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Mobei-Jun's spy was incredibly strange.
He was Head disciple now, and had far exceeded Mobei-Jun's expectations. In the normal course of events, the human should have been smug and proud- his future was now assured. In fact, as the uncontested heir to a Peak whose current lord would soon retire, his future was currently more secure than Mobei-Jun's.
Yet, the man was still as nervous as ever.
It took him a few light beatings to discover why. Shang Qinghua's cultivation base was fragile and unbalanced- his strength and ability to fly were good, and he was relatively durable for a human, but his qi reserves were low. His golden core had yet to finish forming.
The fact that discovering this coincided with the number of beatings that were traditionally considered courting gestures was not something Mobei-Jun was willing to discuss.
Instead, he appeared on An Ding once again, to watch his strange spy from the shadows.
Shang Qinghua was incredibly strange, but he was strangest of all when he was alone.
"Fuck!" Shang Qinghua buried his head in his hands, howling unto the heavens. He had his own small dwelling, now, muffled with talismans that filled the air with heavy, empty silence. Arriving there was like pushing through cobwebs and heavy curtains, until the only thing left making any noise was the restless human within. "I'm not gonna make it, am I..?"
Mobei-Jun rarely added to the sound. This space felt about right to him, pushing away needless words. He was not, as a rule, inclined towards flowery speech and useless poetry, so ultimately it was only because Shang Qinghua liked such things that the persistent thought occurred to him once again. The thought that this place was like his own heart. It was always cool and dark and quiet. Only in that quiet was there a safe place for something small and noisy to be heard. But Shang Qinghua was not the child Mobei-Jun had once been, and urge to make Shang Qinghua be quiet as well was strong.
It had nothing to do with the discomfort he felt, hearing Shang Qinghua speak about failure.
Shang Qinghua had never failed him. Over the last three years, as long as Shang Qinghua survived a mission, his results would always be good. Mobei-Jun sometimes had to intervene to keep him alive, but the results were still far beyond the effort he expended.
It was because of that success that he let the human prattle on. It really seemed like there was no other place for the man to say what he liked, and no one else who would listen.
(Many future difficulties might have been avoided if Mobei-Jun was of a more literary persuasion. If he had stopped to wonder why it was fine for his empty heart to be the safest place in the world for Shang Qinghua to bare his true self. Why he was so quick to protect a chattering, weak little thing that had lodged itself into the core of him. Unfortunately, contemplating such things made him want to punch something.)
(Unfortunately, to Mobei-Jun, the obvious, everyday truth was simply that his cautious servant used silencing talismans to ensure secrecy. Any other feelings were entirely unlike him, and probably a sign that human literature was dangerous in the extreme. Tianlang-Jun's fate was proof enough of that.)
"Three years." Shang Qinghua groaned, his gaze unfocused. "You shitty piece of malware, didn't I make it in time? Head disciple. So what the shit is this penalty?"
Mobei-Jun didn't know what it was that Shang Qinghua cursed in these unguarded moments. It was like he expected the heavens to bend an ear at the slightest aggravation. But he knew what it was that made his servant so upset.
The next generation of Cang Qiong was about to ascend.
Shang Qinghua had yet to form a golden core.
To reach the place he was at now, Shang Qinghua had spied, lied, sabotaged his rivals, unceasingly groveled, poured out endless flattery, and, to Mobei-Juns great surprise, had even worked incredibly hard. Physically, he was strong for a human, spiritually, he'd bonded with a sword incredibly well suited for flight and travel, mentally, he'd studied hard until he could manage both the budget and the labor of a Great Sect with time to spare for the work Mobei-Jun gave him.
But his roots were weak.
Realistically speaking, hard work wasn't anywhere near enough in a world where some people were born with incredible fortune.
Nor was it possible for an An Ding disciple to vanish into spiritual caves for years at a time. They were needed for the day to day matters of their Sect. This was why even demons knew that An Ding peak was weak- they were almost categorically unable to use the greatest treasure and power of their Sect.
So what was to be done?
Naturally, there was a solution. But it wasn't one that could be obtained by blackmail or foul play.
This wasn't an enemy Mobei-Jun could help Shang Qinghua defeat, either.
The thing that his servant was alternately crying and shouting over was, in so many words, a requisition form.
Yes! In this Sect, each peak had their specialty and methods! An Ding disciples learned the limits of their bodies through physical cultivation as they served as pack animals and hard labor, then, as they grew more experienced and more able to push the hardest work onto their juniors, they used that self knowledge to create a list of powerups that would help them breath through to greater heights!
Sabotaging the lists of others was easy, but creating personal ones one could be quite hard. This secret wasn't very important to a demon like Mobei-Jun, but he knew it anyway, because Shang Qinghua had been unable to complete his list for months now. Increasingly he was growing careless in his desperation, cursing the Heavens more and more often in his anger.
Mobei-Jun had never known how angry Shang Qinghua could be.
"This is the fucking worst." Shang Qinghua snarled. "Aren't I entitled to some compensation? Some royalties? Who knows this world better than me, huh? Who spent more time on it than me? A golden core should be the very least I'm owed!"
He got no answer. As far as Mobei-Jun had ever been able to tell, he'd never gotten any answers.
Mobei-Jun didn't feel like listening to his servant sobbing any longer. He stepped out from the shadows, letting his shadow fall onto the desk.
Shang Qinghua flinched. "My king! Ahahaha… this servant is too unsightly at the moment… let me just.."
"Still not done?" Mobei-Jun demanded.
Normally Shang Qinghua was swift to offer excuses or assurances. The empty words were annoying, and nearly always a lie. His honesty now was worse.
"No, my king. I don't know what else to try."
"What do you need." Mobei-Jun really couldn't keep the annoyance out of his tones.
It was Shang Qinghua's job to know the things he did not. Without that, he was at a loss.
Shang Qinghua shook his head.
"All Shizun will say is something that makes me complete. Which.. I mean, fuck if I know. I paid out the ass for a hint but it was useless."
Strange phrasing, but it wasn't unlikely that Shang Qinghua had bought some secret text. He put a lot of stock in books.
"What hint?" Mobei-Jun demanded.
Shang Qinghua smiled, but it was a bitter, twisted look. "The first flower in the world."
…
Shang Qinghua was right. That hint was less than useless.
There were entirely too many flowers.
Mobei-Jun knew nothing about flowers, anyway. The North was no place for delicate things that withered in the frost.
In fact, it wasn't until he'd come to the human realm as a child that he'd ever seen such things. Who would know which came 'first'?
But now Shang Qinghua had started in on his complaints, so he kept talking. "I've already tried so many things! I thought at first it was the Thousand Leaves Fresh Snow Lotus, since that was originally first to appear.. well, never mind. Then I thought it had to be something humble, something in keeping with being satisfied with one's lot in life.. something like rice, maybe.That would definitely have annoyed the original guy to death."
Mobei-Jun snorted. "Eating rice to become immortal." In that case, the entire sect, even the lowest and least talented disciple, would already be there. Shang Qinghua, who had once fit that description pretty accurately, would definitely already be there.
"Yeah, it was dumb. But like, symbolic, you know? Like congee for an infant.. well, obviously not. Anyway then I tried plum blossoms since they bloom in winter.. that could be considered first."
"How would that make you complete?" Mobei-Jun scoffed.
"It didn't." Shang Qinghua groaned. "I'll really die for sure if I don't solve it."
"You will not." Mobei-Jun growled.
"I definitely will." Shang Qinghua dared to argue. "I'm already…"
Silence descended. It was unnatural- Shang Qinghua was never silent.
"Useless." Mobei-Jun decided. "Try melons." That seemed suitably humble, and suitably filling, Shang Qinghua was never without a bag of melon seeds as his preferred snack. Perhaps his tastes were a hint at the blossoms he needed.
…Naturally, melons didn't work.
This scene, with variations, played out more than once. Each time it did, Shang Qinghua grew a little quieter.
It was as if something was being drained from him with each failure. The closer his ascension grew, the more distant he became.
Watching him from the shadows became increasingly common. Mobei-Jun did not (dare) bring him any more guesses- each wrong one made his qi unstable again.
"There must be something. The original goods managed it, this character isn't supposed to die yet!" Shang Qinghua snarled, slumped over his desk, eyes dull.
"I've eaten so many bullshit flowers already, what's the fucking point?" He cried, wrapped up in furs and swaying in a seat crowded with pillows.
"The cultivation in this world is bullshit, the stages are also bullshit, the tribulations are even more bullshit. Fuck you, I won't eat it, cucumber…" he seemed unsure of himself, curled in the window, trying to soothe himself with the breeze.
"The next Lord of An Ding absolutely must be Shang Qinghua, so…" He rasped from his bed.
"So what, I can't even make it as far as the original did…this world really is unrelenting, huh?" His voice had gotten quieter, now. The room was so perfectly silent now that it was annoying- there was supposed to be something eager and lively inside of it.
Rather than being complete, it just felt more hollow now.
"Maybe it's a chrysanthemum, hahaha, that would suit me, right? Feeling full… hahaha…"
Dual cultivation might indeed be an answer, but Mobei-Jun absolutely refused to contemplate bringing some stranger into this place. Shang Qinghua would have to ask him- and Shang Qinghua did not ask him.
"My king, it's a little cold.." Shang Qinghua complained. He was curled like a little shrimp under a fur-lined cloak- one of Mobei-Jun's, that he was supposed to have mended. He hadn't, yet, but Mobei-Jun was magnanimous.
As soon as they found the right solution, they'd have eternity for Shang Qinghua to do his chores.
"Did none of those flowers protect you from cold?" Mobei-Jun snorted.
"Your qi is much better." Shang Qinghua whined. "Why can't I have a little?"
Mobei-Jun wasn't interested in examining why, exactly, he obediently pressed a finger to Shang Qinghua's forehead.
But it made him think a little.
He and his servant both agreed on one thing- this was not a world where it was possible to feel 'complete.' Rather, in this world, unless you were powerful enough to grasp satisfaction with your own hands, you'd certainly wither away to nothing.
Only the powerful could escape the feeling of being powerless.
In short, the only way for Shang Qinghua to be powerful could be said to be.. already being powerful. The only thing he lacked to be an immortal was immortality.
Then… What did Shang Qinghua need?
His prospects were good- as long as he was loyal and obedient, he already had a capable protector, as a Peak Lord, he would never lack for anything material either.
It would be better if he was a little sturdier, Mobei-Jun thought. Then he could survive their courtsh-
Then he could survive.
It would be better if he could be resistant to cold.
It would be better if he were easier to understand, but Mobei-Jun didn't think a miracle flower that miraculous actually existed in this world.
Added to those things, it needed to be suitably mystical to make him immortal, but suitably humble to hide his ambition.
It needed to fix whatever was draining away from him, leaving silence in its wake.
Mobei-Jun didn't know what could do all that, and cherished his ignorance. Still, he was stubborn - as long as he hated how things were, he absolutely would not stop until they had changed.
(In later years, many of the Peak Lords of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect would recall that Shang Qinghua worked so hard leading up to the Ascension ceremony that he became ill. Many years after that, when certain truths came to light, a few would thoughtfully recall a rash of strange thefts scattered across the Peaks, and the shadow stepping abilities of the Lord of the Northern Desert)
Even so, it took Mobei-Jun a while to find something useful. Qian Cao's medical texts, An Ding's farms, Zui Xian's storehouses of aromatics, Qiong Ding's vaults, Xian Shu's gardens- ordinarily the difficulty would be that there were too many options available.
But the season was against him. Tianlang-Jun had fallen in the early days of autumn, winter was not yet past. Only a bare few flowers were in bloom outside the immortal peaks.
Perhaps some rare orchid was suitable, or perhaps some magnolia would purge the illness from him? But neither felt right between his fingers. Orchids died too easily, magnolia faded too early.
His temper did nothing to improve the weather. A deep, biting cold followed him as he prowled, and the few blossoms that had dared to bloom early froze and withered, fading away.
All but one.
It wasn't one he'd found in a book, or even one he had been looking for. It just so happened that it was a bloom that didn't loose any of its deep crimson color after the area was blasted with dark ice.
That seemed like a good omen, even if Mobei-Jun didn't believe in such things. Shang Qinghua was missing the ability to survive the cold, and the number one defining quality of an immortal was someone who didn't die. Plus, this seemed to be some sort of farm, so it was probably a humble plant..
Most importantly, it felt right. Seeing that vibrant blossom still bright and bold in the ice was exactly what his servant should be. A thousand tiny blossoms like a thousand clustered words, a firework of color in a dead world.
He thought, when he returned to An Ding, that he was too late. Shang Qinghua lay in bed, his eyes glassy and unseeing, reflecting a strange blue light that wasn't present in the room. He was still, and far too pale for a human who spend innumerable hours working hard in the sun.
Had he not been muttering fitfully under his shallow breaths in that strange language he sometimes used when he thought he was alone, Mobei-Jun might really have thought he was gone.
There was an intense rage at the thought. Shang Qinghua should not dare be this weak- he occupied a portion of Mobei-Jun's regard, after all. His failure was intolerable.
(A younger Mobei-Jun might have felt it as a heartbreak, but he had long since frozen out such useless things. Besides, Shang Qinghua hadn't failed yet. He was still alive. He was still alive. He was still alive.)
Mobei-Jun didn't know how to refine a plant or make a pill, so he settled for the tried and true method of testing an antidote by ramming it into Shang Qinghua's mouth. Petals, leaves, seeds… everything was pushed past those lips, into that hot, soft mouth.
In Shang Qinghua's useless stories, beautiful maidens (and occasionally tragic, handsome men) woke gracefully and gently when handed cures, usually by attentive lovers. The soft flower petals would be dewy and plush, studded with shining tears, and mutual, passionate devotion would quickly be declared. Inevitably this would also lead to several chapters of increasingly lurid cures.
Shang Qinghua made a strangled noise instead, eyes bulging and trying to spit out half melted icy leaves, as he gagged and flailed.
"What the fuck!? What the actual fuck? Ahahaha… my king… no! Wait! My king? What the actual fuck? How long ago did that die?"
"You're awake." Mobei-Jun stared at him, listening as his outrage increased in strength and volume.
The silence had been annoying. The shouting was annoying.
This person taking up residence in his heart was truly the most annoying.
Also-
"It wasn't dead." he added with a snort.
"It was definitely dead. It probably died last year. Look, it's all dry.. well, it's not dry, all the fucking ice. But it's all slimy like it was dry." Shang Qinghua spat again, sticking out his tongue and hacking up blossoms. "Hanahaki bullshit." He added, incomprehensibly.
"It was still in bloom." Mobei-Jun snarled, but Shang Qinghua paid surprisingly little heed to his tone, spitting out more blossoms and staring at them. "It wasn't in your books." He added.
"You were definitely reading the wrong books. It's in cookbooks. My king, you definitely should have read one of those before feeding me anything." Shang Qinghua gagged again, but his color was improving.
"You won't die from just this." Mobei-Jun rolled his eyes.
"Ahahaha… it feels like a murder attempt… but I won't die from this, no. It's only amaranth." Shang Qinghua laid back onto his bed, with a long-suffering sigh.
It was fine. He could go back to groveling and fawning tomorrow. As long as he understood that this was a temporary indulgence, he could be a little noisy.
"It was definitely alive. Flowers fade when they die." Mobei-Jun felt this was a sticking point.
"This one doesn't. It's called the immortality plant for that reason. It definitely dies, but the color remains.. hahaha.. lots of mortals thought it would make them immortal for that reason."
Mobei-Jun considered that. "It made you immortal."
"It tastes like a tribulation, I'll give you that. You're really supposed to cook it, my king." Shang Qinghua's eyes were closing. "The first flower in the world, huh? …You know, before it all went to shit, my mom would stir fry these leaves and add them to my noodles. They tasted like shit then, too- she couldn't cook at all. Back then, I thought it would be really good if she knew how to cook… thanks to her, I made cup noodles so often .." he grumbled softly. Mobei-Jun could feel his spiritual qi circulating through the room, could feel his spirit drifting. Golden core cultivator's souls could survive the death of the body, so the process of untethering the two was probably a natural thing to have happen. Nothing cultivators did felt right to Mobei-Jun, but this seemed better than the stillness before. The energy in Shang Qinghua's body was flowing well.
"After she gave up on dad, she didn't cook anymore. Hahaha, her new family probably ate that shitty food all the time. Now I can have whatever I want."
Mobei-Jun didn't know anything about Shang Qinghua's family. Immortals left the mortal world far behind when they were children, so they were never part of their mortal family lives after that.
But there was a strange, persistent feeling that to Shang Qinghua, these things had once been very important indeed.
No, not to Shang Qinghua. Shang Qinghua was his immortal name. But to that soul seeking to leave the mortal world far behind, these things had once mattered.
"That wish fulfillment type character.. i was a little hard on him, but he learned how to cook from his mother… that scum villain is really easy to understand after all.. I'm jealous too.."
…Maybe it was important, but it was also nonsense. Mobei-Jun cuffed him lightly, blinking at the sudden deep welling of qi pulsing in the man's skin.
This was the cultivation of a Peak Lord who was facing down his heart demons. Even if Shang Qinghua could be called the weakest of his martial siblings, he was still one of the twelve strongest humans on earth. That had not been true an hour ago, but it was the truth now.
"Next time cook it yourself." He said, only half sure Shang Qinghua could hear him.
"No, I really hate the taste." Shang Qinghua said immediately "I want tomato egg noodles instead."
"This Lord won't make them." Mobei-Jun snapped.
"Ahaha… you'd better not.. my king really can't cook... I'll make them, I'll make them."
(Many years later, Mobei-Jun still would not know how to cook. But he would remember the importance Shang Qinghua assigned to being cooked for. He would remember how often Shang Qinghua cooked for him in these early years.
He would know that the god of this world did not know how to be a loving parent to his many, many children, but he and his Peak nevertheless let no one in their Sect go hungry.
So, when that time came, Mobei-Jun would definitely make very terrible, shitty noodles.
He would then learn that Shang Qinghua had been asking for-
Well. That was fine too.)
"Why did you feed me that thing, anyway?" Shang Qinghua asked, after the ascension ceremony was finally done and over with. His new home was larger and far nicer, and already it was taking on the traits of any space occupied by Shang Qinghua.
Namely, it was becoming a cluttered mess.
Papers stacked everywhere. Novels strewn about everywhere. Samples from merchants on display everywhere. Melon seeds absolutely everywhere. Every day, disciples would clean and serve meals, and every night, the chaos would reassert itself. Increasingly, it was less and less empty. But the silencing talismans still kept it quiet, except for the noise of its single occupant. The nights were still dark and cool. It was still a safe and comfortable place to rest, even when Shang Qinghua was being annoying.
"It was the right plant."
"I mean it was, but how did you know?"
"I didn't."
"Huh? What would you have done if I died, huh? It's a thousand years too early for me to die!" Shang Qinghua howled.
He hadn't died, and for some reason, his howling put Mobei-Jun in a good mood. "You wouldn't dare die."
"Spoiled." Shang Qinghua groaned. "It's just… it turns out it was a very good guess. My king, I'm surprised! It's a plant that likes warm weather, it probably died as soon as the weather turned cold. But Mu-shidi also says it's good for cooling and cleansing… the properties are too inconsistent."
Mobei-Jun hummed rather than wasting words on a pointless answer. Inconsistent sounded about right for Shang Qinghua to him, and he was pleased that it was a good cooling plant.
In other words, it was suited to Mobei-Juns tastes and needs. That was ideal for Shang Qinghua.
It also didn't taste too bad. The Shang Qinghua of this world was a fairly good cook, and his kitchen was currently awash in flowers.
"I still had to requisition more." Shang Qinghua added, shifting a stack of papers a little farther away. He had added a garlicky sauce to the stir fried leaves and grains, and clearly didn't want to submit his work covered in evidence that he'd eaten at his desk, again. "Sorry, my king, I'll still give you credit, but it's tradition to put in an order for what we need! Besides, I really don't want people to start asking me about stolen goods. I also had to get a bunch of texts about it to maintain the image of a diligent disciple studying hard. But, it's the last time! From now on this servant will only have to answer to his king. …Well, and the Sect Leader. But he's easy to scare off if I hide behind that scary certain someone!"
"Just me." Mobei-Jun reminded him. "That was Shang Qinghua's oath."
Still, Shang Qinghua had to do his job here well, to keep up his pretense. Mobei-Jun didn't care for boring things, like the ins and outs of maintaining a great Sect, if he needed such knowledge it was much easier to scruff Shang Qinghua like an unruly kitten then to pay attention to this daily work.
It was merely out of boredom that he absconded with the book written in Mu Qingfang's neat hand.
'Amaranth
The Immortality Plant
Love Lies Bleeding
A useful cooling plant that has the power to purge toxins, reduce inflammation, and soothe summer heat. The leaves and grains are edible.
Long after death, this plant retains its color, and never fades. Thus, it is connected with the ideas of immortality and unending love. It promotes heath and well being and grows vigorously, so it is connected with the idea of prosperity and endurance. However, it's appearance resembles many drops of blood, so it can also be said to represent a hopeless love'
Mobei-Jun scoffed and tossed the book aside, ignoring the way Shang Qinghua yelped and scrambled to catch the priceless herbal text penned by the hand of the new master of the Thousand Grasses Peak.
It couldn't be called much of a treasure if all it had to say was useless things. Hopeless, unrequited, impossible love?
Humans invented such nonsense and put so much stock in it. Clearly, the plant had purged some lingering poison and Shang Qinghua had been able to make the final push on his own. He had his core and his position now, so the rest didn't matter at all.
But he was also curious about the other strange word Shang Qinghua had used, so once the book was recovered he flipped through it again.
'Hanahaki- a curse or disease born from unspoken feelings, where the afflicted cough out flowers until their lungs fill and they can no longer breathe. The treatment consists of confessing the unspoken feelings.'
…
Mobei-Jun tossed the book aside again, prompting an outraged sound from Shang Qinghua. "My king, if it annoys you that much, just don't read it!"
"You don't read it either." Mobei-Jun grumbled. "Useless."
"I wasn't! It's just so they'll think I did the homework-"
By degrees, Shang Qinghua's complaints filled the empty spaces where the images of him spitting blood red flowers lingered. Naturally, such a thing was impossible- no one vented their feelings more than Shang Qinghua, and no one listened more attentively than Mobei-Jun.
It was annoying, but that level of annoyance was fine.
So there was no reason to still be watching his strange servant from the shadows. The danger was past.
Only… if Shang Qinghua only spoke his feelings into the silence, entirely alone, would those flowers someday take root in his heart? He had eaten so many.
Loosing Shang Qinghua would be really inconvenient.
So he ended up in the same place as always, listening to incomprehensible things.
"Dammit, that scenario pusher was too expensive, I'm leaving a bad review." Shang Qinghua was pacing, this time, his restless movements carrying him here and there through the spacious room.
His eyes had a hint of that same reflected light within them, green blue despite the warm yellow tones of the lantern on his desk.
For the first time. Mobei-Jun had the fleeting idea that perhaps the heavens might actually answer. But if they did, he did not hear them.
"What 'override the weight of narrative causality?' Nothing has changed! The story is already underway. No thanks to you shitty malware.." Shang Qinghua lapsed into silence, then, with a groan, pulled a bottle of baijiu loose from his sleeve.
Something had changed, Mobei-Jun thought. It was imperceptible and nonsensical, but the air had a different texture.
The person who had become Shang Qinghua had remembered an old familiar taste, and carried it with him into eternity. Apparently, it was a taste he had been missing.
It wasn't anything as foolish as hope, or as maudlin as love, or as dangerous as trust. It was just that Mobei-Jun knew his servant a little bit better now.
"The very first flower in the world, huh? Love Lies Bleeding. A bit of a stretch, if you ask me." Shang Qinghua grumbled. "This story was never about love to begin with - it didn't need it."
He'd needed it, Mobei-Jun thought. What a stupid, human thing to need. Mobei-Jun had learned not to need such things as a child.
Thus, he resolutely ignored the fact that he was here to watch over his servant's careless words.
This was the sort of world that could easily be described by a flower symbolizing hopeless, unanswered love. But Mobei-Jun wasn't interested in symbolism.
(In the future, his feelings wouldn't change in the slightest- Shang Qinghua had always been a person who was not permitted to leave his side. But perhaps it could be said, by someone who cared about these things more than he, that this was the moment a flower first took root in the heart of the frozen north.)
[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Important things must be said three times! Cleared the quest: Become one with your own universe, the birth of a golden core! +500
Complete a hidden scenario and fill in missing scenes! +100
Use of a scenario pusher has shifted the balance of the driving narrative! +10 Please continue to develop this new plotline!
Hidden value unlocked! S-points +300
Failure to discover the necessary ingredients per attempt : -100 ×9
Total: 10
Please continue to work hard]