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When Shen Yuan first transmigrated into Wife #81, he had been very pleased. Of course, he didn't find out that he was that Shen Tianhui until a while later, but it wasn't like that mattered. Because it was a good, good life.
For one, he wasn't dead.
All he had to do was pretend to be a frail sickly shut-in heiress of the richest family in Longchang village and he was good to go.
Never mind that all of this sister’s family had been wiped out by demon bandits. Nope.
The system had crooned:
『Congratulations, host! Welcome to the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way! We operate by YOU CAN YOU UP NO CAN NO BB! For now we'd like you to remain in the mansion as per your role, [Shen Tianhui] [Third daughter of the...]... 』
You get the drift. And then it had immediately noped out of the picture.
Soon, he'd break out and live out some of his xianxia dreams. But for now, he was happy cultivating his—her?— meager golden core and lounging around. It was fine.
“Why am I cultivating a golden core if I can't go out?”
One fairly normal day, three months into his captivi— stay, he had posed this respectable question to one of the maids. There was no detectable whine in his tone and yet, she'd raised one meticulously groomed eyebrow. Damn these women from stallion novels. Not a single one of them could be ugly.
“Young mistress, I'm not sure you could handle your sickness if it wasn't for it. It's what the physicians have said,” Very pretty maid with big pretty eyes and fluffy hair said, “multiple times. It's a good thing you had a hobby.”
Very pretty maid was also kind of bitchy, so Shen Yuan dismissed her with a bonk of his fan and a growing ache in his temples.
Shen Tianhui had been an idiot little girl overly interested in heroic novels and revenge plots (hint: tragic family backstory) and practiced cultivation (although very slowly, and probably badly). The impressive part was that she had done it all by herself with those knock-off manuals. The less impressive part was that she was still an idiot little girl who had been unfortunate enough to try her hand at killing demons much stronger than her for the ‘ good of the village’.
This was also when he found out he was wife #81, because Shen Tianhiu's spiritual system was wracked with a poison that had incapacitated her at a critical moment of the fight. Any reader worth their salt could put two (Shen Tianhui was of the female sex) and two (she was poisoned) together in the stallion hellscape that was Proud Immortal Demon Way. The bright side was, it could easily be cured by some Azure Long Grass.
In a fit of rage, Shen Yuan had run away, stalked the borderlands for the plant himself, and succeeded in finding the cure. He had also collapsed midway on the journey back and had been forcefully prescribed bed rest. Shen Yuan was taking to transmigration very well indeed.
This was why he was once again in the middle of the forest with only the clothes on his back and a qiankun pouch filled with frankly an excessive amount of gold and waterskins.
『 May the System enquire what the Host is up to? This is OOC for Shen Tianhiu’s character. 』
OOC your mother!!! Shen Yuan knew all about Wife #81; precisely because there was nothing to know about Wife #81. She was a side quest Luo Binghe picked up en route to his search for the Night Blooming Lotus, cure to Qin Wanrong’s new poison-buddy. She was a woman with heaving breasts, whatever that meant. And, her only character trait was being a Fallen Village Cultivator, a cold and cool beauty reduced to an unsure little thing because of the poison. This explained so many things about people's reluctance in talking to him! This sister had been a pain in the ass! For her to suddenly turn so docile!
Obviously, the protagonist solved all her problems with the powers of papapa, deposited her somewhere in his harem, and went his merry way. Like all wives #81 through #86, collected throughout the Night Blooming Arc.
『 .... If Host says so 』
Of course the System could only refute like that. Did you think Shen Yuan was an idiot? There was no OOC because the character Shen Tianhui was too irrelevant to have a personality.
His jaunt to the outside world was because of the obvious: he was a Wife.
Luo Binghe would find him one of these days, and then they'd have the customary papapa, and then he'd get locked up at the harem. This would come to pass. It was the fate of a wife.
But!!! Shen Yuan was not a sniveling meimei!!! He was a twenty-something youth very interested in the flora and fauna around him. His problems with harem building and plot holes aside, Airplane shooting Towards The Sky had made an interesting world. And Shen Yuan planned to see it.
Soon, he wouldn’t be able to as harem eye candy 3000, so the only option was to travel now.
And travel he did. Shen Tianhui was no longer a rich heiress. Instead, she—he? was a wandering cultivator that took care of low-level demonic threats. Low level, because while Shen Yuan found monsters cool, he wasn't an idiot.
System, where am I? asked Shen Yuan, who was not an idiot.
『 Host is at the Thousand Deaths Jungle, borders of the Demonic Realm. Hoping this system was able to help! 』
SYSTEM!!!!! Shen Yuan roared.
The only reason he was here was because of this damn thing. It had suddenly come alive for the first time since his transmigration that morning and chirped annoyingly about some quest near the “jungle”. Today morning's Shen Yuan, a vaguely optimistic idiot, was under the impression they'd finish up by lunch. Well yes , he did want to catch a glimpse of the Two Horned Bull Frog but that was secondary! Survival came first!
Instead of having a nice lunch of gruel from the nearby inn, he'd been chased around by a creature with antlers he later took apart—losing daylight— and very thoroughly gotten lost.
The forest was dour and creepy at night. Shen Yuan, flushed from exertion, crouched down to inspect a purple-tinted insectivore. Fireflies danced perilously close to its mouth, and Shen Yuan watched in morbid fascination as one of them fell for the plot. It got doused in various juices immediately, starting to writhe.
Hmmm. Purple… insectivorous… “Oh,” Shen Yuan said out loud. “It's the Purple Predator. Better stay away from its aphrodisiac.”
Finding himself absently flicking some of them away before any more of them could be Firefly Juice, Shen Yuan startled out of his skin at the new presence in the clearing.
“Now who do we have here?”
????????????????!!!!!
For a second, Shen Yuan was sure he was dreaming. No way this man was real. He had skin carved out from jade, the faintest hint of flush over his nose bridge. Those lips! They were probably all some poet talked about somewhere out there. His pretty face was arranged into a coy expression, and he was almost too pretty to be a man, if those dark eyes and strong-set eyebrows didn't bless him with all that manliness.
And this was just his face . The rest of his body was no doubt delectable, what with all the flowing black silk and red accents, but Shen Yuan couldn't stop staring at that face.
Because between the manliest eyebrows in the universe ( objective!!) laid what looked to be the sickest face tattoo to ever tattoo. As a (rather infamous) reader of Proud Immortal Demon Way though, Shen Yuan knew exactly what it was: Luo Binghe’s demon mark.
“To have found you here of all places, Shen—” The ethereal being’s eyes flashed. He put one foot in front of the other menacingly.
Abruptly, Shen Yuan could feel himself sweating from the–the— the anxiety! It was the demonic emperor himself, and he would have to pull off a wife plot con while being well, a man.
"—Guniang?”
“Er, uh,” said Shen Yuan, fanning himself with dignity, “Young master may refer to this one as Shen Yu—Tianhui.”
“Shen -gun—”
“Just Shen Tianhui is fine!” Shen Yuan almost screeched. All this Guniang business was making his skin crawl, even if it was the protagonist. You are going to be married to this Guniang here, young man!!! No need for formalities!!! Or unpleasantly female titles!!
Luo Binghe took a long look at the other's decidedly male robes and said nothing.
“And who might Young Master be?” Shen Yuan finally said, when he realized this was going nowhere. Shen Yuan did not want this to go anywhere. He didn't know where it was going. Would his dignity be besmirched right here on this forest floor??? Was he going to enter the harem tomorrow?? And these thoughts were accompanied by ahem, Luo Bingge’s assets , so to speak. By the size of the those pecs, the size of the Heavenly pillar should be....
“Shen Tianhui seems to be in deep thought. Are there no guesses at all to this one's identity?” said Luo Binghe, startling Shen Yuan out of his— wayward thoughts.
Shen Yuan realized he had been staring slightly open-mouthed, like a fish, at Luo Binghe’s chest and immediately messed with his outer robes.
“After all, Shen Tianhui has been taking a good look at this one’s zuiyin.”
Damn, thought Shen Yuan. Of course the protagonist had an IQ of 600. He couldn't expect him to be like those cannon fodder servants back at the mansion.
“Yes, well, this humble one had her guesses.” Shen Yuan said with great dignity. He tried to bow, but he was already leaning so far into the Purple Predator that he had to stop himself from toppling over.
“Hm. So Shen Tianhui is aware of demons and their hierarchy. Rise,” said Luo Binghe, amused. “Perhaps you may offer some insight for this Lord. We should find a place to rest.”
Oh god, they were going to do it.
They did not do it.
There was no papapa that evening. By “insight” what the Emperor Of The Three Realms (although now it was only two, probably— the heaven arcs were only coming up) meant was sitting across each other in a run-down tea shop with Luo Binghe’s heavenly mark hidden and Talking.
Shen Yuan had never felt heartburn so acute.
“Now, this Lord finds himself in a predicament,” Luo Binghe said, as soon as the tea arrived. Shen Yuan nodded seriously, signaling him to continue. “This lord’s shimei—” Qin Wanrong and hmm? Not wife? “---has encountered a poison that cannot be cured by…. normal means—” papapa “---and if possible, he would like to enlist Shen Tianhui’s help at this.”
Oh, Shen Yuan supposed this world was real in some capacity and Luo Binghe couldn't just… jump into bed with all the women that wanted him. There had to be some build-up. His memory of this particular arc didn't really provide him with all these details though, so Shen Yuan shrugged and dived right in.
“This Shen would be honored, My Lord,” Shen Yuan bowed as much as he could, sitting. “But I must ask, why… this one? There must be more qualified physicians at the Imperial Palace…?”
“Does Shen Tianhui doubt this Lord’s decisions?” Luo Binghe raised one perfect eyebrow.
No!! Shen Yuan internally cried. “This one was just curious.”
Luo Binghe laughed, his eyes creasing and Shen Yuan almost hit the floor.
Protagonist!!!! Warn a man before these judicious applications of the protagonist halo!! No wonder all these sisters threw themselves at him!!
“This Lord was only teasing,” Luo Binghe finally said. “As for reasons, Shen Tianhui is clearly knowledgeable about local fauna. There is no reason this Lord should struggle asking the pig-headed physicians for their input. They are conservative and recommend only a single method of action.”
Huh. The physicians didn't want to help out? They must have grown complacent with all the papapa cures! So complacent that they didn't even want to work anymore! Well! Or maybe… he did call Qin-meimei by title. Maybe he wasn't the Emperor of Two Realms by now. Maybe this was… Huan Hua Palace arc? And he couldn't bring the demonic side’s physicians into it?
Shen Yuan had a headache just trying to figure out the timeline. His habit of ignoring the papapa was biting him back in the ass now.
Whatever. It was Airplane's novel, it was bound to go wonky at unimportant bits. What if Shen Tianhui was wife #40 or wife #81? She was never going to be mentioned again! So what if those physicians didn't want to help Luo Binghe out! This wife #81 is at your service, Binghe!
Shen Yuan said as much to Luo Binghe. Luo Binghe smiled That Smile again and offered to pay for two rooms at the inn. Shen Yuan, who had been expecting to take part in many scandalous activities, was for a second taken aback, but greatly relieved.
He accepted readily, and off they were.
There was no papapa the next morning either. Or the evening. Or the morning after.
One night, Shen Yuan stirred to Luo Binghe, in entirely different robes, hacking away at the air with Xin Mo. Fascinated, Shen Yuan watched him tear away at the many talismans he had slapped over it (when did that happen?).
“My lord…” Shen Yuan called out. “Can this one assist?”
Luo Binghe whirled around, and demanded to know where he was. And then he said, “Where is my Shizun?!”
….Ookay. Okay. Maybe he was having a nightmare. This happened to people all the time.
“Uh, your shizun….” began Shen Yuan, before dropping that line of answer entirely. He drew himself up and stiffened his shoulders. “You are at an inn, my Lord. And we are looking for the Night Blooming Lotus so you may bring it back for your shimei.”
Luo Binghe’s face told him he thought it was all bullshit. His hold on Xin Mo tightened. Shen Yuan couldn’t have that!
He slowly took one step closer to the deranged protagonist, keeping his hands up. Then he studied his blade carefully. If Shen Yuan couldn’t help reassure him, he could still help out with what Luo Binghe had been trying to do. Luo Binghe wanted to open a portal up to somewhere half-asleep? He should go ahead! It’s not like the protagonist could die, and he’d probably be back in the morning using the same sword anyway.
“Let this one help,” said Shen Yuan again. “Do you want those runes off? I recognize some of the symbols.”
Slowly, Luo Binghe’s hands unclenched from his sword. As he jostled the sword around, Shen Yuan could see a scar running along his heart line above his inner wrist. A fight capable of leaving scars on Luo Binghe?! Just where had he gone?
“Try anything, and it will be the last thing you do,” Luo Binghe spat at him, before he shoved Xin Mo into its sheath. Woah, woah, woah, was that any way to talk to a lady, Luo Binghe of the harem lands?!
Shen Yuan was only further convinced he was sleepwalking. And sleeptalking.
Luo Binghe dropped to the ground crosslegged, and held the sword there in front of him.
After an awkward inspection (Shen Yuan got the idea that he wasn’t to touch) Shen Yuan cleared his throat. Luo Binghe, who had been faking meditating, immediately snapped his eyes open.
EEEEEK, said Shen Yuan inwardly.
“Instead of tearing all these talismans away indiscriminately, my Lord,” said Shen Yuan outwardly, “Use the talismans at the hilt to enhance Xin Mo’s natural prowess. The characters are blurred, but you can see the one that amplifies the overall effect of the talisman. It should go to your spiritual sword if you remove the ones that bind its powers.”
Luo Binghe cast a suspicious look at his ramblings. Shen Yuan didn’t blame him—he wasn’t sure about half the things he was saying! But talismans here were written using simplified chinese—praise be to that hack Airplane—and he was really just going with what the words said, alright! Surely, if Luo Binghe, the protagonist did all this, it should work out no matter what.
Without any more words exchanged, Luo Binghe started scratching at the upper talismans. Shen Yuan winced for his nails, and unable to help himself, ran back into his room. When he came back, Luo Binghe was still on the second talisman.
“You again,” he said menacingly. What, did he think Shen Yuan had left the inn he was staying at?!
Rather than answering, Shen Yuan passed him a cup of water by sliding it across the room.
“What is this?” Luo Binghe asked suspiciously.
“Water,” said Shen Yuan, not able to keep the dryness out of his tone. “The talisman might come off easier wet.”
“If you did not bring me here, then leave, ” Luo Binghe commanded, grabbing the cup. The moon shone its light behind him, and his otherwise dark eyes had lit up a fiery red for this exercise. Shen Yuan felt himself swallow.
He walked away slowly, not looking back.
Soon, Luo Binghe startled to his feet, and slashed. A deep purple rift tore the air open like butter paper. Overjoyed, Luo Binghe looked left and right for someone to celebrate it with, like a child who hadn’t grown out of showing their work off to their parents. By coincidence, he spotted Shen Yuan peering out of the screen through a slit.
It seemed as if Luo Binghe had noticed his features wholly only now; when his gaze ran across Shen Tianhui’s forehead to her dark, beady eyes, and narrow chin visible in the pale moonlight.
“Who are you?” Luo Binghe said.
“T-This one is Shen Tianhui, My Lord,” Shen Yuan scrambled to right himself at the acknowledgement.
Luo Binghe didn’t quite smile, but his face softened considerably. “Alright,” he said.
And then he winked out of the night like he never had been there.
Like Shen Yuan had predicted, Luo Binghe was back with his sword the next morning.
The first hints of his arrival was a dull thud in the other room. Shen Yuan pressed his ears close to the paper screen. A body paced back and forth and back and forth, its steps stuttering as if nursing a limp. Before Shen Yuan could do something stupid like enquire after his health, Luo Binghe’s silhouette raised its legs and kicked the wall. It shook the whole inn.
A steady stream of curses followed, and this satiated all of Shen Yuan’s curiosity.
Whatever it was, the protagonist was in a truly foul mood. Better let him rest.
Luo Binghe was still in an awful mood the next morning. His robes were immaculate and his face clean, but all his smiles were strained and his work ethic greatly bogged down by….moping? Shen Yuan had spotted him playing with his matted hair once or twice, staring off into the horizon.
Shen Yuan, for his part, just let out a prayer for Qin-meimei’s continued health. Sorry about the Night Blooming Lotus! He wasn’t about to cheer up the protagonist or pursue him with Shen Tianhui’s sharp eyes and cool beauty aesthetic, and he wasn’t going to bring up anything Luo Binghe didn’t want to himself. If Luo Binghe wanted a post-sleep walking amnesia episode then who was this humble NPC to stop him?
Shen Yuan’s anxiousness over derailing the plot must have shown over the morning, because around lunch time Luo Binghe suggested they sit down to eat. This was a marked change from the first week when all they did was sniff around the forest—apparently called The Forest Of The Heavens by the village folk— and shake their heads at each other. There was no Night Blooming Lotus in any of the crevices Shen Yuan theorized about, nor was there an end to their mind-numbing adventure.
“Is Shen Tianhui tired?” Luo Binghe had asked at one point, a rare lull in his terrible mood.
“No,” Shen Yuan had lied, poking at an animal carcass in fascination.
That was all their conversation amounted to.
Soon it was nearing dusk. Shen Yuan And Protagonist entourage found themselves at an impasse.
There was no road back to the village.
Or to be precise, there had been a road back to the village. A road they'd trekked through at least six times. But no trace of the very same could be found now.
Forest of the Heavens his foot!!! NPC Villagers, was this your idea of heaven!!?? Shen Yuan should have just listened to the system when it pinged him about a Thousand Deaths Jungle. Of course it was self-explanatory by Airplane Naming Convention!
“Ah well,” Luo Binghe said mildly. He was shaken out his fugue state by a mission, “This Lord hopes Shen Tianhui is familiar with camping?”
As a lazy second-gen layabout and then a lazier heiress layabout—SHEN “TIANHUI” WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH CAMPING. SYSTEM!!!!???? WAS THIS TIME FOR THE WIFE PLOT!!!!
『 The System requests the Host to not worry about things that have not happened \(@^0^@)/ Good luck, host!!!』
Once again.
There was no. Papapa. In a stallion novel.
Not that he expected this Luo Binghe to jump him. This Luo Binghe was perfectly serious about getting Qin Wanrong her cure. He still had his dark moods, but he was prioritizing his goal again.
A young lady's life on the line. One of the most important harem meimeis… life on the line… Shen Yuan repeated like a mantra as he hacked at one of the tent corners.
Luo Binghe, with all his 600 IQ carried many things in his qiankun pouch. And that included an enormous tent and weeks worth of rations.
Poor thing , Shen Yuan couldn't help but think, sending the protagonist a pitying look. Of course he wanted to be prepared for anything after getting stranded once at the Endless Abyss.
His pity was, however, drying up slightly with how hard it was to wrangle one of these damn things.
“May this Lord ask Shen Tianhui what—”
Shen Yuan cut him off with a glare. Perfect fucking protagonist. He had already set his tent up, and was watching Shen Yuan with a detached sort of expression. If he wanted to help, he should have just grabbed the tent from Shen Yuan's hand and done so. Not stand around like a moping fool.
The tent ended up crooked, but it was a tent and it was his.
That night went down like any other. Luo Binghe continued to be slightly unsettling and very charming.
Shen Yuan squirmed in his seat, anxious at the thought of papapa.
As he lay on an itchy straw mat that night, Shen Yuan realised something.
Yes, in the end, Luo Binghe was a stallion novel protagonist. And yes, he was in the body of a virile young woman.
But did this really matter?
After all! Luo Binghe had a 600 point IQ! There was very less chance he hadn't noticed anything off about his… assistant? Servant? Subject?
- Shen Yuan was firmly wearing robes of the male variety.
- He had no earthly idea how to wield rouge or that pretty (and probably poisonous) thing they dabbed judiciously on eyelids.
- Shen Yuan was not a woman.
Honestly, rather than getting wooed, Shen Yuan was being treated like an extremely convenient NPC brother who Airplane would introduce when readers complained about back-to-back wife plots. These NPC brothers worked day and night to get Luo Binghe results while the protagonist lounged around, somehow stumbling upon rare aphrodisiacs and beauties anyway.
The original Shen Tianhui and Luo Binghe probably bonded over revenge plots or something. Now that it was Shen Yuan instead….
A low growl interrupted his musings. Shen Yuan’s ear perked up, focusing his qi on hearing.
Was that…
He quietly tip-toed to the opening of the tent, raising the flap so that he could peek into the only darkness of the night.
And there Luo Binghe was, battling a giant Jiggly Puff-esque monster. This Jiggly Puff was round, brown and meaner than the original, and was rightly called 'Fuzzy Round-Head Bear Puff', a cousin to a main abyss monster 'Fuzzy Pig-Headed Puff'. This fit right in with all of Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky’s other nomenclating achievements.
Shen Yuan was dreading copy-pasting a Pig Head on this Jiggly Bear Prototype in his mind, when he was quickly distracted by Luo Binghe.
He was slashing away at every available surface of the monster with the infamous Xin Mo. For an ordinary person like Shen Yuan, this would be a stupid tactic to employ, since every strike had an enormous amount of qi in it. Luo Binghe though, didn't even break a sweat. His arc around the monster was mesmerizing, and the fight should have been over in the next fifteen minutes.
The monster careened forward, and a glob of its acidic spit grazed Luo Binghe’s forearm.
“Cut its underbelly, My Lord.” calmly called Shen Yuan, the idiot. He affected the look of a peerless beauty peeking through a tent. “Its core is concentrated there.”
Luo Binghe's eyes widened at the assist, but he slashed away as instructed.
Inwardly, Shen Yuan cried in disappointment. What an idiot he was! Wasting his opportunity to prolong the protagonist in action!
But , the Fuzzy Pig Headed Puff’s fur was supposed to have healing properties. The leftover qi on them would be fascinating to observe. If Luo Binghe incernated it with Xin Mo his chances of studying it would be nil. There would come many fights for the protagonist but only a few chances for Shen Yuan to unabashedly poke at a high-level beast.
The fight was over quickly. Shen Yuan gingerly parted the tents and stepped into the fauna. This was truly a beautiful world, all things considered. The air was crisp and fresh. And he would get to study a Fuzzy Pig Headed Puff now. What a good life.
“Shen Tianhui looks… happy,” Luo Binghe said consideringly. Then he looked away, in an exaggerated manner. Shen Yuan looked up from where he was crouched, and realized he was smiling.
Oh no!!!! Shen Tianhui was a cool, calm beauty!!! She wasn’t supposed to be happy until there was a wooing arc!
But… but… he was basically a NPC brother now, wasn't he?
System? Is it okay to be this OOC?
『 The system is pleased to inform this host that the character arc is being satisfyingly completed! The character of Shen Tianhui is progressing accordingly ദ്ദി(^•^)!』
So you have no idea how Shen Tianhui behaved with Luo Binghe inside the bedroom or otherwise because she was such a glossed over wife…
System, you truly are a useless hardware…
『 Host… (-∆-|||) 』
Luo Binghe kept looking away throughout his mental tirade, so Shen Yuan coughed at him politely. Well, Protagonist?? What are the next steps? Can Shen Yuan keep some of the fur in one of your qiankun pouches?
Luo Binghe turned his head and immediately looked away again.
??????!!!!!
“My lord…?” Shen Yuan said, “May this one start the stripping?” Now all that blood would be unsavory, yes, but some of the fur…
“Shen Tianhui!” Luo Binghe gasped, and for the first time, it seemed like he'd not seen something coming.
“ My Lord???? ” Shen Yuan said, confused. He got up to where Luo Binghe was clowning around. Right as he approached though, Luo Binghe jumped at least a meter away.
What. The. Fuck.
“ My. lord.” Shen Yuan grit his teeth, irritation clouding any baser instinct, like say, fear, over Luo Binghe being the most powerful in-universe. “Has this one displeased you?”
He cuffed his sleeves and powerwalked to Luo Binghe. Luo Binghe gasped, scandalized like some young maiden again. Shen Yuan felt like a sleazy lover, cornering some dawdling rich thing in an alleyway and demanding sex.
Shen Yuan half-expected Luo Binghe to screech We musn’t! Instead, Luo Binghe planted his feet firmly on the ground and swiveled around. His destination so changed, Shen Yuan skidded to a halt. Momentum knocked him into Luo Binghe, falling right into his chest.
Irritation at the situation had made any thoughts of wife plots flee from his mind. They returned with vengeance when Luo Binghe ducked down and pressed lips to his.
Shen Yuan gaped.
Luo Binghe capitalized on this opportunity to suck insistently on his lower lip. Shen Yuan, in his surprise, tightened his hands on Luo Binghe's outer robes, bringing their bodies even closer. His intention had been to grab Luo Binghe’s collar to push him away, but it had come to this.
T- The Protagonist! NPC bro-brother… Shen Yuan went a little dizzy at all the sensations. His rather thin lower lips captured between Luo Binghe's own, the tongue trying to push at his own, and the hands firmly on his nape. Absently, Shen Yuan registered that he was in his innermost robes, and that—that—
A sound escaped him, and Shen Yuan wrenched away from the protagonist.
Luo Binghe let him.
“ W-What! ” Shen Yuan screeched like some besmirched maiden— that, come to think of it, he was ! What the fuck had gotten to Luo Binghe!? Post-fight adrenaline!? Why now ?
Luo Binghe blinked at him like he didn't know what was wrong.
“Lord! Luo!” Shen Yuan screeched. He was patting away at his sleeves for the fan before recalling this was his innermost robes. “What has gotten to you? Are you not looking for a cure for—for— your wife! Think about your imperial harem!”
All of a sudden, Luo Binghe bent down at the waist.
?????
“No!” screamed Shen Yuan. The protagonist mustn't bow! What sort of retribution was he in for now? “You mustn't bow to me!”
“But...” Luo Binghe peered at him from under his bangs. He looked calculating, though for what, Shen Yuan couldn't figure out for the life of him. Then in a deeply apologetic tone, Luo Binghe explained, “I have wronged Shen Tianhui.”
What? Why? How! Shen Yuan wanted to sputter, but the ice-cold beauty given thin face of his didn't have the capacity for so much sputtering. His hands stilled on Luo Binghe’s shoulders, where they were trying to draw the Demon Lord up from his supplication.
Respectful of Shen Yuan’s relatively meagre strength and pulling, Luo Binghe shot to his full height. The moon shone brightly behind him. This left them staring into each other’s eyes as Shen Yuan held onto the protagonist in complete befuddlement.
“This lord misunderstood some… signs,” Luo Binghe said, his eyes flicking to where Shen Yuan’s hands scrunched his robes up. “And on the matter of finding a cure: Shen Tianhui should know there is no imperial harem. It is not uncommon for this lord to find {interested} maidens in the middle of excursions. It was this one's mistake, and he can only hope Shen Tianhui will forgive him.”
Oh. Not even one wife?
Now this made sense! It was the pre-Emperor of the Two Realms arc (or the Shadow Demonic Emperor arc). He hadn't conquered all the sects or laid siege to Cang Qiong yet, so all his wives weren't wives…. yet . He would soon tour the abyss to collect all the beauties he had promised wealth and family to during the abyss arc, then wed his Shijie right after the brutal Cang Qiong burning, vengeance finally quelled.
This also meant the whole timeline was really off! Not a glitch replacing one cannon fodder wife for another! What in the world was Airplane’s stupid story doing?!
And humble brag aside (genre conventions demanded he meet incredibly horny women on every excursion anyway, so it was true too), Luo Binghe wasn't going to go around forcing women, haha! He was just so used to things going in A Particular Direction that when Shen Yuan exited the tent at the dead of the night in technically his xianxia underclothes (an embarrassing oversight!) Luo Binghe was flustered! Shen Yuan couldn't be bothered to be too embarrassed about it anyway. This thing covered his whole body! Not even a pale ankle visible! How surprisingly pure of the protagonist!
“Nothing to forgive!” Shen Yuan said way too loudly. He coughed to compose himself. After all this though, he also felt the need to…
“Mistakes happen, so nothing to forgive, ” he said again brushing dust off Luo Binghe's shoulders. His cool face cracked for a private smile, “So when I only wanted to strip the beast for study…was Lord Luo so taken with this one’s underclothes?”
Two spots of color appeared high on Luo Binghe’s (objectively) gorgeous cheekbones.
There, protagonist! Thought Shen Yuan, and with teasing and grooming the protagonist back into shape done, he stepped away. Now we're even!
Luo Binghe cleared his throat lightly to steer away the embarrassment.
“The moon is so high already,” he said. Shen Yuan’s smile deepened at the blatant change of subject. “Shen Tianhui should sleep.”
“Yes,” he acquiesced. “And so should you, Lord Luo. Although this one supposes it's uncomfortable going to bed with your hair like that…”
Luo Binghe pat his head self-consciously, like he'd forgotten about the skirmish. Shen Yuan realised that he was also apologetic about dirtying the inner robes over a misunderstanding.
“This one must go and take a dip in the nearby lake, then,” Luo Binghe said. “If Shen Tianhui were to change into some other robes, this pair could be washed…”
“And who will do the washing?” Shen Yuan, who exclusively paid village aunties to wash his set of robes, arched an eyebrow.
Luo Binghe looked even more embarrassed. “I…me, of course.”
Shen Yuan noticed that he had entirely stopped referring to himself as a Lord. He was squirming in place, resolutely looking down. His fluffy, fluffy hair bounced as he fidgeted. That was so…
“How old are you, My Lord?” Shen Yuan asked.
At the question, Luo Binghe tilted his head. “Twenty-five, this winter. Why?”
Ahhhhhhhhh!! So cute! At Shen Yuan’s advanced age of twenty-six, he felt greatly paternal–er, maternal?– towards the young thing.
When no answer was forthcoming, Luo Binghe extended his hands. Shen Yuan got the distinct impression he was looking up at him despite the height difference. “The robes?”
Protagonist!!! You cannot be this cute after a badass sequence!!
“None of that!!” said Shen Yuan, feelings all gooey. He wasn't an idiot! This was clearly Luo Binghe’s seductive mode. He was playing the innocent, dutiful sheep after a mistake. But now that he knew Luo Binghe was but a young man, he could brush it off as a over-enthusiasm of the youth. Goodbye NPC brother days! He would have to make a new NPC sister category to survive. But still! So cute!
“This one will help wash your hair, My Lord!” Shen Yuan declared. “Let me help you bandage your wounds too.”
What wound? Luo Binghe cocked his head in confusion. Shen Yuan knew the black-bellied protagonist was playing dumb, and yet, he found himself grabbing his arm, and tutting at the acid burn. The flesh was quickly knitting up, but Shen Yuan couldn’t suppress a wince at the charred skin.
An odd light entered Luo Binghe’s eyes. Out of nowhere, he took a step into Shen Yuan’s personal space, and said, “Will you braid my hair for me after?”
What a specific request. Shen Yuan wasn’t very good at this braiding business. Everything he knew was from indulging his meimei as a child. But he didn’t have the heart to say no to a flushed Luo Binghe, panting a little after a fight. From the corner of his eye, he could see that messy, tangled little braid poking out of Luo Binghe’s otherwise meticulous curls.
“Of course,” Shen Yuan said, turning his nose up at him as a cold beauty ought to. He surreptitiously tugged on Luo Binghe’s braid. Just once. “Now come, let us wash ourselves.
Shen Yuan may have forgotten to grab an extra set of robes.
He swore he'd brought one along, but after he had done washing up, the clean robes could be found nowhere.
Shen Yuan was not an idiot, however. He could recognise the protagonist’s wiles. Whether it was because Luo Binghe considered him suspicious, or because he was simply a young man full of Youthful Energy, it was clear that he'd hidden the robes. Specifically so that he could access Shen Yuan’s tent when he inevitably sent the demon emperor along on a cloth errand.
Even if it wasn't like that, no way Shen Yuan was doing a oh no, Binghe-kun! I don't have my clothes on me! with a towel strategically placed over his intimate parts. Wife role or not, it was too embarrassing.
Luo Binghe returned with the robes in less than half a shichen. If he found something worth beheading a woman character for (unlikely, so no panicking) his face didn't betray him.
Instead, he was unbearably sweet about the whole washing affair. First: he reassured Shen Yuan that he could first go ahead and sleep. When Shen Yuan insisted on cleaning the sheer volume of hair on his head up for him, he resisted. When he was ultimately worn down, he reassured Shen Yuan he would strip only to his torso (“Naturally!!?” Shen Yuan had accidentally gasped). Second: he found a shallower area of the lake and lead Shen Yuan to it like an eager puppy.
Finally, he settled down on a protruding rock and gestured Shen Yuan over with his eyes.
Shen Yuan had the inexplicable urge to scritch his head immediately. Masters in seduction really were something else.
“Shen Tianhui,” Luo Binghe began, just as Shen Yuan’s hands untangled monster gore from his bird’s nest. “What are the chances of finding the plant?”
Such a frank question.
“Truth to be told, my Lord—”
“You may call this one Luo Binghe.” Luo Binghe interrupted.
Huh.
“It hasn't been long since I have come into lordship, and it is not often in the human realm that it is needed,” he explained.
Who was he to argue with the protagonist? “Then… this one will be taking the liberty, My Lo—Luo Binghe.”
Shen Yuan started in earnest, lowering his tone, “It is very hard to say whether we will come across the plant or not. Ideally, we should have found it on the second day next to the cliffs. This was the best location for such a species. If it is not growing there, I'm afraid… Luo Binghe will have to see to alternate methods.”
After all, the alternate method was papapa, thought Shen Yuan, scrubbing softly at the hair. He immersed the tips in more water. It wasn't like the cure was greatly painful and debilitating. It was in fact, much more readily available than a plant growing under a rock from a hundred years ago. Didn't Qin Wanyue already get her chance at the Immortal Alliance conference? Wasn't it her sister’s turn now to be Cured ? With a capital C?
“It’s only,” Luo Binghe muttered, looking for all the night, sincere. “Right now, the alternative is…” He trailed off, bottom lip jutting out in the loveliest of pouts.
AGH.
Don't look so downcast, protagonist. Shen Yuan distinctly felt like he had kicked a puppy.
“Does Shen Tianhui know the properties of this one’s lineage?”
!!!!!
“Is Luo Binghe referring to the regenerative skills of Heavenly Demons?” ventured Shen Yuan, carefully brushing over the thousand other properties.
Luo Binghe's smile widened, like he was Light Yagami playing an intricate game of chess. A Aha! You know I'm a heavenly demon!
No need to look so smug about whatever conclusion you got to, Binghe! There were no secrets in the first place! So! Get on with it!
“How old is Shen Tianhui?” Luo Binghe asked in a complete non-sequitur.
“Uh,” said Shen Yuan. “Old.” And the character Shen Tianhui was much older than Binghe. From what Shen Yuan gathered, the original’s family had been killed off or scattered at least thirty years ago. Her physical appearance was only owed to the little cultivation she possessed.
Luo Binghe laughed.
“It is not polite, asking a lady their age,” Shen Yuan said coldly. It wasn't! Life advice, protagonist!
“Apologies to jiejie, it won't happen again.”
Shen Yuan felt faint. There was a ringing in his ears, and it looped to the rhythm of jiejie… Shen-jiejie…Shen…
“No need for that…” he trailed out, unsure whether he was talking about the new title or the apology. Shen….jirjie… It wasn't like he could ask the Luo Binghe to call him… what? Gege?
Absolutely not! Even putting the gender bender tag explanation aside it was—was—shameless!
Only recently did he figure out he could coast by without getting wifed up (no thanks to you for absolutely no guidelines, system!). Isn't addressing him as a well… older… sister figure a good thing?
“Shen…gege?” Luo Binghe tried, cocking his head.
Critical hit!!!!!! Too cute!!!!!
Protagonist, can you please stop resembling a cute little sister!!! This Shen-ge—wait no, jie— won't be able to resist pinching your cheeks!!
“No!” Shen Yuan managed to choke out. There was still the matter of what people would think. Shen Yuan, in his panic, said so.
“Is it any of their business? You can be a man if you want,” Luo Binghe said. To Shen Yuan that looked awfully diplomatic, like the protagonist was looking at him oddly, like he was at fault for being abnormal enough to transmigrate into a wife . Shen Yuan found himself flushing to the roots of his hair.
“Does it matter what we have under there, Luo Binghe?” Shen Yuan said, channeling Cold Beauty despite being a tomato. The wording perhaps, was a bit crass, because Luo Binghe gasped.
“This one did not mean to offend! I only meant, if Shen Tianhui wanted–”
“Shen Tianhui does not want.” Shen Yuan sniffed, still red. He slowly pried open one eye. “Not in public.”
Like the little green tea bitch manipulator he was, Luo Binghe smiled. “Of course, gege.”
...
...
Fuck if it wasn't working!!!
“Come with me,” Shen Yuan blurted out. He wanted to tape his mouth shut, or rush to explain Exactly what he meant, but he played it cool. He wasn't so cliche!
Surely enough, Luo Binghe ventured, “To…?”
“To my home,” Shen Yuan said. Aaaand he fell into the cliche of over-explaining. “To the Shen ancestral house. We might have manuscripts in our library about the flower.”
System, Shen Yuan poked, What's the likelihood of success here? Am I being stupid?
『 The plotline is progressing smoothly, Host!! +5 Protagonist Satisfaction points!』
That says nothing, you piece of shit AI! Tell me if this will work out or not!
System!!!!
The system remained suspiciously silent after that.
Shen Yuan sighed, massaging his temples.
“Isn't that better than trying nothing, Luo Binghe?” he prompted.
“This one is deeply thankful for Shen-gege's generosity.”
“No need for that,” he grumbled.
Luo Binghe tipped his head back. A bead of water trailed down his nose. “There is no gratitude exchanged between friends?”
Shen Yuan hadn't noticed that he'd stopped scrubbing Luo Binghe’s hair, and was toying with his scalp.
He stared back at the twin pools of Luo Binghe’s eyes, darker than the night, and said nothing.
So the Protagonist thought they were friends? Huh. Did Luo Binghe ever have friends?
As per the rules of a dog-shit trope-saddled stallion novel, Luo Binghe came from the worst of the worst. He was immediately singled out at every single Avenue. His first friend was possibly Ning Yingying, and she rightfully became the First Wife.
….and also a shelved love interest.
Every man was either a villain or a brain-dead NPC canon fodder brother who wasn't cool enough. If there was anyone cool enough, they were ran through with Xin Mo due to a misunderstanding (if a good person) or legimate reasons (unnecessary villain reveal). The only other male character that survived the show was Mobei-Jun and he clearly wouldn't be the one to advise the Emperor with his limited NPC brain.
Airplane shooting towards the sky, Da-ge, couldn't you have given atleast the white lotus version one proper friend?!
“Dont be angry, Shen-gege, it was my mistake,” Luo Binghe quickly said. He shook his hair out of Shen Yuan’s grasp, and turned around.
He wasn't even mad about the--the--thing! He was mad at Airplane! There Shen Yuan was, sitting on a moderately sized rock, out of the water’s rich. And the protagonist was kneeling between his knees, head upturned in a truly pitiful way.
“Forget about the kiss, gegr.”
To call him gege so shamelessly with relation to the act of lip-touching! Truly the black bellied…smooth talking… malevolent…
“Have you forgotten?” Luo Binghe pressed, shuffling closer. His eyes had really stolen a part of the night sky.
Shen Yuan didn't know what came over him at that moment, but he ducked the Protagonist underwater.
After shaking his horror off at having pushed THE Luo Bingge , Zhongdian’s shrewdest, most powerful Protagonist into the lake water, Shen Yuan remained relatively calm.
Luo Binghe threw mournful looks at him from time to time on their way back to the tent, but it was only right he looked bullied! Do! Not! Bring! Up! The Incident with Lips!
By mutual non-verbal agreement they decided to go back to their separate tents and set out in the morning.
When dawn broke, Shen Yuan did not want to get up.
This was a morning ritual he engaged in since he turned four and realized school and other people talking to him wasn't all it was cracked up to be. This particular morning was even worse, because it came with additional suicidal surprises. The events of yesterday had gotten time to settle, and all Shen Yuan wanted to do was become one with the sleeping mat, not think about anything, and preferably die.
But , said a force—the same force in this humble reader that drove him to devour the monster novel that was PIDW in twenty days— Dont you want to know what Xin Mo looks like?
Shen Yuan got his bangs out of his face. Then he coughed up a braid out of his mouth and some straw from the mat (he really wasn't used to camping like this!). For the lack of pillow to choke himself to death with, Shen Yuan dragged his hands across his face.
He really, really wanted to see Xin Mo.
There were sounds of a fire crackling by the time Shen Yuan dressed himself and put the damp clothes away into a qiankun pouch. A delicious aroma soon wafted in through a tiny gap in the tent. Shen Yuan listened to his poor stomach’s grumbles and duly stuck his head out.
Luo Binghe's tent was nowhere to be seen. In its place was the Protagonist himself, sitting crosslegged on the ground and stoking a fire. Over the fire was a moderately sized pot. To Shen Yuan’s untrained eye, its contents—some sort of fish?-- seemed to be boiling over, but Luo Binghe looked unconcerned.
“Good morning, Shen-gege,” Luo Binghe smiled politely.
“Ah, good morning, Binghe,” Shen Yuan fumbled. Awkwarddd. He straightened up, “Good weather.”
Luo Binghe looked up at a sky that threatened to rain any second, and said nothing.
“I like the rain.” Shen Yuan said miserably.
Wait, speaking of which… “How are we traveling to Longchang?”
While Shen Tianhui was a cultivator, she did not have a sword. From the way the maids talked about it, Shen Yuan inferred that the woman had a lot of Romantic Ideas on the procurement of one. Maybe a sword only she could pull out of the ground, or one she had to fight tooth and nail for, its malevolent temperament stoked by her desires for revenge.
Sadly for Shen Tianhui, she wasn't Luo Binghe. And this left Shen Yuan without a sword to practice flying on. Lamest. Cultivation. Isekai. Ever.
『 Host, this system–』
Silence, ingrate! Let Shen Yuan finish. It was still lame, but he was technically a maiden. Luo Binghe seemed to have many complicated ideas about this. And with a wifely appearance, Shen Yuan could request what others before him had shamelessly enjoyed: Yes! A ride on the legendary Xin Mo!
『 ....』
Shut up.
『 The System will temporarily take its leave now (-_ -|||)』
“It is three days on foot, correct? It's best we travel by sword.” Luo Binghe said, right on time.
SCOOOOOOREEEE.
“Oh, I'm afraid I don't possess one,” Shen Yuan said very normally. Ask me ask me ask me—
“Would Shen-ge like to accompany me on my sword?”
HELL YEAH, Shen Yuan cheered. Like an unsuspecting piece of fish, Luo Binghe took the bait!
Except ehem . Shen Yuan didn't have any nefarious purposes with Xin Mo. He wasn't going to cook and eat Luo Binghe or sell him either. This was blowing it out of proportion.
“Yes, if it isn't too much trouble,” Shen Yuan nodded.
He primly sat opposite Luo Binghe.
Now, it wasn't that he was expecting a large portion of the protagonist's cooking. His body seemed to be drawn to a tantalizing aroma by itself. Shen Yuan didn't want to dirty his robes right after knowing the taste of washing a pair just yesterday either, but wasn't it awkward just standing around?
“Won't Shen-gege eat?” Luo Binghe smiled, handing him a bowl. Inside the bowl was the answer to all secrets of the universe, a snowy white serving of congee.
Shen Yuan cried many tears in his heart. For the first time, he had to hand it to the system. If he wasn't a wife character, could he have expected even a little of the protagonist's cooking? Women in Proud Immortal Demon Way had it good!
Then again…was it really alright?
He wasn't a…. Wife. Not in any real sense. Shen Yuan, being a staunch feminist, was in no way like Them but. There were basement-dwelling nice guys in the other world who expected girls to like them if they did something for her… Airplane shooting towards the sky was obviously such a guy, so was it really okay, in Airplane’s world, to….
Shen Yuan contemplated this for precisely two minutes, after which he shrugged and was a lot more cheerful about everything.
What sort of wife didn't cave after the first week? He was a NPC brother, a NPC brother. Fortune wouldn't strike twice, so he might as well as eat!
“Shen-gege,” said Luo Binghe, deceptively sweetly. Shen Yuan tensed. The protagonist was clearly only honing his con artist skills, because the careful shift from polite to unnecessarily bright was stark. “Aren't you… eating?”
I'm eating, eating! Shen Yuan swallowed, and stuck a glob of rice into his mouth. Don't be so offended!
To Luo Binghe it must surely have looked like a pauper refusing Michelin star food just because it was a simple dish! Sorry Binghe!
He couldn't suppress the sounds that made it past his lips. MHMMMMMM. No wonder this boy racked up wives like trophies. He might as well as have distributed it among the villains too, to earn their favor. The soft, yet not gooey rice, the perfect broth… even their head chef back home couldn't prepare something of this scale with just rice, water, fish, and a campfire
“Shen-ge,” Luo Binghe called, sounding out of breath.
“Hm?” Shen Yuan looked up.
In a wild segue, the demon lord sitting with his legs folded behind him said, “What else do you know about my heritage, gege?”
???? Where are these non sequiturs coming from, Bingge????
“I mentioned the healing,” said Shen Yuan, sweating under his robes. “Is there anything else?”
“Ah, it's just…” Luo Binghe trailed off. “I was wondering if you knew, about my blood. Isn't Shen-gege worried?”
A slow sense of unease crawled up Shen Yuan’s spine. The bowl of congee in his lap was almost done. After the first bite, it had largely gone down his food pipe with great speed.
No use playing dumb, was there?
“Did you put it in the food, Luo Binghe?” Shen Yuan said, very calmly. His heart rabbited under his ribcage.
“No!” Luo Binghe denied. Smile affixed, he began putting the bowls away. “I only wanted to know why someone would trust a stranger with their food.”
Did he just imply he did —Was he threatening Shen Yuan?
This was to be expected from an all-powerful demon lord. But to Shen Yuan, who had lounged around as a lazy second gen, and then a lazy second gen xianxia princess, this kind of loss of face was unacceptable. Even death was less painful than a twenty-something waltzing in and threatening him! Him! This Luo Binghe didn't even have a single wife!
And he'd spiked a drink! Like trash men at bars! Shen Yuan imagined he could feel foreign influence curdling in his bloodstream.
Wasn't this kind of treatment reserved for warrior women, women who'd put up a fight?! Who the hell was going to say no to Luo Binghe if they weren't on another side of a war?? To the point he had to resort to xianxia ketamine?
Through the haze of terror, Shen Yuan was stabbed with a fierce rage.
“If you didn't, then you didn't,” he said coldly. “This kind of curiosity only befits the shrewd. Aren't we cultivators far removed from that?”
Luo Binghe's eyes widened. He looked like a doll, if a doll was 6 feet and good at cooking.
“Aren't I a demon, Shen Tianhui?” He said through his teeth. “Would you still consider this lord a cultivator?”
“Of course you are!” Shen Yuan snapped hotly. What the hell did you use to fight the Jiggly Puffed head then?! Was some of it not the drivel they taught at Cang Qiong?? “Who said demons can't be cultivators? Who?!”
Luo Binghe piped down, blinking. On anyone else Shen Yuan would describe his expression absolutely gobsmacked.
“I hold no love for my past cultivation sect,” Luo Binghe tried. “If my current sect learns of my condition, I can hardly continue there. Anywhere I go in the human realm, I will be shunned behind my back for my heritage.”
Luo Binghe asked quietly, “Tell me now, Shen-gege, how can a demon still be a cultivator?”
This whole rant….
System!
『 The system provides a 24/7 servi–』
Is this a character development moment?! Shen Yuan demanded.
『 ( • ᴖ • ｡) No need to be so rude, host. To answer your question, the System can confirm the Shen Tianhui storyline is progressing satisfactorily.』
Am I a mentor figure then? Shen Yuan pressed. Do I what, guide him?
『 The system can only ask the Host to continue as you were! Please consider leaving a five-star review!』
That answered nothing! Zero stars!
『 The system regrets to inform Host that it can only process natural number values! Try again next time!』
Then one star! Come back!! System!!
The piece of shit AI had disappeared. Shen Yuan grimaced. It hadn't given him a clear answer at all.
Was this… a character development moment?? Shen Yuan coughed into his sleeve.
“Demons, humans,” he flapped a hand around. “We're only separated by race. Now, I won't lie and say I would be comfortable around a demon that wants to feast on my flesh, but if a demon was given the right influence… If you walk like a cultivator, talk like a cultivator, and act like one… Aren't you a cultivator, Luo Binghe? Just how many of us are inherently good?”
Even Shen Yuan was impressed with his bullshitting. He wasn't completely making shit up though. Luo Binghe was pretty sane as a demon, wasn't he? But what the hell did he gain by alerting Shen Yuan of the blood parasites?
From past behaviour, Shen Yuan had expected Luo Binghe to be mullish for the rest of the meal. Instead of that, Luo Binghe leaned forward, eyes gleaming.
“You think so? Even if I’m a Heavenly demon? You are knowledgeable about the demon realm, aren’t you, Shen-laoshi? What do you think about that?”
Laoshi?!
“Well,” Shen Yuan paused. “I know it’s a difficult topic. And many texts refer to your kind having a mark of sin, but… If someone is decent, then heavenly demon or not…. Luo Binghe is just Luo Binghe.”
“Mark of sin, you say?” Luo Binghe echoed, vibrating out of his seat. Shen Yuan felt like he was missing something, and changed the topic abruptly.
“ Did you put something in the food?” he stressed.
“No,” Luo Binghe said, looking remarkably more cheerful. No… more than cheerful. His face had lit up like a thousand suns, like he had come across a once-in-a-lifetime treasure.
He was also definitely lying.
It should be okay as long as Shen Yuan didn't piss him off… right? The blood parasites couldn't be used that frequently?
“Ah,” Shen Yuan said mildly, and hid his face behind a sleeve.
“Let us leave for your house now that we’re done,” Luo Binghe proposed, still cheerful. Was he also—humming?
“Sure?” said Shen Yuan. While he was confused, his spirits were slowly lifting at the thought of riding Xin Mo. Whatever Luo Binghe was planning, it didn’t look like it would kill him. He was a woman, a woman in PIDW! Luo Binghe had only killed a single woman in the work— and she had been getting on his nerves for twenty chapters, and had been described as both old and ugly at one point.
Not a single old or ugly bone in Shen Tianhui’s body, nope! Haha!
“Shizun,” called Luo Binghe to his back.
Shen Yuan turned. “Sorry?” Did he just say—
“It’s nothing,” smiled Luo Binghe. After a beat, "You said you would braid my hair."
Oh this insolent--
Luo Binghe had his faults, and his creepy stallion wiles were no fun, but he had looked.... Unwittingly, the image of him fiddling with his sad little braid sprung to mind. Someone had clearly pranked this boy and hidden it between his fluffy hair.
"I will," Shen Yuan agreed wearily. If he was going to be so insistent, how could Shen Yuan say no?
Luo Binghe had his faults, but when he grinned smugly like a cat that had gotten the cream and drew Xin Mo.... he looked really fucking cool.
"Our journey has only begun. Hop on," chirped Luo Binghe, and off they were.