Chapter Text
Luo Jiu did not appreciate finding his son running around bare-necked in the biting cold of late winter.
The boy's situational awareness was abysmall as he played a dice game with his friends, allowing Luo Jiu to grab him by the collar and hoist him upright with little effort.
"How many times do I have to repeat myself?" He asked, a purely rhetorical question. Not interested in finding out how, exactly Binghe had repurposed his scarf this time, Luo Jiu reached into his sleeve to produce another one and wrapped it around the boy's neck. "It is much too cold to be running around like this. What if you catch a cold, ah? Who do you imagine will have to nurse you back to health?"
"A-dieeee," the boy whined, but that was the extent of his protest. He knew better than to try and stop the scarf from reappearing on him. "A little cold isn't going to do anything-"
"I am not taking any chances. As long as you are my son, you will not, either." One of the other children snickered at Binghe's misery. The others elbowed him, but not quickly enough. Luo Jiu turned his attention towards him, next. "And what do you think you're doing, sitting here in barely any layers at all? I've seen you wear this exact outfit in summer! What do you think your mother is going to say, ah? Shall I tell her on my way back?"
The boy's slow blanching was proof enough of the threat landing true. Not that Luo Jiu would have actually done anything; He had no energy to spare for caring about any spawn that wasn't his own.
"That's what I thought," he huffed at the silence. Then, turning back to Binghe, "I better not catch you without the scarf again, you hear me?"
"Yes, A-die. Sorry, A-die."
Satisfied, Luo Jiu nodded and continued on his way. Or, at least, that had been his plan. He hadn't been consciously paying attention to the commotion on the other side of the street, someone yelling out for a "Shen Qingqiu", but his brain had never truly relaxed, always vigilant.
It gave him enough of a warning to step back when someone attempted to catch his wrist.
"Shen Qingqiu!" The stranger repeated. He was undoubtedly a cultivator. "What do you think you're doing?!"
Luo Jiu shifted on his feet, ensuring Binghe would be hidden behind his back. The other children had long since scampered off, but of course his stubborn son would stay.
"Begging immortal master's pardon," he murmured, offering a bow. "This humble one is not the one you seek."
"Nonsense!" The cultivator never stopped scowling, one of his hands resting on his sword. Luo Jiu calculated his odds of not losing in a fight; They weren't good. "I'd recognize you anywhere! You think that just because you dress differently and forgo a guan, you're suddenly unrecognizable? Hah!"
In almost any other circumstance, Luo Jiu would have appreciated meeting someone from his past. In any context which didn't include dealing with a lunatic prepared to fight at the drop of a hat, that is.
He tried to think of a way to convince the cultivator that he was wrong, preferably without the man retaliating. Unfortunately, it seemed to have taken too long for the cultivator's patence. When he reached to grab Luo Jiu's wrist again, he couldn't evade it.
"You're coming with me and-!"
Luo Jiu didn't find out what purpose he would serve back at whichever hole the cultivator had crawled out of; The man had trailed off into a hiss the moment Binghe's teeth sunk into his forearm.
That did not have the expected result of Luo Jiu being freed. Instead, the cultivator seemed to hold on tighter, shaking his arm to get the little leech off.
No one was allowed to shake his kid, thank you very much!
With a brief use of a hidden needle, Luo Jiu had gotten his arm released, grabbing Binghe and coaxing him to unclench his jaw.
"Apologies," he bowed, keeping a tight hold on his child. "My son is young, and doesn't yet know proper etiquette. He was startled and reacted without thinking; Please forgive him."
When he looked up again, the man's brows were furrowed. What dust clouds served as his brain seemed to be tumbling around at full speed, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
"Your son?" He repeated. "You leech! You actually got one of your whores pregnant? Shameless!"
Luo Jiu was starting to understand why he had not gone back once he collected Binghe; Why his past self had elected to try his chances traversing the Luo river. Even losing all of his memories and starting his life from scratch had to be better than dealing with such self-righteous acquaintances.
"You keep my a-die out of your mouth!" Binghe growled at the cultivator, and Luo Jiu bounced him in his arms before the boy could try and bitn again.
"This one is taking responsibility for his actions," he said primly. "This one will continue to do so. Farewell."
Of course, the man wouldn't let them go that easily. "And what of your responsibility to the sect? To your peak?" Luo Jiu was prepared to renounce any past position- "Qing Jing had stood without its Peak Lord for half a decade now; You claim no responsibility for it?"
...A Peak Lord? It shouldn't change anything. It shouldn't, but it did. Such a lofty position, if regained, could provide for a much better life for Binghe...
He glanced down at the boy in his arms. What would it hurt to indulge the cultivator a little? For just long enough to ascertain whether there was anything of value in Luo Jiu's past life?
Of course, he wouldn't be phrasing it that way to the cultivator. He would explain to Binghe at nearest opportunity.
"Very well." Luo Jiu nodded his head. "This one will return. Lead the way."