his peerless talent and his body’s half-demon blood he has managed to eke out a path of his own by complete accident… It’s entirely unscientific!’

Ming Fan jumped up. 

“I swear I didn’t know that the manual was a fake!”

He stared at Luo Binghe, doing his best to ignore the peak lords. If he looked over at them, and they took it as an invitation to start punishing him, he might just die right then and there. Luo Binghe looked slightly surprised, not expecting Ming Fan to actually address him in a way that wasn’t an accusation.

Ming Fan swallowed.

“I really…didn’t know. I might not have liked you, but I wouldn’t do something like that, I swear.”

Luo Binghe searched his gaze. Ming Fan, for all his issues, wasn’t much of a liar. After finding no signs of deceit, he gave a slow nod to the older disciple. He wasn’t bothered by the manual thing anymore, really, but it was sort of nice to know that his Shixiong hadn’t actually been trying to kill him.

Another set of jumbled footsteps approached.

‘This can’t be good.’

Ming Fan stepped into the clearing with a group of several other disciples. When he saw Ning Yingying, he strode up to her and grabbed her hand.

Ming Fan groaned, exchanging glances with Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe. They had all realised by now what scene they were about to watch. Several years removed from it now, they could admit that they were all embarrassed about how they’d acted.

“Xiao-shimei! Xiao-shimei, I finally found you. How could you come to a place like this without saying anything? The back side of the mountain is so large—what if some dangerous beast or poisonous snake leapt out? Come, Shixiong has something fun to show you.”

Hearing the voices, Luo Binghe opened his eyes and politely greeted, “Shixiong.” He was ignored.

“I’m not afraid of poisonous snakes or dangerous beasts,” Ning Yingying giggled. “Besides, isn’t A-Luo with me?”

Ming Fan turned his gaze on Luo Binghe, squinted, and scoffed.

‘Of course, hearing the affectionate way Ning Yingying addressed Luo Binghe, Ming Fan would only find his shidi even more annoying,’ Shen Qingqiu thought.

Ming Fan and Ning Yingying were both covering their eyes, unable to believe that so many peak lords were about to watch their childhood squabble.

Ning Yingying didn’t seem to notice, however. “What fun thing does shixiong have?” she asked, head tilted. “Hurry up and show me.”

Ming Fan smiled and unfastened a deep green jade ornament from his waist, displaying it for her. “Shimei, my family just came to visit, and they brought me lots of high-quality and interesting little trinkets. I thought this one was particularly pretty; I’ll give it to you!”

Ning Yingying took it from him and examined it closely.

‘Oh no, I just remembered—this is that scene! Not good! Danger! Ah, but how could I be blamed for not remembering? Surely I can’t be expected to remember ancient content from the beginning of a serialized novel that had been running for four years and covered an in-narrative span of two hundred years! I spent twenty days binging the novel from start to finish, so I forgot that whump-filled arc of pointless abuse that covered Luo Binghe’s beginnings at the sect, okay?!’

“He read the whole thing in just 20 days?” Gongyi Xiao was impressed.

“He remembered so much after just reading it once?” Mu Qingfang couldn’t believe his ears.

Ning Yingying studied the jade ornament for a while and then tossed it back. Ming Fan’s smile froze on his face.

“What? This color is so ugly. The one A-Luo has is prettier,” Ning Yingying said carelessly, wrinkling her nose.

Ning Yingying whispered an apology that Ming Fan waved away. Truly, he had been the one acting the worst throughout this encounter.

Ming Fan looked incredibly unhappy. Luo Binghe trembled lightly as his eyes snapped open.

“Does Shidi also wear this kind of thing?” Ming Fan spat through gritted teeth.

Luo Binghe hesitated, but Ning Yingying kept going.

“Of course he does. Every day, he wears it close around his neck. It’s his treasure. He refuses to even let me look at it.”

Luo Binghe unconsciously clutched at the pendant around his neck.

Luo Binghe mirrored the action, the emptiness around his neck standing out even more now.

‘Your IQ and EQ, young lady! Consider the consequences of your words! The male lead is taking all the collateral damage!’

Ning Yingying wilted at the mental scolding from her Shizun. These past few years, he’d lectured her over the importance of thinking through her words several times, and now that she was seeing how she used to behave, she could understand why. She mentally resolved to not disappoint Shizun in the future, momentarily forgetting the scene of his death that she’d been pulled from. 

Shen Qingqiu glanced to the side, remembering a scene from Proud Immortal Demon Way which appeared before the viewers. It was one of the scenes they had seen earlier, of Luo Binghe as a child receiving a jade token from his adoptive mother.

“The reason Luo Binghe didn’t want to show her the pendant was that it was a gift from his mother,” Shen Qingqiu narrated over the scene. “She spent almost her entire life savings to give him a protection charm which became the only warmth in his dark world. It was always by his side, even at his darkest it could summon up his last dregs of humanity—how could he just randomly hand it to anyone else?!”

The watchers shifted, uncomfortable with being shown such a private scene.

Luo Binghe was displeased that this was being shown to such unworthy people, but couldn’t deny that it was nice to hear Shizun defend him with such rigor, even if it was just in his head. Something about knowing that Shizun understood him so intimately filled him with warmth. 

Back in the forest, Ming Fan advanced a few steps on Luo Binghe. “Luo-shidi, you sure are stuck-up, refusing to show Ning Yingying-shimei your pendant,” he snarled. “If this keeps up, when we face strong enemies in the future, will you refuse to even lend a hand?!”

Gongyi Xiao chuckled.

“What kind of jump in logic is that?”

Ming Fan waved him away, head in his hands. He was too embarrassed at his past-self’s words to make eye contact with anyone.

Shen Qingqiu placed his head in his hand. ‘Young man! There’s definitely a logical gap between your first and second lines!’

Ming Fan lit a candle in his heart.

‘I get it! You don’t have to rub it in, Shizun, this disciple understands his errors!’

“It’s fine if he doesn’t want to. Shixiong, don’t bully him!” Ning Yingying said, anxiously stamping her feet as she seemed to finally realize she had caused some tension between the two. The disciples with Ming Fan approached Luo Binghe as well, surrounding him.

At that moment, the jade Guanyin fell from Luo Binghe’s neck into Ming Fan’s hands. He raised it up for a look, then laughed loudly.

“Why… Why are you laughing?” Ning Yingying asked.

“I thought it had to be some rare treasure, for him to protect it so fiercely. Shimei, guess what it is?” Ming Fan tossed the jade pendant into Ning Yingying’s hands, chuckling gleefully. “It’s a counterfeit…”

The peak lords frowned. They had been doing their best to keep quiet on the scene, especially since all of the disciples appeared aware of the issue with their actions, but this seemed unnecessarily cruel. Especially since they knew the importance behind the pendant.

“Counterfeit?” Ning Yingying asked. “What’s that?”

“Give it back.” Luo Binghe enunciated each word, his hands slowly clenching into fists. His eyes surged with a dark expression.

Luo Binghe’s eyes darkened as well, knowing where this scene would lead.

Shen Qingqiu’s fingers twitched. ‘Luo Binghe’s biggest berserk button. A conman tricked his mother into paying a high price for a fake charm, leaving her heartbroken while her body steadily deteriorated. This is the one insult Luo Binghe can never tolerate. Ah, if only I could reach out to beat up Ming Fan and give the pendant back, maybe then he wouldn’t thoroughly offend Luo Binghe and could keep his paltry little life later on.’

[OOC.]

“Thank you. Shut up.”

Shang Qinghua choked back a laugh.

“You want it back, I’ll give it back. Who knows which street stall this cheap thing was purchased from?” Ming Fan plucked the pendant from Ning Yingying’s hands, disgust in his tone. “I’m afraid giving it to Shimei would dirty her hands.”

Despite saying this, he held onto the pendant himself, clearly having no intention of returning it.

Suddenly, Luo Binghe snapped. He struck out at the two low-ranked disciples closest to him, hitting them both. There was no technique to his strikes, however, so although he had managed to startle them with the suddenness of his actions, they quickly realized there wasn’t much more to it beyond anger.

Luo Binghe grimaced at his poor technique in the past. Shizun had been quick to fix his mistakes, so this scene was just painful to watch now.

“What are you standing there for?” Ming Fan snarled. “He dared to attack his shixiong—teach him what it means to respect seniority!”

At that, any disciple who had still been anxious regained their courage. They all surrounded Luo Binghe and clobbered him.

The viewers winced. Though the Luo Binghe in the room with them was clearly strong and capable, the him from back then was a small thing. Watching him being surrounded by older, bigger disciples was uncomfortable.

Ning Yingying stood frozen stiff to the side. “Shixiong!” she cried. “How could you do this?! Hurry up and tell them to stop or—or I’ll never talk to you ever again!”

“Shimei, don’t be angry,” Ming Fan said in a panic. “I’ll tell them to stop hitting this guy, okay?”

“I can’t believe that worked,” Wei Qingwei whispered to Mu Qingfang, who nodded, both amused.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Luo Binghe broke through the arms and legs entangling him and slammed a fist into Ming Fan’s nose.

At the sight of this, Ning Yingying—despite having been about to cry a moment ago—let out a stifled laugh.

‘Sister, really, do you like Luo Binghe, or do you want to screw him over?!’ Shen Qingqiu shouted in his mind.

Ning Yingying, Ming Fan, and Luo Binghe all sighed in unison.

Ming Fan’s face burned with humiliation. He leapt into the fray himself, unwilling to back down now. He and Luo Binghe twisted into a fighting heap, though it quickly became clear that Luo Binghe’s lack of proper cultivation technique was putting him at a severe disadvantage, making this for the most part a one-sided beatdown.

Despite this, Luo Binghe remained silent, teeth clenched.

Shen Qingqiu watched desperately from his hiding spot. ‘Can I really just watch this? I need to intervene–’

The System cut him off with a terrifying cascade of alarms. [Severe OOC! Severe OOC! Severe OOC! Important things must be repeated three times! In this situation, Shen Qingqiu would choose to smile! He would watch from the sidelines, hands in his sleeves! Or personally beat Luo Binghe himself!]

Yue Qingyuan smiled sadly at the confirmation. While he knew that Shen Qingqiu wasn’t quite as bad as others made him out to be, he was certainly no saint either. In this scene, the difference in how the two Shen Qingqius would act only highlighted that fact.

‘So the System wants me to just look on while a child is being abused. This is too much… but even so I can’t afford to take risks. Maybe I can compromise?’

Luo Binghe felt warmth filling his body, eyes shining as he looked at the projection. Shizun really did want to protect him, even with the OOC restriction!

Shen Qingqiu reached over and plucked a nearby leaf. He channeled some spiritual power into it and it exploded into several pieces.

‘Too much!’

Qi Qingqi started muttering about a child leading other children again.

He was successful with the second attempt. He held the leaf between two fingertips and gently blew, letting it go. It shot out toward Ming Fan, who screamed and leapt back.

‘I didn’t kill him just now, did I?’ Shen Qingqiu worried, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“He really doesn’t know his own power, does he?” Mu Qingfang was amused at the dramatic thoughts of Shen Yuan.

“More than that, I can’t believe he’s still just hiding in the bushes during such a scene,” Wei Qingwei laughed.

“You dare to use a knife?” Ming Fan accused Luo Binghe, who was also bleeding in a few places, and seemed equally as stunned to see the sudden cut appear on his opponent.

Now that the two fighters had separated, Ning Yingying hurried to throw herself in the middle. “No, no, A-Luo didn’t use a knife. It wasn’t him!”

Luo Binghe clenched his jaw shut and wiped some of the blood from his face.

“Did you see clearly? Was he holding a knife?” Ming Fan turned to interrogate the other disciples, allowing Shen Qingqiu and the viewers a clear view of the cut on his back. It was as if he had been sliced with the edge of a sword. The disciples were also confused, some shaking their heads, some nodding.

Ming Fan turned back to Luo Binghe, but there was no sign of a weapon. He couldn’t figure out what had happened.

While Ming Fan wasn’t happy with getting attacked by his Shizun, he was thankful for the years-long mystery being explained. His Shizun attacking him from the bushes (somehow) made a lot more sense than Luo Binghe having an invisible knife.

Shen Qingqiu held his breath in his hiding place. The System popped back up in front of him, displaying a line of intimidating red text.

[Violation: OOC. B-Points -10. Current B-Points: 90.]

Shen Qingqiu released the breath. ‘I was prepared for a deduction in the realm of a fifth, or even everything. Only ten is much better than I thought. I’ll take the loss for now, there will be future chances to earn points back.’

“That is better than I was expecting,” Qi Qingqi agreed.

But then Ming Fan pointed at Luo Binghe and yelled, “Get him!”

Shen Qingqiu’s face would have been comical if the situation didn’t seem so dire.

While Ming Fan was groaning over his past immaturity, the peak lords were doing their best not to laugh at the exasperation on Shen Yuan’s face.

The gang of disciples all tackled Luo Binghe at once. Before he had time to think, Shen Qingqiu grabbed a handful of leaves and sent them all flying.

‘The fuck am I doing? No matter what happens, Luo Binghe is the magnificent male lead. It’s not like he’s never been ganged up on before. Like they could beat him to death! Like hell you need to worry, self! I might have gotten away with the first interference, but now? Even an idiot would notice something is off!’

‘Shizun’s first instinct really was to protect me…’

Luo Binghe was unable to fight the smile spreading across his face. He didn’t want his Shizun to be punished by the system, but knowing that Shen Qingqiu helped him regardless of the consequences filled him with so much joy that he put that fact aside for the moment.

With multiple disciples now splattered with blood, they didn’t dare gang up on Luo Binghe again. They gathered anxiously around Ming Fan.

“Shixiong! What’s going on?!”

“Shixiong! I’ve also been cut!”

Ming Fan paused for a long moment, but then yelled, “Go!”

As quickly as they had come, he and his group of disciples left into the woods, clutching at their backs and arms. Only Ning Yingying was left with Luo Binghe.

“Finally,” Ming Fan sighed. He never thought he’d say this, but hopefully he didn’t show up on the projection for a while. That had been so humiliating.

“A-Luo, were you the one who sent them running just now?” she shouted.

He shook his head, standing up with some difficulty. Then he bent down again with a tense look, searching the ground, turning over fallen leaves, dry twigs, and mud this way and that, over and over again.

‘He lost the jade pendant in the confusion,’ Shen Qingqiu thought, watching him with a tight expression. ‘My perspective let me see that it got caught on a branch above their heads, but of course I can’t point that out…’

Luo Binghe’s chest tightened. It had been right above him the whole time, and he’d been busy searching the ground. This projection really was some sort of punishment for him, wasn’t it?

The System blared another notification.

[Violation: OOC. B-Points -10 x 6. Current B-Points: 30.]

“So one leaf equals ten points? Don’t use such simple, crude arithmetic!”

“Shizun lost so many points so fast,” Ning Yingying despaired, feeling guilty for her small part in the event.

Yue Qingyuan couldn’t help but feel sad at the further confirmation that Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t have stepped in during that scene. 

“Not only that,” Qi Qingqi commented, “he’s much farther from unlocking the OOC function. He wouldn’t have lost points for that if it was unlocked already.”

Though he nodded in agreement with the others, Liu Qingge felt happy that Shen Qingqiu had stepped in just then. That was just the sort of person he was. He wouldn’t be Shen Qingqiu if he wasn’t jumping in to help others at his own expense. Liu Qingge had seen him pull that kind of move over and over again. Plus, he had the feeling that Shen Qingqiu had definitely unlocked the OOC function soon, and wasn’t too worried about him.

Ning Yingying didn’t speak, her expression guilty. She quickly joined in, helping Luo Binghe search. They looked until it grew dark, but remained empty-handed. As it became clear they were unlikely to find it, Luo Binghe stood dumbly in place, staring at the ground.

“A-Luo, if we can’t find it, let’s just let it be,” Ning Yingying said. She took his hand. “I’m sorry, I’ll buy you another one later, all right?”

Luo Binghe didn’t answer. He slowly pulled his hand away from her grasp and walked toward the forest’s edge. Ning Yingying hurried after him.

Once they were gone, Shen Qingqiu stepped out from his hiding place.

‘I really watched them look the entire afternoon… How can I explain that except to say I have too much fucking time on my hands?’

“Truly, it’s impressive,” Wei Qingwei chortled. Qi Qingqi, Mu Qingfang, and Shang Qinghua joined in.

Seriously, Shen Qingqiu spent the entire day crouching in the bushes! What else could they do but applaud his efforts?

He looked up, judging his position, and then tapped his foot on the ground, springing up into the air to retrieve the jade pendant.

Luo Binghe gaped at the screen. ‘Shizun has had it the whole time?’

‘I want to return it to Luo Binghe, but that will definitely count as a violation. I don’t have any B-Points to squander, so I guess I’ll hang onto it for now.’

Luo Binghe supposed he could excuse that. Though, he couldn’t understand why still, years later, Shizun hadn’t returned it to him.

At that moment, the System popped up again.

[Congratulations! Obtained key item: Fake Jade Guanyin x 1. For changing the storyline, Shen Qingqiu IQ +100. Current B-Points: 130. Please continue to work hard!]

‘So not only did I earn back the points I lost, I even gained more! And as it turns out, the jade pendant is an important item. Maybe I can save it for a big moment later, perhaps it will even save my life!’

…Still, his Shizun was so sure that Luo Binghe was going to kill him in the future.

Shen Qingqiu began to make his way out of the forest, looking much happier than he had been just a moment ago.

“His mood sure changed fast,” Qi Qingqi said.

Outside of the forest, Luo Binghe opened his fist. Inside was a leaf, its edges sharp and stained with blood. He closed it again and kept walking.

Luo Binghe looked at the image of the bloodstained leaf. That was the first time he’d considered that his Shizun might have helped him, though it wouldn’t be the last. Already, this projection had shown him so many new sides of his Shizun that he didn’t know existed. 

Maybe, if he had known all of this before, could he have stopped Shen Qingqiu from self-detonating?

Luo Binghe pushed that aside for now. He knew all he could do right was to continue watching, and regret the things he couldn’t change. 

And maybe, he could learn how to change Shen Qingqiu’s ending.

Chapter Text

The next scene opened on Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan sitting in the Bamboo House.

Yue Qingyuan’s eyes sharpened at the sight of his past self, so foolishly believing that the person in front of him was Xiao-Jiu. He knew that he himself had also believed it, but now that he knew the truth he felt so foolish. There were so many signs, and yet he was so excited about the idea of being able to spend time with Shen Qingqiu without devolving into an argument that he didn’t question it too hard.

“Now that Shidi has rested for several days, has your health improved?” Yue Qingyuan asked, his eyes full of genuine concern.

“I have long since recovered,” Shen Qingqiu answered, lightly waving his fan in front of his face. “I’ve caused Shixiong such trouble, making him worry.”

“Then I suppose it’s about time for Shidi to leave the mountains,” said Yue Qingyuan. “Is there anything you need?”

Shen Qingqiu froze. “Leave the mountains?”

“Don’t tell me…,” Qi Qingqi moaned.

“Did the illness make you forget?” Yue Qingyuan asked, looking surprised. “Didn’t you tell me before to leave the matter of Shuang Hu City to you, as a training opportunity for your disciples?”

“You did!” She cried, “You sent a baby off the mountain! And so soon after he got there too!”

Yue Qingyuan winced, feeling slightly guilty.

“Qi-shimei, I didn’t exactly know that he was so young,” he defended weakly.

“Does he even know how to fight?” Wei Qingwei was concerned.

“Indeed,” Mu Qingfang continued, “Just because he’s read about missions in the past doesn’t mean he knows how to lead them. It’s completely different in real life.”

They all nodded, having learned the difference between classroom knowledge and real world experience themselves.

Ming Fan, Ning Yingying, and Luo Binghe thought about the mission. Several of their Shizun’s seemingly unexplainable actions during the experience were starting to make more sense now. They had excused these occurrences as Shizun trying to get them to act on their own and learn, but it made more sense that he was also trying to learn how to behave on a mission.

‘So it was some troublesome project undertaken by the original flavor,’ Shen Qingqiu thought. ‘Although I’ve been familiarizing myself with this body’s spiritual power, it’s still not second nature. How could I take my disciples for training? I’ll just have to embarrass myself and say I’m actually still not feeling well.’

“It’s good to know that he’s been training at least,” Wei Qingwei commented. “And that he’s self aware enough to know that he should not be leading a mission yet.”

The other peak lords nodded, along with the disciples. One of the most important factors for a cultivator was to know their own power and strengths. Especially on missions, overestimating oneself could lead to deadly consequences. They could at least be comforted by the fact that, although Shen Qingqiu had been put into a body with great powers, he wasn’t assuming that he could get by solely on that. 

Before he could, the System’s voice rang out in his head.

[Beginner-level quest issued. Location: Shuang Hu City. Quest: Complete the training. Please click to accept.]

Two options also appeared, one saying “Accept,” and the other saying “Reject.”

‘So this is a beginner-level quest.’ Shen Qingqiu’s gaze lingered on “Accept” for a while and the option blinked green.

“I’ve been wondering this,” Mu Qingfang started, “But it appears as though only Shen Yuan is able to see the System, even when others are in the room.”

Indeed, the Yue Qingyuan on screen hadn’t reacted to the sudden appearance of the System, or to Shen Qingqiu reading the message. That was a bit…unsettling. Though, they supposed it made things easier for Shen Qingqiu.

“Oh!” Ning Yingying exclaimed. “Wasn’t a ‘beginner level quest’ what Shizun needed to complete in order to unlock the OOC function?”

“I believe so,” Gongyi Xiao responded. “Hopefully, Senior Shen is able to complete it to the System’s satisfaction.”

Ning Yingying, Liu Mingyan, and Ming Fan nodded in agreement.

Based on his own memories, Luo Binghe had the feeling Shen Qingqiu would.

[Quest successfully accepted. Please thoroughly read the provided files and make your preparations. We wish you a swift success.]

Shen Qingqiu returned to the conversation.

“Naturally I remember,” he said while smiling. “It’s just these days I’ve rested too much and grown slow. I had almost forgotten about this matter. I’ll head out in a few days.”

Yue Qingyuan nodded. “If you’re not completely recovered, there’s no need to force yourself. There’s no rush to train your disciples either. You especially don’t need to personally take care of this matter.”

Shen Qingqiu nodded, smiling, but his thoughts painted a different picture.

‘Zhangmen-shixiong, your current role, it’s getting a bit too much like a quest-giving NPC…’

Yue Qingyuan tilted his head.

“‘NPC?’”

The others shrugged, unfamiliar with the term as well. 

On the other hand, Shang Qinghua was starting to become familiar with the frustration of not being able to answer questions that he knew the answers to for once.

The scene transitioned, showing Shen Qingqiu admiring his appearance in a mirror. ‘A properly otherworldly being! In short, absolutely not OOC—perfect!’

Qi Qingqi and Shang Qinghua snorted at Shen Qingqiu’s antics. 

He began walking down the stone stairway to where his disciples were waiting.

‘So long as the matter doesn’t involve a certain protagonist, Ming Fan is surprisingly intelligent and efficient. He set this trip up in just a day!’

Ming Fan felt a strange mix of pride and embarrassment fill his chest. Pride at his capabilities being acknowledged, and embarrassment at the continuous reminder of his childish actions towards Luo Binghe.

At the bottom of the stairs, Shen Qingqiu saw the carriage that had been prepared for him to ride in.

“Are you kidding? In the end, this is still a cultivation setting. Why aren’t we flying on swords?”

“Most, if not all, of those disciples have yet to receive their spiritual swords,” Wei Qingwei commented wryly.

“At this point, I’m scared of just the thought of this baby trying to fly on his sword,” Qi Qingqi stated.

[Even in a magical setting like Harry Potter, not every wizard goes out riding brooms,] the System coolly replied. [It would be too conspicuous.]

“You sure are knowledgeable,” Shen Qingqiu muttered. “Did you do business over at Harry Potter’s before?”

[...]

‘In all these years of the System’s operation, I may have been the first person bored enough to act so familiarly with it, let alone fuck with it.’

Shang Qinghua agreed fervently in his head. He’d always been way too scared of his system to even think of talking back to it. He supposed Cucumber Bro was simply “built different” as the youth would say.

He entered the carriage.

‘Though, the more I think about it, I suppose this setup makes sense. This trip down the mountain is for training, and most of these disciples lack experience. They haven’t even claimed their personal swords yet.’

Yue Qingyuan and Wei Qingwei nodded in agreement at his assessment of the situation. For being so new to this setting, he really did catch on quickly.

A figure moving outside caught his attention. He lifted the curtains with his fan to see Luo Binghe running around, loading luggage and equipment into the carriage and onto horses.

‘It’s hard not to be moved by that earnest and focused bearing,’ Shen Qingqiu thought to himself. ‘Especially when one is already so fond of this ruthlessly decisive protagonist, so clear-cut with who deserves his kindness and his hatred.’

Luo Binghe tried valiantly not to blush at the praise.

(He failed.)

He stared for a moment, then made an “oh” sound and dropped the curtains.

‘The male lead is inescapably the male lead. Even with how downtrodden this kid is, it’s no wonder there were still so many first, second, third, and fourth female leads ready to hand off his every word, trail in his wake, and otherwise throw themselves at him. Good looks are the true way of the world!’

Liu Qingge scowled slightly. He’d been thinking this for a while, but wasn’t Shen Qingqiu praising this brat too highly and too frequently? They could hardly go longer than a sentence or two before he managed to bring the conversation back to his so-called “protagonist,” accompanied by a flurry of compliments that were surely going to the beast’s head. 

He shot a glare at the disciple in question. The narration had barely even mentioned him once, and yet this child managed to take up all of Shen Qingqiu’s attention!

Before he could continue down this tangent, another thought struck him.

‘That’s not right. If the total number of traveling disciples is ten, and there are only nine horses, aren’t we missing one? But of course I know who to blame.’

Ming Fan sighed in resignation.

At that moment, Ming Fan’s gleeful voice rang out. “Actually, we’re short on horses, so we have no choice but to inconvenience Shidi this time. Although, since Shidi’s foundation is poor, it’s perfect—you can also take this chance to train.”

‘Short on horses my ass.’

Ning Yingying lit a candle in her heart for her martial brother, seeing him wilt in his seat at their Shizun’s mental scolding. Although she and, hopefully, Shizun knew that Ming Fan had grown from the bully he used to be, all of his scenes for the time being would surely be painting him in a bad light.

‘Hang in there, Ming-shixiong!’

“What?” Ming Fan continued. “What sort of expression is that? You dissatisfied?”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Luo Binghe said evenly.

Luo Binghe watched as his past self lowered his head, accepting the situation without protest. Though he didn’t comment, he cursed his past self’s naivety. Lowering his head and accepting other’s actions towards him had earned him nothing in this life. His hard work and pleasant attitude was never rewarded by others, so why should he continue accepting their derision? 

Shizun had been the only one to ever acknowledge and praise his accomplishments, and even Shizun had…well, nevermind.

He could see the others looking between him and the screen, also noticing the differences between the two. Luo Binghe was sure they were wondering what had changed.

‘I guess they’ll see,’ he frowned to himself. 

At that point, a bell-like laugh cut through the air as Ning Yingying arrived. “Shixiong, what are you two talking about?”

Shen Qingqiu held his forehead. ‘Really, young lady, your timing!’ Once again, he lifted the curtains slightly to peek outside.

Qi Qingqi laughed. 

“He complains about the situation in his head, and yet he’s so eager to watch and see what happens!”

Liu Mingyan eyed Shen Qingqiu with interest, feeling like she’d found a kindred spirit. She didn’t show it on her face, but she was also curious to see how the scene would play out.

Ning Yingying waved her hand excitedly. “A-Luo, not enough horses? Come ride with me!”

‘She really does bring a lot of hatred down on Luo Binghe. If he accepts her offer, he can forget about getting any peace on this trip.’

Ning Yingying wilted. Now it was Ming Fan offering her condolences in his head over Shizun’s words. This vision really was doing its best to show all of their embarrassing moments.

He spoke through the window. “Yingying, don’t make a fuss. Men and women mustn’t be too intimate. No matter how close you are with your shidi, there ought to be limits. Ming Fan, we’re dawdling. Why haven’t we set out yet?”

Ming Fan grinned smugly, no doubt thinking he and his Shizun were on the same page, and hastily urged for the group to depart.

Ming Fan shook his head. They had definitely not been on the same page!

Ning Yingying pouted, but said nothing.

As the carriage started to roll down the path, Shen Qingqiu mentally reviewed the files given to him by the System.

‘A number of murders have been committed in a small city several tens of kilometers away from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Already, nine people are dead. Each victim shared a common fate: the skin on their body had been completely, meticulously peeled off from head to toe and with perfect precision, as if the skin had never been attached to the deceased body at all. Therefore, the murderer has come to be known as the “Skinner Demon.” The nature of these murders has everyone terrified, and rumors have started that it’s due to the work of a ghost, so eventually several influential families got together and decided to send word to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect pleading for help from the immortal cultivators.’

Several people offered a quick prayer for those who had lost their lives. 

Shen Qingqiu read over the information, then shook his head.

‘Completely unhelpful! The hell is a Skinner Demon?! Never heard of it! Is this a newly added plotline or a hidden one?! Is it dangerous?! Is it strong?! Am I even going to be able to deal with it?! This isn’t what we agreed to!’

[What isn’t?] the System chimed in. [You were once a novel reader. Novels are a type of artistic creation, and in any artistic creation, there are always decisions that must be made and things that must be left out. Now that you’ve become part of this world, you naturally have to experience everything yourself, regardless of importance—you must follow every plotline to the very end, even ones omitted from the original work.]

Shang Qinghua empathized with his friends' displeasure. He’d learned the hard way too of how reading—or writing, in his case—about a world was very different from living through it. Sometimes, he wished that there was a real life version of a time skip, if only to escape his endless amounts of paper work.

Shen Qingqiu was clearly dissatisfied with this answer, but didn’t argue any further. Instead, he rummaged through the carriage interior, discovering five or six different tea sets.

‘What is this? No matter that I might have been considered wealthy second-gen in my past life, I wasn’t this pointlessly indulgent in my pursuit of first-world affluenza!’

Yue Qingyuan nodded. He’d theorized, of course, but it was nice to have some confirmation regarding Shen Yuan’s previous financial situation. 

Still…he regarded the numerous amount of tea sets.

Even he, Shen Qingqiu’s strongest defender, could admit that was a little much.

At that moment, a wave of cackles erupted outside the carriage. He glanced outside and saw that Luo Binghe was trailing alone at the back of the group, at times walking, at times running. From time to time, horses encircled him, purposely kicking up a cloud of dust until he was filthy and caked with it.

Shen Qingqiu clutched the handle of his fan tightly. ‘This is only a book, and all these people are constructs, imaginary characters,’ he reminded himself. ‘I know that, but when a character is actually being taunted and bullied right before my eyes, it’s just flat-out unrealistic to expect me to be completely unmoved.’

“I’m a little concerned,” Mu Qingfang murmured.

“What do you mean?” Wei Qingwei questioned.

“Shen Yuan appears to be blocking himself from regarding us as real people, reminding himself that this is “only a book” and so on,” he explained. “The System isn’t helping either, with its points and plotlines. It seems to be a defense mechanism towards his situation, which is understandable, but I’m worried about the consequences if it continues.”

Qi Qingqi and Yue Qingyuan exchanged glances. The Qian Cao peak lord was correct. They couldn’t fault Shen Yuan for needing a way to handle this without losing his mind. In fact, they’re sure most people would’ve lost it already. And some hesitation towards seeing them as real was to be expected as well. After all, he’d only ever known them as characters, and had hardly been there for more than a week or two.

However, it was clear just by the people in this room that they were not the same as their fictional counterparts. If Shen Yuan continued to change things without recognizing the effect it was having on the people around him, if he continued to hold them to the same expectations as the them from the book, it could have grave consequences.

…In fact, it might’ve already.

Luo Binghe was torn. On one hand, he appreciated the concern that Shizun was showing him at being bullied. On the other hand, the concept of Shizun still seeing him as that fake from the novel concerned him. Though, if that was the image that Shizun had been working off of in Jin Lan city, in the Water Prison, and in Hua Yue city, it might explain some things.

Luo Binghe frowned. He’d lived with and taken care of Shizun for more than three years. Was that seriously not enough time for Shizun to see Luo Binghe as his own person rather than the protagonist from a book Shizun had finished in twenty days?

Ning Yingying had been attempting to shoo the others away from Luo Binghe. When she was unsuccessful, she urged her horse toward the carriage and called out, “Shizun! The shixiong, look at them!”

“What about them?” Shen Qingqiu asked, externally unaffected.

“They’re bullying someone so viciously, yet you’re not telling them off,” she said defiantly. “If they keep on like this—Shizun, what are you teaching your disciples to become?!”

“Ning-shizi is truly admirable in holding such a good heart,” Yue Qingyuan praised.

Her fellow disciples smiled at her in agreement as Ning Yingying bowed in thanks, blushing slightly. 

She glanced sideways at Luo Binghe, feeling the distance between them more than ever. Once, she wouldn’t have hesitated to speak up in his defence. Now, she had requested that he stop calling their teacher “Shizun” and wasn’t even sure if he considered her a friend anymore. They had been able to be friendly in this weird room, but who knew what would happen after they left? She saw that Luo Binghe had a conflicted expression as well, but neither of them commented on it. 

Maybe there was nothing left for them to say to each other at this point.

Without any further commentary, the projection continued.

Though she was directly tattling on them, Ming Fan and the others paid her no mind. Clearly they were used to their Shizun allowing them to get away with this behavior.

Shen Qingqiu made an “oh” sound. Then he spoke: “Luo Binghe, come here.”

Luo Binghe’s face went blank. He gave a quiet assent and walked over.

It was clear that everyone expected Shen Qingqiu to grab him by the ear and discipline him, but instead he used his fan to lift the curtains and jerked his head toward the carriage interior. Though he didn’t speak, his intentions were clear.

Liu Qingge felt warmth at the action, even through his annoyance at who it was directed towards. It seemed even the OOC function couldn’t stop Shen Qingqiu’s characteristic kindness. While it annoyed him sometimes, he wouldn’t be Shen Qingqiu if he ignored injustices happening before him.

The other peak lords smiled. Though some still held uncertainties towards the person in front of them, they couldn’t deny that he was a good person. There was no benefit towards him acting here, in fact, there was only a possible penalty. Still, over the years, Shen Qingqiu had made his care for his disciples clear, now that they’d heard his thoughts, they knew he would’ve acted even sooner if he could’ve. It was comforting to know that if anyone had to be put in this situation, it was someone who would treat his disciples with care and compassion. Already, this was the third time they’d seen him risk violating the OOC function to help his disciple.

“Hopefully Senior Shen isn’t penalized too harshly,” Gongyi Xiao worried.

“A-Luo, hurry and get on!” Ning Yingying said happily. “Shizun is letting you ride with him!”

Luo Binghe froze for a second, but he recovered quickly. “Many thanks to Shizun,” he said, then stepped into the carriage. He sat straight-backed in a corner, his hands and feet tucked in like he was afraid his patched clothes would stain the interior.

[Warning…]

Although they’d been expecting it, the watchers still sighed in disappointment.

“Warning rejected,” said Shen Qingqiu. “I wasn’t OOC.”

Qi Qingqi scoffed. “How was that not out of character?”

Though he hated to agree, Yue Qingyuan nodded.

[Shen Qingqiu would never do anything to alleviate Luo Binghe’s troubles. Verdict: OOC level 100 percent.]

“Have you carefully examined this character’s complicated inner world?” Shen Qingqiu countered. “Or course he would never do anything purely to alleviate Luo Binghe’s troubles. But right now, my goal is to prevent Ning Yingying from losing faith in me as her teacher. Yingying is my dearest little disciple, and she begged me! How could I let her plea go unheard?”

[...]

“So my actions are completely in line with ‘Shen Qingqiu’s’ internal logic,” Shen Qingqiu declared. “Your warning is invalid!”

Ning Yingying wasn’t sure if she should feel flattered over being held in such high regard to her old Shizun or concerned, especially considering the previous allegations about his feelings towards her. If nothing else, it at least seemed to be letting Shizun help Luo Binghe.

The System didn’t say anything else.

‘Hah! These past few days gave me an idea of the System’s quirks. It has rules, but they’re not inflexible which means there’s some room for bargaining!’

Shang Qinghua felt cheated, jaw dropping in disbelief.

‘Why is my system so inflexible and Cucumber Bro’s is such a push over? I want a redo! A refund! Shouldn’t the author get the most creative leeway?’

If Shang Qinghua ever saw Shen Qingqiu again—which would hopefully happen, as long as he hadn’t completely fucked up the Sun and Moon Dew Mushroom—he was going to punch him on principle. 

He would then have to run for his life from Shen Qingqiu, but still! He couldn’t let this slight go unpunished.

Overjoyed from his victory, Shen Qingqiu laughed out loud, the sound catching Luo Binghe’s attention. He studied his Shizun’s face, taking advantage of their close proximity while Shen Qingqiu’s eyes were closed to get a good look. 

Of course, that meant that when Shen Qingqiu opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of Luo Binghe staring at him.

‘You can really see the future Luo Binghe’s unique grace, those “eyes like cold stars, a soft and radiant smile, with muted words and quiet laughter.”’

Liu Qingge frowned.

Once again, Luo Binghe’s face flushed.

The other watchers chuckled, feeling like they should probably get used to hearing things like that. 

Luo Binghe froze, caught. Before he could decide what to do, Shen Qingqiu smiled at him. He jolted as if he’d been pricked by a thorn and looked away. Shen Qingqiu stopped smiling a moment later.

[Violation: OOC. B-Points -5. Current B-Points: 165.]

“Even a brief smile warrants a deduction?”

[OOC is OOC.]

Wei Qingwei laughed. “I feel like the System was upset that Shen Qingqiu was able to pull one over on it.”

“Probably,” Mu Qingfang agreed.

“I’m just worried about how the baby will be able to handle his first mission,” Qi Qingqi sighed.

Feeling similarly, the watchers turned their attention back to the screen, ready to see what came next.

Chapter Text

Luo Binghe watched the mysterious projection — “The System,” as it called itself — transition scenes. So many of the moments they’ve seen are ones that have long been immortalized in his brain: Shizun giving him medicine, losing his pendant, Shizun letting him ride in the carriage, and so on. However, now he was seeing all of it as if for the first time all over again. 

Despite his face remaining calm, his emotions fluttered all over the place. He’d long thought that Shen Qingqiu’s qi deviation had perhaps caused some slight amnesia — at least, that had been the common assumption. Luo Binghe had thought he was able to slowly earn his Shizun’s approval through his actions, and then lost it once his heritage was revealed. 

But now he knew that his real Shizun, the one he cared for so much, the one who died for him, had known about his heritage from the start! Had approved of him from the start. Had already known everything about him.

Except, as it turned out, Luo Binghe’s true feelings for him.

Luo Binghe frowned, remembering all of the instances of his Shizun assuming he wanted to kill him. It was ridiculous! Even after the whole thing with the Endless Abyss, how could anyone look at his actions and think he wanted to hurt Shizun? Hopefully, Shizun would see sense soon and his thoughts would stop going down that path.

Luo Binghe wondered what else this new perspective would reveal to him. Especially given what he remembers about this specific mission. 

Luo Binghe shook his thoughts off, giving his full attention to the screen. After all, his Shizun was on it right now.

Shen Qingqiu sat stone-faced as the carriage rolled into the city of Shuang Hu. The city wasn’t particularly large, but it was bustling with activity as the group traveled through to a large mansion.

‘So this is where we’ll be staying. Old Master Chen is the richest man in the city, and also the one who facilitated sending someone to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect for assistance. Apparently two of his beloved concubines died horribly at the Skinner Demon’s hands.’

There were some more muttered prayers for the departed souls.

The man who greeted them certainly seemed to be devastated. He had a third concubine sitting on his lap, and he rubbed her small, white, jade-like hands as he moaned and groaned to Shen Qingqiu and the others, eyes overflowing with tears.

“Immortal masters, you must help us! Nowadays I dare not let Die-er leave my side for a second, for fear that the moment she’s careless, she’ll be killed by that wretched monster!”

Liu Qingge turned his lip up at the sight.

“How indecent!” Qi Qingqi wrinkled her nose. She couldn’t believe that anyone could be so improper in front of an immortal cultivator, especially someone as uptight as Shen Qingqiu was known to be. Though, she supposed, that particular aspect of his personality no longer applied. 

The others felt similarly, uncomfortable with the view of the young girl plastered over the older man’s lap.

‘What a typical NPC line,’ Shen Qingqiu thought, his face twitching slightly. ‘I can’t say I’m enjoying the sight of this sixty-year-old coot and that young girl in her teens cooing at each other right in front of me. Luckily I can easily escape to my room after this meeting and make Ming Fan do all the small talk. There are certain privileges one gains from being a master—no matter how aloof you are, no one dares say anything, they even grow more respectful!’

While others snorted at Shen Yuan’s silly thoughts, Yue Qingyuan vaguely remembered Shen Yuan calling him an “NPC” before as well. He hoped it wasn’t anything bad. The sect leader was hopeful he didn’t share too many personality traits with this Old Master Chen.

Shen Qingqiu rested in his room for a while before Ning Yingying knocked and entered.

“Shizun, Yingying wants to go and walk around the market,” she said sweetly. “Would Shizun like to keep me company?”

Shen Qingqiu glanced up at her from the book he was reading. “If Yingying wants to go and walk around, she may ask several shixiong or shidi to accompany her. This master still has things to do before confronting the Skinner Demon.”

Qi Qingqi snorted, leaning over to look at Wei Qingwei. 

“I bet you anything that he was dying to go walk around the market too.” She chuckled. “Look at this baby pretending to be all lofty in front of his disciples!”

Wei Qingwei chuckled, but didn’t take her up on the bet. He wasn’t one to bet when he knew he would lose after all.

On the other hand, Ning Yingying was blushing a bit at the sight of her asking to do something so frivolous in the middle of a murder investigation. She was sure her original Shizun would’ve had much harsher words for her had she asked him the same question.

All in all, he painted the very picture of a cold and detached intellectual. Internally, however, it was a different story.

‘How could I not want to go out and play?! Up until now I’ve been hunkered down inside Qing Jing Peak’s Bamboo House, forced to fake being an awesome master of arts and literature—bland, bland, bland to the point where I want to scatter a handful of salt over my head! And now, when I finally have a break to take a trip down the mountain, I’m still trapped in my room because the System says “the original Shen Qingqiu liked quiet and would be unwilling to mingle.”’

“See?”

“No one disagreed with you Qi-Shimei.”

“Still.”

Ning Yingying left.

‘I don’t even want to pretend to meditate.’

Shen Qingqiu lay face down on the bed for the rest of the day.

There was a sudden loud snort.

Everyone whipped their heads around to discover the sound had come from Luo Binghe, who was fighting valiantly to school his expression. His shoulders shook faintly, his lips pressed tight in a trembling line. It appeared to be a losing battle.

The sight of him breaking composure was contagious. Ning Yingying’s hand flew to her mouth, but a muffled giggle still slipped through her fingers. Ming Fan tried to turn his laugh into a cough, only managing to make it worse. The two exchanged wide-eyed looks of shared horror and hilarity — that was still their Shizun, after all! 

Unfortunately, watching him lie face-down in bed, radiating melodramatic despair over being denied a simple market stroll, was too much for anyone to take seriously.

Shang Qinghua had zero reservations. He was doubled over, laughing outright at Cucumber’s misfortune, slapping his knee for good measure. Qi Qingqi and Wei Qingwei had also dissolved into hysterics, with Mu Qingfang simply shaking his head next to them.

Gongyi Xiao and Liu Mingyan were too polite to laugh outright at an esteemed master like Shen Qingqiu, but their shoulders betrayed them, trembling with suppressed mirth as they stubbornly avoided each other’s eyes.

Liu Qingge just took in the sight, pleased. For some reason, this bratty behavior was something Shen Qingqiu only ever really showed around Shang Qinghua — of all people — and himself. That was just so like him that it made the Bai Zhan peak lord inordinately happy.

Yue Qingyuan didn’t laugh, but his lips curved slightly. While it was true he still harbored some small kernel of resentment toward Shen Yuan, he had also spent the past five years thinking of this person with undeniable fondness — as a younger brother to protect. So this silly sight of Shen Qingqiu, for once showing his (newly discovered) true age, melted something cold in his chest.

Shen Yuan was still Cang Qiong’s, after all.

Yue Qingyuan stilled, surprised at his own thoughts. What’s more is that they came without hesitation. Was Yue Qingyuan really starting to accept this Shen Yuan so easily? When he’d taken the place of someone else? Someone Yue — no, someone Qi-ge treasured beyond words?

If Yue Qingyuan were a man less disciplined, he might have bitten his lip in frustration. Because, for all his lingering grief, he could not bring himself to hate Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan, who had been thrown into this world through no fault of his own, yet took it in stride. Who clearly cared for the characters he’d read so much about, even if there were still some hangups on them being fictional or not. Who had cared for his disciples, and taught them at such a high level that their progress had been through the roof these past few years. Who, despite putting on a cold face, was kind.

Truly, he was a boon to their Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, no matter how he’d arrived.

Still, Yue Qingyuan couldn’t bring himself to let go of that tiny seed of resentment, that tiny wish that the original Shen Qingqiu — his Xiao-Jiu — could continue to exist in this world too. He felt that if he let go of that seed, no one else would carry it, and then Shen Jiu would really be lost for good.

If nothing else, Yue Qingyuan would carry his memory.

Yue Qingyuan drew a slow breath, shaking himself out of his thoughts as the laughter around him began to fade. Composure restored, Yue Qingyuan returned his gaze to the glowing projection, expression unreadable once more.

Shortly before sunset, Ming Fan arrived to deliver a report.

‘Finally, someone to talk to me! Every perk belongs to the male lead, every loneliness to the cannon fodder. Accompanying young girls to view colored lanterns and such—none of that is for our lot.’

“I can’t—,” Qi Qingqi cut herself off. She had no words anymore.

Seriously, it had only been an afternoon! It’s not like he’d been thrown into a solitary cell for several moons.

“This disciple has closely examined the corpse,” Ming Fan said. He presented the items in his hand to Shen Qingqiu with a solemn expression. They were two stacks of yellow talismans, though the paper had blackened to a dark shade similar to necrosis.

“You used these talismans to assess the corpses for demonic energy?” Shen Qingqiu asked.

“Shizun’s eyes see all. This disciple used these talismans in two locations. The first at the soil near the grave of a victim who’d been buried, the second beside a yet unburied corpse still at the coroner’s.”

Ming Fan preened slightly at the approving nods he received from the other peak lords at his tactics. After some of the previous sections in this projection, he had to take his victories where he could.

‘If even the grave soil was this saturated with demonic energy, that confirms the Skinner Demon is undoubtedly of the demonic race.’

“I’m still impressed that he was able to gain so much knowledge about this world simply from reading one book,” Mu Qingfang commented.

“Me as well,” Wei Qingwei agreed. “Though, it’s likely he’s been reading other supplemental texts in his free time. He’s smart enough to know to cover all his bases, and he’s the master of the peak of scholarly arts. It’d be telling if he was asked an easy question and couldn’t answer it.”

Yue Qingyuan nodded in agreement, along with the other peak lords. One of the factors they hadn’t questioned about Shen Qingqiu’s sudden personality change was his knowledge and ability to teach — which appeared as sharp as ever. Shen Yuan had likely put in a not insignificant amount of time familiarizing himself with everything a peak lord would be expected to know.

Shen Qingqiu cleared his throat, which made his following humph sound even colder. “They dare to harm the lives of people within a hundred kilometers of Cang Qiong Mountain? Since these demonic lowlifes came to our door, they can’t blame our disciples for enacting justice on behalf of the heavens.”

‘What a corny line, so full of hot air! I didn’t really want to say it, but I would have been OOC if I didn’t!’

Ming Fan gazed at him reverently. “Shizun is wise! If Shizun took action, that demon would be taken care of in one strike, ridding the people of evil!”

Ming Fan sighed. So far, all of his scenes had involved him misinterpreting his Shizun's thoughts in one way or the other. It was slightly embarrassing seeing his past self be so confident.

‘It seems this master-disciple relationship is right in the mold of “you reign, I’ll worship.” A most joyous union. To tell the truth, I’m extremely satisfied with Ming Fan as a disciple. Although he’s a rich young master, he’s never arrogant in front of his teacher. He’s obedient and incredibly respectful. Besides, he single-handedly handled the travel preparations, from arrangements of food to lodging. If his IQ didn’t plummet whenever he laid eyes on the protagonist, transforming him into a schoolyard bully, he would be a promising young sprout! Besides, as a fellow victim, I can’t help but feel a kind of pity for this cannon fodder disciple who, in the end, Luo Binghe would throw into an ant pit to be bitten to death by tens of thousands of ants…’

Ming Fan’s brief moment of pleasure over being praised by Shen Qingqiu was quickly forgotten at the sudden reveal of how the other him died. He side-eyed Luo Binghe, who was showing very little reaction to what Shen Qingqiu had just said — unlike Ning Yingying, who appeared distraught about his untimely end.

Hopefully, Luo Binghe’s nonreaction meant this event wasn’t something he would have to worry about.

Though, Ming Fan wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to look at an ant the same again.

“This trip down from the mountain is for the sake of your training. Unless as a last resort, this master will not assist you. Ming Fan, as the most senior disciple, you must design careful strategies, lest you let that demon harm your fellow disciples.”

“Yes! This disciple has already devised a tactical formation. As long as that demon–”

Before Ming Fan could finish, Luo Binghe rushed into the room, interrupting him.

“Shizun!” His face was stark white as he yelled.

The peak lords sat up in interest. They’d heard there had been some sort of commotion with a missing disciple on this trip, and were assuming this had to do with it. They were curious about what exactly happened, as Shen Qingqiu had been very tight-lipped on the subject.

Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe look at each other, remembering what occurred after this. 

Maybe it was a good thing Shen Qingqiu wasn’t here to see everyone’s reactions.

“What has happened to make you shout so loudly and in such a panic?” Shen Qingqiu asked.

“Ning Yingying-shijie went with me to the city’s market earlier today,” Luo Binghe said. “Once evening fell, I urged Shijie to return, but she refused—then somehow she suddenly vanished. This disciple…searched the entire street once but couldn’t find her, and he could only come back to plead with Shizun for help.”

“Sorry, A-Luo,” Ning Yingying was slightly embarrassed towards her past self. She could admit that she had been acting pretty foolish for someone meant to be investigating suspicious deaths in the area.

Luo Binghe waved her off. This whole trip was like a blip compared to everything else that’s happened since. He trusted that Ning Yingying had learned from her previous mistakes.

‘If Ning Yingying disappeared at this critical moment—this is no joke.’

Ming Fan leapt up right away. “Luo Binghe! You–”

Shen Qingqiu flicked his sleeves and the tea bowl on the desk exploded.

‘Not OOC as a deterrent, and prevents Ming Fan from further digging his own grave.’

‘Impressive,’ Shang Qinghua reluctantly praised. Shen Yuan was settling into his new role a little too easily for his liking. He wanted to see him struggle a bit!

His face twisted into barely suppressed anger. “If it’s already come to this, there’s nothing more to say. Luo Binghe, come with me. Ming Fan, take a couple of shidi and ask Landlord Chen for assistance, then go look for your shimei.”

Ming Fan sent a hateful look at Luo Binghe, but nodded and hurriedly left.

Luo Binghe remained, his head bowed.

Luo Binghe remembered the fear he’d felt at that moment — Shen Qingqiu looming over him as he prostrated himself on the floor, a familiar scene. Yes, Shizun had been merciful to him earlier and allowed him to ride in his carriage, but this was Ning Yingying! Shizun’s beloved (maybe too beloved?) disciple that he doted on! And Luo Binghe had lost her!

‘I know this isn’t his fault. In the original work, Ning Yingying’s role was to dig her own grave and be a burden. The number of plot twists caused by her sudden disappearances, blunders, or other messes allowed Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky to drag out the plot for hundreds of chapters. At the time I was impressed by Luo Binghe’s fortitude in acquiring harem members. He never refused anyone, even the most troublesome of women, and he did this without being screwed over or killed. The only thing I can say is that truly the brilliant protagonist is overwhelmingly cool, awesome, insane, and badass, with a dick longer than the heavens. A normal person definitely couldn’t have put up with such things!’

Ning Yingying gaped at the screen, for more reasons than one. Originally, she’d been startled at her “role” in the original work being described as a burden. She’d been reflecting, fingers twisting in her sleeves, hoping that wasn’t still true in this world when suddenly—

A noise that was somehow a snort, a yell, and a cough all at once erupted from Shang Qinghua’s mouth. The man had actually fallen out of his chair, one hand braced against the floor as he wheezed for air, eyes wide in delighted disbelief.

‘Cucumber Bro! This is the best day of my life!’

“Oh, my,” Qi Qingqi said, for once too stunned to speak. 

On-screen, the serene figure of Shen Qingqiu remained perfectly composed, the picture of cultivation and restraint. The contrast between that elegant face and the absolutely shameless content of his inner monologue was so severe it nearly caused a collective breakdown across the room.

Even Luo Binghe was too stunned to react immediately. His mouth had fallen slightly open as he stared at the screen in disbelief, ignoring the heavy glare Liu Qingge was leveling at him from across the room.

Everyone else artfully avoided looking at the young demon lord, deciding not to comment on this matter for their peace of mind. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be brought up again and they could all just forget this ever happened.

Luo Binghe spoke quietly. “This entire affair is this disciple’s fault. If Shizun wishes to punish this disciple, he will neither resent nor regret it. He only wishes for Ning-shijie’s safe return.”

‘He looks so pitiful. I want to pat his head.’

Luo Binghe flushed.

“Come,” he said instead, his voice cold. “Take me to the place where your shijie vanished.”

Luo Binghe led him to the busiest corner of the market. There, Shen Qingqiu closed his eyes.

‘There. A faint trace of demonic energy.’

“Good,” Liu Qingge was mildly impressed. Although he had been put into an already accomplished body, this was the first time they’d seen him actually put it to use. In a way, it was like a disciple going on their first night hunt.

While simultaneously having to lead 20 other disciples who were also on their first night hunt. It’s amazing things didn’t go worse than they had, honestly.

He followed the thread, which took him to a cosmetics shop where the trail vanished. Still, it had Shen Qingqiu thinking.

‘If they patronized a cosmetics shop… Is the Skinner Demon a woman?’

“He’s got pretty good instincts for a first timer,” Mu Qingfang agreed. 

He sent Luo Binghe inside to ask a few questions, but they received no results.

‘This quest was offered to me specifically so I can level up, but it wasn’t in the original work so I have no point of reference. I’m not a master of deduction who can infer a multitude of facts from a single clue. Whenever I play room escape or deduction games, I always run into dead ends…’

At this point, the System chimed in.

[We notice that you have encountered difficulties. Would you like to spend one hundred B-Points to activate easy mode?]

“Shit, if there was something like an easy mode, you should have said so earlier!” Shen Qingqiu snapped. “Activate, activate, activate!”

He focused on the “Yes” option until it blinked green and disappeared.

…

The peak lords sighed. 

“I mean, Ning-shizi could be in serious danger,” Wei Qingwei defended weakly.

Still. They sighed again.

Immediately, he shivered. ‘Such palpable demonic energy! As if they were afraid that otherwise no one would find the target! Calling this easy mode is no lie!’

He took off in the direction of the demonic energy, winding through the market until he and Luo Binghe arrived outside an abandoned, neglected house.

‘This has to be the place! Just look at those ghastly white paper lanterns! Look at those dilapidated gates! A proper haunted house, don’t you see?!’

An excited, somewhat childish grin had appeared on Shen Qingqiu’s face as he examined the house. Realizing, he fixed his expression into a more neutral one and turned to Luo Binghe.

“I’m surprised the System didn’t knock him points for being OOC with how stingy it’s been,” Gongyi Xiao commented quietly to Ning Yingying and Ming Fan.

The two nodded in agreement. The original Shen Qingqiu would have never been caught making a face like that. Maybe it was because no one had seen it that the System let it slide? 

Meanwhile, their seniors were chuckling over the face Shen Qingqiu had made, never having seen him show that type of emotion before.

Watching this again, Luo Binghe couldn’t believe he’d managed to miss that moment the first time.

“Return to Chen Manor and notify Ming Fan to bring all the disciples and their talismans here.”

Luo Binghe opened his mouth to reply, but then something behind Shen Qingqiu caught his eye. He didn’t have time to warn him before the gates slammed open and everything went dark.

Despite knowing what was coming, Luo Binghe still jumped at the sudden attack. He took a deep breath, calming his racing heart. If they were both knocked out, then that means next was…

His eyes flashed with excitement. Selfishly, Luo Binghe was glad for the opportunity to see this sight again. He’d been too filled with shame and embarrassment to get a good look before — plus the fear of, you know, possibly being murdered by a demon — so he was going to take this for the opportunity it was. 

He just wished the others weren’t here as well. Especially certain battle-hungry brutes he wouldn’t name. 

“No!” Qi Qingqi gasped, clutching her chest dramatically. “The baby got kidnapped!”

Though her outburst carried genuine concern, she seemed at least a little reassured knowing everyone made it out fine in the end.

Yue Qingyuan turned to give her a faintly strained look, still not sure how to feel about the nickname she’d so adamantly adopted. Still, he was also worried. Shen Yuan was still new to cultivation, and this was his first true encounter with a demon. Even with the so-called “easy mode” the System provided, things could potentially turn deadly quickly.

Everyone turned back to the screen, eager to see how Shen Qingqiu would deal with the situation.

Chapter Text

The longer the projection took to turn back on, the more tension filled the room. Although they had the benefit of knowing that everyone would be fine, other than Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying, no one knew exactly what had happened between their kidnapping and the death of the skinner demon.

After a moment, the screen lit back up to a new scene. 

When Shen Qingqiu became aware again, it was to a voice.

“Shizun, Shizun, wake up, quickly!”

He opened his eyes, and when his vision cleared, he saw Luo Binghe sitting across from him, arms and torso bound, looking distressed. He sighed in relief when he saw Shen Qingqiu awake.

“Shizun…”

“Shizun…” Ning Yingying echoed, also in the room. She was tied up with Luo Binghe, her expression miserable.

Liu Qingge frowned, taking in the situation. Both disciples were tied up and in significant distress. Shen Qingqiu was probably bound as well, likely in immortal binding cables if the demon had any sense whatsoever. Even though the peak lord was new to cultivation, he still had more raw power than both of his disciples combined — at least at that moment. 

It had been a while since Liu Qingge had been involved in a mission that turned into a hostage situation. The majority of the time, he went out by himself, and no monsters had ever gotten the drop on him. There was one time when he was a disciple that some of his sect-brothers had been captured by a mildly cunning demon, but that situation had been quickly handled by Liu Qingge and his Shizun. 

The best bet would be Shen Qingqiu breaking free of his bindings and dealing with the demon himself. The only question was if he had the stomach to do so. Not only was this new Shen Qingqiu more gentle than his predecessor, Liu Qingge could tell that fighting in any sense was much more rare in the other’s old world. 

Liu Qingge crossed his arms, watching the scene closely. That’s all he could do right now anyway.

Shen Qingqiu frowned, allowing the viewers to notice the screen was strangely only showing his head.

‘This easy mode was straightforward to the point of mercilessness! It delivered me straight into the boss’s mouth! The worst part is that the dignified Peak Lord of Qing Jing Peak was unexpectedly struck down by a mini-boss, so surely this is–’

“Maybe that’ll teach you to not take the easy way out in the future,” Qi Qingqi teased, though her jaw was tight. 

Wei Qingwei huffed out a laugh of agreement.

[OOC, B-Points -50]

‘Ahh, I spent one hundred B-Points to activate easy mode and now I’ve lost another fifty! The original Shen Qingqiu’s skill at facing down demons should have made this quest as easy as killing a chicken with a knife, but this knife failed to even hit the chicken!’

Shang Qinghua was seriously going to die if Shen Qingqiu kept thinking stuff like that. The effort to keep his laughing under control was becoming harder by the second. 

“This mission was supposed to help him unlock the OOC mode,” Ning Yingying frowned, “but now Shizun is even farther away than before!” 

Ming Fan and Gongyi Xiao nodded, exchanging glances of concern. 

“It’s likely he was still able to unlock it at some point, likely soon after this mission,” Mu Qingfang thought out loud. “After all, his behavior changed so much that for a brief time, we believed him to be possessed. There’s no way he would have changed his actions that much if he was still under the control of the system.”

Ning Yingying sighed in relief, glad that her mistake hadn’t harmed Shizun too much.

Yue Qingyuan felt a pang in his chest at the reminder that they had been so close to figuring out the truth about Shen Qingqiu’s change in behavior, and how his past self had foolishly dismissed his own concerns, revelling in the greater tolerance Shen Qingqiu gave his presence. 

The sect leader shook those thoughts away. If he kept harping on those thoughts, he might end up missing something important. He would have plenty of time once they were free from this place to fall into despair. For now, he had a job to do.

He shivered suddenly and glanced down, and at this point the view drew back enough that everyone could see that he had been stripped from the waist up.

“Heavens!” Qi Qingqi slapped a hand over her eyes out of reflex. 

A moment later, she peaked through her fingers to make sure her eyes hadn’t deceived her. Shen Qingqiu — one of the most proper and composed Immortal Masters — was half naked! She felt slightly faint just at the thought. The image was too much to bear, her fingers closing again. 

Yue Qingyuan stared straight at the ceiling — a strange mix of embarrassment, anger, and worry filling his chest. Shen Yuan had certainly left this piece of information out of his debrief! 

The others were all in similar states, ducking their heads or covering their eyes. Gongyi Xiao had gone the route of turning around fully in his chair. Liu Mingyan was staring determinedly at her brother's hands. They were trembling slightly, and his knuckles were almost white from how hard he was clenching his fists. Very carefully, she traced her eyes up to Liu Qingge’s face. 

His cheeks were more pink than she had ever seen them before, and his eyes were trembling. They would dart back to the screen for a second before shooting back to the side. After a moment, he simply closed his eyes. If Liu Mingyan hadn’t known better, she would think he was meditating.

‘Hmmm,’ Liu Mingyan observed her brother’s reaction, glancing between him and Luo Binghe on the other side. An idea was forming in her brain. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to pursue it right now, but she would definitely be coming back to it.

Contrary to the others, Luo Binghe refused to turn his head away at all, even as he heard sounds of shock coming from around him. This was a memory that he’d shamefully treasured for years, and he wasn’t going to waste a single moment looking away from this gift.

Ming Fan, having looked away from the screen to help protect his Shizun’s dignity, found his eyes falling on his once-sect brother. He noticed a faint hue of pink on the other disciple’s cheeks, causing his lip to curl in disgust. How dare Luo Binghe look at their Shizun like that after everything he’d done!

Ming Fan huffed, deciding to look away for now. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t attack Luo Binghe here. 

But he would remember this for later. 

‘Fuck! What! Is! This?! I look like a tender pretty boy caught in bed during an illicit act. No wonder the System deducted fifty points straight off the bat—it was deserved! Even taking me to zero would have served me right!’

“At least he’s aware,” Wei Qingwei murmured to Mu Qingfang, who nodded. Both Peak Lords were doing their best to only look at Shen Qingqiu’s eyes and above, flustered at the state of the usually composed cultivator.

Shen Qingqiu’s face turned red. Across the room, Luo Binghe watched him, looking both worried and a little embarrassed.

“Shizun, you finally woke up,” Ning Yingying sobbed. “Yingying is so scared…”

‘Scared? If you’re scared, then don’t go running off whenever you feel like it, young lady!’

Ning Yingying winced, but mentally agreed with the harsh words. She knew she deserved that scolding. 

At that point, an unsettling chuckle sounded from behind him. A tall, dark silhouette emerged from the darkness.

“The great Cang Qiong Mountain? The great Peak Lord of Qing Jing Peak? This is all you amount to. If the so-called greatest sect in the world is full of your sort, the day the demon race conquers the Human Realm is just around the corner.” Another bout of crazed laughter sounded as the speaker stepped further into the room. Their head was covered with a black veil, and their voice was hoarse.

Liu Qingge scowled at the demon’s words. As if the demon race could ever conquer the human realm while he still drew breath! If he had been there, he would’ve introduced the demon to the true might of Cang Qiong.

Shen Qingqiu squinted at the figure. “The Skinner Demon?”

“That’s right! That’s me, I’m the Skinner Demon! How wonderful that the illustrious Xiu Ya Sword has fallen into my hands today! Shen Qingqiu, ah, Shen Qingqiu, even if you think until your wits give out, you won’t be able to guess my identity.”

“Why wouldn’t I be able to guess?” Shen Qingqiu asked.

The peak lords tilted their heads in confusion, while the disciples exchanged glances. Had they missed something that revealed her identity?

The Skinner Demon remained silent.

“You’re Die-er, aren’t you?”

The Skinner Demon silently lifted the veil, revealing he was correct. Then she snapped, “Impossible! How did you guess?!”

“How did Senior Shen know that?” Gongyi Xiao was impressed. 

‘Does she think I’m blind? That I can’t tell from her figure? Men look at bodies before the face—with that curvy bust and bottom, with that small waist in between, she could only be a woman! Besides, this room smells rich, and you can’t find that anywhere, so of course I know we’ve been transported back to Chen Manor! And sure, there may be many women in residence here, but I’ve only met one, so of course the only name I can guess is Die-er! I don’t know any others! But who knew you’d lose your cool so quickly, without denying it even a little, and jump right to lifting your veil!’

…

“I mean, not exactly what I was expecting, but at least he knows?” Qi Qingqi was confused on if she should be annoyed or impressed at how Shen Qingqiu had deduced the demon's identity. 

The others, also confused and slightly amused, just nodded. 

Die-er straightened her posture, resuming her cool, collected demeanor from earlier. “Not bad, it was indeed me! But Shen Qingqiu, even if you guessed until your wits gave out, you couldn’t possibly imagine why a weak and delicate woman like me would be the culprit, right?”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t respond, sitting up as much as he could with the ropes binding him. ‘Bosses traditionally receive time to monologue. How can I not offer this courtesy?’

“He’s still treating this world like a story made of tropes,” Mu Qingfang commented to Yue Qingyuan, who hummed in acknowledgement. 

Hopefully, as he spent more time in the world, this habit would stop, or at the very least, become less common. For now, they would let Shen Yuan have his coping mechanism, though they made a note in their heads. 

Die-er continued. “The Skinner Demon comes and goes without a trace, not because I can fly through the skies or disappear into the earth, but rather because every time I finish killing a person, I change into their skin. By wearing these women’s skins and imitating their behavior, I can blend into the crowd with none the wiser and search for my next target.”

“That’s not right,” Shen Qingqiu said.

Die-er’s expression darkened. “What’s not right?”

“Suppose every time you killed a person, you changed skins—for instance, when you killed Die-er and wore her skin, you became ‘Die-er.’ But Die-er’s skinned corpse would still be there. Wouldn’t someone find it strange that there are two Die-er’s?”

‘But wait, I see. It’s not like this world has DNA identification. After skinning someone, all you have left is a messy lump of bloody flesh. Pretty difficult to tell exactly who it had been.’

“D-N-A?” Ming Fan tilted his head curiously, looking to the peak lords to see if they knew what Shen Qingqiu was talking about. They looked just as confused as he did, however. 

“Looks like you figured that out too,” Die-er said. “Not bad. I use the current woman’s corpse to substitute for the last woman’s. For example, when I killed Die-er, I was wearing Xiang-er’s skin, so everyone at that time thought Xiang-er was still alive. After I donned Die-er’s skin, I disguised Die-er’s corpse to look like Xiang-er’s before it was found.”

“Those poor girls,” Liu Mingyan said, offering a quick prayer in her head. Gongyi Xiao did the same.  

‘This villain’s professional integrity is really impressive. Not only did she expose her inner thoughts and feelings, she also explained her methods and line of criminal reasoning in detail. Offering examples, providing personal experiences—she’s more diligently thorough than a college-entrance-exam cram-school teacher!’

Shang Qinghua was slowly losing control over his laughter. He could see Liu Qingge giving him a side-eye, and elected to ignore it.

Shen Qingqiu quickly glanced over to Luo Binghe, seeing that he was watching this exchange with a glimmer of anger burning in his eyes. Ning Yingying was also watching, though she looked a bit more confused.

“After a certain amount of time, you always change skins. Is this all whim, or do you have to?” Shen Qingqiu asked.

Die-er sneered. “You think I’d tell you?”

‘You’ve already told me plenty, all right, Sis? (Or is it Bro?) What’s one more?’

“I must say, he’s staying remarkably calm for someone who’s never been in a situation like this before,” Wei Qingwei acknowledged. 

“Indeed. I’m impressed he’s been able to obtain so much information from the demon,” Mu Qingfang praised. “Most people would’ve lost their composure and started screaming or begging for their life.”

Die-er approached where Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying were bound together. Luo Binghe remained calm, but Ning Yingying screamed, “Demon! Don’t come near! Shizun, save me!”

Ning Yingying gasped, covering her face in embarrassment. She’d forgotten about that part! 

Luckily for her, the peak lords didn’t comment on her lapse of composure. Although they had been praising Shen Yuan for not acting in the same way, they understood that this was her first true exposure to demons and the like. Some of their current strongest disciples had cried like babies on their first missions too.

Die-er chuckled. “Your master has been bound with my immortal-binding cable. Spiritual energy can no longer flow anywhere in his body. He can’t hope to protect himself—how could he save you?”

‘Ah, that explains why I can’t gather any spiritual power.’

“He’s just noticing that now?” Qi Qingqi chuckled. “And shouldn’t he be taking that part a bit more seriously? He’s their best bet of getting out of there.”

“It’s still his first mission,” Yue Qingyuan commented. “We know they managed to escape and deal with the demon, so it can’t have gone too poorly. Let’s wait and see how he handles this.”

Admittedly, it was getting a bit difficult to follow what was happening, considering most were relying solely on sound, refusing to look at the screen in fear of seeing Shen Qingqiu’s undressed state. Some felt comfortable taking quick glances every now and then.

Luo Binghe hadn’t looked away once.

Die-er continued. “Damn, if it weren’t for my damaged martial aspect, I wouldn’t need to constantly change skins and absorb human qi. You’re a brat, but your skin is lustrous and tender, and you’re a disciple from a prestigious sect. I expect I’ll be able to use you for a good long while. After I suck your skin dry, it’ll be your master’s turn. That way I’ll make sure the Xiu Ya Sword didn’t live his life in vain.”

“…”

Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe both stared at her, clearly thinking the exact same thing.

‘What was it she just said? “You think I’d tell you,” right? Not only have you told me, you also seem to have made the astonishing decision to reveal your plan! The professional standards of this world’s villains are beyond salvation!’

“I hate to agree with an inexperienced baby, but…” Qi Qingqi sweatdropped. 

Mentally, Shen Qingqiu called out to the System. “So, uh… if I make a mistake during a quest, and I end up dead, will I get a chance to reload and try again?”

[Only the protagonist is granted the privilege of plot armor,] said the System.

Several glances were thrown in Luo Binghe’s direction. The focus had been off of him for a short time, but no one had forgotten who the supposed “protagonist” of this world was. 

“What’s ‘plot armor’?” Gongyi Xiao tilted his head.

“Probably what it sounds like,” Shang Qinghua spoke up. “‘Plot’ most likely just refers to the story as a whole, while ‘armor’ probably refers to protection. The story needs to protect the protagonist at all costs. There’s no story without the protagonist, after all. It should help the protagonist escape situations that most people shouldn’t be able to, even if it’s a bit unbelievable, because the protagonist has to live. Basically, the system is saying that Shen Qingqiu doesn’t have that protection, since he’s not the protagonist. So while it would alter the story for one of the villains to die early on, there’s nothing stopping it since the story can keep on going without him. Luo Binghe, on the other hand, is protected by the story since he’s the protagonist, so he won’t die in dangerous events like this one…”

Shang Qinghua trailed off, the weight of the peak lords baffled expressions breaking his mini-rant. His shoulders hunched slightly, realizing that his colleagues had probably never heard him speak for so long or so confidently before.

“Or maybe not, it’s just a guess!” He squeaked.

“No, that makes sense. Thank you, Peak Lord Shang!” Gongyi Xiao bowed in his direction.

Shang Qinghua waved him off, laughing nervously. He turned back to the screen, hoping it would start again before any one else could try and interrogate him.

‘Great. Good thing this villain has the illustrious quality of “must answer every question.” If I want to stall, all I need to do is ask another question.’

“Haven’t you only targeted young, beautiful girls?”

“I never said I only pick young, beautiful women. As long as they’re good-looking and their skin is fine and smooth, I’ll take anyone. It’s just that most of the time, a man’s skin isn’t as good as a woman’s, and the skin of the elderly is never as good as that of the youthful.”

‘As expected, she chatters on and on.’

Mu Qingfang frowned. He was uncomfortable with how the events seemed to confirm Shen Yuan’s expectations of typical stories and character tropes. How was he meant to look at this world as real if it kept sticking to his expectations of a book?

Just as Shen Qingqiu had that thought, her eyes flashed green with envy and her expression grew yearning as she began to run her hands over Shen Qingqiu’s upper body.

Luo Binghe’s eyes flashed in rage, a low snarl building in throat. Liu Qingge, who had finally decided to look again, froze at the sight on the projection. His gaze darkened, fists clenching. 

Truly, that demon was lucky he hadn’t been on this mission.

“However, cultivators really are different. Even though you’re a man, your skin is so glossy and smooth. It’s… been so long since I had my male skin…”

Goosebumps sprung up on Shen Qingqiu’s skin.

“That’s so…creepy,” Qi Qingqi cringed at Shen Qingqiu’s situation, having looked at the screen after noticing Liu Qingge’s behavior. The skinner demon was reminding her a lot of the men she had to beat off of her girls every time they left the mountain, a mix of disgust and anger filling her. The only reason she wasn’t shouting was because she knew this demon was already dead.

That was a lucky demon, to be able to escape the wrath of multiple peak lords.

‘Honestly it’s kind of pitiful. It sounds like Die-er was originally a man but had to keep using the skins of women due to their condition. After such a long time, of course that would make you a little twisted…’

Their hands kept running across Shen Qingqiu’s body, and he shrank back. Watching this scene, Luo Binghe’s face was frozen in an expression of confusion and fear, but also something else. It was faint, but by looking closely one could see the tiniest glimmer of desire.

Ming Fan shot another look at Luo Binghe. This portion of the System’s message was truly testing his patience with his former sect brother.

Shen Qingqiu suddenly grinned.

“What could he possibly have to smile about right now?” Wei Qingwei grumbled under his breath.

“Why are you smiling?” Die-er asked warily.

“I’m amused at you and your poor judgement,” Shen Qingqiu replied, slow and deliberate. “Pearls before swine, as they say. There are three options here, yet out of them, you keep overlooking the most suitable vessel.”

Luo Binghe’s face paled.

There were a couple gasps of realization at Shen Qingqiu’s meaning. He was giving Luo Binghe to the Skinner Demon?

Several people turned to get the half-demon’s reaction. Unlike on the projection, the young man appeared calm, his face not showing any emotion at the insinuation.

Seeing nothing, they slowly turned their attention back. Plus, he clearly lived through whatever the Skinner Demon decided to do, as he was sitting in front of them. Still, they were shocked that Shen Qingqiu was even able to bring himself to make that suggestion. After all, his thoughts made it clear that he held a significant amount of affection towards the boy.

‘It’s not even a lie. Of the three of us, Luo Binghe is the one descended from a line of ancient heavenly demons. If an ordinary demon got their hands on such a body, forget repairing a damaged martial aspect—would there be anything they couldn’t do? Though, of course, that’s not the only reason I’m suggesting him…’

“What other reason is there?” Gongyi Xiao tilted his head.

“If you want to trick me, you need a better lie,” Die-er said. “This brat’s appearance and aptitude may be exemplary, and his skin fresh and tender, but how can he compare to you? You’ve reached the stage of Mid Core Formation!”

“With your level of insight, it’s no wonder your martial training was unsuccessful,” said Shen Qingqiu, smiling. “Think about it for a moment. What kind of person am I, Shen Qingqiu? If this child possessed excellent aptitude and a fine appearance but nothing else, why would I accept him as my disciple? If I only wanted a disciple with excellent aptitude, could I not have my pick of the talents who fight to enter Cang Qiong Mountain Sect every year? Though naturally, my thought process cannot be explained to outsiders.”

Die-er paused, considering his words.

‘Excellent! This villain’s IQ is truly ridiculously low. Even though I conjured a hasty explanation riddled with logical holes, they actually seem to half-believe it!’

Mu Qingfang frowned again, exchanging a glance with the Sect Leader. 

Shen Qingqiu continued. “If you’re suspicious, there’s an easy test. Let me share a method by which you can verify my words. Go over there and strike him on the crown of his head. Then you’ll know whether I’m lying.”

Luo Binghe’s face turned white. He desperately tried to make eye contact with his Shizun, but Shen Qingqiu refused to look at him.

‘Bing-ge—you’re a man of virtue, please magnanimously forgive my smack-talking and backstabbing just this once, okay, I’ll never do it again, I’ll definitely make it up to you in the future—’

‘I’ve already forgiven you for this, Shizun,” Luo Binghe thought. ‘But there’s another decision of yours that I’m still confused about. That I hoped to…” 

Shen Qingqiu, pointing a sword at Luo Binghe’s chest. 

Shen Qingqiu, running away at the first sight of Luo Binghe.

Shen Qingqiu, laying dead in Luo Binghe’s arms.

‘Shizun,’ Luo Binghe despaired, unable to focus fully on the projection, ‘Why did you do it?’

“Shi…Shizun, you… you can’t be serious,” Ning Yingying said, voice wavering.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t look at her either. He only smiled at Die-er. “You don’t know if I’m telling the truth now, but you’ll know as soon as you try. Why hesitate? It’s only a single strike against an insignificant boy. Even if I were lying to you, you aren’t risking anything, are you? Or are you worried that I’m telling the truth, so you dare not hit him?”

‘To anyone who doesn’t know the truth, it sounds as if I’m eagerly pushing Luo Binghe to his death.’

“It definitely does,” Qi Qingqi complained, “so hurry up and explain yourself! Clearly, your plan was never for the boy to be harmed!”

“Qi-shimei, I’m sure he’ll explain himself, so calm down,” Yue Qingyuan soothed. 

She crossed her arms in frustration, but bit back her other complaints, letting the projection continue.

Luo Binghe clearly believed so, as he started struggling against the ropes with all his might. They became tighter and tighter as he fought, digging into both him and Ning Yingying, who could only sob.

Ning Yingying bit her lip, remembering how scared she had been at that moment. The fear she’d felt for A-Lu—for Luo Binghe, and the confusion at her Shizun’s words. After the beam had fallen, she’d assumed that it had been a part of Shen Qingqiu’s plan all along, but now she wasn’t so sure.

Die-er snorted. “I want to see exactly what sort of foolish game you’re playing.”

They strode toward Luo Binghe and brought their palm down.

Shen Qingqiu watched intently. ‘Please…’

Yue Qingyuan leaned forward, watching intently.

At the very moment their strike would have hit Luo Binghe, a ceiling beam broke. The beam, which hadn’t appeared to be particularly weak before, crashed down coincidently on top of Die-er, knocking them to the ground and leaving them unable to get up. It also coincidently smashed the pillar Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying—who had fainted from the shock—were bound to, loosening the ropes enough for Luo Binghe to wiggle out.

‘If I had been reading Proud Immortal Demon Way and seen this described, I would have thrown down my cell phone and started screaming curses. But, the System declared the one unbreakable rule is that the protagonist can not die, so I goaded Die-er into attacking him and a death flag triggered! Admittedly, this was… rather unscrupulous, but Luo Binghe probably was never in real danger. Even if I threw him under the bus this once, there will be more chances to farm favor in the future. Though the way that beam fell is completely ridiculous! “Great Master” Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, what kind of logic is this?!’

Gongyi Xiao and Liu Mingyan both sucked in great gasps of air, turning to look at each other and then towards Shang Qinghua. The startled author leaned back slightly at the intensity of their gazes — eyes filled with understanding and awe.

“Plot armor!” The two disciples breathed the word out in reverence, as if they had just witnessed the miracle of a god. They now understood the true power of what Shang Qinghua had tried to explain to the group earlier.

The others startled at the familiar words. That was the power of a story protecting its protagonist? That beam falling was completely unexplainable! And the ropes being cut as well?

Some began to glance at Luo Binghe with apprehension. To be protected by an outside force to such a degree…

Now free, Luo Binghe stood and stared, unmoving, at the fallen Die-er.

‘Was that… it?’

At that moment, Die-er overturned the ceiling beam and sprang up.

Shang Qinghua jumped, a startled squeak leaving his mouth. 

“Shen Qingqiu! The schemers of Cang Qiong Mountain are truly shameless and despicable! What sort of dirty trick did you just use to ambush me from behind like that?”

‘No, I really am completely innocent. If anyone, the chief culprit was Luo Binghe.’

“This is crazy…” Qi Qingqi muttered, still in disbelief at what occurred due to this “plot armor.”

“So you really were lying to me, trying to draw my attention away so you could sneak attack me,” Die-er snapped, unforgiving. “Otherwise, why would a perfectly good ceiling beam come crashing down and just happen to smash into me?”

‘At least they also realize how illogical that part of the scene was,’ Shen Qingqiu thought, sounding relieved. ‘Their IQ isn’t beyond saving after all!’

“I think you have bigger things to worry about than that, Cucumber Bro,” Shang Qinghua said under his breath.

Die-er sneered. “You thought this would be enough to stop me? Keep dreaming. The immortal-binding cable can only be cut by an immortal’s sword. You can forget about breaking it via any other means.”

‘And I was just praising you too. Don’t reveal how to free the enemy! Also, do they think no one can see where they put Xiu Ya?’

Even as he had the thought, Die-er drew back their cloak slightly to show where Xiu Ya was stored on their hip and patted it.

“She’s not even trying to hide it!” Wei Qingwei said in exasperation. Not that he wanted the situation to be more difficult, but still. 

“I need to ask, are all villains in this mold?” Shen Qingqiu asked the System, exasperated.

[To guarantee your ability to clear the beginner-level quest, activating easy mode set the villain’s IQ to below average.]

“That’s…concerning,” Mu Qingfang commented, eyebrows furrowing.

“What do you mean, Mu-shidi?” Yue Qingyuan inquired. 

“The System just implied that it could affect the IQ of this villain,” the Qian Cao peak lord explained. “That it could go into someone’s head and change things. Is that just for Shen Yuan’s adversaries or could the System do it to people like us as well?”

Everyone fell silent.

Hearing it put like that, the System’s power seemed much more chilling than before. They exchanged glances between each other. How much of their actions were their own? How much was the System twisting this for the Story? The Protagonist — Luo Binghe?

When they thought back, they had seen a brief moment of this very concern surrounding Ming Fan and Shen Qingqiu’s musings about how his IQ and self-control appeared to drop in the presence of Luo Binghe. Ming Fan appeared to be remembering that moment as well, if the paling of his face said anything. He shot a glance at Luo Binghe, eyes wide with discomfort, fear, and confusion. The demon lord was looking back at him, face uncertain.

Luo Binghe didn’t know what to think. At first, he had been upset at the implication that the world was putting obstacles in his path for “character growth,” but he’d never considered what that manipulation could mean when other people were the obstacles he faced.

Until now.

He opened his mouth. “So the System can manipulate…” 

The half demon trailed off. He looked around the room, as if truly taking the walls for the first time.

Everyone else, confused as to why Luo Binghe had fallen silent, followed his gaze and quickly understood. There was an uncomfortable moment as the watchers realized they probably shouldn’t say anything too negative regarding the System, or anything questioning the System’s intentions.

It was what had brought them all to this room, after all.

“Let’s move on for now,” Yue Qingyuan murmured. “But we will be sure to come back to this matter later.”

Everyone nodded, turning back to the projection.

‘So not all bosses will be this easy to fumble through.’

“Thumbs up, thumbs up! This easy mode of yours is a bit too user-friendly.”

Die-er gritted their teeth. “I won’t listen to you no matter what you say this time! Accept your death, Shen Qingqiu!”

“One last thing!” Shen Qingqiu shouted.

Die-er stopped. “What last words do you still have?”

Shen Qingqiu considered. ‘It was so easy to get them to stop, I didn’t even have time to think of something else to say to stall.’

Finally he said, “How does it feel to sleep with a sixty-year old coot?”

Shang Qinghua — who was overall less concerned over the System’s hypothetical manipulations, being more familiar with the concept — let out a snort. He quickly dissolved into laughter, applauding Shen Qingqiu’s dig towards the demon. As he bent over, some of the tension that had filled the room began to dissipate. A few others began to smile, able to see the humor in the situation.

Die-er went silent, their facial expression twisting as their entire body trembled with rage.

Luo Binghe took advantage to suddenly rush them from behind. He snatched Xiu Ya from their hip and drew the sword, filling the room with pure white light. There was a flash of silver, and then the cable on Shen Qingqiu’s body was neatly severed.

Liu Qingge pressed his lips together. If it had been anyone else, he would’ve praised their quick actions and instincts to take advantage of an opponent's distraction. 

But the person in question was Luo Binghe. He refused to praise Luo Binghe.

Die-er cried out in fear. “This is impossible–”

‘Enough! I’m not the listening type! I don’t want to hear a rote analysis of the boss’s true motives right before their death!’

The corner of Shen Qingqiu’s mouth twitched, and he drew his hand back before unleashing a powerful palm strike on Die-er’s chest. The demon flew back, dead.

“Finally!” Qi Qingqi shouted, deciding to push any uncomfortable revelations to the side for now. She allowed herself to revel in the sight of the Skinner Demon being defeated, not wanting to listen to them blather on any longer.

Liu Qingge breathed out in relief. He had briefly been concerned earlier that Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t be able to stomach killing the demon, but he supposed he should’ve known better. He knew that Shen Qingqiu wasn’t quite as weak as he appeared, after all.

‘That’s the first time I’ve killed someone,’ a part of Shen Qingqiu’s mind whispered. He looked down at the twisted, broken, bleeding form of “Die-er” and immediately turned away.

‘This is a book. They’re a demon who’s killed countless people. I had to kill them or it would have been me. This is a book. That was a demon. It was them or me. I had to.’

Any joy instantly died down at Shen Yuan’s thoughts. They knew that he’d likely never had to kill anyone before, but knowing that was different than seeing his reaction to his first kill.

His rationalization about this world being a book became more understandable.

“He killed the demon to protect his disciples, and now he’s protecting himself,” Mu Qingfang murmured. 

He straightened his posture and evened out his breathing, giving no indication of his internal struggle as he turned to Luo Binghe.

“This is your first time seeing someone ‘eliminate demons and uphold justice,’” he said. “Were you scared?”

‘I was,’ Luo Binghe thought, jaw tightening. ‘But so were you. And yet, you still managed to comfort me and teach me all at the same time. Shizun…I’m sorry I didn’t realize before.’

Luo Binghe’s face was still pale.

“If you wish to ‘uphold’ you must ‘eliminate,’” said Shen Qingqiu firmly.

Yue Qingyuan looked at Shen Yuan, acting as a teacher even in his uncertain mental state, able to import Cang Qiong’s principles in this situation. Anyone would’ve believed that he’d been a Peak Lord for years before this mission, despite his mistake of being captured by the demon.

Luo Binghe gritted his teeth. His voice wavered when he spoke. “Shizun, if this disciple may be so bold as to ask, just now…”

He didn’t finish. Shen Qingqiu spoke instead. “You want to ask, if that ceiling beam hadn’t suddenly come crashing down, what was this master’s plan?”

‘Of course I can’t tell him “Don’t worry, even if the ceiling beam hadn’t collapsed, perhaps the wall would have. Even if the wall hadn’t, perhaps the pillar would have. Long story short, you definitely wouldn’t have died, the boss definitely would have, and that’s all there is to it.”’

“Plot armor,” Liu Mingyan and Gongyi Xiao chorused again.

Instead, he said, “If you’re asking this, are you blaming this master?”

Luo Binghe shook his head. “No,” he said, his expression sincere. “If this disciple could give up his life for Shizun, it would be an honor.”

‘He really is too much of a white lotus!’ Shen Qingqiu thought.

Luo Binghe’s cheeks flushed.

“Then this master will promise you in kind: Even if an accident befalls this master, no misfortunes will come to you. On this matter, I speak nothing but the truth.”

Wei Qingwei leaned over to Mu Qingfang and Qi Qingqi.

“I hate to ruin such a touching moment,” he whispered, “but wouldn’t that be OOC? Why isn’t the system flagging that?”

The others, agreeing with their fellow peak lord, shrugged. 

‘After all, no matter what happens to me, even if I die one hundred times, the protagonist with impervious plot armor will go on living in perfect health.’

“Plot armor,” was repeated again by the usual suspects.

These words seemed to ignite a fire in Luo Binghe. He lifted Xiu Ya, presenting it to Shen Qingqiu with both hands. “Shizun, your sword!”

Shen Qingqiu took it from him. ‘This child is way too easy to dupe. Just a couple of words were all it took to restore him to full health in the blink of an eye. Of course, in the future he won’t be so easy to fool. The path to adulthood truly is tangled with thorns and suffering…’

Luo Binghe frowned. Shizun hadn’t lied to him, so why was he referring to that interaction as having “duped” Luo Binghe? Even being able to hear his thoughts hasn’t helped the demon lord be able to fully understand the other man, to his frustration.

The System broke off that train of thought with a series of notifications.

[Ning Yingying’s favor increased. Protagonist satisfaction points +50.]

[Obtained high-level item: Immortal-Binding Cable. Villain’s strength +30.]

[Completed beginner-level quest, B-Points +200. OOC feature unfrozen. From this point on, you have full command over the Shen Qingqiu account’s controls. Congratulations! Please continue to work hard!]

“Yay!” Ning Yingying jumped out of her seat, unable to contain her excitement. “Congratulations, Shizun!”

Ming Fan, Shang Qinghua, Gongyi Xiao, and a few others began to clap in celebration. They could finally leave the days of “Warning: OOC” behind them!

‘These dramatic ups and downs, the intense joys and sorrows—it’s basically gambling! And now with the OOC function unfrozen, I can carry out the great and glorious task of clinging to the male lead’s thighs!’

They settled back into their seats as the projection faded into a change of scenery. Although there were some concerning moments in that section, it had ended up being mostly positive, with the Skinner Demon killed and the OOC function being unfrozen. They were excited to see what Shen Yuan would do now that he could act freely. 

The projection lit up again, and they all gave it their full attention, ready for whatever came next.