Chapter Text
Luo Binghe was hugging him. Which honestly, in the realm of things, was not unusual for his sticky disciple to attempt. Normally, Shen Qingqiu didn’t allow it for very long. What would that look like after all? Even if he did begrudgingly admit that he did enjoy it a little bit. It wasn’t like anyone else dared to touch the Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu.
He even had a pretty good excuse as far as the public eye went. What with the wounded and dead all around them, tearful reunions were a dime a dozen in the aftermath of the Immortal Alliance Conference.
This hug was even tight, Binghe clinging to him like he was terrified that Shen Qingqiu was going to up and disappear which… wasn’t out of the question. Because something was very wrong and Shen Qingqiu was honestly in a bit of a daze.
A lot of people, doctors included, were writing it off as Shen Qingqiu being affected by the demon attack on the Immortal Alliance Conference, the loss of nearly a thousand young aspiring cultivators, facing off a demon lord and oh, nearly losing his prize disciple.
Nearly… because Shen Qingqiu had been found already in the first stages of mourning, clenching the broken shards of Zheng Yang numbly. Nearly… because Shen Qingqiu had said that Luo Binghe was gone… fallen into the Endless Abyss… dead. Yet… yet there he had been, nearly vibrating in place as the doctor checked him, leaning towards Shen Qingqiu like he wanted nothing more than to run to the man.
He had, the moment the doctor sighed and released him. Now, there they stood. Luo Binghe’s blood was still on his robes, little flecks of it from where he had used that very hand to push Luo Binghe into the Endless Abyss. There they stood with his sticky disciple clinging to him with head pressed right over his heart like Shen Qingqiu hadn’t been killing monsters all evening. Like Shen Qingqiu hadn’t thrown him into hell. S-System? What… What is this?
He flinched at the harsh noise. The System was obnoxious on a normal day. This though, was a shrill distorted sound, the notes discordant and reverberating off of each other. The screen flickered up, filled with static, and then disappeared.
Binghe shifted his hold. Instead of clinging to his waist, in an instant, Shen Qingqiu was tucked into Binghe’s chest which was just a little ridiculous. Binghe, I know we’re almost the same height but I am still taller. Let me enjoy it while I can!
“It’s okay Shizun. This disciple is here.” Yes, he could see that, which was exactly what the issue was.
He managed to extract himself mostly from Binghe’s grip, though the young man was insistent on clinging to him in some manner. Fine, fine. He settled his hands on Binghe’s cheeks, looking over him carefully. Not exactly for injury, though he was certainly going to make it seem that way. The details though… were precise. To every outward appearance the boy he was holding was Luo Binghe. “How- How is Binghe here?” Because he couldn’t be. Shen Qingqiu had personally made sure that he wasn’t. The System had even confirmed it! There had been a countdown and the whole epic heartbreaking betrayal and the bastard hack of a System resetting all his points and then glitching. “I saw… that is, this master… Binghe…”
Binghe looked down. “This disciple… he failed Shizun. He was shamefully captured by a demon who took on his appearance. Liu Qingge found this one and was able to set him free.”
Sir! If anyone here is stealing Binghe’s face it’s you! But that would… that would be easy to check. Shen Qingqiu caught Binghe’s wrist. “Was Binghe injured?” He obviously wasn’t near as skilled, but he liked to think he’d at least picked up how to tell if someone had demonic energy or not! Except… ah, right. Without-A-Cure. His own qi curdled in his meridians, preventing him from checking anything on Luo Binghe.
Binghe sucked in a breath, catching Shen Qingqiu’s hands. “Shizun is having a flareup?” Huh, he must be more tired than he thought if it was that visible.
He shook his head slightly. “This master overextended himself. Binghe how… this master held the shards of Zheng Yang.”
Binghe’s eyes widened, before he shook his head. Reaching down he held up a very much intact Zheng Yang. “The copy was very good. He even took the time to replicate this one’s sword. He must have known Shizun wouldn’t be easy to fool.”
It was somewhat improper. Right that moment Shen Qingqiu didn’t care. He reached out to brush his fingers along the sword’s hilt. As it always did, it nearly hummed under the attention. How?
“Shizun… may this one clear Shizun’s meridians? Because of… because of this one’s failures he still has considerable energy left.”
Shen Qingqiu blinked at him. He’d never allowed Binghe to do that before. Sure he knew how in theory but in practice? Could Shen Qingqiu refuse on that basis until he knew more about the situation? He shook his head slightly, reaching out on instinct to pat this boy’s head. “This master will be fine. Better to learn such things in a controlled environment.”
Binghe scowled, but accepted. Fortunately, that was when Mu Qingfang arrived to check over Shen Qingqiu.
The aftermath was as chaotic as he had expected, and Mu Qingfang kept popping up at the most annoying times to offer him things like tea since apparently he was still in an ‘anxious’ state that had yet to break. Well sue him. Until he figured out what the hell was going on he was perfectly entitled to stay ‘anxious’.
Luo Binghe continued to stick to him like glue, which Mu Qingfang apparently approved of, not realizing that really it was making it so much worse.
Was Binghe quiet because of the tragedy that took place around them? Was he quiet because he didn’t know what Luo Binghe would say in this situation? He kept clinging to Shen Qingqiu whenever he could, catching his sleeves, leaning close, even surprising the peak lord with a hug two more times, each time burying his head right over Shen Qingqiu’s heart.
The System continued to freak out which was decidedly unhelpful. It kept having that twinned sound and distorting and on the occasion that something did show up on the popups it was illegible strings of letters and numbers and characters. He was still in his body though… and he was able to mostly confirm that the Into the Endless Abyss Event had been completed. At least, he rather assumed that was what the bright green box had meant.
Finally Shen Qingqiu had enough. He shook off everyone to go stew in his tent. Well, almost everyone. Binghe popped up to give him tea that he stared at for a really long time, along with snacks and just…
He gave in. He ate one of the little cakes that looked identical to those that Binghe always made and… they were divine. He savored every bite with tears welling in his eyes because… because this was Binghe’s cooking. He didn’t know how or why or… Maybe Binghe had made them before the conference? That was the only explanation beyond… beyond that somehow his disciple had been telling the truth and somehow the copy-cat had managed to fool even the System.
The System that was continuing to glitch the hell out. Was it better or worse that it was doing that? On the one hand it was a jump scare every time it went off like a bad horror film. On the other it wasn’t demanding he do something ridiculous and bound to get him killed.
He sat for a long time with his head in his hands, just letting his thoughts swirl about the impossibility of this situation. There were a few things he could test to find out who this ‘Binghe’ was. Things he had to try before he could let in the trickle of hope that maybe… maybe it really was Binghe and somehow they had made it through this with his sweet little sheep.
When he finally did lay down and sleep, he dreamed of bamboo forests and tutoring his sweet little red eyed sheep in sword forms.