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Chapter Text

Shen Qingqiu took his time settling into his new home in the demon realm.

After their arrival, Luo Binghe expressed some regret and admitted that he still had a lot of matters to see to, as a demon lord on the rise. Despite saying that, however, he still seemed to linger a lot, obviously reluctant to part from Shen Qingqiu’s company. On the one hand, it was very heartening and touching that he was still so sticky and fond of his old mentor. But on the other hand, Shen Qingqiu definitely needed a little more breathing room if he was going to avoid embarrassing himself over his sudden, inappropriate new ‘appreciation’ for his former apprentice!

That first night, he definitely gave his wrist a solid workout, as his mind filled with utterly shameful thoughts.

It made him incredibly guilty the next morning.

Guilt turned to mortification when Luo Binghe showed up again and started reprising his role as servant. Which included carrying off Shen Qingqiu’s laundry. The lord wasn’t going to wash his sheets himself, was he?! Shen Qingqiu tried desperately to think of an excuse to stop him, but Binghe just bundled them up, and seemed in very high spirits as he promised to bring breakfast and help Shen Qingqiu get ready for the day.

“The servants here aren’t very trustworthy for some tasks right now. Shizun needn’t worry, though, this lord will see to his needs - just like old times,” he promised, with a wink.

That wink needed to be classified as a lethal weapon! Shen Qingqiu actually took a solid minute to process what was being said, and then nearly fell over when he did. What?! How could a busy lord play at being his own personal servant? Wasn’t Luo Binghe the protagonist of the story? Destiny would definitely bring him to a horrible end if he kept on subjugating the man even after his ascension to protagonist! Humiliating a protagonist was a surefire way to get one’s limbs cut off or something!

But all his efforts to dissuade Luo Binghe just seemed to hurt the man’s feelings.

“Shizun doesn’t want me attending him?” he asked, unfairly wounded.

Shen Qingqiu patted him reassuringly. Those eyes were going to be the death of him. Possibly literally, if this kept up.

“It’s not that!” he insisted. “But Binghe is a great lord now, and very busy besides. This person wouldn’t presume to take such advantage of his kindness…”

Some of Luo Binghe’s hurt cleared from his expression, thankfully. He moved a little closer.

“Didn’t this lord say he would still be Shizun’s servant?” he insisted.

Shen Qingqiu went hopelessly tongue-tied.

“Please,” Luo Binghe requested, in a low voice that made his spine tingle and his thoughts fly away.

Well.

Well…

Just how was he supposed to say ‘no’ after that?! Honestly! All he could do was helplessly nod, and then watch as Luo Binghe’s expression brightened into incongruous happiness. He even reached over and brushed back some of Shen Qingqiu’s hair, familiar and heedless - really, he seemed so utterly innocent and unaware of the effects his proximity was having on his poor former master, beaming so unabashedly and not even moving aside out of any sense of discomfort, that it made Shen Qingqiu feel even worse about his reactions to it all.

He reprimanded himself very sternly when Luo Binghe left to handle breakfast, and prayed that there wouldn’t be any awkward questions about the laundry. It was rough work in this time period, and not even something that Luo Binghe had often handled personally when he was Shen Qingqiu’s actual apprentice; labour staff at the estate had mostly taken care of it, unless someone was ill or something needed special handling. Maybe that was what Luo Binghe meant, that he’d had over things for cleaning to other people himself? Shen Qingqiu consoled himself with that thought. And even if something was… noticed… then there was definitely no way for anyone to suspect what had been running through his mind at the time.

Right?

It was just a typical bodily function. Nothing to get excited about.

In the end the sheets he got back were completely different ones, and Luo Binghe didn’t seem to suddenly become uncomfortable or embarrassed around him, so he decided that things must have gone alright. Sometimes the man would become endearingly bashful, but that was normal for him. Shen Qingqiu could still fondly recall how easy it was to fluster his cute apprentice, and couldn’t always resist the urge to try and provoke the same responses from this elegant, matured version.

Even if it was just making more trouble for himself every time that handsome face darkened with a blush.

Especially since Luo Binghe really did seem to feel nostalgic for the days when he had looked after his old master. Despite a frequent need to race off, during the first week of Shen Qingqiu’s stay, his former apprentice was always present in the mornings and evenings. He would help him get dressed, and make him breakfast, and then he would turn up again with dinner, and snacks for the next day. He would brush out Shen Qingqiu’s hair, and run him baths, and when Shen Qingqiu offered to recite something for him just like they used to do, his expression had practically overflowed with joy.

All the closeness and intimacy could only be combated, in the end, by the affection which outweighed everything else. When Shen Qingqiu let himself relax, it hardly seemed to matter that Luo Binghe had become breathtakingly attractive. He could look at the other man and simply see someone familiar, and warm fondness would flood his heart with no room left for anything else. While those tender feelings were probably inappropriate in their own way, they seemed safer than anything else he was apt to be overwhelmed by. So Shen Qingqiu threw himself into those sentiments wholeheartedly.

He even let Luo Binghe innocently use his thigh for a pillow on several evenings, while he rested from a long day, and Shen Qingqiu spoke or narrated some tale or simply basked in the comfortable silence.

The third time that happened, on an evening after his meridians had been cleared of Without a Cure’s toll, he moved to brush a stray lock of hair away from Luo Binghe’s face. Somehow, his fingers began to thoughtlessly stroke the rest of the other man’s hair. It felt natural, so he didn’t really think much of it until he glanced down and was suddenly struck by their positions. Luo Binghe was resting against him, looking at him with sleepy half-moon eyes of contentment, while his dark locks pooled in Shen Qingqiu’s lap, and the warmth of their two bodies seemed to fill up the entire room.

Hastily, he retracted his hand, and cleared his throat.

“It’s late,” he said. “Binghe should probably retire for the night.”

With a tremendous sigh of reluctance, Luo Binghe forced himself up.

“Waiting really is a challenge,” he murmured. Shen Qingqiu wondered what he meant. Before he could ask, he was being bid a proper farewell. “Many thanks to Shizun for his indulgence.”

With a wave, the thanks were dismissed.

“By now, Binghe should know that thanks are unnecessary,” he admonished.

It earned him another pleased smile.

“Shizun is too obliging. This servant wants to take advantage of it,” he confessed, in his low tone of voice that made Shen Qingqiu think he should probably fling himself into the courtyard pond to avoid doing something untoward. He swallowed, instead, and reached for the lifeline of his hand fan.

Obviously, Luo Binghe didn’t mean his words that way!

“Binghe is far too scrupulous to take advantage of my debt to him,” he replied, reaching for his affection and pride in Binghe's character instead. It worked. The man across from him looked abashed, while Shen Qingqiu finally mustered the resolve to chase him off, and waited until he was certain he was alone before plonking his fan down onto a nearby table and letting out a long breath. He walked carefully over to his bed, keenly aware of the problem between his legs; but left it be for a moment as he smacked his hands over his face instead.

Maybe he should find a prostitute…?

No, that seemed like a bad idea on numerous fronts. And not something he thought he’d really be able to go through with besides. Anyway, until he was officially divorced, it was technically illegal for him to do anything like that. Maybe it wouldn’t come to anything, but it could probably still be used to make trouble for him. He put it out of his mind, once again reserving the concept of finding a partner for some nebulous future point when it was safe and appropriate to do so, and turned to his palms for relief.

It actually probably wasn’t good for his cultivation to be relieving himself so often, but he wasn’t enough of a masochist to go throwing himself into icy rivers, either.

Even if he knew exactly where to find one.

Since Shen Qingqiu wasn’t actually being confined, he could go where he pleased. And after resting for a while, he most certainly had done that, exploring the various branches of the palace and its grounds. Although Ben Ben had to be left safely behind in the ‘human’ areas, Shen Qingqiu had familiarized himself with the rest of the place, and had learned quite a few interesting things by talking to the resident demons.

Apparently, the territory they were in now had previously belong to Mobei-Jun. When Luo Binghe had beaten the demon lord and earned his fealty - however he’d done it - then he’d also gained control of his territories. There was another palace, smaller and less hospitable, in an icier corner of hell. This was where Mobei-Jun was currently living, having left for a trip of his own shortly before Luo Binghe set out to rescue Shen Qingqiu. The main palace was being renovated, as was obvious from the segment modeled after the Yue estate.

Demonic servants were an eclectic bunch. As a general rule, the more human-like a demon looked, the stronger they were. That could get a little muddier in the higher levels, though, as things circled back again somewhat, and some very influential demon lords looked more like the surprise secret end boss of a video game. Mindful of that, Shen Qingqiu made it a point to be polite to every demon he met, so as not to misjudge anyone’s rank. But most of the demons he came across really were servants. There were buxom succubi and animalistic snake-folk, and goblins and imps and some demons who looked a great deal like monkeys or cats or other animals as well. There was always something ‘off’ about them, though. Usually it was the eyes, or teeth, or number of overall limbs.

None of them gave him any trouble. Everyone was shockingly polite, in fact, and always ready to lend a hand or oblige a request. More than a few seemed to look at him as though he was a puzzle that they couldn’t solve. 

Shen Qingqiu supposed that if Luo Binghe really had been… uh. Going around and telling all the great demon lords that he would only answer to the one master, as seemed to be the case… well. It confused him a little bit, too, and part of him just wanted to wave his hands and assure everyone that this was more of a testament to Luo Binghe’s loyalty than any real virtues of his own. Much though he might like to take credit, he really was kind of a hack?

After all, he’d cheated his way into his own skills. But there was no good way to explain that, and it probably wouldn’t help anything to try. Instead he just did his best to seem regal and refined and kept his metaphorical mask firmly in place, so as not to lose his former apprentice any face by seeming too unworthy of his esteem. The ‘mysterious immortal’ approach seemed to work better for everyone.

In addition to the palace, the northern estate, and a huge segment of hell, Luo Binghe had also managed to gain the fealty of several of his father’s retainers. These were the majority of non-servant residents in the palace, whom Shen Qingqiu might expect to cross paths with. Chief among them was Luo Binghe’s cousin, Zhuzhi-Lang. Though Tianlang-Jun wasn’t dead, his body had been sealed away for some time. According to demonic tradition, if he wanted to reclaim his followers and title when he woke up, he’d have to challenge Luo Binghe for it. But that seemed to be a potential problem for a future date, since even Zhuzhi-Lang hadn’t been able to figure out how to reach his lord in his current state.

Shen Qingqiu made a mental note to ask Shang Qinghua for more about that topic at some point in the future, before he more or less set it aside.

Zhuzhi-Lang was, ultimately, one of the demon nobles that Shen Qingqiu ended up liking. He was a very personable sort, straight-forward and easy-going, and he insisted on addressing him as ‘Master Shen’. As if he had confused who was the lord and who was the soon-to-be-commoner.

Demons overall seemed to have weird hierarchy quirks. Shen Qingqiu didn’t mind enough to protest more than once.

“Master Shen is Lord Luo’s important person,” Zhuzhi-Lang had insisted, on that occasion. “He should only be addressed respectfully by this retainer, of course.”

Wasn’t that phrasing a little weird…?

With an awkward cough, Shen Qingqiu changed the subject.

The palace building was clearly designed to appeal to demonic sensibilities, and made him very grateful for the more human-friendly version that Luo Binghe had generously given him the use of. It wasn’t that it was unlivable, per se - demonic needs weren’t really all that different from human ones, there were suitable facilities and extravagant chambers, and Luo Binghe’s own rooms in particular looked… austere, but very functional. However, demonic culture didn’t put a high priority on comfort, and Shen Qingqiu didn’t think he would have enjoyed staying very long in such a place, if there was nowhere else. The only outdoor spaces were training and practice grounds, and some of the corridors were dark and eerie, and the temperature fluctuations could get unpleasant even for a cultivator.

Apart from exploring the palace, and introducing himself to its residents, Shen Qingqiu had a natural curiosity for the region around it. On the one hand, it was hell, so of course he should have felt an aversion to sticking his head out into it. But on the other hand, he was curious. What kinds of monsters frequented this region? How did they behave when they weren't intruding into the human world? What did the roads really look like? Or the environment? Even though it was bound to be unpleasant, the curiosity didn’t go away. He got his hands on some maps to examine, but only a few made any sense to him. So after his first week, he expressed an interest in seeing it all for himself.

“Sure,” Luo Binghe agreed, easily enough. “This lord will accompany Shizun on a hunt. How does that sound?”

“That sounds perfect!” Shen Qingqiu enthused. He was more relieved than he expected. Even though he knew that his situation was hardly confinement, some part of him had worried that he wasn’t really free to go other places. Not because Luo Binghe would want to lock him up, but simply because of where they were located.

The next day, though, his former apprentice proved utterly true to his word. When he came to see Shen Qingqiu in the morning, he stayed after breakfast, and the two of them gathered up some supplies and equipped themselves appropriately for an excursion. They left by the main gate, and it wasn’t only them, either. Some of Luo Binghe’s retainers came along, and of course so did a handful of servants.

For a moment, Shen Qingqiu was surprised. Even a little disappointed - he’d expected it to just be the two of them. But then he hurried that feeling away. It wasn’t appropriate! Obviously, they were just two companions going on a trip, and anyone else who wished to come ought to! He greeted Zhuzhi-Lang amicably, and even afforded Sha Hualing a nod that she grudgingly returned.

It wasn't his first time seeing her since the attack on Yue estate, but he’d kept his distance around the residence. Almost like an afterthought, Luo Binghe had offered to murder her, too. Of course it really wasn’t necessary! She only treated Shen Qingqiu with some odd, sullen reluctance, and otherwise didn’t seem at all interested in bothering him.

Night Mares were produced from the palace stables for the party to ride. The servants had to follow on foot. Being demons, they were better equipped to do that than most. Shen Qingqiu counted mounts, and frowned, but before he could ask the obvious question, Luo Binghe had pulled himself into the saddle of the biggest Night Mare, and then extended a hand out towards him.

“Demonic mounts can be skittish with human cultivators. Apologies, Shizun, but you will have to ride with me,” he said.

Shen Qingqiu gulped.

A quick glance around revealed that he didn’t have a lot of alternatives. If he refused he’d probably look petulant, and if he offered to walk with the servants, he’d be diminishing himself. Ordinarily that wouldn’t be too bad, but he was trying to uphold Luo Binghe’s reputation as well as his own, what with how badly his disciple had over-blown his status.

But, how could he feign the appearance of a cool and aloof immortal master while he was riding the same horse as Luo Binghe?!

Moreover, with that kind of situation, would he really be able to keep his thought appropriate…?

In the end, the sight of Binghe’s brow furrowing, as though he might get his feelings hurt if Shen Qingqiu delayed much longer, made up his mind for him. With an internal prayer for his dignity, he accepted the hand extended towards himself. He barely had to exert any effort at all after that point - Luo Binghe pulled him smoothly into the saddle, and settled him in front. The Night Mare would constitute a very large horse when compared to most examples of the breed, so there was more room on its back than not. This was the only small mercy he received, as the demon lord at his back settled his arms around him to hold the reins, and kept him securely pressed against his very, very firm chest.

Luo Binghe’s cheek was almost flush against Shen Qingqiu’s as the man leaned forward to see the path ahead.

For his own part, the demon lord of the hour was all but leaping for glee on the inside. Dutifully following his teachings at the hands of Madam Meiyin, he had been looking for opportunities to get physically close to Shizun, to increase the pleasant associations of touch between them. What he said about the Night Mares wasn’t untrue - demonic mounts were essentially monsters with better dispositions than most, and like regular animals, they shied away from things that were dangerous to them. Shen Qingqiu’s presence was like trying to get a horse to carry a lion - naturally, there would be some nervous energy involved.

But there was some slight exaggeration, in that Luo Binghe’s mounts were exceptionally well-trained, and would put up with quite a lot of discomfort in order to obey their master’s commands.

Their willingness to tolerate human riders wasn’t something he cared to test for the first time with Shizun, though. And so, he had found another opportunity to get close.

His demon blood heated with approval at the arrangement, and his human heart thumped eagerly, his nature harmonized by agreement from both quarters. Shizun was one of only a handful of things that all aspects of himself seemed to find thoroughly acceptable. It made him impatient to properly have him, but that urge could be soothed by doing things like this - feeling Shizun warm and secure in his arms, with his scent in his nose, and Luo Binghe’s own covering his back, as they set out together.

He had to resist the urge to do something inappropriate, like nuzzle Shizun’s hair. It wouldn’t do to take too many liberties before he could make good on all the vows he had stored up. Shen Qingqiu had already been taken advantage of, after all - Luo Binghe had sworn to himself that he would ensure his ‘seduction’ wasn’t simply reliant on using various charms and wiles, and that he would let Shen Qingqiu initiate their various stages of affectionate contact. Otherwise, Shizun might harbour apprehensions about his desires - demons had a certain reputation, after all, for being driven by base urges.

It also wasn’t lost on Luo Binghe that his situation wasn’t unlike Yue Qingyuan’s had been, once upon a time. A young lord, growing up in poverty only to discover a hidden bloodline, promising Shizun a place at his side…

As they rode, he couldn’t help but brood on that subject a little. When he was younger, he had read through every single love letter that person had sent Shizun. He had seen the lord’s calligraphy before, and almost didn’t recognize the clumsy script of those early missives as belonging to the same hand. It was clear that the young man writing those letters wasn’t really familiar with such a task yet. His words were earnest and awkward, his promises abundant, his heart seemingly on his sleeve as he entreated Shizun to accept his feelings.

Even Luo Binghe thought it was romantic. But the more romantic it seemed, the angrier he became. Liar, he had silently accused the letters, as he read more and more. Sometimes during the day, when Shizun was busy, he would secretly pull them aside and go through more of them by himself. He knew where the box was kept, and always put them back in the right order afterwards. Careful not to damage them, even though part of him was tempted to destroy them.

But they were evidence, he thought. They were proof that Yue Qingyuan had promised Shizun a faithfulness he hadn’t upheld. Yue estate had frequently hosted the Second Prince, who was tasked by the emperor to oversee judicial affairs. Luo Binghe had overheard him and Yue Qingyuan discussing legalities many times. A contract was voided if the terms of it were broken. A marriage was a contract - so, he thought, by breaking his vows, hadn’t Yue Qingyuan broken his marriage? What right did he have to keep calling Shizun his husband?

He forgot how unjust and hypocritical the world could be.

Shizun reminded him.

It was power that determined justice, in the end.

Shizun had even reminded him of that again, later on, when Luo Binghe had forgotten it in the midst of his training under Mobei-Jun. Another letter had come into his hands, at that time. This one was written by Shizun, and it was for him. Imploring him to seek strength. The words were hastily written, more clumsy than most of Shizun’s efforts, as if he had written in a flurry of concern and heartfelt sentiment. He knew, then, what it was that he had to do. For the both of them. Shizun was powerless to change his fate, but Luo Binghe had been presented with an opportunity that could make him strong enough to take action.

The only problem was that there was no way for Luo Binghe to divide this strength with Shizun, except by keeping his word that he would. In the end, he would be the lord, and Shizun would again be the husband. Recalling a carriage ride from years ago, he knew that he had to be careful. If he abused his power, then far from being Shizun’s salvation, Luo Binghe's power would become a weapon to imprison him with. Just as it had become such a thing in Yue Qingyuan’s hands. Moreover, when a person touched a hot flame, they learned from the burn not to do so again. Shizun was putting great faith in him not to repeat his past lord’s mistakes. It wasn't possible that he had enough faith to not even be a little afraid that Luo Binghe still would, though.

Thus, Luo Binghe could only afford him every possible courtesy in hopes of assuaging any fears he might have. There was no promise he could make that Yue Qingyuan had not already made and broken.

Shen Qingqiu shifted a little in the saddle in front of him. A subtle scent reached his nose, the faint notes of arousal, and Luo Binghe put his brooding thoughts aside. Instead he chuckled, and let one of his arms to rest around Shizun’s waist, under the pretense of keeping him steady.

“Is Shizun getting saddle sore?” he asked, with playful innocence.

“A-ah, no, just… a little stiff,” Shizun replied.

Luo Binghe grinned at his wordplay. He liked flirting with Shizun. He’d like flirting with him even more once they could act on their feelings. For a while, he’d worried that Shizun wouldn’t find him appealing. Oh, he was a good-looking man, and he knew it. Madam Meiyin’s assurances on that front weren’t empty flattery, and many, many demons had thrown themselves at him over the past few years. A good number of humans had tried it before then, too. At first he had dealt with them swiftly and coldly, not wanting to give them a single inch. His heart belonged to another and would not stray. But then Shizun’s letter had arrived, and Madam Meiyin had asked if he really thought it would be good to use clumsy hands on a fragile human body. And while Shizun’s body wasn’t really fragile, Luo Binghe was still afraid of disappointing him, and had relented enough to accept her tutelage.

He was glad that he had. There had been a lot to learn. It also meant that he was capable of recognizing all Shizun’s signals, upon their reunion. His worries vanished in a puff of smoke as he saw the signs and knew he was having an effect.

He liked having an effect.

Shizun’s blushes were mesmerizing, and flustering this man made Luo Binghe feel giddy and powerful in new, profound ways. He liked the scent of Shizun’s arousal, liked the heat that came into his eyes, but also the shyness that had him swiftly looking away at times. As if he might not be able to control himself if he kept on looking.

Luo Binghe knew that feeling. Even now, he had to swallow back a seductive purr, and resist the urge to grind his hips forward.

“Binghe, your arm…?” Shen Qingqiu said, shifting a little bit again, and clearing his throat. All his moving around made Luo Binghe keenly aware of how close certain parts of theirs were. Even through several layers of fabric.

That was probably crossing a boundary he ought to preserve for now, especially with other people around. So with some reluctance, he murmured an apology and let go of Shizun’s waist.

Luo Binghe kept the region surrounding the palace free of a lot of monsters. Partly for security, of course, but also partly just as a natural repercussion of his strength - only particularly dull creatures wouldn’t be able to sense that something extremely powerful lived at the palace, and power meant danger. As a longstanding home to a noble bloodline, the palace territories had always been somewhat lacking in prey; but after Luo Binghe took over, things cleared out even more. So, they had to ride a fair ways out from the estate grounds before they could find prey worthy of Shizun’s time.

He made sure they took a good route as well, to avoid subjecting Shizun’s eyes to any of the particularly unpleasant scenery of this realm. Even Luo Binghe wasn’t completely accustomed to all of it, and he had his demonic nature to help him adjust.

By the time they arrived at the point where they ought to leave their mounts behind, the energy between the two men had cooled down somewhat. Luo Binghe slipped from the saddle and then offered Shizun a hand down, unabashedly admiring the graceful way the other man moved. Shizun was so elegant sometimes, as if someone had taken the essence of wind and light and forged it into a person.

Silently, Luo Binghe lamented that they had brought other people along on this trip. It would be nice for them to simply take their time on a private excursion. But, it couldn’t be helped. There were certain parties grumbling about the demon lord taking so much interest in a ‘weak human’. When Shizun had been a distant concept of admiration, it had been easier for those parties to just ignore or dismiss him. Now that he was at the palace, however, grumblings of weakness could easily turn into efforts to ‘remove’ the problem.

Luo Binghe would not permit that to happen. Aside from his protection, a show of Shizun’s own strength would definitely go a long ways as a deterrent.

“What now?” Shizun asked him.

“Now we need to hike up towards the cliff,” Luo Binghe explained. “It’s faster without mounts.”

Nodding, Shen Qingqiu unsheathed Xiu Ya, and gracefully jumped on. After considering for a moment, he then extended a hand towards Luo Binghe.

“Hop on,” he offered, obviously pleased with himself for returning the favour of the horseback ride.

Riding two to a sword was always a little awkward, but it wasn’t as if Luo Binghe was going to decline. His heart soared as he carefully joined Shizun on Xiu Ya, and held on to his shoulders for balance. The retainers they’d brought watched with interest as the sword rose, and with a few exchanged words regarding direction, took off towards their target - leaving everyone else to catch up on foot.

“Binghe really needs a new sword,” Shizun mused. His cheeks were flushed again.

“This lord found a few, but none were suitable,” Luo Binghe admitted. He’d thought Xin Mo might be good for a while, but in the end, he’d decided not to claim the legendary weapon. Some descriptions said that it drove people blind with lust and hungry with power-madness, and those were two things that seemed very counterproductive to his own life goals. In the final hour he’d looked at Xiu Ya’s gleaming blade, and imagined Shizun suffering as another person he had put faith in succumbed to such things; and he’d moved along without regret.

As if sensing his thoughts, or possibly just a shift in his mood, Shen Qingqiu reached back and patted him reassuringly.

“There are many more opportunities waiting in the human world, I’ll help Binghe find a good match,” he promised.

Luo Binghe felt his heart warm. He’d missed this, this feeling of having someone he trusted entirely to depend upon. There was a certain mindset required for navigating the particulars of demon politics. Human politics too, when he thought about it. One had to focus on strategy. Alliances were functional things, and feelings could be a complication that would be manipulated or prove too costly in the long run. But even demons formed attachments, so of course, Luo Binghe had not thrived in a place where most of his ‘allies’ would sell him out the second it seemed like a better prospect for them.

Lost in such thoughts, he didn’t realize that he’d started hugging Shizun a little more firmly than necessary until Xiu Ya wobbled.

“Binghe?”

He dutifully relaxed his grip.

“Apologies, Shizun. This lord was distracted,” he admitted, chagrined.

Shen Qingqiu patted him again.

Flying on Xiu Ya, it didn’t take them long to reach their intended destination. They soared up towards the edge of a nearby cliff, and past it, came to a deep ravine. Within the ravine there lurked a bevy of monsters, trapped by the environment itself. The Pit was a useful hunting spot, and probably even the reason why Mobei-Jun’s predecessors had built a palace nearby to begin with. The bottom layer of the ravine was thick with miasma and resentful energies. It was a perpetual spawning ground for monsters, fed all the more by centuries of various demon lords tossing aspiring proteges into it in order to test their mettle. Luo Binghe had fought his way through the place early on, too, completing the challenge to get himself back out again. That period of time, he had still believed that Shizun was dead, so most of his memories were hazy and clouded in red. Anything strong enough to emerge from the Pit had the makings of a good servant, or interesting challenge - anything too weak to manage that would be left to compete with the other denizens of the dark, rocky place, and make for suitable prey when the demon nobles grew bored.

Luo Binghe would sooner cut off all his limbs than let Shizun actually go down there, but dragging some things out from him to elaborately slay was a different matter.

As Xiu Ya drew up to the cliff’s edge, Luo Binghe alighted deftly from the blade. Shen Qngqiu followed, and took the sword in hand instead. Since they were well ahead of the other group, he let Shizun take his time to peer down into the ravine, and knew when he’d noticed several monsters by the way his gaze lit up with academic interest.

“What is this place?” he asked.

“A hunting ground,” Luo Binghe explained. “Shizun shouldn’t go in, but this lord can flush us out some prey. This lord will have to trouble Shizun to take down the quarry he sends out.”

Shen Qingqiu nodded, trusting his plan implicitly enough that it actually made Luo Binghe worry about whether or not he’d thought it through well enough. Reaching out, he gently captured Shizun’s wrist, and checked the state of his health.

That poison… he was still searching for a cure. There had to be a way, it was just a matter of finding it. But in the meanwhile, he had learned some better methods of noticing the signs that it was liable to flare up. Thankfully, Shizun didn’t seem to be showing any. He might have troubles again later, though, after he’d been active for a while - Luo Binghe wouldn’t venture too far away, just in case.

The man blinked at having his pulse checked, then sighed and shooed him off.

“Binghe, I’m fine,” he said, in a quiet voice without any real ire. “Don’t fuss.”

“Just checking.”

“Hmph.”

They fell into companionable silence as they waited for the rest of their hunting party to catch up to them. It didn’t take too long, in the end - few demons cared to be shown up, especially not by a human cultivator, so they were hurrying. Sha Hualing arrived first, then Zhuzhi-Lang, then most of the others in a pack. The servants were still making their way up; but it was fine to start without them, they’d mostly be tasked with cleaning and carrying the kills after they’d been slain, so there was time enough for them to arrive.

Luo Binghe felt a nostalgic thrill as he finally descended into the Pit, leaping carefully down via a perilously narrow scattering of rocky outcroppings. It was Shizun who had taught him which monsters were worth hunting, and how to spot valuable parts, and single them out. It had made a lot of things much easier than they otherwise would have been, once he’d calmed down enough that Mobei-Jun would let him go hunting every few days.

He didn’t descend too far before he started finding prey to flush out. Though it was less ‘flushing’ and more ‘flinging’, as most monsters couldn’t really navigate their own way up. Luo Binghe helped them along by hurling them out of the ravine and in the general direction of the hunting party. He was careful not to cross anything too strong, but he didn’t pick weak targets, either. That would look like he was coddling Shizun, which wouldn’t accomplish much at all - everyone already knew he was protective, he’d made certain of that; not going too soft on the hunt would only further assure his retainers that Shen Qingqiu was a danger in his own right, if even his loyal mate didn’t think twice about flinging some challenging quarry his way.

Luck was with him. He found a nest of Owl Vipers and an infestation of Shrieking Skulls not far from it, and even managed to hurl a Venomous Thunder Ape up to where Xiu Ya’s gleam struck right through its weak point.

He kept going until the ledges were starting to cut through his boots - the rocks here were all sharp as knives - before finally flipping himself over, and ascending back up again. On the way back up a Killer Ghost Squid-Raptor crossed his path. Luo Binghe dispatched it with his bare hands - it was a simple move to twist and then rip the head clean off - and then tucked the skull under one arm and slung the corpse over his shoulder, sure to avoid the barbs on its tentacles. He decided to take the encounter as a good sign, monsters like that usually didn’t come up so high, and he could present the kill to Shizun as a nice cap off to the experience.

When he reached the top, he was pleased to see that Shen Qingqiu indeed had a significant pile of kills when compared to the others, and was also still immaculate as ever. His retainers looked grudgingly impressed.

Shizun clucked at him.

“Binghe, you’re covered in Squid-Raptor blood,” he said. “That’s acidic, it’s going to ruin your robe.”

“It was unavoidable,” he replied, apologetically. It did give him an excuse to take off his outer robe, though, which he did. He smiled to himself as Shizun’s cheeks darkened and his eyes flitted over his figure, before the man resolutely glared at his pile of kills instead. With a soft chuckle, Luo Binghe wrapped up the dead Squid-Raptor in the ruined robe and cheerfully presented it to him.

“In Shizun’s honour,” he said.

“Well, then, all my kills are in your honour too,” Shen Qingqiu insisted, to his continued delight.

Feeling a little high with the thrill of victory, he could only lament his current inability to pull the man into his arms and claim a kiss as his reward instead. His lips tingled in sympathy with his desires. To console himself, he made a point of turning towards his retainers.

“Shen Qingqiu’s strength is second only to his wisdom and beauty,” he said. “He is this lord’s only equal, and thus will be his only spouse! If anyone wants to disagree, let them challenge this lord and be disgraced!”

He watched his retainers for their reactions, and was busy assessing the varying degrees of capitulation and resentment he could pick up on; so he didn’t notice, right away, that Shizun had gone stiff and pale. When he did, his brows furrowed. Why would…?

The poison?

Acting quickly, Luo Binghe covered for Shizun’s sudden bout of weakness, so it wouldn’t undo their recent accomplishment. He ordered the servants to hurry up and pack all the kills for travel, and then sent his retainers down to ready the mounts under the guise of letting Shizun show off some more of his slaughtered prey. Shizun barely reacted, but Luo Binghe kept him mostly at his back, and waited for an opportune moment to pull him aside. He didn’t even bother checking his spiritual veins, the man’s discomfort was so obvious, he simply reached over and began to channel some of his own qi over. A moment later he gave in to the urge to tenderly brush Shizun’s cheek.

“If Shizun’s feeling unwell, just rest a little,” he advised.

Shen Qingqiu stared dazedly at him.

It must have been worse than he thought!

His heart ached, and he suddenly regretted bringing Sha Hualing along for the hunt. She’d been behaving herself lately, but now he had a strong urge to give her a posting somewhere very far away. Maybe digging corrupted spirits out of cursed burial mounds. That was foul work…

Shizun’s throat bobbed as he swallowed.

“...Binghe…” he said.

He sounded distressingly lost.

“Shizun just needs to keep his composure until we are home,” he could only say, remorseful and apologetic. “Just lean on this lord’s strength.”

To his relief, Shen Qingqiu’s expression finally returned to something a bit more normal. He nodded. Luo Binghe felt some regret. He wanted to say that it was alright, that Shizun could show as much weakness around him as he liked - he didn’t have to wear any masks or keep up any appearances. If it was just the two of them, he would have offered such assurances in a heartbeat. Around him, Shizun could be weak, could struggle, could show his hurts or seek out any comfort he needed. But it wasn’t just him. So he could only do what he could to help cover Shizun’s distress, and shield him from danger in that way.

When they got back to the estate, Shen Qingqiu retreated even from Luo Binghe’s sight, and declined his offer to stay with him.

His heart clenched with remorse.

He had told the man to put his mask back on - he should have expected that it might come across the wrong way.

Thoughts in turmoil, he could only leave it be for now, and wait for a better moment to come back and apologize.

~

Shen Qingqiu’s thoughts were a big, glowing blue screen, currently filled with incomprehensible error messages and exclamation points.

No matter how he thought about it, Luo Binghe had… had said…

He’d said…

And then he’d fussed over Shen Qingqiu as if he was a doting husband whose wife had just fainted. His hands had been gentle and his eyes had been worried and his arms had been warm, holding him while they rode again, while Shen Qingqiu could only hold onto the idea that he very definitely needed to not make a single mistake. Even if he wasn’t certain what would qualify as a mistake. Firmly not doing that seemed like the only possible action that made sense, until they were back and he was alone except for Ben Ben, who was tugging on the hem of his robes in agitation as Shen Qingqiu stood staring blankly at the wall.

Luo Binghe was… was interested in… him?

In that way?

The… the romantic way?!

Part of him just wanted to soar. His heart was all but fluttering in his chest, so thrilled it felt like it might burst. No one had ever wanted him before. Oh, Yue Qingyuan had wanted the original goods, of course, and back in his first life he had made attempts with a few internet dating sites, had awkward drinks once or twice. But nothing had gone anywhere, no one had ever called him back, and then he’d transmigrated and obviously things had changed a lot for him in the ‘romantic prospects’ department. On numerous fronts. So even just the novelty of being wanted at all probably would have made his head spin a little.

That it was Luo Binghe who wanted him, wanted him back, shook him right through with astonished joy. He wanted to go back out and find the man and drag him somewhere private so he could kiss him. Just the thought made him blush right down to his toes.

But.

But…

These joyful, happy thoughts crashed harshly against his understanding of reality.

This world was built from a novel with a plot. It was a place with a destiny, and that destiny had Luo Binghe firmly at the center of it. Moreover, even if he returned Shen Qingqiu’s feelings, that didn’t mean they weren’t still inappropriate! What had he done?! He’d seduced his pure-hearted little disciple! He’d somehow confused him into falling in love with Shen Qingqiu when he was supposed to be falling in love with Liu Qingge! And what was even worse was that in doing so, he had also interfered with Liu Qingge’s happy ending!

Clearly, this was a horrible misunderstanding. And it was his moral duty to clean it up, somehow, to convince Luo Binghe that he’d probably misjudged his own feelings. He’d confused one kind of admiration for another, most likely, and gotten crossed wires somewhere. Shen Qingqiu cared much too much about Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge to ruin things for the two of them. Now that he knew something like this was going on, that there were even more layers to this situation than he’d thought, he needed to firmly dissuade Binghe from pursuing him and make sure that Liu Qingge didn’t lose his chance at true love.

His very life probably depended on it. Interfering too much with the main romance was risking a death sentence!

But…

…But…

The thought of rejecting Luo Binghe made it feel as if his heart was going to rip itself in two!

He had to do it. He just… had to do it. Gently, as gently as possible, because the point wasn’t to hurt the other man, it was to help him. Shen Qingqiu spent an untold amount of time standing in his chambers, telling himself he needed to just get over it. Eventually Ben Ben started to whine, and then just sat down at his feet and stared forlornly up at him. The light changed. He opened and closed his eyes a few times, but still found himself faced with this inescapable reality, and unable to dampen the pain of his prospects.

He was going to have to pretend he wasn’t in love with Luo Binghe. It was only as he was thinking about it that he realized how big of a lie that would be. His chest ached and his stomach lurched, and as a tentative call came at his door, he had already grabbed a nearby waste basket to vomit into.

To his horror, Luo Binghe came and found him puking his guts out.

A warm hand settled on his back. He felt a trickle of spiritual energy transfer to him, even though he didn’t need it. It felt familiar, like Binghe himself.

The ache in his chest only worsened.

“Shizun, does it hurt?”

Yes, he wanted to say. It felt as if something was trying to rip his heart out of his chest! This stupid world with its stupid tropes, wasn’t that just supposed to be descriptive imagery?! It really did hurt! A lot! Enough to make his eyes water, and his breaths tremble with 'emotion'.

“It’s fine,” he managed to get out, instead. It wasn’t his heart, anyway, was it? This whole entire body wasn’t even his. It was all just a fictional world, it should be as easy to fall in love with one character as another, to fall out of love too… it wasn’t really real, it wasn’t… it didn’t… it didn’t really hurt…

Luo Binghe made a pained sound of his own. It jolted him back to reality. Suddenly the man crumpled around him, and pulled him to his chest. Shen Qingqiu stiffened as he was theatrically embraced. This was definitely the sort of thing he should be discouraging, now that he knew what he knew. He settled a hand at Luo Binghe’s chest, meaning to push him back. But somehow his limbs just didn’t have the strength. Binghe still felt warm and strong and good. Being held so close, he found himself shutting his eyes to try and wage war with his own thoughts. 

“Shizun doesn’t have to lie,” Luo Binghe told him, quietly. “This servant knows his strength and knows his weakness, too. When outsiders are around, sometimes it’s better to put up a front. But when it’s just us, Shizun can be honest. He can show his hurts. All Shizun’s burdens, all his pains, I’ll help him carry them.”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t even realize how tightly he’d clenched his hand into Luo Binghe’s robes, as the other man spoke.

Why couldn’t this person just make it easy on him?!

Saying things like that was only making it even more impossible for him to fix this situation!

“Please,” Luo Binghe begged, just because it wasn’t bad enough already. “Let me help?”

Unfair! This was unfair! Shen Qingqiu demanded that this story change. Go find a new protagonist, go make another perfect man to give Liu Qingge everything he deserves and more! This one was his, he couldn’t reject Luo Binghe, it might kill him even before the inevitable plot developments could. It’d started to hurt so badly that he was having troubles breathing.

He… it might… it might really kill him.

The thought gave him sudden pause. His grip loosened a little, as he slowly blinked.

Oh.

He was doomed.

The thought settled over him with surprising calm.

It wasn’t unlike what the original goods had gone through in the end, was it? Heartbreak. The prospect of losing someone he loved to someone else. Except, he cared about Liu Qingge, too. He cared about both of them. This story was theirs, even though he hadn’t known it at the beginning. Since it was the story of Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge, then in the end, they would find happiness. Shen Qingqiu wasn’t arrogant enough to think that he could really defy that sort of narrative destiny; the most he could do was, in the end, to secure different futures for minor side characters like himself or Yue Qingyuan.

If he’d known from the beginning, then he never would have slowly given his heart away. He’d have been vigilant enough to hold onto it. But he hadn’t. His fate was sealed by his own ignorance. And now it was at the point where he was basically facing down the executioner, the sadistic figure asking in amusement ‘how will you die?’

If he thought about it that way, then he definitely wasn’t going to kill himself by breaking his own heart!

The narrative would come for him, but… maybe he could still have some of this, before it all ended for him.

He leaned back a little, and stared at Luo Binghe’s face. It was too sappy to say something like ‘even though I’m doomed to die, it would be worth it just to spend the time I have left with you’. As the thought crossed his mind, however, he was so hopelessly out-of-sorts that the words slipped out. Passing his lips in a soft murmur, made rough by the acidic vomit that had scraped across the back of his throat.

Luo Binghe’s eyes widened in shock, before he paled in fear.

“Shizun’s dying?!”

Shen Qingqiu immediately regretted saying that. He couldn’t even explain it! Luo Binghe’s distress was palpable as he suddenly started checking him over.

“It’s Without a Cure, isn’t it? That poison has been in his system for such a long time now… why didn’t Shizun say something sooner?! This lord won’t let it happen! There must be a solution, even if I have to scour both realms, I’ll find it! Shizun won’t die!”

Maybe it would be the poison, come to it. That would definitely fit with some themes, wouldn’t it? It had even made the story more balanced, in a sense. Now both Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge would have failed first loves. Perhaps Yue Qingyuan would still kill himself when he found out. Shen Qingqiu hoped not, but in the end… could any of them really escape the fates plotted out for them…?

He sighed, grateful for the odd calm that had settled in with the realization that he was damned no matter what he did. So he might as well do what brought him joy in the meanwhile.

“If Binghe scours the realms, who will stay by my side?” he said, and reaching up, framed Luo Binghe’s face with his hands.

The other man finally stilled. His gaze looked frantic.

“Shizun…” he said, obviously conflicted by the dilemma that had just been presented to him.

As hard as it was to believe, Shen Qingqiu also wondered how he’d really missed seeing this. The devotion in Luo Binghe’s expression was undeniable. His heart twisted, but the good feelings he’d had - the joy and surprise and yearning - all rushed up to the fore, and this time they couldn’t be stopped. Maybe he was a horrible person, almost certainly he was doomed, but he loved this person, dammit! With the nerve of the condemned, Shen Qingqiu leaned up and pressed his lips to Luo Binghe’s own.

He wasn’t experienced at kissing. He knew the basics but most of the descriptions he’d read weren’t really helpful when it came to the practicalities. Luo Binghe’s mouth was soft, and Shen Qingqiu pressed his own to it, and then he more or less drew a blank and just sort of… did that. His lips tingled, and his nerves jangled with the knowledge of what he was doing more than the actual sensations of doing it.

But then it was like Luo Binghe woke up and suddenly realized he was being kissed. His arms slid around Shen Qingqiu’s body, one securely settling at his waist while the other supported the back of his head, and the lips against his own started to move. And then they started to devour, desperate and hungry, as Luo Binghe’s fingers sank into his hair and his own gripped his shoulders, and it felt like the life was being kissed right out of him.

Appropriate, he thought, dazedly.

When their lips parted, Luo Binghe leaned his forehead against his own.

“Shizun,” he said, forlornly.

“It’s alright,” he comforted. “This master shouldn’t have said such a thing. Binghe ought to just put it out of his mind.”

Luo Binghe frowned at that.

“No,” he said, stubbornly. “This lord promised he would shoulder all of Shizun’s burdens. The poison will not claim Shizun’s life!”

Then something else will, Shen Qingqiu could only helplessly think. He had enough sense not to voice his thoughts that time, thankfully. Moving his hands, he tried to pat Luo Binghe consolingly. At least the downer mood meant that he wasn’t paying too much attention to how closely entwined their bodies happened to be. As it stood, he just wanted the warmth and connection. His arms settled more loosely around Luo Binghe’s shoulders, and he leaned forward until he was resting against him.

To his horror, after a few moments, he heard Luo Binghe start to sniffle.

“Shizun,” the man said. “Shizun shouldn’t have intercepted that demon. If it weren’t for this servant, he never would have been poisoned…”

The guilt in his voice made Shen Qingqiu feel cold.

He couldn’t help but think of Yue Qingyuan and the original goods. Two men who loved one another very much, and ruined it all because they couldn’t even believe in that love. Because they leaned into all the wrong parts of their own worst natures, and in the end, made their insecurities into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The thought that he was doomed to somehow follow that theme somehow bothered him more than the idea of dying some other way.

Moving a hand, he leaned back, and then pinched Luo Binghe reproachfully.

“What kind of thinking is that?” he demanded. “Binghe was in this master’s care! If it had gone another way, maybe he would have been poisoned. That wouldn’t have been any better!”

Luo Binghe, to his annoyance, stubbornly shook his head.

“It would have been better!” he insisted.

“It absolutely wouldn’t have-”

“But it would have!” The stern insisted surprised him a little. Tears were leaking from the corners of Luo Binghe’s eyes. “Heavenly demon blood is immune to poison. If it had affected this servant, he would have been fine, because…”

For some reason, Luo Binghe trailed off. His expression shifted, as though he had just realized something.

“Binghe?” Shen Qingqiu asked.

“Shizun,” the man said, with ambiguous intensity. His hands settled onto Shen Qingqiu’s arms. “Shizun, this servant just had a thought. Don’t give up hope! Please rest here a while, and don’t do anything strenuous…”

Then, in an unexpected rush, Luo Binghe pulled them both up. Shen Qingqiu could barely react as he was suddenly whisked onto a nearby couch - again with this ‘fainting wife’ business, he could walk, thank you - and in a suddenly flurry of determination, Luo Binghe all but charged from his rooms. The man even almost let Ben Ben follow him through the estate door, he was in that much of a hurry. But thankfully he caught himself at the last moment, and shooed the little dog away from another attempt at suicide.

Shen Qingqiu felt a little hard done by, as he sat blinking on the couch.

What was that?

They’d just been pouring their feelings out and then Binghe had left?

He wanted to be annoyed, but given everything that had happened, his irritation couldn’t win out over all the rest of it. His lips were still tingling. Ben Ben barked at him, as if reproaching him for his earlier inattention. With a sigh, Shen Qingqiu scooped the little menace up, and then settled back against the couch.

The really shitty part, he decided, was that he did feel tired. Wasn’t he an accomplished cultivator? Granted, he’d expended some energy on the hunt, but by any sense of logic he ought to be fine. Except he wasn’t, because this world was ridiculous. And all he could do about it was let out a forlorn sigh and sink back down against the couch cushions, and defiantly not pose like a wilting flower while Ben Ben helped to ruin the ‘tragic scene’ by wriggling around and accidentally headbutting him in his excitement to be cuddled.

They undoubtedly looked ridiculous.

…Good dog.

~

It was late into the evening when Luo Binghe finally came back.

Shen Qingqiu had fallen asleep on the little couch, and was woken by the familiar scent of good food. He stretched. A gentle hand brushed his face, and he blinked up to the sudden reminder of everything that had happened, as he looked at Luo Binghe’s worried expression.

“Where did you go?” he asked.

“To check something with one of the demon elders,” the man told him. “It’s late. Shizun, please have something to eat…”

Sensing that there were matters that weren’t going to be discussed at the moment, he sighed, and got up to go have some food. He didn’t suppose he could complain much about a little hesitance or secrecy, all things considered. Binghe would tell him when he thought it was a good time. In the meanwhile, he felt like he really wanted to eat Luo Binghe’s cooking.

It tasted as delicious as ever, and that evening he took his time to savour it. Luo Binghe stayed much later than usual, his expression thoughtful - even outright brooding at times. Shen Qingqiu found himself wondering if the other man might even stay the whole night. The thought made him nervous, but if it came up… he didn’t think he’d refuse, either. After a while it seemed like they were only going by their usual evening routine, however, just with an unusual amount of quiet, before Luo Binghe finally regarded him with a pensive look in his eyes.

“How long does Shizun have…?” he asked, quietly.

Shen Qingqiu sighed.

What could he say?

“Uncertain,” he admitted. But then again, it really was that way for everyone in the end. Wasn’t it? In a story like this, a hundred years could pass in a single page. When dealing with immortals, he might honestly still have a longer life than an average person anyway. He wasn’t really certain he believed that, but the thought was heartening. What wasn’t heartening was the sudden acknowledgement that since he even came to be in this world by completely unknown means, he could probably also leave it by the same. Also, even though it seemed like a reasonable idea, there wasn’t actually any guarantee that the Without a Cure poison would be what did him in. It could be any number of things. Assassins could simply come and slit his throat or he could be eaten by a monster or die in some tragic accident.

When it came right down to it, he could go to sleep one night, and for any number of reasons, not wake up the next morning.

But when it came to the subject of the poison in particular, it wasn’t really acting up that much. So…

“This lucky person has time still,” he said. “It won’t be over soon.”

Liu Qingge was, so far as he knew, still at the Yue estate, too. Who could say how long this arc would last for?

However long it did, it would be his to enjoy.

Some of Luo Binghe’s tension eased in relief.

“If there’s any trouble, just call for a servant,” he said. “This lord won’t be far.”

Shen Qingqiu swallowed.

“Binghe could… stay…” he offered. His face burned. Gah, it was so embarrassing to say that kind of stuff! How did actors do it with a straight face?! He actually meant it and he still felt like lunging for a fan to hide his shame behind. His eyes couldn’t quite reach Luo Binghe’s.

The man made an odd sound, and looked as though he might reach for him.

But he withdrew his hand back to his side at the last moment, and shook his head instead.

“Shizun, this lord would like nothing more,” he said, at odds with his choice. “But, he would never cheapen Shizun’s honour by taking advantage. This lord will keep his promise and restrain himself.”

Shen Qingqiu swallowed back his disappointment. He wanted to say to hell with his honour. Wasn’t he a dying man? The clock was ticking, Luo Binghe, this was no time for principles! However, his good sense - and dignity - caught up with him, and so instead he could only scold himself for being a pervert again. Luo Binghe was still young, too - he was probably more nervous about sex than he let on. Shen Qingqiu definitely was.

Probably it was for the best that they avoided a guilty ‘do it before you die’ style fling across the mattresses.

“Binghe is a good man,” he said, letting the affection win over again. He ventured a look back up, only to find his former apprentice’s eyes warm with the same emotion.

“Rest well, Shizun,” Luo Binghe finally said, and with the look of someone forcing his movements, withdrew from the room.

Shen Qingqiu almost regretted it, as soon as he was gone.

At least ill-advised sex would have been a distraction.

His fingers twitched. What was he supposed to do? He’d slept too long on the little couch, and even though the room was comfortable and he was dressed for bed, he felt agitated and anxious. The silence dragged at him. It was quiet in the demonic realm. It had been quiet at the Yue estate, too, but at least there were generally sounds like bugs chirping or frogs croaking. Outside the courtyard, he suspected, hell’s nightlife probably wasn’t so serene, but the walls seemed to block off the sounds. So there was just silence, deep and dark, as he put out the lamp and set his head against the pillow.

Despite Luo Binghe’s request, he didn’t sleep well that night.

Or the next night.

Or the next.

On the fourth night after the hunting trip, he drifted into a fitful rest, only to find himself sliding from a light sleep into a deep and serene dream. In the dream he was lying on an ocean of silk sheets, dressed in soft nightclothes that smelled familiar, but not like his own. A pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, and pulled him close against a firm chest. Lips brushed the side of his neck. Everything felt slow and just shy of tantalizing; despite the setting, nothing really raunchy seemed to be happening. The hands on him just stroked his skin until he felt relaxed and loose, like he was in a place where it was safe to let down all of his guard.

After an undetermined length of time, he rolled over, and tucked his face against Luo Binghe’s chest. He wasn’t able to withstand the feeling of vulnerability much more, but it was somehow easier in that position.

“Binghe’s doing this,” he said, at last.

“Yes. Does Shizun mind?”

“...No.”

It was better to sleep, anyway, and if Luo Binghe’s nervousness over sex made it so that they couldn’t do something like this in his actual rooms, he’d still indulge in it through a dream. A hand stroked his back. He returned the favour, and listened to the sound of Binghe’s heart as it beat steadily in his chest.

Even though it was a dream, rather than their physical bodies, Shen Qingqiu could feel himself start to react to their close proximity. Luo Binghe shifted a little, and stopped rubbing his back.

“Ah,” the man said, somewhat bashfully. “I thought… maybe I could keep that sort of thing from happening. Apologies, Shizun!”

What?

“Please keep resting.”

He blinked, and then the next thing he knew, he was alone in the sea of silk sheets.

His disappointment didn’t last too long, as the atmosphere still felt very comforting and relaxed, even despite his host’s abrupt departure. There was still a sense like Binghe was around; just out of sight. Shen Qingqiu sighed, and lingered in the dream until it began to fade. Then he slept dreamlessly for a while, relaxed enough to keep on with his rest, until he woke up to the sounds of breakfast arriving.

After that dream, things seemed to settle down again for a time. Although Luo Binghe insisted that he was investigating a solution to Without a Cure, and that Shen Qingqiu shouldn’t worry about the situation and just have faith in him, he wasn’t really bothered either way. Only because he knew his doom would come by narrative caveat, rather than any one guaranteed cause. Even if the poison got cured, it would just be something else that did it. He couldn’t explain that to Binghe, though, and even if he could, in the end the man was as helpless against the pull of destiny as he was. Maybe even more helpless, despite being the protagonist - after all, he didn’t know even part of this story they were in. Or that it was a story in the first place.

So there wasn’t anything he could do, and knowing that would just make him feel even worse, probably.

Thinking about it, Shen Qingqiu had decided it was much better not only to enjoy this plot arc while it lasted, but also to prepare for when it inevitably ended.

After all, there was still a chance of Yue Qingyuan doing something rash. And regardless of anything else, Luo Binghe was liable to be very upset when he died. The protagonist probably wouldn’t die of heartache, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be threatened by it, or endure any number of hardships. Hadn’t he already endured too many? This wasn’t a story that was kind to its leading character, that was for certain!

He’d have Liu Qingge to comfort him, of course. Liu Qingge was also Shen Qingqiu’s friend, so perhaps his death would even be what brought them together this time around.

It was a strange thought.

Shen Qingqiu wondered if he should do something. Like leave behind a video recording to be watched after his death, except of course that wouldn’t be the exact thing he could do - despite the many anachronisms, there definitely wasn’t any video technology in this world. He’d checked. But, he could write something. Letters, maybe? Or a book? ‘How To Care For Luo Binghes and Liu Qingges: A Guide by Shen Qingqiu’?

Or maybe he could write down some of the stories that Binghe enjoyed listening to so much. Some poems, something like that…

Turning that matter over in his mind, he couldn’t help but think about those stories that Shang Qinghua used to send him. For all that they could get very odd, some of them weren’t a half bad way to kill the time.

“Binghe,” he asked, of the man who was… glowering at his wrist?

Luo Binghe looked up at once.

“Is Shizun alright?” he asked. He’d been very jumpy about that lately. It made Shen Qingqiu regret his slip of the tongue even more.

“Just fine,” he said, resisting the urge to sigh. “I was only wondering, whatever happened to Shang Qinghua?”

He knew the man had planned on camping out at ‘Mobei-Jun’s place’, but it occurred to him that, technically speaking, this was Mobei-Jun’s place. And yet he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the other man, and given the situation, he expected that Shang Qinghua would at least make an attempt to visit. Or send a message, or something. Of course there was the other palace, but that one was supposed to be even less livable for humans than this one.

Luo Binghe blinked at the question, and then frowned a little.

“Oh. That person,” he said. “He’s with Mobei-Jun.”

It was Shen Qingqiu’s turn to frown.

“At the ice palace?”

A nod.

“...The ice palace that’s notoriously frozen and inhospitable?”

A shrug.

“Binghe…”

“This lord didn’t make him go. Mobei-Jun wanted him,” Luo Binghe said.

Huh? That was a little surprising. From the way Shang Qinghua talked about it, his relationship with Mobei-Jun had seemed very distant. A spy afforded some tools so he could pass along information, mostly beneath the frosty demon lord’s notice. Shen Qingqiu hadn’t even been entirely sure that they interacted much at all - proxies had seemed perfectly likely, one minion consorting only with another minion of slightly higher rank. Even on his ‘desperate divorce plan’, Shang Qinghua had described it more or less as if he was so beneath Mobei-Jun’s notice, he might as well have been invisible.

“Why did Mobei-Jun want him?” he couldn’t help but ask.

Luo Binghe shrugged again.

“This lord didn’t ask about the particulars,” he said.

“Really?”

“...That person made trouble for Shizun.”

Shen Qingqiu frowned.

“He also helped both of us out,” he felt obliged to mention. Transmigrator solidarity! “What if Mobei-Jun is torturing him or something?”

The possibility brought up some bad memories. As if following the train of thought, Luo Binghe ducked his head repentantly.

“He won’t. Mobei-Jun likes Shang Qinghua,” his former apprentice asserted.

Shen Qingqiu gave that response the dubious look it merited. Although… Shang Qinghua had said that Mobei-Jun was important to keep alive. Maybe the situation was even more complicated than it seemed…?

“He’s fine,” Luo Binghe assured him again.

Somehow Shen Qingqiu just became one hundred percent convinced that he had no actual idea what state Shang Qinghua was in, at all, and therefore no actual authority with which to make that kind of claim.

“I want to see him,” he decided.

Luo Binghe looked aggrieved.

“Shizun, he’s one of Mobei-Jun’s people. To get him back, this lord would have to invite Mobei-Jun back, too.”

Shen Qingqiu considered that.

“Would I have to see Mobei-Jun?” he wondered.

“Of course not,” Luo Binghe said, brow knitting in displeasure at the idea.

He shrugged.

“Then there’s no problem. Invite them back,” he requested again.

Unsurprisingly, Luo Binghe didn’t take a lot of convincing to oblige him, even though this was the most reluctance he’d put up towards a request so far. It didn’t take long for Mobei-Jun and his retinue to arrive at the estate, either. The demon lord was apparently quite adept at portals and teleportation, and probably could have come back any time he pleased, except that he was bound to serve Luo Binghe’s will by some means. Shen Qingqiu heard about the arrival from some of the palace servants who were on friendly terms with him, but didn’t go out with Luo Binghe to greet the other lord. He worried that this might be seen as a sign of weakness. When he voiced his concerns, Luo Binghe just shrugged them off and assured him that even if he looked ‘nervous’ of Mobei-Jun, the vast majority of even high-ranking demons rightfully were and wouldn’t be able to throw any stones about it. Not without putting themselves at risk of backhandedly insulting Mobei-Jun in the process.

“He’s very powerful,” his former apprentice said, as a grim light came into his eyes. “Just not as powerful as me.”

It was unfairly hot.

“Show off,” he scolded. He was fighting back a rush of colour to his cheeks.

Luo Binghe grinned shamelessly at him.

“That accusation doesn’t fit! Shizun hasn’t even seen this lord show off for him yet!” he promised. That cocky streak of his had only gotten worse! Shen Qingqiu tried to disapprove, but he knew he wasn’t being very convincing about it, because not a hint of repentance showed in the other man’s face.

Before he could put in a better effort at scolding his unruly former apprentice, Luo Binghe had to leave to go and meet with Mobei-Jun. Shen Qingqiu passed a few hours by reading through some of the books on demonic culture that he’d been provided with - interesting stuff - and letting Ben Ben play in the outdoor space. He practiced some forms with Xiu Ya, and was just beginning to wonder how long everything would take when a servant hurried in to announce that he had a visitor.

At first, when Shang Qinghua entered his courtyard, he didn’t recognize him.

The man was dressed in an expensive dark blue outfit, with his hair done up in a style that Shen Qingqiu wasn’t familiar with. There were sapphire pins in it. A small demon was dogging his steps, the imp’s manner deferential and polite, and on Shang Qinghua’s cheeks he could even see a hint of silver dusting that shimmered in the light. While Shen Qingqiu was not even remotely attracted to the man, he wasn’t bad-looking - and in his current attire, he might even be taken for some demon noble’s treasured spouse.

The effect was a little ruined when the man saw Shen Qingqiu and broke out into a wide, undignified smile, and then nearly tripped on the hem of his robes.

“Bro!” he called. “You made it!”

Cutting a glance towards the servants, Shen Qingqiu unfurled his hand fan, and pointedly rolled his eyes.

“...Mister Shang, it’s good to see you,” he said, hesitating a little over the forms of address.

Shang Qinghua nodded at him pretty heedlessly.

“Just call me ‘bro’, there’s no need to stand on ceremony,” he said. “We’re friends from the same world, after all! Not many humans get to live in a place like this.” So saying, the other man turned and looked curiously around at the courtyard. “Lord Luo really pulled out all the stops to get this place ready in time. I thought he’d at least need a few more months before he could get things this comfortable.”

Resisting the urge to glance at the servants again, Shen Qingqiu could only incline his head. He didn’t really know much about it, every time he tried to ask about the space, Luo Binghe just got anxious and then started asking him if there was anything he needed or if he felt neglected in some way. Or else he started going on about demon botany and bamboo.

“We should talk in private. I have some news,” he said, as quietly as he could.

Shang Qinghua smiled at him.

“No problem, bro! Snowflake here will just keep an eye on things and stay out of listening range,” he said, with far more easy confidence in their ability to have a simple conversation than either of them had ever been able to display before. Without another word, the imp at his side moved off, and even shooed away the courtyard’s servants. Shen Qingqiu led Shang Qinghua over to his outdoor seating arrangement, trying not to double-take over the demon called Snowflake.

“You seem to be doing well,” he couldn’t help but notice. He’d been worried that the man would turn up looking ever worse than usual, maybe with icicles hanging off of him or bruises from getting into fights with demon bullies.

Shang Qinghua’s goofy smile widened even further, and he nodded again.

“It’s not so bad!” he said. “Mobei-Jun’s northern palace is freezing, but as long as I’m with him, he does this thing that means I don’t feel it. And he even gave me this nice room, with an actual warm bed in it and everything! It’s huge! I think it used to belong to a giant. The bed, I mean. The room's normal sized. Plus there’s Snowflake. She follows me around and does whatever I tell her to, for some reason. It’s almost like having a personal servant!”

Shen Qingqiu raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t realize you were that important to Mobei-Jun.”

The other man shrugged.

“I’m not,” he said. “I think he just doesn’t know what to do with me, so he keeps me around in case he finds a use at some point. I mean, he gave me a bunch of fancy clothes and stuff, but since I’m following him around all the time, I think that’s mainly because he doesn’t want me to be an eyesore? He even gave me perfumes and scented stuff to cover up my stink. When I first got back I nearly expected him to kill me, he caught me digging up my emergency stash and he was all ‘what happened’, and I had to be like ‘I’m sorry my king but I won’t be able to go back to Qi Qingqi this time’, and he was just like ‘then you’ll stay by my side’ all scary-eyed and intense and of course I was like ‘sure thing’ because if he’d told me to punch myself in the face I probably would have done it just to avoid making him any angrier, you know? But he actually seemed kind of pleased? I guess something good happened that day and luckily put him in a nice mood. Of course I was terrified when Lord Luo told him to clear out because he was bringing you over, and Mobei-Jun was like ‘you’re coming with me’ and I even had to tell him, I said, ‘my king, humans don’t do so well in temperatures that are a billion below freezing’, but he was like ‘it’s fine’ and I was like ‘shit I’m gonna turn into an ice block’, except then he did this thing with his spiritual energy and it actually was fine, and oh also my room has a fireplace in it, I forgot to mention that. It’s a good thing too because otherwise I’d never sleep at night, unless I slept in Mobei-Jun’s bed I guess, but then I’d die for sure…”

Shen Qingqiu stared as Shang Qinghua rambled on and on about his life at the other palace.

Surprisingly, he definitely didn’t seem to be in as sorry a state as he had been as Qi Qingqi’s concubine. And eventually he seemed to realize that he needed to stop and breathe, as he let out an awkward laugh, and trailed off with a shrug.

“So what’s your news?” he asked, fidgeting with his sleeves.

Shen Qingqiu shot another glance around to confirm that no one was within in hearing range, and then leaned slightly closer.

“Luo Binghe is in love with me,” he said.

There was a pause.

Shang Qinghua blinked.

“...And?” he prompted. “What’s the news?”

Shen Qingqiu scowled.

“That is the news!” he said.

The look he got was genuinely confused. After a minute, Shang Qinghua even snorted.

“Bro, that’s not news,” he says. “Like, everyone in hell knows that. It couldn’t be any more widely known of Lord Luo tattooed it to his forehead. He’s not a subtle guy. He practically introduces himself by saying ‘hi I’m Luo Binghe and I’m in love with Shen Qingqiu’, he has this entire speech about how all the great masters of the demonic arts know he only gets it up for just one man…”

Shen Qingqiu smacked Shang Qinghua with his fan.

“Don’t be vulgar!” he snapped.

“Ow! Okay, okay!”

It was a force of effort not to let himself blush bright red with embarrassment. He’d heard that speech, but…

“Isn’t that speech about a teacher-and-student relationship?” he asked, more to himself than to Shang Qinghua. But Shang Qinghua decided to answer anyway. Starting with an amused snort again.

“I mean, kind of? But there is definitely a tone. No one actually thinks he’s talking about your tutoring skills, bro.”

Shen Qingqiu could only fall silent for a moments. Shang Qinghua looked at him and let out a sigh.

“You really didn’t know?” he said. “How can a guy be that clueless to his own romantic situation…?”

Reaching up, Shang Qinghua straightened one of the sapphire pins in his hair.

Shen Qingqiu scowled at him.

“You told me he was in love with Liu Qingge!” he pointed out, in a tone that may or may not have been adequately described as a ‘furious hiss’.

“In the original story he was!” Shang Qinghua protested. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, bro, but we have been off-script for a long time now!”

Shen Qingqiu took in a deep breath and let it out.

“This is a love story,” he pointed out. “If… if I interfere with the main pairing…”

Realization crossed Shang Qinghua’s features.

To his surprise, the other man actually reached over and patted at him. He withdrew his hand again quickly.

“Oh. Oh, no, bro, it’s okay!” he said, to Shen Qingqiu’s surprise. “It’s not like that! Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge weren’t really a ‘true love’ kind of a deal anyway. It was more like a sort of meditative drama on the pitfalls of various romantic storytelling conventions? But with more pandering than usual in the porn bits. Those were the fun parts. Anyway, it’s not like you’re getting in the way of something important. Luo Binghe originally always fell into bed with other guys, and Liu Qingge even tried to kill him a few times, even after they were married. It wasn’t… uh. The healthiest romance ever?”

Shen Qingqiu stared at the other man in a different kind of horror.

Shang Qinghua chuckled uncomfortably.

“I guess I should have explained it better, huh?” he said.

“But… it’s still the main pairing…?” he couldn’t help pointing out, not even sure what to think at the other man’s statements. Everyone knew the core drive of a love story was the lovers involved. 

“None of the pairings were supposed to be set in stone when I started writing,” Shang Qinghua said. “To be honest I wasn’t even going to stick with the LiuBing pairing, but then my computer had a meltdown and I lost my outline, so I mostly just started following reader suggestions. I had bills to pay, y’know? And then that one review site posted that article about how LiuBing was ‘everything wrong’ with gay ships and I got a huge traffic boost of hate readers, but traffic is traffic so I just figured, might as well throw some more fuel onto the fire…”

Shen Qingqiu stared.

Shang Qinghua blinked at him.

Then he seemed to realize precisely what he’d just admitted, and all the colour drained from his face.

“I mean… I mean, if I was the person who wrote this story, then that would probably be how it would have gone!”

“Not that I wrote this story!”

“Because of course I didn’t, haha, that would be ridiculous…”

“Bro?”

“...Bro you’re… you’re starting to scare me a little…”

There was a soft ‘snap’ sound as the fan in Shen Qingqiu’s hand broke.

Half an hour later, when Luo Binghe finally came to check on them, Shen Qingqiu was quietly sipping tea in his parlour and eating some of his premade snacks. Shang Qinghua was lying on the small couch, nursing several bruises and lamenting over a hair pin that had gotten broken.

Luo Binghe blinked at them.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

Shizun smiled at him with the sort of peaceful expression that might make a person think of a tiger that had just ripped apart its prey. It was a very good look on him.

“We’re fine,” he said. “Mister Shang merely had some grievances to atone for.”

“He beat me up,” Shang Qinghua protested pathetically from the couch.

Luo Binghe snorted in amusement. Leaning down, he dared to press a kiss to Shen Qingqiu’s temple, thrilling himself with the ease of the simple gesture.

He promptly decided not to needlessly add this incident to his list of worries. He couldn’t help but subtly check Shizun for signs of unusual fatigue, all the same. Even since the hunting trip, anxiety had been gnawing at his heart. It was, in fact, part of the reason why he had hurried back.

Shang Qinghua was a strange man. Luo Binghe didn’t really remember the first time they’d met - according to Shang Qinghua, he’d helped treat his injuries after Mobei-Jun first brought him to hell, but Luo Binghe had no clear recollections from that time. It was all just fire and blood and murderous rage, barely keeping him afloat above the feeling of loss. Dwelling on it for too long always made him remember the sight of Shizun, battered and bloodied and impaled onto a tree. And when he remembered that, it got a lot harder for him to not kill things.

But the first time he could recall meeting Shang Qinghua, the man was telling him all kinds of odd things about hell and Mobei-Jun and demon politics. And then it came out that he was a spy in the human world, and it was Shang Qinghua who brought him Xiu Ya, and Shizun’s gifts, and the letter. He always seemed to know information that other people didn’t. Luo Binghe had once seen him identify an artifact that no one else even knew was cursed, even going so far as to grab Mobei-Jun’s arm before the demon lord could touch it and injure himself.

He was sneaky and Luo Binghe was still mad that he’d caused trouble for Shizun even after being warned specifically not to do that at any cost, but he had begun to remember that Shang Qinghua had some good points, too.

And apparently Shizun could handle his grievances with this man on his own terms.

“A-Shang,” he said, approaching the couch. The man looked pitifully up at him, while Luo Binghe folded his arms. “What information is there on the Without a Cure poison?”

Shang Qinghua squinted at him.

“Does A-Shang know of a cure?” Luo Binghe pressed.

Almost distractedly, the man shrugged.

“Sure,” he said. “There’s only one, it’d be hard to forget…”

Both Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu froze at the casual answer. Shang Qinghua glanced between them uncertainly, and let out a nervous laugh.

“You two haven’t discovered it yet?” he asked.

Luo Binghe’s pride bristled at the implication that he ought to have. He had been looking high and low! His knowledge of poisons wasn't still at the novice stage! But until now, he hadn’t thought to ask Shang Qinghua about it. It was a demon poison, and most experts - even the experts on poison - just assured him that the name was accurate. Why would some weird little human concubine have the answer? He shouldn’t have been so hasty to overlook the possibility. When had anything about Shang Qinghua actually made sense? Sometimes Luo Binghe doubted he even was really human, although he definitely wasn't a demon either.

Moving closer, Luo Binghe made it a point to loom menacingly over the man. He wasn’t hard to intimidate.

“Tell me,” he demanded.

Shang Qinghua raised his hands.

“Of course, your lordship, of course!” he said. “A Heavenly Demon’s blood can neutralize any poison!”

In a rush of disappointment, Luo Binghe couldn’t fight off his frown.

“I already thought of that,” he snapped, irritably. “Elder Lady of the Poisons told me it wouldn’t work. Ingesting the blood can’t cure the poison, and even transfusions haven’t been able to. It was attempted in the past.” He’d even snuck some of his blood into Shizun's food, just to double-check and see if the Elder Lady's assertions were true. It hadn't worked, and in the end, he'd discreetly taken the blood out while Shizun was sleeping a few days later. The temptation to leave it was strong, but Luo Binghe's blood granted him a lot of power over anyone who had it in their system.

Even though that thought appealed to him in a lot of ways, he didn’t want to put the man in that position.

Shang Qinghua flapped his hands again, however.

“That’s because you're not looking at it the right way!” he said. “Without a Cure impacts two kinds of veins, the blood but also the spiritual pathways through the body. It enters through the blood, but to neutralize it, you need a combination of elements to draw the spiritual poison out into a Heavenly demon's body, and then introduce a counter-agent to the victim's system. It requires a very intimate union between the victim and someone with Heavenly Demon’s blood in order to achieve the desired effect.”

Luo Binghe blinked.

Shang QInghua glanced nervously at Shen Qingqiu, and then shrugged hopelessly back at him.

“My lord, you just need to come inside him.”

Luo Binghe reeled back in shock. He glanced towards Shizun, who was conspicuously blank-faced.

Shang Qinghua laughed nervously again.

“What’s that, Snowflake? My king needs me? Ah, I better go and answer his summons!”

The imp hadn’t so much as twitched, but a moment later, Shang Qinghua vaulted over the back of the couch and ran for the door so quickly, it was like his ass was on fire. His personal servant followed at a more reasonable pace, nodding politely to Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu on the way out.

Awkward silence descended.

Luo Binghe dared a glance over towards Shizun. The man had opened one of his fans, and was obviously hiding behind it.

The gesture eased some of the shock in his heart. Even though it was clear this was still a surprise, and perhaps more complicated than it should have been, it was just so very like his Shizun that Luo Binghe couldn’t help but feel a rush of fondness. He moved closer, and tentatively rested a hand on Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder. The man jumped, and above his fan, his face reddened.

“Shizun…?” he asked.

No response, at first.

“This is… good news, isn’t it?” he tried.

Shen Qingqiu’s fan moved back and forth a few times.

“...E-en…” he finally agreed.

Nervous. He was nervous. Luo Binghe was, too, but realizing that Shizun was apparently even moreso almost undid him on the spot. He felt elated. Shizun wouldn’t have to die! He could be saved, and saved by Luo Binghe directly! The temptation to swoop in was strong. It had been so hard to wait before, after all - and now they had a very good reason not to bother holding off. A life-or-death sort of reason. That should have erased all the other considerations, it very nearly did, but…

Little though he liked to think of it, Shen Qingqiu was still a married man.

And, Luo Binghe didn’t want their first time to be for any reason other than that they both wanted it.

No, even more than that, he wanted everything to be done properly. Their wedding was going to be the most extravagant ceremony he could arrange. It was already in the preparation stages. He wanted each step to be right, wanted to perform the demonic rites and then the human rituals, to gently undress Shizun from his wedding clothes, and spread him out across the bed, and show him that every vow he made he would keep.

How could he do that if he had already cheapened things for the sake of desperation?

But was it more selfish to try and wait, and satisfy that desire, when the poison was making Shizun suffer…?

Luo Binghe could only stare helplessly at the man he loved, uncertain of what to do.

“What is Shizun thinking…?” he asked.

Shen Qingqiu let out a long breath.

For his own part, he was almost trying not to think.

What could he think? Shang Qinghua had once again rolled onto the scene and turned everything onto its head! He had too many things to think about, and honestly, Without a Cure wasn’t even the most pressing issue to him. Although of course it was to Luo Binghe, because Binghe thought it was the reason for all of his distress.

He bit back another sigh.

When did things get so complicated?!

Oh, right. When he transmigrated into a novel written by an idiot!

Setting aside the matter of plot arcs and his probable-but-maybe-not demise, Shen Qingqiu let himself focus on the more immediate matter - namely, the remedy for Without a Cure, which Shang Qinghua had apparently known the nature of this entire time, and what to do about it.

Part of him was almost leaping for joy at this development. It was the same part of him that unabashedly salivated over Luo Binghe’s looks, and trembled every time they touched. But Shen Qingqiu was far from a shameless man, and even internally, he couldn’t bring himself to easily acknowledge the part of him that was just loudly clamoring for sex at the top of its lungs! That part wasn’t the most important anyway. He knew that Luo Binghe had been ‘waiting’, that it was important enough to him that he had resisted too much temptation, even when Shen Qingqiu freely offered it.

If he really was dying from the poison, then it would have probably still been a no-brainer. Shen Qingqiu wasn’t even from this world, he hardly viewed his virginity like some conservative young maiden would, and even in this world he wasn’t thought to have it still anyhow. He definitely wouldn’t put off a life-saving cure for the sake of appearances. Everyone probably already thought he and Luo Binghe were having sex each night anyway, since Luo Binghe had apparently been telling everyone he knew that he was madly in love with Shen Qingqiu.

But.

Without a Cure really wasn’t bothering him any more than it already had in the past. Apart from the inconvenient blockages and some discomfort if he went too long without treating it, he barely took note of it anymore.

In this situation, he had accidentally created a scenario where Luo Binghe had a false impression of the stakes. Leaning into that impression would get Shen Qingqiu something he wanted - sex, intimacy, and a cure for an annoying condition - but it would cost Luo Binghe the chance to do things ‘properly’, and that seemed to be very important to him.

After considering this for a long moment, during which Binghe seemed to become increasingly anxious, Shen Qingqiu finally looked at him and smiled.

“It’s good news,” he said. “When Binghe and I are married, we’ll cure this poison together.”

Luo Binghe’s throat bobbed as he swallowed.

“Shizun!” he said. His voice wavered with emotion. “Shizun, this lord wishes to only do right by his future husband! Therefore, he will wait until marriage to consummate this relationship. But, if it hurts too much, Shizun must swear to say so! There’s no point in anything if Shizun suffers. Even if we do something ahead of schedule, it will only be a… a loan of a night that should come after the wedding. The wedding will still be our official first time, and this lord would not presume to take any further liberties or breathe a word of it to any other soul!”

This man - !

Why did he have to make it so difficult to do the right thing?! Shen Qingqiu was sorely tempted to keel over in feigned illness. It was a good thing he had his dignity! But even so, part of him lamented it, and internally wanted to weep. A year! A year was such a long time, would he really even manage to live that long? What if this stupid tragedy porn narrative killed him ironically on the wedding day?

He couldn’t help but let out a soft curse.

“Binghe, this shameful beast in front of you is sorely tempted for reasons entirely unrelated to any poison,” he admitted.

It wasn’t an admission he made idly. In a fit of panic, he could only think that offering the warning might help Luo Binghe to stop him from doing anything foolish, if the temptation should became too great.

His words made Luo Binghe blink. And then his cheeks reddened, and his eyes brightened with delight, as his lips curled upwards. The hand on his shoulder slid down towards his lower back. Where was it headed?! But it stopped short of doing anything really inappropriate, just resting there as Luo Binghe reached for the hand he was holding his fan with, and gently pushed it down.

“This lord has the same problem, Shizun,” he said, in a low purr that did not help at all dammit Binghe!

The kiss he was subjected to also didn’t help.

Luo Binghe leaned in and bit gently at his lips, before licking his way into his mouth, and fervently enfolding him into his arms. Shen Qingqiu’s entire body felt like it was lighting up at every point of contact between them, while Luo Binghe deepened the kiss with hungry lips. An embarrassing sound slid out of him and vanished into the other man’s mouth, rolling across their tongues.

It made the demon mark on Luo Binghe's brow glow softly.

Then all at once Binghe pulled away.

To go from being held and kissed to standing with his lips pursed in the empty air was pretty jarring. Shen Qingqiu stumbled, and had to catch himself to keep from falling over. Blinking, he saw that the other man was already clear on the opposite side of the room.

“Binghe?” he asked.

“Apologies, Shizun!” the other man said, back turned towards him. He shuffled awkwardly. “This servant has to go before he does something he’ll regret!”

Then, much like Shang Qinghua had before, he bolted from Shen Qingqiu’s chambers in too much hurry to stop.

Shen Qingqiu could only stare forlornly after him, before cursing down at his own ‘little problem’.

That Shang Qinghua! Why did he have to write a setting with such frustrating social standards? At this rate, forget Without a Cure, the condition that was bound to cause him the most suffering would be carpal tunnel from all his wrist pains!

~

Try as he might, in the subsequent days, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t feel as though he had a very good handle on the situation anymore.

It just seemed like this story really was a mess, and he had made an even worse one of it. First, he had thought Luo Binghe was a side character. Then, he had thought he was dead. Finally, he had thought that the man was destined to end up with Liu Qingge. But it all turned out that Luo Binghe was the protagonist, and he was very hard to kill, and was also by the way he was in love with Shen Qingqiu. Who loved him back, despite his best efforts to put the brakes on his feelings for a whole number of reasons.

Part of him could still only helplessly cling to his original thinking, that this whole fiasco was destined to end so that the story could get back onto its original course. But whereas before, that thought had at least comforted him with the notion that Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge would find happiness, according to Shang Qinghua, he couldn’t even have that anymore. If anything, it seemed like there were just more catastrophes to try and dodge! Two people he cared about would abuse one another!

Thinking of like that was what finally gave Shen Qingqiu some strong resolve again.

Despite the path of the original story, he wasn’t dead. Neither was Yue Qingyuan. Anyone seeing Shen Qingqiu’s expression as he thought about this would be moved by the determination in his eyes - it would be very hard to deny that this man was a powerful immortal, and he looked as though he was preparing himself for an intense battle with the forces of evil. His fan tapped against the palm of his opposite hand as he walked the circuit around the outdoor space of his courtyard, and stared up at the chaotic sky of the demon realm.

Changing Luo Binghe’s fate was something he would have an advantage at. After all, he was right by his side. Shen Qingqiu felt certain that he could face any number of dangers to keep Binghe from becoming someone who would suffer. Even if… even when the man inevitably started picking up his other love interests, Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t make the same mistake as the original goods. He wouldn’t lose his head. His resolution wasn’t to secure love for himself, but to protect Luo Binghe’s future! That was the quest he had given himself early on, and even still, he couldn’t abandon it.

The thought made his chest hurt as he thought about the days when other lovers would come onto the scene, but he soldiered on all the same.

Liu Qingge was a more difficult problem.

The man was still trapped in his now-fizzled marriage to Yue Qingyuan. Shen Qingqiu wasn’t certain what to make of the situation that he was now - at least in part - responsible for. By Shang Qinghua’s description, Liu Qingge hadn’t led a charmed life as Luo BInghe’s first husband, either. He’d even tried to kill him! The thought made Shen Qingqiu wonder if these really were even the same people. But then, in canon, both Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge had been forced to contend with a lot of the original goods’ scheming, and had fallen afoul of all sorts of events according to Shang Qinghua. Events which no longer seemed liable to happen. Their lives were complicated by all the schemes.

So… would Luo Binghe still take an interest in Liu Qingge?

Would they find their positions ironically reversed, with Shen Qingqiu as First Husband, and Liu Qingge as Second?

The thought made him feel a deep, melancholy dissatisfaction, that reminded him of how he had often felt while living at the Yue estate. But he didn’t completely hate the idea, either. Even with so much to occupy his attention in hell, Shen Qingqiu still found himself missing Liu Qingge’s company from time to time.

After all, they were friends, and had lived together for years. Liu Qingge used to visit him every day, even in confinement. The man was solid and steady, and even though sometimes Shen Qingqiu jokingly thought about drawing a frowning face onto a dry plank and dubbing it ‘substitute Liu Qingge’, he didn’t seriously think it would be the same. He only missed the other man a little, of course. Just a tiny bit. Every day.

But he still missed him. So in that regard, he could think of worse outcomes than having to share Luo Binghe with him.

Really, thinking about it even more, Shen Qingqiu felt that there wasn’t anyone else he’d be any good at sharing Luo Binghe with. As much as he could think to himself that he wouldn’t make the same mistake as the original goods, the concept of Luo Binghe just turning up at some point in the future, with a handsome stranger on his arm, giving loving looks to this other person, made him feel like he might choke on his anger. A cold sensation swept through him as he considered that, with Yue Qingyuan, his saving grace really had been that he wasn’t in love with the man. He could judge the original goods night and day for his choices, could say that he had seen the world through his eyes, but really, actually caring about the person who might replace him made all the difference in the world.

But what could he do?

The original goods had fought tooth and nail against the inevitable format of this world, and in the end, it had only resulted in his death, and the death of the person he loved, too.

If it had to happen, then Shen Qingqiu decided, Liu Qingge would be his choice for sharing Binghe with. Liu Qingge already had his trust, and maybe this way, he could even help the two men avoid the awful pitfalls and conflict that Shang Qinghua had apparently written into their relationship. Maybe he could transform the situation into a happy ending! And then maybe he also wouldn’t be killed off by the narrative, because he wouldn’t actually be interfering. He’d still be helping. Even if the number rankings had to change, that was fine. First or Second Husband was irrelevant, if it was with Liu Qingge.

The more he thought of it, the more it felt like Liu Qingge had become a lifeline he could reach out to. Maybe that would be enough for Luo Binghe and the mandates of plot. Maybe if they worked together, they could keep each other safe!

Only, now that the format of events had changed, what if Luo Binghe ran into some other future love interest before he had a chance to realize any feelings for Liu Qingge?

At that thought, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t contain his anxiety, and sent a servant to go and summon Shang Qinghua back for another discussion.

Mobei-Jun’s retinue had been staying at the palace for a while by then, but Shang Qinghua had been dodging him. This time he came, though, with a wary expression on his face - and no valuable ornaments in his hair. Shen Qingqiu felt a little guilty for beating him up, before he remembered the many deserving reasons behind it.

“I’m not going to beat you up again,” he said, anyway.

Shang Qinghua, to his surprise, immediately perked up.

“Oh! Alright then, bro, that’s good!” the other man replied, smiling as if he had no further qualms on that point.

Wasn’t that a little too trusting? Shen Qingqiu almost wanted to scold him for not being a little more wary. But that would be counterproductive, so in the end, he just let the matter go in the same easy fashion that Shang Qinghua seemed to want, and offered him some of Binghe’s snacks in silent apology. Not that he needed to make an apology, of course, because if anyone had any business beating up Shang Qinghua, it was definitely him.

He didn't feel bad about it and he wasn't sorry.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Shang Qinghua asked him, cheerfully.

“Binghe’s other lovers,” Shen Qingqiu admitted.

Shang Qinghua’s hand paused over the plate of snacks.

“You mean in the original, right?” he said. “Because if you mean here, then bro, you really have not been paying enough attention…”

“Of course I mean in the story,” Shen Qingqiu replied, waving off the comment. Obviously Luo Binghe hadn’t picked up anyone new yet, he was still young and in his very first relationship arc! Although he might have met other, future lovers already. That was a disquieting thought…

Shang Qinghua let out a breath of relief. Then he stuffed a snack into his face, and started fidgeting at he talked around a mouthful of crumbs.

“In that case,” he said. “You’re gonna have to be specific. The harem got kinda, uh, big, in the extra chapters…”

Shen Qingqiu raised an eyebrow.

“How big?”

“Uh…”

“You can just say a number to start with.”

“Bro these snacks are delicious, do you happen to know what’s in them?”

“Bro. The number.”

“...Thirty. Ish.”

Shen Qingqiu stared.

Shang Qinghua fidgeted.

“Before we left I maaaybe also had rough notes for up to three hundred, and I’m honestly not sure if any of them exist or not,” the man admitted, in a low mumble that Shen Qingqiu only heard because it felt as though a sudden rush of adrenaline had sharpened all of his senses.

Thirty…?

No. Nope. No, no way, he was not dealing with thirty other men, or mixed men and women, he wasn’t entirely sure, but probably men, but regardless just no.

The sudden rush of possessiveness couldn’t surprise him at that point. In fact, he’d been more or less quietly wrestling with it for a while. He just hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself.

“Remember, bro, you said you weren’t going to beat me up again,” Shang Qinghua anxiously reminded him.

For a solid minute, Shen Qingqiu seriously reconsidered that decision.

Somehow, in the end, he just found himself staring down at the table in front of himself with a forlorn expression. Across from him, Shang Qinghua couldn’t help but feel bad. It was rare that he let himself feel responsible for everything that had happened in his story. After all, even though he’d written it, he definitely hadn’t made it into a real world that people could live in! He wasn’t a god. And even despite the narrative drives of a world based on a story, the characters within it were still people in this world. They still made their own choices. Otherwise, how would anything change, even with interference? It wouldn’t. So even though he’d had a hand in creating this place, he could still reassure himself that he wasn’t responsible for the decisions that other people made.

But right then, while he still didn’t feel responsible for everything, he couldn’t help but wrestle with a sentiment akin to a father realizing he’d passed some bad habits down to his son. His most promising son-in-law had a look in his eyes like someone had kicked his heart in the balls.

“Bro, you don’t have to worry about those other guys,” he said.

Shen Qingqiu slid a piece of paper and a brush over towards him.

“I’ll need their names,” the man insisted.

And Shang Qinghua got it. Alright? He understood. This was a story, certain things were going to happen, having an idea of the events to come was the best way to plan around them and survive. But…

“Nah,” he said, and slide the empty paper back. He shook his head. “You don’t need their names, bro.”

Shen Qingqiu gave him a look that made him flinch, and he nearly conceded anyway. But then he thought about that shamed, paternal sense of responsibility in his chest, and managed to quickly press on.

“The Luo Binghe I wrote was an asshole,” he explained. “When he was a kid, he was a total white lotus. He loved his adopted mother and he was genuinely grateful to Shen Jiu for saving him from being raped by Huan Hua Palace’s lord, but-”

“WHAT?!”

Shang Qinghua paused.

Oh, right. Book One only. He kept forgetting how little was in that part, with regards to Luo Binghe. Especially since this was backstory, so chronologically, in his head, it happened early on…

Shen Qingqiu looked horrified. And then furious.

Shang Qinghua winced, and decided it was still a good idea not to wear any more expensive and/or breakable jewelry to their ‘talks’.

“Um,” he said. “Right. Backstory. I can’t believe we never talked about this before…”

“He did what to Luo Binghe?” Shen Qingqiu demanded, sharply.

Well, at least they were off the topic of the Chrysanthemum Garden…

“Sooo, okay. Simply put, Huan Hua palace’s lord was inappropriately infatuated with Luo Binghe’s mother, ever since she was young,” Shang Qinghua hurriedly began to explain. “After Luo Binghe’s adopted mother died, he was in a bad place. Someone at the palace noticed that he shared a resemblance to his mother - one of the kitchen staff, I think, but it’s been a while and that was a minor character - anyway, she didn’t know he was related to her, she just thought he might suit the lord’s ‘tastes’. Shen Jiu overheard her scheming with one of the maids while he was staying at the palace. They’d found the kid on the streets and invited him back to the palace by promising him food. Then they drugged the food to knock him out, so they could let the lord look at him and make up his mind, only, because of his demon blood, the drugs didn’t work. So the maid decided to hit him, and Shen Jiu’s rare fits of moral conscience got to him because Luo Binghe was so young. He put to a stop to it and shoved the kid into his carriage instead, and when he ended up bringing him back to the Yue estate, he didn’t want to explain things since he couldn’t actually prove wrongdoing from the palace lord. So Yue Qingyuan got mad at him for involving a kid in ‘some scheme’ and made him take Luo Binghe on to make up for it.”

Shen Qingqiu’s expression had only darkened more and more as the description continued.

“So he actually saved him…?” he murmured.

Shang Qinghua sighed.

“Yeah,” he said. “I mean, Luo Binghe was too young to really know what he was saved from. Shen Jiu just said he saved his life, and since he was so scared, the kid had no trouble believing him. He didn’t figure it out until he was older and ended up back at Huan Hua palace again, and y'know, looked back on the situation with adult hindsight.”

Thoughtful silence followed this account of events.

At the time when he was writing it, he’d mostly just been thinking about a kind of situation that would justify Luo Binghe’s initial loyalty, despite his obvious mistreatment. It seemed like a good solution. After all, even very bad people could draw the line at sitting back and letting something like that happen, while still convincingly doing all sorts of other evil deeds. But thinking of it as an event that a child actually went through…

Shen Qingqiu cleared his throat.

“Well, now I’m especially glad I tore up that marriage offer for him from Huan Hua’s young mistress…” he said.

Shang Qinghua nodded, even though he hadn’t known that such an offer had been made before.

“Good call, bro,” he agreed. “A-anyway, the point is, part of the tragedy of his original story was that he started out really good but all the circumstances around him blackened his heart. Shen Jiu abused him, so he betrayed him to escape that abuse, but then he ended up killing the guy, except he hadn’t really meant for things to get that far - no one had - and the act of killing his former mentor got him blacklisted. He faced a lot of rejection, and learned that kindness was expensive and selfishness was the best way to survive. He started perpetuating the same treatment that ruined him in the first place. Cycle of abuse, y’know? But for the romance, there was still the kernel of good in him, and it would come out every so often and make it hard for people to completely hate him. I contrasted it with Liu Qingge’s nobility, which got more and more superficial as his life fell apart and he was coerced into acts that left him feeling tarnished and ashamed. He started wearing his reputation like a mask to cover up his own self-hatred.”

Shang Qinghua frowned a little as he reminisced. A lot of his hate readers had said things that pretty much just made him go ‘yes, that’s exactly the point!’ but they always sounded like they were scolding him anyways…

Shen Qingqiu looked horrified again.

He flapped a hand at him, hastily.

“But that’s why it’s so different!” he said. “Bro, don’t you get it? You didn’t abuse Luo Binghe. You looked out for him! You taught him good stuff, you bonded with him, you made me give him whole butchered chickens while he was still having to eat his own raw kills!”

“He was what?!”

“It’s fine, he’s half demon! He can’t get food poisoning!” Shang Qinghua said. He shouldn’t have mentioned that, Shen Qingqiu looked like he was going to kill him again. Geez. This was not a fun conversation. Luo Binghe’s expression when he’d seen that chicken, though… it would take a heart made out of stone not to have felt a little emotional in return! It was like the feral boy suddenly remembered he was human. Hurriedly, he continued, before they could get sidetracked again.

“And he didn’t betray you. Even just thinking about it, can you imagine Luo Binghe betraying you? Killing you? It’s fucking absurd, bro! This version of the guy isn’t the one I wrote. The one I wrote had a heart blackened to ash, and just one lingering, tiny speck of good conscience. Your Luo Binghe learned different lessons. He hasn’t blackened hardly at all. So he’s not gonna make the same mistakes, or have the same relationships with people. He already doesn’t have the same relationships with people! He loves Shen Qingqiu, hates Yue Qingyuan, kinda wants my king dead even now, and… honestly I have no idea what he thinks of Liu Qingge. I asked him once and he just shrugged. Point is, if you try and predict what he’ll do based on the story I wrote… it’ll be as wrong as trying to predict what he’ll do based on the things a completely different person did!”

Realization flashed across Shen Qingqiu’s eyes. Shang Qinghua had to resist the urge to sag in relief, and after a minute, he even failed at that and just went with it.

Taking a gamble on what seemed to be the best way to convince Luo Binghe to do stuff sometimes, Shang Qinghua even dared to reach over, and pat Shen Qingqiu on the shoulder.

“You don’t have to worry about those other guys,” he reiterated. “You trust Luo Binghe, right?”

The look of realization deepened.

Shang Qinghua inwardly pat himself on the back.

He should have just opened with that, he thought. He should have known - it really did go both ways with these two, after all! Right when he was thinking that everything was so nicely sorted out, however, Shen Qingqiu leveled him with a sharp look.

“But what about Liu Qingge, then?” he asked.

Uh…

Shit.

After an awkward minute, he could only shrug.

“Beats me,” he said.

It was definitely the wrong thing to say.

~

Generally speaking, when a person was kidnapped by demons, there was a certain pattern of events that most of the rest of world expected to see play out.

People were usually taken in the night, sometimes with fights ensuing, sometimes vanishing before anyone could realize what was happening. Rescue attempts were common, but not necessarily ubiquitous. Ransoms were sometimes demanded. Victims were kept locked away, only to be occasionally paraded about as bound trophies if their captors were looking to provoke a fight. Favoured captives - that is, individuals who were actually stolen because some demon lord or other had taken a shine to them - might be plied with gifts and luxuries and kept close to their captor’s side. But generally speaking, their mobility was impeded, and it was rare to see them outside of their prison. Especially not for that pivotal first year.

From the start, however, the abduction of Yue Qingyuan’s second husband had been strange.

No band of demons had beset the Yue estate under cover of darkness. Instead, a grand wedding procession had made its way through several cities, coming up from the borderlands! Most people who saw it hadn’t even though to consider that it was a kidnapping party. Instead, people had speculated wildly on what was going on. It was clear that some if not all members of the party were demons, even if they were the more human-looking kind. Was some demon nobleman really ‘officially’ marrying a human noble? People had even wondered if it was a member of the imperial family! The scandalous rumours had gotten moving long before the event was done, and even for weeks afterwards, wild misinformation spread far and wide.

But most people heard, eventually, that the procession had stopped at the Yue estate. And then the story had come out - there was a demon Lord Luo, who had once posed as the apprentice and personal servant of Yue Qingyuan’s second husband! Pretending to be an ordinary youth, he had infiltrated the noble household, after somehow coming to covet the household's second husband for his beauty.

That second husband was already renowned to be beautiful, of course. No one else could fathom why a nobleman like Yue Qingyuan would only keep a single lowborn man as his spouse unless he was hypnotically gorgeous, so tales of Shen Qingqiu’s beauty had long been passed around the capital, and even other cities.

There were a few different versions of how the demon Lord Luo had first crossed paths with Yue Qingyuan’s second husband. Some said that he had simply glimpsed him from afar, but this was enough to set a fire in his heart. Others claimed that Shen Qingqiu had ventured into the demonic realms, to buy a potion that kept his lord’s heart within his own thrall; and there he had crossed paths with Lord Luo, who was charmed in turn by his demon-like schemes. There was even a story of Lord Luo being injured in a fight, and Shen Qingqiu taking pity on him and giving him some medicine. Among the demons, it was said that Shen Qingqiu once shared with Lord Luo a delicacy called 'chicken' that staved off his hunger - most humans agreed that version was nonsense.

Whatever the case, Lord Luo’s attempts to steal the man outright must have been rebuffed by Yue Qingyuan, because he eventually settled on a more crafty approach. Taking on the appearance of a sweet-tempered youth, he impressed Yue Qingyuan’s second husband with some tricks, and convinced the man to take him on as apprentice.

For years, then, the demon Lord Luo had stayed by Shen Qingqiu’s side. Each morning and night, the tales went, he had brushed love potion into the hair of his ‘master’. Every day, he fed the man food cooked by his own hand, laced with his Heavenly Demon blood that compelled devotion and obedience. Shen Qingqiu’s temperament even began to change, as he turned cold to his lord husband, but became softer and warmer in all other respects. A servant of the Yue estate even swore up and down that he had heard the second husband playing music to his apprentice at night, like a concubine entertaining his beloved lord.

Of course, it could only go on for so long before Yue Qingyuan began to suspect something, even without knowing Lord Luo’s true nature.

In order to spare himself from the righteous cultivator’s sword, then, Lord Luo faked his death at a spring tournament hosted by the Yue estate. But the damage of years was already done by then. Yue Qingyuan’s second husband fell into grief sickness, his heart lost to the demon who had left.

But Lord Luo had only grown more determined by his time spent seducing that second husband. He sent spies to tell Shen Qingqiu that his apprentice had survived, and delivered ultimatums to Lord Yue Qingyuan, as he rallied his forces and hid a great army within the festive coverings of the wedding procession. Though he approached the estate openly, in truth, every demon he brought with him was more than a match for the average cultivator; even the ‘servants’ were all assassins and warriors of the highest order, sworn into the service of his mighty bloodline.

Seeing this force arrayed around his household, Yue Qingyuan still prepared to defend his second husband from the demon’s machinations.

But it was for naught.

Over so many years of subterfuge, Lord Luo’s demonic arts had rewritten every part of Shen Qingqiu’s body to love him. When the fighting began, the second husband threw himself into Lord Luo’s arms, and was nearly cut in two by the swing of Yue Qingyuan’s sword.

In the end, through subterfuge, this battle had already been lost.

Unwilling to sacrifice the lives of his estate for a fight he could not win, or to kill the husband he had treasured so dearly, poor Lord Yue could only watch in the end as his husband was stolen away by Lord Luo. The demon’s victory was so complete that he showed no wariness nor hesitation. Placing Shen Qingqiu in a beautiful carriage, he rode proudly alongside it, and made no secret of his intentions as the wedding procession drove its way back to the borderlands. Many onlookers tried to catch a glimpse of the legendary beauty who had ensnared Yue Qingyuan, and been ensnared in turn by a demon lord’s tricks; some claimed to have seen a pale wrist extending out from the carriage, as though beckoning Lord Luo to come close again. Even just this small gesture, the rumours said, was so profoundly erotic that a few of the onlookers had fainted in shock.

Some speculated that it was only fitting in the end, too. Shen Qingqiu, who had always schemed to own Yue Qingyuan’s heart completely, was ultimately undone by a covetous demon lord with the same designs on him.

Others even whispered that the story had it in reverse - for hadn’t all of this happened when Lord Yue had finally taken that second husband? Wasn’t it known that Shen Qingqiu had sunk his claws into Yue Qingyuan when the man was still young and untested? But seeing himself replaced, dropping in rank and being outmatched by the noble and lovely Liu Qingge, he had concocted a scheme to seize a new lord for himself. That theory held that Luo Binghe had really been Shen Qingqiu’s apprentice, and hadn’t known of his demonic bloodline at all - it was Shen Qingqiu who knew of it. A servant of Huan Hua palace swore up and down that their lord had nearly rescued the boy, in fact, recognizing him as the son of one of the lord’s beloved apprentices, before Shen Qingqiu had knocked the servants out cold and stolen the poor child away. Knowing full well the rumours of Su Xiyan’s tryst with a Heavenly Demon Lord, Shen Qingqiu groomed and seduced his apprentice, and even arranged for demons to take him back during that spring tournament, so that the boy could rise in power and reclaim his birthright. His grief sickness was only feigned. That ice-cold schemer had simply decided to embrace his true nature, and thrown his lot in with a demon lord to secure more power for himself.

Whatever the take, the scandalous tale kept tongues wagging for a long while afterwards. Yue estate earned a black mark, not only for having a husband stolen, but for housing a demon for so many years. Some of the servants left, insisting that Lord Luo had placed secret curses everywhere. The emperor even declared the matter a concern for the whole city, and personally sent some of his most skilled servants to cleanse the grounds.

Liu Qingge didn’t bother to listen to the rumours unless he couldn’t escape it, and didn’t think very much of the ‘cleansing’ that had gone on. He and Yue Qingyuan were established cultivators, after all, and anyway, Luo Binghe’s demonic abilities hadn’t manifested until after he’d left. Trying to argue just seemed to add fuel to the fire, however. Lord Yue had become subdued and withdrawn, grieving his failed marriage and suffering from that grief, and Liu Qingge had not known what to do on that front, either. He had thrown his mind back to the early days of their relationship, when his heart had moved for the man, and tried to offer comfort.

But it was awkward and difficult.

Perhaps most frustratingly, the people he thought could have helped the most were the ones he couldn’t turn to. Shen Qingqiu would have helped shoulder the burdens of running the estate and dealing with their tarnished reputation. Even Luo Binghe, back when he was around, would have been able to keep track of the accounts and manage the staff. The second husband’s courtyard was silent, some lazy servants even refused to go there to clean or tend the grounds, and the paper stacks on Liu Qingge’s desk grew taller and taller with letters and requests and account books, until he simply wanted to shut the door on it all and flee.

He wasn’t a coward, but this felt less like a fight, and more like drowning in the open sea, with nothing to hold onto and no sword to fly away on.

His backlog was so massive that when he opened the letter for the invitation to the Immortal Review Conference that his mother was hosting, it was almost too late to accept the invitation. Liu Qingge hurried to do so, writing down his reply with more haste than courtesy - it was his family, they wouldn’t mind - and sending one of his apprentices to spring down to the courier’s offices and have it delivered. Then he shot an angry glance at the stacks of papers still waiting on his desk, and resolutely abandoned them in favour of heading for the lord’s courtyard.

Yue Qingyuan’s personal servant tried to stop him.

“My lord isn’t seeing anyone right now,” he said.

Liu Qingge ignored him, leaping clean over him when he tried to block his path, and snapping the lock on his lord’s door when it didn’t open. He marched over to where Yue Qingyuan was sitting and ‘meditating’ with the kitten that Liu Qingge had given him last week. The kitten was actually sleeping, and Yue Qingyuan was actually just staring blankly at some old letters.

“We’re going to a tournament to fight things,” Liu Qingge said.

Yue Qingyuan blinked up at him.

“You go,” he said. “I’ll-”

“Come too,” Liu Qingge insisted. “Fight things. See people. There are rumours that you killed yourself and are haunting the estate as a ghost. I can’t disprove them if you act that way.”

Yue Qingyuan let out a humourless sound that might have been laughter.

“Killed myself,” he said, and then shook his head. He sighed. “How can I kill myself? He cut up the white silk before he left.”

Liu Qingge raised an eyebrow. Every noble household had a length of white silk, of course, in the event that circumstances called upon someone to take their own life in order to avoid worse situations arising. The lord or lady in charge of the household could order such things, and the emperor could demand them as well. He didn’t need to ask who ‘he’ was, that might have cut up the estate’s length of white silk before leaving. If Yue Qingyuan had discovered its state, then the gesture was probably necessary…

With a sigh, Liu Qingge sat down next to the man he had married.

“He left you too,” Yue Qingyuan said, into the silence that followed.

The air in this room felt stale, Liu Qingge thought. There was not enough life in it.

“He chose Luo Binghe,” he agreed, simply enough. To say that it didn’t hurt would be a lie. Of course it hurt. But in a way, it had always hurt, because he had known from the start that he would probably never have what he wanted. That outcome couldn’t surprise him, regardless of how it came to be.

His hand strayed to the fan at his belt.

He didn’t touch it, and instead settled his posture more properly.

“He chose Luo Binghe,” Yue Qingyuan echoed, quietly. “Is First Husband waiting to see if he made the wrong choice as well?”

Liu Qingge thought about that.

“...Perhaps,” he conceded. It was still a possibility, after all. Luo Binghe was a demon. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t entertained any fleeting fancies on that theme. Thoughts of Luo Binghe revealing himself to be unworthy of Shen Qingqiu, in the end. Liu Qingge rescuing the man from a bad situation, bringing him back, feeling his arms close around him. Remorseful words spilling past his lips. It was awful, unbearable, this foolish man dreamed every day that someone would come to save him!

But it was just a fancy, in the end. All of his dreams of Shen Qingqiu were far-fetched enough for him to know it.

Yue Qingyuan sighed again.

“What a petty thing, to think ‘perhaps he’s suffering’ and find that almost hopeful,” he said, with a shake of his head. “I must know that he isn’t, or else it would feel like dread and worry.”

It was a strange sentiment, but Liu Qingge found he understood it completely. They both knew - Shen Qingqiu was fine. The man he had chosen was, in all likelihood, cherishing him beyond measure. Otherwise, would either of them have actually let him go? Wouldn’t they have given chase? Fought? Made efforts to bring him back?

However, there was more to the world than Shen Qingqiu. Love and loss were emotions that easily blinded people to other things, and that day, it all just annoyed Liu Qingge. The stale air, the melancholy, the subtle mess of the estate - it all annoyed him beyond tolerance.

“We’re leaving,” he said, amending his first statement.

Yue Qingyuan shook his head.

“You go,” the lord repeated.

“There are two married people in this room,” Liu Qingge said, irritably. “They might help one another.”

That actually seemed to give the other man pause. It was enough of an opening that Liu Qingge took it as permission anyway, and muscled him to his feet. The kitten meowed in protest as it was dislodged from its place, but then it settled back down onto a warm spot on the floor. Throwing his lord over to his personal servants, Liu Qingge instructed them to make him presentable, and then went to order some things packed and a carriage made ready.

They were halfway to his maiden family home when Yue Qingyuan actually thought to ask where they were going.

“Liu estate,” he said.

“Ah,” the lord replied. His brows furrowed a little.

Whatever he was worried about, Liu Qingge didn’t care to try asking. Liu estate was a big place, and the clan had several branches. It was always bustling, and even though it was technically rude to arrive for a visit without making any plans ahead of time, his grandmother had assured him that he would always have a place there. His family wasn’t much for idle talk, as a general rule; and sure enough, when they arrived, his old courtyard was made ready for them in a fast enough time that he knew their presence wasn’t wholly ‘unexpected’.

Preparations for the upcoming conference were also underway. It wasn’t precisely a tournament, or a big imperial conference which might mix multiple events and meetings. But there would be fights and demonstrations of skill. His apprentices chatted excitedly with some of his younger cousins, and his sister met them and even went so far as to hug him.

It didn’t take long for Liu Qingge to find someone to fight. He dragged Yue Qingyuan along with him, and threw him at one of his spinster uncles for a spar of his own.

Fighting was good. Fighting against people he hadn’t fought for a while was even better. It even got to the point where Yue Qingyuan agreed to cross swords with him, and by the time evening came around, they were sweaty and exhausted and had dented one of the estate walls.

They slept in the same courtyard that night. Yue Qingyuan didn’t touch him, but he lay beside him in bed.

“What was it like, growing up here?” the lord asked him, to his surprise.

Liu Qingge wasn’t sure how to answer. It was… growing up. He didn’t know how it would be different from any other experience of its kind.

In his silence, Yue Qingyuan sighed.

“A-Jiu and I didn’t grow up in an estate,” he explained. “We lived on the street. We slept in a building that was owned by a man who sent us out to do work for him, along with a dozen or so other children. If someone got sick, they usually died. If someone got lost, either we had to look for them, or no one would. Everyone dreamed of being secret royalty or long-lost scions and being rescued from that life.”

He shifted around a little

“It came true for me. Sometimes I wondered what it would be like if I had grown up in an estate instead. But then I never would have met A-Jiu, so, I never wondered too hard.”

Liu Qingge considered.

“I had a lot of lessons,” he finally said.

There was an expectant pause, but he didn’t really have anything else to offer. So he left it be at that.

After a few minutes, the bed started to tremble.

He looked over, and realized that Yue Qingyuan was silently laughing. The man ran a hand down his face.

“What?” he demanded.

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” Yue Qingyuan assured him. “First Husband has a gift for brevity.”

Liu Qingge scoffed, and rolled to his side.

“Go to sleep,” he commanded.

He heard his lord sigh, and roll over to the other side.

Going home was a good idea, Liu Qingge decided in short order. The Yue estate was doubtless going to be in some sorry condition when they returned to it, but for the moment, he didn’t care. He let himself return to his daily routine from before his marriage - training, practicing, and beating around his apprentices. Yue Qingyuan was dragged along in a fashion more appropriate old study friends than married lords, but that was also irrelevant, since he actually moved and did things in that state. Following Liu Qingge’s lead, most of his peers just treated Yue Qingyuan as another fighter to test their skills against or discuss exploits with.

By the time the conference came, Liu Qingge felt well-reminded of the things in life that were not love or loss.

And then, word came that a demonic contingent was being hosted by one of the larger city inns.

“Don’t say anything to my lord about it, block anyone who tries,” Liu Qingge instructed his servants. Then he took off on his own to investigate, soaring over the landscape of the city before veering down to the roof of the inn in question. He swung himself down from the edge of the roof, spied an open window, and in a moment decided to simply enter that way. It was reckless, and it was pure luck that had him tumbling into a room where Shen Qingqiu was sitting with some paper and writing implements spread out onto a small desk.

Liu Qingge landed on his feet.

The two men blinked at one another.

Then Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders began to shake, and he lost his fight with a sudden fit of laughter.

“First Husband!” he said. “It’s customary to come in through the door!”

Liu Qingge was embarrassed, but in no mood to admit it. He folded his arms defensively.

“Your security is terrible,” he said. “Anyone can come through that window.”

“Apparently so!”

“Hmph.”

He grunted, and then took a moment to properly look at Shen Qingqiu.

To his relief, the other man looked well. His eyes were bright, his face had some colour in it, and he seemed healthy. There were no signs of mistreatment about him. He was dressed in soft green and blue and white, his clothes elegantly embroidered, but there was a red jade token on his belt that was marked with a demonic symbol. It looked like the same one that Luo Binghe had sealed his letter of intent with. Xiu Ya was leaning innocuously against the desk, and a simple silver hairpin decorated his head.

He definitely didn’t look like some extravagant demon consort, or wily seducer. He also didn’t look battered, drugged, or abused.

A last shadow of doubt about his own actions quietly erased itself from his heart.

“You look well.”

Shen Qingqiu smiled at him.

“And First Husband looks… weary,” the man said, mercilessly. “Although I suppose I shouldn’t call him ‘First Husband’ anymore. Or should I? We’re still technically married to the same person for now, but…”

“Call me what you like,” Liu Qingge said, dismissively.

They fell silent again. Somehow the quiet seemed to fill the entire room. It wasn’t the same as their comfortable silences, yet it wasn’t precisely awkward, either. Shen Qingqiu seemed to subject Liu Qingge to the same scrutiny he’d given him earlier, before he finally stood up from the desk.

“Mister Liu has saved me some time. I was about to send a message explaining our arrival, actually,” Shen Qingqiu said.

‘Mister Liu’…?

He bit back a protest. It was a perfectly serviceable way to address him, and definitely preferable to ‘First Husband of Yue Qingyuan’ or ‘Yue Qingyuan’s husband’, which was what most outsiders called him.

His brows still furrowed a little, despite himself.

“You’re here for the conference,” he guessed.

Shen Qingqiu inclined his head.

“It’s a bad idea,” Liu Qingge asserted, immediately. “People are saying ugly things about you and Luo Binghe. You won't be welcomed.”

Rather than seeming shocked or hurt, Shen Qingqiu only sighed.

“That’s not surprising,” he agreed. “In fact, it’s probably inevitable. But to be honest, hell is a little boring. Except you’d probably like it, there’s no shortage of things to fight.”

Liu Qingge perked up a bit in interest.

“I’ve rarely been,” he admitted.

“It’s not a good idea to just try running around the place,” Shen Qingqiu warned him. “But if you want to visit, I definitely wouldn’t say no. There’s only one other human apart from Binghe around right now, and he’s at Mobei-Jun’s beck and call.”

Liu Qingge frowned a little.

“Shang Qinghua,” he guessed.

“Don’t look so disapproving,” the other man confirmed. “He wasn’t actually tricking me, remember?”

Liu Qingge conceded the point with a reluctant grunt.

The concept of ‘visiting’ the demonic realm was frankly absurd. Who had ever heard of a human cultivator making some kind of friendly sojourn to hell? But Shen Qingqiu was hardly acting like the captive of a demon lord, when it came down to it. The atmosphere was peaceful and not tense with hidden hardships or resentment. Slowly, Liu Qingge found himself relaxing, and breathing more and more easily. The room wasn’t a massive space, but it had a good size. It was probably one of the nicer rooms of the inn. After a moment, Shen Qingqiu ushered him over towards a set of chairs.

“Come sit with me,” he requested. “I want to know how things have been since I left.”

Liu Qingge let out a silent breath.

“They’ve been fine,” he supplied.

Shen Qingqiu gave him a skeptical look.

Leaning back in his chair, Liu Qingge opted not to elaborate.

“How’s the estate?” the other man prompted.

“It’s not your concern,” he said. His tone wasn’t harsh - he didn’t mean it badly. He meant it truthfully. Shen Qingqiu’s choice to leave ensured that the estate was no longer his responsibility. If Liu Qingge told him that things weren’t going well, that would imply that it was his fault. But fault was complicated, and not worth muddying the waters of this unexpected reunion with.

Shen Qingqiu frowned a little.

“I do still care,” he said, with a mild tone of reproach.

“You shouldn’t,” Liu Qingge advised. Then he amended. “Not about the estate, anyway. If you still care about people who live there, that’s fine.”

Shen Qingqiu clucked his tongue at him.

“The well-being of one rather ties into the other, don’t you think?” he said. Then he waved a hand. “Nevermind, you obviously don’t want to talk about it. How is Lord Yue, then? Has he… gotten over it yet?”

“No.”

“...Ah.”

“I have him at the Liu estate,” Liu Qingge admitted. “He’s moving around and thinking about things. Other things.”

“Good,” Shen Qingqiu said. Then he paused, and seemed to consider his next question. When he ventured it, his tone was decidedly tentative.

“And how is Liu Qingge doing?” he asked.

“...Fine.”

Another pause.

Shen Qingqiu’s gaze caught on his belt. Liu Qingge followed it, and realized that the fan he’d been gifted was still where he’d taken to keeping it. His cheeks heated a little at the awkwardness. If he’d thought… he should have taken it off before he left. It was just that he never really used it. He only kept it around, to the point where he had stopped thinking twice about having it on his person.

With a rough motion, he reached down and pulled it from his belt, and then settled it onto the table between them.

“You left that behind,” he said. “I was waiting to return it. You’re too careless with your things.”

Shen Qingqiu pursed his lips.

“I left it on purpose.”

Before Liu Qingge could think of a reply - he knew that, of course, a servant had delivered it to him with Shen Qingqiu’s parting intentions - the door to the room they were in opened.

Luo Binghe stood in the entrance, and glowered at him.

Liu Qingge glowered back.

Shen Qingqiu smiled pleasantly.

“Binghe!” he greeted. “Come in, look who came to visit!”

Luo Binghe, looking every inch the demonic nobleman even if his ‘captive’ wasn’t playing his own part, gave Liu Qingge a very complicated sort of glare. Then he stepped into the room, and very carefully shut the door behind himself. The red mark on his forehead gleamed just faintly.

“Yue Qingyuan’s First Husband,” Luo Binghe greeted. “It’s rude to be alone in a room with another person’s spouse. Since you’ve come here, you’re at fault for ignoring propriety.”

Liu Qingge raised his brows.

“It won’t be long until Shen Qingqiu is no one’s spouse,” he said. “Only my own reputation is at stake right now.”

“...True,” Luo Binghe said, narrowing his eyes at him. “Soon Shizun will be able to do as he likes. Within reason, of course. Naturally, he wouldn’t be able to marry someone who was already the spouse of some human lord. People like that wouldn’t even be up for his consideration.”

“Naturally,” Liu Qingge agreed, stiffly.

The two of them glared at one another for a long moment. It was broken only by the sound of Shen Qingqiu pointedly clearing his throat.

“Such an odd tone for a reunion of old friends to take!” he said. “Binghe, stop looking suspicious and come and sit down. What have I told you about looming? Doesn’t everyone remember when we three used to work together to manage an estate? This is just like old times!”

Luo Binghe’s expression softened noticeably when he looked over at Shen Qingqiu. Some of the tension left his shoulders, and he came over and sat down.

Shen Qingqiu breathed an internal sigh of relief. He had been hoping that asking to try and attend this conference would give them a chance to run into Liu Qingge, but he hadn’t been expecting the man to just pop into their room at the city inn from out of nowhere! It was a little awkward, but also a great opportunity for them to actually talk in private. Only, he had been expecting to have a little more time to brace himself for seeing Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge together again, and figuring out how to… feel about it, really.

There was definitely some odd tension between the two men.

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but get nervous. Looking at Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe, it was so clear that they were impressive people. Liu Qingge’s beauty was solemn but graceful, his more delicate features softening the natural intensity of his personality, while he cut an elegant figure in the modest clothes he was wearing. He was dressed far more as a cultivator than a wealthy first husband, but then, that had always been his preference. It suited him.

Contrasted with Luo Binghe’s own breathtaking beauty and tall, imposing figure, it would be impossible to deny that the two men were on a similar level of excellence. Even just having them in the same room, there were probably poets who would fall all over themselves trying to describe the energy between them. Shen Qingqiu automatically classified himself as an outside to the scene, looking in. Like a spectator with front row theater seats.

To anyone else observing the room, that description would have been laughably inaccurate. Shen Qingqiu was no more an outsider to the dynamics between the two other men than the sun would be considered an outsider to the movements of the solar system.

But such things were much harder to realize from the inside.

Shen Qingqiu's nervousness was short-lived, at least. In fact, he was too happy to be reunited with a person he’d missed to fall into his bad habits of obsessing over narrative destiny again. It really wasn’t ‘just like old times’, but there was a quality to having the three of them together which made him feel nostalgic anyway.

“So,” Liu Qingge said to Luo Binghe, finally breaking the tense silence in the room. “A demon lord, hm?”

Luo Binghe regarded him for a moment. Then he shrugged.

“I was surprised too,” he said.

“Does that come with any… land rights… in hell...?” Liu Qingge asked.

Awkwardly.

Shen Qingqiu had to smile. Thoughtlessly, he picked up the fan which Liu Qingge had set down on the table in front of him, and opened it to hide behind. Holy shit, this was hilarious. Liu Qingge was trying to make small talk! With Luo Binghe! About demon noble status! Even Luo Binghe looked like he was wrestling with a tiny bit of amusement at the realization. After all, Shen Qingqiu had been the one to more or less try and teach Liu Qingge how to make small talk in the first place. And where he’d gone, Luo Binghe had been.

Liu Qingge frowned, and folded his arms.

“Forget it,” he said.

“Does Yue Qingyuan’s husband really want to know? I’ll answer his questions if he does,” Luo Binghe offered, ultimately not bothering to hide his amusement.

Shen Qingqiu expected Liu Qingge to say that of course he didn’t really care - on topics like this, he was usually just being polite by asking about anyone’s properties or titles, and was in fact bored to tears if it had nothing to do with fighting or cultivation. But to his surprise, the other man darted him a glance, and then nodded at Luo Binghe.

“I want to know,” he said. “Lord Luo has obligations to live up to. How does he intend to manage that?”

He was really interested…?

Shen Qingqiu’s nerves came back. He couldn’t help it. Peering at the two men from above his fan, he tried to picture what it would be like to see Liu Qingge falling into Luo Binghe’s arms. While Luo Binghe described his various acquisitions and responsibilities as a demon lord, and talked a little about his lineage, Shen Qingqiu did his best to envision romantic interludes between the two men.

He couldn’t really manage it.

In the end, two stiff figures just clacked awkwardly together in his mind, like if they were two dolls that some child was trying to make ‘kiss’.

Obviously, he knew how Luo Binghe’s kisses went. And he knew from the first book how things had gone with Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge in the bedroom. Maybe that was part of the problem; Yue Qingyuan wasn’t a terribly passionate lover, he’d been gentle and considerate but Shen Qingqiu hadn’t really gotten a sense of pure, unbridled heat from those love scenes. He supposed that, based on Shang Qinghua’s descriptions, things were very different between Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe.

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t imagine someone being passionate towards Liu Qingge. But the thought of him and Luo Binghe fighting and then just transitioning into aggressive, resentful sex just made him frown. He’d never been much for those kinds of ships, really. Passions, yes, but the resentment? It just seemed like it would be painful to endure, or even just to witness. He’d always skimmed over those sorts of relationships in most of the books he read. Usually, they’d reach the point where affection had smoothed over the rough edges, and then they’d be fine - although apparently that wasn’t quite the case in Shang Qinghua’s work.

He supposed he could try to imagine it that way, though. He’d seen Yue Qingyuan fondly kiss Liu Qingge a few times, when they’d first gotten married. Liu Qingge’s lips were soft, and his posture always stayed a little rigid. Drawing the kiss out would probably get him to ease up, though. Then Liu Qingge would probably settle his hands onto the other person. Like with those few hugs they’d shared, once he relaxed, the strength in his arms would probably be more than a little intoxicating. And maybe some of the intensity he applied to his fighting skills would turn up and ignite a spark or two, dizzying but somehow grounding at the same time, enough to make the person in his arms melt into his gestures…

Was it too warm in this room?

Shen Qingqiu hastily shook his thoughts away.

He didn’t need to picture it! Right, that was… he didn’t need to go distracting himself with flights of fancy on the subject. Of Liu Qingge definitely kissing Luo Binghe, which was absolutely what he had just imagined. If it happened, then he’d definitely see it in the end. Well, not that he'd see it, but he'd probably see something. Bits. Like kisses, maybe. And if it didn’t happen, then he still needed to find a way to look after Liu Qingge, to repay him for stealing away some part of his happiness. But also just because Liu Qingge deserved to be looked after. Even if he just ended up staying with Yue Qingyuan in the end, the man would need friends. Breaks. Some other people to turn to, who understood how complicated it could be to live with that person and run that estate and deal with those obligations and restrictions.

Liu Qingge was his friend.

Shen Qingqiu still wanted him around, come what may.

“What?” the man he was musing on asked him, suddenly.

He was dragged from his thoughts find himself under scrutiny. Blinking, he realized that he’d been staring at Liu Qingge for too long. The two other men had apparently finished trying to talk about Luo Binghe’s ascension.

Shen Qingqiu cleared his throat.

“Forgive me, I was lost in thought,” he admitted. But no, he couldn’t leave it at that. Carefully, he folded the fan back up, and forced himself to relax. “It’s a shame that the demonic realm doesn’t support much correspondence. There’s no good way for us to keep up with our friends in this world.”

Liu Qingge’s eyes widened a little at his assertion. He looked like he did whenever someone paid him a compliment he wasn’t sure how to respond to. Luo Binghe frowned, but when Shen Qingqiu turned his smile towards him, his expression cleared again.

“Asking Shizun’s patience. When arrangements are made in the human world, such things will be easier,” he promised.

“Arrangements?” Liu Qingge asked.

Luo Binghe regarded him carefully for a moment. Then shrugged.

“While this lord doesn’t hold any titles among human nobility, and he is unlikely to be bestowed one by the emperor, there are still many ways of acquiring a good home in this world. Shizun wouldn’t be happy just living in hell all the time. Isn’t it only natural that his lord would provide him with the most suitable place to live?”

Shen Qingqiu felt his face heat up.

What was with that description that made it sound like it was all about him…?

Luo Binghe would definitely want a nice place to live just for his own sake! Wasn’t this ‘demon lord’ still half human? He’d spent most of his life growing up in the human world. Even if he’d assimilated into demon society really well, and had a whole bunch of demon abilities and instincts, no one just forgot the culture they’d grown up in for the first eighteen years of their life!

But Liu Qingge just nodded, as if there was nothing strange about that explanation.

“Finding good servants might be difficult,” he warned.

“There are a lot of demons that want to try living in the human world,” Luo Binghe said. “If it comes to it, I have confidence that enough of them can figure out how to work in a human estate.”

“People will object. Possibly even with violence,” Liu Qingge said, eyes narrowing.

“I know,” Luo Binghe agreed, equally serious. “That’s why even you won’t get to know a lot of details on this topic. For now.”

At the ‘even you’, Liu Qingge blinked. Shen Qingqiu was a little surprised as well.

So there was something there after all!

He swallowed back his awkwardly mixed feelings about it, as Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe stared at one another with expressions he couldn’t quite place. It looked as though they were coming to some kind of silent, unspoken agreement.

And then Liu Qingge stood up.

“You’ll tell me,” he said, firmly. “If you need allies.”

Luo Binghe silently inclined his head.

Then they both looked at him.

Shen Qingqiu blinked back. That was it? The atmosphere didn’t feel at all like any kind of burgeoning romance. In fact, it seemed more like a lot of the tension had just vanished. Maybe that was bad news, but something inside of him also stirred hopefully at the thought. He remembered Shang Qinghua’s words about the nature of Binghe's changed perspective.

He couldn’t judge these two real, living people by the actions of characters from a story that had progressed on entirely different lines, in the end.

“I should head back,” Liu Qingge admitted. If it was possible for a man of his personality to sound wistful, then he did. Just a little.

Shen Qingqiu extended the hand fan back towards him.

“Don’t forget this,” he insisted. It was a gift! Liu Qingge had even taken to wearing it, so he must have developed some kind of liking for it, right?

The man gave him a long look, and then shook his head.

“Return it to me the next time we meet,” he requested, bizarrely.

Shen Qingqiu frowned.

“We might not be able to meet up again for a while,” he protested. If they were permitted into the conference, they’d probably see each other there. But it was highly unlikely they would be. Luo Binghe had mentioned that to him numerous times, and even Shen Qingqiu had to agree. However, making the effort to get involved was a start on Luo Binghe’s future dealings with the human nobility. And even just trying gave them a chance at this meeting - which was more successful than he’d hoped.

Liu Qingge nodded in understanding.

“There’s time. We’re immortals, after all,” he said. “I know what I want. If the right time for it comes, then I will not fail to reach out for it. But I understand that this time may also never come.”

Shen Qingqiu stared. There was no chance they were talking about the hand fan anymore.

Was he saying that… he really had fallen in love with Luo Binghe? And he’d wait and see, and if there really was a moment where he and Luo Binghe could realize their love story, he’d go for it? But that… that he wasn’t going to do anything to endanger their friendship in the meantime, either? Because Shen Qingqiu was his friend, he wouldn't act on his feelings and risk ruining his happiness?

This Liu Qingge… he really was a good person, wasn’t he?

Shen Qingqiu wept inside. Liu Qingge looked like a man who truly was walking away from some important corner of happiness in his life, as he headed back for the window.

Unable to watch Liu Qingge's back as he left, he instead looked at Luo Binghe, who seemed to be having some kind of solemn epiphany himself. Binghe met his gaze.

Then he let out a sigh.

“Wait.”

Liu Qingge paused.

His expression turned wary. But Luo Binghe only reached into one of his inner pockets, and then pulled out a small red talisman. He held it out pointedly for Liu Qingge to examine, as if to go ‘look, see, it’s not cursed’, and then took the other man’s hand and resolutely dropped it into his palm.

“That will open a portal to take you to my palace,” he said. “I’ll have to tell the servants to recognize you first, or they’ll fight you on sight. So don’t use it right away. And don’t come too often, or you’ll make trouble for yourself.”

Liu Qingge’s eyes widened.

So did Shen Qingqiu’s.

Then… then, was…?

Luo Binghe, did you forget how to do things romantically? Wasn’t that a little too begrudging?! Shen Qingqiu knew he could be perfectly charming, he’d been subjected to said charm many, many times! So why was he acting like this wasn’t even something he was particularly happy to do? As if it wasn’t about him and Liu Qingge at all, but instead…

Binghe looked at him, and nodded. And suddenly Shen Qingqiu understood.

He really wasn’t in love with Liu Qingge. At least, not yet. Maybe… maybe not ever, depending on how things went.

But Liu Qingge was Shen Qingqiu’s friend. Luo Binghe was doing this for him.

He couldn’t fight back the grateful smile that stole over his features at the gesture. Liu Qingge looked at the talisman, and then at the two of them. He carefully tucked the item into a pouch at his belt, and then, with only a curt nod of acknowledgement, he disappeared back out the window.

There was still a door… did he really have to use the window...?

Shen Qingqiu watched to make sure that Liu Qingge departed safely. No one was on the street outside, to his relief. Then he shut the window, turned, and walked a few steps to close the distance between himself and Luo Binghe.

“Thank you,” he said, wrapping his arms around the man.

Binghe’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. He hugged Shen Qingqiu back tightly.

“There’s no need for thanks. This lord can’t make Shizun’s choices for him,” he said. “And he knows Liu Qingge looked after Shizun, when… when this lord couldn’t. He’ll trust them.”

He knew that there weren’t many people at all whom Luo Binghe claimed to trust.

Shen Qingqiu lifted his head, and pressed a grateful kiss to his lips.

“Don’t invite him to the wedding,” he nevertheless requested. He didn’t want to think about the possibility of future other men while they were getting married. However long he could keep this man all to himself, he would try for it.

Luo Binghe let out an oddly relieved laugh.

“No,” he agreed. “The wedding should just be us, no one else at all.”

Given the scale of it, that would be very hard to believe as a serious sentiment. But Shen Qingqiu understood. He settled his head against Luo Binghe’s shoulder for a moment, and let himself hope this would all still work out for everyone somehow.

~

The wedding really was a lavish affair, with no shortage of guests. Most of whom were, of course, demons.

Demons could actually be pretty romantic. Who knew?

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t say he appreciated all the revelry and gestures well enough, though. It was important to Luo Binghe, and that made it important to himself, too - he went through all of the rituals, taking care not to make any mistakes, and focused on the various rites with the same sort of intensity that was usually reserved for impending battles with particularly fierce monsters. But the ceremonies were long and elaborate, and in reality, most of it became something of a blur. His clothes were heavy, the poison in his veins acted up a little, and making his way through entire throngs of demons still left him feeling edgy sometimes.

A few things did stand out. Luo Binghe looked entrancing in his wedding attire. The skies above the demonic realm were unusually clear and bright, with the distant edge of fire just making things seem locked in a permanent, scenic sunset. At one point, the thought occurred to him that it was his wedding day. That it was Luo Binghe’s wedding day. That they were one and the same and he was marrying a person he loved, a man from another world, and his heart felt like it was going to burst.

Also the banquet food was delicious and tasted exactly like Luo Binghe’s cooking, and left him wondering when the hell, on top of everything else, Binghe had found the time to cook a banquet for him.

But most of what he remembered was technically after the wedding.

It was the look in Luo Binghe’s eyes when they were alone together. It was the feel of his skin beneath Shen Qingqiu’s hands. The heat of his touch as he pulled the wedding clothes from his body, and the softness of the first kiss of the evening, before it heated into fervency and desire and heady, intoxicating desperation. It was the way Binghe’s face looked in the dim light of the room, with his demon mark shining on his brow. The scent of the wedding night oils and the slide of their bodies, the moment when he looked down and thought ‘holy fuck that’s too big’ and nearly panicked, until Luo Binghe looked nervously back at him, and then promised to go slow.

And they actually did manage to go slow.

The first round.

Shen Qingqiu hoped the fact that his body had already been married, had enjoyed a decade’s worth of ‘activity’ on this front, would make it easier on him. But if it did, he wasn't even sure how to tell. He internally cursed Shang Qinghua for apparently having a grade school standard for what made a male protagonist ‘impressive’ as he was stretched open, his heart hammering at the sight of something that big finally sliding into his body, but to his relief Luo Binghe actually seemed to know what he was doing.

Which was good, because despite all of his internal resolutions to be a responsible sex ed guide, Shen Qingqiu didn’t and he had a feeling this all would have been enormously unpleasant if both of them were completely out to sea.

Luo Binghe went slow, and paused a lot to let him adjust. He peppered kisses across his face, and murmured the word ‘husband’ as if he still couldn’t quite believe he was allowed to use it. Shen Qingqiu lamented that there really didn’t seem to be any way of doing this kind of thing while holding on to a shred of dignity. But that lament faltered and then faded into the warm, dark privacy of the bed curtains, and the heat in Luo Binghe’s eyes, and the inescapable intimacy between them. He wanted this. He wanted to lock gazes with Luo Binghe as they became more and more entwined, to feel his hands move to his most sensitive places, to explore his husband in return as the air between them fill with gasps and moans and whispered entreaties.

It was just the two of them, and with Luo Binghe looking at him, Shen Qingqiu found it easy to lose himself in the moment. He brushed a hand across Binghe's face, drinking in the heat of his expression, and ran his tongue across the reddened skin of the lips he’d been kissing. This world hadn’t been kind to Luo Binghe. It seemed to always be throwing obstacles in his path, making him face hardships, making him fight. His narrative wasn’t really charmed or golden at all, and Shen Qingqiu would hardly consider himself much of a consolation prize, in the grand scheme of things.

But he knew in his bones that no matter what happened, Luo Binghe wouldn’t face any more of it alone.

And… neither would he.

Was this what it felt like, to be in love with one’s husband?

No wonder the fear of losing it had driven his predecessor past the brink.

“Binghe,” he gasped, as their bodies moved together.

Luo Binghe closed his eyes and leaned his face into Shen Qingqiu’s touch. He freed a hand so he could grasp his wrist, and press desperately sweet kisses to it. His mouth moved with an urgency that he seemed to be denying his lower half, as he kept his movements as slow and gentle as he could. Then he released Shen Qingqiu’s hand in favour of stroking his straining erection, and all thoughts flew away for a while.

When they had both finished for the first round, Luo Binghe all but collapsed on top of Shen Qingqiu. Shen Qingqiu got a face full of hair, and felt a little bit crushed - he could only sigh and rearrange them both a little as his body felt exhausted and satisfied and spent. Also, weirdly tingly.

“Husband, was it good?” Luo Binghe asked him, once they’d caught their breaths a little.

Shen Qingqiu’s face flamed at the question. Asking so boldly like that, was this man trying to kill him? Wasn’t it obvious that it was good…?

“...Yes,” he could only get out.

Luo Binghe shifted closer, and nuzzled at the side of his face. His lips pressed against Shen Qingqiu’s cheek.

“Did Husband like having this lord’s cock inside of him?”

Shen Qingqiu felt like a hundred volts of electricity had just jolted through his spine.

“Binghe!” he scolded in a strangled tone, and smacked the back of the other man’s shoulder.

Unabashed, Luo Binghe chuckled. His mouth moved towards Shen Qingqiu’s ear.

“This lord liked being inside of his husband,” he confessed. Shameless! Shen Qingqiu was entirely at a loss for words. “It felt so good, hot and slick, Shizun’s body received me so well. Shizun - Husband, Husband’s voice was so good too. Calling for me, gasping for me, this lord wanted to go deeper and harder and hear what sounds he would make, touch all the places that would make him cry out the best…”

What the hell?! Was this a porno now, what was with this conversation?! Shen Qingqiu smacked Luo Binghe’s shoulder again in reproach. His face was flaming, and something mortifying was started to stir in him again. But he couldn’t even find the words to object. Luo Binghe just chuckled at him again, as if he was somehow cute and not righteously indignant over this man's apparently filthy mouth…

“Husband, can we go again?” Luo Binghe asked him, then.

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes widened in incredulity as Luo Binghe ground his hips against him, and he realized he was hard again.

What the hell kind of refractory period…?

Had he even gone down?

…Shang Qinghua was a dead man.

Shen Qingqiu shifted his hips. He wasn’t uncomfortable, though. Well, the fluids starting to cool on his skin were, but maybe heating things up a little would help. And Luo Binghe was looking at him with such an enamored gaze. He really shouldn’t encourage him to say those kinds of things - frankly he could kill him on the spot, it was just too much - but any denials died before they reached his lips.

Instead he found himself leaning up to steal a kiss.

“We can go again,” he permitted, in a whisper that didn’t do anything to preserve his already-demolished modesty.

Luo Binghe’s gaze heated further. He returned the stolen kiss with interest. Shen Qingqiu lifted an arm to wrap around his shoulder, still feeling lazy with his own release. But a gasp escaped him as their lips broke apart with a strong, urgent movement of Luo Binghe’s hands, that pushed his legs open and settled the lord between his thighs.

“Husband,” he purred, as he entered his body again in one long, deep thrust.

Shen Qingqiu gasped.

He had the sudden sense that he was in trouble.

It was mitigated somewhat by the white-hot rush of arousal that abruptly banished most of the soft, sated feelings he had previously been enjoying.

“So good,” Binghe said, and pushed his legs even further back. He stopped when Shen Qingqiu settled a nervous hand on his shoulder, and then slid his mouth to his throat instead. “Husband, husband, my husband… forgive this servant, he’s losing his restraint…”

Shen Qingqiu let out a shaky breath that became a cry as the thrusting began.

In very short order, he found himself more or less clinging onto Luo Binghe for dear life as he was fucked into next week. One of his legs remained hitched up by the other man’s arm, angling them so that his inward thrusts managed to hit a spot that sent bright notes of pleasure singing through his body. Some distant corner of his mind noticed that this wasn’t… really… how it should have worked? Luo Binghe couldn’t possibly be hitting his prostate, he was too big, and it couldn’t just be pressure doing the trick with the angle they were at, but… he really didn’t care. If he could claim as a perk from this kind of fictional setting ‘illogically good sex’, then that might be one complaint he wasn't going to file. Especially not right at that moment, and not when mostly anything could probably be explained by ‘demon sex magic’ anyway.

It was more than a little overwhelming, though.

Luo Binghe bit at his neck and shoulder and collarbones, and Shen Qingqiu dug his nails into his back in reproach. The action just provoked a pleased rumble from low in Luo Binghe’s chest, far from deterring him, and made his movements all the more desperate. The sound of flesh against flesh was obscene, but thinking that didn’t seem to stop Shen Qingqiu from getting hard again. It also couldn’t keep his husband’s name from spilling out of him, as if he somehow needed to call for the man when it was very obvious just how nearby he was…

When Binghe closed a hand around him, Shen Qingqiu tried to choke his gasp against his shoulder. Instead he ended up letting the broken sound fall right into his husband’s ear. Luo Binghe’s own movements didn’t slow until Shen Qingqiu felt tears of over-stimulation beginning to leak from the corners of his eyes, his poor nerves frayed beyond measure.

“Binghe, please, it’s too much, I can’t…” he begged.

With a curse, Luo Binghe pulled out of him.

“Ah!” the man cried in frustration. He was still hard, pressing against Shen Qingqiu’s thighs and shuddering as he held him close, and took deep breaths against his hair. “Shizun, sorry, this servant is sorry…”

His chest heaved as he settled down, shocked at the sudden cessation of passions. Reaching blearily upwards, he patted the top of Luo Binghe’s head.

“It’s alright,” he said. “Binghe. Just… give me a moment…”

His heart almost cried at that promise. What was he saying? His ass definitely couldn’t take anymore! Nothing had torn, he didn’t think, but hammering on that sweet spot to the point of overdoing it had him feeling like a raw nerve. And yet, Luo Binghe clearly wasn’t finished. The thought of leaving him unsatisfied sent a new, different kind of anxiety through his heart…

“Shizun,” Luo Binghe murmured. “Husband, if Husband could just… touch…?”

Touch…?

Oh!

That was probably actually a good compromise. Shen Qingqiu recovered enough of his wits - and left behind enough of his reservations - that he nudged Binghe back so he could close a hand over his cock.

It was sticky and slick from the oils they’d used, and the first round’s evidence. But the skin beneath still felt hot and soft. Sensitive. Shen Qingqiu turned his red face aside as he worked his hand up and down the straining length, trying to focus on the sensitive head and base. He listened to what made Binghe’s breath hitch, and noticed when his hips jerked; trying to memorize what seemed to work best. It wasn’t long before his husband was rocking against him again, but this time his straining cock only pressed against Shen Qingqiu’s slick palms.

Even though it was obvious that this was working for Luo BInghe as well, he still found himself stroking away until both his wrists were tired. His immortal wrists.

What kind of stamina…?!

It frustrated him enough that he found himself wanting to growl a little, too. He tightened his grip, and in a fit of pique over the vagaries of a fantastical sex life, dug his nails into Luo Binghe’s back again. The sound and the gesture startled an unexpected mewl from his husband, that he only registered a few moments later.

“Binghe,” he snapped, sharply. “Come.”

It was mostly just that he had really wanted him to finish. Hurry up and come! But to his astonishment, the command wrenched a cry from his husband, and Luo Binghe did exactly as he was told. Sticky white fluid shot out from the head of his cock in ridiculous abundance. Shen Qingqiu hadn’t really been able to take note of how much there was when it was in, er, less visible parts of his body anyway; but even though it was the second time of the night, Binghe’s seed managed to splatter across both of their stomachs even as it got all over his fist, and the bedspread. And his forearms. And... chin...

Shen Qingqiu stared a little numbly at the aftermath.

...

......

.........What the fuck…?

He didn’t even have the energy to be appropriately surprised. At least the cock in his hands was finally softening. And then his attention was entirely consumed by the soft, wrecked little noise that escaped Luo Binghe’s throat, as he leaned heavily against him.

“Husband,” the man murmured, as if pleading for something.

Gentling his hold on Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu started stroking his back. He pressed a kiss to the nearest patch of skin he could reach.

“Good, Binghe did so well,” he praised. Really well… holy shit…

That was apparently just what was needed. A soft sigh escaped Luo Binghe, and Shen Qingqiu felt his heart melt, even as his hips and wrist ached. He let the weight of their embrace carry them back down to the mattress. They definitely needed to clean up, but all he had the energy to do was brush their hair away from their faces. Luo Binghe was looking at him with hooded, contented eyes. Completely boneless.

“This lord likes it when his husband gets bossy,” he confessed.

Shen Qingqiu picked up a cushion, and covered his own face with it.

“Don’t say things like that!” he protested, although it was somewhat lost in the thick material.

Luo Binghe snuggled closer, and pressed tired kisses to the back of the hand holding the cushion. Binghe, that hand is filthy!

“Why is Husband hiding?” he coaxed. “No one else is here. This lord won’t tell anyone his husband’s secrets.”

Slowly, Shen Qingqiu found the cushion tugged out of his increasingly lax hold. It slid down, revealing the sight of Luo Binghe’s disheveled face peering happily back at him.

“My lord is too shameless,” he groused.

Luo Binghe, to his consternation, leaned in and sweetly kissed the space between his eyebrows.

“What’s there to be ashamed of?” he countered. “We’re married, aren’t we?”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t have a good answer to that. But it seemed he didn’t need one. Luo Binghe didn’t press the matter at all, and instead just flung the cushion away, and snuggled up as if they weren’t both sweaty and disgustingly encrusted by then.

Too tired to complain, Shen Qingqiu just decided to take a few moments to properly admire the broad chest beneath his cheek. His eyelids drooped as his limbs went heavy. He’d nearly fallen asleep when Luo Binghe gently lifted one of his wrists, and began to check his pulse.

The gesture confused him for an embarrassingly long moment, before he suddenly remembered.

Right! The poison!

“...Later,” he requested, gently trying to pull his wrist back. Later he’d submit to poking and prodding and circulate his qi, and they could check his reactions and maybe even find a good healer to triple-check it all. But he was fairly certain that Shang Qinghua knew his business on this front, so, for the time being, he just wanted to rest.

Luo Binghe slid his hold up from his pulse towards his hand, however, and then pressed a kiss to his pulse point instead.

The red mark on his brow seemed a little brighter than usual.

“Alright,” the lord murmured in agreement. His mouth lingered on Shen Qingqiu’s skin. The kisses started to spread down the inside of his arm, as Luo Binghe’s other hand trailed steadily up and down his side.

After a few minutes of this, the kisses moved over to his neck.

“Husband…” Luo Binghe said.

Shen Qingqiu wanted to cry.

They’d already done it twice! What was with that tone?! He was even panicking a little. There was no chance he’d be able to keep up with Luo Binghe at this rate.

“Maybe just to be safe, Husband should come inside this lord, too…”

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes snapped open.

…Had he heard that right…?

Blinking rapidly a few times, he pulled back enough to look Luo Binghe in the face.

“T-this, Binghe, you… want that…?” he asked, tripping over his own tongue.

His husband nodded, expression shifting from something tentative into something warm and sultry, something that made even Shen Qingqiu’s exhausted lower region try valiantly to perk up in interest again. His nerves perked up as well, unfortunately. The thought of doing it wrong sent a dozen warning signs blaring in his head. He’d read up on the topic before he transmigrated, of course, but it seemed that in this world things worked differently, so who even knew what his limited knowledge might be lacking?

What if he hurt Binghe?

A moment later, he realized it was something of a moot point. Despite his stomach warming and heart thumping at the prospect, the rest of him was still thoroughly spent.

He glanced at his uncooperative parts, and then cleared his throat.

“This husband… might not be able to accommodate such a request tonight…” he admitted, and now he’d gone from being embarrassed about all the sex they were having to being ashamed of all the sex they couldn’t have because he had a normal dick.

It really wasn't fair for him to feel emasculated by just being average.

Luo Binghe seemed to suddenly realize the direction of his thoughts, and hastened to reassure him.

“This lord was too greedy,” he said. “Husband should rest. Other things can wait until he’s ready again.”

Shen Qingqiu sighed.

“Sorry to disappoint…”

“No,” Luo Binghe said firmly, settling a hand on his face. “How could Husband ever disappoint? He’s only too scintillating, this lord can’t get enough…”

The sincerity of his tone finally calmed some of Shen Qingqiu’s nerves again. It was easy to get lost in his thoughts about how things should go, or what to expect; but in the end, he thought to himself, it was himself and Binghe. They could figure things out. A fond look came into his eyes, and he cozied back up to the other man again.

“Binghe is very insatiable,” he mused, in a more relaxed and playful tone.

At that, however, it was Luo Binghe’s turn to look uncertain.

“Is it bad?” he asked.

Shen Qingqiu blinked, and then bopped his head in mock rebuke.

“Is it bad, he asks! Of course it’s not bad! What kind of person doesn’t wish to be desired by their handsome and wonderful husband?” he demanded. The sour feeling in his chest eased as, almost at once, Luo Binghe’s uncertainty vanished. He had to choke back an undignified squawk, even, as he nearly had the life squeezed out of him by a hug.

“Shizun! Shizun thinks I’m wonderful!” the terrifying demon lord, scourge of hell’s furthest corners, exclaimed delightedly.

Shen Qingqiu sighed and patted at his bicep.

“Of course I do.”

“Shizun!”

“Husband,” he corrected.

“Husband!” Luo Binghe obediently amended, before peppering him with kisses. “Even if this lord becomes insatiable, it’s only for everything to do with his husband! So even if we can’t do this or that, then this lord will always be content to bask in his husband’s company, or lay in his arms, or listen to his voice!”

Shen Qingqiu’s throat felt a little thick. He cleared it.

“Binghe…”

“I know!” Luo Binghe carried on with a gleam in his eyes. “Husband, leave it to me, this will be good!”

Before Shen Qingqiu could interrogate that potentially ominous assertion, Luo Binghe jumped up from the bed, and then promptly scooped him into his arms. The shift was surprising enough that Shen Qingqiu flailed a little, and had to hastily regain what composure he could as - alarmingly - his naked-and-filthy husband began to carry his equally-naked-and-filthy self towards the door of their bedchamber.

“Wait, Binghe, we’re not fit to be seen!” he said.

Luo Binghe grinned at him. It showed off a cute canine tooth.

“It’s alright, Husband. No one will see us,” he said. “This lord will signal to stay away.”

Signal? What? Shen Qingqiu opened his mouth to protest further, but then shut it again when a sudden wave of malevolent energy unfurled out from the demon lord who was carrying him. His blood went cold for just a moment. But then he blinked, and somehow, even though he could still detect it, the sense of malevolence seemed wholly irrelevant to him. Despite the tone of it, Luo Binghe was smiling serenely as well, with his eyes crinkled in happiness, and his lips still swollen from kisses.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t want to admit how confused he was, so in the end he just stayed quiet.

Luo Binghe carried him out of their rooms, and down a small corridor which led to the indoor heated pool he had triumphantly finished installing not long ago.

The light bulb went off then. The malevolent energy was something that any of the palace demons would probably fall all over themselves to avoid; so they had no risk of running into someone else as long as Luo Binghe was projecting that sort of energy. And the brilliant idea that his husband seemed to have had was to take a bath together.

Shen Qingqiu felt his heart softening all over again.

For someone who could say such filthy things, Luo Binghe still got excited over surprisingly sweet gestures all the same…

But on that thought, he realized how utterly itchy he was getting in some places, and was more than happy to be lowered into the heated pool. He reached for some soap. Binghe’s hand stopped him.

“Husband, let me,” he requested.

Shen Qingqiu hummed in concession, but still picked up the soap anyway. At his husband’s pout, he chuckled.

“If Binghe takes care of me, then I’ll take care of him, too,” he vowed.

The pout vanished.

Unfortunately, despite his bold claims, after hours of marital ceremonies and the explosive loss of his virginity - well, maybe not technically, but in the spirit of things - Shen Qingqiu’s claim was perhaps too bold. The warm water lulled him, and the gentle touch of Luo Binghe’s hands washing away the evidence of their activities relaxed him even further. He put in a solid effort at getting the other man clean too, but it was nowhere near even before he had to admit defeat, and just lean against his shoulder.

Binghe kissed his brow.

“It’s alright, Husband. Looking after you helps sate me too.”

Shen Qingqiu was too tired to voice his skepticism, but he conveyed it in a look.

Luo Binghe huffed a laugh at him.

“It’s true!” he insisted. “This is… calming. Sometimes this lord’s demon blood makes him feel a keen hunger for things. When we were doing those activities before, the hunger was to do more and more of them. But now that we are doing this, it’s what this lord wants to do more and more of instead. It’s good.”

A sound of vague understanding escaped him. Demons had caretaking instincts? He probably shouldn’t have been all that surprised about it at. He’d lived among them for more than a year, after all, and seen them act very human in a lot of unexpected ways. But sometimes it was still easy to fall into the trap of thinking that everything relatable and reasonable about Binghe was a ‘human’ trait, and everything unpleasant or worrisome was a ‘demon’ one.

“Husband,” Binghe hummed. The warm water sloshed quietly, and even though Shen Qingqiu was clean, gentle hands still brushed a soft cloth over his skin. Luo Binghe pressed a few more kisses to him. “Just rest. This servant will see to everything.”

They really did spoil one another, he couldn’t help but think.

At some point, in the bath, his eyes drifted closed, and his thoughts vanished into hazy contentment.

When he woke up, apart from some soreness in his backside, he felt like he tended to feel after a particularly good work-out. As if he’d done a lot, but also as if it had gone very well. There were a lot of embarrassing lovebites on his skin. The morning light told him it wasn’t very early, but despite Luo Binghe’s habit of getting up with the sun, the man was stretched out onto the bed beside him.

Round three happened shortly after Shen Qingqiu looked over to see if he was awake, and saw the absolutely besotted expression on his face.

It was a lot harder to deal with his embarrassment in broad daylight. He had to keep reminding himself that they’d done more lewd things only a few hours ago, that it shouldn’t still feel entirely new. But then there was Binghe and Binghe’s mouth and everything was so stark and clear, Shen Qingqiu wasn’t sure whether the racket clattering in the back of his mind was more nerves or excitement.

When he tried to return the favour, he couldn’t at all look at his husband's face. The tool between his legs seemed even bigger in daylight; Shen Qingqiu reached over and pulled one of the curtains shut again. It helped, a little. Made it feel more private again.

He wouldn’t have said he actually succeeded very well at giving the nuclear warhead that his husband was packing a blowjob, but he got his mouth on it and Luo Binghe came and didn’t seem to have a single complaint, so. A for effort? Shen Qingqiu didn’t know if he’d ever be able to look the man in the eye again at first, but after another hour or so of aggressive cuddling and coaxing he found he could manage it.

“Husband’s technique isn’t lacking,” Luo Binghe said, in a tone that implied he was going to go find someone and somehow pick a fight about it.

Shen Qingqiu would be lying if he said it wasn’t reassuring, at least. He patted the other man’s chest.

“As long as Binghe thinks so, that’s all that matters,” he decided.

At this sentiment, Luo Binghe seemed to almost puff up like a satisfied bird. He smiled, and caught Shen Qingqiu’s hand so he could tangle their fingers together, before pressing some kisses to the backs of his knuckles.

“Does Husband like this servant’s technique, too?” the man just had to go and ask him, then.

“It’s terrible,” he deadpanned automatically.

He had a half second to worry that the joke would be mistaken for serious criticism, before Binghe laughed. His eyes were bright and his cheeks were still flushed.

“Then this humble servant will just have to get in a lot of practice,” he said, staring dreamily at their locked hands. “Lots and lots of practice.”

Shen Qingqiu bopped his head.

“Shameless,” he accused, too fondly.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Luo Binghe replied, as if they were agreeing on a sentiment. He smiled at Shen Qingqiu with a look that made his heart skip a few beats. But then his expression settled into something more serious. “This lord swears he will never give Husband a reason to regret choosing him.”

Shen Qingqiu’s throat got a little thick. He couldn’t even pretend it was only from all the activities they’d been doing. Determination of his own stole over him, and he tightened his grip on Luo Binghe’s hand in return.

“And I, as well,” he said. “I mean… this husband will do his best to be worthy of Binghe’s regard.”

Luo Binghe’s eyes watered a little.

Oh shit.

“Shizun!” he said.

Husband, Shen Qingqiu mentally corrected. This man, he’d utterly ruined the word ‘shizun’ for him, really. He sighed as he found himself squished against the bed again, arms full of emotional, sticky Luo Binghe. Sticky in more than one sense, now. They needed another bath. His face flushed up to the tips of his ears while his husband, heedless, insisted in no uncertain terms that Shen Qingqiu was worthy of any regard and was good and wonderful and also Luo Binghe’s favourite person in all the world who had ever lived forever.

Such a hassle, to be adored so completely.

He absolutely did not cry back at the man. Even if it was a near thing. This ‘emotional openness’ business was something they could work on - in different directions, maybe. Not that he imagined he could ever really bring himself to make Luo Binghe tone it down in earnest.

I am so glad, he did find himself thinking, however.

I am so glad you are my husband.