Chapter Text
For a long while his consciousness drifted. One moment he was holding Luo Binghe and exploded his core, and the next he was asleep. Or rather, he thought he was asleep. It was a kind of dreamless nothingness, like he was cradled in soft, comfortable darkness. If this was being dead, he thought during his few moments of awareness, perhaps he shouldn’t have feared it as much.
Sometimes his dream would shake and crackle, and something would wriggle against his cheek. He made to push it away, but found that he had no control over his hands. Eventually the feeling went away and he drifted back into the darkness. He imagined he was lying in a pitch-black ocean with stars sparkling above him akin to a Vincent Van Gogh painting.
He felt no hunger, no pain, no fear – he simply existed in a space of comfort and peace. Occasionally his fingers and toes would tingle, but that feeling too was forgotten as soon as it arrived. He had forgotten what it was like to not be constantly afraid of dying, of ending up like the scum villain Shen Qingqiu. It seemed he had been able to escape his fate.
And so he drifted –
For a long time –
Until he could no longer ignore the prickling of his limbs. What was once a faint buzzing in the back of his mind, increased with time until it grew to a discomfort. With a grimace he tried to stretch the aforementioned limbs, however he could not find them. It had been too long since had to think about moving – he did not need to in his dreamworld after all.
With another disgruntled thought, he focused on the QI trickling through his meridians. He followed the energy as it circled through is body inch by inch. He was expecting to experience blockage and resistance, like he had done for the past six years, but was pleasantly surprised when his qi circled smoothly and without encountering any kind of issues. Eventually he felt the energy curl inside his fingers – though sooner than he thought, perhaps he had been moving the QI faster than he was aware of. It had been a while since he had had a need after all.
He experimentally twitched his fingers, and was pleased when it worked. He continued on his journey coaxing the QI through his body until he could wriggle all his fingers and toes to his satisfaction. The prickling that had awoken him subsided as he rolled his joints. It sent another rush of pleasure through him that he was able to do so.
Next, he attempted to open his eyes. He fluttered his eyelids and forced them open. Only to frown in confusion. He could see nothing – only pitch black. For a moment panic drowned out his previous excitement, before something around him shuffled and something stung his eyes. He closed them immediately and let out a voiceless complaint of pain. It felt like he was stung by dust or dirt.
Instinctively, he lifted his hand to brush the dirt away, but found that he was unable to move aside from the wriggling. Not because he couldn’t control the limb, but rather something heavy was keeping it from moving. With another surge of panic, he desperately tried to claw himself free. What felt like dirt under his fingertips gave away from the force of his terror. He managed to dig his hands free so could touch his face.
Immediately his panic settled somewhat and he gingerly brushed the flecks of dirt from his eyes. No, he wasn’t blind. Rather, the issue seemed that he was buried in the ground. Awareness of his situation settled over him and he realized with a lurch of his stomach.
Someone had buried him alive –
He struggled harder, mouth opening to gasp for non-existent air, but only dirt filled his mouth. Something kept him from twisting even as he made some space around himself. Touching his back, he felt roots attached to his spine. Alarmed, he could no longer control his panic as he wrapped his hands around the roots and gave a tug.
It must be some sort of QI stealing plant, his frightened mind supplied. Or a plant who survived on the essence of others. If he couldn’t remove it, he would surely die –
As he tugged on it harder, using all his strength, the root snapped in half. He didn’t pause before he reached for the next one, easily snapping the next in half as well. As he removed the last one, he suddenly felt all his spiritual energy vanish. He barely had the time to express surprise before he was thrown back into the darkness.
However this time rather than the feeling warmth and peace, it was now cold. A coldness that chased him until he could feel nothing else –
And so he continued sleeping.
When he drifted back to awareness, his body felt heavy and tired. The previous discomforting prickling that had awoken him last time, had returned with vengeance. Rather it stung to the point of being painful.
The QI that had sored through him freely last time, felt more sluggish to control. His fingers when he finally found them, were stiff. A coldness had seeped into every portion of his body, and the chill sent a shiver through him. If he had enough control over his body he would have shuddered.
Painstakingly and with limbs that didn’t quite listen to his commands, he started to dig himself out. Perhaps if he managed to free himself, someone would discover him and help him. It was the only thought driving him forward. At some point he passed out from the exhaustion, throwing him back into the cold embrace of unawareness.
Whenever he woke, he would dig some more. He lost count how many times he lost consciousness.
And so time continued to pass.
An undetermined time later, his hand emerged from the ground and touched the open air. A small breeze nuzzled against his bare skin, and he felt the sun warm his fingertips. With renewed focus, he quickly dug himself out of his hole. Bit by bit, first his head, then his upper body. Fresh air had never felt so good against his cheeks, and he parted his lips to gulp down air greedily –
Only to suddenly realize that he had never had need for air before. All that time he had spent buried, he had not once choked on mouthful of dirt – somehow, he had learned the ability to not breathe? Was this some new cultivation technique he hadn’t heard of before? He tried to remember if he had read something akin to that ability in <Proud Immortal Demon Way>, but came up empty.
Looking around his locale, he realized he recognized this place. It was the meadow where he and Shang Qinghua had buried the Sun and Moon dew flower seeds. He felt foolish for his misconception. Of course he hadn’t been buried alive – he remembered clearly now, that he had died. So, if he woke up here, it would mean that their plan had worked.
A large, relieved smile stretched across his lips, and he chuckled wordlessly. Their plan had worked! They had defeated the story and the system. He had died sacrificing himself as the scum villain to save the protagonist’s life. It was a far better ending than being tortured and turned into a limbless stick. He was free from his role – no longer needing to pretend to be Shen Qingqui. Finally free from the fear of discovery.
Part of him felt guilty, having left everyone he considered a friend behind. But it was better this way, they all knew the original goods after all. The friendships he had made – aside from Shang Qinghua – were all based off a lie. A lie he no longer had to guiltily live in anymore.
With the knowledge of what had happened and where he was finally settled, he started to dig again. However the thrill and adrenaline from the excitement had started to ebb his energy and he felt a bone-deep exhaustion descent over him. A nap sounded good just about now. He would close his eyes just for a moment, he decided.
By the time he woke, the sun had long since set. The full moon gleamed above him, and in the far distance he heard crickets. A few fireflies illuminated the glade. The cold that had been his only companion for as long as far back as he could recall had subsided. He found it a bit odd that he wasn’t cold during night-time, but he wrote it off as quirk of his new plant body.
He did not wait long before he dug himself completely out of the dirt. Looking down, he noticed that the ground was a lot closer than he remembered. He was also stark naked, only dirt covered his nudity rather conveniently. Next he stretched out his fingers, his skin looked pale under the moonlight. And almost like… he was glittering standing in the direct light? No, that sounded ridiculous. He focused back on his hands – his nails were ragged from digging though dirt. Uneven and broken.
However something else drew his attention, and his body stiffened from the surprise. His hands were so small, like that of a child.
He looked back down to the ground, to his small wriggling toes and back to his hands. Could it be, that the seed had only grown to the size of a child? That hack of an author hadn’t warned him about this. He seethed his teeth in fury. Fucking Airplane, he thought darkly.
He shook his head after a moment, he could not put the sole blame on Shang Qinghua. Luo Binghe had returned two years early. They hadn’t been prepared for a deviation in the plot. Naturally, the seeds hadn’t been given enough to matured yet.
Typically his luck, he thought darkly. This entire world had been after him from the start. He suppressed the melancholic thoughts a moment later. Sure, this was a big issue, however as long as he was still alive, it was a problem he could live with. Most likely. Probably. One worry at a time.
He had to deal with one problem at a time.
The most pressing concern was this fact: they had hidden pouches of supplies for the eventuality of either of them dying. But that meant that the clothes he had packed wouldn’t fit his much smaller body.
Fuck, goddamnit.
He took a deep breath to calm himself. Focus on the positives, he told himself. He was alive, he was here and no one was trying to kill him. At present time.
He should dig out the supplies, perhaps there was something he can use. With the decision made, he started on the first step of his plan.
He took a step forward, only for the world to immediately tilt.
He hit the ground with a wordless grunt, and he looked behind him to see that his leg had fallen off. Frozen, another burst of fear sored through him. Had he not escaped his fate of becoming limbless after all? In near panic, he grabbed the foot and pushed it against his severed limb. Please, he pleaded silently as he poured all his QI into circulating through his foot. Perhaps if he was desperate enough he could fuse them back together. He knew in the modern world he came from, doctors could do that if you were quick enough.
As he focused all his attention on that one specific task, he suddenly noticed that his fingers started to crumble. As in, dirt fell from his fingertips and landed on the ground. With large eyes he watched as he lost all his fingers down to his palm. He attempted to inhale sharply in surprise, but felt no air filling his lungs. His eyes widened in panic, he could feel his strenuous control over his body slip and the exhaustion from using so much QI caught up to him. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.
He woke up from the sound of bird chirps. The sun felt warm against his cheek. He let himself drift with drowsiness for a while, until memories of last night breached his sleep addled mind. He was immediately wide awake.
His chest hitched as he remembered watching his fingers crumble to dust. He did not want to open his eyes to look at the stumps of his hands – was too much of a coward. What if his hands had continued to rot? He did not want to see that. Nope.
Instead, he focused on his meridians and circled the spiritual energy through his body. Coward as he was, he started on his left leg, followed to the right. He twitched his toes. Next he moved the QI through his chest, up his head. Then, feeling as though he couldn’t delay it any longer, he moved the energies up his arm. Good, he still at his forearm. Reluctantly he moved his awareness higher, feeling his palm pulsate he sagged in relief. The crumbling had stopped at his palm.
With the relief, he let go his strenuous control and felt his QI surge forward into his fingers who tingled from the sensation. He twitched them and spread them out to let the QI circle better. Wait –
His eyes flew open in surprise, and he stared at his hands. He hadn’t been mistaken, he really had felt his fingers react to the spiritual energies. In fact, his fingers were still there. Intact. Slowly, almost scared to watch it crumble again, he lifted his hand towards his face. Experimentally, he flexed his fingers. True to his sight, they were still there.
He hesitated, before putting his index finger into his mouth. He bit down slowly, frightened that they would turn back to dust from any kind of external pressure. However, all his teeth encountered was soft flesh. He withdrew his hand in astonishment. Had yesterday just been a nightmare?
Remembering something else he sat up in a hurry, his gaze snatching towards his feet. His foot had fallen off yesterday – yet here it was still attached. He could even flex his toes. His attempt at re-attaching it had worked splendidly. However –
He looked back down at his fingers. That didn’t explain why his fingers had miraculously re-grown. None of this made any sense. Again, he focused inwards towards his dantian and the spiritual energies flowing freely through the meridians. He suddenly noticed how smoothly it circulated. For a long time while he was underground, it had been sluggish and difficult to control, yet only being a day on the surface had replenished it. He already felt more energetic. He did not remember reading anything like this in the book about the seed.
Thinking it through, he recalled watching his skin almost glow underneath the moonlight, and even now with the sun shining, he felt a warmth in his chest. Perhaps this body was named sun and moon for a reason, he thought begrudgingly. He probably needed sunlight and moonlight to replenish his QI. In theory it made sense, but he couldn’t be completely sure if the speculations were correct.
Before the cold, he had felt warm underground. What had changed? His hand suddenly shot behind him, tracing small indentations in the skin on his back. He remembered now, he had been attached to some roots.
Don’t tell me –
He dropped back on the ground with a soundless groan and covered his face with his hands. Disbelief and aggravation – at himself – burned through him. Don’t tell him the roots were from the mushroom that sustained the seed body. Could the reason it was immature and child-sized be because of him dislodging himself from the support system of the mushroom too early?
How fucking unlucky was he? First transmigrated as a scum villain, and now he had accidentally crippled his new body by panicking. Lady luck sure was not with him. He had been born with a sick body, just to die from an expired yogurt.
He wanted to cry, but his eyes did not even become moist. This was so dumb, so unfair! What could he possible do in this body? At least as Shen Qingqiu he was an immortal cultivator. He desperately missed his old body right now. Even with a demon lord trying to kill him, even with ‘Without a Cure’, was better than this hellish existence.
He let himself wallow in misery for a while longer, grieving his lost identity. There was a lot he hated about being Shen Qingqiu, but there had also been some moments that had made it all worth it. His friendship with Liu Qingge for example. All his disciples, the peaceful little bamboo cottage, Luo Binghe’s cooking – although he hadn’t tasted it in three years. He missed the old times, when Luo Binghe had still been his darling disciple. His little white lotus.
Those days were over now though, long in the past. All good things come to an end, he thought bitterly. His life as the immortal Qing Jing peak lord was now in the past. All he could do was to focus on moving forward. Find the supplies, get dressed and find the nearest town or village. Everything else, he could deal with later.
It took him a couple of tries to figure out how to walk. He realized he didn’t have muscles anymore, and the body was more plant like than human. He could only move his limbs by concentrating his QI, if he used too much, the body would compensate and he would start losing limbs he wasn’t actively using. It was a slow process, but he eventually succeeded with learning how to walk.
It was by no means a perfect method, and he felt stilted and uncoordinated, but at least he could move. When he used too much QI, he would simply lay down and take a nap in the sun or underneath the moon to replenish his strength.
Now that his immediate goal had been accomplished, he finally had time to take a proper look at his surroundings. The glade they had buried the seeds in, seemed to have changed in the period since the last time he had been here. It seemed… emptier. Colder somehow. It took him shuffling around the underbrush before he could figure out why.
Underneath the current growing gras, there was a layer of ash. Some of the nearby trees had scorch marks. There must have been a forest fire. He wonder how long he had been sleeping. Impossible to tell really, hopefully not too long. It had been perhaps two years since they planted the seeds. Not enough time to properly grow a body at the very least.
He wonder if Shang Qinghua was in the ground struggling with the same predicaments as him. He secretly hoped so. The vengeful part of his heart wanted the shitty author to suffer with him.
It took him about a day to find the location of their supplies and dug it up. He considered taking Shang Qinghua’s bag, but shook the thought away a moment later. He wouldn’t be that cruel. He reburied the author’s portion. Looking around the glade, he could not see any evidence of anyone else having dug themselves out. Either Shang Qinghua was still trapped in his seed body, or he had been able to escape his death where Shen Qingqiu hadn’t.
He wouldn’t be surprised if he had, the author was a rather slippery one. Despite the negative attitude he had towards Airplane, he could not help to have certain concern and pity for him. They were after all in the same hopeless situations. Cannon fodders in a stallion novel. In airplane’s stupid novel. He wished he had never written that piece of papapa garbage. The only redeemable part of it was Luo Binghe.
Although, after playing the role of the scum villain Shen Qingqiu and raising the white lotus himself. He wasn’t so keen on the blackened protagonist anymore. In fact, at this point he would most likely have a pavlovian fear response to seeing the demon lord again. Hopefully that chapter of his life was behind him, and he was finally out of Luo Binghe’s grasp. He could only hope that the novel had no longer need of him.
Speaking of which, he had not seen hide nor hair of the system since he woke up in this body. He attempted to call for it, but there was no response. When that yielded no effect, he attempted to hit the air in front of him.
Huh. Perhaps he was really freed of the system.
A huge relief was lifted from his chest. Now it could no longer threaten his life nor control his actions. He could not help but a pleased smile at the knowledge. With a lifted spirit, he focused back onto his task.
From the qiankun pouch, he withdrew several pieces of clothing. He was glad he had gone for traveling clothes worn by civilians, rather than the flowing robes he had been forced to wear every day as his status of peak lord. That meant that he would have an inner shirt that reached his hips rather than dangling be his feet like the rest of the clothed layers he usually wore.
However as a child, the white shirt still reached the ground, and it took him a few tries to roll up the sleeves and tie the shirt into a knot so that he could walk without the chance of tripping on his clothes. Not being naked anymore was rather satisfying, however he wished he had the opportunity to wash himself first, as he noticed the grime and the dirt already clung to his new shirt.
It would have to do for now. He would rather not walk around the forest naked. What if someone saw? He was not sure he could live down the humiliation. Plus, he wasn’t sure how far away the river was – only that it should be somewhere close by. They had made sure that their hiding spot was in easy access to all necessities but far enough that humans wouldn’t venture into the area.
He put the rest of the clothes back, and looked through the rest of the supplies he had buried what felt like a life time ago. Enough gold to start a new life, plus high quality items he could sell for money. The plan of being a traveling cultivator was completely shot to pieces. Hopefully he would be able to come up with something by the time he reached the nearest village – he couldn’t quite remember its name.
Hopefully, he would be able to walk without losing his limbs by then too.
He turned around and said a brief goodbye to the glade he had called home for a while, hoping dearly to never see it again of course. With that out of the way, he started walking. A gut feeling of his told him that he could find the river in the east, and so he followed the direction. Might as well.
On the journey, between losing limbs and staggering forwards, and taking as many naps as he needed, he often would sit and circulate is QI through his meridians. It was during one of these instances, that he noticed why the energy felt different to him. He no longer had an air root, rather this body had an earth root. He mourned the loss of his leaf darts, and he was forced to re-learn to map his meridians in a body far smaller than his. It rushed quite faster and freer than it had in Shen Qingiu’s sickly body.
It was a thrilling feeling, but also odd. He had switched from having a strong lithe body with blocked meridians, with a frail body with strong meridians. He wasn’t sure his preference, but perhaps the loss of Shen Qingqiu’s face and reputation was better for his mental health. At least no one would be actively trying to kill him anymore.
That was certainly a bonus.
When he closed his eyes, he could feel the tree roots connecting and communicating underneath his bare feet. He could feel the rustling of leaves in the wind. Occasionally the ground would vibrate and he would turn his head in the direction and see a pair of rabbits peaking their head out of a bush. It was definitely a feeling he would have to get used to, now being part of the earth, but it wasn’t necessarily a feeling he found unappealing.
He suddenly felt a movement disturb the silence, and he opened his eyes just in time to see the rabbits turn tail and disappear into the underbrush. He froze in surprise, and his QI thrummed through his meridians in reaction to his fear. Following the warning sensation from the earth, he turned his head slowly to see what spooked the rabbits.
Standing no further than a meter from him, was a small snake. Its emerald scales glittered in the sunlight, and it had smooth dorsal scales. It seemed to be around thirty centimetres long. If he could haggard a guess, in his world it would most likely be a smooth green snake. Also known as a grass snake. Most commonly found in northern America. He didn’t know much about snakes, but he had seen videos of these small snakes curled around people’s fingers on the internet and had found them cute.
He didn’t know if they were poisonous, so he withdrew his feet and brazed his arms around them. He offered the snake a soft smile, hoping it would consider him non-threatening and leave. Not seeming deterred, the snake did nothing more than bob its head in the soft breeze. For a long moment, they simply stared at each other.
He tilted his head, and the snake mimicked his movement. Rather puzzled by now, he put his hand into his pouch and withdrew some dried meat he had packed, and offered it to the snake. He only realized his mistake, when the little snake surged forward. Startled, he let go of the piece of meat and snapped his hand to his chest least the snake attempted to bite him. Instead, it started gobble at the meat on the floor.
Relief flooded through him, and he calmed down his racing heart. It wasn’t trying to bite him, he was lucky. Almost tentatively he reached out and stroked the snake’s small head. It felt smooth underneath his fingertips. It stopped eating for a second to rub its head against his fingertips, before it started to eat again.
This time, when he smiled it was one of glee. He had made a friend!
He withdrew his hand a moment later. He knew animals in general did not like being touched while they ate – wild animals were far more predatorial than housecats. Nature had never been this docile to him before – he wondered if it had something to do with the plant body he currently inhabited. Perhaps they could sense he was part of the earth like them. Or perhaps it had something to do with his new earth-roots? Impossible to tell.
He watched the snake eat for a little while longer. Eventually it stopped and curled itself into a ball next to him.
Enjoying the sunlight too? He asked mentally with a friendly coo. He had chosen this spot for the exact same reason. Maybe he had more in common with lizards than humans now, he considered with a hint of humour.
He looked around the forest area he had picked to take a break – or rather his body had demanded a break. The grass was more yellow here, than where he had woken. The trees as well looked gnarly, and were missing most of their leaves. Was it fall now? He pondered to himself. When he died the trees had just started to blossom for the spring. He had been looking forward to seeing it – and was rather deturbed that he missed out. If it was fall now, that meant he had only been asleep for a few months. Half a year at most.
Too long, but nothing he could change now. Hopefully everyone was alright. With the new knowledge, he felt restless. He had absorbed enough sunlight for now, and pushed himself back on his feet. The movement woke the sleeping snake. It lifted his head to stare at him with curiosity.
I’m leaving now, he told the snake with a pat, enjoy the sun. He moved to leave, after a few steps he noticed that the snake was following him. He stopped with a frown, and held his hand out in a firm no. As a response, his companion tilted its head. He hoped that meant it understood, so he turned to leave. A few steps later, he noticed that the snake was still following him.
With a quiet sigh, he gave in. It’s not like he could actually communicate and order a wild animal around. He figured it would get tired of his presence soon and leave.
It took him about half a day to reach the river. By then, the sun had started to set. The redness of the evening sky stretched itself across the heavens, the colour resembling the crimson of blood. He was vaguely reminded of a line from Lord of the ring, where Legolas said that a red sky meant there had been bloodshed. It sent a foreboding feeling down his spine.
The little green snake was still following him diligently and he had long since stopped attempting to shoo it away. It was quite nice, having a companion and not being completely alone. It had been a long while since he had spent so much time alone only in his own presence. In Qing Jing, he could always hear the sound of his disciples – and he had spent three years with Luo Binghe living with him.
Liu Qingge and Yue Qingyuan would always find an excuse to visit him. And whenever he left the peaks, it was usually on expeditions with the Bai Zhan war god. Or he would find excuses to bully Shang Qinghua, or visit Mu Qingfang and discuss rare cultivator herbs. He loved learning new things from the Qian Cao peak lord.
He missed them all. A lot more than he thought he would, and he walked around with a heavy heart. He wondered if they missed him too – or rather mourned him. Or was secretly glad to finally get rid of the troublesome Shen Qingqiu. He doubted it, but he could never be too sure. Some people definitely still didn’t care for him, as they remembered what the original goods had done to them. It was too bad he had never been able to fix Shen Qingqiu’s reputation. It definitely came back to bite him in the end.
He snapped out of his musing as something butted into his feet, and he stopped to look down at the little snake in wonder. It stared up at him with blank eyes, before suddenly slithering up his foot. With a quiet shout, he jumped on one foot and collided into the tree on his left, the momentum making him fall into a bush.
Hey! He silently yelled, what are you doing? He tried to grab the invading snake, and froze only when the sound of children laughter reached his ears. With his heart jumping into his throat, he turned so he was laying on his stomach – momentarily forgetting about the snake, and hoping he didn’t accidentally crush him.
Peering out through the leaves, he noticed there were humans by the river. A pair of children – a boy and a girl, were splashing water at each other, and what seemed to be their mother was watching from the shore with a warm expression.
He had been so engulfed by his thoughts he had not been paying attention to his surroundings. The snake had tried to warn him! He mentally apologized to his companion, and looking down he spotted a little lump under his shirt where the snake was hiding. It had slithered up to his collarbone, and he gave it a absent pat as an apology.
“What are you doing out here alone, little boy?”
This time, his heart froze in his throat, and he slowly turned his head. Eyes wide with fear, he saw an older woman looking down at him with kind eyes. The affectionate smile calmed him down a little. She had her pepper-grey hair pulled into a braid, and wore a simple beige robe with a deeper brown lining.
He attempted to stand, still feeling alarmed from being caught snooping. He was not quite ready to be introduced back to humanity. In his hurry, the spiritual energies flwowing through him fluxed, and his foot snapped in half. His body tilted and he would have hit the floor had the woman not surged forward to catch him.
With large eyes, he watched her look stunned at the severed limb. There was no blood, simply a few crumbled shards of dirt. The surprise faded from her expression and was replaced with tenderness.
“Are you the spirit of this forest?”
This time, it was his turn to look at her with a stunned expression. He opened his mouth, but found no air to speak. Instead of replying – not knowing what to answer – he kept staring at her with a half worried, half panicked expression. Mentally trying to tell her he was harmless, hoping against everything she wouldn’t call for the others to dispose of him.
He knew some civilians had great fear of supernatural beings. Hated them as much as they hated demons for the troubles they caused. Sometimes the job they accepted as cultivators was to simply chase away the harmless spirits from towns and villages. If they could find new places to live far from civilizations, they were usually left alone.
“Here, let me help you,” the woman told him with another one of her kind smiles, and she reached out to grab his foot. She carefully pressed it against the severed limb. After a moment, he felt her warm QI tingle through him – it felt like the warmth from where the sun basked on the ground and the smell of rain on wet soil.
Surprised, he looked at her questioningly. It seemed this older woman too had earth-rooted QI. It mixed well with his, and soon the limb melded back. He wiggled his toes to make sure it was attached properly. Once satisfied, he stared back at her with bright eyes in gratitude. His lips lifted upwards, and for a second his fingers twitched in the impulse to hide the smile from view with a fan. He remembered a second later he had no longer any need to hide his emotions. He let his lips stretch further into a genuine smile.
The reaction made her warm smile curl upwards, and she gave a soft laughter. “It was partially my fault, so you are very welcomed. They call me Ahma. Do you have a name, little forest spirit?”
He parted his lips to reply, but froze after a split second. He was no longer Shen Qingqiu, it was a name better left behind lest someone figured out the truth. He thought about it for a moment, perhaps he should go back to his original name. Shen Yuan.
Yes, he decided. From here on out, he would be Shen Yuan again.
He forced air through his throat in an attempt to reply to the kind older woman who had helped him out. He had meant to say his name, but the only sound that escaped his lips was: “shyu.”
Ahma nodded a little. “I suppose it’s difficult for you to speak properly. Being barely a seedling. Is your forest dying? Are you trying to find a better place to settle?” She looked around, her expression turning sad as she continued to talk. “Your forest isn’t the only one that’s dying in this current climate. The beast is upsetting the natural balance of this world. Soon there will be nothing left but dust. No wonder you are trying to leave.”
Shen Yuan looked at her with a confused expression. Beast? What beast? Wasn’t Luo Binghe supposed to be ruling the three realms by now? He wished he could ask her for details, as his heart thrummed with worry. Perhaps the protagonist escaping the abyss two years early had severe repercussions to the original story? He remembered there were many great monsters Luo Binghe defeated to obtain treasure in pocket dimensions. Perhaps he had woken one of the ancient beasts before he was strong enough to defeat it?
An impossible idea for the original protagonist, but he had cuddled his white lotus. His heart sank at the thought, had his attempt at giving him a proper childhood weakened the protagonist? He couldn’t live with himself if that was the case. He needed to know if Luo Binghe was safe.
He tried to ask her, but the only noises he managed to make was a series of gurgled air.
Ahma seemed to misunderstand his intention, as she reached out to ruffle his hair before pushing him to his feet. “You were here for some water right? Go do your thing, I’ll go make sure none of the others disturb you.” With those words, she left.
Shen Yuan looked after her with some confusion, wonder why she was so nice to him. He was lucky he had been discovered by someone who confused him with a harmless forest spirit. If they thought he was demon he would be torn asunder and burned. The idea sent a shiver down his spine. He didn’t dare move at first, simply kept a vigilant eyes in the direction of the other humans.
Ahma spoke to the mother of the children, they both glanced towards the bushes he was hiding in. he was too far away to hear what they were talking about, but a moment later the mother called for the children and they disappeared further down the river. The older woman stood waiting for a second longer, before she turned to follow.
Finally alone, Shen Yuan dared to move away from his hiding spot. He walked towards the water. Reaching it, he noticed with a relief that the stream wasn’t strong. Rather gleefully and happy to have finally accomplished his mission, he reached for the water. Only to stop himself.
He pondered his predicament. If his body was made of dirt – didn’t dirt turn into mud in water? Would he melt away if he touched the water. He bit his lip, uncertain. He looked down at his hand, and then at the reflection of himself on the river.
From what he could see, the body seemed solid. He had a round face, resembling what he remembered from pictures taken from when he was a child. His eyes however, was a deep black, like the earth after a rainstorm. His skin the same colour of white pebbled stones. His hair was short and cropped, a bit longer than when he had been alive in the modern world, but far far shorter than Shen Qingqiu’s. He felt torn – on one side Shen Qingqiu’s hair had been so much work to maintain. But it had become a habit.
Pluss, if he could brag about himself, the hair had been beautiful. Now however, his hair was matted with dirt, stood in every direction, and as he touched it he could feel the dry and splinted edges. He flinched. This would take so much work and time to get it back to soft.
He had never cared when he had been Shen Yuan, but after six years of hair care he couldn’t help but miss the silken hair.
After deliberating for a long while, he figured he could sacrifice a finger to experiment whether or not his body would turn into mud when exposed to water. If the answer was yes – then he would have to find refuge somewhere in case it started to rain. This was such a pain! He should have stayed underground, he thought petulantly. Then he wouldn’t have to care about the state of his hair either.
With a sight, he steeled his resolve and slowly dipped his little finger into the river. He held his breath. When nothing happened, he wriggled his finger experimentally. With a relieved smile he dipped the rest of his hand into the cold water. He wasn’t melting! It was the best news since he woke up in this body.
Now no longer deterred, he produced a handkerchief from his qiankun pouch and started cleaning himself. First his face, then his body – even the snake got a thorough wash – and at the end he dipped his whole head into the stream. It was easier than attempting to clean each individual strand of hair. He dragged his fingers through his hair as he dislodged pieces of dirt and mud. It was a slow process, but he was eventually happy with the final result.
After leaving the water he found another piece of fabric to dry his hair. He no longer mourned his long hair as Shen Qingiu. Short hair was great, it dried so quickly! By now his shirt clung to his body from the moisture. Grimacing, he looked through his bag for a different shirt small enough for him to wear. He eventually found one that was light green. He switched his shirt.
He admired himself in the reflection of the water again. His hair no longer looked black, rather it had shades of warm brown. It was the first time in his life he wasn’t coal-black. It would take a bit to get used to. S
He fished another shirt from the back and was about to dry himself, when he noticed with a start that he wasn’t wet. His body tingled, but there were no evidence of any droplets. Confused, he decided to shrug it off. Perhaps smaller bodies, like short hair, dried faster? He repacked the shirt – no point getting more of his clothes wet.
Having accomplished his goal and finally clean, Shen Yuan felt at loss as to how to proceed. His originally plan was to find the closest town – but if he was so easy to spot as a non-human, he wouldn’t survive long enough to enter the gate. He also couldn’t stay here in the wilderness – he had been lucky so far. But next time there might be wolves or other beasts that wanted a piece of him.
“Forest spirit,” while he hadn’t been looking, Ahma had returned. She stood two meters away, probably in an attempt not to spook him. “Do you want to come with us? It’s not safe in these parts.”
Well… that was convenient.
She didn’t seem to be attempting to trick him, so far she had been nothing but kind and considerate. Travelling with someone who knew he wasn’t human would be very convenient. He would have been more suspicious, had it not been for the fact he was in a novel. Things just kind of tended to align nicely like this. He had experienced it more than once.
Deciding to put his trust in this stranger and to take a chance, he eventually nodded. Under his shirt he felt the snake wriggle slightly.
…
Shen Yuan attempted to walk by himself, but it was quickly apparent that he had spent too much energy getting to the river. At first Ahma offered to hold his hand and transfer QI while they walked, but at some point she ended up carrying him on her back. He would have felt humiliated, had it not been for the fact that he was thoroughly exhausted. For once his smaller frame was a blessing rather than a curse.
Although he had to admit, if his body was any larger, it would be more difficult to control his limbs. Smaller was far more manageable. By the time they reached the camp, the sun had long since set, and the temperature had lowered. The moon had still not shown itself above the mountains, and Shen Yuan already looked forward to basking in its light to soak up some more energy.
He was surprised to see that the camp wasn’t set – rather it looked like they were packing items onto the wagons. There were three wagons in total, half a dozen adults and a few children. A young man in his early twenties spotted the newcomers and immediately approached.
“Ahma,” his voice was low with a hint of relief in his dark eyes. He had stubbles on his chin and wore a dark blue hemp tunica that blended well with the shadows of the night. “We were worried you got lost.” The ‘or worse’ was silent but apparent in his expression. His eyes darted towards the child on her back.
“I am quite well, Hou Ling. I found this boy wandering lost,” it seemed she had no intention of revealing his identity just yet, “is there space on the wagon for another soul?”
Hou Ling hesitated for a moment, gaze going from Shen Yuan to the older woman, before turning around towards the camp. “That is not up to us to decide. You need to speak with the honourable cultivator.”
Ahma nodded, as though it was an expected answer. Shen Yuan squirmed as she shifted to place him into her arms as she stepped into the camp, feeling self-conscious about being carried around in front of adults. If anyone found out he was an adult in a child-sized body – and a peak lord at that – he was not sure he could live down the humiliation.
The older woman did not put him down, she rather hushed at him soothingly. He begrudgingly quit his squirming. He felt nervous meeting a cultivator. What if they immediately noticed something was off with him? He didn’t want Ahma to get in trouble for helping him. She had done nothing but be kind towards him. He would not repay such kindness with trouble.
“Honourable cultivator,” Ahma called out as they approached a figure dressed in the usual white and lilac colours of Xian Shu peak. “Would it be possible to bring another person?”
The cultivator turned around – immediately Shen Yuan recoiled, pressing himself further into Ahma’s embrace. It was Liu Mingyan. She had not changed at all in the period since he had last seen her – still wore the light pink veil. Her peerless beauty still shone through the flimsy fabric, teasing the audience with the desire to see her whole appearance. But none would ever dare to.
What was she doing out here on her own? Shouldn’t she be with Luo Binghe? She was one of the head wives after all. He shook his musing away a moment later, now was not the time to speculate. He needed to focus on the immediate problem. Being, why did it have to be a cultivator who knew him? This could ruin the plan before he even started. He could not risk his identity being blown.
“Of course,” Liu Mingyan replied as she peered at him. “There is always space for children.” Her eyes seems to have softened, and only then did he notice the dark rings around them. She looked… tired. It was the only thing he could describe it as. “If we cant be kind to each other in these hard times, then we don’t deserve to survive as a species.”
Ahma nodded her head in a small bow, in lieu of the customary clasped hands in gratitude due to having her arms full. “Many thanks, honourable cultivator.”
To Shen Yuan’s relief, their interactions ended there as Liu Mingyan turned back to orchestrate the camp cleanout. Ahma caried him towards a wagon in the back, and sat him next to the other children. He immediately recognized the girl and the boy he had seen by the river earlier. They greeted him excitingly, and in response he gave them a shy smile.
“Wait here while we clean the camp, so you don’t get in the way,” Ahma smiled down at him with a warm expression, before disappearing from his side. Leaving him alone in a camp filled with strangers.
He was bombarded with questions from the children – questions that he had no way of replying to. He was left simply shaking his head with a sad expression. They seemed to have taken the hint, but instead of getting discouraged, they handed him a cone with some sticks pressed into it. He assumed it was supposed to resemble a horse.
He clutched it to his chest with a silent thank you, and decided to pretend that the horse-cone was walking on the railing of the wagon. As their playing continued, his attention was caught by the murmur of some adults. One of them he recognized as Hou Ling.
“Do you think we will make it by morning?” spoke an older man. He seemed twitchy as his hand never strayed far from his sword.
“Early afternoon at worst,” Liu Mingyan spoke up as she joined the conversation. “We still need to rendezvous with Gongyi Xiao’s group. There is safety in numbers.”
The man did not look happy about having to wait to reach their destination, but before he had the chance to complain, Hou Ling spoke up. “I’ve heard rumours of hounds being seen in the area. We shouldn’t dawdle too long.”
Liu Mingyan nodded in agreement, “it’s time to set out. They will find us if we don’t. It’s better to travel at night.”
The group dispersed, and not long after they were finally on the road. Ahma had returned to the cart and sat next to him. Shen Yuan was secretly glad Liu Mingyan was riding in the front. After overhearing the conversation, he was left with even more questions. What kind of hounds were they talking about? Usually animals stayed clear of camps with open fire and life. If they weren’t deterred it could only mean that the so-called hounds were demonic in nature. Once again he cursed at his inability to ask questions.
At some point during the night, a mist floated in, obscuring the road in no time. Shen Yuan mourned the lack of direct moonlight, and he stared up into the dark swirls with a grumpy expression. He would just have to hope it wasn’t cloudy in the morning. He still had enough spiritual energy to move around, but he would rather not risk it.
The other children on the cart eventually fell asleep, on top of either rice sacks or leaning against their parents. Other than him, there was in total six children on the wagon. He wondered where they were heading, and tried to ask Ahma with his eyes. However not long after they started out from camp, she had pushed a bamboo hat into her eyes and he could hear her snort softly. He did not have the heart to wake her. Instead, he sat there in silence. He itched to touch the snake still curled under his shirt, but he did not want to bring anyone’s attention to it, lest they accidentally thought it was dangerous and attempted to kill it.
Shen Yuan eventually dozed off, his head tipping to the side. Every time he felt himself tilt, he immediately sat up straight. He did not want to take the chance of falling asleep near a group of strangers. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, rather he didn’t trust himself. He did not know if he lost control over his body and turned to dirt while he wasn’t actively circulating the QI through his body, and it was not a risk he was willing to take right now.
And so, he forced himself to stay awake during the journey. Perhaps joining the human group had been a bad idea after all. However he had been reluctant to wander into the unknown by himself. This world seemed a lot more dangerous than the one he had left. Especially whilst looking like a child in a body he did not quite have proper control over. He had forgotten how scary the world was while he wasn’t an immortal cultivator and a peak lord.
As long as he did not know the identity of this demonic entity that haunted these lands, he should perhaps not run out on his own. Like Liu Mingyan had said earlier: there are safety in numbers.
While he stared into the mist, he suddenly felt his body stiffen. Like invisible hair was standing up. Something prickled across his shoulder blade and a feeling of being watched made him shiver. He could have sworn someone or something was watching him. He narrowed his eyes as his focused on the dark swirl of the mist.
There, movement. He could have sworn he saw something. There one second and gone the next. He saw something in the corner of his eyes, and he turned his head immediately to see something large towering over them in the distance. It disappeared the moment it was spotted. The next sighting was even closer than before. If he hadn’t known better, he would have believed he was imagining things. A large beast like that couldn’t move so fast and so irregular. That was until he connected the dots.
Hounds but not an animal. Beast but demonic. It could only be a blink hound. They could teleport, it was the only explanation why they had been able to get so close to the caravan without being discovered. Mixed in with the mist, and they were nearly impossible to see.
Without hesitating, he reached out to shake Ahma awake. She woke with a stir, her mouth twitching downward in displeasure. She opened one eye to peek at him, her eyes heavy with sleep.
“What is it, child?”
He pointed into the mist, and her gaze followed the movement. A furrow of confusion appeared on her brow. “Do you see something?”
Shen Yuan wheezed out a low sound from this throat, but was unable to form a word. With a grimace, he tried a few more times before giving up. In the end the sound he managed to make out was “woof”. He pointed into the mist again, and repeated the sound.
The sleepiness evaporated and she sat up straight. It seemed like she was inclined to believe him this time, as she immediately turned in the direction of the front of the caravan.
“Honourable cultivator!” she called out, “hounds –“
She did not get any further, as something suddenly bolted into the wagon. A moment later Shen Yuan went flying before he hit the ground with a thud. Screams now breached the quiet night, followed by demonic growls and the sound of tearing flesh.
With all the panic and movement, the only thing he could focus on was to keep his strenuous control over his spiritual energy as he focused on not losing any of his limbs. He fought to crawl away from the immediate fighting – he would be useless right now, and he would rather not get in the way.
Something knocked into him, and he was thrown forward, skittering across the ground. With a grimace he felt his hands flake away. He clenched his palm and forced the skin to knit together. While he focused on circulating the QI, he had not noticed that a pair of boots had stopped in front of him.
Frozen, he prayed that the person hadn’t seen anything – hopefully they weren’t looking at him and it was dark enough to hide the evidence. He looked up sharply, and met an unfamiliar face. It was a teenager who gazed down at him with a soft expression. He had bronze-yellow coloured eyes, and it took only a moment longer to notice the pointiness of his ears.
It was demon.
Another rush of fear rooted him to the spot. He was unable to do anything or react as the demon slowly lowered himself onto his knees so that they were approximately on the same hight. Shen Yuan could feel the snake move around under his shirt, and he was helpless to do anything as he waited for the demon to strike him.
Instead of hitting him, the demon held out a hand, his expression melting into a mixture of hope and warmth. A smile tugged on his lips. “Master Shen, you are finally awake.”
Hearing the words, he was snapped out of whatever had mesmerised him, and he recoiled backwords in horror. Who was this stranger? How had they found him? Was he one of Luo Binghe’s subordinates?
Fuck.
His mind burst under the pressure of his panicked thoughts, and he barely noticed the flicker of hurt in the demon’s expression. A moment later a sword with golden edges slashed the air between them. Both the demon and Shen Yuan turned their attention to the newcomer. He wore a white robe above a yellow tunica. Immediately Shen Yuan recognized the uniform as to belonging to Huan Hua Palace. In the next moment he realized it was Gongyi Xiao. Hope blossomed with a mixture of trepidation.
“Step away from the child, demon,” was the only warning either of them got before he shot forward. The demon was forced to back away, his bronze eyes flickered to Shen Yuan with regret.
“I will come back for you, master Shen. Wait for me,” were his parting words before he disappeared into the mist with the cultivator hot on his trail.
Shen Yuan swore under his breath – wordlessly so, but he still attempted to swear in order to make him feel a little better. He could only pray that Gongyi Xiao hadn’t overheard the exchange – he had no way of explaining the situation if he had. More pressingly, what exactly did the demon want from him? He was terrified at the implications. He touched the snake under his shirt, and it stopped squirming a moment later and calmed under his touch.
He would definitely not wait to be kidnapped again. Nope. No way. He had not escaped one demon, to be taken and eaten by a second one. Why couldn’t he just be allowed to live in peace? Surely he had paid for his bad karma for what he did to Luo Binghe already?
“Spirit,” Ahma appeared by his side, her hands hovering. “Are you alright? Did anyone hurt you?”
By now, Shen Yuan noticed that the sound of fighting had receded. Swallowing thickly, he looked up at the woman. He shook his head slowly. Other than a fright, he had not been bodily hurt. Relief flooded across her face, and she made to pick him up. As she did, his arm dislodged itself, and they both stared at its silently for a moment.
Ahma gave him a rueful smile, before she grabbed the arm and hid it under his sleeve. “Better take this with you. I’ll keep you hidden till you can re-attach it.”
Shen Yuan smiled back at her in appreciation. At least something good had come out of this day – he had met Ahma. She really did live up to her name. Just as the lightness had settled in his body, Gongyi Xiao appeared by their side. He didn’t look worse for wear, though he was wearing a pinched expression.
“I couldn’t catch up to it. I apologize,” his eyes settled on Shen Yuan. “Are you alright? Did the demon touch you?”
He shook his head immediately, and smiled at the cultivator in an attempt to indicate his gratitude for saving him. Also in relief, it didn’t seem Gongyi Xiao had overheard the demon’s words. Ahma must have taken the hint, as she immediately bowed to him.
“Thank you for keeping the child safe, honourable cultivator. You have this lowly servant’s gratitude.”
“No need to speak of it,” Gongyi Xiao said with tinted cheeks, his eyes lowering in embarrassment. “I am only sorry I couldn’t get here earlier. Let’s head back to the others.”
Ahma nodded as she followed him. From what Shen Yuan could see, their wagon had been torn in half. He spotted the carcasses of two blink hounds bleeding on the ground. The blood looked almost black in the shadows of the night. They resembled large dogs, completely naked and with ears curled up to mimic horns. Each individual teeth longer than his forearm. The tail ended with a surprisingly bushed tip.
Before he could take a closer look, Ahma blocked his sight of them with her sleeve. When he looked up puzzlingly she simply shook her head with a small but sad smile. Apparently she did not want him to see. He respected the decision, but disliked being treated as a child. Rather grumpily he re-settled in her arms.
It did not take long before the road had been cleared. As they waited, he overheard several news. Apparently they had been close enough to the rendezvous point that Gongyi Xiao’s group had heard them when the hounds attacked. They had arrived an hour earlier and had sent out scouts to see if they could spot Liu Mingyan’s company from the road. They were lucky they had, or the casualties would have been greater. As it stood, they had lost the one wagon and two of the adults had been hurt, but not grievously so.
Unfortunately, Ahma refused to approach the main group, and so he was unable to hear everything. It wasn’t really his business he supposed. Soon enough they started to move again, and it wasn’t long before several more wagons joined them. This time, Ahma and he was allowed onto one of the wagons – they had been forced to walk. Or rather, Ahma had carried him the entire way.
At one point Gongyi Xiao had volunteered to carry him, but when Shen Yuan had recoiled in fear at the offer Ahma had respectfully declined. He did not want to be that close to a cultivator – they would figure out his identity in a heartbeat if he did.
The mist broke just before sunrise, and he closed his eyes to enjoy the first ray of the morning sun. The spiritual energies he had lost during the night, now replenished itself and the warmth of the new QI tingled through him. He shifted his arm towards the socket under his shirt and it knitted itself together immediately.
“We are almost there,” Hou Ling spoke as he approached them. A boyish grin stretched across his face. “It sure has been some hectic couple of days. What kind of place is this anyway? I only heard it was a safe heaven.”
“It is,” Ahma spoke with a soft voice, the morning light illuminated her grey hair, giving her the illusion of a halo. “It’s the only safe place left for us. But don’t get any foolish ideas of joining the resistance Huo Ling.”
She gave him a sharp look, and he looked sheepishly back. “You are too observant, Ahma,” he complained but the smile did not fall from his lips. “I am young and able. I should fight,” his expression turned more serious. “I’m not losing anyone else in this fight. While that demon lord is still a danger, I am not going to sit and watch more people I love burn. I’m sorry, and I know you saved my life. But I’m not going to budge on this topic. I need to do what is right.”
His chin lifted with determination; Ahma had no other choice but to give in to his righteous determination. She simply gave him a sad smile. “You do what you think is best for you, Huo Ling.”
Shen Yuan ears peaked up at the chance of more gossip, however they spoke nothing more on the topic, rather switched to discussing some of the grains they were bringing with them. What resistance? What demon lord? Was there a war? Tell this poor soul more. He needed to know what dangers was out there. He tried to give Ahma inquisitive eyes, she seemed to be quite aware of his intentions sometimes, however she ignored him.
Oh well, there would be other times to figure it out, he supposed. If they were going to go to the hideout of this so-called resistance, then there would be plenty of time to snoop around and figure it out. He just had to be patient. With that decided, he settled down as he focused on his surroundings.
His attention was caught a while later, by excited buzzing in the front. For the last two hours they had been heading into the mountains – a super-secret headquarter in the mountains seemed very resistance-like to him. That’s where he would have put his hidden hideout as well. That would mean they were getting close – Liu Mingyan had said last night that would reach it by early afternoon at the latest.
Now that he focused closer to the environment, he could spot the odd sentry hiding in the underbrush and in the trees. Further up, by the closest wagons he felt a buzz in the air and he spotted the faint yellow glow of an array. He guessed it must be a protection array to keep away unwanted visitors. As their wagon went through it, the hair on his neck stood from the power that drizzled through him, welcoming him inside.
He had been focusing so much on the first array, that he had not noticed the second one, as it suddenly flared up. Bright and red, and the wagon came to an immediate stop. Suddenly there were movement all around them, and the wagon was quickly surrounded by guards pointing their sword at the occupants.
Huo Ling chuckled nervously as he held up his arms. “What is going on, gentlemen?”
Gongyi Xiao had turned his horse around and was heading in their direction, he had not yet unsheathed his sword, but his eyes were hard and searching. “The array reacted to the presence of a non-human entity among your midst. One of you is not human.”
Tension rippled through the crowd at the announcement, and Shen Yuan flinched. This was not good. He stared up at Ahma with a panicked expression. Her lips thinned, but refused to meet his eyes. He could not let her get in trouble for him.
He moved away from her, and stood on shaking limbs. He dodged Ahma’s attempt at pulling him back down. The movement caused everyone’s attention to focus on them. Shen Yuan swallowed nervously, but stood strong under the weight of the crowds’ eyes. Irony bubbled through his chest, threatening to burst from him in a hysterical laughter. Why did it always have to be him that got accused by a crowd. He hoped this time it would go marginally better than in Jinlan city.
He doubted it.