Chapter Text
Without a Cure.
What a stupid, lazy name for a poison. A misnomer, too, since there was a cure. Not that Shen Yuan would ever receive it. And what was he doing jumping in front of the attack for the scum villain’s sake?! He must have lost his mind in that moment.
In the days following the invasion, Shen Yuan swam in and out of consciousness on Qian Cao Peak. Sometimes Mu Qingfang was there, and pestered Shen Yuan with as many medically-related questions as he could before he went back under. Others, Luo Binghe was there, sniffling and crying OOC tears that Shen Yuan didn’t even have the energy to rant about before passing out again. A couple times, Liu Qingge stared silently and grimly at him.
Once, he woke up to see Shen Qingqiu sitting in a chair near the bed, gaze distant as he glared at a wall and fanned himself. Half-sure this must be a dream, Shen Yuan indulged in staring at his former shizun’s elegant profile.
It soon became clear that he was truly awake—or that this was a very realistic dream—because Shen Qingqiu started laying into him as soon as he noticed his attention. Words like ‘reckless’ and ‘idiot’ and ‘insane’ fell from his lips in various combinations and multiple repetitions, like he was upset enough for his scholarly vocabulary to fail him. Shen Yuan didn’t see what the big deal was; everyone was fine, weren’t they?
That was the wrong thing to ask, as it only incensed Shen Qingqiu further. He spat Shen Yuan’s prognosis at him, telling him the poison would lurk in his veins for the rest of his life and incapacitate him at any chance. Considering that Without a Cure was originally intended to be fatal, Shen Yuan thought this was quite the upgrade. He wisely kept that opinion to himself.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Mu Qingfang and Liu Qingge, Shen Yuan was back on his feet and functioning mostly-normally in no time. Besides a general fatigue and the occasional flare-up, it was almost like Shen Yuan wasn’t poisoned at all! Of course, it also meant that he would never advance past his current stage of cultivation, but that was…fine. Better than death.
Without a Cure also had the unintended side effect of making his martial siblings even less likely to challenge him to fights. Shen Yuan wasn’t exactly fond of being looked at like he was a delicate maiden, but he also wasn’t keen to brawl with others all the time, so he accepted this.
In other news, Sha Hualing’s invasion served as something of a wake-up call for Shen Yuan—Luo Binghe had performed much better than in novel canon, but it was clear that he still had a ways to go before he could handle the events of the Immortal Alliance Conference. True, it was still a few years off, but that Black Moon Rhinoceros Python was no joke!
So, Shen Yuan took it upon himself to…tutor Luo Binghe. He continued sneaking away during raids on Qing Jing, and started teaching Luo Binghe the Bai Zhan forms that he’d picked up. Luo Binghe was much better suited for them, anyway, and it felt nice to see the young protagonist blossoming even more under Shen Yuan’s tutelage.
One day, Shen Qingqiu caught the two of them, and Shen Yuan sent up a prayer asking that Luo Binghe be spared the scum villain’s wrath. However, Shen Qingqiu surprised him by pulling him aside to…basically give Shen Yuan his blessing? When Shen Yuan displayed open confusion, Shen Qingqiu scowled and said that ‘the beast’ was nigh unteachable since he refused to listen to anyone but Shen Yuan. If he was willing to put in the work to keep Luo Binghe from becoming an embarrassment to the sect, then Shen Qingqiu was willing to tolerate Shen Yuan coming by Qing Jing Peak more often.
Which was great! Still confusing, but great! Shen Yuan now had permission to visit Qing Jing Peak pretty much whenever! He ended up running into Shen Qingqiu more and more because of this, and their conversations were increasingly civil—they even had tea together on rare days when Shen Qingqiu was in a particularly good mood.
Luo Binghe also, on occasion, visited Bai Zhan for his extra tutoring. The disciples there were more of a challenge for him, and on one occasion, he even fought Liu Qingge himself! He wiped the floor with Luo Binghe, of course, since this was pre-demonic unsealing and pre-Abyss. But Luo Binghe still held his own admirably, and seemed to gain a real respect for Liu Qingge. After that day, he always looked at his shishu with an awed expression.
Between his head disciple duties, tutoring Luo Binghe, conversing with Shen Qingqiu, and the occasional strange meal with Liu Qingge, Shen Yuan was so busy that he hardly noticed the passage of time.
Before he knew it, the day of the Immortal Alliance Conference arrived.
Shen Yuan ran as fast as his injured leg would let him, racing towards the oppressive energy pouring from the Abyssal rift in the distance. And here he’d been patting himself on the back for successfully sending Luo Binghe away from the Black Moon Rhinoceros Python! He should have realized that the Abyss would just open up wherever the protagonist was—stupid, rookie mistake.
He couldn’t risk flying on his sword; if Without a Cure chose to flare up, he’d come crashing down. As such, Shen Yuan was left with little other choice than to run, the fear of not making it in time urging him to push himself faster.
But then that oppressive energy suddenly disappeared, and Shen Yuan’s chest tightened. He nearly stumbled and collapsed right there, but forced himself to keep going. Even if the Abyss had closed, maybe it hadn’t taken Luo Binghe with it. Maybe he was okay, maybe he was safe—
The temperature plummeted as soon as Shen Yuan stepped into the clearing. He staggered and slowed, ice crunching under his feet as he woodenly continued forward. A strange scent filled the air that he barely even registered, much less understood.
There was only one person in the clearing, slumped on the ground.
Shen Qingqiu’s robes were stained with dirt and blood, one sleeve coated in ice as he braced an arm on the frozen grass and drew in heaving breaths. Shen Yuan stared at him, numb, before his gaze slid over to the shards of metal scattered nearby.
Zheng Yang.
Shen Yuan should be angry. He wanted to be angry—all that work, all that effort he’d put in, all that stupid hope he’d had that maybe he could change things. Change Shen Qingqiu. The man himself was already injured; technically, there was nothing stopping Shen Yuan from lashing out and attacking him like he had years ago.
But that scent in the air—osmanthus tea turned sour—quelled that anger down to a mere churning in Shen Yuan’s stomach. There was a kunze in distress nearby. His instincts urged him to help. Still numb, Shen Yuan lowered himself to his knees next to Shen Qingqiu and started checking over him.
Shen Qingqiu hadn’t even noticed his presence until now. His head snapped up, a line of blood dripping from his mouth and making his twisted features look even more unearthly. “You.”
Shen Yuan didn’t respond, gaze lowered as he assessed him. Shen Qingqiu had a number of wounds—nonlethal, but they would need tending to before the blood loss became too great—and the fingertips of one hand looked dangerously close to frostbite.
“Where were you?”
Shen Yuan didn’t answer.
“Did you know about him?” Shen Qingqiu snarled. “Your little beast?”
Shen Yuan checked his qi; it was running rampant, flirting with deviation. Shen Yuan didn’t have any to spare for him, though. “Shibo should focus on his breathing.”
“Is that all you have to say to me?”
As Shen Yuan rummaged through his qiankun pouch for medicine and bandages, his gaze slid over to Zheng Yang’s shards, then the jagged seam in the earth where the rift had sealed. Shen Qingqiu’s gaze followed, and his expression darkened.
“I had to do it,” he said. “He was a heavenly demon.”
Shen Yuan’s hands twitched, but he continued applying medicine to one of Shen Qingqiu’s wounds.
That scent soured further. “Even after hearing that, you still reek of grief. Did you know? Did you let him lurk right under our noses, growing fat and strong like a parasite?”
Shen Yuan carefully clasped Shen Qingqiu’s frostnipped fingers between his hands to warm them.
“You even scent-marked him like your own pup.” Disgust laced Shen Qingqiu’s tone. “And yet where were you when he needed your protection?”
A flare of anger finally sparked in Shen Yuan’s chest; his grip on Shen Qingqiu’s hand tightened until it was near-crushing before he caught himself.
Infuriated, Shen Qingqiu fisted the collar of Shen Yuan’s robes with his free hand and yanked, pulling him close and forcing him to meet his gaze. “I saved your brat and where were you?”
“Saved him?” A hysterical laugh bubbled up in Shen Yuan’s throat. “Is that what you’re calling it?”
“He’s a demon.”
“So you sent him where he belonged, is that right?”
“It was better than the alternative, letting him stay here with all these righteous cultivators.”
Something in Shen Yuan snapped. He grabbed Shen Qingqiu’s jaw in a tight grip; the blood still dripping from his mouth stained his hand. Shen Qingqiu’s eyes widened as Shen Yuan pulled him even closer, until they were nearly nose-to-nose.
“If you threw him in that pit expecting him to rot, then you’re sorely mistaken,” Shen Yuan growled. “He’ll come back, and the first person he’ll go after is you. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”
His own pheromones spilled from him freely—his fury, his grief, his anguish. Luo Binghe would survive the Endless Abyss, but he would be forever changed by it. That adorable little pup would be twisted and blackened, and Shen Yuan wasn’t here to stop it. To save him. Shen Yuan’s sharp, bitter scent blanketed that of the rotten tea, surrounding the two of them, and Shen Qingqiu—
Whimpered.
Shen Yuan reared back. The shock of hearing such a sound from him of all people was enough to snap him out of whatever daze he’d been in. Shen Qingqiu, for his part, was doing his best to pretend he’d made no such sound at all, while Shen Yuan realized something far, far too late.
There was a thick kunze scent filling the air, and Shen Qingqiu was the only other person in the clearing.
“You…” Shen Yuan stared at him with something akin to horror. “You’re a—?”
Shen Qingqiu sneered. “Did you only just put that together?” he asked, which—fair.
A kunze. Shen Qingqiu was a kunze, and had been hiding it this whole time. So many things suddenly fell into place. Shen Qingqiu’s stalwart dampening of his own pheromones, his refusal to scent others. His hatred for qianyuan. Fuck, even that pile of fabrics in his spare wardrobe—that was his osmanthus tea scent coating them, not a prostitute’s!
Wait, was that pile some sort of attempt at a nest? Shen Yuan was a complete stranger to this omegaverse setting, but even he knew that was a piss-poor showing. Was Shen Qingqiu secretly pathetic?
He shook his head to clear his thoughts; he was letting himself get too distracted. Now that Shen Yuan had been jolted out of the haze brought by Shen Qingqiu’s scent, he could think more clearly. The first aid he’d done on Shen Qingqiu’s injuries would tide him over in the short-term, but he needed to see a proper healer soon.
“Can you walk?” Shen Yuan asked.
Shen Qingqiu gave him a rueful glare. “Looking for an excuse to leave me? You can always claim you tried and were simply too late to do anything for me.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Shen Yuan ignored the strange hissing sound Shen Qingqiu made in response to that. He packed up his supplies and eyed him; even after Shen Yuan’s efforts, Shen Qingqiu still looked like he was barely holding himself up. If left out here, it was very likely he’d succumb to his injuries. It would be a pretty anticlimactic way for the scum villain to die, but it would also be much more merciful than his fate of being tortured and human-sticked.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, Shen Yuan knew he couldn’t do something like that. Holding back a sigh, he scooped up Shen Qingqiu into his arms.
Not expecting this, Shen Qingqiu flailed. “What the hell are you—”
“Don’t struggle, do you want me to drop you?!”
Shen Qingqiu continued struggling, like an asshole. He tried to push away from Shen Yuan, but his strength was so diminished that it was like being batted by a kitten. “Two seconds after learning I’m a kunze, and you’d already dare put your hands on me! Whatever you’re planning—”
“I’m taking you to a healer, dummy.”
Shen Qingqiu froze—likely outraged by Shen Yuan having the audacity to call his shibo stupid two times in a row. Shen Yuan took the opportunity to tighten his grip and push himself to stand—ah, right, his leg was injured. Well, this would make the trip interesting. Shen Yuan did his best to hide it as he walked, but of course Shen Qingqiu noticed anyway.
“You’re limping.”
“It’s fine,” Shen Yuan said. “I can still get you to a healer.”
Shen Qingqiu frowned. “That’s not—”
“Hey!”
Surprised, Shen Yuan turned to see Liu Qingge approaching, nose wrinkled like he smelled something foul. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of Shen Qingqiu in his arms, and it occurred to Shen Yuan that perhaps a bridal carry wasn’t the best move.
“You—!” Liu Qingge pointed an accusing finger at Shen Qingqiu, his entire face scrunching as he connected the kunze scent in the air to its owner. “You’ve been hiding this all these years?!”
“Liu-shidi, is now really the time?” Shen Qingqiu somehow managed to sound superior even while bundled up in Shen Yuan’s arms.
Liu Qingge’s face cycled through a variety of colors as he took in the scene before him; Shen Qingqiu injured and cradled in Shen Yuan’s arms, both of their scents flaring since neither had the capacity for control at the moment. When Liu Qingge’s gaze dropped to the blood seeping through Shen Yuan’s pantleg, his expression darkened. He stepped forward. “Give him to me.”
“What?!” Shen Yuan stepped back, grip accidentally tightening until Shen Qingqiu made a wheezing sound, and he forced himself to relax.
Liu Qingge scowled. “It’s inappropriate for you to carry him.”
Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. Oh, so it was just some omegaverse propriety bullshit? So what if they were qianyuan and kunze? This was an emergency situation! Granted, Shen Yuan’s leg was injured, so it would probably be a good idea to let someone else carry Shen Qingqiu, but something in him grated at the idea of another qianyuan holding him—
Wait.
“How would it be any more appropriate for Shifu to carry him?” he asked. “You’re a qianyuan too.”
Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu paused their glaring contest to give him twin dumbfounded looks.
“I’m not a qianyuan,” Liu Qingge said.
“…But you’re the peak lord of Bai Zhan?”
On top of the confusion, both men now looked like they thought he’d gone a little stupid. Shen Qingqiu gave a derisive hum. “I see. Shen Yuan thinks that only qianyuan are fit to lead a peak.”
Shen Yuan flushed hotly. “That’s not what I meant! I just— Bai Zhan is a peak full of qianyuan, so I thought—you know. Probability-speaking, a qianyuan would most likely have ascended to peak lord…”
Plus, Liu Qingge had earned the title of War God. He was a rough-and-tumble fighting machine! Shen Yuan wasn’t crazy for thinking he’d be a qianyuan, okay?! Then again, he’d also headcanoned Liu Qingge as being super buff and burly rather than a pretty boy…
Hm.
Liu Qingge’s face twisted further. “What are you talking about? Nearly half of Bai Zhan’s disciples are kunze.”
What? What?!
At the sight of Shen Yuan’s expression, Shen Qingqiu huffed. “This master is starting to question whether you have any sense of smell.”
“I can smell!” Shen Yuan snapped. Look, Bai Zhan disciples were taught to dampen their scents for the sake of better stealth while tracking prey, and of course Liu Qingge was the best at it! “And it’s not like Shifu has a very prominent scent as a zhongyong—”
“I’m not a zhongyong either.”
Shen Yuan suddenly felt very tired. Shen Qingqiu hid his mouth behind his hand and gave a light cough.
You know what? This was fine. Totally fine! So what if two whole peak lords who had each taken turns as his shizun had apparently been kunze this entire time without him knowing—who cared! Not Shen Yuan! He didn’t give a shit about this omegaverse nonsense anyway!
Liu Qingge frowned. “If you didn’t know I was a kunze, then why did you act like that?”
“Like what?”
Liu Qingge stared at him for a long moment, expression gradually turning more and more strange, before he scowled and looked away without elaborating. Hello? Shifu? Please enlighten this disciple!
Shen Qingqiu coughed again, drawing Shen Yuan’s attention. Wait—what the hell were they doing standing around? There were way more important matters at hand here!
Without another word, Shen Yuan turned and started walking again. It was a few moments before he heard footsteps as Liu Qingge caught up. “I should still carry him.”
Later, Shen Yuan would blame many things for the way he reacted. He was tired, and in pain, and suffering the whiplash of so many realizations, and that wasn’t even touching on what happened to Luo Binghe. So could anyone really blame him for snarling at Liu Qingge to back off?
Liu Qingge stopped in his tracks, and Shen Qingqiu shot his shidi a rather smug look, for some reason. Shen Yuan sighed and gestured across the clearing with his chin. “If Shifu would like to help, could this disciple trouble him to gather the shards of Luo Binghe’s sword?”
Shen Qingqiu’s smug expression dropped.
“Luo Binghe?” Liu Qingge said. “That kid you’re always visiting on Qing Jing? He—” He paused as his mind fully processed Shen Yuan’s words and their implications. After a moment, he nodded and went off to do as asked.
Shen Yuan continued without him; both his and Shen Qingqiu’s scents were still flaring, so there was no doubt that Liu Qingge would be able to track them and catch up once he was done.
The walk was quiet at first, but all good things must come to an end.
“You hate me,” Shen Qingqiu said.
Shen Yuan didn’t respond.
“It was the only option.” Shen Qingqiu gave a haughty sniff. “One day, you’ll realize I’m right.”
“Shibo…” Shen Yuan heaved a sigh. “Let’s just not discuss it.”
For a moment, Shen Qingqiu looked like he would disregard that suggestion right away. In the end, though, he stayed quiet, and they continued their journey in silence.