Work Text:
No one had been prepared for the start of the end of the world.
Luo Binghe’s rise to power had been sudden and swift. He had disappeared during the Immortal Alliance Conference - officially pronounced dead by Shen Qingqiu himself - and life had continued. It was a tragedy, yes—but Luo Binghe had not been the only loss from the Immortal Alliance Conference, as the Demons had killed hundreds of disciples.
It wasn’t until five years later, when Luo Binghe somehow emerged from the Endless Abyss, that everything went downhill.
It started with Shang Qinghua deflected to the Demons’ side. He revealed that he had been working with Mobei-Jun, who had been the Demon King until Luo Binghe defeated him, and then ran away to the North. Later on, his body would be found, having frozen to death.
Shang Qinghua had always been a rat and unreliable in most things—but his ability to run An Ding Peak was not one of those things. An Ding Peak’s Head Disciple had not been adequately trained to run the Peak, likely intentionally done by Shang Qinghua so that it would be easier to cause Cang Qiong Mountain to collapse.
But still, they stood strong. They had to stand strong. Huan Hua Palace had long since bowed down to Luo Binghe, and Tian Yi Overlook and Zhao Hua Monastery had been torn down. Cang Qiong Mountain was the only sect left standing, and they did their best to provide hope for the common folk for as long as they could.
Cang Qiong’s greatest strength was how unified their twelve peaks were; it was also their greatest weakness. Once An Ding Peak went down, so did the other ones slowly. Bai Zhan Peak had already been without a Peak Lord for years, and once Luo Binghe rose to power, Qi Qingqi and Liu Mingyan were both taken into his very large harem. Xian Shu Peak quickly fell after the loss of both its Peak Lord and its Head Disciple.
In fact, many of the female disciples had been taken into this harem. Yue Qingyuan himself had lost his own Head Disciple, only furthering his workload, and this was no doubt the same situation with the rest of the Peak Lords.
But then, Shen Qingqiu was also taken by Luo Binghe. And that had been the final blow that rendered Cang Qiong unable to fight back against the shift that the world was undergoing.
It wasn’t obvious; on the surface, it didn’t seem like Cang Qiong suffered much from this loss. Shen Qingqiu had already been infamous in the sect, and some of his disciples had even celebrated his disappearance.
However, Yue Qingyuan - probably the single most important figure in Cang Qiong - had been hit hard by Shen Qingqiu’s appearance. And once Yue Qingyuan started to lose himself in his relentless search for his Xiao-Jiu Shen Qingqiu, there had been no one there to reliably run the sect. Wei Qingwei, as the third-highest Peak Lord in seniority, had tried his best to pick up the slack—but Wan Jian Peak did not teach the skills that Qiong Ding Peak did. Cang Qiong had been in a steady decline.
And then, a box was delivered to Cang Qiong Mountain. It was covered in very distinct demonic qi, so everyone knew who exactly sent the box. It took everything in Yue Qingyuan to not qi deviate simply out of rage; months of searching to no avail, only for Luo Binghe to send something to Cang Qiong Mountain, no doubt as a taunt.
But then, when Yue Qingyuan opened the box…he realized this wasn’t just a taunt.
It was a summons.
Four severed limbs were stuffed into the box, blood still dripping from where they were torn. Bone was visible, and the skin was cold to the touch. The two arms were holding two different items.
In one of them, a note from Luo Binghe. A location.
In the other, a fan.
Yue Qingyuan’s blood had run cold. And then, the more he looked at these limbs, the more familiar they started to look. He reached out, his fingers wrapping around the wrist of the arm that held the fan.
These were Xiao-Jiu’s. Yue Qingyuan was too late. Again.
At the sight of the limbs, Yue Qingyuan broke. The only thing holding the jagged pieces of what used to be Yue Qingyuan together was one name. Xiao-Jiu...
The next few days passed in a blur. Yue Qingyuan had read the note, memorized the location, and then promptly headed back to Qiong Ding Peak. He grabbed his sword and set off to the location, the note held tightly in his hand. Despite the limbs…there was still a chance that Shen Qingqiu was still alive.
The broken shards of Yue Qingyuan stirred at the realization, and slowly, he mended himself just enough to hold himself together. As long as Shen Qingqiu was alive...he would hold on. He would not abandoned his Xiao-Jiu again. Not this time.
Luo Binghe’s palace was left completely unguarded and defenseless when Yue Qingyuan arrived. Likely on purpose, to taunt Yue Qingyuan; a statement that Luo Binghe was so powerful, he had no need to worry about intruders. Yue Qingyuan went inside and searched the palace fervently. And then…
Yue Qingyuan came across an entrance to a dungeon in Luo Binghe’s bedroom. It was hidden behind Luo Binghe’s bedframe, and the entrance was so dark that Yue Qingyuan had to carry a torch. When he entered, he was greeted by a long staircase leading downwards.
Don’t worry, Xiao-Jiu, Yue Qingyuan promised as he stared into the darkness, his other hand coming to his belt, where he had brought Shen Qingqiu’s fan. Qi-ge will save you.
And thus, he descended into the darkness. He didn't know that the darkness would become his tomb; he didn't know that he would be shot by so many arrows, not even a speck of him would remain.
He didn’t know that his death would be Shen Qingqiu’s final straw, finally breaking the Qing Jing Peak Lord beyond repair.
All he knew was that he needed to save his Xiao-Jiu. And so, Yue Qingyuan walked into his grave.