Chapter Text
Meng Panluan could tell something was up with Shen Qingqiu. It all started after one of his meetings with Yue Qingyuan, it seemed like a normal weekly visit from the sect leader at first, but when Meng Panluan returned Shen Qingqiu had this pinched look on his face.
Meng Panluan had been a disciple of Qing Jing for a few months at this point, and had got more and more familiar with Shen Qingqiu’s mannerisms. The face he was making was one of worry, they had only seen it a few times, mainly right before Liu Qingge would take Shen Qingiqu’s kids on a night hunt (Meng Panluan still had not got a chance to go yet, due to Shen Qingqiu’s worries about them not being able to communicate effectively when he wasn’t around). The worry almost never seemed to leave his face and Meng Panluan had caught Shen Qingqiu staring off into the distance multiple times with a far away look in his eyes, Meng Panluan knew that he was talking to the System though.
Shen Qingiqu would get more distracted during their lessons, even when he praised them. Liu Qingge was also no longer showing up at random times, and it was clear that everyone noticed. It got to the point where Luo Binghe started stress baking in an attempt to cheer Shen Qingqiu up with his food, specifically with sweets.
While each dish got more and more elaborate, it didn’t seem to do anything except distract Shen Qingqiu for more than a few moments. Meng Panluan decided to step in before Luo Binghe could use up sugar faster than they could buy it.
Never one for skating around a subject, Meng Panluan sat directly in front of Shen Qingqiu while Luo Binghe was preparing another elaborate breakfast. They didn't even try to attempt to speak in Chinese, for one, they were not yet fluent enough to say what they wanted to, and another, they were pretty sure that whatever it was has something to do with the plot given how Shen Qingqiu kept looking at they System.
“You’re worried about something”
Shen Qingqiu startled, and looked away from the empty space where he was probably talking to the System. While Meng Panluan could not personally see it, since they knew about the System, it wasn’t hard to guess what Shen Qingqiu was doing.
Shen Qingqiu snapped his fan open “What makes Panluan think that?”
“You keep talking to the System about something, ever since your most recent meeting with Yue-shibo. Does it have something to do with Liu-shishu not coming by recently? Is he on another mission or something?” Meng Panluan guessed
Shen Qingqiu closed his fan and layed in on his lap where he could easily access it again “Liu-shidi is in seclusion currently”
Meng Panluan raised an eyebrow “Isn’t it normal for Peak Lords to go into seclusion periodically?”
“Well, yes,” Shen Qingqiu got another far away look in his eyes, talking to the System again, he sighed “this is about the time where he…” he looked pained
Meng Panluan suddenly understood, this was supposed to be where Liu Qingge died in the original novel, “Shouldn’t it be fine then? As far as I'm aware, you aren’t planning to kill him.”
Shen Qingqiu shook his head, “That's the thing, Shen Jiu didn’t mean to kill him in the original novel, Liu Qingge had a qi deviation that Shen Jiu actually tried to save him from, but his cultivation was too unstable to do so.”
“And now you're worried that he’s going to have a qi deviation this time” Meng Panluan didn’t question how Shen Qingqiu knew that, they figured that Airplane told him at some point.
Shen Qingqiu nodded
“You could go into seclusion too, you know” Meng Panluan said, at Shen Qingqiu’s shocked look, they continued “Think about it, you are much more powerful and your cultivation is much more stable than what I know the originals was”
Shen Qingqiu paused, “Even if I could save him, I can’t go into seclusion right now, who would run the peak?”
“Ming Fan is fully capable of taking care of Qing Jing in your absence. If you truly are worried about it, I will simply ask Uncle Airplane for help, he will have no reason to refuse” Meng Panluan didn’t say that they would make Airplane help if it eased Shen Qingqiu’s worries. “And if it's something really serious, I'll just go talk to Yue-shibo, he said we could come to him for anything after all.”
“What about you though? I can’t leave you here without an effective way to communicate” Shen Qingqiu tried to deflect their reasoning
“Once again, I would just go to Uncle Airplane” Meng Panluan continued when they saw Shen Qingqiu open his mouth to argue again “If you are still worried about your own personal abilities, spend the next few days prepping for your seclusion by learning how to treat severe qi deviations”
Shen Qingqiu looked contemplative now
“It would be for the best, this way you aren’t going to constantly be worried about Liu-shishu, and you will be able to make sure he’s alright yourself” Meng Panluan reassured him “The peak will be fine without you”
—
Meng Panluan’s words had convinced Shen Qingiqu, in his next meeting with Yue Qingyuan, Shen Qingqiu expressed his desire to go into seclusion for the next few months. He was glad that it wouldn’t be for years like in PIDW.
It took a while to convince him, but Yue Qingyuan caved easily once Shen Qingqiu called him “Yue-ge”. Was it a tad bit manipulative of him? Yes. Did Shen Qingqiu feel any remorse about it? No.
As soon as the meeting was over, and Shen Qingqiu sent Yue Qingyuan back to his own peak, he threw himself into research. He holed up in the library for days on end, only leaving when Luo Binghe lured him out with food, or Meng Panluan dragged him by the arm to go to sleep. Saying that even though he was an immortal, he still needed to take care of himself.
Ming Fan and Ning Yingying’s attempts were much more subtle, but no less effective, Shen Qingqiu learned.
Despite his childrens interference, Shen Qingqiu thought the work paid off. He had researched everything he could about qi deviations and how to treat them, especially when there was nothing else available besides himself and his qi. Everything to the most minor deviations to the most major, hoping that he would have enough information to save Liu Qingge.
Eventually it was time for him to enter the Lingxi Caves, Ming Fan, Ning Yingying, Luo Binghe, Meng Panluan, and even Yue Qingyuan came to see him off. It let Meng Panluan reassure him one last time that nothing would go wrong during his absence, and if it did, they would take care of it.
Shen Qingqiu took in the view of Qiong Ding one more time before entering the caves, confident in his research. He would save Liu Qingge. He couldn’t let his shidi die.
Not again.
—
The problem that Shen Qingqiu found with the Lingxi caves was that they were too big and twisting. He didn’t know where Liu Qingge would be, but he wanted to be in a place where he could hear his shidi for any signs of distress. He was worried that he was already too late, but he would have to deal with it later if that turned out to be the case.
He had set a timer with the System for three months, if he didn’t hear Liu Qingge by then, he would go looking for his shidi, hoping that he wouldn’t be too late.
When Shen Qingqiu began to wander the cave system, trying to find a central point to settle at, he began to feel something tugging at his senses, urging him to follow. He was suspicious that it was the System trying to lead him somewhere, but this feeling was all his own.
Soon, he came across a widened out section of the cave that would be suitable for cultivating, it seemed normal at first with the same type of glowing lichen that lit up the cave system. Then he noticed the blood and sword gauges in the stone.
It was unsettling, not because of the blood, he had long grown used to the sight, but because of the sense of familiarity that permeated the area. He knew that he had never been in this specific cave before, nor did he think that Shen Jiu ever did, not being allowed to cultivate in the Lingxi Caves due to his shoddy cultivation. He examined the walls closer, soon realizing that the cave itself wasn’t what was familiar, but the qi that was circulating and twisting throughout.
Even though it had been years since feeling this qi, and for such a short amount of time, he recognized what, whose, it was. It was Yue Qingyuan, no, Yue Qi’s qi signature. It held the same feeling of warmth and comfort that he remembered from their time before the Qiu Manor when they would huddle together, trying little tricks with rudimentary qi that they had seen from wandering cultivators.
Despite the gruesome sight of the cave, it was comforting being so wholly surrounded by familiar qi. The thoughts of how Yue Qi’s qi was imprinted into the cave was suppressed in favor of meditating, trying to tune into his surroundings for any signs of disturbance.
Still, try as he might, the situations where Yue Qi’s qi could have possibly stayed imprinted so deeply into the natural qi of the cave for it to stay for decades continued to swirl in his mind. It had to be decades, there was no point in his memory that Yue Qingyuan ever went into seclusion, it had to be before Shen Jiu joined the sect.
The Lingxi Caves was special in that it kept whatever qi was used in the caves while meditating to use in its own natural qi circulation. Though very quickly the individual qi signature would be muddied by all of the others, joining into one natural qi flow. There must have been a large amount of qi spilling out of Yue Qi for his signature to still be unique and recognizable. It also seems that this area was not as connected to the rest of the cave system as others, Shen Qingqiu could still feel the natural qi flowing throughout it, but there was another layer of Yue Qingyuan’s qi on top, almost flowing against the natural qi instead of with it like it should have.
Whatever happened must have been serious with what Shen Qingqiu could gather by the qi flow and the sword gauges on the wall, not to mention the blood. Did Yue Qingyuan have a qi deviation within the caves? Is that why he has not entered seclusion in all of Shen Qingqiu’s time at the sect? He had thought it was simply because Yue Qingyuan was too busy with Sect Leader duties, but was there another reason?
Dwelling on those thoughts for too long was not going to be any good for keeping his senses spread to check for Liu Qingge. They were too distracting and pulled him into his own head faster than he would have liked to admit.
So he did what he did best: shoved those thoughts into a box in the back of his mind to be examined another time, or never. He didn’t like the feeling of being surrounded by comforting qi, but feeling nauseous thinking about how it could have got there in the first place.
—
The timer on the System was slowly running out, and Shen Qingqiu was beginning to worry, worry more than he had already been.
Shen Qingqiu had been cultivating for over two months at this point, and still had not had any signs of Liu Qingge. He hoped that meant that Liu Qingge would simply not have a qi deviation, but Shen Qingqiu knew the System and its game, and found it unlikely.
Shen Qingqiu had stayed in the cave filled with Yue Qingyuan’s qi, no matter how unsettling it was, it was still a very qi rich area that was a prime spot for cultivating. It was also in the center of the cave system he had found, a good place to stay solely for its positioning even if it wasn’t qi filled.
Just as he closed out the System tab, he heard a guttural, anguished, scream. It had to be Liu Qingge, and even if it wasn’t, it would still be his duty to check it out. The only problem was that he didn’t know where the sound was coming from, the noise bouncing off the walls at odd angles, making it difficult to pinpoint the origin.
He debated buying a hint from the System, but decided against it when he felt a wave of disoriented qi coming from ahead. He rushed towards it as quickly as possible, if he was too late he might not have enough time to save Liu Qingge.
Lucky for him it was Liu Qingge that was having a qi deviation, unlucky for him, his shidi was currently in the middle of a qi deviation.
As soon as Liu Qingge caught sight of him, he lunged to attack, aiming Cheng Luan right at his chest. Shen Qingqiu was able to dodge while pulling out Xiu Ya to block, but it was a close call.
Shen Qingqiu spent most of his time dodging wild swings from Liu Qingge, noticeably less precise than his usual attacks. A particularly close call led Cheng Luan to be embedded in the cave wall, Liu Qingge began trying to pull it out, but got distracted by Shen Qingqiu attempting to get closer so he could get to his shidi’s meridians. Despite being in the midst of a qi deviation, Liu Qingge still had heightened senses and immediately turned the moment Shen Qingqiu made a move to get closer.
“Shidi!” Shen Qingqiu called out to him as Liu Qingge made to lunge.
For a moment there was a brief flicker of something in Liu Qingge’s eyes, Shen Qingqiu would have had trouble naming it normally, but especially not when he was under the stress of trying to save his shidi.
Shen Qingqiu didn’t want to significantly harm Liu Qingge, so he sheathed Xiu Ya in favor of sending out palm strikes instead. Soon, Liu Qingge had him a wrestling hold, attempting to scratch at him all the while.
Something in Shen Qingqiu changed. He knew how to fight like this. He knew how to fight dirty.
Shen Qingqiu returned each scratch that Liu Qingge gave him, at some points even attempting a bite or two, all the while concentrating on passing his shidi qi to stabilize him. That was the good thing about the position they were in, each point of contact was another way to attempt to stabilize Liu Qingge.
Eventually Shen Qingqiu was able to pin Liu Qingge down on his back, straddling his chest, holding his shidi’s hands in one hand, passing qi through the chest with the other. Liu Qingge attempted to break out of his hold, but the toll of the qi deviation and their subsequent fight wore him out to the point where Shen Qingqiu could hold him down easily.
Liu Qingge eventually passed out, but Shen Qingqiu didn't pause his transfer of qi until he could feel Liu Qingge’s meridians settle. Shen Qingqiu would feel better if he could get his shidi to Mu Qingfang as soon as possible, but he was now able to catch his breath. Shen Qingqiu moved off of Liu Qingge’s chest, taking a moment to make sure that his own meridians were settled.
The combined stress of the fight and constant worry about his shidi did a number on Shen Qingiqu, as he sat back he realized how tired he was. He spent a few minutes simply sitting there, resolving that once he gathered his strength, he would take Liu Qingge to Mu Qingfang.
Liu Qingge twitched and shot up from the ground, just to turn away from Shen Qingqiu and cough up a mouthful of blood. Shen Qingqiu let him, not wanting to get any more blood on his robes than there already was. He also knew that it was best to let a person cough up stagnant blood, so as to not cause more problems later.
Liu Qingge looked around in confusion before his eyes settled on Shen Qingqiu. Shen Qingqiu was suddenly made aware that he most likely did not look much better than Liu Qingge at the moment, with torn and bloodied robes and he lost his hair pin at some point in the fight, causing his hair to fall freely down his back.
Shen Qingqiu cleared his throat, regretting that he did not think to take his fan with him in his search for Liu Qingge, leaving it back in the cave with Yue Qingyuan’s qi “Shidi is lucky that this shixiong was nearby in his time of need”
Liu Qingge still seemed out of it when he asked “What…?”
“This one was meditating nearby, and came to see what racket was disrupting his time, only to see that this one’s shidi in the midst of a qi deviation”
Liu Qingge’s face scrunched up, completely ignoring Shen Qingqiu’s words, “I hurt you”
In favor of his fan, Shen Qingqiu lightly slapped him on the shoulder with his hand “Shidi should worry about himself! He was the one who nearly had a fatal qi deviation! Besides, this master has only a few minor scratches, nothing that will not heal itself”
Liu Qingge still did not seem reassured by this. Not going to get up at all in favor of examining Shen Qingqiu. Shen Qingqiu knew that he didn’t look prim and proper like he usually would, but he had the excuse of just saving one of his shidi’s lives!
Shen Qingqiu huffed “If shidi is feeling well enough, he should make himself presentable before this one drags Liu-shidi to Qian Cao himself”
Liu Qingge just then seemed to realize that his hair was also fully down, and that his outer robe had been discarded on the floor in favor of a better range of movement.
He stood up and made his way over to where Cheng Luan was still stuck in the wall, pulling it out easily. Even though his back was turned, Shen Qingqiu could still see Liu Qingge’s ears turn red from where he was sitting.
Just then the sound of a large explosion rang through the cave system from outside.
The System chimed
[Mission: Save The War God complete! Congratulations User002 for deviating from a major plot point! 300 B-points! \(^o^)/]
[New Mission Start: The Invasion of Cang Qiong]
[Good luck to User002! Reminder: Protagonist Luo Binghe must fight (one) demon elder by the time the invasion ends]
That's right, it was only after the invasion that news of Liu Qingge’s death spread to disciples, sinking morale to a new low. Now that he had saved Liu Qingge, he had to deal with the invasion as well. He hadn’t prepared anything for it, even though it was a huge plot point for the protagonist to show off, he had been too worried about Liu Qingge dying.
Shen Qingqiu gathered himself up and turned to Liu Qingge with a smile “Shidi should continue to rest, let this master deal with whatever has come up now”
Liu Qingge looked like he wanted to protest, but didn’t get the chance to before Shen Qingiqu swept out of the cave, returning to the cave with Yue Qingyuan’s qi to collect his fan and other trinkets he had brought with him, he wouldn’t be returning to the LIngxi Caves any time soon if had anything to say about it.
He had to go stop an invasion.